“If a man die, shall he live [again?] all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”
(Job 14:14)
My Change

***

PART TWO—SHOCKING NEW ONLINE SERIES To Probe Trump Administration, Rabbis, And Top-Secret Plan To Build Third Temple

February 12, 2019 by SkyWatch Editor

By Dr. Thomas Horn

PART TWO: The Game Is Afoot!

Since the 1980s, the Temple Movement has been steadily working in earnest to gather and prepare the critical elements and to even train the priesthood that will serve in the new religious complex seated in Jerusalem. The importance of these efforts throughout parts of the Orthodox Jewish community and machinations of global political interests will become clearer as we reveal the Temple’s role in what rabbis believe has already started—the first stage of the messianic process (Moshiach Ben Yosef, or “Messiah from the house of Joseph”), which is described as the practical and social precursor to the second stage of the Messiah’s appearing as Moshiach Ben David (“Messiah from the house of David”) that includes reinstitution of Temple services for the third and final sanctuary under a Davidic dynasty.

But, you may say, the Muslim Dome sits atop the Temple Mount over the very (ancient) spot, some believe, where Jehovah’s Holy of Holies existed, and thus a Jewish Temple cannot be built, as it would start a world war if anybody tried to remove and replace the Al Aqsa Mosque, which rests on the far southern side of the Mount, facing Mecca, and/or the Dome of the Rock that currently sits in the middle where the Jews’ Holy Temple previously stood.

And yet, there are ways this substantial hurdle may soon be overcome.

For instance, a fault line near Jerusalem has been the cause of a half dozen major earthquakes over the last thousand years and may be strategically located to destroy the Islamic shrines at any point in time. Zechariah 14:3–4 reads:

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.

On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.

Such a catastrophic event could wipe out the Muslim compound and provide a catalyst for rebuilding Solomon’s Temple (or a version of it as a global center for all faiths) under international (perhaps even United Nations) efforts. Recent quake activity throughout the Holy Land (some thirty tremors have shaken Israel recently)[i] indicates that seismic activity could be building toward a prophetic eventuality. Reports in recent years have also featured scientific evidence and geological surveys warning that buildings in the Temple Mount area could be severely damaged if not demolished by an earthquake. The Associated Press, in what sounded particularly prophetic, reported, “Most at risk…is the Old City and the eleven-acre elevated plaza housing two major mosques, including the gold-capped Dome of the Rock. The site is known to Muslims as the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and to Jews as the Temple Mount—once home to the biblical Temples.”[ii]

It is also entirely possible that an event such as an earthquake would not be required to bring about the dream of a new Temple in Jerusalem. The Middle East is a powder keg, and war with its missiles and bombs could take out the Islamic shrines in a single hour. Some claim the Muslim structures could even be intentionally targeted during a conflict as a way of facilitating the construction of a new Temple. Interestingly, the newest Mission: Impossible movie (Fallout) depicts a renegade arms dealer named John Lark who works with a global gang of thugs called “The Apostles” who possess three containers of plutonium, which they plan to use to fulfill the very scenario first outlined in my best-selling books Petrus Romans and The Final Roman Emperor by bombing the Vatican, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and Mecca. In a recent Jerusalem Post article, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas charged that Israel is secretly planning to make that happen “to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to rebuild the Third Temple.”[iii]

And then there is a third possibility involving how the Third Temple could be built. On June 18, 2009, it was announced in Jerusalem as a result of theological research that “a prophetic rabbi” could allow for an extension of the Temple Mount to be made, on which the third Jewish Temple could be constructed. In an article called “A New Vision for God’s Holy Mountain,” Ohr Margalit, rabbinical studies professor at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, wrote that “the scenario of a holy revelation given to an authentic prophet that the temple be rebuilt on the current or an extended Temple Mount in peaceful proximity to the Dome, Al Aqsa Mosque, and nearby Christian shrines” is all it would take to approve such a plan.

According to Jewish law…such a prophetic mandate would then be binding. It would also be in keeping with the words of the twelfth-century Jewish sage Maimonides that Christianity and Islam are part of God’s ultimate plan “to direct the entire world to worship God together.” Interestingly, Theodore Herzl, the preeminent secular Zionist, detailed the same vision for a rebuilt temple in peaceful proximity to Islamic and Christian shrines on what he called “the holy region of mankind.[iv]

As alluded in the bullet points in PART ONE of this series, due to the occult value or sacredness of the numerous elements surrounding Freemason versions of Solomon’s Temple (on which all Masonic lodges and ceremonial rituals are based), there has been an idea for some time that groups from among the Freemasons and illuminated fraternities intend to rebuild or to participate in the rebuilding of a glorious new Temple in Jerusalem fashioned after the one built by Solomon. Disclosure of this has occasionally reached the public’s ear. The Illustrated London News, August 28, 1909, ran a spectacular supplement detailing this goal. The article was titled, “The Freemason’s Plan to Rebuild Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem.” Three years later, September 22, 1912, the New York Times published an outline by Freemasons to rebuild the Temple under the title, “Solomon’s Temple: Scheme of Freemasons and Opinions of Jews on Rebuilding.” By 1914, some publishers had begun adding unprecedented details, including a report that the land on which the Dome of the Rock now stands was secretly purchased and plans were already under design for the construction of the third and final Temple. Researchers since have produced intelligence that a hushed collaboration is firmly in place, held back only against the right time, opportunity, and circumstances when exalted Freemasons and their associates will move with haste to reconstruct a new Temple, and then their messiah will pass through the golden Masonic portals of the Temple, announcing to the world that the universal savior of mankind has come (Apollo incarnate to them).

In addition to occultists, devout groups including the Temple Mount Faithful and the Temple Institute in Jerusalem are busy restoring and constructing the sacred vessels and vestments that will be used for service in the new Temple at the arrival of Messiah. While not all Evangelicals agree, some dispensationalist students of prophecy recognize the importance of such plans as signaling the coming of Antichrist and view Old and New Testament Scriptures as explaining that a false Jewish messiah will appear, enthroning himself as God in the Temple in Jerusalem, but afterward, he will defile the holy place by setting up a sacrilegious object—perhaps an image of himself—in the Temple and ordering the sacrifices and offerings to cease (see Daniel 9:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4). For any of this to occur, it is necessary for the Temple to be rebuilt, thus making claims by Freemasons or other groups interested in fulfilling this monumental task interesting in light of unfolding end-times events.

[i] Zafrir Rinat, “Earthquakes in Israel: Tenth Tremor in a Week Shakes North,” Haaretz, July 8, 2018, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-earthquakes-in-israel-tenth-tremor-in-a-week-shakes-north-1.6248542.

[ii] Jason Keyser, “Jerusalem’s Old City at Risk in Earthquake,” Associated Press, updated January 19, 2004, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3980139/.

[iii] Khaled Abu Toameh, “Abba’s Fatah: Israel Planning to Destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2018, https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Abbass-Fatah-Israel-planning-to-destroy-Al-Aqsa-Mosque-563525.

[iv] Ohr Margalit, “A New Vision for God’s Holy Mountain,” http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/06/a_new_vision_for_gods_holy_mountain.html.

(The third possibility of a prophetic mandate to extend the Temple Mount is very interesting.

It would be very difficult to extend the Temple Mount eastward as this would go through a Muslim burial site and down a steep hill into the Valley of Jehoshaphat and then up the Mount of Olives. To extend it northward would take it through the Muslim section of the Old City and through a very important Mosque near the Kings Gate.

To extend the Temple Mount westward would mean going through the Western Wall and into the plaza facing the wall in the Jewish quarter of the Old City.

If there were to be an extension, the most logical direction would be to extend it south where what today is referred to as the City of David lies, but in actuality where the original Temples were built. Ed)

***

SPUTNIK

Trump Administration Finishes Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan – Reports

February 11, 2019

The administration reportedly has finished the plan and US President Donald Trump has been briefed on its contents, two senior administration officials told Fox News on Sunday.

The final draft of the administration’s “Deal of the Century” is 175 to 200 pages long, with fewer than five people having access to the complete version of the document, sources told Fox News.

“The plan is done… [the president] is happy with the parameters of the deal,” a senior administration official said.

The US President has also been briefed by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, his Senior Adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as special envoy for Mideast peace Jason Greenblatt multiple times on the specifics of the deal, according to the source. Kushner is set to visit Warsaw to attend a summit hosted by the United States and Poland to discuss regional issues regarding the Middle East.

Kushner is also expected to travel with Greenblatt to five Gulf countries to discuss the specifics of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace deal with regional leaders, gathering support for his plan.

Senior government officials have noted that his plan is unlikely to be released before the upcoming Israeli elections on April 9.

“We are not going to do anything that threatens Israel’s security,” a senior administration official said.

The Palestinian Autonomy had rejected earlier attempts by the US to single-handedly negotiate a peace agreement with Israel following Trump's decision in December 2017 to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem and acknowledge the whole city as Israel's capital. Trump's decision also escalated tensions between the Palestinian Authority and Israel and led to massive clashes on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. However, in September 2018 the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan for Israel and Palestine would be completed soon.

***

Zero Hedge

Netanyanu Tweets Then Quickly Deletes He Is Seeking "War With Iran"

By Tyler Durden

February 13, 2019

During the middle of the day Wednesday the official verified twitter account for the Prime Minister of Israel stated that PM Benjamin Netanyahu was in Warsaw attending the US-led Middle East summit with an aim to "advance the common interest of war with Iran."

Image source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

It was tweeted in a thread focused on Netanyahu's meetings with Arab delegates at the US initiated conference which was originally touted as focused on the "Iran threat". The AP also confirmed the Netanyahu tweet, which quickly generated multiple headlines focused on what appeared essentially a declaration of war.

The AP noted the statement was published just after the Israeli PM's meeting with Oman's foreign minister:

Israel’s prime minister says he plans on working with Arab countries at a U.S.-backed Mideast conference in Warsaw to focus on the “common interest of war with Iran.”

The full deleted tweet read as follows: "What is important about this meeting. and it is not in secret, because there are many of those - is that this is an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries, that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran."

After being up for about an hour the tweet was hastily deleted, and replaced with the same statement, but instead of "war with Iran" the new tweet was switched to "combating Iran".

Though there wasn't an immediate statement from Netanyahu's office, Tablet Magazine's Yair Rosenberg tried to paint it as an unintentional snafu.

"They posted a bad English translation to his Twitter account, and now his spokesman is correcting," claimed Rosenberg.

But it appears news editors saw at the very least a crucial and very revealing Freudian slip, and the headlines ran with the original "war with Iran" statement.

In perhaps the understatement of the day, the AP's report concluded with the lines, "The U.S. has billed the conference as a gathering about regional peace and security. But Netanyahu and Gulf countries are eager to focus on Iran."

Netanyahu's now deleted tweet is a very dangerous sign of things to come, and while we wonder if Tehran's is buying the claim that the thrust of Bibi's message was merely "lost in translation", we doubt it.

***

The Guardian

Hungary tells UK Jewish group to 'mind its own business' over antisemitism

President of Board of Deputies of British Jews had raised concerns over stance of Hungary’s PM and government

Harriet Sherwood

February 13, 2019

Viktor Orban: ‘We are fighting an enemy that is different from us. Not open, but hiding ... does not believe in working but speculates with money; does not have its own homeland but feels it owns the whole world.’ Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images

A Hungarian government minister has accused a senior representative of British Jews of politically-motivated lying, telling her to “mind your own business” following a meeting in which she raised concerns about antisemitism.

The secretary of state, Vince Szalay-Bobrovniczky, wrote to Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, this week to take issue with the board’s account of a meeting between the pair.

The board said the meeting, which took place on 8 February, was “an important opportunity to raise a number of the [BOD’s] long-standing concerns directly with the Hungarian government, including the use of antisemitic tropes and … moves to downplay the role of historical Hungarian leaders in supporting the Holocaust.”

Other issues raised by the board included the Hungarian government’s attitude to Muslims and migrants, and relations between it and Jewish communities in the country.

The board also raised language used by the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in relation to the Hungarian-born Jewish philanthropist George Soros which, it said, “whether intentionally or not, represent[s] the oldest antisemitic tropes and this has to stop”.

Orbán attacked Soros at an election rally last year, saying: “We are fighting an enemy that is different from us. Not open, but hiding; not straightforward but crafty; not honest but base; not national but international; does not believe in working but speculates with money; does not have its own homeland but feels it owns the whole world.”

In an email to Van der Zyl, released by the board on Wednesday, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said: “I harshly reject again your allegations of antisemitism against us, and especially against PM Orbán … It is a shame for you and a shame for the whole cause: a simple lie. The Jewish communities in the UK and in Hungary would deserve more than your obviously politically-motivated words.

“I again explicitly reject every charge of yours concerning our declarations regarding Soros. Soros organises illegal migration to Europe and is thus undermining European security and the security of Jewish life on our continent. That is our problem. I am extremely sorry for the Jews that you pretend to represent … With due respect, please mind your own business and we will equally not interfere with yours.”

He also accused Van der Zyl of a “dishonest and an unacceptable whitewashing” of “the obviously antisemitic tendencies in the [UK] Labour party”.

In her reply, Van der Zyl said she was “astonished and disappointed” by his response, adding: “We came to raise serious issues with you in a constructive spirit.”

Orbán’s comments about Soros contravened the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, Van der Zyl said. She urged the Hungarian government to “step back from, and apologise for, this kind of language”.

“I find it particularly bizarre your allegation that we are ‘whitewashing’ Labour’s record on antisemitism,” she said. The board has led a campaign on the issue, including a large demonstration outside parliament. “We are uncompromising on antisemitism whether on the left or right.”

Van der Zyl urged the Hungarian government to “take heed of our clear but constructive comments, to ensure that the international reputation of Hungary can once again be of a country that treats Hungarian Jews and other minorities with the equal dignity and respect that we must all want for everyone.”

***

WND

1,000 scientists go public with doubts on evolution

February 9, 2019

Charles Darwin

More than 1,000 highly influential scientists from around the world have gone on record with their doubts about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

They hail from institutions such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Tulane, Rice and Baylor, the National Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the British Museum and MIT’s Lincoln Library.

“We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life,” they say in a statement. “Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.”

The scientists include the best in molecular biology, biochemistry, biology, entomology, computational quantum chemistry, microbiology, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, astrophysics, marine biology, cellular biology, physics and astronomy, math, physics, geology and anthropology, according to Evolution News, an online publication of the Discovery Institute in Seattle, which promotes the theory of intelligent design.

The Discovery Institute first published its “Scientific Dissent from Darwinism” list in The New York Review of Books in 2001 to challenge “false” claims from PBS’ series “Evolution.”

PBS had claimed “virtually every scientist in the world believes the theory to be true.”

But biologist Douglas Axe, director of the Biologic Institute, argued peer pressure is obscuring the truth.

“Because no scientist can show how Darwin’s mechanism can produce the complexity of life, every scientist should be skeptical,” he said. “The fact that most won’t admit to this exposes the unhealthy effect of peer pressure on scientific discourse.”

Originally, Discovery Institute Chairman Bruce Chapman assembled a list of 100 doctorate-level scientists for the statement.

“Realizing that there were likely more scientists worldwide who shared some skepticism of Darwinian evolution and were willing to go on record, the Institute has maintained the list and added to it continually since its inception,” the Evolution News report said.

“The list of signatories now includes 15 scientists from the National Academies of Science in countries including Russia, Czech Republic, Brazil, and the United States, as well as from the Royal Society. Many of the signers are professors or researchers at major universities and international research institutions such as the University of Cambridge, London’s Natural History Museum, Moscow State University, Hong Kong University, University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine in France, Ben-Gurion University in Israel, MIT, the Smithsonian, Yale, and Princeton,” it noted.

Marcos Eberlin, Ph.D., founder of the Thomson Mass Spectromety Laboratory and member of the National Academy of Sciences in Brazil, said in the report, “As a biochemist I became skeptical about Darwinism when I was confronted with the extreme intricacy of the genetic code and its many most intelligent strategies to code, decode, and protect its information.”

Michael Egnor, professor of neurosurgery and pediatrics at State University of New York, Stony Brook, said scientists “know intuitively that Darwinism can accomplish some things, but not others.”

“The question is what is that boundary? Does the information content in living things exceed that boundary? Darwinists have never faced those questions,” he said. “They’ve never asked scientifically, can random mutation and natural selection generate the information content in living things.”

***

EXPRESS

Bible PROOF? How geologists discovered 'sign of Jesus Christ's second coming'

A BIBLICAL prophecy could be fulfilled after geologists discovered a sign along a famous mountain range described in the Bible as being integral to the story of Jesus Christ's second coming.

February 7, 2019

Mount Olivet, also known as the Mount of Olives, is a rock formation located east of Jerusalem’s Old City. It got its name from the olive groves that once covered its slopes and is popular among Christians for apparently playing a key part in several of Jesus’ life events. However, it may also hold a clue to his second coming, a strange find suggests.

Amazon’s “Bible Conspiracies” documentary revealed how geologists may have found proof of a biblical prophecy that will be fulfilled in the future.

The 2016 series detailed: “We are led to believe that Christ will return and on that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem.

“And the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west.

“Strangely, geologists have discovered a geometric fault line running east to west right through the Mount Olives.

Could this be proof of God? We will not know until Jesus returns and splits the mountain.”

Because of its association with both Jesus and Mary, the mountain has been a site of Christian worship since ancient times.

Today it is a major site of pilgrimage for Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants.

Many religious followers have been buried on the site, based on the understanding that when the Messiah returns, the resurrection of the dead will begin there, as told in the Bible.

Zechariah 14:4 reads: “On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem.

"And the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.”

(The news of the fault line is not really new news but has been known for decades if not longer. God bless them for publishing the article. The following graphic is one we used in a paper we posted on People of the Keys in May 2013 called “Lamb Of God” pt.1.)

***

LIfE NITE

Troubling signs that Satanism is infiltrating Catholic Church

PETER KWASNIEWSKI

February 6, 2019

Lightening strikes the Vatican Feb. 11, 2013, hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation.

February 6, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – People are uncomfortable talking about Satanism, but there are so many whispers about its inroads these days that the subject is at last coming out into the open. Since Satan-worshiping tends, of its very nature, to be done in darkness, it is hard to get hold of solid evidence about who may be involved, and how pervasive it may be. In his lengthy interviews with Taylor Marshall on YouTube, abuse victim James Grein hints at possible Satanic elements in connection with McCarrick, the St. Galen group, and others involved in the wave of scandals that has overtaken the hierarchy, including the papacy.

Should we be surprised about this? In a way, yes, and in a way, no.

The most powerful churchmen will suffer the greatest temptation to ally themselves with the “angel of light” who attempts to rival God and overthrow His order—an order most apparent in the differentiation of the human race into male and female, and the ordering of sexual activity to procreation. Any powerful man in the Church, if he does not bend all his effort to sanctifying his soul and body in accord with supernatural virtue, will be drawn to defile his soul and body with unnatural vice. Those who are not totally committed to Christ will find themselves sliding down into the party of His archenemy.

That a choice must be made between the way of life and the way of death holds true for all Christians, but it holds true especially for priests and bishops, the shepherds of the flock. The hired shepherd, of all men, requires the most humility, for he is working around the clock to watch over and preserve sheep—sheep that do not even belong to him! How humiliating; how grating; how unworthy of the shepherd’s own life goals. This is why a good shepherd shines with self-sacrifice, while an evil shepherd stinks of egoism. We should worry more about the “smell of the shepherd” than we do about the “smell of the sheep.”

The recent news regarding the promotion by Pope Francis of Argentine bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta to a senior position at the Vatican despite, it appears, already-known serious accusations against him is yet another example, among so many, of how this pope surrounds himself with unsavory characters. So far from being committed to moral reform, he empowers those who are morally compromised, while distancing or disgracing those who are morally strong.

In Revelation 22:15, when Jesus lists those who will be excluded from the heavenly Jerusalem, the list includes various sinners, such as sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and liars. However, first on the list is “dogs.” Does Jesus have a problem with “man’s best friend”? Hardly. The term “dog” is also used in Deuteronomy 23:17 in a list of unclean things that cannot be brought into the temple in the earthly Jerusalem: “Thou shalt not offer the hire of a strumpet, nor the price of a dog, in the house of the Lord thy God, whatsoever it be that thou hast vowed: because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.” God makes it clear that the Israelites must not bring filthy things to the temple as offerings. The earnings of prostitutes (“strumpets”) and male cult prostitutes (“dogs”) are strictly prohibited and are to be excluded.

Therefore, the first people in the Book of Revelation’s list who are to be definitively excluded from the heavenly Jerusalem are male sodomites. These, then, are the dogs who must be excluded from the kingdom, both on earth and in heaven.

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That which can never be received into the heavenly kingdom is likewise forbidden on earth; that which God will always punish in eternity must also be punished in time, to the extent possible. For the Church on earth is called to be holy as the Lord is holy, and to overturn all idols in order to follow Him alone. We see nothing else than this in the Acts of the Apostles; in the Desert Fathers; in the early monks and nuns; in the long line of saints, whether contemplatives removed from the world or ministers actively involved in its governance, who defend the harmonious order of God’s creation and the still more marvelous beauty of the redemption Christ obtained for us against the dissonance of its demonic enemies.

Pretending that we, in our time, are not witnesses to and participants in an unprecedented battle between supernal armies of good and evil would be delusional. The enemy has breached the walls and is inside, comfortably seated on episcopal thrones, running curial offices, and long since committed, with the help of Satan and his angels, to the destruction of any recognizable form of confessional Christianity.

It is better to know what is really happening: this is both somber and liberating. It frees us from the wearisome exercise of pretending we’re in a new age of the Spirit unleashed by the last Council, and enlists us in the company of the holy angels whose help we urgently need.

Actually, we are in a new age of the spirit. The problem is, it’s the wrong spirit, and his name is legion, for they are innumerable. If you are not already praying the St. Michael Prayer every day, it’s time to start; if you are praying it, persevere. The season of pretended niceness is over. The guns are loaded; it’s all-out warfare.

(This is a Catholic web site. Ed)

***

NaturalNews

BOMBSHELL: APPLE DEMANDS NATURAL NEWS STOP WRITING ABOUT ABORTIONS, SATANISM; THREATENS TO BLOCK APP FROM APPLE DEVICES

Dominant tech company overtly comes out in defense of Satanism, while threatening to censor prominent publisher

Mike Adams

February 11, 2019

In a series of shocking “demand” emails containing screen captures showing lists of Natural News articles, Apple has demanded Natural News stop publishing articles critical of abortions or Satanism, threatening to block the Natural News app from all Apple devices if Apple’s demands are not met.

This is the first time that a dominant tech company has overtly come out in defense of Satanism while threatening to censor a prominent publisher that exposes the evils of Satanic influence. Many people will see this as yet more proof that Apple, along with other tech giants, is literally aligned with Satan and is exploiting its power of censorship to silence those who criticize Satanism.

With Democrats now openly pushing infanticide and the legalization of the serial killing of infants, tech giants like Apple are serving as the censorship “speech police” to silence all criticism of the gruesome practice. In threatening Natural News over our coverage of infanticide and abortions, Apple is staking out the position of being pro-infanticide, and anyone who dares to speak up for innocent children is deemed by Apple to be engaged in “hate speech.”

According to Apple, opposing the murder of children is now “hate speech”

Yes, you read that correctly: Speaking out to stop the mass murder of newborns is now “hate speech” according to the deranged, mentally ill Leftists who run Apple, Twitter, Google, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat. Techno-fascism has now become a movement of mass infanticide that demands the silencing of those who oppose it. “Hate speech” means standing up for the innocent and demanding an end to the murder of children.

Here’s one of the many screen shots sent to Natural News by Apple, along with a warning that these stories would result in our app being blocked.

***

Newsweek

RUSSIA’S WITCHES BACK VLADIMIR PUTIN WITH MAGIC, BUT U.S. SPELL CASTERS TURNED AGAINST DONALD TRUMP

BY TOM O'CONNOR

February 6, 2019

A group of witches has gathered to cast spells in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a show of mystical approval after their counterparts in the United States rejected the policies of President Donald Trump.

An organization known as the Empire of the Strongest Witches held a "circle of power" session Tuesday to offer their backing for the longtime Russian leader. A group comprising mostly of women clad in black robes could be seen in video footage shared by Reuters as they lined along the walls of a room and self-proclaimed leader Alyona Polyn stood in the center reciting spells and ringing bells in hopes of bringing Putin success and the nation.

"Come up with the greatness, the power of Russia, direct the way of Vladimir Putin right and correctly throughout the word of mine. Breathe, Mother Earth, embracing Russia on all sides," head witch Polyn said, as translated by Reuters.

"Oh primordial power, return to the abyss those who wish hate upon Russia," she continued. "May Russia rise and step away from grief and poverty, and may the coming days open the gates of happiness for Russia. All hail!"

Russian folklore contains numerous references to magical and mystical powers, which many today have attempted to harness to various ends. Citing the Ministry of Health, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday that as many as 800,000 Russians were employed as folk healers, psychic mediums and other similar services in 2017.

Putin, who has served as president or prime minister since the very turn of the 21st century, won his most recent election last March by a landslide 76.69 percent vote. He has been hit with mounting domestic criticism, however, as U.S.-led sanctions and lower oil prices degrade the Russian economy and a vastly unpopular pension reform was set to become law in spite of massive protests.

A poll released last month by the state-run Public Opinion Research Center showed that trust in Putin had dropped to a 13-year-low of 33.4 percent as part of a steady decline after confidence peaked at a high of 71 percent in July 2015, a year after his annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in a disputed referendum that took place amid a political uprising in Ukraine.

The move was derided by the West, but celebrated by many Russians who offered Putin a surge of support. As of January, however, this wave appeared to be crashing down as the independent Levada Center placed Putin's approval rating at 64 percent, a five-year low and a 16-point decline from December's figures.

The Russian president still fared better at home and abroad than his U.S. counterpart, however. An October survey by the Pew Research Center placed global trust in Putin at 30 percent, slightly above Trump's 27 percent. A YouGov/The Economist poll published Sunday found Trump's approval rating to be 37 percent, similar to FiveThirtyEight's aggregation of multiple polls, which on average said that 39.5 percent of people in the U.S. approved of Trump's job as president.

Trump also could not match Putin's wins among the witch community, of which there may be up to 1.5 million followers— potentially outnumbering even the Presbyterian sect of Protestant Christianity— in the U.S. Thousands have joined the Official Bind Trump, a Facebook group formed shortly after the president's inauguration as a form of "magic resistance" against the president. A number of witches also joined mystical forces last year in an unsuccessful attempt to block Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh amid allegations of his past sexual abuse.

Commenting on the Republican leader's frequent use of the phrase "witch hunt" to describe stubborn investigations into his alleged collusion with Putin to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Firefly House witch community leader David Salisbury told The Daily Beast last monththat "many are mad, and the rest are rolling their eyes."

In 2017, Trump blocked former Newsweek writer Zack Schonfeld for telling the president that the "witch hunt" comparison was "an insult to witches."

***

NOWTHEENDBEGINS

6-TIME SUPER BOWL WINNER TOM BRADY ATTRIBUTES HIS INCREDIBLE SUCCESS TO WITCHCRAFT, PAGAN ALTARS AND ‘PROTECTION STONES’ FROM HIS WITCH WIFE

Tom Brady said Bundchen “always makes a little altar for me at the game because she just wills it so much,” complete with pictures of his children. “And I have these little special stones and healing stones and protection stones and she has me wear a necklace and take these drops she makes, I say all these mantras,” Brady said. “And I stopped questioning her a long time ago. I just shut up and listen.” Brady said at first he thought “this is kind of crazy,” but it worked.

By Geoffrey Grider

February 6, 2019

Six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, as he had his playoff beard shaved off for charity on Thursday, reflected on how wife Gisele Bundchen has used some unconventional methods to help him stay so successful.

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, like him or not, is the most successful quarterback of all time. He has a phenomenal talent and after his 6th Super Bowl victory he stopped to reflect on the secret of his incredible success. It’s witchcraft. Not kidding.

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” Deuteronomy 18:10,11 (KJV)

Gisele Bundchen calls herself a ‘good’ witch, and for years now she has been casting spells and incantations to buoy her husband’s chances of postseason victory. Isn’t it funny how most of the really successful people in the entertainment world say that they rely on witchcraft and demon spirits to succeed? And the funny thing is, the spiritual darkness in this country has risen to such a degree that Brady can make a statement like this and no one bats an eye. In fact, when Brady shared this in the interview below, his audience laughed and thought it was very funny.

Tom Brady Says Superstitious Gisele Bundchen Has Him Using ‘Protection Stones’ – And It Works

FROM CBS BOSTON: “You know I’ve learned a lot from my wife over the years,” Brady said, leaning back in a barber’s chair at Gillette’s World Shaving Headquarters in Boston. “She’s so about the power of intention and believing things that are really going to happen.”

Brady said Bundchen “always makes a little altar for me at the game because she just wills it so much,” complete with pictures of his children.

“And I have these little special stones and healing stones and protection stones and she has me wear a necklace and take these drops she makes, I say all these mantras,” Brady said. “And I stopped questioning her a long time ago. I just shut up and listen.”

Brady said at first he thought “this is kind of crazy,” but it worked.

“About four years ago we were playing the Seahawks and she said ‘you better listen to me, this is your year, but this is all the things you’re going to have to do to win,’ and I did all those things and by God, you know, it worked,” Brady said.

Bundchen also predicted that 2015 would not be Brady’s year, he remembered, and sure enough that season for the Patriots ended disappointingly in the AFC Championship game. But early this year, Brady asked if he had a chance to win it all and he got the answer he was seeking.

“She said, ‘yeah, but you’re going to have to do a lot of work and you’re really going to have to listen to me. So man, I listen to her,” Brady said.

Bundchen was right, of course. Again.

“She said you’re lucky you married a witch – I’m just a good witch,” Brady said.

Tom Brady opens up about his ‘good witch’ wife Gisele and ‘protection stones’

Six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady spoke about his wife Gisele Bundchen has used some unusual ways to keep luck on her husband’s side.

Brady witch

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MailOnline

What HAS Russia spotted in Earth's upper atmosphere? Scientists say satellite detected unexplained 'explosions of light' in cloud-free skies

• Scientists with Lomonosov satellite say it spotted several 'explosions' of light

• These were spotted dozens of miles above the surface, with no clouds below

• Researchers say they may have come across previously unknown phenomenon

By CHEYENNE MACDONALD FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 18:31, 11 February 2019 | UPDATED: 19:06, 11 February 2019

A Russian satellite designed to monitor the atmosphere for high-energy cosmic rays has detected mysterious ‘explosions’ of light miles above Earth’s surface, Russian scientists say.

While numerous examples of unusual space weather phenomena have been spotted in the upper atmosphere before, the team operating the Lomonosov satellite say what they’ve found may be something entirely new.

Despite the occurrence of several powerful bursts, Russian scientists say there were no signs of storms in the area, according to Sputnik.

A Russian satellite designed to monitor the atmosphere for high-energy cosmic rays has detected mysterious ‘explosions’ of light miles above Earth’s surface, Russian scientists say. File photo

The satellite, named after scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, launched in 2016 and is integrated with the Kanopus-B spacecraft.

Its goal is to study high-energy cosmic rays, including gamma rays, magnetospheric particles, and transient light phenomena in the upper atmosphere.

And, the scientists now say it’s spotted something odd.

‘With the help of the telescope, we have obtained even more important results than we expected,’ Mikhail Panasyuk, Director of the Research Institute of Nuclear Physics at Moscow State University, told Sputnik.

‘It looks like we have encountered new physical phenomena. We do not yet know their physical nature.

‘For example, during Lomonosov’s flight at an altitude of several dozen kilometers, we have registered several times a very powerful “explosion” of light,' the director said.

‘But everything was clear underneath it, no storms, no clouds.’

In recent years, unusual electrical discharges have been captured on film by satellites and even astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

There are several types of luminous flashes, most notably red sprites and blue jets.

These bursts of electricity, however, are always associated with storm clouds, making the latest discovery all the more baffling.

The Lomonosov Project is working to get to the bottom of short-lived phenomena such as that recently detected in the upper atmosphere to understand processes beyond cosmic rays and gamma bursts.

While they may occur high above Earth, the effects of space weather can trickle down and interfere with activity down at the surface.

‘We must take into account that the Earth’s radiation belts – the charged particles trapped by the magnetic field, can disappear, precipitate from the magnetic trap into the Earth’s atmosphere, producing in it extensive regions of ionization,’ the project’s website states.

‘The energy of the radiation belt particles is sufficiently high, for instance, there are relativistic electrons with energy of several MeV among them, which can penetrate deep in the atmosphere and by rate of ionization can easily compete against Auger showers.

‘Besides space factors physical processes near the Earth’s surface also have an effect on the atmosphere.’

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STRANGE SOUNDS
Strong volcanic activity around the world: Eruptions of Merapi (Indonesia), Kadovar (PNG), Sheveluch (Russia) and Poas (Costa Rica)

February 11, 2019

Article

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The Washington Post

‘Historic’ storm hurls huge waves and 191-mph winds at Hawaii; rare snow hits Maui

Snow may have fallen at the lowest elevation ever observed in the state.

An extremely powerful winter storm that began on Feb. 8 has brought damaging winds, snow, and coastal flooding as the island anticipates 60-foot waves. (AP)

By Matthew Cappucci and Jason Samenow

February 11 at 11:46 AM

An extremely powerful winter storm is pulling away from Hawaii after unleashing damaging winds, massive waves, coastal flooding and snow in unusual places.

The storm, which the National Weather Service office in Honolulu described as “historic,” began pounding the islands Friday. Hawaii News Now reported a 66-year-old California man died in the rough surf off northwest Maui on Friday.

Forecasters “are calling this an unprecedented event and we concur that we rarely if ever have seen the combination of record high onshore waves, coupled with gale force winds,” said Sam Lemmo, administrator of Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

The storm’s most extreme blow was generated on the Big Island’s towering peak of Mauna Kea, where a 191-mph wind gust blasted the mountain summit at 4:40 p.m. local time Sunday.

“That’s the strongest wind gust I’ve ever seen up there,” said Jon Jelsema, senior forecaster at the Weather Service office in Honolulu. “We tend to get a gust maybe to 150 mph once a winter or so, but never 191 mph.”

The visitor station on the 13,308-foot mountain is closed until Tuesday “due to the predicted continuation of severe weather,” according to the station’s website. The road is shut down whenever visibility drops below 50 feet, or winds gust to 65 mph or greater.

Hawaii saw a mixed bag of bizarre precipitation over the weekend. Several inches of snow fell on Haleakalā, a shield volcano in East Maui — something Jelsema described as “very unusual.”

Snow is much more common on the high peaks of the Big Island, at Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

The storm even deposited a coating of snow at Maui’s Polipoli State Park at an elevation of 6,200 feet according to Hawaii’s DLNR.

“Perhaps the first time ever, snow has fallen in a Hawai‘i State Park,” the DLNR posted to its Facebook page Sunday. “Polipoli State Park on Maui is blanketed with snow. It could also be the lowest elevation snow ever recorded in the state.”

The vigorous storm triggered rare severe thunderstorm warning for southern Kauai Saturday night.

Wind gusts up to 67 mph were clocked in the oceanside town of Port Allen in Kauai. The community is on the south side of the island, protected from the harshest conditions streaming in out of the northeast.

Wave heights approached 40 feet just north of Kauai on Sunday.

The National Weather Service had hoisted a high surf warning Thursday in anticipation of the event. It warned of “giant disorganized waves” that “could cause unprecedented coastal flooding Saturday night through Sunday.” Jelsema said his office had received numerous reports of road closures due to the coastal inundation.

“The sea state kind of looks like the water in a washing machine,” he said. “You have a mix of swell — which is generated in many different areas of the Pacific — combining with wind waves. One wave follows the next at pretty big intervals.”

Because of strong winds over the weekend, more than 2,400 customers across Hawaii were without power Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. That’s down from a peak of nearly 27,000.

The harsh conditions will begin to subside late Monday. The wind advisory in effect for the Big Island expires at noon local time. A high wind warning remains in effect until 6 p.m. local for the Big Island summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, where gusts may still top 140 mph before tapering down.

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INDEPENDENT

Clicking on terrorist propaganda even once could mean 15 years in prison under new law

UN inspector accused government of straying towards 'thought crime' with law

Lizzie Dearden

February 14, 2019

Anyone who views terrorist propaganda once online can be jailed for up to 15 years under new laws that have sparked human rights concerns.

MPs had urged the government to scrap plans to criminalise viewing “information useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”, which goes further than much-used laws that made physically collecting, downloading or disseminating the material illegal.

A United Nations inspector accused the government of straying towards “thought crime” with the proposal, which originally stated that people would have to access propaganda “on three or more different occasions” to commit a terror offence.

But the benchmark was removed from the draft law, meaning a single click is now illegal.

Journalists, academic researchers or people who had “no reason to believe” they were accessing terrorist propaganda are exempt.

Security officials have told The Independent that discretion will be exercised and the law will help prosecute extremists in cases where other offences cannot be proven, or to prevent radicalisation.

A report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the offence “is a breach of the right to receive information and risks criminalising legitimate research and curiosity”.

Max Hill QC, the former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and current Director of Public Prosecutions, told the committee he found lengthy prison sentences “difficult to countenance when nothing is to be done with the material” last year.

A Home Office spokesperson said the change reflected the fact people now stream propaganda, rather than making the downloads covered by previous laws.

“There are cases where suspects have become radicalised to the point of planning attacks, at least in part because of the volume and nature of terrorist material they are accessing online," he added. “The reasonable excise defence continues to be available.”

The new law was introduced as part of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act, which received royal assent on Tuesday.

It makes statements that are “reckless as to whether a person will be encouraged to support a proscribed group” illegal, and entering “designated areas” abroad.

The areas, to be defined by the government, are expected to include territory controlled by terrorist groups and warzones.

Last month, security minister Ben Wallace told MPs the law would help prosecute foreign fighters, but it cannot be applied retrospectively to hundreds of Isis supporters who have already returned to the UK.

“We are all struggling in the West to deal with the emerging threat of foreign fighters as failed state safe areas are becoming the routine,” he said. “Members on both sides of the House rightly get angry when foreign fighters come back and we cannot prosecute them, because gathering evidence of deeper and more complex offences is very challenging.”

The Independent understands that because the law exempts people who remain in such areas involuntarily, it cannot be applied to British Isis members captured in Syria.

Last month, the government accepted amendments to create specific exemptions including humanitarian work, journalism and funerals.

Corey Stoughton, advocacy director at Liberty, said: “Despite a series of amendments brought about by concerted campaigning, this act remains a grave threat to our human rights. It unnecessarily adds to the raft of existing counterterror legislation, introducing harsh sentences for ill-defined offences related to travelling overseas and browsing the internet. It risks stifling dissent and making thought crime a reality.”

Convicted terrorists will be required to provide additional information to the police in line with registered sex offenders, and the law also includes a new power to detain people suspected of “hostile state activity” at ports and borders.

Sajid Javid, the home secretary, said 2017’s terror attacks and the Salisbury poisoning showed the threat posed to the UK by terrorists and hostile states.

“Keeping people safe is my number one job and this important piece of legislation will help do that,” he added. “The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act gives the police the powers they need to disrupt plots and punish those who seek to do us harm.”

(It's not difficult to see where this is going. Ed)

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ABC News

Hungarian women offered tax breaks, loans to marry and have more kids

February 11, 2019

Hungary is greatly increasing financial aid and subsidies for families with several children, the Prime Minister has announced, in a move aimed at reversing the country's population decline without softening its "zero tolerance" policy on immigration.

Viktor Orban made the announcement during his "state of the nation" speech.

The new benefits include:

• a lifetime personal income tax exemption for women who give birth and raise at least four children;

• a subsidy of 2.5 million forints ($US8,825) toward the purchase a seven-seat vehicle for families with three or more children; and

• a low-interest loan of 10 million forints ($35,300) for women under the age of 40 who are marrying for the first time.

Mr Orban, who has made "zero tolerance" for immigration his main theme in the past four years and was elected to a third consecutive term in April, said the initiative was meant to "ensure the survival of the Hungarian nation."

"This is the Hungarians' answer, not immigration," Mr Orban said.

The Prime Minister also listed some of his government's economic achievements — such as low unemployment —and vowed to fight poverty.

Europe's left the 'gravedigger of nations'

Mr Orban then turned his attention to May's European Parliament elections, repeating his accusation that the leadership of the European Union wants to fill the continent with migrants, most of them Muslim.

"We have to understand that the European peoples have come to a historical crossroads," Mr Orban said.

"Those who decide in favour of immigration and migrants, no matter why they do so, are in fact creating a country with a mixed population.

"Europe's left wing has become the gravedigger of nations, the family and the Christian way of life."

After his speech, several hundred members and supporters of Hungary's main opposition parties held an anti-Orban rally that started in Buda Castle.

The event was also aimed at protesting recent heavy fines the state audit office imposed on several opposition parties.

A small group of protesters used their cars to block traffic from crossing the Chain Bridge over the Danube River for most of the day.

Opposition leaders said the fines, which cannot be challenged in Hungarian courts, were politically motivated and meant to hinder their campaigns for the European Parliament and municipal elections in Hungary later this year

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RT

Europe banked on George Soros instead of Viktor Orban, and will suffer the consequences – forever

Robert Bridge is an American writer and journalist. Former Editor-in-Chief of The Moscow News, he is author of the book, 'Midnight in the American Empire,' released in 2013.

February 14, 2019

George Soros © Global Look Press / M. Popow; Viktor Orban © REUTERS/Bernadett Szab

A clash of ideas is occurring in Europe between Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and financier George Soros that will impact the continent forever. But Brussels is only interested in considering one option – the Soros option.

In any other period of European history, Viktor Orban would have been heralded as a noble statesman by many of his peers. The reason is rather straightforward. He is attempting to do exactly what other European leaders have done for centuries before him, and that is defending the continent from foreign incursions. But these are radical new times and the old rules no longer apply.

By now, most people are familiar with the mainstream media's narrative on Europe's plight. Millions of desperate migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, suffering the untold ravages of war and poverty, are streaming towards Europe's borders in a quest for some semblance of peace and happiness. There is a lot of truth to that narrative; millions of innocent people have had their lives totally upended by senseless wars sparked by Western regime change operations. They deserve not only sympathy but physical assistance. At the same time, however, Europeans are expected to sacrifice everything to assist these new arrivals regardless of the cost. And the cost is nothing less than exorbitant.

In Germany, for example, asylum seekers are entitled to as much as €354 ($400) per month, while the state picks up the tab for rent and medical insurance. All told, Germany is expected to fork out – hold onto your hat – €77.6 billion ($86.2 billion) during the period from 2017 to 2020 on "feeding, housing and training" their new guests. In light of that massive assistance, is it any wonder that over one million people crashed Germany's paper border in 2015 alone?

This leads us to an obvious question that the Western media never discusses: Would this great migration of people have occurred without the promise of generous handouts by European capitals? It seems that without some sort of security net in place, the majority of these people would not have risked such a hazardous journey. Moreover, there are huge budgetary considerations that cannot be ignored (yet are), for as any economist knows, money does not grow on trees.

George Soros, the head of Open Society Foundations, believes he has that problem figured out. "To finance it," he explained casually, "new European taxes will have to be levied sooner or later."

Really? Well, judging by the Yellow Vest protests occurring on a weekly basis in the French capital, initially sparked by the imposition of a new fuel tax, we have some good indication as to how enthusiastic Europeans will be for such a plan. In short, not very.

The questions don't end there. How is it possible that George Soros has been able to sell his unproven and very expensive plan for open borders to the European people? We can take some guidance from the pithy expression "Money talks." In that case, nobody has done more talking in Europe than Soros.

Over the years, the billionaire has assembled some 226 "reliable allies" in the European Parliament to promote his vision of a brave new Europe. This cozy arrangement allowed his Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI), the EU policy arm of Open Society Foundations, to meet with members of the European Commission on 65 separate occasions last year alone.

It's probably safe to say that those closed-door meetings had no small impact on the political landscape of Europe.

Enter Viktor Orban, the bane of Brussels, who is playing a role in European history that cannot be overestimated. The leader of fiercely independent Hungary has taken a "zero tolerance" approach to illegal immigration, refusing to permit a single illegal immigrant to enter his country. Meanwhile, other eastern European countries – Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia which, together with Hungary, form the anti-immigration 'Visegrad Group' – have taken similar steps. At the same time, across Europe right-wing parties are surging in popularity.

In direct defiance of Brussels, Orban has ordered the construction of a barbed wire fence that runs along Hungary's southern border with Serbia and Croatia, a project that the mainstream media somehow conflates with "authoritarianism," as if the concept of national borders never existed before in history. Orban sent Brussels a bill for half the cost of the fence, but it was never paid, of course. That's too bad, because it could have been the smartest money the EU ever spent, since it would have spared Europeans the influx of mass illegal immigration.

The Hungarian leader has other ideas that Brussels will probably not be considering any time soon, like ways of addressing Europe's dire demographic problem. This month, Orban announced a raft of new tax and loan incentives for families as part of government efforts to boost the birth rate without depending on immigration flows to accomplish that goal.

"There are fewer and fewer children born in Europe. For the West, the answer (to that challenge) is immigration," he saidin his annual state of the nation speech. "We need Hungarian children."

The plan has some merit. Mothers will be eligible for a 10 million forint ($36,000) subsidized loan, he explained. One third of the debt will be forgiven when a second child is born, and the entire loan waived after a third child is born.

Now compare Orban's plan with that of the Hungarian-born George Soros, who somehow believes that maintaining strong national borders will "fragment the union."

"Beggar-thy-neighbor migration policies, such as building border fences, will not only further fragment the union," he wrote in Foreign Policy. "[T]hey also seriously damage European economies and subvert global human rights standards." Building on that crooked foundation, Soros advised European lawmakers back in 2016 that the EU should spend €30 billion ($34 billion) to accommodate "at least 300,000 refugees each year."

We already know who will be forced to pick up the tab on that massive expenditure, and it's not George Soros.

One reason that Soros and his 226 "reliable allies" support the influx of migrants into Europe is they believe it will somehow offset the continent's demographic and labor shortage. The latter part of that plan has already been proven a disaster. An OECD report found that less than 40 percent of immigrants had completed an "upper secondary school" education or higher, while another study showed that only eight percent of asylum seekers were hired by companies as skilled workers.

Despite clear signs that George Soros' grand plans for the European Union are an utter failure, Brussels continues to heed his every word, while at the same time taking steps to punish Orban.

Just this week, Soros warned, with no loss of irony, that if Europe doesn't "wake up" it will "go the way of the Soviet Union in 1991." The financier fretted over the rise of far-right parties in Europe, which he believes will "enjoy a competitive advantage" in parliamentary elections in May. Yes, that is a very big possibility. Not once did he suggest, however, that just maybe his grand idea of open borders, made all the more tempting with cash enticements, might just have contributed to that "radical disequilibrium" of which he spoke.

If Europe is one day visited by the ghost of its fascist past, George Soros will only have himself to blame.

Influential people like Soros would have made a far greater impact had they advocated on behalf of peace in the Middle East and North Africa, speaking out on US-led interventionist wars that have prompted millions of innocent people to flee their homes.

Innocent people from war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria deserve the same rights to peace and happiness without having to travel thousands of miles away from home to find it – which ironically leads them directly into the homelands of the people who invaded them in the first place!

In conclusion, it is highly disturbing that Brussels is willing to give so much credence to a billionaire financier with questionable motives for opening Europe's floodgates to illegal immigration, while vilifying a democratically elected European head of state for attempting to exert some kind of order on a situation that is clearly way out of control.

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WND

President to declare emergency on southern border

February 14, 2019

President Trump will declare a national emergency on the nation’s southern border, because of the illegal aliens, illegal alien criminals and drugs that flow from Mexico, confirmed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The move comes after weeks of attempts by Democrats to prevent the government from addressing both the national security and humanitarian issues on the border, where tens of thousands break the U.S. law to enter the nation each year.

Democrats, newly in control of the U.S. House, flatly refused to allocate funding for border security. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she would allow $1 then reneged.

Ultimately, $1.375 billion went to border security, but Democrats have restricted the funds to only a “fence,” and some local officials were given authority to veto construction in their districts.

The Washington Examiner reported McConnell said Trump would declare the emergency as he signs the border security legislation.

“He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time, and I’ve indicated to him that I’m going to … support the national emergency declaration,” McConnell said.

A statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, “President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action — including a national emergency — to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border.

“The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country.”

Democrats repeatedly have claimed there’s no emergency on the border. But they also claim that border walls do not stop illegal aliens from crossing the boundary.

The legislation was expected to get both Senate and House votes on Thursday. Without a presidential signature by Friday night, government would go again into a partial shutdown.

Pelosi accused Trump of doing an “end-run” around the will of the people and said Congress would respond appropriately.

But the law gives the president great authority when he’s acting in accordance with the desires of Congress. And Congress, including Democrats, has voted many times in favor of much more wall funding for the border than what the current bill includes.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer called Trump’s action “a lawless act.”

Declaring a national emergency will allow Trump to re-purpose billions of dollars Congress approved last year for other projects at the Pentagon and other agencies.

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NEONNETTLE

Italy Calls to Eliminate Central Bank and Jail Bankers

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini declares 'prison time for fraudsters'

By: Jay Greenberg

February 11, 2019

Matteo Salvini is calling for the Italian Central Bank to be eliminated and the bankers jailed
Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has called for the Italian Central Bank to be eliminated, declaring that the bankers involved in fraudulent activity will "end up in prison for a long time."This move shortly follows Friday's warning from Bank of America that predicts the greatest threat to EPS - i.e., markets - in the next 3 years "is an acceleration of global populism via taxation, regulation & government intervention."The center of Europe's populist revolt, Italy, responded the next day, with the country's coalition government slamming their central bank leadership and stock market regulator.
According to Zero Hedge, Matteo Salvini, the outspoken head of the anti-immigrant League party, said the Bank of Italy and Consob, the country’s stock market regulator, should be "reduced to zero, more than changing one or two people, reduced to zero."
In other words, the Central Bank will be eliminated.
Salvini also declared that “fraudsters” who inflicted losses on Italian savers will "end up in prison for a long time."As the FT notes, this latest broadside against Italy’s financial establishment comes as the two parties which are increasingly at odds with each other amid speculation Salvini may hold elections to become the sole leader of Italy, prepare to run against each other in the European parliamentary elections in May, a contest that is widely seen as a proxy for national polls.
Meanwhile, both leaders have also increased their attacks against targets including the EU and French president Emmanuel Macron.Confirming the rising animosity between the two coalition partners, the League and Five Star have openly squabbled over the future of an Alpine rail line and migration. Meanwhile, the two leaders’ repeated attacks against France which culminated with Di Maio meeting the leaders of the anti-Macron Yellow Vest moment, triggered a diplomatic crisis which last week saw Paris recall its ambassador from Rome.
Saturday's latest verbal crackdown targeting of the Bank of Italy comes after central bankers issued more pessimistic economic growth forecasts for this year compared with the numbers underpinning the government’s budget.As we reported last month, Italy entered into a technical recession in the second half of 2018, with the Bank of Italy cutting its GDP forecast for 2019 to 0.6% compared with a 1% forecast made by the government.At the same time, the European Commission slashed Italy's GDP forecast from 1.2% to a borderline recessionary 0.2% for the full year, hinting that Italy's budget deficit forecast will not only be missed but could re-emerge as a focal point of renewed tensions between Rome and Brussels in the coming months.Meanwhile, ECB head Mario Draghi, an Italian economist and former governor of the Bank of Italy, last year warned that central bank independence was under threat by populist governments, while not making a direct reference to Italy.Should Salvini cement his de facto Italian leadership in upcoming elections, it would make life for the local central bank especially complicated.Separately, Di Maio and other Five Star ministers said they want to block Luigi Federico Signorini, the deputy director-general of the Bank of Italy, from renewing his term, according to La Repubblica.The newspaper reported that the Italian cabinet was divided on the issue.As previously reported, in the latest anti-establishment shot across the bow, several days ago the government nominated Paolo Savona, a veteran economist and prominent Eurosceptic who had previously served as minister for European affairs, as the new president of Consob.Savona was last year been blocked as the coalition’s first choice as the economy minister by Italian president Sergio Mattarella, following strong pressure from Brussels and a revolt in the Italian bond market.
(This is the type of thing that brought about the demise of Maummar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussain. Ed)

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RT

Russia-led free-trade zone will soon include 5 more countries

February 9, 2019

© Pexels.com

Free-trade agreements are expected to be signed between the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Israel, Singapore, India, Egypt and Iran in the near future.

That’s according to Russia’s First Deputy Minister of Industry Sergey Tsyb. He said WTO member states currently use over 7,500 non-tariff measures such as quotas, licenses, restrictions and embargos in respect of industrial goods.

“Therefore, in our opinion, it would be very productive if we actively move towards the conclusion of agreements on the free-trade zone,” said the official.

This would make it possible to promote exports within the framework of regional trade hubs, he explained. “That will definitely help in this challenging and highly sensitive situation on global markets to provide the opportunity for promotion of Russian export initiatives.”

The EEU, which is based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, was established in 2015. It was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2016, Vietnam officially became the first non-regional country to join the bloc. The union is designed to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and workers between member countries.

More than 40 countries and international organizations, including China, Indonesia, and Israel, as well as some South American countries, have expressed interest in a free-trade deal with the EEU. The trade bloc has also held negotiations with South Korea, Egypt, and India.

Iran signed an interim agreement with the economic bloc last year, with a full-fledged agreement expected within three years.

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YAHOO! NEWS

IMF warns of global economic "storm" as growth undershoots

February 10, 2019

Christine Lagarde met Imran Khan on the sidelines of the World Government Summit in Dubai (AFP Photo/KARIM SAHIB)

Dubai (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund on Sunday warned governments to gear up for a possible economic storm as growth undershoots expectations.

"The bottom-line -- we see an economy that is growing more slowly than we had anticipated," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Last month, the IMF lowered its global economic growth forecast for this year from 3.7 percent to 3.5 percent.

Lagarde cited what she called "four clouds" as the main factors undermining the global economy and warned that a "storm" might strike.

The risks include "trade tensions and tariff escalations, financial tightening, uncertainty related to (the) Brexit outcome and spillover impact and an accelerated slowdown of the Chinese economy", she said.

Lagarde said trade tensions -- mainly in the shape of a tariff spat between the United States and China, the world's two biggest economies -- are already having a global impact.

"We have no idea how it is going to pan out and what we know is that it is already beginning to have an effect on trade, on confidence and on markets," she said, warning governments to avoid protectionism.

Lagarde also pointed to the risks posed by rising borrowing costs within a context of "heavy debt" racked up by governments, firms and households.

"When there are too many clouds, it takes one lightning (bolt) to start the storm," she said.

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RT

This Russian Oil Giant Is Driving Putin Toward Showdown With Trump In Venezuela

By Tyler Durden

February 4, 2019

“Russia is now so deeply invested in the Maduro regime that the only realistic option is to double down,” writes senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center Alexander Gabuev.

He details in a Financial Times op-ed that Moscow-based state oil giant Rosneft owns two offshore gas fields in Venezuela and further has "stakes in assets boasting more than 20m tonnes of crude." But as embattled President Nicolas Maduro faces US-led efforts to oust him in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido, billions are on the line for Moscow making its interest in preserving the regime run

In total Caracas owes Rosneft $3 billion, according to Gabuev, which could lead to "a new sort of proxy conflict in America’s backyard," which is at once economic, political, and could increasingly turn to proxy military intervention. Indeed the Kremlin has already accused the US of "meddling" in the affairs of a sovereign country in order to foster a "slow motion coup".

"Any solution to the internal political crisis in Venezuela is possible only by Venezuelans themselves," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. "Imposing any solutions or efforts aimed at legitimizing the attempt of usurping power is, in our view, just direct and indirect meddling in Venezuela’s internal affairs," Peskov said.

"This does not contribute in any way to the peaceful, effective and vital settlement to the crisis, which Venezuelans are enduring and who should, as we believe, pull through it on their own," the Kremlin spokesman noted.

This comes after a significant weekend development in which US National Security Adviser John Bolton promised that the United States will begin humanitarian aid shipments into Venezuela via Brazil and Colombia, despite Maduro denying acceptance of such aid. Guaido, considered "Interim President" by Washington has "authorized" such aid.

But as Gabuev suggests in FT, Rosneft's powerful Chief Executive Igor Sechin's involvement in decision-making on Venezuela means Moscow's foreign policy is “increasingly driven by a combination of corporate interests and ambitions” led by Putin's oligarchic inner circle. According to Gabuev, Sechin met Maduro in Moscow last September and followed that by flying to Caracas in November. Sechin is “arguably the most powerful man in Putin’s entourage” and oversees Russia's energy sector.

In November Sechin relayed a strong message to Caracas, rebuking the Maduro government over delayed oil shipments designed to repay loans. Reuters reported at the time that:

Sechin and a large delegation of executives met with officials at PDVSA in a Caracas hotel this week. Sechin also met with Venezuela’s leftist leader Maduro, and chided him overoil-for-loans shipments that are behind schedule.

“He brought information showing that they were meeting obligations with China but not with them,” said one source with knowledge of the talks.

Meanwhile, both China and Russia further remain the Latin American country's biggest arms suppliers. And as both countries have billions in oil-for-credit type unpaid loans on the line, neither is likely to give up on Maduro so easily.

“Russia and China are using Venezuela as a proxy conflict to challenge the U.S. This is more than just economic support. Russia and China are leveraging its economic support to establish a military-industrial presence in Venezuela,” Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society, told Fox News recently.

All of this suggests amidst what some analysts have dubbed "a new Cold War" scenario that another Cuban Missile Crisis in America's backyard could be around the corner.

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RT

South Africa oil discovery could be a game-changer

February 11, 2019

© AFP / Martin Bureau

South Africa’s offshore has just yielded a massive natural gas and condensate find that could open a new exploration province for oil majors and change the energy fortunes of the country.

France’s major Total said that it had made a significant discovery on the Brulpadda prospects off the southern coast of South Africa.

“With this discovery, Total has opened a new world-class gas and oil play and is well positioned to test several follow-on prospects on the same block,” said Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice President Exploration at Total.

According to Total’s chief executive Patrick Pouyanne, the discovery could hold 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent of gas and condensate resources.

The operator of the license, Total, and its partners Qatar Petroleum, CNR International, and South African consortium Main Street, now plan to acquire 3D seismic data this year, followed by up to four exploration wells on the license.

“It is exciting for our country that this discovery has been made. It is potentially a major boost for the economy, and we welcome it as we continue to seek investment to grow our economy,” South Africa’s Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said, commenting on the major gas discovery.

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) also hailed the first major deepwater discovery off South Africa, saying, “This is a great first step for the country which still relies on imports of oil and gas despite the great reserves believed to be in its soil and waters.”

According to AEC, the discovery could change the course of South Africa’s economy and help to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and natural gas imports.

“The oil industry hopes this will be a catalyst and encouragement for all policy makers to work on an enabling business environment for exploration and drilling activities in South Africa,” NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman at the Chamber, said.

South Africa is currently working on new legislation that would separate the conditions for exploring and exploiting oil and gas resources from those for traditional minerals.

Commenting on Total’s discovery, Andrew Latham, vice president, global exploration at natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said:

“Even though the well isn’t an oil discovery, if Brulpadda proves to be anywhere near as big as the estimates of up to 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources, it will still be a game-changer for South Africa.”

Although the difficult deepwater environment could pose a challenge, the difficulties may be similar to those present in the West of Shetland in the UK North Sea—a region that Total knows well and in which it has experience, Latham noted.

In terms of the discovery’s potential to meet South Africa’s gas demand, WoodMac’s Akif Chaudhry, principal analyst, commodity analytics, said:

“While a strong case can be made for the development of the gas economy, long-term growth requires a clear plan from government.”

While South Africa is currently drafting new legislation on oil and gas resource development, the offshore regions around the whole African continent has recently seen growing interest from oil and gas majors willing to explore what they believe is the next exploration hotspot in the world. BP and Shell are expanding their African presence, while ExxonMobil is focusing on western and southern Africa, amassing stakes in prospects in Ghana, Mauritania, Namibia, and South Africa, hoping to strike a discovery containing no less than a billion barrels of crude, also known as an elephant.

South Africa was one of the hotspots of promising exploration drilling that WoodMac had identified for this year, alongside Guyana, Brazil, Mexico, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Cyprus, and the Barents Sea in Norway.

Total’s major deepwater discovery offshore South Africa is now opening a potential new wave of majors drilling in the area, hoping to find the next billion-barrel discovery.

Zero Hedge

NJ Voters Furious As Governor Murphy Prepares To Sign 'Rain Tax' Into Law

By Tyler Durden

February 11, 2019

Just when frustrated residents of New Jersey, one of the most heavily taxed states in the US, thought Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy had already brought the state into the ninth circle of taxation hell with new taxes to save the state's ailing pension system, middle class voters in one of the least affordable states in the country have now been given one more thing to complain about: A tax on the rain.

After a bill authorizing the new local taxes was passed by the state late last month, Murphy is preparing to sign it into law, over the objections of the state's Republicans, according to the New York Post.

Gov. Phil Murphy

As one state lawmaker told the post, just when NJ residents thought the state had already laid claim to every revenue stream imaginable, Democrats have found one more thing to tax.

"Every time you think there’s nothing left to tax, we come up with something else," Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-Morris-Sussex) exploded during a debate on the measure.

“It’s just never-ending down here.”

And voters are understandably furious.

The 'rain tax', which is largely supported by Democrats and largely opposed by Republicans, would allow towns, counties and local authorities to set up their own storm water utilities. These newly created arms of local bureaucracy would be empowered to charge property owners a fee based on the amount of non-permeable surface they own (think: parking lots and driveways). The logic behind this is that non-permeable surfaces create runoff when it rains, and that runoff gets polluted as it travels from these surfaces into local sewers, and then on to the state's water ways. The revenue generated by these taxes would be used to upgrade the state's storm water systems, and save the state's already polluted waters from further pollution (though the state would step in and scoop up 5% of all revenues).

The EPA, according to an op-ed published by North Jersey.com, has estimated that a complete overhaul of NJ's stormwater systems would cost $15.6 billion.

But unfortunately for Democrats, while taxing the rich might be in vogue among 2020 presidential contenders (because focus groups have suggested that raising taxes on other people remains a politically popular position), very few middle-class voters in a state that is already one of the most heavily taxed in the country want another massive tax levied on their driveway.

To illustrate just how politically radioactive the rain tax has become, it's worth a look back at Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's upset victory in the state's 2014 gubernatorial race. In a scenario that might sound familiar to many of our readers, Hogan was believed to be so far behind Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown that media didn't even bother to conduct exit polling on election day.

But when Hogan unexpected came from behind and clinched the governor's mansion, stunned pundits started casting about for an explanation. And through a hodge-podge of anecdotal reports, they settled on the rain tax, which Hogan had vociferously campaigned against (Maryland passed the law in 2012, two years before the election).

The rain tax was so hated by Maryland voters, that it effectively ceded control of the governor's mansion in a deep-blue state to a Republican.

Maybe Gov. Murphy is already setting himself up for a similar upset during the state's next gubernatorial election in 2021.

CHICAGO 5

Incredible 'Ghost Apples' Appear on Michigan Farm

February 8, 2019

Nature can produce some truly incredible sights, and thanks to the last week’s mix of freezing rain and rapidly changing temperatures, a Michigan apple farmer captured one on camera.

The phenomenon, which Michigan farmer Andrew Sietsema dubbed “ghost apples" on his Facebook page, are exactly what they sound like. While picking apples on the farm, Sietsema noticed that freezing rain had coated some of the apples in ice, and as he pruned trees, some of the rotten apples would slide out of the bottom of the frozen orbs, leaving a perfectly formed “ice apple” in their place:

Sietsema told WoodTV, an NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids, about the incredible scene, saying that apples have a lower freezing point than water, meaning that even as ice remained frozen, an apple would thaw out and leak out from the bottom of the ghostly ice remnants.

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

“Keep me as the apple of the eye from those that resist thy right hand: thou shalt screen me by the covering of thy wings.”
(Psalm 17:8)