Category: Warning

“More Courage to Assume Global Power”

GERMAN-FOREIGN-POLICY.com – January 7, 2021

(Own report) – The German foreign policy establishment is entering the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic with new plans for EU global power. Whereas in particular western powers and their allies have been overwhelmed by new waves of the pandemic, at times being confronted with rapidly increasing numbers of casualties, “Internationale Politik” (IP), Germany’s leading foreign policy periodical, is debating the question of “what Europe lacks to assume global power.” The demand that the Union must have more courage to assume global power had already been raised in several leading German media organs last fall. According to a poll, nearly half of all Germans surveyed agree that the EU can “play a strong role in global policy,” similar to that played by the USA and China – particularly followers of the Green Party (52 percent) and those of the FDP (56 percent), along with the generation aged between 18 and 29 (70 percent). Whereas, the IP calls on “Europe” to enhance its “international impact”, former EU commissioner Günther Oettinger cautions against the “complete overconfidence” evident in many EU capitals – “a kind of hubris.”

“Setting Standards Globally”

Demands for the EU to vigorously assert itself as a “global power” had already been raised last fall in liberal and conservative wide-circulation media organs. In October, the German weekly Zeit-online called for “more courage to assume global power.” The Union “must consider itself a global power.”[1] A little later, the Minister of Development, Gerd Müller, and the former foreign policy expert at the influential Bertelsmann Foundation, Werner Weidenfeld, declared in “Die Welt”, a daily owned by Springer, that the “EU has what it takes, to be a global power.” “Its sovereign – the nearly 400 million people with their top economic potential – and solid military equipment have lifted the EU to the rank of a global power.”[2] Almost two decades ago, Weidenfeld had used similar arguments to declare that the EU was a “global power in the making” (german-foreign-policy.com reported.[3]). Together with Müller, he now argues that “by virtue of its economic power, Europe” should “set standards in a digitalized and globalized multipolar world.” To accomplish this, Brussels of course needs not only a “more operational political framework” – if possible “flanked by a European strategic council” – but, for example, also a “European” army with a “joint command structure.”

https://www.german-foreign-policy.com

New Mexico Committee Passes Bill Allowing Abortions Up to Birth

Micaiah Bilger – January 28, 2019

New Mexico moved closer to adopting a radical new law allowing abortions for basically any reason up to birth on Saturday.

State House Bill 51 passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs committee in a 3-2 vote, with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans voting against, according to Newsweek.

Sponsored by state Rep. Joanne Ferrary, the bill would repeal a state statute from the 1960s that prohibits abortions except in cases of rape, incest or threats to the mother’s life. The statute is not in effect because of Roe v. Wade, but if the Supreme Court overturns the case, it would go into effect again.

Ferrary’s bill would change that. Instead of being one of nine states that would make it a crime for an abortionist to kill an unborn baby, New Mexico would become a state that allows abortions without restriction, the Albuquerque Journal reports. Essentially, unborn babies could be aborted for any reason up to birth.

In addition, it would remove conscience protections for medical professionals who believe it is wrong to abort unborn babies.

“The committee’s willingness to pass this careless bill without consideration of amendments to limit abortion up to birth after five months, and other concerns most New Mexicans have is a disgrace,” said New Mexico Alliance for Life Executive Director Elisa Martinez. “Forcing doctors to participate in abortions up to birth is the stated goal of proponents behind this bill and New Mexicans must rise up against this radical bill.”

https://www.lifenews.com

Abortion Leading Global Cause of Death in 2020 with 42.7 Million Killed

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. –  January 1, 2021

Abortion was once again the number-one cause of death globally in 2020, with a record 42.7 million unborn babies killed in the womb, according to data provided by Worldometer.

As of December 31, 2020, there were 42.7 million abortions performed in the course of the year, Worldometer revealed, while 8.2 million people died from cancer, 5 million from smoking, and 1.7 million of HIV/AIDS.

By comparison, worldwide deaths from the coronavirus in 2020 totaled 1.8 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Worldometer — voted one of the best free reference websites by the American Library Association (ALA) — keeps a running tally through the year of major world statistics, including population, births, deaths, automobiles produced, books published, and CO2 emissions.

It also registers the total number of abortions performed worldwide, based on the latest statistics on abortions published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Globally, there were more deaths from abortion in 2020 than all deaths from cancer, malaria, HIV/AIDS, smoking, alcohol, and traffic accidents combined, according to Worldometer statistics.

The shocking number of deaths from abortion, in fact, has led certain observers to call abortion “the social justice cause of our time,” since the sheer magnitude of the problem completely overshadows other human rights issues.

The year 2020 also saw abortion legalized in Argentina, one of the last bastions in the world to recognize and protect the right to life of unborn children.

https://www.breitbart.com

Spain legalises euthanasia

Evangelical Focus – December 18, 2020

The Spanish Parliament has approved the first euthanasia law in the country on 17 December.

The rule, promoted by the Social Democrat government party, PSOE, received 198 votes in favour, 138 against and 2 abstentions. Spain becomes the fourth country in Europe and the sixth worldwide to legalise euthanasia, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada and New Zealand.

The law was approvedafter several attempts in which the Parliament voted against it. The government coalition of PSOE and leftist party Unidas Podemos, along with the deputies of liberal party Ciudadanos, leftist party Más País, Catalonian parties ERC, CUP and Junts per Catalunya, Basque parties PNV and EH Bildu, and Galician party BNG, all voted in favour.

The conservative parties PP and UPN and far-right Vox voted against it. Vox has announced that they will file an appeal of unconstitutionality against the text.

The law, which has yet to be approved by the Senate, although it is expected to do so, could come into force in the first months of 2021.

During the vote, dozens of people gathered outside the Parliament building to protest against the measure with posters that read: “Government of death”.

Defending the law presented by the government, the PSOE parlamentarian María Luisa Carcedo, pointed out that the text “absolutely guarantees the patient rights” and that it is “the patient who decides in a situation of extreme suffering”.

PP deputy José Ignacio Echániz responded that “without universal access to palliative care there is no choice, no freedom because the only option offered to patients is euthanasia”. “The level of civilisation and maturity of a country is measured by how it treats the most vulnerable”, he added.

https://evangelicalfocus.com

Phoenix clears parking lots to make way for sprawling tent city packed with homeless people – as experts warn of ‘catastrophic’ crisis caused by pandemic

Andrew Court and Reuters – December 23, 2020

Tent cities are expanding across the United States as experts warn that the ongoing pandemic could lead to a ‘catastrophic’ homeless crisis where hundreds of thousands more Americans are living on the streets.

Officials in Phoenix, Arizona have cleared two large parking lots in the Bender neighborhood to accommodate for the city’s exploding number of homeless people.

More than 7,500 people are without permanent shelter in Phoenix, according to Reuters, who visited the tent city, which is dubbed ‘The Zone’ by some of its inhabitants.

There, hundreds of homeless people are packed together. Many people do not wear masks, and some count a sleeping bag or a tarp as their only worldly possession.

Although the city has posted portable toilets and washing stations along the perimeter of the encampment, health protocols like handwashing are difficult and the risks of contracting COVID-19 is exponentially increased.

Feces and garbage are also littered among the tent city, which is located just a short distance from Phoenix’s ritzy restaurants and luxury apartment buildings.

Phoenix is just one example of a slow-motion disaster unfolding in many large US cities as homeless numbers, already growing in recent years, spike during the global coronavirus pandemic.

In 2019, before the pandemic hit, there were close to 600,000 Americans who were homeless. That number has surely surged in the past twelve months, although experts have been unable to pinpoint the exact number.

Since COVID-19 reached the US in January, however, more than 162,000 evictions have been filed in 27 cities tracked by the Princeton University Eviction Lab.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk

The push for children’s ‘sexual rights’ is coming

Mattea Merta – November 30, 2020

Human Rights Watch issued a submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy, Prof. Joseph Cannataci, that states their concern with “the privacy rights of children and issues relating to their independence and autonomy.”

The submission “focuses on the importance of privacy for children with respect to their sexual and reproductive health and rights, physical and emotional well-being in school, safety in the online space, and the protection of their information online.”

Human Rights Watch calls for children to have “access to confidential adolescent-responsive and non-discriminatory reproductive and sexual health information and services, available both on and off-line, including… safe abortion services.” It also recommends that governments ensure that “children have access to confidential medical counsel and assistance without parental consent, including for reproductive health services,” as well as “specifically calling for confidential access for adolescent girls to legal abortions.”

If implemented, this submission by Human Rights Watch would allow for children to have legal rights to bypass parental consent to access with absolute privacy: abortions, hormone injections for the purpose of gender transition and/or puberty blockers, complete privacy rights in accessing online and offline information on any subject and to any materials (this means inside their classrooms, schools, at doctors offices, extra curricular activities, etc), access to explicit information contained within Comprehensive Sexuality Education, male children using female bathrooms and change rooms, as well as medical provisions tailored for full access to minors with zero parent assistance or knowledge. It also classifies, amongst other issues, abortion, as a child’s “right.”

This submission, if accepted, would assist children in completely bypassing parents which is a dangerous situation for any child to be in. Abortions, puberty blockers, the removal of parental guidance, and comprehensive sexuality education all have side effects. But the chief concern is that this calls for institutions to help children bypass their parents towards the legal implementation of children’s self-determinative rights, without guardian or parental oversight.

In place of parents or guardians having a say over the well-being of their children, this measure would encourage children to beleive that the state is the final arbiter of their best interests. It creates a schism between parents and children.

https://thepostmillennial.com

July 2020 may have been deadliest month ever for young Americans, including wartime

RT – December 18, 2020

A damning new report suggests that, in the month of July alone, some 16,500 young Americans aged 25 to 44 lost their lives in what may prove to be the deadliest month in US history for young adults.

According to a recent research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, between March and July, 76,088 young Americans between the ages of 25 and 44 died, with the leading causes of mortality largely remaining the same, but exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

For context, during the height of WWII, US casualties averaged 6,600 per month.

Outside of wartime, the average estimated level of mortality for the month of July should be around 13,000, resulting in an excess mortality of 3,400.

Each year, some 150,000 adults in this age demographic would be expected to pass away, but thanks to the pandemic and its associated stresses, this year it looks likely to surpass 170,000.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) around 2,000 people aged between 25 and 34 have so far died from Covid-19 across the US. Some 7,070 adults in their late 30s and early 40s have also died from the disease.

Going by the official data, the Covid-19 fatalities account for only one-third of the excess deaths.

The preliminary data suggests the pandemic accelerated overdose deaths, though given the sheer volume of reports needed to accurately convey the scale of the collateral destruction wrought by Covid-19, on top of its own death toll, the true scale of the disaster that was 2020 will likely take years to fully calculate.

However, the CDC already estimates, with some degree of certainty, that the US will surpass last year’s grim record number of opioid deaths, as overall use of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, increased by an estimated 38 percent compared to 2018-2019, while some western states reported a 98-percent increase in synthetic opioid-involved deaths.

“The disruption to daily life due to the Covid-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement.

https://www.rt.com

Australian authorities seize child, rule parents ABUSIVE for resisting hormone therapy to help daughter become son – report

RT – November 29, 2020

An Australian couple whose child was reportedly seized by state authorities is appealing a magistrate’s ruling finding them abusive and “dangerous” for resisting testosterone therapy for their daughter, who identifies as male.

Lawyers for the unidentified parents filed papers last week seeking to appeal a magistrate’s October decision, setting up what appears to be the country’s first test case on parental rights regarding gender dysphoria medicine, the Australian newspaper reported on Saturday. Their child, then 15, was taken away from the family last year, after discussing suicide online.

“The authorities say we will not allow her to change gender, so it’s dangerous for told her to come back to our house because we will mentally abuse her,” the father told the Australian. “They want us to consent to testosterone treatment.”

The parents are seeking an independent psychological review of all possible causes of their child’s depression, as well as consideration of non-invasive treatment options. The teen struggled after losing friends at 13, when the family relocated, and those difficulties were compounded by a difficult start to puberty and anxiety about eating and body image, the mother said.

The family migrated to Australia a decade ago, the newspaper said, without identifying their native country. The magistrate found that the teen likely suffered verbal abuse over “his feelings and expression of gender identity,” which the parents denied.

https://www.rt.com

Massachusetts Legislature Passes ‘Infanticide Act’ Removing Requirement of Preserving Abortion Survivor’s Life

Dr. Susan Berry – November 23, 2020

The Massachusetts legislature has passed an amendment to a budget bill that would allow abortions after the 24th week of pregnancy, eliminate parental consent, and remove the requirement that abortionists must attempt to preserve the life of a baby who survives abortion.

The state House passed Amendment 759 by a vote of 108-49, while the state Senate approved it by a vote of 33-7. The amendment, as part of the fiscal year 2021 budget bill, is now on the desk of Gov. Charlie Baker (R) who, as Masslive.com reported, was critical of Democrats pushing a late-term abortion proposal in a budget bill.

“I do share some of the unhappiness that was raised by a number of members of the Republican Party that putting policy in the budget was something that both leaders in the House and Senate said they would not do,” Baker said Friday afternoon, according to the report. “It’s pretty hard to argue this isn’t a major policy initiative that is not in the budget.”

As late as last year, Baker disapproved of measures to expand late-term abortion.

“I do not support late term abortions,” the governor said. “I support current law in Massachusetts. It’s worked well for decades for women and families here in Massachusetts, and that’s what we support.”

The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) explained why Amendment 759 has been dubbed the “Infanticide Act:”

The reason why this legislation has earned the moniker “Infanticide Act” is because it removes the requirement that an abortionist “shall” save the life of a baby born alive during a botched abortion and replaces it with the requirement to simply have life-saving equipment in the room with no obligation to use it.

https://www.breitbart.com

Australian Teen Taken From ‘Dangerous’ Parents Who Disagree With Daughter Pursuing Sex Change

– December 3, 2020

An Australian teen who was born female but identifies as male has been removed from her parents’ care after a judge ruled that it is unsafe for her to remain at home considering her risk of self-harm and the parents’ disagreement with pursuing a sex change.

“[The authorities] say we will not allow her to change gender, so it’s dangerous for her to come back to our house because we will mentally abuse her,” the unidentified father told The Australian. “They want us to consent to testosterone treatment.”

Attorneys for the parents have filed paperwork appealing a protective order from October, in which a Children’s Court magistrate cited the risk of self-harm the teen as she had posted about suicide online last year. He also found it probable that the child was enduring verbal abuse over her “feelings and expression of gender identity,” which the parents deny.

According to reports, the family moved to Australia 10 years ago and have been aware that their now 15-year-old daughter suffers from depression. They state that she also struggles with social skills, her eating and body image, and puberty was a difficult transition for her.

However, instead of pursuing a “sex change,” they prefer for the teen to be seen by an independent psychologist to find the root cause of her feelings and to provide help that is less invasive, considering the permanency of the alternative option.

On Nov. 7, attorneys for the teen filed paperwork seeking for the child to be allowed to begin “hormone therapy,” but the parents have requested a second opinion first. Child protective officials have reportedly consented to obtaining a second opinion.

“Especially Australians, they just can’t believe that it happens in Australia,” the mother stated.

“The end of parenting as we knew it. We have no rights. Our children can be seriously harmed by the government and medical profession and we are powerless to stop it,”

https://christiannews.net