ISIS’ Worldwide Terrorist Threats
Reuters reported on November 6:
“Moscow suspended passenger flights to Egypt, and the United States imposed new air travel security requirements in the wake of the crash of a Russian jet in Egypt, as Western officials pointed on Friday to the conclusion it was brought down by a bomb… While no official investigation has confirmed that claim of responsibility, countries have been canceling flights and announcing new precautions, leaving tens of thousands of European and Russian tourists stranded at Red Sea resorts…
“U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have already said the crash might have been caused by a bomb. Moscow initially rebuked Western countries for drawing such conclusions too quickly. But President Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend Russian flights suggests the Kremlin is no longer trying to avert attention from that theory…
“French TV station France 2 said on its website that the sound of an explosion could be heard on the black boxes recovered from the plane, according to an investigator who had access to them. The investigator ruled out engine failure, it added…
“Decisions by Britain and other European countries to suspend flights to Sharm al-Sheikh left tens of thousands of tourists stranded in one of the most popular destinations for European holidaymakers seeking winter sunshine. Moscow’s decision to follow suit on Friday adds tens of thousands more… The Russian Travel Industry Union, cited by Interfax, estimated there were about 50,000 Russian tourists currently in Egypt and said refunding canceled tickets to Egypt could bankrupt Russian tour operators…
“British attempts to bring home thousands of stranded tourists were thrown into chaos on Friday when Egypt reduced the number of flights it would allow to take them home…”
The Washington Post wrote on November 6:
“The hardening prospect that a Russian airliner was brought down over the Sinai Peninsula by a terrorist bomb is raising concerns that the threat from the Islamic State has dramatically expanded, and it points to the potentially deadly role of insurgents around the world who have allied themselves with the militant group… If the Islamic State indeed destroyed the plane, it would shatter whatever expectation there was that the group could be confined and ultimately defeated within Iraq and Syria — the region where it has seized territory and declared a caliphate…
“There have been arrests of Islamic State operatives in Kosovo and Albania in recent months for allegedly planning attacks in Europe, said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. ‘But this is the first time that ISIL has crossed the threshold and burst onto the international terror scene,’ he said…
“The apparent ability of the group to smuggle a bomb on board a plane loaded with tourists is disturbing to U.S. security officials, who had comforted themselves with the idea that the Islamic State appeared focused on establishing its caliphate and was so far unwilling or unable to strike outside its immediate area of operations. ‘This is the most significant terrorist-related airline incident since 9/11,’ Hoffman said. ‘So the repercussions for this have to be quite profound.’”
Deutsche Welle reported on November 7:
“The weekly ‘Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung’ (FAS) reported in its Sunday edition that the German government believes the Russian Metrojet airliner was bombed by the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) terrorist group. ‘All available information points to this conclusion,’ a senior German security official told the paper, adding that the aircraft’s sudden drop in altitude, without any irregularities having been recorded in the cockpit, make a bomb ‘very plausible.’”
Subsequently, governmental officials from the USA, Great Britain and Europe have stated that they are “99% sure” that the Russian plane was destroyed by a bomb.
The Associated Press reported on November 10 that “Moscow’s ban on all flights to Egypt in the wake of a Russian plane crash will last for at least several months, the Kremlin chief of staff said Tuesday, dealing a severe blow to Egypt’s struggling tourism industry.”
“The Temple Mount Belongs to Israel”
i24news.tv reported on November 11, 2015:
“[70 senior] rabbis from the Religious Zionism movement have issued a petition claiming the sacred status of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, also known as the al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslims…
“The rabbis have said that they refuse to give up Jewish ownership of the Temple Mount and continue to pray for the construction of the third temple where its predecessors had been…
“Under the headline, ‘We won’t give up the Temple Mount,’ the Rabbis wrote that ‘the Temple Mount belongs to the people of Israel for generations of about 3,000 years now, since it was purchased by King David for its full price from Araunah the Jebusite… The two temples of the people of Israel stood on the Temple Mount for some 1,000 years, before the religion of Islam even existed. No one has the authority to give up the Temple Mount…’
“The rabbis argued that the people of Israel were certain of the fulfillment of the prophets’ vision on the construction of the temple, and ‘pray that we will see it happen soon in our time.’”
Leaders of China and Taiwan Meet for the First Time Since 1949
The Associated Press reported on November 7:
“The leaders of China and Taiwan met Saturday for the first time since the formerly bitter Cold War foes split amid civil war 66 years ago, and though no concrete agreement resulted, both hailed the meeting as a sign of a new stability in relations… In brief opening remarks in front of reporters before going into a closed-door meeting, [China’s] Xi said, ‘History will record this day.’ He alluded to China’s long-cherished goals of unification with Taiwan, saying, ‘We are one family,’ and ‘No force can pull us apart.’
“[Taiwan’s] Ma said, ‘Both sides should respect each other’s values and way of life,’ while adding that relations between the sides were ‘the most peaceful and stable they have ever been.’
“When they split in 1949, both sides aspired to absorb the other, with each claiming the mantle of the only legitimate government of all of China, Taiwan included. Communist Party-ruled China still demands that Taiwan eventually be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary, while many citizens of democratic Taiwan increasingly prefer to simply maintain the separate status the island has carved out over more than six decades.
“Critics of Ma in Taiwan are wary that his meeting with Xi and similar contacts will pave the way for Beijing to assert greater control over the island, further deepening its international isolation… China refuses to acknowledge the island as anything other than a breakaway province, and pressure from Beijing keeps Taiwan out of the United Nations and other major multinational organizations…
“Each leader hopes to seal his legacy as one who helped bring decades of division and mistrust to a mutually acceptable end…”
“Let Europe Be Europe!”
On November 9, WorldNetDaily published the following article by Pat Buchanan:
“‘A modern day mass migration is taking place … that could change the face of Europe’s civilization,’ warned Hungarian President Viktor Orban… He erected a 110-mile fence on the Serb border, redirecting hundreds of thousands of migrants away from Hungary to Croatia, thence to Austria and Germany.
“Sunday, after a third of a million had passed through, Croatia replaced a center-left with a rightist party. A fortnight ago, the right-wing eurosceptic Law and Justice Party won a landslide victory in Poland.
“Support for Angela Merkel, who has opened Germany to a million migrants, is plummeting. Bavaria’s CSU, sister party of Merkel’s CDU, is in rebellion. Bavaria has been the main port of entry for the hundreds of thousands of arriving migrants.
“Europe is undergoing the greatest mass migration since World War II, when 14 million Germans were driven out of Prussia and eastern Germany and Central and Eastern Europe. That mass migration halted after two years. But no end is in sight to the migrations from Africa and the Middle East. As long as Europe’s borders remain open, they will come. And the people who wish to come number not just in the millions but the tens and scores of millions. And they know how to get there…
“Under the Schengen Agreement, there are to be no barriers to trade and travel, to the movement of goods and people inside the EU. Yet, across Europe, fences are going up, borders are being re-established, anti-immigrant and anti-EU parties like the National Front of France’s Marine Le Pen, are gaining converts. If the mass migrations are not halted, the rise of nationalist regimes at the expense of Europe’s liberals and leftists is inevitable…
“Optimists point to how America absorbed the 15 million that arrived in the Great Wave of immigration from 1890 to 1920. But they ignore the differences. America’s immigrants were Europeans from Christian nations… those pouring into Europe are Arab, African and Muslim, not European Christians or Jews. They come from other civilizations and cultures. And they are… creating enclaves in Europe that replicate the lands whence they came…
“Will Europe remain Europe if she is repopulated by Arabs, Muslims, Asians and Africans? What will hold Europe together?… One day soon, a voice will arise across the Atlantic calling for an end to this invasion, by force if necessary, and declare: ‘Let Europe be Europe!’”
In light of the last paragraph, the following articles are quite revealing… and frightening, considering the consequences.
“Germany Unable to House 300,000 Refugees”
The Local wrote on November 9:
“Germany doesn’t have the capacity to house hundreds of thousands of the refugees set to arrive in the country over the remainder of the year, a study released on Monday claims… [arguing] that Germany currently only has the capacity to house around half a million refugees. But with almost that number already having arrived in the country – and 380,000 more projected to arrive before the year is out – that means housing solutions are still needed for 370,000 migrants.
“The report included a survey of 300 local authorities in Germany who estimated that a total of 870,000 people would arrive in Germany in the whole of 2015 seeking asylum. Over three quarters of local authorities said that their greatest challenge was finding shelter for all the refugees who arrive at their door. Almost two-thirds also voiced fears over the lack of reliable numbers of arriving refugees…”
Migrant Crisis in Germany
Breitbart wrote on November 12, 2015:
“Germany’s finance minister has warned that an ‘avalanche’ of migrants has been triggered, just as it was revealed that Germany should expect up to 10 million migrants by 2020. According to the calculations of another member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ‘grand coalition’ of parties, the continent can expect nearly 10 times as many migrants as has been projected for this year alone over the next five years…
“The nation is expecting up to 1.5 million this year alone. The numbers began rising sharply immediately after Mrs. Merkel promised to suspend the Dublin agreement in August, and ‘welcome’ any migrant who could make it across the German borders… the German government has no idea how many migrants it has already taken in and begun to process…”
The Local added on November 12:
“Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has warned that the flow of refugees into Germany and Europe could turn into an ‘avalanche’ if not managed properly. ‘Avalanches can be triggered when some slightly careless skier goes to the slope and moves a little bit of snow,’ Schäuble said in Berlin on Wednesday evening. It was impossible to tell at this point whether the avalanche had reached the valley floor or was still in the top third of the slope, he added.
“The comments were a rare statement of position from Merkel’s finance chief Schäuble, who has until recently confined himself to comments on the affordability of the refugee crisis… In recent days, Germany has tightened its refugee policy, re-introducing the so-called ‘Dublin rules’ for Syrian refugees, which would see them sent back to the first EU country they entered to apply for asylum.
“Last week, Sweden asked refugees on their way to the Nordic country to stay in Germany as they were hitting their limit for accommodating migrants. And Merkel faced a mini-rebellion over the weekend from her Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere when he announced his own plans for stricter policies, apparently without the backing of other senior officials.”
Courting Turkey
Deutsche Welle reported on November 12:
“EU officials have announced they will hold talks with Ankara over ways to help stem the migrants crisis… The EU has been courting Turkey for the past couple months in the hopes its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will take on some of the burden of caring for the migrants. Turkey is home to some 2 million Syrian refugees.
“In exchange for assistance, Ankara has demanded 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in aid from the EU. Brussels has already pledged closer ties with the country and says it is working to pull together the requested amount of money… In October, Merkel paid a visit to Ankara after bomb blasts that left more than 100 people dead in the Turkish capital. The visit was seen largely as an effort by the chancellor to mend relations with Erdogan, especially as both the refugee crisis and the ongoing fighting in the Middle East intensify.”
Ex-German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Dies
Deutsche Welle reported on November 10:
“Schmidt, who led West Germany from 1974 to 1982, died on Tuesday at the age of 96… Schmidt was a politician who believed in plain speaking and whose steadfast refusal to censor himself never detracted from his popularity. He was regularly voted the most popular politician in postwar Germany, despite being contrary and often opinionated.
“In a television interview at the height of the European financial crisis, for example, he didn’t mince words when asked what he thought of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership. ‘It would take me a while to come up with a diplomatic answer,’ he said. Asked what he thought of then Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle of the pro-business Free Democrats, his response was similarly caustic. ‘You can‘t seriously expect me to answer that,’ he said.
“Schmidt remained consistently critical of developments in the EU, the feasibility of a multicultural Germany and the Bundeswehr’s mission in Afghanistan, but continued nonetheless to enjoy the respect of the German public…
“For many Germans, Helmut Schmidt earned that respect first and foremost with his handling of the infamous ‘German Autumn’ in late 1977, when West Germany was terrorized by the left-wing urban guerrillas of the Red Army Faction (RAF). The German Autumn reached its high point when the RAF kidnapped industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer [who was later killed by the terrorists] and hijacked the Lufthansa airplane Landshut with the help of the allied Palestinian group PFLP, landing in Mogadishu, Somalia. Their aim was to force the release of RAF terrorists from German jails. But Helmut Schmidt dug in his heels, refusing to meet the kidnappers’ demands… In a highly fraught mission, Schmidt had the West German counterterrorism group GSG 9 storm the Landshut airplane. All passengers were freed. Had any hostages died, it later emerged, Schmidt would have most certainly resigned as chancellor…
“In 1974, when Willy Brandt resigned over what became known as the Guillaume affair, an espionage scandal revolving around the exposure of an East German spy within the West German government, Helmut Schmidt was his obvious successor…
“His relationship with his own party, the Social Democrats, was never an easy one. He was seen to belong to the more conservative end of the SPD… An ardent believer in NATO, Schmidt was willing to let the alliance station US nuclear missiles in West Germany. His detractors, within his party and among the German public, saw his stance as naive. He defended his position, arguing to those pushing for unilateral disarmament rather than contractually secured disarmament, that ‘history has shown that surrender by no means prevents aggression on the part of the stronger power.’
“It was a stance that the SPD supported with considerable reluctance and wasted no time officially reversing when Schmidt left office in 1982. He resigned the chancellorship after a vote of no confidence, having lost his voting majority in the Bundestag over his refusal to cut West Germany’s social welfare programs…
“In subsequent years Schmidt withdrew from the political arena, becoming a co-publisher of the weekly newspaper ‘Die Zeit’…”
The Washington Post added on November 10:
“Helmut Schmidt… helped complete the transformation of his country from a subdued and still recovering post-World War II ally into the leading political and economic power in Europe…
“Inducted into the Hitler youth movement at 16 and the army in 1937, he served for eight years, fought for a while on the Russian front, was awarded an Iron Cross as an artillery officer and was eventually captured by the British in 1945. He managed to keep secret a dangerous family fact during the Third Reich: His father was an illegitimate child, and his real grandfather was Jewish.
“Mr. Schmidt was a Lutheran, but there was no outward sense that religion played a role in his life… He took a leading role in development of the European Monetary System which, except for the British pound, tied major European currencies together as protection against wide dollar fluctuations…
“On occasion, he spoke broadly about Europe’s common cultural identity, from the Atlantic to the Urals in Russia… In Europe, he deepened relations with France, especially…”
In spite of his faults and limitations, Helmut Schmidt was an influential and popular leader, regardless of whether one agreed with his positions or not.
Britain to EU: Change or We Will Leave
Daily Mail wrote on November 10:
“Mr Cameron insisted major changes were need[ed] as the price for keeping Britain in the EU, and warned his planned referendum could not be reversed, adding: ‘Leave means leave.’ He demanded Brussels rules be rewritten to protect Britain from becoming ‘tangled’ in a United States of Europe [to] ensure non-euro countries are not forced to bail out the single currency. If he gets what wants he will campaign ‘with all my heart and all my soul’ for Britain to stay in the EU in his promised referendum but if they refuse to meet his demands, he will ‘rule nothing out’…
“By far the biggest challenge to other EU countries is the demand for tougher limits on who can claim benefits from Britain’s welfare system ‘to reduce the numbers [of migrants] coming here’… officials in Brussels were quick to point out that he stands little chance of getting a deal on benefits…”
The Washington Post added on November 10:
“Call it the British wish list: an array of demands, aspirations and proposals sent to its partners in the European Union on Tuesday that clarifies battle lines in an intensifying debate over whether Britain should quit the bloc… Cameron has promised to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership in the E.U. before the end of 2017, the outcome of which could fundamentally reshape both Britain and the E.U…
“Cameron argued that the referendum would be ‘perhaps the most important decision British people will have to take at the ballot box in our lifetimes’…
“At the beginning of the year, the chances of Britain leaving the E.U. seemed slim, but polls now show the gap narrowing, with marginal differences between the ‘remain’ and ‘leave’ sides. Analysts say the migration crisis engulfing Europe has made it more difficult for the British government to argue the merits of staying in the group…
“Cameron is expected to face resistance to some of his demands, notably around restricting benefits for other E.U. citizens living in Britain. The freedom to live and work in other E.U. member states is a key tenet of the E.U. project, and anything that appears to be a restriction on that freedom of movement could be challenged. In his letter, Cameron proposed that E.U. citizens coming to work in Britain should not qualify for some benefits unless they had lived in the country for four years.
“European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said that some of Cameron’s demands were ‘highly problematic as they touch upon the fundamental freedoms of the internal market,’ the Reuters news agency reported. He said that ‘direct discrimination between E.U. citizens clearly falls into this last category.’…
“But even if Cameron were to get all of the concessions he wants, there is no guarantee that voters will favor remaining part of the bloc. ‘When we poll British voters, it’s clear they want to go beyond benefit changes. They want fundamental reform on issues of free movement. Voters don’t simply want in-work benefits curbed for migrants, they want fewer migrants — and that’s the awkward reality for David Cameron,’ said Matthew Goodwin, a politics professor at the University of Kent.
“Cameron also stressed that there would be no second referendum on E.U. membership. ‘If we vote to leave, then we will leave. . . . This is our only chance to get this right for Britain and for the whole E.U.,’ he said.”
Setback for Obama’s Immigration Policy
Politico wrote on November 9:
“A federal appeals court has rejected President Barack Obama’s effort to move forward with a series of executive actions he announced last year seeking to give quasi-legal status and work permits to [up to five] millions of undocumented immigrants. The 2-1 ruling Monday from the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit is a defeat for the Obama administration, but one that may have come just in the nick of time to give the Supreme Court the chance to revive Obama’s attempt to make it easier for many immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally to live and work here…
“Obama’s actions announced last November expanded eligibility for a program the president set up in 2012 to allow immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children to get ‘deferred action’ status and be eligible to work legally. The new effort also included a new initiative to grant the same status to illegal immigrants who are the parents of U.S. citizens or green-card holders…
“When Obama announced the new moves about a year ago, he said he was acting because Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation. But the decisions drew sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers, who argued he was overstepping his powers under the Constitution. Congressional Republicans had seized on multiple statements Obama himself made that indicated the president did not believe he had the legal authority to act on his own to halt deportations and grant work permits…
“‘This decision contributes to the mounting evidence that the president’s executive action on immigration was unlawful and he simply cannot be trusted on this issue,’ said AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)…”
As was to be expected, the Obama Administration announced that they will appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.
Trump Picks Wrong Fight Against Starbucks
Breitbart wrote on November 10:
“Donald Trump has suggested a boycott of Starbucks over the coffee giant’s un-festive red cups… telling a capacity crowd in Springfield, Illinois, he was shocked by the design, which this year is pure red with absolutely no Christmas-related imagery at all. He also told the crowd to be proud of celebrating the season, saying ‘We will all be saying Merry Christmas again’ if he enters the White House… He added that Starbucks operates a store in one of his buildings, saying: ‘That’s the end of that lease, but who cares?’’
The Washington Post added on November 10 that “the self-avowed Presbyterian and presidential hopeful Donald Trump suggested it might be a good idea [to boycott Starbucks], but even his own church won’t claim him. Instead, many Christians responded to the backlash with backlash, saying that a boycott was pointless and a bit ridiculous.”
Fox News stated on November 10: “It wasn’t too long ago that many of the same folks complaining about Starbucks were defending Christian-owned bakeries and flower shops… we ought not to be telling bakeries and florists how to run their business and we ought not to be telling Starbucks how to run theirs.”
Christmas has NOTHING TO DO with the Jesus Christ of the Bible. It is a pagan holiday to the core, which was dedicated to the worship of pagan sun gods. As a Christian, one ought not to celebrate “Christmas.” So, not “all” will say “Merry Christmas”, even if Mr. Trump becomes President. Non-Christians would most certainly not say it, and true Christians won’t or shouldn’t, either.
In other developments, Breitbart reported on November 11:
“Wednesday on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe,’ Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said to remove the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, he would have a ‘deportation force.’”
This would without doubt create a logistic nightmare and may result in unparalleled civil unrest and violence.
Mysterious Occurrences in Southern California Caused by US Navy
The Los Angeles Times wrote on November 9:
“The U.S. Navy said it launched a second — and final — missile in a planned exercise Monday afternoon from a submarine off the Southern California coast… The blast-off took place to far less fanfare than Saturday night’s launch, which provoked residents from San Francisco to Mexico to take to social media, posting photos of an eerie-looking bluish-green plume smeared above the Pacific.
“Speculations were wide-ranging, including rumors of an otherworldly alien UFO visit… The Navy later confirmed a ballistic submarine launched an unarmed Trident II (D5) missile in a test flight…
“The Kentucky, the ballistic submarine, conducted the two launches as part of a demonstration and shakedown operation, or DASO, process that certifies the readiness of a submarine’s crew and strategic weapons before returning to operational availability…
“The $31 million missile, built by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif., has had more than 150 successful launches since its first test in 1989. It is capable of hitting a target 4,000 nautical miles away…
“While the risk of nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia declined after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, it has never gone away. The U.S. military’s nuclear weapons strategy rests on a triad of delivery systems — bombers, submarines and land-based missiles — developed early in the Cold War to deliver warheads anywhere in the world.
“The Pentagon recently embarked on a $355-billion program for modernizing each aging leg of the U.S. nuclear triad over the next decade. The submarine missile test came late Saturday after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter addressed a defense forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley about the U.S. ‘adapting our operational posture and contingency plans’ to deter Russia’s ‘aggression.’ ‘We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia,’ he said to the forum. ‘We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake; the United States will defend our interests, our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all.’”
However, the Bible paints a grim picture of US incapability to defend against an all-powerful enemy… which will not be Russia.
Thermal Scanning of Great Pyramid Throws Up Anomalies
The Associated Press wrote on November 9:
“Scans revealed ‘particularly impressive’ anomaly at ground level on [the] eastern side of [the] largest of three pyramids… Two weeks of new thermal scanning of the pyramids of Giza have identified anomalies, including a major one in the largest pyramid, Egypt’s antiquities ministry has announced… The scanning showed ‘a particularly impressive [anomaly] located on the eastern side of the Khufu pyramid at ground level”, the ministry said. The largest of the three Giza pyramids is known locally as Khufu and internationally as Cheops.
“The thermal scanning was carried out during sunrise, as the sun heats the structures from the outside, and then during sunset as the pyramids are cooling down. The speed of the heating and cooling phases was used to uncover ‘hypotheses’ such as empty areas in the pyramids, internal air currents, or different building materials used…”
For interesting facts on the history of the Great Pyramid, please read our Editorial in this week’s Update.
How the Public in the UK Is Deceived
The Guardian wrote on November 10:
“Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species has been voted the most influential academic book ever written…
“After a list of the top 20 academic books was pulled together by expert academic booksellers, librarians and publishers to mark the inaugural Academic Book Week, the public was asked to vote on what they believed to be the most influential… Darwin’s explanation of his theory of evolution was the public’s overwhelming favourite, with 26% of the vote, said organisers.
“Professor Andrew Prescott of the University of Glasgow called Darwin’s 1859 study ‘the supreme demonstration of why academic books matter’. ‘Darwin used meticulous observation of the world around us, combined with protracted and profound reflection, to create a book which has changed the way we think about everything – not only the natural world, but religion, history and society,’ he said. ‘Every researcher, no matter whether they are writing books, creating digital products or producing artworks, aspires to produce something as significant in the history of thought as Origin of Species.’…
“On the Origin of Species was followed in the public vote by The Communist Manifesto and The Complete Works of Shakespeare, with Plato’s The Republic fourth, and Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason fifth…”
The truth is that Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species” and “The Communist Manifesto” are probably some of the worst books ever written. The false concepts and philosophies expressed in them are diametrically opposite to the teachings of the Bible.
Could Mount St Helens Erupt Again Very Soon?
Daily Mail reported on November 5:
“Its scarred and jagged crater is a reminder of the terrible devastation that Mount St Helens wrought over the Washington countryside 35 years ago. Now a new study of the volcanic plumbing lurking beneath the 8,363ft (2,459 metre) summit suggests the volcano could yet again blow its top in an explosive eruption.
“Geologists studying the volcano, which is responsible for the most deadly eruption in US history, have discovered a second enormous magma chamber buried far beneath the surface… They said earthquakes around the volcano are a sign of magma pumping from the lower reservoir into the upper one, and this could reveal clues about an impending eruption… The researchers also believe a second neighbouring volcano – Mount Adams – may also be fed from the deeper magma chamber…
“Researchers claim to have worked out how to accurately predict the eruption of ‘supervolcanoes’ that blanket the earth in giant ash clouds triggering a ‘nuclear winter’… They said a series of distinct earthquakes in the months leading up to the massive eruption on 18 May 1980, which killed 57 people, may have been caused by the pumping of magma from the lower to the upper chamber. This caused the pressure inside the upper chamber to increase dramatically until it erupted explosively…
“Mount St Helens began erupting again back in 2004 producing a new lava dome, but fell silent in July 2008. However, it is still considered to be a high-risk volcano and the US Geological Survey are closely monitoring it for signs for renewed unrest… The scarred and jagged crater of Mount St Helens… looms over the surrounding countryside in Washington. Its current shape is the result of a massive explosion in 1980, but a lava dome has been steadily growing inside the crater since 2004…”
Mormons Against Same-Sex Marriage
Newsmax reported on November 6:
“The Mormon Church… believes that apostasy occurs when ‘an individual or community rejects the revelations and ordinances of God, changes the gospel of Jesus Christ, or rebels against the commandments of God, thereby losing the blessings of the Holy [Spirit] and of divine authority.’
“… church spokesman Eric Hawkins… added in a statement that the Mormon Church’s policy has been against gay marriage for a long time. ‘The Church has long been on record as opposing same-sex marriages. While it respects the law of the land, and acknowledges the right of others to think and act differently, it does not perform or accept same-sex marriage within its membership,’ the statement continued.”
On this point, the Mormons teach correctly that same-sex “marriages” are against the truth of the Bible.
Wide-Spread Sexting in America
CNN reported on November 9:
“Students at a Colorado high school exchanged hundreds of naked photos of themselves, prompting a felony investigation by police and the forfeiture of a football game because many players have been implicated in the sexting scandal, officials said… Students used a photo vault app that hides the nude photos by appearing to be a calculator or media player… ‘When you go into it and you … hold a certain button long enough, a prompt for password comes up. Once you enter that password, then any messages that have been sent from photo vault to photo vault start coming up,’ [an official] said…
“‘For parents that may be having conversations with their children or reviewing cell phones as the superintendent recommended, they need to understand that continuing or ongoing possession of these materials does constitute a very serious crime for the adults and for the children,’ the prosecutor said. Any convictions could involve registration as a sex offender…”
It was reported that children and teens as young as 12 years of age allegedly participated in the sexting scandal in Colorado.
On January 2, 2015, CNN had published the following article:
“More than half the undergraduate students who took part in an anonymous online survey said they sexted when they were teenagers… an astonishing 61% did not know that sending nude photos via text could be considered child pornography.
“[One expert is quoted as saying:] ‘… parents need to be actively involved in their children’s online lives… parents should go over with their child when they get a phone, including setting up a contract so they understand their phone will be monitored… Phones are a privilege, not a right. They should only be given to kids with the expectation that mom or dad will be checking it on a daily basis.’”
On November 6, The New York Times gave some valuable tips for parents as to how to deal with these secret “vault apps” of their children and teens:
“When students were caught participating in an illicit photo ring that was operating out of a high school in Cañon City, Colo., parents and school officials there were quick to say that kind of thing was surely happening all over the country…
“Parents concerned about vault apps can take proactive measures by enabling parental controls. For families with iPhones, parents can screen apps before they are downloaded to their children’s iPhones with a feature called Ask to Buy. By turning on Ask to Buy, whenever a child wants to download an app (whether free or paid), it sends a request to the parent’s iPhone, and the parent can then approve or deny the download. The steps, which are available on Apple’s website, involve setting up each iPhone with Family Sharing and then enabling Ask to Buy for the child’s iPhone.
“For families with Android devices, parents can enable parental controls inside Google Play’s app store… parents can download an app called AppLock on the child’s device and lock down any app that they suspect to be a vault app with a PIN code.
“Websites that focus on digital learning for teenagers provide tips for parents on how to spot a hidden app. Common Sense Media, one such website, detailed some of the ways they use vault apps, and other apps that are used to discreetly take photos…
“A post published on TeenSafe.com said that parents should be proactive about looking for warning signs that teenagers are using vault apps: Hiding phone screens, refusing to give over passwords and a sudden increase in device usage are all red flags, according to the site…”
Sadly, in this day and age of perverse behavior, induced by Satan the devil and his demons, such proactive steps by parents may become very necessary.
