“For God is not the author of confusion.”
(1 Corinthians 14:33)
Confusion

***

ET

Ominous apocalyptic ‘end times’ message discovered with Google Translate

July 24, 2018

© Victor Habbick Visions / Getty Images

Some vigilant internet users have discovered that if you type the word ‘dog’ many times into Google Translate and ask the search engine to change it from several languages to English, you receive a terrifying apocalyptic warning.

Screenshots of the bizarre discovery have been shared on Reddit, making others fear for their lives – or else frantically type “dog” into the online translator. It appears to work using several languages available on Google Translate, including Maori, Hausa and Yoruba

“Doomsday Clock is three minutes at twelve We are experiencing characters and a dramatic developments in the world, which indicate that we are increasingly approaching the end times and Jesus' return,” the strange message reads.

***

CP

David and Bathsheba Is a #MeToo Story; Woman Not a 'Seductress,' Seminary Professor Says

By Michael Gryboski

July 13, 2018

A seminary professor has argued that the biblical account of King David and Bathsheba should be treated as a "Me Too story," not as a consensual affair as it is sometimes portrayed.

According to 2 Samuel 11, King David slept and had a child through Bathsheba, even though she was married. Then David had her husband killed.

In a recent episode of the Dallas Theological Seminary podcast "The Table" that was posted to the school's website on Wednesday, this Old Testament event is sometimes misinterpreted.

Sandra Glahn, associate professor in Media Arts and Worship at Dallas Theological Seminary who teaches a gender studies course, explained that "Bathsheba is a Me Too story."

"It's often treated as an affair, where you have two consensual adults. And even it's sometimes treated like she is going to the palace and setting out to seduce David," said Glahn.

"David sent for her, he sent men for her. She is washing. That doesn't even mean she's bathing. She could have just been washing her hands. We are reading into that. And so what happens, instead of us seeing the argument of the book, which is David has gone from this shepherd boy, whom God has raised up, and now he's abusing power. We should all take that as a lesson and a warning. But instead, we're blaming the person who brought down the power."

Glahn explained that when people read the story of David and Bethsheba, they should identify with David by realizing that "I could fall, I could abuse power."

"Now we know more about power differentials in these sort of sexual relationships, and we know that if you have a lot of power, and you're with a powerless person, even if it's consensual, it's not the same thing," continued Glahn.

Darrell Bock, senior research professor of New Testament at DTS and host of The Table, agreed, adding that "David is very, very responsible for what it is that he's done, not only what he did with Bathsheba, but what he did with her husband."

Glahn and Bock's comments were part of an episode centered on the topic of "Women in the Old Testament," including Bathsheba, Ruth, and other figures, and how women like Bathsheba and Eve have been falsely labeled "seductresses."

"Even though there are certain texts that talk about certain kind of women being seductresses, that doesn't allow us to make the generalization that every woman should be viewed through that lens," explained Bock.

Joining Glahn and Bock for the podcast episode were two Old Testament Studies professors at DTS, Dorian Coover-Cox and Brian L. Webster.

The scholars also discussed Proverbs 31:10-31, which discusses the ideal woman. Webster argued that the passage should be seen as an "ideal" and a "pointer," as well as a retrospective, as the original Hebrew put most of the passage in past tense.

"So there was the time when there was a drought, and we didn't have enough water for all the cows. We had to kill some. And that's when your mom thought to make the belts, their tannery. She didn't do that all her life," said Webster.

"She did what was needed when it came along. And so it can be read as this pressure on women to do everything all the time, and it's impossible on the one hand, and it's not addressed to women. This is addressed to men, to make sure that you don't pursue the vanity of mere outward beauty, and make sure that you look at character."

The podcast episode comes as evangelical leaders are increasingly seeing a need to address the mistreatment of women in their churches.

Recently elected Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear explained in June that evangelicals should humbly apologize to women hurt by sexual abuse and other injustices.

"We are sorry and we should have heard you before now. We know our deafness has added to your suffering. For many that suffering was direct, as it put you in unsafe or abusive contexts," stated Greear on his website.

"For others, that suffering was indirect, as we allowed a toxic culture to grow up in our churches, one in which you were not as safe and valued as you should have been. You deserved better."

+

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” Timothy 2:15-16

(Incidently the Septuagint and the majority of English Bibles use the word bathing not washed. Ed.)
“And it came to pass toward evening, that David arose off his couch, and walked on the roof of the king’s house, and saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.” 2 Samual 11:2 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Romans 1:22

***

WND

LESBIANS DEMAND 'L' BE REMOVED FROM LGBT

Battle transgenders, insist biology makes big difference after all

Bob Unruh

July 22, 2018

It’s open warfare now between the “L” and the “T” of the LGBT movement.

An organization for lesbians has launched a formal online blast at LGBT activists for calling them “transphobes” and they want the LGBT coalition to drop the “L.”

The lesbians argue they are women attracted to women and there’s no room for men who claim they are women.

Biology does make a difference, a big difference, they insist, and it’s not enough to simply “identify” as being of a particular gender.

The argument appeared in a letter the Lesbian Rights Alliance in the United Kingdom recently posted online that was directed toward Stonewall, the U.K. organization that campaigns for LGBT causes.

“Stonewall does not recognize or represent the many young women who reject conventional feminine stereotypes in appearance and sex roles, and who become lesbians at puberty,” the letter charged.

“Instead, you support the trans argument that many gender non-conforming lesbians must really be men, born with ‘male brains’ in the ‘wrong body.'”

The organization is demanding Stonewall stop claiming to represent lesbians, ordering the group to “Remove the L from LGBT.”

Sound off on lesbians wanting the L off LGBT. Take the WND Poll!

The activists explained, “Lesbians are biological women who are sexually attracted to, and have sexual and emotional relationships with other biological women, only.”

They continued: “Being a lesbian is primarily about sexuality; it is a same-sex attraction. Stonewall no longer accepts this basic, socially accepted definition of lesbians. In fact it defines homosexuality as ‘attraction to the same gender,’ not biological sex.

“As a consequence you support the absurd idea that male-bodied persons can be lesbians, and you demand that they be accepted as such by actual lesbians. If we refuse to accept these men as lesbians you label us transphobes and ‘TERFs’ unleashing a torrent of hate speech upon us from your supporters.”

“TERF” is a transgender term for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist,” which many feminists and lesbians consider a slur or even “hate-speech.”

The Christian Institute, a U.K.-based organization advocating for traditional marriage, points out the arguments are over Stonewall defining homosexuality as being based on gender “as opposed to sex.”

At a London “Pride” event earlier this month, activists held banners such as “lesbian = female homosexual.”

Their message, bluntly put: Men who think they are women are not really women.

LGBT organizations accused the lesbians of bigotry and ignorance.

Reported the Institute: “In recent days the government has launched a 16-week consultation on the Gender Recognition Act which could see safeguards for legally changing sex removed. Currently, it is necessary to have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and to have lived as if a member of the opposite sex for two years.

“But Theresa May has indicated her support for ‘self-declaration’ – where a man can legally change sex simply by saying he is a woman, and vice versa.”

The lesbian alliance accused Stonewall of “imposing compulsory heterosexuality on lesbians” by arguing that men who think they are women are actually women.

“In your support for trans ideology you are literally erasing young lesbians, telling them they must mutilate their own female bodies to impersonate men and appear to be heterosexual. In 2016-17 female adolescents comprised over 60 percent of young people seeking to transition at the gender identity development clinics, the majority of whom are attracted to their own sex,” the lesbian group said.

LGBTQNation reported how LGBT activists they describe as “anti-transgender” literally took over the “Pride” parade recently in London.

“A group of eight women blocked the parade and then marched in front of it,” the activists reported.

The women shouted, among other things, “A man who says he’s a lesbian is a rapist.”

Later, Pride in London organizers said, “Yesterday a group of individuals labelled as ‘Get The L Out!,’ who were not a registered parade group, forced their way to the front of the parade to stand on the rainbow flag. Their behavior was shocking and disgusting, and we condemn it completely.”

An analysis in PJMedia summed up the events this way: “We told you it would happen, and it finally has. Conservatives long predicted that feminism and transgenderism were ultimately incompatible, but for a long time it seemed like the LGBT movement might just hold them together. Well, on Saturday that movement burst open, as lesbians led the parade in attacking transgenderism.”

The Economist recently published a commentary titled “The gender-identity movement undermines lesbians,” in which performance artist Pippa Fleming explains why lesbians are concerned over their identity:

“There’s an African proverb that states: ‘If you don’t know where you come from, how do you know where you are going?’ Some of the most powerful black people known for their political analysis, social commentary, activism and legacy during the civil-rights, gay-rights and feminist movements were black lesbians. Oops! Did I just say ‘lesbian’, that dirty seven-letter word that has the GBTQI community scrambling to apologize for or afraid to associate itself with? Lesbianism is as ancient as the cosmos, yet it is a threat to patriarchy because it does not centre [on] males, nor does it seek male wisdom, power or validation. Instead of finding solace within our community against the threat of misogyny and homophobia, lesbian identity is being written out.”

She explained, “In this current wave of ‘free to me’ gender politics, any man with a penis can claim to be a female and expect entrance into female-segregated spaces, such as locker rooms, sports teams or colleges, without question. But don’t twist it; the generosity does not flow in both directions. Just ask the women who crashed the party at the male lido in Hampstead Heath in London in May: they were promptly escorted out by the police. Lesbian identity is now being dubbed as exclusionary or transphobic. You’re damn right it’s exclusive: lesbians have a right to say no to the phallus, no matter how it’s concealed or revealed.”

Warning that “Lesbian identity is now being dubbed as exclusionary or transphobic,” she added, “The gender-identity movement’s attempt to rebrand the lesbian as queer, and the pronouncement that ‘anyone can be a lesbian,’ are nothing short of erasure.”

***

DAILY STAR

Sex robot human CLONES: Chinese firm using 3D printers to scan and make replicas of PEOPLE

AN INNOVATIVE Chinese sex robot company is scanning full people to create 3D printed cyborgs replicas “developed from a real human”.

ByJoshua Nevett

July 21, 2018

Developers at DS Doll are making advanced sex robots with artificial intelligence (AI) and full body movement at their workshop and factory in Dalian, a port city in north-east China.
The firm, one of China’s leading sex doll manufacturers, is about to release the first generation of its cyborg companion that can be “mass produced” and sold to customers across the world.
The team of researchers behind DS Doll’s sex robot has started to implement advanced manufacturing techniques to increase the speed and efficiency of production.
DS Doll marketing manager Sam told Daily Star Online that 3D printing is one method the company has adopted to make parts for the sex robots.
Eventually DS Doll is aiming to integrate 3D printing technology into its production line process, allowing the firm to make large quantities of sex robots at a rapid rate, Sam said.

SEX ROBOT CLONES: DS Doll is using 3D printers to scan and create copies of real people

“DS Doll is using the 3D printer to make many parts for the robotic doll prototypes, said Sam, who works for Cloud Climax, the flagship DS Doll reseller in Europe and the UK.
“They are using this technology to improve on the speed and processing times for making improvements to the doll robots.
“Whilst previously casts would need to be made and then moulds, we can now input and print in a much faster time.”
3D printing is the process of joining or solidifying raw materials using high-tech machinery and computers to make three dimensional objects.
To print an object, 3D designs created on computer software are uploaded to the machine, often via a memory stick, which builds the material layer-by-layer.

The final product is made up of thousands of layered miniscule slices of raw material in a process called additive manufacturing.
Sam said the 3D printing technology operated by DS Doll has the capability to make sex robot replicas of humans by scanning their full body into the software.
He said: “The 3D printer works by developing the shape of the particular part in the computer software and then transferring to the printer.
“It is also connected to a 3D scanner which can be used to scan in the body of a full person as well as prototype parts for replication.
“This type of technology is excellent for creating new doll bodies and faces as they can be developed from a real human.”
Sam believes 3D printing will became an integral part of the manufacturing process given its laser-guided accuracy and economic efficiency.

He added: “Using 3D printing streamlines the process of making intricate parts for the robots and means that all parts will be 100% identical.
“This means less wastage and lower development times.
“It is inevitable that this technology will become a large part of making robotic products in the foreseeable future for DS Doll.”
Sam has previously said that DS Doll can create sex robots with a “good likeness” of a person they are “looking to replicate”, but stressed they would need permission.
Cloud Climax has received enquiries about “sex dolls based upon celebrities”, he said.

WWE wrestlers, superheroes and Hollywood actors and actresses are among the most popular requests.
DS Doll does not actually sell celebrity sex dolls or robots due to copyright infringement issues.
Celebrities would need to give their consent to any company intending to copy their image in sex robot form.
A number of robotics ethics and philosophers have claimed erotic cyborgs based on the image of celebrities will be popular in the future.
Dr David Levy, author of Love and Sex with Robots, has said there will “absolutely” be a demand for celebrity sex robots.

***

PRESSTV

Israeli minister calls ‘hasty’ adoption of ‘nation-state’ law ‘a mistake’

July 26, 2018

Demonstrators attend a rally to protest against the “Jewish nation-state” law in Tel Aviv on July 14, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli finance minister says the hasty adoption of the law defining Israel as a “state” exclusively for Jews has been a “mistake” that needs to be corrected, as opposition to the apartheid measure gains momentum even inside the Tel Aviv-occupied territories.

On Thursday, Moshe Kahlon became the second minister in the Israeli cabinet to suggest amendments to the so-called “Jewish nation-state” law, which was passed by the regime's parliament (Knesset) last week.

“The legislation was done hastily,” Kahlon told Army Radio, adding, “We made a mistake and we need to fix it.”

Besides officially designating Israel as a “state” exclusively for the Jews, the law defines occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as the “capital” of Israel, downgrades the status of the Arabic language and encourages the promotion of the regime’s settlements — which have been built on occupied land and thus viewed as unlawful by the world community.

The minister further said the law needed to be tailored in favor of Israel’s Druze people, an ethnic minority among the Arabs who account for nearly 21 percent of the Israeli population.

Kahlon, however, made no mention of the rights of the rest of the Arab population or Christians in the occupied territories.

Earlier, Israeli Education Minister Naftali Benett, a strong advocate of the law, said he had belatedly realized that the measure hurt the feelings of the Druze community, adding that the regime had the “responsibility of finding a way to repair the rift.”

All Palestinian groups in the West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip -- along with the UN and the EU – have blasted the racist law, which has sparked mass protests in the Israeli-occupied territories.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting with ministers and Knesset members for talks on the Druze community’s outcry against the law. No agreement was, however, reached on the issue, according to Israeli media.

Over the weekend, Israeli Druze leaders, including three Knesset members, lodged a petition against the law with the High Court of Justice, arguing that it discriminated against the country’s minorities.

***

BREITBART

Italian Bishop: I Would ‘Turn All Churches into Mosques’ to Save Migrants

GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty

By Thomas D. Williams PH.D

July 24, 2018

ROME — An Italian bishop has said that he would be willing to see an end to Christianity and the dominion of Islam if it meant saving migrants’ lives, Italian media reported Monday.

“Morally and as a man of faith I would be willing to turn all churches into mosques if it were useful to the cause and if it helped to save the lives of poor and unhappy men and women, because Christ did not come to earth to build churches but to help men regardless of race, religion, or nationality,” said the former bishop of Caserta, Raffaele Nogaro, earlier this month.

“And instead there are politicians who in their speeches continue to preach of deportations and the worst thing is that they do it with the crown and the rosary in hand and taking the name of God in vain, a very serious sin,” Nogaro said, in reference to a famous image of Interior Minister Matteo with the rosary in hand.

During the campaign leading up to the March 4 elections, Salvini, the 45-year-old leader of the League party, waved a rosary and swore on the Christian Gospels and the Italian constitution while addressing a huge rally in front of the Milan Cathedral.

“I swear to be faithful to my people, 60 million Italians, I swear with honesty and courage to apply the Italian constitution, Salvini said, “respecting the teachings contained in these Holy Gospels. Will you swear together with me?”

Bishop Nogaro is on the cutting edge of a clerical movement to oppose Italy’s populist government, especially regarding its efforts to curb the illegal immigration that has run rampant in the country since 2014. For this group of prelates and priests, Matteo Salvini — despite his Catholic faith — is the personification of everything evil about the new government, with one priest going so far as to call him “the antichrist.”

This movement, despite moral support that goes all the way to the top with Pope Francis, has begun creating a divide between rank-and-file Catholics and the hierarchy. In a major poll earlier this month, Salvini turned out to be the most trusted politician in this predominantly Catholic nation.

When Salvini denied permission to debark to the NGO vessel Aquarius that was carrying hundreds of African migrants in late June, the Italian bishops were among those protesting most loudly.

“It is Jesus coming to us on a vessel, he is in the man or child who drowns, it is Jesus who fishes through the garbage in search of a little food,” said Sicilian Cardinal Francesco Montenegro in a homily shortly afterward.

Montenegro blamed efforts to curb mass migration on callousness and indifference, suggesting that a certain breed of Christian “creates the poor and then doesn’t want them because they are irksome and lets them die.”

The more the position of the Church hierarchy seems to lean toward unchecked immigration — despite the lack of grounds for this in Catholic doctrine — the more a substantial portion of the flock is pushing back to retake national sovereignty.

***

TODD STARNES

Air Force Base Defends Replacing Bible with Generic “Book of Faith”

Todd Starnes

July 19, 2018

The commander at F.E. Warren Air Force Base is defending her decision to remove a Bible from a POW-MIA table and replace it with a generic “book of faith.”
Col. Stacy Jo Huser, the 90^th Missile Wing commander, tells the Todd Starnes Radio Show that the Bible was removed to insure “the religious and non-religious feel included and cared for.”

The Bible was removed following complaints from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

The head of the foundation, Mikey Weinstein, wrote in the HuffPost that he is dedicated to fighting “virulent religious oppression” carried out by “incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.”

The MRFF alleges that as many as 36 unnamed clients at the Air Force base in Wyoming have complained about the inclusion of the Bible on the table honoring prisoners of war and missing comrades.

“Taking care of our Airmen is a top priority for the 90th Missile Wing and its leaders,” Col. Huser told me in a statement. “To drive that point home, one of our focus areas on F.E. Warren Air Force Base is increasing the sense of belonging for all our Airmen; a large part of that effort is ensuring the religious and non-religious feel included and cared for.”

It did not seem to matter that the table traditionally includes a Holy Bible to represent “faith in a higher power and the pledge to our country, founded as one nation under God.”

Col. Huser tells me the Bible will be replaced with “a ‘book of faith’ containing spiritual writings and prayers from the five DoD Chaplain appointed faith groups and a sixth set of blank pages to represent those who find solace by other means.”

So she’s going to include a bunch of blank pages for those who find solace in — nothing

“No matter an Airman’s religious or non-religious beliefs, it is crucial for all to know we are an equally valued part of the same team vital to our mission’s success,” the commander said.

Let’s cut to the chase – President Trump needs to immediately intervene and put a stop to these ugly attacks from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

***

WND

TURKEY MOVES U.S. PASTOR FROM PRISON TO HOUSE ARREST

Day after Congress advanced bill banning sale of F-35s to Ankara

Art Moore

July 25, 2018

Andrew Brunson (Facebook)

Andrew Brunson, the American pastor who has been imprisoned in Turkey for nearly two years without evidence on terror and espionage chargeswill be moved to house arrest, according to a Turkish newspaper.

The court order came one day after Congress advanced a bill that would ban delivery of fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

In the bill, lawmakers demand the release of Brunson as well as any other “U.S. citizens wrongfully or unlawfully detained in Turkey.”

The Daily Sabah said the Second High Penal Court in Izmir ordered Wednesday that Brunson be moved to his home in Izmir due to “health issues.”

The court also imposed a ban on Brunson leaving the country.

The same court on July 18 ordered that Brunson remain imprisoned until an Oct. 12 hearing.

“We are very thankful for this court ruling to allow Andrew to be detained at his house instead of behind bars, where he has spent more than 21 months,” said Jeff Jeremiah, the stated clerk, or overseer, of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Brunson’s denomination.

“At the same time, this trial is not over. He is still facing serious charges so we press on in praying, fasting and advocating for Andrew,” Jeremiah said.

Brunson, 50, who has lived in Turkey since 1993, was arrested in October 2016. He later was charged, despite no evidence, of having links to Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish cleric that Ankara blames for the failed coup attempt in 2016. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison for “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member” and an additional 20 years for “espionage.”

President Trump, in a tweet last week, called Turkey’s prosecution of Brunson “a total disgrace.”

“He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!”

The American Center for Law and Justice, which represents Brunson’s family, called the move Wednesday “a critical first step that we believe will result in the freedom of Pastor Andrew so he can return to the United States and be reunited with his family.”

ACLJ said Trump “has played a critical role in securing the freedom of Pastor Andrew.”

“We have worked closely with the president on this matter and are grateful for his efforts. We look forward to the ultimate release of Pastor Andrew.”

***

RT

Iran supreme leader threatens to block all Gulf oil exports if its own are stopped

July 21, 2018

FILE PHOTO: An oil tanker is being loaded in Saudi Arabia © Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that no country in the region will export oil if Iran’s exports are stopped. The same threat was earlier voiced by President Hassan Rouhani.

Speaking to Iranian ambassadors and senior diplomats on Saturday, Khamenei backed Rouhani’s earlier warning to close the Strait of Hormuz, thus blocking all oil shipments from the Persian Gulf.

“[These] were important remarks that reflect Islamic Republic’s approach,” the Ayatollah said, according to his official website. He added that Iran’s Foreign Ministry must closely follow the approach.

The statement comes in response to anti-Iran rhetoric by the US, which is currently pressing allies to cut off Iranian crude exports. During a recent tour, a senior State Department official warned that those failing to reduce Iranian oil imports to “zero” by early November would face US sanctions.

The Telegraph

Donald Trump hits back at Iran's president: 'Never, ever threaten the US again or you will suffer'

Chris Graham

July 23, 2018

Donald Trump has warned Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, to never threaten the US again, saying he would not "stand for your demented words".

The US president issued the direct threat on Twitter after the Iranian leader cautioned Mr Trump about pursuing hostile policies against Tehran, saying "war with Iran is the mother of all wars".

A war of words has escalated as Iran faces increased US pressure and looming sanctions after Mr Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from a 2015 international deal over Iran's nuclear programme.

The rhetoric echoes the threats exchanged between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before relations thawed earlier this year. It came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo compared Iran's leaders to a "mafia" and promised unspecified backing for Iranians unhappy with their government.

Using capital letters, Mr Trump told Mr Rouhani to "be cautious".

@realDonaldTrump

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

Addressing a gathering of Iranian diplomats at the weekend, Mr Rouhani left open the prospect for peace. But he warned: "Mr Trump, don't play with the lion's tail, this would only lead to regret."

"America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars," Mr Rouhani said, according to the state new agency IRNA.

"You are not in a position to incite the Iranian nation against Iran's security and interests," Mr Rouhani said, in an apparent reference to reported efforts by Washington to destabilise Iran's Islamic government.

In Washington, US officials familiar with the matter told Reuters that the Trump administration had launched an offensive of speeches and online communications meant to foment unrest and help pressure Iran to end its nuclear programme and its support of militant groups.

Current and former US officials said the campaign painted Iranian leaders in a harsh light, at times using information that is exaggerated or contradicts other official pronouncements, including comments by previous administrations.

Mr Rouhani scoffed at Mr Trump's threat to halt Iranian oil exportsand said Iran has a dominant position in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping waterway.

"Anyone who understands the rudiments of politics doesn't say 'we will stop Iran's oil exports'...we have been the guarantor of the regional waterway's security throughout history," Rouhani said, cited by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday backed Rouhani's suggestion that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are halted.

Mr Rouhani's apparent threat earlier this month to disrupt oil shipments from neighbouring countries came in reaction to efforts by Washington to force all countries to stop buying Iranian oil.

Iranian officials have in the past threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for any hostile US action.

On Sunday, Iran's ground forces commander became the latest military figure to back Mr Rouhani's apparent threat, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.

"The Strait of Hormuz region must either be safe for all or be insecure for everyone," said General Kioumars Heydari, quoted by Tasnim.

Separately, a top Iranian military commander warned that the Trump government might be preparing to invade Iran.

"The enemy's behaviour is unpredictable," Tasnim quoted military chief of staff General Mohammad Baqeri as saying.

"Although the current American government does not seem to speak of a military threat, according to precise information it has been trying to persuade the U.S. military to launch a military invasion (of Iran)," Baqeri said.

Iran's oil exports could fall by as much as two-thirds by the end of the year because of new US sanctions, putting oil markets under huge strain amid supply outages elsewhere.

Washington initially planned to shut Iran out of global oil markets completely after Mr Trump abandoned the deal that limited Iran's nuclear ambitions, demanding all other countries stop buying Iranian crude by November.

But the United States has somewhat eased its stance, saying it may grant sanction waivers to some allies that are particularly reliant on Iranian supplies.

Mr Pompeo said on Sunday that Iran "is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government," Pompeo said, citing what he called Iranian leaders' vast wealth and corruption.

Mr Trump and Mr Pompeo's comments are the latest step in a communications offensive launched by the Trump administration that is meant to foment unrest in Iran and help pressure its government to end its nuclear program and support of militant groups, US officials familiar with the matter said.

The offensive is meant to work in concert with severe economic sanctions that Washington plans to reimpose in the coming months, including on Tehran's oil exports, its principal revenue generator.

The United States will work with countries that import Iranian oil "to get imports as close to zero as possible" by Nov. 4, Mr Pompeo said.

After Mr Trump's warnings overnight the head of Iran's Basij militia, part of the Revolutionary Guard, on Monday dismissed the threats as "psychological warfare", local media reported.

"Trump's statements against Iran are psychological warfare. He is not in a position to act against Iran," said General Gholam Hossein Gheypour, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday praised Mr Trump's "tough stand" against Iran.

MailOnline

'You wouldn't dare attack': Tehran goads 'passive' Trump and says he 'can't do a damn thing to Iran' after his all-caps warning to president Rouhani

• Iran and Trump locked in bitter war of words over looming trade sanctions

• Hassan Rouhani warned Trump that 'war with Iran will be the mother of all wars' before President threatened Tehran with 'consequences that few have suffered'

• Iranians have since hit back, saying that Trump 'won't dare' attack their country

• Regime also dismissed Trump's all-caps Twitter threat as a 'passive reaction'

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 15:03, 23 July 2018 | UPDATED: 16:40, 23 July 2018

Iran has hit back at Donald Trump after the President warned Tehran to 'never, ever threaten the US again' in an all-caps Twitter outburst that raised the specter of war.

A top Iranian general bragged on Monday that America 'won't dare' attack despite Trump threatening 'consequences few throughout history have ever suffered' a tweet-storm late on Sunday night.

General Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, chief of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij force, dismissed Trump's message as little more than 'psychological warfare.'

He added: 'We will never abandon our revolutionary beliefs. We will resist pressure from enemies.

'America wants nothing less than [to] destroy Iran ... [but] Trump cannot do a damn thing against Iran.'

Iran's state-owned IRNA news agency further goaded Trump, describing his tweet as a 'passive reaction'.

The agency also accused Trump of copying Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who had in the past warned the West to 'never threaten an Iranian.'

Trump's attack came after President Hassan Rouhani gave a speech in which he cautioned: 'Peace with Iran will be the mother of all peace, but war with Iran will be the mother of all wars.'

That prompted Trump to write:

'To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.

'WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!'

The message echoed remarks Trump made to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in August last year amid a flurry of missile tests.

At the time, Trump told reporters: 'North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States.

'They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.'

Trump's remarks came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged a 'maximum pressure campaign' against Rouhani and his government.

The Trump administration described its approach to North Korea in the same terms.

Pompeo branded Iran's leadership a 'mafia' and promised US backing to groups rebelling against the government, though did not name them.

All of this comes after Trump effectively tore up the Iran nuclear agreement signed under predecessor Barack Obama by threatening tough new sanctions on Tehran.

In response Iran threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, which handles around 20 per cent of the world's oil shipments.

The Trump administration initially planned to shut Iran out of global oil markets completely, demanding all other countries stop buying Iranian crude by November.

But the U.S. has somewhat eased its stance, saying it may grant sanction waivers to some allies that are particularly reliant on Iranian supplies.

***

THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
These three YouTube videos portray the siege of Jerusalem using the Rome Total War game engine. The city was "created," the script, and production work was done by the narrator. The game engine allow the creation of cities.

Yes, he uses the traditional "Temple Mount" site, but there is still much to consider. Up until the assault on the traditional "Fort Antonia" which is ridiculous, his documentary is pretty good. He follows the current scholarly view. Josephus would read much clearer IF the correct understanding of the Temple was presented. David Seilaff

“And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2

(This shows the ferocity of the siege. Remember though, Ft. Antonio is completely out of porportion. Ed)

AMMC

RT

Russian Communist Party seeks major probe into Bolshevik role in Romanovs’ killing

July 24, 2018

Believers before the royal religious procession marking the 100th anniversary of the royal family's execution, outside the Cathedral on Blood for All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land in Yekaterinburg. / Sputnik / Sergey Pyatakov

A Russian Communist Party MP has asked for the deaths of Russian tsars and other royals to be investigated, saying that the probe of the 1918 killing of the Romanovs is currently being used for propaganda purposes.

In his letters to the Investigative Committee (the Russian Federal agency that investigates especially important crime or crime that receives a lot of media attention) and the Prosecutor General’s Office, MP Valery Rashkin demanded that all information on the killing of the Romanov family is disclosed and called for an investigation into murders of other Russian tsars. The lawmaker also made similar requests to the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Russian History and the Institute of Archaeology.

Rashkin asked the researchers and law enforcement officers to start investigation of the violent deaths of various Russian monarchs, like Ivan VI, Peter III, Paul I and also Feodor II Godunov.

“We wanted to concentrate the attention of our society on the fact that Russia has had its ruler killed every 100 years. When there is no wise policy and there are contradictions in the upper echelons of power, such things take place on a regular basis,” the MP said in comments with Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper.

“Our party members share the view that this was not the policy of the Soviets but an excess of the civil war. It was not Lenin’s fault as the whole state system in 1918 was weak,” Rashkin added, describing the fate of Nicholas II and his family.

He emphasized that back in 1918 Vladimir Lenin wanted the last Russian Tsar to be put on trial and demanded that Romanovs were delivered to Moscow for this. The communist lawmaker also told reporters that his party had already made similar requests in the Investigation Committee but in reply the agency stated that its officers could not find enough grounds to start criminal investigation into the violent deaths of Russian monarchs.

“Personal interest and own view on certain historical events are not enough to start an investigation,” read the committee’s reply.

MP Rashkin suggested in press comments that the reason behind this reluctance was that the heads of the Investigation Committee did not want to get drawn into a political controversy.

Last week, Russia marked the 100th anniversary of the killing of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II and his family with a procession of about 100,000 people led by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and also by a dedicated plenary session of the Lower House of Parliament, the State Duma.

At the session lawmakers discussed the current situation surrounding the Romanovs and the possible future steps to honor the late royal family, but no concrete plans were announced.

***

RT

Dollar detox: Russia's gold reserves near 2000 tons to set historic benchmark

July 25, 2018

© Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

Russia’s gold holdings are approaching the Soviet era record after the central bank added another 106 tons of bullion in the first half of the year. It’s part of a plan to diversify national reserves away from the US dollar.

The entire gold reserve of the Russian Federation is nearing 2,000 tons with the share of the precious metal in the country’s foreign-exchange portfolio reaching a record 18 percent in June. At the same time, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) launched a massive sell-off of US Treasury bonds, having dumped nearly all of the country's holdings

The latest data from the US Treasury showed that Russia reduced its holdings from $96.1 billion in March to just $14.9 billion in May, having dropped out of the list of the 33 largest foreign holders of US sovereign bonds. The decrease reportedly occurred after the financial, economic, and geopolitical assessment by the CBR. The step helps Russia to diversify its reserves, according to the head of the regulator Elvira Nabiullina.

The current gold holdings of 2,000 tons are approaching the Soviet maximum of 2,800 tons reached in 1941. At the moment, Russia’s gold and foreign currency holdings total $460 billion with the central bank aiming to increase that figure to $500 billion. Over the last decade, the share of gold in reserves has soared tenfold.

The precious metal has historically proved itself as an effective hedge against financial shocks and fiscal meltdowns. According to mining and financial experts, the world could run out of mineable gold in the next two decades. If this happens, the prices for bullion could soar to $3,000 per ounce or higher.

***

VOICE OF EUROPE

Hungary officially pulls out of UN migration pact as it ‘encourages migration'

By HUNGARY JOURNAL

July 24, 2018

ivanoel / shutterstock.com

Hungary officially notified the United Nations on Tuesday that it is quitting the approval process of the Global Compact for Migration, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

It has become clear that differences between Hungary’s position on migration and the UN’s approach are irreconcilable, Szijjarto told a press conference.

“Hungary will maintain its position and no global package can change that”, he added.

“We see migration processes from a different perspective,” he said. The UN believes that migration is unavoidable, beneficial and should be supported, while Hungary considers it a danger to Hungary and Europe, he said, adding that the UN’s aim was to encourage migration whereas Hungary’s goal was to stop it.

The Global Compact for Migration includes some agreeable targets, such as taking action against human smugglers, but its effect will be contrary even to these, he said. A document that encourages migration will only benefit human smugglers because they can then convince more people to set off, telling them that they will be accepted in line with the global compact, Szijjarto said.

Hungary’s position is that it would be unnatural to change the population of the continent and global efforts should instead be made to stop migration, he said.

The migration compact includes certain obligations that Hungary would not be willing fulfil, such as organising training sessions for migrants before they set off and after they arrive, granting allowances to those send home remittances, enabling NGOs to help migrants submit complaints, increasing migrant reception capacities and viewing border crossing as a human rights issue instead of a security issue, he added.

Hungary has introduced “precisely contrary measures” in order to protect the security of citizens, Szijjarto said.
In response to a question, he said that considering that the US had not even participated in the talks on the Global Compact for Migration and several countries had expressed dissatisfaction at the end of talks, Hungary was unlikely to meet with any negative fallout as a result of its announcement.

***

WND

'MIND-BLOWING PLUNGE': FACEBOOK VALUE DROPS BY $100 BILLION+

Stockholders push to oust Zuckerberg as board chairman

July 26, 2018

Investors and insiders turned on Facebook Thursday, sending its stock plunging 20 percent near the end of the market day, costing the company more than $100 billion in value and founder Mark Zuckerberg in excess of $15 billion personally.

MarketWatch columnist Therese Poletti cited the “stunning disclosure of a revenue deceleration in the second half of this year.”

The “mind-blowing plunge” started Wednesday after Chief Financial Officer David Wehner warned that income wasn’t meeting expectations.

Poletti said the steep decline was “stunning not only because of the scale, but because Facebook had managed to avoid this type of punishment through a multitude of sins too numerous to fully list here.”

The company has been embroiled in controversy over the changes it made to algorithms that effectively have censored conservative voices.

WND reported earlier Thursday some “journalists” were enraged that Facebook didn’t simply banish news outlets such as Fox News.

The analysis warned that investors “aren’t sticking around for the effects that Wehner outlined.”

“Many analysts were rather dumbstruck on the conference call, with some stammering a bit as they asked questions trying to get their heads around a decline in revenue-growth that had long been presaged but never actually arrived,” Poletti wrote.

CNBC reported Facebook’s performance Thursday “was on track” to be the “largest one-day loss in market value by any company,” with its valued down $120 billion or more during the middle of the day, leaving a capitalization of $508 billion.

Previous collapses included Intel dropping $90 billion in 2000 as the dotcom bubble burst. Microsoft lost $80 billion one day earlier.

CNBC noted that the company reported a disappointing result for global daily active users, and the London Daily Mail reported the shareholder move to fire Zuckerberg as chairman.

“Investment company Trillium Asset Management, who has about $11 million in Facebook stock, filed a proposal on Wednesday to break up Zuckerberg’s role as both chairman and CEO,” the report said.

“The proposal argues that shareholders are unable to check Zuckerberg’s power given he holds roughly 60 percent of Facebook’s voting shares as both chair and CEO.”

It charged that a CEO “who also serves as chair can exert excessive influence on the board and its agenda, weakening the board’s oversight of management.”

Zuckerberg was the one calling the shots regarding the company’s response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The British research company scraped the personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for political purposes.

The Facbook CEO also allowed the Russian meddling scandal to develop in 2016 in which Russian operatives bought Facebook ads to influence U.S. voters.

Significantly, Facebook reported its consumer base was dropping by millions.

Bloomberg reported Zuckerberg’s fortune tumbled 17 percent in the first five minutes of trading Thursday.

And the company said eight Facebook Inc. insiders have sold off some $3.9 billion worth of stock just since the Cambridge scandal was revealed in March.

Zuckerberg accounted for about 90 percent of the total, the report said.

The Dow Jones, meanwhile, was up comfortably while other market indicators were near neutral.

***

How Sweet It Is. And How Malignant.

By Sven Beckert, NY Times book review

SUGAR: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity
By James Walvin
July 23, 2018

Sweets have invaded the English language the way they have invaded our diet, with almost universally positive connotations. Sweet love, sweet people and sweet deals all suggest pleasant experiences, as do the sugary confections that grace our tables and fill our stores. James Walvin’s new book, “Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity,” will thoroughly disabuse you of such agreeable associations and may make you reluctant to reach for something sweet. Sugar, he shows, is a blood-soaked product that has brought havoc to millions and environmental devastation to large parts of the planet, premature death to the poorest populations in many parts of the world and huge health costs for societies from the United States to India. After reading this book the mere mention of sugar should make you think of slavery and cavities, imperialism and obesity–and remind you to check the label on the products you consume.

Walvin, the author of several books on slavery, takes his readers on a roller-coaster ride through 500 years of history. Sugar, he shows, was rare for most of human history, with sweetness largely derived from fruits and honey. Sugar was believed to have healing properties and in much of the world it was dispensed by apothecaries; consumption of small quantities of sugar was the prerogative of elites. Then, in the 16th century, Europeans seized large territories in the Americas and quickly dedicated much of that acreage to sugar cane. By killing off local inhabitants and enslaving Africans to do the backbreaking labor of tending the sugar plant, European settlers managed to build a huge production complex. Hungry for power and profit, they turned the fertile soils of Brazil, Barbados, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, St. Domingue and other places to the growing of sugar for European markets by slave labor, producing extraordinary wealth in cities like Bristol, Bordeaux and Boston, and unimaginable misery for millions of enslaved workers.

Sugar, Walvin argues, was the cutting edge of global capitalism, with the plantations among the largest business enterprises, the most significant sources of profit and, in light of their highly regimented discipline, the most modern work sites. As a major share of the total trade of both 18th-century France and Britain, sugar lubricated the world economy and provided nutrition to the growing number of people who worked in cities and industry. Sugar catalyzed some of the first waves of globalization–notably in British North America, which entered the world economy as a supplier of goods to the Caribbean sugar complex and a processor of its harvest. Boston, as much as Barbados, is sugar’s offspring.

As sugar streamed from the Caribbean, consumption grew. The European elite consumed ever-larger quantities–their rotting teeth in full view of their contemporaries, although discreetly hidden by their portraitists. By the 19th century, the working class in Europe and North America was sweetening its tea and coffee, and putting jam on its toast; by century’s end, it was breakfasting on sugary cereals. Fantastic quantities of sugar, in all its forms, kept stomachs full and workers productive. In 1770, rum–made from sugar cane–provided possibly one-quarter of the caloric needs of British North America. By the mid-20th century, the average annual consumption of sugar in Britain was an astonishing 110 pounds per person. “The fruits of slave labor,” Walvin writes, “had thoroughly permeated the Western world.” Even with slavery abolished in the British and French Caribbean, North Atlantic demand and investments allowed for another huge expansion of sugar slavery, this time in Cuba.

When slavery came to its slow end in the 19th century, the geography of sugar shifted. Brutalized indentured workers from India and China took up sugar production in Guyana and Fiji, Mauritius and Trinidad. Beet sugar producers in Germany and the American Midwest gained market share. And by the late 20th century, American corn growers were feeding huge quantities of high fructose corn syrup into global markets, enabling an ever-increasing quantity of sweeteners to be poured into soft drinks and cereals. Along the way, sugar turned out to be so important that governments came to regulate its production and trade, trying to secure inexpensive sugar for domestic markets and to bolster an ever more powerful food industry addicted to cheap sweeteners. Subsidies and tariffs, as well as imperial exertions on behalf of sugar-consuming industries, Walvin makes clear, shaped the global sugar market in ways that were good for industry and all too often harmful to workers and consumers. The result has been a wave of obesity that has moved at awe-inspiring speed across the planet–fattening up people from Europe to the United States, from India to Mexico, creating a global health crisis that suggests sugar is as toxic as tobacco. If current trends continue, Walvin observes, the majority of the British and American population may be obese by 2050.

“Sugar” is an entertaining, informative and utterly depressing global history of an important commodity.

Sven Beckert is the Laird Bell professor of American history at Harvard University and the author of “Empire of Cotton: A Global History.”

Natural News

The unique complex of protein and fats found in human breast milk KILLS over 40 types of cancer

Monday, July 23, 2018 by: Vicki Batts

(Natural News) Conventional cancer treatments like chemo and radiation therapy are known for causing an array of undesirable health effects. Even so, the cancer industry continues to parade their flagship products as the end-all be-all of cancer treatment. But many people believe that medicine shouldn’t hurt. Perhaps that’s why scientists continue to look for other, less damaging options. Research continues to point to an array of herbs and plants as a means of natural cancer treatment, but the latest science has identified a surprising source of cancer-killing compounds: Human breast milk.

Mother’s milk is known for containing a bevy of antibodies and other beneficial compounds for newborn babies, to protect them from all the harmful things in the world while their immune system matures. So in a way, as strange as it sounds, the notion that breast milk may hold the key to fighting cancer naturally, really isn’t that surprising at all.

Breast milk as a cancer-killer

Professor Catharina Svanborg has been paving the road to capitalizing on breast milk’s cancer-fighting abilities out of her lab at Lund University in Sweden. Specifically, the professor has been working on a way to bind a breast milk protein known as alpha-lactalbumin to oleic acid, a fatty acid found in olive oil, nuts and seeds.

The cancer-killing combination she’s dubbed HAMLET (an acronym for human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells) has shown great success in laboratory applications, shrinking brain, bladder and colon tumors with ease. Tests involving animal and human cancer cell lines have shown that HAMLET is effective against at least 40 types of cancer.

“Looking down the microscope at the dying tumor cells, we were quite excited, especially when the experiment was repeated and showed the same effect twice. We had used non-cancerous cells for a long time in similar experiments and they had not died,” Svanborg told The Telegraph, speaking about the amazing way breast milk kills cancer.

But the funny thing is that Svanborg discovered all of this two decades ago.

Overcoming skepticism and doubt

Svanborg reportedly went onto patent her confirmed discovery in 1995. She published her research, hoping to take the cancer industry by storm with her amazing find. But instead of being met with praise and applause, she was simply met with disbelief.

“There was a certain degree of skepticism. It is about being let into the cancer community more than anything else,” the professor contended. As a university professor and immunologist, Svanborg wasn’t considered part of the cancer or pharmaceutical industries — and she struggled to have her work taken seriously. As a specialist in infectious diseases, and a threat to the profit-driven cancer industry, her research on breast milk and cancer fell on deaf ears.

But Svanborg was determined and would not be deterred. “One has to be stubborn when it is a journey into unchartered territory,” she said. For the last 20 years, Svanborg has continued her research and continues to turn her skeptics into believers, one by one.

“It is an absolutely thrilling project. If you hang in there, it opens up new ways of thinking about protein structure, cell biology and the nature of cancer. People are coming around to the fact that this is very well supported by in-depth studies,” Svanborg contended. The team recently developed a way to mass produce HAMLET, which means it could soon become a widely used cancer treatment. Her game-changing discovery promises to kill cancer cells without damaging health cells — a feat that eludes conventional treatments like chemo.

Though HAMLET still has a ways to go before becoming an approved form of treatment that’s available to the masses, Svanborg remains hopeful. You can learn more about alternative cancer treatments at AntiCancer.news.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalHealth365.com

Telegraph.co.uk

Until next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions

“For thou art he that drew me out of the womb; my hope from my mother’s breasts. I was cast on thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.”
(Psalm 22:9-10)