Abortionists Chant “Hail Satan” as Christians Sing Amazing Grace
As Texas gears up to push legislation that would prohibit late term abortions — those conducted after 20 weeks — Christian activists in the Texas State Capitol sang “Amazing Grace.” Abortion rights activists, there to support killing kids, tried to shout down the Christians by chanting “Hail Satan.” These people support the party that booed the inclusion of God in the Democratic platform. See the video.
- Their true colors are showing through as they wittingly and unwittingly advance Satan’s agenda
Polygamists Celebrate Supreme Court Marriage Decisions
Across America in June, homosexuals gathered in so-called “pride parades.” This year, they celebrated the recent Supreme Court decisions regarding the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 — but they’re not the only ones celebrating. Polygamists are celebrating too. “We’re very happy with it,” said Joe Darger, a Utah polygamist. “I think [the court] has taken a step in correcting some inequality, and that’s certainly something that’s going to trickle down and impact us.” Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said: “Proponents of ‘plural marriages’ are riding the homosexual movement’s wave of success all the way to legitimacy. They’re using the same playbook, the same sound bites. … After all, who are we to say that two or three or nine consenting adults shouldn’t be able to make the same commitment? Love is love, right?”
- Destroying God’s ordained family structure is one of Satan’s key end-time strategies
Record Number of Single Dads Head U.S. Households
Single dads are on the rise in the United States, heading a record 8 percent of American households with kids, according to a new analysis by the Pew Research Center. There were 2.6 million households led by a single father in 2011, a nine-fold increase from 1960 when that number was fewer than 300,000, Pew found. This means that men now lead about a quarter of all single-parent families. The trend underscores the decades-long decline of the two-married-parent model of the American family. Today, about two-thirds of U.S. households with kids are led by a married couple, down from more than nine in 10 in 1960.
Belgium Weighing Euthanasia for Children
Belgium appears on the verge of becoming the first developed country to legalize euthanasia for children, Baptist Press reports. The Belgian Federal Parliament reportedly has a consensus for passing legislation that would permit some seriously ill children to choose to die by euthanasia, according to the International Business Times, which based its reporting on an article in the Belgian newspaper Der Morgen. To conduct euthanasia, a physician administers a lethal dose of drugs that takes a patient’s life. Belgian legislators are considering a bill that would guide doctors in determining if a child’s health is serious enough to merit euthanasia and whether he is mature enough to decide to end his life, according to the June 11 report. Euthanasia of children is a reality now, according to the testimony of the head of the intensive care unit at Fabiola Hospital in Brussels. “We all know that euthanasia is already practiced on children,” he told a Senate committee. The Netherlands has not legalized euthanasia for children but has agreed since 2005 not to prosecute doctors who follow a set of rules while performing euthanasia on some minors.
Implementation of Obamacare Delayed
Businesses reacted with relief to the Obama administration’s decision to give large and midsize employers until 2015 to provide health care coverage for their workers or face fines. Before the administration’s announcement Tuesday, businesses with 50 or more employees had to provide affordable coverage to their full-time employees starting Jan. 1 or risk a series of penalties if even one worker ended up getting government-subsidized insurance. Reaction marked a divide between representatives of big business, who mostly provide insurance already and were focused on complying with complex new reporting rules, and representatives of small business who said they need much bigger changes. Small-business groups that opposed Obamacare entirely said the move didn’t go far enough. They are still lobbying for changes that will mandate coverage only for employees who work at least 40 hours a week, rather than 30.
100 anti-NSA Protests in U.S.
Americans outraged by the federal government’s spying programs took to the streets on Independence Day for “Restore the Fourth” protests in an estimated 100 American cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Memphis and Miami, plus international cities such as London and Munich. The “Restore the Fourth” national protest was named after the Fourth Amendment, which was intended to protect Americans against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” NSA’s PRISM online surveillance program was exposed by Edward Snowden only weeks ago. Americans soon learned that at least nine Internet companies reportedly submitted to government surveillance of their servers: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Facebook, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL and Apple.
Economic News
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 343,000 last week, a sign that layoffs remain low and companies are adding a modest number of jobs. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits are a proxy for layoffs. Since March, they have fluctuated roughly between 340,000 and 360,000, a level consistent with steady hiring.
Employers added a better-than-expected 195,000 jobs in June, as the labor market continued to withstand huge federal spending cuts and tax increases, and a Eurozone recession. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.6%, the Labor Department said Friday. In June businesses added 202,000 jobs, while federal state and local governments cut 7,000.
Home sales have hit pre-recession levels and consumer confidence has surged for three straight months. But reports have shown consumer spending and manufacturing weakening. And last week, the government revised down its estimate for first-quarter economic growth to an annual rate of 1.8% from 2.4%.
The U.S. trade deficit increased in May to the highest level in six months as a weak global economy depressed U.S. export sales while imports of autos and other nonpetroleum products hit an all-time high. The trade deficit rose to $45 billion in May, up 12.1% from April’s $40.1 billion imbalance, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. It was the largest trade gap since last November. Exports slipped 0.3% to $187.1 billion as sales of American farm products dropped to the lowest point in more than two years. Imports rose 1.9% to $232.1 billion. The trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $501.2 billion, 6.3% lower than last year’s total of $534.7 billion.
U.S. manufacturing activity grew in June at its slowest pace in eight months as overseas demand dried up and firms took on the fewest new workers in more than three years, a survey showed on Monday.
U.S. home prices jumped 12.2% in May from a year ago, the most in seven years. The increase suggests the housing recovery is strengthening. Prices rose 26% in Nevada to lead all states. It was followed by California (20.2%), Arizona (16.9%), Hawaii (16.1%) and Oregon (15.5%). Prices rose 2.6% in May from April, the fifteenth straight month-over-month increase.
The price of regular-grade gasoline has fallen below $3.50 a gallon on average nationally just in time for the Fourth of July weekend. And it wasn’t just a tiny price drop. A gallon of regular fell eight cents during the week from $3.577 to $3.496. Among regions, the cheapest gas can still be found, as usual, on the refinery-rich Gulf Coast. There, it averaged $3.312 a gallon, down from $3.377 a gallon. And the priciest? In California, the country’s driving Mecca, gas still is tops at an average of $4.002 a gallon.
Eurozone
Political turmoil in Portugal is threatening to re-ignite Europe’s debt crisis after a year of relative calm. Having won praise for taking tough measures to restore the financial health of the eurozone state, Portugal’s government has been rocked this week by the resignation of two ministers who quit because of waning public support for its program of austerity. Anxious investors sold stocks and bonds heavily Wednesday on fears that the government may collapse. Its economy has paid a heavy price for the spending cuts and structural reforms demanded in return for the rescue loans. Gross domestic product is forecast to shrink by 2.3% in 2013, a third consecutive year of recession, and unemployment has hit a record high of close to 18%. Portugal signed up for a 78-billion euro bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund in 2011, and was hoping to exit the program in mid-2014.
Persecution Watch
Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad was beheaded last weekend by jihadi fighters, The Blaze reports. Murad, 49, who was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, was attacked at the monastery last Sunday by extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad. The Catholic news service quoted local sources who reported that the radical al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or Al-Nusra Front, was behind the savage killing. In video posted by Live Leak purporting to show the execution, dozens of men and boys are seen cheering on as three men are seated on the ground awaiting their grisly fate. The men are methodically beheaded one at a time by men holding what appears to be a simple kitchen knife, after which the heads are placed on top of the bodies. A frenzy ensues, with dozens drawing out their smartphones to capture the bloody scene, as a chorus of Allahu Akbar (“Allah is the greatest”) is sung. Catholic Online is raising alarm that western nations are providing support to the rebels who have shown a proclivity toward persecuting Christians: “This should make it clear to Christians around the world what jihadists are about. Make no mistake. Catholics and [other] Christians around the globe are under dire threat, particularly from the spread of militant Islam. Until the threat is recognized and taken seriously, martyrdoms like this will continue.”
Egypt
Egypt’s top judge, Adly Mansour, was sworn in as the nation’s interim president Thursday as the country grapples with uncertainty over its future, and as deposed leader Mohammed Morsi is under house arrest at an undisclosed location. The Muslim Brotherhood’s political party chief and deputy chief were also arrested early Thursday. Mansour will be Egypt’s interim president until a new election is held in the months ahead. A date for the vote has not yet been set. In his first remarks as the country’s new leader, Mansour, 67, who is the head of the High Constitutional Court, praised the massive street demonstrations that led to Morsi’s ouster. The momentous upheaval effectively ousted Morsi, the nation’s first democratically elected leader, and set the nation on a precarious path of transition. On Wednesday, the capital exploded in celebration, with fireworks erupting across the sky and thousands crowding into Tahrir Square. Flags waved from countless windows.
Egypt braced for more unrest Friday as Islamists were gathering to protest against what they are calling a military coup. A coalition of Islamist groups that includes the Muslim Brotherhood called for peaceful demonstrations on what they have dubbed a “Friday of Rejection.” The alliance said “It affirmed its full and categorical rejection of the military coup — against the President, the Constitution and democratic legitimacy — and all consequent actions and effects.” The ongoing political turmoil has sparked pockets of violence nationwide over the past week, killing around 50. Clashes erupted again on Thursday between Morsi’s opponents and supporters, this time in Morsi’s hometown, Zagazig, which is located in the Nile Delta region. Dozens were injured.
Syria
Syria’s main opposition bloc on Friday urged the international community to take action to protect civilians in the cities of Homs and Daraa that have been targeted by military as part of a government campaign to regain control of the territory it lost to the opposition. The government controls much of Homs, Syria’s third largest city, while several neighborhoods in the center are opposition strongholds. The appeal comes as opposition figures meet in Turkey to elect a new leadership, including an interim government that would try to run rebel-held territories in Syria. More than 93,000 people have been killed in the conflict that began as peaceful protests but turned into an armed revolt after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown.
Afghanistan
The Taliban launched a series of attacks at the start of the latest fighting season to test Afghanistan’s new security forces, but government forces have blunted the assaults and responded with offensive operations throughout the country, a top coalition operations officer said. The fighting has led to a spike in Afghan casualties as government forces have moved into a lead role in fighting the Taliban. This fighting season is considered a major test of the resolve and capabilities of Afghanistan’s armed forces and police, which are confronting insurgents as a largely independent force for the first time. The United States and its allies are functioning solely in a support role. Afghan militants armed with explosives and firearms attacked a NATO compound just outside of Kabul early Tuesday, killing seven people and wounding several others
Pakistan
Unmanned U.S. aircraft fired four missiles at a house in northwest Pakistan before dawn Wednesday, killing 16 suspected militants. The drone strike elicited a swift condemnation by the Pakistani government, which released a statement saying the strikes are a violation of its sovereignty. The suspected militants who were targeted were believed to be from the Afghan Haqqani network. U.S. officials consider the Haqqani network to be one of the most dangerous militant factions in neighboring Afghanistan. The leadership of the Haqqani network pledges allegiance to Taliban chief Mullah Omar but operates fairly independently.
Earthquakes
A strong earthquake struck Indonesia’s Aceh province on Tuesday, killing at least 235 people and leaving two others missing. More than 200 houses were damaged and dozens of villagers were injured. The magnitude-6.1 quake struck at a depth of just 10 kilometers (6 miles) and its epicenter was located 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of the town of Bireun on the western tip of Sumatra island. The worst-hit area was the district of Bener Meriah, where the quake caused a landslide that killed a man and left his wife and a young boy missing. Dozens of people were injured and are being treated at three hospitals.
Volcanoes
At least six U.S. airlines canceled more than 40 flights into and out of Mexico City and Toluca airports Thursday after the Popocatepetl volcano spewed out ash, steam and glowing rocks. Mexico City airport spokesman Jorge Gomez said U.S. Airways, Delta, United, American and Alaska Airlines canceled 47 flights as a precaution. But he said the airport otherwise continues to operate normally and that by Thursday afternoon no ash had reached the area. Federal civil protection authorities established a 7-mile (12-kilometer) safety radius around the Popocatepetl, which means no one can enter that area.
Wildfires
Containment on the Arizona wildfire that killed 19 firefighters over the weekend has nearly doubled. Fire officials say the Yarnell Hill Fire is 80 percent contained, up from 45 percent earlier in the day Thursday. On Sunday, violent winds took the Granite Mountain Hotshots by surprise and killed 19 members of the elite crew. The fire also destroyed more than 100 homes and has burned about 13 square miles. Residents of the small town of Yarnell remain evacuated.
As of Friday morning, there are currently forty large (over 100 acres) wildfires burning in the U.S. Eleven are in Alaska which have burned over 134,000 acres. Ten wildfires are burning in Nevada and have consumed over 84,000 acres. One of the three wildland fires in New Mexico has consumed over 138,000 acres (about 216 square miles) and is 78% contained. The West Fork Complex wildfire in Colorado has burned over 110,000 acres with evacuations and road closures still in effect.
A Palestinian jihadist group, Masada al Mujahideen, recently claimed credit for ongoing wildfires in Arizona in a statement posted to jihadist forums today. The statement, entitled Masada al-Mujahideen Fulfilled its Promise and Attacked America Again. “We had previously announced an unconventional war against the occupation state of Israel, and then we escalated this war to reach its main supporter, America, so that it receives a major share of it, which will destroy their flora and fauna, with permission from Allah and then with our hands,” the group said.
Weather
Excessive heat is the No. 1 weather killer in the United States and it’s at its most dangerous when it doesn’t cool down at night. The current heat wave over California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico has temperatures hitting triple digits, with little relief at night. Hot weather is also baking the rest of the far West, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Utah and Montana. At Death Valley National Park, the official high of 129 degrees at Furnace Creek Sunday established a new June record for that notoriously toasty site. There was no relief at night either. Phoenix set a record for highest nighttime temperature: 91. Las Vegas has gone three days without getting below 90 overnight. If you aren’t in an air-conditioned place, “your body never has a chance to recover” at night,” say Eli Jacks, chief of fire and public weather services at the National Weather Service.
What was warned about for months since last year’s deadly Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs finally happened: flash flooding near the burn scar that shoved debris into homes and moved vehicles. More than a half inch of rain fell in less than 20 minutes Monday, causing mud to flow into 20 houses in Manitou Springs and western Colorado Springs. At least three homes were total losses, and at least 11 vehicles were damaged. The downpour over the burn scar forced more than 160 people to briefly evacuate a low-lying trailer park, and it also closed U.S. 24 for several hours.
The world has warmed faster in the last decade than any other in recorded history (since the 1800s), as the 2001-2010 period brought “unprecedented” climate extremes and high-impact weather events around the world, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization released July 3. More than 90 percent of the countries in the WMO survey reported their warmest decade. The year 2010 was the world’s wettest since modern weather measurements began, while the full decade was the world’s second-wettest since 1901. The loss of more than 370,000 people can be attributed to extreme weather and climate events around the world between 2001 and 2010. The number of deaths is 20 percent higher than the previous decade, largely due to heat waves in Europe and Russia (in 2003 and 2010, respectively), which spiked the number of heat-related deaths from 6,000 worldwide in 1991-2000 to about 136,000 in 2001-2010.
- The key phrases here are ‘recorded history’ and ‘modern measurements’ which don’t include ice ages of the past nor other periods when the earth heated up. The Bible prophesies that we will see 100-pound hail stones in the Tribulation, so we know that weather will be getting more extreme (Rev. 16:21)
What’s turning many lakes around the world pink? It’s the presence of a certain kind of algae that turns these lakes pink, reports TheWorldGeography.com. Once the lake water reaches a higher salinity level than sea water and the temperature rises high enough, the reddish pigment beta carotene begins to accumulate in the algae and, according to a Daily Mail story, the lake turns a brilliant pink color. Pink lakes re found on nearly every continent now.
- Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. (Revelation 16:4)
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