This Week in the News

Ten Days Extension for Netanyahu

The Times of Israel wrote on December 9:

“President Isaac Herzog on Friday granted Likud leader and Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu 10 additional days to finish forming a government, while indicating concern that the coalition Netanyahu is assembling — set to be the most right-wing in Israeli history — could potentially damage Israel’s democratic checks and balances, breach the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and alienate Jews overseas.

“The presumed incoming prime minister formally asked Herzog for the maximal extension of two weeks on Thursday, saying that the complexity of cobbling together his coalition required extra time, but Herzog gave him only 10 days. Netanyahu’s 28-day mandate to assemble a government was set to expire at midnight on Sunday night, and he will now have until December 21 to form a government. Herzog did not specify why he chose not to grant Netanyahu the maximum 14-day extension…

“Herzog told Netanyahu to form a government that ‘must work for the entire public in Israel.’ With the incoming coalition determined to constrain or even neuter the power of the High Court of Justice to block legislation and government decisions it deems contradict Israel’s quasi-constitutional basic laws, via a so-called ‘override clause,’ Herzog added that ‘the coalition being formed must maintain a respectful and responsible dialogue between the authorities—executive, legislature, and judiciary.’…

“Nonetheless, Netanyahu is widely expected to ultimately resolve remaining differences with his allies, secure Knesset approval for his new coalition, and take office in the coming weeks…”

Trump Attacks American Jewish Leaders

JTA wrote on December 9:

“Donald Trump said Jewish leaders ‘lack loyalty’ and ‘should be ashamed of themselves,’ his latest broadside against the American Jewish community, this time because of criticism of his dinner with two prominent antisemitic figures.

“‘How quickly Jewish Leaders forgot that I was the best, by far, President for Israel,’ Trump said Friday on his social media platform Truth Social… ‘They should be ashamed of themselves. This lack of loyalty to their greatest friends and allies is why large numbers in Congress, and so many others, have stopped giving support to Israel.’

“This is not the first time Trump has accused American Jews of being disloyal, but in the past he has said they were not loyal enough to Israel, not other ‘greatest friends.’ Calling out ‘Jewish leaders’ instead of Jewish Democratic voters also is a new point of rhetoric.”

Poland Afraid of German Dominance in the EU

The Associated Press wrote on December 9:

“Poland’s ruling party leader claims Germany seeks to dominate Europe. He warns that Poles could end up under the ‘German heel.’… Many Poles, like others in central Europe, have been critical of Germany’s stance toward Russia in the years leading up to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, particularly for gas deals that created dependence on Russian energy and helped Russia build up its war chest…

“Kaczynski also said that ‘Germany’s attitude so far gives no reason to believe that they will decide to intercept Russian missiles.’… It remains unclear how successful anti-German rhetoric will be in the elections next year, coming 77 years after the end of WWII and with many Poles highly anxious about the current war in Ukraine. Many voters also see the economy as their top concern…

“Kaczynski last year accused Germany, which is the largest country in the 27-member EU, of using its role in the bloc to try to rebuild the ‘Fourth German Reich.’

Twitter Blacklisted Conservative Voices

Breitbart wrote on December 8:

“Released by former New York Times reporter Bari Weiss in yet another lengthy Twitter thread, the revelations on Thursday showed that several mainstream conservative voices, from Charlie Kirk to Dan Bongino, were shadowbanned by the social media company…

“At one point, Twitter even placed Stanford professor, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, under the label ‘Trends Blacklist’ [which prevented his tweets from trending] for arguing that coronavirus lockdowns would harm children…”

Newsmax wrote on December 9:

“Former President Donald Trump on Friday morning assailed the FBI and Justice Department for conspiring with Big Tech to carry out ‘their most sinister act in history.’ Trump used his social media platform, Truth Social, to comment following revelations that Twitter colluded with the Biden 2020 presidential campaign, and also censored conservative voices and posts… ‘What everyone is REALLY waiting to see, however, is the Twitter information and thought process leading up to the time of the so-called “Election,” and ultimately the “Deplatforming” of the President of the United States…’

“Musk on Thursday, via journalist Bari Weiss, revealed ‘that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics — all in secret, without informing users.’

“Following Taibbi’s report, Musk said ‘more smoking guns’ would be revealed. He also noted the anger directed at him by progressives and Democrats for exposing Twitter’s political bias. ‘I do not have any suicidal thoughts,’ Musk said Saturday night on the Twitter Spaces audio platform. ‘If I committed suicide, it’s not real,’ he added, a reference to the theorists that repeat the mantra that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself.”

In an obvious attempt to detract from the revelation of Twitter’s political bias and their censoring conservative voices with the help of the Democrats,  Adam Schiff sent a threatening letter to Elon Musk. But his action has already backfired. Note the next article.

Schiff “Demands” Action?

Fox News reported on December 9:

“Twitter users roasted Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., for his tweet Thursday ‘demanding action’ from Elon Musk on his claims of rising hate speech, which the CEO denied. Schiff spoke on behalf of Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., after they wrote a formal letter to Musk and condemned his leadership, tweeting: ‘On Elon Musk’s Twitter:- Slurs against Black people have tripled – Slurs against women are up 33% – Slurs against Jewish people are up 61% – And slurs against gay men are up 58%,’ Schiff tweeted. ‘These numbers are abysmal – and unacceptable. Today, @RepMarkTakano and I are demanding action.’ Musk replied, ‘False, hate speech impressions are actually down by 1/3 for Twitter now vs prior to acquisition.’

“Musk was far from the only user to torch Schiff’s tweet. Many on Twitter slammed Schiff’s credibility, while also debating about the nature of what does or does not count as hate speech. Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton offered his assessment of the situation: ‘Corrupt congressman abuses office to call for mass censorship using fake stats. Threatens @ElonMusk.’ Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald used Schiff’s tweet as an educational moment for his audience: ‘Aside from these made-up numbers: do you see how — to Democratic Party politicians — dictating to social media companies what they can and can’t platform, how they must censor, the role Democratic politicians play in all this, is just assumed as normal?’

“Lawyer Will Chamberlain offered a similar critique of the cozy relationship between government officials and big tech companies: ‘Read the First Amendment again, Adam. You don’t get to bully private companies into censoring lawful speech.’ ‘The Rubin Report’ host Dave Rubin targeted Schiff’s credibility itself: ‘Got any evidence of this? Or is it like Russia collusion? Resign in shame.’

“Former Biden Senate aide Tara Reade, who accused the president of sexual assault in 2020, called out Schiff as well. ‘Yet @RepAdamSchiff you will not investigate Biden though I filed complaint w[ith] Senate at the time and there is a police report,’ she tweeted. ‘I was a Senate staffer sexually harassed and assaulted by Biden. Where is my justice? You have the nerve to call out @elonmusk while Dems abused power?’

“Other commentators claimed Twitter has changed for the better since Musk took over…

“Conservative news personality Rob Schmitt tweeted, ‘Child exploitation on twitter has been gutted, not sure why you don’t care about that…’

“Yet more Twitter personalities balked at the suggestion that the government should be policing offensive phrases at all. ‘Musk denies this is accurate. But even if it’s true, what exactly does “demanding action” mean?’ Substacker Damon Linker asked… Author Michael Malice asked Schiff…, ‘Have you ever considered the possibility that you are one of the bad guys?’”

Schiff’s demand for action against Musk is incredible and laughable. At the same time, the EU threatened Musk that if he does not abide by European laws regarding hate speech and sexual discrimination, Twitter may be taken down.

More Revelations of Twitter Suppression with Help of FBI

The New York Post wrote on December 9:

“Twitter executives decided to ban then-President Donald Trump from their social media platform after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, while maintaining regular check-ins with the FBI and other federal authorities as they decided what postings should be targeted for censorship, the latest report from new company CEO Elon Musk reveals.

“In one of a series of tweets Friday evening, independent journalist Matt Taibbi said internal company messages showed how Twitter’s internal standards eroded during the months leading up to Jan. 6, with high-ranking executives violating their own policies while interacting with various federal agencies.

“Taibbi posted messages that he said ‘show Twitter executives getting a kick out of intensified relationships with federal agencies.’ In one, Yoel Roth, then Twitter’s head of trust and safety, appears to describe how he struggled to disguise the purpose of weekly meetings with FBI and other government officials that helped guide the company’s decisions on policing posts on its platform.”

Breitbart wrote on December 9:

“Elon Musk’s Twitter released another batch of internal discussions on Friday night, which revealed that executives at the social media company had established the ‘framework’ for banning Donald Trump’s account before the events of January 6, and used the Capitol riots as their excuse to finally blacklist the President. The goal of the left-wing executives is clear in statements such as, ‘the narrative that Trump and his friends have pursued over the course of this election and frankly the last 4+ years must be taken into account.’…

“[The documents also]  revealed that executives at the social media company had met with federal agencies amid the Hunter Biden laptop story, and that the FBI reported tweets it didn’t like to workers at the company.”

Jack Dorsey Gave Up Fighting Twitter’s Powerful Activists

The New York Post wrote on December 14:

“Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has taken full responsibility for the social media platform’s many failings — admitting he ‘completely gave up’ pushing back against powerful activists in the company… He said his ‘biggest mistake’ was helping to build tools for Twitter to ‘manage the public conversation’ rather than ‘tools for the people using Twitter to easily manage it for themselves.’ ‘This burdened the company with too much power, and opened us to significant outside pressure,’ he conceded.

“‘I generally think companies have become far too powerful, and that became completely clear to me with our suspension of… Trump’s account in January last year,’ he said. That suspension — only recently overturned by new owner Elon Musk — was ‘the wrong thing for the internet and society.’ Now, Dorsey is a ‘strong believer that any content produced by someone for the internet should be permanent until the original author chooses to delete it.’ ‘Content takedowns and suspensions should not be possible,’ he wrote.”

It’s called “free speech.”

Twitter, Democrats and FBI Guilty of a Form of Treason?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on December 12:

“The biggest story of the past decade is not the covid pandemic, the January 6th protests, the war in Ukraine, the BLM riots, or even the stagflationary crisis in the US. Behind these major events is another story, one that connects them all together in a disturbing way. Even more important than the effects of geopolitical and economic chaos is the effect of mass censorship; without the free exchange of information and debate the public remains ignorant.

“…governments and elitists from around the world often seek to manipulate the ways in which people digest information. The idea is rather simple – They believe that ‘we the people’ cannot be allowed to come to our own conclusions. They think we cannot be trusted to develop the ‘proper’ viewpoints and we are not smart enough to understand the implications of governmental decisions.

“… The establishment will give numerous reasons why they need to censor, suppress, spin and misrepresent the facts of any given situation… This is pure authoritarianism. It’s the stuff of nightmares and revolutions. But for many years now a large subsection of the world has denied such a dynamic exists. It’s ‘conspiracy theory’… to claim that a small number of elites work together in secret to control public perception and govern our society from the shadows. After all, where is the proof?

“… Proof of such secretive governance and control is everywhere these days, but some people prefer willful denial. Take for example the ongoing data drops for what is now being called ‘The Twitter Files.’

“The mainstream media is barely responding to the information dump initiated by Elon Musk. They seem to be far more interested in Donald Trump’s tax records. When they are forced to acknowledge the story, they are hostile… It’s a classic psychological tactic of typical narcissists and criminals – When they get caught, they act indifferent, as if neither the evidence nor their crimes really matter…

“The content of these files is astonishing, but at the same time it is true that the conclusions are not surprising. The files simply confirm almost everything conservative and libertarian commentators have been saying for years; all those ‘conspiracy theories’ about Big Tech censorship of conservatives turned out to be true. Not only that, but the theory that government agencies and officials from the DNC worked with Big Tech to silence and undermine their political opponents was also true.

“Twitter has long denied that they ‘shadow ban’ users, but this was a lie. The data shows that small groups within Twitter… suppressed up to 200 accounts per day. Usually these were accounts of larger and more influential conservative politicians and celebrities. And, these teams operated in coordination with Democrat officials and agencies like the FBI. In some cases the goal was to mute a particular individual. In other cases the goal was to steer national elections…

“The exposure of Twitter is the biggest story of the decade because it provides proof of a hidden cabal. It shows the ugly mechanics behind the scenes and exposes a network of elites and their errand boys who were involved in direct operations to destroy the 1st Amendment for the sake of ideological supremacy.

“It’s the classic definition of fascism, a definition that Benito Mussolini reiterated when he argued: ‘Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.’ And, if this brand of Fascism was happening within the halls of Twitter, then there is little doubt it is also happening at companies like Google/YouTube, Apple, Facebook, etc. Before we had evidence, now we have confirmation

“The bottom line is this: According to the Bill of Rights, it is illegal for agents of the US government to obstruct the free speech of law abiding American citizens. It does not matter if the action is done by using ‘private businesses’ as middlemen. And, if a private business is colluding with government to implement political policy then it is no longer a private business. Twitter was participating in a form of treason, along with the agencies that they cooperated with. It’s a huge story, and one that should lead to punishment for those involved.”

America’s decline into dictatorship, authoritarianism and – it appears – a form of fascism, allegedly committing treason, is stunning.

Another Win for Putin against Biden

The New York Post wrote on December 8:

“It is good news that Brittney Griner, a political pawn of Vladimir Putin, is free. Too bad it is because of a terrible deal by Team Biden. It’s an outrage that Washington sprang notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange, without even also winning the release of as-unjustly ‘convicted’ Paul Whelan, who’s been languishing in Russia since 2018 with a decade-plus left to serve.

“This is fresh ugly proof of how weak the United States has become on the world stage, thanks significantly to the doddering foreign policy emanating from the White House. Griner’s arrest, sham trial and subsequent outrageous sentence to nine years’ hard labor earlier this year (for accidentally packing pot oil-filled vape cartridges in her suitcase) were nothing less than Putin making a big bet against the US with a naked act of political targeting.

“Well, with the Bout exchange, he’s won. We folded. And we couldn’t even get this bad deal done ourselves. We had to outsource it to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Yes, getting Griner back was 100% the right thing to do morally — but at what cost? Bout is a true war criminal responsible for endless death and chaos, who at one point was the second-most-wanted man in the world after Osama bin Laden…”

Biden Signs Key Gay Marriage Regulation

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 13:

“US President Joe Biden signed key gay marriage legislation into law in front of thousands, in a symbolic ceremony for the growing acceptance of same-sex unions. ‘This law and the love it defends strike a blow against hate in all its forms,’ Biden said on the South Lawn of the White House. ‘And that’s why this law matters to every single American.’’

“The ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ is supposed to safeguard gay marriages if the US Supreme Court were to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges, its 2015 decision to legalize same-sex unions. The new law also protects interracial marriages. ‘Congress has restored a measure of security to millions of marriages and families,’ Biden said in a statement when the legislation passed last week. ‘They have also provided hope and dignity to millions of young people across this country who can grow up knowing that their government will recognize and respect the families they build.’

‘‘Together, we showed that it’s possible for Democrats and Republicans to come together to safeguard our most fundamental rights,’’ Biden said.”

Biden is a professing and practicing “good Catholic,” according to the Pope. The Catholic Church declares same-sex marriages as sinful.

Soros Willing to Buy 2024 Presidential Election

Life News wrote on December 9:

“Liberal billionaire George Soros is upping his accolade as the ‘largest donor’ for the 2022 midterm elections to the next level by reportedly signaling that he’s ready to buy the 2024 presidential election. Politico revealed Dec. 7 that Soros pumped a whopping $50 million into his leftist super PAC — Democracy PAC — ‘building on an already large investment in Democratic groups and candidates for the 2024 election cycle and beyond.’ This is on top of the $128 million he spent during the 2022 midterm elections…

“The talking heads at the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news shows predictably ignored the report during their Dec. 7 broadcasts…

“The news of Soros’ new political spending also comes on the heels of MRC Business’s latest report documenting Soros’ financial ties to 253 journalism and activist media groups across the world. These groups wield massive power over the flow of information in national and international politics. So not only is Soros spending hundreds of millions of dollars to elect his radical candidates, he’s also ensuring that the global media amplify his radical leftist messaging on issues including abortion, Marxist economics, anti-Americanism, defunding the police, environmental extremism and LGBT fanaticism to help secure the political outcomes he desires.”

Democrat Senator Sinema Becomes Independent

Axios wrote on December 9:

“Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said… that she’s leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent… It’s a political earthquake that will shake up the Senate — and a gut punch for Democrats just three days after they secured a 51-49 majority…

“Arizonans — including many registered as Democrats or Republicans — are eager for leaders who focus on common-sense solutions rather than party doctrine,’ Sinema says… in The Arizona Republic, her state’s largest paper. ‘That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington.’’”

Even without Sinema, Democrats still have the majority in the Senate, with a 50 to 49 lead.

The Coup That Never Would Have Happened

On December 8, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung criticized that several media outlets were informed about the operation in advance and were present during the raids:

“Obviously, the investigating authorities as well as the accompanying media were focused on strong images and their popular education effect. Anyone who is led away in public is expelled from society for the time being. In a liberal constitutional state which is based not least on the presumption of innocence, such an advance conviction is no trifling matter. … It leaves an unpleasant aftertaste, the conflicted impression that the security authorities wanted to flex their muscles for all the world to see, muscles that are used far less energetically when it comes to other threats.”

The Neue Zuercher Zeitung wrote on December 8:

“The raid on the ‘Reichsbürger’ was also staged for the media. It is good that the rule of law is taking tough action against violent extremists. However, it weakens itself if it announces its measures to numerous media in advance and thus turns arrests and searches into a public spectacle. Of course, not even the investigating authorities claim that a coup by the so-called Reichsbürger was imminent…

“Did Germany’s security authorities really thwart the great Reichsbürger conspiracy, or did they shoot sparrows with cannons? The historic large-scale operation and the accompanying media coverage raise questions.”

Deutschlandfunk wrote on December 7 that the raid had been an open secret with the media for at least a week and that the addresses of the raids had been known to the press for at least a week.

Cicero wrote on December 7:

“According to the excited media coverage and the statements by politicians and security authorities, an imminent coup d’état was just prevented. Viewed in the light of day, however, the hype surrounding the environment of two crazy Reichsbürger revolutionaries and their plans to overthrow [the government] seem rather grotesque… Even at the risk of being considered ‘trivial’: I have now read through all the available news about the allegedly imminent coup d’etat – and find the downright hysterical reporting somewhat grotesque.”

Of course it is… but the reaction of the “establishment” is the dangerous consequence.

The following is an example of the typical reaction by the mainstream media:

The Tagesschau wrote on December 7:

“It was not a quarter to twelve: the attempted coup was not imminent. But anyone who tries to laugh this off is making a mistake. … The remarkable thing about this group is its composition: the Reichsbürger (the self-annointed ‘Citizens of the Reich’) joined forces with people from what is considered the centre of society – lawyers, doctors, plus quirky esoterics and former soldiers with access to weapons. Some of the people in this group were already present as agitators at Covid-related protest events. … The constitutional state must answer such people with all its might. That is what it has done today.”

They must be bad people and a danger to democracy when they demonstrated against the unconstitutional governmental corona restrictions.

Proving Your Innocence?

Die Welt wrote on December 9:

“After soldiers and a judge were also arrested during the ‘Reichsbürger’ raid, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) wants to change the disciplinary law: officials with ‘subversion fantasies’ should in the future have to prove their innocence. An idea that gives a deep insight.”

This was so predictable. Rather than being concerned about the alleged planned “Reichsbuerger” putsch, we should be concerned about the resection by the German government, the opposition parties, and the mass media.  One has to ask whether the entire raid was instigated by the police and the government to bring about their secret goals of suppressing dissenting and unpleasant voices, thereby attempting to abrogate constitutional rights and freedoms… as was done before by enacting unnecessary and illegal coronavirus restrictions.

Controversial Plan

Bild Online wrote on December 9:

“Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said in the Bundestag and on TV that she wanted to reverse the burden of proof for officials on the subject of loyalty to the constitution! Lawyers are appalled. Professor Ulrich Battis from the Humboldt University: ‘Demanding a reversal of the burden of proof is legal nonsense…’

“Constitutional lawyer Josef Franz Lindner (University of Augsburg): ‘What the interior and constitutional minister explains here is frightening from the point of view of the rule of law. It is correct that the BVerfG accepts the dismissal of civil servants by administrative act. However, the civil servant can bring an action before the administrative court. In a constitutional state, the burden of proof or determination of the existence of the grounds for dismissal naturally lies with the employer and not with the civil servant who was dismissed…’”

Report 24 wrote on December 11:

“So-called Reichsbürger are perceived by politicians as the greatest threat. Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach allegedly almost fell victim to a kidnapping by such a group. After the raid on the scene, the politicians, who were already plagued by fear, find themselves exposed to another danger: this is said to come from the AfD. Demands for increased protection of the Bundestag are becoming louder.

“Germany is a safe country and there is danger – if at all – only from the right, that’s what politicians want the citizens to believe. This is not surprising given that quite a few members of the government have veered so far to the left that anyone who thinks otherwise must simply be a rightist, Home Secretary and Antifa sympathizer Nancy Faeser being a good example…

“3,000 officers were involved in the large-scale operation, who risked their lives and arrested a total of 25 people (there are probably 54 suspects in total) and an interesting arsenal of weapons, consisting of, believe it or not, two long guns, a handgun, as well as swords and crossbows, blank and signal guns. Cash was also found…

“Faeser recognizes an ‘abyss of terrorist threat’ in the group’s foiled ‘plans for overthrow.’ The media at home and abroad are literally falling over themselves with reports; according to the ‘Washington Post’ even a ‘Fourth Reich’ was prevented…

“The fact that the judge and former AfD member of parliament Birgit Malsack-Winkemann was among those arrested in the raid seems to trigger further fears in politics, as the entire AfD is now identified as a threat – how could it be otherwise? For this reason, SPD and Greens politicians are now not only calling for increased security measures for the Bundestag, but also for measures such as monitoring the party by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The AfD is once again under general suspicion.

“So, in a major operation, a few poorly armed pensioners are arrested who supposedly wanted to overthrow the government. Whether there were actually realistic plans and what they looked like is not known. The mainstream cheers the supposed blow against the right in the usual way. For the citizens, the whole thing seems staged and is reminiscent of a farce...

“The government seems to have no interest in a discussion about the violence they imported from migrants, to which the population is exposed on a daily basis. As is well known, migrants are not to be placed under general suspicion, but politicians of the AfD obviously can be. Incidentally, there are actual fantasies of a coup among left-wing groups, but that doesn’t seem to matter: Left-wing crackpots don’t pose a threat, they’re the good guys…”

As expected, the AFD is now being accused by the Greens of playing down the danger from Reichsbürger members. And that makes headlines again in the German mass media.

“Germany to Weigh Stricter Gun Laws After Suspected Coup Plot”

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 11:

“Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the German government needed to ‘exert maximum pressure’ to remove weapons from far-right extremists of the Reichsbürger movement.

“Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told German newspaper Bild am Sontag on Sunday that the government had plans to tighten its gun laws… ‘We need all authorities to exert maximum pressure’ to remove their weapons, Faeser was quoted as saying…

“Although citizens in Germany can own guns, the country has some of the strictest gun laws in Europe. Private possession of firearms is rare…

“German domestic intelligence agencies estimate the number of members at around 23,000, which Faeser said represented an increase of 9.5% compared with last year. ‘These are not harmless crazy people but suspected terrorists who are now sitting in pre-trial detention,’ Faeser was quoted as saying.”

Is Faeser saying that 23,000 members of the Reichsbürger “movement” are suspected terrorists? Only 25 suspects are in detention at this point.  

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser No Stranger to Controversy

News 64 had written on January 20, 2022:

“Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, of all people, is questioning the constitutional right of assembly for critics of corona measures.

“According to media reports, Faeser is said to have published a very confusing tweet in which she asked demonstrators to stop taking their protest to the streets.

“The interior minister wrote verbatim on the social network Twitter: ‘I repeat my appeal: you can express your opinion without meeting in many places at the same time.’

“But what does the minister mean exactly, and whom is she addressing? Here are the attempts of explanation by the spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior: ‘The statement by the minister should be seen in the context of the corona protests and against the background of the dramatically high number of corona infections,’ she explained to the media.

Demonstrating against Corona measures: No. Demonstrating for climate protection: Yes. The minister seems to use double standards. As late as September 2019, Faeser wrote on her Facebook page: ‘I am absolutely amazed at how many people took to the streets yesterday for climate protection… schoolchildren in particular have changed the consciousness of many people. I think this is great and it’s time for action,’ she wrote. Even during the pandemic, the minister advocated demonstrations for other causes.

“Article 8 of the Basic Law states: ‘All Germans have the right to assemble peacefully and without weapons without prior registration or permission.’

“Constitutional expert and constitutional lawyer Prof. Josef Franz Lindner from the University of Augsburg made the following statement to the media: ‘The basic right of freedom of assembly means that people get together and do not make their opinion known in the living room. That is a problematic statement for a constitutional minister.’”

Of course, Article 8 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) has been flagrantly violated consistently by the German government in connection with the coronavirus restrictions.

The Limited Times had written on February 2, 2022, crediting “Merkur” as the source:

“A right-wing newspaper criticizes Nancy Faeser, Bild joins in and CDU/CSU politicians also agree… The reason for the debate is a guest contribution by Faeser to the Association of People Persecuted by the Nazi Regime…

“The first criticism from a new-right newspaper, Junge Freiheit… With her contribution to the VNN-BdA, Faeser showed her affiliation with left-wing radicals. A few days later, the Bild newspaper followed suit. Faeser wrote… for an ‘anti-constitutional newspaper’.

“Further criticism of her guest contribution follows – including from Matthias Hauer (CDU). He commented on Twitter as follows: ‘A federal interior minister who wrote a guest article for a left-wing extremist newspaper six months ago has completely disqualified herself for her position. As a minister, Nancy Faeser is supposed to fight enemies of the constitution instead of supporting them.’ CDU politician Christoph de Vries also spoke of a ‘highly explosive process’ in the matter…

“De Vries criticized that the SPD was ‘largely blind in the left eye’… the former State Secretary at the Federal Minister of the Interior, for Construction and Homeland, Stephan Mayer (CSU) also commented. He said that Faeser’s guest post was a ‘big mistake’ and that he expected a ‘rapid apology and the withdrawal of the post’.”

To our knowledge, none of that ever happened, and naturally, the political party “Die Linke” (the Left”) supported Faeser. But Faeser did not seem to have a problem with any of this, as these were not alleged “right-wing extremists”, but alleged “left-wing extremists.” And what about Sharia Law in Germany? Note the next article.

Sharia Law in Germany

Bild Online wrote on December 13:

“In the name of the people was yesterday, now the capital [Berlin] is apparently supposed to be trained in the name of the Islamic Sharia…

‘In November, an advanced course on solving social problems in ‘immigrant communities’ took place in the Berlin Senate Department for Justice. According to the Senate paper, ‘conflict solvers’ would work there to ‘resolve disputes out of court and restore legal peace in accordance with the traditions accepted in the communities.’

“In plain language: so-called ‘peace judges”’ who ensure law and order bypassing the German judiciary.”

War Between Russia and Ukraine to Escalate?

Life Site News wrote on December 12:

“The United States has given the green light to long range strikes inside Russia. This was a measure which was effectively off limits to the Ukrainians before last week, which saw drone strikes take place deep inside Russian territory.

“Another strike came last week, on a civilian hotel in Russian-held Melitopol. This betokens a change in policy by the United States, whose former refusal to supply long range HIMARS missile capability has now been effectively rescinded…

“The Russian leadership has warned that attacks on Russian territory will be met with an overwhelming response… Contrary to the blanket reportage in the West, which presents an image of Russian failure and suggests victory is inevitable for Ukraine, there are serious problems in Ukraine

“Generations of Western leaders worked successfully to avoid direct military conflict with the Soviet Union. They recognized that, unlike Moscow, the West has very little strategic interest in who controls Donetsk…”

Russia’s Powerful Nuclear Weapons

The U.S. Sun wrote on December 14:

“VLADIMIR Putin has renewed his nuke threat against the West by appearing to ready a nuclear missile for launch.

“Footage shows a huge Russian Yars rocket able to hit the UK and the US being loaded into a silo at a base near Moscow. The intercontinental ballistic missile has a 7,500 mile range and when nuclear-armed is reportedly 12 times more destructive than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

“It was seen in Russian propaganda being installed in a launch-pad using a special transport and loading unit – but there is no indication of any order for an imminent launch… Russia is building up to more nuclear showboating as it marks the annual Strategic Missile Forces Day on 17 December.”

Turkey’s Dictatorship

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 14:

“A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu to two years and seven months in prison for allegedly insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council. Imamoglu is a key opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan…

“The court also imposed a political ban on Imamoglu that could lead to his removal from office and would be even more likely to rule him out from standing in next year’s presidential election. The sentencing and the political ban must be confirmed by an appeals court… Imamoglu narrowly won local elections in 2019. His victory, which was confirmed after a rerun, ended a 25-year domination by Erdogan’s conservative allies in Istanbul.

“He was tried over a 2019 speech in which he said the annulment of the first round of the election was ‘foolishness.’ Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu publicly accused Imamoglu of ‘defaming’ the election officials. Imamoglu denies insulting the officials, and says that the comment was a response to Soylu for using the same language against him.

“The Turkish regime has used defamation and ‘insulting’ charges to crack down on dissent. Those convicted of particularly insulting the president face a jail sentence of between one and four years. Since Erdogan became president in 2014, thousands in Turkey have been convicted of insulting the president…”

Turkey is clearly a dictatorship under autocrat Erdogan.

Unchristian Brits

IFN wrote on December 10:

“Great Britain, where King Charles III is the head of the Church of England, is facing a dramatic change in religious identity–for the first time, less than half of the inhabitants of England and Wales declared themselves Christians.

“The results of the 2021 census have just been released, showing that the British society, which has had its own national church since the 16th century, is increasingly secularized and demographically diverse. In terms of religion, statistics show a new trend among the English and the Welsh: abandoning the Christian faith and turning to new cults, such as shamanism, paganism and Wiccanism.

“The government’s Office for National Statistics announced that 46.2 percent of the population in England and Wales (27.5 million people) declared themselves as Christian, down from 59 percent (33.3 million people) in the 2011 census. The data for Scotland has not yet been fully processed… the Church of England can be worried because its spiritual flock is gradually falling away. According to the Telegraph, between 2010 and 2019, a total of 423 Anglican churches closed.

“The new British monarch, who will be crowned by the Bishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, on 6 May 2023, is aware of the changes related to the religious status of his subjects, which is why he recently said: ‘I am obliged to respect those who follow other spiritual paths, as well as those who want to live in accordance with secular ideals.’”

We wonder how God looks at comments like these.

Unbelieving Americans

Israel 365 News wrote on December 11:

“A recent survey showed that in the wake of the global pandemic, the belief that we are currently at the end of days is rising. This contrasts sharply with Jewish tradition…

“A recent Pew Research survey found that 39% of Americans surveyed believed that they were currently living at the end of times as compared to 59% who did not.

“47% of Christians believed we are at the end of time. For Christians, the end of days marks the imminent return of Jesus… 49% of Christians say we are not living in the end times, including 70% of Catholics and 65% of mainline Protestants

“When asked if Jesus ‘will return to Earth someday,’ more than half of all U.S. adults (55%), including three-quarters of Christians, say this will happen. Protestants in the evangelical (92%) and historically Black (86%) traditions are more likely than other Christians to say there will eventually be a second coming of Jesus. Roughly four-in-ten Americans either do not believe Jesus will return to Earth (25%) or say they do not believe in Jesus (16%).”

Public Outcry Forces San Francisco to Reverse Its Decision on Robots

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on December 8:

“On Tuesday of last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to authorize police to use drones or robots to kill via remote control in the California city. Then, a week later — on Tuesday of this week, the board reversed course, voting to prohibit this siccing of killer robots or drones on people. The board voted 8-3 for the reversal — the same vote total by which the board the week before had approved the police using robots or drones to kill… the reversal by the Board of Supervisors followed a ‘wave of public outcry from community members’ and outvoted board members threatening they would push for the matter to be decided by a public vote if the board did not reverse its decision.

“The remote killing authorization, though, is still not itself fully killed… Concerned individuals in San Francisco will need to remain vigilant in their effort to ensure that a remote-control killing authorization does not creep back into the city’s police policy over the next week or in the longer term. And concerned individuals across America would do well to keep close watch over the police policies of their local, state, and national governments.”

Volcanic Eruptions on the Rise

Israel 365 News reported on December 9:

“27 different volcanoes are erupting at this moment and many others are showing signs of waking up. Several of these eruptions have experts concerned.

“The two biggest volcanoes in Hawaii erupted simultaneously two weeks ago. Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, erupted for the first time since 1984 while the smaller but more active Kilauea also erupted. Both are located on the archipelago’s Big Island. Dual eruptions haven’t taken place since 1984.

“On Sunday, the Stromboli volcano off the coast of Sicily erupted, spewing dark ash and generating volcanic lightning. Stromboli is considered one of the most active volcanoes on Earth and has continuously erupted since 1932. Meanwhile, Mount Semeru in Indonesia just erupted as well. Authorities raised the volcano’s warning status to the highest level and called for the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people. People have been urged to keep at least 5 miles away, as ‘hot avalanches’ of lava poured from Semeru… The eruption also follows a series of earthquakes, one of which hit last month, killing 300 people. Indonesia sits on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire,’ where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent volcanic activity as well as earthquakes…

“The Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile-long horseshoe-shaped region encompassing the Pacific Ocean, is the most seismically active area on the planet. It includes most of California, Washington State, and Alaska. The Ring of Fire includes a total of 452 volcanoes, more than 75 percent of active volcanoes existing in the world today. About 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes and 81 percent of the world’s largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. All but three of the world’s 25 largest volcanic eruptions of the last 11,700 years occurred at volcanoes in the Ring of Fire.

There is no doubt that volcanic activity is on the rise. There were about 25 significant volcano eruptions globally in the first 18 years of this century compared with approximately 65 in the entire 20th century…”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

How Twitter Suppressed the Hunter Biden Laptop Story

Newsmax reported on December 2:

Elon Musk rolled out his internal probe into how Twitter handled the Hunter Biden laptop story on Friday, showing extreme lengths the company went through to protect President Joe Biden. In a thread from journalist Matt Taibbi, endorsed by Musk, leaked documents suggest the company disproportionately favored Democrats on content moderation before the billionaire took control.

“The Rolling Stone contributing editor laid out a series of redacted files alleged to originate from Twitter employees’ communications, appearing to show collusion between Twitter’s top brass and the Biden campaign, as well as the Democratic National Committee.

“In one of the documents dated Oct. 24, 2020, an employee is seen linking to a set of tweets from accounts flagged by a group referred to as ‘the Biden team.’ Three hours later, another employee replies that he ‘handled these,’ implying what appears to be removal…

“But the greatest attention was focused on accusations surrounding Twitter’s suppression of evidence obtained from Hunter Biden’s laptop, initially published by the New York Post. ‘Twitter took extraordinary steps to suppress the story, removing links and posting warnings that it may be “unsafe.” They even blocked its transmission via direct message, a tool hitherto reserved for extreme cases, e.g. child pornography,’ Taibbi wrote.

“Taibbi then described how the story was removed on the basis of violating Twitter’s ‘hacked materials policy’ and was made ‘at the highest levels of the company but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey.’… According to several anonymous employees, flagging a post for hacked materials normally ‘required an official/law enforcement finding of a hack.’ However, that never appeared…”

Almost 80% of voters said they believe that if Americans would have known about the Hunter Biden scandal and the possible involvement of Joe Biden, which was suppressed by Twitter and the left-wing mass media, just prior to the presidential election in 2020, they would have voted differently. In response, Trump said the Constitution should be suspended and new elections held. He was strongly condemned by Democrats and some Republicans for this statement, daring to question the “sanctity” of the Constitution,

“Twitter Invented a Reason to Help Joe Biden Win in 2020”

The New York Post published the following opinion piece by the Post Editorial Board on December 2:

“The Post’s reporting wasn’t just blocked, it was suppressed…

“Twitter was directly involved in tilting an election. Everyone could see it, but because they were desperate for Donald Trump to lose and Joe Biden to win, that the media barely made a peep. Even after Hunter Biden’s former business partner gave a public press conference backing up exactly what The Post had reported.

“After it became untenable to say the laptop wasn’t real, Twitter told us we could have our account back — we just had to delete the original Tweet. We could even put up a new Tweet linking to the Hunter Biden story, one that wouldn’t be censored, but we had to delete the original one.

“The logic behind this blackmail escaped us. The Post refused. It would be 17 days before Twitter finally backed down and unfroze our account.

“The bias was clear… And, by the way, nothing really changed afterward. Twitter went right back to censoring those who didn’t toe the line on COVID and any other number of topics… The Democratic National Committee and the Biden administration were in direct email contact with the Twitter content team, pointing them exactly to the Tweets they wanted destroyed.

“It took a very expensive change of ownership for these details to come to light, and for the promise of less censorship in the future. That’s why the left is losing their minds.”

How Much Was the FBI Involved?

In a related article, the New York Post wrote on December 3:

“Elon Musk half-delivered on his promise to tell all about Twitter’s censorship of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election. What was missing were details of specific warnings we know the FBI made to Twitter about a Russian ‘hack and leak operation’ involving Hunter during their weekly meetings with top executives of the social media giant in the days and weeks before The Post published its exclusive bombshell.

“We know that FBI Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan testified Tuesday in a lawsuit against the Biden administration brought by Republican attorneys that he organized those weekly meetings with Twitter and Facebook in San Francisco for as many as seven Washington-based FBI agents in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election…

“Musk reveals that a crucial player in Twitter’s censorship of The Post was former FBI general counsel James Baker, a central player in the Russia collusion hoax, who had become Twitter’s Deputy General Counsel…

“It is not known whether Musk has withheld material in Twitter’s records after an intense pressure campaign from President Biden, the White House, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and threats that Big Tech compatriots Apple and Google would banish Twitter from their app store.”

Let us sure hope that he did not, and that the entire ugly truth comes to light soon.

Baker Fired

Newsmax reported on Tuesday, December 6, that “Musk fired deputy general counsel James Baker, a former counsel to FBI director James Comey,  on Tuesday, following revelations that he was slow-walking the release of files regarding government collusion with the social media company to journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss…

“Over the weekend… it was [Weiss] who discovered that the person in charge of releasing the files was someone named Jim. When she called to ask ‘Jim’s’ last name, the answer came back: ‘Jim Baker.’… Taibbi adds that ‘news that Baker was reviewing the ‘Twitter files” surprised everyone involved, to say the least.’ On Tuesday, Musk tweeted, that ‘in light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today.’”

Good for Musk.

According to the Liberty Report, dated December 7, “The ‘former’ FBI Agent [Jim Baker] at the center of the bogus ‘Russiagate’ operation was brought on by Twitter’s previous management, where he played a key role in suppressing the Hunter Biden bombshell. Musk decided to release the internal communications of ‘old’ Twitter around the censorship and that same ‘former’ FBI agent [Jim Baker] was caught red-handed [allegedly] removing the evidence before it could be released.”

Culprits Remain Silent

Breitbart wrote on December 3:

“Former top intelligence officials who signed an open letter suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop story was part of a Russian operation just weeks before the 2020 election were silent after internal Twitter emails acknowledged there was no evidence the story involved material that was illicitly obtained…

Leon Panetta, a former CIA director and defense secretary, John Brennan, a former CIA director, Mike Hayden, a former CIA director, and Jim Clapper, a former director of national intelligence — who all once said The Post’s reporting had ‘all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,’ — declined or did not respond to request for comment about whether the latest disclosures had changed their opinion…

“Five days after questions were raised at Twitter about relying on a hacking justification to suppress the story, more than 50 former intelligence officials published an open letter on October 19, 2020, that argued that, based on their experience and expertise, the story came from the Russian government… The letter was also signed by former acting CIA Directors John McLaughlin and Michael Morell…”

At a very minimum, no confidence can be placed in their “experience and expertise.” That’s how politics are made and how “facts” are being fabricated. And when the truth is revealed, the culprits remain silent and go into hiding.  

A Massive Corruption Scandal by the US Government

On December 5, Ron Paul wrote in his weekly column in the Ron Paul Institute:

“The release, in coordination with truly independent journalist Matt Taibbi, demonstrated indisputably how politicians and representatives of ‘official Washington’ pressed the teams that were then in charge of censorship at Twitter to remove Tweets and even ban accounts that were guilty of nothing beyond posting something the power-brokers did not want the general public to read. Let’s not forget that many of those demanding Twitter censorship were US government officials who had taken an oath to the US Constitution and its First Amendment.

“It is important to understand that both US political parties were involved in pushing Twitter to censor information they didn’t like. There is plenty of corruption to go around. However, as the Twitter Papers demonstrated, vastly more Tweets were censored at the demand of Democratic Party politicians simply because Twitter employees on the censorship team were overwhelmingly Democratic Party supporters

“Elon Musk himself openly stated before the release that, prior to his taking control of the company and engaging in mass firing, Twitter had been manipulating elections. So all those years we heard lies from the Washington elites that Russia was interfering in our elections when after all it was Twitter. Of course that raises the question about other large social media companies like Facebook. Will Mark Zuckerberg come clean about his own company’s election interference? Will anyone have the courage to demand that he do so?

“How did they get away with all of this? As another truly independent journalist, Glenn Greenwald, pointed out on the Tucker Carlson show the night the ‘Twitter Papers’ were released, while it was once controversial for the CIA to attempt to manipulate what Americans consume in the mainstream media, nowadays these outlets openly hire ‘former’ US intelligence leaders and officers as news analysts. CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and the rest of them all bring on ‘former’ members of the intelligence services to tell Americans what to think. ‘Big tech censorship is a critical tool of the national security state,’ Greenwald told Tucker. ‘Whenever anyone tries to do anything about it these former people from the CIA and the Pentagon and the rest jump up and say “we cannot allow you to restore free speech.”’

“This is a corruption scandal so massive that it is almost guaranteed to never be properly investigated. Government itself is among the most guilty and we know ‘government commissions’ are really about covering up rather than uncovering the crimes committed. But the truth is powerful. Some 58 years after the Warren Report whitewashed the assassination of President Kennedy, polls show that few Americans believe the ‘official’ narrative… No amount of lies can withstand the disinfectant of truth. Thanks to Elon Musk for his courage and we encourage him to continue.”

A massive corruption scandal indeed! But it is by no means the only one. For example, note our articles below regarding the alleged cover-up of the Chinese and US governments regarding COVID origins, as well as the Biden Administration’s granting immunity to a despot accused of murdering an American journalist.

“Trump Organization Convicted of Tax Fraud; Hunter Biden Still Walks Free”

Breitbart wrote on December 6:

“Former President Donald Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, was convicted of tax fraud and other financial crimes on Tuesday in the case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden continues to walk free, despite admitting in December 2020 — after the presidential election — that he was under federal investigation for possible tax violations linked to his foreign business activities.

“Trump’s real estate organization was convicted on all 17 counts on the second day of deliberation following the trial, where the Trump Organization was accused of being complicit in a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes on job perks ‘such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars,’ the Associated Press reported.

“The organization could face up to a maximum of $1.62 million, which is a comparably small amount for the company’s size, but the AP noted that ‘the conviction might make some of its future deals more complicated.’ Overall, the conviction comes after New York prosecutors have spent the last three years investigating the former president and his businesses.

“Trump himself was not a target of the investigation or prosecution. The case against the company was based on the testimony from the Trump Organization’s former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg testified in exchange for only having a five-month jail sentence after previously pleading guilty to charges that he manipulated the Trump Organization’s books as well as his own compensation package to reduce his taxes. Weisselberg refused pressure to testify against Trump as part of the plea deal.”

One could read between the lines…

“Biden Signs Law Making Railroad Strike Illegal”

Fox Business wrote on December 2:

“Biden signs [a] bill forcing rail unions to accept [an] agreement, averting [a] crippling strike… The agreement passed by Congress was approved by eight of 12 transportation unions involved in negotiations. The four dissenting unions, representing about 100,000 rail workers, said the deal was unfair because it included insufficient paid-sick leave time.

“They had asked for seven paid sick days, but Congress did not include their demand in the bill, despite an effort from progressive lawmakers and even some conservatives like Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to amend the legislation.”

Senator Rand Paul did not vote for the bill, saying on Fox Business to Larry Kudlow: “Congress should not get involved in contracts.. Congress should not [be]dictating our will.. This is determined in the market place. The whole thing was wrong… The more Congress gets involved, the more the other side expects that to happen… Republican voters across the country are upset with the old establishment up here [in Washington].”

Kudlow totally agreed with Paul. Ronald Reagan had famously said about human governments:

“Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem… Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them… Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one… Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”

The term “political prostitutes” would aptly apply.

Democrats Win Georgia

NBC News reported on December 7:

“Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican football star Herschel Walker on Tuesday in Georgia’s Senate runoff election, handing President Joe Biden and his party a key win.

“Warnock’s victory will give Democrats an outright majority in the Senate [of 51 to 49 votes] after two years under a 50-50 divide, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes.”

With the House in the hands of Republicans and the Senate in the hands of Democrats, this now looks more and more like a stalemate in US politics.

Americans Are Losing Trust in Their Military

Modern Diplomacy wrote on December 6:

“The current era is marked by fading trust in U.S. institutions, but confidence in one pillar has held up: the military. But now even that is eroding, and the question is whether the brass will get the message… The Reagan Institute releases an annual survey of public attitudes on national defense, and this year only 48% reported having ‘a great deal of confidence’ in the U.S. military… That’s down from 70% in 2018, and within the margin error of last year’s 45%. Some 52% also had reduced confidence in uniformed officers.

“General Mark Milley’s speech to Congress last year that he wanted to understand ‘white rage,’ in response to reasonable inquiries about whether cadets at West Point should be learning critical race theory, was a lapse in judgment. Many Americans think the military is no longer an institution that runs on excellence, merit and individual submission to a larger cause. The Pentagon denies this is a problem, but it surely is if half the public believes it.

“Americans on the left have their own reasons for declining confidence in the military: 46% cited right-wing extremism, even though this scourge has been wildly overstated… Some 75% in the Reagan survey viewed China as an enemy, up from 55% in 2018, and the percentage of those worried about Russia has doubled. Some 70% are concerned China might invade Taiwan within five years, and 61% support increasing the U.S. military’s Pacific footprint.”

The Bible says in Ezekiel 7:14 that when the trumpet sounds, no one in America will be willing to fight.

Lawsuit Against Bin Salman Dismissed… Another Blatant Example of Miscarriage of Justice

The Guardian wrote on December 6:

“A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman that claimed he conspired to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the crown prince was entitled to sovereign immunity despite ‘credible allegations’ that he was involved in the murder. Judge John Bates, a US district court judge with a long history of presiding over cases involving national security, acknowledged ‘uneasiness’ in making the decision, but said that his hands were in effect tied by the Biden administration’s recent recommendation that Prince Mohammed be given immunity…

“The dismissal of the civil claim against Prince Mohammed and two of his close associates – Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmed al-Asiri – means the Saudi heir can now travel to the US and other jurisdictions freely. Although the case was not brought by US prosecutors with the power to arrest him, if it had been allowed to proceed, the case would have created a legal minefield for the crown prince and if he had been found guilty, could have put his financial interests in the US in jeopardy…

“Khashoggi’s brutal murder in 2018 created an international outcry. An investigation by Agnes Callamard, then the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, found that Khashoggi had been the victim of a ‘deliberate, premeditated execution’ for which the state of Saudi Arabia was responsible under human rights law… In an angry statement to the Guardian, Callamard, who is now director general of Amnesty International, listed multiple parties who she claimed had ‘contributed to the impunity for the state murder of Jamal Khashoggi’, from Saudi Arabia itself, to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, to Joe Biden…

“Judge Bates’s ruling comes years after then-candidate Biden promised that he would hold the Saudi crown prince accountable for the murder if he was elected president and suggested that Prince Mohammed ought to be treated as a ‘global pariah’ for his alleged role in the killing.

Shortly after entering the White House, it appeared that Biden would follow through on the campaign promise. His administration released an unclassified intelligence report that concluded that ‘MBS’, as he is known, had likely approved the killing. But no further sanctions against the crown prince or his vast business interests in the US followed… ‘The Executive Branch remains responsible for foreign affairs, including with Saudi Arabia, and a contrary decision on bin Salman’s immunity by this court would unduly interfere with those responsibilities all the same,’ the judge wrote.”

The New York Post added on December 6:

“Judge John Bates wrote in an opinion filed Tuesday that the suit… ‘must be dismissed at this time,’ despite a request by the plaintiffs’ attorneys that the judge challenge the Biden decision [to grant immunity to the Prince]. ‘As the branch of government primarily responsible for international affairs and diplomacy, the Executive Branch may be hindered or embarrassed should the judiciary second-guess its foreign immunity decisions,’ Bates wrote.

“‘Despite the Court’s uneasiness, then, with both the circumstances of bin Salman’s appointment and the credible allegations of his involvement in Khashoggi’s murder, the United States has informed the Court that he is immune, and bin Salman is therefore “entitled to head of state immunity . . . while he remains in office”’, Bates continued. ‘Accordingly, the claims against bin Salman will be dismissed based on head-of-state immunity,’ he added.”

Incredible! Politics galore!!! What kind of a “justice system” do we have where a potential murderer cannot even be held accountable? And so, as we have seen so often, Biden’s declarations and promises mean absolutely nothing.

Griner Exchanged for the Merchant of Death

The U.S. Sun wrote on December 8:

“BRITTNEY Griner has been released from prison in Russia. The WNBA star was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer [and merchant of death”] Viktor Bout…  Griner was held for months in a Russian prison after being convicted of drug charges. The one-for-one prisoner exchange was approved by president Joe Biden within the last week… 

“The deal between the US and [Russia] leaves American corporate security executive and former Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia in what American officials have called fraudulent charges. Russian courts sentenced Griner to nine years in prison on August 4 on drug smuggling charges for bringing hashish oil into the country…

“Bout was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the states after being convicted by a federal court in 2011 for conspiracy to kill US citizens and officials.

“Biden addressed the nation on Thursday from the White House alongside Harris and Griner’s wife Cherelle, saying ‘this was a day we’d worked for for a long time.’… The president also spoke of Whelan, saying ‘we have not forgotten about’ him and pledged to not stop fighting for his release…

“[Viktor] Bout exploited the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and ran a fleet of planes, shipping ammunition to war-torn countries in Africa. He’s also accused of supplying ammunition to brutal regimes and warlords. In 2011, Bout was convicted on charges of conspiring to kill American citizens and officers. He was also found guilty of providing resources in the form of weapons to a foreign terrorist organization.”

America’s New Trade War With Europe

German Foreign Policy wrote on November 23:

“The trade war is expanding between the EU and the USA over investment programs worth hundreds of billions. According to reports, these programs threaten not only the production of electric cars and their batteries, but also the wind and hydrogen energy sectors – all the industrial sectors crucial to Berlin’s and the EU’s futuristic plans. This is caused by these US measures, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which promise hundreds of billions of US dollars in subsidies, however, granted only for products manufactured in the USA. To take advantage of this boost in subsidies, Washington is coaxing companies from Europe, but also from Japan and South Korea to relocate to the United States. Whereas France is calling for resolute countermeasures, Berlin is playing it down, restricting the EU to negotiations with the USA. According to economists, ‘a great number of industries of the future’ are ultimately at stake. Former Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser even warns of an ‘industrial and capital exodus from Europe’ to the USA

“The purchase of electric cars is being subsidized with US $7,500 each. However, only cars produced in the USA are subsidized. This also applies to components, such as batteries. Even their raw materials must initially be mined and processed to 40 and – in the long term – to 80 percent in the United States, or alternatively in a country linked to the USA by a free trade agreement. This excludes China, but also Germany and the EU – not only in regards to individual products but also to complete supply chains…

South Korea is… seriously affected. Hyundai, for example, has a few successful electric car models, with which the company is competing with the US’ Tesla. However, these are not being produced in the USA and therefore, are totally excluded from the subsidy programs. This has proven an embarrassment for South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-Yeol. Since he assumed office last May, he has supported Washington’s measures…, for example favoring US chip production, and thereby running the risk of tensions with China. Now he realizes that cooperation with the USA is economically costly for his country. There is enormous anger in Seoul

“An amendment to the Inflation Reduction Act is considered out of the question, also because the US Congress must be in favor, which is even less conceivable now, given the results of the latest mid-terms, wherein the Republicans have won a majority in the House of Representatives. Theoretically, changes of the implementation regulations would be possible – but there is nothing to indicate that Washington would agree to anything beyond mere cosmetic adjustments..”

Biden could make changes via executive orders, but will he? After the debacle with the railroad strike [see above], how much more is he willing to do to risk his political survival within the Democratic Party?

Brewing Trade War Between USA and Europe

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 3:

“German Finance Minister Christian Lindner warned Saturday over a brewing trade war between Europe and the United States… Smoother transatlantic ties since President Joe Biden succeeded Donald Trump have hit a stumbling block… ‘The USA is our partner of shared values, but at the same time there is an enormously protectionist economic policy,’ he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper…

“Lindner said that the German economy, unlike France’s, is closely linked to the US market. He was referring to the US being a huge market for German automobiles, while French carmakers do not export there… Lindner’s remarks follow a call earlier this week by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck for a ‘robust’ response by Brussels to the new US subsidies.

“The EU is not Washington’s only ally frustrated at the new [IRA] subsidies. South Korea has also raised concerns that its carmakers will not be eligible for the US tax breaks. During a visit to the United States this week, French President Emmanuel Macron described Washington’s new tax breaks as ‘super aggressive’ and warned that the package would ‘divide the West.’

“Biden acknowledged that there were ‘glitches’ in the IRA which favors American-made climate technology, adding ‘there are tweaks we can make’ to satisfy allies, he said. Despite the conciliatory words, several Democratic lawmakers said they have no plans to revisit the legislation, which passed after more than a year of negotiations without any Republican support.”

EU to Buy Weapons as a Bloc

The Telegraph wrote on November 15:

“European Union countries must buy weapons as a bloc in the same way they negotiated for coronavirus vaccines, the EU’s foreign policy chief [Josep Borrell] said on Tuesday… Mr Borrell told EU defence ministers that the EU was now the world leader in the production of vaccines and that the plan could hand a similar boost to European arms companies… Joint purchasing will increase the interoperability of European armies because they would have similar technology, and the proposal could be seen as a step towards the… future prospect of an EU army

“‘Member states need to immediately restore the readiness of their forces, address critical capability gaps and replenish depleted stocks,’ [Mr Borrell and Thierry Breton, the French commissioner for the internal market] said in a letter obtained by The Telegraph… The fully-fledged joint purchasing scheme is… called the European Defence Investment Programme. Once backed by the 27 EU member states, it will coincide with moves to accelerate ‘EU defence manufacturing capacity’.”

After Europe has become the world leader in the manufacture and sale of vaccines, Europe might soon become the world leader in the manufacture, purchase and sale of weapons, followed by the long-awaited establishment of an all-powerful European army.

Conspiracy to Overthrow the German Government?

DNYUZ reported on December 7:

“Special Forces in Germany have arrested 25 people suspected of supporting a domestic terrorism organization that planned to overthrow the government and form its own state, the federal prosecutor said on Wednesday.

“In early-morning raids carried out across the country, Special Forces officers detained people believed to be members and supporters of the group, which prosecutors said had been formed in the past year and was operating on the conviction that ‘Germany is currently ruled by members of a so-called deep state’ that needed to be overthrown. Prosecutors said two other people had been arrested outside Germany, one in Austria and another in Italy.

“The prosecutors described the group, which they did not identify, as being influenced by the ideologies of the conspiracy group QAnon and a right-wing German conspiracy group called the Reichsbürger, or Citizens of the Reich, which believes that Germany’s post-World War II republic is not a sovereign country but a corporation set up by the Allies who won the war.

“Many of those arrested had military training and included former German soldiers, including from the army of the former East Germany, and were known to have been heavily armed with weapons acquired illegally. The group was most likely formed in late 2021, the prosecutors said. Among those arrested was a man who tried to make contact with representatives of the Russian government over the plans, according to a statement from the federal prosecutor, but there were no indications that they had received a positive response from the Russian sources they had contacted…

“Its aim was ‘to overcome the existing state order in Germany and to establish its own by its own form of state, the outlines of which have already been worked out,’ using military means and violence against state representatives, the prosecutors said in the statement. The group’s plans included an armed attack on the German Parliament building, the Reichstag, the prosecutors said. The members had also formed a sort of shadow government that they intended to install if their plans were successful. ‘The members of the organization were aware that this goal can only be achieved through the use of military means and violence against state representatives,’ the prosecutor’s statement said. ‘This also included commissioning killings.’

“According to the members of the group, liberation is promised by the imminent intervention of the ‘Alliance,’ a technically superior secret alliance of governments, intelligence services and militaries of various states, including Russia and the United States, according to the prosecutors.”

Deutsche Welle added on December 7:

“The trigger for the raids was an investigation into another Reichsbürger group that had planned to kidnap German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach…

“Speaking at a press conference,  German Attorney General Peter Frank said… the group had established a council that was intended to act as the government of the new state with some individuals already designated for ministerial roles. Among them, said the attorney general, was a former member of the Bundestag who was to take over the justice portfolio…”

“The movement argues that the German constitution prior to World War II was never properly nullified and that the formation of the former West Germany in 1949, and now reunified Germany, was therefore never valid.”

The Guardian added on December 7:

“… the [arrested] group’s alleged ringleader [is] Heinrich XIII, Prince Reuß von Greiz, who claims descent from a royal line that ruled for 800 years in Thuringia until the breakup of the German monarchy…

“The group, under the leadership of Heinrich XIII and a former commander of a paratrooper battalion, had been preparing for so-called ‘Day X’, on which about two dozen people were to storm the Reichstag building, home to the German parliament, and to handcuff and arrest MPs and parliamentary staff in an operation taking as its example the 2021 attack on the US Capitol.”

ntv wrote on December 7:

“The idea that he [Heinrich XIII, Prince Reuß von Greiz] and his comrades-in-arms actually took power in the country seems absurd. That ‘the people’ would have joined them, that the police and the Bundeswehr would have thrown off 70 years of democracy and happily offered themselves to a new monarchy – that was pipe dreams. But it would have shaken the republic to the core if crazy Reich citizens had broken into the Reichstag and shot people there…

“It is unknown how Reuss convinced his fellow campaigners. It’s also not clear if he was the driving force at all. It is not to be expected that he would have won over the masses. Not only because hardly anyone knew him to this day…”

At this point, we have only heard the allegations and accusations by the prosecution. Whether there was really a plot to overthrow the German government will have to be seen when more facts come to light.

Failed Overthrow of the System?

Report 24 wrote on December 8:

“A brutal overthrow of the system was thwarted at the last second – so read the lurid reports of the mainstream press. Responsible are not radical climate activists, whose fantasies of overthrow are offered a worldwide stage, but so-called Reichsbürger: 3,000 police officers were allegedly needed to make 25 arrests in the pensioner milieu, oh no, in the ‘right swamp’. The narrative of the media has reached such a level of absurdity that it shakes up believing citizens and encourages them to ask critical questions…

“Then last night my mother called me, completely upset and deeply concerned. In her perception… Germany narrowly escaped an attempted coup by a heavily armed right-wing extremist army of Reichsbürgern controlled by Russia and Putin yesterday, which could only be stopped with great difficulty with almost 3,000 heavily armed special police forces…

“In my opinion, radicalism in whatever form is never good. But the totalitarian climate stickers that block ambulances and rescue vehicles and prevent people from getting to work, or the electricity and gas prices as well as the skyrocketing food prices or the children harmed by the government’s corona measures really worry me more than 25 or 50 people entertaining bizarre subversive fantasies in Telegram chat groups.”

Child Sacrifice Did Not Help the Azteks, and Won’t Help Us

Life Site News wrote on December 1:

“Dr. Roger Hodkinson said on a recent podcast that leaders in Canada and the rest of the world have perpetrated the ‘biggest kill ever in medicine’s history’ as a result of COVID lockdowns and vaccine coercion… As much as he said politicians are to blame, he said that ‘physicians are principally culpably because they have allowed [the] government to influence how they manage their patients, which has never, ever happened before.’

“Hodkinson was particularly harsh on physicians who looked ‘into the eyes of a pregnant woman and [told] her that this experimental product [vaccine] is safe.’ He added that any physicians ‘that has done that should be in jail.’… After becoming emotional relaying the horror of sick people dying without loved ones present due to COVID restrictions, he said, ‘What about our children? Now being vaccinated against something they don’t need, and being killed by it.’

“He called the push to jab kids ‘child sacrifice to appease these new gods’… ‘Child sacrifice didn’t work for the Aztecs, it didn’t make the rain fall, and it won’t save granny in the nursing home.’”

COVID—the Greatest Cover-Up in History

Just the News wrote on December 4:

“Former vice president of EcoHealth Alliance Dr. Andrew Huff says that he worked closely with the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab in China and he knows that COVID was genetically engineered and leaked. Huff says that COVID was ‘one of the greatest cover-ups in history’ and the ‘biggest US intelligence failure since 9/11.’

“Whistleblower Dr. Huff wrote a book titled The Truth About Wuhan in which he claims that the COVID-19 pandemic happened because of the U.S. government’s funding of genetic engineering of coronaviruses in China [and] that China knew from day one that this was a ‘genetically engineered agent.’

“Huff, an epidemiologist and army veteran who worked for EcoHealth Alliance from 2014 to 2016, said it was China’s gain-of-function experiments — and shoddy biosecurity — that led to the lab leak at the U.S.-funded lab. ‘The US government is to blame for the transfer of dangerous biotechnology to the Chinese,’ he told The Sun Online. Dr. Huff wrote in his book that ‘greedy scientists killed millions of people globally’ and the U.S. government helped cover it up.”

If proven true, they all should be punished.

Dictator Justin Trudeau Denounces Dictatorial China

On December 2, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by Professor Jonathan Turley:

“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau left many of us gob smacked this week when he denounced China for its crackdown on protesters. Many of us denounced Trudeau for his authoritarian crackdown on truckers protesting Canada’s Covid policies.

“Trudeau used terrorist laws to freeze bank accounts, treat truckers as terrorists and treat truckers as effective weapons. This is a continuation of Trudeau’s utter lack of self-awareness (and the media continuing lack of objectivity). He previously was praised for his stance against Cuba’s crackdown on protestors…

“Justin Trudeau, like his father, has never been a strong supporter of free speech. Indeed, he has more often championed its limitations…”

What a dangerous hypocrite! And what a despicable political press.

Terminator Comes Alive

On December 1, the Rutherford Institute  published the following alarming and disturbing article:

“… in an 8-3 vote on Nov. 29, 2022, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a proposal to allow police to arm robots with deadly weapons for use in emergency situations. This is how the slippery slope begins…. police now have the power to kill with immunity using remote-controlled robots…. It’s only a matter of time before these killer robots intended for use as a last resort become as common as SWAT teams.

“Frequently justified as vital tools necessary to combat terrorism and deal with rare but extremely dangerous criminal situations, such as those involving hostages, SWAT teams—which first appeared on the scene in California in the 1960s—have now become intrinsic parts of local law enforcement operations, thanks in large part to substantial federal assistance and the Pentagon’s military surplus recycling program, which allows the transfer of military equipment, weapons and training to local police for free or at sharp discounts…

“How long before these armed, militarized robots, authorized to use lethal force against American citizens, become as commonplace as SWAT teams and just as deadly?… how long before mistakes are made, technology gets hacked or goes haywire, robots are deployed based on false or erroneous information, and innocent individuals get killed in the line of fire?

“…We’re gaining ground fast on the kind of autonomous, robotic assassins that Terminator envisioned would be deployed by 2029…  It’s the boiling frog analogy all over again, and yet there’s more at play than just militarization or suppressing dissent.

“There’s a philosophical underpinning to this debate over killer robots that we can’t afford to overlook, and that is the government’s expansion of its power to kill the citizenry. Although the government was established to protect the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of the American people, the Deep State has been working hard to strip us of any claims to life and liberty…

“Having claimed the power to kill through the use of militarized police who shoot first and ask questions later, SWAT team raids, no-knock raids, capital punishment, targeted drone attacks, grisly secret experiments on prisoners and unsuspecting communities, weapons of mass destruction, endless wars, etc., the government has come to view ‘we the people’ as collateral damage in its pursuit of absolute power… we are at a dangerous crossroads. Not only are our lives in danger. Our very humanity is at stake.”

Human governments with uncontrolled and unchecked powers are very dangerous.  

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

Railroad Strike Inevitable?

Breitbart wrote on November 23:

“A national freight rail strike is viewed as increasingly inevitable as four rail worker labor unions have rejected a tentative agreement with rail companies… a strike [could] take effect early next month [by December 5 or December 9]… American consumers could be plagued with far-reaching economic turmoil, and Congressional intervention would become increasingly likely…

“Biden and his fellow pro-union Democrats in Congress face a tough political predicament

“Rail companies have estimated that some $2 billion daily would bleed from the American economy during a strike… Railroads haul about 40% of the nation’s freight each year… if a strike drags on for a month some 700,000 jobs would be lost as manufacturers who rely on railroads shut down, prices of nearly everything would increase even more and the economy could be thrust into a recession.

“And although some businesses would try to shift shipments over to trucks, there aren’t nearly enough of them available… 467,000 additional trucks a day would be needed to handle everything railroads deliver. The ability to transport crucial chemicals, packaged food for humans, food for livestock, and retail goods would be greatly undermined as families get ready for Christmas and Hanukkah.”

What Would a Prolonged Railroad Strike Do to Consumers?

PBS and AP wrote on November 22:

“It wouldn’t take long for the effects of a rail strike to trickle through the economy. Many businesses only have a few days’ worth of raw materials and space for finished goods. Makers of food, fuel, cars and chemicals would all feel the squeeze, as would their customers. That’s not to mention the commuters who would be left stranded because many passenger railroads use tracks owned by the freight railroads…

“Chemical manufacturers and refineries will be some of the first businesses affected, because railroads will stop shipping hazardous chemicals about a week before the strike deadline to ensure that no tank cars filled with dangerous liquids wind up stranded… the chlorine that water treatment plants rely on to purify water, which they might only have about a week’s supply of on hand, would become hard to get. It would be hard for manufacturers to make anything out of plastic without the chemicals that are part of the formula.

“Consumers will also pay more for gasoline if refineries shut down either because they can’t get the ingredients they need to make fuel or because railroads aren’t available to haul away byproducts like sulfur…

“About 30 percent of all packaged food in the U.S. is moved by rail… That percentage is much higher for denser, heavier items like cans of soup.

“Some products, like cereal, cooking oils and beer, have entire operations built around rail deliveries of raw ingredients like grain, barley and peanuts, along with shipments of finished products. Those companies typically keep only two to four days’ worth of raw ingredients on hand because it’s expensive to store them… and grocers also keep a limited supply of products on hand… big food companies don’t like to discuss the threat of a rail strike because of worries about product shortages can lead to panic buying…

“Any disruption in rail service could threaten the health of chickens and pigs, which depend on trains to deliver their feed, and contribute to higher meat prices… a rail strike now would hit pork and chicken producers in the southern U.S. hardest, because their local supply of corn and soybeans from this year’s harvest is likely exhausted and they’d have to ship feed by truck, dramatically increasing costs…

“Retailers are also concerned about online orders. Shippers like FedEx and UPS use rail cars that hold roughly 2,000 packages in each car…

“Drivers are already paying record prices and often waiting months for new vehicles because of the production problems in the auto industry related to the shortage of computer chips in recent years. That would only get worse if there is a rail strike, because roughly 75 percent of all new vehicles begin their journey from factories to dealerships on the railroad. Trains deliver some 2,000 carloads a day filled with vehicles.

“And automakers may have a hard time keeping their plants running during a strike because some larger parts and raw materials are transported by rail.”

Should/Will Congress Intervene?

The Prospect wrote on November 23:

“Congress could end talk about strikes and worker lockouts by passing a joint resolution, under the Railway Labor Act of 1926, which is then sent to President Biden’s desk. If he signs, the resolution could force workers to accept the contract approved by the Presidential Emergency Board, the board set up by the president to mediate the dispute. If that happens, it would run counter to Biden’s repeated commitment to being the ‘most pro-union administration in American history.’…

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 led to John Carroll’s order to the National Guard to put down the strike, and Baltimoreans attacked the troops. Street battles between the striking workers and the Maryland militia left 10 dead and 25 wounded. By the end of August 1877, the strike had ended primarily due to federal government intervention, the use of state militias, and the employment of strikebreakers by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company.

Launched on July 1, 1922, by seven of the sixteen railroad labor organizations in existence at the time, the strike continued into the month of August before collapsing. A sweeping judicial injunction by Judge James Herbert Wilkerson effectively brought the strike to an end on September 1, 1922.

The last time US railroads went on strike was in 1992. That strike lasted two days before Congress intervened. The Los Angeles Times reported at that time, on June 26, 1992:

“Congress and the White House moved with rare speed Thursday night to end a crippling two-day nationwide rail shutdown that already had begun to threaten the economy by forcing layoffs at coal mines and auto assembly plants. The House and Senate passed emergency legislation barring strikes and lockouts by large margins…

“Bush signed the legislation early today. Many lawmakers objected strongly that the action was anti-labor, but anxiety about the impact of a prolonged stoppage on the still-fragile economy overrode those concerns.”

All of this poses a no-win situation for the Biden Administration. Please view our new program, “War and the Railroad Strike–Comments on News and Prophecy, November 26, 2022.” 

“Democrats Prepare To Impose A Rail Union Contract That Many Workers Rejected”

The Huffington Post wrote on November 29:

“The party of paid family leave finds itself in a very awkward position.

“Congressional Democrats are moving toward a vote that would override the wishes of unionized rail workers by imposing a new contract with the nation’s major rail carriers. The memberships of four out of twelve rail unions — including the largest — have voted against the proposal sending their leaders back to the bargaining table for a better deal. But top Democrats are planning to force the contract on them through legislation in order to head off a massive rail strike in early December that could hurt the economy.

President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass a bill enforcing the tentative contract… House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) endorsed Biden’s plan… [So did Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)].

“To make things even more awkward for the party, workers have been holding out largely for paid sick days and better quality-of-life provisions in their contracts — issues for which Democrats fashion themselves as champions… Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the omission of paid sick days ‘outrageous’ and suggested he will push for an amendment to the bill providing more leave…”

The New York Post added on November 29:

Rail workers unions blasted President Biden on Monday after he pressed Congress to force the organized labor groups to accept a tentative agreement in order to avert a strike. ‘Joe Biden blew it,’ Railroad Workers Union treasurer Hugh Sawyer said in a press release… ‘He had the opportunity to prove his labor-friendly pedigree to millions of workers by simply asking Congress for legislation to end the threat of a national strike on terms more favorable to workers. Sadly, he could not bring himself to advocate for a lousy handful of sick days. The Democrats and Republicans are both pawns of big business and the corporations,’ Sawyer added…

“The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, the third-largest rail union in the US, said in a statement Tuesday that it was  ‘deeply disappointed’ with Biden’s decision to appeal to Congress to force an agreement…

“Organized labor is one of the Democratic Party’s most loyal constituencies…”

That may not continue for long.

Newsmax added on November 29:

“The National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC) and The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED) apparently have no plans of relenting from its respective bargaining positions… the NRLC and BMWED didn’t share the Biden administration’s optimism for concocting a labor resolution within the next 10 days.

“Congressional legislation regarding a railway strike ‘denies railroad workers their right to strike while also denying them of the benefit they would likely otherwise obtain if they were not denied their right to strike,’ the statement reads. ‘Additionally, passing legislation to adopt tentative agreements that exclude paid sick leave for railroad workers will not address rail service issues. Rather, it will worsen supply chain issues and further sicken, infuriate, and disenfranchise railroad workers as they continue shouldering the burdens of the railroads’ mismanagement.’”

Republicans Against Congressional Intervention

 Breitbart wrote on November 30:

Rubio ripped Biden… stating his belief that the parties should negotiate new terms of the contract without congressional involvement and pledged he would only vote for a deal that union members support. ‘Just because Congress has the authority to impose a heavy-handed solution does not mean we should. It is wrong for the Biden Administration, which has failed to fight for workers, to ask Congress to impose a deal the workers themselves have rejected,’ said the senior senator from Florida…

“Sen. John Thune (R-SD) [the No. 2 Senate Republican] shared the same sentiment that Congress should not intervene, stating the matter is the Biden administration’s ‘responsibility.’ In calling on Congress to impose a contract, Biden, a pro-union Democrat, has effectively disregarded the lingering sick time concerns of union members in fear of substantial economic consequences, which would have further negative impacts on Americans who have already been grappling with inflation not seen for decades.

“Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) called the idea of congressional intervention insane and said he ‘won’t support it.’”

On Thursday, Congress DID intervene, totally ignoring some of the dissenting voices… See the next article.

House and Senate Adopt Bill Coercing Dissenting Railroad Unions

Newsmax reported on December 1:

“The Senate passed a bill to bind rail companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached between the rail companies and union leaders in September. That settlement had been rejected by some of the 12 unions involved, creating the possibility of a strike beginning Dec. 9.

The Senate vote was 80-15. It came one day after the House voted to impose the agreement. The measure now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature…

“The House passed the legislation enacting September’s labor agreement with broad bipartisan support. A second measure adding seven paid sick days for rail workers passed on a mostly party-line vote in the House, but it fell eight votes short of a 60-vote threshold needed for passage in the Senate.”

This move might very well backfire.

Europe Accuses US of Profiting From Ukraine War

Express wrote on November 26:

“Putin’s strategy of using Russia’s gas supplies against the West is starting to sow dissent among NATO as top European officials take aim at Joe Biden, accusing him of ‘profiting from this war’. Multiple high-ranking officials from the bloc have accused the US president of capitalising on the opportunity represented by the invasion and jacking up the price of weapons and gas

“Speaking to Politico, a senior EU official said: ‘The fact is, if you look at it soberly, the country that is most profiting from this war is the US because they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons.’ Another said: ‘We are really at a historic juncture.’ The official added that the combination of trade disruption and high energy prices jeopardises the US’s reputation with countries on the other side of the Atlantic.

“They said: ‘America needs to realise that public opinion is shifting in many EU countries.’ Emmanuel Macron has also accused the US of not being ‘friendly’ in its approach to the EU. The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, meanwhile, called on the US to acknowledge the impact they were having on the European economy…

“However, the US has refused to concede that they are impacting the price of gas in the EU… The EU has turned to the US as an alternative to Russian gas, in order to avoid indirectly funding Putin’s war and giving him leverage over them for the crucial resource. However, Europeans say the price they are facing in the US is nearly four times as high as the same fuel costs in America.

“This row is compounded by a surge in orders for US-made military gear, as the EU’s supply of weapons to Ukraine leaves them running low themselves… [According to the Daily Mail, “… the Americans continue to send more, with the cost of supplying Ukraine to the US now at over $19billion as another $400million was added earlier this week.”]

“Germany’s economy minister called on Washington to show more ‘solidarity’ by reducing their energy costs… An EU diplomat added: ‘It’s not good, in terms of optics, to give the impression that your best ally is actually making huge profits out of your troubles.

“The high gas prices add to existing tensions over Mr Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a huge tax, climate, and healthcare package for the US – but which caused one EU official to question whether Washington was ‘still our ally’. Fears are rising of a transatlantic trade war as a result of the package, which EU officials say put European industries at risk of collapse.

“Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said the IRA is ‘very worrying’, adding: ‘The potential impact on the European economy is very big.’ An official from France’s foreign affairs ministry described the IRA as ‘discriminatory subsidies that will distort competition.’ Tonino Picula, the European Parliament’s lead person on the transatlantic relationship added: ‘The US is following a domestic agenda, which is regrettably protectionist and discriminates against US allies.’”

The Daily Mail added on November 26:

“European nations, now dependent upon the U.S. and its gas supply, say they are fretting over the impacts of the $369 billion green subsidies [mainly for products made in the USA] and what it will look like for them after already being squeezed on gas prices.’…

“The nearly $400 billion subsidy ‘scheme’ introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act incentivizes Americans into buying products that are both U.S. made and energy efficient. The IRA provides tax credits for businesses and individuals who purchase ‘green’ products, including wind turbines and elective vehicles. The credits are mostly available, however, for products made in the United States.

Europeans are getting increasingly upset with America.

Coming Trade War Between USA and EU?

 In regard to a potential trade war, caused by the IRA, The Associated Press wrote on November 25:

“The European Union and the United States are treading precariously close to a major trans-Atlantic trade dispute at a time when the two Western giants want to show unity in the face of challenges from Russia and China. EU trade ministers on Friday insisted they would be forced to respond if Washington stuck to all the terms of its Inflation Reduction Act, which is favorable to local companies through subsidies and, according to the EU, will unfairly discriminate against its firms that want to compete for contracts.

“‘Nobody wants to get into a tit-for-tat or subsidy race. But what the U.S. has done really isn’t consistent with the principles of free trade and fair competition,’ Irish Trade Minister Leo Varadkar said. ‘What we are asking for is fairness. We want and expect European companies and exports to be treated in the same way in the U.S. as American companies and exports are treated in Europe,’ EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

“And beyond the European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the 27 member nations on trade issues, the concerns are largely shared in EU national capitals, too. ‘All the member states are concerned,’ said Czech Trade Minister Jozef Sikela…

“Trade disputes have been a red line for decades in trans-Atlantic relations, highlighted by fights over aircraft subsidies and steel exports and affecting everything from hormone-treated beef to liquor exports…”

When Biden began to occupy the White House, many Europeans thought that the relationship between Europe and America would improve. The opposite has been occurring.

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 30:

“French President Emmanuel Macron is on a state visit to Washington. This week’s visit should mark the end of a quarrel between the two countries…”

Dream on, Deutsche Welle.

Blame America

Politico wrote on November 30:

“It’s gotten cold in Europe, the economy is tanking and the natives are getting restless. There’s only one answer: Blame America. Pointing across the Atlantic has long been a favorite diversionary tactic for Europe’s political elites when things start to get dicey on the Continent. Whether it’s the war in Ukraine (Washington shouldn’t have expanded NATO), natural disasters (too many American SUVs fueling climate change) or the demise of French as a lingua franca (cultureless Hollywood), America is inevitably the culprit.

“… While Europeans are understandably upset that their gas prices are four times what they are in the U.S., no one told them to make themselves dependent on Russian gas or to switch off perfectly functioning nuclear power plants (in fact, Washington told them for years not to)… While American defense contractors stand to benefit from replacing stocks and from stronger demand for arms among NATO allies, so too should their European counterparts. Yet therein lies the rub: European firms should benefit as much as Americans, but don’t. The main reason is that Europe has underinvested in its defense industry...

“The Europeans fear the generous ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ subsidies will undermine their industry and are threatening a trade war. The inconvenient truth, however, is that Europeans are having difficulty getting their own companies to invest at home because governments have placed more emphasis on subsidizing household gas bills than helping the region’s industry weather the crisis… it’s difficult not to conclude that Europe’s blame game is really about something else — envy

“In Germany,  a book titled ‘Ami, It’s Time to Go!’ (Ami is German slang for Americans) has become a bestseller. The author is Oskar Lafontaine, a former finance minister who once led the Social Democrats before breaking with the party. ‘We have to free ourselves from the tutelage of the U.S.A.,’ Lafontaine writes, describing America as the root of most evil and arguing that Europe needs to blaze its own path….”

For more information, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Europe and USA on Collision Course” 

Europe’s Goal in the Ukraine Debacle?

Indian Punchline wrote on November 30:

“The meet-up location of NATO foreign ministers on November 29-30— Bucharest — was where ten years ago, former US President George W. Bush persuaded America’s transatlantic partners that Ukraine and Georgia should one day join their military alliance. The foreign ministers duly ‘reaffirmed’ that decision yesterday and left it at that.

“However, their statement on the conflict in Ukraine emphatically stated that the NATO ‘will never recognise’ Russia’s incorporation of four Ukrainian regions… [But] there are…  growing signs of disunity on [the] Ukraine issue among the US’ European allies and between the latter and the Biden Administration… Macron still hopes to be the western leader to accept President Putin’s surrender terms and go down in history books, but in reality his credibility is in shatters in Europe and Atlanticist circles in particular, and even within France.

“Europe’s number one priority at this juncture… ought to be its strategic autonomy to act in its own interests. But that requires deep thinking as to what is it that Europe wants to be autonomous about…  Europe… is struggling with its demons…

“Russian forces are outnumbering Ukraine’s and Russian fortifications have been significantly strengthened… the narrative of victory in Kiev — that Ukraine is winning the war and is about to capture Crimea, etc. — is becoming unsustainable for much longer… The regime-change-in-Russia propaganda is not going to wither away even under the emerging stark realities of the… ground situation in Ukraine…”

It is difficult to decide whom to believe these days regarding the reports on the war situation in Ukraine.

Western Apathy Is Ukraine’s Deadliest Foe

The Guardian wrote on November 27:

“As blacked-out Moldova warned last week, another huge humanitarian and migrant crisis looms, akin to that of last spring. It will challenge every EU country. Yet as the strain of multiple Ukraine-related problems begins to tell, European support may be faltering at this critical juncture. The war and its atrocities are being normalised and, increasingly, discounted… Nine months in, western public opinion is dulled, deadened and desensitized… People are no longer shocked, nor even greatly surprised. They feel powerless. The majority still wants Ukraine to prevail. But victory is not expected soon… war fatigue teeters towards apathy…

“As the war becomes a familiar fact of daily life, and negative fallout spreads, will public support soften further?… The Ukrainian people are a formidable force. They have shown they can beat their enemies. But should they fear their friends? A weakening of US and European support, leaving Ukraine out in the cold, is perhaps the most dismaying hazard they face. Putin is counting on it.

“Might the peoples of the west, for the sake of a quiet life, really get ‘fed up’ with the war to the point where they are ready to ignore or even tolerate mass murder, war crimes and the evisceration of a sovereign nation as the new normal? It’s democracy’s biggest test. Every day, it gets harder in Ukraine. One thing is certain: it’s going to be a long winter.”

Ultimately, Russia and Ukraine will unite.

US Military Aid in Ukraine Missing

Fox News wrote on November 27:

“President Biden’s administration is scrambling to track the nearly $20 billion in military aid it has sent to Ukraine as Republicans warn of impending audits when they take control of the House in January.

“Kevin McCarthy has said his party will not be giving Ukraine a ‘blank check’ to fend off Russia’s invasion. A potential audit would determine how much, if any, of the U.S. aid is ending up in the wrong hands…

“The Republican push to ramp up oversight enjoys some bipartisan support in Congress… The lawmakers agree that current monitoring efforts appear woefully inadequate, with the Biden administration inspecting just 10% of the 22,000 weapons the U.S. has provided to Ukraine between February and November 1… U.S. allies in Europe have expressed hope that Republican skepticism of Ukraine aid will not lead to a widespread cutting of funding, however…

“‘No one in Republican leadership has called for an end to aid for Ukraine,’  Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said Monday. ‘People on the Republican side are saying, “Why do we have to pass a $40 billion package to send $8 billion to Ukraine?”’”

There have been many concerns that the weapons and the money being sent to Ukraine are ending up in Russian hands.

“Slick Use of Loophole Keeps Russian Oil Flowing Into Britain”

The Times wrote on November 20:

“As Vladimir Putin’s army bombarded Ukrainian soldiers trapped in the Azovstal steelworks in May, the tanker Mariner III pulled out of the south Russian port of Tuapse carrying nearly 200,000 barrels of oil. After five days at sea, the 170m (558ft) ship stopped alongside a bigger tanker, the Greek-owned Marinoula, in the waters off Kalamata, Greece. Over the next 36 hours, the two vessels were connected by large rubber pipes while the Marinoula siphoned off some of the Mariner’s cargo. After the ship-to-ship transfer, the Marinoula sailed to the UK, where it docked at Immingham in Lincolnshire and, on June 6, offloaded about 250,000 barrels of oil.

“Official records, however, declare that the UK received no oil from Russia in June or in July. The shipment was classified and reported correctly under British reporting protocols and there was no breach of maritime rules. The fuel was one of at least 39 cargos of Russian oil, worth more than £200 million, to have arrived at British ports since the invasion of Ukraine but to have been classified as imports from elsewhere. Almost £80 million of this was in June and July. In total, £778 million of Russian oil has arrived at ten UK ports since March…

“One arrived last week. On Wednesday, the 244m Delta Pioneer docked at Immingham, carrying oil directly from Russia. According to Refinitiv data analysed by Global Witness, a research group, the vessel brought half a million barrels of fuel to the port. It is not yet known how the fuel will be classified. Official records show that Russian oil worth about £23 million that has arrived at Immingham since March has been recorded as imports from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

“The Sunday Times has tracked four vessels that have carried more than a million barrels of Russian oil to Immingham. Two of the cargos involved ship-to-ship transfers, while a third brought Russian oil from Rotterdam. At least 13 shipments, including the Marinoula’s, arrived in June and July. The east London port of Thamesport has received £130 million of oil from Russia since March. These were classified as imports from Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands…

“The import of Russian oil to the UK is legal until December 5, when all imports will be barred…  However, maritime experts say the way the UK registers imports, as well as the increased use of ship-to-ship transfers, will make it difficult for the UK to sanction Russian oil… it is the country of dispatch that is used to measure the nationality of an import, not the country where it was produced. This means a cargo of Chinese-made goods could be registered as being from Germany if it were imported to the UK by a German firm…

“British ports accepted more than £78 million of Russian oil in June. These were reported as imports from the Netherlands, Estonia, Poland or Belgium. A further £1.5 million of Russian oil arrived at UK ports in July and was logged as imports from France, the Netherlands, Germany and Latvia…”

Whenever greed and money are involved, “loopholes” are found.

Unchristian England and Wales?

AFP wrote on November 29:

“For the first time, less than half of the population in England and Wales identifies as Christian, according to census data released Tuesday. The 10-yearly census carried out in 2021 showed rapid growth for the Muslim population, but ‘no religion’ was the second most common response after Christian, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

“In an increasingly secular age, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said it was no ‘great surprise’ that the Christian proportion was declining over time…

“Some 27.5 million people or 46.2 percent in England and Wales described themselves as Christian, down 13.1 percentage points from 2011. ‘No religion’ rose by 12 points to 37.2 percent or 22.2 million, while Muslims stood at 3.9 million or 6.5 percent of the population, up from 4.9 percent before.

“The next most common responses were Hindu (1.0 million) and Sikh 524,000), while Buddhists overtook Jewish people (273,000 to 271,000)…”

Christianity Today had written on December 23, 2016:

“The last 18 months may have significantly dented the UK’s faith in God, a poll for The Times indicates. The proportion of people who say they believe in God has dropped four points from 32 per [cent] in February last year to 28 per cent now… Meanwhile those saying they actively do not believe in any form of God or higher power has gone up five points…

Express had written on October 16, 2012:

“Nearly 60 per cent of people believe we are not alone in the universe and that alien life-forms exist, a new poll has found. While a report carried out by the University of Chicago claims that just 37 per cent of us believe in God.”

There could be, of course, a link between denying the existence of God and believing in the ungodly theory of evolution and the existence of aliens.

UK’s Army “Overstretched”

Express wrote on November 30:

“[Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak has been accused of ‘completely’ underestimating the global threats facing the UK, as Britain embarks on ‘swathing’ cuts to the army. Chair of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood told Express.co.uk that the world has ‘moved into a dangerous era’, warning that the British army is ‘overstretched’.

“Mr Ellwood has urged Mr Sunak to commit to spending three percent of GDP on defence, one percent more than the UK currently spends… ‘We need to see those swathing cuts which were outlined in the last defence review reversed. Cuts to our tanks, ships and planes, as well as our troop numbers… “

Merkel in Defiance

The Guardian wrote on November 25:

“Angela Merkel has insisted that her position as a lame duck in the last months of her time in office made it more or less impossible for her to influence the behaviour of Vladimir Putin. The former German chancellor appeared both defensive and quietly defiant about her inability to change the course of the Russian president’s decision-making in the run-up to the invasion of Ukraine in February…

“‘I no longer had the power to push my ideas through because everyone knew “she’ll be gone by autumn”’ she said [during an interview with Der Spiegel], describing how she had tried to establish a round of European talks after a meeting in the summer of 2021 between the US president, Joe Biden, and Putin. ‘Had I been standing again in the September I’d have kept drilling down, but … at my final meeting in Moscow [with Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov], the feeling was clear: from a political power point of view, you’re finished. For Putin it is only power that counts.’

“In her interviews with Alexander Osang, which took place over a period of a year and in various locations, Merkel insisted that her stance on the Minsk agreement – which brought a ceasefire after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula – had been right. Key points of the Minsk peace talks, including disarmament and supervision by an international body, were never followed through. But Merkel said the agreement had nevertheless helped buy Kyiv time to arm itself better against the Russian military.

“According to Osang, she repeatedly implied that she felt misunderstood over what she had tried to achieve as German leader, facing as she now does a barrage of accusations over some of her choices, such as her decision to block Ukraine’s admission to Nato in Bucharest in 2008, seen by many as having harmed its ability to defend itself. Her refusal to acknowledge her mistakes in allowing Germany to become ever more dependent on Russian gas supplies is another major criticism.

“Merkel also appeared to be loosely comparing her behaviour to that of Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister associated with the flawed policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler by allowing him to expand the territory of Nazi Germany in the 1930s…

“Merkel added it was unfair to suggest she had not paid Ukraine enough attention in 2013 and 2014…

“Among the anecdotes she relays in a wide-ranging interview in which she is reflective and sometimes gloomy about her time in office, are encounters with the Queen – though Merkel said she was never able to establish what the British monarch thought about Brexit – and a G7 meeting with Boris Johnson, who she said had been attempting to undermine the Northern Ireland protocol…

“She had also watched the Queen’s funeral on television, and taken an interest in many of the guests she had recognised, including Tony Blair, whom Osang said she referred to as a ‘great political talent who had lost his reputation’ over the Iraq war…

“Merkel said she had no regrets about not standing for office again, after 16 years at the helm. ‘Somebody new was needed. Domestically it was high time and from a foreign policy perspective… (there were) so many things we tried again and again, but were not moving a millimetre on. Not just over Ukraine, but also Transnistria, Moldova, Georgia, Abkhazia, Syria and Libya. It was time for a new approach.’

“She said she sometimes woke in the night and worried about many of the dramatic events taking place in the world. ‘I think about… how the horror disappears as the eye witnesses die. And the spirit of reconciliation also disappears.’”

Germany’s “new approach” can be seen in its current government—arguably the most incompetent government Germany has ever had since World War II. And Merkel’s wrong appeasement policies over many years towards Russia and Germany’s dependency on Russian oil can by no means be ignored.

Ben-Gvir to Be Head of Police

JTA wrote on November 25:

“Itamar Ben-Gvir… will head Israel’s police forces, under the terms of a deal inked with Benjamin Netanyahu early Friday.

“The deal would expand the ministry of internal security… into the ministry of national security and would also give Ben-Gvir authority over border police in Palestinian territories...

“In the role, Ben-Gvir will have the power to carry out some of his long-held wishes, including loosening rules so that officers can open fire on Palestinians who throw stones and expanding the ability of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, the Jerusalem site that is home to the Al-Aqsa mosque.

“Ben-Gvir… has ignited conflict by accompanying Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, where Jewish prayer has been strictly limited… Twice convicted of incitement in Israeli courts, Ben-Gvir has also called for annexing large parts of the West Bank and for deporting Arabs who are not loyal to Israel… The Biden administration is considering refusing to meet with Ben-Gvir…

“Netanyahu is still working to finalize an agreement with Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionist party. Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to give Smotrich authority over Israel’s administration of the West Bank…”

This will undoubtedly lead to more friction between Israel and the USA and most other countries, especially Europe.  

Ethiopia in the News

USA Today wrote on November 25:

“Tigray, Eritrea and Ethiopia’s 2-year-long civil war has killed more people than the war in Ukraine, yet nobody’s talking about it… An estimated 383,000 civilians died in Tigray between November 2020 and August 2022…

“Ethiopia is the oldest state in sub-Saharan Africa and the only state in Africa that has never been colonized. It has more than 2,000 years of history. It is where the oldest biblical texts have been found. Various forms of Pentecostal Christianity are widely followed in Ethiopia, including by [Prime Minister Abiy] Ahmed, who uses religious terminology in his speeches to explain his own power. He claims he has a divine mandate…”

FP wrote on June 18, 2022 about Ahmed:

“An ancient Christian imperialism is resurging in Ethiopia today under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. This archaic vision promises to unify Ethiopia and restore its divine glory. But it appears to be shattering Ethiopia and fueling catastrophic suffering.

“Its core belief is that Ethiopia is a Christian nation created and destined by God for greatness under Christian leadership. Today it is supercharging enmity and silencing critical voices calling for the end of war, genuine dialogue, and an inclusive Ethiopia where diverse people can belong together…

“Abiy became Ethiopia’s first Evangelical prime minister. His father was Muslim, his mother Orthodox, and Abiy himself converted to Pentecostalism in his 20s. (In Ethiopia, Protestantism, Evangelicalism, and Pentecostalism are overlapping Christianities.) Abiy was ecstatically hailed by many Ethiopians—especially Evangelicals—as a messiah, as a new ‘Moses’ or ‘King David’ who would save Ethiopia from disintegration.

“In an early speech, Abiy announced himself as Ethiopia’s ‘seventh king,’ a reference to his Orthodox mother’s prophecy over him as a child. This self-presentation powerfully evoked the ancient history of Ethiopia’s Christian imperialism and the promise of Ethiopia’s restored greatness…”

Ethiopia should be watched.

Xi and Kim and Miguel to Work Together?

Thomson/Reuters wrote on November 25:

“Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that China would be willing to work together with North Korea for regional and global peace, stability and prosperity, North Korea’s state media KCNA reported on Saturday, citing Xi’s letter to Kim.

“KCNA did not mention North Korea’s recent missile launches that have heightened tensions around the Korean peninsula following joint military drills between South Korea and the United States.”

The Associated Press reported on November 25:

“Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Cuban counterpart [Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez] pledged mutual support over their fellow communist states’ ‘core interests’…  China generally defines core interests as the defense of its economic and political development aims, along with control over territory it claims, especially self-governing Taiwan.”

Newsmax wrote on November 27:

“China has agreed to restructure Cuban debt and provide new trade and investment credits to the beleaguered Caribbean Island nation after a meeting in Peking between the two Communist countries’ leaders…

“Chinese trade and investment has slowed in recent years due to Cuba’s failure to meet restructured debt payments… Analysts estimate the debt in the billions of dollars, although no official figures are available. Cuba last reported its foreign debt in 2019 at $19.6 billion.

China is Cuba’s most important commercial partner after Venezuela, though trade has declined from over $2 billion in 2017 to $1.3 billion last year, according to the Cuban government.”

Unprecedented Protests in China

The Daily Mail wrote on November 27:

“Chinese police have clashed with thousands protesting the country’s draconian COVID lockdowns – as unprecedented civil unrest gripped the nation. Demonstrations erupted in at least seven cities – including Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou – with violence breaking out between local cops and furious protesters. The largest demonstration appeared in Shanghai – home to 26million residents – with many boldly demanding President Xi Jinping resign. Officers used pepper spray against about 300 protesters, according to a witness, but western journalists reported the numbers to be in the thousands.

“Meanwhile last night hundreds gathered to mourn the deaths of at least 10 people in an apartment fire last week in Urumqi in the Xinjiang region, where residents were sealed in their buildings to try to stop the spread of COVID. It comes amid China launching another mass crackdown on the virus with crippling lockdowns put in place across the country, nearly three years after the pandemic started there…

“Public fury forced authorities in the far western Xinjiang region to open up parts of the capital Urumqi, which has been subject to a punishing ‘zero-Covid’ lockdown for more than three months…

“President Xi Jinping´s government faces mounting anger at its ‘zero-COVID’ policy that has shut down access to areas throughout China in an attempt to isolate every case… the ruling Communist Party faces growing complaints about the economic and human cost as businesses close and families are isolated for weeks with limited access to food and medicine…

“Internet users posted videos and accounts on Chinese and foreign social media showing protests in Shanghai, Nanjing, Chengdu and Chongqing in the southwest and Urumqi and Korla in Xinjiang… Posts on Chinese social media were quickly deleted, which Beijing often does to suppress criticism it worries might serve as a rallying point for opposition to one-party rule…

“The unprecedented protests, and anger online, are the latest signs of frustration at China’s approach to tackling Covid. It is the only major country still fighting the pandemic with mass testing and lockdowns…”

But other countries are still imposing massive restrictions in their alleged “fight” against Covid, and it may be only a matter of time until similar protests (and worse) will break out in those countries.

Demonstrations in Iran

Express wrote on November 27:

“… demonstrations have challenged Iran’s government following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 having been detained by the country’s morality police.

“The protests have seen at least 450 people killed since they started, as well as over 18,000 arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran…”

Iran’s powerful dictatorial government could find itself in hot water, as demonstrations and disagreement grow in the country.

Ties Between Russia and India Deepen

Express wrote on November 26:

“Russia has unveiled a new plan to boost the energy efficiency of Russian-built nuclear reactors in India… Despite Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February this year, New Delhi and Moscow have been deepening their energy ties, much to the West’s chagrin…. According to Hindustan Times, despite the war in Ukraine, Moscow has continued supplying vital components to build the 1000-MW nuclear reactors…

“India and Russia’s partnership on nuclear energy has a long history, with the Soviet Union first supplying New Delhi with nuclear reactors and fuel after it was hit with sanctions from the West for its refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.”

Far Eastern countries like Russia, China, India and others will ultimately be part of the biblical “kings of the East.”

Belarus Foreign Minister Dies Suddenly

The Daily Mail wrote on November 26:

“The foreign minister of Russian ally Belarus died suddenly today at the age of 64, it was announced in Minsk. Vladimir Makei was seen as the only main channel of communication to the West in dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s hardline pro-Moscow regime. His sudden death came the day after he met with the Pope’s envoy Ante Jozić amid speculation they were discussing a secret peace plan over the war in Ukraine.

“Career spy Makei had been foreign minister for a decade and was due tomorrow and Monday to host Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Minsk.  Lavrov’s spokeswoman said Russia was ‘shocked’ at his passing. No cause of death was given – but several sources speculated that his demise could be suspicious…The pro-war Russian Telegram channel Mardan posted: ‘Strange death. Just in time. Just yesterday he discussed a peace plan with the envoy of the Pope.’ Narrative channel said: ‘Makei was Lukashenko’s main channel of communication with the West. ‘A career intelligence officer, Makei was closely associated with Austrian intelligence and the Austrian elites…’

“HVS channel said Makei was a politician ‘in whose natural death one can never believe’… While Lukashenko is Putin’s closest international ally, the Kremlin has remained concerned that Belarus has failed to fully sign up to his war in Ukraine – even though Moscow has troops stationed in Belarus. There were also concerns that Lukashenko – despite being a pariah – was seeking to do a secret deal with the West…

“The Belarus Foreign Ministry did not recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk ‘people’s republics’ – sparking anger in Moscow…”

Suspicious indeed.

Turkey Threatens US Security in Syria

Newsmax wrote on November 25:

“Turkey earlier this week launched drone, air and artillery strikes on Syria and has vowed revenge on U.S.-allied Kurds for a Nov. 13 terror attack in Istanbul, a move that could lead to the release of thousands of imprisoned Islamic State terrorists

“The United States has allied with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against Islamic State group in Syria, causing a deep rift with Turkey. SDF is led by the Syrian People’s Protection Units (YPG). Thousands of Islamic State terrorists from more than 50 countries have been incarcerated by Syrian Kurdish Forces…

“The White House told Axios the escalation in Syria ‘and along the Turkish-Syrian border in recent days is dangerous and a threat to the safety of civilians and U.S. personnel in Syria.’ ‘We strongly oppose military action that further destabilizes the lives of communities in Syria and risks the Global Coalition’s hard-earned progress against ISIS,’ the White House National Security Council spokesperson added. The U.S. still has around 900 troops in Syria.”

The rift between Turkey and the USA will deepen.

US Government Still Hides Information Regarding JFK’s Assassination

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on November 25:

“Fifty-nine years ago this week, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. These many years later, the United States government continues to hold in secret piles of information related to the assassination.

“After the popular theatrical run of director Oliver Stone’s movie JFK that dramatically challenged the Lee Harvey Oswald as ‘lone gunman’ explanation for Kennedy’s assassination, the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 became law. It created the Assassination Records Review Board tasked with reviewing and releasing records held by the US government related to the assassination. While some US government records have since been released, others remain hidden away.

“On December 15, the remaining Kennedy assassination records are scheduled for release. But, don’t get your hopes up. Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF) President and Kennedy assassination researcher Jacob G. Hornberger predicts in an October 21 FFF article that President Joe Biden will, like President Donald Trump did in 2017 when the deadline for release of the final materials first occurred, refuse to let the public see all the information. Indeed, Biden already did so once in 2021 when the secrecy extension period Trump had set for the remaining records passed…

“Legal scholar Andrew Napolitano, who has known Trump since before Trump’s 2016 presidential run, provides some insight on Trump’s change of mind regarding the release of the still secret Kennedy assassination records in a Tuesday video conversation with Gerald Celente of the Trends Journal. Napolitano, who is an Advisory Board member for the Ron Paul Institute and was a state trial judge in New Jersey, discusses a late December of 2000 phone conversation he had with Trump in which Trump not releasing the records during his presidential term was discussed. Napolitano relates that Trump, who was then finishing up his presidential term, told Napolitano, ‘Judge, if you saw what I saw, you would know why I can’t release them.’ Queried then by Napolitano concerning what Trump was talking about, Napolitano relates Trump said he could not tell Napolitano over the phone but could tell Napolitano next time they meet in person — something that is yet to happen.

“Napolitano, in the video conversation, speculates regarding why Trump changed his mind regarding releasing the Kennedy assassination records, stating, ‘… Whatever it was it was proof of more people involved than Lee Harvey Oswaldpeople in the government, and he didn’t want to reveal it even though many of those people are themselves now dead… I think they scared him or threatened him,’ further states Napolitano…”

If those documents are not released on December 15, then we know that something really troublesome has been going on all these years.

Dropping Charges Against Assange?

The New York Times wrote on November 28:

“The New York Times and four European news organizations called on the United States government on Monday to drop its charges against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, for obtaining and publishing classified diplomatic and military secrets.

“In a joint open letter,  The Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País said the prosecution of Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act ‘sets a dangerous precedent’ that threatened to undermine the First Amendment and the freedom of the press. ‘Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists,’ the letter said. ‘If that work is criminalized, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker.’

“Mr. Assange, who has been fighting extradition from Britain since his arrest there in 2019, is also accused of participating in a hacking-related conspiracy. The letter notably did not urge the Justice Department to drop that aspect of the case, though it said that ‘some of us are concerned’ about it, too…”

Fauci’s Memory “Vanished”

The New York Post wrote on November 25:

“A federal judge compelled Fauci to answer questions from lawyers suing to reveal the role of ‘dozens of federal officials across at least 11 federal agencies’ to suppress ‘disfavored speakers, viewpoints and content on social-media platforms.’ That lawsuit is exposing how Biden’s war on disinformation is demolishing Americans’ freedom of speech.

“Fauci was deposed on Wednesday by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. Landry labeled Fauci the ‘man who single-handedly wrecked the US economy based upon “the science, follow the science.’” But ‘over the course of seven hours, we discovered that he can’t recall practically anything dealing with his COVID response,’ Landry said…”

Telling. Fauci should be held accountable for all the harm he has caused. But will that ever happen in man’s political “justice” system?

Trudeau Defends His Controversial Dictatorship

Fox News wrote on November 26:

“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said he is convinced he ‘made the right choice’ in invoking historic emergency powers earlier this year to shut down the Freedom Convoy protests against Canada’s COVID-19 mandates. Trudeau defended his actions in testimony before a commission tasked with investigating his use of the Emergencies Act to end the trucker protest…

“Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canada’s history during February’s Freedom Convoy protest in the capital city of Ottawa. In doing so, he granted the federal government temporary powers to quell truckers and others protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic-related restrictions and freeze the bank accounts of those suspected of supporting the convoy. The emergency powers were lifted on Feb. 23.

“Trudeau’s actions were highly controversial, and civil liberties advocates questioned whether the circumstances of the protest necessitated his extreme response. Lawyers for the convoy and others said that Trudeau had ignored a plan prepared by Ottawa police and argued that the emergency powers were unnecessary to end the protest…

“Additional testimony and documents obtained by the inquiry revealed that U.S. officials had pressured the Canadian government to shut down the protests and remove blockades at border crossings between the U.S. and Canada… White House aides had reportedly contacted Trudeau’s staff as well, ahead of a Feb. 11 phone call that took place between the prime minister and President Biden.  On that call, Trudeau reportedly informed the president that his government had a plan to end the protests and blockades.”

Shameful… but not surprisingly, Biden and his aides were apparently instrumental in Trudeau’s dictatorial action to suppress liberties and freedoms.

Deadly Walmart Shooting

Fox News wrote on November 25:

“… a Walmart employee killed six people inside a Chesapeake, Virginia store, wounded several others and taking his own life… In a manifesto, Bing allegedly claimed he ‘was harassed by idiots with low intelligence and a lack of wisdom.’… He legally purchased the 9mm handgun used in the shooting from a local store that morning and had no criminal history, police said Friday.”

It appears that demons become increasingly influential in the lives of people.

Earthquake in Indonesia

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 27:

“The death toll from the earthquake that struck Indonesia’s main island of Java this week has risen to 321 as rescuers found more bodies… The 5.6-magnitude quake struck the highly populated Cianjur region of West Java province on Monday. It damaged more than 62,000 houses and displaced more than 73,000 residents

“While the magnitude of the earthquake itself would typically be expected to cause light damage, experts say proximity to fault lines, the shallowness of the quake, and inadequate infrastructure that cannot withstand earthquakes all contributed to extensive damage.

“Experts monitoring seismic activity said that 284 aftershocks with gradually lessening intensity have occurred since the main quake struck on Monday.”

Christ warned that in these end times, we will be hearing more and more about earthquakes “in various places” (Matthew 24:7).

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

The “Scandal of the Ages”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on November 18:

“The lords of lockdown barely escaped their worst possible fate, namely that the topic would become the national and international source of scandal that it should be. And let’s add the vaccine mandates here too: even if such had been morally justified, which they were not, there is absolutely no practical reason for them at all. To have imposed both of these within the course of one year – with zero evidence that they achieved anything for public health and vast amounts of unfolding evidence that they ruined life quality for countless millions – qualifies as a scandal for the ages. It was in the US but also in nearly every country in the world but a few.

“Might that have huge political implications? One would suppose so. And yet today it appears that truth and justice are further off than ever. The most passionate of the anti-lockdown governors – those who never locked down or opened earlier than the rest of the country – won on their record. Most of the rest joined the entire political establishment in pretending that all of this is a non-issue. Tragically, this tactic seems to have worked better than it should have….

“The US government, through the Transportation Safety Administration, has signed yet another order extending the ban on unvaccinated international visitors until January 8, 2023. This means that no person who has managed to refuse the shot is allowed to come to the US for any reason. This is 30% of the world’s population, banned even to enter the US on their own dime. Something like this would have been inconceivably illiberal three years ago, and been a source of enormous controversy and outrage. Today, the extension hardly made the news.

“The Biden administration has once again extended the Covid emergency declaration another 90 days, which continues to grant government vast powers without Congressional approval. Under a state of emergency, the Constitutional structure of the US is effectively suspended and the country remains on a wartime footing. This announcement was not controversial, and, like the above, it barely made the news.

“Many colleges and universities, and also other schools and public agencies, continue to enforce the vaccine mandate even without any solid science… given that most people have long ago been exposed and acquired natural immunity, and, moreover, it is very well established that the shots do not protect anyone from infection nor stop transmission. They just keep doing this anyway.

“Masking is not in disrepute because we never really obtained anything like an honest admission of their failure to control the spread. Even today, there is a percentage of people out there permanently traumatized. On travels, I’m seeing perhaps 10-20% but in some Northeastern cities, regular wearing of masks is also very common. Once they became a symbol of political compliance and virtue, that sealed the deal and the culture was changed. Now we face the threat of mask mandates whenever government deems it necessary because the Transportation Safety Authority has been given the go-ahead by the courts…”

And as the midterm elections have shown, a vast portion of American voters behave like indifferent and willfully ignorant sleepwalkers.

Fauci’s Farwell Debacle

The Daily Mail wrote on November 22:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci made his final appearance in the White House briefing room on Tuesday, triggering chaotic scenes as reporters bombarded him with questions about the origins of COVID-19…  He used the occasion to hammer home a public health message, urging viewers to get the latest booster… And he suggested it was a good idea to get tested before sitting down with relatives for Thanksgiving...

“But when the briefing was turned over to questions, he faced a barrage of queries about some of the hot button… issues raised by the pandemic.

“What he had done to investigate the origins of the pandemic? Did he think gain-of-function experiments – making viruses more dangerous to test the impact of variations – were safe? And was it appropriate to fund EcoHealth Alliance, which used its money for coronavirus research in China, putting it at the heart of conspiracy theories about the emergence of COVID-19….”

So White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stepped in to shut down the questions which she was obviously unwilling to have answered, reflecting the policy of the White House to simply ignore or block questions which could become uncomfortable for the Biden Administration. (Biden refused to discuss the matter with Chinese President Xi during their last meeting). But this renewed attempt to attack the free press backfired, as the next article points out.

The White House’s Attack on Free Press  

Fox News wrote on November 23:

“White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced renewed backlash from reporters and Twitter users alike after yelling at the press pool during Tuesday’s conference. After outgoing White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke about the administration’s vaccine efforts, Daily Caller White House correspondent Diana Glebova attempted to ask a question regarding investigations into the origin of the coronavirus. Instead of answering, Jean-Pierre rebuked Glebova for being ‘disrespectful.’… Other reporters defended Glebova’s questions which led to Jean-Pierre continuing to yell that she was ‘done’ answering their questions…

“Social media users quickly condemned Jean-Pierre’s behavior as ‘unprofessional’ and an attack on the press. Political commentator Dave Rubin remarked, ‘What a condescending, smug, absolute embarrassment KJP is…’ The Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller joked, ‘An incredible display of threatening anti-journalism. This is dangerous. This is a vile threat to the very foundations of which our free press democracy is based upon. A free press that is allowed to question our government is a sacred virtue for which our Republic must safe guard.’…

“‘[Questions] about Covid origins are legitimate and every reporter [should] be asking them. This reaction from the [White House] is really weird,’ Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebecca Heinrichs wrote. Barstool Sports blogger Jack McGuire tweeted, ‘Why [does] she think she’s a 3rd grade teacher?’ ‘She’s utterly losing control of the press corps because the WH consistently spends an inordinate amount of time taking questions from the same 12 corporate reporters, day in and day out. It’s shameful…’

Glebova herself commented on the exchange from her Twitter account. ‘I attempted to ask Fauci several times on what he personally did to demand answers into the origins of COVID-19. I always come with honest answers that Americans want to know. That’s why the White House refuses to call on me, and then calls ME ‘disrespectful,’ Glebova tweeted….”

Further willful suppression of the Truth is pointed out in the next article.

USA Willing Again to Suppress the Truth About Saudi Arabia

The Associated Press reported on November 18:

“The Biden administration says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s high office should shield him from a lawsuit over his role in the killing of a U.S.-based journalist, making a turnaround from Joe Biden’s passionate campaign trail denunciations of the prince over the brutal slaying.

“The administration spoke out in support of a claim of legal immunity from Prince Mohammed — Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who also recently took the title of prime minister — against a suit brought by the fiancée of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and by the rights group Khashoggi founded, Democracy for the Arab World Now. ‘Jamal died again today,’ Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted after the U.S. filing late Thursday in her lawsuit.

“The U.S. government’s finding of immunity for the Prince Mohammed, sometimes known as MBS, is non-binding, and a judge will ultimately decide whether to grant immunity. But it angered rights activists and risked blowback from Democratic lawmakers. The U.S move came as Saudi Arabia has stepped up imprisonment and other retaliation against peaceful critics at home and abroad and has cut oil production, a move seen as undercutting efforts by the U.S. and its allies to punish Russia for its war against Ukraine…

“Saudi officials killed Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. They are believed to have dismembered him, although his remains have never been found. The U.S. intelligence community concluded Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had approved the killing of the widely known and respected journalist, who had written critically of Prince Mohammed’s harsh ways of silencing of those he considered rivals or critics…

“Biden as a Democratic presidential candidate vowed to make a ‘pariah’ out of Saudi rulers over the 2018 killing of Khashoggi… The U.S. military long has safeguarded Saudi Arabia from external enemies, in exchange for Saudi Arabia keeping global oil markets afloat.”

Despicable political actions, broken promises and lies galore! This will only end with the righteous government on Christ here on earth.

Boris Johnson Accuses Germany, France and Italy over Ukraine Debacle

Novinite wrote on November 23:

France was ‘in denial’ about the prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine [‘until the last moment’], former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told CNN. He also accused the German government of initially preferring a quick Ukrainian military defeat to a protracted conflict… ‘This thing was a huge shock … we could see the Russian battalion tactical groups coming together, but different countries had very different points of view,’ Johnson said.

“The German view at one stage was that if this happened, which would be a disaster, then it would be better if the whole thing were over quickly and Ukraine collapsed,’ Johnson said. He said that behind the German position were ‘all kinds of reasonable economic justifications’. ‘I couldn’t support that, I thought it was a catastrophic way to look at things…’

“Johnson also criticized Italy’s initial response to the threat of invasion. At the time, the government led by Mario Draghi ‘at one stage simply said that they would not be able to support the position that we are taking’ given their ‘enormous’ dependence on Russian hydrocarbons,’ Johnson said….”

The Ukrainian Disaster

The Washington Post wrote on November 23:

“After just six weeks of intense bombing of energy infrastructure, Russia has battered Ukraine to the brink of a humanitarian disaster this winter as millions of people potentially face life-threatening conditions without electricity, heat or running water. As the scope of damage to Ukraine’s energy systems has come into focus in recent days, Ukrainian and Western officials have begun sounding the alarm but are also realizing they have limited recourse. Ukraine’s Soviet-era power system cannot be fixed quickly or easily. In some of the worst-hit cities, there is little officials can do other than to urge residents to flee — raising the risk of economic collapse in Ukraine and a spillover refugee crisis in neighboring European countries… Already, snow has fallen across much of Ukraine and temperatures are dipping below freezing in many parts of the country…

“On Wednesday, Russia pounded Ukraine with another barrage of missiles, striking energy infrastructure and residential areas across the country… and setting off blackouts in much of the country… Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, in a statement, said the bombing left the ‘great majority of consumers without power.’… Even before Wednesday’s attacks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that about half of the country’s energy infrastructure was ‘out of order’ following the bombardment…”

The war is far from over, and the “defeat” of Russia is highly exaggerated.

North Korea Launches Missile Which Could Strike the USA

ABC News wrote on November 18:

“North Korea has fired one of the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles it has ever launched with the latest having the potential… to strike the mainland of the United States. North Korea, which has launched at least 88 ballistic and other missiles this year, fired an ICBM that could travel 9,300 miles or longer, putting the U.S. mainland within its range

“Both the militaries of the United States and South Korea militaries are analyzing the data, but North Korea’s latest launch — and its second this month — involved a missile that covered a distance of 620 miles…”

North Korea remains to be a powerful dangerous adversary of the USA.

Israel to Legalize Towns in Judea and Samaria

Israel 365 wrote on November 18:

“As part of their coalition negotiations, Likud head Benjamin Netanyahu and Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben Gvir agreed on Wednesday to initiate several legal initiatives that would legalize dozens of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. The towns included in the agreement are those classified as ‘young settlements’ and were established without government authorization…

“Nearby Arab towns threatened violence targeting Jews who attempted to reestablish the communities. ‘We don’t care what was agreed, the people of our town will resist the settlers’ presence,’ Dr. Hutifa Badir from Beita, a village near Shechem and Evyatar, told the BBC. ‘We arm ourselves with the blood of martyrs and the wounded. We’re committed to our land, and we will not give up on it whatever the cost.’”

This could indeed result in further bloodshed and continuing alienation between the USA and Israel.

Incredible—Mitch McConnell Reelected as Republican Senate Speaker!

Breitbart wrote on November 18:

“Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) should have resigned after his party failed to win the Senate last week… McConnell offered no reason to maintain his grip on his caucus, no agenda other than working together with Democrats… Democrats want radical changes to the American way of life, and the only thing stopping them is that they are still at least one vote short of the margin needed to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate.

“McConnell was also strangely passive during the 2022 campaign. He offered no vision to inspire Republican voters, nor did he warn voters about Biden’s judicial appointees. He cast scorn on candidates backed by Donald Trump and spent millions to help Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) against GOP nominee Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska, despite the certainty that the state would be represented by a Republican, and the need for cash in other races.

“He took pride in his margin of victory, winning an internal caucus election 37 to 10, with one abstention. But to the Republican base, the fact that McConnell will keep his post despite a disappointing election is a reminder that the party establishment views its voters with contempt. In a caucus rich with young, interesting, diverse leaders, McConnell’s continued dominance makes no sense…

“McConnell will be remembered by history for his role in saving the Supreme Court from falling under left-wing control, which would have resulted in the erasure of our Constitution by judicial fiat. Beyond that, he has little to offer. Those who worry that Trump alienates moderate voters should also consider that McConnell and the establishment he represents alienate the core Republican constituency. It is long past time for him to go.”

It is mindboggling and beyond comprehension that McConnell would have been reelected as the Republican Senate Speaker, given his terrible track record. At least Pelosi is stepping down as Speaker of House Democrats, but whether her successor will be so much better will have to be seen. Little, if anything should be expected from the Republicans or Democrats in the House and the Senate—except perhaps some “compromise” in areas which will erode and do away with America’s liberties and freedoms even more.

McCarthy to Block Certain Democrats from Committees

Fox News reported on November 21:

“McCarthy, the Republican designee for the next House speaker, told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that when his party takes control of the House in January, it will make good on a long-held promise to bar Omar, Schiff and Swalwell from committees. The GOP leader said that Swalwell’s prior association with a Chinese spy, Schiff’s promotion of Russia collusion theories and Omar’s criticism of Israel were disqualifying.

“‘One thing I said from the very beginning, Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector,’ said McCarthy. ‘Why would we ever give him a security clearance and the secrets to America? So, I will not allow him to be on’ the House Intelligence Committee. ‘You have Adam Schiff, who lied to the American public time and again – we will not allow him to be on the [Intelligence] Committee either,’ McCarthy added. ‘Look at Congresswoman Omar, her antisemitic comments that have gone forward. We’re not going to allow her to be on Foreign Affairs.’”

It would be more than overdue.

Special Counsel Named to “Investigate” Trump

The Associated Press reported on November 18:

“Attorney General Merrick Garland [a Democrat who was appointed by Biden] named a special counsel on Friday to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6 insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election. The move, which is being announced just three days after Trump announced his 2024 candidacy, is a recognition of the unmistakable political implications of two investigations that involve not only a former president but also a current White House hopeful.

“… the special counsel will still report to Garland, who has ultimate say of whether to bring charges.”

Breitbart wrote on November 18:

“Garland named John L. Smith as special counsel Friday afternoon in a televised press statement…  Smith is the Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division at U.S. Department of Justice — one of the most highly politicized, left-wing departments within the agency.”

Fox News wrote on November 18:

“Senator Ted Cruz called the timing of the special counsel’s appointment problematic given that Trump had just announced his third run for the White House… ‘This is Trump derangement syndrome but this time with a gun and badge…’

Andy Biggs… similarly said that the DOJ appeared to be more ‘politicized and weaponized’ than at any point in American history. Some, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene... even said that Republicans should use their newly won control of the U.S. House of Representatives to cut off funding for the investigation next Congress… [A demand later echoed by Fox News moderator Laura Ingraham on her TV program.]

“Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, seen as a potential 2024 contender, said the special counsel appointment is ‘not good news’ for the country. The House Judiciary Committee Republicans tweeted from their account Friday, casting doubt on Smith’s ability to remain impartial in his conduct of the investigation. ‘Jack Smith and his buddies have been politicizing Washington for AGES. And he’s who AG Garland picked to be the special counsel to “investigate” President Trump? Come on,’ the tweet states…

“[Trump said] he ‘won’t partake in it’ and calling it ‘the worst politicization of justice in our country,’ while urging the Republican Party to take action… ‘They found nothing, and now they take some guy who hates Trump. This is a disgrace…’

“Trump, like many congressional Republicans, slammed the Justice Department for bias and politicization, pointing to the federal investigation into President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden [Garland has so far refused to appoint a special counsel in the Hunter Biden case.] ‘Hunter Biden is a criminal many times over and nothing happens to him,’ Trump said. ‘Joe Biden is a criminal many times over — and nothing happens to them.’…

“A Trump spokesperson said Friday that ‘this is a totally expected political stunt by a feckless, politicized, weaponized Biden Department of Justice.’’

Newsmax wrote on November 18:

“Legal experts rallied to Donald Trump’s defense Friday in criticizing Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of former federal attorney Jack Smith as special counsel to head the Department of Justice’s investigations of the former president… ‘

“‘Jack Smith is well-known and liked in leftist circles because of his role in the IRS scandal, working with Lois Lerner to illicitly target conservative groups,’ tweeted Mike Howell, head of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and former attorney for the House Oversight Committee…

“Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, which advocates for constitutionalist judges, and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, tweeted, ‘By appointing a special counsel to investigate his boss’s political enemy, Attorney General Merrick Garland continues to politicize and weaponize the Biden Justice Department — all while Garland ignores smoking-gun evidence of Biden’s foreign corruption.’

“Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, tweeted: ‘There is no good-faith basis for the any of the DOJ “investigations” of Trump, let alone a special counsel.’ And Will Chamberlain, a lawyer and member of the Article III project, called the move ‘insane and stupid.’…

“Former Vice President Mike Pence called the Justice Department’s appointment of a special counsel to investigate former President Trump ‘very troubling’… Pence pointed to ‘years of politicization at the Justice Department,’ referencing the Trump-Russia investigation. ‘There have been disclosed FBI agents falsifying documents, the FBI using a Clinton campaign-funded opposition research document to support two and a half years of the Russia hoax.’..

“Pence said he was ‘deeply troubled’ when ‘senior leadership at the Justice Department made the decision to execute a search warrant against the personal residence of the former president of the United States,’ referring to the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Mar-a-Lago in August. ‘It had never been done in history,’ he said, adding that the raid ‘sent a divisive message across the country,’ and warned that it ‘sent a wrong message about America around the world.’”

Garland authorized the highly controversial and possibly illegal raid on Trump’s property Mar-o-Lago in Florida. Republicans have said that they might investigate Garland and his Justice Department for their conduct in this regard, saying that Garland “weaponized” the Justice Department in approving the search warrant. This search warrant was obtained from a biased judge who had previously recused himself from a matter involving Trump, due to his recognized bias and conflict of interest. And so, with the appointment of a “special counsel,” who is NOT independent from the Justice Department, another additional farce and “political” witch hunt against Trump will continue.

Laura Ingraham also interviewed on her show on November 18 Mike Davis, Article III Project President, former Chief Counsel for Nominations to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley,  former clerk for US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, and former civil litigator for about 15 years, stating that Trump, as former President, had the absolute right under the President Record Act to take personal copies of the presidential record, and that therefore the entire investigation in this regard revolves around a “non-crime.” The other aspect of the “investigation,” Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, and his “invitation” to demonstrate “peacefully and patriotically,” obviously does not constitute a crime either.

Outraged Republicans have a point, when they complain about Garland’s highly problematic actions, but what will they do? When will the American people finally have enough of this political theater? Or will they ever? Or do they even care?

Trump: Biden Corrupt, Elections Rigged

Newsmax wrote on November 20:

“Former President Donald Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to share his opinion on midterm elections and President Joe Biden. ‘Our Country has never seen a Weaponized “Justice” Department, and FBI, like they are witnessing right now,’ Trump wrote…

“They are doing everything they can, much of it unlawful, to protect an incompetent and corrupt President, and his drug addicted criminal son. The system is Tainted and Rigged, just like our Elections are Tainted and Rigged, and just like our Border is for sale to the highest bidder, OPEN, and a disgrace to humanity. In the meantime, our Country is failing at a level never seen before!!!’…

“Trump has seemingly rejected returning to Twitter… Trump said he… was a fan of Musk, but appeared to reject any return to the platform. ‘I don’t see it, because I don’t see any reason for it,’ he said.”

The mass media is even repeating continuously the big lie that no evidence exists that Joe Biden had any knowledge of or was in any way involved with his son’s business dealings. Professor Jonathan Turley wrote on November 21:

Some of us have written for two years that Biden’s denial of knowledge is patently false…  reporters are invested in the illusion… [They] have to insist that there was nothing to see or they have to admit to being part of the original deception. The media cannot see… without the public seeing something about the media in its past efforts to conceal it. The media is now so heavily invested in the trick that they are sticking with the illusion…”

To Investigate Joe Biden?

The Washington Free Beacon wrote on November 17:

“House Republicans on Thursday laid out plans to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, calling the probe ‘a top priority’ for the GOP in the new Congress.

“Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), who will chair the House Oversight Committee next year, said Republicans will explore ‘all avenues’ of the Biden family’s business activity in China and Ukraine. Comer alleged that President Biden has ‘lied’ by claiming he never discussed business with his son. ‘This is an investigation of Joe Biden, the president of the United States, and why he lied to the American people about his participation in his family’s international business schemes,’ said Comer, who claimed the committee has uncovered evidence that Hunter Biden committed wire fraud and violated foreign agent laws…”

Mass Murder in Colorado

The Associated Press wrote on November 21:

“A year and a half before he was arrested in the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting that left five people dead, Anderson Lee Aldrich allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb, forcing neighbors in surrounding homes to evacuate while the bomb squad and crisis negotiators talked him into surrendering. Yet despite that scare, there’s no public record that prosecutors moved forward with felony kidnapping and menacing charges against Aldrich, or that police or relatives tried to trigger Colorado’s ‘red flag’ law that would have allowed authorities to seize the weapons and ammo the man’s mother says he had with him.

“Gun control advocates say Aldrich’s June 2021 threat is an example of a red flag law ignored, with potentially deadly consequences. While it’s not clear the law could have prevented Saturday night’s attack — such gun seizures can be in effect for as little as 14 days and be extended by a judge in six-month increments — they say it could have at least slowed Aldrich and raised his profile with law enforcement…

“But the law that allows guns to be removed from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others has seldom been used in the state, particularly in El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs, where the 22-year-old Aldrich allegedly went into Club Q with a long gun at just before midnight and opened fire before he was subdued by patrons. An Associated Press analysis found Colorado has one of the lowest rates of red flag usage despite widespread gun ownership and several high-profile mass shootings… El Paso County appears especially hostile to the law…”

The following articles give further information about the alleged shooter.

The Washington Post wrote on November 21:

“Years before he allegedly walked into a Colorado LGBTQ bar with an assault-style rifle, the man now known as Anderson Lee Aldrich had a different name, and a tumultuous past. Until age 15, he was known as Nicholas Brink, living in San Antonio, public records show. His parents separated when he was a toddler, and when he was 12, his mother, Laura Voepel, was arrested for suspected arson, according to court documents. She was later found guilty of a lesser offense in connection with the same incident.

“At age 15, he became the target of a particularly vicious bout of online bullying in which insulting accusations were posted to a website, along with his name, photos and online aliases… At some point, a YouTube account was created under his name, featuring a crude, profanity-laden animation under the title, ‘Asian homosexual gets molested.’…

“Whether the events of Aldrich’s childhood had any bearing on Saturday’s horrific violence is unknown…

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed in a statement to The Post that the alleged shooter was on the membership rolls of the church but had not been active in the Colorado Springs locations to the best of their knowledge. The church, which until 2019 described people in same-sex marriages as ‘apostates,’ condemned the shooting in a statement: ‘The senseless act of violence in Colorado Springs is of great sadness and concern to us. We are greatly troubled by any violence in our communities and condemn most especially violent acts that are the result of intolerance against any of God’s children.’…”

cbc news reported on November 22:

“The suspect in the shooting at Club Q, a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub, is now identifying as non-binary, according to court filings filed Tuesday. ‘Anderson Aldrich is non-binary. They use they/them pronouns, and for the purposes of all formal filings, will be addressed as Mx. Aldrich,’ a footnote in a court filing reads… The shooting occurred Saturday night into early Sunday morning, on the start of Transgender Remembrance Day, which honors transgender people who have been murdered.”

For an in-depth analysis, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Why Mass Murder in Colorado’s Gay Nightclub?” 

No More Conversion Therapies in Belgium

The Brussels Times wrote on November 17:

“Belgium is banning conversion practices – a… practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms – for members of the LGBTQ community, announced State Secretary… Schlitz… From now on, carrying out conversion practices will be punishable by imprisonment of one month to two years and/or a fine of €100 to €300.

“The court will also take into account whether the offence was committed by a person in a recognised position of trust, authority or influence over the victim and whether the offence was committed against a minor or a person in a vulnerable situation.

Suggesting or inciting conversion practices, directly or indirectly, will also be penalised. The court will be able to prohibit people convicted of conversion practices from carrying out a professional or social activity related to the commission of these offences for a maximum period of five years.”

Reading between the lines, many will be afraid to even suggest the biblical Truth that the practice of homosexuality is wrong.

Catholic Clergy’s Sexual Abuse

The Associated Press wrote on November 18:

“Italy’s Catholic bishops provided their first accounting of clergy sexual abuse and revealed Thursday that more than 600 cases from Italy were on file at the Vatican since 2000…

“The Vatican in 2001 required dioceses around the world to send all their credible reports of abuse to the dicastery for processing. The Vatican had felt compelled to act after decades in which bishops and religious superiors moved predator priests around from diocese to diocese rather than punishing them or reporting them to police… reports in Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and France identified systematic problems that allowed thousands of children to be abused by Catholic priests.

“In France, a panel of independent experts estimated that 330,000 children were sexually abused over 70 years by some 3,000 priests and church personnel, and that the crimes were covered up ‘systematically’ by the church hierarchy…”

Trade Negotiations Between USA and Europe Likely to Fail

Euractiv wrote on November 17:

“As part of an agreement on the future trade policy agenda reached last Friday (11 November), Germany’s centre-left ‘traffic light’ coalition agreed to attempt to restart trade negotiations for a free-trade area encompassing the EU and the US.

“The last attempt at such an agreement, the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), failed after Donald Trump took office as US president in 2017. Yet the German push to revitalise the talks is likely to fail, with even business representatives being sceptical about the success chances… This view was echoed by the European Commission, saying that negotiations for a new, TTIP-style trade agreement were ‘not on the agenda’.”

Corrupt FIFA

Axios wrote on November 21:

“The 2022 World Cup has been marred by controversy from the very start, and the stench of FIFA’s corruption and Qatar’s human rights abuses still lingers as the event gets underway.

“100 years ago, Qatar was a sparsely populated British protectorate. Then, after discovering oil (1939) and one of Earth’s largest natural gas reserves (1960), it transformed into an incredibly wealthy nation. By the turn of the century, Qatar was a major player in global politics. But a desire for more prestige and clout led the country, much like its Gulf neighbors, to a potent source: soccer.

“Qataris acquired French club Paris Saint-Germain and launched beIN Sports, big moves that shook up Europe. But the crown jewel was the World Cup. Qatar was named host in 2010, a stunning development that triggered bribery accusations [There is little doubt that bribery took place, and even famous soccer stars like Franz Beckenbauer were allegedly involved.] 18 members of FIFA’s 24-person executive committee have since been implicated in or investigated for illicit activity, and the global governing body’s reputation has been irrevocably damaged

“85% of Qatar’s population of 3 million are foreign workers, and rights groups have been documenting abusers and harsh conditions.   Last year, The Guardian revealed that about 6,500 workers from South Asia had died since Qatar was awarded the World Cup.

“There are concerns about LGBTQ fans descending on Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal… Other controversies include beer bans on stadiums [and] press freedom… Seven European teams announced this morning that their captains will no longer wear rainbow OneLove armbands after FIFA said players would be sanctioned… [FIFA also prohibited displaying the word “love” on players’ shirts.] 54% of Americans say that FIFA shouldn’t have awarded the World Cup to Qatar…”

Sadly, the world’s most popular sport—soccer—has become a political arena run by corrupt FIFA officials and their supporters. Such as politics in general.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

Not Much Will Change in Washington

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on November 11:

“… very little will change in Washington after this election… After all, so much of federal policy is now determined by the executive branch that moderate changes in party leadership in Congress will do very little to change the course of the nation’s administrative agencies such as the EPA, the IRS, and the FBI. These agencies have immense power over the daily lives of countless Americans, yet even sizable majorities of so-called conservatives have shown little stomach to rein in this power. Certainly, the small GOP majority now headed for the House will do little.

“...we can expect to keep hearing plenty about the evil of fossil fuels. The administration will continue to press for less drilling for oil and gas, and the war on coal will continue. The administration will continue to issue new edicts for ‘fighting global warming.’ This, of course, will continue to drive up the cost of living.

“On foreign policy, it was clear nothing much would change short of an overwhelming victory by ‘America First’ types in Congress. That hasn’t happened, so we can expect more of the same foreign interventionism we’re seeing now. The US regime will add to the $65 billion it has already sent to Ukraine and will continually ratchet up its involvement in the region as it recently did with a deployment of US troops near the Ukraine border. Even worse, the US will likely continue to flirt with nuclear war, as the regime’s new National Defense Strategy document has given the Pentagon more leeway in using nuclear arms. The US will not any time soon remove the approximately nine hundred American troops that are currently conducting a regional occupation in Syria.

“Naturally, as far as social spending goes, we can expect zero change. Under Donald Trump, Republicans signed off on massive new spending increases and were headed toward approving trillion-dollar deficits even before 2020. With covid, of course, spending exploded even more, and only a small handful of Republicans expressed doubts… The only disagreements we’ll see in Washington in the next two years will be over how exactly to run up the next massive annual deficit…

“While Washington will keep up with the same disastrous policies, the real change we’ll see will be at the state level… What all this likely means is a continued divergence between places like Washington State, New York State, and California, on the one hand, and Florida, Texas, and Ohio, on the other. On matters like abortion, schools, immigration, guns, and energy policy, the differences between the two blocs will only continue to grow

“Over time, this will continue to build a real cultural divide that will inevitably lead to de facto political division between these blocs of states… ‘National divorce’ will increasingly be evident on the horizon.”

And so, the division in the USA will continue while Washington—regardless as to who is in power— will prove as being totally incompetent and irrelevant. Out of Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, the Republicans needed at least two wins to gain the majority in the Senate.

Breitbart reported on November 11 that “the Arizona Senate race has been called for Democrat Mark Kelly, who beat his Republican challenger Blake Masters.”

NBC News reported on November 12: “The picture in the Senate became clear late Saturday after Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada narrowly defeated Republican Adam Laxalt to win re-election, putting her party over the threshold… Masto’s victory means Democrats will hold the Senate regardless of the outcome of Georgia’s Dec. 6 runoff election when Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker will face each other again after neither cleared the 50% threshold required under state law.

“A Walker win would keep the Senate 50-50, where Vice President Kamala Harris casts the tie-breaking vote for Democrats. A Warnock victory would make it 51-49, giving Democrats one extra vote…”

This would enable the Democrats to pass a few bills which require a simple majority. Most bills need 60 votes. A Democratic majority in the Senate also means that Biden can nominate federal judges and appointees to the Supreme Court, should vacancies occur.

Most news articles project or have already announced a slight win of the Republicans taking back the House. The votes of several races are still being counted. 

The Associated Press reported on November 17:

“More than a week after Election Day, Republicans secured the 218th seat needed to flip the House from Democratic control. The full scope of the party’s majority may not be clear for several more days — or weeks — as votes in competitive races are still being counted. But they are on track to cobble together what could be the party’s narrowest majority of the 21st century, rivaling 2001, when Republicans had just a nine-seat majority, 221-212 with two independents.”

The New York Post added on November 17:

“The narrow majority calls into question the future of promised wide-ranging, GOP-led House committee investigations into the Biden administration on topics including the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the ongoing migration crisis at the US-Mexico border — and first son Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings…”

One could add to this list promised investigations into the origin of the coronavirus and Fauci’s role in the matter. 

Many blame Trump for these developments. The New York Post reported on November 11:

“President Donald Trump [made] a racially insensitive attack against Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (“his name sounds Chinese”)… [It was also reported:] ‘He was really upset about Dr. [Mehmet] Oz [losing his Senate race in Pennsylvania]. It really set him off… [It was even reported that he blamed his wife Melania for convincing him to endorse Dr. Oz.] He’s grumpy and unhappy that Ron DeSantis did so well…’ Trump went on a social media tirade against the Florida governor Thursday, saying that DeSantis should not run in 2024 and deriding him as an ‘average REPUBLICAN Governor with great Public Relations…’”

Global Implications

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 11:

“A divided government has implications for US global leadership… The midterm shift, which will not take effect until the new year, looks to be small, but potentially decisive…

“Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank, told DW: … ‘It is a good time for Europe to think about how self-sufficient it is and wants to be when it comes to its defense… I don’t know how many more warning signs from the United States are necessary to convey this message.’”

Finally, Europe, which has been called the “sleeping giant” in the past, will wake up.

USA and Canada… On Their Road to Perdition

National Post wrote on November 10:

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is likely to draw some encouragement from Tuesday’s U.S. midterms. Despite running an unpopular government, and a weak economy, President Joe Biden’s party, which shares many views with Canada’s Liberals, out-performed all expectations and has kept the Republican ‘red tide’ at bay, at least for now.

“The message to Biden, and indirectly to Trudeau, who is similarly unpopular and also governs a country that the overwhelming majority thinks is headed in the wrong direction, that there is no need to change direction. They can both continue extreme policies on climate, control of media and protest…

“The current course both the U.S. and Canada are taking seems destined to create a recession…  if attempts to control social media and political speech did not hurt Biden with voters, the even more draconian approach being proposed by Trudeau to regulate the internet may not cause him long term damage…  the Democrats’ performance suggests that, as in Canada, our increasingly multi-racial societies will continue to be pummeled by claims of ‘systemic racism’ and demand for racial quotas and favouritism… The road to political perdition and disunion seems a bit better paved today in both countries.”

Manasseh and Ephraim’s prophesied downfall is coming.

Trump Will Run…

The New York Post wrote on November 15:

“Former President Donald Trump ended months of speculation and launched his bid to retake the White House in 2024 Tuesday, an early attempt to clear the GOP primary field… Trump brushed off the unexpectedly poor showing by Republicans in last week’s midterm elections.

“… if Trump wins the White House again in 2024, he will have pulled off one of the biggest political comebacks in US history after leaving office with the riot overshadowing his domestic and foreign policy accomplishments… Trump would be the second president elected to non-consecutive terms, after Democrat Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892. [A victory would make Trump the 45th and the 47th president, according to Fox News.]

“He would have to leave office in January 2029 because the Constitution doesn’t allow a president to be elected to three terms.”

The accuracy of the last sentence is debatable, with some legal scholars contending that the Constitution only prohibits more than two consecutive terms.

“In Regard to Donald Trump”

We are publishing the following article—not because we necessarily agree with its sentiments, but because we want to show how the overwhelming majority of Germans feel about Trump, as captured very well by the most-read mass tabloid’s article, quoted below.  

On November 11, Bild Online published the following Editorial:

“Unfortunately, it is not over after the midterm elections… he’s a narcissist. He loves himself more than America. He’s only fascinated with himself. Psychiatrists speak of personality damage in narcissism.

“According to the Roman poet Ovid, Narcis was a beautiful young man who had many admirers. But they didn’t interest him. When he saw himself reflected in a water, in a brook, he was so consumed with himself that he threw himself in the water with desire and drowned.

“Trump is such an amorous narcissist…The narcissist does not tolerate insults. He hits back with brutality. His language is like Trump’s language. Chaos, end of the world, electoral fraud… My prayer is: Lord, deliver us from Donald Trump.”

Our prayers should be: God, deliver us from all our politicians running our countries, and send back Jesus Christ to make an end to man’s mad misrule. In other words: Your Kingdom Come!

Zionists Honor Trump

JTA wrote on November 14:

“In his first public appearance after midterm elections in which his Republican Party failed to take control of the U.S. Senate, former president Donald Trump headed to a friendly audience. The Zionist Organization of America was awarding Trump a rare honor, the Theodor Herzl Medal, for his contributions on behalf of Israel… the gala landed at a precarious moment for the former president, as allies throughout the Republican Party have signaled or even said forthrightly in the last several days that they believe he should not run

“Trump received standing ovations just about every time his name was mentioned, as multiple presenters recited the litany of achievements that they said had made him the best U.S. president ever for Israel. They include moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, brokering the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab countries, pulling the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and more… The group’s president, Mort Klein — in a fiery speech… made clear that his confidence in Trump was unwavering…”

Newsmax added on November 14:

“Former President Donald Trump received the Zionist Organization of America’s greatest honor for ‘being the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.’ The organization’s Theodor Herzl Medallion, awarded rarely, previously was presented to people including former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, former President Harry Truman, and former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir… [Klein said:] ‘President Trump is, in fact, so popular in Israel that, were he eligible to run, he would likely be elected prime minister. Indeed, Israel named a new town after the 45th president, ‘Trump Heights.’”

“Other Theodor Herzl Medallion winners included Lord Balfour, David Ben Gurion, Menachem Begin, and Sheldon G. Adelson.”

JNS added on November 14:

“Klein added that the Biden administration was acting hypocritically by implicitly condemning the ‘extremism’ of Religious Zionism leaders Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, yet failing to denounce Abbas’s promotion of terrorism against Israelis.”

But as the articles also point out, many Jews in America do not support Trump, and, according to Trump, they do not even support the state of Israel.

USA Would Oppose Israel’s Annexations

Israel Today wrote on November 10:

“US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides warned that Washington would oppose any Israeli steps to annex Judea and Samaria

“The comments were the first by American officials on specific issues related to Israeli-Palestinian peace process. One of the Religious Zionism party’s demands for joining Netanyahu’s coalition is for Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria to be governed by Israeli government ministries…”

America will NOT be a reliable partner and ally for Israel—and especially NOT under the Biden Administration.

Afghanistan’s Return to Its Evil Past

Daily Mail wrote on November 14:

“Afghanistan’s supreme leader has ordered judges to fully enforce aspects of Islamic law that include public executions, stonings and floggings, and the amputation of limbs for thieves… Akhundzada, who has not been filmed or photographed in public since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, rules by decree from Kandahar, the movement’s birthplace and spiritual heartland.

“’Carefully examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists,’… Akhundzada [was quoted] as saying. ‘Those files in which all the sharia (Islamic law) conditions of hudud and qisas have been fulfilled, you are obliged to implement. This is the ruling of sharia, and my command, which is obligatory.’

“… Hudud refers to offences which, under Islamic law, certain types of punishment are mandated, while qisas translates as ‘retaliation in kind’ – effectively an eye for an eye. Hudud crimes include adultery – and falsely accusing someone of it – drinking alcohol, theft, kidnapping and highway robbery, apostasy and rebellion. Qisas covers murder and deliberate injury, among other things, but also allows for the families of victims to accept compensation in lieu of punishment…

“Women in particular have seen hard-won rights evaporate in the past 15 months, and they are increasingly being squeezed out of public life. Most female government workers have lost their jobs – or are being paid a pittance to stay at home – while women are also barred from travelling without a male relative and must cover up with a burqa or hijab when outside. In the past week, the Taliban also banned women from entering parks, funfairs, gyms and public baths.

All of this was so predictable. The incompetence, indifference and naivety of the Biden Administration when leaving Afghanistan are next to unparalleled in recent American history.

Missile Hits Poland

Fox News reported on November 16:

“Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday that there is an ‘indication’ the missile that landed in Polish territory and killed two was an ‘air defense missile.’ ‘There is no indication that this was an intentional attack on Poland,’ he said… The missile came down Tuesday on the Polish-Ukrainian border and landed in the village of Przewodów around 3:40 p.m.

“Three anonymous U.S. officials told the Associated Press that preliminary assessments suggested the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one… NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also confirmed Wednesday that the missile that hit Poland was likely a Ukrainian air defense missile…”

Daily Mail added on November 16:

“Hours after the incident, Volodymyr Zelensky had blamed it on ‘Russian missile terror’, and Kyiv is yet to concede its own missile was involved…

“The news came after a nervous night in which it looked like NATO and Russia could be heading for a direct confrontation that would have risked triggering World War Three, and it underlines the risk that a single mistake or miscalculation in Ukraine could yet spark such a conflict.”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote a castigating report on November 16. As it is true for all articles which we republish, we do not take sides on this issue, nor do we confirm the accuracy of what is stated, but we are just presenting it for the information of our readers:

NATO and Russia briefly stood on the brink of World War III Tuesday evening after Ukraine accidentally bombed Poland. The incident happened as its forces were trying to intercept incoming Russian missiles during what’s been described as Moscow’s fiercest attack… thus far… Instead of shooting down the Russian missile, Kiev’s S-300 malfunctioned and ended up dropping into Poland, where it killed two people.

“The Ukrainian leadership was well aware of what happened but decided to propagate the most dangerous conspiracy theory in history in an attempt to literally spark World War III. Zelensky lied to the world by describing his forces’ accidental bombing of Poland as ‘a Russian missile strike on collective security’ and telling NATO that ‘We need to act.’ His Foreign Minister [claimed] that all allegations that his side was responsible for this incident are nothing but ‘Russian propaganda’.

“To his credit, Biden told the press in response to a question about whether Russia was responsible that ‘There is preliminary information that contests that. It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.’…  There’s no reason to doubt Biden’s assessment nor that of those three unnamed US officials… Quite clearly, just like with the Nord Stream terrorist attack that was in all likelihood carried out by the Anglo-American Axis… NATO doesn’t truly hold Moscow responsible…”

The article also questions the popular narrative that Ukraine is winning the war.

Mormons Support Legislation for Same-Sex Marriage

The Associated Press wrote on November 15:

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it supports proposed federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages… The 17-million member, Utah-based faith said in a statement that church doctrine would continue to consider same-sex relationships against God’s commandments, yet would support rights for same-sex couples as long as they didn’t infringe upon religious groups’ right to believe as they choose…

“The faith opposes same-sex marriage and sexual intimacy, but it has taken a more welcoming stance to LGBTQ people in recent years. In 2016, it declared that same-sex attraction is not a sin, while maintaining that acting on it was.”

The “Respect For [Same-Sex and Interracial] Marriage Act”

 Breitbart wrote on November 16:

“Twelve Senate Republicans voted with Democrats on Wednesday for the far-left ‘Respect for Marriage Act,’ which is reportedly designed to provide federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages… the bill will go back to the House before going to President Joe Biden. The White House has expressed support for the measure.

“RFMA… would require the federal government to recognize any marriage that was ‘valid in the place where entered into.’ The bill would also require every state to recognize every same-sex marriage that ‘is valid in the State where the marriage was entered into.’… So the RFMA does not force Texas to issue a marriage certificate to a same-sex couple. But it does force Texas to recognize a marriage certificate issued to a same-sex couple by New Mexico….

“… religious liberty proponents say the amendment does nothing to shield Americans who have a traditional view of marriage from being targeted under the law… RFMA is yet another instance of Senate Republicans providing the votes needed to pass overreaching Democrat legislation…”

Much of Medical Establishment Deeply Dishonest

The New York Post wrote on November 11:

“A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine purports to show that mask policies in schools work to contain COVID. But that’s not all: The authors conclude, ‘We believe that universal masking may be especially useful for mitigating effects of structural racism in schools, including potential deepening of educational inequities.’… And the next study will show masking fights climate change.

“No, what this study shows is that much of the medical establishment continues to be intensely woke — and deeply dishonest because of it. Just as the ‘experts’ told us gathering in crowds wasn’t OK in spring of 2020, but just weeks later protesting for Black Lives Matter somehow was. This dishonesty is going to hurt us all for a long time.

“As for this study specifically: It does not prove what the authors intended to. It’s just the latest in a push by agenda-driven scientists, and the media who love them, to get people back in masks… COVID rates in all the schools were higher before anyone took off their mask — but that uncomfortable fact goes unmentioned in the write-up… Which didn’t stop The New York Times’ Roni Caryn Rabin from promoting the new study as ‘a so-called natural experiment’ and breathlessly concluding, ‘The bottom line: Masking mandates were linked with significantly reduced numbers of Covid cases in schools.’

“This is full-on nonsense. The mask mandates did no such thing… It’s pathetic that in November 2022, we have to keep pointing out the obvious — and that garbage science like this destroys everyone’s confidence in the medical field

“Not until April 25, 2021, did Dr. Anthony Fauci say, ‘It’s common sense to know that the risk when you are outdoors, which we have been saying all along, is extremely low, and if you are vaccinated it’s even lower.’ He had not, actually, been saying that all along — and those of us who had that ‘common sense’ got targeted and ridiculed for being ‘anti-science.’

“… the problem isn’t just with masking. It’s that the medical establishment has gone fully woke. Wokeness goes hand-in-hand with forced conformity. No one is allowed to step out of the woke lines — though those lines are free to shift at any time. It’s very Soviet. Under those rules, you can’t be critical of even this cockamamie study… Inside the woke echo chamber, you even have to embrace insane ideas like ‘masking fights racism.’

“No one at the Times could write an article about how a study like this is gibberish. Medical professionals and journalists who point out the obvious, that the study makes no sense, will be quickly excommunicated.

It’s sick, and it has to stop. This isn’t science, it’s politics — and this woke cancer has to be fought until it’s defeated.”

Wow! And how true this is! Forget having trust in the medical establishment and their propaganda of falsely-called “science.” That “trust” and confidence in the “expertise” and “competence” of the likes as Fauci (or Lauterbach in Germany) has long gone.

Ongoing Harassment Until At Least January 2023

Wochenblatt wrote on November 12:

“The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has extended the ban on entry for [unvaccinated] non-US citizens and non-immigrants until at least January 8, 2023. The justification contradicts not only the medical facts, but also what is valid within the USA. There, people who have been [vaccinated] and those who are not vaccinated are treated equally. The reasoning of the TSA could not be more absurd: [Unvaccinated] people could bring the virus to the United States and spread it there. Even the director of the powerful US health authority CDC, Rochelle Walensky, admitted that [vaccinated] people are infectious and she is herself an example of this: vaccinated twice and boosted, she tested recently positive for corona.

“The USA is thus in the illustrious circle of countries such as Yemen, Liberia, North Korea, China and Libya. In any case, the regulation on the entry ban for non-vaccinated persons would have expired on November 8th. By order of the Biden regime, the TSA extended it with ridiculous justifications

“… it is clear that the vaccination does not prevent either infection or transmission of the virus, according to the Biden decree, since last June people who have been vaccinated have no longer had to submit a negative PCR test. So these passengers are free to travel into the country with the virus and spread it there if they have received a Covid-19 genetic vaccination…

“Corona is no longer about health and medical facts, but only about political tactics… One also has to ask oneself why non-Americans are not a ‘danger’ for Australia or Canada – the two extremely brutal vaccination dictatorships have already opened their borders for non-vaccinated people… With the absurd Corona foreign policy of the colorful Biden troop in the White House, they perhaps wanted  to let the aged super-adviser Anthony Fauci save face. If he had his way, the unvaccinated would still be in permanent quarantine. He announced his departure at the end of the year, but is likely to remain the gray eminence of the pandemic as long as Biden is in office. It will be interesting to see whether the USA will continue to insist on entry vaccination after January 8, 2023. Maybe something will happen in the House of Representatives, where the legislature sits and which may soon be dominated by Republicans. As is well known, they think little of Biden’s corona harassment.”

Hopefully, this ridiculous and absurd ban WILL finally cease to exist and vanish in January. “Let Freedom Ring!”

Italy Skeptical of Covid 19 Vaccines

AFP wrote on November 15:

“The deputy health minister in Italy’s new far-right government sparked controversy Tuesday after stating there was no proof that vaccines against Covid-19 actually worked… ‘But I’m not falling into the trap of taking sides for or against vaccines,’ the undersecretary told state broadcaster Rai, while denouncing the ‘ideological’ approach of the previous government of Mario Draghi towards the Covid crisis.

“As a deputy from the Brothers of Italy, the right-wing party led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the pharmacist by profession opposed Italy’s so-called coronavirus Green pass, a proof of vaccination required to access most public spaces…

“Gemmato’s comments provoked calls for him to step down, including from the head of the centre-left Democratic Party, Enrico Letta. ‘A health undersecretary who doesn’t take his distance from no-vaxxers is certainly in the wrong job’ wrote the leader of the centrist party Action, Carlo Calenda, on Twitter…”

Of course, to state what the deputy health minister of Italy uttered is deeply unpopular in the so-called “scientific” establishment. And he did not even take a side on the issue, but even that is already too much for the propaganda driven by the big and rich Pharma industry and its supporters.

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Israel 365 News reported on November 13:

“In a controversial move, Canada is expanding its government-funded euthanasia program to include the mentally ill. At the same time, parliamentarians in Scotland are being petitioned to incorporate a ‘suicide pod’ that would allow people to autonomously end their lives…

“Canada’s voluntary euthanasia program called Medical Assistance in Dying… became legal in 2016. The program is part of Canada’s healthcare system. To receive euthanasia, patients experiencing intolerable suffering must sign a written request expressing their wish to end their life. In 2021, more than 10,000 people chose euthanasia, an increase of over 32% from the previous year, accounting for 3.3% of all deaths in Canada…

“The law has been amended to make the program available to people whose death is not medically foreseeable. It was also amended to include those with dementia who may not be able to understand the implications of their decision. The decision to access medically assisted suicide will also be for people whose only medical ailment is a mental issue. This amendment will go into effect next year.

“In the Netherlands, where a quarter of all deaths are now carried out by assisted suicide, euthanasia is utilized for babies under one year of age with ‘severe deformations’ and ‘very grave… medical syndromes’...

“Euthanasia, where doctors use drugs to kill patients, is legal in seven countries — Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain — plus several states in Australia. Other nations, including several U.S. states, permit assisted suicide — in which patients take the lethal drug themselves, typically in a drink prescribed by a doctor…”

For more information on this issue, please read our Q&A ,‘Should true Christians engage in mercy killing or euthanasia?”

“41% of Climate Scientists Don’t Believe in Catastrophic ‘Climate Change’”

Life Site News wrote on November 14:

“For years, the promoters of the spurious ‘settled science’ narrative have claimed that there is a 97-99% consensus among scientists about humans causing climate change…  A recently published survey of top-level climate scientists found that just over five in 10 attributed the human contribution to recent climate change to be 75% or above. Only around four in 10 scientists believed that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events had increased significantly in recent years…

“Emeritus Professor Richard Lindzen recently called the current climate narrative ‘absurd.’ Perhaps, he added, it was the trillions of dollars diverted to green projects and the relentless propaganda from grant-dependent academics and agenda-driven journalists that had persuaded people it is not absurd…

“But the new poll shows that even after 25 years of relentless propaganda, there is considerable debate over the subject in scientific circles.

“… U.S. meteorologist Anthony Watts said the poll illustrates that there is less consensus on climate change and a broader scope of differing opinions that we are led to believe…’

“H. Sterling Burnett from Heartland was intrigued that the poll showed older, more experienced scientists were more sceptical of climate disaster claims. ‘It seems, years of indoctrination have succeeded in brainwashing younger, less experienced climate scientists into believing, data to the contrary, that humans are causing a climate catastrophe,’ he concluded.”

No doubt, much political propaganda and the desire for money are involved with the common narrative of man-made climate change.

How Camilla Became Accepted

The New York Post wrote on November 12:

“Camilla Parker Bowles was, for a time, the most hated woman in Britain, only leaving her home under the cover of darkness. Yet in early May of next year, she will be crowned England’s next queen [technically: queen consort, see comments below] in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey officiated over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest ranking cleric in the land.

“… Queen Elizabeth II… gave Camilla the final stamp of approval in February, when she expressed her ‘sincere wish’ that Camilla would be crowned queen [queen consort] ‘when the day comes.’…

“In the early days, the queen was on friendly terms with Camilla and her then-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles… All that changed when Camilla was revealed as the other woman in the stormy marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Camilla became persona non grata in the mid-90s, shunned from formal royal parties and other functions…

“Things were moving along at a quicker pace, thanks to a decision by the Church of England to take a more relaxed view of divorced couples marrying in church. For years, the queen had been balancing her son’s future happiness with her role as monarch and head of the Church of England. Now she could act to end Camilla’s long wait. During an audience with Charles at Sandringham on Christmas 2004, the queen gave permission for them to marry. They married in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor in April 2005. Camilla, who had become accustomed to being the butt of criticism, was delighted at the warmth of her reception by the waiting crowds.

“The queen was also relieved, as any negative publicity would have had a direct impact on the monarchy. Still, she was aware that the Camilla issue remained a touchy subject with many of her subjects. The official word from the palace was that there were no plans to make Camilla queen…

“In their different ways, both the queen and Camilla — who was conferred with the title Duchess of Cornwall after the marriage — were in it for the long game, a strategy which matched their conservative, rather cautious personalities… this past February,  the queen announced that she wished Camilla to take on the styling of queen consort when Charles ascended the throne…

“In her quiet, subtle way she tested both her son and his paramour before allowing Camilla into the royal fold. That she has been largely accepted as queen is testimony to the good sense and judgement of Elizabeth II. When Camilla walks down the aisle at Westminster Abbey in six months, husband King Charles III by her side, she will know that she has much to thank her mother-in-law for.”

Many try to emphasize that Camilla is expected to be crowned as “queen consort,” rather than as queen. But as the article implies, this distinction is rather academic in practical terms, as long as Charles III is King. While a queen consort is not the head of the British monarchy nor does she enjoy political or military powers, she will be crowned with the King in a similar but simpler ceremony, and her role involves offering her husband support and accompanying him to official engagements, at which she is addressed as “Her Royal Highness.” Everyone in the royal family is expected to bow to Camilla, including Prince William. Camilla’s title of Queen Consort will be similar to that of Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Consort, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

US Midterm Elections—No Red Wave

The Associated Press reported on November 9:

“For weeks, Republicans predicted a ‘red wave’ would carry them to power in Congress, as voters repudiated majority Democrats for failing to tame skyrocketing inflation and address worries about rising crime. The reality appeared far different early Wednesday. Rather than a wholesale rejection of President Joe Biden and his party, the results were far more mixed

“Many Democratic incumbents proved surprisingly resilient, outperforming their party’s own expectations…

“Fetterman defeated Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz for a crucial Pennsylvania Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and former NFL star Herschel Walker, a Republican, were locked in a close contest in Georgia. The Wisconsin race between Republican Sen. Ron Johnson and Democrat Mandela Barnes was too early to call. And the outcome of the remaining two seats that will determine which party will hold a Senate majority — Arizona and Nevada — may not be known for days because both states conduct elections in part by mail ballots, which take a long time to count.”

While the careful predictions are that the Republicans will win a majority of the House, the outcome for the Senate is uncertain. It appears that there will be a runoff in Georgia’s Senate race in December. The Huffington Post added on November 9:

“Right now the House still looks likely to enter GOP control… But its majority could be small enough that GOP leader Kevin McCarthy would struggle to pass almost any legislation.”

Fox News wrote on November 9:

Republicans aren’t parading through the streets of Rome like a conquering army, it’s important to keep perspective on what Tuesday night’s election results mean…

“President Joe Biden’s promises to unite the country are long gone. More than anything, Tuesday night proved that we are as divided as ever. There was no red wave, but more of a red ripple… Republicans will likely govern the House by a distinct margin. The Senate is still up for grabs. Aside from a few select issues, it’s unlikely much will get done in Washington

“Tuesday night, Hispanics powered the GOP to victory in Florida. Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio blew the doors off in the Sunshine State…

“Many conservative commentators took the election results as a sign it was time for the GOP to move on from Trump. Commentators argued that Trump had endorsed outlandish candidates who turned easy victories into close races, and close races into losses.  Others compared Trump’s failure to secure wins across the country with the huge wave of support for Republicans in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Florida… Of the races that have been decided as of Wednesday morning, Trump’s endorsed candidates have won nine and lost eight

“The poor performance of Trump’s candidates comes just as he was reportedly attempting to ward DeSantis away from making a run for president in 2024… [He] warned DeSantis that a 2024 run could hurt him ‘very badly’ on Tuesday….”

The New York Post wrote on November 9:

“Former President Donald Trump ignored Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crushing victory in the 45th president’s election night remarks — as other results spelled potential trouble for Trump’s path to the 2024 GOP presidential nomination… Trump highlighted Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s similarly large margin of victory instead… DeSantis’ massive win amid an otherwise worse-than-expected night for Republicans fueled the rivalry between the men’s supporters.”

Rematch of Trump and Biden?

The Guardian wrote on November 4:

“As the midterm elections loom and Republican hopes of retaking Congress rise, it appears to be a matter of when, not if, Donald Trump will announce his third White House run… Polls show Trump is likely to win the Republican nomination but have also shown most Americans do not want him to do so…

“The poll that showed most voters do not want Trump to run also showed that more than 60% of Americans and 30% of Democrats said Biden should not run either. Nonetheless, the Washington Post this week reported that the president, who will soon turn 80, is ‘quietly’ preparing to do so. A rematch of 2020 seems likely…”

Interesting times ahead… Still, with the relatively poor performance by both Biden and Trump during the midterm election, we have to wait and see how it all plays out. But it would be certainly premature to write off Trump.

How Close Are We to Civil War?

The Guardian published on November 6 opinions by several political writers. We are bringing you a synopsis below:

“Americans are increasingly talking about civil war. In August… Twitter references to ‘civil war’ jumped 3,000%… Americans on both sides of the political divide increasingly state that violence is justified… Two years ago, no one was talking about a second American civil war. Today it is common…

“If a second civil war breaks out in the US, it will be a guerrilla war fought by multiple small militias spread around the country. Their targets will be civilians – mainly minority groups, opposition leaders and federal employees. Judges will be assassinated, Democrats and… Republicans will be jailed on bogus charges, black churches and synagogues bombed, pedestrians picked off by snipers in city streets, and federal agents threatened with death should they enforce federal law. The goal will be to reduce the strength of the federal government and those who support it, while also intimidating minority groups and political opponents into submission…

“America is rushing headlong into another civil war, and it’s a matter of when, not if… Look for the next civil war to take place after the 2024 election cycle, when the next wave of violence is likely to emerge. Similar to the original civil war, there’s too much at stake for both sides. Then, as now, the threats are existential. In the 19th century, Democrats viewed the newly established Republican party as a threat to their way of life. Republicans, for their part, saw southern intransigence on the issue of slavery as a threat to the union…”

The outbreak of a second civil war is a distinct possibility.

Doomsday Clock: 100 Seconds to Midnight

Newsweek wrote on November 4:

“The organization behind the Doomsday Clock has published a guide that details the potentially catastrophic consequences of a global nuclear war—which could kill hundreds of millions in hours—in what is a ‘wake-up call’ for people around the world…

“The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic device designed to warn the public about how close humanity is to destroying itself with ‘dangerous technologies of our own making,’ such as nuclear weapons as well as those that are contributing to climate change.

“The clock, which was created in 1947 and is maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic

Scientists magazine, has been reset 24 times, most recently in 2020 when the minute hand moved from two minutes to midnight to 100 seconds to midnight. In January 2022, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin, which decides the clock’s time, announced that the minute hand was staying at 100 seconds to midnight…

“A global, all-out nuclear war…, based on a scenario involving 4,400 100-kiloton weapons, would very quickly result in a minimum of 360 million deaths around the world from the direct effects alone. Even though these figures are staggering,… these deaths would be only the beginning of a massive catastrophe that would affect… the entire world…”

Sadly, the Bible DOES predict worldwide nuclear war which would annihilate ALL LIFE on earth if it weren’t for God shortening those days and for Christ’s return to prevent this from happening.

A Blunder Will Happen…

Time wrote on November 4:

“Over the past year, global adversaries have routinely threatened to violate the decades-old taboo against the first-use of nuclear weapons. Launching a nuclear strike, once unthinkable in modern conflict, has become more and more normalized with each passing day of 2022. Meanwhile, the global revulsion against using the world’s most destructive weapons, which was borne out of the ashes of World War II, appears to have drastically abated. In its absence is emerging a dangerous and unpredictable era where threats to cross the nuclear threshold have become commonplace by world leaders…

“Down that road may lie the greatest danger of all. ‘These developments call attention to the underlying truth that is not new: Nuclear weapons are unacceptably dangerous and for most countries that have them, one person alone has the authority to launch them with few checks and balances,’ says Lynn Rusten, vice president at the Nuclear Threat Initiative… ‘The idea that reliance on nuclear weapons for national and global security is sustainable for the long-term is delusional. A blunder will happen sooner or later.’”

Rather sooner than later… Frightening indeed.

Rising Tensions

npr wrote on November 5:

“North Korea added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, as the United States sent two supersonic bombers streaking over South Korea in a dueling display of military might that underscored rising tensions in the region… The North has test-fired more than 30 missiles this week…  and flew large numbers of warplanes inside its territory in an angry reaction to a massive combined aerial exercise between the United States and South Korea… The exercise involved around 240 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets from both countries.

“North Korea’s Foreign Ministry late Friday described the country’s military actions this week as an appropriate response to the exercise, which it called a display of U.S. ‘military confrontation hysteria.’ It said North Korea will respond with the ‘toughest counteraction’ to any attempts by ‘hostile forces’ to infringe on its sovereignty or security interests.

“South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the participation of the B-1Bs in the joint drills demonstrated the allies’ readiness to ‘sternly respond’ to North Korean provocations and the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear.”

The confrontation and rising tensions between North Korea and the USA should be closely watched as well.

Lapid Concedes

JTA wrote on November 3:

“Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called his rival, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to concede this week’s election… Netanyahu… has launched the negotiating process to form the next government with the far-right Religious Zionist party and haredi Orthodox parties. With a total of 64 seats, Netanyahu’s bloc surpassed poll predictions… [amid] rumors that President Joe Biden’s administration might not engage with Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the Religious Zionist leaders who will likely be given a cabinet position…

“Ben-Gvir — who has said he prefers to be public security minister, which controls Israel’s police — has worried U.S. leaders with his extremist rhetoric about the use of police force against Arabs and his calls to expel people who are not loyal to Israel.

“An array of international leaders began to congratulate Netanyahu on Thursday, including Viktor Orban, the far-right president of Hungary, and Giorgia Meloni, the right-wing prime minister of Italy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has criticized Israel’s unwillingness to supply Ukraine with weapons in its war with [Russia], also sent congratulations. ‘We hope to open a new page in cooperation with the new Government for & benefit!’ he wrote.”

As of November 6, Biden had not yet called Netanyahu to congratulate him, while he rushed to call Lula da Silva, the new corrupt lefty-wing President of Brazil. JTA reported on November 7 that Biden finally called Netanyahu and allegedly congratulated him during an eight-minute exchange. Not much is known about the contents of the call. The White House did not respond to questions about the call, according to JTA.

Israel 365 added on November 8:The call from Biden came after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak congratulated Netanyahu. French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Netanyahu on Sunday.”

The Most Religious Government Ever

Haaretz wrote on November 3:

“Israel’s next government will be by far the most religious in its history… Of the four parties,  three are religious. Two of them… are ultra-Orthodox parties… The third… is on the conservative side of the religious spectrum, leaning toward ultra-Orthodoxy.

“Together, these three parties will account for more than half the seats in the coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which is expected to assume power within the next few weeks… Add to that seven lawmakers from Netanyahu’s own Likud party, and it turns out that 40 of the expected 65 members of Israel’s next coalition will be Orthodox Jews…

“To be sure, there never has been separation of religion and state in Israel. Issues of marriage and divorce, for instance, fall under the jurisdiction of religious authorities – in the case of Jews, the Orthodox-controlled Chief Rabbinate. With rare exceptions, public transportation does not run on Shabbat, and most retail businesses are closed that day.”

Will this new government fulfill important biblical prophecies? Note the next article.

Praying on the Temple Mount

Israel Today wrote on November 6:

“Among the things liberals both in Israel and abroad fear the incoming religious right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu will do is open the Temple Mount to Jewish prayer... Muslims today claim that Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is Islam’s third holiest site, though that wasn’t always the case, and some are beginning to acknowledge that the site means little, if anything to Islam. Still, the majority have bought the lie, and as a premier Islamic holy site, they cannot accept its use by any other religion.

“This prohibition against all but Islamic religious expression at the Temple Mount is what Israel calls ‘the status quo,’ a Muslim-imposed state of affairs that the Jewish state and the West dare not violate for fear of an outbreak of Muslim violence… For many Jews the issue becomes who they fear more: God, or the Arab Muslim world.”

Soon, the issue will not just be, praying on the Temple Mount, but building the Third Temple.

Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount Will Lead to War?

The Times of Israel wrote on November 5:

“Any move by the incoming government to allow Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount ‘will lead to war,’ Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas has said. Abbas told Channel 12 on Thursday that he was ‘worried’ about the apparent new government… ‘Let’s not be naive,’ said Abbas, whose Islamist party was a core component of the outgoing coalition

“The presence of Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount is opposed by Palestinians, and Hamas warned of violent ‘repercussions’ over visits during the Jewish holidays… MK Ben Gvir… has often visited the Temple Mount while demanding Israel fully realize its sovereignty there. During the recent holiday period, Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman took to blowing the shofar at a Muslim cemetery near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, an action heavily criticized by police for its combustive potential but allowed by courts.

“Speaking Monday, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu — who is set to form the next government — said he would ‘maintain the status quo’ at the Temple Mount despite pressure from Ben Gvir. The Otzma Yehudit leader is seeking to be public security minister, which would make him responsible for keeping the peace at the Jerusalem holy site….”

A Catholic Priest Tells the Truth

Daily Mail wrote on November 3:

“A Catholic priest has been branded hateful over a sermon about ‘rampant’ sin, and denounced same sex marriage, abortion and the ‘lunacy’ of transgenderism… A reported 30 members of the congregation walked out of the church…

“During the sermon, Fr Sheehy said: ‘You rarely hear about sin but it’s rampant. It’s rampant… And we see it, for example in the legislation of our governments. We see it in the promotion of abortion. We see it in the example of this lunatic approach of transgenderism. We see it, for example, in the promotion of sex between two men and two women. That is sinful. That is mortal sin.’

“He added it was a ‘fact; a reality’ that these things were sinful… Asked if he planned to apologise, he said: ‘Not at all – why would I apologise for the truth?‘”

Yes, why indeed?

Russia For Traditional Values

AFP wrote on November 9:

“Russia on Wednesday vowed to defend its ‘traditional’ values against threats from the United States and ‘gay propaganda’ in a document signed by President Vladimir Putin. The presidential decree… warns that Moscow must take ‘urgent measures’ to ward off threats including terror groups, ‘certain mass media’ and ‘the United States and other unfriendly foreign countries.’

“It also lists internal threats from ‘the activities of certain organisations and people on Russian soil’. These foes risk implanting ‘alien’ ideas in Russian society and causing ‘the destruction of the traditional family unit through propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships,’ the decree says, using a phrase referring to LGBTQ relationships.

“The Orthodox Church welcomed the document as a way to ‘preserve our people and protect our children from being defiled,’ senior cleric Fyodor Lukyanov told TASS state news agency. The mission statement comes as Russian lawmakers are pushing through amendments to toughen up a controversial 2013 law banning ‘gay propaganda’ to minors, rewriting it to include adults as well.”

Diversity of Religions Act of God?

Life Site wrote on November 7:

“Pope Francis defended his controversial Abu Dhabi document which claimed that ‘diversity of religions’ is ‘willed by God,’ saying that it was ‘something that came from God.’…

“The Abu Dhabi document has been widely criticized by faithful Catholics for putting the Catholic faith and its worship of the God of Revelation on the same plane with religions that do not worship the true God and deliberately reject Him… the dubious passage in the document was never publicly corrected or clarified by the Pope or another Vatican official.”

The EU Rejects Free Speech!

On November 4, the Ron Paul Institute published the following article by Law Professor Jonathan Turley:

“We have been discussing how Democratic leaders like Hillary Clinton called on foreign companies to pass censorship laws to prevent Elon Musk from restoring free speech protections on Twitter. The EU has responded aggressively to warn Musk not to allow greater free speech or face crippling fines and even potential criminal enforcement. After years of using censorship-by-surrogates in social media companies, Democratic leaders seem to have rediscovered good old-fashioned state censorship.

“Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) declared Musk’s pledge to restore free speech values on social media as threatening Democracy itself… Former President Obama has declared ‘regulation has to be part of the answer’ to disinformation… Hillary Clinton is looking to Europe to fill the vacuum and called upon her European counterparts to pass a massive censorship law to ‘bolster global democracy before it’s too late.’

“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently repeated this call for global censorship at the United Nations to the applause of diplomats and media alike. EU censors have assured Democratic leaders that they will not allow free speech to break out on Twitter regardless of the wishes of its owner and customers.

“One of the most anti-free speech figures in the West, EU’s Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton has been raising the alarm that Twitter users might be able to read uncensored material or hear unauthorized views… Breton has made no secret that he views free speech as a danger coming from the United States that needs to be walled off from the Internet… the EU views free speech itself as an existential danger. They reject the notion of free speech…”

 It will only get worse when a core Europe of ten nations or groups of nations has formed, transferring their power and authority to a dictator and autocrat, called the Beast in the Bible.

Olaf Scholz Goes to China

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 5:

“On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz went to China, despite domestic and international skepticism about his trip

“Scholz’s 11-hour trip to China remains controversial — and not least because Germany’s current coalition government previously promised to change its approach to China, including reducing its dependency on the Asian giant. Experts say Scholz’s trip shows that Germany hasn’t really changed its policies towards China…

“‘The trip sends a message that even though Berlin should be seriously rethinking the relationship with China, they are going back to business as usual,’ said Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an assistant professor at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan and a former political advisor to the European Parliament. ‘While I think Europe needs to find a way to constructively talk to China from a position of strength, what Berlin is doing undermines that position by pursuing its own interests at the expense of the emerging, yet fragile, European unity that we’ve seen since the Ukraine war,’ she added.

“Reinhard Bütikofer, a German politician and member of the Greens party in the European Parliament, told DW that Scholz’s trip has contradicted the German coalition government’s agreement and will also have a negative impact on the European Union… ‘Germany’s China policy can’t be developed on the basis of the Chancellor alone, who has ignored competent advice on China at least three times. When we founded the new German government, we agreed Germany’s future China policy should be strongly integrated at the European level, and it should be coordinated in the trans-Atlantic relationship. Both haven’t happened,’ Bütikofer added.

“Prior to the trip, Scholz defended a controversial deal that allowed China’s state-owned shipping company [Cosco] to buy a minority 24.9% stake in one of Hamburg’s port terminals, ignoring objections from several cabinet members… ‘This visit is a manifestation of the fragmentation, not only within the EU, but also within the German political scene,’ said Marcin Jerzewski, head of the Taiwan office of the European Values Center, a Czech think tank…

“Sari Arho Havren, China researcher and adjunct professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, told DW that Scholz’s trip gives Beijing a strong signal that Germany ‘would bring the EU to see Beijing again in a more pragmatic and favorable light… This would mean normalizing Beijing’s behavior, [something] which is largely seen as the problem in the EU.’

“There’s also a significant divergence in how the two leaders view the world, Havren noted. ‘Scholz emphasized the severe consequences of the Ukrainian war, but for Xi, there is much more to it than that … Beijing sees the world through the lens of the US trying to contain China,’ she told DW. Through this lens, which also includes possible reunification of China and Taiwan, an ongoing partnership with Russia is important to China, as is a Europe that is not united on these issues. ‘With increasingly deepened ties to China through its powerful companies, Germany would potentially make a common European response against China less likely, in case of needing to choose sides between Beijing and Washington,’ Havren concluded.”

Scholz’s performance as chancellor has been controversial, to say the least. Note the next article.

Criticism From All Sides

Bild Online wrote on November 6:

“First of all, before his controversial trip (Friday) to the self-crowned lifetime dictator Xi Jinping (69), foreign minister [and coalition partner] Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had told him that this trip would not work at all

“And then on Saturday: Scholz [SPD] had just returned from his China ride (23-hour flight for four-hour talks), FDP leader [and coalition partner] Christian Linder (43) reached out and explained to the chancellor how things should actually work with China: ‘Only what is allowed for Germans in China can also be allowed for Chinese people in Germany ‘, he said… What Lindner tells the chancellor via the press: If China refuses German companies to set up their own companies, then the Chinese companies can lie down here too and at most enter into a joint venture. And: If German companies cannot participate in Chinese infrastructure, then the reverse is also not possible. This also means that if we are not allowed to buy a port in China, then the chancellor cannot push this through for the Chinese either, as has just happened in Hamburg.

“As reported, Scholz flew to Beijing with a piece of the port of Hamburg as a gift. Half of the cabinet had opposed the purchase… Scholz earned ridicule and incomprehension worldwide for a tweet after the trip to Communist dictator Xi. It sounded as if friends had met: ‘Reliability and trust – these two values ​​play an important role in German and Chinese culture. They are also the basis for diplomatic relations and political partnerships. It’s good that we spoke in person.’

Criticism rained down from all sides. Tenor: How can you use ‘trust’ and ‘reliability’ in connection with Xi and the China dictatorship?! Like they aren’t breaking human rights and spying on our economy.”

This also shows how fragile the German government and the coalition are.

Eight Billion People!

Daily Mail wrote on November 7:

“The world’s population is set to hit eight billion next week in a key milestone for humanity… The UN Population Division said that the population will continue to grow in the decades to come, with life expectancy set to increase to an average of 77.2 years by 2050. By November 15, the number of humans on Earth will grow to eight billion, more than three times higher than the 2.5 billion global headcount in 1950.

“The increase in life expectancy, as well as the number of people of childbearing age, has meant the UN predicts the world’s population will continue growing to about 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and a peak of about 10.4 billion in the 2080s… the UN projects that more than half of the population growth by 2050 will come from just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.”

EU’s Actions Re Coronavirus and Ukraine Cost Europeans Dearly

Euro News wrote on November 4:

“European citizens could have lost out on nearly €3,000 a year because of the austerity measures implemented by EU governments since the 2007 financial crisis, a new report has claimed… The news comes at a time when EU states are racking up levels of debt unseen during modern peacetime to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and effects of the war in Ukraine. Frank Van Lerven, programme lead of macro-economics at NEF, said austerity measures have been a failure

“Berlin, known as one of the most frugal EU member states, was a main proponent of austerity and cutbacks at the time. It has recently been able to afford a €200 billion aid package to help German people and businesses through the current energy crisis, much to the annoyance of other member states that cannot afford to do so on such a large scale.

“Polling included in the report found that 70% of people are concerned by what might happen if austerity is reintroduced. At the same time, 70% of respondents also reported concern about rising government debt...”

Herr Lauterbach: Are You Not Ashamed?

Bild Online wrote on November 4:

“It was a really surprising appearance: Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (59, SPD) told journalists on Wednesday: ‘The daycare closures were unnecessary.’ In one sentence, he declared the years of severe government intervention in the lives of millions of families to be a mistake that shouldn’t have been made. Ironically, the man who drove the lockdown like no other, who painted the devil on the wall, who constantly insisted that daycare centers and schools remain closed, now stands up and speaks of a mistake.

“Lauterbach was referring to a recent study conducted by the German Youth Institute (DJI) and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). According to this, the corona transmission rate for children under the age of 5 was 9.6 percent. The minister summed it up: ‘You could get infected much more slowly in daycare centers than within families.’ So the risk was higher at home and not the other way around.

“In June 2020, several German universities presented the preliminary results of their so-called Heidelberg study and came to the conclusion: ‘No indication of children as drivers of the infection process’. On January 22, 2021, data from a study by the Berlin Charité showed that children are not among the infection drivers in the pandemic.

“Such results were consistently ignored by the federal government. Above all by the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (68, CDU), her head of the chancellery Helge Braun (50, CDU), her health minister Jens Spahn (42, CDU) and Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (55, CSU). And also from Lauterbach, who was still a simple member of parliament at the time. On March 17, 2021, he called on all federal states to close the schools that they had cautiously opened. Again and again he warned of the danger of corona in daycare centers…

“Lauterbach tirelessly prophesied new corona catastrophes that never materialized. Just like the other politicians who closed Germany’s daycare centers and schools. One would like to ask: Aren’t you ashamed?

“Obviously not. When asked if he regretted the closure of the daycare centers, Lauterbach said coldly: ‘I don’t believe in assigning blame.’ Merkel and [Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus] Söder also showed no regrets and did not ask parents and children for forgiveness.

“Lauterbach was asked whether the closure of the schools was also unnecessary. There is no comprehensive study on this yet, he said. Why not? Family Minister Lisa Paus (54, Greens) announced on Wednesday that children and young people ‘often suffered less from the virus itself than from the consequences of the containment measures’. The psychological well-being has deteriorated in half of the students in Germany, among the socially disadvantaged even in two thirds. In 2021, 40 percent more children were hospitalized for eating disorders than in 2019.

“It is obvious that the closure of the schools was not necessary either. Millions of children and young people have been harmed senselessly. This is the balance that Lauterbach has to face.

“How does the government intend to help the harmed children and young people who have been thrown into depression by wrong political decisions? Answer us, Minister of Health. It’s your… duty.”

What was and is happening in Germany mirrors what was and is happening in the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and many other English-speaking nations where equally senseless coronavirus restrictions were imposed—especially based on the wrong advice of Dr. Fauci and other “experts”—and NO apologies have been issued for the incredible harm caused for millions of citizens in those countries. But the USA is still living in a ridiculously appalling Orwellian fantasy world. Read the next article.

Injections Extended Into 2023

Life Site News wrote on November 6:

“The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has extended the requirement for non-U.S. citizen, non-immigrants to show proof of COVID-19 injection in order to enter the country. This makes the U.S. one of the few remaining Western countries to uphold such a mandate.

“The renewal of the U.S. border restrictions was announced November 4, and will expire on January 8, 2023. The current restrictions – which require visitors and temporary residents to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the country – were due to expire on November 8…

“Under the terms of the extended border restrictions, airline operators must ensure that passengers, prior to boarding, show paper or digital proof of having taken COVID injections, or provide documents detailing an exemption from such requirements. The requirements align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which stipulate that a passenger must have had either one injection of a single-dose vaccine, or two of a double-dose injection. The injections must be at least 14 days prior to flying. While the restrictions apply to ‘noncitizen nonimmigrants,’ they do not apply to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

“… the COVID19 injections do not prevent against contracting the virus… studies are now showing that the injections actually increase the chances of contracting the virus. Given the extension of the COVID-19 injection mandate for the U.S. border, this means that passengers could be allowed to fly into the country even if they have the virus, so long as they also have taken the injections. Such a policy undermines the TSA’s purported aim of limiting the transmission and spread of COVID-19.

“The U.S now also has the dubious honor of remaining one of the few countries (and the most significant) still requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for incoming passengers. Other countries include Yemen, Liberia, North Korea, China and Libya.”

What a list of dictatorial countries. The incredible shortsightedness, ignorance and incompetence of the American government and their agencies is beyond comprehension. Even Canada and the United Kingdom removed any requirements of coronavirus vaccinations for international travel.

“Fauci’s Failing to Meet His Sales Quota”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on November 7:

“Speaking at an awards ceremony over the weekend, retiring government bureaucrat Anthony Fauci expressed his dismay over the fact that Americans seem entirely uninterested in getting the latest Pfizer and Moderna booster shots… Fauci raged, like a pharma rep who failed to meet his sales quota

“In total, only about 7% of all Americans have taken the new shot, according to the CDC. The boosters were only tested on mice, but approved for emergency use through the FDA’s rubber stamp partnership with Pfizer and Moderna.

“There is no evidence that the boosters do anything beneficial to help combat Covid-19…  At the event, Fauci paradoxically received a humanitarian award named after Muhammad Ali, the anti-establishment, counter culture boxing icon who was persecuted by career government bureaucrats like Fauci for his refusal to serve in Vietnam. Fauci, for his part, avoided the draft by joining the NIH.

“In his acceptance speech, the disgruntled bureaucrat expressed his disgust with Americans who refuse to follow Government Health orders… ‘What I refer to as the normalization of untruths. Put more bluntly, the normalization of lies that we see all around us. Now, helped along by social media, facts and falsehoods now coexist as sometimes equals, deliberately sowing confusion and discord, and distorting reality,’ he continued…”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

Election Day in Israel

Israel Today wrote on November 1:

“Today we choose our next prime minister, his government coalition, and those who we believe can meet the many challenges of the modern Jewish state… the airwaves are crammed with the dizzying spin of candidates flattering themselves as though they will somehow miraculously protect our nation from our enemies, from ourselves, and unify the country. In the next breath they gleefully point out just how horrible their opponent would be if elected…

“Politicians don’t even bother anymore to offer an honest assessment…”

Sadly, this assessment is true for politicians all over the world, and the USA is certainly no exception.

Netanyahu Is Back

JTA wrote on November 2:

“As most of the votes in Israel continue to be tallied on Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu looks assured of returning to power, as his far-right bloc of parties is predicted to win around 65 seats, well above the 61 needed in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.

“The official final results are not expected to be finalized on Wednesday, but over 80% of the votes had been counted by the afternoon local time.

“Many of the votes that have not yet been counted are nicknamed ‘double-envelope ballots,’ cast by security officers, prisoners, diplomats abroad, residents of assisted living facilities and hospital patients and staff. These ballots have in recent years heavily favored right-wing parties.

“Netanyahu, who has only been out of the prime minister’s office for 16 months, is expected to form a coalition with multiple haredi Orthodox parties and the Religious Zionism slate of two parties, led by the far-right extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Ben-Gvir has worried American Jewish leaders with his anti-Arab, anti-LGBTQ and other inflammatory rhetoric…

“Current Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s party is predicted to win 24 seats, compared to 32 for Netanyahu’s Likud…

“Ben-Gvir, touted as a rising star who has electrified the conservative electorate, will likely be given a high-ranking cabinet position. He is hoping to be named security minister, which would put him in charge of the country’s police force.”

The Associated Press wrote on November 2:

“Tuesday’s election was Israel’s fifth in less than four years, with all of them focused largely on Netanyahu’s fitness to govern. On trial for a slew of corruption charges, Netanyahu, who denied wrongdoing, is seen by supporters as the victim of a witch hunt and vilified by opponents as a crook and threat to democracy

“Netanyahu was Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, governing for 12 consecutive years – and 15 years altogether – before he was ousted last year by a diverse coalition led by the centrist Yair Lapid, the current caretaker prime minister. But the coalition that Lapid cobbled together, which included the first Arab party ever to join a government, was decimated by infighting and collapsed after just one year in power…

“The night’s strongest showing was by the Religious Zionism party, which emerged as the third-largest party. At an all-male campaign gathering in Jerusalem, religious men wearing Jewish skullcaps and waving Israeli flags danced in celebration. At the celebration, supporters of the party’s top candidate, Itamar Ben-Gvir, chanted ‘Death to terrorists.’

“Ben-Gvir is a [of] disciple Rabbi, Meir Kahane, who was banned from parliament and whose Kach party was branded a terrorist group by the United States before he was assassinated in New York in 1990…

“Such positions could put a future Netanyahu government on a collision course with the Biden administration, which supports a two-state solution with the Palestinians…”

Ultimately, America will rise up against Israel.

Terrible South Korea Stampede Causes Many Fatalities and Injuries

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 30:

“At least [151] people were killed in a stampede on Saturday night in the South Korean capital of Seoul… An additional 150 people were injured in the crush, which took place in the city’s Itaewon district, where Halloween festivities were taking place… Most of the dead are in their teens and 20s…

“Local media estimated that 100,000 people were in the streets of Itaewon on Saturday night for the Halloween parties. The festivities were the largest they had been in years after South Korea eased its coronavirus restrictions in recent months…

“EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was ‘deeply saddened… by the terrible events in central Seoul. What [was] meant to be a celebration turned into a tragedy with so many young casualties,’ he tweeted…”

The problem is, Halloween is a festival in honor of Satan and should not be celebrated by anyone. Note the next article:

Halloween—a Demonic Festival

CBN wrote on October 30:

“Millions of people will be celebrating Halloween on Monday, October 31, including many Christians. In fact, Halloween is the second-largest commercial holiday in America, typically grossing around $10 billion in sales… However, many do not realize there’s a darker reality to this celebration and it is steeped in paganism and witchcraft

“CBN News’ Charlene Aaron interviewed former Satanist John Ramirez, who warned that Christians should have nothing to do with practicing pagan customs. ‘Halloween is the most diabolical demonic holiday,’ he said.”

It certainly is…

Brazil’s New (Old) Left Leader

Breitbart wrote on October 30:

“The top electoral authority in Brazil announced on Sunday evening that 77-year-old hardline socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, once convicted and sentenced to over two decades in prison for alleged corruption, had won this year’s presidential election against incumbent conservative Jair Bolsonaro…

“Little more than a percentage point separated Lula, who served as president previously from 2003 to 2011, from Bolsonaro… National newspaper of record O Globo described the results as the closest election since 1989, when Lula narrowly lost to Fernando Collor de Mello, who was impeached and ousted from office over corruption allegations in 1992…

“Lula’s victory is particularly momentous given that, during 2018 elections, which Bolsonaro won, he was in prison after being found guilty of buying a luxury beachfront property with bribe money. The case was part of a much larger corruption investigation… which unveiled a nationwide corruption scheme involving dozens of high-ranking politicians that operated during Lula’s presidential tenure. The government enriched itself by offering overpriced contracts for infrastructure and other public works projects to private contractors… and those private contractors would then use some of the excess money to bribe the politicians, securing future contracts.

“Last year, the nation’s top court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), let the now president-elect run for office again by overturning his conviction on the grounds that the judge initially in charge of the case, Sergio Moro, was personally biased against Lula and originally did not have jurisdiction to try the case. The reasoning did not challenge any of the evidence against Lula or the appeals that affirmed the original conviction

Leftist American President Joe Biden was among the first to congratulate Lula on his reported victory on Sunday. Biden, as a candidate in 2020, had vowed to destroy the Brazilian economy…  if Bolsonaro did not accept an unspecified $20-billion environmental investment, prompting Bolsonaro to later threaten to go to war with the United States. Their relationship never recovered.”

Reuters added on October 31 that “Argentine President Alberto Fernandez flew to Sao Paulo to meet the president-elect on Monday and hailed ‘a new era for the history of Latin America. A time of hope and future that begins today.’… Congratulations also poured in from other foreign leaders [besides Biden], including China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.”

An interesting list of leaders congratulating the new corrupt leader of Brazil. We do not expect that the relationship between the USA and Brazil will become or remain friendly in the long run.

America Insults Arab World?

Israel 365 wrote on October 30:

“The Saudis believe that the Biden administration’s hostility towards Saudi Arabia is the result of the influence of far-left US politicians who have infiltrated the Democratic Party.

“The Saudis, in addition, are warning that the Biden administration is acting against America’s interests in the Middle East by alienating and insulting Saudi Arabia and other traditional allies of the US in the Arab world.”

Coming–Trade War Between Europe and the USA?

Politico wrote on October 27:

“After publicly falling out, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron have found something they agree on: mounting alarm over unfair competition from the U.S. and the potential need for Europe to hit back… both leaders agreed that the EU cannot remain idle if Washington pushes ahead with its Inflation Reduction Act, which offers tax cuts and energy benefits for companies investing on U.S. soil, in its current form.

“Specifically, the recently signed U.S. legislation encourages consumers to ‘Buy American’ when it comes to choosing an electric vehicle — a move particularly galling for major car industries in the likes of France and Germany… [According to Scholz and Macron,] similar incentive schemes for companies will be needed to avoid unfair competition or losing investments. That move would risk plunging transatlantic relations into a new trade war…

“In a blow to Germany’s industrial core, chemical giant BASF announced plans Wednesday to reduce its business activities and jobs in Germany, with company chief Martin Brudermüller citing heightened gas prices — which he criticized for being six times as high as in the U.S. — as well as increasing EU regulation as the reason….”

Europe Wakes Up on Defense

The Media Line wrote on November 1:

“Now that 15 European countries have joined the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative, a joint defense system, the likely sale of Israel’s Arrow 3 air defense system to Germany will become the largest defense export in Israeli history, reaching a sum of 3 billion euros. Jerusalem and Berlin are waiting for Washington to approve the deal; the United States has the right to veto any sale of the Israeli defense system, since the US financed the research and development of the Arrow 3…

“Israeli defense industries have always had a market in Europe, but since the Russia-Ukraine war started, …there is that deep understanding among central, eastern and northern European countries that the threat is real, and that big wars are not over… As the threat grows… the demand for advanced and proven systems like Arrow 3 is growing as well… the Russian invasion of Ukraine served as a wake-up call for many European countries regarding… the lack of capabilities to cope with the Russian attack on their territory… the United States… is probably not enthusiastic about watching Germany’s accelerated military build-up plans over the past year…”

And so, Europe will develop a powerful Army.

Germany Warns Serbia

Insider Paper wrote on November 1:

“Germany has cautioned Serbia against cultivating deeper ties with Russia, warning that it could thwart its bid to join the European Union, a German government source said on Tuesday. Two days ahead of a Western Balkans summit in the German capital intended to bolster relations with the six countries of the region, the senior official said Belgrade needed to decide whose side it was on: Moscow’s or the EU’s… ‘Should he choose the other path, it will have ensuing consequences’ for Belgrade’s future with the EU, the official said.

“Serbia has been a candidate to join the European Union since 2012 but its prospects are seen as bleak without a normalisation of relations with Kosovo… Tensions have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, with many Serbs sympathetic to traditional ally Russia

“Thursday’s summit in Berlin hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will bring together the heads of government of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia as well as EU leaders.”

It will be interesting to see in whose corner Serbia will end up. Serbia’s interest in Russia is well-known.

Too Much Money for Ukraine?

The Week wrote on October 18:

“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has suggested the days of Ukraine aid could come to an end should Republicans regain the lower chamber in the upcoming midterm elections… ‘I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a [free] blank check to Ukraine. They just won’t do it…’ McCarthy recently [said]. ‘And then there’s the things [the Biden administration] is not doing domestically…’

“So far, the U.S. has approved over $60 billion in support for Ukraine… with more than $18.2 billion in security assistance given since January 2021… Other Republicans, including those running for office in November have criticized the amount of money the U.S. has contributed to the war.”

Der Spiegel wrote on October 26 that not only Republicans, but also Democrats are becoming critical of Joe Biden’s actions towards and military support for Ukraine.

Russia Suspends Black Sea Grain Export Deal

Thomson/Reuters wrote on October 29:

“Russia’s suspension of a Black Sea grain export deal requires a strong international response from the United Nations and the Group of 20 major economies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday. In a video address, he accused Russia of trying to create an artificial famine in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

“U.S. President Joe Biden denounced the move as ‘purely outrageous’ and said it would increase starvation.

“Russia’s defense ministry said Ukraine attacked the Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol on the annexed Crimean peninsula with 16 drones early on Saturday, and that British navy ‘specialists’ had helped coordinate the ‘terrorist’ attack.

“The suspension will cut Ukrainian grain exports from its crucial Black Sea ports… The deal allows shipments of grain from Ukraine, one of the world’s largest exporters, that the Russian invasion had halted.”

In the meantime, Russia has allegedly agreed to resume the Black Sea grain export deal.

Reuters reported on November 2:

“Russia said on Wednesday it would resume its participation in a deal freeing up grain exports from war-torn Ukraine, reversing a move that world leaders had said threatened to exacerbate global hunger. Moscow announced the sudden reversal after Turkey and the United Nations helped keep Ukrainian grain flowing for several days without Russian participation in inspections.

“The Russian defence ministry justified the change by saying it had received guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia...”

Russia has also claimed now that British navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines on September 26. Britain strongly denied this claim. Previously, Russia had said “Washington had a motive as it wants to sell more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe” (Thomson/Reuters, October 29).

All Guilty of War Crimes

MSN wrote on October 30:

“Russian bombs and artillery have killed thousands of civilians while destroying Ukrainian schools, hospitals and apartment buildings.

“As of this week, the UN has tallied 15,908 civilian casualties, including 6,306 killed. Those numbers, which include hundreds of children, are likely low. Russia’s strike this summer on a crowded shopping mall drew the condemnation of leaders of the G7: ‘Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime,’ said the elected leaders of the largest Western democracies. ‘Russian President Putin and those responsible will be held to account.’

“But that statement, endorsed of course by President Biden, glosses over America’s own complicated legacy of bombing civilians in World War II. Throughout that war, civilians worldwide sadly bore a heavy burden. The Japanese pulverized China’s wartime capital of Chongqing, while the Germans hammered British cities in the Blitz. The British subsequently retaliated, burning Hamburg, Berlin and, of course, Dresden, a city whose name has become synonymous with the horror of air warfare…

“As head of the 21st Bomber Command on Guam, LeMay chose to abandon America’s longtime strategy of daylight high-altitude precision attacks in favor of burning Japanese cities in low-level nighttime raids. For his inaugural strike on the night of March 9, 1945, he set his sights on Tokyo. LeMay’s 12-square-mile target area, which was 87.4 percent residential, had an average population density of 103,000 people per square mile, meaning the bombs fell largely on the kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms of the Japanese capital’s working-class civilians…

“At 12:07 a.m., his first bomber unloaded on the Japanese capital. For the next 142 minutes, nearly 300 planes dropped 1,665 tons of incendiaries. These napalm-filled explosives were designed to punch through the metal and tile roofs of shops and homes, spraying flaming jellied gasoline on walls, furniture and bedding. Hundreds of blazes soon erupted, ultimately melding into a massive tidal wave of fire that rolled across the city. Temperatures amid the conflagration soared as high as 2,800°F., hot enough to melt concrete, liquefy asphalt and fuse coins together. ‘The town was a blazing hell,’ recalled survivor Sumi Ogawa, ‘lit by the swirling and roiling flames.’…

“The sun rose the next morning to reveal an apocalyptic wasteland. The attack incinerated 16 square miles of Tokyo and killed 105,000 men, women and children. Another 40,000 people suffered injuries and a million were left homeless…

“Back in Washington, officials monitored the nation’s editorial pages and radio broadcasts for evidence that the killing of civilians might spark outrage among the American public. Those fears, however, proved unfounded…

The lack of any public outcry served as a green light for LeMay, who over the next five months proceeded to burn dozens of Japanese cities… America, in short, was waging war against Japan’s civilians… In the 177 days from his strike on Tokyo until the Japanese surrender on board the USS Missouri, LeMay torched 66 Japanese cities, leveling 178 square miles. Of all those operations, LeMay’s raid on Tokyo proved one of the deadliest, rivaled only by the fatalities caused by the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the waning days of the war.

“All told, America’s bombing campaign against the Japanese homeland killed 330,000 people, injured nearly a half million more, and left 8.5 million homeless. ‘Curtis LeMay,’ observed his biographer Warren Kozak, ‘ordered the deaths of more civilians than any other man in U.S. history. No one else comes close, not William Tecumseh Sherman, not George S. Patton — no one.’

“It is important, as we grieve the awful war crimes Russia is committing in Ukraine, that we as Americans remember our own tragic history of attacks on civilians nearly eight decades ago in our quest for total victory.”

No nation has a corner on the market when it comes to terrible war crimes and the killing of innocent civilians.

Germany Warns of Rough Years Ahead

Reuters wrote on October 28:

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has plunged Europe into an era of insecurity, Germany said on Friday a day after Vladimir Putin predicted a ‘dangerous’ decade ahead. German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the 24 February invasion had ended ‘old dreams’ of a united continent.

“‘It has plunged us into another time, into an insecurity we thought we had overcome: a time marked by war, violence and flight, by concerns about the expansion of war into a wildfire in Europe,’ said the president, who is from a wing of Germany’s Social Democrats that long argued for closer economic ties to Moscow. ‘Harder years, rough years are coming.’

“Germany, which has joined European sanctions against Russia and weapons deliveries to Ukraine, has recorded the arrival of more than a million Ukrainian refugees and warned of possible energy shortages this winter after cuts in Russian gas supplies.

“Mr Putin… accused Western leaders of inciting the war in Ukraine, which he says was justified by Kyiv’s expressed wish to join Nato. Western dominance over world affairs was coming to an end and ‘ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important decade since the end of the Second World War,’ Putin said.”

Unfortunately, Germans don’t listen anymore to Steinmeier, also because of his support of Russia and Germany’s dependence on Russian gas, as Bild Online commented on October 3:

“What a pity that the current Federal President can no longer shake anyone up, that his words simply fade away. But it is not surprising: Frank-Walter Steinmeier has lost all credibility. Hardly any other German politician has been on the wrong side of history as often as our head of state…

“A strong Federal President would never be more important than now, in times of war, energy crisis and inflation. A President who holds the country together. Unfortunately, the wrong person is sitting in Bellevue Palace.”

Wake Up, Chancellor Scholz

Focus wrote on October 30:

“‘Has Germany learned from its Russia problem? The test could come in China,’ writes the ‘New York Times’ on Sunday. The Danish newspaper Politiken has a headline: ‘Wake up Chancellor’. Who is meant is Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ‘geopolitical blindness,’ the newspaper judges. Shortly after the controversial deal for the Chinese state shipping company Cosco to enter the port of Hamburg, Scholz is preparing for his first visit to China.

“… SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and leading representatives of German business have warned against excessive Chinese influence. The pressure on the Chancellor is great these days.”

German Health Minister’s Lack of Credibility

 “Health Minister Lauterbach (59, SPD) wants to legalize cannabis, although the consumption of this drug can lead to significant health damage. This is based on the view that people act on their own responsibility, i.e. they should decide for themselves what danger they want to expose themselves to. The state should no longer make this decision for them through a ban.

“That is understandable. Why shouldn’t an informed citizen be able to decide for himself whether to consume cannabis? However, this argument contradicts everything Lauterbach thought was right in the case of Corona. No state coercive measure, no restriction of personal freedom was hard enough for him to avert damage to the health of the population. He propagated the lockdown, compulsory vaccinations, compulsory home office, bans on contact, the closure of schools, the complete standstill of cultural life, allegedly everything to protect health.

“Through this radical policy, he even made a career from a simple MP to a minister. So now the opposite…

“Lauterbach… still advocates vaccinating even young children. Children and young people were never particularly at risk from Covid-19…

“This health minister has got himself caught up in an irresolvable contradiction. Against the background of the Corona policy he is pushing, his cannabis approval just seems bigoted.”

The CDC Strikes Again

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on October 21:

“On Oct. 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention handed another huge gift to Big Pharma: In a little-publicized meeting, the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend adding the Covid vaccine to the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule. This makes the Covid vaccine market vast and indefinite—exposing children to unnecessary risks while shielding drug companies from liability.

“Throughout the pandemic, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration rubber-stamped every iteration of the vaccines that came through the door. So this final outcome is hardly surprising. And yet it still has the power to shock. It never should have come to this. Despite all the ‘sciencing’ that led us here, it is a completely perverse outcome. The Covid bonfire is down to its last fading embers—and now the CDC effectively decrees that every child forever should receive this novel, barely tested, potentially dangerous injection.

The potential profits flowing from this approval are enormous. The Covid injections were all approved under emergency laws that effectively shielded the corporate developers from any liability. This temporary shield would expire in October 2024. When the CDC officially adds the shots to the childhood immunization schedule, all future liability transfers to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, or VICP. The shield extends to adult shots, as well; once the product is covered under VICP, manufacturers become immune against all consumer legal challenges, shifting damages claims to US taxpayers. Having already received FDA approval as ‘safe and effective,’ and with no concern for liability, the manufacturers are free to churn out mRNA injections as they will. Shots and boosters from birth until death, multiplied by every citizen in the nation. Childhood Covid vaccination is the 2021 windfall compounded into eternity.

“Children are at minuscule risk from the novel coronavirus and transmit it at lower rates than adults. That much we have known since the early days of the pandemic. Public-health authorities also acknowledge that the Pfizer/Moderna products don’t prevent infection or transmission of the virus, that the mRNA formulation doesn’t grant any lasting immunity, that the benefit of the shot against severe disease is only evident for older patients, and that there are risks of significant adverse events, including heart inflammation, neurological impairment, autoimmune disease, and death. There is no reason to inject children with this novel therapeutic.

“Parents have spoken with their feet; the uptake of these injections for children under 11 has been well below what officials were hoping. Despite a massive publicity campaign that likened vaccination to a ‘super-power’ and recruited Sesame Street characters to the cause, by September, only 6 percent of children under 5 had received even a single dose, and fewer than 2 percent were ‘fully vaccinated.’ Dr. Peter Hotez, CNN’s go-to vaccine advocate, thinks the reason is a failure to scare parents enough… maybe parents can see what is hiding in plain sight: Kids don’t need this shot, and the risk of harm is real.”

Let those who have ears to hear listen…

Crazy Scientific “Experiments” in England and the USA

Daily Mail wrote on October 31:

British scientists intentionally created hybrid Covid strains in risky experiments judged to be like ‘playing with fire’, MailOnline can reveal.

“Hamsters were infected with mutant viruses, blends of the original Wuhan strain and parts of either Omicron or Delta. Critics of the research, carried out by Imperial College London, called it ‘insanity’ and warned the lab trials could, in theory, unleash a new viral threat. Twenty scientists were involved in the project, including one who sits on the Government’s advisory panel SAGE…

“Our revelation comes amid ongoing furore over similar experiments in the US, where authorities have proposed a crackdown on virus manipulation research. Earlier this month, DailyMail.com, MailOnline’s US equivalent, revealed academics at Boston University combined different parts of the Omicron and the original Wuhan Covid strains.

“Critics say this combined the higher lethality of the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 version, which triggered the pandemic in early 2020, with the extreme transmissibility of the milder Omicron strain. Omicron is said to be just contagious as measles, although the claim is disputed. The hybrid virus they created killed 80 per cent of infected mice…

A leak of such an engineered virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology is one of the main theorised origins of the pandemic. The infamous lab carried out similar research involving coronaviruses found in bats, with some arguing this work constituted gain of function experiments, though others refute this. But others argued the Boston University research was unquestionably gain of function as it had the potential of increasing its transmissibility — even if the end result appeared to be the opposite.”

What are these crazy scientists up to? Do they want to eradicate most of mankind?

Fentanyl—a Weapon of Mass Destruction

National Interest wrote on October 27:

“Since 9/11, enterprises in China and cartels in Mexico have produced and exported thousands of pounds of a lethal chemical that has killed over 100,000 Americans. Despite this deadly assault on America, there has been no decisive whole-of-government reaction by the United States to solve this problem. In fact, there has been almost no coordinated reaction at all.

‘That lethal chemical is fentanyl, and it is high time for the Biden administration to declare it a weapon of mass destruction (WMD), treat the Mexican cartels that push it into the United States as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO), identify Communist China as the source of the problem and make it pay for it, and bring order to our southern border, the main gateway for this deadly drug.

“The numbers are staggering. Fentanyl can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and up to 100 times stronger than morphine, and as little as two milligrams can be fatal. Federal data indicates that of the almost 1 million drug overdose fatalities since 1999, most of which were from fentanyl. And the loss of life is growing rapidly: Fentanyl overdoses caused 57,832 deaths in 2020 and 71,238 in 2021, a 23 percent increase. Fentanyl overdoses are the number one cause of death for Americans between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. In 2021, fentanyl killed almost twice as many Americans in this age group than the second-place killer, motor vehicle accidents.

“Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seized 11,201 pounds of fentanyl and noted that this quantity could kill every American citizen seven times over.”

America is being destroyed from the outside and is destroying itself from the inside.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

Liz Truss Resigns

The Associated Press wrote on October 20:

“British Prime Minister Liz Truss quit Thursday after a tumultuous and historically brief term marred by economic policies that roiled financial markets and a rebellion in her political party that obliterated her authority.

After just 45 days in office, Truss became the third Conservative prime minister to be toppled in as many years, and she will go down as the shortest-serving leader in British history. Her resignation extends the instability that has shaken Britain since it broke off from the European Union and leaves its leadership in limbo as the country faces a cost-of-living crisis and looming recession…

“The low-tax, low-regulation economic policies that got Truss elected by her party proved disastrous in the real world at a time of soaring inflation and weak growth. Her Sept. 23 economic plan included a raft of tax cuts that investors worried Britain couldn’t afford. It pummeled the value of the pound and drove up the cost of mortgages, causing economic pain for people and businesses already struggling… That financial tumult led to the replacement of Truss’ Treasury chief, multiple policy U-turns and a breakdown of discipline in the governing Conservative Party.

“Truss resigned just a day after vowing to stay in power, saying she was ‘a fighter and not a quitter.’ But she couldn’t hold on any longer after a senior minister quit her government amid a barrage of criticism and a vote in the House of Commons Wednesday descended into chaos and acrimony… Where the Conservative Party goes from here is not clear. Its myriad factions — from hard-right Brexiteers to centrist ‘One Nation’ Tories — are at each other’s throats… An editorial in the Daily Mail on Thursday was headlined: ‘The wheels have come off the Tory clown car.’”

Truss’ fall was inevitable. The Sun already asked on October 14: “In one truly disastrous day she threw her closest ally [Chancellor KWASI Kwarteng] under the bus, installed a controversial replacement and looked evasive and bewildered at a press ­conference where The Sun asked — on behalf of our despairing readers — how she could justify staying in her job.” The Sun also wrote on October 14 that even prior to her resignation, “Liz Truss’ first 40 days in power… ended in [the] biggest political meltdown for 300 years.”

The Liz Truss Debacle… and What America Should Take Note Of

The New York Post wrote on October 20:

“The joke in Britain is that the country is becoming like Italy – but without the weather.  In other words – ungovernable. Just as Italian politics seem to throw up a new government most weeks, so the UK seems to be churning through Prime Ministers.  Liz Truss… barely unpacked her bags in Downing Street before having to pack them back up again…

“So what on earth caused this mess?  There are a number of reasons…

“All of the Western world is now suffering economic turmoil and cost of living crises.  Nobody who is in power is going to look good at such a time.  But it was the choice of politicians in Britain – as it was in America – to pump out free money since 2008.  We did so under the apparent belief that the costs of money-printing would never arrive.

“Then, before that money splurge had even finished we had another one – the great COVID money splurge.  Then on top of that, we had the costs coming from the war in Ukraine.  Like so many politicians in this country, Liz Truss tried to get through this by promising people more of everything.

“Her disastrous mini-budget last month saw her promise of tax cuts and a massive increase in borrowing.  The markets were spooked – and rightly so… recent years have shown that politicians on the right are just as able as those on the left to borrow like there´s no tomorrow

“When politicians promise one thing and do another then all politics becomes restless… US politicians are as expert as British ones in pushing difficult problems away

“… Most of us can remember a time when there were at least some politicians admired across the political aisle.  People who were respected because – whether you agreed with them or not – they seemed to have their country´s best interests at heart.  How many politicians of this generation can this be said about?  Perhaps it´s the fault of the people going into politics.  Or perhaps the ones going into it want the wrong things?  Certainly, a lot of them seem to put their own advancement ahead of their country.  When they are also visibly incapable of their job there´s no way that voters won´t notice that too.

“Today Britain looks like a shambles.  Its reputation for calm politics has been shot and the ruling party´s reputation for economic competency has been shattered…

“It could be the same here any day.  American politicians seem to think that America´s financial dominance makes us immune from disaster.  But there is no law in nature that makes this so. Our politicians also promise everything and anything.  Like their counterparts in the UK, they promise to give more money to everyone without saying where it´s going to come from… How long can this go on?  As in Britain, it will go on until the day it doesn´t.  And if that day ever comes here it will make what is happening in Britain look like an absolute model of calm…”

A completely different perspective is published in the next article.

Fox News published on October 21 an opinion piece by Nile Gardiner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation and a former aide to Margaret Thatcher:

“With Prime Minister Liz Truss’s resignation, we have witnessed a Shakespearean tragedy, the result of a stunning loss of nerve in 10 Downing Street, coupled with a nefarious and ultimately successful attempt by Tory liberals to drive her out after just 44 days in office. A government with a majority of over 70 parliamentary seats has basically collapsed, emboldening the left.

“My former boss, Lady Thatcher, would have been appalled. This is the biggest political coup in the U.K. since the Iron Lady herself stepped down as P.M. in 1990 after being forced to resign by her own party. Liz Truss’s resignation and disastrously short tenure is a leadership lesson for conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic. Never surrender to the left, don’t U-turn on key policies, and stick to conservative principles and ideals.

“It has been monumentally sad to see the former prime minister apologizing for free-market, low-tax policies after sustained attacks on her ‘mini-budget,’ which had originally pledged to cut individual and corporate taxes. No British leader should ever say sorry for cutting taxes and advancing economic freedom. The damage being done here to the Conservative Party’s standing and credibility is immense… The reversal of the tax cut agenda is a victory for those who believe in the power of the state over individuals and free markets. It is a huge step backwards for the U.K., and is the path to economic decline. The U-turns on tax policy have been catastrophic, and the consequences for the British economy will be dire.

“The P.M. should never have surrendered to the left, and should have ignored the attacks from the IMF, Joe Biden, and Britain’s liberal elites. The British Conservative Party is literally destroying itself… with a recession the likely result.  Abandoning economic freedom is a terrible mistake and a gift to the Socialist left, including the Biden presidency in the United States, which strongly opposed the U.K. tax cut agenda.

President Biden’s lecturing of the British prime minister on economic policy has been both outrageous and ridiculous. The Biden economy has been an absolute disaster, with soaring inflation, crashing markets and a looming recession. He is the last person on Earth who should be handing out economic advice with his track record

“The priority for the new P.M. must be to protect the future of Brexit, secure Britain’s borders and sovereignty, and advance economic freedom, while ensuring that the Socialist left and the Scottish Nationalists are not in a position to destroy Brexit and the United Kingdom.”

Rishi Sunak New PM

The Associated Press wrote on October 24:

“Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is set to become Britain’s next prime minister after winning the Conservative leadership race Monday — and now faces the huge task of stabilizing the party and country at a time of economic and political turbulence. Sunak will be Britain’s first leader of color…

“Sunak lost out to Truss in the last Conservative election… He promised ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability’ if he formed a government — a veiled criticism of the scandal-tarred Johnson and the problem-plagued Truss. Sunak will now be asked by King Charles III to form a government…

“Sunak’s victory is historic: He is the first British prime minister of South Asian heritage, the first Hindu to hold the post and the youngest for 200 years. His challenge is enormous as he tries to unite a demoralized and divided party that trails far behind the opposition in opinion polls, and seeks to shore up an economy reeling after Truss’ brief, disastrous experiment in libertarian economics…

“Sunak’s position strengthened after former leader Boris Johnson dramatically quit the race on Sunday night, ending a short-lived, high-profile attempt to return to the prime minister’s job he was ousted from little more than three months ago…

“Johnson spent the weekend trying to gain support from fellow Conservative lawmakers after flying back from a Caribbean vacation. Late Sunday he said he had amassed the backing of 102 colleagues. But he was far behind Sunak in support, and said he had concluded that ‘you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament.’ The prospect of a return by Johnson had thrown the already divided Conservative Party into further turmoil…

“In his Sunday statement, Johnson insisted he was ‘well placed to deliver a Conservative victory’ in the next national election, due by 2024

“The Conservative Party turmoil is fueling demands for a national election. Under Britain’s parliamentary system, there does not need to be one until the end of 2024, though the government has the power to call one sooner. Currently that looks unlikely…”

And so, Sunak will become the next PM—the third leader within just three months. The German outlet, t-online, described him as the “kingslayer” without a white vest. Whether he will keep his post for a while will have to be seen. Breitbart described him as a globalist [see also below], “best known for signing the cheques on the mega-money lockdown policies of the Covid era and pushing the national tax burden to the highest levels in decades,” continuing, “…this development can hardly be good news for Britain.”

Rishi’s Hindu Faith Under Scrutiny

The Sun wrote on October 24:

“Rishi’s Hindu faith helps guide his lifestyle. He is a lifelong teetotaller [someone who drinks no alcohol] and doesn’t eat beef. When he became an MP, he swore his oath on the Hindu holy book, the Bhagavad Gita. Fittingly, he became PM on the first day of Diwali, the religion’s most important festival… in true Rishi style he fasts on Mondays to help him stay in shape…”

Breitbart added on October 25:

“Sunak has the distinction of being so wealthy, with an estimated combined net worth of £730 million ($825 million) alongside his wife, that he will… be the first inhabitant of Number 10 Downing Street to have a larger fortune than the reigning British monarch, leading to questions about his ability to empathise with the plight of the common man during the economic crisis, which he, in part, helped to create

“Sunak appeared at the World Economic Forum’s Green Horizon Summit in 2020 to advocate for a ‘whole of economy transition’ to ‘green energy’ sources. The connection to the WEF does not stop there, however, as the company founded by his father-in-law N. R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys, is a listed partner of the World Economic forum. Murthy also previously served as co-chairman for the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in 2005. Further confirming his intention to govern as a globalist PM, backer Tobias Ellwood MP hinted at Sunak ushering in the so-called Great Reset schemed up by WEF chairman Klaus Schwab…

“One of the key agenda points of Davos, to usher in a cashless society, has also been promoted by Sunak, who has been one of the leading figures pushing for the implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), through which governments would be able to track every expenditure made by citizens, leading to concerns that Britain will follow the likes of Communist China in implementing a social credit score…”

Live Mint wrote on October 25:

“‘A Hindu Prime Minister is now responsible for advising King Charles on appointments to the Church of England. Britain is dead,’ said Collin Pruett, Operations Associate at The American Conservative… Sunak always keeps an Idol of Shri Ganesh on his table… On the occasion of Janmashtami 2022, Sunak visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with his wife Akshata in advance of the popular Hindu festival celebrating Lord Krishna’s birthday

“British magazine gal-dem wrote on Twitter, ‘Rishi Sunak’s undemocratic election as Prime Minister is not a win for diversity, and we’re not celebrating it as one.’ One user replied that Idolatry would increase in Britain.”

None of this sounds too good…

King Charles to Be Crowned on May 6

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 11:

“Buckingham Palace on Tuesday said that King Charles III will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6 next year. The coronation will take place almost exactly 70 years after his late mother’s coronation on June 2, 1953… Charles, 73, will be crowned in a religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey conducted by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Camilla, the queen consort, will be crowned alongside her husband.

“The confirmation of the date comes following the death of Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away in early September at the age of 96. Charles immediately became king upon the death of his mother, also taking over as the head of state of 14 Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

“But setting up a formal coronation ceremony is a far slower process. In Elizabeth’s case, it took more than a year to arrange a ceremony, which took place when Charles was a 4-year-old boy.

“The most important moment of the ceremony, at least from a historical and religious perspective, is when Charles will be ‘anointed, blessed and consecrated’ by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The British monarch is also the head of the Church of England and British royal tradition has it, like most other Christian European royal families do or did, that their claim to the throne is given and endorsed by [God].”

Please see our recent Q&As about the “Stone of Destiny.” https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-1/ and https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-2/

China’s Dictatorial Government

The Sun wrote on October 23:

“XI Jinping has made history in China after cementing absolute power with an unprecedented third term in office… Xi is celebrating a decade in office while being awarded another five-year term as general secretary – effectively making himself an ‘Emperor for Life’… Unlike his predecessor, Hu Jintao, the 69-year-old is refusing to bow out after 10 years and continues to flex his governmental powers…

“The unchallengeable leader – who famously banned Winnie the Pooh – is aided by vast security apparatus and the threat of death sentences for opponents. He stands as the unchallenged ‘core leader’ of the world’s most populous nation…

“Xi has used his ruthlessness and political talents to much effect, making himself the most powerful Chinese leader since Chairman Mao, whose brutal rule led to the death of millions…”

China will form a military alliance with Russia and other Far-Eastern countries. It is to be expected that all or many of these countries will be run by dictators.

The Fear of Nuclear War

The Sun wrote on October 14:

“Fears are growing that Putin is escalating the nuclear threat in the war in Ukraine… disaster expert Paul Ingram said: ‘… There are more than 12,000 nuclear warheads worldwide. Russia alone has almost 6,000 of them. The blast and radiation from these would lead to casualties of 200 to 300 million worldwide.’…

“Ingram… also warned of apocalyptic aftershocks from any nuclear conflict. ‘On top of the immediate deaths, the all-out nuclear exchange would throw up so much radioactive soot that it would obscure the sun for several years,’ he said. ‘This would lead to the deaths of up to five billion people worldwide.’

“He added that the danger of such a strike on a country like Ukraine, which is seen as a ‘breadbasket’ because of its wheat production, is that it could trigger worldwide food shortages… ‘Temperatures would plummet worldwide by up to 16C. Breadbaskets such as Ukraine would never rise above freezing point. ‘In the centre of London, we are more at risk of direct blasts and radiation, but no one would be safe.’

“As of January this year, there are approximately 12,700 nuclear warheads worldwide. Of those, the highest number, almost 6,000, are in Russia, while around 5,400 are in the US. The UK has 225 nuclear warheads… China, France, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea make up the world’s other nuclear powers.”

As far as we know…

France Won’t Respond with Nuclear Weapons

The National News wrote on October 12:

“France will not respond with nuclear weapons should Russia use them against Ukraine… ‘Our doctrine rests on the fundamental interests of the nation,’ Mr Macron told public broadcaster France 2 on Wednesday. ‘They are defined clearly and wouldn’t be directly affected at all if, for example, there was a ballistic nuclear attack in Ukraine, in the region.’…

“He acknowledged that France was ‘unable to deliver as much as the Ukrainians ask for. I’m obliged to keep some for us to protect ourselves and our eastern flank [of Nato]’.

Once again, France is giving Putin the green light.

On the Road to Nuclear War?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on October 10:

“Last week the New York Times ran a shocking article claiming that the US intelligence community believes the Ukrainian government to be responsible for the August attack that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian philosopher.

“Surely the established narrative that Ukraine is a model western democracy standing strong for our shared values against an aggressive Russian invader is damaged with reporting that Kiev conducted an al-Qaeda style attack on an innocent civilian inside Russia. The murder of Dugina was a textbook definition of terrorism, which is, ‘the use of violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals.’

“Just over a month later, the Nordstream pipelines were blown up, seemingly ending at least in the near term the possibility that Germany may find a way to save its economy by mending fences with its main energy supplier. A leading Polish politician thanked the US for doing the job.

“Then over the weekend, the bridge connecting mainland Russia to Crimea was bombed, killing at least six civilians and leaving part of the bridge under water. Traffic was restored hours after the attack, but Russian President Vladimir Putin placed the blame on Ukraine’s intelligence service. We all know that Ukraine relies on its US masters, so we can assume the US provided the intelligence allowing the targeting of the bridge.

“There is a pattern here. More and more brazen attacks are being launched against Russia and Washington is doing little to hide US fingerprints. Why?

“The Biden Administration seems to be moving us closer to nuclear war over Ukraine and Biden himself seems to know it. Last week he said, Putin ‘is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons…’ For the ‘first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use [of nuclear weapons] if in fact things continue down the path they are going.’

“So the question is if he knows that his proxy war against Russia is moving us closer to the unthinkable – nuclear annihilation – why does his Administration persist in crossing red line after red line? Apparently, Biden’s ‘experts’ believe that Putin is bluffing and will do nothing about the Dugina assassination, the Nordstream pipeline sabotage, and the Kerch Bridge attack.

“But what if they’re wrong?…”

The German government has refused to give any information to a parliamentarian regarding the destruction of the Nordstream pipelines, citing security concerns. Something very fishy is going on here.

Why Putin May Not Be Bluffing

The New York Post wrote on October 8:

“On Sept. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that he could resort to ‘all available means of destruction’ in his war against Ukraine, pointedly adding, ‘It’s not a bluff.’ Days later, he accused the United States of setting the nuclear warfare ‘precedent,’ referring to the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 to end World War II.

“On Monday, NATO warned that Russia may have deployed the nuclear powered submarine Belgorod into the Kara Sea to test the Poseidon ‘doomsday’ weapon it has aboard, capable of creating a ‘radioactive tsunami.’

“… here are eight reasons why Putin is likely not bluffing, just as he says, about using nuclear weapons.

“1. Putin is psychologically capable of crossing the nuclear threshold, especially when he feels cornered…

“2. Putin likely thinks this is his ‘last and decisive battle.’ When he hears calls by Western officials to try him in an international court as a war criminal, he fears he may end up like Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, captured by US soldiers in 2003, convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal, and put to death by hanging. He also fears the fate of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, who was shot in the head by his own people in 2011. Both events had a profound psychological impact on Putin, convincing him of America’s bad intentions.

“3. Russia’s post-Cold War doctrine includes a nuclear fallback option designed exactly for the kind of situation Moscow now faces. In the 1990s, the General Staff developed, on Putin’s orders, a limited nuclear war doctrine… The doctrine stipulates that a low-yield nuclear bomb can be detonated to shock an opposing force to abandon a fight and end a war…

“4. Putin likely believes that he will use nuclear weapons for the same reason the US did in Japan during WWII — to end the conflict. In August 1945, the US detonated two atomic bombs… over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 149,000-225,000 people. The rationale was to hasten victory, while minimizing both US and Japanese casualties…

“5. The outcome in Ukraine is an existential issue for both Russia and Putin. While it’s not accepted by the West, Russia views former Soviet states like Ukraine as part of its sphere of influence and a strategic security perimeter. With NATO’s admission of the Baltic states, the distance between NATO forces and Russian territory has shrunk from 1,000 to 100 miles…

“6. Putin orchestrated the annexation of the four seized regions of Ukraine… precisely so he could use the nuclear option. By formally declaring these territories part of Russia, he has cleared the requirement in the Russian military doctrine for the deployment of nuclear weapons. Officially, the unclassified doctrine permits Russia’s Commander in Chief to use these last-resort weapons only in a defensive scenario to protect Russian territory. But the doctrine also allows ‘first-use’ of nuclear weapons even in an existential battle, like the one in Ukraine, in order to stave off defeat and end a conflict.

“7. Putin is worried about projecting weakness to China…

“8. Putin probably estimates that launching a low-yield nuclear strike in Ukraine will not trigger a US response, and certainly not with nuclear weapons…

Musk and Kiyosaki Warn of Nuclear World War III

Benzinga wrote on October 16 that Egon Musk wrote on Twitter:

“Russia has the ability to destroy USA & Europe utterly with nuclear missiles in less than 30 minutes & vice versa… Would be great if someday humanity stopped pointing nukes at itself that would destroy almost all life on Earth…

“In any given year, there is a chance above zero that they will be launched. We are now at the highest risk in 60 years.”

The “kings of the East”—including Russia and China—WILL in due time destroy Europe completely.

Bitcoin.com wrote on October 22:

The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has warned about World War III. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries.

Kiyosaki tweeted earlier this week to his 2.1 million followers: ‘Hitler invaded countries like Romania for their oil & coal. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor when U.S. cut Japan from oil,’ he further wrote. ‘Was the sabotage of Nord Stream pipeline [the] start of WWIII?’

“More people are increasingly worried about the possibility of a third world war. On Thursday, Russia threatened that if Ukraine is admitted to the NATO military alliance, then the conflict in Ukraine would be guaranteed to escalate into World War Three.”

EU Part of the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict?

MSN wrote on October 20:

“The Russian government has warned that the military training mission to the Ukrainian Army agreed this week by the EU makes the bloc ‘part of the conflict’, in a new criticism of the international aid provided to the Ukrainian Armed Forces by Kiev’s allied countries.

“The member states of the European Union approved on Monday a new military training mission to the Ukrainian Army with which European forces will train on EU territory some 15,000 soldiers fighting against the Russian invasion…

“In recent days, Moscow has also questioned the increase in military aid by NATO member states.”

Modern Diplomacy added on October 21:

“The Russia-Ukraine crisis dramatically changed the way Europeans think about their security. European governments, as well as ordinary people, are divided over the conflict. For example, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and Sweden are much more willing to make sacrifices than those in France Germany, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic and in Serbia…

“While many people in Europe peacefully protest over supporting Ukraine to the detriment of national interests, politicians and military authorities decide for them. Their decisions are often threatening in its size and scope… Baltic States’ authorities said that war in Europe is no longer unthinkable… [The] Ukraine crisis has turned to [a] European crisis and could lead to irreparable consequences.”

The Russian moderator Wladimir Solowjow, a confidante of Putin, stated on public TV: “This is in fact World War III. We are de facto at war with NATO. I am not afraid to say this” (MSN, dated October 23).

Threat of Political Turmoil in Europe

ABC News wrote on October 21:

“In Romania, protesters blew horns and banged drums to voice their dismay over the rising cost of living. People across France took to the streets to demand pay increases that keep pace with inflation. Czech demonstrators rallied against government handling of the energy crisis. British railway staff and German pilots held strikes to push for better pay as prices rise.

“Across Europe, soaring inflation is behind a wave of protests and strikes that underscores growing discontent with the spiraling cost of living and threatens to unleash political turmoil…. Energy prices have driven inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency to a record 9.9%, making it harder for people to buy what they need. Some see little choice but to hit the streets…

“The fallout from the war in Ukraine has sharply raised the risk of civil unrest in Europe.”

This scenario is not unlikely, given the weak and incompetent leadership in many Western European countries.

Joe Biden’s Frightening Incompetence and Misrepresentations

The New York Post wrote on October 14:

“President Biden brushed off $7-a-gallon gas in California — saying ‘that’s always been the case’ and confusingly linking it to housing… Biden said without elaboration that ‘housing’ was ‘the most important thing’ for gas prices, which in California actually surged 39% over the past 12 months for an average of $6.20 per gallon…

“It’s unclear if Biden, who turns 80 next month, intended to draw a closer link between the two subjects before his reply was cut off by a different reporter’s question, but his answer attracted attention after a series of recent gaffes…

“The president has made a series of confounding remarks recently — heightening scrutiny given to his comment about California gas prices… the president said in a speech that he agrees with whatever the notoriously hotheaded Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) says.

“On Wednesday, he incorrectly said his late son Beau ‘lost his life in Iraq’ and that he visited the Rio Grande to see the need for land preservation, possibly confusing it with the Grand Canyon.

“Biden claimed Tuesday that firefighters nearly died extinguishing a 2004 fire at his Wilmington, Del., house — after saying last year that he ‘had a house burn down with my wife in it.’ The local fire department said Friday that ‘for the fire service, this could be considered an insignificant fire’…

“Last week, Biden… dubiously claimed that ‘I was sort of raised in the Puerto Rican community at home, politically.’

“Critics debate whether Biden, already the oldest-ever US president at 79, either is in mental decline or simply prone to misspeaking and exaggeration.

“Biden dropped out of his first presidential campaign in 1987 due to a scandal involving plagiarism of speeches and a law school paper. Biden appropriated British politician Neil Kinnock’s description of his family history — with Biden changing some details to falsely claim that ‘my ancestors … worked in the coal mines of northeast Pennsylvania and would come up after 12 hours and play football for four hours.’ Biden’s ancestors did not mine coal.

“Before he dropped out of the 1988 presidential primary, Biden also falsely claimed that he ‘graduated with three degrees from college,’ was named ‘the outstanding student in the political science department,’ ‘went to law school on a full academic scholarship — the only one in my class to have a full academic scholarship’ and ‘ended up in the top half’ of his class. None of those claims was true…

“Since Biden took office as president last year… there’s been a lengthy list of untruths or unverifiable personal anecdotes.

“Biden has told at least eight times as president a chronologically impossible tale involving a former Amtrak conductor to underscore his love of passenger rail — most recently last month while hosting union negotiators in the Oval Office. Biden admitted last month to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that ‘I wasn’t arrested’ trying to visit Nelson Mandela’ during the apartheid era, despite saying so at least three times in 2020.

“Biden last September told Jewish leaders that he remembered ‘spending time at’ and ‘going to’ Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 after the worst anti-Semitic attack in US history, in which 11 people were murdered. The synagogue said he never visited and the White House later said he was thinking about a 2019 phone call to the synagogue’s rabbi.

“Later that month, Biden told an Idaho audience that his ‘first job offer’ came from local lumber and wood products business Boise Cascade. The company said it was news to them.

“In January, Biden told students at historically black colleges in Atlanta that he was arrested multiple times while protesting in favor of civil rights — another claim for which there is no evidence.

“Biden said at the Naval Academy’s graduation ceremony in May that he was appointed to the military school in 1965 bby the late Sen. J. Caleb Boggs (R-Del.). A search of Boggs’ archives failed to turn up evidence of the appointment.

“In some recent instances, however, Biden’s confusion was apparent, including when he searched for Waloriski at an Oct. 3 event in Washington, despite lowering the White House’s flags and calling her family to express sympathy after her recent death in a car crash.

“Biden said in a Tuesday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that he will make a final decision on seeking a second term following the Nov. 8 midterm elections. But Biden has consistently told allies he plans to run and told Tapper that ‘I can beat Donald Trump again.’”

These are incredible facts suggesting that Joe Biden is viewed by allies and enemies alike as being totally incapable of representing the USA in any way. It is interesting that for example the German mass media is NOT reporting Biden’s incredible incidents… perhaps because of fear that Trump might come back to power.

What If Trump Returns…

The Washington Post wrote on October 10:

“Imagine it’s Jan. 20, 2025. Inauguration Day. The president-elect raises his right hand and begins to recite the oath: I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear …It’s an anti-Trumper’s nightmare, but it could happen: 47 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want Trump to be the nominee in 2024… And if Trump and Joe Biden are the contenders, Trump narrowly edges Biden, 48 to 46 percent, among registered voters…

“… Among the first things he would do, in the initial hours of his presidency, would be to fire [FBI Director] Christopher Wray and purge the FBI…  If Trump installed loyalists at the FBI and Justice Department… then any lingering federal investigations of Trump could be dropped

“Once Trump has centralized power through cadres of vetted loyalists across government, what will he do with it? As The Post has previously chronicled, he’s already told us, in speeches over the past several months, some of his proposals if he decides to run: Execute drug dealers. Move homeless people to tent cities. Eliminate the Education Department. Restrict voting to one day using paper ballots. But there could be much more — including profound shifts in military and foreign policy…

“As for the use of military power abroad, Trump mostly favored withdrawals during his term (though he did authorize a drone strike to kill a key Iranian commander in Iraq in 2020 and, according to the Associated Press, considered an invasion of Venezuela in 2017). Trump wanted to pull U.S. troops out of South Korea, Germany and Somalia, but critics warned that those moves would be devastating to global security and alliances. A second term might see them come to pass… And depending on his views of Putin and the conflict in Ukraine, he might just stop the flow of arms, ammunition and material to Kyiv…

“Trump would almost certainly return to the issue that first built his following in the GOP and still animates the party: harsh measures to counter illegal immigration…

“Some of the preconditions for civil war — a weakening democracy with hindrances to popular participation and divisions along identity lines — are brewing in the United States… The spiral of violence, response and counter-response would create the kind of disorder that Trump… could use to justify invoking the Insurrection Act. Then federal troops would flood the streets of American cities — and this time, not for a parade. Could it happen here?… The message of prophets of democratic doom can sound over-the-topBut to dismiss it, they say, would be naïve…”

None of the above-mentioned scenarios would be impossible to occur.

Mediaite wrote on October 21:

“Donald Trump warned members of his former administration [including Mike Pence] that it would be ‘very disloyal’ for any of them to run against him in 2024.

“Trump hasn’t actually announced a run but has heavily teased one. In a Friday phone interview with Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade…, the former president avoided questions on when he would announce a run, should he choose to, but he also swiped at any potential Republican challengers from his own administration.”

Trump Should Contest Subpoena

Newsmax wrote on October 21:

“Alan Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School and one of this nation’s foremost authorities on the U.S. constitution, says former President Donald Trump would be wise to contest the House Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena to testify before Congress… ‘He should take [the matter] to court and challenge the subpoena on ‘executive privilege’ grounds, or any other grounds,’ Dershowitz [said]… ‘The way it should work: If Congress subpoenas you, and you refuse to speak, then Congress should go to court and demand the court enforce the subpoena.’

“Dershowitz opined that Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, who both served in the Trump administration and were also brought on contempt-of-Congress charges, should have forced Congress’ hand by taking their respective cases to the courts… ‘Until the court determines the rules’ for the Jan. 6 hearings, ‘there should be no criminal prosecutions… ‘This is Alice in Wonderland: Criminal prosecutions first, then we’ll decide what the law is. That does make no sense.’ [In other words, the court should decide first whether executive privilege or other reasons would prevent any criminal prosecution, but in this case, the opposite was applied.]

“Regarding Trump, Dershowitz says ‘he doesn’t have to [invoke] the 5th [Amendment]. He can argue that it’s a perjury trap’ to speak with the Jan. 6 committee, presumably under oath… Dershowitz then said of the committee’s actions, which are taking place a few weeks before the midterm elections: ‘I think there’s a lot of theater here, and not a lot of real law being practiced.’”

Bannon Sentenced

The Associated Press added on October 22:

“Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday to serve four months behind bars after defying a subpoena from the House committee… U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free pending appeal and also imposed a fine of $6,500 as part of the sentence. Bannon was convicted in July of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents…

“As he walked into court on Friday, Bannon told reporters, ‘This illegitimate regime, their judgment day is on 8 November when the Biden administration ends.’… Leaving the courthouse after the sentencing, Bannon said he believed Attorney General Merrick Garland would be impeached.”

Political Justice and the January 6th Committee

Ron Paul wrote on October 24 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“Josef Stalin’s top henchman famously said, ‘show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.’ What it meant was that Soviet justice was about politics, not the rule of law. First decide who, for political reasons, is to be punished, and then the state will provide the crimes for which he will be charged.

“This dark era of politicized ‘justice’ has returned with former Trump campaign advisor Steve Bannon’s recent sentence to four months in jail for ‘contempt of Congress’ over his refusal to appear before the House January 6th Committee. How is it politicized justice for Bannon to be punished for ignoring a subpoena from the US Congress? Because many before him have been charged with contempt of Congress – including Democratic Party luminaries such as Eric Holder, Janet Reno, and Lois Lerner – and were never sentenced to jail time. Bannon’s sentence is meant to convey a political message to America: if you support Trump you are a criminal and you may find yourself in a cell next to Steve Bannon… Sending your political opponents to jail is what happens in a banana republic. It is un-American. But here we are.

“The goal of the January 6th Committee is not to seek justice for the ‘crime’ of trespassing and putting feet on Pelosi’s sacred desk, but to make sure that Donald Trump is never allowed to run for President again. That is the reason hundreds have been unjustly arrested and held in terrible conditions for non-crimes… Speaking of contempt of Congress, the real contempt is the existence of the January 6th Committee in the first place. It has been a partisan show trial from the beginning, where the only two ‘Republican’ Members were not chosen by Republicans but by Nancy Pelosi. The purpose of the Committee has been to prop up the false narrative that somehow a few rowdy protesters who broke into the Capitol Building were the equivalent of the storming of the Bastille…

“When justice becomes tangled in politics, freedom and liberty go out the window. We are not so naïve to think this is something that just arrived with the Biden Administration, but there seems little doubt it is spreading like a cancer…”

Saudi Arabia Condemns USA

Breitbart wrote on October 13:

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia issued an outraged statement Thursday condemning the White House, without naming any official in particular, for claiming that Riyadh supported an OPEC+ decision to cut oil production by two million barrels a day because it had decided to side with Russia in the ongoing Ukraine war.

“The extensive statement also mentioned rumors, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, that the leftist administration of President Joe Biden had attempted to convince Saudi officials to delay any oil production cut until after the midterm elections… The statement adds to what is becoming a growing scandal for the Biden administration that began with Biden himself visiting Saudi Arabia and meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), reportedly to urge him to increase Saudi Arabia’s oil production…

“According to this week’s Wall Street Journal report, the Riyadh visit went so poorly for Biden that MBS decided to cut scheduled oil production increases after meeting with the American president…

“Biden officials have dramatically announced a total reevaluation of diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the production cut and attempted to tie the decision to the Ukraine war, claiming Riyadh had now taken sides against Kyiv. In reality, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained close communications with MBS for months and thanked Saudi Arabia for aiding in the release of Ukrainian prisoners. Saudi Arabia voted to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations on Wednesday…”

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the USA, as well as the State of Israel, is prophesied to deteriorate.

The Intercept wrote on October 20:

“The Saudi-led oil cartel OPEC+’s announcement earlier this month that it was cutting 2 million barrels of oil per day.. rankled Democrats in Washington… Saudi Arabia actually pushed to cut oil production twice as much as Russian President Vladimir Putin, surprising the Russians… experts say the cut is targeted squarely at the Democratic Party — something Democratic officials have been loath to admit publicly.

“In 1973, Saudi Arabia led an oil embargo designed to punish the U.S. and other countries that supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Then, in 1979, Saudi Arabia again led an oil embargo — this time in the wake of the Iranian revolution, with the resultant high gas prices playing an arguably decisive role in Jimmy Carter’s loss to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential race…

“In October 2018, following news of the grisly murder of Khashoggi, a column by then-chief of Saudi Arabia’s state-run media outlet, Al Arabiya, threatened ‘economic disaster’ if the U.S. sanctioned Riyadh… Turki Aldakhil, who is now Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UAE, [wrote:] ‘It would lead to Saudi Arabia’s failure to commit to producing 7.5 million barrels [of oil].’

“None of this is to say that Saudi Arabia under MBS hasn’t pursued cozier relations with Russia. MBS’s intensifying relationship with Putin dates back to June 2015, when, frustrated that President Barack Obama had rebuffed MBS’s requests for a meeting, the then deputy crown prince instead opted to meet with Putin on the sidelines of the 19th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“…the Biden administration this week announced that it would release 15 million barrels of oil from the strategic oil reserves. The White House is also considering lifting sanctions on Venezuela to mitigate the economic harm of OPEC+’s production cut, a move that some experts have for years been calling for…”

And so, America continues on its way to destruction.

Netanyahu: Israel Must Fulfill Biblical Prophecy

Israel Today wrote on October 21:

“Benjamin Netanyahu is hard on the campaign trail with less than two weeks to go until Israel’s fifth national election in four years… Netanyahu thanked Evangelical Christians for their support of Israel, and reminded them that the Jewish state’s rebirth is a ‘fulfillment of biblical prophecy.’ He stressed, however, that it is now up to Israel and her friends to secure that prophetic fulfillment. ‘

“‘While my father’s generation was charged with founding the state, my generation was charged with securing its future.’ Even so, the Israeli acknowledged that achieving that goal has required divine assistance: ‘A tiny state on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean is now ranked as the world’s eighth power with one-tenth of 1 percent of the world’s population. That’s not something that you can explain away. It’s a miracle of faith and fortitude.’”

Military Collaboration Between Russian and Iran Danger for the World

Israel Today wrote on October 21:

“Israeli Prime Minister… Lapid on Thursday highlighted the global threat posed by the growing military ties between Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran… ‘We naturally think that relations between Russia and Iran are a serious problem not only for Israel, but also for Ukraine, Europe and the whole world. Iran is a dangerous terrorist state, and the fact that Russia does business with it puts the whole world in danger.’

“In apparent response to its forces losing ground in eastern Ukraine, Russia has begun to bombard Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities using missiles and Iranian suicide drones. Ukraine this week made a formal request to purchase Israeli missile shields like the Iron Dome to protect its cities against the Russian onslaught. Western powers are urging Israel to agree, but Lapid and his government have signaled that for now they prefer not to take sides against Russia, at least not militarily…”

In a coming attack of Far Eastern nations right AFTER Christ’s return, reported in advance in Ezekiel 38 and 39, Russia as well as Iran (ancient Persia) will BE part of that military alliance which will apparently be led by a Chinese dictator.

Coming… the Third Temple

Israel 365 News wrote on October 14:

“On Thursday night, 600 Jewish men from the tribe of Levi held a rehearsal on the steps leading up to the Temple Mount to prepare to play their role in providing the musical accompaniment for the Third Temple service

“In the Bible, the tribe of Levi included Moses and Aaron. Kohanim (priests) are descendants of Aaron and his descendants became a subset of the tribe of Levi. The other members of the tribe were chosen by God to forfeit their portions of land in Israel and to serve in the Temple. The Levites performed various functions in the Temple including guarding as well [as] serving all the musical needs.

“Jewish communities are scrupulous about perpetuating the status of the Levites which is passed from father to son. Only Jewish men whose fathers were Levites are considered eligible. They are recognized for conspicuous honors in religious services and their status as Levites is inscribed on their gravestones… Levites… represent only about 4% of the Jewish population…

“The event on Thursday was the first post-pandemic rehearsal for the Levites, bringing together about 600 men to practice a medley from the Hallel service composed of Psalms 113-118 which is recited ‎on major and minor festivals…

“The municipal government is helping to prepare for the Third Temple… In the days that the Temples stood in Jerusalem, the Levites sang on the 15 steps— corresponding to the 15 Songs of Ascent in Psalms [120-134] —that led from the Ezrat Nashim (‘Court of Women’) to the Ezrat Yisrael (‘Court of Israelites’).”

It was also reported by the paper that “a full-dress reenactment of the water libation as it was performed in the Temple was held in Jerusalem.” 

All these steps… and many more… will lead to the building of the Third Temple PRIOR to the Return of Jesus Christ. This is clearly prophesied… for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

The Return of Baal

Israel 365 wrote on October 21:

“The Russian and Syrian governments announced that they are moving on to the next stage in reconstructing the ancient temple of the pagan god Ba’al in Palmyra. If successful, the project will necessarily mark the third incarnation of the Roman Victory Arch of Palmyra which an ancient Jewish source states must fall and be rebuilt three times before the arrival of the Messiah.

“… The Temple of Palmyra was dedicated in 32 CE to the worship of Ba’al. The earliest known inhabitants were the Amorites in the early second millennium BCE… The temple was built on the site of a prior pagan temple dating back to the third millennium BCE… Converted into a Christian church during the Byzantine Era, parts of the structure were modified into a mosque by Muslims in 1132. It remained in use as a mosque until the 1920s…

“Mentioned more than 90 times in the Bible, most notably when Elijah defeated the priests of Ba’al, also known as Moloch, in a contest to bring down fire from heaven to burn a sacrifice, Ba’al became the archetypical form of idol worship… Followers of Ba’al engaged in bisexual orgies and sacrificed human infants, burning them alive. Anthropologists conjecture that the child sacrifice was to cull the population after the inevitable outcome of wanton sexuality.”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

Will Europe Break With the United States?

On September 24, 2022, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by Sonar21.com:

“I received a great question from a German reader who also happens to be a journalist. He asked, ‘What would be a way and what would be the practical implications if Europe in general and Germany in particular were to break with the US in order to find a European peace and economic framework including Russia?’

“The craven sycophancy demonstrated by Germany, France and the United Kingdom in their passionate embrace of America’s confrontation with Russia is now on life support. Despite continued bombastic threats to keep arming Ukraine until Russia collapses, economic reality is hitting the Europeans like an icy cold shower from a fire hose. Rapid inflation, particularly in the energy sector, is forcing factories and businesses to shutter operations. The de-industrialization of Europe, especially Germany and the UK, has started. German steel plants are closing, German bakeries are trying to figure out how to pay soaring utility bills while still making bread and pretzels and German toilet-paper manufacturer Hakle GmbH has applied for insolvency proceedings in self-administration…

“So, the economic situation in each of the countries is going to create enormous domestic pressure for the respective European governments, which currently are cheer-leading Ukraine and cursing Russia, to rethink their policies. The Russia/Ukraine war already has created significant fissures among EU members, with Hungary refusing to impose further sanctions on Russia. Cold, hungry voters will become increasingly outraged at sending millions of dollars to Ukraine while deprivation multiples from Berlin to London.

“Europe’s rift with Russia is huge and Russia is not in a mood to forgive… Russia holds the critical trump card–it can turn on the flow of gas and oil essential to rekindle manufacturing and home heating in Europe…

How about Europe breaking with NATO? Or, more simply put, the breakup of NATO. Up to this point Europe has embraced the delusion that Russia cannot function economically without a European market. The last six months of Russia’s Special Military Operation have proven that the opposite is true–without Russia’s key resources Europe is a dead economy walking naked into a frozen winter.

“Europe’s two largest trading partners are China and the United States. Europe runs a trade deficit with China. If China demands payment in dollars, rather than Euros, then the inflationary pressure on Europe will escalate… the value of the US dollar has soared relative to the Euro and British pound sterling. They will have to spend more Euros to buy dollars, which means the trade deficit with China is likely to worsen.

“The situation with the United States is the opposite. The United States has run a deficit with Europe who, in turn, has enjoyed a surplus. That surplus will go away or, at a minimum, shrink dramatically. Germany’s ability to export products to the United States will weaken because of the price of the dollar and because European factories will close or cut back on production.

“Barring a miracle turnaround–i.e, inflation disappears and the energy crisis dissipates–the situation in Europe will become more dire. The history of these kinds of economic upheaval is littered with the corpses of politicians that insisted on pushing policies that hurt their voters. Germany’s [Weimar] Republic’s failure paved the way for the rise of Adolf Hitler to power

The United States is facing its own looming economic disaster. The collapse of the stock market–now down over 20% since the first of the year–is likely to continue. Notwithstanding the Biden administration’s strident insistence that there is no recession, the signs of recession are mounting, especially in the housing market. But the worsening economic picture is not yet sufficient to generate the necessary political pressure among the… American electorate to back away from sending billions to Ukraine. A major shock of stagflation or a collapse of the Ukrainian army, however, could change that calculus…

“Russia’s burgeoning trade and military relations with China, Iran, India and Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Brazil is making Putin’s position stronger, not weaker. The eventual collapse of Ukraine as a result of a wrecked economy and/or battlefield defeats, will be more than a black eye for NATO and, by extension, Europe… The age of the United States’ Colossus is nearing its end…”

Very true on all counts.

The USA Would Lose World War III?

The Daily Mail wrote on September 24:

“Former President Trump said he hopes [he] is ‘wrong’ about the possibility of World War III because the U.S. is being run by ‘stupid people’ at a rally in Wilmington, N.C. on Friday…, as he predicted the U.S. would lose a conflict to Russia.”

The US WILL lose World War III, but the victor will be a United States of Europe.

Clinton: Trump the New Hitler?

Newsmax wrote on September 24:

“Hillary Clinton on Friday likened former President Donald Trump’s supporters to Nazis, and Trump himself to Adolf Hitler. ‘I remember as a young student, you know, trying to figure out, how people get basically drawn in by Hitler. How did that happen? I’d watch newsreels and I’d see this guy standing up there ranting and raving, and people shouting and raising their arms. I thought, “What’s happened to these people?”’ Clinton said Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, miming the Nazi Sig Heil salute.

“‘You saw the rally in Ohio the other night,’ she continued… ‘Trump is there ranting and raving for more than an hour, and you have these rows of young men with their arms raised. I thought, “What is going on?”’…

“Clinton’s comments come after President Joe Biden at the beginning of September referred to the ‘MAGA’ voters of Trump as a threat to the United States.”

The verbal assassinations on all sides, with potential PRACTICAL consequences, are increasing.

Newsom Guilty of Biblical Distortion

Fox News wrote on September 22:

“Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking flak from Christians who are offended by his multi-state billboard campaign that promotes abortion by quoting Jesus. Last week, Newsom took to Twitter to tout the billboards his gubernatorial campaign is erecting in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and four other ‘anti-freedom’ states where abortion is restricted or outlawed. Some versions of the billboards, all of which urge women in such states to come to California to get abortions, advertise the state’s easily obtainable abortions by quoting Mark 12:31, where Jesus says, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.’

“The idea that Newsom is using the words of Jesus Christ, the Holy Scriptures, to promote the killing of unborn children as somehow loving and commanded by God is quite frankly disgusting,’ said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law & Justice, in a statement to Fox News Digital…

“Many Twitter users echoed Sekulow’s sentiment, including Matthew P. Schneider, a Roman Catholic priest who serves as adjunct professor of theology at Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte, North Carolina. He described Newsom’s billboards as ‘one of the [worst] distortions of a Bible passage I’ve ever seen.’ ‘Shame on [Newsom] and his government,’ Schneider said. ‘The most basic level of loving your neighbor as yourself is not killing your neighbor, yet that’s exactly what abortion does.’…

“‘Good Catholic’ [Newsom] is now using Bible scriptures to encourage women to come to California to abort their babies,’ wrote David Giglio, a former congressional candidate who is also a Catholic. ‘A truly shameful display…’”

Other leading Democrats have taken similar positions as Newsom on the issue of abortion, when citing the Bible.

The US Government… Not To Be Trusted

On September 22, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by the Rutherford Institute:

“The US government has become a master of deceit… This is a government that lies, cheats, steals, spies, kills, maims, enslaves, breaks the laws, overreaches its authority, and abuses its power at almost every turn; treats its citizens like faceless statistics and economic units to be bought, sold, bartered, traded, and tracked; and wages wars for profit, jails its own people for profit, and has no qualms about spreading its reign of terror abroad.

“Worse, this is a government that has become almost indistinguishable from the evil it claims to be fighting…

“With every passing day, it becomes painfully clear that this is not a government that can be trusted with your life, your loved ones, your livelihood or your freedoms….

“[We] have the makings of a restructuring of reality straight out of Orwell’s 1984, where the Ministry of Truth polices speech and ensures that facts conform to whatever version of reality the government propagandists embrace.

“We’ve already seen this play out on the state and federal level with hate crime legislation that cracks down on so-called ‘hateful’ thoughts and expression, encourages self-censoring and reduces free debate on various subject matter.

“The end goal of these mind-control campaigns—packaged in the guise of the greater good—is to see how far the American people will allow the government to go in re-shaping the country in the image of a totalitarian police state.

“The government’s fear-mongering is yet another key element in its mind-control programming. National crises, global pandemics, reported terrorist attacks, and sporadic shootings leave us in a constant state of fear. The emotional panic that accompanies fear actually shuts down the prefrontal cortex or the rational thinking part of our brains…

“Fear not only increases the power of government, but it also divides the people into factions, persuades them to see each other as the enemy and keeps them screaming at each other so that they drown out all other sounds…”

Biden’s Embarrassing Errors

The New York Post wrote on September 28:

“President Biden asked for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski to identify herself at a Washington event Wednesday, forgetting that the Indiana Republican died in a car crash last month. Biden made the embarrassing error while thanking bipartisan members of Congress at a nutrition event near the White House. ‘I want to thank all of you here, including bipartisan elected officials like Representative [Jim] McGovern, Senator [Mike] Braun, Senator [Cory] Booker, Representative Jackie — are you here? Where’s Jackie? — I think she was going to be here,’ the president said.

“Biden, 79, is the oldest-ever president and his mental acuity is regularly questioned by his political foes…

“The White House on Aug. 3 released a statement from Biden mourning [Jackie] Walorski after she perished in an Indiana wreck alongside her press secretary, Emma Thomson, and St. Joseph County Republican Party chairman Zachery Potts… ‘Jill and I are shocked and saddened by the death of Congresswoman Jackie Walorski of Indiana along with two members of her staff in a car accident today in Indiana,’ Biden said at the time… The flag atop the White House was flown at half-staff for two days after Walorski’s death and the congresswoman’s brother, Keith Walorski, told the Post that Biden called the family to offer his condolences.

“Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, allege that Biden is in mental decline. Those claims resurfaced after video showed first lady Jill Biden directed her husband where to go during another event Wednesday celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act…

“Biden’s record of forehead-slapping statements includes asking Missouri state Sen. Chuck Graham to stand up during a 2008 campaign event — before realizing too late that Graham was in a wheelchair…

“The president also has a habit of using improper words at awkward points in speeches. During a Middle East trip in July, for example, Biden told an audience in Israel that ‘we must … keep alive the truth and honor the Holocaust’ before correcting himself to say ‘horror of the Holocaust.’  Days later, in Saudi Arabia, Biden said during a speech: ‘We’ll always honor the bravery and selfishness — selflessness of the — and sacrifices of the Americans who served, including my son, Major Beau Biden, who was stationed in Iraq for a year.’

“Meanwhile, the president has regularly shared stories that either are false or impossible to verify. In January, Biden told students at historically black colleges in Atlanta that he was arrested during civil rights protests — for which there is no evidence. Biden in September 2021 told Jewish leaders that he remembered ‘spending time at’ and ‘going to’ the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh after the mass murder of 11 people there in 2018. The synagogue said he never visited and the White House later said he was thinking about a 2019 phone call to the synagogue’s rabbi.

“Also last September, Biden told an Idaho audience that his ‘first job offer’ came from local lumber and wood products business Boise Cascade. The company said it was news to them and Biden had not previously described an interest in moving to the state.

“And In May, Biden said at the Naval Academy’s graduation ceremony that he was appointed to the military school in 1965 by the late Sen. J. Caleb Boggs (R-Del.). A search of Boggs’ archives failed to turn up evidence of the appointment.”

Canada Removes All COVID-19 Travel Measures

National Post wrote on September 26:

“The federal government is removing all remaining COVID-19 related travel measures, ending masks on planes, vaccine mandates and the mandatory use of the ArriveCan app… Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the government had been following the science and now believes it is safe to relax these measures, starting Oct. 1.

“‘Based on the data accumulated over the last few weeks and months, we are announcing that the Government of Canada will not renew the order in council that expires on September 30 and will therefore remove all COVID-19 border requirements for all travellers entering Canada,’ he said… He strongly advised Canadians to get vaccinated and receive third or even fourth doses…

“Airlines, airports, tourism associations and other groups all called for the government to abandon the app and vaccine mandates months ago. Many other countries have scrapped similar requirements, though people travelling into the United States are still required to show proof of vaccination.”

It is hoped that the USA will likewise remove all travel restrictions very soon.

Russia’s Desperate Attempts to Win the War

AFP wrote on September 25:

“Russia on Saturday toughened penalties for voluntary surrender and refusal to fight with up to 10 years imprisonment, and replaced its top logistics general after a series of setbacks to its seven-month war in Ukraine. The tough new amendments and personnel change come days after Russia instigated partial mobilization with Kyiv taking back more and more territory in a counter-offensive. It also comes as Kremlin-held regions of eastern and southern Ukraine voted for a second day on becoming part of Russia, dramatically raising the stakes. Integrating the four regions into Russia would mean that Moscow would consider any military move there as an attack on its own territory

“Military-age men have sought to leave, with flights full and neighboring countries receiving an influx of Russians, including Georgia where 2,300 private vehicles were waiting to enter at one crossing, regional Russian authorities said… A separate law, also signed on Saturday, facilitates Russian citizenship for foreigners who enlist in the Russian army as the Kremlin seeks to bolster its ranks…

“UN investigators on Friday accused Russia of committing war crimes on a ‘massive scale’ in Ukraine — listing bombings, executions, torture and horrific sexual violence. In the eastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials said they had exhumed 447 bodies from a site near the city of Izyum, which was recaptured from Russian forces. The Kremlin has accused Kyiv of fabricating evidence of the alleged war crimes.”

Newsmax wrote on September 25:

“The United States warned on Sunday of ‘catastrophic consequences’ if Moscow were to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, after Russia’s foreign minister said regions holding widely-criticized referendums would get full protection if annexed by Moscow…”

The U.S. Sun wrote on September 28:

“RUSSIA claims to have won the ‘SHAM’ referendums as voting ended in Russian-held regions of Ukraine. Moscow-installed officials in the regions are now claiming almost total support among those who took part as Russian sources reported that 96% of voters want to join Putin’s regime.

“The ballots closed in Donetsk and Lugansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south… Western leaders have already slammed the votes.”

Nord Stream Pipeline Network Sabotaged?

Breitbart wrote on September 21:

“The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it cannot rule out ‘sabotage’ as the cause of significant damage to the Nord Stream pipeline network that carries gas from Russia to Germany. The same thought occurred to various European officials as they turned gimlet eyes upon Russia as a potential suspect…

“‘The multiple undersea leaks mean neither pipeline will likely deliver any gas to the EU over the coming winter, irrespective of political developments in the Ukraine war. Depending on the scale of the damage, the leaks could even mean a permanent closure of both lines,’ a notice from the Eurasia Group, a risk consulting firm, said on Tuesday… ‘We are talking about three leaks with some distance between them, and that’s why it is hard to imagine that it is a coincidence,’ Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen observed.”

Germany’s Olaf Scholz Battle With the New York Times

The New York Times wrote on September 25:

“Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany gets right to the point when asked why his country will not send battle tanks to Ukraine: It is ‘a very dangerous war,’ he said. Ukraine has made gains recently against Russia, which invaded the country in February, and has been asking the West for reinforcements. But Germany has declined to lead the way in sending that aid… it took months and the threat of a parliamentary vote before [Scholz] approved any shipments of heavy weapons…

“But Mr. Scholz has refused to provide Ukraine with Leopard battle tanks or Marder infantry fighting vehicles, which Ukrainian officials have repeatedly asked for… Mr. Scholz’s refusal — which goes against the will of many even inside his own governing coalition — has earned him noisy and near-unanimous criticism among Germany’s Eastern European neighbors, not least in Ukraine. Commanders along the front say the Germans’ reluctance to provide battle tanks points to a policy of seeking a negotiated settlement along existing lines, rather than a Ukrainian success in pushing out the Russians…

“Pressed on that question in the interview with The Times, Mr. Scholz bristled. ‘Leadership does not mean you do what people ask you,’ he said. ‘Leadership is about taking the right decisions and to be very strong. And this is what I’m doing.’… In the interview, Mr. Scholz rejected any suggestion that the United States might in fact welcome Germany’s stepping up and taking the lead on sending battle tanks, which are cumbersome to transport, especially across an ocean… But after Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive, the U.S. Embassy in Berlin posted on Twitter what many interpreted as a veiled invitation to Germany: ‘We call on all allies and partners to lend as much support as possible to Ukraine in its struggle for democratic sovereignty,’ the embassy tweeted. ‘The decision on the type of aid ultimately lies with each country.’

“This month’s battlefield gains by Ukrainian forces have only added to the pressure on Mr. Scholz, whose government has cited different reasons at different times for not sending tanks. After Mr. Scholz’s defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, said this month that Germany had to hold onto its tanks to fulfill its obligations to NATO, the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that arming Ukraine was more important…

“Even within Germany, impatience has been building. ‘All of Europe is waiting for Germany to make the first step,’ said Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the Free Democrats, one of the three parties in Mr. Scholz’s coalition government, and the head of the parliamentary defense committee.

“Mr. Scholz’s caution was also evident during the interview in his reluctance to detail his own vision for how the war might end… Did he want Ukraine to win? ‘Russia can’t win,’ was as far as he would go…

“For a chancellor with a robotic manner that long ago earned him the nickname ‘Scholz-o-mat,’ there were moments during the sometimes tense interview with The Times when Mr. Scholz was surprisingly emotional when reacting to questions that challenged him. Several times, he berated journalists for asking those. Asked why Germany will still not spend 2 percent of gross domestic product on military spending in the next couple of years, as Mr. Scholz has said it would, he snapped: ‘Asking that question is not serious, to be very honest.’

“But Mr. Putin’s veiled threat last week of a tactical nuclear strike when he was announcing the force buildup and promising to see the war through has been resonating in Berlin. ‘Unfortunately, nuclear blackmail seems to be working in Germany,’ said Claudia Major, the head of security policy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. ‘If the chancellor is serious about leading, he will have to show initiative and, yes, step up,’ Ms. Major said. ‘Doing a lot and leading is not the same thing.’”

Scholz’s claim that he is a strong leader is a bad joke.. and a tragic self-illusion… His inability to lead is more than obvious.

Italy’s Move to the Right

ABC News wrote on September 24:

“Giorgia Meloni, leader of Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), could become the first female prime minister in the history of Italy…

“The archconservative of Italian politics, Meloni entered politics at age 15 in 1992, joining the neo-fascist Social Movement, a group with pronounced sympathy for Benito Mussolini, the country’s dictator from 1925 to 1945. Fratelli d’Italia’s party imagery evokes Italy’s fascist past…

“The collapse of Draghi’s government in July threw Italy into a familiar political tumult… The right wing, though, has joined forces. Polls indicate Meloni will be the leading conservative finisher on Sunday; her government’s junior partners would be Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, and Silvio Berlusconi, the head of the center-right Forza Italia. Berlusconi, the media tycoon and conservative firebrand, rose to power in 1994 and won three stints as prime minister, in total the longest serving premier in the post-war era. Salvini has been seen as the conservative in the wings of Palazzo Chigi, while Meloni had led the smaller Fratelli d’Italia, distant from the mainstream…

“Anticipation for a far-right surge in Rome, which would follow closely behind Tuesday’s stunning electoral victory for the Swedish Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi origins, has already provoked barbed remarks from Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief. Von der Leyen was not keen to veil Brussels’ posture toward a government that could move to subvert democracy…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 26:

“The center-right coalition led by nationalist Giorgia Meloni secured a parliamentary majority in Italy’s general elections on Sunday, according to exit polls… the main center-left group, the Democratic Party, conceded defeat… Although she has been known for her euroskeptic stance, she has abandoned her calls for Rome to ditch the eurozone. Instead, she wants Italy to assert its interests more in the European Union.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, congratulated Meloni after exit polls showed that her coalition was winning. ‘In these difficult times, we need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe’s challenges,’ said Orban’s political adviser Balazs Orban. Lawmakers from the German far-right AfD party and the French National Rally party have also hailed the right-wing victory in Italy. ‘We celebrate with Italy!’ AfD lawmaker Beatrix von Storch wrote late Sunday on Twitter. ‘Sweden in the north, Italy in the south: left-wing governments are yesterday’s news,’ she wrote…

“Given the complicated electoral system and the likelihood of coalition negotiations, the first session of the new parliament and formation of a new government is liable to take weeks, as it tends to in Germany after a national vote.”

The Associated Press wrote on September 26:

“Differences among Meloni’s potential coalition partners could loom. She has solidly backed the supplying of Ukraine with arms to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. In contrast, right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini, who before the war was a staunch admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has voiced concern that Western sanctions could end up hurting Italy’s economic interests more that punishing Russia’s.

“Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, another long-time Putin admirer, has said that his inclusion in a center-right bloc’s coalition would guarantee that Italy stays firmly anchored in the European Union and one of its most reliable members…

“What kind of government the eurozone’s third-largest economy might be getting was being closely watched in Europe, given Meloni’s criticism of ‘Brussels bureaucrats’ and her ties to other right-wing leaders. She recently defended Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban after the European Commission recommended suspending billions of euros in funding to Hungary over concerns about democratic backsliding and the possible mismanagement of EU money.”

Further developments in Italy could be significant, from a prophetic standpoint.

What Italy’s Election Could Mean for the USA

On September 26, The Ron Paul Institute wrote the following:

“Sunday was an historic election day for Italy. A conservative alliance with a populist flair absolutely trounced the technocrats who had been running the country into the ground for the past several years. The previous prime minister, former Goldman Sachs banker Mario Draghi, implemented one of the most restrictive – and inhuman – Covid shutdowns, which, along with supporting economically suicidal sanctions against Russia, have left Italy an economic basket case…

“Ironically, the democratic victory of Meloni and the rest of the Italian right likely owes a great deal of gratitude to one of Europe’s most undemocratic and anti-democratic leaders: European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen… her message to Italian voters was ‘yes you can vote, but if you vote in a way I do not approve of, you will be punished.’ Italians rushed to vote in a way she did not approve of. It will be interesting to see what happens.

“How does any of this relate to the United States as the US moves closer to the midterm elections? Americans have also been given warnings by the political elites that they dare not vote for the ‘wrong’ candidates or parties.

“On September 1st, President Biden issued a warning similar to that of Europe’s von der Leyen. In one of the most bizarre speeches in political history, Biden warned that Trump supporters ‘…are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.’… it was a declaration of war against half of the country.”

It is also very interesting that America has been taken backwards under Biden in many different ways when considering the threats and attempts of abandoning constitutional rights of America’s citizens.

British Pound at All Time Low

BBC wrote on September 27:

“The pound has fallen to a record low against the dollar… If the pound stays at low levels against the dollar, imports of commodities priced in dollars, including oil and gas, will be more costly. Other imported goods could also become considerably more expensive, further pushing up inflation which is already at its highest rate for decades….

“Many people don’t think about exchange rates until it’s time to swap money for a foreign holiday. When you travel abroad, things will be more expensive if the pound buys less of the local currency. However, a fall in the pound affects household finances too.

“If the pound is worth less, the cost of importing goods from overseas goes up. For example, as oil is priced in dollars a weak pound can make filling up your car with petrol more expensive. Gas is also priced in dollars.

“Technology goods, like iPhones, that are made abroad, may get more expensive in UK shops. Even things that are made in the UK but from parts that are bought abroad can get much more expensive.”

The Catholic Church and Antichrist

LifeSiteNews wrote on September 23:

“Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller revealed in a new interview that during the discussions at the recent 29–30 August meeting of the College of Cardinals in Rome, a newly appointed cardinal and key papal advisor suggested that the power of the Pope over the Church is ‘unlimited.’ Müller reported that Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J., a canon lawyer who helped the Pope with his curial reform, presented the ‘theory of the papacy as an unlimited power of divine right over the whole Church, as if the Pope were a Deus in terris [God on earth].’

“The German cardinal explained further that the ‘new cardinal Ghirlanda, S.J, as the most important advisor to the Pope in the reform of the curia, holds the view that everything the popes have ever said or done in the history of the Church is a dogma or a law de jure divino [by divine right].’…

“Müller made it clear that ‘the Pope has no authority to change the teaching of the Church.’ That teaching, he expounded, is ‘anchored in the revelation of God.’ ‘For in doing so, he would exalt himself as a man above God,’ he added.

“…the German bishops think they can make up a new teaching that is not loyal to the Church’s constant teaching. They do not only want to change the Church in Germany, the German prelate explained, but they want to carry their reforms to Rome. ‘In their blind arrogance,’ he stated, ‘they are not thinking of schism, but of taking over the Universal Church…They claim the leading role in the Universal Church.’… And here Cardinal Müller made a reference to the Antichrist: ‘Their [the German bishops’] goal is the transformation of the Church of the Triune God into a worldly welfare organization (NGO).

“‘Then we would finally have arrived at the “religion of universal brotherhood,” i.e. a religion without the God of revelation in Christ, without a truth that reaches beyond finite reason, without dogmas and sacraments as means of grace necessary for salvation – just as the great Russian religious philosopher Vladimir Soloviev described it in his writing Short Narrative of the Antichrist (1899). The world ruler of the universal philanthropy without God is contradicted here by Pope Peter II by hurling the confession against the Antichrist, who has spread himself on the throne of God…

“‘The German cardinal reminded Catholics of their duty, in light of this extreme Church crisis, to defy the commands of the Antichrist and his minions and to stay loyal to Jesus Christ and witness to Him… In a world where people presume to be God, to recreate themselves and to redeem themselves (cf. the main advisor of the New World Order: Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus [Man is God]), for us Christians there remains only the testimony of the word and, if necessary, of blood, that only the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior, because He has overcome the world, its arrogance and its sin and death as the wages of sin.’”

The reality is, popes have exalted themselves above God, and the final representative will do so even more. He will sit in the temple of God, claiming to be God. This, in conjunction with other developments, will be the ultimate fulfillment of the “abomination of desolation.”

 Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This Week in the News

Western Values Which Westerners Don’t Value

On September 16, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by Caitlin Johnston:

“Have you ever noticed how those who shriek the loudest about tyranny in foreign countries are always the same people calling for the censorship and deplatforming of anyone who criticizes the western empire?… Anyone — and I do mean anyone — who aggressively and consistently criticizes the foreign policy of the US and its allies in front of a sizeable audience gets branded a Russian agent by empire apologists…

“Defenders of the western empire won’t admit to wanting all empire critics silenced, but that’s what you get… Whenever I criticize the foreign policy of the western empire I get its apologists telling me I’d never be allowed to criticize my rulers like that if I lived in a nation like Russia or China, when they know full well that if it were up to them I wouldn’t be allowed to criticize the western empire here either. They are the same as the tyrants they claim to despise.

“The trouble with ‘western values’ is that westerners don’t value them… all that reverence for free expression and holding power to account with the light of truth goes right out the window the second they see someone saying something that sharply differs from what their rulers and their propagandists have told them to think. Then they want that person silenced and shut down…

“People tell me ‘Move to Russia!’ or ‘Move to China!’… and I always want to tell them, no, you move to Russia. You move to China. You’re the one trying to suppress dissent and criticism of the powerful. I’m the one who is living by western values as they were sold to me and demanding normal scrutiny of the most powerful empire that has ever existed. You don’t belong here…

“It’s obvious with a look around that the ‘western values’ we’re all told about are not actually terribly common in the west. Look at the west’s major media platforms and they virtually never platform anyone who is meaningfully critical of the real centers of power in western civilization. Look at western governments and they continually dance to the beat of oligarchy and empire regardless of how people vote in their supposedly free democratic elections. Look at the internet and it’s actually very difficult to find authentic criticisms of imperial power unless you already know where to look… It’s we marginalized outsiders who are adamantly opposing censorship, propaganda and the empire’s war on the press while continuously working to shine the light of truth on the mechanisms of power from the fringes, while we are being yelled at and accused of treason by mainstream sycophants who have far more in common with the autocrats they claim to oppose than with the western values they purport to uphold.”

Sadly, this is SO true!

The Anointing Oil for King Charles III

Express wrote on September 17:

“The anointing of a monarch is regarded as the most sacred part of the coronation – the only part which is shielded from public view, and which was not televised when the late Queen Elizabeth officially took the crown in 1953. During that section of the ceremony, the Archbishop of Canterbury daubs the head of the monarch with special oil, of a secret recipe that has remained the same across reigns. It is intended to mark their appointment as a religious and spiritual leader for the nation, as well as the head of the Church of England…

“John Bell and Croyden, the Queen’s pharmacy in London, holds the two samples of the oil ‘under lock and key’ at their Marylebone premises. It said it had ‘contacted the palace and are awaiting further instructions’ on the use of the oil in King Charles’ coronation. The current batch of oil was formulated using the same recipe as that which crowned King Charles I in 1626, after the oil used for her father King George VI was destroyed in the Blitz. Several bottles have been made up in the centuries between for various historical reasons, but the use of oil in anointing monarchs in the UK is believed to date back to 973, to the time of King Edgar

“Though the exact preparation is said to be a well-kept secret [it is said that] the 1952 oil ‘consists of a mixture of sesame and olive oil, perfumed with roses, orange flowers, jasmine, cinnamon, flowers of benzoin, musk, civet and ambergris’…”

King Charles III’s coronation will or may include numerous interesting components and “accessories”… compare our new series of Q&As in this and the next issue.

Queen Victoria’s Crown

The Arlington Daily Dispatch wrote on September 9:

“… an Anglican priest who I have known for decades is searching to find out if the following anecdote — which is circulating once again, for obvious reasons — is real or fiction. It would appear that the original source was one of the queen’s chaplains, or someone close to the chaplain. Here is the reference:

“ONE of the chaplains of her late Majesty, Queen Victoria, had been preaching on the Second Coming of the Lord, and afterward, in conversation with the preacher, the Queen exclaimed: ‘Oh! how I wish that the Lord would come in my lifetime!’ ‘Why,’ asked the chaplain, ‘does your Majesty feel this very earnest desire?’ The Queen replied with quivering lips, and her whole countenance lighted up by deep emotion: ‘I should so love to lay my crown at His feet.’”

This episode, if true, would be remarkable, given the fact, as is being pointed out in our new Q&As, that Queen Victoria apparently believed that she was Jewish and a direct descendant of King David, which would mean that she also believed that she was sitting on the Throne of David, and that the British crown would be transferred to Christ at His return.

The Red Heifer and the Third Temple

Israel 365 wrote on September 16:

“The Temple Institute and Boneh Israel made a huge step towards reinstating the Temple service on Thursday when five red heifers landed at Ben Gurion International Airport. The red heifer was the main component in the Biblically mandated process of ritual purification for impurity that results from proximity or contact with a dead body.  Because the elements needed for this ceremony have been lacking since the destruction of the Second Temple, all Jews today are considered ritually impure, thereby preventing the return of the Temple service. The Temple Institute launched its Red Heifer program about a decade ago, led by Rabbi Azariah Ariel. But even in Temple times, an animal that fulfilled the Biblical requirements was exceedingly rare. Failing to produce a suitable candidate from ranchers in Israel, The Temple Institute began investigating alternative sources for a red heifer.

“Boneh Israel, an organization that connects Christian lovers of Israel to the Holy Land, stepped in to help. Led by Byron Stinson, a native Texan, Boneh Israel understood ranchers.I didn’t set out to do this, but right now, I am probably the best red heifer hunter in Texas,’ Byron quipped. ‘The Bible says to bring a red cow to purify Israel, and I may not understand it, but I am just doing what the Bible said… The prophecies came true, and the Jews are back in Israel,’ Byron said. ‘Now they need to build a Temple… The red heifer is the key to making the Temple work like it’s supposed to.’…

“From the time of Moses, who personally prepared the first heifer, until the destruction of the Temple, only nine red heifers were prepared. Nonetheless, this was sufficient to maintain the ritual purity of the entire nation for almost 2,000 years. According to Jewish tradition, there will only be ten red heifers in human history with the tenth heifer ushering in the Messianic era…”

Even though the Bible does NOT require the existence and sacrifice of a red heifer prior to the building of the Temple, many orthodox Jews believe in its necessity.

Blowing the Shofar and Rebuilding the Temple

Israel Today wrote on September 18:

“Three Jewish men were detained by the Jerusalem Police for questioning on Sunday after they blew a shofar outside the Temple Mount, reported TPS. They are being accused of ‘provocations’ and disturbing the peace. The three ‘offenders’ were identified as: Former Member of Knesset Yehudah Glick; Tom nisani, head of the Beyadenu… [and] Emanuel Brosh, also a leader of Beyadenu.

“All three men are activists for a return of Jewish prayer to the Temple Mount, and the eventual rebuilding of the biblical Temple. The present status quo bars Jews from expressions of faith and religion at the Temple Mount, despite it being Judaism’s holiest site.”

JNS wrote on September 18:

“The first shofar blast in the Bible is a supernatural one: at the foot of Mount Sinai, the Jews [the Israelites] are gathered and hear the sound of the shofar, presumably from the lips of God Himself… There is an etymological link between the Hebrew term for ‘shepherd,’ ro’eh, and the term we identify with shofar blasts, truah….

Leviticus proclaims the first day of the seventh month—Rosh Hashanah—yom t’ruah, a ‘day of blasts.’ On Yom Kippur, every 49 years, the Jubilee is ushered in with the sound of a ‘broken blast.’… In the Temple, priests blew shofars to mark the new moon and as part of the regular musical service of the Levites…. Even in Temple times, it was used to warn of approaching danger, mark the onset of Shabbat (before the advent of clocks) and crown a new king—a practice preserved in modern-day Israel when a new president is sworn in. And it was used in war. In the book of Judges, Gideon and his army of 300 intimidate the much more numerous Midianites with some primitive pyrotechnics accompanied by shofar blasts. Perhaps most famously, at the command of God and under the direction of Joshua, the walls of Jericho collapse at the sound of seven shofars…

“Rosh Hashanah also became the day when, with shofar blasts, the Jewish people crown God as their king… Laden with such history and significance, it’s little wonder that in modern times, the shofar became a symbol of Jewish identity and continuity, blown in Auschwitz, at the end of World War II and at the liberated Western Wall in 1967…”

Even the continued existence and blowing of the shofar keeps the Jewish desire for a third temple very much alive.

Pope Rebuked Over Liberal Abortion Views

LifeStiteNews wrote on September 16:

“Four bishops, several priests, and numerous Catholic scholars have signed a statement rebuking Pope Francis for a recent statement about the reception of Holy Communion, according to which ‘everyone is invited to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb (Re 19:9). To be admitted to the feast all that is required is the wedding garment of faith which comes from the hearing of his Word.’ The Pope wrote these words in his June 29 Apostolic Letter on the liturgy… but for the signatories of this new statement… he omitted the ‘essential topic of repentance for sin for the worthy reception of the Eucharist.’… They explain:

“The Catholic Church has always taught that in order to receive the Holy Eucharist worthily and without sin, Catholics must receive sacramental absolution, if possible, for any mortal sins they may have committed and obey all other laws of the Church concerning reception of the Eucharist (as, for example, the laws concerning fasting prior to reception of the Eucharist).

“If a sacramental confession is not possible, but the reception of Holy Communion urgent (such as for a priest celebrating Mass), the Sacrament of Penance has to be sought as soon as possible afterwards, and the penitent must have perfect contrition for his mortal sins. By extensively quoting from the Council of Trent’s documents, the signatories also make it clear that such teachings as presented in Pope Francis’ document have already been condemned as heresy. ‘The claim,’ they write, ‘that faith is the only requirement for worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist was condemned by the Council of Trent as a heresy.’

“This false teaching might become more important now at this historic moment. Only in May, a U.S. Bishop – Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone – publicly banned Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, from receiving Holy Communion because she is defying the Church’s teaching against abortion. ‘A Catholic legislator,’ he then wrote, ‘who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others.’

“It nearly looks as if Pope Francis’s June 2022 document is a response to that diocesan ruling, now stating that faith alone is sufficient for receiving Holy Communion….”

The disagreements and rifts within the Catholic Church about the  Eucharist will not go away. The tragedy is that all sides are wrong. The Eucharist is a false concept based on a false understanding of the Passover. In addition, Revelation 19:9 has nothing to do with the issue at hand. But the controversy within the Catholic Church between liberals (led by Francis) and conservatives (looking at Benedict as their guide) continues.

Biden Declares That the COVID Pandemic Is Over. But This Means Nothing!

The New York Post wrote on September 18:

“The pandemic is essentially over, right?…  It was only June when unvaccinated Canadians were finally allowed to leave the country, for reasons unclear to anyone. The vaccine doesn’t prevent transmission, so how did it make sense to keep the unvaccinated behind the frozen curtain? It didn’t. But that’s Canada. It’s completely lost the plot with COVID… America wouldn’t behave like that, right? Except we are…

“The fractured trust between Americans and our institutions will be immeasurable. And the damage continues… Studies show the vaccine’s effectiveness wears off after a few months and transmission can happen at any time. Forced compliance for the fun of it should not be health policy.

“And no, boosters don’t mean you’re any safer. In fact, the Biden administration isn’t labeling the latest shot a ‘booster’ at all. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called it a ‘new vaccine.’ You [the fully vaccinated] might find yourself back with the ‘unvaccinated’ sooner than you think…

“It’s maddening… We have won absolutely nothing with these vaccine mandates — but will have lost so much. Politicians did so many backward, horrible things in the name of safety throughout COVID. The continuing vaccine mandates are a reminder that… the harm goes on.”

The “scientific” incompetence of politicians and their medical “advisors” in their hypocritical approach towards COVID—which is sadly still going on in many parts of the world—has been appalling and terribly harmful.

USA to Defend Taiwan?

Reuters wrote on September 19:

“U.S. President Joe Biden said U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, his most explicit statement so far on the issue. Asked in a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday whether U.S. forces would defend the democratically governed island claimed by China, he replied: ‘Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack.’ Asked to clarify if he meant that unlike in Ukraine, U.S. forces – American men and women – would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, Biden replied: ‘Yes.’

“The interview was just the latest time that Biden has appeared to go beyond long-standing stated U.S. policy on Taiwan, but his statement was clearer than previous ones about committing U.S. troops to the defend the island… In May, Biden was asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan and replied… ‘Yes … That’s the commitment we made.’…

“Biden’s remarks are likely to enrage Beijing, which was angered by a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi in August. That visit promoted China to conduct its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan and China has protested moves by U.S. lawmakers to advanced legislation that would enhance U.S. military support for Taiwan.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control and has not ruled out the use of force. Taiwan strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims… In a phone call with Biden in July, Xi warned about Taiwan, saying ‘those who play with fire will perish by it.’”

It appears that Biden is indeed willing to defend Taiwan militarily with American “boots on the ground” in case of an undefined “unprecedented attack,” even though the White House keeps denying it.

Biden “Warns” Moscow

AFP wrote on September 18:

“US President Joe Biden is warning his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin against using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the wake of serious losses in his war in Ukraine. ‘Don’t. Don’t. Don’t,’ Biden said in an excerpt from an interview with CBS’ ‘60 Minutes’ that aired Friday evening… ‘You would change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,’ Biden said. ‘They will become more of a pariah in the world, more than they have ever been,’ the US leader added… Moscow is facing fresh outrage from the West after the discovery of a mass grave outside the formerly Russian-occupied city of Izyum, where, Kyiv officials say, almost all of the exhumed bodies showed signs of torture.

“But Putin remained steadfast, saying his war against Russia’s Western-leaning neighbor was proceeding according to plan. ‘The plan is not subject to adjustment,’ Putin said Friday. ‘Our offensive operations in Donbas itself do not stop. They are going at a slow pace… The Russian army is occupying newer and newer territories.’”

These kinds of vague “warnings” are pretty meaningless.

The Threat of Nuclear War

The Spectator wrote on September 16:

“The world is facing the prospect of its first nuclear attack since the US Air Force dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Yet that horror arouses little fear or outrage… The vast mass of people don’t care to think about it… we belittle threats that terrified our parents and grandparents… Fears of radiation clouds do not panic the European public…

“The Russian ‘tactical’ weapons that could hit Ukraine are ‘delivered’ by cruise missiles fired from submarines and ships, or from land-based missile launchers…

“The bombs they carry have about 10 kilotons of destructive power. To grasp the devastation 10 kilotons can cause, the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 15 kilotons. It killed about 70,000 people, injured another 70,000 and levelled the city for 12 square kilometres around the blast site. In our time, the explosion that destroyed much of central Beirut in 2020 was less than 1 kiloton. It still stripped steel-framed buildings of their cladding, and left 300,000 people homeless. There’s nothing tactful about tactical weapons…

“Military analysts who believe we can escape a catastrophe must downplay Russian military doctrine and how it envisages the first use of nuclear weapons in conventional wars. They tell us to wipe from our mind, too, of the jeering bullies of Russian state television who deploy threats to go nuclear against Ukraine and the wider West as a matter of course. Underlying their arguments is a belief in Putin’s rationality… Is a man who locked himself away during the pandemic rational? More pertinently does Putin see any rational difference between his interests and Russia’s interests? There’s no reason to think he does. The existential threat to his autocracy that defeat in Ukraine could bring surely appears to him to be an existential threat to Russia itself. The tsar cannot separate the two.

“In these circumstances, we cannot rule out the chance that nuclear terror will return. Neither can we do much to stop it returning. Betraying Ukraine is the only plausible way to remove the possibility of a catastrophe. If we cut off all weapons supplies and left it at Putin’s mercy, then the threat would recede…”

A complacent mankind will have a rude awakening.

Russia, China, India and Pakistan

Insider Paper wrote on September 16:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the growing influence of ‘new centres of power’ on Friday at a summit with Asian leaders including China’s Xi Jinping. ‘The growing role of new centres of power who cooperate with each other… is becoming more and more clear,’ Putin told the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan…

“The summit has brought together Putin and Xi with the leaders of several Asian countries including India and Pakistan, as Russia looks to show it has not been fully isolated by the conflict in Ukraine.”

In a related article, Insider Paper wrote on September 15:

“A Russian pipeline to China will replace the Nord Stream 2 gas link to Europe, abandoned amid the Ukraine conflict, Moscow’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday… Earlier in the day, the minister, on the sidelines of a visit to Uzbekistan, said Russia and China would soon sign agreements on the delivery of ‘50 billion cubic metres of gas’ per year via the future Force 2 pipeline in Siberia. This volume will almost represent the maximum capacity of Nord Stream 1 — 55 billion cubic metres in total — which has been shut down since September 2…

“Construction is due to start in 2024… Russian gas exports to the EU ‘will drop by around 50 billion cubic metres’ in 2022, Novak said.”

Far Eastern nations are forming to become a new power bloc—the biblical “kings of the East.”

SCO Meets Again

The Jerusalem Post wrote on September 17:

“[The] Shanghai Cooperation Organization [SCO] brought together countries that are close partners of Russia and China… [including Iran and Turkey.]”

Turkey said that it wants to become a member of SCO. While Turkey will ultimately lean more towards Europe than Russia, Iran and other Central Asian countries (all being part of the SCO) might continue to align more strongly with China and Russia. SCO members are China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Germany to Become Best-Equipped Force in Europe

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 16:

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday once more stressed… the importance of Germany’s armed forces in the new situation. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to redraw borders with the aim of making Russia an ‘imperial power’ in Europe once more…

“Scholz said Germany had to get used to the fact that Putin’s Russia will define itself as an adversary to it, to NATO and the EU for the foreseeable future. He said that in view of the situation, Germany’s military force must become Europe’s best-equipped. ‘We are making it convincingly clear: Germany is ready to take on leading responsibility for the security of our continent,’ he said. ‘As the most populous country with the greatest economic power and as a country in the middle of the continent, our army must become the cornerstone of conventional defence in Europe: the best-equipped force in Europe,’ he added… ‘The core task of the Bundeswehr is to defend freedom in Europe,’ he said, adding that all other jobs had to take a secondary role…”

As we reported in our last Update, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht had already said she believed Germany was obliged to play a leading global role, including in the military sphere, and that the country should not be afraid of its responsibility.

Even though the words of Scholz, as such, are pretty meaningless, since he is always wavering and speaking out of both sides of his mouth, the approach is interesting, as he is being pushed to say and echo these words which WILL come true in due time… but not under Scholz and the present Ample coalition, which is a laughing stock and doomed to fall apart.

Germany Wants Weapons From Israel

Israel 365 wrote on September 14:

“Already in early April, reports began surfacing that Berlin is interested in purchasing Israeli-made air- and missile-defense systems, in addition to unmanned aerial vehicles… Monday’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin yielded significant clues that a major defense deal is in the works (according to Bloomberg, the cost could be around $2 billion)…

“Germany seems keen to prioritize air defense against Russian missile threats after the latter fired thousands of cruise missiles and an unknown but likely smaller number of ballistic missiles at Ukraine… The Arrow-3 system features advanced radar that constantly scans for threats, and when it detects them, it tracks and dispatches interceptors into the air over a very large area.

“The likely German purchase fits into a larger pattern of growing European defense acquisitions from Israel… Europe as a region is already the leading importer of Israeli defense technology, accounting for 41% of sales in 2021 out of a total of $11.3 billion… The trade will be two-way; Germany is supplying Israel’s most expensive and strategically important platform, the existing Dolphin and future Dakar submarines… These sales reflect extensive, mutual and strategic cooperation on defense, with the Arrow-3 representing a dramatic Israeli export to a Europe that has been permanently changed by Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

The tragedy is that ultimately, Europe will use those Israeli weapons against Israel.

The DOJ’s and the FBI’s Persecution of Trump Supporters

Zero Hedge wrote on September 13:

“Prominent Trump supporter and 2020 election integrity skeptic [MyPillow CEO] Mike Lindell says he was stopped by the FBI Tuesday and had his cell phone seized. While heading home from a hunting trip with a friend, Lindell said he was at a Hardees in Minnesota when cars pulled up in front of us, to the side of us and behind us, and I said “they’re either bad guys or the FBI”’…Well, it turns out they were the FBI. ‘I can’t even imagine that you can take someone’s phone because they want me to be a witness in the Tina Peters case. But I’m not a witness, they just want my phone.’

“Lindell is the latest Trump ally to receive a warrant or subpoena by the FBI. Last week, the Biden DOJ hit dozens of Trump aides and allies with subpoenas as part of their investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US election over claims of fraud that handed Joe Biden the White House, as well as the run up to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Interesting how the Biden DOJ waited more than 18 months – right before midterms – to initiate legal action against Trumpworld. And Biden said he wouldn’t weaponize  the Justice Department.”

Newsmax wrote on September 14:

“Trump blasted the FBI through his Truth Social page for questioning Lindell, commenting that he was ‘just raided by the FBI. We are now officially living in a Weaponized Police State, Rigged Elections, and all. Our Country is a laughing stock all over the World. The majesty of the United States is gone…’”

It sure is.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

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