Trump Victory a Repudiation of Obama Presidency

USA Today wrote on November 9:

“Donald Trump’s victory… was nothing less than a repudiation of the Obama presidency… With Republicans maintaining control of the House and Senate, President-elect Trump would be in a position to repeal large parts of Obama’s legislative agenda, repeal his executive orders with a stroke of a pen, and install conservative Supreme Court justices…

“Trump’s election represents a ‘hostile takeover’ of the White House… Judging from his whirlwind campaigning of the past few weeks, no one was more aware of Trump’s threat to his legacy than Obama himself…

“With this loss, President Obama loses the opportunity to go down as one of America’s great presidents… It looks like Obama has failed to exploit his opportunity to be a transformation president.”

Obama Is To Be Blamed

In a biting commentary, Bild Online wrote on November 6, prior to the election outcome:

“Obama is mainly responsible for the conditions of his country… The self-declared healer Obama is to be blamed for the divide… Eight years Obama have radicalized America… Obamacare, so Bill Clinton, is ‘the craziest thing in the world.’ Even more than domestically, Obama leaves behind a field covered with ruins on the international front. America’s foes are no longer afraid of the US President, and America’s friends have no more confidence in him…

“The differences between Trump and Obama are: In Trump’s case, his declarations are frightening; in Obama’s case, his political deeds (or his omissions, such as in Syria) are frightening. America’s weakness in the world… is not a product of Trump’s imagination, but it is because of Obama’s politics…

“I hope the world has learned from eight years of Obama that politicians are dangerous if they present themselves as Saviors.”

Dark Times Await America

The Berliner Zeitung wrote on November 7 (prior to the election):

“One could mention many reasons for (America’s) downfall… It is clear: The status of America’s society will not change, regardless as to who will win the election. For the considerable future, America is paralyzed politically, if not something worse happens. Even without Trump, dark times await America…”

EU in Fear

BBC News wrote on November 9:

“The ‘sincere’ (their word) letter of congratulations to Donald Trump… from the European Commission and the European Council oozes EU angst from every line. Messers Juncker and Tusk rushed to remind the US president-elect of ‘shared values of freedom, human rights, democracy and a belief in the market economy’ in a way that lays bare their very clear fear that Mr Trump doesn’t prioritise these values at all…

“Key EU nations France, Germany and the Netherlands are steaming towards elections next year… Italy’s prime minister risks losing his job in a matter of weeks, depending on the results of a referendum he called on changing the Italian constitution. In what is possibly the political understatement of the morning, Matteo Renzi mused after Donald Trump’s declaration of victory that ‘we are in a new (political) season’.

“By far and away the most effusive European reaction to the US elections came from the jubilant leaders of populist anti-establishment parties from Budapest, to Berlin, Vienna and beyond.

“Mr Trump certainly made waves during his election campaign when he indicated that US military support for Nato member states could be conditioned on whether countries meet their financial obligations to the bloc. If he keeps his word, only four of Nato’s 28 members would qualify for support from Washington in the case of a war.

“Donald Trump’s rhetoric… propelled him to election victory on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a moment that changed the course of European history. On Wednesday former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, a man rarely associated with hyperbole, described the US vote as the biggest political rupture since then…”

November 9 – an Extraordinary Day in German History

The Local wrote on November 9:

“November 9th is known as the ‘Day of Fate’ (Schicksalstag) in Germany because… different but momentous events in German history occured on that day. After the Berlin Wall was pulled down on November 9th 1989, it seemed to many a logical day to celebrate the reunification of Germany. However, there is good reason why October 3rd was ultimately chosen as der Tag der deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day)…

“German democratic politician and activist Robert Blum was executed on this day [November 9] in Vienna [in 1848]. He had joined revolutionary fighters in the capital of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was arrested on the November 4th before being condemned to death by a military tribunal. Blum, who was born in Cologne and rose from being an apprentice gardener to sitting in the preliminary democratic parliament in Frankfurt, was a popular advocate of democracy and greater gender equality, condemning Prussian militarism and anti-Semitism… his death… marked the end of the democratic stirrings in Germany in the 1840s.

“During the final days of the First World War, on November 9^th [in 1918], the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany from the throne was announced, and he boarded a train to the Netherlands the following day. In the revolutionary spirit that followed, Social Democrat politician Philipp Scheidemann rushed to a window of the Reichstag in Berlin to declare the new republic before his communist competitor Karl Liebknecht was able to…

“During the early years following the war, there was much instability in Germany, and challenges took place from both the far left and far right against the new democratic Weimar government. [On November 9, 1923, the] leader of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), Adolf Hitler, marched with First World War General Erich Ludendorff and other party members into the centre of Munich to take control of the southern city. The attempt was quashed by the police: 16 demonstrators and four policemen died, and Hitler was arrested and then imprisoned for five years. The NSDAP was then banned…

“On the night of November 9th, [1938,] SA troops as well as German citizens carried out violent attacks on Jewish populations across Germany. 267 synagogues were destroyed in Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland, and it is estimated that 7,500 German Jewish shops were laid waste to. At least 91 Jews were killed between November 9th and 10th. On the following day, over 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps such as Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. The day marked the true beginning of state persecution of the Jewish race…

“Exactly a month after huge demonstrations against the East German government in Leipzig, November 9^th [1989] became the defining landmark of the end of communism. Following a mistake by East German government spokesman Günter Schabowski in a press conference, announcing that new, more relaxed border regulations were to come into effect ‘ab sofort’ (instantly), thousands of East Berliners rushed to the wall. Hours later they had forced their way through the checkpoints, and the concrete barrier that had divided the city for over 28 years was no more…”

Germany, France and Russia React with Shock and Hope

Time wrote on November 9:

“Leaders and officials across the world reacted with shock, hope and congratulations, as Donald Trump confounded polls and surged to victory over Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential elections early on Wednesday morning… In Russia, President Vladimir Putin reportedly offered his congratulations, and ‘expressed confidence that the dialogue between Moscow and Washington, in keeping with each other’s views, meets the interests of both Russia and the U.S.,’ according to Russia Today.

“German Justice Minister Heiko Maas tweeted, ‘The world won’t end, but things will get more crazy,’ while his colleague, Defence Minister Usula von der Leyen, told Reuters the result was a ‘huge shock’ and asked Trump for clarification on whether the U.S. would remain committed to NATO…”

Deutsche Welle added on November 9:

“German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel called Trump’s victory ‘a warning for Germany and Europe,’ urging policy makers to listen more closely to people’s concerns. ‘Trump is the pioneer of a new authoritarian and chauvinist international movement. He is also a warning for us,’ Gabriel [said].”

The Mirror wrote on November 9:

“… the French ambassador to the United States tweeted that the ‘world is collapsing before our eyes’…”

What President Trump May Mean for Germany

The Local wrote on November 9:

“Donald Trump’s election as the next US president shocked many in Germany, and on Wednesday people across the world woke up wondering what may happen next…

“While Merkel extended an olive branch to Trump on Wednesday, saying she would offer him ‘close cooperation,’ after Trump had previously accused her of ‘ruining Germany,’… her top diplomat seemed more pessimistic. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier [who had called Trump a “hate preacher”] said that foreign relations would become ‘more difficult’ with Trump. Leading foreign policy experts also raised their fears that a Trump presidency could make life extremely awkward for Berlin.

“Sylke Tempel, US expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), described the Republican as ‘poison for fruitful foreign policy’ in an interview with DPA. ‘With Trump in the White House, a man has been elected to the most important office in the world who can’t control himself, who has no political experience, who takes criticism as personal assault, and who is clearly motivated by vengeance.’…

“The German government has been eagerly pushing the major Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal between the EU and the US. But Trump’s campaign has been critical of international trade agreements, saying they cost his country jobs… International Relations expert Josef Janning told The Local that Germany ‘can forget about TTIP’ after Trump’s election.”

It Is Now Up to Germany to Lead

The Local wrote on November 9:

“German policy experts are unanimous in saying that Trump is bad news for Berlin… For Olaf Boehnke, a freelance expert on international affairs, ‘with the US election results, the pressure on Germany has increased dramatically.’ Multiple crises in the world, including in Ukraine and Syria, are likely to escalate in the uncertain period after Trump takes power, he argues to The Local. ‘There is a need of leadership, and if the US will not be the leader for the time being, then everybody looks to other leading nations or those with the potential,’ he says. ‘It is up to Merkel and to Berlin to step up at least for the European crowd and take on much more responsibility than she already has.’…

“If Trump follows on a campaign pledge to reduce his country’s financial commitment to NATO, Berlin would have to up its defence spending every year, a highly unpopular political decision among the German electorate, says Boehnke. But, Europe ‘will not be able to hide behind the US anymore’ when it comes to dealing with a more aggressive Russia, and thus Merkel will have to push a common defence ‘at a really fast pace’…”

“Juncker Calls for an EU Army”

Deutsche Welle reported on November 10:

“Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted on closer military and security cooperation between EU member states. The EU Commission president insists the need for an European army is irrespective of Trump’s election victory.”

Great Britain Reacts—“We all Face Dark, Uncertain and Fearful Times”

The Guardian wrote on November 9:

“The unthinkable is only unthinkable until it happens. Then, like the sack of Rome, it can seem historically inevitable. So it is with the global political earthquake that is the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States. If he is true to his campaign pledges, which were many and reckless, Mr Trump’s win will herald America’s most stunning reversal of political and economic orthodoxy since the New Deal in the 1930s, but with the opposite intention and effect…

“The parallel with Britain’s Brexit vote is obvious and real… The result will be lamented by liberals across America and beyond. But it will be cheered in Moscow and Damascus, which will feel emboldened. This is not a good week to be a Latvian or a Ukrainian, and another dire one to be a Syrian oppositionist…

“But this is primarily an American catastrophe that America has brought upon itself. When it came to it, the US was unable to find a credible way of rallying against Mr Trump and what he represents. Hillary Clinton failed that crucial test both in herself and in what she offered; for her this is the end. But she was the symptom, not the cause. Mr Trump was not taken seriously and was widely not expected to beat Mrs Clinton throughout the long, bitter campaign. At each stage, his candidacy was deemed certain to crash and burn. The opinion polls and the vaunted probability calculus rarely trended in his direction; both are now discredited…

“Mr Trump’s victory was total… It was the most stunning upset in modern US history… He won most of the battleground states into which the Clinton campaign had poured money – Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin…

“Meanwhile, Republican congressional candidates who had scrabbled to put distance between themselves and their nominee after the ugly TV debates found themselves riding to victory on Mr Trump’s coattails. Republicans held most of their seats in the Senate races… predictably, the House remained firmly in Republican hands too…

“President Trump is the shock heard round the world… Mr Trump’s win means uncertainty about America’s future strategy in a world that has long relied on the United States for stability. But Mr Trump’s capacity to destabilise is almost limitless. His military, diplomatic, security, environmental and trade policies all have the capacity to change the world for the worse. Americans have done a very dangerous thing this week. Because of what they have done we all face dark, uncertain and fearful times.”

Israel’s Reaction—No Palestinian State, and US Embassy to Move to Jerusalem

JTA wrote on November 9:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Donald Trump on his presidential victory, calling him a ‘true friend of the State of Israel.’… ‘I am confident that President-elect Trump and I will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between our two countries and bring it to ever greater heights.’

“Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, head of the opposition Zionist Union camp, offered his congratulations in a post on Facebook. ‘American democracy today elected a leader who surprised the pundits, and showed that we are in an era of change and new direction. You did the unexpected, against all odds,’ Herzog wrote…

“Likud lawmaker and Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick congratulated Trump and invited him to ‘ascend the Temple Mount…’

“In his congratulations to Trump, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, claimed ‘The era of a Palestinian state is over.’ Bennett said in a statement: ‘Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state in the center of the country, which would hurt our security and just cause. This is the position of the president-elect, as written in his platform, and it should be our policy, plain and simple.’

“Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in a congratulatory letter sent to Trump reminded the president-elect of his promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something his three predecessors have failed to do since the passage of the Jerusalem Act in 1995…”

President Obama Encouraged Illegal Aliens to Vote!

BRP wrote on November 5:

“In a jaw-dropping move, lame duck Barack Obama told illegal aliens they can vote, citing the ‘sanctity of the vote’… Obama made the bizarre declaration that it’s okay to commit voter fraud and break the law by voting in a U.S. election even if you’re in the country illegally.

“A woman interviewer asked Obama: ‘I call [illegal aliens] citizens, as they contribute to this country. They are fearful of voting and wonder: “If I vote, will Immigration know where I live? Will they come for my family and deport us?”’ ‘This is not true,’ Obama said in the live TV interview. ‘First of all, when you vote, there’s not a situation where voting rolls are transferred over and people start investigating. The sanctity of the vote is strictly confidential.’

“The shocking video clip first aired on Neil Cavuto‘s Fox Business News show ‘Coast to Coast.’ After hearing Obama tell illegal aliens they won’t get caught if they commit voter fraud, a disgusted Cavuto exploded. ‘I can’t believe that I heard what I heard!’ Cavuto said. ‘It was very clear that the question that was being asked was about illegals voting and them being afraid they might be reported to Border Security.’

“Cavuto said Obama missed the entire premise of the question: ‘You’re ignoring the fact that you are being questioned about illegal voting, which you can’t do. Why? Because you’re not a citizen of this country!’ Cavuto added: ‘You’re illegal! You cannot vote. The President of the United States is saying no one will be spying on you, catching you.’

“Voter fraud has taken center stage this election cycle, as instances of voter fraud were recently reported in California and in other states…”

The Dirtiest Campaign in American History

Der Spiegel wrote on November 4:

“Trump versus Clinton will go down in American history as the dirtiest campaign of all time. It seemed at times as though script writers had let their imaginations run wild. But the consequences for democracy in the United States will be long lasting…

“For the last year, American democracy has become a circus, one in which the most outlandish gag gets the most applause. And it won’t be without consequences: The country will have to live with the scars of this ugly campaign for quite some time to come. Make no mistake: When the advances of civilization are set aside, even if only temporarily, fractures are the result and they aren’t easy to repair. When arguments don’t count and lies are accepted as truth, when politicians have entire teams working to spread disinformation, democracy as we understand it ceases to exist.

“Clinton and Trump have managed to drag US politics — already not the purest of spectacles — into the muck. With the help of the hysterical media, they have transformed the race into a soap opera, and this time, reality has far exceeded even our wildest imaginations.”

Sadly, the political circus will have lasting consequences for a country being alienated already from the true God.

Der Spiegel added on November 7:

“When Americans go to the polls on Tuesday, there will be no chance left to salvage this election. All that remains is picking the lesser of two evils. But the damage has already been done…

“How could the entire country have allowed the democracy for which it stands to fall into this degree of decline?… bankruptcy is around the corner…”

America—a Laughing Stock Around the World

On November 8, Piers Morgan wrote for the Daily Mail:

“Elections are supposed to be momentous events in a nation’s history, filled with hope, excitement and optimism for the future. This one feels like the complete opposite. Many Americans feel repulsed, sickened, angry and thoroughly depressed by what has been happening over the past 18 months… nobody in this race… has fought fair. It’s been shockingly nasty and appallingly mean-spirited… The combined effect of all this has been to render America a laughing stock around the world…

“70% of Americans don’t like the direction the country is headed… Who, after all, wants to be an object of ridicule?… Trump and Clinton are the two most unpopular candidates in US presidential history… So whoever wins tonight, the absolute first priority of the new President must be to work urgently to restore some dignity and respect to this great country. Millions of Americans feel lost, helpless, abandoned and resentful…

“[America] IS breaking and it needs re-setting. When you break a bone, you go see a doctor and get it healed… The Dis-United States of America must be United again.”

Sadly, it won’t be healed again. It is far too late for that.

The Epitome of Human Foolishness

The Sun wrote on November 5:

“SCIENTISTS have claimed that death may not be as final as we once feared – and that humans have souls that can leave the body after their hosts kick the bucket. It may sound like a supernatural myth, but the idea that human consciousness lives on after death has been put forward by a number of well-respected scientists.

“We may not know exactly what consciousness is, but physicist Sir Roger Penrose believes that it’s just a packet of information stored at a quantum – or sub-atomic – level… Sir Roger has argued that when a person dies temporarily, this quantum information is released into the universe, only to return to the body’s cells if the host is brought back to life. He argues that this explains why people can have near-death experiences, and believes that this quantum information amounts to a soul leaving the body.

“And Sir Roger is not alone in believing this, since his theory is backed by researchers at the renowned Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich. Experts there argue that our physical universe is just a perception, and that once our bodies die there is an infinite life beyond…. Dr Hans-Peter Dürr, former head of the institute, has said: ‘… The body dies but the spiritual quantum field continues. In this way, I am immortal.’

“Earlier this year, another remarkable claim about the afterlife was made by a terminally-ill violinist who survived 17 near-death experiences, and claims to have been to the other side… During one near-death experience, he claimed he was blocked from entering heaven by a group of laughing angels who smelled of aftershave. Another vision saw him bathed in the aura of an ‘Asiatic goddess’, whilst he claims a further supernatural encounter made him believe he was a husky dog bounding through the Arctic.’

This is such utter nonsense that one must shake one’s head at such foolishness and demonic deceptions, but sadly, many people believe in these ridiculous concepts. And now, even so-called “scientists” support this ungodly idea, albeit from quite a different equally preposterous angel.

 For the biblical truth, please watch Norbert Link’s recent sermon, “Is the Soul Immortal?”

How Poland Fights the Curse of Abortion

The Associated Press wrote on November 6:

“Polish lawmakers approved a plan Friday to pay a bonus to families whose child is born disabled — part of a policy aimed at curbing the number of abortions. The ‘For Life’ plan, which is expected to take effect next year, gives a one-time payment of 4,000 zlotys ($1,000) upon the birth of a disabled child or one with a life-threatening disease.

“Government official Elzbieta Witek said the money is intended as the ‘first step’ of government support for families with disabled children. Such families have long been demanding higher aid, which currently stands at 1,300 zlotys a month for a parent taking care of the child full-time.

“The conservative Law and Justice government, backed by the Catholic church, is seeking to ban abortions of deformed or sick fetuses, or even those with no chance of survival, to make possible their baptism and burial.

“Polish law now bans abortions except in cases when the woman’s life or health is threatened, when the pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the fetus is irreparably damaged. But amid the threat of prison terms, doctors often refuse to perform even admissible abortions.

“Government figures say 1,040 abortions were performed in Poland last year, while experts say some 150,000 abortions a year are done illegally and secretly. The government says most of the legal abortions are performed on fetuses with genetic defects like Down syndrome and wants that stopped.”

Abortion is sin, without exception. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Are You Already Born Again?”

The False Human Wisdom of Pope Francis

The website of Americamagazine.org wrote the following on November 6:

“In a speech delivered at the Vatican just three days before the U.S. presidential election, Pope Francis urged social justice activists from around the world not to give into the politics of fear by building walls but instead work to build bridges… The pope did not mention the Nov. 8 U.S. election, but many of the themes he touched on have played out in debates between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton in recent months.

“For example, the pope reiterated his plea for nations to respond more generously to the global refugee crisis, which he blamed on ‘an unjust socio-economic system and wars.’

“… It is not just Republicans on the receiving end of Catholic criticism around immigration. Some Catholic immigration activists have been critical of the Obama administration for its mass deportations of undocumented people living in the United States and for what they say are human rights abuses in U.S. detention centers along the southern border…

“Christians have a duty, he said, to be active in political life…”

The truth is, Christians have a duty NOT to be active in political life. For more information, please view our StandingWatch program, “Are You Voting for World War III”?

Divine Punishment for Gay Unions?

The Sun wrote on November 5:

“AN Italian priest has branded recent earthquakes that have shaken the country, killing hundreds and leaving tens of thousands homeless, as ‘divine punishment’ for gay civil unions. The controversial comments have now sparked the wrath of the Vatican who have moved quickly to refute the outspoken views spoken by theologian Father Giovanni Cavalcoli…

“Cavalcoli said on Radio Maria that the seismic shocks were ‘divine punishment’ for ‘the offence to the family and the dignity of marriage, in particular through civil unions’. The radio station distanced itself from his views with the  Vatican also quick to come out with a stinging rebuke, saying the idea of a vengeful God was ‘a pagan vision’ dating from ‘the pre-Christian era’…

“But Cavalcoli has refused to back down, insisting to another radio station that earthquakes are indeed caused by ‘the sins of man’ and telling the Vatican to ‘read their catechism’. Legislation allowing gay civil unions in Italy only took effect last month, making it the last country in Western Europe to legally recognise same-sex relationships.”

Even though we are not saying that the current earthquakes in Italy were directly caused by God, the notion that divine punishment for sin is a “pagan vision from a pre-Christian era” shows a completely dumbfounding lack of biblical understanding by the Catholic Church. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Punishment for Our Sins.”

Pope Addresses the Habsburg Family

Zenit wrote on November 7:

“Pope Francis [spoke to] 300 members of Austria’s Habsburg family, when he received them in the Vatican on Saturday as they make a family pilgrimage to Rome, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy.

“[The Pope said this:] ‘In this happy circumstance, you are remembering especially Blessed Karl of Austria, who in fact one hundred years ago or so ascended the throne. May his spiritual presence in your midst be such that the Habsburg family does not turn today to the past nostalgically but, on the contrary, is actively present in today’s history with its challenges and needs. In fact, some of you play leading roles in organizations of solidarity and human and cultural promotion, as well as in supporting the European project as a common home founded on human and Christian values…

“‘Karl of Austria was first of all a good family man, and as such a servant of life and of peace. He had known war, having been a simple soldier at the beginning of World War I. He assumed the kingdom in 1916 and, sensitive to the voice of Pope Benedict XV, he spent himself with all his strength for peace, at the cost of being misunderstood and derided. In this also he gives us an ever more timely example, and we can invoke him as intercessor to obtain from God peace for humanity…’”

Trade Between India and UK Will Suffer Because of Brexit

The Guardian wrote on November 5:

“Trade between India and the UK will suffer a ‘double hit’ as a result of the Brexit vote and the decline in sterling, the head of India’s largest business lobby has warned, ahead of a three-day visit by Theresa May. The prediction by the head of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) echoes those of other analysts…

“Ficci’s secretary general, A Didar Singh, said the Brexit vote would ‘obviously’ have consequences for about 800 Indian businesses operating in the UK, as many used the country as a gateway into Europe. ‘The EU is India’s largest trading partner … but exports from the UK to India have been declining,’ he said, adding that trade would also be hit by the drop in sterling, which rallied on Friday. ‘Now, exports from India to the UK will also decline because you’ve lost 18% of your pound’s value…’

“London has been a hub for drug companies because the European Medicines Agency, which sets standards across the bloc, is headquartered in Canary Wharf. Spain and Sweden are reportedly among those already lobbying to be its new home. India’s largest carmaker, Tata, will also be sweating over negotiations between Britain and the EU. About 90% of its value is tied up in the UK-based Jaguar Land Rover, which is dependent on European supply chains and markets that might soon attract steep duties…”

Theresa May to the High Court: Accept the Decision of the People

On November 5, the Telegraph published the following editorial by Prime Minister Theresa May:

“On Thursday, the High Court decided that the government could not begin the process of withdrawing from the European Union without the permission of MPs and members of the House of Lords. It is a decision the government will challenge in the Supreme Court.

“This may appear to be a debate about process, and the legal argument is complex, but in reality there is an important principle at stake. Parliament voted to put the decision about our membership of the EU in the hands of the British people. The people made their choice, and did so decisively. It is the responsibility of the government to get on with the job and to carry out their instruction in full.  MPs and peers who regret the referendum result need to accept what the people decided. Instead of re-fighting the battles of the past, we should be focusing on how we can come together as a country to make the most of this great national opportunity…”

Russian Warships in the Mediterranean

The Guardian wrote on November 4:

“A Russian frigate armed with cruise missiles has passed through the Bosphorus on its way to the eastern Mediterranean in a potentially ominous development for the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo.

“The Admiral Gligorovich, part of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, arrived off the Syrian coast on Friday as the latest pause in the Russian bombardment of eastern Aleppo came to an end, adding to an emphatic Russian show of naval force in the Mediterranean. Three Russian submarines from Russia’s northern fleet capable of firing Kalibr missiles are also reported to have arrived in the Mediterranean…

“The arrival of the Grigorovich and the Russian submarines armed with cruise missiles could add to the devastation being wreaked on eastern Aleppo, home to 275,000 people. However, if that was Russia’s only aim, it could easily increase the number of planes it bases at Hmeimim air base, near Latakia. The flexing of naval muscle is about geopolitical image as much as military firepower…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 8:

“Russia has said it will soon begin airstrikes on Syria launched from its flagship aircraft carrier… Jets from Russia’s flagship aircraft carrier will launch airstrikes from the eastern Mediterranean around the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo…  Warplanes from the Admiral Kuznetsov will target rebels on the outskirts on the city, where they have launched a counter offensive against the Syrian government-controlled western part of the city…

“The deployment of the Admiral Kuznetsov, the first active combat mission for a Russian aircraft carrier, is the latest escalation since Russia intervened in Syria last September. Moscow has used the conflict to test its capabilities and flex its military muscles, including by launching cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea and using strategic bombers to pound targets. Russia has a naval facility in the Syrian port city of Tartus.”

“Will the Turkish Conflict Come to Germany?”

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 5:

“Anger and desperation motivated many Kurds living in Germany to march in Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund and Hanover…

“Hundreds of people joined spontaneous protests over the jailing of Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Thousands aired their grievances on social media platforms. ‘This is Erdogan’s final declaration of war on the Kurdish people,’ said Ali Ertan Toprak, head of Germany’s large Kurdish community when talking with DW.

“Both politicians have been in the crosshairs of the Turkish government since it began jailing over 30,000 people that it called ‘enemies of the state’ in the wake of July’s failed military coup. The government in Ankara accuses the leftist-liberal HDP of supporting the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and thus supporting terrorism. The party denies the accusation. Nevertheless, over the past several weeks numerous oppositional Kurdish politicians have been removed from office, journalists have been persecuted and pro-Kurdish media outlets have been closed down. The HDP’s electoral success last year made it a serious political force in Turkey and Demirtas one of Erdogan’s most important rivals…

“Toprak is certain that the situation ‘will spill over into Germany, where Turks and Kurds live.’ When he speaks of Turks and Kurds in Germany, he is talking about 1.5 million people – secular, Muslim, conservative and liberal. The Turkish diaspora is just as fractured as Turkish society itself…

“One trend, more than any, is clear: many Germans with Turkish roots still strongly identify with their country of origin. A comprehensive study published this June by Detlef Pollack, a sociology of religion professor at the University of Münster, showed that Turks in Germany feel well integrated but at the same time do not feel as if they are fully accepted as equal members of German society…

“‘There are groups within Germany’s Turkish community that defend everything that Erdogan does because they long for a different Turkey,’ explains Toprak. He says that Erdogan is pushing the country towards an Islamic dictatorship… The head of the Kurdish community in Germany adds: Those who are of a different opinion are ‘declared terrorists and handled as such.’…

“Toprak goes a step further: ‘If Turkish nationalists take to the streets in the next few days and call for counter-demonstrations, one cannot rule out the possibility that there will be rioting in Germany.’ Toprak says that Germany’s federal government has a special obligation to deescalate the situation by ‘condemning Erdogan’s actions in unmistakable terms.’ Demands from the Kurds are clear: immediately suspend EU accession talks with Turkey, end all economic aid and stop arms sales.”

This is not going to happen. Note the next article:

The EUObserver wrote on November 4:

“The EU has condemned the latest raft of arrests in Turkey, but is not yet considering changing its relationship with the country.”

Deutsche Welle added on November 9:

“The European Commission’s assessment of candidate country Turkey has sparked a heated standoff. With patience seemingly running short, each side has accused the other of stalling Turkish membership negotiations… The European Commission released a scathing report on Wednesday concerning Turkey’s accession progress. The Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown on civil rights, the judiciary and press freedom all made the prospect of EU-membership increasingly unlikely, the report said.

“In the escalating standoff, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later challenged European leaders to ‘go and make a final decision’ on Turkey’s membership… Erdogan told business leaders: ‘You know those 3 million refugees in Turkey? They say there is a problem. What if the negotiations end and they open the gates, where would we put those 3 million refugees? That is their worry. That is why they cannot come to the end point.’”

No Catholic Women Priests… Ever!

USA Today reported on November 1:

“The Catholic Church’s ban on female priests will stand forever, Pope Francis said Tuesday. The pontiff made the declaration in response to a female reporter asking whether he thought women would one day serve as Catholic priests and bishops, noting the head of Sweden’s Lutheran Church whom Francis met on his trip there is a woman… ‘Pope John Paul II had the last clear word on this and it stands,’… The reporter then asked ‘Forever, forever? Never, never?’ ‘If we read carefully the declaration by… John Paul II, it is going in that direction,’ the pope responded.

“Pope John Paul II, in an Apostolic letter written in 1994, wrote that despite the church’s long history of male-only priests, ‘in some places it is nonetheless considered open to debate.’ Not so, wrote the pope who died in 2005 and was canonized a saint in 2014… ‘I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful,’ John Paul II wrote.”

In this, the Catholic Church is correct.

 Germans for Clinton as a Lesser of Two EVILS

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 1:

“A whopping 86 percent of Germans would vote for Hillary Clinton for US president and only four percent would choose Donald Trump, a recent poll showed. DW spoke to five very different Germans about the election.

“Theresia Scholz is an 85-year-old pensioner from Reutlingen and has been a member of the conservative CDU for 50 years:…  ‘I would advise the American electorate: Vote for the lesser of two evils. There’s nothing perfect in the world. You can’t elect someone who’s so revolting and is a blowhard and constantly contradicts himself. In the end you don’t know what you’ll get…’

“Helmut Kopp, 46, is a senior partner in a business consultancy near Frankfurt and is married to a German-Persian woman:… ‘I think it’s pathetic that a population of 320 million people has a choice between a senile old man and 69-year-old woman. The two of them should be preparing for the final years of their lives and not go around pretending to be 50-year-old yuppies …’

“Stefan Hauser, 46, works for an online shop in Dresden and is the publisher of a pocket calendar devoted to dead rock musicians: ‘… Neither candidate holds much appeal for young people in Germany.’

“Pauli Heinz, 19, is from Hamburg and just started studying product design in Berlin after going to school for three years in England: ‘… I find the American electoral system problematic. In the end there are only two candidates who have a true chance. If you don’t like either, you don’t have much of a choice.’

“Beate Brinkmeier, 40, is a born and bred West Berliner who works for the picture department of a national newspaper and is in the process of getting a degree in psychology: ‘I think if I were American, I wouldn’t vote. Fundamentally, I ask myself as a European how it can happen that the two candidates are this bad. It’s pretty horrifying… As someone from Berlin, I worry about how the fronts have hardened between the West and Russia. Not that I like Putin, but I don’t think either candidate will do anything to ease the tension. That’s what I’m most worried about.’”

The article summarizes accurately the German sentiments. German preference for Hillary Clinton is largely due to extremely one-sided reporting about the two candidates… which is not to say that we are endorsing either of the candidates in any way.

The Most Unlikeable Candidates

The Washington Post wrote on November 1:

“Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are some of the most unlikeable candidates in political history… but even after this seemingly never-ending election cycle, they’re still more popular than Congress.”

The Obamacare Disaster

BBC News wrote on October 25:

“The cost of healthcare insurance in the US under the Affordable Care Act is expected to rise by an average of 25% in 2017, according to the government. About one in five consumers will also only be able to pick plans from a single insurer, it said… Republican nominee Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to repeal the law, which is known as Obamacare.

“It is a major part of President Barack Obama’s legacy, and his signature piece of legislation… The enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 mandated that every American had to purchase private insurance, and prohibited insurers from turning away the sick. It also provided subsidies.

“… Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said she supports the Affordable Care Act, but has denounced ‘skyrocketing out-of-pocket health costs’, saying the federal government should have the power to block or modify unreasonable rate increases… small-business owners and the self-employed… will take it on the chin…

“The unsubsidised portion of the government-run health insurance marketplace was what Bill Clinton notably called ‘the craziest thing in the world’ earlier this month. Donald Trump and the Republicans tried to make hay out of his remarks at the time – and now they have solid numbers to make their case.

“Mrs Clinton continues to be in the awkward position of defending Obamacare…”

Not only Obamacare, but the entire presidency of Barack Obama has been a complete and utter disaster. It is mind-boggling that especially in Germany, many would prefer a third term for Mr. Obama. This is largely due to a completely inaccurate and propagandistic reporting by the German press.

Günther Oettinger Ridicules Chinese, Merkel and Schroeder

The Guardian wrote on October 28:

“Günther Oettinger, the EU commissioner for digital affairs, has used a speech to poke fun at the Chinese, gay marriage and former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s separation from his wife. Speaking to invited guests of the Hamburg company AGA, the German politician triggered both nervous laughter and applause with his remarks.

“Oettinger, who is known for his gaffes, described a recent contingent of Chinese businessmen who came to Brussels to meet EU officials as ‘nine men, (with) one party and no democracy’, who all wore ‘single-breasted dark-blue jackets, all with their hair brushed from left to right with black shoe polish’.

“Criticising Germany’s welfare system as overly generous, he went on to have a dig at the liberal policies of Angela Merkel’s grand coalition government, saying he would not be surprised if it introduced ‘obligatory homosexual marriage’.

“He said that following the recent collapse of [former Chancellor Gerhard] Schröder’s fourth marriage and the doubts over the North Stream 2 project which he had been working on in his advisory capacity at Gazprom, he would now ‘have plenty of time on his hands’.

“Oettinger, who is responsible for the EU’s IT developments, said he took pride in being the only person in his vicinity who read a newspaper instead of reading his news on a tablet or smartphone.”

Interesting comments….

Turkey Attacks Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 3:

“Germany has become one of the most important havens for terror groups, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday, warning that this ‘cursed terror will boomerang back and hit you.’

“Erdogan said Germany had refused to extradite alleged members of FETO, the name the government uses to describe the organization led by US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara has blamed for the attempted coup in July. The Turkish president said Germany has for years harbored militants and organizations tied to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for greater autonomy, as well as the far-left DHKP-C. The EU designated both groups terror organizations…

“The mushrooming of the post-coup purges of more than 100,000 people has drawn criticism in Germany, where there is increasing worry that the conflict between Gulenists and Erdogan backers could spill into the country.  The purges have also raised concerns over the rule of law and Erdogan’s attempts to silence all opposition… Relations took a further hit earlier this year after Germany passed an Armenian genocide resolution.” 

The “Brexit Betrayal Court Ruling”

The New York Times wrote on November 3:

“The British government’s plan for leaving the European Union was thrown into uncertainty on Thursday after the High Court ruled that Parliament must give its approval before the process can begin. The court’s decision seemed likely to slow — but not halt — the British withdrawal from the bloc, a step approved by nearly 52 percent of voters in a June referendum.

“Nevertheless, the court’s decision was a significant blow to Prime Minister Theresa May. She had planned to begin the legal steps for leaving the European Union by the end of March, and to prepare for the negotiations over Britain’s exit mostly behind closed doors. If the court’s ruling is upheld — the government immediately vowed to appeal — that plan would be thrown into disarray, analysts said. Mrs. May would be forced to work with Parliament and consider its competing priorities for Britain’s future. Specifically, she would have to give it a detailed strategy for negotiating the British departure, or ‘Brexit.’ She has adamantly resisted doing so, arguing that this would impede her flexibility in the negotiations, preventing Britain from getting the best possible deal.”

Express wrote on November 3:

“THE BRITISH public have reacted strongly against today’s Brexit court ruling… The prime minister’s official spokesman said the government had ‘no intention of letting’ the judgement ‘derail Article 50 or the timetable we have set out. We are determined to continue with our plan’… Prime Minister Theresa May had said she would trigger Article 50, which notifies the EU of the UK’s intention to leave the EU, by the end of next March.

“… the High Court ruled that parliament must vote on whether the UK can trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and begin the process of leaving the European Union. This means that the Government cannot begin formal exit negotiations without the backing of the House…”

In a related article, Express wrote on November 3:

“EURO judges could have the final say on the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union following today’s bombshell Article 50 decision in another hammer blow to eurosceptics… Critics have branded the situation a ‘mess’ and urged the Prime Minister to sidestep Article 50 altogether by passing an act of parliament repealing all EU laws. 

“Top lawyers have said that the controversial legal trigger for leaving the bloc, which has never been activated before, is a legal minefield because of its ambiguous wording. Buried deep in the Lisbon Treaty, eurosceptics say Article 50 is so ambiguous and full of holes because arrogant Brussels bureaucrats never conceived that anyone would want to leave their club… A report by the European Parliament, compiled in February this year, also agreed that Article 50 is an ‘international agreement’ between the exiting country and Brussels, and is ‘therefore subject to judicial review by the Court of Justice of the EU’.

“… Ukip MEP Gerard Batten said the growing legal confusion showed that Theresa May should sidestep the flawed exit clause altogether and instead take firm action through the UK parliament. He said:… ‘This mess demonstrates why we should forget Article 50 and leave the EU by repealing the 1972 European Communities Act which is perfectly legal under our constitution.’

“Theresa May has repeatedly asserted that ‘Brexit means Brexit’ and has promised to trigger Article 50 by the end of March at the latest. Once the notification is served to Brussels there will be a two-year window in which to negotiate the terms of Britain’s exit from the bloc, which can only be extended with the unanimous agreement of all 28-member states.”

Russia Lost Bid for UN’s Human Rights Council

The Guardian wrote on October 28:

“Russia has lost its bid to become a member of the UN’s human rights council, in a defeat that reflects the diplomatic cost of its war in Syria. Russia was beaten on Friday by Hungary and Croatia in the competition for two seats on the council allotted to eastern European states. It was the first time one of the permanent five members of the security council had failed to get elected to the HRC since its formation a decade ago, and followed a campaign by human rights groups opposing Russian membership because of its role in the bombing of Syrian cities, eastern Aleppo in particular…

“Human rights groups also campaigned against Saudi Arabia for the high civilian death toll of its bombing campaign in Yemen, but the kingdom won one of the four seats reserved for the Asia-Pacific region.

“The 193-member general assembly on Friday elected 14 members to the 47-nation council, the UN’s main body charged with promoting and protecting human rights. Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iraq, Japan, Rwanda, South Africa, Tunisia, the UK and the US were also elected to the council… ‘Russia deserves this defeat, but it will only increase Moscow’s contempt for the UN,’ said Richard Gowan, a UN expert at the European Council for Foreign Relations…”

The conflict between Russia and the EU is bound to increase.

The Fight Against Aliens

Gizmodo wrote on October 29:

“With UFO sightings on the rise and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman leading a push to reveal more classified info on extraterrestrial life, one small town in France wants to potentially ruin it for us all.

“Claude Avril, the current mayor of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, says that he will not overturn a 62-year-old law that prohibits the ‘flying over, landing, or taking off of flying saucers’ in his town. First introduced by the former mayor, Lucien Jeune, the law states: ‘Any aircraft, known as flying saucer or flying cigar, which should land on the territory of the community will be immediately held in custody.’…

“According to the Telegraph:  ‘The 1954 law was established after a man in northern France said he had seen two figures that looked like ‘deep sea divers’ emerging from a ‘cigar-shaped’ space ship.”

How ridiculous can mankind get?

More Earthquakes in Italy

The Guardian wrote on October 30:

“Prime minister Matteo Renzi swore that Italy would rebuild devastated towns and villages across central Italy that were rocked by a 6.6-magnitude earthquake on Sunday morning, saying the area represented the ‘soul of our country’. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit Italy since 1980, striking a blow to the regions of Marche and Umbria just days after they were hit by two other earthquakes.

“It also frightened and displaced thousands of already-jittery residents who have seen the ancient structures and walls in their towns, including the San Benedetto basilica in Norcia, which is considered a sacred site, crumble into heaps on the street.”

Ultimately, the city of Rome will be hit by a big earthquake.

Muslim Worlds Considered Dome of the Rock as Place for the Two Temples

The Times of Israel wrote on October 31:

“A recently studied inscription from a mosque near Hebron offers insight into how, until the mid-20th century, the Muslim world considered Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock to be the successor to two ancient Jewish shrines that formerly stood atop the Temple Mount.

“The previously overlooked dedicatory inscription from the Mosque of Umar in Nuba, a village nearly 26 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of Jerusalem, mentions the village as an endowment for the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. But what’s striking is that the Dome of the Rock is referred to in the text as ‘the rock of the Bayt al-Maqdis’ — literally, ‘The Holy Temple’ — a verbatim translation of the Hebrew term for the Jerusalem temple that early Muslims employed to refer to Jerusalem as a whole, and the gold-domed shrine in particular.

“Local tradition ascribed the construction of the mosque to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, under whose rule Arab armies conquered Jerusalem and the rest of Byzantine Palestine in the mid-7th century. It was under his eventual successor Abd al-Malik, the fifth caliph, that the Dome of the Rock was completed in 691 CE…

“… medieval Muslim traditions surrounding the Dome of the Rock… ‘identified the mount again and again with David and Solomon’s temples’ and ‘understood that the mount is the ancient temple rebuilt, the Quran is the true faith and the Muslims the true Children of Israel… In effect, the Muslims saw themselves as the ones continuing the biblical tradition of the temple,’ [a scholar] explained; they considered themselves the ‘new Jews.’ In that vein, the Muslims built the third temple in the 7th century in the form of the Dome of the Rock.

“For several centuries, until the fall of Jerusalem to crusading Christians in 1099, Muslims associated the Haram al-Sharif with the former temples…  Muslim traditions identify the Haram again and again with the Temple of David and Solomon, from where the Ark of the Covenant and God’s Presence had been removed, where the Children of Israel killed John, the son of Zechariah (the biblical prophet Zechariah), and Nebuchadnezzar in revenge slaughtered them,’ [another scholar wrote].

“Despite the fact that Muslim texts and historians associated the Temple Mount with the two ancient Jewish temples that stood there, since the foundation of the State of Israel that narrative has been expunged from the Palestinian narrative. A guide to the Haram al-Sharif, the Arabic term for the Temple Mount, published by the Islamic Waqf in 1925 informed visitors that the fact that the Dome of the Rock was built atop the site of Solomon’s Temple was ‘beyond dispute.’ Even as late as 1951, historian — and then-Palestinian mayor of East Jerusalem — Aref el-Aref’s history of the Dome of the Rock stated unequivocally that ‘the ruins of Solomon’s Temple are under al-Aqsa’ and that Umar built a mosque atop the former building’s site. But by 1965, ‘A Brief Guide to the Dome of the Rock and Haram al-Sharif,’ published by the Supreme Awqaf Council, completely avoided mentioning the ancient Jewish temples.

“Amid clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police on the Temple Mount last October, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, the Muslim cleric in charge of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, said that there was never a Jewish temple atop the Temple Mount, and that the site has been home to a mosque ‘since the creation of the world.’… ‘This is the Al-Aqsa Mosque that Adam, peace be upon him, or during his time, the angels built,’ the mufti said.”

Building its Army!

On October 12, 2016, Der Spiegel Online reported that the four countries with the biggest European armies will be working together more closely, after Britain is out of the way. These countries are France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The article continued that the EU Treaties allow this to happen

Steinmeier Warns of Deteriorating World Order

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 8:

“Writing in the mass-market newspaper Bild, Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said that tensions between Washington and Moscow have created a situation that is ‘more dangerous’ than the Cold War. ‘All options need to be considered’ in light of recent atrocities in Syria, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman has said, when asked about the possibility of fresh sanctions against Russia… Steinmeier penned an opinion piece published Saturday warning that relations between the US and Russia have reached a new low. ‘It’s a fallacy to think that this is like the Cold War. The current times are different and more dangerous,’ Steinmeier wrote in a 214-word guest column published by Bild, Germany’s largest circulation newspaper.

“The Ukrainian crisis, Syrian conflict and a lapse in nuclear material cooperation between the former Cold War adversaries are listed by Germany’s top diplomat as reasons for the dangerous environment. He laid the blame mostly on Russia for ‘provoking’ a new Cold War but, unlike the Cold War-era, in which the US and Russia had ‘red lines and respected them’, the new multi-polar environment has more regional conflict making geopolitics ‘more unpredictable.’…”

Russia’s Further Provocations

Reuters wrote on October 8:

“Russia has moved nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles into the Kaliningrad enclave bordering Poland and Lithuania, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday, adding it was part of routine drills… ‘The deployment not only increases tensions in the region, but also possibly violates international treaties which limit deployment of ballistic missiles of range of over 500 kilometers,’ [Lithuania’s] Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told a news briefing in Vilnius… Some modifications of the Iskander can hit targets 700 km (450 miles) away, putting the German capital Berlin in range of Kaliningrad, Linkevicius said.”

Attempted Terror Attacks by Refugees in Germany?

The Local wrote on October 8:

“German police were carrying out a huge manhunt Saturday for a 22-year-old Syrian suspected of planning a bomb attack, after finding ‘highly explosive’ materials in his apartment. Security has been boosted at Berlin’s two airports and at train stations in the capital. The suspect, Jaber Albakr, could have had ‘an Islamist motive’, police sources told AFP. German news agency DPA, citing security sources, reported that Albakr had links to the Islamic State (IS) group. Police said ‘several hundred grams’ of an ‘explosive substance even more dangerous than TNT’ were found in Albakr’s apartment in the eastern city of Chemnitz, about 260 kilometres south of Berlin. ‘Even a small quantity of this substance could have caused enormous damage,’ police said…

“Albakr had been under surveillance for some time, with the magazine Focus reporting that he was suspected of plotting to attack an airport. Two of his associates were arrested close to Chemnitz’s railway station while a third was taken into custody in the city centre…

“Albakr was living in a neighbourhood of Chemnitz whose communist-era housing estates are home to many recently arrived refugees… German police said previously they had identified 523 people who posed a security threat to the country, around half of whom were known to be currently in Germany. On September 21 German officials said a 16-year-old Syrian refugee had been arrested on suspicion of planning a bomb attack in the name of IS. The youngster, thought to have been radicalised only recently, was detained in a special forces operation at a shelter for asylum seekers in the western city of Cologne, police and prosecutors said. Initial information gathered from the teenager’s mobile phone showed that he had expressed an ‘unmistakeable willingness’ to carry out an attack, Klaus-Stephan Becker of the Cologne police told reporters.

“A week earlier, German police detained three men with forged Syrian passports accused of being IS militants and labelled a possible ‘sleeper cell’ with links to the assailants behind the November attacks in Paris. More than 200 police took part in pre-dawn raids in northern Germany to detain the men, suspected of either plotting an attack or awaiting orders to commit one. German authorities have urged the public not to confuse migrants with ‘terrorists’, but have acknowledged that more jihadists may have entered the country among the nearly one million asylum seekers who arrived last year.”

Syrian Terror Suspect Found Dead in Cell in Germany

BBC News reported on October 12:

“A Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack on a Berlin airport has killed himself in his prison cell in Leipzig, Germany, officials say.

“Saxony’s state justice ministry said Jaber al-Bakr was found dead and that an investigation had been launched.

“He had been turned in to police on Monday by three Syrian refugees after being on the run for two days.

“German police had been watching him for months, but failed to arrest him when they raided his flat on Saturday.

“Since his arrest, Jaber al-Bakr, 22, had been on hunger strike and was under round-the-clock surveillance, news website Der Spiegel reported.”

Cholera in Haiti

Deutsche Welle reported on October 8:

“Cholera outbreaks have killed at least 13 people in Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Nearly 900 people have died in Haiti with thousands homeless due to the storm, which is now battering the US southeast… The flood water mixed with sewage, which has likely caused the cholera outbreak. The disease causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if a patient doesn’t receive medical treatment.

“… Before Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) released a loan of $8 million (7.14 million euros) to the United Nations Children’s Fund to deal with a worsening cholera epidemic in the country. ‘In 2016, almost 27,000 cholera cases have been reported in Haiti, and over 240 people have died. Hurricane Matthew is feared to significantly worsen the situation and increase the risk of a larger outbreak,’ CERF said in a statement on Friday.”

Pope Sad About Marrying Nuns

Newsmax wrote on October 7:

“Pope Francis was upset to hear that two former nuns had married in a civil ceremony in Italy, Vatican Deputy Secretary of State Archbishop Angelo Becciu said Friday. ‘How much sadness on the pope’s face when I read him the news of the two married “nuns”!’ Becciu tweeted.

“Federica and Isabel were joined in a civil union in northern Italy last month, taking advantage of a law passed this year that offers homosexual couples legal recognition — one of the last countries in the West to do so. The pair, who did not give their surnames, told La Repubblica on Friday that they had fallen in love while serving as missionaries in the West African country Guinea-Bissau. Federica, 44, comes from Italy and Isabel, 40, comes from South America. They said they could have done what other nuns did and live together in a convent while hiding their relationship, but said this would have been ‘false’. ‘There are many such cases where priests or nuns hide their relationships with men or women,’ the pair were quoted as saying, adding that they had received no help when they left their religious order…

“The Italian Bishops Conference came out firmly against the government’s Civil Union bill, arguing that it undermined the status of traditional families. The Church teaches that homosexuality is not sinful but homosexual acts are, and that homosexuals should try to be chaste. However, Pope Francis said in June that Christians and the Roman Catholic Church should seek forgiveness from gay people for the way they had treated them.”

Flashback: “Seattle Children’s Hospital Will Open a Clinic for Transgender Youth”

The Family Policy Institute wrote on September 26:

“Doctors trained in ‘transgender care’ will provide puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone therapy, and mental health support to children struggling with their gender identity. The Gender Clinic will refer children seeking sex reassignment surgery to other medical providers. The clinic… will serve children between eight and 21 years old.

“Seattle Children’s claims that treating transgender children early in life allows them to better integrate into society, despite growing evidence that treating gender dysphoria with puberty blockers and hormone therapies can irreversibly harm young children. In a statement entitled ‘Gender Ideology Harms Children,’ the American College of Pediatricians outlines the risks associated with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapies.

“Puberty blockers prevent a child from beginning puberty. Children using puberty blockers find their growth and fertility inhibited, sometimes permanently. Their sexual organs never fully mature, leaving them deprived of the ability to reproduce and without the physical characteristics associated with either sex. Heartbreakingly, this can leave them feeling as if they belong to neither biological sex.

“There are also health risks associated with these treatments. Puberty blockers decrease bone density and may hinder brain development. Cross-sex hormone therapy increases the risk of high blood pressure, blood clots, stroke, and cancer. Dr. Paul McHugh, the former psychiatrist in chief at John Hopkins Medical Center, likened these medical interventions to ‘child abuse,’ noting that ‘close to 80% of such children would abandon their confusion and grow naturally into adult life if untreated.’ Other research summarized by the American Psychiatric Association suggests as many as 98% of boys and 88% of girls who struggle with gender dysphoria as children will no longer identify as the other gender after finishing puberty.

“Troublingly, the majority of adolescents who will stop identifying as the other gender may be unable to revert to their biological sex if they received puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments. The American College of Pediatricians warns that ‘children and adolescents are incapable of making informed decisions regarding permanent, irreversible and life-altering medical interventions.’

“We agree. Activist doctors shouldn’t encourage children to undergo unnecessary and potentially harmful and irreversible medical treatments – and that’s exactly why the news about the Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic is so concerning.”

Piers Morgan Evaluates the Second Presidential Debate

The Daily Mail reported on October 10:

“I don’t think I’m overstating things when I say that last night’s debate was the most sickeningly squalid spectacle in the history of US politics. To see the remaining two candidates for the presidency trading blows about sexual assault and rape was so unedifying it defies any parody Saturday Night Live might ever come up…

“It’s hard to imagine any ‘October surprise’ that could possibly suit Hillary’s agenda more than this… Yet there was one huge problem: her husband Bill, sitting just a few yards away in the front row.

The world knows him as a brilliant politician, but also as a serial seducer of epic proportions who, while he was President of the United States, even had sexual relations with a young intern in the Oval Office. In comparison to Bill, many view Trump as a choirboy when it comes to women.

“Earlier last night, Trump hosted a press event with four women: Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton. Broaddrick claimed Bill Clinton raped her when he was Arkansas attorney general, and that Hillary intimidated her into silence when her husband launched his own bid to be president. Willey was a former White House volunteer aide who alleges Bill Clinton sexually assaulted her during his first term as president. Jones is a former Arkansas state employee who sued Bill Clinton for sexual harassment.

“Shelton was a 12-year-old rape victim whose attacker was defended by Hillary Clinton in her lawyer days. A tape later emerged showing Hillary chuckling when talking about the case and suggesting she knew her client was guilty. She used a legal technicality to get him a substantially reduced sentence…

“It was a prurient, distasteful and thoroughly self-serving stunt by Trump to sit among these women in front of the world’s media shortly before the debate started. And then take them to the actual debate itself and sit them right in the front row, feet away from Hillary. It also proved to be an extremely effective form of ugly politics. Hillary knew they were there. So did Bill. And so did the world…

“When Hillary went after Trump for his sex tapes, he instantly flew back at her about these women. ‘If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse,’ Trump jabbed. ‘Mine were words, his were actions. Bill Clinton was abusive to women, Hillary Clinton attacked those women, attacked them viciously.’ It was devastatingly brutal to watch, but as he doubtless hoped it would, it stopped the sex tape debate in its tracks. Hillary had nowhere to go but meek retreat. ‘I’m reminded,’ she said, ‘of what my friend Michelle Obama advised us all: When they go low, you go high.’…

“I’m not so sure about that, Mrs Clinton. I think the world’s women were more of the ‘when they go THIS low, deliver the fatal blow’ mind-set. But she couldn’t and Trump knew it. Emboldened by this knowledge, you could see his confidence levels rise for the rest of the debate as he scored valuable points against her over issues like emails, Benghazi, Obamacare and Iraq. Hillary held her own but she was nowhere near as comfortable or dominant as she was in the first debate. By the end, it was clear that Trump had won the real battle. Far from being finished, he had sent a firm message to his supporters and indeed to those in the Republican Party itching to ditch him, that he is still alive and kicking in this race…

“As for what happens next, who… knows? The truth about this extraordinary election is that nobody really has a clue what will happen in the next 24 hours, let alone 29 days.

“Trump, Hillary’s supporters insist, is a disgusting, bigoted, women-hating, Hitler-esque monster who couldn’t possibly be elected president. The problem is that’s not what vast swathes of Middle America actually think. They still see Trump as their billionaire Robin Hood, albeit with rather more personal flaws. And they loathe Hillary because to them, she’s the walking, breathing, smirking personification of the very Establishment they believe is conspiring to wreck their lives. They are also, as we’ve seen from the reaction to last night’s debate, well aware that when it comes to defending the rights of women against sexist, misogynist creeps, it’s probably best not to be called Clinton.”

Donald Trump in Hot Water

The Telegraph wrote on October 8:

“Donald Trump’s chances of winning the US election were dealt a severe blow on Friday night after the emergence of a video in which he… uses lewd and sexually aggressive language… The billionaire businessman took the rare step of apologising for any offence he might have caused, describing the filmed conversation from 2005 as ‘locker room banter’. He added Bill Clinton, the former president, had said ‘far worse’…

“Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s rival for the White House said: ‘This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president..’ Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House and most senior Republican, said he was ‘sickened’ by what he heard and banned him from a political event in Wisconsin. Reince Preibus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee,  slammed the party’s presidential candidate in a statement Friday night. ‘No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever.’ … In the video, Mr Trump is recorded talking about an unnamed woman to Billy Bush, who was a host for Access Hollywood, a TV entertainment show… The footage was taken several months after Mr Trump married his third wife, Melania Trump, in January 2005…”

The Daily Mail added that “Billy Bush is the nephew of former president George H.W. Bush, and first cousins with George W. and Jeb Bush.”

The New York Times added on October 7:

“In the video, from 2005, Mr. Bush can be heard laughing as Mr. Trump describes in vulgar terms his efforts to seduce a married woman… Mr. Bush, 44, issued a statement on Friday evening, writing: ‘Obviously I’m embarrassed and ashamed. It’s no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago — I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along.’”

The Huffington Post wrote von October 7:

“Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the GOP presidential primary earlier this year, called the remarks ‘reprehensible’ on Twitter. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another former Trump primary rival, echoed the sentiment. Mitt Romney, the Republicans’ presidential nominee four years ago, condemned his successor’s remarks as ‘vile degradations.’ Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the 2008 GOP nominee, denounced Trump’s ‘offensive and demeaning,’ adding that the GOP nominee ‘alone bears the burden of his conduct and alone should suffer the consequences.’… Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called Trump’s comments ‘vulgar, egregious and impossible to justify.’”

Deutsche Welle added on October 8:

“Donald Trump’s running mate and closest ally Mike Pence has slammed Trump’s comments on groping women. With outrage mounting against Trump, the ex-reality TV star said there was ‘zero chance’ of him quitting the race. Pence, who is the Republican candidate for vice president, said on Saturday he ‘cannot defend’ Trump’s vulgar remarks caught in a 2005 video…

“Trump’s wife Melania, who married the billionaire only months before the video was recorded, urged the public to accept his apology. ‘The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know,’ she said in a statement. At the same time, she defended her husband, saying he had ‘the heart and mind of a leader… I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.’”

Trump declares war on GOP, says ‘the shackles have been taken off’

The Washington Post wrote on October 11:

“Donald Trump declared war on the Republican establishment Tuesday, lashing out at House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and other GOP elected officials as his supporters geared up to join the fight amid extraordinary turmoil within the party just four weeks before Election Day.

“One day after Ryan announced he would no longer campaign on Trump’s behalf, the GOP nominee said as part of a barrage of tweets that the top-ranking Republican is ‘weak and ineffective’ and is providing ‘zero support’ for his candidacy. Trump also declared that ‘the shackles have been taken off’ him, liberating him to ‘fight for America the way I want to.’

“Trump called McCain ‘foul-mouthed’ and accused him with no evidence of once begging for his support…

“’I wouldn’t want to be in a foxhole with a lot of these people, that I can tell you . . . especially Ryan,’ Trump said in an interview with Fox News Channel. He said if he is elected president, Ryan might be ‘in a different position.’

“In perhaps the most piercing insult, Trump said his party is harder to deal with than even Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, whom conservatives loathe….

“By backing away from Trump, Ryan and his allies were hoping to insulate themselves and their majorities on Capitol Hill from the baggage weighing down the nominee’s flagging campaign. For many, the breaking point was the 2005 video. But they are suddenly dealing with another problem: an impulsive and bellicose businessman with an army of loyal supporters willing to exact retribution against elected officials they feel have abandoned them. The rift could have profound ramifications for the Republican Party as a whole, shattering any sense of unity and jeopardizing its chances of holding onto the Senate and even, potentially, the House.”

Russia Defends Trump

Newsmax wrote on October 7:

Russia’s government lodged a formal complaint last month with the United Nations over a top U.N. official’s condemnations of Donald Trump and some European politicians, diplomats told The Associated Press, an intervention that underscores the unusual links between the Republican presidential nominee and the Kremlin…

“Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, issued a verbal ‘demarche’ to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a private meeting on Sept. 13… Churkin angrily protested a pair of speeches by [Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights] that denounced ‘demagogues’ and specifically targeted Trump and several populist leaders in Europe, even likening their tactics to Islamic State propaganda…

“Paul Manafort, a Trump campaign manager, resigned this summer over revelations about his work for Ukraine’s former, Moscow-backed president and other pro-Russian officials…

“Zeid concentrated on Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders, who opposes asylum for refugees and, similar to Trump, immigration from Muslim countries. Wilders also advocates closing mosques and Islamic schools, and outlawing the Quran. Zeid also criticized by name the pro-Brexit head of the U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, who appeared with Trump at an August rally; Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico; Austrian presidential candidate Norbert Hofer; French nationalist leader Marine Le Pen; Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban; and Czech President Milos Zeman.”

Hillary Clinton in Hot Water

Newsmax reported on October 7:

“Hillary Clinton told bankers behind closed doors that she favored ‘open trade and open borders’ and said Wall Street executives were best-positioned to help reform the U.S. financial sector, according to transcripts of her private, paid speeches leaked Friday. The leaks were the result of another email hacking intended to influence the presidential election. Excerpts of the speeches given in the years before her 2016 presidential campaign included some blunt and unguarded remarks to her private audiences which collectively had paid her at least $26.1 million in speaking fees. Clinton had refused to release transcripts of the speeches, despite repeated calls to do so by her primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“The excerpts were included in emails exchanged among her political staff, including Campaign Chairman John Podesta, whose email account was hacked. The WikiLeaks organization posted what it said were thousands of Podesta’s emails. It wasn’t immediately clear who had hacked Podesta’s emails, though the breach appeared to cover years of messages, some sent as recently as last month.

“Among the emails was a compilation of excerpts from Clinton’s paid speeches in 2013 and 2014. It appeared campaign staff had read all Clinton’s speeches and identified passages that could be potentially problematic for the candidate if they were to become public.

“One excerpt put Clinton squarely in the free-trade camp, a position she has retreated on significantly during the 2016 election. In a talk to a Brazilian bank in 2013, she said her ‘dream’ is ‘a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders’ and asked her audience to think of what doubling American trade with Latin America ‘would mean for everybody in this room.’

“Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has made opposition to trade deals a cornerstone of his campaign…

“The excerpts include quotes from an October 2013 speech at an event sponsored by Goldman Sachs, in which Clinton conceded that presidential candidates need the financial backing of Wall Street to mount a competitive national campaign…

“In an April 2013 speech to the National Multifamily Housing Council, Clinton said politicians must balance ‘both a public and a private position’ while making deals…”

Europe’s Future

The Christian Science Monitor wrote on October 1:

“Across the Continent, the basic question – what is Europe? – is being asked in living rooms, corporate suites, and government cubicles with more urgency than at any time since World War II. Buffeted by fundamental changes – the decision by Britain to leave the EU, the continuing torrent of refugees, the inexorable rise of far-right political parties, and the threat posed by a resurgent Russia – the EU is confronting a historic crisis of cohesion and identity.

“Many experts fully expect the EU to survive. They believe this is simply the latest in a recurring cycle of challenges. Others think the EU will be a weakened and much less unified bloc of nations in the future – and possibly a much smaller one as well.

“While comparisons of the current period are made with the run-up to World War II, when a depression made Europe ripe for fascism, or with the disruptive globalization that preceded World War I, many dismiss the notion that Europe is about to face anything as cataclysmic. But there is no doubt that Europe finds itself at a hinge moment – one that will have significant implications for the world’s largest trading bloc as well as for the Western world and the kind of democracy it espouses…

“Later in the fall, Austrian voters could very well elect the EU’s first far-right head of state…

“While German residents debate the philosophical underpinnings of Europe, bureaucrats in Brussels are working out the details of something that will hold far more practical implications for the future of Europe – Britain’s pending divorce from the EU. The EU just held its first summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Sept. 16 to discuss where the bloc is going from here, without the British leader, new Prime Minister Theresa May.

“In their vote to leave the EU in June, most who were in favor of leaving weren’t motivated by the desire to dismantle Europe. Instead they were driven by a heady mix of defiance and pride over issues of identity and sovereignty and frustration over their own economic plight… Britain, of course, has always been a hesitant European partner. It joined the bloc only in 1973, after its empire was largely a footnote in history and its economy was reeling from deindustrialization. Under leaders from Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, Britain has always had a fraught relationship with continental Europe.

“But the decision to definitively leave the EU surprised even the ‘Leave’ campaign… Various opinion surveys from Denmark to Finland showed desire for similar referendums plummeting after Brexit… the risk of copycat exit movements remains, especially if populists gain ground in countries where euroskepticism is highest…

“Europe… has been shaken out of complacency, given a glimpse into the consequences of not responding to the issues Europeans care most about. That includes fortifying exterior borders to make Europe more secure, bringing order to the refugee crisis, generating jobs (especially for European youth)…

“As populism has grown across the West, many fault mainstream politicians for failing to respond – for either just pandering to the populist vote or for failing to convince Europeans to believe in the EU decades after peace has held… eventually politicians will have to integrate the economic system further…The question of unity lies at the heart of the problems facing mainstream politicians in Europe, who have to balance national interest against the greater good of the EU project…

“After successive terrorist attacks by Islamist-inspired perpetrators – in France, Belgium, and this summer in Germany for the first time – Muslims have said that they feel pushed away. This could become one of Europe’s biggest problems, as alienation breeds radicalization… Many residents feel insecure… and refugees and asylum-seekers have played a role in the terror hitting Europe. Bans on burqas – and burkinis at beaches in France – epitomize the public debate playing out…

“Germany’s Angela Merkel, whose leadership is crucial to the future of Europe… faces rising opposition [at home]. Last month, her center-right party lost elections to the populist Alternative for Germany in her home district in northeastern Germany…“German author Andre Wilkens… believes Germany is central to Europe’s future…”

According to the Bible, out of the EU and the Eurozone, ten nations or groups of nations will arise very soon, and they will give their power and authority to a charismatic political leader of German (or Austrian) descent. Indeed, Germany and Germany’s leadership are central and crucial to Europe’s future. Please read our free booklet, “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire.”

Hungarians Reject EU Migrant Policy in an Invalid Referendum

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 2:

“Citizens in Hungary have voted in a controversial referendum to reject the European Union’s plan to distribute migrants across the bloc. However, data from the National Election Office’s special referendum website suggest the number of voters was less than 50 percent, invalidating the result…

“More than 98 percent… rejected the EU’s migrant quota, while 1.7 percent voted in favor of it… Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the results needed to be taken into account by EU decision-makers. ‘Thirteen years after a large majority of Hungarians voted at a referendum to join the European Union, today Hungarians made their voices heard again in a European issue,’ Orban told a news conference in the capital, Budapest…

“Eastern European countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, have vehemently opposed accepting migrants. Hungary has refused to accept even one of the 1,294 refugees allotted to it and has instead filed a legal case against the EU, together with Slovakia.”

Aleppo Under Siege

Reuters reported on October 1:

“Russian war planes struck rebel-held areas north of Aleppo on Saturday as the [Syrian] army shelled the besieged old quarter in a major offensive… Russia was reported on Friday to be sending more warplanes to Syria to ramp up its air campaign as the United States said it had not yet given up on finding a diplomatic resolution. The latest strikes come 10 days into a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive to capture eastern Aleppo and crush the last urban stronghold of a revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that began in 2011…

“The army, aided by hundreds of Iranian-backed militias who have arrived in Aleppo, have backed up the air campaign with a ground offensive on several frontlines to break rebel defenses inside the city… Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov… criticized Washington’s failure to separate moderate rebel groups from those the Russians call terrorists…

“The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that monitors the war… said warplanes struck a field hospital in the heavily bombed rebel-held al Sakhour district in the second such strike on one of four such medical facilities targeted in the last few days… Hundreds of people have been killed in the bombing and many hundreds more wounded, with little access to treatment in hospitals that lack basic supplies… Washington, Britain and other allies have condemned the Russian bombing campaign, with the U.S envoy to the U.N. last week calling Russia’s actions in Syria ‘barbarism’ not counter-terrorism…

“Russia joined the war exactly a year ago, tipping the balance of power in favor of Assad, who is also supported by Iranian ground forces and Shi’ite militia from Lebanon and Iraq.”

Deutsche Welle added on October 1:

“British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Moscow risked becoming an international pariah if its bombing continued. But Moscow and Damascus appear unperturbed by Western outrage over the relentless bombardments [which] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denounced as ‘war crimes.’… Casualties are mounting on both sides of the divided city. About 1.2 million people are facing daily rocket fire by the rebels, while 250,000 civilians are under siege by the Syrian army in the east of the city, which is held by rebels…

“The medical charity Doctors Without Borders has described the indiscriminate bombing of eastern Aleppo by Syrian and Russian forces as a ‘bloodbath.’… Aleppo was Syria’s largest city and commercial hub before civil war broke out in 2011. The city has been divided into government and opposition sectors for the past four years.”

Why Does Russia Support Assad?

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 1:

“For over five years now – but especially since Russia launched its airstrikes in 2015 – many world leaders have asked why the country continues to stand by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Theories abound, but none of those really explains Russia’s massive engagement and its willingness to eat the monetary, military and diplomatic costs.

“One theory is that President Vladimir Putin wants to maintain Syria’s port of Tartus as Russia’s only direct access to the Mediterranean Sea. Another is that Putin wants to show that he is willing to counter all civil society uprisings and revolts and that by supporting Assad he is sending signals to opposition movements in Russia. Or maybe Putin is striving for political stability in the Middle East in order to prevent extremists from spreading to Russia and neighboring countries. The prevailing theory, however, is that Putin wants to prove that Russia is a superpower just like the United States…

“A year ago, Russia began its airstrikes on Syria. The attacks targeted everyone who was labeled a ‘terrorist’ by the governments of Russia and Syria…  The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that the airstrikes have killed almost 9,500 people – including at least 3,800 civilians, 900 of whom were children…

“Russia’s open entry into the war was harshly criticized by officials from the United States and EU – including German leaders. ‘Anyone… who drops bunker-busting bombs on residential buildings is committing war crimes,’ Omid Nouripour, of the Greens, told the  public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. Nouripour also accused Russia and the Assad regime of ruthlessness in their fight for the eastern part of Aleppo…”

Russia Warns of Nuclear World War III

The Sun wrote on October 5, 2016:

“A RUSSIAN newspaper fears a Third World War with the US over Syria. Tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets predicts a ‘direct military confrontation’ on par with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The US suspended contact with Russia over Syria on Monday. Secretary of State John Kerry has been enraged by  airstrikes on rebel-controlled areas of Aleppo…”

Metro.co.uk wrote on Oct. 4, 2016:

“As tensions rise in the Middle East, an official TV channel in Russia has issued a chilling warning that war with the West could be imminent. Zvezda, a nationwide TV service run by the country’s Ministry of Defence, said last week, ‘Schizophrenics from America are sharpening nuclear weapons for Moscow.’… Both Russia and NATO are still in the position to unleash global-scale nuclear attacks – and the weapons are armed and ready…

“What would a nuclear blast actually do?… What observers fear is a military or political confrontation which builds up tensions around a nuclear missile attack – possibly leading one side to fire.

“Hydrogen bombs would destroy most civilian buildings in a 10-mile radius (based on a 20-megaton weapon exploding 3.3 miles above the ground)… The effects on people nearby would be even more frightening, with a blast killing thousands or millions instantly, followed by poisoning from radioactive fallout from the blast.

“Witnesses of the Hiroshima attack said that people near the centre of the blast ‘vanished’. … William Burchett said, ‘Of thousands of others, nearer the centre of the explosion, there was no trace. They vanished. The theory in Hiroshima is that the atomic heat was so great that they burned instantly to ashes – except that there were no ashes.’”

The Federalist Paper Project wrote on October 5:

“[Zvezda] breathlessly reported that underground nuclear bunkers had been built to house 12 million people – enough to house the entire population of Moscow… Russia’s nuclear stockpile is the largest in the world with 8,400 warheads compared to America’s 7,500…

“The Russians have also launched a nationwide civil defense training exercise in preparation for an all-out war with the West. The Independent reports: “Lasting three days, the exercise being run by the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) will involve 200,000 emergency personnel and the co-operation of 40 million civilians.”

[The Daily Mail added on October 5 that “Russia is evacuating more than 40million people in drills to prepare for nuclear war.”]

“In their doomsday broadcast, they told viewers that the United States would ‘Face terrible, tectonic’ consequences if they took action against the Syrian regime.”

Flashback: Russia’s New Naval Doctrine Endangers Georgia

On September 8, 2016, Georgia Today wrote the following:

“Due to the strained relations between the West and Russia, including an ongoing economic war between the EU and the USA and Russia via a sanction policy and ever worsening confrontation between NATO and Russia via the constant flexing of ‘military muscles’ between competing forces, there is many a thing a little country like Georgia has to think of. In that scope, one of the dangerous ‘combat zones’ is thought to be the Black Sea Basin…

“The Russian policy-makers seek to regain the status-quo through domination in the basin by controlling three key points: Crimea, the mouths of the Danube and the Bosphorus [sic].

“Considering the latest events, Russia has partially achieved its strategic goals – first occupying and then annexing Crimea and reinforcing military positions in the peninsula, with the creation of the so-called ‘Mediterranean Task Force’ within the Black Sea Fleet, and detachment of combat ships and boats for the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf region to pursue its second objective of obtaining control over the Bosphorus…

“With this reinforcement of its naval forces, Russia is not so far away from securing the third pillar of its strategy – the mouth of the Danube. Before that, however, in order to better reinforce its presence in the Black Sea basin, the Russian authority announced that 30 new ships are to be added to the Black Sea Fleet… Georgia is in a dangerous position due to… its sea ports that Russia will need badly to establish its hegemony…”

Outrageous Obamacare Penalizes Hard-Working Americans

The Washington Free Beacon wrote on September 26:

“Nearly 8.1 million taxpayers paid $1,694,088,000 in Obamacare penalties for not having health insurance in 2014, the first year the penalty was in effect, according to the most recent data from the Internal Revenue Service. ‘Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that individuals must have had health care coverage, qualified for a health coverage exemption, or made a shared responsibility payment with a tax return,’ the IRS said…

“IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told lawmakers in 2015 that preliminary data from the IRS found that approximately 7.5 million taxpayers paid a total of $1.5 billion in penalties. This means about 560,000 more taxpayers paid about $200 million more in penalties than was previously reported.

“In 2014, individuals were required to pay either a flat penalty of $95 for each uninsured adult or one percent of their household’s adjusted gross income in excess of the threshold for mandatory tax filing, whichever is greater. In 2016, those penalties rose to a flat fee of $695 or 2.5 percent of the AGI measure.

“Around four million individuals are estimated to pay $4 billion in penalties this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The budget office projects that $5 billion will be collected each year from 2017 to 2024… Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) [said:] ‘Obamacare penalizes taxpayers who can no longer afford insurance that Obamacare made unaffordable… The legacy of Obamacare is skyrocketing premiums, unaffordable deductibles, the destruction of the individual insurance market, and tax penalties on Obamacare’s victims.’”

This “penalty” or “tax,” which was unconstitutionally held by the US Supreme Court to be constitutional, is really a shameful governmental and judicial attack on the freedom and liberty (and the money) of hard-working American citizens.

Israel Has the Bomb… and Shimon Peres Helped Develop It

Daily Mail wrote on October 2:

“The secret of whether Israel has the nuclear bomb has finally been exposed – after former president Shimon Peres admitted from beyond the grave that he helped develop an atomic weapons programme. Israeli leaders have always refused to admit having a nuclear arsenal, preferring to keep enemies in doubt.

“But in a remarkable interview recorded just before his death last Thursday at the age of 93, the veteran statesman not only confirmed the nuclear capability – but also admitted that he was its architect. The candid confession follows decades of speculation over whether Israel had managed to build a bomb at its Dimona plant in the Negev desert, which officials insist is used simply for scientific research…

“Peres, one of the founding fathers of Israel in 1948, revealed he persuaded President Ben Gurion to develop a nuclear reactor in 1955, fearing a threat from neighbouring Iran… It is understood, although unconfirmed, that the country’s first bomb was created in 1966…

“Israeli media are forbidden from reporting on their country’s nuclear ambitions, and politicians refuse to discuss it. Yet external observers estimate that the country has about 80 nuclear weapons.”

From this it follows that at this point, Israel is apparently the only country in the Middle East which possesses nuclear weapons. But countries like Iran and others are very desirous of obtaining the bomb.

USA Today Breaks a 34-Year Old Tradition

On September 30, 2016, USA Today published the following article by its Editorial Board:

“In the 34-year history of USA TODAY, the Editorial Board has never taken sides in the presidential race. Instead, we’ve expressed opinions about the major issues and haven’t presumed to tell our readers, who have a variety of priorities and values, which choice is best for them… We’ve never seen reason to alter our approach. Until now. This year, the choice isn’t between two capable major party nominees who happen to have significant ideological differences. This year, one of the candidates – Republican nominee Donald Trump – is, by unanimous consensus of the Editorial Board, unfit for the presidency.

“From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week’s first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents. Whether through indifference or ignorance, Trump has betrayed fundamental commitments made by all presidents since the end of World War II. These commitments include unwavering support for NATO allies, steadfast opposition to Russian aggression, and the absolute certainty that the United States will make good on its debts. He has expressed troubling admiration for authoritarian leaders and scant regard for constitutional protections…

“A list prepared by NBC details 124 shifts by Trump on 20 major issues since shortly before he entered the race… In a Wall Street Journal column this month, Robert Gates, the highly respected former Defense secretary who served presidents of both parties over a half-century, described Trump as ‘beyond repair.’… His proposals for mass deportations and religious tests are unworkable and contrary to America’s ideals…

“The Editorial Board does not have a consensus for a Clinton endorsement. Some of us… believe she’d serve the nation ably as its president. Other board members have serious reservations about Clinton’s sense of entitlement, her lack of candor and her extreme carelessness in handling classified information…”

The article paints a really bad picture of Donald Trump, and we did not even quote most of the rather outrageous statements. On the other hand, the article is far too condescending towards the many serious problems associated with Hillary Clinton. It then asks the question, “Where does that leave us?” The answer should be obvious. The USA is left with a terrible future, no matter who will win the Presidency. That is WHY members of the Church of God do not… or ought not… vote in presidential elections like the next one.

Germany Highly Critical of Trump

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 1:

“In an internal paper drawn up by the German Economy Ministry, experts say the US economy would suffer if Donald Trump were elected president. The weekly news magazine Spiegel quoted the paper as saying that the United States could expect ‘a shrinking GDP, fewer jobs and higher unemployment’ if the Republican candidate were to triumph in November.

“… the Economy Ministry reports that his plans would violate both US and international law. The experts, who directly advise Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, the possible 2017 chancellor candidate for the Social Democrats (SPD), wrote that Trump’s ideas were ‘impossible to put into practice’ and ‘no basis for a realistic economic policy.’ The criticism is the latest instance in which prominent German government officials and employees have voiced dismay at Trump.

“Trump is massively unpopular in Germany and most of Europe… German politicians, including Gabriel, were extraordinarily frank in criticizing the Republican. ‘Trump has no plan for the United States – to say nothing of the great challenges of international politics,’ Gabriel said on Tuesday in the wake of the first US presidential debate…  Other SPD and left-wing politicians echoed those sentiments. That was hardly surprising. After all, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, of the SPD, went so far as call Trump a ‘preacher of hate’ in August.

“What’s remarkable is how much criticism Trump has attracted from German conservatives. ‘You have to look at his character, and that promises nothing good,’ Norbert Röttgen, the chairman of the Bundestag’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in an unusually blistering statement after the debate. He is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union.

“But Spiegel also reported that… Markus Ederer, the state secretary of the German Foreign Ministry, has met with Trump advisers to talk about foreign policy issues, particularly NATO. Trump has been critical of the status quo within the military alliance and has called for members, including Germany, to bear more of the costs for the joint defense, insinuating that US troops could be withdrawn from Europe if his demands weren’t met…”

Germany would clearly prefer Hillary Clinton to become the next American President. However, since the relationship between the USA and Europe, under German leadership, will drastically deteriorate in the near future, Germany might not get her wish.

New York Times Hypocritical on Trump Tax Issue?

Breitbart wrote on October 2:

“The New York Times has excited the Clinton campaign and the rest of the media with a revelation that Republican nominee Donald Trump declared a $916 million loss in 1995 that might have resulted in him not paying taxes in some subsequent years [some claim, for 18 years]. The implication, reinforced by CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday morning, is that Trump ‘avoided’ paying taxes, when in fact his tax liability was zero.

“But the Times itself has ‘avoided’ paying taxes — in 2014, for example. As Forbes noted at the time: ‘… for tax year 2014, The New York Times paid no taxes and got an income tax refund of $3.5 million even though they had a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million in 2014. In other words, their post-tax profit was higher than their pre-tax profit…’

“New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Trump on Sunday, telling NBC News’ Meet the Press that Trump was a ‘genius’ in business who was simply doing what the tax code allows every American to do by counting losses against tax liabilities, and bouncing back from failure to success. That would include the New York Times — which, however, is still struggling.

“As Jazz Shaw of HotAir.com notes, the Times — or whoever was its source — likely obtained Trump’s tax document illegally. The ongoing IRS scandal, in which the federal government targeted conservative organizations, involved several cases in which the agency illegally shared taxpayer information with other branches of government, and in one case leaked taxpayer information to a conservative organization’s political opponents. In 2008, the confidential tax information of Joe ‘the Plumber’ Wurzelbacher, who emerged as a critic of then-Sen. Barack Obama, was leaked illegally by an Ohio state official…

“The news comes just a few weeks after in early September the New York Times’ executive editor Dean Baquet said he would go to jail to print Trump’s tax returns, even if he obtained them illegally… He made the remark during a Harvard University forum Sunday, when he was asked about the legal risks tied to publishing a leaked or hacked copy of Trump’s taxes…

“Washington Post editor Bob Woodward…  also said he would go to jail too over it. ‘Some things you have to do. Dean is exactly right. This defines Donald Trump,’ Woodward said.”

These hypocritical statements of intent to commit crimes are outrageous.

Zero Hedge wrote on October 2:

“With the leaked 1995 Trump tax returns ‘scandal’ focused on the billionaire’s yuuge ‘net operating loss’ and how it might have ‘legally’ enabled him to pay no taxes for years, we now discover none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton utilized a $700,000 ‘loss’ to avoid paying some taxes in 2015… While not on the scale of Trump’s business ‘operating loss’, Hillary Clinton… like many ‘wealthy’ individuals is taking advantage of a legal scheme to use historical losses to avoid paying current taxes.”

Such hypocritical conduct by the New York Times and Hillary Clinton is outrageous. The Bible tells us to pay our taxes, but it does not command us to pay “taxes” which we don’t owe.

Deaconesses in the Early Church

Catholic Culture wrote on September 29:

“Nearly two months after Pope Francis instituted a commission to study women and the diaconate, L’Osservatore Romano has published an article on deaconesses and the early Church. Carlo Carletti, an archaeology professor at the University of Bari, said that the starting point for any examination of the topic is Romans 16:1, in which… Paul refers to ‘our sister Phoebe, a deaconess.’

“Of the 30 inscriptions that refer to deaconesses, said Carletti, 25 have been found in Asia Minor (in modern-day Turkey). Carletti attributes this geographical concentration to the legacy of Paul, who included women in his missionary activity.”

The Bible does indeed provide for the ordination of women as deaconesses, but not for the purpose of preaching. Paul makes it very clear that women are not to preach in church, and they are not to be ordained as elders or ministers, pastors or bishops.

Pope Celebrates with Assyrian-Chaldean Diaspora

Zenit reported on September 30:

“The final official stop on Pope Francis’ first day in Georgia was a visit to the Church of St. Shemon Bar Sabbae to meet with the Assyrian-Chaldean community. He was welcomed by the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans… [Francis] proceeded in procession to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament among the faithful of the Assyrian-Chaldean diaspora. After a song and a prayer in Aramaic, the Pope recited a Prayer for Peace.”

Some ancient Assyrians can be found today in diverse areas, but most live in Germany and Austria. Please read our free booklet, “Germany in Prophecy.”

Pope Francis and “Jewish” Holy Days

Zenit reported on October 1:

“Pope Francis has sent a message to Riccardo De Segni, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Rome, the most ancient in the world, on the occasion of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah…), Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles), celebrated this month.

“Rosh Hashanah begins Sunday evening and concludes Tuesday. Yom Kippur begins the evening of Oct. 11, and Sukkot the evening of Oct. 16. ‘I am particularly glad to convey my warmest wishes to you and the Jewish community of Rome. My sentiment extends also to Jewish communities throughout the world, in the hope that the upcoming festivities may be harbingers of abundant blessings to all. May the Almighty grant peace and the tireless wish to promote it. In His eternal mercy, may He grant hope and serenity in our times and strengthen the cordial bonds of friendship between us.’”

Note that the Jews erroneously keep the Feast of Trumpets (“Rosh Hashanah”) on two days, whereas the Bible only commands the celebration of one day.

Poland Rejects Ban on Abortion Bill

The Telegraph wrote on October 6:

“Poland’s parliament has voted to reject a bill proposing a near-total ban on abortion, inflicting the first serious defeat on the country’s ruling socially conservative government since it came to power last year.  An overwhelming majority of MPs voted to kill the bill on Thursday morning after a passionate and at times chaotic debate that had been continued from the previous night. However, the ruling Law and Justice party has said it will continue to pursue a tightening of the country’s abortion law, though not to the degree outlined in the now dead bill.

“The bill would have tightened Poland’s already strict abortion law by outlawing the practice, even if the pregnancy was the result of rape and incest, and would have imposed tough prison sentences on anybody who carried out a termination. [The bill] had won the unofficial backing of Law and Justice, which has always portrayed itself as a guardian of Roman Catholic values and the Church’s position in majority Catholic Polish society.

“But the proposed legislation triggered huge public anger. On Monday, an estimated 100,000 women took to the streets in a series of protests across the country, while many more went on strike, in a demonstration of outrage caught the government off guard, prompting a U-turn.  Scores of Law and Justice politicians decided to reject the bill on Thursday, many of them reversing their earlier decision to approve it during its first reading in parliament in September…

“The rejection of the bill came as a bitter blow to its proponents. ‘A nation that kills its own children is a nation without a future,’ said Joanna Banasiuk, an advocate of the bill. ‘What has happened? This is the same project that recently received the enthusiastic support of the state.'”

Gender Theory To Destroy Marriage

On October 2, Breitbart reported:

“On Saturday, Pope Francis called gender theory a ‘great enemy’ of marriage, adding that the ideology of gender is part of a global war of ideas out to destroy traditional marriage… Francis said that today we are witnessing a ‘global war to destroy marriage’ in which gender theory places a key role, fighting ‘not with weapons, but with ideas.’…

“The Pope has been an outspoken critic of LGBT agitators’ efforts to impose same-sex marriage and theories of gender fluidity that divorce gender from biological sexual differences… It is unacceptable that ‘international bodies should make financial aid to poor countries dependent on the introduction of laws to establish “marriage” between persons of the same sex,’ he said… Efforts to cancel out sexual differences based in anatomy are a symptom of a sick society…

“… the American College of Pediatricians issued a position paper warning that gender ideology is harmful to children. Failing to identify with one’s biological sex signals a psychological disorder,… the physicians argued… ‘When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body…’”

Please see our Q&A in this issue about the biblical viewpoint on the transgender debate.

“The FBI Investigation of EmailGate Was a Sham”

On September 25, The Observer published the following article by John Schindler, “a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, he’s also been a Navy officer and a War College professor”:

“From the moment the EmailGate scandal went public more than a year ago, it was obvious that the Federal Bureau of Investigation never had much enthusiasm for prosecuting Hillary Clinton or her friends. Under President Obama, the FBI grew so politicized that it became impossible for the Bureau to do its job – at least where high-ranking Democrats are concerned…

“Redacted FBI documents from that investigation… revealed that Hillary Clinton either willfully lied to the Bureau, repeatedly, about her email habits as secretary of state, or she is far too dumb to be our commander-in-chief. Worse, the FBI completely ignored the appearance of highly classified signals intelligence in Hillary’s email, including information lifted verbatim from above-Top Secret NSA reports back in 2011. This crime, representing the worst compromise of classified information in EmailGate – that the public knows of, at least – was somehow deemed so uninteresting that nobody at the FBI bothered to ask anybody on Team Clinton about it.

“This stunning omission appears highly curious to anybody versed in counterintelligence matters, not least since during Obama’s presidency, the FBI has prosecuted Americans for compromising information far less classified than what Clinton and her staff exposed on Hillary ‘unclassified’ email server of bathroom infamy.

“This week, however, we learned that there is actually no mystery at all here. The FBI was never able to get enough traction in its investigation of EmailGate to prosecute anybody since the Bureau had already granted immunity to key players in that scandal. Granting immunity is a standard practice in investigations, and is sometimes unavoidable. Giving a pass to Bryan Pagliano, Hillary’s IT guru who set up her email and server, made some sense since he understands what happened here, technically speaking, and otherwise is a small fish. The wisdom of giving him a pass now seems debatable, though, since Pagliano has twice refused to testify before Congress about his part in EmailGate, blowing off subpoenas. Just this week the House Oversight Committee recommended that Pagliano be cited for contempt of Congress for his repeated no-shows. That vote was on strictly partisan lines, with not a single Democrat on the committee finding Pagliano’s ignoring of Congressional subpoenas to be worthy of censure.

“Now it turns out the FBI granted immunity to much bigger fish in the Clinton political tank. Three more people got a pass from the Bureau in exchange for their cooperation: Hillary lawyer Heather Samuelson, State Department IT boss John Bental, and – by far the most consequential – Cheryl Mills…  Mills served as the State Department’s Chief of Staff and Counselor throughout Hillary’s tenure as our nation’s top diplomat. Granting her immunity in EmailGate, given her deep involvement in that scandal – including the destruction of tens of thousands of emails so they could not be handed over to the FBI – now seems curious, to say the least, particularly because Mills sat in on Hillary’s chat with the Bureau regarding EmailGate.

“This was in fact so highly irregular that Jason Chaffetz, chair of the House Oversight Committee, pronounced himself ‘absolutely stunned’ by the FBI’s granting of immunity to Cheryl Mills – which he learned of only on Friday… Not to mention that Mills has a longstanding and well-deserved reputation in Washington for helping the Clintons dodge investigation after investigation… ‘The whole thing stinks,’ explained a retired FBI senior official who professed dismay about the state of his former employer. ‘This was impossible in my time, unthinkable,’ he rued…

“How exactly Cheryl Mills got immunity, and what its terms were, is the long-awaited ‘smoking gun’ in EmailGate, the clear indication that, despite countless man-hours expended on the year-long investigation, James Comey and his FBI never had any intention of prosecuting Hillary Clinton – or anyone – for her mishandling of classified information as secretary of state. Why Comey decided to give Mills a get-out-of-jail-free card is something that needs proper investigation. This is raw, naked politics in all its ugly and cynical glory. Corruption is the tamest word to describe this sort of dirty backroom deal which makes average Americans despise politics and politicians altogether…

“Most intriguing… is the revelation that Hillary was communicating with President Obama via personal email, and he was using an alias. The alias he used with Hillary, and apparently others, was withheld by the FBI… What is odd… is the fact that Obama previously told the media that he only learned of Hillary’s irregular email and server arrangements from ‘news reports.’ How the president failed to notice that he was emailing his top diplomat at her personal, clintonmail.com address, not a state.gov account, particularly when they were discussing official business, is something Congress may want to find out – since certainly the FBI won’t…

“For Hillary Clinton, winning that election may be a legal necessity to protect her from prosecution. Congress, animated by these latest revelations of illegality and corruption, will now pursue her with vigor, while an FBI in the hands of Donald Trump seems likely to show an interest in EmailGate which the Bureau never possessed under President Obama…”

The following sentence demands repetition: “Corruption is the tamest word to describe this sort of dirty backroom deal which makes average Americans despise politics and politicians altogether.” And they have every right to do so.

“State Department Aided and Abetted Clinton Email Cover-Up”

Newsmax wrote on September 25:

“There was a cover-up when it came to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and the State Department ‘aided and abetted that cover-up,’ Rep. Trey Gowdy, who chairs the House’s Select Committee on Benghazi, said Sunday. Gowdy said that arrangement went on to allow Clinton to keep her emails for two more years after she left office… ‘The Department of Justice gives out any immunity. The FBI doesn’t immunize anyone… Someone in the Department of Justice had to decide to pass out these immunity agreements…’

“Political commentator Charles Krauthammer… said he thinks Gowdy is ‘absolutely right’ with his claims… ‘All you had to do was issue a subpoena and since it came from the Department of Justice . . . it was understood from the beginning by the Department of Justice and the White House, the legacy of the president was going to hang on her winning reelection and that there was no way they were going to prosecute her.’”

President Obama Supports Saudi Arabia and Vetoes Bill

The Associated Press reported on September 23:

“President Barack Obama has vetoed a bill that would have allowed the families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia. The move sets Obama up for a possible first veto override by Congress. Both chambers passed the bill by voice vote. The House sent Obama the bill just before the 15th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Obama says the bill would ‘upset longstanding international principles regarding sovereign immunity.’ The bill would have given 9/11 families the right to sue in U.S. court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 men who carried out the attacks were Saudi nationals.”

Congress Overrides President Obama’s Veto

Newsmax reported on September 28:

“Republicans Wednesday cheered the congressional override of President Barack Obama’s veto of legislation that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia over the attacks — with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani congratulating legislators for ‘righting that terrible wrong.’ ‘President Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act was an insult to the families of those we lost on 9/11,’ Giuliani said… ‘The failure of Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine, who was obviously afraid to show up to work today and stand with these Americans, is a disgrace… ‘I will never forget that tragic day, nor the thousands who were lost… ,’ said Giuliani, who governed the city during the attacks…

“Both the House and the Senate voted decisively to reverse Obama’s decision to scuttle the legislation, handing him the first override of his presidency. Democrats in both chambers abandoned President Obama and joined Republicans in large numbers despite warnings from the president and top national security officials that flaws in the bill could put U.S. interests, troops, and intelligence personnel at risk.

“The Senate vote was 97-1. The House vote a few hours later was 348-77. Lawmakers said their priority was the 9/11 victims and their families, not Saudi Arabia…”

Obama’s Legacy–Populism

The National wrote on September 22:

“In his final address to the United Nations, United States president Barack Obama warned the assembled leaders that the liberal world order was under threat from what he called ‘crude populism’. In words which could apply equally to Donald Trump, the Republican candidate to succeed him as president, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Mr Obama said that some were arguing that the future favours the strong man. ‘History shows that strong men are then left with two paths: permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war.’

“In some ways Mr Obama is ending his two terms in the White House in the same way he began. He set out to open a new page in the Middle East, reversing the Bush era’s imperial expansion, and with a view to make peace with Iran and reset relations with Russia. So joyous was the mood in Europe at that time that the president was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on the basis of his fine words. He would be shocked to learn that the legacy of his administration may turn out to be something quite other than what he set out to do – the rise of populism around the world…

“In a forthcoming book, What Is Populism?, politics professor Jan-Werner Muller argues that not all attackers of the status quo are populists. Real populists are [those] who claim that they, and only they, represent the people… while their opponents are dupes or traitors, and the country is better off without them… This is not to say their arguments are without merit. The American political landscape is manipulated by huge corporations and wealthy individuals with vast lobbying power.

“Abroad, the ‘strong men’ denounced by Mr Obama are not doing too badly. Mr Putin has perfected what the Russians call the “political technologies” to stay in power and manage the challenges of low oil prices and sanctions far better than predicted. Hungary, where prime minister Victor Orban’s ‘Christian-national’ state is denounced in Brussels as a violation of European values, is the darling of the bond dealers.

“Populism stole up on the world during Obama’s presidency. It is not what he wanted… but that may be the legacy of his time in office.”

Trump Greatly Honored

Breitbart wrote on September 23:

“Donald Trump responded late Friday afternoon to the announcement that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he would be voting for him. ‘I am greatly honored by the endorsement of Senator Cruz. We have fought the battle and he was a tough and brilliant opponent,’ Trump responded in a press release Friday afternoon. ‘I look forward to working with him for many years to come in order to make America great again.’

“After not endorsing Trump during his speech at the Republican National Convention, Cruz decided to announce he would be voting for the Republican nominee via Facebook on Friday. ‘After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump,’ Cruz wrote. ‘I’ve made this decision for two reasons,’ he continued. ‘First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word. Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable…'”

Kirk Douglas Compares Donald Trump with Hitler

JTA wrote on September 21:

“Actor Kirk Douglas suggested he sees similarities between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, in an op-ed published months before his 100th birthday. ‘I have always been deeply proud to be an American. In the time I have left, I pray that will never change,’ Douglas wrote in the article… While not mentioning the Republican nominee by name, the Jewish actor quoted directly from a recent speech by Trump, in which he argued for ideological screening tests for potential immigrants. ‘These are not the American values that we fought in World War II to protect,’ Douglas wrote.

“The 99-year-old actor, who starred in countless Hollywood hits beginning in the 1940s, compared Trump’s policy proposals to those of Hitler, saying the Republican nominee’s words ‘could also have been spoken in 1933,’ the year the Nazi leader became Chancellor of Germany. ‘I’ve also lived through the horrors of a Great Depression and two World Wars, the second of which was started by a man who promised that he would restore his country… to its former greatness,’ Douglas wrote, drawing links to Trump’s slogan, ‘Make America Great Again.’

“In the op-ed, Douglas recalled the challenges his parents faced, when moving to the U.S. from Russia, as certain groups, including Jews, ‘felt the stigma of being treated as aliens, as foreigners who would never become “real Americans.”’”

Flashback – Donald Trump of German Descent?

Bustle wrote on February 29, 2016:

“… the Trump surname has actually quite a few branches throughout central and southern Germany…

“In fact, one such Drumpf named Hanns was a lawyer back in 1608… he lived in the village of Kallstadt during the Thirty Years’ War. The village was burned down about five times and 40 percent of the villagers were killed. One of his surviving descendants was a winegrower named John Philip Trump…

“Donald Trump’s own grandfather, Friedrich, had regained the last name Drumpf… altering it upon his relocation to the U.S. He entered in 1885 during the height of German-to-U.S. migration… He… eventually returned to Germany to get married. Though he later attempted to repatriate with his wife, Germany… accused him of dodging the draft, sending him back to the U.S. from whence he came…”

The First American Presidential Debate—Trump Lost, and Clinton Won

On September 28, Piers Morgan wrote the following for MailOnline:

“Hillary Clinton won. No ifs, no buts, she had the better of Donald Trump in last night’s eagerly awaited first presidential TV debate. Yes, I know most online polls had Trump winning, but to believe that is to look at a black sky and say the sun’s out. Clinton stayed cool, calm, collected and rode Trump’s aggression and bombast with skill and good humour… It was the best I’ve seen Clinton perform in any debate and a reminder that she remains a formidable candidate.

“By contrast I thought Trump, by his own debate standards, was disappointing…  For a man who has displayed a rare marketing genius in this race for hammering home simple, powerful messages, Trump’s rhetoric was oddly lacking in clarity. He let her off the hook about her biggest vulnerability – the email scandal. ‘I made a mistake,’ she said, trying to head it off at the get go. To which I expected Trump to reply, ‘No, you did it deliberately to conceal classified material from the American people’ and then go hard after her about the FBI’s damning verdict that she was ‘extremely careless.’ Instead, he rambled for a bit until the debate moved on…

“Incredibly, Trump never even mentioned Hillary’s recent disgraceful ‘basket of deplorables’ slur, the controversy-mired Clinton Foundation, the Benghazi terror attack or her lucrative ties to Wall Street. All of which have been hugely popular themes at his stump rallies and would have been easy home runs for him both with the audience in the room and the tens of millions watching at home.

“It wasn’t all bad for Trump by any means. He was strong in the first half hour, especially on the economy where he won the argument with Clinton.

“… overall Trump did a perfectly competent if not compelling job. He got through the 90 minutes without making a serious gaffe. He demonstrably wasn’t the hideous Hitler-like monster as many in the media have absurdly been trying to caricature him in recent weeks. Clinton, for all her artful jabbing and ducking, never landed a killer KO punch that might have depth-charged his whole campaign. There was no smoking factual gun, no ferociously sweaty Nixon-esque face, no ‘You’re no Jack Kennedy’ zinger to change the whole complexion of the race. Trump can therefore dust himself down, comforted by the knowledge that he got beaten on points not had his lights turned out.

“I suspect he will be very different at the second debate in ten days-time. More direct, more brutal, more effective… There’s plenty of time for him to sort himself out and work out a new game plan to take Hillary down in the next two match ups… But this will have been a big wake-up call for him. Trump doesn’t like losing. Which is why even when he loses, like last night, he defiantly pretends he hasn’t.

“Hillary and Bill are two of the most experienced political bruisers in America and for them both, this presidential race is the final ride at the biggest of all rodeos. I doubt Trump will lose any support after this debate, but I doubt he’ll gain much from the large group of undecideds either…

‘What we didn’t see last night is how Hillary would react to proper punches landing about issues where she has real vulnerability – delivered with surgical precision by a candidate who has spent the past 16 months knocking opponents over like Mike Tyson in a sparring session. As you always told me on Celebrity Apprentice, Mr Trump: ‘Go hard, or go home.’”

One of the most embarrassing moments for Trump was when he rambled regarding the highly controversial wording of the moderator’s question pertaining to the “birther movement” and his support of the “lie” that Mr. Obama was not born in the USA. He gave NO plausible answer for his “sudden change of heart,” and that was such a pitiful performance.

German Press: Trump Lost

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 27:

“The first Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump debate attracted major attention in the German media. And commentators were nearly unanimous in concluding that the Democrat came out on top. The headline in the news magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ could hardly have been less ambiguous. ‘Hillary Clinton gives Donald Trump a clinic,’ wrote the editors…

“The headline in the ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’ newspaper was equally sarcastic: ‘The bar was set low, but Trump knocked it down…  the Republican definitely had his worst debate performance of the entire election season while the Democrat had perhaps the best one of her entire career.’…

“‘At times, Trump seemed liked a badly raised child,’ wrote the ‘Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’ (FAZ) newspaper…

“The vast majority of Germans and German journalists would prefer to see a Clinton rather than a Trump presidency, and there was an unmistakable note of schadenfreude at Trump’s perceived poor performance… the FAZ wrote [:] ‘After this encounter, the Clinton campaign should pick up speed. All the way to the White House? The United States’ allies and partners around the world surely would have no complaints, if that were the case.’”

How Trump Became “the Winner”

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 27:

“Trump has said he won the first presidential debate after a number of online polls determined him the winner. But, as DW’s Social Media team found out, most voters were strident Trump supporters. After a record 80 million people tuned in to watch the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the general verdict was that Clinton came out on top. A CNN/ORC snap poll showed that 62 percent of respondents declared Clinton the winner, against 27 percent for Trump. This was the only poll that gathered a sample of respondents that was representative of the American public…

“Meanwhile, in numerous polls conducted on social media by news organizations, including Deutsche Welle, Trump came out the outright victor. Other news organizations, such as CNBC, Time magazine and ABC News, also saw similar results on their social media polls. Deutsche Welle’s Social Media team investigated who was voting in the polls and found that an overwhelming number were stringent Trump supporters. Such online polls are completely open to anyone and, unlike scientifically conducted polls, do not seek a representative sample of respondents.

“As it turned out, Trump supporters jumped on to these online polls and voted in droves after pro-Trump groups on online community websites such as Reddit and 4chan posted links to around 70 different online polls… Trump shared the results across his social media feeds. The former real estate mogul also told Fox News on Tuesday morning, ‘I won every single poll other than CNN, and not many people are watching CNN.’…

“DW’s Carl Nasman told DW News that these results matter, ‘because the average social media user doesn’t know that these polls are not scientific and might confuse them for something that is conducted in a scientific manner.’”

Trump Is Right on China

Forbes wrote on September 27:

“Everyone knows the U.S. has lost jobs to China. Everyone knows China has become the world’s manufacturer. But not everyone knows how they did it… China’s biggest and most effective tool is and always has been its currency. China ascended to the second largest economy in the world over the past two decades by massively devaluing its currency… China trashed its currency for economic advantage—and it worked, big time. And it worked because the rest of the world stood by and let it happen.

“For the next decade, the Chinese pegged its currency against the dollar at 8.29 yuan per dollar (a dollar buys 8.29 yuan). With the massive devaluation of the 1980s into the early 1990s, and then the peg through 2005, the Chinese economy exploded in size. It enabled China to corner the world’s export market, and suck jobs and foreign currency out of the developed world. This is precisely what Donald Trump is alluding to when he says ‘China is stealing from us.’

“China’s economy went from $350 billion to $3.5 trillion through 2005… And because they’ve undercut the world on price, they’ve become the world’s Wal-Mart (sellers to everyone) and have accumulated a mountain for foreign currency as a result. China is the holder of the largest foreign currency reserves in the world, at more than $3 trillion dollars (mostly U.S. dollars). What do they do with those dollars? They buy U.S. Treasuries, keeping rates low, so that U.S. consumers can borrow cheap and buy more of their goods—adding to their mountain of currency reserves, adding to their wealth and depleting the U.S. of wealth (and the cycle continues).

“… the Chinese economy has ascended to the second largest economy in the world now—on pace to the biggest soon… China’s currency is a bigger threat, at this stage, than just the emergence of China as an economic power… The current global imbalances are the underlying cause of the global financial crisis, and China’s currency is at the heart of it… Historically that’s a recipe for disaster, economically and geopolitically.”

Exorcism and Paganism in the USA

The Telegraph wrote on September 26:

“Pope Francis… appears to have no problem reminding Catholics that ‘Satan is real’… In the US, over the last decade, television shows depicting reported paranormal events and possession as well as books and films about exorcism and the supernatural have proliferated in the cultural mainstream… ‘Reliance on pagan activities can create a situation in which evil is invited in,’ observes [a Catholic “exorcist”].  In his experience, the most common occult activity is using a Ouija board to summon the dead… ‘evil can be invited in directly or indirectly. A lot of people have contacted me and said something like, “We were playing with a Ouija board and all of a sudden our friend starting speaking in this crazy language that we didn’t understand. And strange things started happening – things moving in the house.”’

“Other pagan activities could include séances, and mediums; reading Tarot cards; casting spells and curses through witches and warlocks, and worshipping Satan and other demons. [Some believe] that such activities are in full force in the US.”

However, the “exorcisms” practiced by the Roman Catholic Church must be rejected. Some of the reasons for this rejection are stated in the article:

“In [a Catholic exorcist’s experience], a possessed person always has a tribe of demons, not just one. And sometimes not just demons but the disembodied spirits of dead human souls are attached to the afflicted person as well. Dead souls will always reveal their names when asked and that is one way to differentiate them from demons… the reaction of a disembodied spirit and the reaction of a demon are very different most of the time… ‘Most of the time a demon’s goal is to take the person to Hell that they are attached to. The demon wants the person to commit suicide. In the case of demonic possession, a suicide would be viewed as a state of diminished capacity under Church doctrine.’ The Rite is conducted in Latin, the most hated language to demons… the exorcism process takes a minimum of six months… One of [this particular exorcist’s] most difficult cases was a man who had been the subject of multiple curses and occult activity while he was still in the womb. According to Church doctrine, until a person reaches the age of seven, he cannot exercise free will.”

All of this [including the false concept of “dead souls”; “hell”; the length of time for “exorcisms”; demon possession in the mother’s womb; no free will by a person under seven, etc. etc.] is totally contradicted by the Bible. For more information, please read our free booklets, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World” and “The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation.”

Fox 12 Oregon reported on September 27:

“… a local satanic group just got the go-ahead to hold an after-school program at Sacramento Elementary School in the Parkrose School District. Organizers say their goal isn’t to encourage devil worship, but to offer children an alternative to a Christian group that also meets there.”

Divorce and Mixed Marriages Highly Responsible for Lack of Religion

The Washington Post wrote on September 27:

“Two widely recognized trends in American society might have something to do with each other. Divorce rates climbed to the highest levels ever in the 1980s, when about half of all marriages ended in divorce. And in the present day, Americans are rapidly becoming less religious. Since 1972, the share of Americans who say they do not adhere to any particular religion has increased from 5 percent of the population to 25 percent.

“Could those two trends be related? A new study from the Public Religion Research Institute says yes. The children of divorced parents have grown up to be adults of no religion. People whose parents divorced when they were children are significantly more likely to grow up not to be religious as adults, the study found. Thirty-five percent of the children of divorced parents told pollsters they are now nonreligious, compared with 23 percent of people whose parents were married when they were children…

“Andrew Root, a professor at Luther Seminary… was not surprised to hear about the study’s findings… Root said churches are not doing enough to speak directly to the concerns of children in those situations, so the kids lose faith in the ability of the church to help them. He said that when the divorce rate climbed in the 1980s, many members of the clergy, especially mainline Protestant pastors, stopped speaking out against divorce so as not to alienate struggling congregants…

“The new study, which asked many questions about nonreligious Americans’ beliefs about faith, touched on other consequences of parents’ marriages as well. It showed, as other research has demonstrated, that children raised by parents who have two different religions, grow up more likely to have no religion at all.”

Germany Sues Turkey

The Washington Post wrote on September 26:

“German state-funded broadcaster Deutsche Welle has filed a lawsuit against the Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sports in a development that could have wider implications for relations between the two countries. DW announced Monday that it had taken the decision after a videotaped interview it conducted with Turkish Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic on Sept. 5 was allegedly confiscated by Turkish authorities the same day. Turkey first denied those allegations. But DW stuck to its claims and gave the ministry repeated deadlines to hand over the material before it took legal steps Monday.

“According to DW, its host discussed issues, such as the recent coup attempt, ‘press freedom and the status of women.’ Turkish officials insisted that the footage should not be aired, before confiscating the tapes, the German channel said…

“The German government has backed the efforts undertaken by its international broadcaster to get back its footage… Relations among Turkey and European countries, including Germany, are increasingly strained. Turkey complains that Europe has not made a significant effort to condemn the July coup attempt, and has protested being tasked with absorbing Syrian refugees without being granted the concessions it had hoped for from the European Union…

“Germany is a particular case, nonetheless: About 3 million Turkish immigrants live in the country. Half hold Turkish citizenship and are allowed to vote in Turkish elections. Turkish citizens living in Germany voted overwhelmingly for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AKP) party in elections last year. The importance of Erdogan’s AKP to Turkish immigrants living in Germany has worried politicians in Europe’s economic powerhouse. German authorities have noticed a rise in violent clashes between Turkish AKP supporters living in Germany and Kurdish immigrants or members of the Gulen movement — tensions that have mainly spilled over from Turkey, officials said. Erdogan has publicly accused the Gulen movement (named after self-exiled, U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen) of organizing the July coup attempt and has arrested thousands of its alleged members in Turkey.

“Turkish citizens started arriving in Germany as “guest workers” at the beginning of the 1960s. Originally invited with the goal of filling job vacancies, many of them never returned to their country of origin. Tensions became particularly apparent in June, when the German Parliament recognized the Armenian ‘genocide’ — a decision that resulted in Turkey’s withdrawing its ambassador to Germany. Other nations have also described the massacre of 1 million to 1.5 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as a genocide, but none of them are home to such a significant Turkish minority as Germany…”

Even though Turkey will collaborate with the EU over issues pertaining to the future rejection of the USA and the state of Israel, it is highly unlikely that Turkey will ever become a member of the EU.

“Italy Lays out ‘Vision’ of EU Army”

The EUObserver wrote on September 26:

“Italy has laid out plans for the creation of a ‘European force’ that goes beyond Franco-German proposals on defence integration.  It said in an informal paper… that the EU should create a ‘powerful and usable European Force that can also be employed in support to Nato or UN operations’”.

Russia’s Growing Influence Across Asia

Express wrote on September 26:

“Russia has sent a chilling warning to the West that its influence is spreading across Asia with the announcement of a two-week military drill with Pakistan. For the first time in modern history the two Cold War enemies will be conducting training exercises together… The exercise will take place in a mountainous area in the eastern Punjab province of Pakistan, intended to demonstrate to the world the shifting alliances in South Asia and the resurgence of Russian influence in the region. The exercise also sends a message of defiance to America, which has also seen relations with Pakistan cool over recent years… last year Pakistan bought four Mi-35 attack helicopters from Russia in the first military deal of its kind between them…

“The military exercise comes as troops in Russia’s far east performed a test launch of the Iskander-M missile system. The weapon, a mobile ballistic missile system, is designed to hit targets on the ground targets at from more than 300 miles away… [it] could hit targets as far away as eastern Germany, the entire Baltic region and Poland, as well as parts of Sweden. But experts say the targets it will cover can be struck by longer-range Russian missiles anyway.

“Relations between Russia and the West have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War in recent months. Both sides have ramped up their defence spending, missile programmes and defensive shields as Europe enters what many observers believe is a new Cold War.”

Philippines Wants Closer Ties with Russia and China

Flipborad.com wrote on September 25:

“Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday that he’s interested in offering trade alliances and long-term land leases to China and Russia. Duterte said he realized he’d be ‘crossing the Rubicon’ with the U.S., his country’s close ally and former colonial ruler. ‘I am not really going to break ties’ with the U.S., Duterte said, but he indicated he’d be willing to forge closer economic relationships with the other side of ‘the ideological barrier.’

“The Associated Press reports that Duterte would be offering countries in China and Russia the ability to lease land in the Philippines for more than a century. Duterte told reporters that he would be traveling to China soon and would meet with President Xi Jinping. He also said he’d already opened up a conversation with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speaking with him during a summit in Laos earlier this month…

“Asked by a reporter what he meant by crossing the Rubicon, he said it was ‘a point of no return.’ He said the problem was that the Philippines’ mutual defense treaty with the U.S. does not guarantee that Washington will come to the Philippines’ defense if it is attacked because the U.S. president would need the approval of Congress…

“The U.S. and its former colony have a long and complicated relationship. The U.S. recognized the Philippines’ independence and established diplomatic ties in 1946, and both nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951. The U.S. has traditionally been the Philippines’ largest foreign investor. For decades, the U.S. maintained large military bases there, but amid growing anti-American sentiment, the Philippines voted to push the U.S. bases out in the early ’90s.

“More recently, the U.S. military presence in the Philippines has grown again — although permanent bases have not returned — as some Filipino leaders have grown increasingly wary about the conflict over the South China Sea. But since Duterte took office this summer, he has called for the withdrawal of U.S. military advisers and said the Philippines will no longer conduct joint patrols with the U.S. Navy. He has also insulted President Obama and the U.S. ambassador in Manila.

“Duterte has prompted international criticism for pursuing a harsh crackdown on the drug trade in the Philippines, one that has left thousands of people dead. Some of Duterte’s headline-grabbing insults have been defiant reactions to criticism — real or hypothetical — over an initiative that many say violates human rights. But as Michael Sullivan recently reported for NPR, the president and his bloody war on drugs remain popular within the Philippines.”

Violence at Joseph’s Tomb

JTA wrote on September 22:

“Rioting Palestinians attacked Israeli soldiers and worshippers visiting Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus in the West Bank… The Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at the soldiers guarding the [700] worshippers, as well as at the tomb… No damage or injuries were reported…

“The tomb is located in an area of the West Bank that is under the exclusive military and civilian control of the Palestinian Authority. On Sept. 1, an Israeli soldier was shot by live fire that came from the nearby Balata refugee camp while protecting worshippers at the site.

“Joseph’s Tomb is also holy to Muslims and Christians. Israeli Jews must receive permission to visit the purported burial place of the Jewish patriarch; the visits must be coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces. Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the site was to remain under Israeli control, but the Israeli army evacuated the premises in October 2000 during the second intifada and the tomb was burnt down by Palestinians. It was renovated and restored, but then torched and vandalized again last October. Jewish worshippers… make monthly nocturnal pilgrimages to the refurbished site.”

“Former Israeli President Shimon Peres Dies”

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 28:

“World leaders are paying tribute to the former Israeli president and prime minister, who has died at the age of 93 after suffering a stroke two weeks ago. He was the last surviving founding father of the state of Israel… Peres’ body will lie in state at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on Thursday before a state funeral in Jerusalem on Friday. Pope Francis, US President Barack Obama, and Prince Charles are among the dozens of foreign dignitaries expected to attend…

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed ‘deep personal sadness,’ calling Peres a ‘man of vision.’ German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to Peres as an architect of the ‘unique friendship between Israel and Germany’ after World War II…

“Born in Poland in 1923, Peres emigrated to what was then British-mandated Palestine when he was 11. He served as prime minister for eight months after the assassination of Premier Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and also for a brief term between 1984 and 1986… He later was elected Israel’s ninth president, serving between 2007 and 2014.

“Together with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 ‘for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East’ after signing the 1993 interim Oslo peace accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state.”

New Discoveries About Petra

Haaretz reported on September 25:

“Recent excavations at Petra have revealed a startlingly advanced irrigation system and water storage system that enabled the desert city’s people to survive – and to maintain a magnificent garden featuring fountains, ponds and a huge swimming pool…

“Petra is perhaps best known for its sandstone canyon that leads directly to Al Khazneh, The Treasury, seen in the climax to ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ where the hero archaeologists, played by Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, ride out of the canyon and into the Treasury in their quest for the Holy Grail.

“However, 2,000 years ago, Petra was renowned for completely different reasons. It was one of the most famous water stops in the Middle East, where camel caravan routes linked distant cities. Now archaeologists are discovering the Nabataean capital, situated in the southwestern deserts of Jordan, once was adorned with an exquisite, artificially irrigated garden. It featured paths likely shaded by vines, trees and date palms, and grasses, which were cultivated next to a huge, 44-meter wide swimming pool…

“The intricate system of channels, ceramic pipelines, underground cisterns and water tanks, which also filtered the water, allowed the people of Petra to cultivate crops, harvest fruit, produce wine and olive oil as well as build a lavish garden with a monumental open air pool in the middle of the desert…

“The gardens were practically a miracle. Petra only gets 10 to 15 centimeters of rain a year (now in the era of climate change, it may get even less). That’s just 4 to 6 inches. Without developing techniques to channel, purify and even pressurize and store water, Petra could not have existed. As was done in Jerusalem too, for instance, the people of Petra carved out channels, reservoirs, and cisterns from the solid rock, even ‘tanks’ that purified water. Practically every drop of rain that fell around Petra was collected and conserved, and springs were channeled to pipes that emptied into literally hundreds of cisterns carved underground, ensuring a reliable supply of drinking and bathing water in the heart of the desert, regardless of the season…

“The citizens of Petra not only knew how to work with water, they were also masters at masonry. The very name Petra, which means ‘Mass of Rock,’ summons up visions of stone. And Petra was indeed a city of stone, unlike any other in the Roman world. The Nabataeans painstakingly carved their houses, tombs, and temples out of the solid rock. The red sandstone mountains in which Petra was nestled were perfectly suited for this, and by the first century C.E., a monumental city had arisen in the middle of the desert.

“Perhaps the most visually stunning testimony of the Nabatean mastery over stone is the Treasury, an imposing structure carved out of a massive cliff. The structure was named after the huge stone urn that crowns the building and that supposedly stored gold and precious stones. The urn is actually made out of solid stone. However, whatever Steven Spielberg imagined, the structure does not lead into a deep labyrinth that hides the Holy Grail. Instead the Treasury holds a relatively small hall once used as a royal tomb…”

Do Animals Mourn Their Dead?

On September 21, Deutsche Welle published an article with the following introduction:

“Whales, chimps, dogs – animals seem to suffer when they lose a beloved companion or offspring. Do animals understand death, and do they grieve like humans? Or are we just projecting our understanding on their behavior?”

Deutsche Welle continued by publishing an interview with “Frans de Waal, a Dutch primatologist and ethologist. He is professor of Primate Behavior in the Emory University psychology department in Atlanta, US, and director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. He works mostly with chimpanzees and bonobos and is author of several books including ‘Chimpanzee Politics’ and ‘Our Inner Ape.’”

We are bringing you the following excerpts from Professor de Waal’s statements:

“Typical grieving happens with mothers and offspring in mammals. Usually, you find grieving with animals who have individual attachments… All mammals have these bonds to some degree, all birds as well, as birds are very often pair-bonded. If the partner dies, they are very affected by it… There was the dog Hachiko in Tokyo in Japan. After his boss died, the dog came to the train with which he normally arrived – for about 10 years. Whenever you have attachments, be it between a dog and a human or a cat and a human, you can have grieving…

“‘Mourn like humans do’ is a big statement. They are distressed. With primates like chimpanzees, it is not unusual that if one of the primates in a group dies the others stop eating for a couple of days. They become completely silent, they stare at the body for a long time, they try to revive the body… If it is a very important partner like your best friend or your offspring then it can last much longer, it may last for years. I knew a female who lost an offspring and for months was sort of crying about it. It has a very long-term effect…

“With primates we often have the impression that they specifically remember the individual… The one thing about death that primates certainly understand is the permanency. That once an individual is dead, they don’t move anymore, they’re dead…

“Some bonobos found a very dangerous snake in the forest and were very scared of it, poking it with sticks. At some point, the alpha female, which is dominant over the male, took the snake by the tail, hit it against the ground and killed it. From that moment on, the young bonobos picked up the snake, hung it around their necks, walked around with [it] and started to play with it. That indicates that they know that it’s a dangerous animal that you should be very careful of – but once it is dead, you can play with it…

“Some birds who mate for life sometimes even stop eating and die if their partner dies. This is true for geese but also for many songbirds, they have long-term bonds… I would say [the same about] elephants, because they go back to the bones of the ones that they have lost. If an elephant dies… the other elephants inspect the bones of the dead elephant if they can find them. I’m not sure, though, if anyone has done research on whether the elephants return just to any bones or bones of specific individuals that they have known… They go back to the bones, a bit like us going to a graveyard.

When asked, “Do some animals also bury their dead by digging a grave?”, he answered:

“No, they don’t dig a grave. It is possible that they throw stuff over their dead in order to cover the body. That appears to be like an anti-predator defense, in a sense that a smelling body would attract predators and scavengers. But I don’t know if they do that systematically.”

When asked, “Digging a grave is a typically human thing then?,” he answered:

“Yes, that’s for sure.”

These statements are in agreement with our teaching in our free booklet, “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man!”

“Trump’s Greatest Trick He’s Ever Pulled”

The Washington Post wrote on September 16:

“Donald Trump is, at heart, a showman. He rose to national fame thanks to star turns on reality TV… His great gift is the ability to draw attention — and then use that attention for his own, usually commercial, purposes.

“Trump may have outdone himself on Friday morning. He and his campaign touted a ‘major’ announcement at his newly opened hotel in Washington, D.C., at 10 a.m. The word was that Trump would walk away from his past skepticism about President Obama’s citizenship while also laying the blame for the birther movement at the feet of Hillary Clinton…  And say it he did. ‘Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it,’ Trump said. ‘President Obama was born in the United States. Period.’

“Trump’s assertions about Clinton’s role in the birther movement are wrong. His simple statement that Obama was born in the United States directly contradicts myriad statements he has made questioning the president’s birthplace over the past five years.

“But neither of those things were the most amazing part of that Trump event. The most amazing thing was that it took the Republican nominee 29 minutes to deliver those three sentences. The event was slated to start at 10 a.m. Eastern time. It wasn’t until 11 a.m. that it actually began — with Trump touting his new hotel and proclaiming that it is likely to be one of the best in the world. He then ceded the stage to a parade of decorated military veterans who testified to his toughness, his judgment and his temperament.

“Cable networks seemed to not know what to do. All three of them — MSNBC, Fox News and CNN — stayed with the generals’ testimonials for the better part of 20 minutes. That’s a remarkable amount of free cable time to dedicate to a series of surrogates testifying how great one of the two party nominees is.

“The networks eventually cut away from the generals, but then Trump was back at the mic — roughly 90 minutes after his event was originally slated to start. Meaning that he drew an hour and a half of live coverage for:

“1. An empty podium.

“2. A series of military endorsements/testimonials.

“3. Three sentences from Trump himself — one that is totally false and two others that represent a total reversal from a position he held as recently as, well, Thursday night.

“It was a low moment for politics and political coverage… But for Trump, it might have been his crowning achievement: All eyes on him with the chance to direct the play in whatever way he saw fit. The ringmaster — calling the shots in all three rings of the circus. It was peak Trump.”

If America wants a showman as President, then it was indeed a great performance. The sad truth of the matter is that the presidential election for 2016 has sunk to an unprecedented low… never before in the history of the USA have there been two nominees for the Republican and Democratic parties who are equally disliked by most voters, especially in view of their perceived lack of qualification and trustworthiness.

Will Trump’s Circus Act Get Votes?

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 16:

“For years, Trump was the most prominent proponent of the ‘birther’ movement, which questioned whether US President Barack Obama had been born outside the United States and thus potentially constitutionally ineligible to be president – and calling on him to prove he was born in Hawaii. As recently as Thursday he refused to answer a question from the ‘Washington Post’ about his claim. That ended this week when Trump and his campaign abruptly changed tack and conceded that Obama had indeed been born in Hawaii. Trump then pivoted and tried to blame his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, for raising the issue and bragged that it was his pressure as a private citizen in 2011 that forced the president’s hand in releasing his birth certificate.

“Yet even if that were true, it fails to explain why Trump repeatedly made the claim for years to question the president’s legitimacy in holding the country’s highest office. His comments speculating on Obama’s birthplace have been seen by many as an attempt to delegitimize the nation’s first black president, playing to a racist vein within American society but also losing votes from the non-white electorate.”

“To get votes” seems to be the underlying motive for Mr. Trump’s sudden “epiphany,” as the next article points out as well.

What Happened to Donald Trump’s Concerns? It’s All About Politics…

The Washington Post wrote on September 16:

“In April 2011, Obama released his long-form Hawaiian birth certificate [actually, he released a copy, which was “authenticated” by an Hawaiian official who subsequently died in a plane crash]…  But Trump didn’t revise his position and repeatedly questioned the validity of the document Obama released. In an October 2011 interview with CNN, Trump said that if ‘you check out the Internet, many people say it is not real.’ In August 2012, Trump tweeted that ‘an “extremely credible source” has called my office and told me that Barack Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud.’…

“Days before the 2012 election, Trump posted a video online that labeled Obama ‘the least transparent president in the history of this country’ and demanded that Obama release his college records, college applications and passport records…  When Trump launched his long-shot presidential bid in June 2015, he continued to say in interviews that he didn’t know if Obama was born in the United States…  In January [2016], Trump said on CNN that he doesn’t know where the president was born…

“A sizable number of voters agreed with Trump. A 2010 Washington Post-ABC News poll [and a CNN-ORC poll in September 2015] found 20 percent saying Obama was born in another country…  In the latest survey, beliefs that Obama was born outside the United States peaked at 26 percent among Republicans and 34 percent among self-identified tea party supporters…

“[This has] caused many black voters to turn sharply against Trump, offended that he would challenge the qualifications of the country’s first black president… Earlier this month, former Republican candidate Ben Carson – who now advises Trump on race issues – said on CNN that Trump could immediately improve his relationship with African American voters by apologizing for questioning the president’s place of birth…”

The “birther” movement was never about the color of the President. After all, one should never forget (even though the mass media likes to do this), that Mr. Obama is both black and white.

Do the “Birthers” Buckle Too?

The Washington Post wrote on September 17:

“A few hours after Donald Trump’s announcement that he had renounced ‘birtherism,’ Andy Martin was pleased with how it went. ‘He handled it as well as he could,’ said Martin, a lawyer, writer and frequent candidate who began asking questions about Barack Obama’s birth certificate in 2004. ‘His supporters don’t really care about the issue any more…’

“Orly Taitz, a dentist and lawyer who long ago surpassed Martin as the face of birtherism, took a similar position on Trump’s reversal… ‘ My word to my supporters: let Trump win the election. There are only 8 weeks left. Now is not the time to talk about Obama, he is not running for president, Clinton is.’…

“Philip J. Berg, a Pennsylvania lawyer who filed the first high-profile lawsuits against Obama, quit his law practice to avoid being disbarred…

“Taitz… was the only prominent birther still raising questions. In a rundown of the interviews she’d done on Friday, Taitz repeated the eight questions she had about the fraud the president might have committed. ‘When media is corrupt, when the Department of Justice is corrupt, the country becomes a banana republic or even worse, a tyranny,’ she wrote. ‘For now, let’s concentrate on the election, let’s help Trump get elected, we’ll renew this conversation later.’”

The question is: Will Mr. Trump participate in that “conversation”? At this point, he did not give any answer to a myriad of questions. To just make “politically correct” statements to gain some advantage in the number of votes is neither helpful nor persuasive.

Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio Won’t Buckle

The Huffington Post wrote on September 21:

“Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio still isn’t convinced President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Arpaio, a supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, told a tea party group Tuesday he’s still investigating Obama’s birth certificate, which the president made public in April 2011. ‘I don’t care where he’s from,’ Arpaio told the crowd, according to USA Today. ‘We are looking at a forged document. Period.’ ‘I know all the politicians say, “Sheriff, don’t talk about it,”’ he continued. ‘But how can I back down when we started it? I’m not going to just forget it.’”

Why couldn’t Donald Trump behave in the same manner?

Trump Backtracking Again?

Daily Mail wrote on September 22:

“Last week, the Republican presidential candidate announced that Obama was in fact born in America, and not Kenya, as Trump had claimed for years. But when asked why he backtracked on his birther theory on Wednesday, Trump appeared to reverse his opinion once again… Trump said that his birther theory was becoming a distraction from his big issues and appeared to say he only admitted that Obama was born in the U.S. to get the public back on track…”

CNN wrote on September 21:

“Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that his statement late last week that President Barack Obama was born in the US was motivated by politics, not by a genuine change of heart…”

On September 22, Newsmax published the following article:

“A reporter from ABC6/FOX28 asked Trump ‘what changed’ to make him believe Obama was born in this country.  ‘Well, I just wanted to get on with, I wanted to get on with the campaign…’

“During a campaign stop in North Carolina on Tuesday, The Associated Press’ Jill Colvin called out, ‘Mr. Trump, when did you change your mind about the birther issue? When did you decide that President Obama was actually born in the United States?’ Trump did not answer, and the press were soon ushered out…”

FLASHBACK:

“Obama Was Born in Kenya and His Birth Was Later Registered in Hawaii at two Different Hospitals”

Israel National News wrote this on October 12, 2008:

“According to Obama’s Kenyan (paternal) grandmother, as well as his half-brother and half-sister, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Kenya, not in Hawaii… His grandmother bragged that her grandson is about to be President of the United States and is so proud because she was present DURING HIS BIRTH IN KENYA, in the delivery room…  Obama’s mother Ann Dunham, flew to Kenya in 1961 with Obama’s father to meet his family… Obama’s family did not take to Stanley Ann Dunham Obama very well, because she was white, according to Sarah Obama. Shortly after she arrived in Kenya Stanley Ann decided to return to Hawaii because she later said, she did not like how Muslim men treated their wives in Kenya.

“However, because she was near term the airline would not let her fly until after the birth of her baby. Obama’s grandmother said the baby–Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.–was born in Kenya… Then, after he was born, his mother returned with him to Hawaii where his birth was REGISTERED on or about August 8th, 1961, in the public records office in Hawaii. There is also a discrepancy in what hospital Barack Hussein Obama was born in, even if he was born in Hawaii.  Reports by his own sister in two separate interviews state that he was born[on August 4, 1961] at two different hospitals — Kapiolani Hospital and Queens Hospital–in Honolulu.”

There are many more unanswered questions. We have reported about these unresolved issues for many years in our weekly Updates.

Chaos and Turmoil in North Carolina

Newsmax wrote on September 21:

“One person was killed in Charlotte Wednesday and another one was injured as police fired tear gas on the second night of protests after the fatal shooting of an African-American man by police officers who said he had refused their orders to drop a handgun… The protest is located in the uptown section of North Carolina’s largest city…”

CBS News wrote on September 21:

“The killing inflamed racial tensions in a city that seemed to have steered clear of the troubles that engulfed other places… The unrest took many by surprise in Charlotte, the banking capital of the South with a population of 830,000 people, about 35 percent of them black. The city managed to pull through a racially charged shooting three years ago without the unrest that erupted in recent years in such places as Baltimore, Milwaukee and Ferguson, Missouri.”

Another Terrorist Attack in New York City

Express wrote on September 18:

“THE New York bomb explosion has seen Donald Trump threatening action against anyone who threatens US security. The New York explosion injured 29 people and was caused by one of two devices discovered in the city last night… Democrat rival Hillary Clinton refused to say anything other than that she had been briefed…  New York Governor said the explosion was a terror attack but stressed no links to any international terrorist group like ISIS had been found… A White House official said President Barack Obama… had been ‘apprised of the explosion in New York City, the cause of which remains under investigation’.”

It was subsequently reported that police arrested an Afghan-born American wanted in connection with weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey, and that the assailant had shot two officers during a firefight in Linden, New Jersey. Reuters quoted two US unnamed officials as saying investigators believed there were more people involved, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “the evidence might suggest a foreign connection.”

Scientists “Alarmed” About Trump’s Denial of Global Warming

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 21:

“Nearly 400 scientists have blasted Donald Trump for threatening to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord. Their criticism comes just seven weeks before the US presidential election. The scientists, including 30 Nobel Prize winners and numerous members of the US National Academy of Sciences, take issue with Trump’s denial of global warming…

“Most of the signatories are from the United States, with many from leading universities such as Harvard, Cambridge and Columbia.”

Express wrote on September 21:

“MUCH has been made about his controversial views, but there has been little coverage on what US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump thinks about climate change… the outspoken billionaire does believe in climate change in a sense, but believes that it is a natural weather cycle… He claims it is a money making hoax designed to control how much energy the US uses… If he does make it into power, Mr Trump would be the world’s only national leader to deny climate change as a man-made problem, according to a report from environmental agency The Sierra Club.”

Will Mr. Trump stick to his position in light of growing criticism?

“Amid Fears of Trump, Europe Tries to Make its Security Less Dependent on the U.S.”

MSN.com wrote on September 16:

“The leaders of the remaining 27 nations in the European Union gathered Friday in Slovakia to discuss their visions for a Europe without Britain, including a Franco-German proposal to create a centralized European military headquarters in Brussels… Stronger coordination among European countries could bolster militaries that have relied on American firepower as a crutch…

“A Europe that is more independent militarily would also be more capable of pursuing a foreign policy path more distinct from the United States, potentially widening cracks in Western unity… ‘It is time to move forward to a European defense union,’ German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said last week. ‘… together, we Europeans are very strong if we improve our capabilities.’…

“The efforts to pool European defense would touch one of the core aspects of national sovereignty: the military, years after many European countries agreed to share a single currency and rely on one another for border controls…

“Still, defense cooperation may be among the least-divisive projects for Europe’s future, particularly with American commitments to European security the most in question since the end of World War II. Trump has said that he would not automatically come to the defense of other NATO alliance members but would first review how much those nations have done for their own defense… Proposals to rethink European defense long predate Trump’s rise, but he has jolted Europe with his willingness to question longstanding U.S. doctrine…”

Paper Tiger UK Would Object to an EU Army… So What?

The Independent wrote on September 17:

“The UK would exercise its power of veto to block the creation of an EU army while it remains a member of the European Union, according to Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has spoken of the possibility of a ‘common military force’ at a meeting of EU leaders in Bratislava, to which Britain was not invited.

“Sir Michael told The Times newspaper. ‘That is not going to happen. We are full members of the EU and we will go on resisting any attempt to set up a rival to Nato.’ A document discussed at the Bratislava summit indicates the European Commission will put forward proposals in December for a common military force, for which agreement will be sought in the summer. France and Germany are understood to be behind the proposals…

“The veto threat will further poison British relations with Brussels after the Brexit vote and harden attitudes in Germany and France against giving Theresa May concessions on access to Europe’s single market. Diplomatic relations between the UK and the EU are already fraught. The UK vetoing significant EU policy while it simultaneously negotiates its exit from the union could have significant consequences. All previous steps toward creating a common EU military force have been vetoed by Britain.”

The influence of the UK on Europe will be over very soon; but any opposition in the meantime will only increase Europe’s antagonism towards the UK.

Shaky EU Commitment in Bratislava, Slovakia

MSN.com wrote on September 16:

“European Union leaders on Friday… vowed to strengthen cooperation on security, reduce illegal migration and improve prosperity for the alliance’s disaffected citizens… Hollande said that Europe ‘can and must move forward as long as it has clear priorities: protection, security, prosperity and the future of the youth.’ The proposals will likely be ratified in March, when the EU celebrates the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, one of founding documents for a united Europe…

“The summit was held in Bratislava because Slovakia currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency. In many ways it is an apt venue for the talks. Once a jewel in the Austro-Hungarian empire, Bratislava has hosted the coronation of eighteen Hungarian rulers. And its location on the Danube River in Central Europe borders two independent countries — Austria and Hungary — that have long made it an important crossroads for international trade.

“Perhaps most important of all, Slovakia is one of the EU members in Eastern Europe along with Hungary that has consistently objected to Brussels’ plan to redistribute mostly Muslim asylum seekers across EU territory…

“The Visegrad countries — Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — released a separate statement Friday urging leaders to improve how the EU functions… Whereas Eastern member states want more power returned to national parliaments, bigger players such as France and Germany are adamant that solutions to joint difficulties should take place at the EU level…”

Eastern European nations do not seem to see eye-to-eye with their Western friends. But notwithstanding some “lip services” to the contrary, they all seem to be in agreement with the “need” to build a mighty European “defense force.”

“Hundreds of Thousands Take to Streets in Germany Against Obama-backed Trade Deal”

CNBC wrote on September 17:

“Hundreds of thousands of Germans took to the streets Saturday, in protest of pending trade deals with the United States and Canada. The deals in question are the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the U.S. and the European Union and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) for the Canadian-EU relationship. Neither free trade agreement has been ratified yet, but popular outcry has been growing for the last few years.

“The demonstrations took place in seven cities throughout Germany: Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart. Organizers told CNBC that the official estimate is 320,000 demonstrators across Germany. In Berlin… the largest demonstration of the day took place with about 70,000 attendees, according to the organizers… while the organizers talk of seeking to maintain the sanctity of democracy and rule of law, critics of the movement charge that its ranks thrive at least as much on anti-Americanism as any coherent political or economic philosophy. Those elements were on display Saturday in Berlin as one sign accused U.S. President Barack Obama of being a murderer, and another suggested the American way of life was dominated by corporate interests. The demonstrator behind those signs even had a half-sized Obama effigy with the words ‘the lies of the Peace Prize winner Mr. President Barack Obama’ stuck to its forward.

“… anti-corporate sentiment… pervaded the march. Homemade signs admonished those seeking ‘profits,’ and images of the U.S. dollar bill were stand-ins for greed and inequality. Nearly every demonstrator queried by CNBC pointed immediately to concerns about “big companies” garnering too much power and wealth if the trade deals were enacted.

“You cannot just say all Americans are bad, but I can understand when people hate big companies,” Jonas, a 26-year-old Berlin student, said. Many like-minded demonstrators acknowledged they have friends and relatives who are employed by major multinational companies like Volkswagen, but they insisted that the benefits of a trade deal would go disproportionately to executives.

“Obama has said he hopes to conclude the TTIP negotiations by the end of the year, but that goal suffered a series of blows last month when French and German politicians openly questioned whether any deal was on the horizon. But the White House has indicated it won’t back down, and so it will be making a concerted push to solidify the terms of the TTIP before Obama is out of office. In fact, there is ‘no legitimate plan B’ for eventually crafting an agreement between the U.S. and the EU if the deal doesn’t happen this year…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 21:

“This is arguably one of the most stunning developments of the 2016 presidential race: Both presidential candidates have come out in opposition of free trade. Trump and Clinton have vowed that as president they would block the already fully negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a large trade agreement hammered out between the US and 11 other nations.”

Merkel Loses Again; Victory for AfD

The Telegraph wrote on September 18:

“Angela Merkel was facing damaging losses at the hands of Germany’s resurgent far-Right in regional elections in Berlin on Sunday evening. The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won the highest share of the vote for the far-Right in Berlin since the Second World War, with [14.1 percent of the votes]…

“The strong showing in Berlin proves the AfD ‘doesn’t just trade off discontent in rural areas but can establish itself in a city of millions known for its open lifestyle,’ Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper wrote in an editorial…

“Mrs Merkel’s CDU came second, but with just [17.5] per cent of the vote the result was disastrous for the party. It will almost certainly be forced out of the Berlin state government, where it previously served as junior coalition partner to the SPD…”

Deutsche Welle added on September 18:

“The populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party entered Berlin’s 149-seat state assembly… It now enters its tenth regional assembly out of 16 German states… Sunday’s elections represent another significant blow to Merkel’s party…  The CDU suffered a sobering defeat to the AfD in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regional elections at the beginning of September. The CDU finished third behind the SPD and AfD with 19 percent – its all-time lowest result in the northeastern state.”

EU to Enact Entry System for Non-EU Visitors

Deutsche Welle reported on September 21:

“The EU is planning to massively increase its border controls. Those who want to enter have to register, or apply for a visa…

“Australia’s had one for a long time, and the United States has had one since 2007: An electronic entry system for travelers who don’t need a visa. Now, the EU wants to implement such a system in order to have better control over who is actually entering and leaving the bloc. In the US, the online electronic registration system is known as ‘ESTA.’ In Europe, it will be known as ‘Etias’ (European Travel Information and Authorisation System). The EU Commission is currently carrying out a feasibility study to determine how Etias can be set up at hundreds of airports and border crossings. The legislative process would then begin at the end of the year.

“EU interior ministers called for a digital registration system last year following the terror attacks in Paris. But the system, designed to close recognized security loopholes, has been in planning for much longer. Now, it’s going to become a reality. Similar to the US system, travelers who don’t need a visa for the EU will be required to register online. A fee will be charged for the process; according to EU officials, it could be anywhere between 13 and 50 euros ($15 and $56). Based on the current 30 million travelers from non-EU countries who do not need a visa, that would create income of between 390 million to 1.5 billion euros per year.

“The number of people who don’t need a visa but who will have to pay this ‘entry fee’ could increase considerably in the next few years. After Brexit, millions of British people traveling to the EU for vacations or business trips will also have to pay and register with Etias. The same goes for people from Turkey or Ukraine, in the event that the EU grants them visa-free travel…

“The system to record the movements of all travelers from non-EU states is at the heart of the new security measures. This network, called ‘EES’ should be agreed on by the end of the year…”

This is just the start, and it was predictable. It may become more and more difficult, burdensome and expensive for non-Europeans to even visit the European continent.

Syrian Army Declares End of “Ceasefire”

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 19:

‘The Syrian army has blamed ‘terrorist groups’ of undermining a ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow… The Syrian army on Monday unilaterally declared an end to a US-Russia brokered ceasefire that witnessed days of calm across the conflict-ridden country. Syrian officials cited repeated ceasefire violations on behalf of US-backed rebels.

“The US has admitted that a coalition airstrike may have killed scores of Syrian army soldiers amid a fragile ceasefire in Syria. Russia has demanded ‘full and detailed explanations’ at the UN Security Council… At least 80 Syrian soldiers were killed by the US-led coalition airstrikes on Saturday, and included the involvement of British forces…

“President Bashar al-Assad described the airstrikes as ‘blatant American aggression.’ The incident cast doubt on the fragile ceasefire between rebel groups and government forces, prompting a sharp rebuke from Russia…

“Meanwhile, US State Secretary John Kerry, who brokered the deal with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said that Russia failed to uphold its side of the bargain by enforcing the truce and pressuring the Syrian government to halt its attacks…

“More than 250,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced since the conflict erupted five years ago. The conflict erupted in 2011 when government forces launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.”

It should have been clear from the outset that that “ceasefire” agreement would never hold.

The “Biggest Threat to Modern Medicine”

The Guardian wrote on September 20:

“All 193 United Nations member states are set to sign a declaration agreeing to combat ‘the biggest threat to modern medicine’ in Wednesday’s high-level meeting on antibiotic resistance…

“It is estimated that more than 700,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant infections… Scientists warned about the threat of antibiotic resistance decades ago when pharmaceutical companies began the industrial production of medicine…”

The Washington Post added on September 21:

“In the United States, drug-resistant gonorrhea already is one of the country’s three most urgent superbug threats… In each case, as with other diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, overexposure to antibiotics has allowed the particular germ to more rapidly develop resistance.”

Crazy Evolutionary Ideas

Daily Mail wrote on September 20:

“Occasionally in science there are theories that refuse to die despite the overwhelming evidence against them. The ‘aquatic ape hypothesis’ is one of these, now championed by Sir David Attenborough in his recent BBC Radio 4 series ‘The Waterside Ape’. The hypothesis suggests that everything from walking upright to our lack of hair, from holding our breath to eating shellfish could be because an aquatic phase in our ancestry…

“In 1960, marine biologist Alister Hardy published an article in New Scientist, titled: Was man more aquatic in the past? He re-told the familiar tale of the evolution of land animals from ancient fish, and then considered the return of various groups of reptiles, birds and mammals to an aquatic existence: ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, crocodiles, sea-snakes, penguins, whales, dolphins and porpoises, manatees and dugongs, and seals – as well as polar bears, otters and water voles, who hunt in water. Then he suggested that many of the unique characteristics of humans and their ancestors, marking them out as different from the other apes, could be explained as adaptations to spending time in water.”

The entire evolutionary concept is an appalling foolish blasphemy in the eyes of God.

God Preserved His Word

On September 22, Times of Israel re-published the following article by The Associated Press:

“The charred lump of a 2,000-year-old scroll sat in an Israeli archaeologist’s storeroom for decades, too brittle to open. Now, new imaging technology has revealed what was written inside: the earliest evidence of a biblical text in its standardized form. The passages from the Book of Leviticus, scholars say, offer the first physical evidence of what has long been believed: that the version of the Hebrew Bible used today goes back 2,000 years.

“The discovery… was made using ‘virtual unwrapping,’ a 3D digital analysis of an X-ray scan. Researchers say it is the first time they have been able to read the text of an ancient scroll without having to physically open it…

“The biblical scroll examined in the study was first discovered by archaeologists in 1970 at Ein Gedi, the site of an ancient Jewish community near the Dead Sea… The synagogue was destroyed in an ancient fire, charring the scrolls. The dry climate of the area kept them preserved, but when archaeologists touched them, the scrolls would begin to disintegrate. So the charred logs were shelved for nearly half a century, with no one knowing what was written inside.

“The researchers say it is the first time a biblical scroll has been discovered in an ancient synagogue’s holy ark, where it would have been stored for prayers, and not in desert caves like the Dead Sea Scrolls. The discovery holds great significance for scholars’ understanding of the development of the Hebrew Bible, researchers say.

“In ancient times, many versions of the Hebrew Bible circulated. The Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to as early as the 3rd century B.C., featured versions of the text that are radically different than today’s Hebrew Bible. Scholars have believed the Hebrew Bible in its standard form first came about some 2,000 years ago, but never had physical proof, until now, according to the study. Previously the oldest known fragments of the modern biblical text dated back to the 8th century.

“The text discovered in the charred Ein Gedi scroll is ‘100 percent identical’ to the version of the Book of Leviticus that has been in use for centuries, said Dead Sea Scroll scholar Emmanuel Tov from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who participated in the study…  ‘In 2,000 years, this text has not changed.’ Noam Mizrahi, a Dead Sea Scrolls expert at Tel Aviv University… said the imaging technology holds great potential for more readings of unopened Dead Sea Scrolls.”

This is indeed a great discovery, also showing that the so-called “Dead Sea Scrolls” were altered by an obscure sect and are totally unreliable.

September 11 Conspiracies Alive and Well

 A highly controversial and speculative piece about the alleged “inside job” of the September 11 attack was published in the respected scientific magazine, “Europhysics News,” Volume 47, Number 4, July-August 2016, which was authored by four writers. The Editors noted the following:  “This feature is somewhat different from our usual purely scientific articles, in that it contains some speculation. However, given the timing and the importance of the issue, we consider that this feature is sufficiently technical and interesting to merit publication for our readers. Obviously, the content of this article is the responsibility of the authors.”

These authors included Steven Jones, a “former full professor of physics at Brigham Young University.” (According to Der Stern, dated September 9, 2016, this Mormon university dismissed him in 2006 when he began to propagate the 9-11 conspiracy theory). Another author was (retired) Robert Korol, “a professor emeritus of civil engineering at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada”; Anthony Szamboti, “a mechanical design engineer,” and Ted Walter “who holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley” (compare Europhysics News’ annotation.)

The article caught attention in obscure pseudo-scientific and occult publications, but also in the German magazine “Der Stern” (as mentioned above). However, that magazine made it clear that the article presented nothing new and that it was just a repetition of the old conspiracy concepts (especially the so-called “False Flag Theory,” according to which the attack was “instigated” to justify military intervention in the Middle East.)

 On the other hand, the idea of an “inside job” continues to be believed in by many people, including by at least more than 30% of Germans.

 Die Welt ran an article on September 9, discussing the many aspects of the conspiracy theory  and concluded that  “doubts in the official explanation are groundless.”

On September 7, Esquire published a convincing article with the headline, “Disproving 9 of the Biggest 9/11 Conspiracy Theories.” In the article, it was stated:

“There are still plenty of 9/11 conspiracy theorists, and no matter what you tell them, they will tell you the attacks on September 11, 2001 did not happen the way our government or our media claim. Conspiracy theorists will tell you it was an inside job. They will tell you the government let it happen. They will tell you the buildings couldn’t have fallen that way, or the Air Force could have stopped the whole thing if they wanted to.

“There are an untold number of theories about what really happened that day. They are the subject of a well-known documentary film, and they have spawned countless websites. Most of them are weird, and some are almost comical. But exploring these theories involves venturing into the darkest corners of our imagination, where confusion and despair bleed into reactionary paranoia, and the enduring sacrifice of the innocent people who died that day is almost cheapened by slander and suspicion.”

How “dark” these theories are can be seen by an article of Bild Online, stating that one “unexplained” occurrence was the observance of “ghosts” right after the attack, “helping with searching for survivors.”

We are bringing you excerpts from the Esquire article, focusing on the two most common “beliefs” in a conspiracy:

“The theory: The fuel from the planes that hit the World Trade Center could not have caused the buildings’ structural failures, because no kerosene fire burns hot enough—2,750 degrees Fahrenheit—to melt their steel frames. The debunk: Jet fuel burns at 800 to 1,500 degrees, Popular Mechanics notes—not hot enough to melt the steel frames. But the frames did not even need to fully melt for the buildings to collapse; they just had to weaken significantly. Steel loses about half its strength at 1,100 degrees, and moreover, the fuel wasn’t the only source of fire. The combustible material inside the buildings (rugs, curtains, furniture, paper) brought the temperature up to 1,832 degrees in some places…

“The theory: An addendum to the previous theory, many theorists believe that controlled explosions, not the planes, brought down the towers. Among the evidence cited: Puffs of dust shot out horizontally as the buildings fell, and the initial damage was too widespread (particularly to lower floors) to have been caused by the jets. The debunk: A spring 2005 report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that plane debris ‘sliced through the utility shafts at the North Tower’s core,’ Popular Mechanics reports, ‘creating a conduit for burning jet fuel—and fiery destruction throughout the building.’ The blaze exploded down the elevator shafts, disabling them and causing damage (and killing people) all the way to the lobby below, long before the towers collapsed. The puffs of dust were the result of each floor bearing down on the one below ‘with pulverizing force’ as the buildings fell, in what is known as ‘pancaking.’ That force caused the air between floors to shoot out with formidable speed and power, creating the bursting clouds of dust…”

From all the evidence available, the Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates have concluded a long time ago that 9/11 was NOT an “inside job,” but that it was a terrorist attack of 19 hijackers. Ideas to the contrary have been convincingly debunked.

House Passes Saudi 9/11 Bill

Newsmax wrote on September 9:

“Rep. Pete King took a victory lap Friday as the House passed a bill allowing 9/11 victims and their families to sue the Saudi Arabian government. The House passed the measure by overwhelming margin on a voice vote, confirming a similar Senate vote in May… ‘The Saudi government employs many former government officials and they tried to stop [the bill] at every turn,’ he said.

“The bill goes to President Obama’s desk for signature. The Obama administration has vigorously opposed the bill and already has signaled a veto is coming. But some question whether the president will veto a bill that will likely be overridden by Congress. It took nearly 15 years after the worst assault on U.S. soil by a foreign aggressor.

“Since then 9/11 families and other groups have complained of Saudi involvement in the attacks — 15 of the 19 perpetrators were Saudi nationals – and have argued for the right to sue and legally explore the involvement of this foreign power. The bill amends a 1976 law that grants foreign states immunity from lawsuits in the U.S.

“The new law provides that Americans can sue if any nation was directly involved in terror attacks against U.S. nationals…

“The September 11, 2001, attacks killed 2,966 people, and injured more than 6,000. Of those killed, the majority — 2,606 — died in New York’s World Trade Center and the surrounding area…”

North Korea’s Latest Nuclear Test

The Washington Post wrote on September 9:

“North Korea defiantly celebrated its fifth nuclear test Friday, claiming that it can now make warheads small enough to fit onto a missile and warning its ‘enemies’ — specifically the United States — that it has the ability to counter any attack… the test appeared to mark another step toward North Korea’s goal of putting a nuclear warhead on a weapon capable of reaching the mainland United States…

“The U.S. Geological Survey detected an artificial 5.3-magnitude earthquake near North Korea’s nuclear test site at 9 a.m. local time on Friday, a national holiday marking the 68th anniversary of the formation of the communist regime by Kim Il Sung, the current leader’s grandfather. ‘This is clearly a nuclear test,’ said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif. He estimated the size at between 10 and 20 kilotons. The North’s last nuclear test, carried out in January, was about six kilotons…

“In a White House statement Friday, Obama called the test ‘a grave threat’ to regional and international security and noted Pyongyang’s claims to be developing nuclear warheads capable of hitting the United States and its allies…”

North Korean Test Leaves U.S. With a List of Bad Options

The New York Times wrote on September 9:

“North Korea’s latest test of an atomic weapon leaves the United States with an uncomfortable choice: Stick with a policy of incremental sanctions that has clearly failed to stop the country’s nuclear advances, or pick among alternatives that range from the highly risky to the repugnant.

“A hard embargo, in which Washington and its allies block all shipping into and out of North Korea and seek to paralyze its finances, risks confrontations that allies in Asia fear could quickly escalate into war. But restarting talks on the North’s terms would reward the defiance of its young leader, Kim Jong-un, with no guarantee that he will dismantle the nuclear program irrevocably…

“For more than seven years, President Obama has adopted a policy of gradually escalating sanctions that the White House once called ‘strategic patience.’ But the test on Friday — the North’s fifth and most powerful blast yet, perhaps with nearly twice the strength of its last one — eliminates any doubt that that approach has failed and that the North has mastered the basics of detonating a nuclear weapon… American experts warn that it is speeding toward a day when it will be able to threaten the West Coast of the United States and perhaps the entire country.

“… an agreement between the United States and South Korea to deploy an advanced missile defense system in the South, has inflamed China…  In both South Korea and Japan, a small but increasingly vocal minority has begun to advocate developing nuclear weapons to counter the North instead of relying on the United States…”

Serious Concerns about Hillary Clinton’s Health

Newsmax wrote on September 9:

“Hillary Clinton has been struck by coughing attacks, leading to a resurfacing of speculation about her health…

“Concerns about Hillary Clinton’s health are ‘serious—could be disqualifying for the position of President of the U.S.,’ say nearly 71 percent of 250 physicians responding to an informal internet survey by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). About 20 percent said concerns were ‘likely overblown, but should be addressed as by full release of medical records.’ Only 2.7 percent responded that they were ‘just a political attack: I have confidence in the letter from her physician and see no cause for concern.’”

Breitbart wrote on September 14:

“Doctors are raising concerns about Hillary Clinton’s recent pneumonia diagnosis and treatment, suggesting a case of the disease that causes a patient to collapse should be treated more seriously… Clinton’s campaign initially left the press in the dark about what occurred at the 9-11 ceremony, but nearly two hours later, the campaign blamed Clinton’s health episode on the former first lady being overheated. Later in the evening, Clinton’s doctor Lisa Bardack issued an official statement, explaining that Clinton had been overheated and dehydrated. The statement revealed Clinton had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday…”

Why Hillary Clinton Might Have Avoided the Hospital

The New York Post wrote on September 12:

“Hillary Clinton was headed to an emergency room following her frightening collapse at the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony – but detoured to daughter Chelsea Clinton’s apartment to keep details of her medical treatment under wraps, The Post has learned.

“Secret Service protocol called for the Democratic presidential nominee to be rushed to a state-designated Level I Trauma Center in the wake of her Sunday morning health crisis, sources said. In Manhattan, that would be Bellevue Hospital. But a campaign operative decided to change course to avoid having Clinton seen by doctors, nurses and other medical workers who could leak details to reporters, according to a source.”

Hillary Clinton’s Fishy E-Mail Story

On September 8, The Denver Post Editorial Board published the following article:

“Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton used Denver-based Platte River Networks to host private her e-mail when she was secretary of state. The latest controversy involving Hillary Clinton’s decision to run her State Department e-mail through private servers contains a hard-to-believe shocker that ought to give reasonable people pause.

“Her supporters will join her campaign in decrying a ‘conspiracy’ to spoil her presidential aspirations. But really, how can an objective observer not find problems with this latest story, which suggests a dark conspiracy indeed: An errant engineer decides on his own volition to delete e-mails from her private account after a congressional committee orders them preserved?…

“The FBI said that in December 2014 a top Clinton aide told Denver-based Platte River Networks to destroy an archive of e-mails from her private server, but the company failed to do so. Then, after The New York Times reported in early March 2015 details of then-Secretary Clinton’s use of a private server, the House committee investigating the deadly attacks on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya, ordered that her e-mails be preserved, and subpoenaed those related to the attack. Three weeks later, the story goes, the engineer responsible for deleting Clinton’s archive suddenly remembered the failed duty, and acted on it by deleting the e-mails with a program (wonderfully named BleachBit) that apparently rendered most of them unreadable.

“Around the time of the engineer’s sudden remembrance, the FBI said, Platte River officials joined a conference call with a longtime Clinton aide and personal lawyer. But when the FBI tried to look into this call, they met with frustration. Platte River’s attorney told the engineer who did the deed to claim attorney-client privilege.

“That just looks awful. So little wonder the Republican chairman of the House committee investigating Clinton’s e-mail arrangement – Utah’s Jason Chaffetz- has asked federal prosecutors to investigate whether she or others were involved in the decision to destroy those e-mails following the preservation order.

“Given that FBI director James Comey’s decision to clear Clinton of wrongdoing in the e-mail scandal came with his unusual denunciation of her actions as ‘extremely careless,’ the information from the bureau’s summary of its investigation doesn’t sit well. It’s reasonable to ask why the FBI didn’t look deeper. It’s reasonable to ask why the engineer would act if, as the logic of the cover story must argue, the e-mails were simply personal notes about yoga appointments and being a grandmother.

“No wonder Chaffetz would seek to dig in. He’s asking the Justice Department ‘to investigate and determine whether Secretary Clinton or her employees and contractors violated statutes that prohibit destruction of records, obstruction of congressional inquiries and concealment of cover-up of evidence material to a congressional committee.’…

“We worry that Chaffetz is right on this one. Something about this story feels whitewashed – or maybe bleached out is the better term for it now.”

There seems to be little doubt about this; and the FBI’s and the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton is really unbelievable. Note the next two articles.

Immunity for the Perpetrators

The New York Times wrote on September 8:

“A computer specialist who deleted Hillary Clinton’s emails despite orders from Congress to preserve them was given immunity by the Justice Department during its investigation into her personal email account… Mr. Combetta is one of at least two people who were given immunity by the Justice Department as part of the investigation. The other was Bryan Pagliano, a former campaign staff member for Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, who was granted immunity in exchange for answering questions about how he set up a server in Mrs. Clinton’s home in Chappaqua, N.Y., around the time she became secretary of state in 2009.

“The F.B.I. described the deletions by Mr. Combetta in a summary of its investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s account that was released last Friday. The documents blacked out the specialist’s name, but the law enforcement official and others familiar with the case identified the employee as Mr. Combetta. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing matters that were supposed to remain confidential.

“Brian Fallon, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, said that the deletions by the specialist, who worked for a Colorado company called Platte River Networks, had already been ‘thoroughly examined by the F.B.I. prior to its decision to close out this case. As the F.B.I.’s report notes… neither Hillary Clinton nor her attorneys had knowledge of the Platte River Network employee’s actions. It appears he acted on his own and against guidance given by both Clinton’s and Platte River’s attorneys to retain all data in compliance with a congressional preservation request.’… According to the F.B.I. documents, Mr. Combetta told the bureau in February that he did not recall deleting the emails. But in May, he told a different story… [He had] said [he] realized that he had not followed a December 2014 order from Mrs. Clinton’s lawyers to have the emails deleted. Mr. Combetta then used a program called BleachBit to delete the messages, the bureau said.

“In Mr. Combetta’s first interview with the F.B.I. in February, he said he did not recall seeing the preservation order from the Benghazi committee, which Mrs. Clinton’s lawyer, Cheryl D. Mills, had sent to Platte River. But in his May interview, he said that at the time he made the deletions ‘he was aware of the existence of the preservation request and the fact that it meant he should not disturb Clinton’s email data’ on the Platte River server.”

Newsmax added on September 14:

“House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz was clearly frustrated on Wednesday after a former Hillary Clinton aide was a no-show at a hearing on Tuesday, even though he had been served with a subpoena… Bryan Pagliano, who had helped maintain Clinton’s private email server, has been granted immunity by the Justice Department and already invoked his Fifth Amendment rights not to incriminate himself twice on the matter… Just one of the five witnesses called, Justin Cooper, a former White House aide to President Bill Clinton, testified and answered questions for nearly two hours. The other three invoked their Fifth Amendment rights [not to discriminate themselves.].”

Combetta and Pagliano got immunity; others refuse to testify; and so, Hillary Clinton is still not being prosecuted.

Trump Gives Interview to Russia’s Controversial RT Network

The Washington Post wrote on September 9:

“In an interview Thursday, Donald Trump was asked what surprised him most about the American press. ‘Well, I think the dishonesty of the media,’ the Republican presidential hopeful responded, with little hesitation. ‘The media has been unbelievably dishonest.’ That Trump has an unfavorable view of American journalism will surprise few…

“But his outlet for venting this frustration may have been more surprising. Trump’s comments came during an interview with Larry King that was aired on RT America — part of a state-owned Russian media organization that critics accuse of propagandistic aims and poor journalistic standards… Originally known as Russia Today, the organization was founded in December 2005 as an English-language television network… To get a sense of this style of programming, consider this: Julian Assange was given his own show on RT for a few months in 2012. His first guest was Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.

“RT America began airing Larry King’s interview show, ‘Politicking,’ after CNN dropped him in 2010… Last July, it hired Ed Schultz after MSNBC canceled his low-rated program, ‘The Ed Show,’ after six years… The network also airs a weekly debate and interview show hosted by Jesse Ventura, the former professional wrestler and governor of Minnesota… It also has a deeply conspiratorial side, providing airtime to the notion that the 9/11 attacks were engineered by the government…

“Trump’s interview with RT comes at a time of heightened concerns about Russia’s alleged interference in the upcoming U.S. election. Russia is suspected of involvement in a hack of the Democratic National Committee email system and subsequent leak. (Mr. Trump stated that he does not believe so and that this was probably made up by the Democrats.) The United States is investigating what it thinks could be a wider Russian plan to disrupt the November elections. To complicate matters further, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have made a number of seemingly admiring comments about each other. During an NBC presidential forum Wednesday evening, Trump said the Russian president had been more of a leader than President Obama. In other comments, he has jokingly suggested that Russia should hack the email of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.”

Donald Trump’s granting of an interview to a media outlet which is controlled by the Russian government raises more than just an eyebrow.

“Why Did a Christian Bishop Give Donald Trump a Jewish Prayer Shawl?”

The Times of Israel wrote on September 9:

“When images of Donald Trump sporting a Jewish prayer shawl during his September 3 visit to a Detroit black church hit the web, the reactions on social media ranged from amusement to shock, and, in some cases, outrage.  ‘You guys, a Jewish prayer shawl – a tallit – is a ritual garment. Meant to be worn only by Jews. This is the worst kind of appropriation,’ declared Conservative Rabbi Danya Rutenberg on Twitter.  ‘Wait, did Donald Trump get bar mitzvahed?’ asked The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs, while The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg observed that the anti-Semitic alt-right movement supporting the real estate mogul must be ‘paralyzed by this photograph.’

“But for the pastor [Wayne Jackson] who presented Trump with the tallit, wearing the traditional Jewish garment is standard practice at the congregation he leads, the Great Faith Ministries International… In fact, there are other Jewish traditions the congregation observes. It was no accident Trump visited for a ceremony on a Saturday rather than the normal Sunday church service. ‘We do worship on the sabbath, because I do recognize the holy days,’ Jackson said…

“Great Faith Ministries, which Jackson leads, follows a Pentecostal tradition in which it is common for clergy and worshippers to wear the religious garment with fringes hanging from each of its four corners… Jackson is known to be a proponent of ‘prosperity theology,’ which entails the belief among certain sects of Christianity that an individual’s financial standing and physical condition come from the will of God, and that proper faith will tip the scales in their favor…

“At the service, Jackson not only gave Trump the tallit, but also a Jewish Heritage Study Bible, which the bishop said talks about the foundation of the Christian faith. ‘You know, a lot of Christians who sit in church don’t even know that the foundation of the Christian faith goes back to God’s covenant with Abraham,’ Jackson said…

“John Hagee, the televangelist Christian leader and pastor of a mega-church in San Antonio, Texas, has worn [the tallit] on multiple occasions, and a number of evangelical churches throughout the country sell them in their gift shops. Jackson also stressed: ‘This was nothing to be offensive. I love Israel. I support Israel. I love the people of God. The prayer shawl was meant to do nothing but to show the power of the holy spirit.’… The Christian leader said that bestowing the candidate with the garment was also intended to shore up his feeling for the Jewish state. ‘You know, this man may carry the government on his shoulders. Who knows? He may be the most powerful man in the world, if he becomes the president. And we want him to love the nation of Israel… It was all about the love that was displayed in that service. it was the love there in that room that had Donald Trump leave feeling the love of Yeshua [Jesus].’”

These are very alarming developments. Many of the “Messianic Jewish” concepts, as displayed in the article and claimed to be of Pentecostal origin, are not biblical and do much more harm than good. We address many aspects of false “Messianic Jewish” teachings and practices in our free booklet, “Old Testament Laws—Still Valid Today.” In regard to the use of the word “Yeshua,” please also note our recent Q&A, titled, “Should We Use Hebrew Expressions in Our Worship of God?”

Unbiblical Transgender Policy Affects Churches

WorldNetDaily wrote on September 10, 2016:

“President Obama’s transgender agenda has taken huge leaps forward in the last year or so. There have been orders for public building managers, for colleges and even for public schools to allow a male who says he’s female to use locker rooms and restrooms set aside for women… Now a second state has decided that churches, too, are bound by the agenda.

“The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination this month released a ‘Gender Identity Guidance’ that imposes its demands on society… ‘Under [the law] places of public accommodation may not discriminate against, or restrict a person from services because of that person’s gender identity. For example, a hotel or motel may not refuse to book a room for a person because of the person’s gender identity,’ the state threatens. It continues, ‘Even a church could be seen as a place of public accommodation if it holds a secular event, such as a spaghetti supper, that is open to the general public.’

“The demands include having church officials, and even members, use whatever pronouns a person would demand, irrespective of their actual gender…

“[In Iowa], a church sued the state in federal court, demanding that officials withdraw their threats of prosecution because of the content of the church’s sermons, specifically what is said about homosexuality, same-sex ‘marriage,’ transgenderism and other related topics… That case erupted when the state’s Civil Rights Commission first claimed the authority to control the content of sermons and then to define what’s religious. At issue is the state’s nondiscrimination requirements that specify any ‘public accommodation’ can be ordered not to say anything that might make a homosexual or a transgender feel ‘unwelcome,’ such as even reading from the Bible a condemnation of such behavior…

“The Iowa Civil Rights Act bans places of ‘public accommodation’ from expressing their views on human sexuality if they would ‘directly or indirectly’ make ‘persons of any particular … gender identity’ feel ‘unwelcome.’ The state claims churches are a ‘public accommodation.’”

PJ Media wrote on September 9:

“Contrary to many scientific studies (pediatricians have even called youth transgenderism ‘child abuse’), [transgender ideology] argues that people who identify with the gender opposite their biological sex should be encouraged to do so, even to the extent of undergoing ‘gender re-affirming surgery.’ This is a fancy name for bodily mutilation which causes even more confusion than before.”

This dangerous set of law manifests the anti-biblical approach of the liberal agenda.

Germany’s “Clear and Present Danger”

Reuters wrote on September 10:

“Germany’s interior minister has warned that the country is home to more than 500 Islamic militants who could be capable of carrying out assaults on their own or as members of ‘hit teams.’… He said another 360 ‘relevant’ people were known to police because of their close proximity to the potential attackers…

“‘The hit teams are secretly smuggled into Europe and prepare their actions without being noticed, as we saw with the attacks in Paris and Brussels,’ he added. ‘But it’s even more difficult to uncover the fanatical lone wolves. Unfortunately, there is a real and present danger from both threats.’”

German Military Sends 650 Soldiers to the Mediterranean Sea

Deutsche Welle reported on September 13:

“A new NATO initiative hopes to stop jihadi militants in the Mediterranean Sea. The German military is pitching in to help via major troop commitments to the yearlong mission… [It will] have powers to search vessels suspected of harboring terrorists… Operation Sea Guardian also hopes to curb human trafficking and arms smuggling while assisting the European Union’s border agency, Frontex.

“Germany is expected to join the NATO operation, and could contribute up to 650 soldiers to the international mission in Mediterranean waters… The deployment is regarded as part of a broader shift in Germany to expand its military role in Europe and NATO…”

“France and Germany to Beef Up EU Defence”

The Local wrote on September 10:

“France and Germany are preparing joint proposals for a ‘more active and more useful’ European defence policy, the French defence ministry told AFP on Friday… The Franco-German document proposes the establishment of a European defence headquarters, a common satellite surveillance system and the sharing of logistics and military medical resources… There would be a tighter circle of EU members for some defence projects where it proves impossible to gain agreement from all…

“There is also a suggestion for better use of Eurocorps, an intergovernmental military body that has France and Germany at its centre. Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg are members of the Strasbourg-based Eurocorps, set up for rapid deployment to hotspots. The EU has already been involved in the training of foreign armies, as part of conflict resolution, and might become involved in financing their equipment.

“The bloc could also become engaged in research and development, to strengthen the European defence industry. The discussions are in part due to the June vote by Britain to leave the EU. According to [German defence minister] von der Leyen, London had long ‘paralysed’ European efforts to have a more closely integrated security policy.”

“Europe Needs a Military Headquarters”

BBC News wrote on September 14:

“The European Union needs a military headquarters to work towards a common military force, the Commission president [Jean-Claude Juncker] has told MEPs in Strasbourg… Mr Juncker said a common military force ‘should be in complement to Nato’… A European Defence Fund would stimulate military research and development, he said…

“All EU members have military forces; most are also members of Nato; and several have extensive experience of operations abroad, from peace-keeping to war-fighting. The real question is how to organise these component parts to get greater security. Mr Juncker insists that the EU must have a role here. He wants to improve EU command and control facilities and appears to be suggesting that EU civil and military aspects of a given mission should be run out of the same headquarters…

“Since 2003 the EU has launched some 30 civilian and military operations in Europe, Africa and Asia – under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Sixteen are still going on, including six military operations…

“[Juncker] urged a renewed focus on the EU as a ‘driving force that can bring about unification, for instance in Cyprus’…

“Anti-EU MEPs lined up to criticise Mr Juncker’s rallying cry: UKIP leader Nigel Farage said it was ‘the usual recipe: more Europe, in this particular case, more military Europe’.”

Austria’s Presidential Election Pushed Back

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 12:

“Austria’s presidential election, originally set for October 2, will be pushed back, Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said on Monday. The decision came after a number of voters planning to vote by mail complained the seals for the ballot forms were faulty… The new round of voting is set to take place on December 4.

“This was the latest problem to beset the race for Austria’s head of state… the election became the subject of intense international interest when it was first contested last spring, as Austria came without 31,000 votes of being the first country in western Europe to elect a far-right leader since World War II.

“Austria holds presidential elections every six years, and goes to a second-round run off vote if no candidate garners more than 50 percent in the first ballot. Norbert Hofer of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) came in less than a percentage point behind Green-party affiliated candidate Alexander Van der Bellen in May’s run-off. However, Austria’s highest court annulled that vote in June and called for a new election after it emerged that thousands of absentee ballots had been counted incorrectly.

“The FPÖ is one of a number of parties in western Europe using anti-immigrant rhetoric to gain steam during the continent’s refugee crisis. It is part of a European parliamentary group chaired by Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front as well as members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and Britain’s right-wing populist UKIP.”

Ireland to Appeal EU Commission’s Controversial Decision on Apple

Reuters reported on September 8:

“Ireland’s government won strong backing from parliament for its appeal against a 13-billion-euro back tax bill the European Commission ordered it to collect from Apple, following 12 hours of debate on Wednesday. Ireland’s fragile coalition overcame initial misgivings from independent members of cabinet to join Apple last week in fighting the ruling that Ireland granted state aid to the company through undue and selective tax benefit.

“The government says Ireland did not give favorable tax treatment to Apple and that no state aid was provided, and it won a motion to endorse its position in parliament by 93 votes to 36. ‘The picture of Ireland painted by the Commission in its decision, as a country prepared to play fast and loose with the law to gain unfair advantage, could not be more damaging or further from the truth,’ Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers. ‘This is not a Commission finding that stands by a small country that has played by the rules. It cannot be allowed to stand.’”

This will make the EU not too happy. The EU Commission has been under constant criticism for its sometimes highly controversial political decisions.

Election Debacle for Angela Merkel in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania

BBC News reported on September 5:

“Angela Merkel’s ruling CDU party has been beaten into third place by an anti-immigrant and anti-Islam party in elections in a north-eastern German state. The Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party took just under 21% of the vote behind the centre-left SPD’s 30%. The German chancellor’s CDU was backed by only 19% of voters, its worst ever result in the state. The vote was seen as a key test before German parliamentary elections in 2017.

“Before the vote in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, in the former East Germany, all of Germany’s other parties ruled out forming a governing coalition with the AfD. But the party, formed only three years ago, is already represented in nine of Germany’s 16 state parliaments.

“One leading CDU politician called the result catastrophic, while another, Wolfgang Bosbach, said the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants without documents had ‘put the wind in the AfD’s sails’. This is humiliating for Angela Merkel – not least because this was on home turf…

“Alternative fuer Deutschland’s anti immigrant and increasingly strident anti-Islam message has a powerful appeal to people concerned about integration and worried about domestic security. It doesn’t look good for Mrs Merkel. Her approval ratings are at a five-year low. But… there is no serious contender waiting in the wings to replace her.

“BBC Berlin correspondent Damien McGuinness says that following her political embarrassment, Mrs Merkel will now come under greater pressure to change her welcoming position on refugees. Addressing supporters, local AfD leader Leif-Erik Holm said: ‘Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship today.’… ‘How many more electoral disasters can Merkel take?’ wonders tabloid Bild, and predicts that temporarily pacified opposition to Mrs Merkel’s line inside her conservative bloc could erupt with full force… An article in Sueddeutsche Zeitung predicts an ‘autumn of discontent’ for the chancellor…

“But a commentary in news magazine Der Spiegel believes that while the election is a ‘debacle’ for Ms Merkel, her job is not on the line quite yet. Some also think it’s not all just about Mrs Merkel. A commentary in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung argues that voters are angry at ‘(almost) all’ mainstream parties, and not just the Christian Democrats…”

This distrust of all the established parties may give way to the rise of a charismatic personage in Germany who will galvanize the masses and offer them ”solutions” for the many problems they are facing.

Angela Merkel Blamed for AfD Success

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 6:

“After the CDU’s electoral defeat in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, tensions in the CDU-CSU union have intensified. Bavarian State Premier Horst Seehofer has blamed Merkel’s refugee policy for the AfD’s success… Seehofer has been a long-time vocal critic of Merkel’s open-door policy since the chancellor allowed some 1 million refugees to cross Germany’s borders last year… ‘Confidence [in the government] is dwindling rapidly,’ said Seehofer…

“Merkel defended her government’s handling of the refugee crisis on Monday…”

The Local wrote on September 8:

“The CSU are a political anomaly in Germany, only standing for election in Bavaria, where the CDU have no presence. The two parties have always had an alliance at the federal level… Securing the support of the CSU leader is key for a CDU chief who is seeking the chancellorship.”

This stubborn refusal to accept responsibility and admit grave error might very well lead to Angela Merkel’s complete downfall.

Seehofer’s CSU Opposes Angela Merkel

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 8:

“Merkel’s words have fallen upon deaf ears in the CSU, whose party line appears to be more radical than the AfD’s…

“The conflict in Germany’s conservative camp has entered a new round. Angela Merkel shouts unmistakably in the direction of Bavarian State Premier Horst Seehofer and his CSU party: Tone it down, otherwise the populists win and we will lose our orientation if we start following the AfD’s lead, language-wise.

“The next day, the press has a CSU paper [that…] doesn’t care one iota about what the chancellor wants… The paper not only agrees with the AfD party platform on many points, but it even goes one step farther… on the topic of dual citizenship. The Bavarian party wants to make exceptions: ‘Migrants from our Western Christian cultural circle should be given priority.’

“Even the AfD wasn’t able to escalate matters to this level at its own convention…

“The CSU was dissatisfied with Merkel’s European approach to refugee policies from the beginning and wanted tougher national measures. The CSU’s second motive is fear of the AfD… Thirdly, the mood among the CSU base and in Bavaria is critical of Merkel… And finally, the Bavarians see what their neighbors in Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava – who are counting on closing the door to outsiders – are doing…

“[Merkel’s] call in the Bundestag didn’t even last a few hours. Her power has diminished again.”

In a related article, Deutsche Welle wrote on September 8:

“Also proposed is… a ban on body-obscuring burqas… The burqa was described as the ‘uniform of Islamism.’ Also contained in the CSU draft was a rejection of ‘special swimming times for Muslims’…  ‘A nation must decide itself who it admits – that is not decided by the migrants,’ the CSU draft said, while adding ‘we are opposed to our world-open country being changed by immigration and refugee flows. Germany must remain Germany.'”

“European Right Hails AfD Success in German Election”

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 5:

“Right-wing populists across Europe cheered the strong showing of the Alternative for Germany (AfD)…  ‘All victories of patriotic and EU-critical parties are helping freedom loving people and parties all over Europe,’ Geert Wilders, the founder and leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV), told DW in an email statement. ‘No one will be able to stop the Patriotic Spring, and the old times where the ruling political elite – like Merkel, Hollande, Rutte and others – could bypass and ignore the common people on issues such as immigration, asylum and EU-policy are definitely over. Their soon-to-come political end is the start of a new political wave of patriotism, national sovereignty and the end of cultural relativism.’

“France’s Marine Le Pen tweeted, ‘What was impossible yesterday has become possible: the AfD patriots have swept away Merkel’s party!’ Those sentiments were echoed by leaders of anti-European Union and anti-immigration parties in Austria and Italy as well.

“Can such statements be taken at face value? Does the fact that the AfD took 20.8 percent of the vote in Sunday’s poll represent a victory for right-wing populists on the continent as a whole? ‘Definitely,’ Alexander Häusler, a sociologist and expert on right-wing populism at Düsseldorf University, told DW. ‘The other right-wing populist parties in Europe were looking for a partner in Germany. Now with the electoral success of the AfD, they have one. A gap in the political landscape, if you will, has been closed.’…

“Given the deep-seated social problems and frustrations that motivate people to vote for right-wing populist parties, it is unlikely the movement will dissipate any time soon in either Germany, or Europe as a whole… Le Pen currently leads polls in France, which has a national election next year, attracting as much as 30 percent of electoral support. Having a like-minded partner in Germany can only bolster her campaign to become the next French president. Wilders will also hope for a boost ahead of the Netherlands’ national vote on March 15, 2017. So they and right-wing populist leaders in other European countries will be paying close attention to other upcoming local German elections in Berlin on September 18 and in North Rhine-Westphalia on May 14, 2017…”

Minorities Deeply Concerned

The Local wrote on September 5:

“Since the results were announced, minority groups have… been reacting with concern over the far-right party’s success. ‘That an extreme-right party which blatantly incites hatred against minorities in a disgusting way can rise unhindered in our country is a nightmare come true,’ Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria (IKG), said on Monday… ‘It is pathetic when a party – in which xenophobia, antisemitism, racism, homophobia, historical denialism and conspiracy theories are the basis for argument – can become such a strong social and political influence,’ she said.

“Knobloch warned that, in collaboration with other far-right parties, the AfD had the strength to threaten Germany’s democratic foundations…

“The AfD was founded in 2013 as a eurosceptic party that advocated a return to the Deutsche Mark, but it has since shifted to become a mainly anti-immigration and Islamophobic party. It has grown strongly even as its top members have sparked outrage with insulting remarks, including one disparaging star footballer Jerome Boateng, who is of German and Ghanaian descent.

“The right-wing populist party is the first to establish itself in the German political landscape since the Second World War, after decades in which no such party crossed the five percent hurdle to enter national parliament. At national level, it is now polling at 14 percent according to a September survey, a gain of 10 points in the year since Merkel threw open German borders to a mass influx of asylum seekers.”

Austria vs. Hungary vs. Germany vs. Greece

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 7:

“Austria’s interior minister [Wolfgang Sobotka] has threatened Hungary with a lawsuit if Budapest refuses to take back migrants. Hungary, in turn, has blamed bad policy in Germany, Austria and Greece for Europe’s migrant crisis…

“Tensions over immigration are high ahead of October 2 presidential elections in Austria… The presidential vote could see the anti-immigration, far-right Freedom Party take over the presidency in Vienna.”

Turkey’s Erdogan vs. Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle reported on September 6:

“Turkish authorities have confiscated footage of an interview with Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports, Akif Cagatay Kilic, filmed for DW’s show ‘Conflict Zone.’ The action has prompted an outcry over press freedom.

“The interview at the center of the controversy took place with DW host Michel Friedman in Ankara on Monday evening. Friedman asked Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports, Akif Cagatay Kilic, about the July coup attempt as well as the mass layoffs and arrests that took place in its aftermath. He also asked about the media situation in Turkey and the position of women in Turkish society, before asking Kilic elaborate on several controversial statements made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on these subjects.

“Immediately following the interview, Kilic excused himself from the room. No sooner had the minister left, [than] his press officer announced that DW would not be allowed to broadcast the interview. When Friedman and his editorial colleague protested, the video material was confiscated by employees of the ministry… ‘This is proof that freedom of the press in Turkey is very restricted,’ Friedman said. ‘The incident is very disturbing. If the foreign media is already been treated in this manner, one could well imagine how difficult it is right now for Turkish journalists.’…

“The German Journalists Union (DJV) called for an immediate release of the video. ‘That is the most severe offense against press freedom, like we only know from dictatorships,’ criticized DJV Chairman Frank Überall…

“Despite several repeated requests for the release of the video footage, Turkey’s decision remained unchanged…”

Turkey has become an absolute dictatorship, and the German government’s policy of appeasing Erdogan is shameful. But prophecy reveals that a dictatorial Turkey will collaborate with a future European dictatorship in their mutual fight against Israel.

National Governments Back in the EU?

The Times wrote on September 8:

“Former communist states are planning to exploit the fallout of Brexit with a ‘counter-revolution’ designed to block migrant deals and assert the power of national governments over Brussels.

“Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, an influential diplomatic European Union bloc known as the Visegrad Group, will lobby together at a summit next week to ensure that national governments are put back in the EU’s driving seat.

“The summit will gather all EU leaders, excluding Theresa May, in Slovakia’s capital to forge a new vision of Europe…”

Attempted Terrorist Attack in France 

Deutsche Welle reported on September 9:

“French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Thursday that three women aged between 19 and 39 were arrested in connection with the discovery of six gas cylinders in the French capital on Sunday. Cazeneuve said the suspects were ‘radicalized fanatics’ who were preparing ‘new violent … and imminent actions.’…

“A police officer also suffered a knife wound during the arrest… Four other people – two brothers and their girlfriends – were already arrested earlier in the week.

“The first couple to be arrested – a 34-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman – are known to the security services for links to radical Islamists. More people are still being sought in the Notre Dame case, the prosecutor’s office said…”

Barack Obama Upsets Great Britain

The Daily Mail wrote on September 4:

“Barack Obama yesterday said the UK can expect no special favours on a trade deal with America after voting to leave the EU. The President stepped up his controversial cautions about Brexit – and suggested Britain’s relationship with the United States risked ‘unravelling’ in the wake of the referendum. Mr Obama caused anger at the height of the referendum campaign when he used a visit to London to warn voters that the UK would go to ‘the back of the queue’ in negotiating a new trade deal if it opted for Brexit.  He hinted again yesterday that any deal was likely to take time – with potentially serious consequences for UK-US trade in the meantime…

“Speaking after an hour-long meeting with Theresa May at the G20 summit in China, Mr Obama bridled at suggestions he had threatened to ‘punish’ Britain for leaving the EU. He said he and Mrs May had confirmed the ‘very special relationship’ between the two countries, but added that he still believed the Brexit vote was a mistake, which could cost Britain dearly…

“Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said of Mr Obama’s comments: ‘Who cares what he says? He’s going. Bye bye.’ Jacob Rees-Mogg, another Eurosceptic Tory MP, added: ‘Fortunately, he is yesterday’s man and will no longer be President early next year… These comments tell us all we need to know about how President Obama has never been a friend of ours.’…

“Meanwhile, the Prime Minister rebuffed overtures from Vladimir Putin to reset the UK’s frosty economic relations with Russia. She challenged the Russian President over Moscow’s intervention in Syria and warned him there could not be ‘business as usual’ in the relationship between the UK and the Kremlin…”

The Bible shows that even the friendship between the USA, the UK and Israel will deteriorate.

UK To Build a “Great Wall”

Breitbart wrote on September 7:

“Just two months after voting to leave the European Union (EU), the UK has announced the construction of a ‘great wall’ near its most porous border in Calais, to keep illegal migrants out. The UK’s southern border checks are conducted in northern France and attempted illegal crossings have more than quadrupled in recent years. UK Border Force guards on French soil stopped 84,088 illegal immigrants last year, figures released last month show.

“The new 13-foot (4 metre) high wall will be built of smooth concrete, making it hard to climb, and will line the roads into the port town of Calais where the entrance to the channel tunnel also sits. ‘We are going to start building this big, new wall as part of the £17 million package we are doing with the French,’ the UK’s immigration minister Robert Goodwill told a parliamentary committee yesterday, the Telegraph reports. ‘People are still getting through,’ he added. ‘We’ve done the fence, now we’re doing the wall’.”

This wall could be symbolic for the UK’s isolation from continental Europe.

Britain Second Biggest Arms Dealer in the World

The Independent wrote on September 4:

“Britain is now the second biggest arms dealer in the world, official government figures show…

“Since 2010 Britain has also sold arms to 39 of the 51 countries ranked ‘not free’ on the Freedom House ‘Freedom in the world’ report, and 22 of the 30 countries on the UK Government’s own human rights watch list. A full two-thirds of UK weapons over this period were sold to Middle Eastern countries, where instability has fed into increased risk of terror threats to Britain and across the West… the UK has sold more arms than Russia, China, or France on average over the last 10 years. Only the United States is a bigger exporter…”

This is a very sad record…

Sodom in the Church of England

The website of pinknews.co.uk wrote on September 6:

“Fourteen Church of England clergy members have revealed that they secretly married their same-sex partners in defiance of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The revelation was made in an open letter published today. Some of the signatories were already open about being in same-sex relationships, but others came out in the letter.

“The open letter called for ‘diversity’ in the church, the same week it was revealed that the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was already aware that a bishop is in a same-sex relationship… The letter says: ‘We encourage you to be bold … to what you know to be increasingly the direction of travel, not just in our church but in many churches in this country… We will be praying for the College of Bishops as it meets this month. We appreciate the time may not yet be right for a change in the church’s official understanding of marriage, but it is time to respect that a diversity of theology within the church now exists and many in our parishes have already made the move. We hope for an outcome that will enable those who wish to do so to celebrate publicly where we see God at work in the lives of our congregations without fear and in openness.’…

“Colin Coward of Changing Attitude added that ten serving bishops are also in same-sex relationships or are gay or bisexual. One of the first clergy to marry his same-sex partner, Andrew Foreshew-Cain…  warned that gay members of the Church will not back down on the issue. He told the Times: ‘We are now going to keep pushing for the next and the next and the next [step] until we get full equality in the church. We are not going away’…”

And so they will continue to push and push and push, until the indifferent majority gets tired and gives in to a vocal minority.

Germany Warns the UK

The Local wrote on September 7:

“Germany on Wednesday warned Britain against negotiating free trade deals with non-EU member states before it quits the bloc, after Prime Minister Theresa May sought to drum up commerce agreements during a G20 summit in China… [Germany stated that] ‘it is clear that an EU member state cannot hold bilateral talks on free trade deals with non-EU states as long as it remains a member of the EU’.”

Even though the UK might think that they can find help and support from Germany, they will become bitterly disappointed.

Theresa May Under Attack for Delaying Brexit

Express wrote on September 8:

“EUROCRAT Donald Tusk has urged Theresa May to begin Brexit talks as soon as possible…  In a sign that Brussels may be losing patience with Mrs May’s dithering over Brexit, Mr Tusk said it was a ‘crucial time’ for the UK and the EU… Mr Tusk said: ‘To put it simply, the ball is now in your court…’

“The Prime Minister yesterday told MPs she was seeking ‘the right deal’ on trade in goods and services after Britain withdraws from the EU. But she refused to say whether she wanted the UK to remain in the European single market…

“In response, the Prime Minister and her ministers were accused of ‘waffle’ by Scottish National Party Westminster leader Angus Robertson. The Liberal Democrats’ Tim Farron said: ‘This Government isn’t concealing its hand. It hasn’t got a hand or, it would appear, a clue.’ And under-fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Government of issuing ‘contradictory messages’ on Brexit.

“Earlier this week Mrs May slapped down Brexit Secretary David Davis for suggesting continued membership of the single market was ‘very improbable’… In response, the Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted Mr Davis he was giving a personal opinion rather than outlining Government policy.”

China Snubs Obama

The Guardian wrote on September 4:

“China’s leaders have been accused of delivering a calculated diplomatic snub to Barack Obama after the US president was not provided with a staircase to leave his plane during his chaotic arrival in Hangzhou before the start of the G20.

“Chinese authorities have rolled out the red carpet for leaders including India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, Brazil’s president, Michel Temer, and the British prime minister, Theresa May, who touched down on Sunday morning.

“But the leader of the world’s largest economy, who is on his final tour of Asia, was forced to disembark from Air Force One through a little-used exit in the plane’s belly after no rolling staircase was provided when he landed in the eastern Chinese city on Saturday afternoon. When Obama did find his way on to a red carpet on the tarmac below there were heated altercations between US and Chinese officials, with one Chinese official caught on video shouting: ‘This is our country! This is our airport!’ ‘The reception that President Obama and his staff got when they arrived here Saturday afternoon was bruising, even by Chinese standards,’ the New York Times reported.

“Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, said he was convinced Obama’s treatment was part of a calculated snub. ‘These things do not happen by mistake. Not with the Chinese,’ Guajardo… told the Guardian… Guajardo added: ‘It’s a snub. It’s a way of saying: “You know, you’re not that special to us.”’…

“Bill Bishop, a China expert… agreed that Obama’s welcome looked suspiciously like a deliberate slight intended ‘to make the Americans look diminished and weak’.

“It sure looks like a straight-up snub,” Bishop said. “This clearly plays very much into the [idea]: ‘Look, we can make the American president go out of the ass of the plane.’”…

“Obama’s unconventional welcome… were a reminder of the underlying tensions. The Washington Post said Obama’s bumpy landing in China was ‘a fitting reflection of how the relationship between these two world powers has become frayed and fraught with frustration’… Official statements issued by both sides on Saturday, as the pair held more than four hours of bilateral meetings, hinted at some of the disagreements between the world’s two largest economies…

“Bishop said: ‘Other than in climate, in most areas of the US-China relationship there is increasing amounts of friction and some actually increasingly quite hot friction around the South China Sea and some of these military [interactions] in the region. The US is looking a little weak and a little tired and I think [Beijing is] happy to put anybody in their place when they can. I think they see the opportunity to make Obama look weak,’ he added…”

Tense Meeting Between President Obama and Premier Putin

The Sun wrote on September 5:

“PRESIDENT Obama shared a tense exchange with Russian premier Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in China this morning as the two failed to agree over a ceasefire in Syria. They were pictured shaking hands in an icy encounter at the gathering of leaders from the world’s twenty biggest economies in Hangzou. It comes after weeks of talks between US and Russian diplomats have failed to turn up an agreement on bringing peace to the war-torn country.

“Russia is firmly backing barrel-bombing dictator Bashar Al-Assad, providing military assistance and war planes. America is on the side of what it calls ‘moderate’ anti-Assad rebels and Kurdish forces leading the ground fight against ISIS…”

Dangerous Confrontation between Russia and USA Over Fighter Jet

Deutsche Welle reported on September 7:

“A Russian fighter jet has flown within 3 meters of a US Navy surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea. As tension in Ukraine reflares, alongside the ongoing Syria quagmire, US-Russian relations need no such flashpoints… Moscow said the intercept was conducted ‘in strict accordance with international rules’ because the Americans were trying to snoop on Russian army exercises…

“According to the US, the Russian jet conducted four intercepts of the Poseidon and the one that was considered unsafe lasted about 19 minutes… In a dramatic incident earlier this year, Russian jets buzzed over the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea, coming within 10 meters of the warship.

“Relations between Russia and the West are at their worst since the Cold War…”

Obama Administration’s Ransom Money Payment to Iran Much Worse than Previously Known

Newsmax wrote on September 7:

“The Obama administration delivered $1.3 billion more in cash to Iran earlier this year after the initial and infamous $400 million ‘ransom’ payment, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The Journal reported that lawmakers were briefed Tuesday about the payments, months after the U.S. sent a total of $1.7 billion in non-U.S. currency to Iran from Jan. 17 through Feb. 5.

“The subsequent $1.3 billion was transferred in the same way as the initial $400 million – to an Iranian cargo plane in Switzerland.

“Lawmakers were livid to learn of the initial payment, which coincided with Iran’s release of five American prisoners. When pressed, officials have since acknowledged the initial $400 million was used as leverage to guarantee their release, which many have called a ransom payment, a charge the president continues to deny.

“The news of the additional $1.3 billion prompted Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s pledge to introduce legislation to block any further payments to Iran. Titled the No Ransom Payments Act, it would also require Iran to return the funds it has already received…

“Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign launched an attack on the Obama administration Wednesday after a report revealed it has paid Iran a total $1.7 billion in cash to settle an old military transaction… ‘President Obama’s secret $400 million ransom payment to Iran already set an incredibly dangerous precedent, and news that it was followed by two more plane loads of cash only makes this blunder even worse,’ Trump’s senior communications adviser Jason Miller said in a statement… ‘The United States should not be helping fund the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism…’”

The Trump campaign states the obvious, but who in the Obama Administration is listening?

“President Obama Defends Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest”

The New York Post wrote on September 5:

“President Obama on Monday defended San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision not to stand during the playing of the national anthem… The president added, ‘I don’t doubt his sincerity. I think he cares about some real, legitimate issues that have to be talked about. And if nothing else, he’s generated some conversation around some topics that need to be talked about…’

“Kaepernick has refused to stand for the pre-game playing of the national anthem, citing racial injustice and the oppression of minorities in America… Obama… praised the 28-year-old [black] professional athlete for speaking out…  Obama didn’t encourage standing for the playing of the national anthem…”

This is quite a divisive position to take for an American President!

US Soccer Star Joins Kaepernick’s Protest

Breitbart wrote on September 5:

“U.S. Women’s National Team member Megan Rapinoe refused to stand during the national anthem before a Seattle Reign game against the Chicago Red Stars in Illinois. The teams played to a 2-2 stalemate. Just over 3,000 people attended the match. ‘It was very intentional,’ Rapinoe told American Soccer Now. ‘It was a little nod to [Colin] Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it…’

“Rapinoe called herself ‘disgusted’ by the ‘overtly racist’ reception to Kaepernick’s protest…

“Rapinoe won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and played a crucial role in securing a victory for the American women at the 2015 World Cup… ‘Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties,’ she told American Soccer Now. ‘… It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this…’”

Minorities become more and more vocal in this country, while the vast majority is pressured into silence.

“Ben Carson: Trump Should Apologize for Obama Birther Comments”?

Newsmax wrote on September 6:

“Ben Carson said Tuesday that Donald Trump should ‘absolutely’ apologize for insinuating that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States. In an interview on CNN’s ‘The Lead,’ the former GOP presidential primary candidate, who now is a Trump supporter, said Trump’s appeal among African-American voters could be improved with a mea culpa pursuing the birther issue…

“The issue continues to dog Trump; on Monday, he refused to give a definitive yes or no about whether he believes the president was born in the United States. In 2011 while under fire from Trump, Obama produced his long-form birth certificate to prove he was born in Hawaii…”

Why Ben Carson would make such an unreasonable recommendation is difficult to understand and can only be explained with a desire to attract black voters. The question as to whether or not Barack Obama was really born in Hawaii is far from settled; much credible evidence exists suggesting the opposite (the so-called long-form birth certificate, which is actually only a copy, has been termed as dubious at best). It would be a fundamental mistake for Donald Trump to “absolutely apologize” to President Obama for “insinuating” that he was not born in the USA… which he might not have been…

The US Presidential Debates Announced

The New York Times wrote on September 2:

“Lester Holt, Martha Raddatz, Anderson Cooper and Chris Wallace have been selected to moderate this year’s presidential debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Friday. Mr. Holt, the anchor of the ‘NBC Nightly News,’ will moderate the first debate on Sept. 26; Ms. Raddatz of ABC and Mr. Cooper of CNN will moderate the town hall debate on Oct. 9; and Mr. Wallace of Fox News will handle the final debate on Oct. 19… Additionally, the CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano will moderate the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 4…

“Debates have allowed challengers and relative political newcomers to reach out to reluctant voters, providing reassurance about their qualifications. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton helped put to rest questions about their preparedness for the presidency in confident debate exchanges, and George W. Bush defied the caricature of himself as a lightweight by holding his own against Al Gore. Even Mitt Romney, who ultimately lost to Mr. Obama, shook up the 2012 race late in the season by routing the president in their first debate.

“Mr. Trump, facing significant skepticism among voters about his character and temperament, will be aiming for a similarly forceful performance. But Mrs. Clinton is one of the most practiced debaters in modern politics, after two campaigns for the Senate and the presidency, and she is perceived to have a considerable advantage…

“Presidential debates… draw enormous ratings themselves, far greater than the 21 million average for Sunday Night Football games, the highest rated regular programming in television. The first presidential debate in the 2012 election drew around 70 million viewers… Ratings records have been set going back to August 2015: The first Republican debate attracted 24 million viewers, the highest rated non-sports cable event in history. Democratic debates similarly broke viewing records for the party.”

Are We Continuing to Destroy the Earth?

On September 3, 2016, the website theearthchild.co.za published the following article:

“Right now the largest Native American PROTECT (not PROTEST) in history is happening in the Dakota’s… the US Government is taking control of Native American lands and forcing them to allow oil developers to drill on their land and move oil via pipelines. From watching what happened with the Tar Sands of Canada, we can get a good glimpse at what the land will look like after they’re done with it. Running through a similar pathway as that of the well-known failed Keystone XL project, the Bakken Pipeline would run across the Ogallala aquifer and the Mississippi rivers through sovereign Native lands… to take natural resources from the US and sell them to Asian and European markets…

“Dating back to 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil disaster springs to mind when we mention the last 30 years of history regarding production and distribution of oil… the Bakken pipeline is slated to be the largest oil line coming out of North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields, among the nation’s most active due to the fracking boom. The line would move up to 570,000 barrels of sweet crude oil daily through the Dakotas, Iowa, and Illinois. The nearly $3.8 billion pipeline is slated to cross multiple watersheds in its more than 1,150 mile course… critics say the pipeline brings the threat of spill damage to thousands of miles of fertile farmland, forests, and rivers… Most of the affected land is farmland, but the project does run through wildlife areas and major waterways like the Mississippi, and the Missouri, the longest river in North America.

“Would you instill your trust in America’s track records relating to oil disasters? Could we even remotely lay our trust in the very government and private industry when it comes to running major rivers and watersheds? Just imagine the possibilities of water contamination in areas spread over Texas to North Dakota!”

Something to think about…

“10 Horrifying Future Wars We Will Live To See”

The website of webmarketshop.com wrote the following on August 26:

“War is one of humanity’s constants. No matter how enlightened we become or how much our technology changes, we’ll still spend our time killing one another. As such, it is inevitable that today’s younger generation will experience war. The only question is when.

“These 10 examples of war could well blow up within the next few years. Some are regional, some are global. Some are small, some are big. The only constant is how horrifying these conflicts could potentially be.

“A China-Russo war over Siberia would be devastating and have only two possible outcomes. Either the Chinese army would decimate Russia or Moscow would unleash nuclear war. Either way, the death toll would be catastrophic…

“After Putin’s annexation of Crimea, Europe has been jumpy about the possibility of war with Russia. According to the former deputy NATO commander, Sir Alexander Richard Shirreff, it’s a virtual certainty… The initial battle for the Baltics alone could kill tens of thousands. Chillingly, Shirreff believes Russia would threaten to launch nukes if NATO tried to intervene, threatening millions of lives…

“This summer, a high-ranking North Korean diplomat in London defected to South Korea. It was just the latest in a string of incidents that point to the imminent collapse of the Kim Jong Un regime. Kim has alienated powerful allies such as China… Cheap smartphone technology has allowed his people to see life on the outside for the first time. Meanwhile, the country is preparing for shortages that could make the 1994 famine look like a stroll in the park. The result could be a revolution unlike anything the DPRK has seen. People could take to the streets, the army could split into warring factions, and all hell could be unleashed…

“ISIS… jihadists will take the fight directly to Europe… France and Belgium would be the main targets, followed by Germany and the UK. No city would be safe. Politicians would be paralyzed. There would be bloodshed and mayhem…

“… hungry, embattled residents of Venezuela could well take up arms. Mass defections from the police and military are possible. Neighboring right-wing governments may stick their oar in, as might left-wing groups like Colombia’s ELN. Such a toxic mix could quickly spiral into utter chaos… If Latin American history is anything to go by, such a move would likely lead to repression and bloodshed on a horrifying scale…

“The Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao was eye-wateringly brutal. Approximately 1.5 million people died. Millions more were tortured and mutilated… China has a long history of peasant rebellions. Mao himself was brought to power in one which killed eight million. A few decades earlier, the Boxer Rebellion led to more than 100,000 deaths. A few decades before that, the Taiping Rebellion killed 20–30 million and possibly as many as 70 million… China is already wracked with 500 protests every day. Every year, around 100,000 riots break out. Leaders are corrupt. The young talk of a new uprising. If the next financial crisis devastates their living standards, we could see another orgy of cataclysmic bloodletting…

“In the 1990s, the world watched in horror as Bosnia disintegrated. Around 100,000 died as civilians were ethnically cleansed from their homelands. The 1995 Dayton Accords stopped the bloodshed by creating two ‘states within a state’: Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Bosniaks and Croats, Republika Srpska for the Serbs. The trouble is the new state was inherently unstable. Divided along ethnic lines, it created a world of increasing tensions, bitter grievances, and desire for vengeance… Ethnic Serbs will hold a referendum on whether to secede from Bosnia. The result of a probable ‘yes’ vote? An unwanted sequel to Bosnia´s horrifying civil war…

“Saudi Arabia got off lightly in the Arab Spring. As dictators fell in Tunisia and Egypt, as Syria burned and Libya imploded, Saudi Arabia´s royals managed to cling to power… conditions in Saudi Arabia are now similar to those preceding the Egyptian revolution. The nation is ready to explode… The minority Shia population is rioting. ISIS is attacking. The war in Yemen is going badly. It’s easy to imagine a revolution springing from this discontent. If it does, it could be another Egypt, another Libya, or another Syria…

“In winter 2008, the world nearly ended. That year, a standoff between Pakistan and India over state-sponsored terrorism nearly escalated into nuclear war. In the end, urgent global diplomacy cooled things down… If things go differently next time, we could see the end of the world. An Indo-Pak nuclear war would see Delhi, Mumbai, Karachi, and Islamabad go up in flames. Tens of millions would perish in an inferno. The nuclear winter would destroy crops across Asia, leading to mass famines. An estimated two billion people could die. So what could trigger such a terrifying conflict? The disputed region of Kashmir, unstable Pakistan becoming a failed state, or Pakistan-linked terror attacks on India. In short, there are too many potential triggers for comfort…

“The only thing scarier than Pakistan and India going toe to toe would be China and the US doing the same. Especially if it was in a conflict that pulled in countries like the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, and more. Welcome to the South China Sea, the region most likely to trigger World War III… If this does escalate into a war, all bets are off. The whole world would get involved, and millions would die…”

Christ warned that in these end times, we will hear of wars and rumors of wars, and that nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. The second horseman of the Apocalypse is identified as war, but Christ also says that when we hear of wars and RUMORS of wars, we should not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet (Mark 13:7). Rather, these would be just the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:8).

It is interesting that some of the wars mentioned in the article above will not occur, but that on the other hand, some of the wars which the Bible clearly predicts are not mentioned in the article. Hostile actions which will lead to the beginning of the Great Tribulation and nuclear World War III are European attacks on the USA, the UK and the state of Israel. In addition, the Bible does speak of military confrontations between Europe and Russia, China and other Far Eastern nations.

Horrible Brainwashing of a Child by His Murderous Mother

The Daily Mail wrote on August 27:

“The father of a young boy taken to Syria by his British mother has spoken of his shock at seeing a video which apparently shows his son executing a captured prisoner. The distraught man, who has not seen his son for three years, said the boy was ‘brainwashed’ by his mother, Sally Jones, after being taken by her to join Islamic State. The 47-year-old mother of two, from Chatham, Kent, was declared one of the world’s most wanted terrorists by the UN after she fled to Syria with her youngest son JoJo, then aged 10, in 2013. Now the father believes it may be his son in a chilling propaganda video released on Friday showing five boys murdering a group of captured Kurdish fighters.

“Last night the man, who has asked not to be named to protect his safety, said: ‘He was brilliant, just a normal boy – always chasing bugs, going down the park. I have had to block it out. It’s been hard, we just have to carry on. It’s disgusting he’s been brainwashed.’

“Jones gave birth to JoJo in Kent in 2004 but split from his father shortly afterwards. She then converted to Islam… After their split, Jones married an Islamic radical 25 years her junior, changed JoJo’s name to Hamza, and the three of them fled to Syria…”

These are terrible and inhumane examples of demonically inspired and possessed ISIS murderers and their evil and rotten tactics.

Eastern Europe Pushes Germany for Joint EU Army

The Local wrote on August 26:

“Eastern EU countries on Friday pushed for the bloc to create a joint army as they met with Germany for talks on sketching Europe’s post-Brexit future. ‘We must prioritise security, and let’s start by building a common European army,’ Hungary’s rightwing prime minister, Viktor Orban, said at talks with Czech, German, Polish and Slovak leaders… Leftist Czech Premier Bohuslav Sobotka, for his part, said that ‘we should also begin a discussion about creating a common European army.’

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel also supported the idea of stronger security but urged caution on how plans were translated into acts. ‘Security is a fundamental issue… we can do more together in the areas of security and defence,’ she said… In an early response to Britain’s shock vote to exit the EU, Poland’s powerful rightwing leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called for EU institutional reforms that would forge a confederation of nation states under a president in charge of a powerful common military…

“However, the concept of a common army is a thorny issue within the European Union (EU). All five EU countries at Friday’s Warsaw talks are also members of the 28-member NATO Western defence alliance. But six of the EU’s 27 post-Brexit membership do not belong to NATO: Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta and Sweden.

“EU and NATO ties with Russia plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. The Kremlin’s sabre-rattling in the Baltic region has also spooked NATO and EU members there…”

The European Army is destined to become reality.

“Brussels SIX-POINT Plot to Turn Europe into a SUPERSTATE Unveiled”

Express wrote on August 30:

“A FEDERALIST blueprint to turn Europe into a superstate with its own government, army and paramilitary police force has been unveiled by a top Brussels politician. The sinister plot involves sidelining individual countries by removing them from the decision-making process and banning member states from opting out of unpopular policies like the Schengen zone and the Euro.

“It comes as federalists in Brussels look to take advantage of Brexit to force home their long-cherished dream of a United States of Europe… Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the liberals in the European parliament, has launched the six point plan which he hopes to start implementing within six months…

“He also calls for radical reform of the European Commission, which makes Brussels law, to turn it into a ‘small European government’ made up of 12 ministers… And Verhofstadt says the new government should be handed the powers currently exercised by the European Council…

“The proposals are likely to cause fury across the EU as they would effectively neutralise member states’ influence on decision making, taking away their veto and leaving all the power in the hands of Brussels bureaucrats and MEPs.

“Elsewhere in his superstate blueprint the arch-federalist calls for the creation of a European FBI which would have the power to launch police operations in any member state, operating above and beyond the local authorities.  And he calls once again for the creation of an EU border force and coastguard to take over control of policing the continent’s frontiers from national governments… To that end Verhofstadt reiterates controversial calls for a European Army which have already been repeatedly made by his boss, Brussels chief Jean-Claude Juncker, and are believed to be favoured by German leader Angela Merkel.

“The liberal MEP claims that the creation of a Brussels force is the ‘only way’ to defeat Islamic State (ISIS) and convince NATO allies including the US that Europeans are playing their part on the global stage… ‘The only way to protect Europe is to build a strong and united defence… Only a European army with a unity in command will increase our capacity to defend ourselves. Only then will we be capable to defeat ISIS, only then can we stand up to Putin again and only then will we possess a credible alternative for the Americans.’…

“His proposal is likely to cause alarm in a number of countries, including Sweden and Denmark which are not in the Euro and Ireland which is not part of the Schengen free movement zone.

“The veteran MEP says Brussels should end the current system of opt-ins and opt-outs which has created a ‘Europe a la carte’ and blames Britain for being a bulwark against federalisation. And he compares the current situation to an America where California had its own currency or where Florida refused to participate in the FBI, describing the EU as ‘not a real union’.

“Instead, member states should be given an ultimatum to either accept all the terms the Brussels club lays down or leave and become an ‘associate member’ with access only to the single market…”

Placing Weapons in the Hands of Terrorists

Time wrote on August 26:

“The Pentagon has spent billions of dollars since 2001 funneling roughly more than a million assault rifles, pistols, shotguns, and machine guns into Iraq and Afghanistan, helping to fuel lasting conflict there, according to a new report by a London-based nonprofit research and advocacy group Action on Armed Violence.

“At least 949,582 of these small arms were given to security forces in Iraq, and at least 503,328 small arms were given to local forces in Afghanistan, the group said. They called this an ‘under-estimate’ based on the information they were able to acquire.

“If the figures are correct, the US exports amounted to more than one small arm for each member of Afghanistan’s security forces, which totaled roughly 355,000 soldiers, police, and airmen in February 2015, according to a NATO operational update on the force. The number of armaments sent to Iraq also vastly exceeded the current size of that country’s active military and paramilitaries – 209,000, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ 2016 Military Balance report.

“Until now, the Pentagon hasn’t published such a tally of its own, so the group’s researchers spent a year scouring multiple databases to arrive at its estimate: a general Pentagon contract list, a government-wide contracting list, and multiple government reports on military spending. They finally calculated that the overall value of the contractually-agreed small arms shipments, just to those two countries, was roughly $2.16 billion.

“U.S. intelligence reports and eyewitnesses have previously said that a significant fraction of the U.S.-financed arms were either lost or stolen, and that many wound up in the hands of forces opposed to US interests, including terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, or ISIS.

“In 2007, for example, the General Accountability Office said the coalition forces in Iraq could not account for 190,000 U.S.-supplied weapons. A July 2014 audit by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction sharply criticized the Pentagon for not paying adequate attention to the fate of weaponry sent to Afghanistan, citing rampant discrepancies in records of gun serial numbers and other problems. In many instances over the past two years, U.S.-advised forces in those two countries have engaged in protracted clashes with terrorists equipped with captured caches of U.S. small arms, as well as U.S. tanks, artillery, and armored personnel carriers.

“‘There are direct and real consequences,’ said Iain Overton, a veteran investigative journalist who is the group’s director, including ‘a destabilized Middle East.’ He said Americans believe ‘that good guys with guns will get rid of bad buys with guns but that system doesn’t work when you throw guns into lawless, anarchic societies.’…

“The United States is not the only country that provided weapons to Iraq and Afghani forces that went missing over the past fifteen years, and not the only one to have exported weapons that specifically ended up in the hands of terrorists. In 2014, the Center for Public Integrity reported that fighters associated with the Islamic State had acquired or seized weapons from at least 21 countries, including the United States, China, Russia, and several Balkan states.

“‘A significant percentage of these weapons will go into the environment and eventually end up in the hands of the Taliban, ISIS’ and other non-state actors, says Ed Laurance, an expert on armed violence and professor of international policy and development at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. ‘Ammunition comes in, it goes out. Terrorists can get it, civilians can get it… It’s impossible to keep track of [small arms]’ because the environments are so insecure.”

“Negotiations with Americans Have Failed”

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 28:

“Free trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States have failed, according to Germany’s Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel. After three years of talks, an agreement has yet to be reached. Discussions on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) have been unsuccessful,  [Gabriel] said on Sunday… If agreed upon, TTIP would create the world’s largest free trade zone containing 800 million people…  Gabriel, who also heads the Social Democrats (SPD), noted that after 14 rounds of talks, the two sides have yet to agree on even one chapter out of the 27 being discussed. One of the reasons given for the breakdown in negotiations was that ‘we Europeans did not want to subject ourselves to American demands,’ Gabriel said.

“In contrast to his TTIP stance, Gabriel defended the EU’s free trade agreement with Canada, called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA.)… Many Germans continue to harbor suspicions against the TTIP and CETA… German trade unions and other organizations have called for a massive rally across German cities on September 17 to protest the two trade agreements…”

Trump’s Immigration Policy

Newsmax wrote on August 31:

“Only a few hours after meeting in Mexico City with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Donald Trump announced an immigration plan Wednesday in Arizona anchored by ‘a great wall along the Southern border’ — that Mexico will pay for — a zero-tolerance policy for criminal illegals and no legalization or amnesty for as many as 11 million aliens in the United States… ‘They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for the wall,’ he said…

“Trump also doubled down on many of his previous immigration policies, vowing to create a ‘deportation task force’ within U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement that would include a tripling of enforcement officers and the hiring of 5,000 more border patrol agents.

“He said the new task force would be ‘focused on identifying and quickly removing the dangerous criminal illegal immigrants in America who have evaded justice, just like Hillary Clinton has evaded justice. Maybe, they’ll be able to deport her,’ Trump said.

“The Republican nominee’s long-awaited speech followed a meeting in Mexico City with President Pena Nieto,  after which Trump said that he was interested in ‘improving’ NAFTA and that the U.S. had a ‘right … to build a physical barrier or wall on any of its borders.’

“His remarks also came after more than a year of fiery rhetoric slamming Hispanics and illegal immigrants, vowing to build a wall on the U.S. border — and having Mexico pay for it — and promising to create a ‘deportation force’ to remove more than 11 million aliens from the United States. In recent weeks, however, Trump has been accused of softening his position — though the nominee last week ruled out legalization and amnesty and reiterated his pledge to build the wall.

“The core objective of Trump’s immigration policy was that the United States has the ‘right as a sovereign nation to choose immigrants that we think are the likeliest to thrive and flourish and love us. We also have to be honest about the fact that not everyone who seeks to join our country will be able to successfully assimilate,’ Trump told supporters…

“Other core elements of Trump’s 10-point plan include ending ICE’s catch-and-release policy for illegals at the border; implementing ‘extreme vetting’; suspending visa applications from countries — Syria and Libya, for instance — where screening is insufficient; and creating a visa tracking system to prevent overstays.

“Trump also plans to create a nationwide e-verify system that would also bar illegals from obtaining public benefits; revoke President Barack Obama’s executive immigration actions; and renegotiate the North American Free-Trade Agreement…

“For the illegals already in the United States, Trump declared that their only option is to return to their native countries and apply for citizenship. ‘Those who leave under this system, they’ll have to apply under the terms and limits that will be applied in the future,’ he said. ‘We will break the cycle of amnesty and illegal immigration… Our message to the world will be this: You cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country…”

Hillary Clinton Didn’t Only Delete Her Emails, She Super Deleted Them

Zero Hedge wrote in August 26:

“South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy appeared on Fox News today and disclosed new details about the Clinton email scandal that seem to indicate intent to destroy evidence… Gowdy reveals that Clinton used ‘BleachBit’ to erase the ‘personal’ emails from her private server.

“For those not familiar with the software, BleachBit is intended to help users delete files in a way to ‘prevent recovery’ and ‘hide traces of files deleted.’  Per the BleachBit website: ‘Beyond simply deleting files, BleachBit includes advanced features such as shredding files to prevent recovery, wiping free disk space to hide traces of files deleted by other applications, and vacuuming Firefox to make it faster.’

“During his appearance on Fox, Gowdy clearly indicates that Clinton’s use of BleachBit undermines her claims that she only deleted innocuous ‘personal’ emails from her private server.  ‘If she considered them to be personal, then she and her lawyers had those emails deleted.  They didn’t just push the delete button… You don’t use BleachBit for yoga emails… When you’re using BleachBit, it is something you really do not want the world to see.’

“Gowdy also questioned whether Hillary considered ‘Clinton Foundation’ emails to be ‘personal’ and, if not, asked why the FBI’s investigation revealed minimal emails about Foundation-related topics.”

However, as it was pointed out on the Fox Business Channel on August 26, none of this will convince Clinton supporters NOT to vote for Hillary Clinton. Decency and a desire for trustworthiness do not seem to exist in politics; rather, willful ignorance and blindness, illogical reasoning, name-calling, accusations, the ridiculous hope for a human Messiah and other utopian pipe dreams seem to determine the “votes” of the American people in presidential elections.

Clinton, Kaine and Their Abortion Views

LifeNews.com reported on August 29:

“A small group of Catholics protested peacefully on Sunday outside the Catholic Church where Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate attends. Tim Kaine, Clinton’s vice presidential pick and a U.S. Senator for Virginia, often says he is a Catholic and ‘personally pro-life,’ but his actions show otherwise. Kaine has a 100-percent pro-abortion voting record from Planned Parenthood so far in 2016… One protester’s sign read ‘You can’t be Catholic and pro-abortion,’ while another described him as a ‘CINO,’ or Catholic in name only…

“As LifeNews previously reported, Kaine said he is a ‘strong supporter of Roe v. Wade.’ He also has refused to say whether he would vote to force taxpayers to fund abortions – a goal both for his running mate and the whole Democratic Party. As a U.S. Senator, Kaine voted to allow government funding of abortion providers, and he voted against legislation to require an abortionist to notify at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state.

“Kaine took his most extreme pro-abortion action yet with his recent co-sponsorship of the so-called ‘Women’s Health Protection Act’ (S.217), known to pro-lifers as the ‘Abortion Without Limits Until Birth Act.’ This bill would nullify nearly all existing state and federal limitations on regulation of abortion, and prohibit states from enacting meaningful pro-life laws in the future. This revamped version of the long-stalled ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ is a priority of the pro-abortion forces in Washington, D.C.

“Recently, Washington, DC-based Fr. Thomas Petri sent out a series of tweets addressing the Catholic candidate’s pro-abortion views – with one saying Kaine should not present himself for communion in his church. That was after a Catholic bishop admonished Kaine, saying that he can’t reconcile his Catholic faith with abortion.

“His running mate Hillary Clinton’s position is even more extreme. Clinton has said in various interviews that an unborn child just hours before birth has no Constitutional rights. In February, Clinton defended the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure. She also said she wants to overturn the Hyde Amendment and force taxpayers to pay for abortions, including late-term abortions.”

“How the E.U.’s Ruling on Apple Explains Why Brexit Happened”

The Washington Post wrote on August 30:

“On Tuesday morning, the governing body of the European Union ruled that one of its members, Ireland, had broken its rules by allowing U.S.-based Apple Inc. to pay a tax rate of 1 percent — and sometimes as little as .0005 percent. Ireland’s regular tax rate is 12.5 percent, and E.U. rules state that members can’t give special benefits to individual companies — even the most highly valued company in the world. Under the E.U. ruling, Apple would be required to pay Ireland more than $14.5 billion in back taxes. Both Apple and the Irish government plan to appeal.

“That is a huge amount of money for a small country like Ireland, which suffered terribly after the 2008 financial crisis and required a massive bailout from the E.U… The sum is roughly equal to Ireland’s entire health budget, to put it in perspective.

“Others, however, see the ruling as exactly why Ireland — just like the United Kingdom did with its Brexit vote — needs to leave an interventionist, anti-sovereignty European Union. To put the question a different way: Did Apple, in collusion with the Irish government, rip off the Irish public by arranging a huge tax break? Or did the European Union just undermine Ireland’s economic model and strip the country of its competitive advantage, risking Ireland’s long-term growth?

“Much of the debate across the Irish Sea in Britain during the lead-up to the referendum on E.U. membership in June centered on the idea that bureaucrats with no allegiance to Britain were sitting in Brussels and writing their laws. Proponents of a ‘Brexit’ argued that leaving the E.U. would allow the country to ‘take back control’ of its economy and borders…”

The Telegraph added on August 30:

“Britain could cut corporation tax to attract major international companies under plans being considered by Theresa May after Apple was hit with a record tax bill by Brussels. Downing Street said it would ‘welcome’ Apple to the UK after the European Commission took the extraordinary step of hitting the company with an £11billion fine.”

Istanbul’s New $3 Billion Bridge Has a Very Divisive Name

The Associated Press wrote on August 26:

“Turkey opened one of the world’s largest bridges Friday designed to allow traffic to cross the Bosphorus Strait between Europe and Asia and ease congestion in Istanbul. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan oversaw a ceremony inaugurating the $3 billion Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, which is touted by its Turko-Italian developers as the world’s broadest suspension bridge at 58.4 meters (192 feet) wide.

“The toll bridge, spanning 1,408 meters (4,620 feet) over the Bosphorus, features 10 lanes, including two rail lines. At 322 meters (1,056 feet), officials say the bridge’s 322-meter (1,056-foot) towers are also the tallest in the world. It becomes Istanbul’s third bridge spanning the strategic strait. ‘This bridge upon which we look with pride will hopefully be a pioneer for many things. … We will be proud of it, you will see. International movies will be filmed here, you will see,’ Erdogan told the audience, among them the king of Bahrain, dignitaries from several other countries and hundreds of citizens.”

The Washington Post wrote on August 27:

“It’s called the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in honor of the ninth Ottoman emperor, Selim I, a monarch who earned the sobriquet Selim the Grim for his years of military campaigning and severe rule. In 2013, when the name was announced at a groundbreaking ceremony, it sparked a great deal of controversy. Selim I is famed for his conquests to the east in the early 16th century, extending the Ottoman Empire’s dominion over Egypt and the Holy Lands while also pushing against the Safavid Empire in what’s now Iran…

“Selim’s wars had a sectarian dimension. In particular, the emperor is believed to have ordered the slaughter of tens of thousands of Alevis, a minority sect linked to Shiism and steeped in Sufi and rural Anatolian traditions…

“Erdogan… is interested in creating a legacy that perhaps even transcends that of Ataturk and has sought, in ways big and small, to rehabilitate or resurrect Ottoman history to suit his narrative in power. In the wake of last month’s failed coup attempt, the debate over the bridge’s name almost seems quaint…”

Anti-Muslim Party Gains Seats in Australian Parliament

The Star wrote on August 26:

“In a general election last month, many Australians were stunned by the success of One Nation, whose blatantly anti-Muslim policies appealed to many voters who felt threatened by immigration — even in a wealthy country with a far more generous social security net than the United States and few illegal immigrants. The party helmed by Hanson, who is famous in Australia for her fiery red hair and tortured syntax, has emerged with four seats in the finely balanced Senate, where the ruling Liberal-National coalition lacks a majority and is under huge political pressure to speed economic growth. The government is likely to need One Nation to pass laws fought by the Labor Party opposition and the Australian Greens party.

“Negotiating with One Nation could put the prime minister, Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull, in an awkward position. The former Goldman Sachs investment banker is a liberal on many social issues — he is a strong supporter of legalizing same-sex marriage, for example — which frequently puts him at odds with the conservative wing of his party…

“Australia is one of the world’s most peaceful and socially harmonious immigrant-driven countries, and terrorist attacks are extremely rare. Nonetheless, cultural and racial differences between the 1.5 per cent of the population who are Muslim and the white Christian majority receive a lot of attention and contribute to a perception among some Australians that they are being overwhelmed by a hostile religion. One Nation plays to those fears. Its policies and rhetoric echo those of Trump and the UK Independence Party, which successfully championed the recent vote to take Britain out of the European Union. ‘Australia for Australians,’ One Nation’s website proclaims.

“The party wants an inquiry into whether Islam is a religion or an ideology, an end to Muslim immigration, a ban on the burqa in public, surveillance in all mosques and Islamic schools, no new mosques and the end of halal certification of food. It is skeptical about global warming…”

Many Asylum Seekers Leave Sweden

The Independent wrote on August 26:

“Sweden used to be one of Europe’s most popular destinations for migrants, with the number of asylum applications doubling between 2014 and 2015 to more than 160,000. A high success rate – 55 per cent of claims were accepted in 2015 – combined with generous welfare benefits for asylum seekers, and a comparatively welcoming population, made the country extremely popular with people fleeing war and persecution, and left the Scandinavian nation with the second highest number of refugees per capita in Europe.

“But for many asylum seekers who arrived during the influx last year, Sweden has proved less of a utopia than they hoped. Many faced a long, cold winter in political limbo, camped out in makeshift accommodation while the state struggled to cope with the large number of new claims. Less than 500 of the 160,000 arrivals have managed to secure jobs… the Swedish Migration Agency, a government department responsible for processing claims, introduced tougher rules at the start of 2016, designed to deter and keep out asylum seekers. New border controls were brought in, as were stricter rules surrounding family reunion. Housing was withdrawn for failed asylum seekers and plans announced to expand immigration detention.

“The Swedish public also appear to… have become more hostile to migrants. A survey released in February showed immigration was the main concern for 40 per cent of Swedes, above worries about failing schools, joblessness and welfare. The change was the biggest opinion swing in the poll’s history. ‘Most Swedes are not racist,’ said Ylva Johansson, the Minister for Employment and Integration. ‘But when there is this special asylum housing when they cannot work, and cannot be part of society this is really a tension. This is a dangerous situation; we have a lot of people in no-man’s land … living outside society.’”

“Sweden’s statistics, however, have to be viewed in the context of less refugees entering Europe overall in 2016 than in 2015. The Balkan route has essentially been closed off by the EU-Turkey deal, which forces migrants to return to Turkey unless they want to claim asylum in Greece, which would stop them travelling onwards to countries in northern Europe…

“2016 has been the deadliest year so far for refugees trying to reach Europe, aid workers have said, telling The Independent in July they are frustrated at moves within the EU to keep more refugees out and to block off entry routes…”

Austria to Germany: Close Your Borders!

The Sunday Express wrote on August 27:

“Austria has launched a blistering attack on Angela Merkel accusing her of trying to stoke more mass migration and ordering her to close Germany’s borders immediately. Vienna’s defence minister Hans Peter Doskozil said the controversial Chancellor was ‘encouraging’ more asylum seekers from the Middle East to flock to Europe in a provocative outburst. The stinging slap down comes amid disintegrating relations between the two neighbours over the migrant crisis, with Austria repeatedly accusing Germany and Mrs Merkel of sparking the refugee chaos.

“Vienna has been locked in a power struggle with Berlin and Brussels over its controversial migration policies, which include limiting the daily number of asylum applications it will process. And Mr Doskozil upped the ante against Mrs Merkel, saying that she must stop repeating her infamous ‘Wir schaffen das’ – ‘We can do this’ – slogan which he said was only encouraging more migrant chaos…

“He added: ‘We will not accept that this encouragement puts Austria into a position that then makes more refugees want to go from Italy via Austria to Germany while Germany closes its borders at the same time. We decided that waving them through is no longer possible, and that is a good thing!’

“Asked what retaliatory measures Austria would take if there was another mass migrant rush for Europe, the defence minister replied that he would effectively seal up Italy by closing the Brenner Pass border between the two countries…

“Europe has been in the grip of a huge migrant crisis over the last 18 months, with more than a million migrants arriving on the continent in 2015 alone. A controversial migrant pact with Turkey has helped reduce numbers flooding into Greece but that is now under severe pressure and could collapse amid deteriorating relations between Brussels and Ankara. As a result many migrant smugglers are now targeting Italy, via Libya, as an alternative route across the Mediterranean. However, this sea crossing is much more perilous and thousands have died at sea over the last 18 months in what aid groups have described as a human tragedy.”

Support for Merkel Has Weakened in Germany

Reuters reported on August 28:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s domestic popularity has declined, a poll showed on Sunday, with 50 percent of Germans against her serving a fourth term in office after a federal election next year. Support for Merkel has weakened after a string of violent attacks on civilians in July, three of which were carried out by asylum seekers. Of those, two were claimed by Islamic State. This has raised opposition to Merkel’s open-door migrant policy, which allowed hundreds of thousands from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere into Germany last year.

“Half of the… people questioned… were against Merkel staying in office beyond the 2017 election, with 42 percent wanting her to remain. In November, the last time Bild am Sonntag commissioned a survey on the issue, 45 percent had been in favor of Merkel serving a fourth term, with 48 percent against.”

Most Germans Against Full Body Veil

Deutsche Welle reported on August 26:

“A large majority of Germans reject the burqa. Some 81 percent of respondents in a representative survey conducted by polling institute Infratest dimap are in favor of banning the Islamic veil, which covers women completely from head to toe, in some public places. More than half of Germans have an even more extreme view – 51 percent were in favor of banning the burqa entirely…

“Amid the renewed debate in Germany, some conservative politicians in the country are calling for a ‘burqa ban.’ State interior ministers of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) want to ban veils like the burqa and the niqab in public places including schools, public authorities, court rooms and in traffic….  The ministers also discussed prohibiting the veils altogether…

“Several Islamic scholars in Germany agree. They say the burqa and the niqab are not required in their religion and believe that the extreme veils hinder integration. Aziz Fooladvand, a Bonn sociologist and Islamic Studies scholar, told DW that facial coverings are common only in very strict interpretations of Sunni Islam, such as that practiced in Saudi Arabia. But in Egypt, for example, wearing a niqab is generally frowned upon. Bassam Tibi, a former professor of international relations at the University of Göttingen, calls himself a ‘European Muslim’ and says that he supports an open, liberal Islam. In an August op-ed for popular German tabloid ‘Bild,’ he wrote that he fully supported a burqa ban…”

Sarkozy for Nationwide Ban of Burqa in France

The Guardian wrote on August 26:

“Nicolas Sarkozy says he will impose a nationwide ban on burkinis if re-elected to the presidency in 2017, positioning himself as a strong defender of French values and tough on immigration… Taking a hard line on the burkini debate that has agitated France over recent weeks, Sarkozy said that the full-body swimwear should be banned from beaches across the country…

“Sarkozy is seeking to win back votes from the far-right FN, whose rising popularity mirrors that of populist politicians in other countries that have appealed to voters concerned about globalisation and immigration, such as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the US and the leaders of Britain’s Brexit campaign…

“For months Sarkozy lagged in opinion polls behind Alain Juppé, the centrist former prime minister, but his popularity, which had already started improving with party sympathisers in June, rose after Islamist attacks on a Bastille Day crowd in Nice and on a priest in Normandy…”

Wilders Announces Severe Restrictions for Muslims in The Netherlands

Politico wrote on August 26:

“The Dutch far-right Freedom Party will run in the country’s parliamentary elections next year on a platform seeking to ban some of the key tenets of Islam, according to a manifesto published by its leader Geert Wilders Thursday. In its five-year plan for 2017-2021, the Freedom Party pledges to reverse the ‘Islamization’ of the Netherlands by implementing measures such as closing mosques and Islamic schools, securing borders, banning the Koran, closing asylum seeker centers, banning Muslim migrants and forbidding women from wearing headscarves.

“Wilders’ party also supports holding a Brexit-style referendum for the Netherlands to leave the European Union. Other promises include more funding for police and defense and eliminating foreign aid. The plan, which is just one page, comes ahead of the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 2017… An IPSOS poll predicted this month that the Freedom Party could be the most represented party in the Dutch parliament, snatching 25 to 30 seats, up from the 12 it currently has…”

Incredible Lightning Strike

Time wrote on August 29:

“A single lightning strike is believed to have killed more than 300 reindeer in Norway. A total of 323 reindeer were found dead in the southern part of Norway on the Hardangervidda plateau, a press release from the Norwegian Environment Agency said. Among the 323 killed were 70 calves. An official from the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate discovered their carcasses during a routine inspection on Friday.

“Officials said they believe the herd of reindeer was killed by lightning strike as they huddled together during a heavy thunderstorm…”

The Pope’s “Advice” on Climate Change

Breitbart wrote on September 1:

“In his message for the ‘World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation’ Thursday, Pope Francis said that human-induced global warming, as well as a loss of biodiversity are ‘sins’ against God, which must be atoned for…

“Among these [‘atoning actions’] are ‘avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.’”

Unity Between Catholics and Lutherans?… Not Quite Yet!

Christian News wrote on August 20:

“The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted overwhelmingly last week to approve a declaration of unity with the Roman Catholic Church in an endeavor to ‘enumerate the many points of agreement between Lutherans and Catholics’—a move that some state is contrary to biblical Christianity…

“While this month’s ELCA declaration notes points of agreement between evangelical Lutherans and Roman Catholics, it also outlines several areas where differences remain between the two entities. The document explains that Roman Catholics believe in transubstantiation, while Lutherans do not believe that communion is transformed ‘into the [actual] substance of the body and blood of Christ.’ It also notes that Lutherans question the global papacy, which Roman Catholics assert is of the succession of Peter…

“Mike Gendron, a former Roman Catholic who now leads Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries, [an] organization dedicated to evangelizing Catholics, said that the ECLA is in error in seeking to find common ground with Roman Catholicism despite… doctrinal disparities.

“‘By seeking unity with the Catholic religion they are departing from the biblical faith of the Reformers,’ he told Christian News Network. “They need to know that there can never be biblical unity between Roman Catholics and denominations which uphold the gospel of God’…

“Gendron said that unity simply for the sake of unity is contrary to the Scriptures… ‘Religious unity is a work of Satan who uses man’s prideful ambitions and biblical ignorance and to unite the world,’ he stated. ‘Those who engage in spiritual enterprises with apostate Roman Catholicism, without confronting their error, give credibility to their heresies’…”

Transgender Bathroom “Rights” Upheld by Bush-Appointed Judge

Newsmax reported on August 26:

“A U.S. judge on Friday blocked the University of North Carolina from enforcing a state law requiring transgender people to use single-sex restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder’s order granting a preliminary injunction applies only to the three transgender plaintiffs named in a lawsuit challenging the measure…

“The judge, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, heard oral arguments in the case… Lawyers for Republican Governor Pat McCrory and other Republican lawmakers who support the measure said it offered common-sense protection of state residents’ privacy and safety…

“The U.S. Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the state on behalf of three transgender people, called the law stigmatizing and unconstitutional.

“Bathroom access has become a flashpoint in the legal and cultural battle over transgender rights in the United States. An estimated 0.6 percent of U.S. adults identify as transgender… Debates about which public restroom facilities they and transgender children should use have divided courts, state legislatures and schools.”

Pastors Prohibited to Counsel Minors on “Same-Sex Attractions”

Breitbart wrote on August 23:

“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco on August 23 upheld California’s wildly controversial Senate Bill 1172 that bars licensed counselors — including pastors — from assisting youth who want to change or reduce their same-sex attractions. The law also prohibits any counseling that would steer youth away from gender confusion. Pacific Justice Institute filed suit against SB 1172 in 2012…

“Pacific Justice’s lead plaintiff is both a pastor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who oversees a counseling ministry in his church. Pacific Justice pointed out that the SB 1172 if applied would [be] reaching over the walls of a church to prohibit what could be said during counseling by a pastor who is also a trained marriage and family therapist.

“According to the law, ‘California has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, and in protecting its minors against exposure to serious harms caused by sexual orientation change efforts … … Under no circumstances shall a mental health provider engage in sexual orientation change efforts with a patient under 18 years of age.’

“But the Ninth Circuit today waved away concerns about California interfering with pastors’ religious practice, while also declining to address legal decisions that previously rejected state interference with church counseling.

“Pacific Justice had also pointed out to the court, that dozens of transcript passages from SB 1172’s legislative record show the legislation is meant as a clear and direct attack against conservative religious viewpoints. According to Pacific Justice attorney Kevin Snider, who argued the Ninth Circuit case, ‘The court today simply rewrote legislative history to avoid the uncomfortable reality that the California Legislature unabashedly targeted religious beliefs with this bill.’

“Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, commented: ‘We are deeply disappointed by today’s ruling because it represents a giant step backwards for religious freedom.  A government that can tell a pastor what he can and cannot say during counseling is a government that can tell a pastor what parts of the Bible are off-limits.   The court also reminded us today that this law lays the groundwork for further restrictions on parental rights.’

“Pacific Justice is currently reviewing all its options with their clients, including a potential appeal to the Supreme Court.”

California’s law (SB 1172), as applied, is unconstitutional on its face. The attack of the Legislature and the Court system on religious freedom, parental rights and the separation between church and state is unconscionable. Note the next article for another unconditional California law.

“Federal Judge Denies Injunction Against California Vaccination Law for Schoolchildren”

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 26:

“A federal judge has denied a request for a preliminary injunction against a new law that requires children in California’s public and private schools to be vaccinated unless they have a medical waiver from a licensed doctor. In an order released Friday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego wrote that state Legislatures have ‘a long history of requiring children to be vaccinated as a condition to school enrollment, and for as many years, both state and federal courts have upheld those requirements against constitutional challenge.’

“In July, a group of parents and advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit asking for the injunction. It is trying to block the California law’s elimination of personal belief exemptions, which previously allowed parents to enroll their children even if they weren’t up-to-date on the full vaccination schedule as published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The wording of the District Court’s decision, as quoted, is historically and legally inaccurate and blatantly misleading. The law in question, only granting exemptions for ill-defined “medical reasons,” seems to be unconstitutional ON ITS FACE. However, to reach the US Supreme Court, even IF they were to uphold the Constitution, will be an expensive, laborious and time-consuming task.

Teacher Convicted for Holding Kids Back After Class

The Local wrote on August 27:

“A music teacher from North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has been found guilty of ‘holding people against their will’ after he made some naughty stay kids back after class. The 50-year-old was ordered by the court to attend classes on how to better deal with difficult children. If he fails to attend the classes, he could face a fine of €1,000, reports Spiegel.

“The reason for Wednesday’s conviction on a count of ‘robbery of freedom’ was the teacher’s decision to make disruptive pupils write out a Wikipedia entry on a musician after class. The pupils were then told to hand in their work one by one, but were not allowed to leave the classroom by the teacher, sat in the doorway with a guitar across his knees…

“According to the law in NRW, teachers are allowed to give pupils detention, but only after notifying parents.”

German Government Tells Citizens to Prepare for War

Reuters reported on August 21:

“For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the German government plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in case of an attack or catastrophe, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday…  ‘The population will be obliged to hold an individual supply of food for ten days,’ the newspaper quoted the government’s ‘Concept for Civil Defence’ – which has been prepared by the Interior Ministry – as saying… People will be required to stockpile enough drinking water to last for five days, according to the plan, the paper said.

“The 69-page report does not see an attack on Germany’s territory, which would require a conventional style of national defense, as likely. However, the precautionary measures demand that people ‘prepare appropriately for a development that could threaten our existence and cannot be categorically ruled out in the future,’ the paper cited the report as saying. A further priority should be more support of the armed forces by civilians, it added…”

Deutsche Welle added on August 21:

“A civil defense plan… would require citizens to stockpile supplies in case of a catastrophe…  [Under the plan] the government will require people to stock 10 days’ worth of food and five days… worth of drinking water.  The civil defense strategy would require citizens to have a sufficient supply of food, water, energy, money and medicine to wait out a period until the state would be able to initiate a response to a catastrophe or attack.”

Germany Considers Reinstitution of the Draft

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 23:

“Germany’s interior ministry is considering taking steps toward bringing back conscription, including compulsory service to support the military, which was suspended five years ago. This is according to a report by German news agency dpa, which had access to a confidential copy of a government draft proposal. The proposal… comes as the government seeks to push forward a new concept for civilian defense, titled ‘Support of the Armed Forces.’

“… Military conscription was abolished in 2011 after 55 years, because the government said there was no longer a need for it. However, compulsory military service is still a part of Germany’s Basic Law, or constitution. Therefore, it can be easily reintroduced by the government…”

Germany in Panic Mood

Deutsche Welle reported on August 24 that the “government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (the German cabinet) has “given the green light to the first civil defense strategy in 21 years,” which would include “the possibility of bringing back military conscription” and the requirement for “civilians to stockpile food and water for use in emergency situations…”

Deutsche Welle continued:

“The new strategy lists attacks by conventional, biological and chemical weapons as among the possible threats facing the country, as well as attacks targeting critical infrastructure such as water, electricity and gas supplies. According to government sources, the measures are not a direct result of the recent terror attacks in Germany.”

Erdogan’s Disturbing Spy Apparatus in Germany

The Local wrote on August 24:

“A security politician told Die Welt that Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency has some 6,000 informants in Germany. For Germany’s population of about 3 million people with Turkish roots, that means that each informant could be responsible for monitoring 500 people… In comparison… the Stasi had around 10,000 agents in West Germany to monitor a population of roughly 60 million – meaning 6,000 people per agent.

“The Ministry for State Security, also known as the Stasi, was communist East Germany’s secret police force, which secretly monitored millions until the end of the Cold War and German reunification. But the Stasi engaged primarily in gathering military, political or economic intelligence in West Germany, rather than targeting former citizens, as MIT seems to be doing in Germany…

“Since a failed coup attempt in Turkey last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been enacting mass detentions in his own country of suspected opponents, including academics, journalists and military members… Turkey’s internal conflicts between Gülen and Erdogan, and between Kurds and Turks have been brought into Germany, and are impacting the internal peace… The informants in Germany are often unpaid supporters of Erdogan…

“These informants are putting pressure on Kurds, Gülen supporters and others perceived as being opponents, for example by calling for boycotts on their businesses, writing negatively about them in Turkish publications, or threatening their family members… They can go to the regular German police to complain about it, but this is difficult to do in this kind of parallel society… The government feels that Turkey is an important partner in the refugee crisis, so they may turn a blind eye…

“Germany’s Turkish population is the largest ethnic minority in the country. Many came through a guest worker programme in the 1960s…”

Burka Ban in Germany?

The Telegraph wrote on August 19:

“Germany could impose a ban on women wearing burkas or full-face Islamic veils at schools and universities and while driving under new proposals announced on Friday by Angela Merkel’s party.  The burka ‘does not belong in our cosmopolitan country’, Thomas de Maiziere, the interior minister and one of Mrs Merkel’s closest allies, said as he announced the new policy. ‘We all reject the full veil —  not only the burka but also other types of full veil that only leave the eyes visible. They have no place in our society.’…

“Mrs Merkel made her own feelings on the issue clear in an interview with a number of German newspapers in advance of the announcement. ‘In my view, a fully veiled woman has almost no chance of integrating successfully in German society,’ she said. The new policy was agreed at late night talks between Mr de Maiziere and interior ministers from several of Germany’s 16 federal states where the CDU is in power…”

Merkel Wants a Better Europe

Reuters wrote on August 21:

“The leaders of Germany, France and Italy will meet on Monday to discuss how to keep the European project together in the second set of talks between the premiers of the euro zone’s three largest economies since Britain’s shock vote to leave the bloc… Officials in Brussels and Berlin fear the June 23 vote could lead to a referendum in the Netherlands – a founding member of the union – on whether to also leave the bloc….

“Faced with existential risks, Merkel wants to cement ‘a better Europe’ rather than forge ahead with ‘more Europe’…

“Lingering threats to the union that emerged long before the Brexit vote are also likely to be on the agenda, including internal and external security after Islamist militant attacks and Europe’s migration crisis. Emboldened by the Brexit vote, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called a referendum on Oct. 2 on whether to accept any future EU migrant settlement quotas as his government steps up its fight against the EU’s migration policies.

“In another symbolic choice of venue, the three leaders will hold their closing news conference on the Italian aircraft carrier, the Garibaldi, which is the flagship of the EU’s ‘Sophia’ mission in the Mediterranean. The naval operation has a mandate to tackle migrant smugglers, help enforce an arms embargo off Libya, and train the Libyan coast guard. The EU plans to offer incentives to African governments to help slow the flow of migrants who have poured into Europe over the past three years…”

“Europe Must Remain as One”

Daily Mail wrote on August 22:

“Under-fire EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker risked widening divisions with European leaders today by saying borders were the ‘worst invention ever’. He called for all borders across Europe to be opened, despite the chaos caused over the last year from the flood in refugees fleeing Syria and the wave of terror attacks hitting various continent’s cities… Mr Juncker also said a stronger EU was the best way of beating the rising trend of nationalism cross Europe.

“In another extraordinary remark, he appeared to warn of war on the continent if the EU disintegrates as he echoed the warning from the former French president Francois Mitterrand, who said nationalism added to nationalism would end in war…

“The embattled EU Commission president described Brexit as an ‘unheard-of political crisis’ for the EU but told EU member states that the only way of overcoming the challenge of Britain leaving would be to remain as one…”

Europe to Ensure Its Own Defense

The Telegraph wrote on August 22:

“The EU must sharply increase cooperation on defence and intelligence to combat Islamic terrorism and other threats, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy said… The German chancellor, who is known to back deeper EU defence plans, called for more sharing of information between European intelligence services to thwart the kind of attacks that have hit her country, France and Belgium… President Hollande also called for greater cooperation on defence, as France comes to terms with a string of terrorist attacks in recent months.  ‘Europe must ensure its own defence, and France is certainly playing its role,’ the French leader said… Plans to press ahead with a so-called ‘EU army’ will be easier now that the UK has decided to leave the bloc, a former head of the Italian military said.

“General Vincenzo Camporini, former chief of the general staff, said the British thwarted a common defence policy for Europe [for] years.  ‘Every step forward was blocked [by the British]. The British position was crucial – everyone knew that without London, you couldn’t even begin to talk about a common European defence policy,’ he told La Repubblica newspaper.  Mr Renzi echoed the call for deeper defences, while adding that Europe would not suffer from Britain’s departure as many had predicted after the June 23 vote to leave.  ‘Many people felt that after Brexit Europe would come to an end, but that is not the case,’ he said, ‘We respect the choice made by the British citizens,  but at the same time we want to be able to turn the page on a new future.’”

The Express added on August 22:

“‘Brexit will be the beginning of a new Europe’ EU leaders pledge to reform troubled bloc. BRITAIN’S decision to leave the European Union can usher in a new era of solidarity for the troubled bloc, the leaders of Germany, France and Italy said today.”

Germany’s Many Capitals

The Local wrote on August 18:

“In most west European states, power has been centralized around one city for centuries. In England, London (or more accurately Westminster) became the seat of power in the 12th century. Madrid became capital of the Spanish kingdom in 1525. Lisbon was named home of Portuguese government in 1255.

“But Germany is an exception. From the Middle Ages through to modern times, power shifted between various cities, while Berlin was a latecomer to the party, only really gaining prominence in the 18th century…

“The westernmost city of the Federal Republic of Germany, Aachen, is also known as Aix-la-Chapelle in English… the city was the residence of medieval king and emperor Charles the Great, whose kingdom stretched over regions now belonging to France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, was crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800 by Pope Leo III in the Vatican. After his coronation, the sovereign made Aachen the capital of his empire… from 595 until 936, it was the place of coronation of German kings and queens. After his death, Charles the Great’s kingdom slowly dissolved, but it gave birth to another empire 162 years later…

“Otto I revived the title of Charlemagne and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962 after creating the archbishopric of Magdeburg. The Holy Roman Empire had no fixed capital, as each king travelled between residences… Otto I’s empire was enormous and included French-speaking Waloons, Flemings in the Netherlands, Slovaks, Slovenes, Danes, Czechs, Croats and Italians. After a marriage to the Byzantine princess Theophanu, the ‘King of the Germans’’ influence even spread as far as Constantinople, modern day Istanbul…

“During the Holy Roman Empire, the archbishop of Mainz was one of the seven ‘Prince-electors’ – the council who collectively elected new rulers of the vast empire, which at its height spread from the Baltic Sea to southern Italy… The archbishop… was also considered Primas Germaniae, the Pope’s highest representative north of the Alps. To this day, the archiepiscopal See of Mainz is the only other Western location outside of the Vatican recognized under the title of Holy See…

“Trier… is arguably the most ancient city in Germany, having been founded by Celts in the late 4th century BC [Our comment: This is erroneous, even though it is acknowledged that Trier was NOT founded by Rome, as many falsely believe. In fact, Trier was founded by the ancient Assyrians. See our free booklet, “Germany in Prophecy.”]…

“Cologne, Trier, and Mainz were capitals of important states and ruled kingdoms in the empire, but some cities such as Speyer temporarily had more prestige within the empire… In 1027, Conrad II rose to be emperor and by 1033, he was King of Italy, Germany and Burgundy. Conrad came from Speyer and Worms, and upon rising to the throne ordered work to start on a magnificent cathedral in Speyer…

“Cities were usually capitals of a certain territory. However, some cities were independent states. The case of Nuremberg is truly exceptional: it was both an independent city-state and the ‘unofficial capital’ of the Holy Roman Empire. While Nuremberg may not have been capital in name, imperial assemblies were regularly held there and in 1356, Charles IV decreed that all new kings had to hold their first assembly there. The imperial court also worshiped at the town’s Frauenkirche, which was built between 1352 and 1362. Sigismund of Luxembourg also ruled that the imperial regalia be kept in the city permanently. For 350 years between 1423 and 1796, the most precious possessions of the emperor, including the imperial crown, the holy lance and the imperial sword were kept in the city. [Our comment: For more information on these “precious possessions of the emperor” and the role they might still play in the future, please read our free booklet, “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire.”]…

“In the later years of the Holy Roman Empire, the balance of power progressively shifted from the emperor to local rulers, and in 1806 the empire dissolved altogether. By this stage Berlin had already been capital of the Prussian state for over a hundred years and Prussia had become a major European power. Thanks to the efforts of Otto von Bismarck, it established itself as the core of the modern German state, and Berlin was made capital of modern Germany in 1871.” [Our comment: After World War II and the division of Germany, East Berlin became the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the capital of West Germany. Berlin resumed its role as the German capital after German reunification.]

Goebbels’ Father-in-Law Was Jewish

JTA wrote on August 21:

“The wife of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels had a Jewish father, according to a new document discovered in the Berlin archives. The document was published in the German newspaper Bild… It shows that the father of Magda Goebbels was a Jewish businessman named Richard Friedlander, who married Magda’s mother, Auguste Behrend, when Magda was about 7 years old. Friedlander had an affair in 1901 with Behrend before she married German engineer Oskar Ritshel, who had been blamed for impregnating Behrend before their wedding.

“Friedlander’s residency card, the document found in the archives, states that Magda is his biological daughter… Friedlander died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1939; his daughter did not attempt to help him.

“The Goebbels had been portrayed by the Nazis as the ideal Aryan family. Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their six children committed suicide on April 30, 1945, a day after Adolf Hitler took his life.”

Italy Struck by Massive Earthquake

Reuters reported on August 24:

“A powerful earthquake devastated a string of mountainous towns in central Italy on Wednesday, trapping residents under piles of rubble, killing at least 38 people and leaving thousands homeless. The quake struck in the early hours of the morning when most residents were asleep, razing homes and buckling roads in a cluster of communities some 140 km (85 miles) east of Rome.

“A family of four, including two boys aged 8 months and 9 years, were buried when their house in Accumoli imploded. As rescue workers carried away the body of the infant, carefully covered by a small blanket, the children’s grandmother blamed God: ‘He took them all at once,’ she wailed.

“The army was mobilized to help with special heavy equipment and the treasury released 235 million euros ($265 million) of emergency funds. At the Vatican, Pope Francis canceled part of his general audience to pray for the victims. Aerial photographs showed whole areas of Amatrice, voted last year as one of Italy’s most beautiful historic towns, flattened by the 6.2 magnitude quake…

“The quake hit during the summer when the area, usually sparsely populated, hosts large numbers of holidaymakers… ‘Three quarters of the town is not there anymore,’ Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi told state broadcaster RAI… RAI reported that two Afghan girls, believed to be asylum-seekers, were also missing in the town…

“INGV reported 60 aftershocks in the four hours following the initial quake, the strongest measuring 5.5…

“Italy sits on two fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. The last major earthquake to hit the country struck the central city of L’Aquila in 2009, killing more than 300 people. The most deadly since the start of the 20th century came in 1908, when an earthquake followed by a tsunami killed an estimated 80,000 people in the southern regions of Reggio Calabria and Sicily.”

Subsequently, Deutsche Welle reported on August 25 that “at least 250 people” were killed in the earthquake.

The Bible prophesies that in the end time, a massive earthquake will hit and destroy the city of Rome.

More and More Americans Are “Giving Up” on God

The Washington Examiner reported on August 24:

“Half of Americans who have left their church no longer believe in God, leading a surge of nearly one quarter of the nation who have no affiliation with any religion, according to a new survey. Pew Research Center said Wednesday that 49 percent of what they term ‘nones’ left their church and religion because they ‘don’t believe.’ Another 20 percent said they don’t like organized religion. Other reasons included ‘common sense’ and a lack of [belief]in miracles. The survey is the latest from Pew that demonstrates a growing trend in America: More and more people are junking religion and many are giving up on God.

“… This includes many respondents who mention ‘science’ [i.e., the belief in Evolution] as the reason they do not believe in religious teachings, including one who said ‘I’m a scientist now, and I don’t believe in miracles.’ Others reference ‘common sense,’ ‘logic’ or a ‘lack of evidence’ – or simply say they do not believe in God.”

The Pew Research Center wrote:

“One-in-five express an opposition to organized religion in general. This share includes some who do not like the hierarchical nature of religious groups, several people who think religion is too much like a business and others who mention clergy sexual abuse scandals as reasons for their stance. A similar share (18%) say they are religiously unsure. This includes people who say they are religious in some way despite being unaffiliated (e.g., ‘I believe in God, but in my own way’), others who describe themselves as ‘seeking enlightenment’ or ‘open-minded,’ and several who say they are ‘spiritual’ if not religious…

“Religious ‘nones’ are by no means monolithic. They can be broken down into three broad subgroups: self-identified atheists, those who call themselves agnostic and people who describe their religion as ‘nothing in particular…”

You might want to listen to our recent sermon, “Why Will God Punish America?”

Iran Deal… Looking Bad for Obama

On August 19, the Washington Post wrote the following:

“Back in January, Iran released five American prisoners it had been holding. That same day, we have come to find out, the American government sent $400 million in cash to Iran. It isn’t hard to draw conclusions based on the proximity of those two events. And yet, the Obama administration repeatedly sought to separate them from one another — even as Republicans have almost universally accused it of paying a ‘ransom’ for American ‘hostages.’…

“In response to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the State Department on Thursday acknowledged that the money was used as ‘leverage’ in the prisoner-release negotiations. The money was already due to Iran as part of a settlement over a decades-old failed arms deal — also reached in January — but State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed it was withheld until the prisoners had left Iran… Asked whether Kirby was saying the payment was contingent upon the prisoners being released, he responded, ‘That’s correct.’

“How does this square with what the Obama administration said before? Back on Aug. 3, after the Wall Street Journal revealed the $400 million payment, Kirby said the two matters were ‘completely separate.’…  Kirby’s assurance… is hard to square with the fact that the $400 million was contingent upon the prisoner release…

“Thursday’s revelation does indeed look bad for the administration, as did the after-the-fact revelation of the $400 million transfer made to Iran, and they both breathe life into Republicans’ long-standing allegations that this was a quid pro quo in which prisoners were released in exchange for cash. There’s a reason such things are avoided; they risk putting overseas Americans in danger of being held in exchange for money.”

Did Hillary Clinton Break the Law–Again?

Newsmax wrote on August 22:

“A second cache of newly released emails during Hillary Clinton’s stint at secretary of state glaringly illustrates how special access was given Clinton Foundation donors — from Middle Eastern royalty to international sports and music stars — by Clinton’s staff, Judicial Watch charged Monday.

“The conservative watchdog group made public 725 pages of State Department documents, many of which included previously unreleased email exchanges between Clinton’s longtime aide Huma Abedin and Doug Band, a then-employee of the Clinton Foundation — and 20 Clinton email exchanges that Judicial Watch asserts weren’t part of the 55,000 pages of emails Clinton turned over to the State Department.

“Earlier this month, Judicial Watch released another batch highlighting the privilege afforded Clinton Foundation donors at Clinton’s State Department. According to Judicial Watch, in one blatant example of privileged access in the new batch, Abedin coordinated with Band to set up a meeting between the Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain and Clinton after Salman couldn’t get a meeting set up through normal State Department channels. In the email chain, Band stresses Salman was a ‘good friend of ours,’ Judicial Watch reports, noting the Kingdom of Bahrain has given up to $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

“Also included among the Abedin-Band email chains is an exchange in which Band urged Abedin to get the State Department to intervene in order to obtain a visa for members of a U.K. football club, one of whose members was having trouble [be]cause of a ‘criminal charge,’ Judicial Watch reports. Band was acting at the behest of millionaire Hollywood sports entertainment executive and president of the Wasserman Foundation, Casey Wasserman, who has donated between $5-10 million to the Clinton Foundation, Judicial Watch reports.

“The Abedin emails also show former Bill Clinton aide Ben Schwerin, who helped set up the Clinton Foundation, urged Abedin to help U2’s Bono to broadcast from the international space station, according to Judicial Watch. ‘These new emails confirm that Hillary Clinton abused her office by selling favors to Clinton Foundation donors,’ Judicial Watch’s president Tom Fitton said in a statement. ‘There needs to be a serious, independent investigation to determine whether Clinton and others broke the law.’”

The Associated Press added on August 23:

“More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation. It’s an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president. At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released so far to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million.

“Donors who were granted time with Clinton included an internationally known economist who asked for her help as the Bangladesh government pressured him to resign from a nonprofit bank he ran; a Wall Street executive who sought Clinton’s help with a visa problem; and Estee Lauder executives who were listed as meeting with Clinton while her department worked with the firm’s corporate charity to counter gender-based violence in South Africa…

“Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump fiercely criticized the links between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department, saying his general election opponent had delivered ‘lie after lie after lie… It is impossible to figure out where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins. It is now abundantly clear that the Clintons set up a business to profit from public office’…

“On Monday, Bill Clinton said in a statement that if his wife were to win, he would step down from the foundation’s board and stop all fundraising for it. The foundation would also accept donations only from U.S. citizens and what it described as independent philanthropies, while no longer taking gifts from foreign groups, U.S. companies or corporate charities… Those planned changes would not affect more than 6,000 donors who have already provided the Clinton charity with more than $2 billion in funding since its creation in 2000. ‘There’s a lot of potential conflicts and a lot of potential problems,’ said Douglas White, an expert on nonprofits who previously directed Columbia University’s graduate fundraising management program. ‘The point is, she can’t just walk away from these 6,000 donors.’

“Former senior White House ethics officials said a Clinton administration would have to take careful steps to ensure that past foundation donors would not have the same access as she allowed at the State Department…”

“Emails Show Clinton Ties to Supporters of Turkish Cleric Fethullah Gulen”

Newsmax wrote on August 24:

“Newly released Hillary Clinton emails show that two Turkish businessmen who are top lieutenants of the Islamic cleric living in the U.S. being sought for extradition by Ankara received helped from then secretary of state’s aide Huma Abedin in 2009…  Other emails released show that the two businessmen, Gokhan Ozkok and Recep Ozkan, were on the guest list for a June 2012 Clinton Foundation dinner held at Clinton’s home.

“The series of emails from the two praise Clinton and emphasize that Turkish Americans believe in her friendship. They provide further evidence of the ties the two have fostered with Clinton over the years, at the same time they have worked for Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania and whom the Turkish government has demanded that the U.S. extradited. Ozkok and Ozkan have also contributed money to Clinton presidential campaigns and gained access to her through Abedin, Clinton’s longest serving aide.

“The New York Post has also raised questions about Abedin, revealing that for a decade she edited a radical Muslim publication that opposed women’s rights and blamed the U.S. for 9/11.

“The U.S. has confirmed it has received a formal extradition request from Turkey for Gulen, but not over the July coup attempt the Turkish authorities has accused him of planning… This comes as Vice President Joe Biden meets on Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan in Ankara.

“The emails and strain in Turkish relations raises questions over whether Clinton’s ties to Gulen’s supporters will influence her policy toward Ankara if she becomes president. In addition to the Turkish allegations against Gulen, The Daily Caller reports that he has drawn scrutiny in the U.S. over alleged visa violations and illegal construction deals connected with his vast American charter school system and think tanks promoting his teachings.”

These revelations complicate even further the relationship between the USA and Turkish dictator Erdogan.

Trump and Farage Together for Independence?

The Telegraph wrote on August 24:

“Heaping praise on the former leader of the UK Independence Party, the Republican presidential nominee [Donald Trump] introduced Mr Farage to 15,000 supporters at a rally in Jacksonville, Mississippi, as the man who orchestrated Brexit. ‘On June 23, the people of Britain voted to declare their independence – which is what we’re also looking to do, folks – from their international government,’ Mr Trump said. ‘They voted to reclaim control over immigration, over economy, over government. Working people, and the great people of the UK, took control of their destiny. We will have one American nation, not divided. November 8 is our chance to re-declare American independence.’

“Mr Farage said he came ‘with a message of hope and optimism’. ‘We made June 23 our independence day when we shamed the establishment… Mr Farage criticised US President Barack Obama, who had urged the British to stay in the EU, saying he ‘talked down to us, as if we were nothing… If I was an American citizen, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me. In fact, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me.’

“Saying ‘the parallels are clear’ between what was happening in the US and what happened in Britain, Mr Farage said American voters had a ‘fantastic opportunity’ to ‘beat the pollsters, the commentators, Washington… And you’ll do it like with Brexit in Britain, (with) a people’s army. If you want change, you better get your walking boots on, you better get out [there] campaigning, and, remember, anything is possible if enough decent people are prepared to stand up against the establishment.’”

Mr. Farage is probably the most-hated British politician in Europe. If Mr. Trump follows his footsteps, as he appears to do, then he might turn out to be the most hated American politician in Europe. (He is already hated by many Europeans.) As the relationship between the UK and Europe drastically deteriorated because of the Brexit, so the relationship between the USA and Europe might also deteriorate—especially, if Mr. Trump becomes the next President—because of his declared policy of “America first.”

Trump Backs Away from His Immigration Stance

Newsmax wrote on August 25:

“Donald Trump backed away farther from his hard-line stance on deporting millions of illegal immigrants, saying in remarks broadcast on Wednesday he would be willing to work with those who have followed U.S. laws while living in the country.

“Trump’s comments came in the second part of an interview conducted on Tuesday with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity. They signaled a further softening in his immigration position as he girds for a battle against Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election and faces pressure to bolster support among moderate voters and minority groups.

“Trump, who defeated 16 rivals for the Republican presidential nomination in part based on his opposition to illegal immigrants, said he would not permit American citizenship for the undocumented population and would expel lawbreakers. To qualify to remain in the United States, Trump said, illegal immigrants would have to pay back taxes…

“Trump’s new position seemed to resemble in some respects the failed 2007 reform push by former Republican President George W. Bush. That effort offered a way to bring millions ‘out of the shadows’ without amnesty and would have required illegal immigrants to pay a fine and take other steps to gain legal status…

“Trump… still wants to build a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico but he has emphasized in recent days a need to deal most urgently with illegal immigrants who commit crimes and also those who might be displacing African-American and Hispanic workers. At a rally earlier in Tampa, Florida, Trump did not talk about deporting as many as 11 million illegal immigrants as he has in the past, instead saying he would aim enforcement efforts at people who are committing crimes such as overstaying their visas…”

To be clear, overstaying a visa does NOT constitute a crime. And Trump’s new position, which is totally contrary to his prior bombastic promises, will, no doubt, disappoint many of his hardline supporters.

Glenn Beck Attacks Trump and Bannon

The Week wrote on August 24:

“Had Glenn Beck used his trusty chalkboard Wednesday night during an appearance on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, it almost certainly would have been filled with arrows, circles, unidentifiable symbols, and scrawls of ‘Stephen Bannon,’ ‘despicable,’ ‘Never Trump,’ and ‘noooooooooooo!!!!!’

“Beck has never been a Trump fan — the conservative commentator, radio host, and founder of TheBlaze supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz during the Republican primary — and he’s also not big on Bannon, the Breitbart News executive chairman turned Trump campaign CEO. O’Donnell said he had never heard of Bannon before his new appointment, and he invited Beck, who previously called Bannon ‘a horrible, despicable human being,’ to give him the scoop.

“‘He describes himself as a Leninist, and I was kind of hoping it was John Lennon, but it’s not,’ Beck said. ‘He is not a Marxist, he doesn’t believe in Marxism or socialism or communism or anything else. What he means by that is he is a destroyer of everything. He believes that Lenin was right the way he went in; he destroyed the system, destroyed the Duma, brought down the parties, then punished his enemies.’ Beck said he agreed to go on MSNBC because Bannon is ‘dangerous’ and Beck is ‘truly, gravely concerned about the direction of the country, and it is very important for conservatives or constitutionalists to stand up and let the left know, “Hey guys, we’re not all like that.” We have concerns and there has to be some things we come together on, basic values and principles. Let’s not go into a chaos theory; that never goes well.'”

Russia’s Political Murders

The New York Times wrote on August 20:

“Used extensively in the Soviet era, political murders are again playing a prominent role in the Kremlin’s foreign policy, the most brutal instrument in an expanding repertoire of intimidation tactics intended to silence or otherwise intimidate critics at home and abroad.

“Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, has made no secret of his ambition to restore his country to what he sees as its rightful place among the world’s leading nations. He has invested considerable money and energy into building an image of a strong and morally superior Russia, in sharp contrast with what he portrays as weak, decadent and disorderly Western democracies.

“Muckraking journalists, rights advocates, opposition politicians, government whistle-blowers and other Russians who threaten that image are treated harshly – imprisoned on trumped-up charges, smeared in the news media and, with increasing frequency, killed.

“Political murders, particularly those accomplished with poisons, are nothing new in Russia, going back five centuries. Nor are they particularly subtle. While typically not traceable to any individuals and plausibly denied by government officials, poisonings leave little doubt of the state’s involvement – which may be precisely the point…

“Other countries, notably Israel and the United States, pursue targeted killings, but in a strict counterterrorism context. No other major power employs murder as systematically and ruthlessly as Russia does against those seen as betraying its interests abroad. Killings outside Russia were even given legal sanction by the nation’s Parliament in 2006.

“Applied most notoriously in the case of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a Putin opponent who died of polonium-210 poisoning in London in 2006, murders and deaths under mysterious circumstances are now seen as such a menace that Kremlin critics now often flee the country and keep their whereabouts secret. Russia has never acknowledged using the authority under the 2006 law and has specifically denied any government ties to high-profile cases, including the Litvinenko murder.

“Among those fleeing Russia recently is Grigory Rodchenkov, a whistle-blower in Russia’s sports doping scandal. This is not without reason. In the case over state-sponsored doping, two other officials with knowledge of the scheme died unexpectedly as the outlines of the scandal began to emerge…

“Poison has been a favorite tool of Russian intelligence for more than a century. A biochemist, Grigory Mairanovski, labored in secret from 1928 on the task of developing tasteless, colorless and odorless poisons. In 1954, a K.G.B. defector described a secret lab near the agency’s Lubyanka headquarters and ‘experiments on living people.’ The agencies developed an arsenal of lethal, hard-to-trace poisons that, analysts of Russian security affairs say, is still in use…

“In 1971, a year after he won the Nobel Prize for literature, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn survived a poisoning attempt. Ricin, made from  castor beans, was probably involved, according to news media accounts and a biography of the dissident writer…

“Some do take precautions. Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion and now an opposition figure, has long had bodyguards carry bottled water and prepared meals for him.”

The New Vaccination Madness

CBS SF Bay Area wrote on August 22:

“Scores of California students may be sent home on their first day of school because of a new vaccine law that took effect this year. The new state law took effect July 1. Now, parents can no longer use personal or religious beliefs as a reason not to have their kids immunized. This school year, kindergartners and seventh graders must show proof of immunizations.

“Monday WAS the first day of school for kids in Oakland. Hundreds of them were expected to be sent home… Young children who got their personal belief exemptions approved before January 2016, will be grandfathered in. According to the new law, they still must get immunized when they reach seventh grade.”

The website of the denverchannel.com reported on August 20:

“School bells are ringing again across Colorado. As kids head back to school, some parents, who opt not to vaccinate their children, are pushing back against some of the wording in the state’s new non-medical immunization exemption form.

“That form reads in part: Failure to follow the advice of a physician, registered nurse, physician’s assistant or public health official who has recommended vaccines may endanger my child’s/my health or life and others who come into contact with my child/me.

“State Senator Kevin Lundberg, Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee says, ‘That (phrasing) amounts to compelled speech.’ He said the state has no business trying to force parents to agree to something that they don’t believe is true. The Senator told Denver7 that state health officials drew up the new forms themselves. He said state law only requires that parents, who want to ‘opt out’ of the vaccination requirements, submit a note to their child’s school.

“A group called CitizenGo has launched an online petition drive urging Governor Hickenlooper and legislative leaders to ‘immediately modify these forms and regulations to protect the privacy and freedom of Colorado families.’…

“Denver7 asked the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment [CDPHE] about the petition drive to get the language changed. A spokeswoman said, ‘we’re not going to comment because of the possibility of a lawsuit.’”

In addition, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is contesting the legality of the form in respect to CDPHE’s authority to create an unconstitutional requirement.  HSLDA contends that by signing such a statement, a person could be making an admission that could be used against him in later civil or criminal proceeding. The HSLDA contends in a letter, dated August 6, 2016, to the CDPHE that the language contained in the exemption form is unconstitutional as it “requires the affirmation of a viewpoint with which many people disagree or which violates their personal or religious beliefs.” The HSLDA cites a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to the effect that “the First Amendment prevents the government from compelling individuals to express certain views.”

The HSDLA is correct in their analysis that the CDPHE violates the rights of US citizens, as the new vaccination law in California is also blatantly unconstitutional. But it appears, not too many sees to care that our personal rights and liberties are being violated on a constant basis by our government. The awakening for all of us will be grim and severe.

No Proof that People are Born Gay or Transgender

Newsmax reported on August 22:

“Two top Johns Hopkins University psychiatrists say there is insufficient evidence to conclude people are born with heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual attractions. ‘The understanding of sexual orientation as an innate, biologically fixed property of human beings — the idea that people are “born that way” — is not supported by scientific evidence,’ Drs. Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh conclude in their new study… ‘While minor differences in the brain structures and brain activity between homosexual and heterosexual individuals have been identified … such neurobiological findings do not demonstrate whether [they] are innate or are the result of environmental and psychological factors.’

“In addition, studies comparing brain structures of transgender and cisgender individuals demonstrate ‘weak correlations between brain structure and cross-gender identification’ and do not provide any evidence for a neurobiological basis for cross-gender identification, they say… Mayer is a scholar-in-residence at the Maryland school’s psychiatry department and Paul McHugh, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.”

Syphilis on the Rise

The Guardian wrote on August 24:

“The disease, caused by the bacterium Treponema Pallidum and passed on through unprotected oral, vaginal and anal sex, has affected the famous through the ages (Al Capone and, reportedly, Hitler, to name just two).

“But syphilis is in no way confined to big names, nor is it a sexually transmitted infection (STI) of the past. The 2016 Public Health England (PHE) syphilis report has shown that infection rates are on the up, with disproportionate rates in London. In 2015, the capital accounted for 56% of all cases in England, with a 22% increase in diagnoses in the year 2014-15. Since 2010 the number of cases of syphilis in Londoners has increased by 163%, with a 22% increase in the year from 2014 to 2015…

“Men who have sex with men (MSM) represented 90% of all syphilis cases in 2015, with a 232% increase in diagnosis over the last five years, said the report. More than half of the MSM diagnosed with syphilis in 2015 were also infected with HIV, and over half additionally tested positive for a separate STI…”

Man’s Morbid Fascination with Alien Life

The Sun wrote on August 24:

“Astronomers have discovered a ‘second Earth’ orbiting our closest star and it could have exactly the right conditions to sustain alien lifeforms. Stargazers from the European Southern Observatory spotted the mystery world circling Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star that’s just four light years away. The planet is orbiting in the “goldilocks zone” of Proxima Centauri, which means it’s close enough to the  star that water would not freeze but far away enough so that water wouldn’t boil. This is important because the presence of liquid water is thought to be necessary for the development of life…

“Now scientists are trying to figure out a way of getting a robotic probe to the planet to see if it is home to alien organisms, although this is not a mission many of us will live to see. Using current rocket technology, it would take 76,000 years to get to our nearest star. However, there is hope that ‘light sail’ technology currently under development could allow us to send a robotic probe to the planet in about 25 years…

“We asked Nick Pope, a British researcher who used to run the Ministry of Defence’s UFO investigation department, if he thought we’d find aliens on the planet. He said: ‘This game-changing discovery may help us answer the question of whether or not we’re alone in the universe – one of the biggest and most profound questions we can ask.  Many people believe there are aliens out there and now it’s possible that they’re our galactic next door neighbours. Every effort should be made not just to find out more about this planet, but to look for evidence of life – and maybe even intelligent life.’”

Alien life forms would not have “evolved”—life forms do not evolve from nothing—and God did not create any alien life forms. But any “encounters” with aliens, if those “encounters” were “real,” would have been of demonic origin.