German Elections–A Nightmare!

The most recent German parliamentary elections last Sunday threw the country into a nightmare of unexpected proportions–which are unparalleled since the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, after World War II. Neither Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder nor challenger Angela Merkel received the absolute majority of the votes.

Der Spiegel Online published several articles on September 19, with headlines such as: “Germany Loses Its Own Election” or “Merkel’s Bitter Defeat.” AFP echoed these sentiments by publishing this headline on September 19: “Political turmoil in Germany.” On September 20, AFP spoke of “election chaos” and “political stalemate.”

What happened, exactly?

Der Spiegel Online explained:

“German elections are over and both Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his challenger Angela Merkel are claiming victory. In truth, both did poorly — but they may end up leading Germany together anyway. It will be a coalition of the losers… Angela Merkel’s results… are nothing short of catastrophic. In June, just after she was nominated as the Union’s candidate for the chancellery, surveys indicated that she had a shot at an absolute majority of over 50 percent… Gerhard Schröder, on the other hand, was a lame duck all summer. After calling for snap elections in May, virtually every pundit in the country assumed the chancellor was rapidly heading for early retirement… His result on Sunday, while still one of the worst in the history of his party, represents the SPD’s high-water mark of support since… 2002… All of which means that Germany, on the Monday after the election, has two chancellors, no coalition government and little in the way of a plan how to resolve the situation. It was an election without a victor…

“Even worse, it isn’t clear that the upcoming coalition negotiations will result in a government able to govern… At the end of the day, more Germans voted for parties to the left of the political center (a total of 51.1 percent among the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party) than for those to the right (45 percent for Merkel’s Union and the neo-liberal FDP.)… Now, it seems the country will be led by the WEAKEST GOVERNMENT IN ITS POST-WAR HISTORY… In a Monday editorial, the Wall Street Journal opines that ‘the ‘sick man of Europe’ is likely to remain bedridden for a while longer.”

“Germany’s parliament has to meet by October 18 to elect a chancellor… After the election stalemate on Sunday, everything points to a grand coalition. But can the two major parties reform Germany? And who would lead, Schröder or Merkel?… This was the election outcome NO ONE EXPECTED… Schröder seemed completely in his element on Sunday evening, coming across like a MAGICIAN who believes that EVERYTHING IS WITHIN HIS POWER… The greatest fear of many conservative Southern German politicians may now be a reality: the outcome of German elections may be decided in the East [when 219,000 residents will vote in the city of Dresden on October 2]… The current breakdown of seats in parliament is SPD 222, CDU 225. So those three seats could make a big difference and transform Dresden into the German kingmaker.”

The international reaction to Germany’s election fiasco was one of utmost astonishment and bewilderment.

The Associated Press wrote on September 19: “Germany’s benchmark stock market and the euro dropped amid gloom over the muddled outcome.” It also explained that “If the new parliament cannot elect a chancellor in three tries, President Horst Koehler could appoint a minority government led by the candidate with a simple majority.” He could also dissolve the parliament and order new elections–which would then take place, in all likelihood, in the spring of 2006.

AFP added: “European partners looked on with concern as the euro slumped, pressing the German parties to resolve the standoff as soon as possible. ‘With all respect for the internal sensitivities of (Germany) I urge the German leaders to find as soon as possible a stable solution for Germany,’ EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said. ‘WITHOUT A DYNAMIC GERMANY, EUROPE CANNOT RECOVER.'”

The article speculated about three possible coalition options:

” [1] An unwieldy left-right ‘grand coalition’ grouping Social Democrats and Christian Democrats [Both Merkel and Schroeder rejected this concept]; [2] A center-left alliance bringing together the Social Democrats, Greens and the Free Democrats, known as the ‘traffic light coalition’ for the party colors red, yellow and green [The Greens rejected this concept]; [3] A left-center-right alliance linking up the Christian Democrats, the Free Democrats and the Greens. Wags have dubbed this the ‘Jamaica coalition’ as its party colors would match the Caribbean country’s flag [The Free Democrats rejected this concept.].”

On September 21, 2005, Der Spiegel Online reported about the first major casualty in the aftermath of the German election. In its article, titled, “Fischer takes a bow,” the magazine stated: “The first serious casualty of the German election mashup is Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who formally retreated from any leadership position yesterday… Saying he saw no way for his Green Party to stay in government, he renounced his claim to a cabinet position in any new coalition and even stepped away from a leadership role within the Greens… His withdrawal suggests that life under Angela Merkel as chancellor would be intolerable for Joschka Fischer, and that continued life under Gerhard Schröder also looks… impossible.”

As German-speaking peoples will play THE predominant role in Europe, heading the last resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire, it is incumbent on us to watch the political developments in Germany.

In Fear Of Hurricane Rita

As The Associated Press reported on Thursday, September 22, 2005, “Traffic came to a standstill and gas shortages were reported Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people in the Houston metropolitan area rushed to get out of the path of Hurricane Rita, a monster storm with 170 mph winds. More than 1.3 million residents in Texas and Louisiana were under orders to evacuate to avoid a deadly repeat of Katrina… Forecasters said Rita could be the strongest hurricane on record ever to hit Texas. Only three Category 5 hurricanes, the highest on the scale, are known to have hit the U.S. mainland–most recently, Andrew, which smashed South Florida in 1992.

“Galveston, Corpus Christi and surrounding Nueces County, low-lying parts of Houston, and mostly emptied-out New Orleans were under mandatory evacuation orders as Rita swirled across the Gulf of Mexico, drawing energy with terrifying efficiency from its warm waters… Meanwhile, the death toll from Katrina passed the 1,000 mark Wednesday in five Gulf Coast states. The body count in Louisiana alone was put at nearly 800, with most of the corpses found in the receding floodwaters of New Orleans.

“Crude oil prices rose again on fears that Rita would destroy key oil installations in Texas and the gulf. Hundreds of workers were evacuated from offshore oil rigs. Texas, the heart of U.S. crude production, accounts for 25 percent of the nation’s total oil output. Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, making this the fourth-busiest season since record-keeping started in 1851. The record is 21 tropical storms in 1933. The hurricane season is not over until Nov. 30.”

Breakthrough With North Korea?

Der Spiegel Online reported on September 21, 2005: “Nuclear talks with Kim Jong Il have muddied again. Less than 24 hours after negotiators announced a ‘major breakthrough’ with North Korea over its nuclear program, Pyongyang has backpedaled. Monday, North Korea agreed ‘in principle’ to quit building nuclear weapons, and the U.S. agreed (also in principle) to recognize the government in Pyongyang and to back a peace treaty between North and South Korea that would formally end the Korean War. (Shooting stopped after an armistice treaty in 1953.) Everyone has celebrated the breakthrough — ‘If we weren’t in the middle of election results,’ wrote the German newspaper Die Welt Tuesday, ‘North Korea would be front and center’ — and it looked as if Kim Jong Il would let in all-important arms inspectors, to make sure he couldn’t build any warheads.

“But now strange noises have emanated from the North Koreans, who are believed to have about a half-dozen untested nuclear weapons. They suddenly swore not to give up their nuclear program until the US offered a civilian light-water reactor, for nuclear power. The US gave North Korea two water reactors in the 1990s, when the Clinton administration made a now-collapsed agreement with Pyongyang.”

Iran On The War Path?

Der Spiegel Online reported on September 21, 2005: “The European Union on Tuesday warned about ‘offenses and lapses’ in Iran’s nuclear program and suggested that the UN Security Council should take up the case by investigating Tehran’s nuclear sites. Iran [hit] back by saying it would resist any sudden inspections. Russia and China moved in behind the mullahs, and now a showdown seems to be looming… Germany, France, and Britain seem to have lost their patience, and their draft resolution yesterday asking the Security Council to investigate Iran’s ‘offenses and lapses’ turns up international pressure on the mullahs to prove they have no weapons program. Iran, of course, sits on an ocean of oil and natural gas, but claims to need nuclear energy.”

AFP added on September 20: “Responding to European efforts to haul Iran before the UN Security Council over ‘breaches’ of international atomic safeguards, Larijani also said Tehran would link its oil business and other economic trade with individual countries based on whose side they took in the dispute.”

The Washington Post stated on September 20:

“Iran’s president said yesterday that his country is ready to share its nuclear know-how with other Islamic countries, the latest setback to a U.N.-backed effort to halt Tehran’s nuclear programs… With the Russian president at his side, Mr. Ahmadinejad replied, ‘A powerful Russia is Iran’s best friend, and a powerful Iran is Russia’s best friend.'”

Whether the Europeans felt intimidated by Iran’s threats or not, they have now decided to “drop [their] harsher stand on Iran,” according to an article by The Associated Press, which was published on September 22, 2005. The article stated: “The European Union on Thursday offered to delay its drive to bring Iran before the U.N. Security Council for its suspect atomic activities if Russia and China will agree to a new resolution that criticizes Tehran for violating nuclear commitments. If an agreement is not reached, however, the EU, backed by the United States, planned to force a vote on the tougher resolution.”

On September 21, 2005, gulfnews.com reported: “Incredible though it may sound, there are signs that Tehran may be preparing for a military confrontation with the United States and has convinced itself that it could win… The surest sign yet is the military build-up under way in the five provinces bordering Iraq… Iran is estimated to have 250,000 troops in the area, its biggest military build-up since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988…The Islamic Republic is a fragile structure in a zone of political earthquakes. Logically, the last thing it should want is war. Nevertheless, former President Mohammad Khatami has warned that Tehran may be boxing itself into a position in which it will either have to surrender or fight.”

Bird Flu Outbreak Will Kill Millions

Reuters reported on September 20, 2005: “The initial outbreak of what could explode into a bird flu pandemic may affect only a few people, but the world will have just weeks to contain the deadly virus before it spreads and kills millions. Chances of containment are limited because the potentially catastrophic infection may not be detected until it has already spread to several countries, like the SARS virus in 2003. Avian flu vaccines developed in advance will have little impact on the pandemic virus. It will take scientists four to six months to develop a vaccine that protects against the pandemic virus, by which time thousands could have died. There is little likelihood a vaccine will even reach the country where the pandemic starts.”

Additional Ridiculous US Spending…

The Associated Press reported on September 19, 2005, that “NASA estimated Monday it will cost $104 billion to return astronauts to the moon by 2018 in a new rocket that combines the space shuttle with the capsule of an earlier NASA era. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, in unveiling the new lunar exploration plan announced by President Bush last year, said he is not seeking extra money and stressed that the space agency will live within its future budgets to achieve this goal. He dismissed suggestions that reconstruction of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina might derail the program first outlined by President Bush in 2004.

“‘We’re talking about returning to the moon in 2018. There will be a lot more hurricanes and a lot more other natural disasters to befall the United States and the world in that time, I hope none worse than Katrina,’ Griffin said at a news conference. ‘But the space program is a long-term investment in our future. We must deal with our short-term problems while not sacrificing our long- term investments in our future. When we have a hurricane, we don’t cancel the Air Force. We don’t cancel the Navy. And we’re not going to cancel NASA.'”

Is it too naive to politely ask, “In what POSSIBLE way are we investing long-term in our future by spending 104 billion dollars to return astronauts to the moon???” This appears an incredibly ridiculous waste of money in the face of serious natural and man-made disasters plaguing the USA. [As we prepare this Update, Hurricane Rita, now declared to be a category 5 storm, is expected to hit Texas by early Saturday morning. It is highly anticipated by experts that additional strong hurricanes will hit the USA this year.]

Scotland Most Violent Country In Developed World

On September 19, 2005, TimesOnLine reported that Scotland is “the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. England and Wales recorded the second highest number of violent assaults while Northern Ireland recorded the fewest. The study, based on telephone interviews with victims of crime in 21 countries, found that more than 2,000 Scots were attacked every week, almost ten times the official police figures. They include non-sexual crimes of violence and serious assaults. Violent crime has doubled in Scotland over the past 20 years.”

Mismanagement In Louisiana

The Los Angeles Times wrote on September 17, 2005, that “Senior officials in Louisiana’s emergency planning agency already were awaiting trial over allegations stemming from a federal investigation into waste, mismanagement and missing funds when Hurricane Katrina struck. And federal auditors are still trying to track as much as $60 million in unaccounted for funds that were funneled to the state from the Federal Emergency Management Agency dating back to 1998.

“In March, FEMA demanded that Louisiana repay $30.4 million to the federal government. The problems are particularly worrisome, federal officials said, because they involve the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the agency that will administer much of the billions in federal aid anticipated for victims of Katrina.”

Britain Angry With USA

Mirror.co.uk wrote on September 19, 2005: “Hundreds of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned. US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees. Instead tons of the badly needed Nato ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption… The food, which cost British taxpayers millions, is sitting idle in a huge warehouse after the Food and Drug Agency recalled it when it had already left to be distributed. Scores of lorries headed back to a warehouse in Little Rock, Arkansas, to dump it at an FDA incineration plant…”

The article continued:

“Food from Spain and Italy is also being held because it fails to meet US standards and has been judged unfit for human consumption. And Israeli relief agencies are furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit.”

It seems, no matter what the USA is doing these days, it is creating more and more enemies for itself, even turning its allies and supporters against it. This should not surprise us, if we understand Biblical prophecy. Current events HAVE BEEN written in advance in your Bible, and you NEED TO KNOW what they are. Please read our new free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of England and America,” which is posted on the Web and is being printed at the present time.

Britain Angry With Europe

TimesOnLine reported on September 14, 2005, that “Brussels has been given the power to compel British courts to fine or imprison people for breaking EU laws, even if the Government and Parliament are opposed. An unprecedented ruling yesterday by the supreme court in Europe gives Brussels the power to introduce harmonised criminal law across the EU, creating for the first time a body of European criminal law that all member states must adopt. The judgment by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg was bitterly fought by 11 EU governments, including Britain, and marks a dramatic transfer of power from national capitals to Brussels.”

It is interesting that Tony Blair, even though the current–mostly silent–President of the European Parliament, did not prevent this development from occurring. This is another nail in the coffin of Britain’s participation in the “United States of Europe.”

The Catholic Church And The Devil

On September 14, 2005, MSNBC published an almost unbelievable report about most recent developments within the Catholic Church. The article stated:

“At the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday Pope Benedict greeted Italian exorcists who, he disclosed, are currently holding their national convention. The pope encouraged them to ‘carry on their important work in the service of the Church.’ Problem was that until the pope spoke few people outside the inner circle knew that a convention of Beelzebub-busters was going on, presumably in Rome.”

Even though not commonly known, the article continued to explain: “The Roman Catholic Church has shown growing interest in exorcism in Italy. In 1999, the Vatican issued its first updated ritual for exorcism since 1614 and warned that the devil is still at work… A Vatican university announced last Thursday that for the second year running it will hold a course on exorcism and Satanism for Roman Catholic priests.”

Waiting For A Leader?

On September 8, 2005, The Los Angeles Times wrote: “For $3.8 trillion, we should get more than this. That’s the combined expenditure of the federal, state and local governments in 2005, nearly a third of the national economy. And yet the results in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast speak for themselves: Warnings went unheeded, levees were neglected, cops and rescuers were short-shifted… Amid all this international worrywarting [sic] and globe-girdling crusading, the well-being of ordinary Americans is ignored. Who bothers with something so dull as infrastructure? We spend money, lots of it, but neither party sweats details to make sure public services work routinely, let alone in a crisis. So there’s a huge hole in the middle of American politics waiting to be filled by a leader who puts the American nation, and the American people, first.”

Failure of Katrina Relief Efforts Due to Iraq?

AFP reported on September 10, 2005:

“Four years after the September 11 attacks, the failure of the US emergency services to handle the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina is due to resources being diverted to the ‘war on terror,’ experts say. With thousands of National Guard soldiers deployed in Iraq and medical resources being diverted to deal with a potential biological attack, the southern United States was less prepared than it might have been when Katrina struck on August 29. ‘The most recent effects of these diversions of funding have been seen in the unfolding tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the surrounding area,’ said Erica Frank from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. ‘Had there been more bodies on the ground, there would have been fewer deaths. But 7,000 National Guards from Louisiana and Mississippi are deployed in Iraq,’ she said.”

More Expensive Than Two Wars?

MSNBC wrote on September 10, 2005: “Although estimates of Hurricane Katrina’s staggering toll on the treasury are highly imprecise, costs are certain to climb to $200 billion in the coming weeks. The final accounting could approach the more than $300 billion spent in four years to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

The article pointed out that the “government never has dealt with a disaster of this scale: In 1992, the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in Florida and Louisiana cost $35 billion. The price for the 6.7-magnitude temblor in the Northridge area of Los Angeles in 1994 was $15 billion to $20 billion.”

Powell Comes Clean

As it was reported on September 9, 2005, “Former Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized the response to Hurricane Katrina, saying ‘a lot of failures’ occurred at all levels of government… ‘There was more than enough warning over time about the dangers to New Orleans. Not enough was done,’ Powell told ABC News’ Barbara Walters in an interview… Powell also said his prewar speech to the United Nations accusing Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction was a ‘blot’ on his record. ‘I’m the one who presented it to the world, and (it) will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It is painful now,’ he said.”

Catholics and the Bible

On September 9, 2005, News24.com reported about the fact that the Bible is not read by many Catholics. It was pointed out:

“With an estimated five billion copies sold in more than 2,000 languages worldwide, the Bible is considered the ultimate best-seller. But is it also the best read? Apparently not, according to a new survey commissioned by an Italian Christian association and carried out in three Catholic countries: Italy, France and Spain. The survey’s results were presented on Thursday at the Vatican, and suggest that only three percent of practising Catholics actually read the Scripture on a daily basis while 80% of them only hear extracts from the Bible during Sunday Mass. Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Catholic Bible Federation, also notes that there is widespread ignorance about the so-called ‘Good Book’. For instance, the survey found that 40% of those polled believed… Paul had written a Gospel while 26% thought… Peter was one of the Evangelists–the… authors of the Gospels are in fact Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Bishop Paglia also expressed concern about a survey finding suggesting that the majority of practising Catholics still believe the Bible to be a book which should be confined to the clergy rather than one they should make their own.”
This “concern” is of course rather surprising and hypocritical, as for centuries Catholic lay members were strongly discouraged, if not forbidden, by the Catholic Church to read the Bible.

Canadian Pastor vs. Government “Position” on Homosexuality

As WorldNetDaily reported on September 10, 2005, a Canadian pastor is facing monetary fines for his published views on homosexuality. The article stated: “A Canadian pastor who works with at-risk youth is preparing to face his province’s Human Rights Tribunal because of a letter to the editor he wrote calling homosexuality immoral and dangerous. The letter by… Stephen Boissoin of Alberta also called into question the province’s new homosexual-rights curriculum… The complaint was filed by Darren Lund, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, after Boissoin’s letter was published in the Red Deer Advocate. If Boissoin loses, he could be forced to pay $7,000 in fines–$5,000 to Lund personally and another $2,000 to the homosexual-rights group EGALE Canada…

“In his letter, Boissoin wrote, ‘Children as young as 5 and 6 years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights.’… [H]is accuser, Lund, has likened him to a local white supremacist, Terry Long of Aryan Nation, and a holocaust denier, James Keegstra. Boissoin told LifeSiteNews.com he expects to be found guilty, noting he met with an officer of the Human Rights Commission who said the letter went against the panel’s ‘position.'”

Personal Insolvencies Hit Record High

On August 5, 2005, The Guardian reported that “the number of personal insolvencies in England and Wales has risen to its highest level in 45 years… In the April to June period, the number of personal insolvencies rose to 15,394, the highest since comparable records began in 1960… That was up 36.8% compared to a year ago and 11.7% on the quarter. The insolvencies were made up of 11,195 bankruptcies–also the highest on record–and 4,199 individual voluntary arrangements.”

Great Ramadan Offensive?

WorldNetDaily published a frightening article on September 8, 2005, pertaining to rising concerns about terrorist attacks in October, the “holy month of Ramadan.” The publication claimed that “al-Qaida is planning spectacular attacks next month against the U.S., Russia and Europe in what it is calling the ‘Great Ramadan Offensive.’ The offensive, designed to overshadow the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon, was first referenced in a May 30 letter written by al-Qaida’s Iraq commander Abu Musab Zarqawi to Osama bin Laden. It is the subject of a report written by terrorism expert Yossef Bodansky, the former director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, to government officials. Ramadan, the holiest period in the Muslim calendar, begins Oct. 4 this year and lasts a month… Airports in Italy and the Netherlands are referenced as specific potential targets, and Italy is already on high alert for possible terrorist attacks… Details of the operation came from intercepted communications between top al-Qaida leaders about two weeks ago… Bodansky says plans for attacks against Europe are being finalized in the Balkans, while preparations for attacks on Russia are being completed in Chechnya. Attack plans against the U.S. are being directed from the tri-border area in Latin America.”

The article continued:

“Paul Williams, author of ‘The Al-Qaeda Connection,’ however, sees a much more devastating, coordinated, all-out, surprise attack coming. ‘The next attack, according to al-Qaida defectors and informants, will take place simultaneously at various sites throughout the country,’ he writes. ‘Designated targets include New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Houston, Las Vegas, and Valdez, Alaska, where the tankers are filled with oil from the Trans-Alaska pipeline. To orchestrate such an incredible event requires not only the shipment of the nukes into the United States but also the establishment of cells, the training of sleeper agents, the selection of sites, and the preparation of the weapons without detection from federal, state or local law enforcement officials.'”

The reports explained that “… al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union–including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some missile warheads. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market.”

In a related article, which was published by ABC News on September 12, 2005, it was stated:

“In an apparent Sept. 11 communiqué broadcast on ABC News, an al Qaeda operative threatens new attacks against cities in the U.S. and Australia. ‘Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing. And this time, don’t count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion,’ the tape warns. ‘We are Muslims. We love peace, but peace on our terms, peace as laid down by Islam, not the so-called peace of occupiers and dictators.’… [The tape] message contains a very pointed al Qaeda threat against Los Angeles and Melbourne… This morning, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton acknowledged his city is a target for terrorists.”

Active Volcanoes in Oregon?

Reuters reported on September 9, 2005: “A large, slow-growing volcanic bulge in Eastern Oregon is attracting the attention of seismologists who say that the rising ground could be the beginnings of a volcano… Further north, the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens killed 57 people, destroyed at least 230 square miles of forest and spewed ash for hundreds of miles. Mount St. Helens has rumbled back to life recently, spitting lava, rocks and ash, but has not had another big eruption. A lava dome is growing in the huge crater created in Mount St. Helens, but that event appears to be unrelated to the South Sister bulge, seismologists said.”

Hurricane Katrina–God’s Wrath on Man?

Some have wondered and commented about the possibility that Hurricane Katrina was a direct outpouring of God’s Wrath on the people of New Orleans and other devastated areas–that God decided to punish the affected people for their sins. Based on the biblical evidence, we don’t believe that God “singled out” New Orleans, the rest of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Rather, Christ said that the people on whom the tower of Siloam fell were not worse sinners than others, and He told His listener (and He is warning all of us today) that if they (and we) don’t repent, they (and we) will all LIKEWISE perish (compare Luke 13:4-5). Hurricane Katrina was a warning, no doubt (as we pointed out in our last StandingWatch program, titled, “More Disasters Will Strike…”). On the other hand, the time when GOD specifically pours out His plagues has not yet come. So far, it is still Satan who rules this world, but he can only do, of course, what God allows him to do. The Great Tribulation, still to come, which will begin BEFORE the Day of the Lord [which is also called the Day of God’s Wrath] constitutes “SATAN’S wrath” (compare Revelation 6:9-11, and the insert chapter of Revelation 12, especially verse 12). GOD’S Wrath will FOLLOW the Great Tribulation and the “Heavenly Signs” (compare Revelation 6:12-17).

When reading this week’s Current Events section, reporting on Hurricane Katrina, we should notice several disturbing thoughts for sure– the continuing downfall of the United States of America, its decreasing reputation and prestige in the world and the world’s assessment of blame on the leadership of the USA. We are publishing the following comments FOR THE PURPOSE OF INFORMING OUR READERSHIP ABOUT THE PROPHESIED ONGOING DETERIORATION BETWEEN THE USA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD–ESPECIALLY EUROPE. (You might want to read our free booklets, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America” and “Europe in Prophecy,” which are posted on the Web.)

Reuters reported on September 2, 2005:

“The world has watched amazed as the planet’s only superpower struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with some saying the chaos has exposed flaws and deep divisions in American society… ‘Anarchy in the USA’ declared Britain’s best-selling newspaper The Sun. ‘Apocalypse Now’ headlined Germany’s Handelsblatt daily…
“Many newspapers highlighted criticism of local and state authorities and of President Bush. Some compared the sputtering relief effort with the massive amounts of money and resources poured into the war in Iraq.

“‘A modern metropolis sinking in water and into anarchy — it is a really cruel spectacle for a champion of security like Bush,’ France’s left-leaning Liberation newspaper said… Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, in a veiled criticism of U.S. political thought, said the disaster showed the need for a strong state that could help poor people.”

More Reactions From the International Press–Has the Time of Reckoning Come?

The International press has been openly attacking the Bush Administration, alleging that it is incompetent, and that it is bringing shame on America.

When reading the following excerpts, these Scriptures about modern America (and Britain) might come to mind:

Ezekiel 22:4: “….You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries.”

Ezekiel 22:5: “Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult.”

The conservative German mass tabloid, Bild Online, wrote on Sunday, September 4, 2005:

“In addition to the suffering, there is ANGER against Bush. SHAME, shame for America. Citizens and politicians are abhorred about the mistakes of the crisis management. They allege that Bush has failed.” The paper concluded: “US actor Pierce Brosnan (‘James Bond’) attacked Bush directly. He said in Deauville (France): ‘I don’t know whether this man is really concerned about America. He will have to answer for a lot of things.'”

LA Provence (Marseille, France) stated that the time will come when one must ask questions of an “indifferent president who seems to be more concerned about Iraq than his own people.”

Le Monde (France) wrote: “The superpower … is INCAPABLE of handling a national catastrophe of such proportions. A discussion is underway in the USA whether it makes sense to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq, while there is inability to help its own citizens at home. Hurricane Katrina could become an historical (event) such as September 11… After Katrina, the world holds out its hand to a HUMILIATED America.”

Die Sonntagszeitung (Zurich) wrote: “President Bush will have to give an account to his own people, and to the rest of the world…These natural catastrophes cannot be viewed any longer as mere coincidences.”

La Repubblica (Rome) said: “We are seeing an AMERICAN POMPEII, which has been left to itself, and which is SLOWLY DYING.”

Il Messagero (Rome) stated that the mightiest army in the world could do nothing to prevent September 11, and that the biggest and most sophisticated technology could do nothing to prevent the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

The Sunday Times (England) commented on Sunday, September 4, 2005: “This time, America’s vulnerability is coupled with incompetence… The only superpower in the world appears like an average Third World Country during a crisis.”

The Observer (England) wrote early September: “The conclusion that the leadership has failed tremendously is inescapable… President Bush did not immediately end his vacation, and when he spoke to the nation, he did not make it clear that he understood the severity of the situation.”

The Daily Mail (England) wrote on September 3, 2005, about the “humbling of a superpower,” pointing out: “Like some lurid scene from an apocalyptic disaster movie, a world-famous city is overwhelmed by the awesome forces of nature. Familiar landmarks lie half-submerged in a toxic swamp of polluted water. Thousands are feared dead. Images of desperate people smashing through the roofs of their homes to escape the floods fill our TV screens. But this is no Hollywood blockbuster. This is New Orleans today. The most exotic, un-American corner of the United States has fallen victim to a cataclysm that almost defies belief. A city the size of Sheffield will soon be lying completely empty, its residents fled, evacuated, or drowned. While Washington struggles to respond to the storm that has humbled the most powerful nation on the planet, we should perhaps reflect on how quickly the thin veneer of civilisation can be stripped away…

“Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised. George Bush, so decisive when it came to launching an illegal war on Iraq, froze like a rabbit in the headlamps… Now back in Washington, the President finds his reckless adventure in Iraq coming back to haunt him. The National Guard, the part-time soldiers whose prime role is to provide emergency services in natural disasters, have in large part been deployed overseas. Five thousand members of the Louisiana National Guard who should be spearheading the rescue effort watch the disaster unfold from their HQ – Camp Liberty, west of Baghdad. Equipment that could have been so valuable in the rescue operations is parked in depots there. The same is happening across all the neighbouring states, leaving Washington bereft of vital manpower as it grapples with the greatest homeland crisis in memory. Here is a superpower that can crush at will a tinpot dictatorship–but then becomes so bogged down in the grisly aftermath of war that it finds itself unable to respond anything like adequately to the plight of tens of thousands of its own citizens engulfed by a natural calamity. President Bush, his ratings already in free-fall, could pay a high price indeed for his military folly.”

The Independent (England), a conservative paper, wrote on Sunday, September 4, 2005: “New Orleans will have to be abandoned for at least nine months, and many of its people will remain homeless for up to two years, the US government believes. The bleak assessment will deepen the biggest crisis faced by President George Bush, who last week called the devastation of Hurricane Katrina a ‘temporary disruption’… The President is now facing a political hurricane of his own, with gathering criticism, even from inside his own party, for failing to heed warnings of the city’s vulnerability, cutting spending on its defences to pay for the wars on terror and in Iraq, and responding sluggishly to the worst natural catastrophe ever to hit his country… The criticism is all the sharper because the President did nothing to alter his holiday schedule for 48 hours. Vice-President Dick Cheney remains on holiday in Wyoming [as of the date of the publication].”

The Independent (England) wrote in another article, published on September 4, 2005: “Vital measures to protect New Orleans from ‘catastrophic’ hurricane damage were scrapped by the Bush administration to pay for its wars on terror and in Iraq, despite official warnings of impending disaster. Funding for flood prevention was slashed by 80 per cent, work on strengthening levees to protect the city was stopped for the first time in 37 years, and planning for housing stranded citizens and evacuating refugees from the Superdome were crippled. Yet the administration HAD BEEN WARNED repeatedly of the dangers by its own officials. In early 2001, at the start of Mr Bush’s presidency, his Government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) warned that a HURRICANE HITTING NEW ORLEANS would be the DEADLIEST OF THE THREE MOST LIKELY CATASTROPHES facing America; the others were a MASSIVE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE and, PROPHETICALLY, A TERRORIST ATTACK ON NEW YORK… Natural and man-made defences have long been neglected. A 10-year plan to strengthen levees after a 1965 hurricane was never completed. But the skimping has worsened since President Bush’s election, particularly after 11 September. Federal spending on flood control in south-east Louisiana has been cut by almost half since 2001.”

Der Spiegel Online republished, on September 3, 2005, an article which had been published in the New York Times, titled, “THE UNITED STATES OF SHAME.” It stated: “Stuff happens. And when you combine limited government with incompetent government, lethal stuff happens. America is once more plunged into a snake pit of anarchy, death, looting, raping, marauding thugs, suffering innocents, a shattered infrastructure, a gutted police force, insufficient troop levels and criminally negligent government planning. But this time it’s happening in America…

“Who on earth could have known that New Orleans’s sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy’s uneasy fishbowl… Not only was the
money depleted by the Bush folly in Iraq; 30 percent of the National Guard and about half its equipment are in Iraq… Michael Brown… in charge of FEMA… admitted he didn’t know until Thursday that there were 15,000 desperate, dehydrated, hungry, angry, dying victims of Katrina in the New Orleans Convention Center…. When the president and vice president rashly shook off our allies and our respect for international law to pursue a war built on lies, when they sanctioned torture, they SHOOK THE FAITH OF THE WORLD IN AMERICAN IDEALS. When they were deaf for so long to the horrific misery and cries for help of the victims in New Orleans–most of them poor and black, like those stuck at the back of the evacuation line yesterday while 700 guests and employees of the Hyatt Hotel were bused out first–they SHOOK THE FAITH OF ALL AMERICANS IN AMERICAN IDEALS. AND MADE US ASHAMED. WHO ARE WE IF WE CAN’T TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN?”

On September 7, 2005, The Associated Press published an article with the headline: “Europeans Wonder About Slow Katrina Relief.” The article stated: “For four days, a C-130 transport plane ready to lift supplies to Katrina victims has stood idle at an air base in Sweden. The aid includes a water purification system that may be urgently needed amid signs deadly diseases could be spreading through fetid pools in New Orleans. The one thing that stands in the way of takeoff? Approval by U.S. officials. Although some foreign aid is on the way to the U.S., many international donors are complaining of frustration that bureaucratic entanglements are hindering shipments to the United States… The United States has accepted offers of nearly $1 billion in assistance from some 95 countries, said Harry K. Thomas Jr., the State Department’s executive secretary. One of those rejected came from Iran… because it was conditional… But Poland, Austria and Norway said they had not heard back on their aid offers, and countries outside Europe said they were also waiting for replies.”

The article continued:

“The global mobilization has been accompanied by widespread surprise at the mayhem in New Orleans. People around the world have been shocked by the images of the devastation, and also by the looting and disorder that followed and the perceived shortcomings in the response by U.S. authorities. ‘We have all watched as a large part of the United States fell from a First World society into Third World death, chaos and social breakdown,’ historian J.L. Granastein, a fellow of the Canadian Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute, wrote in Canada’s The Globe and Mail. Fintan O’Toole, writing in The Irish Times, said the disaster revealed ‘the underlying nature of a troubled country. When America looks at the huge expanse of filthy, fetid water that has drowned New Orleans, it becomes a mirror in which it finally sees the scars on its own face. The scars of poverty, of racism, of ideological zealotry, of public corruption and of environmental degradation, usually concealed by a cosmetic media, become visible,’ he wrote.”

According to AFP, China’s “most important state-run newspaper has accused US President George W. Bush and his administration of ‘negligence of duty’ in its response to the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina.” The article, which was published on September 8, 2005, continued: “‘… ever since “September 11″, the Congress had cut anti-flood allocation to Louisiana, which later became a main reason for the slow rescue work this time,’ said the officially controlled [Communist] paper. ‘In the face of the hurricane, Americans accepted the challenge but failed to beat it off. This is really a shame on the United States.’ It said the anarchy and chaos seen in New Orleans after the hurricane looked to the world like America was ‘fighting a city war at home.’ ‘New Orleans has become Baghdad,’ it said… ‘it revealed the fragility of American society, as well as despair and disorder in a state of anarchy.'”

America Needs Help!

MSNBC.com published the following article on September 7, 2005:

“From Germany, 25 tons of food rations and more on the way. Mexico sent bottled water. And from France, Red Cross workers flew to Baton Rouge to join in the relief effort. But big is too small a word to describe the international response to Hurricane Katrina–more than 60 nations have reached out and responded to America’s call for help. And it doesn’t capture the SHOCK that other countries have over the images that have emerged from the Gulf Coast. Here in Britain and elsewhere newspaper editorials are asking why the world’s only superpower APPEARS SO HELPLESS. The Independent newspaper in Britain declared on its front page Tuesday that people were dying because they were poor… And all across Europe people are talking about HOW AMERICA COULD GET IT SO WRONG. In the Middle East satellite news channels came up with an answer. In a word: ‘Iraq.’… Several Arab networks claim American can’t fight a war in Iraq and battle storm damage at home. One commentator said the natural disaster has put Iraq as the number-one issue in the United States, saying, ‘most Americans are drawing a link between the Iraq war and the delay in rescue efforts.’… The criticism from those with an agenda was predictable. Still there was GENUINE DISMAY from Arab countries expecting the U.S. to at least take care of their own. Egyptian newspapers called it SHOCKING that America was incapable of handling the disaster… At the London School of Economics, Professor Rodney Baker said the disaster has ALTERED AMERICA’S IMAGE.”

The article continued:

“But rich or poor, nations are lining up to help. How about the image of Afghanistan pledging a hundred thousand dollars? Or that Singaporeans are now flying rescue helicopters over New Orleans? Or that Sri Lanka, itself a victim of a national disaster during the tsunami, offered $25,000 to the Red Cross, all it could afford? So nations with little to offer give what they can PERHAPS IN RECOGNITION OF AMERICA’S LONG HISTORY OF GENEROSITY IN TIMES OF NEED.”

Horror Statistics and Facts

The Independent (England) wrote on September 4, 2005: “In New Orleans, fires burn amid a sea of sewage and uncounted corpses. Across the coast of the southern United States, up to 10,000 are killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, and nearly every shred of civilisation removed.”

The Associated Press wrote on September 4, 2005, that “Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Sunday the death toll from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath is in the thousands, the first time a federal official has acknowledged what many had feared.”

AFP wrote on September 2, 2005: “US Senator David Vitter said that the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could top 10,000 in Louisiana alone.”

On September 2, 2005, The Huffington Post published an editorial by Randall Robinson, a social justice advocate and author whose works include, “The Debt–What America Owes to Blacks”: “It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive. Four days after the storm, thousands of blacks in New Orleans are dying like dogs.”

Incredible Lack of US Reserves of Crude and Heating Oil

Reuters reported on September 2, 2005:

“France, Germany, Spain and Italy [who have “SUBSTANTIAL emergency reserves”] declared they were ready to send fuel across the Atlantic… EU nations have watched in horror as the world’s richest country struggles with the aftermath of Katrina. Thousands are feared dead and troops in the flooded city of New Orleans have been told to shoot-to-kill to crack down on looting. Gasoline prices have soared by nearly a fifth over the past week and President George W. Bush has urged Americans to go easy on fuel… the United States has ONLY emergency reserves of crude and a SMALL stockpile of heating oil… ” The article pointed out, too, that “Europe’s pledge of gasoline may carry a POLITICAL PRICE for Washington.”

Need for Repentance

On September 3, 2005, WorldNetDaily published a statement by Billy Graham on the catastrophe in New Orleans. Although it proves to be a mixture of truth and error–in fact, more error than truth–we are quoting Graham, with approval, as follows:

“The disaster of Hurricane Katrina may be the worst tragedy America has known since the Civil War. The aftermath has almost been frightening… The tragedy is so overwhelming that it is beyond comprehension… The flood of refugees may be one of the greatest challenges our society has ever faced. It is clear that it will take years for thousands of lives to return to normal… Times like this will make us react in one of two ways: Either we will become bitter and angry–or we will realize our need of God and turn to Him in faith and trust… May this tragedy make each of us realize our need of God, and may we turn to Christ in repentance and faith and find our hope in Him.”

California Next?

The Los Angeles Times reported on September 8, 2005:

“U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones remembers attending an emergency training session in August 2001 with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that discussed the three most likely catastrophes to strike the United States. First on the list was a terrorist attack in New York. Second was a super-strength hurricane hitting New Orleans. Third was a major earthquake on the San Andreas fault. Now that the first two have come to pass, she and other earthquake experts are using the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as an opportunity to reassess how California would handle a major temblor… officials believe that a major temblor could cause the level of destruction and disruption [in California, especially Los Angeles] seen over the last week on the Gulf Coast…

“There are about 40,000 structures in California made from ‘non-ductile reinforced concrete,’ a rigid substance susceptible to cracking… A state study published last year on hazard reduction paints a sobering picture of California’s earthquake danger. About 62% of the population lives in a zone of high earthquake danger, including 100% of the population of Ventura County, 99% of Los Angeles County and 92% of Riverside County… One of the biggest concerns of seismic safety officials is the fate of hospitals… About 78% of hospitals have at least one building deemed at risk… A 2002 state study found that more than 7,500 school buildings across California are expected to ‘perform poorly’ in a major temblor… About 60% of Southern California’s water is imported from outside the region in three major aqueducts that cross the San Andreas fault, making them particularly vulnerable to major earthquake damage… Major gas lines also come into Southern California over the San Andreas at several points.”

Iraq in the News

The Catholic paper, Zenit, published the following article on September 2, 2005:

“The archbishop of Baghdad warns that there are ‘serious risks’ of civil war in Iraq… tensions are rising as the Shiites and the Sunnis fight over the future constitution. ‘We are still in great chaos, but perhaps this word does not express the daily tragedy of the situation… The chaos is fueled, in fact, by violence, which I would not describe as “blind,” as it seems to be very well planned and, therefore, perverse.’… Democracy ‘might come soon, but it might never come,’ continued the archbishop.”

TV Debate in Germany

As The Associated Press reported on September 4, 2005, “Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reminded Germans of his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq and his challenger Angela Merkel focused on unemployment, as the two squared off Sunday in a key televised debate [the only one agreed to by both parties] two weeks ahead of elections. The 90-minute debate, broadcast live during prime time, offered the beleaguered Schroeder an opportunity to showcase his strong television skills as polls give Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats a double-digit advantage over his Social Democrats. Polls found that the media-savvy Schroeder performed better–an outcome that had been widely predicted… A poll of 1,276 people carried out for ARD television after the debate found that 49 percent believed Schroeder fared better overall, against 33 percent for Merkel.”

As Bild Online explained, 57 percent felt that Schroeder was more competent than Merkel; only 34 percent favored Merkel. 56 percent had more sympathy for Schroeder than for Merkel; only 34 percent favored Merkel. According to a poll for ZDF television, 48 percent believed that Schroeder was the victor of the debate; only 28 percent felt that Merkel had fared better.

It will have to be seen, what impact, if any, the TV debate will have on the governmental election on September 18, 2005.

Europe’s Galileo Satellite Navigation System

As Reuters reported on September 7, 2005, “India joined Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system on Wednesday, becoming the fourth non-EU country to join the program that rivals the U.S. Global Positioning System. Galileo is Europe’s plan to create its own global navigation satellite system, with uses ranging from helping motorists navigate electronic maps to assisting search-and-rescue operations. It is scheduled to go into service in 2008 and eventually will have 30 satellites orbiting almost 24,000 km (15,000 miles) above the earth… China, Israel and Ukraine have already joined Galileo and talks were also underway with Argentina, Brazil, Morocco, Mexico, Norway [and] Chile… The project is meant to rival the U.S. Global Positioning System.”

Europe’s new navigation system is a big step towards independence from the US satellite system, which could also be used, of course, for military purposes.

Hurricane Katrina’s Devastation

Early reports suggest that Hurricane Katrina might prove to be the deadliest and costliest natural disaster in the history of the nation. The city of New Orleans–
sometimes called the “most European of all American cities”–has now been compared with Hiroshima and Baghdad. The situation in New Orleans has been described as “chaotic.” The sufferings of the survivors are beyond comprehension. According to President Bush, it will take years to rebuild the destroyed areas. Der Spiegel Online published articles with the following headlines: “This Is Judgment Day”; “Can This Still Be Coincidence?”; and “The Smell of the Apocalypse.” Due to the devastation, the production of oil and of agricultural commodities has been greatly affected. In some states in the USA, prices for gasoline are approaching previously unthinkable heights.The hurricane’s devastation might push the nation’s fragile economy into recession. In addition, the city of Los Angeles is waiting for the overdue “big one”–an earthquake which might create even worse damage than the hurricane’s devastation in New Orleans. During the night of August 31, 2005, Southern California was rattled again by several earthquakes–including one with the magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter Scale. Are we seeing the beginning of the end for this great country?

The Economist reported on August 30, 2005:

“Besides its devastating cost in lives, Katrina could push the American economy–maybe even the world economy–into recession. Around four-fifths of New Orleans was under water on Tuesday August 30th, the day after Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana, with winds roaring up to 140mph. Much of the city is below sea level and its levees–an ageing system of earthworks and pumping stations designed to hold the waters back–could not resist Katrina’s might. ‘The devastation is greater than our worst fears,’ said Louisiana’s governor, Kathleen Blanco… As the hurricane travelled on across Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama, it left a trail of death and devastation…

“More worrisome still is the toll of disease. Floodwaters may be contaminated with a toxic mix of industrial chemicals and raw sewage…

“… Nor will the effects of Hurricane Katrina be limited to the Gulf Coast and the offices of a few agitated insurers. Analysts are busy rewriting their forecasts of America’s fourth-quarter GDP growth to take into account the expected economic repercussions of the devastation. The affected area’s ports move a large fraction of the nation’s imports–including critical oil and gas supplies–as well as roughly half its exports of agricultural commodities like corn and soyabeans…

“Chief among the worries is the oil industry. The Gulf of Mexico provides about a tenth of all the crude oil consumed in America; and almost half of the petrol produced in the country comes from refineries in the states along the gulf’s shores. Oil companies are busy assessing how much damage was done to drilling rigs, refineries and port facilities; but even if the infrastructure is largely intact, shipping delays threaten to idle refinery production. This is bad news considering that refineries have been running flat out in recent months to keep up with high demand… If Katrina has damaged America’s capacity to pump and refine oil, forcing Americans to shop abroad for more fuel to feed their gluttonous appetites, it could be a long cold winter for everyone.”

Reuters reported on August 31, 2005:

“In the aftermath of Katrina, some 95 percent of U.S. oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and nine refineries along the coast remained shut down. Several crude pipelines on the Gulf Coast also remained out of service due to power outages, damage and flooding, creating further headaches for an industry that has been badly strained by the storm. What’s more, the Energy Department said Port Fourchon in Louisiana, which handles a large share of U.S. crude oil and natural gas imports, was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and is cut off by floodwaters.”

The Associated Press reported on August 31, 2005:

“From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged by SHOCK THAT A DISASTER OF THIS SCALE COULD OCCUR IN THE UNITED STATES… The storm was seen as an equalizer–proof that any country, weak or strong, can be victimized by a natural disaster. Images of flood-ravaged New Orleans earned particular sympathy in central Europe, where dozens died in raging floodwaters only days ago.”

In a related article, The Associated Press stated:

“Hurricane Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans, the mayor said Wednesday… If the mayor’s estimate holds true, it would make Katrina the NATION’S DEADLIEST HURRICANE SINCE 1900, when a storm in Galveston, Texas, killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The death toll in the San Francisco earthquake and the resulting fire has been put at anywhere from about 500 to 6,000.”

In a third article, the Associated Press stated: “Hurricane Katrina could cost the insurance industry up to $25 billion in claims, which would make it THE COSTLIEST STORM IN THE NATION’S HISTORY… That means Katrina could prove more costly than record-setting Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which caused some $15.5 billion in insured losses. Adjusted for inflation, Andrew’s cost would be nearly $21 billion today. The figures do not cover property that isn’t insured, which could add billions to the total. The Insurance Information Institute said that in Andrew’s case, the uninsured losses may have approached $16 billion.”

CNN.com reported on August 31, 2005:

“New Orleans resembled A WAR ZONE more than a modern American metropolis Tuesday, as Gulf Coast communities struggled to deal with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina… New Orleans was left with no power, no drinking water, dwindling food supplies, widespread looting, smoke rising on the horizon and the sounds of gunfire. At least one large building was ablaze Tuesday… Katrina has inflicted more damage to Mississippi beach towns than did Hurricane Camille, and its death toll is likely to be higher, the state’s governor said Tuesday.”

The Financial Times commented on August 31, 2005, that “The damage from Hurricane Katrina has been worse than expected, initial assessments showed on Tuesday, prompting a new rise in oil prices to record levels and raising concerns about the cost of insurance in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Historical Proof for the Bible

The Los Angeles Times reported on August 9, 2005, that the Biblical Pool of Siloam was uncovered in Jerusalem. The Pool served as a gathering place for ancient Jews making pilgrimages and is the site, according to the Gospel of John, where Jesus cured a blind man. The article pointed out:

“The pool was fed by the now famous Hezekiah’s Tunnel and is ‘a much grander affair’ than archeologists previously believed…, said Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review, which reported the find Monday.”

The article also explained the ignorance of certain scholars. It stated: “‘Scholars have said that there wasn’t a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit’ to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. ‘Now we have found the Pool of Siloam… exactly where John said it was.’ A gospel that was thought [by ignorant men] to be ‘pure theology is now shown to be grounded in history,’ he said… The pool of Jesus’ time was built early in the 1st century BC and was destroyed by the future Roman Emperor Titus about AD 70.”

The fact that the pool of Siloam did exist, shows–once again–the accuracy of the Bible. It also condemns the futile attempts of Bible critics to discredit the Word of God, thereby deceiving and misleading people to believe that they don’t have to be obedient to Biblical injunctions. They will have to give account for their ERROR when their day of judgment comes.

Atheistic Scientists

On August 23, 2005, The New York Times published another interesting article about the appalling position of some leading scientists, openly denying the existence of God. The article, titled, “Scientists Speak Up on Mix of God and Science,” pointed out:

“At a recent scientific conference at City College of New York, a student in the audience rose to ask the panelists an unexpected question: ‘Can you be a good scientist and believe in God?’ Reaction from one of the panelists, all Nobel laureates, was quick and sharp. ‘No!’ declared Herbert A. Hauptman, who shared the chemistry prize in 1985 for his work on the structure of crystals. Belief in the supernatural, especially belief in God, is not only incompatible with good science, Dr. Hauptman declared, ‘this kind of belief is damaging to the well-being of the human race.'”

On the other hand, a growing number of scientists say that they believe in God–although most of them don’t want to talk about it. One believing scientist said that many reject the idea of a belief in God “because of pride in the idea that science is the ultimate source of intellectual meaning.”

The article stated:

“According to a much-discussed survey reported in the journal Nature in 1997, 40 percent of biologists, physicists and mathematicians said they believed in God–and not just a nonspecific transcendental presence but, as the survey put it, a God to whom one may pray ‘in expectation of receiving an answer.'”

However, the article continued:

“Others play down those results. They note that when Dr. Larson [Edward J. Larson of the University of Georgia] put part of the same survey to ‘leading scientists’ – in this case, members of the National Academy of Sciences, perhaps the nation’s most eminent scientific organization – fewer than 10 percent professed belief in a personal God or human immortality.” Also, many scientists seem to believe in a God “who is behind the laws of nature but who is not intervening.”

When reading this, one is reminded of the pointed statements by Paul, in Romans 1:18-20, 22: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse… Professing to be wise, they became fools.”

Afghanistan’s Schizophrenic War

On August 17, 2005, Der Spiegel Online reported about the “Schizophrenic War” in Afghanistan. The magazine pointed out that Afghanistan is anything but a success story. It was explained:

“While the drug squads and social workers continue their desperate battle against heroin on the home front, German troops stationed in Afghanistan can do little more than stand by and watch as poppy cultivation expands dramatically. Almost 90 percent of the world’s opium comes from the fields of the Hindu Kush region where the Bundeswehr is stationed.”

The magazine continued to point out:

“In 2004, production increased by 17 percent to 4,200 tons. The area of land used for the cultivation of poppies, the opium plant, expanded by 64 percent, now encompassing 131,000 hectares.

“[German] Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has stated that ‘the mandate of the German forces does not include combating drugs.’ Poppy fields are not to be burned, nor are laboratories to be destroyed.”

The reason for this policy is, in part, not to anger the drug lords (whose support against the Taliban the Allies need). The consequence is, according to the article, that opium is now readily available in Germany, in part as a direct consequence of the “won” war in Afghanistan. And so, we see again that war is dirty business–and when it comes to Afghanistan, quite literally, it seems.

U.S. Real Estate Market in Danger

On August 26, 2005, Market Watch published the following article about the fragile real estate market in the United States: “In his sharpest warning to date about rising home prices, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the housing boom is an economic imbalance that could end badly… National housing prices have risen 12.5% in the past year through the first quarter, government data show.”

In a related article of The Associated Press, which was published on August 27, 2005, it was warned that “a chorus of economists, government officials and elected leaders both conservative and liberal is warning that America’s nonstop borrowing has put the nation on the road to a major fiscal disaster–one that could unleash plummeting home values, rocketing interest rates, lost jobs, stagnating wages and threats to government services ranging from health care to law enforcement… Many people take comfort in the rising value of their homes, and its spurred record home-building and buying, with new construction making places like Las Vegas the fastest-growing in the nation. But a home translates into wealth only when you sell it–and there’s a vigorous debate over whether the housing boom is becoming a bubble that will burst.”

Special Report on Pope Benedict’s Visit to Germany

Germany Before Pope’s Visit

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 15, 2005, about the faith and belief system of Germans. The article was published BEFORE Pope Benedict XVI visited Cologne during the World Youth Day. The article pointed out:

“The churches are empty, the politicians are non-believers and the people in the east are complete strangers to God… Most Germans have developed their own private concept of faith. For them, the Big Bang has replaced the myh of creation, while catastrophic climate change is their new apocalypse. And depending on where they are in life, they enjoy small servings of ecstasy in the form of sex & drugs & rock ‘n’ roll or a concert subscription for two. At best, they pray on Wednesdays and Sundays, when the lottery numbers are announced… Germany is not a godless country — on the contrary, it has many gods… Two-thirds of young people say that it’s cool to believe in something. Religious symbols and emblems are hot items in youth culture — a cross dangling from their necks… Faith, at least the kind of faith being taught in the Catholic and even the Protestant Church, is a minority position in Germany. The Infratest survey conducted for SPIEGEL revealed that even those who consider themselves religious are often considerably at odds with the church’s positions. Just under two-thirds of Catholics — and less than half of all Protestants — believe in life after death, a central tenet of Christianity. Twenty-seven percent of the faithful say that God is not all-powerful, a concept that also deeply contradicts Christian teachings…”

The article also pointed out that “Thirty-eight percent of Germans now say that when a person dies, he is not judged by his maker, but comes back to live another life on earth — they believe in the Buddhist idea of reincarnation.”

It continued:

“In 2003, 180,000 Protestants left the church. Only 60,000 joined… [T]he number of Catholics has decreased every year since 1974. The latest figures for 2003 show that around 65,000 more Catholics were buried as were baptized. Far more people leave the church than enter it… The [Catholic] church has very little following in eastern Germany. But even in the German parliament the pope’s supporters are few and far between. He can only really count on two members from small constituencies to vote in line with Catholic dogma. Unlike in Italy and in Poland, no German political parties follow the Vatican line in their decision-making process.”

However, the magazine continued to point out that the current situation “may be changing. Even in the German parliament, there are signs of a shift… The taboo on religion is being whittled away by the success of George W. Bush’s last election campaign, which concentrated on values, and of course by Rome’s religious upswing. Even [Protestant] Angela Merkel, the opposition candidate for German elections, joined the mass pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Square after the death of John Paul II. She saw how hundreds of thousands of pope followers waited in line for 11, 12 or 13 hours to say goodbye to the pope. And it appears that she returned from Rome rather taken with Catholicism.”

Germany During Pope’s Visit

Reuters reported on August 19, 2005:

“Pope Benedict, making a historic visit on Friday to a synagogue once destroyed by the Nazis, said Christians and Jews must join forces so the ‘insane racist ideology’ that led to the Holocaust never resurfaces… Many Jews say Pius, Pope from 1939 to 1958, turned a deaf ear to the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked behind the scenes to save Jews and did not speak out more forcefully for fear of instigating Nazi reprisals.”

The German magazine Focus emphasized, however, in its article of August 19, 2005, that Pope Benedict refused to address the culpability of the Catholic Church or Christians in general who were partially responsible for the rise of Anti-Semitism in Germany. Nevertheless, as AFP reported, “By its conclusion, the leader of Germany’s Jewish community Paul Spiegel said he was ‘extremely impressed by what he [the pope] said and how he said it.'”

On August 20, 2005, The Associated Press reported:

“Benedict began his day by meeting in private with [German Chancellor Gerhard] Schroeder. He also met with Angela Merkel, Schroeder’s conservative challenger in Sept. 18 national elections. Afterward, Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union and the daughter of a Protestant minister, said: ‘It was a great joy to see the Holy Father. It was great to meet a German pope on German soil.’ Schroeder, also Protestant, as are about a third of Germans, had no immediate public comment.”

AFP reported on Sunday, August 20, 2005:

“Pope Benedict XVI issued a ringing back-to-basics call to young Catholics at a giant open-air mass attended by over a million young pilgrims at the Catholic World Youth day festival… Some 700,000 had attended a prayer-vigil with Benedict the night before, but the World Youth Day organisers said the numbers had swelled to ‘more than one million’ by Sunday’s mass… The young crowd gave Benedict a noisy reception under a huge canopy of swirling flags when he arrived aboard his popemobile, waving and blessing the crowd… Benedict urged the young Catholics to keep God at the centre of their lives and underlined the importance of Sunday mass and receiving Holy Communion… Unusually for a pope, he even used the phrase ‘nuclear fission’ to describe the spiritual effect of receiving Holy Communion, in which Catholics believe bread and wine blessed by a priest is turned into the body and blood of Christ in imitation of the Last Supper. Benedict was due to return to Rome on Sunday evening at the end of what is being seen as a highly successful visit during which he also met German Jewish and Muslim leaders… [On] Saturday he urged Muslim leaders to do more to combat the ‘cruel fanaticism’ of terrorism that aimed to poison ties between Christians and Muslims.”

Deutsche Welle reported on August 20, 2005:

“Early in the day, the pope was reported to have told German politicians he was in favor of introducing Islamic instruction into the German school curriculum as an equal to the currently Catholic and Protestant religion courses provided… Several German bishops have called for placing Islam on an equal footing with Christianity in schools…”

The Boston Globe reported on August 19:

“Pope Benedict XVI, the first German pontiff in centuries, yesterday triumphantly returned to his homeland, cruising up the Rhine through a city and a vast crowd packed with reminders of Germany’s troubled past and its hopeful future. Thousands of young Germans donned buttons declaring ‘Wir Sind Papst,’ literally ‘We are pope,’ [a slogan coined by the daily tabloid, “Bild”] reflecting the burst of national pride that the election of a German cardinal as pope, and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of young people here for World Youth Day, has occasioned in a nation still at times uncomfortable with expressions of nationalism… As a cardinal, with the name Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict was highly controversial in his native Germany, where much of the church is more liberal than the new pope. But the nation has embraced him as a symbol, even if many do not agree with every element of his theology — the tone of the press coverage here has been jubilant, even as German Catholics, like others in Europe, are increasingly unlikely to attend church…

“Benedict, who is from Bavaria but spent time here in the Rhineland as a theology professor at the University of Bonn, shared briefly in the patriotism at the airport arrival ceremony. ‘With deep joy I find myself for the first time after my election to the Chair of Peter in my beloved homeland, in Germany,’ he said… ‘With deep emotion I thank God who has enabled me to begin my pastoral visits outside Italy with this visit to the nation of my birth.’…

“[F]or many, Benedict’s theological views are beside the point. ‘Germany is among the least religious countries in Europe today, but his election is a great source of national pride — the fact that he was elected to this post is more significant than the fact that he is Catholic,’ said Daniel Levy, an assistant professor of sociology at Stony Brook University. ‘The truth is that the man has been living in Rome for 25 years, so he’s much more of a cosmopolitan clergyman than he is a German, but he’s going to be appropriated as a German, and one who stands for a universal set of values.'”

Germany After Pope’s Visit

On August 22, 2005, Zenit published the following headlines: “German Press Upbeat on Benedict XVI’s Impact. Just About All Show Youth Day in Positive Light.” The article pointed out: “The German press took note of the unexpected impact that Benedict XVI made on young people, judging by the headlines at newsstands in the city center…”

On August 24, 2005, The Associated Press published Pope Benedict’s reflections on his visit to Germany. The article stated:

“Benedict also referred to his meeting with Protestant and Orthodox Christian representatives, saying it was significant that it was held in Germany–the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation. ‘The role of Germany in ecumenical dialogue is important both for the sad story of the divisions as well as for the significant role it has played in the path of reconciliation,’ he said.”

To Conclude:

Many Germans will follow the pope, even though they might not agree or even understand his doctrinal positions. In fact, even many Catholic lay members have really no concept of some of the official teachings of Roman Catholicism. As the Bible reveals, other factors will determine and persuade many Germans, as well as many people in other Catholic and Protestant countries, to follow enthusiastically the head of the Catholic Church. We are seeing the beginning of this process right now.

Internet Space for Europe

On August 18, 2005, the EUobserver reported about European developments regarding the Internet, as follows:

“After more than seven years of preparation, European companies and individuals can soon start to pre-register new .eu internet domain names… companies with registered national and EU trademarks, public bodies and those with rights acquired by use will have the exclusive right to gain the domain name equivalent to their trademark… The commission, which is conducting the whole process, hopes to create a new ‘Internet space’ for Europe, as opposed to domains such as .com or .org, mainly registered in the US and bound by its laws.”

England and Denmark vs. Euro

On August 19, 2005, the EUobserver reported about a further trend in England and Denmark to reject the euro. The article pointed out:

“For the first time since 1971, the Royal Mint is preparing to redesign British coins. The plans, announced on Thursday (18 August), have sparked claims from the Vote No campaign that the government has ruled out joining the eurozone, the Financial Times reports.”

The article also stated: “Meanwhile, in Denmark, which is also not a member of the eurozone, the likelihood of joining the single currency also appears to be dropping. Earlier this month, Danish polls revealed record low support for joining euro.”

Memorial for Evicted Germans?

On August 18, 2005, the EUobserver reported about the expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe after World War II. The article explained:

“Germany’s would-be chancellor Angela Merkel has angered Poles with her support for controversial plans to build a memorial to the nine million Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after WWII… The idea to publicly recognise the violence carried out against the Germans fleeing from the countries the Nazi had occupied between 1939 and 1945 has caused concerns in both Poland and the Czech Republic.”

This discussion is sadly reminiscent of the current expulsion of Jewish settlers in lands occupied by the Israelis. Forced evictions of people–most of them innocent and having acted in good faith, who have lived most of their lives in certain regions–is often a terrible and tragic consequence of the horrors of war.

Germany’s Economy on a Rebound

The Economist, the influential British weekly, wrote in the cover story of its latest edition:

“In the past five years, Germany, long the most costly place in Europe in which to do business, has won a new competitive edge over France, Italy, the Netherlands and even Britain.”

The magazine continued: “Given this corporate turnaround and strong export performance, it is not surprising that both profits and the stockmarket have been rising sharply. More significantly, recent surveys of business confidence have been encouraging… With unemployment now starting to come down, consumer confidence looks set to revive too… This suggests that domestic demand, the weakest link in the German economy, may be poised for a rebound… The story from Germany is about to become surprisingly good.”

New German Elections in September

The Associated Press reported on August 25, 2005: “Germany’s highest court ruled Thursday that federal elections can go ahead as planned Sept. 18, dismissing complaints against the early vote from two lawmakers. The Federal Constitutional Court’s 7-1 decision removed the final obstacle to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s drive to hold elections a year ahead of schedule. Campaigning is already in full swing…”

The article continued: “President Horst Koehler set the ballot for Sept. 18 after Schroeder deliberately lost a vote of confidence in parliament’s lower house in July. Under the German constitution, the president can dissolve parliament and set early elections if the government convinces him that it no longer has a stable majority. Social Democrat lawmaker Jelena Hoffmann and Werner Schulz from Schroeder’s coalition partner, the Greens, argued that Schroeder still has the support of their two parties and the vote of no confidence should not count,” as it violated the spirit of the German Constitution.

The decision of seven judges to allow for new elections (only one judge dissented) was expected, although some legal commentaries question its legality, pointing out that the decision was motivated and dictated by what most politicians and most German citizens wanted, rather than by what the law regulates, under the German Constitution. Bild Online stated that the political career of the two plaintiffs (Hoffmann and Schulz) is over. If so, they paid the price for following their conscience. For that, they must be congratulated.

Pagan Goddess Asked For Help

Reuters reported on August 19, 2005, about attempts in Thailand to deal with the aftermaths of the recent tsunami, killing thousands of people. The article wrote:

“With Asian tourists still shunning its southern beaches, Thailand is calling in a revered Chinese sea goddess to ward off the restive spirits of the thousands who died in last December’s tsunami. A statue of Godmother Ruby, known as Mazu in Chinese, will be brought to the Thai island of Phuket from the Chinese coastal province of Fujian next month for ghost-clearing rites… Mazu, a Taoist goddess of the sea, has a huge following among fishermen and shipworkers in coastal provinces of southern China and Taiwan.”

One is reminded of a prophecy in Revelation 9:20: “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.”

Gaza Evictions

The Contra Costa Times reported on August 22, 2005, that “Settlers from the last remaining Jewish community in Gaza were being driven out of the Palestinian territory as Israel brought down the curtain on its 38-year occupation… bulldozers were demolishing empty settler homes in other parts of Gaza… Prime Minister Ariel Sharon… who declared only three years ago that Netzarim was as integral a part of Israel as Tel Aviv, has become the settlers’ number one enemy by forcing them out of their homes… Sharon’s disengagement plan has raised international hopes of a genuine revival of the moribund Middle East peace process, left in tatters by five years of Israeli-Palestinian violence. However Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has said Israel can only prove it was serious about peace if it stopped its West Bank settlement programme, something Sharon has vowed to continue.”

AFP reported on August 23:

“Israel completed its evacuation of parts of the occupied Palestinian territories after the last hardline resistance to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s historic pullout crumbled. A day after the last settlers were cleared out of the Gaza Strip, army and police evacuated the radical settlements of Homesh and Sanur in the northern West Bank, an area Jews say was promised to them by God but regarded by Palestinians as an integral part of their promised future state… Sharon, when in opposition, had urged settlers to ‘seize the hills’. But he now argues it is unrealistic to expect such isolated settlements as Sanur and Homesh, which lie close to the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin, can remain part of Israel in any final status agreement. He applied the same logic to the Gaza pullout which was completed two weeks ahead of schedule on Monday when the community of Netzarim was evacuated.”

WorldNetDaily reported this week:

“Iran is taking great interest in Gaza as the Israelis complete their disengagement… Tehran is funding plans for a flotilla of ships to repatriate the territory with Palestinian terrorists from Lebanon and elsewhere, working with Fatah dissidents to undermine the Palestinian Authority and spearheading an effort to make the Gaza Strip a beachhead of Islamist terrorism within six months.”

Plague of Frogs in France

The Independent published an interesting article on Sunday, August 21, 2005, about a plague of frogs in France. When reading the article, one is reminded of the Biblical plague of frogs in ancient Egypt. It was stated:

“A campaign in France to exterminate frogs may sound like the beginning of a civil war, but these are no ordinary frogs… the most intensive effort so far [is underway] to terminate a plague of giant Californian bullfrogs which is threatening to disrupt the ecology of the Gironde, Dordogne and several other départements. The aggressive and voracious bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), introduced illegally 37 years ago, can grow to more than 4lbs in weight and almost 2ft long. It consumes other frogs, fish, lizards and even small birds… Destroying the frogs is not easy, however. The Gironde fisheries protection association attacked a pond full of bullfrogs with electricity a few years ago. The frogs fought back. The hunters battled with them for two hours. They killed just one frog before they gave up. Assaults on the frogs have also been made with nets and by draining ponds, to little effect.”

The article continued to explain that the most effective way to kill the frogs is by shooting them with rifles at night, but it added: “Even so, experimental attacks on ponds and lakes over the past 11 months have killed only 120 frogs. A much bigger offensive, starting this weekend, aims to exterminate all the bullfrogs in France within five to 10 years.”

Televangelist Controversial–Again

As The Associated Press reported on August 23, “Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming ‘a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism… We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator,’ he continued. ‘It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.'”

The article also explained that “Robertson has made controversial statements in the past. In October 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to ‘kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.'”

On August 24, The Associated Press continued its report, as follows:

“Venezuela condemned American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson for suggesting President Hugo Chavez should be killed, saying he committed a crime that is punishable in the United States. Officials in Washington distanced themselves from Robertson, saying his statements did not reflect the position of the U.S. government.”

The article continued: “Political assassination was made off-limits by former President Ford in an executive order in the mid-1970s.”

Some religious leaders began, with half-hearted, carefully worded statements, to somewhat distance themselves from Robertson’s comments, reasoning that he spoke as a citizen in a political context. However, in most cases, clear words or positions were missing. Robertson himself apologized for his statements, saying that he spoke out of frustration.

The problem is, of course, that most religious leaders refuse to follow the clear Biblical teachings on war. If they allow for wars under certain circumstances, why then would Robertson be so wrong with his opinion, as originally voiced? Please read our free booklet, “Should You Fight in War?”, to learn God’s way of thinking on this grossly misunderstood subject.

Extreme Weather in Europe

On August 23, 2005, AFP reported about extreme weather conditions in Europe. The article explained:

“Rescue workers struggled to contain floods that left a trail of death and destruction across parts of central Europe, as parched Spain and Portugal in contrast battled dozens of raging wildfires… three days of torrential downpours in central and eastern Switzerland turned Alpine streams into raging torrents and triggered flooding around the country’s lakes… Floods also hit Austria…, Bulgaria and southern Germany… In Germany, flooding was worst surrounding the popular Alpine ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. The town, where 105 liters per cubic metre fell overnight, was almost completely cut off.”

The article continued:

“But it was a far different story in Portugal and Spain, ravaged by wildfires and the worst drought since the mid-1940s. Nearly 3,000 firefighters and soldiers battled dozens of blazes in Portugal… Portuguese forces were backed by nine firefighting planes and helicopters rushed in from five fellow European Union nations — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands — after Lisbon appealed for help… In Spain’s northwestern Galicia province, firefighters battled 24 blazes, including one that has burned for three days near Santiago de Compostela.”

Venezuela Threatens USA

“Agence France Presse” (AFP) reported on August 16, 2005, that “Venezuela’s energy minister, Rafael Ramirez, said that Caracas is ‘ready and willing’ to cut off its oil supply to the United States, if there are any signs of aggression from the superpower toward his country… On Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to end oil exports to the United States if Washington did not stop its ‘aggressions.’… Washington’s attacks could provoke ‘something more serious: These two daily boats full of Venezuelan oil could head another way instead of going to the United States,’ warned Chavez, whose country is the fourth-largest provider of oil to the United States, supplying some 1.5 million barrels a day… Ramirez made a similar statement on Tuesday, declaring that Caracas, the only Latin American member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, had other clients to court, including China.”

The article continued:

“Chavez has become an increasingly outspoken critic of the United States, and accuses Washington of planning attacks against Venezuela, while the United States has accused Venezuela of funding efforts to destabilize Latin American neighbors and allowing weapons to cross into Colombia, whose government is battling a leftist insurgency.”

Airline Crashes on the Rise?

This week the world witnessed at least two tragic airplane crashes, causing many people to wonder how safe airline travel really is these days. Interestingly, the most recent accident occurred in Venezuela. The Associated Press reported on August 16, 2005:

“A chartered jet filled with tourists returning home to the French Caribbean island of Martinique crashed Tuesday in western Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board. The plane plunged to the ground after the pilot reported both engines had failed, officials said… The crash was the deadliest in Venezuelan history… the death toll surpassed a 1969 crash in Venezuela that killed 155, including 71 victims on the ground… The plane was carrying 152 tourists from Martinique, including a 21-month-old child, returning home after a week in Panama, officials said. All eight Colombian crew members also were killed.”

The article continued:

“The crash came only two days after a Cypriot airliner plunged into the mountains north of Athens, Greece, killing all 121 people aboard. Both jets were flying for new, low-cost regional carriers that are springing up around the world as governments deregulate air travel.”

Germany’s Newest Election Campaign

The EUobserver reported on August 15 about the German election campaign, as follows:

“German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder on Saturday (13 August) kicked off his electoral campaign by warning the US that it should not use military force against Iran. Speaking at a political rally in his native Hanover ahead of next month’s election, the German leader said Germany’s ‘friends’ in Europe and the US must maintain a strong position while negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme. ‘But take the military options off of the table; we have seen that they’re not suitable,’ he added. This was an apparent reference to a statement by US president George W. Bush on Israeli television the day before that ‘all options are on the table’ with regards to Iran. Mr Schroder said that no one was interested in letting Iran become a nuclear power, but that the ongoing dispute must be resolved by developing a ‘strong negotiating position’ using peaceful means. ‘For that reason I can definitely rule out that a government under my leadership would participate in that,’ he said… His comments have awakened a sense of deja vu. Three years ago, when running for re-election, strong statements he made against the ‘military misadventures’ in Iraq were widely believed to have contributed to him being elected Chancellor once again.”

The Associated Press added the following information in its article of August 13, 2005:

“Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opened his campaign Saturday for next month’s national election seeking to rejuvenate his beleaguered center-left party by taking a swipe at U.S. military aggressiveness and the verbal gaffes of a conservative opposition leader… Schroeder won new support by ratcheting up his criticisms of the…U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and donning high galoshes to visit flooded cities in the depressed east… The chancellor also turned his attention to turmoil within the opposition, attacking Christian Democrat leader Angela Merkel, who hopes to replace him, and her ally Edmund Stoiber, head of a Bavarian sister party who questioned the intelligence of voters in eastern Germany… Merkel found herself immediately on the defensive seeking to control the damage caused by Stoiber’s remarks… Stoiber, the governor of Bavaria, said at a rally that he didn’t want the former communist east to swing the Sept. 18 election–a reference to the voters in six eastern states who helped return Schroeder to office in 2002 when Stoiber was the conservatives’ candidate for chancellor. ‘Unfortunately, we don’t have such intelligent citizens everywhere as we do in Bavaria,’ said Stoiber.”

Earthquake in Japan

The Associated Press reported on August 16, 2005, about Japan’s most recent earthquake:

“The earthquake was powerful enough to sway skyscrapers 185 miles away in Tokyo. And with an estimated magnitude of 7.2, it had the potential to cause catastrophic damage. But this time, Japan got lucky. No one died in the quake that rocked a wide swath of northern Japan on Tuesday… Still, the jolt underscored the fragility of the lifelines of even the most modern, quake-resistant cities. It forced highways and railroads to close, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded, and 17,000 households lost electricity. And with Tokyo overdue for a major quake of its own, it was a psychological jolt for many.”

The article continued to explain:

“Japan sits at the juncture of four tectonic plates–or moving slabs of the earth’s outer crust–and is one of the world’s most quake-prone regions. There have been several recent strong quakes in Japan. The biggest, at magnitude 6.0, shook the Tokyo area on July 23, injuring more than two dozen people and suspending flights and trains for hours… The Dec. 26 Indian Ocean earthquake with a magnitude estimated at 9.1 to 9.3 and the tsunami it triggered killed more than 176,000 people in 11 countries, and left half a million homeless in Indonesia alone.”

The German Pope and His Native Country

The Independent (UK) wrote on August 16:

“Pope Benedict XVI’s return to his German homeland later this week has been billed as a visit to a godless country in which more people trust the police and the nation’s largest supermarket chain than the head of the Roman Catholic Church… In an interview with Vatican Radio yesterday he said he hoped his appearance would ‘spark a wave of new faith among young people’… However, much of Germany’s media poured cold water on the Pope’s aspirations. Der Spiegel devoted its front cover to the visit and carried the headline: ‘Believers – desperately sought. The Pope’s homecoming to an un-Christian country.”

The article continued to explain correctly:

“Some of the difficulty stems from the reputation Benedict earned in Germany prior to his election. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was known as a severe enforcer of Catholic orthodoxy – at odds with modern Germans and their acceptance of birth control, homosexuality and sex outside marriage. The other problem is a steady decline in the number of people attending mass. Hundreds of Catholic, and Protestant, churches have been turned into shops, pubs and cinemas in attempts to find worthwhile uses for the buildings. The dilemma has worsened since reunification and the addition to the population of some 17 million Communist-educated and largely agnostic or atheist former East Germans.”

Bible prophecy shows that in the not-too-distant future, this picture will change considerably. Most of the German people will become strong followers of the pope.

On August 18, 2005, The Associated Press reported:

“Benedict XVI arrived Thursday in his native Germany to cheers from youthful pilgrims on his first foreign trip as pope, a journey that will emphasize outreach to Jews and Muslims and evangelizing a Europe that has drifted from its Christian heritage… The strong wind knocked off the pope’s white skullcap as he got off the plane, blowing it back inside the cabin. He reached for it in vain and decided to go on with the ceremonial welcome hatless. The wind also toppled the World Youth Day cross from the bow of a cruise ship he was to ride on, breaking one of its arms. The cross was first used during World Youth Day in 2000 in Rome and has been carried around the world by Catholic youth groups, including to the site of the World Trade Center attacks in New York. Workers were busy repairing it.”

The article continued:

“Benedict landed to a subdued arrival, compared with some of the greetings received by his charismatic predecessor, John Paul II. He skipped John Paul’s custom of kissing the ground, and only a few hundred enthusiastic admirers were brought to the airport. Thousands more, however, cheered as they watched on a large television screen in front of Cologne’s famed cathedral, erupting in shouts as his plane landed. More than 400,000 pilgrims registered ahead of time, organizers said, and up to 1 million people are expected for an open-air Mass by Benedict on Sunday. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Horst Koehler greeted Benedict on the red carpet as he descended from the plane, which had German and Vatican flags hanging from the cockpit windows.”

The fact that both the German Chancellor and the German President officially welcomed Pope Benedict XVI shows that they don’t consider the pope as just a religious figure, but also, as he is indeed, the head of a political state–the Vatican.

Russia’s and China’s Joint Military Exercises

The Washington Post reported on August 16, 2005, about joint military exercises between Russia and China. The paper stated:

“Russia and China will hold their first ever joint military exercises this week as the once wary neighbors demonstrate their willingness to cooperate in the face of the U.S. military presence in Central Asia… The two countries have held exercises before with other Central Asian republics, but this week’s maneuvers are the first bilateral exercises…

“The two countries have invited observers from the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which together with Russia and China form the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. That group recently called on the United States to set a timetable to withdraw its forces from bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which are used to support military operations in Afghanistan. The Uzbek authorities later gave U.S. forces 180 days to pull out, after the United States criticized the Uzbek government for suppressing demonstrators in the city of Andijan in May, leaving hundreds dead, according to human rights groups…”

The article continued to point out:

“Toward the end of the exercise, the Russians will deploy strategic, long-range bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, which will fire cruise missiles at targets on the surface of the sea… Russia is trying to interest the Chinese in nuclear submarines and strategic bombers, which [Alexander] Golts [a military analyst and journalist in Moscow] said, could be deployed against the U.S. fleet in the Pacific. Golts said Russia was eager to lock in new contracts quickly, to hedge against the European Union lifting an arms embargo it imposed on China after the 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square. The U.S. Defense Department has warned the European Union that lifting the embargo would bring ‘serious and numerous’ consequences.”

Russia’s Bird Flu Epidemic

“Russia cordoned off roads and slaughtered hundreds of birds on Monday to contain the advance of a bird flu epidemic toward Western Europe… The outbreak, previously confined to five remote areas of Siberia, has now struck a major industrial region — Chelyabinsk in the Ural mountains, which separate Asia from Europe… Chelyabinsk… lies about 1,000 km (600 miles) from the region where the first flu outbreak was reported. Although no humans have yet been affected, there are fears the disease could spread to humans on the Eurasian landmass, possibly unleashing a global influenza pandemic.”

Der Stern Online reported on August 18, 2005, that the German government fears that the bird flu epidemic will reach Europe and Germany, and that they are “preparing for the worst.”

Nuclear Terrorist Attacks Certain

On August 11, 2005, WorldNetDaily reported the following:

“In the 2004 presidential debate, President Bush and Senator John Kerry both agreed on one thing–that the possibility of nuclear terrorism was, ‘the single most serious threat to the U.S. national security.’ Former Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet said: ‘Al-Qaida continues to pursue its strategic goal of obtaining nuclear weapons.’ His successor at the CIA, Porter Goss, said: ‘It may only be a matter of time before al-Qaida or another group attempts to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear devices.’ FBI Director Bob Mueller said: ‘Intelligence continues to show al-Qaida’s clear intention to obtain and ultimately use some form of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear material in its attacks against the United States.’ A CIA Counterterrorism Center expert said: ‘Al-Qaida probably has access to nuclear expertise and facilities, and there is the real possibility of the group developing a crude nuclear device.’

“The Robb-Silberman Commission put together by President Bush said in its report: ‘The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that al-Qaida was capable of fabricating at least a crude nuclear device if it could obtain the requisite nuclear material.’ Vice President Dick Cheney has warned: ‘The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us–biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind, to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.’ Warren Buffett said: ‘We’re going to have something in the way of a major nuclear event in this country. It will happen. Whether it will happen in 10 years or 10 minutes, or 50 years … it’s virtually a certainty.'”

Will the Messiah Be Born?

On August 12, 2005, WorldNetDaily published the following article:

“Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar believes the Earth will soon see the coming [of the] Messiah to judge all mankind. ‘We know that he is very near at hand, but he needs not only to be born but also to come,’ Lazar told the Gazeta daily. ‘The Messiah may well have been born already, but unless he is ordered by God he cannot reveal himself with God’s help and change the world for the better.'”

This idea, as expressed by Rabbi Lazar, is based on the erroneous belief that the Messiah still has to be born as a human being, as the Jewish people reject the truth that Jesus Christ was already born as the Messiah, almost 2,000 years ago. The Bible–both the Old and the New Testament–teach that the Messiah will appear TWICE–first as a human being (which has already happened), and then as GOD. The SECOND Coming of the Messiah, the “LORD of lords and KING of kings,” is indeed near.

The tragic erroneous belief that the Messiah must still be born as a human being might inadvertently support the rise and acceptance of Antichrist, also known as the “false prophet.” The Bible predicts that a human will be born in the end time, PRETENDING to be Christ, but deceiving most people. It is highly probable that that individual has already been born and that he will manifest himself on the world scene in the very near future.

Famine in Africa

On August 10, 2005, MSNBC.COM published this shocking article about famine and sickness in many African countries. It stated:

“Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries, usually has trouble ensuring all its people are fed. Hunger is worse than ever this year in Mali and across chronically dry West Africa because of a locust invasion last year, followed by drought. Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania also are affected. An estimated 1.5 million of Mali’s 11 million people are said to be facing hunger, including an estimated 144,000 children suffering malnutrition… the solution to chronic malnutrition across West Africa is education first, then economic development. Children at greatest risk are those recently weaned from mothers who aren’t sure what kinds of solid foods to give to their babies, particularly in times like these when creating a balanced diet is even more difficult.”

New Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2005?

The Sunday Times published a frightening article on Sunday, August 14, stating: “American intelligence chiefs have warned that Al-Qaeda terrorists are plotting to drive hijacked fuel tankers into petrol stations in an effort to cause mass casualties in London and US cities in the next few weeks.The leaked warning, contained in a bulletin issued by the US Department for Homeland Security last week, says the attacks aim to create catastrophic damage at about the time of the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.”

The New York Times published a similar article on August 12, 2005, stating:

“A group of F.B.I. counterterrorism analysts warned this week of possible terrorist attacks in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago around Sept. 11, but officials cautioned on Thursday that they were skeptical about the seriousness of the threat. The warning grew out of intelligence developed from an overseas source indicating that terrorists might seek to steal fuel tanker trucks in order to inflict ‘mass casualties’ by staging an anniversary attack, officials said… Domestic security officials have long thought that tanker trucks could be used in terrorist attacks. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are considered at the top of potential targets, along with Washington and Las Vegas, because of their size, high profiles, symbolic value and past plots by Al Qaeda… [The report] also warned that terrorists would seek to hijack gasoline tankers or trucks hauling oxygen and ram them into a gasoline station to cause major explosions.”

The BOMB Is Still ALIVE!!!

On August 6, 2005, The Associated Press reported:

“Hiroshima marked the 60th anniversary of the first atomic bomb attack Saturday with prayers and water for the dead and a call by the mayor for nuclear powers to abandon their arsenals and stop ‘jeopardizing human survival.’… ‘Many people around the world have succumbed to the feeling that there is nothing we can do,’ he said. ‘Within the United Nations, nuclear club members use their veto power to override the global majority and pursue their selfish objectives.’…

“Officials estimate that about 140,000 people were killed instantly or died within a few months after the Enola Gay dropped its deadly payload over the city, which then had a population of about 350,000. Three days later, another U.S. bomber, Bock’s Car, dropped a plutonium bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing about 80,000 people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II… Hiroshima officials now put the total number of dead in this city alone at 242,437.This year, 5,373 more names were added to the list.”

As NetWorld pointed out, “The city of Hiroshima had invited governmental officials from 38 countries to participate in the memorial, including officials from the five nuclear powers–the USA, Great Britain, Russia, China and France. But only Russia sent a representative!”

Most Americans still believe that the USA did the right thing in dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As Reuters reported on August 6, 2005: “[According to a telephone poll], 57 percent approved of the use of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while 38 percent said they disapproved.” USA Today wrote on August 6, 2005, that “hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions more Japanese military and civilians and U.S. military would have died if a land invasion of Japan had taken place. The A-bomb led to much deadlier nuclear weapons… The A-bomb indeed was hell for Japanese who lived in or near Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But it also was the high-water mark of WWII because it ended the hell for all others fighting that conflict.”

The BBC News also explained, in its article of August 6, 2005, that “Many commentators believe the US attack helped bring an early end to World War II in the Pacific.”

But not everyone agrees.

In their article, “The myths of Hiroshima,” which was published in the LA Times on August 5, 2005, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, co-authors of “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” paint quite a different picture. They state:

“To many Americans at the time, and still for many today, it seemed clear that the bomb had ended the war, even ‘saving’ a million lives that might have been lost if the U.S. had been required to invade mainland Japan.

“This powerful narrative took root quickly and is now deeply embedded in our historical sense of who we are as a nation. A decade ago, on the 50th anniversary, this narrative was reinforced in an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution on the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first bomb. The exhibit, which had been the subject of a bruising political battle, presented nearly 4 million Americans with an officially sanctioned view of the atomic bombings that again portrayed them as a necessary act in a just war… Americans were also told that use of the bombs ‘led to the immediate surrender of Japan and made unnecessary the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.’ But it’s not that straightforward… it was the Soviet Union’s entry into the Pacific war on Aug. 8, two days after the Hiroshima bombing, that provided the final ‘shock’ that led to Japan’s capitulation.

“The Enola Gay exhibit also repeated such outright lies as the assertion that ‘special leaflets were dropped on Japanese cities’ warning civilians to evacuate. The fact is that atomic bomb warning leaflets were dropped on Japanese cities, but only after Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed.

“The hard truth is that the atomic bombings were unnecessary. A million lives were not saved. Indeed, McGeorge Bundy, the man who first popularized this figure, later confessed that he had pulled it out of thin air in order to justify the bombings in a 1947 Harper’s magazine essay he had ghostwritten for Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson.

“The bomb was dropped, as J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, said in November 1945, on ‘an essentially defeated enemy.’ President Truman and his closest advisor, Secretary of State James Byrnes, quite plainly used it primarily to prevent the Soviets from sharing in the occupation of Japan. And they used it on Aug. 6 even though they had agreed among themselves as they returned home from the Potsdam Conference on Aug. 3 that the Japanese were looking for peace.

“These unpleasant historical facts were censored from the 1995 Smithsonian exhibit, an action that should trouble every American. When a government substitutes an officially sanctioned view for publicly debated history, democracy is diminished.”

Whether one agrees with the statements in the above article, or not, perception is sometimes stronger than fact. As the article continues to explain, the official version has “made it possible for our defense establishment to argue that atomic bombs are legitimate weapons that belong in a democracy’s arsenal… Oppenheimer understood very soon after Hiroshima that these weapons would ultimately threaten our very survival. Presciently, he even warned us against what is now our worst national nightmare–and Osama bin Laden’s frequently voiced dream–an atomic suitcase bomb smuggled into an American city: ‘Of course it could be done,’ Oppenheimer told a Senate committee, ‘and people could destroy New York.’ Ironically, Hiroshima’s myths are now motivating our enemies to attack us with the very weapon we invented. Bin Laden repeatedly refers to Hiroshima in his rambling speeches. It was, he believes, the atomic bombings that shocked the Japanese imperial government into an early surrender–and, he says, he is planning an atomic attack on the U.S. that will similarly shock us into retreating from the Mideast.”

War leads to more war, and nuclear weapons WILL be used in the next World War. To say that nuclear weapons will never be used in war is plainly wrong. They HAVE been used before–in Hiroshima and Nagasaki–and the Bible clearly shows that they WILL be used again. In fact, the coming war will threaten the very survival of man–and if God would not shorten those days, NO FLESH would be saved ALIVE (Matthew 24:22). We are living in sobering times, indeed. Will man ever learn–BEFORE it is too late?

New Avian Flu Is Coming

On August 5, 2005, the Boston Globe reported that “Russian authorities, struggling to contain an outbreak of avian flu that has killed thousands of birds in Siberia, yesterday acknowledged that a spread of the virus into Europe seems almost inevitable… health officials confirmed that the outbreak includes a strain that has been known to affect humans. Scientists fear that expansion of the virus’s geography increases the chances of a major outbreak within the human population.”

On August 10, 2005, Reuters reported about these additional facts: “A bird flu outbreak extended its reach in Russian Siberia and spread to Mongolia on Wednesday, and neighboring Kazakhstan confirmed a fowl virus found in the Central Asian state could kill humans. Officials said no people had been infected so far, but the highly potent H5N1 strain has killed over 50 people in Asia since 2003. Outbreaks in the ex-Soviet bloc raised fears the virus could infect humans and trigger a global epidemic… Some Russian health and veterinary officials have suggested migrating birds could export the virus as far away as the United States from Siberia… There are no known cases of H5N1 bird flu passing from one human to another, but some health officials fear that the virus could mutate and create a pandemic to rival the 40 million people killed by Spanish flu at the end of World War One.”

Fuel Crunch Reaches Astronomical Proportions

The Associated Press reported on August 10, 2005:

“While fliers haven’t yet had to add that problem to the list of headaches associated with air travel, it may not be far away. Airports in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada recently came within a few days–and at times within hours–of running out of jet fuel. Because of supply bottlenecks, airlines were forced to fly in extra fuel from other markets and scramble for deliveries by truck. But these are expensive, short-term fixes that do not address what airline executives consider to be the underlying problem: with passenger traffic rising above pre-9/11 levels, the nation’s aviation business is slowly outgrowing the infrastructure that fuels it. What started as routine supply tightness in these markets quickly snowballed following disruptive events that included a hurricane, a canceled fuel shipment and, ironically, the airlines’ own efforts to prevent shortages, according to several airline executives… The fuel supply woes are dogging an industry already losing billions of dollars a year in large part because of soaring fuel costs. The price of jet fuel averages $1.91 per gallon in Los Angeles, up 46 percent from a year ago, according to government data.”

West Nile Virus in San Diego

On August 4, 2005, The Union Tribune reported that “Three more dead birds have tested positive for West Nile virus in San Diego County, bringing the total number to five this year.” The paper continued with a rather humorous statement–if it weren’t so tragic:

“Most people infected with West Nile won’t become sick, though about 20 percent will experience flulike symptoms. About one in 150 infected people experience severe symptoms, including high fever, coma, tremors, muscle weakness and paralysis. A small percentage of them die.”

Coming Merger of Catholics and Anglicans?

On August 5, 2005, the “Church Times” published an interesting article about an agreement reached by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, pertaining to the role of the “Virgin Mary.” The article pointed out:

“A new arcic report, published this week, argues that differences in the understanding of the Virgin Mary should not divide the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches… The 60-page text, Mary: Grace and hope in Christ, brings to an end the work of the second phase of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II), which first met in 1983. The report was published on Monday in Seattle, in the United States.”

Incredibly, the report tries to justify the WRONG doctrine of the “immaculate conception,” by misquoting or misapplying Scripture. [The teaching of the “immaculate conception” holds that Mary, throughout her life, including after the birth of Christ, never had a sexual relationship with any man–which is contrary to Scripture.] The report does not even attempt to justify the WRONG teaching of Mary’s assumption–which idea is also clearly in violation of Biblical teaching. The article points out:

“The statement proposes a new understanding of the immaculate conception and the assumption, in a theological framework ‘of grace and hope.’ It links Gabriel’s affirmation of Mary as ‘graced’ in Luke 1 to the immaculate conception. ‘In view of her vocation to be the mother of the Holy One (Luke 1:35), we can affirm together that Christ’s redeeming work reached back in Mary to the depths of her being, and to her earliest beginnings. This is not contrary to the teaching of scripture’…

“The Commission does not resolve what it describes as ‘problems not only for Anglicans but also for other Christians’ about the immaculate conception and the assumption, in that they were defined respectively by the Pope as having been ‘revealed by God’ (1854) and “divinely revealed” (1950). These phrases ‘reflect the theology of revelation that was dominant in the Roman Catholic Church at the time… They have to be understood today in the light of the way this teaching was refined by the Second Vatican Council’…”

What is interesting about this development is the fact that the Anglican Church–unlike the Catholic Church–is willing to compromise their beliefs in order to merge with the Catholics.

Same-Sex Marriages on the Rise in the USA

An interesting and SHOCKING article was published in the May/June 2005 issue of “San Diego Lawyer.” The article was written by a practicing female professor of law, teaching “Sexual Orientation and the Law, and Women and the Law.” The author, who is married to a female partner, advocates marriages between same-sex couples. In the article, it was pointed out how the court system in the USA, as well as public opinion, are increasingly IN FAVOR of such marriages.

It was stated:

“The Hawaii Supreme Court… held that the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying violated the Hawaii Constitution’s equal protection guarantees against sex discrimination, reasoning that a law that permitted a woman to marry a man but not to marry a woman must be discriminating on the basis of the spouse’s sex. Then came an Alaska trial court decision, finding that the ban preventing same-sex couples from marrying violated that state’s constitution. Those initial victories ended rather quickly, however, when constitutional amendments were passed in both states limiting marriages to those between one man and one woman…

“After the Netherlands and Belgium passed laws permitting same-sex couples to marry in those countries…, Canada opened marriage to the world…”

The author continued to describe how the minister conducted himself during the service, when officiating a same-sex “marriage” between the author and her partner. This is how he ended the ceremony:

“By the authority given by our government to solemnize matrimony and the relationship we share as members of the same family, I declare that you who were two families are now one family, joined in matrimony and blessed by the Spirit of Love.”

The article continued by inadvertently and unintentionally presenting the sad state of affairs around the country. Please note, too, how the article perverts the language and concepts, by calling those who oppose same-sex marriages as “anti-marriage,” while describing those who support same-sex marriages as “pro-marriage” — while THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. Those who UPHOLD THE GODLY-ORDAINED TRUE MARRIAGE ARE PRO-MARRIAGE, and those who support same-sex marriages are, in fact, ANTI-MARRIAGE. The article pointed out:

“Since then, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held… that the Massachusetts Constitution required the state to permit same-sex couples to marry. An attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution failed to pass either the House or the Senate… Most people have heard of the 11 state constitutional amendments, ratified on Election Day 2004, banning same-sex couples from marrying in those states… But [few] realize that 14 similar measures were rejected by state legislatures around the country. Election Day exit polls showed 25 percent of Americans support ending discrimination in marriage, and another 35 percent support civil unions. The overwhelming majority of legislators who opposed anti-marriage measures won reelection, and in Massachusetts, every pro-marriage candidate won and some anti-marriage candidates were defeated.”

How accurate did Isaiah describe the habit of many in modern Israel–including the United States of America–to call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). But Isaiah attaches a warning to those who do, stating that it will be “woe to them” in the bitter end.

John Bolton New U.S. Ambassador to the UN

As The Associated Press reported on August 1, 2005, “President Bush sidestepped the Senate and installed embattled nominee John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, ending a five-month impasse with Democrats who accused Bolton of abusing subordinates and twisting intelligence to fit his conservative ideology… Bush put Bolton on the job in a recess appointment–an avenue available to the president when the Congress is in recess. Under the Constitution, a recess appointment during the lawmakers’ August break would last until the next session of Congress, which begins in January 2007… Bush had refused to give up on Bolton even though the Senate had voted twice to sustain a filibuster against his nominee. Democrats and some Republicans had raised questions about Bolton’s fitness for the job, particularly in view of his harsh criticism of the United Nations.”

As the article continued to point out, the Democrats and some Republicans were outraged:

“Edward M. Kennedy… sharply criticized the move. ‘The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues,’ Kennedy said. ‘It’s bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It’s even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It’s a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton’s credibility at the U.N.’… Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio also said he was disappointed in the appointment. ‘I am truly concerned that a recess appointment will only add to John Bolton’s baggage and his lack of credibility with the United Nations,’ Voinovich said.”

Even though Mr. Bolton’s appointment will probably hurt the U.S. in the world, and especially at the U.N., the article explained: “Despite lengthy investigations, it was never clear that Bolton did anything improper. Witnesses told the committee that Bolton lost his temper, tried to engineer the ouster of at least two intelligence analysts and otherwise threw his weight around. But Democrats were never able to establish that his actions crossed the line to out-and-out harassment or improper intimidation.”

Saudi King Fahd Dies

As The Associated Press reported on August 1, 2005, “King Fahd, who moved Saudi Arabia closer to the United States but ruled the nation in name only since suffering a stroke in 1995, died Monday, and his half brother [Crown Prince Abdullah] was quickly named to replace him. The first change in the throne in 23 years uncorked a jockeying for position in the world’s largest oil producer… Crude oil prices soared past $61 a barrel Monday as markets reacted to Fahd’s death… The portly, goateed Fahd inadvertently helped fuel the rise of Islamic extremism by making concessions to hard-liners in an effort to boost his Islamic credentials. But he also brought the kingdom closer to the United States and agreed to a step that enraged many conservatives: basing U.S. troops on Saudi soil after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait… Saudi Arabia and the United States have also found themselves at odds over oil. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter–sitting atop a quarter of the world’s known reserves–and America is the world’s largest energy consumer. With prices reaching $61 a barrel, Washington has been pushing the Saudis to pump more oil and bring prices down.”

Saudi Arabia came under attack during the recent Iraq war, when accusations were raised that terrorists were harbored in the country. Some even accused Saudi Arabia of having been, at least passively, involved in the September 11 attack in New York. Even though Abdullah had been running the governmental affairs for some time, and even though he stated that his politics toward the United States and other Arab nations won’t change, time will tell.

More Deaths in Iraq

The Austrian Networld reported this week that so far, 4,000 people were killed in Iraq in 2005. More than half were civilians, according to the report, continuing that with 580 dead policemen, soldiers and civilians, the month of July has been one of the bloodiest months. The report also stated that more than 25,000 civilians were killed in Iraq since the US invasion in March of 2003.

Victory for the US Weaponry Industry

The Austrian Networld reported that the US Weaponry Industry achieved this week a great victory. According to the report, the US Senate adopted a law stating that producers of fire arms can no longer be held liable by victims of fire arms or their families. The article explained that even some states had commenced lawsuits for damages against the weapon industry, and that some of those lawsuits are still pending.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) celebrated the Senate’s decision as an historical victory.

Britain and Northern Ireland

AFP reported on August 1, 2005, that “Britain unveiled a two-year plan to slash its military presence in Northern Ireland by more than half and change policing methods in response to the IRA’s historic pledge last week to disarm. The announcement, however, outraged hardline Protestants as it largely affected home-grown soldiers belonging to the Royal Irish Regiment, which will lose three of its four battalions… In a sign of trouble ahead… members of the largest Protestant group, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said news that the government would cut three of the four Royal Irish Regiment battalions came as a ‘bombshell.'”

Turkey and the EU

The EUobserver reported on July 27, 2005: “Turkey should never join the EU because it lies mostly outside Europe geographically and accession talks should not start on 3 October unless Ankara first recognises the sovereignty of Cyprus, according to the vice president of Germany’s CDU/CSU party, Wolfgang Schauble… Mr Schauble also warned that while Ukraine lies within the EU’s proper geographical sphere, Kiev’s membership should be kept off the agenda for now in case people lose faith in the European project altogether… ‘Unlike Turkey, Ukrainian accession is a matter of time, not principles’, he argued. ‘Much remains to be done in order to integrate Romania and Bulgaria. And the great problem of western Balkan membership must be solved’, Mr Schauble pointed out.”

The article continued to describe public opinion on the matter of EU enlargement. It was stated:

“The latest Eurobarometer study showed that 52 percent of EU citizens would like to keep Turkey out of the EU with just 35 percent in favour of full accession. A narrow majority of Europeans would like to see Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Macedonia join the club, but have reservations about Albania, Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina coming in for now. But in Germany, 74 percent would like to keep Turkey out, 59-66 percent would happily block Bulgaria and Romania’s membership and over 60 percent would be keen to shut the door to the rest of the western Balkans, with the exception of Croatia which scored just 51 percent against.”

The Pope and Israel

The fight of words and action between the Pope and Israel is escalating. After the pope refused to condemn terrorist attacks on Israel, Israel responded in kind by sharply accusing the pope of playing favorites. The seemingly innocent neglect by the pope has brought to light a deeply rooted mistrust of Israel toward the Catholic Church, stemming, in part, from the Catholic Church’s refusal to come to the aid of the Jews in Nazi Germany.

The Catholic paper, Zenit, reported on July 27, 2005:

“After chastising Benedict XVI for omitting Israel from a Papal address that condemned terrorist bombings, Israel cancelled a meeting with the Vatican to discuss the implementation of their mutual agreements… On Monday, Israel accused Benedict XVI of ‘deliberately’ failing to condemn terrorist attacks against Jews in his Sunday Angelus address.

“The Holy See responded both through the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, as well as in a statement of Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls, saying that the Holy Father condemns all terrorist attacks, regardless where they come from.”

On July 29, 2005, Zenit reported that the Vatican responded further to Israel’s accusations, as follows:

“The Holy See added that, for several reasons, ‘not every attack against Israel could be followed by an immediate public condemnation.’ One reason, the Vatican stated, is ‘the fact that attacks against Israel were sometimes followed by immediate Israeli reactions not always compatible with the norms of international law. It would, consequently, have been impossible to condemn the former and remain silent on the latter.'”

The German magazine, Der Spiegel Online, published a highly critical article about the pope’s conduct in this matter, as well as in other matters, titled “A Cold Wind From Rome.” In the article, which was dated July 29, 2005, it was stated:

“The argument between the Vatican and Israel is a nasty step back to the days of animosity between Judaism and Christianity. All the trust between the religions which John Paul II spent two decades building up, is now being shattered by his successor… enthusiasm for the German pontiff is dwindling rapidly. Benedict XVI is not a conservative pope. He is a reactionary who is leading his church into a spiritual fortress, rather than sending it confidently out into the field… The differences between the current head of the Catholic Church and his predecessor are only now beginning to emerge… “

The article continued:

“When Benedict XVI was elected, the British tabloids quickly worked themselves into a lather, caustically recalling Ratzinger’s past, when he worked in Nazi Germany’s anti-aircraft defense industry. German papers spiritedly joined the war of words and fired back. But the war over Ratzinger’s youth now seems banal. Today, the differences between his past and that of his Polish predecessor have become important. This is mainly because Benedict XVI has barely needed 100 days to trample over the infant seedling of trust between Jews and Christians that John Paul II planted. The relationship between Israel and the Vatican was never characterized by heartfelt friendship. On the contrary. It was thanks to John Paul II that the Vatican recognized Israel for the first time… Ratzinger’s politics, on the other hand, are over the top. And he’s not just risking a return to a kind of cold war with Israel and the Jews. Even his dealings with Germany’s Protestant Church so far have been an affront.”

The article concluded with these perhaps, somewhat, prophetic words:

“Ratzinger doesn’t want dialogue. The German pope wants to be right.”

Ireland Christian?

On July 18, 2005, Zenit published an interesting speech by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Primate of Ireland, about the Western Civilization and Ireland in particular, as well as the true God and the true meaning of faith. We quote a few excerpts from the speech, as follows:

“A few weeks ago I was surprised by a remark on a German television talk show by Gregor Gysi, the leader of the German Communist Party, who when asked about his worries about German society said: “‘Ich fuerchte eine gottlose Gesellschaft’ — ‘I fear a Godless society.’ It was an unusual comment from the leader of a communist party, with its roots in the former East Germany. As the television debate continued, this declared atheist noted that German society needs the moral framework that only those Christian roots embedded in his society can give. He noted that even the highly moralistic code of the communist ideology in the German Democratic Republic was effectively rooted in Christian principles. These comments struck me in particular since the speaker was never a Christian. He is personally of Jewish background and the territory of the German Democratic Republic was that part of Germany where religious practice was always and still is exceptionally low…”

Addressing the situation in Ireland, as well as the Christian God and true and false faith, Martin continued to point out the following accurate principles:

“Of course one should really begin with the question, is Ireland Christian today?…But let me come back to the question of what people mean when they answer a survey saying they believe in God.

“Belief is a complex matter. Because of its nature it is difficult to quantify. People will answer questions about belief in different ways. Belief is not identical with Church affiliation. There are non-practicing Catholics who are genuine believers and there are also many who practice but who may not really believe… Religious faith is faith in God, but not in some generic God of our own creation. For the Christian, God is not an anonymous element or power within or above the universe… Christians believe in a God who has spoken, who has revealed himself, who has entered into dialogue with humankind, a dialogue of love… That relationship was described by Pope Benedict XVI in his inaugural address in St. Peter’s Square now some months ago: ‘We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary’… We have never fully abandoned ourselves to the God who can make us free, but still cling on to the things we falsely feel can bring us security. Faith is always a leap in the dark, but in the confidence that Jesus has not left us orphans. We will never be able to lead others into the depths of faith and the joy of our hope if we remain entrapped in the limitedness of our current world vision.”

Terror in Egypt

On July 22, 2005, The Associated Press published an article about another terror attack in a tourist resort in Egypt. This attack followed similar ones in Turkey and London. The indiscriminate mass murder by fanatic terrorists is clearly a sign of Satan’s involvement and possible possession of those criminals, proving that Satan’s wrath is great, as he knows that his time is getting shorter. AP pointed out:

“Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik early Saturday, ripping through a hotel and a cafe packed with European and Egyptian tourists. Security officials said at least 45 people died [later reports confirmed the death of at least 88 people] in the deadliest attack in Egypt in nearly a decade… The dead included British, Russian, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Qataris and Egyptians, a security official said… The attacks came nine months after a series of explosions hit several hotels in the Sinai resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, about 100 miles northwest on the Israel border. Egyptian authorities said that attack, which killed 34 and prompted a wave of arrests in Sinai, was linked to Israeli-Palestinian violence.

“Saturday’s bombings were the deadliest since 1997, when Islamic militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at the Pharaonic Temple of Hatshepsut outside Luxor in southern Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak has a residence in Sharm el-Sheik, at a resort several miles outside Naama Bay and often spends weeks there at a time in the winter. But during the summer, he stays at a residence in the northern city of Alexandria… Thousands of tourists are drawn to Sharm for its sun, clear blue water and coral reefs. It also has been a meeting place where world leaders have tried to hammer out a Mideast peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met there in February and agreed to a cease-fire.”

More Terror in Britain?

On July 22, 2005, Reuters reported that more terrorist attacks might soon occur in Great Britain. The article pointed out:

“Militant Islamists will continue to attack Britain until the government pulls its troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the country’s most outspoken Islamic clerics said on Friday. Speaking 15 days after bombers killed over 50 people in London and a day after a series of failed attacks on the city’s transport network, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed said the British capital should expect more violence.”

In an appalling and, at the same time, revealing interview, Omar Bakri Mohammed stated the following:

“Bakri, a Syrian-born cleric who has been vilified in Britain since 2001 when he praised the September 11 hijackers, said he did not believe the bombings and attempted attacks on London were carried out by British Muslims. He condemned the killing of all innocent civilians but described attacks on British and U.S. troops in Muslim countries as ‘pro-life’ and justified. In an interview with Reuters, Bakri described Osama bin Laden, leader of the radical Islamist network al Qaeda, as ‘a sincere man who fights against evil forces.’ Bakri said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state but feared he would be deported before his dream was realized. ‘I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world,’ he said.”

London Police Kills Innocent Bystander

The Associated Press reported on July 24, 2005:

“London’s police commissioner expressed regret Sunday for the slaying of a Brazilian electrician by officers who mistook him for a suspect in the recent terror bombings, but he defended a police shoot-to-kill policy as ‘the only way’ to stop would-be suicide bombers… Witnesses said [the victim] was wearing a heavy, padded coat when plainclothes police chased him into a subway car, pinned him to the ground and shot him five times in the head and torso in front of horrified passengers. Blair initially said Menezes was ‘directly linked’ to the investigation of Thursday’s attacks, but police then said Saturday he had no connection to the bomb attempts. ‘This is a tragedy,’ Blair said Sunday of the shooting. ‘The Metropolitan Police accepts full responsibility for this. To the family I can only express my deep regrets.'”

Even though it is now clear that the police killed an innocent person, Tony Blair still defended the police’s action, as well as similar actions in the future! The article continued to state:

“He also defended the shoot-to-kill policy, saying such action only applied when lives were believed to be at risk. ‘I am very aware that minority communities are talking about a shoot-to-kill policy,’ he said. ‘It’s only a shoot-to-kill-in-order-to-protect policy.’… Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who was visiting London, said his government and people were ‘shocked’ by the killing, and he demanded a thorough investigation… Amorim told Straw that Brazil was in total solidarity with Britain in the fight against terrorism, ‘but of course even in the fight against terrorism we should also be cautious to avoid the loss of innocent life.'”

In a related article, AFP reported on July 25, 2005:

“Witnesses said a frightened Menezes was shot several times at close range by plainclothes officers who had chased him through Stockwell Underground station in south London on Friday after a surveillance operation. Police at the time said they opened fire because their suspect had refused to obey instructions. Blair confirmed Sunday that they were under orders to shoot suicide bombers in the head and that policy would remain. [A relative of the killed victim] said his cousin did ‘not have a past that would make him run’ from police and was simply on his way to work from his home in Tulse Hill, south London. Another cousin… said Jean Charles spoke English very well and would have understood police instructions… Menezes, who came from the city of Gonzaga in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minais Gerais, had been living legally in Britain for three years, according to his family.”

Tough questions need to be asked and answered:

How is it possible that such policies of obvious wrong police conduct, leading to the death of innocent bystanders, can be supported and maintained by the British government? Surely, the fight against supposed terrorists cannot justify the killing of innocent people, or can it? Perhaps man is willing to justify such wrong conduct, but surely God DOES NOT! NO WONDER that God is angry with Great Britain–which is none other than the modern descendant of the ancient tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. Our upcoming booklet on the identity, history and future of Great Britain and the USA will discuss these facts in much detail.

Extreme Weather Conditions in Europe

On July 23, 2005, the EUobserver reported about unusual weather conditions in large parts of Europe, as follows:

“Western and Southern Europe are currently facing severe drought, with the situation being the gravest in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece. Spain and Portugal are suffering their worst droughts since the launch of record-keeping in the 1940s… Brush fires have already destroyed more than three times the average annual loss for Portugal in the first half of this year… Due to the drought in western Europe, cereal production in the EU in 2005 will be at least 28 million tonnes below last year’s, which is a drop of about 10 percent… Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Romania are being swept by floods, which have already killed 20 people and inundated tens of thousands of homes in both countries over the last two weeks. More than 12,000 were forced to evacuate their homes in Romania, where at least 15 people have died in the floods. In Bulgaria, five people have been killed and at least 50,000 homes and buildings were destroyed across the country…”

Germany’s New “Left Party”

On July 21, 2005, CNN.com published an analysis about the most recent developments in Germany. The article focused on “the new ‘Left Party,’ which just days after its launch, looks set to become Germany’s third largest party, beating both Joschka Fischer’s Green Party and the Liberal party (FDP).” The article pointed out:

“The new ‘Left Party’ is a coalition of disillusioned former Social Democrats and the post-communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). Since Sunday’s launch, it boasts a support base of 11 percent, which puts it safely in third place behind Angela Merkel’s CDU (44 percent) and Schroeder’s governing SPD party (27 percent). However, what makes the ‘Left Party’ a real force to be reckoned with are its two leaders — the left-wing icon and former finance minister Oskar Lafontaine and Gregor Gysi, the charismatic head of the PDS.”

Lafontaine had to resign from office in the SPD, after a highly-publicized fight with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Until this day, Lafontaine and Schroeder are bitter enemies.

CNN continued:

“… a recent opinion poll found that 30 percent of East Germans are planning to vote for the new ‘Left Party’ compared to only 29 percent for the CDU…

“Foreign minister and Green Party leader Joschka Fischer warned that Lafontaine’s populist approach and language were more reminiscent of the right-wing Joerg Haider in Austria and the late Pim Fortuyn in Holland, than of Karl Marx. Fischer was referring to a statement by Lafontaine, in which he said that foreign workers were taking German jobs.

“Similarly in the East German state of Brandenburg, Karl Ness, head of the local SPD party called Lafontaine ‘a preacher of hatred,’ and said that the new left party was nothing but an extension of Lafontaine’s ego… While Germany prepares for elections, the impact of Lafontaine and Gysi and their new ‘Left Party’ is likely to have more impact on Germany’s political direction than either of the two main parties would like to admit.”

Is “Weimar” raising its ugly head again? At the time prior to World War II, many different political movements, including the consistent fights between extremist parties such as the Communists and National-Socialists (Nazis), gave ultimately way to the election of Adolph Hitler. Is Germany able to cope today with Communists or neo-National-Socialists? Has modern Germany–both former West and East Germany–learned from its past? Sadly, the answer is no, as the not-too-distant future will show.

Animals Behave Amazingly

AFP recently published this amazing story about animal behavior, which causes evolutionists and scientists to wonder, grasping for answers in light of their misguided and God-defying faith in blind evolution:

“A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

“‘It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a “mother”,’ ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. ‘After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,’ the ecologist added. ‘The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,’ Kahumbu added. ‘The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,’ he explained.”

Witches on the Rise

As AFP reported on July 21, 2005, “Sorcerers, fortune-tellers and other pagans will be able to cast their spells without fear in the Australian state of Victoria after local authorities moved to repeal a 200 year-old anti-witchcraft law… ‘The times have long since passed when witchcraft and fortune-telling represented a danger to law and order, or a focus for criminal activity,’ [said Victorian Attorney General Rob Hulls]… A pro-witchcraft group called the Pagan Awareness Network hailed the death of the Act, which it said was the last law on the books in Australia to outlaw sorcery. ‘There’ll be several thousand pagans in Melbourne celebrating this news under the full moon tonight,’ said network spokesman Gavin Andrew.”

According to the Bible, the alleged foundation of professing Christianity, including Australia, sorcery and witchcraft are an abomination to God, and works of darkness. The Bible attributes sorcery and witchcraft to Satan the devil and his demons. But, in our “sophisticated” modern societies of falsely-understood tolerance, we have become accustomed to accepting as “good” what God condemns as “evil.”

New German Elections in September?

As Reuters reported on July 21, 2005, “President Horst Koehler agreed on Thursday to dissolve parliament and allow early elections, putting Germany on track for a September vote that polls suggest will usher in a new reform-minded conservative government. His decision removes the key hurdle to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s early election plan, which he sprung on a stunned nation on May 22 after a humiliating loss for his Social Democrats (SPD) in a regional vote.

“The federal election could still be thwarted if Germany’s top court finds that Schroeder’s unconventional plan, which involved the deliberate loss of a parliamentary vote of confidence earlier this month, is unconstitutional…. All the major parties support early polls and a survey this week showed 73 percent of Germans want them… Germany’s constitutional court is now the last remaining hurdle to a Sept. 18 election.

“Werner Schulz, a member of the Greens party in parliament, plans to file a legal suit in the coming days to prevent an early vote, meaning the court will have to decide on the plan.” [In addition, Jelena Hoffman, member of Schroeder’s party, SPD, as well as several small parties, also announced that they will file legal actions.]

Reuters continued that the Constitutional Court “would most likely rule within three weeks, so definitive confirmation of the early vote could be delayed until mid-August, just one month before the presumed election.”

Bild Online questioned, however, whether new elections could be held on September 18. The tabloid stated that it was uncertain how quickly Germany’s constitutional court would render a decision.

Some observers feel that Koehler gave in to the will of the German people and all the major parties, while violating the law. Der Spiegel Online quoted Schulz as saying on German public TV station, ARD, that he was not surprised by Koehler’s decision, and that Koehler was unable to stand up to political pressure.

Canada’s “Gay Marriages”

As The Associated Press reported on July 21, 2005, “The Vatican newspaper on Thursday attacked Canada’s legalization of gay marriage, calling it a distortion of God’s plan for the family. Canada became the fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples when the Supreme Court’s chief justice signed legislation Wednesday. ‘The distortion of God’s plan for the family continues,’ said L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily. ‘In Canada, homosexual unions have become equal to marriage.'”

The Pope and the Terrorists

The Associated Press reported on July 21, 2005: “Pope Benedict XVI said terrorism is not the result of a clash of civilization between the West and Islam but the action of ‘fanatics’… Benedict respond[ed] to a question about the July 7 London bombings. He added that ‘dialogue between the three monotheistic religions is very important.’ The pope will visit a synagogue in Cologne, address Muslims and meet with representatives of other Christian denominations during an Aug. 18-21 trip to his native Germany… Days after the London bombings, Benedict expressed ‘profound sadness’ for the ‘atrocious terrorist attacks’ and told bombers and other terrorists to ‘stop in the name of God.'”

New Terrorist Attacks in London

However, the terrorists did not listen to the pope’s pleas.

As Reuters reported on July 21, 2005, “Four small explosions hit London’s bus and underground train network on Thursday, without causing major casualties, exactly 2 weeks after bombers killed more than 50 people in the capital. A large part of the underground train network was suspended… The emergency coincided with a memorial service for the attacks of July 7. Then, four young British Muslims detonated bombs in three underground trains and a bus at morning rush hour, killing more than 50 people… Those bombings confronted Britain’s people and politicians with the prospect the country could be nurturing its own generation of the type of Islamist militants loyal to Osama bin Laden who had already inflicted carnage in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, in Bali and on Madrid trains last year. All four bombers died in the July 7 attacks, leading most people to assume they had been suicide bombers.”

Wild Fires Plague the USA

The Associated Press reported on July 21, 2005:

“A fast-moving wildfire forced the evacuation of about 50 homes near Denver on Wednesday as flames blackened a landscape of rolling grasslands and ponderosa pines…Two air tankers were dropping fire-retardant on the 800-acre blaze… Firefighters were hampered by relentless heat. Denver reached 105 on Wednesday, tying the all-time record for hottest day, set on Aug. 8, 1878, according to the National Weather Service. It was the second straight day of triple-digit temperatures, far above the normal highs in the upper 80s… Elsewhere Wednesday, fire crews battled two blazes near Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado… “

The article continued:

“A nearly 200-acre lightning-caused fire on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian reservation was 70 percent contained, and a second blaze on the reservation covering 2,318 acres was 85 percent contained… In southern Arizona, a 22,500-acre fire was about 75 percent contained, thanks to burnouts and heavy rain, lessening the threat to about 30 homes and cabins and wildlife habitat in Madera Canyon… In northern California, firefighters contained a wind-blown wildfire that grew to more than 10,000 acres early Wednesday but burned past a nuclear weapons laboratory and some 500 homes without causing major damage… In Oregon, firefighters battled a 5,000-acre blaze on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. The fire was not threatening any homes, but ‘it’s got an awful lot of potential,’ said Gary Cooke, fire administrator for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs… The National Interagency Fire Center said 36 large fires were active Wednesday in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. Nearly 3.9 million acres of land has been burned so far this year, compared with 4.4 million at this time last year.”

China Threatens USA

London’s Financial Times reported on July 14, 2005:

“China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday. ‘If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China’s territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,’ said General Zhu Chenghu…He added that China’s definition of its territory included warships and aircraft… Gen Zhu is a self-acknowledged ‘hawk’ who has warned that China could strike the US with long-range missiles. But his threat to use nuclear weapons in a conflict over Taiwan is the most specific by a senior Chinese official in nearly a decade.”

The New York Times added on July 16, 2005:

“‘War logic’ dictates that a weaker power needs to use maximum efforts to defeat a stronger rival, he [Gen Zhu]said, speaking in fluent English. ‘We have no capability to fight a conventional war against the United States,’ Zhu said. ‘We can’t win this kind of war.’… China has had atomic bombs since 1964 and has a small arsenal of land- and sea-based nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States, according to most Western intelligence estimates…. Beijing has said repeatedly that it would use military force if Taiwan declares its independence. President George W. Bush has made clear that the United States would defend Taiwan… the comments by Zhu suggest that at least some elements of the military are prepared to widen the conflict… ‘If the Americans are determined to interfere, then we will be determined to respond,’ he said. ‘We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.'”

Europe’s Far Right

In a recent article by the Economist, dated January 20, 2005, which was republished on July 21, 2005, the following was stated:

“Xenophobia and racism in Europe are resurgent, according to hate-watchers. In Britain, which saw race riots in 2001 and 2003, the British National Party has gained a foothold. Skinheads have also gained popularity in ex-communist Central Europe, where hate crimes often go unreported and are rarely prosecuted.

“Meanwhile, far-right politicians are rising in prominence. The inclusion of Jörg Haider’s Freedom Party as a junior partner in Austria’s coalition government in 1999 led EU countries temporarily to impose diplomatic sanctions. (Mr Haider, though no longer the Freedom Party’s leader, bounced back in March 2004). In France, Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front scored a shock victory in the first round of the 2002 presidential election and is still attracting a lot of support. And, despite its leader’s murder, the anti-immigration Pim Fortuyn List did surprisingly well in the Dutch general election in May 2002. A ban on the country’s far-right Vlaams Blok, approved in November 2004, is likely to backfire–as would an EU-wide ban on Nazi symbols.”

Europe Must Go On

The EUobserver reported on July 15, 2005:

“The presidents of Germany, Austria, Italy, Finland, Poland, Portugal and Latvia have written a common article, discussing the future of Europe and stressing the need not to give up on the European project. ‘Now, the most important task is to increase trust in European policy… There is no reason to doubt the European project’, reads the article… The article was signed by Austria’s Heinz Fischer, Finland’s Tarja Halonen, Germany’s Horst Köhler, Italy’s Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Latvia’s Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Poland’s Aleksander Kwaoniewski and Portugal’s Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio. It was published on Friday (15 July 2005) in major newspapers of the seven presidents’ countries.”

Europe and the Middle East

On July 11, 2005, Der Spiegel published an interview with European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. In the interview, Solana talked about Brussels’ role as an intermediary between Israelis and Palestinians as well as how the EU will assist in the Gaza Strip. He insisted that ‘what happens in the Middle East affects us all’ and that Europe will play a major role in seeking peace.

Solana stated:

“Europe plays an important role in the Middle East peace process, perhaps the most important role next to that of the United States… European law enforcement experts are helping train the Palestinian security forces… There haven’t been any international initiatives relating to the Middle East without significant input from Europe. Besides, the Israelis now understand that the Palestinian conflict isn’t just a regional problem. It’s a conflict that is unfolding on our doorstep and has global implications… We will not have any contact with Hamas as long as it’s on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations… Hamas, like any other organization, must accept the fact that in an officially-accepted state, which Palestine wants to become, there can be no place for warring militant organizations. There will only be room for political parties that quarrel with words, not weapons.”

German vs. European Law

On July 19, 2005, The Denver Post reported about an interesting conflict between German and European Law. The article stated that an “Al-Qaeda suspect” was “freed by [a] German court ruling,” as the “EU arrest warrant violates national law.”

The article explained:

“An al-Qaeda suspect was freed Monday after the country’s high court blocked his extradition to Spain, ruling that a European Union-wide arrest warrant–heralded as a key step in fighting terrorism–does not yet comply with German law… The ruling… deals a blow to the EU’s post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism plans and highlights the difficulties Europe faces in rushing through anti-terrorism laws frowned upon by the courts and at times angrily contested by civil liberties… Specifically, the German court said the legislature failed to provide a mechanism for appeal when making the EU legislation national law, and also had not gone far enough in considering suspects’ fundamental rights.”