Egypt Opens Gateway to Gaza

Fox News reported on May 28:

“After a four-year blockade, Egypt on Saturday permanently opened the Gaza Strip’s main gateway to the outside world, bringing long-awaited relief to the territory’s Palestinian population and a significant achievement for the area’s ruling Hamas militant group. The reopening of the Rafah border crossing eases an Egyptian blockade of Gaza that has prevented the vast majority of the densely populated area’s 1.5 million people from being able to travel abroad. The closure, along with an Israeli blockade of its borders with Gaza, has fueled an economic crisis in the territory…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 28:

“Egypt and Israel first imposed a blockade in 2006 following the abduction of an Israeli soldier. It was later tightened in 2007 in an effort to weaken the Islamic group Hamas after it gained control of the area. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime defended its decision to close the only gateway to the Gaza Strip which was not controlled by Israel by asserting it was a necessary move in the fight against terrorism.

“But when Mubarak was ousted from power in February, Egypt’s military rulers opted to permanently ease the blockade imposed by Israel… fears have been raised in Israel that it will also be easier for militants to get in and out of Gaza. Some Palestinians had previously smuggled goods, including weapons, into Gaza using tunnels from Egypt.”

The New York Times added on May 28:

“… the formal, seven-days-a-week opening on Saturday did not remove all restrictions. It left in place a blockade on the shipment into Gaza of goods, including concrete badly needed to repair buildings damaged by clashes between Israel and Hamas… There are still restrictions on passengers as well. Although women, children and older Palestinians can now enter Egypt without a visa, men 18 to 40 years old are required to obtain one, for security reasons.”

Even though the opening of the gateway still includes many restrictions, the dangers especially for Israel should not be ignored.

Libyan Adventure Slow and Messy

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 28:

“The quick and clean intervention promised in Libya has proved slow and messy. Despite over two months of NATO air support for the Libyan rebels, the civil war in the country is looking more and more like a stalemate. As a result, it was only a matter of time before Britain and France sought to tip the balance in its battle against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s military machine…

“Britain announced it would be sending four Apache helicopters, with France flying in similar Tiger helicopters as well. These maneuverable craft can fly lower than large warplanes and bombers, and Western militaries hope they will offer [provided] scope for more precise attacks against smaller targets like tanks. Some military analysts… see this fresh deployment of more versatile aircraft as a sign that the NATO mission in Libya is failing…

“The US and Britain both reiterated this week that sending in ground troops was not an option, and arming the rebels does not conform to the mandate of UN Resolution 1973, which only authorizes Western powers to protect civilian lives in Libya…

“Estimates suggest the rebel troops are outnumbered by as much as 10 to one by those loyal to Gadhafi, an imbalance that air support alone might not overcome. On this basis, NATO looks set to stay in Libya, and for an indeterminate period of time.”

Reuters wrote on June 1:

“NATO said on Wednesday it had extended its Libyan mission for a further 90 days, after Gaddafi made it clear he would not step down, dashing hopes of a negotiated end to the fighting.”

It does not appear that we will see a closure in Libya any time soon. The German press, and especially the mass tabloid Bild, reported angrily how President Obama, during the recent G-8 summit, ignored Chancellor Merkel and showed her “the cold shoulder”; and that she was not invited for talks about the future of Libya. They also blasted the American President for his unwillingness to visit Germany (even though he found time to visit Ireland, England, France and Poland). The German press speculated that the reason for this “mistreatment” was America’s anger over Germany’s refusal to participate in military attacks on Libya. However, in the long run, the world might recognize Germany’s wisdom and America’s and NATO’s foolishness in this regard.

African Union Fails in Libya

On May 29, 2011, The New York Times reported:

“Talks between President  Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi ended Monday with no sign of the breakthrough Libyan officials had said they hoped for. The outcome appeared to leave the Tripoli government and its rebel foes still mired in the stalemate that has settled over the conflict, and NATO with the prospect of an extended campaign of airstrikes in its bid to topple the Libyan leader…

“The demand for Colonel Qaddafi to quit has been set by rebel leaders in eastern Libya and backed by the NATO countries leading the 10-week-old campaign of airstrikes against the Qaddafi government, and was joined last week by Russia, long considered a Qaddafi ally…

“The Zuma visit was widely trumpeted in advance by officials in Tripoli, who have come to see the African Union as a last bastion of diplomatic support. For decades, Colonel Qaddafi has sought to reach out across barriers of culture, faith and geography to promote solidarity between the continent’s Arab and African peoples, and to present himself, as posters around Tripoli proclaim him, as the ‘king of kings’ among African leaders.”

On March 10, the New York Times explained the following about the African Union:

“The African Union, which was formed to succeed the Organization of African Unity on July 9, 2002 and is loosely based on the European Union, aims to promote cooperation and integration among the independent nations of Africa. It consists of 53 African nations and its headquarters are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It works to promote African unity on issues involving the continent, and deals with security matters and regional conflicts…

“The current incarnation was conceived by Moammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader. The union has grand plans for the future that include the establishment of a central bank, with a single currency by 2023, and of a human rights court. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea is its current leader.”

Please note that the African Union is headquartered in Ethiopia, which was formerly known as the king of the South, as referred to in the book of Daniel. Ethiopia could still play a significant role in world affairs. Please also note the next remarkable comments:

African Union Wants to End Libya Crisis with Russian Help

The EUObserver wrote on June 1:

“Senior African envoy Jean Ping has told the EU and Nato that the African Union is keen to end the Libya crisis by diplomacy, not war, and with Russian help… The EU and Nato have ruled out talking to Gaddafi and said he must step down from power…

“EU commission head Barroso… indicated that EU countries and the US are no longer in a position to dictate terms to African ‘client’ states…”

And Now Yemen… “Worse Than Libya”

The Guardian wrote on June 1:

“The crisis engulfing Yemen deepened on Wednesday with dozens of people killed as President Ali Abdullah Saleh reinforced his troops after heavy clashes with gunmen loyal to an influential tribal leader… Arab embassies were said to be evacuating their staff and the few remaining western residents were being advised to leave urgently. The Foreign Office is urging all Britons to leave while flights are still available in a situation diplomats described as ‘worse than Libya.’”

The EUObserver wrote on May 31:

“Syria-type EU arms trade and visa bans are looking ever more likely to be imposed on Yemen as fellow Arab countries struggle to resolve the crisis… EU and US nationals have been advised to leave the country as quickly as possible and many embassies are already working with essential staff only… The US embassy in Sanaa said it ‘condemns the unprovoked and unjustified attack on peaceful demonstrators’ in Taiz and ‘commends the youth protesters who have shown both resolve and restraint.’ Yemen is a strategically important country for EU security due to the presence of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the south of the country and due to its location along the vital trade route through the Gulf of Aden.”

Iran Helps Syrian Government

The Washington Post reported on May 27:

“U.S. officials say Iran is dispatching increasing numbers of trainers and advisers — including members of its elite Quds Force — into Syria to help crush anti-government demonstrations that are threatening to topple Iran’s most important ally in the region. The influx of Iranian manpower is adding to a steady stream of aid from Tehran that includes not only weapons and riot gear but also sophisticated surveillance equipment that is helping Syrian authorities track down opponents through their Facebook and Twitter accounts, the sources said. Iranian-assisted computer surveillance is believed to have led to the arrests of hundreds of Syrians seized from their homes in recent weeks.

“The United States and its allies long have accused Iran of supporting repressive or violent regimes in the region, including Syria’s government, the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip… The new assertions… are clearly aimed at suggesting deepening involvement of Iranian military personnel in Syria’s brutal crackdown against anti-Assad demonstrators…

“Iran’s increasing engagement in the Syrian crackdown reflects anxiety in Tehran about the prospects for Assad, who has failed to end the protests despite rising brutality that human rights groups say has left more than 800 people dead and perhaps 10,000 in prison. Iran, a longtime supplier of military aid to Syria, has been helping Dasmascus battle the current wave of civil unrest since at least mid-March…”

Iran Able to Build a Bomb Now

Newsmax reported on May 31:

“The International Atomic Energy Agency believes that Iran’s nuclear program has dangerous ‘military dimensions,’ according to a piece published late Monday in The New York Times. The Times report, drawing on an IAEA document, details Iran’s apparent efforts to build a nuclear bomb using ‘implosion’ techniques – the same basic technology used in the bomb dropped on Hiroshima… Essentially, Iran is able to build a bomb now, according to senior staff members of the IAEA quoted by the Times.”

Iran Pushes at Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on May 31:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel touched down more than two hours late in New Delhi for the start of her visit to India, after Iran refused to allow her plane access to its airspace. The plane was forced to turn round and circle over Turkey before permission was finally granted – just before the plane ran out of fuel. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle requested the presence of the Iranian ambassador in Berlin on Tuesday. He said he wanted to make it clear that such a ‘breach of international protocol would not be tolerated’…

“Merkel is leading a large delegation of ministers and businessmen to India, seeking improved trade with booming South Asian economies… It is unclear why Iran suddenly withdrew permission to enter its airspace in the early hours of Tuesday morning… The plane was also carrying a large group of industry representatives and journalists.

“The German chancellor wants to promote European fighter aircraft. The Eurofighter consortium made up of Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy is hoping to sign a contract with the Indian air force for 126 new planes, worth 7 billion euros ($11 billion). Germany is India’s biggest trading partner in Europe, with bilateral trade at 15.4 billion euros in 2010. Indian officials estimate that this figure will grow to 20 billion euros by 2012.”

Europe’s Two-Faced Relationship with Iran

Der Spiegel Online wrote on May 31:

“Relations between Berlin and Tehran have deteriorated in recent years due to German opposition to Iran’s nuclear program, and there have been a number of points of conflict in recent months. Germany recently dropped its opposition to European Union sanctions against a Hamburg-based Iranian bank that was considered a financial lifeline for Tehran’s nuclear program. The EU agreed to impose sanctions on the bank at a foreign ministers’ meeting last week.

“There was also tension between the countries when Iran detained two German reporters in October 2010. They were finally released in February after Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle made a personal visit to Tehran and met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“Despite Iran’s pariah status, Germany is still the third-largest exporter to the country. Last year, German exports to the Islamic republic were worth €3.8 billion ($5.5 billion). Nevertheless, a number of major German companies, such as Siemens and ThyssenKrupp, have decided to stop doing business with Iran.”

Please make sure to read our Q&A in this Update, discussing the future of Iran and its relationship with Europe, as prophesied in the Bible.

“Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says?”

The Independent wrote on May 30:

“This month, in the Middle East, has seen the unmaking of the President of the United States. More than that, it has witnessed the lowest prestige of America in the region since Roosevelt met King Abdul Aziz on the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake in 1945. While Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu played out their farce in Washington… the Arabs got on with the serious business of changing their world, demonstrating and fighting and dying for freedoms they have never possessed. Obama waffled on about change in the Middle East – and about America’s new role in the region. It was pathetic…

“Obama’s failure to support the Arab revolutions until they were all but over lost the US most of its surviving credit in the region… Obama’s policy towards the Middle East – whatever it is – sometimes appears so muddled that it is scarcely worthy of study. He supports, of course, democracy – then admits that this may conflict with America’s interests. In that wonderful democracy called Saudi Arabia, the US is now pushing ahead with a £40 billion arms deal and helping the Saudis to develop a new ‘elite’ force to protect the kingdom’s oil and future nuclear sites…

“Obama stated that the Palestinians would have to answer questions about Hamas. But why should they? What Obama and Netanyahu think about Hamas is now irrelevant to them… Obama says no Palestinian state must be declared at the UN… Who cares in the Middle East what Obama says? Not even, it seems, the Israelis. The Arab spring will soon become a hot summer and there will be an Arab autumn, too. By then, the Middle East may have changed forever. What America says will matter nothing.”

This is truly a sad testimony about a powerful country which becomes more and more insignificant and irrelevant in world affairs. The reason for our national downfall is clearly described in our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Afghan War Gets Even Uglier…

Deutsche Welle reported on May 30:

“A NATO commander apologized on Monday for the deaths of Afghan civilians killed by an airstrike in the southern province of Helmand on Saturday. Afghan officials said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had killed 12 children and two women. The raid was in response to a Taliban attack on US marines in the area…

“The apology came after President Hamid Karzai’s office issued what it called a ‘last warning’ to US and NATO troops… Karzai said such operations amounted to the ‘murdering of Afghanistan’s women and children’…

“Meanwhile, Afghan officials said on Sunday an investigation was under way into a suicide attack on Saturday that killed two senior police commanders and two German soldiers. German General Markus Kneip, the top NATO officer in the northern region was injured in the blast.”

The paper added on May 31:

“Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday said NATO was ‘not allowed’ to launch attacks on Afghan homes in pursuit of insurgents, and that a recent wave of civilian casualties risks turning the Afghan people against them. ‘NATO must learn that airstrikes on Afghan homes are not allowed and that Afghan people have no tolerance for that anymore,’ Karzai told reporters at a news conference in Kabul. ‘If they don’t stop airstrikes on Afghan homes, their presence in Afghanistan will be considered as an occupying force and against the will of the Afghan people.’ Karzai added that he had warned NATO commanders ‘a hundred times.’

“‘The international community has helped us a lot, but they cannot risk the lives of Afghan people, this can’t be compensated,’ he said… Graphic footage was broadcast on television, showing mourning relatives holding the bodies of several children, among them babies… UN data shows at least three-quarters of civilian deaths are caused by insurgents, but those by NATO forces cause the most anger among the Afghan people.”

The Cost of the Afghan War

The Washington Post wrote on May 30:

“Of all the statistics that President Obama’s national security team will consider when it debates the size of forthcoming troop reductions in Afghanistan, the most influential number probably will not be how many insurgents have been killed or the amount of territory wrested from the Taliban… It will be the cost of the war.

“The U.S. military is on track to spend $113 billion on its operations in Afghanistan this fiscal year, and it is seeking $107 billion for the next. To many of the president’s civilian advisers, that price is too high… Military and civilian officials agree that the cost of the Afghan mission is staggering. The amount per deployed service member in Afghanistan, which the administration estimates at $1 million per year, is significantly higher than it was in Iraq because fuel and other supplies must be trucked into the landlocked nation, often through circuitous routes. Bases, meanwhile, have to be built from scratch.

“The U.S.-led effort to create a new national army, which Afghanistan never had, already has consumed more than $28 billion. The Pentagon wants $12.8 billion for fiscal 2012 — the largest single line item in next year’s Defense Department budget request — to continue training and equipping Afghan soldiers…

“Military leaders maintain that the 30,000-troop surge and an increase in civilian reconstruction efforts have resulted in a dramatic turnaround of what had been a foundering war, creating the possibility of a reasonably stable nation. They insist that a rapid withdrawal of forces would make that goal unachievable by rolling back territorial gains against the Taliban and jeopardizing efforts to develop Afghan security forces and build government institutions…

“On Thursday, the House narrowly defeated an amendment calling for an accelerated withdrawal from Afghanistan and a fixed timetable for turning over military operations to the Kabul government. The vote, 204 to 215, was far thinner than last year’s 162-to-260 tally on the same issue. In the Senate, influential members have said recently that the cost of the war merits a reexamination of the overall U.S. strategy in Afghanistan…

“Some Republican presidential candidates also are beginning to have second thoughts about the scope of the war…”

Mankind has still a long way to go to finally learn that its costly and futile wars will NOT solve our problems and establish lasting peace. In that light, the following article is quite interesting.

“The Way to Peace They Do Not Know…”

The Local wrote on June 2:

“Margot Käßmann, former head of the German Protestant church, used her speech at an annual Christian convention on Thursday to question the morality of the German weapons industry. President Christian Wulff was in her audience. ‘Our national economy benefits from a war that we criticize,’ she said at the 33rd Kirchentag convention in Dresden, addressing an audience of thousands in a sports arena. ‘Is it legitimate to earn money from the weapons trade?’

“Käßmann cited the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which recently reported that Germany’s share of the global weapons trade rose to 11 percent between 2005 and 2010, making it the third biggest weapons exporter in the world, behind the US and Russia…

“Käßmann also criticized Germany’s mission in Afghanistan and the NATO bombing of Libya. She said she had been in favour of enforcing a no-fly zone over the latter country, but condemned the ‘deliberate attempt to kill Qaddafi, with whom we had been doing business with just before. That is no path to peace,’ she said.”

Need to “Redefine” Relationship Between USA and Europe

Deutsche Welle reported on May 28:

“US President Barack Obama has called on America and Europe to renew their flagging global leadership. But the Atlantic partners first must redefine their relationship in the face of Arab uprisings and Asian strength… Europe and the US are struggling to come to terms with the fact that their historic partnership is changing in response to revolts in the Arab world and stunning economic growth in Asia…

“During the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Deauville, France, the US and Europe sought to demonstrate the global leadership role Obama called for in London by agreeing to provide billions of dollars in aid to support the so-called Arab Spring, particularly democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia… Although America’s relationship with Europe is rooted in history, Washington’s fate has become deeply intertwined with developments in the Middle East, Asia and Russia over the past decade. As [a] consequence, the US has largely shifted its political attention towards the large emerging powers.

“Central European nations such as Poland, where Obama spent the final leg of his trip, have expressed growing concern that Washington is overlooking their security as it seeks to improve ties with Russia by inviting Moscow to participate in the construction of a missile shield…

“Building partnerships in Europe is complex due to the continent’s maze of political institutions… Washington has to simultaneously engage the continent through NATO, the individual nation-states, as well as through the European Union…. As a result, Washington finds it difficult to engage a European continent that often lacks a common voice on global issues… The US has been disappointed with Europe’s reluctance to engage in Afghanistan and that it did not assume full responsibility for the intervention Libya.”

Sadly, the relationship between the USA and Europe will continue to deteriorate.

EU Unhappy With Ashton

Mail On Line wrote on May 27:

“Baroness Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has been told she has until the autumn to raise her game or she could lose her job. The Labour peer, who is the world’s highest-paid female politician, was given the warning by leading German politicians… the attack from Germany could cut short her five-year term in Brussels on £250,000 a year – a  salary that is higher than President Barack Obama’s.

“Wolfgang [Schaeuble], the German finance minister, said Lady Ashton ‘does not have the power to portray Europe’ on the world stage. He criticised the impression she had made during the Arab Spring, saying she had ‘not spoken with one voice’ for Europe. Elmar Brok, an MEP from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, warned that she had until autumn to prove herself… She is also facing criticism from the French, Spanish and British as well as some of the smaller member states, particularly for what is seen as a low-key approach to her job.”

Soon, Europe WILL speak and act much more powerfully.

Slavery in the Third Reich

Der Spiegel Online wrote on May 27:

“Germany’s occupation of Poland is one of the darkest chapters of World War II. Some 6 million people, almost 18 percent of the Polish population, were killed during the Nazi reign of terror that saw mass executions, forced evictions and enslavement… The Nazis’ aim was to transform the Poles into a nation of slaves. In May 1940 Himmler wrote that ‘the non-German peoples of the East may not receive any education beyond four-year elementary school…’

“The occupiers set up the first major ghetto in Lodz, which they renamed Litzmannstadt, in the ‘Reich District of Wartheland’ (also known as the Warthegau), where 3.7 million Poles and 400,000 Jews were resettled for ‘germanization.’ Even minor offenses led to Poles being sent to Germany as forced laborers. In this way, more than two million people were enslaved… In November 1942, police officers began brutally evacuating more than 100,000 Polish farmers to make way for 20,000 ethnic Germans. Those fit for work were sent to Germany as slave laborers, old people and children were resettled in so-called ‘retirement villages,’ while anyone deemed ‘inferior’ or ‘unreliable’ was deported to Auschwitz.”

This should serve as a painful reminder that slavery is possible in our sophisticated civilized world. The Bible has clearly announced for thousands of years that in these end times, the USA, Great Britain, Canada, and other English-speaking nations, as well as the Jewish people, WILL BE defeated in war and enslaved  by a powerful enemy.

Radiation Fears in Japan

Focus wrote on May 28:

“The news agency Kyodo reported that the damaged [Fukushima nuclear] plant was not sufficiently secure and protected against heavy rain and wind… Kyodo also reported that at twelve places on the ocean floor, within a radius of between 50 and 300 kilometers, Japanese governmental agencies detected radiation levels which exceeded officialy safe limits hundreds of times and which would be very dangerous to human health if they would also be deteced in fish and shellfish.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 1:

“Contamination levels in the Japanese mountain village of Iitate are higher than in some parts of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Its evacuation has been a painful process for residents…

“In the days following the explosions inside the Fukushima reactors, the wind carried radiation clouds in a northwesterly direction, all the way into the mountains surrounding Iitate, about 40 kilometers away from the plant. The people working in the fields at the time knew nothing about the dangers in the sky. No one had warned them. Later on, the authorities measured radiation levels of up to 45 microsievert per hour in Iitate. This is several times the level that led to the evacuation of Chernobyl…

“Twenty years after Chernobyl, the United Nations published a comprehensive report on the health of those resettled from the restricted zone there. According to the report, the people were traumatized by the loss of their homes and the fear of radiation damage. Believing that they are doomed to die, many drink and smoke excessively…”

The reality of the plague of dangerous radiation and the accompanying pain and suffering of the victims cannot be overemphasized. Our nuclear plants are simply not safe enough to prevent terrible disasters from occuring. It has now been reported that a nuclear plant near Joplin, Missouri, could be seriously affected by a powerful tornado. In this light, Germany’s controversial decision to abandon nuclear energy altogether is quite interesting, as the next article shows, also in consideration of the fact that Germany is becoming once again the (unpopular) leader of Europe in important questions.

Germany To Abandon Nuclear Energy

The Local wrote on May 31:

“The German plan, hammered out by Merkel’s ruling coalition in marathon overnight negotiations, will see the country shutter all 17 of its nuclear reactors… within 11 years. Seven of the eight reactors already offline are the country’s oldest, which the government shut down for three months pending a safety probe after the Fukushima emergency. The eighth is the Kruemmel plant, in north Germany, which has been offline for years because of technical problems. Six further reactors will shut down by 2021 and the three most modern will stop operating the following year 2022.

“Monday’s decision, which could run into legal challenges from energy companies, means Germany will have to find the 22 percent of its electricity needs that were covered by nuclear power from other sources… Thorny questions remained unanswered, including finding a permanent storage site for the highly radioactive waste and slashing CO2 emissions…

“France, meanwhile, said nuclear power allowed the country with its 58 reactors to provide electricity at prices about 40 percent cheaper than other European countries, on average… Sweden said the German decision would lead to a disjointed energy policy that failed to adequately address climate change. Poland and nuclear-free Austria, however, welcomed the German move… Poland, considering launching its first nuclear power station in 2020, said it would rethink its plans.

“The United States and Britain have announced plans to build new reactors as an alternative to producing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Italy scrapped nuclear power in 1987, one year after the Chernobyl disaster, while Switzerland said last week it would phase out atomic energy by 2034.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on May 31:

“… the majority believes the chancellor had no other choice given the broad consensus in the German populace that nuclear power has no place in the country. That sentiment is expected to be codified by the German parliament on July 8…

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘… since the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, it is impossible in Germany to mobilize a majority in favor of a return to atomic energy’…

“The tabloid Bild writes: ‘… German prosperity and millions of jobs in the country are dependent on affordable energy… what share of the costs will have to be picked up by renters and homeowners? The government has acted on the behalf of voters, but who will be forced to pick up the tab in the end?’

“The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘…The upgrading of Germany’s energy supply, related costs and the necessity of greater energy saving will hit or at least be felt by all…’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘… the breakneck speed with which the government decided to hastily and permanently turn its back on the use of nuclear energy by 2022 makes a mockery of every democratic rule of procedure. It began with the repealing of the decision to extend nuclear life spans … which happened at the spur of the moment after Fukushima, without any discussion or reflection — out of fear of the Greens (who have recently seen their influence increase dramatically in Germany).’”

Germany’s Deadly Disease Outbreak…

Time magazine wrote on May 30:

“German authorities are urging consumers not to panic as an outbreak of a virulent strain of enterohemorrhagic E. coli known as EHEC has killed at least [18] people, with no sign of abating. The bacterial outbreak — which was first reported on May 20 in northern Germany — is believed to have infected around [2,000] people, but officials fear it hasn’t yet reached its peak. After scientists in the north German port city of Hamburg traced the bacterium to cucumbers imported from Spain, German health-safety officials have advised consumers to steer clear of raw cucumbers, salad, and tomatoes. And now the fear has spread to Russia, where authorities on Monday banned the import of all raw vegetables from Germany and Spain — and threatened to widen the ban to produce from the rest of the European Union.

“The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm has said in a statement that the outbreak in Germany is one of the biggest of its kind worldwide, and certainly the largest ever in Germany. Up to 500 cases of EHEC have been reported in the northern port city of Hamburg alone…

“‘This is a very serious outbreak,’ says Thomas Alter, a food-safety expert at the Institute of Food Hygiene at Berlin’s Free University. ‘In the past, there have been smaller EHEC outbreaks in Germany which have been detected in beef or [unpasteurized] milk. But there’s never been an EHEC outbreak linked to vegetables.’ Alter notes that Germany normally has an average of 900 cases of EHEC each year, but the new outbreak is ‘very dangerous.’ ‘The challenge now is to identify the source of the infection and determine how vegetables were contaminated by the EHEC bacterium which is usually found in cattle,’ he says. The European Disease Centre says that transmission of the EHEC infection usually occurs through contaminated food or water, and through contact with animals, but person-to-person transmission is also possible…

“Amid growing concerns that the outbreak is spreading, some German supermarket chains have taken Spanish-imported cucumbers off the shelves and German consumers have started boycotting raw vegetables, even those from Germany. According to a survey published on Sunday in the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, 58% of Germans say they are not eating fresh cucumbers, raw tomatoes or salad. German farmers say they are now facing huge losses and are being forced to destroy crops because of the consumer boycott. However, despite pressure from Germany’s powerful farming lobby, the government is still sticking to its guidelines…

“‘My advice is simple: avoid salad, cucumbers and raw tomatoes, wash your hands carefully in the kitchen, and heat up all food properly,’ says Lothar Wieler, professor of microbiology at Berlin’s Free University. ‘The high mortality rate and the spiraling number of cases of patients infected with EHEC who develop HUS are extremely worrying,’ he says, adding that the EHEC bacterium cannot be treated with antibiotics…

“Other EHEC cases have been reported across Europe — in Britain, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Sweden — but all of those cases involve either German nationals or patients who have recently traveled to Germany. European health officials say no case of a locally acquired infection has so far been detected outside Germany…”

The Associated Press added on June 1:

“The outbreak is already considered the third-largest involving E. coli in recent world history, and it may be the deadliest.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 2:

“As the E. coli outbreak continues to ravage Germany and other parts of Europe, the World Health Organization said Thursday that the aggressive intestinal bacteria is a new strain never seen before. Meanwhile fears of the illness prompted Russia to ban imports of vegetables from the EU… the World Health Organization announced that preliminary genetic sequencing had revealed the deadly strain is likely a mutant form of two separate E. coli bacteria that is new to scientists… Thousands of people in nine European countries have been infected by the bacteria… The swiftly spreading outbreak is baffling even the most experienced of doctors… In the meantime experts have ruled out their initial suspicion that Spanish cucumbers were the source of the E. coli bacteria…

“The EU commission has since removed its warning against Spanish cucumbers, but Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a national radio station that his country would seek reparations from European authorities to cover farmers’ losses… The outbreak also prompted Russia on Thursday to ban the import of vegetables from the entire European Union, a move the commission health spokesman Frederic Vincent called ‘disproportionate.’ The commission will write a letter to Russian authorities demanding an explanation, he said, adding that fresh fruit and vegetable exports to Russia amount to between €3 billion and €4 billion ($4.3 billion and $5.8 billion) per year, primarily in apples.

“Despite the EU’s criticism, Germany’s disease control authority, the Robert Koch Institute, maintained its warning against eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce until the source of the bacteria could be found. Experts remain uncertain whether it arises during transport, loading, or packaging the products. However, experts said it was unlikely the bacteria’s source would be located quickly, if at all…”

In His Word, the Bible, God speaks of worldwide costly diseases—some of them unheard of before—which will plague this world prior to Christ’s return.

Tunnels and Excavations Under Jerusalem

The Associated Press reported on May 30:

“Underneath the crowded alleys and holy sites of old Jerusalem, hundreds of people are snaking at any given moment through tunnels, vaulted medieval chambers and Roman sewers in a rapidly expanding subterranean city invisible from the streets above. At street level, the walled Old City is an energetic and fractious enclave with a physical landscape that is predominantly Islamic and a population that is mainly Arab. Underground Jerusalem is different…

“Archaeological digs under the disputed Old City are a matter of immense sensitivity. For Israel, the tunnels are proof of the depth of Jewish roots here, and this has made the tunnels one of Jerusalem’s main tourist draws: The number of visitors, mostly Jews and Christians, has risen dramatically in recent years to more than a million visitors in 2010. But many Palestinians, who reject Israel’s sovereignty in the city, see them as a threat to their own claims to Jerusalem…

“Beginning this summer, a new passage will be open… : a sewer Jewish rebels are thought to have used to flee the Roman legions who destroyed the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D. The sewer leads uphill, passing beneath the Old City walls before expelling visitors into sunlight next to the rectangular enclosure where the temple once stood, now home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock…

“Palestinian Muslims… are suspicious of any government moves in the Old City and particularly around the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. Jews know the compound as the Temple Mount, site of two destroyed temples and the center of the Jewish faith for three millennia… Mindful that the compound has the potential to trigger devastating conflict, Israel’s policy is to allow no excavations there…

“Despite the Israeli assurances, however, rumors persist that the excavations are undermining the physical stability of the Islamic holy sites. ‘I believe the Israelis are tunneling under the mosques,’ said Najeh Bkerat, an official of the Waqf, the Muslim religious body that runs the compound under Israel’s overall security control.  Samir Abu Leil, another Waqf official, said he had heard hammering that very morning underneath the Waqf’s offices, in a Mamluk-era building that sits just outside the holy compound and directly over the route of the Western Wall tunnel, and had filed a complaint with police.”

This existence of a network of tunnels beneath Jerusalem is also interesting in that it could give additional meaning to the prophecy of the strong possibility of a future erection of a temple on the Temple Mount, prior to Christ’s return, and the certainty of a future military invasion of that city.

Our Selective Memories

The following article shows how careful one must be with “repressed memories,” and it gives useful tips as to what parents can do to foster even early memories of their children.

The Wall Street Journal wrote on May 31:

“Why we remember some scenes from early childhood and forget others has long intrigued scientists—as well as parents striving to create happy memories for their kids. One of the biggest mysteries: why most people can’t seem to recall anything before age 3 or 4. Now, researchers in Canada have demonstrated that some young children can remember events from even before age 2—but those memories are fragile, with many vanishing by about age 10…

“Researchers asked 140 children, aged between 4 and 13, to describe their three earliest memories, and repeated the exercise two years later with the same children. On average, the 50 youngest children, aged 4 to 6 during the first interview, recalled events from when they were barely 2 years old, as verified by their parents. When they were interviewed two years later, only five of those 50 children mentioned the same earliest memory. By contrast, 22 of the 61 children who were 10 to 13 at the first interview were able to mention the same earliest memory when they were interviewed again two years later…

“The inability of adults to remember the earliest years of childhood—also known as infantile amnesia—has been the subject of speculation for more than a century. Modern researchers think that storing and retrieving memories require language skills that don’t develop until age 3 or 4. Others believe that while children can recall fragments of scenes from early life, they can’t create autobiographical memories—the episodes that make up one’s life story—until they have a firm concept of ‘self,’ which may take a few more years…

“Indeed, experts say that if parents want their children to remember particular events from their early lives, they should discuss them in as much detail as possible and help children see their significance. Talking over events with an adult ‘gives a meaning to memories that children may not have before,’ says psychologist Judith Hudson of Rutgers University who has studied how mother-child interactions influence memories. Ask a child, ‘Remember when we went to the zoo? What did you see?’ she suggests. ‘Suddenly, it’s something to talk about and share.’

“Traumatic events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, also tend to become seared in children’s memories… Dr. Peterson and colleagues interviewed 145 children aged 2 to 13 who were treated in a hospital emergency room for injuries. Children who recalled crying a lot at the time were more likely to remember specific details two years later.

“Yet most early childhood memories are far more mundane, which baffles experts and parents alike… Still, because the brain is constantly reassembling the fragments, they are vulnerable to distortion… In one famous case, the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget had vivid memories of being kidnapped at age 2 in Paris, complete with the kidnappers scratching his nurse’s face. Years later, the nurse confessed to fabricating the story—but Piaget had heard his family discuss it so often that his mind created a false memory…

“Some therapists claim to be able to ‘recover’ repressed memories of childhood traumas, but the field fell into disrepute in the 1980s when some unscrupulous therapists were found to be planting false memories of incest and child abuse.

“Is it possible to recall more of your own childhood memories? Some researchers believe that people can access more if they have the right cues. Discussing past times with family members can jog the memories as well as offer different perspectives. Photographs and letters are also helpful; knowing specific dates like the birth of a sibling or a move to a different house can help place fragmentary memories in time.”

President Obama’s Double-Talk

On Sunday, May 22, 2011, the Washington Post reported that President Obama “clarified” his position on Israel. Nothing could be further from the truth. The paper stated:

“President Obama, seeking to quell criticism of his call for the borders of Israel and a Palestinian state to be based on 1967 lines, stressed Sunday to the country’s biggest pro-Israel lobby that he also supports land swaps between the two sides to reflect changes on the ground over the past 40 years…

“Mr. Obama stood by his position, outlined Thursday, that any two-state solution must be ‘based on the 1967 lines, the boundaries in effect before the Six-Day War, in which Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.’ But, noting that he also called for ‘mutually agreed swaps’ of land, the president pointedly assured the audience Sunday that meant the two sides ‘will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967…’”

The paper continued that this last line “drew strong cheers from the crowd.” How easy it seems to be to fool the masses… Previously, Benjamin Netanyahu had declared that a return to the 1967 borders will not happen. The Associated Press had reported on May 20:

“Showing no progress toward peace, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat alongside President Barack Obama on Friday and declared that Israel would not withdraw to 1967 borders to help make way for an adjacent Palestinian state… Obama said in his speech on Thursday that the United States supports creation of a Palestinian state based on the border lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel forces occupied east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

“The comment drew angry criticism in Israel, and Netanyahu made clear after meeting with Obama that the idea was unacceptable… there was no sign of resolution of the many barriers that stand between Israel and the Palestinians… Netanyahu said his nation could not negotiate with a newly constituted Palestinian unity government that includes the radical Hamas movement, which refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist. He said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had to choose between continuing the deal with Hamas and making peace with Israel…”

The World Blames Israel

Der Spiegel Online wrote on May 25:

“In a speech before the US Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected President Barack Obama’s call for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. Netanyahu’s move may be popular at home, but it was disastrous for the Middle East peace process, argue German commentators. US President Barack Obama has called for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders in a bid to finally achieve Mideast peace, a premise also supported by the European Union. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the idea in a speech he gave Tuesday as part of a six-day visit to the US, saying those borders would be ‘indefensible’…

“Though he may have been well-received by the US Congress, and is likely to be praised back home, the Israeli prime minister’s speech sparked heated criticism from abroad. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told SPIEGEL ONLINE that Netanyahu’s rejection of the 1967 borders was both ‘self-important and arrogant’… [and] also ‘deadly’ for the peace process…

“Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel writes: ‘The man who spoke in US Congress was Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister. But the speaker was also the strongest opponent of President Barack Obama in recent history’…

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes: ‘… time is not on Israel’s side. If peace talks don’t begin soon, the Palestinians will probably proclaim their own state in September when the UN assembly meets, and where they are sure to find many sympathizers … Netanyahu has made the American president look like a fool, after he called for a peace agreement based on the 1967 borders. Netanyahu brushed him off in front of rolling cameras — a stunning spectacle. But can it really be in Israel’s interest to weaken its most important ally in this way? Netanyahu had his triumph in Washington, but his country will pay for it in the long run.’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘The world will blame Israel as the main culprit if violence escalates again should the Palestinians unilaterally declare their independence this autumn… it’s a catastrophe for Israel’s foreign policy.’”

The Associated Press added on May 24 that “Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a ‘declaration of war against the Palestinians.’”

Israel (and Conservative America) Blame President Obama

Israel National News wrote on May 25:

“U.S. President Barack Obama’s Palestinian Authority-Israel peace plan is a ‘formula for war,’ writes Bret Stephens, foreign affairs editor and deputy editorial page editor of The Wall St. Journal… He noted that President Obama’s ‘sandbagging’ Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ‘with an adversarial policy speech’ the day before his visit is not the first time the American leader has treated foreign visitors with disdain… ‘No U.S. president has explicitly endorsed the ’67 lines as the basis for negotiating a final border.’… Stephens articulated what virtually no other newspaper or news website, except for Israel National News, has stated: ‘Mr. Obama would also know that in 2009 Hillary Clinton had described this formula as “the Palestinian goal.” Now it’s Mr. Obama’s goal as well, even as he insists that “no peace can be imposed.”’…”

Europe Supports Palestinians

The EUObserver wrote on May 25:

“EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton has indicated the bloc is willing to work with the new Palestinian unity government despite US and Israeli opposition… Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu one day before Ashton’s statement… made a solitary and negative reference to the EU’s role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Commenting on Hamas attacks following the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from Gaza in 2005, he noted: ‘The European observers in Gaza evaporated overnight.’

“The Palestinian unity agreement comes as a prelude to Palestinian plans to seek full recognition of statehood from the UN general assembly in September, crossing another red line for the Israeli-US alliance.  For her part, Ashton indicated she will not try to steer EU countries’ decision-making on the subject. But she noted that the main reason for the Palestinian move is the deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian talks… The EU high representative has on several occasions pointed to Israeli settlement building on Palestinian land as the main impediment to talks. ‘I re-iterate that the EU considers that settlement activities in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, are illegal under international law, undermine trust between the parties and constitute an obstacle to peace,’ she said on 6 April after Israel gave settlers permission to build 942 new housing units.”

The New Role of the EU in Libya

The EUObserver wrote on May 23:

“Rebel leaders in Benghazi, Libya have asked EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton to help them pay for staff and basic services… Ashton on Sunday met with TNC leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil and opened a three-person-strong EU-flagged mission in the city… ‘It is the symbol of the European Union being here, but also of the EU being here to stay,’ Ashton said in a press statement…

“Reports indicate that the city of 700,000-or-so people in oil-rich eastern Libya is buzzing with commercial activity as EU and US companies compete to enter the new market.”

Pakistan Asks China for Help

The Financial Times wrote on May 23:

“Pakistan has asked China to build a naval base at its south-western port of Gwadar and expects the Chinese navy to maintain a regular presence there… ‘We have asked our Chinese brothers to please build a naval base at Gwadar,’ Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar, Pakistan’s defence minister, told the Financial Times…

“Christopher Yung, senior research fellow at National Defense University in Washington, said in a recent paper ‘the nature and degree of China’s access to out-of-area bases will be the ultimate indication and warning’ of its eventual intention to become a global military power. A Pentagon official said: “We have questions and concerns about this development and [China’s] intentions…’

“A senior Pakistani official familiar with Sino-Pakistani discussions on naval co-operation said: ‘The naval base is something we hope will allow Chinese vessels to regularly visit in [the] future and also use the place for repair and maintenance of their fleet in the [Indian Ocean region].’

“Such a foothold would be the first overseas location offering support to the People’s Liberation Army navy for future out-of-area missions and so would be likely to reinforce international concerns over Beijing’s longer-term military ambitions.”

The Bible strongly indicates that ultimately, Pakistan will forge an alliance with Far Eastern countries such as China and Russia. This alliance will be hostile towards the remnant peoples of the USA and Israel.

America’s Debt in One Dollar Bills—to the Moon and Back Twice

Reuters reported on May 19:

“President Ronald Reagan once famously said that a stack of $1,000 bills equivalent to the U.S. government’s debt would be about 67 miles high. That was 1981. Since then, the national debt has climbed to $14.3 trillion. In $1,000 bills, it would now be more than 900 miles tall. In $1 bills, the pile would reach to the moon and back twice.

“The United States hit its legal borrowing limit on Monday, and the Treasury Department has said the U.S. Congress must raise the debt ceiling by August 2 to avoid a default. The White House is trying to hammer out a deal with lawmakers to cut federal spending in exchange for a debt-limit increase.

“Most people have trouble conceptualizing $14.3 trillion… Here are some… metrics for understanding the size of the national debt and United States borrowing:

“U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the United States borrows about $125 billion per month. With that amount, the United States could buy each of its more than 300 million residents an Apple Inc iPad.

“In a 31-day month, that means the United States borrows about $4 billion per day. A stack of dimes equivalent to that amount would wrap all the way around the Earth with change to spare.

“In one hour, the United States borrows about $168 million, more than it paid to buy Alaska in 1867, converted to today’s dollars.

“In two hours, the United States borrows more than it paid France for present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and the rest of the land obtained by the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

“The U.S. government borrows more than $40,000 per second. That’s more than the cost of a year’s tuition, room and board at many universities…”

The Bible says that the borrower is the slave of the lender. And pretty soon, this warning will have to be applied quite literally.

American Troops in Europe

The Associated Press reported on May 21:

“The U.S. 1st Armored Division lowered its flag this month in a ceremony that signaled the quiet return home of a unit whose tanks first rumbled onto the continent through Italy during World War II. The Wiesbaden casing of colors ceremony also marked a milestone in the ongoing transformation of the American military. The sending off of the last division deployed in Europe at the height of the Cold War symbolizes the shift in favor of smaller, lighter units… But the question now being raised is whether the Army’s plan to keep some 37,000 soldiers in Europe will survive growing budgetary pressures in Washington…

“U.S. troop strength in Europe peaked in 1962 at nearly 277,000 soldiers and was still at around 213,000 in 1989. Current plans call for reducing troops from about 42,000 today to the 37,000 by 2015… There are currently four so-called BCTs in Europe — three in Germany and one in Italy, each with about 3,000 to 5,000 troops… ‘The whole thing is being driven by the U.S. defense budget and the deficiencies in the American budget as a whole,’ said [Charles] Heyman, a retired British Army officer. ‘The European Union as a whole is 10 percent richer than the United States based on GDP, and that is making a lot of American planners scratch their heads and say “what are we doing?”’”

Please note that the article says that the EU is already richer than the USA. And this trend of Europe’s rise and America’s fall will continue.

Europe’s Internal Struggle

The EUObserver wrote on May 24:

“Brussels may have acquired a taste for pressuring domestic political forces in EU member states to drop their traditional antagonisms for the sake of the eurozone, but that does not mean the parties like it. On Tuesday in Greece – the latest country where the EU institutions have demanded that political opponents reach a cross-party consensus on economic policies – opposition conservative leader Antonis Samaras rejected the idea that his New Democracy party line up behind the governing social democrats of Pasok and support the latest round of austerity measures…

“The blunt rejection of the government’s plans will come as a disappointment to the European Commission, which wants to see a broad consensus on the new measures amongst the political parties…

“The call for a cross-party consensus in Greece is the fourth time this year that the EU has pressed domestic parties to put aside their differences for the sake of the greater good, an interference in national politics historically considered taboo for the European institutions, whose officials are not elected by citizens. But the scale of the eurozone crisis has done away with many inhibitions in Brussels…”

We see more and more that the EU interferes in the national affairs of its member states.

G8 Summit in France

BBC News reported on May 26:

“World leaders are in the French resort of Deauville for a summit of the G8 bloc of wealthy nations. The leaders are discussing how to end the seemingly deadlocked Libya conflict, and their response to the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia… Also on the agenda is how little or how much the internet should be regulated. Internet bosses – including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google boss Eric Schmidt – are attending the two-day summit in Normandy.

“The global economy and climate change will also be discussed at the gathering for the leaders of the US, Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada. As the summit opened, the French and Russian leaders met to agree the sale of four French-built Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia at a cost of at least 400m euros each (£350m; $565m)… The deal – Russia’s biggest foreign arms purchase since the fall of the Soviet Union – has caused consternation among some of Russia’s neighbours and some of France’s Nato allies…

“Interim prime ministers from Tunisia and Egypt – where longtime leaders were overthrown this year – and the head of the Arab League will also be at Deauville for talks on a massive aid plan to help their transition to democracy. Representatives from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are due to spell out for G8 leaders what it would take to stabilise the Tunisian and Egyptian economies…

“BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall, in Deauville, says that despite President Obama’s appeal in London on Wednesday for democratic unity and leadership, there may well be friction at the summit. She adds that Russia’s president… has opposed air strikes on Libya from the start…”

Deadly Tornados in the USA

BBC News reported on May 23:

“At least 89 people have been killed and hundreds injured [but see below, the death toll is now much higher] after a tornado tore through the city of Joplin in the US state of Missouri, officials have said. Joplin official Mark Rohr said the storm cut a path six miles (10km) long. Homes and businesses were flattened and a damaged hospital had to be evacuated. Power lines are down and telephone connections are largely cut off. The Governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, has declared a state of emergency and warned that more storms are on the way.

“Cities in three other Midwestern states have also been badly affected. At least one person was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Last month, tornadoes and storms killed at least 350 people in Alabama and six other southern states.”

In a related article, BBC News published a record of the U.S. deadliest tornadoes:

“March 1925: Deadliest twister in US history as so-called Tri-State Tornado kills 695 in Missouri, southern Illinois and south-west Indiana.

“March 1932: Deep South tornado outbreak kills 332 people from Texas to South Carolina, with 270 dying in Alabama alone.

“May 1840: The Great Natchez Tornado kills 317 people in Mississippi town, most living on flatboats on the river.

“April 1974: 310 killed in 24-hour ‘super outbreak’ of 148 tornadoes across 13 states.

“May 1896: Two weeks of storms kill 305 people in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.”

However, this list is somewhat arbitrary and capricious, as it does not include the tornados in late April and early May of 2011, which have been described as the “biggest ever.”

As BBC News reported on May 22, “The outbreak of tornadoes that ravaged the southern US last week was the largest in US recorded history, the National Weather Service has said. The previous record was 148 in two days in April 1974. The tornadoes and the storm system that spawned them killed at least 350 people in Alabama and six other states. It was the deadliest outbreak since 1936.”

Accuweather.com added on May 23: “Dozens are dead and even more injured after nearly 50 tornadoes tore through parts of the Midwest on Sunday. At least 89 people were killed in Joplin, Mo., which received the worst of the severe weather. If the death toll in Joplin exceeds 115, it will be in the top 10 deadliest tornadoes in all time…”

It was later reported that at least 125 people died in Joplin, with at least 230 people still missing, and the Associated Press stated on May 25 that Sunday’s storm was the nation’s eighth-deadliest twister among records dating to 1840.”

The Associated Press added on May 25:

“Violent storms rumbled through the central U.S. on Wednesday, spawning tornadoes that turned homes into splintered wreckage, killing at least 14 people over two days… Several tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma City and its suburbs… The storms killed two people in Kansas and four in Arkansas, and may have killed a man in Texas… Four possible tornadoes may have touched down Wednesday in southern and central Illinois…”

Volcanic Eruption in Iceland

Deutsche Welle reported on May 23:

“Ash from Iceland’s Grimsvotn volcano has shut down Reykjavik’s international airport and diverted transatlantic flights, prompting bad memories of last year’s Eyjafjallajokull eruption…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 25:

“Due to ash from an Icelandic volcano entering German airspace, no planes were permitted to take off or land at several northern German airports Wednesday morning. Flights at City Airport Bremen were grounded starting at 5 a.m. local time, and the same flight ban was imposed on Hamburg Airport one hour later. The capital’s airports – Tegel and Schönefeld – were also shut down.

“Germany’s flight safety authority (DFS) said the Bremen and Hamburg airports reopened before noon, and Berlin opened around 2 p.m. The German weather service said the ash concentration in the air was no longer critical…

“Since Sunday, the ash from Iceland’s erupting Grimsvotn volcano has swept across Britain and Northern Ireland, causing the cancellation of hundreds of flights, especially to and from Scotland.  On Tuesday, the ash cloud reached Scandinavia where it caused minor air traffic disruptions in Norway and closed a small part of Denmark’s airspace…

“Conflicts continue between EU states, European authorities and airline companies over how to apply new safety rules for flying when there are large amounts of ash in the air. German authorities are taking a tough stance. The German Transport Ministry has told pilots that aircraft will be refused clearance if ash concentrations exceed 2 milligrams, which is considered low. The Volcanic Ash Advisor Centre in London has forecasted that the cloud in Germany will have ash concentrations of between 0.2 and 2 milligrams…”

Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

On May 25, NHK World (published by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation), stated the following:

“The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says data analyses suggest damage to its reactors may have caused cracks and openings in the reactor containment vessels equivalent to a 10-centimeter hole. Reactors 1 through 3 at the plant suffered nuclear fuel meltdowns after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. This is likely to have created holes and cracks at the bottom of the pressure vessels protecting the reactor cores and damaged the containment vessels. Massive amounts of highly radioactive water also leaked from the structures…

“TEPCO said the analyses show that holes in the Number 1 reactor containment vessel amounting to 3 centimeters in total may have formed 18 hours after the quake. It said that may have expanded to 7 centimeters at least 50 hours after the quake. The utility said holes and cracks equivalent to 10 centimeters in diameter may have formed in the Number 2 reactor’s containment vessel about 21 hours after the quake. It said a similar amount of holes could have been created in the suppression pool chamber by an explosion heard coming from there on March 15th.”

AFP added on May 26:

“Environmental activist group Greenpeace warned Thursday that marine life it tested more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) off Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant showed radiation above legal limits. The anti-nuclear group, which conducted the coastal and offshore tests this month, criticised Japanese authorities for their ‘continued inadequate response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis’ sparked by the March 11 quake and tsunami.

“Greenpeace said it detected seaweed radiation levels 50 times higher than official limits, which it charged raised ‘serious concerns about continued long-term risks to people and the environment from contaminated seawater.’ It also said that tests, which it said were independently verified by French and Belgian laboratories, showed above-legal levels of radioactive iodine-131 and caesium-137 in several species of fish and shellfish.”

Greens Overtake Merkel in Bremen

Deutsche Welle reported on May 23:

“Exit polls in the city-state of Bremen indicate that the incumbent coalition of Social Democrats and Greens can continue governing but have propelled Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) into third place. ‘For the first time in the history of the German Federal Republic, we are ahead of the CDU in a regional election,’ said one of the Green’s federal leaders, Claudia Roth.

“The Social Democrats (SPD), who have governed Bremen for 66 years, took 38 percent of the vote, while their Green allies won 23 percent. Support for Merkel’s CDU fell four percentage points from the last poll in 2007 to 21.5 percent; the party’s worst result in Bremen in 52 years. Hermann Gröhe, general-secretary of the CDU, called the voters’ verdict ‘a painful setback.’

“The outcome is a further drubbing for Merkel after four other regional elections this year saw her conservatives lose voter sympathy… Merkel’s federal coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP) captured a meager three percent, down from 5.4 percent four years ago and less than the minimum five percent needed to send representatives to the local assembly. The Left Party took 5.5 percent. The election also marked the first time that 16 and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote in a legislative election.”

The Süddeutsche Zeitung added: “The election in Bremen passed off largely as expected: disastrously for the CDU and FDP, brilliantly for the Greens, acceptably for the SPD… The Greens are a new type of mass political party.”

Interesting political changes in Germany are strongly indicated. It would not be inconceivable that a member of the Green Party may become Germany’s next chancellor. In fact, this is what the word on the street seems to anticipate.

At one time, former Green party leader and Germany’s Catholic Vice-Chancellor and Foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, who served from 1998 to 2005, was Germany’s most popular politician. According to Wikipedia, Fischer married Iranian Minu Barati in 2005. In 2007, he joined the Arab Democracy Foundation as a founding member of its Board of Trustees. Since 2008, Fischer has been employed with the Albright Group, a Washington, DC, consulting firm led by Madeleine Albright. In 2009, Fischer took a post as adviser to the Nabucco pipeline project, in which the German RWE company is also involved. According to media reports, the “six-digit salary” consultancy contract has already been signed. On 15 September 2010 Fischer supported the new initiative Spinelli Group, which was founded to reinvigorate the strive for federalization of the European Union.

Spain’s Move to the Right

CNBC reported on May 22:

“Spain’s ruling Socialists suffered a crushing defeat to conservatives in local and regional elections Sunday, yielding power even in traditional strongholds against a backdrop of staggering unemployment and unprecedented sit-ins by Spaniards furious with what they see as politicians who don’t care about their plight.

“Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the result was due punishment of his government for the state of the economy — the jobless rate is a eurozone high of 21.3 percent. But he said he had no plans to move up general elections, which must be held by March of next year, and pledged to press on with job-creating reforms despite the loud outcry of opposition to his party.

“The win for the conservative opposition Popular Party puts it in even a stronger position to win the general elections and return to power after eight years of Socialist rule. In what Spanish media said was the worst performance on record by the Socialist Party in local and regional elections, the numbers reflecting the loss were stunning: the conservative Popular Party won at the municipal level by about two million votes, compared to 150,000 in its win in 2007, and in 13 regional governments that were up for grabs, Zapatero’s party lost in virtually all of them.”

Political changes in Europe are clearly on the horizon. Spain seems to move away from socialism and return to conservatism—which would be in line with the long history of Catholic right-wing Spain.

Outbreak of Deadly Sickness in Germany

The Local reported on May 25:

“Another woman died in Germany on Wednesday after being treated for infection with the virulent enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) bacteri…as [a] government minister warned the situation remained ‘threatening’… So far suggestions have been made the raw, insufficiently cleaned vegetables or salads could be a source of infection… around 140 people are seriously ill with bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure as a result of EHEC infection… Hundreds across the country are thought to be infected with the bacteria but suffering less severe symptoms.”

On May 24, the Local had reported:

“People can reduce their risk of infection by cooking their food thoroughly, as well as observing general food hygiene rules. Those with diarrhoea should be strict about washing their hands and avoiding contact with children and those with weakened immune systems. People with bloody diarrhoea should go to a doctor immediately.”

Der Spiegel Online added on May 26:

“Researchers have found the first link to the source of the recent E. coli outbreak in Germany: Spanish cucumbers… Three out of four cucumbers carrying the dangerous strain of the bacteria were from an organic shipment from Spain being sold in Hamburg supermarkets…

“The life-threatening intestinal infection has since spread into other countries, as well, with cases reported in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain… It is believed some of the ill may have been infected after consuming produce on trips to Germany… E. coli bacteria usually live in the intestines of ruminants and can be transferred to humans who eat uncooked food.”

The End of the World—Revised Version

The Associated Press reported on May 24:

“A California preacher who foretold of the world’s end only to see the appointed day pass with no extraordinarily cataclysmic event has revised his apocalyptic prophecy, saying he was off by five months and the Earth actually will be obliterated on Oct. 21. Harold Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday [May 21] before catastrophe struck the planet, apologized Monday evening for not having the dates ‘worked out as accurately as I could have.’ He spoke to the media at the Oakland headquarters of his Family Radio International, which spent millions of dollars–some of it from donations made by followers–on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.

“It was not the first time Camping was forced to explain when his prediction didn’t come to pass. The 89-year-old retired civil engineer also prophesied the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said later that didn’t happen then because of a mathematical error. Through chatting with a friend over what he acknowledged was a very difficult weekend, it dawned on him that instead of the biblical Rapture in which the faithful would be swept up to the heavens, May 21 had instead been a ‘spiritual’ Judgment Day, which places the entire world under Christ’s judgment, he said. The globe will be completely destroyed in five months, he said, when the apocalypse comes. But because God’s judgment and salvation were completed on Saturday, there’s no point in continuing to warn people about it, so his network will now just play Christian music and programs until the final end on Oct. 21…

“Camping offered no clues about Family Radio’s finances Monday, saying he could not estimate how much had been spent advertising his prediction nor how much money the nonprofit had taken in as a result. In 2009, the nonprofit reported in IRS filings that it received $18.3 million in donations, and had assets of more than $104 million, including $34 million in stocks or other publicly traded securities.”

It is absolutely incredible that gullible people support such a ridiculous message with their money, even though it stands in gross contrast with the biblical teaching. But it seems that in our Satan-inspired world, anything but the truth will be accepted. One wonders how many times this self-appointed prophet will have to revise his proclamations, as it is absolutely certain that Christ will NOT return on October 21, 2011. For more information, please listen to our StandingWatch program “Could Jesus Return Tonight?, which was posted on April 1, 2011.