Global Power in Decline

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 23:

“The US faces many pressing issues in the near future. But none of them got much air time on Monday night in the debate between President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney. Instead, the two candidates… reveal a global power on the decline.

“Ed Luce, the sage Financial Times columnist, knows from his country’s own history all about the decline of global powers. A Briton who loves America, Luce has sought to provide the United States with well-meaning counsel… so that America’s decline might remain but a horror scenario…

“Americans no longer want their country to be a global police force… neither Obama nor Romney have shown a real interest in the Muslim world… the president did little thereafter to ensure that progress was made. The only regional issue that appears to be high on his priority list is Iran’s nuclear program. Romney’s plan for the region appears to consist almost entirely of unconditional support for Israel. Both candidates want to continue using drones unhindered.

“… both Obama on the left and Romney on the right are focused on winning the support of a public that is tired of war, a public that is largely united in the wish to reconstruct their own country rather than nations abroad. That is understandable for a country in crisis. But it is also a crisis for a great nation.”

Not Much Interest in Foreign Policy

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 23:

“… the nation is still deeply split over the direction that the country should take… The [final] debate, which took place in Boca Raton, Florida, showed Romney concerned above all not to look like a warmonger but like a confident national leader. He toned down his attacks on Obama and moderated his rhetoric. And he moved his position toward the center – a tactic which he used in the first debate, and which knocked Obama off his stride…

“Like the earlier debates, this one did not tell us much more about policy details. The president has still not explained how it was that the requests made by the consulate in Benghazi to reinforce the security staff there were not met. Neither side can offer any ideas or initiatives which could move toward a solution of the Middle East conflict, and Romney too wants to bring the troops back home from Afghanistan by the end of the 2014, just as Obama and NATO plan to do…

“But the debate also made something else clear: foreign and security policy are not the issues which interest the voters, and both sides know that. In a Gallup poll in October, 37 percent of Americans said that the economy was the country’s most urgent problem and 26 percent said it was unemployment, which currently stands at 7.8 percent. After those two came the budget deficit and general dissatisfaction with the government – foreign policy issues came way down the list. It was different in 2004: the Iraq war came top back then, with 23 percent. The USA is currently concentrating on itself.

“So it was no surprise that Romney repeatedly moved the discussion back to domestic policy: the poor economy, high unemployment, health reform, education. This is where his real contrast with the president lies: while Romney wants to see the role of the state reduced and expects the free market to bring the country back on to its feet, Obama wants to use the resources of the state to get the country moving…

“The nation is undecided as to which policy is better. And this indecisiveness will probably mean that neither of the two parties will have a clear mandate in Washington and that this will make it harder to solve the country’s economic problems. Obama would still face a Republican-dominated House of Representatives, while Romney would probably have to deal with a Democrat majority in the Senate.

“So, while Romney promises to give more money to the Pentagon and to build more ships, while he says he wants to make America stronger and lead the world, he may well have to sober up when he finds out that he hasn’t got the money he needs. The new president will have his hands full reducing the record government deficit, the public debt and unemployment. Foreign policy will have to take a back seat…”

Our new StandingWatch program, “US—Global Power in Decline,” explains the significance of these developments.

“Berlin, Europe’s New Capital”

The Financial Times wrote on October 22:

“Berlin does not feel like an imperial city. The new government buildings – the chancellor’s office, the Bundestag and the foreign ministry – have all been designed with plenty of glass and natural light, to emphasise transparency and democracy. The finance ministry is, admittedly, housed in the old headquarters of the Luftwaffe. But most of the grandest architecture – Unter den Linden and the Brandenburg gate – is a legacy of the Prussian kings…

“Berlin is increasingly the de facto capital of the EU. Of course the EU’s main institutions – the commission and the council – are still based in Brussels. But the key decisions are increasingly made in Berlin.

“Will Greece have to leave the euro? Ultimately, it will be Germany’s call. Will politicians support further bailouts for southern Europe? The vital debates will take place in the Bundestag in Berlin – not in the European parliament. Who does the International Monetary Fund call about the euro crisis? The most important conversations take place with the German government and the European Central Bank in Frankfurt – not the European Commission.

“This shift in power from Brussels to Berlin has been accelerated by the euro crisis. Naturally, the German chancellor Angela Merkel still has to go to summits in Brussels and strike deals. She was there only last week. But the euro crisis means that Ms Merkel is now incomparably the most important leader at the table.

“For different reasons, the leaders of all the other big EU nations arrive in Brussels in a weak position. Spain and Italy are struggling with their debt crises – and so have become supplicants. The British have opted out of the single currency and the new structures that the eurozone is putting together – so they are marginalised. The Poles are also not in the euro, and have a relatively small economy.

“That leaves France. By tradition, a Franco-German partnership is at the heart of any EU deal. For many years, summits were preceded by a separate Franco-German meeting and a joint letter from the two nations. When Nicolas Sarkozy was still in the Elysée, his relationship with Chancellor Merkel was so close that ‘Merkozy’ became a journalistic shorthand for Europe’s dominant duo.

“Even then, many were sceptical. One top EU official scoffed that – ‘France needs Germany to disguise how weak it is. Germany needs France to disguise how strong it is.’ Now even the disguises have dropped away… Some argue that the Franco-German partnership has always gone through rough patches – and that the two nations will inevitably get together again. This time, however, it could be different. The power gap between France and Germany has become too obvious; and the issues that divide them are too fundamental… the relative economic strength of Germany could prove decisive – particularly if, as many in Berlin suspect, France is heading for a profound economic crisis.

“This steady accretion of power to Germany is greeted with ambivalence in Berlin. For obvious historical reasons, postwar Germany has never sought a dominant role within Europe. After reunification, the goal was always said to be ‘a European Germany, not a German Europe’. That instinct to try to submerge German interests within a general European identity remains powerful. But exasperation with rule-breaking and fiscal incontinence elsewhere in Europe is making the Germans less shy about insisting on the need for a more ‘German’ Europe. The price of German financial assistance is, increasingly, going to be the acceptance of rules and laws designed in Berlin… The Germans insist that they are completely committed to the euro and to the EU – and they are determined to make them work.”

Germany is destined to lead Europe, and Great Britain will most likely not be a part of it, as also the next article seems to conclude.

The UK and the EU

The EUObserver wrote on October 19:

“The UK sees banking union and deeper integration of the eurozone as a chance to renegotiate its own status in the Union, Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed to reporters at the EU summit in Brussels… he emphasised that deepening integration of the eurozone-17 would also change the nature of Britain’s place in the EU… he said ‘the single currency needs a banking union and we won’t stand in the way even though we won’t be involved.’ He added that the new supervisory framework…  would be a ‘massive change’ for the EU… However, he insisted that he would not back the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. ‘Leaving the EU is not in our national interests, we are a trading nation and around 50 percent of our trade is with the EU,’ he said.

“Under the banking union proposals agreed last night, the ECB will begin work as the single supervisor of the eurozone’s banking sector in 2013, with the legal framework to be in place by the end of 2012. Cameron’s… comments are the latest sign that the UK sees eurozone integration as a chance to loosen its relationship with the EU. Last week, home secretary Theresa May confirmed that the UK would use its right under the Lisbon Treaty to opt out of over 130 legal acts on justice and home affairs policy. The opt-out includes co-operation on cross-border crime as well as the controversial European Arrest Warrant, which allows criminal suspects to be easily extradited to face charges across the EU. The move has caused consternation in Brussels.

“Manfred Weber, a German centre-right MEP on the justice and home affairs committee, accused the UK of ‘destroying’ measures to increase co-operation between member states on cross-border crime and policing… Finnish Europe minister, Alex Stubb, told summit reporters on Thursday (18 October) that the UK was ‘saying bye-bye to Europe.’ Cameron has come under concerted pressure from factions of his Tory party to call an ‘in/out’ referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. Surveys by the ConservativeHome website have indicated that a majority of party members would vote for EU withdrawal.”

Whether Mr. Cameron will or will not want to support the UK’s withdrawal from the EU might be immaterial and inconsequential. The Bible strongly indicates that the UK will be leaving or forced to leave the EU.

Israel vs. the EU

The EUObserver wrote on October 20:

“Israel has told the EU to fix its crisis instead of interfering in settlement expansion. Its foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, made the comments in a statement on Saturday (20 October) in reaction to a previous EU communique. He said: ‘The EU should focus on the problems that are surfacing between different nations on European soil. After these issues are successfully resolved, we will gladly hear any suggestions regarding a solution to the problems with the Palestinians.’ He added: ‘These automatic [EU] condemnations indicate a lack of a basic understanding of the reality in the region … [Gilo] is an inseparable part of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is an inseparable part of Israel.’

“The EU foreign service on Friday criticised Israel’s decision to build 797 new housing units in the Jewish-only Gilo settlement, in Palestinian-owned but Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. Construction is creating a Jewish ring around the old part of the city, which is holy for both Muslims and Jews. ‘Together these developments continue the process of separating East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory,’ EU foreign service chief Catherine Ashton said.

“The EU routinely criticises settlements but never follows up with sanctions, as suggested by its own ambassadors on the ground.  It is currently drafting a voluntary code of conduct for labels on settlement-made exports to help EU consumers boycott the goods, however.

“Meanwhile, also on Saturday, Israeli navy boarded and seized the Estelle, a Finnish-flagged ship which set sail for Gaza from Naples on 7 October carrying about 20 people in protest at Israel’s military blockade of Palestinian-controlled Gaza. The EU has in the past also called for Israel to relax the blockade…”

The Bible predicts that the relationship between the EU and the state of Israel will continue to deteriorate.

Lebanon Mourns Murder of al-Hassan

Deutsche Welle reported on October 20:

“Angry protestors took to the streets of Lebanon on Saturday, protesting what local media report is a response to the killing of a top-security official a day earlier. Local television stations say the demonstrations occurred in the mainly Sunni Muslim areas of Beirut, the southern city of Sidon and Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli. Lebanon’s cabinet held an emergency meeting chaired by President Michel Suleiman to discuss Friday’s bombing in a mainly Christian district of Beirut, which killed internal intelligence chief General Wissam al-Hassan. The killing amounted to one of Lebanon’s highest profile killings since the 2005 assassination of the former Lebanese premier, Rafiq Hariri.

“Hariri’s son Saad and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Friday accused President Bashar Assad of neighboring war-torn Syria of being behind what they called ‘the assassination.’… Lebanon’s cabinet, which is dominated by the pro-Syria Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, called for a day of mourning on Saturday….

“At least 80 people were also wounded in Friday’s attack, which has been condemned by many Western nations, including the governments of Syria and Iran… Friday’s attack has rekindled memories of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war when Syrian troops entered the country under an Arab League mandate. International outcry, which followed Hariri’s assassination in 2005, eventually prompted Syria to withdraw its troops. No one has ever been tried for Hariri’s murder, but a UN-backed tribunal accused four members of Hezbollah.”

Deutsche Welle had published the following article, on September 29, about the controversial role of Hezbollah in Lebanon:

“Hezbollah, the dominant party in the Lebanese government, is closely allied with the Syrian regime. With Assad’s future uncertain, Hezbollah has a tricky balance to maintain. The so-called ‘Party of God’ has undergone a dramatic transformation since it was founded 30 years ago. The stimuli for its creation were the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Hezbollah’s stated aims were resistance against Israel, and establishing an Islamic state in Lebanon. In the years that followed, Hezbollah slowly began to integrate itself into the Lebanese political system. In 1992 it participated in parliamentary elections for the first time. It abandoned its aim of establishing an Islamic state in the country…

“But there is a definite limit on the extent to which the party is willing to adapt. It remains a state within a state, and has refused to disband its militia, rejecting any form of disarmament or integration into the Lebanese army. It still sees itself as part of an Iranian-Syrian coalition, a bulwark against American and Israeli interests in the region… Despite the increasingly serious situation in Syria and the possibility that the current regime there will fall, Hezbollah is one of the political forces in the region that still remains loyal to Assad… in the Lebanese media there is increasing debate over Hezbollah’s clear alignment with Assad. More and more people are saying it is in a dilemma…”

The civil war in Syria seems to engulf more and more countries in the region—first Turkey, and now Lebanon. It is being rumored that sooner or later, Western powers might intervene militarily to prevent this situation from escalating even further. Note also the next article.

Syria Killed Hassan

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 22:

“After Hassan’s state funeral on Sunday, opposition protests erupted into violence in Beirut… German newspapers said that it comes as no surprise that Lebanon is now being dragged into the Syrian civil war. They argue that if violence continues, it will only be a matter of time before the West will have to become involved as well.

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: 

“‘Lebanon’s fate has always been closely tied to that of Syria. The power and religious fault lines between the Shiites and the Sunnis run through both countries, and have become more active as a result of the Arab Spring, which has strengthened the Sunnis in the region. The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which supports the current government, is thought to be the extension of the powerful clique surrounding Syrian President Bashar Assad — and is also supported by Iran. The Sunnis, on the other hand, are supported by Saudi Arabia and the US for religious and geopolitical reasons… For a deeply divided Lebanon, the coming days may prove decisive as to whether the country will be pulled into the Syrian conflict. It would be an escalation that could force the West to become more involved in the Syrian civil war than it wants to — because Israel would be placed in even greater danger.'”

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“‘It is little consolation that this escalation was only a matter of time: The civil war in Syria threatens to tear open old fronts in Lebanon… The relationship between Syria and Lebanon has always been symbiotic. Even at the end of the 20th century, Syria dominated its smaller neighbor economically, militarily and politically. First the bomb attack on former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 drove the Lebanese to the streets and pushed the Syrian army out of the country. The regime in Damascus considered that … to be intolerable. Now another attack has shaken the nation and again all eyes have turned to Syria. The murder of Lebanese intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan removes one of Assad’s most effective opponents in Beirut. Those wanting to trigger an eruption in an already wobbly country could not have found a better target.’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

“‘The intent behind the killing of intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan is clear. It was Syria’s attempt to rid itself of a person who had been blocking attempts to destabilize Lebanon as a distraction from the war at home… Syria’s civil war is jumping the borders in an increasingly threatening manner. Turkey already has its army on high alert and Israel practiced defense measures on Sunday…’”

The Middle East is indeed a powder keg which is bound to ignite—and no one knows for sure what exactly will trigger the explosion, as there are SO MANY trouble spots over there.

Dangerous Trends in Egypt

FP (Foreign Policy) wrote on October 20:

“[A] poll of 812 Egyptians, half of them women, was conducted in a series of in-person interviews by the firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and sponsored by the Israel Project, a pro-Israel advocacy organization with offices in Washington and Jerusalem. According to the poll, Iran is viewed favorably in Egypt, with 65 percent of those surveyed expressing support of the decision to renew Egypt-Iran relations and 61 percent expressing support of the Iranian nuclear project, versus 41 percent in August 2009. Sixty-two percent of those polled agreed that ‘Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are friends of Egypt,’ though 68 percent held unfavorable views of Shiite Muslims.

“Iran’s deputy defense minister said recently that the Iranian regime is seeking more military cooperation with Egypt. ‘We are ready to help Egypt to build nuclear reactors and satellites,’ he said on the occasion [of] Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy’s meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month…

“Eighty-seven percent of respondents want Egypt to have its own nuclear bomb… 74 percent… said that [they] disapprove of Egypt having diplomatic relations with Israel — an increase from 26 percent in August 2009… Seventy-seven percent agreed that ‘The peace treaty with Israel is no longer useful and should be dissolved.’… Forty percent felt warmly about the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, but only 11 percent felt warmly about the Salafist Nour Party, a hard-line Islamist party that fared well in the parliamentary elections.

“American politicians fared poorly in the poll, but among them Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the most popular at 25 percent favorability. President Barack Obama scored 16 percent and Republican nominee Mitt Romney only 8 percent, although only half of Egyptians polled knew who Romney was. (Ahmadinejad’s favorability rating? Forty-three percent.)… Asked, ‘Do you think that President Barack Obama is more on the side of Arabs or more on the side of Israel?,’ 68 percent of Egyptians said Israel, and 60 percent said that Obama’s presidency had been ‘a negative thing’ for the Arab world.”

We do not know to what extent the results of this poll are representative of the Egyptian population as a whole, but they show the negative developments resulting from the anti-Western “Arab Spring.” Whether Egypt and Iran will form a confederacy is doubtful—the Bible does not indicate this—but the Scriptures do tell us much about the future of both countries and their stance against the state of Israel and the USA. Please review our new booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”

Africa Without Gadhafi

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 20:

“In the Ugandan capital, Kampala, there is a Gadhafi mosque, which leads to Gadhafi street. ‘Gadhafi was a very good friend to Uganda over the years ,’ says Fred Opolot, Uganda’s government spokesperson. A key figure in the Ugandan independence movement, Gadhafi holds a permanent place in the country’s history… Paying for his friendship with Uganda, Gadhafi invested $375 million (286 million euros) in that African nation. The money came from Libya’s oil revenues and found its way into the Ugandan telephone system and the Tropical Bank, among other places…

“Gadhafi was a welcome financer of the African economy. Libyan investments were scattered across the continent and ranged from luxury hotels from Kenya to Ghana, to rubber factories in Liberia, fruit juice plants in Guinea, and telephone companies and motor vehicle service stations throughout East Africa… Libyan investment in Africa is now a thing of the past… Libya is broke, the oil industry has virtually collapsed and the security situation there is extremely poor.

“For many African countries… Gadhafi’s death was a loss in economic terms. It is unclear what is going to happen to all the companies, hotels and plantations. Many African leaders are wary of the new Libyan government…

“Strange as it may seem now, the African Union owes its existence to one of Gadhafi’s initiatives… It was Gadhafi who set the agenda, but he had the money… Without Libyan funding, the AU now has financial problems… One year after Gadhafi’s demise, new players have taken the spotlight. South Africa… can now be expected to speak with greater authority on the political front. New investors have already arrived. The new headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa [Ethiopia], which cost $200 million, was a gift from China.”

As we can see, the Arab Spring revolution has not helped, but rather destroyed the economy of Libya. But the AU is still alive, being headquartered in Ethiopia. For more information on the prophetic role which Ethiopia will play in the future, please see our new booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.” Note also the interesting developments in Libya on September 11, 2012, and the dubious role which the US Government seemed to be playing in this respect.

What Happened on September 11, 2012?

Fox News reported on October 24:

“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed back Wednesday on the suggestion that Sept. 11 emails implicating an Al Qaeda-tied group in the Libya consulate attack were proof of terrorist involvement… But the group is a prime suspect. Indeed, one suspect in custody in Tunisia is a member of Ansar al-Sharia…

“Three Republican senators, in a letter Wednesday to the White House, said they were ‘disturbed’ by the latest email revelations, claiming it ‘adds to the confusion’ about what the administration knew of the attacks.

“‘In television interviews nearly a week after the events in Benghazi, you yourself even refused to describe it as a terrorist attack, instead emphasizing the role played by a hateful video. This concerted misrepresentation of the facts of the case — facts that, it appears, you and your administration possessed almost as soon as the attack began — is why so many of our constituents are demanding a fuller explanation of why your administration responded as it did,’ wrote Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. They called on the president to ‘address the American people directly’ on what happened.

“Though the emails… are just one piece of the puzzle, they reveal some of the most detailed information yet about what officials knew in the initial hours after the attack. And they again raise questions about why U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, apparently based on intelligence assessments, would claim five days after the attack that it was a ‘spontaneous’ reaction to protests over an anti-Islam film… an estimated 300 to 400 national security figures received these emails in real time almost as the raid was playing out and concluding. People who received these emails work directly under the nation’s top national security, military and diplomatic officials…

“… the newly uncovered emails clearly state the involvement of a militant group whose agenda is to establish an Islamic state in eastern Libya.”

This is rather interesting, also in light of what the next article points out.

Anti-Muslim Filmmaker Detained and Muzzled in LA

The Washington Times wrote on October 20:

“Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the 55-year-old filmmaker responsible for the anti-Muslim video that President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice initially and wrongly blamed for inciting the deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, is still being held at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) without bond. It has been almost one month since Mr. Nakoula was arrested for allegedly violating the terms of his probation for a 2010 bank-fraud conviction. According to reports, under his probation, Mr. Nakoula was prohibited from using computers and the internet without supervision…

“‘Nakoula was ordered detained — held without bond — by a federal judge, who determined he posed a flight risk,’ said Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Mr. Nakoula’s next court date is on November 9, three days after the presidential election. In the meantime, while the Obama administration passes blame around over who dropped the ball with the attack in Benghazi, Mr. Nakoula remains locked up and muzzled in a Los Angeles detention center until after the ballots for president are counted on November 6.”

“Unlocking the Mysteries of Petra”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 19:

“The ruins of the ancient city of Petra lay hidden until 1812, when a Swiss explorer stumbled upon them in modern-day Jordan… The discovery of the ancient desert city of Petra by Swiss explorer and Orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812 is considered a great moment in history. Far away from all settlements, surrounded by dust and shimmering air, he had discovered what Lawrence of Arabia would later describe as the ‘most beautiful place on Earth.’ Today, Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage site…

“Two centuries after Burckhardt’s discovery of the rock-cut city in Jordan, the Basel Museum of Ancient Art is exhibiting the latest archaeological finds from the ‘Atlantis of the Desert.’ Four teams of scientists — from France, Germany, Switzerland and the United States — are currently working at the site…

“Petra was once an oasis with irrigated gardens and streets lined with temples and luxurious homes… Around 400 B.C., the Nabataeans established a trade network stretching from southern Arabia to today’s Gaza Strip… The Nabataeans had a system for guarding the caravan route, established rest areas in the wilderness, and supplied water and food for the more than 3,000-kilometer journey through the desert… Petra apparently served as a central warehouse for… valuable goods, a sort of safe that could be protected very effectively. The narrow gorge that provides access to the city is less than three meters wide in places. Thus, all it took was a few soldiers to stop entire armies…

“This mixture of Western and Arab influence is also typical of the religion of ancient desert dwellers. Some of their temples contained statues of Dionysus and Isis. At the same time, they worshipped a strange ‘fish goddess’ who wore dolphins in her hair. But their supreme god, Dushara, had no human features at all. His likeness was a black, cubical stone somewhat like the Kaaba, the massive, cube-shaped religious structure in Mecca.

“… archaeologists have been able to figure out how the Nabataeans’ water system worked. Six long-distance pipelines brought fresh water in from the surrounding mountains several kilometers away, and clay pipes were installed in the city itself. The residents diverted a river, and there were also hundreds of cisterns to capture rainwater. The largest had a capacity of up to 300 cubic meters of water…

“Not surprisingly, there were those who envied the Nabataeans. The Persians and the Greeks tried to put a stop to their profiteering, and the Romans dispatched a force to Petra in 63 B.C. But the Nabataeans cunningly defended their freedom… It wasn’t until [many] years later that the Nabataeans were finally defeated, and Rome incorporated its territory into its Arabia Petraea province. After that, Petra fell into a deep slumber. The temples decayed, and goatherds used the tombs as stalls for their animals.”

For a long time, the Church of God has wondered whether the end-time place of safety, which is mentioned in the Bible as a place of protection for many of God’s people, might be Petra. Will Petra be awakened out of its “deep slumber”? Even though nobody knows for sure, the above-mentioned facts are interesting in light of biblical prophecy and innuendos. For more information, please read our Q&A on the place of safety. 

Fukushima Nuclear Power Facility–A Worldwide Catastrophe Coming?

Natural News wrote the following on October 16:

“Though the mainstream media has long since abandoned the issue, the precarious situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility in Japan is only continuing to worsen, according to a prominent Japanese official. During a recent interview, Mitsuhei Murata, the former Japanese Ambassador to both Switzerland and Senegal, explained that the ground beneath the plant’s Unit 4 is gradually sinking, and that the entire structure is very likely on the verge of complete collapse. This is highly concerning, as Unit 4 currently holds more than 1,500 spent nuclear fuel rods, and a collective 37 million curies of deadly radiation that, if released, could make much of the world completely uninhabitable.

“… Unit 4 contains the infamous elevated cooling pool that was severely damaged following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011. According to the Secretary of former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the ground beneath Unit 4 has already sunk by about 31.5 inches since the disaster, and this sinking has taken place unevenly. If the ground continues to sink, which it is expected to, or if another earthquake of even as low as a magnitude six occurs in the region, the entire structure could collapse, which would fully drain the cooling pool and cause a catastrophic meltdown.

“‘If Unit 4 collapses, the [worst] case scenario will be a meltdown, and a resultant fire in the atmosphere. That will be the most unprecedented crisis that man has ever experienced. Nobody will be able to approach the plants … as all will have melted down and caused a big fire,’ said Murata during the interview. ‘Many scientists say if Unit 4 collapses, not only will Japan lie in ruin, but the entire world will also face serious damages.’

“Because there are 31 nuclear units of a similar type to Unit 4 in the U.S., the American government has been downplaying the disaster to protect its own reputation, alleges Murata. This is, in fact, the primary reason why so little has been reported on the severity of Fukushima following the disaster. The American empire, in other words, does not want the world, nor the American people, to know that there is the possibility of literally dozens of Fukushima situations occurring on American soil, should the right disaster situations arise.”

As so often, the mainstream media keeps silent about these developments, for obvious reasons. One must really ask the question HOW MUCH the mainstream media is actually willing to report, on ANY given subject.

Veneration of a Pope’s Blood?

VIS reported on October 19:

“A relic of Blessed John Paul II will be transported to the French shrine of Lourdes during a pilgrimage… containing blood of John Paul II, so that it can be seen and venerated by pilgrims from all over the world.”

To “venerate” the blood of a man is in stark contrast to biblical teaching that tells us that we are saved by the blood of Christ alone. Of course, the whole concept surrounding the shrine of Lourdes is questionable and dangerous. Please read our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.” 

And the Winner Is…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 13:

“The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union has divided the Continent. While European leaders in Brussels and national capitals are basking in the glow provided by the unexpected honor, euroskeptics in the EU have unleashed their contempt for the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

“In Britain, Friday’s award has been the subject of particularly heated commentary. Iain Martin, a columnist with the conservative Daily Telegraph dismissed the prize as ‘beyond parody.’ He writes that the prize has been awarded prematurely because ‘we have no idea how the experiment to create an anti-democratic federation will end’… Instead, he writes, it was the Brits and the Americans who brought peace to the Continent.

“Members of the House of Commons with the conservative Tories described the decision as ‘laughable’ and an ‘April Fool’s Joke.’ Meanwhile, the tabloid Daily Mail runs with photos of protesters in Athens burning a flag emblazoned with a swastika during this week’s visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and quotes the head of the Tory party in the European Parliament, Martin Callanan, as stating, ‘Presumably this prize is for the peace and harmony on the streets of Athens and Madrid.’ …

“In Greece, a spokesperson for the opposition Syriza party said that, because of the EU, ‘we are experiencing what really is a war situation on [a] daily basis … there is nothing peaceful about it.’ Meanwhile, the Norwegian Peace Council declared that the EU in the past year has stood for the ‘opposite of peace.’ In Germany, the conservative daily Die Welt criticized the ‘forced political correctness of a jury that has overlooked the unpleasant reality of the euro crisis’ in awarding the prize…

“German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is not alone in considering the EU the ‘most successful peace project in history.’ In France, there has also been an overwhelming relief to have the EU viewed positively once again… a statement from the Elysée Palace, the office of President François Hollande, said that ‘every European should be proud to be part of a union that has created peace between long-warring nations’…”

The Telegraph wrote on October 12:

“The decision was widely interpreted as a conscious bid to prop up the single currency – and the bloc itself – in their darkest hour, after the Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland warned of a possible return to ‘extremism and nationalism.’ ‘We should do everything we can to safeguard it [the EU], not let it disintegrate. If the euro starts falling apart, then I believe that the internal market will also start falling apart. And then obviously we get new nationalism in Europe,’ he said after announcing the prize in Oslo.

“Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, quickly linked the ‘wonderful selection’ to her country’s efforts to save the 17-nation eurozone. ‘I often say that the euro is more than a currency, and we should not forget that these weeks and months we have spent working to strengthen the euro. At the end of the day it is about the original idea of a union of peace and of values,’ she told reporters…

“Even so, the award was perhaps not the committee’s most contentious. Barack Obama received the prize just days into his presidency of the United States, while commanding the world’s largest military in two wars. He later sanctioned a dramatic increase in secret drone attacks on militants in Pakistan and elsewhere…”

The Associated Press wrote on October 12:

“To many in the 27-nation bloc, the EU is an unwieldy and unloved agglomeration overseen by a top-heavy bureaucracy devoted to creating arcane regulations about everything from cheese to fishing quotas… ‘First Al Gore, then Obama, now this. Parody is redundant,’ tweeted Daniel Hannan, a euroskeptic European lawmaker… from Britain’s Conservative Party. Gore… was the 2007 recipient for his campaign to fight climate change…

“Nicolas Beger, director of Amnesty International’s Brussels-based EU office, said the union was neglecting its duty to the rest of the world. ‘The EU doesn’t even take remotely its fair share of the refugees of the world,’ he said. ‘It closes its borders, it pushes people back into countries where they are being tortured, it lets them [down].’”

To award the EU with the Nobel Peace Prize seems indeed far-fetched and terribly short-sighted… as have been prior awards, as the articles quoted above point out. According to the Bible, it will be a powerful united Europe which will plunge this world into “great tribulation.” For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.” Please also note the next article.

A Two-Speed Europe, with Britain Outside the Leading Nations

The EUObserver wrote on October 8:

“British conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will block the upcoming EU seven-year budget cycle if it goes against UK interests… Cameron last year vetoed the fiscal compact treaty on budget discipline which commits member states to sign up to a debt brake. ‘I sat round that table – 27 countries, 26 of them signing up to a treaty and I said, “This is not in Britain’s interests, I don’t care how much pressure you put on, I’m not signing, we’re not having it,”’ he said on Sunday. Details of the treaty were fleshed out and then signed by all member states in March, except the UK and the Czech Republic.

“Negotiations are currently underway on the EU’s multi-financial framework budget for the period 2014 to 2020. Some 80 percent of the budget goes to member states and covers everything from farm subsidies to research… All 27 member states need to approve the budget, but Cameron says they must first agree to a ‘proper control’ of spending. He threatened to veto any ‘massive increase.’

“The prime minister also spoke of introducing a separate budget for the 17 member states using the euro. ‘There will come a time I believe where you’re going to need to have two European budgets – one for the single currency, because they’re going to have to support each other much more, and perhaps a wider budget for everybody else,’ he told the BBC.”

We see—as the Bible prophesied—that a two-speed Europe or a core Europe consisting of ten nations or groups of nations, is developing. Europe will consist of those ten nation or groups of nations who have adopted and will maintain the euro, and the rest. Please also note the next three articles, showing an increasing desire to unite militarily, coupled with the attempt to prohibit “unpopular” ministers access to Europe and to make it difficult for minorities in Europe to practice their religious customs.

European Super State Is Coming

The Express wrote on September 12:

“The nations of the EU must join together in a federal state, if the euro is to be saved, the President of the European Commission declared today. Jose Manuel Barroso called for further integration among the states of the EU, calling for a ‘federation of nation states of Europe.’ … The EC chief even claimed that the EU should have its own military force which would be able to intervene in conflicts ‘when needed.’

“His comments come as the highest court in Germany ruled that they would not stand in the way of an international £400billion fund to save the 17 countries of the eurozone by allowing them to lend money without restraint.

“Meanwhile it has been revealed that banks in London could be shut down or forced into bailouts against the wishes of British authorities under a controversial ‘banking union’ proposed by the European Commission. Decisions taken by the powerful body would be automatically binding.”

Der Spiegel Online reported on October 15:

“Great Britain is turning away from the EU and the German government is allowing it to do so. In the future, Chancellor Merkel wants to forge ahead with projects London opposes.”

The Bible has prophesied that such a European Super state under German leadership—without Great Britain–will develop.

Germany Prohibits Entry of Unpopular US Minister

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 17:

“The German government has barred US pastor Terry Jones from entering the country. Jones… who gained global attention in 2010 by threatening to burn the Koran, has said he backs the anti-Islam film that has sparked worldwide protests. Berlin acted on information that German far-right groups planned to invite him…

“Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has asked the Interior Ministry to prevent Jones from entering the country. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said Sunday that a visit by Jones would ‘run counter to the interest of maintaining public order.’”

Subsequently, Angela Merkel confirmed that Terry Jones will not be allowed to enter the country. Even though we most certainly do not endorse or support in any way Terry Jones’ opinions and actions, it is a dangerous (but telling) trend to selectively exclude unpopular US ministers from entering (fortress) Europe.

Circumcision in Germany—Welcome or Not?

The Local wrote on October 10:

“If the government has its way, religious circumcision will remain legal in Germany providing it is carried out to medical standards. Angela Merkel’s cabinet agreed [with the] re-drafted legislation on Wednesday…

“As long as the child’s health is not put at risk, and the practitioner carries out the rite in accordance with medical standards, circumcision may be performed. The bill was drawn up in response to a Cologne court decision in June, which said circumcision was tantamount to grievous bodily harm. This united Jewish and Muslim groups in opposition and caused uproar in Israel and Muslim countries.

“But Aiman Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, said the concept of a child’s ‘well-being’ was something that needed to be discussed in more depth. ‘In general the new law is going in the right direction,’ he added…

“Dieter Graumann, head of the Central Council for Jews in Germany, was slightly more positive. He hailed the bill as ‘decidedly savvy, well-considered, and fair’… and added it was a definite signal that Jewish and Muslim life was still welcome in Germany.

“Diplomats have admitted that the Cologne ruling was ‘disastrous’ for Germany’s international image, particularly in light of its Nazi past, and the debate even prompted the former head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, to question whether the country still wanted a Jewish community. About four million Muslims and more than 200,000 Jews live in Germany.”

Parliament must still approve the bill for it to become law. It must be said that even the redrafted proposed law has dangerous loopholes which are bound to be raised in a criminal court of law. In any event, any law permitting circumcision will not change the minds of a majority of the German people who oppose circumcision of little boys. Whether Jews are really welcome in Germany is still the big question of the day.

Catholics Must Pay Special Church Tax

The Daily Mail wrote on September 28:

“Germany’s Catholic Church will deny worshippers the right to Holy Communion and religious burials if people do not pay a special church tax. A newly-enforced German bishops’ decree says anyone failing to pay the tax – an extra 8% of their income tax bill – will no longer be considered a Catholic.

“All people in Germany must pay this tax if they want to worship in either Catholic or protestant churches, or Jewish synagogues.

“Last year millions of files spanning decades were handed over to criminal investigators by all 27 dioceses of the Catholic Church hierarchy in Germany in a bid to get to the heart of child sex abuse by priests. It was seen as an attempt to staunch the flow of leavers who made it plain the scandal, and the inability or unwillingness to deal with it, was the reason for their departure.

“In 2010, 181,000 people left, an increase of 50 percent on the previous year. Last year 126,000 left. Over the past twenty years, the number of members of Germany’s Roman Catholic Church has fallen from 28.3 million to 24.6 million or 30.2 percent of the country’s population.”

Due to a treaty between the Catholic and Protestant Churches and the German Government, the Government withholds automatically the church tax from the earnings of every member of the Protestant and Catholic Churches and passes it on to these two major churches.

Dangerous Fanatics Have Their Say…

… against the USA…

USA Today reported on October 13:

“The leader of Al-Qaeda has urged Muslims to wage holy war against the United States and Israel over a film that insulted Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Ayman al-Zawahri praised as ‘honest and zealous’ demonstrators who breached the U.S Embassy in Cairo and attackers who stormed the U.S. ‘embassy’ in Benghazi in violence linked to the film. The American ambassador and three others died in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in the Libyan city. The amateur film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ was made by an Egyptian-born American citizen.

“In an audio message released by al-Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab and posted on militant websites early Saturday, al-Zawahri claimed Washington allowed the film’s production under the pretext of freedom of expression, ‘but this freedom did not prevent them from torturing Muslim prisoners.’”

… and Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on October 11:

“Egypt’s foremost Muslim Brotherhood official called on the Arab world Thursday to replace negotiations with Israel with ‘holy Jihad,’ claiming that if Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount they will destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and supplant it with the third temple.

“Mohammed Badie, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared in a public message published by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram that ‘the Zionists only understand force,’ and that Arabs cannot hope to achieve justice from the Jews ‘through the corridors of the United Nations or through negotiations… The time has come for the Islamic nation to unite around one man for the sake of Jerusalem and Palestine,’ Badie said. ‘The Jews have dominated the land, spread corruption on earth, spilled the blood of believers and in their actions profaned holy places, including their own… Zionists… will not relent without duress… This will only happen through holy Jihad, high sacrifices and all forms of resistance. The day they realize we will march this path and raise the banner of Jihad for the sake of God, is the day they will relent and stop their tyranny.’”

The goal of fanatical radical Islamists is clear—to bring about destruction and obliteration of the USA and the state of Israel. The Bible is very precise that ultimately, those two powers will be hated by all nations—not just the Arab world. Also remarkable is the reference in the quoted article to the building of the third temple, which is indeed strongly suggested to occur in the Holy Scriptures.

The Syrian-Turkish Conflict Could Set the World on Fire

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 5:

“Turkey’s retaliation against Syria marks a dangerous new phase in the conflict — one that threatens to grow into a regional confrontation. That, though, might be what Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has in mind, say German editorialists on Friday. It could lead to greater Turkish influence in the Middle East.

“Retaliatory strikes by Turkey against Syria on Wednesday have created an entirely new dimension to a civil war that now threatens to become a full-fledged regional conflict in the Middle East. The moves by Ankara came after shelling by Syrian forces that killed five women and children in the Turkish border town of Akcakale.

“European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle have strongly criticized the shelling by Syria. And on Thursday, the United Nations Security Council overcame divisions to issue a statement condemning the shelling ‘in the strongest terms.’ The statement, which had been watered down at Russia’s behest, said the incident ‘highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbors and on regional peace and stability.’

“Turkey’s intensified role in the crisis is raising serious concerns that the country, a member of NATO, may ultimately drag the rest of its partners into war with Syria by invoking Article Five, which stipulates that all alliance members must come to the defense of any other member country that has been attacked…

“The leftist Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘For decades, Turkish policy tended to be isolationist, with a focus in the country on maintaining what it already had. But this foreign policy abstinence ended when Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu entered office. During his time as foreign minister, Turkish President Abdullah Gül has focused mostly on Turkey’s deeper integration into Europe. But Davutoglu has also pushed for a new, more powerful role for the country in regions that include the Middle East and the Balkans — areas the Ottoman Empire once ruled. Indeed, his opponents accuse him of pursuing neo-Ottoman policies with the aspiration of Turkish dominance in the region with a more modern twist…’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘Turkey is in the process of going down a highly dangerous path. It is intervening in a war. With a decision by its parliament this week mandating a deployment of the Turkish military into Syrian territory, the NATO member state has also established the pre-conditions for a highly dangerous internationalization of the Syrian conflict…’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘…If it came to an all-out war, the Syrian army could also use chemical or biological weapons from its well-stocked arsenal. The consequences would be unforeseeable… In the history of the world, there have been many wars that both sides weren’t really interested in…’

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The conflict now threatens to escalate. One shouldn’t believe that Turkish Prime [Minister] Erdogan is acting disinterestedly with his retaliatory strikes or that he only pushed through a kind of enabling act permitting the foreign deployment of his military solely for purposes of making a show. The step means a conscious fuelling of the conflict… Erdogan holds the key in his hand. If he wants to seize the opportunity and expand his influence, the Middle East will become a powder keg.’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘The Syrian attack on Turkish territory has made one thing clear: Each military incident along the border of the two countries could trigger a war. And because Turkey is a NATO member state, it is a war that Germany and the other NATO partners would inevitably get pulled into.’”

Deutsche Welle reported on October 13:

“Turkish fighter jets intercepted a Syrian passenger plane from Moscow to Damascus. Turkey forced the passenger plane to land outside of Ankara late on Wednesday under suspicion that it was carrying weapons to Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Russian-made munitions were seized from the aircraft. The Syrian plane was later freed to continue on its journey…

“Moscow is Syria’s most important arms supplier and maintains a naval center in the Syrian city of Tartus, Russia’s only port on the Mediterranean Ocean. Both China and Russia have vetoed three UN draft resolutions aimed at sanctioning the regime of President Bashar Assad.

“The forced landing of the Damascus-bound passenger plane is the latest confrontation between Turkey and Syria. The two neighbors exchanged artillery fire across their common [border] several times last week… The Turkish parliament subsequently authorized the government to launch cross-border raids into Syria if necessary. Some 100,000 refugees have fled to Turkey, and the rebel Free Syrian Army has used Turkish territory as a staging ground.”

Indeed, as Christ predicted, we are hearing these days much about wars and rumors of war. We know from Scripture that Turkey will play an important role in a future war in the Middle East, siding with Europe against Israel and other nations. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”

No War Between China and Japan

The Washington Times wrote on October 17:

“A senior adviser to the Taiwanese government on Wednesday downplayed the likelihood that a war will erupt in the festering dispute between Taiwan, China and Japan over a chain of tiny islands in the East China Sea. ‘Nobody’s going to war over this few rocks, over these tracts of barren land,’ said Stephen S.F. Chen, a former top Taiwanese diplomat in Washington, to editors and reporters at The Washington Times. China and Taiwan agree that the islands are Chinese, though they differ on exactly what that means, said Mr. Chen…

“Mr. Chen said Taiwan stands firmly with China against Japan in the dispute over the islands, which are surrounded by rich fishing waters and may lie atop large oil and gas reserves. While such a stance signals seemingly unprecedented unity between Taipei and Beijing, Mr. Chen said the two governments actually agree in only a limited way on the issue. Both sides have long concurred that there is only one China, but the democratic island nation and the communist-ruled mainland claim to represent all of China…

“The recent tension in the region has been capped by a wave of anti-Japanese violence inside mainland China. Mr. Chen said Taiwan is a ‘peace-loving island,’ and he predicted a similar backlash against Japanese goods is unlikely to occur in Taiwan because industry in the relatively tiny nation is beholden to Japanese imports. ‘We cannot initiate any boycott’ or ‘embargo,’ he said… highlighting Taiwan’s distinctly different approach from that taken by Beijing, which has been flexing its naval muscles by sending paramilitary marine patrol boats to the waters around the disputed islands.

“This week, China went further, sending seven warships through a narrow sea passage near the Japanese island of Yonaguni, about 125 miles from the disputed islands… The ships included frigates, a guided-missile destroyer, a supply ship and two submarine rescue vessels. Japanese Defense Ministry officials said the ships might have been trying to avoid an approaching typhoon but added that Tokyo is monitoring the warships’ progress closely…

“Mr. Chen said Japan recently agreed to reopen talks on fishing rights with Taiwan in November. The talks have been stalled and dormant for three years. ‘Japan would hate to be facing on two fronts, facing the mainland, facing us,’ Mr. Chen said, ‘That is why they have agreed to resume the talks.’”

A war between China and Japan is indeed highly unlikely, as the Bible prophesies a soon-coming mighty alliance between China, Russia and Japan, as well as other Far Eastern nations, against Europe and the USA.

Anger Rages In The Mideast

The BBC wrote on September 15:

“More than three years ago, President Barack Obama famously told a Cairo audience that ‘we meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world’.

“His speech, titled A New Beginning, sought to transcend the acrimony of the Bush era.

“This week, as violent protests rage across the Middle East and beyond, the president might ask himself: What went wrong?

“The truth is that there is no single explanation.

“One answer is that last year’s wave of political uprisings, the so-called Arab Spring, is responsible.

“After all, protests began in Egypt, which last year became the most populous Arab democracy, and spread to Libya, which became the largest by area.

“The Arab Spring did indeed invigorate a range of Islamist movements and weakened the law enforcement capabilities of the affected states…

USA Today wrote on September 17:

“Hundreds of Afghans burned cars and threw rocks at a U.S. military base as a demonstration against an anti-Islam film that ridicules the Prophet Mohammed turned violent in the Afghan capital early Monday.

“And in Jakarta, Indonesians angered over the film clashed with police outside the U.S. Embassy, hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails and burning tires outside the mission. At least one police officer was seen bleeding from the head and being carried to safety by fellow officers.

“The low-budget film, privately produced in the United States, portrays Mohammed as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. It sparked violent protests in many Muslim countries in recent days, many of them outside U.S. diplomatic posts around the world.

“The U.S. Ambassador to Libya was killed during an attack on the consulate in Benghazi last week; protesters have also stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tunis and held violent demonstrations outside posts in Egypt and Sudan. The U.S. has responded by deploying additional military forces to increase security in certain hotspots”

France Takes Precautions

The Wall Street Journal wrote on September 19:

“France will close embassies and French schools in 20 countries on Friday, its Foreign Ministry said, amid fears of a backlash after a French magazine published a series of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

“French authorities said they feared the cartoons published Wednesday in satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo could cause more outrage in the Muslim world, days after a video denigrating the Prophet Muhammad helped to fuel violent protests at U.S. and other Western embassies in several Muslim countries.

“Paris’s move to pre-emptively close its embassies highlights how Western governments are grappling to respond to a wave of protests whose flash points lie largely out of their control.

“The French government said that although freedom of speech rules applied in France, the magazine’s publication of the cartoons was ill-timed. ‘It is dangerous, even irresponsible, when we know the general climate, to pour oil on fire,’ Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in Paris on Wednesday…

“Charlie Hebdo defended its decision to publish the prophet cartoons. ‘If we start to wonder whether we have the right to draw Muhammad or not, or if it is dangerous to do it, we will have to start to wonder whether we can draw Muslims or human beings in the paper,’ the weekly magazine’s editor in chief, known only as Charb, told French radio RTL. ‘Eventually, we won’t be drawing anything, and a bunch of extremists in the world and in France will have won.'”

Global Ban on Insults to Islam?

cnsnews.com reported on September 17:

“Six months after declaring that all churches in the Arabian peninsula should be destroyed, Saudi Arabia’s top cleric called at the weekend for a global ban on insults targeting all religious ‘prophets and messengers,’ a category that, from a Muslim perspective, includes Jesus Christ.
 
“Saturday’s demand by Saudi grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh came on the same day that another of Sunni Islam’s most prominent figures, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University grand imam Ahmed el-Tayyeb, made a similar appeal.
 
“Both men were reacting to an amateur video satirizing Mohammed, whose emergence on the Internet has been blamed for protests targeting American diplomatic missions across the Islamic world. According to wire services at least 12 deaths have been linked to the protests since Thursday, with deaths reported in Tunisia, Sudan, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon and Egypt.
 
“The two clerics’ calls are a new salvo in an unremitting campaign by Islamic political and religious leaders, spearheaded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to pressure non-Muslims to treat Islam with deference.
 
“In a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Asheikh ‘appealed to all countries and international organizations to criminalize acts ridiculing all prophets and messengers (peace be upon them).’”

Germany Rejects Rollover to Extremists!

On September 18 Spiegel Online International wrote:

“Germany is considering forbidding a far-right party from publicly screening the anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” in Berlin in November. But editorialists in the country say a ban would be wrong because it would play into the hands of extremists on all sides.

“The German far-right party Pro Deutschland has said it plans a public screening of the anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” in November, prompting fears that the event could trigger violence in Germany.

“The issue has prompted a heated debate in the country, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday the film should not be shown if it endangered public safety. “I can imagine that there are good reasons for this,” she said, adding that a ban on the public screening was currently being considered.

“Religious blasphemy was a crime in Germany until 1969, when the law was changed. At present, acts of blasphemy are only deemed criminal if they could disrupt public peace.

“On Tuesday, most German media commentators said that even though the 14-minute film is disgusting rubbish, its screening should not be prohibited because it would breach the right to freedom of expression.”

Influential writers in Germany are mirroring the dominant attitude of their countrymen–it is time to quit giving in to extremist Islamists. More and more, Germany is creating a leadership that will solidify Europe’s role in the world.

China Protests Target Japanese

Reuters wrote on September 15:

“Hundreds of people protested in front of the Japanese embassy in Beijing on Saturday, throwing objects at the building as police struggled to keep control, amid growing tensions between Asia’s two biggest economies over a group of disputed islands.

“On Tuesday, Japan brushed off stern warnings from China and said it had bought the islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, from a private Japanese owner.”

Voice of America reported on September 16:

“As tensions between China and Japan escalate, anti-Japanese protests have spread to Hong Kong.  Pro-democracy activists in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory are taking a surprising lead in the pan-Chinese nationalism movement.
 
 “An estimated 5,000 demonstrators marched on the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong Sunday.  The demonstration occurred in the build-up to the anniversary this week of the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
 
“Tokyo enflamed Chinese emotions last week by purchasing contested islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, the Senkaku in Japan, from their private Japanese owners.”

The Christian Science Monitor wrote on September 17:

“Hundreds of Japanese businesses and the country’s embassy suspended services in China on Tuesday, expecting further escalation in violent protests over a territorial dispute between Asia’s two biggest economies.

“China’s worst outbreak of anti-Japan sentiment in decades led to protests and attacks on Japanese companies such as car makers Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, forcing them to halt operations and prompting Chinese state media to warn that trade relations could deteriorate.

“More protests continued across China on Tuesday, which marks the anniversary of Japan’s 1931 occupation of parts of mainland China.”

Chicago Teachers Strike

Reported September 15 by Reuters:

“Thousands of striking Chicago teachers will march again on Saturday to keep the pressure on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to wrap up an agreement with their union so they can end a strike that has closed the nation’s third largest school district for a week.

“The ‘Standing Strong with Chicago Teachers Rally’ could be the largest demonstration against Emanuel’s education reforms since the strike began in Chicago on September 10.

“Labor union supporters from neighboring states are expected to converge on Chicago to join many of the 29,000 union teachers and support staff in the march…

“Emanuel angered the Chicago teachers by trying to ram through proposals to radically reform teacher performance evaluations and weaken job protection for teachers whose schools are closed or perform poorly academically.”

While this strike has reached a settlement, the underlying troubles between groups of special interests within the U.S. remain a matter for real concern.

Anti-Putin Protest

Reuters wrote on September 9:

“Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Moscow under streaming banners, flags and balloons on Saturday to demand an end to President Vladimir Putin’s long rule and to breathe life into their protest movement.

“Protesters chanted “Russia without Putin!” as they marched through central Moscow in the first big rally since June.

“Witnesses said opposition leaders appeared to have achieved their goal of attracting at least 50,000 people, enough to maintain the momentum of their movement but almost certainly too few to increase alarm in the Kremlin.

“The protest underlined anger over what liberal Russians see as tough measures to smother the opposition since Putin began another six years in the Kremlin in May, but protests have not taken off outside big cities and the opposition is not united.”

Radical Overhaul for Europe?

On September 18 The Guardian wrote:

“Five of the six biggest countries in the EU, excluding Britain, have called for a radical overhaul of European foreign and defence policies to create a powerful new pan-European foreign ministry, majority voting on common foreign policies to bypass a British veto, a possible European army, and a single market for EU defence industries.

“The German-led push, supported by 11 of 27 EU countries, embraces recent calls in Berlin and Brussels for a directly elected European president, sweeping new powers for the European parliament, and further splitting of the EU by creating a new parliamentary sub-chamber for the 17 countries of the eurozone.

“While the call for a European army was not supported by all 11, the document also calls for a new European police organisation to guard the union’s external borders and for a single European visa.

“Nine months of brainstorming over the future of Europe by the foreign ministers of the 11 countries, launched by Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, has resulted in a 12-page document crammed with policy recommendations. It will prove hugely contentious and, if implemented, will increase the pressure on Britain to quit the EU…

“The backers include Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland, five of the six biggest EU countries omitting Britain. The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Portugal and Luxembourg also signed up.”

European Integration–Unstoppable!

Spiegel Online reported on September 12:

“The ruling on Wednesday by the Federal Constitutional Court on the euro bailout fund makes one thing very clear: The Karlsruhe-based institution will not stop European integration because it can’t. The justices have created expectations among the people that they are no longer able to fulfill.

“Never before has there been this much drama at Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court. One of the longest-serving police guards working there confided to a radio reporter that there has never been anything like this at the highest court in the land. The scene was thronged with journalists, satellite dishes, broadcast vans, cables and floodlights: The entire world had its eyes turned to this courthouse, a converted barrack on the edge of this western German city. All the fanfare was directed at one highly anticipated event: Eight judges, three of them professors, were about to publicly declare whether they intended to block efforts to resolve the euro debt crisis.

“So, what happened? Just what everyone expected: The European Union will not be stopped in its tracks. Germany can now ratify the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the permanent euro bailout fund, and the fiscal pact aimed at bringing economic governance to countries in the euro zone — albeit with a few conditions. What’s more, court President Andreas Vosskuhle repeated his usual warning that euro bailout packages cannot come at the cost of a loss of power for the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament. Everyone has now relaxed, and even the German DAX index of blue chip companies is climbing.”

Papal Influence in Lebanon

The Daily Star wrote on September 16;

“During his three-day visit, which comes 15 years after the landmark visit of the late Pope John Paul II, the head of the Roman Catholic Church called for interfaith dialogue as a means to bring peace to the region.
 
“In a Sunday morning Mass attended by an estimated 350,000 people at the Beirut Water Front City, the pope urged the Arab countries and the world to propose solutions to end the conflict in Syria.
 
“’Let us ask her [Virgin Mary] to intercede with her divine son for you [Lebanon] and, more particularly, for the people of Syria and the neighboring countries, imploring the gift of peace,’ the pope said at the end of the Mass.
 
“’You know the problems that beset the region. There is a tremendous amount of pain … Why so much death? I call on the international community and Arab countries to propose solutions which respect human rights,’ he added.
 
“Sleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati as well as MPs and Cabinet ministers attended the Mass. Other politicians in attendance included Future Movement MP Bahia Hariri and several Hezbollah deputies.
 
“During his visit, the Holy See met with various Christian and Muslim figures including Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani who delivered a letter to the pope and said Saturday that ‘any attack on Christians is in an attack on Muslims.’
 
“The pope, who said he represented a ‘pilgrim of peace’ during his stay in Lebanon, urged Christians in the country and the Middle East not to abandon their land.
 
“In a gathering Saturday with Arab and Lebanese youth at Bkirki, the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate, the pope said he was moved by the courage of Syrian youth and said he was saddened by the hardships of the people there.
 
“He reiterated his praise of Lebanon’s ‘beautiful coexistence’ and urged Muslim youths to work with their fellow Christians.
 
“During the ceremony, Benedict urged Christians not to abandon their land because of an ‘uncertain future.’
 
“’Unemployment and dangers should not force you to migrate for an uncertain future. Act as the makers of your country’s future and play your role in society and the Church,’ he said.
 
“The Holy See signed the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East Friday in a ceremony at Saint Paul Basilica in Harissa, north of Beirut, where he urged Christians not to be afraid but brave difficulties facing them in the region.”

Pope Benedict XVI’s acceptance in the Mideast country of Lebanon is remarkable in light of the raging anger that has emerged among extremist Moslems in the region. Biblical prophecy indicates that Rome will continue to attempt to influence matters in this part of the world–especially in Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

Romney’s Constant Flip-Flops

Newsmax reported on September 9:

“Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has called for scrapping President Barack Obama’s 2010 U.S. healthcare law, said in remarks aired on Sunday that he likes key parts of ‘Obamacare’ despite his party’s loathing of it and wants to retain them. Romney, who faces Obama in the Nov. 6 election, has vowed throughout the campaign to repeal and replace the Obama healthcare law. But asked about the Obama healthcare law on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ program, Romney said, ‘Well, I’m not getting rid of all of healthcare reform. Of course, there are a number of things that I like in healthcare reform that I’m going to put in place,’ Romney added. ‘One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. Two is to assure that the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like.’

“The Obama healthcare law, among other provisions, prevents insurance companies from denying medical coverage to people who already are suffering from a medical condition. It also allows parents to keep their young-adult children on their health insurance plans until age 26. The law is Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement. Elements of the state healthcare reform plan that Romney put in place as governor of Massachusetts served as a model for the federal law passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by Obama in 2010 despite unified Republican opposition…

“On the day the Supreme Court upheld the Obama law in June, Romney said the American people must vote the president out of office in order to ‘get rid of Obamacare.’”

Mr. Romney also supported in that interview Mr. Obama’s drone war (as most Republicans do), even though critics have described it correctly as being morally and ethically wrong. For a true Christian, voting for either side or at all has become—and has always been–prohibitive. Please listen to our video-recorded sermon, “What Would Be Jesus’ Vote?,” and please read also the next article.

Better Off Now?

CNS reported on September 4:

“The U.S. government debt, which topped $16 trillion for the first time at the close of business on Friday, now equals approximately $136,260 for every household in the country. Just since President Barack Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, the debt has increased by $45,848 per household—or about 50 percent per household…”

… even though the President keeps telling us that we are better off now than at the time when he was inaugurated… Surprisingly, even though Bild Online reported diligently the many embarrassing mishaps during Mitt Romany’s recent international trip, the tabloid voiced the opinion that he would still be a better president for Europe than Mr. Obama, as Mr. Obama had no international portfolio, experience or grasp for political international matters.

IRS Agents Not Involved in Obamacare?

CNBC wrote on September 11:

“The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday assured congressional lawmakers that agents would play no role in enforcing the controversial requirement that Americans buy insurance under President Barak Obama’s health care overhaul. ‘IRS revenue agents will not be involved. There will not be audits,’ IRS Deputy Commissioner Steven Miller told a subcommittee of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The law… will charge individuals a fee, or tax, if they fail to buy insurance starting in 2014.

“Opponents of the healthcare measure have focused on that requirement, with some Republicans saying they worry the IRS, the agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement, will harass people who fail to buy insurance. ‘In most cases, taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health insurance coverage, and-or making a payment, and there will be no need for further interactions with the IRS,’ Miller said.

“Under the law, Americans who lack health insurance will have to pay an annual fee to the IRS of $95, or 1 percent of taxable household income, starting in 2014. By 2016, that will rise to $695 per person, with a cap that equals the greater of $2,085 per family or 2.5 percent of household income. About 1 percent of the population will be charged for not buying insurance, government watchdogs have estimated.”

So it seems to us, the IRS would be heavily involved in this.

“Germany Must Lead or Leave”

Reuters reported on September 8:

“Germany should leave the euro zone if it is not prepared to take a more decisive lead in helping the euro zone’s weaker nations escape a spiral of increasing indebtedness and economic decline, veteran financier George Soros said on Saturday… ‘Germany should either lead in developing a growth policy, political union and burden-sharing, accept the cost of leadership, or leave through an amicable arrangement,’ Soros said in an interview with Reuters television in Vienna… Germany should step up and accept its de-facto leadership role…”

Of course, Soros’s suggestion that Germany might leave the eurozone is utter nonsense and a far-fetched illusion, but his statement that Germany should step up to the plate and carry out more forcefully its de-facto-leadership role is quite interesting. In this regard, note the next article.

“Germany a Pillar in the International Community”

The Times of Israel reported on September 9:

“Germany shares Israel’s concern regarding Iran’s nuclear program, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Sunday at the beginning of a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem. ‘A nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat not only to Israel but to the stability of the entire region. A nuclear-armed Iran is not an option,’ Westerwelle said…

“Barak called Germany ‘a pillar in the international community,’ praising its stand against ‘Iran’s continued movement toward military-nuclear capability.’ The minister said Germany ‘plays a part in both the sanctions and the diplomacy, and whatever might be needed to block them; we highly appreciate this position.’

“Westerwelle… said Israel and Germany shared a special friendship. ‘We condemn every kind of terrorist attack against Israel. We stand together with Israel, which means, of course, that we share also the concern about the Iranian nuclear program,” he said. Barak cited Israel’s recent purchase of a Dolphin-class submarine from Germany at a large discount as proof of the two countries’ ties. ‘We are thankful for the very good relationship, and the continued support that Germany provides for Israel, reflected by the recent signing of the agreement to buy a sixth submarine,’ he said.”

Whatever Germany will do in the future regarding Israel, the Arab nations and others, it is becoming more and more obvious that Germany is rising as the world’s leader. Please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Jews Not Welcome?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 10:

“Aaron Buck, the spokesman of Munich’s Jewish community, says that long before the circumcision debate began he has experienced anti-Semitism on a daily basis. People call him on the phone, write e-mails or letters, and many even give their names… In light of this, any desire for a ‘relaxed relationship’ between Jews and other Germans would appear somewhat naïve. It’s almost as though the circumcision ruling by the Cologne regional court had only brought the truth of people’s real differences to light…”

Fragile US-Israeli Relationship

According to Haaretz of September 11, “The White House declined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request on Tuesday to meet [with] U.S. President Barack Obama during a UN conference in New York at the end of the month.”

The paper commented that “The White House’s response marks a new low in relations between Netanyahu and Obama, underscored by the fact that this is the first time Netanyahu will visit the U.S. as prime minister without meeting Obama.”

The Washington Post added on September 11 that “The deepening dispute between the United States and Israel over how to stop Iran’s nuclear program broke into public view Tuesday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that the Obama administration did not have the ‘moral right’ to forestall military action. Netanyahu’s remarks — and a White House decision that President Obama will not meet with the Israeli leader later this month — threatened to further exacerbate tensions between the two allies and possibly push the disagreement over Iran into the U.S. presidential campaign.”

In typical diplomatic and political fashion, the White House denied the reports. According to CNN, dated September 11, “Wolf Blitzer, citing Israeli sources, reported that the Israelis were told Obama’s schedule would not permit a meeting even though Israel offered to have Netanyahu travel to Washington. Obama and Netanyahu are both due to address the United Nations in New York in late September but not at the same time. The Obama administration pushed back later Tuesday. ‘Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied,’ the White House said Tuesday night in its statement, which made reference to ‘our close cooperation on Iran and other security issues.’”

However, the Financial Times wrote on September 12: “Feuding between the US and Israel burst into the open when Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, sharply criticized recent US statements about Iran while the White House said President Barack Obama would not meet Mr Netanyahu in the US this month… The core disagreement between the two governments has been rumbling for some time, with Israel paying close attention to Iran’s ‘capability’ to make a nuclear weapon while the US is more focused on efforts to build an actual weapon.”

Iran on the Attack

Newsmax wrote on September 9:

“An Iranian military official said Iran will retaliate against American interests as well as Israelis if Israel launches an attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities… Iran has missiles that could reach U.S. targets in the region, as well as Israel. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah also said Iran will attack American targets in the Middle East if Israel launches a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities…

“Iran has launched an attack against Israel on another front, asserting that Israel ‘spreads homosexuality’ across the globe to pursue its goal of world domination, the Jerusalem Post reported. Mashregh News, a state-controlled Iranian paper, claimed that the United States and Britain are using money from Jews to spread homosexuality, and described Tel Aviv as the gay paradise on earth.”

Radical Islamists Attack Americans

The Washington Times wrote on September 11:

“A State Department worker was killed and another injured Tuesday in separate attacks on a U.S. Consulate in Libya and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo by hard-line Islamic protesters angry about an anti-Islamic film. In the Libya attack, armed men stormed and burned the American Consulate in the eastern city of Bengazi, fatally shooting one worker and injuring another. Anti-American Islamists clambered over the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and ripped down the U.S. flag, replacing it with a black flag bearing the Islamic inscription ‘There is no God but Allah,’ commonly flown by al Qaeda.

“Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who confirmed the death, condemned ‘in the strongest terms’ the attack. ‘We are heartbroken by this terrible loss,’ she said.

“There were warnings late Tuesday of the potential for more attacks on Americans. ‘There is a high threat of additional attacks against U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world,’ warned IntelCenter, a private-sector firm that tracks jihadi messaging for clients including U.S. agencies… The protesters — most of them hard-line Islamists of the Salafist movement — stormed the embassy chanting, ‘Say it, don’t fear: Their ambassador must leave’ as part of a rally sparked by anger about a film deemed offensive to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that reportedly was produced by expatriate members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority in the U.S.”

Predictably, the Arab Spring is turning more and more into a very cold and chilly winter—especially for America. Demonstrations in Tunsia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen against U.S. Embassies have become violent and deadly. But notice also the next article.

The Curse of the “Arab Spring”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 9:

“They began as a cry for freedom in the Middle East, but the Arab rebellions have become increasingly characterized by an ancient sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims… the power struggle between the two groups is sparking new fears along old frontlines…

“When representatives from around the world convened in the Iranian capital of Tehran last Thursday for the start of a Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, an annual meeting of 120 nations that view themselves as not aligned for or against any major powers, the focus was suddenly on 1,300-year-old battles, murders and power struggles. The host was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Shiite. Next to him on the dais was Egypt’s new president, Mohammed Morsi, a Sunni. Morsi began his opening address with a mention of the Prophet Muhammad, but then continued: ‘May Allah’s blessing be upon our masters Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.’

“Iranian media immediately took the statement as a provocation. Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman were Muhammad’s successors after the Prophet’s death in 632. Sunni Muslims venerate them as the first caliphs — but Shiite Muslims consider them usurpers and traitors to the faith, hated figures whose very names should not be spoken. Muhammad’s true successor, Shiites say, was Ali, their first imam, who later fought against the other three before being murdered.

“Morsi went on to discuss the present situation in Syria, where Bashar Assad is overseeing the massacre of rebels who are mostly Sunni. Assad and his clique belong to the country’s Alawite minority, which is more closely aligned with the Shiites. ‘The bloodshed will not stop without intervention from outside’  the Egyptian president declared, saying that Assad’s regime had lost all legitimacy. Morsi, a Sunni, made these statements while sitting next to the Shiite Ahmadinejad, who has been providing the Syrian regime with weapons and now fighters, too. Morsi must know that any country that intervenes in Syria risks ending up at war with Iran, as well…

“From Tunisia to Bahrain, the Arab Spring began as a rebellion against despots… But, increasingly, these rebellions are being sucked into… the ancient conflict between these two different camps of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shiites… In the past, that tension has often burst forth as carnage, for example, in the Iraqi civil war, which began in 2004 and still hasn’t really ended…

“There is an apocalyptic prophecy in Islam that some attribute to the Prophet Muhammad. It’s only a fragment, the legend of an evil being known as the Sufyani that will one day arrive to sow death and ruin among the faithful. This tradition, supposedly ascribed to Muhammad, says the Sufyani will rise from the depths of the Earth beneath Damascus.”

For more information, please read our new free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”

Israel Prepares for War

The Financial Times wrote on August 31:

“Amid media speculation that Israel may carry out a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites and possibly prompt a regional war, the number of Israelis collecting state-funded gas masks has quadrupled from 17,000 in April to 70,000 in July… On Thursday, a UN report showed that Iran has doubled the number of uranium enrichment machines it has in an underground bunker. Already, many in Israel are renovating bomb shelters in their apartment buildings or sealing rooms so they can provide protection in the event of biological and chemical attack… Tel Aviv, Israel’s business and cultural capital, has unveiled plans [to] put up about 800,000 residents in 60 underground parking lots in case of an attack… Many bomb shelters in residential buildings across Israel are rundown and neglected or have become furniture storage rooms, while most of Israel’s Arab citizens – about 20 per cent of the population – lack shelters altogether.

“Relentless speculation has also made investors wary. Real estate investments by foreigners dropped 50 per cent in the second quarter from the same period last year, partly because of Iran-related worries… ‘The more the media reports about a possible Iran attack, the more investments are clearly being avoided from abroad,’ said Jacky Mukmel, head of Man Properties. A regional war could cost Israel Shk47bn ($11.7bn) in direct damages such as to private property and infrastructure, six times more than the damages of the 34-day hostilities between Israel and Lebanon’s Hizbollah group six years ago, the research firm BDI-Coface said last week. Its analysis is based on the assumption that this time the more densely populated centre of Israel – rather than the north – would be targeted.”

The Bible says that in the future, Israel will receive a “wound,” apparently referring to a (military and/or economic) loss in a war.

Israel and USA—“We Don’t Trust Each Other”

The Time wrote on August 31:

“Seven months ago, Israel and the United States postponed a massive joint military exercise that was originally set to go forward just as concerns were brimming that Israel would launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The exercise was rescheduled for late October, and appears likely to go forward on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election. But it won’t be nearly the same exercise. Well-placed sources in both countries have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S. participation, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops going to Israel and reducing both the number and potency of missile interception systems at the core of the joint exercise. ‘Basically what the Americans are saying is, “We don’t trust you,”’ a senior Israeli military official tells TIME.

“The reductions are striking. Instead of the approximately 5,000 U.S. troops originally trumpeted for Austere Challenge 12, as the annual exercise is called, the Pentagon will send only 1,500 service members, and perhaps as few as 1,200. Patriot anti-missile systems will arrive in Israel as planned, but the crews to operate them will not. Instead of two Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense warships being dispatched to Israeli waters, the new plan is to send one, though even the remaining vessel is listed as a ‘maybe,’ according to officials in both militaries…

“In the current political context, the U.S. logic is transparent, says Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar. ‘I think they don’t want to insinuate that they are preparing something together with the Israelis against Iran – that’s the message,’ says Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. ‘Trust? We don’t trust them. They don’t trust us…’

“The [U.S. anti-missile system] is extraordinarily powerful, so sensitive it can detect a softball thrown into the air from thousands of miles away. But… only Americans are allowed to see what’s on the screens…  the U.S. array can detect an Iranian missile launch six to seven minutes earlier than Israel’s best radar. Difficult as it may be to imagine U.S. decision-makers holding back information that could save Israeli lives, both by giving them more time to reach a shelter, or their interceptors to lock onto and destroy an incoming Shahab-3, the risk looms in the complex calculus of Israeli officials mulling an attack on Iran.

“Inside Israel, reports persist that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense chief Ehud Barak are determined to launch a strike, and American officials continue to urge restraint. Israeli analysts say Netanyahu wants Obama to send a letter committing to U.S. military action by a specific date if Iran has not acceded to concessions, but the U.S. administration does not appear to be complying…”

The lack of cooperation and trust between the USA and Israel is also more fully discussed in the next article.

Israel Being Pushed into a Corner

The Times of Israel wrote on August 31:

“Israel responded bitterly on Friday to comments by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, who said on Thursday that he did not want ‘to be complicit’ if Israel were to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities… Israeli commentators made much Friday of Dempsey’s use of the word ‘complicit.’ The US army chief could have said he did not want to be Israel’s ‘partner’ or its ‘ally’ in an attack on Iran, noted analyst Oren Nahari on Channel 1 state TV, but instead Dempsey employed a term with criminal connotations.

“On the same channel, analyst Ari Shavit said that the events of the past week… showed that both diplomacy and sanctions have failed, and yet the US was doing nothing to ratchet up pressure on Iran… Given the US’s publicly stressed disinclination to act, ‘Israel is being pushed into a corner, in a way that is really dangerous,’ said Shavit. ‘If all these moderate players, in the US and Europe, are so concerned about a dangerous Israeli action [against Iran], why haven’t they taken any meaningful action?’ he asked…

“Regional analyst Oded Granot said on the same program that Iran ‘does not think Obama will act’ by force to stop its nuclear program. On Channel 2, diplomatic reporter Udi Segal said comments like Dempsey’s might be bolstering the sense in the Israeli leadership that ‘maybe there’s no-one else who’s going to help us.’”

America’s alienation from the state of Israel has been predicted in Scripture. At the same time, America’s relationship with the Arab world will not improve, either. See the next article.

Endless War in the Middle East?

Haaretz wrote on September 6:

“The Palestinians criticized the U.S. Democratic Party’s decision to declare Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The Democrats on Wednesday restored language in the platform saying Jerusalem ‘is and will remain the capital of Israel.’ A day earlier, the language had been removed from the platform, prompting Republicans to question U.S. President Barack Obama’s support for Israel. The language is at odds with U.S. policy calling for the status of Jerusalem to be resolved through negotiations. Both Israel and the Palestinians claim east Jerusalem.

“Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas … said a failure to recognize the Palestinian claim to East Jerusalem will ‘destroy the peace process’ and lead to ‘endless war.’…

“On Wednesday, Democrats voted to change their convention platform to add a mention of God and declare that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Many in the audience booed after the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, ruled that the amendments [were] approved despite the fact that many delegates objected…

“The party reinstated language from the 2008 platform that said ‘we need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential’…  The platform now included what advisers said was Obama’s personal views on Jerusalem.”

Israel’s Security Cabinet Meets on Iran Issue

The Jerusalem Post wrote on September 4:

“The 14-member Security Cabinet, the body authorized to approve military attacks, met Tuesday to hear the annual intelligence assessments provided by the country’s intelligence agencies. The 10-hour meeting is believed to be the first time in months that this body conducted an in-depth discussion on Iran…

“While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s inner cabinet, which is made up of eight ministers, can give an advisory opinion on whether to attack Iran, the actual decision needs to be made by the security cabinet. This body could also choose to bring such a decision to the full 29-member cabinet.”

The Threat of Retaliation

Reuters reported on September 3:

“Iran could hit U.S. bases in the Middle East in response to any Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities even if American forces played no role in the attack, the leader of Lebanon’s Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said on Monday…

“Unrest in neighboring Syria, which acknowledged for the first time in July that it possessed chemical or biological weapons, has led to Western fears that those weapons might fall into the hands of Islamist groups including Hezbollah… Even if Israel launched a first strike attack on Lebanon, destroying a large part of Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, the militant group would retain the capacity to hit back with deadly force, he added.”

Apocalypse in the Entire Region?

The Times of Israel wrote on September 6:

“War with Iran ‘would be tormenting for Israel’ and would cause ‘an apocalypse in the entire region,’ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said Wednesday night. Erdoðan stated, however, that an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities is ‘a very null probability’ and that he does not believe Israel would launch a unilateral attack. ‘I’m sure that I don’t want to see anything like that happening in the region because in this day and age, [the Middle East] needs peace and prosperity and stability,’ the prime minister told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

“Regarding the increasingly violent, 19-month civil war in Syria, Erdoðan equated the ‘merciless slaughter’ of the Syrian people by President Bashar Assad to genocidal mass murders perpetrated in the Bosnian and Kosovo Wars in the 1990s… The international community’s failure to intervene in Syria was the fault of the United States, which has not offered anything but nonlethal support for Syrian rebels, he said.”

It is interesting that Erdogan fails to mention the genocidal mass murders of the Turks against the Armenians. Further, the Bible says that Turkey will become violently hostile against the Jews in the region.

Germany and USA Supply Egypt with Submarines and Missile Ships

The Times of Israel wrote September 1:

“Israel’s angst over the willingness of Germany to sell Egypt two Type 209 attack submarines was dismissed by Egypt’s navy Sunday. In a statement published by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, sources in the Egyptian navy denied that Berlin would torpedo the military deal with Egypt due to Israeli pressure, as was reported in Yedioth Ahronoth. ‘The only two parties determining the fate of this deal are the German and Egyptian governments and not Israeli newspapers which try to destabilize security within Egypt,’ a source in the navy told Al-Ahram, assuring the daily that the deal is proceeding as scheduled.

“It was ‘noteworthy’ that Israeli media did not comment on another important military deal with the United States, which would supply Egypt with four US-built FMC missile ships by early 2013, the daily claimed. ‘We will not allow anyone to enter our territorial waters,’ Egypt’s new navy commander Osama el-Gendy told Al-Ahram on Friday during a joint naval exercise with Greece.”

Anti-Semitism in Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on September 1:

“An anti-Semitic attack has caused consternation in Berlin. Politicians have called for more moral courage. Jews in the German capital have expressed fear, while Jewish organizations worldwide demanded more security. The attack was completely unexpected for Rabbi Daniel Alter, who was walking down the road with his 6-year-old daughter. Four young men jumped the 53-year-old, beat him viciously and threatened to kill his child. Before attacking Alter, who was wearing a kippa, the men asked him if he was Jewish. Alter, who later underwent surgery for a cheekbone fracture, described his attackers as Arab-looking. The beating did not take place in one of Berlin’s districts with a large number of Arab immigrants – it happened in affluent suburb Friedenau, southwest of the city…

“Since the incident on Tuesday (28.08.2012), several members of Berlin’s Jewish community have described their negative experiences when appearing recognizably Jewish on the street – in any district of the city. Many have taken to hiding their kippas under a baseball cap. Rabbi Andreas Nachama, a well-respected representative of the city’s Jewish community, has said he tries to avoid public transport after being attacked ten years ago on one of Berlin’s elevated trains…

“In most cases, the attacks are motivated by far-right extremism… there are many reports of an aggressive anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli sentiment in certain schools and among young Arab people…

“Governing politicians and police in Berlin would not reveal exactly how many police officers are allocated to protect Jewish public buildings, such as synagogues, Torah schools, kindergartens or other facilities – though they are protected around the clock, 365 days a year. Guarding property is one thing, but creating a sense of security for Jews in their everyday lives is a task that can’t be solved with more personnel.

“The outrage over the attack against Alter is also part of a wider context. Not only is Berlin still a city closely associated with the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime, and many Jews are deeply concerned by the current legal debate over circumcision. The president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt who is the chief rabbi of Moscow, said on Friday that Germany’s Jewish community was currently ‘at a crossroads.’ He said it was becoming clearer ‘that there is a conflict in Germany between those who truly respect freedom and tolerance, and those who would like to see an end of the German Jewish community.’ Jews, Goldschmidt said, were being faced ‘with narrow-minded humanist activists and violent thugs.’ Many believe that what is being threatened is nothing short of the successful restoration of Jewish life in Germany after the Shoah.

“Politicians have reacted with the usual appeals. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit called the Alter attack an ‘attack on the peaceful co-habitation of everyone in the capital,’ while the federal government’s Integration Commissioner Maria Böhmer called on the population to show more courage. She said every individual should stand up ‘whenever people from whichever background are threatened or discriminated against.’… There were also clear signals from members of Germany’s Muslim community. Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, said such acts caused ‘deep revulsion’ among Muslims. He then professed solidarity and empathy with all Jews in Germany…”

According to the Bible, persecution of Jews and other religious minorities in Germany and Europe will continue and increase drastically. Note the next article.

Anti-Semitism in Europe

The Times of Israel wrote on August 31:

“On Sunday, 27 countries across Europe will celebrate the annual European Day of Jewish Culture 2012… Anti-Semitism, on and off, has been a growing and disconcerting phenomenon in Europe during the last decade and a half… we should not mistake an enthusiastic embrace of dead Jews and their artefacts, or of living Jews and their active participation in Western culture, as a sign that Jews are fully welcome…

“When Jews wish to pray regularly in their European synagogues… they can only do so at their peril or under heavy security. Jews who wish to publicly display the outward paraphernalia of their faith do so at their peril as well — chances are they will be beaten up here and there. It has happened before. It will happen again. It rarely gets more than the perfunctory condemnation of a society that, deep down, still feels uncomfortable when Jews dress, eat, and pray, like Jews.

“Jews who wish to impart their children with a Jewish education know their little ones will grow sheltered in the golden cage of a caring Jewish school – happy islands with no anti-Semitism inside, thanks to the barbed wire and high walls plus round-the-clock security service outside. They also know that metal detectors and police patrols will not always deter those who thirst for Jewish blood — ask Jews in Toulouse and ask no further – though plenty of others could tell you stories late into the night of how Jewish toddlers grow accustomed to cops with sniffer dogs and machine guns outside their kindergartens.

“Nor are Jews at liberty to express open, unabashed, and unconditional support for Israel — sooner or later that invites scorn and the occasional abuse (both verbal and physical)… what’s funny about facing criminal charges for circumcising your newborn sons and explosive charges when going to synagogue? A European day of Jewish Culture can no longer hide the fact of a widening assault on the most fundamental facets of Jewish identity in today’s Europe – the concerted efforts, from all corners of the political spectrum, to ban circumcision of newborn Jewish boys and the ritual slaughter of animals, according to Jewish dietary laws.

“All this is done in the name of liberal values – ritual slaughter becomes cruelty to animals; circumcision becomes an assault on free choice for toddlers to keep their foreskins intact; and the proverbial demonization of Israel as the 21st century version of apartheid has become the backdoor access for anti-Semites to join the liberal bandwagon of one standard for Jews and a different one for all other nations.

“What makes Jews what they are, ultimately, is not their jokes or their movies or their occasional literary and artistic contributions to Western culture. It is the mark in their flesh that solemnly and permanently affirms their commitment to the laws of their forefathers; the head covers and prayer shawls they wear – daily for the pious, occasionally for everyone else – to remind themselves of their Creator and the covenant that binds them to His laws; that which they can and cannot eat for so He commanded; and their love for the land and the people of Israel, with the attendant dream of restoring Zion, in both the mundane and the messianic sense, which pervades their daily prayers, the rhythm of their holidays and their rites of passage from cradle to grave.

“And yet, to fearlessly walk the streets of Europe, the parents of a 21st century-born Jewish child must henceforth forgo his circumcision, make him renounce the outward signs of Jewish devotion, raise him as a vegetarian lest he break his ancestors’ dietary laws, deny him a Jewish education to increase his chances to live to adult age, and let him become imbued with a hatred for the country where half his coreligionists live and his ancestors came from or yearned to return to. This is not a joke. It is what Europe, increasingly, has become for Jews.”

A terrible testimony, indeed. And far too many are sound asleep (or stay willingly ignorant) and do not see (or refuse to see) the real dangers looming on the horizon…. In this context, please see our recent StandingWatch programs, titled, “Political EU Union in Germany’s Image” and “The World’s Stance Against Israel” .

Further Developments on Circumcision Issue in Germany

The Times of Israel reported on September 2:

“Berlin prosecutor Matthias Weidling told Rabbi Yitzhak Ehrenberg that the charges filed against him in mid-August — for ‘disturbance of the public peace and other offenses’ — had been halted. Weidling stopped the proceedings even before initiating a[n] investigation because the police complaint against him contained ‘no indications of illegal behavior’…

“Ehrenberg had become the second German rabbi to be charged in connection with remarks he made regarding the current circumcision controversy raging in that country. In June, a Cologne court declared the ritual illegal. As a direct consequence of that ruling, a German citizen last month filed a police complaint against Rabbi David Goldberg, from the Bavarian town of Hof, who said he had performed hundreds of circumcisions in recent years…

“The question of how to apply the Cologne ruling to Ehrenberg’s pledge to continue circumcisions could ‘remain open,’ the prosecutor added. Since the Ehrenberg’s remarks didn’t call on others to commit illegal acts and no cases are known of circumcisions that were performed as a direct result of his words, there was no reason to further investigate the issue, he wrote.”

The Times of Israel reported on September 5:

“Berlin, Germany’s capital and itself a state, is the first to declare the practice legal following a Cologne court ruling in June that non-medical circumcisions on children amounted to a criminal offense, according to DPA, a German news wire… The Berlin state has authorized only doctors, and not mohels, to perform circumcisions…”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 5:

“Germany has been debating the rights and wrongs of circumcising infant boys ever since a German court ruled in June that the ritual, a core part of the Jewish religion, was unlawful. Now Charlotte Knobloch, 79, the former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has had enough. In a furious editorial published on Wednesday in one of the country’s top newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung, she said the controversy was calling the existence of Germany’s small Jewish community into question and asked: ‘Do you still want us Jews?’… Knobloch is president of the Munich Jewish community and vice president of the World Jewish Congress…

“Knobloch wrote that circumcision was at the core of Jewish identity. ‘The zeal with which the self-appointed are unfeelingly and thoughtlessly dragging our religious foundations through the mud is unequalled. People who apparently have no idea of the religious significance of the Brit Mila (circumcision ceremony) who presumably have never spoken to a Jew, now want to tell us whether and how we can follow our religion… ‘I’m no longer prepared to go along with the sham in which people are talking about a new, fresh, flourishing Jewry in Germany… The fact is that German Jewry has never gotten over the Shoah…”

“Germany Takes the Lead”

Deutsche Welle reported on September 1:

“Germany has assumed its role as chair on the UN Security Council for the month of September. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has vowed to use the presidency to take a tough stance on Syria’s Assad. France handed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council to Germany on Saturday… During a visit to Hong Kong on Friday, Westerwelle condemned the council’s failure to take firm action against President Bashar Assad’s brutal suppression of the 17-month uprising. He described China and Russia’s veto of three Security Council resolutions on the conflict as nothing less than a ‘blockade.’

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended Moscow’s position, saying it was ‘naïve’ for foreign powers to expect Assad to withdraw his forces from Syria’s major cities first… Westerwelle noted that it was clear the international community was edging closer to the ‘continued isolation of the Assad regime,’ during this week’s summit of nonaligned countries in Iran. He was referring in part to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s offer of support for the Syrian opposition movement as the summit opened on Thursday… Morsi said his country had a ‘moral obligation’ and ‘political necessity’ to show ‘solidarity with the Syrian people against a regime that lost its legitimacy,’ prompting a walkout from the Syrian delegation.

“Germany is due to end its two-year tenure as one of 10 nonpermanent members of the UN Security Council at the end of 2012. It will not be eligible for immediate re-election. Permanent council seats are held by Russia, China, the US, France and Britain.”

Whether or not Germany will be re-elected as a member on the Security Council, Germany will continue to lead in European and world affairs… Please read our free booklet, “Germany in Prophecy.” 

No More Public Healthcare for Spain’s Immigrants?

The Guardian wrote on August 31:

“About 150,000 immigrants living in Spain will lose their right to public health services on Saturday as the recession-hit country tries to save money. But doctors warn that excluding immigrants from the health system will have a wider impact on ordinary Spaniards’ health. The move by Mariano Rajoy’s conservative People’s party government has provoked anger among doctors and some regional governments that deliver public health to Spaniards. Amnesty International and other NGOs have accused the government of breaking international agreements by excluding a significant section of the population – immigrants without proper residence permits – from public healthcare. Hundreds of doctors have pledged to keep their surgeries open to all immigrants, regardless of whether they have a valid health card or not.

“Médecins sans Frontières pointed to cases such as María, a 32-year-old Bolivian woman who works in the black economy as a maid and who needs antidepressants ever since she discovered her elder son was badly sick. ‘As of tomorrow she will be unable to continue the treatment,’ a spokeswoman said.

“Another immigrant, Petru from Romania, who suffers from pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes, will lose a right to regular insulin while her untreated tuberculosis becomes a health risk to ordinary Spaniards, the NGO added.

“Six of Spain’s 17 regional governments have pledged to ignore Rajoy’s orders and will keep providing healthcare to immigrants… But those regions that want to keep looking after irregular immigrants must go through the costly process of inventing new electronic health cards for them. As Spain’s regional governments seek their own bailouts, authorities in cash-strapped Valencia, eastern Spain, have also been making British residents apply for new health cards as they tighten up on services to EU citizens.”

More and more drastic measures will be imposed by European countries against illegal and certain legal immigrants. But the discussion is also continuing in the USA. See the next article.

Jeb Bush Criticizes Republican Party’s Anti-Immigration Policy

Bloomberg wrote on August 30:

“Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said his party’s anti-immigration policies are costing Republicans elections and contributing to lower fertility rates and gloom in the U.S. ‘The most vociferous anti-immigrant kind of candidates lose,’ Bush said during a Bloomberg/Washington Post breakfast at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. ‘They lose in primaries, they lose in general elections. And I’m all about winning.’… More than two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election… Mitt Romney… trailed Obama among Hispanics by more than a 2-to-1 margin…

“Romney has said he favors ‘self-deportation,’ the idea behind Alabama and Arizona immigration laws that pressure undocumented workers to leave. The party has adopted a similar platform calling for proposals to ‘encourage illegal aliens to return home voluntarily.’ The platform supports requiring employers to verify workers’ legal status and opposes ‘any form of amnesty’ for illegal immigrants.  Bush said a ‘dark pessimism’ coming from Washington over immigration and other issues has led to lower fertility rates in the U.S… ‘We have a lower fertility rate today than France. It’s a sign of this pessimism. And the solution is to not view immigrants as a problem.’…

“Jeb Bush, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2016 should Obama win re-election, forecast a close race in the state [of Florida] this year…

“Bush criticized Obama for skirting Congress and ordering a plan to exempt from deportation younger illegal immigrants who meet certain requirements. Bush said he supported the policy.  ‘Having a solution to the fact that we have all of these young people, many of whom are making great contributions, don’t have a connection to their parents’ former country, yeah, of course I’m for it,’ Bush said…

“Asked in an interview on Bloomberg Television after the breakfast if the Republican Party runs the risk of becoming the minority party because of the issue, Bush said: ‘Not just Latinos, but Asians as well.’ The growing immigrant community, he said, ‘will become the dominant factor in politics.’… Bush said he was in favor of better control over the nation’s borders. ‘But then get to a different conversation about American greatness that can be sustained over the long haul, if we allow people to come in, embrace our values, fortify them, and bring vitality and energy and an aspirational notion about what it is to be an American,’ he said.”

Freedom of Speech in America?

Kens5.com reported the following on August 30:

“The Secret Service is looking into a sign posted in Victoria, Texas. The sign says ‘Pray for Obama’, but it’s the scripture quoted below those words that is raising eyebrows: Psalms 109:8. Psalms 109:8 reads, ‘Let his days be few, and let another take his office.’… some people say it is hateful and inappropriate. They say it misuses the holy scripture and it must come down…

“When asked what the sign means, Neitsch responded, ‘Exactly what it says. Hope he’s gone soon and somebody different takes his place.’ Reverend Amy Danchik started a petition demanding Neitsch take down the sign. They’ve since met and Neitsch… agreed to replace the billboard.”

This is another ridiculous example to show as to how far away this country has removed itself from concepts of freedom of speech—and that with the support of ministers.

Clint Eastwood Takes the Stage

On August 30, the Washington Post posted Clint Eastwood’s refreshing, funny, intelligent and unusual unscripted speech to the Republican National Convention. While most Republicans were laughing and Rush Limbaugh described Eastwood’s speech as “bold,” Democrats and the left-liberal press were “appalled.” Here is a typical example from the New York Times, dated August 31:

“For all the finger-pointing about Clint Eastwood’s rambling conversation with an empty chair on Thursday night, the most bizarre, head-scratching 12 minutes in recent political convention history were set in motion by Mitt Romney himself and made possible by his aides, who had shrouded the actor’s appearance in secrecy.”

To judge for yourself, we are bringing you the following excerpts (we did, however, omit any of his crude remarks, which we, of course, do not approve of):

“I’ve got Mr. Obama sitting here. And… I was going to ask him a couple of questions. But… I remember three and a half years ago, when Mr. Obama won the election. And though I was not a big supporter, I was watching that night when he was having that thing and they were talking about hope and change and they were talking about, yes we can, and it was dark outdoors, and it was nice, and people were lighting candles. They were saying, I just thought, this was great. Everybody is trying, Oprah was crying… I was even crying. And then finally — and I haven’t cried that hard since I found out that there is 23 million unemployed people in this country… Now that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace, a national disgrace, and we haven’t done enough, obviously — this administration hasn’t done enough to cure that. Whenever interest they have is not strong enough, and I think possibly now it may be time for somebody else to come along and solve the problem…

“So, Mr. President, how do you handle promises that you have made when you were running for election, and how do you handle them?… I know even people in your own party were very disappointed when you didn’t close Gitmo. And I thought, well closing Gitmo — why close that, we spent so much money on it. But, I thought maybe as an excuse… I thought maybe it was just because somebody had the stupid idea of trying terrorists in downtown New York City… I know you were against the war in Iraq, and that’s okay.

“But you thought the war in Afghanistan was OK. You know, I mean — you thought that was something worth doing. We didn’t check with the Russians to see how [they] did it — they did [it] there for 10 years… I think you’ve mentioned something about having a target date for bringing everybody home. You gave that target date, and I think Mr. Romney asked the only sensible question, you know, he says, ‘Why are you giving the date out now? Why don’t you just bring them home tomorrow morning?’…

“I think attorneys are so busy — you know they’re always taught to argue everything, and always weigh everything — weigh both sides. They are always devil’s advocating this and bifurcating this and bifurcating that. You know all that stuff. But, I think it is maybe time — what do you think — for maybe a businessman. How about that?… And I think if you just step aside… You can maybe still use a plane… Though maybe a smaller one. Not that big gas guzzler you are going around to colleges and talking about student loans and stuff like that… You are… an ecological man. Why would you want to drive that around?

“… we own this country… It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours… And — so — they are just going to come around and beg for votes every few years. It is the same old deal… And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go…”

USA Today reported on September 1:

“President Obama wants to make it clear that, in his own words, ‘I am a huge Clint Eastwood fan. He is a great actor, and an even better director,’ the president said in an interview with USA TODAY aboard Air Force One, on his way to campaign rallies in Iowa Saturday. ‘I think the last few movies that he’s made have been terrific.’ However, Obama seemed less eager to review Eastwood’s latest performance, on stage at the Republican National Convention Thursday. The 82-year-old Hollywood icon preceded Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney with a rambling 12-minute improvisation that included a rude ‘interview’ with an empty chair purportedly occupied by an invisible Obama. Was he offended? ‘One thing about being president or running for president — if you’re easily offended, you should probably choose another profession.’ Obama said with a smile…”

The problem is, however, that the Bible has prophesied that in these last days, America will not succeed—no matter who is going to lead this country. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.” You might also want to watch our video-recorded sermon, “What Would Be Jesus’ Vote”?

2013—A Year of Crisis

CNN wrote on September 3:

“2013 will be a year of serious global crisis. That crisis is predictable, and in fact has already begun. It will inescapably confront the next president of the United States… The crisis originates in this summer’s extreme weather. Almost 80% of the continental United States experienced drought conditions. Russia and Australia experienced drought as well… The drought has ruined key crops. The corn harvest is expected to drop to the lowest level since 1995…

“The Arab Spring of 2011 is sometimes compared to the revolutions of 1848. That’s apter than people realize: the ‘hungry ’40s’ were years of bad harvests across Europe. Hungry people are angry people, and angry people bring governments down. Will 2013 bring us social turmoil in Brazil, strikes in China or revolution in Pakistan? The answer can probably be read in the price indexes of the commodities exchanges — and it is anything but reassuring.”

The Curse of Drugs

The Los Angeles Times wrote on September 1:

“[Gruenenthal, the] German manufacturer of a notorious drug that caused thousands of babies to be born with shortened arms and legs, or no limbs at all, issued its first ever apology Friday — 50 years after pulling the drug off the market… The drug is a powerful sedative and was sold under the brand name Contergan in Germany. It was given to pregnant women mostly to combat morning sickness, but led to a wave of birth defects in Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan. Thalidomide was yanked from the market in 1961 and was also found to cause defects in the eyes, ears, heart, genitals and internal organs of developing babies…

“Gruenenthal settled a lawsuit in Germany in 1972 — 11 years after stopping sales of the drug — and voiced its regret to the victims. But for decades, the company refused to admit liability, saying it had conducted all necessary clinical trials required at the time… [They] reiterated that position Friday, insisting that ‘the suffering that occurred with Contergan 50 years ago happened in a world that is completely different from today’ and the pharmaceutical industry had learned a valuable lesson from the incident… Thalidomide is still sold today, but as a treatment for multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer and leprosy. It is also being studied to see if it might be useful for other conditions including AIDS, arthritis and other cancers.”

The last two sentences in the article are truly alarming. Man simply does not want to learn!

Earthquakes in Southern California

USA Today reported on August 27:

“The earthquake swarm that has been rocking Southern California since Sunday has been the area’s strongest such swarm in 30 years… [The region is known for quake swarms, even ones in the 5.5 magnitude range recorded on Sunday]. Similar swarms in the magnitude-5.0 range occurred in the area in the 1970s and in 1981, seismologist Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey told the [Los Angeles] Times. The area, in the region of Imperial County, is known as the Brawley Seismic Zone and sits between the San Andreas and Imperial faults, Jones told the Times.”

USA Today wrote on August 26:

“A series of earthquakes rocked the San Diego area stretching from last night to earlier this afternoon, but none was strong enough to cause any reports of damage or injury so far… The strongest one — a magnitude-5.4 — took place Sunday afternoon…”

Christ warned of the increase of powerful earthquakes in diverse places. California, as the entire USA, is most certainly in a danger zone.

Coming—A Political EU Union in Germany’s Image?

The Guardian wrote on August 26:

“Germany is pushing ahead with plans for a new treaty that will transform the European Union… Angela Merkel wants European leaders to agree by the end of the year to hold a constitutional convention in order to fashion a new legal basis for the EU… The plan could dramatically reshape the EU in Germany’s image… the debate in Germany is now moving beyond Greece towards the question of political union. During the two and a half years since the euro crisis began, Germany’s approach has been to seek to impose its own economic preferences on the eurozone…

“Many… have seen in Germany’s approach a kind of economic imperialism. But Germany seems to be coming to the conclusion that it is no longer enough to try to remake the eurozone in Germany’s image in economic terms; it must do so in political terms as well… Just as Germany has sought to impose its economic preferences on the rest of the eurozone, it is now also likely to seek to impose its political preferences…”

The Bible shows that within the current Eurozone—not separate and apart from it–a powerful economic and political union of ten nations or groups of nations under German leadership will arise. Please note the next article as well.

Germany and France Want Political Union

The EUObserver wrote on August 30:

“Last year Germany went out on a limb by calling for political union in Europe. The idea was met with little enthusiasm elsewhere in the eurozone, but particularly in France. After the election of French President Francois Hollande in May, it seemed thatviews of the EU’s foremost political duo could not be further apart. But the mood has since changed and serious plans are underway to create – if not a full political union – then something close to it.

“Watching the evolution from the inside is Thomas Wieser, an Austrian economist who prepares the regular meetings of the eurozone finance ministers. ‘There will be consultations with the member states in the second half of September in Brussels and I think you will be surprised in the autumn by the degree of movement that will have taken place in some member states,’ he tells this website. ‘What I have observed is a degree of co-operation between the two (France and Germany) which has increased, even within last week.’

“One example is recent announcement by Berlin and Paris that they will establish a bilateral working group between their finance ministries. ‘It is a group of colleagues from the two member states and if they prepare for our meetings, our meetings go even smoother,’ said Wieser.

“Meanwhile, EU council president Herman Van Rompuy and others are drawing up a paper to upgrade the eurozone, which will be discussed by EU leaders at a summit on 18-19 October. It will include elements for a political union, but also for a fiscal union – surrendering more budgetary powers to Brussels – considered key for the survival of the single currency. One of the key steps along the way is the creation of a eurozone-wide banking supervisor under the authority of the European Central Bank.”

Rabbi Prays for Destruction of Iran

The Jerusalem Post wrote on August 26:

“Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef implored God to ‘wipe out and destroy’ Iran and Hezbollah during his weekly sermon on Saturday night. This is the second time in a row in which Yosef has spoken about the threat of Iran’s nuclear program during his post-Shabbat Torah lesson… ‘When we make the blessing on the dates that “our enemies and haters should be ended” we should have in mind the Iranian regime, those evil people who threaten Israel,’ the rabbi said. ‘Do good, God, wipe them out, kill them,’ he entreated, to which the assembled crowd answered ‘amen.’…

“‘Destroy them God, obliterate them from the face of the earth,’ he said… in reference to a Persian enemy of the Jewish people recorded in the Book of Esther, Yosef said that ‘a second Haman, also from Persia, intends to do evil to us. We are in danger, all of us are in danger. We have no one to rely on apart from our Father in heaven,’ said Yosef.”

This article is important also in light of the next one—showing that a war between Israel and Iran will have devastating consequences for both sides.

Will Israel Assassinate Enemy Leaders?

The following was reported in the DEBKAfile, on August 25, 2012:

“President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have bandied thousands of words in their dispute over an Israeli  strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. For a time, their argument muffled the abiding ambition of the Islamic Republic to destroy Israel–come what may. However, the message roared by Iranian leaders over last weekend – before and after Al Quds Day – was quite simply this: Israel must be destroyed, irrespective of whether or not it attacks the Islamic Republic…

“Certain Western intelligence sources were reminded of a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in 2006 when he quoted a Holocaust survivor as saying:  ‘My main lesson from the Holocaust is that if someone tells you he is going to exterminate you, believe him. And I add to that. Believe him and stop him!’

“Six years later, those sources now suggest, after America’s top soldier Gen. Martin Dempsey offered the opinion that Israel can no longer destroy Iran’s nuclear weapon capacity – only delay it , that Netanyahu may be willing to go further: Not only to stop them, but kill them. They are quietly using the term ‘decapitation.’ They point to the Israeli Mossad’s long record of targeted covert operations for dealing with past and would-be annihilators: In the fifties, the Mossad captured the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in Operational Finale. In the seventies, Golda Meir ordered Operation Wrath of God to hunt down and pick off one by one the Palestinian Black September murderers of 11 Israeli sportsmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

“In February 2008, Iran’s senior terrorist operations commander, Hizballah’s Imad Mughniyeh, was liquidated in Damascus, so ending a bloody career of assassinations, terrorism and abductions against US and other Western targets as well as Israel. Hizballah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah knows the score: He has spent six years hunkered down in a fortified bunker, taking care never to  broadcast his inflammatory speeches calling for Israel’s destruction live, only by video.

“It cannot be ruled out that (at) this point, Israel may decide to disable Iran’s nuclear program by going for its leaders.”

We live in a world in which vulgarities, lies, threats and almost any thought conjured up is being spewed openly and without regard for its consequences. So called “idle threats” may not be lightly dismissed by those who are receiving them!

Tensions Inflamed in East Asian Seas

NBCNEWS.COM wrote on August 24, 2012:

“Vast oil reserves, trillion-dollar trade routes, fervent nationalist sentiments, competing territorial claims and bitter histories – the waters off the east coast of China are a sea of money and a sea of trouble. Tensions have been rising for several years and recently hit new heights with activists landing on disputed islands, angry diplomatic exchanges and even a threat to deploy troops, prompting fears of an armed conflict that could potentially involve the United States, China, Japan and other nations.

“The South China Sea has a myriad of competing claims of ownership: China staked out most of it in 1947 but its neighbors have never accepted it. The Spratly Islands alone are claimed by a total of five countries: China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam.

“All are eyeing oil and gas reserves thought to be so rich that the area has become dubbed ‘The Second Persian Gulf.’ Also, an estimated $5 trillion worth of trade is shipped through its waters… But perhaps the most dangerous potential flashpoint is farther north in the East China Sea. China and Japan both claim ownership of the uninhabited Senkaku Islands – known as Diaoyu in Chinese – with strong nationalist feelings on both sides.”

This article also quotes Senator James Webb, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, as follows:

“‘The U.S., China and all of East Asia have now reached an unavoidable moment of truth. Sovereignty disputes in which parties seek peaceful resolution are one thing; flagrant, belligerent acts are quite another…'”

This and other recent articles point to the undeniable fact that new powers are emerging, and the United States is, for all practical purposes, left a place at the negotiating table but no longer able to effectively enforce its will–especially, from the standpoint of military intimidation or outright war.

Osama Bin Laden’s Killing Under Scrutiny

BBC News reported on August 29:

“A first-hand account of the May 2011 raid by US forces that killed Osama Bin Laden contradicts the official story, the Associated Press claims. It has purchased an advance copy of an unauthorised account of the raid, No Easy Day, by a former Seal. The book says Bin Laden was shot dead as soon as he looked out of his bedroom as Seals rushed up the stairs, AP says.

“But US officials have stated he was shot only once he had ducked back into the bedroom. They have said his actions suggested he might be reaching for a weapon.

“The alleged contradiction will add to existing controversy over the book. It was written under a pseudonym, Mark Owen, but only hours after the book’s existence came to light the author’s real name was revealed by Fox News. Military officials also say the publishers failed to submit the book to the Pentagon to ensure it discloses no secret information – part of normal protocol – and are scrutinising its contents… According to AP, the author says he was directly behind a ‘point man’ going up the stairs… The author writes that Bin Laden ducked back into his bedroom and the Seals followed, only to find him crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and two women wailing over his body, AP relates. The women were pulled out of the way and Seals fired several shots into Bin Laden’s still-twitching body until he was motionless. The Seals later found two unused weapons by the doorway…

“The author says early official accounts of the operation, including reports of a protracted firefight, were misleading… in the days after the raid, the White House seemed to contradict itself more than once… According to AP, the book also asserts that one Seal sat on Bin Laden’s chest in a cramped helicopter as his body was flown out to sea. This again apparently contradicts official US claims that his body was treated with dignity ahead of his burial.”

The way in which Osama Bin Laden’s death was originally described was questionable from the outset. This book might shed some light on the true occurrences, but this won’t be helping President Obama and his administration. Understandably, the Pentagon is quite nervous. Note the report from AFP, dated August 30:

“The Pentagon on Thursday threatened legal action against the Navy SEAL who has written a book recounting his role in the raid that killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. ‘In the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed’ and the Pentagon is considering ‘all remedies legally available to us,’ Defense Department general counsel Jeh Johnson wrote in a letter to the author…”

What Does the World Think about Obama and Romney?

CNN reported on August 30:

“Europeans have had a four-year love affair with Barack Obama: 87 percent of Germans, 86 percent of French and 80 percent of the British have confidence in Obama… in each case this is higher than public confidence in their own national leader. And 92 percent of the French, 89 percent of the Germans and 73 percent of the British want Obama reelected… in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, strong majorities said the 2004 re-election of George W. Bush led them to have a less favorable opinion of the United States. A newly-elected Romney administration may have to contend with a similar European reaction if the popular Obama is defeated in what will come to a surprise to many of them…

“But an Obama defeat may not play as poorly in the Middle East – in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia – where a median of only 29 percent approve of Obama and a median of just 25 percent want him reelected. Elsewhere, foreign reaction to an Obama defeat could be mixed.

“In Asia, 74 percent of Japanese have a favorable view of the current U.S. president and 66 percent want him reelected. But Obama’s popularity is only 38 percent in China and only 31 percent there want him to get another term. Similarly, in Latin America, while 68 percent of Brazilians like Obama and 72 percent want him reelected, only 42 percent of Mexicans are well disposed toward the current U.S. president and just 35 percent hope he has a second term…”

Ukraine Follows Russia’s Footsteps

The EUObserver wrote on August 29:

“Ukraine’s high court decision to toss out an appeal by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko may place an additional strain on EU relations with the country, EU foreign affairs spokesperson Michael Mann told reporters in Brussels… The court had earlier in the day rejected Tymoshenko’s appeal against her conviction of abuse of power over gas contracts with Russia for which she is currently serving a 7-year prison sentence. Her sentence, issued on 11 October 2011, also bans her from serving public office for three years.

“Her defence lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, told reporters following the court’s decision that ‘the findings have no relation to justice’, reported Reuters. Vlasenko claims the court’s ruling is politically motivated and driven by Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich’s desire to prevent her from running for office. Judge Oleksandr Elfimov, one of three judges who presided the case, said Tymoshenko’s appeal was without basis and that her prison sentence was proportionate ‘to the gravity of the crime.’

“Mann said the EU regrets the high court’s decision and is ‘deeply disappointed with the consequences of the current situation’ which prevents leaders of the opposition from standing in the parliamentary elections. He noted the trials have failed to respect international standards and have not demonstrated ‘fair, transparent and independent legal processes’…

“Tymokshenko’s detention is a possible stumbling block on on-going free trade negotiations between Ukraine and the European Commission.”

Ukraine’s politically motivated decisions and conduct mirrors Russia’s autocratic behavior of recent months under dictator Vladimir Putin. The Bible shows that finally, Russia and Ukraine will align against Europe. See also the next article.

Gauck Avoids Putin

The Local wrote on August 29:

“German diplomats are struggling to gloss over the fact that President Joachim Gauck – a democracy activist in East Germany – is reluctant to have anything to do with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer. Since his appointment in March, Gauck has managed to keep his contact with Putin to a minimum.

“He received the Russian leader at his official residence in Berlin at the end of May when Putin was visiting Germany after becoming president again, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Wednesday. But the visit was not hugely friendly, the magazine said, and Gauck addressed Russian deficiencies in the rule of law when speaking with Putin, something the Russian leader was less than enthusiastic about. Since then the pair have not met…

“Gauck is hugely popular amongst Germans due to his perceived high political and social principles, his work in the pro-democracy movement in the GDR, and his integrity and determination in opening the Stasi files to the public in the 1990s. He and Putin, an authoritarian former KGB agent who was stationed in Dresden during much of the 1980s, and has arguably overseen anti-democratic developments as Russian leader, certainly clash politically.”

Circumcision in Germany—and the Witch Hunt Continues…

Times of Israel reported on August 31:

“One of Germany’s most prominent rabbis has been charged after publicly vowing to continue to perform circumcisions… The office of Rabbi Yitshak Ehrenberg, who has been serving the Berlin Jewish community since 1997, on Wednesday confirmed in an email that criminal charges had been filed against him. Ehrenberg has received a letter from the prosecutor’s office because of comments he made on a nationwide broadcast television show, an aide confirmed…

“Ehrenberg is the second Jerusalem-born Orthodox rabbi living in Germany who is being investigated amid the current controversy surrounding circumcision. In June, a Cologne court declared the ritual illegal. As a direct consequence of that ruling, a German citizen [a doctor] earlier this month filed a police complaint against Rabbi David Goldberg, from the Bavarian town of Hof, who said he had performed hundreds of circumcisions in recent years.

“On July 11, Ehrenberg — a well-known figure among German Jews and a member of the executive committee of the European Rabbinical Conference — participated in a debate on ‘Anne Will,’ a popular talk show dedicated to the Cologne ruling and its implications… ‘We’re talking about religion,’ said Ehrenberg. ‘This ruling will kill Judaism in Germany.’

“After more than an hour of lively discussion, host Anne Will allowed Ehrenberg the last word. The rabbi first appealed to his congregants not to have their children circumcised in a hospital but in a synagogue or at home. Then he concluded: ‘Circumcision is a basic law for us Jews. There is no Judaism without circumcision, and therefore — we will continue.’”

And Now—The Netherlands?

Reuters wrote on August 29:

“Israel’s leading rabbi has warned Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders that his party’s support for a ban of ritual slaughter of animals in the Netherlands is ‘anti-Semitic’ and could drive away the country’s Jewish community.

“Wilders rose to prominence in the Netherlands denouncing the growing influence of Islam in the West, calling for a ban against Muslim immigrants, a halt to the construction of mosques and a ban on Muslim face-veils. Some of his most outspoken supporters are in the conservative, pro-Israeli movement in the United States. Wilders calls himself Israel’s ‘greatest friend’ and has also proposed creating a national Dutch holiday to commemorate the victims of the Auschwitz concentration camp…

“Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger called on Wilders’ Freedom Party to stop backing a ban on ritual slaughter. It is the strongest public condemnation yet of Wilders’ position on the policy and comes two weeks before the Netherlands holds a general election September 12 in which he is expected to take a sizeable portion of the vote. ‘It is obvious that one cannot be at the same time a friend of Israel and the Jewish people and on the other hand support an anti-Jewish law,’ Metzger wrote. ‘By denying Jews to live according to the Torah you will eventually force them to leave the Netherlands where they enjoyed religious freedom for centuries.’

“Metzger wrote that he was ‘shocked and upset to learn that your party once again has adopted a total ban on ritual slaughter in its platform. This is the classical anti-Semitic way our rites have been targeted and demonized throughout history,’ he wrote…

“Both Muslim halal and Jewish kosher laws require animals to be conscious when they are put to death. Some 3,500 cows are slaughtered annually according to the Jewish kosher ritual in the Netherlands. The loss of backing from prominent Jewish leaders could be damaging to Wilders, who has enjoyed support from pro-Israeli and anti-Islam organizations in the United States…

“Manfred Gerstenfeld, a prominent Israeli author, said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem that the banning of ritual slaughter has been used in Europe to deter Jews. ‘Are you going to support a guy who is at forefront of the anti-Semitism movement in Europe?,’ he said. The Netherlands, where Anne Frank hid as a teenager in an Amsterdam canal house until being murdered by the Nazis, had one of the highest rates of Jewish deportation during World War Two.”

America’s Drought

Deutsche Welle, August 20, 2012:

“Across the agricultural heartland of the US, the worst drought in at least 50 years is shrivelling crops, baking pastures and running livestock farmers out of business… The flat, almost treeless plains of eastern Colorado are dry in a good year. This summer has been one of the hottest and driest on record and the crops are devastated. Dale Mauch runs a large farm near Lamar, Colorado. He’s not used to seeing deep cracks in the earth… For four generations, Mauch’s family has used the Fort Lyon Canal to divert water from a nearby river in order to irrigate these plots. But the river dried out in early July and the canal is empty. ‘That’s something that has never happened in 152 years,’ he said…

“This scene is repeating itself across thousands of kilometers of farmland in the Midwestern United States. Corn is the big cash crop here. This past spring, US farmers planted more of it than any time since before World War II. They anticipated a recordbreaking harvest. Instead, half the crop is dead, or badly battered by the drought conditions… Soybeans, another lucrative crop, aren’t doing much better…

“Many farmers who raise cattle, hogs, dairy cows or poultry are now selling animals they’d rather keep… There are fewer live cattle in the country than at any time since 1950. High feed prices are expected to keep shrinking the US cattle herd this year.

“Until recently, most of the corn grown in the US was fed to animals. Now, the largest part of it is used to make ethanol. A government quota requires that petroleum companies use enough ethanol to account for 10 percent of the fuel burned in cars. The drought and corn shortage have led to an international call for the US government to relax its ethanol mandate…

“Joe Aistrup, a professor at Kansas State University, said the current situation leaves farmers high and dry ‘both in terms of the weather and in terms of relief from Washington.’ Farmers like Dale Mauch in Colorado have little choice but to hunker down and pray for rain…”

The Bible prophesies that in these end times, we will be plagued by droughts and famine, especially in the USA. Man’s laws (pertaining to the ethanol mandate) make a terrible situation even worse.

Putin’s Dictatorship–a Strain on German-Russian Relations

Deutsche Welle reported on August 17:

“Whoever thought the Russian state was able to demonstrate any form of lenience or clemency towards its opponents has been proven seriously wrong. The verdict against the three women of the punk band ‘Pussy Riot’ is not just a harsh punishment that will affect the accused artists personally. This trial has been used to set a precedent: Anyone in Russia who chooses to publicly speak out against the authoritarian Putin system, especially if it involves breaching the law, is going to feel the full force of the establishment.

“There’s no question about it. The public act of the punk activists at the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February was a scandal. Certainly it had the potential for hurting people’s religious beliefs. And certainly – according to German legal standards, too – such action within a church could be prosecuted on the basis of going against the freedom of practicing religion. Within that, the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion each put limitations on the other…

“But in a case like this, genuine rule of law commands the weighing of both rights against each other. This hasn’t happened in Moscow. For the judge it was enough to simply state that ‘this wasn’t art, but hooliganism stemming from religious hatred.’ The trial against the three women wasn’t anything but a show trial. They were in pre-trial custody for almost half a year. Shortly after their public protest, they were ruthlessly separated from their families and little children.

“All this despite the fact that the protest happened without any violence. No one was actually hurt. There was no doubt about what had happened, and the women didn’t deny the charges. And that means it would have indeed been possible for the court to show lenience and mark what had happened off as bad taste nonsense of some young people.

“Instead, the women were treated like dangerous criminals. They had to endure the trial handcuffed and locked up in a glass cage. The court gave little room for the defense to make its case. The accused, too, were barely able to tell their side of the story – and when they could, they focused on criticizing the Putin government as a repressive regime. There was no sign of religious hatred – it was clearly a political protest…

“Kremlin supporting politicians and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church surpassed each other in demanding draconian punishments – as if they themselves were the prosecutors in this trial… The verdict becomes a dark omen for Putin’s third term in office – a technocrat of power, who only managed to reemerge as Russia’s leader by tricking the constitution itself. His first 100 days in office have clearly showed that there will be no further political liberalization. During the past weeks, members of the opposition have been browbeaten – also by exploiting the legal system. The demonstration law has been drastically tightened, and NGOs have seen further curtailing of their work.

“These developments, now including the verdict against the all-female punk band, are going to put a strain on German-Russian relations. Rarely has there been such a wave of protest against a trial in Russia – throughout all political ranks and all parts of society. In bilateral discussions, the German side increasingly asks the question whether a dialogue with Russia is at all possible when it comes to civil rights and society. After the verdict against Pussy Riot, politicians in Berlin could find themselves forced to reevaluate the… relations Germany has with Russia.”

Russia’s development into becoming a full-fledged dictatorship was foreseeable—only many commentators and politicians were and still are willfully ignorant and blind about Russia’s authoritarian government. That the relationship between Russia and Germany will deteriorate—for whatever reason—is clearly prophesied in the Bible.

Germany, the EU and the USA Condemn Russia

The Local wrote on August 17:

“The German government, the EU and the USA all condemned the verdict… Human rights organisation Amnesty International recently recognised the three women as political prisoners. ‘In my eyes, the harsh sentence has no relation to the music group’s protest action,’ German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told Saturday’s edition of the Tagesspiegel. He said he was ‘concerned about the effects of the sentence against the three musicians for the development and freedom of Russian civil society as a whole.’… [The] head of the Green parliamentary party Renate Künast… said it showed that Russia was ‘no democratic country.’”

It is high time that we wake up to this fact. But many are still unwilling to admit the obvious, mostly because of financial and economic “advantages.” The constant embarrassing support of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (SPD) for “his pal Putin” is indicative of a certain despicable mentality—after all, Schroeder has strong financial ties with Russia’s oil companies.

Putin Rules With an Iron Fist

The EUObserver wrote on August 20:

“The trial is seen as yet another proof of Putin’s decision to run his second presidency with an iron fist and his determination to crack down on opposition and dissent… Protests in support of Pussy Riot were staged on Friday in Moscow, Brussels, London, Berlin and Barcelona. Chess star and anti-Putin politician Gary Kasparov was reportedly arrested during the demonstrations. Pop and rock singers from Madonna to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paul McCartney and Sting have all voiced their outrage over the affair in recent weeks…

“For her part, the EU’s foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Friday said the sentence was ‘disproportionate’ and called for it to be reversed. ‘This case adds to the recent upsurge in politically motivated intimidation and prosecution of opposition activists in the Russian Federation, a trend that is of growing concern to the European Union. Respect for human rights and the rule of law is an indispensable part of the EU-Russia relationship,’ she said.”

Modern Russia–State and Church Against Dissidents

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 17:

“The three members of Pussy Riot on trial in Moscow have received sentences of two years in jail. With the harsh verdict on the harmless artists, Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed a serious mistake: He is provoking the opposition to more aggression toward the state…

“It was inevitable that the stunt by the punk band in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior would provoke objections. By entering the altar space and insulting the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church as a ‘suka’ (‘bitch’) in their song, the band hurt the feelings of many believers. The performance, with its ‘blasphemous words which insult Christians,’ had deeply shocked ‘the faithful of all religious communities,’ read a statement by the Interreligious Council of Russia, which was also signed by the Federation of Jewish Communities.

“Some Orthodox Christians also separately called for the activists to be severely punished. One arch-abbot even went so far as to write, in a Moscow weekly paper, that ‘the country will go under if you do not punish profanity.’ The court has now ruled that the three women had been ‘motivated by religious enmity and hatred.’ But those in power seem not to understand that the Church and state are doing themselves a disservice by locking up the three young women, two of whom are mothers of small children… The trial has divided Russian society deeper than any other incident in the Putin era… By turning basically harmless artists into criminals, the regime has transformed the trial against Pussy Riot into a political time bomb.”

That the Russian Orthodox Church—with the support of the Jewish Communities—should support Putin’s totalitarian regime by ganging up on an unimportant punk group of three young women is not only shameful, but it is also terribly short-sighted and stupid. They are playing into the hands of former KGB spy Putin—as far too many Christians and Jews did in Nazi Germany, when they were all too willing to support Adolf Hitler in the beginning. On the other hand, note the hypocrisy manifested by top clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church, as explained in the next article.

The Pinnacle of Hypocrisy of Russian Orthodox Top Clerics

The Associated Press reported on August 18:

“Two top clerics in the Russian Orthodox Church said Saturday that it has forgiven the members of feminist punk band Pussy Riot who were convicted of hooliganism and sent to prison for briefly taking over a cathedral in a raucous prayer for deliverance from Vladimir Putin.

“Tikhon Shevkunov, who heads Moscow’s Sretensky Monastery and is widely believed to be the Russian president’s spiritual counselor, said on state television Saturday that his church forgave the singers right after their ‘punk prayer’ in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow in February. Archpriest Maxim Kozlov agreed, but he also said on state TV that his church hopes the young women and their supporters change their ways…

“Both clerics supported the court’s decision to prosecute Pussy Riot, despite an international outcry that called it unfair… The Pussy Riot case has underlined the vast influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. Although church and state are formally separate, the church identifies itself as the heart of Russian national identity and critics say its strength effectively makes it a quasi-state entity. Some Orthodox groups and many believers had urged strong punishment for an action they consider blasphemous.

“The head of the church, Patriarch Kirill, has made no secret of his strong support for Putin, praising his leadership as ‘God’s miracle,’ and [] describing the punk performance as part of an assault by ‘enemy forces’ on the church.”

Belief in Resurrection—Body and Soul—of the Queen of Heaven?

Zenit wrote on August 16:

“Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Mass of the Assumption at the parish church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo on Wednesday morning. The pontiff said the solemnity is ‘an invitation to praise God and to look to Our Lady’s greatness since we know who God is by gazing about the faces of those who are his.’ Entrusting the faithful to the blessed Mother, the Holy Father asked her intercession so that all may live their lives with hope… the Holy Father explained that Mary’s assumption, body and soul, into heaven at the end of the course of her earthly life is something that Christians throughout the world have always believed, confessed and celebrated…

“After the Marian prayer, the 85 year old pontiff greeted pilgrims in many languages… ‘Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady. May the example and prayers of Mary, Queen of Heaven, inspire and sustain us on our pilgrimage of faith, that we may rejoice with her in the glory of the resurrection and the fulfillment of her Son’s promises…’ he said.”

The early New Testament Church did not believe that Mary was resurrected and that her body and soul went to and are now in heaven. Rather, it believed that Mary died and is in her grave and that she will be resurrected—with all other true Christians—at the time of Jesus Christ’s return. The book of Jeremiah speaks of a Queen of Heaven and chastises the Israelites and Jews for believing in and worshipping her.

Church Reconciliation Coming

Zenit wrote on August 13:

“The President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Jozef Michalik and Kirill I, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia will sign a joint declaration to both Polish and Russian people this Friday. The signing will take place during the first visit in Poland’s history of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. ‘It is an unprecedented event,’ stressed the representatives of the Catholic Church in Poland and of the Russian Orthodox Church…

“The first important step towards Russo-Polish reconciliation was the visit of a group of monks from a Russian monastery near Ostashkov to Jasna Gora, the shrine of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa in September 2009. The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church was led by Arkadij Gubanow, Prior of the Orthodox Monastery of Saint Nil at Stolobienskoje, region of Twer. Archbishop Stanislaw Nowak of Czestochowa and Father Izydor Matuszewski, Prior General of Pauline Fathers and Custodian of the Shrine, also gave a copy of the Icon of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa to the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“‘This Holy Icon of the Black Madonna is a sign of our spiritual closeness, and also a symbol of Europe’s two lungs, Eastern and Western, as the Servant of God John Paul II taught,’ said Archbishop Nowak at the consigning of the icon. The Orthodox monks kept the copy of the image of the Madonna in the Monastery of Saint Nil at Stolobienskoje… ‘In this place, in our monastery, we must pray together, Russians and Poles, before the Holy Icon of the Madonna of Czestochowa, to ask for peace and to pray for all those who were killed,’ exhorted Arkadij Gubanow, prior of the Orthodox Monastery of Saint Nil. The signing of the declaration this Friday is seen as another step towards reconciliation between the Churches of the East.”

“International Hypocrisy”–WikiLeaks Founder Assange Is Granted Asylum

Der Spiegel Online rote on August 17:

“For almost two years, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has wiggled out of efforts to have him extradited to Sweden where he faces sexual assault charges. Now with the decision of the Ecuadorian government to grant him asylum at its London embassy, Assange got another reprieve. What happens next is far from clear.

“The British government has retaliated by threatening to invoke a little used law to remove the embassy’s diplomatic status so that it can ship Assange to Sweden. The law was enacted in 1987 after a British police officer was shot outside a Libyan embassy. In doing so it would be violating the principles behind the 1961 Vienna Convention which deemed embassies as extra territorial areas so that diplomats could work undisturbed in foreign countries. Furthermore, London has promised to arrest Assange as soon as he sets foot on British soil, something he would have to do should he wish to travel to Ecuador…

“The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘Whatever one thinks of Julian Assange and his deeds, he is neither Osama bin Laden nor a mafia boss. That’s why, carefully put, it was a blunder that the British government challenged Ecuador by referring to a law that allows it to retrieve asylum seekers from embassies in individual cases…. By heading down that path, the British government has done Assange a favor. Now, he can continue working on his own myth. That a government such as Ecuador’s, of all countries, can now pose as a defender of human rights is shameful, but that is in the end London’s fault. Unfortunately, it has also meant that the fact that Assange is accused of raping a woman in Sweden has taken a back seat.’

“The leftist Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘The case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has become an unbelievable example of international hypocrisy. Both of the countries involved, Great Britain and Ecuador, are blameworthy. Far from the world’s attention, the (Ecuadorian) government is evicting an ex-government worker from Belarus who has enjoyed three years of asylum status in Ecuador. The reason is that six weeks ago, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko was in Quito to sign a number of trade agreements and applied pressure. A short time later the man… was arrested in Quito. Against this background, the flowery words of Ecuador’s foreign minister about the huge importance of political asylum don’t hold much value.

“‘Great Britain, for its part, has openly threatened to storm the Ecuadorian embassy with police forces in order to arrest Assange. That makes an absurdity out of its own internationally supported position about the protection of diplomatic representatives and adherence to the Vienna Convention. That the British government is prepared to even suggest setting such a precedent is a tough blow…’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“Why does (Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa) have so much sympathy for an Australian named Julian Assange?… By publishing classified dispatches that have exposed the US above all, Assange has pleased Correa. He belongs alongside Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Bolivia’s Evo Morales and Cuba’s Fidel Castro as the most important opponents of Washington… Correa is allowed to protect his embassy from encroachment by England. Yet he should display just as much respect for his critics at home.’

“The business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes:

“Julian Assange… has received a lot of free PR from the blundering Brits who have catapulted the almost forgotten Australian back into the headlines. And he is even in his favorite roll as David fighting against the Goliaths of the world, mainly the US and Great Britain. Great Britain has helped Assange again portray himself as a victim of political persecution…. In truth Assange is fleeing from a long prison term in Sweden…”

It seems, whatever Great Britain is doing these days is backfiring. There are reasons for that, and the Bible tells us why. The UK is not being blessed by God. Their sins separate them from the God of Abraham who had given them their land because of the unconditional obedience of the ancient patriarch and “father” of the children of faith.

Israel Determined to Strike Iran Before US Elections

Times of Israel wrote on August 20:

“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘is determined to attack Iran before the US elections,’ Israel’s Channel 10 News claimed on Monday night, and Israel is now ‘closer than ever’ to a strike designed to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive.

“The TV station’s military reporter Alon Ben-David… said it seemed that Netanyahu was not waiting for a much-discussed possible meeting with US President Barack Obama, after the UN General Assembly gathering in New York late next month — indeed, ‘it’s not clear that there’ll be a meeting.’ In any case, said Ben-David, ‘I doubt Obama could say anything that would convince Netanyahu to delay a possible attack.’

“The report added that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak believe Obama would have no choice but to give backing for an Israeli attack before the US presidential elections in November. There is considerable opposition to an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the report noted — with President Shimon Peres, the army’s chief of the General Staff and top generals, the intelligence community, opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, ‘and of course the Americans’ all lined up against Israeli action at this stage. But, noted Ben-David, it is the Israeli government that would have to take the decision, and there Netanyahu is ‘almost guaranteed’ a majority.

“Other Hebrew media reports on Tuesday also said Netanyahu had despatched a senior official, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, to update the elderly spiritual leader of the Shas ultra-Orthodox coalition party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, on the status of the Iranian nuclear program, in order to try to win over Shas government ministers’ support for an attack.”

No “October Surprise”

WorldNetDaily wrote on August 19:

“… if the strike is made prior to the election, Obama is much more likely not to condemn Israel. It just wouldn’t be a popular political move for him. Even most Democrats in the U.S. Congress will support Israel’s right to defend itself.­ On the one hand, most Israeli leaders would like to see Obama, the harshest critic of Israel ever to reside in the White House, be defeated in November…

“The likelihood of this attack is growing. The timing is nearly predictable. Yet, Americans and the U.S. media have not focused much attention on it. The only thing that might change the equation is if Mitt Romney soars far ahead of Obama in the polls, effectively buying Israel more time to make its strike without major political fallout from the U.S.

“As it stands now, the election is too close to call–and, in the minds of Israeli leaders, the strong possibility of an Obama re-election must be considered in the equation. As long as that is the case, you can take it to the bank that October is the likely time for a strike on Iran… That’s why 2012’s ‘October surprise’ might not be so surprising at all–for those who understand the politics of the Middle East.”

The Volatile Situation in the Middle East

Al Jazeera wrote on August 17:

“Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon-based Hezbollah group, and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the Iranian president, have issued stern warnings to Israel, saying that any aggression on that country’s part would be met with a swift armed response.

“Nasrallah… said that his fighters will make the lives of Israelis ‘a living hell’ if it is attacked… Any such action would present Iran with ‘the opportunity it has been dreaming of’ since it was founded in 1979, he said.

“Last month, an Israeli general warned that the Israeli military would respond ‘decisively’ to any rocket attacks aimed at Tel Aviv… He also said that towns in southern Lebanon used as launching bases for Hezbollah rocket attacks would be ‘destroyed’…

“Meanwhile, the governments of the United States and Turkey have asked their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon… The [US] embassy also announced the suspension of the State Department’s flagship Fulbright and English Language Fellow programmes in Lebanon, cutting short research projects and teaching grants for US university students and educators in Lebanon… Several Gulf countries have ordered their nationals to leave the country immediately in the face of threats, particularly against Saudis and Qataris whose governments are staunch opponents of the Syrian regime.”

Iran Warns Saudi Arabia

WorldNetDaily reported on August 16:

“Iran has warned Saudi Arabia and Qatar that if either country allows Israel to use its airspace, Tehran may retaliate directly against those Gulf nations… one official said that in talks with Gulf nations, Iran ‘hinted’ that a couple of Iranian missiles ‘may lose their way’ and strike Qatar, Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf nation that allows Israel to use its airspace in any attack against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

“Such threats may help to account for a reported change in Saudi Arabia’s attitude toward an Israeli strike on Iran. Last week, Israel’s Yedioth Aharonot newspaper reported Saudi Arabia informed the Jewish state that it would intercept any Israeli aircraft crossing its airspace en route to Iran… Saudi Arabia does not maintain an open diplomatic relationship with Israel. But the Sunni Muslim country, together with Qatar, Jordan and other moderates, views itself as threatened by the growing and opposing influence of Iran, dominated by Shiite Islam.”

Saudi Cleric Questions Holocaust

The Washington Free Beacon wrote on August 16:

“A prominent Saudi Arabian religious cleric declared that the Holocaust is an ‘exaggeration’ and that Jewish people consume the blood of children during a wide-ranging interview with an Arabic television station. Saudi cleric Salman Al-Odeh, a well-known scholar revered by millions globally, went on a lengthy tirade against the Jews during an interview Monday in which he stated that ‘the role of the Jews is to wreak destruction, to wage war, and to practice deception and extortion,’ according to a translation of his remarks by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“Al-Odeh ranted about the use of human blood in Jewish religious rituals, a notorious anti-Semitic smear commonly referred to as a ‘blood libel.’ ‘It is well known that the Jews celebrate several holidays, one of which is the Passover, or the matzos holiday,’ he said. ‘I read once about a doctor who was working in a laboratory. This doctor lived with a Jewish family. One day, they said to him: “We want blood. Get us some human blood,”’ Al-Odeh explained. ‘He was confused. He didn’t know what this was all about,’ Al-Odeh says as the interviewer nods along. ‘He found that they were making matzos with human blood. They eat it, believing that this brings them close to their false god, Yahweh.’ Jewish people ‘would lure a child in order to sacrifice him in the religious rite that they perform during that holiday,’ Al-Odeh adds.

“The prominent Saudi Cleric also believes that the Holocaust ‘has been turned into a myth of tremendous proportions.’ Jewish people across the globe now use the Holocaust to extort governments, Al-Odeh claimed… Jewish people ‘believe that [they] have the right to kill anyone who does not adhere to their religion,’ Al-Odeh adds.

“The Obama administration has gone out of its way to maintain stellar relations with the Saudi government, which is known to oppress its people. The president famously took heat early in his presidency for bowing to Saudi King Abdullah.”

These anti-Semitic libelous and blasphemous comments by a prominent Saudi Arabian cleric should make us realize to what extent Satan has been able to deceive the world and to prepare it for persecution and a future outright war against the modern descendants of the houses of Israel and Judah—as well as God’s true followers, members of God’s Church, who are spiritual Israelites and Jews. It is also telling and abominable that this false Arabic cleric is allowed to libel the true God of the Bible as the “false god, Yahweh,” while Muslims are in arms when Christians point out that the true Word of God does not endorse Allah and the prophet Mohammed.

Hezbollah Operates With Few Restrictions in Germany and Europe

The New York Times wrote on August 15:

“As American officials sound the alarm over what they call a resurgent threat from the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, thousands of its members and supporters operate with few restrictions in Europe, raising money that is funneled to the group’s leadership in Lebanon. Washington and Jerusalem insist that Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed terrorist organization with bloody hands, and that it is working closely with Tehran to train, arm and finance the Syrian military’s lethal repression of the uprising there. Yet, the European Union continues to treat it foremost as a Lebanese political and social movement…

“While the group is believed to operate all over the Continent, Germany is a center of activity… The European Union’s unwillingness to place the group on its list of terrorist organizations is also complicating the West’s efforts to deal with the Bulgarian bus bombing and the Syrian conflict…

“The stark difference in views reflects the many roles that Hezbollah has played since it emerged in Lebanon after the Israeli invasion in 1982. Hezbollah’s militant wing was responsible for a string of kidnappings and for sophisticated bombings at home and has been accused of bombings abroad. But the group also became a source of social services that the shattered Lebanese government was incapable of providing, and has evolved since then into a political force with two cabinet ministers and a dozen seats in Parliament…

“Some analysts [in Germany] say that Shiite groups like Hezbollah pose less of a risk than Sunni militant organizations like Al Qaeda… American officials sound more concerned about the threat posed by Hezbollah to Europe than the Europeans themselves… The Netherlands declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 2004, saying that it did not distinguish between the group’s political and terrorist wings. Britain distinguishes between the parts, listing only the militant wing.”

That Hezbollah is a dangerous terrorist organization cannot be questioned. That many European states are willing to tolerate its activities shows once again their hypocrisy and political indecisiveness.

The Circumcision Debate

USA Today wrote on August 20:

“Evidence that male circumcision has health benefits is growing, even as the quick but often-controversial surgery becomes less common in the United States, say medical experts making new efforts to publicize the benefits… The researchers say that if U.S. rates dropped to 10% — the level seen in European countries where insurers don’t cover circumcision — the results would include:

“… 12% more HIV cases in men. 29% more human papillomavirus (HPV) cases in men. 18% more high-risk HPV infections in women. The fallout also would include more cases of cervical and penile cancer linked to HPV, but the highest costs would be associated with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the researchers say…”

The often-claimed health benefits from circumcision are non-existent, generally speaking. God would have never abrogated the need for circumcision, if it had been a health law. But what we can see is that health benefits are claimed regarding diseases which man is bringing upon himself, such as sexually transmittable diseases, HIV and HPV. As USA Today, dated May 8, 2012, explains, “HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least half of all sexually active people will get genital HPV at some time in their lives. But certain strains of human papillomavirus also can live in the mouth, passed on through oral sex.” So we see, if sex were limited to marriage, then there would be no transmittable sexual diseases, and the whole discussion about health benefits of circumcision would become moot.

The discussion regarding the terrible decision in Germany, prohibiting circumcision on religious grounds should not be confused with unsustainable claims of medical benefits of circumcision. However, it is also wrong to say that circumcision is in any way harmful to boys and must be prohibited to protect the boys’ welfare. God would have never ordered circumcision in Old Testament times if that were the case. Such ignorant and incompetent postulations from our medical community and others ignore the tragic fact that man has no right to prohibit what God allows. But religious persecution is on the rise, especially in Germany and Europe, as the next article shows.

Criminal Charges Pressed Against German Rabbi for Conducting Circumcision

The Times of Israel reported on August 21:

“For the first time, criminal charges have been pressed against a German rabbi for performing circumcisions, a Jewish weekly reported on Tuesday. A doctor from Hesse filed a criminal complaint against Rabbi David Goldberg, who serves in the community of Hof, in Upper Franconia (northern Bavaria), according to the Juedische Allgemeine weekly newspaper. The chief prosecutor of Hof confirmed that charges had been filed against the rabbi. The charges are based on the controversial decision of a Cologne district court, which ruled in June that circumcisions for religious reasons constitute illegal bodily harm to newborn babies. ‘I am shocked,’ said Cologne Rabbi Yaron Engelmayer, co-chairman of the national umbrella group of Orthodox rabbis in Germany, in a first reaction to the report. This marks the first time that a court in the Federal Republic of Germany is investigating a rabbi for performing a religious ritual, Engelmayer told the paper.

“Goldberg, a qualified mohel (ritual circumciser) who says he has performed more than 3,000 circumcisions, was informed about the criminal charges against him by journalists, the paper said. Born in Jerusalem, the 64-year-old has been the rabbi of Hof since 1997… The Cologne court decision caused a major uproar in Germany’s Jewish and Muslim communities… Rabbi Engelmayer, from Cologne, told The Times of Israel in July that the court decision had ‘enormously’ impacted Jewish life in his community. ‘De facto it looks as if doctors across the country are afraid [to perform circumcisions],’ he said. ‘The mohels are inquiring, and we tell them: without circumcision, there is no Judaism,’ he said at the time…”

Will Israel Strike Iran This Fall?

Times of Israel wrote on August 11:
 
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have ‘almost finally’ decided on an Israeli strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities this fall, and a final decision will be taken ‘soon,’ Israel’s main TV news broadcast reported on Friday evening. Channel 2 News, the country’s leading news program, devoted much of its Friday night broadcast to the issue, detailing the pros and cons that, it said, have taken Netanyahu and Barak to the brink of approving an Israeli military attack despite opposition from the Obama administration and from many Israeli security chiefs.
 
“Critically, the station’s diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal said, Israel does not believe that the US will take military action as Iran closes in on the bomb. The US, the TV report said, has not provided Israel with details of an attack plan. President Obama has not promised to attack Iran if all else fails. Conditions cited by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for an American attack do not calm Israeli concerns. And Obama has a record of seeking UN and Arab League approval before action. All these factors, in Jerusalem’s mind, underline the growing conviction of Netanyahu and Barak that Israel will have to tackle Iran alone, the TV report said.
 
“Israel’s leaders have also noted that president George W. Bush vowed repeatedly that North Korea would not be allowed to attain a nuclear weapons capability — a vow that proved empty.
 
“Obama does not want to intervene militarily before the presidential elections in November, and it is doubtful that he would act afterwards, runs the Israeli assessment, the TV report said. Obama may believe that the US can live with a nuclear Iran, but Israel cannot, the report quoted those in ‘Netanyahu’s circle’ as saying.
 
“As for presidential challenger Mitt Romney, he takes a more forceful position, but would probably not have the domestic support necessary to act in the first year of his presidency, if elected, and after that it would be too late… Netanyahu, for his part, ‘is convinced that thwarting Iran amounts to thwarting a plan to destroy the Jewish people,’ Channel 2’s Segal said. The prime minister considers Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be acting rationally in order to achieve ‘fanatical’ goals…
 
“The TV report cited intelligence information suggesting that Iran ‘is much further ahead’ than previously thought in its uranium enrichment and in other aspects of its nuclear weapons program…
 
“Militarily, an Israeli strike would prompt missile attacks on Israel, attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah from the south and the north, and upheaval on the Arab street…The assessment is that Syria’s President Bashar Assad would not get involved, since this would finish him off, the report said. But if Iran got the bomb, the missile threat would be escalated, Hamas and Hezbollah further empowered, and there would be a danger of any crisis escalating into a nuclear crisis.
 
“Diplomatically, an Israeli strike would prompt a confrontation with the US, global protests, international isolation for Israel, delegitimization, and a situation in which Israel was seen as the aggressor. But if Iran got the bomb, Israel would be defeated and humiliated diplomatically…
 
“Economically, an Israeli strike would deepen the economic slowdown and lead to a suspension of foreign investment. An Iranian bomb would end foreign investment in Israel, however, and prompt an exodus of Israel’s best brains…
 
“The TV report made much of a recent speech by Netanyahu, at the scene of Sunday’s terror attack thwarted by Israel at the Gaza-Egypt-Israel border. Visiting the area on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel ‘must and can’ only rely on itself to safeguard its security…’No one can fulfill this role except the IDF and different Israel security forces of Israel, and we will continue to conduct ourselves in this way,’ Netanyahu said.”
 
The German paper, Die Welt, added on August 10 that the Jewish papers, “Jedict Achronot” and “Maariv” also reported on the same TV report, and stated that, according to “Maariv,” 40 percent of the Israelis would support an Israeli strike without support or assistance from the USA. Only 35 percent would prefer a strike by the USA. The report stated that “Maariv” concluded that Netanyahu has received  a “green light” for a strike. Notice the next articles as well:

When Is Israel Expected to Strike?

The New York Times wrote on August 12:

“Amid intensifying Israeli news reports saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is close to ordering a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, his deputy foreign minister called Sunday for an international declaration that the diplomatic effort to halt Tehran’s enrichment of uranium is dead… Asked how long the Iranians should be given to cease all nuclear activity, Mr. Ayalon said ‘weeks, and not more than that.’

“The comments came after a frenzy of newspaper articles and television reports over the weekend here suggesting that Mr. Netanyahu had all but made the decision to attack Iran unilaterally this fall. The reports contained little new information, but the tone was significantly sharper than it had been in recent weeks, with many of Israel’s leading columnists predicting a strike despite the opposition of the Obama administration and many military and security professionals within Israel. Articles in Sunday’s newspapers also examined home-front preparedness for what experts expect would be an aggressive response not just from Iran but also its allies, the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas…”

The Times of Israel wrote on August 13:

“The US would not necessarily join in were Israel to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, an unnamed source in the Obama Administration told Israel’s Channel 2 News on Monday… A second Israeli TV report on Monday night went so far as to specify the ostensible timeframe for a possible Israeli attack, based in part on a tentative meeting scheduled between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama.

“Netanyahu is set to meet the president — in Washington, rather than as previously thought at the UN General Assembly in New York — between September 28 and October 1. The prime minister, Channel 10 News reported Monday, could not possibly order an Israeli strike on Iran prior to that meeting, where the Iranian threat would presumably be the main subject of discussion. Neither could he order an attack before his tentatively scheduled address to the General Assembly a few days earlier, on September 27 — his last appeal to the international community for firmer action to thwart Iran, according to Channel 10.

“The timeframe for an Israeli attack, the report suggested, would thus be sometime between October 2 and the presidential elections on November 6. Immediately after the US elections, Israel could presumably not defy a newly elected president. And fairly soon after that, it might be too late for Israel to stop Iran because of the Iranians’ progress and the limitations of Israel’s military capacity.

“Channel 10 went on [to] predict the likely consequences of an Israeli attack in terms of retaliatory missiles fired by Iran and its allies such as Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in 2006 saw 4,500 rockets and missiles fired into Israel, an Israeli attack on Iran would prompt the firing of 50,000 missiles into Israel…

“The Maariv daily reported on Monday morning that, were Israel to attack Iran, Washington would provide Israel with an air defense ‘umbrella’ against the anticipated retaliation by Tehran and its proxies. Messages passed from Republican and Democrat policy makers in Washington to Israeli counterparts suggest that should Israel decide to bomb Iran in advance of the US presidential elections in November, Obama would order the American armed forces to join in the military effort, the paper said. Such an intervention, the sources explained, would all but guarantee Obama a second term in office. If he chose not to act, the president would likely be handing the office over to the Republicans, they said.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s concern that Iran wants to acquire the bomb in order to annihilate the state of Israel was confirmed by Hezbollah MP Walid Sakariya, and, again, by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as the next two articles report.

Hezbollah Leader Admits: Iranian Bomb is to Annihilate Israel

Times of Israel reported on August 9:

“Hezbollah MP Walid Sakariya told Lebanese television this week that the nuclear weapon Iran is allegedly developing is intended to annihilate Israel. In a segment recorded and translated by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute), Sakariya, also a retired general, told his interviewer on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV Tuesday that should Iran acquire a nuclear weapon it would serve Syrian as well as Iranian interests, namely the eradication of the Jewish state.

“‘This nuclear weapon is intended to create a balance of terror with Israel, to finish off the Zionist enterprise, and to end all Israeli aggression against the Arab nation,’ Sakariya said. ‘The entire equation in the Middle East will change,’ he asserted.”

Ahmadinejad Repeats His Plea for Annihilation of Israel

On August 2, the Daily Israel Report added:

“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has once again called for the annihilation of Israel, which he labeled ‘the axis of unity of the world hegemonic powers.’… Ahmadinejad repeated his annual litany of hate for the Jewish State in a meeting with ambassadors and embassy personnel of Islamic nations in Tehran, according to the official state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), quoting from a statement posted on the website of his presidential office.

“‘It has now been some 400 years that a horrendous Zionist clan has been ruling the major world affairs, and behind the scenes of the major power circles, in political, media, monetary and banking organizations in the world, they have been the decision makers…’ the Iranian president claimed… ‘any freedom lover and justice seeker in the world must do its best for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the path for the establishment of justice and freedom in the world,’ he declared.”

Major Earthquakes Strike Iran

Deutsche Welle reported on August 12:

“Two powerful earthquakes, registering 6.4 and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale, killed over 200 people and injured hundreds more on Saturday (11.08.2012). Most of the damage centered on the rural villages of Ahar, Varzaghan and Harees, near the city Tabriz, according to Iranian media.

“German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was quick to offer his country’s help to Iran. ‘I extend my deep sympathies to the people who have lost their loved ones and belongings during the holy month of Ramadan,’ Westerwelle wrote in a message to his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi. ‘I wish the injured a quick recovery. Rest assured that Germany stands ready to help your country in this difficult time.’

“But such offers of international aid and help caring for survivors and the homeless have been turned down by Iran. The Iranian Red Crescent also has not accepted help from its sister organizations…

“A report by an Iranian news agency… cited the head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Mahmud Mosafar, as saying there was no access to several villages. The Fars news agency reported that a crisis center for 16,000 people had been established and that mobile hospitals had been brought to the crisis area.

“Sitting above an area where several tectonic plates meet, Iran is often subjected to earthquakes. The last strong quake to hit Iran occurred in Bam in December 2003 when some 31,000 people died. Such devastating earthquakes cannot be predicted, Rainer Kind, a seismologist at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, told DW. ‘In countries like Iran, houses are often poorly built out of air-dried clay bricks – especially in villages’ Kind said, adding that such buildings collapse easily during even a minor earthquake.”

Tense Relations Between Egyptian Military and Muslim Brotherhood

BBC News reported on August 12:

“Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has ordered the retirement of the powerful head of the country’s armed forces, Field Marshal Mohamad Hussein Tantawi, a presidential spokesman has said. He also said a constitutional declaration aimed at curbing presidential powers had been cancelled. Mr Mursi, who was elected in June, is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Relations between Islamists and the military have been increasingly tense since the fall of President Mubarak…

“BBC Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly says the dismissal of senior military officers will be seen by Egyptians as a decisive move in a struggle for real power between the country’s newly elected politicians and the generals who have exercised power for many years.”

Israel National News reported on August 12:

“Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi has sacked the entire leadership of the country’s defense establishment… Morsi also cancelled all constitutional changes that gave the military enlarged powers… The Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi appears to be wasting no time in consolidating his hold over power at the expense of the military, which many hoped would be a moderating power over him… Al Jazeera said the president’s spokesperson made the surprising announcement on state television. ‘All of this has happened very fast, and it was unexpected,’ said the station’s correspondent… Channel 2’s Middle East analyst Ehud Yaari said that the move places the Muslim Brotherhood solidly at the helm of power in Egypt.”

Morsi’s New Dictatorship

Haaretz reported on August 15:

“Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi said on Wednesday that it is of utmost importance that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran work together to solve the ongoing crisis in Syria. Speaking at the Islamic Solidarity Conference in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Morsi said that it is time for regime change in Syria. He quoted the Prophet Mohammed who forbade war among Muslims and criticized those who allowed for the situation to deteriorate and for ‘blood to have been spilled during the holy month of Ramadan.’ Morsi stressed however that for Egypt and Arab Muslim countries, the Palestinian issue remains the most urgent, and called on the Palestinians to unite their ranks.

“On Tuesday, Egypt’s Information Minister Salakh Abd al-Maksud, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that ‘Egypt will not normalize relations with Israel until occupied Palestinian land is freed.”’ He… also said that Israel ‘stole Palestinian lands, and for this reason we will not normalize relations with it until those lands are freed.’ …

“Following Morsi’s decision to appoint 53 new government-run newspaper editors, the new editor of Al-Akhbar newspaper refused to publish an article critical of the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday, according to reports. Author Youssef al-Qaeed told al-Ahram newspaper that Al-Akhbar’s new editor, Mohamed Hassan al-Banna – who was appointed by the Brotherhood – was the one who banned the article… Earlier this week, an Egyptian court ordered a ban on all Saturday editions of Al-Dustour newspaper, claiming it had insulted Morsi. According to reports, the editions of the privately-owned newspaper were confiscated as part of an investigation into suspected subversion against Morsi.

“In the Saturday edition of the newspaper, the first page featured articles warning of a takeover of the Brotherhood Islamic rhetoric. This case is not an isolated one: A few days ago a television network was closed down for allegedly inciting to murder Morsi.”

Radical Islamists Move to Egypt

The Local wrote on August 12:

“German security services have recorded a leap in the number of radical Islamists traveling to Egypt, according to a report [by] Der Spiegel magazine. Radical Salafists considered violent by Germany’s security services have been leaving Germany in droves in the past weeks, wrote the magazine. But rather than traveling to the conflict zone in Pakistan and Afghanistan, they are increasingly heading for Egypt, a high ranking security official told Der Spiegel…

“In Egypt they are hoping to live ‘the true Islam’ or fight in a ‘Jihad against infidels,’ wrote the magazine… Officials are concerned that terror organisations such as Al-Qaeda are planning to exploit the power vacuum in Egypt following the Arab Spring to build up their own structures there, wrote the magazine.”

Arab World Divided

Deutsche Welle reported on August 16, 2012:

“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s early Thursday… decision to suspend Syria’s membership in the 57-nation group appeared geared at presenting a united front against sectarianism in the Muslim world. But during the build-up to the vote in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, resistance from Iran and Iraq seemed to show how divided the body really is. The conflict in Syria is increasingly turning into a religious one. Shiite-dominated Iran opposed the move to suspend Syria, while Sunni-dominated states were for it. Shiite-ruled Iraq did not even take part in the Jeddah conference. Though the Assad regime still holds power, evidence points to the Sunnis having considerably more influence there than before in determining Syria’s destiny. Apart from Iran, Russia and China have also shown some support for the Assad regime.

“In this sense, OIC’s conference reflected the increasingly sectarian nature of the Syrian civil war – something that some of those gathered in Jeddah actively promoted, especially those from Saudi Arabia itself. It is generally agreed that a wide range of private Saudi institutions promote Sunni extremists who are fighting in Syria not for democracy, but for the triumph of their faith. In other words, they mainly fight against Syrian Shiites…

“But neither Syria’s neighbors nor the neighbors’ western allies have any interest in an increasingly sectarian conflict… none of the states involved would benefit from the religious tensions. Currently Iran, which as a Shiite state is being put on the defensive, is noticing this most clearly. If Assad falls, Iran will lose its direct contact with Lebanese Hezbollah, to which it currently maintains close relations. This will also weaken its reputation as a steadfast opponent of Israel.

“If the Assad regime falls, Iran would lose a great deal, Iran expert Walter Posch said… [The Iranians] are worried that their contact with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Sunni Islamist groups, which are in the majority, would be interfered with, and they would then lose all contact with the Syrians. That would also make it difficult to contact the Lebanese Shiites.’ But above all, Posch said, Iran fears that religious unrest could also spread to its own territory. There the Sunnis form the second largest religious group in the country after the Shiites.

“But Sunni states also have reason to be worried about the development of the Syrian violence toward a religiously dominated conflict. The religious tensions could also spill over to their nations, which are also home to Shiite populations. In Saudi Arabia, Shiites constitute nearly 15 percent of the population, while they are 35 percent in Kuwait and as much as 60 percent in Bahrain. The Saudi Shiites are also geographically a challenge for the royal family: they live mostly in the east of the country, where the giant oil fields are. If they were to rebel, it could easily have economic consequences…”

Syrian Rebels Feel Abandoned by USA

The Washington Post wrote on August 7:

“As the Arab world’s bloodiest revolt continues to maim, kill and ravage lives on an ever-escalating scale, anti-American sentiments are hardening among those struggling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, in ways that could have profound consequences for the country and the region in a post-Assad era.

“America, once regarded by the Syrian opposition as a natural friend in its struggle for greater freedoms against a regime long at odds with the West, increasingly is being viewed with suspicion and resentment for its failure to offer little more than verbal encouragement to the revolutionaries.

“In the nearly 17 months since Syrians joined the clamor for change that swept the Middle East last year, Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans have voted in elections, chosen new leaders and embarked, however messily, on democratic transitions.

“Syria, by contrast, is hurtling ever deeper into an all-out conflict with no end in sight, ‘and all we get is words,’ said Yasser Abu Ali, a spokesman for one of the Free Syrian Army battalions in the town of al-Bab, which lies 30 miles northeast of Aleppo.

“The rebels say they don’t want direct military intervention in the form of troops on the ground. But they have repeatedly appealed for a no-fly zone similar to the effort that helped Libyan rebels topple Moammar Gaddafi last year and for supplies of heavy weapons to counter the regime’s vastly superior firepower, say rebels and opposition figures.

“When the regime falls, as the rebel battalion spokesman assumes it eventually will, Syrians will not forget that their pleas for help went unanswered, he said. ‘America will pay a price for this,’ he said. ‘America is going to lose the friendship of Syrians, and no one will trust them anymore. Already we don’t trust them at all.’

“It is not entirely accurate that the United States is doing nothing to help the Syrian opposition, nor is it clear what more it usefully could or should be doing, analysts say… But the assistance has been small-scale, intermittent, and dwarfed by the demands of an expanding battlefield that now covers all corners of the country and has escalated to include the use of air power by the government…

“But at a time when al-Qaeda-influenced jihadis are trying to establish a presence in Syria, there is a risk that a virulently anti-American form of Islamism could take hold among disillusioned Syrians, said Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute of Near East Affairs… If Washington continues on its current path, ‘ultimately the political entity that comes to power is not going to be in U.S. interests,’ he said.”

The “Arab Spring” movement will become more and more hostile to the USA.

Mitt Romney Selects Running Mate Paul Ryan

BBC News reported on August 11 (note also our added comments in italics throughout the article):

“US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has named fiscal conservative Paul Ryan as his running mate in November’s election. Mr Ryan, 42, is a [practicing Catholic, pro-choice and anti-abortion, anti-gay marriages, and an ardent supporter of gun possession, as well as a] Wisconsin congressman and chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee.

“BBC North America editor Mark Mardell says the decision is a bold and ideological choice. Obama campaign said Mr Ryan stood for ‘flawed’ economic policies that would repeat ‘catastrophic’ mistakes…

“In a slip of the tongue, the former Massachusetts governor introduced Mr Ryan as ‘the next president of the United States’, before correcting himself to say he meant vice-president.

[Our comment: Mr. Obama made the same mistake almost four years ago when he introduced Mr. Biden as the next president of the United States, before correcting himself.]…

“Mr Ryan told the crowd that he and Mr Romney would ‘restore the greatness of this country’.

[Our comment: According to the Bible, this won’t happen, neither under an Obama-Biden or a Romney-Ryan leadership.]…

“Prompting one of the loudest cheers from onlookers, he said: ‘Our rights come from nature and God, not from government.”

[Our comment: Sadly, our God-given rights have been disregarded by the governments of this world, and until Jesus Christ returns to establish righteous rule and government on this earth, no human leadership will guarantee their people the establishment and enforcement of the laws of God.]

“Mr Ryan is best-known for a controversial alternative budget which he produced to counter President Obama’s plans in 2011 and 2012. Known as the Path to Prosperity, it delighted the Tea Party, an anti-tax, limited-government, grassroots Republican movement. The plan proposed reducing taxes, pensions and food aid, and overhauling government-funded healthcare. In all, it projected spending cuts of $5.3 trillion (£3.4 trillion) over a decade.”

The Catholic Church condemned Mr. Ryan’s plan as unchristian. At the same time, they condemned Mr. Obama’s and Mr. Biden’s stance on homosexuality and contraceptives as unchristian. In any event, it is not anticipated that Mr. Ryan’s original controversial plan will be accepted and approved—even high ranking Republicans have voiced their disapproval. Now, as USA Today reported on August 12, 2012, “Ryan also has a different Medicare plan that he crafted with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and introduced in December. The key difference is that it would give seniors the choice of staying in Medicare as it is currently configured or getting health insurance through private companies.” At the same time, no plan has been forthcoming so far from the Obama Administration. See also the next article on Paul Ryan.

Who is Paul Ryan?

The Washington Times wrote on August 12:

“Rep. Paul Ryan, Republicans’ presumptive vice presidential nominee, has amassed a very conservative voting record during his seven terms in Congress, including repeated votes against spending bills, unemployment benefit extensions and most of President Obama’s agenda. But he also voted for some of the major parts of the Bush administration that have drawn fire, including the No Child Left Behind education bill, and the 2003 Medicare prescription drug law that added a new entitlement to the government’s books without finding a way to pay for it. He also voted for the Wall Street bailout in 2008, which has become a flashpoint for both ends of the political spectrum.

“His chief breaks with most Republicans usually came on spending bills, where he regularly voted against his party leadership when they controlled the chamber before 2007. In 1999 he voted against expanding the Peace Corps, and voted against expanding debt relief to impoverished nations. Mr. Ryan voted for the Patriot Act and later voted to preserve federal authorities’ ability under that law to seek library records in their investigations — a major test point for the legislation.

“But he’s also had some more pointed dissents, including being one of relatively few House Republicans to vote for a bill that would have outlawed workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. And he has voted to halt some of the strict U.S. sanctions against Cuba, siding with many Democrats… On social issues, he voted to end federal funding for both NPR and Planned Parenthood as part of the GOP’s spending fights last year.

“He maintains an A rating from the National Rifle Association, which backs Second Amendment rights… He has signed Americans for Tax Reform’s pledge, which commits him to opposing any legislation that increases taxes… He voted against expanding embryonic stem-cell research, and has amassed a decidedly pro-life record…

“On jobs and labor, he voted against extending unemployment benefits without offsetting their costs, but he also was one of the relatively few Republicans to vote to preserve the Davis-Bacon labor rules in military construction spending earlier this year, which gives preference to unionized labor. He has a 90 percent lifetime rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with most of his mark-downs coming because he voted against government spending as a way to produce jobs — including opposing Mr. Obama’s 2009 stimulus. He was also one of less than three dozen Republicans who in 2007 backed Democrats’ plan to require at least 15 percent of electricity in each state come from renewable fuels — a program the Chamber called unworkable.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 13:

“Despite his popularity among Republicans, newspaper editorialists in Germany argued on Monday that choosing Ryan could backfire on the Republican presidential candidate. Many believe he is a more solid choice for the Republicans than Sarah Palin was back in 2008, but they similarly conclude that he may drive swing voters to the center and help secure Obama’s re-election in November.

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘…The country will experience a bloody duel that will pit Obama, a self-proclaimed defender of the middle class, against Romney, a staunch believer in the markets and archetypal capitalist. It’s the kind of sharp contrast that the Republican candidate has so far tried to avoid. Romney wanted to win by denouncing Obama’s weaknesses and miserably high unemployment levels. But he avoided showing clear political platforms or nuances. That’s why, to many in his party, he had come to be seen recently as a figure … who stood for nothing. Now Romney is borrowing a political face: Paul Ryan, a 42-year-old spitfire of the right, who will sharpen Romney’s profile and push the candidate to the right. That may please the party base, but it also entails risks…’

“The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘…Romney is putting all his eggs in one basket… Ryan is popular with the party base, but his ability to attract swing voters is likely to be limited. Although they may be dissatisfied with the current situation, it is unlikely that a radical restructuring of the social system will warm their hearts, either…’

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘Risky, surprising and courageous: The choice of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential candidate is all of these things. But it is also an act of desperation. He is currently trailing significantly behind Obama in the polls and his chances of winning the election this fall might have been better if he had gone with a certain ticket… Paul Ryan is a politician who divides people… Romney’s strategic calculus is clear. He, himself a procrastinator, dawdler and notorious opportunitist [sic], is viewed by the conservative wing of his party as being too liberal. During his time as governor of Massachusetts, he passed… a health care reform there that looks a lot like Obama’s, and Romney lost credibility with the Republican Party basis. And that has changed little despite his claims that he will roll back Obama’s health care reform if he is elected. With Ryan, who has the support of the Tea Party, he is hoping to at least offset this deficit…’

“The leftist Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘More than anything else, Ryan is a radical ideologue who has never changed his platforms. By selecting Ryan, the Republican candidate has taken one step closer to clarifying his ideological position.’

“Ryan has a reputation as a hardliner… Ryan wants to lower taxes (also for the highest earners), he wants to further cut social benefits (including food stamps for the needy and government healthcare for pensioners), he wants to limit the authority of environmental protection agencies, he disputes the existence of climate change, he is against abortion, opposes same-sex marriages and he would like to increase military expenditures…’”

Some Members May Leave the Eurozone

BBC News reported on August 8:

“Some members of the eurozone may have to leave the bloc as the debt crisis continues, according to one of the architects of the euro. ‘Everything speaks in favour of saving the euro area,’ said Otmar Issing, a former European Central Bank chief economist. ‘How many countries will be able to be part of it in the long term remains to be seen,’ he added…

“The central bank highlighted the fall-off in money being lent across borders between the 17 countries that share the euro, saying the eurozone is becoming increasingly fragmented… ‘Its banking and money team have highlighted how the weaker eurozone economies – Spain, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and Ireland – have been progressively starved of credit as banks in the bigger, stronger economies of Germany and France have stopped lending to them,’ the BBC’s business editor Robert Peston said…

“Mr Issing was a member of the German Bundesbank until 1998 and then worked at the ECB, during the introduction of the euro in 1999 until 2006… He added that it was not true that Germany would be better off returning to the deutschmark, saying the euro had been more stable than the mark… The UK is not in the Eurozone.”

The Bible predicts that ultimately, ten nations or groups of nations will run Europe. They will be the core members of the Eurozone. Some members will apparently indeed leave the Eurozone, but it appears to be certain that countries like Italy or even Spain will not exit and abandon the euro.

Will Britain Leave EU Soon?

The EUObserver reported on August 10:

“The prospect of Britain leaving the European Union is increasingly likely according to a leaked strategy paper by banking giant Nomura. The Asian bank, which is drawing up contingency plans for a ‘Brexit,’ said that ‘a referendum on EU membership without first securing significant concessions from EU partners would result in the UK leaving the European Union.’ The paper, written by Alastair Newton, a one-time British diplomat and advisor to former prime minister Tony Blair, added that ‘the British government’s response to the crisis of encouraging eurozone integration while looking for a looser UK relationship with the EU appears to be fanning the Eurosceptic flames’…

“The eurozone debt crisis has led to increasing euroscepticism among back-bench Conservative MPs, who are urging Prime Minister David Cameron to use potential changes on further integration to the EU Treaty to re-negotiate Britain’s terms of membership… Meanwhile, an opinion poll for YouGov taken last month indicated that only 15 percent of Britons would vote to remain in the EU as it is, while 50 percent would vote to leave the EU if other countries refused to re-negotiate Britain’s terms of membership.”

Coming—a European “Defense” Force

WorldNetDaily wrote on August 12:

“France once again is pushing the notion of a common European defense force. Three countries – Poland, Germany and France – are often referred to as the Weimar Triangle nations…

“The call for a common European defense comes as Europeans see the United States shifting its emphasis more toward the Asia-Pacific region. Until now, the U.S. has been the lead country in maintaining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But many now are questioning whether it needs to exist.

“While Europe still relies on NATO primarily for its defense, the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty in 2009 allowed for creation of an independent course of action. [French Defense Minister Jean] Le Drian said that the Weimar Triangle, a political cooperation forum set up in 1992, should lead the effort.

“The three countries are working to set up a tactical military group by 2013 to be used as an example for wider E.U. participation and cooperation.”

Revisited: “There’s Little Germany Can Do About Circumcision Ban”

Times of Israel reported on July 9:

“[The] German parliamentary system won’t allow for unambiguous legislation affirming [the] right to Jewish ritual… While some German lawmakers are considering drafting legislation that would enshrine parents’ rights to circumcise their children, there is little else the German government can do about last month’s decision by a local court that effectively outlawed the procedure, Berlin’s ambassador to Israel said Monday. ‘I ask for your understanding that the federal government — I represent Germany’s federal government here in Israel — respects the independence of the German judiciary. That is no different by us than it is with you. Therefore, my abilities to comment on this judgment are limited,’ Ambassador Andreas Michaelis told the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee…

“While at least three parties in the Bundestag are considering drafting legislation that would allow religious groups to perform circumcisions, Michaelis said it was not clear that this would be possible. Some German lawmakers pointed out that the German legal system is based on a ‘principle of prohibitions’ — as opposed to laws permitting certain actions — he said. That means that complete legal certainty regarding the performance of circumcision might remain elusive, he added.”

The persecution of religious minorities in Europe will continue. As Satan is the deceiver, the destroyer and the accuser of the brethren, we can expect that very soon, members of the true Church of God will be increasingly targeted by the governments and the public for their “unique” beliefs, including the observation of the Sabbath and the annual Holy Days, their rejection of Christmas, Easter and the atheistic Evolution hypostasis, their upholding of God’s dietary laws, and their biblical belief in a God Family and their rejection of the unbiblical concept of the Trinity.

Raccoons Overrun Germany

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 3:

“Germany is being invaded by what is estimated to be over a million raccoons. Worried residents have been driven to take extreme measures to deter or eradicate the furry pests, but experts fear the nocturnal marauders are here to stay… These predatory mammals originally from North America can weigh over 10 kilograms (22 pounds). They’re known for their intelligence, and many Native American legends assign raccoons the trickster role that Germans associate with Reynard the Fox in European fables…

“The first raccoons were brought to Germany in around 1920 to be bred in captivity for their pelts. Their controlled introduction into the wild occurred on April 12, 1934, when Prussian hunting and game authorities released two pairs of raccoons near the Edersee, a reservoir near Kassel. Their stated purpose was to ‘enrich the fauna’ of the area.

“A persistent rumor has it that Hermann Göring, one of the Nazi party’s most powerful figures, personally ordered that raccoons be released into the wild. The fact that this isn’t historically accurate didn’t stop British tabloid newspaper The Sun from running an article in 2007 entitled ‘Nazi raccoons on warpath.’ The article warned that they ‘are just across the Channel from Britain after marching through France, Belgium, Holland and Denmark in a furry blitzkrieg’ and that they ‘are invading new territory — just like the Nazis did.’

“Competition for habitat space is so high in the raccoons’ main population centers — in the German states of Hesse, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt — that young male raccoons have started migrating to other parts of the country… Statistics kept by the German Hunting Association (DJV) offer proof of a downright invasion. It calculates that 67,700 raccoons were killed in Germany last season, a new record…

“There’s no law against trapping raccoons — in fact, quite the opposite is true… Hunters complain that raccoons kill partridges and pheasants, devour bats and steal eggs from wild ducks’ nests… there is the potential danger to humans from rabies spread by raccoons…

“In cities such as Dresden and Bielefeld, the animals have started banding together to harvest entire cherry or plum trees. Another problematic occurrence is when these marauding gangs make their homes in building attics, where they tear the insulation to bits and leave their droppings everywhere.”

When man tries to fool around with or “improve” nature, unpredictable consequences are the results. The Bible shows that God will use wild animals to punish disobedient mankind.

West Nile Virus on the Rise

Reuters reported on August 15:

“The mayor of Dallas declared a state of emergency in the ninth largest U.S. city on Wednesday to combat the spread of West Nile virus infections, which have been more prevalent than usual in Texas and other states this year. There have been more cases of West Nile virus reported so far this year than any year since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control said on its website.

“Nearly half of the 693 human cases of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus infections reported this year to the CDC have been in Texas, along with 14 of the 26 deaths confirmed by the federal agency as of Tuesday… It is not clear why the number of West Nile cases in Texas is so high. It could be related to a warmer winter and rainy spring that has contributed to an increased mosquito population…

“West Nile virus usually flares up in the summer because it is most often transmitted by mosquito bites. People infected can suffer fever and aches that can become severe or even cause death, especially of the elderly, children and other at risk groups. There is no specific treatment for the West Nile infection.”

Khamenei: WAR IN WEEKS!

DEBKAfile published on August 1, 2012:

“On July 27, just before Friday prayers, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei summoned top Iranian military chiefs for what he called ‘their last war council.’

“’We’ll be at war within weeks,’ he told the gathering, DEBKAfile’s exclusive Iranian and intelligence sources disclose.

“Present were Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi, Khamenei’s military adviser General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, Armed Forces Chief Major General Seyed Hassan Firuzabadi, Revolutionary Guards Corps commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari and Al Qods Brigades chief General Qassem Soleimani. The commanders of the air force, the navy and ground forces were also there.
 
“Each of the participants was tapped to report on the readiness of his branch or sector for shouldering its contingency mission.

“While retaliation had been exhaustively drilled in regular military exercises in the past year, Khamenei ordered the biggest fortification project in Iran’s history to save its nuclear program from even the mightiest of America’s super-weapons. Rocks are being gathered from afar, piled on key nuclear installations, covered with many tons of poured concrete and finally plated with steel.

“That same Friday, the US Air force unveiled its new Massive Ordnance Penetrators. Each bunker buster weighs 30,000 pounds and is able to penetrate 60 feet of reinforced concrete.

“Turning to retaliation, the war council endorsed a battery of paybacks for potential US and/or Israeli pre-emptive strikes against its nuclear program. They would start by announcing enhanced uranium enrichment up to 60 percent – that is close to weapons grade.

“Oft-tested ballistic missiles, Shehab-3, would be loosed against Israel, Saudi Arabia and American Middle East and Gulf military installations.

“Hizballah in Lebanon and Hamas and Jihad Islami in Gaza stand ready to pitch in against Israel with attacks from the north and the southwest.
 
“Saudi oil export terminals would be blown up and mines sown in the Strait of Hormuz to impede the export of one-fifth of the world’s oil.

“Khamenei put before his war council a timeline of weeks for the coming conflict – September or October.”

War is coming again in the Middle East! Up to this point, rumors of impending conflict–especially between Israel and Iran–have been a constant item in the news. What we are witnessing following the “Arab Spring” is leading to the realignment of nations of the area to form an even stronger Islamist power-bloc–all potential enemies in a war against the State of Israel. However, the Bible does not support many of the ideas which are being circulated pertaining to future events in the Middle East. For more information, please view our new StandingWatch program, “War With Iran Coming Soon?”

Egypt Talks to Iran

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 8, 2012:

“Signaling a new era in Egypt’s diplomacy, President Mohamed Morsi met with Iran’s vice president Wednesday in the highest-level official contact between the two strategic nations in decades.

“Morsi’s visit with Hamid Baghaei gave Iran a diplomatic coup amid sharpening international pressure over its nuclear program and links to Syria. It came as Egypt’s new Islamist president looks to gradually reshape the pro-American policies of toppled leader Hosni Mubarak to reflect political shifts brought by the ‘Arab Spring’ revolts.

“The brief meeting in the Egyptian capital did not produce any breakthroughs, but it was symbolic. Formal relations between the two countries were broken after the Iranian Revolution and Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Mubarak had rebuffed Iran’s efforts in recent years to restore full diplomatic ties, although lower-level talks between officials were occurring.

“Baghaei’s stopover came at a pivotal time for both nations regarding Israel. Israel has suggested it might attack Iran’s nuclear program, which it believes is aimed at developing a bomb and which Tehran says is purely for civilian purposes. Cairo is under pressure from Israel and the United States to improve security in the Sinai peninsula after recent attempts by militants to infiltrate Israel…

“Iran has hailed Morsi’s presidency as Egypt’s ‘Islamic awakening.’ It has turned to Cairo as Iran’s regional stature is under duress from economic sanctions and political upheavals that have reconfigured the Arab world.

“Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iran’s reliable proxy, has been weakened by months of protests and bloody insurgency. If Assad is overthrown or relinquishes power, Tehran could lose an ally in its maneuverings in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, which is governed by the militant group Hamas.

“The Muslim Brotherhood, which inspired the founding of Hamas, has been urging closer relations with Iran. But many Egyptian clerics have been opposed to strengthening ties given the historical animosity between Sunnis and Shiites.”

Israel in a Defense Race

Reuters reported on August 5, 2012:

“Israel is upgrading its Arrow II ballistic missile shield in a U.S.-backed ‘race’ against Iran, Syria and other regional enemies, a senior Israeli defense official said on Sunday.

“The new ‘Block 4’ generation of guided interceptor rockets, radars and technologies for synchronizing Arrow with U.S. systems was being installed in deployed Israeli batteries, a process that would take several weeks, the official said.

“‘The accuracy and the reach will be greater,’ the official said of Arrow, which has been operational since 2000 and is designed to blow up incoming missiles at altitudes high enough for non-conventional warheads to disintegrate safely.

“‘It is part of the technological race in the region,’ the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

“Long jittery about Iran’s disputed nuclear program, the Israelis have more recently worried the Syrian insurgency could loosen Damascus’s hold on its chemical weapons and missiles.

“Israel has threatened to attack preemptively in both countries, a prospect that could trigger wider war and clash with Washington’s efforts to resolve the crises diplomatically.”

Greece Rounds Up Migrants

The New York Times reported on August 6, 2012:

“A vast police operation here aimed at identifying illegal immigrants found that, of 6,000 people detained over the weekend, 1,400 did not have proper documentation, leading the minister of public order to say that Greece was suffering an ‘unprecedented invasion’ that was threatening the stability of the debt-racked nation.

“The minister, Nikos Dendias, defended the mass detentions, saying that a failure to curb a relentless flow of immigrants into Greece would lead the country, which is surviving on foreign loans, to collapse. ‘Our social fabric is at risk of unraveling,’ Mr. Dendias told a private television channel, Skai. ‘The immigration problem is perhaps even greater than the financial one’…

“About 4,500 officers conducted raids on streets and in run-down apartment blocks in central Athens, a police spokesman said, calling the sweep one of the largest ever by the force. Eighty-eight Pakistanis were flown back home on a chartered flight on Sunday, said the spokesman, who spoke on the standard ground rules of anonymity. He said more deportations were expected in the coming days.

“With its position on the southeastern flank of the European Union, Greece has long been the most common transit country for impoverished migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. But the global economic malaise and the revolutions of the Arab Spring have sharply increased the flow of migrants, and the government has been calling for more help from the European Union.”

As has been talked about for quite a while, the United States of Europe are becoming a European fortress.

Euthanasia Business Finds German Approval!

The Local published the following on August 6, 2012:

“Nearly half of Germans are in favour of legalising euthanasia businesses, a recent survey revealed. The German parliament is still divided over proposed changes to assisted suicide laws.

“The survey, carried out by pollsters Emnid, found that 49 percent of Germans would be in favour of lifting the ban on privately-run euthanasia services. Just 41 percent said they would be against, Sunday’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported.

“Last week, Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said that she was going to present a redrafted version of the country’s assisted suicide laws in parliament.

“The new laws would see doctors, carers and close family being able to help someone end their life without facing punishment. Oddly, Emnid found that only 47 percent of the 501 people they asked, approved of this, as opposed to the 49 percent who approved lifting the ban on commercial euthanasia.

“But if the law is altered, providing a commercial euthanasia service would still be illegal, punishable by a two-year prison sentence. Euthanasia businesses were outlawed in Germany in 2009, and Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said the ban was not up for negotiation.

“But the suggested changes have provoked outcry from critics and sparked a debate within Germany’s ruling coalition.

“Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger is a member of the Free Democratic Party, the junior partner of the coalition, and members of the main governing party – the Christian Democratic Union – have said the distinction between commercial and non-commercial euthanasia is false and misleading.
 
“Social Democratic Party legal expert Edgar Franke told regional newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung that assisted suicide was an ethical issue that party-politics had no business with.”

The business of assisted suicide is, first and foremost, the breaking of God’s inviolable law against MURDER! Not only in Germany, but nations around the world trample on human life with ghastly decisions that “legalize” such atrocities as abortion. Life is now a commodity–something never intended or allowed by God, and it will take His direct intervention to now save us from our own twisted and misguided actions!

Gay Relationships Claim “Conservative Values”!

The Local, August 7, 2012, wrote:

“German Family Minister Kristina Schröder of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has said gay partnerships represent ‘conservative values’ because of their ‘long-term commitment’ – so they should get the same tax breaks as marriages.

“Schröder came out in support of a proposal by 13 CDU MPs calling for tax equality between marriage and homosexual partnerships, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.
 
“In a joint statement, the conservative parliamentarians said, ‘It is not acceptable that politicians are constantly … being asked to abolish the current inequality by the Constitutional Court.’
 
“The proposal comes in reaction to a Constitutional Court verdict from last week, which decided that public officials, judges, and soldiers in registered partnerships – whether gay or heterosexual – should have the same custody rights as married couples, and so should also be entitled to family allowance.
 
“The 13 MPs therefore called on their own party to ‘finally’ make tax equality ‘its own political decision.’
 
“‘We want to recognize that life partners with a registered partnership have set up a framework for a long-term relationship based on mutual trust and affection,’ the statement said. They said registered partners had the same ‘mutual income obligations and duties to each other’ as married couples, so they should have the same tax status.”

Germany’s opposition party, the SPD, is also in favor of providing the tax breaks mentioned in the article. Of course, Germany is by no means the only Western country which is trying to establish such new rules. In fact, most Western countries are doing this or have already done so. However, the so-called “conservative values” offered in this article are a total rejection of the true biblical values established by God. To whitewash sin by calling “evil good and good evil” does not change the timeless LAWS of God. In fact, here is what God says of this kind of approach in Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Romney Campaign Avoids Stance But Takes a Stance

Newsmax wrote on August 6, 2012:

“The Romney campaign’s decision to duck the Chick-fil-A controversy over gay-marriage appears to have reopened old wounds with social conservatives, who were never fully sold that the former Massachusetts governor would represent their concerns in the marbled halls of Washington.

“’This is the most disheartened that certainly I’ve felt looking at this entire race,’ said Catholic League president Bill Donohue. He told Newsmax in an exclusive interview that social conservatives will now have to decide whether to sit out the race.

“On Friday, Romney told reporters he does not intend to address the controversy that was touched off when big city mayors threatened to punish the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain after its president, Dan Cathy, voiced support for the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

“’Those are not things that are part of my campaign,’ said Romney.

“Romney’s aides have explained that while the presumptive GOP presidential nominee favors the traditional definition of marriage, he is trying to structure his remarks to keep the focus solely on the economy in order to have the best possible chance of defeating President Barack Obama in November.”

Spiegel Online (August 6, 2012) adds:

“Critics have called Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney a weakling, and polls show him far behind President Barack Obama. With new suspicions emerging that he has been less than honest about his taxes, even fellow Republicans are having their doubts about him.”

And from the Washingtion Times, August 7, 2012:

“There is one social issue on which Mitt Romney is more liberal than President Obama — that of urging the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to accept gay scouts.

“Mr. Romney said in 1994 that while it was up to BSA to set its own policy, he thought the scouts should allow gay boys in, and this week his campaign reaffirmed that stance to the Associated Press. The 1994 comments came as he was running to unseat then-Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts.

“‘I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation,’ Mr. Romney said during a debate at the time.

“Now Scouts for Equality, a group pushing for the national scouting group to allow gay boys to join, said it’s time for Mr. Obama — who as president is the honorary president of the scouts — to take the same stand.”

Mr. Romney’s approach is typical–rather than boldy standing up for the fundamental values long established as basic in American life, he has chosen to let opportunity pass him by, or to support wrong concepts. On the other hand, President Obama is not behaving any better. Our nation is not producing leadership which is rooted in biblical truth, and the sad consequences of that tradegy are already tearing us apart! The world is not ruled by God or His standards—it is ruled by Satan the devil who has deceived the whole world—including the American people and their leaders. Thanks be to God that He will send His Son Jesus Christ very soon to establish the Kingdom of God and righteous rule on this earth.

African Swine Fever Spreads

Reported in The Local, August 8, 2012:

“German pig keeping experts warned on Wednesday that if the African swine fever spreading across Russia and Ukraine hits Germany, damages could cost billions of euros and spark mass culls.

“’We don’t want to start spreading panic, but the situation is serious,’ head of the German pig keepers association (ISN) Torsten Staack told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ) on Wednesday.

“He said that the virus was highly contagious between animals and if a pig contracts it, they generally die very quickly. If it hit Germany, the consequences would cost ‘into the billions’ and could see around 31,000 of the country’s pig keepers affected by trading restrictions.

“A mass cull could be, he warned, necessary to keep the virus under control as affected animals have to be put down immediately, the NOZ said.

“The Agriculture Ministry issued an official warning on Tuesday about the outbreak in Russia and Ukraine – and has advised people travelling from those countries in particular not to bring pork products back into Germany.

“The virus manifests itself primarily with a high fever, other symptoms differ between animals and there is no vaccination against it. It is not dangerous to humans…

“A kind of ‘fire brigade for plague control’ could be beneficial in situations like these, he said.”

Try as we might, plagues will remain unstoppable as long as humanity rejects the health laws of God–and that includes not eating swine!

Britain’s Weird Olympic Opening Ceremony

The New York Times wrote on July 28:

“With its hilariously quirky Olympic opening ceremony, a wild jumble of the celebratory and the fanciful; the conventional and the eccentric; and the frankly off-the-wall, Britain presented itself to the world Friday night as something it has often struggled to express even to itself: a nation secure in its own post-empire identity, whatever that actually is.

“The noisy, busy, witty, dizzying production somehow managed to feature… a suggestion that the Olympic rings were forged by British foundries during the Industrial Revolution… and… a zany bunch of dancing nurses and bouncing sick children on huge hospital beds.

“It was neither a nostalgic sweep through the past nor a bold vision of a brave new future. Rather, it was a sometimes slightly insane portrait of a country that has changed almost beyond measure since the last time it hosted the Games, in the grim postwar summer of 1948. Britain was so poor then that it housed its athletes in old army barracks, made them bring their own towels and erected no buildings for the Games. The Olympics cost less than £750,000, turned a small profit and made the nation proud that it had managed to rise to the occasion in the face of such adversity.

“There was that same sense of relief intermingled with self-satisfaction this time… Queen Elizabeth II was there… Looking mystified at times — the ceremony was pitched to a generation different from hers — she presided over a bevy of lesser royals and Prime Minister David Cameron.  The first lady, Michelle Obama, was in the audience to cheer on the United States athletes, who, it must be said, did a lot of cheering for themselves anyway during the athletes’ procession. And Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was there, too, although he was practically Public Enemy No. 1 around here after he appeared to question the British capacity for enthusiasm, something only Britons are allowed to do…

“As is the case (with) almost every Olympics, much of the speculation around it centered on how Britain could possibly surpass the previous summer host, China… But outdoing anyone else, particularly the new superpower China, was not the point for a country that can never hope to re-create the glory days of its empire… That the Olympics come at a time of deep economic malaise, with Britain teetering on the edge of a double-dip recession, the government cutting billions of dollars from public spending… made the scene a bit surreal, even defiant in the face of so much adversity.

“The crowd in the stadium sat in a bubble of excitement. In the wider park, volunteers have been behaving with an enthusiasm that seems bewilderingly un-British. But out in the rest of the country, critics have been questioning the expense, the ubiquitously heavy-handed security apparatus, and the rampant commercialism of the Games… The ceremony, too, reflected… deeply left-leaning sensibilities…”

The expense for the Games is certainly outlandish, but it must be remembered that when London was nominated for the Games eight years ago, the economy was going well and no thought about cost would have stopped the process. Now, in 2012, we have the Games with ridiculous costs that Britain can’t afford but to which it was committed in different economic times. What the article in the New York Times expresses in so many words is that Britain is in self-denial, apparently believing that it could regain its former glory. But catering to weird modern ungodly ideas won’t help. In fact, Ephraim is destined to fall totally and completely, and even what is left of its former glory will be taken away. This is what God prophesied in the book of Hosea, when referring to Ephraim or the modern UK: “Ephraim is a cake unturned… but he does not know it… the pride of Israel testifies to his face, But they do not return to the LORD their God, Nor seek Him for all this… Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense… Ephraim has made many altars for sin… I have written for him the great things of My law, But they were considered a strange thing…  As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird… Yes, woe to them when I depart from them…” (Hosea 7:8-11; 8:11-12; 9:11-12).

Opening Ceremony by a Socialist?

AFP wrote on July 28, 2012:

“A celebration of free healthcare, the trade union struggle, the battle for women’s rights and a fleeting lesbian kiss: the Olympics opening ceremony Friday did not shy away from weighty social issues. Unsurprisingly, the show devised by Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle drew accusations from the British political right that it had strayed into ‘leftie’ issues… Alastair Campbell, former British Labour prime minister Tony Blair’s communications chief, [wrote] on Twitter: ‘Brilliant that we got a socialist to do the opening ceremony.’…

“The show bringing the curtain up on the London Olympics began with sections showing idyllic rural Britain being overtaken by the Industrial Revolution, before moving on to a 10-minute sequence celebrating the state-run National Health Service (NHS). Britain’s first televised lesbian kiss — from a 1993 episode of soap opera ‘Brookside’ — was shown in a fast-moving montage of film and TV clips. Later in the ceremony, dancers formed the shape of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament badge and other performers represented the struggle of trade union movements.”

The Telegraph wrote on July 29:

“The opening ceremony was a bit of a grab-bag, wasn’t it? I thought some of it was great, some was rather bad and quite a lot of it will mystify the foreign TV viewers (95 per cent of the audience) who it was supposed to dazzle… It was more political than I expected… Tonight marked perhaps its final transformation from a healthcare system into a religion… The idea of the Health Service as a beacon for the world is, bluntly, a national self-delusion. Most other Western European countries have better state healthcare systems – and healthier people – than we do…”

The Horror of Female Circumcision

The Guardian wrote on July 24:

“Female circumcision will be inflicted on up to 2,000 British schoolgirls during the summer holidays – leaving brutal physical and emotional scars… Some will be taken abroad, others will be ‘cut’ or circumcised and sewn closed here in the UK by women already living here or who are flown in and brought to ‘cutting parties’ for a few girls at a time in a cost-saving exercise…

“The UK Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 makes it an offence to carry out FGM [female genital mutilation]… or to aid, abet or procure the service of another person. The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, makes it against the law for FGM to be performed anywhere in the world on UK permanent residents of any age and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment. To date, no prosecutions have been made under UK legislation…

“FGM has no basis in Christianity, it has no basis in Islam [or Judaism]…

“Female genital mutilation, also known as cutting, is practised in 28 African countries. The prevalence rate ranges from 98% of girls in Somalia to 5% in Zaire. It also takes place among ethnic groups in the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, the US and New Zealand. Until the 1950s FGM was used in England and the US as a ‘treatment’ for lesbianism, masturbation, hysteria, epilepsy and other ‘female deviances’… No European country accepts the threat of FGM as a reason for asylum…”

This is so appalling, and of all places, this is being carried out in Britain without any law enforcement. It has been reported that Britain is the leading Western nation guilty of this outrage. The nations rule against what God does allow and then twist and pervert things in such degrading and sinful ways!!!  At the same time, we should be able to see how Satan is instigating this whole discussion on circumcision in general, including the prohibition of [biblically permitted] circumcision of young boys. See the next article.

The Ongoing Circumcision Debate

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 27:

“A German court’s outlawing of the circumcision of boys — and the vociferous support it has received in the self-proclaimed enlightened media — confirms a tendency that has seen religion-bashing… rampant anti-religious prejudice and growing intolerance toward believers… But elsewhere in the world, people are shaking their heads over the fact that it’s the Germans, once again, who… are trying to make it impossible for Jews to remain in their country…

“The sharpness of the attacks [on circumcision] is only surpassed by the absurdity of the justifications. A procedure that is hardly more painful than a vaccination — something for which parents also don’t consult their child in advance — is now being expanded and revamped to form a strategy of cultural anthropology…

“Germany — despite the fact that it still has a large number of registered church members — hasn’t been a Christian country in a long time. Today, the fathers of the German constitution would no longer come together ‘before God and the people.’ But we are quick to overlook the fact that our secular nation… depends on conditions that it cannot in fact guarantee… In the name of reason alone (and common sense), there is no love, no beauty and perhaps even no God. For that, the heart must be open…

“The anti-religious rhetoric is no longer restricted to newspaper columns… We have eliminated almost all taboos in our society, and we tout this as a sign of great progress. But we need taboos. Child pornography is one of them, and denying the Holocaust is another. Both are punishable offences… What if we rejected blasphemy — that is, the foolish disparagement of God and faith — out of inner conviction and respect for others? This would be a genuine step forward.”

This could of course become a double-edged sword as well, because who is to define “blasphemy”? In times past, Satan was very busy influencing and inspiring zealous church leaders to excommunicate, label as “anathema” and accuse everyone as having committed blasphemy who denied the false concept of an ever-burning hell fire, torturing the wicked souls for all eternity, and the unbiblical concept of the Trinity. The same is true for the insistence that the weekly biblical Sabbath—as opposed to unbiblical Sunday—must still be kept today.

A Policy of Deception?

Fox News reported on July 24:

“The ancient Chinese practice of lingchi, the ‘Death of a Thousand Cuts,’ best describes the manner in which the Obama administration has systematically whittled away most immigration enforcement since taking office. Over time, the rule of law has been shredded not by a single act, but by many small cuts. A review of President Obama’s record reveals a jaw-dropping steady and stealthy dismantling of virtually every tool and resource used to identify and remove deportable aliens…

“Immediately after taking office, the Obama administration replaced effective worksite enforcement that targeted both employers and illegal workers with meaningless paper audits and modest fines… Failing to hold employers who hire illegal aliens accountable was an early, yet clear signal that the Obama administration intended to derail all enforcement…

“In 2011, Obama’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, John Morton, issued a series of internal directives instructing agency staff to focus their efforts exclusively on removing illegal aliens with criminal records…

“Obama told Americans that the border was secure and that that deportations were up. Both were deceptions. In official documents, DHS stated that only 44% of the border was under operational control. And while deportations had, in fact risen slightly, the increase had nothing to do with expanding enforcement by the Obama administration. A ‘pipeline’ of deportable cases was filled by vigorous enforcement during the last two years of the Bush administration. Those cases carried forward and Obama took credit in his first two years. Moreover, while deportations for violent criminal aliens had risen, all other deportations were down indicating that the Obama administration felt it could pick and choose which laws to enforce…

“From the beginning, President Obama knew that the public would reject amnesty legislation. However, he also knew he stood a good chance of getting it done through a strategy of piecemeal efforts, provided no one noticed. With an election looming and special interests demanding grandiose and immediate action, in June President Obama declared unilaterally that he was using executive power to implement the DREAM Act for an untold number illegal alien ‘kids’ who were brought here through ‘no fault of their own.’ During his DREAM Act speech, Obama failed to mention that his new edict allowed illegal aliens up to the age of 30 to qualify.

“Then, in an interview shortly thereafter with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, DHS Secretary Napolitano admitted that parents of illegal aliens applying for deferred action – illegal alien adults who most certainly did knowingly break the law – will not be subject to immigration enforcement… With that announcement, amnesty for illegal aliens tripled…

“Obama’s Death of a Thousand Cuts has virtually gutted our country’s immigration enforcement apparatus, but the record is clear and the public must hold this president accountable…”

But before Church members jump to premature conclusions and become political agitators for the presidential challenger, as being the “lesser of two evils,” be sure to read the next article.

Mitt Romney’s Flubs in Britain

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 27:

“Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had been hoping to show off his foreign-policy credentials by traveling to Europe this week. Instead, he has committed one flub after another. The headlines have not been kind.

“Mitt Romney was hoping to start off his European tour with a bang: a meeting with conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday and a couple of lucrative fundraising events. The idea was to show the presumed Republican presidential candidate from his best side. After all, he himself successfully managed the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah… Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Romney to make the kind of negative headlines he had been hoping to avoid. And it has cast a dark cloud over his entire trip.

“It all began with an anonymous Romney ‘adviser’ and the special relationship between the US and Great Britain. ‘We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he (Romney) feels that the special relationship is special,’ the adviser told the British daily Telegraph. ‘The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have.’

“Perhaps the comment hadn’t been adequately vetted. But the Telegraph teased it out for its readers. The remarks, the paper wrote, ‘may prompt accusations of racial insensitivity’ given that Obama’s father, after all, was neither white nor Anglo-Saxon. US Vice President Joe Biden reacted strongly by calling the comments ‘disturbing’ and saying the assertion was ‘beneath a presidential campaign.’ Obama adviser David Axelrod said that the comment on shared heritage was ‘stunningly offensive.’

“And Romney? The candidate has done his best to distance himself from the statements, saying he doesn’t know who the source is — and accusing Biden of reacting to quotes from an unnamed adviser in a ‘foreign newspaper.’

“That, though, was just the appetizer. Not long after his arrival in London, Romney joined Brian Williams from the US broadcaster NBC for an exclusive interview… he said: ‘There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging.’

“As if that weren’t enough, Romney also seemed to take aim at the British people. ‘Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? That is something which we only find out once the Games actually begin.’ Not surprisingly, the British press jumped on the comments. As did British leaders. During a rally to celebrate the end of the torch relay in Hyde Park, London Mayor Boris Johnson said to the gathered crowd: ‘There’s this guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know whether we are ready.’ And Prime Minister Cameron also chided the Republican candidate. ‘We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world,’ he said. ‘Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.’

“Chagrined, Romney quickly did something that Americans have become used to from him: He flip-flopped. In comments to the press afterward, he conceded that it is ‘impossible for absolutely no mistakes to occur.’ And added that, once competition starts, ‘those are all overshadowed by the extraordinary demonstrations of courage, character and determination by the athletes.’

“Still, Romney wasn’t quite done making headlines. It was, after all, a long day full of meetings with a variety of people, including Labour party head Ed Miliband, who Romney addressed as ‘Mr. Leader.’ And then there was another appointment. ‘I can only say that I appreciated the insights and perspectives of the leaders of the government here and opposition here as well as the head of MI6 as we discussed Syria and the hope for a more peaceful future for that country,’ he said at a news conference. Oops. The meeting with MI6 head Sir John Sawers was supposed to remain secret. That, at least, had been the agreement beforehand.”

So, either way, this country is in big trouble, and ONLY the return of Jesus Christ and His godly and righteous government here on earth will experience and manifest real and better change!

CNN President Resigns

On July 27, 2012, Newsmax and Bloomberg News reported:

“CNN President Jim Walton, who presided over the once-dominant cable-news business… will resign after almost a decade in the job, saying the network needs ‘new thinking’… CNN is suffering through a ratings slump… CNN now ranks far behind News Corp.’s Fox News…

“Walton, 54, started at CNN in December 1981, one year after it was founded by billionaire Ted Turner. Walton helped build the nascent network into a dominant news organization, and CNN soon became a staple in many households. It was the only news company that broadcast live video feeds of the first Gulf War from inside Iraq.

“In recent years, the network struggled to find a formula that connected with viewers. It also made a major gaffe last month, reporting incorrectly that the U.S. Supreme Court found a central piece of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional…”

Maybe this would help: a little bit less left-wing propaganda and CNN’s definite agenda to get Mr. Obama re-elected, and much more objective reporting of the news.

Standing Up to the NRA

On July 26, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote the following insightful article on Bloomberg.com:

“It has been a week since the massacre in Aurora, Colorado. The two major U.S. presidential candidates spent the past week avoiding the subject of whether anything should be done to prevent such shootings from recurring. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, declared Wednesday that ‘changing the heart of the American people’ is our best hope to stop the carnage. President Barack Obama offered little more than support for his past positions, such as banning assault weapons. Very likely, both candidates will spend the next few months avoiding the issue altogether.

“The wise men of Washington tell us that candidates are silent on guns because to speak out is to incur the wrath of the National Rifle Association. But polls consistently show that gun owners, including NRA members, overwhelmingly support the common sense measures that mayors across the country have been trying to get Washington to pass for years.

“More than 700 mayors, from both political parties, have joined together to stop the flow of illegal guns into our communities. Mayors know all too well that the debate on the Second Amendment is over. The Supreme Court recognized that the Second Amendment grants citizens the right to bear arms, subject to reasonable restrictions. The question is: What should those restrictions look like?

“Mayors and the NRA strongly agree that the federal government should enforce the laws already on the books. Federal law prohibits all felons — and those with a history of mental illness or drug abuse — from possessing guns. The NRA believes — rightly — that enforcing the law means prosecuting criminals to the fullest extent. In New York state, we have increased the mandatory minimum prison sentence for illegal possession of a loaded gun to 3 1/2 years, one of the toughest penalties in the country.

“But whether fighting illegal guns or drugs, we should seek not merely to make arrests, but to prevent the crime from occurring in the first place. That is why the federal government requires licensed firearm dealers to conduct background checks to determine whether an individual is eligible to purchase a gun. Nonlicensed sellers, however, are not required to perform federal background checks, and as much as 40 percent of gun sales slip through this loophole. Criminals and the deranged can buy guns simply by logging on to the Internet or visiting a gun show — and they do, every day. Stopping them requires background checks for every gun sale, a change strongly supported by major law enforcement organizations, as well as gun owners and NRA members. But not the NRA’s leadership. The NRA is a $200 million-plus-a-year lobbying juggernaut, with much of its funding coming from gun manufacturers and merchandising. More than anything, the NRA is a marketing organization, and its flagship product is fear…

“There is one particular fear the NRA manufactures with great success: fear of electoral defeat. Romney has walked away from the assault-weapons ban he once supported, and in nearly four years, Obama has offered no legislation to rein in illegal guns…  Some Americans view smarter, tougher gun measures as a hopeless crusade. But political environments change, especially when strong leaders build coalitions and carve new paths through seemingly settled territory. There are conservative, pro-gun rights members of Congress who understand that more can be done to keep guns away from dangerous people.”

These accurate statements should wake up those up who are so fascinated with their love for guns that they can’t see the truth in this matter—including the dubious and terrible role which the NRA leadership has been playing all along.

Gay Rights Advocates Push the Envelope Even More

Newsmax wrote on July 26:

“Billy Graham [a strong advocate for traditional marriage] has thrown his support behind embattled Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy… Dan Cathy’s recent comments supporting the ‘biblical definition’ of marriage as between a man and a woman has led to calls by gay rights advocates to boycott the chain. The mayors of Boston and Chicago have recently promised to stop further expansion of the restaurants in their cities. ‘I want to express my support for my good friends Truett Cathy and his son Dan Cathy, and for their strong stand for the Christian faith,’ Graham said.

“‘I’ve known their family for many years and have watched them grow Chick-fil-A into one of the best businesses in America while never compromising their values. Chick-fil-A serves each of its customers with excellence, and treats everyone like a neighbor. It’s easy to see why Chick-fil-A has become so popular across America. Each generation faces different issues and challenges, but our standard must always be measured by God’s word. I appreciate the Cathy family’s public support for God’s definition of marriage.’”

The actions of the “gay activists” and the mayors of Boston and Chicago are unconscionable. No wonder that God is deeply upset about the direction that our country is going.

Coming—Global Food Crisis?

Al Jazeera wrote on July 26:

“For weeks the US has been suffering its most extensive drought in half a century. And meteorologists expect the severe conditions to continue… the drought has expanded since the beginning of this year, particularly affecting the US heartland, known as the breadbasket of the country and the world.

“The US dominates the global corn market but the US Department of Agriculture has predicted a sharp drop in corn exports, with prices for corn and soybeans already hitting record highs. At least 87 per cent of all US corn and soybean crops are grown in drought-stricken regions. Corn is what is called a mega-crop used in the production of everything from meat to cereal to sugary drinks and fuel. As a result, rising prices have the potential to lead to another global food crisis…

“About 60 per cent of continental US is experiencing drought conditions. The US is the world’s largest corn producer, and provides up to 60 per cent of the world’s food aid. The price of corn has increased by 34 per cent in the last month. The US government says nearly 40 per cent of the corn crop is in poor condition… The US is ranked as the most food-secure nation in the world… Second is Denmark, followed by Norway… The least food-secure nations are in sub-Saharan Africa, with the DR Congo scoring most poorly with 70 per cent of household income there spent on food despite the country’s huge agricultural potential. Chad and Burundi suffer from similar circumstances.”

God prophecies that even the USA will be suffering from severe famine in the not-too-distant future.

Possible Strike on Iran?

The Associated Press wrote on July 29:

“An Israeli newspaper reported Sunday that the Obama administration’s top security official has briefed Israel on U.S. plans for a possible attack on Iran, seeking to reassure it that Washington is prepared to act militarily should diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its nuclear enrichment program. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential talks, said the article in the Haaretz daily was incorrect.

“Haaretz said National Security Adviser Tom Donilon laid out the plans before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a dinner at a visit to Israel earlier this month. It cited an unidentified senior American official as the source of its report, which came out as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was telling Israel he would back an Israeli military strike against Iran.

“The American official also said Donilon shared information on U.S. weapons that could be used for such an attack, and on the U.S. military’s ability to reach Iranian nuclear facilities buried deep underground, the newspaper said. It cited another U.S. official involved in the talks with Israel as concluding that ‘the time for a military operation against Iran has not yet come.’

“The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential meeting, said, ‘Nothing in the article is correct. Donilon did not meet the prime minister for dinner, he did not meet him one-on-one, nor did he present operational plans to attack Iran.’ He had no information when asked if Donilon had discussed any kind of attack plans with any Israeli official. Haaretz said another Israeli official attended for part of the meeting.

“The U.S. Embassy had no immediate comment. Haaretz cited Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, as declining to comment on the confidential discussion between Netanyahu and Donilon…

“Israeli leaders have repeatedly said they would not contract out their country’s security to another nation. In Jerusalem on Sunday, a top Romney foreign policy adviser told reporters, ‘If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing the capability (to build a nuclear weapon), the governor would respect that decision.’ Romney also thinks the option of a U.S. attack should also be on the table.”

Attack on Iran Could Devastate Global Economy

Newsmax reported on July 28:

“The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, has now stated publicly that Iran and its agents masterminded the recent terror attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. Rogers stated flatly: ‘I believe there were certainly elements of Hezbollah [involved] and I believe it was under the direction of their masters in Iran.’ And former UN Ambassador John Bolton has urged Israel to retaliate directly against Iran for this barbaric attack. Such an attack, experts fear, could escalate quickly into a wider military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

“Meanwhile, Iran is also ratcheting up its support for Syria’s Assad regime. ‘The Iranian people have an unchangeable stance on Syrians and will always stand by them,’ Iran’s Vice President Rahimi said this week.

“Iran appears to be on a collision course with Israel, the U.S. and other Western allies. The implications of a crisis in Iran are grave. Former U.S. National Security Adviser Brzezinski has warned that an attack on Iran could lead to a series of events that ‘devastate’ the global economy.”

A war in the Middle East, involving Israel and Iran, would indeed have terrible consequences for the entire world.

Fierce Fighting in Ethiopia

BBC wrote on July 28:

“Ethnic clashes in southern Ethiopia are reported to have left at least 18 people dead and 12 others injured. More than 20,000 people have crossed into Kenya to escape the fighting, the Kenyan Red Cross says.

“A spokesman told the BBC that people were continuing to cross the border although Ethiopian government forces had intervened to stop the fighting… Local reports speak of armed militias taking up positions in outlying villages on Wednesday, with the fighting spreading to Moyale town, on the Ethiopia-Kenya border, on Thursday.”

Keep your eye on Ethiopia!