Florida’s Mass Murderer Heard Voices Telling Him to Watch ISIS Material

The New York Times wrote on January 6:

“Federal law enforcement officials said they were investigating whether the gunman who opened fire on Friday at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., killing five people and wounding eight, was mentally disturbed and heard voices in his head telling him to commit acts of violence [and to watch ISIS material]. According to a senior law enforcement official, the gunman, identified as Esteban Santiago, 26, walked into the F.B.I. office in Anchorage in November and made disturbing remarks that prompted officials to urge him to seek mental health care.

“Mr. Santiago, appearing ‘agitated and incoherent,’ said ‘that his mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency,’ the official said. Other officials said it was too early to tell whether Mr. Santiago, who was captured in the airport, had been inspired by terrorist groups, including the Islamic State. The officials said he had viewed extremist materials on the internet…

“Mr. Santiago was discharged in August from the Alaska Army National Guard for ‘unsatisfactory performance’…

“The shooting comes at a tense time for a nation that has been watching nervously as terrorist attacks have occurred elsewhere in the world…”

ISIS is an organization thoroughly controlled by Satan and his demons. If Florida’s murdering gunman indeed heard voices ordering him to view ISIS material, the conclusion would be compelling that demons were telling him to do this.

Building a Wall

The Guardian stated on January 6:

“Donald Trump was forced to say that Mexico would pay for his planned border wall ‘later’ after Republican officials indicated Congress and US taxpayers would first foot the bill…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 6:

“On Twitter, Trump took to blaming the media: ‘The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed) will be paid back by Mexico later.’”

Breitbart added on January 6:

“‘When you understand that Mexico’s economy is dependent upon U.S. consumers, Donald Trump has all the cards he needs to play. On the trade negotiation side, I don’t think it’s that difficult for Donald Trump to convince Mexico that it’s in their best interest to reimburse us for building the wall,’ Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) explained to CNN… As the Associated Press observes, congressional Republicans believe no new legislation will be necessary to secure financing, because existing law [from previous US President George W. Bush]  ‘already authorizes fencing and other technology along the southern border.’”

Repealing Obamacare Without Replacing It Simultaneously?

Newsmax wrote on January 7:

“Republicans are increasingly jittery over rushing to demolish much of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law without having a GOP alternative that’s ready to go.

“While nothing about revamping the nation’s $3 trillion-a-year health care system will be easy, Republican leaders want congressional committees to have legislation dismantling much of Obama’s overhaul ready by late January. They’re hoping Congress can quickly send a measure to incoming President Donald Trump phasing out the law, perhaps a couple of months later.

“Crafting a GOP replacement is likely to take longer, thanks to Republican divisions and solid Democratic opposition. With 20 million Americans now covered under Obama’s law, one political nightmare for Republicans would be repealing the statute and then proving unable to pass a new version.

“Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told reporters Friday that Republicans might find themselves in a ‘box canyon’ if they erase the healthcare law without a substitute in hand. One part of Obama’s law Republicans are eager to repeal is its tax increases on higher-earning people and segments of the health care industry that help finance expanded coverage. Corker said that if those taxes are voided but Republicans temporarily continue subsidies to help people buy coverage, ‘that means Republicans would have to vote for a tax increase’ to pay for them — usually a non-starter for the GOP…

“While Republicans will likely just need a simple Senate majority to approve their repeal bill, for procedural reasons later replacement legislation will probably need 60 votes in a chamber the GOP controls by just 52-48. That means a need for at least eight Democratic votes, though there will be pressure on 10 Democrats facing re-election next year from states Trump won in November… After repeatedly trying to repeal Obama’s law since its 2010 enactment, Republicans are under tremendous pressure from their voters to annul it swiftly.

“But GOP leaders have talked about their repeal not taking effect for perhaps two or three years. They’re discussing providing some type of revenue during that period to maintain coverage for people and perhaps for insurers so they won’t immediately abandon markets…”

Repeal and Replace Obamacare at the Same Time

Reuters wrote on January 10:

“U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday pressured fellow Republicans working to repeal Obamacare in Congress to pass a replacement for the healthcare law at the same time or soon after they vote to dismantle it… With Trump set to succeed Obama on Jan. 20, Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, face a dilemma. They have a chance to make good on their promise to gut the law, but forging an agreement on a replacement plan has eluded them.

“If Congress does not put in place a substitute, millions of Americans with the insurance may be at risk of losing coverage… House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that some elements of an insurance substitute likely would be ready when lawmakers vote to repeal Obamacare, but others would take longer. Some Republicans have said it could take up to two years to craft a replacement. Trump said a delay of that length was unacceptable…”

Russia Responsible for Hacking… While Mr. Trump Blames Democrats for Gross Negligence

Newsmax reported on January 6:

“President-elect Donald Trump slammed the Democratic National Committee late Friday for its ‘gross negligence’ that allowed Russia to hack into its systems during the presidential campaign. Trump ripped the Democrats on Twitter: ‘Gross negligence by the Democratic National Committee allowed hacking to take place. The Republican National Committee had strong defense!’

“The post came after Trump earlier Friday was briefed by U.S. intelligence officials on a report blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for directing the hacking of the DNC and other party operatives to try to sway the election to the Republican candidate…

“The findings concluded that Putin and the Russian government ‘aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary [Hillary] Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him… All three agencies agree with this judgment,’ the document said. ‘CIA and FBI have a high confidence in this judgment; NSA has moderate confidence.’

“Trump had publicly questioned the veracity of the intelligence community’s conclusions on Moscow — even characterized them as a ‘political witch hunt’ seeking to undermine his administration.”

The Huffington Post added on January 6:

“On Friday, Trump listed Russia as one of several entities that could have been behind the theft and release of thousands of DNC emails… ‘While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat [sic] National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines,’ Trump said.”

The Guardian wrote on January 7:

“On Saturday, true to unrepentant form, Trump used Twitter to issue [his] comment. ‘Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results,’ he wrote. ‘Voting machines not touched! Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed!’…

“Trump has also consistently spoken favourably of Putin and urged a closer relationship with Russia. On Saturday, he added: ‘Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only ‘stupid’ people, or fools, would think that it is bad! We have enough problems around the world without yet another one. When I am president, Russia will respect us far more than they do now and both countries will, perhaps, work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!’”

Discriminating and Compromising Information about Donald Trump?

CNN reported on January 10:

“Classified documents presented last week to President Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump, multiple US officials with direct knowledge of the briefings tell CNN.

“The allegations were presented in a two-page synopsis that was appended to a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. The allegations came, in part, from memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative, whose past work US intelligence officials consider credible. The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Mr. Trump…

“One reason the nation’s intelligence chiefs took the extraordinary step of including the synopsis in the briefing documents was to make the President-elect aware that such allegations involving him are circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of Congress and other government officials in Washington, multiple sources tell CNN.”

Even though CNN admitted that the allegations were not “confirmed,” CNN engaged in shameful conduct of reporting about them, opening the door for a left-liberal news agency to even publish these most outrageous allegations (many of them were subsequently disproven), while other liberal media, including the New York Times, refused to do so. Mr. Trump’s outrage about such irresponsible conduct by CNN and those of the intelligence agencies who leaked this “write-up” appears justified. Note next article.

Trump and Russia React

Deutsche Welle and Newsmax wrote on January 11:

“Trump took to his favorite medium, Twitter, to fire off an angry response about the allegations… ‘Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is “A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.” Very unfair!’ ‘Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING.’

“‘I win an election easily, a great “movement” is verified, and crooked opponents try to belittle our victory with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state!’ ‘Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to “leak” into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?’

“Responding to the rumors on Wednesday, the Kremlin also described the reports as a ‘complete fabrication’ and denied having compromising material on either Trump or his ex-rival Hillary Clinton. ‘This is an obvious attempt to harm our bilateral relations,’ spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, concurring with Trump’s comment of a ‘witch hunt.’”

The Telegraph added on January 11:

“[Donald Trump] said [during a press conference] the publishing of the report had been done by ‘sick people’ and suggested intelligence agencies had leaked it. ‘I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out there,’ he said.”

He also reiterated during the conference that the conduct of these intelligence agencies, leaking the “report,” mirrors something that Nazi Germany would have done and did.

Britain in the Crossfire

The Telegraph wrote on January 12:

“Britain has been dragged into the frantic row over the ‘dirty dossier’ on Donald Trump after it was claimed that the Government gave the FBI permission to speak to the former MI6 officer who compiled it. Sources in the US have told The Telegraph that Christopher Steele, a former spy, spoke to officials in London before he handed the document to the FBI and met one of its agents.

“The document… was leaked earlier this week, and Britain now finds itself caught in the crossfire of accusations between Russia and the US.

“On Thursday Russia publicly accused MI6 of ‘briefing both ways’ against Russia and Mr Trump and suggested Mr Steele was still working for the Secret Intelligence Service.

“Mr Trump has angrily rejected the information in the dossier as ‘fake’ and the involvement of a former MI6 officer is unlikely to help Britain’s intelligence-sharing relationship with the US when he becomes president later this month.

“Mr Steele, who friends say fears for his safety, has gone into hiding while the veracity of the claims made in his dossier, and his own reputation, continue to be fiercely debated… Mr Steele was hired to find information on Mr Trump by a Washington-based consultancy that was being paid by Republican opponents of the president-elect – the BBC claimed they were acting on behalf of fellow nominee Jeb Bush – and, later, by Democrats…

“The Daily Telegraph was told during a meeting with a highly-placed source in Washington DC last October that the FBI had contacted Mr Steele asking if they could discuss his findings with him. The source said that Mr Steele spoke to officials in London to ask for permission to speak to the FBI, which was duly granted, and that Downing Street was informed…”

Rex Tillerson’s Confirmation Hearing for US Secretary of State Position

Deutsche Welle reported on January 11:

“Rex Tillerson, who’s slated to be the next US Secretary of State, told his confirmation hearing that Washington needs to redefine its relationship with Moscow. The former-Exxon Mobil boss was given a nine-hour grilling. Tillerson said on Wednesday that Russia was one of several ‘adversaries’ posing ‘considerable threats’ to the world. But he refused to label Russian Preisdent Vladimir Putin a war criminal for [the] country’s role in the Syrian conflict.

“The former oil executive said that Russia’s ‘recent activities have disregarded American interests,’ in reference to the country’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its military intervention in Syria a little over a year ago…

“Tillerson did make a clear break from Trump in his thoughts on Ukraine. ‘Russia, today, poses a danger, but it is not unpredictable in advancing its own interests,’ he said, criticizing US President Barack Obama’s ‘very weak response’ to Crimea…

“In comments likely to threaten US-China relations, he said Beijing should be denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea…”

Newsmax added on January 11:

“Rubio extensively grilled Tillerson during the hearing, attacking the retired Exxon Mobil CEO for refusing to call Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal for his army’s role in the Syrian civil war and arguing over new bipartisan legislation calling for mandatory sanctions against Moscow for its meddling in the U.S. election and other aggressive behavior worldwide… Rubio, who was re-elected to a second term in November,  is one of 11 Republicans on the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee. With 10 Democrats on the committee, Rubio would almost certainly be the swing vote if he votes against Tillerson. That would kill the nomination and prevent it from going to the full Senate for a vote…”

“Mad Dog” James Mattis’ Confirmation Hearing for Defense Secretary Position

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 13:

“Retired General James Mattis’ confirmation hearing was far from contentious on Thursday, receiving praise from Democrats and Republicans alike. Mattis appears ready to be confirmed to become US President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary…

“During confirmation hearings, Mattis disagreed with Trump’s policies on Russia. While Trump wishes for stronger ties with Russia, Mattis warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ‘trying to break the North Atlantic alliance,’ going so far as to say Russia ‘poses a danger to US and European interests’…”

The Times of Israel added on January 12:

“President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Pentagon said Thursday that the United States should continue treating Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital, breaking with Republican members of Congress and intimations the incoming president could fulfill his campaign pledge to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

“Asked during his confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee if he supported the embassy’s relocation, retired Marine Corps general James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis said, ‘Right now I stick with the current US policy.’

“Facing an hours-long session of questions from senators, he emphasized that ‘The capital of Israel that I go to, sir, is Tel Aviv, sir, because that’s where all their government people are.’ He also noted, however, the determination was not part of his remit as defense secretary nominee. ‘I would defer to the nominee of Secretary of State on that, sir,’ he said.”

US House of Representatives Condemns Anti-Israel UN Resolution and Obama Administration

JTA wrote on January 5:

‘The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly agreed to condemn a U.N. Security Council anti-settlements resolution and the Obama administration for allowing it through. The resolution, which passed Thursday evening  by a vote of 342-80, said the Security Council vote last month ‘undermined the long-standing position of the United States to oppose and veto United Nations Security Council resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final status issues.’

“The U.S. abstained, refraining from exercising its veto and allowing the Security Council resolution to pass 14-0. U.S. officials said then that they could not endorse the resolution because of the inherent anti-Israel bias of the United Nations, but did not want to veto it because they agreed with its premise that Israeli settlement construction was illegal and an obstruction to advancing peace…

“109 Democrats backed the resolution and 76 opposed it. Just four Republicans opposed the resolution…”

Move of US Embassy to Jerusalem Would Be “Catastrophic”

JTA wrote on January 6:

“Jordan’s government spokesman warned of ‘catastrophic’ repercussions if President-elect Donald Trump moves the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as he indicated he would. Such a move could affect relations between the United States and regional allies, including Jordan… An embassy move would be a ‘red line’ for Jordan, would ‘inflame the Islamic and Arab streets’ and serve as a ‘gift to extremists,’ [the spokesman] said, adding that Jordan would use all possible political and diplomatic means in a bid to prevent such a decision.

“Jordan, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is the custodian of Islam’s third holiest shrine, the Al-Aqsa mosque, in eastern Jerusalem. Israel captured eastern Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967 and annexed it to its capital. The Palestinians want to establish the capital of a future state in Jerusalem…

“Last month, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway was quoted as saying that moving the embassy to Jerusalem is a ‘very big priority’ for the president-elect. Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador in Israel, David Friedman, has said he looks forward to working from Jerusalem.”

Newsmax reported on January 10:

“President-elect Donald Trump’s team is moving ahead with plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel out of Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, although diplomats and officials are ramping up warnings against the move. CNN reports that speculation in Israel is that the U.S. will announce the move on May 24, a national holiday in that country. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama renewed a waiver that blocks the move for six months…

“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wrote to Trump saying that he opposed the move, and has also written letters to the leaders of Russia, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Arab League… Secretary of State John Kerry also opposed the move, saying, ‘You’d have an explosion — an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region.’”

Why the Hatred of Israel?

The Washington Times wrote on January 4:

“Secretary of State John Kerry, echoing other policymakers in the Obama administration, blasted Israel last week in a 70-minute rant about its supposedly self-destructive policies. Why does the world — including now the United States — single out liberal and lawful Israel but refrain from chastising truly illiberal countries?

“Mr. Kerry has never sermonized for so long about his plan to solve the Syrian crisis that has led to some 500,000 deaths or the vast migrant crisis that has nearly wrecked the European Union. No one in this administration has shown as much anger about the many thousands who have been killed and jailed in the Castro brothers’ Cuba, much less about the current Stone Age conditions in Venezuela or the nightmarish government of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, an ally nation.

“President Obama did not champion the cause of the oppressed during the Green Revolution of 2009 in Iran. Did Mr. Kerry and Mr. Obama become so outraged after Russia occupied South Ossetia, Crimea and eastern Ukraine? Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power was never so impassioned over the borders of Chinese-occupied Tibet, or over Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus.

“In terms of harkening back to the Palestinian ‘refugee’ crisis that started in the late 1940s, no one talks today in similar fashion about the Jews who survived the Holocaust and walked home, only to find that their houses in Eastern Europe were gone or occupied by others. Much less do we recall the 11 million German civilians who were ethnically cleansed from Eastern Europe in 1945 by the Soviets and their imposed Communist governments…

“When Mr. Obama entered office, among his first acts were to give an interview with the Saudi-owned news outlet Al Arabiya championing his outreach to the mostly non-democratic Islamic world and to blast democratic Israel on ‘settlements.’ Partly, the reason for such inordinate criticism of Israel is sheer cowardice… Partly, the cause of global hostility toward Israel is jealousy… the astounding success of Israel bothers so many failed states that the entire world takes notice. But partly, the source of anti-Israelism is ancient anti-Semitism… The world’s problem is that Israelis are Jews…”

Another reason—actually, the REAL reason—is that such end-time hatred towards Israel was prophesied in the Bible.

American Tanks Back in Germany

The Local wrote on January 6:

“Three years ago the US withdrew their last tank from European soil… The arrival of three US military cargo ships at the north German port signals a step up in a military stand-off between NATO and Russia, after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. On Wednesday the cargo ship Resolve docked at Bremerhaven. By Saturday, Freedom and Endurance will have followed in its wake. After unloading, the tanks will make their way towards Poland, mainly by train, before being deployed across eastern and central Europe in military training exercises…

“A Bundeswehr (German army) spokesperson told the Märkische Oderzeitung that trains with a total length of 14 kilometres will be needed to transport all the tanks… most of the tanks will be transported by train. But military convoys will pass through Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg…”

Germany and France Must Lead Europe

On January 5, Euronews published the following editorial by Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor from 1998 to 2005:

“After the shock of the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States in 2016, this will be a decisive year for Europe… Trump’s inauguration on January 20 may someday be remembered as a watershed moment for Europe. Judging by Trump’s past statements about Europe and its relationship with the US, the EU should be preparing for some profound shocks. The incoming US president, an exponent of the new nationalism, does not believe in European integration.

“Here he has an ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long tried to destabilize the EU by supporting nationalist forces and movements in its member states. If the Trump administration supports or turns a blind eye to those efforts, the EU… will have to brace itself for challenging times indeed.

“The consequences for the EU will be even more serious if, in addition to setting the US relationship with Russia on a new foundation, Trump continues to call into question America’s security guarantee for Europe… Europeans would suddenly find themselves standing alone against a Russia that has increasingly employed military means to challenge borders, such as in Ukraine, and to reassert its influence – or even hegemony – over Eastern Europe.

“… it will fall to its two largest and economically strongest countries, France and Germany, to bolster Europe’s defense. Other countries such as Italy… will also have a role to play, but France and Germany are indispensable.

“… Europeans cannot harbor any illusions about Russia’s intent. The Kremlin … will always prioritize military strength and geopolitical power over cooperative security arrangements.

“Russia does not view weakness or the lack of a threat from its neighbors as a basis for peace, but rather as an invitation to extend its own sphere of influence… If Europe wants a stable, enduring peace, it first must ensure that it is taken seriously, which is clearly not the case today. Europe can credibly strengthen its security only if France and Germany work together toward the same goal, which they will have an opportunity to do after their elections this year…

“The old EU developed into an economic power because it was protected beneath the US security umbrella. But without this guarantee, it can address its current geopolitical realities only by developing its own capacity to project political and military power. Six decades after the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community, history and current developments are pushing France and Germany to shape Europe’s future once again.”

These are remarkable words… almost prophetic.

“Merkel: No ‘Eternal Guarantee’ for United States Cooperation with EU”

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 12:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it would be ‘naïve’ of the European Union to rely on US support. Instead she called for more solidarity within the EU in the wake of the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election.

“As concern grows in Europe about US President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to transatlantic cooperation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for the European Union to ‘take more responsibility’ on the world stage during a speech on Thursday in Brussels.

“‘From the point of view of some of our traditional partners – and I am thinking here as well about the transatlantic relations – there is no eternal guarantee for a close cooperation with us Europeans,’ Merkel told an audience in Brussels after receiving honorary doctorate degrees from Belgium’s prestigious Leuven and Ghent universities.

“Although the chancellor did not mention Trump by name, she appeared to be referencing the incoming US leader’s remark that he would consider a country’s financial contributions to the NATO alliance before coming to their aid. ‘Europe is facing the biggest challenges for decades,’ Merkel said mentioning conflicts on its borders like that in Ukraine. She added that it would be ‘naive always to rely on others who would solve the problems in our neighborhood.’

“Merkel said that Great Britain’s shock vote to leave the EU increased the importance of solidarity within the rest of the bloc, which has been discussing measures to boost defense cooperation and other issues. ‘We should see this decision as an incentive to work together (for the goal), to hold Europe together now more than ever, to improve it further and to bring the citizens closer together again,’ she said.”

“The EU agreed to take first steps toward expanding security and defense cooperation at a summit in December.”

German Drug Companies Impacted by Mr. Trump’s Statements

The Local wrote on January 12:

“German pharmaceutical firms saw their stock prices drop on Thursday morning after US President-Elect Donald Trump used part of his chaotic press conference the day before to say that the US should negotiate better prices from drug companies.

“German pharmaceutical and biotech stocks were particularly impacted by Trump’s statements on Wednesday, and Germany’s DAX dropped by 0.59 percent within the first hour of trade on Thursday morning.

“Chemical giant Bayer had fallen by about 0.68 percent from the previous day as of 11am on Thursday, while Merck had dropped by about 1.96 percent…

“Medical supplies company Fresenius Medical Care had dropped by about 1 percent as of Thursday at 11am. The European pharmaceutical sector was the weakest on the Stoxx 600 with a drop of 2 percent…

“Trump said at his press conference in New York that he would make the pharmaceutical industry bid for government contracts… US law currently does not allow federal insurance programme Medicare to negotiate drug prices, essentially allowing the pharmaceutical industry to set their own drug prices. ‘They’re getting away with murder,’ Trump said about the industry. ‘Pharma has a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power and there is very little bidding.’

“It wasn’t just German pharmaceutical companies that felt the immediate effects of Trump’s pledge… the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences Index both had their biggest single-day drops in three months, falling 3 and 1.7 percent respectively.

“The trend was also replicated on stock markets across Europe on Thursday morning, with pharma firms also underperforming in Denmark, Spain, France, Switzerland and Italy.”

Prince Charles—Britain’s Next Controversial Monarch and Uncomfortable “Defender of the Faith”

International Business Times wrote on January 5:

“The succession of the throne in Britain may be meticulously planned, but when Queen Elizabeth II does eventually pass on the crown to Prince Charles, it will be a process that is far from devoid of complications. The prince, who has been first in line to the throne for longer than any person in British history, will not only be the head of the United Kingdom, and likely the Commonwealth, but also of the Church of England. It is that title that is sure to bring up much painful and controversial history for the 68-year-old…

“While there has been speculation that Charles could abdicate and immediately pass on the responsibility to his eldest child, Prince William, that is considered highly unlikely… Still, his ascension to the throne is sure to bring up some ghosts he would rather leave in the closet. As king, Charles would be ‘Defender of the Faith,’ according to parliament decree. And in some ways, he could be seen as the perfect person to fill such a role given the history he shares with the Church of England.

“It was, after all, King Henry VIII’s failure to be granted an annulment of his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, by the Pope in the 1530s that led to the Church of England becoming the established church in England and splitting with the Roman Catholic Church. Charles, too, has gone through a divorce, having split from the much-loved Princess Diana 20 years ago. Despite its history, the Church of England does not encourage divorce and teaches that marriage is for life.

“But Charles’ complications extend far beyond simple divorce. He has also not only gone on to marry, but to marry a divorcee. While remarrying, as Henry VIII did, is permissible in the church if the couple’s former spouses are deceased, it is far less clear when a former spouse is still living. That was the case with Camilla Parker Bowles, who divorced from her first husband in 1995. It was a situation that forced King Edward VIII to abdicate, the only British sovereign to do so voluntarily, less than a year into his reign in 1936 so that he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

“Fortunately for Charles, the Church of England altered its stance in 2002, decreeing that in ‘certain circumstances’ a divorced person may marry again during the lifetime of a former spouse. Still, when Prince Charles came to marry Camilla in 2005, he did so in a civil ceremony rather than a church. That’s because not only was he marrying a divorcee, but he was marrying a divorcee with whom he had committed adultery. In a 1994 interview, Charles admitted to infidelity during his marriage with Diana…

“A year later, Diana gave her own hugely publicized interview in which, when asked if Camilla was a factor in the breakdown of the marriage she said ‘there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.’ The public agreed. Even 10 years after the interview, shortly before Charles and Camilla were due to wed, one poll indicated that 65 percent of Britons blamed Camilla for the break-up of Charles and Diana’s marriage.

“… it was stated before the ceremony that Camilla would not take the title of queen when Charles took the throne. Yet, while many now support him becoming king, for some, he will be an uncomfortable ‘Defender of the Faith.’”

Great Britain would be much better off with Prince William as the next monarch. Prince Charles would indeed be a controversial figure, but on the other hand, he would reflect and mirror quite accurately the immoral and ungodly conditions in Great Britain.

The Fear of World War III and Terrorist Attacks

The Independent wrote on January 7:

“With superpowers backing different sides in the bloody conflict in Syria, Isis continuing to fight in the Middle East, a spate of terrorist attacks across the globe and Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump both talking a tough game, the YouGov survey of 9,000 people across nine countries found popular opinion thinks world peace has rarely been further away.

“People in the US were most likely to predict a world war, while French, German and British people were also pessimistic. Some 64 per cent of Americans think the world is close to a major war, compared to just 15 who think world peace is likely. Britons are only slightly more hopeful: 19 per cent believe peace is possible but 61 per cent say war is a distinct possibility.

“The same survey revealed people in Europe and America tended to see Russia as a major military threat, with British people the most fearful of Moscow… Some 71 per cent of Britons feel threatened by Russia…

“In every nation except Finland, those surveyed thought a terrorist attack in their country was more likely than unlikely in the next year. French people were most concerned about terrorism, with 81 per cent believing an attack would happen compared to just 11 per cent predicting there would be none. An attack was also predicted by a large majority of people in Britain, Germany and the US.”

The Danger of Nuclear Missiles

The Independent wrote on January 6:

“A group of arms control experts has urged President Barack Obama to take America’s nuclear weapons off a state of high alert before Donald Trump takes office to stop him ‘impulsively blowing up the planet.’… It said the ever-present risk of a nuclear exchange being triggered erroneously, combined with Mr Trump’s incendiary comments and temperament, could risk the ‘worst disaster imaginable’. The demand has received the support of politicians, retired military officers and government officials…

“The President-elect has startled policy observers by his calls to expand America’s nuclear arsenal, to encourage countries such as South Korea to develop its own weapons and even his apparent willingness to engage in an arms race…

“The group, which is made up of scientists and policy experts, has for many years urged Mr Obama to take US weapons off high alert. They argue having almost 1,000 land-based missiles ready to launch in minutes is a dangerous holdover from the Cold War…

“Indeed, keeping them in such a state increases the danger of a missile being launched by mistake. There have been numerous reported incidents over the past 30 years of the US believing it was under attack from the Russians, only to discover – with just minutes before a potential counter-strike – the ‘Russian launch’ was in truth a computer glitch or else a Scandinavian weather satellite… ‘President Trump will be able to launch, within minutes, one or one thousand nuclear warheads without any vote, any check, or even any serious deliberation. Just one missile could kill millions. Once launched, the missiles could not be recalled.’’

Dangerous European Decision Against Religious “Freedom”

The Daily Mail wrote on January:

“Muslim students will now have to take part in mixed-gender swimming lessons, even after the European Court of Human Rights said that religious freedoms were being interfered with. Switzerland won a case at the ECHR on Tuesday after a ruling said that authorities were justified in saying that mixed-gender swimming lessons were part of a ‘full school curriculum’ and the children’s ‘successful integration’ into society.

“While the ECHR did say that religious freedoms were being interfered with in the lessons, judges said unanimously that the interference did not amount to a violation… The law involved with the right for freedom of religion… was made ‘to protect foreign pupils from any form of social exclusion,’ the ECHR said in a statement.

“The court said that schools are important for social integration… Exemptions, the ECHR said, are ‘justified only in very exceptional circumstances’.  ‘Accordingly, the children’s interest in a full education, thus facilitating their successful social integration according to local customs and mores, prevailed over the parents’ wish to have their children exempted from mixed swimming lessons,’ the court said.

“In 2010, the parents had to pay a fine of almost €1,300 (£1,100) ‘for acting in breach of their parental duty’… In 2012, Switzerland’s highest court in Lausanne ruled that the obligation to attend mixed-gender swimming lessons was not a violation on religious freedom.”

This decision sets an extremely dangerous precedence. It is clearly driven by political “correctness” and contains objectionable language to justify the desired results. When Muslims can be told today to violate their religious convictions, then tomorrow true Christians might be told the same thing, compelling their children to participate in abominable sex education classes or pagan religious activities at the times of Christmas and Easter. It is already very difficult to obtain an excuse from school attendance for the children of true Christians during the biblically-commanded annual Holy Days.

Mammograms Leading to Over-Diagnosis and Overtreatment for “Breast Cancer”

Thomson/Reuters reported on January 10:

“Widespread breast cancer screening may catch more small, slow-growing tumors that are unlikely to be fata…, a Danish study suggests… The current study offers fresh evidence linking routine screening to over-diagnosis of non-aggressive tumors… ‘Overdiagnosis means that healthy women get unnecessary breast cancer diagnoses,’ said lead study author Dr. Karsten Juhl Jorgensen, of the Nordic Cochrane Center and Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. ‘A breast cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event for the woman and her family, with substantial implications for their quality of life,’ Jorgensen added by email. ‘It also leads to overtreatment with surgery, radiotherapy and sometimes chemotherapy – we know these treatments have serious, sometimes lethal, consequences.’

“… researchers examined data on more than 1.4 million Danish women aged 35 to 84 from 1980 to 2010… [The results raise] doubts about whether mammography reduces breast cancer deaths, the researchers conclude. In addition, researchers estimate that as many as one in three breast tumors diagnosed in women who got mammograms would never have caused a noticeable health problem or led to death – and are therefore examples of overdiagnosis… the study adds compelling evidence that routine mammograms carry a risk of overdiagnosis…

“Beyond screening, there are other preventive measures women shouldn’t overlook like eating well, getting plenty of exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight… So for now, that means accepting that overdiagnosis and screening go hand in hand, along with the potential for some women to get unnecessary treatment.”

We are not taking any position for or against cancer screening, but we are cautioning against blindly accepting and undergoing unnecessary and potentially very dangerous overtreatment.

German Attack on Israel

The Jerusalem Post wrote on December 30:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a staunch proponent of the Iran nuclear deal, has slammed Israel in a series of tweets and statements since last Friday’s Security Council resolution condemning Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. In a statement issued to Germany’s largest circulation daily,  Bild, after the UN resolution, the Foreign Ministry claimed that ‘a democratic Israel is only achievable through a two-state-solution.’

“The statement prompted the editor-in-chief of Bild’s digital outlet, veteran journalist Julian Reichelt, to express astonishment at the harsh wording. In response to Reichelt’s criticism, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffan Seibert wrote on his Twitter feed: ‘Israel is a Jewish democratic state.’ Steinmeier, a Social Democratic politician who is jockeying to be the next president of Germany, later said on Twitter: ‘Israeli settlements in occupied territories jeopardize possibility of peace process.’

“The same English-language tweet was issued again. The flurry of messages attacking Israel appeared on the German- and English-language Twitter feeds of the Berlin-based Foreign Ministry. Steinmeier also endorsed US Secretary of State John Kerry’s Wednesday speech, writing that the ‘speech is a warning and a reminder that the 2 State Solution must not become an empty phrase.’…

“Prof. Gerald Steinberg, who teaches political studies at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, ‘In many ways, the Obama-Kerry perception of the conflict has been shaped by European conventional wisdom. So it is not surprising to see European leaders embracing Kerry’s speech. In Germany, Foreign Minister Steinmeier has been particularly critical of Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu (taking Germany farther away from its post-Holocaust role).’

“Steinberg, who is president of the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, added, ‘Steinmeier, like powerful German NGOs such as Brot fur die Welt, [‘Bread for the World’] echoes the Palestinian victimization narrative. In addition, Steinmeier’s personal attacks on Netanyahu reflect German eagerness to do business with Iran, which was facilitated by Kerry.’

“Writing in the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel on Thursday, Volker Beck, a leading Green Party lawmaker and head of the German-Israel Parliament Group in the Bundestag, said, ‘No, settlement construction is not the most difficult problem on the way to a two-state solution. It is one of many.’ Beck voiced understanding for the outrage in Israel to the UN resolution. Beck termed the measure ‘counterproductive,’ adding that the decisive factor is the ‘security question,’ because after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the US- and EU-designated terrorist organization Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave, fired many missiles at Israel.”

The UK’s Hypocritical Position

The Guardian wrote on December 29:

“Theresa May distanced the UK from Washington over John Kerry’s condemnation of Israel…  Kerry, the outgoing secretary of state, delivered a robust speech this week, criticising Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as the ‘most right-wing coalition in Israeli history’, and warned that the rapid expansion of settlements in the occupied territories meant that ‘the status quo is leading toward one state and perpetual occupation’.

“The prime minister’s spokesman said May thought it was not appropriate to make such strongly worded attacks on the makeup of a government – or to focus solely on the issue of Israeli settlements… The UK backed the UN resolution passed last week condemning the continued expansion of settlements. But May’s spokesman said she was concerned about the language Kerry had used. ‘We continue to believe that the construction of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is illegal, which is why we supported UN security council resolution 2334 last week.'”

Theresa May’s position is more than strange and appears to be quite hypocritical, as the UK backed the resolution which did “focus solely on the issue of Israeli settlements.” 

George Orwell’s Big Brother Coming to Legal Reality in the UK

The Daily Mail wrote on December 30:

“Police are now officially able to hack into your phones and check your browsing history after the Snoopers’ Charter came into force yesterday. The law – officially called the Investigatory Powers Bill – forces electronic data to be stored by app companies for 12 months, which can be subsequently collected by law enforcement. While critics have cited it as an attack on privacy, the Government believes the charter is essential for combating terrorism and organised crime…

“Aside from the controversy surrounding its morality, the charter’s effectiveness has also been questioned, with Virtual Private Network software already being highlighted as a potential way for internet users of getting around it. Using a VPN means data will be scrambled and protected from the company that provides the connection.

“In China VPNs are routinely used by expats to avoid Beijing’s rigid control of the internet, which involves blocking news websites like the BBC [and] anything which might be remotely critical of the Chinese Communist Party…”

Internet Shutdowns and Hackings

Breitbart wrote on December 30:

“There have been more than 50 government shutdowns of the Internet in 2016, costing the respective countries hundreds of millions of dollars and choking citizen freedoms during crucial moments…

“Global Advocacy Manager Deji Olukotun of the Access Now digital rights organization believes that an even greater cost can be counted in human lives. Olukotun says that the shutdowns ‘go hand in hand with atrocities,’ citing the deaths of Ethiopian protesters ‘during the kind of blackout where it’s difficult to report on what’s happening.’ Other shutdowns include communication blackouts during the Ugandan elections, and governments that chose to go so far as shutting down all Internet access just to keep students from cheating on exams.

“… estimates suggest that India lost nearly a billion dollars due to its shutdowns, while Saudi Arabia managed nearly half a billion on its own. Morocco gave up $320 million. Even governments that didn’t wall off the entirety of the Internet still blocked access to social media in some cases, and their methods have steadily become more sophisticated. As time goes on, it grows more and more difficult for citizens to find any way around restrictions on digital information…”

The Associated Press reported on January 1:

“President-elect Donald Trump says that ‘no computer is safe’ when it comes to keeping information private, expressing new skepticism about the security of online communications his administration is likely to use for everything from day-to-day planning to international relations. Trump rarely uses email or computers, despite his frequent tweeting.

“‘You know, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way,’ Trump told reporters during his annual New Year’s Eve bash. ‘Because I’ll tell you what: No computer is safe.’ Trump has repeatedly cast aside allegations by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia tried to influence the presidential election through hacking…”

Putin Will Not (Yet) Retaliate Against Obama’s USA

The Washington Post wrote on December 29:

“In a rare break from the diplomatic tradition of reciprocal punishment, Russian President Vladi­mir Putin said Friday he would not deport U.S. diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to U.S. hacking sanctions, as Russia looks to cultivate relations with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. ‘We won’t create problems for American diplomats,’ Putin said in a statement… adding that Russia retained the right to punish U.S. diplomats in the future. He said he would ‘plan further steps for restoring the Russian-American relationship based on the policies enacted by the administration of President Donald Trump.’”

In response, Donald Trump congratulated Vladimir Putin for his decision to delay any measures, saying it was a “great move” and that he always knew that Putin was “very smart.”

Kremlin Unveils Unmanned Killing Machines With Which Russia Will Fight World War III 

Express wrote on December 31:

“Vladimir Putin has been showing off his latest high-tech robotic killing machines which are so advanced sabre-rattling Russia could fight a ground war without committing a single soldier. The terrifying combat robots were put through their paces in harsh winter conditions during military exercises on the outskirts of the capital Moscow… Lieutenant General Andrey Grigoriev, head of Moscow’s Advanced Research Foundation, said the longer-term plan was to fight wars without men. He added: ‘It would be powerful robot units fighting on land, in the air, at sea as well as underwater and in outer space. The soldier would gradually turn into an operator and be removed from the battlefield.’

“… Russian armed forces have significantly progressed over the years in the development and use of various robotic systems. State-of-the-art weapons systems, such as the T-50 fifth-generation fighter jet or brand new Armata main battle tank, are said to involve robotic technologies or artificial intelligence. Military industry officials predict robotic combat platforms will define future battlefields and eventually replace soldiers.”

We have been speaking for a long time about the possibility that armies of robotic soldiers will be created by powers in the Far East. In the book of Revelation, John sees in a vison a huge army consisting of “two hundred million” “horsemen” (Revelation 9:16). This “army” is described as originating in the Far East, being at war with continental Europe. The “horses” are described, symbolically, as weapons spewing “fire, smoke and brimstone” and doing harm with their tails which are like serpents, killing a third of mankind. This can easily be understood as a description of modern tanks and other destructive war machines. It is interesting that the “horsemen” are not necessarily human beings. The Greek word is, “hippikon.” It has the meaning of “cavalry” or “cavalry force.” The number of 200 million “horsemen” could be understood as describing, at least in part, the mass production of war machines and combat robots. Others have speculated that the number could include a “supernatural cavalry” of “demons or demonic-possessed humans” (compare Ryrie Study Bible). 

Trump or Strache—What’s Going On?

The Local wrote on December 22:

“A spokesman from the transition team working for newly-elected US president Donald Trump denied that their new national security advisor had met with Austrian far-right politicians in New York earlier in the month. The meeting was first mentioned by Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who claimed in a Facebook post that he had met with Lt. General Michael Flynn, the designated national security maven who will be appointed after the inauguration of Donald Trump.

“In a press call on Thursday morning, Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller denied that such a meeting took place. ‘The fact of the matter is that General Flynn has never spoken with or met the Austrian politician in question and strongly disavows groups with such viewpoints,’ Miller said, according to media reports.”

Trump’s Election by Divine Providence?

Breitbart wrote on December 31:

“Celebrated evangelical… Franklin Graham says that it was the ‘hand of God,’ rather than Russian hackers, that determined the outcome of November’s presidential election… Graham said that beyond mere human factors, the mysterious hand of divine providence was at work in the elections.

“‘All I know is Donald Trump was supposed to lose the election’ according to all the polls, Graham said. ‘For these states to go the way they did, in my opinion, I think it was the hand of God,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t hacking. It wasn’t Wiki-leaky or whatever. It was God, in my opinion, and I believe his hand was at work…’”

US Embassy to Be Moved to Israel’s Eternal Capital, Jerusalem?

Israel National News wrote on January 3:

“Three Republican senators on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s official capital and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The new legislation, entitled the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act, was introduced by Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Dean Heller of Nevada and Marco Rubio of Florida. ‘Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state of Israel, and that’s where America’s embassy belongs,’ Rubio said… ‘It’s time for Congress and the President-elect to eliminate the loophole that has allowed presidents in both parties to ignore U.S. law and delay our embassy’s rightful relocation to Jerusalem for over two decades,’ he added.

“A statement from Heller said that some State Department funds would be withheld until the embassy was relocated. The measure is in line with President-elect Donald Trump’s support for moving the embassy to Jerusalem, something he repeatedly pledged to do during his election campaign… ‘Jerusalem is the eternal and undivided capital of Israel,’ Cruz said… ‘Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s vendetta against the Jewish state has been so vicious that to even utter this simple truth — let alone the reality that Jerusalem is the appropriate venue for the American embassy in Israel — is shocking in some circles…’”

The Return of Civil Disobedience

In the January 9, 2017 issue of The New Yorker, the following was stated:

“Last summer, the A.C.L.U. issued a report highlighting the ways in which Trump’s proposals on a number of issues would violate the Bill of Rights… But, with a Republican majority that has mostly shown compliance with Trump, despite his contempt for the norms of democracy, the fear is that he will achieve much of what he wants. Even if he accomplishes only half, the landscape of American politics and policy will be radically altered. This prospect has recalled another phenomenon of the nineteen-sixties: the conviction that ‘democracy is in the streets.’

“Two hundred thousand women are expected to assemble in front of the Capitol, on January 21st, the day after the Inauguration, for the Women’s March on Washington. Born of one woman’s invitation to forty friends, the event is meant as a rejoinder to the fact that a candidate with a troubling history regarding women’s rights—one who actually bragged about committing sexual assault—has made it to the White House.

“The first Inauguration of George W. Bush, in 2001, saw mass protests driven by the sentiment that the election had been stolen. The protests that greet Trump will, in all probability, exceed them: some twenty other groups have also applied for march permits. Given his history with African-Americans, Muslims, Latinos, immigrants, unionized labor, environmentalists, and people with disabilities, it is not hard to imagine that there will be many more to come. The Congress is unlikely to check the new President, but democracy may thrive in the states, the courts, the next elections, and, lest the lessons of the sixties be forgotten, the streets…”

Obama Trying to “Cement” His Legacy

The New York Times wrote on December 31:

“Only two days after the election, President Obama sat by President-elect Donald J. Trump’s side in the Oval Office and declared that the No. 1 priority in his last days in the White House would be ensuring a smooth transition of power. What Mr. Obama did not say was that he also intended to set up as many policy and ideological roadblocks as possible before Mr. Trump takes his oath of office on Jan. 20. With less than three weeks before the Obama White House is history, making way for a new administration with radically different priorities, the president is using every power at his disposal to cement his legacy and establish his priorities as the law of the land.

“He has banned oil drilling off the Atlantic coast, established new environmental monuments, protected funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, ordered the transfer of detainees from Guantánamo Bay, criticized Israeli settlements and punished Russia for interfering in the recent elections through cyberattacks.

“The next president may be able to roll back some, or even most, of those actions, a point that Mr. Obama’s top aides concede. But every step the current president takes requires Mr. Trump to overcome one more legislative or procedural hurdle as he seeks to change direction in Washington.

“Mr. Obama is continuing to fill the ranks of the government with his own appointees; since Election Day, he has named 103 people to senior Civil Service jobs, boards, key commissions and oversight panels, including the National Council on Disability, the Amtrak board of directors, the Holocaust Memorial Council and the boards of visitors at military academies. He is also pushing ahead with his goal of freeing nonviolent drug offenders from federal prisons. In the last few weeks, he has commuted the sentences of 232 federal inmates and pardoned 78 others. And on Wednesday, he will meet with Democratic lawmakers to discuss ways to protect the Affordable Care Act from efforts by Mr. Trump and Republicans to dismantle it.

“To many conservatives, Mr. Obama is acting out of spite as much as conviction… Mr. Obama’s most permanent action may be his order banning oil drilling off the Atlantic coast, a decision rooted in a 1953 law that experts say will be legally difficult for Mr. Trump to reverse…”

The Battle For and Against Obamacare

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 5:

“The US Senate has voted to open the debate on beginning the repeal of Obamacare. The move prompted President Barack Obama to make a rare visit to Capitol Hill to urge Democrats to fight to preserve his signature policy… On Wednesday, the Senate voted 51-48 in a procedural tally that opened debate on beginning the Obamacare repeal process… Trump tweeted Wednesday that Republicans ‘must be careful…’

“[Vice President-elect] Pence, along with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, failed to provide more details on what a Republican health plan might look like… Democrats have accused the GOP lawmakers of tearing apart Obamacare without a firm plan to replace it… Trump… has pledged to keep popular aspects of the act, such as the provisions that bar companies from refusing coverage due to preexisting conditions…

“However, a minority in the Senate coupled with a crushing presidential election loss means Democrats have few options to prevent the repeal of Obamacare…”

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange: Russia Not the Source for Hacking

Newsmax wrote on January 3:

“WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange reiterated Russia was not the source of Democratic documents released over the summer and accused the Obama administration of trying to delegitimize Donald Trump’s White House victory. Assange’s comments came during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity… ‘We can say, and we have said repeatedly over the last few months, that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party,’ he told Hannity.

“Assange went on to say President Obama was focused on blaming the Russians for releasing the documents in an attempt to discredit the incoming Trump administration. ‘They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president. Our publications had wide uptake by the American people, they’re all true. But that’s not the allegation that’s being presented by the Obama White House.’”

Trump at Odds with CIA and Leading Republicans

Newsmax wrote on January 4:

“President-elect Donald Trump plans to restructure and scale back the nation’s intelligence agencies — amid concerns that they have become politicized and bloated — and that includes cutting CIA staff and moving more agents into field offices worldwide… Trump has slammed the nation’s intelligence agencies since the November election, particularly challenging findings that Russia has hacked into the Democratic National Committee and other party operatives and leaked its findings to WikiLeaks for publishing on its website.”

The Guardian wrote on January 4:

“Leading Republicans broke with Donald Trump on Wednesday after the president-elect appeared to put more faith in WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange than in US intelligence agencies. The sharp differences on a highly charged national security issue are the latest sign that matters of intelligence and policy towards Russia reflect a deep fault line in Trump’s relationship with the Republican party establishment.

“The House speaker, Paul Ryan, called Assange ‘a sycophant for Russia’ on a conservative radio show and GOP Senator Tom Cotton told MSNBC that he had ‘a lot more faith in our intelligence officers serving around the world … than I do in people like Julian Assange’. The comments followed tweets from Trump on Wednesday morning in which he approvingly repeated Assange’s claim that the Russian state was not the source of the hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta, published by WikiLeaks during the election. ‘Julian Assange said “a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta” – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!’ one Trump tweet said. Another quoted Assange as describing US media coverage on the issue as ‘very dishonest’. Trump added: ‘More dishonest than anyone knows.’…

“McCain called the alleged Russian cyber-attacks ‘an act of war’ on Wednesday… Trump’s support for Assange has not led to [a] break with all his Republican allies. Sarah Palin said on Wednesday that she now regretted her attacks on Assange in 2010 after he published leaked documents from her time as governor of Alaska…”

Newsmax added on January 5:

“President-elect Donald Trump took aim at news coverage of his comments about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He took to Twitter Thursday to blast the ‘dishonest media’ for reporting that he agrees with Assange, insisting the he just repeats what the exiled figure says and expects Americans to make up their own minds. ‘The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange – wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people…. to make up their own minds as to the truth. The media lies to make it look like I am against “Intelligence” when in fact I am a big fan!’

“Thursday’s Twitter blast comes in the wake of reaction to his Wednesday tweets citing Assange’s statements about how easy it was for hackers to infiltrate the Democratic National Committee last year. He also highlighted Assange’s statement labeling the U.S. media dishonest.”

“New Quarantine Rule Could Violate Civil Liberties”

The Atlantic wrote on December 30:

“On August 15th, with little fanfare, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took steps to improve its ability to deal with infectious outbreaks. The agency proposed a new rule that would expand its powers to screen, test, and quarantine people traveling into or within the United States, in the event of a crisis like the historic Ebola outbreak of 2014.

“On the face of it, this sounds like a good thing… But some epidemiologists, lawyers, and health organizations say that the rule, in its current form poses a serious threat to civil liberties, allowing authorities to detain and examine people with little heed to due process and informed consent…

“For a start, the rule is sparse when it comes to due process. It allows the CDC to detain travelers indefinitely before deciding whether to quarantine them, saying only that the agency ‘doesn’t expect’ such apprehensions to last for more than 72 hours. It doesn’t make provisions for legal counsel if people can’t afford a lawyer themselves. And it puts any reviews of the agency’s decisions under the auspices of its own employees, rather than a neutral third party. Using the rule, ‘a future administration could hold travelers in government custody for days or weeks without providing an explanation or an opportunity for the individuals to challenge their detentions,’ write Emma Roth and Kyle Edwards from Yale Law School.

“The rule also gives the CDC ultimate authority to carry out medical tests and treatments, stating that ‘the individual’s consent shall not be considered as a prerequisite to the exercise of any authority.’ That’s medically unethical…

“The stickier problem is that there’s little evidence to support screening or quarantining travelers. Consider the Ebola outbreak. The CDC screened more than 38,000 travelers flying into the U.S., by interviewing them and checking their medical records. They then monitored over 10,000 people for 21 days. And they caught exactly zero cases of Ebola…”

These new rules are indeed of great concern.

Merkel: Germany Must Take a Leading Role 

Thomson/Reuters reported on December 30:

“Islamist terrorism is the biggest test facing Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday in a New Year’s address to the nation, and she vowed to introduce laws that improve security after a deadly attack before Christmas in Berlin. Describing 2016 as a year that gave many the impression that the world had ‘turned upside down,’ Merkel urged Germans to forsake populism and said Germany had an interest in taking a leading role in addressing the many challenges facing the European Union…

“‘And, yes, Europe should focus on what can really be better than the national state,’ Merkel said. ‘But we Germans should never be led to believe that [we] could have a better [happy] future by going it alone.’”

“Angela Merkel Is Losing Popularity in Germany and Abroad”

Express wrote on January 4:

“The three term Chancellor was desperate to impose year-long sanctions against Russia amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, but her supposed European allies have shunned her in favour of the Russian strongman.

“The EU’s top brass instead decided to impose just six months’ worth of sanctions against Mr Putin, who openly land-grabbed Crimea from Ukraine – a country desperate to join the European Union (EU).  Merkel’s rating in the opinion polls is also at a low ebb, with the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party soaring in popularity to 15 per cent in the wake of the Berlin Christmas markets terror attack… According to the latest polls, support for the coalition between her Christian Democratic Union party and the Christian Social Union party has plummeted to just 32 per cent so far in 2017.

“To make matters worse, the result of the French elections is likely to weaken Merkel’s standing on the Continent even more. Marine le Pen openly wants France to leave the ailing Union, and the other candidate, Francois Fillon, will completely undermine the Chancellor when it comes to Russia as he opposes any form of strict sanctions…

“Embarrassingly, Merkel is now being ridiculed on the world stage too as she was forced to pull out of attending the World Economic Forum’s Davos summit for fear of receiving a hounding over her floundering leadership… It also coincides with Donald Trump’s inauguration as American President and the right-wing critic of Merkel is likely to be a frequent topic of conversation. Mr Trump’s supposed close relationship with Mr Putin, coupled with new found support for the Kremlin chief from Germany’s traditional European allies, could leave Merkel isolated.

“Jochen Bittner, the political editor for the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, said: ‘Germany is holding general elections next autumn, and with politicians sympathetic to Moscow on the rise, she may well be running for her fourth term as the sole European leader willing to stand up to a newly assertive Russia.’”

Archbishop of Vienna Schönborn on Islamization

Beitbart wrote January 3:

“The Archbishop of Vienna who has been tipped to be the next Pope, has implied the election of Donald Trump is a good thing as Ronald Reagan turned out to be ‘certainly one of the best presidents the U.S. ever had’.  Looking back on a transformational year in politics, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn also cautioned about the effects of mass Muslim migration, urging Europeans to retain the continent’s Christian heritage…

“[He said:] ‘We [Europeans] have responded with a great deal of generosity to the refugee crisis… The figures last year were simply dramatically high… The key issue we are facing in Austria is the integration of refugees… Of course, as a Christian, I would like the Middle East to become Christian again, as it once was, or North Africa. North Africa was completely Christianised…’

“Whilst insisting he did not blame individual Muslims for wanting to change Europe, he spoke of the huge rise in the number of mosques in the West and the destruction of churches in Muslim countries, claiming ‘religions are in competition with each other… But we already have 200 Islamic places of prayer in Vienna. We have mosques in cathedrals in Spain, and we have, for example, in Damascus, the cathedral of John the Baptist is now a mosque… The Islamisation of Europe is nonsensical if one does not contribute something to the fact that Europe remains Christian’…  we must reproach ourselves for not doing enough to maintain a Christian Europe.’”

New Year’s Eve Terror Attack in Istanbul by Insane ISIS Murderer(s)

AFP wrote on December 31:

“At least [39] people were killed and 40 wounded in a ‘terror’ attack in Istanbul Sunday when gunmen reportedly dressed as Santa stormed an elite nightclub where partygoers were celebrating the New Year, the latest carnage to rock Turkey after a bloody 2016. Two gunmen entered the venue dressed as Santa and spraying bullets at random inside the Reina nightclub, one of the city’s most exclusive party spots, Dogan news agency said…

“Many party-goers threw themselves into the Bosphorus in panic after the attack and efforts were underway to rescue them from the waters, NTV television said. Dogan news agency reported that some witnesses claimed the attackers were ‘speaking Arabic’… The nightclub in the Ortakoy district of Istanbul is one of the most elite spots in the city, and getting inside past the bouncers who seek out only the best dressed is notoriously hard… Turkey has been hit by a string of attacks in recent months blamed on Kurdish militants and Islamic State jihadists.”

The New York Times added on December 31:

“… the attackers — initial reports said there had been as many as three — had fired on the police before heading inside the club. ‘One person first kills the police officer outside, and then a civilian,; the governor said. ‘Inside, he rained bullets brutally, mercilessly over innocent people…’ The club overlooks the Bosporus — which separates Europe and Asia… On the European side of Istanbul, the neighborhood is an international travel destination known for its food stalls and vibrant night life…”

Daily Mail wrote on January 1:

“The ‘ISIS killer’… is the prime suspect in Turkey nightclub attack after gunman screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he used a Kalashnikov to kill 39 people, including a female security guard … The unnamed man is described as being from Afghanistan, Chechnya or East Turkestan – a region of western China that is predominantly Muslim. Turkish intelligence services reportedly believe that he could be a member of the East Turkestan branch of ISIS but his exact nationality is still unknown.”

German Superstition on New Year’s Eve

The Local wrote on December 30 about German superstitious practices Germans engage in on New Year’s Eve:

“Bibelstechen, literally ‘bible poking’ involves opening up a random page of the Bible and reading a passage in it. You then discuss what that could mean for [the next year]… Swinging a pendulum will also give you clues about what will happen in the new year. If you ask a question and the pendulum swings clockwise, it means yes. If it swings counterclockwise, the answer is no… Das Gummibärenchen-Orakel involves picking five gummy bear sweets at random from a packet. The colour of the sweets gives an indication of the future. A red one will mean love, a yellow one wealth, hence the name, the gummy bear oracle… Bleigießen in German involves heating some lead and pouring the melted contents into cold water. The shape the lead forms will tell you what might happen in the New Year. A cross, for example could signify death… In German ‘Das Drehen um die eigene Achse’ will help you out if all the omens so far from Bibles and gummy bears have been bad. Spinning turns a bad omen into a good one.”

There are even more superstitious activities, such as fire crackers and fireworks at the time of New Year’s Eve. It was believed that between Christmas and January 6, the ghosts became active. When winter storms howled around the houses of the Germanic tribes, Wotan’s wild hunt was present—a frightening train of gods, demons and ghosts of the dead. These ghosts were driven away with big fires and cracks of whips. The cracks of whips changed with the invention of black powder to fireworks.

France Prohibits Spanking of Children

Breitbart wrote on January 3:

“The French parliament has passed a formal ban on spanking children, bringing the global total to 52 different countries where such corporal punishment in homes is against the law. The new law that went into effect for 2017 bans ‘any cruel, degrading or humiliating punishment, including any use of physical violence,’ including spanking in the home… Unsurprisingly, the first country to make spanking illegal was Sweden, in 1979, followed by Finland in 1983. The last to join the list before France in 2016 were Mongolia, Paraguay and Slovenia.

“The decision of the French parliament follows a symbolic reprimand by the Council of Europe in 2015 decrying France’s lack of a specific law ‘prohibiting corporal punishment in a clear, binding and precise way, including slaps and spankings, in breach of Article 17 of the European Charter of Social Rights.’ ‘To comply with Article 17, states’ domestic law must prohibit and penalize all forms of violence against children,’ the Charter states, and the relevant provisions ‘must be sufficiently clear, binding and precise, so as to preclude the courts from refusing to apply them to violence against children’…

“In February 2015, Pope Francis expressed his approval of parents who spank their kids, as long as it is carried out with respect for their dignity. His words drew a wave of reactions, both negative and positive, to the idea that corporal punishment is okay…

“Despite the extensive debate regarding the value or detriment of corporal punishment, few have questioned the more problematic aspect of a creeping intromission of the state in the lives of families and their choice of how to educate their children. The Catholic Church teaches that the state should not interfere with parents’ education of children except in grave and extraordinary circumstances. ‘Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators,’ Catholic doctrine states.”

The Catholic Church is absolutely correct on this point, while 52 different countries and the Council of Europe have it completely wrong. Human laws prohibiting spanking of children in any way are in opposition to the clear teaching of the Bible. At the same time, parents need to exercise great caution in this world which is ruled by Satan the devil. We state the following in our free booklet, “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families”:

“There is never a justification for physical abuse. On the other hand, to totally ban spanking and define it as physical abuse only shows how liberal and anti-biblical our Western society has become. This is of course the fruit of the anti-authoritarian education that has brought about a curse on our Western world. As parents, we must be aware, though, that in certain countries, spanking is illegal, and could result in the authorities coming in and taking away our children. And even in countries where spanking is not illegal, many governmental officials look at such practice with great disfavor. There have been cases where Social Workers in the United States tried to take away children from Christians, because the Christian parents believed and practiced—in moderation and with great love and care—biblically-endorsed spanking.

“Note what the Bible clearly teaches in regard to corporal punishment in Proverbs 13:24, ‘He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who LOVES him disciplines him promptly [or early].’ Since using the rod is compared with prompt or early discipline, it is clear that this passage includes the concept of spanking, where and when appropriate. Of course, we don’t spank a teenager or an adult, so the spanking needs to be done early in the life of the child. But note, again, we discipline our children, because we LOVE them. If we discipline our children for any other reason, or because of any other motive, we do NOT follow God’s instructions. Spanking should never cause physical injury to a child. The intent is to break a rebellious spirit, not to bruise skin…

“We have heard a lot about child neglect. But one kind of child neglect is seldom ever mentioned—the neglect to discipline the child, in LOVE, when the child deserves, and must have, discipline for his or her own good.”

Rwanda Bans Witchcraft From Soccer

Breitbart wrote on December 30:

“The Rwandan soccer federation has banned witchcraft in soccer matches following a crazy incident in a match earlier this month between Mukura Victory Sports and Rayon Sport. Rayon Sport striker Moussa Camara, whose team was losing 1-0, is seen in the video running over to the goal and grabbing an object before running off. The goalkeeper and other opposing players chased after Camara in a frenzy, later resulting in yellow cards being handed out. Minutes later, Camara scored a goal to tie it up.

“The Rwanda Football Federation will now start fining players and teams 500,000 Rwandan Francs, or roughly $600, if found guilty of using witchcraft.”

Even though it may be difficult to believe that these kinds of witchcraft activities will lead to scoring goals, we must not forget that demons are indeed ruling this world. If players are indeed guilty of witchcraft (as the video seems to suggest), they should be totally banned from playing soccer anywhere, until they deeply repent of their evil deeds. For true Christians, it is extremely important not to have anything to do with occult activities, including consulting mediums. God killed King Saul for engaging in witchcraft (1 Chronicles 10:13-14).

Neanderthals Were Cannibals

The website of phys.org wrote on December 30:

“Deep in the caves of Goyet in Belgium researchers have found the grisly evidence that the Neanderthals did not just feast on horses or reindeer, but also on each other… The bones in Goyet date from when Neanderthals were nearing the end of their time on earth before being replaced by Homo sapiens, with whom they also interbred.

“Once regarded as primitive cavemen driven to extinction by smarter modern humans, studies have found that Neanderthals were actually sophisticated beings who took care of the bodies of the deceased and held burial rituals. But there is a growing body of proof that they also ate their dead.

“… an international team… has proved from the bones found at Goyet that the Neanderthals there were cannibals. The bones show traces of cutting… The Neanderthals ‘broke these bones in the same way that they broke those of the reindeer and horses found at the entrance of the cave, certainly to extract the marrow’…  ‘Some of these bones have also been used to make tools to touch up the edges of flints to re-sharpen them’…

“But the reasons for the cannibalism remain a mystery, as to the extent to which the Neanderthals ate their dead…”

We speak in great detail about the Neanderthals in our free booklet, “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man.”

Insane Tunisian Terrorist Murdering 12 People in Germany Shot Dead by Italian Police

The Sun wrote on December 23:

“Rewind five years, and just days after arriving from the Tunisian post of Sfax trouble-maker Amri was involved in burning down a migrant shelter. His four-year spell in an Italian jail saw him radicalised by extremists who admired ISIS… The extent of Amri’s radicalisation was revealed with his callous killing of 12 innocent people at the German Christmas market on Monday. In a pledge of allegiance to terror group ISIS, he said: ‘My message to crusaders bombing Muslims everyday… Their blood will not go in vain…’

“The Tunisian terrorist screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ before being killed in a hail of bullets by a rookie cop during a dramatic Milan shoot-out. Amri was brought down by Italian police at 3am this morning after officers asked him to show his ID. He is believed to have slipped over the border from France by train…”

Italy was able to do what Germany was unable to accomplish.

Arrests in Terrorist Attack in Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on December 24:

“Three people – including a nephew of the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack – have been arrested in Tunisia… According to a statement, the three suspects are part of a ‘terrorist cell… connected to the terrorist Anis Amri who carried out the terrorist attack in Berlin.’ One of the Tunisian suspects is allegedly Amri’s nephew.”

Further Arrest in Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on December 28:

“Berlin police made [an] arrest early on Wednesday after searching the home and business premises of a 40-year-old Tunisian man in the southern Berlin district of Tempelhof. Investigators were reportedly led to the alleged accomplice after finding his contact details in the phone belonging to the main suspect, Anis Amri…

“According to research by German broadcaster WDR, Amri was much better connected to the western German Ruhr region than previously thought. Since the end of 2015, he regularly commuted between Berlin and the Ruhr region where he is believed to have visited a dozen mosques. The 24-year-old Tunisian is also thought to have had particularly good contacts in Dortmund and to have possessed a key to a mosque where he stayed overnight.”

Subsequently, Deutsche Welle wrote on December 29:

“German police have released a man who had been detained over alleged ties to Berlin attack suspect Anis Amri. Authorities have said they will continue the search for accomplices in the deadly attack. The 40-year-old was allowed to walk free on Thursday, after German authorities determined that he was not a ‘possible contact person for Anis Amri,’ spokesman Frauke Köhler told reporters on Thursday.”

Again, another blunder by the German authorities in this sad saga.

Mad Murderer “Fits the Profile” and “Should Not Have Been in Germany in the First Place”

Breitbart wrote on December 23:

“A member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has said illegal migrants such as Christmas market attack suspect Anis Amri play the German asylum system and should not have been in the country in the first place.  MP for Berlin and CDU member Dr. Philipp Lengsfeld told BBC Radio 4’s Today audience that men like Amri ‘fits a profile’ that sceptics of Merkel’s Willkommenskultur (‘welcome culture’) have been discussing for some time…

“He then stated that following revelations of the suspect’s background that it was right to review Germany’s asylum policies – a suggestion backed by Merkel’s coalition partner and Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Horst Seehofer… Dr. Lengsfeld is a member of the ‘Berlin Circle’ – a traditionalist group within Merkel’s CDU which wants to return the party to its conservative roots and roll back Merkel’s migrant policy.”

Angela Merkel’s migrant policy has failed miserably. It was a disaster in the making from the very outset.

Too Little and Far Too Late–Merkel Orders “Sweeping Review” of Germany’s Failed Security Apparatus

The Local wrote on December 23:

“Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday ordered a sweeping review of Germany’s security apparatus, which has drawn withering criticism after a known jihadist killed 12 people in a Berlin Christmas market. Anger has mounted since it emerged chief suspect Tunisian Anis Amri, 24 – who was shot dead Friday by police in Milan – was a known radical Islamist and criminal who had long been under counter-terrorism surveillance on suspicion he was plotting an attack. Critics have also pointed to a two-day delay before authorities issued a public wanted notice for the fugitive, as well as the fact the rejected asylum seeker should have been deported long ago. Amid the fierce criticism, Merkel pledged a ‘comprehensive’ analysis of what went wrong…

“Politicians and newspapers have deplored the fact that Amri had slipped through the net of security services, who knew he had been in contact with Islamist ‘hate preachers’ and, according to news weekly Der Spiegel, that he had offered himself for a suicide mission. German police had monitored Amri since March but dropped the surveillance in September thinking he was primarily… a small-time drug dealer.

“Anger has also focused on the investigation since Monday’s truck attack. After following an initial false lead, police only found Amri’s identity papers in the lorry’s cabin a day after the attack, and authorities took another day before issuing a Europe-wide public wanted notice. Merkel – already under fire from right-wing populists over her liberal migrant policies – can now expect the security debate to heat up ahead of an election expected in September. Berlin’s B.Z. tabloid charged in a blistering headline this week: ‘They knew him. They did nothing.’

“Conservative lawmaker Stephan Mayer said the case ‘held up a magnifying glass’ to the failings of Merkel’s migration policy, and Christian Lindner, head of the Free Democrats opposition party, charged that ‘catastrophic mistakes’ had been made. Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at the King’s College, pointed to ‘a systemic failure’…

“Criticism has also focused on Germany’s over-burdened asylum and immigration services. Amri’s asylum request was denied in June but because Tunisia refused to take him back, denying he was a citizen, he was issued a stay of deportation paper — the document that police found in the mangled truck cabin. The new Tunisian travel document only arrived on Wednesday, two days after the attack.

“Germany has repeatedly accused Tunisia and other north African states of stalling on the repatriation of their nationals. A law to designate Tunisia, as well as Morocco and Algeria, as ‘safe countries of origin’, to raise the bar for asylum requests, has been held up for months in Germany’s upper house, over human rights concerns in the North African countries.”

Germany will soon institute sweeping changes… but in all probability, not under the weak leadership of Angela Merkel and her incompetent subordinate ministers. It is by no means certain that she will be re-elected in 2017. Germany is being prepared for a strong male personage to lead… and such a person WILL arrive soon.

Huge Support for German Anti-Migration Party AfD

Daily Mail wrote on December 23:

“Support for Germany’s anti-migration AfD party soared to a one-year high of more than 15 percent in the wake of the Berlin truck attack… Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats lost 1.5 points to hit 31.5 percent while the Social Democrats, junior partners in the ruling coalition, ceded one point to 20.5 percent…

“In the immediate aftermath of the Berlin attack, the AfD blamed Merkel’s liberal border policy, under which more than one million asylum seekers entered the country since 2015, for posing a serious security threat to the country. One party official, Marcus Pretzell, even called the victims ‘Merkel’s dead’, in a tweet later criticised by the AfD leadership…

“On Wednesday, a senior German politician has blamed the Christmas terror attacks on ‘institutional political correctness’, arguing that the suspect – a known ISIS fanatic who was on a deportation list – would not have been free to act if police had enforced the law…

“Hugh Theodore Bronson, the deputy leader of the Alternative For Deutschland party (AfD), said that German deportation law was ignored because the authorities were afraid of offending Muslims. Referring to the fact that the prime suspect, Anis Amri, had been arrested three times in Germany and was a known ISIS fanatic with weapons training who was due to be deported, Bronson added: ‘There is a refusal by the authorities to implement German law…”

Not everything which is being said by AfD is incorrect propaganda.

Was “Political Correctness” Reason for Germany’s Failed Pursuit of Terrorist?

Breitbart wrote on December 24:

“German police and judiciary have accused Hamburg Justice Minister [and Green party politician] Till Steffen of delaying the release of pictures of the Christmas market attacker Anis Amri because he was worried about provoking ‘racist’ comments on Facebook… Steffen cited ‘privacy concerns’ when he initially prevented law enforcers from releasing pictures of Anis Amri. However, it has been claimed by members of the judiciary and the police that Steffen… denied the release of images of Amri because he was concerned it would incite racial hatred. It is alleged that he only released images after a 12-hour delay following a call from German newspaper Bild.

“Joachim Lenders, Hamburg’s chief of police, told Bild: ‘It is incomprehensible to throw such a spanner in the works of investigators. Steffen is incompetent.’ Parliamentary leader André Trepoll, who is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, called ‘Scandalsenator’ Steffen a ‘security risk’ for delaying the search for the world’s most wanted man…

“CDU judiciary spokesman Richard Seelmaeker called for a special meeting of the Justice Committee, stressing: ‘Anis Amri allegedly murdered twelve people, but instead of using all means necessary to search for him, Hamburg’s green justice senator was more concerned about the state of comments in a Facebook post – which hindered our police… If the allegations against Steffen are proven true, he can no longer hold the position of senator,’ the CDU judicial expert added.

“Calls for his resignation were also made by the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Dirk Nockemann, the party’s spokesman, said: ‘It is an incredible and scandalous process … [Steffen’s] concerns are unstable and far-fetched.’”

Austria’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn Changes His View on the Migrant Crisis

Express wrote on December 25:

“Cardinal Christoph Schönborn [Archbishop of Vienna, Austria] said he had come to ‘rethink’ his stance on the migrant crisis… The Cardinal, who is tipped as a possible future leader of the Roman Catholic church, said he was no longer convinced that Europe should accept all arrivals… He said: ‘We have had to learn, this [crisis] goes well beyond our capacity and ability… Our country is worried”.

“… Cardinal Schönborn is something of a controversial figure within the church… In his homily at St Stephen’s Cathedral on September 11 he said: ‘Will there be a third Islamic attempt to conquer Europe? Many Muslims think this and wish this and say that Europe is at its end.’

“Cardinal Schönborn later clarified: ‘Europe’s Christian legacy is in danger, because we Europeans have squandered it. That has absolutely nothing to do with Islam nor with the refugees. It is clear that many Islamists would like to take advantage of our weakness, but they are not responsible for it. We are.’

“Cardinal Schönborn, who has a large amount of support from conservative elements within the church was originally a student of Joseph Ratzinger (aka Pope Benedict XVI) at the University of Regensberg and later became the co-editor with the future Pope Benedict XVI of the landmark Catechism of the Catholic Church commissioned by Pope St. John Paul II.”

Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn Meets with Austria’s Heinz-Christian Strache

The Independent wrote on December 21:

“Heinz-Christian Strache says he met General Michael Flynn ‘and other high-ranking US politicians’… at New York’s Trump Tower. Describing them as ‘friends’, he said they had discussed Mr Trump’s presidential victory.  Mr Strache, whose Freedom party was defeated in a rerun of the Austrian presidential election earlier this month, also announced he had signed a cooperation agreement Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.  They agreed to ‘contribute to the expansion of the partnership between the two parties and countries, including in matters of international security, migration crisis, economic and human development, supporting traditional values and protecting the environment’, the party said in a statement on its website.

“Mr Strache said: ‘The Freedom party is continuing to win political influence. A collaboration between the US and Russia is particularly important for a diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Syria and in the Crimea’. He also called the economic sanctions imposed on Russia after the July 2104 downing of the MH17 flight over the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, ‘ultimately useless’. ‘Politics has to serve the people and not be used for geopolitical power games’, he continued…”

USA’s “Complicity in the Aleppo Tragedy”

Newsmax wrote on December 23:

“John McCain again ripped into President Barack Obama’s inaction on Syria, this time writing an opinion piece for The Washington Post saying that the president ‘has borne witness to all of this and done nothing to stop it.’ The Arizona senator’s op-ed echoes many of the same sentiments and phrasing from a statement he and Sen. Lindsey Graham released nearly two weeks ago when Aleppo was falling to the Syrian military. Now that Aleppo has fallen, McCain is driving home the message that the United States had a hand in it all. ‘As we eulogize the dead of Aleppo, we must acknowledge the United States’ complicity in this tragedy,’ McCain wrote.

“Worse, McCain says Obama’s strategy of inaction and watching from afar threatens our homeland. ‘We must acknowledge that we have a stake in what happens in Syria. It is not just about the suffering of others, as moving as that is. It is about the national security of the United States,’ McCain wrote. ‘We do not need to become the world’s policeman to defend our interests. But we cannot wall ourselves off from the chaos of our dangerous world. And if we try, the instability, terror and destruction at the heart of that chaos will eventually make their way to our shores,’ McCain concluded.”

Even though John McCain addressed the failed policy of President Obama, his criticism would likewise apply to the intentions of President-elect Donald Trump to withdraw from American involvement on the world scene.

New Nuclear Arms Race between USA, Russia and China?

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 23:

“US President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday he would welcome an international nuclear arms race in an interview with broadcaster MSNBC. The network had asked Trump to elaborate on comments made a few days earlier on Twitter, wherein the president-elect promoted nuclear proliferation.

“Trump wrote that the US ‘must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.’… The comment on Twitter set shares in uranium production firms surging and caused a great deal of alarm amongst non-proliferation experts. When MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski asked Trump for details during a telephone call, he responded ‘let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.’

“Trump did not say who ‘them’ could be, but his original comment came on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow should also boost its nuclear arsenal… The president-elect’s spokesman Sean Spicer… implied that [‘them’ or] ‘other countries’ meant Russia and China… The United States has a stockpile of some 6,970 nuclear warheads, and Russia 7,300. The two nations began to cut down on nuclear spending in the 1970s…”

The idea that peace can be established through a nuclear arms race is erroneous. The Bible predicts a nuclear war in the not-too-distant future, and the USA will NOT prevail in that coming war, which will threaten the very survival of mankind.

Russian Plane Crashes Into Black Sea, Killing 92 People—Terrorism Not Excluded

The Associated Press reported on December 25:

“Backed by ships, helicopters and drones, Russian rescue teams searched for victims in the Black Sea after a Russian plane carrying 92 people to Syria crashed Sunday shortly after takeoff from Sochi. Investigators said they are looking into every possible cause for the crash, including a terror attack. All 84 passengers and eight crew members on board the Tu-154 plane operated by the Russian military are believed to have died when it fell into the sea two minutes after taking off in good weather from the southern Russian city…

“Asked if a terror attack was a possibility, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said in Sochi that investigators were looking into every possible reason.

“The plane belonged to the Defense Ministry and was taking its world famous army choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, to a New Year’s concert at Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia. Those on board also included nine Russian journalists and a Russian doctor famous for her work in war zones. Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to declare Monday a nationwide day of mourning…

“The plane that crashed was built in 1983, and underwent factory check-ups and maintenance in 2014 and earlier this year, according to the Defense Ministry… Some experts noted that the crew’s failure to report a malfunction pointed at a possible terror attack…

“Russian planes have been brought down previously by terror attacks. In October 2015, a Russian passenger plane carrying mostly Russian tourists back from vacation in Egypt was brought down by a bomb over the Sinai, killing all 224 people aboard. Officials said the explosive device was planted in the plane’s luggage compartment. The local affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

“In August 2004, two Russian planes were blown up in the skies over Russia by suicide bombers, killing 89 people. A Chechen warlord claimed responsibility for the twin attacks, which happened on the same day…”

Deutsche Welle reported on December 29:

“Based on the available evidence, the authorities ruled out a midair blast as the cause of the crash. ‘There was no explosion on board, I can say that for certain,’ said General Sergey Bainetov, head of flight safety for the Russian air force. ‘But an act of terror does not necessarily mean an explosion, there might be other causes. That is why we are not discarding this version of events.’”

Putin to US Democrats: “You Lost. Get Over It.” Relationship between Russia and USA “Can’t Get Any Worse.”

The Washington Post wrote on December 23:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has a message for the White House and Democratic leaders who accuse him of stealing their candidate’s victory: Don’t be sore losers. That was how Putin answered a question Friday at his nationally televised annual news conference about whether Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. The Democrats ‘are losing on all fronts and looking elsewhere for things to blame,’ he told the nearly 1,400… ‘In my view this, how shall I say it, degrades their own dignity. You have to know how to lose with dignity.’

“The Kremlin leader — who also sent an upbeat letter to Trump last week that the president-elect revealed Friday — pointed out that Republicans had won the House and Senate, as well. ‘Did we do that, too?’ he said with a slight grin… ‘Outstanding figures in American history from the ranks of the Democratic Party would likely be turning in their graves. Roosevelt certainly would be,’ Putin told the journalists… ‘Trump understood the mood of the people and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him,’ Putin said…

“The Russian leader has repeatedly denied involvement in the U.S. election despite the accusations from the White House, and the Kremlin has questioned the evidence for the U.S. claims… Putin also reiterated at the news conference his interest in better ties with the United States after the inauguration of Trump, who, during the campaign, espoused positions favorable to Russia, including joining forces to fight terrorism and considering whether to recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukraine.

“The Russian president played down the significance of Trump’s tweet Thursday calling for the United States to expand its nuclear arsenal, calling it ‘nothing unusual’ and saying that Moscow did not intend to pursue an arms race ‘that we can’t afford.’ Putin did say that Russia was modernizing its nuclear strike capability, which he said, would enable it to overpower any missile defenses that the United States is developing. Russia, he said, ‘will be stronger than any aggressor.’

“Putin moved back the news conference a day to attend the funeral of his slain ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, who was shot dead in public by a man shouting slogans about the war in Syria.  Since the assassination, Moscow and Ankara have made a show of their willingness to work together and, along with Iran, bring a settlement to Syria… The Russia-Turkey-Iran troika met in Moscow on Tuesday. The United States’ absence was a sign not only of the stalemate of U.S.-Russian talks over Syria, but also of the bad blood in the relationship as a whole. ‘Mr Trump did, after all, say during the election campaign that he thought it right to normalize U.S.-Russia links and said it would not get worse,’ Putin said. ‘Because they cannot get any worse, I agree with him on that. We’ll think together about how to make the situation better.’ Someone asked whether Putin would accept an invitation from Trump to the United States. ‘Of course, I will, if he invites me,’ Putin said.”

Much of what Vladimir Putin said— especially regarding the White House and the Democrats—is not without merit. However, the relationship between the USA and Russia CAN get worse, but the truth is, that no big wars will break out between Russia and the USA. Rather, we will see devastating wars between Europe and Russia; as well as between Europe and the USA.

USA “Retaliates” Against Russia

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 29:

“The United States announced on Thursday that two Russian compounds in Maryland and New York, used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related activities, will be closed. Access to the compounds will be denied to all Russian diplomats as of noon on Friday, ‘The New York Times’ reported.

“The State Department also declared 35 Russian intelligence operatives ‘persona non grata,’ meaning they must leave the country.

“Washington has accused the Russian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate

(GRU) of hacking information with the intent to interfere with the US election – along with help from the Federal Security Service (FSB)…

‘US President Barack Obama said he implemented the sanctions in response to the Russian government’s ‘aggressive harassment of US officials and cyber operations’ aimed at last month’s US election… The president added, however, that the actions were ‘not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities.’…

‘Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaled that Moscow was now considering retaliatory measures against the US…

“With Trump due to take office on January 20, Obama’s move puts the president-elect in the position of having to decide whether to retract the measures once sworn in as president…”

Reuters added on December 29:

“Trump said in October he would ‘cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama’ on his first day in office, without saying who would determine their constitutionality.”

“Obama Backstabs Israel”

With this headline, the Drudge Report introduced the Obama Administration’s decision to abstain from, rather than veto, a Resolution by the Security Council, condemning Israeli settlements.

JTA wrote on December 23:

“The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution condemning Israeli settlements, with the United States abstaining. The resolution was adopted Friday afternoon with 14 votes in favor and only the U.S. abstention…

“Israel was defiant in its reaction to the resolution and the U.S. vote. ‘Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms,’ a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. ‘At a time when the Security Council does nothing to stop the slaughter of half a million people in Syria, it disgracefully gangs up on the one true democracy in the Middle East, Israel, and calls the Western Wall “occupied territory.” The Obama administration not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN, it colluded with it behind the scenes’…

“Speaking to the Security Council, Israel’s U.N. envoy, Danny Danon, described the resolution as ‘evil’ and likened it to condemning Americans for building in Washington or the French for building in Paris. ‘This resolution today will be added to the long and shameful list of anti-Israel U.N. resolutions,’ Danon said. ‘Instead of charting a course forward,  you are sending a message to the Palestinians that they should continue on the path of terrorism…’

“The resolution was introduced by New Zealand, Venezuela, Malaysia and Senegal… On Facebook, Trump wrote that the resolution was ‘extremely unfair.’…

“Several U.S. lawmakers also criticized the American abstention. Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Nita Lowey, both New York Democrats, and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., all issued statements criticizing the Obama administration. ‘It is extremely frustrating, disappointing and confounding that the Administration has failed to veto this resolution,’ said Schumer, the incoming Senate minority leader. ‘Whatever one’s views are on settlements, the U.N. is the wrong forum to settle these issues.’…

“The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish community’s foreign policy umbrella group, issued a scathing denunciation of the resolution and the American vote. ‘There is no justification or explanation that validates the United States failure to veto the one-sided, offensive resolution adopted by the Security Council today,’ said a statement attributed from the Presidents Conference chairman, Stephen Greenberg, and its executive vice chairman, Malcolm Hoenlein. ‘The United States vote will be seen as a betrayal of the fundamentals of the special relationship that will nevertheless continue to mark the close ties between the peoples of the two countries’…”

Further Harsh Condemnation for President Obama

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 23:

“The Palestinian Presidency… commented that the UN vote amounted to a ‘big blow’ to Israel. Trump meanwhile only said that upon his inauguration, ‘things will be different’ in US-UN relations… the resolution is reportedly near-impossible for the Trump administration to reverse…

“The resolution, initially circulated by Egypt, was originally going to be discussed the previous day but then faced an indefinite postponement, after US President-elect Donald Trump reportedly intervened and spoke to Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Egypt represents all Arab states on the Security Council…

“US Senator John McCain commented that the US’ abstention from the vote made the US ‘complicit in this outrageous attack against Israel.’…

“An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency that outgoing US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were ‘behind this shameful move against Israel at the UN… President Obama could declare his willingness to veto this resolution in an instant but instead is pushing it,’ the official said, calling it an ‘abandonment’ of the Jewish state, ‘which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN and undermines the prospects of working with the next administration of advancing peace… The US administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel’s back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory,’ the same official told the Associated Press news agency.”

President Obama Under Increasing Attack for Betrayal of Israel

Newsmax wrote on December 23 and 24 in a series of related articles:

“… former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton… thinks President Barack Obama took the action to ‘box the incoming Trump administration in.’ ‘This was a stab in the back against the Israelis,’ Bolton [said]. ‘It was entirely predictable. I would say this for people in the pro-Israel community in the United States who defended Obama’s Middle East policy over these last eight years: You should have seen this coming and this is what you get for supporting Barack Obama’… Further, Bolton said, the consequences of the resolution will be felt for many years in negative ways for both Israel and the United States… ‘I do think, contrary to what Obama says, this is the death now of the two-state solution,” Bolton said… Bolton continued that he’d recommend that Trump call the resolution ‘illegitimate’ and say the United States will try to repeal it, and if that fails, cut the U.S. contribution to the UN.’…

“Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee… slammed President Barack Obama Friday…  ‘I’m so outraged I can’t even hardly contain myself,’ the former Republican candidate [said]… He added that when President-elect Donald Trump takes over the White House next month, ‘the first thing he does I hope is send some jackhammers over to the Turtle Bay neighborhood in Manhattan and jack-knife the United Nations off into the river… When people use the term ‘settlements,’ they may think of the Israelis building a bunch of tents and mobile homes… These settlements are communities and neighborhoods with schools and synagogues and shops and permanent structures, where people live and raise their families. And Judea and Samaria belong to Israel. Obama is saying that the Western Wall ought to be part of territory that’s given back,’ he continued. ‘This is insane — so beyond anything that we’ve seen in 40 years. It’s just stunning’. Huckabee, who has long attacked the United Nations for its anti-Israel policies, joined several congressional Republicans in calling for an end to federal financial support for the organization ‘if they’re going to do stupid and frankly idiotic things that are hurtful to any hope of peace…’”

“Conservatives Friday ripped the U.N. Security Council for condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — and the Obama administration’s abstention from the unanimous vote — with Sen. Lindsey Graham threatening to cut funding to the United Nations. ‘This provocative action by the United Nations is an outrage and must be dealt with sternly and forcefully,’ said the South Carolina Republican, who chairs a subcommittee that oversees funding to the organization. ‘The United States is currently responsible for approximately 22 percent of the United Nations total budget. The Obama-Kerry foreign policy has gone from naïve and foolish to flat-out reckless,’ he added…

“Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said he supported Graham’s call to strip the U.N. of federal funding ‘and reconsider aid to countries if they fail to join our opposition.’

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the abstention was ‘a failure of leadership and judgment’ by President Barack Obama. ‘It is highly regrettable that one of President Obama’s last actions in office was again to abandon our ally Israel,’ the Kentucky Republican said.

“House Speaker Paul Ryan called the vote ‘absolutely shameful.’ ‘Today’s vote is a blow to peace that sets a dangerous precedent for further diplomatic efforts to isolate and demonize Israel,’ the Wisconsin congressman said…

“Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton declared that Obama was ‘personally responsible for this anti-Israel resolution. ‘His diplomats secretly coordinated the vote, yet he doesn’t even have the courage of his own convictions to vote for it,’ the first-term GOP member said. ‘This cowardly, disgraceful action cements President Obama’s richly deserved legacy as the most anti-Israel president in American history.’…

“Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, called the abstention ‘an act of utter cowardice. ‘This dramatic shift in U.S. policy leaves our strongest ally in the region vulnerable,’ he said. ‘To make matters worse, this cowardly act — under the cover of the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays — comes when the fallout will be left to the incoming administration.’

“Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said that ‘the actions of the Obama administration will forever be remembered as a dark, shameful moment for our country…’”

No Love Left Between Obama and Netanyahu

Times of Israel wrote on December 23:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at US President Barack Obama Friday, accusing him of actively working against Israel at the UN — seemingly abandoning all pretense of diplomatic cautiousness after a US abstention at the Security Council led to the passage of a resolution against settlements…

“Netanyahu said he would immediately call back Israel’s ambassadors in New Zealand and Senegal — two sponsors of Friday evening’s resolution — for consultations. He also said a planned official visit by Senegal’s foreign minister next month would be cancelled and all Israeli aid programs in Senegal would be halted. Israeli officials reacted with disappointment and anger to Washington’s failure to veto the resolution.

“… cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi said the US vote also ‘spits in the face’ of incoming president Donald Trump…”

Whether or not the Obama Administration actively collaborated with the instigators of the Security Council resolution, their decision not to veto the resolution is indeed a shameful and well-calculated attempt to not only backstab Israel during the remaining days of Barack Obama’s failed Presidency, but it is also clearly designed at preventing President-elect Donald Trump from establishing a more friendly and productive relationship with Israel.  

Israel to Re-Assess Its Ties to UN—Stops Funding to Five UN Institutions

Deutsche Welle reported on December 24:

“Israel will re-assess its ties with the United Nations following the adoption by the Security Council of a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday… ‘I instructed the Foreign Ministry to complete within a month a re-evaluation of all our contacts with the United Nations, including the Israeli funding of U.N. institutions and the presence of U.N. representatives in Israel,’ Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks. ‘I have already instructed to stop about 30 million shekels ($7.8 million) in funding to five U.N. institutions, five bodies, that are especially hostile to Israel … and there is more to come,’ he said.”

Israel Summons Ambassadors

Reuters reported on December 25:

“Israel summoned the ambassadors of 10 nations to Jerusalem to reprimand them on Sunday… Ambassadors from 10 of the 14 countries that voted in favor of the resolution and have embassies in Israel – Britain, China, Russia, France, Egypt, Japan, Uruguay, Spain, Ukraine and New Zealand – were summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, the ministry said. Sunday is a regular work day in Israel, but most embassies are closed, and calling in envoys on Christmas Day is highly unusual.”

The Jerusalem Post stressed that Netanyahu summoned the US ambassador as well.

Why an American Veto Would Have Been Critical

The Guardian wrote on December 23:

“The resolution says Israel’s settlements on Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have ‘no legal validity’ and demands a halt to ‘all Israeli settlement activities’… The resolution reiterated that Israeli settlement was a ‘flagrant violation’ of international law… A resolution requires nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China in order to be adopted…

“While the resolution is largely symbolic in some senses, it will be seen as empowering an increasingly tough EU over Israel and will give pause to international companies who have interests in the occupied territories…

“The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the most influential lobby groups, said it was ‘deeply disturbed by the failure of the Obama administration to exercise its veto to prevent a destructive, one-sided, anti-Israel resolution from being enacted by the United Nations security council’. It also pointedly thanked Trump for his attempts to intervene: ‘AIPAC expresses its appreciation to president-elect Trump and the many Democratic and Republican members of Congress who urged a veto of this resolution.’ …

“About 430,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and a further 200,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as the capital of their future state. The resolution demands that ‘Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem’.”

As can be seen, a veto by the USA would have prevented the resolution from being adopted. With the American abstention, the Obama Administration voted in effect FOR the resolution. This can only be viewed as a betrayal of Israel and of Israel’s position of Jerusalem as its eternal capital.

Impossible to Reverse?

The Independent wrote on December 23:

“The Israeli Prime Minister said his administration was looking forward to working with Donald Trump to negate Friday’s resolution…

“Given the world’s widespread opposition to settlements, the action will be almost impossible for anyone, including Mr Trump, to reverse. Nevertheless, the president-elect vowed via Twitter: ‘As to the UN, things will be different after Jan 20th.'”

Germany Supports Anti-Israel Resolution

Bild Online reported on December 25 that Frank-Walter Steinmeier, “currently Minister for Foreign Affairs and probably soon the next President,” supported the text of the “anti-Israel” resolution. In its article, Bild asked whether Israel was being forsaken by their friends. Bild continued that Steinmeier sided with autocratic countries which voted for the resolution, including Russia, China, Egypt and Venezuela.

Bild strongly disagreed with Steinmeier who “did not even say a word about the anti-Israel content.” The paper also pointed out that the resolution does not bring any solution; and ignores the historic relationship between the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Jewish people. The tabloid referred to “the Western Wall of the Temple as the most holy site which was destroyed in 70 AD,” explaining that Israel will never allow that it will fall into the hands of Palestinians who want it to become a part of East Jerusalem as their capital.

Sadly, the German position is in line with most countries which are antagonistic against and hostile towards Israel. The Bible prophecies that Israel will indeed be forsaken by their “friends”—many of whom were never real friends to begin with.

Further Incredible Attacks by John Kerry: Israel Cannot Be Jewish and a Democracy at the Same Time

Grabien.com wrote on December 28:

“Secretary of State John Kerry declared Wednesday that Israel ‘can either be Jewish or democratic’ but ‘it cannot be both.’ “Here’s a transcript: ‘The truth is that trends on the ground, violence, terrorism, settlement expansion and the seemingly endless occupation, they are combining to destroy hopes for peace on both sides and increasingly cementing any reversible — an irreversible one state reality that most people do not actually want.

“‘Today, there are a similar number of Jews and Palestinians living between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea. They have a choice. They can choose to live together in one state or they can separate into two states. But here is a fundamental reality. If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic. It cannot be both. And it won’t ever really be at peace. Moreover, the Palestinians will never fully realize their vast potential in a homeland of their own with a one state solution.”

One wonders what the international reaction and outrage would have been, if a German politician would have dared to make comments like these.

Breitbart added the following:

“Kerry complained about Netanyahu’s democratically-elected government — which the Obama administration did its best to defeat in 2015 by using American taxpayers’ money to fund left-wing political efforts during the Israeli election — ‘His current coalition is the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements.’”

The Kerry Backlash

The Washington Post wrote on December 29:

‘Secretary of State John Kerry set off a firestorm in the United States and Israel… It will be hard to argue that [UN] resolution and Kerry speech did anything but make matters worse and diminish the United States in the region… Indeed, the resolution and Kerry’s speech seemed more designed to blame Israel for the Obama administration’s disastrous Middle East policy than to prompt a return to the ‘peace process’…

“All of this will cement President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to move the embassy and increase chances he will cut off funds to the Palestinian Authority and maybe even the U.N. Like the rest of the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is much more volatile and further from a peaceful resolution than it was at the start of the Obama presidency.”

Trust in God

Breitbart wrote on December 29:

“The Times of Israel reports: The US has forsaken Israel, and the Jewish state can now place its trust only in God, Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said Wednesday, as Jerusalem and Washington continued to face off over Friday’s United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

“‘Sometimes, we need to be reminded from above that we can count on no one but our Father who art in heaven,’ Yosef told followers at the Western Wall. ‘Even America forsook us last week at the UN.’

“He added: ‘We mustn’t forget that the hearts of kings and captains are in the hands of the Lord, and we can count on no one but (the Lord).’”

Trump Attacks Obama

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 28:

“[US Secretary of State John Kerry’s public] remarks come just weeks before the Obama administration hands over power to President-elect Donald Trump, who on Wednesday reiterated his support for Israel over the settlement issue… Kerry warned that expanding settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem was leading to an ‘irreversible one-state reality’… On Wednesday, despite attempts to delay a local housing committee from approving plans to build 492 new homes in annexed East Jerusalem, the construction was later given the go-ahead, a local non-profit organization said.

“For his part in a worsening row, Trump took to Twitter ahead of Kerry’s speech on Wednesday to say: ‘Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!’ referring to his upcoming inauguration. The billionaire businessman said Obama had treated Israel with ‘total disdain and disrespect,’ adding that ‘They used to have a great friend in the US, but not anymore.’

“… Trump’s incoming ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, opposes a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian situation and has publicly stated that Israel’s settlement activity is not illegal, in his opinion.”

Trump also twittered this: “Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks. Thought it was going to be a smooth transition – NOT!”

This was so predictable, and it will become even more contentious.

The Temple Will Be Built on the Temple Mount

Israel National News reported on December 25:

“Ne’emanei Har Habayit activists lit a Hanukkah menorah outside the Old City of Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate on Sunday morning, in response to the United Nations Security Council’s latest anti-Israel resolution. Ne’emanei Har Habayit is a group of activists dedicated to preserving the Temple Mount’s Jewish identity. The name literally means ‘the Temple Mount’s faithful.’

“During the ceremony, Ne’emanei Har Habayit CEO Gershon Salomon said, ‘Today, we send a message to the Jewish nation and to the entire world – especially to the ‘Oom Shmoom’ (UN – ed.). The Temple Mount belongs to us for eternity. Jerusalem belongs to us, and only to us. We will not move from this spot, ever… I am optimistic regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration, but the final decision will be made by Israel, not by the US, Rome, or Paris. Israel’s fate will be decided in Jerusalem, and on the Temple Mount we will build the Third Temple, right under the noses of world leaders,’ Salomon emphasized.”

Jerusalem Eternal Capital City of Israel

The Jewish Press wrote on December 27:

“President Reuven Rivlin [stated on Tuesday:] ‘United Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and it will remain so. There is no international body with the power to revoke this. And as sovereigns of the city, I stand here today to repeat in the clearest way: the State of Israel is deeply committed to ensure the religious rights of all faith communities in Jerusalem and throughout Israel.’”

Christmas Tree Controversy in Israel

JTA wrote on December 21:

“Rabbinic officials in Jerusalem and northern Israel recently issued separate statements saying that displays of Christmas trees are against Jewish law… ‘As the secular year ends, we want to remind you that erecting a Christmas tree in a hotel contravenes halacha and that therefore it is clear that no one should erect [a tree] in a hotel,’ Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar wrote to hotel managers. The letter also said it was ‘appropriate to avoid hosting’ New Year’s parties, reminding hotel managers that the New Year is properly observed at the beginning of the Jewish calendar.

“A day earlier, the rabbi of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, a prestigious public science and engineering university in Haifa, forbade students from entering the student union on campus because of the presence of a Christmas tree in the building. ‘The Christmas tree is a religious symbol — not Christian, but even more problematic — pagan,’ Rabbi Elad Dokow wrote in a Q&A on the religious Srugim website. ‘Halacha clearly states that whenever it is possible to circumvent and not pass through a place where there is any kind of idolatry, this must be done. So one should not enter the student union if it’s not necessary to do so… This is the world’s only Jewish state. And it has a role to be a “light unto the nations” and not to uncritically embrace every idea.’ Dokow compared the Christmas tree’s display to… allowing a Spanish food festival that ‘prominently featured pork.’…

“The Chief Rabbinate — the highest Jewish authority in Israel and overseer of the Jerusalem Rabbinate — last year offered some protection to displayers of Christmas trees. Under threat of a petition to the Supreme Court, the Chief Rabbinate issued guidelines stating that its kashrut inspectors could not revoke the kosher certifications of hotels over the trees or Shabbat violations. The Technion responded to its Christmas tree controversy with a statement saying that Rabbi Dokow’s words ‘expressed his personal opinion and not that of the Technion’….

“Knesset member Yousef Jabareen of the Joint List of Arab political parties accused Dokow of incitement… ‘These statements contain clear incitement to racism, in violation of the law, and therefore also constitute a serious criminal offense,’ the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. According to Haaretz, Technion student Peter Hana said ‘an absolute majority of students, as well as management and the dean,’ supported the Christmas tree, and ‘only a handful of students and the rabbi himself chose to come out against it.’”

It is of course pharisaical to forbid entering a building because of the presence of a Christmas tree. At the same time, the Christmas tree IS of pagan origin and neither Christians nor Jews should display it.

 “5,000-Year-Old Nativity Scene Found in Egypt”

As linked by the Drudge Report, Seeker.com wrote on December 22:

“Italian researchers have discovered what might be the oldest nativity scene ever found — 5,000-year-old rock art that depicts a star in the east, a newborn between parents and two animals… ‘It’s a very evocative scene which indeed resembles the Christmas nativity. But it predates it by some 3,000 years,’ geologist Marco Morelli, director of the Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato, near Florence, Italy, told Seeker.

“Morelli found the cave drawing in 2005, but only now his team has decided to reveal the amazing find… He noted the newborn is drawn slightly above, as if raising to the sky. Such position, with the baby not yet between the parents, would have meant a birth or a pregnancy… The scene becomes more symbolically complex if the other figures, two animals and a small circular feature, are taken into consideration. On the upper part is a headless lion, a mythical beast which appears in several rock art drawings from the same area, while below in the scene a baboon or an anthropomorphic monkey can be seen. In the east, the Neolithic artist [has] drawn what appears to be star.

“The researchers called the site the ‘Cave of the Parents.’ ‘No doubt it’s an intriguing drawing,’ Morelli said. ‘We didn’t find similar scenes until the early Christian age.’”

This find sheds some light on the pagan concepts associated with the birth of Christ. For more information, please listen to our sermon, “The REAL Christmas Story.”

Public Hanukkah Events in Europe to ‘Drive Out Darkness’

JTA wrote on December 22:

“Before Monday’s attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Rabbi Yehudah Teichtal had planned to invite hundreds of people to the traditional lighting of the first Hanukkah candle at a large menorah erected at the city’s Brandenburg Gate monument. But he decided to change his original plan following the attack… And so, ‘Instead of one public lighting this Hanukkah, we’re going to have one on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah,’ Teichtal, a Chabad rabbi who is part of the Jewish community in Berlin, told JTA on Thursday. ‘It’s our way of driving out the darkness that is terrorism.’

“Teichtal’s determination is shared by rabbis across Europe, including France and the Netherlands, who speak of upholding and celebrating the relatively new tradition of public lightings of menorahs. Some Jewish leaders say that celebrating Hanukkah at central locales in European capitals and cities is considered an appropriate, uplifting Jewish response to the wave of Islamist terrorism hitting the continent…

“Separately, the Jewish community of the Netherlands is preparing to co-host, together with Christian Zionists from the Christians for Israel organization, a public lighting in The Hague of what organizers say is the largest Hanukkah menorah in Europe. Christian Zionists built the menorah in 2013 as a gift for the country’s Jewish community… Hanukkah, a holiday celebrating the defiance of Jews during the Maccabean revolt against the Syrian Greek army, is especially appropriate for such demonstrations…”

Sadly, these displays will do little, if anything, to drive out the darkness of terrorism or other ungodly conduct.

How Nuclear Wars Could Start

The Guardian wrote on December 25:

“A fake news story has touched off a Twitter confrontation between nuclear powers Pakistan and Israel. The exchange took place following the publication of a fake story headlined ‘Israeli Defense Minister: If Pakistan send ground troops to Syria on any pretext, we will destroy this country with a nuclear attack’. The story appeared on 20 December on the site AWD News.

“In an apparent response to the story, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif sent a warning to Israel on Twitter that ‘Pakistan is a nuclear state too.’ Israel’s defense ministry tweeted back on Saturday, saying the original story was ‘totally fictitious.’ AWD has been identified by fact-checking organisations as a fake news site.

“Israel maintains a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying the existence of an arsenal but is widely believed to have its own nuclear weapons. Pakistan became a nuclear power in 1998. The countries have no diplomatic ties. There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan to Israel’s response…”

Americans Admire Obama and Hillary Clinton the Most

Newsmax wrote on December 28:

“President Obama beat Donald Trump as the most admired man in 2016, a new Gallup poll shows. Twenty-two percent of those polled listed Obama as the most admired man, while Trump came in second with 15 percent… Here’s how the poll breaks down: Pope Francis (4 percent); Bernie Sanders (2 percent) and the Rev. Billy Graham (1) percent round out the top five admired men…

“Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman for the 21st time with 12 percent; Michelle Obama was second with 8 percent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (3 percent); Oprah Winfrey (3 percent) and Ellen DeGeneres (2 percent) complete the top five.”

One may have to wonder whether Americans have lost it completely, if these results are true.

Uncertainty and Fear Continue for 2017

The Guardian wrote on December 24:

“Britain’s Christian leaders are focusing their Christmas messages on uncertainty, anxiety and fear at the end of a tumultuous year on the global stage… Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales… quoted WB Yeats’s 1919 poem, The Second Coming: ‘Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.’…

“In the last week Prince Charles has also spoken about disturbing trends in 2016. ‘We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive to those who adhere to a minority faith. All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s,’ the prince said…  ‘We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past.’”

The Guardian added on December 25:

“The phrase ‘turning point’ is overused, but future historians are likely to view the year 2016 as exactly that. The standout event was Donald Trump’s surprise victory. The maverick Republican’s defeat of Hillary Clinton produced a shock that reverberated around the world. The billionaire’s White House tenancy begins on 20 January. Many will dub that date Black Friday, fearful that Trumpism may irreparably damage international security, environmental protection and human rights. Others will see it as a sign of welcome change. It will be a year of living dangerously…

“Trump’s protectionist, isolationist stance brought into question the inevitability of globalisation, suggesting a return to a pre-1939 age of economic nationalism, punitive tariffs, trade barriers, controls on movement of labour and capital, closed markets and minds… he questioned the usefulness of international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank and Nato. He cast doubt on key security alliances in Asia. Trump also ignited concern for April’s Paris climate change deal.

“Trump’s stated support for the unilateral waging of war, for authoritarian governance, torture, indefinite detention without trial, and religious and racial profiling of immigrants and refugees could, if copied, destroy the universal legal and human rights protections erected via the UN system since 1945…

“Britain’s narrow 52%-48% referendum vote in June in favour of leaving the EU was unexpected. Many drew parallels with the US, saying similar nationalist, populist forces were at work… If the British government’s timetable holds, Brexit will begin in March, when the UK will formally file for divorce…

“France will hold a presidential election in spring. Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Front, is expected to do very well. Le Pen wants France to quit the EU and euro. Her main challenger is likely to be François Fillon, a Catholic Thatcherite, for the centre right. The Socialist president, François Hollande, will not stand for re-election. In the Netherlands’ March general election, the Islamophobe Geert Wilders could prove an influential warm-up act for Le Pen. Wilders advocates a Dutch ‘Nexit’…

“Germany holds federal elections in September. Angela Merkel is seeking re-election for a fourth term as chancellor, but faces strong opposition from the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany… The fashionable idea that Merkel will pick up the torch from Obama and become defender-in-chief of western liberal democracy looks like wishful thinking…

“Despite repeated UN attempts at peace, Syria’s civil war passed the five-year mark in 2016 and approached a bloody denouement… The siege of eastern Aleppo became a symbol of the suffering and brutality of the Syrian war. Children were killed or maimed in large numbers. Hospitals and schools were repeatedly hit…

“In Iraq, an offensive to retake Mosul from Isis got bogged down. The war in Yemen showed no sign of abating, notwithstanding a furore in Britain and the US about arms sales to Saudi Arabia, whose airstrikes are blamed for numerous civilian deaths. In Libya, a new threat from Isis emerged, centred on the late Muammar Gaddafi’s stronghold in Sirte, prompting fierce fighting.

“Isis was also active in Afghanistan, challenging the Taliban for control of rural areas. Afghanistan is now America’s longest war. More than 8,000 US troops are still based there…

“The Isis threat will persist… the global spread of Islamist extremism is likely to continue…

“Syria aside, Russia’s military build-up along its border with the Baltic republics, its meddling in Ukraine, and its covert political influence-peddling, disinformation campaigns and cyber warfare in eastern Europe are expected to accelerate…

“Putin has been building bridges to Xi Jinping, China’s president. This alliance of convenience will create more headaches for the west in 2017. Xi has enlisted Russia’s support in conducting military ‘exercises’ around disputed South China Sea islands, where Beijing is rapidly expanding its presence. China defied a 2016 UN court ruling deeming its activities illegal…

“The nuclear brinkmanship of North Korea’s paranoid regime increased regional tensions. This problem will possibly come to a head in 2017. Kim Jong-un, the country’s dictator, conducted an underground nuclear test in September, the fifth and biggest, involving nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

“In Tokyo, there were calls for Japanese rearmament. Trump suggested Japan and South Korea acquire nuclear weapons… Trump demanded Japan and South Korea pay more for US bases…

“The biggest regional upset was in the Philippines, where the foul-mouthed Rodrigo Duterte was elected president… Protests from the US and UN prompted him to turn to China for support, repudiating the long-standing US alliance…”

Terror Strikes Germany!

nydailynews.com reported on December 21:

“Monday’s devastating terrorist attack at a Berlin Christmas Market was bleakly inevitable…

“Until last summer, Germany had been immune to the Islamist violence that has afflicted Madrid, London, Paris, Brussels and other European cities. But the rise of the Islamic State, the continued existence of which provides an alluring recruitment tool to disillusioned European Muslims, has sharply increased the threat of jihadist terrorism across the continent. Now, even Germany is under assault.

“The Christmas market attack — which killed 12 people and wounded dozens — bookends a tumultuous year in Germany. Last New Year’s Eve, as many as 2,000 migrant men sexually assaulted over 1,000 women just outside Cologne’s main train station. Police initially attempted to cover up the incident. Their motives — shielding Muslim immigrants from a xenophobic backlash — may have been benign, but the long-term effect has only redounded to the benefit of the far right.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 22:

“Klaus Bouillon of the state of Saarland who is currently spokesman for Germany’s 16 regional interior ministers said security was being tightened. ‘We will have more patrols, Officers will have machine guns,’ said Bouillon, referring to the more than 1,400 Christmas markets across Germany.

“Federal authorities searching for 24-year-old Anis Amri offered a reward for information leading to his capture and issued multilingual notices, including one in French.

“The public was warned that Amri could be armed. Police said ID papers identifying him as a Tunisian national were found in the cab of the truck used in Monday’s attack.”

Merkel and Police Under Fire

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 22:

“Both the Berlin police and Chancellor Merkel’s government faced heavy criticism on Thursday. The former for spending the first crucial hours after the attack focusing on a Pakistani suspect who turned out not to be involved in the attack, and the latter for its open-door refugee policy. The ire on behalf of the press and the public intensified as it became clear how much the intelligence services knew about Amri prior to the incident.

“According to Der Spiegel magazine, Amri had been under surveillance for associating with hate preachers online. He had offered to act as a suicide bomber on an Islamist website, and asked where he could obtain weapons. ‘He was even in deportation detention, but had to be released after a day,’ Stephan Mayer, the interior affairs spokesman for Germany’s conservative union in parliament, told RBB-Inforadio.

“Amri’s asylum application had been rejected in the summer and he was scheduled for deportation, but the procedure was postponed due to problems proving his Tunisian citizenship. Incidentally, his new Tunisian passport arrived in Germany on Wednesday. It was some of these asylum documents left behind in the truck used in the attack that turned the police onto Amri in the first place.”

The Telegraph added on December 21:

“Amri… had multiple identity documents with six different aliases under three nationalities, and a criminal record in Italy and Tunisia. He spent four years in an Italian prison before travelling to Germany after an expulsion order expired… It also emerged that the killer might have received hospital treatment for his injuries before slipping away.

“ The Polish lorry driver whose vehicle was hijacked sand used in the attack—claimed by the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) was being hailed a hero…  Mr Urban’s injuries suggested he may have been alive as the lorry ploughed into Christmas shoppers, having perhaps been assumed dead by the hijacker who had stabbed and beaten him.

“It gave rise to the theory that he grabbed the steering wheel, forcing the lorry off its intended course through the middle of the crowd and potentially saving countless lives. His life came to an end when he was shot in the head by the hijacker…

“British experts said the bungled police investigation highlighted fundamental flaws in Germany’s counter-terrorism strategy…

“The German investigation has also been hampered by the lack of available CCTV footage. State surveillance is a sensitive issue in Germany because of extensive snooping by the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany and by the Gestapo in the Nazi era. The result is that there are far less cameras in public places than in the UK. However, on Wednesday a bill was passed to allow more video surveillance in German society with greater weight given to ‘the protection of life, health and freedom’…”

These horrible mass murders by an insane fanatic pose a further threat to Angela Merkel’s political survival.

Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Assassinated

Newsweek.com reported on December 21:

“Tragedy struck once again in Turkey on Monday, this time targeting the Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov at an art exhibit. His assassin was a Turkish police officer, who shot the ambassador multiple times as he was delivering a speech.

“Video footage suggests that the assassin had drawn no suspicion as he was waiting calmly behind the ambassador before the attack—this is supported by the revelation that he used his police badge to get past the security checkpoint at the entrance of the exhibit.

“The footage also shows the assassin saying a religious verse in Arabic: a pledge for jihad for Muhammed moments after the attack. He also said in Turkish: ‘Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria. Until our towns are safe, you will not taste safety. Only death will take me away from here. Everyone who played a role in this cruelty will pay.’”

Barack Obama’s Long-Form Birth Certificate Determined to Be a Fake

WND wrote on December 15:

“A years-long forensics investigation into the computer image of the long-form Hawaiian birth certificate image that Barack Obama released during a White House news conference during his first term and presented to the American people as an official government document concluded it is ‘fake.’ The probe also confirms that those who were subjected to the derogatory ‘birther’ label from many media outlets and Democrats were right – at least regarding the document used to establish Obama’s eligibility to be president.

“The issue is that the U.S. Constitution requires the president to be a ‘natural-born citizen’ but does not define the term. Scholarly works cited by the Founders defined it as a citizen at birth, born in the country to two citizens of the country, or merely the offspring of two citizens of the country. The birth certificate Obama displayed on the White House website as ‘proof positive’ of his eligibility states he was born in Hawaii to an American mother and a Kenyan father… Now, what has been described as the only official law enforcement investigation ever done into the Obama birth certificate, ordered by Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, has concluded it is ‘not authentic.’

“Jerome Corsi, Ph.D., WND senior staff writer and author of ‘Where’s the Birth Certificate?’ was credited by sheriff’s officials with contributing to the investigation. Corsi said Mike Zullo, head of the Cold Case Posse, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio ‘have done the United States a heroic service demonstrating by forensic analysis that the long form birth certificate produced in a White House news conference on April 27, 2011, as Barack Obama’s authentic birth certificate is a forgery… That President Obama’s birth certificate is fake, as proven now by a legitimate law enforcement examination raises serious questions that high crimes and misdemeanors have been committed at the highest level of government. The clear conclusion is that the Obama presidency may have been illegitimate, having violated Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Impeachment procedures may be required, even if those procedures are conducted after Obama leaves office.’

“The sheriff’s video said there were nine images on the Obama birth certificate that appear to be identical to, and copied from, another birth certificate issued in Hawaii just days after his birth. That certificate belongs to Johanna Ah’nee… Forlabs, an Italian company that specializes in extracting information from multimedia files, also produced the results [showing the birth certificate to be a forgery]. ‘We had two experts from two countries in separate disciplines of forensics that came to one conclusion: Barack Obama’s long form birth certificate it not authentic,’ the report said…

“The investigators also said they had developed credible evidence that Obama’s Selective Service card was a forgery, based on an examination of the postal date stamp on the document. Also, records of Immigration and Naturalization Service cards filled out by passengers arriving on international flights originating outside the United States in the month of August 1961, examined at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., were missing… for the week of President Obama’s birth…

“Zullo has noted that Reed Hayes, a document examiner who has served as expert witness for Seattle law firm Perkins Coie – the firm that flew an attorney to Honolulu to personally deliver two paper copies of the birth certificate to the White House – has concluded in a signed affidavit that the document posted on the White House website is ‘entirely fabricated.’

“… at the time Obama was born, only a short time after Hawaii was admitted as a state, there were a number of ways a Hawaiian birth certificate could have been obtained without the person having been born in Hawaii…

“Among the many records the Obama camp has refused to release are the marriage license of his father (Barack Sr.) and mother (Stanley Ann Dunham), name-change records (Barry Soetero to Barack Hussein Obama), adoption records, records of his and his mother’s repatriation as U.S. citizens from Indonesia, baptism records, Noelani Elementary School (Hawaii) records, Punahou School financial aid or school records, Occidental College financial aid records, Harvard Law School records, Columbia senior thesis, Columbia College records, record with Illinois State Bar Association, files from his terms as an Illinois state senator, his law client list, medical records and passport records.”

Newsmax added on December 15:

“Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio held a press conference on Thursday to release information he says proves that President Barack Obama’s long form birth certificate is a forgery. Arpaio said he received information in 2011 that indicated the certificate could have been forged, and he consulted forensic experts from around the world who agree it is not authentic. Arpaio and his team are not claiming that Obama was not born in Hawaii, but only that the long form birth certificate is not authentic. So-called ‘birthers’ have questioned Obama’s place-of-birth, saying he was born in Kenya, which they say disqualifies him to serve as president of the United States. Obama says he was born in Hawaii.

“… lead investigator Mike Zullo… showed video of Obama’s birth certificate alongside one of a person named Johanna Ah’Nee. Zullo said that the forensic experts found ‘nine points of forgery’ from which parts of Zullo’s birth certificate was copied to the one purporting to be Obama’s. Among them was a stamped date that had the exact same angle. By comparison, a set of twins born five minutes apart had birth certificates where the stamp did not align exactly… Zullo said the ‘safety paper’ used by Hawaii is easily obtained on eBay, but even at that, no original piece of paper has been seen by very many members of the press. Instead, the White House provided a .jpg image to the Associated Press, which distributed it to members. As for the stamp, one was obtained at Kinko’s for $25, ‘no questions asked.’ Arpaio… called on Congress to look into the matter.”

Mr. Trump did himself and the country a great disservice when he stated, without any explanation whatsoever for his 180-degree “turn-a-around” and “change” of mind, that Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii. Whether Congress would be willing to even look into this matter is a highly dubious question. It seems more likely that they would want to let sleeping dogs lie—being afraid of potentially horrible consequences for the country (and for an indifferent Congress which could be viewed as allegedly complicit in a potential cover-up), if Mr. Obama were to be found of not having been a legitimate president. We can be certain that America’s mainstream media—liberal AND conservative—will continue to speak of the horrible “LIE” of ignorant or malicious people (indiscriminately calling all of them “birthers”) to the effect that Mr. Obama was allegedly not born in Hawaii. But what IF it were to turn out one day that the mass media have perpetrated a propagandistic “LIE” in claiming, without evidence, that he WAS born in Hawaii? Many democratic and conservative politicians and the mass media are in panic about such an undesirable outcome.

Mass Media Wrong Again—President NOT Exempt from Conflict of Interest Laws

The Huffington Post wrote on December 15:

“When President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, he will be banned from using nonpublic information for private profit under the 2012 STOCK Act, the Office of Government Ethics said in a letter clarifying the law’s interpretation.

“The letter from OGE Director Walter Shaub released Thursday night expanded on an earlier letter to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) to make it clear Shaub’s official guidance is that the STOCK Act does apply to the president. ‘The STOCK Act bars the President, the Vice President, and all executive branch employees from: using nonpublic information for private profit; engaging in insider trading; or intentionally influencing an employment decision or practice of a private entity solely on the basis of partisan political affiliation,’ Shaub’s letter reads.

“The guidance further states the STOCK Act prohibits the president and vice president from participating in an initial public offering and participating in any action that could benefit or influence any person with whom they may be negotiating future employment or compensation after leaving office. This official guidance was necessary because OGE had not issued the guidance formally declaring how the law applied to the president and vice president…

“This law could cause significant problems for Trump, who appears ready to continue to hold a stake in his multibillion-dollar business enterprise. He has hinted that he will hand off control of the company to his two oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump. If at any time he gives them profitable information that he has learned through his presidential duties and that has not been disclosed to the public, he would be committing a felony…”

It has been uniformly misrepresented by the uninformed mass media—both liberal and conservative—that there are NO laws prohibiting the President from engaging in actions, constituting a conflict of interest. As we have reported before in our Update, these interpretations are manifestly erroneous.

Another Turn-Around by FBI Director James Comey?

The Washington Post wrote on December 16:

“FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. are in agreement with a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the White House, officials disclosed Friday, as President Obama issued a public warning to Moscow that it could face retaliation. New revelations about Comey’s position could put to rest suggestions by some lawmakers that the CIA and the FBI weren’t on the same page on Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s intentions. Russia has denied being behind the cyber-intrusions, which targeted the Democratic National Committee and the private emails of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. Trump, in turn, has repeatedly said he doubts the veracity of U.S. intelligence blaming Moscow for the hacks…

“The positions of Comey and Clapper were revealed in a message that CIA Director John Brennan sent to the agency’s workforce Friday. ‘Earlier this week, I met separately with FBI [Director] James Comey and DNI Jim Clapper, and there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election,’ Brennan said, according to U.S. officials who have seen the message…”

As we reported previously (note Update #764), it had been James Comey’s position that there was no credible evidence that Russia influenced the outcome of the recent U.S. presidential election by hacking the Democratic National Committee and the emails of John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign; that James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, agreed with this FBI assessment; and that it remained to be an open question whether the Russians did it and that it was just as likely that the hacking was done by people who had no direct connection to the Russian government.

Serious Test for U.S.-China Relations

Bloomberg and Newsmax wrote on December 17:

“U.S. President-elect Donald Trump slammed the Chinese navy’s capture of an American Navy underwater drone in international waters in the South China Sea, just hours after the country signaled it wants to resolve the issue smoothly. ‘China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters — rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act,’ Trump wrote Saturday in a Twitter post. After much criticism, the Tweet has since been deleted and re-posted to reflect the correct spelling of the of the word ‘unprecedented.’ …

“A Chinese naval ship unlawfully seized the small unmanned vehicle Thursday while the USNS Bowditch, a U.S. Navy survey ship, was [to] pick up the drone in a routine operation 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines, according to a Defense Department statement…

“While the motive remains unclear, the move threatened to exacerbate tensions between the U.S. and China at a time when policy in Washington is becoming uncertain. Trump has threatened higher tariffs on Chinese products and questioned the U.S.’s policy regarding Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory. The seizure was ‘one of the most brazen actions that the PLA Navy has taken against U.S. Navy for a very long time,’ said Ashley Townshend, research fellow at the U.S. studies center at the University of Sydney. ‘Against a background of rising tensions in the South China Sea and Trump’s increasingly hawkish comments on China policy, this incident will be a serious test for U.S.-China relations.’”

It will remain to be seen in what way these developments will result in a prophesied closer collaboration between Far Eastern nations, such as China and Russia. See our article below, titled, “Russia and Japan Getting Closer.”  

Europe’s Responsibilities in Light of the Trump Administration

The EUObserver wrote on December 16:

“In European capitals like Warsaw, Budapest, and Bratislava, Trump’s election is being openly welcomed. Others, including the heads of EU institutions, appreciate the possible risks but are unwilling to make any moves. ‘We need to wait until we know who his cabinet picks are and what he wants to do,’ a high-profile EU diplomat told me recently… acting on such an assumption is reckless, particularly given what we already know about the foreign policy outlook of the new administration.

“We know, for example, that Rex Tillerson, the new US secretary of state, is generally opposed to sanctions and is also a recipient of the Kremlin’s Order of Friendship. We know that the president-elect has a reserved attitude towards Nato and America’s duty to defend allies, should they come under attack. Neither is it a secret that Trump has peculiar ideas about trade and liberalisation and is unlikely to champion further trade liberalisation with the EU or other trading blocs around the world.

“… these snippets add up to a coherent view of the world in which America abandons much of its global responsibilities. It can no longer be expected to act as the world’s policeman, the leading voice in free-trade negotiations, nor a country that necessarily holds its friends and allies to high standards of democracy and rule of law… However, history shows that when global hegemons become derelict in their duties, turmoil ensues.

“After World War I… the United Kingdom was not in a position to be the world’s leading nation. It’s natural successor, the United States, was not willing to take on the responsibilities… When the economic crisis of 1929 hit, there was no government willing to step in and prevent the Western world from descending into protectionism and competitive devaluations. It was the near-collapse of international trade that made the Depression Great… democracies were unable to stop Mussolini and Hitler in Abyssinia, Spain, Austria, or the Sudetenland…

“Trump needs to understand that he will not be remembered fondly if he presides over the demise of Nato, another Great Depression, or a world war. European leaders need to reach out to him quickly… It should not be impossible to explain to the Trump family just how much the post-Cold War order depends on America’s leadership.

“More importantly, Europeans have to be prepared also to do things – to invest in their security, to step in where they know America will be absent, and to be prepared to lead by example.. After all, these are the right things to do even if Trump’s administration turns out to be perfectly benign. If it is not, however, being ready is what will stand between Europe and a geopolitical disaster of proportions unseen since 1945.”

Based on biblical prophecy and the signs of the time, it does not appear that there will be a “benign” relationship between Europe and “Trump’s administration”. Europe will undoubtedly realize this, and in order to prevent “a geopolitical disaster of proportions unseen since 1945,” they WILL work toward a strong unified European power bloc of ten nations or groups of nations—united economically by the euro and militarily by a common army. The Bible shows that ultimately, war will break out between this future European configuration and the USA.

Strong Dollar – Weak Euro

Deutsche Welle reported on December 16:

“After the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise rates, a lot of cash has made its way into the United States. That makes other currencies like the euro drop. Now even parity is on the horizon – meaning one euro buys one US-dollar.”

But this will only last so long, until the dollar drops and the euro rises again.  

CSU’s Seehofer: Cap on Migrants a Precondition for Next Government

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 15:

“Never before has Bavaria’s state premier spoken so bluntly about limiting the influx of migrants. Now, Merkel’s conservative ally has said a cap will be a prerequisite to forming a new government next year. ‘Without an annual threshold of 200,000 migrants allowed to enter Germany, the Christian Social Union (CSU) will refuse to be part of the next government,’ the Bavarian party’s head Horst Seehofer told news agency dpa on Wednesday.

“While German Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far refused to entertain the notion of such a cap, Seehofer sought Wednesday to enforce his position…”

The relationship between Angela Merkel’s CDU and Horst Seehofer’s CSU has been difficult for some time. If Mr. Seehofer carries out his threat, the CDU would not gain enough votes for Angela Merkel to become the next German Chancellor.

No Euro Crisis in Italy

AFP wrote on December 15:

“Italy’s banking problems can be solved and the EU will do everything to help, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday, dismissing fears of something akin to the euro crisis. New Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has said his government was prepared to come to the aid of the country’s third largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS), if private rescue efforts fail.

“The bank, seen as being in danger of failing if it is not recapitalized, needs to raise five billion euros ($5.29 billion) to avoid a state-subsidized rescue. ‘I do not think that we have to expect that the problems of the Italian banks have to be considered as unsolvable,’ Juncker said in an interview with the German public television ZDF.”

As we have been saying repeatedly, Italy will not exit the Eurozone or the EU.

Cold Shoulder for Theresa May

Daily Mail wrote on December 15:

“Theresa May’s Brexit challenge was laid bare for all to see today as European leaders gave her the cold shoulder at a key EU summit in Brussels. As the other 27 heads of state hugged and kissed ahead of the meeting, the British Prime Minister was left with no one to talk to… After 11 seconds of looking around…, she gave up and took her seat at the table. To many it symbolises the EU’s attitude towards Britain following the decision to leave the EU in June.  EU leaders even excluded Mrs May from their dinner tonight so they can discuss their Brexit plans in secret… Theresa May did find some friendly faces to talk to eventually, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel… and European Parliament President Martin Schulz…

“[Mrs. May said:] ‘As we are going to invoke Article 50 and trigger Brexit by the end of March next year, it is right the other leaders prepare for those negotiations as we have been preparing. We will be leaving the EU, we want that to be a smooth and orderly process as possible – it’s not just in our interests, it’s in the interests of Europe as well.’”

The Brexit will ultimately take place, and even though the German government (modern Assyria) is not too happy about this, they will not be able to “help” Britain (modern Ephraim) and to prevent the prophesied outcome. In fact, the relationship between the UK and continental Europe under German leadership will continue to deteriorate.

Russia and Japan Getting Closer

Deutsche Welle reported on December 16:

“Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Japan’s leader Shinzo Abe failed to reach a breakthrough on the Kuril Islands during Putin’s two-day visit. Officials from both sides, however, inked dozens of economic deals…

“The dispute started with the USSR claiming the four islands at the end of World War II, and has burdened bilateral ties ever since. Tokyo and Moscow have yet to sign a peace accord to formally end wartime hostilities…

“Speaking alongside Putin on Friday, Abe said overcoming the issue was a complex task, considering the deal ‘has not been concluded in more than 70 years.’ ‘I think we as the two leaders were able to show our sincere determination toward signing a peace treaty, although a difficult path lies ahead,’ he said. Putin concurred, but stressed that signing a peace deal should be a priority in the relations between the two neighboring countries….

“During the talks in Nagato and Tokyo, representatives of the two countries finalized nearly 70 deals on economic, cultural, science and sports cooperation. Among other initiatives, the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Japan Bank for International Cooperation agreed on creating a $1 billion… joint investment fund. Also, Novatek Chief Executive Leonid Mikhelson said his company had signed agreements with Japan’s Mitsui & Co, Mitsubishi Corp and Marubeni Corp for the liquefied natural gas plant in the Arctic.

“… Putin expressed concern about US missile defense systems in Japan, calling it an overreaction to the threat from North Korea…”

According to biblical prophecy, nations from the Far East will form an economic and military alliance which will be hostile towards Europe. This alliance will include China and Russia, and, in all likelihood, countries such as Japan and India.

The New False “Wisdom” of Pope Francis on Evolution

The Independent wrote on December 17:

“The theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real and God is not ‘a magician with a magic wand’, Pope Francis has declared… the Pope made comments which experts said put an end to the ‘pseudo theories’ of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI. Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they ‘require it’.

“‘When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,’ Francis said… ‘Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.’

“… Pope Francis’s comments were more in keeping with the progressive work of Pope Pius XII, who opened the door to the idea of evolution and actively welcomed the Big Bang theory. In 1996, John Paul II went further and suggested evolution was ‘more than a hypothesis’ and ‘effectively proven fact’.

“Yet more recently, Benedict XVI and his close advisors have apparently endorsed the idea that intelligent design underpins evolution – the idea that natural selection on its own is insufficient to explain the complexity of the world. In 2005, his close associate Cardinal Schoenborn wrote an article saying ‘evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense – an unguided, unplanned process – is not’”

These comments by controversial Pope Francis are the product of faulty human reasoning. Allegations that God cannot do everything are highly offensive. If you want to understand what the Bible says about the hypothesis of evolution, which has not been and cannot be proven, please read our free booklets, “The Theory of Evolution—a Fairy Tale for Adults?” and “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man.”

Donald Trump vs. the CIA

The Washington Post wrote on December 10:

“The simmering distrust between Donald Trump and U.S. intelligence agencies escalated into open antagonism Saturday after the president-elect mocked a CIA report that Russian operatives had intervened in the U.S. presidential election to help him win.  The growing tensions set up a potential showdown between Trump and the nation’s top intelligence officials during what some of those officials describe as the most complex threat environment in decades…

“Trump’s reaction will probably deepen an existing rift between Trump and the agencies and raised questions about how the government’s 16 spying agencies will function in his administration on matters such as counterterrorism and cyberwarfare… The tensions between Trump and spy agencies could escalate even further as dozens of analysts begin work on a project, ordered by President Obama, to deliver a comprehensive report on Russian intervention in the election before Trump’s inauguration in January…

“In a statement, Trump suggested that the CIA had discredited itself over faulty intelligence assessments about Iraq’s weapons stockpile more than a dozen years ago. ‘These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,’ he said.”

CIA and FBI Disagree

ABC wrote on December 12:

“In an unprecedented public display of acrimony, President-elect Donald Trump and the CIA are engaged in a war of words over the extent and details of Russian efforts to interfere with the American presidential election… Trump used his Twitter account this morning to continue his effort over the weekend to discredit the CIA and its reported conclusion that the Russians hacked into the Democratic Party computers in an effort to help elect Trump. Trump tweeted: ‘Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!’…

“Responding to Trump’s comments over the weekend, an intelligence official said that ‘It is concerning that intelligence on Russian actions related to the U.S. election is being dismissed out of hand as false or politically partisan… The inclination to ignore such intelligence and impugn the integrity of U.S. intelligence officials is contrary to all that is sacred to national security professionals who work day and night to protect this country,’ the official said…

“Over the weekend, Reince Priebus, who is RNC chairman and has been selected to be White House chief of staff in the Trump administration, told ABC News’ This Week that the RNC’s systems were ‘absolutely not hacked.’ ‘We contacted the FBI months ago when the [hacking of the Democratic National Committee] issue came about. They reviewed all of our systems. We have hacking-detection systems in place, and the conclusion was then, as it was again two days ago when we went back to the FBI to ask them about this, that the RNC was not hacked,’ he said.”

Newsmax wrote on December 14:

“In telephone conversations with Donald Trump, FBI Director James Comey assured the president-elect there was no credible evidence that Russia influenced the outcome of the recent U.S. presidential election by hacking the Democratic National Committee and the emails of John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. What’s more, Comey told Trump that James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, agreed with this FBI assessment…

“During their phone conversations, Comey informed Trump that the FBI had been alert for the past year to the danger that the Russians would try to cause mischief during the U.S. presidential election. However, whether the Russians did so remains an open question, Comey said, adding that it was just as likely that the hacking was done by people who had no direct connection to the Russian government…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 15:

“The government of the outgoing US President Barack Obama claimed on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was directly responsible for the hacker attacks during the US election  campaign.

“‘Nothing of such a bearing’ is done within the Russian government, without Putin knowing, said the Obama advisor Ben Rhodes on MSNBC television. Putin was ultimately responsible for the deeds of the Russian government.’

“The White House also said it was ‘fact’ that such actions helped Donald Trump’s campaign.”

This does not look like a “smooth transition” of the US Presidency, as previously claimed by President Obama.

Donald Trump’s Controversial Nomination of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State

JTA wrote on December 13:

“President-elect Donald Trump nominated Rex Tillerson, the chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil, who is close to the Russian leadership, as secretary of state. Trump in his statement Tuesday morning emphasized Tillerson’s executive skills…

“Tillerson faces a tough nomination fight [in the Senate] because of his associations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He led the expansion of Exxon’s joint drilling with Russia in recent years and has objected to sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. Tillerson in 2012 was honored with the Russian Order of Friendship decoration.

“Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. told NPR on Tuesday that he was withholding judgment on Tillerson. Calling Putin a ‘thug’ [and a ‘murderer’] for his expansionism in Ukraine and his human rights abuses, McCain, who will be key to getting Tillerson confirmed, said in the interview, ‘Did he ever raise those issues with Mr. Putin? Is it strictly business?’

“Oil companies have in the past clashed with the pro-Israel lobby, in the 1970s over the Arab boycott of Israel and in the 1990s over the imposition of sanctions on Iran.”

BBC News added on December 13:

“Although he has no formal foreign policy experience, as Exxon chief Mr Tillerson oversees a company with 75,000 employees and business activities in more than 50 countries. He has warned of the ‘catastrophic’ impact of unchecked climate change, although his company has been accused of deliberately misleading the public about the role of fossil fuels in global warming.

“But it is his connections to Russia that have drawn most flak. He has forged multi-billion-dollar deals with Russia’s state oil company, Rosneft…

“As rumours of his nomination gathered pace in recent days… Marco Rubio… said being ‘a friend of Vladimir is not an attribute I am hoping for from’ the next secretary of state… Reacting to the nomination, Mr Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yury Ushakov, said all Russian officials and not just the president enjoyed ‘good, businesslike relations’ with Mr Tillerson…”

Tillerson’s Nomination “Deeply Disturbing” to Jews

JTA wrote on December 13:

“‘Exxon Mobil has not been a friend to Israel through the years,’ said Abraham Foxman, the national director emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League… ‘There was a time that being associated with oil made you automatically deemed hostile when it comes to Israel,’ said David Makovsky, the Ziegler distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy…

“Through his role at Exxon, Tillerson forged deep and friendly ties in the Arab world… ‘Tillerson’s nomination is deeply disturbing, as he is the leader of one of the world’s largest energy corporations — which has polluted the global environment, developed close relationships with dictators, and used its resources over 40 years to suppress climate science,’ said AJWS [American Jewish World Service] President Robert Bank.”

Mr. Trump’s nomination of Mr. Tillerson as Secretary of State, as well as his nomination of Andy Puzder, who runs the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains as CEO of CKE Restaurants, to lead the Department of Labor, are indeed controversial picks. Other somewhat controversial picks include so far Betsy De Vos for Education; Ben Carson for Housing and Urban Development; Jeff Sessions for Attorney General; retired General “Mad Dog” Jeff Mattis for Defense; Michael Flynn as Security Advisor; former Texas Governor Rick Perry as Energy Secretary (see article below); and former Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Stephen Bannon as Chief Strategist.

Ex-Texas Governor Rick Perry Nominated as US Energy Secretary

Deutsche Welle reported on December 14:

“US President-elect Donald Trump has formally chosen Rick Perry [who recently performed in “Dancing with the Stars”] as his future secretary of energy. If the oil industry ally is confirmed to the post, it could have profound consequences for US environmental policy…

“As energy secretary, Perry would be in charge of policy decisions on boosting the US domestic supply of oil and on investments in oil exploration and technology. The Energy Department also plays a major regulatory [role] in the areas of nuclear power and natural gas, as well as maintaining and securing the country’s nuclear arsenal… Perry is expected to try to push through the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project, which has provoked major protests in North Dakota, along with similar enterprises by the oil industry.

“He is currently board director at Energy Transfer Partners LP and also at Sunoco Logistics Partners LP, which together developed the Dakota Access Pipeline. The US Army Corps of Engineers decided last month to delay the pipeline to allow talks with the Standing Rock Sioux and other project opponents.”

At one time, Mr. Perry announced that if he were to become President, he would eliminate the Energy Department.

Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem?

The Washington Post wrote on December 13:

“Every four years, presidential candidates routinely signal their support for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Then, after they’re sworn into office, they balk when faced with the potential ramifications. Comments from Trump aides and the mayor of Jerusalem, though, suggest that Trump could be poised to discard yet another diplomatic axiom and relocate the embassy ‘fairly quickly’ after he enters the White House.

“That move would be highly political, effectively meaning that the United States was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which it has refused to do for decades out of concern about provoking Palestinians who want part of the city to become their own capital. ‘They are serious about this,’ Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said Tuesday after returning from a trip to the United States, where he met with transition aides whom he declined to identify. ‘I am optimistic that this will happen sooner rather than later.’

“The question of Jerusalem’s status is the most sensitive and complicated issue in the long-running conflict between ­Israelis and Palestinians. It is fraught with political, religious and nationalist implications that potentially could create an uproar throughout the Middle East and the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.

“Trump will have an opportunity to decide the fate of the U.S. diplomatic mission on June 1, at the expiration of another six-month waiver President Obama signed to the Jerusalem Embassy Act passed by Congress in 1995 mandating that the embassy be moved by 1999.

“Jerusalem sits in the middle of the contested land, figuratively and literally. To avoid the appearance of favorites, the United States and every other country place their embassies in and around the commercial city of Tel Aviv and drive to Jerusalem to meet government officials…

“During the campaign, Trump repeatedly promised that if elected he would ‘100 percent’ move the embassy. About a week after the election, Jason Greenblatt, a real estate lawyer and Trump adviser, told Israel’s Army radio that Trump was ‘going to do it.’ That confidence was reinforced Monday when Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said moving the embassy was a ‘very big priority’ for Trump.

“Meir Turgeman, the head of the Jerusalem building and planning committee in the Jerusalem City Council, said on Israeli radio this week that the transition team contacted Barkat asking for help finding an appropriate property. ‘The decision was already approved by Congress, and it is the right thing to do to recognize Jerusalem. It’s been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years,’ said Barkat, who is a friend of Trump son-in-law Jarad Kushner…

“The move would be unpopular among Arabs across the Middle East and make it even more difficult for Arab governments to acknowledge publicly that they have been developing under-the-table relations with Israel, said Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. ‘It would fan the flames of a region already on fire,’ he said…”

JTA wrote on December 15:

“President-elect Donald Trump is nominating a top Jewish surrogate, David Friedman, to be ambassador to Israel, with a statement saying Friedman will serve from Jerusalem and describing the city as ‘Israel’s eternal capital’.”

Such a transfer would indeed be very interesting in the light of biblical prophecy.

China Responds to Trump Policy

The National World wrote on December 12:

“An official Chinese newspaper called Donald Trump ‘as ignorant as a child’ on Monday after the president-elect again suggested that he was reconsidering how the US deals with Taiwan – one of the most sensitive issues in the relationship between Washington and Beijing. The Global Times, a Communist Party-controlled newspaper, was responding to Mr Trump’s comments in a television interview on Sunday that he would not feel ‘bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade’.

“Beijing was already angered by Mr Trump’s December 2 call with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to a Taiwanese leader in nearly four decades. China considers the self-governing island to be its territory and any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult. Hours after Mr Trump’s interview with Fox News Channel aired, the Global Times published a Chinese-language editorial headlined: ‘Trump, please listen clearly: “One China” cannot be traded.’…

“The Global Times, which is published by the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, often runs commentaries that target nationalistic sentiment with provocative language…”

“China Warns Trump: Taiwan Is ‘Not for Bargaining’”

Newsmax added on December 12:

“China warned Donald Trump against using the One-China policy regarding Taiwan as a bargaining chip in trade talks, a swift response that indicates Beijing is losing patience with the U.S. president-elect as he breaks with decades of diplomatic protocol… the official Xinhua News Agency warned that world peace hinges on close and friendly ties between the U.S. and China…”

Germany Won’t Change China Policy

ABC wrote on December 12:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that her country, Europe’s biggest economic power, won’t be changing its policy on China and Taiwan after President-elect Donald Trump raised questions about the future U.S. stance. Merkel was asked Monday whether she, like Trump, would be prepared to speak to Taiwan’s president and what Trump’s recent comments on China mean for Europe. She replied: ‘We continue to stand by the one-China policy and we will not change our position.’

“The one-China policy means recognizing Beijing as China’s capital and maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan. Trump said over the weekend he wouldn’t feel ‘bound by a one-China policy.’ Merkel has visited China regularly over 11 years as chancellor and cultivated economic ties, though she irked Beijing by receiving the Dalai Lama in 2007.”

As this article indicates, even a “minor” incident such as taking a phone call from Taiwan could lead to deteriorating relationships between the USA and Europe under German leadership.

Donald Trump on Paris Global Warming Agreement

Newsmax wrote on December 11:

“Trump said Sunday he was ‘studying’ whether the U.S. should stick with the global warming agreement struck in Paris a year ago, signed by more than 100 countries to reduce carbon emissions… ‘I don’t want that agreement to put us at a competitive disadvantage with other countries,’ he said.  ‘As you know, there are different times and different time limits on that agreement.  I don’t want that to give China or other countries signing agreements and advantage over us.’”

USA Economic Downfall Coming

Express wrote on December 12:

“An Economist has warned American citizens to prepare for a ‘once in a generation’ economic collapse, similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Harry Dent, an economics forecaster and writer, said the rise in investment since Donald Trump’s presidential election win was setting America up for a fall.

“He said he expected the country’s economy to grow sharply over the next few months before crashing in scenes not witnessed since the inter-war period. Mr Dent predicted: ‘I think this is going to be a stock market peak of a lifetime followed by a crash very similar to the early 1930s. This happens once in a lifetime. I think this is the last rally in this bull market. You can’t have stocks keep going up at this rate when earnings are going nowhere.’

“He said Mr Trump’s many election pledges, primarily creating millions of jobs in the country and kick-starting dying industrial towns, would prove to be his downfall. Once his promises go unfulfilled, Mr Dent explained, investors would panic, withdrawing their funds and creating a devastating economic collapse.

“The top finance expert also said economic instability in Europe, particularly Italy, could have a knock-on effect in America. He said: ‘I think the trigger is people seeing sometime early next year that Donald will not be able to do everything that he said, and the economy may be slowing by then. ‘The biggest trigger, kind of like the subprime crisis in 2008, is going to be Italy.  Italy is bankrupt. Its bonds are trading at lower rates than ours which is ridiculous.’

“Mr Dent concluded his warning by conceding his prediction could be way off target – but claimed he felt he had to warn the public of what may lie ahead.”

Certain words in the article, such as “fall”; “downfall”; “economic collapse”; and “what may lie ahead” are quite interesting in light of our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

The Revival of Roman Catholicism in France

MSN wrote on December 8:

“For many French voters, François Fillon is more than a leading contender for president in next year’s elections: He is viewed as a crusader in the throes of a holy war… represent[ing] an astonishing prospect: the political reawakening of Catholic France after decades of slumber.

“As right-wing and populist leaders across Europe — such as Viktor Orban in Hungary and Marine Le Pen in France — increasingly turn toward Christian values, Fillon has ignited a wave of nostalgia for a nation of traditional families and quaint village churches. It is a nation that he and many of his supporters say is under siege from the dual threats of multiculturalism and Islamist terrorism. As evidence, conservatives cite the slaying of an 85-year-old village priest in July by Islamic State-inspired militants, explaining it as an assault on the essence of France…

“When the fervent Roman Catholic responds to terrorist violence, he often does so in the lofty language of religious rapture. The war against the Islamic State, he wrote in his recent book, is ‘a battle of the end times,’ sounded with ‘trumpets of the apocalypse.’ In short, what he promises is a return to his nation’s roots. And in his eyes, those roots are fundamentally Catholic.

“Although France is renowned for strict prohibitions on religious displays in public spaces — notably on certain types of veils worn by many Muslim women — it is also a country of some 45,000 Catholic churches and one whose public holidays are almost exclusively Christian in origin [We understand, of course, that they are not speaking of true biblical Christianity and biblical “Holy Days,” but of “orthodox” or “traditional “ Christianity which has adopted many pagan holidays, rites and traditions, and which has rejected most of the biblical doctrines]…  Some insist that France would not exist without the Catholic Church: The nation’s oft-invoked creation myth begins, after all, with the baptism of Clovis I, who united the kingdom of the Franks in the 6th century…

“In provincial towns like Chartres — and in Fillon’s native northwest region — that ancient relationship is apparent everywhere. Anchored by a majestic medieval cathedral, Chartres is home to a relic said to be the tunic that the Virgin Mary wore at the birth of Jesus…

“Members of the clergy explain this increasing embrace of religion in the context of recent terrorist attacks, which they say have drawn many secular French Catholics back into churches for the first time in years…”

Challenges of the 64^th Italian Government in Past 70 Years

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 11:

“Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella has asked Paolo Gentiloni to form a new government as prime minister. Mattarella has rejected calls for immediate elections… President Mattarella said on Saturday he would act quickly to give the country a fully functioning government after holding 23 separate meetings with leaders of all parties over the past three days following the resignation of the previous caretaker prime minister, Matteo Renzi, who was defeated in a referendum on constitutional reforms last Sunday…

“Gentiloni is a 62-year-old former journalist and member of the Democratic Party (PD) which Renzi still leads. The new prime minister was one of the most trusted ministers and his appointment should allow Renzi to retain some influence on public affairs ahead of a possible candidacy in the 2018 elections…

“Italy has had 63 governments in the past 70 years…

“The challenges for the new prime minister are not just political… The country’s heavily indebted banking sector is also in need of substantial funds to recapitalize. The third-largest lender and the oldest surviving bank in the world, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS,) may need state intervention to avoid collapse. The bank has been in business since 1472, but it failed European stress tests in July and needs to raise 5 billion euros ($5.2 billion) to cover losses… The European Central Bank (ECB) refused on Friday to allow more time for a private bailout meaning a state-funded salvage operation was more likely. Under EU rules, state funds can be injected into troubled banks only if private creditors accept losses. In the case of BMPS this could hit many small investors who hold the bank’s junior bonds.”

Terror Attacks in Turkey

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 11:

“Ankara has declared a day of mourning after a terror strike outside a soccer stadium on Saturday night in Istanbul killed 38 people and wounded 155. The target was police officers, according to the Interior Ministry… Turkey came to terms with its latest large-scale attack, this one targeting police officers, killing 30 of them together with seven civilians and one unidentified person. On Sunday, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters that 13 people had been arrested in connection with the ‘terrorist attack.’… ‘Nobody should doubt that with God’s will, we as a country and a nation will overcome terror, terrorist organizations … and the forces behind them,’ [President] Erdogan said in a statement.

“The Kurdish militant group TAK claimed responsibility for the blast, Reuters news agency reported on Sunday, citing a TAK member who said Turkish civilians were not the direct target of the bombings. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus had told the private news channel CNN Turk that ‘arrows point to the PKK,’ the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party… The ‘Islamic State’ (IS) group has also been blamed for previous strikes, including one in June, when militants killed 45 people in a gun attack on Istanbul’s airport. Last week, the group threatened to target Ankara’s ‘security, military, economic and media establishment.’”

Subsequently, Mr. Erdogan began another crackdown on those who are not sympathizers and supporters of his policies, even though they are not in any way aligned with TAK, PKK or IS.

The Netherlands’ Geert Wilders Convicted for “Insulting” Moroccans

The EUObserver wrote on December 9:

“Dutch anti-EU politician Geert Wilders has been convicted by a Dutch court on Friday (9 December) for insulting a group and inciting discrimination, for remarks he made about Moroccans in 2014. The court said it was ‘legally and convincingly proven’ that Wilders had insulted Moroccans as a group when he rhetorically asked a crowd if there should be ‘fewer Moroccans’ in the country. However, the court did not impose a fine or jail sentence. Wilders was acquitted from the charge of inciting to hatred…

“Wilders’ defence lawyer announced he would appeal. Wilders was not present during the ruling. In a tweet, Wilders called the verdict ‘completely crazy’, said the judges ‘hated’ his political party and that ‘half the Netherlands’ had been convicted with him…

“Ahead of the verdict, Wilders had said the verdict ‘whether acquittal or conviction, will not change anything de facto’, and that he would continue to speak his mind. Several political analysts had pointed out, ahead of Friday’s ruling, that both outcomes would be a political win for Wilders.

“Having lost the case, he can now play the role of the victim who is being silenced by the establishment… Had he won the case, he would be able to prove he was right all along. In any case, Wilders is expected to do well in the upcoming national elections in the Netherlands, on 15 March 2017. His party has been leading in most polls for weeks and has consistently been doing well since the migration crisis broke out in September 2015…

“Earlier this year, he campaigned against an EU-Ukraine treaty, and correctly predicted… that ‘the chances are very big that a majority of the people will vote No in this referendum’… “

Following his “conviction,” Mr. Wilders’ popularity rose even more in the polls.

Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” One of the Favorite Books Among Italian Schoolchildren

Breitbart wrote on December 11:

“A survey by Italy’s Education Ministry showed that students at Italian high schools all over the country included Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s manifesto Mein Kampf in their list of their top ten favorite books. Alessandro Fusacchia from the Education Ministry said the choice was a ‘particularly nasty case,’ The Local reported. He added that the vote was not counted since students had been asked to pick from books by Italian authors that were published after 2000…

“Mein Kampf – translated as ‘My Struggle’ – details Hitler’s anti-Semitism and worldview that led him to perpetrate the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust. In June, Italian rightwing newspaper Il Giornale faced an outcry after it distributed free copies of an annotated version of Mein Kampf. The paper, which is owned by Paolo Berlusconi, the brother of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, justified the move by saying, ‘know evil in order to reject it.’…

“A 70-year-old copyright on Mein Kampf held by the German state of Bavaria expired at the end of last year, prompting the publication of a 2,000-page, two-volume annotated version of Mein Kampf by Munich’s Institute for Contemporary History in order to ‘thoroughly deconstruct Hitler’s propaganda in a lasting manner.’”

Martin Schulz—New Threat to Angela Merkel?

The Local wrote on December 9:

“Outgoing European Parliament President Martin Schulz has gained tremendous ground in a new poll, emerging as a potential threat to Chancellor Angela Merkel in next year’s election. When Schulz announced last month that he would not seek a new term as EU Parliament President to return to German politics, he was immediately pegged by German media as being a potential candidate for Chancellor for the Social Democrats (SPD) to run against Merkel. And now a new poll shows that he may actually have a fighting chance, more so than the current SPD leader and Vice Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel…

“When Merkel was pitted against Gabriel, she received 57 percent of the vote, while he received 19 percent… But when respondents had to choose between Merkel and Schulz, Merkel… received 43 percent of the hypothetical vote, while Schulz took in 36 percent… Whether Schulz will run rather than Gabriel is yet to be disclosed, and the party has said it will announce its decision in January. Schulz could also reportedly be a potential replacement for Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is expected to leave his post next year as he has been nominated as the country’s next president…

“After Merkel was officially selected by her party this week to be candidate for Chancellor once again… 59 percent of respondents said it was ‘good’ that she was running for a fourth term… And when asked how they felt about Merkel’s policies, 57 percent of respondents said they were happy or very happy… Schulz also received 57 percent approval…”

Meet Martin Schulz

We are told by Wikipedia that “Schulz (60) is married [he has been married for 30 years] and has two children… [After completing elementary school], Schulz attended the Heilig-Geist (Holy Spirit) grammar school, a private Roman Catholic school run by the Holy Ghost Fathers (or Spiritans) [without graduating; he did not advance twice to the next grade. At 24, he became an alcoholic and wanted to commit suicide, according to Der Stern, dated December 11. His brother, a doctor, helped him to overcome alcoholism… he stopped drinking immediately, from one day to the next. He also stopped smoking from one day to the next]…

“Schulz is widely considered an ardent EU supporter [Der Stern called him a “Super European”. He speaks fluently six languages: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.] … In 2016 Schulz stated that Donald Trump is a problem ‘for the whole world,’ and linked the Trump phenomenon to far-right populism in Europe. He called Trump an ‘irresponsible man’ who ‘boasts about not having a clue’… In 2015, amid the Ukrainian crisis, Schulz suspended a committee made up of Russian and EU lawmakers that meets several times a year to improve ties.

“When Russia barred entry to two European Union politicians who had planned to attend the funeral in 2015 of murdered opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, Schulz criticized the barring as ‘a high affront to EU–Russia relations and the work of democratic institutions’… On a visit in February 2014, Schulz gave a ‘generally pro-Israel’ speech to the Knesset, but he implied at one point, based on what he himself described as unverified data, that Israel was denying Palestinians a fair share of water resources in the occupied West Bank. This part of the speech sparked a walk-out by several lawmakers from the right-wing Jewish Home party, and drew a public rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

“On 24 November 2010 the British MEP Godfrey Bloom caused a row in the European Parliament when he interrupted a speech by Martin Schulz, heckling him with the Nazi propaganda slogan ‘Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer’ (‘one people, one empire, one leader’) and accusing him of being an ‘undemocratic fascist’… Schulz had criticised the role played by the United Kingdom, which was involved in the discussions despite not being a member of the eurozone, and said that some eurosceptics would take pleasure in the collapse of the European Union.”

Der Stern wrote that Schulz is driven by an “unrestrainable ambition.”

Pope on Syria: Accustomed to War and Destruction?

Zenit wrote on December 11:

“Pope Francis again reiterated his appeal for peace in Aleppo, turning once more to the plight of the Syrian city… The Pope has already made public appeals on behalf of Aleppo a handful of times. ‘Every day I am close, above all in prayer, to the people of Aleppo. We should not forget that Aleppo is a city. That there are people there: families, children, elderly, sick people,’ he said.

“The Pope lamented that ‘we have already grown accustomed to the war, to the destruction…’”

Gruesome Murders in Aleppo

The Telegraph wrote on December 14:

“The government’s operation to recapture the rebel-held eastern part of the city is in its final stages and reports of atrocities are coming in. The Syrian army is reportedly going from house to house and executing residents on the spot. At least 82 civilians, including women and children, were shot on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Residents fear summary executions, forced disappearances, torture, and rape – a grim litany of war crimes. Meanwhile, the Syrian regime and the Russian government are ignoring calls for the safe passage of civilians from war-torn Aleppo, as more than 100,000 terrified people are still trapped inside the city.

“If this story sounds familiar, that is because we have heard it before. We have seen it on the killing fields of Cambodia, the ghost towns of Iraqi Kurdistan poisoned by chemical weapons, in the faces of machete-wielding Rwandans, the sieges of Sarajevo and Srebrenica, and the desert death camps of Darfur. ‘Never again,’ the world pledged in the wake of these atrocities. And yet the same horrors are now being inflicted on the people of Aleppo and we are reacting with much the same carelessness…

“Five years into the civil war, Syria has turned into the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time. All red lines have been crossed. One of the greatest failures of our political leadership has been to allow Syria and Russia to dominate the narrative around Aleppo. Everyone is now a terrorist. Every hospital bombed a secret weapons storage. Every use of chemical weapons a false flag operation by the rebels…

“Aleppo will become the ultimate symbol of anger and disillusion. It will drive more young men into the arms of Islamic State and other terrorist groups and it will bring more refugees to Europe’s shores…”

Highly Regarded Scientist Recognizes God as the Creator of the Universe

Express wrote on December 12:

“Michio Kaku, who is highly regarded in the scientific community thanks to his work in helping to popularise the String Theory, has developed a new theory which he says points to the existence of God or an intelligent designer for the universe. The American scientist, who is a professor in theoretical physics at the City College of New York, came to his conclusion by studying ‘primitive semi – radius tachyons’.

“These tachyons are theoretical particles that have the ability to ‘unstick’ matter in the universe or vacuum space between particles, essentially leaving everything free from the influence of the universe. This led Mr Kaku to the conclusion that the universe was created through design, and not random chaos…

“He said of his research: ‘I have concluded that we are in a world made by rules created by an intelligence. Believe me, everything that we call chance today won’t make sense anymore. To me it is clear that we exist in a plan which is governed by rules that were created, shaped by a universal intelligence and not by chance.’

“With all of the calculations that would need to go into creating a successful universe, Mr Kaku says… [that] ‘the mind of God, we believe, is cosmic music, the music of strings resonating through 11-dimensional hyperspace.’”

This is a refreshing position of light in a foolish world of evolutionary darkness. Most scientists do not believe in God and attempt to “explain” a creation without a Creator; even suggesting that the universe “created” itself. To give you much biblical information on the truth and to expose the lies of so-called “scientific knowledge,” please read our free booklets, “The Theory of Evolution—a Fairy Tale for Adults?” and “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man!”

Austria’s Norbert Hofer Lost… for Now

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 4:

“… independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen has been elected as Austrian president after winning 53.6 percent of the vote. Right-wing candidate Norbert Hofer conceded defeat after garnering 46.6 percent of the electorate, confirming that he would not challenge the result… Hofer said he was ‘infinitely upset.’ ‘I would have liked to take care of our Austria,’ he wrote.

“Van der Bellen’s victory on Sunday will come as a huge blow to Europe’s right-wing populist movements which were anticipating a boost ahead of next year’s elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Austrian Chancellor and Social Democrat Christian Kern congratulated Van der Bellen shortly after the exit poll was announced… In neighboring Germany, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel also congratulated Van der Bellen, saying that a ‘huge weight had been lifted off of Europe… the result of the Austrian election will be a clear victory of reason against right-wing populism,’ the Social Democrat (SPD) told German newspaper ‘Bild.’

“Van der Bellen had the backing of Austria’s Green Party, but ran as an independent in Sunday’s election. A pro-European liberal, the 72-year-old aspires to a fence-free ‘United States of Europe’…”

Norbert Hofer Will Fight Again

Breitbart wrote on December 4:

“While Freedom Party candidate Mr. Hofer has conceded defeat, he has vowed to run again… he said he didn’t anticipate the Austrian government surviving long and would stand for president again.

“While the failure to gain the largely ceremonial presidency is a setback for the Freedom party, things are looking good for the coming general election in 2018 [for Austria’s chancellorship]. Their poll ratings have been steadily climbing for years and they now stand ten points clear of their next nearest rivals the left-wing mainstream SPO, and 20 points clear of the Greens.”

Austria One of the Most Politically Influential States in the EU

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 5:

“Norbert Hofer may have lost the presidential election to Alexander van der Bellen, but his Freedom Party has its sights set firmly on the chancellorship. Norbert Hofer, the presidential candidate of the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), only lost because he wasn’t able to mobilize all his supporters… Nonetheless, the FPÖ remains at 35 percent in the opinion polls, making it by far the strongest political force in Vienna. This is why even the Social Democrat (SPÖ) chancellor, Christian Kern, recently opened up to the shady right-wingers. He met the chief populist and FPÖ chairman Heinz-Christian Strache for a conversation that was broadcast live on radio.

“Politically, Vienna’s Grand Coalition of SPÖ and the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) is deeply divided, and is pretty much on its last legs… Germany is its most important foreign trade partner by far, and numerous German companies manufacture in Austria… Despite its small size, Austria, with its 8.5 million inhabitants, is one of the most politically influential states in the EU…

“The FPÖ… is making its promises of salvation more confidently than it has done in a very long time…”

Meet the New Austrian President

The Local wrote on December 4:

“Van der Bellen vowed not to swear in FPO chairman Heinz-Christian Strache as chancellor if the poll-leading party wins the next general election scheduled for 2018. The remark, which Van der Bellen later rowed back on, prompted Hofer to call him a ‘green dictator’.
“Critics have also accused Van der Bellen of being a ‘turncoat’ because he was a member of the Social Democrats before joining the Greens in the early 1990s and eventually becoming their president…

“An outspoken supporter of gay marriage, the divorced and recently remarried father-of-two has received strong backing from celebrities, artists and the country’s top politicians… Van der Bellen will be Austria’s second-oldest head of state at the time of his election. His age, combined with a heavy smoking habit, have repeatedly raised questions about his health.

“In late August, Van der Bellen was forced to dispel cancer rumours by releasing his medical records proving he had ‘wonderful lungs’. He insisted he had no intention of giving up smoking. ‘I once quit for four months… but why should I torture myself at my age!’ he said.”

Italian Prime Minister Resigns

The Washington Post wrote on December 4:

“Europe’s embattled political establishment lost another round Sunday in its effort to thwart the anti-elite movement, as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned following a voter rejection of his constitutional reforms.  [Italy’s President delayed accepting his resignation until after the Parliament approved the new financial budget, which occurred on Wednesday.] The thorough rejection of Renzi’s efforts to streamline lawmaking was a significant boost for the country’s surging anti-establishment forces just weeks after Donald Trump prevailed in the United States. Renzi’s loss also risked unleashing financial upheaval in Europe’s third-largest economy, as Italy’s weak banks struggle to contain the fallout…

“A populist takeover of Italy is still an uncertain prospect, since Renzi’s center-left Democratic Party remains in control of the parliament and national elections do not have to be called until 2018… What comes next will depend partially on Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who is charged with picking a new person to try [to] form a government and whether to hold early elections…”

The Media’s Propaganda

CNN wrote on December 5:

“The stage is slowly being set for a possible Itexit.”

This gives a distorted picture. The current referendum had nothing to do with the survival of the euro in Italy, or an Itexit, and it cannot be compared with the British referendum for or against the Brexit—even though some British papers, such as the Daily Mail, liked to “explain” it that way. For instance, Express wrote the following on December 4:

“Opposition parties [in Italy] are determined to push forward a breakaway from Brussels, and with Brexit increasing anti-EU sentiment across the continent, they will prepare for a fight to topple the Union. If there is a snap election, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement could rise to power and call a referendum over Italy’s membership of the eurozone. This would pave the way for Italy quitting the euro, plunging the eurozone into chaos and leading to the disintegration of the EU.”

This is clearly not going to happen.

Italian Referendum Was Not Even About the Euro

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 4:

“At stake were a number of governmental changes pushed by Renzi and his center-left Democratic Party (PD), which was hoping to reign in an unwieldy parliament by cutting the number of representatives in the upper-house Senate, getting rid of unproductive constitutional bodies and centralizing more power with the executive. But Renzi had faced an uphill battle from the start. By vowing to step down in the case of a ‘No’ victory, he conflated constitutional change with support for himself and his party. In addition, his opposition came from all sides: former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s right-leaning Forza Italia Party, populists Lega Nord and the 5-Star Movement (M5S), and even some members of his own PD were against the move.

“Ahead of the polls, many analysts voiced their concern over the possible instability a ‘No’ vote could usher in, and what effect that might have on global markets. A further concern among those familiar with Italian domestic politics was the possible rise of M5S, a nebulous left-leaning anti-establishment party that has little governing experience and no clear politic agenda. Despite ostensibly being leftist, M5S spokesman Beppe Grillo welcomed last month’s election of Donald Trump, saying that the people were beginning to show their discontent with the status quo.”

The Times of Israel added on December 5:

“After the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the No vote is likely to be interpreted as another victory for populist forces and a potential stepping stone to government for Grillo’s Five Star. But the campaign was not just about popular discontent with the state of Italy. Many Italians of a similar political bent to Renzi had deep reservations about the proposed changes to the constitution.

“Under the proposals, the second-chamber Senate, currently a body of 315 directly-elected and five lifetime lawmakers, would have been reduced to only 100 members, mostly nominated by the regions. The chamber would also have been stripped of most of its powers to block and revise legislation, and to unseat governments.”

Italian Referendum Different from Brexit and Donald Trump’s Election

The Local wrote on December 5:

“While there are some obvious similarities between the victory for No in the referendum and two other political upsets of the year – Britain’s vote to leave the EU and Donald Trump’s election as US president – there are also several crucial differences…

“[James Newall, a UK-based professor and expert in Italian politics] warned against interpreting the result as an ‘anti-establishment, populist revolt’… ‘Matteo Renzi wasn’t an establishment figure and had in fact been proposing reforms to sweep away vested interests.’ Indeed, it was difficult to say exactly who represented the ‘establishment’ in the referendum, and Renzi attempted to portray his reforms as ‘anti-establishment’, given that he argued they would cut bureaucracy and parliamentarians’ salaries…

“Several constitutional experts and politicians – including prominent figures from Renzi’s own Democratic Party – thought the changes would leave too much power in the hands of the premier, removing checks and balances. Others were unimpressed by the lack of scope in the reforms… If it’s uncertain exactly what the electorate were voting against – the establishment, Renzi himself, or the reforms on the table – there is even more confusion over what Italians were voting for.

“British Europhobic tabloid the Daily Mail erroneously referred to the referendum on constitutional change as an ‘EU referendum’, saying ‘now for Italexit!’. Members of British rightwing party Ukip, including its former leader Nigel Farage who campaigned for Brexit, celebrated the victory, with Farage saying Italy’s vote was ‘more about the Euro than constitutional change’. There’s no denying that the referendum and Renzi’s resignation will have consequences for the European Union, and Brussels had backed the PM’s reforms, but Italy is still a long way from fresh elections, let alone questioning its membership of the EU or the euro.

“It’s true that one of the main beneficiaries of Renzi’s defeat is likely to be Beppe Grillo and his anti-establishment Five Star Movement Party, which spearheaded the campaign for No and is openly critical of the EU. However, while the Movement has called for a referendum on Italy’s membership of the euro, Grillo stressed in a blog post after the UK’s Brexit vote that his party believed in the Union and wanted to reform it from within. Furthermore, the party would have to win a general election in order to be able to hold any referendum. Grillo has called for immediate elections following Renzi’s resignation, but it’s unlikely that these will be held until 2018; first, Italy needs to update is electoral law. ‘There’s no reason to be immediately alarmed about the future of the EU, though whether that remains the case will depend on developments over the coming days, weeks and months,’ Italian politics expert James Newall said.

“On the other side of the political spectrum, Italy’s far right were quick to claim the result as a victory all their own – despite the fact that it was a cross-party campaign, including prominent figures from Renzi’s own Democratic Party. Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s far-right Northern League, sent out a series of tweets celebrating the result, including one which read: ‘Long live Trump, long live Putin, long live Le Pen and long live the Northern League!’…

“However, as Newall notes, one thing Italians certainly didn’t vote for was radical change. ‘The result sends a clear message of “business as usual”, because the reforms have been voted down. Paradoxically, the decisiveness of the result means we will likely see less uncertainty than might have been expected – as to what happens next, we will just have to wait and see,’ he said.”

No Euro Crisis after Italian Vote

The EUObserver wrote on December 5:

“EU officials are trying to defuse concerns that the Italian prime minister’s resignation after a failed referendum will spur a new eurozone crisis.  ‘I think there is no reason to speak of a euro crisis,’ German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday (5 December) before a meeting of eurozone ministers in Brussels… Schaeuble and other eurozone leaders insisted that Italian voters rejected only constitutional reform on Sunday, and that there was no political crisis in Italy after prime minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation…

“Financial markets seemed to confirm Schaeuble’s… assessment, with the euro regaining during the morning the ground it had lost during the night against the dollar.  At midday, the main indexes in Frankfurt, London and Paris had increased by more than 1 percent, while the Milan stock exchange was losing 0.1 percent.
The Standard & Poor’s rating agency said that Sunday’s result ‘does not have an immediate impact on Italy’s creditworthiness’…

“EU finance commissioner Pierre Moscovici… dismissed the idea that the No vote in Italy was an anti-EU vote. ‘It’s not a Brexit vote, it makes no sense,’ he said, insisting that the referendum was on a domestic issue. ‘Populists in Europe are always trying to turn any vote into a pro-EU or anti-EU vote, but they are wrong,’ he said.”

Angela Merkel May Have to Fight for More than Just Germany

The Associated Press wrote on December 5:

“Unless EU juggernauts like France and Germany find ways to turn the tide, it could leave the defeat of the extremist right wing in Austria’s presidential election on Sunday as a mere blip on an increasingly muddled screen… When the Dutch go to the polls in March, [Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom in the Netherlands] could well be next to ride the mood of discontent that has trampled the status quo since the June 23 referendum in Britain stunned all powers-that-be and forced Britain to seek an exit from the EU…

“By the time the German elections come around in late September, three-time Chancellor Angela Merkel could well be fighting for something more than just Germany…”

Angela Merkel Re-Elected as CDU Party Leader–Wants to Strengthen the EU and Ban Burka

Deutsche Welle, December 6, 2016

“Germany’s conservatives have re-elected Angela Merkel as their party leader but by a smaller margin than expected. The chancellor received 89.5 percent of delegate votes at the CDU’s party convention in Essen. The outcome may have been a foregone conclusion, but Angela Merkel’s margin of victory was not. After getting 96.7 percent support four years ago, the chancellor was re-elected by a shade less than 90 percent this time around – a minor embarrassment for the woman who has led the party for 16 years.

“The vote came after a keynote address by Merkel… Merkel began her speech by defending her most controversial policy, her welcoming stance toward refugees to Germany from crisis regions like Syria. ‘Not all of the 900,000 refugees who arrived last year will be able to stay,’ the chancellor said. ‘But every single case will be reviewed.’ Merkel stressed that her refugee policy was necessary to combat human traffickers and said it was a ‘scandal’ that the war in Syria had been allowed to rage on for so long. But she also said she supported increased efforts to deport migrants whose asylum applications were rejected.

“It was a nod to conservative forces within her own party as well as the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the CSU. But that was the only major concession to hardliners…

“Merkel did prominently address the general feelings of insecurity that have encouraged right-wing populism in many Western countries. ‘2015 was a year uniquely full of events,’ Merkel said. ‘Many people feel as though the world is coming apart at the seams.’ She launched what was by her standards an emotional plea for international trade agreements like TTIP, which looks to be dead in the water since Donald Trump’s election to US president…

“Merkel said Germany would need to do more to strengthen the economy throughout the European Union. And on the Brexit, she said that she would demand that Britain respect free trade and other EU freedoms, if London wanted to remain in the European common market. She criticized other EU member states for refusing to take a fair share of refugees to the bloc. ‘2016 has made the world weaker, and we need to emerge stronger from crisis,’ Merkel said. ‘We need to do everything we can to strengthen Europe because the world does better if Europe does well. There’s no returning to the world before globalization.’ She said Germany needed to protect those things that made Germany and Europe stronger…

“The first time the crowd responded with extended applause was late in the chancellor’s speech, when she came out against Islamic Sharia law and the wearing of burqas. But she immediately moved on to condemn hate speech on the Internet…

“Looking ahead to next year’s national election, Merkel said she expected a bitter fight…

“The response of the roughly 1,000 convention delegates to her 1 hour, 17 minute speech was very enthusiastic, if not euphoric. But a surprising number of them decided to abstain in the vote for party chairwoman. Angela Merkel clearly still has some work to do to fire up the CDU grassroots ahead of next year’s national election.”

The Sun, December 6:

“ANGELA Merkel today completed an astonishing U-turn as she formally endorsed a full burka ban following a backlash over her open-door migration policies… ‘The full veil must be banned wherever it is legally possible,’ she said to a large round of applause. Merkel also stressed her determination to ensure that there’s no repeat of last year’s huge migrant influx… Numbers have since declined sharply, but Merkel’s approach to the migrant crisis has provoked discord within her Christian Democratic Union, which has seen a string of poor state election results this year…

“While Merkel has continued to insist that Germany will take in people in genuine need of protection, her government has moved to toughen asylum rules and declare several countries ‘safe’ meaning people from there can’t expect to get refuge in Germany… It comes as the country reacts with horror at the murder of 19-year-old Maria Ladenburger – the daughter of a senior EU official. An Afghan migrant has confessed to raping her and then drowning her in a river in the city of Freiburg, German police say.”

Angela Merkel’s CDU Moves to the Right of Its Leaders

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 7:

“Delegates at the CDU’s party conference in Essen have approved a 20-page position paper… It will serve as a preliminary party platform ahead of the national election next September. With it, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has moved slightly to the right…

“The paper… opposed dual citizenship for those who hold a German passport. ‘Multiculturalism has failed,’  CDU General Secretary Peter Tauber told the delegates before Wednesday’s vote. ‘We need a guiding, native culture in Germany…’

“The moderate shift to the right is intended to mollify the conservative wing of the party that had grown increasingly worried about Merkel’s welcoming stance toward refugees from Syria and other crisis regions, which saw nearly 900,000 migrants arrive in Germany last year. But there was no mention of an annual upper limit on the number of refugees to Germany, something demanded by the CDU’s Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) in the paper or at the conference as a whole…

“In her keynote address on Tuesday, Merkel charted a centrist course, but in the speeches in the two following sessions, it was clear that the majority of the party is more conservative than the chancellor. The right-wing of the party was particularly pleased by Merkel’s promise that the biggest wave of refugees was over and by her support for a partial ban on wearing burqas in public in Germany… Merkel’s position on the partial burqa ban – experts agree a total ban would violate the German constitution – dominated the headlines, particularly outside Germany. But it was only a small part of the convention. Both Merkel and the position paper stressed the CDU’s support for cultural diversity and personal liberty.

“This conference was about giving all wings of the party something, while no faction got everything it wanted. That includes the more liberal segments of the conservative party. CDU members of the European Parliament were pleased that their party had stressed the importance of Germany’s leading role in the European Union…”

German’s Migrant Crisis in the News Again

AFP wrote on December 5:

“The German government pleaded for calm Monday after the arrest of a teenage Afghan asylum seeker for the alleged rape and murder of a German [female] student triggered fresh criticism of the country’s liberal refugee policy. The anti-migrant AfD party blamed the crime on the ‘uncontrolled’ influx of foreigners, while the head of a police union warned of the ‘dangers that always go along with massive immigration’. But Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the murder of the 19-year-old medical student should not be used to whip up hatred against all refugees…

“The 17-year-old suspect, who arrived in Germany in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor, was arrested in the southwestern town of Freiburg on Friday after his DNA was found at the crime scene and he was identified on CCTV. The victim was found dead on a river bank on October 16. An autopsy found that she had drowned.

“News of the arrest triggered strong reaction on social media with some people saying an ironic ‘thank you’ to Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose open-door asylum policy brought a record number of migrants and refugees into Germany last year…”

The West Condemns Assad, Putin and China Over Aleppo

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 7:

“Leaders from several Western states pushed for an immediate ceasefire in the embattled city of Aleppo on Wednesday as Syrian government troops advanced against the rebels. ‘The most urgent goal remains an immediate ceasefire so that the United Nations can bring humanitarian aid to people in East Aleppo,’ said the leaders of Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy in a statement released in Berlin.

“The leaders also accused Russia of obstruction at the UN Security Council and urged the UN to investigate reports that war crimes are being committed in Syria…

“Assad’s renewed offensive has come under heavy international criticism for the humanitarian crisis it has exacerbated. Tens of thousands of city residents have become trapped between warring factions, with no way to receive much-needed food or medicine…

“The US… accused Moscow and Beijing of stalling the end of the conflict by refusing to back a UN Security Council measure on Monday that would have called for a seven-day ceasefire… German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the situation in Aleppo ‘a disgrace,’ particularly the failure to create safe corridors for residents to receive humanitarian aid or to flee. She also slammed Russia for the many civilian victims of its airstrike campaign in support of Assad.”

Donald Trump—Time’s Person of the Year

Time.com wrote on December 7:

“This is the 90th time we have named the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year. So which is it this year: Better or worse? The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer.

“It’s hard to measure the scale of his disruption. This real estate baron and casino owner turned reality-TV star and provocateur—never a day spent in public office, never a debt owed to any interest besides his own—now surveys the smoking ruin of a vast political edifice that once housed parties, pundits, donors, pollsters, all those who did not see him coming or take him seriously. Out of this reckoning, Trump is poised to preside, for better or worse.

“For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump’s victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class; for those who see it as for the worse, the destruction extends to cherished norms of civility and discourse, a politics poisoned by vile streams of racism, sexism, nativism. To his believers, he delivers change—broad, deep, historic change…; to his detractors, he inspires fear both for what he may do and what may be done in his name.

“… Trump’s assault on truth and logic, far from hurting him, made him stronger… Yet his victory mirrors the ascent of nationalists across the world, from Britain to the Philippines, and taps forces far more powerful than one man’s message…

“The year 2016 was the year of his rise; 2017 will be the year of his rule, and like all newly elected leaders, he has a chance to fulfill promises and defy expectations. His supporters and his critics will discover together how much of what he said he actually believes. In the days after the election, everything was negotiable: the wall became a fence, ‘Crooked Hillary’ is ‘good people,’ and maybe climate change is worth thinking about. Far from draining the swamp, he fed plums to some of its biggest gators…

“For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year.”

Mr. Trump Takes on China

Newsmax wrote on December 4:

“Donald Trump took on the Chinese government via social media on Sunday, rejecting criticism of his decision to take a phone call from Taiwan’s president at the risk of triggering backlash from Beijing. The U.S. president-elect told his 16.6 million Twitter followers that he wouldn’t be told by China who he should or shouldn’t talk to, and reiterated some of the grievances about China used in his winning presidential campaign. ‘Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn’t tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don’t think so!’ Trump tweeted.

“Over the weekend China complained to the U.S. after Trump flouted almost four decades of diplomatic protocol by directly speaking with the leader of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province. Its measured response suggested China’s desire to keep the incident from escalating into a full-blown crisis before Trump entered the White House or even appointed a full foreign policy team — in particular, a secretary of state.

“Trump’s retort was consistent with what one of his allies, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, signaled earlier on Sunday. ‘Beijing does not dictate who the president of the United States speaks to,’ Gingrich said on Fox News Channel’s ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’ ‘The United States is not always going to do what China wants them to do.’ Gingrich said the ‘old, timid State Department’ would have advised against taking the call from Taiwan’s president, adding, ‘We elected him not to listen to the current State Department.’”

Donald Trump and Al Gore Meet to Discuss Climate Issues

The Huffington Post wrote on December 5:

“President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump met with former Vice President Al Gore on Monday to discuss ‘climate issues,’ the Trump transition team said…  Gore disclosed he had also met with the president-elect, describing the conversation as ‘very productive’ and a ‘sincere search for areas of common ground.’ ‘I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump,’ Gore said… ‘The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued…’

“Ivanka Trump is angling to make climate change one of her ‘signature issues’ as a way to build a bridge to ‘moderates and liberals…’

“Gore, an outspoken voice on climate change, supported and campaigned for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In October, the climate crusader warned that Trump would create a ‘climate catastrophe’ if elected president. Trump and his team have signaled that his administration will undo some of President Barack Obama’s policies aimed at fighting climate change. Trump has also made comments in the past that cast doubt on the link between human activity and climate change. For example, he previously called it a ‘hoax’ invented by China to make U.S. manufacturing less competitive.

“In an interview with The New York Times after his election, however, Trump appeared open to accepting that there’s ‘some connectivity’ between human activity and climate change. But he also warned that combating climate change would ‘cost our companies.’”

Could an American President Shut Down the U.S. Internet?

Forbes wrote on December 2:

“Timothy Edgar, the academic director of law and policy at Brown University‘s Executive Master in Cybersecurity program, has outlined the legal basis for how a President Donald Trump could potentially shut down the U.S. internet in response to a national security crisis… Edgar wrote, ‘The view that the internet should be open, interoperable, and free from state censorship has been a pillar of American policy since the 1990s. Mr. Trump sharply departs from this establishment consensus…

“If Trump decides to build a great firewall, he may not need Congress. Section 606 of the Communications Act of 1934 provides emergency powers to seize control of communications facilities if the president declares there is a ‘war or threat of war’ or ‘a state of public peril.’ In 2010, a Senate report concluded that section 606 ‘gives the President the authority to take over wire communications in the United States and, if the President so chooses, shut a network down.’ With a stroke of a pen, Trump could invoke it… Section 606 has never been applied to the internet, but there is nothing in the law that explicitly says it cannot be… If Trump wants to ‘close that internet up,’ all he will need is an opinion from his Attorney General that section 606 gives him authority to do so, and that the threat of terrorism is compelling enough to override any First Amendment concerns.

“… Other liberal, democratic governments, including the U.K., France, Germany, and Australia, have imposed increased surveillance or flirted with the idea of internet censorship. Desire for such moves are not unprecedented in the United States and are not limited to Trump and Republicans. Let’s not forget Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman‘s 2010 attempt to create an ‘Internet kill switch’ for the President. Sen. Lieberman pointed to China as his inspiration for giving the President such capability…”

Pope Francis: “Europe Needs a Leader”

Express wrote on December 8:

“Pope Francis condemned European leaders for their lack of leadership… In an angry outburst, the head of the Catholic Church, said calls for ‘no more war’ have been ignored.  He said: “‘No more war!’ was something that Europe said sincerely, I believe Schumann, De Gasperi, Adenauer, they said it sincerely. ‘But afterwards, nowadays there is a lack of leaders; Europe is in need of leaders, leaders who go ahead…

“‘I think that ‘No more war!’ has not been taken seriously, because after the First there was the Second, and after the Second there is this third war we are experiencing now, piecemeal. We are at war. The world is conducting a third world war: Ukraine, Middle East, Africa, Yemen. It is very grave. Therefore, we say the words ‘No more war!’, but at the same time we manufacture weapons and sell them, and we sell them to those who are fighting, as arms producers sell them to this and that, to those who are at war with each other…

“‘There is an economic theory that I have not tried to confirm, but which I have read in several books: that in the history of humanity, when a State saw that its accounts were not in good shape, waged war to balance its budget. That is, it is one of the easiest ways to produce wealth. Certainly, the price is very high: blood… One cannot wage war in the name of God or in the name of a religious position.’”

The 21^st Century Cures Act—Blessing or Curse?

The Washington Post wrote on December 7:

“Congress passed sweeping legislation Wednesday that boosts funding for medical research, eases the development and approval of experimental treatments and reforms federal policy on mental health care.

“The 94 to 5 Senate vote Wednesday followed a 392 to 26 House vote last week. The bill, known as the 21st Century Cures Act, now heads to the desk of President Obama, who praised the bill Wednesday and said he would sign it…

“The bill, however, had vocal progressive critics… who said the bill’s changes to drug approval processes gave too many concessions to pharmaceutical companies.

“Public Citizen, a progressive activist group that opposed the bill, called it ‘sorely disappointing that Congress gave Big Pharma and the medical device industry an early Christmas present’ that ‘comes at the expense of patient safety by undermining requirements for ensuring safe and effective medications and medical devices.’”

“Castro’s Legacy of Failure”

The Editorial Board of “USA Today” wrote on November 27:

“Fidel Castro was a survivor but not a success. He survived guerilla warfare in the 1950s and claimed the leadership of Cuba for nearly half a century. He survived a botched attempt to overthrow him, quickly defeating about 1,400 CIA-trained exiles who invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. He, and the rest of humanity, survived the Cuban missile crisis, which brought the United States and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war the following year. He survived harebrained CIA schemes to kill him, including ones involving toxic cigars and exploding seashells, and dozens of later assassination plots by Cuban exiles. And even after a serious gastrointestinal illness forced him to turn over power to his brother Raul in 2006, Fidel survived for another decade before dying of natural causes… on Friday at age 90.

“By virtue of his charismatic personality, longevity in office and ability to torment a succession of U.S. presidents, Castro was a major 20th century figure. He was a spellbinding, if long-winded, speaker who became a hero to many on the American Left. But, ultimately, Castro left a legacy of failure. He stayed in power not by popular consent but through a brutal dictatorship that imprisoned or executed thousands of opponents. He tried unsuccessfully to export his Marxist revolution throughout Latin America and Africa. And he turned his beautiful island nation into an economic basket case rather than a socialist utopia…”

“Castro a Complete Fraud”

Daily Mail wrote on November 27:

“A prodigious womaniser and food connoisseur who kept some 20 luxurious properties throughout the Caribbean — including a private island he used to visit on his beautiful yacht — Castro was a complete fraud. The man who spent his life railing against the excesses of capitalism lived like a king — and a very debauched one at that.

“Western observers have long suspected that ‘El Comandante’ — The Commander — was siphoning off the proceeds from state-run enterprises, including a small gold mine. However, when Forbes magazine listed Castro in 2006 as one of the world’s richest ‘kings, queens and dictators’, he angrily insisted he lived on a salary of £20 a month.

“The full extent of his hypocrisy and personal excesses emerged only in 2014 when a former longtime bodyguard, Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, wrote a book about Castro’s secret life and estimated he was worth at least £100 million…

“Castro, who even kept secret the existence of his wives, was able to conceal a rapacious infidelity that produced at least nine children by four women. Reported lovers ranged from the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida to an underage nightclub dancer who reported how he smoked continually during sex. His notorious affairs earned him the nickname ‘the Horse’. He had a taste for young Cuban women of every colour and background, and half-jokingly told a journalist that it was his colossal sexual drive that had led him away from the Roman Catholic Church…

“Castro’s craving for prostitutes made problems for his Communist allies. Markus Wolf, East Germany’s former spy chief, recalled a security scare when Castro disappeared on a visit to East Berlin. He climbed out of his hotel window one night and headed off to an illegal brothel…

“With his shadow gone from their lives, Cubans will soon discover all too painfully the extent of the terrible trick he played on them.”

Castro Was a Killer

The Huffington Post wrote on November 28:

“Cuban-American journalists with intimate knowledge of Fidel Castro’s cruelty encouraged Americans on Saturday not to whitewash the legacy of the deceased Cuban strongman. On ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ Saturday, Tom Llamas, whose parents fled Cuba as political exiles, urged those following the news of Castro’s death to view his brutal reign with clarity.

“‘There is this tendency when world leaders die to kind of misplace this romanticism around some world leaders,’ Llamas said. ‘But Fidel Castro is someone who was a tyrant. He was a killer.’”

The Pope Mourns for Fidel Castro

Breitbart wrote on November 27:

“Pope Francis sent a telegram to Cuban President Raúl Castro Saturday, expressing his ‘sentiments of sorrow’ over the death of Raúl’s brother, former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. ‘On receiving the sad news of the death of your dear brother, His Excellency Mister Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, former president of the State Council and of the Government of the Republic of Cuba, I express my sentiments of sorrow to Your Excellency and other family members of the deceased dignitary, as well as to the people of this beloved nation,’ the Pope’s Spanish-language telegram reads. ‘At the same time, I offer prayers to the Lord for his repose and I entrust the whole Cuban people to the maternal intercession of our Lady of the Charity of El Cobre, patroness of this country,’ he said.

“Baptized a Catholic as a child, Castro was educated by the Jesuit order to which Pope Francis belongs. Despite his religious upbringing, Castro was an avowed atheist throughout his life. Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in January 1959 after an armed insurgency that toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista, and he subsequently ruled Cuba with an iron fist for nearly 50 years. Castro declared Cuba to be an atheist state when he rose to power and suppressed the Catholic Church during his reign, expropriating Church properties, exiling or jailing priests…, closing Catholic schools, and banning the celebration of Christian holidays.

“In 2006, Fidel ceded power temporarily to his brother Raúl Castro. Two years later, due to his worsening health problems, the succession became final. In September 2015, Pope Francis became the third pontiff to visit Castro’s Cuba after… John Paul II and Benedict XVI.”

World Leaders Praise Brutal Dictator and Mass Murderer Fidel Castro

In two related articles, Breitbart wrote on November 26:

“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute, calling Castro a ‘remarkable leader’ and ‘legendary revolutionary’ who made ‘significant improvements’ to his country. UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn also called Castro ‘an internationalist and a champion of social justice,’ while Russian President Vladimir Putin praised him as someone who ‘embodies the highest ideals of politics, citizen and patriot, sincerely convinced of the rightness of the case, which gave his whole life.’

“Their statements are in stark contrast to U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump, who called Castro a ‘brutal dictator’. ‘Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights,’ he said. ‘While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move-away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve.’…”

“‘At this time of Fidel Castro’s passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people,’ Obama said, noting that many Cubans and Cuban Americans had ‘powerful emotions’ about the dictator’s death. Obama did not mention Castro’s evil dictatorship, his suppression of human rights, or the brutal oppression and murder of millions of Cuban citizens in his statement. Instead he noted that the relationship between Cuba and the United States was ‘marked by discord and profound disagreements.’”

New Fight Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?

The Associated Press wrote on November 27:

“President-elect Donald Trump claimed without evidence Sunday that ‘millions’ voted illegally in the national election, scoffing at Hillary Clinton’s nearly 2 million edge in the popular vote and returning to his campaign mantra of a rigged race even as he prepares to enter the White House in less than two months. Trump and his lieutenants assailed an effort — now joined by Clinton — to recount votes in up to three battleground states, calling the push fraudulent, the work of ‘crybabies’ and, in Trump’s estimation, ‘sad.’

“The president-elect himself launched a Twitter offensive that spanned more than 12 hours on Sunday, casting a shadow over the legitimacy of an election that he actually won. ‘I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,’ he tweeted in the afternoon before alleging in an evening tweet ‘serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California’…

“Trump on Sunday tweeted part of Clinton’s concession speech, when she told supporters they must accept that ‘Donald Trump is going to be our president,’ and snippets from her debate remarks, when she denounced the Republican nominee for refusing to say in advance that he would accept the Election Day verdict… Clinton leads the national popular vote by close to 2 million votes, but Trump won 290 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232, not counting Michigan. She could conceivably tip the electoral balance in the remote event that all flipped to her in recounts…

“Clinton’s lawyer said her team has been combing through the results since the election in search of anomalies that would suggest hacking by Russians or others and found ‘no actionable evidence’ of an altered outcome. Moreover, Elias said, Trump has a vote lead even in the closest states that well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount. But ‘we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself,’ he said.”

Bavaria’s Horst Seehofer Invites Donald Trump

The Business Standard wrote on November 25:

“The leader of the German state of Bavaria has invited Donald Trump to visit, reports said today, after he urged European politicians to keep an open mind about the controversial US President-elect. Premier Horst Seehofer, a maverick member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc, wrote to Trump to congratulate him on his victory and said he would be welcome ‘any time’ in his state capital Munich, Bavarian government sources told German news agency DPA.

“Specifically, Seehofer suggested Trump could attend the city’s annual international security conference in February, just weeks after his inauguration as US president on January 20, the unnamed sources added. In contrast with many German and European officials, Seehofer warned soon after the November 8 US election against prejudging Trump too harshly. ‘I would urge us to see what he actually does,’ Seehofer said, calling for dialogue between Germany, European partners and the United States on ‘shared policy’.

“Seehofer has frequently clashed with Merkel over her liberal border policy, which permitted the arrival of around one million asylum-seekers over the last two years… Trump, whose paternal grandparents hailed from Germany, is expected to attend the G20 summit, which Merkel will host in Hamburg next July.”

Donald Trump Suggests Revoking Citizenship for Flag Burners

The Huffington Post wrote on November 29:

“President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that people who burn the American flag should lose their citizenship. This goes against current U.S. law, as well as a landmark Supreme Court case.

“Burning the flag is completely legal in the U.S. As the Supreme Court ruled in 1989’s Texas v. Johnson, it’s protected as free speech under the First Amendment. The late Justice Antonin Scalia, who Trump often praises, joined the majority opinion in that case.

“Lawmakers have in the past floated the idea of making the practice illegal, but none have gone as far as to suggest revoking citizenship. Citizenship is very difficult to take away; broadly speaking, an American would only lose his or her nationality by pledging allegiance to another country, committing treason, or voluntarily giving it up…

“Trump has contradicted the U.S. Constitution before. He’s promised to crack down on the press (a possible violation of the First Amendment), vowed to ban Muslims from entering the country (which could go against the Equal Protection Clause), and suggested we should torture people because they deserve it (cruel and unusual punishment).”

Here is what Mr. Trump twittered: “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year [sic] in jail!” It is obvious that he spoke without thinking too deeply about it. His proposal, if taken seriously, would of course be totally unconditional and illegal. But in the meantime, after listening to his advisors, it seems that he modified his public stance on the press, on banning Muslims and on waterboarding. The real issue is much more intriguing: what does Mr. Trump REALLY believe, and WHEN will the real President Trump stand up?

The Carrier Deal

Newsmax wrote on December 1:

“President-elect Donald Trump used an announcement Thursday that Carrier would keep its air-conditioning manufacturing plant in Indianapolis — saving 1,100 jobs — to declare that ‘companies are not going to leave the United States any more without consequences.’…

“Carrier said Tuesday that it would not close its air-conditioning plant in Indianapolis [to move to Mexico] after reaching a deal with Trump, initially sparing 1,000 jobs…

“Indiana offered the company $7 million in tax incentives after negotiations with Trump’s team to keep some jobs in the state…

“He also reiterated campaign pledges to reduce business taxes to as low as 15 percent — from the current 35 percent — and roll back regulations that he said have been crippling American companies… The president-elect also slammed NAFTA… and declared that ‘it will be changed… ‘We have to let other companies know that we’ll do great things for business. You don’t have to leave anymore. Your taxes will be at the very low end — and your unnecessary regulations will be gone.’…

“During the campaign, Trump threatened to impose sharp tariffs on companies that moved factories to Mexico… He repeated that pledge in Indianapolis, saying that companies will be ‘taxed heavily at the border if they want to fire their people, leave, make their products in different countries — and then think they’ll sell that product over the border.’”

Mr. Trump also reiterated his promise that he would build a wall at the US-Mexican border.

Mr. Trump Nominates Tim Price as Head of Department of Health; Picks Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 29:

“US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he would nominate Georgia Congressman Tom Price as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. The orthopedic surgeon is a critic of the Affordable Care Act, more commonly referred to as ‘Obamacare.’…

“After announcing the pick, the president-elect called the congressman ‘exceptionally qualified to shepherd our commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare and bring affordable and accessible healthcare to every American.’…

“Price’s appointment will require Senate confirmation, after which both houses of Congress would have to agree on any move to dismantle Obamacare.

“New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who will become the Democrats’ minority leader in the upper chamber, slammed the choice, calling Representative Price’s ideas ‘far out of the mainstream of what Americans want when it comes to Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and Planned Parenthood.’ Trump’s spokesman, Jason Miller, defended the nomination in a CNN interview, saying that the Affordable Care Act was already ‘imploding’ due to rising premiums.

“Later on Tuesday, Donald Trump also declared that his pick for Transportation Secretary would be Elaine Chao, who lead the Department of Labor under President George W. Bush and was the first Asian-American woman in the US cabinet. Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was largely silent on Trump’s candidacy until the very end of the election campaign, when he offered the president-elect his somewhat muted support.”

Will Medicare Survive?

Newsmax wrote on December 1:

“President-elect Donald Trump vowed during his campaign that he wouldn’t cut Medicare or other entitlement programs, but Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who he tagged this week as his Health and Human Services secretary, backs a plan that would end guaranteed government coverage for seniors… Price, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, backs a plan to turn Medicare into a ‘premium support’ system, meaning seniors would receive a specific amount of money from the government that would help them buy health coverage from a private company, rather than participate in government-run Medicare coverage.

“Democrats say the plans ends guaranteed coverage, and that the financial assistance would not keep up with rising healthcare costs, meaning seniors could end up paying more of their own costs. Proponents, however, say changes are needed to make Medicare more efficient and will save the government money, and warn the program will become insolvent if left alone. While campaigning, Trump told The Daily Signal that he was ‘not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid.’…

“Price and Ryan say they are serious about the Medicare changes, with Price telling reporters this month that lawmakers can fast-track reconciliation to push a Medicare overhaul through the Senate with 50 votes.”

Mr. Trump Nominates Wall Street Insiders

The New York Times wrote on November 30:

“In a campaign commercial that ran just before the election, Donald J. Trump’s voice boomed over a series of Wall Street images. He described ‘a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations.’ Now Mr. Trump has named a former Goldman executive and co-investor with Mr. Soros to spearhead his economic policy.

“With Wednesday’s nomination of Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman trader turned hedge fund manager and Hollywood financier, to be Treasury secretary, a new economic leadership is taking shape in Washington. Mr. Mnuchin will join Wilbur L. Ross Jr., a billionaire investor in distressed assets, who has been chosen to run the Commerce Department, and Todd Ricketts, owner of the Chicago Cubs, who has been picked to be deputy commerce secretary. All are superwealthy and to be overseen by the first billionaire president in United States history… While that approach has been cheered by investors… it stands in stark contrast to the populist campaign that Mr. Trump ran and the support he received from working-class voters across the country…

“Mr. Mnuchin, 53, and Mr. Ross, 79, are both familiar with buying distressed properties and selling for a profit. But they are political neophytes with scant experience in managing large organizations. They will oversee two government agencies that together employ about 130,000 people around the world. In the case of Mr. Mnuchin at Treasury, his experience as a principal investor who made large sums of money through high-risk, high-return wagers suggests that he will look critically at the thicket of regulations that now constrain the risk-taking activities of investment banks.”

“Entire internet Will Be Saved in Canada to Keep it from Donald Trump”

The Independent wrote on December 1:

“The Internet Archive – which exists to keep a store of the internet and of human knowledge – has said that it will be moving its store of the web to another country in order to keep it safe. It said it made the decision in the wake of the election of President-elect Trump, who has in the past suggested ‘closing up’ the internet. The decision has been made because libraries tend to get lost, it said. But that had become extra clear recently because of changes in the US, where its archives are currently stored.

“Events including the election of Donald Trump have led [it] to realise that it needs to make another store of the huge amount of information it has stored up, it said. As such, it will put that information in the Internet Archive of Canada, in a project that will cost millions but will look to keep the data safe. ‘On November 9th in America, we woke up to a new administration promising radical change,’ the archive wrote in a blog post. ‘It was a firm reminder that institutions like ours, built for the long-term, need to design for change. For us, it means keeping our cultural materials safe, private and perpetually accessible. It means preparing for a Web that may face greater restrictions. It means serving patrons in a world in which government surveillance is not going away; indeed it looks like it will increase.’

“The archive is now asking supporters to help fund the decision by donating to it. Donald Trump has given varying statements of his policy on the internet. But many of them have suggested that he will interfere with the web more and that he may look to shut parts of it off.”

Massive Suspected Cyberattack Interrupts Internet Survices in Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on November 28:

“A suspected cyberattack has disrupted internet service for nearly a million households in Germany…  ‘We believe that influence was exerted on the routers from outside,’ an unnamed company spokesman told the AFP news agency, noting that malware had been installed on routers that prevented them from connecting to the company’s network… Customers have been advised to disconnect their routers if they suspect that they were targeted.”

The apparent cyberattack also prevented our Church in Germany from broadcasting over Internet most of our live Sabbath services. Viewers were advised to directly connect to the sermon posted on YouTube. Interestingly enough, the sermon dealt with the question as to how Satan attacks us.

German Leaders Angry at Cyberattack

Deutsche Welle wrote November 29:

“German politicians say action must follow a hack that paralyzed some 900,000 internet connections… Internet service has still not returned to normal for all of the hundreds of thousands of Germans affected by the hack, but a lively and agitated discussion is underway about what should be done to prevent future disturbances – and who might be responsible for the attack.

“German provider Deutsche Telekom believes the disruption was part of a failed attempt to turn a large number of routers into part of a so-called botnet and sees a connection with other recent hacks around the world. Germany’s political leadership is very unhappy about the possibility that Russia might have been involved, but isn’t quite ready to point the finger directly at Moscow.”

Germany to Return 100,000 Asylum Seekers to Afghanistan

Daily Mail reported on November 28:

“Germany is planning to return 100,000 rejected asylum seekers to their home countries after Angela Merkel admitted: ‘It cannot be that all young people from Afghanistan come here’. About 60,000 will be returned under voluntary repatriation programmes while the rest face compulsory deportations, the German chancellor revealed. They will be given money as ‘start-up’ aid to help them resettle in their homeland as well as a plane ticket, it has been reported in Germany…

“Merkel has previously come under fire in Germany for her ‘open-door’ policy, in the wake of Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II.”

Meet Francois Fillon—the Next French President?

The Guardian wrote on November 27:

“François Fillon, the socially conservative former prime minister who plans to shrink the French state, has won the primary race to become the French right’s presidential candidate next spring. Fillon, 62, gained support in the final days of the primary race after writing a book on the dangers of ‘Islamic totalitarianism’ in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in France and defending a tough line on French national identity… France’s two-round presidential elections in April and May are being watched as the next possible shakeup of the political system, after Donald Trump won the US presidency this month.

“Polls in France have consistently shown that the far-right Front National leader, Marine Le Pen, will make it to the final round runoff but that it would be difficult for her to win. Fillon is now the favourite to face her and win the presidency next year. In his victory speech, Fillon said the Socialist François Hollande’s presidency had been ‘pathetic’ and France now had to be overhauled in a way that it ‘hasn’t been for 30 years’…

“Fillon is a Catholic traditionalist who deliberately appealed to the conservatism of the religious right and wants to increase state benefits for families. He complained about being attacked as a ‘medieval reactionary’ during the campaign because, having voted against France’s recent introduction of same-sex marriage, he promised to roll back certain parental rights for same-sex couples. He said it was his private belief that abortion was not a fundamental right but promised not to change French abortion law.

“Fillon, who is on first-name terms with Vladimir Putin after they served as prime ministers in the same period, has advocated a stridently pro-Putin policy towards Russia. He said Russia was no threat, should be a partner in Syria and that European sanctions against Russia should be lifted. He said the fight against Islamic State meant France should not rule out cooperating with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

“Fillon has taken a hard line on Islamic extremism as well as the place of Islam in France, warning that ‘radical islam is corrupting some of our Muslim fellow citizens’. Over the summer, he said he was in favour of banning burkinis, or full-body swimsuits, from French beaches. ‘No, France is not a multicultural nation,’ Fillon said during the final TV debate, adding that foreigners who came to France must assimilate. He said: ‘When you come to someone’s house, by courtesy, you don’t take over.’

“… Hollande is expected to announce within days whether he will stand for re-election. His party is in disarray and there are serious doubts among Socialists about Hollande’s chances of even making it past the first round. He is the least popular French president since the second world war, with his satisfaction rating in one recent poll as low as 4%.”

Subsequently, Mr. Hollande announced that he would not stand for re-election.

Austrian Presidential Re-Election this Sunday

The EUObserver wrote on November 28:

“Austria’s presidential candidates have clashed in a TV debate over US president-elect Donald Trump, immigration and the future of the EU before voters head to the polls on Sunday (4 December). Alexander Van der Bellen, backed by the Greens, and far-right contender Norbert Hofer for the Freedom Party (FPOe) echoed the faultlines where mainstream politics and populism have clashed in Western democracies recently. Van der Bellen accused Hofer of creating insecurity by threatening to pull Austria out of the EU. ‘The FPOe has always been an EU exit party,’ he said.

“Hofer had earlier pledged to call for a referendum on EU membership if Turkey joined the union or if Brussels tried to centralise power. ‘The most important thing is the solidarity between member states, otherwise we won’t be able to assert ourselves in the face of Russia or the United States,’ 72-year-old Van der Bellen said during the live debate broadcast on private channel ATV.

“Hofer, 45, dismissed such claims, saying: ‘There won’t be an Oexit.’ Hofer attacked Van der Bellen for criticising the US election victory of Donald Trump.

“Van der Bellen said many in Europe felt ‘anxious’ about the US president-elect who has been accused of sexism and racism. Van der Bellen also warned that the election of Donald Trump in the US showed there was justified anger, which made voters feel abandoned and forgotten. Hofer retorted by saying that in Austria a lot of people feel abandoned… Hofer blamed German chancellor Angela Merkel for the EU’s failed migration policy. He also doubted Turkey will hold itself to the migration deal with the EU for much longer.

“The two candidates have already made history, since it would be the first time Austria’s president does not come from the Social Democratic and Austrian People’s Party, which have dominated the political scene since World War II. Hofer could also become Europe’s first postwar far-right head of state after 4 December. Austrian voters need to head to the ballot boxes again after Hofer challenged the result of the May election which he narrowly lost to Van der Bellen. Hofer said however he would not contest the outcome this time.”

Fears Mount in Anticipation of Italian Referendum on December 4

The Financial Times wrote on November 28:

“Up to eight of Italy’s troubled banks risk failing if prime minister Matteo Renzi loses a constitutional referendum next weekend… Mr Renzi… says he will quit if he loses the referendum… The situation is being closely watched by financiers and policymakers across Europe and beyond, who worry that a mass failure of Italian banks could trigger panic across the eurozone banking system.

“… Italy’s banks have €360bn of problem loans versus €225bn of equity on their books…”

Please read our Editorial in this week’s Update, discussing the situation in Italy and Europe.

War in Space, which the US Could Lose

CNN wrote on November 28:

“Since man first explored space, it has been a largely peaceful environment. But now US adversaries are deploying weapons beyond Earth’s atmosphere, leading the US military to prepare for the frightening prospect of war in space. ‘As humans go out there, there has always been conflict. Conflict in the Wild West as we move in the West … conflict twice in Europe for its horrible world wars,’ Gen. John Hyten, head of US Strategic Command, told CNN. ‘So, every time humans actually physically move into that, there’s conflict, and in that case, we’ll have to be prepared for that.’

“Today, the US depends on space more than any other nation. Without satellites, televisions would go blank, mobile networks silent, and the Internet would slow and then stop. Dependent on time stamps from GPS satellites, everything from stock markets to bank transactions to traffic lights and railroad switches would freeze. Airline pilots would lose contact with the ground, unsure of their position and without weather data to steer around storms. World leaders couldn’t communicate across continents. In the US military, pilots would lose contact with armed drones over the Middle East. Smart bombs would become dumb. Missiles would sit immobile in their silos. The US could lose early warning of nuclear attacks for parts of the Earth. ‘There’s incentive to take that away from us,’ said Peter Singer, who advises the Defense Department on space threats…

“‘And that means if there was conflict on Planet Earth, it would almost inherently start with some kind of conflict in space.’ America’s chief adversaries in space are familiar ones: Russia and China are extending above the atmosphere the competition and conflict already boiling down here on Earth — from Syria to Ukraine to the South China Sea to cyberspace. China and Russia are taking aim at America in space with a dizzying array of weapons seemingly borrowed from science fiction. Russia has deployed what could be multiple kamikaze satellites such as ‘Kosmos 2499’ — designed to sidle up to American satellites and then, if ordered, disable or destroy them. China has launched the ‘Shiyan’ — equipped with a grappling arm that could snatch US satellites right out of orbit…

“In 2015, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work expressed his grave concern that the military was not ‘ready to do space operations in a conflict that extends into space.’ He was proven right when, months later, US space forces were overwhelmed in a mock attack on US military satellites… as Russia and China make rapid advances, some of the most senior military commanders are sounding the alarm that this is a war — the next world war and the first to extend beyond the confines of Earth — that America could lose… Winning a space war means rethinking how the US wages war, and that rethinking is one our current military leaders and politicians are only just beginning to undertake. So is the US moving quickly enough to respond to the new threats in space? ‘I would say the answer was no,’ said Gen. William Shelton, former head of Space Command. ‘Could we provide active defense of our own satellites? The answer’s no.’ The stakes couldn’t be higher. How the US responds to this new threat could determine who wins the defining conflict of the 21st century.”

The sad truth is, there will soon be another world war, which will be fought with horrific nuclear weapons—and it could very well include space warfare.  The Bible prophecies that the USA WILL lose World War III.

Turkey’s Death Penalty Plans

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 29:

“Turkey’s government is pressing on with its plans to bring back the death penalty despite the risk of dashing EU accession hopes… When Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) abolished capital punishment in 2004, the move was widely praised as evidence of the pragmatism and political maturity of the country’s religious conservatives. Turkey had not carried out a death penalty since 1984 but its legal abolition was hailed…

“Just 12 years later, the… ruling party is in the final stages of preparing to reinstate capital punishment as part of a radical set of changes to Turkey’s constitution that supporters and critics alike say will be a blueprint for the country’s future…

“Getting people on the street to comment is far from easy these days, but those that are willing to talk don’t mince their words. ‘Capital punishment is part of Islam, it is religion. If someone kills another man then he deserves to be killed too – for me it is that simple,’ 59-year-old Huseyin Akturan told DW…”

Erdogan: We Must Defend the Temple Mount

The Times of Israel wrote on November 29:

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday urged Muslims to defend the Palestinian cause… ‘It is the common duty of all Muslims to embrace the Palestinian cause and protect Jerusalem,’ the president of the majority country told a parliamentary symposium on Jerusalem in Istanbul.

“Safeguarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque should not be left to children armed with nothing but stones, he said, in a likely reference to Palestinian youths who sometimes hurl stones at Israeli security forces on the Temple Mount. The Jerusalem hilltop is the third most sacred site to Muslims and the holiest to Jews, who traditionally believe it to be the location of the two biblical temples.”

Europe and the Jews

The Jerusalem Post wrote on November 28:

“European intervention in Israeli-Palestinian affairs is hard to rationalize if viewed through a foreign policy prism… The European-Israeli conflict is the world’s oldest, lasting for 2,300 years… The feud dates back to Greek and then Roman invasions of Judea. While other nations accepted the European invaders, the Israelites rebelled…

“In the 11th century, Europe’s conflict with Israel escalated as the crusaders coerced European Jews to ‘kiss the cross’ or die. They then proceeded to Jerusalem and slaughtered the city’s Jews alongside their Muslim brethren.

“… by the end of the 19th century, European Jew-hatred reinvented itself in the form of national and racial hatred, and a new term began to be used: antisemitism… European anti-Jewish sentiment found an outlet. This time, toward the collective of Jews – the State of Israel.

“… history shows that when a society in Europe felt humiliated, the Jews were often the ones who paid the price… it was France’s humiliating defeat by Prussia in 1870 which eventually led to the Dreyfus Affair. Fifty years later, it was Germany’s humiliating defeat in World War I which eventually led to the Holocaust…”

The Syrian Nightmare Continues

The Telegraph wrote on November 28:

“Syria’s rebels lost all of the northern neighbourhoods of their stronghold in east Aleppo on Monday, as the army gained significant ground in its offensive to recapture the entire city. The regime’s advance has prompted an exodus of desperate citizens, some fleeing to districts held by the government or Kurdish forces, others heading south into areas still under rebel control.

“The rebel losses suggested it was only a matter of time before all of east Aleppo – held by the opposition since 2012 – was back in government hands. The loss of the city’s east would be a potentially devastating blow for Syria’s rebels, who have seen their territory fall steadily to the government since Russia began an intervention to bolster President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015…

“Kurdish forces in Syria are officially aligned with neither the government nor the rebels, but the opposition views them as effectively allied with the regime in its bid to recapture Aleppo city…

“The assault has been waged with heavy air strikes, barrel bomb attacks and artillery fire that has killed at least 225 civilians, including 27 children, in east Aleppo, according to the Observatory. Rebels have also fired onto the government-held west of the city, killing at least 27 civilians, among them 11 children, since November 15, the monitor says…

“Assad’s forces already control the capital Damascus, the central cities of Homs and Hama and the coastal city of Latakia. More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. The war has also displaced over half the country’s population, with millions fleeing across Syria’s border to become refugees.”

ISIS’ Plans to Attack Europe

Daily Mail wrote on November 28:

“Secret documents revealing scores of Islamic State terror plots targeting the UK and Europe have been seized in Iraq and Syria… Major General Rupert Jones said tens of thousands of documents in Islamic State’s ‘external operations hubs’ had been uncovered as towns were liberated from the terror group.

“In a bid to process the mass of data, hundreds of analysts – including from Britain’s security services – are being flown to a top secret location to wade through papers, hard drives and mobile phones… US-led coalition jets and local ground forces are currently engaged in a double-pronged attack on IS in its Iraqi stronghold Mosul, and its de facto capital in Syria, Raqqa.

“Commanders predict the next big fight will be in Anbar province, where extremists retain key areas along the Euphrates river and where UK troops will be at the heart of the battle…

“The general [Rupert Jones]… rejected suggestions by Donald Trump that the terrorists are not being hit hard enough. The US President-elect sparked fury last year when he said he knew more about IS than the generals on the ground, saying: ‘I would bomb the… out of them.’ This month he suggested the US could end its training of moderate Syrian forces ‘because we have no idea who these people are’.

“But General Jones dismissed the claims, saying: ‘The plan is built on those moderates.’ He insisted there was a clear plan and mission that had pushed IS back significantly since Britain entered the fight in September 2014. The UK’s war effort includes more than 500 ground troops helping to train local forces… There are still an estimated 400 Britons who have gone to join IS in Iraq and Syria. But there are being picked off from the IS leadership ‘one by one’. General Jones said recruitment was down from about 1,000 a month to a ‘paltry amount’.”

Ethiopia vs. EU?

Express wrote on December 1:

“Merera Gudina, who leads the Oromo People’s Congress, was detained after returning to Addis Ababa from Brussels where he criticised the government in Addis Ababa for imposing a state of emergency. Mr Gudina has been at the forefront of protests against land grabs in the Oromiya region and what his supporters have described as a government clampdown on political freedoms. His deputy Gebru Gebremariam said: ‘Merera arrived in Addis Ababa on Wednesday morning from a trip to Brussels, where he met members of the European Parliament. Police arrested him in his house the same day in the evening. We haven’t been given reasons behind his arrest.’

“Ethiopian security officials said Mr Gudina had violated guidelines ‘by making contact with terrorist groups’ during his visit to Brussels… More than 500 people died in violent protests against the government until the six-month state of emergency was declared in October…”

If it is Ethiopia’s position that the EU, which is headquartered in Brussels, constitutes a “terror group,” then this will have dire consequences.

Does the Pope Change Catholic Church Doctrine?

Zenit wrote on November 25:

“[The pope] described… how the Lord will judge the great and the lowly ‘according to their deeds,’ with the damned being thrown into the pool of fire. Francis described this as the ‘second death.’ ‘Eternal damnation is not a torture chamber,’ he said. ‘That’s a description of this second death: it is a death. And those who will not be received in the Kingdom of God, it’s because they have not drawn close to the Lord. These are the people who journeyed along their own path, distancing themselves from the Lord and passing in front of the Lord but then choosing to walk away from Him.’

“What eternal damnation is, he explained, is ‘continually distancing oneself from God… It is the worst pain, an unsatisfied heart, a heart that was created to find God but which, out of arrogance and self-confidence, distances itself from God.’ Distancing oneself from God Who gives happiness and Who loves us so much, the Pontiff admonished, is the ‘fire,’ and the road to eternal damnation.”

You can read the true meaning of the second death and the lake of fire in our free booklet, “The Mystery of the Book of Revelation.” Our new StandingWatch and AufPostenStehen programs discuss this matter as well, titled, respectively, “Pope Francis–Hell Is No Torture Chamber,” and “Papst Franziskus–Die Hölle ist keine Folterkammer.”

A Catholic Deal with the Devil?

Breitbart wrote on November 28:

“China’s most outspoken Catholic Cardinal has sharply criticized a potential Vatican deal with China’s Communist Party that would cede some Church decision-making to the atheist government. ‘You cannot go into negotiations with the mentality “we want to sign an agreement at any cost”, then you are surrendering yourself, you are betraying yourself, you are betraying Jesus Christ,’ said Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the former Bishop of Hong Kong and China’s highest ranking Catholic cleric.

“Early on in the Francis pontificate, the Vatican showed signs of openness to work toward a diplomatic rapprochement with the Chinese government, something Cardinal Zen has resolutely opposed. Last year, Zen told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera Vatican that the Vatican was being naïve in its dialogue with Beijing. ‘Italians in the Roman Curia don’t know the Chinese dictatorship,’ he said, ‘because they have never experienced a Communist regime.’

“Those in Rome who are anxious to succeed at all costs are moving toward a compromise that is really an ‘unconditional surrender,’ Zen lamented…

“The 84-year-old Zen is hero to Chinese Catholics for his outspoken support of the underground Church and his willingness to stand up to the Communist leadership. He was bishop of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009, and was made a Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. Mao Zedong set up the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) as a state-run replacement for the Catholic Church, driving the Catholic Church underground through its systematic persecution of all who remained faithful to Rome and would not collaborate with the government.

“Ever since 1958, the Catholic Church in China has been split into underground and open communities. A Vatican document of 1988 barred Roman Catholics from participating in the sacraments of the Patriotic Church, since the association ‘had broken all relationships with the pope’ and would be ‘under the direct control of the government.’…

“According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the Chinese government ‘continues to perpetrate particularly severe violations of religious freedom.’ When the commission released its 2016 Annual Report, it once again recommended that China be designated as a ‘country of particular concern,’ based on what it termed ‘systematic, egregious, ongoing abuses.’ ‘The Chinese Communist Party officially is atheist and took steps in 2015 to ensure that Party members reject religion or belief,’ the report stated.

“Throughout the year 2015, Chinese authorities used the pretext of building code violations to target houses of worship, particularly churches, as illegal structures, the report added… Chinese authorities ‘continued to summon, question, detain, and even arrest clergy and parishioners of unregistered house churches,’ the report stated.”

Angela Merkel Announces Fourth Term Candidacy in “Turbulent Times”

Deutsche Welle reported on November 20:

“Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will stand in next year’s elections for a fourth term… Merkel said on Sunday evening that her decision to stand was not a trivial one, for the country or for herself… ‘This election will be even more difficult than those we have had before as we are facing a strong polarisation’ in the community. She drew a line between Germany and the US in describing as ‘grotesque’ the recent election campaign. Merkel said that for her, political discussion was about engagement not ‘fighting’ and ‘inciting hatred.’…

“Merkel has governed Germany since 2005 and is popular among voters who appreciate her as a pragmatic, down-to-earth politician under whose leadership the country has weathered the financial crisis better than most in Europe. However, she has been highly criticised and has lost popular support following her decision to let in more than one million asylum seekers stranded along the Balkan route in 2015… Her refugee policies have also boosted the populist, right-wing Alternative for Germany Party (AfD), which draws support through harnessing community fears about migration and Muslims. In state elections this year, the AfD garnered up to a fifth of the popular vote.”

Mrs. Merkel also said that “there will be hostility as never before from the right [and] from the left—with the possibility of a red-red-green coalition.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 20 in a related article:

“Angela Merkel, ‘The Queen of Germany’ is floundering with her highly controversial policies…  Now Angela Merkel will have to prove herself in the stormy times ahead . Low unemployment, a respectable growth rate and a solid financial position no longer soothe the majority of voters. Germany, Europe and the world have become polarized. Times are turbulent and the number of difficult international partners is growing.

“Merkel often stood up to Putin when her reputation in Germany was still untarnished and she was an important force in the EU. Her new weakness, that she is no longer invulnerable, is being exploited by President Erdogan, Turkey’s strongman. Even small eastern European countries, that once fawned over Germany like a wealthy uncle who would help them be accepted into the European family, are closing ranks against the pro-European chancellor because they believe in the absolute sovereignty of the nation-state…

“She and her party may end up being number one in the parliamentary elections but she will be the chancellor of a polarized political landscape. Her toughest years are yet to come…”

Yes, indeed. And who is to tell whether a serious “challenger” arises before the new election in November 2017?

“Merkel’s Fourth Election Will Be Her Toughest”

Bloomberg wrote on Nov. 21:

“Angela Merkel… will probably face the toughest election of her career; victory is far from assured… many suspect that, for all her skill at working out impossible compromises and pulling out of impossible situations, she doesn’t really have a plan for taking the country forward, whether tackling refugee integration or social security reform…

“Donald Trump showed what happens when people feel they aren’t being consulted on sensitive matters like mass immigration. Though the German system has overcome the initial shock and Merkel has done her bit to contain the flood, she still needs to tell Germans what she intends to do with the newcomers, how they will be integrated or sent back. It’s no longer enough to speak of values — freedom, openness, tolerance, inclusion — as Merkel has often done…

“And even if Merkel wins and finds steady coalition partners, her party, in which she has effectively destroyed all strong competitors for the leadership, will only get a brief respite from needing to look for a replacement… brilliant new politicians at the right of the political spectrum may well see more promise in a populist party like the anti-immigrant AfD than in Merkel’s staid old party that may end up essentially leaderless by the 2021 election.

“Merkel’s dominance has delayed the hour of reckoning for German centrists, something that hasn’t happened in the U.S. and many European countries because they lacked such a figure. Merkel’s fourth run… will… bare the political center’s problems. They can no longer be swept under the rug, in Germany or elsewhere.”

Breitbart added on November 21:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has confirmed her decision to run for a fourth term, vowing explicitly to take on the forces of anti-establishment populism currently sweeping the West… ‘This election will be more difficult than any before it, at least not since national reunification [in 1990]’ she said… Merkel followed up the press conference with an in-depth, 25-minute interview with German broadcaster ARD, during which she vowed to press ahead with a ‘strong Europe’ following Brexit, Die Welt has reported.”

… but It Won’t Be Easy to Beat Angela Merkel

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 21:

“The center-left Social Democrats insist they’re not interested in a continuation of the current grand coalition in which they’re junior partners to the conservatives, but they’re refusing for the time being to put forward their own candidate for chancellor. That decision won’t be made until January…

“The SPD contends that Angela Merkel’s ‘myth of invincibility’ is gone, but that claim will be hard to take at face value until someone gets the job of actually trying to beat her. SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel is the most likely candidate but he has relatively low personal popularity ratings. And European Parliamentary leader Martin Schulz – the only other politician often touted as a potential candidate – is hardly a household name in Germany…”

EU Parliament President Martin Schulz for German Chancellorship? 

Bloomberg wrote on November 24:

“European Parliament President Martin Schulz said he’ll vacate his post and run for a lower-house seat in Germany, marking him as one of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s potential challengers in next year’s election. Schulz, a Social Democrat, has led the European Union’s legislature since 2012 and is a prominent advocate of maintaining the EU. As a senior member of the SPD who’s well-known in Germany, he’ll be in a strong position as the party prepares to select its candidate for the top of the ticket in January.

“Merkel’s announcement on Sunday that she’ll seek a fourth term in 2017 is spurring the Social Democrats, her junior coalition partner, to consider options. Party leader Sigmar Gabriel, who sits at Merkel’s cabinet table as vice chancellor and economy minister, hasn’t said whether he’ll run for chancellor and Schulz, 60, is a possible alternative. ‘More than ever, the world needs a united European Union,’ Schulz told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. ‘From now on, I will fight for this project from the national level. Only by doing this will it be possible to regain the lost trust.’…

“The multilingual Schulz (German, English and French)…  became a member of the European Parliament in 1994. Schulz is due to step down in mid-January… Schulz was given an unprecedented second term as president until January 2017…  [There are] plans to pick a candidate for EU Parliament president next month…”

34 Percent of Germans Feel Like Strangers in Their Own Country

The Daily Caller wrote on November 22:

“A new study reveals some shocking statistics about German attitudes towards Muslim migration to the country. Around 34 percent of Germans reportedly ‘completely or slightly agree’ with the statement ‘because of the many Muslims, I sometimes feel like a stranger in my own country.’ The report, from German nonprofit Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, surveyed the feelings of German citizens in reaction to increased Muslim migration to the country…

“As Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks a fourth term, her chances are dogged by criticism of her refugee policy. A recent report from a German translator working at refugee camps said that asylum seekers had a ‘pure hatred’ of Christians and a desire to Islamize Germany.”

Europe’s Turbulent Times Ahead

Sputnik News wrote on November 18:

“The number of people who believe being an EU member is good for their country has fallen to 53%… 54% of respondents said they think ‘things are going in the wrong direction’…

“2016 has marked an extraordinary turning point in global politics. The status quo is well and truly under attack. In June, came the shock decision by the UK to vote to abandon its EU membership… European nationalism itself is being fueled by a perception that EU institutions, are out of touch with many of its own members. Yet, leaders of the EU Commission and European Parliament, which the general European public is not able to elect, wield significant and far reaching influence over nationally elected governments.

“There is a plethora of far-right leaders lining up for elections in the upcoming months. They’ll start with the Austrian presidential re-run and Italian constitutional referendum on December 4. Austria’s far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer, says he represents Austrians frustrated at Brussels’ authority…

“Romanian general elections will also be run on December 11; the Netherlands votes in March. Leader of the far-right Dutch Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has called Mr. Trump’s recent victory a ‘revolution’, which should be copied across Europe. French Presidential elections will be held in late April, and the beginning of May. Together, with Germany, France has thus far been a strong supporter of the EU. If far-right candidate Marine Le Pen wins, Brussels will lose a key ally, in what would be a huge blow…

“However, it’s not all bad news. There is a vast disparity in how the EU is seen in different member states. In Ireland, 74% are happy that it is worth being a member of the EU… The upcoming political battles over the 12 months will reveal to Brussels whether there really is enough that connects Europeans, to keep the EU project intact.”

Slovakia’s Nazi-Party on the Rise

CBS News reported on November 18:

“The wave of far-right parties across Europe has been gathering steam from Greece to France, Austria and Germany. While most of the continent’s extreme forces have taken pains to steer clear of Nazi imagery, Slovakia’s answer to the trend celebrates it. The People’s Party Our Slovakia won almost 10 percent of the seats in Parliament in March. It openly admires the Nazi puppet state which the country was during the World War II.

“Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime in deprived areas, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union. Thousands have signed a petition demanding that the party be banned. Analysts say the party’s popularity could grow even further…

“On Oct. 13, party members celebrated the 129th anniversary of the birth of Jozef Tiso, a Catholic priest and politician who was Slovakia’s war president. During his rule, some 60,000 Slovak Jews were transported to Nazi death camps. He was sentenced to death and hanged in 1947…”

European Leaders Talk Trump During Obama’s Final Day in Berlin

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 18:

“Closing the final leg of his last European visit as US President on Friday, Barack Obama met with leaders from five European countries as they sought reassurances following Donald Trump’s US election victory. Faced with the uncertain future of a transatlantic relationship with Trump at the helm, Friday’s meeting marked the first time since the Republican win that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Francois Hollande, Spanish Prime Minister Mario Rajoy and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi all gathered together, along with Obama.

“A statement issued by the White House shortly after the summit said Obama agreed with his European counterparts that they need to continue working together as part of multilateral bodies such as NATO…

“As the UK prepares to leave the EU following June’s shock Brexit vote, Obama also stressed the importance of a united Europe, and urged the 28-member bloc not to take the transatlantic relationship for granted…

“As a parting gift on Friday, Merkel presented Obama with a German ‘Weihnachtspyramide.’ The traditional Christmas decoration dates back to the Middle Ages. Traditionally, people were said, in dark times, to try and avert disaster with the power of the pyramid’s light – an arguably fitting gift amid the apprehension surrounding Trump’s pending presidency…”

 It also signifies the real presence of evil.

Brexit and Donald Trump Glue Europe Together

The Washington Post wrote on November 24:

“Europe appears to have gotten used to crises by now. The war in Ukraine, the influx of refugees and the Greece’s debt woes have divided the continent. Surprisingly, two very different events that are being perceived as catastrophic in Europe could now help glue the political union back together. First, Britain voted to leave the European Union in a decision that was seen as a watershed moment in Europe’s history and triggered a series of emergency summits. Then, Donald Trump was elected U.S. president. Trump has extremely low approval ratings in Europe, and some leading politicians publicly opposed his candidacy. Again, the European Union called for a ‘crisis meeting.’ But it turns out that both Brexit and Trump’s election could actually help save the European Union…

“On Wednesday, the British government said it would have to borrow about $72 billion more over the next four years because of the economic fallout of the Brexit vote… As the British pound dropped to all-time lows, other nations took note. While more than 40 percent of Danes wanted an E.U. referendum before Britain decided to leave the union, support for such a vote has now declined by nearly 10 percentage points. Could the British decision glue Europe closer together? Austrians will head to the polls next month to elect a new president, and it is likely that far-right candidate Norbert Hofer could win. Hofer had previously demanded an E.U. referendum for Austria. But shortly after the Brexit vote — potentially amid fears that a shift in public opinion would cost him crucial votes — he indicated that being part of the European Union might not be so bad after all…

“The election of Donald Trump has also raised fears in Europe that he could weaken NATO and strengthen cooperation with Russia, which is viewed as increasingly dangerous in E.U. capitals. Eastern European and Scandinavian nations in particular fear Russia’s army and have so far comforted themselves with the presence of U.S. troops in the region. Trump, however, has suggested he would only defend countries that allocate a set ratio of their GDP to defense spending. Nearly no E.U. member state fulfills that criterion.

“German President Joachim Gauck this week was among those who have called for the country to focus more on its own security. His words were unusual for a German president: Most of his predecessors had advocated disarmament instead of more military spending. But Trump’s contradictory statements on that matter have raised worries that the United States might no longer be a reliable military ally. As the influence of NATO could decline during Trump’s presidency, smaller E.U. countries might increasingly have to rely on the European Union, which is pushing for stronger military cooperation on the continent.

“So far, E.U. politics have often appeared far removed from the everyday lives of Europeans. The E.U., critics argued, cared more about regulating the size and shape of bananas than about fundamental issues facing citizens. A military threat could change that calculation and the reputation of the Brussels bureaucracy in European Union member states. It is ironic that 2016, the year that appeared to be the beginning of the E.U.’s end, could in fact give the union its strongest boost.”

Coming—the EU Army

On November 22, Express published an article with the following headlines:

“DAWN OF EU ARMY: MEPs APPROVE new £420million-a-year SUPER FORCE to defend Europe. THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) Army will be up and running in less than a year after MEPs today voted for the creation of a super force which can override NATO.”

The article continued:

“The vote was not supported by everyone in the Strasbourg Parliament after it narrowly passed by 369 votes to 255, with 70 abstentions. And astonishingly it has been agreed that the EU should also be prepared to act autonomously in cases where NATO is not willing to take the lead… the EU is celebrating this victory claiming the security situation in and around Europe has worsened significantly in recent years, due to challenges like terrorism, hybrid threats or cyber and energy insecurity.

“The EU… says no country is able to tackle defence alone and ‘solidarity and resilience require the EU to stand and act together’. European politicians have now guaranteed at least £420m-a-year in funding to set up their new European wide army which will be a ‘rapid response’ team.”

Does Mr. Putin Destabilize European Security?

The Times wrote on November 22:

“Russia is deploying short-range ballistic missiles to its western European enclave, it emerged yesterday as President Putin threatened ‘counter-measures’ against Nato expansion [and in particular the installation of a U.S. missile shield in eastern Europe.]

“A senior Russian MP said that Moscow would permanently station the nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad, a region between the Nato states of Poland and Lithuania, in retaliation for a military build-up by the alliance in eastern Europe. John Kirby, spokesman for the US State Department, said that the deployment of the missiles was ‘destabilising to European security’. He added: ‘We call on Russia to refrain from words or deeds that are inconsistent with the goal of promoting security and stability.’”

Trump and Putin Asked to Help Building Third Temple

Israel National News reported on November 15:

“Eyeing what appears to be a twice-in-history opportunity, [an] organization called the Sanhedrin has called on U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to join forces and back the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin is an attempt to renew the glorious Great Court of the same name from the last Jewish kingdom, some 2,000 years ago.

“Prof. Rabbi Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the Sanhedrin, said, ‘The political conditions today, in which the two most important national leaders in the world support the Jewish right to Jerusalem as their spiritual inheritance, is historically unprecedented.’ He said that the election of Donald Trump, who has promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, coupled with Putin’s expressed desire for the Temple’s rebuilding, prompted the Sanhedrin to send a letter to both leaders. The letter proposes that they act jointly as did King Cyrus of Persia 2,500 years ago and show most practically that they recognize the importance of Israel and the Holy Temple. ‘We are poised to rebuild the Temple,’ Weiss said.

“Trump’s support for Israel, and for the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, is well-known, and many of his close aides are similarly strong supporters of Israel. Less well-known is Putin’s support for the Holy Temple. As the Sanhedrin writes in its letter, Putin paid a late-night visit to the Kotel (Western Wall) in 2012, during his third official trip to Jerusalem. Upon his arrival, the former KGB agent who became the leader of Russia stood in silent prayer for several minutes, after which he read Psalms from a Russian-Hebrew prayer book. At one point, an Israeli bystander called out in Russian, ‘Welcome, President Putin.’ Putin then approached the man, who explained the importance of the Temple Mount and the Jewish Temple. Putin reportedly responded, ‘That’s exactly the reason I came here – to pray for the Temple to be built again.’

“The Sanhedrin sent a letter at the time to Putin, calling on him to act to fulfill his prayer. President Putin did not respond, but the Sanhedrin hopes he will respond to the current letter, now that he has a potential ally for the project in the United States leadership.

“Basing himself on Biblical passages and Rabbinic tradition, Rabbi Weiss explained that ‘the leaders of Russia and America can lead the nations of the world to global peace through building the Temple, the source of peace.’ Supporting the Jewish claim to Jerusalem would bring benefit [to] Russia and America, as well as the entire world, he said.”

Jerusalem’s Chief Rabbi: Homosexuality an Abomination

The Times of Israel wrote on November 18:

“Jerusalem’s chief rabbi lashed out at Israel’s gay community in an interview released Friday, calling homosexuality an ‘abomination’ and earning himself a police complaint for incitement. Shlomo Amar, who previously served as the country’s Sephardi chief rabbi, told Israel Hayom newspaper that homosexuality is an ‘abomination,’ and that Jewish law advocates the death penalty for those who choose to engage in same sex relationships.  ‘I call it a cult. It’s a cult of abominations, it is obvious. It’s an abomination,’ he said. ‘The Torah says it is punishable by death. It is in the first rank of severe offenses… a person can overcome it if they want to, like all lusts. This is among the most forbidden lusts, the most severe.’

“… He also came out against rabbis trying to build bridges with the LGBTQ community: ‘There is no such thing, to show understanding or tolerance for this. A simple truth needs to be stated – there is a severe prohibition, and there is no allowance for it.’…

“Amar’s comments were met with fury by members of the LGBTQ community and champions of civil liberties in Israel…

“Amar also … accused Reform Jews of ‘inciting’ against the Torah for political gain… He also said unequivocally that public transportation could not be allowed on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, and said he was against civil marriage for Jews in the State of Israel.”

Turkey’s President Erdogan Attacks Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on November 21:

“In his first interview with the Israeli press in over a decade, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday slightly walked back a 2014 assertion that Israel’s military offensive in Gaza was more barbaric than Hitler, but made no apology for invoking the Nazi leader’s name in the context, said he was ‘well aware’ of the sensitivities, and again condemned Israel’s ‘barbarism’ against the Palestinians.

“Erdogan spoke to Channel 2’s Ilana Dayan in Turkish in a sweeping, and frequently tense, interview that covered Israel-Turkey relations, the Gaza Strip and the failed coup attempt in Turkey over the summer. The interview… leveled bitter criticism at Israel, especially regarding its policies on the Palestinians…  ‘I don’t agree with what Hitler did and I also don’t agree with what Israel did in Gaza. Therefore there’s no place for comparison in order to say what’s more barbaric,’ Erdogan said when reminded of his 2014 comments.

“Asked if he was conscious of the shock his reference to Hitler caused among Jews, Erdogan said ‘I’m very well aware… But is the Jewish community aware of what is done (in Gaza)? Thousands of people bombed in Gaza and Palestine’ in the 2014 war with Hamas.

“The Turkish president dismissed categorizing Hamas as a terrorist organization, calling it a legitimate political party, and a ‘refugee movement born out [of] nationalism’ that must be part of any future peace deal… He also said he was in ‘constant contact’ with Hamas.

“He accused Israel of failing to respect the holiness of Jerusalem, accusing it of trying to change the status quo at the Al-Aksa compound (the Temple Mount). ‘Jerusalem is holy to three religions. You have to respect that,’ he said.”

For President Erdogan to accuse Israel of “barbarism” is the epitome of hypocrisy, given his barbarous, totalitarian and brutal assaults on Turkey’s opposition. His comments show his deep-seated hatred towards the Jews… and end-time Turkey (biblical Edom) will ultimately act with such cruel hostility towards Israel that God will severely punish Turkey.

Obama’s Legacy in the Middle East

The Washington Post wrote on November 18:

“When President Obama strode to the podium at Cairo University on June 4, 2009, he faced a Muslim world bursting with optimism about his middle name — Hussein! — along with his barrier-bashing skin color, and a heart they believed was wide open to their concerns and dreams… He called for ‘a new beginning between the United States’ and the world’s billion Muslims. He promised to close the reviled prison at Guantanamo Bay, to ‘personally pursue’ Palestinian-Israeli peace and to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. Obama said he would invest billions in Afghanistan and Pakistan; seek a nuclear deal with Iran; encourage deeper ties in science, education and business; and promote women’s rights…

“Although much of the world still views Obama favorably, the dominant emotion in the Middle East is disappointment. The reasons Muslims give for their disillusionment are almost too many to count: seven years of drone strikes, deepening chaos in Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State, continued violence in Afghanistan, the collapse of Libya, the lack of Israeli-Palestinian progress, ongoing U.S. support for autocratic governments, the failure to close Guantanamo…”

Donald Trump Reiterates Some of His Promises…

Newsmax wrote on November 21:

“President-elect Donald Trump is telling the American people that he is assembling a Cabinet made up of ‘patriots’… He reiterated [in a surprise video] a number of his promises for the first 100 days of his administration, including vows to negotiate new trade deals, remove regulations on businesses and establish a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists.

“Specifically, Trump vowed to issue a notification of intent on his first day to withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which he described as a ‘potential disaster for our country.’… Notably missing from his promises is his pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act and his vow to build a southern border wall with Mexico.”

 … While Breaking Others

The New York Times wrote on November 22:

“President-elect Donald Trump said he would not pursue any further criminal investigations of Hillary Clinton regarding her private email server use or the Clinton Foundation… Trump added he was seeking to unify the nation and he did not believe his decision would upset his supporters… Prosecuting the former secretary of state ‘would be very, very divisive for the country,’ Trump added…

“Trump’s decision brought a strong rebuke from Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. The organization has filed more than 20 lawsuits against the Obama administration over Clinton’s private email use. ‘Donald Trump must commit his administration to a serious, independent investigation of the very serious Clinton national security, email, and pay-to-play scandals,’ Fitton said. ‘If Mr. Trump’s appointees continue the Obama administration’s politicized spiking of a criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton, it would be a betrayal of his promise to the American people to ‘drain the swamp’ of out-of-control corruption in Washington… President-elect Trump should focus on healing the broken justice system, affirming the rule of law and appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the Clinton scandals,’ Fitton added.”

The New York Post added on November 22:

“At the second presidential debate in October, Trump [promised:] ‘If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception’…”

“Donald Trump Will Pay Dearly for His Outrageous Decision”

Newsmax wrote on November 22:

“President-elect Donald Trump ‘will pay dearly’ for his decision to not seek any new criminal prosecutions against Hillary Clinton for her private email use or the Clinton Foundation, political strategist Dick Morris told Newsmax TV on Tuesday. ‘It’s your own people that will be mad at you, not the others,’ he told “Newsmax Prime” hosts J.D. Hayworth and Miranda Khan.

“‘It is so cynical. All of those Democrats who said this is just political, this is just an election nearing a charade, this isn’t serious judicial stuff, this isn’t real are suddenly proven right. And all the Republicans who said: “No, no this is very serious. This is real. Whether she’s running for president or not, this has to be prosecuted” are suddenly undercut by their own president.

“‘To do it now or to say he’s not going to pursue it when it was such a fundamental part of his campaign is outrageous — and I totally condemn Trump for doing that,’ he added. Further, ‘this makes it very easy for [President Barack] Obama to pardon her. This is outrageous. Just incredible,’ Morris told Newsmax…”

Newsmax also wrote this on November 22:

“Conservative pundit Ann Coulter slammed President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday for not pursuing  charges against Hillary Clinton over her private email server. Coulter, an ardent Trump supporter, tweeted: ‘I thought we elected Donald Trump president. Did we make him the FBI [and the] DOJ [Department of Justice]? His job is to pick those guys, not do their jobs. As happy as I am that our long national nightmare’s over, NO president should be blocking investigators from doing their jobs.’

“It’s not the first time Coulter disagrees with Trump. In August, she criticized his ‘softening’ stance on immigration after the billionaire developer said he would work with ‘upstanding’ illegal immigrants on a plan to have them stay in the country.”

Donald Trump’s Statement “Deeply Disturbing”

Breitbart added on November 22:

“Tuesday’s edition of ‘The Kelly File’ on the Fox News Channel, Breitbart editor at large Peter Schweizer, author of  ‘Clinton Cash,’ criticized President Elect Donald Trump’s statement that he doesn’t want to prosecute Hillary Clinton.

“Schweizer said, ‘I think it’s deeply disturbing. Look, he shouldn’t be talking about this at all. It’s not his job. I was on your program earlier this year, Megyn, talking about how inappropriate it would be for President Obama to intervene in an investigation. It is equally inappropriate for a President Elect and later President Donald Trump to do the same. If he wants to pardon her at the tail end of an investigation, if the Department of Justice decides that they’re not going to prosecute, they are fine to do that, but the FBI is undergoing an investigation right now, and the President Elect should not be telling them to halt their investigation.’

“Schweizer added that Trump was ‘overstepping’ his role, and President Obama would have been hammered by the right for doing likewise. And ‘If Hillary Clinton had won in November, I think it’s safe to assume that she would not have been investigated for the Clinton Foundation. She has lost in November, and now it seems that Donald Trump does not want her to be investigated for the Clinton Foundation. That is the definition of a rigged system.’”

It is also interesting to note that Donald Trump’s Foundation is now being accused of having accepted questionable donations, allegedly causing a serious conflict of interest.

More Broken Promises?

The New York Times wrote on November 22:

“President-elect Donald J. Trump tempered on Tuesday some of his most extreme campaign promises, dropping his vow to jail Hillary Clinton, expressing doubt about the value of torturing terrorism suspects and pledging to have an open mind about climate change.

“But in a wide-ranging hourlong interview with reporters and editors at The New York Times… Mr. Trump was unapologetic about flouting some of the traditional ethical and political conventions that have long shaped the American presidency. He said he had no legal obligation to establish boundaries between his business empire and his White House [He also said that “a sitting U.S. President ‘can’t have a conflict of interest,’” according to Newsmax, dated November 22; a claim which is patently incorrect.]

“He displayed a jumble of impulses, many of them conflicting… The interview demonstrated the volatility in Mr. Trump’s positions…

“On the issue of torture, Mr. Trump suggested he had changed his mind about the value of waterboarding after talking with James N. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, who headed the United States Central Command… On climate change, Mr. Trump refused to repeat his promise to abandon the international climate accord reached last year in Paris, saying, ‘I’m looking at it very closely.’…

“Asked about his antagonism with the news media and his vow to toughen libel laws, Mr. Trump offered no specifics but told the group, ‘I think you’ll be happy.’… Despite his frequent attacks against what he has dubbed the ‘failing New York Times,’ Mr. Trump seemed to go out of his way to [offer] praise to the institution, which he called ‘a great, great American jewel, world jewel.’”

What further “surprises” can we expect from Mr. Trump? How many promises will Donald Trump break, until he will experience a really big backlash? Note the next article.

Donald Trump Announces Pro-Common Core Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary 

Breitbart reported on November 23:

“President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announces the choice of Common Core and charter school  supporter Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education.  Anti-Common Core grassroots groups of parents and teachers urged Trump to abandon DeVos as his choice, citing her support for the education reform policies of pro-Common Core Jeb Bush and her influence through the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) in favor of Common Core…

“While on the campaign trail, Trump said Common Core was a ‘disaster,’ and criticized Jeb Bush for his support for the standards. Trump also said he would get Washington, D.C. out of education, and said he favored local control of education and the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.”

Newsmax added on November 23:

‘Conservative Review panned the pick, writing…  ‘DeVos fails on two key promises Trump repeatedly made to voters: ‘Get rid of Common Core’ and ‘keep education local’…”

Multi-Million Dollar Settlement Agreed in Trump University Fraud Case

Deutsche Welle reported on November 18:

“The president-elect has agreed to a $25 million settlement in fraud cases related to Trump University. Trump had previously attempted to shut down the trial and repeatedly insisted the judge was biased against him…

“Trump was accused of misleading students by calling itself a university although it was an unaccredited school and by saying Trump ‘hand picked’ the lecturers. The program also falsely promised students success in real estate through programs which cost up to $35,000. The settlement, however, does not require Trump to acknowledge any wrongdoing.”

For a man who prided himself in not settling law suits, this settlement has opened up all kinds of questions.

Did Donald Trump Trash Major Media Executives?

Newsmax wrote on November 21:

“Major media executives and network hosts were berated in a private, closed-door meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, according to The New York Post. ‘It was like a… firing squad,’ one source told the Post of the one-hour ‘media summit,’ which took place at Trump Tower and included executives and anchors from CBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Fox Business Network, ABC and NBC. ‘Trump started with Jeff Zucker and said “I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed.”’

“‘The meeting was a total disaster,’ he added. ‘The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down.’

“Trump has long been at odds with media outlets throughout his campaign, saying reporting has been biased and unfair to him. He has publicly criticized reporters at rallies, once putting an NBC reporter at risk as Trump supporters heckled her, ignored media members altogether, and said the New York Times was ‘failing,’ called them ‘fools’ after a story about a rocky start within his transition team.

“One of Trump’s senior advisers, Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, called the meeting unprecedented and ‘excellent,’ and one source told The Wrap that Trump’s team and those in attendance made ‘real progress’ with regard to transparency.”

However, Politico collaborated the report of the New York Post. On the other hand, CNN wrote on November 21:

“Trump did criticize the media generally, and some of the networks present — including CNN — at the start of the meeting, another participant said. But that participant said Trump also asked for a positive relationship between his White House and the media, and that a New York Post account which had a source describing the meeting as Trump giving the assembled members of the media a ‘dressing down’ like a ‘firing squad’ was wrong.”

So it appears that we can say with some certainty that there was a meeting between Mr. Trump and the media. Beyond that, time will tell.

Donald Trump Nominates Messrs. Sessions, Pompeo and Flynn

On November 18, Newsmax wrote the following:

“President-elect Donald Trump has tapped three senior leaders of his national security and law enforcement teams, choosing Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Rep. Mike Pompeo as CIA director, and General Mike Flynn as national security adviser. All three have accepted, Reuters reports…

“All three have been fierce critics of President Barack Obama’s handling of terrorism and national security, and their selection likely signals a sharp shift in U.S. policy… Sessions and Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Flynn would not.

“Even with Republicans in control of the Senate, Sessions could face obstacles. He withdrew from consideration for a federal judgeship in 1986 after being accused of making racist comments while serving as a U.S. attorney in Alabama…

“Pompeo is… a strong critic of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran… Pompeo has said that Muslim leaders are ‘potentially complicit’ in terrorist attacks if they do not denounce those made in the name of Islam…

“Flynn was a critic of Obama’s military and… has been outspoken in his warnings about the dangers of Islamist groups… Flynn has also worried some national security experts with his warmth toward Russia. Like Trump, he’s called for the U.S. to work more closely with Moscow… Last year, Flynn traveled to Moscow to join Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for RT, a television channel funded by the Russian government. Flynn said he had been paid for taking part in the event and brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort…

“Since his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton last week, Trump has spoken with Russian President Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May and nearly three dozen other world leaders by telephone. Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, also visited the Trump Tower and called the billionaire businessman ‘a true friend of Israel.’ He specifically cited as another ‘friend’ Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon, whose selection as a top White House adviser has created a backlash among Democrats. Bannon’s news website has peddled conspiracy theories, white nationalism and anti-Semitism…”

Donald Trump Picks S. Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for UN Ambassador

Deutsche Welle reported on November 23:

“The President-elect has chosen former critic Nikki Haley as the US ambassador to the UN. Haley, who has little foreign policy experience, is the first woman to be tapped for a top-level post in Trump’s administration… Haley is the daughter of two Indian immigrants and became South Carolina’s first female and first minority governor in 2011. She is also the first woman and person of color to be nominated to a top Cabinet position in Trump’s administration… Last year, Haley signed a bill to remove the Confederate flag from state capitol grounds. The flag is an emblem of the American South and is associated with slavery…

“Haley was fiercely critical of Trump’s divisive election campaign in which he called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals, threatened to ban Muslim immigration, and faced accusations of sexual harassment and assault from multiple women… Trump also criticized Haley on Twitter, writing in March that ‘the people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!’…

“The UN ambassador position is the second highest-profile diplomatic position after Secretary of State…”

Her bill removing the confederate flag from state capitol grounds has been sharply criticized by many as being deeply offensive, including by those whose forefathers fought for the South.

Japan’s Prime Minister Meets with Mr. Trump

Deutsche Welle reported on November 18:

“Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has met President-elect Donald Trump in a hastily-arranged 90-minute meeting. Abe is the first foreign leader to meet Trump face-to-face… Abe, whose stances on security have earned him a reputation as a defense hawk, reportedly wanted Trump’s assurances on issues ranging from Asian security to trade… Japan will also want to know how Trump plans to approach North Korea, which has ramped up its testing of missiles this year, including a nuclear warhead… Trump alarmed Tokyo during his campaign by suggesting a pull-out of thousands of US troops from the region. He also said that Japan – officially pacifist – may need nuclear weapons…

“Trump has said that while Japan is spending more on defense, in the long run it will need to expand military spending… Trump also said he would tear up the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed trade pact backed by outgoing President Barack Obama and which Abe had made a top priority. If the TPP is ratified before President Barack Obama leaves office, Trump still has the authority to withdraw the US from the treaty… Many commentators believe it highly likely Trump will slap tariffs on Asian imports, possibly triggering a currency war. A survey of investors in July by Nomura Holdings noted a list of worries under a Trump presidency: from a possible rise in trade protectionism to threats to regional security if the US cuts its military commitments in Asia.”

Asia Concerned

The South China Morning Post wrote on November 22:

“Pivot or not, the future of the US policy of engagement with Asia is likely to be a defining feature of a Donald Trump presidency, especially after the US president-elect released a video on Monday in which he pledged to withdraw from a major regional trade accord on his first day in office. Turning the worst nightmare of America’s regional allies into reality, the 70-year-old real estate mogul’s surprise election victory threatens to dismantle US President Barack Obama’s Asia policy legacy and put decades-old US alliances in the region in doubt.

“Some diplomatic pundits even say an isolationist foreign policy under Trump, known for his showman style and brash and blunt personality, might become a turning point for America’s leadership of a chaotic world – with an increasingly assertive China in mind as a successor. Although America’s president-elect has yet to unveil his foreign policy line-up or release any policy road map, observers warn that Asian nations should expect a bumpy ride ahead, with post-election chaos and uncertainty likely to reign in Washington in the coming weeks, if not months…

“In his post-election diplomatic debut, Trump met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Thursday. Abe described the hour-long meeting with the president-elect as ‘candid’, which in the lexicon of diplomatese usually means heated discussion with few concrete results.”

Stephen Bannon’s Highly Offensive Comments

The Daily Mail wrote on November 19:

“Donald Trump’s newly-minted chief strategist and senior counselor Stephen Bannon seems to get a kick out of the villainous caricature liberals and the media have constructed for him. ‘Darkness is good: Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That’s power,’ Bannon told the Hollywood Reporter in a new profile. ‘It only helps us when [the media and liberals] get it wrong. When they’re blind of who we are and what we’re doing.’

“He later adds that the media is ‘just a circle of people talking to themselves who have no… idea of what’s going on’…”

If his comments regarding Darth Vader and Satan were supposed to be “jokes,” then they were truly bad ones. If they were meant to be serious, then God help us.

Dark Forces in Myanmar

Deutsche Welle reported on November 18:

“A self-proclaimed sorcerer has gone on trial in Myanmar over charges of murdering three young children. The man told the court that he was overtaken by a ‘dark spirit’ during an exorcism ritual… He had previously told the children’s parents that they were possessed by demons and gave the villagers ‘blessed water’ to drink, causing them to lose their senses. The supposed exorcism ritual lasted for two days, according to witnesses. ‘Because of what he did everyone was out of their mind,’ an uncle of one of the murdered children told the AFP agency.

“Most of the population in Myanmar are Buddhist, but superstitions including astrology and evil spirits have strong influence as well. The country was run for more than 25 years by the famously superstitious military dictator Ne Win, who consulted soothsayers, changed the law to force everybody to drive on the other side of the road on the advice of a wizard, as well as changing the denominations of country’s bank notes – making them multiples of his lucky number nine.”

These Satanic and demonic activities in Myanmar (which include the belief in astrology) must be taken very seriously. It shows how active demons are these days… and the Bible prophecies that in the end time, demons—the powers of darkness—will rage and destroy as never before in the history of mankind.

The Terrible Krampus Legend of the Christmas Season

The Sun wrote on November 21:

“Satanic celebrations erupt in Austria as hundreds turn out as [the] terrifying Christmas demon Krampus. The folklore legend punished naughty children by beating them with branches – or even EATING them. The ‘Henndorfer Perchtenlauf’ event in Austria draws thousands of people as performers brandish flame torches and weapons to thrill the crowds. Thousands run through the streets dressed as the half goat, half demon folklore legend.

“… The half-goat, half-demon is the exact opposite of Santa Claus and legend has it that Krampus punishes children who have misbehaved… performers can be seen wearing gruesome goat masks and fur coats as they run through billowing clouds of dark smoke. The performers – many on stilts – parade up to children in the crowds and bare their sharp teeth as they celebrate pre-Christian traditions.

“Some brandish weapons such as pitchforks and smokebombs, while others have terrifying bloodshot eyes. Dozens stomp through Henndorf in Salzburg chasing children and adults with cowbells around their necks. Last year, a Christmas comedy horror film – ‘Krampus’ – based on the character was released, grossing over £1.4million at the UK box office.

“The terrifying legend was the opposite of St Nick but would visit houses with him and punish children. Krampus historically comes around the night of December 5 alongside Santa Claus. He visits houses all night with St. Nick and punishes naughty children. Legend has it that throughout the Christmas season, misbehaved kids are beaten with birch branches or can disappear – stuffed into Krampus’ sack and hauled off to his lair to be tortured or eaten.”

These are not just harmless ideas. They are Satanic and also reveal much about our pagan Christmas traditions. In Germany, Krampus is known as “Knecht Ruprecht”—the demonic alter ego of Santa Claus.

The Santa Claus Lie–“Harmless” or Dangerous?

Daily Mail wrote on November 24:

“For most young children, it is an essential part of the magic of Christmas. But letting them believe in Santa Claus could do more harm than good, two academics claim. That is because when a child discovers the truth, they will no longer trust their parents, the pair claim in the respected medical journal Lancet Psychiatry.

“Professor Christopher Boyle, a psychologist at the University of Exeter, and researcher Dr Kathy McKay from the University of New England in Australia,… add: ‘All children will eventually find out they’ve been consistently lied to for years, and this might make them wonder what other lies they’ve been told.’…

“Last night Professor Boyle… defended the claims, made in an essay titled A Wonderful Lie. ‘The morality of making children believe in such myths has to be questioned,’ he said… ‘The point is that it is based on a myth, it is based on a lie. There comes a point where the child is going to ask you “Is Santa real?” and at that point you have to decide what to tell them.’…

“In the essay, they write: ‘Perhaps the biggest moral breach of the Christmas lie comes with the fact that one day, the truth comes out. Children must all find out eventually that their parents have blatantly and consistently carried on a lie for a number of years. Children may find out from a third party, or through their parents getting bored of the make-believe and making a mistake; both might affect the trust that exists between child and parent. If adults have been lying about Santa, even though it has usually been well-intentioned, what else is a lie? If Santa isn’t real… [is] God?’”

The Catholic Church’s Stance on Abortion

CNN wrote on November 21:

“Pope Francis has extended indefinitely the power of Catholic priests to forgive abortions, making the announcement in an apostolic letter released Monday. It continues a special dispensation granted last year for the duration of the Year of Mercy — which finished Sunday — which gave all priests, rather than just bishops and specially designated confessors, the power to absolve the sin of abortion…

“[The] Catholic Church’s stance on abortion has not changed — it is still viewed as a ‘grave sin.’ But it makes it easier for women who have had abortions to be absolved for their actions, and rejoin the church… Since the first century, the Catholic Church has held that abortion is a ‘moral evil.’ The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that every human life ‘from the moment of conception until death is sacred’ — and that any Catholic who procures an abortion incurs automatic excommunication, a penalty that often only a bishop could lift.

“John Paul II, whose papacy ran from 1978 to 2005, emphasized the traditional Catholic view on abortion, describing it as ‘murder,’ and the church has been a strong force behind pro-life groups worldwide…

“Pope Francis has forged a more forgiving, merciful direction for the Church since his papacy began in March 2013, taking a more welcoming position toward groups that had previously found themselves on the margins of the Catholic establishment, such as gays and lesbians, and divorced Catholics…”

The Catholic Church is correct in stating that human life begins with conception; that abortion is murder; and that God forgives upon true and genuine repentance.

Earthquake Strikes Off Fukushima in Japan

NBC wrote on November 21:

“An earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 7.3 [Deutsche Welle wrote about a magnitude of 7.4] struck Tuesday off the coast of Fukushima prefecture in Japan. A tsunami warning for waves of up to 10 feet was issued. The Japan Meteorological Agency says the quake struck around 6 a.m at a depth of 6 miles. It warned people along the coast to move to higher ground.

“Fukushima prefecture is home to the nuclear power plant that was destroyed by a huge tsunami following an offshore earthquake in 2011. NHK urged people to flee the coast immediately, reminding them of the devastating 2011 quake that killed about 18,000 people.”

Israel in Flames

“More than 60,000 people from the northern city of Haifa were evacuated from their homes Thursday, as firefighters battled a series of massive blazes that have gripped the country over the past three days. Five countries, including Russia and Turkey, sent fire fighting planes to assist Israel in tackling the fires, which officials said might have been started intentionally — possibly for nationalist motives. Israel’s internal security agencies are looking into the causes of the fires, which started on Monday night and have broken out in several places around the country since…

“Israeli officials said that some 10 firefighting planes from Greece, Italy, Croatia and Cyprus, as well as Turkey and Russia, had either arrived in Israel or were on their way to help put out the blazes that have showed no signs of abating. Netanyahu spoke Thursday morning with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who agreed to send two massive firefighting planes that could drop water on the blazes. Local media reported that Israel was planning to bring the supertanker firefighting plane from the U.S. to gain control of the situation but it will only arrive in 24 hours.”

“‘Unprecedented’: More than 100 Million Trees Dead in California”

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote on November 17:

“California’s lingering drought has pushed the number of dead trees across the state past 100 million, an ecological event experts are calling dangerous and unprecedented in underlining the heightened risk of wildfires fueled by bone-dry forests.

“… the U.S. Forest Service said 62 million trees have died this year in California, bringing the six-year total to more than 102 million. Scientists blame five-plus years of drought on the increasing tree deaths — tree ‘fatalities’ increased by 100 percent in 2016 — but the rate of their demise has been much faster than expected, increasing the risk of ecologically damaging erosion and wildfires even bigger than the largest blazes the state’s seen this year. There are about 21 million acres of trees spread across California’s 18 national forests, and the latest figures show 7.7 million of them — more than one-third — are dead…

“Rising temperatures throughout the state aren’t helping matters, and neither are the persevering infestations of bark beetles fond of gnawing through pine trees stressed by drought, leaving in their wake thousands of acres of brown, dead wood… Tree mortality, and what drives it,… is still a poorly understood process…”

New Discoveries About the Cheops Pyramid

Haaretz wrote on November 23:

“The oldest known harbor in the world has been discovered by archaeologists diving off Egypt’s Red Sea coast at Wadi el-Jarf. The site was found near a huge archive of papyri – which is also the oldest known to date, and which describe how the harbor was built and used by the great King Cheops to import materials to build his flagship monument, the Great Pyramid of Giza… Cheops, also known by his Egyptian name Khufu… had the harbor erected 180 kilometers south of Suez, in the foothills of the desert mountains. The site is nowhere near Giza: it seems it served mainly to import relatively lighter copper and minerals, which were used to manufacture the tools that were employed to build the pyramid…

“King Cheops himself was not only a great pyramid builder but evidently also a great businessman, trading along the Canaanite coast up to Byblos (today in northern Lebanon), and inland to the Sinai Desert and Jordan. The ancient Egyptians may have built the harbor to secure their supply of strategic resources, such as copper and turquoise, which were mined in the southern Sinai. Indeed, the entire history of pharaonic Egypt was inextricably linked with use of boats and ships.  Sail boats augmented with oars could travel 80 kilometers in a day, convenient not only for trade, but to quickly deploy troops…

“Perhaps most astounding was the discovery in summer of around 800 pieces of papyri, dating to the reign of Cheops´s 27th regnal reign. This is the oldest papyrus archive ever found in Egypt, according to the Egyptian Institute of Antiquities… The excavators believe that the papyri are the archive of a team of sailors, and includes two categories of documents. One is accounts organized in tables, corresponding to daily or monthly deliveries of food from various areas including the Nile Delta: mostly bread and beer for the port workers. The other documents are logbooks recording everyday activities of a team led by an inspector named Merer, an official from Memphis… Every fourth day, blocks would be delivered to a pyramid construction site on the Giza plateau called the ‘Horizon of Cheops’, the papers explain…

“Recent calculations estimate that actually building the pyramid required 5,000 men, or, 15,000 if one includes people bringing the raw material to Giza… They were not slaves, but specialists who were employed all the year long by the royal administration – and, from the records that we have on the papyrus, they were rather privileged…”

Strong evidence exists that Cheops, also known by his Egyptian name Khufu, was none other than the biblical Job.

Is Mr. Trump “Breaking” His Promises?

JTA wrote on November 11:

“Walid Phares, one of Trump’s top foreign policy advisers… signaled that Trump might not move the US Embassy to Jerusalem immediately and indicated he would make negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal a priority right off the bat.  The comments appeared to represent a break with some comments made by other Trump advisers and the president-elect himself, and highlighted persisting confusion over what the contours of a Trump administration’s foreign policy may look like. Speaking to BBC Radio on Thursday, Phares said the nuclear deal, which Trump has railed against and vowed to dismantle, would instead be renegotiated with Tehran. ‘Ripping up is maybe a too strong of word, he’s gonna take that agreement… and then review it,’ he said…

“During the election campaign, Trump described the nuclear deal as ‘disastrous’ and said it would be his ‘number one priority’ to dismantle it. Yet he also sowed confusion when he said he would demand greater oversight over the deal and enforce it…

“On Thursday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner warned that nothing was stopping Trump from tearing up the agreement, rebuffing comments from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the pact was enshrined by the United Nations Security Council and could therefore not be canceled by one party…

“Phares also told the BBC that while Trump was committed to moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as other presidential candidates have vowed, he would not do so unilaterally… Earlier Thursday, Trump Israel adviser Jason Dov Greenblatt told Israel’s Army Radio that the president-elect would make good on his promise… Congress passed a law in 1995 mandating the move of the embassy to Jerusalem, but allowed the president a waiver. Each president since then has routinely exercised the waiver, citing the national security interests of the United States, despite repeated campaign promises…

“In comments published in German weekly Der Spiegel Thursday, Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier [see more articles about him below] said it was urgent for the incoming US administration to set out its positions quickly since ‘very many questions are open’ on its foreign policy. Steinmeier said he had spoken several times with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger about what President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policies might look like. But Steinmeier said even Kissinger had no insights to offer…

“In Israel, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported Thursday that Israeli officials were viewing Trump as ‘a puzzle,’ without a clear sense of whether he will match his words with actions…”

Only Words…?

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 11:

“Donald Trump promised to undo the Iran nuclear deal hammered out by the Obama administration and its international partners with Tehran. He promised to take the United States out of the Paris climate agreement signed earlier this year after years of international negotiations. He promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s health care reform, better known as ‘Obamacare.’ He vowed to undo numerous trade agreements negotiated by previous US administrations with various nations and replace them with better deals.

“These are just four out of the range of existing agreements and laws Donald Trump promised to repeal upon becoming president. And with both chambers of Congress in Republican hands, what could hold a President Trump back from making good on these promises which played a key role in his change-driven campaign agenda?…

“President Trump could pull the United States out of both the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. Since both agreements are not binding treaties, which would have required Senate approval President Obama was unlikely to get, but executive agreements, Trump could potentially issue an executive order repealing Obama’s existing executive agreements…

“… while revoking the Affordable Care Act, loathed by conservatives, would fulfill a long-standing Republican promise and hand them an important symbolic victory, it would also strongly impact those covered by it…

“While there are clear political obstacles to fulfilling many of Trump’s central campaign promises, if Donald Trump has proven anything during his campaign, then it is that… in the end, he, not his advisors, makes the important decisions… The trouble with Trump is nobody really knows him…”

… Or Maybe Not?

The Los Angeles Times wrote on November 10:

“Donald Trump’s pledge to deny entry to the country for all Muslims temporarily disappeared from his campaign website after lingering there since December, following the attacks in San Bernardino. The removal prompted new questions about one of Trump’s most controversial promises. But it was restored Thursday afternoon after what Trump’s staff characterized as a technical glitch…

“Trump’s promise helped him win the GOP primary, while drawing criticism from people who said it ran counter to American values of religious tolerance. In recent months, Trump has suggested that he would revise it to instead target people from countries linked to terrorism, rather than use religion as a criteria. But he had not, until recent days, removed the initial statement from his website. Thursday, as he was strolling the Capitol with congressional leaders, he walked away from reporters who asked whether the plan to ban Muslims remained on his agenda.”

Mass Deportations or Not?

Deutsche Welle reported on November 13:

“Donald Trump has said he will deport 2 to 3 million undocumented immigrants ‘immediately’ upon taking office…

“Speaking on CBS’ ’60 Minutes; on Sunday, Trump said that on entering office in January he will deport as many as 3 million undocumented migrants. ‘What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people – probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million – we are getting them out of the country or we are going to incarcerate,’ Trump said. ‘But we’re getting them out of the country; they’re here illegally.’

“However, Trump’s comments contradicted those made by House Speaker Paul Ryan. Speaking with CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ on Sunday, Ryan said that mass deportation is not a focus of the Republicans right now. ‘I think we should put people’s minds at ease’ on mass deportation, he said, because the top priority is really border security.

“Reiterating his plans to reinforce the border between the US and Mexico, Trump also said in Sunday’s interview that his proposed wall may not entirely be built from concrete or bricks and mortar. ‘There could be some fencing,’ Trump said. ‘But [in] certain areas, a wall is more appropriate. I’m very good at this; it’s called construction,’ he added… Once the border is ‘secure,’ the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement will assess the status of the remaining undocumented immigrants in the country, Trump told CBS…

“Trump made the first major appointments of his administration on Sunday, selecting Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff, the top employee in the administration. He also named Stephen Bannon, his campaign CEO and executive of the conservative website ‘Breitbart,’ as his chief strategist and senior counselor… As the head of the Republican National Committee, Priebus is expected to interact with Republicans on Capitol Hill, some of whom have been skeptical of a Trump presidency. Priebus is close to House Speaker Ryan.

“Priebus said the top priorities of the Trump administration were ‘to create an economy that works for everyone, secure our borders, repeal and replace Obamacare and destroy radical Islamic terrorism.’ Priebus, Bannon and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who was tasked with heading the transition team, will be the three primarily responsible for choosing Trump’s cabinet.”

Mr. Trump’s promises during the campaign did not allow for a “fence.” In addition, some of Mr. Trump’s surrogates suggested that the “wall” might not be a “real” wall made out of bricks, but just some security control from the air or through border guards.

Mr. Trump’s Shifting Positions

Newsmax wrote on November 11:

“In the first interview since his election Tuesday, Trump told The Wall Street Journal that President Barack Obama asked that he reconsider repealing the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act during their meeting Thursday at the White House.  ‘I told him I will look at his suggestions, and out of respect, I will do that,’ Trump told the Journal. ‘Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced.’

“Trump described Obamacare as having become so unworkable and expensive that ‘you can’t use it,’ the Journal reported. But he said he favors keeping the prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of patients’ existing conditions — and a provision that allows parents to provide years of additional coverage for children on their insurance policies, the Journal reported.

“Trump also punted on a question if he’d appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, saying: ‘It’s not something I’ve given a lot of thought, because I want to solve health care, jobs, border control, tax reform.'”

Deutsche Welle added:

“During the presidential campaign, Trump described the Obama healthcare plan as ‘a total disaster’ and promised to ‘ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare’ on ‘day one of the Trump administration.’”

CNN added:

“President-elect Donald Trump appeared open Friday to compromising on his oft-repeated pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare — citing a conversation with none other than President Barack Obama himself. But the openness was complicated by a shift in the official positions listed on his website…”

The Huffington Post wrote:

“… it’s conceivable Republicans could decide to pass a law that they can label as ‘repeal and replace’ but that mostly modifies the existing system… Stopping short of full repeal would involve its own political peril, of course. Right-wing groups eager to rip out Obamacare, root-and-branch, would be furious. And, to be clear, it’s entirely possible Trump’s statement was just poor phrasing…

“But chances are good that Trump has never spent much time thinking about how the health care law actually works, let alone how to replace it. After finally confronting the real effects of repeal, he might not want to be the president whose term begins by yanking insurance from millions of people ― many of whom, assuredly, count themselves among his supporters.”

On Mr. Trump’s Website, the following is stated as of November 11: “Congress must act. Our elected representatives in the House and Senate must… [c]ompletely repeal Obamacare.” Mr. Trump’s words were not carefully chosen. He should not have used the word “amend,” as this is different from “repeal and replace.” To be fair, Mr. Trump did say before that he would like to retain some of the provisions in Obamacare, by incorporating them in his new health-care proposals.

Just Campaign Talk?

The Washington Post wrote on November 11:

“President-elect Donald Trump and key advisers in recent days have backed away from some of the most sweeping pledges that the Republican candidate made on the campaign trail, suggesting that his administration may not deliver on promises that were important to his most fervent supporters. Trump built his campaign message around bold vows to, among other things, force Mexico to pay for a massive border wall, fully repeal the Affordable Care Act and ban Muslims from entering the United States. But in the days since his upset election victory, he or his advisers have suggested that those proposals and others may be subject to revision…

“Trump… avoided answering whether he would follow through on a campaign vow to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state…

“There is also no guarantee that Trump will not return to his previous positions. In August, he appeared to consider softening his proposal to deport millions of illegal immigrants en masse, only to give a rousing speech retaining his hard-line stance. With little clarity from Trump himself, some of his surrogates and advisers have given a mixed view of what Trump will hope to accomplish in his first 100 days in office, discounting some of his most well-known proposals.

“Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump adviser, cast doubt this week on whether the new president would seek to have Mexico fund his proposed border wall — a pledge that inspired regular chants of ‘Build that wall!’ during campaign rallies. He’ll spend a lot of time controlling the border. He may not spend very much time trying to get Mexico to pay for it, but it was a great campaign device,’ Gingrich said Thursday…

“Former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a close adviser to Trump, sounded certain that the wall would be built — but was far from clear about the timeline. He said during an interview on CNN Thursday that he thinks Trump should prioritize tax reform in his first 100 days rather than issues such as building the border wall…

“On deportations, the campaign has yet to detail how many undocumented immigrants might be targeted for immediate removal by the Trump administration. The number could range from 1 million to 6 million, according to various priorities Trump outlined over time throughout the campaign. During the GOP primaries, he repeatedly said that all of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants would have to leave. Other proposals also carry constitutional and ethical implications. After calling for a ‘total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States’ in 2015, Trump recast the idea this year as encompassing countries that have been ‘compromised by terrorism.’…

“Trump said during the campaign that he would reinstate the use of waterboarding against terrorism suspects — a practice that Congress made illegal after its use during the George W. Bush administration. But former House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said this week that Trump’s waterboarding remarks were just ‘campaign talk,’ according to CNN.

“The future president, who ran on an anti-establishment message, also faces pressure to accede to conservative orthodoxies that run counter to promises he made on the campaign trail. Speaking about the months ahead, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) signaled this week that he would consider cutting Medicare, arguing that the program ‘is going broke’ and would need to be reformed at the same time Republicans repeal Obamacare. That, however, would contradict Trump’s vows not to touch entitlement programs…

“On international trade, it remains unclear whether Trump will follow through on his recommendations for punitive tariffs against China. Trump made a point throughout his campaign of trashing the Chinese for devaluing their currency, and said on occasion that he would put a tax on goods from China as a retaliation. ‘The tax should be 45 percent,’ he told the New York Times in January, a figure he used on several occasions. But senior policy adviser Wilbur Ross, who has consulted with Trump on his first 100 days, sought to walk back those campaign claims during an interview this week with Yahoo Finance, denying that Trump had made the suggestion…”

The American people who followed the debates and campaigns diligently, remember very well what was promised. Even and especially Trump supporters will by no means be satisfied with broken promises labeled as “a great campaign device” or “just campaign talk.”  Nor will they accept that they are now being told that Mr. Trump never made a particular promise, while millions heard him doing so. If Mr. Trump does not deliver on what he has promised, he will have to face an angry nation. And if he delivers on some of his more outrageous promises, he will face an angry nation and an angry world. Mr. Trump appears to be in a “no-win” situation.

For instance, a 45% tax on Chinese goods was most certainly more than just a suggestion, and the Chinese understood very well what Mr. Trump was saying. Please note the next article:

China Warns Mr. Trump

CNBC wrote on November 14:

“Apple iPhones and other U.S. goods could suffer sales hits in China if President-elect Donald Trump goes through with his ‘naïve’ plan of slapping a large import tariff on Chinese products, a state-backed newspaper warned on Sunday. During his election campaign this year, Trump spoke of a 45 percent import tariff on all Chinese goods while failing to outline how it would work. Should any such policy come into effect, China will take a ‘tit-for-tat approach’, according to an opinion piece in the Global Times, a newspaper backed by the Communist party. ‘A batch of Boeing orders will be replaced by Airbus. U.S. auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and U.S. soybean and maize imports will be halted. China can also limit the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S.,’ the Global Times article read…

“But the Chinese newspaper was not convinced Trump would go through with his suggestion, calling it ‘merely campaign rhetoric’ and questioning its legal validity. U.S. law dictates that presidents can only impose tariffs of no more than 15 percent for a maximum of 150 days on all imports. As an example of earlier tariff-tit-for-tats, the Global Times pointed toward the 35 percent tariffs imposed in 2009 on Chinese tires. China retaliated with its own tariffs on U.S. car parts and chicken. ‘Both China and the U.S. suffered losses as a result. From then on, the Obama administration waged no trade war against China. If Trump imposes a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports, China-U.S. trade will be paralyzed,’ the Global Times said…

“Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump spoke over the phone on Sunday. ‘During the call, the leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another, and President-elect Trump stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward,’ a statement from Trump’s presidential transition team said.”

What incredible nice political words after months and months of accusations…

Donald Trump Profited from Fake News

AFP wrote on November 10:

“With the mainstream media almost uniformly hostile toward him, Donald Trump rallied supporters during the presidential campaign by delivering his message on Twitter and a loose network of alternative news sites… The real estate billionaire kept momentum even as major news organizations unearthed embarrassing episodes about his past, including on his finances and sexual conduct. As mainstream media stepped up their investigations, going so far as to call him a ‘liar,’ Trump was able to sustain a counter-narrative on social media used by conservative, or ‘alt-right,’ news sites friendly to the Republican candidate…

“As a result, fact-checking by traditional media — which revealed Trump’s massive penchant for exaggeration and falsehood — had less impact than might have been expected… Many Trump supporters and conservatives turned to Twitter, Facebook and other social media to spread their messages and counter the news in traditional outlets. But much of the news on Facebook was fake… One local official shared news on Facebook with headlines such as ‘Hillary Clinton Calling for Civil War If Trump Is Elected’ and ‘Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President’… The dissemination of such fake news was a key factor in Trump’s win…”

The Bible reports about incidents when God allowed false rumors to spread, in order to fulfill His purpose.

Mr. Trump’s Double Standard

The Huffington Post wrote on November 12:

“In… tweets related to the 2012 election… Trump described the Electoral College as ‘phoney’ [sic] and called for a ‘revolution.’ ‘He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election,’ Trump said then of Obama. ‘We should have a revolution in this country!’

“Of course, Trump ended up being wrong: Obama won both the popular and Electoral College votes.

“Trump himself won this year’s vote of the Electoral College, which he attacked in 2012 as a ‘disaster for a democracy.’ As of Friday, he was losing the popular vote, with 60,248,555 votes, compared with 60,811,795 for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to CNN.”

Will NATO Evaporate?

NBC News reported on November 12:

“If Donald Trump actually follows through on his bold rhetoric he is in danger of tearing NATO apart, and with it the very concept of ‘the West’ itself, according to experts. During his campaign, Trump sent shock waves of alarm through Europe after revealing that he might not come to the aid of his NATO allies if they were attacked. This called into question a fundamental principle of the alliance: that an attack against one of its 28 members is considered an attack against all.

“Furthermore, the president-elect has cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strongman who’s positioned himself as NATO’s arch-antagonist. All this could have mortal consequences for a Euro-American alliance funded by billions of U.S. dollars over its 67-year history. ‘If a NATO member was attacked by Russia and Washington didn’t come to its aid, then ‘it’s finished — that’s completely the end of NATO,’ according to Judy Dempsey…  ‘If it becomes clear that the U.S. will not honor Article 5 commitments, or enough members believe that they won’t, then there’s a possibility to total disintegration,’ said Tate Nurkin…

“Many analysts agree Moscow could potentially create a standoff in the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia… The Baltics were once part of the Soviet Union and many of their citizens self-identify as ethnic Russians. Moscow could claim that these ethnic Russians were somehow under threat by their Western-leaning governments, so the hypothetical scenario goes, and stage a military intervention to protect them. This could force the U.S. into a dilemma: Defend the Baltic nations and risk war with Russia, or abandon Article 5 and effect the disintegration of NATO.

“It wouldn’t even have to come to that. In reality, the concept of collective-defense works purely because of the threat the U.S. military would get involved. If Russia and the Baltics don’t believe the White House would intervene then this evaporates.”

Lithuania Fearful

The Guardian wrote on November 11:

“Donald Trump appeared overnight on a wall in the Lithuanian capital this spring – larger than lifesize and locked in a kiss with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The mural was meant as satire, a nod to the unexpected mutual appreciation between two macho demagogues on opposite sides of the world, and a wink at the long shadow of Soviet history that still hangs over the region. Now, with Trump president-elect and America’s commitment to protecting the Baltics in question for the first time in decades, it seems to express something much darker…

“Trump’s victory has been greeted with trepidation far beyond America’s borders. His confusing collection of policy promises and pride in his own unpredictability threaten disruption to the geopolitical order from South Korea to Syria. But those fears are felt particularly keenly in the Baltic states, western outposts of the Soviet empire less than three decades ago, now vulnerable republics on the doorstep of an increasingly assertive Russia…

“Lithuanians and other Baltic nations…  have watched the Russian leader foment war in Georgia and Ukraine, and seize Crimea, and have warned that they could be next, if Putin believes the protection from their US and European allies is faltering…

“Even more chilling for those willing to trust Trump was just indulging in election politicking were remarks from key ally Newt Gingrich, who dismissed Estonia… as virtually part of Russia and barely worth defending…

“Once a regional power, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania came under Moscow’s control in the 18th century, when Russia also tried to stamp out Lithuanian identity, banning books in Lithuanian and persecuting the Roman Catholic church… Immediately south-west of Lithuania is the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, where it has been ramping up troops and military hardware. Those weapons, and Russia’s close relationship with neighbouring Belarus, means the Baltics could be swiftly cut off from the rest of Europe, if Lithuania’s short stretch of border with Poland was threatened.”

Pro-Russian Candidates in Bulgaria and Moldova Win

Deutsche Welle reported on November 13:

“With nearly 100 percent of votes counted, Igor Dodon has declared victory in Moldova’s presidential election. The former economy minister hopes to strengthen ties with Moscow… The election results came as nearby Bulgaria voted in Moscow-friendly Rumen Radev in their presidential election. The victory for the Socialist ally triggered the resignation of center-right Prime Minister Boiko Borisov.”

Coming — A Great Bargain Between the USA and Russia?

The Daily Mail wrote on November 16:

“The restoration of the Soviet empire is under way — and America is not going to stop it. That is the chilling conclusion we must draw from Donald Trump’s first few days as President-elect, in which he received what he termed a ‘beautiful’ letter from Vladimir Putin, followed by an amicable phone call in which the two pledged to restore friendly relations between Washington and Moscow.

“Then, yesterday, Syria’s President Assad said that Mr Trump would be a ‘natural ally’ alongside Russia in the bloodsoaked Syrian civil war if he fulfils his pledge to fight terrorism. Assad and Putin are, of course, at the forefront of the aerial bombardment that began on Tuesday against rebel-held areas of the city of Aleppo after several weeks of relative calm.  The assaults were launched by war planes and via missile attacks from a Russian aircraft carrier stationed off the Syrian coast… the U.S. President-elect does not see it as a priority to stop Russian aggression outside its borders…

“The real damage will be done abroad — to us and to others who depend on strong defence and intelligence ties with America. Intelligence experts fear Putin will offer President Trump a ‘Grand Bargain’ some time in 2017… He [Putin] would promise… a future of peace and friendship. The deal-loving tycoon [Trump]… would boast about saving billions of dollars by being able to pull American troops out of Europe.

“In truth, this deal would be as shameful as the Yalta summit of 1945 at which Stalin outmanoeuvred Britain and America, consigning Eastern Europe to misery and captivity within the Soviet Empire. It would also have echoes of the Munich Agreement of 1938 in which our Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sought to appease Hitler by letting him dismember our ally, Czechoslovakia. Either way, the ‘Grand Bargain’ would be both cynical and astonishingly dangerous.

“Countries such as Estonia would fight, just as Ukraine has, rather than submit to a Kremlin take-over. We [Europe] would be drawn in — and would face an emboldened and powerful Russia — and without American help…”

 Barack Obama and Angela Merkel Lecture Donald Trump

The Associated Press wrote on November 17:

“Offering some pointed foreign policy advice to his successor, President Barack Obama expressed hope Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump would stand up to Russia when it deviates from U.S. ‘values and international norms.’ Obama, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his final presidential visit to Germany, said that… Trump shouldn’t ‘simply take a real-politik approach’ and suggest[ed] ‘that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever’s convenient at the time.’

“… A joint opinion piece by Obama and Merkel published Thursday in Germany’s weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche seemed directed as much at the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. as at European nations… Obama and Merkel noted that European Union-U.S. trade was the largest between any two partners worldwide, and emphasized that the trans-Atlantic friendship has helped forge a climate accord, provide help for refugees worldwide, form a collective defense under NATO, and strengthen the global fight against the Islamic State extremist group.

“Trump, in contrast, has called climate change a ‘hoax’ and said the climate accord should be renegotiated. He promised to tighten rules for accepting refugees, complained the U.S. was paying more than its share to support NATO and has sharply criticized the U.S. strategy for fighting IS…

“The mood for Obama’s latest visit was significantly tamped down compared with his first visit to the German capital in 2008, when some 200,000 exuberant fans packed the road between the landmark Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column to hear the then-candidate, in a speech that solidified his place on the world stage. Obama told Berliners then that progress requires sacrifice and shared burdens among allies. ‘That is why America cannot turn inward,’ Obama told the cheering crowd. ‘That is why Europe cannot turn inward.’

“Eight years later, his words seem to have foreshadowed the nationalist, isolationist forces gaining traction in some parts of Europe and punctuated by Trump’s victory in the U.S. election.”

EU to Uphold “Iran Deal”

The Associated Press reported on November 14:

“Top EU diplomats are calling for more robust European defense and a greater European voice in world affairs as Donald Trump — whose isolationist, protectionist promises have worried many in Europe — prepares to assume the US presidency… ‘The European Union is a superpower,’ EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters…

“In a first move Monday, the ministers reaffirmed their support for the Iran nuclear agreement, which Trump has branded the ‘worst deal in the world’… They said ‘the European Union reiterates its resolute commitment’ to the part of the action plan that EU heavyweights Britain, France and Germany agreed upon with Iran…”

The “Need” for a European Army after Mr. Trump’s Election

Daily Mail wrote on November 11:

“Donald Trump’s election as US President makes an EU army even more necessary, Eurocrats have said. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, said Mr Trump’s pledge to cut spending on Nato and his isolationist approach to foreign policy gives Europe no choice but to strengthen its commons security and defence structures. His call to arms was echoed by the EU’s head of diplomacy, who called for the bloc to become a ‘superpower’ and act as the ‘principal global security provider’.

“It has sent alarm bells ringing in Britain as MPs fear that an EU army and a disengaged America will leave the UK isolated on the global stage. Setting out his plans to press ahead with building an EU army, Mr Juncker said: ‘The Americans… will not ensure the security of the Europeans in the long term. We have to do this ourselves. That is why we need a new start in the field of European defence, up to the goal of setting up a European army.

“Federica Mogherini, the EU high representative who represents the bloc on the global stage – published extensive plans for an EU army in the summer, deliberately waiting until after Britain’s EU referendum. Yesterday she said the EU must strengthen militarily in response to Mr Trump’s election to the White House. ‘In a changing global landscape, Europe will be more and more an indispensable power,’ she said. ‘This is the time to take on our responsibilities and to respond to that call and we can do this only as a true union.’…

“Reaction to Mr Trump’s shock victory on Wednesday was much colder in tone on the continent than Theresa May’s warm congratulations. French President Francois Hollande said his election ‘opens a period of uncertainty’ that must be met by a united Europe, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel… said her offer of ‘close cooperation’ was dependent with Mr Trump was dependent on him respecting liberal values.”

Germany Backs EU Army

The EUObserver wrote von November 11:

“Donald Trump’s victory, as well as Brexit, ought to speed up plans for EU defence integration, Germany has said. ‘Europe needs the common political will for more security policy relevance. The outcome of the election in America could provide an additional impetus’, German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen said in an opinion article in the Rheinische Post, a German newspaper, on Thursday (10 November).”

The Irish Times added on November 11:

“Germany has backed a renewed call by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for the European Union to push ahead with developing an EU army… His call received swift backing from senior German figures on Thursday, ahead of an EU defence minister summit in mid-December.”

Europe’s Perfect Storm

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 10:

“The European Union is facing what the Americans like to call a ‘perfect storm.’ Russian President Vladimir Putin is pursuing expansionism on the back of violence and propaganda, Turkey is transforming into a dictatorship and populists are driving Britain out of the EU and have risen to power in Poland and Hungary… And now, Donald Trump.

“Chancellor Angela Merkel even made her cooperation with Trump dependent on his adherence to fundamental values. A German head of government admonishing a newly elected US president to uphold freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human dignity?… almost nothing seems normal these days — neither in European relations with the US nor elsewhere. Current events in Turkey, for example, would likely be the top issue of concern for the EU if it weren’t for Trump’s election…

“Trump could contribute to European unity, even if unwittingly… Thus far, the US president-elect hasn’t presented anything that could even remotely be called a coherent foreign policy agenda… Eastern European countries under threat from Russia… may not be able to wait until Trump presents more precise plans, if indeed he ever does. During the campaign, after all, Trump repeatedly emphasized that unpredictability in foreign and security policy was advantageous…

“Daniela Schwarzer of the German Council on Foreign Relations expressed a similar view. Even if Trump won’t be able to implement everything that he promised during the campaign, ‘Germany and Europe can no longer rely as usual on the trans-Atlantic partnership,’ says Schwarzer…

“Many in Brussels are concerned that the EU is facing the same fate as the US — namely that Front National leader Marine Le Pen could end up being elected president in France and that Frauke Petry, head of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany, could even take over the German Chancellery. Such a thing might seem unimaginable, but many thought that Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections was unimaginable too.

“The anger that many voters feel against government institutions and the establishment, the anger that propelled Trump to the presidency, is also widely present in Europe. But nobody has yet found an answer for how to oppose it…”

Angela Merkel Last Powerful Defender of Europe?

The New York Times wrote on November 12:

“Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has emerged as the last powerful defender of Europe and the trans-Atlantic alliance after the election of Donald J. Trump… An increasingly divided Europe is looking to Germany, its richest power, to cope with its many problems…

“Italy and Spain are politically fragile, Austria might elect a hard-right president next month, and Ms. Merkel faces difficult negotiations with Britain over its so-called Brexit. And with Mr. Trump advocating ‘America First’ and questioning the value of the NATO alliance, there is pressure on Germany to take a greater role in European security — always a delicate matter…

“Berlin’s B.Z. tabloid… pronounced the election of Mr. Trump ‘the night the West died.’”

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier Refuses to Apologize to Mr. Trump

Express wrote on November 11:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has refused to apologise to President-Elect Donald Trump after calling him a hate preacher. And while world leaders have flocked to offer their congratulations to Mr Trump on his shock US election – Mr Steinmeier is not for turning. In a video of an interview the politician was asked directly whether he will apologise to Mr Trump now that he will have to work alongside him on world affairs. But Mr Steinmeier did what politicians do best and ignored the question – giving another scathing review of Mr Trump.

“He said: ‘We have probably never experienced an election campaign, especially not in the US, but I also can’t remember European election campaigns, in which the rift between the political candidates were dug so deeply and in which the confrontation was so harsh, so unyielding and so unforgiving as it was during this election campaign… A lot of hatred was involved there and I believe that this is an impression that I share with many others. If I think back to many conversations with my European colleagues who were similarly irritated, shook their heads. But, who were also especially worried about the question of how a society can come back together after such an election campaign and I believe this is one of the big challenges that a president Trump will be facing now, who was elected.’”

Frank-Walter Steinmeier the Next German President?

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 14:

“The conservative CDU and CSU parties have backed Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier to replace Joachim Gauck as president, paving the way for him to take up the post without a serious challenge. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU) has backed Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier to be the ruling coaliton’s candidate for the German presidency, following talks among party leaders on Monday morning. The CDU’s Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), also gave its backing for Steinmeier. ‘We have come to an agreement, CSU and CDU,’ CSU leader Horst Seehofer said…

“The conservative Union’s support clears the way for the current foreign minister to go unchallenged in taking over the presidency from Joachim Gauck on February 12. The grand CDU-SPD-CSU coalition enjoys an overwhelming advantage in the electoral assembly that will choose the new president, meaning challenges from a candidate fielded by the Left party or the Greens should be easily overcome.

“The German presidency is a largely ceremonial role that is meant to transcend party politics and serve as a moral compass speaking hard truths to the nation. Steinmeier tends to score well in personal approval ratings, and has recently exhibited some of the hard talk expected from a president – for instance being cool towards British Foreign Minister and Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson, and towards newly-elected US President Donald Trump…

“Steinmeier has twice served as foreign minister in grand coalition governments, each time cooperating with the CDU/CSU and working under Merkel.”

The Anti-Trump Candidate

The Local wrote on November 14:

“Germany’s ruling coalition has backed Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as the country’s next president, party sources said Monday, paving the way for a sharp critic of Donald Trump to become head of state… Steinmeier, 60, has emerged in recent months as the German government’s most strident detractor of US president-elect Donald Trump. He warned a day after Trump’s shock election that transatlantic relations would become ‘more difficult’… During the US campaign, Steinmeier was even more outspoken, saying the prospect of a Trump presidency was a ‘frightening’ prospect for the world. He also compared Trump to a ‘hate preacher’, saying he had much in common with ‘fear-mongers’ in Germany’s right-wing populist AfD party as well as advocates of Britain’s exit from the EU.

“On Monday, the respected daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) also saw the Trump presidency as relevant to Steinmeier’s proposed new role, describing him as the ‘anti-Trump.”

Japan and India Sign Nuclear Agreement

Deutsche Welle reported on November 11:

“Japan signed a civilian nuclear agreement with India on Friday, allowing the East Asian country to supply its advanced nuclear technology to its South Asian ally. The pact forbids that India use the resources for the production of nuclear weapons.

“This marks the first time that Japan has agreed to contribute to the nuclear energy industry of any country that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The treaty’s objective is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy while stemming the production of nuclear arms… India has refused to sign the NPT on the grounds that the treaty’s definition of states who are allowed to build nuclear weapons discriminates against India. The definition in the treaty is limited to those states who tested weapons before 1967. India, which has nuclear weapons, tested its first bomb in 1974.”

Powerful Earthquakes Hits New Zealand

Reuters wrote on November 14:

“A powerful earthquake (with a revised magnitude of 7.8) rocked New Zealand on Monday… Emergency response teams were flying by helicopter to the region at the epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake, some 91 km (57 miles) northeast of Christchurch in the South Island, amid reports of injuries and collapsed buildings. Hundreds of aftershocks, the strongest measuring 6.1 magnitude, continued to shake the country well into mid-morning, after the initial quake struck minutes after midnight…

“New Zealand lies in the seismically active ‘Ring of Fire’, a 40,000 km arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Ocean. Around 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur within this region…”

Deutsche Welle added on November 14:

“New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Monday indicated that damage… could cost the country around 2 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.43 billion, 1.33 billion euros), local news reported.”

Trump Victory a Repudiation of Obama Presidency

USA Today wrote on November 9:

“Donald Trump’s victory… was nothing less than a repudiation of the Obama presidency… With Republicans maintaining control of the House and Senate, President-elect Trump would be in a position to repeal large parts of Obama’s legislative agenda, repeal his executive orders with a stroke of a pen, and install conservative Supreme Court justices…

“Trump’s election represents a ‘hostile takeover’ of the White House… Judging from his whirlwind campaigning of the past few weeks, no one was more aware of Trump’s threat to his legacy than Obama himself…

“With this loss, President Obama loses the opportunity to go down as one of America’s great presidents… It looks like Obama has failed to exploit his opportunity to be a transformation president.”

Obama Is To Be Blamed

In a biting commentary, Bild Online wrote on November 6, prior to the election outcome:

“Obama is mainly responsible for the conditions of his country… The self-declared healer Obama is to be blamed for the divide… Eight years Obama have radicalized America… Obamacare, so Bill Clinton, is ‘the craziest thing in the world.’ Even more than domestically, Obama leaves behind a field covered with ruins on the international front. America’s foes are no longer afraid of the US President, and America’s friends have no more confidence in him…

“The differences between Trump and Obama are: In Trump’s case, his declarations are frightening; in Obama’s case, his political deeds (or his omissions, such as in Syria) are frightening. America’s weakness in the world… is not a product of Trump’s imagination, but it is because of Obama’s politics…

“I hope the world has learned from eight years of Obama that politicians are dangerous if they present themselves as Saviors.”

Dark Times Await America

The Berliner Zeitung wrote on November 7 (prior to the election):

“One could mention many reasons for (America’s) downfall… It is clear: The status of America’s society will not change, regardless as to who will win the election. For the considerable future, America is paralyzed politically, if not something worse happens. Even without Trump, dark times await America…”

EU in Fear

BBC News wrote on November 9:

“The ‘sincere’ (their word) letter of congratulations to Donald Trump… from the European Commission and the European Council oozes EU angst from every line. Messers Juncker and Tusk rushed to remind the US president-elect of ‘shared values of freedom, human rights, democracy and a belief in the market economy’ in a way that lays bare their very clear fear that Mr Trump doesn’t prioritise these values at all…

“Key EU nations France, Germany and the Netherlands are steaming towards elections next year… Italy’s prime minister risks losing his job in a matter of weeks, depending on the results of a referendum he called on changing the Italian constitution. In what is possibly the political understatement of the morning, Matteo Renzi mused after Donald Trump’s declaration of victory that ‘we are in a new (political) season’.

“By far and away the most effusive European reaction to the US elections came from the jubilant leaders of populist anti-establishment parties from Budapest, to Berlin, Vienna and beyond.

“Mr Trump certainly made waves during his election campaign when he indicated that US military support for Nato member states could be conditioned on whether countries meet their financial obligations to the bloc. If he keeps his word, only four of Nato’s 28 members would qualify for support from Washington in the case of a war.

“Donald Trump’s rhetoric… propelled him to election victory on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a moment that changed the course of European history. On Wednesday former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, a man rarely associated with hyperbole, described the US vote as the biggest political rupture since then…”

November 9 – an Extraordinary Day in German History

The Local wrote on November 9:

“November 9th is known as the ‘Day of Fate’ (Schicksalstag) in Germany because… different but momentous events in German history occured on that day. After the Berlin Wall was pulled down on November 9th 1989, it seemed to many a logical day to celebrate the reunification of Germany. However, there is good reason why October 3rd was ultimately chosen as der Tag der deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day)…

“German democratic politician and activist Robert Blum was executed on this day [November 9] in Vienna [in 1848]. He had joined revolutionary fighters in the capital of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was arrested on the November 4th before being condemned to death by a military tribunal. Blum, who was born in Cologne and rose from being an apprentice gardener to sitting in the preliminary democratic parliament in Frankfurt, was a popular advocate of democracy and greater gender equality, condemning Prussian militarism and anti-Semitism… his death… marked the end of the democratic stirrings in Germany in the 1840s.

“During the final days of the First World War, on November 9^th [in 1918], the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany from the throne was announced, and he boarded a train to the Netherlands the following day. In the revolutionary spirit that followed, Social Democrat politician Philipp Scheidemann rushed to a window of the Reichstag in Berlin to declare the new republic before his communist competitor Karl Liebknecht was able to…

“During the early years following the war, there was much instability in Germany, and challenges took place from both the far left and far right against the new democratic Weimar government. [On November 9, 1923, the] leader of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), Adolf Hitler, marched with First World War General Erich Ludendorff and other party members into the centre of Munich to take control of the southern city. The attempt was quashed by the police: 16 demonstrators and four policemen died, and Hitler was arrested and then imprisoned for five years. The NSDAP was then banned…

“On the night of November 9th, [1938,] SA troops as well as German citizens carried out violent attacks on Jewish populations across Germany. 267 synagogues were destroyed in Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland, and it is estimated that 7,500 German Jewish shops were laid waste to. At least 91 Jews were killed between November 9th and 10th. On the following day, over 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps such as Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. The day marked the true beginning of state persecution of the Jewish race…

“Exactly a month after huge demonstrations against the East German government in Leipzig, November 9^th [1989] became the defining landmark of the end of communism. Following a mistake by East German government spokesman Günter Schabowski in a press conference, announcing that new, more relaxed border regulations were to come into effect ‘ab sofort’ (instantly), thousands of East Berliners rushed to the wall. Hours later they had forced their way through the checkpoints, and the concrete barrier that had divided the city for over 28 years was no more…”

Germany, France and Russia React with Shock and Hope

Time wrote on November 9:

“Leaders and officials across the world reacted with shock, hope and congratulations, as Donald Trump confounded polls and surged to victory over Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential elections early on Wednesday morning… In Russia, President Vladimir Putin reportedly offered his congratulations, and ‘expressed confidence that the dialogue between Moscow and Washington, in keeping with each other’s views, meets the interests of both Russia and the U.S.,’ according to Russia Today.

“German Justice Minister Heiko Maas tweeted, ‘The world won’t end, but things will get more crazy,’ while his colleague, Defence Minister Usula von der Leyen, told Reuters the result was a ‘huge shock’ and asked Trump for clarification on whether the U.S. would remain committed to NATO…”

Deutsche Welle added on November 9:

“German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel called Trump’s victory ‘a warning for Germany and Europe,’ urging policy makers to listen more closely to people’s concerns. ‘Trump is the pioneer of a new authoritarian and chauvinist international movement. He is also a warning for us,’ Gabriel [said].”

The Mirror wrote on November 9:

“… the French ambassador to the United States tweeted that the ‘world is collapsing before our eyes’…”

What President Trump May Mean for Germany

The Local wrote on November 9:

“Donald Trump’s election as the next US president shocked many in Germany, and on Wednesday people across the world woke up wondering what may happen next…

“While Merkel extended an olive branch to Trump on Wednesday, saying she would offer him ‘close cooperation,’ after Trump had previously accused her of ‘ruining Germany,’… her top diplomat seemed more pessimistic. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier [who had called Trump a “hate preacher”] said that foreign relations would become ‘more difficult’ with Trump. Leading foreign policy experts also raised their fears that a Trump presidency could make life extremely awkward for Berlin.

“Sylke Tempel, US expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), described the Republican as ‘poison for fruitful foreign policy’ in an interview with DPA. ‘With Trump in the White House, a man has been elected to the most important office in the world who can’t control himself, who has no political experience, who takes criticism as personal assault, and who is clearly motivated by vengeance.’…

“The German government has been eagerly pushing the major Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal between the EU and the US. But Trump’s campaign has been critical of international trade agreements, saying they cost his country jobs… International Relations expert Josef Janning told The Local that Germany ‘can forget about TTIP’ after Trump’s election.”

It Is Now Up to Germany to Lead

The Local wrote on November 9:

“German policy experts are unanimous in saying that Trump is bad news for Berlin… For Olaf Boehnke, a freelance expert on international affairs, ‘with the US election results, the pressure on Germany has increased dramatically.’ Multiple crises in the world, including in Ukraine and Syria, are likely to escalate in the uncertain period after Trump takes power, he argues to The Local. ‘There is a need of leadership, and if the US will not be the leader for the time being, then everybody looks to other leading nations or those with the potential,’ he says. ‘It is up to Merkel and to Berlin to step up at least for the European crowd and take on much more responsibility than she already has.’…

“If Trump follows on a campaign pledge to reduce his country’s financial commitment to NATO, Berlin would have to up its defence spending every year, a highly unpopular political decision among the German electorate, says Boehnke. But, Europe ‘will not be able to hide behind the US anymore’ when it comes to dealing with a more aggressive Russia, and thus Merkel will have to push a common defence ‘at a really fast pace’…”

“Juncker Calls for an EU Army”

Deutsche Welle reported on November 10:

“Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted on closer military and security cooperation between EU member states. The EU Commission president insists the need for an European army is irrespective of Trump’s election victory.”

Great Britain Reacts—“We all Face Dark, Uncertain and Fearful Times”

The Guardian wrote on November 9:

“The unthinkable is only unthinkable until it happens. Then, like the sack of Rome, it can seem historically inevitable. So it is with the global political earthquake that is the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States. If he is true to his campaign pledges, which were many and reckless, Mr Trump’s win will herald America’s most stunning reversal of political and economic orthodoxy since the New Deal in the 1930s, but with the opposite intention and effect…

“The parallel with Britain’s Brexit vote is obvious and real… The result will be lamented by liberals across America and beyond. But it will be cheered in Moscow and Damascus, which will feel emboldened. This is not a good week to be a Latvian or a Ukrainian, and another dire one to be a Syrian oppositionist…

“But this is primarily an American catastrophe that America has brought upon itself. When it came to it, the US was unable to find a credible way of rallying against Mr Trump and what he represents. Hillary Clinton failed that crucial test both in herself and in what she offered; for her this is the end. But she was the symptom, not the cause. Mr Trump was not taken seriously and was widely not expected to beat Mrs Clinton throughout the long, bitter campaign. At each stage, his candidacy was deemed certain to crash and burn. The opinion polls and the vaunted probability calculus rarely trended in his direction; both are now discredited…

“Mr Trump’s victory was total… It was the most stunning upset in modern US history… He won most of the battleground states into which the Clinton campaign had poured money – Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin…

“Meanwhile, Republican congressional candidates who had scrabbled to put distance between themselves and their nominee after the ugly TV debates found themselves riding to victory on Mr Trump’s coattails. Republicans held most of their seats in the Senate races… predictably, the House remained firmly in Republican hands too…

“President Trump is the shock heard round the world… Mr Trump’s win means uncertainty about America’s future strategy in a world that has long relied on the United States for stability. But Mr Trump’s capacity to destabilise is almost limitless. His military, diplomatic, security, environmental and trade policies all have the capacity to change the world for the worse. Americans have done a very dangerous thing this week. Because of what they have done we all face dark, uncertain and fearful times.”

Israel’s Reaction—No Palestinian State, and US Embassy to Move to Jerusalem

JTA wrote on November 9:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Donald Trump on his presidential victory, calling him a ‘true friend of the State of Israel.’… ‘I am confident that President-elect Trump and I will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between our two countries and bring it to ever greater heights.’

“Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, head of the opposition Zionist Union camp, offered his congratulations in a post on Facebook. ‘American democracy today elected a leader who surprised the pundits, and showed that we are in an era of change and new direction. You did the unexpected, against all odds,’ Herzog wrote…

“Likud lawmaker and Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick congratulated Trump and invited him to ‘ascend the Temple Mount…’

“In his congratulations to Trump, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, claimed ‘The era of a Palestinian state is over.’ Bennett said in a statement: ‘Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state in the center of the country, which would hurt our security and just cause. This is the position of the president-elect, as written in his platform, and it should be our policy, plain and simple.’

“Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in a congratulatory letter sent to Trump reminded the president-elect of his promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something his three predecessors have failed to do since the passage of the Jerusalem Act in 1995…”

President Obama Encouraged Illegal Aliens to Vote!

BRP wrote on November 5:

“In a jaw-dropping move, lame duck Barack Obama told illegal aliens they can vote, citing the ‘sanctity of the vote’… Obama made the bizarre declaration that it’s okay to commit voter fraud and break the law by voting in a U.S. election even if you’re in the country illegally.

“A woman interviewer asked Obama: ‘I call [illegal aliens] citizens, as they contribute to this country. They are fearful of voting and wonder: “If I vote, will Immigration know where I live? Will they come for my family and deport us?”’ ‘This is not true,’ Obama said in the live TV interview. ‘First of all, when you vote, there’s not a situation where voting rolls are transferred over and people start investigating. The sanctity of the vote is strictly confidential.’

“The shocking video clip first aired on Neil Cavuto‘s Fox Business News show ‘Coast to Coast.’ After hearing Obama tell illegal aliens they won’t get caught if they commit voter fraud, a disgusted Cavuto exploded. ‘I can’t believe that I heard what I heard!’ Cavuto said. ‘It was very clear that the question that was being asked was about illegals voting and them being afraid they might be reported to Border Security.’

“Cavuto said Obama missed the entire premise of the question: ‘You’re ignoring the fact that you are being questioned about illegal voting, which you can’t do. Why? Because you’re not a citizen of this country!’ Cavuto added: ‘You’re illegal! You cannot vote. The President of the United States is saying no one will be spying on you, catching you.’

“Voter fraud has taken center stage this election cycle, as instances of voter fraud were recently reported in California and in other states…”

The Dirtiest Campaign in American History

Der Spiegel wrote on November 4:

“Trump versus Clinton will go down in American history as the dirtiest campaign of all time. It seemed at times as though script writers had let their imaginations run wild. But the consequences for democracy in the United States will be long lasting…

“For the last year, American democracy has become a circus, one in which the most outlandish gag gets the most applause. And it won’t be without consequences: The country will have to live with the scars of this ugly campaign for quite some time to come. Make no mistake: When the advances of civilization are set aside, even if only temporarily, fractures are the result and they aren’t easy to repair. When arguments don’t count and lies are accepted as truth, when politicians have entire teams working to spread disinformation, democracy as we understand it ceases to exist.

“Clinton and Trump have managed to drag US politics — already not the purest of spectacles — into the muck. With the help of the hysterical media, they have transformed the race into a soap opera, and this time, reality has far exceeded even our wildest imaginations.”

Sadly, the political circus will have lasting consequences for a country being alienated already from the true God.

Der Spiegel added on November 7:

“When Americans go to the polls on Tuesday, there will be no chance left to salvage this election. All that remains is picking the lesser of two evils. But the damage has already been done…

“How could the entire country have allowed the democracy for which it stands to fall into this degree of decline?… bankruptcy is around the corner…”

America—a Laughing Stock Around the World

On November 8, Piers Morgan wrote for the Daily Mail:

“Elections are supposed to be momentous events in a nation’s history, filled with hope, excitement and optimism for the future. This one feels like the complete opposite. Many Americans feel repulsed, sickened, angry and thoroughly depressed by what has been happening over the past 18 months… nobody in this race… has fought fair. It’s been shockingly nasty and appallingly mean-spirited… The combined effect of all this has been to render America a laughing stock around the world…

“70% of Americans don’t like the direction the country is headed… Who, after all, wants to be an object of ridicule?… Trump and Clinton are the two most unpopular candidates in US presidential history… So whoever wins tonight, the absolute first priority of the new President must be to work urgently to restore some dignity and respect to this great country. Millions of Americans feel lost, helpless, abandoned and resentful…

“[America] IS breaking and it needs re-setting. When you break a bone, you go see a doctor and get it healed… The Dis-United States of America must be United again.”

Sadly, it won’t be healed again. It is far too late for that.

The Epitome of Human Foolishness

The Sun wrote on November 5:

“SCIENTISTS have claimed that death may not be as final as we once feared – and that humans have souls that can leave the body after their hosts kick the bucket. It may sound like a supernatural myth, but the idea that human consciousness lives on after death has been put forward by a number of well-respected scientists.

“We may not know exactly what consciousness is, but physicist Sir Roger Penrose believes that it’s just a packet of information stored at a quantum – or sub-atomic – level… Sir Roger has argued that when a person dies temporarily, this quantum information is released into the universe, only to return to the body’s cells if the host is brought back to life. He argues that this explains why people can have near-death experiences, and believes that this quantum information amounts to a soul leaving the body.

“And Sir Roger is not alone in believing this, since his theory is backed by researchers at the renowned Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich. Experts there argue that our physical universe is just a perception, and that once our bodies die there is an infinite life beyond…. Dr Hans-Peter Dürr, former head of the institute, has said: ‘… The body dies but the spiritual quantum field continues. In this way, I am immortal.’

“Earlier this year, another remarkable claim about the afterlife was made by a terminally-ill violinist who survived 17 near-death experiences, and claims to have been to the other side… During one near-death experience, he claimed he was blocked from entering heaven by a group of laughing angels who smelled of aftershave. Another vision saw him bathed in the aura of an ‘Asiatic goddess’, whilst he claims a further supernatural encounter made him believe he was a husky dog bounding through the Arctic.’

This is such utter nonsense that one must shake one’s head at such foolishness and demonic deceptions, but sadly, many people believe in these ridiculous concepts. And now, even so-called “scientists” support this ungodly idea, albeit from quite a different equally preposterous angel.

 For the biblical truth, please watch Norbert Link’s recent sermon, “Is the Soul Immortal?”

How Poland Fights the Curse of Abortion

The Associated Press wrote on November 6:

“Polish lawmakers approved a plan Friday to pay a bonus to families whose child is born disabled — part of a policy aimed at curbing the number of abortions. The ‘For Life’ plan, which is expected to take effect next year, gives a one-time payment of 4,000 zlotys ($1,000) upon the birth of a disabled child or one with a life-threatening disease.

“Government official Elzbieta Witek said the money is intended as the ‘first step’ of government support for families with disabled children. Such families have long been demanding higher aid, which currently stands at 1,300 zlotys a month for a parent taking care of the child full-time.

“The conservative Law and Justice government, backed by the Catholic church, is seeking to ban abortions of deformed or sick fetuses, or even those with no chance of survival, to make possible their baptism and burial.

“Polish law now bans abortions except in cases when the woman’s life or health is threatened, when the pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the fetus is irreparably damaged. But amid the threat of prison terms, doctors often refuse to perform even admissible abortions.

“Government figures say 1,040 abortions were performed in Poland last year, while experts say some 150,000 abortions a year are done illegally and secretly. The government says most of the legal abortions are performed on fetuses with genetic defects like Down syndrome and wants that stopped.”

Abortion is sin, without exception. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Are You Already Born Again?”

The False Human Wisdom of Pope Francis

The website of Americamagazine.org wrote the following on November 6:

“In a speech delivered at the Vatican just three days before the U.S. presidential election, Pope Francis urged social justice activists from around the world not to give into the politics of fear by building walls but instead work to build bridges… The pope did not mention the Nov. 8 U.S. election, but many of the themes he touched on have played out in debates between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton in recent months.

“For example, the pope reiterated his plea for nations to respond more generously to the global refugee crisis, which he blamed on ‘an unjust socio-economic system and wars.’

“… It is not just Republicans on the receiving end of Catholic criticism around immigration. Some Catholic immigration activists have been critical of the Obama administration for its mass deportations of undocumented people living in the United States and for what they say are human rights abuses in U.S. detention centers along the southern border…

“Christians have a duty, he said, to be active in political life…”

The truth is, Christians have a duty NOT to be active in political life. For more information, please view our StandingWatch program, “Are You Voting for World War III”?

Divine Punishment for Gay Unions?

The Sun wrote on November 5:

“AN Italian priest has branded recent earthquakes that have shaken the country, killing hundreds and leaving tens of thousands homeless, as ‘divine punishment’ for gay civil unions. The controversial comments have now sparked the wrath of the Vatican who have moved quickly to refute the outspoken views spoken by theologian Father Giovanni Cavalcoli…

“Cavalcoli said on Radio Maria that the seismic shocks were ‘divine punishment’ for ‘the offence to the family and the dignity of marriage, in particular through civil unions’. The radio station distanced itself from his views with the  Vatican also quick to come out with a stinging rebuke, saying the idea of a vengeful God was ‘a pagan vision’ dating from ‘the pre-Christian era’…

“But Cavalcoli has refused to back down, insisting to another radio station that earthquakes are indeed caused by ‘the sins of man’ and telling the Vatican to ‘read their catechism’. Legislation allowing gay civil unions in Italy only took effect last month, making it the last country in Western Europe to legally recognise same-sex relationships.”

Even though we are not saying that the current earthquakes in Italy were directly caused by God, the notion that divine punishment for sin is a “pagan vision from a pre-Christian era” shows a completely dumbfounding lack of biblical understanding by the Catholic Church. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Punishment for Our Sins.”

Pope Addresses the Habsburg Family

Zenit wrote on November 7:

“Pope Francis [spoke to] 300 members of Austria’s Habsburg family, when he received them in the Vatican on Saturday as they make a family pilgrimage to Rome, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy.

“[The Pope said this:] ‘In this happy circumstance, you are remembering especially Blessed Karl of Austria, who in fact one hundred years ago or so ascended the throne. May his spiritual presence in your midst be such that the Habsburg family does not turn today to the past nostalgically but, on the contrary, is actively present in today’s history with its challenges and needs. In fact, some of you play leading roles in organizations of solidarity and human and cultural promotion, as well as in supporting the European project as a common home founded on human and Christian values…

“‘Karl of Austria was first of all a good family man, and as such a servant of life and of peace. He had known war, having been a simple soldier at the beginning of World War I. He assumed the kingdom in 1916 and, sensitive to the voice of Pope Benedict XV, he spent himself with all his strength for peace, at the cost of being misunderstood and derided. In this also he gives us an ever more timely example, and we can invoke him as intercessor to obtain from God peace for humanity…’”

Trade Between India and UK Will Suffer Because of Brexit

The Guardian wrote on November 5:

“Trade between India and the UK will suffer a ‘double hit’ as a result of the Brexit vote and the decline in sterling, the head of India’s largest business lobby has warned, ahead of a three-day visit by Theresa May. The prediction by the head of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) echoes those of other analysts…

“Ficci’s secretary general, A Didar Singh, said the Brexit vote would ‘obviously’ have consequences for about 800 Indian businesses operating in the UK, as many used the country as a gateway into Europe. ‘The EU is India’s largest trading partner … but exports from the UK to India have been declining,’ he said, adding that trade would also be hit by the drop in sterling, which rallied on Friday. ‘Now, exports from India to the UK will also decline because you’ve lost 18% of your pound’s value…’

“London has been a hub for drug companies because the European Medicines Agency, which sets standards across the bloc, is headquartered in Canary Wharf. Spain and Sweden are reportedly among those already lobbying to be its new home. India’s largest carmaker, Tata, will also be sweating over negotiations between Britain and the EU. About 90% of its value is tied up in the UK-based Jaguar Land Rover, which is dependent on European supply chains and markets that might soon attract steep duties…”

Theresa May to the High Court: Accept the Decision of the People

On November 5, the Telegraph published the following editorial by Prime Minister Theresa May:

“On Thursday, the High Court decided that the government could not begin the process of withdrawing from the European Union without the permission of MPs and members of the House of Lords. It is a decision the government will challenge in the Supreme Court.

“This may appear to be a debate about process, and the legal argument is complex, but in reality there is an important principle at stake. Parliament voted to put the decision about our membership of the EU in the hands of the British people. The people made their choice, and did so decisively. It is the responsibility of the government to get on with the job and to carry out their instruction in full.  MPs and peers who regret the referendum result need to accept what the people decided. Instead of re-fighting the battles of the past, we should be focusing on how we can come together as a country to make the most of this great national opportunity…”

Russian Warships in the Mediterranean

The Guardian wrote on November 4:

“A Russian frigate armed with cruise missiles has passed through the Bosphorus on its way to the eastern Mediterranean in a potentially ominous development for the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo.

“The Admiral Gligorovich, part of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, arrived off the Syrian coast on Friday as the latest pause in the Russian bombardment of eastern Aleppo came to an end, adding to an emphatic Russian show of naval force in the Mediterranean. Three Russian submarines from Russia’s northern fleet capable of firing Kalibr missiles are also reported to have arrived in the Mediterranean…

“The arrival of the Grigorovich and the Russian submarines armed with cruise missiles could add to the devastation being wreaked on eastern Aleppo, home to 275,000 people. However, if that was Russia’s only aim, it could easily increase the number of planes it bases at Hmeimim air base, near Latakia. The flexing of naval muscle is about geopolitical image as much as military firepower…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 8:

“Russia has said it will soon begin airstrikes on Syria launched from its flagship aircraft carrier… Jets from Russia’s flagship aircraft carrier will launch airstrikes from the eastern Mediterranean around the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo…  Warplanes from the Admiral Kuznetsov will target rebels on the outskirts on the city, where they have launched a counter offensive against the Syrian government-controlled western part of the city…

“The deployment of the Admiral Kuznetsov, the first active combat mission for a Russian aircraft carrier, is the latest escalation since Russia intervened in Syria last September. Moscow has used the conflict to test its capabilities and flex its military muscles, including by launching cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea and using strategic bombers to pound targets. Russia has a naval facility in the Syrian port city of Tartus.”

“Will the Turkish Conflict Come to Germany?”

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 5:

“Anger and desperation motivated many Kurds living in Germany to march in Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund and Hanover…

“Hundreds of people joined spontaneous protests over the jailing of Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Thousands aired their grievances on social media platforms. ‘This is Erdogan’s final declaration of war on the Kurdish people,’ said Ali Ertan Toprak, head of Germany’s large Kurdish community when talking with DW.

“Both politicians have been in the crosshairs of the Turkish government since it began jailing over 30,000 people that it called ‘enemies of the state’ in the wake of July’s failed military coup. The government in Ankara accuses the leftist-liberal HDP of supporting the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and thus supporting terrorism. The party denies the accusation. Nevertheless, over the past several weeks numerous oppositional Kurdish politicians have been removed from office, journalists have been persecuted and pro-Kurdish media outlets have been closed down. The HDP’s electoral success last year made it a serious political force in Turkey and Demirtas one of Erdogan’s most important rivals…

“Toprak is certain that the situation ‘will spill over into Germany, where Turks and Kurds live.’ When he speaks of Turks and Kurds in Germany, he is talking about 1.5 million people – secular, Muslim, conservative and liberal. The Turkish diaspora is just as fractured as Turkish society itself…

“One trend, more than any, is clear: many Germans with Turkish roots still strongly identify with their country of origin. A comprehensive study published this June by Detlef Pollack, a sociology of religion professor at the University of Münster, showed that Turks in Germany feel well integrated but at the same time do not feel as if they are fully accepted as equal members of German society…

“‘There are groups within Germany’s Turkish community that defend everything that Erdogan does because they long for a different Turkey,’ explains Toprak. He says that Erdogan is pushing the country towards an Islamic dictatorship… The head of the Kurdish community in Germany adds: Those who are of a different opinion are ‘declared terrorists and handled as such.’…

“Toprak goes a step further: ‘If Turkish nationalists take to the streets in the next few days and call for counter-demonstrations, one cannot rule out the possibility that there will be rioting in Germany.’ Toprak says that Germany’s federal government has a special obligation to deescalate the situation by ‘condemning Erdogan’s actions in unmistakable terms.’ Demands from the Kurds are clear: immediately suspend EU accession talks with Turkey, end all economic aid and stop arms sales.”

This is not going to happen. Note the next article:

The EUObserver wrote on November 4:

“The EU has condemned the latest raft of arrests in Turkey, but is not yet considering changing its relationship with the country.”

Deutsche Welle added on November 9:

“The European Commission’s assessment of candidate country Turkey has sparked a heated standoff. With patience seemingly running short, each side has accused the other of stalling Turkish membership negotiations… The European Commission released a scathing report on Wednesday concerning Turkey’s accession progress. The Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown on civil rights, the judiciary and press freedom all made the prospect of EU-membership increasingly unlikely, the report said.

“In the escalating standoff, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later challenged European leaders to ‘go and make a final decision’ on Turkey’s membership… Erdogan told business leaders: ‘You know those 3 million refugees in Turkey? They say there is a problem. What if the negotiations end and they open the gates, where would we put those 3 million refugees? That is their worry. That is why they cannot come to the end point.’”