Greetings from Tyler,
This week has brought more atrocities committed in the name of Islam. There was the brutal attack in Peshawar, Pakistan by agents of the Taliban, that saw 141 blown up or mowed down by gunfire, all but nine of whom were grade-school children. It is considered the worst ever “militant attack” in Pakistan where these types of killings have been anything but rare. These particular children attended a school primarily for children of military officers, and there was little doubt that swift retribution would follow. It did, and it is reported that so far, the Pakistani army has killed 62 Taliban members.
Then there was the Iranian criminal Muslim cleric who carried out the hostage crisis seen LIVE around the world from Sydney, Australia. How this leech upon civilization could have been free to roam about in light of the hideous crimes charged against him is one of the great mysteries of “cultural diversity.” The Australian authorities are still treating him, posthumously, as some kind of one-off nut job. Never mind the black flags, the headgear, or the vile letters he’d written to families of fallen soldiers in the war on terror. To say it had anything to do with Islam just won’t fly, even in Australia. There is much more on this in Murray’s update this week.
In another blow to our sense of liberty in the western world, you’ve surely been made aware of the terror threats against the movie theaters planning to screen a comedy lampooning the ruling runt of North Korea, sporting perhaps one of the worst haircuts on earth. The response was, as everybody knows by now, capitulation. With every capitalist concern in the western world, including everything from the banking system to the power grid, exposed to unknown “hackers”, the question troubling all our minds is—what further blackmail against our society will be brought to bear? What a stroke of brilliance it was to place everything, communications, financial transactions, military strategics and the power grid, on the internet! To complicate matters further, word now is that China may well have played a part in carrying out the “hack-attack.”
Russia looks to be in the midst of a currency meltdown. Its ruble has lost over half its value this year, falling another 11% this week alone. They’ve abruptly raised interest rates from 10% to 17% in order to stave off a run on banks, without success. Dramatic drops in the worldwide price of oil, the export of which Russia derives a major share of its income, are seen as largely to blame. It is difficult to know whether the currency failure will boomerang through other markets and economies, with European concerns bearing the most exposure.
In Germany, mass demonstrations, some 15,000 strong have broken out in the streets of several German cities, demanding a reversal of the mostly Muslim immigrant influx. German officials have been quick to label the demonstrators “neo-Nazis,” even though there is tremendous sympathy for the anti-Muslim immigration sentiment throughout the German population and gaining traction all over Europe.
On the one hand is the current establishment, hailing diversity as a strength. On the other is the reality of large unassimilated Muslim populations, ignoring national laws, practicing Sharia law in their ghettos and posing a constant threat of terror attacks against society.
And then there was the historic move on the part of the current U.S. administration to “normalize” relations with the brutal communist dictatorship of Cuba. While the news caught most everybody by complete surprise, none other than the pope at Rome has been credited as being “instrumental,” maneuvering behind the scenes for some time to bring this about. Once again, it seems to have been a completely unilateral action by the executive branch, with Congress kept in the dark until the news was made public.
This too may be one of many issues to be added to a growing list of contentious internal battles to be fought in the upcoming new year. Another is the push for a Palestinian state. The French senate has already voted in favor of recognizing such a “state,” while the Parliament of the European Union considers the matter. There is a move at the UN to condemn Israel for having constructed developments considered to encroach upon areas that the Palestinians demand be included as part of their territory. Late word has the current U.S. administration undecided as to its position on the issue. But it is hard to fathom how the EU or the UN could just decide to “recognize” a Palestinian state, knowing that such a recognition would include all of the “Old City”, all of east Jerusalem and all of the West Bank.
Regardless of the issue at hand, all bets are currently off as to where the United States will stand. The whole world perceives weakness, instability, and a propensity to surrender to enemies. Unfortunately, it’s not far from reality. The signs of encroaching chaos, following very closely along the lines of Bible prophecy are everywhere around us. But hardly anybody gets the connection, which is proof that there is still a great work to be done.
Mark Armstrong
