The Week in the News

We begin reporting on the rising tidal waves and tsunamis of Anti-Americanism smashing through the countries of Germany and South America, following the continuous earthquakes of ongoing revelations about the atrocious behavior of US worldwide spying activities—coupled with the realization, especially by German citizens, that their German government is unwilling to confront the US—perhaps because of passive or even quite active participation. We also report about Hungary’s warning against German leadership in Europe.

We continue reporting on the trial and acquittal of George Zimmerman, following the untimely death of Trayvon Martin. We are focusing on the fabricated story of the mass media and radical commentators pertaining to the myth of racial profiling, while most are ignoring the real, but uncomfortable crux of the matter.

We point out America’s apparent repeated and ongoing unwillingness to obey its own laws prohibiting military aid to Egypt (notwithstanding that America CLAIMS to be a nation of laws); speak of European anti-Semitism; Israel’s repeated announcements that it might attack Iran militarily; Israel’s desire to build a Third Temple; and a possible collaboration between Iran and North Korea.

We report on gay marriages in Britain and Wales; and conclude with France’s celebration of its Bastille Day on July 14, 2013, showing that the French people might be in error regarding the origin and nature of their national holiday.

Anti-Americanism on the Rise…

The Financial Times wrote on July 12:

“Outside the US, [Snowden’s] revelations have revived a narrative about the dangers of a world dominated by an untrustworthy superpower that had been dormant as debate raged instead about American decline. Already criticised for its extensive use of drones, the international image of the administration has taken another heavy hit by the documents about extensive US surveillance.

“Many Latin American governments were angered when the plane carrying Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president, was diverted to Vienna airport on suspicion that Mr Snowden was on board – a tip that Spanish officials said this week came from the US. The disclosures about US surveillance in Brazil have prompted a new round of indignation in a region with a strong anti-US sentiment…”

Anti-Americanism is prophesied to increase—some, if not much of it, is due to America’s own conduct.

A Flop and Total Disaster

Deutsche Welle reported on July 13:

“German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich says he is satisfied with US assurances about spying activities. Weeks ahead of a federal election though, the opposition are not about to let the issue go.

“Neither of Germany’s main opposition parties was satisfied with the assurances Friedrich… said he received during his meetings with senior US officials in Washington on Friday. Thomas Opperman, the parliamentary floor leader of the Social Democrats, said Friedrich’s trip had not achieved much. ‘Minister Friedrich is returning empty-handed,’ Oppermann said in an interview published in the Saturday edition of the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper: ‘We have not moved a single step forward on any of the key points.’ Konstantin von Notz, the Green Party’s interior affairs spokesman described Friedrich’s trip as a complete flop…”

In a related article, dated July 13, Deutsche Welle quoted opinions and statements from German politicians and newscasters, as follows:

“The election campaign has officially begun, and the NSA surveillance scandal is emerging as a key issue along the way. Now… it will fall to the opposition parties to come up with clear proposals on how they intend to treat the matter. Furthermore… the federal government has not yet comprehended what is at stake with respect to the data scandal… the governing coalition has put too much emphasis on the fact that official German delegations were potentially the victims of surveillance, whereas the core of the issue… is that 80 million German people’s communication was being monitored.

“… what’s at stake in the NSA affair is the balance of political power between the US and Germany… Germany is letting itself be lulled by ‘security nonsense’ – a reference to claims that the NSA’s surveillance activities have been able to stop terrorist attacks… Although German media have featured much discussion and criticism of the NSA’s activities, there have yet to be any major public demonstrations in response to the disclosures in recent weeks… this ‘lethargy’ [is blamed] on the fact that, due to the nature of the intelligence agencies’ surveillance, people remain unaware of the act as it is occurring…”

Friedrich’s “results” won’t satisfy the German people. Their distrust of America and their own governmental leaders is growing. And if the “lethargy” of the Germans in this matter is criticized, what word should be used to describe the deafening silence and the appalling lack of interest of a majority of the American people? One is reminded of ancient Rome before its fall—as long as the government provides some bread and a lot of games or distractions to the people, they can be kept in ignorance and a fragile state of “happiness.”

“America Is Sick”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 16:

“America is sick. September 11 left it wounded and unsettled — that’s been obvious for nearly 12 years — but we are only now finding out just how grave the illness really is… The global spying scandal shows that the US has become manic, that it is behaving pathologically, invasively. Its actions are entirely out of proportion to the danger…

“An American government that gives its blessing to a program like Prism respects nothing and no one. It acts out its omnipotence, considers itself above international law — certainly on its own territory and even on foreign ground… Did Obama, the Harvard Law student, even believe what he was saying in his speeches about the return of civil liberties? Can someone be so cynical that they promise to heal the world, then act in such a way all the while giving the xenophobic explanation that only foreigners would be monitored?…

“The German government has shown devastating weakness. Merkel should say, ‘You are manic, and what you are doing is sick’… Instead she weighs every word to avoid annoying the Americans…”

In an accompanying article, Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 16:

“The United States has massively and systematically violated the civil rights of people who have no possibility of voting against its practices in elections. After all, the NSA and CIA and whatever the other organizations are called aren’t operating under German laws when they’re supposedly protecting the security of the free world… Europe and Germany aren’t powerless against American encroachments. The European Union’s data protection directive includes provisions to force US firms to adhere to our rules…”

The expression, “America is sick,” is quite interesting in light of an end-time prophecy about the modern house of Israel—including the USA—in Isaiah 1:5-6.

America’s Worst Nightmare

Reuters reported on July 12:

“Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who first published the documents Snowden leaked, said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday that the U.S. government should be careful in its pursuit of the former computer analyst. ‘Snowden has enough information to cause [more] harm to the U.S. government in a single minute than any other person has ever had,’ Greenwald said…

“‘The U.S. government should be on its knees every day begging that nothing happen[s] to Snowden, because if something does happen to him, all the information will be revealed and it could be its worst nightmare.’… Greenwald said… that documents Snowden has tucked away in different parts of the world detail which U.S. spy programs capture transmissions in Latin America and how they work. ‘One way of intercepting communications is through a telephone company in the United States that has contracts with telecommunications companies in most Latin American countries,’ Greenwald said, without specifying which company.”

Did German Government Know?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 17:

“The German government has so far claimed that it knew nothing of the United States’ Prism spying program, revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden last month. But parts of a confidential NATO document published by daily Bild on Wednesday show that the German military, the Bundeswehr, was probably already aware of the National Security Agency’s operations in 2011.

“The document, reportedly sent on Sept. 1, 2011 to all regional commands by the joint NATO headquarters in Afghanistan, gives specific instructions on working together with the foreign data surveillance program. According to Bild, the document was also sent to the regional command in northern Afghanistan, for which Germany was responsible at the time under General Major Markus Kneip.  Should the media report be confirmed, Berlin’s claims of ignorance will prove to have been false… if it turns out that Berlin knowingly tolerated and participated in the NSA activities, many would see it as a betrayal by the government.”

The Local wrote on July 17:

“The news reports add to pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of September 22 elections because she has said she only learnt through the media of the US online and telecom surveillance programme. Many Germans are angry that their emails, phone calls, web searches and other data have been captured and stored under the NSA programme, details of which were leaked by fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.”

Hungary Warns Against German Leadership in Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 17:

“The latest remarks by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán are unlikely to improve his fractured relations with Germany or the EU. Speaking on Tuesday, he invoked the memory of World War II to warn against German leadership of the European Union. ‘When a person reads about a rapprochement between Russia and an EU led by Germany, he looks out to see whether his children are still in the yard,’ Orbán said…

“Many people in Central and Eastern Europe are wary of any signs of closer ties between Moscow and Berlin because they remember the Hitler-Stalin non-aggression pact which carved up much of Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence… In May, Orbán had made a remark about Nazi tanks in the context of Germany’s policy towards Hungary, drawing an unusually sharp rebuke from German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.”

Our Lying Media on “Racial Profiling”—The “Trial” of George Zimmerman

On July 13, the jury of six mostly white women found Hispanic George Zimmerman not guilty of murder or manslaughter of black 17-year old teenager Trayvon Martin. The mainstream media and radical proponents had created a nationwide circus and resorted to falsehoods and lies in order to invent and create a case of racial profiling to be able to convict Zimmerman in the eyes of the public.  Sadly, the real crux of the matter—whether we should have laws allowing us to have and use guns to shoot and kill others who are unarmed, when we are not in fact threatened, but feel that we might be (“Stand Your Ground” law)– took back stage in view of the hype and hysteria of unsupported allegations of racial discrimination and profiling. 

Breitbart wrote on July 13, before the verdict had come in:

“As we await the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, the Florida man who claims to have shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin in self-defense, this seems the perfect time to reflect on the media’s cynical and dishonest role in turning a local crime into a national obsession… the mainstream media did everything in its still-potent power to not only push for the prosecution of Mr. Zimmerman (the police originally chose not to charge him) but also to gin up racial tensions where none needed to exist.

“It all started with the [black] anchor of a major television network (Al Sharpton) inserting himself in the story to spread division and hate; it continued straight through to the closing days of the trial when another major news network, desperate to keep a fabricated racial narrative alive, propagated the portrayal of Zimmerman as part of a racial group that doesn’t exist — the ‘white Hispanic.’ In-between, there has been an astonishing amount of malicious fraud and lies, all in an effort to serve a president, stir racial hatred, and influence the justice system… A small detail that the Obama administration and the media apparently missed was that the white versus black racial narrative they were preparing to invest so much into was missing just one thing: a white person…

“In their venomous zeal, the media and Democrats likely assumed that someone with the last name Zimmerman had to be white. But they were wrong, as Zimmerman is Hispanic. Never [once] to back off a good narrative, rather than use this revelation to tamp down tensions or correct their reporting, the media simply made up out of whole cloth a new racial category: the ‘white Hispanic.’… [On March 19] CNN went to extraordinary lengths to claim Zimmerman had uttered the racial slur ‘coon’ when he had not… CNN wouldn’t officially retract their defamation until April 5th, long after it was too late…

“President Obama made huge news when he stepped before the cameras, demanded action in the Zimmerman case, and famously said, ‘If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.’ In just two days, a network news anchor [Sharpton] and an American president had blasted the Zimmerman case into the nation’s top story and did so based on a racial narrative without a shred of evidence to support it. Almost every other major news outlet would now commit every journalistic sin imaginable to fabricate evidence… By late March it was widely known that George Zimmerman was Hispanic. This did not stop the Boston Globe from using its pages to describe him as ‘a white neighborhood watch captain’…

“Even though Zimmerman is Hispanic and there was no evidence of any racial motivation behind his actions, the media’s racial-hysteria was, at this point, in full bloom… Desperate to keep a non-existent racial narrative alive, during a broadcast of the PBS Newshour Gwen Ifill falsely stated: ‘Martin, who was black, was on his way to a convenience store in a mostly white gated community when George Zimmerman, who is white, shot and killed him after a disputed altercation…’ After the arrest, and as the trial date neared the following year, NBC would allow Al Sharpton to turn his primetime MSNBC show into a platform dedicated to convicting Zimmerman…”

The myths of “racial profiling” in this case continues. As Fox News reported on July 13, 2013: “‘Today, justice failed Trayvon Martin and his family,’ said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP in a statement. ‘We call immediately for the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into the civil rights violations committed against Trayvon Martin. This case has re-energized the movement to end racial profiling in the United States.’ ‘We are outraged and heartbroken over today’s verdict,’ said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP, in another statement… ‘we will not rest until racial profiling in all its forms is outlawed.’”

Al Maurer of The Washington Times agreed with the sentiments expressed in the article of Breitbart, quoted above, and stated on July 14:

“From the beginning the media sought to play the story as white-on-black violence. It fits the narrative of the white man oppressing the black man. The only problem is that Zimmerman isn’t ‘white’; he’s Hispanic. Alter the facts… The media creates a new racial category, ‘White Hispanic.’

“For the story to work, however, the black man as victim must be innocent. Trayvon Martin was pictured as an innocent young teen. Youthful pictures of him were released; more recent ones suppressed. To fill the role of oppressor, Zimmerman had to be made to look like one. While flattering pictures of Martin were used, the most unflattering ones of Zimmerman accompanied them. Zimmerman was portrayed in the popular press as a vengeful vigilante just looking for the opportunity to shoot someone.

“As time wore on, Zimmerman didn’t appear so menacing. Martin didn’t appear so innocent… In contemporary America it is not just the media who push the narrative. The president himself commented on the case well before all the facts were known. But facts don’t matter, after all. The narrative does. Recent press reporting indicates that the Justice Department has been involved as well.

“The race-baiters Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have been prominent in pushing the narrative too. Ominous warnings of riots in case of an unfavorable (i.e., ‘not guilty’) verdict were sounded… Six women had the courage to decide ‘not guilty’ when the mob screamed ‘guilty.’”

If one repeats a lie often enough, it will finally be believed as being the truth. So be careful when you are confronted with statements which are not based on proven evidence, and if you want to receive fair and objective accurate news reports from our mainstream media. In all likelihood, you will not get it.

Jury Duty and Questionable Law the Real Issue

According to the New York Post of July 14, 2013, Donald Trump made these statements: “Zimmerman is no angel but the lack of evidence and the concept of self-defense, especially in Florida law, gave the jury little other choice.” Similar sentiments were expressed by Piers Morgan, according to Beitbart, dated July 14: “I don’t critisize the jury—I critize the law that enabled them to find George Zimmerman not guilty of anything.” He added: “If George Zimmerman had not had a gun, he’d never got out of his car that night, and Trayvon Martin would still be alive.”

Maybe. But here we are getting to the crux of the matter: While the focus is detracted from the essentials and placed on concocted non-existing issues of race and racial profiling, we are really dealing here with questionable laws and the jury’s duty under the legal system to uphold these laws during their deliberations and decision-making. That is one of the many reasons why true Christians should not sit on a jury under any circumstances.

Why It Is Unlawful to Give Military Aid to Egypt

On July 12, The Washington Post published the following editorial by Senator Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Homeland Security committees:

“Egypt has undergone a coup, deposed its leader and the military has installed a new president. The situation is unpredictable, unstable and volatile. The country remains in a state of unrest… U.S. law states that we can’t send military and other types of aid to any country whose duly elected head of state is deposed by a coup. U.S. law clearly says that we cannot send such aid where the military plays a decisive role in the coup. This law allows no presidential waiver. Aid cannot be reconsidered or restored until a democratically elected government is elected.

“Yet, as President Obama has so often done with other laws and even the Constitution, he ignores it. The Obama administration has refused to acknowledge that the military takeover in Egypt is a coup. When asked directly to spell out the State Department’s definition of a coup, spokeswoman Jen Psaki refused… we have a president who denies a coup has taken place in Egypt when, by any conventional definition, it most certainly has. The president of Egypt was placed under house arrest. The military took over the television stations. The military took control of local police and all forms of local and national government.

“Still, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN, ‘If this were to be seen as a coup, then it would limit our ability to have the kind of relationship we think we need with the Egyptian armed forces.’ Thursday morning, it was reported that this relationship included delivering four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt in the next few weeks in addition to the eight we sent in January. Another eight are scheduled to ship later this year… In January 2011, some of the jets we gave to President Hosni Mubarak were used to intimidate protesters — the same people whose protests helped to overthrow Mr. Mubarak and replace him with Mohammed Morsi. Not surprisingly, Gallup reported in February 2012 that 71 percent of Egyptians opposed U.S. foreign aid to their country. When both Mr. Mubarak and Mr. Morsi were overthrown, protesters held signs criticizing U.S. aid to ‘dictators.’

“It should also be noted that when the Egyptian military helped oust Mr. Mubarak — the classic definition of a coup d’etat — the Obama administration also declined to acknowledge even then that a coup had taken place. When we continued giving F-16s to Mr. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood after Mr. Mubarak, I offered an amendment to stop military aid to Egypt. It was defeated 79-19.

“The United States has cut off weapons aid in the past after military officers overthrew civilian governments in the Ivory Coast, the Central African Republic, Fiji, Honduras and Mali. In Egypt, however, where the regimes are constantly changing, our foreign-aid policy never does. This week, I introduced legislation again that would cut off foreign aid to Egypt. We either have a nation of laws, or we don’t. If we are a nation of laws, foreign aid to Egypt should immediately end. If instead, we are now just governed by popular prejudice and unlimited executive ability to contravene the law, then perhaps we should be looking at Washington to determine whether or not a coup has occurred.”

To predict the outcome, U.S. military aid to Egypt will most likely continue… even though a coup has CLEARLY occurred WITHOUT ANY DOUBT… which, with the words of Senator Paul, would mean that ours is not (any longer) a nation of laws. This is almost ironic as, following the verdict in the Zimmerman case, President Obama issued the following statement, according to CNN, dated July 14:

“The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America. I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken…”

Egypt Might Become Even More Radical

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 16:

“After the massacre last Monday of more than 50 Muslim Brotherhood supporters, Egypt has become all but ungovernable. The new unity government in Cairo is already crumbling, and now it’s the ultra-conservative Salafists who stand to benefit… Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been filled with anger and frustration. The bloody clash between Brotherhood supporters and the military destroyed any hope that a peaceful settlement could be reached…

“In this overheated mood, precisely what the military sought to prevent with its coup could in fact happen: The Islamists could become radicalized. Last week, Egyptians experienced a taste of what that could mean, when a 60-year-old Coptic Christian was beheaded and a priest was shot on the Sinai Peninsula. In a village in Upper Egypt, a mob beat a Christian supporter of the Tamarud movement to death, while other Copts were stabbed to death and about 20 houses owned by members of the religious minorities were torched…”

Europe’s Anti-Israeli Wares and America’s Silence

Al Jazeera wrote on July 16:

“Guidelines revealed on Tuesday make clear that, from next year, Israeli ‘entities’ operating in the territories will not be eligible for EU grants, prizes or loans. The measure will apply to Israeli companies, universities or other bodies operating in areas occupied by Israel since the 1967 war, including the Golan Heights, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. ‘The EU has made it clear that it will not recognise any changes to pre-1967 borders, other than those agreed by the parties to the Middle East peace process,’ a copy of the guidelines seen by the Reuters news agency said… The guildelines say that all Israeli groups applying for financial assistance, scholarships and funding must prove they do not operate in the occupied territories.”

The Washington Post wrote on July 16:

“Europe… never miss[es] the [chance] to display their anti-Israeli wares. The Wall Street Journal reports: ‘Israel reacted angrily Tuesday to an effort by the European Union to keep EU funds from flowing to Israeli organizations operating in the occupied territories, the latest bump in the sometimes-rocky relationship between Israel and Europe.’… Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the EU should focus on the ‘more pressing’ issues of Syria’s civil war and Iran’s nuclear program rather than Israeli settlement activity… The EU already charges customs duties on Israeli imports that originate in the occupied territories that would otherwise enjoy free-trade exemptions…

“The EU has long sought to play a role in Middle East peace talks… This is an old story for the European Union — it strives for relevance but its anti-Israeli tendencies make it particularly unsuited to play any constructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict… If the United States made clear that such behavior is entirely unacceptable, some of the Israel bashing might stop. Whether at the United Nations or in direct conversations with our European ‘friends,’ this should be a topic of conversation. It is evidently not…”

The global influence of the USA is diminishing. Even when America speaks, not too many listen any more. It will indeed be Europe which will speak loudly, and nations will listen and heed. It is prophesied that Europe will play a decisive role in Middle Eastern politics.

Israel May Have to Address Iran Before USA Does…

Bloomberg wrote on July 14:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran is moving ahead toward nuclear weapons capability and warned that his country would act by itself if necessary to prevent that from happening. ‘We’re closer than the United States,’ Netanyahu said Sunday… ‘We’re more vulnerable. And therefore, we’ll have to address this question of how to stop Iran, perhaps before the United States does.’…

“Netanyahu has said Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons that would pose an ‘existential threat’ to Israel and ‘all options are on the table’ to stop it, including a military strike… Netanyahu dismissed speculation that [Iran’s new political leader] Rohani’s victory last month signals a possible change in Iranian nuclear policy… Rohani’s strategy ‘is [to] be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Smile and build a bomb,’ the Israeli leader said…”

Building the Third Temple

JTA wrote on July 9:

“No praying. No kneeling. No bowing. No prostrating. No dancing. No singing. No ripping clothes.These are the rules that Jews must abide by when visiting the Temple Mount, the site where the First and Second Holy Temples once stood, located above and behind the Western Wall in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City.

“Although the area is under Israeli sovereignty, the mount — known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif — is controlled by the Islamic Wakf, a joint Palestinian-Jordanian religious body. As the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, whose golden dome overlooks the city, the Temple Mount attracts daily crowds of Muslim worshipers…

“Rabbi Chaim Richman… is the international director of the Temple Institute, an organization based in the Old City with a singular goal: to rebuild the Holy Temple in Jerusalem… Following the Second Temple’s destruction in 70 C.E., most rabbis adopted the position that Jewish law prohibits reconstructing the Holy Temple prior to the age of messianic redemption, or that the law is too ambiguous and that the messiah must come first.

“The Temple Institute takes a different position. ‘There are no Jewish legal barriers’ to rebuilding the temple, Richman says, only political ones. The institute isn’t shy about advocating what many see as a radical goal: replacing the mosque at the Dome of the Rock with a new Jewish Holy Temple… The organization has formulated a program for where the temple will stand and what its vessels will look like, aided by 20 men who study Temple law full-time. The products of this research — 40 ritual objects — are on display in Plexiglas cases at the institute’s headquarters in the Old City.

“Silver trumpets to be blown by priests and a wooden lyre are perched next to two deep pans with long handles — one for collecting blood from small sacrificial offerings and another for large sacrifices like the Passover lamb. In another room, mannequins with beards wear the respective vestments for deputy priests and the high priest. The high priest’s outfit, with azure weaves, gold thread and a breastplate with 12 precious stones, took 11 years of research and $150,000 to complete…

“The institute’s crowning achievement — the Temple’s golden, 200-pound, seven-branch menorah — stands outside in a case overlooking the Western Wall. Unlike art or history museums, the institute’s goal is to remove the objects from their cases and bring them to the mount for use as soon as possible… Though observant Jews pray thrice daily in the Amidah prayer for the Temple to be rebuilt, few do anything about it…

“Richman says support for the institute’s goals is growing. For him, the issue involves far more than politics, archaeology or even Jewish legal research. The Temple Institute, he says, is doing God’s work. ‘The point is that we can’t live without the Temple,’ Richman says…”

In regard to Tisha B’Av, a Jewish fast day in memory of the destruction of the Second Temple, Times of Israel wrote on July 15:

“The Talmud in Sukkah tells of the beauty of the Second Temple that Herod rebuilt. It is hard to imagine such beauty when we see the above ground Western Wall today. Erosion and time have taken its physical beauty. But underground the stones are a pristine white and appear good as new… What we see of the Wall today, is a fraction of the size of the original Wall… There is a section of floor from the Second Temple era that has been excavated… walking and sitting on the floor where our grandparents sat 2000 years ago is very powerful…

“On this Tisha B’Av, remember that we are not crying over a dead Temple. If it were so, we would have stopped crying eons ago. The stones are alive. They are kept alive by the promise that we will see a Third Temple. They are kept alive by the souls of the Jewish people yearning for their Temple to be rebuild. And they are kept alive by the tears we cry on Tisha B’Av every single year.”

North Korea’s and Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Programs

Reuters wrote on July 17:

“Stanford University’s Siegfried Hecker… said the North had ‘everything in place’ for what would be the fourth [nuclear] explosion since 2006. The impoverished country conducted its third nuclear test in February, prompting stiffer U.N. sanctions against it… Hecker said North Korea ‘needed additional tests in my opinion to miniaturize’, referring to the effort to develop a bomb small and robust enough to fit onto a delivery vehicle such as a missile…

“But China’s displeasure was an important reason ‘why I think they are hesitating now…’  China is North Korea’s most important economic and political backer, but the two are uneasy allies and tensions have grown. Some Chinese banks have frozen out North Korea’s main foreign exchange bank amid frustration in Beijing over the North’s continued pushing of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs…

“Hecker… said he was concerned about the possibility of cooperation between North Korea and Iran… Any sharing of the North’s test data would be dangerous, he said, adding: ‘That would be very, very troublesome and indeed could give the Iranian program a significant boost’… Hecker said he believed Iran had developed a nuclear weapon option. ‘Iran … has put all the things in place to be able to develop the bomb should it decide to do so,’ he said.”

“Gay Marriage” Legal in Britain and Wales

Salon.com reported on July 16:

“Britain’s lower house of parliament voted Tuesday to pass a measure legalizing gay marriage in England and Wales… ‘It’s impossible to express how much joy this historic step will bring to tens of thousands of gay people and their families and friends,’ Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, a gay rights group, said in a statement. ‘The bill’s progress through Parliament shows that, at last, the majority of politicians in both Houses understand the public’s support for equality, though it’s also reminded us that gay people still have powerful opponents.’”

The Associated Press reported on July 17:

“The French like to make fun of the British, joking about their repressed ways in matters of the heart. But when it came time to debate same-sex marriage, it was France that betrayed a deep conservative streak in sometimes violent protests — while the British showed themselves to be modern and tolerant. With little fanfare or controversy, Britain announced Wednesday that Queen Elizabeth II — hardly a social radical — had signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriages in England and Wales. France has also legalized gay marriages, but only after a series of gigantic protests attracting families from the traditional heartland that revealed a deeply split society.

“Official word that the queen had approved the bill drew cheers in the usually sedate House of Commons. ‘This is a historic moment that will resonate in many people’s lives,’ Equalities Minister Maria Miller said in a statement. ‘I am proud that we have made it happen and I look forward to the first same sex wedding by next summer.’ There were British political figures and religious leaders vehemently opposed to gay marriage but the opposition never reached a fever pitch, in part because the same-sex marriage bill had broad public support and the backing of the leaders of the three major political parties. In fact, it was Prime Minister David Cameron, leader of the tradition-minded Conservatives, who proposed the legislation in the first place.

“The public seemed to take it for granted that gay marriage should be a part of British life… The law was also written in a way that allowed the Church of England — which is opposed — to sidestep the controversy since it is explicitly barred from conducting same-sex marriages.”

The French Bastille Day—Truth And Error?

BBC wrote on July 13:

“When the French parade on Sunday [July 14] for their national day, they will be marking the fall of the Bastille prison-fortress on 14 July 1789. Everyone knows that. Or do they? In fact there is a surprising twist in the story of this proud Republican anniversary. Without realising it, what the French may technically be celebrating is not the storming of the Bastille but an event that took [place] exactly one year later, on 14 July 1790: the Fete de la Federation…

“There was Napoleon; then the restored Bourbons after Waterloo; then King Louis-Philippe; a brief republican interlude starting in 1848; and then the second empire under Napoleon III. Not until 1870, after defeat in the Franco-Prussian war, did France establish a lasting republican system. And even then, in the Third Republic’s first elected Assembly, there was a clear majority of members who actually favoured a return to monarchy. The forces of anti-revolutionary conservatism remained strong…

“By the end of the 1870s, the situation had moved. Most monarchists had become reconciled to the Republic; there was a Republican majority in the Assembly; so now was the time to anchor the new order with a set of national symbols. And one of the first questions was the choice of national day. After looking at various options, the left settled on 14 July. They reasoned that the taking of the Bastille was what triggered the French Revolution – the moment an angry people began to throw off its chains. But the trouble was that 14 July was also a day of bloodshed. The governor of Paris had his head cut off with a pen-knife…

“For the ex-monarchists – now late converts to the Republic – this was all too much. A national day should be a day of reconciliation, they argued, not a celebration of class hatred. And so eyes turned to the Fete de la Federation… And to mark it, the authorities organised an extraordinary outdoor event on the Champs de Mars – where the Eiffel Tower now stands… On 14 July 1790, it poured with rain. But delegations of the newly-created national guard from across France paraded through the city, led by the Marquis de Lafayette… On the Champs de Mars there was military music; oaths were made to the King, who in turn swore to uphold the decrees of the National Assembly; Mass was celebrated. And in a scene straight out of today’s celebrity culture, there was a roar of excitement as Queen Marie-Antoinette held up the baby dauphin – heir to the throne – to the crowd.

“In the words of historian Georges-Henri Soutou, it was a moment when ‘it was still possible to imagine that a new regime could be established – one that did not offend the religious sensitivities of the majority and had the support of the King.’ It did not last, of course. Within a year, the revolution was on course towards its bloody conclusion. But a century later, the Fete de la Federation had the huge distinction of being an occasion on which just about everyone – from Bourbon loyalists to proto-Socialists – could agree. For the Senator Henri Martin – who drew up the National Day law – ‘14 July 1790 is the most beautiful day in the history of France, possibly in the history of mankind. It was on that day that national unity was finally accomplished.’ Passed in 1880, the law was deliberately ambiguous. It did not say which 14 July was being celebrated. And today, of course, everyone thinks of it as Bastille Day.”

As it is so often the case with human traditions and the celebration of humanly devised holidays, we see in the observation of the “Bastille Day” a mixture between perhaps some truth and a lot of error and misconceptions.

Building the Third Temple on the Temple Mount

The Times of Israel reported on July 5:

“A government minister from a nationalist religious party called Thursday for the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The statement from Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) breaks a long-standing taboo on high-ranking government officials speaking about changing the fragile status quo on the holy and contested esplanade, and will likely draw ire from official Israeli circles and anger the Arab and Muslim world… Ariel called for a third Temple to be built on the site, which today is home to the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque and is considered Judaism’s holiest site and Islam’s third holiest…

“The Jerusalem site was home to Judaism’s first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed, the second one in 70 CE… Last year, Jewish Home MK Zevulun Orlev also called for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple, saying that removing the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque would mean that the ‘billion-strong Muslim world would surely launch a world war.’ However, he added, ‘everything political is temporary and there is no stability.’

“Jews are currently banned from praying on the Temple Mount by the Jordanian department of endowments, known as the Wakf, which administers the plaza surrounding the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.”

The Bible indicates strongly that the third temple will be built in Jerusalem, prior to Christ’s return.

Pope’s Waivers for Sainthood in Catholic Church

Thomson/Reuters reported on July 5:

“Pope John Paul II… who led the Catholic Church for nearly 27 years, and Pope John XXIII, who called the reforming Second Vatican Council, will be declared saints… The Vatican said Pope Francis had approved a second miracle attributed to John Paul, a Pole who was elected in 1978 as the first non-Italian pope in 450 years and who died in 2005. His progression to sainthood is the fastest in modern times.

“The Vatican also said Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963… would be made a saint even though he has only been credited with one miracle since his death… Francis waived the customary rules requiring a second miracle after beatification… John XXIII was beatified in 2000…

“John Paul went down in history as the ‘globe-trotting Pope,’ visiting every inhabited continent in more than 100 trips outside Italy. His successor, Benedict, waived a Church rule that normally requires a five-year waiting period before the preliminaries to sainthood can even begin.”

Popes are Popes and can therefore do whatever they want—it seems.

“Vatican Issues First Text Co-Written by Two Popes”

AFP wrote on July 5:

“The Vatican on Friday issued an unprecedented religious text co-written by Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI in which the two popes… restated their opposition to gay marriage. Francis paid tribute to pope emeritus Benedict XVI in the encyclical, saying that the ex-pontiff had ‘almost completed’ the text before stepping down in a historic resignation this year and that he himself had merely added ‘further contributions.’

“Francis and Benedict, who both live within the walls of the Vatican City and wear the white papal vestments, met publicly on Friday at a ceremony in the Vatican for the unveiling of a new statue. [Zenit reported on July 5 that the statue, sculpture or monument represented “Saint Michael the Archangel, patron of Vatican City State.”] Benedict became the first pope to resign of his own free will in 700 years in February and Francis was elected to succeed him in March as the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years…

“Encyclicals are papal circular letters addressed to the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church that are intended to summarise a pontiff’s thoughts on a particular aspect of Church life. Some of them have gone down in history as significant landmarks in Church history.

“Pope Leo XII in 1891 published ‘Rerum Novarum’ in which he undertook to engage the Catholic Church in social issues, denouncing living conditions for the working class and encouraging workers to organise themselves into associations. In 1914, Benedict XV denounced the horrors of World War I in ‘Ad beatissimi apostolorum principis’ and Pius XI in ‘Mit brennender Sorge’ in 1937 condemned Nazi racism. In Paul VI’s ‘Humanae Vitae’ in 1968, Paul VI condemned all forms of contraception, while John Paul II in ‘Evangelium Vitae’ in 1995 called for opposition to laws legalising abortion and euthanasia.”

Pope Angers Establishment

ABC News reported on July 6:

“It appears Pope Francis truly wants to change the Catholic Church. He’s reforming the Vatican Bank first, but he’s also circumventing the old guard wherever he can. The establishment is up in arms… When, in autumn 2010, fresh suspicions of money laundering to the tune of triple-digit millions emerged, then Pope Benedict XVI promised stricter rules for his financial managers. In fact, though, nothing changed. In the so-called Vatileaks scandal, secret documents that had been smuggled out of the Vatican shed light on bizarre intrigues inside the papal state. Often, the Vatican Bank [IOR] played a role in those intrigues. Benedict XVI was appalled, but also overwhelmed. He failed to prevail over the powerful cardinals who backed the IOR. His resignation was the logical outcome.

“His successor is taking more decisive action. First, he fired Nunzio Scarano, the top accountant in the Vatican office that oversees Vatican property and investments, after he was accused of money laundering and corruption and arrested. Then, practically overnight, he forced out IOR Director Paulo Cipriani and his deputy. Now the bank will be led by Ernst von Freyberg, a German baron and former consultant, member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the president of the IOR supervisory board since mid-February… ‘Did we actually vote for someone who really believes in what he preaches?’ some within the Curia are now whispering.

“Once again, Francis has taken them fully by surprise. In an almost demonstrative manner, he has been excluding the Vatican apparatus in every way he can. Most recently, this happened with the trip the pope announced he would take on Monday to the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, first learned of the planned trip through a papal press release. And instead of the kind of months of advance-team work used by heads of the Catholic Church for trips in the past, Francis has dispensed with that. Instead, the eccentric Argentinian pope ordered his staff to prepare a plane so that he could fly there in the morning and be back by midday… The pope has announced that he doesn’t want to meet with the mayor or other authorities. He also ordered church officials to stay away.”

Obama’s Waiver of Lack of Waiver for Egyptian Aid

JTA reported on July 5:

“When it comes to foreign assistance, American law couldn’t be clearer: A coup d’etat suspends funding, period. But that directive, which has persisted for years in federal appropriations bills, is now clashing with another congressional priority: the apparent desire to foster an alternative to Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s democratically elected Islamist president who was removed from power this week by the Egyptian military.

“In recent months, Congress has intimated that it would be happier if his secular foes in the military were running the country. But the law ties Congress’ hands. On July 3, President Obama said he would ‘review’ what the coup means for American aid…The United States provides some $1.55 billion in aid to Egypt annually, most of it defense assistance conditioned on Egypt’s observance of the 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Congressional leaders cited those circumstances in suggesting that the Obama administration work with the interim government. But other lawmakers… underscored that the language in the appropriations bill left virtually no wiggle room…

“Unlike many other spending provisions, the language regarding a coup d’etat does not include a presidential waiver. That leaves the Obama administration three options for working around the provision: Obtain congressional agreement to add a waiver within the next few weeks; accelerate the democratic replacement of Egypt’s interim government; or use executive privilege to work around the lack of a congressional waiver…

“The first two options are unlikely. Congress can barely agree on a budget, let alone a waiver on a sensitive issue like Egypt. And with Egypt already roiling with violence, its military would be loath to facilitate the return of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood to power through a hastily arranged election. The third option — exercising the prerogative of the president to advance foreign policy — could undercut U.S. credibility overseas, conveying an impression Obama has tried to correct: that the United States supports the powers it prefers, regardless of the will of the people.”

The Daily Caller added on July 5:

“The $1.5 billion in U.S. foreign aid slated for Egypt next year is in jeopardy after the Egyptian army deposed democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday. Section 508 of the decades-old Foreign Assistance Act stipulates that ‘none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available pursuant to this Act shall be obligated or expended to finance directly any assistance to any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by a military coup or decree.’ A clause in the 2011 omnibus bill strengthens the provision, excluding from American aid any nation experiencing a ‘coup d’etat or decree in which the military plays a decisive role.’

“Although events in Egypt appear to conform perfectly to these criteria, it’s unclear whether the Obama administration will cut off revenue to the strategically important nation anytime soon… the president also refused to call the takeover a coup, indicating his administration’s wariness to label events in Egypt before deciding how to proceed.

“Time reports that the $1.3 billion marked for the Egyptian military in 2014 is around 20 percent of that organization’s total budget. Without that money, the army may be unable to keep the peace should an extended confrontation develop between Morsi’s supporters and opposition activists. ‘The Egyptian military has long been a key partner of the United States and a stabilizing force in the region, and is perhaps the only trusted national institution in Egypt today,’ House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said… The ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee echoed that sentiment… Their comments indicate that the administration would face little protest from congressional Republicans if they decide to ignore or circumvent the law on foreign assistance.

“But politicians from the president’s own party may be less forgiving. ‘Our law is clear: U.S. aid is cut off when a democratically elected government is deposed by military coup or decree,’ said Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the budget committee which oversees foreign aid.”

Somehow, it can be expected that Congress and the Obama Administration will be able get around the “clear language of the law” to do what they want to do–if they can agree on WHAT to do.

America Clueless on Egypt

On July 5, CNN published an editorial by Christian Whiton, former State Department senior advisor from 2003-2009:

“That’s twice Washington was caught slack-jawed amid revolution in the world’s biggest Arab-majority state. But don’t blame the Obama administration exclusively for twice being on the losing side of events in Egypt. Reality in Egypt has also eluded Beltway Republican foreign policy mavens and America’s dysfunctional and distracted intelligence bureaucracies. That makes shaping events in Egypt nearly impossible.

“The first shock for Washington came in January 2011, when hundreds of thousands of Egyptians demanding secular democracy filled town squares. According to Washington and its $80 billion-per-year intelligence bureaucracy, these people did not exist in the Middle East…  Even as it became clear that Mubarak would not survive, Vice President Joe Biden said supportively, ‘I would not refer to him as a dictator.’ Of the nation that historically has been the political bellwether of the broader region, then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton said, ‘We’re not advocating any specific outcome.’

“These officials should be afforded some pity. The information and advice they were getting came partially from State Department experts who are perennially wrong about major developments in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the CIA was distracted. Originally created for the crucial tasks of stealing secrets and waging political war on America’s foes, the CIA has spent the last decade becoming a second military. With what amounts to a second American air force around the globe and a ground force now focusing on arming Syrian rebels – inexplicably so for a mission that isn’t conceivably covert – the CIA drifts ever farther from helping policymakers grasp and influence foreign political developments.

“And so the first Egyptian revolution came and went. Despite being caught flatfooted before the uprising, surely officials across Washington would be excited at the emergence of a bloc in Egypt that wanted a modern democracy, wouldn’t they? Unfortunately, Washington has a way of not allowing new facts to tamper with long-held assumptions. If Egyptian secular liberals did not exist in theory then they couldn’t exist in practice.

“So when Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham went to Cairo in February 2011, they held high-profile meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood, lending it credibility. According to the Wall Street Journal, Graham remarked, ‘After talking with the Muslim Brotherhood, I was struck with their commitment to change the law because they believe it’s unfair.’ Later, in April 2012, White House spokesman Jay Carney cited the McCain-Graham engagement with the Brotherhood as justification for the Obama administration’s own engagement with the Islamist group…

“Enter Egypt’s second revolution.  Is it any wonder that the Obama administration has chosen to remain reticent about the matter?  Egypt’s Islamist president is gone, but his supporters still exist and their secular opponents don’t yet appear to be more organized.  Worse still, the will for America and its allies to help them organize, and the tools to do that with, both appear to be in mothballs. So once again the most titanic political contest of our era takes a dramatic turn – one that will have an impact in every Muslim-majority nation and beyond, but with America largely on the sidelines. Washington will again leave crucial matters to chance.”

That is the picture which is being painted increasingly by Washington—when it comes to world affairs, it seems to be clueless, standing on the sidelines, leaving it to others to lead. The time when America was respected as a leader in the world is gone. See also the next article.

Obama’s Mideast Policy Ineffective

The Los Angeles Times added on July 5:

“The military overthrow of the democratically elected government in Egypt, for decades America’s most important Arab ally, has rekindled a fierce debate about whether the Obama administration’s Mideast policy has been too passive and ineffective…

“The critics, who include Democratic foreign policy stalwarts as well as Republicans, say the upheaval in Egypt, on top of the administration’s inability to stem the civil war in Syria or persuade Iran to curb its nuclear program, adds a blot to Obama’s foreign policy record. They blame, in part, Obama’s desire to reduce America’s overseas commitments after a decade of war, along with his apparent effort to pull back from a leadership position in favor of a more supporting role in the Middle East…

“Critics now say the U.S. focus on security meant the White House was unwilling to push back when Egypt’s military abused human rights, including ordering military trials for 10,000 civilians accused in connection with the 2011 protests, and when the Morsi government began trying to monopolize power. ‘Washington was embarrassingly quiet,’ said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a nonpartisan think tank…

“Martin Indyk, a former U.S. diplomat and advisor to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said the administration’s failure to object more loudly was a serious mistake. ‘Our failure to stand against Morsi when he began trampling on minority rights convinced the secular opposition that we were now in his corner,’ Indyk wrote in Foreign Policy magazine. ‘We appeared to be shifting our support from one authoritarian Pharaoh to the next.’…

“U.S. officials and European governments, in particular, talked about developing an international aid framework to assist Egypt’s struggling economy, but it never got off the ground. Egypt ultimately turned to Qatar for a $3-billion annual subsidy.”

Kerry on Yacht—Why These Constant Lies?

CNN reported on July 5:

“After the emergence of photographs showing Secretary of State John Kerry on his 76-foot yacht ‘Isabel’ on Nantucket Sound on Thursday, the State Department issued an embarrassing correction Friday morning, back-tracking and acknowledging that the Secretary was in fact on the yacht on Wednesday, the day the Egyptian military staged a coup against democratically-elected Egyptian President Mohamed [Morsi].  Originally, State Department officials were quick to deny a Wednesday tweet from CBS News’ Mosheh Oinounou that: ‘A CBSThisMorning producer just spotted Secretary of State Kerry on yacht in the Nantucket Boat Basin…’

“State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki issued a statement Wednesday saying ‘any report or tweet that he was on a boat is completely inaccurate. Since his plane touched down in Washington at 4 am, Secretary Kerry was working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt… He participated in the White House meeting with the President by secure phone and was and is in non-stop contact with foreign leaders, and his senior team in Washington and Cairo.’

“But overnight, photographs emerged showing Kerry on ‘Isabel’ and taking in some kayaking on Thursday… On Friday morning, Psaki issued a second statement, acknowledging that Kerry was ‘briefly on his boat on Wednesday.’…”

This is just another nail in the coffin of the lack of trust in the American government’s truthfulness.

The Important Role of Egypt’s Military

Deutsche Welle reported on July 5:

“Within two years and with the help of the army, the Egyptians have overthrown two presidents… The period between Mubarak’s fall and the election of his successor, Mohammed Morsi, was marked by continued unrest. Initially, some people welcomed the role of the army, but the Supreme Council soon found itself accused of maintaining the old power structures and of carrying out numerous human rights abuses…

“From the start, Morsi’s presidency was marked by a battle for power with the military. In August 2012, he suspended articles of the constitution which limited his power in favor of the military… Morsi’s attempts to increase his powers led to increasingly vocal protest from society and the opposition. In the course of his presidency, he found himself accused of turning Egypt into an Islamic state…

“The Egyptian army is one of the most important actors on the country’s political stage. Since the end of the monarchy in 1952, all the Egyptian presidents have come from its ranks: Mohammed Nagib, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar al-Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. At the same time, it was the military which was crucial in Mubarak’s overthrow…  The military has once more played an important role and taken the upper hand in the fall of Morsi… it… announced Morsi’s arrest and appointed the president of the constitutional court, Adli Mansour, as interim president to replace him.”

On July 5, the Huffington Post published the following comment by Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, Emmy-Nominated Producer/Host:

“I understand why so many (namely President Obama) are careful not to call this a coup. But whatever we call it, we must acknowledge the basic facts: A president elected in unprecedented free and fair elections was overthrown by an ever-powerful military that took its cues from an unprecedented mobilization of millions of Egyptians challenging his rule. Morsi failed at nearly everything the Egyptian people had hoped and entrusted him to do, chief among them, uniting a divided Egypt. But Egypt’s military has failed for far longer, with a lot more blood on their hands. And no one is more ruthless in suppressing the rights of others in Egypt than the American-made military.”

Egypt’s Turmoil Ongoing

Fox News and The Associated Press reported on July 10:

“Egypt ordered the arrest of the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader and nine others for allegedly instigating violent clashes with the military this week that left more than 50 Brotherhood supporters dead…

“Newly appointed Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi was to begin forming a Cabinet on Wednesday, and has said he will offer the Brotherhood — which helped propel Morsi to the presidency — posts in a new government. But a Brotherhood spokesman dismissed any talk of joining a military-backed administration, and said talk of national reconciliation is ‘irrelevant.’…

“Interim President Adly Mansour called for a reconciliation process called ‘One People’ to begin in Ramadan, traditionally a period for Muslims to promote unity. It called for parties and movements to hold meetings. But there was no sign the Brotherhood and its allies would attend, much like Morsi’s opponents rejected his calls for dialogue, which were dismissed as empty gestures…

“Egypt still remains deeply polarized with heightened fears of violence, especially after Monday’s shootings… Tens of thousands of Islamists massed on Tuesday for another day outside a Cairo mosque.”

Persecution of Christians in Egypt

F24 wrote on July 6:

“Violent clashes across Egypt have been taking place not just between the supporters and opponents of deposed President Mohammed Morsi of late. During times of upheaval, the Coptic Christians in Egypt always suffer abuse, and now is no exception. The Coptic community comprises roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million. They belong mostly to the Coptic Orthodox Church although some subscribe to Greek Orthodoxy. The Copts live primarily in Egypt’s largest cities, Cairo and Alexandria.

“Since the beginning of the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, they have suffered constant harassment, and dozens have lost their lives to violence. Their churches have been torched. Coptic women have been beaten, forced to wear hijabs, or forcibly converted to Islam, according to human rights organizations. The Muslim Brotherhood has taken a public stance against the targeting of Copts. Not only did Morsi condemn violence against the group during his presidency, he appointed numerous Copts as ministers and advisers in his government. The main group antagonistic to the Copts has been the Salafi movement, a conservative Islamic group that recently joined the liberals in coalition against Morsi.”

The New York Times reported on July 11:

“The military’s ouster of President Mohamed Morsi has unleashed a new wave of violence by extremist Muslims against Christians whom they blame for having supported the calls to overthrow Mr. Morsi, Egypt’s first Islamist elected leader, according to rights activists.  Since Mr. Morsi’s ouster on July 3, the activists say, a priest has been shot dead in the street, Islamists have painted black X’s on Christian shops to mark them for arson and angry mobs have attacked churches and besieged Christians in their homes. Four Christians were reported slaughtered with knives and machetes in one village last week.  The attacks have hit across the country, in the northern Sinai Peninsula, in a resort town on the Mediterranean coast, in Port Said along the Suez Canal and in isolated villages in upper Egypt.

“After Mr. Morsi’s ouster, Islamist mobs in the village of Dagala in that province looted one church, burned a building belonging to another and surrounded Christian homes, shattering their widows with rocks and clubs, EIPR said.  After one Christian man shot at the attackers from his roof, they dragged his wife from the house, beat her up and shot her. She is currently hospitalized, according to EIPR.  ‘The police came the day after the events and they didn’t do anything,’ Mr. Ibrahim said [Ishaq Ibrahim documented the violence for the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, or EIPR.] ‘People prevented the fire engines from coming in so they couldn’t do anything.’

“In the village of Naga Hassan near Luxor, Muslim mobs invaded Christian homes and set them alight while besieging other Christians in their homes. Security forces arrived to evacuate the women, but left the men, four of whom were subsequently stabbed and beaten to death, Mr. Ibrahim said…  Dozens of Christian homes were reported burned in the Naga Hassan attacks, and most of the village’s Christians have fled or are believed to be hiding in the local church.”

“NSA and the Germans ‘In Bed Together’”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 7:

“SPIEGEL reporting… indicates that cooperation between the NSA and Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, is more intensive than previously known. NSA, for example, provides ‘analysis tools’ for the BND’s signals monitoring of foreign data streams that travel through Germany. Among the BND’s focuses are the Middle East route through which data packets from crisis regions travel. In total, SPIEGEL reported that the BND pulls data from five different nodes that are then analyzed at the foreign intelligence service’s headquarters in Pullach near Munich. BND head Gerhard Schindler confirmed the partnership during a meeting with members of the German parliament’s control committee for intelligence issues.”

The EUObserver added on July 8:

“The German intelligence service (BND) has been co-operating ‘for decades’ with the US, but only within legal boundaries, a German government spokesman said on Monday (8 July)… Liberal politicians in Germany have demanded for Snowden to be granted asylum – but not the Liberal foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, who points out that the US is a democracy and the justice system there is independent, which gives no grounds for political asylum… An opinion poll carried out by Emnid end of June showed that 50 percent of Germans consider Snowden to be a hero and 35 percent would hide him in their homes.”

Trust in US at Lowest Level Since Bush

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 5:

“Ongoing revelations about the NSA spying scandal have pushed German trust in the US to its lowest level since the presidency of George W. Bush… Early in [Obama’s] first term, some 78 percent of Germans saw the US as ‘a country that could be trusted.’… A survey released late on Thursday found that only 49 percent of Germans now view the United States as trustworthy… Fully 78 percent agreed with the statement that German Chancellor Angela Merkel ‘must protest more unequivocally to the US.’

“The reputation of the United Kingdom — which was also revealed to have been engaged in tight Internet surveillance — has also suffered according to the survey. Only 63 percent of Germans now see the country as a trustworthy partner…”

The Frightening Militarization of US Police and Increasing Criminal Prosecution of US Citizens for Noncriminal Acts

The website of timesdispatch.com wrote on July 5:

“Elizabeth Daly went to jail over a case of bottled water. According to the Charlottesville Daily Progress, shortly after 10 p.m. April 11, the University of Virginia student bought ice cream, cookie dough and a carton of LaCroix sparkling water from the Harris Teeter grocery store at the popular Barracks Road Shopping Center. In the parking lot, a half-dozen men and a woman approached her car, flashing some kind of badges. One jumped on the hood. Another drew a gun. Others started trying to break the windows. Daly understandably panicked. With her roommate in the passenger seat yelling “Go, go, go!” Daly drove off, hoping to reach the nearest police station. The women dialed 911. Then a vehicle with lights and sirens pulled them over, and the situation clarified: The people who had swarmed Daly’s vehicle were plainclothes agents of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The agents had thought the sparkling water was a 12-pack of beer.

“Did the ABC’s enforcers apologize? Not in the slightest. They charged Daly with three felonies: two for assaulting an officer (her vehicle had grazed two agents; neither was hurt) and one for eluding the police. Last week, the commonwealth’s attorney dropped the charges. The agents’ excessive display of force is outrageously disproportionate to the offense they mistakenly thought they witnessed: an underage purchase of alcohol. But in a sense, Daly got off easy. A couple of weeks after her ordeal, a 61-year-old man in Tennessee was killed when the police executed a drug raid on the wrong house. A few weeks later, in another wrong-house raid, police officers killed a dog belonging to an Army veteran. These are not isolated incidents…

“They are, however, part and parcel of two broader phenomena. One is the militarization of domestic law enforcement. In recent years, police departments have widely adopted military tactics, military equipment (armored personnel carriers, flash-bang grenades) — and, sometimes, the mindset of military conquerors rather than domestic peacekeepers. The other phenomenon is the increasing degree to which civilians are subject to criminal prosecution for noncriminal acts, including exercising the constitutionally protected right to free speech…

“[Remember] the case of Jeff Olson, who chalked messages such as ‘Stop big banks’ outside branches of Bank of America last year. Law professor Jonathan Turley reports that prosecutors brought 13 vandalism charges against him. Moreover, the judge in the case recently prohibited Olson’s attorney from ‘mentioning the First Amendment, free speech,’ or anything like them during the trial. In May, a Texas woman was arrested for asking to see a warrant for the arrest of her 11-year-old son. ‘She spent the night in jail while her son was left at home,’ reports Fox34 News. The son never was arrested…

“Federal prosecutors also recently used an anti-terrorism measure to seize almost $70,000 from the owners of a Maryland dairy. Randy and Karen Sowers had made several bank deposits of just under $10,000 to avoid the headache of filing federal reports required for sums over that amount. The feds charged them with unlawful ‘structuring.’ Last week, they settled the case. Authorities kept half their money to teach them a lesson.

“‘I broke the law yesterday,’ writes George Mason economics professor Alex Tabarrok, ‘and I probably will break the law tomorrow. Don’t mistake me, I have done nothing wrong. I don’t even know what laws I have broken. … It’s hard for anyone to live today without breaking the law. Doubt me? Have you ever thrown out some junk mail that … was addressed to someone else? That’s a violation of federal law punishable by up to five years in prison.’ Tabarrok notes that lawyer Harvey Silverglate thinks the typical American commits ‘Three Felonies a Day’…

“As The Wall Street Journal has reported, lawmakers in Washington have greatly eroded the notion of mens rea — the principle that you need criminal intent in order to commit a crime… ‘What once might have been considered simply a mistake,’ The Journal explains, is now ‘punishable by jail time.’ And as 20-year-old Elizabeth Daly has now learned, you can go to jail even when the person making the mistake wasn’t you.”

The Huffington Post added on July 10:

“Despite campaign promises to the contrary, Obama has not only continued the Bush and Clinton administration policy of sending SWAT teams to raid medical marijuana growers, shops, and dispensaries in states that have legalized the drug, he appears to have significantly increased enforcement. Just two years into his presidency, Obama’s administration had conducted about 150 such raids. The Bush administration conducted around 200 medical marijuana raids over eight years. Obama has also stepped up the heavy-handed raids often used to enforce immigration laws. In 2012, his administration deported more people than in any prior year in American history. He’s on pace to deport 2 million people by 2014, a figure equal to the total number of people ever deported from America until 1997…

“In 2011, an armed team of federal agents raided the floor of the Gibson guitar factory in Nashville, Tenn. The raid made national headlines and picked up traction in the tea party movement, largely because it had been conducted to enforce the Lacey Act, a fairly obscure environmental law — not the sort of policy most people would think would be enforced by armed federal agents. The same year, a SWAT team from the Department of Education conducted a morning raid of what they thought was the home of a woman who was suspected of defrauding federal student loan programs — again, not the sort of crime usually associated with a SWAT action. (They also got the wrong house — the suspect had moved out months earlier.)

“The Obama administration has defended the use of aggressive, militaristic police actions in court. In the case Avina v. U.S., DEA agents pointed their guns at an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old during a drug raid on the wrong house. The agents had apparently mistaken the license plate of a suspected drug trafficker for the plate on a car owned by Thomas Avina. Obama’s Justice Department argued in federal court that the lawsuit should be dismissed before being heard by a jury because the agents’ actions were not unreasonable… there was a time in America when even the original tough-on-crime administration was appalled enough at the idea to hold such overly zealous drug cops accountable…”

This incredible injustice in the land of the free and the brave is most certainly an abomination in God’s eyes… But this should come as no surprise because God prophesied in His Word that we would reach the time when there is NO MORE JUSTICE in the land (compare Isaiah 59:9-15; Hosea 4:1). It appears more and more that time HAS arrived.

Largest Joint Naval Drill Ever Between China and Russia

The Washington Times reported on July 5:

“Chinese and Russian navies have partnered for the countries’ largest joint naval drill in history… Military analysts see the joint drill as yet another sign of the countries’ growing friendship… The drill… [is] aimed at giving the countries the chance to practice anti-submarine warfare and naval maneuvers at a close range. The drills are the largest in scope that China’s ever held with a foreign nation. The country has been actively building up its navy, AP reported.”

The New York Times wrote on July 10:

“An armada of Chinese and Russian warships sailed in ceremonial formation in the Sea of Japan, off the port of Vladivostok, on Wednesday in what was the high point of joint naval exercises intended to show the growing unity between [the] two countries…  State-run news media gave widespread coverage to the action, which included live firing drills…

“From Beijing’s point of view, there was a message for Washington, too: As China rapidly builds its maritime power and the United States begins to deploy more of its naval and air assets back to the Pacific Ocean as part of its new focus on Asia, China will not stand alone… ‘This shows unprecedented good relations between China and Russia,’ said Professor Wang Ning, director of the Center for Russian Studies at the Shanghai International Studies University. ‘It shows that the two countries will support each other on the global stage.’ Both countries want a more multipolar world in which the United States is less dominant, he said.”

The Bible speaks of an end-time military collaboration between Far Eastern countries, including China, Russia, Japan, India and others, which are referred to as the “kings of the East.” For more information, please read our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever.”

Latvia to Be 18th Member of the Eurozone

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 9:

“The European Union has officially approved Latvia as the 18th member of the eurozone, which uses the bloc’s common currency. The Baltic country is set to adopt the euro on January 1, 2014. European Union finance ministers from the 28-member bloc gave their final approval for Latvia to join the eurozone…  Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis confirmed the news… adding that it was ‘good news not only for Latvia but also for Europe and the eurozone.’”

The “Euro Zone Beast” May “Bite”

Reuters wrote on July 3:

“Portugal [and] Greece risk reawakening [the] euro zone beast… EU officials have been at pains to talk down any unrest, buoyed by the tranquility in financial markets since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi made good on his pledge last summer to do whatever it takes to protect the euro via a bond-buying program. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has spoken of the worst of the crisis being over, and the economic affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn, has often dismissed ‘doomsayers’ who once predicted the euro would collapse.

“But despite the desire to project calm, EU officials quietly acknowledge that all is not well and that any number of problems could throw the region back into turmoil. ‘There are always issues simmering under the surface,’ said an EU diplomat who has been dealing first hand with the crisis since it erupted in Greece in early 2010. ‘It’s far from over. The immediacy may have ebbed away, but I think we’re all aware that under the surface, there’s still a lot of stuff that can come back to bite us.’”

We are not quoting the article because we believe that a major euro crisis will throw the region back into turmoil, or that the euro will collapse. The Bible shows otherwise. But the language used in the article is quite revealing: the euro zone is a beast that may bite. According to the Bible, it is indeed a beast—the last revival of the ancient Roman Empire, referred to as the “beast” in Scripture, which will finally consist of ten core nations or groups of nations that will in turn give their authority to a military leader who is ALSO called the “beast” in the Bible. This last revival of the ancient Roman Empire will at first be a collaboration between the Catholic Church and the states, but the ten nations or groups of nations—the “beast”–will subsequently turn against the church and “bite” it.

Croatia the 28th Member State of the EU

Deutsche Welle reported on July 1, 2013:

“Croatians are celebrating their entry into the European Union as the once war-torn nation becomes the bloc’s 28th member… At the stroke of midnight on Sunday, Croatia joined the EU, the first expansion of the bloc since 2007… The country of 4.4 million becomes just the second of the former Yugoslav states to enter the EU, following Slovenia’s entry in 2004… Serbia just learned last week that they can begin negotiations in January 2014 for their own future entry in the EU…

“Last year, Croatians voted through a referendum for EU membership, the final hurdle to Sunday’s accession to the bloc… Despite questions over timing and its economy, thousands gathered in Zagreb on Sunday to celebrate the culmination of 20 years worth of change, reform and success. Revelers were joined by 170 foreign officials, 15 heads of state, 13 prime ministers and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council. Croatia’s President Ivo Josipovic pointed to the historical significance of the occasion. ‘In the history of a nation, there are few events such as this one,’ he said.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 1:

“As of midnight on Sunday, Croatia is officially the 28th member of the European Union, following a decade of overhaul aimed at casting off the remnants of war and Communist rule. The small Adriatic country briefly set aside its economic troubles to celebrate its accession with fireworks, cannon-fire and church bells… The country of 4.4 million people is only the second of seven countries carved out of Yugoslavia to join the EU, following Slovenia in 2004. ‘I look at the future with much optimism,’ Josipovic said, welcoming a group of seven other Balkan leaders ‘on the first European morning.’

“The festivities in Zagreb lasted well into the night and included concerts, dance performances, street parties and massive projections narrating the mostly Catholic country’s history. At midnight, EU flags were raised and customs posts were removed from the country’s borders with EU members Hungary and Slovenia. Several top EU officials were on hand for the celebration, including European Commission President Jose Barroso and EU Parliament President Martin Schulz, who spoke of a historic day. ‘It’s good when a family grows, especially our family, which is committed to the values of democracy, justice and rule of law,’ Schulz told the crowd… Croatia still has to fulfill more criteria before it will be allowed to join the EU’s Schengen Zone of border-free travel.”

Egyptian Carousel … Morsi Ousted… Now It’s the Military Again

Deutsche Welle reported on July 3:

“The Egyptian army has said that President Mohammed Morsi is to be removed from his post and that the constitution has been suspended. Fresh troops have been deployed around Cairo, with anti-Morsi protesters jubilant. Egyptian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi announced on national television on Wednesday evening that the head of the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court would act as president…

“One of the Islamist Egyptian president’s top advisers earlier on Wednesday had condemned action by the country’s army as a ‘military coup’ after an ultimatum for Morsi to forge a deal with opponents expired… Meanwhile, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported that the military had placed several leaders of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood under surveillance and imposed a travel ban on them. The news agency DPA reported sources at Cairo airport as saying that a travel ban on Morsi himself was related to the president’s 2011 escape from prison during the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak…

“In a last minute statement before the deadline expired between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. local time (1400 to 1500 GMT), Morsi himself criticized the military for ‘taking only one side’… Opposition spokesman Mohamed ElBaradei, along with Egypt’s top Muslim cleric and a Coptic pope had met General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for talks on measures that the military threatened to impose on Wednesday. Those discussions came to an end on Wednesday evening…”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 4:

“Leaders in Europe and elsewhere have expressed dismay at the coup which saw the Egyptian military topple the country’s president on Wednesday night. Some are warning that it sets a ‘dangerous precedent’ that could happen again… German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the country must return to constitutional order as quickly as possible… In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister David Cameron called on all parties to end the violence in Egypt, where nearly 50 people have been killed in clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents since Sunday… Foreign Secretary William Hague also told the BBC: ‘We don’t support military intervention as a way to resolve disputes in a democratic system. It’s of course a dangerous precedent to do that, if one president can be deposed by the military, then of course another one can be in the future — that’s a dangerous thing.’…

“In a statement released by the White House on Wednesday evening, President Obama said Washington ‘is deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsi and suspend the Egyptian constitution.’ The president called ‘on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsi and his supporters.’

“The response from Turkey, where mass protests have targeted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was even stronger, not least because Morsi had been a very close ally of Ankara. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the military coup as ‘unacceptable.’ He said: ‘You can only be removed from duty through elections, that is, the will of the people. It is unacceptable for a government, which has come to power through democratic elections, to be toppled through illicit means and even more, a military coup,’ he told reporters.”

Egypt’s future is predestined and clearly revealed in the Bible. It won’t matter who is going to be in charge—the Muslim Brotherhood, President Morsi’s opponents or the military. All this nonsense and the West’s ill-conceived enthusiasm about the “Arab Spring” just cloud the real issues. For the truth and the clear understanding as to what is happening and going to occur in Egypt, and why, please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”

Syria—a Foretaste of Things to Come?

The Blaze wrote on June 30:

“Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was beheaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder. As The Blaze reported last week, Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern Syria. Last Sunday… extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad. While earlier reports suggested Murad may have been shot to death, Catholic Online reported Saturday: ‘The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.’

“The Catholic news service quotes local sources who report that the radical Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or Al-Nusra Front, was behind the savage killing. In [a] video posted by Live Leak purporting to show the execution, dozens of men and boys are seen cheering on as three men are seated on the ground awaiting their grisly fate. The men are methodically beheaded one at a time by men holding what appears to be a simple kitchen knife after which the heads are placed on top of the bodies. According to Catholic Online, the first victim was Murad.

“A frenzy ensues, with dozens drawing out their smartphones to capture the bloody scene, as a chorus of Allahu Akbar (‘Allah is the greatest’) are  (is) sung with jihadi rapture. Several observers are seen moving within inches of the bodies in an effort to capture close-up photos.

“Catholic Online is raising alarm that western nations are providing support to the rebels who have shown a proclivity toward persecuting Christians: ‘This should make it clear to Christians around the world what jihadists are about. Make no mistake. Catholics and [other] Christians around the globe are under dire threat, particularly from the spread of militant Islam. Until the threat is recognized and taken seriously, martyrdoms like this will continue.’

“Vatican Radio reports that Gassanieh, a village with a majority Christian population, had been under attack by Islamist fighters for the past few weeks, forcing most residents to flee for safety. It quotes Custos of the Holy Land, Franciscan Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa who says, ‘The world must know that the support of gunmen by the west is helping extremists in killing Syrians. With such stances, not a single Christian will remain in the East,’ he added.

“Vatican Radio writes, ‘Fr. Mourad was just one of the many men and women… putting their faith on the front line in Syria, refusing to abandon the communities they serve, Christian and Muslim. They stay because they want to be a sign of hope, light and comfort to people in the midst of destruction.’”

God is not the author of rebellion, which is as bad a sin as witchcraft, and what is happening in the Middle East is of course not godly. Rather, Satan is the god of this world and the author of rebellion, murder, religious fanaticism and anarchy. However, God allows these events to take place to bring about His purpose, as explained in our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy–From Now Until Forever.” 

Germans and Europeans Furious With Obama’s America

The Associated Press reported on June 30:

“Senior European officials expressed concern Sunday at reports that U.S. intelligence agents bugged EU offices on both sides of the Atlantic… The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was ‘deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices’ made in a report published Sunday by German news weekly Der Spiegel… Schulz said that if the allegations that the NSA bugged European Union offices were confirmed ‘it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations.’…

“In Germany, where criticism of the NSA’s surveillance programs has been particularly vocal, a senior government official accused the United States on Sunday of using Cold War methods against its allies by targeting EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels… Also Sunday, German federal prosecutors said they were examining whether the reported U.S. electronic surveillance programs broke German laws… [They] said private citizens were likely to file criminal complaints on the matter, but didn’t comment on the possible legal merits of such complaints.”

Der Spiegel added on June 30:

“Europeans are furious. Revelations that the US intelligence service National Security Agency (NSA) targeted the European Union and several European countries with its far-reaching spying activities have led to angry reactions from several senior EU and German politicians… Elmar Brok, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in European Parliament added his opprobrium. ‘The spying has reached dimensions that I didn’t think were possible for a democratic country. Such behavior among allies is intolerable.’ The US… once the land of the free, ‘is suffering from a security syndrome,’ added Brok, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats. ‘They have completely lost all balance. George Orwell is nothing by comparison.’…

“A… Merkel ally in European Parliament, Markus Ferber, accused the US on Sunday of using methods akin to the feared East German secret police, the Stasi… ‘A democratic constitutional state that uses Stasi methods sacrifices all credibility as a moral authority,’ Ferber told the German daily Die Welt on Sunday. ‘It has destroyed trust.’…

“Green Party officials in Brussels are demanding far-reaching consequences. ‘This is meltdown of the constitutional state,’ said Jan Philipp Albrecht, a Green Party representative in European Parliament… and demanded that the EU open proceedings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Green Party floor leader in European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit went even further. ‘A simple note of protest is not enough anymore. The EU must immediately suspend negotiations with the US over a free trade agreement,’ he said…”

The Associated Press reported on July 1 that “French President Francois Hollande is demanding that the United States immediately stop its alleged eavesdropping of the European Union.”

The Verge wrote on July 1:

“… a new report from German news weekly Der Spiegel provides some more insight into the size of Washington’s telecommunications dragnet, claiming that US intelligence compiles metadata on half a billion German data connections (including phone calls, emails, and text messages) every day. The report points out that the NSA’s interest in Germany is much higher than that of other EU countries like France, whose communications the NSA only logs a tenth as often.

“… the report states that the NSA’s spying efforts in Germany are comparable to the attention it spends on China, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. And pointing to one top secret document, Der Spiegel writes that Germany is considered a ‘third party foreign partner’ by the NSA, unentitled to the freedom from spying exclusively granted to the most prestigious group of US partner nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.”

If all of these claims are true, the cold war between Europe and the USA is back, which could (!) even escalate into a hot war. The German mass tabloid, Bild, asked on July 1: “What do the Americans want from the Chancellor?”, in light of the alleged revelation that even Angela Merkel had been spied on by the Obama Administration. This made the German Chancellor very unhappy, as the next article shows.

Europe Threatens USA With Dire Consequences

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 1:

“Europeans are deeply unsettled… EU diplomats, with the active involvement of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, spent much of Monday coming up with a joint response and reaction to the possible US spying. According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, Westerwelle spoke at length with Catherine Ashton, chief of EU foreign affairs, on Monday. ‘Both were in agreement that such activity among partners and friends [is] unacceptable,’ the statement read… In Berlin, the German Foreign Ministry called in US Ambassador Philip Murphy on Monday for consultations. Brussels likewise called in the US ambassador to the European Union, William Kennard…

“Merkel’s unusually sharp words seem to have opened the gates for more reactions from her cabinet in Berlin… The US, meanwhile, is biding its time. US President Obama said on Monday in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania that his government is still looking at the revelations published in SPIEGEL. He said that once that examination is complete, the US will provide its allies with all of the information they are seeking.”

If one wants to believe THAT!!!

Germans Don’t Trust Obama

In an accompanying article, Der Spiegel wrote on July 1:

“Revelations that the US has spied extensively on the EU and European countries have infuriated leaders in Brussels and Berlin — and could endanger the trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement. Important American voices are demanding that Obama come clean. Leading trans-Atlantic analysts have reacted with shock and horror…

“Sources familiar with the ongoing discussion in the White House regarding the revelations say that the Obama administration will attempt to make clear that the surveillance measures were carried out in coordination with the secret services of other countries. It remains questionable, however, whether any countries will want to admit to such cooperation. European politicians, it seems certain, will have no interest in making such an admission…

“Green Party politician Malte Spitz attracted attention over the weekend with a guest editorial in the New York Times in which he reminded readers of the demonstrations in Germany against data retention for six months in accordance with a European Union directive. ‘Given our history, we Germans are not willing to trade in our liberty for potentially better security. Germans have experienced firsthand what happens when the government knows too much about someone.’ The title of his piece: ‘Germans Loved Obama. Now We Don’t Trust Him.’”

This debacle is bound to continue; especially if European secret services collaborated with the Americans and would now be unwilling to admit this.

How Much Did the Germans Know?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 3:

“While the Chancellery appears to be outraged by the NSA’s spying tactics in Germany, the opposition doubts the revelations came as a surprise to Angela Merkel. Just how much could she have known?

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to be pretty clear with US President Barack Obama the next time she has him on the line. At least that’s a reasonable assumption, based on the anger she has expressed about American spying operations in the European Union and Germany… But others say that the chancellor will probably be friendly to Obama during their next talk, and not because this is what diplomatic conventions call for, even amid tensions. No, it’s because there is some question as to whether Berlin’s dismay about the espionage by the National Security Agency (NSA) is really as great as it claims. Could some of the indignation be feigned? Did the revelations really shock the chancellor? And if it did come as a surprise, has German counterintelligence failed miserably?

“The opposition doesn’t believe that Merkel was unaware of the situation. In an editorial for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week, Sigmar Gabriel, chairman of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), openly aired the suspicion that Merkel was familiar with at least some of the spying activity. The government has vehemently rejected this accusation as crude campaign bluster. This isn’t totally unjust — the opposition has seized on the opportunity to portray Merkel as a traitor to citizens’ freedoms, a strategy that could gain support among a population particularly sensitive to data protection issues.

“The election campaign aside, there are good reasons to ask critical questions of not just the Americans, but the German government too. Intelligence expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom says that Gabriel’s suspicion is ‘at least tendentially’ correct. ‘According to my estimation, the authorities knew about this,’ he told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

“That’s because the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), which is responsible for protecting government networks, compiles threat analyses for the Interior Ministry. And adversaries include ‘not only China or Russia, but also the Anglo-Saxon services,’ Schmidt-Eenboom said. Additionally, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency (BND) is familiar with the capacities of allied intelligence agencies, he added. In turn, the BND briefs the Chancellery, or more precisely its chief of staff, Ronald Pofalla, who is responsible for coordinating the intelligence agencies. He then shares this information with the chancellor when he sees fit…

“The SPD, however, cannot hide behind Merkel’s conservatives. After all, it was current opposition leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier who occupied Pofalla’s post from 1999 to 2005, in the delicate time after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when US intelligence agencies were certainly not idle. One thing is obvious: No one believed that the NSA was steering clear of Germany…”

These are indeed troubling developments, and Germany’s refusal to grant asylum to fugitive Edward Snowden might have to be seen in this light. See the next article.

“Ashamed of Germany”

The Local reported on July 3:

“Michael Grosse-Brömer, of the Christian Democratic Union’s parliamentary faction [Merkel’s party], said it had been a ‘legally founded’ decision. ‘We have clear pre-conditions for an asylum process and for asylum entitlement, and those pre-conditions were not in place for Mr. Snowden,’ he said on state TV channel ARD Wednesday morning. ‘I don’t see that the man is being pursued politically,’ Social Democratic Party interior policy spokesman Dieter Wiefelspütz [Steinmeier’s party] told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. ‘He may have breached state secrecy for reasons of conscience. He may be a hero of freedom. But that is no protection from legal consequences.’

“The Green party, which had called for Snowden to be taken in, strongly criticized the government. Leading candidates Katrin Göring-Eckardt and Jürgen Trittin released a joint statement on Tuesday evening that said, ‘Angela Merkel’s decision to deny asylum to Edward Snowden exposes all the hypocrisy of this government. It says it is outraged, but doesn’t do anything.’

“Meanwhile Katharina Nocun of the Pirate Party accused the government of putting Snowden under threat, adding that Snowden could expect inhumane treatment or even the death penalty if deported to the US. ‘Germany is even holding the door open for these human rights abuses,’ Nocun said. ‘Today I am ashamed of our government.’”

“Snowden, a former contractor for the US National Security Agency, applied for asylum to 21 countries after releasing details of the scope of its surveillance activities. Most have denied him access.”

Is this so because all are involved; all have something to hide; and no one is without sin? Take France as another example.

Worldcrunch wrote on July 4:

“The revelations of the controversial U.S. domestic surveillance program PRISM have provoked massive indignation through much of Europe, but France has been rather quiet. There are two simple explanations: Paris was already aware — and does exactly the same. Le Monde has confirmed that the ‘Direction Générale de la Securité Extérieure’ (DGSE, the French secret service) systematically collects the electromagnetic signals transmitted by computers and phones in France, as well as the digital streams going back-and-forth between the French and abroad. All communications are being spied on: emails, SMS messages, phone records, Facebook and Twitter updates, which are all then stored for years.”

Guenther Grass in Hot Water—Again

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 28:

“Nobel laureate Günter Grass has become a master at stepping on his tongue lately. This week, he did it again, casting aspersions about Chancellor Merkel’s East German past. Critics have blasted Grass, pointing to the author’s own prior membership in the SS.”

This was of course an incredibly stupid and incomprehensible move by Grass, which is even more regrettable, as he did say a few more things which are worth noting. The magazine went on to state:

“Grass didn’t limit his criticism to Merkel on Wednesday. Calling her elimination of conscription ‘shameful,’ he said that the German military had devolved into nothing more than an ‘army of mercenaries that gets sent on missions abroad.’ He said it threatens to become a ‘state within a state’ as did the German army during the inter-war Weimar period.”

With that statement, Grass earned criticism from Conservatives and Liberals alike. Nobody wanted to hear that.

New Information Contradicts Denials from Tech Companies

CNET wrote on June 30:

“The Washington Post has published a new set of slides regarding PRISM, revealing more details about the National Security Agency’s controversial surveillance program and how it operates. The new slides… appear to confirm that the NSA and FBI have the ability to perform real-time surveillance of e-mail and stored content.

“The slides also seem to contradict denials from tech companies such as Google, Apple, Yahoo, and Microsoft about their level of participation in the program. The program ‘uses government equipment on private company property to retrieve matching information from a participating company, such as Microsoft or Yahoo and pass[es] it without further review to the NSA,’ The Washington Post reported.”

US Postal Service Is Spying on You!

The New York Times reported on July 3:

“Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States — about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images… postal mail is subject to the same kind of scrutiny that the National Security Agency has given to telephone calls and e-mail.

“… At the request of law enforcement officials, postal workers record information from the outside of letters and parcels before they are delivered. (Opening the mail would require a warrant.) The information is sent to the law enforcement agency that asked for it. Tens of thousands of pieces of mail each year undergo this scrutiny.”

Obamacare—Major Defeat for Obama

Newsmax, The Associated Press and Reuters reported on July 2:

“The Obama administration’s move to delay until 2015 a requirement that employers offer health insurance or else face stiff penalties is yet another indication the embattled law is a failure and should be repealed, Republicans and Conservatives said Tuesday… On Tuesday, the White House made its most significant concession on the healthcare law since President Barack Obama signed it in 2010, delaying the requirement that medium and large companies provide coverage for their workers or face heavy fines.

“The law requires companies with 50 or more workers to provide affordable coverage to their full-time employees or risk escalating tax penalties if just one worker ends up getting government-subsidized insurance. Companies would have had to pay the Internal Revenue Service $2,000 for each full-time employee who did not get health coverage, beginning Jan. 1, 2014, when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was scheduled to take full effect. Business groups have complained that the provision was too complicated…”

Still, the injustice of the implementation of this new botched law is apparent, as correctly pointed out by humanevents.com, on July 2:

“Looks like someone finally read the bill. The Obama administration is postponing the ‘employer mandate’… until 2015. The move delays implementation of at least one component of the unpopular law until after the next mid-term elections. A coincidence, no doubt.

“Individuals? You’re still on the hook… the decision prompts several questions. Among them: 1 -Can the administration unilaterally decide when and how a law is implemented?  If so, can Congress decide when and how to fund it? 2- Why is the employer mandate delayed but not the individual mandate? 3 – Why is it that the populist Obama administration acts on complaints from large companies but fights all the way to the Supreme Court to levy fines on individuals?”

Good questions!

Same-Sex Marriage—HOW “Law” Is Made

The International Business Times wrote on July 1:

“The Supreme Court denied a request by California opposition groups to block same-sex marriages on Sunday. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who handles petitions from the Western states, issued a brief statement that read: ‘Justice Kennedy denied the application on his own, without further comment.’…

“The Ninth Circuit [Court of Appeals] usually waits 25 days before acting on a case that was recently decided by the Supreme Court. But in a surprise move, a three-judge panel that included liberal jurist Stephen Reinhardt lifted a hold it had placed on a 2010 injunction ordering state officials to stop enforcing the gay marriage ban [in California]…

“Kennedy wrote Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling that required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages. Kennedy’s decision means gay marriages can resume in California.”

According to the Rasmussen Report of July 1, 2013, “The U.S. Supreme Court finished its term with big decisions on voting rights, affirmative action and same-sex marriage. Following those rulings, public approval of the court has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded in more than nine years of polling.”

Same Sex Marriage—WHY “Law” Is Made

On June 28, Canada Free Press wrote the following:

“Designated by Congress as the ‘National House of Prayer’ and often identified as the church of our national leaders, the National Cathedral in Washington DC celebrated Wednesday’s Supreme Court decisions regarding same-sex marriage by ringing its bells for 45 minutes at noon ET, followed by a celebratory prayer service that evening. After being notified of the Supreme Court’s ruling, our putative president made a congratulatory call from Air Force One to the plaintiffs in California’s Proposition 8 case, a call that was also broadcast on MSNBC, the unofficial mouthpiece for the administration.

“Welcome to American Babylon, 2013.

“Those who have been paying attention to the systematic attacks on the moral fabric of our nation understand that what is taking place in America has absolutely nothing to do with ‘equal rights’ or ‘gender equality.’ This should be especially evident in light of the fact that [confessing] homosexuals comprise a mere three percent of our population, yet have somehow managed to cause an entire nation to redefine traditional marriage between a man and a woman. How is this possible? The answer lies in the larger picture.

“America has become a captured operation. Forced acceptance of same-sex unions is part of a larger plan that was outlined and detailed nearly a century ago by Antonio Gramsci, a well-known Marxist. Through his theory of cultural hegemony, a method for a Marxist takeover of a capitalist nation like the United States was only possible from within. A key component to this takeover was – and continues to be – radically changing the culture and moral sensitivities of our country. Destroy traditional and sacred moral values based on Judeo-Christian principles and replace them with immoral and un-Godly laws and evil disguised as tolerance…

“Socialism calls for government control of industry, including the nationalization of key industries and national resources. The terms Communism and Marxism are interchangeable, and are hard-core forms of socialism… Socialism, Marxism and Communism are mere stepping stones to the larger agenda of a unified world or system of global governance… Many of the… [Communist] goals have been accomplished with little to no resistance right in front of our eyes, by our own self-proclaimed moral leadership.

“A very important aspect of those goals focuses on breaking down all cultural standards of morality, including the promotion of all forms of homosexuality, promiscuity and degeneracy as ‘normal and healthy.’ To assist with this task, all religious institutions were and are to be infiltrated by those adherent to the Marxist-Communist Mindset, the Holy Bible is to be discredited, and traditional doctrine replaced by a mandate of inclusion and tolerance of behavior which was once considered abhorrent. Removal of the Judeo-Christian obstacles in America would sufficiently soften the population to the ultimate acceptance of a global Mindset and ultimately, the subjugation to a single global authority. This process, however, could not be done overnight as the Americans of the 1950’s would never accept it or allow it to happen.

“The children of the United States were and are considered to be one of the most important ‘resources’ for the takeover of America. Accordingly, schools had to be infiltrated by the agents of the Marxists-Communist Mindset, today called the Progressives, and the minds of the children ‘prepared’ or educated in accordance with a tolerance and blind acceptance toward Marxism and Communism…

“It is no wonder that the U.S. Educational system from the 1960’s forward has promoted immorality under the guise of tolerance, and has not only allowed, but forced parents to accept curriculums of abhorrent behavior be permitted to pollute the minds of our young people. At the same time curriculums of moral corruption are being taught in our schools, the removal of God was necessary as it is antithetical to the debauchery of tolerance and acceptance. Like a cancer, this process has spread not only through our public elementary and secondary schools, but exponentially into our colleges and universities… As we are busy working multiple jobs just to put food on the table, we have been deliberately distracted away from what is being taught to our children…

“The normalization of homosexual marriage is a sin against God and nature and historically, one that does not go unpunished. We did not, however, arrive here overnight. It was in 1986, a mere 27 years ago, that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state’s rights to enact sodomy laws in the landmark case of Bowers v. Hardwick. Citing then Chief Justice Warren Burger, ‘To hold that the act of homosexual sodomy is somehow protected as a fundamental right would be to cast aside millennia of moral teaching.’ That fragile thread of morality lasted only 17 years. In 2003, the Bowers v. Hardwick was overturned by the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down the sodomy law in Texas and, by extension, invalidated sodomy laws in other states.

“Although it was contended at the time that the latter case had nothing to do with same-sex marriage, Supreme Court Justice Antonion Scalia astutely saw through the smoke screen and during oral arguments, flatly admonished anyone who would listen that the decision would open the floodgates toward the recognition of same-sex marriage. And so it did. Legalizing same-sex sexual activity and marriage is but one of numerous attacks against America from within…”

It is so very true that before the United States of America can be destroyed by an enemy from without, it will have permitted its destruction from within. Notice the next article as well.

Altered Attitudes

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 2:

“Two US Supreme Court rulings last week bolstering same-sex marriage are symptomatic of shifting public opinion in the West in favor of gay rights. Attitudes have changed so fast in recent years that politicians can hardly keep up…

“As of this August, 585 million people in the world will live in regions where true gay marriage exists… roughly twice as many as in August 2012. And just 12 years before that, at the turn of the millennium, gay marriage didn’t exist anywhere in the world…

“Several countries have changed their laws just in the last half year. One example is France… Three American states, as well as New Zealand and Uruguay, have also joined the ranks in 2013. But it is Brazil’s over 190 million inhabitants who account for the largest segment of that number…

“The losers in this trend, in every country, are religious forces. In France, it was conservative Catholic circles… But the resistance in France was directed at far more than just gay marriage — it was also about fundamentally questioning the legitimacy of the country’s Socialist president…

“Baptist minister and former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee met the Supreme Court’s ruling with the words, ‘Jesus wept.’ But even… radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh conceded earlier this year that the gay marriage movement would no longer be stopped, saying, ‘This issue is lost.’”

Historic Pride Sabbath?

JTA wrote on July 1:

“At 5:00 P.M. this past Friday, a line of visibly excited people, many decked out in rainbow regalia, gathered outside Congregation Beit Simchat Torah Shabbat [CBST] services. Synagogues generally don’t garner lines for services, especially lines that wrap around the block. But then again, it’s not every Shabbat that you can celebrate Pride weekend with Edith Windsor and Roberta Kaplan.

“Windsor, of course, is the lesbian woman whose Supreme Court petition resulted in the historic overturn last week of the Defense of Marriage Act. Kaplan is her lawyer. Both women are CBST members. Over 600 people — including mayoral candidate Christine Quinn — came to the synagogue to celebrate the ruling; some stood outside listening in through speakers. The services were extended and included the recitation of the Hallel prayer normally reserved for holidays. Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum dedicated the night to Thea Speyer, Windsor’s deceased partner, and said that, while there may be reasons not to fully celebrate the court’s decisions last week, we should still celebrate this momentous occasion. And celebrate they did. With a full choir, the synagogue was full of joy, music, and hugs.

“Kaplan and Windsor spoke together at the end of the service, comparing their efforts in securing equal rights for same-sex marriages to the efforts of the biblical daughters of Zelophehad, who fought for their inheritance rights and won. The high point of the night came at an unexpected moment. As the services started, a diminutive, elegantly dressed woman walked in slowly. No one noticed her at first, but then one person recognized the smiling [woman] as Edith Windsor, and the cheering and clapping turned into a sustained standing ovation. Her entrance felt like the triumphant return of a battle-worn hero waving to the crowd.”

It might come as a surprise to some, but many American Jews have manifested an incredible amount of liberalism and anti-biblical standards (as this can also be observed for many American Catholics and Protestants). But this is of course not true for all. Notice the next insightful article.

“Rabbi: Only Messiah Can Straighten Out Gay Ruling”

JTA wrote on June 28:

“The National Council of Young Israel wasn’t quite as eloquent as the Orthodox Union, nor as elegiac as Agudath Israel of America, but the essential view is the same. ‘We oppose homosexual marriage and are disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision that strikes down portions of the Defense of Marriage Act. Pursuant to the tenets of the Jewish faith and in accordance with Torah law, we believe that marriage should only be recognized as a union between a man and a woman, just as it always has been throughout history.’…

“Orthodox rabbi… Yoel Schoenfeld… the Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills in Queens [said] that this decision… has brought humanity so low that it can only herald the End of Days. Maybe, the rabbi says… the messiah will soon come and ‘straighten us out.’”

Indeed, He will have to…

Deadly Arizona Fire

Fox News reported on July 1:

“Eighteen members of an elite Hotshots firefighting crew and one other person who were killed Sunday in an Arizona wildfire tried to protect themselves by deploying tent-like structures before they were overtaken, a state forestry spokesman says. The lightning-sparked fire, which spread to more than 8,000 acres amid triple-digit temperatures, destroyed at least 50 structures and threatened 500 people in Yarnell, a town of about 700 residents that sits 85 miles northwest of Phoenix, the Yavapai County Emergency Management said Monday… It was zero percent contained as of Monday morning local time.

“The fire killed 18 members of the 20-member of the Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots crew, which were known for battling the region’s worst fires. The average age of the men in the crew was 22-years-old…  It was the most firefighters killed battling a wildfire in the U.S. in decades.”

This tragedy is truly heart-breaking, and our condolences go out to the families of these brave young men who gave their lives to protect others.

The Atlantic Wire wrote on July 1:

“It’s hard to process yesterday’s deaths of 19 firefighters in Arizona… But there is one worrisome trend: fires are getting bigger and often deadlier… The number of acres burned per fire reached a new high last year… One reason for last year’s devastation was last year’s massive drought. The Southwest has been consistently dry for several years, but last year — and into this year — the drought reached levels not seen since the Dust Bowl era.

“The wildfires seen so far in 2013 largely track with the drought… As New York City’s Firemen’s Memorial says, the lost firefighters are ‘soldiers in a war that never ends.’ Yesterday’s loss is a reminder that even with our modern advantages, the war is still a struggle.”

Discovery of Australia’s East Coast

AFP wrote on July 1:

“The centuries-old skull of a white man found in Australia is raising questions about whether Captain James Cook really was the first European to land on the country’s east coast. The skull was found in northern New South Wales in late 2011, and police initially prepared themselves for a gruesome murder investigation. But scientific testing revealed that not only was it much older than expected, but possibly belonged to a white man born around 1650, well before Englishman Cook reached the eastern seaboard on the Endeavour in 1770…

“Australian National University expert Stewart Fallon, who carbon-dated the skull… said the test used was quite accurate for dates after 1950 but for earlier samples it was more difficult, and the two samples yielded different dates…

“Historians were cautious. ‘Before we rewrite the history of European settlement we have to consider a number of issues, particularly the circumstances of the discovery,’ archaeologist Adam Ford told the Telegraph. ‘The fact the skull is in good condition and found alone could easily point to it coming from a private collection and skulls were very popular with collectors in the 19th century.’… Dutch explorers made the earliest European landings in Cape York in Australia’s far north and western Australia in the 1600s.”

We need to be cautious with reports like these, as especially the radio-carbon method is indeed very unreliable to determine the age of a fossil.

Belgium’s Future King

The Associated Press reported on July 3:

“Belgium’s King Albert announced Wednesday that he will abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Philippe on July 21… Frail at 79, King Albert will be handing over the throne to his son Philippe, who is 53… Belgium has had six kings since it came into being in 1830; Albert is the first to voluntarily abdicate from the throne… The nation celebrates independence day on July 21 and many have said that could be an ideal day to hand over the largely ceremonial post…

“After he succeeded his devoutly Roman Catholic brother Baudouin in 1993, Albert became embroiled in a major royal scandal when he had to acknowledge the existence of an out-of-wedlock daughter… and suffered a major crisis in his marriage with Queen Paola… ‘He is not alone. Many royals around the world have extramarital children,’ [one commentator said].”