Frightening… Incredible Authority of the US President to Launch Nuclear Attacks
Politico wrote on June 11:
“In the atomic age, when decisions must be made very quickly, the presidency has evolved into something akin to a nuclear monarchy. With a single phone call, the commander in chief has virtually unlimited power to rain down nuclear weapons on any adversarial regime and country at any time. You might imagine this awesome executive power would be hamstrung with checks and balances, but by law, custom and congressional deference there may be no responsibility where the president has more absolute control. There is no advice and consent by the Senate. There is no second-guessing by the Supreme Court…
“Let us say the president is awakened in the middle of the night… by his or her top nuclear adviser and told of an incoming nuclear strike. Since the flight time of missiles fired from launch stations in Russia or China to the White House is 30 minutes, and 12 minutes or less for missiles fired from submarines lurking in the Western Atlantic Ocean… the steadiness and brainpower of the commander in chief in such circumstances are serious questions indeed…
“The closest we came to such a call occurred in 1979, when the consoles at our early warning hub in Colorado lit up with indications of a large-scale Soviet missile attack. President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, received back-to-back calls in the middle of the night informing him of the imminent nuclear destruction of the United States. The second call reported an all-out attack. Brzezinski was seconds away from waking Carter to pass on the dreadful news and convince him of the need to order retaliation without delay (within a six-minute deadline). Brzezinski was sure the end was near.
“Just before he picked up the phone to call Carter, Brzezinski received a third call, this time canceling the alarm. It was a mistake caused by human and technical error. A training tape simulating an all-out Soviet attack had inadvertently slipped into the actual real-time attack early warning network…
“Most presidents during the Cold War lived in dread of this moment knowing all too well the attendant risks. Ronald Reagan expressed incredulity that he would be allowed only six minutes to decide whether to trigger Armageddon based on blips on a radar screen…
“Today, the nuclear deluge… would consist of thousands of weapons, each 10 or 20 times more deadly than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Nearly 2,000 U.S. strategic nuclear weapons aimed primarily at Russia and China (at a ratio of roughly 2 to 1), with additional dozens aimed at each of several other nations—North Korea, Iran and Syria [are at the President’s disposal]. The city of Moscow alone lies in the bore sights of more than 100 U.S. nuclear warheads…
“As long as the president can establish his or her true identity… a presidential nuclear decision… must be obeyed as long as it is constitutional—i.e., the president as commander in chief believes he or she is acting to protect and defend the nation against an actual or imminent attack… there is no wiggle room for evasion or defiance of the president’s orders. That’s true even if the national security adviser, the secretary of defense… and other top appointees and advisers disagree with the president’s decision… Under the president’s open-ended mandate to decide when the national interest is threatened, ordering up a nuclear strike is his or her prerogative, and obeying the order is incumbent upon the military servants of civilian authority…”
ISIS’ War on the USA—Worst Mass Shooting in US History
The Daily Mail wrote on June 13:
“ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadliest mass shooting in US history and says the gunman who slaughtered at least 50 innocent party-goers in an Orlando gay club was one of its fighters… This is the first time ISIS has claimed responsibility for an attack on US soil.
“Shortly before the attack, Mateen, who was born in New York to Afghan parents, called 911 and pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi… And the terror group’s Amaq news agency said on Sunday the Islamist militant group was responsible for the shooting… U.S. officials cautioned, however, that they had no immediate evidence of any direct connection with ISIS or any other foreign extremist group, nor had they uncovered any contacts between the gunman and any such group…
“Mateen had purchased at least two firearms legally within the last week or so… [He] exchanged gunfire with an officer working at the club around 2am local time, then went back inside and took hostages. There were about 350 people inside the club at the time of the shootings and about 100 people were taken hostage… At around 5am authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue the hostages. Hero officers used a ‘controlled explosion’ to distract the shooter before fatally shooting him and rescuing about 30 hostages who were hiding in the bathroom of the club…
“Mateen, a Muslim and father to a three-year-old son, was born in 1986 in New York and married Sitora Alisherzoda Yusufiy, who was born in Uzbekistan, in 2009. They later divorced…
“’The FBI first became aware of Mateen in 2013 as he made inflammatory comments to coworkers, alleging possible terrorist ties’… In 2014, Mateen came to the FBI’s attention again and agents interviewed him about a potential connection he may have had with American suicide bomber Moner Abu Salha, who lived about 30 minutes away in Vero Beach, Florida…
“The ex-wife of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen claims he beat her… ‘He was not a stable person,’ she told the Post. ‘He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.’ When her parents found out about the beatings just months after the wedding, they staged an intervention and rescued her from the home. ‘They literally saved my life,’ she said…
“President Obama… was challenged by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to connect ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ to the case. Obama didn’t once bring up the Islamic religion, instead using the more blanket term of terrorism to describe the incident. ‘Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? If he doesn’t he should immediately resign in disgrace!’ Trump wrote.
“Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton wrote in both English and Spanish: ‘Woke up to hear the devastating news from FL. As we wait for more information, my thoughts are with those affected by this horrific act. -H.’ Pope Francis, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and the leaders of Canada and Afghanistan condemned the attack.
“If confirmed as an act of terrorism, it would be the deadliest such attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001, when al Qaeda-trained hijackers crashed jetliners into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing some 3,000 people…
“The father of mass shooter Omar Mateen… is a strong supporter of the Afghan Taliban… [He] hosts the Durand Jirga Show on a channel called Payam-e-Afghan, which broadcasts from California… He is also filmed expressing gratitude toward the Afghan Taliban, while denouncing the Pakistani government.”
Terrorist of Florida a Homosexual?
Breitbart wrote on June 14:
“Evidence is building from a variety of sources that Orlando jihadi Omar Mateen, who murdered 49 people at gay nightclub Pulse, was himself gay, or had ‘gay tendencies,’ as his ex-wife put it. Strangely, the ex-wife claims FBI agents asked her not to share this detail with the media.
“That report comes from the New York Post, which in turn reports on an interview Sitora Yusufiy gave a Brazilian TV station, with her current fiancé translating her remarks into Portuguese. According to Yusufiy, who was married to Mateen for three months in 2009, the Orlando murderer had ‘gay tendencies,’ and was once called ‘gay’ by his father in her presence. Most remarkably, Yusufiy said ‘the FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media.’
“The New York Post also cites a Palm Beach Post report that a male former classmate of Mateen’s from Indian River Community College claims they used to hit gay bars together in 2006, and Mateen once ‘asked him out romantically.’ The classmate in question, Chris Callen… who performs as a drag queen… said Mateen was escorted out of Pulse after drinking too much on several occasions, and once pulled a knife on a friend…
“Several other Pulse patrons told the Orlando Sentinel similar stories about Mateen drinking heavily at the club, sometimes becoming ‘loud and belligerent.’ A Pulse regular named Kevin West said that Mateen sent him messages using a gay dating app called Jack’d… During a MSNBC interview, Pulse patron Cord Cedeno said he recognized Mateen from another gay dating app…
“Cedeno said one of his friends… recalled seeing Mateen posts on yet another gay dating service called Adam for Adam. Two of his other friends have turned in their phones to the FBI to document Mateen’s activity on gay dating sites…
“Seddique Mateen has previously claimed that his son was driven over the edge by the sight of ‘two men kissing,’ a narrative that would dissolve completely if the reports of his frequent attendance at gay bars are true. The effort to position the story as an violent expression of generic ‘homophobia,’ more than sharia ideology and international terrorism, would also be complicated by revelations that Mateen himself was gay.
“A more complicated narrative might portray Mateen as embracing violent Islamic fundamentalism to absolve or erase his ‘gay tendencies.’ That would be much harder to politicize, while simultaneously keeping radical Islam out of the discussion.”
Trump Responds
Newsmax wrote on June 13:
“Donald Trump, responding to the mass slaughter that targeted gays in Florida over the weekend, said on Monday the ‘anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-American’ Islamic State (ISIS) must be defeated — something that will be a top priority of his administration. ‘The horror is beyond description,’ Trump said in a national security speech in Manchester, N.H. ‘It is an attack on the right of every single American to live in peace and safety.’
“After asking for a moment of silence for the 49 people who died when a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Trump reiterated his plan to temporarily ban Muslims and others from countries with terrorist ties from entering the U.S. ‘until we figure out what the… is going on.’
“The presumptive GOP presidential nominee also attacked what he called the failed policies of the Obama administration as well as what would he believes would be a ruinous term for Hillary Clinton in the White House. He said ‘thousands and thousands of people, many of whom have the same thought process as this savage killer’ — whose name he insisted he will never say — are pouring into the U.S. The ban, he said, would be lifted only ‘when and as a nation we are in a position to properly and perfectly screen these people coming into our country.’…
“He accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of wanting to abolish the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, which would leave ‘only the bad guys, terrorists with guns’… Trump also claimed that ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Muslim immigrants… are coming into the United States without proper screening — something he said he would put an immediate stop to. ‘I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, Jewish people are targets of persecution and intimidation by radical Islamic preachers of hate and violence. This is not just a national security issue. It’s a quality of life issue,’ Trump said.
“He said of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community that was targeted by gunman Omar Mateen: ‘It’s an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want and express their identity.’… ‘Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she continues to support immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists to our country and who suppress women, gays and anyone who doesn’t share our values,’ he said.”
NBC added on June 13:
“While some Republican leaders have encouraged Trump to abandon his proposed Muslim ban in an effort to broaden his support among voters before November’s general election, the Orlando attack appeared Sunday to harden the billionaire businessman’s position. ‘What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning,’ Trump tweeted Sunday. ‘Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough.’”
The Huffington Post wrote on June 13:
“Donald Trump, a renowned conspiracy theorist, was at it again on Monday morning, implying that President Barack Obama harbored some sort of connection, perhaps even sympathies, to Muslims who had committed acts of terror in the United States. The presumptive GOP nominee made this allegation the morning after the deadliest shooting in modern American history — a slaying of 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando — during an interview on ‘Fox and Friends.’ ‘[Obama] doesn’t get it, or he gets it better than anybody understands,’ Trump said of the president’s response to the nightclub shooting. ‘It’s one or the other. And either one is unacceptable.’…”
The Washington Post added on June 13:
“He called Obama’s motivations into question Monday, insinuating that the president may sympathize with radical jihadism — a statement that carried echoes of the so-called ‘birther movement,’ which circulated conspiracy theories about whether the president was born in the United States. ‘Well, there are a lot of people that think maybe he doesn’t want to get it,’ Trump said Monday on NBC. ‘A lot of people think maybe he doesn’t want to know about it. I happen to think that he just doesn’t know what he’s doing, but there are many people that think maybe he doesn’t want to get it.’”
Former French Rabbi Calls Tel Aviv’s Gay Parade an Abomination… and More…
JTA wrote on June 10:
“Several French Jewish organizations condemned a former chief rabbi of France, who called Tel Aviv’s gay pride parade an ‘abomination’ and ‘attempt at moral extermination of the People of Israel.’ Joseph Sitruk, who had served as France’s chief rabbi from 1987 until 2008, made the statements last week… ‘The Torah determines that homosexuality is an abomination and considers it a human failure. The danger seems to me grave enough for everyone to shout their opposition in the face of such an offense,’ said Sitruk on June 3, as tens of thousands marched through Tel Aviv in its 23rd annual gay pride event. ‘I hope the listeners will react in a radical manner to this abomination,’ Sitruk said.
“Alain Beit, the president of the gay Jewish Beit Haverim group, condemned Sitruk’s remarks in a statement on June 5, demanding whether the radical reaction he sought extends to ‘stabbing an adolescent like what happened last year in Jerusalem’ or ‘throwing gays off a cliff.’…
“Radio J president Serge Hajdenberg and Guy Rozanowicz, the station’s secretary general, published [a] statement saying they were not responsible for Sitruk’s remarks on gays and distancing the station from them. French Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia defended Sitruk to Actualite Juive, saying he would never call for violence. But Korsia added that he can ‘understand how Sitruk’s remarks may be shocking,’ particularly in light of the stabbing last year.”
Don’t Dare to Say Anything Against Homosexual Lifestyle?
Daily Mail wrote on June 14:
“CNN host Anderson Cooper has slammed Florida’s Attorney General for her LGBT views in the wake of the Orlando massacre. The journalist accused Pam Bondi of hypocrisy during an interview outside the hospital where people caught up in Omar Mateen’s deadly rampage are being treated. He reminded her of when she said allowing same-sex marriage would bring ‘significant public harm’ to the state.
“A few days ago, shortly after [the] horrific terrorist attack that left 49 people dead, she said anyone who went against the LGBT community will be met by the full extent of the law. But Cooper, who is gay, began the heated segment by saying: ‘I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here yesterday, who are not fans of yours. They thought you were being a hypocrite… Do you really think you’re a champion of the gay community?’ ‘I’ve never said I don’t like gay people,’ she responded…
“NBC 6 has reported that Bondi’s failed fight against gay marriage would cost the taxpayer around $500,000. A judge ruled that every attorney who successfully sued the state was owed their money back…”
And so left-wing propaganda continues to gain support in opposition to what the Bible terms as perversion. This is truly a huge blot on the moral landscape. Note the next articles as well.
Prince William on Cover of Gay Magazine
Reuters wrote on June 15:
“Prince William will appear on the July cover of Attitude speaking out against homophobia, the first time a British royal has been photographed for the front of a gay publication, the magazine said on Wednesday. William is seen grinning next to the headline ‘Making History’, and his quote ‘No one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason’.
“The magazine… said the prince had posed for the shot after meeting its editor and a group of gay and transgender people at Kensington Palace. William, whose brother Harry won praise in 2013 for saving a soldier in his regiment from a gay hate attack, is quoted telling anyone being bullied for their sexuality to report it and get support… ‘You should be proud of the person you are and you have nothing to be ashamed of,’ he said.
“Attitude, which calls itself ‘the UK’s best-selling gay magazine’, said William had invited it last month ‘to bring members of the LGBT+ community to Kensington Palace to listen to their experience of bullying’… William, the queen’s grandson, said in April that he wanted to foster a more modern and relevant monarchy.”
Changing to “Non-Binary” – First Court Ruling of Its Kind
Oregonlive.com wrote on June 10:
“An Oregon Judge ruled on Friday that a transgender person can legally change their sex to ‘non-binary’ rather than male or female in what legal experts believe is a first in the United States…
“Shupe, an Army veteran who [was born as a female and who] retired in 2000 a sergeant first class, began transitioning in 2013 while living in Pittsburg. Shupe knew then that neither male nor female fit… Shupe chose female, but female never felt right. In April, Shupe and lawyer Lake Perriguey filed a petition with the Oregon court to legally change Shupe’s sex. Oregon law allows a court to change a person’s legal sex if a judge determines the person has undergone surgical, hormonal or other treatment related to a gender transition. The law does not require a note from a doctor…
“Officials at the national Transgender Law Center said they are unaware of any similar court victories in the United States. A high court in France last year allowed a resident to register as gender neutral… ‘A growing number of countries already recognize nonbinary genders, but as far as we know this is the first ruling of its kind in the U.S.,’ Legal Director Ilona Turner said in a written statement. ‘Other states and agencies should consider following suit to ensure that nonbinary members of our community have access to identity documents that reflect who they are, just like everyone else.’”
Italian Newspaper Criticized for Giving Away Annotated Versions of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”
BBC News reported on June 11:
“[The] Italian newspaper Il Giornale has come under fire for offering free annotated copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf with one of its supplements… Hitler published the anti-Semitic manifesto in 1925, eight years before he came to power… The editor, Alessandro Sallusti, said (in Italian) that the move would let readers ‘study what is evil to avoid its return’… However, the move was described as ‘a vile act’ by Renzo Gattegna, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. The giveaway was ‘indecent’ and ‘light years away from any in-depth learning or study about the Holocaust’, Mr Gattegna added.
“The copyright of Mein Kampf expired earlier this year. Previously, copyright was held by the regional government in Germany’s Bavaria, which banned reprinting of the book. After the copyright expired, Germany’s authorities allowed an annotated, critical version of the book, with academic notes, to be published. The publication of other editions is restricted in Germany, under incitement laws.”
The Guardian added on June 11:
“An Italian newspaper owned by Silvio Berlusconi has been criticised for distributing free copies of an annotated version of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf with a paid supplement in its Saturday edition. Il Giornale started selling an eight-volume history of the Third Reich, with the annotated copy of Mein Kampf free for readers who bought the first volume.
“The Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, said on Twitter that Il Giornale’s decision to give away the copies of the Nazi leader’s political treatise was squalid, as he expressed solidarity with Italy’s Jewish community… Efraim Zuroff, director of the Israeli office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Corriere della Sera it was unprecedented for a newspaper to use Mein Kampf to boost sales…”
The Comeback of “Mein Kampf”
The Christian Science Monitor wrote on May 12:
‘‘Mein Kampf’ is making a comeback. Adolf Hitler’s notorious autobiography is gaining popularity in Europe, having become a bestseller upon the expiration of the German state copyright that was initially used to prohibit reprinting it. Since January, only an annotated version of ‘Mein Kampf’ has been available in German bookstores, which each carried only a small number of copies. Nonetheless, massive interest among readers made ‘Mein Kampf’ a bestseller within weeks. With more than 3,000 annotations, the new version is meant to underscore lies and flaws in Hitler’s arguments. Under German law, publishing ‘Mein Kampf’ [without] annotations would be an act of sedition – which is exactly what Der Schelm, a right-wing publishing company, plans to do, and is now under investigation for it.
“‘This book is too dangerous for the general public,’ library historian Florian Sepp told the Washington Post, but Schelm argues that publishing the original version of ‘Mein Kampf’ serves as ‘historical documentation’…
“While authorities have made arrangements with online booksellers like Amazon to ban the sale of ‘Mein Kampf’ in German, new copies of the book have become available online throughout the world. Hindu nationalists use it as a self-help book in India, the Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has stocked copies of it in Athens, and a comic-book edition of ‘Mein Kampf’ is available in Japan.”
False Christianity Responsible for Mass Killings
On June 14, Foreignpolicy.com published the following article by a Jewish author, showing how false Christianity can be easily confused with the only true Christianity of the Bible:
“I am tired of hearing… that Christianity is inherently peaceful…
“The Crusades are still a sore subject in the Muslim world, but it’s easy to forget the havoc they wreaked on the Jews of Europe. Time after time, as Crusaders slogged southeast on their umpteenth trip to the Holy Land, they slaughtered the Jews in their path. They herded them into synagogues and set the buildings alight. The Crusaders killed so many Jews in the name of their Christian faith that it was the most stunning demographic blow to European Jewry until the Holocaust. Which… happened in Christian, civilized Europe only 70-some years ago…
“The Christian Church was ruthless with people whose faith was in any way a deviation from the canon, torturing and burning heretics at the stake. After Martin Luther pinned his theses to a church door, unintentionally spawning a new wing of Christianity, it led to hundreds of years of on-and-off religious warfare between Christians, spilling each other’s blood in the fervent belief that their vision of Christ was the truest. And it’s not ancient history: Violence between Protestants and Catholics continued in Christian Ireland until the very end of the 20th century…
“Jewish life in Muslim countries, though still saddled with all kinds of restrictions and orders to wear funny clothing and sporadic violence, was far less bloody than in the civilized Christian West…
“No religion is inherently violent. No religion is inherently peaceful…”
This is untrue. The Christianity of the Bible—not the false Christianity practiced by those claiming incorrectly to be “ Christian ”—is inherently peaceful. None of the atrocities mentioned in the article were “Christian.” They stand condemned in the eyes of Jesus Christ.
Pope vs. President over 666 Donation
The Guardian wrote on June 14:
“The frosty relationship between two of the world’s most prominent Argentinians appears to have taken a turn for the worse after it emerged that Pope Francis rejected a charitable donation from the government of President Mauricio Macri – at least partly – because the sum included the figure 666.
“Earlier this month, the centre-right president made a donation that totaled 16,666,000 pesos (slightly under $1.2m) from the Argentinian government to the Scholas Occurentes educational foundation, which is backed by the pope and is based on a similar organization founded by Francis when he was cardinal of Buenos Aires.
“Two weeks ago, the pope presided over an event in Rome at which medals were awarded to Hollywood celebrities George Clooney, Salma Hayek and Richard Gere, who have agreed to be ambassadors for the charity. Shortly afterwards, Macri made the donation.
“But according to the Vatican Insider – a publication specializing in papal affairs published by the Italian newspaper La Stampa – Francis wrote to the Argentinian branch of the foundation, asking them to return the money. In a postscript, he wrote: ‘I don’t like the 666.’ Francis, who has long supported progressive causes in Argentina, and the centre-right president Macri have often found themselves on opposite sides of political debate.”
NATO vs. Russia
The website of news.vice.com wrote on June 11:
“A column of Strykers, the US Army’s eight-wheeled, 20-ton fighting machines, trundled across the narrow pontoon bridge to meet the Russian intruders in central Poland. Less than an hour earlier, a mixed team of German and British engineers had taken to the Vistula River with 30 giant M3 amphibious rigs to build a bridge almost a quarter of a mile long. Now the Strykers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment were rolling over it to link up with allied paratroopers. The river crossing was part of Anakonda-16, the largest military exercises hosted by Poland in more than a decade, involving 30,000 soldiers from more than 20 NATO and partner countries.
“The United States, which slashed its European-based forces after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is contributing almost half the troops. Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the United States has been scrambling not just to reassure new allies like Poland, but to deter the Kremlin from any more military adventures in Eastern Europe. Of course Russia isn’t the named adversary in the 10-day Anakonda exercises, yet it’s the only country in the neighborhood that poses a potential threat. The Kremlin was bitterly opposed to the enlargement of NATO, which has taken in nine former members of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact, including Poland. In an effort to thwart any more neighbors from joining the transatlantic alliance, Russia fought a five-day war with Georgia in 2008 and invaded Ukraine six years later…
“Eastern Europe is alien territory for the US military. For centuries, Germans, Austrians, and Russians divided the region up among themselves. Poland as a country disappeared from maps for 123 years, and smaller nations such as Estonia only briefly achieved statehood in 1918. In the aftermath of World War II, the Kremlin took control over the eastern half of Europe and didn’t let it go until the Soviet Union self-destructed. After 1991, Eastern Europeans were eager to get under the US defensive umbrella as fast as possible, even if that meant joining the ‘coalition of the willing’ in Iraq or sending combat troops to Afghanistan…
“As the Strykers rumbled over the Vistula, a German lieutenant observing the crossing muttered something about American ‘saber rattling.’ Although Germany is an indispensable NATO ally, a sizable portion of its population believes it’s the United States that antagonized Russia. A poll published a year ago found that only 38 percent of Germans said their country should use military force to protect another NATO member from a Russian attack…
“Before the relationship took a turn for the worse, the Western alliance and Russian military were on almost friendly terms. It may be hard to believe today, but five years ago, Poland hosted the first joint NATO-Russian counter-terrorism exercise, involving fighter planes from both sides. Now NATO and Russian jets intercept each other over international waters — just as they did when the Cold War held the world on edge.”
Who Is Ukraine’s Joan of Arc?
The Telegraph wrote on June 9:
“Vladimir Putin must be stopped now or Russian forces will advance to the ‘border with Poland or Germany’, according to the war heroine turned politician described as Ukraine’s ‘Joan of Arc’. Nadia Savchenko was released from a Russian prison only two weeks ago. The female pilot – who was the first woman to fly a Ukrainian helicopter gunship and the first to graduate from the Air Force Academy – was captured while fighting pro-Russian rebels in the east in June 2014.
“After being consigned to a Russian jail, Ms Savchenko was elected to Ukraine’s parliament from her cell. She used her trial to heap scorn on the judge, the prosecutor and Mr Putin in particular… Ms Savchenko made a triumphant return to Ukraine after being freed in a prisoner exchange on May 25. Hailed in the local press as her country’s Joan of Arc, she took her seat in parliament in the capital, Kiev, and is already regarded as a possible future president…
“Europe and America have declined to supply Ukraine with weapons, fearing this would only escalate the confrontation with Russia. Ms Savchenko said they should change this policy – but she was notably cautious about the risks. ‘You should be very careful with that because if you make some sharp steps it could lead to a big war,’ she said… Ms Savchenko said the West should only provide ‘defensive’ weapons, like anti-aircraft systems. ‘If we are talking about other ground equipment, then you might get involved in this war and nobody wants a Third World War,’ she added…
“While the Russian media vilifies her as a ‘killer in a skirt’, Ms Savchenko sees herself as a peacemaker. ‘I’ve been a soldier for 12 years: it’s my profession,’ she said. ‘But if a soldier doesn’t want peace in his soul then he’s not a soldier any more – he’s a killer. A soldier fights for peace.’”
A Brexit in the Making?
The Independent wrote on June 11:
“Exclusive: polling carried out for ‘The Independent’ shows that 55 per cent of UK voters intend to vote for Britain to leave the EU in the 23 June referendum. The campaign to take Britain out of the EU has opened up a remarkable 10-point lead over the Remain camp… The survey of 2,000 people by ORB found that 55 per cent believe the UK should leave the EU (up four points since our last poll in April), while 45 per cent want it to remain (down four points)… It is by far the biggest lead the Leave camp has enjoyed since ORB began polling the EU issue for The Independent a year ago, when it was Remain who enjoyed a 10-point lead. Now the tables have turned…
“Support for EU membership is highest in Scotland, with 60 per cent backing Remain. But a majority of people in every other region of Great Britain favour withdrawal when turnout is taken into account. In London, seen as a strong area for the Remain campaign, only 44 per cent back staying in the EU and 56 per cent favour voting to leave. This is due to the turnout factor. Only 66 per cent of people in London say they will definitely vote, the lowest of any region…
“Polling experts say the result is still too close to call, and that there has been a late swing to the ‘status quo’ option in previous referendums, including the one on Scottish independence in 2014. They also point out that telephone polls consistently give Remain a higher rating than online surveys.”
Sun For Brexit
Deutsche Welle wrote on June 14:
“In an editorial, Britain’s top-selling newspaper (“The Sun”) has come out in support of the country leaving the EU… ‘The Sun’ printed the editorial – calling on Britons to vote ‘Leave’ in an upcoming referendum… in its Tuesday edition. The newspaper, which is owned by conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, also tweeted out a preview. ‘We are about to make the biggest political decision of our lives. The Sun today urges everyone to vote LEAVE,’ the editorial begins… ‘Our country has a glorious history,’ the newspaper goes on to say. ‘This is our chance to make Britain even greater, to recapture our democracy, to preserve the values and culture we are rightly proud of.’ The Sun also accused the ‘Remain’ camp of using scare tactics to convince voters to support the EU.
“The editorial comes just as a new poll, conducted by YouGov for The Times newspaper, found that 46 percent of the country supported the idea of leaving the EU, compared with 39 percent who were in support of remaining. A separate poll in the Daily Telegraph delivered a far closer set of results. Pollsters universally failed to predict the outcome of 2015’s general election in the UK…”
Bild Against Brexit
The German mass tabloid Bild wrote on June 14:
“What a Brex-s…. [The article spells out the word; we just give a hint as to what is being used…]
“These days, there could hardly be a bigger gap than that between the consequences of the British referendum on leaving the EU and the level of the corresponding discussion. History is being written on the island – but with mud. It is a toxic mix of a distortion of facts, half-truths, and madness. This applies to both sides.
“Brexit supporters say (in all seriousness) that prolonging the EU membership will increase the risk of cancer on the island. They say that at least one million Turks will have to be allowed to enter the island if the UK doesn’t leave. They say that British soldiers will be forced into an EU army, and that the public health system will immediately improve after leaving. The latter would, at least, be comparatively easy to achieve, since the health system is, in fact, pretty bad.
“Brexit opponents, in turn, predict the Third or Fourth World War should the Brits leave. They say that pensions will have to be cut, that the hole in the state budget will become even bigger and that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost immediately, although nobody can actually know if that will be the case. Both camps want fear to decide the referendum. Hence the fearmongering.
“This means that the British people are being muddled at a time when they have to make the decision of the century. The people are being misled, but they must not make a mistake. This cannot end well. It is a great shame, unworthy of all politicians, media, and proud Brits. It was they who once taught Europe how to lead intelligent political debates and what enlightened, pragmatic democracy is.
“Much is at stake. ‘Our enemies would drink champagne’, if the Brits were to leave, said President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, in an interview with BILD. He referred to autocrats like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and he is right. The Brits are about to lethally weaken the West that they have shaped like no other nation. How can they do this to us – and to themselves?”
One in Ten Germans Wants a Führer
Daily Mail wrote on June 15:
“A new academic study has rocked the government in Berlin as people call for a ‘dictatorship in the national interest’ with one in ten wanting a new Führer to lead them to glory. The University of Leipzig’s research team found that… a total of 21.9 per cent agreed that Germany needs ‘a single strong party that embodies the national community as a whole’. One in every ten Germans wants their country to be led by a ‘Führer’ applying ‘a firm hand for the common good.’ And 71 years after Nazism was vanquished and the horror of the death camps revealed to a stunned world, 11 per cent of people questioned by the university researchers said Jews have too much influence in society. Overall 12 per cent think Germans are by nature ‘superior’ to other people – a central plank of the ideology of Adolf Hitler and the original Nazis.
“Other findings included four out of every ten people thinking Muslims should be prohibited from immigrating to the country and half of respondents in a survey of 2,240 people saying they feel like ‘foreigners in their own country.’ Thirty per cent claimed Germany had been ‘infiltrated by too many foreigners in a dangerous way.’ And three out of every five Germans believe migrants who have arrived in the country seeking sanctuary from war and terror are bogus… 40 percent of people said they found it ‘disgusting’ when homosexuals kissed in public – an increase of 15 per cent in a similar survey in 2011.”
We find this disgusting too.
Deutsche Welle added on June 15:
“A third thought same-sex marriages should be banned… Confidence in socio-political organizations, including the police and political parties has decreased significantly, with many people telling researchers they no longer feel represented by the political system…
“Also on Wednesday, a separate study by the polling company Allensbach revealed further skepticism towards Muslims. Only 13 percent of those interviewed agreed with the statement ‘Islam belongs in Germany.’’
No More Multiple Wives for German Migrants
Daily Mail wrote on June 15:
“Germany will no longer allow migrants to have multiple wives or child brides, the justice minister has said. Heiko Maas told German newspaper Bild that no one has the ‘right to place their cultural values or religious beliefs above our laws’. There has been increased concern over polygamous marriages in the wake of a rise in the number of migrants arriving in Germany, many from Muslim countries.
“While polygamy is already banned in Germany, many officials ‘turn a blind eye’ to migrants who arrive in the country with more than one wife, the newspaper reports. This is also true of forced and underage marriages…
“Referring to migrants arriving with underage brides, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees told local media: ‘If the wife is underage, the youth authorities are alerted and they decide if the family stays together or not.’”
Yearning for the Third Temple
JTA wrote on June 10:
“Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, David Lau, said the Jewish temple can be rebuilt on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount without moving any of the Muslim shrines there. Speaking on the Knesset Channel Tuesday, Lau appeared to approve the idea of rebuilding the temple at the hotly contested site and said that there is enough room there for ‘Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone’…
“Since 1967, when the Temple Mount came under Israeli sovereignty, the chief rabbis have consistently ruled that Jews should not go there for fear they might inadvertently step over the place where the Ark of the Covenant was said to be stored in the first temple. The mount, which is adjacent to the Western Wall and was the location of Judaism’s first and second temples, is run by the Islamic Waqf, a Jordanian body, under a deal worked out in 1967. Muslims generally have full access to the site, from where Mohammed is believed to have ascended to heaven, and the exclusive right to pray there. Jews can only ascend the mount during limited visiting hours and are forbidden from doing anything resembling worship such as kneeling, singing, dancing or rending their clothes… Rumors that Israel planned to change the status quo helped trigger the wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks and other violence that began in October.
“Speaking on Tuesday, Lau said, according to The Times of Israel: ‘I can’t tell you exactly what was in the temple, but the truth is that when you see the prophets, the writings, the sayings of the sages, you understand that whoever went there came back full of inspiration, emotion, joy and satisfaction, so I yearn for those days.’ Orthodox authorities are divided over whether Jews should rebuild the temple themselves, or should wait for divine intervention.”
