Ron Chambers

US West prepares for possible 1st water shortage declaration

Sam Metz – April 19, 2021

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The man-made lakes that store water supplying millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months, dropping to levels that could trigger the federal government’s first-ever official shortage declaration and prompt cuts in Arizona and Nevada.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released 24-month projections this week forecasting that less Colorado River water will cascade down from the Rocky Mountains through Lake Powell and Lake Mead and into the arid deserts of the U.S. Southwest and the Gulf of California. Water levels in the two lakes are expected to plummet low enough for the agency to declare an official shortage for the first time, threatening the supply of Colorado River water that growing cities and farms rely on.

It comes as climate change means less snowpack flows into the river and its tributaries, and hotter temperatures parch soil and cause more river water to evaporate as it streams through the drought-plagued American West.

The agency’s models project Lake Mead will fall below 1,075 feet (328 meters) for the first time in June 2021. That’s the level that prompts a shortage declaration under agreements negotiated by seven states that rely on Colorado River water: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The April projections, however, will not have binding impact. Federal officials regularly issue long-term projections but use those released each August to make decisions about how to allocate river water. If projections don’t improve by then, the Bureau of Reclamation will declare a Level 1 shortage condition. The cuts would be implemented in January.

https://www.sfgate.com

Report: 5.2 Billion People Face ‘Very Severe Violations of Religious Freedom’

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. – April 20,2021

Nearly one third of the world’s countries, where two thirds of the world’s population live, violate religious freedom, the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported Tuesday.

Christians are the most persecuted group in the world, according to ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021, an 818-page compendium of the state of religious freedom and persecution in the world today.

Persecution on the grounds of religious belief is a growing global phenomenon, the biennial report declares, and religious freedom violations have accelerated and expanded to the point where “systematic and egregious attacks are coming from governments, lynching mobs, as well as international terror groups,” such as Boko Haram or the Islamic State.

The report found the populations of 62 countries out of a total of 196 face “very severe violations of religious freedom,” adding that the number of people living in these countries “is close to 5.2 billion, as the worst offenders include some of the most populous nations in the world (China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria).”

Moreover, during the past two years since the publication of ACN’s last report, “there has been a significant increase in the severity of religiously motivated persecution and oppression which is the principal category of concern,” the report noted.

https://www.breitbart.com

As mask mandates end, Oregon bucks trend with permanent rule

Sara Cline – April 17, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As states around the country lift COVID-19 restrictions, Oregon is poised to go the opposite direction — and many residents are fuming about it.

A top health official is considering indefinitely extending rules requiring masks and social distancing in all businesses in the state.

The proposal would keep the rules in place until they are “no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace.”

Michael Wood, administrator of the state’s department of Occupational Safety and Health, said the move is necessary to address a technicality in state law that requires a “permanent” rule to keep current restrictions from expiring.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” he said.

But the idea has prompted a flood of angry responses, with everyone from parents to teachers to business owners and employees crying government overreach.

Wood’s agency received a record number of public comments, mostly critical, and nearly 60,000 residents signed a petition against the proposal.

https://apnews.com

Biden Admin Clears The Way To Allow Research On Fetal Tissue From Abortions

Charlotte Pence Bond – April 16, 2021

On Friday, the Biden administration announced the removal of a previous barrier that restricted certain kinds of research conducted on fetal tissue from elective abortions.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a statement on Friday saying that it was undoing some of the previous administration’s policies regarding research conducted on fetal tissue gathered from abortions.

The statement said that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is “reversing its 2019 decision that all research applications for NIH grants and contracts proposing the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions will be reviewed by an Ethics Advisory Board.” It added that another Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board will not be created.

The statement noted: “NIH reminds the community of expectations to obtain informed consent from the donor for any NIH-funded research using human fetal tissue … and of continued obligations to conduct such research only in accord with any applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations, including prohibitions on the payment of valuable consideration for such tissue.”

During a hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra discussed the changes prior to the official announcement, as reported by Politico.

“We believe that we have to do the research it takes to make sure that we are incorporating innovation and getting all of those types of treatments and therapies out there to the American people,” he said.

Pro-life groups have spoken out against the measure, saying that the topic would be a main issue in the midterm elections next year, the outlet reported.

https://www.dailywire.com

261 Transgender Prisoners Request Transfer Under California Law; 255 to Women’s Prison

Joel B. Pollak – April 5, 2021

Two-hundred sixty-one California state prisoners have requested transfers to facilities that house the opposite gender since a new law went into effect on Jan. 1 — and 255 of them have requested to move from a male to a female corrections facility.

The law, SB 132, provides that a prisoner who self-identifies who is “transgender, nonbinary, or intersex” must be “addressed in a manner consistent with the incarcerated individual’s gender identity,” and be “housed at a correctional facility designated for men or women based on the individual’s preference.” The law applies “regardless of anatomy.” Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law last September, declaring on that occasion that “our march toward equality takes an additional step forward.”

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that while only a few transfers have been approved thus far, none has been rejected:

Just over 1% of California’s prison population — or 1,129 inmates — have identified as nonbinary, intersex or transgender, according to the corrections department, populations that experience excessive violence in prison. A 2007 UC Irvine study that included interviews with 39 transgender inmates found that the rate of sexual assault is 13 times higher for transgender people, with 59% reporting experiencing such encounters.

So far, the prison system has transferred four inmates to the Chowchilla women’s prison, approved 21 gender-based housing requests and denied none. Of the 261 requests, all but six asked to be housed at a women’s facility.

Some prisoners are also concerned that inmates are making false claims about their gender identity in order to transfer to women’s prisons and say staffers have told them that this has slowed the process.

The Times adds that several inmates are thought to have applied “under false pretenses” and some female prisoners are afraid.

https://www.breitbart.com

Biden declares Russia threat ‘national emergency,’ lobs sanctions; 10 diplomats booted over election meddling

Tyler Olson, Alex Pappas – April 15, 2021

President Biden on Thursday signed an executive order declaring a “national emergency” over the threat from Russia, as his administration slapped new sanctions on the country.

The U.S. Department of State said it is expelling 10 officials from Russia’s bilateral mission.

“Today, we announced actions to hold the Russian Government to account for the SolarWinds intrusion, reports of bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and attempts to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The White House also released a letter to Congress stating that the president has issued “an Executive Order declaring a national emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States posed by specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.”

The letter said that Russia had aimed to “undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections,” engaged in “malicious cyber-enabled activities,” targeted journalists and dissenters outside of its borders, and violated international law.

This, Biden said in the letter, constitutes “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

https://www.foxnews.com

Pope Francis calls for ‘global governance’ and ‘universal vaccines’ in letter to globalist financial summit

Michael Haynes – April 6, 2021

VATICAN CITY, April 8, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has addressed the World Bank and International Monetary Fund at their spring meeting, calling for “global governance” in light of COVID-19, strongly advocating for universal vaccines, and bemoaning the “ecological debt” which is owed to “nature itself.”

His letter is the latest in a series of recent acts in which Francis has aligned himself with global corporations committed to anti-Catholic agendas.

The letter was delivered via Peter Cardinal Turkson, Prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, to the spring 2021 meeting between the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is currently being held online from April 5 – 11.

Dated April 4, the letter mentioned God just once, in the final line.

Instead, Francis focussed on calling for a system of global government which would implement a new societal order upon the world, based upon climate change policies and universal vaccination.

Referencing “the Covid-19 pandemic,” Francis declared that the world had been forced to “confront a series of grave and interrelated socio-economic, ecological, and political crises.”

Such inter-connected crises, he placed before the World Bank and IMF, hoping that their meetings would provide the basis for a re-ordering of world affairs: “It is my hope that your discussions will contribute to a model of ‘recovery’ capable of generating new, more inclusive and sustainable solutions to support the real economy, assisting individuals and communities to achieve their deepest aspirations and the universal common good.”

Francis repeated the claim that COVID has shown how “no one is saved alone,” and hence “new and creative forms of social, political and economic participation” must be drawn up.

https://www.lifesitenews.com

Over 7 Million in East Africa on the brink of starvation

ETH – April 12, 2021

(ETH) – A new report coming out of Africa is revealing that over 7 million people across six East African countries are at the brink of starvation as communities have continually faced existential threats from violence, flooding, covid pandemic, as well as a locust infestation, according to a new warning from the evangelical humanitarian organization World Vision.

World Vision that operates in nearly 100 countries, has sounded the alarm that thousands of children could potentially face death or long-term health consequences if the international community fails to respond quickly to East Africa’s worsening crisis.

One of these voices is Debebe Dawit, who is the program manager for World Vision’s humanitarian emergency affairs team, who also recently visited Ethiopia and witnessed firsthand the impacts of poverty in the East African country and reported that the situation is “severe.”

“The situation is very severe in East Africa, and particularly Ethiopia. Over 2 million people are in need of food assistance,” Dawit told The Christian Post in a Thursday interview. “Among conflict, COVID-19, flooding, locust infestation, all these are adding [an] additional burden to the community.”

East Africa has been pounded by disaster after disaster. Even Before the pandemic began, several countries in East Africa had already faced a widespread locust infestation that reportedly impacted hundreds of thousands of hectares and damaged croplands and pastures. Then it was large-scale flooding that destroyed crops that had already been ready to harvest. The devastation impacted the food supply for 4 million people in the region.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Pagan arch of Palmyra that was dedicated to Baal being reconstructed, Some see it as harbinger of Messiah

Ricky Scaparo – April 14, 2021

(OPINION) ETH – After six years of laying in ruins, Russians have now begun the reconstruction of the Triumphal Arch of Palmyra in Syria that once served as a gateway to a major pagan temple to Ba’al, and some Rabbis state that the rebuilding of this arch is predicted in the Talmud as preceding the “Messiah”.

According to Israel 365 News, The ruins of this ancient city of Palmyra was located about 135 miles north of Damascus, Syria, and the temple and much of the site were destroyed by the Islamic State (ISIS) back in 2015. “The Syrian experts have put in place some plans, and there is no precise timetable for the completion of the work, but studies on restoration, rubble, and so on may be ready within six or eight months.”

According to the report, Restoration work has already begun this week after a memorandum of understanding was reached between the Syrian Ministry of Culture and the Association Stone Industry of Russia. What many may not be aware of is the fact that the Temple of Palmyra was dedicated back in 32 CE to the worship of Ba’al.

Ba’al was a false god that was worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who considered him a fertility deity and the earliest known inhabitants called the Amorites hosted many monumental projects including the Temple of Bel (or Ba’al).

This arch stood at the entrance to the temple that was used to worship Ba’al. which was mentioned more than 90 times in the Bible, One of the most notable accounts of this was when Elijah defeated the priests of Ba’al, also known as Moloch, where he called down fire from heaven to burn a sacrifice, Ba’al was the centerpiece of idol worship in that time. worshippers of Ba’al partook of bisexual orgies and sacrificed human infants, burning them alive. Jewish tradition teaches that this Arch of Palmyra may be a harbinger of the Messianic era.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Russia reports world’s first case of human infection with H5N8 bird flu

Polina Devitt, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – February 20, 2021

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus named A(H5N8) being passed to humans from birds and has reported the matter to the World Health Organization (WHO), Anna Popova, head of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said on Saturday.

Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months but so far only in poultry. Other strains – H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2 – have been known here) to spread to humans.

Russia reported the case of human infection to the WHO “several days ago, just as we became absolutely certain of our results,” Popova said on Rossiya 24 state TV. There was no sign yet of transmission between humans, she added.

Seven workers at a poultry plant in Russia’s south had been infected with the H5N8 strain in an outbreak at the plant in December, Popova said, adding that the individuals involved felt fine now. “This situation did not develop further,” she said.

In an email WHO’s European arm said it had been notified by Russia about a case of human infection with H5N8 and acknowledged this would if confirmed be the first time the strain had infected people.

https://www.reuters.com