“A World Crying Out for Strong Leadership”

The Daily Mail wrote on August 8:

“Over the past month, even an economic illiterate with half a brain could have seen this economic meltdown coming… A woeful lack of leadership across the Western world is making a perilous situation worse. Markets hate uncertainty and they sense no one is in control.

“German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy are in denial about the true scale of the debt problem. The International Monetary Fund, which is supposed to enforce austerity measures on recalcitrant nations, is paralysed. First its boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned over lurid rape allegations, now his successor Christine Lagarde (who is not a trained economist) is embroiled in a corruption inquiry.

“Italy’s clownish premier Silvio Berlusconi has allowed his nation’s debt to reach 120 per cent of GDP… and Spain is blighted by impotence pending an election next month.

“President Obama, having thrown a trillion dollars into a failed bid to stimulate growth, has largely retreated to the White House and seems interested only in being re-elected. And here [in Great Britain], our political masters… ignored the crisis for weeks before the Commons broke for summer…

“The situation cries out for leadership – for someone with foresight and willpower to take the initiative…”

Sadly, the Daily Mail and other papers don’t realize what they are asking for, because a strong leader will arise very soon in Europe… but with terrible consequences for the entire world… But as the next article shows, leaders such as President Obama are no longer respected. His attempt to calm investors back-fired badly, showing a total lack of confidence in his leadership.

President Obama Speaks, and the U.S. Markets Dive…

The Washington Post reported on August 8:

“President Obama sought to reassure jittery investors… [He] spoke after markets worldwide plunged Monday, as intensifying fears about the global economy drove panicked selling in the United States, Europe and Asia. The markets continued to dive after Obama’s address, a sell-off that amounted to Wall Street’s worst day since the throes of the 2008 financial crisis…

“Immediately following Obama’s remarks, U.S. markets continued to lose ground. As he began speaking, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 426 points… At day’s end, the Dow had plunged 635 points…”

Lowering USA’s Top Credit Rating… What Does It All Mean?

The Associated Press wrote on August 7:

“Standard & Poor’s has taken the unprecedented step of lowering the top credit rating that the U.S. has held for nearly a century… The ratings agency downgraded its rating on the federal government’s long-term debt one level from the top AAA grade to AA+.

“Long-term debt includes notes and bonds that come due in more than one year. They have terms ranging from two to 30 years. Short-term debt includes Treasury bills that have terms ranging from a few days to 52 weeks. The rating on the government’s short-term debt was not downgraded. Of the $9.4 billion in publicly traded U.S. government debt, 72% is long-term…

“[The] downgrade is a warning to buyers of bonds and other debt that the chance that they won’t get their money back has increased, however slightly…The 10-year Treasury note is considered the basis for all other interest rates, so higher rates on that and other long-term U.S. debt could lead to borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to car loans. That would also make it more expensive for state and local governments, companies and consumers to borrow money…

“The spending cuts Democrats and Republicans agreed on were relatively modest. More difficult, comprehensive cuts were pushed to the future. S&P also notes that the possibility of new revenue, for instance from tax increases, appears more remote than before. The rancor around the agreement also made it more clear how far apart Democrats and Republicans are… The two other major agencies [Moody’s Investor Service and Fitch Ratings] haven’t taken action yet…

“The S&P has given the U.S. a AAA rating since 1941. The U.S… has only faced the threat of a downgrade once. In 1995, when Bill Clinton was president, a similar default loomed and the credit rating agencies warned of a downgrade. At the time, the country had $4.9 trillion in debt — nearly $10 trillion less than now. Once Congress resolved that debt crisis a year later, the credit agencies removed their warning…

“Britain, Germany, Australia, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland are among those that have the top rating… Analysts say it could be tough for the U.S. to regain the AAA rating soon especially given its current economic challenges. S&P officials implied that it will take years to see a meaningful change in the U.S. fiscal situation and in the government’s ability to cut the budget.”

For a full and unbiased analysis of America’s horrible economic situation, and why we ever got there, please view our StandingWatch program, “USA—A Nation Without Understanding.”

Further Downgrades Coming…?

Newsmax and Reuters reported on August 7:

“Standard & Poor’s Managing Director John Chambers said Sunday there is a 1-in-3 chance of a further U.S. credit rating downgrade over the next six months to two years… Meanwhile, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he expects the stock market slide to continue… [He] said the downgrade ‘hit a nerve’ and is damaging to the psyche of the country…”

Greenspan also said that there is no possibility that the USA will ever go bankrupt and unable to pay their bills, as they can always print more money. What he failed to mention is that the more money is being printed, the less its value will become. Many in Germany, for example, remember the time of inflation after World War I, when Germans could not even buy a loaf of bread for 1 million Reichsmarks.

China Pleads for New Global Reserve Currency

Newsmax and Reuters reported on August 6:

“China said Washington only had itself to blame… [It] roundly condemned the United States for its ‘debt addiction’ and ‘short sighted’ political wrangling and said the world needed a new stable global reserve currency. ‘China, the largest creditor of the world’s sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China’s dollar assets,’ the Xinhua commentary said.

“It urged the United States to cut military and social welfare expenditure. It also said further credit downgrades would very likely undermine the world economic recovery and trigger new rounds of financial turmoil… British business minister Vince Cable backed China’s call for a new stable global reserve currency but said that for the moment the U.S. dollar remained key.”

But the U.S. Dollar won’t remain key for long. Surprising as it may sound, especially in light of the current Eurozone crisis, the Bible shows that the euro will become the world’s strongest currency.

China Not Immune

Deutsche Welle reported on August 8:

“China, Russia and India, three countries plagued by widespread poverty and famine in the 20th century, are now among the 12 largest economic powers… But even these emerging nations are susceptible to the turbulence in the international financial markets… The greatest danger for emerging markets lies where domestic markets are dominated by foreign investments… inflation is on the rise and an overhyped market threatens.

“‘I can only warn of Chinese stock,’ said Vincent Strauss, manager of the Magellan Fund.  He told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday edition that he did not believe China would manage to get a grip on inflation. ‘The country is overinvested,’ he said… ‘China is an accident waiting to happen,’ Strauss said…

“Europe and the US are flooding the markets with capital that pushes inflation in the emerging markets. As a result, these nations are forced to raise interest rates, a move that puts the brakes on growth… A look at the stock indexes in select emerging nations shows how growth has declined as a result of its dependency on crisis-ridden global markets: in China, key stock has dropped 6.5 percent in value since the beginning of the year while Poland, Taiwan and Turkey recorded double-digit losses. With a loss of 15.6 percent, India ranks second behind Brazil with a minus of 23.6 percent.”

Is This the End of America?

On August 7, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote:

“Those who believe in the decline of the United States of America now have another date to refer to: Aug. 5, 2011 — the day when America’s credit rating was downgraded. The US now has to deal with a blow that, in addition to its direct financial consequences, is of historical significance… On top of that, its political system is unable to cope with today’s challenges. Is this the beginning of the end of the US as a superpower?

“It is to be hoped that the downgrade leads to an end of the political blockade and causes the budgetary and financial policy objectives and priorities of the president and Congress to converge. For that to happen, however, the US will need a president who can really lead and not just give nice speeches. … The decisions that the president, Congress and voters make will also determine how long the US can continue to hold the pole position in world politics. The US will surely not give up its claim to the leadership role, but it will no longer have the resources, or the will to deploy those resources, which it needs in order to enforce its leadership everywhere.”

America’s leadership is ending. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Fiscal Armageddon

Moneynews.com reported on August 9:

“The United States is quickly approaching a fiscal Armageddon and the players in Washington — specifically Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — don’t understand what is happening or know what [to] do about it, world renowned investor and author Jim Rogers tells Newsmax.TV. The chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. predicted more problems in the financial markets in the next few years and said any halt in the decline of stocks was just a ‘temporary bottom.’ He said that while America was not at the brink of a fiscal Armageddon right now, the nation is likely to default on its obligations in the future…

“‘It is astonishing America is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world…’ Rogers said… [He also mentioned] that despite what economists say, the country has not left the recession and a depression could happen… Rogers does not see the United States getting its triple-A bond rating back in his lifetime and thought a default of some type was inevitable.”

More Bad News for the USA—Deadly Loss for American Troops in Afghanistan

USA Today wrote on August 6:

“Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite unit as the Navy SEALs who killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden… It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war against the Taliban. The downing, in which seven Afghan commandos were also killed, was a stinging blow to the lauded, tight-knit SEAL Team 6 months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.

“None of the 22 SEAL personnel killed in the crash were part of the team that killed bin Laden in a May raid in Pakistan, but they belonged to the same unit…The strike is also likely to boost the morale of the Taliban in a key province that controls a strategic approach to the capital Kabul… The deaths bring to 365 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan and 42 this month.”

Reuters added on August 11:

“A roadside bomb killed five American troops in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the U.S. military said, less than a week after American forces suffered their worst single loss of the Afghan war when Taliban insurgents shot down a helicopter… At least 50 foreign troops have been killed so far in August.

“Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with record civilian casualties and high levels of foreign troop deaths during the first half of 2011.”

No matter what America is doing these days, all seems to go wrong. We should be able to see clearly that God has withdrawn His blessings from our nation. The reasons should be plain, when considering what the Bible says about righteous and unrighteous lifestyles.

Iran Plans Cyber Attack Against USA

WorldNetDaily wrote on August 7:

“Iran is planning to retaliate against the United States for the sabotage against its nuclear program, according to an editorial in the Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei… Specifically, Iran is looking into launching a cyber attack against U.S. electrical grid systems.

“Iranian officials are furious over the July 23 assassination of nuclear scientist Dariush Rezai-Nejad, who was working on electric detonators for the Iranian nuclear program, which can be used on missiles or nuclear bombs. He was the third Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated since 2009… The frustration over acts of sabotage started with the computer virus Stuxnet in which 1,000 of Iran’s centrifuges at the Natanzs nuclear facility were destroyed and had to be replaced. The virus also attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which has resulted in repeated delays in it joining the country’s power grid…

“The editorial accuses the Americans, with the help of Israelis and Germans, of creating the Stuxnet virus to attack the Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities… Earlier this year Iranian officials announced that Iran’s cyber war campaign would be activated under the Passive Defense Organization of Iran, which openly recruited hackers who would support the goals and ideals of the radicals ruling Iran…

“According to reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, America’s power grid remains vulnerable to cyber attack, a result of slow implementation of computer security standards. A successful cyber attack on the North American power grid systems could disrupt the economy and possibly create a national trauma.”

How the Allies Betrayed Germany…

On August 8, 2011, Der Spiegel Online re-published an article from August 23, 1961, describing how the Western allies failed to prevent the building of the Berlin Wall. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“East Germany began building the Berlin Wall on Aug. 13, 1961. A scathing article published by SPIEGEL 10 days later captures the outrage of West Berliners’ over the Allies’ failure to intervene. As the 50th anniversary of the barrier’s construction approaches, we revisit our archive… Originally published on Aug. 23, 1961, this article from the DER SPIEGEL archive was originally entitled, ‘City Commanders: They Didn’t Hear a Thing’…

“Both the border crisis and the crisis of trust began almost simultaneously — in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, Berlin’s Black Sunday, when Soviet Army tanks rolled towards the sector borders and the Western powers were hardly able to conceal their lack of concern for the latest Berlin crisis. The American, English and French militaries took little notice of Ulbricht’s gathering troops… Certainly the Allied passivity can’t be explained by the claim that they were surprised by Ulbricht’s swift attack. Indeed, the opposite is true. Already 48 hours ahead of the Soviet march on the sector border, all American forces in Berlin had been ordered to maintain a heightened state of alert… In fact, the American military mission at the Soviet supreme command in Potsdam was able to tell the American headquarters in Heidelberg of the troop movements already on Aug. 7…

“The disappointment of the embittered Berliners over the tepid reaction of their Western protectors grew so great that last Wednesday — 88 hours after the transformation of the Soviet zone into a concentration camp — special security measures were implemented to control the protest rally arranged by West Berliner Senator for the Interior Joachim Lipschitz at the Schöneberg district town hall. Some 12,000 West Berlin police were ordered to use water cannons and rubber truncheons to stop demonstrations that cropped up at Potsdamer Platz, the Brandenburg Gate and even at the American headquarters in the district of Zehlendorf.

“Once again, popular speaker [and subsequent German chancellor] Willy Brandt was unable to conceal his disappointment in the Allies’ complacency in front of the masses. ‘Today I openly expressed our thoughts in a letter to the President of the United States, John Kennedy,’ the mayor said. But this letter contains such harsh criticism that neither the West Berlin Senate, nor Washington deemed its publication opportune…

“Meanwhile, Ulbricht’s functionaries in East Berlin are showing the first symptoms of unbridled arrogance. ‘Have you heard that Brandt called for help from the Allies?’ East Berlin’s star propagandist and television host Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler recently asked his viewers. Answering his own question, he said: ‘Yes, I heard, but the Allies didn’t.’”

This is truly a shameful report on the Allies’ unwillingness to prevent the erection of the Berlin Wall. Now the Berlin Wall is no longer in existence (but it did not come down because of American or British action; in fact, originally, all of the American, British and Russian leaders tried to prevent the unification of Germany), but the memory of many Germans remains in what they would describe as the betrayal of their Western Allies, especially America and Britain.

Germany Proposes Unelected ‘Stability Council’ for EU

The EUObserver wrote on August 10:

“Germany has proposed the creation of a new EU ‘overseer’ that would crack the whip and impose sanctions on countries that do not adhere to rigid budget discipline and pro-business labour policies. The country’s economy minister, Philipp Roesler, on Tuesday (10 August) told reporters that the bloc should create a new EU institution, a ‘stability council’, of unelected supervisors that would ensure member states that stick to budget temperance and limit debt and keep in check debt growth.

“This council should be given the power to slap sanctions on countries to ensure they cut their deficits and monitor use of financial assistance… The stability council would be independent of voters so as to avoid “political pressure” and could impose sanctions automatically. Roesler said that Germany would be bringing the proposal to the next meeting of EU finance ministers.”

This proposal, if adopted, comes closer and closer to what the Bible says will ultimately happen in Europe—a non-elected “official” will be given unrestrained power and authority by ten core European nations or groups of nations.

Riots in Great Britain

The Associated Press reported on August 7:

“New unrest erupted on north London’s streets late Sunday, a day after rioting and looting in a deprived area amid community anger over a fatal police shooting [of Mark Duggan, a black man]… The violence has cast a pall over a city preparing to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

“‘I hope people will have a fantastic Olympics no matter what happened last night,’ London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a telephone interview with BBC television, trying to assure the world his city was safe. Others weren’t so sure, suggesting that the riots had exposed incipient tensions at a time of sharp public sector cutbacks and economic uncertainty.

“‘This is just a glimpse into the abyss,’ former Metropolitan Police Commander John O’Connor told Sky News. ‘Someone’s pulled the clock back and you can look and see what’s beneath the surface. And what with the Olympic Games coming up, this doesn’t bode very well for London’…

“Tottenham has a history of unrest. It was the site of the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots, a series of clashes that led to the savaging stabbing of a police officer and the wounding of nearly 60 others – brutally underscoring tensions between London’s police and the capital’s black community…”

“Riots Reveal the Decay of British Society”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 10:

“After the fourth night of riots in England, observers are asking what is behind the wave of violence. German commentators argue that the unrest reflects a deep-seated malaise at the heart of British society. Britain is searching for answers after four consecutive nights of riots that have shocked the country and led to hundreds of arrests.

“Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short his vacation in Italy in reaction to this week’s violence, was due to chair a meeting of Cobra, the British government’s emergency council, on Wednesday to discuss how to proceed. He has recalled the British parliament, which will meet on Thursday to discuss the rioting, the worst violence of its kind in Britain since race riots in the 1980s.

“London was relatively quiet on Tuesday night, following the deployment of around 16,000 police in trouble spots around the city. Many businesses closed early on Tuesday amid fears of unrest. Violence spread to an increasing number of towns and cities around England, however, including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, where groups of young men in hooded tops looted shops and set fire to cars and buildings. In one of the most serious incidents, a police station in Nottingham was firebombed. Violence was also reported in Wolverhampton, Leicester, Bristol and Gloucester…

“The authorities have been shocked by the scale of the rioting. ‘This has been senseless on a scale I have never witnessed before in my career,’ commented Garry Shewan, assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… In no other country in Europe is inequality as cemented in society as in the United Kingdom… The riots are in no way a purely British problem. There is social distress all across Europe…’

“The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… Yes, miserable social conditions can be miserable, but they are no justification for lawlessness. The police must not give the streets over to the rioters. The politicians, who are responsible for the police, should at least consider whether the “softly-softly” approach of the British police is appropriate — or an invitation to brutal street criminality’…

“The financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The riots reveal fundamental societal problems that extend far beyond London and England… The riots reveal the decay of society at its edges, brought on by deeply cemented inequality, the erosion of social norms, great frustration and a lack of opportunity for the lower class… The riots show that some people simply take pleasure in violence, which they engage in without inhibitions when given the opportunity.’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘… The British elite has systematically compromised itself in recent years. They claimed to be a role model, or at least trustworthy. In the economic crisis the financial establishment declared bankruptcy, and British politicians became mired in the expenses scandal of 2009. Then this year the media and politicians have been damaged by the Murdoch scandal. When the country’s elites don’t take the law seriously, why should we? No question is more dangerous for a society.’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes: ‘The country has lost faith in every authority: the banks, politicians, the media, the police. The corruption has reached even the smallest unit — the family. There is a generation growing up without values of any kind…’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘The unrest in London is a form of hooliganism by losers who are living in a society which no longer has anything left to offer losers. Among the arsonists are people who no longer possess any values. They’ve gotten used to drawing money from the state and they complain when the handouts stop coming as generously as they did in the past. This is a problem that, within the foreseeable future, many more Europeans are going to be confronted with, including many young people. This is because most European countries have been living far beyond their means… In part, the peace in Europe of the past 66 years has also been bought through increasingly generous welfare states. But those days are over. The strength of Europe’s democracy will now be measured based on how sustainably societies change their values to reflect that reality.’”

It’s Race!

The Telegraph wrote on August 10:

“What colour is Mark Duggan?… finally, Toby Young’s Telegraph blog post on the riots was published [explaining that Mark Duggan was black]. Is Toby Young the only  journalist out there who will dare say that these riots are about race? Still, one paper did carry a photo of Mr Duggan. When I saw the photo, it confirmed what I knew instinctively: black youths once again have set London alight.

“Some of the black kids I used to teach will tell you that the riots are absolutely justified. A number of adults would agree with them. Everywhere I read that the protest was understandable because ‘people are very angry’. I’d like to know what they’re angry about. Mark Duggan is dead. He was shot by the police in a shootout. Duggan was in a minicab and shots were fired from both the cab and the police elsewhere. A police officer was hurt in the incident and a bullet was found lodged in a police radio.

“Either Duggan was shooting at the police or the driver of the minicab was. Either Duggan was in the wrong place at the wrong time and his death is a terrible tragedy – he was caught in the crossfire – or he shot at the police and the police defended themselves. Whatever the explanation, the police did not kill this man in cold blood…

“[A policeman] explained that about 80 per cent of gun crime took place in the black community… Then he told me that 80 per cent was black on black gun crime, and that of the remaining 20 per cent about 75 per cent involved at least one black person: black shooting white, or white shooting black… on the whole the whites who were involved in these shootings tended to be from Eastern Europe.

“… the news about the Tottenham riots doesn’t mention race… Problems cannot be addressed unless people are willing to tell the truth. As with so many other things in this country, we stick our heads in the sand and refuse to speak out about it.”

Britain Lost Her Values…

The Daily Mail wrote on August 11:

“So now the chickens have well and truly come home terrifyingly to roost. The violent anarchy that has taken hold of British cities is the all-too-predictable outcome of a three-decade liberal experiment which tore up virtually every basic social value. The married two-parent family, educational meritocracy, punishment of criminals, national identity, enforcement of the drugs laws and many more fundamental conventions were all smashed by a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society…

“Clearly, there is some as yet unidentified direction and co-ordination behind the anarchy. But what is so notable and distressing is that, after the first day when adults were clearly involved, this mayhem has been carried out in the main by teenagers and children, some as young as eight. The idea that they should not steal other people’s property, or beat up and rob passers-by, appears to be as weird and outlandish to them as the suggestion that they should fly to the moon.

“These youths feel absolutely entitled to go ‘on the rob’ and steal whatever they want. Indeed, they are incredulous that anyone should suggest they might pass up such an opportunity. What has been fuelling all this is not poverty, as has so predictably been claimed, but moral collapse. What we have been experiencing is a complete breakdown of civilised behaviour among children and young people.

“… at the very heart of these problems lies the breakdown of the family. For most of these children come from lone-mother households. And the single most crucial factor behind all this mayhem is the willed removal of the most important thing that socialises children and turns them from feral savages into civilised citizens: a father who is a fully committed member of the family unit… successive generations are being brought up only by mothers, through whose houses pass transitory males by whom these women have yet more children — and who inevitably repeat the pattern of lone and dysfunctional parenting…

“And this breaking of the family was further condoned, rewarded and encouraged by the Welfare State, which conceives of need solely in terms of absence of money, and which accordingly subsidises lone parenthood and the destructive behaviour that fatherlessness brings in its train… All of this was compounded still further by the disaster of multiculturalism… That meant children were no longer taught about the nation in which they lived, and about its culture…

“In similar vein, all criminal wrongdoing was excused on the basis that the criminal couldn’t help himself, as he was the victim of circumstances such as poverty, unemployment, or as yet illusory cuts in public spending. The human rights of the criminal became seen as more important than the safety and security of his victims. Punishment became a dirty word…

“Britain was once an ordered society that was the envy of the world… Can Broken Britain be put together again?… Repairing this terrible damage also means, dare I say it, a return to the energetic transmission of Biblical morality. When church leaders… start preaching, once again, the moral concepts that underlie our civilisation, and when our political leaders decide to oppose the culture war that has been waged against that civilisation rather than supinely acquiescing in its destruction, then — and only then — will we start to get to grips with this terrible problem.

“Until then, within the smouldering embers of our smashed and burned-out cities, we can only look upon the ruins of the Britain we have so dearly loved; the Britain that once led the world towards civilisation, but is now so tragically leading the way out.”

To preach and live the true biblical values is indeed the only way to success. But there is little hope that prior to the Great Tribulation, Britain will return to the God of the Bible whom they have forsaken.

World Reacts With Shock

Mail On Line wrote on August 10:

“The world’s media reacted with shock and horror to the riots that have swept Britain, with London portrayed as ‘a lawless city’. The story made front pages around the globe, and was among the top items on TV news shows in dozens of countries.

“Germany led the way, with Der Spiegel magazine comparing London to the capital of Somalia. ‘The television images dominating screens this week could be right out of Mogadishu,’ it wrote… In newspapers, TZ in Munich asked: ‘What has gone wrong with Britain? Like the Sex Pistols said, it truly is anarchy in the UK.’

“The tabloid Bild summed up the feelings of many with the headline: ‘Chaos reigns in London!’ On its website, other stories were titled ‘England in flames’ and ‘London’s night of horror’.

“Many looked ahead to next summer, with the respected Süddeutsche Zeitung warning that ‘fears are concentrated on the Olympics’. Countries including Canada and Australia were left stunned that the kind of unrest seen in Greece and France had befallen Britain…”

God has prophesied that Great Britain will be severely punished because of unrighteous violent and immoral conduct. For an in-depth analysis of Great Britain’s society in the light of biblical prophecy, please view our recent StandingWatch program, “Britain’s Watergate Scandal…Why?”

“Global Warming Link to Drowned Polar Bears Melts…”

Human Events wrote on August 11:

“Polar bears drowning in an Alaskan sea because the ice packs are melting—it’s the iconic image of the global warming debate. But the validity of the science behind the image—presented as an ignoble testament to our environment in peril by Al Gore in his film An Inconvenient Truth—is now part of a federal investigation that has the environmental community on edge.
 
“Special agents from the Interior Department’s inspector general’s office are questioning the two government scientists about the paper they wrote on drowned polar bears, suggesting mistakes were made in the math and as to how the bears actually died, and the department is eyeing another study currently underway on bear populations.
 
“Biologist Charles Monnett, the lead scientist on the paper, was placed on administrative leave July 18.  Fellow biologist Jeffrey Gleason, who also contributed to the study, is being questioned, but has not been suspended.”

Oslo’s Mass Murderer Not a Christian

Newsmax reported on July 30:

“Bill O’Reilly was not pleased with the New York Times’ labeling of Anders Behring Brevik, the 32-year-old mass murderer who took at least 76 innocent lives as a ‘Christian Extremist.’ In his column, he notes that the ‘killer is not attached to any church, has no history of Christian activity, has openly criticized the Protestant philosophy, and has committed acts counter to all Christian teaching.’

“’Anders Brevik did not kill in the name of Jesus,’ O’Reilly argues. ‘… He is simply a murderer… anything that diminishes Christianity is fair game to be promoted. Every newsworthy sin committed by a Christian is highlighted with a sneering reference to hypocrisy…’”

For a full, fair and correct analysis of the mass murders in Oslo, please view our StandingWatch program, “What’s Behind the Norway Massacres?”

Christian Scholars Reject the Bible

NPR wrote on August 9:

“According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began: ‘The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’ God then called the man Adam, and later created Eve from Adam’s rib. Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find that four out of 10 Americans believe this account. It’s a central tenet for much of conservative Christianity, from evangelicals to confessional churches such as the Christian Reformed Church.

“But now some conservative scholars are saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. Asked how likely it is that we all descended from Adam and Eve, Dennis Venema, a biologist at Trinity Western University, replies: ‘That would be against all the genomic evidence that we’ve assembled over the last 20 years, so not likely at all.’ Venema says there is no way we can be traced back to a single couple. He says with the mapping of the human genome, it’s clear that modern humans emerged from other primates as a large population — long before the Genesis time frame of a few thousand years ago…

“Venema is a senior fellow at BioLogos Foundation, a Christian group that tries to reconcile faith and science… And Venema is part of a growing cadre of Christian scholars who say they want their faith to come into the 21st century. Another one is John Schneider, who taught theology at Calvin College in Michigan until recently. He says it’s time to face facts: There was no historical Adam and Eve, no serpent, no apple, no fall that toppled man from a state of innocence.

“‘Evolution makes it pretty clear that in nature, and in the moral experience of human beings, there never was any such paradise to be lost,’ Schneider says. ‘So Christians, I think, have a challenge, have a job on their hands to reformulate some of their tradition about human beginnings.’

“To many evangelicals, this is heresy. ‘From my viewpoint, a historical Adam and Eve is absolutely central to the… claims of the Christian faith,’ says Fazale Rana, vice president of Reasons To Believe, an evangelical think tank that questions evolution. Rana… has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Ohio University… Rana and others believe in a literal, historical Adam and Eve for many reasons. One is that the Genesis account makes man unique, created in the image of God — not a descendant of lower primates. Second, it tells a story of how evil came into the world, and it’s not a story in which God introduced evil through the process of evolution, but one in which Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit.”

Of course, the Genesis account is accurate, and those who deny it while adopting the “god of Evolution” are called “fools” in the Bible. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution—a Fairy Tale for Adults?”

New Law Allows Raise of Debt Ceiling

Deutsche Welle reported on August 2:

“US President Barack Obama signed into law a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling, shortly after it was approved by a wide margin in the Senate. The Senate vote came just hours before the midnight deadline given by the Treasury Department. Failure to pass the deal would have put the United States into default, sending shockwaves across the global economy. The Senate voted 74-26 to approve the legislation, which cleared the House of Representatives on Monday 269-161. Twenty-eight Senate Republicans joined 45 Democrats in voting for the deal.

“… many on the left and right were still unhappy with it. Progressives had wanted to balance spending cuts with new revenues through taxing the wealthy and corporations, while conservative Republicans had hoped for even more drastic budget cuts… Despite unhappy lawmakers in the US, international figures breathed a sigh of relief as the bill finally passed.”

As was to be expected and as we announced in our StandingWatch programs, the authority was ultimately granted, before the deadline of midnight of August 2, to raise the debt ceiling. However, this does in no way solve our financial problems.

America in Deep Trouble

The Daily Mail wrote on August 2:

“For now, the American debt crisis is over… To many of us here in Britain, the dispute seemed a bizarre exercise in brinkmanship, with posturing politicians taking the world’s largest economy to the verge of default.

“Had the Americans been forced to default, the result would probably have been a second global recession, spelling disaster for thousands of British businesses and piling agony upon agony for hard-pressed families. But the truth is that although disaster has been averted for now, the U.S. debt crisis has been a troubling sign of seismic change… the American economy is in deep trouble…

“After decades of having it all, many Americans refuse to believe that they simply must slash their debts. Faced with the choice of cutting spending or raising taxes, they prefer to pretend the dilemma will go away. The results are becoming clear. Hobbled by massive debts, the U.S. economy posted dreadful growth figures for the first half of 2011… It is no exaggeration to say that the American economy is at a crossroads… At some future moment, the American people will look around and wonder where it all went wrong. But by then, of course, it will be too late…”

Yes, indeed…

Incredible—US Borrowing Has Almost Reached NEW Debt Ceiling

The Washington Times wrote on August 3:

“U.S. debt shot up $239 billion on Tuesday — the largest one-day bump in history — as the government flexed the new borrowing room it earned in this week’s debt-limit increase deal. The debt subject to the statutory limit shot way past the old cap of $14.294 trillion to hit $14.532 trillion on Tuesday… That increase puts the government already remarkably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, which means one day’s new borrowing ate up 60 percent of the $400 billion in space Congress granted the president this week.”

We Brought It Upon Ourselves…

CNN wrote on July 28:

“Did you know that there is only one other country in the world that even has a debt ceiling?  That’s Denmark, a strange anomaly, and its debt ceiling is deliberately kept very high so that it will never need to be raised. Why does no one else have a debt ceiling? Because when a legislature votes to authorize spending at a certain level but authorizes tax revenues at a lower level, it is assumed that the government will have to borrow the difference. The vote to have higher expenditures than tax revenues is – in effect – a vote to borrow money to cover the difference. And in the United States, Congress – including Republicans – voted for a budget in which expenditures exceeded tax revenues… To come at it now after the budget has been passed is like getting your Visa bill and calling up the company to say, ‘Actually we don’t want to buy all that stuff we bought.’ That’s not how it works. First you pay the bill, then you can change your spending habits.

“So why do we have a debt ceiling? Ironically, it was put in place during World War I so that Congress didn’t have to authorize every new issue of debt. It was assumed that it would be a formality to raise it. Since 1960, the debt ceiling has been raised 78 times. My basic point is that this is a crisis that we have manufactured out of whole cloth. We have created a circumstance in which the world doubts our credibility, rating agencies are thinking of downgrading our debt and the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency could be jeopardized. Please understand that none of these things are happening because the United States is running deficits. There was no indication – by any metric– that the United States was having difficulty borrowing money one month ago. In fact, the world has been lending money to the United States more cheaply than ever before. We face downgrades and investor panic not because of our deficits but because we are behaving like deadbeats, refusing to pay our bills, pouting while the bill collector waits at the door.

“We do have a large deficit and debt and we do need to get it under control… The tragedy here is that the damage may already have been done. From now on, every time the debt ceiling needs to be raised, the world will wonder: Will the U.S. stand by its promises or will it break them? Something that was taken for granted – the credibility of the United States – is now surrounded by uncertainty… IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says that ‘Global markets have always had a positive bias towards the United States but that is now eroded somewhat.’ For this erosion, we have only ourselves to blame.”

It is true that much of the damage to the reputation of the US in all the world has been caused by our own irresponsible conduct—especially that of all of our politicians—and not only in the area of finances. But to try to justify constantly raising our exorbitant debt ceiling to enable us to borrow even more money, as CNN suggests, is beyond human comprehension.

The Shocking Increases of Our Debt Limit…

CBS News reported on August 1:

“The bill [signed by President Obama] to increase the federal debt limit [will] increase that limit by up to $2.4 trillion, which [is] the largest increase in the debt limit in U.S. history by a margin of half a trillion dollars… In fact… the two largest debt-limit increases in U.S. history [have] come in back-to-back years, both during the presidency of Barack Obama. Up until now, the largest increase in the debt limit was the $1.9 trillion increase passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on Feb. 12, 2010. That law increased the debt limit from $12.394 trillion to $14.294 trillion.

“Up until now, the second largest historical increase in the debt limit was enacted on March 27, 2003, when President George W. Bush signed a law that lifted the limit by $984 billion—from $6.400 trillion to $7.384 trillion. The third largest historical increase in the debt limit was enacted on Nov. 5, 1990, when the senior President George Bush signed a law that lifted the limit by $915 billion—from $3.230 trillion to $4.145 trillion.

“Prior to Sept. 28, 1987, the Treasury did not have the legal authority to run a national debt of $2.4 trillion—let alone increase the debt limit by that amount. On that date, President Reagan signed a law lifting the debt limit by $448 billion—from $2.352 trillion to $2.8 trillion. The total debt of the federal government did not hit $2.4 trillion until November 1987, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. According to Treasury’s Monthly Statements of the Public Debt, the national debt equaled $2.3848 trillion at the end of October 1987 and $2.409572 trillion by the end of November 1987.”

One wonders when the next increase in the debt ceiling will occur—and for how much? One of these days, no increase of the debt ceiling, no matter how high the amount, will prevent the total collapse of our economy.

“The Risky Victory for Obama”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 1:

“On August 2, the United States will be able to pay its bills again. Global financial markets will be able to breathe a little easier and the feared Armageddon will have been averted. During the next decade, US federal government expenditures are to shrink by $1 trillion, and a special committee in Congress is expected to outline an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by the end of November.

“If they are unable to reach a deal on the additional savings, then cuts will automatically be made across the board, including to the defense budget and to social welfare payments — two extremely expensive programs that are championed by conservatives and liberals. In exchange, the US debt ceiling will be raised in two stages by up to $2.4 trillion over the current level of $14.3 trillion. This will enable the US government to remain solvent and pay its bills — at least through 2012, and past the next presidential election…

“But can Obama truly breathe any easier?… Left-leaning members of the Democratic Party and ultra-conservative Republicans aligned with the Tea Party movement in both houses are unhappy with many of the details in the agreement… The spending cuts will hit programs that are particularly coveted by the left-wing of the Democratic Party — programs aimed at seniors, the poor, children and young people.

“At the same time, the Republicans have also managed to keep the issue of raising taxes taboo, despite the fact that the majority of the US population would prefer a mix of austerity measures and a rise in tax revenues. Currently, America’s tax ratio is the lowest it has been in decades… In the planned second round of consultations on spending cuts, tax adjustments could also be back on the table — at least in theory. But they wouldn’t stand any chance of passage. Of the 240 Republican members of the House of Representatives, 234 have signed a pledge stating they would not approve tax increases, regardless of the circumstances…

“The compromise also marks a break from Obama’s political course up until now. The [Democrats] long pushed for greater government spending in order to stimulate the stagnant economy. Now, however, the focus will be on austerity, even if many economists feel that is the wrong step given the stagnant US economic growth of 1.3 percent…

“Sunday’s compromise can’t really be chalked up as any major success for Obama, not least because it was largely the Republicans who succeeded in getting the concessions they had demanded… At the same time, it is the very Republicans who are now celebrating who might help steer Obama out of the crisis — including the one within his own party. If they agree on a presidential candidate who scares left-leaning Democrats, then they will once again flock to Obama — for better or for worse.”

“For better or for worse”—nicely put.

German Reactions…

Der Spiegel wrote on August 3:

“The German press has heavily covered the US debt ceiling debate, which is often juxtaposed with the current debt crisis in the euro zone. Editorial cartoonists, too, have tackled the issue. Some have even featured pictures of vultures, an image associated in Germany with someone or something that is bankrupt. One cartoon showed Mount Rushmore with four vulture heads replacing those of the four presidents. And a cartoon in the Financial Times Deutschland Wednesday shows a vulture running from Capitol Hill, uttering a promise that he will return.

“Concerns about the debt crisis play themselves out Wednesday in the editorial pages of German newspapers, where some commentators continue to analyze what the debate in Washington over the debt ceiling means for the world.

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘… it is without a doubt that the last-minute compromise between Democrats in the Senate and congressional Republicans has only pushed off dealing with the conflict to another day… On the one hand, there are the social democratic policies à la Obama, which in the spectrum of the US belong to the left wing. On the other hand are the father-knows-best austerity policies of the Tea Party. The Republicans block out the fact that in 2001 George W. Bush took over a solid budget from Bill Clinton, then waged a war without end in Afghanistan, and an unnecessary one in Iraq, all the while lowering taxes for those on the top. At issue is the role of the last superpower in maintaining peace and balance in the world.’

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘…Cuts of $2.1 trillion sound huge, but spread out over 10 years they make up only 1.5 percent of US economic output in today’s dollars. With inflation and growth this percentage would grow smaller…’

“The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘In Washington, as an election year approaches, the parties and experts are arguing over who were the winners and losers in the debt compromise. The debate shows how far the political landscape has moved from the actual concerns of the American people. The biggest loser of the compromise is clearly the average American on Main Street… Even though a default has been prevented, the insecurity over the economic and financial policies in the US has risen, not declined. Despite good profits and overflowing company coffers, businesses are holding back on investment. A badly needed tax reform, that would sink the corporate tax rate, which is at a record level in international comparisons, has no chance with the ideologically dogged Democrats.’”

And so, politics reigns, and the average American citizen loses…

It All Looks Very Strange…

Der Spiegel published the following article on August 4:

“This week, the United States nearly allowed itself to succumb to economic disaster. Increasingly, the divided country has more in common with a failed state than a democracy. In the face of America’s apparent political insanity, Europe must learn to take care of itself… The US is a country where the system of government has fallen firmly into the hands of the elite. An unruly and aggressive militarism set in motion two costly wars in the past 10 years. Society is not only divided socially and politically — in its ideological blindness the nation is moving even farther away from the core of democracy…

“America has changed. It has drifted away from the West… it [has become] self-destructive… One can no longer depend on politics in America… From a European perspective, it all looks very strange: it’s a different political culture. There are other rules at play, different standards. More and more we view America with the clear notion that we are different… Nevertheless, at least one good opportunity springs from America’s fate: The further the United States distances itself from us, the more we will (have to) think for ourselves, as Europeans. The West? That’s us.”

And so, as prophesied, Europe will become more and more exclusive and antagonistic towards the USA…

“America’s Fiscal Situation Remains Deeply Problematic”

The Financial Times wrote on August 3:

“In the aftermath of the debt ceiling agreement there will be calls for further stimulus for America’s economy. This would be a grave mistake… [The] $800bn American stimulus package was largely a waste of money that sharply enlarged the fiscal hole now facing our economy. President Barack Obama’s administration has consistently overestimated the benefits of stimulus.

“…expansion of public debt… requires higher taxes, retarding growth… America’s fiscal situation remains deeply problematic…progress will be needed, sadly much of which will probably have to await the outcome of the next US election. Yet progress must be made – or the impending crises of governments, signalled by possible downgrades of US debt, will make the 2008-09 recession look mild.”

Uncivilized Appalling Political Rhetoric by Our Leaders

Politico reported on August 1:

“Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having ‘acted like terrorists’ in the fight over raising the nation’s debt limit, according to several sources in the room… ‘We have negotiated with terrorists,’ an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. ‘This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.’ Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: ‘They have acted like terrorists.’

“Biden’s office initially declined to comment about what the vice president said inside the closed-door session, but after POLITICO published the remarks, spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said: ‘The word was used by several members of Congress. The vice president does not believe it’s an appropriate term in political discourse.’ Biden later denied he used that term in an interview with CBS… Earlier in the day, Biden told Senate Democrats that Republican leaders have ‘guns to their heads’ in trying to negotiate deals…

“Biden told Democratic lawmakers that the deal would take away the tea party’s ‘weapon of mass destruction’ — the threat of a default on U.S. debt obligations. ‘They have no compunction about blowing up the economy to get what they want,’ Doyle told POLITICO…”

Sadly, this unbecoming conduct and these condemnatory accusations are just a reflection and a mirror of the behavior pattern which has become commonplace in our civilized “Christian” society.

Worldwide Pessimism About Economy

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 4:

“The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 350 points this morning as increasing pessimism about the economy overtook investors around the globe… Most stock markets in Europe were down at least 2% as the trading day there drew to a close after prices declined steadily during the day. Investors there are worried about increasing debt problems in Italy and Spain. The drop in the U.S. came after a one-day respite Wednesday from nearly two weeks of declines.

“Before trading opened on Wall Street, the Labor Department announced that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week fell slightly from the week before. But the report, following a raft of disappointing economic data in recent days, was taken by many gloomy investors to indicate only that the stalled job market is not improving…

“Investors have been moving into perceived safe havens such as gold, Treasury bonds and the Swiss and Japanese currencies. The value of the yen was down Thursday about 3% against the dollar after Japan’s central bank moved overnight to sell yen to protect the country’s export economy. Switzerland’s central bank took a similar step Wednesday to limit the value of the Swiss franc.”

Libyan Rebels in Disarray?

Deutsche Welle reported on July 29:

“Libyan rebel military chief Abdel Fattah Younes has been shot dead… in an incident that may point to divisions within the forces opposed to the rule of strongman Moammar Gadhafi… Younes’ death is likely to deal a severe blow to the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC), which has won the official recognition of some 30 countries… [The killing] is indicative of schisms that have been appearing within the TNC over the last few months …

“Younes was reportedly unhappy in recent months after the TNC appointed a former army general, Khalifa Hefter, as commander of the opposition. Since then, Younes and Hefter were reported to have frequently argued over… strategic military plans… regarding fighting tactics at the front.”

As we have expressed from the outset, a quick and decisive victory against Gadhafi is far from certain.

How Israel Wages War Against Iran’s Nuclear Program

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 2:

“One atomic researcher after the other has died in a series of recent murders in Iran. Is Israel’s Mossad trying to sabotage the construction of a nuclear bomb with the attacks? Officials in Jerusalem aren’t denying anything. Israeli military generals are even more hawkish, and their calls for air strikes on Iran are growing louder. ‘Israel is not responding,’ Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this week when asked if his country had been involved in the latest slaying of an Iranian nuclear scientist. It didn’t exactly sound like a denial, and the smile on his face suggested Israel isn’t too bothered by suspicions that it is responsible for a series of murders of physicists involved in the controversial Iranian nuclear program.

“There is little doubt in the shadowy world of intelligence agencies that Israel is behind the assassination of Darioush Rezaei. ‘That was the first serious action taken by the new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo,’ an Israeli intelligence source told SPIEGEL ONLINE. On July 23, Rezaei became the latest victim in a mysterious series of attacks over the past 20 months which has seen the virtual decimation of the Islamic republic’s elite physicists. The 35-year-old died after being shot in the throat in front of his daughter’s kindergarten in east Tehran. The Iranian press has reported that the two alleged perpetrators in the attack escaped on a motorcycle… the physics student had worked on the development of high-voltage switching systems, a key component that is crucial to setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead. The physicist had apparently been seen daily at a nuclear research center in northern Tehran… Rezaei is the third Iranian nuclear physicist who has paid for his job with his life since the start of 2010.

“In January 2010, the nuclear physicist Masoud Ali Mohammadi died when a remotely detonated bomb rigged to a motorcycle exploded next to his car. Western experts considered Mohammadi to be one of Iran’s top nuclear scientists. On Nov. 29, 2010, unknown perpetrators committed two attacks which involved motorcyclists attaching explosive devices to their victims’ cars while driving. Majid Shahriari, a professor of nuclear physics who specialized in neutron transport, which is relevant for making bombs, was killed when his car exploded. His wife was seriously injured in the attack. Fereidoun Abbasi was targeted in a simultaneous attack. Abbasi, an expert in nuclear isotope separation, noticed the suspicious motorcyclist, however, and he and his wife jumped out of the car. They were both injured in the explosion. After Abbasi recovered, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed him as one of Iran’s vice presidents as well as head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization…

“Washington denies any responsibility: ‘We were not involved,’ a spokeswoman for the US State Department said in response to Rezaei’s death. Israel, for its part, has opted for a policy of ambiguous silence… According to sources in Israeli intelligence, the killings are part of a campaign to sabotage, or at least slow down, Iran’s nuclear program. The alleged campaign also involves other tactics as well as targeted assassinations. The cyber-attack using the Stuxnet computer virus, which paralyzed large parts of the Iranian nuclear program in the summer of 2010, is supposedly also part of Israel’s secret campaign against Iran. But for hardliners in the Israeli military, the covert action does not go far enough.

“The calls for bombing Iran are getting louder and louder, especially among Israeli Air Force officers, the informant told SPIEGEL ONLINE. There is apparently a heated debate about the effectiveness of such assassination campaigns and whether they can fulfill their goal, reported Yossi Melman, intelligence expert at the Israeli daily Haaretz. In addition, Israel has already faced fierce criticism over other assassinations allegedly committed by its agents in foreign countries. Until now, Mossad experts have been able to convince decision-makers that the construction of an Iranian bomb can best be delayed through attacks on key figures and nuclear facilities. But it is unclear how long Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to follow this advice. Politicians in Jerusalem know well that Mossad is also pursuing its own interests when it argues that its agents should play the leading role in the struggle against Iran… Whether there will be an open attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the future will partly depend on whether the Israeli military or intelligence wins the internal power struggle…”

On August 2, Haaretz quoted the article by Der Spiegel, clarifying the following:

“The man, who was killed last Saturday, was initially identified by state-run media as Darioush Rezaei, a physics professor and expert in neutron transport. The media then backtracked, with officials subsequently naming him as Dariush Rezaeinejad, an electronics PhD student. Foreign officials contacted by the Associated Press have verified the name, but say that Rezaeinedjad participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component that is crucial to setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead.”

It appears almost certain that a war between Israel and Iran will ensue. This time, however, Israel might not win this war, as the Bible strongly indicates. Please compare the Current Events on Israel and Iran in our last Update.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander New President of OPEC

The Guardian reported on August 3:

“A senior Iranian revolutionary guards commander targeted by international sanctions has taken over the presidency of Opec after he became Iran’s oil minister on Wednesday. Rostam Ghasemi, head of the Khatam al-Anbia military and industrial base… is currently subject to US, EU and Australian sanctions and his assets have been blacklisted by US Treasury and western powers… Iranian state media interpreted the vote as a reaction by Iran’s parliament to international sanctions against the country, especially those which have targeted the revolutionary guards and the country’s nuclear programme…

“The appointment of Ghasemi as Iran’s oil minister automatically makes him the head of Opec which has a crucial role in determining oil prices. As its second-largest crude oil exporter, Iran took the presidency of Opec after 36 years last October and Ghasemi’s position will give the revolutionary guards a unique opportunity to influence an international organisation.”

Whether Iran will use this prestigious and influential position to determine oil prices to the detriment of America and the West, will have to be seen.

Mubarak on Trial

Reuters reported on August 3:

“Egyptians and their fellow Arabs were enthralled on Wednesday by the unprecedented sight of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, a leader of the region for three decades and the Arab Spring’s biggest scalp, being wheeled into court to face trial. Outside the courtroom in Cairo, they watched on a big screen as the octogenarian, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, lay on a hospital bed connected to a drip and denied involvement in the killing of protesters who ousted him…

“The opening of the trial coincided with a push by Syrian forces into the heart of Hama… Mubarak was not the first Arab leader to fall in the Arab Spring, but he is the first to stand trial in person. Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled first, fled to Saudi Arabia and was tried in absentia… If convicted, Mubarak could face the death penalty, though few expect that outcome even if some protesters wish it.

“Some dismissed the proceedings. A government adviser in Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally that tolerates no dissent and has no political parties, criticised putting Mubarak on trial. ‘You realise that these idiotic people are going to destroy whatever is left of the Egyptian state, this is a masquerade,’ the adviser said. ‘This is a humiliating spectacle for everyone. There is nothing to be proud of. Time will tell.’

“… the images of Egypt’s former president and a war veteran, who always presented himself as a father figure protecting the nation, gained him some sympathy…”

We tend to agree with the assessment of the government adviser in Saudi Arabia, as quoted above. As Die Welt wrote on August 3: “Instead of letting the old man die in peace, the military is playing a loathsome and dangerous game with public rage…”

German Government Sued Over Tank Deal with Saudi Arabia

Deutsche Welle reported on August 1:

“Former development minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, spoke out against the German government on Monday for the suspected sale of 200 ‘Leopard’ combat tanks to Saudi Arabia… ‘The tank deal with Saudi Arabia is a catastrophic decision,’ she said. In selling the tanks, Germany has ‘supported an authoritarian, despotic regime’… Wieczorek-Zeul’s comments came just a day after Germany’s opposition Green party announced it had launched a complaint with the country’s highest court over the sale of the tanks… Until now, it has been German government policy not to export heavy weapons to the authoritarian regime in Saudi Arabia.”

Please note our Q&A in this Update on the history and future of Saudi Arabia.

Joint German-French Ventures for Military Aircraft, Naval Construction and Torpedoes

The Local reported on August 1:

“Germany and France are reportedly considering a military ship-building alliance, an ‘EADS of the Seas,’ that could resemble their current arrangement for military aircraft.

“The European defence group EADS, owner of plane maker Airbus, manufactures military helicopters and the A400 military transport plane. Berlin and Paris are considering opening talks later this year on a similar alliance in the field of naval construction, which would involve the German ThyssenKrupp group and the French DCNS military dockyards… Germany had long rejected such a deal, fearing disputes with France over political control of the group and over which dockyards would remain open.

“Nonetheless, a recent failure by ThyssenKrupp to sell its Blohm and Voss dockyards to Abu Dhabi MAR has given new impetus to the project, which is backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the [Financial Times Deutschland] said. A joint venture might see France take charge of the construction of frigates, while Germany would be responsible for submarines, the paper suggested.

“A recent deal between the French DCNS and the German electronic specialist Atlas Elektronik, a joint venture involving ThyssenKrupp and EADS, for manufacturing torpedoes could serve as an initial test for such a joint venture, the paper added.’’

While Germany and France are collaborating more and more in economic and military matters, Great Britain seems to be on her way out of the EU—see our next article.

British Citizens Want Referendum on EU Membership

The Daily Express wrote on August 2:

“The British public should get a referendum on European Union membership, a Daily Express poll confirms today. An overwhelming 99 per cent of our readers say the time has come for voters to decide if the UK should be freed from the shackles of Brussels, our exclusive survey reveals. Asked if Britons should be given a vote on quitting the EU, they answered with a resounding ‘Yes’. Support for our petition to force a vote smashed through the 40,000 barrier yesterday…

“The Government has said that it will consider any public campaign backed by 100,000 signatures for a debate in Parliament. After just three days of the petition being active we are well on the way to that target.

“This newspaper’s historic crusade – the first to demand that Britain must quit the EU – has already been backed by almost 400,000 people in a postal coupon campaign earlier this year. Now our readers can force the issue direct to the heart of Government again via the e-petition and by sending in letters of support. Last night the colossal surge of support was being viewed as a warning to Brussels that Britain has had enough of meddling, financial fears and an ever-growing tax burden.”

Once a referendum is placed before the British people, it is almost certain that the decision will be against staying in the EU.

Global Warming in Doubt

Yahoo News and Forbes reported on July 27:

“NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

“Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA’s Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models. ‘The satellite observations suggest there is much more energy lost to space during and after warming than the climate models show,’ Spencer said in a July 26 University of Alabama press release. ‘There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans’…

“The new findings are extremely important and should dramatically alter the global warming debate… In short, the central premise of alarmist global warming theory is that carbon dioxide emissions should be directly and indirectly trapping a certain amount of heat in the earth’s atmosphere and preventing it from escaping into space. Real-world measurements, however, show far less heat is being trapped in the earth’s atmosphere than the alarmist computer models predict, and far more heat is escaping into space than the alarmist computer models predict…”

This incident serves again as an example as to how stats and figures can be manipulated and misinterpreted by our scientific “experts” to reach a certain desired result.

“And the Waters Turned to Blood…”

Life Science and Yahoo News reported on August 2:

“A Texas lake that turned blood-red this summer may not be a sign of the End Times, but probably is the end of a popular fishing and recreation spot. A drought has left the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park in West Texas almost entirely dry. The water that is left is stagnant, full of dead fish — and a deep, opaque red. The color has some apocalypse believers suggesting that OC Fisher is an early sign of the end of the world, but Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries officials say the bloody look is the result of Chromatiaceae bacteria, which thrive in oxygen-deprived water…

“Texas is experiencing major drought this summer, with 75 percent of the state’s area in an ‘exceptional’ drought, the highest level, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC). The state had hoped for some relief from Tropical Storm Don last week, but the system fizzled and brought only an inch or two of rain to areas near the coast…

“Pictures of this blood-red pool circulated online in fishing forums and caught the notice of Indiana preacher Paul Begley, who said in a YouTube video that the lake might be evidence of the apocalypse as predicted by the Biblical book of Revelation. ‘The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died,’ the passage Begley cited reads. ‘The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.’

“Begley may not have any more luck at predicting the end of the world than did Harold Camping, the radio preacher who set the date for May 21, 2011. But for as long as the drought persists, the OC Fisher reservoir is a reservoir no longer…”

Considering the time line of the prophetic events, the quoted Scripture in the book of Revelation does of course not apply to the current situation in Texas—but it might give us a glimpse of the terrible occurrences which mankind will experience in the not-too-distant future.

Mass Murder in Norway

Reuters reported on July 24:

“The man suspected of Norway’s gun and bomb massacre had belonged to an anti-immigration party and opposed multi-culturalism, Islam and the ‘cultural Marxists’ of the establishment, web postings, acquaintances and officials said Saturday… [He] was accused of gunning down 85 people at a youth camp and killing another seven in a bomb attack on Friday… [He] was a freemason, said a spokesman for the organization. Freemasons meet in secretive fraternal groups in many parts of the world.

“The suspected killer was also a member of the Oslo gun club and was fond of weightlifting… His tastes in music included classical and trance, a hypnotic form of dance music. The profile veered between references to political philosophers and gory popular films, TV shows and video games.”

Some left-liberal papers have also labeled Norway’s mass murderer as a “fundamentalist Christian.” His Satan-inspired actions have nothing to do with true Christianity. How can one harmonize his murders with Christ’s words to Peter: “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52)?

On the other hand, his abominable conduct will unfortunately provoke a reaction from our left-wing liberal media of propagating multi-culturalism, and they will serve as a foundation for further criticism of and attacks on so-called “fundamental” Christianity, without realizing that true “fundamental” Christianity is the acceptance of all biblical teachings and commandments, including the one against killing others… However, notice also the next article.

“Christian” or Not?

WorldNetDaily reported on July 24:

“A review of Anders Behring Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto shows the media’s quick characterization of the Norwegian terrorist as a ‘Christian’ may be as incorrect as it was to call Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh one… Yet, while McVeigh rejected God altogether, Breivik writes in his manifesto that he is not religious, has doubts about God’s existence, does not pray, but does assert the primacy of Europe’s ‘Christian culture’ as well as his own pagan Nordic culture.

“Breivik… hails Charles Darwin, whose evolutionary theories stand in contrast to the claims of the Bible… The terrorist also candidly admits he finds no support within either the Catholic or Protestant churches for his violent ideas.”

“Multi-Culturalism HAS Failed…”

The EUObserver wrote on July 25:

“Europe’s far-right wing parties have condemned Friday’s massacre in Norway with the confessed gunman… having used some of their central tenets – anti-immigration and nationalism – to justify his actions. The 32-year old Norwegian national… wrote a 1,500 page manifesto in which he strongly condemns Norway’s liberal policies and Europe’s multi-culturalism as a whole saying it is leading to the ‘Islamisation of Europe’…

“Geert Wilders of the Dutch Freedom Party said the killer was a ‘violent and sick character’ and said his party ‘offers its condolences to all the families of the victims and to the Norwegian people.’ Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigrant National Front… said her party has ‘nothing to do with the Norwegian slaughter, which is the work of a lone lunatic who must be ruthlessly punished’…

“EU leaders have also spoken out strongly. German chancellor Angela Merkel called it an ‘appalling crime’, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy said it was ‘odious and unacceptable’… However the crimes are bound to unleash some soul-searching generally in the EU where the far-right has been growing, tapping into an anti-foreigner sentiment and fears about jobs as the bloc struggles [to] cope with the economic downturn.

“This has resulted in centre-right leaders such as Sarkozy trying to steal back some political ground by talking up the importance of national identity and taking a stronger stance on immigration.  Last year, Angela Merkel said that multi-culturalism had ‘utterly failed’ while UK prime minister David Cameron also tackled the issue head on in February saying ‘state multiculturalism has failed’.”

This correct assessment is bound to be second-guessed by our left-wing liberal media, in light of the atrocities by a “lunatic.”

Our Left Media–Trying to Throw Out the Babe with the Bathwater

CNN reported on July 24:

“The far right in Europe has enjoyed a renaissance over the past 30 years, driven by resentment of the growing powers of the European Union and by rejection of the ‘multiculturalism’ that has accompanied rapid immigration from the developing world.

“Political parties opposing immigration and integration have done well in elections in recent years — and beyond them, neo-fascist and ‘national socialist’ groups have become well-established across the continent, including in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Scandinavia, Hungary and the United Kingdom…

“…As the conservative German newspaper Die Welt put it in May: ‘Neither open borders nor a common currency have led the countries to grow closer with one another. It’s just the opposite. They insist on clinging to their national characteristics.’”

Pure and simple, the Bible does not support multiculturalism, and when Jesus Christ returns to rule this earth, multiculturalism won’t  exist. At the same time, U.S. right wingers, like Glen Beck, do nothing to help the situation, either, as can be seen in the next article.

Glenn Beck’s Comments “a New Low” and “Absolutely Disgusting”

The Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported on July 26:

“Glenn Beck, the American right-wing talk-show host, compared the victims of a shooting at a Norwegian summer camp to Hitler Youth in his radio program on Monday, according to a Daily Telegraph report… Beck described the brutal incident ‘as a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler Youth. I mean who sends their kids to a political camp? Disturbing,’ he added…

“Torbjørn Eriksen, a former press secretary to Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s prime minister, called Beck’s comments ‘a new low’ for the broadcaster, who is known for his controversial, often offensive statements. ‘Young political activists have gathered at Utoya for over 60 years to learn about and be part of democracy, the very opposite of what the Hitler Youth was about,’ he told The Daily Telegraph. ‘Glenn Beck’s comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful.’

“The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington-based campaign group, called the remarks ‘absolutely disgusting.’”

America… Talks and Talks and More Talks…

Politico wrote on July 24:

“First came the Biden talks. When those blew up, the Obama-Boehner talks took center stage. And when that failed, the McConnell-Reid talks looked promising. And after they faltered, the Obama-Boehner talks tried to find a new life. Now it’s all come down to the Boehner-Reid-Pelosi-McConnell talks to solve the debt crisis. Notably absent? The president…

“House conservatives have grown deeply distrustful of Obama’s motivations and were skeptical of the ‘grand bargain’ Boehner was negotiating with the president. He didn’t share the details of his negotiations with the House Republican Conference and many of them were privately concerned about any agreement between Obama and the speaker, particularly on the thorny issue of tax increases…

“But both sides are also plainly worried about 2012 campaign politics: Democrats in the Senate have to defend 23 seats and Obama has to worry about reelection, and neither Reid nor Obama want to relive this messy battle over the debt ceiling before November 2012…”

And so, the political gamble for votes and the career politicians’ play with fire continues, which could potentially ignite the USA and the entire world…

The American Nightmare

Deutsche Welle reported on July 25:

“Republicans and Democrats continue to talk past each other as the [August 2] deadline for raising Washington’s debt ceiling looms. The political impasse, which could have a global impact, has triggered international criticism… If Republicans and Democrats fail to hammer out a deal by August 2, Washington will default on its $14 trillion national debt, which could send tremors around a world still reeling from the economic crisis.

“‘The irony of the situation at the moment… is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few right-wing nutters in the American Congress rather than the eurozone, ’ said Vince Cable, Britain’s business secretary and a member of the Liberal Democrats. The polarization in the United States is more reminiscent of the divisions in developing Latin American nations, according to Peter Hakim, head of the Inter-American Dialogue policy group… Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez, whose own nation defaulted on $100 billion in debt a decade ago, openly wondered how the political situation in Washington had become so intransigent. ‘When did the American dream become a nightmare?’ Fernandez asked.”

Yes, when indeed? But it is quickly becoming one…

If Washington Stopped Interest Payments for Just a Few Days…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 27:

“Even if Washington stopped interest payments for just a few days, it could have global consequences far greater than a Greek bankruptcy. Investors would be left not knowing who[m] to trust — particularly given debt problems in the euro zone and ongoing economic difficulties in Japan. Lack of confidence in global economic leaders would almost certainly lead to serious global economic difficulties…

“Even if the worst is avoided, US finances are still a mess. Total debt is approaching 100 percent of gross domestic product, putting it in the same league as Italy, Portugal and Ireland, three of the euro-zone’s famous PIIGS states. America’s budget deficit is well over a trillion dollars — more than 10 percent of GDP. Were Washington to apply to become a member of the European common currency zone, it would be rejected out of hand.”

Now, that last statement is extremely telling and should wake up everybody who might still live with the illusion that America is not really in big economic trouble…

US Taxpayer Money Supporting Taliban

The Washington Post reported on July 24:

“A year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses. The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on U.S. payroll. In March, the Pentagon extended the contract for six months.

“According to a summary of the investigation results… the military found ‘documented, credible evidence .?.?. of involvement in a criminal enterprise or support for the enemy’ by four of the eight prime contractors. Investigators also cited cases of profiteering, money laundering and kickbacks to Afghan power brokers, government officials and police officers. Six of the companies were found to have been associated with ‘fraudulent paperwork and behavior.’…

“Six of the eight companies chosen as prime contractors… are owned by Afghans or are joint Afghan-international ventures. Two are considered U.S.-owned, including the Washington-based Sandi Group and NCL Holdings, whose founder and president… is the son of Afghanistan’s defense minister. The new investigation… did not identify which of the companies are implicated in payments to insurgents, nor does it quantify how much money has been misspent or transferred to insurgents.”

Frankly, it is no surprise that in a corrupt country like Afghanistan, U.S. taxpayer money is being terribly abused. Of course, the entire military invasion of Afghanistan under U.S. leadership has been a colossal failure from the start.

Germany’s Double Stance

CNN reported on July 24:

“Germany announced Sunday it has agreed to lend 100 million euros ($144 million) to the rebels in Libya for ‘civilian and humanitarian purposes’ despite staying out of NATO’s bombing campaign against Libyan government forces. Germany had previously announced a loan of $10 million (7 million euros) for humanitarian aid to the Transitional National Council, the rebel movement that is battling to unseat longtime Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi…

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in June that her country shares the hope ‘that this NATO mission is successful.’ Merkel also said Germany was supporting the NATO mission by providing increased resources to the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, freeing other nations to contribute to the Libyan campaign. Germany has recognized the rebels as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and established a liaison office with the opposition in Benghazi in May.”

Germany wants to have it both ways. On the one hand, they do not directly support the war against Gadhafi, and on the other hand, they do. This way, they think they will come out as the winner, no matter what the outcome might be. This may work for a while in this Satan-ruled world, but God hates such double standards and duplicity. James tells us: “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ ‘No,’” (James 5:12), and Jesus adds, “For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37).

Eurozone to Become a Fiscal Union

The Telegraph wrote on July 21:

“…the only conceivable salvation for the eurozone is to impose greater fiscal integration among member states. This advice was finally being taken yesterday – and it is almost impossible to overestimate the importance of the decision which European leaders seemed last night to be reaching. By authorising a huge expansion in the bail-out fund that is propping up the EU’s peripheral members (largely in order to stop the contagion spreading to Italy and Spain), the eurozone has taken the decisive step to becoming a fiscal union.

“So long as the settlement is accepted by national parliaments, yesterday will come to be seen as the witching hour after which Europe will cease to be, except vestigially, a collection of nation states. It will have one economic government, one currency, one foreign policy. This integration will be so complete that taxpayers in the more prosperous countries will be expected to pay for the welfare systems and pension plans of failing EU states.

“This is the final realisation of the dream that animated the founders of the Common Market more than half a century ago – which is one reason why so many prominent Europeans have privately welcomed the eurozone catastrophe, labelling it a ‘beneficial crisis’…

“Germany is busy turning into one of the most dynamic and productive economies in the world. Despite the grumbling, for the Germans, the bail-outs are worth every penny, because they guarantee a cheap outlet for their manufactured goods. Yesterday’s witching hour of the European Union means that Germany has come very close to realising Bismarck’s dream of an economic empire stretching from central Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean…”

As we pointed out in the Current Events of our previous Update No. 501, the establishment of a European fiscal union will greatly diminish the concept of democracy in Europe, and it will catapult Germany into a leadership role which will far exceed any influence that it might have had in the past. Please also note the next article.

“Merkel Saves the Euro… and Herself”

The Local wrote on July 22:

“Has Angela Merkel saved the euro? That’s certainly how the German chancellor was presenting it after an emergency EU summit on Thursday forged yet another bailout package for heavily indebted Greece. With the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis festering for months, Merkel has faced a barrage of criticism both at home and abroad for failing to lead Europe out of its worst economic crisis since the single currency was introduced 12 years ago…

“The latest rescue deal greatly stretches the timeframe for Greece to repay its debt while lowering the interest rate Athens will have to pay. Crucially for Merkel, it also includes a €50-billion contribution from private creditors – something Berlin had long demanded… Merkel had clearly realized that sitting on the sidelines was simply no longer an option… Merkel knows that, as an exporting nation few countries have benefited from the euro as much as Germany. But she has hesitated until now to simply pick up the tab…

“The impact of Merkel’s disengagement throughout the euro crisis has been remarkable: No other major economy is doing as well as Germany right now, but her centre-right coalition is also extremely unpopular… But now it seems clear to everyone inside the Chancellery that Merkel’s political fate and the euro have become inextricably intertwined. In saving the euro, Merkel saves herself… for the eurozone the change couldn’t have come a moment too soon.”

Germany Biggest Foreign Investor after the USA

The Local wrote on July 28:

“German companies are investing abroad like never before, making the country the world’s biggest foreign investor after the United States. That’s according to a new United Nations report which shows Germany far ahead of the countries like China, Japan and France. Among Germany’s largest investors abroad are communications company Deutsche Telekom as well as carmaker Volkswagen and logistics firm Deutsche Post.

“Germany’s international footprint has become enormous. In 2009, the country’s companies had about $78 billion (€54 billion) invested abroad, whereas investment had ballooned to $105 billion by last year. Still, the country trails far behind the United States, whose companies have more than $300 billion invested overseas…”

But what will happen when the American economic system collapses…?

Attack on Iran in September?

On July 17, alJazeera.net reported the following:

“A longtime CIA officer [Robert Baer] who spent 21 years in the Middle East is predicting that Israel will bomb Iran in the fall, dragging the United States into another major war and endangering US military and civilian personnel (and other interests) throughout the Middle East and beyond… Robert Baer has had a storied career, including a stint in Iraq in the 1990s where he organised opposition to Saddam Hussein. (He was recalled after being accused of trying to organise Saddam’s assassination.) Upon his retirement, he received a top decoration for meritorious service.

“Baer is no ordinary CIA operative… He obviously won’t name many of his sources in Israel, the United States, and elsewhere, but the few he has named are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are hell-bent on war… There is almost ‘near certainty’ that Netanyahu is ‘planning an attack [on Iran] … and it will probably be in September before the vote on a Palestinian state. And he’s also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict’, Baer explained.

“The Israeli air force would attack ‘Natanz and other nuclear facilities to degrade their capabilities. The Iranians will strike back where they can: Basra, Baghdad’, he said, and even Afghanistan. Then the United States would jump into the fight with attacks on Iranian targets. ‘Our special forces are already looking at Iranian targets in Iraq and across the border [in Iran] which we would strike. What we’re facing here is an escalation, rather than a planned out-and-out war. It’s a nightmare scenario. We don’t have enough troops in the Middle East to fight a war like that.’ Baer added, ‘I think we are looking into the abyss’…

“It should be noted that the Iranian regime is quite capable of triggering a war with the United States through some combination of colossal stupidity and sheer hatred. In fact, as Baer explained, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard would welcome a war… they are worried about a population that increasingly despises the regime… If Israel bombed Iran tomorrow, Congress would forget all about their partisan differences and run, not walk, to the House and Senate floors to endorse the attack and call for unstinting support for Israel. That is what Congress always does, and will always do so long as the lobby (and the donors it directs) are the key players in making our Middle East policies.

“…an Israeli attack on Iran… would endanger countless Americans (in the region and here at home, too). It would kill off any economic recovery by causing oil prices to skyrocket. It would engulf us in another Middle East war. And it would threaten the existence of the state of Israel…”

Jesus prophesied that we will hear of wars and rumors of wars in these end times. The Bible also warns us that the state of Israel will receive a “wound” in a coming war, indicating a major blow or defeat. We are also told that the USA will be ultimately totally defeated in war.

Interestingly, when Israel receives its “wound,” it will apparently try to obtain help from Germany (modern Assyria), but Germany won’t be helping them (compare Hosea 5:13, New American Bible: “When Ephraim [modern Great Britain] saw his infirmity, and Judah [the state of Israel] his sore [or wound, compare New King James Bible], Ephraim went to Assyria [modern Germany], and Judah sent to the great king [King Jareb of Assyria, a coming modern powerful leader of Germany]. But he cannot heal you, nor take away your sore”).

This might indicate that at that time, Israel will try to obtain help from Germany, because the USA won’t be in a position anymore to help Israel.

Human Animal Hybrids

The Daily Mail wrote on July 24:

“Scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories. The hybrids have been produced secretively over the past three years by researchers looking into possible cures for a wide range of diseases. The revelation comes just a day after a committee of scientists warned of a nightmare ‘Planet of the Apes’ scenario in which work on human-animal creations goes too far…

“Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 ‘admixed’ embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilisation Embryology Act. This legalised the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilised by a human sperm; ‘cybrids’, in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and ‘chimeras’, in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos…

 “Human-animal hybrids are also created in other countries, many of which have little or no regulation…”

Scientists engage in abominable and ungodly behavior, but they always give a “reason” for doing so, saying in this case that it is for the greater good of curing diseases. How far will man go in his Satan-inspired desire to play God [in whom many scientists don’t even believe]? Surely, God will have to send His Son Jesus Christ back to this earth very soon to make an end to man’s God-defying conduct and his devilish experiments, which could have devastating and man-destroying consequences.