Safety Concerns for Vaccine

Bloomberg wrote on March 12:

“The World Health Organization called for immunizations with AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine to continue after [many] countries suspended use of the shot over safety concerns… after concerns emerged in Austria last weekend, when the country stopped using some supplies of AstraZeneca’s vaccine as a precaution following reports of a death and illness among recipients. In rapid succession, Denmark, Italy and Norway followed suit, pointing to instances of blood clotting potentially linked to batches of the product. Thailand has suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations.

“The moves threaten to derail Europe’s already stuttering vaccine rollout, which trails campaigns in the U.K. and U.S. and could prolong the social and economic pain of the pandemic. They follow complaints from Europe that Astra isn’t delivering enough doses, along with age restrictions that many countries put on the shot in January before recently clearing it for all adults…

The Guardian reported on March 14 that Ireland is suspending the use of the vaccine “as a precautionary measure following further reports of blood clots in people who have received it, this time from Norway… Ireland cited a report into a death and three hospitalisations in Norway that came out on Saturday.” Other countries include Iceland and Bulgaria. Subsequently, it was announced that the Netherlands, Germany and France and Sweden also suspended the use of the vaccine “as a precaution.”

On March 13, MSN reported that “President Joe Biden’s administration is holding on to its stockpile of AstraZeneca PLC vaccines, even though the shot isn’t authorized for U.S. use… the U.K.-based company has begun manufacturing doses in the U.S. to fill an order for 300 million shots the American government placed last year… An AstraZeneca executive told CNBC last week that the company expects to have 30 million doses ready to ship when the shot receives authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.”

Deutsche Welle reported on March 16:

“The EU regulatory body… is ‘still firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 with its associated risk of hospitalization and death outweigh the risk of these side effects,’ Executive Director Emer Cooke [said]…”

Dramatic Escalation between EU and UK over AstraZeneca’s Vaccine

The Sun wrote on March 17:

“In a dramatic escalation of their furious row with the pharma giant, EU boss Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc could even suspend patents on the lifesaving jab so anyone could produce it – but critics branded the threats ‘Stalinist.’ In a bombshell intervention, the raging German said she did not rule out triggering emergency powers to ‘make sure Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible’ – warning ‘all options are on the table’. And in an astonishing broadside aimed at Britain she warned the bloc may restrict vaccine shipments to countries whose rollouts are going far better than its own. Her explosive comments come despite several EU nations pulling the plug on the very same jab earlier this week…

“The remarks reignited a fuming war of words between Britain and the EU…

“The massive row comes after 20 EU countries fully or partially suspended the use of the AZ vaccine over unsubstantiated blood clot fears this week. In Germany doctors at one vaccination centre were reported to have been brought to tears by having to destroy a batch of unused vaccines, describing the situation as a ‘disaster beyond all expectations’… The head of Italy’s medicines agency railed against the move as a ‘political choice’ and vowed to resume vaccinations at a greater than ever pace as soon as possible. Meanwhile in Poland – which has not suspended use of the jab – a top adviser to the PM suggested a commercially motivated ‘disinformation’ campaign designed to benefit AZ’s rivals was behind the decisions.”

Reuters added on March 17:

“The European Union on Wednesday threatened to ban exports of COVID-19 vaccines to Britain to safeguard scarce doses for its own citizens facing a third wave of the pandemic that would jeopardise plans to restart travel this summer… Von der Leyen said the flow of vaccine products was smooth with the United States but aired frustration over lack of deliveries from AstraZeneca in Britain…

“The situation threatens plans announced by the Commission to launch ‘green digital certificate’ that would collate information on vaccinations, tests and COVID recovery to let travellers cross borders freely again.”

Quite an interesting contradiction, as Europe wants more AstraZeneca vaccines while suspending its use.

Europeans Resume Use of AstraZeneca Vaccine

 Deutsche Welle wrote on March 18:

“Germany, France and several other EU countries on Thursday have decided to continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) deemed the shot ‘safe and effective’…  Germany will resume administering the jab on Friday, according to Health Minister Jens Spahn. The vaccine, however, will come with new advice on potential side effects…

“France, Italy, Latvia, Bulgaria and Slovenia will also move forward with the AstraZeneca vaccine following the EMA’s guidance. French Prime Minister Jean Castex plans to receive the AstraZeneca shot on Friday to boost public confidence in the vaccine… Spain will reintroduce AstraZeneca vaccinations on Wednesday, but will exclude some demographic groups to minimize health risks. 

“Lithuania will resume using the AstraZeneca jab on Friday… Norway and Sweden will keep the AstraZeneca vaccine suspended as their public health bodies assess the situation… Norwegian Institute of Public Health director Camilla Stoltenberg told reporters [that] it was ‘premature’ to come to a final conclusion on the vaccine.  Sweden has said it ‘needs a few days’ before coming to a decision on the jab.”

Secret Contracts and Corruption in the EU?

Express wrote on March 12:

“AUSTRIA has accused some EU states of having ‘secret contracts’ for coronavirus vaccines in a snub to the bloc’s shambles jabs programme. In a fiery intervention, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz claimed Covid vaccines are not being distributed evenly within the EU. He called for greater transparency because some countries had been able to get ahead after receiving more doses than they were due under the bloc’s pro-rata system. Mr Kurz has held talks with his counterparts from Greece, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic to compare the vaccine delivery figures…

“Mr Kurz suggested there has been a ‘bazaar’ for life-saving vaccines within the EU, with secretive side agreements reached between a ‘steering board’ and drugs giants.”

Money makes the world go around. Several German politicians had to resign when it became known that they had allegedly manipulated the system by profiting financially, having received payments for brokering face mask procurement deals.

In addition, Deutsche Welle wrote on March 12:

“A year ago, Germany was effusively praised for its coronavirus response. Nobody would think to do that now. If anything, the international view today is a mixture of astonishment and schadenfreude… Germany has morphed from model student to pandemic problem child in short order, fighting failure in a number of subjects.”

Merkel Takes Major Hit in Regional Elections

The Guardian wrote on March 15:

“Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats face questions over… the impact of a corruption scandal involving face mask production following historic defeats in German regional elections on Sunday – just six months before a national vote. Merkel’s successor as chancellor is due to be chosen by the voters in September and the CDU’s worst ever results in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, which were once considered its strongholds, have increased pressure on the party to work out how it can regain the confidence of the public in time.

“In the wealthy southern state of Baden-Württemberg, the CDU’s result slumped to just 24%, way behind its main rival, the pro-environmental Greens, who made gains to secure 33%. The CDU had previously ruled the state from 1953 for almost 58 years. In Rhineland-Palatinate, south-western Germany, the CDU vote fell by more than four points to 28%, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) securing victory with 36%.

“The CDU has had to face up to the fact that a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks over face mask procurement, which led to the resignation of three MPs within a week, in the run-up to the votes, has seriously damaged its image… A sluggish nationwide vaccine rollout,  which has been largely blamed on Merkel and her health minister Jens Spahn’s decision to allow the European commission to take control of orders, is also thought to have contributed to voter distrust…

“The fact that the CDU has returned such historically bad results, which have plunged the party into its worst crisis for years two months after electing a new party leader, Armin Laschet, has raised serious questions as to whether he is the right candidate to take it forward…

“Sunday’s state elections kicked off what has been labelled ‘superwahljahr’ or ‘super election year’, to include further votes in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in June, Lower Saxony and Berlin in September and culminating in the federal election on 26 September, together with elections in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia on the same day…”

Newsmax added on March 14:

“The results are also a blow to CDU party chairman Armin Laschet, who took pole position in the race to succeed Merkel by winning the CDU leadership two months ago… Soeder, the leader of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), is the preferred conservative candidate for chancellor among German voters… Soeder and Laschet want to settle the candidacy matter by May 23. No German chancellor has ever come from the CSU.”

AFP wrote on March 14:

“‘This is a dark hour for the CDU,’ said Die Welt daily, while Die Zeit newspaper called it ‘a disaster’… The Greens… could emerge as kingmakers in September’s elections.”

Interesting developments in Germany…

Dictatorships on the Rise all over the World

On March 12, 2021, the American Institute for Economic Research published the following report:

 “… few people have recognized how pandemic-spurred crackdowns have devastated democracy around the world. Emergency proclamations have entitled presidents and other government officials to seize vast new powers previously forbidden to them. Government bureaucrats became a new priesthood that could sanctify unlimited sacrifices merely by invoking dubious statistical extrapolations of future perils.

“In October, Freedom House issued a report…  which warned that since the pandemic started, ‘the condition of democracy and human rights has worsened in 80 countries.’[According to new estimates, the number has climbed since then to at least 100 countries.] Abuses of power have been propelled by a presumption that government officials are entitled to all the power they claim to need to keep people safe.

“When the pandemic arrived in America… New York Governor Andrew Cuomo set the standard when he effectively declared that he was entitled to inflict any burden on his state’s residents to ‘save just one life.’ Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer prohibited anyone from leaving their home to visit family or friends. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti banned people from walking or bicycling outside. More than ten million jobs were lost thanks to lockdowns, a major reason why life expectancy in the United States last year had its sharpest plunge since World War Two.

“Australia imposed some of the most heavy-handed restrictions. In August, the state of Victoria dictated an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for the Melbourne area and prohibited people from venturing more than three miles from their residence…

“Britain unleashed some of the most absurd restrictions. In June, it prohibited couples who live in different homes from having sex indoors…

“New Zealand has imposed four separate lockdowns in its pursuit to banish the virus from the island, repeatedly placing residents in the capital city under house arrest. In October, the government announced it was creating ‘quarantine centers’ for anyone who tests positive and refuses to obey government orders…

“In Uganda… only the government may hand out food aid. Anyone else who does so can be charged with murder… since they might do it in a disorderly way, attract crowds and thereby spread the coronavirus…

“In Kenya, police killed at least 15 people during brutal crackdowns on alleged violators of lockdown decrees. Amnesty International declared that the Covid-19 pandemic provided ‘the perfect storm for indiscriminate mass violence’ by the police…

“Many regimes have expanded the definition of ‘fake news’ to justify repression.

“An Associated Press article in January explained why Californians were denied access to the information that determined the fate of their freedom: ‘State health officials said they rely on a very complex set of measurements that would confuse and potentially mislead the public if they were made public.’ But many data-driven dictatorial policies relied on data that was either fraudulent, politically contrived, or laughably inaccurate…

“The pandemic’s precedents pose a long-term peril for liberty around the globe… the media in some Western nations were the biggest cheerleaders for obliterating limits on political power…

“Federal judge William Stickman IV declared in September, ‘Broad population-wide lockdowns are such a dramatic invasion the concept of liberty in a free society as to be nearly presumptively unconstitutional.’ But unless there is a similar stark ruling from the Supreme Court, shutdowns could return whenever politicians can panic enough citizens with some new threat… The pandemic painfully illustrated how government officials can always concoct the data to justify whatever decree they itch to issue…  Covid-19 crackdowns are a warning for people to be wary of oppressive governments regardless of their purported mandate. The world doesn’t need any more Cage Keeper Democracies where citizens’ ballots merely designate who will place them under house arrest.”

This article is by no means exclusive. Many European countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, could also be mentioned with their dangerous and autocratic lockdown measures.

In his first prime time address to the nation, President Biden stated that “if we do our part,” then “there is a good chance” Americans will be able to have “small” events by Independence Day. He clarified that he does not mean large events with lots of people together, but that there is a good chance that “your families, and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbeque” (compare Breitbart, March 11). Apart from the fact that the President has no constitutional authority to make or enforce such proclamations, in a segment of the “Ingraham Angle” on Fox News, Senator Rand Paul ridiculed the naivety of the President and his lack of contact with reality, stating that such meetings “in our backyards” have taken place for a long time all over the country, with or without the President’s blessing.

Paul also compared Dr. Fauci with a “Greek philosopher” who tells “noble lies” to help the “ignorant” public “because he doesn’t think you are smart enough to make any of these decisions on your own.” Paul also stated: “You can sequentially look at the date when each mandate was passed and when it got ratcheted up. You can look at the incidence of the disease, and what you find is they were proportional, meaning the more mandates we got, the more disease we got. The mandates did not cause the disease but there is no evidence the mandate slowed down the disease at all” (see Fox News, March 13).

Massive Cover-Up of COVID-19 Origin?

Fox News reported on March 13:

“[David Asher] the State Department’s former lead investigator who oversaw the Task Force into the COVID-19 virus origin tells Fox News that he not only believes the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but that it may have been the result of research that the Chinese military, or People’s Liberation Army, was doing on a bioweapon… He believes the Chinese Communist Party has been involved in a massive cover-up during the past 14 months. ‘And if you believe, as I do, that this might have been a weapons vector gone awry, not deliberately released, but in development and then somehow leaked, this has turned out to be the greatest weapon in history,’ Asher said… ‘You’ve taken out 15 to 20 percent of global GDP. You’ve killed millions of people. The Chinese population has been barely affected. Their economies roared back to being number one in the entire G20.’…

“‘China has been involved in this type of virus research since 2003, the SARS outbreak,’ according to Miles Yu, the State Department official who co-wrote a recent op-ed in the WSJ with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the virus origins. ‘China’s biosafety standard is really low and is very dangerous. So this is an accident waiting to happen.’”

Numerous theories exist as to the origin of the virus, including the Chinese population’s consumption of infected bats and other unclean animals.

On March 15, The Times of Israel and AFP reported:

 “Experts believe that SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, originally came from bats, and jumped into humans via an intermediate animal. However, samples from tens of thousands of wild, domestic and farm animals in the region revealed no trace of the virus. The scientists are also uncertain as to where and when the outbreak started, though the Wuhan cases remain the earliest known…

‘There was conduit (back) from Wuhan to the provinces in south China where the closest relative viruses to SARS-CoV-2 are found in bats,’ Daszak [of the WHO team] told an event hosted by Britain’s Chatham House think-tank last week… The team also did not rule out transmission through frozen meat — imported frozen food packages being Beijing’s favorite theory [saying that frozen wild meat from neighboring provinces remained a ‘very valid option.’

“The idea of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology — a hypothesis promoted by former US president Donald Trump’s administration — is ‘the least likely on the list of our hypotheses,’ said [a team member]… However, back in Geneva, in the face of clouds of suspicion that continued to hang over the mission, WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted all hypotheses remained on the table…

“Trump had accused the WHO of being China’s puppet. Though his successor Joe Biden has changed the tone towards the UN health agency since becoming US president in January, Washington has continued to voice serious concerns about the WHO investigation, and has pushed Beijing to provide more information…”

Recall Looms for Gavin Newsom

Deadline wrote on March 11:

“Late Wednesday night, the group organizing the recall of California Governor Gavin Newsom announced it had collected over 2 million signatures… About 1,500,000 signatures are needed to trigger a recall election under state law…

“Organizers have until March 17 to gather signatures. Election officials have until April 29 to verify them. If there is a recall election, it will most likely be in November and feature just two questions on the ballot: ‘Should Gavin Newsom be recalled?’ and another asking voters to choose a replacement…

“The governor has been barnstorming the state for weeks visiting Covid-19 vaccination clinics and announcing the reopenings of schools in the state, theme parks, restaurants and generally loosening the restrictions that have many Californians so angry.”

Democratic Governors Newsom and Cuomo (see below) misused their powers to such an extent that their political survival is now on the line.

Walls Closing in for Andrew Cuomo

The Associated Press wrote on March 12:

“Facing unprecedented political isolation, a defiant New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted on Friday that he would not step down in the wake of sexual harassment allegations and condemned the sprawling coalition of Democrats calling for his resignation as ‘reckless and dangerous.’… The embattled governor’s comments came on the day his party in New York and beyond turned sharply against him following allegations of harassment as well as sweeping criticism of Cuomo for keeping secret how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 for months… A majority of Democrats in the state legislature and 21 of the state’s 27 U.S. House members have called on him to step down…

“Never before has the brash, 63-year-old Democratic governor, the son of a New York governor himself, been more politically alone… The state Assembly allowed an impeachment investigation into Cuomo on Thursday as lawmakers investigate whether there are grounds for his forcible removal from office.”

By March 12, seven women have claimed inappropriate sexual conduct by Cuomo towards them. More than 30 women who have worked or interacted with Cuomo allegedly confirmed that bullying was a defining element of his management style (New York magazine, March 12). Cuomo has denied all of the allegations. His brother Chris, moderator at CNN, was prohibited by the network to speak about his brother Andrew. The following high-ranking Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler as well as Adam Schiff and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), called on Cuomo to resign. Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden spoke on the issue as well, but refused to demand Cuomo’s resignation. Biden said Cuomo should resign if harassment and sexual misconduct allegations are confirmed. He added that he thinks Cuomo will probably end up being prosecuted.

Joe Biden under Attack

The Daily Mail wrote on March 12:

“Biden’s flights of fantasy: President WRONGLY claimed that Covid-19 cost more lives ‘than WWI, WWII, Vietnam and 9/11 combined’ and MISLED the public on timelines of Trump’s response to the virus and number of vaccine doses he ordered…

“What unity, Joe? Biden marks passage of $1.9T COVID bill with Rose Garden ceremony featuring NO Republicans…”

None of the Republicans had voted for the COVID-19 bill, claiming that it included billions upon billions of dollars for unrelated “gifts” (pork) in support of numerous Democratic pet projects. This country has never been as divided since the Civil War, as it is today.

“Still No Crisis?”

The Daily Mail wrote on March 13:

“In recent days, more than [3,600] unaccompanied teens and children have been held in Customs Border Patrol (CBP) detention centers designed for adults with most children spending on average 108 hours in the facilities – much higher than the 72-hour limit.

“The surge comes after Biden lifted a policy that had forced migrants to remain in Mexico while awaiting legal hearings to enter the US. This has fueled an influx of migrants but facilities and shelters cannot cope with the rise in demand. Children at the Donna facility in south Texas are reportedly going hungry and are only able to shower once a week as the center is at 729% of its legal capacity.

“However the official line coming from the Biden administration continues to be that there is no crisis, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki refusing to be drawn into saying the word Thursday…”

A crisis because of the government’s own making…

Deutsche Welle reported on March 14:

“The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered the government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help care for a rising number of migrant children… to make sure the children are safely accommodated and transferred to people who will take care of them, such as relatives already in the US… The order comes as hundreds of children arrive at the border every day in what is fast becoming a major humanitarian challenge for President Joe Biden…

“The increased influx of minors comes after Biden reversed some of the restrictive migration policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump. The danger of coronavirus infection in shelters is an additional headache for US immigration authorities… The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is meant to take in such children after they have been processed by border authorities, is also overwhelmed, with some 8,800 unaccompanied children in custody… There have been reports of parents sending their children across the border from Mexico unaccompanied.”

Unrest in Oregon

The Daily Mail wrote on March 13:

“Cops detain an ENTIRE block of Antifa protestors on the second night of chaos in Portland: Activists smash windows in ugly clashes with the police…

“The ugly scenes occurred Friday after a group of activists assembled to march against the Department of Homeland Security. One local journalist claimed that between 100 and 150 protesters started making their way through the city’s Pearl District and began ‘breaking the glass of businesses’ and ‘attacking’ anyone who was filming them.”

On Thursday, according to The Daily Mail, Antifa protestors had set fire to American flags and smashed windows of the courthouse. Further violence was reported Friday night. The violence did not stop with the change of the Presidency.

Czech Republic and Hungary Open Branches of their Embassies in Jerusalem

JTA wrote on March 12:

“The Czech Republic opened a branch of its embassy in Jerusalem, becoming the second EU member state to make such a move after Hungary… The Czech Foreign Ministry has told journalists that the new mission is not a recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city, which the United States in 2017 recognized but the European Union and many other countries and international bodies have not pending Israeli peace talks with the Palestinians.

“But observers… have argued that the  mission’s opening cannot be seen separately from the debate about the status of Jerusalem… Rudolf Jindrak from the [Czech] presidential office described this as a highly significant symbolic step and the president’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, even connected it directly with the effort to move the embassy there…”

The refusal of the EU to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has wide-ranging prophetic consequences.

Diplomatic Row between Israel and Jordan

Times of Israel wrote on March 13:

“Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a canceled visit to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount by Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein. Safadi confirmed that Jordan held up granting Netanyahu overflight permission in retaliation, causing him to postpone a planned visit to the United Arab Emirates.

“The diplomatic spat underscored… tensions between the two neighbors that have simmered for years… Hussein had been set to visit the Temple Mount on Wednesday for Lailat al-Miʿraj, a holiday marking a journey undertaken by the Prophet Muhammad. Safadi accused Israel of violating an agreement on the arrangements for the visit, while Israel has said Hussein arrived with heavier security than promised…

“Under their 1994 peace treaty, Israel recognizes Jordan as the custodian of the Temple Mount, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism and the site of the third holiest shrine in Islam. Israel captured the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s Old City from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. However, it allowed the Jordanian Waqf to continue to maintain religious authority atop the mount, where Jews are allowed to visit, but not to pray.

“Netanyahu said Israel straightened out matters with Jordan and that he would visit the UAE soon…

“[It was] also reported the US told the UAE to scale back Netanyahu’s trip, before it was canceled, due to concerns over interfering in Israel’s March 23 elections… [a] news report said Netanyahu wanted to sign a peace treaty with Sudan while in Abu Dhabi, but the US told the UAE hosting such a ceremony would amount to election interference.

“Hebrew media reports on Wednesday suggested Netanyahu may have also been hoping to meet Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and/or Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the trip, which was scheduled to be held 12 days before Israel holds its fourth national election in two years….”

Discovery of More Dead Sea Scrolls

ABC News reported on March 16:

“Israeli archaeologists on Tuesday announced the discovery of dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing a biblical text found in a desert cave and believed hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome nearly 1,900 years ago. The fragments of parchment bear lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum and have been dated around the first century based on the writing style, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. They are the first new scrolls found in archaeological excavations in the desert south of Jerusalem in 60 years.

“The Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of Jewish texts found in desert caves in the West Bank near Qumran in the 1940s and 1950s, date from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D… The roughly 80 new pieces are believed to belong to a set of parchment fragments found in a site in southern Israel known as the ‘Cave of Horror’ — named for the 40 human skeletons found there during excavations in the 1960s — that also bear a Greek rendition of the Twelve Minor Prophets…

“The fragments are believed to have been part of a scroll stashed away in the cave during the Bar Kochba Revolt, an armed Jewish uprising against Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, between 132 and 136…”

Skepticism as to the age is in order as the article also stated that “the exhibit included far older discoveries of no lesser importance found during its sweep of more than 500 caves in the desert: the 6,000-year-old mummified skeleton of a child, an immense, complete woven basket from the Neolithic period, estimated to be 10,500 years old…”

This is highly questionable, as man was only created by God about 6,000 years ago.

Vatican Won’t Bless Same-Sex Marriages

The Associated Press reported on March 15:

“The Vatican [with the approval by Pope Francis] decreed Monday that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions since God ‘cannot bless sin’… [The Vatican] distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions. It argued that such unions are not part of God’s plan and that any such sacramental recognition could be confused with marriage… Catholic teaching holds that marriage, a lifelong union between a man and woman, is part of God’s plan and is intended for the sake of creating new life. Since gay unions aren’t intended to be part of that plan, they can’t be blessed by the church, the document said… Francis has endorsed providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions, but that was in reference to the civil sphere, not within the church.

“… the head of the German bishops’ conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said the new document would be incorporated into the German discussion, but he suggested that the case was by no means closed… Other commentators noted that Catholic Book of Blessings contains rites of blessings that can be bestowed on everything from new homes and factories to animals, sporting events, seeds before planting and farm tools.”

CNN added on March 15:

“… the Holy See referred to homosexuality as a ‘choice,’ described it as sinful and said it ‘cannot be recognized as objectively ordered’ to God’s plans… The decision is a setback for Catholics who had hoped the institution would modernize its approach to homosexuality…

“The statement says that gays and lesbians, as individuals, may receive a blessing if they live according to Church teaching. But blessing same-sex unions, the Vatican said, would send a sign that the Catholic Church approves and encourages ‘a choice and a way of life that cannot be recognized as objectively ordered to the revealed plans of God.’… In a commentary provided with the Monday statement, the Vatican insisted that ‘the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply a judgment on persons.’”

The Bible teaches that homosexual practices are sinful, but the Vatican’s double-talk and inconsistent practices are more confusing than helpful.

More Stupidity from England… Men Under Curfew?

The Daily Mail wrote on March 11:

“Men should be banned from being outdoors after 6pm to ‘make women a lot safer’ after the abduction and suspected murder of Sarah Everard in London, a Green Party peer has suggested. Baroness Jones made the comment in a discussion in the House of Lords during a debate on domestic violence.

“The issue of women’s safety has been again thrust into the spotlight following the disappearance of 33-year-old Ms Everard as she walked home to Brixton from her friend’s home in Clapham, south-west London, on March 3…

“[Baroness Jones] calls for a curfew echoed those made during the Reclaim The Night rallies in the 1970s, when members of the Women’s Liberation Movement took to the streets in the wake of the Yorkshire Ripper murders. Baroness Jones added later on Twitter her solution was ‘better than the Met telling women to stay indoors,’ following reports of officers cautioning women to be careful… [Jones] came third in the 2012 election won by Boris Johnson.”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Against the Entire World

Newsmax reported on March 4:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told supporters he would ‘stand against the entire world’ to stop the Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu’s comments were a change for the prime minister, who had been careful in discussing the nuclear pact… President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal in 2018… ‘The international reality has changed,’ said Netanyahu, undoubtedly referring to Biden having replaced Trump. ‘There is an intention to go back to this dangerous deal. I am the only one who will stand against the entire world.’…

“France, Germany and the United Kingdom have backed off a plan to censure Iran for not cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency…”

The Jerusalem Post added on March 6 that “Netanyahu told… Kamala Harris in a late-night phone call on Thursday that he will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons…”

It does appear that Israel might find itself alone with respect to the Iran deal.

US Warns Its Allies in Middle East

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 5:

“The Biden administration issued a warning this week to its allies in the Middle East not to oppose US policies and not to seek military solutions to the region’s problems. ‘We do not believe that military force is the answer to the region’s challenges, and we will not give our partners in the Middle East a blank check to pursue policies at odds with American interests and values,’ it said in a document posted on the White House website that outlined its global strategic interests.

“The document, titled, ‘Interim National Security Guidelines,’ was published as Israel has increasingly spoken of the possibility that it might have to use force to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the IDF was updating a military plan to strike Iranian nuclear sites if necessary…

“Israel and the US are also at odds over West Bank settlement activity, with Israel believing it has the right to build on territory that will one day become part of sovereign Israel. The Biden Administration believes that much of that territory should be part of the permanent boundaries of a Palestinian state and holds that settlement activity prevents the resumption of negotiations for a two-state resolution to the conflict.”

The American warning to Israel is far too obvious than to be ignored.

Macron and Draghi

Express wrote on March 2:

“EMMANUEL MACRON might have found a replacement for Angela Merkel in Mario Draghi as the new Italian Prime Minister sees eye-to-eye with the French leader on EU defence and security… Italian newspaper Il Foglio claimed the pair united on various themes during [a] virtual meeting, ranging from vaccine protectionism to strengthening defence and security…

“This would be the perfect opportunity for the French President to take the leadership of the EU once Angela Merkel leaves the national and European political scene…”

Neither Macron nor Draghi will lead the final European revival of the ancient Roman Empire, consisting of ten nations or groups of nations.  

German Health Minister Spahn Must Go!

Bild Online wrote on March 5:

“At first there were too few masks, then too little vaccine, and now we are dawdling with the quick tests. Now even Der Spiegel just boiled over. ‘It’s enough, Mr. Spahn,’ was the headline of an article in the Hamburg news magazine, and the author continued: ‘Actually, two resignations are due.’

“Whom does Der Spiegel author Dirk Kurbjuweit mean in his editorial? Chancellor Angela Merkel (66, CDU) and Health Minister Jens Spahn (40, CDU)! ‘The main responsibility lies with the Chancellor,’ the author writes. ‘Merkel’s overall balance sheet as Chancellor is spoiled.’ However, Jens Spahn’s situation is even ‘worse.’ Because: ‘As health minister, he is also responsible for the debacle.’

“In the case of Merkel, her resignation would lead to a political crisis in the middle of the pandemic, and because of the imminent general election, there would probably be no stable government until the end of the year. ‘That doesn’t make the situation any better,’ Der Spiegel says. ‘For the Minister of Health, however, this pragmatic-political objection does not apply. Spahn no longer belongs in this office.’

“It also said that ‘The crisis policy of the federal and state governments has become a ‘farce’. ‘Is that really Germany?’ the author asks in astonishment, looking at the government’s crisis management. ‘Organizing, doing business intelligently, that was always considered a strength of the Germans. And now almost nothing works smoothly, of all things in the pandemic, in the struggle for life and death. What’s going on here?’

“His diagnosis: ‘Germany, it has to be said, is currently being ruled terribly badly by the Federal Chancellor, by the group of Prime Ministers, and by some ministers, namely Health Minister Jens Spahn. That must have consequences.’”

By that standard, just about all health ministers and governmental leaders all over the world must go, given the absolute fiasco they have created and are responsible for. And so they should resign. Of course they won’t, and it takes the return of Jesus Christ to make an end to man’s mismanagement. In the meantime, beware when Germans are becoming unhappy with their government.

German Travel Restrictions

The Local wrote on March 9:

“The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) changed the risk classification of the United States on March 7th. The US was previously classed as a ‘high incidence area’ by the RKI… now it’s a ‘risk area’ – which is used by German authorities to describe a region with an increased risk of infection… However, entry from the US is only permitted in a few narrow exceptions. Proof of urgent need to travel is required, German authorities say…

“If you are a German resident from the US, or fall into one of the exception categories, you still face strict testing and quarantine measures.

“All travellers must have a negative Covid-19 test result at the latest 48 hours after they enter Germany. It must be presented to authorities if they request it. Some individual airlines may however still say that travellers have to present a coronavirus negative test result before boarding is allowed…

“Testing is still mandatory even if travellers are vaccinated or have recovered from a coronavirus infection…

“People returning from ‘risk zones’ are required to self-isolate for 10 days after they arrive. The quarantine can usually be ended with a negative coronavirus test result taken at the earliest five days after arriving in Germany… Everyone entering Germany is also required to register online.”

Covid-19 Lockdowns and Wild Animals

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 5:

“In London and other major cities across the UK, rat sightings have soared during the pandemic. The British Pest Control Association (BPCA)… said its members reported a 51% hike in rodent activity during the first lockdown last spring, and a 78% increase in November after the next lockdown.

“Typically, rats avoid humans and make drains and sewers their homes. However, as a result of shuttered businesses and deserted high streets, the creatures are out in full force and making restaurants, pubs and empty buildings their new habitat as they look for other sources to satisfy their dietary needs…

“Thousands of macaques… roam the streets of Lopburi in Thailand… Usually well-fed by tourists, the monkeys have been finding snacks hard to come by during the pandemic. They’ve even engaged in intertribal warfare over scraps, fighting in the streets and historic temples… There are tens of millions of [stray dogs] roving [India’s] streets and slums; a law has made it illegal to kill or maim the animals… Strays are also common in Istanbul — the city on the Bosporus… counts more than 200,000 free roaming cats and dogs…

“Rodents are known to carry and transmit diseases such as… Leptospirosis [a bacterial disease ], Salmonella, Listeria, Toxoplasma gondii [a parasite that forms cysts and can affect a number of body organs], and Hantavirus [which can cause potentially deadly diseases such as hemorrhagic fever or a pulmonary syndrome]…”

God says that many people will die due to the wild beasts of the earth.

In addition, according to an article by the Ron Paul Institute, dated March 9, “Stanford University Medical School professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is featured in Newsweek Magazine condemning the lockdowns across the United States to fight the virus, calling them the biggest mistake ever made by public health authorities. A new study released by…  the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)… appears to bolster Dr. Bhattacharya’s claim.”

Royal Family in Turmoil

Deutsche Welle reported on March 8:

“Prince Harry and Meghan… talked about the struggles of living in the royal family in a highly-anticipated interview with US television personality Oprah Winfrey… Meghan said the family and the people who run the institution are separate. She said the Queen has always been ‘wonderful’ to her, always making her feel welcome… She added that while the palace was ready to lie to protect other members of the family, ‘they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.’… Meghan said there were concerns about how ‘dark’ her child would be… [Oprah later clarified that the persons allegedly raising this issue were NOT the Queen and Prince Philipp.] Meghan said she told the palace that she needed help for mental health concerns: ‘I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.’…

“Prince Harry said separation from the British royal family had been very difficult for him and Meghan. ‘My biggest concern was history repeating itself,’ Harry said, apparently referring to his mother Princess Diana, who was hounded by the British press and died at age 36 in a car crash in Paris…

“Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother, gave a televised address on Sunday, hours before the interview was aired. In a pre-recorded message from London, the British monarch talked about the importance of ‘dedication to duty’ in an address to mark Commonwealth Day… The couple stepped away from royal duties in March 2020, complaining about the British tabloids’ treatment of Meghan. They cited what they described as bullying and racist attitudes toward the duchess, who is biracial…”

Bild Online wrote on March 7:

“That there could ever be again peace in the [royal] family seems to be impossible now… all bridges have been burned…”

Deutsche Welle added on March 8:

“Birgit Maass, DW’s London correspondent, said it was unclear if Buckingham Palace would give an official statement. [Subsequently, Buckingham Palace did issue an official statement, see articles below.] ‘There would only be statement if individual members of the palace were attacked,’ she said. However, the couple was careful to avoid naming individuals during the interview. ‘It’s a tough one for the palace’ Maass said. ‘There will be a fear in the royal family that it could be tainted, but the queen still is somebody who is very popular as head of state,’ Maass said, adding that questions remain about the future of the royal family near the end of Elizabeth’s reign.”

This scandal is reminiscent of the scandal pertaining to Princess Diana and her interview. Whomever one wants to believe and however one wants to evaluate it, the reputation and institution of the Royal Family has suffered another severe blow. Some papers have stated that while Americans don’t care too much for the concept of the British monarchy, many Brits look at the Royal Family almost as holy and tabu, which must never be criticized.

“America Is Trashing Britain”

The Hollywood Reporter wrote on March 8:

“Britain’s notorious tabloid press was apoplectic with rage towards Meghan Markle and Prince Harry after their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night….

“After dismissing the interview as a ‘sideshow’… The Daily Mail devoted well over twenty stories related to the special on its website on Monday morning… The Daily Mail and its sister publication The Mail on Sunday have been particularly virulent in their coverage of the Sussexes, the latter paper was recently ordered by a British judge to publish a front-page statement declaring Markle’s victory in her copyright claim against the newspaper over its publication of a letter to her estranged father.

“Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan, another long-time and very public critic of Markle, opened his show by repeatedly suggesting that Prince Harry had ‘spray-gunned’ his family with the revelatory interview and that it was ‘so disloyal’… ‘as Prince Phillip lies in hospital.’ ‘America is trashing our country and trashing our monarchy now,’ Morgan said.”

Predictably, the reaction in America was much more sympathetic towards Harry and Meghan. Express reported on March 8 that the White House praised Meghan for her courage to speak about her struggles with mental health, stating that these comments risk “opening a rift between Joe Biden’s administration and the UK political establishment.” Following a hot debate with co-hosts on Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan walked off the set and subsequently resigned, after saying that he does not believe that Meghan Markle was indeed suicidal. Most British viewers seem to agree with Morgan.

Royal Response Insufficient?

The Associated Press wrote on March 10:

“Buckingham Palace’s statement on Prince Harry and Meghan’s allegations on racism and mistreatment has failed to quiet the controversy, with some observers criticizing the royal family for failing to forcefully condemn racism and suggesting that the couple’s version of events may not be accurate. ‘Too little, too late’ was the verdict of royal commentator Peter Hunt, who also criticized the palace’s 61-word statement for saying the issue would be dealt with privately as a family matter…  ‘The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,’ the palace said. ‘The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.’

“The comments were the palace’s first word since the interview rocked the royal family — and touched off conversations around the world about racism, mental health and even the relationship between Britain and its former colonies…

“Fallout from the interview is likely to only fuel the debate over the future of the monarchy and its role both in Britain and the other countries around the world for which the queen serves as head of state… The queen remains the head of state for 15 countries, most of which were once part of the British Empire, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and island nations in the Caribbean.”

Other countries, which are part of the Commonwealth, include Malta and Cyprus, South Africa and many other African nations, such as Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania.

Commonwealth At Risk?

Express wrote on March 10:

“Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have put the Commonwealth at risk after former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the bombshell interview bolstered his case for breaking away from the British monarchy… He told ABC: ‘After the end of the Queen’s reign, that is the time for us to say, ‘OK, we’ve passed that watershed. Do we really want to have whoever happens to be the head of state, the King or Queen of the UK, automatically our head of state?’’

“Mr Turnbull led the Australian Republican Movement from 1993 to 2000. In 1999, the Australian public voted to keep the monarchy. While the Queen’s role is mostly ceremonial, she does have the power to sack the Prime Minister, which happened in 1975.

“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously expressed republican views but said the country was unlikely to break from the British monarchy in the near future…

“[For Commonwealth Day,] Prince Charles delivered a speech focused on the devastating effects of the pandemic but also hailed the Commonwealth’s efforts to fight climate change and protect its wildlife.”

Russia’s RT under attack in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 5:

“A dispute between Berlin and Moscow over the establishment of a Russian state-backed TV channel in Germany heated up on Friday after the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the German government of violating press freedoms. The dispute arose regarding the channel RT — formerly Russia Today — the German offshoot of which announced a plan in January to set up a television station in Germany by the end of the year… RT, based in Moscow, already offers services in English, Spanish, Arabic and French. RT DE, as the German-language offshoot is called, launched its website in 2014…

“Tensions spiked on Thursday when Maria Sakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused the German government of forcing Commerzbank to close accounts belonging to RT DE until the end of May in an attempt to stifle ‘freedom of expression and freedom of the press’… Berlin denied that it had any involvement in the closure of the RT accounts…”

“2021 on Track to become record-breaking year of major earthquakes, volcanoes”

Israel 365 wrote on March 7:

“Though the past year has been replete with troubling news items that include a pandemic and hotly contested US Presidential election, the earth shaking beneath our feet seems to have gone unnoticed.

“In the first 65 days of this year, 42 major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher, have shaken the planet. The year with the largest total was 2010, with 24 major earthquakes greater than or equal to magnitude 7.0. In 2011, a total of 207 earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher shook the earth, culminating in a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that caused the catastrophic meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor and the concurrent 9.1 magnitude earthquake in Tohuka, Japan that killed over 20,000 people. Powerful earthquakes shook the Kermadec Islands region of New Zealand on Thursday, setting off tsunami warnings.

“But attention should be paid to less dramatic geologic rumblings as well. Iceland was hit by more than 18,000 earthquakes in the past week including a magnitude 7.3 earthquake, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, and a magnitude 8.1 earthquake. In addition, authorities are warning that two volcanoes in a densely populated region of the country could erupt at literally any moment.

“The number of earthquakes is increasing.  In the first 65 days of 1921, exactly one century ago, only seven major earthquakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded globally according to the USGS DataBase. In the same period last year, a total of 24 major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded around the globe. Back in 2019, just 20 major quakes had been reported up to March the 6th, just 50% of this year’s total. In 2018, a total of 24 major quakes were reported in the first 65 days of the year and in 2017 just 15. 24 major earthquakes were recorded in the beginning of 2016 and in 2015, just 18…

“But earthquakes aren’t the only concern. Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna in Sicily, erupted seven times in the past two weeks. A large eruption started at Sangay volcano, Ecuador on Saturday. An earthquake swarm shook Mount Hood, a potentially active stratovolcano near Portland, Oregon for 45 minutes last week… Mount Sinabung in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province began erupting last Tuesday, sending volcanic materials as high as 16,400 feet into the sky with authorities recording 13 times when it released ash clouds. Three weeks ago,  Fuego volcano, located 50 kilometers away from the capital city of Guatemala, started to erupt. As of yesterday 43 volcanoes around were erupting or showing signs of activity… Since January 20, 2021, 1,722 weak earthquakes were detected under the Pinatubo Volcano in the Philippines.”

Increased earthquakes here and there and other natural catastrophes are part of the “beginning of sorrows,” according to the words of Jesus Christ.

US Has More Tornadoes than any Other Country

CNN wrote on March 7:

“The US averages over 1,150 tornadoes every year. That’s more than any other country. In fact, it’s more than Canada, Australia and all European countries combined… Other countries experience tornadoes, including Germany, Australia, South Africa, eastern China, Japan, Bangladesh, Argentina, and more. Europe as a whole is comparable to the size of the US, but there is a vast difference in number of tornadoes and tornado fatalities…

“Outside of the US, Canada actually ranks second on the list for most tornadoes, with an average of 100 per year…”

Increasing Catastrophes, especially for the USA, ARE prophesied.

Swiss Voters Approve Ban of Wearing Burqas in Public

The New York Post wrote on March 7:

“Swiss voters narrowly approved on Sunday a proposal to ban face coverings, both the niqabs and burqas worn by a few Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandannas used by protesters. The measure will outlaw covering one’s face in public places like restaurants, sports stadiums, public transport or simply walking in the street. It foresees exceptions at religious sites and for security or health reasons, such as face masks people are wearing now to protect against COVID-19, as well as for traditional Carnival celebrations. Authorities have two years to draw up detailed legislation.

“Two Swiss cantons, or states, Ticino and St. Gallen, already have similar legislation that foresees fines for transgressions. National legislation will put Switzerland in line with countries such as Belgium and France that have already enacted similar measures. The Swiss government had opposed the measure… It argued that the ban could harm tourism — most Muslim women who wear such veils in Switzerland are visitors from well-heeled Persian Gulf states, who are often drawn to Swiss lakeside cities…

“Supporters of the proposal… argued that the full-face coverings symbolize the repression of women and said the measure is needed to uphold a basic principle that faces should be shown in a free society like Switzerland’s.

“In the end, 51.2% of voters supported the plan. There were majorities against it in six of Switzerland’s 26 cantons — among them those that include the country’s three biggest cities, Zurich, Geneva and Basel, and the capital, Bern. SRF public television reported that voters in several popular tourist destinations including Interlaken, Lucerne and Zermatt rejected it. Backers included the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, which is the strongest in parliament. The committee that launched the proposal is led by a lawmaker from the party, Walter Wobmann, and also initiated a ban on the construction of new minarets that voters approved in 2009.”

While wearing face masks, including double face masks, is encouraged and required, burqas and ski masks are prohibited. Insanity rules the world.

Censorship in the USA

The Ron Paul Institute published an article on March 4 which originally appeared in the Washington Times. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“… how can Mark Twain’s ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,’ or Laura Ingalls Wilder’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ series, or J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’ [survive,] each with their own set of perceived and real stereotypes and slurs? Even Roald Dahl’s original ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ has inspired criticism over the depiction of the Oompa Loompas as jungle-dwellers. Let’s not forget Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone With the Wind,’ in all its slavery glory, or Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist,’ in all its anti-Semitic glory, or Lynne Reid Banks’ ‘The Indian in the Cupboard,’ in all its — well, the title speaks volumes on that one…

“The list is endless. The list can be endless. Even the Bible speaks to the enslavement of various peoples.

“Are we to turn off all the offensive to our ears, in some sort of — futile — attempt to whitewash, er, erase, not just history, but fancy and fiction and flights of imaginations?… This is about the shape of censorship things to come. It’s about a growing acceptance of blotting out all offenses, in the hope that ignoring offenses means the offenses don’t occur — in fact, that they never did occur. That’s erasing history. That’s living a lie…

“Word is next up are L. Frank Baum’s ‘Wizard of Oz’ series.  Let the burning begin. The trouble, of course, will be to know the exact point to extinguish the fire…”

Terrible memories of book burnings in Nazi Germany come to mind, and the banishment of books in East Germany after the Russians took over. Not to speak of all the prohibited books in dictatorships all over the world. In times past, it was prohibited by the Catholic Church to read the Bible. Where is all of this going…?

Newsmax published on March 8 an article by Alan Dershowitz. We are bringing you the following excepts:

“If cancel culture were to accept the notion that a person should be totally cancelled based on only a portion of his output, we would have to comb the libraries, book stores and eBook sites for offenders. Near the top of the list would be Fyodor Dostoevsky, perhaps the greatest writer of modern times. In addition to his monumental novels such as ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ and ‘Crime and Punishment,’ he wrote an essay that could easily have been mistaken for a chapter straight out of ‘Mein Kampf’ by Adolph Hitler. In his essay on ‘The Jewish Question,’ he rails against the Jewish faith, culture, and people. He claims that Jews hoard gold so that they can easily carry it with them to the promised land. He accuses them of duel loyalty, deception and other sins…

“Should Renoir be cancelled because of his sexist and degrading views toward women— he said they belonged only in the kitchen and bedroom—which are reflected in some of his paintings? Or for his racism and anti-Semitism? What about Picasso?

“The list of people who have expressed bigoted views in their writings includes Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser, T.S. Eliot, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Margaret Sanger, Walt Disney, Malcolm X and Roald Dahl…

“The disgraceful treatment accorded Kate Smith is a case in point. The totality of this great singer’s career was positive, but she was cancelled, as was her stirring rendition of God Bless America, because it was discovered that when she was young she recorded several songs that by today’s standards contained racially insensitive lyrics (which she didn’t write)…”

The concept of “cancel culture,” as described herein, is a dangerous development. And it seems to be growing continuously. Note the next article.

Breitbart wrote on March 9:

“Children can no longer watch Dumbo, Peter Pan, Swiss Family Robinson, and The Aristocats on Disney’s Disney+ streaming service while using the ‘Kids Profile’ mode, which filters out titles flagged with content warnings — including scenes now deemed racist… it is now up to parents if they want their children to watch the cartoons.”

Parents should be knowledgeable about what their children watch anyhow. But the underlying motive by the Disney enterprise is of course quite too obvious.

U.S. Supreme Court Disposes of Last Trump Case re Election Results

Thomson/Reuters reported on March 8:

“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday disposed of the last of three cases brought to the justices by former President Donald Trump challenging his election loss, ending his legal efforts to hold onto power. The court without comment rejected Trump’s appeal challenging thousands of absentee ballots filed in Wisconsin…

“The court on Feb. 22 turned away Trump’s other two appeals — a second Wisconsin challenge and one relating to voting in Pennsylvania…

“It already was clear that the high court… had no intention to intervene in the cases and others filed by his allies because it did not act before Congress on Jan. 6 certified Biden’s victory…

“Trump continues to claim that the Nov. 3 presidential election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud and irregularities. Republicans are focusing on those allegations in… an effort to impose new voting restrictions in numerous states.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to review any of those cases will make many Trump supporters very unhappy.

Trump Buddha Statue

meaww.com wrote on March 10:

“Trump Buddha statues sell like hot cakes on Chinese shopping portal Taobao…  While the statue shows Trump with his trademark hairdo, it has, uncharacteristically, a rather peaceful expression on his face. His hands are seen resting on his lap, referencing the traditional iconography of Buddhist statues in China. As per an Insider report, the figurine’s description says: ‘Trump, who knows Buddhism better than anyone.’”

First a golden statue of Trump at CPAC 2021, and now this. And Trump knows Buddhism better than anyone???

House Passes $1.9 Trillion Spending Bill

MSN wrote on March 10:

“The House Wednesday passed a $1.9 trillion spending package, sending the bill to President Biden [President Biden signed the bill on Thursday]… Not a single Republican voted for the bill. The measure will provide a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks, enhanced weekly unemployment benefits and expanded child tax credits… Democrats passed the bill over the objections of all House Republicans, who said the package was too expensive and dedicated mostly to wasteful spending unrelated to the pandemic…

“The legislation, Republicans argued, dedicates about 9 percent of funding to combating Covid-19 and just one percent to production and distribution of the critical vaccines… But Democrats argued the massive spending package is exactly what the nation is demanding after a year of Covid-19 and goes even further to alleviate longstanding poverty…”

An American Crisis Greater than the Great Depression?

Ron Paul wrote the following on March 8 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 2021 will be the second year in a row in which the federal debt exceeds Gross Domestic Product (GDP). CBO also projected that this year’s federal deficit will be 2.3 trillion dollars, which is 900 billion dollars less than last year. However, CBO’s projections do not include the 1.9 trillion dollars ‘stimulus’ bill Congress is likely to pass. [Subsequently, it was passed and signed by the President]. The CBO’s report was largely ignored by Congress and the media…

“The overreaction to coronavirus is a cause of the explosion in federal spending and debt we have witnessed over the last year. However, federal spending already greatly increased from January 2017 until the lockdowns. This spending growth occurred under a Republican president, a Republican Senate, and, from 2017 to 2019, a Republican House…

“Republican hypocrisy in claiming to care about spending and debt only when a Democrat sits in the Oval Office is one reason why Democrats can so easily disregard debt… Unless the government changes course, America will experience a crisis greater than the Great Depression. The crisis will include a final rejection of the dollar’s world reserve currency status. There will also be much increased price inflation…

“Those who know the truth [need to] ensure they and their families are protected when the crash comes…”

 Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Covid Passports by this Summer?

Breitbart wrote on February 26:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed that there is a unanimous agreement within the European Union on implementing a coronavirus vaccine passport, during a virtual meeting of EU member states on Thursday. The German leader said that ‘everyone agreed that we need a digital vaccination certificate,’ following the meeting of European leaders. Merkel said that such a system could be implemented as soon as the summer, but claimed that the introduction of a vaccine passport ‘does not mean that only those who have a vaccination passport are allowed to travel,’ according to the German broadcaster DW.

“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Israel’s implementation of ‘Green Passes’, a system in which the government tracks and documents an individual’s vaccination history in order to facilitate travel or to attend synagogues, theatres, concerts, or to go to the gym… The embattled EU president did note that member states will ‘have to act fast’ in order to implement a vaccine passport before the summer. To date, the European Union has only inoculated eight per cent of its population…

“The failure to vaccinate a significant portion of the population has led to concerns that vaccine passports would be discriminatory. Angela Merkel admitted as much this week…  Southern EU member states, such as Spain, Italy, and Greece have been pushing for the adoption of a COVID pass, in order to facilitate travel…  Other countries, such as France, have expressed concerns about discrimination as well as the lack of evidence over whether vaccinated people can still transmit the Wuhan virus…

“There is a growing push within Britain’s notionally conservative government for the adoption of a vaccine passport, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggesting earlier this week that Brits might be required to carry health passes to even make simple domestic visits like going to the pub or the theatre… Cabinet Minister Michael Gove will be heading up the government’s research into adopting a vaccine passport system, despite definitively stating in December that Brits would not be required to provide proof of vaccination to go to the pub.”

The conservative German paper, Die Welt, wrote on February 26 that at first it went rather slowly, and now there is a rush, especially through Jens Spahn, to create a vaccination passport. The paper had this headline: “Then the limitations of freedom rights can hardly be justified.” (“Dann lässt sich die Begrenzung der Freiheitsrechte kaum noch begründen.“)

Merkel Meltdown

Express reported on February 27:

“Germany has been under a strict coronavirus clampdown since December, which has seen non-essential shops and schools along with pubs and restaurants forced to shut up shop. [Merkel] had been in favour of extending the lockdown as a result of the emergence of more contagious Covid strains. She has warned the country that it could face a ‘third wave’ if restrictions are lifted too quickly. However, regional leaders have decided to defy the Chancellor and take matters into their own hands.

“Even her staunchest lockdown supporter, Bavarian leader Markus Söder, is said to be at odds with her position. Several of the country’s regions will now allow limited opening of businesses from Monday, such as garden centres, florists and nail parlours. Ms Merkel appears to be losing public support for her hard stance on lockdown.

“According to a poll conducted by the German TV channel ZDF, 56 percent supported plans to partially ease restrictions, whereas 41 percent were opposed…”

Bild Online charged Merkel with ruling from a high-rise building, without any personal contact with people, thereby forgetting their needs and suffering.

More Lockdowns in Germany… Will this Madness Never End?

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 2:

“Germany’s national government and states are set to extend the COVID-19 lockdown by three weeks, to March 28, according to a draft document seen by DW… According to the draft text, up to five adults from two households would be allowed to gather from March 8, with up to 10 adults allowed in areas with low infection rates. Under current rules, each household can only socialize with one other person. The German government is also expected to appeal to citizens to avoid domestic and foreign travel over the Easter period…

“Most shops have stayed closed since tighter restrictions were introduced on December 16. Restaurants, bars, sports and leisure venues have all been closed since November 2. Hotels…  are currently closed to all but business travelers.”

Germany’s AfD Under Surveillance

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 3:

“Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) have placed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance, according to local media.

“That designation gives state agents more powers for surveillance in certain circumstances, including potentially tapping the party’s communications.

“The BfV refused to comment on media reports from Der Spiegel magazine, the DPA news agency and public broadcaster ARD. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the BfV, said it would neither confirm nor deny them. The BfV is apparently unable to announce the decision officially because of an ongoing legal dispute.”

This move is highly problematic, as the AfD constitutes the largest opposition party in parliament.

Catholic Bishops Warn of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

Forbes wrote on March 2:

“The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—the official group representing the church in the U.S.—urged Catholics Tuesday to avoid taking the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine if other options are available, saying the J&J vaccine ‘raises questions about the moral permissibility’—even though Johnson & Johnson has stated it did not use fetal tissues in its vaccine.

“The directive says the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be avoided since it was ‘developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines.’ In a statement to Forbes, Johnson & Johnson said ‘there is no fetal tissue’ in its vaccine, adding the company used an ‘engineered cell-line system that enables the rapid production of new viral vaccines to combat many of the most dangerous infectious diseases,’ though it did not offer further specifics on its process.

“Pfizer and Moderna, on the other hand, did not use abortion-derived cell lines in production, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas—chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities—said in a statement. The J&J vaccine was approved for U.S. use on Saturday, and has been touted as a major step in vaccinating the population since the vaccine only requires one shot, while the other two approved so far both require two doses.

“The statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is the most significant opposition the J&J vaccine has coming from an official body of the Catholic church…

“The Vatican released a statement in December after questions were raised over vaccine ethics, in which it asserted ‘it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses’ in cases where ‘ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available.’”

U.S. Airstrike Against Syria

Breitbart wrote on February 26:

“President Joe Biden authorized his first military action on Thursday: airstrikes on facilities in Syria used by militias linked to Iran. The airstrikes came in response to attacks on American personnel in Iraq… some [were] questioning whether the airstrikes were authorized under the existing Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Others noted that the airstrikes mark a 180-degree turn for Biden and members of his administration.

“Last year, Biden was among those who criticized President Donald Trump’s airstrike on Iranian terrorist General Qasem Soleimani. He called it ‘a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region,’ and claimed — falsely, as it turned out — that the attack would provoke, rather than deter, the Iranian regime. ‘We could be on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East,’ Biden said — wrongly, again, as peace deals soon emerged. Vice President Kamala Harris, then a Senator from California, was also critical of airstrikes by President Trump on the Syrian regime after the U.S. found evidence that dictator Bashar al-Assad was still using chemical weapons: ‘I strongly support our men and women in uniform and believe we must hold Assad accountable for his unconscionable use of chemical weapons. But I am deeply concerned about the legal rationale of last night’s strikes.’

“White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who had served in the Obama administration, objected to Trump’s initial airstrike in Syria in 2017… ‘Also what is the legal authority for strikes? Assad is a brutal dictator. But Syria is a sovereign country.’”

The Week added on February 26:

“Some Democrats are criticizing U.S. airstrikes in Syria, while many Republicans are praising President Biden’s move… While Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the limited scope of the airstrikes ‘aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq,’ many Democrats expressed concerns on Friday that the move has done just the opposite, and argued it was unconstitutional without congressional authorization. Many Republicans, meanwhile, called the U.S. response a necessary deterrent that was proportional. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the action, saying ‘there was a thorough, legal response’ and the Defense Department briefed congressional leadership in advance.”

npr wrote on February 26:

“… Democratic lawmakers on Friday sought justification from the Biden administration for Thursday’s airstrikes in Syria…

“‘The American people deserve to hear the Administration’s rationale for these strikes and its legal justification for acting without coming to Congress,’ Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said… ‘Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances. Congress must be fully briefed on this matter expeditiously.’…

“Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont warned against the president overreaching in his powers to declare military actions. ‘While the President has a responsibility to defend the people of the United States, our Constitution is clear that it is the Congress, not the President, who has the authority to declare war,’ he said…

“Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California made a similar argument: ‘We cannot stand up for Congressional authorization before military strikes only when there is a Republican President,’ he said. ‘The Administration should have sought Congressional authorization here. We need to work to extricate from the Middle East, not escalate.’…

“In 2017, just a few months into then-President Trump’s administration…  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [asked] for immediate debate over congressional authority for any future military action.”

Even Adam Schiff said that Biden’s notification of congressional leaders prior to the strike was inadequate. At least 22 people were killed in Thursday’s airstrikes.

Airstrike on Syria… an impeachable Offense?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on March 1:

“As with Presidents Obama and Trump before him, however, Biden’s justification for the US strike and its targets is not credible. And his claim that the US attack would result in a ‘de-escalation’ in the region is laughable. You cannot bomb your way toward de-escalation. Biden thus joins a shameful club of US leaders whose interventions in the Middle East, and Syria specifically, have achieved nothing in the US interest but have contributed to the deaths of many thousands of civilians.

“President Trump attacked Syria in 2018 in what he claimed was retaliation for the Assad government’s use of chemical weapons against its own citizens. The Trump Administration never proved its claim. Logic itself suggests how ridiculous it would have been for the Syrian president to have used chemical weapons in that situation, where they achieved no military purpose and would almost certainly guarantee further outside attacks against his government.

“Trump’s 2018 attack only added to the misery of the Syrian people, who suffered under US sanctions and then suffered President Obama’s ‘Assad must go’ intervention that trained and armed al-Qaeda affiliated groups to overthrow the government. Trump’s airstrike on Syria did nothing to further real American interests in the region. But sending in 100 Tomahawk missiles to blow up a few empty buildings did a great deal to further the bottom line of missile-maker Raytheon. Interestingly, Biden’s Secretary of Defense came to the Administration straight from his previous position on the board of… Raytheon…

“The Democrats wasted four years trying to remove Trump from office under the bogus ‘Russiagate’ lie and then the equally ridiculous and discredited claim that Trump led an insurrection against the government on January 6th. Yet when Trump started raining bombs down on Syria with no Congressional declaration of war or even authorization, most Democrats stood up and cheered…

“In fact, initiating a war against a country that did not attack and does not threaten the United States without Congressional authority is an impeachable offense. But both parties – with a few exceptions – are war parties.

“President Biden should be impeached for his attack on Syria, as should have Trump and Obama before him. But no one in Washington is going to pursue impeachment charges against a president who recklessly takes the United States to war… Isn’t it strange how we’ve heard nothing about ISIS for the past couple of years, but suddenly the mainstream media tells us the ISIS is back and on the march? When President Biden says ‘America is back,’ what he really means is ‘the war party is back.’ As if they ever left.”

 These are words only very few are willing to hear. But war is wrong, no matter under what President, and it is condemned by God.

Biden backpedals on Sanctioning Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince over Khashoggi’s Murder

The Week wrote on February 26:

“The U.S. on Friday released a report publicly pinning the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist who criticized the crown while writing for The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered in 2018 after entering Turkey’s Saudi consulate. The crown prince had been suspected of ordering the killing, and U.S. intelligence affirmed that in a declassified report.

“The report is not new, and is largely based on CIA intelligence gathered in 2018. President Biden’s administration also announced new sanctions against Saudi operatives who were allegedly involved in the killing, but not against the crown prince, as The New York Times reports the president has ‘decided that the price of directly penalizing’ him is ‘too high.’”

CNN added on February 26:

“Despite promising to punish senior Saudi leaders while on the campaign trail,  President Joe Biden declined to apply sanctions to the one the US intelligence community determined is responsible for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The choice not to punish Prince Mohammed directly puts into sharp relief the type of decision-making that becomes more complicated for a president versus a candidate, and demonstrates the difficulty in breaking with a troublesome ally in a volatile region… It was a far cry from a comment in November 2019, in which Biden promised to punish senior Saudi leaders in a way former President Donald Trump wouldn’t.”

More broken promises. Even left-liberal news sources can see that. Also note the next article.

Left-Liberal Washington Post Criticizes Biden

Newsmax wrote on February 26:

“A Washington Post editorial Friday criticized President Joe Biden for failing to sanction Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of the newspaper’s former columnist, Jamal Khashoggi. Friday’s Post op-ed was entitled ‘Mohammed bin Salman is guilty of murder. Biden should not give him a pass.’…  The Post then called out the new president for not putting in place any kind of official government punishment against MBS. The newspaper’s op-ed board suggested a travel ban and asset freeze on the prince.

“‘That President Biden has chosen not to pursue that course suggests that the “fundamental” change he promised in U.S.-Saudi relations will not include holding to account its reckless ruler, who consequently is unlikely to be deterred from further criminal behavior,’ the op-ed board said. According to the op-ed, without imposed penalties, MBS will feel strengthened to kill more dissidents at home and abroad…”

Hyperinflation Coming?

Newsmax published on February 26 an article with the following headline: “Biden Stimulus Could Push US Into Devastating Hyperinflation.”

The article continued:

“Economic experts are waving red flags to Congress and the Biden administration, warning that if the United States continues on its present course of profligate spending coupled with extreme business lockdowns, we could be heading to a period of hyperinflation.

“How hyper? Some are thinking of the German Weimar Republic, when people reportedly used wheelbarrows of cash to buy groceries.”

China Warns of “Side Effects” of US Economic Stimulus

scmp.com wrote on March 2:

“The ‘side effects’ of aggressive economic stimulus policies in the United States and other developed countries have started to surface in the US stock market, China’s top financial regulator warned on Tuesday, saying officials in Beijing were ‘very worried’ that foreign asset bubbles could burst soon. Guo Shuqing, Communist Party secretary of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), identified the US market – the world’s largest – as the greatest bubble risk in the global economy when asked on Tuesday.

“His comments are the latest in a string of warnings made by policymakers in Beijing about mounting external financial threats and their potential impact on the Chinese economy. They also come as the US Congress moves closer to passing President Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion pandemic aid package, which would add to nearly US$4 trillion in US economic stimulus unleashed last year and liberal liquidity provided to American financial markets to support growth by the Federal Reserve…

“Former Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei said in February that Washington was transferring its debt burden to the rest of the world through its economic aid programme… Some analysts have expressed concerns that the American package will plough money into a global economy already awash in liquidity, with the extra funds ending up in China, resulting in imported inflation.”

Trump Remains Dominant Force in GOP

On February 27, The Associated Press published an article with the following headline: “Trump the Dominant Force at Conservative Conference.”

The article continued:

“A conference dedicated to the future of the conservative movement turned into an ode to Donald Trump as speakers declared their fealty to the former president and attendees posed for selfies with a golden statue of his likeness. As the Republican Party grapples with deep divisions over the extent to which it should embrace Trump after losing the White House and both chambers of Congress, those gathered at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday made clear they are not ready to move on from the former president — or from his baseless charges that the November election was rigged against him.

“‘Donald J. Trump ain’t going anywhere,’ said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz…  Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo… drew among the loudest applause and a standing ovation when he bragged about challenging the election certification on Jan. 6… ‘We cannot — we will not — go back to the days of the failed Republican establishment of yesteryear,’ said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis…  ‘We will not win the future by trying to go back to where the Republican Party used to be,’ echoed Florida Sen. Rick Scott… ‘If we do, we will lose the working base that President Trump so animated…’ Donald Trump Jr. lit into Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, who has faced tremendous backlash for her vote to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot…

“[Trump] was present in spirit in the form of a large golden statue erected in a merchandise show booth, where attendees could pose for pictures with it.”

A golden statue of Trump’s likeness? Terrible memories of Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue in Daniel 3 come to mind. Some have also drawn a parallel to the golden calf in Exodus 32. Compare also 1 Kings 12:28.

Trump Returns

Newsmax wrote on February 28:

“Putting to rest talk of a third party to break off from the GOP, former President Donald Trump said there will be only the Republican Party united, all the way… The speech to CPAC was Trump’s first public appearance since he left office 39 days ago…

“In a straw poll, 97% of attendees approved of his leadership of the party, 70% want him to run again and 55% said he was their preferred candidate in 2024. Trump’s rousing reception at the most important conservative gathering on the calendar highlights just how much Trump has transformed the movement in just five years…”

Fox News added on 2-28:

“Trump did not declare a 2024 run, although he did say he might consider beating Democrats ‘for a third time”’– in reference to his claim that he won the 2020 election… He predicted that a ‘Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House [in 2024].’ ‘And I wonder who that will be, I wonder who that will be?’ he said to cheers from the crowd. ‘Who, who, who will that be I wonder?’”

In a subsequent interview with Newsmax, Trump said he had not decided yet as to whether or not he will run in 2024, but he said that if he did, then he could not imagine someone else who could win.

Former Vice President Mike Pence breaks his silence

The Week wrote on March 3:

“Former Vice President Mike Pence broke his silence Wednesday with an op-ed in The Daily Signal, criticizing congressional Democrats for their voter reform push and giving new life to former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Despite being a central target of the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 because of his refusal to answer Trump’s call to somehow block the Electoral College certification, Pence claimed the election was ‘marked by significant irregularities and numerous instances of officials setting aside election law.’

“Without outright calling the 2020 vote fraudulent, Pence framed its outcome as uncertain to argue that Congress should not pass HR 1, the For the People Act, which includes measures such as required early voting and same-day voter registration in every state. Pence called the bill ‘an unconstitutional power grab.’”

California’s Churches Must Be Allowed to open for Indoor Services

East Bay Times wrote on February 26:

“The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Santa Clara County’s ban on indoor worship services, ordering California’s only holdout to fall in line with the rest of the state… By a 6-3 vote, the court ruled that the county must allow indoor worship services to resume at 20% capacity in Santa Clara County, calling an earlier decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to allow the county to keep its ban in place ‘erroneous.’…

“Following the high court’s lifting of California’s statewide ban on indoor religious services, Santa Clara County argued that it was not subject to the ruling because it prohibited all indoor gatherings — regardless of whether they’re related to religion — rather than instituting a specific ban on indoor religious services.”

Denmark Tries to restrict Religious Liberties

UG Christian News wrote on February 4:

“Christian Churches in Denmark are pushing back against a new draft law that requires all sermons in foreign languages to be translated into the country’s native language (Danish) and submitted to the government for approval… The bill has the backing of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen… It is unclear whether the law would require sermon translations to be sent to the government before or after being given…

“Anglican Bishop Robert Innes of the European diocese said… [that the] proposal also has practical problems… arguing it is not feasible to translate a weekly sermon delivered extemporaneously. ‘Preachers don’t always write full text of their sermons, they might write notes,’ Innes said. ‘They might preach extempore as the archbishop of Canterbury sometimes does and there are questions of idiom and nuance which requires a high level of skill in translation of course. It is a high bar. It is a skilled art and it is an expensive skill as well.’ ‘We do not only hold services on Sundays, but also baptisms, weddings and funerals, throughout the week,” Rajah Scheepers, who serves as pastor of St. Petri church in Copenhagen told media. ‘It is not realistic to expect that we simultaneously translate all these gatherings or that we translate them in advance.’…

“Catholic churches, too, oppose the idea. Anna Mirijam Kaschner, general secretary and spokeswoman of the Nordic bishops’ conference, reportedly said the proposed law would harm religious liberty. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Dr Martin Junge reiterated his concerns on 26 January [saying] that: ‘This proposed legislation is contrary to specific provisions of the freedom of religion or belief, enshrined in international human rights law.’ Sources say the cost of translating sermons for the nation’s non-Danish-speaking congregations will be a staggering 37.4 million Danish krone ($6,069,589) per year, the Danish National Church’s Interchurch Council [estimated].”

Europe… with or without NATO?

On February 26, RTL Today republished an article by AFP, as follows:

“EU leaders agreed Friday that the bloc should take more responsibility for its own security, insisting Brussels needs to be a strong partner for NATO and the United States… ‘We want to act more strategically, to defend our interests and to promote our values,’ European Council President Charles Michel tweeted after a video summit. ‘We need to increase our ability to act autonomously and strengthen our cooperation with our partners.’

“NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg joined the summit to talk up cooperation in the face of worries the EU’s drive could undermine the US-backed alliance at a time new President Joe Biden is looking to strengthen it… ‘It makes it absolutely obvious that we need to work together,’ (Stoltenberg said).

“France is championing a push for ‘strategic autonomy’ — arguing the coronavirus pandemic, a resurgent Russia and former US leader Donald Trump’s threats to cut off allies show Europe has to be able to stand alone. ‘In the face of increased global instability, the EU needs to take more responsibility for its security,’ the leaders said in their official conclusions…

“EU ambitions on common defence have gathered steam in recent years, and all but two nations signed up to the landmark PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) pact in 2017 to increase cooperation. The departure of Britain from the European Union saw the bloc lose some military and diplomatic heft, but also removed a fierce opponent of anything that might lead to a European army from the Brussels conversation.

“The EU is seeking to implement a multibillion-euro fund to co-finance industrial defence projects and the five-billion-euro European Peace Facility (EPF), allowing it to provide military equipment and assistance to partner countries.

“But key questions remain on how these projects will be implemented and the future of EU efforts. The bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is trying to define a ‘strategic compass’ so all nations can have a more united vision. ‘We need to find a common understanding of the challenges and threats to European Union … in order to propose ways to tackle them all together,’ he said.”

While France questions the NATO alliance, Germany gives lip service for their strong support. But that may change soon.

EU and Iran Deal vs. Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on February 26:

“The top European Union diplomat supervising the international agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions called Friday for a concerted effort to reinvigorate the pact even as Tehran appears to be reneging on some of its commitments… Iran this week effectively set a deadline to lift the US sanctions within three months, after which it said it would erase surveillance footage of its nuclear facilities. It has also limited some monitoring of its activities, which the EU says are meant to help ensure that Tehran’s nuclear work is peaceful. The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has also reported that Iran has added 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 20% to its stockpile as of Feb. 16 — far past the 3.67% purity allowed under the JCPOA….

“Netanyahu on Thursday said he has told Biden that he will do whatever it takes to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, regardless of whether Washington reenters the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. ‘I told him, with or without an agreement, my obligation as the prime minister of Israel, as the prime minister of the Jewish state, is to prevent a recurrence of the terrible things that have been done to our people,’ he said in an interview with Channel 13. ‘There is a regime whose flagship goal is to destroy us. I will do everything I can, everything in my power, to prevent it from attaining nuclear weapons,’ he said.”

Israel may find itself all alone in this challenge.

No Access of Jews to Al Aqsa Mosque

Israel Today wrote on February 26:

“Israel this week sought to install a vaccine station on the Temple Mount inside the clinic of the Al Aqsa Mosque. The idea was to provide vaccines for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem and especially those coming from the West Bank on Fridays in order to pray at the third holiest site in Islam.

“The request [was] decisively rejected by both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, an Islamic religious trust that controls and manages Islamic edifices on the Temple Mount compound. It was reported that the request even reached the hands of PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The reaction was furious, stating that they refuse to allow Israel any kind of access to the Al Aqsa Mosque.

“Israel’s request made clear that all of the paramedics administering the vaccine would be Arab and that none of Israel’s national symbols would be in sight. In addition, the request promised that the Muslim worshippers would not know that the station was provided by Israel. But the Israeli assurances were of no avail.“

This fanatical resistance will backfire.

Russia’s Persecutions

Bloomberg wrote on February 28:

“Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who survived a chemical poisoning last year that he called a Kremlin attempt to kill him, has begun serving his two-and-a-half-year sentence at a notorious penal camp… The jail, where inmates are housed in barracks and typically do manual labor, is classified as a ‘red zone’ where the administration controls every aspect of life…

“Konstantin Kotov, an opposition activist who was freed in December after 1 1/2 years at the same prison, said he was subjected to constant intimidation. This included repeated punishment for so-called infringements such as not saluting a prison guard or borrowing someone’s gloves — with those that his relatives sent him not being delivered — as well as isolating him from other inmates…

“Navalny received the sentence for failing to check in with the authorities while recovering in Germany from the near-fatal nerve agent attack in August. Western governments have also blamed the Kremlin for the poisoning, while Russian authorities deny any role…

“Navalny’s arrest in mid-January when he returned to Russia provoked the biggest anti-Kremlin protests in years and was condemned by the European Union and the U.S…. Authorities cracked down on the demonstrations last month, detaining more than 11,000 people and prosecuting key Navalny allies.”

Deutsche Welle added on March 2:

“The US on Tuesday slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities…

“The EU imposed bans on travel and froze the assets in Europe of Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor general, Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard, and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service… US Treasury Department said the US was also imposing sanctions on Krasnov and Kalashnikov… The US Treasury also announces sanctions on Alexander Bortnikov, director of Russia’s federal security service, Andrei Yarin, head of presidential policy directorate, and deputy defense ministers Alexei Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov…

“Brussels said Bastrykin, Krasnov, Zolotov and Kalashnikov were listed ‘over their roles in the arbitrary arrest, prosecution and sentencing of Alexei Navalny, as well as the repression of peaceful protests in connection with his unlawful treatment.’ A senior US official has stated: ‘The intelligence community assesses with high confidence that officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service FSB used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on August 20, 2020.’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview released Tuesday Washington intends to “take the appropriate actions as we see fit to make very clear that this kind of conduct is unacceptable for us, and we’ll do it with our allies and partners.”…

“The EU, which already had imposed sanctions against a small number of Russian officials, is expected to announce more sanctions. The US has also said it plans to respond soon to the Russian hack of federal government agencies and US corporations which exposed potentially sensitive information to the Kremlin.”

Russia announced that they will reciprocate regarding the “largely symbolic” sanctions (US News, March 2).

Pope Warns of a Worldwide Flood

Daily Mail wrote on March 2:

“Pope Francis has warned that mankind is facing a second great flood caused by climate change unless leaders act to fix corruption and injustice. The 84-year-old said that, in the story of the great flood in the Bible, God used his wrath to punish injustice and ‘clean up’ the world. He then added that humanity is facing another ‘great deluge, perhaps due to a rise in temperature and the melting of glaciers. [That is] what will happen now if we continue on the same path,’ he said…

“While discussing justice, Francis brings up the example of the biblical flood which destroyed the world except for Noah – who was deemed virtuous enough to survive. The flood itself may have been a myth, Francis says, but it is used as an example to show how God uses wrath to punish injustice and right wrongs in the world.”

God said very clearly that no worldwide flood will ever come upon the earth again (Genesis 9:11, 15), but since Pope Francis believes that the flood might have been a myth (even though Jesus believed in it, Matthew 24:37-39, and so did Peter, 2 Peter 3:5-6), Pope Francis would not believe God’s clear words in the Bible either.

Pope Emeritus Benedict on Biden

Newsmax wrote on March 3:

“Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is expressing concerns about President Joe Biden’s position on abortion and tendency to fall in line with the Democratic Party platform. ‘It’s true, he’s Catholic and observant,’ Benedict told Italian publication Corriere della Sera on Monday. ‘And personally, he is against abortion. But as president, he tends to present himself in continuity with the line of the Democratic Party … and on gender policy, we still don’t really understand what his position is.’

“Biden, only the second Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy, is at odds with traditional Catholic teaching when it comes to his pro-choice stance on abortion and policies regarding sexual orientation and gender identity…

“The president revoked the Mexico City policy, which banned U.S. foreign aid for organizations promoting abortion abroad, and picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who the Times called a ‘pro-choice crusader,’ as his nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. Biden also supports the Equality Act— which would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected characteristics in civil rights law — that some Republicans say would curtail religious liberties.

“Benedict, who became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years, also commented on his decision to step down in 2013, The Tablet reports. ‘It was a difficult decision, but I made it in full awareness, and I believe I did the right thing,’ the retired pope said. ‘Some of my slightly “fanatical” friends are still angry, they didn’t want to accept my choice. I think of the conspiracy theories that followed it … They don’t want to believe in a conscious choice. But my conscience is clear.’”

Our Late or Lost Mail

The Washington Post wrote on February 26:

“Mark Currie of Virginia had three checks snagged in postal delays in three months. In New Jersey, Lois Fitton says she was forced to pay interest on a credit card balance because the bill never arrived. Jim Rice says two insurance companies canceled policies for his property management business in Oklahoma after the payments got lost in the mail.

“As the service crisis at the U.S. Postal Service drags into its eighth month, complaints are reaching a fever pitch. Consumers are inundating members of Congress with stories of late bills — and the late fees they’ve absorbed as a result. Small-business owners are waiting weeks, even months, for checks to arrive, creating cash-flow crunches and debates on whether to switch to costlier private shippers. Large-scale mailers, such as banks and utilities, are urging clients to switch to paperless communication, a shift that would further undercut the agency’s biggest revenue stream.

“The growing outcry adds another dimension to the agency’s myriad crises: a clogged processing and transportation network, severe staffing shortages and $188.4 billion in liabilities. The prolonged performance declines have eroded the reputation of one of the few government agencies that boast generations of broad public support…

“The agency’s delivery times have sunk to historic lows… In most states, it took at least five days for a piece of first-class mail — such as a bill or paycheck — to arrive last month… the mail slowdowns — especially for credit card bills and payments — threaten to further burden American consumers already weighed down by debt…”

If you had ever wondered why your mail was so late or did not arrive at all…

Toys to be Neutral-Gender under Penalty of Hefty Fines

Fox Business wrote on February 25:

“California lawmakers are considering a bill that would penalize department stores for separating children’s toys, clothing and other items by gender… department stores with 500 or more employees would be subject to a $1,000 fine if they do not ‘correct a violation of these provisions within 30 days of receiving written notice of the violation.’ Stores would not have to change their products, but the products could not be displayed based on how they have ‘traditionally been marketed for either girls or for boys.’…

“The bill comes amid growing pushback by consumer advocacy groups to make toys more gender neutral…

“Hasbro, the company that’s made the potato-shaped plastic toy for nearly 70 years, announced this week it is giving the ‘Mr.’ Potato Head a gender-neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year… Barbie, for example, has tried to shed its blonde image and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes. The Thomas the Tank Engine toy line added more girl characters. And American Girl is now selling a boy doll.”

What complete and utter nonsense…

“Europe’s largest-ever cocaine bust worth billions”

The New York Daily News wrote on February 24:

“Billions of dollars-worth of drugs have been seized in Europe’s largest-ever cocaine bust. More than 50,700 pounds of coke were seized by German and Belgian authorities in the operation, which spanned over a week… The bust is also being hailed as one of the largest single seizures in the world. German officials found more than 17 tons of cocaine in containers that arrived in Hamburg from Paraguay…

“Dutch authorities then started investigating the recipient of the shipment, discovering 11 containers heading to Antwerp from Panama. These containers supposedly held mackerel, pineapple, squid, and wood. On Saturday, Belgian authorities discovered another 15,873 pounds of cocaine in the container transporting wood…”

What health damage that would have caused.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Lies about the January 6 Riot

On February 19, the Ron Paul Institute republished, in part, the following article by Glenn Greenwald. After condemning the inexcusable violence of the mob, the author went on to say:

“One of the most significant of these falsehoods was the tale… that Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was murdered by the pro-Trump mob when they beat him to death with a fire extinguisher… It took on such importance for a clear reason: Sicknick’s death was the only example the media had of the pro-Trump mob deliberately killing anyone…

“But none of the other four deaths were at the hands of the protesters: the only other person killed with deliberate violence was a pro-Trump protester, Ashli Babbitt, unarmed when shot in the neck by a police officer at close range. The other three deaths were all pro-Trump protesters: Kevin Greeson, who died of a heart attack outside the Capitol; Benjamin Philips, 50, ‘the founder of a pro-Trump website called Trumparoo,’ who died of a stroke that day; and Rosanne Boyland, a fanatical Trump supporter whom the Times says was inadvertently ‘killed in a crush of fellow rioters during their attempt to fight through a police line.’

“… Without Sicknick having his skull bashed in with a fire extinguisher, there were no deaths that day that could be attributed to deliberate violence by pro-Trump protesters. Three weeks later, The Washington Post said dozens of officers (a total of 140) had various degrees of injuries, but none reported as life-threatening, and at least two police officers committed suicide after the riot…

“After the media bombarded Americans with this story for a full month without pause, it took center stage at Trump’s impeachment process. As former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy noted, the article of impeachment itself stated that ‘Trump supporters ‘injured and killed law enforcement personnel.’ The House impeachment managers explicitly claimed on page 28 of their pretrial memorandum that ‘the insurrectionists killed a Capitol Police officer by striking him in the head with a fire extinguisher’…

“The problem with this story is that it is false in all respects. From the start, there was almost no evidence to substantiate it. The only basis were… two original New York Times articles asserting that this happened based on the claim of anonymous law enforcement officials. Despite this alleged brutal murder taking place in one of the most surveilled buildings on the planet, filled that day with hundreds of cellphones taping the events, nobody saw video of it. No photographs depicted it. To this day, no autopsy report has been released. No details from any official source have been provided.

“…On the same day the Times published its two articles with the ‘fire extinguisher’ story, ProPublica published one that should have raised serious doubts about it. The outlet interviewed Sicknick’s brother, who said that ‘Sicknick had texted [the family] Wednesday night to say that while he had been pepper-sprayed, he was in good spirits.’ That obviously conflicted with the Times’ story that the mob ‘overpowered Sicknick’ and ‘struck him in the head with a fire extinguisher,’ after which, ‘with a bloody gash in his head, Mr. Sicknick was rushed to the hospital and placed on life support.’…

“The fire extinguisher story was now a matter of lore. Nobody could question it. And nobody did: until after a February 2 CNN article that asked why nobody has been arrested for what clearly was the most serious crime committed that day: the brutal murder of Officer Sicknick with a fire extinguisher… the middle of the article provided evidence which essentially declared the original New York Times story false: ‘In Sicknick’s case, it’s still not known publicly what caused him to collapse the night of the insurrection. Findings from a medical examiner’s review have not yet been released and authorities have not made any announcements about that ongoing process. According to one law enforcement official, medical examiners did not find signs that the officer sustained any blunt force trauma, so investigators believe that early reports that he was fatally struck by a fire extinguisher are not true.’

“The CNN story speculates that perhaps Sicknick inhaled ‘bear spray,’ but like the ProPublica interview with his brother who said he inhaled pepper spray, does not say whether it came from the police or protesters… CNN noted that investigators are ‘vexed by a lack of evidence that could prove someone caused his death as he defended the Capitol during last month’s insurrection.’ Beyond that, ‘to date, little information has been shared publicly about the circumstances of the death of the 13-year veteran of the police force, including any findings from an autopsy that was conducted by DC’s medical examiner.’

“Few noticed this remarkable admission buried in this article. None of this was seriously questioned until a relatively new outlet called Revolver News on February 9 compiled and analyzed all the contradictions and lack of evidence in the prevailing story, after which Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, citing that article, devoted the first eight minutes of his February 10 program to examining these massive evidentiary holes.

“That caused right-wing media outlets to begin questioning what happened, but mainstream liberal outlets — those who spread the story aggressively in the first place — largely and predictably ignored it all. This week, the paper that first published the false story — in lieu of a retraction or an explanation of how and why it got the story wrong — simply went back to the first two articles, more than five weeks later, and quietly posted what it called an ‘update’ at the top of both five-week-old articles: ‘New Information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police.”

“With the impeachment trial now over, the articles are now rewritten to reflect that the original story was false. But there was nothing done by The New York Times to explain an error of this magnitude, let alone to try to undo the damage it did by misleading the public. They did not expressly retract or even ‘correct’ the story…”

That is another example as to how the left-wing mass media fabricates and invents fake stories. Note the next article for another example as to how alternate viewpoints are being suppressed.

Facebook’s Censorship Continues

Breitbart wrote on February 21:

“Actor Kevin Sorbo was banned from Facebook for posting content that the platform’s ‘fact checkers’ have deemed to be ‘debunked’ information regarding coronavirus vaccines. Sorbo reacted to the ban by saying: ‘All I can say is that I find it amazing that a place like Facebook has more power than our government, apparently. And the government allows them to do what they’re doing right now, in terms of just canceling people that they don’t agree with…

“‘I post things that usually come from what other doctors are saying about the virus, or what other people are saying about the voter fraud, and if that doesn’t fit their narrative, they just get rid of you,’ he added. ‘Freedom of speech, obviously, as we know, has gone out the window,’ said Sorbo. The actor also mentioned that he is ‘more than happy to leave Facebook,’ but wishes that he had the chance to at least tell his 500,000 Facebook followers where they can follow him on CloutHub or Parler before he got banned from Zuckerberg’s platform… ‘Being a Christian and a conservative in Hollywood, that’s kind of is like being a double leper, so I’ve got my own battles to deal with,’ Sorbo added. ‘And thank God for independent movies, otherwise I wouldn’t have a career right now.’”

Sorbo became famous through his portrayal of Hercules in a long-running TV series. Subsequently, he did other TV series and played in numerous movies, until he began to make Christian-oriented movies, such as “God’s Not Dead” and “Let There be Light.”

60 Million Americans Don’t Believe in Biden’s Legitimacy as President

Breitbart wrote on February 22:

“A USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that only 17 percent of Trump voters believe… Joe Biden was legitimately elected, while 73 percent said he was not…

“Of course, there was voter fraud! Does this mean there was enough fraud to overturn the presidential election? We don’t know… And one thing that makes us suspicious is that no one wants to find out if there was voter fraud, most especially the establishment media. Instead of looking into the 2020 president election, instead of investigating what happened and taking people’s concerns seriously, the corporate media are only increasing our suspicions by refusing not only to look into what happened, but by writing those of us off who have questions as terrorists and conspiracy theorists. People with nothing to hide don’t freak out when you ask a question. Governments with nothing to hide don’t freak out when you make an inquiry…

“Trump voters have every reason to believe the 2020 election was stolen. That doesn’t mean it was stolen, but when you behave as though you have something to hide, people have every right to believe you have something to hide… We are unceasingly lied to by the corporate media, Big Tech, and the federal government. Whenever we ask questions, we are shouted down as liars and conspiracy theorists just before we are blacklisted. No one tells us the truth. No one is interested in discovering the truth. Anyone who questions any of this is canceled and attacked. Of course, this is going to breed suspicion, and it should breed suspicion… If three-quarters of Trump supporters do not accept Biden’s legitimacy, you’re talking about some 60 million Americans.”

This almost sounds like a quote from Isaiah 59:4, which reads: “No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies…”

US Supreme Court Won’t Hear Election Cases Alleging Voter Fraud

Breitbart wrote on February 22:

“[On] Monday… the Supreme Court decided — by one vote –to hear none of the 2020 election cases raising issues of voter fraud and illegal votes. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett voted with the liberal justices to deny review of the lower court decisions.

“Four justices must vote to hear a case to put it on the Court’s docket, but only three justices — Thomas, fellow conservative Samuel Alito, and libertarian Neil Gorsuch — voted to take at least two of four of the key cases from November 2020. All three dissenting justices took the unusual step of writing opinions as to why the Court should have taken at minimum two of these cases.

“‘The Constitution gives to each state legislature authority to determine the “Manner” of federal elections,’ began Thomas. ‘Yet both before and after the 2020 election, nonlegislative officials in various States took it upon themselves to set the rules instead. As a result, we received an unusually high number of petitions and emergency applications contesting those changes. The petitions here present a clear example… That is not a prescription for confidence. Changing the rules in the middle of the game is bad enough. Such rule changes by officials who may lack authority to do so is even worse. When those changes alter election results, they can severely damage the electoral system on which our self-governance so heavily depends… Because fraud is more prevalent with mail-in ballots, increased use of those ballots raises the likelihood that courts will be asked to adjudicate questions that go to the heart of election confidence… ‘

“Quoting the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s concurring opinion from the 2000 case Bush v. Gore, Alito [wrote in his dissenting opinion which was joined by Gorsuch]: ‘Now, the election is over, and there is no reason for refusing to decide the important question that these cases pose. The provisions of the Federal Constitution conferring on state legislatures, not state courts, the authority to make rules governing federal elections would be meaningless if a state court could override the rules adopted by the legislature simply by claiming that a state constitutional provision gave the courts the authority to make whatever rules it thought appropriate for the conduct of a fair election…’

“Thomas concluded his dissent with: ‘One wonders what this Court waits for. We failed to settle this dispute before the election, and thus provide clear rules. Now we again fail to provide clear rules for future elections. The decision to leave election law hidden beneath a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite further confusion and erosion of voter confidence. Our fellow citizens deserve better and expect more of us. I respectfully dissent.’”

Why wouldn’t the Supreme Court look into these charges?

Civil War in the GOP… Trump vs. McConnell

Newsmax wrote on February 19:

“Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will… attempt to ease tensions with Republican leaders…  Graham hopes to be ‘constructive’ in his talks with Trump, who recently met with the second-highest ranking Republican in the House, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise.

“Trump recently hit out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for saying that the former president was ‘practically and morally responsible’ for the Capitol riot, saying that the longtime GOP leader is a ‘dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack’… Graham told Fox News after the exchange: ‘President Trump is the most consequential Republican in the party. If Mitch McConnell doesn’t understand that, he’s missing a lot.’”

Daily Mail added on February 19:

“Trump also accused McConnell of ‘destroying’ the GOP and urged the party’s senators to end his leadership…. The former president blamed McConnell… for causing the loss of two GOP Senate seats… ‘The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political “leaders” like Sen. Mitch McConnell at its helm,’ Trump began in a letter… ‘McConnell’s dedication to business as usual, status quo policies, together with his lack of political insight, wisdom, skill, and personality, has rapidly driven him from Majority Leader to Minority Leader, and it will only get worse,’ he wrote.

“‘The Democrats and Chuck Schumer play McConnell like a fiddle—they’ve never had it so good—and they want to keep it that way! We know our America First agenda is a winner, not McConnell’s Beltway First agenda or Biden’s America Last… Likewise, McConnell has no credibility on China because of his family’s substantial Chinese business holdings,’ wrote Trump. ‘He does nothing on this tremendous economic and military threat.’”

CNN wrote on February 19:

“Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell vowed never to [meet with Trump]… ‘They’re now at each other’s throat,’ Graham said on Fox News this week. ‘I’m more worried about 2022 than I’ve ever been…’ Trump remains the GOP figure whose words and actions reliably command the most attention. And in his lengthy Tuesday statement blasting McConnell, Trump included a veiled threat to support his own candidates in Republican primaries….”

Trump was invited and agreed to speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida. Pence was also invited, but reportedly declined.

Trump 2024 the Republican Presumptive Nominee?

Newsmax reported on February 22:

“Former President Donald Trump plans to use his appearance at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference as a ‘show of force’ that will send the message that he will be the Republican ‘presumptive 2024 nominee’ for the presidency, according to top Trump allies. ‘Trump effectively is the Republican Party,’ Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told Axios’ Mike Allen for a report Monday that Trump will claim ‘total control’ of the party during his speech this coming Sunday at CPAC…

“Trump will meet with his advisers this week at his Mar-a-Lago estate to map out his next political moves and to set up his plans for kingmaking actions for the 2022 midterm election, including stoking primary challenges for lawmakers who have voted against him. He’s also expected to pour both money and endorsements on his biggest backers… Meanwhile, Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC, has $75 million on hand, as well as a database containing tens of millions of names. However, Axios reports that there are many Trump confidants that think the former president will pretend like he’s running in 2024, but will ultimately pass that by.”

We must wait and see.

Biden Speaks at Munich Security Conference

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 19:

“At the Munich Security Conference, Joe Biden proclaimed the revival of the trans-Atlantic alliance with a forward-looking agenda that puts democratic resilience first. But the US still has much to prove to a wary Europe…

“Joe Biden couldn’t resist repeating his foreign policy mantra (“America is back”) during his debut on the (virtual) international stage of the Munich Security Conference… Biden is well aware that on neither side of the Atlantic are citizens longing for restoration of a… Western order in which the US led, materially as well as morally, and Europe followed.

“Though he made only polite and passing reference to NATO budgetary contributions in his MSC speech, it was clear that he expects his international partners to leverage and buttress US resources, sharing burdens not only on defense spending, but also on health, climate, trade — and, most particularly, in relations with China. Europeans, too, are wary and weary, well aware that in a deeply polarized US, today’s restart could come to a grinding halt four years from now…

“Whether German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her French counterpart Emmanuel Macron will grasp the hand Biden is extending depends on the degree to which the French president, in particular, sees his quest for strategic autonomy as compatible with trans-Atlantic multilateralism, and on whether the European partners are serious about boosting cooperation not only with the US but, first and foremost, amongst themselves…”

Breitbart added on February 19:

“President Joe Biden reassured European leaders Friday that he would once again work with them, apologizing for former President Donald Trump’s approach while in office… ‘The last four years have been hard but Europe and the United States have to lead with competence once more,’ he said. While not naming Trump explicitly in his speech, Biden repeatedly lamented damages to the European relationships with the United States and promised to revert back to the way it used to be…

“Biden specifically promised to work with European leaders including his ‘good friends’ and ‘outstanding leaders’ like German Chancellor Angela Merkel… Biden said he appreciated a ‘whole’ Europe united under the European Union and spoke about their goal to unite against global competitors like Russia and China…”

Focus asked on February 19 why Merkel responded so emotionless and indifferent to Biden, continuing, “Many conflicts between the USA and Germany remain.”

Allies Remain Doubtful

Yahoo News wrote on February 19, thereby republishing an article which had originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times:

“President Biden tried to reassure U.S. allies Friday that he is turning the page on his predecessor’s ‘America first’ approach, and restoring a foreign policy that values cooperation with the world’s major democracies to tackle global challenges. In two virtual appearances before world leaders, his first as president, Biden emphasized that he would be restoring and building upon the Obama administration’s diplomatic achievements, including the 2015 multination nuclear deal with Iran and the 2016 Paris climate accord, and would be seeking to work collaboratively to contain threats from Russia and China… Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article V, the mutual-defense promise among treaty members…

“The president nonetheless faces a hard job persuading allies, many of whom have emerged from the Trump years nervous about U.S. reliability, said James Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense now at the Center for a New American Security, a centrist Washington think tank. ‘The big issue for Biden is trust, in the sense that a lot of allies are still not convinced where our politics are heading,’ Townsend said…

“Allies’ skepticism about U.S. reliability… were evident Thursday in remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron. He renewed his call for European ‘strategic autonomy’ from Washington, diverging from Biden’s support for a return to reliance on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. ‘I am a defender of European sovereignty, of strategic autonomy…’ Macron said in an interview with the Financial Times. ‘Europe cannot delegate its protection and the protection of its neighborhood to the USA.’

“Such splits between Washington and Europe may become even more visible if Biden pushes NATO members to take a more confrontational stance toward Beijing and Moscow. Many European governments favor less confrontational approaches to both countries. Nor will U.S. frustration likely abate at Europe’s go-slow approach to meeting NATO’s goal that each member spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on its defense. Nine of the 30 NATO members will reach the target this year; three met it in 2014. But Germany and other allies still lag behind.

“In earlier remarks to a separate virtual session of allies in the Group of 7, made up of leaders of major industrialized nations, Biden announced a $4-billion U.S. investment in COVAX, a cooperative global vaccination effort…”

Translation: America will spend $4 billion dollars for global coronavirus vaccination efforts in foreign countries, while the USA is suffering economically at home, without getting a meaningful handle on the pandemic.

Boris Johnson’s Praise for Biden

Breitbart wrote on February 20:

“Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared that ‘America is unreservedly back’ with the election of Joe Biden as President… ‘and that is a fantastic thing.’ In an apparent jab at Donald Trump, Johnson added: ‘The gloom has been overdone…  I’m delighted that America under President Biden’s leadership has rejoined the Paris Agreement’…

“While the relationship between the two leaders was reportedly tense over the issue of Joe Biden’s anti-Brexit attitude, the pair seem to have mended the ‘special relationship’…”

With Boris Johnson, one never knows where his true loyalties lie. But if Trump were to return to power in some way, he wouldn’t forget what he must view as Johnson’s betrayal. The Bible says that the USA will be against Britain, and vice versa, and both will be against Israel.

Macron’s European Army

MSN wrote on February 18:

“Speaking to Express.co.uk, Peter Kofod claimed the French President’s vision for a unified defence corp in the EU could risk Europe its biggest allies within NATO, the US and the UK. The Danish People’s Party’s MEP dismissed the idea as ‘ridiculous’ as he blasted the French leader’s ‘worrying’ ambitions…

“[Macron’s] position was underlined by French Minister for Europe Clement Beaune during an interview with French broadcaster CNews earlier this month. In remarks which have likely raised eyebrows in the new administration of Joe Biden, Mr Beaune appeared to take a swipe at the new US President and question the USA’s commitment to Europe, while highlighting the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Xi Jinping’s China. Mr Beaune said: ‘The Americans want to do less for European defence, the French want to do more for European defence. I think that’s the big European project for the years to come. Our European partners are close to this path.’”

Express wrote on February 19:

“Macron has said that European Union member states need to ‘play a larger role in its own defense’. The French President hit back at suggestions that the EU pushing ahead with its defence plans was ‘incompatible’ with NATO. Mr Macron said that with the US changing its focus to the Pacific-Asia region, ‘we need Europe to deal with our neighbourhood’…

“Speaking to the Munich Security Conference, he said: ‘… I believe that the best possible involvement of Europe within NATO is to be much more in charge of its own security and more in charge of its strategic autonomy… He added that the EU should not be ‘dependent’ on the US for security, adding: ‘The EU and its key member states have to be part of the solution of their own security’ Mr Macron continued: ‘The US has become a Pacific power, which is mainly looking at China and Asia.”

In the past, Macron had stated that a European Army is a must in order to be able to defend against Europe’s enemies, including Russia, China and perhaps even the USA.

Most for a EU Army

Express wrote on February 23:

“An EU army has long been contemplated in the bloc… In a boost to the EU’s plans, two-thirds of those surveyed in a poll from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think-tank, were supportive of a European-level defence force… This comes in response to many within the poll claiming they could not rely on Washington as a strategic ally. When asked on their opinion on the EU’s security partnership with the US, just 10 percent viewed the US as a viable partner… 67 percent across all countries believe their own country could not rely on the US….

“The countries polled were Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Great Britain.”

The prophesied establishment of a European Army is moving forward.

Reviving the Iran Deal?

Times of Israel wrote on February 19:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Friday to the United States’ announcement that it was willing to hold talks with Tehran on a return to the nuclear deal, saying Israel believes the old agreement will ‘pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.’ ‘Israel remains committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons and its position on the nuclear agreement has not changed,’ the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement…

“The Biden administration said Thursday it’s ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the nuclear deal. It has also reversed the Trump administration’s assertion that all UN sanctions against Iran had been restored. Trump’s move had been ignored by the rest of the Security Council and the world, and the overwhelming majority of members in the 15-nation council had called the action illegal because the US was no longer a member of the nuclear deal. Washington also eased stringent restrictions on the domestic US travel of Iranian diplomats posted to the United Nations.

“The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, quickly denounced the steps. ‘It is concerning the Biden Administration is already making concessions in an apparent attempt to re-enter the flawed Iran deal,’ he said…”

Newsmax wrote on February 19:

“Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is blasting the Biden administration for saying it is ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal… Pompeo told the Free Beacon that European nations ‘wanted to appease the Iranian theocracy for my entire time as secretary of state. We refused. The ayatollah understands only strength. I led a response to the Iranian threat that protected the American people from its terror and supported the Jewish state of Israel.’ And he warned: ‘Adopting the European Union model of accommodation will guarantee Iran a path to a nuclear arsenal.’”

US Democrats vs. Netanyahu

Israel Today wrote on February 19:

“The serious deterioration between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Democratic Party really began when Donald J. Trump became President of the United States. The special personal relationship the two leaders developed and the subsequent measures Trump took against the Palestinian Authority was a thorn in the side of many Democrats, including Joe Biden… Judging Biden by his deeds one could doubt his ‘commitment to Israel’s security’… He already canceled most of the measures Trump took against the PA and resumed funding of the Palestinian regime… his administration says it wants the status of Jerusalem settled in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority…

“The Obama years also contributed significantly to a rift in Israel-Democratic relations. Obama is seen in Israel as the most hostile US President in the history of the Jewish state. Netanyahu was under constant pressure from Obama to make concessions to the Palestinians, and at the end of his term, Obama had his UN ambassador vote for an anti-Israeli resolution in the UN Security Council. This had never happened and it caused a lot of bad blood, especially among the right-wing parties in Israel…

“Democratic politicians told Israeli media that they hope Netanyahu will be removed from office after the upcoming Israeli election on March 23… Democratic politicians have little understanding of the political situation in Israel…

“An additional problem is that the ruling American party is slowly being taken over by radical left-wing elements that are fiercely anti-Israel, including former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish… Other examples are Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two Muslim Congresswomen who were banned from entering Israel in August 2019. Both support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and have made no secret of their hate for the Jewish state.”

Newsmax added on February 18:

“Netanyahu and President Barack Obama had a highly contentious relationship, one that some Israeli experts have called the worst ever between a U.S. president and Israeli prime minister.”

Destroying Al Aqsa to Build the Temple?

Israel 365 wrote on February 24:

“A so-called Israeli affairs ‘expert’ explained to viewers of official PA TV that the ‘true and serious Zionist threat’ is Israel’s ‘plan’ to empty Jerusalem of Christian and Muslim holy sites. Nawaf Al-Zaru went as far as accusing Israel of planning to ‘burn monasteries and churches,’  ‘destroy’ Islamic holy sites, and ‘bomb’ the Al-Aqsa Mosque…

“Hundreds, if not thousands, of similar libelous statements have been made by PA officials… for decades. The PA claims that Israel seeks to ‘Judaize’ Jerusalem and erase all traces of Christianity and Islam in the city. The PA also alleges that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger because Israel is plotting to destroy it to rebuild Solomon’s ‘alleged Temple.’ In accordance, official PA TV teaches its viewers that there is no Jewish history in Jerusalem… ‘This is the city of Allah and of his early promise. Everything in Jerusalem is Arab and Islamic.’ …

“Likewise, Jerusalem District Deputy Governor Abdallah Siyam recently stated that Israel… [is] ‘striving to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the so-called “Temple” in its place.’”

China’s Concentration Camps of Horror

The New York Post wrote on February 20:

“To hear the Chinese Communist Party tell it, the network of concentration camps in China’s far west are ‘vocational schools.’ But former women inmates, largely Uighurs and Kazakhs, tell a different story. They describe the camps as houses of horrors where Chinese camp guards systemically use gang rape and torture to violate their bodies and break their will to resist.

“The new testimony… has aroused worldwide condemnation. It also confirms the State Department’s recent finding that China is committing genocide against its Uighur minority…”

The detailed description of what happens in these camps is too gruesome to repeat here. The lack of condemnation by Western leaders is appalling.

Destroying Biblical Values

LifeSiteNews (which has been permanently banned on YouTube) wrote on February 24:

“Following the announcement that the radical pro-abortion and pro-LGBT Equality Act will be brought before the U.S. House of Representatives… pro-life and pro-family leaders have described the proposed legislation as ‘the most comprehensive assault on Christianity ever written into law.’

“Dr. Bill Donohue, Ph.D., president of the Catholic advocacy group Catholic League, said that, contrary to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the Equality Act is ‘about ending discrimination,’ … in fact the opposite is true, with Christians set to experience severe discrimination should the act be passed into law… Donohue said that the act’s broad scope would force healthcare providers to supply hormone therapies and even surgeries in accordance with ‘sex change’ procedures. Women’s sports, too, will become unfairly altered by the inclusion of boys and men who purport to be female. ‘These biological males can use the locker rooms, restrooms and shower facilities that have always been reserved for females,’ he added…

“Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins described the Equality Act as ‘a catastrophic loss of religious freedom in America.’

“… Lila Rose, Founder & President of Live Action, described the Equality Act as ‘deceptively named and corrupt in its vision… There is nothing empowering or “equalizing” about killing innocent preborn children nor confusing what it means to be male and female. This deceptively named piece of legislation hides within it policies that override conscience rights, require employers to cover abortions in their healthcare plans, and nullifies pro-life laws and protections on a massive scale…’

“Experts from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) agree. President Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., a specialist in bioethics, religious liberty, and political philosophy, said: ‘The so-called Equality Act is legislative malpractice that turns equality on its head… It isn’t drafted as a shield to protect vulnerable minorities from unjust discrimination, but as a sword to persecute those who do not embrace new sexual and gender ideologies.’”

Are Coronavirus Vaccines Safe?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on February 23:

“Via a Monday Twitter post, President Joe Biden made an unqualified assertion that the experimental coronavirus vaccines… the United States government is encouraging Americans to take are ‘safe’ for everyone. However, taking a look through the fact sheets for recipients and caregivers regarding the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna experimental coronavirus vaccines, available at the website of the US government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you find a very different representation.

“These fact sheets warn that there are many known health risks of taking either vaccine and that there are also other potential health risks that remain unknown because the experimental vaccines went through rushed and incomplete testing…

“The first warning sign in the fact sheets for the two experimental vaccines is in the fact sheets’ titles. Both titles refer to the ‘emergency use authorization’ of the vaccines.., it is made clear that the emergency use authorization does not mean the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the vaccines are safe… the fact sheets explicitly say that some people should not receive the injections: people under a certain age (16 for Pfizer-BioNTech and 18 for Moderna), as well as people who have ‘had a severe allergic reaction after a previous dose of this vaccine’ (both vaccines have a two shot regimen) or ‘had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient’ of the respective vaccines…

“So, are the experimental coronavirus vaccines safe? The answer is ‘no’ according to the fact sheets provided at the FDA website. There are significant known dangers from taking the vaccines. Also, especially given the rushed and abbreviated testing of the experimental vaccines, there may be numerous unlisted health problems that arise in people who receive the shots.”

The article concludes by saying that a wise “course is for people to consider the potential risks carefully and make their own informed decisions regarding taking the experimental coronavirus vaccines.”

This is true. People should make an informed decision… either way.

Spahn Fighting for Survival?

The Daily Mail wrote on February 24:

“German health minister Jens Spahn is said to be ‘fighting for his career’ after overseeing a shambolic vaccine roll-out, clashing with Angela Merkel and failing to deliver on a promised rapid-testing scheme. Spahn, who only months ago was being feted by those marvelling at Germany’s early success against the pandemic, has seen his approval rating slide five points in a month amid the vaccination chaos and a grinding two-month lockdown.

“Merkel’s decision to postpone a major rapid testing roll-out which Spahn had promised to bring in on March 1 has prompted talk of ‘revenge’ in German media – after the chancellor accused him of trying to shift blame for the vaccine fiasco to Brussels. With Bild [Germany’s mass tabloid] now describing Spahn as a ‘ministerial flop’, the 40-year-old – who was seen as an outside contender in the race to succeed Merkel as chancellor later this year – is said to be ‘frustrated’ and ‘bewildered’ by the setbacks to his career.”

No End to Travel Restrictions… Vaccination Passports?

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 25:

“Leaders from across the 27-nation bloc [of the EU] convened via videoconference on Thursday to thrash out joint approaches to the COVID-19 crisis… Tourist-reliant southern European nations such as Greece and Spain urged the rapid adoption of an EU-wide vaccination certificate for travelers. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz backed the idea in an appearance on the online television channel of Germany’s Bild newspaper. He said it would enable a restart to free travel in Europe and could help ‘secure and protect’ struggling sectors like the arts, sports and gastronomy.

“Manfred Weber, the head of the conservative bloc in the European Parliament, has called for a speedy rollout of a vaccine passport in order to allow freedom of movement in the EU… Other countries, such as France and Germany, have shown more reluctance, with officials saying it would create de facto vaccination obligation and could prove discriminatory…”

CNBC wrote on February 25:

“Given the health crisis, European leaders are not yet inclined to ease travel restrictions… Some heads of state believe it is too early to consider a vaccination passport as the deployment of vaccines is still at such an early phase.

“Rickard Gustafson, CEO of Scandinavian Airlines,… said that it needs to be applied to ‘all other transportation means… because if you cross a border, it doesn’t really matter if you cross it by air, by train, by car, by bus’…” 

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Trump Acquitted for the Second Time

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 13:

“The United States Senate on Saturday formally cleared former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection at the US Capitol last month. Trump was the first former president to face trial after leaving office and the only president to be impeached twice. The US Senate voted 57-43 on the impeachment charge, which means that seven Republican senators voted to convict the former president. A conviction… was seen as highly unlikely as it required a two-thirds majority, and the 100-member Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

“DW’s Washington bureau chief Ines Pohl said the vote showed the influence Trump still has. ‘Picture is really clear that former-President Donald Trump has a grip on the Republican Party,’ she said. ‘Donald Trump is far from being done.’

“‘This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together,’ he added. He signaled towards a possible political future, saying that ‘our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun.’ ‘We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future,’ Trump said…

“… the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said Saturday he would vote against convicting the former president. McConnell said he could not vote to convict Trump because he is ‘constitutionally not eligible for conviction’ after leaving office. In a speech after the vote, McConnell called Trump ‘practically and morally responsible for provoking’ the riot. Even though Trump was acquitted, the end of the trial saw the largest number of senators ever to vote to convict a president of their own party…”

Democrats such as Schumer or Pelosi fume and are beside themselves over Trump’s acquittal, thereby conveniently forgetting their own radical rhetoric arguably inciting violence. A particularly telling comment was uttered by Democratic Manager Eric Swalwell, himself not a stranger to scandals and controversies: “Democrats could have called ‘God herself’ to testify during the impeachment, and Republican senators would not have voted to convict former President Donald Trump” (Breitbart, February 14, 2021). How else than as being appallingly disgusting and blasphemous could such a comment be characterized?

Trump Most Potent Force in GOP

Bloomberg News reported on February 14:

“Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Donald Trump remains the party’s ‘most potent force’ even after his second impeachment, and suggested Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hurt the GOP by blaming the former president for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol…

“The South Carolina senator’s comments reflect the internal struggle facing the party… Trump’s level of support among the GOP base will help determine his future role in the party. Graham said there’s no question Republicans need to work with Trump to win future elections… ‘We can’t do it without him,’ Graham said…

“Republicans who have crossed Trump… already met pushback from within the GOP. Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Richard Burr of North Carolina were both censured on Saturday by their state parties… In another sign that Trump’s influence could live on, Graham predicted the former president’s daughter in law, Lara Trump, could run for Burr’s Senate seat in 2022…”

Some, even amongst former Trump supporters, such as former U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, predict that Trump will never again become President. They might end up being surprised. On February 14, Newsmax quoted former U.S. ambassador to Germany, Ric Grenell, as saying:

“I think that President Trump is 100% the leader of the Republican Party. Whether he decides to run or not — he’s told me in the past that he was definitely going to run — I think the reality is that we haven’t had a leader of the Republican Party that has grown Hispanic support, Black support, inner city support, support from women and gays. This is a president who has really put together an incredible coalition. And I think anyone who thinks that he’s just going to go away quietly is dead wrong. He’s going to be the leader of the party and certainly have the decision on who is going to be the nominee in 2024.”

Most Republicans Support Trump Running in 2024

The Guardian wrote on February 16:

“If the 2024 Republican presidential primary were held today, Donald Trump would be the clear favorite to win big. That was the message from a Politico-Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday… Among Republican voters, 59% said they wanted Trump to play a prominent role in their party, up a whopping 18 points from the last such poll, taken in the aftermath of the Capitol riot. A slightly lower number, 54%, said they would back Trump in the primary… Though the 45th president will be 78 by election day 2024, he will be able to run again if he chooses…  [Mike Pence] placed second in the Politico-Morning Consult poll, with 12%…. Donald Trump Jr shared third place, with 6%, with Nikki Haley… Mitt Romney… scored 4% in the new poll. Ted Cruz… scored 3%…

“The battle for the soul of the party is on. On Monday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell followed an editorial in the Wall Street Journal which said Trump would not win another national election with a column on his own…  McConnell has also made clear that he will oppose pro-Trump candidates seeking Republican nominations in the 2022 midterms, if he thinks they would damage chances of beating a Democrat.”

McConnell’s divisive and self-serving role becomes more and more problematic for him and the GOP.

“Uncertainty Looms”

Politico wrote on February 13:

“What comes next for the 45th president is anybody’s guess. Uncertainty looms over nearly every aspect of the former president’s post-impeachment political future — from the causes he will embrace, to his level of influence inside the GOP, to the possibility he could face criminal charges or see diminished voter appetite for a potential comeback bid in 2024…

“The former president has promised to help the GOP retake the House in the midterm elections next fall but also wants revenge against 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him in the lower chamber. It is assumed he will reserve similar animus for the seven Senate Republicans who voted for his conviction on Saturday…

“Trump allies are unsure how much success he’ll see…, particularly on the heels of an emotional impeachment trial that may have deeply wounded his reputation… But others argue Trump’s acquittal will only cement his position in the party and send a message that Trump — and Trumpism — is the predominant force in GOP politics…

“Trump has framed his post-presidential legal exposure as remnants of ‘the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country’ — a phrase he also used to describe the Senate impeachment trial on Saturday. ‘It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree,’ Trump said.

[According to CNN, Trump also added: “I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.”]

“‘ACQUITTED AT LAST! The biggest political circus of ALL TIME is finally over and we want to send a message that the Republican Party is STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE,’ read a message [by the Republican National Committee on Saturday].

That may seem like wishful thinking now. But perhaps not entirely so…”

Trump cannot be easily ignored.

Trump Calls Fox News, Mourns Limbaugh’s Death and Speaks about Election Fraud

The Sun wrote on February 17:

“DONALD Trump has again claimed that he won the 2020 election and said the nation is ‘angry.’ The 45th president underwent his first interview since leaving the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Trump [called in and] spoke to Fox News to pay tribute to the late Rush Limbaugh [who died on Wednesday at the age of 70 after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer last year], however quickly started discussing the 2020 election. ‘Rush felt we won and he was quite angry about it,’ he said. He also doubled down on his opinions on his claims that there was election fraud, dubbing the results as ‘disgraceful.’ Trump said the United States was a ‘third world country on election night,’ saying ‘you don’t know how angry this country is.’

“He added that he still believes that his administration ‘won substantially’… Speaking about Limbaugh just hours after his death was announced, Trump said he was ‘very brave… he was fighting until the very end.’… He said: ‘It was a great honor and an incredible night to give the Medal of Honor to him during the State of The Union address.”

The interview was conducted by Harris Faulkner and Bill Hemmer. As Yahoo!News observed, “neither Harris Faulkner nor Bill Hemmer… pushed back on the former president’s false claims of election fraud.”

However, most Republicans believe that Trump’s claim is accurate. It should be noted that Trump was asked in the interview how Limbaugh felt about the election. In addition, at the end of the interview, Faulkner thanked Trump for calling in and remarked, in effect, that she was glad that Trump was back on Fox, and that Fox would conduct many more interviews with him in the future.

Dangerous Reckless Rhetoric

On February 11, the Ron Paul Institute published the following article by Prof. Jonathan Turley:

“Reckless rhetoric reflects our age of rage… Fired FBI director James Comey has been given to reckless rhetoric… He recently said, ‘The Republican Party needs to be burned down…’ Likewise, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin declared that ‘We have to collectively, in essence, burn down the Republican Party. We have to level them because if there are survivors, if there are people who weather this storm, they will do it again’…

“Such rhetoric even extends to academics, who historically abhor violence. One professor recently called for more Trump supporters to be killed. Rhode Island Professor Erik Loomis…  said he saw ‘nothing wrong’ with the killing of a conservative protestor’—a view defended by other academics.”

That is terrible, but a sign of our times.

New McCarthyism of the Left

Newsmax wrote on February 14:

“Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz on Sunday blasted the ‘new McCarthyism’ of the Democrats’ ‘hard left.’… Dershowitz, a constitutional law expert, said some liberals have become radical censors of free speech.

“‘Common Cause, which purports to be a liberal, not a radical organization, has now demanded that Facebook keep Donald Trump off its platform,’ he said. ‘We are getting liberals… [calling for] Fox News [to be] taken off the networks. I hated communism but I defended the rights of lawyers to defend accused communists.’ ‘If any lawyer is the subject of this kind of McCarthyism, I will represent you pro bono, in front of universities and bar associations,’ he added. ‘I will dedicate myself that the new McCarthyism of the hard left doesn’t become American culture.’”

The attempts to censor free speech are rampant in the US these days.

The Insane Green Energy Politics

Breitbart wrote on February 16:

“Monday, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson opened his program with a sharp rebuke of so-called green energy policies that have wreaked havoc on the country as an Arctic blast makes its way across the United States. Carlson focused on failures in Texas, where millions suffered power losses in the wake of the colder weather, and said more of that should be expected with the left’s energy policies…

“‘The bad news is, they don’t have electricity. The windmills froze, so the power grid failed. Millions of Texans woke up this morning freezing. There was no heat, no traffic lights, and no cell service. Schools closed, cars crashed. Hospitals canceled surgeries. In Fort Worth, people had to boil their water because with no electricity, it couldn’t be purified. The ironically named Electric Reliability Council of Texas which oversees the grid had no solution to any of this. They simply told people to stop using so much power to keep warm… We’ve seen it happen repeatedly in California for years now. Rolling blackouts in a purportedly first world state that is slipping steadily into chaos. But in Texas?…

“‘There are huge natural gas deposits all over Texas. Texas is an oil and gas state famously… Rather than celebrate and benefit from their state’s vast natural resources, politicians took the fashionable route and became recklessly reliant on so-called alternative energy, meaning windmills… Last year, roughly a quarter of all electricity generated in the state came from wind…

“‘Green Energy inevitably means blackouts… It means failures like the ones we’re seeing now in Texas…’”

Tucker Carlson is right. Note the next article.

A Deep Green Freeze

The Wall Street Journal added the following opinion piece by the Editorial Board, dated February 15:

“Power shortages show the folly of eliminating natural gas—and coal. Gas and power prices have spiked across the central U.S. while Texas regulators ordered rolling blackouts Monday as an Arctic blast has frozen wind turbines. Herein is the paradox of the left’s climate agenda: The less we use fossil fuels, the more we need them.

“A mix of ice and snow swept across the country this weekend as temperatures plunged below zero in the upper Midwest and into the teens in Houston… the power grid is becoming less reliable due to growing reliance on wind and solar, which can’t provide power 24 hours a day, seven days a week… Regulators rationed gas for commercial and industrial uses to ensure fuel for power plants and household heating.

“Texas’s energy emergency could last all week as the weather is forecast to remain frigid… Blame a perfect storm of bad government policies, timing and weather. Coal and nuclear are the most reliable sources of power. But competition from heavily subsidized wind power and inexpensive natural gas, combined with stricter emissions regulation, has caused coal’s share of Texas’s electricity to plunge by more than half in a decade to 18%.”

Because of this self-destructing policy, people have died due to the freezing cold.

More Misery Coming

The Associated Press reported on February 17:

“Utility crews raced Wednesday to restore power to nearly 3.4 million customers around the U.S. who were still without electricity or heat in the aftermath of a deadly winter storm while another blast of ice and snow threatened to sow more chaos. The latest storm front was certain to complicate recovery efforts, especially in states that are unaccustomed to such frigid weather — parts of Texas, Arkansas and the Lower Mississippi Valley… Weather-related outages have been particularly stubborn in Oregon, where some customers have been without power for almost a week…

“Utilities from Minnesota to Texas and Mississippi have implemented rolling blackouts… The worst U.S. power outages by far have been in Texas, where 3 million homes and businesses remained without power as of midday Wednesday… The outages in and around Portland, Oregon, affected nearly 150,000 customers nearly a week after a massive snow and ice storm toppled many trees and took out hundreds of miles of power lines. The damage to the power system was the worst in 40 years… At the peak of the storm, more than 350,000 customers in the Portland area were in the dark… Rolling blackouts were imposed Tuesday in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Southeast Texas…”

Incredibly, the article also says that this terrible winter storm was blamed by scientists on “global WARMING caused by humans.”

USA vs. Israel

The Jerusalem Post wrote on February 14:

“If American planes are not allowed to operate emergency flights to Israel, Israeli planes will not be allowed to land in the US, N12 reported Saturday.

“The Biden administration accused Israel of violating the freedoms of the air and creating a crisis with the new administration following the Israeli border closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, N12 reported. The administration then demanded that planes from the US be allowed to land in Israel…

“The US Department of Transportation complained to the Foreign Ministry and Transportation Ministry that this situation violates the aviation agreement between the countries, which was meant to guarantee equal treatment of Israeli and American airlines.”

The relationship between the USA and Israel will never be the same under Biden as it was under Trump.

“Israel and Biden-Trouble on the Horizon”

Israel Today wrote on February 15:

“Israel has reason to be deeply concerned about the policy that US President Joe Biden’s new administration will pursue vis-à-vis the Jewish state… those concerns are justified and relate to diplomatic measures already taken by the Biden White House…

“… the Trump Administration’s recognition that the Golan Heights is Israeli territory was effectively withdrawn… The Biden Administration has announced that financial aid to the Palestinian Arabs, which Trump canceled, will resume… Biden, furthermore, will allow the Palestinian Authority to reopen the PLO diplomatic mission that Trump closed in Washington DC…

“One important issue viewed by Jerusalem as a threat to Israel is the opinion of certain key figures in the Biden administration regarding Iran. They say the US should return to dialogue with Iran and rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA). More recently, Biden has linked such a move to Iran’s willingness to stop enriching uranium…

“Another reason Israel worries about the policies the Biden Administration will pursue towards the Jewish state and the Middle East are the appointments of a number of ex-Obama officials to key positions. [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken, for example, is an appeaser when it comes to Iran. He was against including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the list of recognized terrorist organizations. Blinken was also the one who questioned the legality of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights last week.

“Biden’s Director for National Security, Avril Haines, signed a… letter, [in which] Israel was condemned for ‘violence, terrorism, and incitement.’…  Then there’s Wendy Sherman, the female chief negotiator in the talks with Iran… She was a strong supporter of negotiations with and concessions toward Iran. At the time, she also refused to condemn Palestinian suicide attacks on Israelis.

“The appointment of Robert Malley as Biden’s special envoy to Iran is another problem point. Malley… is a left-wing extremist… [He] wants dialogue with Hamas and Syrian dictator Assad. He is also known for his aversion to Israel.

“Jen Psaki, another former Obama official, is now the White House press secretary. She questioned Israel’s commitment to peace, but remained silent about the Palestinian refusal to return to the negotiating table.

“Another anti-Israel official in the Biden government is Maher Bitar, who is the new head of the US Intelligence and National Security Council…. [He] is a Palestinian American who once wrote in a paper the following: ‘Israel’s political existence as a state is a cause for Palestinian dispossession and statelessness….’

“Another appointment of a Palestinian American to a key position when it comes to Israel is Hady Amr [who] is known for his radical anti-Israeli views and has strong ties to the Palestinian leadership…

“Reema Dodin… serves in the White House… She took part in rallies against Israel calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions… In 2002, Dodin said suicide bombings by Palestinian Arabs were ‘the last resort of a desperate people.’”

It really appears as if the relationship between Israel and the USA is to drastically change for the worse.

Biden and Netanyahu “Talk”

Newsmax wrote on February 17:

“President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Wednesday after a month of silence that raised concerns in Israel about a frostier relationship between the two allies… Israelis had been complaining since Biden’s inauguration in January the new president had not reached out to Netanyahu, concerned the silence could forecast a chillier relationship between the two close allies after former President Donald Trump’s warm embrace… Many Israelis fear Biden, who served as President Barack Obama’s vice president, will revive his approach to the region, both by returning to the Iran deal and by pressing Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians.”

This phone call won’t change anything.

Europe’s New Identity

Middle East Monitor wrote on February 12:

“Despite the long-awaited political change in Washington, with Democratic President Joe Biden now safely in the White House, Europe is unlikely to resume its previously unhindered reliance on its transatlantic partner. The four years of Donald Trump’s term in office were full of tension and difficulties between the US and Europe… However, the strain in the US-EU relationship long preceded Trump’s presidency.

“The former president’s eccentric personal style — and often blunt rhetoric and action — was an indicator to Europe that the continent urgently needed to create its own leadership alternatives to Washington. Following World War Two, the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact in 1991, the US became the uncontested leader of the West. Eventually, it was the world’s only superpower. These dynamics are now experiencing an unparalleled state of flux.

“The US commitment to the post-war paradigm was clearly faltering. Consequently, statements from Europe’s political elites in recent years suggest a massive rethink among European governments regarding their definition of the relationship with Washington, an alliance that ran the world for decades. In an unprecedented statement in May 2017, German Chancellor Angela Merkel articulated the massive shift in Europe’s new political outlook when she said, ‘The times in which we could completely depend on others are, to a certain extent, over.’ In that momentous speech in Munich, Germany’s strong leader signalled the beginning of the end of the disproportionate reliance on the US and Britain…

“Britain… is no longer a member of the European Union, and has confronted the bloc with its greatest challenges by rejecting not only the EU’s fiscal, migration and other policies but also the very notion of the ‘European Community’. Coupled with Washington’s global retreat, ‘Brexit’ decisively ended any illusion that a post-WWII political scenario can still be possible. Attesting to this seismic change in the attitude of Europe’s mainstream politicians, were the remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron in November 2018 when he called for a ‘true European army’ to protect the continent from outside threats. ‘We must have a Europe that can defend itself on its own without relying only on the United States,’ he explained…

“Actual data from a large pan-European survey commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Relations confirm Europe’s fundamentally changing attitude towards the US. The survey included more than 15,000 people in 11 EU countries and was held after it became clear that Biden had won the US election. According to the survey, the majority in leading EU countries believe that ‘the US political system is broken’; that ‘China will be more powerful than the US within a decade’; and, finally, that ‘the Europeans cannot rely on the US to defend them’. Particularly interesting, the ECFR-commissioned poll signalled a massive geopolitical shift in Europe’s view towards global alliances, seeing ‘Berlin, rather than Washington, as the most important partner’.

“On the issue of trust, only 27 per cent of those polled believe that ‘Americans can be trusted’ after they voted for Trump in 2016. With Germany currently being Europe’s de facto leader, the views of Germans towards their American counterparts are particularly critical. Hence, the US should really take note that 53 per cent of German respondents have lost trust in a country that was once a close partner. The ECFR chose the eve of Biden’s inauguration to release the findings of the report. This was in itself a message to the new administration to tread very carefully while attempting to repair broken ties on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The ball is no longer in Washington’s court alone. The fact that the majority of Europeans believe in China’s impending global leadership in a matter of a few years means that the EU will have no patience with any US ultimatum to choose between Washington and Beijing…

“The next few years should be enough for Europe to determine its new identity, without Britain and without relying on American guidance and leadership… it will redefine itself, despite the political shift in the US.”

And so, as we have proclaimed for many, many years, Europe will rise to become a mighty hostile superpower, in competition with and challenging the USA and Britain.

Mario Draghi New Prime Minister of Italy

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 13:

“Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi was sworn in on Saturday as Italy’s new prime minister. The 73-year-old economist, credited by some with having saved the euro, will now be charged with political reform and leading Italy out of devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic… Draghi is expected to oversee spending of more than €200 billion ($242 billion) in European Union recovery funds aimed at relaunching the country’s economy…

“62% of Italians surveyed said they supported Draghi. The pandemic, which hit Italy one year ago, left more than 93,000 people dead and triggered Italy’s deepest recession since World War II. Many Italians hope they can count on Draghi’s banking experience and his years working in the Italian civil service. The government of Draghi’s predecessor Giuseppe Conte, which had assumed office in September 2019, was the 66th in the Italian Republic (since World War II)…”

npr added on February 13:

“A boost for the Italian economy could benefit the whole eurozone. ‘Your experience will be an exceptional asset for Italy and Europe as a whole, especially in these difficult times,’ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.”

Draghi has been nicknamed “Count Draghila” by the German mass tabloid Bild. Italy is predestined to play a major role in end-time prophecies related to Europe.

The Cuomos in Trouble

Fox News wrote on February 13:

“CNN was blasted as ‘an abject disgrace to both the journalism profession and America’ in the wake of an aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitting the state withheld COVID-19 nursing home death data after months of glowing coverage from the disgraced network. Gov. Cuomo’s little brother, Chris, hosts ‘Cuomo Prime Time’ on CNN, regularly providing a platform last year for the governor to appeal to viewers by conducting playful on-air conversations masquerading as interviews amid the nursing home scandal…

“The scandal started when Gov. Cuomo infamously ordered nursing homes in the Empire State to accept patients who had, or were suspected of having, COVID-19 in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic… thousands had died from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes before Cuomo reversed course… the scandal… took another turn on Thursday when a top Cuomo aide told leading state Democratic lawmakers that the administration had withheld data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes to avoid federal scrutiny…

“The latest revelation prompted condemnations and even talk of impeachment in Albany, the state’s capital… DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall echoed the notion that CNN should not have allowed ‘Chris to interview his newsmaker brother about any matter remotely related to actual news’ when Americans wanted answers. ‘There is just no way that Chris can maintain any sense of journalistic distance, especially when reporting about matters of pandemic life and death. All major journalism codes of ethics, including the Radio Television Digital News Association, clearly warn against conflicts of interest. Interviewing a brother for news purposes is exactly such a conflict of interest,’ McCall told Fox News….

“The [New York Post] first reported that Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, told leading Empire State Democrats that the administration feared the data could ‘be used against us’ by the Justice Department during a video conference call… DeRosa’s bombshell admission also fueled fury over an earlier discovery by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in late January that an investigation by her office revealed Cuomo’s administration had undercounted the COVID-19 death toll linked to nursing homes by as much as 50 percent. DeRosa has since attempted to walk back the claim, insisting Friday that the governor’s office was “comprehensive and transparent” in responding to records requests from the Trump administration’s Justice Department. The statement did little to quell the anger from Republican lawmakers, some of whom are now calling for a criminal indictment of Cuomo and top staffers for their mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic…”

Apart from the obvious scandals Gov. Cuomo is involved in, it is incomprehensible that CNN would allow Cuomo’s brother to interview and openly support the Governor, given the fact of a blatant conflict of interest. While some are calling for the resignation of Gov. Cuomo, others ask for a revocation of his emergency powers.

Daily Mail reported on February 12:

“A conference is expected to be held discussing rescinding Cuomo’s emergency powers – which granted him the authority to suspend existing statutes or effectively create new laws – a new report states.  Allegedly a growing number of Democrats are joining Republicans’ calls for a revocation, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“On Friday, 14 Democratic New York State Senators joined Republicans in calling for Cuomo’s pandemic emergency powers to be rescinded. ‘Without exception, the New York State Constitution calls for the Legislature to govern as a co-equal branch of government,’ they wrote.”

Gov. Cuomo received an International Emmy award “in recognition of his masterful leadership and briefings during the COVID-19 pandemic.” What a joke! Now, the Academy is suspiciously silent on whether they will rescind the award. But rather than taking responsibility and admitting guilt and failure, Gov. Cuomo blamed everybody else but himself in a “press conference” this week, while misrepresenting the facts, as Fox News clearly proved in their broadcast. And President Biden keeps silent… as does Chris Cuomo.

Instagram Bans Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

LifeSiteNews wrote on February 11:

“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the son of former U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy, has been banned from Instagram due to what the social media company called ‘sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.’… In recent years, Kennedy has become an outspoken critic of harmful vaccines, highlighting the dangers children can be subjected to…

“Kennedy’s Instagram ban came just hours after the Washington Post had reported lobbying Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, to ‘take action’ against Kennedy, after he shared a clip from the ‘Planet Lockdown’ film — a movie that links Big Tech to governmental and societal control, as well as claims that COVID vaccinations were being controlled by global elites. The video has been widely banned by Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube…

“Kennedy’s ban comes shortly after he wrote an extensive report detailing the manner in which Bill Gates had quietly become the largest owner of farmland in the U.S. and warning about the power Gates could exert upon the world and its food supplies…

“Kennedy wrote a strong statement:

“‘Every statement I put on Instagram was sourced from a government database, from peer-reviewed publications and from carefully confirmed news stories. None of my posts were false. Facebook, the pharmaceutical industry and its captive regulators use the term ‘vaccine misinformation’ as a euphemism for any factual assertion that departs from official pronouncements about vaccine health and safety, whether true or not. This kind of censorship is counterproductive if our objective is a safe and effective vaccine supply’…

“‘The pharmaceutical industry is hastily creating vaccines using taxpayer money and untested technologies. These include a rash of risky new products that are exempt from liability, from long-term safety testing and that have not received FDA approval. Emergency Use Authorization is a mass population scientific experiment. If it has any prayer of working, it will require extraordinary scrutiny from the press and the public. Instead, the mainstream media and social media giants are imposing a totalitarian censorship to prevent public health advocates, like myself, from voicing concerns and from engaging in civil informed debate in the public square.

“‘They are punishing, shaming, vilifying, gaslighting and abolishing individuals who report their own vaccine injuries. Anyone can see that this is a formula for catastrophe and a coup d’état against the First Amendment, the foundation stone of American democracy.’”

It was also reported that YouTube has permanently banned LifeSiteNews.

Parler Back Online

Fox Business wrote on February 15:

“After more than a month offline, the social media platform Parler relaunched using a new web hosting service… Parler, which has more than 20 million users and was first launched in August 2018, is currently back online for current users and will be available for new users starting next week, the company said…

“Last month, Amazon… decided to suspend the upstart social media platform for failure to moderate ‘egregious content’ related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot… Apple and Google previously suspended Parler from its app stores…

“Parler’s interim CEO, Mark Meckler, issued a statement following Monday’s development saying, ‘Parler was built to offer a social media platform that protects free speech and values privacy and civil discourse.’ ‘When Parler was taken offline in January by those who desire to silence tens of millions of Americans, our team came together, determined to keep our promise to our highly engaged community that we would return stronger than ever,’ he continued.”

The left-wing media and Big Tech are not interested in free speech if it does not agree with their agenda and ideas. In this context, note the thoughtful comments by the Ron Paul Institute, dated February 17:

 “Gazillionaire globalist Bill Gates has a new book out on how to tackle what he sees as the problem of climate change. One of his guidelines to save the planet? Give up your meat and grab a ‘plant-based’ burger instead. ‘You can get used to the taste difference,’ he said in a recent interview. While such ‘big ideas’ might normally come under some scrutiny in the media, it turns out that Gates has given something like a quarter of a billion dollars to dozens of media outlets. He also funds the ‘fact check’ organizations who play their part getting independent voices silenced.”

This is just INSANE. But more insanity is coming; note the next article.

Insanity Galore… Don’t Say “Breast Milk Anymore”

Fox 8 Evening News reported on February 17:

“There is a new push by some health care professionals to change the term ‘breast milk’ to ‘chest milk.’ In the United Kingdom, one hospital made international headlines for changing the term ‘breast milk’ to ‘human milk.’ It’s an effort to be more inclusive to transgender and non-binary parents.

“Illinois mother Jill Aspinwall… opened her own lactation service… Now she teaches parents how to naturally feed their child. Recently, Aspinwall implemented terminology changes at her practice… She says she started to use the terms chest milk or human milk, instead of the traditional term. She says it’s a way to create a more comfortable atmosphere for transgender parents as well as non-binary parents — who do not identify with any gender…

“Medically, it is possible for transgender men and non-binary people to have a baby. Aspinwall says the term chest milk, human milk, and chest feeding make gender minorities feel more comfortable and open to the process…

“Dr. Cecilia Banga specializes in delivering babies and prenatal care… ‘It’s very important for infants to get milk that comes from humans. Depending on what we want to call it, breast milk, chest milk, human milk. That depends on the patient and what they are comfortable with. It doesn’t change the fact that the milk is coming from humans and that it’s coming from the breast… Breast milk is a huge first step towards a baby developing a strong immune system because it is chock full of multiple nutrients…’”

This is getting SO ridiculous.

Victoria’s New Radical Bill

LifeSiteNews wrote on February 8:

“The Australian state of Victoria has written another radically leftist bill into law after a 12-hour debate in parliament… [It] makes it illegal to try to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity in Victoria. The bill must now be signed by the Victorian governor-general for royal assent, and will come into effect in 12 months’ time.

“A similar bill was passed in the state of Queensland last year, but the Victorian legislation goes much further in that it prohibits ‘harmful practices’ not only in healthcare settings but also in churches. This includes ‘carrying out a religious practice, including but not limited to, a prayer-based practice, a deliverance practice or an exorcism.’ Transgressors could face fines of up to $200,000 and 10 years in prison…

“… the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s Director of Public Affairs Monica Doumit – who is also a lawyer –… detailed a list of examples of who could be penalized under the new law, given the broad and vague definitions in its text:

“A parent whose five year old son was insisting that he was a girl would be prevented from seeking any help – medical, psychological, behavioural, spiritual, social or otherwise – to assist their son in understanding and accepting that he was a boy.  Anything less than affirmation of him as a girl would be prohibited.

“Christian teenagers who had committed themselves to saving sexual activity for marriage would be prohibited from gathering together to support each other to remain faithful to their commitment to chastity.

“Not only would Courage, a ministry for those Catholics experiencing same-sex attraction but who want to live chastely in accordance with their religious beliefs be banned, the teaching of Theology of the Body would not be allowed, and it is even possible that preaching the same verse from Corinthians that got [Australian Rugby star] Israel Folau sacked could get a cleric imprisoned.

“A man who was tempted to cheat on his wife could not go and see his priest or minister, asking for advice on how to stay true to his marriage vows, without risking the priest or minister being punished.  And alarmingly, the laws as currently drafted would even prevent a psychologist from trying to ‘convert’ the attractions of a paedophile…”

It is obvious that it is Satan who is behind these attempts to destroy biblical teachings and practices pertaining to marriage and sexual relationships and identities. Also note the next article.

Black List for LGBT-“Hate” Groups

C-Fam wrote on February 12:

“The UN rights office is collecting the names of anyone who opposes the LGBT agenda in any way. Politicians, religious leaders, and organizations from around the world who defend life and family will likely be put on a blacklist by the UN office for human rights. The drastic new measure may be used to impose sanctions on pro-family advocates and expose them to terrorist attacks…

“In the broadly worded prompt, the UN rights office asks for examples of ‘public expressions or statements by political and/or religious leaders’ who challenge LGBT rights… The UN rights office is especially focused on religions of pro-life and pro-family groups. It asks for any ‘examples where the concept of gender has been used in religious narratives or narratives of tradition, traditional values or protection of the family’ in opposition to new LGBT laws and policies…

“The UN LGBT czar appears to be adopting the approach of the Southern Poverty Law Center, of creating a list of ‘hate groups.’ The hate list of the Southern Poverty Law Center was notoriously used by domestic terrorist Floyd Corkins in an armed attack on the Family Research Council in 2015…

“Democrats introduced a bill in the U.S. Congress to create a similar international blacklist last year, called the Global Respect Act, imposing sanctions on all foreigners who oppose LGBT rights. It is not the first time the UN LGBT expert has attempted to focus on religion. In a 2019 report he called on states to ‘take decisive action’ against religious leaders who oppose LGBT rights.”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Incredible…  America’s Banks in Cahoots with Big Brother

Fox Business wrote on February 5:

“Americans are furious following Fox News’ report that Bank of America may have handed private customer information over to the U.S. government related to the Capitol Hill riot. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson reported on Thursday night that Bank of America, at the request of federal investigators, combed through customer data in search of people and transactions that fit a certain profile – potentially placing individuals at the Capitol on the day of the Jan. 6 riot. More than 200 people were reportedly identified as fitting the profile, which included engaging in transactions in D.C. on Jan.5 or Jan. 6, renting hotel rooms, buying weapons within a specified date range, as well as making certain flight purchases. The individuals identified were reportedly flagged to federal authorities without their knowledge.

“The report has triggered outrage among customers and the general public whose privacy and private information have become increasingly vulnerable… A spokesperson for Bank of America said the bank does not comment on its communications with law enforcement. ‘All banks have responsibilities under federal law to cooperate with law enforcement inquiries in full compliance with the law,’ the spokesperson said.

“A spokesperson for Wells Fargo declined FOX Business’ request for comment. Citi and JPMorgan did not return FOX Business’ requests for comment.”

Their silence speaks louder than words…

Outrageous Attack on Christianity and the Bible

The Wrap wrote on February 5:

“Bill Maher dove headfirst into ripping Trump supporters who are evangelical Christians on the latest episode of HBO’s ‘Real Time.’ During his weekly ‘New Rules’ segment, Maher eviscerated Christians and the Book of Revelations, which he argued was just as unhinged as the conspiracy theories spread by QAnon. Maher also said Trump-supporting conservatives who are still convinced the 2020 election was rigged in favor of President Biden are part of a ‘mass delusion.’ ‘There’s a lot of talk now about how Republicans should tell their base who still believe the election was rigged that they need to grow up and move on and stop asking the rest of us to respect their mass delusion,’ Maher said Friday. ‘Of course it is a mass delusion. But the inconvenient truth here is that if you accord religious faith the kind of exalted respect we do here in America, you’ve already lost the argument that mass delusion is bad.’ Maher argued that it shouldn’t be surprising, then, that most of the senators who objected to certifying the electoral college votes for Biden were also fundamentalist Christians. And many of Trump’s supporters, the host contended, follow the former president with a god-like reverence that is often very tied up in their religious beliefs…

“It’s fun to laugh at QAnon with the baby-eating lizard people and the pedophile pizza parlors, but have you ever read the Book of Revelations? That’s the Bible, that’s your holy book, Christians, and they’ve got… stuff you only see after the guy in the park sells you bad mushrooms,” he joked.

“The host then turned to railing against evangelical Christian lawmakers like Ted Cruz and Paul Gosar, who tried to overturn election results by baselessly claiming the 2020 election was ‘stolen’ from Trump. Cruz and Gosar were among a group of senators who objected to certifying electoral college results in Arizona, along with Senators Josh Hawley, Cindy Hyde-Smith, John Kennedy, Roger Marshall and Tommy Tuberville. Maher pointed out that each of those senators also identified and campaigned as fundamentalist Christians…

“A longtime outspoken critic of nearly all religions, Maher has referred to himself as agnostic in the past and has said that he thinks all religions are ‘stupid’ and dangerous.”

Does Big Tech censor, suppress and delete these offensive and hateful comments as well, as they have done regarding Bible-upholding expressions, or do they look the other way and ignore them under the disguise of “free speech.” We all should know the answer.

Over 2 Million Guns Purchased in January

Breitbart wrote on February 5:

“A report by the Washington Post indicates over two million guns were sold during January 2021.The Post reports the sales figures represent ‘the third highest one-month total on record.’ March 2020 saw gun sales surge above two million amid coronavirus shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. Then the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd spawned social unrest that fed into even higher gun sales of ‘2.8 million in June and 2.5 million in July.’

“After January 2021’s surge in gun sales, the Post noted ‘It’s common for gun sales to jump when a Democrat takes over the White House.’ This squares perfectly with an observation by National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Mark Oliva, who told Breitbart News gun sales would continue strong in 2021 because of President Biden’s gun control pledges.”

Surely, this is not the only reason.

House Manager Raskin in Blatant Violation of the Constitution

On February 5, the Ron Paul Institute published the following eye-opening article by Law Professor Jonathan Turley:

“Over the last four years, we have seen an alarming trend of law professors and legal experts discarding constitutional and due process commitments to support theories for the prosecution or impeachment of Donald Trump or his family… No principle seems inviolate when it stands in the way of a Trump prosecution. Yet, the statement of House manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., this week was breathtaking. A former law professor, Raskin declared that the decision of Trump not to testify in the Senate could be cited or used by House managers as an inference of his guilt — a statement that contradicts not just our constitutional principles but centuries of legal writing… [Raskin] wrote in a letter to Trump that ‘If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021.’…

“The Fifth Amendment embodies this touchstone of American law in declaring that ‘[n]o person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.’… the silence of an accused cannot be used against him in the way suggested by Raskin. There was a time when members of Congress not only respected this rule but fought to amplify it… The Supreme Court has been adamant that the type of inference sought by Raskin is abhorrent and abusive in courts of law…

“It is true that this is not a criminal trial. It is a constitutional trial. As such, the Senate should try an accused according to our highest traditions and values. That includes respecting the right to remain silent and not to have ‘inferences’ drawn from the fact that (like prior presidents) Trump will not be present at the trial or give testimony… There appears no price too great to pay to impeach or prosecute Trump. Now, the House is arguing against one of the very touchstones of our constitutional system and legal experts are silent…”

They are either cowards or they are even in silent agreement, only to get rid of Trump.

Trump Responds to Raskin on Gab

Newsmax wrote on February 5:

“Former President Donald Trump returned to social media for the first time since he was banned from Twitter and Facebook last month, posting a letter from his attorney to House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., on his Gab account.

“‘We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt,’’ the letter [by attorney David Schoen] begins. ‘As you certainly know, there is no such thing as a negative inference in this unconstitutional proceeding. Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against [the] 45^th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen. The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games.’’…

“[Trump’s] Gab account, which last showed a post from Jan. 8 when he announced he would not attend the inauguration, has only 1.4 million followers, a fraction of his following on the much larger platforms Twitter and Facebook. Gab, which also was blamed by critics for aiding in the Jan. 6 disturbance at the Capitol, has about 3.4 million users.”

Newsweek wrote on February 6:

“[Trump’s] post [on Gab] has racked up more than 62,000 likes since Friday and Trump’s [Gab] account has 1.4 million followers. This is far fewer than the 88 million Twitter followers he could boast before his ban. However, Gab is now the only social media platform Trump has access to. Despite being encouraged to join Parler – another site popular with his supporters – Trump declined to do so…

“Gab CEO Andrew Torba has said the site had 275 million page views in the last 30 days and 2.3 million new members…”

There are other reports that claim that Trump might be thinking of creating his own social media platform.

Dershowitz: Impeachment Trial Blatantly Unconstitutional and Trump’s Defense Not Frivolous

Newsmax wrote on February 6:

“Political partisans are abusing their constitutional scholarship and violating the Constitution in this impeachment ‘show trial’ of former President Donald Trump, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz… ‘The president made the right decision. You don’t walk into a perjury trap when you have people you know are going to be hostile to you. The best arguments he can make, and he will make, are the constitutional ones, namely the Senate had no jurisdiction over a former president and the speech was covered by the First Amendment.’

“Dershowitz rejected the legal opinion of ‘so-called constitutional scholars’ that are saying making the First Amendment argument is ‘frivolous.’ ‘Lawyers, listen to me,’ Dershowitz [said]….’I’m an expert on legal ethics and I’m also an expert on the Constitution. I’m telling you: Make those arguments; don’t listen to the 144 scholars; they’re wrong.’ The arguments ‘are not frivolous, they’re serious arguments, they should be presented to the Senate, the Senate should hear both sides of those issues,’ Dershowitz continued. ‘Congress has put itself above the law…

“‘They say the president is not above the law; they’re right, but Congress is not above the law, and the law makes specific provisions for when a president can be impeached and you can’t impeach a president in violation of the First Amendment. The First Amendment says Congress… shall make no law abridging the First Amendment of free speech, and an impeachment resolution is effectively a law. It is state action, and Congress is prohibited from violating the First Amendment…’”

This impeachment trial is a joke and a circus. Democrats are acting out of vindictiveness and fear that Donald Trump might return.

Predictably, as CBS News reported on February 10, “The Senate voted to move forward with former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Tuesday, with a majority of senators determining they have jurisdiction to place former presidents on trial in cases of impeachment. By a vote of 56 to 44, the Senate rejected arguments by Mr. Trump’s attorneys, who asserted that holding an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional.

“Six Republicans joined all 50 Democratic senators in voting to move forward with the trial. But the vote also served as an indication of Mr. Trump’s eventual acquittal, since 17 GOP senators would need to vote with Democrats in order to convict him.”

The Sun added on February 10: “DONALD Trump’s second impeachment trial is moving forward after a 56-44 Senate vote on Tuesday afternoon – but acquittal appears certain.”

Still, the Democrats are displaying a compelling presentation of their narrative, while the defense of Trump’s attorneys has been, so far, overwhelmingly disappointing.

Fox News wrote on February 10:

“Former President Trump  was ‘furious’ and ‘beyond angry’ over his defense team’s showing on Day One of his second impeachment trial despite his ultimate acquittal almost certain… he was particularly incensed with the effort thus far by his attorney Bruce Castor. Trump believes Castor gave a rambling opening argument… Castor’s 45-minute opening remarks were widely panned on social media after he praised the House impeachment managers for a job ‘well done.’ ‘The American people just spoke and they just changed administrations,’ Castor said at one point. He said the public is smart enough to ‘pick a new administration if they don’t like the old one, and they just did.’ Castor’s comment prompted the Associated Press to run the headline, ‘Trump Never Conceded He Lost, But His Impeachment Lawyer did.’”

Newt Gingrich commented that he would fire Castor right away, and Prof. Dershowitz wondered what the defense team was trying to do with their rambling and incohesive presentation.

No Delay Because of the Sabbath

JTA wrote on February 9:

“Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial will not be delayed by Shabbat now that his Orthodox Jewish lawyer has withdrawn his request for the delay.

“Last week, David Schoen asked for and received permission to delay the proceedings should they extend into Friday evening and Saturday, as they are expected [to]. But on Monday he withdrew the request, saying he had worked out a solution with the former president’s legal team: Schoen’s role would be completed by the time Shabbat begins.”

This does not sound too good for the defense team.

“The Trump Political Show Trial”

In his weekly column, Ron Paul wrote the following in The Ron Paul Institute on February 8:

“The Senate trial for now twice-impeached former President Donald Trump is set to begin this week, with little doubt over the outcome… Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is required by the Constitution to preside, has by refusing to participate made it clear that he does not consider the upcoming action in the Senate to be a legitimate impeachment trial. So if it is not a legitimate trial, what is it, then? Judging from the House impeachment resolution, it looks more like a banana republic ‘show trial’ than a careful case detailing Trump’s ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’

“Trump was impeached by the Democrat-controlled US House for ‘incitement of insurrection’ over the January 6th melee at the US Capitol. Telling his supporters they must fight or they’re ‘not going to have a country any more’ was cited in the impeachment resolution as evidence that Trump ‘gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government’ and has ‘demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.’

“Trump also told them to march to the Capitol ‘peacefully and patriotically’ to encourage Congress to consider his claims of election fraud, but Democrats in the House say that he didn’t really mean it… the House had no interest in… hearings. They wanted a snap impeachment. They wanted no witnesses. They wanted to benefit from the universal mainstream media narrative that the mob who entered the Capitol building was not just unruly Americans angry over what they believed was a rigged election, but was actually trying to overthrow the government to keep Trump in power.

“The House Democrats knew that the ‘insurrection’ narrative would not stand the test of time – anyone familiar with ‘color revolutions’ or coups overseas would easily recognize that this was not one. So they rushed through the impeachment not because they wanted to remove him from an office he no longer occupied, but because they wanted to bar him from ever running for office again. It does raise the question: what are they afraid of? They called their impeachment a victory for democracy, but isn’t preventing Trump from running again a subversion of democracy?…”

Conspiracy to Prevent Trump from Winning or Challenging the Election Result

Breitbart wrote on February 5:

“Time magazine has published a detailed account of what it describes as a ‘conspiracy’ between ‘left-wing activists and business titans’ to create ‘an extraordinary shadow effort’ to ‘protect’ the 2020 presidential election. The New York Times had reported on the effort in January, referring to the ‘Democracy Defense Coalition.’ The Daily Beast hinted at it in the fall. But the Time article is the most in-depth report at what others suggested was going on behind the scenes. The article by Molly Ball, titled ‘The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election,’ presents the effort as a heroic effort to preserve a free and fair election, and to fend off President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud.

“Ball’s description, however, also matches what she calls a ‘paranoid’ view of an effort to make it difficult for Trump to win: “‘The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors… Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trump’s conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result… That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it. And they believe the public needs to understand the system’s fragility in order to ensure that democracy in America endures.’

“Ball describes the participants in this plan as ‘democracy campaigners.’ It was led by Mike Podhorzer, a ‘senior adviser to the president of the AFL-CIO,’ one of the nation’s most powerful labor unions, aligned with the Democratic Party.

“Ball notes: ‘In his apartment in the D.C. suburbs, Podhorzer began working from his laptop at his kitchen table, holding back-to-back Zoom meetings for hours a day with his network of contacts across the progressive universe: the labor movement; the institutional left, like Planned Parenthood and Greenpeace; resistance groups like Indivisible and MoveOn; progressive data geeks and strategists, representatives of donors and foundations, state-level grassroots organizers, racial-justice activists and others.’

“By April, she notes, Podhorzer was hosting two-and-a-half-hour Zoom meetings with other participants in the project. They pushed Congress to fund vote by mail, and persuaded Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to ‘election administration funding.’ (As Breitbart News warned, Zuckerberg’s donations looked more like a Democrat get-out-the-vote effort, and was aimed primarily at Democrat-heavy counties in key battleground states.)

“The campaign also used legal efforts to change voting procedures during the COVID pandemic, leading to a ‘revolution’ in mail-in voting: ‘Only a quarter of voters cast their ballots the traditional way: in person on Election Day,’ Ball notes.

“The group also used a ‘nameless, secret project’ to fight ‘disinformation.’ Their method was ‘to pressure platforms to enforce their rules, both by removing content or accounts that spread disinformation.’ Ball does not mention the New York Post’s story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, but tech companies, mainstream media outlets, and former intelligence officials leapt in October to call the laptop potential Russian ‘disinformation,’ and to suppress it. Twitter blocked links to the story, and also locked the Post out of its account for more than two weeks. The story was later shown to be true, with Hunter Biden announcing — after the election — that he was under FBI investigation.

“The group also decided to exploit the violent unrest that spread across the nation in the wake of George Floyd’s death in May, and took steps ‘to harness its momentum for the election without allowing it to be co-opted by politicians.’

“Toward the end of the election, Ball reports, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce set aside old disputes to join the AFL-CIO in creating an alliance to reject claims of election fraud. Ball notes that some Republicans also aided in the effort. As Breitbart News reported at the time, there was a nationwide left-wing movement to unleash more unrest if Trump claimed victory in a close election. Ball’s reporting confirms that the ‘shadow’ effort was coordinating such efforts. She adds that the ‘national mobilization network’ was told to ‘stand down’ after it appeared Biden would be the winner.

“Later, she says, Podhorzer’s network decided to make sure there were few counter-demonstrators at the January 6 ‘Stop the Steal’ demonstration in Washington, DC, ensuring that blame for what happened would be placed on Trump alone.”

This sounds more like efforts to destroy democracy, rather than to save and uphold it.

US Supreme Court: Prohibition of Church Gatherings Unconstitutional

The LAT wrote on February 5:

“The Supreme Court lifted California’s ban on indoor church services during the pandemic Friday, ruling that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s strict orders violate the Constitution’s protection for the free exercise of religion. The justices in a 6-3 decision granted an appeal from a Chula Vista church that has repeatedly challenged the state restrictions on church services, including its ban on singing and chanting. The ruling overturned decisions by federal judges in San Diego and San Bernardino, and the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco, which upheld the state’s orders despite earlier warnings from the high court.

“But the majority said the state may limit attendance at indoor services to 25% of the building’s capacity, and singing and chanting may be restricted as well… The justices in the majority differed among themselves, but they agreed California had singled out churches for unfair treatment. ‘California worries that worship brings people together for too much time. Yet, California does not limit its citizens to running in and out of other establishments; no one is barred from lingering in shopping malls, salons, or bus terminals,’ wrote Justice Neil M. Gorsuch in one of three concurring opinions.

“The state’s ban on indoor services was challenged in separate lawsuits by the South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and the Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, and Friday’s order applies directly to them. But its legal logic would block enforcement of a similar ban at other churches.

“The court’s three liberals — Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor — dissented…”

The Associated Press wrote on February 6:

“Chief Justice John Roberts wrote… that California’s determination ‘that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero—appears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake.’

“In addition to Roberts, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett also wrote to explain their views. Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas would have kept California from enforcing its singing ban. Barrett, the court’s newest justice, …wrote that ‘if a chorister can sing in a Hollywood studio but not in her church, California’s regulations cannot be viewed as neutral,’ triggering a stricter review by courts. The justices said the churches who sued can submit new evidence to a lower court that the singing ban is not being applied generally.”

Biden’s Vindictiveness?

Deadline wrote on February 5:

“President Joe Biden says that Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings even though they typically have been given to previous former presidents… Biden told CBS Evening News… that he doesn’t think Trump should receive the briefings [because of] his ‘erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection,’ referring to the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol. ‘You’ve called him an existential threat. You’ve called him dangerous. You’ve called him reckless,’ O”Donnell said at one point in the interview. ‘Yeah, I have. And I believe it,’ Biden said.

“O’Donnell then asked him what was his ‘worst fear if [Trump] continues to get these intelligence briefings.’ ‘I’d rather not speculate out loud,’ Biden said. ‘I just think that there is no need for him to have the– the intelligence briefings.  What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?’”

Some feel that Biden acts because of vindictiveness and revenge.

Biden Revives Fairy Tale

The New York Post wrote on February 4:

“President Biden on Thursday told State Department employees he was ‘shot at’ overseas — reviving a claim that previously stirred controversy. ‘You have great personal courage. I’ve been with some of you when we’ve been shot at,’ Biden told a group of diplomatic aides in Washington. Biden did not offer a detailed description of being shot at. But he was forced to walk back a similar claim in 2007 as veterans warned him not to exaggerate. Biden said during a CNN-hosted Democratic presidential debate in 2007 that he was ‘shot at’ inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. He later revised the claim, saying that in fact, ‘I was near where a shot landed.’…

“Biden has a reputation for gaffes and stretching the truth. He said incorrectly in 2008, ‘ I am a hard coal miner,’ and was forced to drop out of the 1988 Democratic presidential primary for plagiarism of speeches and a law school paper.”

The left-liberal press had a field day with Trump when they could quote his misrepresentations and lies (and they quoted quite a few). But what about Biden who does not seem to be the most truthful person either? Not much is being published by the left-liberal mass media in that regard.

Fox News Fires Lou Dobbs

The Los Angeles Times wrote on February 5:

“Fox News Media has canceled ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight,’ the program hosted by television’s staunchest supporter of Donald Trump and of his assertions of voter fraud in the 2020 election…

“Dobbs, who was signed to Fox News by former Chief Executive Roger Ailes in 2011, has long been the company’s most outspoken supporter of Trump’s economic and immigration policies. In the weeks after the election, he expressed anger on his program that the Republican Party did not do more to act on the former president’s claims that the election was rigged in favor of Biden…

“When he arrived at Fox News, he immediately made waves by questioning the U.S. citizenship of then-President Obama… Dobbs’ program typically averaged around 300,000 viewers a night in the 7 p.m. Eastern hour, the largest audience on any business news channel…”

Newsmax reported on February 5:

“Fox News has been in turmoil as long-time viewers have abandoned the channel since Election Day. Former President Donald Trump has attributed his election loss to Joe Biden to unfair coverage by Fox News as well as massive voter fraud.

“The firing of Dobbs will add weight to critics’ claims the network has gone soft backing conservative views. Fox has also been reeling as its ratings have been in a tailspin as the network has dropped to third place behind CNN and MSNBC.

“Newsmax appears to be the main beneficiary as its viewership has soared. Newsmax is now the 4th highest-rated cable news channel in the U.S.”

Breitbart added on February 5:

“The sudden development comes after voting systems company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News and hosts Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro, and Maria Bartiromo. Smartmatic alleges that the network broadcasted falsehoods about the company that caused both financial and reputational damage. Dominion Voting Systems, another voting software system, recently sued Rudy Guiliani and Sidney Powell for $1.3 billion over their voter fraud claims. Fox News maintains that the voting systems company’s claims against it are meritless.”

Newsmax reported on February 5:

“Former President Donald Trump reportedly issued a statement in support of television host Lou Dobbs… Trump said the following through spokesman Billy Bush. ‘Lou Dobbs is and was great. Nobody loves America more than Lou. He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me.’”

Most House Republicans Do NOT Oppose Trump

The Independent wrote on February 4:

“The vast majority of House Republicans refuse to denounce Donald Trump’s… claim that November’s presidential election was stolen… A survey from Reuters shows that 133 of the 147 lawmakers who voted against certifying President  Joe Biden’s electoral college win on 6 January still back, or will not reject, Mr Trump’s continued insistence that he was robbed of a second term.

“A poll administered between 22 and 25 January showed that 81 per cent of Republican voters still have a favourable view of Mr Trump, while less than 20 per cent said they supported a conviction in his second Senate impeachment trial, and 56 per cent thought he should run again in 2024.”

US Senate Supports Keeping US Embassy in Jerusalem

The Algemeiner wrote on February 5:

“The US Senate approved an amendment to Friday’s COVID-19 relief package that pledges to keep the US Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, reaffirming the 2018 decision by former President Donald Trump to relocate it from Tel Aviv. The amendment, included in a budget measure approving a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, passed by a 97-3 vote, with only Senators Tom Carper (D-DE), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (D-VT) voting against it. The broader pandemic relief measure passed narrowly, 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote…

“The Trump Administration’s decision to move the embassy came more than two decades after the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by the Senate on a 93-5 vote, which recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and set aside funds to move the US Embassy there. In the interim, every president before Trump had invoked waivers to delay applying the law. In his Senate confirmation hearings in January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken committed to keeping the US Embassy in the Israeli capital. ‘There’s not much the U.S. Senate agrees on these days,’ wrote American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris on Twitter. ‘Happily, here’s one point of agreement: [The] U.S. embassy should stay in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital city.’”

But why would this aspect even be part of the Corona Stimulus Package?

International Criminal Court to Rule on “Israeli War Crimes”

Reuters wrote on February 5:

“Judges at the International Criminal Court on Friday found the court has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, paving the way for a possible criminal investigation… The decision prompted swift reactions from both Israel, which is not a member of the court and rejects its jurisdiction, and the Palestinian Authority, which welcomed the ruling…

“… The Court’s territorial jurisdiction… extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem…

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the decision, saying in a video statement: ‘When the ICC investigates Israel for fake war crimes, this is pure antisemitism.’ He condemned the court for investigating Israel when it ‘defends itself against terrorists’ while refusing to investigate what he said were brutal dictatorships in Iran and Syria that committed horrific atrocities almost daily. ‘We will fight this perversion of justice with all our might,’ Netanyahu said in the video, shaking a fist…

“U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter: ‘The United States objects to today’s… IntlCrimCourt decision regarding the Palestinian situation.’ ‘We will continue to uphold President Biden’s strong commitment to Israel and its security, including opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly,’ Price added.

“The Trump administration had vehemently opposed the ICC.

“Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program, said U.S. President Joe Biden should do nothing to undermine the ICC’s independence…”

Let’s wait and see how strong Biden’s commitment to Israel really is.

Closing the Aqsa Mosque?

Israel 365 wrote on February 9:

“Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion warned that he would order the Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount to be closed unless the Muslim residents of East Jerusalem agreed to be vaccinated in more significant numbers… ‘they won’t be allowed into hotels. They won’t be allowed into mosques. They won’t be allowed into schools…

“The move comes two months before the month-long Ramadan fast-feast when many Muslims come to pray en masse on the Temple Mount. The head of the Arab communities of east Jerusalem announced, ‘In two months will be Ramadan. If you don’t get vaccinated, you will not be permitted to enter the mosque. You will not be permitted to return to work. If you don’t get vaccinated, you will not be allowed on the train. You will not be permitted into doctors’ offices. That is the way it must be.’…

“Despite nationwide lockdowns, Israeli officials are reluctant to enforce closures on the Temple Mount in fear of a violent Arab reaction…”

No LGBT in Turkey?

Breitbart wrote on February 5:

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday ‘there is no such thing’ [in Turkey] as LGBT… Erdoğan’s comments… came in response to a recent incident at Istanbul’s Bogazici University in which protesters displayed a poster depicting Mecca – Islam’s holiest site in Saudi Arabia, which all Muslims pray towards – with various LGBT flags and symbols. ‘The poster placed a mythical creature of half-woman and half-snake found in Middle Eastern folklore on the site of worship along with the flags of LGBT, lesbian, trans and asexual people. The text below said the artwork was a critique of traditional gender roles,’ according to the Associated Press.

“Istanbul police on January 30 arrested two people on charges of ‘inciting hatred and insulting religious values’ for helping to display the poster at a protest exhibition at the university. While Turkey is a secular nation with no official state religion, it is currently ruled by the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is led by Erdoğan.”

US Won’t Withdraw Troops from Germany… For Now

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 5:

“The German government welcomed US President Joe Biden’s plan to stop the planned withdrawal of thousands of US troops from German soil, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said on Friday. ‘We have always been convinced that American troops being stationed here in Germany [serve] European and transatlantic security and hence is in our mutual interest,’ Steffen Seibert told reporters. US troops have been stationed in Germany since World War II. Former-President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw almost a third of the soldiers based in Germany [was] met with heavy criticism.

“Biden said on Thursday that the withdrawal would be halted at least until his incoming Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had completed a review of US military presence around the globe…”

Biden—Not Much of a Difference for Europe

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 7:

“Right now, the United States has a huge amount of the COVID-19 vaccine, perhaps too much even… Citizens, journalists and politicians in Germany and the rest of the EU have been observing these developments in astonishment, asking what went wrong here… Merkel… offered this explanation: ‘The US has a war act in force on the export of vaccines, and in some cases on important supplies for vaccines…’  In other words, Germany and the EU are considered to be third-class partners by its allies and friends and will be left in the lurch in these difficult times. This is a sobering assessment…

“If Donald Trump was still US president, this outcome might have been more predictable — even palatable. But his successor Joe Biden, of whom the EU had such high expectations, is not lifting a finger to help either. He has signed an executive order upholding the ban on exporting vaccines decreed by Trump…

“Even with a Democrat in the White House, what Merkel said in May 2017 after Trump’s first G7 summit as president still holds true: ‘The era in which we could fully rely on others is over to some extent. […] We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.’…

“For four years, most of the EU tolerated Trump and hoped at the same time that Brexit would not become a reality. But it’s becoming clear, a few turbulent weeks into 2021, that Biden has not meant an automatic return to better times and the UK really is no longer part of the European Union.”

Biden Outmaneuvered by Merkel

Fox News wrote on February 9:

“President Biden’s government has been outmaneuvered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on critical security fronts, Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence for the Trump administration, told Fox News. ‘You have to give it to Chancellor Merkel: She outmaneuvered Joe Biden in just three weeks. Merkel made it clear she would not take sides between communist China and capitalist America, reversed the 10,000 U.S. troop withdrawal that Trump previously announced and got the Biden administration to stop enforcing Nord Stream 2 sanctions,’ Grenell said… The Nord Stream 2 deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime will transfer Russian gas to Germany via a pipeline running under the Baltic Sea. Critics say the project will ensure that Germany becomes dependent for its energy needs on Russia—a major adversary of the US and Europe.

“For Grenell, who was the first openly gay person to hold a U.S. Cabinet-level position and who also served as ambassador to Berlin from 2018 to 2020, the ‘message is you can have a “Germany First” policy, have your businesses totally engaged with China, and you do not need to take sides between Communist China and America…

“Grenell said Berlin is eager to ‘start normalized trade with Iran.’ Germany is the Iranian regime’s biggest European trade partner…”

No Fresh Election in Italy? Draghi to Become Next Prime Minister?

Breitbart wrote on February 5:

“Italian president Sergio Mattarella has called on former European Central bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi to form a new technocrat government following the resignation of Giuseppe Conte rather than call fresh elections. Mr Draghi accepted the offer to form a government on Wednesday after a meeting with the Italian president and will begin talks with various political parties in the parliament to secure the majority needed to properly govern the country…

“If Draghi is unable to come to terms with enough parties to form a solid majority, he will likely return to President Mattarella and refuse the position of Italian prime minister…  Should he form a new government, it would not be the first time in recent years a pro-European Union figure has come to head the Italian national government. Following the resignation of long-serving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2011, European Commissioner Mario Monti was appointed prime minister and led a technocrat government from November 2011 to April 2013…”

The Associated Press added on February 6:

“Italian Premier-designate Mario Draghi on Saturday secured preliminary support from two key parties for forming a new government that will decide how to spend more than 200 billion euros ($240 billion) in European Union funds to help relaunch Italy’s pandemic-ravaged economy. The populist 5-Star Movement and the right-wing League both signaled support for a Draghi-led government, saying they were ready to put aside bitter rivalries for the good of the country and increasing the potential for a broad-based government of national unity… Before Saturday, Draghi already lined up the support of the Democratic Party, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, former Premier Matteo Renzi’s Italy Live, and the small Free and Equal party.

“After their meetings with Draghi, both 5-Star Movement leader Vito Crimi and League leader Matteo Salvini spoke about acting in the interest of Italy, the first Western nation to be struck hard by the coronavirus. With the economic fallout of the pandemic still being tallied, both acknowledged they would have to put aside political rivalries and betrayals in order to do so…

“Salvini cited the weight of the EU recovery funds needed to relaunch the Italian economy after a national lockdown and subsequent public health restrictions… Crimi said that Italy would be judged by its European partners on how it spends the considerable funds, and that the 5-Stars want to guarantee the money will be distributed ‘with honesty, transparency and in the exclusive interest of citizens’ well-being.’

“The world is watching us and will judge if the country has changed,″ Crimi said.”

Reuters reported on February 10:

“The leader of Italy’s 5-Star Movement on Wednesday rescheduled an online party vote on whether to support a government led by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, urging its members to vote yes… The 5-Star has the largest number of lawmakers. With pledges of support from a host of groups from left to right, Draghi does not need their votes but an absence would undermine his efforts to build a national unity alliance…

“Posts on the party blog suggest many members are uneasy at the prospect of hooking up with a former president of the European Central Bank, despite calls from the movement’s founder, Beppe Grillo, to endorse the initiative… Politicians expect Draghi to see President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella before the end of Friday to confirm he has sufficient backing to form a government and to present a list of ministers.”

Russia Expels EU Diplomats

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 5:

“Russia expelled three European diplomats on Friday, accusing them of taking part in ‘unauthorized’ rallies supporting jailed Kremlin critic Alexi Navalny… The trio come from Germany, Sweden and Poland. It was unclear which rank they hold in their respective diplomatic missions…

“The EU’s top diplomat [Josep Borrell] ‘strongly condemned this decision and rejected the allegations that they conducted activities incompatible with their status as foreign diplomats.’…

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: ‘We condemn Navalny’s sentence and also the expelling of diplomats from Germany, Sweden and Poland.’ It was ‘another facet’ of ‘what can be observed quite far from the rule of law in Russia,’ Merkel added at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin. She said that the Nordstrom 2 pipeline will remain unaffected, but that Germany would continue to pursue sanctions against individuals in Russia. It was ‘strategic’ and a ‘diplomatic task’ to remain in conversation with Russia despite ‘deep differences’ because ‘we are neighbors,’ Merkel added. Macron meanwhile condemned the expulsion and Russia’s treatment of Navalny and his supporters ‘with the utmost firmness.’…”

Germany, Poland and Sweden Expel Russian Diplomats

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 8:

“Germany, Poland and Sweden on Monday expelled Russian diplomats in their countries… Moscow hit back at the expulsions… ‘Today’s decisions by Poland, Germany and Sweden are unfounded, unfriendly and are a continuation of the very series of actions that the West is taking with regard to our country and which we qualify as interference in our internal affairs,’ Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on state channel Rossiya 1. EU Commission chief Josep Borrell is expected to meet with foreign ministers from the 27 EU states on February 22 to mull new sanctions against Moscow. The move would require a unanimous vote among EU members…

“Russia’s decision on Friday also came as Borrell was meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Borrell said he learned about the expulsions on social media. ‘The messages sent by Russian authorities during this visit confirmed that Europe and Russia are drifting apart,’’ Borrell wrote in a blog on his return to Brussels. ‘It seems that Russia is progressively disconnecting itself from Europe and looking at democratic values as an existential threat.’”

Russia must be laughing at these kinds of meaningless “strong” condemnations and potential sanctions (requiring unanimous consent).

Pompeo Disputes WHO’s Explanation of Origin of COVID-19

Newsmax wrote on February 10:

“Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday a statement from the World Health Organization that the COVID-19 pandemic did not likely begin with a leak from a Wuhan, China laboratory has not changed his mind about the origins of the deadly disease or the validity of the WHO itself. ‘I’ve seen that headline and I must say the reason we left the World Health Organization was because we came to believe that it was corrupt,’ Pompeo said… ‘It had been politicized. It was bending a knee to China…’

“Peter Ben Embarek, who heads the WHO’s team of experts investigating the origins of COVID-19, said Tuesday it is ‘unlikely’ that a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology started the outbreak… Experts continue to believe the virus is likely to have originated in animals before it spread to humans… Pompeo also insisted that he, personally, continues to ‘know there was significant evidence this may well have come from that laboratory.’”

Spahn’s Wings Clipped?

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 10:

“In November, Google and the Health Ministry [under Jens Spahn] launched a cooperation to steer German-language searches about the 160 most common illnesses to a government-funded website. ‘Anyone who Googles about their health should land on our government site, and find the information that they need there,’ Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters, standing alongside Google’s vice president for Central Europe, Philipp Justus… ‘[It] should become the central port of call for reliable health information on the internet,’ he said…

“But a state court in Munich provisionally shot down the deal on Wednesday. In essence, it found that the ministry’s bid to secure prominence for its information had been… putting private providers of health information at an unfair disadvantage… Judge Gesa Lutz warned in her ruling that Google and the Health Ministry teaming up could put ‘serious private health websites’ at risk financially and thus threaten ‘a reduction in freedom of the press and of opinion.’…

“Google is Germany’s search engine of choice with more than 90% of all online searches (97% on mobile devices)…

“This case in Munich, which is still subject to review, was only looking at whether the deal put private publishers at an unfair commercial disadvantage. The legitimacy of the gesundheit.bund.de website or its Health Ministry funding was not in question. The court was also not considering whether a government should be allowed to strike such a deal with a company like Google, or whether there might be scope for abuse of power in some cases.”

Merkel and Spahn have come under increased attack due to their mishandling of the availability of vaccines.

Tucker Carlson: Authorities Are Lying about Covid Vaccine

According to the Wrap, dated February 9, “Tucker Carlson leaned into ant-vaxx rhetoric on his Fox News Tuesday night, saying that powerful people are ‘for certain’ trying to deceive you about the COVID-19 vaccine.” He stated this:

“After months of hearing that life could never return to normal until we get a vaccine, we’ve got a vaccine. Two vaccines, actually. But life did not return to normal. Life got worse. We were instructed to take the new vaccine as soon as possible, and then to put on more masks. One mask was no longer enough. Anyone who complained about that was punished. Most people obeyed the orders. They had no choice. But the whole thing made them nervous. How could it not? Why exactly did the rules change all of a sudden, they wondered. Was there a good reason for that?…

“Why are Americans being discouraged from asking simple straightforward questions about it, questions like: How effective are these drugs? Are they safe? What’s the miscarriage risk for pregnant women, for example? Is there a study on that? May we see it? And by the way, how much are the drug companies making off this stuff?… In a democracy, every citizen has a right to know the answer. But instead we got fluff and propaganda. The media rollout for the vaccine came off like a Diet Pepsi commercial at the Super Bowl: tons of celebrity endorsements, not a lot of science… from the very first day, the way the authorities handled the COVID vaccine did not inspire confidence. If the vaccine was so great, why were all these people lying about it? And they were lying, clearly they were lying. You know that for certain because from the moment the COVID vaccine arrived, the most powerful people in America worked to make certain that no one could criticize it…”

Tough New Covid Rules and Lockdown Extensions

Daily Mail wrote on February 10:

“[Under a new law] Travellers who lie about where they’ve been face 10 YEARS in jail, all arrivals must take three Covid tests, hotel quarantine starts Monday and it could last until AUTUMN. New even stricter rules on coronavirus testing for arrivals to the UK are being introduced by ministers. As well as having to test negative before departure, people will be screened twice during isolation period. From Monday arrivals from ‘red list’ states will have to spend 10 days in ‘quarantine hotels’ at own expense.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 10:

“Germany’s federal government and state leaders agreed on Wednesday to extend the nationwide shutdown until March 7, beyond the previous February 14 deadline… A decision paper released after the meeting said Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state leaders would meet again on March 3 to assess the situation. Other measures that were discussed included: Hairdressers will be allowed to open again starting on March 1 if they follow rigorous hygiene conditions. Schools and day care centers should be ‘the first to gradually reopen,’ but it is for individual states to decide how and when. All nonessential shops and services remain closed. People in shops and on public transport are required to wear medical masks, which include surgical masks as well as FFP2 filter mask. Employers must, wherever possible, allow employees to work from home until March 15. Contact at private meetings is restricted to just one other person not living in the same household. Schools are largely closed and students are taught through distance learning.”

More nonsensical rules are hard to imagine. But then read the next article.

Vaccination Passports

Life Site News reported on February 8:

“Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren announced at a recent press conference the government’s intention to provide a ‘digital vaccination certificate’ to residents who receive a COVID-19 vaccine, allowing them to ‘travel abroad on holiday or to meet a loved one.’ The minister said she is convinced that a ‘vaccination certificate is probably as desirable as getting vaccinated,’ raising speculation that the digital identifier could become necessary for accessing international travel, as well as going about everyday activities such as like shopping and eating out… the digital ‘passport’ will allow those people to have a copy on their phones… Sweden’s announcement follows that of Denmark which announced its own plans to establish a ‘vaccine passport’ program to identify those who have been vaccinated, for the sake of travel.

“… In the last few weeks, the president of the European Union Commission has thrown her support behind an EU-wide ‘vaccine passport’ scheme… Ursula von der Leyen said it should be ‘a medical requirement to have a certificate proving that you have been vaccinated.’ The president welcomed the idea that vaccine ‘passports’ might be utilized to control travel between member states of the EU…”

No Global Travel until 2024?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on February 5:

“… the pandemic will not be solved by spring 2021, health experts said. It will not be over in 2022. And according to the most optimistic predictions, the skies will only really begin to open, and travel and tourism will resume, sometime between 2023 and 2024… While the world recovers from COVID-19, it will be plagued by economic and health challenges that impact everyone…”

Let’s hope these predictions are wrong.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Rocky Relationship between Biden and Netanyahu

 Israel 365 reported on January 31:

“Though the new administration in the newly inaugurated US president has spoken with the Israeli Prime Minister, communication has been notably lacking, hinting at a challenging future for Israel. A report in Al Jarida, a Kuwaiti media, claimed that President Biden has not yet spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and actually rebuffed a calling attempt from Israel… Biden has called the leaders of Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, NATO, Russia, and Japan, but not Israel’s Netanyahu…

“The report does seem to highlight the nature of the connection between the Israeli leader and the new administration. According to media reports, in his first week in the Oval Office, Biden had phone discussions with London, Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Canada, and the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). These connections imply that in the first days of his term in office, Biden was focused on relations with Europe.

“But additional reports claim that officials in the Biden administration have already begun holding quiet talks with Iran on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal. Though the reports also claim that Israel has been appraised of the talks, the Iran deal has always been a major concern for Netanyahu who sees the deal as an existential threat to Israel. Al Jarida reported that these contacts between the US and Iran began even before Biden took office, indicating his desire to reenter the deal which Trump rejected.”

However, as The Times of Israel reports on February 1, Iran insists that Washington lifts all of its sanctions before rejoining the 2015 pact. The article also stated this:

“Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal’s limits on its nuclear development. Iranian state TV reported Thursday that Iran had exceeded 17 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium within a month, moving its nuclear program closer to weapons-grade enrichment levels.

“US President Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the US to the deal. But he has also said Tehran must resume compliance first… The Biden administration’s policy on Iran is expected to be a point of contention between the new US administration and Israel. Israeli officials have voiced strong objections to the US rejoining the nuclear deal, and have also issued threats against Iran in recent weeks.”

Given the history of the deal, it does not appear that Biden will stand strong against Iran.

Biden’s European Challenge

Vox wrote on January 26:

“Alliances are the keystone of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy agenda. Whether confronting China, curbing the coronavirus pandemic, or addressing climate change, Biden has repeatedly emphasized the critical importance of working with allies to tackle major global challenges.

“But the problem with keystones is that if they crumble, the rest of the structure falls with them. And less than a week into Biden’s presidency, the edifice is starting to shake. That’s because, on a number of prominent issues from China to Venezuela to trade, the United States and its closest European allies are out of sync.

“Last December, the European Union signed a long-promised investment deal with China despite the public concerns of Biden’s then-incoming National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The worry now is China will not only tighten economic relationships with America’s transatlantic allies but also use that newfound access to steal intellectual property from European industries…

“Biden also on Monday signed his ‘Buy American’ executive order to ensure the US government ‘whenever possible’ purchases items ‘that will help American businesses compete in strategic industries and help America’s workers thrive.’ Experts fear European governments will view that move as a continuation of former President Trump’s protectionist economic policies.

“… early signs indicate Biden can’t just reflexively count on European support… ‘The Europeans are not keen on following the US’ in whatever it wants to do, said Erik Brattberg, the Europe program director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC. ‘Just because Biden is being nice and he’s not Trump doesn’t change that calculus.’..  If Biden hoped his presence — or Trump’s absence — would automatically mean closer US-EU ties on China policy, he should think again…

“Economic tensions between the US and Europe are already quite high… If there was ever a time to calm nerves about the state of transatlantic trade relations, it’d be now — and ‘Buy American’ seems likely to do the opposite.

“None of this is to say Biden is grossly imperiling US-EU relations. It already looks like the continent’s leaders are happier to see him in the Oval Office than Trump. But it’s just not clear that Biden has the tight-knit bond he hoped to form — proving a big foreign policy problem for his early presidency.”

In spite of some wishful thinking on both sides of the ocean, the relationship between the USA and Europe will not improve substantially under Biden. Please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Even Germany’s Left Party supports European Army

The website of wsws wrote the following on February 3:

“As a member of a potential German federal coalition government with the Social Democrats and Greens, the Left Party would fully support the continuation of Germany’s foreign military operations and the rearmament of the armed forces. Anyone who doubts this should read the paper ‘Left-wing security policy’ by Matthias Höhn. Between 2012 and 2017, Höhn was the Left Party’s head of federal affairs and serves today as the Left Party parliamentary group’s spokesperson on security policy.

“The paper, released January 19, is virtually indistinguishable from the strategy papers advocating rearmament produced by foreign policy think tanks and the Defence Ministry. On all essential points, it supports the Christian Democrat/Social Democrat (SPD) grand coalition government’s militarist agenda. Höhn defends NATO, demands a massive rearmament programme for Germany’s armed forces, and calls for the establishment of a European army and the conducting of more ‘humanitarian’ interventions under German leadership…  ‘The EU [European Union] must understand that it is a political actor with independent interests, goals and values, and act as such. This can and will repeatedly result in conflicts of interest, including with the United States,’ he writes.“Höhn then appeals for the Left Party to set itself up explicitly as a militarist party…

“A federal government involving the Left Party would not mean fewer foreign interventions by Germany’s military, but more… The Left Party has supported the return of German militarism from the outset… Höhn acknowledges for the record that his proposals were not only ‘motivated by discussions with many of our party’s comrades,’ but also ‘with members of the armed forces.’”

Germany is becoming more and more unified in its desire to establish a European Army.

Twitter Bans Christian Organization

Breitbart wrote on January 30:

“A Christian organization has been suspended from the Twitter social media platform for stating Dr. Rachel Levine’s, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), biological sex. In recent weeks tech giants like Twitter, Facebook, and Google have been censuring mostly conservative voices on social media platforms, including former President Donald Trump and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell…

“At issue was a Tweet pointing to a story about Dr. Rachel Levine, President Biden’s controversial nominee for Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services. The tweet included the following sentence: ‘Dr. Levine is a transgender woman, that is, a man who believes he is a woman.’… the appeal to Twitter about the suspension was denied.”

There will be an ongoing effort to silence all those voices stating the biblical Truth about sex and sexual relationships. Also note the next article.

Facebook Suspends Christian Scholar

Israel 365 wrote on January 28:

“Prominent Christian scholar Robert AJ Gagnon was suspended by Facebook on Tuesday for 24 hours after speaking out against transgenderism and President Joe Biden’s new transgender military policy. Facebook claimed that Gagnon’s critique of this ideology violated the social media’s ‘Community Standards on violence and incitement.’ The post was ironically referring to another post written by his friend, Laurie Higgins, who was suspended for seven-days for blasting Biden’s policy…

“A Ph.D. in sexuality and Pauline theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, Gagnon published The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics. He works as a professor of New Testament theology at the Houston Baptist University.

“In the Facebook post, Gagnon defended Higgins’ view on Biden’s pro-transgender military policy. The following is the text from the post Gagnon got suspended for:

“‘My friend Laurie Higgins has been suspended for 7 days, for making an accurate and witty satirical post, by left-wing FB overlords who seek to squash all dissent on the issue of transgenderism, no doubt emboldened by the Biden/Harris administration. There’s nothing inaccurate about this post.

“‘Biden’s lifting of Trump’s transgender military ban will indeed put women military personnel in the awful position of having to shower with biological males. Trans-promoters aren’t content with having men invade the domain of women’s sports and shelters. “Transgender” ideology is indeed a pseudo-science, compelling people to reject basic biological facts. Promoters of “transgenderism” do indeed exhibit traits of a religious cult in their mind-numbing, science-denying conformity. The censoring and suspending of Laurie Higgins rather proves the point, doesn’t it?…’”

LGBT Flags to be flown at US Embassies Worldwide

Breitbart wrote on January 31:

“LGBT activists are cheering Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s announcement that he will reverse an order from President Donald Trump and put up ‘pride’ flags at U.S. Embassies around the world… In a memo from July 2020, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper released a list of flags permitted to be displayed at U.S. military bases. Missing from the list was the LGBTQ pride flag, which Esper compared to the confederate flag. Prior to the ban, embassies raised the flag during pride month on the official embassy flagpole…

“Blinken also confirmed that he plans to appoint an envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQ persons, a position created by Barack Obama in 2015 that wasn’t filled during the Trump presidency. ‘Biden is the first U.S. president to openly embrace a full range of queer rights, including transgender equality,’ Outfront magazine reported.”

The interested reader might want to see what the Bible has to say about this issue. Please read our free booklet, “God’s Teachings on Sexual Relationships.” Please also note our Q&A in this issue about the “sexual sins of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Police Fines Churchgoers

Life Site News reported on January 29:

 “Police in a small Ontario town have been going door to door and fining members of an evangelical community who have dared to go to church on Sundays… ‘under cover of darkness, [the police] went from house to house handing out $880 tickets for going to church this past Sunday’…

“The church-goers were in violation of Ontario’s ‘Emergency Orders’ measure meant to contain the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus through suspending the rights of Ontarians to, among other activities, attend public worship in groups larger than 10… the Aylmer Police Service identified 47 people who took part in Christian worship, held both inside and outside the church, and is now in the process of bringing tickets to them all.

“‘As of 27th of January Aylmer Police have identified 47 persons who were in violation of Emergency Orders during an indoor and outdoor gathering on 24th of January 2021 at a church situated on John St. North Aylmer ON,’ the Aylmer Police’s post stated. ‘Officers are in the process of serving 29 Part 1 tickets on those individuals identified. In addition, 18 Part 3 summons are being processed for individuals residing outside of Elgin County Jurisdiction and for those persons/organization responsible for Organizing and hosting the event.’…”

Canada Classifies Proud Boys as Terrorists

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 4:

“Canada on Wednesday deemed the far right Proud Boys group a terrorist organization, saying it had become a ‘serious and growing threat’ to society… The group’s regular appearances as counter-protesters at events such as Black Lives Matter protesters, and their willingness to use violence against rival demonstrators, was [a] reason cited… Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of Proud Boys, called the terrorist designation ‘ridiculous.’ ‘There is no basis for it. It’s infringement of free speech rights. All the Canadian Proud Boys have ever done is go to rallies,’ Tarrio said…

“The new designation means the Proud Boys may have assets seized and face stiffer terrorism-related punishments… Donating money to the organization or buying Proud Boys paraphernalia would also be deemed a crime…

“Canada is the first country to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity…”

 Is Canada also classifying other “violent” groups as Terrorists, such as Antifa and “Black Lives Matter”? What hypocrisy!

Trump’s Impeachment Defense Team

Breitbart wrote on January 31:

“Lawyers who had been preparing President Donald Trump’s defense for his Senate impeachment trial have reportedly quit over his insistence that they present a defense that involves claims of election fraud in several states in the 2020 election… Trump wanted the attorneys to argue there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him rather than focus on the legality of convicting a president after he’s left office. Trump was not receptive to the discussions about how they should proceed in that regard.

“The first legal filing in the trial is due on Tuesday, and the trial is expected to begin in earnest the week of February 8.”

CNN wrote on February 1:

“Former President Donald Trump’s office announced that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will now head the legal team for his second impeachment trial… It’s unclear whether Schoen and Castor will go along with what Trump wants… ‘Schoen has already been working with the 45th President and other advisors to prepare for the upcoming trial, and both Schoen and Castor agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional – a fact 45 Senators voted in agreement with last week,’ the release said… Castor… is a well-known attorney in Pennsylvania who previously served as Montgomery County district attorney…

“Many House Republicans remain staunch Trump defenders, saying he did nothing wrong and shouldn’t be blamed for the violence that occurred at the Capitol on January 6.”

Most observers from all kinds of political persuasion expect that, regardless of the nature of the defense, Trump will not be convicted, as it appears highly unlikely that 17 House Republicans will vote for his conviction, under any circumstances.

Trump and McCarthy Meet

The Sun wrote on January 29:

“FORMER president Donald Trump and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy have launched a plan to ‘take back the House in 2022’ during a meeting today. Claiming that Trump’s ‘popularity has never been stronger than it is today’, the pair met at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“The rendezvous – with accompanying handout statement and a photo of the beaming Republicans – was a chance for the two to launch their bid to put the GOP back in the driving seat in the House. ‘They discussed many topics, number one of which was taking back the House in 2022,’ read the statement. ‘President Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than it is today, and his endorsement means perhaps more than any endorsement at any time. President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House. They worked very well together in the last election and picked up 15 seats when most predicted it would be the opposite. They will do so again and the work has already started.’

 “The image of Trump at his Palm Beach club standing beside McCarthy is the first official photo of the former president released by his team since he left office on January 20. The staged shot emphasises that Trump will still support Republicans in their campaigns, despite question marks over whether he would move to set up his own political party… the former president reiterated Monday he will ‘forever be a champion for the American People’.

“Former president Donald Trump’s popularity rating among Republicans has begun to bounce back since he left office, reported Forbes. According to tracking by Morning Consult, 81 per cent of Republican voters polled between January 23 to 25 hold positive views of Trump, including 54 per cent who do so strongly.

“The meeting was a chance for the duo to clear the air after House Minority Leader McCarthy had previously spoken out against Trump on the impeachment, blaming him for fuelling the January 6 riots at the Capitol.”

Lindsey Graham has said that the GOP is dead without Trump. Rand Paul said that if Senate Republicans conspire with Senate Democrats to convict Trump, then the GOP is dead. It seems more and more like leading Republicans agree with them and now have a sudden “change of heart.”

Trump Is Getting Stronger

Fox News reported on January 30:

“Former President Donald Trump has actually gained — not lost — political clout since leaving office, a political observer asserted Friday. Politico reporter Tara Palmeri’s observation runs contrary to the assumptions of many in the Washington D.C. establishment and the mainstream media. ‘People don’t want to hear anything against Trump,’ Palmeri said during an appearance on MSNBC. ‘Actually, the more he stays out of the media, the more that he becomes this martyr, this looming figure over the GOP.’ In fact, there is now a ‘crusade’ being waged on behalf of the former president in places like Wyoming, where Trump is ‘way more popular’ than the state’s high-ranking congressional Republican, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, Palmeri said…

“In Wyoming, she added, ‘A lot of people said they aren’t really Republicans, that, like, they’re for Trump. That’s it … I think the base is getting stronger, truly…’”

Trump Gone with the Wind?

On January 31,  Bild Online ran an article with the following headline:

“Von wegen weg vom Fenster. Republikaner wollen 14. Juni zum Trump-Feiertag machen.“ (In English, something like: “You must be joking–gone with the wind?…” Or: “No way he is a goner or gone with the wind. Republicans want to declare June 14 as Trump Celebration Day.”

WIVB wrote on January 29:

“Two Ohio representatives are looking to declare June 14 as ‘President Donald J. Trump Day.’ On Friday, Republican Reps. Jon Cross and Reggie Stoltzfus emailed their House colleagues asking for co-sponsors for their upcoming bill ‘to celebrate one of the greatest presidents in American history’… ‘Let’s show the 3,154,834 Ohio voters who cast their ballot to re-elect Donald J. Trump that we as a legislature recognize the accomplishments of his administration,’ the request said. The email request has been shared on social media by several journalists.

“They selected June 14 as it is Trump’s birthday. It is also Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States of America on June 14, 1777… While it’s not unheard of to create a holiday for a former president’s birthday – Ronald Reagan Day is celebrated in some form in 40 states on Feb. 6 – it’s not common for living presidents. Only Barack Obama, for whom the Illinois legislature approved an unofficial holiday on Aug. 4, has received anything similar.”

Trump—the Antipope?

Politico wrote on January 29:

“The ousted leader refused to relent to reality… He was Benedict XIII—’the pope,’ said Joëlle Rollo-Koster, a noted scholar of the Middle Ages, ‘who never conceded.’

“Benedict, who died in 1423, was the last of the popes of Avignon, in what’s now the south of France. He was an ‘antipope’—in opposition, that is, to a sequence of popes presiding from the more customary hub of Rome—and insisted even as he was twice deposed that he remained the rightful pontiff. He tried to exert control from a fortress of a palace in a separate seat of power—propped up by a stubborn type of papal court, retaining sufficient political capital to pressure heads of states to pick sides, bestowing benedictions and other benefits and if nothing else gumming up earnest efforts to allay divides…

“Six centuries later, Donald Trump, twice impeached, is finishing his first full week as a dispatched post-president ensconced in his own Florida fortalice of Mar-a-Lago—committed by almost all accounts to do from his Palm Beach perch some modern-day variant of what Benedict pulled off for decades…

“As unequaled as this is in the 245 years of the country’s existence, there are, however, rough parallels from other areas and eras around the world—tainted, brought-down kingpins, cast off to often island elsewheres. A defeated Napoleon was sent to Elba and then again to Saint Helena… But none match the current moment with the resonance of Benedict XIII… there was an unexpected twist to Benedict’s intransigence…: The harder and longer he held out, the more he was seen by some as a victim or a martyr, abidingly admired precisely because of his obstinacy and unwavering audacity…

“Trump last Wednesday departed a rattled, armored Washington, pledging to ‘be back in some form.’…

“Trump will raise money, stoke talk of a 2024 run and aim to quash the careers of candidates who’ve crossed him, deploying post-Twitter methods to continue to press his message to people who support him—and to pique the people who don’t… Last Thursday, Trump’s family, top donors and supporters put on a welcome-back luncheon for him at Mar-a-Lago. Earlier this week, he planted a more official flag in Palm Beach County, opening his post-presidential office to ‘carry on the agenda of the Trump Administration through advocacy, organizing, and public activism.’ As was the case in Avignon, the presence of power… is almost certain to spawn an ecosystem of… opportunists and money men…

“Trump’s been bringing in money like mad, fundraising off the election he lost but said he won—and that mother lode of more than $200 million, which ostensibly was going to be used to fight the result in court, actually is his to do with as he sees fit…

“What remains to be seen, though, is whether all this will work, or work as well not merely in the wake of the grievous end of his presidency but in the face of any additional consequences to come…”

Interesting parallels.

Politico added on January 31:

“Former President Donald Trump amassed $31.2 million in his new political operation by the end of 2020, giving him a powerful tool to keep the Republican Party in his grip as he left office… Save America, a leadership PAC created in the aftermath of the 2020 election, is set to play a key role in Trump’s plans to keep a strong hand in party politics… Trump cannot spend the PAC funds directly on any future campaign of his own, but he can use it to wield influence in campaigns in the midterm elections, pay his political advisers and travel the country.”

Trump’s Veto Powers

Liberty Nation wrote on January 27, 2021:

“In fact, what Trump holds over the Republican Party right now is beyond leverage. It is de facto veto power — not the kind he once wielded over the government but over his party…

“Nobody yet knows how Trump will proceed from here, what form, fashion, and timing will mark his return to the political spotlight. Only one thing appears certain: He will not leave the stage. And when he returns, woe be to any Republican who tried to drag the party back in the direction desired by the NeverTrumpers and establishment lifers…”

Trump to Run in 2024?

CNN wrote on January 30, 2021:

“Donald Trump is no longer president. He no longer has the megaphone of Twitter. But make no mistake: This is still Trump’s Republican Party. You see it in the actions of Republican… parties trying to punish those who went against Trump. You see this in a majority of congressional Republicans voting to uphold an objection to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for President Joe Biden. And more than that, you see it in the polling, which indicates that Trump’s in a historically strong primary position for an ex-president. Indeed, he’s polling tremendously well among Republicans in the context for any future presidential nominee…

“Republican leaders go against Trump at their potential electoral peril… A majority of Republicans (57%) said… that he should be the 2024 nominee. Against named opponents, Trump easily leads the field. Among those who either voted for Trump in 2020 or are Republicans, Trump’s averaging about half the primary vote. No one else is even close… 72% of Republicans said Biden only won because of fraud. That high of a percentage is unprecedented.

“It likely helps Trump to continue to claim the winner he always says he is. And right now, Republicans seem more than willing to continue to see him that way as well.”

In reality, more than just 72% of Republicans believe that voter fraud caused Trump’s defeat. And that does not include Independents and even some Democrats.

No Free Pass for Bannon in spite of Trump’s Pardon?

The Washington Post wrote on January 29:

“On his last day in office, President Donald Trump issued pardons to 74 people and commuted the sentences for 70 others. For most recipients, the impact of Trump’s actions is simple: They get out of jail or legal jeopardy. More complicated are the last-minute pardons that Trump extended to some of his friends and allies, particularly political strategist Stephen K. Bannon. It would be a mistake to think that Bannon’s pardon gives him a free pass…

“Pardons do not take effect automatically. More than a century ago, the Supreme Court explained that, for a presidential pardon to be effective, it must be ‘accepted’ by the person offered the pardon. Significantly, as Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in 1833, the decision to accept a pardon is an admission of guilt. As a consequence, people offered a pardon who insist that they are innocent of the charges have the right to a trial to clear their name. But if they decide to accept the pardon, they convey to the world that they committed the crime and have been spared some of the consequences… In addition, a presidential pardon only excuses federal crimes, but it does not protect Bannon from state prosecutors.”

Many might not have known that accepting a pardon is tantamount to an admission of guilt.

Massive Voting Irregularities in New York?

 Breitbart wrote on February 3:

“Marc Elias, the election lawyer who represented Democratic challenges to state rules throughout the 2020 election, alleged in a court filing this week that a close congressional race in upstate New York was marred by faulty voting machines. Republicans have been vilified for making similar claims about the 2020 presidential race.

“In the congressional race for New York’s 22nd district, Republican Claudia Tenney currently leads incumbent Democrat Anthony Brindisi by a razor-thin margin of 125 votes. Tenney declared victory on Tuesday, though challenges continue. In a legal filing Monday requesting a manual audit of the election, [attorney] Elias… argued that there were ‘substantial errors and irregularities in the conduct of the election.’

“Citing alleged discrepancies between votes counted by hand and votes counted by ballot machines, Elias argued that the error rate, extrapolated across the entire district, could mean that thousands of votes were improperly counted by the machines. He also complained about procedural faults with the conduct of the voting process, alleging failures to comply with New York State election law.”

Recalling California Gov. Newsom?

 Politico wrote on February 4:

“The campaign to oust Newsom went from unlikely to unavoidable this week as pervasive frustration with Newsom’s pandemic management cut sharply into his approval numbers. The longer businesses have been closed, hospitals full and school campuses shut, the more the movement has gained traction beyond conservative social media circles…

“Getting the recall onto the ballot is the first lift; voters would then have to decide in a special election whether to recall Newsom and simultaneously which candidate they would prefer instead. The recall could still fail to qualify. The deadline to certify is March 17, and the campaign is still operating on a shoestring budget by statewide campaign standards, relying on volunteers and some paid mail to collect the 1.5 million valid signatures they need. Proponents claim they have 1.3 million total signatures, still a ways off the nearly 2 million they will likely need to compensate for invalid signatories.

“Still, the campaign had a surprisingly high rate of valid signatures in the last statewide report through early January, hovering around 85 percent. California county registrars have verified about 600,000 signatures so far.”

German Praise for Trump, Netanyahu and Johnson

Breitbart wrote on January 29:

“German media continues to criticise the European Union’s bureaucratic and slow handling of coronavirus vaccine procurement, with Bild hailing, by comparison, the ‘vaccination masters’ Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and Benjamin Netanyahu… Bild wrote: ‘Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, this trio has been silently mocked and ridiculed by the [German] federal government and the EU Commission. But when it came to vaccinations, they put Berlin and Brussels in the shade: The then U.S. President Donald Trump (74), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (56), and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (71) have the most successful vaccination campaigns up and running in the Western World.’…

“The newspaper went on to praise former President Trump for preparing for the vaccination programme since February 2020 and the speed with which his procurement project advanced. ‘Instead of haggling over the price for months like the EU Commission did, Netanyahu bravely grabbed the state wallet,’ the author also said of the Israeli leader. ‘Brexit Boris laid the foundation for vaccination success’ in March 2020 by bringing together Oxford University with AstraZeneca, the article said, and rather than ‘waiting for the junk EU Commission’, Johnson ordered 30 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech on July 20th.

“The article was published days after German newspaper Die Zeit published an opinion piece calling the European Commission’s handling of the bloc’s vaccination programme ‘the best advertisement for Brexit’ with the newly-independent UK able to exercise its right to manage its own inoculation procurement.”

In the above-mentioned article by Bild, the tabloid portrayed pictures of Johnson, Trump and Netanyahu, together with the following headline: “What did these three do better than Merkel, Spahn and von der Leyen?” It is interesting that Trump, Netanyahu and Johnson are mentioned in the same breath.

Germany’s and Europe’s Vaccination Disaster

Breitbart wrote on February 1:

“The German media has continued to criticise the EU’s handling of its vaccine programme, headed by the country’s former defence minister, with an editor from Germany’s largest-selling newspaper calling it the ‘biggest confidence-destroying programme in its history’. Bild‘s Peter Tiede remarked that… the bloc and Germany are… ‘struggling with a vaccination disaster’. ‘… in Germany, which has a population of 83 million, ‘vaccination appointments for the elderly have had to be cancelled, if they actually got any at all’ the Bild editor said… ‘we will not have vaccinated 70 per cent of Germans before the autumn. And that is the best-case scenario.’

“Ursula von der Leyen… is reportedly now under pressure to resign from her role as president of the European Commission — the EU’s powerful executive arm… Mr Tiede alluded… to von der Leyen’s failure at procurement for EU vaccines being a mirror of her failure to procure military equipment as German defence minister, and that the European Commission had become a dumping ground for failed national politicians. ‘Angela Merkel ordered her away to the European Commission. Just as Europe has been doing for decades with its discarded political personnel: disposed of like nuclear waste in the final repository of Brussels…”

Is EU Trying to Pay Britain Back over Brexit?

Newsmax wrote on January 31:

“Daniel Hannan, a conservative former member of the European Parliament… wrote Sunday in The Telegraph: ‘Brexit has indeed led to an outbreak of populism, protectionism, and chauvinism… But not on the side of the Channel they expected. The EU’s behaviour over the past 72 hours has been so demented, so self-wounding, that it is hard to know where criticism should begin.’

“Hannan chronicled a dispute between Brussels and British-Swedish vaccine-maker AstraZeneca, which the EU is using to get back at Britain, he wrote. ‘In pursuit of its quarrel, Brussels announced plans to block the export of vaccines from a completely unrelated company, the American corporation Pfizer, to Britain – vaccines which no one disputed that the U.K. had purchased, and on which the EU did not pretend to have any legal claim,’ he wrote.

“‘In other words, Brussels was threatening to halt the sale of life-saving drugs to a neighbouring country, not in response to any provocation, but simply because it was cross that that country was further advanced in its vaccination programme… Annoyed at Britain’s success, European leaders started casting doubt on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca product… Engaging in the kind of nuttiness which gets people banned from social media, Emmanuel Macron claimed that the vaccine “didn’t work.” In other words, the EU is breaking every norm of civilized behaviour and threatening expropriation over a vaccine which, from sheer sour grapes, its leaders claim is ineffective.’…

“Ultimately, Britain will wind up with a vaccine surplus it can use to help its allies, Hannan concluded.”

The relationship between the UK and the EU will continue to deteriorate. Please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Germany Imposes more Travel Restrictions

Deutsche Welle reported on January 29:

“Germany has announced entry restrictions for travelers from the UK, Ireland, Brazil, Portugal and South Africa, as concerns of more contagious coronavirus variants are rising…

“Starting on Saturday, a transportation ban will go into effect for all planes, trains, buses and ships from countries where the new variants have spread. Starting on Sunday, the restrictions will also apply to travelers from the small African countries of Lesotho and Eswatini. The restrictions are currently set to run until February 17. There are several exceptions to the travel restrictions, including: people who have right to reside in Germany and those who are transporting goods, as well as urgent medical transports and travel due to ‘urgent humanitarian reasons.’

“Earlier this week, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the Bild newspaper that the plan will include completely halting flights into the country.  He said the government was looking at stricter border checks, ‘but also reducing air travel to Germany to almost zero, as Israel is currently doing.’”

MSN added on January 30 that Seehofer also said that it is the “civic duty” (“Buergerpflicht”) of Germans to avoid traveling to another country without a most compelling reason.  

The World Condemns Russia

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 31:

“[Alexei] Navalny’s wife, Yulia, was taken into custody for a second weekend in a row for taking part in the demonstrations. Police have detained over 5,000 people… Authorities introduced unprecedented security measures in the capital in a bid to restrict protesters’ movements. They shut down seven metro stations in the city center, blocked off streets around the Kremlin and ordered restaurants and stores to stay closed. Police also asked Moscow cafes to turn off their internet connections ahead of the protests.

“Washington criticized the crackdown on protesters and urged Russia to release Navalny. ‘The US condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for a second week straight,’ US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter.

“Moscow later hit back at the criticism, accusing the US of meddling in Russia’s affairs and trying to destabilize the situation. ‘The gross interference of the United States in Russia’s internal affairs is as proven a fact as the promotion of fakes and calls for unauthorized rallies by online platforms controlled by Washington,’ Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Facebook. Meanwhile, Canadian officials urged the release of jailed pro-Navalny protesters. ‘Canada is deeply concerned by the mass detentions and the use of force against protesters and journalists in Russia,’ Foreign Minister Marc Garneau wrote on Twitter. ‘We call on Russia to release those detained, adhere to its international commitments and protect media freedom.’”

But Russia does not seem to care much. In fact, its measures against dissidents and opponents become more and more violent and intrusive. In addition, it is almost ironic that Western countries demand of Russia to protect media freedom when, at the same time, media freedom is systematically censored and suppressed in those countries.

Subsequently, the following occurred:

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 2:

“Russian dissident Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in a penal colony after a Moscow court found him guilty of disobeying the terms of his probation over the 2014 money laundering case. In the Tuesday ruling, however, the court also took into account the time Navalny had spent under house arrest, meaning that the Kremlin critic would spend only two years and eight months behind bars.

“Navalny rejected the claims of violating parole and slammed the process as an attempt to silence him. During the hearing, Navalny… blamed the charges against him on Russian President Vladimir Putin… The opposition leader labeled Putin as ‘Vladimir, the underpants poisoner’ during the hearing. According to Navalny’s research into his own poisoning, a ‘hit squad’ deployed by the country’s main intelligence agency FSB tried to kill him by putting a Novichok nerve agent on his underwear. Navalny fell ill after boarding a flight in Siberia. He was then hospitalized in Russia and eventually flown to Germany for treatment. ‘We have proven that Putin committed this attempted murder,’ he said on Tuesday.

“The Kremlin has denied the poisoning allegations from Navalny… Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped that the ‘nonsense’ would not affect ties with the European Union, which has sharply criticized Moscow’s treatment of Navalny. He said Russia would not be lectured by EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell when he visits Moscow this week.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 3:

“The list of voices from the international community demanding an immediate release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny continued to grow on Wednesday… UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Wednesday that her office was ‘deeply dismayed’ that Navalny was sentenced over a case that the European Court of Human Rights in 2017 had ‘unanimously found’ to be ‘arbitrary, unfair and manifestly unreasonable.’ ‘We urge the authorities in Russia to immediately release all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression yesterday and over the past few weeks of protests across the country,’ she added in a statement.

“Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said her country is deeply concerned… German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized the court’s decision as lawless and demanded an end to violence against peaceful protesters in Russia… ‘Navalny must be released at once,’ Merkel was quoted as saying in a tweet by her spokesman… German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the ruling a ‘bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in Russia.’ The German government said on Wednesday further sanctions against Russia cannot be ruled out…

“In a tweet, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also…  dubbed the ruling as ‘pure cowardice’… British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab issued a statement saying that the ‘perverse ruling, targeting the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible, shows Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any responsible member of the international community.’

“French President Emmanuel Macron said… ‘A political disagreement is never a crime. We call for his immediate release. The respect for human rights such as democratic freedom are not negotiable…’  European Council President Charles Michel said that the EU will not accept the ruling… US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Russia to release Navalny and his supporters…”

Putin Afraid for His Life?

The Sun wrote on February 4:

“VLADIMIR Putin is terrified of being killed like Libyan tyrant Gaddafi in a revolution as protests sweep Russia over the jailing of Alexi Navalny, a leading expert has said. Putin enemy Yuri Felshtinsky told The Sun Online the ongoing unrest has convinced the Kremlin strongman that more repression and killing of opponents is needed to avoid the same grisly fate as the Libyan leader. 

“Putin is facing one of the biggest challenges to his 20 year rule as thousands of supporters of jailed opposition figurehead Navalny have been taking to the streets. The 68-year-old, who has maintained an iron grip on Russia for twenty years – has signed off laws allowing him to remain in power until at least 2036. Felshtinsky told The Sun Online Putin will feel he needs to ramp up the brutality to quell the dissent and protect his position.

“It has been reported that the Russian leader has ‘watched obsessively’ videos of Colonel Gaddafi being brutally murdered after being cornered by a raging mob in 2011… Felshtinsky is a widely respected Russian-American writer and historian… He helped Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko escape to the UK where he was later murdered by Kremlin assassins.

“It has given him first-hand experience of how ruthlessly Putin deals with those who dare to cross him. Kremlin hitmen also attempted to poison former KGB officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in 2018. Felshtinsky believes a similar fate awaits Navalny… During his time in power [Putin] has ruthlessly clamped down on any opposition to his rule and also seized the Crimea from Ukraine… He has been brazen in eliminating anyone who falls foul of his regime with poisoning the favoured means of killing.

“Putin has also accumulated massive wealth and is said to live like a king… Since parting with his wife in 2014 a number of ‘secret girlfriends’ have been reported….”

What About the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline?

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 2:

“French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune on Monday said France had urged Germany to drop the Nord Stream II project… The US and several European countries such as Poland have strongly criticized the building of the pipeline, saying it will increase German and EU reliance on Russia for critical gas supplies… The European Parliament has also demanded that the pipeline’s construction should be put on hold immediately…

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman Martina Fietz said the government had not changed its mind on Nord Stream 2… which Merkel strongly supports…

“Nord Stream 2 consists of two pipes, each around 1,230 kilometers (765 miles) long, and would be expected to deliver tens of billions of cubic meters of natural gas per year from Russia to Germany.”

 Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

The Second Impeachment Circus

On January 22, Breitbart published an article by Charles Hurt, “opinion editor of The Washington Times”:

“The last time these slinking mongrels in Congress impeached President Trump, a deadly disease from China was stalking our country, poised to pounce and kill close to 400,000 Americans. In those crucial early months of the global pandemic, our federal government ground to a halt as Democrats in Congress pursued with blind fury a hotly partisan and clearly futile effort to remove Mr. Trump. Democrats failed. Mr. Trump survived. Everyone knew the outcome of the fake charade from the start. But as Democrats dawdled, bloviated and fawned for the cameras, the pandemic prevailed. If you want to know why Democrats are so hellbent on blaming the China virus on Mr. Trump, it is because the blood is actually on their hands.

“Now comes Round Two of hopeless impeachment. Still, the pandemic rages. This time they all know it. Yet, still, they pursue Mr. Trump with an ISIS-like zealotry… Truly, these are the most fundamentally dishonest and unserious people ever to hold elected office. They are a mockery of self-governance and precisely why Mr. Trump got elected in the first place. You might say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presides over a circus of untrained animals and diabolical clowns, but that would be an unkind insult to clowns and penned animals…

“If you really want to stir up one of these impeachment fanatics, just ask them to point to the one single line in Mr. Trump’s speech from before the raid against the Capitol that ‘incited’ the violence. They go full Adam Schiff and start making up quotes and manufacturing language that the president never used. Also, they refuse to acknowledge that the president implored his supporters to protest ‘peacefully.’.. If anything, it was unpremeditated incitement of peaceful protest — also known as our constitutional right to free speech, free assembly and the right to petition your government. Peacefully.

“Among the clowns in Congress scrambling to shift blame for the mess they have made in Washington onto Mr. Trump are 10 Republicans in the House. One of them is Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is in the chamber because her father, Dick Cheney, was vice president… Another impeachment zealot is Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat. To his credit, at least he is honest about his motives… ‘he must be prevented from ever attempting to seize power again.’

“There you have it… It is all about preventing him from ever running for office again. In other words, Congress is scrambling to overturn the next election before it even happens. They are desperate to deny American voters the right to elect Donald Trump again. Talk about an insurrection…”

Strong words.

Republicans Opposed to Impeachment Trial

The Associated Press wrote on January 25:

“… a growing number of Republican senators say they are opposed to the proceeding, dimming the chances that former president will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of the U.S. Capitol… GOP passions appear to have cooled… Now that Trump’s presidency is over, Republican senators who will serve as jurors in the trial are rallying to his legal defense, as they did during his first impeachment trial last year.  ‘I think the trial is stupid, I think it’s counterproductive,’ said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. He said that ‘the first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I’ll do it’ because he believes it would be bad for the country and further inflame partisan divisions…

“Arguments in the Senate trial will begin the week of Feb. 8. Leaders in both parties agreed to the short delay to give Trump’s team and House prosecutors time to prepare… the mounting Republican opposition indicates that many GOP senators would eventually vote to acquit Trump. Democrats would need the support of 17 Republicans — a high bar — to convict him… A few GOP senators have agreed with Democrats, though not close to the number that will be needed to convict Trump.  Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he believes there is a ‘preponderance of opinion’ that an impeachment trial is appropriate after someone leaves office… But Romney, the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump when the Senate acquitted the then-president in last year’s trial, appears to be an outlier.”

Furthermore, many legal experts disagree with Romney’s assessment of the constitutionality of trying a former President.  

Rand Paul Describes the Democrats’ Hypocrisy

Breitbart wrote on January 26:

“Sen. Rand Paul… highlighted the Democrats’ hypocrisy as he spoke against the impending impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday afternoon, though substantive proceedings will be delayed until February 8… ‘This impeachment is nothing more than a partisan exercise designed to further divide the country. Democrats claim to want to unify the country, but impeaching a former president, a private citizen, is the antithesis of unity… Hyper-partisan Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history. Instead of doing the nation’s work, with their new majorities in the House, the Senate, and the executive branch, Democrats are wasting the nation’s time on a partisan vendetta against a man no longer in office…

“No Democrat will honestly ask whether [Senator] Bernie Sanders incited the shooter that nearly killed Steve Scalise and volunteer coach. The shooter nearly pulled off a massacre — I was there — because he fervently believed the false and inflammatory rhetoric spewed by Bernie and other Democrats, such as, ‘The Republican health care plan for the uninsured is that you die.’…

“No Democrat will ask if [Senator] Cory Booker incited violence when he called for his supporters to get — get ‘up in their face’ of congresspeople — a very visual, and specific incitement. No Democrat will ask whether [Representative] Maxine Waters incited violence when she told her supporters, and I quote, that ‘If you see a member of the Trump administration at a restaurant, at a department store, at a gas station, or any place, you create a crowd, and you push back on them.’ Is that not incitement?

“My wife and I were pushed and surrounded and screamed at by this same type of mob that Maxine likes to inspire. It’s terrifying to have a swarm of people threatening to kill you, cursing at you and literally holding you hostage until police come to your rescue. That night we were assaulted by the crowd, I wasn’t sure if we would survive even with the police protection. But no Democrat suggested impeaching Maxine for her violent rhetoric…

“Should Kamala Harris be impeached for offering to pay for violent people to get out of jail who have been burning our cities down?… Should Republicans impeach the Democrat mayor of Seattle who incited and condoned violence by calling the armed takeover of part of her city a ‘summer of love’?…

“On June 8, the New York Post, citing U.S. Justice Department statistics, reported that more than 700 law enforcement officers were injured during the Antifa/Black Lives Matter riots. There were at least 19 murders, including 77-year-old retired police officer David Dorn. Yet Democrats insist on applying a test of incitement to a Republican that they refuse to apply to themselves…

“Shame on these angry, unhinged partisans who are putting forth this sham impeachment, deranged by their hatred of the former president. Shame on those who seek blame and revenge, and who choose to pervert a constitutional process while doing so… A sham, this is, a travesty. A dark blot on the history of our country…”

Most Senate Republicans Declare Impeachment Trial to be Unconstitutional

Breitbart wrote on January 26:

“Forty-five senators voted with Paul’s motion to raise the question of whether it is constitutional to impeach Trump after he left office. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted with Paul on the motion that the impeachment trial is unconstitutional… This vote likely serves as a proxy vote on the final vote of whether to convict Trump on the question if he incited an insurrection during the January 6 riots.

“Paul wrote on Tuesday that 45 senators agreed that this trial is a ‘sham: The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order. 45 Senators agreed that this sham of a ‘trial’ is unconstitutional. That is more than will be needed to acquit and to eventually end this partisan impeachment process. This ‘trial’ is dead on arrival in the Senate,’ Paul wrote.”

Deutsche Welle added on January 27:

“All but five Senate Republicans have voted in favor of dismissing Trump’s impeachment trial, making clear a conviction of the former president for ‘incitement of insurrection’ is unlikely… only five Republican lawmakers joined Democrats to reject Paul’s motion, far short of the 17 Republicans [needed to convict Trump]… Some Republican senators who backed Paul’s motion said their vote on Tuesday did not indicate how they might come down on Trump’s guilt or innocence after a trial.”

Still, many are convinced that Trump will not be convicted and that he won’t be prevented from holding a public office or running again for the Presidency in 2024.

Trump Wants to Run Again

Newsmax wrote on January 23:

“President Donald Trump has told former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell ‘personally, a number of times, he does want to run again,’ according to Grenell… ‘We’ll see if that holds and how that comes about; I think we’ve got a long ways to go,’ Grenell [said] rejecting talk of Trump forming a rumored Patriot Party. ‘Clearly, Donald Trump is a Republican and should run again as a Republican.’”

Trump won’t just go away…

Battle over Election Fraud between ABC and Rand Paul

Breitbart reported on January 24:

“Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) had a battle over election fraud with anchor George Stephanopoulos, Sunday on ABC’s ‘This Week.’ Stephanopoulos said, ‘A threshold question for you, this election was not stolen, do you accept that fact?’ Paul said, ‘Well, what I would say [is] that the debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur. We never had any presentation in court. Most of the cases were thrown out for lack of standing, a procedural way of not hearing it. A law was changed in secretary of state, not the state legislatures. There’s still a chance that those actually work their way up to the Supreme Court.’

“Stephanopoulos said, ‘I have to stop you there. No election is perfect, but there were 86 challenges filed by President Trump and his allies in court, all were dismissed. Every state certified the results after counts and recounts. The Department of Justice, led by William Barr, said there’s no widespread of fraud. Can’t you just say the words this election was not stolen?’

“Paul said, ‘What I would suggest is, is that if we want greater confidence in our elections and 75% of Republicans agree with me is that we do need to look at election integrity and we need to see if we can restore confidence in the election.’

“Stephanopoulos said, ‘Seventy-five percent of Republicans agree with you because they were fed a big lie by President Trump and his supporters that the election was stolen.’

“Paul said, ‘George, where you make a mistake is people coming from the liberal side like you, you immediately say everything’s a lie instead of saying there’s two sides to everything. Historically what would happen if I said… there were fraud, you would interview someone who said there wasn’t. Now you insert yourself in the middle and say the absolute fact is everything I’m saying is a lie.’

“Stephanopoulos said, ‘I said what the president [said] was [a] lie. Hold on a second. He said the election was stolen. This election was not stolen. The results were certified in every single state.’

“Paul said, ‘You said we’re all liars. You are simply saying we’re all liars.’

“After more back and forth, Paul said, ‘There were lots of problems, and there were secretaries of state who illegally changed the law, and that needs to be fixed, and I’m going to work hard to fix it. I won’t be cowed by people saying, “oh, you are a liar.” That is the problem with the media today. They say all Republicans are liars and everything we say is lies. There are two sides to every story. Interview somebody on the other side.’

“Stephanopoulos said, ‘Sir, there are not two sides to this story. This has been looked [at] in every single state.’

“Paul said, ‘Sure there are. There are two sides to every story. George, you’re forgetting who you are as a journalist if you think there’s only one side. You’re inserting yourself into the story to say I’m a liar because I want to look at secretaries of state who changed the laws. It happened. You can’t just sweep it under the rug—nothing to see here. You’re a fool to bring this up. A journalist would hear both sides. Not insert themselves in the story.’”

It is amazing how Democratic journalists like George Stephanopoulos are willing to suppress the opinions of those who do not agree with them and the left-wing agenda, as well as FACTS which they would like to “sweep under the rug.” Paul was absolutely right in his analysis about the hypocrisy of “journalists.”

No Evidence of Voter Fraud?

Life Site News reported on January 20:

“A business law professor at New Mexico State University (NMSU) said that anyone who proposes there ‘is no evidence’ for massive election fraud in November’s presidential election doesn’t know what they are talking about. Professor David K. Clements released a provocative video in response to a letter sent to the entire faculty of NMSU from Dr. John Floros, the university’s president. Clements described the letter as ‘regurgitating’ the narrative ‘in the media’ regarding the election and the January 6 violence at the U.S. Capital… he was very specific with regards to his own personal investigation into the election fraud question…  ‘I’ve reviewed hours upon hours of public hearings. I have read almost all of the lawsuits that are out there. Most of them were dismissed on legal process grounds… It’s not because there isn’t evidence. There is evidence,’ the professor emphasized.

“‘In fact, I’m in possession of 574 pages of sworn affidavits, forensic reports, all of which would make its way in a court of law under the rules of evidence in a federal or state court. The fact that the evidence has not been heard here by these courts’ should not be conflated into ‘this idea that there is no evidence,’ Clements argued… However, he observed, the main problem was that ‘we have a bunch of cowards. We have judges who are cowards, we have politicians that are cowards, and that’s the reality.’ Clements, who lost a close primary run for senate in 2014, encouraged all ‘to look at the evidence, [including] sworn affidavits where people face 10 to 15 years of prison time if they commit perjury, and statistical analysis that just flies in the face of this idea that there was no fraud in this election.’…

“Clements, a long-time political independent, [said:] ‘The people’s business’ that day (January 6) ‘was to certify votes to ensure that there was a proper transition to the next president. However, in seven of those states there were dueling electors, and the “People’s Business” allowed for the American people to hear evidence of voter fraud. When these members of Congress returned, they did not deal with the massive black cloud hanging over the election in November. They did nothing of the sort. They used the riot as grounds to move forward and push their paper.’ According to the law, the professor explained, during this certification process, ‘you can object, and you can investigate, when certain votes are not regularly given. And in many states, it’s clear that they weren’t.’ Therefore, Clements concluded, ‘The people weren’t heard,’ that day. ‘They were silenced once again…

“To demonstrate the weakness of the media narrative Clements showed video clips, including an Antifa activist bragging about his involvement in the Capitol Hill riots, police removing barriers and waving the crowds into the Capitol area, and Trump supporters forcefully working to stop ‘Antifa’ individuals from smashing windows at the Capitol.”

But if one suggests these days that there was massive voter fraud involved, they are immediately silenced, banned, and perhaps even labeled in the most extreme and oppressive way by Big Tech, the mass media, and left-wing Democrats.

Coming: Washington’s Economic Crisis

Newsmax wrote on January 23:

“The continued massive printing of money is going to lead to an economic crisis that Washington insiders are dangerously ignoring, according to publisher and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes…

“‘The real danger is printing money… That’s going to lead to inflation… The economy was reviving, is reviving, and I’ve said, “if Joe Biden took 6 months off and his administration went on a sabbatical for 6 months, this economy would be booming and they would look like geniuses,’” Forbes said, adding there will be a ‘rude awakening’ for those believing printing money is the way to avoid an economic crash; it is precisely the precursor to one… ‘They don’t realize what’s coming… they’re going to have a firestorm on their hands before the end of the year.’”

Others have warned too that Biden’s policies will destroy the country from the inside.

Investing in China and India

CNN wrote on January 25:

“Foreign companies are turning their backs on the United States, taking advantage of China’s booming economy… Direct investment in the US by foreign companies plummeted 49% to $134 billion last year… By contrast, foreign direct investment in China grew by 4% to $163 billion in 2020.

“2020 marked the first year in history that foreign direct investment in China overtook that of the US… China is now the world’s largest recipient of foreign companies’ investments…

“Foreign direct investment to India has similarly skyrocketed, from less than $25 billion in 2014… to $57 billion last year…

“Foreign direct investment in the United Kingdom and Italy fell by almost 100%. Russia’s foreign direct investment fell 96%, Germany’s sank 61% and Brazil’s plunged by 50%. Australia, France, Canada and Indonesia — all among the top foreign direct investment recipients in 2019 — also fell by double digits. Overall, foreign direct investment tumbled 42% last year to the lowest level since the 1990s — and 30% below the lowest level reached during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.”

CNBC added on January 24:

“The European Union saw FDI decline by two-thirds, according to the report, with the United Kingdom seeing no new inflows… Despite China surpassing the U.S. in the flow of foreign direct investment in 2020, the total stock of foreign investment remains much larger in the U.S. than in China…”

That “the total stock of foreign investment remains much larger in the U.S. than in China,” is not necessarily a good thing for the US. Especially the USA and the UK will experience ongoing devastating economic problems, while countries such as Germany will recuperate.

Old International Broadcasters fired and new ones named by Biden

The Associated Press reported on January 24:

“The Biden administration on Sunday installed new heads of three federally funded international broadcasters after abruptly firing Donald Trump-appointees at the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Kelu Chao, the acting CEO of the agency, made the announcement after dismissing the previous directors of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks late Friday, just a month after they had been named to the posts.

“Daisy Sindelar will be acting head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, replacing Ted Lipien until a permanent president is named. Bay Fang will return to her post as Radio Free Asia president, replacing Stephen Yates. Kelley Sullivan will become acting Middle East Broadcasting Networks president, replacing Victoria Coates…“The moves follow the forced resignation of Trump’s hand-picked agency head, Michael Pack, only two hours after Joe Biden took office as president on Wednesday. The director of the Voice of America and his deputy were soon removed and the chief of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting stepped down.

“Chao on Sunday also announced new corporate board directors for the three broadcasters, replacing the board directors named by Pack just days before his departure… ‘Now more than ever, U.S. international media must serve as an accurate, reliable source of news and information in places where illuminating truth is needed the most,’ Kornbluh said. [Kornbluh was named as ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development under President Barack Obama].

When it comes to an accurate and reliable source for true information, America’s mass media did not fare too well at all.

Biden’s Fascist Policy

Ron Paul wrote on January 25 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“Almost immediately after his inauguration, President Joe Biden began creating new government dictates via executive orders… One of Biden’s executive orders imposes mask and social distancing mandates on anyone in a federal building or on federal land. The mandates also apply to federal employees when they are ‘on-duty’ anywhere. Members of the military are included in the definition of federal employees… Another one of Biden’s executive orders forces passengers on airplanes, trains, and other public transportation to wear masks.

“Biden’s mask mandates contradict his pledge to follow the science. Studies have not established that masks are effective at preventing the spread of coronavirus. Regularly wearing a mask, though, can cause health problems. Biden’s mask mandates are also an unconstitutional power grab…

“Mask and social distancing mandates, government control of private industry, and some of Biden’s other executive actions, such as one creating a new ‘Public Health Jobs Corps’ with responsibilities including performing ‘contact tracing’ on American citizens, are the type of actions one would expect from a fascist government, not a constitutional republic. Joe Biden, who is heralded by many of his supporters as saving democracy from fascist Trump, could not even wait one day before beginning to implement fascistic measures that are completely unnecessary to protect public health. Biden will no doubt use other manufactured crises, including ‘climate change’ and ‘domestic terrorism,’ to expand government power and further restrict our liberty. Under Biden, fascism will not just carry an American flag. It will also wear a mask.”

Warnings to be heeded.

Biden to Reinstate Travel Restrictions

The Week wrote on January 23:

“President Biden will soon reinstate COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and 26 European countries that allow travel across open borders, a senior U.S. public health official told Reuters on Sunday. During his last days in office, former President Donald Trump lifted the restrictions on Europe and Brazil, effective Tuesday; Biden’s order rescinds this. Additionally, Biden is adding South Africa to the list…”

This was to be expected.  As of Tuesday, January 26, all air passengers ages two and older must show proof of a negative Covid-19 test to enter the United States. The new rule includes US citizens and legal permanent residents. The opposition to these travel restrictions and other lockdown measures around the world is growing.

California Lifts Stay-at-Home Order

Deadline reported on January 25:

“Officials with the California Department of Public Health have lifted the stay-at-home order for all counties amid signs that COVID-19 is spreading at a slower rate across the state. Authorities cited improving conditions in hospitals but noted that counties remain subject to the restrictive ‘purple tier’ of guidelines for economic reopening. Individual counties, however, still are able to impose stricter restrictions than the state…

“… the state’s move today lead to a resumption of outdoor dining and at least some services at gyms, barber shops and nail salons, among other businesses.”

Governor Newsom, fighting for his political survival, bowed to tremendous pressure. But it will remain to be seen what follows next.

Biden’s Slap in the Face for Great Britain

Fox News wrote on January 23:

“In his inaugural address, President Biden pledged to ‘repair alliances.’ Yet one of his first moves in power was to remove a bust of the late British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, as President Barack Obama did in January 2009. This was a slap in the face for Great Britain on Day One of Biden’s presidency, and sends the wrong signal to America’s closest friend and ally.

“The Churchill bust is a sensitive issue for U.S.-British relations. The bronze bust, created by sculptor Jacob Epstein, was originally a loaned gift to President George W. Bush from British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The bust is a symbol of the British people standing shoulder to shoulder with their American brothers and sisters following the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history…

“When Obama decided to send the Oval Office Churchill bust back to the British Embassy within days of taking office, the move attracted a great deal of negative publicity in the United Kingdom. It was strongly condemned by then-mayor of London (and now Prime Minister) Boris Johnson. The Churchill bust was returned to the White House when Donald Trump became president in 2017, and was in the Oval Office until this week.

“The location of the Churchill bust is a sensitive issue in U.S.-U.K. relations, not least because the great World War II leader is so greatly revered on both sides of the Atlantic as a savior of the free world, but also because its removal over a decade ago suggested an impending weakening of the special relationship between London and Washington. Indeed, under President Obama, the partnership between the two allies was not as close as it was under President George W. Bush. At the time, many British conservatives viewed the Obama administration as being at best lukewarm towards Britain, and on occasion even hostile.

“In April 2016, ahead of the Brexit referendum, Obama warned the U.K. that it would be at ‘the back of the queue’ for a trade deal with the U.S. if the British people dared to vote to leave the European Union. Nearly five years later, President Biden’s immediate removal of the Churchill bust from the Oval Office is attracting growing attention across the Atlantic and has already been strongly attacked by some British politicians, including former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage…

“There are real concerns in London that Biden may translate his antipathy towards Brexit and his well-known admiration for the European Union into a downgrading of the Anglo-American alliance in favor of appeasing Brussels and the continental European powers of Germany and France. Such a stance would be a huge mistake… Any move by Biden to weaken the special relationship would undermine the United States and Great Britain. Taking Churchill out of the Oval Office is the worst possible start.”

OZY Medias added on January 22:

“Whose finest hour is it? British tabloids have blasted President Biden’s Oval Office remake snubbing a bust of legendary wartime leader Winston Churchill — something then-Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson decried when President Barack Obama did it in 2016, blaming anti-colonial Kenyan roots. It seems there’s simply no room now for the sculpture, on loan from the British government, among recently added busts of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks and labor organizer César Chávez…”

The relationship between the USA and the UK might very well suffer under Biden. The comment in the articles regarding Biden’s admiration of the EU is also very interesting… and disturbing.

Fight over Gibraltar to Continue

Express wrote on January 22:’“Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation Arancha González Laya has made clear the country has not renounced the ‘sovereignty’ nor the ‘co-sovereignty’ of Gibraltar after Brexit. She issued the warning during a reply to parliamentary groups before the Joint Commission of the European Union of the Congress of Deputies when explaining the principle of the agreement between Spain and the UK over Gibraltar… The minister had previously said the principle agreement reached with the UK over the Rock following Brexit would allow Spain to ‘regain control’ in matters related to Gibraltar.”

The Church of God has said for a long time that ultimately, England will lose possession of Gibraltar.

Further Move towards EU Army

Express wrote on January 23:

“A NEW Controversial defence fund and project has been launched by the EU just as Britain left the bloc. The £5billion European Peace Facility will see the bloc gain powers for the first time to send military aid and equipment to foreign conflicts. The fund… is set to increase the EU’s role in international conflicts. But critics claim the fund shows the bloc is controversially shifting their policy towards a more militarized approach…

“Under the scheme, the new fund and project will allow Brussels to enhance its defence missions with the ‘supply of military and defence-related equipment, infrastructure or assistance’ on request. The project was initially proposed by former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in 2018 and would develop EU missions in countries across the world including Libya, Mali and Somalia…

“Lucia Montanaro, head of EU office at NGO Saferworld, said: ‘The decision to provide arms and ammunition under the EPF represents a fundamental shift in EU foreign policy, from promoting peace and human rights to boosting the combat capability of repressive states and unaccountable security forces. ‘There is a high risk that arms and ammunition provided under the EU flag will be misused or diverted into the wrong hands.’”

The EU is moving towards becoming an autocratic military power. In combination with authoritarian measures regarding the coronavirus, this is an alarming development.

YouTube Bans German Channel

The Associated Press wrote on January 22:

“Google says it has banned a prominent German user of its YouTube video platform who had repeatedly posted false claims about the coronavirus outbreak. Google said Friday that a YouTube channel known as KenFM was no longer available and that the person operating it would not be allowed to start another. ‘We have long standing community guidelines policies that strikes are issued when our systems are notified of a policy violation of the rules for how to behave on YouTube,’ the company said in a statement. ‘Videos on the channel KenFM violated our COVID-19 policies and the channel was removed from YouTube after receiving the third strike for a video within 90 days on November 19th, 2020,’ it said.

“KenFMwas operated by Ken Jebsen, a former journalist… YouTube and others have vowed to crack down on the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus by users of their sites.”

We don’t know anything about this channel, but to cancel it because of allegedly false claims regarding the coronavirus  is most certainly problematic and reflects the hysteria presently perpetrated in the USA by the left-wing media and Big Tech.  But it gets worse. Notice the next article.

Germany To Put AfD Under Surveillance

NPR wrote on January 22:

“The AfD now has 88 members in Germany’s federal parliament, more than 12% representation. Germany’s Bundesamt fuer Verfassungsschutz, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is constantly on the lookout for potential threats to Germany’s democratic constitutional system, and it has wide-ranging powers when it finds them…

“The agency has wrapped up a two-year investigation into Germany’s largest right-wing opposition party, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, and is expected to announce soon that it will place the entire party under surveillance for posing a threat to Germany’s political system and violating the constitution. The unprecedented move would mean that all AfD lawmakers, including several dozen in Germany’s parliament, would be put under state surveillance…

“AfD politician Georg Pazderski claims the process is political. The agency is run by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, staffed with members of her own conservative Christian Democratic Union party. Pazderski says the CDU is worried about how fast the AfD has become a presence in Germany’s parliament…  ‘If you have an opposition party which is very successful within a very short time, we become a danger for the ruling parties,’ says Pazderski, ‘especially for the conservative CDU. And this is a reason why they are trying to stigmatize us and to really put us in the Nazi corner and also to spread strong rumors.’…

“Der Spiegel’s Amann says tightened surveillance on the AfD will affect civil servants like police officers and military personnel, who may cancel their membership out of fear of losing their jobs… When Germany announces the AfD is under surveillance, Pazderski says it can expect an immediate lawsuit challenging the decision. And that, he says, may take years to resolve…”

This seems to be certainly political, considering who runs the agency. It reminds us of the witch-hunt by Democrats against Trump.

Deutsche Welle added on January 26:

“The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt approved the decision to place the regional branch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party under surveillance, the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday. The decision was allegedly made on January 12… The move gives the state intelligence service the power to observe communications and financial transactions of the 1,400 members of the party in the state… The intelligence service is also considering placing the entire national AfD party under surveillance. The results of a two-year investigation are expected to be published soon, according to AFP, which could be a blow to the party during an election year…

“The former head of the intelligence service, Hans-Georg Maassen, also said on Tuesday that he was stepping down earlier than planned from the law firm which was representing the AfD’s case against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Maassen was allegedly forced out of his previous job for holding close connections with the far-right party and subsequently came under fire for joining the law firm.”

These are indeed frightening and deeply disturbing developments.

Biden Reverses Trump Policy on Israel and Palestinians

The Associated Press wrote on January 26:

“U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of the Trump administration’s cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians… President Donald Trump’s administration provided unprecedented support to Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, slashing financial assistance for the Palestinians and reversing course on the illegitimacy of Israeli settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians.

“Israel captured east Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war. The international community considers both areas to be occupied territory, and the Palestinians seek them as parts of a future independent state. Israel has built a far-flung network of settlements that house nearly 700,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem since their capture in 1967…

“‘Under the new administration, the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state,’ [acting U.A. ambassador Richard Mills] said… ‘Now is the time to heal and repair the damage left by the previous U.S. administration,’ he said. ‘We look forward to the reversal of the unlawful and hostile measures undertaken by the Trump administration and to working together for peace.’”

But there won’t be peace. In fact, this new blind-sighted US approach will only lead to more hostility. Note the next article.

Israel Warns Biden

The Associated Press wrote on January 26:

“Israel’s military chief Tuesday warned the Biden administration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even if it toughens its terms, adding he’s ordered his forces to step up preparations for possible offensive action against Iran during the coming year. The comments by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi came as Israel and Iran both seek to put pressure on President Joe Biden ahead of his expected announcement on his approach for dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. In Iran, leaders said they would not wait indefinitely for Biden to act.

“The 2015 deal put curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the easing of crippling economic sanctions. Israel strongly opposed the deal, saying it did not include sufficient safeguards to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. It welcomed the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the agreement in 2018. Biden has said he will seek to revive the deal, with some changes.

“Kohavi said that given the threat posed by Iran, Israel’s military would be prepared to attack on its own if needed. ‘I instructed the army to prepare a number of operational plans in addition to the existing ones,’ he said. ‘We are taking care of these plans and will develop them during the coming year…”

Israel WILL act militarily against Iran, even unilaterally, if it feels threatened.

Russia’s Suppression of Opposing Voices

The Associated Press reported on January 23:

“Russian police arrested more than 3,000 people Saturday in nationwide protests demanding the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s most prominent foe… In Moscow, an estimated 15,000 demonstrators gathered in and around Pushkin Square in the city center, where clashes with police broke out and demonstrators were roughly dragged off by helmeted riot officers to police buses and detention trucks. Some were beaten with batons.

“Navalny’s wife Yulia was among those arrested… The protests stretched across Russia’s vast territory, from the island city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk north of Japan and the eastern Siberian city of Yakutsk, where temperatures plunged to minus-50 Celsius, to Russia’s more populous European cities…

“The 44-year-old activist is well known nationally for his reports on the corruption that has flourished under President Vladimir Putin’s government. His wide support puts the Kremlin in a strategic bind — officials are apparently unwilling to back down by letting him go free, but keeping him in custody risks more protests and criticism from the West… Navalny has been a thorn in the Kremlin’s side for a decade, unusually durable in an opposition movement often demoralized by repressions. He has been jailed repeatedly in connection with protests and twice was convicted of financial misdeeds in cases that he said were politically motivated. He suffered significant eye damage when an assailant threw disinfectant into his face. He was taken from jail to a hospital in 2019 with an illness that authorities said was an allergic reaction but which many suspected was a poisoning.”

That is how Russia deals with opponents. They are simply suppressed violently. In the USA, opponents are being suppressed through political propaganda, the mass media and Big Tech. The results are the same.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Bill O’Reilly Slams McConnell

Newsmax wrote on January 17:

“Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is ‘torturing’ President Donald Trump in a ‘foolish display of power,’ conservative host Bill O’Reilly said Sunday. ‘Mitch McConnell is playing an extremely dangerous game by diminishing President Trump in the eyes of Americans who still like him,’ O’Reilly said… in reference to the Senate Majority Leader’s comments signaling he wouldn’t be the roadblock to impeachment the way he was this time last year. ‘I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate,’ McConnell wrote in a letter to colleagues after the House voted to impeach the president on grounds he incited an insurrection when a mob of rioters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the day Congress was set to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“‘As Senate majority leader, McConnell is delaying the impeachment trial until after Joe Biden is sworn in,’ writes O’Reilly. ‘But the Kentuckian is also saying it’s okay if GOP senators vote to ultimately convict the president on charges of inciting the violence at the Capitol building. Why would McConnell do that? He has to know that voting to convict Donald Trump in the Senate would damage the Republican Party immensely. Millions of people who voted for Trump would leave the GOP.’”

McConnell, called “the fox,” does seem to play an interesting personal political game, but it could be a dangerous one for the GOP survival.

Newsmax reported on January 19:

“U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said in a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday that ‘the mob was fed lies’ before the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. ‘They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,’ McConnell said of the attack that delayed certification of Democrat Joe Biden as the next president by several hours, forcing lawmakers to seek safety, and resulted in the death of five people, including a Capitol Police officer.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said in a subsequent interview that McConnell was clearly wrong on this; and that only Trump could save the GOP. Senator Rand Paul added that if the Republicans in the Senate will go through with impeachment, then it will destroy the Republican Party.

Franklin Graham Attacks House Republicans

Newsweek wrote on January 14:

“Evangelist Franklin Graham compared 10 members of the GOP to Judas Iscariot on Thursday after they voted to approve President Donald Trump’s second impeachment… ‘Shame, shame on the ten Republicans who joined with @SpeakerPelosi & the House Dmocrats in impeaching President Trump yesterday,’ Graham tweeted. ‘After all that he has done for our country, you would turn your back & betray him so quickly? What was done yesterday only further divides our nation.’

“Graham elaborated on his opinion in a Thursday Facebook post, detailing why he believed Trump was actually impeached. ‘But the House Democrats impeached him because they hate him and want to do as much damage as they can,’ Graham wrote. ‘And these ten, from [Trump’s] own party, joined in the feeding frenzy. It makes you wonder what the thirty pieces of silver were that [Democratic House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi promised for this betrayal.’”

Original Investigation against Trump “Incompetent” and “Corrupt”

Fox News reported on January 16:

“Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham on Friday released a slew of additional documents and transcripts related to his panel’s investigation into the origins and aftermath of the Trump-Russia probe, calling the original probe ‘one of the most incompetent and corrupt investigations in the history of the FBI and DOJ.’… ‘The FISA court was lied to. Exculpatory information was withheld on those being investigated. The investigators, with some notable exceptions, were incredibly biased and used the powers of law enforcement for political purposes,’ Graham said. ‘The subjects of the investigation had their lives turned upside down. It is my hope that counterintelligence investigations will be reined in and this never happens again in America.’

“Graham slammed the leadership of the FBI under former Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, saying it was ‘either grossly incompetent’ or said  ‘they knowingly allowed tremendous misdeeds.’…

“Meanwhile, former Attorney General Bill Barr tapped U.S. Attorney from Connecticut John Durham as special counsel to ensure he could continue his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe through the Biden administration. Durham was appointed by Barr last year to investigate the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe, shortly after special counsel Robert Mueller completed his yearlong investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller’s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 election.”

With that terrible record of the first impeachment, what will the second impeachment bring?

CNN Pushes to Close Down Newsmax TV

Newsmax wrote on January 17:

“CNN is making no mistake about it: It wants to censor and close Newsmax from broadcasting as a cable news channel. Apparently jolted by the fact Newsmax has skyrocketed to become the 4^th highest-rated cable news channel in the country, the liberal CNN is decrying what it calls Newsmax’s ‘election denialism’ and is seeking to have it ‘deplatformed’ from cable and satellite systems across the nation…

“Previously, CNN had led efforts to deplatform President Donald Trump from Twitter…

“While far-left activists jumped to support a potential silencing of Newsmax, others noted the censorship effort runs afoul of both freedom of speech and anti-trust laws. Former Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer exposed the hypocrisy, if not double standard, of the suggestion of silencing conservative channels, tweeting, ‘You knew it would happen. Some want to take conservative media off the air because they bought into Trump’s election theories. On those grounds, shouldn’t CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC be taken off the air because they bought into [Russian] collusion theories? This censorship must stop.’”

This is really eye-opening, but it shows how much power the left-wing mass media has.

Israelis Worried about US Censorship

Israel Today wrote on January 15:

“Developments in the US are a major concern for many Israelis, not only because a similar situation could develop here… but also because America has always been a friend of Israel, and never more so than in the past four years. Now, however, a creeping authoritarianism made up of corrupt politicians and big tech companies seems to be threatening the country.

“It is unprecedented to see companies like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Google teaming with overreaching politicians to silence political opponents, and the fact that this is happening in the world’s only superpower is particularly worrying… The impression that many on this side of the world have is that the tech giants, with Joe Biden as their puppet, have teamed up to take control of the United States…

“On top of that, you have the Corona vaccinations. Even in Israel, which leads the world in mass inoculation, the vaccine remains somewhat controversial. Media reports of some people suffering side effects and even dying after receiving the vaccine have folks concerned… Despite protests by many experts against the draconian coronavirus restrictions, the politicians stubbornly continue down their chosen path. The initial panic when we knew far less about the virus continues to determine political decisions a year later…”

The connection between Big Tech and certain left-wing politicians has been clearly recognized in the article.

Increasing Persecution of Christians in the USA

Newsmax wrote on January 17:

“Famed conservative thinker and author David Horowitz is warning that Democrats are trying to ‘criminalize’ the First Amendment rights of Americans as the nation is in ‘the initial stages to becoming a fascist state.’… Horowitz, a prominent Jewish conservative, warned that Christians are set to see increasing persecution as the Democrats take control of Washington… Horowitz said the Democratic Party has embraced an anti-Christian agenda that was vigorously implemented by Barack Obama, ‘the most anti-Christian, most anti-religious president in history.’

“‘The problem, outside the persecution of any group is bad, is this country was founded on Christian principles,’ Horowitz noted. He said… the ‘values we cherish’ began with America’s Christian settlers, who themselves were fleeing persecution in Europe for their beliefs. Horowitz argues [that] those freedoms are ‘under systematic assault by the Democrat party’ today. Horowitz also defended the right of Republicans to question the 2020 election results, and noted Democrats had made similar moves in with the 2000, 2004 and 2016 elections.”

Persecution of Christians is prophesied and is truly coming, as Satan is behind all of this.

Politicians in Biden Administration Responsible for Real Coups

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on January 18:

“With the mainstream media still obsessing about the January 6th ‘violent coup attempt’ at the US Capitol Building, the incoming Biden Administration looks to be chock full of actual purveyors of violent coups. Don’t look to the mainstream media to report on this, however. Some of the same politicians and bureaucrats denouncing the ridiculous farce at the Capitol as if it were the equivalent of 9/11 have been involved for decades in planning and executing real coups overseas. In their real coups, many thousands of civilians have died.

“Take returning Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, for example. More than anyone else she is the face of the US-led violent coup against a democratically-elected government in Ukraine in 2014. Nuland… was caught on a phone call actually plotting the coup right down to who would take power once the smoke cleared.

“Unlike the fake Capitol ‘coup,’ this was a real overthrow… the Ukraine coup had real armed insurrectionists with a real plan to overthrow the government. Eventually, with the help of incoming Assistant Secretary of State Nuland, they succeeded – after thousands of civilians were killed… while President Trump railed against the ‘stupid wars’ and promised to bring the troops home, he hired people like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo to get the job done. They spent their time ‘clarifying’ Trump’s call for ending wars to mean he wanted to actually continue the wars. It was a colossal failure.

“So it’s hard to be optimistic about a Biden Administration… Biden has announced that… Samantha Power… would head that Agency [USAID] in his Administration. Power, who served on President Obama’s National Security Council staff and as US Ambassador to the UN, argued passionately and successfully that a US attack on the Gaddafi government in Libya would result in a liberation of the people and the outbreak of democracy in the country. In reality, her justification was all based on lies and the US assault has left nothing but murder and mayhem. Gaddafi’s relatively peaceful, if authoritarian, government has been replaced by radical terrorists and even slave markets.

“At the end of the day, the Bush Republicans – like Rep. Liz Cheney – will join hands with the Biden Democrats to reinstate ‘American leadership.’ This of course means more US overt and covert wars overseas. The unholy alliance between Big Tech and the US government will happily assist the US State Department under Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Assistant Secretary of State Nuland with the technology to foment more ‘regime change’ operations wherever the Biden Administration sees fit… “

And there will be no peace…

US-EU Relationship Beyond Swift Repair

CNN wrote on January 17:

“The presidency of Donald Trump has left such a wretched stench in Europe that it’s hard to see how, even in four years, Joe Biden could possibly get America’s most important alliance back on track. Throughout Trump’s term, Europeans have been walking a tightrope, trying to balance outright condemnation of the President’s most destructive behavior with not alienating the leader of the Western world… While the assumption is that the transatlantic relationship will improve under Biden, four years of carnage has spooked the European political scene…

“This idea, that Europe has lost its trust in America, comes up time and again when speaking to European diplomats and EU officials… European diplomats and officials are adamant that moves towards an independent defense policy and international ‘strategic autonomy’ will not slow down…

“A view many European officials share is that no matter how friendly Biden is, Trump happened once — and could happen again. The President lost the election, but clearly there is still a lot of support for his politics…

“If this all sounds a little gloomy, to some extent, it is. It will take more than four years for the fog to lift over the Atlantic, and there are fears the relationship between Europe and America will never go back to what it was. For Europeans, that’s a reality they’re determined to make the best of. For the US, it’s unclear whether being downgraded as a diplomatic force is something that its citizens… will even care about.

“Regardless, the Trump era has left Europeans with little choice but to wait and see how much of a priority Biden places on reclaiming America’s place on the world stage. And they will use the four years of relative quiet under Biden to build safeguards against the all too real possibility of another Euroskeptic firestarter winning the White House in 2024.”

Under Biden, the relationship between the USA and Europe might not continue to deteriorate as fast as it would have been under Trump, but we do not see that it will get substantially better (especially, if, as the previous article suggests, the Biden Administration will be engaged again in overseas wars which may or may not meet Europe’s approval). Europe will look after their own, while observing how the Biden Administration will cause America’s economic and domestic downfall.

Travel Restrictions to be “Strengthened” under Biden

The Sun wrote on January 18:

“The incoming Biden administration will NOT lift entry bans on those traveling from the UK, [Ireland,] Brazil and much of the Europe on January 26. [Donald Trump on Monday rescinded entry bans imposed of the coronavirus pandemic on most non-US citizens arriving from Brazil, the United  Kingdom and all European Union countries, to become effective January 26.] Travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic barring most visitors from Europe coming to the US have been in place since mid-March, while the Brazilian entry ban came into force in May.

“Incoming president Joe Biden will instead be strengthening rules around international travel…”

The following reader’s comment was quite telling:

“Biden doesn’t want the travel restrictions loosened, but he’ll let 10,000 people cross the southern border. Then he’ll pay for their medical expenses, food, and tax the American public to pay for it.”

Newsmax added on January 18:

“Until Biden acts, Trump’s order ends restrictions the same day that new COVID-19 test requirements take effect for all international visitors… Last week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed an order requiring nearly all air travelers to present a negative coronavirus test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 to enter the United States starting Jan. 26… Biden, once in office, has the legal authority to reimpose the restrictions.”

On the other hand, right after his inauguration on Wednesday, Biden signed 17 sweeping executive orders, undoing much of Trump’s policies, including ceasing to build the border wall with Mexico and lifting the “Muslim travel ban.”  This seems to be quite inconsistent with, at the same time, refusing to lift the travel ban with European countries. While speaking on unity in his acceptance speech, his executive orders will do little to create any form of unity with the over 74 million Trump voters.

Trump refused to attend the inauguration ceremony. He departed earlier for Florida. In his farewell speech on Wednesday, he said: “We will be back in some form.”

Detention Camps in Germany… Again!

The Sun wrote on January 18:

“GERMANY’S worst Covid rule breakers will be held in detention centres under new proposals being drawn up by a number of state governments. The move forms part of the country’s efforts to stop the spread of the more contagious mutant strain of the virus detected in the UK last month.

“In the eastern state of Saxony, people who ignore lockdown measures will be held in a cordoned-off part of a refugee camp being built next week. State authorities have said the centre will only be used for those who repeatedly breach self-isolation requirements. A similar scheme will be used in neighbouring Brandenburg, while in northerly Schleswig-Holstein rule breakers will be held in a part of a juvenile detention centre. The southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg will reportedly use rooms in hospitals.

“The country’s regional governments have powers to hold people who flout lockdown requirements under the Disease Protection Act, first passed by the federal parliament in March, Die Welt reports…

“Current lockdown measures are due to expire on January 31, but Chancellor Angela Merkel [allegedly said] that the country still needs ‘eight to 10 weeks of hard measures’.”

Mass tabloid Bild commented that we must accept a total lockdown, like in the Middle Ages. The very concept of detention or concentration camps in Germany brings up all kinds of terrible memories, and the comparison with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust has ALREADY been drawn on social media.

Total Lockdown Extended in Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on January 19:

“Angela Merkel and Germany’s 16 state premiers decided to keep the lockdown in place until at least mid-February… and introduce tougher measures to fight the spread of the coronavirus…  Most shops, schools and non-essential business, such as gyms and sports centers, will remain closed… People in shops and on public transport will be required to wear filter masks such as FFP2 respirators, which also protect the wearer…

“Religious events in churches, synagogues and mosques may take place if they follow hygiene rules, but communal singing is not allowed. Contact at private meetings is restricted to just one other person not living in the same household. Schools are largely closed and students are taught through distance learning….”

This is clearly overkill.

Laschet Becomes Merkel’s Successor

Daily Mail wrote on January 16:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right party has elected a new leader to take over ahead of the national elections in September. Armin Laschet,… governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, was announced the winner at a virtual conference hosted by the Christian Democratic Union party on Saturday in Berlin… The decision ends an 11-month leadership limbo in Germany’s strongest party after outgoing leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who had failed to impose her authority on the party, announced her resignation…

“CDU members may also have been swayed by Laschet’s alliance with Health Minister Jens Spahn, whose efforts to steer Germany through the pandemic have made him a favourite with the public. The pair wrote a joint article for Der Spiegel weekly promising to make the CDU ‘one of the most modern parties in Europe’ and stressing that leadership ‘does not mean a one-man show’…

“Laschet was born in Aachen, the spa city in western Germany near the border with Belgium and the Netherlands. He is a great fan of Charlemagne, the king of the Franks credited with uniting Europe whose empire was based in Aachen. His family has even claimed they are direct descendants… [He is Catholic and a self-described ‘passionate European.’].”

God’s Church has been having ongoing problems especially and mainly in Laschet’s North Rhine-Westphalia, with the state government refusing to excuse our children from school attendance to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

North Korea in the News Again

Bloomberg wrote on January 15:

“North Korea held its second major military parade in three months to mark a rare party meeting, showing off nuclear advances including a new submarine-launched ballistic missile as Donald Trump leaves office… North Korea unveiled what was likely the world’s largest road-ready intercontinental ballistic missile, designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to the U.S…

“The show of force demonstrated the progress North Korea has made on its nuclear program in the face of Trump’s unprecedented move to meet Kim face-to-face in an effort to neutralize one of the U.S.’s biggest security threats. Kim last week signaled a challenge to Biden, saying he would focus on ‘subduing’ the U.S. and continuing to enhance his nuclear capability to ensure North Korea’s ‘autonomic development.’”

It seems like North Korea was just waiting until Trump exits the stage… for now.

Russia Being Condemned Internationally for Detention of Dissident Alexei Navalny

Breitbart wrote on January 18:

“Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who has been receiving treatment and recuperating in Germany since he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in August, made good on his promise to return to Russia on Sunday. The Russian government immediately made good on its promise to arrest him…

“The Kremlin announced before Navalny departed Germany that he would be arrested upon returning to Russia because he allegedly violated the terms of his parole from a 2014 conviction for embezzlement. Navalny maintains the embezzlement prosecution against him was politically motivated, and the European Court of Human Rights agrees with him.

“Navalny’s arrest on Sunday was swiftly condemned by governments and human rights organizations around the world. Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and incoming National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan both condemned the arrest as politically motivated and a violation of Navalny’s rights. The German government denounced the arrest as ‘totally incomprehensible’ and demanded Navalny’s immediate release…  ‘Steps taken by Russian authorities against Alexei Navalny must not be left without consequences for the international community’s relations with this country,’ said Polish President Andrzej Duda on Sunday night.

“Amnesty International declared Navalny a ‘prisoner of conscience’ and said his arrest provides ‘further evidence that Russian authorities are seeking to silence him.’ Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth said it was a ‘real act of bravery’ for Navalny to return to Russia ‘given that government agents already tried to kill him once,’ and also a sign that Navalny knows he would be less effective as a ‘dissident in exile.’

“The Russian government responded by describing Navalny’s arrest as a purely internal matter of criminal law and told the rest of the world to mind its own business, with the sneering implication that Western nations lack the moral stature to criticize Russia for the steps it takes to maintain public order…”

Deutsche Welle added on January 18:

“Navalny was rushed to a makeshift courtroom on Monday, just a day after his arrest at a Moscow airport… Navalny’s aide accused authorities of denying him access to his lawyers, saying he was notified at the last minute of the makeshift hearing. The judge handed Navalny a sentence of 30 days in prison…

“Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert… said Russia had arrested the ‘victim’ of ‘attempted murder with chemical weapons’ and ‘not the perpetrator.’ Merkel had ‘repeatedly’ noted that Russia’s treatment of Navalny ‘weighed on’ relations between Berlin and Moscow, Seibert added…

“His detention has been widely condemned internationally, with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas [calling] it totally ‘incomprehensible’ and Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab saying it was ‘appalling’… Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called for EU sanctions against Moscow… European Union members… Latvia and Estonia also called for the ‘imposition of restrictive measures’ against Russia.”

Russia is a totalitarian country which does not allow opposition. The USA should wake up to this and make sure that it does not follow Russia’s example—which right now it IS in the process of doing.

UK Breakup Inevitable

Daily Mail wrote on January 17:

“Most Scots are scunnered by events at Westminster since 2016, notably by Brexit and what they see as the incompetence of Boris Johnson and his Government. In December 2019, along with every Westminster Election since 2005, Scotland overwhelmingly did not vote for the party that formed the British Government. Indeed, it pulled in the opposite direction with an even more impressive landslide for the Scottish National Party. The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has made it clear that many Scots believe there is a profound democratic deficit for their nation – that their views on Brexit (and other matters) did not count, and that if Scots wanted to leave any union, it was the one known as the United Kingdom…

“Whether you are a British unionist or one of the several versions of Scottish, English, Welsh or Irish nationalists, the truth is that the United Kingdom is now united in name only. The choice before us is either to come together and make profound changes to the way we are governed, or to accept that the UK is ultimately a failed state and agree to split apart… I have come to believe that Britain may indeed be coming to its end. It is not alarm bells I hear. It’s a death knell.

“On the day we officially left the EU a year ago, Mr Johnson promised to bring the United Kingdom together… Rapidly, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shrank to becoming the Prime Minister of England only – and at times only parts of England… The end of Britain would be much more complicated, messy, costly and bitter even than Brexit.”

Yes, it does appear that way.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Congress Votes to Impeach President Trump… Again!

apnews.com wrote on January 13:

“President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time Wednesday, charged with ‘incitement of insurrection’ over the deadly mob siege of the Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office.

“With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol, egged on by the president’s calls for them to ‘fight like hell’ against the election results…

“The soonest Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell would start an impeachment trial is next Tuesday, the day before Trump is already set to leave the White House, McConnell’s office said. The legislation is also intended to prevent Trump from ever running again.”

Just how “quietly” President Trump will leave the public stage remains to be seen…

Questions Surrounding Trump Impeachment

Fox News reported on January 13:

“The House of Representatives voted 232-197 Wednesday to impeach President Trump for alleged ‘incitement of insurrection’ in connection with the mob chaos at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Whether or not the impeachment results in a conviction, it marks a historic moment in that no prior U.S. president has been impeached twice. But it also raises questions about whether a trial can even be held once the president leaves office. The earliest the Senate could receive the article of impeachment would be Jan. 19, a day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. A trial could go on for weeks, if it takes place at all…

“J. Michael Luttig, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit from 1991 to 2006, argued in a Washington Post op-ed Tuesday that a Senate trial after Trump has left office would be unconstitutional. But other experts disagree and Senate leaders in both parties appear ready to move forward. McConnell sent memos to his colleagues explaining how the chamber might proceed after receiving articles of impeachment from the House, and his Democratic counterpart from New York, Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, vowed that a trial would be held…

“Seeking Trump’s removal from office after Biden’s inauguration appears to be a moot point. But a conviction would allow senators to then vote to bar the outgoing president from running for office again in 2024 and curtail his post-presidential benefits.

“Other officials have been impeached after leaving office in the past – but none were presidents. The Senate voted to dismiss some of those cases on the basis that the subjects were no longer holding their positions. However, in an 1876 case, former Secretary of War William Belknap resigned just before his impeachment. The Senate held a trial and acquitted him anyway.

“There’s also a question over who would represent the president’s defense and whether taxpayers would foot the bill for Trump’s legal fees – which remains unclear. Last time, he was represented by both White House lawyers and private attorneys. At least two of the latter were paid for by the Republican National Committee, according to campaign finance records.

“Even if the Senate moves forward with a trial, it could face legal and constitutional hurdles. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley argued Wednesday that Trump would have standing to challenge an impeachment trial in court if it began after he exits the office. As a result, the trial could be over before it starts…”

Now, evidence is mounting that the attack on the Capitol was prepared BEFORE Trump gave his speech. If so, then Trump’s speech could not possibly have incited violence. Legal scholars have pointed out anyhow that his speech was protected by the Constitution. The indictment through out-of-control Democrats and ten political House Republicans must be explained, according to some observers, as an act of revenge with the attempt to get rid of Trump for good.

In the meantime, the war of the mass media, being in cahoots with Big Tech, against Trump and his supporters continues. CNN’s Tapper stated that the “GOP needs exorcism to ‘get this demon out.” CNN’s Don Lemon stated that “if you voted for Trump, you are on ‘the Klan,’ ‘Nazis’ Side.” And the LA Times called for “De-Trumpification.’” Tucker Carlson warned of the future where Trump voters are ‘redefined as Domestic Terrorists.’” 

Armed Protests in all 50 State Capitals?

Foxnews.com reported on January 11:

“An internal FBI memo is warning of plans for armed protests in all 50 state capital cities ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration, Fox News has learned.

“A federal law enforcement source told Fox News that an internal bureau memo is warning that the protests could be staged before, on, and after Inauguration Day.”

Preparing for the Worst

Political.com wrote on January 13:

“National Guard units are being told to prepare for the possibility that improvised explosive devices will be used by individuals plotting to attack the Capitol in the days surrounding the Inauguration, according to two Guardsmen briefed this week.

“The briefings indicate that Washington, D.C.-area law enforcement believe the IEDs planted last week at the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters were not an isolated incident. The individual who planted those bombs has yet to be apprehended, and FBI agents have been going door to door in D.C. this week asking residents for any photos or video they might have that could help identify the suspect, two of the residents told POLITICO.

“In addition to the IED threat, the Guardsmen are being briefed that protesters could be heavily armed. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has authorized the National Guardsmen protecting the Capitol, previously only carrying protective gear, to carry lethal weapons including M-9 handguns. A ‘significant majority’ of soldiers are also carrying M-4 rifles, one of the Guardsmen said…

“Up to 20,000 Guardsmen could be stationed around D.C. in the coming days, at the request of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and other civil authorities. On Tuesday night, hundreds of armed Guardsmen deployed to the Capitol ahead of lawmakers beginning a second round of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.”

Trump Warns Big Tech

Breitbart wrote on January 12:

“President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the efforts by Big Tech companies to deplatform him and his supporters was a ‘big mistake’ that would only anger more Americans. ‘I think that big tech is doing a horrible thing for our country and to our country, and I believe it’s going to be a catastrophic mistake for them,’ Trump said… Trump said that he had warned about the massive power and influence wielded by Big Tech throughout his presidency, adding that the decision they were making would reverberate around the world. ‘They’re dividing, and divisive, and they’re showing something that I’ve been predicting for a long time,’ he said…

“Facebook and Twitter permanently banned the president’s social media accounts. Google, Apple, and Amazon acted simultaneously to ban Parler, a Twitter competitor, from all of their platforms and web hosting services… ‘I’ve never seen such anger as I see right now, and that’s a terrible thing and you have to always avoid violence’ [Trump said].

“Trump also challenged assertions that his rally speech in front of the White House last week inspired the mob violence that took place on Capitol Hill… He compared his own rhetoric to Democrat political leaders talking about and failing to condemn the violence during the Black Lives Matter riots during the summer…”

YouTube Suspends Trump Channel

CNN reported on January 13:

“YouTube is suspending President Donald Trump’s channel for at least one week, and potentially longer, after his channel earned a strike under the platform’s policies, the company said Tuesday evening.

“A recent video on Trump’s channel had incited violence, YouTube told CNN Business. That video has now been removed.

“YouTube declined to share details of the video that earned Trump the strike, but said that after the one-week timeout, it will revisit the decision. YouTube also removed content from the White House’s channel for violating policy, the company told CNN Business, but the channel itself has not been suspended or been given a strike — just a warning.

“Until now, YouTube had been the only remaining major social media platform not to have suspended Trump in some fashion. Facebook has suspended Trump’s account ‘indefinitely,’ while Twitter has banned Trump completely.

“‘After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence,’ a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. ‘As a result, in accordance with our long-standing strikes system, the channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or livestreams for a minimum of seven days—which may be extended.’”

New York City Dumps Trump Organization

CNN wrote on January 13:

“New York City is terminating its business relationships with the Trump Organization in response to last week’s attack on the US Capitol.

“On the day President Donald Trump faces a second impeachment for his role inciting the rioters who ransacked the Capitol, officials in New York City announced plans to immediately end the Trump Organization’s contracts to operate the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, the Central Park Carousel and the nearby Wollman and Lasker ice skating rinks.

“‘The attacks on our Capitol killed a police officer, left four rioters dead, exposed lawmakers to Covid-19 and threatened the constitutional transfer of power,’ the city said in a statement issued Wednesday morning. ‘They were a national abomination. We’re reviewing whether legal grounds exist in light of these new circumstances to terminate concessions with the Trump Organization.’

“‘Inciting an insurrection against the US government clearly constitutes criminal activity,’ New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told MSNBC on Wednesday. ‘The City of New York will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization.’”

The World Against America’s Big Tech

Breitbart wrote on January 11:

“An international outcry over tech censorship is underway, as political leaders from Mexico to Europe voice their alarm at the unchecked power of Big Tech, following the purge of President Donald Trump by the Big Tech Masters of the Universe…

“German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose pro-migration, anti-hate speech policies have little in common with President Trump or his movement, has nonetheless expressed concern at Silicon Valley’s unchecked power. ‘The chancellor sees the complete closing down of the account of an elected president as problematic,’ said Steffen Seibert, chief spokesman of the German chancellor, at a recent press conference in Berlin…. The finance minister of France, Bruno Le Maire, condemned what he called a ‘digital oligarchy,’ calling it ‘one of the threats’ to democracy. ‘There needs to be public regulation of big online platforms,’ said Le Maire…

“The French and German leaders join president Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, an avowed socialist, who was the first world leader to condemn Facebook and Twitter for banning president Trump. ‘I don’t like anybody being censored or taking away from the right to post a message on Twitter or Face(book). I don’t agree with that, I don’t accept that,’ said López Obrador. The Mexican president said tech companies were behaving like an ‘inquisition’ to ‘manage public opinion.’ ‘This is really serious’ he added…

“The Prime Minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, was reportedly alarmed at Silicon Valley censorship even before Trump was permanently removed from Twitter and other platforms. In November… the Prime Minister was considering new laws against tech censorship following Twitter’s censoring of President Trump during the U.S. presidential election. ‘Boris did not like what he saw in the US election and has asked for more time to consider how to avoid the same thing happening to him in future,’ said the government source, discussing a planned internet regulation bill…

“Manfred Weber, leader of the largest party group in the European Parliament, said ‘we cannot leave it to American Big Tech to decide how we can or cannot discuss online,’ labeling it a threat to the ‘consensus building’ that is ‘crucial in free and democratic societies.’…

“Poland, run by a populist-nationalist government, has long taken the issue of tech censorship seriously. The Polish government is in the process of passing a law that would fine tech companies millions of euros for censoring content that is legal in Poland. The law would also create a new Court for the Protection of Freedom of Speech in Poland, where citizens of the country will be able to escalate complaints of tech censorship… The government of Hungary, a resolute enemy of the international cultural left, began an investigation into tech censorship in Europe in 2019… In the same year, Hungary also fined Facebook for claiming its services are ‘free.’

“In the Pacific, leaders of the center-right government of Australia including the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, and the Treasurer, Josh Fryndenburg, also voiced their opposition to the bans of Trump from social media…

“In Russia, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was the victim of attempted assassination by poisoning last year, said Silicon Valley’s actions bear the hallmarks of authoritarianism. ‘Of course, Twitter is a private company, but we have seen many examples in Russian and China of such private companies becoming the state’s best friends and the enablers when it comes to censorship,’ said Navalny…

“Jonas Gahr Støre, leader of the left-wing Labour party in Norway and a favorite to become the next Prime Minister of the country, also criticized the censorship. While condemning President Trump for ‘hate,’ the left-wing party leader said that big tech censorship threatened political freedom around the world….”

washingtonexaminer.com wrote on January 11:

“French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has joined international leaders in condemning social media’s censorship of conservative voices.

“Le Maire, who said he was ‘shocked’ by the decisions of Twitter, Facebook, Apple, and other Silicon Valley companies to ban President Trump in the wake of Wednesday’s siege of Capitol Hill, called Big Tech ‘one of the threats’ to democracy. He called for government regulation of the corporations to stave off a ‘digital oligarchy.’

“‘This should be decided by citizens, not by a CEO,’ he said. ‘There needs to be public regulation of big online platforms.’

“Le Maire’s comments come as the technology companies are facing international scrutiny in light of their handling of the recent political unrest. Most notably, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the bans represented a ‘problematic’ breach of the ‘fundamental right to free speech.’”

Israelis See Big Tech Duplicity

Israel Today wrote on January 10:

“The decision by tech giants Twitter, Facebook, Apple and Google to silence US President Donald Trump and some of his followers has Israelis agitated… What’s got Israelis all across the political spectrum frustrated is the fact that the Jewish state has for years been pressing Facebook and Twitter to ban incitement to violence against Israel from the likes of Iran, Palestinian terror groups and others. But the response has always been that freedom of speech must be protected.

“During a Knesset hearing in July 2020, a Twitter representative told Israeli lawmakers that tweets by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei calling for the elimination of the ‘Zionist regime’ were legitimate ‘comments on political issues of the day.’

“So why is Trump different? Comparatively speaking, even if Trump’s tweets can be directly linked to the Capitol riots and other acts of violence, he never explicitly called for such, unlike Iran and the Palestinian terror groups. Also by way of comparison, the acts of violence in the US have resulted in far fewer casualties than have the acts of violence against Israel incited by Khamenei, the Muslim Brotherhood and Fatah.

“An Internet survey taken by Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv suggested that most Israelis see Twitter’s move as entirely political. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said that cutting off Trump was an unjustified effort to silence a political voice…”

Twitter’s Bizarre Censorship

Israel 365 added on January 10:

“Twitter intensified its bizarre and disjointed program of censorship by taking down a tweet by Iran’s Ayatollah due to its skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine while continuing to ignore the regime leader’s calls to wipe out Israel. Twitter removed a tweet posted on Friday by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying that anti-COVD vaccines produced in Britain and the US are ‘untrustworthy.’…”

Tucker Carlson Speaks Out

Life Site News wrote on January 9:

“Democrats, social media giants, and CEOs have seized upon Wednesday’s Washington, D.C. protest as a blanket excuse to crack down on the freedoms of anyone who supports President Donald Trump. ‘The Trump protest at the Capitol yesterday is already being used as a pretext for an unprecedented crackdown on civil liberties. Just in the last several hours we have heard people in positions of power and authority demand that those who support Donald Trump should no longer be allowed to publish books or use the internet or fly on airplanes… Driving cars, holding jobs, staying in hotels — those will certainly be next, and we’re barely exaggerating. In fact, we’re predicting it,’ Tucker Carlson said during his show Thursday evening. ‘To justify mind-bending, terrifyingly un-American demands like these, they are as usual relying on lies and hysteria,’ Carlson continued…

“Wednesday’s events are also being used as an excuse to remove posts and videos from major social media platforms. In some cases, there is no apparent reason other than the questioning of the legitimacy of the election, or even the expression of dissatisfaction with the Democratic party. YouTube has just announced that, in response to Wednesday’s events at the Capitol, it will crack down on claims of voter fraud by blocking users from YouTube for a week without a first-strike warning, which was its previous policy… YouTube has already admitted to censoring ‘thousands of videos’ claiming that fraud affected the 2020 election…

“Facebook and Instagram banned Donald Trump from their platforms indefinitely. Twitter announced Friday night it is banning Trump — the leader of the free world — from its platform permanently. The Chinese communist government is still allowed to use Twitter, as is Iran’s ayatollah. Meanwhile, Biden compared U.S. senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to Nazis.”

Glen Beck and Nazi Germany

The Huffington Post wrote on January 13:

“Right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck drew condemnation after he compared social media companies’ crackdown on President Donald Trump to the ghettoization of Jews in Nazi Germany. ‘You can’t have freedom of speech if you can’t … express yourself in a meaningful place,’ Beck said… claiming censorship was ‘absolutely un-American’ whether carried out by people on the left or the right… ‘Well, this is the digital ghetto…’”

Recently, in commenting on current events in the USA, more and more comparisons with Nazis and Nazi Germany have been drawn. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke of the “Reichskristallnacht,” when Jewish stores were destroyed by Nazis, comparing it with the mob invading the Capitol. On the other hand, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro compared the social media ban to the “Kristallnacht.” Politicians call their colleagues Nazis when they don’t agree with their viewpoint. However, all these comparisons are not helpful, when it is not being recognized who the Nazis in Germany were. Nazi is a short form for National Socialism, as it was practiced in Germany under Hitler. Most do not seem to recognize what Hitler stood for. 

Ron Paul Takes on Big Tech and US Governments

Ron Paul wrote on January 11 in his weekly column:

“Last week’s massive social media purges – starting with President Trump’s permanent ban from Twitter and other outlets – was shocking and chilling, particularly to those of us who value free expression and the free exchange of ideas. The justifications given for the silencing of wide swaths of public opinion made no sense and the process was anything but transparent. Nowhere in President Trump’s two ‘offending’ Tweets, for example, was a call for violence expressed explicitly or implicitly. It was a classic example of sentence first, verdict later.

“Many Americans viewed this assault on social media accounts as a liberal or Democrat attack on conservatives and Republicans, but they are missing the point…. This is a wider assault on any opinion that veers from the acceptable parameters of the mainstream elite, which is made up of both Democrats and Republicans. Yes, this is partly an attempt to erase the Trump movement from the pages of history, but it is also an attempt to silence any criticism of the emerging political consensus in the coming Biden era that may come from progressive or antiwar circles…

“Those who continue to argue that the social media companies are purely private ventures acting independent of US government interests are ignoring reality… ‘Big Tech’ long ago partnered with the Obama/Biden/Clinton State Department to lend their tools to US ‘soft power’ goals overseas. Whether it was ongoing regime change attempts against Iran, the 2009 coup in Honduras, the disastrous US-led coup in Ukraine, ‘Arab Spring,’ the destruction of Syria and Libya, and so many more, the big US tech firms were happy to partner up with the State Department and US intelligence to provide the tools to empower those the US wanted to seize power and to silence those out of favor.

“In short, US government elites have been partnering with ‘Big Tech’ overseas for years to decide who has the right to speak and who must be silenced… Even pro-free speech alternative social media outlets are under attack from the Big Tech/government Leviathan…”

Big Tech’s reaction was prompt and swift. Notice the next articles.

Facebook Blocks Ron Paul

Breitbart wrote on January 12:

“Facebook on Monday blocked former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) from managing his own Facebook page… Paul tweeted, ‘With no explanation other than “repeatedly going against our community standards,” Facebook has blocked me from managing my page. Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.’… Facebook’s message to Paul did not include any specific information identifying what content was violative of its ‘community standards’ or how. The Facebook employee(s) who decided to restrict Paul’s access to his page was not identified.

“Facebook’s restriction of Paul’s access to its platform is the latest example of a broader pattern of left-wing censorship driven by Big Tech. Kelley Paul, wife of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), highlighted Twitter’s arbitrary application of its own nebulous terms of service on Sunday when she criticized the left-wing digital platform for not removing threats against her husband. ‘Hey @jack, remember how for the last three years you have allowed thousands of hateful tweets celebrating my husband’s assault and encouraging more violence against him? I do,’ wrote Paul’s wife in a tweet.”

On January 12, 2021, JonathanTurley.org wrote the following:

“Paul, a libertarian leader and former presidential candidate, has been an outspoken critic of foreign wars and an advocate for civil liberties for decades… His son is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted, ‘Facebook now considers advocating for liberty to be sedition. Where will it end?’

“Even before the riot, Democrats were calling for blacklists and retaliation against anyone deemed to be ‘complicit’ with the Trump Administration. We have been discussing the rising threats against Trump supporters, lawyers, and officials in recent weeks… After the riots, the big tech companies moved to ban and block sites and individuals, including Parler which is the primary alternative to Twitter…

“The riots are being used as a license to roll back on free speech and retaliate against conservatives. In the meantime, the silence of academics and many in the media is deafening. Many of those who have spoken for years about the dark period of McCarthyism and blacklisting are either supporting this censorship or remaining silent in the face of it…

“The move against Paul… shows how raw and comprehensive this crackdown has become. It shows how the threat to free speech has changed. It is like having a state media without state control… The riot was immediately taken as a green light to move against a huge variety of sites and individuals. As we have seen in Europe, such censorship becomes an insatiable appetite for greater and greater speech control… Yet, most law professors and media figures in the United States remain silent.”

Spahn to Be Next German Chancellor?

Reuters reported on January 13:

“German Health Minister Jens Spahn is considering putting himself forward to stand as chancellor for Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc in a September federal election, top-selling Bild daily reported on Friday. Merkel has said she will not run for a fifth term in the election and her Christian Democrats (CDU) are to pick a new leader next week. The winner would be a favourite to stand as chancellor but someone else could stand, not least because the CDU’s Bavarian sister party has to back the candidate.

Citing party sources, Bild said Spahn, who has been in the spotlight during the coronavirus pandemic, had discussed his future role with various influential CDU politicians in the last few weeks. A chairman of a CDU state association told the paper that Spahn was ‘very openly thinking about running and is saying so quite clearly in talks’.

“In addition, a CDU state parliamentary party leader told Bild: ‘Jens Spahn has made it clear to me that he is open to running for chancellor if his poll ratings in March are much better than (Armin) Laschet’s.’ Laschet is one of the candidates vying for the CDU leadership, to be decided at a Jan. 15-16 conference. Spahn, 40, has backed Laschet for that job. He faces long-time Merkel rival Friedrich Merz and foreign policy expert Norbert Roettgen.

“Spahn was a fierce critic of Merkel’s 2015 open-door migrant policy and lost a CDU leadership election in 2018. He won respect for Germany’s handling of the first coronavirus wave but is now facing some criticism for a slow vaccine rollout.”d

Francis Grants More Rights to Women

The Associated Press wrote on January 11:

“Pope Francis changed church law Monday to explicitly allow women to do more things during Mass, granting them access to the most sacred place on the altar, while continuing to affirm that they cannot be priests. Francis amended the law to formalize and institutionalize what is common practice in many parts of the world: Women can be installed as lectors, to read Scripture, and serve on the altar as eucharistic ministers. Previously, such roles were officially reserved to men even though exceptions were made. Francis said he was making the change to increase recognition of the ‘precious contribution’ women make in the church, while emphasizing that all baptized Catholics have a role to play in the church’s mission…

“The change comes as Francis remains under pressure to allow women to be deacons — ministers who perform many of the same functions as priests, such as presiding at weddings, baptisms and funerals. Currently, the ministry is reserved for men… Francis has created a second commission of experts to study whether women could be deacons… Advocates for expanding the diaconate to include women say doing so would give women greater say in the ministry and governance of the church, while also helping address priest shortages in several parts of the world. Opponents say allowing it would become a slippery slope toward ordaining women to the priesthood.”

Francis: Suicidal Denial

AFP wrote on January 9:

“Pope Francis has called opposition to the coronavirus vaccine ‘suicidal denial’ urging people to get the jab and saying he would get vaccinated himself next week. ‘Next week, we will start to do it here (in the Vatican) and I made an appointment, we must do it,’ he told Canale 5 in segments released on Saturday from an interview set to be broadcast the next day. ‘There is a suicidal denial which I cannot explain, but today we have to get vaccinated,’ the pontiff said.”

Catholic-Lutheran Reconciliation

Life Site News wrote on January 7:

“The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the Lutheran World Foundation (LWF) have released an updated version of their joint document on justification to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s excommunication from the Catholic Church.

“Bishop Farrell… described it: ‘we do have the same doctrine and it basically says this: “together, we Lutherans and Catholics, confess that by grace alone in faith in Christ’s saving work, and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit who renews our hearts and makes us capable of doing good work.’”

“The new translation and increased ecumenical ties, come as the latest steps in an increasing number of actions undertaken by Pope Francis, in order to align the Catholic Church with the Lutherans. Then in January of 2020, Lutheran Evangelical Reverend Michael Jonas stated that in a private audience, Pope Francis had ‘stressed’ how ‘Catholics and Protestants are very close to one another in what they do in their public worship.’”

“A Week into Brexit, the Pain for UK Businesses Has Arrived”

The New York Times wrote on January 9:

“Britain started 2021 in a new relationship with its biggest trade partner, and it has immediately brought a litany of headaches and lost business. Within a week, implications of the Brexit trade deal with the European Union are being felt by businesses up and down the country as food deliveries are delayed for not having the right customs paperwork, logistics companies halt the shipment of goods, and retailers discover their supply chains might be obsolete…

“[On Monday,] The first day of financial trading under the new agreement meant the stock of European companies could no longer be traded on the London-based platforms they have historically been exchanged on. The trades have migrated to trading platforms in cities including Amsterdam and Paris… [On Tuesday] The British retailer Marks & Spencer had trouble getting its fresh salads and other prepared foods across the English Channel to its stores in France… [On Wednesday] The governor of the Bank of England, Britain’s central bank, told a parliamentary committee that the Brexit deal would cost the British economy about 2 percent of gross domestic product over the next few years. Part of that expense, said Andrew Bailey, the governor, would be caused by additional paperwork for customs declarations and other expenses of trade…

“[On Thursday] Scottish salmon farmers, who take pride in getting their fillets from sea to French markets within 24 hours, reported delays in their sleek process under the new Brexit terms. The deal’s ‘new, complex’ trading rules had caused holdups as seafood companies struggled  with the paperwork, the trade group Scotland Food and Drink said. ‘We have warned for months about the lack of preparation time for everyone involved and these problems sadly come as little surprise,’ said the head of the group.

“[On Friday] The large European delivery company DPD, which moved more than one billion parcels around the world in 2019, said it would stop sending packages from Britain to the European Union until at least the middle of next week as it tried to figure out new cross-border systems.

“For many businesses, this is what Brexit has quickly become: a logistical, regulatory and administrative burden for which they were unprepared. It will only add to the malaise in Britain, where the coronavirus pandemic is raging… and the country is under its third national lockdown. And analysts say the economy is heading for a double-dip recession…

“On Friday, DFDS, a large Danish logistics company that runs ferries from the English port of Dover to France, said a ‘high volume’ of trucks were being refused or delayed for not having the correct paperwork… DPD, the parcel delivery company, said it paused service to the European Union after up to 20 percent of parcels it handled had incorrect or incomplete data, and so would need to be returned to the sender…

“Many U.K. businesses — at least 150,000, according to data from Britain’s tax agency — have never traded beyond the European Union, and so have no experience dealing with the customs systems…

“Another new problem faced by large retailers with international locations: ‘Rules-of-origin requirements,’ which determine whether a product leaving Britain is ‘British enough’ to qualify for tariff-free trade with the European Union. International retailers who use sites in Britain as distribution centers are now finding that they can’t automatically re-export their products to their stores in the European Union without facing tariffs — even if the product came from the bloc…

“So far, there are few immediate tangible benefits of Brexit for businesses… it will be hard to realize any substantial short-term gains from Britain’s new trading arrangement with the European Union, especially since the pandemic continues to take a toll on the economy. Last year, the British economy experienced its deepest recession in more than 300 years, and the lockdowns continue as vaccines are slowly rolled out.”

Food Supplies at Risk

msn.com wrote on January 13:

Two weeks after New Year celebrations from government that marked the end of the Brexit transition period, bosses of the U.K.’s largest supermarkets are warning of “significant disruption” to food supplies in the coming months because of post-Brexit border arrangements on the island of Ireland.

Already, some products are running short in Northern Ireland as shops come up against new post-Brexit rules for importing food products from Great Britain across the Irish Sea. The chief executives of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Iceland, Co-Op and Marks & Spencer have written to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove warning that “urgent intervention” is needed to prevent supermarkets running out of food. They said that if further new certification requirements are introduced in April the system will become “unworkable”.

Since December 31, as part of the Brexit deal, a customs border was imposed in the Irish Sea to allow Northern Ireland to remain a part of the European Union’s (EU’s) single market for goods while the rest of the U.K. left. This means that food products moving from England, Scotland and Wales into Northern Ireland are subject to extra controls and checks at ports.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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