IS AMERICA HEADED FOR A SUEZ CRISIS?

We’re in the process of watching “Atlantic Crossing,” an eight-part series that is the latest offering on Masterpiece, Sundays on PBS.   It tells the story of a Norwegian princess and her friendship with President Franklin Roosevelt, while she was a refugee in America.   Norway had been invaded by Nazi Germany and was a part of the Third Reich.

There is one mistake in the series, however, and it’s one that our local newspaper made a few months ago on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  That is in calling the President of the United States the most powerful man in the world or the leader of the free world.

This particular accolade was not used until after World War II when it was clear that America had emerged as the global leader.   In 1948 an Englishwoman wrote to the Times of London describing the US as the “leader of the free world.”  This description soon caught on.

Before World War II, England with its vast empire, was the leader.  During WWII, it could be said that Germany was the dominant power as it conquered most of Europe.  The “mistake” in Atlantic Crossing is not a serious one.   It’s also not as bad as when I saw President Polk (1845-1849) described as the leader of the free World.   I’ve even seen a tee-shirt with “Ruling the world since 1776” emblazoned across it.   Students of American history will be aware that America amounted to nothing until the twentieth century.

Why is this important?

Because Americans need to be aware that the “leader of the Free World” was not always the United States and, looking ahead, may not be in the future.

The British historian (and American resident), Niall Ferguson, speculated recently the US may have a “Suez crisis” soon with communist China.

The Suez crisis in 1956 finished off the British Empire.   A combined British/French/Israeli military action took place against Egypt when it seized the Anglo-French owned Suez Canal.  The international force won, but the US told Britain to get out.   Nobody knows the reason why Eisenhower refused to back the British, but he threatened to dump the British currency on the world, which would have broken the British economically.  In other words, by 1956 it was clear that the United States was the Leader of the Free World and that no western power could do anything without American support.

Mr. Ferguson foresees such a humiliation for the US when China moves to annex Taiwan.

President Xi has made it clear that, before he leaves office, Taiwan will be an integral part of China.

“With swarms of ships, Beijing tightens its grip on South China Sea” was the headline in Monday’s New York Times.

The US is pledged to defend Taiwan.   But the logistics of this would be challenging, to say the least.

And if the US loses Taiwan to the western world, there will be no confidence left in the US in the Pacific sphere.  It would certainly break the pride of our power (Leviticus 26:19).  As with Britain in 1956, it would be the end of the American Empire!

GERMANY DOUBTS OUTCOME OF US WAR WITH CHINA

China’s countermeasures to recent EU sanctions is spurring a debate over further punitive measures and the possibility of closing ranks behind the United States. The renunciation of the recently concluded investment agreement with the People’s Republic of China, for example, is now in discussion. This agreement had been reached through considerable efforts, particularly by Berlin, because major German companies are dependent on business with China for their very existence. Volkswagen and Infineon, for example, generate around two-fifths of their revenues in China. Transatlantic-oriented political advisors are now demanding that Germany “wake up” and take up position against “China’s economic might.” An influential commentator calls for “closing ranks” with Washington and speculates on Berlin’s stance in the case of a war between the United States and China. For years already, US experts have been contemplating such a war. Today however, they are no longer sure that the United States can win that war.  (German Foreign Policy, 4/2/2021)

BIDEN CREATING JOBS . . . IN CHINA

For three principal reasons, his [Biden’s] jobs plan will create full employment in China. First, Biden will create substantially more demand for Chinese materials to go into America’s planned physical infrastructure improvements. Second, the large corporate tax increases he proposes will drive even more businesses out of the U.S. — and across the Pacific. Third, Biden’s “green energy” ideas will eliminate one of the crucial advantages American manufacturers now have: cheap energy.

“Unless we invest in the capacity to make the steel, cement, and the other materials that go into our roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, we will always be at the mercy of China’s Communist Party” — Jonathan Bass, CEO of Whom Home and onshoring advocate, in an interview with Gatestone Institute, April 2021.  (Gatestone, 4/7/2021)

ISLAM

AMERICAN DEFEAT LOOMS IN AFGHANISTAN

The intelligence community is warning the Biden administration that the Taliban could control most of Afghanistan within 2-3 years and allow Al-Qaeda to reconstitute if U.S.-led military forces withdraw before the Afghan government and Taliban strike a deal to share power.

However, some senior administration officials argue that the threat of ISIS or Al-Qaeda turning Afghanistan into a major base is overblown because the Taliban is an enemy of ISIS and claim that Al-Qaeda’s presence is small.   (Clarion Project, 4/1/2021)

ISLAMIST THREAT TO US STILL REMAINS

On April 6, 2021, a new group, Zulfiqar Forces, which is part of the Iranian-backed ‘Islamic Resistance in Iraq,’ released on its Telegram channel a poster threatening to launch an attack inside the United States.

The poster depicted a masked fighter wearing the group’s uniform and holding a machine gun, against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol Building, edited to appear in ruins. The Arabic text at the bottom of the poster read “Companion of Death,” highlighting the fearlessness of the group’s fighters.  (MEMRI, 4/6/2021)

ISLAMISTS CONDEMN BUTTIGIEG

In a Friday sermon at the Islamic Center of Union County, NJ, the imam, who was not identified in the video, said that homosexuality is a disease that is spreading. The imam added that all religions consider homosexuality to be a sin, the same way they view adultery, stealing, lying, and killing as sins. However, he added, “we have not seen a killer, adulterer, thief, fornicator, or liar” run for the highest office in the U.S. and yet a homosexual ran for president and subsequently became a Secretary of a Department in the U.S. government – a reference to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. He said that Muslims must build a shield between their children and the “disease” of homosexuality that “keeps spreading.” The sermon was posted on ICUC on YouTube and Facebook on March 19, 2021.  (MEMRI 4/1/2021)

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UK NEWS

Race report ‘glorified slavery’
The UK government’s race review has been condemned as “culturally deaf” and accused of “glorifying” slavery. The report by the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities argued that the era of slavery was about how “culturally African people transformed themselves.” Marsha de Cordova, Labour’s shadow women and equalities minister, said the comments put a “positive spin on slavery and empire.” Lord Woolley of Woodford, a crossbench peer who founded Operation Black Vote and formerly chaired the government race disparity unit’s advisory group, said: “The only good narrative about the enslavement of Africans is that we survived.”  (The Week, 4/1/2021)

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US

Dwight D. Eisenhower did not talk about his accomplishments in his famous farewell speech of 1961. Instead, he warned us about the rise of a “technological elite” who could control public policy without anyone knowing. He warned us about a future in which democracy would be meaningless. What I have to tell you is this: The technological elite are now in control. You just don’t know it. Big Tech had the ability to shift 15 million votes in 2020 without anyone knowing that they did so and without leaving a paper trail for authorities to trace. Our calculations suggest that they actually shifted at least six million votes to President Biden without people knowing. This makes the free-and-fair election — a cornerstone of democracy — an illusion.  (Gatestone, 4/4/2021)

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This $2.3 trillion in Great Society II and Green New Deal spending is the modest fraction to be allocated to infrastructure — airports, bridges, roads, ports, public transit. Most of the rest is to be used to grow social programs and launch new ones.

Biden plans to lead the nation into a new “forever war,” an endless war on climate change. Meanwhile, the Chinese pump ever more carbon into the atmosphere, as Americans sacrifice to take it out.  (PB, 4/22/2021)

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US CHURCH AFFILIATION DROPPING

The proportion of Americans who consider themselves members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped below 50 percent, according to a poll from Gallup released Monday. It is the first time that has happened since Gallup first asked the question in 1937, when church membership was 73 percent.

In recent years, research data has shown a seismic shift in the U.S. population away from religious institutions and toward general disaffiliation, a trend that analysts say could have major implications for politics, business and how Americans group themselves. In 2020, 47 percent of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque. The polling firm also found that the number of people who said religion was very important to them has fallen to 48 percent, a new low point in the polling since 2000.

For some Americans, religious membership is seen as a relic of an older generation, said Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University and a pastor in the American Baptist Church. Gallup’s data finds that church membership is strongly correlated with age: 66 percent of American adults born before 1946 belong to a church, compared with 58 percent of baby boomers, 50 percent of Generation X and 36 percent of millennials.

Burge said many Christians still attend church but do not consider membership to be important, especially those who attend nondenominational churches. But no matter how researchers measure people’s faith — such as attendance, giving, self-identification — Americans’ attachment to institutional religion is on the decline.  (“Church membership in US has fallen below majority,” Sarah Pulliam Bailey, 3/29/2021, Washington Post).

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TO THE POINT

• Queen cancels more honors — The Queen is quietly stripping honours from increasing numbers of recipients, The Times reports. Over the last decade, a record 70 people had their honours “cancelled and annulled” – more than three times as many as any previous decade since the 1950s. Among those to lose their honours are Harvey Weinstein, the convicted sex offender and film producer, who lost his honorary CBE and Rolf Harris, the Australian entertainer convicted of 12 indecent assaults on girls as young as eight.  (The Week, 4/6/2021)

• Vaccine passports — “The biggest question facing Boris Johnson is the future of his so-called vaccine passports,” writes Fraser Nelson in The Spectator. “A few months ago, the idea was dismissed by No. 10 as ‘discriminatory.’”  But fast-forward to now and, “without debate or democratic scrutiny, vaccine passports are quickly heading from unthinkable to unstoppable.”  The conclusion of the government’s first lockdown review, published this weekend, “primarily looks at vaccine passports and international travel,” Nelson continues. “It clearly says that vaccine identity cards could be demanded ‘in hospitality settings’ – in other words, in pubs.” And that means that “contrary to what some of the weekend papers had been briefed, a passport for the pub is a live idea.”  (The Week, 4/6/2021)

• Scottish independence —  Even some supporters of independence are wavering. Stuart Campbell, a staunch nationalist, recently said of the SNP:  “If they somehow miraculously achieved independence tomorrow, we’d be afraid to live in the Scotland they’re creating.”

• Capitol murder — It should be noted that last Friday’s murder of a white security guard at the Capitol by a black man influenced by the Nation of Islam did not result in a riot.  Hopefully, others will follow their example.

• Harry and Meghan fall-out — Oprah’s interview with Meghan and Harry is slowly adding to the unemployment line.  Piers Morgan resigned after criticizing Meghan Markle.   It was made clear to him that any criticism of Ms. Markle was “racist.”   Subsequently, Sharon Osbourne also resigned for supporting Mr. Morgan.  Apparently, that was also racist.  Meghan is poison all round, starting with Prince Harry!

• More than one in three Covid survivors are diagnosed with a mental health or neurological condition within six months, a major study has found. Researchers say Covid is “robustly associated” with an increased risk of conditions such as anxiety, mood disorder and dementia.  Hospitalised patients were found to be at higher risk of having a stroke or a brain haemorrhage.   (The Week, 4/7/2021)

HATRED OF CIVILIZATION BEHIND RIOTS

Protesters gather in front of a liquor store in flames near the police building in Minneapolis. Photo AFP

“The first thing to understand about the destructive mob riots sweeping the country is that they aren’t race riots.  The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 while being arrested by the police is merely the pretext for the violence.  The cause is hatred.

“Hatred of America, first of all, but ultimately hatred of civilized order itself.

“Many of the thugs looting and destroying property are white.  So what we are witnessing is not a battle between black and white.  It’s a battle between the forces of civilization, on the one hand, and the forces of anarchy, on the other.

“It is curious that the most egregious scenes of violence are taking place in blue states in cities run by left-wing mayors.  Many of the mayors and chiefs of police are themselves black.  In many locales, the police have been told to stand down as the mob rampages.   The mayor of Minneapolis blamed “white supremacists” and “outsiders” for the violence.

“Unfortunately for that assertion, there are no white supremacists to be found, only members of Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and kindred groups.   An Analysis of the ZIP codes of those arrested shows that they are overwhelmingly from the Minneapolis area.

“Meanwhile, various celebrities are encouraging lawlessness by cheering on the malefactors, publicly promising to post bail for them.”   (“Those burning our cities aim to destroy our civilization,” Roger Kimball, the Epoch Times, 6/4/2020).

Mr. Kimball quoted Tucker Carlson who said:   ‘What you’re watching is the ancient battle between those who have a stake in society, and those who don’t, and seek to destroy it.”

He added:  “I should say a word about The Narrative.   The official line is that police officer (now ex-police officer) Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes and asphyxiating him.  The whole horrible incident was captured on video – Floyd can be heard piteously saying “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe” – so it’s an open and shut case.

“Except that there is a wrinkle.   The preliminary autopsy report revealed “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”   The report went on to note that “Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.  The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”

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Black lives matter wants more family breakdown  (Manifesto)

We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

We foster a queer‐affirming network.  When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).

(Black Lives Matter. What we believe.  https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/?fbclid=IwAR1ynQIlPCxVCMr2kfdfsM10RTHOW9CjwEsNcVpACMmkDSWyy1zDSNHAvUo)

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GERMANY – US TROOP REDUCTION COULD HARM NATO SECURITY

Germany’s defense minister suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump’s reported plans to take American troops out of Germany could weaken the U.S. as well as the NATO alliance.  Trump is said to have signed off on a plan to reduce troops stationed in Germany from 34,500 to no more than 25,000.  German Defens e Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said Berlin hasn’t been informed of any such move, but “the fact is that the presence of U.S soldiers in Germany serves . . .  America’s own security.”   (Lansing State Journal, 6/9/2020).

Independently of the Trump administration’s recent move in that direction, German government advisors are hinting of possible US troop reductions in Germany.   In a current analysis of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), the author notes that, given the Corona crisis is inducing a drastic slump in the US economy and the national debt is likely to skyrocket to over 100 percent, it can be expected that Washington will have to set certain priorities in its military policy.   The USA would focus more than before on the power struggle with China and possibly reduce its presence in Europe.   The Trump administration’s relevant plans have been met with strong criticism in Washington and Berlin.  If implemented it would be “a gift for Putin,” according to US politicians and German military officials.   It would certainly not be easy for the USA to make major reductions in Germany, where its military installations are playing a key role in US wars.  (German Foreign Policy, 6/9/2020)

The German government is using the Covid-19 pandemic to expand its strategic disengagement from the USA.   According to reports, Germany is leading efforts to form a European “Vaccine Alliance,” together with France, Italy and the Netherlands to prevent the EU from losing out to the United States and China “in the geopolitical race for a Coronavirus vaccine.”   The participating states are already negotiating with pharmaceutical companies, which would receive government research funds and purchase guarantees and in return organize the desired Covid-19 vaccine’s distribution according to their own concepts. It has previously been made known that the Trump-Administration, in return for billions in subsidies, had secured national priority access to the majority portion of a future vaccine.  Now, the EU is planning billions in subsidies for pharmaceutical companies, in spite of the fact that they are already known for their huge profits.   (German Foreign Policy, 6/8/2020)

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GEORGE FLOYD NOT A MARTYR

[Black] Conservative commentator Candace Owens lashed out at the emerging personality cult of George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis last month first sparked protests and then riots.

“I do not support George Floyd and the media depiction of him as a martyr for black America,” she said in Facebook Live video on Wednesday.

Referring to the writings of African-American writer and filmmaker Shelby Steele, Owens said black Americans spend too much time defending criminals.

“We are unique in that we are the only people that fight and scream and demand support and justice for the people in our community that are up to no good,” she said.

. . . Owens noted Floyd’s prison record, and said that “I am not going to play a part of the broken black culture that always wants to martyr criminals, to pretend that they were upstanding human beings that just wanted to help society.”

“He has a rap sheet that was long and was dangerous,” she said. “He was an example of a violent criminal his entire life, OK, up until the very last moment.”

. . . Owens said no one who has the kind of criminal record Floyd had should be held up as a model citizen, but black Americans are doing just that.  “We are embarrassing in that regard.  This is why we have a cycle and a toxic culture because nobody wants to tell the truth in black America.  It is so easy to be effective it is so easy to ask white people to bow down and apologize and do all these things for us. It is crap,” she said.    (World News Daily, 6/9/2020)

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Thousands rally in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu’s annexation plans
Meretz MK says move would ‘replace an occupation . . . with an apartheid’; Joint List chief:  Jews, Arabs who want peace must oppose extending Israeli sovereignty to parts of West Bank

Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday evening to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to begin annexing parts of the West Bank next month.  Police initially sought to block the rally but backtracked Friday after meeting with organizers, who urged participants to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.  Dozens of officers were securing the demonstration after police said attendance would be capped at 2,000, though the Haaretz daily put turnout at 6,000 people in what appeared to be the largest protest in the country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The demonstration was organized by the left-wing Meretz party and the communist Hadash faction of the majority-Arab Joint List, along with several other left-wing rights groups.  MK Nitzan Horowitz, the head of Meretz, told the crowd that annexation would be a “war crime” and cost Israel millions as the economy is already reeling due to the pandemic.  “We cannot replace an occupation of dozens of years with an apartheid that will last forever,” shouted a hoarse Horowitz.  “Yes, to two states for two peoples, no to violence and bloodshed,” he continued. “No to annexation, yes to peace.” (https://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-rally-in-tel-aviv-against-netanyahus-annexation-plans/)

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SERBIAN CHURCHGOERS ROBBED BY MUSLIMS DURING SERVICE

“According to the latest update of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are currently 8,052 migrants in Serbia, the majority of them in 19 refugee centers across the country.   Their stated countries of origin are Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Iran, Morocco and Palestine.”

Hmmm, what do all those countries (and “Palestine”) have in common?   Could it be an ideology that holds Christianity in contempt and considers Christians “the most vile of created beings” (cf. Qur’an 98:6)?

Two migrants of unknown origin entered the St. Alexander Nevsky church in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Sunday and then robbed several attendants of the liturgy of their money and mobile phones. Those attending the church service managed to catch one of the thieves and hand him over to police responding to the scene, but the other got away.   (Jihad Watch, 6/7/2020)

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The 100-year wound that Hungary cannot forget
by Nick Thorpe, BBC News, Hungary, 4 June 2020.

Exactly 100 years ago, in the Trianon palace at Versailles, two medium-ranking Hungarian officials signed away two thirds of their country, and 3.3 million of their compatriots.   A new monument has appeared in the past weeks in front of parliament in Budapest, among many already erected by Viktor Orban’s government to  Hungary’s past glories.   For Hungary the 1920 treaty was a national wound that still festers to this day. Mr. Orban’s message to the world is that Hungary must now be respected. For his critics, he has dug deeper into that wound.

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What Hungary lost in the Treaty of Trianon

As the Austro-Hungarian empire fell apart at the end of World War One, historic Hungary was forced to cede what is now Slovakia, Vojvodina, Croatia, part of Slovenia, Ruthenia, the Burgenland and Transylvania to the new states of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, to a much-enlarged Romania, and even to Austria, a fellow loser in the war.  (MORE:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europ  6/4/2020)

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How they see us:  Racism, riots, and police brutality                           (The Week, 6 June 2020)

Suffocated to death for the color of your skin:   That is “the terrifying reality of what it really means to be black in America right now,” said Piers Morgan at the Daily Mail (U.K.).   The entire world has seen the video of the arrest and killing of George Floyd.   For nearly nine excruciating minutes, white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin crushed the life out of the handcuffed, defenseless Floyd. “Even by the dreadful standards of police violence against black people in America,” this heartless murder was a new low.   Of course American cities erupted in riots — how could they not?   What might have quelled them was a president speaking with empathy and grace and pledging an end to police brutality.   Instead, as America burned, Donald Trump “poured fuel onto the fire.”   He actually threatened war crimes against his own people, tweeting, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”   Now he is ordering the U.S. military into the streets.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking, said the Global Times (China) in an editorial.   Hong Kong suffered months of violent unrest last year, during which rioters caused hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage and injured countless police officers.   China never sent in the troops, yet Washington still “arrogantly and unreasonably” accused Beijing of human rights abuses.   Meanwhile, “the riots in the U.S. have lasted just a week,” and “efforts for reaching a peaceful solution have barely been made,” but already Trump is deploying soldiers.   The U.S. may have the world’s strongest military, but its system of governance stands revealed as a failure.   The COVID-19 epidemic there rages out of control, and now the social unrest “exposes the deep-rooted problem of inequality and a lack of justice.”

“Looted shops, burned-out office buildings, smashed ATMs, and wrecked police cars” litter American streets, said Alexander Gasyuk at Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia).   Protesters burned the U.S. flag right outside the White House, as Trump hid inside, tweeting threats that he would unleash “vicious dogs” on his oppressed citizens.  The demonstrators want justice for Floyd, but the U.S. justice system nearly always lets police who kill unarmed black men go free.   The Ferguson, Mo., officer who shot Michael Brown six times in 2012 was acquitted because he supposedly “acted in self-defense.”  That same excuse got George Zimmerman — not even a cop but a neighborhood watch volunteer — off the hook for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The U.S. has always reminded me of India, said Malachi O’Doherty at the Belfast Telegraph (U.K.).   “Both are huge, rich countries with swathes of poverty and dereliction,” and in both it’s perfectly acceptable to stride past homeless beggars. “De facto segregation seems accepted as normal,” with black Americans relegated to an underclass.   As in every caste system, state organs freely oppress those on the bottom.   The entire world sees that clearly now. Until the U.S. lives up to its promise of equality for all, it can never be a model to the rest of us.  (The Week, 6/7/2020)   (Copyright © 2020 The Week Publications, Inc, All rights reserved)

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ANALYSIS:   A rupture looms between Israel and the United States [over China]
As an American-Chinese power struggle ramps up, the Jewish state increasingly feels the fallout with US pressure to nix deals it deems detrimental to its security interests.

WASHINGTON (JTA) 3 June 2020 — Israel’s announcement last week that an Israeli consortium would build Sorek 2, the world’s largest desalination plant, surprised many who had been watching the deal:   The contract had been expected to go to a Hong Kong-based company.  But that was before the Trump administration ramped up pressure on Israel to diminish its ties to China.   For years, Israel has been working to dramatically expand trade with China, one of the world’s largest markets.   That push is suddenly running up against strong opposition from the White House, as the Trump administration pivots from the decades-old policy of increasing US engagement with China to treating the country as an increasingly bitter rival.

The Sorek 2 deal was widely seen as a bow to pressure from the Trump administration, which is pushing Israel and other key allies to curtail trade with China.   But observers of this deepening dynamic say it may not be enough to head off a US-Israel crisis over China.  A Chinese company, SIPG, is building a major port in Haifa and will control it for 25 years.  The Trump administration, according to multiple insiders, wants Israel to roll back at least part of that deal. The Israelis consider it a done deal, even if they may have regrets over it.

“It’s a bit of a shock to the system,” Jonathan Schanzer, the vice president of a think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, that has close ties with the Trump administration and with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said of the looming crisis.   “We had been hearing from the administration officials and even some Israeli diplomats about some of the complications arising from the intensification of the great power competition between the US and China.”

China has been building infrastructure in Israel since at least 2007, when the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. brought in 300 workers to build the tunnel system linking the southern entrance to Haifa with the suburbs to the city’s north.   That success has led to a thirst for Chinese construction, and there was talk of China building new rail links in Israel.   China’s Bright Food Group owns a controlling stake in Tnuva, Israel’s preeminent dairy.   Decoupling from China won’t be easy.   Still, Israel’s willingness last week to cut China out of the Sorek 2 desalination deal shows it is ready to roll back engagement on some fronts.
(https://www.timesofisrael.com/breaking-china-a-rupture-looms-between-israel-and-the-united-states/)

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TO THE POINT

• Cecil Rhodes:   Councillors demand Oxford Uni statue removal by Michael Race, BBC News, 9 June 2020 – A group of councillors has backed the campaign to remove a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes and called on Oxford University to “decolonise.”   Twenty-six Oxford city councillors signed a letter saying the figure at Oriel College was “incompatible” with the city’s “commitment to anti-racism.”   A protest by the “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign as part of the Black Lives Matter movement will be held later.   (MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-52975687)
• Billions More Desert Locusts Devour Crops from India to Africa, Adding to Farmers’ Pandemic Woes by George Thomas, Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., 28 May 2020 – From India and Pakistan to Africa and the Middle East, farmers face a perfect storm.   Already struggling with crippling coronavirus lockdowns, they face billions of locusts devouring crops and putting millions at risk.   The scenes out of parts of northern and central India this week were alarming to watch as billions of desert locusts descended on several states.   And it’s only going to get worse.  Heavy rains and the cyclone season in June are expected to see the swarms multiply.
• Why Hong Kongers may get path to UK citizenship — Britain will change its immigration rules to allow millions of people from Hong Kong “a route to citizenship” if China passes controversial new national security laws, Boris Johnson has said.  In an article for The Times, the prime minister warns that the new controls would “dramatically erode” Hong Kong’s autonomy, which would breach the terms of China’s Joint Declaration treaty with the UK.  Johnson says he is willing to make one of the “biggest changes in our visa system in British history,” by allowing up to three million Hong Kong residents extended visa-free access to Britain and the opportunity to pursue citizenship.   (The Week, 6/3/2020)
• Antifa is an extremist movement that demands nothing less than the destruction of America and its democratic system of government.  (Clarion Project, 6/3/2020)
• “As it rises in prominence, the issue of defunding police will divide the Democratic Party more than the GOP.   For while the hard left sees cops in ideological and class terms as racist and fascist, the right, by and large, sees the police as the last line of defense against the anarchy we saw erupt when there were not enough cops in New York and D.C. to control the mobs looting Fifth Avenue and Georgetown.”   (PB, 6/9/2020)
• Racist — a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.   (Google Dictionary)
• Authorities in Antwerp removed a statue of Belgium’s King Leopold II after it was vandalised during anti-racism protests. Between 1885 and 1908 Leopold ran Congo as his fief; millions are estimated to have been killed under his regime.  In Britain, London’s mayor announced a review of the capital’s statues.  On Sunday protesters toppled a statue of Edward Colston, a slave trader, in Bristol.   (The Economist, 6/10/2020)
• Germany warns Israel against West Bank annexation plans Jerusalem – Germany’s foreign minister on Wednesday warned Israel that its plan to begin annexing parts of the West Bank would violate international law, but he declined to say how Germany or Europe would respond.   The Jerusalem visit comes weeks before Israel intends to extend its sovereignty over Jewish West Bank settlements.   Critics say the annexation plan would destroy any hope for establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.   The Palestinians seek all of the occupied West Bank for an independent state.  (Lansing State Journal,  6/11).

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AFTERTHOUGHT

LEARN TO LET GO!

A significant change has taken place in the last couple of weeks.  Now , Antifa and Black Lives Matter have the upper hand; while the police are vilified.

How long can our civilization last?  How much longer does the US have?

Daniel 2:44 says:  “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall  break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

At the end of all this is the Kingdom of God, which Christians have been praying for throughout the generations.  We need to understand something about the Kingdom of God.  It cannot come until the fall of all the kingdoms and republics that exist in this world at this time.   That includes the United States.

Over 40 years ago, my wife and I lived in Rhodesia, a country that does not exist any more.  As the threats to Rhodesia became more serious, there was a tendency for Christians to become more political.  They were attempting to save the country, their homes and their livelihood.  It was futile. Rhodesians had to learn to let go and let God fulfill His purpose.

Daniel 2:21 shows us that God is behind the rise and fall of nations.  “And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”

The establishment of the Kingdom of God may be nearer than we think. We’ve all been praying for it for decades.  Let us now pray fervently that God will establish it soon.

MR     

CALL MOSCOW, NOT WASHINGTON

Bijan Djir-Sarai, FDP foreign policy parliamentarian

The German government can no longer implement important foreign policy projects in the Arab world without Russia’s support, as the results of Saturday’s negotiations between Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin demonstrate.  Moscow will, in principle, support the “Berlin Process,” with which the German government would like to take on the role of an influential mediator in the Libyan war.   Without Moscow, Berlin did not succeed in holding the International Libya Conference, which was designed to become the first highlight in the “Berlin Process.”   In the run-up to Merkel’s Moscow visit, German foreign policy experts lavished unhabitual praise on the influence Russia has gained over the past few years.   If you wanted to achieve anything in Syria, “you had to call Washington;” according to Bijan Djir-Sarai, FDP foreign policy parliamentarian, “today you have to call Moscow.”   Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, member of the Bundestag (FDP) calls German/Russian relations “a treasure.” (German Foreign Policy, 1/15)

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Mayor’s resignation highlights threat to German leaders
Arnd Focke, the Social Democratic mayor of a town in Lower Saxony, was regularly threatened by nationalists.  Now he has resigned.  Regional officials have repeatedly faced threats across Germany.

The mainstreaming of nationalist politics, most visible in the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has become a means of spreading ideas once considered taboo, Focke said.   But, he said, it would be too simple to blame the AfD for the threat to centrist regional German politicians.   “The problem is right at the heart of our society,” Focke said.   “We no longer stand up for each other or against extremism.   People are able once again to say things they weren’t even allowed to think five years ago.”   “We failed to educate,” Focke said.   “Children and young people must be taught that we in Germany have a past that cannot be allowed to repeat itself.   And there are many people who are discontented and are too easily manipulated to this end.”    Focke is now trusting federal investigators to look into the swastikas and the threatening notes. He believes that other politicians have also resigned because of threats — they just don’t say so publicly.  (Deutsche Welle , 12 Jan 2020)

(https://www.dw.com/en/mayors-resignation-highlights-threat-to-german-leaders/a-51974296)

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PEOPLE TRAFFICKING

Illegal immigration throughout Europe continues unabated.  In France, for instance, nearly 20,000 migrants have been arrested so far in 2019, according to the police website France Bleu, which also reported that 189 people smugglers have been arrested since January 1.

In Britain, The Telegraph newspaper reported that Albanian people smugglers were posting advertisements on social media platforms, including Facebook, promoting their ability to get people into Europe.   The ads are accompanied by TripAdvisor-style feedback comments from “satisfied” customers…. people smuggling gangs generate profits of up to £6 billion (€7 billion; $8 billion) a year…

“Europe under siege from people-smuggling gangs,” Soeren Kern, Gatestone, 1/7)

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SUEZ CANAL ALTERED ECOLOGY

Experts say Mediterranean Sea altered by Suez Canal’s invasive species.  Red Sea invaders have driven native marine life toward extinction and changed the delicate ecosystem with potentially devastating consequences, marine biologists warn                                         by Aron Heller and Isabel Debre (16 Jan 2020, Times of Israel)

AP — As Egypt marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Suez Canal, marine biologists are bemoaning one of the famed waterway’s lesser known legacies — the invasion of hundreds of non-native species, including toxic jellyfish and aggressive lionfish.

The canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, revolutionized maritime travel by creating a direct shipping route between the East and the West.   But over the years, the invasive species have driven native marine life toward extinction and altered the delicate Mediterranean ecosystem with potentially devastating consequences, scientists say.

The influx has increased significantly since Egypt doubled its capacity in 2015 with the opening of the “The New Suez Canal,” raising alarm in Europe and sparking criticism from various countries along the Mediterranean basin.  The sharpest criticism comes from neighboring Israel, which once battled Egypt in war alongside the 193-kilometer (120-mile)-long canal.

(https://www.timesofisrael.com/experts-say-mediterranean-sea-altered-by-suez-canals-invasive-species/)

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LIBYAN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Libya pledge:  Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other foreign powers have promised to end all interference in the armed conflict in Libya, as part of a German-brokered effort to halt rising violence and chaos in the north African country and prepare the ground for a UN-sponsored peace process.  The promise was contained in a document agreed by world leaders at a conference in Berlin yesterday.  However, there were already signs of fresh military escalation in the civil war-wracked state. (FT 1/20)

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ALPINE AUSTERITY:   As the World Economic Forum prepares to kick off its 50th annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Tuesday, the Financial Times reports on the elite gathering’s efforts to appear more environmentally-friendly.  Among other things, it is encouraging participants to take trains instead of private jets, and is providing shoe grips to cajole attendees to “walk the snowy promenade between meetings rather than take cars.”

The effort to be sustainable extends to advising caterers not to serve luxuries such as foie gras and caviar, and one day of the meeting has been set aside for “vegetarian menus and the discovery of alternative protein sources.”   This year’s events — including the launch of an initiative to plant 1 trillion trees in the next decade — will take place in rooms decorated with seaweed-based paint and carpets made from “end-of life fishing nets.”   The scores of companies hosting their own events have been asked to consider offering local wines and “mountain herbal infusions” instead of imported drinks.

(Brussels Briefing, Financial Times, 1/20/2020)

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RELIGIOUS TENSIONS IN INDIA

Whether it is France or Nigeria, Italy or Myanmar, the presence of militant Muslims is a serious cause of concern to all — most of all to Muslims who want freedom from Islamists, be they inspired by Iran, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.

If one were to watch India through the lens of its social media and the statements made by its upper middle-class urban elites of the Left, the country is facing chaos and is in a downward spiral towards a catastrophe.

At the centre of this storm in a teacup is a new law passed by both houses of the Indian Parliament that provides for a fast track towards citizenship for refugees in India who fled religious persecution in three of India’s neighbors — Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015 and who now live in difficult conditions as stateless persons.

Since most of the people who fled India’s three Islamic neighbors were non-Muslim, the new Indian law known as the Citizenship Amendment Act is applicable to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians.   (Tarek Fatah, Toronto Sun, MEF, 1/20/2020)

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IRANIAN WOMEN DEFY MULLAHS — WHY DON’T WESTERN FEMINISTS SUPPORT THEM?

Before 1979, Iranian women had freedom.   They want it back.

If Iranian feminists who refuse to wear the hijab are brave, their Western counterparts, who wear pink hats, have wretchedly abandoned them.   Why is Iranian barbarism so easily condoned in the West?

Thirty years ago, the Berlin Wall was torn down by ordinary citizens who wanted to reclaim their freedom of movement.  Today, the wall of the Iranian regime could be torn down by these ordinary women who want to reclaim the freedom to wear what they like.  They are bravely refusing to walk on flags of Israel and the U.S. — and enjoying the wind in their hair again.   (Giulio Meotti, Gatestone, 1/19/2020)

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TO THE POINT·

• Yemeni Journalist Ahmed Al-Musaibily:   Israel Is Our Number One Enemy But At Least It Does Not Try To Convert Muslims To Judaism The Same Way That Iran Converts Sunnis To Shi’a Islam (MEMRI 1/20) – Iraqi security forces reportedly killed two protesters in Baghdad. Demonstrators, frustrated at the slow pace of the government’s reforms, are demanding new elections, an independent prime minister and prosecution of corrupt officials.   Security forces responded with live rounds and tear-gas.   The UN envoy in the country called for protests to remain peaceful and for politicians to address people’s concerns. (Economist, 1/22)
• EUROPE’S NIGERIAN MAFIA — Italian intelligence has named the Nigerian mafia “the most structured and dynamic” of any foreign crime entity operating in Italy, according to the Washington Post….   What distinguishes the Nigerian crime networks is their severe brutality.   Black Axe has also spread to Canada, where a 2015 report by the  Globe and Mail described it as a “death cult”… linked to “decades of  murders and rapes….        In the US, the FBI recently linked a series of financial frauds to        Black Axe.                                                                                                              (Judith Bergman, Gatestone, 1/8/2020)
• FRENCH ANTI-SEMITISM — “In France, perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks claim insanity to elude justice.   The mental illness defense has become more prevalent when it comes to hate crimes in France.   And it seems to be working.” — Shirli Sitbon, Haaretz.
• Muslim anti-Semitism has long been ignored in France.
• “The situation is not under control.” — Celine Pina, Le Figaro.    (Guy Milliere, Gatestone, 1/22)

• PIERS MORGAN:  “Spare me your ‘patriotic’ crocodile tears, Harry – you DIDN’T have to quit.   You chose to ditch the Queen, the monarchy, your military comrades and your country… to become a royal Kardashian and keep Meghan happy. ” (Daily Mail, 1/20/2020)

PERVERSE LIBERAL THINKING

Flowers are left following Friday’s terror attack on London Bridge in London, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019. A man wearing a fake suicide vest was subdued by bystanders as he went on a knife rampage killing two people and wounding others before being shot dead by police on Friday. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)    (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Two young Cambridge University graduates are dead, murdered by a supposedly rehabilitated terrorist, in London last Friday.   The Cambridge University students were part of “Learning Together,” a project that aims to bring rehabilitated terrorists back into mainstream society.   This is liberalism gone mad!

A major weakness of western liberalism is the idea that we’re all the same, whatever culture or background we come from.   We should know better.   ISIS fighters are not going to repent – as they come back to western countries following the defeat of ISIS they will bring their ideology with them, and kill people.   Anybody who thinks otherwise is a misguided fool.

The young male victim had written his dissertation on why minorities account for a disproportionate percentage of people in prison.   The answer is simple – they commit more crimes.

It’s sad as more innocent lives are likely to be lost as we pursue rehab.   Years ago, I remember reading in Psychology Today that 92% of sex offenders are never rehabilitated.   When they leave prison, they commit the same acts again.   Do we really think that terrorists will do better?

As Piers Morgan wrote in the Daily Mail, “Most terrorists don’t change their evil spots so it’s time Britain stopped going soft on hate-filled jihadis to please the PC hand-wringing brigade and does what Americans do – lock them up forever.” (12/2/2019 Daily Mail)

Even this may not work.   Terrorists in prison might encourage fellow terrorists to seize hostages until they are released.

What would be more appropriate (and final) is the death penalty.

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KING OF THE NORTH?

Following the opening, on September 30, 2019, of the Al-Bukamal-Al-Qaim border crossing between Syria and Iraq, which had been closed for five years due to the Syria war, Abu Al-Fazel Salehiniya, a culture advisor at the Iranian embassy in Damascus, published an article in the pro-regime Syrian daily Al-Watan, in which he presented the opening of the crossing as a step towards the realization of Iran’s vision of a new Middle East.   He explained that Iran planned to establish a political, economic and cultural bloc consisting of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, which will impact the power-balance in the region and world, and thwart what he called the American and Western plan to fragment the Middle East into tiny states under Western control.   For many years, he said, the U.S. and Israel have been working in various ways to prevent the creation of this bloc, including by instigating protests in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon; however, they have failed thanks to the resistance axis, which is now stronger than ever and has attained impressive achievements.   (MEMRI 12/4)

Editor’s note: The four countries were roughly the borders of the biblical king of the North, in the second century BC.

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GERMAN MILITARY EXPANSION                                                                        by Johannes Stern, 29 Nov 2019, World Socialist Web Site

(Extracts) . . . Kramp-Karrenbauer replied:  “We know we have to do more, but we are on the way.”   In 2031 the German army would “realistically” be able to take over ten percent of NATO’s military capacity.   Until that date at the latest, Germany would also reach the NATO target of two percent of gross domestic product for military spending.   In fact Germany will make substantial steps towards this goal as early as next year, as the pact to form the grand coalition laid out.   According to a report by the German Press Agency, the German government has reported to the military alliance its intention to spend 50.25 billion euros [$US55.3 billion] in 2020.   “We are complying with our international obligations.   The NATO defense rate is 1.42 percent,” boasted Social Democratic Finance Minister Olaf Scholz at yesterday’s presentation of the budget for 2020 in the Bundestag . . .   Five years after the German government announced the end of military restraint at the Munich Security Conference in 2014, the ruling class can no longer hide the fact that it is basing its foreign and great power politics on the militaristic traditions of the German Empire and the Nazis.   In his major lecture on foreign policy at the end of October, the president of the German parliament, Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), described 1945, i.e. the date of the downfall of the Third Reich and the defeat of Germany in World War II—as a “catastrophe”       (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/29/kram-n29.html)

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GERMANY TO MATCH US CONTRIBUTION TO NATO BUDGET

From 2021, Germany will increase its contribution to the NATO budget to be in line with what the US pays.                                                                  NATO officials hope the move will diffuse tensions surrounding the cost of maintaining the military alliance.             (https://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-match-us-contribution-to-nato-budget/a-51446211)

German army sorry for ‘retro’ post

BERLIN, Germany — The German army on Wednesday apologized for posting a photo on Instagram of a military uniform complete with two Iron Crosses bearing the Nazi swastika and appearing to celebrate it as “retro.”   After media reports sparked outrage, the army removed the picture of the Nazi-era Wehrmacht uniform and explained that it was an “unacceptable mistake.”   The Bundeswehr said it was seeking to do a photo-essay on the influence of military uniforms on fashion through the ages but failed to provide the correct historical context in its captions.   The Bundeswehr has over the years repeatedly come under fire over embarrassing associations with Germany’s militaristic past (https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-army-sorry-for-retro-nazi-uniform-post/)

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Global Survey of 18 Countries Finds Hardcore Anti-Semitic Attitudes Remain Pervasive                                                                                 One in four Europeans polled fall into most anti-Semitic category.

Among the 2019 ADL Global 100 Index’s key findings:  Negative attitudes in Argentina, Brazil, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine have seen marked increases since the last ADL Global 100 survey.  Anti-Semitic attitudes remain pervasive in Europe. Roughly one out of every four residents of the 14 European countries polled by ADL fall into the most anti-Semitic category, subscribing to a majority of the anti-Semitic stereotypes tested in the index.

Stereotypes about Jewish control of business and the financial markets are among the most pernicious and enduring anti-Semitic beliefs.   These are especially widespread in the Central and Eastern European countries surveyed.   Asked whether they agreed with the statement that “Jews have too much power in the business world,” a staggering 72 percent of Ukrainians agreed, as did 71 percent of Hungarians, 56 percent of Poles, and 50 percent of Russians.

Jewish “disloyalty” is a widespread anti-Semitic stereotype in the Western European countries surveyed. In Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, more than 40 percent of the public believes that Jews are more loyal to the State of Israel than to their own country.   This canard also scored high in Brazil (70 percent), South Africa (60 percent), and relatively high in Canada (25 percent) compared to its overall index score of 8 percent.

“Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust” was a statement supported by large segments of the populations of many of the European countries polled, even in Germany, where 42 percent of the population agreed.   This sentiment was also prevalent in Austria (44 percent), Belgium (40 percent) Italy (38 percent) and Spain (37 percent).(https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-global-survey-of-18-countries-finds-hardcore-anti-semitic-attitudes-remain)

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Zimbabwe ‘on brink of man-made starvation’, UN warns               (BBC, 28 Nov 2019) 

More than 60% of the country’s 14 million people are considered food-insecure, according to the findings.  Hyperinflation, poverty, natural disasters and economic sanctions were among the identified causes.  Women and children were “bearing the brunt of the crisis” with 90% of children aged six months to two years not consuming enough food.  Hilal Elver, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, reported her findings following an 11-day visit to the country.  “I cannot stress enough the urgency of the situation in Zimbabwe,” she said, adding that the crisis continues to worsen.   She said many of the people she met could only afford one meal a day and that most of the children she met were stunted and underweight.  “The harrowing stories I heard from resilient grandmothers, mothers or aunts desperately trying to save their children from starvation, in the midst of their daily hardships, will remain with me.”

She also noted Zimbabwe was among the four highest food-insecure nations, alongside conflict-ravaged countries.(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50586514)

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SOUTHERN BAPTISTS CHANGE ON ABORTION

To Christians, there are few issues more important than fighting against abortion.  The millions of unborn children are made in the image of God, making it personal to Christians.

And millions of American might switch churches after what one denomination said about abortion.

If one were to ask virtually any Southern Baptist churchgoer, they would be strongly against abortion and supportive of the fight to end it.

But as it turns out, the Southern Baptist Convention doesn’t agree with that sentiment.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), which is the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, just came out stating that Christians should not preach against abortion from the pulpit, on the street corner, or in bumper stickers or social media posts.

They claim that it is “hurtful to women.”   (Culture wars, 11/19)

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LETTER FROM A UK FRIEND

“Channel 4 hosted a leaders debate on climate change yesterday. Boris Johnson. and Nigel Farage did not appear, and their vacant podiums sported ice sculptures instead.   The problem is that Boris is not good responding to tough questioning.   Boris is being shielded from scrutiny as much as possible, he may feel that he’s ‘Churchill like’ but in reality he’s no orator.   In contrast Jeremy Corbyn is a rabble-rouser and whips an audience up to ‘cheers and chanting.’ Very popular with younger voters too.   The Election is for Boris to lose.   According to the opinion polls his lead is slipping back.   I’m fearing another hung parliament.”

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EU DECLARES “CLIMATE EMERGENCY”

The European Parliament declared a “climate emergency,” by a vote of 429 to 225.   The decision is symbolic but important (the European Union is the world’s largest economy) ahead of the UN climate summit to be held in Madrid next week.  The incoming head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has promised a package of ambitious green measures on December 11th.   (The Economist, 11/29)

Britain’s ruling Conservative Party reacted furiously after Channel 4, a national broadcaster, replaced the prime minister with an ice sculpture during a debate on climate change.   While most other leaders of Britain’s main political parties took part, Boris Johnson refused.  The editor of Channel 4 News accused Mr. Johnson of trying to avoid scrutiny during the election campaign “like Donald Trump.”  (Economist, 11/29)

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Italy busts neo-Nazi ring, ‘Miss Hitler’ pageant winner

Prosecutors in Sicily have announced 19 arrests, exposing a nationwide network of would-be fascist militants.  Police have uncovered weapons, explosives, and extremist propaganda in a series of raids.

Italian police have arrested at least 19 people in connection with a militant neo-Nazi ring, national media reported on Thursday. Although the investigation was based in Sicily, several of the suspects hail from all over the country.   One of the arrested included a 26-year-old Milan resident who had been the winner of an online beauty competition called “Miss Hitler.”   She also spoke at an extreme-right conference in Portugal last August that attempted to unite the so-called “National Socialist movements” of Italy, Portugal, Spain, and France.

During the operation, led by prosecutors in Caltanissetta, Sicily, and dubbed “Black Shadows,” police undercovered troves of weapons, explosives, Nazi memorabilia and texts praising fascist dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, in a series of raids carried out across Italy.
   On top of possible weapons charges, promoting fascism is a crime in Italy.
   The supposed leader of the group is a 50-year-old public employee from the city of Padua, in the northeastern region of Veneto.   She was not known to authorities prior to her detention, police have said, adding that they recovered anti-Semitic material at her home.
   Another suspect is an offender with multiple convictions and ties to the ‘Ndrangheta, the elusive Calabrian mafia, one of the richest organized crime syndicates in the world and by some estimates responsible for 3% of Italy’s GDP.   The man, Italian media said, had turned informant for the police against the mafia but was apparently acting as the chief “trainer” for the violence the neo-Nazi group hoped to carry out.   Specific center-left politicians were named as possible targets.
   The group used a Russian chat app to communicate and try to avoid detection, Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported.   A Russian social media platform called VK was also used to host the “Miss Hitler” competition.(https://www.dw.com/en/italy-busts-neo-nazi-ring-miss-hitler-pageant-winner/a-51458025)

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TO THE POINT

• CHINA FINANCIAL WARNINGS                                                                    From rural bank runs to surging consumer indebtedness and an unprecedented bond restructuring, mounting signs of financial stress in China are putting the nation’s policy makers to the test. Xi Jinping’s government faces an increasingly difficult balancing act as it tries to support the world’s second-largest economy without encouraging moral hazard and reckless spending.   While authorities have so far been reluctant to rescue troubled borrowers and ramp up stimulus, the costs of maintaining that stance are rising as defaults increase and China’s slowdown deepens.  (China financial warning; Bloomberg, 11/28/2019)

• HONG KONG IN REVOLT                                                                            “When Mao Zedong’s guerrillas seized power in China in 1949, they did not take over a clearly defined country, much less an entirely willing one.   Hong Kong was ruled by the British, nearby Macau by the Portuguese.   Taiwan was under the control of a Nationalist government Mao had just overthrown.   The mountain terrain of Tibet was under a Buddhist theocracy that chafed at control from Beijing.   Communist troops had yet to enter another immense region in the far west, Xinjiang, where Muslim ethnic groups did not want to be ruled from afar.”  (“Hong Kong in revolt,” The Economist, 11/23/2019).

• Applying pressure on China is the top priority for the newly elected German EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She announced that, on Sunday – her first day in office – she plans to call Beijing to discuss “human rights.”   The People’s Republic of China is being accused of human rights violations in the context of its “war on terror” against jihadism in Xinjiang province.  The German chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister (CDU) announced that the EU Parliament also plans to discuss the situation in Xinjiang, in its upcoming plenary session (December 16 – 19). In Berlin, the transatlantic-oriented opposition plans to call for sanctions to be imposed on either Chinese politicians or Chinese high-tech-companies, already affected by US sanctions. Commentators in the USA, as well as in Germany, are equating China with Nazi Germany. According to a former liberal-oriented German daily, “there can be no long-term peaceful coexistence” with the People’s Republic of China.   (German Foreign Policy, 11/29/2019)

• ZAMBIAN COUPLE GET 15 YEARS FOR SEXUAL ACT                      A homosexual couple has been given 15 years for a crime “against the natural order,” citing the fact that they are a very religious Christian country.   They also happen to have one of the highest incidents of HIV in the world, reflecting widespread immorality. They should take a look at I Corinthians 6.  Fornication, adultery and sodomy are all condemned equally, a fact that Zambian churches have failed to notice.  In Africa, AIDS is invariably a heterosexual disease.

•  A video has emerged from the Nato summit in London, which appears to show Boris Johnson,  Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron, Princess Anne and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, laughing about the US president during a reception at Buckingham Palace.   The meeting to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nato alliance began inauspiciously, with tensions on full display between Macron, Trump and Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.    It seems that other countries are more likely to ridicule Mr Trump, expecting that he will be impeached next year.

• PRINCE ANDREW                                                                                                    As a former navy pilot, Prince Andrew would normally be present at a Nato shindig, but the disgraced duke has been stripped of his duties, leaving his mother to host the reception.  Meanwhile, Trump’s claim not to know Andrew is contradicted by extensive photographic evidence.  (Guardian, 12/4)

 

 

 

THE WEEK

There’s a lot of discussion about whether Senator Ted Cruz can run for president, due to the fact that he was born in Canada.   A few years ago, a similar concern was expressed about Barack Obama, with many convinced he was born in Kenya and therefore unqualified to run for president.

FWIW, when I went to the US Embassy in Ghana to register the births of our three children, all born outside of the United States between 1976 and 1981, I was informed that they had all the rights of any child born on American soil, “up to and including running for President of the United States.”

They were considered “natural born citizens” because their mother is an American citizen.

On this basis, President Obama, Senator Cruz and Senator John McCain all qualify even though they were born overseas, or maybe born overseas in the case of the current president.

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“In 2013 alone, 117,423 migrants from Muslim-majority countries were permanently resettled within the United States— having been given lawful permanent resident status.   Additionally in 2013, the United States voluntarily admitted an extra 122,921 temporary migrants from Muslim countries as foreign students and foreign workers as well as 39,932 refugees and asylees from Muslim countries.

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Thus, twelve years after the September 11th hijackers were invited into the country on temporary visas, the US decided to admit 280,276 migrants from Muslim countries within a single fiscal year.” – Breitbart, Julia Haha, September 15^th, 2015.

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President Obama took pains in his State of the Union speech Tuesday to warn Americans not to exaggerate the threat from terrorists,” notes a Journal editorial.   But after a spate of attacks from Paris to San Bernardino to Jakarta, what “Americans want from their next President is someone who will give them fewer reasons to fear being murdered while getting coffee.”   (WSJ, Morning Editorial Report, James Freeman, “Hillary and Ted’s Big Problem”)

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In Europe, reaction to the massive influx of refugees is increasing as people experience the full significance.   One thousand young men from North Africa and the Middle East congregated in the main public area around Cologne Cathedral on New Years Eve where dozens of German women were groped and sexually assaulted. Chancellor Merkel has condemned what happened and promised those convicted would be sent to their country of origin.   The anti-Muslim PEGIDA movement has been holding rallies and now has a British branch, committed to ending the growing Islamization of the West.

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Meanwhile, the 70-year-old ban on Hitler’s Mein Kampf (My Struggle) has been lifted in Germany and a new annotated version of the book has become available.  Sales have been greater than expected.   The new publication contains the full text of the original, with scholarly notes commenting on what was written.   It is hoped that this will turn people against right-wing ideas, but the law of unintended consequences may lead to a different outcome.

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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for a European Army, adding his voice in support of a development that is already taking place, with more European countries cooperating on defense.

The issue of Europe is uppermost on the minds of many in Britain at this time, with a referendum on future membership of the EU set for later this year.   Pro-EU politicians are trying to scare people by claiming that the EU has prevented conflict in Europe in recent decades. Fourteen leading British academics and historians have issued a statement saying that it is, in fact, NATO that has prevented major conflict in Europe since World War II.   This debate could intensify.   Many EU members are also members of NATO, which includes the US and Canada. But, if the EU successfully puts together its own powerful military force, the two organizations may go their separate ways.

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The British parliament is debating today, Monday, a petition signed by well over half a million people to ban Donald Trump from visiting the United Kingdom following his anti-Islamic comments.   A second pro-Trump petition has been signed by fewer people.   It seems like the Donald is dividing the UK as much as the US.   If the ban is approved by Members of the British Parliament, what will happen to the western alliance should he become president?

More immediately, what will happen to the $1 billion investment he promised Scotland?

Surprisingly, Piers Morgan came out in support of Mr. Trump on a popular British radio program.   The audience did not applaud.

The unanswered question here is why so many people on both sides of the Atlantic are determined to see a lot more Muslim immigrants arriving on their shores.   Their thinking is totally different from that of previous generations.

It’s going to be difficult to overcome political correctness on both sides of the Atlantic!

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Talking of the Atlantic, notably absent from the ocean right now are cargo ships – a sure sign the global economy is slowing.   For centuries, there have been ships crossing the ocean every single day. But right now there’s a lull.   Another sure sign of global inactivity is the fall in the oil price.   The price of oil is determined by supply and demand, as is everything else.   There’s more oil available now thanks to fracking and, from today, the lifting of sanctions on Iran. But there’s also less demand, with China’s economy weakening by the day and a deteriorating standard of living faced by most Americans, the world’s biggest consumers.

The head of the Royal Bank of Scotland warned all customers last week to get out of the Stock Market.   His warning sounded extreme, but what if he’s right?   We should know this week!

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Just remember, with all the uncertainty in global markets and in the Middle East, that Christians should not worry unduly about what’s going on. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  (Matthew 6:34)   The previous verse reminds us of where our primary focus should be at all times: “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”