“For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth
(restrains) will let, until he be taken out of the way.”
(2
Thessalonians 2:7)
Restrains
Dear Friends,
Greetings! As we are sure all well aware, the restraint that has been placed upon the evil in this world would appear to have been lifted now more then ever and will continue to be lifted. The article you will find below from the United States Department of Homeland Security titled “Belief in creationism, conspiracy theories both based on the same thinking error: study” shows explicitly the direction and speed in which anti Christian sentiment is progressing.
As you will read in the article, a belief in Creationism is now equated with the thought process that motivates conspiracy theorists.
If you did not already know, the Department of Homeland Security is also responsible for the oversight of the FEMA camps.
Have a blessed week ahead.
WND
CALIFORNIA CHRISTIANS: IT'S TIME FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Michael Brown calls on believers to ignore 'Must Stay Gay' mandate soon-to-be law
August 18, 2018
As California appears poised to pass a draconian bill that directly attacks your religious freedoms, it’s time for you to draw a line in the sand. If the bill passes, you must choose to obey God rather than man. It’s time for civil disobedience.
I’m speaking about AB 2943, which the state Senate just approved with by a vote of 25-11. Next is the Assembly, then the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, then the length and breadth of your great state.
In an Aug. 16 email, Greg Burt, director of Capitol engagement for the California Family Council, explained the significance of AB 2943, which I previously dubbed the “Must Stay Gay” bill. He wrote, “With Thursday’s [Senate] vote, elected leaders told churches and those with biblical beliefs about gender and sexual orientation that advocating for their views could get them sued.”
He continued, “This bill attacks the freedom of Christians … to find the services and resources from counselors, schools, and faith-based organizations that help them live out their biblical convictions regarding sexual behavior and gender identity. Shouldn’t these people have the freedom to find true joy by embracing and living out their faith without government persecution?”
The potential impact of this bill should not be downplayed. As Burt noted without hyperbole, “The implications of AB 2943 are staggering. Legal experts confirm that by targeting financial transactions, AB 2943 threatens religious non-profits, churches, and pastors who provide paid resources to help people practice their faith.”
My brothers and sisters in California, should this bill become law, your choice is simple: Say yes to the will of God and no to the will of man (Acts 5:29).
The bad news is that AB 2943 is on its way to becoming law. How in the world did we get to this place in America?
The good news (albeit a little late) is that many church leaders who previously sat on the sidelines have gotten directly involved. They have spoken out publicly against the bill. They have urged their congregants to contact their elected officials. And they have stood together with many ex-gays who have testified to the life-changing power of gospel-based counsel.
Yet the California legislators continue their march of oppression, all in the name of saving people from the alleged harm of so-called conversion therapy. And they have done so despite hearing firsthand testimonies of transformed lives, despite peer-reviewed, scientific evidence that change is possible, and despite the fact that such “therapy” is completely voluntary and non-compelled.
Still, these California lawmakers proclaim, “No! You must stay gay (or trans)! We will not allow you to explore the possibility of change.”
This is nothing less than governmental tyranny, nothing less than an abuse of elected power, nothing less than an unholy mandate against the holy claims of God.
Will you sit back and take it? Or will you rise up as one, with all respect for your government, and say, “If people want help, we will supply it. We will practice our faith. We will not deny the life-changing power of the gospel to anyone.”
Stop for a moment and look at these smiling faces. Meet Jeff and David and April and others. Read their testimonies and hear their stories.
Homeland Security News Wire
Belief in creationism, conspiracy theories both based on the same thinking error: study
August 21, 2018
It is not uncommon to hear someone espouse the idea that “everything happens for a reason” or that something that happened was “meant to be.” Now, researchers have found that this kind of teleological thinking is linked to two seemingly unrelated beliefs: creationism, the belief that life on Earth was purposely created by a supernatural agent, and conspiracism, the tendency to explain historical or current events in terms of secret conspiracies or conspiracy theories.
It is not uncommon to hear someone espouse the idea that “everything happens for a reason” or that something that happened was “meant to be.” Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on 20 August have found that this kind of teleological thinking is linked to two seemingly unrelated beliefs: creationism, the belief that life on Earth was purposely created by a supernatural agent, and conspiracism, the tendency to explain historical or current events in terms of secret conspiracies or conspiracy theories.
“We find a previously unnoticed common thread between believing in creationism and believing in conspiracy theories,” says Sebastian Dieguez of the University of Fribourg. “Although very different at first glance, both these belief systems are associated with a single and powerful cognitive bias named teleological thinking, which entails the perception of final causes and overriding purpose in naturally occurring events and entities.”
Cell Press says that a teleological thinker, for example, will accept as true propositions such as “the sun rises in order to give us light” or “the purpose of bees is to ensure pollination,” he says. “This type of thinking is anathema to scientific reasoning, and especially to evolutionary theory, and was famously mocked by Voltaire, whose character Pangloss believed that ‘noses were made to wear spectacles.’ Yet it is very resilient in human cognition, and we show that it is linked not only to creationism, but also to conspiracism.”
In previous work, Dieguez and colleagues showed that conspiracism was not explained by the tendency to assume that “nothing happens by accident.” They realized that conspiracism isn’t driven by a rejection of the idea that the world is random and complex, but that it still could be linked to the notion that events in the world are actively and purposely fabricated. They also noticed that this looked “striking similar” to creationism. If correct, they reasoned, then conspiracism, like creationism, should be associated with teleological thinking, and both types of beliefs should be correlated with each other.
To find out whether this was the case, the researchers asked more than 150 college students in Switzerland to complete a questionnaire including teleological claims and conspiracist statements, as well as measures of analytical thinking, esoteric and magical beliefs, and a randomness perception task. The survey data showed that the tendency to ascribe function and meaning to natural facts and events was significantly, though modestly, correlated with conspiracist belief scales. Drawing on a large-scale survey of people in France, the researchers also found a strong association between creationism and conspiracism.
To look more closely at this pattern, the researchers next recruited more than 700 people to complete questionnaires online. Those data again confirmed associations among teleological thinking, creationism, and conspiracism. The data also show that those relationships are partly distinct from other variables, including gender, age, analytical thinking, political orientation, education, and agency detection.
“By drawing attention to the analogy between creationism and conspiracism, we hope to highlight one of the major flaws of conspiracy theories and therefore help people detect it, namely that they rely on teleological reasoning by ascribing a final cause and overriding purpose to world events,” Dieguez says. “We think the message that conspiracism is a type of creationism that deals with the social world can help clarify some of the most baffling features of our so-called ‘post-truth era.’”
The researchers say the findings have important implications for science educators and communicators. They may also help in formulating policies to “discourage the endorsement of socially debilitating and sometimes dangerous beliefs and belief systems.”
The researchers are now in the process of assessing the effectiveness of ongoing attempts to educate kids and adolescents about the nature of conspiracy theories and other types of misinformation. They say what’s ultimately needed is a thorough understanding of the factors that contribute to a conspiracist mindset, which is relevant to many beliefs, including global warming denialism and vaccine rejection, and they are developing a general framework to help disentangle the relevant factors.
The findings may help to explain how certain types of misinformation spread so easily aided by social media channels. “It’s possible that content framed in teleological terms are easier to process and spread faster than other types of information, and this could be tested on a much larger scale,” Dieguez says.
***
THE WESTERN JOURNAL
Franklin Graham Rips Chelsea Clinton for Saying Abortions Added Trillions to Economy
BY LISA PAYNE-NAEGER
AUGUST 19, 2018 AT 3:07PM
If there was ever any doubt about where the heart of the compassionate left lies, this should clear that up for good.
When it comes to the ugliness of abortion, liberals throw everything under the bus — including the lives of the unborn.
In this case, Chelsea Clinton showed her true colors as she expresses her preference for women to have abortions because it is, in her opinion, financially advantageous for the economy.
Clinton made these comments at the pro-abortion event “Rise Up for Roe” in New York City on Aug. 11, according to the Christian Post.
“It is not a disconnect fact that American Women entering the labor force from 1970 to 2009 added $3.5 trillion dollars to our economy. The net, new entrance of women, that is not disconnected from the fact that Roe became the law of the land in January of 1973,” Clinton said.
“So, whatever it is that people say they care about, I think you can connect to this issue. Of course I would hope that they would care about our equal rights and dignity to make our own choices, but it that is not sufficiently persuasive hopefully some these other arguments you are hearing expressed so beautifully, will be.”
If her statement leaves you cold, you may not be alone. But it certainly fired up evangelist Franklin Graham and he expressed his outrage on Facebook.
“Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, claims that legalizing abortion added trillions of dollars to the economy. What a lie. Hitler probably also claimed that killing the Jews would be good for their economy. Legalizing abortion hasn’t added anything to our country, it has only taken away. It has cost this nation more than 60 million lives—lives precious to God. Just think of the contribution these people would have made. There will be another high cost. I believe God will judge America for allowing the heinous murder of our own children in the womb. And to everyone who has had an abortion, that is murder in God’s eyes. But I am happy to tell you the wonderful news that God will forgive you. He can take the shame and guilt you have been carrying around all these years and take it away if you are willing to turn to Him and put your faith and trust in His Son Jesus Christ. Not only will He forgive you, He will save you for eternity—and you will be reunited one day in Heaven with that child.”
Graham posted similar comments on his Twitter page.
Conservative Erick Erickson also weighed in, to compare Clinton’s defense of abortion with the antebellum defense of American slavery. Clinton tried, weakly, to defend herself.
Can the life of an unborn child be less valuable than that of illegals who cross our borders in search of prosperity?
It’s truly amazing how liberals can display such disrespect for the dignity of human life when they so vehemently advocate for, in the name of compassion, the illegal aliens who break our laws and drain our social programs.
It could be fair to say these unborn children victimized by abortion were also victims of leftist selective compassion.
***
WND
COLLEGES OFFER 'QUEERING THE BIBLE' CLASSES
Courses promise to 'destabilize long held assumptions'
August 18, 2018
Harvard University (Wikipedia)
Reading the Bible through the lens of “queer” sexuality is the subject of a number of courses at colleges and even seminaries across the nation, according to Campus Reform.
Students at Harvard Divinity School, for example, will be offered a course this fall on “Queer Theologies, Queer Religions,” which will explore the “project of ‘queer theology'” and how it relates to “larger aspirations of queer religion or spirituality in America.”
The students, according to a course description, will begin by “sampling the efforts to revise traditional Christian theologies in order to accept or affirm same-sex loves.”
“We will consider the boundaries between queer theology and queer theory or between it and other political theologies,” states the course description. “We will test the boundaries of ‘Christianity’ while considering the varied forms of queer religion outside familiar religious institutions—in spirituality or spiritualism, in magic or neo-paganism, in erotic asceticism.”
At Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, students in “Queering the Bible” will be introduced to “the complexity of constructions of sex, gender, and identity in one of the most influential literary works produced in ancient times.”
“By reading the Bible with the methods of queer and trans* theoretical approaches, this class destabilizes long held assumptions about what the [B]ible — and religion — says about gender and sexuality,” says the course description, according to Campus Reform.
At Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School in New York City, “Queering and Decolonizing Theology” will explore “the sexual ethics and ritualization found in the S&M community” and “transgender Christs.”
“Christian theology is often depicted as a violent colonial force standing in particular opposition to LGBTQI lives,” the course description states. “However, over the last 30 years people of faith, activists, and theorists alike have rediscovered what is queer within Christianity, uncovered what is religious within secular queer communities, and used postcolonial theory to decolonize lived religious practices and theologies.”
Students in the University of Pennsylvania’s “Gender, Sexuality, and Religion” course “will read religion through a variety of feminist and queer theory lenses” and “learn about women’s and men’s rituals, social roles, and mythologies in specific religious traditions.”
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BREAKINGISRAELNEWS
Oklahoma Noahide On the Trail of Temple Gold
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz
Within two full years will I bring back into this place all the vessels of Hashem‘S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Bavel took away from this place, and carried them to Bavel. Jeremiah 28:3 (The Israel Bible™)
Jim Barfield and part of the Copper Scroll team in Qumran. (Credit: Jim Barfield)
After nearly a decade of writing, the remarkable story of one man’s quest to decipher the ancient map leading to the gold and silver Temple vessels is being published.
Shelley Neese, vice president of the Jerusalem Connection, became involved in the story over a decade ago and has spent nearly eight years writing the The Copper Scroll Project, the story of an unlikely hero who may have unraveled one of history’s most enduring mysteries.
In 2007, Neese was the editor for Jerusalem Connection Magazine and she met Barfield at a Christian conference in Texas.
“I was unfamiliar with the Copper Scrolls, and at first I didn’t believe his story about treasure maps, gold, and the Jewish Temple,” Neese, told Breaking Israel News. “All the alarm bells in my head went off. But after I looked it up, I realized that he hadn’t embellished it at all.”
Discovered in 1952 near Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea, the Copper Scroll is unlike the other Dead Sea Scrolls which are mostly religious manuscripts written on parchment. The Copper Scroll, as its name suggests, is engraved on a thin sheet of copper. And, in contrast to the others, the Copper Scroll is a list of gold and silver items and the 64 locations where they can be found.
Many archaeologists believe the Copper Scroll is an inventory from the Second Temple.In addition to gold and silver, Temple vessels and priestly vestments are listed. No archaeologist has ever succeeded in deciphering the directions contained in the Copper Scroll and finding the treasure.
The book follows the efforts of Jim Barfield, a man who, at first glance, seems entirely unsuited to search for the Temple artifacts, but whose unique skills may have solved one of history’s most enduring mysteries. Barfield, a Noahide who speaks no Hebrew, also has no background in archaeology. A retired criminal investigator for the Oklahoma Fire Department, Barfield was used to patiently sifting through the ashes to find the truth.
In 2006, Barfield was interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls and their relevance to Bible study. At first, he was uninterested in the Copper Scroll which had no theological significance. Barfield’s fascination turned into a burning desire after he met Vendyl Jones. Jones, a Texas preacher turned Biblical archaeologist, believed Qumran to be the hiding place for the Temple vessels and spent 30 years searching for them using the Copper Scroll as a guide. Jones discovered a small vial of persimmon oil used to anoint kings and high priests, and a large quantity of what he believed was Temple incense. Barfield met with Jones, now deceased, and Jones suggested he revisit the Copper Scroll.
“Vendyl told Jim the Copper Scroll had more prophecy in it than any of the other Dead Sea Scrolls,” Neese said.
Barfield’s curiosity turned into passion and he returned to deciphering the Copper Scroll. He searched maps for the “ruins of the Valley of Achor” mentioned in the scroll. The valley is believed to be near Jericho but the precise location is unknown. As a young man, he had piloted helicopters for the U.S. Army. Using his map-reading skills to triangulate, he was able to pinpoint locations on an aerial map of Qumran. Very quickly, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place.
Part of the mysterious Copper Scroll found at the Qumran caves (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
“It’s really not revolutionary what he did,” Neese said. “He figured it out using available sources in his office in Oklahoma, relying on his skills as an arson investigator.”
In one case, the scroll described steps, 40 cubits long, heading east. Barfield did indeed find stairs. The archaeologist reported the stairs to be 60 feet, or precisely 40 cubits. He also discovered the remains of a pool, precisely 40 cubits long, exactly where the scroll said it would be. He believed he had found many of the locations listed on the scroll but to verify his theories, he needed to visit the site.
In 2007, Barfield travelled to Israel to do exactly that, but to pursue his investigation, he needed the approval of the Israel Antiquities Authority to search Qumran. Barfield met with Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) director Shuka Dorfman. Dorfman was unreceptive at first, but as Barfield laid out his proofs, explaining the signposts described in the Copper Scroll, Dorfman became enthusiastic and arranged a meeting with veteran archaeologist and Qumran expert, Yuval Peleg.
Peleg agreed to dig some exploratory holes at the site with Barfield. Less than an hour after beginning shallow test pits, Peleg received a phone call and without any explanation, Peleg shut down the dig.
This was the beginning of many bureaucratic stone walls preventing Barfield from verifying his theory. He purchased a sophisticated metal detector that could penetrate 50 feet while differentiating between ferrous and non-ferrous metal, i.e. gold and silver. Barfield applied to the IAA, asking to run a non-intrusive scan of a few spots in Qumran. His request was denied.
In 2013, Barfield was in New York where he was introduced to Moshe Feiglin who, at the time, was a Likud Member of Knesset. Feiglin was a strong advocate for the Temple and became enthused when he heard Barfield’s story, even offering to accompany him on a tour of the site. A few weeks later, the two were wandering around the tourist site, a large duffel bag in tow. They visited five spots that Barfield felt were most likely repositories for Temple treasure.
One hour later, Barfield ran the data from the metal detector through his computer. Every spot was a hit and one locus especially so.
“It showed up on the metal detector like Fort Knox,” Neese said.
The Israeli government is still not permitting Barfield to investigate and there has been a moratorium on archaeological digging at Qumran.
“It is in area C and different laws apply to the archaeology than in other parts of Israel,” Neese said. “It is disputed territory and anything that comes out of the ground can be disputed. It is possible that the Israeli government is concerned that if they dig up this massive treasure, Jordan or the Palestinian Authority will sue for it. Even if it comes from the Jewish Temple.”
In fact, the Copper Scroll, an ancient artifact inscribed in Hebrew, is currently in a museum in Amman, Jordan.
In an interview with Breaking Israel News last year, Barfield stated his motives.
“I am a Noahide,” he explained to Breaking Israel News. “I want to return the Temple artifacts to the Jewish People. It’s time.”
If Barfield is successful, it will bring the Third Temple much closer.
Not only does Neese chronicle this amazing story but she was an integral player in much of it. A native of Louisiana, she first came to Israel in 2000 with her husband, a U.S. Air Force physician. With no knowledge of Israel, she became intensely curious about the country and received her M.A in Middle Eastern Studies from Ben Gurion University. She spent the months leading up to the Gaza disengagement in 2005 in Israel, working with a team of negotiators. When she went back to the U.S., she became the assistant to the Consul General at the Consulate of Israel to New England.
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Zero Hedge
Wisconsin Company Injecting RFID Microchips Into Hands Of Employees
By Tyler Durden
August 19, 2018
Wisconsin technology firm Three Square Market has injected 80 employees with their own brand of RFID microchips over the last year, and according to MIT Technology Review, "they love it."
The implant, which is about the size of a grain of rice, utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, also found in credit cards, debit cards, key fobs, and smartphones. This technology is considered "passive," meaning the microchip stores data that can be read by other devices but cannot read data themselves.
The chip's applications are devilishly simple; from locked doors, to cashless commerce, to providing first responders with detailed medical information in the event of an emergency - the possibilities are seemingly endless.
“It’s just become such a part of my routine,” says VP of finance Steve Kassekert, who says he was miffed when the RFID reader on the vending machine went down a couple of months ago.
And sure, buried towards the end of the MTR article are concerns over security - such as the fact that anyone with an RFID reader can cozy up to a chipped individual and ping their implant to glean personal information. But hey - CEO Patrick McMullan points out that "similar personal information could be stolen from his wallet, too."
Europe's already with the program
As we reported in May, over 3,000 Swedes have implanted tiny microchips beneath their skin to replace their credit card information, identification, keys, train tickets, among other everyday items, according to Agence France-Press.
Governments in Europe quietly experimented with embedding the small chip in humans in 2015 in Sweden, and several other countries in the region, before the recent rollout.
“Swedes have gone on to be very active in microchipping, with scant debate about issues surrounding its use, in a country keen on new technology and where the sharing of personal information is held up as a sign of a transparent society,” AFP notes.
Ulrika Celsing is one of 3,000 Swedes with a microchip implanted in her hand — a process called “biohacking.” The 28-year-old told AFP, “It was fun to try something new and to see what one could use it for to make life easier in the future.”
Celsing explained that the microchip has turned into an “electronic handbag” and has even replaced her gym card.
She can even book a train ticket online, and then use her hand like a ticket to board a train.
Swedish rail company is trialing letting passengers use biometric chips as tickets. (Source: The Independent)
While the tiny microchips can store personal data that can be extracted by other devices, they are considered passive — which means the chip cannot read data themselves. Meanwhile, some still have concerns that the progression of this technology could jeopardize personal security.
“I don’t think our current technology is enough to get chip hacked,” Celsing told AFP. “But I may think about this again in the future. I could always take it out then.”
” Sweden has a track record on the sharing of personal information, which may have helped ease the microchip’s acceptance among the Nordic country’s 10 million-strong population. Citizens have long accepted the sharing of their personal details, registered by the social security system, with other administrative bodies, while people can find out each others’ salaries through a quick phone call to the tax authority,” AFP said.
There are still serious privacy and security concerns associated with biohacking Swedes. Regarding privacy, corporations will have unprecedented access to personal data of consumers and or employees.
In the fast-approaching dystopic future, corporations and government could soon be collecting private data on their citizens via implanted microchips.
Also, the security risk behind any wireless technology leaves the device vulnerable to hackers, who will eventually discover wireless methods to steal personal data stored on the microchip.
However, Jowan Osterlund, a piercings specialist and advocate of biohacking Swedes, “brushes off fears of data misuse and conspiracy theories,” said AFP.
Osterlund argues if Swedes carried their data on them all the time, they would be in better control of where their data went. He has been an organizer of “implant party,” a gathering where the piercings specialist injects microchips into millennials.
So for those unconcerned about being sniffed, or a dystopian future in which corporations and governments use the chips to track and collect private data on citizens, or machete-weilding thugs who might take your severed hand on a shopping spree, or that the chips are the "mark of the beast," sounds like a great idea!
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CHRISTAINHEADLINES.com
Batman, the Ex-Christian? New Comic Reveals How He Abandoned Faith in God
Michael Foust
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Batman always has been a dark-and-edgy superhero who fights evil, but in a new comic he’s also someone who has lost his Christian faith.
In the newest comic from DC, Batman #53, the Dark Knight/Bruce Wayne is “sequestered for questioning as part of a lawsuit that Mr. Freeze is filing against Batman” when Wayne asks a woman about her cross necklace, according to Inverse.com. That’s when Wayne has a flashback, which reveals he abandoned Christianity as a child.
His father, Thomas Wayne, apparently raised Bruce Wayne as a Christian but the younger Wayne drifted from the faith after his parents were murdered.
“Do you believe in God?” a woman asks Wayne.
“I used to,” Batman responds. “My father was a Christian. He held hallow the immortal soul, heaven, the Father and the Son. Giving your will to your Lord, trusting Him with that will. He wanted me to believe, too. But he wanted me to come to it on my own. He went to church. He told me all the stories. Talked a lot about what we can control, what we can’t.”
But after his parents were murdered, Bruce Wayne became upset.
“I put aside believing in a deity. Or believing in anything my father thought had saved him.”
Wayne wonders why God had let his parents die.
***
RT
Here's who was inside the 'cursed' Egyptian sarcophagus
August 19, 2018
© Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has released details about the skeletons found inside the mysterious sarcophagus unearthed in July and opened despite all the warnings about the ancient curses it might unleash.
The ominous black granite sarcophagus, dating back to up to the 4th century BC, was excavated in Alexandria to the protesting cries of Twitter doomsayers everywhere, and was found to contain no curses – at least, no readily-evident ones. Instead, inside were three skeletons floating in icky dark fluid (which an impressive number of people want to have a sip of).
On the more scientific side, the skeletons have now been studied by a team of scientists from the Antiquities Ministry, who have determined their age, gender and other details. While not really the stuff of a fresh 'Mummy' reboot, the findings are still interesting. They've been posted, along with photos of the bones, on the Antiquities Ministry's Facebook page.
The skeletons belong to two men and a woman, all different ages. The woman was the youngest, 20 to 25 years old and 160 to 164 cm (slightly over 5 ft) tall. One of the men was 35 to 39 years old and only marginally taller, while the other one was the oldest, at 40 to 44 years, and also the tallest, at an impressive 179 to 184.5 cm (around 6 ft).
Small gold plates were also found among the bones. Measuring about 5cm by 3cm (about 2in by 1in), the plates feature delicate artwork that may refer to military ranks, according to researchers cited by Ahram online. The plates are now being studied in more detail.
Another peculiarity the Egyptian scientists have discovered is a hole in one of the men's skulls. The hole was not the cause of death, however, since its condition indicates that the person had survived for a long time with it. Instead, the scientists say, it's the result of trepanation, an ancient form of surgery.
“This surgery is the oldest surgical intervention ever known since pre-history but was rare in Egypt,” Dr. Zeinab Hashish, the head of the researchers' team, said. She added that only a few skulls from ancient Egypt were found to have undergone the procedure.
Trepanation has been practiced for millennia to treat cranial diseases and, in some cases, what was considered abnormal behavior. A hole was drilled or scraped into the patient's skull, which was sometimes believed to release evil spirits posessing the person. Trepanation is indeed effective in relieving blood pressure and swelling, and is used to treat those symptoms in modern-day medicine.
More studies are now being performed on the bones, including DNA analysis and CT scans, to determine whether they were members of a single family. The dark liquid found in the sarcophagus is also being analyzed, and scientists have confirmed that it is, indeed, sewage water tinted by the corpses' decayed wrappings.
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RT
3,000yo Egyptian cheese infected with deadly disease unearthed at ancient burial site
August 17, 2018
The 3,200-year-old cheese © University of Catania - University of Cairo / Reuters
Connoisseurs say that the taste of cheese improves with age – but what if it was left to age for 3,200 years? Archaeologists in Egypt now have the chance to find out, but it comes with an unexpected bonus: deadly ancient bacteria.
A team from the University of Catania in Italy found the cheese at the tomb of Ptahmes, a 13th-century BC mayor of Memphis in Egypt. The cheese was found wrapped with canvas inside a broken jar. It could be the most ancient cheese ever discovered, according to the team’s study, published in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
“The archaeologists suspected it was a kind of food left for the owner of the tomb and they decided to ask for chemical analyses,” said lead author Enrico Greco, a leader in the new field of ancient food discoveries known as ‘archaeofood.’
Ancient Egyptians may have dodged a potentially life-threatening bout of illness by not eating the cheese, after researchers found the specimen contained signs of a bacterium known to cause brucellosis, a deadly disease spread from animals to people via unpasteurised dairy.
The tomb of the Memphis city official was found to contain murals showing various barter scenes featuring cheese, a product that had a medicinal use in ancient times. It is also thought that cheese was included in feasts buried alongside wealthy Egyptians.
“Until now, we were not sure whether it was really part of the daily life of the ancient Egyptians,” said Greco. "We do not have much information on what the taste could be, we know it was made mostly from sheep's and goat's milk, but for me it's really hard to imagine a specific flavor," he added.
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STRANGE SOUNDS
New massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions around the world: M7.3 quake in Venezuela, M6.6 quake in Vanuatu, enhanced volcanic activity at Etna and Stromboli (Italy), Krakatau (Indonesia) and Ebeko (Russia)
August 22, 2018
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Science Global News
Two French rivers disappear underground in large cracks and sinkholes: The Doubs River (Franche-Comté) and the Risle (Normandy)
August 16, 2018
The Doubs river flows normally in Franche-Comté, France. But since about a week or so, the river has totally dried up over a length of more than 1 km, between Pontarlier and Morteau, although precipitation has been abundant this winter and spring. The river has disappeared, and with it, the fauna and flora. Everything is dead. Two weeks ago, 13km of the Risle River also disappeared underground in a large crater. According to geologists, this unprecedented event is due to large cracks and craters in the riverbed.
The cave of Remonot is located near the village of Morteau along the Doubs. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, this Chapel-Cave contains miraculous water and is visited each year on August 15, 2018, day of the Assumption. But during this year’s annual pilgrimage, the cave was dry! The first time ever!
Nearby, the Doubs river is also dry. No water, just pebbles and dead fish.
This situation is anomalous as it has abundantly rained this spring and winter. via Facebook
Residents explain they have never seen this before. The river has disappeared over more than 1 kilometer, and with it, the fauna and flora. Everything is dead. The president of a local fishing association reports having experienced such a situation during the severe drought of 1976. But now, it’s different… there was a lot of snow and water this winter. This situation is totally insane and ANOMALOUS!
Now, geologists say the river disappearance is due to large cracks in the karstic riverbed, which empty the river underground like a siphon. It is perhaps the important spring floods that washed away the sediment patches that blocked the holes and fissures.
After disappearing, the Doubs than re-enters the Loue, the other large river in the region. So the cracks kind of link the two rivers?!?
Two weeks ago, the Risle River, a 13km long stream, also disappeared suddenly in Normandy, after a big sinkholes openened up in the riverbed:
But now, everybody is just wondering when will the rivers reappear again! Well, it may take longer than you think guys!
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The Guardian
US ready to drive Iranian oil exports to zero, says US national security adviser
Donald’s Trump’s sanctions would drive Iranian oil exports down in order to force behaviour change on Tehran regime
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
August 22, 2018
US national security adviser John Bolton. Photograph: Abir Sultan/AP
The US is prepared to use sanctions to drive Iranian oil exports down to zero, the US national security adviser, John Bolton, has said.
“Regime change in Iran is not American policy, but what we want is massive change in the regime’s behaviour,” Bolton said on a visit to Israel, as he claimed current sanctions had been more effective than predicted.
Donald Trump took the US out of Iran’s nuclear deal with the west in May and is imposing escalating sanctions, both to force Iran to renegotiate the deal and to end Tehran’s perceived interference in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
Complete removal of Iranian oil from world markets would cut oil supply by more than 4% probably forcing up prices in the absence of any new supplies.
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Bolton was speaking as the new UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, met the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, for the first time in Washington to discuss how to reduce Iranian influence, despite Britain’s continued support for the nuclear deal.
In an interview with Axios, a US political website, Hunt praised Trump’s willingness to talk with leaders deemed to be hostile to the US, denying he was an isolationist. Trump has already met the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and has even hinted at talks with the Iranian leadership.
“The traditional western foreign policy has been that if we disapprove of something someone’s done, we don’t just take action but we stop the engagement as well,” he said. “[Trump] takes the view that actually you need to engage with people. I think it’s a business mentality. He’s always looking for a way to recast the deal.”
Hunt is maintaining UK support for the deal signed in 2015, and according to Iran, the UK has even stepped in to advise Tehran on how to remain compliant with the deal by limiting plutonium from one of its heavy nuclear reactors.
Hunt has suggested the existing level of US sanctions already has the potential to change Iran’s “destabilising regional behaviour”, but additional pressure that led Iran to pull out of the nuclear deal completely might lead only to a more dangerous anti-western government being installed in Tehran.
Hunt stressed that the UK would not withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal, but acknowledged it was an open question whether Tehran would decide if the remaining economic benefits warranted remaining inside the deal.
Sweeping US secondary sanctions on businesses that trade with Iran make it difficult for European governments to persuade EU companies it is worth the risk of continuing to do business with the country.
Bolton was bullish about the growing impact of sanctions. “We expect that Europeans will see, as businesses all over Europe are seeing, that the choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear to them,” he said.
“[Trump] has made it very clear – his words – he wants maximum pressure on Iran, maximum pressure, and that is what is going on.”
British officials acknowledge that the US administration policy for the moment has secured Trump the best of both worlds – Iranian refusal to restart its nuclear programme due the EU’s continued support for the deal, and the imposition of a regime of secondary economic sanctions that is placing great pressure on the Iranian economy.
Fuller US sanctions, including actions against countries that trade in Iranian oil are due to come into force on 5 November, 180 days after the initial Trump announcement to withdraw.
The measures against Iranian oil importers, and banks that continue to trade with the Central Bank of Iran, will ratchet the pressure to a higher level.
Pompeo has set up an Iran Action group inside the US State Department to coordinate US leverage on companies and countries that cannot show that their trade, including in oil, has fallen significantly by November.
Measures may also be taken against firms that insure ships carrying Iranian crude.
It is expected some of the major Iranian oil importers, such as Russia, China and Turkey, will either ignore the threat of US sanctions, or, possibly in the case of Iraq, Japan and South Korea, seek exemptions.
China takes a quarter of all Iran’s oil exports, and with Chinese banks little exposed to the US it can avoid the impact of Trump’s sanctions.
Major importers of Iranian crude in Europe include Italy’s ENI and Saras, Spain’s Repsol, France’s Total, and Greece’s Hellenic Petroleum. All these companies depend on access to US dollar financing and US suppliers, and most have significant operations in the US.
The EU in August introduced a blocking statute designed to give European firms immunity from US sanctions for trading with Iran. But its legal force is questionable since it requires EU firms to sue the US government for any losses caused by US sanctions. The statute is untested in court.
EU foreign ministers will meet at the end of the month to discuss the measures they have taken to protect the deal.
Iran’s foreign minister, Javed Zarif, this week demanded clearer practical steps from Europe to protect the deal, saying: “Europeans have been very good in declaring their positions, but to pay that price they need to make a decision and they have only a limited time for that decision and cannot wait for ever.”
The German foreign minister, Heiko Maase, in an article in the German business daily, Handelsblatt, on Wednesday called for the EU to protect itself from secondary sanctions by increasing its autonomy from the US financial system.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said she agreed with her foreign minister that relations with the US were changing but she stopped short of backing his call for a separate EU system for cross-border payments system to save the nuclear deal with Iran.
American Herald Tribune
How the Media Keeps Americans in the Dark about the Slaughter in Yemen
By CJ Werleman
August 18, 2018
A somewhat grainy video, presumably shot from a decade old cell phone, shows more than two dozen load Yemeni kids, aged 6 to 15, playing, laughing, and excitedly moving about their school bus, invoking warm childhood memories for anyone who has ever caught a bus to and from a school outing.
Moments later every single one of these kids were killed, vaporized by a Saudi fired missile.
This atrocity took place on 9 August, leaving 51 dead, 40 of whom were children, with most victims under the age of 10, while another 77 were seriously injured, according to the International Red Cross.
The US Department of Defense has tried to downplay the United States role in what must surely constitute a war crime and/or a crime against humanity by either arguing it’s still investigating the matter or by disingenuously minimizing its involvement.
“We may never know if the munition [used] was one that the US sold to them,” Army Maj. Josh Jacques, a spokesperson for US Central Command, told Vox. “We don’t have a lot of people on the ground.”
Well, we do know who sold Saudi Arabia the missile, and there are plenty of Yemeni journalists and international aid agencies in Yemen “on the ground.”
Remnants of the missile, which were posted on Twitter by Hussein Albikaiti, a Sana’a-based journalist, show its CAGE code, serial number, and the wording, “FIN GUIDED BOMB.”
A search of the CAGE code shows the missile to be issued by US defense contractor Lockheed Martin, while the serial number shows it to be a MK-82 missile manufactured by General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas.
“A US made laser guided bomb did this 2 a bus full of school children,” tweeted Albikaiti. “The bus was directly hit by a Saudi-UAE jet, fueled by USA plane, coordinates by US and UK satellites. One bomb sent these happy children to the graves after burning them alive and cutting them to pieces.”
Worse – the British and US mainstream media is complicit in the cover-up of yet another atrocity in Yemen, like always!
Maybe the most dangerous reality of the Trump presidency might be the media’s obsessive want to over analyze every tweet, off-hand remark, and gaff made by the current occupant of the White House, which, in turn, places television news networks at the centre of what has been a more than a 3-year long psychodrama if you count the 2016 election campaign.
The media’s obsession with this obviously unhinged and deranged US President comes at the cost of informing the American public of the horrors that are occurring in their name and with their tax dollars in countries many voters can’t even find on a map.
While CNN and a handful of other mainstream television networks carried news of the Saudi coalition missile attack on the school bus, there has been almost no follow up, leaving the public totally in the dark about the role the US played in this war crime, and in what has been described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
According to FAIR, a media analysis service, the left-leaning cable news network MSNBC has not run a single segment related to the conflict in Yemen since early 2017 but ran with more than 1,300 broadcasts regarding Trump’s probable but still speculated collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.
The US media demonstrates a proclivity to report on Yemen only when an American serviceman is killed, according to FAIR, with networks devoting substantial coverage to a botched raid on January 29, which left one US soldier dead alongside dozens.
On the August 9th strike in Yemen, the British media has fared no better. The Guardian, for instance, widely considered a “bastion of liberal values and humanitarian concern,” failed to feature the killing of 40 Yemeni children among its 13 headline stories, while the Independent failed to include it among its top 8 headlines, according to Middle East Eye.
Coupled with a lack of media coverage is the near total silence that emanates from both US lawmakers and the Department of Defense, with the latter holding only a few public hearings on Yemen since the conflict began more than 3 years ago, one that has resulted in more than 23 million Yemenis being in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
This is unconscionable and anti-democratic given the US provides the intelligence, guidance systems, warplanes, bombs, and missiles to the Saudi coalition.
Moreover, on the few occasions, Yemen is mentioned in the media, the extent of the human catastrophe is downplayed and underestimated. For instance, most media reports include a total death count of approximately 10,000 Yemenis, but aid agencies have estimated more than 150,000 died of disease and starvation in 2017 alone, with up to 130 children dying each and everyday.
According to the International Red Cross, 70% of the population needs aid to survive; 2.5 million have no access to clean drinking water; 1 in every 12 is severely malnourished; 940,000 are suspected of having cholera; while almost no medical supplies are getting into the country because of the Saudi blockade of Yemen’s ports, and the destruction of infrastructure throughout the country.
While this is a Saudi war of choice, it is planned and supported by the government of the United States, acting on behalf of the American taxpayer. It’s time the media report the full extent of the US role in prolonging the suffering in the Middle East’s poorest country so that voters can pressure their elected representatives into bringing an end to this senseless violence.
The lives of the next busload of Yemeni school kids depends on it.
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RT
Turkey's Erdogan says attack on economy no different from attack on flag amid US pressure
August 20, 2018
FILE PHOTO: Turkish national flag © Yannis Behrakis / Reuters
An attack on the Turkish economy is no different from a strike against the flag, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, referring to US economic pressure on his country.
"The attack on our economy has absolutely no difference from attacks on our call to prayer and our flag,” he said referring to the recent Turkish currency crisis, triggered by US economic pressure.
Erdogan spoke in a video message ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival.
“The goal is the same. The goal is to bring Turkey and the Turkish people to their knees, to take it prisoner."
"Those who think they can make Turkey give in with the exchange rate will soon see that they are mistaken," Erdogan added.
Turkey’s national currency, the lira, has recently plunged to unprecedented lows amid the rift between the two NATO allies, Ankara and Washington. Earlier, the Turkish leader called on the country’s citizens to sell foreign currencies to support the lira in “domestic and national struggle.”
Relations between the US and Turkey have been souring lately, with another downshift occurring after a Turkish court rejected an appeal for release from US pastor Andrew Brunson. The decision triggered an angry reaction from US President Donald Trump, who said Washington would not take the matter “sitting down.”
The two NATO allies have also been engaged in what appears to be another trade war for America. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkish imports. In response Ankara announced tariffs on imports of certain goods from the US, including cars, alcohol, and tobacco.
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RT
‘Secret directive’ bans UN agencies from helping rebuild Syria until ‘political transition’ – Lavrov
August 20, 2018
Yarmouk Refugee Camp liberated from terrorists in Syria. © Mikhail Voskresenskiy / Sputnik
Washington’s “absolutely deconstructive” stance is hampering the rebuilding of Syria and constricts the UN in aiding the country until a so called ‘political transition’ takes place, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, said.
“We addressed UNESCO on how they plan to implement the longtime talks, the longtime understanding on attracting the potential of this organization to rebuilding Palmyra,” an ancient city, regarded by the agency as a World Heritage Site, Lavrov said. “From the explanations of why UNESCO has still been unable to get involved in this process actively, we took that there was some kind of a directive from the United Nations headquarters in New York.
He said that the UN Secretariat, which is the organizations’ executive arms, has “actually issued and distributed a secret directive throughout the UN system in October last year that prohibited the agencies included in this system from participating in any kind of projects aimed at restoring the Syrian economy.”
“Only humanitarian aid and nothing more” was allowed, the minister told the journalists after talks with Lebanese counterpart, Gebran Bassil, in Moscow. “A term was put forward that restoration of Syria would only be on the agenda after a certain progress is made in the so-called political transition” in the country, he added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said that due to the “absolutely deconstructive” stance of the US one also shouldn’t expect any positive decisions on rebuilding Syria and return of refugees to the country from the UN Security Council.
He reminded that following the talks between US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, last week, Washington said that that “any discussion of reconstruction was premature absent a political solution” in Syria.
Lavrov pointed out that such demands are only put forward by the Americans for areas liberated from terrorist and controlled by the Syrian government in Damascus.
“As for the areas held by often non-constructive opposition forces, cooperating with the US… the restoration processes there is, on the contrary, in full swing. Furthermore, the US attracts a number of its allies to funding these activities,” he said.
According to the minister, Washington’s actions contradict the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 from 2015, which stressed the “critical need to build conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees… and the rehabilitation of affected area” in Syria.
Moscow is going to continue working with the countries that “understand the urgency of the proposed measures for the return of refugees and creation of necessary conditions for them,” Lavrov said. He mentioned Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey as well as the European countries, in which “there is a growing awareness of the need for concrete steps” in Syria, among such states.
Resolution 2254 speaks about a constitutional reform and free election in Syria, but the US and its allies have been pushing for President Bashar Assad to be removed from the process, despite him being a democratically elected leader, whose popularity only increased after most of the country was liberated from terrorists with help of Russia, Iran and other allies.
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RUSSIA INSIDER
WATCH: Russian Warplanes Practice Landing on a Road
August 17, 2018
Videos showing warplanes landing on a road in Russia’s Far East have surfaced on social media. Drivers had to wait for hours as the army blocked the road for a military drill – but at least they got to see a highly unusual show.
Footage, apparently shot by motorists in the Khabarovsk region, captured low-altitude passes and landings of warplanes and military transport aircraft. As the planes buzz right above the vehicles, they land smoothly on the road ahead.
A post shared by Наша Гавань (@nashagavan) on Aug 15, 2018 at 4:04pm PDT
The highly unusual stunts were part of the ‘Vostok-2018’ military drill, which involved Su-25 attack aircraft, Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets, MiG-31 interceptors, and various cargo planes.
The road in question has a so-called ‘airfield section,’ specifically designed for aircraft landings. Such sections are built for assisting air force deployments during war. In peacetime, they can be used as emergency landing strips for commercial flights.
Paul Craig Roberts
Genocide of the Greek Nation
August 21, 2018
Genocide of the Greek Nation
Paul Craig Roberts
The political and media coverup of the genocide of the Greek Nation began yesterday (August 20) with European Union and other political statements announcing that the Greek Crisis is over. What they mean is that Greece is over, dead, and done with. It has been exploited to the limit, and the carcas has been thrown to the dogs.
350,000 Greeks, mainly the young and professionals, have fled dead Greece. The birth rate is far below the rate necessary to sustain the remaining population. The austerity imposed on the Greek people by the EU, the IMF, and the Greek government has resulted in the contraction of the Greek economy by 25%. The decline is the equivalent of America’s Great Depression, but in Greece the effects were worst. President Franklin D. Roosevelt softened the impact of massive unemployment with the Social Security Act other elements of a social safety net such as deposit insurance, and public works programs, whereas the Greek government following the orders from the IMF and EU worsened the impact of massive unemployment by stripping away the social safety net.
Traditionally, when a sovereign country, whether by corruption, mismanagement, bad luck, or unexpected events, found itself unable to repay its debts, the country’s creditors wrote down the debts to the level that the indebted country could service.
With Greece there was a game change. The European Central Bank, led by Jean-Claude Trichet, and the International Monetary Fund ruled that Greece had to pay the full amount of interest and principal on its government bonds held by German, Dutch, French, and Italian banks.
How was this to be achieved?
In two ways, both of which greatly worsened the crisis, leaving Greece today in a far worst position that it was in at the beginning of the crisis almost a decade ago.
At the beginning of the “crisis,” which would have easily been resolved by writing down part of the debt, the Greek debt was 129% of Greek Gross Domestic Product. Today Greek debt is 180% of GDP.
Why?
Greece was lent more money to pay interest to Greece’s creditors, so that they would not have to lose one cent. The additonal lending, called a “bailout” by the presstitute financial media, was not a bailout of Greece. It was a bailout of Greece’s creditors.
The Obama regime encouraged this bailout, because the American banks, expecting a bailout, had sold credit default swaps on Greek debt. Without a bailout the US banks would have lost their bet and paid default insurance on Greek Bonds.
Additionally, Greece was required to sell its public assets to foreigners and to decimate the Greek social safety net, reducing pensions, for example, to below subsistance incomes and so radically reducing medical care that people die before they can get treatment.
If memory serves, China bought the Greek seaports. Germay bought the airport. Various German and European entities bought the Greek municipal water companies. Real estate speculators bought protected Greek Islands for real estate development.
This plunder of Greek public property did not go toward reducing the debt that Greek owed. It went, along with the new loans, to paying the interest.
The debt, larger than ever still stands. The economy is smaller than ever as is the Greek population that bears the debt.
The declaration that the Greek crisis is over is merely a statement that there is nothing left to extract from the Greek people for the interest of the foreign banks. Greece is sinking fast. All of the income associated with sea ports, airport, municipal utilities, and the rest of public property that was forcibly privatized now belongs to foreigners who take the money out of the country, thus further driving down the Greek economy.
The Greeks have not only had their economic future stolen from them. They have also lost their sovereignty. Greece is not a sovereign nation. It is ruled by the EU and the IMF. In my 2013 book, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism, in Part III, “The End of Sovereignty,” I described clearly how this was done.
The Greek people were betrayed by the Tsipras government. They had the option of revolting and using violence to overthrow the government that sold them out to international bankers. Instead, the Greeks accepted their own destruction and did nothing. Essentially, the Greek population committed mass suicide.
The world financial crisis of 2008 is not over. It has been swept under the rug of massive money creation by the US, EU, UK, and Japanese central banks. The creation of money has far outpaced the growth of real output and has driven up values of financial assets beyond what can be supported by “conditions on the ground.”
How this crisis plays out remains to be seen. It could result in the destruction of Western civilization. Will Dog eat dog? After Greece, will it be Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Australia, Canada, until none are left?
The entirety of the Western World lives in lies fomented by powerful economic interest groups to serve their interests. There is no independent media except online, and those elements are being demonized and denied access. Peoples who live in a world of controlled information have no idea of what is happening to them. Therefore, they cannot act in their interest.
RT
Iran, Venezuela & Turkey reveal gold’s true value when paper money becomes worthless – analyst to RT
August 18, 2018
© Leonhard Foeger / Reuters
The world will inevitably dip into crisis, with gold and silver again emerging as real money, Claudio Grass, an independent precious metals adviser and Mises ambassador told RT.
“People today, especially in the West, have forgotten that paper money used to be a mere property title for a certain amount of gold or silver. Today, paper money is nothing more than a debt security. It is nothing more but collateral: the promise of the former generation that the future generation will pay off the debt via taxes and inflation,” said Grass.
The analyst gives examples of Iran, Venezuela and Turkey, whose currencies crashed against the US dollar, and people rushed to buy gold and other precious metals instead.
"A rising gold price is the barometer that shows that there is something wrong with the system. When the price of gold is rising, the last person on the street understands that there is something wrong with the economy,” he said.
“And I also have no doubt that the next crisis will be not regional, but global. All markets are manipulated, from the bond, to the stock and real estate market, into bubble territory. What can be said with certainty of gold and silver, is that even if the price might come down in the short term with a strengthening USD, this will only lay the ground for the next great bull market,” Grass added.
Grass notes that as paper money loses its purchasing power when governments print more, this creates a few winners, but many more losers. It will only create a larger discontent among people, adding more pressure on fiat money.
“Fiat currencies are only supported by trust and belief in institutions, which are now facing a historic crisis, across the board. As more and more citizens, especially in the West, begin to question more, to do their own homework instead of accepting things at face value, and to look for alternative solutions, I believe that fiat money, and perhaps the current monetary system at large, will eventually succumb under this pressure,” Grass.
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RT
Japan & China slashing US sovereign debt is Washington's worst nightmare
August 17, 2018
© Glenn Waters / Getty Images
Latest figures from the US Treasury Department show that Russia and Turkey are not the only countries to dump US debt bonds. Washington’s second-biggest creditor, Japan, is doing the same.
Tokyo dumped $82.9 billion, or seven percent of its US Treasuries holdings, over the twelve months ending in June - the latest month for which data is available.
In June alone, the country sold off $18.4 billion worth of the US securities. Japan’s holding as of June totals $1.03 trillion, the lowest since October 2011, though the country still remains the second-biggest holder of US debt.
China, the biggest holder of the US sovereign debt at $1.178 trillion, sold $4.4 billion worth of the US bonds in June. Since October 2011, China’s share of US Treasuries has declined by $138 billion. A fairly insignificant amount, but the escalating trade conflict with Washington could prompt Beijing to start massively dumping its holdings. The move could spell disaster for the US financial system.
Liquidating US Treasuries, one of the world's safest and most actively-traded financial assets, has recently become a trend among major holders. Russia dumped 84 percent of its holdings this year, with its remaining holdings as of June totaling just $14.9 billion. With relations between Moscow and Washington at their lowest point in decades, the Central Bank of Russia explained the decision was based on financial, economic and geopolitical risks.
At the same time, Turkey fell off the list of major foreign holders of US government securities by slashing its share of US bonds and notes to $28.8 billion in June from $32.6 billion in May. Turkey’s holding of US Treasuries has fallen by 42 percent during the first half of the year.
Ankara and Washington are in a diplomatic standoff over the detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey. Brunson has been charged with assisting the failed military coup two years ago. He faces 35 years in a Turkish prison.
A treasury bond is a fixed-interest government debt security with a maturity of more than 10 years. Treasury bonds make interest payments two times a year. Financial instruments such as government bonds are vital for countries that are used to living on credit. US Treasuries are critical to the US government's ability to borrow money to balance the budget.
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RT
Land seizures begin in South Africa after owners refuse govt lowball buyout offer - report
August 20, 2018
© Uwe Skrzypczak / Global Look Press
South African authorities have reportedly started seizing white-owned land after negotiations on buying out the properties stalled. The first seizures are targeting game farms in the Northern province of Limpopo.
The government had tried to buy the lands owned by Akkerland Boerdery Ventures for one-tenth of the land’s value, reports City Press, a Johannesburg-based news outlet. The company, which has been running a 3200 hectare (32 square kilometers) game farm, reportedly asked for 200 million rand ($18.7 million) for the land while the government was ready to offer them just 20 million rand.
“Notice is hereby given that a terrain inspection will be held on the farms on April 5, 2018 at 10 a.m. in order to conduct an audit of the assets and a handover of the farm’s keys to the state,” reads the letter received by Akkerland Boerdery earlier this year.
The land owners immediately tried to get an injunction to prevent expropriation until a court had ruled on the issue. However, the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs reportedly refused the application.
“What makes the Akkerland case unique is that they apparently were not given the opportunity to first dispute the claim in court, as the law requires,” spokeswoman for the agricultural industry association AgriSA told the media.
So far, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) hasn’t revealed details of the farms being targeted and has attempted to calm investor fears. The proposed seizures were “tied to addressing the injustices of the past,” according to the ANC.
“Over time I think the markets as well as investors will appreciate that what we are doing is creating policy certainty and creating the conditions for future investment,” the ANC spokesman said as quoted by the media.
South Africa is currently undergoing controversial land reform, proposed by the ANC led by the President Cyril Ramaphosa. The measure that involves taking land away from white farmers and distributing it to black citizens of the country, has sparked an international outrage with experts expecting the investment climate as well as the agricultural industry to suffer.
“You shouldn’t own more than 25,000 acres of land. Therefore if you own more, it should be taken without compensation,”ANC chairman Gwede Mantashe said last week, sparking a panic among the farming community.
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ASIA TIMES
Hundreds killed, 30,000 stuck on rooftops in Kerala
Well over 300 have been killed and more than 800,000 forced to flee to camps by widespread flooding in the south Indian state after nearly two weeks of heavy rain
BY REJIMON KUTTAPPAN AUGUST 20, 2018
India's southernmost state has been hit by its worst floods in 100 years. Photo: Rejimon Kuttappan
After nine days of incessant rain, there has been little respite from heavy downpours in the south Indian state of Kerala. Moreover, the opening of some 80 dams, including five sluice gates of the Idukki Dam, Asia’s biggest arch dam, resulted in the Periyar and Pamba Rivers overflowing.
While the government has downgraded the alert announced in Kerala on August 9, weeks of heavy rain have caused unprecedented flooding.
Some described it as one of the worst deluges in a century. Many towns and cities were marooned – Munnar, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Aluva, Kottayam and Alappuzha (formerly Allepey).
About 800,000 people had to seek refuge in thousands of camps across the state from May 29 up till August 18, a senior official from the state disaster management authority said.
“In 3,177 camps, there are 846,250 people,” the official told Asia Times.
On August 17, the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan had tweeted that 324 lives were lost between May 29 and August 17.
While water levels are receding in many places, people in emergency camps have faced a shortage of food, medicine, clothes and even lamps.
Road, rail and air networks are been hit hard.
With roads flooded and cut off in many places, it became difficult for supplies of relief collected by the government and civil society groups to reach many camps and locations.
“There is even a shortage of sanitary napkins for women in some camps. What to do? They all ran for their lives with rescuers. The situation is worsening,” Madhu M, one of many stuck in camps in Aluva, told Asia Times.
Aluva city, on the banks of Periyar, was totally submerged after days of rain, which caused the river to overflow. Meanwhile, the Pamba River also burst its banks and caused an unprecedented situation in Chengannur in Alappuzha district.
30,000 stuck on rooftops
Saji Cherian, the MLA for Chengannur, said that around 30,000 people still needed to be rescued from marooned houses.
“Navy boats and helicopters are helping a lot. However, fishermen and their boats have been successful in entering every nook and cranny in the area. We were able to rescue thousands today. However, still, there are around 30,000 stranded on rooftops of the houses waiting for help,” the MLA said.
In addition to government rescue forces, help was sought from fishing crews from different coastal areas.
In Chengannur itself, there were 65 fishing boats, four helicopters, five military boats and four 100-member strong army teams deployed for rescue work. Meanwhile, there were unconfirmed reports coming that people saw dead bodies floating in the area.
Saji Cherian told a TV channel on Friday night that the situation would get worse and the death toll in the town would reach 10,000 – nearly half the population. Food had to be supplied via helicopters.
But rescue worker Roy John said they had been able to access remote areas as water levels started receding.
“For the last three days, it was quite hard. We were not able to reach many places. We may have attended around 5,000 calls in the last three days. We were only able to locate and rescue a dozen, but we were able to transport food to camps and coordinate with other rescuers. The fishermen from coastal areas who came with boats did a great job in Chengannur,” Roy said.
57 NDRF teams
In addition to volunteers, 57 teams from the National Disaster Response Force – about 1,300 personnel – were deployed with 435 boats for search and rescue work.
Five companies of Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force and Rapid Action Forces were also deployed to carry out rescue and relief measures.
The Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard all sent teams, with a total of 38 helicopters for rescue and relief work, while 20 aircraft were being used to ferry resources.
The Army deployed 10 columns and 10 teams from the Engineering Task Force – around 790 trained personnel, while the Navy provided 82 teams and the Coast Guard a further 42 teams, plus two helicopters and two ships.
Modi announces $72m in aid
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew down to Kerala from New Delhi and to assess the crisis. He announced five billion rupees (about US$72 million) in immediate relief for the state. This was on top of a billion rupees announced by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 12. Modi also assured Kerala that relief material such as food grain and medicine would be provided, as requested.
However, the PM had yet to declare the Kerala floods a national disaster, which would put the onus on New Delhi to provide 100% assistance if the state government’s disaster funding is unable to meet requirements.
However, Modi said the next of kin for all of the people killed would get ex-gratia payments of 200,000 rupees (US$2,866) from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Funds, while there would be 50,000 rupees ($716) for those seriously injured. He also directed the National Highways Authority to repair the main roads damaged by the floods as a priority.
Other states have are also sending aid – 200 million rupees from Maharashtra, plus 150m from Uttar Pradesh, 100m from Gujarat, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, and 50m from Jharkhand. And while Tamil Nadu was at loggerheads with Kerala on lowering the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam, the neighboring state said it would send 100 million rupees of aid in two phases.
Currently, people with access to vehicles are rushing relief to different camps. Mini Mohan, a social activist who has been involved in relief operations from the first day, said Kerala could overcome the crisis if everyone pitched in.
“Nobody has seen such a disaster. Property loss is huge. But let’s forget that now. Let’s take the basic needs of stranded people. Many are still stuck in remote areas. In two days, the situation may better,” she said.
Meanwhile, a senior official with the state health department, said an elaborate action plan had been prepared to prevent the outbreak of communicable diseases when the floodwater recedes. “It will help people to remain safe and avert health emergencies for people residing in relief camps or when they are ready to return to their homes,” he said.
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INDEPENDENT
London workers are queuing up for free food because they can't afford to eat
Growing number of people forced to choose between rent and food as cost of living continues to soar
May Bulman Social Affairs Correspondent
During rush hour on one of London’s most affluent streets, amid the bustle of the Strand, an orderly queue is forming. Dozens of people stand patiently, and hungrily, waiting for their dinner.
The gathering, near Charing Cross station, comprises people of all ages and ethnicities. Some look visibly homeless, clutching large carrier bags containing their worldly possessions. Others wear work clothes. Despite having a job, they can’t afford to eat.
Piles of food packages await under a pink gazebo. As volunteers hand them out, bread and pastries are scoffed into hungry mouths. Many people eat standing up; others find a picnic spot on the ground; some leave to take food home.
Commuters passing by on the main road peer curiously before rushing on. Well-dressed couples cut through the snaking queue on their way to the theatre. “It’s a disgrace!” shrills one woman wearing a large pearl necklace as she and her husband saunter away.
Toney Kane is a 39-year-old mother-of-three who comes to the handout every week. She explains she has spent five of the past eight years homeless with her children, who are now in their 20s. They came to London from Hull after she found herself trapped in an abusive relationship.
“I didn’t get any help. I asked if I could be moved and they said [they would move] us into a property just a few streets away from him. I just wanted to get out,” she told The Independent. “That’s when I decided to move out of Hull.
“We were supposed to move in with family in Woking, but they left us stuck at King’s Cross station. We had to stay on the streets. When we first came, people used to rob off us. In the winter the snow would just come down on us. Nobody would help.”
Ms Kane and her children were on the streets for nearly three years before they were given a council flat. They were then evicted because she complained, at which point they became homeless again. She is now in another flat, but says she is in the process of being evicted again.
“If you sit down and beg, yeah you do get given food, but it’s not going to be every day,” she says. “That’s why this place is so important.”
Emmanouil Grammatikopoulos, 38, smiles gratefully as he is handed a food parcel. He has been sleeping rough in London for nearly two years, after leaving Greece in the wake of the financial crash. He takes construction jobs and sends money home to his wife and baby daughter. His wife doesn’t know he is homeless.
“I cannot pay to rent in London. It’s very expensive – even one room. If I pay for a room here in London, I cannot pay the rent for my wife and three-year-old daughter at home. I must give the money to them,” he explains.
“I could make only 25 euros a day in Greece after the crash, so I came here. I work all the time, for construction agencies. They pay me so I try to do my best.
“When you sleep in the streets and you have to wake up at 6am to go to your job, it’s a little hard. When you finish you don’t have a place to have a shower. You don’t rest properly to be ready for the next day. But I can do it for now. I’m grateful for that because I have work.”
Walking away from the gazebo, another EU national, who didn’t want to give his name, grips a paper cup of steaming tea with a plastic bag of newly retrieved food hanging from his wrist. He looks smart in a sky blue shirt, navy trousers and black shoes, and laughs when asked if he is homeless.
“No, I have a room, but I share with three other people,” he says, explaining his bedroom is where three other men sleep. He pays £60 per week for rent. “Yes, I work. But this is what I can afford.”
Richard, 62, is smartly dressed in a white shirt that matches the colour of his bristly beard. He is well spoken and well-versed in the political rhetoric on homelessness. You wouldn’t expect him to be rough sleeping.
A pensioner who used to work in the operating department of a hospital, he is living off his NHS pension of just £350 a month. When his mother died two years ago, his life fell apart and he got evicted from his flat.
“I’ve been homeless for a year. It’s not easy, especially when the weather gets bad,” he says. ”Washing and showering can be really difficult. But how can I ever get a deposit? The rents are so expensive. The landlords can charge what they want.”
Chatting jovially to people as they wait in the queue is Steven Stuart, founder of the Friends of Essex and London Homeless charity, which provides the food handouts in the same spot every Wednesday evening.
“When we first started we had about 30 or 40 people each time, now we have anywhere between 150 and 250. It’s an opportunity for people to get some food, so that they can still pay that bill to have somewhere to live,” he says.
“We find that people are not homeless as we know it. A lot of people are homeless and working. We get Deliveroo drivers quite a lot. There’s a road sweeper who picks up the rubbish who comes along sometimes. He’s not homeless, but I wouldn’t imagine he’s earning a great amount of money.
“A lot of people [are] no different to you and I. Rents outstrip wages by so much these days and people are losing their jobs all the time. Some people have just taken a left turn and need a bit of help.”
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MailOnline
Sales of 'dumb phones' rise by 5% as more people ditch their iPhones for devices that can only make and receive calls
Devices, known as 'feature phones', allow users only to make and receive calls
The no-frills handsets, such as Nokia 8110, are also popular with older shoppers
Psychologist Dr Daria Kuss said some smartphone users 'may be aware that they're using it too much, however they can't stop themselves'
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 00:53, 20 August 2018 | UPDATED: 01:49, 20 August 2018
Sales of 'dumb phones' have risen as more and more of us attempt to escape smartphones and social media, figures have revealed.
The devices, also known as 'feature phones', allow users only to make and receive calls, and do not feature the internet or other apps.
They are seen as a way to switch off from constant online connectivity.
The no-frills handsets – such as the Nokia 8110, are also popular with older shoppers who want an easy-to-use device
The no-frills handsets – such as the Nokia 8110, are also popular with older shoppers who want an easy-to-use device.
While global sales of smartphones increased by just 2 per cent last year, sales of 'dumb phones' rose by 5 per cent, the figures show.
It comes after a report by Ofcom found that 78 per cent of Britons admitted they could not live without their smartphone, spending an average of two hours and 28 minutes online on it each day.
Psychologist Dr Daria Kuss said some smartphone users 'may be aware that they're using it too much, however they can't stop themselves'.
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RT
Italian ultras want ‘women, wives & girlfriends’ banned from stadium's ‘sacred space'
August 20, 2018
Tony Gentile / Reuters
Die-hard supporters of Italian Serie A side SS Lazio have produced a letter calling for "women, wives and girlfriends" to be banned from a "sacred" section of Curva Nord at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
Hardcore fans distributed a flyer before their team’s league opener at the stadium versus Napoli on Saturday - a 2-1 home defeat - which described the first 10 rows of the section, known for housing the team's most vocal fans, as "trenches" not to be utilised as the setting for a “romantic” day out.
“The Curva Nord represents for us a sacred space, an environment with an unwritten code to be respected,” read the flyer, AP reported.
“The first few rows, as always, have been experienced like the trenches. In the trenches, we do not allow women, wives and girlfriends, so we invite them to position themselves from the 10th row back.
“Those who choose the stadium as an alternative to a carefree and romantic day in (Rome’s) Villa Borghese (gardens), should go to other sections.”
The flyer is signed "Direttivo Diabolik Pluto", who is one of the leaders of a group of Lazio ultra group ‘Irriducibili’.
The Curva Nord is also where Irriducibili also made headlines last season by placing anti-Semitic stickers depicting holocaust victim Anne Frank in a shirt of arch-rivals AS Roma onto the stadium walls.
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WAKING TIMES
THE LIST OF PRODUCTS AND FOODS THAT HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR MONSANTO’S CARCINOGENIC GLYPHOSATE
August 17, 2018
Alex Pietrowski, Staff Writer
Monsanto is receiving considerable global backlash after the agrochemical and seed giant was found guilty of malice and of covering the fact that their flagship product can cause cancer.
At issue is glyphosate, the active chemical ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and Ranger herbicides. For years, evidence has been mounting that glyphosate is carcinogenic, which is quite alarming considering that it is the most widely used (and overused) agricultural chemical ever.
“Americans have applied 1.8 million tons of glyphosate since its introduction in 1974. Worldwide, 9.4 million tons of the chemical have been sprayed onto fields. For comparison, that’s equivalent to the weight of water in more than 2,300 Olympic-size swimming pools. It’s also enough to spray nearly half a pound of Roundup on every cultivated acre of land in the world.” ~Newsweek
Glyphosate is so prevalent in our environment that trace amounts of it is now found in a wide variety of consumer products, including foods and personal hygiene products, in the human body, and in water supplies.
To some scientists and related officials, none of these products individually contain high enough levels of glyphosate to pose a health risk, however, others argue that consuming trace amounts leads to dangerous accumulations within the body, as it is known to bio-accumulate in major organs and bones.
The, “EPA’s high-end estimate of infant exposure to glyphosate exceeds the level the Agency considered safe for them in 1983.” [Newseweek]
The following list of products that have tested positive for glyphosate is quite unsettling, and the retailers who sell these products would do well for themselves to take the lead in calling for an outright ban on glyphosate.
Products and Foods Which Have Tested Positive for Glyphosate Contamination
Wheat
Breakfast Cereals & Snack Foods as tested by DetoxProject (2016)
Original Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios
Wheaties
Trix
Annie’s Gluten Free Bunny Cookies Cocoa & Vanilla
Kellog’s Corn Flakes
Kellog’s Raisin Bran
Kashi Organic Promise
Kellog’s Special K
Kellog’s Frosted Flakes
Cheez-It Original
Cheez-It Whole Grain
Kashi Soft Bake Cookies, Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate
Ritz Crackers
Triscuit Crackers
Oreo Original
Oreo Double Stuf Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Oreo Double Stuf Golden Sandwich Cookies
Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips (Frito-Lay)
Lay’s: Kettle Cooked Original
Doritos: Cool Ranch
Fritos (Original) (100% Whole Grain)
Goldfish crackers original (Pepperidge Farm)
Goldfish crackers colors
Goldfish crackers Whole Grain
Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies
Oatmeal Cookies Gluten Free
365 Organic Golden Round Crackers
Back to Nature Crispy Cheddar Crackers
Breakfast Cereals as Tested by the Environmental Working Group (2018)
Granola
Nature’s Path Organic Honey Almond granola
Back to Nature Classic Granola
Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey, Raisins & Almonds
Back to Nature Banana Walnut Granola Clusters
Nature Valley Granola Protein Oats ‘n Honey
KIND Vanilla, Blueberry Clusters with Flax Seeds
Instant Oats
Giant Instant Oatmeal, Original Flavor
Simple Truth Organic Instant Oatmeal, Original
Quaker Dinosaur Eggs, Brown Sugar, Instant Oatmeal
Great Value Original Instant Oatmeal
Umpqua Oats, Maple Pecan
Market Pantry Instant Oatmeal, Strawberries & Cream
Oat Breakfast Cereal
Kashi Heart to Heart Organic Honey Toasted cereal
Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal
Lucky Charms
Barbara’s Multigrain Spoonfuls, Original, Cereal
Kellogg’s Cracklin’ Oat Bran oat cereal
Snack Bar
Cascadian Farm Organic Harvest Berry, granola bar
KIND Oats & Honey with Toasted Coconut
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars, Oats ‘n Honey
Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip granola bar
Kellogg’s Nutrigrain Soft Baked Breakfast Bars, Strawberry
Whole Oats
365 Organic Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
Quaker Steel Cut Oats
Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats
Nature’s Path Organic Old Fashioned Organic Oats
Whole Foods Bulk Bin conventional rolled oats
Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (4 samples tested)
Orange Juice Brands as Tested by Moms Across America (2017)
Tropicana
Minute Maid
Stater Bros.
Signature Farms
Kirkland
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Creams
Staple Crops as Reported by Friends of the Earth Europe (2013)
Soybeans
Soybean fodder
Cotton seed
Maize grain
Sorghum
Cotton seed
Maize grain
Barley straw and fodder Grass hay
Lentils
Sweetcorn
Sugar beet
Miscellaneous
Women’s Feminine Hygiene Products
Human Breast Milk as Reported by Mercola (2014)
Certain Vaccines
Cotton Clothing Products
Rainwater Samples (2014)
Human Urine samples
Groundwater Supplies
Final Thoughts
Additionally, it is believed by some that many products containing GMO’s are at risk of contamination, since glyphosate use has skyrocketed with the development of GMO staple crops.
The struggle to remove glyphosate from the market place and retire it from use forever is well-underway. Please share this list far and wide, add any additional testing that you find to the comment section below, and pressure your favorite retailers to take these products off the shelves.
***
Until
next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions
“And
the men of the city said to Elisaie, Behold, the situation of the
city is good, as our lord sees; but the waters are bad, and the
ground barren. And Elisaie said, Bring me a new pitcher, and put salt
in it. And they took one, and brought it to him. And Elisaie went
out to the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and says,
Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be
any longer death thence or barren land. And the waters were healed
until this day, according to the word of Elisaie which he spoke.”
(2 Kings 2:19-22)