Kosovo Declares Independence–But the Problems Are Just Beginning…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 18:

“The tortuous break-up of the former Yugoslavia that began in the 1990s produced another country on Sunday. Nine years after NATO troops forced Serbia out of the province, Kosovo has unilaterally declared independence. Many Western countries are now on the verge of recognizing Kosovo as Europe’s latest country [including the USA, Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy] but Serbia and its ally Russia [as well as China] regard the declaration as illegal. And many countries with their own separatist groups, from Spain to Sri Lanka, are reluctant to set a precedent by recognizing this new state.

“… at least six [European] member states — Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania — have indicated they will not recognize Kosovo due to misgivings about their own separatist movements or because of close ties with Serbia…”

Addressing the German reaction, the magazine stated:

“Europe is often quick to base foreign policy decisions on rulings made by the United Nations Security Council. Should the EU recognize Kosovo, however, it will be directly countermanding UN Security Council Resolution 1244, adopted in 1999. The resolution explicitly reaffirms ‘the commitment of all member states to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the other states of the region.’…

“The financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘Given the current situation, Kosovo’s split from Serbia was unavoidable. But it is a further step on a dangerous path to the dissolution of the nation state…'”

The Associated Press reported on February 18:

“The U.S. and the European Union’s biggest powers quickly recognized Kosovo as an independent nation Monday, widening a split with Russia, China and some EU members strongly opposed to letting the territory break away from Serbia… the dispute is likely to worsen already strained relations between the West and Russia, which is a traditional ally of Serbia and seeks to restore its influence in former Soviet bloc states…

“The EU does not recognize nations, leaving that up to its individual members… Despite that divide, the EU foreign ministers issued a joint statement citing ‘the conflict of the 1990s’ in Kosovo as a justification for the independence declaration.”

AFP and Bild Online added on February 18 and 20, respectively, that Serbia recalled its ambassadors to Washington and Germany in protest.

The Associated Press reported on February 21 that “Serb rioters set fire to an office inside the U.S. Embassy Thursday and police clashed with protesters outside other embassy buildings after a large demonstration against Kosovo’s declaration of independence…  For several days, Kosovo’s Serbs have shown their anger by destroying U.N. and NATO property, setting off small bombs and staging noisy rallies. On Thursday, the neighboring Croatian Embassy also was targeted by the same group of protesters at the U.S. Embassy, and smaller groups attacked police posts outside the Turkish and British embassies in another part of the city but were beaten back… Groups also broke into a McDonald’s restaurant and demolished the interior…”

Bild Online added on February 21 that the German Embassy was attacked as well, after Germany had recognized Kosovo as an independent state on Wednesday.

Disunited Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 19:

“The European Union… is hopelessly divided when it comes to Kosovo. A majority of EU countries… is in favor of Kosovo independence. But a closer look reveals that the majority is far from overwhelming. Some 17 countries of the 27-member total are eager to recognize the new nation… But that leaves a large number of European countries who are either against Kosovo independence, or unsure…

“The European Commission has pledged €1 billion already, with a package of trade deals likely… The EU has agreed to send a mission including some 2,000 police, judiciary experts, and civil service experts to Kosovo to help the country get started… Just what the EU mission will do should violence arise between Kosovo’s ethnically Albanian majority and the Serbian minority hasn’t been mentioned. And what would be the EU’s position should the Serbian enclave north of Mitrovica declare independence and express a wish to be joined with Serbia? It’s hard to know.”

Europe Needs a President

UPI reported on February 13:

“For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the next American president can expect to meet an equal — the first person to occupy the new post of president of the European Union. The new European Treaty, currently being ratified by the 27 member states, creates a president for this agglomeration of 500 million people with a GDP now significantly larger than that of the United States. The EU has 2 million troops under arms, two nuclear powers in France and Britain, two seats on the U.N. Security Council and four members of the G7. ‘The President of the European Council shall, at his level and in that capacity, ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy,’ says the treaty. That means summits with the American and Russian presidents, with the leaders of India and China and others ‘at his level.’

“The president will be the permanent chairman of the EU Council, the body where the heads of all 27 national governments meet four times a year. The treaty says the new president shall ‘drive forward its work” and ‘shall ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council.’ In other words, the new president controls the agenda, the staff and the paper flow. This is real power. The term lasts for two and a half years and can be renewed… once…”

European Elite Defense Force?

The EUObserver wrote on February 15:

“French president Nicolas Sarkozy is spearheading an initiative to create an elite defence force made up of the six EU biggest states – France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and Poland… It is envisaged that the six countries would adopt common rules for reinforced co-operation, such as spending a minimum of two percent of their GDP on defence, join a common defence equipment market and provide 10,000 troops for an intervention force. Moreover, the elite group would commit to carry out joint security anti-terrorism projects, as well as defence infrastructure programmes, such as missile defence or space and intelligence technology…

“Paris aims to launch the initiative in 2009, after the new EU Lisbon treaty has been ratified in all member states, as it contains a provision for ‘permanent structured co-operation’ which could establish a legal link for the core defence project to be set up. The provision was already included in the old EU constitution that the French and Dutch voters rejected in referendums in 2005…”

Report From the Munich Conference

On February 16, Newsmax.com published the following article by Christopher Ruddy:

“Last week I had the honor of joining the U.S. delegation to the Munich Conference on Security Policy, held in Munich, Germany… Today, Europe appears to have a mindset of accommodation and complacency. Appeasement might be too strong of a word, since there is no Hitler-like figure marching through European capitals to acquiesce to. A U.S. official with NATO told our delegation that throughout Europe, our allies are not making the connection between their own security and the alliance’s work to keep the Taliban out of power in Afghanistan…

“Europe has been moving toward a similar accommodational approach to Iran, a nation that has been developing weapons of mass destruction. Though there is little doubt that Iran, unless stopped, will acquire nuclear weapons, NATO is unwilling to aggressively tackle the threat. Iran already has the ballistic missile capability to strike Europe. And its leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called Israel a ‘disgraceful blot’ that should be ‘wiped off the map,’ adding menacingly that the Jewish state is ‘heading toward annihilation.’ Sen. Lieberman told the conference that Iran must be reckoned with ‘before it is too late.’ He pleaded with European and U.N. member states to use their economic leverage over Iran to stop its nuclear weapons plans… ‘Military action to destroy or deter Iran’s nuclear arsenal is not an option we seek, but it is also not an option that we can eliminate,’ he said…

“Russia today is confident and cocky. But it was just over 15 years ago that the U.S. was airlifting food supplies to Russia. The economic situation there has improved dramatically. With skyrocketing oil and gas prices, Russia has developed a remarkable war chest. One U.S. general told me the Pentagon has been suspicious of Russia because no one knows what the nation plans to do with its vast wealth. He also noted that Russia is ‘unquestionably the nuclear superpower of the world,’ noting the vast arsenal it has maintained after the end of the Cold War.

“Russia’s deputy prime minister, Sergey Ivanov, bragged during his speech in Munich that in recent years Russia had acquired $500 billion in gold and cash reserves, with another $150 billion in a national welfare fund. To understand the vastness of these $650 billion in reserves, consider that China has about double this amount. But Russia has less than one-tenth the population of China…  But there’s no reason to worry, Ivanov assured the gathering, since… Russia had no intention of ‘establishing military blocs or engaging in open confrontation with our partners.’ Ivanov’s comments would be reassuring if Russia was truly a democracy and partner of ours. The facts suggest otherwise.”

Iran–Closer Than Expected?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 21:

“New simulations carried out by European Union experts come to an alarming conclusion: Iran could have enough highly enriched uranium to build an atomic bomb by the end of this year.”

German Viewpoint on Barack Obama

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 19:

“The rise of democratic frontrunner Barack Obama signifies an alarming victory of style over substance… his campaign promises more than he can deliver. The one thing his voters can count on is that they will ultimately be disappointed…

“Voters are hungry for change and for radical departure from a present they now perceive as mediocre, especially after seven meager years under the current president, George W. Bush. A man like Barack Obama is adept at taking advantage of this yearning. He utters beautiful sentences that massage the soul… Nevertheless, if Obama is elected he will eventually be forced to disappoint his voters…

“The future Obama is promising seems foggy and indistinct. He wants to change the rules of engagement in politics, but he neglects to explain how and in what direction. He wants to write a new page in the history books, but what handwriting does he plan to use to make his entry? He wants to drive out lobbyists, but if he does, who will champion the interests of union members, war veterans and chemical corporations? He wants to negotiate with the world’s dictators, but to what end, exactly?

“In fact, Obama’s most dangerous land mines are hidden in foreign policy. A quick withdrawal from Iraq? Sounds great. But the mistake of having started this war in the first place cannot be corrected by ending it in a mad rush to get out of Iraq. A rapid withdrawal of the US military would most likely be followed by a bloody civil war. Al-Qaida would manage to sink its teeth into Iraq once and for all. Iran would rejoice. And Osama bin Laden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be the real winners of the 2008 American presidential election.

“On top of all that, Obama, in an effort to show strength, has come up with a new, and in some ways exclusive, theater for the US armed forces. He talks about military operations in the nuclear power Pakistan, operations that he, as commander-in-chief, would order even without the approval of the United Nations. That is ‘the war we need to win,’ he says again and again.

“But in reality a military campaign in Pakistan would be lunacy, even if many in the American media have chosen to studiously ignore Obama’s comments. A comparison with President John F. Kennedy, who was 43 when he was elected, reveals that Kennedy was in fact unenthusiastic about going to war in Vietnam. It was a war the inexperienced President slid into, and if he was a war president, it was by accident and not design.

“But there is no room for thoughtfulness in the turbulent world of Obamania. Hillary Clinton, his rival in the fight for the Democratic nomination, suffers from the same problems as traditional companies in the automotive and engineering industries did when confronted with the hype of the New Economy. She is out of touch with his supporters. She uses language to explain, while Obama uses rhetoric to intoxicate. She tells voters what she is bringing to the table. He tells them what they can become. If Clinton is a solid stock, Obama is an option. If she’s a secure investment, he is speculation.

“When the New Economy reached its conclusion, people suddenly realized that their hopes were dashed and their cravings for quick riches left unfulfilled… If democracy functions only half as well as the market economy, the Obama bubble will burst. The burning question is: When? Will it happen before the Democratic nomination this August — or not until afterwards?”

John McCain Under Attack

Der Spiegel Online called it today “the dirty U.S. election campaign,” adding that the “mud match” has begun.  USA Today reported the following on February 21:

“John McCain on Thursday criticized a New York Times story alleging a questionable relationship with a female telecommunications lobbyist [in 2000], saying it’s ‘not true’ and that he was ‘very disappointed’ the newspaper relied on anonymous sources…  the McCain campaign… calls the story a smear campaign to destroy the Republican nominee-in-waiting.

“Robert Bennett, a Washington attorney representing McCain, told NBC’s Today show that McCain’s staff provided the Times with ‘approximately 12 instances where Senator McCain took positions adverse to this lobbyist’s clients and her public relations firm’s clients,’ but none of the examples were included in the paper’s story. ‘There is no evidence that John McCain ever breached the public trust and that is the issue and the only issue,’ said Bennett, who once represented former President Clinton, on Thursday.”

Fidel Castro Steps Down–But No Improvement Is Expected

The New York Times wrote on February 19:

“Cuban exiles in the United States reacted coolly on Tuesday to the overnight news that Fidel Castro was stepping down as president of Cuba, an island he has ruled with an iron fist for almost 50 years. With Mr. Castro’s younger brother Raúl, who has been running the country for a year and a half, seen as most likely to succeed him, many said they expect the system of communist central control to continue unchanged…

“’Fidel Castro’s stepping down is an essential first step, but it is sadly insufficient in bringing freedom to Cuba,’ Mr. Obama… said… ‘Cuba’s future should be determined by the Cuban people and not by an anti-democratic successor regime. The prompt release of prisoners on conscience wrongly jailed for standing up for the basic freedoms too long denied to the Cuban people would mark an important break with the past.’

“Senator McCain… said that despite Mr. Castro’s action, ‘freedom for Cuba is not yet at hand… We must press the Castro regime to release all political prisoners unconditionally, to legalize all political parties, labor union and free media, and to schedule internationally monitored elections’…

“Senator Clinton… said in her statement, ‘I would say to the new leadership, the people of the United States are ready to meet you if you move forward toward the path of democracy, with real, substantial reforms.’”

Elections in Pakistan

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 19:

“Opposition parties seem to have dealt a crushing blow to the ruling party in Pakistan, winning enough seats to threaten the rule of President Pervez Musharraf…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘This election is not a great leap forward for democracy, but at most a tiny step. Most voters stayed at home out of fears of attacks. The people in Pakistan are not to be envied. They have hardly any democratic alternatives… The parties function like dynasties. A few families have all the say and consider power to be a type of inheritance…’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘… “Musharraf must end his dictatorship. This election is a small step on the long path toward achieving this.'”

The Associated Press reported on February 21 that “Pakistan’s two main opposition parties announced Thursday they would form a new government together after their victory over President Pervez Musharraf’s allies in elections this week…. The two party leaders did not make explicit whether they would push for Musharraf’s ouster.”

Has Austria Learned From the Past?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on February 17:

“When Hitler entered Austria in March 1938, he was welcomed by an extraordinarily large number of Austrians who advocated the ‘Anschluss’ with Germany. A disproportionate number of Austrians served the Nazi death machinery to carry out the ‘Final Solution’ to the ‘Jewish Question.’ Despite these facts, for more than 50 years Austria portrayed itself as the first victim of national-socialism. It took a new generation of historians and politicians to acknowledge – 30 years after the Eichmann trial – that Austrians were actually involved in mass murder.

“During the last decade Austria has worked to present itself as a country which has dealt with its past and drawn the appropriate historical lessons. But one has to ask: Which lessons have been learned? Certainly not the most crucial one: defending Israel’s right to exist. In April 2007 Austria’s partially state-owned oil company, OMV, signed an agreement with Iran on a joint natural gas project. The total investment amounts to 22 billion euros over the next 25 years. Experts believe that these revenues will be used to finance the Iranian nuclear weapons program and undermine present international sanctions. OMV is not just any company. It is the biggest oil corporation in central Europe. The state of Austria holds 31.5% of its shares.

“… this deal is backed by all parties represented in the Austrian parliament. Social Democrats, Conservatives, Greens and the far right have closed ranks against demands to cancel the negotiations with Iran. Ironically, Austrian Social Democratic Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer recently made it very clear that human rights have to be subordinated to business interests. His government has no intention of interfering despite the ongoing oppressions of the Iranian terror regime. Recent criticism from German chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that Austria was setting a dangerous precedent in establishing such a deal, was countered by insistence on the private nature of OMV – even though the state is the company’s largest shareholder… As Iranian Chamber of Commerce president Ali Naghi Khamoushi put it in November 2006, ‘Austria is the gate to the European Union for us.’…

“Austria must turn its moral rhetoric into tangible action if it wants to prove that it has learned its lessons. Stopping Iran from going nuclear by canceling the largest oil deal between a European company and the mullahs would set the tone and fill these words with content.”

Navy Scores Direct Hit on Spy Satellite

The Associated Press reported on February 21:

“A U.S. Navy cruiser blasted a disabled spy satellite with a pinpoint missile strike that achieved the main mission of exploding a tank of toxic fuel 130 miles above the Pacific Ocean, defense officials said. Destroying the satellite’s onboard tank of about 1,000 pounds of hydrazine fuel was the primary goal, and a senior defense official close to the mission said Thursday that it appears the tank was destroyed, and the strike with a specially designed missile was a complete success…

“The elaborate intercept may trigger worries from some international leaders, who could see it as a thinly disguised attempt to test an anti-satellite weapon—one that could take out other nation’s orbiting communications and spy spacecraft… While Pentagon officials stressed that the satellite strike was a one- time incident, it certainly will spin off massive amounts of data and research that can be studied by the military as it works to improve its missile defense technologies…

“Because the satellite was orbiting at a relatively low altitude at the time it was hit by the missile, debris will begin to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere immediately, the Pentagon statement said. ‘Nearly all of the debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days,’ it said.”

Beef Scandal in California

The Associated Press reported on February 18:

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs. Officials said it was the largest beef recall in the United States, surpassing a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats… The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006…

“Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts… Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing ‘downer’ animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse… Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak…

“Upon learning about the recall, some legislators criticized the USDA, saying the federal agency should conduct more thorough inspections to ensure tainted beef doesn’t get to the public… Advocacy groups also weighed in, noting the problems at Westland wouldn’t have been revealed had it not been for animal right activists.”

How Man Destroys the Oceans…

BBC News reported on February 14:

“Only about 4% of the world’s oceans remain undamaged by human activity, according to the first detailed global map of human impacts on the seas. A study in Science journal says climate change, fishing, pollution and other human factors have exacted a heavy toll on almost half of the marine waters. Only remote icy areas near the poles are relatively pristine, but they face threats as ice sheets melt, it warns… Lead scientist, Dr Benjamin Halpern, of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, US, said humans were having a major impact on the oceans and the marine ecosystems within them…

“Co-author Dr Mark Spalding told BBC News that the map was the first attempt to describe and quantify the combined threats facing the world’s oceans from human factors, ranging from commercial shipping to over-fishing… Andrew Rosenberg, a professor of natural resources at the University of New Hampshire, US, who was not part of the study, said policymakers could no longer focus on fishing or pollution as if they were separate effects. ‘These human impacts overlap in space and time, and in far too many cases the magnitude is frighteningly high,’ he said.”

Magnitude 5 Earthquake at Tyre

The Associated Press reported on February 15:

“An earthquake shook parts of Lebanon and neighboring countries Friday… The U.S. Geological Survey said it was a magnitude 5 quake, which can cause considerable damage. Residents of Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel also reported feeling the tremor. The earthquake was centered near the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre… In parts of Beirut, people left their apartments and went into the streets after the jolt at 12:37 p.m., which lasted a few seconds… Lebanese police said four people were slightly injured in the southern port city of Tyre when parts of a balcony fell on them. In the southern city of Sidon, a man was lightly injured when a cupboard in his home fell on him, police said.”

AFP reported on February 21 that “A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake [others state that the magnitude was 6.3] struck a sparsely-populated region of northern Nevada on Thursday, damaging buildings and rupturing water and gas mains.”

Commercial Pet Cloning

The Guardian reported on February 15:

“The world’s first pet cloning service is to offer animal lovers the chance to recreate their dead companions… South Korean company RNL Bio will work alongside scientists who created the first cloned canine. A company spokeswoman said it was already working on its first order from an American who wanted a clone of her dead pit bull. The client… was very attached to the pet because it had saved her life during an attack by another dog… ear tissue from the dog had been preserved at a US biotech laboratory before its death. DNA from the sample could now be used in an attempt to create a clone… although the chances of success were about 25%. RNL Bio is charging customers $150,000… for the clones, which clients pay only after they receive their new pet… “

Man vs. Machine?

BBC News reported on February 18:

“Humanity is on the brink of advances that will see tiny robots implanted in people’s brains to make them more intelligent, said Ray Kurzweil. The engineer believes machines and humans will eventually merge through devices implanted in the body to boost intelligence and health… Machines were already doing hundreds of things humans used to do, at human levels of intelligence or better, in many different areas, he said. ‘I’ve made the case that we will have both the hardware and the software to achieve human level artificial intelligence… by 2029,’ he said…  Humans and machines would eventually merge, by means of devices embedded in people’s bodies to keep them healthy and improve their intelligence, predicted Mr Kurzweil.
 
“The nanobots, he said, would ‘make us smarter, remember things better…’ Mr Kurzweil is one of 18 influential thinkers chosen to identify the great technological challenges facing humanity in the 21st century by the US National Academy of Engineering.”

How Superstitious People Can Be Fooled…

AFP reported about interesting episodes involving lunar eclipses in ancient times–but one wonders whether “modern” people could not be equally fooled. The Bible predicts that they will be in the not-too-distant future, calling some of the events to occur “lying wonders.” For more information, please read our free booklets, “Europe in Prophecy” and “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

AFP wrote on February 18:

“The Moon will turn an eerie shade of red for people in the western hemisphere late Wednesday and early Thursday, recreating the eclipse that saved Christopher Columbus more than five centuries ago. In a lunar eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon are directly aligned and the Moon swings into the cone of shadow cast by the Earth…

“Lunar eclipses have long been associated with superstitions and signs of ill omen, especially in battle. The defeat of the Persian king Darius III by Alexander the Great in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC was foretold by soothsayers when the Moon turned blood-red a few days earlier.

“And an eclipse is credited with saving the life of Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1504. Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to provide them with any more supplies. Columbus, looking at an astronomical almanac compiled by a German mathematician, realised that a total eclipse of the Moon would occur on February 29, 1504. He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night. The warning, of course, came true, prompting the terrified people to beg Columbus to restore the Moon — which he did, in return for as much food as his men needed. He and the crew were rescued on June 29, 1504.”

The Western World’s Subjugation to Muslim Immigrants

Der Spiegel Online published the following on February 12:

“In the summer of 2007, Tiny Muskens, a liberal Catholic and the former bishop of the Dutch city of Breda, proposed replacing the word ‘God’ with the word ‘Allah.’ Allah, he said, is a nice name for God and, for this reason, we shouldn’t feel uncomfortable about referring to God as Allah. A short time later, the Social Democratic mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans… instructed Brussels police officers not… eat in public during the month-long Ramadan fast, so as not to offend Muslims. A bit farther south, in Zurich, police officers were asked to acquaint themselves with Islamic culture by voluntarily refraining from eating or drinking for an entire day during Ramadan… Meanwhile, the BBC announced a new policy on its Web site’s ‘Section on Islam’: Any mention of the Prophet Muhammad was to be followed by the phrase ‘Peace be upon him.’… It didn’t take long before the British Home Office announced a new rule applicable to all official government statements: Phrases like ‘war on terror’ and ‘Islamic extremism’ were no longer to be used.

“And now a British cleric wants to introduce Shariah [Islamic law] in England. Mind you, this is not just any pastor from some tiny village in Wales, but rather the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury. According to Williams, Britain must consider the fact that some citizens cannot identify with British law. Accepting some aspects of Shariah, he argued, could help to avoid social tension. Under Williams’ proposal, people involved in marital conflicts and financial disputes would be able to choose between British law and Shariah…

“The proposal by the archbishop of Canterbury is evidence of more than just an unbelievable naiveté. It also reveals how far the idea of preventive capitulation in the face of an unsolvable problem has advanced.”

Danish and Swedish Newspapers Go On the Offensive

Deutsche Welle reported on February 13:

“Five major daily Danish newspapers, 10 smaller papers and a Swedish daily reprinted on Wednesday, Feb. 13, one of the 12 drawings of Mohammed that a Danish paper had published two years ago and which triggered global protests. The drawing was a caricature of the Prophet, whose head was adorned with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse. In republishing the cartoon, editors vowed to defend freedom of expression.

“The act was in response to news on Tuesday that police had foiled a murder plot against the cartoonist. ‘We are doing this to document what is at stake in this case, and to unambiguously back and support the freedom of speech that we as a newspaper will always defend,’ wrote the Berlingske Tidende, which reprinted the cartoon in its Wednesday edition… One editorialist in the Danish paper Politiken commented that the murder plot was an attack on Denmark’s democratic culture.”

No Mosques in Parts of Austria

On February 12, IOL published the following article:

“The provincial government of Carinthia, a southern Austrian province, on Tuesday passed a law effectively banning the construction of mosques or minarets. The controversial legislation, passed with the votes of the Conservative People’s party and the right-wing Alliance for Austria’s Future was a sign against the ‘advancement of Islam’, provincial governor Joerg Haider said. The legislation links the construction of mosques with rules concerning the overall look and harmony of towns and villages, thereby aiming at preventing their construction…

“Haider, a former leader of the right-wing Freedom Party that in its heyday enjoyed the support of up to 27 percent of Austria’s voters with its anti-immigration rhetoric, praised the new rules as a ‘guidepost’ for Europe…”

President Bush Signs Economic Stimulus Plan

The Associated Press reported on February 13:

“President Bush signed legislation on Wednesday to send $300 to $1,200 rebate checks to millions of Americans as a ‘booster shot’ for the economy. Rebates are to go out beginning in May to taxpayers and low-income people…

“Most taxpayers will receive a check of up to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples from the Internal Revenue Service, with an additional $300 per child. People earning at least $3,000 and those who owe little or no taxes would get $300 for singles, $600 for couples. Those making more than $75,000 and couples with income exceeding $150,000 are to get smaller rebates — $50 less per $1,000 they make over those thresholds…

“Economic analysts generally believe the $168 billion package Bush signed will help prevent the current downturn from ballooning into a crisis. But if the rebates don’t spur a consumer spending spree strong enough to cure what ails the economy, Congress is ready to throw more money at the problem… In the meantime, economists are debating how effective the rebates will be, with critics arguing that debt-burdened consumers will use the money to pay bills rather than spending the checks and spurring growth.”

General Motors Suffered Huge Loss in 2007

CNNMoney.com reported on February 12:

“In an effort to shave ongoing losses, General Motors offered lucrative buyouts Tuesday to 74,000 employees – its entire U.S. hourly workforce. The nation’s largest automaker announced the latest round of buyouts as it reported another loss on its core auto operations in the fourth quarter, which combined with charges taken earlier in the year left GM with a company-record $38.7 billion net loss for 2007.
 
“To try to stem automotive losses that have dogged the company since 2005, the company is making a range of offers, up to cash payments of $140,000 to the remaining 74,000 GM workers represented by the United Auto Workers union. The goal is not to reduce headcount but rather to bring in new workers at a lower cost…

“The company also saw pretax losses grow in its European operations and profits decline in the Asia-Pacific region that has become increasingly important for the company’s fortunes.”

U.S. Economy Clearly in Trouble

The Associated Press reported on February 14:

“Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that the country’s economic outlook has deteriorated and signaled that the central bank is ready to keep on lowering a key interest rate — as needed — to shore things up. In remarks to the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke said the one-two punch of the housing and credit crises has greatly strained the economy. Hiring has slowed and people are likely to tighten their belts further, as they are pinched by high energy prices and watch the value of their single biggest asset — their homes — weaken, he warned. ‘The outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months, and the downside risks to growth have increased,’ Bernanke said…

“‘Our economy is clearly in trouble,’ said the committee’s chairman, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Restoring investor and consumer confidence, he said, is critical ‘if we are going to get back on our feet again.’… Economic growth practically stalled in the final three months of last year, and some economists believe it may actually be contracting now. By one rough rule of thumb, a recession occurs when there are two consecutive quarters — six straight months — when the economy shrinks.”

Exxon Mobil Cut Off From Venezuela’s Oil

The Associated Press reported on February 12:

“Venezuela’s state oil company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon Mobil Corp. in response to the U.S. oil company’s drive to use the courts to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets. Exxon Mobil is locked in a dispute over the nationalization of its oil ventures in Venezuela that has led President Hugo Chavez to threaten to cut off all Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States. Venezuela is currently the United States’ fourth largest oil supplier…

“Meanwhile, Venezuelan state television has begun airing short anti-Exxon segments, with a message appearing on the screen in red text reading: ‘Exxon Mobil turns oil into blood.’ The U.S. remains the No. 1 buyer of Venezuelan oil… Venezuela is selling the U.S. a daily average of 1.5 million barrels of crude and other products derived from oil.”

The Melting Pot of the USA

USA Today reported on February 12:

“… according to projections released Monday by the Pew Research Center… show that by 2050… one in five Americans will have been born outside the USA… Whites who are not Hispanic, now two-thirds of the population, will become a minority when their share drops to 47%… Hispanics, already the largest minority group, will more than double their share of the population to 29%… Blacks will remain 13% of the population. Asians will go to 9% from 5%… The gap between the number of working-age people and the children and seniors who depend on them will widen as boomers age. There will be 72 young and elderly for every 100 people of working age by 2050…The ethnic and racial profile of the nation could change because of inter-marriage. It’s not clear how the children and grandchildren of multiracial and multi-ethnic unions will identify themselves in the future.”

Senior Military Commander of Hezbollah Killed

Deutsche Welle reported on February 13:

“The Shi’ite militia group Hezbollah has said that one of its senior military commanders has been killed in Syria. Imad Mughniyah was killed in a car bombing in a residential area of Damascus late on Tuesday. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the US welcomed the death of Mughniyah who was alleged to be responsible for bombings and kidnappings on Western facilities in Lebanon in the 1980’s. The US had a 25 million dollar bounty on the head of Mughniyah for his role in the hijacking of a US airliner in 1985. Hezbollah and Iran blame Israel for his assassination, an accusation Israel has denied.”

Calls for “Retaliation” Against Israel

The Associated Press reported on February 14:

“The purported leader of al-Qaida’s affiliate in Iraq called in a new posting on a militant Web site on Thursday for attacks on Israel and proposed that Iraq’s territory be a ‘launching pad’ to seize Jerusalem. In the 30-minute audiotape, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, said to head the Islamic State of Iraq, lashed out at Arab and Palestinian groups — especially the Palestinian Hamas — for failing to liberate the Palestinians… The new posting came as Israeli security instructed embassies and Jewish institutions around the world to go on alert for fear of revenge attacks for a car bomb that killed a top-wanted terrorist, Imad Mughniyeh, late Tuesday in the Syrian capital. Hezbollah has accused Israel of killing the militant, whose funeral was being held Thursday, but Israel has denied that.

“… al-Baghdadi said the ‘Islamic state in Iraq will be the cornerstone for the return of Al-Quds’ and added the group was trying to use Iraq’s western province of al-Anbar as a launching pad for missiles against Israel — the same way the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein fired 31 missiles against the Jewish state in the Gulf War.”

German Court Rules Surveillance of Scientology Legal

Deutsche Welle reported on February 13:

“An administrative appellate court in Muenster… found that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution was within its authority to keep Scientologists under observation… In the statement announcing the verdict, the court said that there were ‘numerous indications’ that the Scientology organization promoted a form of society ‘in which central constitutional values such as the dignity of mankind and the right to equal treatment would be suspended or restricted.’ ‘In particular, there is the suspicion that in a scientological society only Scientologists would enjoy civil rights,’ the court decided…

“The German court also heard testimony concerning a number of anti-democratic remarks made by Hubbard. The court found… no evidence of the movement distancing itself from those opinions. The Church of Scientology says it will appeal the ruling and called for an end to the surveillance. ‘The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution should finally end this farce and turn its attention to real enemies of the Constitution and real danger so as to do what it is there for: to protect the German constitution and the basic rights of the people,’ the organization said.”

Israel and Germany–Don’t See Eye to Eye

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 13:

“Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited Berlin Monday and Tuesday, where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for discussions on topics including the countries’ shared concerns on Iran’s putative nuclear ambitions… On other topics, Israel and Germany share less common ground. The square-off between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has intensified as the militant group continues to launch daily salvos of rockets into Israel and suicide bombers have struck after a year-long hiatus. In response, Israel has tightened restrictions on the Gaza Strip, which has intensified the humanitarian crisis there. Israel has also not ruled out a full-scale military campaign…

“The right-leaning Die Welt writes: ‘… Germans and Israelis are seeing less and less eye to eye… For the Germans, war is the worst possible thing that can happen, but for the Israelis that thing is aggression, which in its most extreme form can only be stopped with war…’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘Germany only has limited opportunities to exert influence… The most important job for Europe’s governments is to continue encouraging Israel to choose another path’…

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘Germany is really a dependable ally of Israel’s. But this partnership is skating on thin ice. When the (respected German polling institute) Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research conducted a survey in January asking people which countries Germany should cooperate with, Israel landed in last place. That’s not surprising when you know that nearly half of all Germans view (Israel) as the largest threat to world peace. You can’t make the blanket statement that aggressive anti-Semitism lies behind these views. What is probably more symptomatic of the image of Israel that many Germans have can be seen in the sentiment expressed by a young woman in a discussion last week in Berlin, when she said: ‘Israel is building itself into its own prison, just like East Germany once did. But hopefully this wall will fall, too.'”

A Historic Moment For Europe

The EUObserver wrote on February 8:

“The French parliament has approved the new EU treaty, making France the first of the large member states to ratify the document and drawing a line under the shock ‘No’ vote of almost three years ago when French voters rejected the original EU constitution… Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet told parliament on Thursday that ratification was a ‘historic moment for France’ while foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said ‘this treaty deserves to be appreciated for its value: as an important moment in the construction of the European ideal.’ ‘This is excellent news, a great victory for France which has gone from being the country holding up Europe to being the one that pulled Europe out of gridlock,’ said government spokesman David Martinon… The French ratification… makes France the fifth country after Hungary, Slovenia, Malta and Romania to approve the treaty.

“The treaty introduces a powerful foreign policy chief, a permanent president of the European Council and gives greater legislative powers to the European Parliament. It must be ratified by all 27 member states to come into force. Ratification is expected to take place through the year. Germany plans to ratify in June while others such as Spain will follow suit later in the year. Only Ireland has pledged to have a referendum. Meanwhile, the ratification saga continues in Slovakia. Its treaty approval process has become tangled up in a separate dispute between government and opposition parties over a media bill, which the opposition say is too restrictive.”

Slovenia will most certainly not be in a position to stop European unification. Either they will come around and ratify the treaty, or they will find themselves outside European confines. The same would be true for any other of the smaller European countries.

The Soon-Coming European Military Muscle

The Associated Press reported on February 9:

“French Defense Minister Herve Morin accused the United States of a ‘schizophrenic’ approach to European security Saturday and also criticized other European allies for an ‘infantile’ dependence on American power. Morin complained to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other delegates at an international security conference that the U.S. was constantly pushing European allies to take on a greater defense burden, but resisted French-led efforts to build a security role for the European Union… French President Nicolas Sarkozy is keen to improve trans-Atlantic relations and is considering a return of France’s armed forces to NATO integrated military command 40 years after Gen. Charles de Gaulle pulled them out over concern about American domination of the alliance. But France is expected to link the return to American backing for a greater EU defense role…

“The French minister also took a swipe at other European allies for cutting defense budgets and preferring to rely on American protection rather than building up European military muscle. ‘Europe does not assume enough responsibility, it simply falls into dependence,’ Morin complained. ‘European nations must do more to share the defense burden…

“German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung and NATO’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer both welcomed signs that France is considering a return to full membership of the military structure. ‘I hope that France will get more involved in the alliance,’ Jung told the meeting.”

Armageddon on the Horizon

The Daily Mail reported on February 8:

“Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of starting a new arms race on Russia’s doorstep. Moscow will respond by modernising its military and weapons systems, he said yesterday. In a speech containing tough rhetoric aimed at the West, the Russian president said Nato expansion and U.S. plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe had kicked off an arms race… [He said:] ‘We drew down our bases in Cuba and in Vietnam. What did we get? New American bases in Romania and Bulgaria, and a new third missile defence shield in Poland… The Kremlin has said that U.S. plans to deploy ten missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic would threaten Russia’s security. And it dismissed U.S. claims that the sites are to deter a missile threat from Iran… ‘We are being forced to take retaliatory steps,’ he said.”

Der Spiegel Online added on February 13:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Tuesday that Russia could aim missiles at Ukraine if leaders in Kiev decide to join NATO and host part of the alliance’s controversial anti-missile shield… The statement was the clearest warning so far that Russia would resist the march of NATO membership to the Black Sea.”

Global Warming or New Ice Age?

The Drudge Report published the following article by RIA, which was originally written on or about January 22:

“Temperatures on Earth have stabilized in the past decade, and the planet should brace itself for a new Ice Age rather than global warming, a Russian scientist said in an interview with RIA Novosti Tuesday. ‘Russian and foreign research data confirm that global temperatures in 2007 were practically similar to those in 2006, and, in general, identical to 1998-2006 temperatures, which, basically, means that the Earth passed the peak of global warming in 1998-2005,’ said Khabibullo Abdusamatov, head of a space research lab at the Pulkovo observatory in St. Petersburg…

“Had global temperatures directly responded to concentrations of ‘greenhouse’ gases in the atmosphere, they would have risen by at least 0.1 Celsius in the past ten years, however, it never happened, he said. ‘A year ago, many meteorologists predicted that higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would make the year 2007 the hottest in the last decade, but, fortunately, these predictions did not become reality,’ Abdusamatov said. He also said that in 2008, global temperatures would drop slightly, rather than rise, due to unprecedentedly low solar radiation in the past 30 years, and would continue decreasing even if industrial emissions of carbon dioxide reach record levels. By 2041, solar activity will reach its minimum according to a 200-year cycle, and a deep cooling period will hit the Earth approximately in 2055-2060. It will last for about 45-65 years, the scientist added…

“Mankind will face serious economic, social, and demographic consequences of the coming Ice Age because it will directly affect more than 80% of the earth’s population, the scientist concluded.”

Whether global warming or a new ice age, the consequences for our planet would be equally devastating. Based on the Biblical prophecies, both a temporary “cooling off” and a “warming” of the planet appear to be possible, even though we must understand that the prophecies will be fulfilled, in most cases, through SUPERNATURAL events. Note Biblical passages such as Isaiah 13:10; 30:26; Revelation 8:12;16:8-9, 12.

Huge Rubbish Dump in the Pacific Ocean

The Daily Mail reported on February 12:

“A rubbish dump twice the size of the United States has been discovered floating in the Pacific Ocean. The vast expanse of debris, made up of plastic junk including footballs, kayaks, Lego blocks and carrier bags, is kept together by swirling underwater currents. It stretches from 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan. Because the rubbish, which has been called a ‘plastic soup’ and a ‘trash vortex’, is translucent and lies just below the water’s surface it cannot be seen in satellite photographs.

“American oceanographer Charles Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by chance in 1997 while taking a short cut home from a yacht race… He warned that the rubbish could double in size over the next decade if consumers do not cut back on their use of plastics. More than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die every year as a result of plastic rubbish. Syringes, cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have all been found inside the stomachs of dead seabirds. The rubbish can also be dangerous for humans, because tiny plastic pellets in the sea can attract man-made chemicals which then enter the food chain… The rubbish dump is made up of two linked areas either side of Hawaii. Around one-fifth of the junk is thrown off ships or oil platforms, while the rest comes from the land.”

Human-To-Human Transmission of Bird Flu Virus

The Associated Press reported on February 13:

“The daughter of an Indonesian women who tested positive for bird flu has also contracted the virus, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, in what could be a case of human-to-human transmission. The 14-year-old girl was in critical condition at a Jakarta hospital, WHO said on its website. The girl’s 38-year-old mother has been in hospital with the bird flu virus since Jan. 26. ‘She was exposed to her sick mother…and spent time in a neighbourhood where chickens and other birds were found,’ the WHO statement said, adding the source of infection is still under investigation. Further tests will be needed to establish whether the daughter contracted the virus from contact with her mother or from an infected chicken or its droppings – the source of most of Indonesia’s 103 fatal cases.

“Cases of possible human-to-human transmission are watched closely because they increase the chance of the virus mutating into a form that is easily passed among humans, which could possibly trigger a global pandemic. The World Health Organization said the virus passed between humans, although in a limited way, in one large cluster of cases in a single family on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island in 2006. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 226 people worldwide since it started ravaging poultry stocks in Asia five years ago, WHO said.”

Beware of Cyberthieves!

CNN reported on February 13:

“… cyberthieves use a… type of subterfuge — phishing — to cover their identities and wipe out bank accounts. Phishing occurs when fraudulent e-mails that appear to be from a legitimate source are sent in an effort to obtain sensitive information from a user… Of the top 20 companies targeted by phishing in 2007…, 19 are in the banking industry. Computer users are often tricked into visiting fraudulent sites because of ‘danger, danger’ e-mail subject lines like ‘account security measures,’ ‘important notice’ or ‘(your bank name) security notice.’

“One sneaky thing some malware (malicious threats) does is to modify a user’s server information. For example, a user types www.bankofamerica.com into his or her browser. But instead of the computer using the service provider’s server, which would take the user to the real Bank of America server, the computer uses a bogus server run by phishers — and that takes the user to a fake Bank of America server. The phishers take the user’s login information and empty the account. Most users, even the savvy ones, wouldn’t know that their server settings have been hijacked…

“Though tech-savvy, proudly paperless home computer users may shun those so-20th-century snail mail bank statements, it might be worth it to go retro and compare your online banking information with the paper record… criminals in Brazil have figured out ways to wipe out bank accounts and leave no trail in an individual’s online account. And bank customers may be out of luck if the theft goes unnoticed for a while. Usually, banks give only 90 days to remediate an account problem.”

Jews Still Don’t Like Catholic Prayer…

Reuters reported on February 7:

“The top Vatican cardinal in charge of relations with Jews on Thursday denied a new prayer for their conversion was offensive and said Catholics had the right to pray as they wished. Cardinal Walter Kasper spoke in an interview in a leading Italian newspaper a day after world Jewish leaders said the new prayer could set back inter-religious dialogue by decades. ‘I must say that I don’t understand why Jews cannot accept that we can make use of our freedom to formulate our prayers,’ Kasper, a German, told the Corriere della Sera.

“The Vatican on Tuesday revised a contested Latin prayer used by a traditionalist minority on Good Friday, removing a reference to Jewish ‘blindness’ over Christ and deleting a phrase asking God to ‘remove the veil from their hearts’. Jews criticized the new version because it still says they should recognize Jesus Christ as the savior of all men. It asks that ‘all Israel may be saved’ and keeps an underlying call to conversion that Jewish leaders had wanted omitted.

“‘We think that reasonably this prayer cannot be an obstacle to dialogue because it reflects the faith of the Church and, furthermore, Jews have prayers in their liturgical texts that we Catholics don’t like,’ Kasper said… Jewish organizations… criticized the new version. ‘While we appreciate that some of the deprecatory language has been removed … we are deeply troubled and disappointed that the framework and intention to petition God for Jews to accept Jesus as Lord was kept intact,’ Abraham Foxman, U.S. national director of the ADL, said in a statement.”

However, the Catholic Church is correct in pointing out that all men–including Jews–MUST accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. The BIBLE makes it very clear that we cannot be saved except through Jesus Christ (compare Acts 4:12). Whether men like it or not–that is the truth!

Lent, the Virgin Mary and the Healing of the Sick

VIS reported on February 10 that according to the Pope, “the beginning of Lent this year coincides with the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes (11 February 1858). ‘The message the Virgin Mary continues to proclaim at Lourdes’, he said, ‘recalls the words that Jesus pronounced at the very beginning of His public mission: … “Convert and believe in the Gospel”, pray and do penance. Let us welcome Mary’s invitation, which echoes that of Christ, and ask her to enable us “to enter” with faith into Lent, to live this period of grace with inner joy and generous commitment’. The Pope concluded his pre-Angelus remarks by entrusting the sick and their carers to the Virgin Mary…”

Regarding the role of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church, please make sure to read our Q&A on the Nicolaitans in this Update.

New Chief Named for German Catholic Church

Deutsche Welle reported on February 13:

“Robert Zollitsch, archbishop of Freiburg, unexpectedly has been named Karl Lehmann’s successor as head of the German Catholic Church. He’s considered a liberal and recommends making celibacy optional for priests… Zollitsch has a reputation for not shying away from both touchy political topics and church disputes… He was born in 1938 to a German family in Filipovo in former Yugoslavia. They were expelled after the Second World War and fled to Germany.”

Bishop of Church of England: “We DON’T Go to Heaven When We Die”

WorldNetDaily reported the following on February 10:

“A bishop described as ‘one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought’ is now challenging the widely held belief that Christians go to heaven when they die. N.T. ‘Tom’ Wright, the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England who has been praised for his staunch defense of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ, has published a new book in which he says people do not ascend to God’s dwelling place. Instead, God will be coming back to Earth. ‘Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are… all going to heaven,’ Wright told Time Magazine…

“In the Gospel of John, Jesus himself is quoted as saying, ‘And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.’ (John 3:13)…

The article continued quoting Wright as follows:

“Jesus’ resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return… Wright says much of ‘traditional Christianity’ has been influenced by pagan philosophies…

“While Wright’s view may seem stunning to many of today’s Christians, it is the same view held by some famous names in the Protestant Reformation. In 1520, Martin Luther blasted Catholic ideas ‘that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals.’ A decade later, English Bible translator and martyr William Tyndale echoed the idea Christians are completely dead until Jesus returns, as he voiced opposition to ‘heathen’ ideas of people having immortal souls at birth: ‘The true faith putteth [setteth forth] the resurrection, which we be warned to look for every hour. The heathen philosophers, denying that, did put [set forth] that the souls did ever live. And the pope joineth the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshly doctrine of philosophers together; things so contrary that they cannot agree…'”

Even though Wright’s positions contain the usual mixture of truth and error–so his unbiblical concept that the souls of men will enter an intermediate conscious state upon death–he nevertheless understands that we do not go to heaven when we die. The truth is this: When we die, we enter into a “dreamless sleep,” but we will be awakened within the next second of our consciousness through a resurrection from the dead. The Bible does not picture death as the entrance into a painful or worrisome uncertain intermediate state–but rather as an unconscious “sleep,” followed by a beautiful and mind-boggling awakening for those who died in Christ. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?”

U.S. Elections–Super Tuesday

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 6:

“The race for the Democratic nomination remains open after Super Tuesday as Hillary Clinton won the California primary and most states on the wealthy East Coast, but Barack Obama won more states overall. John McCain clinched delegate-rich primaries to strengthen his lead in the Republican race…

“Obama won 12 states and Clinton took eight. Clinton’s wins included the key prizes of California and New York on the biggest day of presidential voting in the United States ahead of November’s election…

“Republican contender John McCain won nine states, including key victories in California and big Northeastern states to take a strong lead in the Republican race. But Republican rivals Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee kept their hopes alive and vowed to fight on. Romney won six states and Huckabee won five…”

However, The Associated Press reported on February 7: “Mitt Romney will suspend his presidential campaign for the Republican nomination…, effectively ceding the nomination to John McCain.”

In a related article, The Associated Press reported on February 7: “Democrat Barack Obama raised $7.2 million in less than 48 hours post Super Tuesday and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton collected $4 million, giving him a financial edge that’s caused consternation within a Clinton campaign… Clinton acknowledged Wednesday that she loaned her campaign $5 million late last month as Obama was outraising and outspending her heading into Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests.”

German Analysis of the U.S. Democratic Election

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 6 about the Democratic election:

“Barack Obama has powerful allies… But Barack Obama also has a powerful opponent he has so far been unable to beat: the middle ground of American society. The majority of that middle ground is still refusing to follow his message of change and hope. Converted into power, the most important currency of politics, that means that the senator from Illinois is strong — but not strong enough — to topple Hillary Clinton. She’s ahead in the fight for the Democratic nomination, but her lead is narrowing…

“Try as he might, Obama is failing so far to win over ordinary people. It’s hard to whip up enthusiasm among the down-to-earth voters of the center ground, people who are too preoccupied with the everyday problems of life to get swept up by Obama’s grand pledge to turn over a new leaf in the history book. His message doesn’t have much impact among them… These people aren’t excited, they’re worried. They’re not content, but they have no desire for revolution either. You don’t come across such people in the pages of American newspapers, but the real world is full of them. THEY’RE SKEPTICAL ABOUT POLITICS…

“Obama is inspiring millions of Americans, but there are also millions who find him too young, too smart, too smooth, too unscarred. He’s hardly lived his life and already wants to take home the big prize. The modern part of the country may celebrate him as a pop star, but the majority is still listening to country music.

“Harvard professors might support him, but in Massachusetts, the state surrounding the Harvard campus, Clinton won on Super Tuesday… The rich and famous climbed on stage for Obama in California… But [Clinton] managed to win over the ordinary people… This is no campaign of left against right. This is a HISTORIC ELECTION in which the center of society is trying to stand its ground. The center is shrinking, in Europe as well as in America.”

German Analysis of the U.S. Republican Election

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 6 about the Republican election:

“It’s been an unbelievable comeback. A year ago, you could have pretty much written the obituary for John McCain’s 2008 campaign. And now, one day after Super Tuesday, he’s firmly at the helm of the Republican ship. His battle, though, hasn’t just been with Democrats. Some of his most vicious enemies are part of his own party…

“John McCain’s victory was surprisingly clear. His opponent Mitt Romney won a handful of the smaller states, including Massachusetts, where he used to be the governor. Mike Huckabee, the politically gifted Baptist preacher from Arkansas, performed surprisingly well and won in four Southern states, which makes Romney’s successes look even feebler…

“Right-wing commentators and hosts of the big radio talk shows have joined forces to create a veritable anti-McCain brigade. For weeks now, right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh has agitated against McCain on his program. The closer the Vietnam hero gets to the nomination, the meaner the attacks become. McCain ‘has stabbed his party in the back so many times,’ Limbaugh rages. ‘I can’t even say how often.’ The radio host says that he would prefer to have his party lose the election over having it be led by McCain. ‘If I believe the country will suffer with either Hillary, Obama or McCain, I would just as soon the Democrats take the hit … rather than a Republican causing the debacle.’

“James Dobson, the head of an arch-conservative Christian group that espouses family values, warned recently on another radio talk show that: ‘I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative and, in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are.’ These right-wing radio programs are very popular. Each week, Limbaugh alone reaches over 13.5 million listeners.

“But it’s clear that the voters have not listened to the drums beating loudly against McCain. And, instead of transforming Mitt Romney into a kingmaker, it now appears that the influence of the right-wing opinion-makers is smaller than had previously been believed… As Barack Obama’s success also shows, Americans are LOOKING FOR A LEADER and not for someone who, like Romney, adapts his beliefs to whichever way the wind blows…

“More than anything else… this vote was one about CHARACTER. The voters’ beliefs are often at odds with John McCain’s, but they put a high value on his character… This explains what is actually a rather paradoxical situation. America’s tanking economy has become one of the most important election issues, but it is not one of McCain’s strong suits. Nevertheless, he is still winning because his character outshines everything… else. The same holds true when it comes to the war in Iraq. McCain is one of the war’s unshakeable advocates, and he only has differences with President George W. Bush when it comes to the question of which strategies are the correct ones. Nevertheless, the former Marine pilot is also currently [attracting] the votes of Republicans opposed to the war.”

How the World Views the U.S. Presidential Race

The Associated Press reported on February 1:

“America’s extraordinary presidential campaign has captivated politicians and ordinary people around the globe. With SO MUCH AT STAKE in the race for the White House, the world is watching with an intensity that hasn’t been seen since the Clinton era began in 1992…

“‘[Non-Americans]  feel there’s a real chance to work with the U.S.,’ said Julianne Smith, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. ‘America’s image in the world is really on the line.’ Non-Americans, she said, are looking for someone who can ‘restore faith in the United States.’

“Obama, perhaps not surprisingly, is generating most of the buzz abroad. ‘Der schwarze Kennedy,’ some German admirers are calling him: ‘The black JFK.’ ‘He is young, charming and sexy!’ the mass-circulation newspaper Bild gushed. ‘Obama is now the ideal projection screen for hopes and expectations in Europe’ and the U.S. alike, said Christian Hacke, a professor at the University of Bonn.

“… in Europe, where some see Obama as untested, support for Clinton is widespread, and nostalgia for her husband’s charisma runs deep. When scandals rocked the Clinton White House, most Europeans responded with a Gallic shrug. ‘Nobody in Europe ever took Bill Clinton’s problems in office seriously,’ said Patrick Dunleavy, a political scientist at the London School of Economics. ‘Nobody could ever understand why Americans were so upset. Bill Clinton was always a fantastic presence in Europe.’

“The Republican presidential hopefuls, by contrast, are not highly regarded in Europe: Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are seen as too religious, and the 71-year-old McCain as too old. To Britons, history’s most popular postwar presidents were Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton because of their perceived levelheadedness and intelligence, said Dunleavy. The most despised? President Bush and Ronald Reagan ‘because they were seen as erratic and unpredictable,’ he said.

“Yet Democrats don’t rule the entire world of public opinion. Saad al-Hadithi, a political analyst in Baghdad, contends the Republican candidates are more committed to Iraq and have a better approach. ‘They show more support to the political progress and to combating terrorist groups in Iraq,’ he said. ‘The Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton, are calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, but they are not offering an alternative. Such a withdrawal while the Iraqi security forces are still weak will lead to disastrous results.’

“Russia’s leaders also consider Republicans more pragmatic, said Nkolai Petrov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center. But the Kremlin, Petrov said, would likely have ‘serious concerns’ if McCain wins the Republican nomination because of the Arizona senator’s harsh and persistent criticism of Vladimir Putin’s autocratic government…

“Africans naturally gravitate toward Obama, whose father was from Kenya. Israelis, though, seem to prefer Hillary Clinton… because of her experience and the backing Bill Clinton gave to the Jewish state during his two terms as president.

“Amid the raging debate over immigration, Mexicans arguably have more at stake in the U.S. election than any other nation. But President Felipe Calderon doesn’t think very highly of any of the candidates. ‘The only theme,’ he declared in December, ‘is to compete to see who can be the most swaggering, macho and anti-Mexican… People all around the world are pretty worried,’ he said. ‘They want a president who will restore a kind of U.S. legitimacy in the world.'”

Federal Interest Rate Cuts–A Double-Edged Sword?

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 31:

“In a drastic step, the Fed has lowered its key interest rate to 3.0 percent, the second large cut in two weeks…. Interest rate cuts are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, cheap money is a boon for the economy and stock market: If banks have access to cheap money, then theoretically companies should also be able to take out loans at better conditions…

“But on the other hand, interest rate cuts — especially extraordinary rate cuts announced between scheduled meetings, like last week’s — also raise fears. When the US Federal Reserve takes drastic measures, the inevitable suspicion arises that they know more than the rest of the world: Do they have data which shows that the economy is cooling faster than is feared?…

“More significant than this diffuse anxiety are allegations by many analysts that the Fed’s attempted CURE IS WORSE THAN THE DISEASE. With his policy of holding interest rates low, ex-Fed chief Alan Greenspan is accused by some of being partly responsible for laying the foundations for the subprime real estate crisis…

“Greenspan lowered interest rates 11 times in 2001 — from 6.5 percent to finally just 1.75 percent. The following year, rates even fell to 1 percent… By making these cuts, Greenspan saved the US economy… from disaster.  At the same time, he made money so cheap that Americans who would never have got credit before were suddenly being given loans — and to an extent which exceeded any reasonable limits…”

America’s Terrible Financial Situation

The Associated Press reported on February 4:

“The record $3.1 trillion budget proposed by President Bush on Monday would produce… a huge jump in the deficit to $410 billion this year and $407 billion in 2009, the White House says, just shy of the record $413 billion set four years ago.

“But even those figures are optimistic since they depend on rosy economic forecasts and leave out the full costs of the war in Iraq. The White House predicts the economy will grow at a 2.7 percent clip this year, far higher than congressional and private economists expect, and the administration’s $70 billion figure for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is simply a placeholder until the next president takes office.

“Bush’s lame-duck budget plan is likely to be ignored by Congress, which is controlled by Democrats and already looking ahead to November elections. His long-term projections are mostly academic since he’s leaving office next January… Bush is leaving his successor an ENORMOUS FISCAL DILEMMA…

“‘There was an assumption that in the short term… the budget would start to correct and that we could balance in the short term,’ said Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, top Republican on the Budget Committee. ‘But with the stimulus package and with the continuing war costs, that’s not going to happen. In fact it’s going to get very serious when you’re hitting $400 billion deficits.’… Some of Bush’s proposals are hopelessly unrealistic…

“Seven years ago, Bush took over a government predicted to generate $5.6 trillion in surpluses over 10 years. Those estimates were flawed, but there’s no question he’s leaving his successor a budget in far weaker fiscal shape than he inherited. For instance, when he took office the total federal debt held by the public was $3.3 trillion… Now, debt held by the public – including foreign governments – is expected to reach $5.4 trillion this year and $5.9 trillion in 2009… Some $2.3 trillion is foreign held.”

America’s terrible financial state of affairs should not be surprising to Bible scholars. For more information, read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Euros in New York

Reuters reported on February 6:

“In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain’t what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise… The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.”

Al Qaeda Preparing New Strike Against America

The Washington Times wrote on February 6:

“Senior al Qaeda leaders have diverted operatives from Iraq across the globe and are increasing preparations to strike the United States, senior intelligence officials told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday… The officials added that al Qaeda is recruiting Westerners to terror camps in Pakistan… [and that] al Qaeda had plans to specifically target the White House…

“The most active al Qaeda affiliate in northwestern Africa is the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which intelligence officials said poses a ‘significant threat to U.S. and European interests in the region.’ Further, al Qaeda ‘has been able to retain a safe haven in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that provides the organization many of the advantages it once derived from its base across the border in Afghanistan’ making it a training hub for terrorists seeking to attack the United States and its allies…  the Pakistani military has not been able to disrupt al Qaeda operations in the tribal border region… the U.S. military is prohibited by Pakistan from pursuing al Qaeda fighters or Taliban that flee Afghanistan across the border after conducting attacks.”

Tennessee Governor on Tornadoes: “The Wrath of God…”

The New York Times wrote on February 7:

“Residents in five Southern states rose Wednesday to widespread clusters of destruction caused by an unusually ferocious winter tornado system. At least 54 people were killed and scores more were injured… Arkansas and Tennessee were the hardest hit, with Arkansas reporting 13 dead and Tennessee 30…

“‘The wrath of God is the only way I can describe it,’ Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee said after surveying the damage by helicopter. ‘I’m used to seeing roofs off houses; houses blown over. These houses were down to their foundations, stripped clean.’ The governor said 1,000 houses in Tennessee were destroyed.”

Afghanistan–New Crisis Between USA and Germany

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 1:

“On Friday morning, Germany Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung rejected a call by United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for Berlin to send combat troops to southern Afghanistan, where a Taliban-led insurgency has destabilized efforts to establish a democracy in the country.

“This week, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung received a letter from his American counterpart Robert Gates making it clear that the US expects more from the Germans…

“The letter’s negative tone put German politicians on the defensive on Friday… a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, Ulrich Wilhelm, said there were currently ‘no thoughts’ about making a change to the existing mandate for the Bundeswehr’s deployment in Afghanistan — a move that would require parliamentary approval in the Bundestag — and that the chancellor had rejected Gates’ demand. In all of her talks, Wilhelm said, the chancellor has repeatedly made clear that the scope of the current mandate is ‘not up for discussion’ — and that remains the government’s ‘firm position.’

“Earlier Friday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who also serves as vice chancellor representing the center-left Social Democrats in Merkel’s government, rejected Gates’ call for the deployment of Bundeswehr soldiers in hard-fought southern Afghanistan.”

Der Stern commented on February 1:

“The American demand to send German troops to southern Afghanistan has hit Berlin like a bomb. Now there is a dark cloud between Berlin and Washington… The experiment Afghanistan is about to fail… Gates wants to change the U.S. strategy… Most Afghans condemn the brutal military actions of the West which have cost the lives of many civilians… But the Germans are not in a position to give advice… Those who want to talk must participate in the action…”

The Telegraph reported on February 4:

“Nato has faced one of its greatest tests since the Cold War after America accused Germany of failing to fight the Taliban… Behind this disagreement between the two allies, disclosed in a ‘stern’ exchange of letters between their defence ministers, lies a crucial dispute over ‘burden sharing’ which threatens the credibility of the alliance… All of Nato’s 26 member states agreed to mount the mission in Afghanistan and 42,000 troops have been deployed in the country.

“However, only four Nato members – Britain, America, Canada and Holland – have sent large numbers of soldiers to southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest. These countries, notably Britain with 7,800 troops, are conducting the lion’s share of the campaign against the Taliban. Germany has 3,200 troops in Afghanistan – but they are deployed in the relative safety of the north…

“Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, has told Gordon Brown that his country will withdraw the 2,500 troops it has in the southern province of Kandahar unless other Nato countries contribute 1,000 troops. If this happens, the Dutch government would come under pressure to do the same, leaving America and Britain to fight the Taliban with little help.”

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 6:

“The German government on Wednesday rejected accusations from NATO allies that it wasn’t bearing its fair share of the burden in Afghanistan and reiterated its refusal of a US request for German troops to be deployed from the relatively peaceful north to help fight a Taliban insurgency in the south. German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said Germany was already the third-biggest troop provider in Afghanistan and that redeploying troops away from the north would be a ‘decisive mistake.’ He did however repeat Germany’s vague pledge to provide its NATO allies with military assistance when required, and announced that Germany will be sending a unit of combat troops to northern Afghanistan to replace the 250-strong Norwegian Quick Reaction Force being withdrawn.”

New President of Europe… With Real Powers?

The Guardian wrote on February 2:

“Tony Blair has been holding discussions with some of his oldest allies on how he could mount a campaign later this year to become full-time president of the EU council, the prestigious new job characterised as ‘president of Europe’. Blair, currently the Middle East envoy for the US, Russia, EU and the UN, has told friends he has made no final decision, but is increasingly willing to put himself forward for the job if it comes WITH REAL POWERS TO INTERVENE IN DEFENCE AND TRADE AFFAIRS… Apart from Blair, two other candidates most often mentioned are the former Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, promoted by Germany, and the current Luxembourg prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker.”

Tony Blair–To Be or Not to Be…?

Reuters reported on February 5:

“Tony Blair is unlikely to be the first president of the European Union, EU diplomats and politicians say… Insiders say Blair has little chance because Britain is too disconnected from the EU mainstream, and he remains too divisive a figure because of his enthusiastic support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq which split Europe in 2003… Britain has not joined the single currency or the Schengen zone of passport-free travel, and… Blair had negotiated elaborate opt-outs from the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and police and judicial cooperation… Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the former French president, joined the ‘Stop Blair’ chorus, underlining Britain’s absence from the central European economic project of the last decade — the euro.

“Some EU officials question what Blair has achieved in seven months in the Middle East… Blair might garner support from north European states such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland that favour a free-market, looser form of European integration, but opposition in countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain would outweigh that.

“[Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude] Juncker, [chairman of finance ministers of the 15-nation euro zone,] whose Eurogroup term expires conveniently at the end of this year, made clear his own interest in the role in a French newspaper interview on Monday PROVIDED IT HAD REAL POWER. ‘It will all depend on the precise job description. I have no intention of just cutting ribbons like a president of the French Fourth Republic,’ he told business daily Les Echos…”

Many European politicians begin to express more forcefully that the new President of Europe must have REAL powers. Ultimately, he will–but this won’t be good news for the world. Please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

Adoption of the EU Lisbon Treaty

The EUObserver reported on February 4 about developments in France:

“French MPs have voted in favour of amending their country’s constitution to allow adoption of the EU Lisbon Treaty… Following the constitutional amendment, the National Assembly and Senate will hold separate votes on the adoption of the treaty on Thursday. Although the Socialists would have preferred a referendum on the treaty, they intend to vote Yes to the treaty itself…

“The Lisbon Treaty replaces the Constitutional Treaty voted down in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005… Last week, a poll by French left-wing newspaper Liberation said that 59% of French voters favoured a referendum on the treaty and 33% approved of its adoption by parliament.”

The EUObserver added on February 5 about events in the UK:

“Four UK Labour MPs are facing disciplinary action for taking part in a campaign for a referendum on the EU’s Lisbon treaty against the Labour-led government’s wishes… The move comes ahead of unofficial referendums on the EU’s new document… The mock popular votes are aimed at putting pressure on the country’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, who has opted for parliamentary ratification of the EU treaty.

“The Labour party had previously promised to organise a referendum on the original European Constitution in its pre-election manifesto, but it now argues that the current Lisbon treaty – which contains most of the constitution’s innovations – is a different document.”

The article continued:

“Meanwhile, Romania became the fourth country to ratify the EU treaty… The green light from Bucharest means a continuation of the new EU member states’ lead in the ratification marathon, with Hungary, Slovenia and Malta preceding the Black Sea country with the move. ‘This is another important step towards our objective of a new treaty in force by 1 January 2009,’ European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement. ‘I hope that other member states will quickly follow the lead given by the four countries that have now approved the Treaty,’ he added.”

The march towards European unification is unstoppable. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

European Peacekeeping Force in Chad–What’s REALLY Behind It?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 29:

“After months of delay, the European Union finally agreed Monday to deploy a 3,700-strong peacekeeping force to Chad and the Central Africa Republic to help humanitarian aid workers and refugees seeking to escape the chaos in the neighboring Darfur region of Sudan… French soldiers will make up more than half of the force. Thirteen other countries — though not Germany — have also pledged to contribute troops.

“The rebellion raging in Darfur since 2003 has led to an estimated 200,000 deaths and 2.5 million refugees, many of whom have fled into neighboring countries in the hope of finding safety. But Chad itself is currently facing its own turmoil…

“German commentators seem skeptical… believing that France’s historical ties to its former colony and its interests in the region make its INTENTIONS MORE THAN JUST HUMANITARIAN.

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘The European Union has needed three more months than promised to get soldiers on the march in order to help the refugees from Darfur and Chad. The Europeans have had to listen to a lot of criticism on account of this delay. Some have complained that it is scandalous that the EU is incapable of quickly mustering a few thousand men and a handful of helicopters. Others accuse it of really lacking the political will to provide assistance in a lost corner of Africa… Many countries, among them Germany, have held back — but not out of callousness. They do not see the deployment as being useful toward solving the Darfur crisis…’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung also expressed skepticism about the stated aims of the mission: ‘The Chad mission is not what it seems. What, then, is it? France, the former colonial power in Chad, is contributing the largest contingent. France protects the rebel, dictator and Gadhafi-sidekick [Chad’s President] Idriss Deby, both of whom launched a coordinated invasion of Darfur at the end of the ’80s. France keeps its military staging point for Africa in Chad along with the continent’s longest airstrip. Now [French] President Sarkozy has used massive pressure to ‘Europeanize’ the deployment to Chad, though the more precise word is ‘camouflage.’ So, why the big charade? Strategically speaking, Chad is ONE OF THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT COUNTRIES IN AFRICA, next to Djibouti and Eritrea, both of which are NEAR THE SEA PASSAGE to the Gulf. Chad’s neighbor Niger has vast amounts of uranium, and there are vast amounts of oil in three other neighbors — Nigeria, Libya and Sudan…'”

Europe Ueber Alles?

Recently, there have been several stories surrounding the Serbia/Kosovo quagmire, but interestingly, the perceived solution seems to evolve around membership for Serbia in the EU. Piece by piece, Europe is rising as a formidable force to extinguish historical differences that have created the patchwork of nations on this continent.

Reuters reported on February 5:

“Serbia’s prime minister on Tuesday denounced plans to sign an accord with the European Union as a trick to lure it into rubber-stamping an independent Kosovo, piling pressure on a creaking ruling coalition. The statement by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica exposed a deep rift with pro-Western President Boris Tadic over Serbia’s EU accession drive and could threaten plans to sign a deal that would put Serbia on the road to membership.

“Tadic won re-election on Sunday on a pledge of pursuing EU membership no matter what happens with Serbia’s breakaway province where the 90-percent Albanian majority is poised to declare independence this month, with the West’s backing…

“‘After the referendum confirmation of our country’s European orientation, not a single party or politician can prevent what our citizens want and that is that we sign this agreement and join the EU as soon as possible,’ said deputy PM Bozidar Djelic.”

Europe Concerned About Berlusconi’s Possible Comeback

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 6:

“Attempts to form an interim government in Italy have failed and President Giorgio Napolitano has been forced to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections for April… Observers outside Italy may be looking on in disbelief but it appears that media magnate [and former two-time Prime Minister] Silvio Berlusconi is about to be given another crack at power in Rome… [Prime Minister Romano] Prodi’s government fell victim to the inherent weakness of the system, after a tiny Catholic party withdrew its support, provoking the collapse of the coalition on Jan. 24. His administration had been consistently undermined by bickering between the nine ruling parties, particularly the Catholic and Communist groups.

“There is a widespread assumption that Berlusconi will win the forthcoming snap elections… media commentators are already predicting more instability ahead… The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung is pessimistic about the role Berlusconi is likely to play in Europe. ‘With him it will be almost impossible to reliably agree on a European position, for example if the Iran crisis were to escalate. Then Berlusconi will decide as he always does: on the basis of short-term opportunistic considerations. He won’t strengthen Italy in this way — but he is sure to weaken Europe.'”

Terror Is Back in Israel

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 5:

“Terrorists struck again in Israel on Monday in the first suicide bombing the country has seen in a year. It was an attack that politicians and military officers say they have seen coming for days. The bloody deed, which claimed the lives of one Israeli woman and the two suicide bombers, came as no surprise for many Israelis. Now that the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt is open, it has become easier for terrorists to reach Israel from Gaza. Security experts have been warning that terrorists in Gaza would see this as a new opportunity — and would take advantage of it. This week, they were proven right…

“The nonchalance with which Israel has accepted the gaps in its border fence is astonishing. At the international airport in Tel Aviv, Israeli border agents question arriving passengers in painstaking detail before issuing entry visas, and the West Bank is being sealed off with a security fence. But at its border with Egypt, Israel tolerates ‘that anyone can get in who wants to get in,’ says Israeli Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit. Israel’s roughly 300-kilometer (186-mile) desert border with Egypt is not secured and in many places not even marked by a fence. Israeli intelligence is aware of at least 30 locations where it is possible to cross the border between the two countries without having to pass through a border control. Many of Israel’s military observation posts are either permanently or often unmanned. This lack of security is attributable to successive administrations’ unwillingness to pay the necessary costs of a fence that would run upwards of €500 million ($734 million), as Sheetrit estimates…

“The situation is more explosive than ever…  In recent days, Palestinians have taken advantage of the open border to bring weapons and ammunition into the Gaza Strip, including armor-piercing grenades, rockets and anti-aircraft missiles… dozens of Palestinian activists trained in Iranian camps have also returned to Gaza in recent days… Israeli hardliners are calling for a large-scale military campaign against the Gaza Strip so that Israel can put a stop to the terrorists once and for all. But… there is no evidence that military force is even capable of solving the problem.”

Israel to Build Egypt Border Fence

On February 6, 2008, The Jerusalem Post reported the following:

“Israel will soon begin construction of a security fence along certain parts of the Israeli-Egyptian border, it was decided Wednesday in a meeting between the prime minister, defense minister, foreign minister and security officials. The fence will be built in northern Nitzana and southern Eilat, regions considered to be particularly vulnerable to infiltration. Monitoring of other areas will be reinforced by additional ground forces and aerial observation measures.

“The need for a fence along the open border with Egypt was highlighted recently by the breaching of the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move freely between the two territories, as well as – Israel believes – enabling many terrorists to sneak into Sinai. The construction of the fence is expected to LAST SEVERAL YEARS and may force across-the-board budget cuts of an estimated NIS 1 billion.”

Human Embryo With Three “Parents”

On February 5, 2008, BBC News reported the following shocking and outrageous example of so-called “artificial creation” and subsequent destruction or murder of human life, under the guise of “scientific research and advancement”:

“Scientists believe they have made a breakthrough in IVF treatment by creating a human embryo with three separate parents. The Newcastle University team believe the technique could help to eradicate a whole class of hereditary diseases, including some forms of epilepsy. The embryos have been created using DNA from a man and two women in lab tests… Within hours of their creation, the nucleus, containing DNA from the mother and father, was removed from the embryo, and implanted into a donor egg whose DNA had been largely removed… The embryos then began to develop normally, but were DESTROYED [within] six days…

“… the Newcastle work has attracted opposition. Josephine Quintavalle, of the pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said it was ‘risky, dangerous’ and a step towards ‘designer babies.’ ‘It is human beings they are experimenting with,’ she said. ‘We should not be messing around with the building blocks of life.’ Mrs Quintavalle said embryo research in the US using DNA from one man and two women was discontinued because of the ‘huge abnormalities’ in some cases.”

President Bush’s Final State of the Union Address

On January 28, President Bush gave his final State of the Union address. We are publishing the following excerpts:

“Most Americans think their taxes are high enough… There is only one way to eliminate this uncertainty: make the tax relief permanent. And Members of Congress should know: If any bill raising taxes reaches my desk, I will veto it…

“On matters of science and life… I call on the Congress to pass legislation that bans unethical practices such as the buying, selling, patenting, or cloning of human life…

“We must also find a sensible and humane way to deal with people here illegally. Illegal immigration is complicated, but it can be resolved. And it must be resolved in a way that upholds both our laws and our highest ideals.

“… one Army brigade combat team and one Marine Expeditionary Unit have already come home [from Iraq] and will not be replaced. In the coming months, four additional brigades and two Marine battalions will follow suit. Taken together, this means more than 20,000 of our troops are coming home. Any further drawdown of U.S. troops will be based on conditions in Iraq and the recommendations of our commanders… The mission in Iraq has been difficult and trying for our Nation. But it is in the vital interest of the United States that we succeed… By contrast, a failed Iraq would embolden extremists, strengthen Iran, and give terrorists a base from which to launch new attacks on our friends, our allies, and our homeland…

“This month in Ramallah and Jerusalem, I assured leaders from both sides that America will do, and I will do, everything we can to help them achieve a peace agreement that defines a Palestinian state by the end of this year. The time has come for a Holy Land where a democratic Israel and a democratic Palestine live side-by-side in peace…

“Iran is funding and training militia groups in Iraq, supporting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, and backing Hamas’ efforts to undermine peace in the Holy Land. Tehran is also developing ballistic missiles of increasing range and continues to develop its capability to enrich uranium, which could be used to create a nuclear weapon. Our message to the people of Iran is clear: We have no quarrel with you, we respect your traditions and your history, and we look forward to the day when you have your freedom. Our message to the leaders of Iran is also clear: Verifiably suspend your nuclear enrichment, so negotiations can begin… America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies, and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf.

“On the homefront, we will continue to take every lawful and effective measure to protect our country. This is our most solemn duty. We are grateful that there has not been another attack on our soil since September 11. This is not for a lack of desire or effort on the part of the enemy. In the past 6 years, we have stopped numerous attacks, including a plot to fly a plane into the tallest building in Los Angeles and another to blow up passenger jets bound for America over the Atlantic…

“America is leading the fight against global hunger. Today, more than half the world’s food aid comes from the United States… America is leading the fight against disease. With your help, we are working to cut by half the number of malaria-related deaths in 15 African nations. And our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is treating 1.4 million people… I call on you to double our initial commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS by approving an additional $30 billion over the next 5 years…

“By trusting the people, our Founders wagered that a great and noble Nation could be built on the liberty that resides in the hearts of all men and women. By trusting the people, succeeding generations transformed our fragile young democracy into the most powerful Nation on earth and a beacon of hope for millions. And so long as we continue to trust the people, our Nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the State of our Union will remain strong. So tonight, with confidence in freedom’s power, and trust in the people, let us set forth to do their business…”

We are not going to comment in detail on the above-quoted excerpts, as they basically speak for themselves. However, we would like to make one notable exception, by pointing out the following:

The Bible makes it very clear that this Nation became powerful because of the MERCY OF GOD–TRUST IN THE PEOPLE HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Because of Abraham’s unconditional FAITH IN GOD AND his OBEDIENCE of THE LAW OF GOD, God promised his descendants, among other things, to become a PROSPEROUS AND POWERFUL NATION. But God also said that if Abraham’s descendants, in these modern times, were to disobey God and forsake their trust in Him, they would lose their prosperity and wealth. For further information, please read our free booklets, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America,” and “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

No Troop Reductions in Iraq this Summer?

Following President Bush’s speech on Monday night, indicating possible troop reductions in Iraq, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, January 29:

“The Bush administration is sending strong signals that U.S. troop reductions in Iraq will slow or stop altogether this summer, a move that would jeopardize hopes of relieving strain on the Army and Marine Corps and revive debate over an open-ended U.S. commitment in Iraq.

“The indications of a likely slowdown reflect concern by U.S. commanders that the improvement in security in Iraq since June… is tenuous and could be reversed if the extra troops come out too soon.”

USA Unprepared for an Attack?

The Associated Press wrote on January 31:

“The U.S. military isn’t ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces don’t have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a report. Even fewer Army National Guard units are combat-ready today than were nearly a year ago when the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves determined that 88 percent of the units were not prepared for the fight…

“The commission’s 400-page report concludes that the nation ‘does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available’ to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons incident, ‘an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk.’

“‘Right now we don’t have the forces we need, we don’t have them trained, we don’t have the equipment,’ commission Chairman Arnold Punaro said in an interview with The Associated Press. ‘Even though there is a lot going on in this area, we need to do a lot more. … There’s a lot of things in the pipeline, but in the world we live in — you’re either ready or you’re not.'”

Peace in the Middle East?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 29 about the situation in Gaza and blamed America and Israel for the debacle. It stated the following:

“The mass jailbreak of Gazans into Egypt revealed the bankruptcy of both Israel’s policy of collective punishment and Bush’s attempt to make Mideast peace… Of the mass breakout, the Associated Press wrote, ‘It … reminded the world that 1.5 million Gazans, many already bitterly poor, cannot remain locked up indefinitely.’ It may have reminded the world of that, but it certainly didn’t remind America… The Congress and the presidential candidates, Democratic and Republican, ignored the Gaza crisis, or weighed in with predictably pro-Israel statements. Even the most progressive candidate, Barack Obama, went out of his way to take Israel’s side…

“Yes, Israel has the right to defend itself against the Qassam rocket attacks. But it was not forced to cut off power, medicine and food to do that. It chose to impose that siege (with Bush’s obvious, if unspoken, blessing) because it hoped that by punishing the people of Gaza, they would overthrow their Hamas-led government. One need not defend Hamas to recognize that ‘sending a message’ by punishing the people who live under its rule is a textbook case of collective punishment, which is illegal under international law…

“The Gaza jailbreak represents the end of Bush’s delusional attempt to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace. Annapolis is now dead, killed before it even started. The fatal flaw of Bush’s approach was that it assumed that dividing the Palestinians would lead to peace, when just the opposite is true…

“Collectively punishing the people of Gaza, far from causing them to rise up and throw out Hamas, as Bush and [Israel’s President] Olmert fantasized, only further radicalized them. American and Israeli intransigence and ineptitude have only succeeded in strengthening the hard-liners and weakening the moderates…

“The recent Gaza jailbreak showed that a deal is urgently necessary. The pot just boiled over. It hasn’t exploded yet, but if it does, it won’t just be the Palestinians and Israelis who get burned.”

Will “Foreigners” Control U.S. Economy?

World Net Daily wrote on January 31:

“Sovereign Wealth Funds in six Persian Gulf countries – including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – have now amassed $1.7 trillion, positioning them for attempts to control major banks and securities firms in the U.S…  Increasingly, U.S. investment bankers are traveling to the Middle East to meet what Business Week calls the ‘New Kings of Wall Street.’… Among U.S. companies, including many of the largest banks and financial institutions, there are many candidates that now or soon may be more than willing to receive capital infusions from foreign sources.

“… a national outrage broke out in 2006 when a Dubai company… proposed to take over operation of some 22 U.S. ports… In the closing months of last year, foreign investments announced to help major U.S. banks and financial institutions received, by comparison, almost no public outcry. Many believe that’s largely because the infusion of foreign capital was perceived by the public as necessary as troubled U.S. financial institutions scrambled to find capital required to continue [operations]…”

Economy Stimulus–Not So Fast

The Associated Press reported on January 29:

“The House, seizing a rare moment of bipartisanship to respond to the economy’s slump, overwhelmingly passed a $146 billion aid package Tuesday that would speed rebates of $600-$1,200 to most taxpayers. The plan, approved 385-35 after little debate, would send at least some rebate to anyone with at least $3,000 in income, with more going to families with children and less going to wealthier taxpayers.

“It faced a murky future in the Senate, though, where Democrats and some Republicans backed a larger package that adds billions of dollars for senior citizens and the unemployed, and shrinks the rebate to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples. That plan… would deliver checks even to the richest taxpayers, who are disqualified under the House-passed measure. Both versions would provide tax breaks to businesses to spur equipment and other purchases…

“Congressional leaders are aiming to send the measure to Bush by Feb. 15. But the divergent plans — and bids by Senate Democrats and Republicans to swell the package with more add-ons — could drag out that schedule.”

Reuters reported on January 31:

“The Senate Finance Committee approved a $157 billion economic stimulus package on Wednesday that offers smaller tax rebates to more people than a plan passed by the House of Representatives. The committee approved the bill as the full Senate prepared to begin debate as early as Thursday on competing versions of an economic stimulus plan lawmakers hope will encourage consumer and business spending to help stave off an election-year recession.

“President George W. Bush wants the Senate to accept the $146 billion package passed Tuesday by the House… The Finance Committee bill, approved on a vote of 14-7, would provide a flat $500 tax rebate to individuals and $1,000 for couples, plus $300 per child. The rebates also would go to about 20 million low-income retirees on Social Security who would not receive checks under the $146 billion House stimulus bill.”

In addition to this political wrangling, unanswered questions remain as to how, exactly, these proposed rebates would have to be handled by the recipients. Are they taxable income which will have to be declared on income tax returns, and for which tax will have to be paid? Or, worse yet, as some local TV newscasters have suggested, are they merely loans to be repaid to the IRS? If so, that would be a most ridiculous attempt to stir up the economy.

Also, the question has been asked where the money for the rebates is supposed to come from. One political candidate for President has suggested repeatedly that it would be borrowed from China, and that the rebate money itself would be used by most recipients to buy products made in China–thereby helping the Chinese economy, rather than the U.S. economy.

 

The American Financial Sickness

On January 28, 2008, Der Stern Online wrote in an article, titled, “Farewell to America”:

“The US mortgage crisis affects the financial world and financial experts worldwide. But even if the US financial sickness is transmitted again to the rest of the world–the days are numbered when the USA determined the economic fate of the world.”

AFP reported on January 30 that the US “economy nearly stalled in the fourth quarter with a growth rate of just 0.6 percent, capping its worst year since 2002,” and that “Fears of a recession have grown.” It added: “The fourth-quarter’s performance was much weaker — half the pace — than economists were expecting.”

Bloomberg added on January 30:

“Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., UBS AG and other banks may be forced to post up to $70 billion in writedowns should bond insurers lose their top credit ratings, according to Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney. Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS AG, which have already suffered the biggest losses from the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, according to Bloomberg data, hold 45 percent of the ‘entire market risk,’ Whitney wrote in a note to clients dated yesterday.”

“Searching For Mr. Europe”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 28:

“Less than one year from now, the European Union will choose its first long-term president… It took years for the European Union to finally agree that it should even have a president. Now, with just 12 months to go before the 27-member bloc is set to inaugurate its first full time leader, the name-game surrounding the position has begun in earnest. And so has the backbiting.

“Until now, the bloc’s leadership was passed around on a rotating basis, with a new country taking the helm every six months. But according to the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, signed in the Portuguese capital in December and currently in the process of being ratified across the continent, the new ‘President of the European Council’ will hold office for a two-and-a-half year term.

“Tony Blair is one prominent name that has been bandied about recently. The former British prime minister is said to have a good shot, and he has powerful friends. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has thrown his support behind Blair for reasons of both personality and politics…

“But numerous Social Democrats and most Christian Democrats, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, aren’t as impressed. On Monday, the Daily Telegraph also reported that senior allies of current Prime Minister Gordon Brown were plotting to wreck Blair’s ambitions for the post out of concern that his appointment could reignite old divisions within his Labour Party…”

It is interesting that even though the European member states still need to ratify the Lisbon treaty, it appears to be a foregone conclusion by mainland European commentators that the treaty WILL be ratified–with the result that Europe WILL have its first long-time president within ONE YEAR.

A European Party to Defend Against “Islamisation”?

BBC News reported on January 25:

“The heads of far-right parties from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and France said their aim was to defend Europe against ‘Islamisation’ and immigrants. At a news conference in Vienna, they said they expected to launch the party by 15 November. The move comes several months after the collapse of a far-right bloc in the European Parliament… The far-right leaders need support from seven EU parties to launch the group, but [Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian] Strache said that the goal was to have ‘more than 10 parties as members and ideally one party from each EU country.'”

No More Mosques and Minarets in Parts of Austria

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 29:

“A far-right party in the Austrian state of Carinthia, led by the notorious right-wing politician Jörg Haider, is trying to ban the construction of mosques and minarets. They’ve presented a draft law designed to prohibit ‘unusual’ buildings that don’t fit in with traditional architecture… ‘With the help of this law, it will be de facto impossible to construct mosques or minarets in Carinthia,’ Uwe Scheuch, the minister responsible for urban planning, told journalists Saturday… Scheuch, who belongs to Haider’s right-wing Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) party, insisted, however, that the law would not infringe on Austria’s constitutional right to freedom of religion.
 
“Officially, the law is not aimed directly at mosques and minarets, but at ‘unusual’ buildings that stand out ‘because of their unusual architecture or size (height).’… BZÖ will need the support of the conservative Austrian People’s Party if it is to get the draft law passed in the state government. That seems assured…

“The draft law reflects a growing wave of anti-Muslim sentiment in Austria, where Muslims make up around 4 percent of the population. Another Austrian state, Vorarlberg, which has the highest proportion of Muslims in Austria, is also considering a ban on minarets. Erwin Pröll, the governor of the state of Lower Austria, who belongs to the People’s Party, recently described minarets as ‘alien’ to Austrian culture in a television interview… Meanwhile, in Germany, a planned mosque in Cologne has also been causing controversy.”

Europe–A Club of “Christians”?

AFP reported on January 27:

“Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan warned the European Union against becoming a ‘club of Christians’ as he pushed Saturday for Ankara’s membership in the bloc… EU heavyweights France and Germany are both opposed to full Turkish membership, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been particularly vocal on the issue, arguing that the mainly Muslim country does not belong in Europe. Babacan regretted that the issue of religion had apparently become a factor in the debate on Turkey’s accession… Babacan also argued that allowing Turkey into the EU would allow the bloc to act as a bridge between the West and the Islamic world… ‘The Turkish military has been a good supporter of Turkey’s EU accession process … although it is not a black and white thing,’ he said.”

Angela Merkel Under Fire After State Vote Debacle

AFP wrote on January 28:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced tough questions Monday after her conservatives suffered heavy losses in a key state election… Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) lost their absolute majority and finished just one-tenth of a percentage point ahead of the Social Democrats (SPD) in Hesse, home to the business capital Frankfurt. The chancellor had vocally backed the law-and-order campaign and was sharply criticised for the drubbing her party took in Hesse Sunday. Merkel ‘must ask herself how this was possible and also take a look at herself in the search for answers,’ the top-selling Bild newspaper said. The election was Merkel’s first genuine test at the ballot box since she came to power in 2005 at the head of a fractious power-sharing government of the CDU and the SPD…

“The conservatives’ bitterly divisive campaign based on tough measures to deal with young criminals from immigrant backgrounds appeared to have seriously backfired, allowing a strong lead in the polls to vanish in just a few weeks. As expected, the CDU scored a clear victory in the neighbouring state of Lower Saxony in another election held Sunday, but turned in a weaker score than four years ago… If the conservatives lose control of Hesse, it is likely to put further strain on Merkel’s already fragile ‘grand coalition’, with each party trying to sharpen its profile on hot-button issues including taxes, health care reform and foreign policy. Federation of German Industry chief Juergen Thumann said he found the political trend troubling. ‘The shift to the left in Germany continues,’ he told business daily Handelsblatt. ‘We are watching current developments with the greatest concern.’ The CDU faces another fight to hold on to power next month when voters go to the polls in the city-state of Hamburg.”

How Hitler Came To Power 75 Years Ago–Warning Signs for Us Today!

Deutsche Welle reported on January 30:

“On Jan. 30, 1933, Hitler was named German chancellor, spelling the end to the Weimar Republic — Germany’s convulsive experiment with democracy between 1919 and 1933. The period was dubbed the ‘Weimar Republic’ by historians in honor of the city of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to write and adopt a new constitution for the German Reich following the nation’s defeat in World War I.”

Deutsche Welle interviewed Eric Weitz, chairman of the history department at the University of Minnesota. We are quoting the following excerpts:

“There was despair in abundance to be sure. Two million Germans died in World War I, 4 million were wounded, and men who came back were often severely wounded, both physically and psychologically. Women at the home front during the war, experienced four years of intense privation. And afterwards there came the post-war crisis — readjustment and hyperinflation…

“If we look at the economy and the election of 1928 just prior to the onset of the Great Depression, we can see a move back to the center politically and signs of serious economic progress… Without the Depression, the republic would at least have had a chance. It had managed to survive the hyperinflation of 1923… But it was the [Depression] that came from the United States to Germany very fast and very strongly that certainly unleashed the final blow.

“… in 1928, the Nazi party was a marginal, unimportant political group which had very little resonance beyond some very distinctive places that were already in depression before the Great Depression — agricultural areas in particular… In a depression especially, people look for solutions and the republic was not offering any to the economic crisis. From 1930 onwards, Germany was governed under a presidential dictatorship because the political system was so fragmented that the Reichstag could not assemble or function in parliamentary majority. So the chancellor from spring of 1930 onwards, Heinrich Brüning and his successors, governed largely through emergency powers proclaimed by the president, Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg.

“But I do want to underscore the fact that the Nazis never received a majority vote in a popular, freely contested election. In the summer of 1932, they received 37.4 percent of the vote — the highest they would ever receive. It’s a significant jump to be sure but that’s not a majority and the popular phrase that one hears so often in the United States, ‘the German people elected Hitler to power or elected the Nazis to power’ — that’s wrong, it’s inaccurate, it’s untrue. THE NAZIS WERE NEVER ELECTED TO POWER. In the next election, in the [Fall] of 1932, they already lost a significant percentage of the support they had gained in the summer. The Nazi party was in disarray. At the very end, they came to power because the establishment conservative elite, a coterie of powerful men around President Hindenburg, HANDED POWER OVER to the Nazis. That alliance is what ultimately killed the republic.”

These were interesting developments pertaining to the NINTH REVIVAL of the ancient Roman Empire (see our Q&A in this Update). When we focus on the final and last resurrection of the Roman Empire, we note that something similar will happen again–although on a much broader European scale. We read in Revelation 17:12-13 that ten future leaders of European nations or groups of nations will HAND POWER OVER to a charismatic European military leader, called “the beast” in prophecy.

Germany’s “Brave” and “Humble” Self-Accusations?

The International Herald Tribune wrote on January 28:

“Most countries celebrate the best in their past. Germany unrelentingly promotes its worst… This Wednesday marks the 75th anniversary of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party taking power in Germany, which remarkably has prompted yet a new round of soul-searching… ‘Where in the world has one ever seen a nation that erects memorials to immortalize its own shame?’ said Avi Primor, the former Israeli ambassador to Germany, at an event commemorating the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz on Friday in Erfurt. ‘Only the Germans had the bravery and the humility.’

“It is not just in edifices and exhibits that the effort to come to terms with this history continues unabated. The Federal Crime Office last year began an investigation into itself: trying to shine a light on the Nazi past of its founders after the end of the war. And earlier this month the federal prosecutor overturned the guilty verdict of the communist Marinus van der Lubbe, the Dutchman executed for allegedly setting the Reichstag fire, the 75th anniversary of which is Feb. 27… Germany’s relationship with its Nazi history still regularly generates controversy…”

It is within Germany’s official and publicly announced political correctness to deal repeatedly, openly and predominantly with Germany’s Nazi past–as dutifully pronounced by politicians and the mainstream press. However, many Germans (most of them were not even born yet when Nazi Germany collapsed) are growing increasingly tired of this policy which keeps wallowing in the mud of the past. And if Germany’s political scene and press are not careful, those habitual actions of commemorating the shameful past, could very soon backfire.

How Many More Monuments for Berlin?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 29:

“The federal government on Monday announced that two new Holocaust monuments — within walking distance of the sprawling, five-acre Jewish memorial — will soon be completed. One will be dedicated to the gay and lesbian victims of the Holocaust. And in February, construction will begin on another new monument dedicated to the Sinti and Roma, often called Gypsies, who died in the Nazi camps.”

The article continued:

“… advocates for other groups persecuted and murdered by the Nazis [including] Soviet prisoners of war… looking for memorials of their own… A group representing those imprisoned and sentenced to death for deserting the German army is also interested in a memorial. The Third Reich likewise persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses as a group and also killed thousands of handicapped people. None of those groups have a prominent place in central Berlin.”

Will Germany Be Further Embroiled in the Afghan War?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 30:

“A day after NATO formerly requested that Germany send combat troops to Afghanistan and two days after Canada warned it would leave if more help didn’t come south, Germans are debating whether sending more troops means more danger… Germany will make a final decision in the coming weeks as to whether it will deploy up to 250 combat troops to the country to supplement the 3,500 German soldiers already serving there, primarily in the more peaceful north… The German media on Wednesday looked at the implications of the NATO request, which could see Germany further embroiled in Afghanistan…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘There’s no reason to panic, but there surely is reason to worry. …The arguments of the critics who are warning of the dangers of the new Afghanistan deployment are justified. The politicians should stop playing them down and allaying them. It is right to not change the German army’s basic strategy in Afghanistan and to not go on the offensive against the Taliban…’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘Germany cannot turn down the request from Brussels, demanding loyalty and solidarity with the allied partner countries — the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain — who are under constant fire in Afghanistan… But there must be more truthfulness [by NATO] in the discussions concerning Germany’s deployment.’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes… ‘”Of course, it’s easy for the Americans to point the finger at the other allies. But it’s also true that it was in no way the case that all Europeans were convinced of the usefulness of the mission to Afghanistan in the first place. (It) is far away. The overthrow of the Taliban is already six years behind us, and yet the allies are preparing themselves to stay there for many more years. The burdens have already been enormous. There’s no chance that voters are going to allow further adventures.'”

Deutsche Welle added on January 30:

“Reacting to the news that NATO planned to send more troops to his country to counter the threat of a resurgent Taliban backed by supporters of al Qaeda, [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai said training the Afghan police and army was more important than sending more foreign troops to the country.”

India’s Most Serious Outbreak of Bird Flu

Reuters reported on January 28:

“Bird flu has spread to 13 of West Bengal’s 19 districts… In neighboring Bangladesh, the disease has spread to 29 of… its 64 districts. Experts fear the H5N1 strain found in both countries could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic… The World Health Organization has said it is India’s most serious outbreak of bird flu. Over 1.5 million birds have already been culled since the deadly H5N1 virus hit the state earlier this month. Another half a million chickens and ducks will be slaughtered in the next few days, officials said.”

Human Kidneys for Sale

USA Today reported on January 29:

“India is reeling from the news that a ring of doctors may have taken kidneys from hundreds of poor people and then sold them to wealthy patients from around the world…  Two weeks ago, NDTV filmed the suspected mastermind telling a reporter that he would charge 15 lakhs (about $38,000) to facilitate and perform a kidney transplant… ABC News says Indian police are holding two U.S. citizens they suspect of trying to purchase kidneys from the ring. ‘Five foreign tourists, including the two Americans, were found Saturday in what police described as a “luxury guest house,” awaiting kidneys. There was reportedly a transplant waiting list of some 40 foreigners from at least five countries,’ the network reports from Mumbai.”

Terrible Violence in Kenya

The Associated Press reported on January 28:

“Thousands of machete-wielding youths hunted down members of President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe Monday in western Kenya’s Rift Valley, torching homes and buses, clashing with police, and blocking roads with burning tires… The death toll has soared over 800… 255,000 people [have been] driven from their homes this month… The bloodshed has transformed this once-stable African country, pitting longtime neighbors against one another and turning tourist towns into no-go zones.”

AFP added on January 28:

“Mobs in Kenya hacked and burnt dozens of people to death on Monday as tribal violence ignited by flawed presidential elections over a month ago threatened to spiral out of control. The upsurge in violence… has undermined the latest mediation efforts, led by Kofi Annan, to try to resolve the political deadlock since President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election… The European Union warned it would cut aid to Kenya unless Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was robbed of victory in the December 27 election, showed they were seeking a solution to the crisis.”

USA Today added on January 29:

“A gang beheaded a doctor in apparent retaliation for the slaying of an opposition lawmaker Tuesday… In western Kenya’s Rift Valley, where much of the violence is focused, thousands of machete-wielding youths from both Kikuyu and Luo tribes hunted each other down, burned homes, and clashed with police who appeared overwhelmed… Human rights groups and officials charge the violence in Kenya has become organized [‘by hidden hands’].”

AFP reported on January 30 that “Kenyan police have been given orders to shoot to kill in a bid to stem weeks of violence…”

On January 31, The Associated Press wrote:

“A police officer gunned down an opposition lawmaker in Kenya Thursday, the second such killing this week in a country that has been gripped by ethnic violence since its disputed presidential election, officials said.

“National police chief Hussein Ali said lawmaker David Too was killed in ‘a crime of passion’ involving the girlfriend of the traffic policeman arrested in the shooting. But the opposition called it an assassination, making clear they saw it as part of the country’s deepening ethnic strife.

“After the killing, thousands of people from Too’s Kalenjin ethnic group sought revenge by setting houses on fire and blocking roads with rocks on the outskirts of the western town of Kericho, near the slain lawmaker’s constituency. Other tribes fled to the police station for fear of reprisals. Similar violence broke out in other towns.”

Sodom in Brazil

AFP wrote on January 30:

“The Brazilian city of Recife is to distribute morning-after pills to women during carnival after public prosecutors on Tuesday rejected a Catholic Church lawsuit claiming the initiative promoted sex and provided ‘abortions.’ ‘The pill has no abortive effect, as the archdiocese claims, and its distribution is in no way an incentive to have sex,’ the prosecutor… told AFP. On top of its legal defeat, the church has come under fire from the Brazilian government for attempting to sway public health policy.

“‘The (Recife) mayor’s office is right and the church is wrong, again,’ Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao said Sunday, as the issue was coming to a head. ‘The morning-after pill is used with medical guidance and is a matter of public health, not religion,’ he said, adding that he believed the church was alienating youths with its stance…  Morning-after pills must be used within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse. They work by blocking fertilization. According to the newspaper Pernambuco, the archbishop at the center of the storm, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, is not prepared to back down on the issue, and had threatened excommunication to any church-goers who use the pill.”

Man-Made Catastrophes…

The Associated Press reported on January 27:

“A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or early March, government officials said Saturday. The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. It was not clear how long ago the satellite lost power, or under what circumstances… The spacecraft contains hydrazine… [which is] a toxic chemical and can cause harm to anyone who contacts it.

“[John] Pike, [a defense and intelligence expert] said it’s not likely the threat from the satellite could be eliminated by shooting it down with a missile, because that would create debris that would then re-enter the atmosphere and burn up or hit the ground. Pike… estimated that the spacecraft weighs about 20,000 pounds and is the size of a small bus.”

The Associated Press added on January 30:

“The U.S. military is developing contingency plans to deal with the possibility that a large spy satellite expected to fall to Earth in late February or early March could hit North America… the size of the satellite suggests that some number of pieces will not burn up as the orbiting vehicle re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere and will hit the ground.

“…the spy satellite is designated by the military as US 193. It was launched in December 2006 but almost immediately lost power and cannot be controlled. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor but the satellite’s central computer failed shortly after launch.”

Bobby Fischer Died

Bobby Fischer, arguably the best chess player in the world, who reportedly had an IQ higher than that of Albert Einstein, died last Thursday in Iceland, at the age of 64. His bizarre and odd lifestyle was marked by anti-Semitic statements–including his denial of the Holocaust (although his mother was Jewish); a claim that his father Gerhardt was German when Fischer was born in 1943 (although the German government refused to grant him German citizenship); his public praise for the September 11th terrorist attack; his incarceration in Japan for nine months (due to an American warrant for his arrest, following a 1992 exhibition rematch against Boris Spassky on a Yugoslav resort island in violation of U.S. sanctions, and for trying to leave Japan with an invalid U.S. passport); and his migration to Iceland in 2005, after obtaining the citizenship of Iceland and repudiating his U.S. citizenship.

As could be predicted, some in the secular left-liberal national and international press resurrected the false claim that Fischer was a “member” of the Worldwide Church of God, under the late Herbert W. Armstrong. The truth is, Fischer never was a baptized member, although he was temporarily loosely affiliated with the Church.

One of the more spectacular and “telling” assertions about Fischer, the Church of God and the Bible, were found on the Internet, as follows:

“Ever since he won the championship, Fischer had been drifting quietly into seclusion, finding refuge in Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God in Pasadena, a fundamentalist cult that observes Saturday as the Sabbath and believes in the Second Coming. After several years of serving as what is called a coworker — Fischer hadn’t been baptized — he left the church, too.”

Whoever the author is, his ignorance of the Bible is remarkable. Apparently, he does not believe in the Biblical doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming, nor does he know anything about the Sabbath. When would anyone keep the Biblical SABBATH except on SATURDAY? Those who refer to Sunday as the SABBATH only reveal their total LACK of understanding as to when the Biblical SABBATH is to be kept. Sadly, most people today do NOT know whether or when to observe God’s SABBATH. In order for you to understand the truth on this vital and SALVATIONAL matter, please read our free booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days.”

America For Sale?

The New York Times reported on January 20:

“Last May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich., adding 189 automotive jobs to an area accustomed to layoffs. In December, a British company bought a New Jersey maker of cough syrup.

“For much of the world, the United States is now ON SALE at discount prices. With credit tight, unemployment growing and worries mounting about a potential recession, American business and government leaders are courting foreign money to keep the economy growing. Foreign investors are buying aggressively, taking advantage of American duress and a weak dollar to snap up what many see as bargains, while making inroads to the world’s largest market.

“Last year, foreign investors poured a record $414 billion into securing stakes in American companies, factories and other properties through private deals and purchases of publicly traded stock… That was up 90 percent from the previous year and more than double the average for the last decade. It amounted to more than one-fourth of all announced deals for the year…

“During the first two weeks of this year, foreign businesses agreed to invest another $22.6 billion for stakes in American companies — more than half the value of all announced deals. If a recession now unfolds and the dollar drops further, the pace could accelerate, economists say.”

The accuracy of an Old Testament prophecy for our time–and especially for the USA–becomes more and more obvious. Deuteronomy 28:43-44 reads: “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.”

For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Black Monday–Worldwide Stock Market Crash

The webpage of “thisislondon.co.uk” wrote on January 21:

“The stock market was in meltdown today as nearly £60billion was wiped off London shares as fears of a US recession sparked a global sell-off. The bloodbath saw the Footsie plummet by 5.5 per cent, losing 323.5 points…  its biggest one-day points drop since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001… It is also the worst start to the year for the stock market since records began in 1936… The falls followed Friday’s falls for the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street, when investors were left unimpressed by the US Government’s tax-relief plans to spur on the economy.”

The Associated Press added on January 21:

“Stocks fell sharply worldwide Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. government’s stimulus plan to prevent a recession. U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the downbeat mood from last week’s market declines there circled through Europe, Asia and the Americas. Britain’s benchmark FTSE-100 slumped 5.5 percent… France’s CAC-40 Index tumbled 6.8 percent…  and Germany’s blue-chip DAX 30 plunged 7.2 percent…

“In Asia, India’s benchmark stock index tumbled 7.4 percent, while Hong Kong’s blue-chip Hang Seng index plummeted 5.5 percent…, its biggest percentage drop since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Canadian stocks fell as well, with the S&P/TSX composite index on the Toronto Stock Exchange down 4 percent in early afternoon trading. In Brazil, stocks plunged 6.9 percent on the main index of Sao Paulo’s Bovespa exchange.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 21:

“In a sign of how badly Germany’s financial sector has been hit by subprime credit crisis, WestLB, the country’s third-largest regional bank, announced on Monday it would post a €1 billion euro ($1.47 billion) loss for 2007… it… didn’t rule out having to make further writedowns…

“Meanwhile, fears of a US recession led to sharp stock market losses on Monday with the German blue-chip DAX index falling as much as 7 percent, or more than 500 points, in hectic trading before stabilizing in late afternoon. It was the biggest daily decline since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“‘There’s naked panic here — we’re seeing a classic crash,’ said one share trader. Analysts at JP Morgan Asset Management said investor sentiment had reached ‘panic level.’ Financial stocks were among the main losers, with Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank down around 6 percent in the wake of the WestLB loss announcement. Insurance and banking group Allianz fell 7 percent.”

Market Situation Not Much Better on Tuesday…

USA Today reported on Tuesday, January 22:

“The Bush administration and Congress moved with uncharacteristic speed Tuesday to devise a package of tax cuts and spending that could bring the economy back from the brink of recession…  it would take the Internal Revenue Service several months to send out rebate checks — probably in May or June. ‘It would be desirable if it could happen faster,’ [Peter] Orszag, [director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office,] said. ‘It is remarkable that the world’s leading economic power can’t get checks out the door faster than that.'”

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 22 about Germany’s reaction to the crash on Monday and the economic situation in the USA:

“Germany media commentators say the crash marks the end of a stock market party which had inflated prices and ignored the risks posed by the slowing US economy, the subprime credit crisis and surging energy prices… Business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘Much evidence suggests that stock markets will remain turbulent in the next couple of weeks. Only really good news can haul us out of this slump in sentiment…

“Business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘The earth is quaking in the financial world and it can’t be foreseen when those tremors will be over. On the contrary… Being an exporting nation, Germany is strongly dependent on the world economy and the crisis has left deep scars in banks in this country… ‘

“Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘Financial markets had divorced themselves from the real world; share prices rose unstoppably even though risks had long been lurking everywhere. Energy and raw materials? Kept getting more expensive. America’s economic upturn? Decidedly shaky. The dollar? About to tank. Everyone who wanted to could see these dangers; everyone who was half-way sober should have been careful in the last two or three years, and especially since last summer. But the stock market sometimes resembles a wild college party: Everyone’s drinking, so everyone joins in. And everyone ends up being so drunk that the whole event gets out of control. It’s quite possible that the worst is yet to come and that the stock market crash will continue in the coming months…’

“Conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:… ‘The financial market crisis which has spread from the banks to insurance companies is evidently far from over… Much suggests that the trend in international stock markets will continue to depend on what happens in the US…'”

Der Spiegel Online added on January 22:

“There was bad news too at the Bank of America, the second-largest American bank. The bank announced Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings had fallen by an enormous 95 percent. Net income at Bank of America fell to $268 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $5.26 billion a year ago.”

… Or on Wednesday…

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, January 23, 2008:

“Stocks extended their decline Wednesday, with investors uneasy after reports from big names like Apple Inc. and Motorola Inc. dashed any notion that the Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut [an unprecedented 75-basis-point rate cut] could in short order patch up the economy… Wall Street’s latest slide occurred in tandem with a retrenchment in European markets, which fell after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet appeared unmoved by the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Some investors had hoped the ECB would signal willingness to cut rates. The Fed’s decision Tuesday to lower its federal funds rate by a steep 0.75 basis points to 3.5 percent eventually helped calm U.S. markets, but it remains clear that investors have doubts about the potency of the Fed action. Rate cuts typically take months to work their way into the economy.”

On Wednesday night, the Associated Press summarized the tumultuous day at Wall Street, as follows:

“It started with another stomach-turning drop at the open, and a loss of more than 300 points by midday. Then stocks changed course, raced higher and closed with a dramatic gain of nearly 300. This wasn’t just volatility. This was Wall Street whiplash.

“Amid tumbling housing prices, an ongoing credit crisis and growing fears of a recession, turbulence has become a hallmark of Wall Street in recent weeks. And after five straight days of pullbacks, analysts saw some positive signs in Wednesday’s trading… By day’s end, the Dow had swung 631.86 points from its low point to its high — the largest single-day turnaround in more than five years…

“Still, analysts were mindful that in recent months Wall Street has been known to soar one day and succumb the next, and that there are still many economic unknowns for the market to weather. And, given that stocks are so badly beaten down, bargain hunting played a part in Wednesday’s turnaround…

“Wall Street faces several months of uncertainty, with the bulk of fourth-quarter earnings reports still to come and economic reports likely to be disappointing. When it’s more clear companies and consumers are spending freely, investors might relax. However, with consumers burdened by debt and cutting back spending, it’s impossible to predict when that relief will come.”

… Or on Thursday…

In an unprecedented swift attempt to cope with the economic situation in the USA, President Bush and Congress announced on Thursday that a deal on an economic stimulus package had been reached. As the Associated Press reported on January 24:

“Democratic and Republican congressional leaders completed a deal Thursday with the White House on an economic stimulus package that would give most tax filers refunds… Congressional aides… said they hope the checks could go out as early as June.

“Individuals who pay income taxes would get up to $600, working couples $1,200 and those couples with children an additional $300 per child under the deal. Workers who make at least $3,000 but don’t pay taxes would get $300 rebates. The rebates would be limited to individuals whose income is $75,000 or less and working couples with incomes $150,000 or less.

“The rebate part of the plan would cost about $100 billion, aides said. The package also includes close to $50 billion in business tax cuts. The package would allow businesses to immediately write off 50 percent of purchases of plants and other capital equipment and permit small businesses to write off additional purchases of equipment…”

In spite of the announcement of a completed deal regarding the stimulus package, the financial turmoil at Wall Street continued on Thursday. The Associated Press reported on January 24:

“Wall Street sought to extend its gains Thursday, fluctuating as investors absorbed more bad news about bond insurers but received economic data that suggested the job market remains largely undented… Although investors were clearly interested in buying, there was little conviction behind the gains — the market is still searching for clues about the economy in hopes of determining if it might be bottoming or if it’s heading toward a recession… Given the market’s recent volatility, it remains less likely that even sizable gains or selloffs in stocks will hold as each session unfolds. A stunning turnaround Wednesday, while certainly a relief for many investors, illustrated the fractiousness that has settled into Wall Street in recent months…”

Preemptive Nuclear Strike by NATO?

The Telegraph wrote on January 22:

“Nato must prepare to launch pre-emptive nuclear attacks to ward off the use of weapons of mass destruction by its enemies, a group of former senior military officials has warned… the authors of the blueprint for reforming Nato include Lord Peter Inge, the former British chief of the defence staff and US General John Shalikashvili, the former Nato commander in Europe and chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff…

“The authors have proposed major changes to the way Nato operates, including abandoning consensus decision making so fast action can be taken without the threat of vetoes and caveats imposed by some nations. They also called for military action without ratification by the UN in cases where ‘immediate action is needed to protect large numbers of human beings’. The report was compiled after authors were briefed by senior serving military officials who are unable to speak publicly about their concerns with Nato’s military strategy… The other three authors are Klaus Naumann, a German former military commander, Henk van den Breemen, a former Dutch military official, and Jacques Lanxade, the former French admiral and chief of defence.”

The Bible predicts nuclear war in the future, which would destroy ALL HUMAN LIFE on this planet, if Christ would not intervene to stop this madness (Matthew 24:21-22).

Israel’s Blockade of Gaza

The Jerusalem Post wrote on January 23:

“Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Egypt from Gaza on Wednesday after gunmen destroyed about two-thirds of the Gaza-Egypt border wall. Most of the Gazans returned after stocking up on food and other basic supplies that have become scarce due to the blockade imposed on the territory by Israel. UN personnel said they estimated the number of Palestinians who entered Egypt to be 350,000. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that he had ordered his troops to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt because they were starving… Mubarak also criticized Hamas for continuing to fire missiles into Israel, saying that it was not helping the situation. He said that he had been in contact with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and helped convince him to resume fuel shipments into Gaza…

“Israel is worried about the chaos on the Gaza-Egypt border, and expects Egypt to solve the problem… The chaotic scenes came on the sixth day of a complete closure of Gaza, imposed by Israel and backed by Egypt, in response to a spike in Gaza rocket attacks on Israeli border towns. Hamas has orchestrated daily demonstrations on the Gaza-Egypt border, in an apparent attempt to appeal to Arab public opinion and pressure Egypt to open the passage.”

AFP added on January 24 that “Palestinians swarmed out of Gaza into Egypt for a second consecutive day on Thursday to stock up on supplies after militants blew open the border of the Hamas-run territory.”

“Freedom” in Turkey?

The Associated Press reported on January 20:

“A Turkish court has again blocked access to the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube because of clips allegedly insulting the country’s founding father, according to reports Sunday. It was the second time Turkey banned the site because of clips deemed disrespectful to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is illegal in Turkey to insult the revered figure, whose portrait still hangs in nearly all government offices nearly 70 years after his death. Users trying to access the Web site from Turkey were met with notices in English and Turkish saying it was banned under an Ankara court order issued Jan. 17.

“Last March, another court blocked access to YouTube for two days after a complaint that some clips insulted Ataturk, a war hero who founded Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. The ban was lifted after YouTube removed the offending videos… The YouTube bans in Turkey have highlighted the country’s troubled record on free expression. Several prominent Turkish journalists and writers — including Nobel literature prize winner Orhan Pamuk — have been tried for allegedly insulting ‘Turkishness.'”

“Don’t Attack the Pope…”

AFP wrote on January 20:

“More than 100,000 people filled St Peter’s Square on Sunday in a show of support for Pope Benedict XVI after protests by scientists [prompted] him to cancel a university speech… The 80-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church cancelled a planned speech at Rome’s La Sapienza university Thursday after dozens of professors and students protested his presence at the secular school…

“A Vatican spokesman put at 200,000 the number of pilgrims at the event — billed in the Italian media as ‘pope day’ — holding up banners with slogans such as ‘Holy Father We Love You’ and ‘Long Live Freedom of Thought.’ Tens of thousands more supporters watched video links of the event outside the Milan cathedral and in Verona, Italian media reported…

“Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli attended Sunday’s rally, as well as former justice minister Clemente Mastella, who resigned just last week to face corruption charges. University Minister Fabio Mussi raised a dissenting voice, saying the politicians’ presence at the event ‘smacked of exploitation.’…

“The incident [that is, the protest by scientists and students] ‘was a shock for most Italians, whatever their opinions on other subjects,’ said Marco Politi, a Vatican expert at the Italian daily La Repubblica. ‘In Italy, to attack the pope’s person … is to violate a taboo,’ Politi told AFP. But Paolo Flores D’Arcais, who writes for a prestigious philosophy magazine, MicroMega, said: ‘THIS IS THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN. The pope … is posing as a victim. He’s the one who decided not to go to the university, where he could have spoken.’

“Students opposed to the pope’s visit staged ‘an anti-clergy week’ during which they showed a film on Galileo, the 17th-century physicist who fell foul of Church doctrine by insisting that the Earth orbits the Sun. Galileo was convicted of heresy by the Inquisition — the predecessor of the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, that the pope formerly headed as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.”

As we reported in the Current Events section of our last week’s Update (#327), the concern of the professors and scientists–which AFP neglected to mention in the above-quoted article–was the pope’s APPROVAL of Galileo’s trial. We quoted the Catholic press agency, VIS, as follows: “The signatories of the petition take exception to a talk given by the then Cardinal Ratzinger in 1990, and in particular to a phrase he used on that occasion to the effect that ‘in Galileo’s time the Church remained much more faithful to reason than Galileo himself. The trial against Galileo was reasonable and just.'”

No Surprise–Another Political Crisis in Italy

CNN reported on January 23:

“Recent opinion poll analysis suggests Italians have lost confidence in all state institutions: the presidency, the parliament, the government, the judiciary and, yes, you guessed it, the church. The last thing this country needs at this time is another political crisis that would result in more instability and more dissatisfaction among people here. Yet this is exactly what is happening. After less than two years in office, Prime Minister Romano Prodi is fighting for his (political) survival. He has been doing so since he won the elections by a wafer thin majority in April 2006, but last week his minister of justice resigned amid corruption allegations (which he denied). He announced that his party, which has less than two percent of national representation and holds only three out of 315 senate seats, was pulling out.”

Reuters reported on January 24:

“Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi lost a confidence vote in the Senate on Thursday and went to hand his resignation to the president, prompting opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi to demand immediate elections…  But President Giorgio Napolitano may first appoint an interim government to reform a messy electoral system, which in 2006 landed Prodi with a tiny Senate majority and an unstable nine-party coalition ranging from Catholics to communists. Analysts said the demise of the 61st government since World War Two should not hurt economic growth prospects…”

 

German Carnival On Its Way

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 21:

“Germany’s main carnival parade this year will poke fun at England for failing to qualify for the European Football Championship in June… Much of traditionally Catholic western and southern Germany comes to a standstill during the week before Lent. The season kicks off with ‘Old Wives’ Day’ when women cut off men’s ties in a symbolic castration ritual and storm town halls… If carnival is a religion, the residents of Cologne can be classified as extremists: The inebriated revelry can make the Munich Oktoberfest look like a tea party.”

Frankenstein in the Making?

The Daily Mail reported on January 17:

“A scientist has achieved a world first… by cloning himself. In a breakthrough certain to provoke an ethical furore, Samuel Wood created embryo copies of himself by placing his skin cells in a woman’s egg. The embryos were the first to be made from cells taken from adult humans… they survived for only five days and were smaller than a pinhead… critics fear the technology could be exploited by mavericks to clone babies and accused the scientists of reducing the miracle of human life to a factory of spare parts.

“Researchers from the Californian stem cell research company Stemagen employed the same technique used to make Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal, to create the embryos… [Wood] is working on extracting stem cells from such embryos – a process that inevitably leads to the death of the embryo.

“John Smeaton, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: ‘We have got scientists wandering around in an ethical wilderness, forgetting about matters of justice relating to our fellow human beings. We have people creating human beings with the intention of destroying them. That’s appalling.’

“And the Vatican condemned the cloning of human embryos, calling it the ‘worst type of exploitation of the human being’. ‘This ranks among the most morally illicit acts, ethically speaking,’ said… Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican department that helps oversee the Church’s position on bioethics issues…

“Although Dr Wood’s team is the first to create human embryos from adult cells, human embryos have been cloned before. Scientists at Newcastle University created cloned human embryos in 2005 using cells from embryos rather than adults, seen as less useful in creating potential treatments…

“The news came as it was revealed that animal-human hybrid embryos will be created in British laboratories… Mr Smeaton said: ‘It is creating a category of beings regarded as sub-human who can be used as raw material to benefit other members of the human family. How wrong can something be before a scientist understands you cannot just do it because of the perceived good for human beings.'”

Is it justified to kill unborn embryos in order to save born humans? For this hotly debated issue, please make sure to view our recent StandingWatch program (#153), titled, “Abortion–Right or Wrong?”

America–The Whole Nation Is Sick (Isaiah 1:5-6)

LifeScience reported on January 8:

“The United States places last among 19 countries in deaths that could have been prevented by access to timely and effective healthcare, a new study finds.If the United States had performed as well as the top three countries out of the 19 industrialized countries in the study, there would be about 101,000 fewer U.S. deaths in the per year, the researchers estimate. The top performers: France, Japan, and Australia…

“In 1997–98 the U.S. ranked 15th out of 19 countries on the ‘mortality amenable to health care’ measure. However, by 2002–03 the U.S. fell to last place, with 109 deaths amenable to health care for every 100,000 people. In contrast, mortality rates per 100,000 people in the leading countries were: France (64), Japan (71), and Australia (71).

“The other countries included in the study were Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom…

“In a 2006 study, infant mortality in the United States was found to be among the worst of all industrialized nations. Another study found Americans had a higher rate of sickness than the British in all categories studied.”

Is the USA Losing Economic World Dominance?

The Financial Times wrote on January 15:

“The US looks poised to lose its mantle as the world’s dominant financial market because of a rapid rise in the depth and maturity of markets in Europe, a study suggests. The change may have occurred already, not least because US markets are beset by credit woes, according to research by McKinsey Global Institute, a think-tank affiliated to the consultancy. ‘We think the differential growth rates are so significant that it is quite likely Europe has overtaken the US,’ said Diana Farrell, author of the report… In previous decades, most US policymakers and bankers assumed their domestic markets were the largest and most sophisticated in the world, and sought to export their model of financial capitalism to other parts of the globe. But the credit crisis has dented confidence in the health of America’s financial institutions and its model of finance. Meanwhile, since the launch of the single currency in 1999, European markets have been steadily growing in liquidity and size.”

“The US Is Headed Into a Recession”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 16:

“Fears continued to grow on Wednesday that the growing financial flu in the United States caused by the subprime mortgage crisis is spreading across the Atlantic. On Tuesday, investor Hypo Real Estate saw its market value drop by a massive €2 billion, or nearly a third, one of the biggest drops ever recorded of a firm listed in the DAX index of leading German firms… Meanwhile, conviction seems to be growing that the US is headed into a recession and that the effects could put the brakes on Germany’s recent economic boom. Last week Goldman Sachs said the US would go into a recession in 2008, but Merrill Lynch claims it has already arrived.”

US Inflation Rate Worst in 17 Years

The Associated Press reported on January 16:

“Higher costs for energy and food last year pushed inflation up by the largest amount in 17 years, even though prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas. Meanwhile, industrial output was flat in December, more evidence of a significant slowdown in the economy… Consumers felt the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries…

“In a second report, the Federal Reserve said that output at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities showed no growth in December, adding to a string of weak economic reports showing that the economy was slowing at the end of last year.

“That weakness has shown up in the biggest one-month jump in unemployment since the 2001 terrorist attacks and billions of dollars in losses at many of the country’s biggest financial institutions. Citigroup Inc. reported Tuesday it had suffered a $10 billion loss for the last three months of 2007, reflecting bad bets on investments backed by subprime mortgages.

“The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 277 points on Tuesday and fell even further on Wednesday as Intel reported weak earnings for the fourth quarter. The Dow was down by 26 points in late morning trading… The rising risk of a recession has prompted politicians to consider stimulus packages to give the economy a jump-start to either prevent a recession or at least mitigate its fallout… Workers’ wages failed to keep up with the higher inflation. Average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, dropped by 0.9 percent in 2007, the biggest setback since a 1.5 percent fall in 2005.”

In addition, AFP reported on January 17 that “US financial services giant Merrill Lynch reported Thursday a 2007 net loss of 7.8 billion dollars amid heavy losses in financial products linked to the mortgage sector crunch.”

Bush Administration Supports “Reasonable” Gun Restrictions

On January 14, WorldNetDaily reported the following:

“Since ‘unrestricted’ private ownership of guns clearly threatens the public safety, the 2nd Amendment can be interpreted to allow a variety of gun restrictions, according to the Bush administration. The argument was delivered by U.S. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the ongoing arguments over the legality of a District of Columbia ban on handguns in homes, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. Clement suggested that gun rights are limited and subject to ‘reasonable regulation’ and said all federal limits on guns should be upheld.

“‘Given the unquestionable threat to public safety that unrestricted private firearm possession would entail, various categories of firearm-related regulation are permitted by the 2nd Amendment,’ he wrote in the brief, the Times reported. He noted especially the federal ban on machine guns and those many other ‘particularly dangerous types of firearms,’ and endorsed restrictions on gun ownership by felons, those subject to restraining orders, drug users and ‘mental defectives.’ His arguments came in the closely watched Washington, D.C., ban that would prevent residents from keeping handguns in their homes for self-defense…

“The [second] amendment reads, ‘A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.’ Clement is the Bush administration’s chief lawyer before the court, and submitted the arguments in the case that is to determine whether the D.C. limit is constitutional.

“He said the 2nd Amendment ‘protects an individual right to possess firearms, including for private purposes unrelated to militia operations,’ and noted the D.C. ban probably goes too far… He said the failing in the D.C. law is that it totally bans handguns in the homes of private citizens… The Justice Department long had endorsed gun controls until Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2001 switched the department’s position to support individual gun rights, the Times said.”

Bad Arab Reviews for President Bush in the Mideast

Time reported on January 16:

“The disparaging of President Bush’s eight-day tour of the Middle East by America’s staunchest opponents in the region was hardly unexpected. Iran’s foreign minister claimed it was designed to give Israel a green light ‘to perpetrate new crimes’ against Palestinians. Lebanon’s most senior Shi’ite cleric accused Bush of ‘war crimes.’ A prominent jihadist web site called the President ‘this criminal, butcher and murderer of our blood.’

“But Bush was also harshly criticized — albeit in more circumspect language — in countries with close ties to Washington, including some from the very countries that rolled out the red carpet for the visiting President. Commenting on the two main purposes of the tour, even the most liberal Arab press questioned the sincerity of Bush’s efforts to establish a Palestinian state and criticized his campaign to pressure Iran over its nuclear program… Perhaps the unkindest cut of all was an editorial in the Saudi Gazette, comparing back-to-back visits by Western leaders to Riyadh this week. ‘It would be difficult to argue that French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to the Kingdom was not in almost every way a success,’ the paper said, adding, with an unmistakable swipe at Bush: ‘It’s refreshing to see a Western leader come to the Kingdom speaking of peace rather than just issuing warnings on the state of affairs in the region.’

“Bush’s efforts to rally an Arab coalition to isolate Iran in the Gulf seemed to fall flat. Only days after he visited Kuwait, liberated in 1991 by a coalition led by the President’s father, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah was standing beside Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran, declaring: ‘My country knows who is our friend and who is our enemy, and Iran is our friend.’

“Seldom has an American President’s visit left the region so underwhelmed, confirming Bush’s huge unpopularity on the street and his sagging credibility among Arab leaders he counts as allies…

“Bush received his warmest welcome in Saudi Arabia, where King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud accorded him an honor reserved for special friends by inviting him to his horse farm outside Riyadh. But the Saudis didn’t hesitate when it came to publicly disagreeing with Bush’s views on various Middle East matters. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, standing beside Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice, pointedly declined to endorse her call for more Arab gestures toward Israel or her relatively rosy assessment of political reconciliation in Iraq. After Bush jawboned the Saudis about increasing oil production to bring down oil prices, the Saudi oil minister shot back, ‘We will raise production when the market justifies it.’

“For Arabs, the biggest bone of contention, as it has been so often in the past, was Bush’s handling of the Palestinian issue… ‘We ought to be celebrating President George Bush’s declaration that a Palestinian state is “long overdue,”‘ said the Arab News in Jidda. ‘It is impossible to feel any excitement about Bush’s words, because no Palestinian, no Arab believes he will, or can, deliver. We have the Bush record with its damning testimony of failure and disaster. That is the reason for the skepticism and the cynicism.'”

Sarkozy Under Fire

Reuters reported on January 18:

“President Nicolas Sarkozy’s increasingly frequent and positive references to God and faith have drawn fire from critics who accuse him of violating France’s separation of church and state. Sarkozy, a taboo-breaker whose whirlwind love life has distracted the media for weeks, broke with traditional presidential reserve about religion to stress France’s Christian roots in a speech in a Rome basilica just before Christmas.
 
“In Riyadh on Monday, he hailed Islam as ‘one of the greatest and most beautiful civilisations the world has known’ and described his Saudi hosts as rulers who ‘appeal to the basic values of Islam to combat the fundamentalism that negates them’. His praise for a kingdom that enforces and propagates a strict version of Islam, during a visit aimed at securing lucrative export contracts, was the last straw for his critics…

“The twice-divorced president defines himself as a ‘cultural Catholic’, an infrequent churchgoer who says he values the moral and social role that religion can play in society.”

“Europe Is Becoming a Platform for Terrorists”

Reuters reported on January 16:

“Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Wednesday that one of the biggest threats to U.S. security may now come from within Europe. In an interview with BBC radio, Chertoff said that American authorities were becoming increasingly aware of a real risk of Europe becoming a ‘platform for terrorists’… Chertoff’s comments came after reports that British intelligence services are investigating an Islamist Web site which said that a branch of al Qaeda had been established in Britain. Security experts fear a posting on the site, urging young Muslim men to rise up against what it called infidels such as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former Prime Minister Tony Blair, may be genuine.

“Chertoff said that while Washington had no plans to suspend a visa waiver program that allows most Europeans who travel to the United States as tourists to do so without a visa, authorities would like to step up advance checks on travelers. ‘We do want to elevate some of the security measures in the program,’ he said, proposing an advance travel authorization system which would require potential visitors to register online their intention to travel to America to allow authorities to clear them in advance.

“Chertoff also said that the absence of any attacks in the United States since September 11, 2001 had created ‘a certain sense of complacency’ which needed to be dispelled. ‘When I lift my eyes and look around the world and I look at what happens in Britain and Germany and Spain and Bali and Pakistan, I don’t see terrorism going away, I see an al Qaeda that’s emboldened,’ he said.”

Tony Blair–the New European President?

On January 12, the EUObserver wrote the following about speculations that Tony Blair might become the European President  in 2009:

“Even before the Lisbon Treaty was signed, speculation was rife as to who would be the first European president as proposed in the new document. Now it is signed and sealed, one man heads the list of potential candidates. The role, outlined in the treaty signed by the 27 member states at the end of last year, will replace the current system whereby each country assumes the rotating presidency for six months. The job, a two-and-a-half-year term, will be up for grabs in 2009 if the bloc’s 27 member states can keep to their timetable and individually ratify the treaty over the next year. It now appears that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has taken an early lead…

“[French President] Sarkozy has made no secret of his admiration for Blair and was the first and most vocal advocate of his potential presidency. ‘He is a very remarkable man. He is the most European of Britons … it would be intelligent to think of him,’ Sarkozy said last year. The French president is not alone in thinking Blair would be a good candidate…

“Blair’s supporters also trumpet his close ties with the United States, which could help improve transatlantic relations, and his high international profile… One of Blair’s strongest skills is his public persona and his ability to work with diplomats of all levels and nations. The European president would also have to be a strong character to help define the job from that of the EU ‘High Representative’ for foreign affairs, a post also introduced in the treaty, and the European Commission president’s role. Blair has never had a problem with showing those around him who’s boss, with maybe the exception of the President of the United States.

“Blair’s close relationship with the United States, which his supporters say would be advantageous in the European president’s post, is also held up by those against him as a reason why he would not be the ideal candidate. Blair looked across the Atlantic instead of the English Channel when Iraq slipped towards war and many on the continent have not forgotten on which post Blair nailed his colors.

“While speculation grows, the man himself is said to be concentrating fully on his current job as the international community’s Middle East envoy without a thought for the position of European president. Anyone who has followed Blair’s career will find that very difficult to believe.”

It might be interesting to review Mr. Blair’s ancestry.

The Wickipedia Encyclopedia reports:

“Blair was born at the Queen Mary Maternity Home in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 6 May 1953, the second son of Leo and Hazel Blair [her maiden name was Corscadden]. Leo Blair, the illegitimate son of two English actors, had been adopted by a Glasgow shipyard worker named James Blair and his wife Mary as a baby. Hazel Corscadden was the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher and Orangeman who had moved to Glasgow in 1916 but returned to (and died in) Ballyshannon in 1923, where his wife Sarah Margaret [her maiden name was Lipsett] gave birth to Blair’s mother Hazel above her family’s grocery shop. The Lipsett family in Donegal supposedly originated with a German Jewish immigrant to Ireland prior to the 18th century…”

Joerg Haider Back in the News

The Associated Press reported on January 14 (The article was re-published in The Moscow Times on January 16):

“Austrian right-wing politician Joerg Haider called on Saturday for an immediate moratorium on granting asylum to immigrants from Chechnya, blaming some already in the alpine country for violence and sex crimes. In a harshly worded statement, Haider — the former leader of the far-right Freedom Party — accused the Austrian government of carelessness in approving roughly 70 percent of all applications for asylum sought by people fleeing Chechnya.

“Haider accused Chechen asylum seekers of ‘excessive violence’ in the southern province of Carinthia, where he is governor, and blamed Chechens for a rise in rapes and other sexual assaults in the province of Upper Austria. Chechens, Haider said, have ‘a heightened potential for violence’ and should not be readily admitted into Austria… Haider said it was ‘incomprehensible’ that Austria granted asylum to more than 2,000 Chechens last year. At the same time, he said, neighboring nations such as Slovenia did not approve a single application.

“He said more Chechens were reaching Austria and applying for permission to stay now that European Union border controls have been dismantled along the country’s borders with relative EU newcomer nations Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Haider, who founded the somewhat more moderate Alliance for the Future of Austria in 2005, is best known for mocking Jews and praising some of Hitler’s policies while he was at the helm of the Freedom Party.”

Islam’s Teaching About Jesus Christ

AFP reported on January 13:

“A director who shares the ideas of Iran’s hardline president has produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view of Jesus Christ, in a bid to show the ‘common ground’ between Muslims and Christians. Nader Talebzadeh sees his movie, ‘Jesus, the Spirit of God,’ as an Islamic answer to Western productions like Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ which he praised as admirable but quite simply ‘wrong’… Islam sees Jesus as a prophet, not the [Son] of God, and does not believe he was crucified… The film, funded by state broadcasting, faded off the billboards but is far from dead, about to be recycled in a major 20 episode spin-off to be broadcast over state-run national television this year…

“[In the] movie, God saves Jesus, depicted as a fair-complexioned man with long hair and a beard, from crucifixion and takes him straight to heaven. ‘It is frankly said in the Koran that the person who was crucified was not Jesus’ but Judas, one of the 12 Apostles and the one the Bible holds betrayed Jesus to the Romans [Talebzadeh said]…

“In [the] film, it is Judas who is crucified. Islam sees Jesus as one of five great prophets — others being Noah, Moses and Abraham — sent to earth to announce the coming of Mohammed, the final prophet who spread the religion of Islam… Shiite Muslims, the majority in Iran, believe Jesus will accompany the Imam Mahdi when he reappears in a future apocalypse to save the world.

“… the TV version of [the] film will [allegedly] further explore the links between Jesus and the Mahdi — whose return Ahmadinejad has said his government, which came to power in 2005, is working to hasten.”

Austrian Politician Attacks Muhammad and Islam

Der Spiegel Online reported on January 14:

“Susanne Winter, a right-wing politician with the FPÖ party running for a city council seat in the city of Graz, blasted Muslims on Sunday, saying that ‘in today’s system’ the Prophet Muhammad would be considered a ‘child molester,’ apparently referring to his marriage to a six-year-old child. She also said that it is time for Islam to be ‘thrown back where it came from, behind the Mediterranean.’… she also claimed that Muhammad wrote the Koran in ‘epileptic fits.’

“In an interview with the daily Österreich published on Monday, Winter continued the onslaught saying that child abuse is ‘widespread’ among Muslim men and that Graz is facing a ‘tsunami of Muslim immigration.’ In 20 or 30 years, she warned, half of Austria’s population would be Muslim.

“Her comments have resulted in a storm of protest in Austria, with politicians and commentators of all stripes taking Winter and her party to task. Austrian prosecutors are also looking into the possibility of filing charges against the 50-year-old politician for incitement…

“But despite the strong reaction generated by Winter, such rhetoric is hardly foreign to political campaigns in Austria. Her party was brought to international prominence by Jörg Haider, the notoriously right-leaning politician who found success in the 1990s and earlier this decade with a mixture of xenophobia and nationalism. He has since moved on, but his rhetoric has remained the same. Campaigning recently for his new group, the Association for Austria’s Future (BZÖ), he said, ‘We are still allowed to say Gruss Gott,’ — the traditional Austrian greeting — ‘and don’t have to praise Allah.’…”

The Austrian Press Agency, NetWorld, reported on January 15 that Winter allegedly received death threats from a radical Islamic group, which is reportedly operating in Serbia. The group claims that Winter must be killed, and that every Muslim is entitled to kill Winter. In addition, a video surfaced on the Internet, which was later withdrawn by the Internet provider as inappropriate, showing a picture of the September 11th attack on New York, with an accompanying text, stating that something similar could also happen in Austria, and that Winter would be responsible.

NetWorld continued to state on January 16 that even several Habsburg emperors could be viewed as “child molesters”–if one was to follow Winter’s rationale. It was pointed out that in 1483, French Emperor Charles VIII married three-year-old Margaret of Austria, a daughter of Emperor Maxilimian. Further, in 1649, 14-year-old Maria Anna of Austria was married to her uncle, Spain’s King Philip of Spain; and in 1666, 15-year-old Margarita Teresa married her uncle, Emperor Leopold I.

German Head of Catholic Church Resigns

Deutsche Welle reported on January 16:

“Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the head of Germany’s Catholic Church, has announced that he will vacate his post on Feb. 18 [after having led the country’s bishops for over 20 years]. The sometimes controversial, but respected bishop is known to have had health problems last year… Considered to be a relatively liberal Catholic theologian, the cardinal… became deputy head of German bishops in 1985 and was appointed chairman in 1987. He has held that post longer than any other bishop.

“He is viewed as a moral authority in Germany, and became a symbol for the Catholic Church in the country. But he has not always appealed to everyone… Lehmann upset many Muslims last year, when he spoke out against Islam enjoying equal status to Christianity in Europe.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 15 that Lehmann is one of the few church leaders who was not afraid to oppose Rome, and that his resignation signifies a loss for German Catholics. The magazine reported that he observed with concern the growth of the Catholic Church’s “Roman centralism.”

Church Trial Against Galileo “Reasonable and Just”?

VIS reported on January 16:

“The Pope will not make the visit he was scheduled to make tomorrow, 17 January, to Rome’s ‘La Sapienza’ University for the inauguration of the academic year, according to a communique released yesterday evening by the Holy See Press Office… The ‘events’ to which the note refers include a petition to the rector signed by 67 professors asking for the invitation to Benedict XVI to be withdrawn, and protests by groups of students who yesterday occupied the rector’s office to demand the right to demonstrate within the university campus on the day of the Pope’s visit.

“The signatories of the petition take exception to a talk given by the then Cardinal Ratzinger in 1990, and in particular to a phrase he used on that occasion to the effect that ‘in Galileo’s time the Church remained much more faithful to reason than Galileo himself. The trial against Galileo was reasonable and just.’ The future Pope’s remarks, a quote from a work by the philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend, were made in the context of a talk on the crisis of confidence in science, in which he used the example of changing attitudes towards the case of Galileo.”

Closer Ties Between China and Taiwan?

The Associated Press reported on January 12:

“Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party, which supports closer ties with mainland China, won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections Saturday in a major upset for President Chen Shui-bian. The opposition victory is a massive blow to Chen’s government, whose hard-line policies were aimed at formalizing de facto independence for Taiwan. Chen, who has been president for eight years, must step down after the presidential elections on March 22… A major election issue was the economy, political observers said. Salaries have remained stagnant and unemployment is high in one of the world’s top 20 economies, while the prices of consumer goods have soared — at the same time as China has enjoyed an economic boom.

“The Nationalists have promised to boost the economy by allowing Chinese tourists to visit the island and arranging direct flights between Taiwan and China… Initiatives that the Nationalists have stalled in recent years have [included] a multibillion-dollar sale of American weapons to the island. It could also see a thawing of the island’s often frosty relationship with China, with the Nationalists not dismissing the notion of possible reunification with the mainland — an issue of serious dispute since the unresolved civil war of the 1940s. China refuses to recognize Taiwan’s de facto independence from the mainland. Beijing’s attitude towards Taiwan has also been the source of tension with Washington for several decades.”

Cloned Animal Meat Safe for Consumption?

AFP reported on January 16:

“The US food safety authority on Tuesday approved meat and milk from cloned animals, clearing the way for them one day to appear on store shelves despite opposition on ethical and health grounds. ‘Meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food, are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals,’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Randall Lutter told a news conference. Lutter said his agency would not require food made from cloned animals or their offspring to be specially labeled, but producers could apply for the right to label their foods ‘clone-free.’ The FDA however said it did not have enough information to rule on whether cloned sheep and other cloned animals were safe to eat…

“The European Commission has vowed to consult consumers before giving its own ruling in May. The European Food Safety Authority said meat and milk from healthy cattle and pig clones is probably safe for humans to eat…

“US senators last month passed a farm bill that included a measure requiring the FDA to delay its ruling until further studies are carried out. One of the sponsors of that measure, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, accused the FDA of acting ‘recklessly’ on Tuesday. ‘Just because something was created in a lab, doesn’t mean we should have to eat it,’ she said in a statement… It will still be years before meat and milk from clones appears in US stores, reports say. The animals involved, clones of the highest quality beasts, are too valuable to slaughter or milk and better used for breeding.”

Ethics Violation of Cloned Food

The EUObserver reported on January 17:

“The European Commission’s advisory group [EGE] charged with consideration of ethics in science and technology has concluded that at present the production of cloned food cannot be justified. The [EGE] said Thursday (17 January) that due to the level of suffering of the mothers into which a cloned embryo is placed and the health problems of the animal clones themselves, the group ‘has doubts as to whether cloning animals for food supply is ethically justified.’

“Cloned animals are faced with a wide range of health problems, with a high death rate and a high incidence of disease. Clones commonly suffer from premature ageing; enlarged tongues; squashed faces; intestinal blockages; immune deficiencies; diabetes; heart, lung and liver damage; kidney failure; and brain abnormalities. Surrogate mothers are also burdened with significant suffering and a high death rate…”

First Human-Animal Embryo

Times on Line reported on January 17:

“Experiments to create Britain’s first embryos that merge human and animal material will begin within months after a Government watchdog today approved two research teams to carry out the controversial work. Scientists… will now inject human DNA into empty eggs from cows, to create embryos known as cytoplasmic hybrids…

“The experiments are intended to provide insights into diseases such as Parkinson’s and spinal muscular atrophy by producing stem cells containing genetic defects that contribute to these conditions. These will be used as cell models for investigating new approaches to treatment and for improving understanding of how embryonic stem cells develop. They will not be used in therapy, and it is illegal to implant them into the womb.”

Here Come the Human Clones…

The Associated Press reported in January 17:

“Scientists in California say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men, a potential step toward developing scientifically valuable stem cells.

“The new report documents embryos made with ordinary skin cells. But it’s not the first time human cloned embryos have been made. In 2005, for example, scientists in Britain reported using embryonic stem cells to produce a cloned embryo. It matured enough to produce stem cells, but none were extracted. Stem cells weren’t produced by the new embryos either, and because of that, experts reacted coolly to the research… Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk claimed a few years ago that he’d created such cell lines, but that turned out to be a fraud…

“Scientists say stem cells from cloned embryos could provide a valuable tool for studying diseases, screening drugs and, perhaps someday, creating transplant material to treat conditions like diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. But critics raise objections. The process ‘involves creating human lives in the laboratory solely to destroy them for alleged benefit to others,’ said Richard Doerflinger, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops… Other objections to cloning include concerns about health risks and exploitation if large numbers of women are asked to provide eggs.”

Jury Duty–Be Prepared At All Times

The San Diego Union Tribune wrote on January 12 about the jury selection process in St. Johnbury, Vermont. The article stated: “Faced with a shrunken jury pool, a judge resorted to some sidewalk justice in hopes of [filling] it out. [The Judge who was] discouraged when a 34-person pool of potential jurors for a sex case was reduced to 20 people, sent sheriff’s deputies into the street Wednesday to summon people to join them. Caledonia County uniformed deputies stopped people in front of the post office, asking if they lived in the county. Those who did and were 18 or older were given a summons to report to the courthouse.”

A member wrote us the following note: “I had this happen to me in Palacios Texas years ago, when I went to the post office to mail something.  Thankfully I was able to talk the sheriff out of it on the spot, as it turned out I had a dentist appointment at the time the court date was set!”

Another piece of disturbing news was reported from Colorado. 9News.com stated on January 17:

“They roamed the streets of Greeley Wednesday morning with stacks of paper and an eye out for people they could summon to emergency jury duty. Weld County and District Court staff handed subpoenas to more than 50 unsuspecting people, telling them they had to report for jury duty Wednesday morning because many of those summoned by mail did not show. Some of the people were just walking around town… [Court administrators] say this is the third time in the last two months they’ve had to take such extreme action.  Before December, they believe it had not happened in 15 years. Judges and administrators will be meeting to discuss what to do with all those no-shows.”

The Associated Press added in its article on January 17, which was posted on The Denver Post:

“With only 39 out of 200 people [summoned] for jury duty showing up Wednesday, court officials with emergency jury duty subpoenas headed to the street to randomly pick 50 people to serve on juries. Witnesses told television stations that administrators approached people walking on the sidewalk, at a grocery store and even a nearby gym, where people in their workout clothes headed to court under a threat of a contempt of court citation… Failing to show up for jury duty after getting a summons… could result in a contempt of court citation.”

Worldwide Catastrophe Coming–The Fight For Food

The Financial Post wrote on January 4:

“A new crisis is emerging, a global food catastrophe that will reach further and be more crippling than anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in comparison to what is about to transpire, Donald Coxe, global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group said… ‘It’s not a matter of if, but when,’ he warned investors. ‘It’s going to hit this year hard.’

“Mr. Coxe said the sharp rise in raw food prices in the past year will intensify in the next few years amid increased demand for meat and dairy products from the growing middle classes of countries such as China and India as well as heavy demand from the biofuels industry… The impact of tighter food supply is already evident in raw food prices, which have risen 22% in the past year…

“At the centre of the imminent food catastrophe is corn – the main staple of the ethanol industry. The price of corn has risen about 44% over the past 15 months… This not only impacts the price of food products made using grains, but also the price of meat, with feed prices for livestock also increasing… 54% of the world’s corn supply [are] grown in America’s mid-west… The amount of U.S. grain currently stored for following seasons was the lowest on record, relative to consumption, he said.”

Scientists Fear Threat to Their Holy Cow of Evolution

AFP wrote on January 4:

“A day after ordained Baptist minister Mike Huckabee finished first in the opening round [in Iowa] to choose a Republican candidate for the White House, scientists warned Americans against electing a leader who doubts evolution. ‘The logic that convinces us that evolution is a fact is the same logic we use to say smoking is hazardous to your health or we have serious energy policy issues because of global warming,’ University of Michigan professor Gilbert Omenn told reporters at the launch of a book on evolution by the National Academy of Sciences… ‘I would worry that a president who didn’t believe in the evolution arguments wouldn’t believe in those other arguments either. This is a way of leading our country to ruin,’ added Omenn…”

We are not in politics; we are not endorsing a political candidate; and we are not commenting on the qualifications of Mike Huckabee or Barack Obama (the two winners in the Iowa caucus), or of John McCain and Hillary Clinton (the two winners in the New Hampshire caucus) or of any of the other candidates for president. In fact, we don’t vote in governmental elections, as this would be violating our conscience. But we ARE commissioned to uphold God’s Word, and so, we WILL comment on the incredible allegations of Prof. Omenn. All we can say is this:

Professor Omenn and all of his colleagues who CLAIM that evolution is a FACT, SHOULD KNOW THAT IT IS NOT! To make such an outrageous statement is in clear VIOLATION OF THE TRUTH. For more information as to how other SCIENTISTS ADMIT that evolution is NOT a fact–and by the very nature of the theory, it NEVER CAN BE CONSIDERED A FACT– please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution–a Fairy Tale for Adults.”

The above-mentioned article continued:

“A poll conducted last year showed that two-thirds of Americans believe in creationism, or the theory that God created humans at a single point in time, while 53 percent believe that humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life — the theory of evolution. Around a quarter of Americans said they believe in both.”

We’d like to add this additional comment: As a Christian, who believes in the inspiration of the Bible, one CANNOT believe in BOTH EVOLUTION AND CREATION. The theory of evolution, which is the atheist’s attempt to explain a creation without a Creator, is diametrically opposite to the Biblical account of man’s creation. Why do Christians think they must compromise with God’s Word, in order to appear “intellectual” and “intelligent,” by following the “foolishness” of this world and adopting the inventions of carnal minds which are hostile toward God?

Again, if you want to learn the plain truth on this matter, please read our aforementioned free booklet on the “Fairy Tale” of Evolution.

“America Is Confused About Its Own Course”

On January 10, 2008, Der Spiegel Online reported:

“Commentators writing in Germany’s main newspapers Thursday speculate about what the results [in New Hampshire] mean and Obama’s and McCain’s chances. The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘The double comeback of the political veterans Clinton and McCain in New Hampshire reveals just one thing: America is confused about its own course. The nation wants to get away from George W. Bush, who continually divided not only the world but also his own people into good and evil and into left and right. But voters are still uncertainly groping for a balance between change and stability — in both parties. Hillary Clinton promises a break with Bush, but her person symbolizes a return to the 1990s. And the Republican John McCain, who would be 72 in January 2009 when he entered office as the oldest president in US history, is regarded by his fellow countrymen as a reliable hand at the wheel.”

“‘The question is where to go now: Back to the future, or forward into the past? But such phrases misjudge just how much Barack Obama, the loser of New Hampshire, has up until now been the winner of this election campaign. He articulates passionately the longing for fundamental change in Washington. … No matter what becomes of his ambition, the longer he survives, the easier it will be for the next president to liberate Washington from its sordid reflexes and its paralyzing self-blockade.’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘The lesson of the New Hampshire primary … is that nothing is decided… Democratic voters want change — in style, content and personnel. The Republicans expect strong leadership and integrity from their standard-bearer. What both sides have in common — at least partially — is a dissatisfaction with the Bush administration. … Could McCain win against Obama or Clinton? Against the wife of the former president he would certainly have a chance. She polarizes voters — even with tears in her eyes.’

“The right-leaning Die Welt writes: ‘It wasn’t just her hesitant tears that helped Hillary Clinton to win in New Hampshire. Her success was also helped by distrust in the supposed savior Obama. Fresh-faced youth did not succeed against a hardened career woman this time — life experience, scars included, clearly count… Obama’s radical anti-Iraq card is not so successful in the end. While Obama would be unbeatable almost anywhere in Europe, it seems that things are a bit different in once-isolationist America: Here, ideas about change for the better and living in peace do not automatically stand in opposition to democracy’s expansive impulse.’ …

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘… Both Democratic candidates are becoming better and better through this head-to-head race — and increasing their chances of winning the actual election in November. And that is ultimately what it’s all about. Because after eight years of Bush, the idea of now having four years of the Mormon minister Romney, the Baptist preacher Huckabee or the Iraq warrior McCain is too terrible a prospect.'”

Does the Second Amendment Protect the Rights of Individuals to Bear Arms?

The Associated Press reported on January 4:

“[The] District of Columbia…  is seeking to preserve its three-decade ban on handgun possession after a federal appeals court ruled in March that the ban is an unconstitutional infringement on an individual’s right to keep and bear arms. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take the case, setting up what could be a landmark ruling on the scope of the Second Amendment. The court has not addressed the issue in a significant way for nearly 70 years…

“The primary issue is whether the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right or a collective right belonging to state militias. A majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the founding fathers intended the right apply to individuals and struck down the D.C. law, though it remains in effect while the case is on appeal. The district argues that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms only in the context of an organized militia…

“The Supreme Court may hear arguments in the case in March. Because the case addresses not only the Second Amendment but also the peculiar status of the District of Columbia as a federal enclave, it is unclear whether the Supreme Court ruling will have a direct impact on the national gun-control issue.”

Will America Recover?

On January 6, 2008, the Washington Post published an editorial by George McGovern, former United States Representative, Senator, and Democratic presidential nominee. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“The political scene is marked by narrow and sometimes superficial partisanship, especially among Republicans, and a lack of courage and statesmanship on the part of too many Democratic politicians… [The war against Iraq] has killed almost 4,000 Americans, left many times that number mentally or physically crippled, claimed the lives of an estimated 600,000 Iraqis… and laid waste their country. The financial cost to the United States is now $250 million a day and is expected to exceed a total of $1 trillion, most of which we have borrowed from the Chinese and others as our national debt has now climbed above $9 trillion — by far the highest in our national history…

“How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?…

“When the Iraqi army marched into Kuwait in August 1990, President George H.W. Bush gathered the support of the entire world, including the United Nations, the European Union and most of the Arab League, to quickly expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The Saudis and Japanese paid most of the cost. Instead of getting bogged down in a costly occupation, the administration established a policy of containing the Baathist regime with international arms inspectors, no-fly zones and economic sanctions. Iraq was left as a stable country with little or no capacity to threaten others. Today… Iraq has become a breeding ground of terrorism and bloody civil strife…

“I believe we have a chance to heal the wounds the nation has suffered in the opening decade of the 21st century… At age 85, I won’t be around to witness the completion of the difficult rebuilding of our sorely damaged country, but I’d like to hold on long enough to see the healing begin. There has never been a day in my adult life when I would not have sacrificed that life to save the United States from genuine danger, such as the ones we faced when I served as a bomber pilot in World War II. We must be a great nation because from time to time, we make gigantic blunders, but so far, we have survived and recovered.”

Unfortunately, it does not appear, from Biblical prophecy, that the United States will greatly recover this time. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

U.S. Economy–“Not Just That Good”…?

The New York Times wrote on January 7:

“Dampening the administration’s customary upbeat tone on the economy, President Bush acknowledged Monday that the economic signs were ‘increasingly mixed,’ but he also suggested he would oppose Democratic initiatives to increase spending to head off a recession…

“Mr. Bush’s comments insured that the economy would become an even more central issue in the campaign and Washington as Democrats and Republicans scramble to figure out how to address rising oil prices, the home mortgage crisis, a weakening job market and recession fears. Mr. Bush, in his speech, told business leaders that… the nation faces economic uncertainty. Though Mr. Bush did not warn of a recession — as some economists have — his speech, coupled with a separate address in New York by the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., was a marked shift from their most recent optimistic assessments… polls showing Americans are now more concerned with the economy than the war in Iraq…”

… Or REALLY Bad?

USA Today wrote on January 9:

“The economic news continues to get bleaker. Oil is near $100 a barrel, housing is weak, major employers such as Citigroup are eyeing big layoffs, and the stock market dropped again Tuesday. The whiff of recession is in the air. This being an election year, calls for government rescue plans are growing louder. The details are skeletal, but they’re taking predictable forms.

“Republicans are talking about new tax cuts and extension of President Bush’s earlier ones. Democrats are discussing spending increases, including grants to states and aid to homeowners. Voters should be wary of such proposals… This is not to say that the current downturn should be ignored. But the best weapon is the Federal Reserve’s ability to cut interest rates. Such monetary policy, as it’s called, is more effective and precise than the fiscal policies wielded by politicians.”

Close Call Between USA and Iran

ABC News reported on January 7:

“The standoff between three U.S. Navy ships and five Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz Sunday was one step away from turning violent. ‘They were a heartbeat from being blown up,’ a Pentagon official, speaking of the Iranians, told ABC News. According to the Navy intelligence report on the incident, the Iranians radioed, ‘I am coming at you. You will blow up in a couple of minutes.’ The Navy ships radioed back, presumably transmitting a warning.

“All three ships also engaged in ‘evasive action,’ and according to senior Pentagon officials, the ‘prepare-to-fire’ order had been given and the gun stations manned. Pentagon officials today expressed surprise the Navy ships allowed at least one of the Iranian speedboats to get so close — just 200 yards away — without firing… A Navy official told ABC News that while there have been similar incidents in the Gulf, Sunday’s differed because of the ‘aggressive actions’ taken by the Iranians. ‘I’ve never seen a provocation like this… in international waters,’ another military official who has served for more than 25 years said. The White House seconded that notion.”

President Bush Warns Iran

AFP wrote on January 9:

“US President George W. Bush issued a new warning to regional archfoe Iran on Wednesday as he began a Middle East tour under the shadow of a weekend naval face-off between the two countries. Bush threatened Iran with ‘serious consequences’ if it attacked US warships, saying ‘all options’ were on the table to protect US assets after Sunday’s standoff in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Speaking in Jerusalem after talks with Israeli leaders, Bush also said that he remained convinced like them that Iran’s nuclear programme made it a threat to world peace, despite a recent US intelligent report that said Tehran abandoned an atomic weapons drive in 2003.”

Middle East Peace Treaty Within a Year?

The Associated Press reported on January 10, 2008:

“President Bush, summing up meetings with both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, said Thursday that a peace accord will require ‘painful political concessions’ by each. Resolving the status of Jerusalem will be hard, he said, and he called for the end of the ‘occupation’ of Arab land by the Israeli military… Bush is in the Mideast for eight days, trying to bolster his goal of achieving a long-elusive peace agreement by the end of his presidency in a year. Speaking at his hotel in Jerusalem, he said again that he thinks that is possible…

“Bush gave his most detailed summation yet of what a final peace should include, including U.S. expectations for the resolution of some of the hardest issues in the violent conflict, one of the world’s longest-running and most intractable… In his set of U.S. bottom lines were security for Israel, a ‘contiguous’ state for the Palestinians and the expectation that final borders will be negotiated to accommodate territorial changes since Israel’s formation 60 years ago… On borders, Bush said ‘any agreement will require adjustments’ to the lines drawn for Israel in the late 1940s. He was referring to Israeli neighborhoods on disputed lands that Israel would keep when an independent Palestinian state is formed…  ‘The point of departure for permanent status negotiations to realize this vision seems clear,’ he said. ‘There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967. The agreement must establish a Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people.’

“He offered no specifics to resolve the fact of disputed Jerusalem, but urged both sides to work toward a solution in what he said could be the most difficult issue to settle in a long list of difficult issues.”

AFP added on January 10:

“Underscoring scepticism about the prospects for peace, an opinion poll published in a Hebrew newspaper found that 77 percent of Israelis doubted that Bush’s visit would advance the negotiations.”

Cooling Off Between Poland and the USA

The Associated Press reported on January 7:

“Poland’s new prime minister broke from the staunchly pro-American stance of his predecessor, saying in comments published Monday he will not rush a decision on hosting a U.S. missile defense base. The tough line suggests the Bush administration’s clout with allies is weakening… Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Polish edition of Newsweek… ‘Remember, the shield is supposed to defend America, not Poland.'”

German Immigrants Have Had Enough

On January 10, 2008, Der Spiegel Online reported the following:

“It was bound to happen. After weeks of being portrayed by Hesse Governor Roland Koch as being little better than uncivilized savages, Germany’s immigrants on Thursday struck back. In an open letter addressed to Chancellor Angela Merkel and to Koch — both of the conservative Christian Democrats — an association representing some 100 immigrant groups in Germany expressed its frustration at the populist tones coming from Koch, as he campaigns for re-election in a Jan. 27 state vote.

“‘Instead of open, constructive debate coupled with sober proposals based on the facts,’ the letter reads, ‘you are causing serious damage with your campaign polemic. A short-term success in a state election cannot be so valuable that it is worth feeding prejudice … with the effect of a further social split.’

“Koch began demanding that more action be taken against ‘criminal young foreigners’ after a Dec. 20 attack, perpetrated by a 20-year-old Turkish man born in Germany and a young immigrant from Greece, on an elderly man in the Munich subway. But many of his comments have seemed to veer away from the problem of youth violence in Germany and taken on racist overtones.

“He said ‘it must be clear that the slaughtering (of animals) in the kitchen … runs counter to our principles.’ He also said: ‘People who live in Germany must behave properly and refrain from using their fists. That’s how one behaves in a civilized country.’

“Those with foreign backgrounds in Germany have felt under attack by the blast of rhetoric and accuse Koch in Thursday’s letter of ‘tactical populism.’ The treatise also points out that many of those Koch has lumped together grew up in Germany…

“The left-leaning Social Democrats aren’t the only politicians to have mounted a counter-offensive — even members of Koch’s own party are less than impressed with his aggressive rhetoric… In Munich, meanwhile, anger is exploding over a campaign poster on display showing images of the Dec. 20 subway attack. The poster, displayed in support of the Christian Social Union — a sister party to the CDU that exists only in Bavaria — reads ‘No clemency for violent criminals’ across the top. In small print on a silhouette of the attack’s victim, it reads ‘so that you won’t be next.’ Munich Mayor Christian Ude, a Social Democrat, called the ad a ‘low point in democratic culture.'”

Fair Elections in Georgia?

The EUObserver wrote on January 7:

“Georgia president Mikhail Saakashvili was re-elected Sunday (6 January) in a move set to keep the country on its pro-EU and NATO course. But opposition leaders and Russia say the poll was fixed… The snap elections were held after street protests in November complaining about government corruption, which ended in a police crackdown that undermined Mr Saakashvili’s democratic credentials.

“European democracy watchdog [the OSCE] said Sunday’s poll was imperfect but ‘consistent with most international standards’ and ‘genuinely competitive.’ It also warned that Georgia faces ‘immense challenges’ in terms of future stability…

“‘Reports from mass media, NGOs and opposition representatives have been coming in on numerous violations of election laws by the authorities,’ the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. ‘Assessments by western observers [the OSCE]…appear superficial.’ Mr Saakashvili took power in the 2003 Rose Revolution, which overthrew the country’s post-Soviet regime and saw it steer toward future EU and NATO membership in the teeth of Russian opposition.”

Der Spiegel Online added on January 7:

“The elections in Georgia came out well for President Saakashvili, as expected. Even without immediate evidence of fraud, though, trust in his government has eroded, and people are marching in the streets… German papers on Monday point out that Saakashvili — who cracked down violently on street protests last November, and managed to deny his opponents time on Georgian TV — may have found other ways besides vote-rigging to arrange a victory; and they worry that an ally of Washington may be slipping into totalitarianism.”

Strong Earthquake in Greece

AFP reported on January 6:

“An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale jolted Greeks in the southern Peloponnese region from their beds Sunday but experts warned it could have spelt disaster if it had not been so deep. The powerful quake was felt throughout the country and even as far away as Rome, but there were no reports of casualties or major damage.

“‘We were very lucky… Greece escaped the worst because it was a medium depth earthquake,’ said Georges Stavrakakis, director of the geodynamics institute of the Athens observatory… Observatory spokesman Yannis Drakatos had said earlier: ‘The tremor occurred at a depth of more than 70 kilometres (45 miles) and that is why there have been no casualties.’… Stavrakakis said Greece’s last serious earthquake, which occurred near Athens on September 7, 1999, registered 5.9 on the Richter scale and left 143 people dead. Its epicentre was less than 30 km below the Earth’s surface. Greece is the European country most prone to earthquakes, with seismic activity here accounting for half of the continent’s tremors.”

Pakistan–From Bad to Worse

On January 10, 2008, Der Spiegel Online wrote:

“As Pakistan prepares to go to the polls in February, the tensions in the country are mounting. A new suicide attack on police officers on Thursday is the latest in a wave of bomb attacks in recent months while the country endures an ongoing political crisis. The assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto two weeks ago forced a delay in parliamentary elections, now the opposition is voicing concerns that the poll will be rigged.

“Thursday’s blast in the city of Lahore killed at least 22 people, all but two of whom were part of a group of police officers gathered outside of the city’s High Court ahead of an anti-government protest rally by lawyers. The suicide attacker arrived at the court on a motorbike, then walked up to the police and blew himself up, the police reported. The explosion also injured around 60 people.

“The security forces had been braced for violence in Pakistan as Muharram, a month-long Islamic period of mourning, commences on Thursday — a time that has become a lightening rod for sectarian violence in recent years. However, the authorities had been mainly expecting attacks in the northwestern part of the country, where Sunni sectarian militants are active and where Shiite processions have been attacked in previous years. Lahore, on the other hand, is a city that is home to many of the country’s elite, particularly army officers, and it is in Punjab, the country’s most populous and richest province…

“On Tuesday Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told reporters in London that only a United Nations investigation [of his mother’s death] would satisfy him. ‘We do not believe that an investigation under the authority of the Pakistani government has the necessary transparency,’ said Zardari, who was chosen as chairman of his mother’s party after her death, despite the fact that he is a 19-year-old student. ‘I fear for my country,’ he said at the press conference.”

Ongoing Violence in Kenya

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 7:

“The outbreak of violence in Kenya during the past few days is not just the result of election fraud. Tribal rivalries, the social marginalization of entire ethnic groups and the shameless abuse of power are the root causes for the bloody tragedy. [President] Kibaki heads a highly corrupt cabinet, with almost all ministerial posts held by members of the Kikuyu people. Though the country’s largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu still make up only about 20 percent of the population. They have dominated Kenya for decades, which has translated into their receiving the best jobs, the best roads in the regions where they live and the best health care. Kenya’s founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, was a Kikuyu, as is Mwai Kibaki, the country’s third president since Kenyan independence.

“The European Union election monitoring group, headed by German politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, also confirmed that the presidential election was a farce. ‘The 2007 general elections have fallen short of key international and regional standards for democratic elections,’ he said. Voter turnout was reported at an impossible 115 percent in at least one polling location. And in at least two districts there were wide disparities between the results of the local vote count and those later announced by the Kenyan election commission in the capital Nairobi. The changes were in the president’s favor in each case.

“Challenger Odinga soon accused Kibaki of election fraud, arguing that his Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) landslide victory in the parliamentary election that took place on the same day supported his claims… Odinga is a member of the Luo ethnic group, which represents roughly one-tenth of Kenya’s population. The Kikuyu live in the center of the country, in the region surrounding Mount Kenya, while the Luo are concentrated along the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya. They have felt discriminated against by the Kikuyu for decades. In 1969, a Kikuyu murdered Tom Mboya, a prominent Luo politician, and the Luo have never forgotten his assassination.

“Odinga is a tall, charismatic man. He studied in the eastern German cities of Leipzig and Magdeburg in the 1960s and speaks fluent German. His father was the country’s vice-president under Kenyatta. After Kibaki had himself sworn in at a hastily staged ceremony in the garden of the official presidential residence, the Nairobi State House, Odinga also proclaimed himself president. The dispute led to clashes between anti-government protestors and the police in the streets of Nairobi, where barricades were set up and businesses looted. Dozens died in the unrest…

“It is unlikely that Kibaki will be able to ignore international pressure for long. Even the Americans, who prematurely congratulated him on his election victory, were quick to withdraw their statement. Although Washington sees Kibaki as a loyal ally in the war against terrorism, it distanced itself from the autocratic ruler in the wake of growing protests against the president…”

Rampant Smuggling of Radioactive Material

ABC News reported on January 4:

“In a troubling disclosure, the Russian Federal Customs Service has revealed that authorities thwarted more than 850 attempts to smuggle highly radioactive materials in and out of Russia in 2007. Eighty-five percent of these smuggling attempts were going into the country, and 15 percent were going out. The figures are likely to fuel fears about how many illegal exports were not detected, and what the potential dangers of such radioactive materials can be.”

Britain’s Jack Straw Under Religious Fire

The Daily Mail wrote on January 9:

“Church leaders yesterday warned that new gay hate laws threaten to stop Christians speaking of their beliefs. Both Church of England and Roman Catholic bishops [said that] Christians should be allowed to hold open discussions about sexuality and they must be permitted to criticise homosexual behaviour and lifestyles… The bishops also said that the new law which will make it a crime to harass or bully anyone because of their sexuality will also have a general chilling effect on free speech. Police are already ‘over-zealous’ in cracking down on Christians who stand up for their traditional views, they said…

“The move from two biggest and most influential churches came amid a Cabinet split over the hate crime amendment proposed by Justice Minister Jack Straw to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, which goes before Parliament next month… Mr Straw’s law would make it a crime to stir up hatred on grounds of sexual orientation. It would carry a maximum penalty of seven years in jail for those found guilty – a longer sentence than the five years handed down to a typical rapist… Leaders of the gay pressure group Stonewall, which has been highly influential in drawing up the new law, have said that it will permit religious leaders to continue to express their views on homosexuality provided they are ‘temperate’ and ‘polite.'”

666 and the Church of England

AFP wrote on January 10:

“Eyebrows were raised in the House of Commons on Thursday when a motion calling for the Church of England to be disestablished was listed with the number 666, symbol of the AntiChrist. ‘This number is supposed to be the mark of the Devil. It looks as though God or the Devil have been moving in mysterious ways,’ said Bob Russell, a Liberal Democrat MP among those proposing the motion for debate. ‘What is even stranger is that this motion was tabled last night when MPs were debating blasphemy,’ he added.

“The motion calls for an end to the formal link between Church and State in England — embodied in the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is both head of state and head of the Church of England. The number 666 is referred to in the Book of [Revelation] in the Bible: ‘Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred, three score and six.’

“‘It is… incredible that a motion like this should have, by chance, acquired this significant number,’ said Russell. Under the rules of the House of Commons the motion by backbenchers has little chance of actually being debated in parliament.”

The Russian Orthodox Church and the West

On January 10, 2008, Der Spiegel Online published an interview with Metropolitan Kyrill, foreign minister of the Russian Orthodox Church and the possible successor to Patriarch Alexy II. We are bringing you the following excerpts from his statements, especially as they relate to homosexuality, the evolution theory, and the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church:

“[The West] distorts the boundary between good and evil, between sin and sanctity. Even adultery is apparently no longer considered a sin, despite the fact that every adulterer senses that he has done something wrong. But human beings have a conscience. That’s something even the Marxists were unable to eliminate. They had an explanation for everything, a self-contained philosophy [which determined conscience] — just as your philosophers in Germany say, the conscience is the result of cultural development. But whether you are in Papua New Guinea, Munich or Novosibirsk in Siberia, the principles are the same everywhere: Thou shall not steal, thou shall not kill… The Bible calls it [homosexuality] a sin. But we do not condemn these people. The church is opposed to these people being persecuted or offended. But why should sin be propagated? The gay parade is a blatant display of sodomy. In that case, we might as well promote other sins, as has long been the case on television. This degenerates public morality. It is the church’s job to call a sin a sin. Otherwise it no longer serves a purpose. Unfortunately, the tendency in today’s world is to champion the freedom of choice, while freedom from evil is virtually forgotten…

“We are talking about morals. They want us to believe that morality is relative. But that’s completely untrue. The communists said that good is what is good for the working class. That was relative morality — and 60 million people were exterminated. Hitler claimed that what is good is what is good for greater Germany. That too cost millions of lives. Morality is either absolute or it doesn’t exist at all. If you can justify homosexuality, why not pedophilia?… In a few years, they’ll tell you that 12-year-old girls used to be children, but that they are now much further developed. Twenty years ago, no one would have dreamed that Germany would pass a law one day that recognizes homosexual marriages. But now that too has been accepted… Nowadays many pursue the logic that everything they want ought to be good and justified. We are too quick to treat emotions that ultimately harm us as natural needs. When moral foundations are shaken, we unleash our instincts… The difference between men and animals is that men can control their drives…

“[Regarding Darwin and the evolution theory] no one has provided precise proof of the transition from one species to another. It would be wrong to treat Darwin’s theory as the only correct one. It is the leading theory today, but it could be replaced by another theory tomorrow. There was also a time when Marxism considered itself the only correct and scientifically justified theory…

“The division [between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church]  is a consequence of human sin. In this respect it resembles a divorce. The Christian West and the Christian East parted ways because they believed that they didn’t need each other anymore. Reunification can only [be] achieved through spiritual rapprochement. It doesn’t matter how many documents we sign. Unless we have the feeling that we love each other, that we are one family, and that each member needs the other, it will not materialize… Our relations have improved since Benedict became pope. He has removed the issue of a visit to Moscow from the agenda. This sort of visit would not have solved any problems, but it would have provoked new ones. Many of the faithful in Russia mistrust Catholics. This is a legacy of the wars and of proselytization efforts in the 17th and 18th centuries.”

2007–A Year of Failure For the West

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 28, 2007:

“Ongoing difficulties in Iraq. A Taliban offensive in Afghanistan. And now the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. For the West, 2007 has been a year of failure and missteps… The Thursday assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a huge, shocking and possibly even historic triumph for the enemies of democracy. Even worse, the attack was the gruesome culmination of what has been a successful year for them.

“It is also not reaching too far to say that the shots that fatally wounded Bhutto in Rawalpindi Thursday also killed off any hope that the Islamic world could find peace of its own accord in the foreseeable future.

“The West, too, is more troubled than it has been for a long time. The dismay in the corridors of government is genuine. US President George W. Bush’s statement, which lasted little more than a minute, was eloquent testimony to his speechlessness. This world power has rarely looked so powerless — and Bush has rarely looked so helpless…

“Bush will not be in a position to do much to end this conflict. He is a war president and an unsuccessful one at that. Even if he talks about diplomacy, it sounds like preparation for war. His partners in Berlin, Paris and London will have to act cleverly in this difficult situation. Any belligerence or crowing must be avoided so as to not damage the Western position as a whole. As strange as it might sound, this beleaguered president must be ushered into retirement with dignity and civility… The classic military intervention — Bush’s formula against the danger of terrorism — has not been successful up to now and will not be so in the future. And the situation in nuclear-armed Pakistan is clearly not one where any sort of military operation should be considered…

“But does that mean we should capitulate? Should the West sit on the sidelines sipping tea? Absolutely not.

“The West has to protect itself and its people with everything modern technology has placed at its disposal… And perhaps it is once again time for European diplomacy to open up a new way of seeing things to the Americans. In the altercation with the Soviet Union and the communist bloc, Europe found success. Many in the US were set on a confrontational course while Europeans preferred an easing of tensions. It was the English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, just eight years after World War II ended, who voiced his conviction that, wherever possible, a measured, more patient and less aggressive foreign policy was the way to go.”

Bhutto’s Assassination–the “Coup De Grace” to American Policy

The New York Times wrote on December 31, 2007:

“The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has given the coup de grâce to the botched American attempt to manage a nuclear-armed Islamic state. In recent years, Pakistan has been the home of banks that wired money for the 9/11 plot, been the chief source of illicit nuclear proliferation, offered a tribal-area haven for planners of worldwide terrorism, abetted the reconstitution of the Taliban and educated many a suicide bomber in Islamic religious schools. At the same time, President Pervez Musharraf, in power since a 1999 coup, has received about $10 billion in U.S. aid, much of it to reinforce the Pakistani military in fighting Al Qaeda, the Taliban and global jihadism in South Waziristan and other tribal areas. If a U.S. policy was ever broken, this is it.

“… the United States, out of misplaced deference to Musharraf, failed to secure Bhutto the protection she was demanding. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, visited the United States shortly before her death to plead for help, but was denied the meetings he sought at the top levels of the State Department… Bhutto’s loss is devastating, comparable with Yitzhak Rabin’s. Her Kennedylike family tragedy leaves the fathomless void of what might have been.”

Who Caused Bhutto’s Death?

The Telegraph wrote on December 28, 2007:

“The burial of Benzair Bhutto was today marred by heavy violence across Pakistan as a bitter row broke out over how she died… As hundreds of thousands mourned the murdered opposition leader, the country’s Interior Ministry claimed she had died from hitting her vehicle’s sunroof when she tried to duck after a suicide attack… But the explanation was ridiculed by Farooq Naik, Miss Bhutto’s top lawyer and a senior official in her Pakistan People’s Party. ‘It is baseless. It is a pack of lies,’ he said. ‘Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head. It was a serious security lapse.'”

More Unrest in Pakistan

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 2, 2008:

“The unrest that followed the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has prompted Pakistan’s electoral commission to delay elections until Feb. 18. Opposition parties had demanded the poll go ahead on Jan. 8 and now warn that there could be more riots.

“Opposition parties in Pakistan cried foul on Wednesday after it was announced that parliamentary elections will be postponed until Feb. 18. The official line is that the delay was necessary following the unrest that erupted after opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated last Thursday… The opposition accused the authorities of using delaying tactics to avoid a defeat for the ruling party, which is closely allied to President Pervez Musharraf. Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had been hoping to reap a strong sympathy vote in the wake of her murder… “The government had initially blamed the killing on radical Islamists linked to al-Qaida but many Pakistanis suspect the security forces of having had a hand in the assassination. The government insistence that Bhutto died by hitting her head on the lever of the sunroof of her car was widely derided. The PPP insists she died from gunshot wounds.”

Der Spiegel Online added in a related article on January 2:

“Al-Qaida, the secret service or a contract killer sent by President Musharraf? A gun shot, bomb shrapnel or a fatal blow to the head? Wild theories about the death of Benazir Bhutto are making the rounds in Pakistan — and are becoming levers of political power. The news from the United States caused quite a stir: Hillary Clinton, a Democratic candidate for the US presidency, hinted on Sunday that the Pakistani military could be behind last week’s assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Previously, she said in an interview that ‘there was no reason to trust the Pakistani government.'”

China–the World’s New Economic and Military Superpower

The Independent wrote on January 1, 2008:

“Here comes the world’s newest superpower. The rest of the world is gloomily contemplating economic slowdown and even recession. Not in Beijing. China is set to make 2008 the year it asserts its status as a global colossus by flexing frightening economic muscle on international markets, enjoying unprecedented levels of domestic consumption and showcasing itself to a watching world with a glittering £20bn Olympic Games…
 
“Britain will feel the full power of the new superpower’s confidence. This month, for the first time, China’s state-controlled banks will begin spending some of its $1.33trn (£670bn) in foreign currency reserves on London’s financial markets… But while some may question Beijing’s political motives, there is no doubt that China has arrived as serious power-broker. Last year, it surpassed America as the greatest driver of global economic demand. It is also widely predicted to overtake Germany as the world’s third largest economy this year.”

The Wall Street Journal added on January 2, 2008:

“Beijing’s military has also started to boast about its new weapons and war-fighting capabilities. Peace Mission 2007, cooperative military exercises in Central Asia in August, was China’s first large-scale foreign military deployment, and recent military maneuvers, apparently rehearsals to take Taiwan and disputed islands in the South China Sea, were remarkable in scope and sophistication… China’s military assertiveness has been matched by tougher diplomacy. Last year, a series of high-level meetings showed that Beijing has moved closer to Moscow to cement their ‘friendship for generations’ and confirm their opposition to American initiatives, especially to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

“China’s sustained campaign against German Chancellor Angela Merkel for meeting the Dalai Lama in September is also notably intense. China even threatened military and political responses over economic disputes… at last month’s session of the ‘Strategic Economic Dialogue,’ the high-level talks between the U.S. and China.”

For China’s prophetic role in the near future, please read the Q&A in this Update.

Unrest in Kenya

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 2, 2008:

“The unrest in Kenya following the disputed election victory of President Mwai Kibaki is escalating into a tribal war. On Tuesday more than 40 people, many of them children, burned to death in a church after seeking refuge from machete-wielding members of another tribe. The carnage is starting to remind observers of the Rwandan genocide of 1994… Ever since President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, had himself declared the winner in an election that was obviously manipulated, the tribes of this east African country are at war.

“… the German head of the European Union’s election monitoring mission, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, is about to hold a news conference. Some 150 observers monitored this election debacle. The Kenyans have been eagerly awaiting the Europeans’ verdict on the election for days… Lambsdorff’s assessment is devastating. ‘The elections did not meet international standards of democracy,’ says Lambsdorff. He said EU monitors detected irregularities in two electoral districts where Kibaki won. In each of those two districts, the governing PNU ended up with 20,000 more votes than it received at the first count, said Lambsdorff.  In five electoral districts, members of the EU mission were barred from the vote count, and in some regions the voter turnout was unusually high. ‘We have doubts about these elections,’ Lambsdorff concluded.

“Mwai Kibaki now looks isolated. On Sunday evening… he was hastily sworn in for a second term in a televised ceremony… But the United States, Kenya’s partner in the war on terror, has now distanced itself from him. After the US had initially congratulated Kibaki on his victory, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Washington had serious concerns about the vote count.”

Germany’s Immigration Problems

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 2, 2008:

“An assault by two foreign youths on a German pensioner has triggered conservative calls for a crackdown on ‘criminal young foreigners’ and exposed deeply entrenched xenophobia that casts doubt on this country’s ability ever to fully integrate its 15 million inhabitants with an immigrant background. The 76-year-old pensioner suffered a fractured skull when he was beaten by a 20-year-old Turkish man born in Germany and a 17-year-old immigrant from Greece on December 20 after he asked them to stop smoking on a subway train in Munich, where smoking is forbidden. The pensioner recovered after a spell in hospital and recalls how they spat at him and called him a ‘… German’ before kicking him in the head. Police arrested the attackers shortly afterwards…

“[Hesse state premier Roland Koch stated] that Germany wasn’t a classic country of immigration such as Canada or Australia. ‘In our country we don’t get many cultures meeting to form a new one. Germany has had a Christian-Occidental culture for centuries. Foreigners who don’t stick to our rules don’t belong here.’ His quote ‘We have too many criminal young foreigners’ made a banner front-page headline in Bild on Friday. The paper praised him in an editorial on Wednesday, writing: ‘At last our politicians are quarrelling about the really important issues — the safety of our citizens! Fear of crime and violence by foreign criminals [have] been accompanying us on bus and subway journeys for a long time.’

“Koch’s comments fuelled conservative calls for ‘foreign’ criminals to be expelled from Germany and were echoed by Volker Kauder, head of the conservative parliamentary group in the federal parliament and a close ally of [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel. Kauder told ‘Bild am Sonntag’ that crime by foreigners had ‘been a taboo in Germany’ for too long. ‘We need education camps for hard cases, closed institutions with an overall concept for therapy. Foreigners aren’t our enemies, but criminals are — and we can no longer afford to accept their mocking laughter’…

“Representatives from ethnic minorities say Koch’s comments reveal a key obstacle to integration in Germany. People living here are still widely labelled ‘foreigners’ even if they were born in Germany, even if they have German passports, and especially if they are dark-skinned…

“Criticizing immigration can be a vote-winner in Germany. Koch has successfully tapped the issue before, winning a 1999 state election after he launched a petition against government plans to introduce dual citizenship for foreign citizens living in Germany. The current conservative premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Jürgen Rüttgers, launched a campaign in 2000 against proposed ‘green cards’ for Indian software engineers. The slogan of his campaign to give precedence to homegrown talent over skilled foreign workers was ‘Kinder Statt Inder’ — ‘Children Instead of Indians.’ In many other Western countries, a slogan like that from a mainstream politician would have killed off his career. Yet Rüttgers now runs Germany’s most populous state.

“Merkel herself suggested in a party conference speech last month that mosque minarets should be no higher than church steeples, following local resistance in several German cities to the construction of new mosques.”

Political Crisis Between France and Syria

AFP reported on January 2, 2008:

“Foreign Minister Walid Muallem announced on Wednesday that Syria was breaking off contacts with France on the political crisis in Lebanon, responding to a similar gesture by Paris three days ago. ‘Syria has decided to cease Franco-Syrian cooperation on the Lebanese crisis,’ the minister told a press conference in Damascus. He said Syria had been surprised by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s announcement on Sunday that France was cutting contacts, as it came just two days after Damascus had reached agreement with Paris on a comprehensive deal to end the crisis…

“Sarkozy accused Syria on Sunday of failing to match its words about wanting a settlement to the crisis in Lebanon with deeds on the ground. France ‘will have no more contact with Syria … until we have proof of Syrian willingness to let Lebanon appoint a president by consensus,’ he said. The French foreign ministry reiterated that position on Wednesday.”

Cyprus and Malta Adopt the Euro

The EUObserver wrote on January 1, 2008:

“The European currency is today replacing the national currencies of the two Mediterranean islands of Malta and Cyprus, bringing the number of EU states using the euro to 15 out of the 27 member states… They will add around 1.2 million people to the euro zone – some 800,000 Cypriots and around 400,000 Maltese – bringing the number of those EU citizens using the euro as a national currency to 320 million out of the EU’s total 495-million large population… Of the remaining 12 countries currently not in the euro zone, only the UK and Denmark have chosen not to adopt the European currency for reasons of economic sovereignty [while the other 10 countries have not made yet a final decision on that issue].”

Further Decline of the U.S. Dollar in the Future?

Bloomberg.com wrote on January 1, 2008:

“The dollar may extend a two-year decline against the euro on speculation a slowing economy will make U.S. assets less attractive to investors… The unemployment rate probably increased last month to the highest since July 2006…

“‘The U.S. economy will be pushed close to the recession level,” said Greg Salvaggio, vice president of capital markets in Washington… ‘There will be further dollar weakness in early 2008.” The dollar lost 9.5 percent against the euro in 2007, dropping to $1.4588, following a 10.2 percent drop in 2006…”

In addition, The Financial Times reported that Wall Street had the worst start to a New Year in 25 years. It wrote on January 2, 2008: “US blue-chip stocks on Wednesday suffered the worst start to a new year in 25 years after an index of manufacturing fell sharply, raising fears that the US economy is slowing more than expected.”

“Prosperity Gospel” Under Attack

The Associated Press reported on December 28, 2007:

“The probe by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has brought new scrutiny to the underlying belief that brings in millions of dollars and fills churches from Atlanta to Los Angeles — the ‘Gospel of Prosperity,’ or the notion that God wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches. All six ministries under investigation preach the prosperity gospel to varying degrees.

“Proponents call it a biblically sound message of hope. Others say it is a distortion that makes evangelists rich and preys on the vulnerable…

“Grassley is asking the ministries for financial records on salaries, spending practices, private jets and other perks. The investigation… has some wondering whether the prosperity gospel is facing a day of reckoning… Prosperity preachers say that it isn’t all about money — that God’s blessings extend to health, relationships and being well-off enough to help others. They have Bible verses at the ready to make their case… Critics acknowledge the idea that God wants to bless his followers has a Biblical basis, but say prosperity preachers take verses out of context…”

Even though we are not going to comment on the accuracy or inaccuracy of the “Prosperity Gospel”–whatever that (unbiblical) term may mean–it cannot be denied that God promises physical blessings to those who obey Him (compare, for example, Malachi 3:8-10). But generally speaking, governmental investigations of any Christian church, which might be conducted because of ulterior motives and/or which might attack or question Biblical truth, should be of great concern to all Christians.

Mary–the Mother of God and of the Church?

VIS wrote on January 2, 2008:

“At the first general audience of 2008… the Pope dedicated his catechesis to the Virgin Mary’s title of Mother of God… [He] recalled that ‘Theotokos’ or ‘Mother of God’ was ‘the title officially attributed to Mary in the fifth century, at the Council of Ephesus of 431’…. Following the Council of Ephesus, ‘Marian devotion underwent an enormous expansion, and many churches dedicated to the Mother of God were built… ‘All the other titles attributed to the Virgin Mary have their foundation in her vocation as Mother of the Redeemer’, he said: the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, and Mother of the Mystical Body of Christ which is the Church. ‘It was right, then, that on 21 November 1964, during Vatican Council II, Paul VI solemnly attributed to Mary the title of “Mother of the Church.”‘”

Benazir Bhutto Murdered

Recently, nothing but bad news has surfaced from Pakistan, one of the world’s nuclear powers. But on Thursday, December 27, the announcement that former premier and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during a campaign rally has topped it all.

Pakistan–the world’s “most dangerous” country–is in turmoil. January elections in Pakistan are “as good as dead.” These are some of the comments from Der Spiegel Online, dated December 27.

The world is alarmed and in shock. Strong condemnations against the cowardly act of a suicide assassin were heard from almost every corner. But depending on who was really behind this murderous attack, the repercussions for Pakistan and the world might far exceed the imaginable. The Bible strongly suggests that Pakistan will not remain for long an ally of the USA. Momentous events are beginning to take shape, which will lead to a world quite different from the one we know today.

AFP wrote on December 27:

“Pakistani opposition leader and former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide attack on Thursday, plunging the nation into turmoil less than two weeks before elections. She had just addressed a campaign rally for the parliamentary vote when an attacker shot her in the neck before blowing himself up at a park in the northern city of Rawalpindi…

“President Pervez Musharraf called on the country to stay peaceful ‘so that the evil designs of terrorists can be defeated,’ state television reported… There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Bhutto had accused elements in the intelligence services of trying to kill her. She also said she had received death threats from Islamic militant groups including Al-Qaeda.”

The Associated Press added on December 27:

“Her death threw the campaign for critical Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and stoked fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. At least 20 others were also killed in the attack…”

The British tabloid, The Sun, added:

“Next to President Pervez Musharraf, Bhutto, 54, was the best known political figure in the country, serving two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996.”

USA Today reported on December 27:

“Violence also hit another top opposition leader on Thursday. Four workers in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League were shot dead at a rally in Rawalpindi and eight others were injured…”

Really Bad News for the USA

The Associated Press stated on December 27:

“[President Bush’s] appearance [expressing his condolences and his outrage over the assassination] came as U.S. officials here struggled to cope with the immense policy implications of the assassination on relations with a nuclear-armed country that has received billions of dollars in American financial assistance and is an ally in the war on terrorism…

“The United States had been at the forefront of foreign powers trying to arrange reconciliation between Bhutto and Musharraf, who under heavy U.S. pressure resigned as army chief and earlier this month lifted a state of emergency, in the hope it would put Pakistan back on the road to democracy. Bhutto’s return to the country after years in exile and the ability of her party to contest free and fair elections had been a cornerstone of Bush’s policy in Pakistan, where U.S. officials had watched Musharraf’s growing authoritarianism with increasing unease.

“Those concerns were compounded by the rising threat from al-Qaida and Taliban extremists, particularly in Pakistan’s largely ungoverned tribal areas bordering Afghanistan despite the fact that Washington had pumped nearly $10 billion in aid into the country since Musharraf became an indispensable counterterrorism ally after Sept. 11, 2001…

“Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, ‘I am convinced Ms. Bhutto would have won free and fair elections next week… This fall… I twice urged President Musharraf to provide better security for Ms. Bhutto and other political leaders.’ He said ‘the failure to protect Ms. Bhutto raises a lot of hard questions for the government and security services that must be answered.'”

Who Killed Benazir Bhutto?

On December 27, Times On Line discussed the prime suspects in Bhutto’s assassination. The paper stated:

“The main suspects in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination are the Pakistani and foreign Islamist militants who saw her as a heretic and an American stooge and had repeatedly threatened to kill her. But fingers will also be pointed at Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] , the agency that has had close ties to the Islamists since the 1970s and has been used by successive Pakistani leaders to suppress political opposition.

“Ms Bhutto narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in October, when a suicide bomber killed about 140 people at a rally in the port city of Karachi to welcome her back from eight years in exile. Earlier that month, two militant warlords based in Pakistan’s lawless northwestern areas, near the border with Afghanistan, had threatened to kill her on her return.

“One was Baitullah Mehsud, a top commander fighting the Pakistani army in the tribal region of South Waziristan. He has close ties to al Qaeda and the Afghan Taleban. The other was Haji Omar, the ‘amir’ or leader of the Pakistani Taleban, who is also from South Waziristan and fought against the Soviets with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan…

“[Bhutto] accused Pakistani authorities of not providing her with sufficient security and hinted that they may have been complicit in the bomb attack [in October]. Asif Ali Zardari, her husband, directly accused the ISI of being involved in that attempt on her life. Mrs Bhutto stopped short of blaming the Government directly, saying that she had more to fear from unidentified members of a power structure that she described as allies of the ‘forces of militancy’.

“Analysts say that President Musharraf himself is unlikely to have ordered her assassination, but that elements of the army and intelligence service would have stood to lose money and power if she had become Prime Minister. The ISI, in particular, includes some Islamists who became radicalised while running the American-funded campaign against the Soviets in Afghanistan and remained fiercely opposed to Ms Bhutto on principle. Saudi Arabia, which has strong influence in Pakistan, is also thought to frown on Ms Bhutto as being too secular and Westernised…”

“Europe Just Got Bigger”

Der Spiegel Online reported on December 21:

“Europe just got bigger. At one minute after midnight local time on early Friday morning, border controls vanished for nine more European Union members, many of them former members of the Soviet Bloc. Fireworks, cheers, music and speeches throughout the morning welcomed the expansion, which means that travelers can move from the far corners of Estonia all the way to the Atlantic coast in Portugal without once encountering a border guard. ‘This is an especially beautiful moment,’ said German Chancellor Angela Merkel… ‘It is a source of great pleasure that coming generations will experience open borders as the European normalcy.’…

“Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Malta all joined the so-called Schengen zone, as the open-border area is known… There are now 24 countries — including two non-EU states, Norway and Iceland — populated by 400 million people in the border-free travel zone… Most of those countries entering Schengen on Friday were behind the Iron Curtain just 20 years ago. The opening of the border between Germany and Poland — one of the most contested in the past centuries of European history — was of particularly symbolic importance.”

… But Is it All Good News?

The EUObserver added on December 21:

“Land and sea border checks… are now abolished, while air borders are set to follow on 30 March 2008. Practically it means that as of today, ‘people can travel hassle-free between 24 countries of the Schengen area without internal land and sea border controls- from Portugal to Poland and from Greece to Finland’, EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini said in a statement. ‘An area of 24 countries without internal borders is a unique and historical achievement. I feel very proud and privileged to have been involved in making it happen’, he added…

“However, some were more enthusiastic than others. While Slovaks were celebrating until late in the night on Friday at the country’s border with ‘old’ member state Austria, no celebrations could be noted on the Austrian side. A recent poll carried out in Austria showed 75% of its citizens opposed the lifting of barriers, according to the BBC…

“European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said: ‘Together we have overcome border controls as man-made obstacles to peace, freedom and unity in Europe’…

“The Schengen area was established in 1985 and named after the small Luxembourg village where it was signed by Germany, the Benelux countries and France. The nine new countries joined the 15 others already in Schengen – thirteen EU states excluding the UK and Ireland which preferred to stay out, but including Norway and Iceland.

“Non-EU member Switzerland is also to become a member of the Schengen area next year, while three EU states – Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania — have still to meet the necessary requirements. It is not yet known when they will join the EU’s borderless zone, but Cyprus is expected to do so around 2009, while Bulgaria and Romania are hoping to follow suit by 2011.”

It’s not all good news–by any means. For further information as to what IS prophesied to happen soon in Europe, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

The Ever-Shrinking U.S. Dollar

The Washington Post wrote on December 24:

“The sharp decline of the U.S. dollar since 2000… marks a shift for Americans in the global economy. In times of strength, a mightier dollar allowed Americans to feed their insatiable appetite for foreign goods at cheap prices while providing Yankees abroad with virtually unrivaled economic clout. But now, as the United States struggles to fend off a recession, observers say the less lofty dollar is having both a tangible and intangible diminishing effect.

“‘The dollar was the dominant force in world economics for 100 years — we had no competition,’ said C. Fred Bergsten, an American economist… ‘There was no other economy close to the size of the United States. But all that is now changing.’ The dollar is down more than 40 percent against the euro over the past seven years, taking a particularly sharp drop last month.

“… for untold millions worldwide, the weak dollar has emerged as a troubling dark spot… some countries have begun to diversify their dollar holdings… In May, Kuwait dropped its currency peg to the dollar and other oil-rich Gulf states have threatened to follow. Perhaps most telling: In recent months, the euro surpassed the dollar as the currency with the largest global circulation…

“The chink in the dollar’s armor has dealt a blow to American pride — at least to the kind of pride that comes with buying power. Nowhere is that more visible than with Americans overseas… ‘Every time the euro increases by 10 cents towards the dollar we lose $1 billion in our operations,’ said an Airbus official at the company’s headquarters in Toulouse, France. ‘Aircraft are sold in U.S. dollars, but most of our production costs are paid in euros.’…

“The dramatic surge in oil revenue along with the weakening dollar has sparked a rise in inflation in the Gulf states — hurting most those who have the least. In recent months, it has wiped out much of the gains from years of hard labor for the thousands of South Asian workers who moved to Dubai for a piece of its multibillion-dollar construction boom… some in China are turning their noses up at the dollar. Lin Jing, a sales manager… said [his] company has begun to demand euros from its overseas customers instead of dollars. ‘The use of euros enables us to shy away from losses caused by the conversion between the [Chinese currency] and the weakened dollar,’ he said.”

America’s Housing Saga Worst Since Great Depression

The Washington Times wrote on December 26:

“This year’s housing bust is shaping up to be one of historic proportions. Sales and construction have sunk to levels not seen since the 1990 savings and loan crisis, while foreclosures and price drops are the largest since the Great Depression — and expected to get worse next year. Many parallels can be seen with earlier housing debacles. Each episode had some combination of easy money, loose lending, greed and fraud that turned a housing boom into a speculative bubble. But few housing bubbles have ended so badly as the one today, when the nation is confronting the prospect of mass foreclosures and family dislocations…

“The whole mess threatens to sink the broader economy the longer it wreaks havoc on consumer confidence and spending power… The housing saga is far from over, many analysts say. With millions more mortgages resetting in the next two years, many more people could lose their homes. Banks, securities firms and investors could foot another $300 billion in losses, by some estimates. If consumers are daunted by bleak housing news and their loss of wealth and spending power, they could capitulate and send the economy into a recession, economists say…”

How Europe Views the American Presidential Election

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 24:

“The United States is a country that likes to explain democracy to other nations. It is also a country that starts wars to bring democracy to the world. It allows the candidates for its highest office, the presidency, to spend a year and a half campaigning, leaving no stone unturned as it delves into their past…

“And then there is Iowa. Iowa — a flat state of corn, cows and the occasional small town. Iowa, a sparsely populated state in the US Midwest, is home to 2,982,000 people, 94 percent of them white. Astonishing things have been happening in Iowa in recent weeks: Hillary Clinton knocking on the doors of hog farmers and smiling timidly; Rudy Giuliani helping an elderly woman cross the street; Mitt Romney telling a joke; Barack Obama standing in the lobby of a Des Moines hotel whistling a tune; Fred Thompson looking awake.

“The American presidential election campaign is heating up. Although the general election isn’t until November 2008, Iowa residents of both major political parties will be the first, on Jan. 3, to cast their votes to determine which Democrat and which Republican will make the final run for the White House. Voters in New Hampshire, South Carolina and the rest of the 50 states will follow suit in the days and months ahead…

“Of course, it is by no means certain that the Democrats will still be ahead when the general election rolls around in just under a year. But it looks that way for the moment, at least, partly because current President George W. Bush is so unpopular and partly because American voters are confronted with an unusually weak collection of candidates for the Republican nomination…

“A preliminary decision — nothing more, nothing less — will be made here in Iowa on Jan. 3. The real race begins after that.”

However, the magazine added:

“It could snow on Jan. 3, a Thursday. And there will be football on TV — both could reduce voter turnout. No more than 100,000 votes are up for grabs for each party in Iowa, and only 3,000 to 4,000 votes will decide whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, the two leading Democratic candidates, will win the state’s important first-in-the-nation primary election. Winning in Iowa is… traditionally a tremendous boost for a candidate. Conversely, candidates who fail to place a strong second or third in the state are often finished.”

Putin Person of the Year? — Get Real!

Time Magazine chose Vladimir Putin as the person of the year. An odd choice–to put it mildly. On December 20, U.S. News and World Report published the following commentary by senior writer Michael Barone. Although we do not agree with all of his comments, they nevertheless make interesting reading:

“Time magazine has chosen Vladimir Putin as the person of the year. This strikes me as an odd choice. Yes, Putin has been an important player on the international stage; yes, he has frustrated American efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons; yes, he has been more intransigent on asserting Russian power on the ‘near abroad,’ the former Soviet republics, which, like Ukraine, Georgia, and the Baltics, seek to take a different course. But he has been doing these things for years, and he has made no important advances, at best incremental progress, in calendar year 2007…

“To be sure, Time did not always name those admired by its founder, Henry Luce, a liberal Republican and interventionist in the run-up to World War II. For 1942, it named Joseph Stalin for the Soviets’ successful resistance to the Nazi invasion that began in 1941, but it had also… named Stalin as the man of the year in 1939, because the Hitler-Stalin pact agreed to in August 1939 enabled Adolf Hitler to invade Poland without serious opposition. Indeed, Time also named Hitler man of the year for 1938, when he got Britain and France to appease him by destroying the power of Czechoslovakia to resist conquest…

“It hailed Richard Nixon as the man of the year for 1971, for the opening to China, which is hard to quarrel with, whatever your ideological orientation. Nixon set a new policy for China that has been followed, more or less, by every administration since (though denounced by most presidential nominees since). The post-Luce Time was quick to notice the turn in China policy made by Teng Hsiao-P’ing (as he was then transliterated), man of the year for 1978, and gave him the honor again, this time as Deng Xiao Ping, in 1985. Time has often honored winning presidential candidates who had not seemed such likely winners the year before, bestowing the man of the year designation on Ronald Reagan for 1980, for example. But, oddly, it honored him and Soviet leader Yuri Andropov as co-men of the year for 1983, though they never met and never negotiated…

“Time left no doubt of where it stood. Mikhail Gorbachev was the man of the year for 1987, an eminently defensible choice, but he was also 1989 declared man of the decade for 1989—an echo of Time’s declaration for 1950 that Winston Churchill was the man of the half-century. There’s just a tad bit of difference here: Churchill won, and Gorbachev lost. The man of the decade of the 1980s who prevailed and triumphed was Ronald Reagan…

“When I started off in journalism, at the Harvard Crimson in 1963, Henry Luce and Time were considered a prime example of slanted journalism, tilted toward Republicans and against Democrats, toward liberal Republicans and against conservative Republicans, tilted toward Catholics (Luce’s wife Claire Boothe Luce was a Catholic convert, and Luce produced hugely favorable coverage of his friend Joseph Kennedy’s children and of the Catholic Diems in Vietnam; it turns out the coverage of the Kennedys was inflated…)

“Now Time is slanted to the left… The men of the year for 1993 were the ‘peacemakers’ Nelson Mandela, F. W. de Klerk, Yitzhak Rabin, and Yasser Arafat. Quiz question: Which name doesn’t belong on this list? Or 1998 men of the year Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr, as odd and ill-assorted a pair as Andropov and Reagan…

“Which brings us back to the person of the year for 2007, Vladimir Putin. Yes, he’s a consequential figure, who has just nominated a successor who looks like his pawn… But Russia ain’t what it was when Time saw Ronald Reagan and Yuri Andropov as a dynamic duo. And who are Time’s runners-up? Al Gore, who exaggerated the IPCC climate forecast by a factor of 20 to say that New York and London would be flooded by global warming (they weren’t in the 13th century, when the weather was a lot warmer than it is now). J. K. Rowling, who has made millions writing books that children and adults love to read; all power to her, but she’s not exerting the kind of influence over human affairs that Hitler did in 1938 and Stalin did in 1939…”

“Defense” Cooperation Between Russian and Iran

The Associated Press and the International Herald Tribune reported on December 24:

“Iran and Russia discussed defense cooperation… as ties between the two countries have been increasingly flourishing… In early 2007, Iran received advanced Russian air defense missile system under a US$700 million contract signed in 2005. Russia has provided Iran with military products such Kilo-Class submarines, MIG and Sukhoi military planes and bombers in the past decades. Relations between Iran and Russia have been growing closer in recent months, climaxed by a historical visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tehran in October. Russia is also putting the finishing touches on a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Bushehr, located in southern Iran. Iran received the first shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia last week, paving the way for the startup of its reactor in 2008.”

Tony Blair’s “Conversion” to Catholicism

The Associated Press reported on December 23:

“Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has left the Church of England and converted to Catholicism, the faith of his wife and children. Blair converted during a Mass Friday night at the private London chapel of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales… Blair had been a regular worshipper at Mass with his family and in recent months had been following a program leading to his reception into the church… In England’s last census, 72 percent of people identified themselves as Christian. Many are Anglicans affiliated with the Church of England, which was created by royal proclamation during the 16th century after King Henry VIII — who married six times — broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church in a dispute over divorce.”

Tony Blair–How Catholics Are “Made”

The Daily Mail wrote on December 23:

“Tony Blair was challenged yesterday to explain his record on abortion, embryo testing and gay rights after announcing that he had converted to Catholicism. Some Catholics condemned his previous support for causes which were apparently inconsistent with Church doctrine. But they drew a rebuke from senior figures in the Church, who said the Pope’s welcome for the new recruit was the final word. Sources said Mr Blair’s conversion ‘is not retrospective’ and that he does not have to account for his actions and beliefs in the past…

“John Smeaton, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: ‘During his premiership Tony Blair became one of the world’s most significant architects of the culture of death, promoting abortion, experimentation on unborn embryos, including cloned embryos, and euthanasia by neglect. SPUC is writing to Tony Blair to ask him whether he has repented of the anti-life positions he has so openly advocated.’

“Former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe, herself a convert, raised Mr Blair’s previous support for embryo research, gay ‘marriage’ and abortion, saying: ‘My question would be, has he changed his mind?’ Former Labour minister Peter Kilfoyle, a Catholic, said: ‘If he showed just one ounce of contrition over Iraq, then he would be closer to the body of morality that is the Catholic Church.'”

Roman Catholic Church Dominant Religious Group in Britain

The Sunday Telegraph wrote on December 23:

“Roman Catholics have overtaken Anglicans as the country’s dominant religious group. More people attend Mass every Sunday than worship with the Church of England, figures seen by The Sunday Telegraph show… The rise of Catholicism has been bolstered by an influx of immigrants from eastern Europe [especially Poland] and Africa.”

The Daily Mail added on December 23:

“The arrival of more than 600,000 Poles since their country joined the EU in 2004 appears to have dramatically slowed the long-term decline in congregations at Catholic churches. Roman Catholics who attend Mass have outnumbered Church of England congregations on Sunday mornings for some years…”

Sarkozy–a “Cultural Catholic”

The International Herald Tribune reported on December 21:

“President Nicolas Sarkozy has broken a French taboo by urging a more active role for religion in public life, but stopped well short of the American-style mix of faith and politics his critics say he wants to copy. A twice-divorced ‘cultural Catholic’, Sarkozy used a visit to the Vatican on Thursday to declare France was rooted in Christianity and needed Catholics to be more active in public life because faith helped give meaning to life…

“In its front-page cartoon on Friday, the Paris daily Le Monde showed Sarkozy dressed as a bishop, with President George Bush shouldering a cross and an American flag and confessing to Pope Benedict: ‘I think this guy is stealing my job.’…

“In his speech accepting the canon’s title, an honour given to French leaders since the 17th century, Sarkozy made repeated references to France’s Christian roots — a link that Paris refused to have mentioned in Europe’s planned constitution… Sarkozy said France needed ‘convinced Catholics who are not afraid to say who they are and what they believe.’

“RTL radio commentator Serge July noted the Catholic Church in France has criticised Sarkozy’s crackdown on immigration and plans to drop most restrictions on Sunday shopping.”

Christmas–“Christianized” Paganism

The Associated Press reported on December 22, 2007:

“The church where the tradition of celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25 may have begun was built near a pagan shrine as part of an effort to spread Christianity, a leading Italian scholar says… In 325, [Constantine] convened the Council of Nicaea, which fixed the dates of important Christian festivals. It opted to mark Christmas… on Dec. 25 to coincide with the Roman festival celebrating the birth of the sun god, Andrea Carandini, a professor of archaeology at Rome’s La Sapienza University, told reporters Friday… ‘The church was built to Christianize these pagan places of worship,’ he said… Rome’s archaeological superintendent Angelo Bottini, who did not take part in Carandini’s research, said that hypothesis was ‘evocative and coherent’ and ‘helps us understand the mechanisms of the passage from paganism to Christianity.'”

How New York Invented Modern-Day Christmas

The Daily News reported on December 23:

“Christmas was originally a combination of the day of worship of the birth of Christ and the Roman winter solstice festival called the Saturnalia. The latter was a very raucous, townwide affair, and its raunchy and riotous ways persisted until nearly modern times. Then the Puritans outlawed Christmas altogether…

“It was New York City that changed all that, pioneering the family — and very child-centered — holiday that has since spread around the world. This is not surprising, perhaps, seeing that Santa Claus is New York’s patron saint. No, really. The Dutch ship that brought the first settlers to Manhattan was named for St. Nicholas, the patron saint of old Amsterdam as well as children.  It was long a Dutch tradition for children to get presents on St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6, often put in their shoes or stockings for them to find in the morning… Often these presents came on Christmas instead of St. Nicholas Day.

“Then, around the turn of the 19th century, New York’s emerging literary establishment created much of the folklore of the modern Christmas. Washington Irving wrote about St. Nicholas (‘Sinterklaes’ in one Dutch form of the name, soon anglicized to ‘Santa Claus’)… In 1821, an American children’s book called ‘The Children’s Friend’ changed Santa’s horse and wagon to a reindeer and sleigh… At first, there was no single, standard image of Santa Claus. But in the 1860s, the great American political cartoonist Thomas Nast contributed drawings… to Harper’s Weekly — a New York publication, of course — that fixed to the present day the image of Santa Claus as a jolly, bearded, fat man in a fur-trimmed cap…

“By the 20th century, the New York-inspired American Christmas traditions were hallowed ones. But New Yorkers kept adding to them anyway. In 1940, Irving Berlin wrote what has become the most popular Christmas song of all time, ‘White Christmas.’ Nine years later, Robert May and his New Yorker brother-in-law, the composer Johnny Marks, added a ninth reindeer to Santa’s sleigh, Rudolph.

“It is, perhaps, a sign of New York City’s incomparable multiethnic synergy, which reaches right back to the present-seeking children of Dutch days, that both Marks and Berlin were, of course, Jewish.”

Where Do Santa’s Elves Come From?

On December 22, Yahoo published the following as the best answer to the question where Santa’s elves come from. It stated:

“The Santa Claus story is of MIXED background–combining Germanic mythology and folktales with Christian stories about one or more church leaders (the source of the name Saint Nicholas). The elves appear to come from a Germanic folktale that was brought into the mix. Here is the story, according to Wikipedia:

“‘Another early folk tale, originating among the Germanic tribes, tells of a holy man (sometimes Saint Nicholas), and a demon (sometimes the Devil, Krampus, or a troll). The story states that the land was terrorized by a monster who at night would slither down the chimneys and slaughter children (disembowelling them or stuffing them up the flue, or keeping them in a sack to eat later). The holy man sought out the demon, and tricked it with blessed or magical shackles (in some versions the same shackles that imprisoned Christ prior to the crucifixion, in other versions the shackles were those used to hold St. Peter or Paul of Tarsus); the demon was trapped and forced to obey the saint’s orders. The saint ordered him to go to each house and make amends, by delivering gifts to the children. Depending on the version, the saint either made the demon fulfil this task every year, or the demon was so disgusted by the act of good will that it chose to be sent back to Hell. Yet other versions have the demon reform under the saint’s orders, and go on to recruit other elves and imps into helping him, thus becoming Santa Claus.'”

A “holy man” commands a demon to do good deeds? Very unlikely–unless the “holy man” is a “demon” himself… In any event, this story shows that the gifts for children were made by demons… and that Santa Claus was originally a demon… AND, that also the elves were apparently demons as well…

When the Wise Men Visited Jesus

The Grayson County News Gazette re-told the “Christmas story” in one of its articles, published on December 24. The following admission is quite striking:

“After Jesus’ birth, Herod was king of Judea. At this time wise men (Magi) from the east saw a star, they came in search, knowing the star signified the birth of the king of the Jews. The wise men came to the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and asked where the Christ was to be born. The rulers explained, “In Bethlehem in Judea,” referring to Micah 5:2. Herod secretly met with the Magi and asked them to report back after they had found the child. Herod told the Magi that he too wanted to go and worship the babe. But secretly Herod was plotting to kill the child. So the wise men continued to follow the star in search of the new born king and found Jesus with his mother in Bethlehem. (Most likely Jesus was already two years of age by this time.).”

Christmas and the “Child Jesus”

The Associated Press reported on December 25:

“Pope Benedict XVI issued a Christmas Day appeal Tuesday to political leaders around the globe to find the ‘wisdom and courage’ to end bloody conflicts in Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan and Congo… Wearing gold-embroidered vestments and a bejeweled bishops’ hat, or miter, Benedict urged the crowd to rejoice over the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth, which he said he hoped would bring consolation to all people ‘who live in the darkness of poverty, injustice and war.’… ‘May the child Jesus bring relief to those who are suffering and may he bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions,’ he said… He said he hoped Christmas would bring consolation to ‘those who are still denied their legitimate aspirations for a more secure existence, for health, education, stable employment, for fuller participation in civil and political responsibilities, free from oppression and protected from conditions that offend human dignity.'”

What is striking is, among other things, the plea that the “Child Jesus” would bring relief. Jesus Christ is NOT a Child anymore–He is an all-powerful GOD being–the LIVING KING of kings and the LORD of lords–our mighty High priest and Savior. But this is exactly one of the problems with Christmas and its traditions–to think of our Maker and Creator (compare John 1:1-3, 14) as a helpless young little child in a manger. For more information about the REAL Jesus, please read our free booklet, “Jesus Christ–A Great Mystery.”

Christ–The “Sun” Rising From the East?

The Catholic News Services (CNS) reported on December 27:

“The newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, asked Msgr. Marini to explain why the crucifix, the symbol of Christ’s death, was being given such prominence even at midnight Mass when the church was celebrating Christ’s birth.

“‘The position of the cross at the center of the altar indicates the centrality of the crucifix in the Eucharistic celebration and the exact orientation the entire assembly is called to have during the eucharistic liturgy… Salvation comes from the Lord. He is the east, the sun that rises, the one whom we all must watch,’ Msgr. Marini said. In his 2000 book, ‘The Spirit of the Liturgy,’ Pope Benedict argued that facing the east while praying is a physical expression of turning toward God, toward the sun that rises for the salvation of all men and women.

“‘Where a direct, common turning toward the east is not possible, the cross can serve as the interior “east” of the faith. It should stand in the middle of the altar and be the common point of focus for both priest and praying community,’ he wrote.”

The Bible has some strong words to say about those who worship the sun (or Jesus “as” the sun) rising from the east. Ezekiel 8:15-17 reads:

“Then He said to me, ‘Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.’ So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD  and THEIR FACES TOWARD THE EAST, and they were WORSHIPPING THE SUN TOWARD THE EAST.”

The Climate Conference On Bali–“A Disaster”

The German paper, Die Tageszeitung, wrote on December 17: “The Bali climate conference will enter the history books — as a disaster.”

What has happened? Didn’t the world celebrate Bali as a success? Maybe at first–but not anymore.

What has come out of Bali is simply this: America is perceived to have failed in any leadership role, and Germany and Europe are becoming the leaders which the USA has refused to provide.

Success On Bali?–No Way!

On December 15, the press enthusiastically reported about a breakthrough at Bali’s climate change conference. But the reports were premature, and satisfaction was short-lived.

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 15:

“There were tears, boos and, at the end, even hugs: After a long struggle, the delegates at the UN climate conference on Bali finally managed to agree on a roadmap for fighting climate change. Despite the lack of concrete targets, most considered the deal a success… The last-minute deal came on Saturday after the US delegation made a U-turn in a final negotiating session…

“Paula Dobriansky, leader of the US delegation, and her colleague James Connaughton found themselves the targets of naked animosity. When Dobriansky announced that the US would not sign up for the Bali roadmap, boos echoed through the room. The Americans were sharply attacked by several delegations. ‘If you’re not willing to lead, please get out of the way,’ said a US environmental activist representing Papua New Guinea.

“Other opponents of binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as Japan or Russia, failed to come to the US delegation’s defense. Left isolated, the American delegation gave in and agreed to the roadmap. ‘We will go forward and join consensus,’ said Dobriansky. This time the delegation was rewarded with a standing ovation from some participants.

“German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters he was on the verge of sending a mobile phone text message to Chancellor Angela Merkel, asking her to intervene with the White House, when the US delegation reversed their position.”

Is It Up to Germany and Europe to Save the World?…

However, only two days later, international enthusiasm was replaced with frustration and anger towards the United States.

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 17:

“It took just hours for the White House to begin back-pedalling on the Bali climate negotiations breakthrough. One minute, US head of delegation Paula Dobriansky was agreeing to a blueprint for a new international accord to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol. The next minute, the White House press secretary released a statement indicating that Washington has ‘serious concerns’ about the agreement reached on the Indonesian island of Bali.”

In addition to the isolation of the United States, the eyes of the world focus now on GERMANY and EUROPE to lead. Der Spiegel Online continued:

“German media commentators say Washington is increasingly isolated in one of the most pressing problems facing humanity, and that it’s up to the Europeans to save the world… Business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘… The most important driving force behind protection remains a credible pioneer. Only if a group of industrial nations forges ahead and shows that climate-friendly technology can be profitable will others follow. Germany and Europe have taken on this pioneering role once and for all. That is good news from the climate conference.'”

… Or, Will America Still Be Able to Lead in the Future?

On December 17, The New York Times acknowledged the lack of American leadership in Bali, but was hopeful that the USA will provide leadership in the future. The article stated:

“In Bali, where delegates from 187 countries met to begin framing a new global warming treaty, America’s negotiators were in full foot-dragging mode, acting as spoilers rather than providing the leadership the world needs… Despite pleas from their European allies, the Americans flatly rejected the idea of setting even provisional targets for reductions in greenhouse gases. And they refused to give what the rest of the world wanted most: an unambiguous commitment to reducing America’s own emissions. Without that, there is little hope that other large emitters, including China, will change their ways…

“The decision to maintain the tax breaks was particularly shameful. Blessed by $90-a-barrel oil, the companies are rolling in profits, and there is no evidence to support the claim that they need these breaks to be able to explore for new resources. Yet the White House had the gall to argue that the breaks are necessary to protect consumers at the pump, and the Senate was craven enough to go along.

“This Senate will have another chance to provide the American leadership the world needs on climate change. An ambitious bipartisan bill aimed at cutting America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by midcentury has been approved by a Senate committee and may come to the floor next year. Though the bill is far from perfect and will provoke intense debate, it could offer a measure of redemption for the administration’s embarrassing failure in Bali.”

European Sanctions Against the USA Because of Climate Change?

The International Herald Tribune reported on December 18:

“The Social Democrats are calling for sanctions on energy-intensive U.S. export products if the Bush administration continues to obstruct international agreements on climate protection, the party’s leading environmental expert said Tuesday. The move, after the United Nations climate conference last week in Bali, Indonesia, has won strong support from the Greens and other leftist groupings in the European Parliament. Those factions will renew their bid to impose such levies when the Parliament reconvenes next month. It also signals a big effort by the Social Democrats to take the initiative on the environment and perhaps reshape it as a foreign policy issue that could affect relations between Berlin and Washington…

“‘Merkel has made climate change a big issue and has tried to bring the Bush administration on board, so far without success,’ said Ulrich Kelber, deputy parliamentary leader of the Social Democrats and an environmental expert… ‘We cannot let the U.S. continue to block multilateral agreements, as it tried with Kyoto, or weaken them, as it did in Bali,’ he said… ‘The U.S. is a major part of the problem. Levying special taxes or sanctions on energy-intensive U.S. products, such as steel and aluminum, which are exported to Europe, could be the first step,’ Kelber said.”

Scientists Disagree on “Man-Made Global Warming”

On December 20, the Drudge Report published the following article, which appeared on the Website of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (epw.senate.gov):

“Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore. The new report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s office of the GOP Ranking Member details the views of the scientists, the overwhelming majority of whom spoke out in 2007. 

“Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists. In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics ‘appear to be expanding rather than shrinking.’ Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears ‘bites the dust.’

“This blockbuster Senate report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation.  It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007. This new ‘consensus busters’ report is poised to redefine the debate.

  “Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution. Atmospheric scientist Dr. Nathan Paldor, Professor of Dynamical Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of almost 70 peer-reviewed studies, explains how many of his fellow scientists have been intimidated. ‘Many of my colleagues with whom I spoke share these views and report on their inability to publish their skepticism in the scientific or public media,’ Paldor wrote…

“This new report details how teams of international scientists are dissenting from the UN IPCC’s view of climate science. In such nations as Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, Russia, New Zealand and France, scientists banded together in 2007 to oppose climate alarmism. In addition, over 100 prominent international scientists sent an open letter in December 2007 to the UN stating attempts to control climate were ‘futile.'”

Is US Economy Headed Towards Full-Blown Recession?

The Sydney Morning Herald wrote on December 16:

“The chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley’s Asian arm, Stephen Roach, says the United States economy is headed towards recession and the rest of the world should be concerned… ‘What is interesting, and potentially disturbing, is that the rest of the world doesn’t seem to think this is a big deal any more,’ he said… Mr Roach said the US was the world’s biggest consumer economy at US $9.5 trillion, compared to China at $1 trillion and India at $650 billion… He said growth in Asia was vigorous but was export-led, and the end game of the Asian growth machine was directed at US consumers. The new consumers in China and India would not be able to offset falls in US consumption.”

In addition, The Associated Press reported on December 18:

“Housing construction [in the USA] fell in November and single-family activity dropped to the lowest level in more than 16 years as a severe housing slump showed no signs of a turnaround… Construction of single-family homes fell by 5.5 percent to an annual rate of 829,000 units, the lowest level since April 1991…

“In a bad sign for future activity, the government reported that applications for building permits fell for a sixth straight month, dropping by 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.15 million units, the slowest pace for building permits since June 1993…

“The slump has raised concerns that the economy could be pushed into a full-blown recession. Starting this summer, some of the nation’s largest banks and investment firms have declared multibillion-dollar losses stemming from a surge of defaults on subprime mortgages, loans offered to borrowers with weak credit histories… The concern is that the rising number of mortgage defaults will dump even more homes on an already glutted market.”

Vaccinations–Pro…

On December 15, 2007, The Courier-Post reported the following:

“Despite vocal protests from several statewide parents’ organizations, New Jersey became the first state in the country Friday to require annual flu shots for preschoolers. Along with the flu vaccine, State Health and Senior Services Commissioner Fred Jacobs signed off on adding three other required vaccinations. Preschoolers will be required to receive immunizations for pneumonia and the flu, while sixth-graders will get shots for meningitis and a booster for tetanus and whooping cough…

“Sue Collins, co-founder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination, said that by mandating the vaccines, the state thinks ‘the government knows New Jersey’s children better than their parents do. Parents no longer seem to have a say what medical procedures their children get’…

“Children in the state already are required to receive vaccinations for nine diseases by the age of 2, and some of those require multiple doses. Exemptions can only be given for medical reasons or religious objections. In addition, some parents protested the flu shots because some brands still contain the mercury-based preservative thimersol…”

… And Con…

Time Magazine wrote on December 13:

“Merck announced that it is voluntarily recalling 1 million doses of two common childhood vaccines, routinely given to children under 5… Merck is pulling… a vaccine that protects against infection with haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), the bacteria that causes meningitis, pneumonia, and bloodstream infections. The COMVAX vaccine protects against haemophilius B and hepatitis B, a virus that can cause liver disease… During a routine inspection of their manufacturing process, Merck officials found that some equipment was contaminated with a bacteria…”

The magazine’s further comments are quite revealing and contradict New Jersey’s official state policy, as referred to in the previous article:

“If children can’t get immunized, is there a danger that we will see more meningitis outbreaks? Probably not. Immunization rates are so high in the U.S. — 94% of toddlers are up to date on their Hib vaccinations — that it would take some time for a widespread infection to take hold.”

Soon to Come–Major Earthquake in Israel

AFP wrote on December 17:

“As if political instability and rampant insecurity in the Middle East are not worrying enough, Israeli experts are warning that a major earthquake could strike the region at any time. Three minor quakes over the past month have served as a reminder that Israel and the West Bank sit atop one of the most sensitive fault lines in the world, where earthquakes have a history of causing havoc…

“Under that assessment, Israel and the Palestinian territories should brace for a major earthquake soon, as the last one happened 80 years ago, on July 11, 1927, in British mandate Palestine when 300 people were killed in Jerusalem and Jericho. A similar quake measuring seven on the Richter scale and with an epicentre in the Hula Valley, today in northern Israel up from the Sea of Galilee, devastated the town of Safed and killed some 4,000 people in 1837…

“The Lod institute estimates that if a magnitude seven earthquake strikes the northern Jordan Valley or the Dead Sea, between 8,200 and 9,500 people could be killed, more than 20,000 injured and more than 20,000 left homeless… Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who saw Jerusalem fall to the invading Romans in 70 AD, also wrote that around 30,000 people perished in an earthquake whose epicentre was in the region of the Dead Sea in 31 BC.”

The Bible predicts that in the not-too-distant future, a major earthquake will destroy parts of the city of Jerusalem and kill 7,000 people (compare Revelation 11:13).

How China Poisons Its People

Der Spiegel Online reported on December 18:

“Chinese journalist Zhou Qing, a critic of the regime, unearthed political dynamite in his two-year investigation of China’s food industry. He interviewed grocers, restaurant owners, farmers and food factory managers for an exposé for which he won a prize as part of the German ‘Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage’ in 2006.

“His book is a dark account of a ruthless food mafia that stops at nothing to maximize its profits, for example by using contraceptives to accelerate the growth of fish stocks, lengthening the shelf-life of cucumbers with highly toxic pesticide DDT, using hormones and poisoned salt in food production and putting absurd amounts of antibiotics in meat…

“Zhou said uncontrolled greed had caused a food disaster of unimaginable proportions. ‘I can only warn you never to go in a restaurant.’ The danger of food producers being taken to task for their actions is slight. Everything disappears in China’s endless bureaucracy, he said.

“Zhou’s claims may sound exaggerated, but they’re borne out by recent developments. In early December the Shanghai city council slapped an export ban on products made by the Shanghai Mellin Food Company after cancer-causing substances were found in its pork products. In July the former director of the state food and drug supervisory authority… was executed after being convicted of taking bribes to award licences for forged drugs, some of which had lethal side effects…

“The children are the biggest sufferers, said Zhou. Poisoned baby food has led to severe diseases and physical deformities. Zhou writes that 200,000 to 400,000 people fall victim to poisoned food each year. A third of cancer cases, which are increasing at double-digit rates, can be attributed to food, he writes.”

Food In Short Supply

The International Herald Tribune reported on December 17:

“In an ‘unforeseen and unprecedented’ shift, the world food supply is dwindling rapidly and food prices are soaring to historic levels, the top food and agriculture official of the United Nations warned Monday. The changes created ‘a very serious risk that fewer people will be able to get food,’ particularly in the developing world, said Jacques Diouf, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization…
 
“World wheat stores declined 11 percent this year, to the lowest level since 1980. That corresponds to 12 weeks of the world’s total consumption – much less than the average of 18 weeks consumption in storage during the period 2000-2005. There are only 8 weeks of corn left, down from 11 weeks in the earlier period. Prices of wheat and oilseeds are at record highs, Diouf said Monday. Wheat prices have risen by $130 per ton, or 52 percent, since a year ago. U.S. wheat futures broke $10 a bushel for the first time Monday, the agricultural equivalent of $100 a barrel oil… To make matters worse, high oil prices have doubled shipping costs in the past year, putting enormous stress on poor nations that need to import food as well as the humanitarian agencies that provide it…

“Part of the current problem is an outgrowth of prosperity. More people in the world now eat meat, diverting grain from humans to livestock. A more complicated issue is the use of crops to make biofuels, which are often heavily subsidized. A major factor in rising corn prices globally is that many farmers in the United States are now selling their corn to make subsidized ethanol.”

Over 12 Million New Cancer Cases in 2007

AFP reported on December 17:

“More than 12 million new cases of cancer will have been diagnosed around the world in 2007 and 20,000 people a day, or 7.6 million people, will have died from the disease… According to Monday’s report ‘Global Cancer Facts and Figures,’ some 5.4 million cancer cases and 2.9 million deaths will occur in industrialized countries… Some 6.7 million cancer cases and 4.7 million deaths will take place in developing nations, with lung, stomach and liver cancer being most prevalent in men, and women suffering most from breast, uterine and stomach cancer… ‘This cancer burden is also increasing as people in the developing countries adopt western lifestyles such as cigarette smoking, higher consumption of saturated fat and calorie-dense foods, and reduced physical activity,’ said [the report]…

“The report also contains a special focus on smoking called ‘The Tobacco Epidemic’ which predicts that more than a billion people will die from smoking-related diseases in the 21st century — most in developing countries. This compares to about 100 million deaths from smoking around the world in the 20th century.

“About five million people died around the world from tobacco use in 2000, of which 30 percent [1.42 million] contracted cancer, of whom 850,000 had lung cancer… If the trend continues, there will be about two billion smokers around the world by 2030 of which half will die from smoking-related illnesses if they don’t quit.”

First Joint Military Exercise Between China and India

The Times of India wrote on December 19:

“India and China are getting ready for a unique game, where observers and the audience will count for more than the actual players. The two nations are set to hold their first joint military exercise from December 21 ending a year of both distrust and intense parleys to build friendship. Just about 80 soldiers from each side will participate in the five-day anti-terrorism drill scheduled to take place in the picturesque mountain ranges of Yunnan close to the provincial capital of Kunming. They will be led by a company commander, usually an officer of the rank of Major, from each side.

“The key to the exercise is not the actual players in the drill but senior military officers observing the game from the sidelines. These observers will use the opportunity to [gauge] the operational methods and capabilities of the armed forces. A crucial input would be the capability to handle surprises, which is the main tool in the hands of terrorists. ‘The purpose is to feel each other [out] and see if we can work together in [the] future. The key word is inter-operability. We would be in better equipped just in case the military of the two countries need to fight terrorists in future,’ a senior defense ministry official told TNN over phone from Delhi.”

Hungary First to Ratify New EU Treaty

The EUObserver reported on December 18:

“Hungary on Monday… became the first of the 27 member states to ratify the bloc’s new treaty, making the move just days after the document was formally signed off by EU leaders… Reacting to the vote, Hungary’s prime minister praised the ‘historic achievement’ of his country. In taking the ratification step so quickly, Budapest has stolen the crown from Poland and France, both of whom had indicated they were aiming to be the first…

“The new EU treaty takes on most of the features of the rejected European constitution, including a foreign policy chief, a long-term president of the EU, a binding citizens rights charter as well as cutting down on the areas where member states have a right to veto. The new institutional rules, six years in the making, were signed off in a formal ceremony on Thursday (13 December) in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon…

“Each member state has to ratify the treaty for it to come into force, with governments aiming to get it in place by early 2009. Ireland is the only country to have a referendum on the document, while the British government is undergoing strong pressure from opposition conservatives to hold a popular vote. Mr Sarkozy has sidestepped the awkward question of why French voters will not be having a second say on the treaty by suggesting that if France had a referendum then the British government would be forced to follow suit, resulting in a probable rejection of the document.”

Russia Delivers Nuclear Fuel to Iranian Power Plant

The New York Times reported on December 18:

“The United States lost a long battle when Russia, as it announced on Monday, delivered nuclear fuel to an Iranian power plant that is at the center of an international dispute over its nuclear program… from the American standpoint, the timing could not have been worse, coming just two weeks after the release of a United States intelligence estimate that concluded that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003…

“Russia’s decision to deliver fuel to Bushehr further encourages Iran, several administration officials and European diplomats said privately… Iran said it had no intention of suspending its uranium enrichment just because it had received the fuel shipment for Bushehr, and it even confirmed that it intended to enrich uranium for another new nuclear power plant in the south of the country…”

Putin Will Stay in Power

As if there was any doubt regarding the intentions of power-hungry Vladimir Putin, he has now confirmed what everybody suspected; that is, he WILL stay in power. The only question remains, exactly HOW will he do it?

The EUObserver wrote on December 18:

“Russian president Vladimir Putin seems set to retain power even after his second presidential term expires next year, as he has accepted an offer to serve as prime minister. ‘If citizens show trust in Dmitry Medvedev and elect him president, I will be ready to head the government without changing the institutional powers of the president and government”, Mr Putin said on Monday… The power-sharing deal ends speculation on whether the current Russian leader would resort to changing the constitution, which currently bars him from seeking a third presidential term.

“It remains unclear, however, what role Mr Putin will play on the country’s political scene… According to Leonid Gozman from the opposition Union of Right Forces party, the deal will see a strengthening of the prime minister’s role at the expense of the president’s. ‘It means either there will be a transfer of functions from the president to the premier or Putin will think of something else, for example, either becoming general secretary of United Russia or changing the constitution to create the position of spiritual leader of the nation’, Mr Gozman was cited as saying by AP.

“Analysts also took a critical tone, with Konstantin Remuchukov from the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta saying ‘It means one thing: Putin’s team will remain in power’. ‘This is not an election but the distribution of roles within a single team. There has never before been such a situation in Russia’, he added.”

Nativity Scenes Nothing But Human Legends

The Telegraph reported on December 20 about the well-known fact that the “nativity scenes,” as prominently pictured at Christmas time, are nothing but human legends. The article stated:

“The Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday that the Christmas story of the Three Wise Men was nothing but a ‘legend’. Dr Rowan Williams has claimed… there was certainly nothing to prove there were three of them [the Magis] or that they were kings. He said the only reference to the wise men from the East was in Matthew’s gospel and the details were very vague.

“Dr Williams said: ‘Matthew’s gospel says they are astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire, that’s all we’re really told. It works quite well as legend.’ The Archbishop went on to dispel other details of the Christmas story, adding that there were probably no asses or oxen in the stable.

“He argued that Christmas cards which showed the Virgin Mary cradling the baby Jesus, flanked by shepherds and wise men, were misleading. As for the scenes that depicted snow falling in Bethlehem, the Archbishop said the chance of this was ‘very unlikely’. In a final blow to the traditional nativity story, Dr Williams concluded that Jesus was probably not born in December at all. He said: ‘Christmas was when it was because it fitted well with the winter festival.'”

Of course, Dr. Williams is right, as any true scholar of the Christmas legend will have to admit. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Don’t Keep Christmas.”

“Why Don’t We Just Call Off Christmas?”

The Christian Science Monitor wrote on December 18:

“My best Christmas as an adult was one I spent in the hospital. That was where our first child was born, on Dec. 21. As his mother recuperated, our new little family observed the holidays in her room, cut off from the frenzied world outside, enjoying one another’s company, and only occasionally being reminded of what we were missing by muted sounds of revelry down at the nurses’ station. Being in the hospital gave us an impeccable excuse not to ‘celebrate.’ We had no parties to attend, no cards to mail, no last-minute gifts to buy, no crowds to brave. It was wonderful.

“That experience left me wondering about the current state of year-end holidays. Whose needs are they meeting? A majority of us? Anything like a majority? If Christmas were put to a vote this year, would it pass? That vote would have to be secret, of course… But I keep wondering: If given the opportunity to vote Christmas up or down, anonymously, in a private booth – would a majority check the Yes box?

“Stress is as common as chimney stockings during the modern Yuletide. ‘How to Survive the Holidays’ workshops are more common than roving carolers. Magazine articles on ‘Coping With Holiday Anxiety’ and ‘How to Conquer Holiday Blues’ are a year-end staple. As Dec. 25 approaches, the police warn us to be on the lookout for drivers drunk from reveling, firefighters issue cautions about miswired lights, and hospitals plead for blood because their usual donors are distracted by the duties of the season.

“You’d think we’d learn. You’d think I would. I’d love to reclaim the many hours my wife and I have spent making up gift lists, then scurrying about frantically after work and on weekends hoping against hope to find the ‘right’ present for people we love, or at least get them something. On two different occasions I’ve had to sort through the effects of my late grandmother and my aunt. Both had drawers filled with Christmas presents in original boxes, many still half-wrapped, all with labels intact. These gifts had been opened, examined, and set aside. Some of them were from me…

“As if it weren’t bad enough that our Christmas rituals are obsolete, they’re also obligatory. You simply cannot avoid the occasion. Oh, you can. You could join a year’s end tour of Papua New Guinea. Or take to your bed for a week. One woman I know tries to schedule medical procedures for late December so she has a good excuse for avoiding Christmas festivities. Most of us aren’t that resourceful, however. We just muddle through. And keep smiling. And pray that it will soon be over. So why don’t we just call it off?…”

Good questions! And the answers might surprise you. In fact, we SHOULD call it off! For more information, please read our free booklet, mentioned above, “Don’t Keep Christmas.”

No Christmas Presents

The Wall Street Journal wrote on December 20:

“People work hard for their money, and then they throw it away like this. And it adds up. In total, holiday spending this year will add up to about $475 billion… Our national savings rate is pitiful. Most people, including many high earners, are woefully unprepared for any kind of retirement. Or even for putting their kids through college… ‘I’m at the point where in my family none of the adults exchange presents anymore,’ says Jan Geiger, a financial planner in Atlanta, Georgia, and author of Get Your Assets In Gear. ‘We’ve all basically decided that most of what you get is a waste of money.'”

More Evolutionary Nonsense

Der Spiegel Online “reported” on December 20 about more aspects of the evolutionary fairy tale. If one is gullible enough to believe it, the latest “findings” of “scientists” “prove” the evolutionary claim that mammals and whales had a common ancestor. Here are experts from the “news” article:

“A new paper by a team of US evolutionary biologists in the journal Nature claims that whales and land mammals share a common ancestor — a miniature deer that sprung into the water to escape being eaten 50 million years ago. Based on an extensive fossil record, biologists agree that whales evolved from land mammals. But the exact evolutionary link between the two was never clear.

“Now a paper in the journal Nature has provided possible answers: Researchers in the US believe that the ur-whale was actually a raccoon-sized deer. In the report published Thursday, anatomy professor Hans Thewissen from the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine argues that the whale’s land-based origins are anatomically evident in the fossils of a prehistoric animal called an Indohyus. The raccoon-sized animal lived some 48 million years ago in what is now Kashmir, between India and Pakistan.”

At least, Der Spiegel Online was willing to admit that this new “finding” was met with skepticism from some other scientists. The article continued to “explain”:

“Naturally, not everyone is convinced. A professor of functional anatomy and evolution at Johns Hopkins University, Kenneth Rose, told the Associated Press that Thewissen and his colleagues had not provided enough evidence to merit the conclusions drawn about Indohyus…”

This whole scenario is complete and utter nonsense. We might call it an assault on intelligence and the truth. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution–a Fairy Tale for Adults.”

Be Thankful That You Live in the USA

We might complain about our Western “free” societies, and there is indeed much to complain about. But just imagine, for a moment, you would live in a more restricted environment, such as Saudi Arabia, for example–especially, if you are a woman. The following article, which was published by AFP on December 17, might just give us an idea how thankful we should be to live in countries such as the United States:

“King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia pardoned a teenage girl sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes after being gang raped in a decision swiftly welcomed by Washington on Monday… The girl, who was 18 at the time she was raped, was attacked at knifepoint by seven men after she was found in a car with a male companion who was not a relative, in breach of strict Saudi law. The king also pardoned the male companion, the justice minister announced…

“In October 2006, a judge sentenced her to 90 lashes for being with the man — a taboo in the conservative Muslim kingdom which imposes segregation of the sexes. She appealed against the sentence but despite her ordeal the court ruled that her punishment should be increased to 200 lashes and a six-month jail term. The judges decided to punish the girl further for ‘her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media’…

“The rapists were initially sentenced to one to five years in jail, but those terms were also toughened in November to between two and nine years. A rape conviction carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but the court did not impose it due to the ‘lack of witnesses’ and the ‘absence of confessions,’ the justice ministry said last month. The girl’s husband praised the king for granting the pardon…

“Women in oil-rich Saudi Arabia live under restrictions imposed by a rigid interpretation of Islam and stringent tradition. They must be covered from head to toe in public and are not permitted to drive. Furthermore, they need a ‘mahram’ or a guardian — a husband or close male relative if they are widowed or single — in order to apply for and obtain a passport. Political constraints also mean that Saudi women are totally absent from the Shura (consultative) Council, whose members are appointed by the king, and were barred from landmark municipal elections in 2005.”