Hurricane Katrina’s Devastation

Early reports suggest that Hurricane Katrina might prove to be the deadliest and costliest natural disaster in the history of the nation. The city of New Orleans–
sometimes called the “most European of all American cities”–has now been compared with Hiroshima and Baghdad. The situation in New Orleans has been described as “chaotic.” The sufferings of the survivors are beyond comprehension. According to President Bush, it will take years to rebuild the destroyed areas. Der Spiegel Online published articles with the following headlines: “This Is Judgment Day”; “Can This Still Be Coincidence?”; and “The Smell of the Apocalypse.” Due to the devastation, the production of oil and of agricultural commodities has been greatly affected. In some states in the USA, prices for gasoline are approaching previously unthinkable heights.The hurricane’s devastation might push the nation’s fragile economy into recession. In addition, the city of Los Angeles is waiting for the overdue “big one”–an earthquake which might create even worse damage than the hurricane’s devastation in New Orleans. During the night of August 31, 2005, Southern California was rattled again by several earthquakes–including one with the magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter Scale. Are we seeing the beginning of the end for this great country?

The Economist reported on August 30, 2005:

“Besides its devastating cost in lives, Katrina could push the American economy–maybe even the world economy–into recession. Around four-fifths of New Orleans was under water on Tuesday August 30th, the day after Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana, with winds roaring up to 140mph. Much of the city is below sea level and its levees–an ageing system of earthworks and pumping stations designed to hold the waters back–could not resist Katrina’s might. ‘The devastation is greater than our worst fears,’ said Louisiana’s governor, Kathleen Blanco… As the hurricane travelled on across Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama, it left a trail of death and devastation…

“More worrisome still is the toll of disease. Floodwaters may be contaminated with a toxic mix of industrial chemicals and raw sewage…

“… Nor will the effects of Hurricane Katrina be limited to the Gulf Coast and the offices of a few agitated insurers. Analysts are busy rewriting their forecasts of America’s fourth-quarter GDP growth to take into account the expected economic repercussions of the devastation. The affected area’s ports move a large fraction of the nation’s imports–including critical oil and gas supplies–as well as roughly half its exports of agricultural commodities like corn and soyabeans…

“Chief among the worries is the oil industry. The Gulf of Mexico provides about a tenth of all the crude oil consumed in America; and almost half of the petrol produced in the country comes from refineries in the states along the gulf’s shores. Oil companies are busy assessing how much damage was done to drilling rigs, refineries and port facilities; but even if the infrastructure is largely intact, shipping delays threaten to idle refinery production. This is bad news considering that refineries have been running flat out in recent months to keep up with high demand… If Katrina has damaged America’s capacity to pump and refine oil, forcing Americans to shop abroad for more fuel to feed their gluttonous appetites, it could be a long cold winter for everyone.”

Reuters reported on August 31, 2005:

“In the aftermath of Katrina, some 95 percent of U.S. oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and nine refineries along the coast remained shut down. Several crude pipelines on the Gulf Coast also remained out of service due to power outages, damage and flooding, creating further headaches for an industry that has been badly strained by the storm. What’s more, the Energy Department said Port Fourchon in Louisiana, which handles a large share of U.S. crude oil and natural gas imports, was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and is cut off by floodwaters.”

The Associated Press reported on August 31, 2005:

“From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged by SHOCK THAT A DISASTER OF THIS SCALE COULD OCCUR IN THE UNITED STATES… The storm was seen as an equalizer–proof that any country, weak or strong, can be victimized by a natural disaster. Images of flood-ravaged New Orleans earned particular sympathy in central Europe, where dozens died in raging floodwaters only days ago.”

In a related article, The Associated Press stated:

“Hurricane Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans, the mayor said Wednesday… If the mayor’s estimate holds true, it would make Katrina the NATION’S DEADLIEST HURRICANE SINCE 1900, when a storm in Galveston, Texas, killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The death toll in the San Francisco earthquake and the resulting fire has been put at anywhere from about 500 to 6,000.”

In a third article, the Associated Press stated: “Hurricane Katrina could cost the insurance industry up to $25 billion in claims, which would make it THE COSTLIEST STORM IN THE NATION’S HISTORY… That means Katrina could prove more costly than record-setting Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which caused some $15.5 billion in insured losses. Adjusted for inflation, Andrew’s cost would be nearly $21 billion today. The figures do not cover property that isn’t insured, which could add billions to the total. The Insurance Information Institute said that in Andrew’s case, the uninsured losses may have approached $16 billion.”

CNN.com reported on August 31, 2005:

“New Orleans resembled A WAR ZONE more than a modern American metropolis Tuesday, as Gulf Coast communities struggled to deal with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina… New Orleans was left with no power, no drinking water, dwindling food supplies, widespread looting, smoke rising on the horizon and the sounds of gunfire. At least one large building was ablaze Tuesday… Katrina has inflicted more damage to Mississippi beach towns than did Hurricane Camille, and its death toll is likely to be higher, the state’s governor said Tuesday.”

The Financial Times commented on August 31, 2005, that “The damage from Hurricane Katrina has been worse than expected, initial assessments showed on Tuesday, prompting a new rise in oil prices to record levels and raising concerns about the cost of insurance in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Historical Proof for the Bible

The Los Angeles Times reported on August 9, 2005, that the Biblical Pool of Siloam was uncovered in Jerusalem. The Pool served as a gathering place for ancient Jews making pilgrimages and is the site, according to the Gospel of John, where Jesus cured a blind man. The article pointed out:

“The pool was fed by the now famous Hezekiah’s Tunnel and is ‘a much grander affair’ than archeologists previously believed…, said Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review, which reported the find Monday.”

The article also explained the ignorance of certain scholars. It stated: “‘Scholars have said that there wasn’t a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit’ to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. ‘Now we have found the Pool of Siloam… exactly where John said it was.’ A gospel that was thought [by ignorant men] to be ‘pure theology is now shown to be grounded in history,’ he said… The pool of Jesus’ time was built early in the 1st century BC and was destroyed by the future Roman Emperor Titus about AD 70.”

The fact that the pool of Siloam did exist, shows–once again–the accuracy of the Bible. It also condemns the futile attempts of Bible critics to discredit the Word of God, thereby deceiving and misleading people to believe that they don’t have to be obedient to Biblical injunctions. They will have to give account for their ERROR when their day of judgment comes.

Atheistic Scientists

On August 23, 2005, The New York Times published another interesting article about the appalling position of some leading scientists, openly denying the existence of God. The article, titled, “Scientists Speak Up on Mix of God and Science,” pointed out:

“At a recent scientific conference at City College of New York, a student in the audience rose to ask the panelists an unexpected question: ‘Can you be a good scientist and believe in God?’ Reaction from one of the panelists, all Nobel laureates, was quick and sharp. ‘No!’ declared Herbert A. Hauptman, who shared the chemistry prize in 1985 for his work on the structure of crystals. Belief in the supernatural, especially belief in God, is not only incompatible with good science, Dr. Hauptman declared, ‘this kind of belief is damaging to the well-being of the human race.'”

On the other hand, a growing number of scientists say that they believe in God–although most of them don’t want to talk about it. One believing scientist said that many reject the idea of a belief in God “because of pride in the idea that science is the ultimate source of intellectual meaning.”

The article stated:

“According to a much-discussed survey reported in the journal Nature in 1997, 40 percent of biologists, physicists and mathematicians said they believed in God–and not just a nonspecific transcendental presence but, as the survey put it, a God to whom one may pray ‘in expectation of receiving an answer.'”

However, the article continued:

“Others play down those results. They note that when Dr. Larson [Edward J. Larson of the University of Georgia] put part of the same survey to ‘leading scientists’ – in this case, members of the National Academy of Sciences, perhaps the nation’s most eminent scientific organization – fewer than 10 percent professed belief in a personal God or human immortality.” Also, many scientists seem to believe in a God “who is behind the laws of nature but who is not intervening.”

When reading this, one is reminded of the pointed statements by Paul, in Romans 1:18-20, 22: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse… Professing to be wise, they became fools.”

Afghanistan’s Schizophrenic War

On August 17, 2005, Der Spiegel Online reported about the “Schizophrenic War” in Afghanistan. The magazine pointed out that Afghanistan is anything but a success story. It was explained:

“While the drug squads and social workers continue their desperate battle against heroin on the home front, German troops stationed in Afghanistan can do little more than stand by and watch as poppy cultivation expands dramatically. Almost 90 percent of the world’s opium comes from the fields of the Hindu Kush region where the Bundeswehr is stationed.”

The magazine continued to point out:

“In 2004, production increased by 17 percent to 4,200 tons. The area of land used for the cultivation of poppies, the opium plant, expanded by 64 percent, now encompassing 131,000 hectares.

“[German] Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has stated that ‘the mandate of the German forces does not include combating drugs.’ Poppy fields are not to be burned, nor are laboratories to be destroyed.”

The reason for this policy is, in part, not to anger the drug lords (whose support against the Taliban the Allies need). The consequence is, according to the article, that opium is now readily available in Germany, in part as a direct consequence of the “won” war in Afghanistan. And so, we see again that war is dirty business–and when it comes to Afghanistan, quite literally, it seems.

U.S. Real Estate Market in Danger

On August 26, 2005, Market Watch published the following article about the fragile real estate market in the United States: “In his sharpest warning to date about rising home prices, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the housing boom is an economic imbalance that could end badly… National housing prices have risen 12.5% in the past year through the first quarter, government data show.”

In a related article of The Associated Press, which was published on August 27, 2005, it was warned that “a chorus of economists, government officials and elected leaders both conservative and liberal is warning that America’s nonstop borrowing has put the nation on the road to a major fiscal disaster–one that could unleash plummeting home values, rocketing interest rates, lost jobs, stagnating wages and threats to government services ranging from health care to law enforcement… Many people take comfort in the rising value of their homes, and its spurred record home-building and buying, with new construction making places like Las Vegas the fastest-growing in the nation. But a home translates into wealth only when you sell it–and there’s a vigorous debate over whether the housing boom is becoming a bubble that will burst.”

Special Report on Pope Benedict’s Visit to Germany

Germany Before Pope’s Visit

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 15, 2005, about the faith and belief system of Germans. The article was published BEFORE Pope Benedict XVI visited Cologne during the World Youth Day. The article pointed out:

“The churches are empty, the politicians are non-believers and the people in the east are complete strangers to God… Most Germans have developed their own private concept of faith. For them, the Big Bang has replaced the myh of creation, while catastrophic climate change is their new apocalypse. And depending on where they are in life, they enjoy small servings of ecstasy in the form of sex & drugs & rock ‘n’ roll or a concert subscription for two. At best, they pray on Wednesdays and Sundays, when the lottery numbers are announced… Germany is not a godless country — on the contrary, it has many gods… Two-thirds of young people say that it’s cool to believe in something. Religious symbols and emblems are hot items in youth culture — a cross dangling from their necks… Faith, at least the kind of faith being taught in the Catholic and even the Protestant Church, is a minority position in Germany. The Infratest survey conducted for SPIEGEL revealed that even those who consider themselves religious are often considerably at odds with the church’s positions. Just under two-thirds of Catholics — and less than half of all Protestants — believe in life after death, a central tenet of Christianity. Twenty-seven percent of the faithful say that God is not all-powerful, a concept that also deeply contradicts Christian teachings…”

The article also pointed out that “Thirty-eight percent of Germans now say that when a person dies, he is not judged by his maker, but comes back to live another life on earth — they believe in the Buddhist idea of reincarnation.”

It continued:

“In 2003, 180,000 Protestants left the church. Only 60,000 joined… [T]he number of Catholics has decreased every year since 1974. The latest figures for 2003 show that around 65,000 more Catholics were buried as were baptized. Far more people leave the church than enter it… The [Catholic] church has very little following in eastern Germany. But even in the German parliament the pope’s supporters are few and far between. He can only really count on two members from small constituencies to vote in line with Catholic dogma. Unlike in Italy and in Poland, no German political parties follow the Vatican line in their decision-making process.”

However, the magazine continued to point out that the current situation “may be changing. Even in the German parliament, there are signs of a shift… The taboo on religion is being whittled away by the success of George W. Bush’s last election campaign, which concentrated on values, and of course by Rome’s religious upswing. Even [Protestant] Angela Merkel, the opposition candidate for German elections, joined the mass pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Square after the death of John Paul II. She saw how hundreds of thousands of pope followers waited in line for 11, 12 or 13 hours to say goodbye to the pope. And it appears that she returned from Rome rather taken with Catholicism.”

Germany During Pope’s Visit

Reuters reported on August 19, 2005:

“Pope Benedict, making a historic visit on Friday to a synagogue once destroyed by the Nazis, said Christians and Jews must join forces so the ‘insane racist ideology’ that led to the Holocaust never resurfaces… Many Jews say Pius, Pope from 1939 to 1958, turned a deaf ear to the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked behind the scenes to save Jews and did not speak out more forcefully for fear of instigating Nazi reprisals.”

The German magazine Focus emphasized, however, in its article of August 19, 2005, that Pope Benedict refused to address the culpability of the Catholic Church or Christians in general who were partially responsible for the rise of Anti-Semitism in Germany. Nevertheless, as AFP reported, “By its conclusion, the leader of Germany’s Jewish community Paul Spiegel said he was ‘extremely impressed by what he [the pope] said and how he said it.'”

On August 20, 2005, The Associated Press reported:

“Benedict began his day by meeting in private with [German Chancellor Gerhard] Schroeder. He also met with Angela Merkel, Schroeder’s conservative challenger in Sept. 18 national elections. Afterward, Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union and the daughter of a Protestant minister, said: ‘It was a great joy to see the Holy Father. It was great to meet a German pope on German soil.’ Schroeder, also Protestant, as are about a third of Germans, had no immediate public comment.”

AFP reported on Sunday, August 20, 2005:

“Pope Benedict XVI issued a ringing back-to-basics call to young Catholics at a giant open-air mass attended by over a million young pilgrims at the Catholic World Youth day festival… Some 700,000 had attended a prayer-vigil with Benedict the night before, but the World Youth Day organisers said the numbers had swelled to ‘more than one million’ by Sunday’s mass… The young crowd gave Benedict a noisy reception under a huge canopy of swirling flags when he arrived aboard his popemobile, waving and blessing the crowd… Benedict urged the young Catholics to keep God at the centre of their lives and underlined the importance of Sunday mass and receiving Holy Communion… Unusually for a pope, he even used the phrase ‘nuclear fission’ to describe the spiritual effect of receiving Holy Communion, in which Catholics believe bread and wine blessed by a priest is turned into the body and blood of Christ in imitation of the Last Supper. Benedict was due to return to Rome on Sunday evening at the end of what is being seen as a highly successful visit during which he also met German Jewish and Muslim leaders… [On] Saturday he urged Muslim leaders to do more to combat the ‘cruel fanaticism’ of terrorism that aimed to poison ties between Christians and Muslims.”

Deutsche Welle reported on August 20, 2005:

“Early in the day, the pope was reported to have told German politicians he was in favor of introducing Islamic instruction into the German school curriculum as an equal to the currently Catholic and Protestant religion courses provided… Several German bishops have called for placing Islam on an equal footing with Christianity in schools…”

The Boston Globe reported on August 19:

“Pope Benedict XVI, the first German pontiff in centuries, yesterday triumphantly returned to his homeland, cruising up the Rhine through a city and a vast crowd packed with reminders of Germany’s troubled past and its hopeful future. Thousands of young Germans donned buttons declaring ‘Wir Sind Papst,’ literally ‘We are pope,’ [a slogan coined by the daily tabloid, “Bild”] reflecting the burst of national pride that the election of a German cardinal as pope, and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of young people here for World Youth Day, has occasioned in a nation still at times uncomfortable with expressions of nationalism… As a cardinal, with the name Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict was highly controversial in his native Germany, where much of the church is more liberal than the new pope. But the nation has embraced him as a symbol, even if many do not agree with every element of his theology — the tone of the press coverage here has been jubilant, even as German Catholics, like others in Europe, are increasingly unlikely to attend church…

“Benedict, who is from Bavaria but spent time here in the Rhineland as a theology professor at the University of Bonn, shared briefly in the patriotism at the airport arrival ceremony. ‘With deep joy I find myself for the first time after my election to the Chair of Peter in my beloved homeland, in Germany,’ he said… ‘With deep emotion I thank God who has enabled me to begin my pastoral visits outside Italy with this visit to the nation of my birth.’…

“[F]or many, Benedict’s theological views are beside the point. ‘Germany is among the least religious countries in Europe today, but his election is a great source of national pride — the fact that he was elected to this post is more significant than the fact that he is Catholic,’ said Daniel Levy, an assistant professor of sociology at Stony Brook University. ‘The truth is that the man has been living in Rome for 25 years, so he’s much more of a cosmopolitan clergyman than he is a German, but he’s going to be appropriated as a German, and one who stands for a universal set of values.'”

Germany After Pope’s Visit

On August 22, 2005, Zenit published the following headlines: “German Press Upbeat on Benedict XVI’s Impact. Just About All Show Youth Day in Positive Light.” The article pointed out: “The German press took note of the unexpected impact that Benedict XVI made on young people, judging by the headlines at newsstands in the city center…”

On August 24, 2005, The Associated Press published Pope Benedict’s reflections on his visit to Germany. The article stated:

“Benedict also referred to his meeting with Protestant and Orthodox Christian representatives, saying it was significant that it was held in Germany–the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation. ‘The role of Germany in ecumenical dialogue is important both for the sad story of the divisions as well as for the significant role it has played in the path of reconciliation,’ he said.”

To Conclude:

Many Germans will follow the pope, even though they might not agree or even understand his doctrinal positions. In fact, even many Catholic lay members have really no concept of some of the official teachings of Roman Catholicism. As the Bible reveals, other factors will determine and persuade many Germans, as well as many people in other Catholic and Protestant countries, to follow enthusiastically the head of the Catholic Church. We are seeing the beginning of this process right now.

Internet Space for Europe

On August 18, 2005, the EUobserver reported about European developments regarding the Internet, as follows:

“After more than seven years of preparation, European companies and individuals can soon start to pre-register new .eu internet domain names… companies with registered national and EU trademarks, public bodies and those with rights acquired by use will have the exclusive right to gain the domain name equivalent to their trademark… The commission, which is conducting the whole process, hopes to create a new ‘Internet space’ for Europe, as opposed to domains such as .com or .org, mainly registered in the US and bound by its laws.”

England and Denmark vs. Euro

On August 19, 2005, the EUobserver reported about a further trend in England and Denmark to reject the euro. The article pointed out:

“For the first time since 1971, the Royal Mint is preparing to redesign British coins. The plans, announced on Thursday (18 August), have sparked claims from the Vote No campaign that the government has ruled out joining the eurozone, the Financial Times reports.”

The article also stated: “Meanwhile, in Denmark, which is also not a member of the eurozone, the likelihood of joining the single currency also appears to be dropping. Earlier this month, Danish polls revealed record low support for joining euro.”

Memorial for Evicted Germans?

On August 18, 2005, the EUobserver reported about the expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe after World War II. The article explained:

“Germany’s would-be chancellor Angela Merkel has angered Poles with her support for controversial plans to build a memorial to the nine million Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after WWII… The idea to publicly recognise the violence carried out against the Germans fleeing from the countries the Nazi had occupied between 1939 and 1945 has caused concerns in both Poland and the Czech Republic.”

This discussion is sadly reminiscent of the current expulsion of Jewish settlers in lands occupied by the Israelis. Forced evictions of people–most of them innocent and having acted in good faith, who have lived most of their lives in certain regions–is often a terrible and tragic consequence of the horrors of war.

Germany’s Economy on a Rebound

The Economist, the influential British weekly, wrote in the cover story of its latest edition:

“In the past five years, Germany, long the most costly place in Europe in which to do business, has won a new competitive edge over France, Italy, the Netherlands and even Britain.”

The magazine continued: “Given this corporate turnaround and strong export performance, it is not surprising that both profits and the stockmarket have been rising sharply. More significantly, recent surveys of business confidence have been encouraging… With unemployment now starting to come down, consumer confidence looks set to revive too… This suggests that domestic demand, the weakest link in the German economy, may be poised for a rebound… The story from Germany is about to become surprisingly good.”

New German Elections in September

The Associated Press reported on August 25, 2005: “Germany’s highest court ruled Thursday that federal elections can go ahead as planned Sept. 18, dismissing complaints against the early vote from two lawmakers. The Federal Constitutional Court’s 7-1 decision removed the final obstacle to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s drive to hold elections a year ahead of schedule. Campaigning is already in full swing…”

The article continued: “President Horst Koehler set the ballot for Sept. 18 after Schroeder deliberately lost a vote of confidence in parliament’s lower house in July. Under the German constitution, the president can dissolve parliament and set early elections if the government convinces him that it no longer has a stable majority. Social Democrat lawmaker Jelena Hoffmann and Werner Schulz from Schroeder’s coalition partner, the Greens, argued that Schroeder still has the support of their two parties and the vote of no confidence should not count,” as it violated the spirit of the German Constitution.

The decision of seven judges to allow for new elections (only one judge dissented) was expected, although some legal commentaries question its legality, pointing out that the decision was motivated and dictated by what most politicians and most German citizens wanted, rather than by what the law regulates, under the German Constitution. Bild Online stated that the political career of the two plaintiffs (Hoffmann and Schulz) is over. If so, they paid the price for following their conscience. For that, they must be congratulated.

Pagan Goddess Asked For Help

Reuters reported on August 19, 2005, about attempts in Thailand to deal with the aftermaths of the recent tsunami, killing thousands of people. The article wrote:

“With Asian tourists still shunning its southern beaches, Thailand is calling in a revered Chinese sea goddess to ward off the restive spirits of the thousands who died in last December’s tsunami. A statue of Godmother Ruby, known as Mazu in Chinese, will be brought to the Thai island of Phuket from the Chinese coastal province of Fujian next month for ghost-clearing rites… Mazu, a Taoist goddess of the sea, has a huge following among fishermen and shipworkers in coastal provinces of southern China and Taiwan.”

One is reminded of a prophecy in Revelation 9:20: “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.”

Gaza Evictions

The Contra Costa Times reported on August 22, 2005, that “Settlers from the last remaining Jewish community in Gaza were being driven out of the Palestinian territory as Israel brought down the curtain on its 38-year occupation… bulldozers were demolishing empty settler homes in other parts of Gaza… Prime Minister Ariel Sharon… who declared only three years ago that Netzarim was as integral a part of Israel as Tel Aviv, has become the settlers’ number one enemy by forcing them out of their homes… Sharon’s disengagement plan has raised international hopes of a genuine revival of the moribund Middle East peace process, left in tatters by five years of Israeli-Palestinian violence. However Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has said Israel can only prove it was serious about peace if it stopped its West Bank settlement programme, something Sharon has vowed to continue.”

AFP reported on August 23:

“Israel completed its evacuation of parts of the occupied Palestinian territories after the last hardline resistance to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s historic pullout crumbled. A day after the last settlers were cleared out of the Gaza Strip, army and police evacuated the radical settlements of Homesh and Sanur in the northern West Bank, an area Jews say was promised to them by God but regarded by Palestinians as an integral part of their promised future state… Sharon, when in opposition, had urged settlers to ‘seize the hills’. But he now argues it is unrealistic to expect such isolated settlements as Sanur and Homesh, which lie close to the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin, can remain part of Israel in any final status agreement. He applied the same logic to the Gaza pullout which was completed two weeks ahead of schedule on Monday when the community of Netzarim was evacuated.”

WorldNetDaily reported this week:

“Iran is taking great interest in Gaza as the Israelis complete their disengagement… Tehran is funding plans for a flotilla of ships to repatriate the territory with Palestinian terrorists from Lebanon and elsewhere, working with Fatah dissidents to undermine the Palestinian Authority and spearheading an effort to make the Gaza Strip a beachhead of Islamist terrorism within six months.”

Plague of Frogs in France

The Independent published an interesting article on Sunday, August 21, 2005, about a plague of frogs in France. When reading the article, one is reminded of the Biblical plague of frogs in ancient Egypt. It was stated:

“A campaign in France to exterminate frogs may sound like the beginning of a civil war, but these are no ordinary frogs… the most intensive effort so far [is underway] to terminate a plague of giant Californian bullfrogs which is threatening to disrupt the ecology of the Gironde, Dordogne and several other départements. The aggressive and voracious bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), introduced illegally 37 years ago, can grow to more than 4lbs in weight and almost 2ft long. It consumes other frogs, fish, lizards and even small birds… Destroying the frogs is not easy, however. The Gironde fisheries protection association attacked a pond full of bullfrogs with electricity a few years ago. The frogs fought back. The hunters battled with them for two hours. They killed just one frog before they gave up. Assaults on the frogs have also been made with nets and by draining ponds, to little effect.”

The article continued to explain that the most effective way to kill the frogs is by shooting them with rifles at night, but it added: “Even so, experimental attacks on ponds and lakes over the past 11 months have killed only 120 frogs. A much bigger offensive, starting this weekend, aims to exterminate all the bullfrogs in France within five to 10 years.”

Televangelist Controversial–Again

As The Associated Press reported on August 23, “Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming ‘a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism… We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator,’ he continued. ‘It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.'”

The article also explained that “Robertson has made controversial statements in the past. In October 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to ‘kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.'”

On August 24, The Associated Press continued its report, as follows:

“Venezuela condemned American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson for suggesting President Hugo Chavez should be killed, saying he committed a crime that is punishable in the United States. Officials in Washington distanced themselves from Robertson, saying his statements did not reflect the position of the U.S. government.”

The article continued: “Political assassination was made off-limits by former President Ford in an executive order in the mid-1970s.”

Some religious leaders began, with half-hearted, carefully worded statements, to somewhat distance themselves from Robertson’s comments, reasoning that he spoke as a citizen in a political context. However, in most cases, clear words or positions were missing. Robertson himself apologized for his statements, saying that he spoke out of frustration.

The problem is, of course, that most religious leaders refuse to follow the clear Biblical teachings on war. If they allow for wars under certain circumstances, why then would Robertson be so wrong with his opinion, as originally voiced? Please read our free booklet, “Should You Fight in War?”, to learn God’s way of thinking on this grossly misunderstood subject.

Extreme Weather in Europe

On August 23, 2005, AFP reported about extreme weather conditions in Europe. The article explained:

“Rescue workers struggled to contain floods that left a trail of death and destruction across parts of central Europe, as parched Spain and Portugal in contrast battled dozens of raging wildfires… three days of torrential downpours in central and eastern Switzerland turned Alpine streams into raging torrents and triggered flooding around the country’s lakes… Floods also hit Austria…, Bulgaria and southern Germany… In Germany, flooding was worst surrounding the popular Alpine ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. The town, where 105 liters per cubic metre fell overnight, was almost completely cut off.”

The article continued:

“But it was a far different story in Portugal and Spain, ravaged by wildfires and the worst drought since the mid-1940s. Nearly 3,000 firefighters and soldiers battled dozens of blazes in Portugal… Portuguese forces were backed by nine firefighting planes and helicopters rushed in from five fellow European Union nations — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands — after Lisbon appealed for help… In Spain’s northwestern Galicia province, firefighters battled 24 blazes, including one that has burned for three days near Santiago de Compostela.”

Venezuela Threatens USA

“Agence France Presse” (AFP) reported on August 16, 2005, that “Venezuela’s energy minister, Rafael Ramirez, said that Caracas is ‘ready and willing’ to cut off its oil supply to the United States, if there are any signs of aggression from the superpower toward his country… On Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to end oil exports to the United States if Washington did not stop its ‘aggressions.’… Washington’s attacks could provoke ‘something more serious: These two daily boats full of Venezuelan oil could head another way instead of going to the United States,’ warned Chavez, whose country is the fourth-largest provider of oil to the United States, supplying some 1.5 million barrels a day… Ramirez made a similar statement on Tuesday, declaring that Caracas, the only Latin American member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, had other clients to court, including China.”

The article continued:

“Chavez has become an increasingly outspoken critic of the United States, and accuses Washington of planning attacks against Venezuela, while the United States has accused Venezuela of funding efforts to destabilize Latin American neighbors and allowing weapons to cross into Colombia, whose government is battling a leftist insurgency.”

Airline Crashes on the Rise?

This week the world witnessed at least two tragic airplane crashes, causing many people to wonder how safe airline travel really is these days. Interestingly, the most recent accident occurred in Venezuela. The Associated Press reported on August 16, 2005:

“A chartered jet filled with tourists returning home to the French Caribbean island of Martinique crashed Tuesday in western Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board. The plane plunged to the ground after the pilot reported both engines had failed, officials said… The crash was the deadliest in Venezuelan history… the death toll surpassed a 1969 crash in Venezuela that killed 155, including 71 victims on the ground… The plane was carrying 152 tourists from Martinique, including a 21-month-old child, returning home after a week in Panama, officials said. All eight Colombian crew members also were killed.”

The article continued:

“The crash came only two days after a Cypriot airliner plunged into the mountains north of Athens, Greece, killing all 121 people aboard. Both jets were flying for new, low-cost regional carriers that are springing up around the world as governments deregulate air travel.”

Germany’s Newest Election Campaign

The EUobserver reported on August 15 about the German election campaign, as follows:

“German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder on Saturday (13 August) kicked off his electoral campaign by warning the US that it should not use military force against Iran. Speaking at a political rally in his native Hanover ahead of next month’s election, the German leader said Germany’s ‘friends’ in Europe and the US must maintain a strong position while negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme. ‘But take the military options off of the table; we have seen that they’re not suitable,’ he added. This was an apparent reference to a statement by US president George W. Bush on Israeli television the day before that ‘all options are on the table’ with regards to Iran. Mr Schroder said that no one was interested in letting Iran become a nuclear power, but that the ongoing dispute must be resolved by developing a ‘strong negotiating position’ using peaceful means. ‘For that reason I can definitely rule out that a government under my leadership would participate in that,’ he said… His comments have awakened a sense of deja vu. Three years ago, when running for re-election, strong statements he made against the ‘military misadventures’ in Iraq were widely believed to have contributed to him being elected Chancellor once again.”

The Associated Press added the following information in its article of August 13, 2005:

“Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opened his campaign Saturday for next month’s national election seeking to rejuvenate his beleaguered center-left party by taking a swipe at U.S. military aggressiveness and the verbal gaffes of a conservative opposition leader… Schroeder won new support by ratcheting up his criticisms of the…U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and donning high galoshes to visit flooded cities in the depressed east… The chancellor also turned his attention to turmoil within the opposition, attacking Christian Democrat leader Angela Merkel, who hopes to replace him, and her ally Edmund Stoiber, head of a Bavarian sister party who questioned the intelligence of voters in eastern Germany… Merkel found herself immediately on the defensive seeking to control the damage caused by Stoiber’s remarks… Stoiber, the governor of Bavaria, said at a rally that he didn’t want the former communist east to swing the Sept. 18 election–a reference to the voters in six eastern states who helped return Schroeder to office in 2002 when Stoiber was the conservatives’ candidate for chancellor. ‘Unfortunately, we don’t have such intelligent citizens everywhere as we do in Bavaria,’ said Stoiber.”

Earthquake in Japan

The Associated Press reported on August 16, 2005, about Japan’s most recent earthquake:

“The earthquake was powerful enough to sway skyscrapers 185 miles away in Tokyo. And with an estimated magnitude of 7.2, it had the potential to cause catastrophic damage. But this time, Japan got lucky. No one died in the quake that rocked a wide swath of northern Japan on Tuesday… Still, the jolt underscored the fragility of the lifelines of even the most modern, quake-resistant cities. It forced highways and railroads to close, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded, and 17,000 households lost electricity. And with Tokyo overdue for a major quake of its own, it was a psychological jolt for many.”

The article continued to explain:

“Japan sits at the juncture of four tectonic plates–or moving slabs of the earth’s outer crust–and is one of the world’s most quake-prone regions. There have been several recent strong quakes in Japan. The biggest, at magnitude 6.0, shook the Tokyo area on July 23, injuring more than two dozen people and suspending flights and trains for hours… The Dec. 26 Indian Ocean earthquake with a magnitude estimated at 9.1 to 9.3 and the tsunami it triggered killed more than 176,000 people in 11 countries, and left half a million homeless in Indonesia alone.”

The German Pope and His Native Country

The Independent (UK) wrote on August 16:

“Pope Benedict XVI’s return to his German homeland later this week has been billed as a visit to a godless country in which more people trust the police and the nation’s largest supermarket chain than the head of the Roman Catholic Church… In an interview with Vatican Radio yesterday he said he hoped his appearance would ‘spark a wave of new faith among young people’… However, much of Germany’s media poured cold water on the Pope’s aspirations. Der Spiegel devoted its front cover to the visit and carried the headline: ‘Believers – desperately sought. The Pope’s homecoming to an un-Christian country.”

The article continued to explain correctly:

“Some of the difficulty stems from the reputation Benedict earned in Germany prior to his election. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was known as a severe enforcer of Catholic orthodoxy – at odds with modern Germans and their acceptance of birth control, homosexuality and sex outside marriage. The other problem is a steady decline in the number of people attending mass. Hundreds of Catholic, and Protestant, churches have been turned into shops, pubs and cinemas in attempts to find worthwhile uses for the buildings. The dilemma has worsened since reunification and the addition to the population of some 17 million Communist-educated and largely agnostic or atheist former East Germans.”

Bible prophecy shows that in the not-too-distant future, this picture will change considerably. Most of the German people will become strong followers of the pope.

On August 18, 2005, The Associated Press reported:

“Benedict XVI arrived Thursday in his native Germany to cheers from youthful pilgrims on his first foreign trip as pope, a journey that will emphasize outreach to Jews and Muslims and evangelizing a Europe that has drifted from its Christian heritage… The strong wind knocked off the pope’s white skullcap as he got off the plane, blowing it back inside the cabin. He reached for it in vain and decided to go on with the ceremonial welcome hatless. The wind also toppled the World Youth Day cross from the bow of a cruise ship he was to ride on, breaking one of its arms. The cross was first used during World Youth Day in 2000 in Rome and has been carried around the world by Catholic youth groups, including to the site of the World Trade Center attacks in New York. Workers were busy repairing it.”

The article continued:

“Benedict landed to a subdued arrival, compared with some of the greetings received by his charismatic predecessor, John Paul II. He skipped John Paul’s custom of kissing the ground, and only a few hundred enthusiastic admirers were brought to the airport. Thousands more, however, cheered as they watched on a large television screen in front of Cologne’s famed cathedral, erupting in shouts as his plane landed. More than 400,000 pilgrims registered ahead of time, organizers said, and up to 1 million people are expected for an open-air Mass by Benedict on Sunday. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Horst Koehler greeted Benedict on the red carpet as he descended from the plane, which had German and Vatican flags hanging from the cockpit windows.”

The fact that both the German Chancellor and the German President officially welcomed Pope Benedict XVI shows that they don’t consider the pope as just a religious figure, but also, as he is indeed, the head of a political state–the Vatican.

Russia’s and China’s Joint Military Exercises

The Washington Post reported on August 16, 2005, about joint military exercises between Russia and China. The paper stated:

“Russia and China will hold their first ever joint military exercises this week as the once wary neighbors demonstrate their willingness to cooperate in the face of the U.S. military presence in Central Asia… The two countries have held exercises before with other Central Asian republics, but this week’s maneuvers are the first bilateral exercises…

“The two countries have invited observers from the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which together with Russia and China form the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. That group recently called on the United States to set a timetable to withdraw its forces from bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which are used to support military operations in Afghanistan. The Uzbek authorities later gave U.S. forces 180 days to pull out, after the United States criticized the Uzbek government for suppressing demonstrators in the city of Andijan in May, leaving hundreds dead, according to human rights groups…”

The article continued to point out:

“Toward the end of the exercise, the Russians will deploy strategic, long-range bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, which will fire cruise missiles at targets on the surface of the sea… Russia is trying to interest the Chinese in nuclear submarines and strategic bombers, which [Alexander] Golts [a military analyst and journalist in Moscow] said, could be deployed against the U.S. fleet in the Pacific. Golts said Russia was eager to lock in new contracts quickly, to hedge against the European Union lifting an arms embargo it imposed on China after the 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square. The U.S. Defense Department has warned the European Union that lifting the embargo would bring ‘serious and numerous’ consequences.”

Russia’s Bird Flu Epidemic

“Russia cordoned off roads and slaughtered hundreds of birds on Monday to contain the advance of a bird flu epidemic toward Western Europe… The outbreak, previously confined to five remote areas of Siberia, has now struck a major industrial region — Chelyabinsk in the Ural mountains, which separate Asia from Europe… Chelyabinsk… lies about 1,000 km (600 miles) from the region where the first flu outbreak was reported. Although no humans have yet been affected, there are fears the disease could spread to humans on the Eurasian landmass, possibly unleashing a global influenza pandemic.”

Der Stern Online reported on August 18, 2005, that the German government fears that the bird flu epidemic will reach Europe and Germany, and that they are “preparing for the worst.”

Nuclear Terrorist Attacks Certain

On August 11, 2005, WorldNetDaily reported the following:

“In the 2004 presidential debate, President Bush and Senator John Kerry both agreed on one thing–that the possibility of nuclear terrorism was, ‘the single most serious threat to the U.S. national security.’ Former Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet said: ‘Al-Qaida continues to pursue its strategic goal of obtaining nuclear weapons.’ His successor at the CIA, Porter Goss, said: ‘It may only be a matter of time before al-Qaida or another group attempts to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear devices.’ FBI Director Bob Mueller said: ‘Intelligence continues to show al-Qaida’s clear intention to obtain and ultimately use some form of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear material in its attacks against the United States.’ A CIA Counterterrorism Center expert said: ‘Al-Qaida probably has access to nuclear expertise and facilities, and there is the real possibility of the group developing a crude nuclear device.’

“The Robb-Silberman Commission put together by President Bush said in its report: ‘The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that al-Qaida was capable of fabricating at least a crude nuclear device if it could obtain the requisite nuclear material.’ Vice President Dick Cheney has warned: ‘The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us–biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind, to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.’ Warren Buffett said: ‘We’re going to have something in the way of a major nuclear event in this country. It will happen. Whether it will happen in 10 years or 10 minutes, or 50 years … it’s virtually a certainty.'”

Will the Messiah Be Born?

On August 12, 2005, WorldNetDaily published the following article:

“Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar believes the Earth will soon see the coming [of the] Messiah to judge all mankind. ‘We know that he is very near at hand, but he needs not only to be born but also to come,’ Lazar told the Gazeta daily. ‘The Messiah may well have been born already, but unless he is ordered by God he cannot reveal himself with God’s help and change the world for the better.'”

This idea, as expressed by Rabbi Lazar, is based on the erroneous belief that the Messiah still has to be born as a human being, as the Jewish people reject the truth that Jesus Christ was already born as the Messiah, almost 2,000 years ago. The Bible–both the Old and the New Testament–teach that the Messiah will appear TWICE–first as a human being (which has already happened), and then as GOD. The SECOND Coming of the Messiah, the “LORD of lords and KING of kings,” is indeed near.

The tragic erroneous belief that the Messiah must still be born as a human being might inadvertently support the rise and acceptance of Antichrist, also known as the “false prophet.” The Bible predicts that a human will be born in the end time, PRETENDING to be Christ, but deceiving most people. It is highly probable that that individual has already been born and that he will manifest himself on the world scene in the very near future.

Famine in Africa

On August 10, 2005, MSNBC.COM published this shocking article about famine and sickness in many African countries. It stated:

“Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries, usually has trouble ensuring all its people are fed. Hunger is worse than ever this year in Mali and across chronically dry West Africa because of a locust invasion last year, followed by drought. Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania also are affected. An estimated 1.5 million of Mali’s 11 million people are said to be facing hunger, including an estimated 144,000 children suffering malnutrition… the solution to chronic malnutrition across West Africa is education first, then economic development. Children at greatest risk are those recently weaned from mothers who aren’t sure what kinds of solid foods to give to their babies, particularly in times like these when creating a balanced diet is even more difficult.”

New Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2005?

The Sunday Times published a frightening article on Sunday, August 14, stating: “American intelligence chiefs have warned that Al-Qaeda terrorists are plotting to drive hijacked fuel tankers into petrol stations in an effort to cause mass casualties in London and US cities in the next few weeks.The leaked warning, contained in a bulletin issued by the US Department for Homeland Security last week, says the attacks aim to create catastrophic damage at about the time of the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.”

The New York Times published a similar article on August 12, 2005, stating:

“A group of F.B.I. counterterrorism analysts warned this week of possible terrorist attacks in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago around Sept. 11, but officials cautioned on Thursday that they were skeptical about the seriousness of the threat. The warning grew out of intelligence developed from an overseas source indicating that terrorists might seek to steal fuel tanker trucks in order to inflict ‘mass casualties’ by staging an anniversary attack, officials said… Domestic security officials have long thought that tanker trucks could be used in terrorist attacks. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are considered at the top of potential targets, along with Washington and Las Vegas, because of their size, high profiles, symbolic value and past plots by Al Qaeda… [The report] also warned that terrorists would seek to hijack gasoline tankers or trucks hauling oxygen and ram them into a gasoline station to cause major explosions.”

The BOMB Is Still ALIVE!!!

On August 6, 2005, The Associated Press reported:

“Hiroshima marked the 60th anniversary of the first atomic bomb attack Saturday with prayers and water for the dead and a call by the mayor for nuclear powers to abandon their arsenals and stop ‘jeopardizing human survival.’… ‘Many people around the world have succumbed to the feeling that there is nothing we can do,’ he said. ‘Within the United Nations, nuclear club members use their veto power to override the global majority and pursue their selfish objectives.’…

“Officials estimate that about 140,000 people were killed instantly or died within a few months after the Enola Gay dropped its deadly payload over the city, which then had a population of about 350,000. Three days later, another U.S. bomber, Bock’s Car, dropped a plutonium bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing about 80,000 people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II… Hiroshima officials now put the total number of dead in this city alone at 242,437.This year, 5,373 more names were added to the list.”

As NetWorld pointed out, “The city of Hiroshima had invited governmental officials from 38 countries to participate in the memorial, including officials from the five nuclear powers–the USA, Great Britain, Russia, China and France. But only Russia sent a representative!”

Most Americans still believe that the USA did the right thing in dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As Reuters reported on August 6, 2005: “[According to a telephone poll], 57 percent approved of the use of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while 38 percent said they disapproved.” USA Today wrote on August 6, 2005, that “hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions more Japanese military and civilians and U.S. military would have died if a land invasion of Japan had taken place. The A-bomb led to much deadlier nuclear weapons… The A-bomb indeed was hell for Japanese who lived in or near Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But it also was the high-water mark of WWII because it ended the hell for all others fighting that conflict.”

The BBC News also explained, in its article of August 6, 2005, that “Many commentators believe the US attack helped bring an early end to World War II in the Pacific.”

But not everyone agrees.

In their article, “The myths of Hiroshima,” which was published in the LA Times on August 5, 2005, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, co-authors of “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” paint quite a different picture. They state:

“To many Americans at the time, and still for many today, it seemed clear that the bomb had ended the war, even ‘saving’ a million lives that might have been lost if the U.S. had been required to invade mainland Japan.

“This powerful narrative took root quickly and is now deeply embedded in our historical sense of who we are as a nation. A decade ago, on the 50th anniversary, this narrative was reinforced in an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution on the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first bomb. The exhibit, which had been the subject of a bruising political battle, presented nearly 4 million Americans with an officially sanctioned view of the atomic bombings that again portrayed them as a necessary act in a just war… Americans were also told that use of the bombs ‘led to the immediate surrender of Japan and made unnecessary the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.’ But it’s not that straightforward… it was the Soviet Union’s entry into the Pacific war on Aug. 8, two days after the Hiroshima bombing, that provided the final ‘shock’ that led to Japan’s capitulation.

“The Enola Gay exhibit also repeated such outright lies as the assertion that ‘special leaflets were dropped on Japanese cities’ warning civilians to evacuate. The fact is that atomic bomb warning leaflets were dropped on Japanese cities, but only after Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed.

“The hard truth is that the atomic bombings were unnecessary. A million lives were not saved. Indeed, McGeorge Bundy, the man who first popularized this figure, later confessed that he had pulled it out of thin air in order to justify the bombings in a 1947 Harper’s magazine essay he had ghostwritten for Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson.

“The bomb was dropped, as J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, said in November 1945, on ‘an essentially defeated enemy.’ President Truman and his closest advisor, Secretary of State James Byrnes, quite plainly used it primarily to prevent the Soviets from sharing in the occupation of Japan. And they used it on Aug. 6 even though they had agreed among themselves as they returned home from the Potsdam Conference on Aug. 3 that the Japanese were looking for peace.

“These unpleasant historical facts were censored from the 1995 Smithsonian exhibit, an action that should trouble every American. When a government substitutes an officially sanctioned view for publicly debated history, democracy is diminished.”

Whether one agrees with the statements in the above article, or not, perception is sometimes stronger than fact. As the article continues to explain, the official version has “made it possible for our defense establishment to argue that atomic bombs are legitimate weapons that belong in a democracy’s arsenal… Oppenheimer understood very soon after Hiroshima that these weapons would ultimately threaten our very survival. Presciently, he even warned us against what is now our worst national nightmare–and Osama bin Laden’s frequently voiced dream–an atomic suitcase bomb smuggled into an American city: ‘Of course it could be done,’ Oppenheimer told a Senate committee, ‘and people could destroy New York.’ Ironically, Hiroshima’s myths are now motivating our enemies to attack us with the very weapon we invented. Bin Laden repeatedly refers to Hiroshima in his rambling speeches. It was, he believes, the atomic bombings that shocked the Japanese imperial government into an early surrender–and, he says, he is planning an atomic attack on the U.S. that will similarly shock us into retreating from the Mideast.”

War leads to more war, and nuclear weapons WILL be used in the next World War. To say that nuclear weapons will never be used in war is plainly wrong. They HAVE been used before–in Hiroshima and Nagasaki–and the Bible clearly shows that they WILL be used again. In fact, the coming war will threaten the very survival of man–and if God would not shorten those days, NO FLESH would be saved ALIVE (Matthew 24:22). We are living in sobering times, indeed. Will man ever learn–BEFORE it is too late?

New Avian Flu Is Coming

On August 5, 2005, the Boston Globe reported that “Russian authorities, struggling to contain an outbreak of avian flu that has killed thousands of birds in Siberia, yesterday acknowledged that a spread of the virus into Europe seems almost inevitable… health officials confirmed that the outbreak includes a strain that has been known to affect humans. Scientists fear that expansion of the virus’s geography increases the chances of a major outbreak within the human population.”

On August 10, 2005, Reuters reported about these additional facts: “A bird flu outbreak extended its reach in Russian Siberia and spread to Mongolia on Wednesday, and neighboring Kazakhstan confirmed a fowl virus found in the Central Asian state could kill humans. Officials said no people had been infected so far, but the highly potent H5N1 strain has killed over 50 people in Asia since 2003. Outbreaks in the ex-Soviet bloc raised fears the virus could infect humans and trigger a global epidemic… Some Russian health and veterinary officials have suggested migrating birds could export the virus as far away as the United States from Siberia… There are no known cases of H5N1 bird flu passing from one human to another, but some health officials fear that the virus could mutate and create a pandemic to rival the 40 million people killed by Spanish flu at the end of World War One.”

Fuel Crunch Reaches Astronomical Proportions

The Associated Press reported on August 10, 2005:

“While fliers haven’t yet had to add that problem to the list of headaches associated with air travel, it may not be far away. Airports in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada recently came within a few days–and at times within hours–of running out of jet fuel. Because of supply bottlenecks, airlines were forced to fly in extra fuel from other markets and scramble for deliveries by truck. But these are expensive, short-term fixes that do not address what airline executives consider to be the underlying problem: with passenger traffic rising above pre-9/11 levels, the nation’s aviation business is slowly outgrowing the infrastructure that fuels it. What started as routine supply tightness in these markets quickly snowballed following disruptive events that included a hurricane, a canceled fuel shipment and, ironically, the airlines’ own efforts to prevent shortages, according to several airline executives… The fuel supply woes are dogging an industry already losing billions of dollars a year in large part because of soaring fuel costs. The price of jet fuel averages $1.91 per gallon in Los Angeles, up 46 percent from a year ago, according to government data.”

West Nile Virus in San Diego

On August 4, 2005, The Union Tribune reported that “Three more dead birds have tested positive for West Nile virus in San Diego County, bringing the total number to five this year.” The paper continued with a rather humorous statement–if it weren’t so tragic:

“Most people infected with West Nile won’t become sick, though about 20 percent will experience flulike symptoms. About one in 150 infected people experience severe symptoms, including high fever, coma, tremors, muscle weakness and paralysis. A small percentage of them die.”

Coming Merger of Catholics and Anglicans?

On August 5, 2005, the “Church Times” published an interesting article about an agreement reached by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, pertaining to the role of the “Virgin Mary.” The article pointed out:

“A new arcic report, published this week, argues that differences in the understanding of the Virgin Mary should not divide the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches… The 60-page text, Mary: Grace and hope in Christ, brings to an end the work of the second phase of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II), which first met in 1983. The report was published on Monday in Seattle, in the United States.”

Incredibly, the report tries to justify the WRONG doctrine of the “immaculate conception,” by misquoting or misapplying Scripture. [The teaching of the “immaculate conception” holds that Mary, throughout her life, including after the birth of Christ, never had a sexual relationship with any man–which is contrary to Scripture.] The report does not even attempt to justify the WRONG teaching of Mary’s assumption–which idea is also clearly in violation of Biblical teaching. The article points out:

“The statement proposes a new understanding of the immaculate conception and the assumption, in a theological framework ‘of grace and hope.’ It links Gabriel’s affirmation of Mary as ‘graced’ in Luke 1 to the immaculate conception. ‘In view of her vocation to be the mother of the Holy One (Luke 1:35), we can affirm together that Christ’s redeeming work reached back in Mary to the depths of her being, and to her earliest beginnings. This is not contrary to the teaching of scripture’…

“The Commission does not resolve what it describes as ‘problems not only for Anglicans but also for other Christians’ about the immaculate conception and the assumption, in that they were defined respectively by the Pope as having been ‘revealed by God’ (1854) and “divinely revealed” (1950). These phrases ‘reflect the theology of revelation that was dominant in the Roman Catholic Church at the time… They have to be understood today in the light of the way this teaching was refined by the Second Vatican Council’…”

What is interesting about this development is the fact that the Anglican Church–unlike the Catholic Church–is willing to compromise their beliefs in order to merge with the Catholics.

Same-Sex Marriages on the Rise in the USA

An interesting and SHOCKING article was published in the May/June 2005 issue of “San Diego Lawyer.” The article was written by a practicing female professor of law, teaching “Sexual Orientation and the Law, and Women and the Law.” The author, who is married to a female partner, advocates marriages between same-sex couples. In the article, it was pointed out how the court system in the USA, as well as public opinion, are increasingly IN FAVOR of such marriages.

It was stated:

“The Hawaii Supreme Court… held that the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying violated the Hawaii Constitution’s equal protection guarantees against sex discrimination, reasoning that a law that permitted a woman to marry a man but not to marry a woman must be discriminating on the basis of the spouse’s sex. Then came an Alaska trial court decision, finding that the ban preventing same-sex couples from marrying violated that state’s constitution. Those initial victories ended rather quickly, however, when constitutional amendments were passed in both states limiting marriages to those between one man and one woman…

“After the Netherlands and Belgium passed laws permitting same-sex couples to marry in those countries…, Canada opened marriage to the world…”

The author continued to describe how the minister conducted himself during the service, when officiating a same-sex “marriage” between the author and her partner. This is how he ended the ceremony:

“By the authority given by our government to solemnize matrimony and the relationship we share as members of the same family, I declare that you who were two families are now one family, joined in matrimony and blessed by the Spirit of Love.”

The article continued by inadvertently and unintentionally presenting the sad state of affairs around the country. Please note, too, how the article perverts the language and concepts, by calling those who oppose same-sex marriages as “anti-marriage,” while describing those who support same-sex marriages as “pro-marriage” — while THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. Those who UPHOLD THE GODLY-ORDAINED TRUE MARRIAGE ARE PRO-MARRIAGE, and those who support same-sex marriages are, in fact, ANTI-MARRIAGE. The article pointed out:

“Since then, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held… that the Massachusetts Constitution required the state to permit same-sex couples to marry. An attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution failed to pass either the House or the Senate… Most people have heard of the 11 state constitutional amendments, ratified on Election Day 2004, banning same-sex couples from marrying in those states… But [few] realize that 14 similar measures were rejected by state legislatures around the country. Election Day exit polls showed 25 percent of Americans support ending discrimination in marriage, and another 35 percent support civil unions. The overwhelming majority of legislators who opposed anti-marriage measures won reelection, and in Massachusetts, every pro-marriage candidate won and some anti-marriage candidates were defeated.”

How accurate did Isaiah describe the habit of many in modern Israel–including the United States of America–to call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). But Isaiah attaches a warning to those who do, stating that it will be “woe to them” in the bitter end.

John Bolton New U.S. Ambassador to the UN

As The Associated Press reported on August 1, 2005, “President Bush sidestepped the Senate and installed embattled nominee John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, ending a five-month impasse with Democrats who accused Bolton of abusing subordinates and twisting intelligence to fit his conservative ideology… Bush put Bolton on the job in a recess appointment–an avenue available to the president when the Congress is in recess. Under the Constitution, a recess appointment during the lawmakers’ August break would last until the next session of Congress, which begins in January 2007… Bush had refused to give up on Bolton even though the Senate had voted twice to sustain a filibuster against his nominee. Democrats and some Republicans had raised questions about Bolton’s fitness for the job, particularly in view of his harsh criticism of the United Nations.”

As the article continued to point out, the Democrats and some Republicans were outraged:

“Edward M. Kennedy… sharply criticized the move. ‘The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues,’ Kennedy said. ‘It’s bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It’s even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It’s a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton’s credibility at the U.N.’… Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio also said he was disappointed in the appointment. ‘I am truly concerned that a recess appointment will only add to John Bolton’s baggage and his lack of credibility with the United Nations,’ Voinovich said.”

Even though Mr. Bolton’s appointment will probably hurt the U.S. in the world, and especially at the U.N., the article explained: “Despite lengthy investigations, it was never clear that Bolton did anything improper. Witnesses told the committee that Bolton lost his temper, tried to engineer the ouster of at least two intelligence analysts and otherwise threw his weight around. But Democrats were never able to establish that his actions crossed the line to out-and-out harassment or improper intimidation.”

Saudi King Fahd Dies

As The Associated Press reported on August 1, 2005, “King Fahd, who moved Saudi Arabia closer to the United States but ruled the nation in name only since suffering a stroke in 1995, died Monday, and his half brother [Crown Prince Abdullah] was quickly named to replace him. The first change in the throne in 23 years uncorked a jockeying for position in the world’s largest oil producer… Crude oil prices soared past $61 a barrel Monday as markets reacted to Fahd’s death… The portly, goateed Fahd inadvertently helped fuel the rise of Islamic extremism by making concessions to hard-liners in an effort to boost his Islamic credentials. But he also brought the kingdom closer to the United States and agreed to a step that enraged many conservatives: basing U.S. troops on Saudi soil after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait… Saudi Arabia and the United States have also found themselves at odds over oil. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter–sitting atop a quarter of the world’s known reserves–and America is the world’s largest energy consumer. With prices reaching $61 a barrel, Washington has been pushing the Saudis to pump more oil and bring prices down.”

Saudi Arabia came under attack during the recent Iraq war, when accusations were raised that terrorists were harbored in the country. Some even accused Saudi Arabia of having been, at least passively, involved in the September 11 attack in New York. Even though Abdullah had been running the governmental affairs for some time, and even though he stated that his politics toward the United States and other Arab nations won’t change, time will tell.

More Deaths in Iraq

The Austrian Networld reported this week that so far, 4,000 people were killed in Iraq in 2005. More than half were civilians, according to the report, continuing that with 580 dead policemen, soldiers and civilians, the month of July has been one of the bloodiest months. The report also stated that more than 25,000 civilians were killed in Iraq since the US invasion in March of 2003.

Victory for the US Weaponry Industry

The Austrian Networld reported that the US Weaponry Industry achieved this week a great victory. According to the report, the US Senate adopted a law stating that producers of fire arms can no longer be held liable by victims of fire arms or their families. The article explained that even some states had commenced lawsuits for damages against the weapon industry, and that some of those lawsuits are still pending.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) celebrated the Senate’s decision as an historical victory.

Britain and Northern Ireland

AFP reported on August 1, 2005, that “Britain unveiled a two-year plan to slash its military presence in Northern Ireland by more than half and change policing methods in response to the IRA’s historic pledge last week to disarm. The announcement, however, outraged hardline Protestants as it largely affected home-grown soldiers belonging to the Royal Irish Regiment, which will lose three of its four battalions… In a sign of trouble ahead… members of the largest Protestant group, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said news that the government would cut three of the four Royal Irish Regiment battalions came as a ‘bombshell.'”

Turkey and the EU

The EUobserver reported on July 27, 2005: “Turkey should never join the EU because it lies mostly outside Europe geographically and accession talks should not start on 3 October unless Ankara first recognises the sovereignty of Cyprus, according to the vice president of Germany’s CDU/CSU party, Wolfgang Schauble… Mr Schauble also warned that while Ukraine lies within the EU’s proper geographical sphere, Kiev’s membership should be kept off the agenda for now in case people lose faith in the European project altogether… ‘Unlike Turkey, Ukrainian accession is a matter of time, not principles’, he argued. ‘Much remains to be done in order to integrate Romania and Bulgaria. And the great problem of western Balkan membership must be solved’, Mr Schauble pointed out.”

The article continued to describe public opinion on the matter of EU enlargement. It was stated:

“The latest Eurobarometer study showed that 52 percent of EU citizens would like to keep Turkey out of the EU with just 35 percent in favour of full accession. A narrow majority of Europeans would like to see Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Macedonia join the club, but have reservations about Albania, Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina coming in for now. But in Germany, 74 percent would like to keep Turkey out, 59-66 percent would happily block Bulgaria and Romania’s membership and over 60 percent would be keen to shut the door to the rest of the western Balkans, with the exception of Croatia which scored just 51 percent against.”

The Pope and Israel

The fight of words and action between the Pope and Israel is escalating. After the pope refused to condemn terrorist attacks on Israel, Israel responded in kind by sharply accusing the pope of playing favorites. The seemingly innocent neglect by the pope has brought to light a deeply rooted mistrust of Israel toward the Catholic Church, stemming, in part, from the Catholic Church’s refusal to come to the aid of the Jews in Nazi Germany.

The Catholic paper, Zenit, reported on July 27, 2005:

“After chastising Benedict XVI for omitting Israel from a Papal address that condemned terrorist bombings, Israel cancelled a meeting with the Vatican to discuss the implementation of their mutual agreements… On Monday, Israel accused Benedict XVI of ‘deliberately’ failing to condemn terrorist attacks against Jews in his Sunday Angelus address.

“The Holy See responded both through the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, as well as in a statement of Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls, saying that the Holy Father condemns all terrorist attacks, regardless where they come from.”

On July 29, 2005, Zenit reported that the Vatican responded further to Israel’s accusations, as follows:

“The Holy See added that, for several reasons, ‘not every attack against Israel could be followed by an immediate public condemnation.’ One reason, the Vatican stated, is ‘the fact that attacks against Israel were sometimes followed by immediate Israeli reactions not always compatible with the norms of international law. It would, consequently, have been impossible to condemn the former and remain silent on the latter.'”

The German magazine, Der Spiegel Online, published a highly critical article about the pope’s conduct in this matter, as well as in other matters, titled “A Cold Wind From Rome.” In the article, which was dated July 29, 2005, it was stated:

“The argument between the Vatican and Israel is a nasty step back to the days of animosity between Judaism and Christianity. All the trust between the religions which John Paul II spent two decades building up, is now being shattered by his successor… enthusiasm for the German pontiff is dwindling rapidly. Benedict XVI is not a conservative pope. He is a reactionary who is leading his church into a spiritual fortress, rather than sending it confidently out into the field… The differences between the current head of the Catholic Church and his predecessor are only now beginning to emerge… “

The article continued:

“When Benedict XVI was elected, the British tabloids quickly worked themselves into a lather, caustically recalling Ratzinger’s past, when he worked in Nazi Germany’s anti-aircraft defense industry. German papers spiritedly joined the war of words and fired back. But the war over Ratzinger’s youth now seems banal. Today, the differences between his past and that of his Polish predecessor have become important. This is mainly because Benedict XVI has barely needed 100 days to trample over the infant seedling of trust between Jews and Christians that John Paul II planted. The relationship between Israel and the Vatican was never characterized by heartfelt friendship. On the contrary. It was thanks to John Paul II that the Vatican recognized Israel for the first time… Ratzinger’s politics, on the other hand, are over the top. And he’s not just risking a return to a kind of cold war with Israel and the Jews. Even his dealings with Germany’s Protestant Church so far have been an affront.”

The article concluded with these perhaps, somewhat, prophetic words:

“Ratzinger doesn’t want dialogue. The German pope wants to be right.”

Ireland Christian?

On July 18, 2005, Zenit published an interesting speech by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Primate of Ireland, about the Western Civilization and Ireland in particular, as well as the true God and the true meaning of faith. We quote a few excerpts from the speech, as follows:

“A few weeks ago I was surprised by a remark on a German television talk show by Gregor Gysi, the leader of the German Communist Party, who when asked about his worries about German society said: “‘Ich fuerchte eine gottlose Gesellschaft’ — ‘I fear a Godless society.’ It was an unusual comment from the leader of a communist party, with its roots in the former East Germany. As the television debate continued, this declared atheist noted that German society needs the moral framework that only those Christian roots embedded in his society can give. He noted that even the highly moralistic code of the communist ideology in the German Democratic Republic was effectively rooted in Christian principles. These comments struck me in particular since the speaker was never a Christian. He is personally of Jewish background and the territory of the German Democratic Republic was that part of Germany where religious practice was always and still is exceptionally low…”

Addressing the situation in Ireland, as well as the Christian God and true and false faith, Martin continued to point out the following accurate principles:

“Of course one should really begin with the question, is Ireland Christian today?…But let me come back to the question of what people mean when they answer a survey saying they believe in God.

“Belief is a complex matter. Because of its nature it is difficult to quantify. People will answer questions about belief in different ways. Belief is not identical with Church affiliation. There are non-practicing Catholics who are genuine believers and there are also many who practice but who may not really believe… Religious faith is faith in God, but not in some generic God of our own creation. For the Christian, God is not an anonymous element or power within or above the universe… Christians believe in a God who has spoken, who has revealed himself, who has entered into dialogue with humankind, a dialogue of love… That relationship was described by Pope Benedict XVI in his inaugural address in St. Peter’s Square now some months ago: ‘We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary’… We have never fully abandoned ourselves to the God who can make us free, but still cling on to the things we falsely feel can bring us security. Faith is always a leap in the dark, but in the confidence that Jesus has not left us orphans. We will never be able to lead others into the depths of faith and the joy of our hope if we remain entrapped in the limitedness of our current world vision.”

Terror in Egypt

On July 22, 2005, The Associated Press published an article about another terror attack in a tourist resort in Egypt. This attack followed similar ones in Turkey and London. The indiscriminate mass murder by fanatic terrorists is clearly a sign of Satan’s involvement and possible possession of those criminals, proving that Satan’s wrath is great, as he knows that his time is getting shorter. AP pointed out:

“Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik early Saturday, ripping through a hotel and a cafe packed with European and Egyptian tourists. Security officials said at least 45 people died [later reports confirmed the death of at least 88 people] in the deadliest attack in Egypt in nearly a decade… The dead included British, Russian, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Qataris and Egyptians, a security official said… The attacks came nine months after a series of explosions hit several hotels in the Sinai resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, about 100 miles northwest on the Israel border. Egyptian authorities said that attack, which killed 34 and prompted a wave of arrests in Sinai, was linked to Israeli-Palestinian violence.

“Saturday’s bombings were the deadliest since 1997, when Islamic militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at the Pharaonic Temple of Hatshepsut outside Luxor in southern Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak has a residence in Sharm el-Sheik, at a resort several miles outside Naama Bay and often spends weeks there at a time in the winter. But during the summer, he stays at a residence in the northern city of Alexandria… Thousands of tourists are drawn to Sharm for its sun, clear blue water and coral reefs. It also has been a meeting place where world leaders have tried to hammer out a Mideast peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met there in February and agreed to a cease-fire.”

More Terror in Britain?

On July 22, 2005, Reuters reported that more terrorist attacks might soon occur in Great Britain. The article pointed out:

“Militant Islamists will continue to attack Britain until the government pulls its troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the country’s most outspoken Islamic clerics said on Friday. Speaking 15 days after bombers killed over 50 people in London and a day after a series of failed attacks on the city’s transport network, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed said the British capital should expect more violence.”

In an appalling and, at the same time, revealing interview, Omar Bakri Mohammed stated the following:

“Bakri, a Syrian-born cleric who has been vilified in Britain since 2001 when he praised the September 11 hijackers, said he did not believe the bombings and attempted attacks on London were carried out by British Muslims. He condemned the killing of all innocent civilians but described attacks on British and U.S. troops in Muslim countries as ‘pro-life’ and justified. In an interview with Reuters, Bakri described Osama bin Laden, leader of the radical Islamist network al Qaeda, as ‘a sincere man who fights against evil forces.’ Bakri said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state but feared he would be deported before his dream was realized. ‘I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world,’ he said.”

London Police Kills Innocent Bystander

The Associated Press reported on July 24, 2005:

“London’s police commissioner expressed regret Sunday for the slaying of a Brazilian electrician by officers who mistook him for a suspect in the recent terror bombings, but he defended a police shoot-to-kill policy as ‘the only way’ to stop would-be suicide bombers… Witnesses said [the victim] was wearing a heavy, padded coat when plainclothes police chased him into a subway car, pinned him to the ground and shot him five times in the head and torso in front of horrified passengers. Blair initially said Menezes was ‘directly linked’ to the investigation of Thursday’s attacks, but police then said Saturday he had no connection to the bomb attempts. ‘This is a tragedy,’ Blair said Sunday of the shooting. ‘The Metropolitan Police accepts full responsibility for this. To the family I can only express my deep regrets.'”

Even though it is now clear that the police killed an innocent person, Tony Blair still defended the police’s action, as well as similar actions in the future! The article continued to state:

“He also defended the shoot-to-kill policy, saying such action only applied when lives were believed to be at risk. ‘I am very aware that minority communities are talking about a shoot-to-kill policy,’ he said. ‘It’s only a shoot-to-kill-in-order-to-protect policy.’… Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who was visiting London, said his government and people were ‘shocked’ by the killing, and he demanded a thorough investigation… Amorim told Straw that Brazil was in total solidarity with Britain in the fight against terrorism, ‘but of course even in the fight against terrorism we should also be cautious to avoid the loss of innocent life.'”

In a related article, AFP reported on July 25, 2005:

“Witnesses said a frightened Menezes was shot several times at close range by plainclothes officers who had chased him through Stockwell Underground station in south London on Friday after a surveillance operation. Police at the time said they opened fire because their suspect had refused to obey instructions. Blair confirmed Sunday that they were under orders to shoot suicide bombers in the head and that policy would remain. [A relative of the killed victim] said his cousin did ‘not have a past that would make him run’ from police and was simply on his way to work from his home in Tulse Hill, south London. Another cousin… said Jean Charles spoke English very well and would have understood police instructions… Menezes, who came from the city of Gonzaga in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minais Gerais, had been living legally in Britain for three years, according to his family.”

Tough questions need to be asked and answered:

How is it possible that such policies of obvious wrong police conduct, leading to the death of innocent bystanders, can be supported and maintained by the British government? Surely, the fight against supposed terrorists cannot justify the killing of innocent people, or can it? Perhaps man is willing to justify such wrong conduct, but surely God DOES NOT! NO WONDER that God is angry with Great Britain–which is none other than the modern descendant of the ancient tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. Our upcoming booklet on the identity, history and future of Great Britain and the USA will discuss these facts in much detail.

Extreme Weather Conditions in Europe

On July 23, 2005, the EUobserver reported about unusual weather conditions in large parts of Europe, as follows:

“Western and Southern Europe are currently facing severe drought, with the situation being the gravest in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece. Spain and Portugal are suffering their worst droughts since the launch of record-keeping in the 1940s… Brush fires have already destroyed more than three times the average annual loss for Portugal in the first half of this year… Due to the drought in western Europe, cereal production in the EU in 2005 will be at least 28 million tonnes below last year’s, which is a drop of about 10 percent… Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Romania are being swept by floods, which have already killed 20 people and inundated tens of thousands of homes in both countries over the last two weeks. More than 12,000 were forced to evacuate their homes in Romania, where at least 15 people have died in the floods. In Bulgaria, five people have been killed and at least 50,000 homes and buildings were destroyed across the country…”

Germany’s New “Left Party”

On July 21, 2005, CNN.com published an analysis about the most recent developments in Germany. The article focused on “the new ‘Left Party,’ which just days after its launch, looks set to become Germany’s third largest party, beating both Joschka Fischer’s Green Party and the Liberal party (FDP).” The article pointed out:

“The new ‘Left Party’ is a coalition of disillusioned former Social Democrats and the post-communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). Since Sunday’s launch, it boasts a support base of 11 percent, which puts it safely in third place behind Angela Merkel’s CDU (44 percent) and Schroeder’s governing SPD party (27 percent). However, what makes the ‘Left Party’ a real force to be reckoned with are its two leaders — the left-wing icon and former finance minister Oskar Lafontaine and Gregor Gysi, the charismatic head of the PDS.”

Lafontaine had to resign from office in the SPD, after a highly-publicized fight with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Until this day, Lafontaine and Schroeder are bitter enemies.

CNN continued:

“… a recent opinion poll found that 30 percent of East Germans are planning to vote for the new ‘Left Party’ compared to only 29 percent for the CDU…

“Foreign minister and Green Party leader Joschka Fischer warned that Lafontaine’s populist approach and language were more reminiscent of the right-wing Joerg Haider in Austria and the late Pim Fortuyn in Holland, than of Karl Marx. Fischer was referring to a statement by Lafontaine, in which he said that foreign workers were taking German jobs.

“Similarly in the East German state of Brandenburg, Karl Ness, head of the local SPD party called Lafontaine ‘a preacher of hatred,’ and said that the new left party was nothing but an extension of Lafontaine’s ego… While Germany prepares for elections, the impact of Lafontaine and Gysi and their new ‘Left Party’ is likely to have more impact on Germany’s political direction than either of the two main parties would like to admit.”

Is “Weimar” raising its ugly head again? At the time prior to World War II, many different political movements, including the consistent fights between extremist parties such as the Communists and National-Socialists (Nazis), gave ultimately way to the election of Adolph Hitler. Is Germany able to cope today with Communists or neo-National-Socialists? Has modern Germany–both former West and East Germany–learned from its past? Sadly, the answer is no, as the not-too-distant future will show.

Animals Behave Amazingly

AFP recently published this amazing story about animal behavior, which causes evolutionists and scientists to wonder, grasping for answers in light of their misguided and God-defying faith in blind evolution:

“A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

“‘It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a “mother”,’ ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. ‘After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,’ the ecologist added. ‘The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,’ Kahumbu added. ‘The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,’ he explained.”

Witches on the Rise

As AFP reported on July 21, 2005, “Sorcerers, fortune-tellers and other pagans will be able to cast their spells without fear in the Australian state of Victoria after local authorities moved to repeal a 200 year-old anti-witchcraft law… ‘The times have long since passed when witchcraft and fortune-telling represented a danger to law and order, or a focus for criminal activity,’ [said Victorian Attorney General Rob Hulls]… A pro-witchcraft group called the Pagan Awareness Network hailed the death of the Act, which it said was the last law on the books in Australia to outlaw sorcery. ‘There’ll be several thousand pagans in Melbourne celebrating this news under the full moon tonight,’ said network spokesman Gavin Andrew.”

According to the Bible, the alleged foundation of professing Christianity, including Australia, sorcery and witchcraft are an abomination to God, and works of darkness. The Bible attributes sorcery and witchcraft to Satan the devil and his demons. But, in our “sophisticated” modern societies of falsely-understood tolerance, we have become accustomed to accepting as “good” what God condemns as “evil.”

New German Elections in September?

As Reuters reported on July 21, 2005, “President Horst Koehler agreed on Thursday to dissolve parliament and allow early elections, putting Germany on track for a September vote that polls suggest will usher in a new reform-minded conservative government. His decision removes the key hurdle to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s early election plan, which he sprung on a stunned nation on May 22 after a humiliating loss for his Social Democrats (SPD) in a regional vote.

“The federal election could still be thwarted if Germany’s top court finds that Schroeder’s unconventional plan, which involved the deliberate loss of a parliamentary vote of confidence earlier this month, is unconstitutional…. All the major parties support early polls and a survey this week showed 73 percent of Germans want them… Germany’s constitutional court is now the last remaining hurdle to a Sept. 18 election.

“Werner Schulz, a member of the Greens party in parliament, plans to file a legal suit in the coming days to prevent an early vote, meaning the court will have to decide on the plan.” [In addition, Jelena Hoffman, member of Schroeder’s party, SPD, as well as several small parties, also announced that they will file legal actions.]

Reuters continued that the Constitutional Court “would most likely rule within three weeks, so definitive confirmation of the early vote could be delayed until mid-August, just one month before the presumed election.”

Bild Online questioned, however, whether new elections could be held on September 18. The tabloid stated that it was uncertain how quickly Germany’s constitutional court would render a decision.

Some observers feel that Koehler gave in to the will of the German people and all the major parties, while violating the law. Der Spiegel Online quoted Schulz as saying on German public TV station, ARD, that he was not surprised by Koehler’s decision, and that Koehler was unable to stand up to political pressure.

Canada’s “Gay Marriages”

As The Associated Press reported on July 21, 2005, “The Vatican newspaper on Thursday attacked Canada’s legalization of gay marriage, calling it a distortion of God’s plan for the family. Canada became the fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples when the Supreme Court’s chief justice signed legislation Wednesday. ‘The distortion of God’s plan for the family continues,’ said L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily. ‘In Canada, homosexual unions have become equal to marriage.'”

The Pope and the Terrorists

The Associated Press reported on July 21, 2005: “Pope Benedict XVI said terrorism is not the result of a clash of civilization between the West and Islam but the action of ‘fanatics’… Benedict respond[ed] to a question about the July 7 London bombings. He added that ‘dialogue between the three monotheistic religions is very important.’ The pope will visit a synagogue in Cologne, address Muslims and meet with representatives of other Christian denominations during an Aug. 18-21 trip to his native Germany… Days after the London bombings, Benedict expressed ‘profound sadness’ for the ‘atrocious terrorist attacks’ and told bombers and other terrorists to ‘stop in the name of God.'”

New Terrorist Attacks in London

However, the terrorists did not listen to the pope’s pleas.

As Reuters reported on July 21, 2005, “Four small explosions hit London’s bus and underground train network on Thursday, without causing major casualties, exactly 2 weeks after bombers killed more than 50 people in the capital. A large part of the underground train network was suspended… The emergency coincided with a memorial service for the attacks of July 7. Then, four young British Muslims detonated bombs in three underground trains and a bus at morning rush hour, killing more than 50 people… Those bombings confronted Britain’s people and politicians with the prospect the country could be nurturing its own generation of the type of Islamist militants loyal to Osama bin Laden who had already inflicted carnage in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, in Bali and on Madrid trains last year. All four bombers died in the July 7 attacks, leading most people to assume they had been suicide bombers.”

Wild Fires Plague the USA

The Associated Press reported on July 21, 2005:

“A fast-moving wildfire forced the evacuation of about 50 homes near Denver on Wednesday as flames blackened a landscape of rolling grasslands and ponderosa pines…Two air tankers were dropping fire-retardant on the 800-acre blaze… Firefighters were hampered by relentless heat. Denver reached 105 on Wednesday, tying the all-time record for hottest day, set on Aug. 8, 1878, according to the National Weather Service. It was the second straight day of triple-digit temperatures, far above the normal highs in the upper 80s… Elsewhere Wednesday, fire crews battled two blazes near Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado… “

The article continued:

“A nearly 200-acre lightning-caused fire on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian reservation was 70 percent contained, and a second blaze on the reservation covering 2,318 acres was 85 percent contained… In southern Arizona, a 22,500-acre fire was about 75 percent contained, thanks to burnouts and heavy rain, lessening the threat to about 30 homes and cabins and wildlife habitat in Madera Canyon… In northern California, firefighters contained a wind-blown wildfire that grew to more than 10,000 acres early Wednesday but burned past a nuclear weapons laboratory and some 500 homes without causing major damage… In Oregon, firefighters battled a 5,000-acre blaze on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. The fire was not threatening any homes, but ‘it’s got an awful lot of potential,’ said Gary Cooke, fire administrator for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs… The National Interagency Fire Center said 36 large fires were active Wednesday in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. Nearly 3.9 million acres of land has been burned so far this year, compared with 4.4 million at this time last year.”

China Threatens USA

London’s Financial Times reported on July 14, 2005:

“China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday. ‘If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China’s territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,’ said General Zhu Chenghu…He added that China’s definition of its territory included warships and aircraft… Gen Zhu is a self-acknowledged ‘hawk’ who has warned that China could strike the US with long-range missiles. But his threat to use nuclear weapons in a conflict over Taiwan is the most specific by a senior Chinese official in nearly a decade.”

The New York Times added on July 16, 2005:

“‘War logic’ dictates that a weaker power needs to use maximum efforts to defeat a stronger rival, he [Gen Zhu]said, speaking in fluent English. ‘We have no capability to fight a conventional war against the United States,’ Zhu said. ‘We can’t win this kind of war.’… China has had atomic bombs since 1964 and has a small arsenal of land- and sea-based nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States, according to most Western intelligence estimates…. Beijing has said repeatedly that it would use military force if Taiwan declares its independence. President George W. Bush has made clear that the United States would defend Taiwan… the comments by Zhu suggest that at least some elements of the military are prepared to widen the conflict… ‘If the Americans are determined to interfere, then we will be determined to respond,’ he said. ‘We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.'”

Europe’s Far Right

In a recent article by the Economist, dated January 20, 2005, which was republished on July 21, 2005, the following was stated:

“Xenophobia and racism in Europe are resurgent, according to hate-watchers. In Britain, which saw race riots in 2001 and 2003, the British National Party has gained a foothold. Skinheads have also gained popularity in ex-communist Central Europe, where hate crimes often go unreported and are rarely prosecuted.

“Meanwhile, far-right politicians are rising in prominence. The inclusion of Jörg Haider’s Freedom Party as a junior partner in Austria’s coalition government in 1999 led EU countries temporarily to impose diplomatic sanctions. (Mr Haider, though no longer the Freedom Party’s leader, bounced back in March 2004). In France, Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front scored a shock victory in the first round of the 2002 presidential election and is still attracting a lot of support. And, despite its leader’s murder, the anti-immigration Pim Fortuyn List did surprisingly well in the Dutch general election in May 2002. A ban on the country’s far-right Vlaams Blok, approved in November 2004, is likely to backfire–as would an EU-wide ban on Nazi symbols.”

Europe Must Go On

The EUobserver reported on July 15, 2005:

“The presidents of Germany, Austria, Italy, Finland, Poland, Portugal and Latvia have written a common article, discussing the future of Europe and stressing the need not to give up on the European project. ‘Now, the most important task is to increase trust in European policy… There is no reason to doubt the European project’, reads the article… The article was signed by Austria’s Heinz Fischer, Finland’s Tarja Halonen, Germany’s Horst Köhler, Italy’s Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Latvia’s Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Poland’s Aleksander Kwaoniewski and Portugal’s Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio. It was published on Friday (15 July 2005) in major newspapers of the seven presidents’ countries.”

Europe and the Middle East

On July 11, 2005, Der Spiegel published an interview with European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. In the interview, Solana talked about Brussels’ role as an intermediary between Israelis and Palestinians as well as how the EU will assist in the Gaza Strip. He insisted that ‘what happens in the Middle East affects us all’ and that Europe will play a major role in seeking peace.

Solana stated:

“Europe plays an important role in the Middle East peace process, perhaps the most important role next to that of the United States… European law enforcement experts are helping train the Palestinian security forces… There haven’t been any international initiatives relating to the Middle East without significant input from Europe. Besides, the Israelis now understand that the Palestinian conflict isn’t just a regional problem. It’s a conflict that is unfolding on our doorstep and has global implications… We will not have any contact with Hamas as long as it’s on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations… Hamas, like any other organization, must accept the fact that in an officially-accepted state, which Palestine wants to become, there can be no place for warring militant organizations. There will only be room for political parties that quarrel with words, not weapons.”

German vs. European Law

On July 19, 2005, The Denver Post reported about an interesting conflict between German and European Law. The article stated that an “Al-Qaeda suspect” was “freed by [a] German court ruling,” as the “EU arrest warrant violates national law.”

The article explained:

“An al-Qaeda suspect was freed Monday after the country’s high court blocked his extradition to Spain, ruling that a European Union-wide arrest warrant–heralded as a key step in fighting terrorism–does not yet comply with German law… The ruling… deals a blow to the EU’s post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism plans and highlights the difficulties Europe faces in rushing through anti-terrorism laws frowned upon by the courts and at times angrily contested by civil liberties… Specifically, the German court said the legislature failed to provide a mechanism for appeal when making the EU legislation national law, and also had not gone far enough in considering suspects’ fundamental rights.”

G8 Failed?

The EUobserver reported on July 8, 2005: “Though world leaders tried to portray it as a win, in reality US president George W. Bush kept leaders from the world’s eight largest economies from agreeing on ways to slow the effects of global climate change. At the top of the agenda for the two-day summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, heads of state and government (referred to as “G8″) from France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Russia and Japan, led by UK prime minister Tony Blair, worked to get Mr. Bush to agree on climate change policies. But they failed.”

It will have to be seen how long all the influential nations will be tolerant to US politics in such important matters, such as global warming.

The article pointed out that they did agree “to help end extreme poverty in Africa by doubling aid donations to Euro 41.9 bn ($50 bn) per year by 2010, but charities felt it didn’t go far enough.” They also “pledged Euro 2.5 bn ($3 bn) over the next few years to help support the Palestinian government in its independence from Israel.”

Italy Next?

Reuters published an article on July 8, 2005, following the terrorist attacks in London, asking the pertinent question as to what country will be next. According to the article, it appears that it will be Italy, and especially Rome. The article stated:

“Italy is a repeated target of Islamic militant threats… Two different groups claiming affiliation to al Qaeda have warned of attacks on Italy within the past 24 hours alone. One group calling itself the Organization of al Qaeda – Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula described Rome as ‘the capital of infidels’ in a menacing message on Friday… [F]or many Rome residents, an attack seems inevitable… After the United States and Britain, Italy is the third largest Western member of coalition forces in Iraq, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi acknowledged that Italy’s role in Iraq left it ‘exposed’ to attack.”

The German press reported that an attack on the Vatican is anticipated. Allegedly, such an attack with airplanes had been planned for Christmas 2005, but had not been carried out, for unknown reasons.

Perhaps not as “coincidental” as described by Berlusconi, Italy announced that they will be withdrawing their troops from Iraq.

Hurricane Dennis

As The Associated Press reported on July 9, 2005, “More than 1 million people from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana were under evacuation orders. Landfall was expected Sunday afternoon anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to southeast Louisiana… The storm [was] the earliest to reach Category 4 strength in the Caribbean on record… “

On July 11, 2005, The Associated Press added that “The total insured damage from Hurricane Dennis, which hit parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast over the weekend, will amount to between $3 billion and $5 billion.”

Hurricane Dennis is the first of a series of devastating hurricanes to be expected to strike the US this year.

Sheep Suicide?

The Associated Press reported on July 8, 2005: “First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported. In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said.”

Scientists debate whether animals can purposefully and conscientiously commit suicide. Many historical records prove that some animals killed themselves. However, the question remains whether they are influenced by demons when they do so. A classic example of demonic possession of many swine, leading to a mass suicide, can be found in Matthew 8:28-34.

Luxembourg and Malta approve EU Constitution

The Associated Press reported on July 10, 2005: “Luxembourg voters approved the European Union’s proposed constitution in a referendum Sunday… Officials said 56.52 percent of the vote was in favor of the constitution, while 43.48 percent voted against it. Luxembourg is the 13th country to ratify the charter, but rejections by the two larger countries [France and The Netherlands] have thrown its future into doubt… European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Luxembourg’s approval was a ‘strong signal’ that voters still think a constitution can help build ‘a more democratic Europe.’ However, he warned in a statement that its fate remained ‘uncertain.'”

The article continued:

“Luxembourg, a wealthy nation of 450,000 wedged between France, Germany and Belgium, has traditionally been one of the European Union’s most ardent supporters. Many questions remain over the EU’s future, including whether it will give full membership to Turkey and whether it should create the posts of EU president and foreign minister… [Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude] Juncker’s campaign for the charter was bolstered when the tiny country of Malta became the 12th EU nation to ratify the constitution Wednesday by a unanimous parliamentary vote. Luxembourg was the first EU member to go ahead with a referendum following the Dutch and French ‘no’ votes. Britain, Denmark and Portugal have scrapped theirs.”

The EUobersever clarified on July 10, 2005, that “The UK, Denmark, Portugal, Poland [and] Ireland… shelved their referendum plans after the decision of the European summit in June to put the ratification process on ice. The Czech republic, undecided until then, also announced it would not hold a referendum.”

Chinese in Colorado?

The United Press International reported on July 11, 2005, that “Canadian oil giant EnCana is considering bringing in Chinese companies to construct and operate drilling rigs in the Colorado Rockies… EnCana, a major player in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado, said Chinese labor is cheap and the workers are well-educated. The move would be scrutinized in Washington, where politicians are uneasy about allowing Chinese workers to acquire access to U.S.-based oil and gas facilities… Although China’s increased participation in the U.S. oil and gas industry is a prickly issue in Washington, the EnCana spokesman predicted that U.S. policy-makers would concede because Chinese companies would fill a dire need… The cost of drilling in Colorado has nearly doubled since last year, EnCana officials said. Rates increased from $8,500 per day to $14,000 per day in one year.”

This development is in line with a prophecy in the Bible, declaring that because of the sins of the nation, “the alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail… Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you…” (Deuteronomy 28:43-44, 47-48).

Barrier Around Jerusalem

Reuters reported on July 11, 2005, that “European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana criticized Israel on Monday for a barrier it is building around Jerusalem, and the Palestinian prime minister said it made a farce of efforts to restart the peace process. Israel faced new pressure over its controversial network of walls and fences a day after giving final approval to a segment it said would eventually separate 55,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem from the rest of the holy city… The World Court declared it illegal a year ago, but Israel has ignored the ruling.”

It was also reported that the Bush Administration has stated reservations against the barrier. The article continued:

“[Solana] said the Jerusalem barrier would also have a symbolic effect. The city is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie responded harshly to the Israeli decision, calling it ‘theft in broad daylight’ of land Palestinians seek for the capital of their future state.”

The Associated Press added:

“Israel’s separation barrier in and around Jerusalem is meant to ensure a Jewish majority in the disputed city, a Cabinet minister acknowledged Monday, contradicting government claims that the divider is solely a temporary security measure… Also Monday, Israeli officials said they would seek $2.2 billion in additional U.S. aid for the summer’s withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements.”

According to an opinion poll conducted by CNN on Tuesday, July 12, 90% of participants voted AGAINST such an additional U.S. aid.

Euro Rises Slightly

As AFP reported on July 11, 2005, “The dollar came under pressure after a mixed report on US jobs and Luxembourg’s approval of the European Union constitution… The euro rose Monday to 1.2018 dollars in early European trading, from 1.1970 late on Friday in New York… The US unit ‘has weakened across the foreign exchange market after Friday’s employment report for June failed to meet market expectations’, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi economist Derek Halpenny said. A government report showed the US unemployment rate had fallen to a four-year low point of 5.0 percent last month.”

Germany’s Uncertain Future?

The Associated Press reported on July 10, 2005, that “Germany’s opposition aims to oust Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder with a program to boost Europe’s largest economy and ‘reinvigorate’ relations with the United States… The program, to be formally endorsed Monday by the Christian Democratic Union [CDU] and its Bavarian sister party [CSU], includes an increase in sales tax and looser rules for companies to hire and fire staff. It also rules out Turkish membership in the European Union. The parties are also trying to win back voters by invoking Germany’s strained relations with Washington. Schroeder ran for re-election in 2002 on a platform opposing the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and Bush pointedly refused to offer the traditional congratulations to him on his victory. Germany’s conservatives have been careful not to back the war–sending troops to Iraq would be deeply unpopular–but insist only a change of government can heal the rift with Washington.”

However, new elections in September are not yet a certainty. Germany’s President Koehler sent Chancellor Schroeder a catalogue of questions pertaining to the recent “no-confidence vote” in Parliament, in order to be able to decide whether or not he will allow new elections, by dissolving the German Parliament. Also, the CDU and CSU are facing opposition from their potential coalition partner, the Free Democrats [FDP], over their highly unpopular proposal to increase sales taxes. The FDP has announced that they will NOT support such a tax increase.

The Catholic Church and The Philippines

The Associated Press reported on July 10, 2005, about interesting events in The Philippines, and the POLITICAL role of the Roman Catholic Church in the process. The article stated:

“The Philippines’ Roman Catholic bishops, who have played a major role in toppling two presidents, gave lukewarm support Sunday to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as she faced calls to resign over an election scandal. The long-awaited statement by the nation’s Catholic Bishops Conference may ease the pressure on Arroyo, who looked increasingly isolated after 10 Cabinet members quit Friday and urged her to step down… The bishops in the predominantly Roman Catholic country played a key role in the 1986 ‘people power’ revolution that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the 2001 repeat which forced out Arroyo’s predecessor, Joseph Estrada… As the influential Catholic leaders debated what position to take, Arroyo went on a new charm offensive, praying in church, strolling along a Manila Bay promenade, holding babies and chatting with fishermen during a rare public appearance.”

Internet Under U.S. Control

The following article, which was written by Kieren McCarthy, was published on July 1, 2005, on the Internet, titled, “Bush administration annexes internet.” The article pointed out:

“An extraordinary statement by the US government has sent shockwaves around the internet world and thrown the future of the network into doubt. In a worrying U-turn, the US Department of Commerce (DoC) has made it clear it intends to retain control of the internet’s root servers indefinitely. It was due to relinquish that control in September 2006, when its contract with overseeing body ICANN ended. The decision – something that people have long feared may happen – will not only make large parts of the world furious but also puts ICANN in a very difficult position. The organisation has slowly been expanding out of its California base in an effort to become an international body with overall responsibility for the internet.”

The article continued:

“Clearly the internet has entered the Bush administration’s vision and the resulting DoC statement – which boldly tells the rest of the world that the US will continue to run the Internet and everyone will just have to lump it – is very in keeping with how the US government is currently run. The big question now is whether the rest of the world will be cowed… The vision of a US-controlled internet infrastructure will be anathema to large parts of the world however and it is a demonstration of the US administration’s failure to think globally that it doesn’t recognise that there is surprisingly little preventing other parts of the world from creating a second Internet outside of US control. An already fractious situation has just got more difficult.”

U.S. Supreme Court’s Confusing Decisions!

The American Bar Association (ABA) Journal and Report stated in its article, “TWO TABLETS DON’T SOLVE LAWYERS’ HEADACHES,” dated July 1, 2005:

“Displaying the Ten Commandments on government property might violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause. Or it might not. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s two rulings on the topic this week–which produced 10 separate opinions between them–lawyers on both sides of the divisive issue agree on one thing: They are as confused as ever. And the battles over display of the symbols around the country are likely to continue, lawyers say, with attorneys for each side choosing one of the two cases to back them up… The decisions… have lawyers scratching their heads… Some suspect that the rulings will create new circuit splits regarding the establishment clause… And there’s likely to be confusion involving daily activities, says Julie Underwood, general counsel of the National School Boards Association. In an amicus brief submitted in the McCreary case, the group asked the court to clarify establishment clause jurisdiction. ‘In the last 30 years, 100 opinions have been written on religion in public schools, and it’s very confusing,’ [Underwood] adds. ‘There are multiple tests, and nobody really knows which is the prevailing test, or how to apply it.'”

The Waste of U.S. Taxpayers’ Money

On July 4, 2005, the national and international press reported, mostly approvingly, about an incredible example of how the money of U.S. taxpayers is being wasted. We are referring to the hit of a comet by a NASA probe, on America’s Independence Day, July 4, 2005.

The Associated Press reported: “NASA scientists used a space probe to chase down a speeding comet 83 million miles away and slammed it into the frozen ball of dirty ice and debris.”

How much did this “spectacle” cost the U.S. tax payers?

AFP clarified that the project cost 333 million dollars (!), or 275 million Euro. And WHY was this money spent? What was hoped to be accomplished with this collision? Was the goal to see how comets or meteorites, which might be on a collision course with earth, could be destroyed, or their course altered, preventing a deep impact with earth?

FAR FROM IT.

Here is the incredible reason for this WASTE of money, as explained by The Associated Press:

“[It was] a mission to learn how the solar system was formed… The reason scientists are so excited is that comets circling the Sun, which are numbered in billions, are seen as leftovers from a massive cloud of gas and dust that condensed to form the Sun and planets about 4.6 billion years ago.Their geological and chemical structures could thus contain important clues to the nature of the Universe and how it was formed, including Earth.”

If man, including “educated” scientists, would only read and believe the Bible, all these endeavors would be avoided. We ARE told, in Genesis 1:1 and in many other Scriptures, how the earth and the universe were formed, and by WHOM! Only, most of the scientific world has REJECTED Godly revelation, and has chosen instead to validate the ungodly theory of evolution, by producing “proof,” through experimentation, exploration and “observation,” how the universe and the earth came into existence by mere time and chance — irrespective of a godly power. And while millions of dollars are being WASTED in this idle pursuit, millions of people DIE here on earth because of famine, malnutrition, lack of medication, etc. This is indeed a terrible indictment against man’s INCAPABILITY to rule on this planet. THANKS BE TO GOD that He will send His Son Jesus Christ back to this earth to TAKE OVER rulership and to bring peace and justice to this planet. LET US PRAY that that day will arrive soon!

France vs. Britain

As Reuters reported on July 5, 2005, “French President Jacques Chirac cracked jokes to Russian and German leaders about bad British food and mad cow disease, a Paris daily said on Monday, in comments that could further strain Anglo-French relations… Relations between France and Britain were already at a low point, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chirac blaming each other for the failure of June talks on the European Union’s long-term budget talks. Blair, who took over the EU presidency last week, has particularly irked Paris with his drive to cut EU farm subsidies that mainly benefit France… The race between Paris and London to host the 2012 Olympic Games is further testing relations. Blair wrote in the Paris-based International Herald Tribune newspaper on Monday that London was the ‘perfect venue’ for the games. In Singapore, where the choice of venue will be announced on Wednesday, Anglo-French tensions threatened to boil over on Monday after a delegate linked to London’s bid said the Stade de France was not ideal for athletics.”

On July 6, 2005, the Associated Press reported about this telling announcement from Singapore:

“Britain vs. France. Blair vs. Chirac. Two historic rival cities convinced they were long overdue. London prevailed–upsetting Paris to secure the 2012 Olympics… Paris had been the front-runner throughout the campaign, but London picked up momentum in the late stages with strong support from Prime Minister Tony Blair… Blair… spent two days lobbying in Singapore this week… But not even a personal appearance in Singapore by French President Jacques Chirac could secure victory… The [British tabloid] Sun said Chirac also could have damaged his country’s Olympic bid by criticizing food from Finland in [addition to criticizing food from England].”

Euro Falling

The Euro has reached its lowest level in eleven months, with a value of 1.19 US dollars. Six months ago, the exchange rate was 1.37 US dollars. Reasons for the decline of the Euro are the strong U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, the rise of interest by the US national bank, as well as the present uncertainty of the EU unification. Bild Online reminded the readership, however, that the Euro was MUCH lower in October of 2000: At that time, 1 US dollar had the value of only 0.83 Euros.

Bird Flu at Critical Stage

The Scotsman reported on July 5, 2005, that “Asia’s bird flu outbreak is at a critical stage where it could easily become a human pandemic, health experts warned yesterday, urging mass poultry vaccinations to prevent a crisis… Cases of human infection have been reported in Vietnam, with others likely in Cambodia and Indonesia, while fears are growing that infected migratory birds in China could spread the virus to India and Pakistan… The flu, which has killed 54 people in Asia, currently appears to spread to people only when they come into close contact with sick poultry. But medical experts fear that the H5N1 bird flu strain could mutate into a form that easily passes between people and trigger a global pandemic because people have developed no resistance to the strain.”

Israel Seeks Germany’s Help

As Der Spiegel reported on June 29, 2005, “Israeli politicians ask Germany for assistance” in their struggle with Iran. The magazine reported that Israel views Germany’s Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, as “one of [Israel’s] VERY FEW friends in Europe.” The magazine also warned that if Europe or other powers should be unsuccessful to persuade Iran from discontinuing their nuclear programs, Israel might very well decide to “do it alone.” The readership was reminded that Israel attacked a nuclear power plant in Iraq in 1981, to prevent the building of nuclear weapons. At that time, the Begin-doctrine was created, permitting Israel to strike first in a “preemptive war.”

What To Do About China?

In a special report of U.S. News and World Report, which was published on or about June 20, 2005, the magazine wrote:

“China is teaching the West something new. Its economy, growing at 9 percent per year, will most likely become the second largest in the world by 2020, behind only the United States… The rise of China could… make Washington ‘increasingly irrelevant’… China now exports to the United States some $160 billion more than it takes in… A U.S. -China cold war would be costly, dangerous, and distracting, robbing attention and resources from pressing internal and global challenges.”

The article continued to warn that the USA might get involved or drawn into a military conflict, related to North Korea and Taiwan. The article stated:

“The United States should… do more to change China’s stance: by offering North Korea some attractive incentives to give up its nuclear materials and weapons… China needs to be reminded not to use force to unify the country [of Taiwan]. Neither China nor Taiwan should count on Washington standing aside if they change the status quo.”

What IF Washington were to get involved in a military conflict in that region of the world? The consequences would appear to be disastrous.

Germany In Turmoil

As Deutsche Welle reported on July 1, 2005, “When the German parliament defeated the confidence vote brought by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday, it set in motion a procedure designed to end in a general election in the fall.” Schroeder WANTED the parliament to defeat the confidence vote, as he refuses to resign. As the article explained:

“Schroeder had wanted the vote to be defeated in order to trigger new elections 12 months ahead of schedule and had instructed members of his Social Democratic Party (SPD) to abstain in the vote in the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament.”

His hope is that German “President Horst Koehler… [will] officially recognize the lack of a majority and dissolve the Bundestag” by July 22.

BUT, it is not altogether clear whether President Koehler CAN, legally, dissolve the German Bundestag. The article explained:

“Koehler has not yet revealed what his intentions are, saying only that he would study the situation after the vote… However the decision is far from certain. Some of the smaller political parties and a handful of coalition deputies have vowed to mount a federal court challenge against bringing the poll forward.”

It is interesting to realize, in this context, that Koehler refused to sign the ratification of the EU Constitution by the German Parliament, as a case is pending before the German Federal Court, challenging the legal procedure. He declared that he will await the outcome of that decision.

Deutsche Welle continued: “If the Bundestag is dissolved, Koehler must call an election to take place within 60 days. However the election can only take place on a holiday or a Sunday. The election cannot take place during the school summer holidays, which vary according to the regional states — in Bavaria for example they do not end until September 12. Most observers agree that the date of September 18 is the most likely for an election.”

All of the German major parties WANT new elections. But many law professors and legal experts feel that Koehler would violate the German Constitution if he were to dissolve the Bundestag. Their most convincing argument is that Koehler could only do so, IF the government was unable to function. However, this is doubtful as the government just enacted several laws prior to the defeat of the vote of confidence. If Schroeder is perceived as having used the Bundestag by means of a coup, a sham or a farce, Koehler could not legally dissolve it, according to many legal commentators.

Der Spiegel published an article, dated June 29, titled, “Why Koehler MUST Say No.” The international press mainly condemned Schroeder’s maneuver. However, the Russian press praised him as an honest man of principle.

IF Germany will have new elections in September, it appears that the leader of the CDU, Angela Merkel, will become the new chancellor, if CDU and its potential coalition party, FDP, get the absolute majority. However, even this is not certain. At this point, CDU and FDP are engaged in a war of words about whether or not to increase certain taxes. And according to some recent polls, although CDU and FDP would get 51% of the votes, if there were elections today, Schroeder is much more popular than Merkel. Further, Germany’s Foreign Minister and Schroeder’s coalition partner, Joschka Fischer, is still the most popular politician in Germany. And then there is Edmund Stoiber, Minister President of the Bavarian CSU and coalition partner of the CDU, who has been known for saying wrong things at wrong times.

The events in Germany on the political front are exciting. We will keep our readers updated about the developments.

London Under Attack

As The Associated Press reported on July 7, 2005, “Four blasts rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied victims fleeing in the worst attack on London since World War II. Three U.S. law enforcement officials said at least 40 people were killed and London hospitals reported more than 350 wounded in the terror attacks. Prime Minister Tony Blair called the attacks ‘barbaric’ and said they were clearly designed to coincide with the G-8 summit opening in Gleneagles, Scotland. [The blasts completely overshadowed Thursday’s main topic at the summit — efforts to tackle global warming. Especially Great Britain and the United States differ sharply on the issue of how to deal with the global warming problem.] They also came a day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics.”

The article continued:

“Bush warned Americans to be ‘extra vigilant’ as they head to work after the deadly explosions in London… Much of Europe also went on alert. Italy’s airports raised alert levels to a maximum. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, the Netherlands, France and Spain also were among those announcing beefed-up security at shopping centers, airports, railways and subways… A group calling itself ‘The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe’ posted a claim of responsibility, saying the blasts were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The statement also threatened attacks in Italy and Denmark…

“European stocks dropped sharply after the blasts, with exchanges in London, Paris and Germany all down about 2 percent. Insurance and travel-related stocks were hit hard, and the British pound also fell. Gold, traditionally seen as a safe haven, rose. The explosions also unnerved traders on Wall Street, sending stocks down sharply in morning trading.”

Religious Crisis in Europe

As the Associated Press reported on June 21, 2005, “Pope Benedict XVI rails against Europe in his first book published since becoming pope, chastising a culture that he says excludes God from life and allows innocent lives – the unborn – to be taken from God through legalized abortion.”

The article continued:

“Ratzinger takes as a starting point the decision of European Union leaders to exclude a reference to Europe’s Christian roots from the preamble of the proposed EU constitution, whose future remains uncertain following its rejection by French and Dutch voters in recent referendums. The Vatican had campaigned to have the reference included, part of its attempts to stem what it sees as a continent of increasingly empty churches that is often hostile to religion. ‘Europe has developed a culture which, in a way never before known to humanity, excludes God from public conscience, either by being denied or by judging his existence to be uncertain and thus belonging to subjective choices, something irrelevant for public life,’ Benedict writes. He dismisses arguments that inclusion of the reference would have offended Jews and Muslims, saying they are more offended by Europe’s attempt to deny a historic fact.

“‘It’s not the mention of God that offends the followers of other religions, but precisely the attempt to build a human community absolutely without God,’ he writes. He says Europe needs more people like St. Benedict of Norcia, the fifth and sixth century monk who is a patron saint of Europe. The Benedictine order that followed his teachings became the main guardian of learning and literature in Western Europe during the dark centuries that followed the fall of the Roman Empire.

“Looking at current culture in Europe, Ratzinger acknowledges it would be easy to resign oneself to the fact that abortion is a legal right in much of Europe. But he concludes that there is no such thing as a ‘little homicide’ and that when man loses the respect for life, ‘inevitably he ends by losing his own identity.'”

Middle Eastern Crisis

The Washington Post reported on June 21, 2005:

“A rare meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ended bitterly Tuesday… [T]he leaders clashed over Abbas’s efforts to confront such militant groups as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the release of additional Palestinians from Israeli jails and the reopening of the Gaza airport that Palestinians see as key to the future of the local economy after the pullout… The meeting Tuesday was meant to serve as an opportunity for the two leaders to better coordinate security and economic preparations for the Israeli withdrawal from all 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank.”

The European Crisis

As Reuters reported on June 22, 2005, “Britain will try to change the European Union’s agenda toward economic reform and away from farm subsidies when it takes the EU chair on July 1, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Wednesday. He was speaking amid continuing recrimination over the failure of a summit last week to agree on a long term budget for the 25-nation bloc… Straw said he believed Britain could heal the EU’s rifts during its six months in the presidency, but diplomats said lectures about British economic success compared to other countries was unlikely to calm tempers.”

In a related article, The Associated Press wrote on June 21, 2005: “Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Tuesday that Europe must choose between two futures: one as a politically united continent able to hold its own in a globalized economy and the other as an enfeebled trading bloc. In his first major speech since the collapse of talks late last week at a European Union summit, Schroeder said disagreement about Europe’s future–not its stricken constitution or budget–was at the heart of the dispute. ‘The core question is: which Europe do we want? Do we want a united Europe capable of acting, a real political union … or do we want to limit ourselves to being a large free-trade zone?’ Schroeder said… ‘I’m convinced … we need a political union. Only a political union is able to practice solidarity,’ Schroeder said.”

The EUobserver added in its article, which was published on June 23:

“Outgoing president of the EU Jean-Claude Juncker launched a blistering attack on the British prime minister laying the blame squarely at Tony Blair’s door for last week’s summit failure… Mr Juncker accused Mr Blair of using false arguments about the scale of farming subsidies and being misleading about the presidency’s proposals to try and forge a deal… Mr Juncker’s words, for which he got a standing ovation by MEPs, bring to a head an extraordinary few days of sniping between London on the one side and Paris, Berlin and Luxembourg on the other… Many believe that all London wants from the bloc is a convenient free-trade zone and will be out to make life difficult for the UK prime minister when he takes over the EU helm on 1 July.”

The United Press International speculated in an article, which was published on June 20, whether Europe could ever emerge as a political and military superpower. The author, Professor Mark Katz, stated:

“It may seem impossible, then, for an EU unwilling to engage in military intervention to become a superpower equal to the United States. But this is not necessarily the case. Indeed, it is possible the EU, despite its unwillingness to use force, could not only equal the United States as a superpower, but even replace it as the hegemonic power most able to shape the international order. The EU has the potential for doing this because it has an asset neither the United States nor any other country (or group of countries) possesses: the desire on the part of other countries to join it. We have seen already how much the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been willing to transform themselves in order to be admitted to the EU. If the EU expressed its willingness to admit any and all countries wishing to join that meet its admission standards, it would unleash an extraordinary demand for political and economic reform throughout the world.”

In addition, even though the EU might presently express a reluctance to use military force, Biblical prophecy clearly reveals that this will change.

Crisis Between USA and Italy

As The Associated Press reported on June 24, 2005, “An Italian judge on Friday ordered the arrests of 13 CIA officers for secretly transporting a Muslim preacher from Italy to Egypt as part of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts–a rare public objection to the practice by a close American ally… Italian-U.S. relations were strained after American soldiers killed an Italian intelligence agent near Baghdad airport in March. He was escorting a kidnapped Italian journalist after he had secured her release from Iraqi captors. Germano Dottori, a political analyst at the Center for Strategic Studies in Rome, said it is not unusual for intelligence agencies to have squabbles with allied countries but that he could not recall prosecutors directly involved in investigating or apprehending agents… ‘At some point the Americans will begin to think they can’t trust the Italians,’ Dottori said.”

Crisis Between USA and Europe

As the EUobserver reported on June 24, 2005, “Anti-Americanism in Europe, provoked by the Iraqi war in 2003, remains high… a new survey has shown… Europeans want more autonomy and independence from the US, and a majority of French, German and Spaniards think the US does not take into consideration other countries’ interests… 85 percent of the French believe it would be good if the EU or another country emerged as a military rival to the US… In Spain, 60 percent of those questioned said Mr Bush’s re-election made them feel less favourable to the US, compared to 77 percent in Germany, 74 percent in France, and 62 percent in the UK.”

Crisis Between USA and Iran

The Economist reported on June 25, 2005, about the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardline religious conservative, in Iran’s presidential election. The publication stated: “Iran looks like [it is] turning its back on reform–and perhaps on the outside world. WAS it a backlash by Iran’s devoutly Muslim poor against a corrupt elite? Or was it a massive fraud perpetrated on the people by the hardline clerics? Perhaps it was a bit of both… Mr Ahmadinejad insisted there was no need for any rapprochement with the “Great Satan”, as official Iranian demonology labels the superpower [of the United States]… Young Iranians have begun to enjoy greater freedom in such things as how they dress and how they mix with the opposite sex. This now looks likely to go into reverse under Mr Ahmadinejad… Thus the prospects look bleak for any sort of breakthrough in the issue that most interests the outside world–Iran’s apparent attempts to learn the techniques for making nuclear bombs… As for trying to get along with Uncle Sam, the president-elect said during his campaign that: ‘Relations with the United States are not a cure to our ills.'”

The Associated Press added on June 26:

“Iran President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Sunday to pursue a peaceful nuclear program — an effort the United States maintains is really a cover for trying to build atomic bombs — and said his government will not be an extremist one. Ahmadinejad also said Iran did not need the United States to help it become more self-reliant. His comments came as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld criticized Friday’s vote, in which the ultraconservative former Tehran mayor steamrolled former President Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, as a ‘mock election.’ Rumsfeld said more than 1,000 potential candidates — including all women — were disqualified from running by the country’s hard-line Guardian Council. ‘He is no friend of democracy,’ Rumsfeld said.”

Crisis Between USA and China?

As The Washington Times reported on June 26, 2005, “China is building its military forces faster than U.S. intelligence and military analysts expected, prompting fears that Beijing will attack Taiwan in the next two years, according to Pentagon officials. U.S. defense and intelligence officials say all the signs point in one troubling direction: Beijing then will be forced to go to war with the United States, which has vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack. China’s military buildup includes an array of new high-technology weapons, such as warships, submarines, missiles and a maneuverable warhead designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses… China’s economy has been growing at a rate of at least 10 percent for each of the past 10 years, providing the country’s military with the needed funds for modernization. The combination of a vibrant centralized economy, growing military and increasingly fervent nationalism has transformed China into what many defense officials view as a fascist state.”

Ten Commandments in Crisis?

The New York Sun reported on June 28, 2005, about the U.S. Supreme Court decision, okaying a display of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol while disallowing their display in two county courthouses in Kentucky. The article pointed out:

“This aspect of the fight might well have come as a surprise to the actual authors of the First Amendment, which was a prohibition on Congress, not on the states… The policy virtues of such an approach are ‘the laboratory of the states.’ Bible belt states could post the Ten Commandments on every streetlamp, while more secular-leaning states, or those with larger populations of Buddhists and Hindus or atheists, could avoid public posting of the commandments. The drawbacks of such an approach are equally clear. The reason the 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War was the realization that some freedoms, like the freedom from slavery, are so fundamentally American that they should not depend on what state one is in.”

The Washington Post added on June 28:

“The Supreme Court’s decisions yesterday on displays of the Ten Commandments on public property were not a model of clarity or judicial consensus. To resolve two cases, one from Texas and the other from Kentucky, the justices delivered 10 different opinions — one, we suppose, for each commandment…”