Russian Democracy Dead

Canada.com Network wrote on March 10:

“A message has been communicated to anyone who wants to speak out against the Kremlin: ‘If you do, no matter who you are, where you are, we will find you and we will silence you in the most horrible way possible.’ Those words come from an interview broadcast on NBC’s Dateline on Feb. 26. They were spoken by Paul Joyal, a Washington consultant who studies the former Soviet Union. Joyal was talking about the murder of his friend Alexander Litvinenko, the KGB defector who died painfully in London on Nov. 23 from radiation poisoning.

“Four nights after his Dateline interview, Joyal met another prominent KGB defector, Oleg Kalugin, for dinner at a restaurant in downtown Washington. Joyal returned to his home in suburban Maryland about 7:30 pm, stepped out of his car — and was shot in the groin. Neither his wallet nor his briefcase were taken. His shooter has not been found.

“Happily, the shooting was not fatal. Ivan Safronov, a military affairs writer for the Russian daily Kommersant, was less fortunate. Safronov had been working on a big story about a secret Russian deal to ship highly advanced Iskander missiles to Syria. The day after the Joyal shooting, Safronov fell out of a fifth story window in Moscow. Safronov is the 89th journalist to have died violently in Russia over the past 10 years.

“We do not know how many of those deaths were ordered by the Russian government. (And indeed Joyal’s shooting may well have been an ordinary crime.) But we do know that over the past half dozen years, Vladimir Putin’s government has extinguished all of Russia’s independent broadcast media and severely curbed most print media. We do know that Putin has ended elections for local government and centralized all power in the Kremlin. We do know that he has used administrative powers to seize some of Russia’s largest corporations and transfer ownership to his supporters — and to confiscate gas fields leased to foreign investors.

“And now we have a clearer idea of how Putin has been able to get away with these dangerous moves toward dictatorship: The Russian people support him. Last week, the EU-Russia Centre released the results of a major new survey of Russian public opinion. Only 16% of those surveyed identified the ‘Western model’ of democracy as the ideal. More than twice as many, 35%, said they ‘prefer the Soviet system before the 1990s.’ Only 10% of Russians regarded their country as belonging to the West. 71% said that Russia was not part of Europe. Almost half of Russians, 45%, regard Europe as a threat… As an institution, Russian democracy is dying. Inside the minds of the Russians, it is already dead.

“We have no shortage of things to worry about in our troubled world… Now add one more. A potentially great power, endowed with vast energy wealth and inheriting a vast nuclear arsenal, is deliberately and with the approval of the majority of its people turning its back on democracy and freedom. Instead of joining the West, Russia is finding its way to dangerous alliances with Iran, Syria, China… This grouping of anti-democratic states is extending its reach around the world…”

Europe Without Britain?

The EUObserver reported on March 10:

“The EU should go ahead and further integrate without the UK if it attempts to block a new constitutional treaty, Belgium’s prime minister Guy Verhofstadt has said. In an interview with German daily Die Welt, he said he expected the German EU presidency ‘not just to have put down a roadmap for the new constitution by the end of June, but also an outline of the content… Asked about what the EU should do if the UK blocks an agreement on a new treaty, Mr Verhofstadt said then the train has to drive on anyway… [and] ‘the European Union must progress without Great Britain.’… Drawing parallels from across the Atlantic, he said ‘the United States of America also did not come about in unison. At the time, only nine of the 13 British crown colonies voted in favour. The rest tailed behind and accepted the agreement later.'”

Watchdogs or Lapdogs?

On March 13, News.com published a revealing interview with famous journalist, Dan Rather. We are bringing you the following excerpts from Rather’s insightful comments–which can also be applied to the ongoing role and commission of God’s Church:

“Rather opined at length on the state of his profession, in which too many journalists have become lapdogs to power, rather than watchdogs… he spent most of his time on stage talking about why he thinks many people have lost faith in journalists. One reason, Rather said, is that questioning power, especially at a time of war, can be perceived as unpatriotic or unsupportive of America’s fighting troops. ‘That’s ‘a very serious charge in this country,’ Rather said. ‘We’ve brought it on ourselves,’ he added, ‘partly because we’ve lost the sense that (the) patriotic journalist will be on his or her feet asking the tough questions.’ “Indeed, Rather’s ascent to the pinnacles of power in journalism came as a result of his reputation for asking very tough questions and… not being afraid to ask follow-up questions, of powerful people like President Richard Nixon, the first President George Bush, current President Bush, Saddam Hussein, and many others. ‘In many ways,’ said Rather to loud applause, ‘what we in journalism need is a spine transplant.’ …

“It is incumbent on journalists to be willing to risk their access to power to seek out the truth behind a story, he said. And they shouldn’t be willing to water down the truth to protect their access to power. Rather also said that the consolidation of power in a small number of media companies has hurt the search for the truth… As media conglomerates get bigger… the goal becomes satisfying shareholders, not citizens, he said.

“Rather reiterated the journalist’s role as a watchdog. ‘Not as an attack dog… But what does the lapdog do? He just crawls into someone’s lap,’ he said. ‘A good watchdog barks at everything that’s suspicious. I submit to you, the American press’ role is to be a watchdog.'”

This choice of words is quite remarkable. The media IS supposed to tell the people the truth about relevant issues, but this is often not the case. God has said that He has called WATCHMEN for the purpose of WARNING the nations. It is actually God’s CHURCH today which is to fulfill the role of the watchman or a “watchdog”–with the duty to BARK at wrong things!

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

The Chicago Tribune wrote on March 13:

“The ranking Republican of the Senate Armed Services Committee sharply rebuked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Tuesday, taking issue with General Peter Pace’s view that homosexual acts are immoral. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), a former Secretary of the Navy, said, ‘I respectfully but strongly disagree with the chairman’s view that homosexuality is immoral…’ Pace told The Chicago Tribune Tuesday that ‘I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts.’ He said he supports the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy,’’ explaining that ‘I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way. As an individual, I would not want [acceptance of gay behavior] to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else’s wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior,’ Pace said.

“The general was responding to a question about the Clinton-era policy that is coming under renewed scrutiny amid fears of future U.S. troop shortages. Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), a candidate for president, for example, has sharply criticized the policy and called for it to be dismantled. So has Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president. Pace said the Pentagon should not ‘condone’ immoral behavior by allowing gay soldiers to serve openly. He said his views were based on his personal ‘upbringing,’ in which he was taught that certain types of conduct are immoral.”

Reuters added on March 13:

“The top U.S. military officer, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, tried on Tuesday to calm anger that erupted after he described homosexual acts as immoral, saying he was expressing only his personal views. Gay rights activists and Democrats criticized the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff for his comments and a veteran Republican senator voiced his disagreement… Under the policy, commanders may not ask the sexual orientation of service members, but gays and lesbians can serve only if they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts. Later, Pace issued a statement saying he had made a mistake in devoting so much time to his personal views… House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was ‘disappointed in the moral judgment’ voiced by Pace and the military should consider changing policy on allowing gays to serve in its ranks.”

It is interesting that in all of this political debate and sword-rattling, no word is mentioned about GOD’s view point. The Bible is VERY clear on the issue, and supports General Pace’s sentiments. Sadly, political pressure forced him to “clarify” his position.

British Schoolchildren to Be Taught Wrong Values?

Der Spiegel Online published the following piece regarding unbelievable indoctrination of British schoolchildren. The magazine supports this unfortunate development; so we have chosen to just publish those excerpts from the article which state the facts, while omitting the unacceptable “opinions” of the author. The magazine wrote on March 13:

“Once upon a time a prince was looking for a suitable queen to be. He was introduced to one princess, two princesses … and fell in love with another prince. They married each other in a dream wedding and lived together happily ever after. Sounds like an underground gay comic? It isn’t — the text in question is a schoolbook.

“School children in Britain learn about sexual diversity and alternative family structures from an early age. A state-supported pilot scheme run at 14 elementary schools — attended by children from the age of four to 11 — is stirring up trouble with its sexually liberal message… Apart from ‘King & King’, there will be other books addressing same-sex parenthood. ‘And Tango Makes Three’ features a baby penguin with two fathers while ‘Spacegirl Pukes’ is a picture book about two mothers who send their daughter on a space trip. The texts are listed on the recommended reading list for the schoolchildren… If successful, the scheme will be extended nationwide. It is supported with £600,000 in funding from the state-run Economic and Social Research Council and is backed by the National Union of Teachers and General Teaching Council… the liberal Blair government has been much more tolerant towards homosexuality than its predecessors… homosexual marriage was legalized in 2005…”

The Pope’s Tough Stance

AFP wrote on March 13 about the Roman Catholic Church’s renewed and confirmed tough stance on the dogma of “celibacy”–the man-made prohibition for Catholic priests to get married and produce children. The French news agency reported:

“Celibacy ‘remains obligatory’ for Roman Catholic priests, Pope Benedict XVI stated Tuesday in a long-awaited text… ‘I reaffirm the beauty and importance of a priestly life lived in celibacy as a sign expressing total and exclusive devotion to Christ, to the Church and to the Kingdom of God,’ reads the apostolic exhortation, the first of Benedict’s papacy and second in importance only to an encyclical. ‘I therefore confirm that it remains obligatory in the Latin tradition,’ the pope wrote in the document reflecting the conclusions of an October 2005 synod of bishops. Benedict, who was elected pope in 2005, wrote: ‘The fact that Christ himself, the eternal priest, lived his mission even to the sacrifice of the Cross in the state of virginity constitutes the sure point of reference for understanding the meaning of the tradition of the Latin Church.'”

The article continued:

“The pope also reaffirmed that Catholics who divorce and remarry are barred from taking communion, unless they ‘commit to living their relationship… as friends, as brother and sister.”

According to further news reported in the German press, the Pope also reconfirmed his prohibition for Catholics and Protestants to take the communion together.

The Pope’s harsh line enforcing “celibacy” and prohibiting communion for divorced and remarried Catholics does not surprise those who might have studied Benedict’s positions, when he was still known as Cardinal Ratzinger. It will undoubtedly disappoint many Catholics. In addition, it is–in both respects–against Biblical teaching. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, prophesied in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 that false teachings would arise, “forbidding to marry,” and Jesus Christ and Paul made it clear that there ARE legitimate reasons for divorce and subsequent remarriage–not just for “annulment” (compare Matthew 19:9; 1 Corinthians 7:12-15).

Is the German Army Becoming Americans’ Foot Soldiers?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on March 9:

“Afghanistan is back in the German headlines after a German aid worker is murdered and the German government formally approves sending six Tornado jets to support troops in volatile south Afghanistan… Business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The German army must not become the Americans’ foot soldiers. Whether this happens or not does not depend on the deployment of Tornados. Even without the reconnaissance jets, it’s very likely that the German soldiers will become fully involved in combat, and in autumn there will probably be a call for ground troops. … The more convincingly Berlin proves that it wants to achieve success in Afghanistan, the more its NATO partners will understand German politicians’ desire for German troops to not be under American command. But if the suspicion grows that Germany just wants to avoid a difficult domestic political debate, then Berlin will just reap increasing disappointment and frustration.'”

German Interview with Governor Schwarzenegger

On March 13, Der Spiegel Online published an interesting interview with Republican Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. We are bringing you the following excerpts from his comments:

On Air Pollution:

“The message I am trying to get across is exactly this: Protecting the environment does not require us to be against large SUVs or trucks. Instead we should develop technology to cut down greenhouse gas emissions because that is where the action is — it’s not about what the size of the car is. We just have to redo the vehicles… Those oil rigs you see out there will be gone eventually because we now know that environmental pollution is counterproductive and that we could be slowly killing ourselves with climate change… We do not like the fact that we must rely on fossil fuels. This dependence is a huge mistake. It’s as bad as having an investor who only invests in a single product or company. You have to diversify. You have to invest in 30 different companies because that is the only way you can guarantee that your investment will grow. We have not done that with our energy… The most interesting thing politically is that Republicans are now supporting environmental protection. We’ve always expected nothing less from the Democrats. As a Republican, people expected me to protect the oil companies and business. Now they are surprised that I talk about greenhouse gases. But it’s true that the documentary has now given Gore tremendous legitimacy. California is now passing new environmental laws that Gore was actually talking about 20 years ago. He was right, but people called him a tree hugger because he’s a Democrat.”

On President Bush and the Iraq War:

“I’m not sure things are that simple with Bush. When he was still governor of Texas, he ran his state in the most bipartisan of ways. I do not know why it has gone so differently [in] Washington. I think Washington just does something to people… I gave him some suggestions about what he should do. It is very clear that we have to work together in order to do a good job. What is really hurting the country is the way they are governing in Washington at the moment… You change your positions as things change. I had different information from the president. I only get the information that Washington shares with us and that is broadcast in the media. It seemed clear at the time that Iraq was sheltering terrorists. Saddam Hussein’s regime was a dictatorship that cost a lot of lives. There was good justification to invade, especially after 9/11… Four years later, we have to look at it and ask if Iraq is becoming another Vietnam, and I do not want it to become another Vietnam. I think we have now helped the Iraqi government long enough. We have trained their soldiers. We have done everything that we can, so now let’s talk about a timeline of withdrawal… We should have an end in sight for this war. It costs a fortune and it costs a lot of lives.”

On his own future:

“I never like to think more than just a few days ahead. The reason I chose to come to the US is because there is no safety net here. I chose making movies over doing TV series because I didn’t want to know what my next move would be. I like the idea of the risk — if a movie goes in the toilet then you get no new offers. If the movie does well, then you have 15 scripts in front of you. I always feel that if you pay 100 percent attention to what you are doing then you have every option available in the future. These things fall into place. I have total faith in my future… When I was 15 years old I felt totally confident I would become a world champion and the greatest bodybuilder in the world. The same was true of show business — I knew that one day I would make more money than anyone else in the industry and I did. For that you need the willingness to work and do everything it takes to make the vision turn into reality. Those are the kinds of things that you also need in politics. There are thousands of experts here in Sacramento, but at the end of the day, it’s all about taking something on and seeing it through to the end. That’s the perfect job for me.”

Are Scotsmen English–After All?

The International Herald Tribune wrote on March 11:

“The one sure way to irritate a Scotsman is to call him an Englishman… But now comes the intriguing evidence from geneticists… that the people of the British Isles are more closely related than the history books had suggested. According to [this evidence], the core populations of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales are of very much the same stock, with only minor add-ons at the edge from Viking and other invasions. So being Scottish is not, in genetic terms, all that different from being English… if that is shown… to be true, then the differences — however profound and important to cultural identity — are demoted to the incidental variations that flow from living in separate places and developing distinct local cultures… The more we are shown to be related, the more our sense of shared humanity must come to the fore. That may be hopelessly idealistic, but it was very much the message that the great poet Robert Burns gave to the world. And he was Scottish. Or was he?”

Is Russia Resurrecting a By-Gone Era?

On March 7, The New York Times published the following commentary by Marshall Billingslea, a former assistant secretary general of NATO and former chairman of the NATO-Russia Council’s ad hoc working group on theater missile defense. It was pointed out:

“Russian reactions to the discussions among Poland, the Czech Republic and the United States on a missile defense system in Europe have been disconcerting. Some of the rhetoric in past days — such as Monday’s blunt threats by Lt. Gen. Igor Khvorov to target European missile defense sites with bombers, or intimations by other Russian officials of scrapping the 1987 INF Treaty (which bans short- and medium-range nuclear missiles) — is a throwback to a bygone era that needs to stay gone.

“Moscow should be well aware that the proposed defense installations are focused on the emerging Iranian threat. Russian defense planners surely understand the physics and geography of the potential deployment, and know that a Czech radar facing south and 10 interceptors in Poland pose no threat to the credibility of the Russian deterrent of thousands of warheads. It would be physically impossible for interceptors in Poland to chase down Russian ICBMs headed toward North America. The Russian ICBMs move too fast, and defensive interceptors cannot win such a ‘tail chase.’

“Nor could they get out of their silos fast enough to protect Europe from a Russian missile attack, even if the radar were facing in that direction, which it wouldn’t be. The radar would not be able to see incoming Russian missiles in time, and — again — the interceptors would be thrown into a losing tail chase. In other words, the system proposed for Poland and the Czech Republic is clearly designed to protect against Iran, and not against Russia. No doubt about it. Unlike the NATO nations, who are in the early stages of developing missile defenses, Russia has long possessed its own antiballistic missile defense for its capital, making recent Russian protests even more perplexing.”

China’s Military Ambitions

The Wall Street Journal reported on March 7:

“For more than a decade, China has boosted defense spending by double digits every year and won’t explain why or for what exactly. The bad news for Beijing is that it is now reaping the unintended consequence of its stonewall tactics. Some of the region’s biggest players — the U.S., Japan and even India — are increasingly skeptical of China’s ‘peaceful development’ campaign and are building up their own defenses accordingly… China’s military advances are no longer just about attacking Taiwan. As January’s test of an anti-satellite weapon demonstrated, they are about protecting all of China’s interests and countering anyone who may interfere with them.”

Turkey vs. Freedom of Expression

The Associated Press reported on March 7:

“A Turkish court ordered access to YouTube’s Web site blocked on Wednesday, after a prosecutor recommended the ban because of videos allegedly insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Paul Doany, head of Turk Telekom, Turkey’s largest telecommunications provider, said his company had begun immediately enforcing the ban… On its front page on Wednesday, the newspaper Hurriyet said thousands of people had written YouTube and that the Ataturk videos had been removed from the site. ‘YouTube got the message,’ the headline said. Insulting Ataturk or ‘Turkishness’ is a crime in Turkey punishable by prison. Turkey, which hopes to join the European Union, has been roundly condemned for not doing enough to curb extreme nationalist sentiments and to protect freedom of expression.”

If Turkey ever wants to join the EU, either those practices will have to change, or the current practices of the EU will.

Libby’s Conviction

The Associated Press reported on March 6, 2007:

“The case laid bare the inner workings of a presidency under siege and the secretive world of Vice President Dick Cheney. It showed the lengths to which Cheney went in early summer 2003 to discredit administration critic Joseph Wilson. The former ambassador’s assertions had cast doubt on the administration’s justification for having taken the country to war in Iraq. And the Libby case showed the president assisting Cheney in the leaked attacks on Wilson. Libby, who was Cheney’s chief of staff, was found guilty on Tuesday of four of five counts of obstructing justice, lying and perjury during an investigation into the administration’s disclosure of the identity of undercover CIA official Valerie Plame, Wilson’s wife. The verdict ‘does great damage to the Bush administration,’ said Paul C. Light, professor of public service at New York University. ‘It undermines the president’s pledge of ethical conduct. But the most serious consequence is that it will raise questions about Cheney’s durability in office. It may be time for Cheney to submit his resignation.'”

The article continued:

“The trial, which included a month of testimony, is also relevant as the U.S. seeks to build a case that Iran is providing sophisticated munitions to Shiite insurgents in Iraq who are using them against U.S. troops. Administration critics have suggested the administration is trying to lay the groundwork for isolating or even attacking Iran — using flawed intelligence, like in Iraq. Wilson, a retired career diplomat, had accused the administration of manipulating intelligence to build its case to invade Iraq.”

Unanswered Questions in the Libby Trial

The Associated Press reported on March 7:

“Former White House aide I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby’s conviction capped a four-year, politically charged investigation but did not seal Libby’s fate or resolve some of the lingering questions in the CIA leak case… the case offered little new information about whether President Bush was involved or whether he authorized any leaks. Defense attorneys never delivered Cheney or Libby to the witness stand as promised to discuss the White House effort to undermine the credibility of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a campaign that resulted in the disclosure of his wife Valerie Plame’s job at the CIA. Libby’s attorneys offered few details about a supposed White House conspiracy to protect Bush adviser Karl Rove from prosecution. It also was never explained why former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who originally leaked Plame’s identity, was never charged.”

On March 7, Townhall.com added the following comments by Patrick J. Buchanan:

“However, this was about a larger issue than the narrow question of whether Libby lied about leaking the role of Valerie Plame in having her husband sent to Niger to investigate a report that Iraq had been seeking ‘yellowcake,’ a critical component in a uranium enrichment program.
 
“That larger issue is this: Were we misled, were we deceived by our government, as the White House made the case for invading and occupying Iraq? Did neoconservatives at the Pentagon cherry-pick the intelligence, stovepipe it to the vice president’s office and Libby, and then feed it to sympathizers and collaborators in the media, to stampede our country into a war against a nation that, no matter how odious its regime, did not threaten us, did not attack us and did not want war with us? In short, were we lied into a war in Mesopotamia that is breaking our Army, has crippled an administration, and has bled and divided our country as it has not been since the days of Vietnam?

“And why has the Democratic Congress, on taking power in January, not begun a broad investigation into how we got into this war? This is the dog that didn’t bark. And the reason the dog is silent suggests itself. The Congress, in voting President Bush the authority to take us to war against Iraq at a time and place of his own choosing, failed to do its duty by the Constitution… The dilemma a Democratic Congress faces in any investigation into whether we were lied into war is that Congress would be investigating why a Democratic Senate failed its constitutional duty to determine the necessity for war.

“And, lest we forget, the media, too, played a supporting role in pushing this nation into an unnecessary war. Columnists and commentators assured us there was a nexus between Saddam, al-Qaida and 9-11, a ‘Prague connection’ between Muhammad Atta and Iraqi intelligence. We were told Saddam had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and was working on nuclear weapons, that enrichment of uranium was being done secretly around the country, that if we did not act now, we faced a nuclear-armed Iraq that would surely transfer atomic weapons to al-Qaida terrorists. Said Condi Rice, our proof of WMD might well come in the form of a mushroom cloud above an American city… in the end, we are unlikely to know the truth of why it was we went to war. For that record is sealed in minds and souls.”

CO’s and the Army

Der Spiegel Online reported on March 7:

“Is it possible to become a conscientious objector once you have signed up to fight a war? According to United States military regulations, the answer is yes. But as confirmed by a US Army court martial in the case of former Army Specialist Agustin Aguayo near the western German city of Würzburg on Tuesday, the Army also reserves the right to answer no. Aguayo, a 35-year-old Mexican-American from Los Angeles, served a tour of duty in Iraq as a combat medic from 2004 to 2005. Early on in basic training, however, he began to realize that he was opposed to war. When his unit was ordered to return to Iraq for a second tour of duty in the war-torn country, Aguayo decided he simply could not obey with a clear conscience… In a small cramped courtroom on the Leighton Barracks near Würzburg, Germany on Tuesday, Aguayo was found guilty of desertion, slapped with a bad-conduct discharge, stripped of pay and benefits and sent to the brig for eight months…

“Aguayo has become the latest in an ever-growing list of US soldiers hitting the headlines for refusing to fight in Iraq. Some, like Lt. Ehren Wutada — who recently became the first US officer to be court martialed for opting not to obey orders sending him to Iraq — argue that the fight is illegal. Others, like Aguayo — and Mark Wilkerson, who was sentenced to seven months behind bars in February for desertion — choose the conscientious objector route, saying that their belief systems have changed… ‘Those who take a public stand give support to those (still in the military) who are against the war and thinking of resisting,’ Kelly Dougherty, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. ‘The only ones who can destroy the myth (that the Iraq War is necessary) are the military.’… nearly 1,600 active soldiers have now signed a petition to the US Congress that reads in part: ‘Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price.’ Likewise, according to the War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada, there may be as many as 200 to 300 US soldiers who have headed north across the border to escape deployment.”

Roman Catholic Bishops vs. Israel

Der Spiegel Online reported on March 7:

“Comments by Germany’s Catholic bishops during a pilgrimage to Israel and the Palestinian territories have sparked fury among the Jewish community in Germany, who have accused the bishops of making anti-Semitic remarks… According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the bishop of Eichstätt, Gregor Maria Hanke, remarked during a visit to Bethlehem, ‘This morning in Yad Vashem the photos of the inhuman Warsaw Ghetto, and this evening we travel to the ghetto in Ramallah. That makes you angry.’ The Bishop of Augsburg Walter Mixa then remarked that it was a ‘ghetto-like’ situation and that it was ‘almost racism.’

“The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, has reacted with anger and disappointment to the remarks, which she describes as ‘awful and completely unacceptable.’ Comparing the fate of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto with the situation of the Palestinians in Ramallah belied ‘either a questionable shortfall in historical knowledge,’ or an attempt to turn the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and their children into today’s perpetrators, she said.

“Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Shimon Stein, spoke of a demonization of Israel and said that those who used the term ‘Warsaw Ghetto’ in connection with Israeli or Palestinian politics, had ‘forgotten everything, or learnt nothing, or failed morally.’

“Bishop Mixa also came in for criticism for ascribing racist motives to the Israeli state and government in their dealings with the Palestinians. ‘It says more about the bishop’s mentality than about the actual situation in the Middle East,’ Knobloch said, adding that it not only misjudges the facts of the Middle East conflict and Israel’s security situation, but it also makes use of clichés ‘that border on anti-Semitism.’ …

“The Catholic Church in Germany is now trying to diffuse the row with a number of apologies… Bishop Mixa denied that the opinions given during the trip could be interpreted as politically one-sided. He expressed his concerns about the future of the peace process and Palestinians and Israelis living together, and emphasized the Church’s position of supporting the right of Israel to exist and the right of the Palestinians to their own state.”

A Permanent European President and Foreign Minister?

The Telegraph wrote on March 7:

“Ahead of an EU summit in Brussels that opens tomorrow the Germans vowed to resurrect plans for a full-time EU president and dedicated EU foreign minister…Last night, Downing Street attempted to play down the German intervention, saying it would not react in detail until the full Berlin plan on what to do about updating the EU’s institutions is revealed at another summit at the end of June…

“Germany’s fresh push was spelt out in detail by Wolfgang Ischinger, the country’s ambassador to London, in a briefing with journalists. Mr Ischinger said ‘the first step’ to make an enlarged EU work better should be to end the system of six-month rotating presidencies of the EU, and give the community ‘a permanent, professional presidency.’ It was also high time the EU had a full-time foreign minister who could be the public face of a European foreign policy abroad.

“‘Why can’t we get our act together and have a European foreign minister who can travel to Malaysia, or Washington or some other country and say this is what the EU believes,’ he said.”

How NOT to Save the Planet

Der Spiegel Online wrote on March 5:

“Germany in its capacity as president of the European Union and G8 is leading a drive to slash CO2 emissions. But German media commentators want to know why their country should take the leading role while the world’s biggest polluters, the United States and China, stand idly by… While Merkel has committed Germany to an emissions reduction of more than 20 percent by 2020, both China and the United States have indicated that their emissions will continue to increase in the coming years. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who sees Germany as a driving force in climate protection, has suggested anchoring it as a goal in a future European Union constitution. Following an Australian initiative, Gabriel has proposed a German ban of standard issue light bulbs, and the introduction of new EU energy efficiency guidelines for lamps and household appliances. The German press has responded skeptically to the leading role that Merkel and Gabriel want Germany to adopt, questionning the political motivations behind the grandstanding and calling for greater international pressure on the true offenders: China and the USA.

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The discussion lacks all sense of proportion. Germany contributes roughly 6 percent to CO2 production worldwide and the figure is declining. Roughly half of all emissions come from the USA and China, where the output continues to grow at double-digit rates… The perfect insulation of all German homes will save one million tonnes of greenhouse gases per year, and exchanging all lightbulbs will save a similar amount. But when Germany shuts down its nuclear plants, their output will in part have to be taken over by coal and gas-fired power stations which will produce up to 160 million tonnes of CO2 additionally per year. We’re saving in the wrong places.’

“Mass circulation Bild in a front-page story headlined: ‘Are We Germans Supposed to Save the World on our own?’ writes: ‘We Germans are for environmental protection! We’re also prepared to make sacrifices for the environment. But sometimes one gets the impression: We’re supposed to save the earth ourselves! What are the biggest polluters, the USA, Russia and China, doing to save the planet?’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘The Christian Social Union wants to ban cars with combustion engines. The Social Democrats wants air travellers to pay a climate tax. The Greens want to slap a tax on air fuel and Greenpeace wants to ban all budget air travel. What’s peculiar is that the so-called climate-protectors are punishing mobility and little else. Of course, the environmental costs of traffic are significant and the energy efficiency of travel has to be improved. But much more energy is being consumed by industry and private households… The issue of how the energy needs of billions of people can be satisfied without destroying the environment and the climate is far too important to be left to politicians intent on self-promotion.”

Out-Of-Body Experiences?

The Telegraph wrote on March 3:

“People who have out-of-body experiences, such as flying along a tunnel towards a heavenly light, are more likely to suffer a strange effect called sleep paralysis, according to a survey that adds to mounting evidence for a biological explanation for the experience.

“During sleep paralysis, people experience a kind of breakdown between states of consciousness which takes place on the fringe of sleep, either when falling asleep or waking. Because the brain turns off the body’s ability to move during dreaming, muscles can lose their tone, or tension, causing paralysis.

“The details of sleep paralysis vary from person to person. Some hear vague sounds, indistinct voices and demonic gibberish. Others see hallucinations of humans, animals and supernatural creatures. There is a striking inability to move or to speak, or a weight on the chest.

“Also common are feelings of rising off the bed or flying. In addition, people report out-of-body experiences, sometimes accompanied by ‘autoscopy’ when they look down on themselves. Not surprisingly, these moments are accompanied by fear. Throughout history, there have also been accounts of people having visions on the brink of death – what are now called ‘near-death experiences’.

“Today, the two odd effects are linked by a study that backs the idea that the near-death experience is a biological experience, rather than anything to do with a spiritual dimension, a glimpse of heaven or the existence of the soul… The sleep paralysis linked with out-of-body experiences was thought rare, but may strike between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of people at least once. They report sensations of floating, flying, falling or leaving one’s body. It ranges from relatively tranquil floating experiences to horrible feelings of falling or rising at high speed.”

Jesus’ Burial Cave Found? — Utter Nonsense!

The Associated Press reported on February 26:

“Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets, but the Oscar-winning director said the evidence was based on sound statistics. ‘The Lost Tomb of Christ,’ which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries–small caskets used to store bones–discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel. One of the caskets even bears the title, ‘Judah, son of Jesus,’ hinting that Jesus may have had a son, according to the documentary. And the very fact that Jesus had an ossuary would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven…

“Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film’s hypothesis holds little weight. ‘I don’t think that Christians are going to buy into this,’ Pfann said. ‘But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear.’… Pfann is even unsure that the name ‘Jesus’ on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it’s more likely the name ‘Hanun.’ Ancient Semitic script is notoriously difficult to decipher. [Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site] said the filmmakers’ assertions are false. ‘It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave,’ Kloner said. ‘The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time.'”

The claims of this “documentary” are utter nonsense. As with the infamous Da Vinci Code postulations, this is another Satanic attempt to discredit the Holy Word of God–the Bible–and the very foundation of Christianity. If Christ did not rise from the dead, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. In that case, we have no hope for life after death through a resurrection.

The issue is quite simple: Either we are willing to believe God and His unshakable promises, or the assertions of human skeptics and ignorant filmmakers willing to make merchandise of people.

Embarrassment for Washington

Deutsche Welle reported on February 21:

“Stuttgarter Zeitung took a tough line on Tony Blair’s announcement he would reduce troops in Iraq. ‘…Blair will hardly be able to improve his image in history books,’ the paper wrote. ‘He said himself that he had wanted to lead Great Britain into the Euro zone, into the heart of Europe, but what he’s ended up doing is turning the United Kingdom into an aircraft carrier for the United States,’ the paper wrote. It also pointed out that British voters will punish Blair’s Labour Party just like American voters did with the Republicans in Congressional elections in November.

“The Obermain-Tagblatt got right to the point: ‘The signal from London couldn’t be more embarrassing for Washington — Tony Blair, the US’ closest ally, disentangles himself from the circle of unity.’ Berlin’s Tagesspiegel pondered the dilemma: ‘…Sir Richard Dannatt, the new, unusually upfront British Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, even believes that the mere presence of his soldiers in Basra triggers more violence than they prevent,’ the paper wrote…The paper said the US’ most loyal allies were following on the heels of the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have fled their country.’

“Braunschweiger Zeitung said withdrawing troops from Iraq is the right thing to do. ‘The West has lost. That should be openly acknowledged,’ the paper opined. ‘The war against Saddam Hussein was based on lies, and the war is ending with lies,’ the paper continued.”

Killing In the Name of God

On February 23, Der Spiegel Online published a provocative article with the title, “Violence in the Name of God.” We do not agree with much of the author’s anti-religious premises, nor his false interpretations of especially the Old and New Testaments. But we do find that the following factual historical observations are worthwhile repeating:

“Religious fanaticism has existed in all ages and all religions. It is the sinister side of faith, and its explanation remains elusive. Such extremism – which is usually unleashed in spasms of violence against dissenters – can even be found in so-called ‘gentle’ faiths like Hinduism and Buddhism. It is most prolific in the three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam, i.e. the religions that trace their roots to Abraham (or Ibrahim, as he is called by the Muslims). Abraham’s son Isaac is considered the progenitor of the Jews. The Arabs regard his half-brother Ismael (whom Abraham conceived with Hagar, a maidservant, and not his wife Sarah) as their progenitor… Both the Koran and the Bible’s Old and New Testaments bear witness to a good and merciful God. They urge humans to live in peace and harmony. This is reflected most clearly in the instruction attributed to Jesus in the Hebrew Bible: ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’…

“Killing in the name of the Lord? Look no further than the Crusades and the Inquisition. Deus lo vult (‘It is God’s will’) was the Crusaders’ battle cry. Popes had called upon Christendom to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule. Beyond the prospect of rich plunder, the Crusaders could expect forgiveness for all their crimes. The Christian armies weren’t content to pillage Palestine during at least six crusades between 1096 and 1291… At home, they butchered Jews who got in their way. All for the glory of their God… When conquering Jerusalem in 1099, the Crusaders embarked on a ruthless rampage on the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif). ‘Our men waded in blood up to their ankles,’ one witness reported. All told, an estimated 5 million Muslims, Jews, Christians from the Byzantine Church and Christian invaders died in the Crusades.

“And these unholy campaigns were no exception. For five centuries, various popes joined forces with bishops, emperors, kings and dukes to persecute anyone who deviated from the prescribed methods of worship. >From the 13th century until after the Enlightenment, the Inquisition left a trail of carnage across Europe. At least 1 million are thought to have died at the hands of its tribunals… The bloodletting was particularly horrendous in Spain. The Spanish Inquisition, which started around 1570, claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of conversos, Jews who had converted to Christianity, and Moors. The Spanish conquistadors meted out similar treatment to the ‘heathens’ they encountered in the New World. Millions of indigenous Central and South Americans were slaughtered for refusing to accept the conquerors’ God…

“The Protestants were no better than the Catholics. Just as many women died in Protestant countries as in Catholic areas… Yet the Catholic Church probably incurred its greatest burden of guilt through its treatment of the Jews. Even in early Christendom, anti-Jewish sentiment against the ‘murderers of Christ’ was widespread, and the Church adhered to this course until well into the 20th century… The Holocaust might never have happened, had it not been for this Christian legacy of anti-Semitism…

“A chronicle describing the spread of Islam bears the words: ‘See, I was sent with the sword (by God) to bring debasement and dishonor to those who oppose his word.’ When he died in 632, Mohammed controlled nearly the whole of the Arab peninsula. Twenty years later, the entire Middle East was under Islamic rule. In its early days, Islam was a bellicose religion – and an incredibly progressive one… The decline began with the orgy of violence inflicted by Christian crusaders in Jerusalem in 1099… Islam… degenerated into an alibi for unscrupulous Ottoman dictators… Islamic law only permits holy war under extreme circumstances, for instance when a person needs to defend him- or herself, or when the Islamic world is under attack and its very existence threatened. But the Koran also says: ‘So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush!'”

Animal Behavior May Disprove Evolution Theory

The Associated Press reported on February 23:

“Researchers report witnessing a chimpanzee skewering a tree creature for supper with a spearlike tool, a rare observation of a long-studied primate in the wild. ‘It’s not uncommon to have chimps use tools. But to use them in the context of hunting’ is nearly unheard of, said Jill Pruetz, an anthropology professor from Iowa State University… Pruetz said the chimpanzees stripped leaves from tree branches and modified the tip with their incisors, ‘effectively making a point.’ Then the chimpanzees jabbed the tool into a cavity to snag a bushbaby. Chimpanzees commonly use sticks to get food, such as termites, said Ian Gilby, a postdoctoral fellow who studies chimpanzee hunting at Harvard University.”

If these new findings are confirmed, they would show an interesting piece of truth. Even though certain scientists will use these findings, no doubt, as “proof” for the evolution theory, postulating that man developed from apes, the facts would actually show the opposite: That is, they would establish that certain animals were created to use “tools.” Pre-Adamic “human-like” remains would then show nothing else but animals with certain “advanced” abilities. That would be in total harmony with what the Bible actually teaches, namely that God created the first human beings about 6,000 years ago. This means that alleged human-like findings of an older age were either animals without the human spirit, or the age given to those findings was simply untrue. As the age of many fossils is determined by the unreliable Radio Carbon 14 method, the latter alternative is a distinct possibility.

For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution–a Fairy Tale for Adults.” If you read German, you might want to read our German booklet, “EVOLUTION–ein MÄRCHEN für Erwachsene,” which is published on our German Website (www.aufpostenstehen.de). This booklet includes additional information and discusses in detail the problems, difficulties and unreliability of “scientific methods,” including the Radio Carbon 14 method, which are used to determine the age of fossils.

Disappearance of Bees Threatens American Economy

The New York Times wrote on February 27:

David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing. In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable…

“The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country. Beekeepers have fought regional bee crises before, but this is the first national affliction. Now, in a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. And nobody knows why… A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. ‘Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,’ said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation. The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the offseason to be normal.”

The Growing Exodus Out of the U.S. Dollar

On February 28, swissamerica.com wrote:

“First it was Warren Buffet, then Bill Gates, then George Soros who began shedding dollars. Now China, Japan, Russia, OPEC and even central banks are chiming in, one by one, with plans to diversify out of U.S. dollars. Who can blame them? Here are a few examples of recent headlines and quotes reported at swissamerica.com which will help explain why there’s a growing exodus out of U.S. dollars and into foreign currencies and commodities like gold.

“Peoples Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said at a recent Frankfurt conference that China has very clear plans to diversify its currency reserves, which now stand at more than $1 trillion. A wide range of instruments are under consideration, including gold and oil, reports Marketwatch… Hong Kong billionaire Lee Shau Kee says, ‘I am a bear on the U.S. dollar. The U.S. has a mountain of debt. I don’t believe in debt. Ever since I was young, I have seen how paper money has suffered. If a country is encouraging a lot of debt, at the end of the day, they have to repay. If they don’t, there will be big turmoil,’ reports Forbes… ‘The head of the United Arab Emirates central bank said it will convert 8% of its reserves of U.S. assets into the European currency,’ reported Bloomberg…

“The Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) is agreeable to replacing the US dollar with the euro in Iranian foreign transactions, said a member of the Majlis Planning and Budget Commission, Morteza Tamaddon. In case the West pulls through with its planned economic sanctions on Iran, Tamaddon said the country would still have access to its monetary accounts based on the euro, reports IRNA… The dollar has suffered weakness because of concerns about global imbalances and the future course of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy, reports London Financial Times… Japanese life insurers, who manage the equivalent of $1.6 trillion in assets, will cut holdings of U.S. Treasuries, according to Calyon Securities… ‘The dollar lost nearly 12 percent against the euro in 2006, as investors became concerned that U.S. economic growth was slowing and that the interest rate differential with Europe may narrow. You should hold as few dollars as possible. The dollar’s decline would go on for years to come,’ Commodity expert Jim Rogers told Reuters…

“‘Two analysts who have reconstructed money supply data after the Fed stopped publishing it argue a coming dollar collapse will set the stage for creating the amero as a North American currency to replace the dollar,’ reports WND… ‘We are entering a critical new phase of the dollar’s decline, which may: – drive up the interest rates on bonds, commercial loans and all forms of mortgages … – crack open the U.S. housing market — not only because of rising mortgage rates, but also because fewer foreigners are willing to speculate on American real estate …- force the Fed to start a whole new round of interest rate hikes to attract foreign money back to the U.S., and … – send contra-dollar investments — gold, silver, oil and other commodities — into a new, rip-roaring surge,’ writes Safe Haven’s Martin Weiss…”

The article continued:

“As central banks and other major investors in global asset markets shift away from holding US dollars, severe implications for the U.S. may become reality:… difficulty for the U.S. in financing its ballooning deficits… a possible collapse in the traded value of the dollar… higher interest rates in order to attract international lenders… compromising of the dollar’s reserve currency status… slower growth in the US economy given our dependence on debt financing.”

More “Hick-Ups” Between Europe and the USA

The Associated Press reported on February 28:

“A senior U.S. administration official on Wednesday warned that ongoing inquiries into secret CIA activities in the European Union may undermine intelligence cooperation between the United States and European nations. The European Parliament accused Britain, Poland, Italy and other nations in mid-February of colluding with the CIA to transport terror suspects to clandestine prisons in third countries. In a report that concluded a yearlong investigation, the parliament identified 1,254 secret CIA flights that entered the European airspace since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States. It said that these flights were against international air traffic rules and suggested some of them may have carried terror suspects on board in violation of human rights principles.

“John Bellinger, legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, called the European Parliament report ‘unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair’ and called on the EU governments to challenge the suggestion that Europeans need to be concerned about secret CIA flights… Germany, Italy and several other EU countries have been carrying out their own inquiries into secret CIA activities in Europe, probes Bellinger said ‘have not been helpful with respect to necessary cooperation between the United States and Europe. I do think these continuing investigations can harm intelligence cooperation, that’s simply a fact of life,’ Bellinger told reporters…

“EU parliamentarians have rejected Bellinger’s criticism and called on the United States to address concerns that some flights have carried kidnapped terror suspects. Bellinger also said the United States would refuse any Italian extradition request for CIA agents indicted in the alleged abduction of an Egyptian cleric in Milan, one of the cases the European Parliament focused on in its inquiry… Bellinger also said the U.S. government was keen on closing the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba but has not yet figured out what to do with the inmates… ‘We have not seen Europe has been willing to help. We have seen many statements from European governments saying Guantanamo must be closed immediately. It’s not clear how Guantanamo would be immediately closed. Europe has been prepared to criticize … but has not been prepared to offer a constructive suggestion,’ Bellinger said. He added that the United States has been looking to Europe for help with inmates from the Middle East who cannot, for various reasons, return to their home countries, but has not received any offers from European countries to accept these people.”

Prince Charles Wants McDonald’s Fast Food Banned

The Associated Press reported on February 28:

“Prince Charles suggested Tuesday on a visit to the United Arab Emirates that banning McDonald’s fast food was crucial for improving people’s diets, a British news agency reported. Charles made the comments while visiting the Imperial College London Diabetes Center in Abu Dhabi…’Have you got anywhere with McDonald’s? Have you tried getting it banned? That’s the key,’ Charles was quoted as asking one of the center’s nutritionists… Charles, who is first in line to the British throne, is an active advocate of organic food and in 1986 set up a farm on his Highgrove Estate that does not use artificial pesticides or fertilizers… The United Arab Emirates has the world’s second highest number of diabetes cases per capita, with more than 20 percent of those aged 20 to 79 already diagnosed with the illness, while 40 percent of the population are at risk.”

The website of “thisislondonco.uk” added:

“Princess Diana often took sons William and Harry to the McDonald’s restaurant opposite Windsor Castle. Charles’s comments will fuel the debate about obesity in Britain. He has already called for a total ban on GM food, which he considers a health risk – a stance that has left him at odds with the Government… He immediately laid himself open to charges of hypocrisy after it was pointed out that the company’s signature Big Mac contains fewer calories, fats and salt than some products in his own organic Duchy Originals food range… His Cornish pasty contains 264 calories per 100g compared to the burger’s 229 calories, and 5.5g of saturated fat as opposed to the Big Mac’s 4.14g.”

Pentecostals a Threat to Catholic Church

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 28:

“Pentecostal ministers in Latin America are luring increasing numbers of Roman Catholics away from their faith with modern marketing tactics… Hordes of believers from the world’s largest Catholic country are defecting to the evangelicals. The archbishop of São Paulo, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, estimates that the Catholic churches have lost one-third of their members over the past 40 years. Seven out of 10 former Catholics are seeking salvation in a Protestant community… The trend is running rife throughout Latin America, once a Third World bulwark of Roman Catholicism. From Mexico to Argentina, the Church is in retreat. In just a few years, over half the populations of Guatemala and El Salvador are expected to be Protestant.”

Italian’s Prodi “Back-Pedals”–and Stays On

AFP reported on February 28:

“Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Wednesday survived a close vote of confidence in the Senate, ending a weeklong political crisis after his shock resignation. The 67-year-old former European Commission chief, serving his second stint as prime minister, is expected to sail through another vote Friday in the Chamber of Deputies, where he has a comfortable majority… Prodi’s disparate centre-left coalition, which won a general election 10 months ago by a hair’s breadth, was thrown into crisis last week when the prime minister resigned after losing a vote of support on foreign policy issues…

“Prodi rallied his coalition around a 12-point ‘non-negotiable’ pact before agreeing to stay on. Taking the floor as the debate opened Wednesday, the embattled prime minister back-pedalled on a bill that would grant legal status to unmarried couples including gays. In an apparent gamble aimed at garnering support from the Catholic centrists in his centre-left majority and the opposition — at the expense of far-left groups who promote the legislation — Prodi said that in presenting the bill to parliament, the government ‘has done its duty.'”

Religious Confusion in Europe…WHY?

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 16 about an almost incredible phenomenon in Germany and Europe: A growing minority of Catholic and Protestant “Christians” doesn’t believe in God and is looking for “alternative” belief systems.

The magazine stated:

“… in Germany… [one] in three [Germans] is no longer officially registered as a Christian. Just one in four eastern Germans believes that Christ was actually crucified. Only two-thirds of registered Catholics say they believe in God – and only one of two Protestants do. Finally, if pressed on their views, 11 percent of officially registered Protestants actually turn out to be card-carrying atheists.

“‘The church is just an option now, nothing more,’ says religious sociologist Klaus-Peter Jörns, who compiled these statistics some years back. According to a study conducted by Shell, one in five youths today belongs to a breed that Jörns calls ‘transcendence believers’: They admit that supernatural forces may exist, but are unwilling to pin the word ‘god’ on them – let alone put faith in concepts like the epiphany, sin and salvation.

“Simultaneously, adults raised within a Christian culture are increasingly expecting to be reincarnated. More than a quarter of all churchgoing Swiss Catholics say they can relate to Buddhist ideas on the subject. Heiner Barz, a professor for educational science at Düsseldorf University, has identified the ‘displacement of the resurrection doctrine by the reincarnation doctrine’ as a key religious trend in contemporary Europe – albeit with the caveat that it lacks ‘the doctrine of karma that is associated with it in the Eastern cultural sphere’ and its personal accounting system.

“… almost anything goes today… Innocuous supernatural phenomena which do not strike the fear of God into people have proven the most popular… ‘Our modern world is far less enlightened than we think,’ says Hartmut Böhme, a Berlin-based cultural scientist who sees palpable evidence of ‘fetishism’ in the modern European mindset.”

The magazine asked whether something is missing in all of this confusion. The answer is distinctively, YES! What is missing is the TRUE UNDERSTANDING of who and what God is, what He is doing TODAY, WHY we are experiencing so much suffering, and WHAT is the ultimate potential and fate of man! WHY was man created in the first place? There is only ONE source which gives you the answers to all these questions–and unfortunately, this source is not “orthodox” or traditional Christianity with their false teachings of heaven and hell, Easter bunnies and Christmas carols; nor can it be found in eastern religions with their esoteric concepts of reincarnation, or transcendental meditation practices falsely postulating that they can bring about “enlightenment.” Rightly understood, many of these practices are not only useless, but they could be terribly DANGEROUS for some engaging in them.

Do YOU want to know the answers to these all-important life-determining questions?

If you do, please read our free booklets, “God Is A Family,” and “Human Suffering–Why… And How Much Longer?“

Germany’s Wrong Attempts to Deal with Holocaust Deniers

On February 16, Der Spiegel Online reported about the conviction and sentencing of a Holocaust denier in Germany, raising the important question whether such procedures do “more harm than good.” The short answer is: They certainly do. It is an unfortunate lesson of history that Germany has still not learned to act with BALANCE–they are either too strict or too lenient. To charge a Holocaust denier with a crime and sentence him to jail is –in American eyes — just plain ridiculous. And so, Germany WILL learn the hard way that their attempts of dealing with Holocaust deniers is just not working and will become counter-productive–regardless as to how laudable and noble the underlying intentions might be.

Der Spiegel Online wrote:

“Historical revisionist Ernst Zündel has been convicted for denying the Holocaust and sent to jail for five years. But many in Germany suspect such trials may do more harm than good… Center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung [states:]… ‘Freedom of opinion is a fundamentally far-reaching basic right… It’s not concerned with the validity of the thoughts expressed; it applies to any old nonsense, covering witlessness and idiocy no less than extraordinary stupidity…’

“The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is even less convinced the trial and the sentence were justified. The piece, printed on the conservative daily’s front page, begins by stressing that this and previous trials — including one in Canada which Zündel won — have helped create a platform for Holocaust deniers. ‘Ernst Zündel has become world-famous. He’s become well-known not just via his publications but also thanks to court proceedings… He was granted the same freedom of speech as every other Canadian, albeit reluctantly…’ [Even though he won the court case in Canada, where he lived, Zündel was subsequently deported from Canada to Germany.] The legal basis for Zündel’s conviction in a German court is questionable, the paper argues: ‘Guilt has now been extended to include a person’s views… it likely fosters the very thing it wants to fight.’

“The left-wing daily Die Tageszeitung is especially disturbed by how the trial was conducted. ‘The trial was intolerable for all those who don’t belong to the extreme right. The right-wingers associated with Jürgen Rieger — the lawyer who is also an activist for the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) — used the trial as a platform for their revanchism and in order to publicize their claimed scientific “discoveries” on “the Auschwitz lie.” The lawyers also repeatedly tried to provoke the presiding judge … and turn the court proceedings into chaos. ‘Perhaps it would be better not to give Holocaust deniers and their supporters the satisfaction of taking them to court,’ the commentator concludes.

“‘Maximum Penalty — What Else?’ is the headline in conservative daily Die Welt. But the commentator is more concerned about the trial and its possible consequences than the title suggests. ‘The circumstances of the trial were often intolerable, at least for the non-confused among us. The fact that one of Zündel’s lawyers signed a document with the words “Heil Hitler” is just one of the more grotesque lapses.’ The commentator goes on to ponder a proposal currently being debated within the European Union — that of making ‘racism and xenophobia’ a punishable crime in all of the EU’s member countries. He takes a critical view of the proposal. ‘Should all Polish glorifiers of Stalinism and all French deniers of the murder of Armenians be taken to court in the EU, regardless of which country they are active in? That, from the German point of view, doesn’t seem like a good idea…'”

Neither does it seem to be a good idea to punish as criminals and sentence to jail those misled and misleading agitators who falsely deny the Holocaust–however blatantly objectionable and offensive such denial may be. To criminalize the expression of thought in this world–even of wrong thought–is VERY dangerous. It has backfired before in Germany and Europe, as well as in the former Soviet Union–and it will without doubt backfire again. Germany’s and Europe’s attempts to fight totalitarian thoughts by suppressing and criminalizing them with the “sword of the law” harbors the lurking danger of becoming totalitarian themselves–and Europe is, tragically, marching into that very frightening direction!

For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Italian-US Relations Hit New Low

The Telegraph.co.uk reported on February 17 that “Italian-US relations hit new low after protests.” It continued:

“Italian pacifists and Left-wingers staged a 50,000-strong protest yesterday against the presence of a new large-scale US air force base. A former civilian airport in the northern city of Vicenza has been earmarked, with the base replacing two in Germany and acting as a departure point for US tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. The £500 million American plan to convert the Dal Molin airport, one and a half miles from the city centre, has come under fire from Italians who have long been opposed to America’s wars.

“The mass demonstration in Vicenza follows a series of diplomatic spats which have plunged relations between Italy and America to a new low. On Friday, an Italian court ordered 26 CIA agents to stand trial for the ‘rendition’ of a Muslim cleric allegedly kidnapped in Milan. Earlier this month, another judge ruled that Mario Lozano, a US marine, face trial for the fatal shooting of Nicola Calipari, an Italian spy.”

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi Resigns

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 22:

“There are certain things you can rely on in Italy, like good food, nice weather and sharp dressers. So it is reassuring that Italian politics seem to be back to normal as well, after the blip that was Silvio Berlusconi’s recently ended five-year stint in power: With Romano Prodi’s resignation, we are back to the volatile Italian governments that we know and love. Italian Prime Minister Prodi stepped down on Wednesday after his center-left coalition suffered a Senate defeat on foreign policy… The governing coalition, ‘The Union,’ ranges from Catholic centrists to communists and greens, and it was its diverse nature which ultimately led to Prodi’s demise. In the past he has often resorted to confidence votes to bring his unruly allies into line over issues including the budget, gay rights — which brought the pro- and anti-Vatican factions into conflict — and Italian involvement abroad. The development is typical of Italy’s notoriously unstable coalition governments. Prodi’s government was Italy’s 61st since 1945 — an average of one government per year… Prodi’s proposal to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan, on the heels of his having allowed the expansion of a US military base in Italy, proved too much for his coalition to handle… Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano accepted Prodi’s resignation but the beleaguered prime minister may still stay in power if he can bring his unruly coalition into line.”

Major Setback to American Efforts Against Al Qaeda

The New York Times reported on February 19:

“Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once-battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials… The concern about a resurgent Al Qaeda has been the subject of intensive discussion at high levels of the Bush administration, the officials said, and has reignited debate about how to address Pakistan’s role as a haven for militants without undermining the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president… Officials from several different American intelligence and counterterrorism agencies presented a consistent picture in describing the developments as a major setback to American efforts against Al Qaeda.

“…debates within the administration about how best to deal with the threat have yet to yield any good solutions, officials in Washington said… American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said that most of the men receiving training in Pakistan had been carrying out attacks inside Afghanistan, but that Al Qaeda had also strengthened its ties to groups in Iraq… Over the past year, insurgent tactics from Iraq have migrated to Afghanistan, where suicide bombings have increased fivefold and roadside bomb attacks have doubled… Last fall, the Algerian group renamed itself Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb. Officials in Washington say they believe that the group is linked to a recent string of sophisticated car bombings and other attacks in Algeria.”

Reunification of Anglican and Roman Catholic Church?

The Times On Line reported on February 19:

“Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt… The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches. In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope… Rome has already shown itself willing to be flexible on the subject of celibacy when it received dozens of married priests from the Church of England into the Catholic priesthood after they left over the issue of women’s ordination.

“There are about 78 million Anglicans, compared with a billion Roman Catholics, worldwide. In England and Wales, the Catholic Church is set to overtake Anglicanism as the predominant Christian denomination for the first time since the Reformation, thanks to immigration from Catholic countries…

“In one significant passage the report notes: ‘The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the ministry of the Bishop of Rome [the Pope] as universal primate is in accordance with Christ’s will for the Church and an essential element of maintaining it in unity and truth.’ Anglicans rejected the Bishop of Rome as universal primate in the 16th century. Today, however, some Anglicans are beginning to see the potential value of a ministry of universal primacy, which would be exercised by the Bishop of Rome, as a sign and focus of unity within a reunited Church… Anglicans are also urged to begin praying for the Pope during the intercessionary prayers in church services, and Catholics are asked also to pray publicly for the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

America in Turmoil

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 19:

“Republican Senators foiled a Democratic bid to have Congress criticize President George W. Bush’s troop increase in Iraq. But with a clear majority of politicians on Capitol Hill opposing the White House’s war strategy, is this a defeat for the president or for the Democrats?”

The magazine continued:

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘For four years any criticism of the war was seen as a betrayal of the troops. This taboo has now been broken … the vote marks a decisive change in American politics. The Bush Administration has not only forfeited its credibility internationally — now it is also fighting a losing battle on the home front… But a US government that has suffered such a loss of authority is a weakness for the whole West. Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Iran and North Korea are the big conflicts in international politics. Bush — morally disavowed and increasingly abandoned by his own party colleagues — will not be able to do much to solve them. So who will?’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘The damage to Bush is enormous. Congress has made clear to the president: this war has increasingly become his war and not a mission in the name of the nation. Congress has to vote on the defense budget in March — and whoever dares refuse the troops the money will be criticized by the government for lacking patriotism. The trick has always worked before. The Democrats are already ensnared in tactical manoeuvers — torn between loyalty to the military and their anger over the botched Bush war … Four years after the disastrous march on Baghdad it is not only Iraq that is collapsing. The war also threatens to split America into friend and foe.’

“The left-wing Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘The US Democrats have failed their first big test. They won’t be able to end the US mission in Iraq in the foreseeable future … That is a disappointment but not a surprise … It was never really their aim to use all their might to stop Bush. That was finally clear when the liberals agreed that the Iraq resolution would be ‘non-binding.’… The majority of Democrats wanted to do something symbolic without taking on the responsibility for the disastrous war in Iraq. It is pure electoral politics… The Democrats could now refuse to approve the president’s war budget. But that plan looks unlikely in the face of the recent defeat. It would mean that the Democrats had a plan to get out of Iraq without setting the entire region alight. There is no such plan in sight — neither from the Democrats nor from the Republicans. And certainly not from the White House.”

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘George W. Bush suffered a defeat in Congress that will resonate in some way or another. Either it was the beginning of a political avalanche which will bury Bush’s Iraq policy and with it seal his presidency’s foreign policy failure. Or it was an error on the part of the opposition in Congress, which could end in a rude awakening for those candidates who want to succeed Bush in the White House.'”

US Coalition Allies On Opposite Track

The Associated Press reported on February 21:

“Britain will withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq in the coming months and aims to further cut its 7,100-strong contingent by late summer if Iraqi forces can secure the country’s south, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday. The announcement, which came as Denmark said it would withdraw its 460 troops and Lithuania said it was considering pulling out its small contingent, comes as the U.S. is implementing an increase of 21,000 more troops for Iraq — putting Washington on an opposite track as its main coalition allies… Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice played down the British pullback, saying it is consistent with the U.S. plan to turn over more control to Iraqi forces.”

The article continued:

“But opposition Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said Blair’s plan fell a long way short of a promise to leave Iraq as a ‘beacon of democracy’ for the region. ‘The unpalatable truth is this … we will leave behind a country on the brink of civil war, where reconstruction has stalled, where corruption is endemic and a region which is a lot less stable than it was in 2003,’ Campbell said.

“Besides the United States, Britain and Denmark, the major partners in the coalition include South Korea (2,300 troops), Poland (900), Australia and Georgia (both 800) and Romania (600), according to the Brookings Institution. South Korea plans to halve its 2,300-member contingent in the northern city of Irbil by April, and is under pressure from parliament to devise a plan for a complete withdrawal by year’s end. Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said that his country’s troops would stay no longer than December.

“Blair, who has said he will step down by September after a decade in power, has seen his foreign-policy record overshadowed by his role as Bush’s leading ally in the unpopular war. As recently as last month, Blair rejected opposition calls to withdraw British troops by October, calling such a plan irresponsible.”

Less Than 15 Years?

The Financial Times reported on February 22:

“The world has less than 15 years to take urgent action against global warming through the use of new technology if it is to prevent a climate catastrophe, the United Nations warns in the as yet unpublished third part of its World Climate Report [due to be published in May]. If carbon emissions are not substantially reduced by 2020, the report warns, global warming will set in motion irreversible natural processes such as the melting of the ice shields in Greenland and the over-acidification of the oceans… The scientists who compiled the report propose a range of measures, including the much increased use of biofuels and hybrid cars, as well as the construction of new nuclear power stations… The first part of the ­Climate Report, which looked at the physical basis of climate change, caused a global discussion about global warming when it was published this month. The scientists warned of a future characterised by extreme weather events – long and intense droughts, fierce hurricanes, heatwaves and rising sea levels – as a result of rising temperatures… The second part, expected to be published in April, will look more specifically at the effects of climate change on humans and nature.”

Tensions Intensify Between Washington, Moscow and Europe

The Financial Times reported on February 21:

“Tensions intensified on Wednesday over US plans for missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, as Washington called on Europe to take a tougher stance towards the Kremlin. The Bush administration’s two top foreign policy officials lashed out at Moscow’s campaign against the bases, which Washington insists are aimed at possible threats from Iran rather than Russia. Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, said the suggestion this week by Russia’s head of strategic rocket forces that Russia could target the two central European countries if they agreed to host the bases was ‘very unfortunate’. She also dismissed comments by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister, who said this week Moscow should have been consulted more about the sites, given their proximity to Russia’s borders… Mr Steinmeier’s spokesman said the minister was aware that ‘technical talks’ had taken place between Moscow and Washington, but said he had been warning against a return to the type of security stand-offs of the cold war era.

“Separately in Brussels, Stephen Hadley, US national security adviser, emphasised Washington’s dismay at a speech this month in which Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, hit out at the missile defence plans and the US’s ‘unilateral’ use of force… The EU has consistently struggled to forge a common line on Russia. Countries such as Poland, which are suspicious of the Kremlin’s intentions, are pitted against big western European states such as Germany and France, which are often keen to deepen ties with Moscow.”

Beware of the Hornets

The Telegraph.co.uk reported on February 21:

“Swarms of giant [Asian] hornets renowned for their vicious stings and skill at massacring honeybees have settled in France. And there are now so many of the insects that entomologists fear it will just be a matter of time before they cross to Britain… Thousands of football-shaped hornet nests are now dotted all over the forests of Aquitaine, the south-western region of France hugely popular with British tourists… A handful can destroy a nest of 30,000 bees in just a couple of hours — a major concern among the beekeeping industry.”

When reading this, one is reminded of God’s promise to defeat ancient Israel’s enemies with hornets (Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:12). Hornets can be a powerful enemy for humans.

Smoking Much More Dangerous Than Originally Thought

Reuters reported on February 20:

“Smoking causes long-lasting changes in the brain similar to changes seen in animals when they are given cocaine, heroin and other addictive drugs, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. A study of the brain tissue of smokers and nonsmokers who had died showed that smokers had the changes, even if they had quit years before… A team led by Bruce Hope of NIDA, one of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed levels of two enzymes found inside brain cells known as neurons… Smokers and former smokers had high levels of these enzymes… Hope said other studies had seen the same thing in animals given cocaine and heroin — and it was clear that the drugs were causing the effects… Experts on smoking have long said that nicotine is at least as addictive as heroin.”

Middle East In Worst Condition Ever

On February 9, Der Spiegel Online published an interview with Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, discussing the escalating developments between the USA and Iran, and the volatile situation in the Middle East. ElBaradei stated the following:

“… I personally believe that in a situation like the one you have in the Middle East today, where it’s like a ball of fire, you have to be very cautious. We cannot afford to add oil to that fire. The more we have confrontation, the more the Middle East will become militant and angry… We should not ride a train wreck. The Middle East is in the worst condition I have ever seen… It’s regrettable that Iran restricted the number of inspectors and we wrote to them and asked them to reconsider. It restricts our flexibility. I hope the Iranians will understand that the more transparency there, the better it will be for them.

“But I can also say that there are over 100 designated inspectors accepted by the Iranians. So we have enough people to do the job. We were just in Natanz and will soon go again… The Iranians themselves said that they want to install 3,000 centrifuges and are now moving forward in installing them… How long it will take to install and operate them will be part of my report to the IAEA Board of Governors on Feb. 21. So the window of opportunity for a time-out is very narrow. If my report is negative in the absence of any movement on the part of Iran then the Security Council will work for more sanctions. That would mean a further escalation that will become more and more difficult to scale back.”

On February 9, Der Stern Online published an interview with retired U.S. four-star general Wesley Clark. In the interview, Clark said, “I fear it will come to a military confrontation with Iran. This would lead to catastrophic results, for the region and for us.”

Accused Putin Becomes Accuser

In what must be seen as a “further worsening” of the relationship between Washington and Moscow, Russia’s highly controversial leader, Vladimir Putin, launched an unparalleled attack against the United States in a speech at a security conference in Germany. Putin has come under increased scrutiny for his perceived authoritarian conduct of brutally suppressing any resistance to his policies which are apparently aimed at the re-establishment of Russian dictatorship.

AFP filed this report on February 9:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a full-frontal attack on the United States, saying it had broken from international law and made the world a more dangerous place. Putin’s denunciation of US policy, made at a high-level security conference in Munich, prompted dismay among senior officials and politicians from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation…

“The United States had disastrously ‘overstepped’ its borders… ‘in all spheres — economic, political and humanitarian and has imposed itself on other states,’ Putin said… What he called a ‘uni-polar’ world dominated by the United States, ‘means in practice one thing: one centre of power, one centre of force, one centre of decision-making, a world of one master, one sovereign,’… Such a situation ‘is extremely dangerous. No one feels secure because no one can hide behind international law,’ Putin said. He added that US dominance was ‘ruinous, not only for those inside the system but for the sovereign himself because it destroys him from within. It has nothing in common with democracy.’

“In a direct reference to US military policy, Putin said ‘local and regional wars didn’t get fewer. The number of people who died didn’t get less, but increased…. We see no kind of restraint, a hyper-inflated use of force.’ The United States, he said, had gone ‘from one conflict to another without achieving a fully-fledged solution to any of them.’

“Putin also rejected US criticism that under his watch, Russia has back-tracked on democracy… The speech marked a further worsening of relations between Moscow and Washington under Putin… The head of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, said the world was seeing an ‘increasingly uni-polar government in Russia, where competing centres of influence are being forced to toe the party line.'”

The Associated Press pointed out that “The Russian leader also voiced concern about U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in eastern Europe — likely in Poland and the Czech Republic — and the expansion of NATO as possible challenges to Russia.”

The EUObserver added on February 12:

“Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s tough speech in Germany this weekend is a wake-up call to the harsh realities in EU-Russia relations, early reactions from European politicians say… Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt told Reuters: ‘we should take [Putin] at his word. This was the real Russia of now and possibly in four or five years time it could go further in this direction.’… Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg thanked the Russian leader ironically, saying that he had vindicated NATO’s decision to take in members from the former Soviet east over the past decade. Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves also urged the EU to think twice about future relations with ‘a country that considers democracy on its borders as a threat, or despotism inside its borders as a source of stability.'”

On February 12, Der Spiegel Online reported about German reactions to Putin’s provocative speech:

“The business daily Handelsblatt argues: ‘It’s dangerous and frustrating that the two nuclear superpowers have lapsed into a calculated simulation of the Cold War.’… The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… Russia is demanding a front-row seat once again and with its nuclear weapons, its size and its wealth in oil and gas, there are powerful arguments in its favor. The US with its disastrous Iraq adventure provides another argument. Because (the war) has damaged Western credibility, it has provided Putin with the opportunity to give a powerful voice to the growing number of countries and people who doubt the wisdom of the West’s policies. The Russian President has laid his cards on the table. Europe and America now know Russia’s position… There is a lot to be said for not only listening to Russia’s voice but for taking it seriously.'”

The Bible confirms that we ought to listen to “Russia’s voice” and take it “seriously”–but for reasons which are unknown and unrecognized by most people. To learn more about Russia’s future role, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Putin’s Mideast Tour

The Associated Press reported on February 12:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to find quick success on a historic Mideast tour that saw the leader of energy-rich Russia forging oil diplomacy in Saudi Arabia and backing a natural gas cartel Monday with neighboring Qatar. Putin’s Middle East tour comes as Washington’s stature in the Gulf is slipping and Arab monarchies are busy boosting ties outside the region, particularly in Asia. Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia have welcomed Putin despite being traditional U.S. allies…

“European Union leaders have said they would stand against any effort by Russia to create a gas cartel, fearing energy prices — and Russia’s political clout — could rise dramatically as a result. Europe gets 44 percent of its natural gas imports from Russia… ‘Russia and Saudi Arabia are the world’s leading energy producers and exporters and here it is easy for us to find common ground,’ Putin said in remarks in Saudi Arabia broadcast on Russian state television. Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia, represents a potential ally with considerable political strength as a member of the U.N. Security Council and the so-called Quartet of Middle East peace mediators…

“Earlier Monday, Putin met with about 200 Saudi and Russian businessmen eager to expand ties. Saudi Arabian firms have been seeking deals in countries other than the United States because of the difficulty in getting visas following the Sept. 11 attacks. The hijackings were carried out by 19 Arabs, including 15 Saudis.”

AFP added on February 13:

“Putin paid tribute to ‘the good relations between Russia and Jordan’ and said he noted ‘an increased interest in Russia on the part of our Arab partners’ during his tour. The visits have opened the way for ‘big possibilities for Russia,’ he said. ‘For Russia the Middle East is strategically important.”

A Friendlier US Defense Secretary

AFP reported on February 13:

“US Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew home from a mission to gain support for a military counter-offensive in Afghanistan that produced little concrete but set a friendlier tone with US allies… He won no public promises of new troops and equipment from European allies, or a sea change in Pakistani policies that have allowed the Taliban to take root in its tribal areas near the Afghan border…

“[He] candidly made amends at each stop for past US errors. He told reporters in Islamabad his last visit to Pakistan was in connection with a decade-long struggle against Soviet occupation by Afghan mujaheddin fighters, which the United States backed along with Pakistan… ‘After the Soviets left, the United States made a mistake,’ he said. ‘We neglected Afghanistan and extremism took control of that country. The United States paid a price for that on September 11, 2001. We are here for the long haul.’

“In Germany, he acknowledged that Guantanamo and the prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq had damaged America’s reputation, and explicitly repudiated Donald Rumsfeld’s division of Europe into ‘new’ and ‘old’ depending on whether a country supported the US invasion of Iraq. ‘All of these characterizations belong to the past,’ he said… When Putin stunned an audience of defense and foreign policy heavyweights in Munich with a stinging attack on US global leadership, Gates used a disarmingly light touch to defuse it.”

In fact, Gates compared himself with Putin, pointing out that both had been trained as spies and were therefore known to be blunt. However, Gates added with a smile that he–contrary to Putin–had gone through a process of re-education.

Deal With North Korea Breakthrough or Disaster?

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 14:

“Negotiators in Peking as well as Washington hailed it as a breakthrough: North Korea will phase out its nuclear program. But to many critics — including George W. Bush’s own political allies — the deal looks like a concession. A day after the initial optimism surrounding the agreement with North Korea… many analysts, including a number of US conservative allies of US President George W. Bush, are waking up with second thoughts.

“The deal, struck on Tuesday as part of the six-party talks in Beijing [between North Korea, the US, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan], calls for massive oil and energy deliveries to North Korea in exchange for the mothballing of the country’s nuclear facilities. In addition to humanitarian and economic assistance, the aid amounts to some $400 million, according to reports in the US media.

“The dream of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, however, is still a long way off. Pyongyang will hold on to the nuclear arsenal it has already built — which is why some criticize the deal as a concession to North Korea, for very little in return.

“Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, was one of the critics. ‘It’s a bad, disappointing deal and the best thing you can say about it is that it will probably fall apart,’ Bolton said. ‘The only reason they were back at the negotiating table was because of the pressure we put on them through financial sanctions. Now we’re about to release that pressure.’ Bush advisor Mike Green also expressed doubt about the deal. ‘We won’t really know if the North Koreans have changed their basic stance and are really serious about giving up their nuclear program,’ he said, until it’s clear what they plan to do with their plutonium stockpile.

“In the agreement’s first phase, Pyongyang will receive 50,000 tons of fuel oil when it shuts down its nuclear power station in Yongbyon — which is set to happen in the next two months — under the supervision of international inspectors. A further 950,000 tons will follow once the station, about 62 miles from the capital Pyongyang, is disassembled… the international community seems to be grudgingly accepting North Korea into the nuclear weapons club following the country’s Oct. 9, 2006 test…”

AFP reported on February 14:

“US President George W. Bush rejected criticism of a breakthrough nuclear deal with North Korea… Speaking at a White House press conference, the US leader said the agreement aimed at halting North Korea’s nuclear weapons was a ‘good first step’ but added ‘there is a lot of work to be done to make sure that the commitments made in this agreement become a reality.’ Bush defended the deal against critics, including from his key conservative base, who said that offering aid and other guarantees to North Korea in return for disbanding its nuclear network was rewarding ‘bad behavior’ and a sign of US weakness…

“Among the agreement’s vocal critics was Washington’s former UN envoy, John Bolton, who called it ‘a very bad deal’ that shows US weakness at a time when Washington was challenging Iran over its controversial nuclear program. It also ‘undercuts’ UN sanctions resolutions against North Korea, Bolton said. But Bush rejected his criticism, saying ‘I strongly disagree, strongly disagree with his assessment.'”

Bad News for Great Britain

AFP reported on February 14:

“Britain’s youngsters had the worst relationships with their family and peers, suffered more from poverty and indulged in more ‘binge drinking’ and hazardous sex than children in other wealthy nations, said [a UNICEF] report. The United States placed 20 and Britain 21 on the list. Britain came in last for two of the main six areas studied by UNICEF: relationships, especially with their peers; and risky behaviour such as sex, drink and drugs… More broadly, Britain joined the United States and Sweden in having the highest proportion of children living in single-parent families, while Italy, Greece and Spain had the lowest… Almost a third of British youngsters aged 11, 13 and 15 reported being drunk on two or more occasions…”

Our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America,” explains WHY we are confronted with such terrible developments in the British and American societies. In addition, you might also want to read our free booklet, “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families,” explaining that our children don’t HAVE to grow up like those as described in the UNICEF report.

Reactions to Global Warming Report

Reuters wrote on February 2:

“The world’s top climate scientists said on Friday global warming was man-made… The scientists said it was ‘very likely’ — or more than 90 percent probable — that human activities led by burning fossil fuels explained most of the warming in the past 50 years… The Kyoto Protocol is the main plan for capping emissions of greenhouse gases until 2012 but it has been severely weakened since the United States, the top source of greenhouse gases, pulled out in 2001. Emissions by many backers of Kyoto are far over target… A 21-page summary of IPCC findings for policy makers… says it is ‘more likely than not’ that greenhouse gases have made tropical cyclones more intense.”

The Associated Press added on February 2:

“Scientists from 113 countries issued a landmark report Friday saying they have little doubt global warming is caused by man, and predicting that hotter temperatures and rises in sea level will ‘continue for centuries’ no matter how much humans control their pollution… The 21-page report represents the most authoritative science on global warming as the panel comprises hundreds of scientists and representatives. It only addresses how and why the planet is warming, not what to do about it… The scientists said global warming was ‘very likely’ caused by human activity, a phrase that translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that it is caused by man’s burning of fossil fuels. That was the strongest conclusion to date, making it nearly impossible to say natural forces are to blame. It also said no matter how much civilization slows or reduces its greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and sea level rise will continue on for centuries.”

On February 2, BBC News quoted Sharon Hays, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as saying: “This report is a comprehensive and accurate reflection of the current state of climate change science.”

The Washington Post wrote on February 2 that “In 1965, the concern that greenhouse gases would lead to global warming was a prediction. Today, it is an established scientific fact.”

AFP added on February 2:

“In its first assessment in six years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) dealt a crippling blow Friday to the shrinking body of opinion that claims higher temperatures in past decades have been driven by natural, not man-made, causes… British Environment Minister David Miliband said the report ‘is another nail in the coffin of the climate change deniers’… The exhaustive IPCC study, culled from work by 2,500 scientists in more than 100 countries, sounded alarms about the impact of carbon pollution, mostly from the burning of oil, gas and coal. These fossil fuels release CO2, which traps heat from the sun instead of letting it radiate safely into space.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 2:

“A new United Nations report on climate change makes for sobering reading. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, humans are almost certainly responsible for global warming. And the consequences could be worst than previously thought. For years, global warming was dismissed as an apocalyptic vision dreamt up by cranks and hippies. But recently consensus has been growing that the climate is indeed changing and humans are directly responsible. Now the United Nations has concluded that humans are almost certainly responsible for global warming and issued its strongest-ever warning about the consequences.

“The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its keenly awaited report on climate change Friday in Paris. It contains the UN’s strongest conclusion yet that human activities are leading to global warming, and warns of more droughts, stronger storms and rising sea levels by 2100… According to the report, human-made emissions of greenhouse gases can be blamed for fewer cold days, hotter nights, killer heat waves, floods and heavy rains, devastating droughts, and an increase in hurricane and tropical storm strength.”

The Los Angeles Times wrote on February 2:

“In the strongest language it has ever used, a United Nations panel says global warming is ‘very likely’ caused by human activities and has become a runaway train that cannot be stopped… The phrase ‘very likely’ indicates a 90% certainty. The last IPCC report, issued five years ago, said it was ‘likely’ that human activity was at fault, indicating a certainty of 66%. Many scientists had argued during the editing process that the report should say it is ‘virtually certain’ that human activities are causing global warming. That would indicate a 99% certainty. But the change was strongly resisted by China, among other nations, because of its reliance on fossil fuels to help build its economy…In addition, the report says, for the first time, that it is ‘more likely than not’ that the strong hurricanes and cyclones observed since 1970 have been produced by global warming.”

Bild Online wrote in sensational words, “Climate Horrors–Man is to be blamed when our earth dies.” The article quoted some of the German co-authors of the “shocking” study, as well as other weather experts, as saying that cities like London or Sydney were in danger of overflooding. According to the article, commencing in 2020, Dublin and Ireland will experience drought; the Sahara might stretch as far as Berlin, and man will become more and more violent…

No Universal Agreement on Global Warming

Not everyone agrees with the finding of the IPCC report–nor, that there is unanimous consensus of all reputable scientists on the issues of man-made global warming or climate change. To reach this conclusion, one does not have to go so far as to focus on controversial “commentator” Rush Limbaugh, who postulates on his shows that the extent to which fossil fuel emissions have contributed to the rise in global atmospheric air temperatures since about the mid-1800s is still debatable, and that the Antarctica ice is actually increasing.

Other voices, which are normally more accepted within the scientific community, can be heard as well. The highly-respected conservative German newspaper, Die Welt, wrote on February 3 that those scientists who disagree with the findings of the UN report are rejected as “deniers”–a highly explosive term, especially in Germany, where Holocaust deniers are committing a crime. Die Welt also stressed that there are scientific critics, including respected meteorologists, who have gathered and analyzed data and who have reached different and less dramatic results pertaining to the weather and the climate. The paper stressed, too, that in the negotiations in Paris, which resulted in the UN report, politicians, and not scientists, had the final say.

Another highly respected newspaper, the German left-liberal publication, “Die Zeit,” likewise criticized the fact that politicians, and not scientists, seemed to have run the show in Paris. This began–according to Die Zeit–when counties selected “their” representative scientists for Paris–a procedure which hardly guarantees independence. And the report itself had to be agreed to by the representatives of the individual governments–and these representatives had received directives from their governments what to agree to and what not. In an interview with sociologist Peter Weingart, Die Zeit raised tough questions, including the fear that the report could not be objective, as it had become part of the political mainstream to predict global warming. The additional fear was voiced that a scientist who would not agree to such a postulate would be cut off from receiving further funds for scientific research. The paper also stated that, due to inconsistent scientific “findings” of the past, “no one is sure anymore what to believe, when it comes to climate change.”

Political Pressure on “Dissenters”

In our last Update, we reported about alleged political pressure from the Bush Administration on scientists believing that global warming is man-made.  But it goes both ways. Set forth below is an article reporting about political pressure from the state of Oregon on the state’s Climatologist who believes that man does not cause global warming.
 
kgw.com reported on February 7:
 
“In the face of evidence agreed upon by hundreds of climate scientists, George Taylor holds firm. He does not believe human activities are the main cause of global climate change… Taylor has held the title of ‘state climatologist’ since 1991 when the legislature created a state climate office at OSU. The university created the job title, not the state. His opinions conflict not only with many other scientists, but with the state of Oregon’s policies. So the governor wants to take that title from Taylor and make it a position that he would appoint…

“In an interview [Taylor] told KGW, ‘There are a lot of people saying the bulk of the warming of the last 50 years is due to human activities and I don’t believe that’s true.’ He believes natural cycles explain most of the changes the earth has seen. A bill will be introduced in Salem soon on the matter. Sen. Brad Avakian, (D) Washington County, is sponsoring the bill. He said global warming is so important to state policy it’s important to have a climatologist as a consultant to the governor.”

European Pressure on the USA

The New York Times reported on February 1 that continuous critic of the USA, French President Jacques Chirac, “has demanded that the United States sign both the Kyoto climate protocol and a future agreement that will take effect when the Kyoto accord runs out in 2012… he warned that if the United States did not sign the agreements, a carbon tax across Europe on imports from nations that have not signed the Kyoto treaty could be imposed to try to force compliance. The European Union is the largest export market for American goods.”

Chirac expresses, to a large extent, the European opinion which blames the U.S. in this matter. They openly deride America for not signing on to the Kyoto Protocol. This is another arena in which the United States is viewed as a rogue nation that is disinterested in what others think. The impact of this latest go-round is only serving to further isolate the U.S.A.

This can also be seen, when considering the following excerpts from an article in The Associated Press of February 3:

“Fear of runaway global warming pushed 46 countries to line up Saturday behind France’s appeal for a new environmental body that could single out — and perhaps police — nations that abuse the Earth… Without naming the United States directly, Chirac expressed frustration that ‘some large countries, large rich countries, still must be convinced.’ They are ‘refusing to accept the consequences of their acts,’ he said.”

Angela Merkel–Peacemaker or Economist?

Deutsche Welle reported on February 6:

“Chancellor Angela Merkel met Emirati President Khalifa Monday as part of her efforts to revive the Middle East peace process… Merkel said Germany, as the current European Union president, would throw its weight behind the reconciliation talks in Mecca on Tuesday between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political supremo Khaled Meshaal… adding the EU would stay in close contact with Saudi Arabia, which is hosting the meeting… Merkel later told the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies in a speech on EU foreign policy that reaching a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is ‘absolutely central to bringing stability to the region.’… She said that working towards a two-state solution is the best way forward…

“Merkel also criticized Iran and Syria for their role in the Middle East… ‘There are forces, in the region and elsewhere, that do not want success in these efforts,’ Merkel said in the United Arab Emirates’ capital. ‘On this account we have concerns, especially with respect to Iran… Syria has not used its opportunity to play a constructive role…’

“Elsewhere, the meeting with Sheikh Khalifa focused on… economic ties between Berlin and Abu Dhabi… Sheikh Khalifa also called for a boost to economic ties between the UAE and Germany, whose two-way trade increased 25 percent last year to seven billion dollars… In Riyadh, she met King Abdullah as well as the crown prince and foreign minister of the oil-rich monarchy, and Abderrahman al-Attiya, secretary general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.”

“Limited” Mandate to Help NATO troops in Afghanistan?

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 7:

“The German cabinet decided on Wednesday to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets to Afghanistan to help locate Taliban bases in response to a request from NATO. The German pilots will be accompanied by around 500 support staff. The mission has to be approved by parliament in March and the Tornados could be deployed in April for a six-month tour…. Germany has around 2,900 troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan…. The mission will cost around €35 million. With more than 4,000 people killed in violence, last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001. Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the Tornados… could help prevent civilian casualties and that the mission was necessary given that the Taliban had announced it would launch 2,000 suicide attacks.

“Meanwhile an opinion poll showed a big majority of Germans are opposed to sending Tornado jets to the south of Afghanistan. Only 21 percent were in favor, with 77 percent opposed… Former German air force general Hermann Hagena said the Tornados might end up getting involved in combat. If troops on the ground were in danger a pilot should be prepared to open fire, Hagena told NDR Info radio.”

While Bild Online asked the question, “Has Germany entered the war,” Der Spiegel Online voiced the opinion that “Germany has already been at war for a while,” and that the German government should be honest enough to admit this fact.

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 8:

“In approving the deployment of Tornado jets to Afghanistan, but only for reconnaissance purposes, the German cabinet has revealed the full extent of Germany’s schizophrenic Afghanistan policy. This double game has to stop. The chancellor should finally say it like it is: Germany is at war. The German government approved the deployment of Tornado jets to Afghanistan on Wednesday. ‘Are we now at war?’ the tabloid Bild wrote, clearly hedging its bets. German Chancellor Angela Merkel should be honest enough to answer this question with a clear ‘Yes.’ While she’s at it, she should add that this has been the case for the last five years.”

Pagan Christians or Christian Pagans?

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 7:

“The old natural religions continue to thrive in Africa. While Christianity and Islam vie for supremacy in many countries, they have failed to banish the rain gods and spirits south of the Sahara. Frequently the pagan rites have fused with a faith in Jesus Christ… The clash of civilizations and religions… can be witnessed firsthand here in Africa…  Islamic Fundamentalism is advancing from the west, penetrating all the way to the continent’s eastern reaches. In some regions it collides head-on with an equally aggressive brand of Christianity. The clashes are becoming increasingly bitter because the desert is expanding, bringing more poverty in its wake… Yet, as hard as the two great monotheistic faiths have struggled for supremacy, they have failed to wrest power from [pagan] priests… With its nature deities, the old African mythology is often the only stabilizing force in a world full of suffering, displacement and death, where everything is in constant flux but rarely changes for the better, where – in many respects – time has stood still. This is a world populated by nymphs and sirens, by elfin spirits, sun and moon gods, and by animal deities such as cows, stags, lambs and calves.

“At the end of the 19th century, the British ethnologist Edward Burnett Tylor coined the term animism (the Latin word anima means soul or breath) to describe this pantheon [explaining that] plants, animals and objects also have souls in the minds of these ‘primitive peoples.’… Despite the best efforts of Christian and Islamic missionaries, some 40 percent of the people in Burkina Faso, western Africa, are still considered animist. In East African Ethiopia, a largely Christian domain, the figure is still thought to be 10 percent. Yet these numbers remain pure conjecture. In truth, religious distinctions have long blurred, indeed evaporated, in Africa. Someone who attends church in the morning and the mosque at midday might easily invite a voodoo priest over in the evening to read the kola nuts. Practically everywhere the cult of the dead intermingles with Christianity…

“In Kenya, for example, the modernminded Kikuyu, flashing cell phones and Ray-Bans, happily journey to Mount Kenya and pray to Ngai, the supreme God of the animists – despite often being members of one of the numerous Christian sects, such as the Pentecostals or the gospel churches. In this way… Christianity and the pagan belief in nature deities and demons mutually impact one another. The existence of a god of creation in nearly all pre-Christian African religions encourages this process. This cross-fertilization is not as strange as it may sound, even to Christians in the West. Something quite similar occurred there centuries ago, ‘when pagan Germanic customs mingled with Christian rites,’ says [religious scholar Fritz] Stenger [from the Catholic University of East Africa in Nairobi]. ‘Even Christmas – that most traditional of Christian celebrations – has ancient Germanic roots.”

New U.S. Military Command HQ in Africa–and Germany Will Help…

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 7:

“With the end of the Cold War, Germany lost much of its strategic importance for the United States military, a development reflected in the ongoing drawdown of US forces from bases here. But Germany hasn’t lost all of its significance — it is still home to the US forces’ European headquarters and soon it will also serve as temporary host to the US military command for Africa, Africom…

“The move reflects increased US interest in the continent as a result of fears that Islamist militants could find havens in countries with weak governments such as Somalia. US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were targeted in simultaneous al-Qaida attacks in 1998, killing over 250 people, and US forces recently targeted al-Qaida militants in Somalia with air strikes. Washington is also keen to foster stability on the continent with an eye to AFRICA’S OIL RESERVES which could provide an alternative to Middle Eastern oil. The new unit will initially be based in the western German city of Stuttgart, also HOME to the military’s EUROPEAN COMMAND, and it is expected to be in full operation by September 2008.”

“The West Must Pay Closer Attention” to Russia!

On February 2, Der Spiegel Online published an interesting interview with Russian author Vladimir Sorokin. In the interview, Sorokin stated:

“…what would happen to Russia if it isolated itself completely from the Western world — that is, if it erected a new Iron Curtain. There is much talk about Russia being a fortress. Orthodox churches, autocracy and national traditions are supposed to form a new national ideology… Putin likes to quote a sentence from Czar Alexander III, who said that Russia has only two allies — the army and the navy. As a citizen, this makes me sit up and take notice. This is a concept of self-imposed isolation, a defense strategy that sees Russia surrounded by enemies.

“When I turn on the TV I see a general calmly claiming that our missiles are ahead of the latest American models by three five-year plans. It’s a nightmare. We are creating a concept of the enemy, just as they did in the Soviet era. This is a giant step backward… . My television teaches me that everything was wonderful in the Soviet Union. According to the programs I watch, the KGB and apparatchiks were angels, and the Stalin era was so festive that the heroes of the day must still be celebrated today…”

The article continued to quote Sorokin, as follows:

“The West should be even more vocal in insisting that the Russians respect human rights. All compromise aside, I ask myself whether Russia is moving in the direction of democracy. I don’t believe it is! Bit by bit, Russia is slipping back into an authoritarian empire. The worst thing that can happen to us is indifference in the West — that is, if it were interested in nothing but oil and gas. I am always surprised when I watch the weather report on German television. First they show the map of Europe and then the camera moves to the right. Then comes Kiev, then Moscow and then everything stops. This seems to be the West’s view of us — of a wild Russia that begins past Moscow, a place one prefers not to see. This is a big mistake. The West must pay closer attention.”

Bird Flu Isolates Britain

The Associated Press reported on February 5 about an outbreak of the bird flu virus H5N1, which is also dangerous for humans:

“Poultry farmers around Europe were on guard Monday against the possible spread of bird flu across the North Sea from infected Britain, fearing the disease could be carried by wild birds.The Netherlands and Norway ordered restrictions on commercial poultry over the weekend after the outbreak last week of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which hit poultry stocks in Asia in 2003. About 2,500 turkeys died of the H5N1 strain on the farm, owned by… Europe’s largest turkey producer… and all of the facility’s 159,000 turkeys were ordered slaughtered. It was the first time H5N1 had been found on a British farm.

“Authorities in both parts of Ireland banned bird shipments from Britain and revoked poultry-import licenses Monday… the ban in Japan, which imported more than 160,000 fowl from Britain in 2006, was effective as of Saturday. Russia will stop imports from Tuesday, including eggs and poultry feed…”

Army Officer Might Have to Go to Jail

The following serves as a good example to illustrate that once you are in the army, you have to follow orders unconditionally–even if they violate your personal conscience and convictions. Therefore, for this reason alone, young men and women should carefully consider the consequences, before joining the military.

The Associated Press reported on February 4:

“Denied a chance to debate the legality of the Iraq war in court, an Army officer who refused to go to Iraq now goes to trial hoping to at least minimize the amount of time he could serve if convicted… Ehren Watada… has spoken out against U.S. military involvement in Iraq, calling it morally wrong and a breach of American law. ‘As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must as an officer of honor and integrity refuse that order,’ Watada said in a video statement [in the past]… ‘Though the American soldier wants to do right, the illegitimacy of the occupation itself, the policies of this administration, and the rules of engagement of desperate field commanders will ultimately force them to be party to war crime,’ Watada said then…

“Seitz [Watada’s attorney] unsuccessfully sought an opportunity to argue the legality of the war, saying it violated Army regulations that specify wars are to be waged in accordance with the United Nations charter. His final attempt was quashed last month when the military judge… ruled Watada cannot base his defense on the war’s legality. [The judge] also rejected claims that Watada’s statements were protected by the First Amendment.”

The Latest German Scandal

The case of Murat Kurnaz, a German-born Turkish citizen who was allegedly tortured as a detainee in Afghanistan and Iraq, has developed into the latest scandal for the German government. It also reflects negatively on the alleged American inhuman treatment of “political prisoners” in those countries–especially when there is no evidence that those prisoners, like Kurnaz, are related to terrorism in any way. And it reveals the dubious role German politicians have apparently played–secretly collaborating with the Bush administration, while publicly condemning American actions in Iraq.

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 29:

“The career of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier appears to be in jeopardy as unease about his conduct in the case of Gunatánamo detainee Murat Kurnaz continues to grow. The German papers accuse him of hypocrisy, indecisiveness and even racism. Pressure is growing on… Steinmeier to reveal exactly what he knew about the case of Murat Kurnaz, the German-born Turkish citizen who was held in the Guantánamo Bay detention camp for over four years. Steinmeier is in trouble because of reports that he did not take up a CIA offer to send Kurnaz back to Germany in the fall of 2002 — condemning the detainee to four more years in the camp. A parliamentary committee is investigating the case and recently heard Kurnaz’s disturbing testimony of how he was tortured in a camp in Afghanistan and in Guantánamo. There has been no evidence that Kurnaz is connected to terrorism in any way. Politicians from the Christian Democrats (CDU), who are in a coalition government with the Social Democrats (SPD), to whom Steinmeier belongs, went on the offensive Monday… Germany’s newspapers were Monday unanimously critical of Steinmeier’s behavior and pointed out the contradictions in his assertions up until now.

“The center-right Die Welt… writes: ‘Instead of clearly deciding on a course of action and accepting the consequences … (the government) muddled its way through. The half-heartedness with which the coalition camp is now on the one hand criticizing, and on the other defending Steinmeier doesn’t suggest that very much has changed.’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘We have to congratulate … Steinmeier and ex-interior minister Otto Schily on their well-scrubbed consciences: Neither of them is aware of any guilt in the Kurnaz case, and they apparently have nothing to do with the things which indisputably went wrong. … Steinmeier and Schily explain it like this: First of all the whole story is false; secondly, we didn’t do anything to the man; and thirdly, he deserved what we did do, or want to do, to him — because he’s a Turk and a security risk. Murat Kurnaz was born and raised in Bremen and has never lived anywhere else… Germany is pursuing a policy of domestic security which obviously transforms politicians into cynics. If that is the case, then there is clearly something wrong with German security policy.'”

How Germany Applies Its Blue Laws

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 26:

“With residents of a Berlin neighborhood deeply unhappy about the opening of a new Scientology center, city officials have found a creative way of limiting the church’s activity. Because Scientology is considered a business and not a church in Germany, it falls under the country’s rigid Sunday closing law [banning sales on Sunday]… The Church of Scientology has long struggled to gain a foothold in Germany. In 1995, the German Federal Labor Court ruled that Scientology is ‘neither a religion nor an ideology.’ In the eyes of the Germans, it’s just a business, no different than other American imports like Wal-Mart or McDonalds… Scientologists will be free in Berlin to stop passers-by on the street and speak to them — unlike in Hamburg, where the city district where the Hamburg Scientology center is located has banned such activities… Any normal church is free to sell postcards, books or any other educational or fundraising goods on that day, but the Church of Scientology will be banned from offering courses or selling any goods on Sundays.”

Germany Issues Warrants Against CIA Agents

AFP reported on January 31:

“Germany has ordered the arrest of 13 people believed to be CIA agents over the alleged kidnapping of a Lebanese-born German national… German authorities are probing allegations by Khaled el-Masri that he was abducted by US agents in the Macedonian capital Skopje on New Year’s Eve 2003 and flown to a prison in Afghanistan for interrogation before he was released five months later in Albania. Masri has said he was tortured while imprisoned… [The prosecutor’s office said:] ‘According to the information we have, the suspects listed in the arrest warrants are believed to be so-called code names of CIA agents. The investigation will now focus on learning the actual names of the suspects.’ Public broadcaster NDR had reported earlier that most of the CIA employees sought lived in North Carolina in the United States. NDR noted that the German arrest warrants were not valid in the United States and that US authorities had refused to cooperate with the investigation. If the suspects were to travel to the European Union, however, they could be arrested… Masri is also pursuing a 75,000-dollar compensation claim against the CIA in US courts.”

Former Chief of the CIA’s Europe Division Speaks Out

In an interview with Spiegel Online, dated January 25, the former chief of the CIA’s Europe division, Tyler Drumheller, made some strong allegations regarding US foreign policy. We are publishing the following quotes from his interview:

“… never before have I seen the manipulation of intelligence that has played out since Bush took office. As chief of Europe I had a front-row seat from which to observe the unprecedented drive for intelligence justifying the Iraq war… The war in Iraq was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy… We made mistakes. And it may suit the White House to have people believe in a black and white version of reality — that it could have avoided the Iraq war if the CIA had only given it a true picture of Saddam’s armaments. But the truth is that the White House believed what it wanted to believe.”

USA and Europe At Odds Again?

The New York Times reported on January 30:

“European governments are resisting Bush administration demands that they curtail support for exports to Iran and that they block transactions and freeze assets of some Iranian companies, officials on both sides say. The resistance threatens to open a new rift between Europe and the United States over Iran… In December, Iran’s refusal to give up its nuclear program led the United Nations Security Council to impose economic sanctions. Iran’s rebuff is based on its contention that its nuclear program is civilian in nature, while the United States and other countries believe Iran plans to make weapons. At issue now is how the resolution is to be carried out, with Europeans resisting American appeals for quick action, citing technical and political problems related to the heavy European economic ties to Iran and its oil industry…

“’We are telling the Europeans that they need to go way beyond what they’ve done to maximize pressure on Iran,’ said a senior administration official. ‘The European response on the economic side has been pretty weak.’… The main targets are Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain, all with extensive business dealings with Iran, particularly in energy. Administration officials say, however, that Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the current head of the European Union, has been responsive.”

Keep Your Eyes on Somalia

The Associated Press reported on January 31:

“Somalia’s interim government began imposing martial law in areas under its control, the prime minister said, as rising violence threatens its tenuous grip on power… The three-month long emergency law was announced on Jan. 13 but was never implemented. Its imposition came as African leaders meeting in neighboring Ethiopia failed to make up a shortfall of 4,000 troops for a peacekeeping mission to Somalia. Fears are mounting that Somalia could again be plunged into civil war without a peacekeeping force. Since the Islamic movement was ousted by Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers, tanks and war planes, factional violence has again become a feature of life in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. “Ethiopia has begun withdrawing its forces, and diplomats are warning it could create a power vacuum that Islamic fighters could take advantage of… The U.S. has accused the Islamic group [in Somalia] of sheltering suspects in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Osama Bin Laden has said Somalia is a battleground in his war on the West. The U.S. launched at least two airstrikes against fleeing Islamic fighters, although details of the attacks are unknown.”

Scientists to Issue a New Report on Global Warming

AFP reported on January 28:

“Hundreds of the world’s top climate scientists muster in Paris on Monday to frame a report expected to issue the bleakest assessment yet about global warming and its effects on the weather system. On Friday, they will issue the first update in six years of the scientific evidence for global warming… In alpine areas, glaciers are melting and snow cover is shrinking. The North Pole’s summer icefield is a mere fraction of what it once was. Permafrost in high northerly latitudes is retreating. The oceans are becoming more acidic through absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2).”

The Associated Press added on January 28:

“Later this week in Paris, climate scientists will issue a dire forecast for the planet that warns of slowly rising sea levels and higher temperatures. But that may be the sugarcoated version… They ‘don’t take into account the gorillas — Greenland and Antarctica,’ said Ohio State University earth sciences professor Lonnie Thompson, a polar ice specialist. ‘I think there are unpleasant surprises as we move into the 21st century.’ Michael MacCracken, who until 2001 coordinated the official U.S. government reviews of the international climate report on global warming, has fired off a letter of protest over the omission.The melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are a fairly recent development that has taken scientists by surprise. They don’t know how to predict its effects in their computer models. But many fear it will mean the world’s coastlines are swamped much earlier than most predict.

“Others believe the ice melt is temporary and won’t play such a dramatic role… University of Alabama at Huntsville professor John Christy said Greenland didn’t melt much within the past thousand years when it was warmer than now. Christy, a reviewer of the panel work, is a prominent so-called skeptic. He acknowledges that global warming is real and man-made, but he believes it is not as worrisome as advertised.”

The Associated Press added on January 29:

“As the panel [of scientists] meets [in Paris], the planet is the warmest it has been in thousands of years — if not more — and international concern over what to do about it is at an all-time high…  ‘We’re hoping that it will convince people that climate change is real and that we have a responsibility for much of it, and that we really do have to make changes in how we live,’ said Kenneth Denman, one of the report’s authors and senior scientist at the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis. It has been an unusually warm winter in some parts of the world, and awareness of the consequences of climate change is growing.

“Last week, President Bush referred to global warming as an established fact, after years of arguing that not enough was known about global warming to do anything about it…

“While critics call the panel overly alarmist, it is by nature relatively cautious because it relies on input from hundreds of scientists, including skeptics and industry researchers. And its reports must be unanimous, approved by 154 governments — including the United States and oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia.”

AFP published the following on January 29:

“There is no longer any doubt about the reality of global warming and the speed at which it is developing is a ‘major risk’, a senior expert says. ‘Is the climate changing? For the past few years there is no longer any doubt about it,’ said Herve le Treut, [the director of the dynamic meteorology laboratory at the Pierre-Simon Laplace institute in eastern France and] one of the world’s top climate scientists who muster in Paris on Monday. ‘Is the climate changing due to human activity, the response is more and more certainly, yes,’ le Treut [continued]. He said scientists were becoming more confident in their evaluations as events had backed up previous predictions.”

CTV.ca reported on January 30:

“Scientists and government officials are finishing a much-awaited report expected to say that climate change is real, serious and that human influence on it is undeniable.”

AFP added on January 30:

“Earth’s surface temperature could rise by 4.5 C (8.1 F) if carbon dioxide levels double over pre-industrial levels, but higher warming cannot be ruled out, according to a draft report under debate by the UN’s top climate experts. The draft — being discussed line by line at the four-day meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — grimly states that the evidence for man-made influence on the climate system is now stronger than ever… It considers it ‘very likely’ — a probability of more than 90 percent — that the [temperature] rise since the mid-1900s was caused by man-made greenhouse gases. In its last report, in 2001, the IPCC said this probability was ‘likely,’ or 66 percent or less.”

President Bush on Global Warming

On January 29, NPR published an interview with President Bush. He was specifically asked whether he meant global warming, when he spoke in the State of the Union address about “the serious challenge of global climate change.” President Bush responded to this question, as follows:

“Absolutely, and it’s a serious challenge. And one of the things that I am proud of is this administration has done a lot on advancing new technologies that will enable us to do two things – strengthen our economy, and at the same time, be better stewards of the environment. In 2002, I talked about an energy efficiency standard, which says new technologies will enable us to grow our economy, and at the same time, improve the environment, and we’re meeting certain standards that I set for the country.

“And what kind of technologies? Well, if you’re really interested in global warming and climate change, then it seems like to me that we ought to promote technologies to advance the development of safe nuclear power. It’s a renewable source of energy, and at the same time has no emissions to it. But also, we’re advancing clean-coal technologies. The goal is to have a zero-emission coal-fired plant. And then, in the State of the Union, I talked about another aspect of economic security and environmental quality, and that is changing the habits – or changing how we power our cars. And I want more people driving automobiles with, you know, ethanol, for example, or biodiesel. And I believe the goal I set, which is a very bold goal, of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent in 10 years is an attainable goal, but it’s going to require the Congress funding the research and development initiatives that I have put in my budgets. And I expect them to do so.”

Were Scientists Pressured to Downplay Global Warming?

In a bizarre twist of events, The Associated Press reported about pressures on scientists from governmental agencies  to downplay global warming. The article stated:

“Two private advocacy groups told a congressional hearing Tuesday that climate scientists at seven government agencies say they have been subjected to political pressure aimed at downplaying the threat of global warming. The groups presented a survey that shows two in five of the 279 climate scientists who responded to a questionnaire complained that some of their scientific papers had been edited in a way that changed their meaning. Nearly half of the 279 said in response to another question that at some point they had been told to delete reference to ‘global warming’ or ‘climate change’ from a report.”

Is Climate Change Threatening Australia?

The Associated Press reported on January 31:

“Average temperatures in Sydney will rise by about 9 degrees during the next 65 years, with devastating consequences including 1,300 more heat-related deaths per year, according to a government study released Wednesday. With Australia gripped by its worst drought on record, the issue of climate change has emerged as a battleground in this year’s national elections. Prime Minister John Howard has come under renewed criticism for not ratifying the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, making Australia the only major industrial nation other than the U.S. to reject the treaty that mandates lower emissions of global-warming greenhouse gases…

“As a major exporter and consumer of carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuels, Australia rates as one of the world’s worst greenhouse gas producers per capita. Howard says the Kyoto Protocol’s steep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions would hurt Australia’s economy by handing a competitive advantage to China and India, which are not bound by the treaty. Australian power companies issued a report Wednesday that said expanding the use of nuclear power and retrofitting coal-fired power stations to capture carbon dioxide is the best way to slow greenhouse emissions. Howard said he agreed with that recommendation.”

Is Global Warming Man-Made?

Not all scientists agree, however, that global warming is man-made.

The Drudge Report stated the following on January 31, 2007:

“Two powerful new books say today’s global warming is due not to human activity but primarily to a long, moderate solar-linked cycle. ‘Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1500 Years,’ by physicist Fred Singer and economist Dennis Avery was released just before Christmas. ‘The Chilling Stars: A New Theory of Climate Change,’ by Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark and former BBC science writer Nigel Calder (Icon Books), is due out in March.

“Singer and Avery note that most of the earth’s recent warming occurred before 1940, and thus before much human-emitted CO2. Moreover, physical evidence shows 600 moderate warmings in the earth’s last million years. The evidence ranges from ancient Nile flood records, Chinese court documents and Roman wine grapes to modern spectral analysis of polar ice cores, deep seabed sediments, and layered cave stalagmites.

“Unstoppable Global Warming shows the earth’s temperatures following variations in solar intensity through centuries of sunspot records, and finds cycles of sun-linked isotopes in ice and tree rings. The book cites the work of Svensmark, who says cosmic rays vary the earth’s temperatures by creating more or fewer of the low, wet clouds that cool the earth. It notes that global climate models can’t accurately register cloud effects.

“‘The Chilling Stars’ relates how Svensmark’s team mimicked the chemistry of earth’s atmosphere, by putting realistic mixtures of atmospheric gases into a large reaction chamber, with ultraviolet light as a stand-in for the sun. When they turned on the UV, microscopic droplets—cloud seeds—started floating through the chamber.’We were amazed by the speed and efficiency with which the electrons [generated by cosmic rays] do their work of creating the building blocks for the cloud condensation nuclei,’ says Svensmark.

“‘The Chilling Stars’ documents how cosmic rays amplify small changes in the sun’s irradiance fourfold, creating 1-2 degree C cycles in earth’s temperatures: Cosmic rays continually slam into the earth’s atmosphere from outer space, creating ion clusters that become seeds for small droplets of water and sulfuric acid. The droplets then form the low, wet clouds that reflect solar energy back into space. When the sun is more active, it shields the earth from some of the rays, clouds wane, and the planet warms.

“‘Unstoppable Global Warming’ documents the reality of a moderate, natural, 1500-year climate cycle on the earth. ‘The Chilling Stars’ explains the why and how.”

No More Legal Spanking in California?

In an attempt to totally defy Biblical teaching, a California Assemblywoman wants to introduce a bill outlawing spanking of children up to 3 years in any manner, shape or form.

On January 18, 2007, the Mercury News reported the following:

“The state Legislature is about to weigh in on a question that stirs impassioned debate among moms and dads: Should parents spank their children? Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, wants to outlaw spanking children up to 3 years old. If she succeeds, California would become the first state in the nation to explicitly ban parents from smacking their kids. Making a swat on the behind a misdemeanor might seem a bit much for some — and the chances of the idea becoming law appear slim, at best… The bill, which is still being drafted, will be written broadly, [Lieber] added, prohibiting ‘any striking of a child, any corporal punishment, smacking, hitting, punching, any of that.’ Lieber said it would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine up to $1,000, although a legal expert advising her on the proposal said first-time offenders would probably only have to attend parenting classes.

“The idea is encountering skepticism even before it’s been formally introduced. Beyond the debate among child psychologists — many of whom believe limited spanking can be effective — the bill is sure to face questions over how practical it is to enforce and opposition from some legislators who generally oppose what they consider ‘nanny government.’… Lieber conceived the idea while chatting with a family friend and legal expert in children’s issues worldwide. The friend, Thomas Nazario, said that while banning spanking might seem like a radical step for the United States, more than 10 European countries already do so. Sweden was the first, in 1979…

“Doctors, social workers and others who believe a child has been abused are required by law to report it to authorities… Experts in child psychology disagree over whether spanking is a legitimate or effective way for parents to discipline their children. Professor Robert Larzelere, who has studied child discipline for 30 years, said his research shows spanking is fine, as long as it’s used sparingly and doesn’t escalate to abuse. ‘If it’s used in a limited way,’ the Oklahoma State University professor said, ‘it can be more effective than almost any other type of punishment.’ He added that children 18 months old or younger shouldn’t be spanked at all, because they can’t understand why it’s happening. As for Lieber’s proposal, the professor said: ‘I think this proposal is not just a step too far, it’s a leap too far. At least from a scientific perspective there really isn’t any research to support the idea that this would make things better for children.”

WorldNetDaily added the following well-considered comments, on January 23:

“‘It’s really awfully arrogant to try to protect my child from me,’ Karen England, of the Capitol Resource Institute, told WND. ‘If they want to protect children, protect them from predators.’…  Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, called it the wackiest bill of the year. ‘This punish-you-if-you-spank-your-children bill is intrusive, unenforceable, and the most blatant violation of parental rights I’ve ever seen,’ he said. ‘What’s next, jail time for parents who raise their voices at their children? We already have enough legitimate laws prohibiting physical abuse of children, and this proposal is certainly not one of them. Government regulation of parents’ discipline wipes out the right of parents to raise their own children. This is wrong. God gave children to parents, not to the state,’ Thomasson said. England agreed. ‘There already are safeguards in place,’ she said.

“‘Appropriate spanking is not “beating” or “abusing” a child, which is a ridiculous and offensive comparison,’ said Thomasson. ‘When appropriate spanking is lovingly administered, it can help a disobedient youngster to become a well-adjusted adult who respects authority.’… appropriate spanking of rebellious children from 2-10 ‘is the shortest and most effective route to an attitude adjustment.’…

“Brad Dacus, of the Pacific Justice Institute, called it yet another effort to expand the reach of government. ‘Even without this proposed new law, California gives such wide latitude to Child Protective Services that decent parents often get falsely charged with child abuse,’ Dacus said. ‘How much more if the state tries to outlaw all corporal punishment on young children?’ He said the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the fundamental rights of parents to direct and control the upbringing of their children.”

For more information on the BIBLICAL teaching on child discipline, please read our free booklet, “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families.”

New US Passport Rules

The Associated Press reported on January 23:

“Americans flying to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean made sure to bring their passports Monday because of a new rule going into effect Tuesday that requires them to show one to get back into the country. Only about a quarter of U.S. citizens hold valid passports, and most Americans are accustomed to traveling to neighboring countries with just a driver’s license or birth certificate, which have long been sufficient to get through airport customs on the trip home. The new regulations requiring passports were adopted by Congress in 2004 to secure the borders against terrorists…

“Starting Tuesday, Canadian, Mexican and Bermudan air travelers, as well as U.S. citizens flying home from those countries or the Caribbean, must display their passports to enter the United States. The only valid substitutes for a passport will be a NEXUS Air card, used by some American and Canadian frequent fliers; identification as a U.S. Coast Guard merchant mariner; and the green card carried by legal permanent residents. Active members of the U.S. military are exempt.

“For now, the rules affect only air travelers. Land and sea travelers will not have to show passports until at least January 2008. Air travelers who cannot produce a passport will be interviewed by customs agents, who will decide whether to let them into the country… The State Department issued a record 12.1 million passports in 2006 and expects to issue 16 million more this year to meet the increased demand.”

The World Condemns American Foreign Policy

Britain’s The Daily Mail wrote the following on January 23:

“The vast majority of Britons see America’s influence on the world as negative and 81 per cent disapprove of its actions in Iraq, a poll has shown. The damning verdict of the British public on the Bush administration’s handling of some of the world’s most crucial issues is backed by the majority of people around the globe, the survey for the BBC reveals… Three out of four people questioned in 25 countries disapproved of the way the U.S. is dealing with Iraq, where more than 100 died yesterday in one of Iraq’s bloodiest days this year. The poll, coming hours before President Bush’s annual State of the Union address Tuesday night, found that half of those questioned in all 25 countries believe the U.S. is playing a mainly negative role in the world. Some 68 per cent of those questioned around the world believe the U.S. military presence in the Middle East provokes more conflict than it prevents and only 17 per cent feel America’s presence there is a stabilising force.

“In addition to the overwhelming disapproval of U.S. actions in Iraq, 76 per cent of Britons condemned the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and other prisons, 70 per cent were critical of the U.S. response to the Israel-Hezbollah war in the Lebanon, and 64 per cent disagreed with America’s response to Iran’s nuclear programme. Only 33 per cent of Britons saw U.S. influence in the world as mainly positive, 79 per cent disapproved of its approach to global warming and 55 per cent were against the way it handled North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. More than seven out of ten Britons – 72 per cent – saw the U.S. military presence in the Middle East as ‘provoking more conflict than it prevents’… Two-thirds of Americans, 66 per cent, think the U.S. is on the wrong track.”

The State of the Union Address

AFP reported on January 24:

“US President George W. Bush has pleaded with a war-weary US public to give his unpopular Iraq strategy a chance, warning that a US defeat could ignite an ‘epic battle’ engulfing the entire Middle East. ‘For America, this is a nightmare scenario. For the enemy, this is the objective,’ Bush said in his annual State of the Union speech late Tuesday, striking a more defiant than downbeat tone despite his mounting political woes. Two weeks after unveiling a new strategy centered on sending 21,500 more soldiers into battle, the embattled president gave no ground to his critics and urged lawmakers and the US public: ‘Give it a chance to work.’

“Bush, fighting to save his presidency and derail pending congressional action against his Iraq plan, also laid out a handful of domestic policies to cut US gasoline use and pollution, expand health care, and reform immigration. But the chief goal of the 49-minute televised speech was to win a reprieve on Iraq from a skeptical US public and an increasingly hostile US Congress, led by opposition Democrats for the first time in a dozen years…

“The president also acknowledged a dramatic upsurge in sectarian violence, telling Americans leery of seeing US troops caught in the crossfire: ‘This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in.’ That appeared to be a reversal from Bush’s promise, made at an October 25, 2006 press conference, that ‘Americans have no intention of taking sides in a sectarian struggle or standing in the crossfire between rival factions.’ In fact, while Bush tied events in Iraq to the war on terrorism — which he declared in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks — he focused on the threat of future sectarian strife…

“The official Democratic response to the speech, delivered by Senator Jim Webb — a Vietnam veteran whose son is a Marine in Iraq — was tough and blunt. ‘The president took us into this war recklessly,’ said Webb. ‘The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought, nor does the majority of our military, nor does Congress. We need a new direction.’

“The New York Times editorial said that Bush ‘gave no hint’ of fresh policies, offering instead ‘a tepid menu of ideas that would change little.’ The main Washington Post story described Bush as ‘politically wounded but rhetorically unbowed,’ while the Los Angeles Times said his domestic plans were ‘too modest’ to ‘rescue the last quarter of his presidency from irrelevance and patch his tattered legacy.'”

Europe Ready for More Military Operations

The EUObserver reported on January 19:

“Europe says it is ready for more military action under the EU flag in 2007 after its ‘success’ in Congo last year, with the German EU presidency putting Kosovo, Bosnia, Lebanon and Afghanistan at the top of its defence agenda for the next six months… The EU now has two units that can be deployed for ‘crisis-management’ anywhere in the world 10 days after member states take a unanimous vote, in a decision that would ‘as a rule’ follow a UN security council resolution but that could also see the EU go it alone. Each group brings together 1,500 soldiers from two or three member states, which hold joint training exercises and wear both national and EU insignia – a blue disk with 12 gold stars – on the model of EU police missions in Bosnia and Macedonia.

“‘Europe can assume very important peacekeeping and peacemaking functions in this world,’ German defence minister Franz Josef Jung said… ‘Europe is a great peace project and we will continue to make our contribution [to global stability].’… No EU battle group has ever been tested in a real operation, but last year saw two major EU military projects: member states coordinated sending 9,000 European peacekeepers under a UN flag to Lebanon and dispatched 1,400 soldiers under an EU flag to Congo.”

China’s Desire to Use Military Might

Britain’s The Telegraph reported on January 19:

“The prospect of ‘Star Wars’ between China and the West loomed last night after Beijing used a ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space… It suggests that the Chinese have developed a major new capability that underscores the communist regime’s desire to use its military might as well as burgeoning economic power to expand its influence… The test shows that the Chinese could soon have the capability to destroy the array of commercial satellites operated by the US, Europe, Israel, Russia and Japan.”

The article also pointed out:

“The ability to destroy satellites with such precision could undermine the US National Missile Defence programme, a network of rocket interceptors, computers and satellites intended to protect America and its key allies from nuclear attack. It became known as ‘Son of Star Wars’ after President Ronald Reagan’s so-called ‘Star Wars’ programme proposed in the 1980s.”

Russia Threatens or Being Threatened?

AFP reported on January 21:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin were at odds after talks on energy relations amid EU doubts over Moscow’s reliability as a supplier. Merkel stressed the importance of ‘relations of trust’ and called for improved communication on energy between the European Union and Russia ‘in order to avoid tensions, misunderstandings or disappointments.’ But Putin defended Russian moves to drastically increase energy prices for neighbouring former Soviet countries — a policy that has led to supply disruptions to Europe through Belarus and Ukraine in the past 12 months…

“The European Union depends on Russia for a quarter of its energy needs. Much of the supply, particularly of natural gas, travels through the neighbouring former Soviet republics… A Russian embargo on meat imports from Poland — another issue clouding relations between the European Union and Russia — remained unresolved, despite hopes of a possible breakthrough ahead of the Putin-Merkel meeting… Germany has been Russia’s main ally in the European Union and the two are key trade partners but relations appear cooler than under Merkel’s predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, who was openly friendly with Putin.”

AFP reported on January 22:

“A top Russian general warned that a missile defense system that the United States wants to deploy in eastern Europe would pose a ‘clear threat’ to his country. The United States confirmed it would soon begin formal talks on deploying the system in the Czech Republic and Poland, aimed at warding off rocket attacks from North Korea or Iran… Czech and Polish leaders rejected Russia’s fears as groundless… The US State Department reiterated its view that the missile system was not directed against Russia… Moscow has warned of ‘negative consequences’ if Prague agrees to host the missile system… Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said in November that it was a ‘destabilizing’ move to which Russia would respond.”

These Russian threats might not be just mere political propaganda. Many still remember Russia’s ruthless and brutal suppression of Czechian thirst for freedom in the late 60’s, when Russian troops illegally invaded Czechoslovakia, while the free world stood idly by. Only 20 years later did the Czechs gain democratic freedoms with the fall of the Iron Curtain. It is no secret that Russian leaders would love to bring Czechoslovakia and other former Russian “satellite” states back into the “fold ” of Mother Russia.  Will Russia’s thirst for power lead to the repeat of such terrible atrocities, as occured in the late 60’s, and will the Western World again fail to intervene?

Daniel 11:44-45 prophesies that frightening rumors from countries such as Russia and China will alarm the future leader of Europe. However, his resulting actions will be devastating for both power blocs.

Sunday Worship?

On January 9, 2007, the Catholic News Agency, Zenit, published an English translation of Pope Benedict XVI’s letter to Cardinal Francis Arinze, dated November 27, 2006. In the letter, the pope made some startling admissions as to how the Catholic Church CHANGED the observance from Saturday-Sabbath to Sunday, using some “biblical” justifications for that change. However, the Bible nowhere justifies the abolition of the weekly Saturday-Sabbath and the substitution of Sunday.

The pope wrote the following, as quoted by Zenit:

“The Second Vatican Council teaches that ‘the Church celebrates the Paschal Mystery every seventh day, which day is appropriately called the ‘Lord’s Day’ or ‘Sunday’… On the ‘first day after Saturday’, the women and then the Disciples, meeting the Risen One, understood that this was ‘the day which the Lord has made’ (Ps 118[117]:24) , ‘his’ day, the ‘Dies Domini.’… From the very outset, this has been a stable element in the perception of the mystery of Sunday: ‘The Word’, Origen affirms, ‘has moved the feast of the Sabbath to the day on which the light was produced and has given us as an image of true repose, Sunday, the day of salvation, the first day of the light in which the Savior of the world, after completing all his work with men and after conquering death, crossed the threshold of Heaven, surpassing the creation of the six days and receiving the blessed Sabbath and rest in God’. Inspired by knowledge of this, St Ignatius of Antioch asserted: ‘We are no longer keeping the Sabbath, but the Lord’s Day’… How much more necessary it is today to reaffirm the sacredness of the Lord’s Day and the need to take part in Sunday Mass!… The cultural context in which we live… must not let us forget that the People of God, born from ‘Christ’s Passover, Sunday’, should return to it as to an inexhaustible source, in order to understand better and better the features of their own identity and the reasons for their existence.

“The Second Vatican Council, after pointing out the origin of Sunday, continued: ‘On this day Christ’s faithful are bound to come together into one place. They should listen to the Word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus calling to mind the Passion, Resurrection and Glory of the Lord Jesus and giving thanks to God who ‘has begotten them again, through the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, unto a living hope’… Sunday was not chosen by the Christian community but by the Apostles, and indeed by Christ himself, who on that day, ‘the first day of the week’, rose and appeared to the disciples (cf. Mt 28:1; Mk 16: 9; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1,19; Acts 20:7; I Cor 16: 2), and appeared to them again ‘eight days later’ (Jn 20:26). Sunday is the day on which the Risen Lord makes himself present among his followers, invites them to his banquet and shares himself with them so that they too, united and configured to him, may worship God properly. Therefore, as I encourage people to give ever greater importance to the ‘Lord’s Day,’ I am eager to highlight the central place of the Eucharist as a fundamental pillar of Sunday and of all ecclesial life.”

Our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy” explains in detail WHY the abolition of Saturday-Sabbath worship is NOT authorized in Scripture. In addition, our free booklet, “Jesus Christ–A Great Mystery,” explains that Jesus Christ was NOT resurrected on Sunday, either. Our booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord,” shows that the Biblical “Lord’s Day” has absolutely nothing to do with Sunday. And finally, our new booklet, “The Meaning of God’s Spring Holy Days,” shows why the celebration of the weekly “Sunday Mass” or “Paschal Mystery” is not an acceptable substitute for the Biblically-mandated annual Passover service.

German Reactions to Bush Speech

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 12:

“It was US President George W. Bush’s last shot at keeping the US public behind him and turning the tide in an Iraq sliding ever faster toward chaos… Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung was scathing in its commentary, beginning with the claim: ‘This war was wrong from the very beginning.’… The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung rips Bush on Friday: ‘For the Europeans, it is extremely disconcerting that the president and commander-in-chief of the West’s leading power shows himself to be so confident but at the same time so disconnected to reality and immune to advice… this fight can never be won militarily…’… The conservative Die Welt sees Bush’s strategy as one of escalation: ‘Bush’s strategy is reminiscent of Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia in 1970… No one should be under any illusion about where the situation is beginning to head — towards a massive FINAL STRUGGLE  for the Middle East…'”

Stoiber’s Way Out

Bavaria’s Edmund Stoiber announced on Thursday, January 18, that he will resign in September from all his political offices, including as Prime Minister of Bavaria, and as chairman of his party, the CSU. Reports about Stoiber’s demise and an internal power struggle had been published in the German press for several weeks. But until now, there were still speculations that Stoiber might avoid his resignation and “retirement.” With his public statements to the contrary, it appears that Stoiber’s political career is over.

Prior to Stoiber’s announcement of his resignation, Der Spiegel Online had reported, on January 15:

“He’s a former candidate for German chancellor and has ruled Bavaria for almost 14 years. But that’s not enough for Edmund Stoiber to enjoy job security. His support is disappearing fast — and early retirement looms… Stoiber himself, who inherited the party soon after his larger-than-life mentor Franz Josef Strauss died in 1988, has done little to dampen the flames of dissent. Considered indispensable for so long, it seems he is having difficulty believing that his flock is turning on him.

“The only person surprised by Stoiber’s rapid descent may be Stoiber himself. He lost a lot of steam with his unexpected, last-minute federal-election loss to Schröder in 2002 and his image was further tarnished during the long power struggle with Angela Merkel which followed. Finally, just after Merkel’s victory in the 2005 election, Stoiber unexpectedly declined the position of economy minister and chose to stay in Munich — after having told the country he was moving up to Berlin. After that, the Bavarian’s eventual demise seemed just a matter of time… Even as Stoiber looks around for friends to support him, those who have been at his side the longest are beginning to position themselves for the coming power struggle…”

EU Outstrips US Dollar

The Financial Times wrote on January 14:

“The euro has displaced the US dollar as the world’s pre-eminent currency in international bond markets, having outstripped the dollar-denominated market for the second year in a row… That represents a startling turnabout from the pattern seen in recent decades, when the US bond market dwarfed its European rival: as recently as 2002, outstanding euro-denominated issuance represented just 27 per cent of the global pie, compared with 51 per cent for the dollar… the trend among some Asian and Middle Eastern countries to diversify their assets away from the dollar has further boosted this trend… The euro has also risen to trade around $1.30 against the dollar, from around parity three years ago.”

Germany’s Democracy Threatened by EU

 The EUObserver reported on January 15:

“Germany’s state of parliamentary democracy is under threat from the European Union which is slowly taking away all the national parliament’s powers, the country’s ex-president has said. In an article for newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Roman Herzog pointed out that between 1999 and 2004, 84 percent of the legal acts in Germany stemmed from Brussels. ‘EU policies suffer to an alarming degree from a lack of democracy and a de facto suspension of the separation of powers. By far the biggest part of the current laws in Germany are agreed by the council of ministers [member states representation in Brussels] and not the German parliament,’ Mr Herzog wrote in a paper with Lüder Gerken, director of the Freiburg-based Centre for European Policy. ‘And each regulation that the German government adopts in the council of ministers, has to be transplanted by the Bundestag [parliament] into German law.'”

“The article continues by noting that Germany’s own constitution foresees the parliament as the ‘central actor in the shaping of the political community. Therefore the question has to be raised of whether Germany can still unreservedly be called a parliamentary democracy.’ The authors also complain that the EU constitution, over which there are currently renewed talks about its revival, will not solve this problem, nor that of the democratic deficit within the EU itself.”

The article in the EUObserver continued:

“… the comment from the former constitutional judge and president of the bloc’s biggest member state between 1994 and 1999 is not an isolated event. German parliamentarians themselves have also started to complain about not being consulted enough on what their government agrees in Brussels. In addition, the final technical step for Germany’s ratification of the EU constitution is being held up due to a similar complaint. Although both houses of parliament have overwhelmingly approved the document, Germany’s president Horst Köhler has refused to sign it off until the country’s constitutional court rules on whether the charter is taking too much power from the national parliament, after a centre-right MP filed a legal complaint in 2005.”

German Hans-Gert Pöttering New European President

The EUObserver reported on January 16:

“German Christian democrat Hans-Gert [Pöttering], elected as the new European Parliament president today, has pledged to stand up to pressure by big member states… MEPs picked their new president on Tuesday (16 January), with Mr [Pöttering] winning the plenary vote in the first round by an absolute majority of 450 votes… As a Christian democrat ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel, the current EU president, he hopes to boost influence of the European Parliament by working through his contacts in Berlin… Politically speaking, there are two key issues – both expected during the German presidency in the first half of the year – in which Mr [Pöttering] hopes the parliament can be actively involved in.

“The first is the more formal – the EU’s 50th birthday declaration… while the second initiative concerns the forthcoming talks on how to revive the EU constitution – put on ice after it was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. ‘We need reforms but also values and I’ll fight for both,’ Mr [Pöttering] pointed out, adding that the core of the EU constitution – including the chapter on its values – should survive the editing process of the treaty.”

The German Axis

The EUObserver pointed out on January 15:

“MEPs’ resolve will be tested during the coming weeks as they fight to get more of a say on the EU constitution and a planned European declaration in March. Current EU presidency Germany has so far indicated it will sideline the European Parliament focussing instead only on canvassing government opinion on the two key issues over the coming months. As part of the streamlined approach, chancellor Angela Merkel has sent a letter to member states asking that only heads of state and government and certain nominated officials should handle the thorny constitutional question, which sees 18 member states having largely ratified the document, two having rejected it and several likely tricky ratifications to come… The close knit approach is also set to be applied to the EU’s 50 year anniversary declaration in March, a statement that Germany believes is closely bound to talks on the EU constitution…”

The article continued:

“With the [new] president of the parliament… the German Hans-Gert Pöttering, and head of the socialists also a German – Martin Schultz – there may be some room for political leverage on the two issues… ‘If anybody is going to make sure we have an influence on this [anniversary] declaration, it’s Pöttering, or a combination of Pöttering and Schulz’ lobbying,’ said Liberal leader Graham Watson last week. The MEPs’ struggle on this issue is especially interesting because it comes as the Brussels assembly finds itself with less and less to do.”

New Extreme-Right Party Becomes Member of European Parliament

AFP reported on January 15:

“A new extreme-right group, including veteran French firebrand Jean-Marie Le Pen and Mussolini’s granddaughter, was formally created in the European parliament… The ‘Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty,’ group… has fulfilled the conditions for its formal recognition… Those rules notably include the requirement that at least 20 MEPs from five EU member states to sign up for the new political group. The formal setting up of the bloc allows it various rights including receiving official funding of around one million euros (770,000 dollars) and certain speaking rights…

“[The] founding principles include recognising ‘national interests, sovereignties, identities and differences’, and opposing a ‘unitary, bureaucratic, European superstate’. Its platform also includes commitments to Christian and traditional family values… Its formation was made possible by the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU on January 1 this month, as five Romanian MEPs have signed up as well as a Bulgarian.”

Europe and the USA Completely Disagree…Again!

On January 15, 2007, Der Spiegel Online wrote:

“Condoleezza Rice is on a tour of the Middle East in an attempt to win over Arab leaders to President Bush’s new Iraq strategy. But she is finding it difficult to avoid awkward questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the failure of the US to get the Roadmap for Peace off the ground…

“The business daily Handelsblatt comments on the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the context of an editorial on Bush’s new Iraq strategy and its implications for the region… ‘The Europeans and the US government have completely different interpretations of reasons for the conflicts in the Middle East. For the Europeans the ongoing struggle between Israel and the Palestinians is central. This can quickly lead to war like the Lebanon conflict in summer 2006, and offers dictatorial politicians an emotionally charged platform from which to present themselves as champions of Arabs and Muslim. Bush sees things completely differently: For him the decisive ideological struggle of our time is being fought in the Middle East. The forces of freedom stand on one side and the extremists stand on the other. There is little room for political solutions and compromises.'”

Iraq Wants American Weapons–Not Troops

The Times On Line reported on January 18:

“America’s refusal to give Baghdad’s security forces sufficient guns and equipment has cost a great number of lives, the Iraqi Prime Minister said yesterday. Nouri al-Maliki said the insurgency had been bloodier and prolonged because Washington had refused to part with equipment. If it released the necessary arms, US forces could ‘dramatically’ cut their numbers in three to six months, he told The Times. In a sign of the tense relations with Washington, he chided the US for suggesting his Government was living on ‘borrowed time’. Such criticism boosted Iraq’s extremists, he said, and was more a reflection of ‘some kind of crisis situation’ in Washington after the Republicans’ midterm election losses… “Asked how long Iraq would require US troops, Mr al-Maliki said: ‘If we succeed in implementing the agreement between us to speed up the equipping and providing weapons to our military forces, I think that within three to six months our need for American troops will dramatically go down. That is on condition that there are real, strong efforts to support our military forces and equipping and arming them.’

“The US Government is wary of handing over large amounts of military hardware to the Iraqis because it has sometimes ended up in the hands of militias and insurgents.”

Iran’s Coalition Against the USA

The following comments were published by ynet-news.com, on January 14:

“Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said they were ready to spend billions of dollars (euros) financing projects in other countries to help thwart US domination… Iran… is allegedly bankrolling militant groups in the Middle East like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, as well as insurgents in Iraq, in a bid to extend its influence… After Venezuela, Ahmadinejad will visit newly elected leftist governments in Nicaragua [to meet on Sunday with Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla] and Ecuador [for the inauguration of President-elect Rafael Correa] that are also seeking to reduce Washington’s influence in the region. Bolivian President Evo Morales, another critic of US policy, said he plans to meet with Ahmadinejad while both are in Ecuador Monday…”

Iran vs. USA

The China View reported on January 17:

“Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival — the United States. The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders ‘during the last few days,’ … a member of the [Iranian] parliament… was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying. The lawmaker gave no exact date of the shooting-down or any other details about the incident, but he said that ‘the United States sent such spy drones to the region every now and then.’… The United States accuses Iran of using its influence to meddle in the region, especially in Lebanon and Shiite-majority Iraq, besides seeking a nuclear weapon, which has been rejected by Iran…  In a show of defiance, an Iranian government spokesman said on Monday that the country was pushing ahead with its plan to install at least 3,000 centrifuges for nuclear fuel production.”

USA vs. Iran

The Associated Press reported on January 17:

“Provocative words by President Bush and a fresh American military buildup in the Persian Gulf seem to mark a new focus on Iran that could signal another Cold War or even a deadly confrontation… Sending a second carrier to the Gulf for the first time since 2003 and positioning a Patriot missile battalion in the region, mark a broader U.S. stand in the Middle East at a time when diplomatic efforts with countries such as Iran and Syria have stalled. It also puts U.S. policy at odds with the bipartisan Iraq Study Group’s recommendation that the administration should reach out to Iran and Syria to bring more regional support to Iraq.

“Trita Parsi, an Iranian-born author and Middle East scholar, said the strategy will lead to an endless balance-of-power game that will drain American resources and undermine the U.S. position in the region… Members of Congress have also expressed concern and pressed the administration to say whether the U.S. military has plans to move into Iran or Syria, and if that could be done without congressional authorization… The escalation against Iran comes as polls show Americans are overwhelmingly unhappy with Bush’s Iraq policy. Seventy percent oppose sending more troops to Iraq, as he intends to do, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll last week.”

Iran Buys Missiles from Russia and the USA

Reuters reported on January 16:

“Russia has delivered new anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran and will consider further requests by Tehran for defensive weapons, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Tuesday… Moscow says the sanctions [previously imposed on Iran] do not apply to the missiles. The Russian military insists that the missile systems will protect Iran from air attacks, but do not pose a threat to neighboring countries.”

The Associated Press added on January 16:

“The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries–including Iran and China–who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department’s surplus auctions. The sales include fighter jet parts and missile components.”

U.S. Trial of the Year

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 15:

“It’s the trial of the year in the United States. Former Bush administration official I. Lewis Libby is… facing charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the case of CIA agent Valerie Plame. The spotlight is on Bush’s pre-Iraq War propaganda… The United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby begins at 9:30 a.m. sharp on Tuesday morning. Libby, former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, is accused of having lied in order to cover up ‘concerted action’ by the White House to ‘discredit’ an enemy of US President George W. Bush… The Yale graduate is facing up to 30 years in prison. Libby is on trial for just one tiny segment of the propaganda battle the White House used to justify the invasion of Iraq…

“Before Christmas, rumors were still circulating in Washington that Bush would simply pardon Libby. But the risk associated with such a move must have seemed too great even to the most daring lawyers in the White House. Now the only hope left for the Bush administration is that the case has become so complicated that Americans are no longer able to make neither heads nor tails of it. Which is a distinct possibility. Even the quick and dirty version of the Valerie Plame affair is complicated enough. Joseph Wilson, a former US diplomat, travelled to Niger before the war in Iraq in order to verify secret service reports claiming that Saddam Hussein was buying uranium there for his presumed nuclear weapons program. He found out the story was a complete fiction — but Bush and Cheney continued to use the claim to beat the war drum. Wilson then humiliated the White House by going public with his findings. The mud slinging that followed was led by Libby … In the end, even the name of Wilson’s wife — Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA agent — was made public…

“But Libby, according to [special prosecutor] Fitzgerald, has lied repeatedly to the FBI and under oath to the grand jury. During his interrogation, Libby repeatedly stressed he had never known the name of Wilson’s wife and that he had learned it from journalists. But in fact Libby learned that name from his boss, Cheney. And Libby leaked it to the press… Libby… is… opting for a so-called ‘faulty memory defense,’ a method that is part of a notorious tradition in Washington. Richard Nixon is considered the tradition’s founder: He advised his co-conspirators in the Watergate affair to tell the jury they couldn’t remember the acts they were accused of. Large parts of the Reagan administration likewise suffered from collective faulty memory during the Iran-Contra affair. And now Libby also wants to swap out perjury for amnesia…

“Libby’s perjury look[s] like a third-rate crime, but the lies used to justify the war in Iraq weigh down the Bush administration to this day. Special prosecutor Fitzgerald will have to prove how important it was to the White House to maintain the illusion that the reasons for going to war were sound — and how vengefully Wilson was pursued because of this. That will be the only way to convince the jury that Libby couldn’t possibly just have forgotten the details of the campaign against Wilson.”

Severe Weather Conditions Destroy California Fruits

The Associated Press reported on January 16:

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the federal government Tuesday for disaster aid because of an ongoing cold snap that has destroyed nearly $1 billion worth of California citrus, and industry officials said shoppers will feel the sting through higher prices for oranges, lemons and other produce… Nearly every winter crop is affected by the freeze, from avocados to strawberries to fresh-cut flowers, but it’s the state’s citrus crop that stands to take the biggest economic hit… California is the nation’s No. 1 producer of fresh citrus, growing about 86 percent of lemons and 21 percent of oranges sold in the U.S… Florida produces more oranges, but those are mostly processed for orange juice. “More than 70 percent of this season’s oranges, lemons and tangerines… were still on the trees as nighttime temperatures in California’s Central Valley dipped into the low 20s and tens on four straight nights beginning Friday. The freeze ruined as much as three-quarters of the California citrus crop, growers say; the fruit is threatened whenever the mercury falls below 28 degrees… Damages from the current freeze will likely surpass those from a three-day cold snap in December 1998 that destroyed 85 percent of California’s citrus crop, a loss valued at $700 million… The state also suffered a deep freeze in 1990 – one that completely wiped out the $1 billion crop. It took growers two years to recover…

“Adverse weather has also taken a toll on the Florida-dominated orange juice industry in recent years. After two nasty hurricane seasons compounded by drought and crop disease, PepsiCo Inc… which sells juice under the Tropicana and Dole labels, and Coca-Cola Co… which owns Minute Maid, each raised orange juice prices over the past several weeks…

“Strawberries growing along the coastal regions of Southern California were mostly ruined… The freeze also destroyed flowers that would produce the next berry crop on each plant… Growers in the Imperial Valley also were worried about tender vegetables such as lettuce that may not have held up to five days of temperatures in the mid-20s… Throughout the cold snap, growers have tried to save their crops by pumping fields with heated irrigation water and running wind machines to circulate warmer air and keep it from rising off the trees. David Pruitt of Ball Tagawa Growers in Arroyo Grande has struggled to keep 200,000 square feet of greenhouses between 60 and 74 degrees. The company produces a variety of seedlings, including pansies and marigolds. The greenhouses are heated with hot water fired by gas boilers. The cold ‘multiplies our gas use enormously,’ Pruitt said. The boilers ‘are just cranking full blast.'”

Doomsday Five Minutes Away

The Associated Press reported on January 17:

“The world is nudging closer to nuclear or environmental apocalypse, a group of prominent scientists warned Wednesday as it pushed the hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock closer to midnight. The clock, which was set two minutes forward to 11:55, represents the likelihood of a global cataclysm. Its ticks have given the clock’s keepers a chance to speak out on the dangers they see threatening Earth. It was the fourth time since the Soviet collapse in 1991 that the clock ticked forward amid fears over what the scientists describe as ‘a second nuclear age’ prompted largely by standoffs with Iran and North Korea. But urgent warnings of climate change also played a role…”Stephen W. Hawking, the renowned cosmologist and mathematician, told The Associated Press that global warming has eclipsed other threats to the planet, such as terrorism. ‘Terror only kills hundreds or thousands of people,’ Hawking said. ‘Global warming could kill millions…’

“Since it was set to seven minutes to midnight in 1947, the Doomsday Clock has been moved 18 times, including Wednesday’s adjustment. It came closest to midnight — just two minutes away — in 1953 after the successful test of a hydrogen bomb by the United States. It has been as far away as 17 minutes, set there in 1991 following the demise of the Soviet Union.

“The decision to move the clock is made by the bulletin’s board, composed of scientists and policy experts, in coordination with the group’s sponsors, who include Hawking and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. Despite the organization’s new focus on global warming, the prospect of nuclear war remained its primary concern, the bulletin’s editor, Mark Strauss, told The AP. ‘It’s important to emphasize 50 of today’s nuclear weapons could kill 200 million people,’ he said.”

Petra–One of Seven New Wonders?

The Associated Press reported on January 16:

“Jordan’s ancient city Petra was officially declared a candidate Tuesday in the contest to name the new seven wonders of the world at a ceremony amid its rose-colored stone buildings. Contest founder Bernard Weber presented Jordan’s Queen Rania with Petra’s official candidacy at the event that included a presentation on the way the city’s first inhabitants lived. The New 7 Wonders of the World contest was launched in 2001 by Weber’s Geneva-based NewOpenWorld Foundation, which aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights. Twenty-one sites around the globe are vying to be declared wonders of the world.

“Petra, located 162 miles south of the Jordanian capital Amman, is built on a terrace around the Wadi Musa or Valley of Moses. It was the capital of the Arab kingdom of the Nabateans, a center of caravan trade, and continued to flourish under Roman rule after the Nabateans’ defeat in A.D. 106. It is famous for water tunnels and stone structures carved in the rock, including Ad-Dayr, ‘the Monastery,’ an uncompleted tomb facade that served as a church during Byzantine times. Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burchhardt in 1812 discovered the city that is hidden behind an almost impenetrable barrier of rugged mountains… Egypt’s pyramids of Giza is the only other site in the Arab world that has reached the contest’s short-list. The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced at a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007.”

Angela Merkel in America

The Associated Press reported on January 4:

“President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, two allies looking to boost their mutual interests, conferred Thursday on issues ranging from war and energy problems to the economy and global warming. In Washington for an Oval Office meeting with Bush, Merkel’s visit came just days after Germany assumed the presidencies of the 27-nation European Union and the G-8 industrialized nations. The U.S. has high expectations that, given its position, Germany will advance American interests, including boosting security in Afghanistan and advancing peace in the Middle East…

“Being seen to have friendly relations with Bush carries some risk for Merkel, given the president’s unpopularity in Europe. But she minimizes them by publicly raising points of difference such as her stance that the prison camp at Guantanamo should be shut down, as she did on her 2005 trip to Washington. German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said in Berlin that Merkel will underline her support for putting the so-called quartet–the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations–at the center of a revived Middle East peace effort.

“Bush has stressed that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a top priority although he has not conducted the kind of personal diplomacy engaged in by Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to travel to the Middle East soon.”

The German tabloid Bild reported on January 5 that Rice will “report” to Merkel after her trip to the Middle East.

With the stepping down of Britain’s Tony Blair this year, many view Merkel as emerging as the top ally of the United States. Such a development would undoubtedly tremendously increase Germany’s influence in the world. However, such “friendly” relationship will not last, as the Bible clearly reveals, but, in the meantime, it might foster Germany’s prophesied leading role in the world. The German tabloid, Bild Online, wrote on January 9, in light of Germany’s presidency of the European Union: “We are EU!”

The World Condemns US Actions in Somalia

Reuters reported on January 10:

“U.S. forces hunting al Qaeda suspects launched a new air strike on southern Somalia on Wednesday, a Somali government source said, as international criticism mounted over Washington’s military intervention… The U.S. actions were defended by Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, but criticised by others including new U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, the European Union, and former colonial power Italy… Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema said Rome opposed ‘unilateral initiatives that could spark new tensions in an area that is already very destabilized.’… Monday’s attack on a southern village by an AC-130 plane firing automatic cannon was believed to have killed one of three al Qaeda suspects wanted for the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, a U.S. intelligence official said.”

Austria’s News Networld added that France condemned the U.S. attacks, stating that they only complicate matters and make the area less secure. It added: “Only Tony Blair defended the U.S. air strikes.”

Chirac Condemns the USA

AFP reported on January 5:

“French President Jacques Chirac has unleashed a torrent of criticism against the US-led war in Iraq, saying the conflict, which he fiercely opposed, had boosted the spread of terrorism. In a wide-ranging New Year’s foreign policy speech Friday, Chirac fired a broadside at what he called Washington’s ‘adventure’ in the Middle Eastern country, torn by sectarian strife almost four years after the invasion. ‘As France had foreseen and feared, the war in Iraq has sparked upheavals that have yet to show their full effects,’ Chirac [said].

“He said the conflict, which the United States still describes as part of the ‘war on terror’ it launched in 2001 following the September 11 attacks, had ‘offered terrorism a new field for expansion.’ Chirac said it had ‘exacerbated the divisions between communities and threatened the very integrity of Iraq’. ‘It undermined the stability of the entire region, where every country now fears for its security and its independence.’… The French leader attacked the ‘pitfalls of unilateralism’ in foreign affairs — a scarcely veiled reference to Washington’s decision to launch the Iraq war without United Nations backing.”

U.S. Debacle In Iraq Continues

AFP reported on January 10:

“US President George W. Bush took the blame for strategic blunders in Iraq, ordered 21,500 more US troops into battle, and warned Baghdad’s leaders to do more to shore up ebbing US support. ‘If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises’ to fight sectarian violence, he cautioned, ‘it will lose the support of the American people, and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people.’ Bush, in a prime-time televised speech from the White House, said his new push aimed to crush terrorists, insurgents and rogue militias and help Iraq’s security forces take control of the entire country by November. ‘The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people, and it is unacceptable to me,’ he told a war-weary US public nearly four years into the conflict. ‘Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.’… ‘We must expect more Iraqi and American casualties,’ said the president, whose poll numbers have plummeted as the US toll has climbed to more than 3,000 dead and many thousands wounded… The new plan will cost 5.6 billion dollars for the new US troops and about 1.2 billion in new spending aimed at shoring up Iraq’s battered economy, civil society, infrastructure and judicial system, the White House said.”

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 11:

“130,000 US soldiers haven’t been able to bring peace to Iraq. Now George W. Bush has admitted his error — and is sending in a further 21,000 troops. The US President is thus almost completely ignoring the recommendations of the Baker Commission… More blood, more money — that was Bush’s message. An extra 21,000 soldiers are to be sent to bring the situation in Baghdad and in Anbar province, a Sunni stronghold, under control. Bush named his strategy ‘The New Way Forward’ — but it seems suspiciously similar to all the previous failed attempts to stabilize Iraq.” In a related article, AFP wrote on January 10:

“Democrats wasted no time in slamming President George W. Bush’s latest strategy for Iraq, although rifts emerged among them about how best to respond to his plan to send fresh US troops to the war-torn country. Minutes after Bush in a nationally-televised speech outlined a last-ditch effort to salvage Iraq, Senate’s number two Dick Durbin repudiated the plan, and said it was time to pull US troops and let Iraq save itself. ‘It is time for the Iraqis to stand and defend their own nation. The government of Iraq must now prove that it will make the hard political decisions, which will bring an end to this bloody civil war,’ Durbin said. ‘Tonight President Bush acknowledged what most Americans know: We are not winning in Iraq, despite the courage and immense sacrifice of our military. Indeed the situation is grave and deteriorating,’ Durbin said, delivering the Democrats’ official response to the Bush speech. ‘Escalation of this war is not the change the American people called for in the last election,’ he said.”

However, will the Democrats actually DO something to prevent President Bush’s plans from being carried out? This appears very unlikely. As Der Spiegel Online remarks correctly, “The Democrats are just as divided over how to proceed over Iraq as Bush’s own party. Only one interest unites them: Until the presidential elections in 2008, it has to remain Bush’s war.” The German tabloid, Bild Online, predicted on January 11 that the Democrats will not show enough backbone to vote against providing the monetary support which Bush requests.

And so, the U.S. debacle in Iraq will continue…

Europe Unhappy With Russia

The pipeline “fiasco,” caused by Russia, affecting large parts of Europe, has been temporarily solved. But serious doubts about Russia’s arrogance and Putin’s intentions remain. Here is what transpired this week:

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 8, 2007:

“The conflict between Moscow and Minsk [Poland] over energy prices worsened on Monday, with potentially serious consequences for Western Europe. Russian pipeline operator Transneft shut down its… pipeline, which is the source of 20 percent of Germany’s oil imports…”

Great Britain’s The Times wrote on January 9: “The move raised further questions over whether Western Europe can trust Mr Putin for its energy supply. Experts said that Russia had a deeply entrenched habit of manipulating oil and gas supplies as a substitute for diplomatic policy…

“Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, told The Times last night that Germany will use its six-month EU presidency to improve energy security on the Continent. In her first interview with a British newspaper she signalled that she would take a harsher line towards Russia than her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder.”

Der Spiegel Online added on January 9:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso have criticized Russia for shutting down a pipeline pumping oil to Europe. Russia’s move has dented its image as a reliable energy supplier, said Merkel… The latest energy spat between Russia and [Poland]… highlights how ruthless and arrogant Russia has become with its energy policy…

“Financial Times Deutschland writes… ‘the Russian move again shows how uncompromisingly hard the Kremlin is in enforcing its economic interests. Riding the wave of high world market prices for oil and gas, the Russian leadership has developed frightening arrogance. For the EU, which still regards Russia as a strategic partner, the warning signs are unmistakeable.’… Business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The case of Belarus harbors a lesson for western Europe: Russia is once again showing how irresponsibly it is handling its increased global role.’…

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘The Europeans must act together — not just because that makes them stronger. Also because Europe increasingly has to counter energy-hungry competitors such as China…'”

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 11:

“The… oil pipeline, connecting Russia with Germany and Central Europe, is open once again. Following a three-day suspension of supplies, the Russian operator of the pipeline said that oil began flowing again at about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday. The resumption of crude oil to Europe via Belarus comes a day after Moscow and Minsk reached an agreement in the tiff which had led to the pipeline’s closure…

“European concerns about the reliability of Russia as an energy supplier were heightened by the pipeline closure. One year ago, a dispute with Ukraine over natural gas prices led to an interruption of supplies to a number of European countries… European worry about Russia’s reliability as an energy supplier had already been high. Moscow has raised gas prices to a number of former Soviet states in recent years leaving the impression that it was using fuel prices as a foreign policy tool. In December, Russia more than doubled the price Belarus has to pay for natural gas to $100 per 1,000 cubic meters not long after Belarus began distancing itself from a proposal to reunite with Russia.”

Even though the problem seems to be solved temporarily, justified doubts about Russia’s reliability as an energy supplier remain.

These developments might be very interesting “forerunners” of a Biblical prophecy, stating that the end-time German or Austrian leader of a united Europe will respond with great fury to “news from the east and the north”–i.e., Russia, China and other Far Eastern countries (Daniel 11:44).

Mubarak Speaks Out on Saddam’s “Barbaric” and “Illegal” Execution

ABC News reported on January 5, 2007:

“Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said pictures of the execution of Saddam Hussein were ‘revolting and barbaric’ and that experts considered his trial under occupation illegal. In his first comments on the execution, which took place on the first day of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice, last Saturday, Mubarak told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth the timing was ‘unreasonable.’

“In the interview, he said he had written to President Bush asking him to postpone the execution, arguing that it would not be helpful at that time. He did not say how Bush responded. ‘Then the pictures of the execution were revolting and barbaric, and I am not discussing here whether he deserved it or not.

“As for the trial, all experts in international law said it was an illegal trial because it was under occupation. ‘Also, there was a conspiracy to carry out the execution before the end of the year,’ he added. Mubarak and Saddam were friendly in the 1980s but fell out over the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Mubarak had advised the United States not to invade Iraq to overthrow Saddam, saying that it would lead to chaos.”

Will Israel Attack Iran With Nuclear Weapons?

Great Britain’s The Sunday Times reported on January 6, 2007:

“Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear ‘bunker-busters’, according to several Israeli military sources. The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb. Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open ‘tunnels’ into the targets. ‘Mini-nukes’ would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout…

“The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years… The Israeli government has warned repeatedly that it will never allow nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared that ‘Israel must be wiped off the map’. Robert Gates, the new US defence secretary, has described military action against Iran as a ‘last resort’, leading Israeli officials to conclude that it will be left to them to strike… Scientists have calculated that although contamination from the bunker-busters could be limited, tons of radioactive uranium compounds would be released… Some sources in Washington said they doubted if Israel would have the nerve to attack Iran…”

Israel Denies Report

AFP reported on January 7:

“Israel has drawn up plans to destroy Iranian uranium enrichment facilities with a tactical nuclear strike, a British newspaper said Sunday in a report rejected as ‘absurd’ by the Jewish state. The Sunday Times quoted several Israeli military sources as saying that two of the Jewish state’s air force squadrons are training to use ‘bunker-busting’ bombs for a single strike. ‘This is absurd information coming from a newspaper that has already in the past distinguished itself with sensationalist headlines that in the end amounted to nothing,’ retorted an Israeli official. ‘To think that we will launch an atomic attack against Iran, and on top of that that we would reveal it in advance to a foreign newspaper is doubly ridiculous,’ the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP. The Sunday Times — which in 1986 first revealed Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal — said the plans involved sending conventional, laser-guided missiles to open up ‘tunnels’ in the targets before ‘mini-nukes’ with a force the equivalent of one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb are fired in.”

Germany Alarmed Over Israel’s Alleged Intentions

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 8, 2007:

“The British Sunday Times has reported that Israel is preparing for a nuclear strike on Iran’s atomic weapons facilities. Planted or not, the story should serve as a wake-up call for the West… Germany’s papers Monday expressed alarm at the report and called on the West to stand firm on Iran so that Israel would not feel pressured into taking matters into its own hands. “The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘It’s not easy to believe Israel’s denials (that it is planning an attack), because top Israeli politicians and military officers regularly threaten Iran with violence. Deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh said in November he did not want to rule out a military option against Iran as ‘a last resort.’ In October Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent a similar warning to Tehran… The Israeli public is being systematically prepared for a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities… there is a reckless consensus: that the Iranian regime can not be dissuaded from developing the bomb using diplomatic means alone.”

“The left-of-center daily Berliner Zeitung writes: ‘Israeli politicians have not ruled out a pre-emptive strike against Iran in theory, and the fact that Israel has already bombed a foreign nuclear installation, in Iraq in 1981 — albeit with conventional means — speaks for the validity of the Sunday Times’ report. On the other hand, the obvious question is whether the article was deliberately planted in the media. Officially Israel is following a policy of ambiguity as to the existence of Israeli nuclear weapons. Recently, however, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert included the country in the ranks of the nuclear powers. Before that, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates had classified Israel as a nuclear power. Is the new report a new attempt to threaten Tehran with the bomb, without doing so directly — and also to test the reaction of the West?’

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘The headlines about Israel’s alleged attack plans against Iran can be clearly seen as a weapon of psychological warfare. Israel profits from such news: It makes the Iranians aware of the consequences of their policies and puts the world under pressure to not simply accept Iran’s nuclear program… It is irrelevant if the story is true or not. The only important thing is whether one believes Israel is ready to use force. The Israeli government has been making it clear to the world for months that it will not accept an Iranian nuclear bomb and will stop at nothing to prevent it. It is obvious that a military strike could be a last resort after other efforts have been exhausted. No state will simply look on as a regime which wishes its destruction arms itself. And Iran wants to wipe Israel from the map. Israel will act if the major powers fail to keep Tehran from developing the bomb. However, it is doubtful that the conflict could be solved with a single military strike… A protracted and bloody conflict is much more likely. This in turn can not be in the interests of the Americans and the Europeans. For this reason, they should deter the Israeli government from acting by itself. This however means resolutely confronting Iran and, if necessary, acting against Tehran even without a United Nations mandate. In short: (The West) cannot allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons under any circumstances.'”