The Faithful Watchman

The US Southwest is hitting megadrought status

Scott K. Johnson – February 14, 2022

About half of the contiguous US is currently experiencing moderate to extreme drought—including almost all of the West. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as widely pervasive drought has been present for quite a while now in this region, where major reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead are hovering around all-time low-water levels. But how does this ongoing drought compare to the past? After all, the region is no stranger to dry stretches.

A 2020 paper examined the 2000-2018 data in the context of a tree ring reconstruction going back to the year 800 and stretching from Southern California to Wyoming. That team found that this was likely the second-driest period in the record, beat out only by a megadrought in the late 1500s.

At the time, the paper’s authors guessed that good precipitation in 2019 would be enough to end the extended drought. But instead, a particularly wicked 2021 kept the drought alive. As a result, three of those researchers—UCLA’s Park Williams and NASA’s Benjamin Cook and Jason Smerdon—decided to update the numbers through 2021.

The most mega

The term “megadrought” isn’t some sensationalist moniker from bad television; it’s a term for the handful of two- to three-decade Southwestern droughts in the past millennium or so—some with history-defining impacts on the civilizations who lived there at the time.

With the analysis updated, 2000-2021 ranks as the driest such 22-year period in the data going back to the year 800. The megadrought years of 1571-1592 slip into second place. (Though the error bars on the two periods overlap.)

Between 2000 and 2021, 18 of those years saw soil moisture below the long-term average. Only two past megadroughts meet that level of consistent dryness. The years 2002 and 2021 rank as the 11th and 12th driest years in the whole record—and it has been three centuries since a drier year occurred. And although some megadroughts were focused in a particular region, the drought of the last two decades has been widespread across the West. That’s what you would expect to see from a drought driven more by global warming than by precipitation patterns.

To estimate the contribution of climate change, the researchers repeated their analysis of climate models run with and without warming temperatures. Their previous work had estimated that 46 percent of the severity of the 2000-2018 drought was due to human-caused warming. For 2000-2021, they get a similar answer of 42 percent despite using a new generation of climate model simulations.

https://arstechnica.com

Texas A.G. Declares: Transgender Treatments on Minors Is Child Abuse under State Law

Michael Foust – February 23, 2022

The prescription of puberty blockers and the performance of sex-change surgery on transgender-identifying children can legally be defined as child abuse under Texas law, the state’s attorney general says in a new opinion.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, released the opinion on February 18 in response to a question from state Rep. Matt Krause about the use of common medical procedures on trans-identifying minors. Krause, a Republican, chairs the House Committee on General Investigating.

Specifically, Krause asked Paxton whether the administration of puberty blockers and the performance of such surgeries as mastectomies, vasectomies and hysterectomies on minors constitutes child abuse under Texas law. Paxton said it can.

Puberty blockers can leave a minor infertile.

“Each of the ‘sex change’ procedures and treatments enumerated above, when performed on children, can legally constitute child abuse under several provisions of chapter 261 of the Texas Family Code,” Paxton wrote. “When considering questions of child abuse, a court would likely consider the fundamental right to procreation, issues of physical and emotional harm associated with these procedures and treatments, consent laws in Texas and throughout the country, and existing child abuse standards.”

Paxton said the procedures can violate Texas law because they:

cause “mental or emotional injury to a child that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning.”
“caus[e] or permit[] the child to be in a situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning.”
cause a “physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child.”
involve a “‘failure to make a reasonable effort to prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child[,]’ particularly by parents, counselors, and physicians.”

“There is no doubt that these procedures are ‘abuse’ under Texas law, and thus must be halted,” Paxton said in a statement. “The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a responsibility to act accordingly. I’ll do everything I can to protect against those who take advantage of and harm young Texans.”

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Chinese Scientists Create System to Care For Embryos in Artificial Womb

Tony Tran – February 1, 2022

Parents of the future rejoice! Scientists in China have developed an AI nanny that they say could one day take care of human fetuses in a lab.

Researchers in Suzhou, China, claim to have created a system that can monitor and care for embryos as they grow into fetuses while growing inside an artificial womb, The South China Morning Post reports.

The robotic nanny is already reportedly caring for a number of animal embryos. Experimentation on human embryos, however, is still forbidden under international law, as the newspaper points out.

The team published their findings in the Journal of Biomedical Engineering last month. In the paper, they detail an “online monitoring system” designed for the “long-term culture of embryos.”

The system could theoretically allow parents to grow a baby in a lab, thereby eliminating the need for a human to carry a child. The researchers go as far as to say that this system would be safer than traditional childbearing.

Beyond those claims, though, it remains unclear whether the system could actually bring an embryo, mouse or otherwise, to term.

As it exists right now, the artificial womb is a container that grows a number of mouse embryos in a row of cubes filled with nutritious fluids, according to the paper.

The AI nanny is reportedly able to monitor the embryos, detect changes, and adjust their artificial environment accordingly. It can even alert a technician in case an embryo develops a defect or dies.

The technology is still very much in its nascent stages, but a looming population crisis in China is only serving to accelerate its development.

“I don’t think technology would be a problem,” one anonymous researcher at the Capital Institute of Pediatrics in Beijing, told the SCMP, adding that the tech could risk turning hospitals into factories that churn out babies — and no hospital “would want to bear this responsibility.”

https://futurism.com

Russia to Stage Massive Nuclear Drills Amid Ukraine Standoff

Newsmax – February 18, 2022

The Russian military on Friday announced massive drills of its strategic forces, a stark reminder of the country’s nuclear might amid Western fears that Moscow might be preparing to invade Ukraine.

The Defense Ministry said Russian President Vladimir Putin will personally oversee Saturday’s exercise, which will involve multiple practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

The ministry said it planned the maneuvers some time ago to check the readiness of Russia’s military command and personnel, as well as the reliability of its nuclear and conventional weapons.

The war games follow U.S. President Joe Biden’s warning on Thursday that Russia could invade Ukraine within days.

Western fears focus on an estimated 150,000 Russian troops — including about 60% of Russia’s overall ground forces — concentrated near Ukraine’s borders. The Kremlin insists it has no plans to invade.

But Moscow has demanded that the U.S. and its allies keep Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations out of NATO, not deploy weapons in Ukraine and pull back NATO forces from Eastern Europe.

Washington and its allies bluntly rejected the Russian demands, and Moscow threatened to take unspecified “military-technical measures” if the West continued to stonewall.

Russia holds massive drills of its strategic nuclear forces on an annual basis, but the maneuvers planned for Saturday pointedly involve the Black Sea Fleet. The fleet is based on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

https://www.newsmax.com

PlatinuPlatinum Jubilee: Queen marks 70 years in power by firming up future of the monarchy for Charles and Camillam Jubilee: Queen Elizabeth marks 70 years as monarch

Katie Grant – February 6, 2022

The Queen has marked 70 years on the throne by renewing a promise to “always be devoted” to public service and expressing her “sincere wish” that the Duchess of Cornwall will eventually take the title Queen Consort.

In a message to the nation on Accession Day, the 95-year-old monarch conveyed her hope that when, “in the fullness of time”, her eldest son, Prince Charles, ascends the throne, the public will rally behind him and his wife Camilla.

Commemorating the 70^th anniversary of the death of her father, King George VI, and of her ascension to the throne, Elizabeth II reflected on the past and paved the way for the future of the monarchy, pointedly paying tribute to Camilla’s “loyal service”.

Remarking on what the anniversary means to her, the Queen said: “It is a day that, even after 70 years, I still remember as much for the death of my father, King George VI, as for the start of my reign.”

She continued: “As we mark this anniversary, it gives me pleasure to renew to you the pledge I gave in 1947 that my life will always be devoted to your service.”

The monarch, who is the first British sovereign in history to celebrate seven decades on the throne, also spoke of her “sense of hope and optimism” as the country prepares to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee this summer.

“I am reminded of how much we can be thankful for,” she said, pointing to the “extraordinary progress socially, technologically and culturally” that she has witnessed during a record-breaking reign.

She stressed how “fortunate” she felt to have enjoyed the “steadfast and loving support” of her family.

https://inews.co.uk

UK Issues Rare ‘Danger-To-Life’ Red Alert As It Faces Worst Storm In Decades

Melanie Wilcox – February 18, 2022

As storm Eunice picked up speed with winds as high as 122 miles per hour, the United Kingdom’s Met Office expanded its “danger-to-life” weather alert Friday to include the south of England and some areas of Wales, CNN reported.

In the southwestern London area of Surbiton, a CNN reporter saw a rooftop fly off a home and crush a parked car.

Apart from crushing cars and toppling fences, Storm Eunice has also sent planes skidding on airport runways, according to CNN.

More than 200,000 people watched a live stream on YouTube of planes trying to land at London’s Heathrow Airport, battling wind gusts and skidding from side-to-side on the runway, according to CNN.

Presenter Jerry Dyer gave encouraging, entertaining words on the Big Jet’s TV channel, saying to the pilot, “Come on mate, you can do it!”

British Airways said that although “significant disruption” was to be expected, most flights would continue as scheduled. The airline said it would use larger aircraft to combat the weather.

https://dailycaller.com

A Highly Virulent Form Of The Bird Flu Is Starting To Spread Like Wildfire Across Several Eastern States

Michael Snyder – February 15. 2022

I know that this isn’t exactly going to be welcome news to a lot of people, but bird flu appears to be spreading rapidly in several U.S. states. Long before COVID ever came along, bird flu was one of the main threats that global health authorities were concerned about. The good news is that human cases of the bird flu have been fairly rare in recent years, but just like COVID, bird flu has the ability to mutate rapidly. And when humans do catch bird flu, the death rate can be over 50 percent. For now, the outbreak in the United States is limited to birds. It is hitting turkeys, it is hitting chickens, and authorities have informed us that “dozens of wild birds have tested positive along the East Coast in recent weeks”…

Avian flu has now been detected in flocks of birds in Virginia and Kentucky, just days after Indiana officials had to euthanize 29,000 turkeys due to the spread of the virus, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

Dozens of wild birds have tested positive along the East Coast in recent weeks, including three in the Carolinas last month. Avian flu usually does not cause any symptoms in wild birds, but it can be deadly in domestic poultry.

What this tells us is that the outbreak is not contained.

It is already in multiple states, and authorities have no idea where it originally started.

On Monday, bird flu was detected “in a flock of commercial broiler chickens” in Kentucky…

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture announced Monday a confirmed case of high pathogenic avian influenza — deadly bird flu — in a flock of commercial broiler chickens in Fulton County, with a second suspected case in Webster County.

The fact that it is now affecting our food supply should definitely get our attention.

In neighboring Tennessee, there is a tremendous amount of anxiety about what is happening in Kentucky, because a widespread outbreak of the bird flu in Tennessee could have enormous implications for the entire globe.

http://endoftheamericandream.com

China’s Communist Government Is Reportedly Rewriting the Bible and Calling Jesus a ‘Sinner.’ But That’s Not All…

Billy Hallowell – Febuary 17, 2022

VOM recently shared a reimagined version of the Bible’s revered story centered on Jesus’ love and corrective compassion for a woman caught in adultery.

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced plans to update the Bible to ‘keep pace with the times.’ The revisions will include adding ‘core socialist values’ and removing passages that do not reflect communist beliefs,” a VOM Facebook post read. “In a textbook for high school students released in September 2020, the authors included a passage from John 8, as revised in their new version.”

Before we explore the revised communist version, let’s look at John 8 as it stands in the genuine and authentic Bible.

As the famous forgiveness story goes, the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery before them and challenged Jesus, proclaiming, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

The Bible notes that these Jewish leaders were “using this question as a trap” to accuse Jesus. Still, Christ started writing on the ground with his finger (it’s a mystery what he was writing) and then uttered some transformational words (verse 7): “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

After the people — clearly shaken by Jesus’ words — walked away, Christ and the woman were left standing together, and their exchange went as follows (NIV):

Christ: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

Woman: “No one, sir.”

Christ: “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

The Chinese Communist Party, though, reportedly has a different vision for how this interaction unfolded — an anti-biblical, faux account that flies in the face of scriptural truth.

In the Chinese government’s new version — purportedly observed in a textbook published in September 2020 — the crowd disperses, but then the text states, “When everyone went out, Jesus stoned the woman himself, and said, ‘I am also a sinner.’”

https://www.faithwire.com

Judge removes father’s custody rights to his children over refusal to get vaccinated

Ricky Scaparo – February 6, 2022

After refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a father has reportedly lost the right to see his kids in person, one of whom is immunocompromised. The Canadian Press reports a judge in New Brunswick, Justice Nathalie Godbout, wrote in her Jan. 31 decision the revoking of the father’s custody rights was done “with a heavy heart,” but he can still be in contact with his children by use of phone calls or video chats.

Godbout made her decision, she says, because the father’s insistence he remains unvaccinated posed too great a threat and risk to his 10-year-old immunocompromised daughter, who receives specialized care for non-cancerous tumors in her blood vessels.

According to CBC, Their mother asked the court for a change to the custody agreement ending the father’s in-person access. She applied to the court last year and the hearing took place on Jan. 24.

“As the parents who are caring for [the child] 50 percent of the time, in close quarters, unmasked and unvaccinated, they are well-positioned to transmit the virus to [the child] should they contract it, this despite their best efforts,” the ruling says.

“It is no contest: the current science in the face of a highly contagious virus far outweighs Mr. F.’s layman wait-and-see approach.” The parents and the children are not named in the 26-page court ruling.

They are only identified by initials. The new order allows the father “generous” visiting rights via Zoom but no in-person contact. If he gets vaccinated, he can return to court to ask for a change to the decision. While waiting for the hearing, the father also refused to consent to the children being vaccinated after they became eligible last November. Godbout ruled the mother could get that done without his agreement.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Percentage of LGBTQ adults in U.S. has doubled over past decade, Gallup finds

Jo Yurcaba – February 17, 2022

The percent of U.S. adults who identify as something other than heterosexual has doubled over the last 10 years, from 3.5 percent in 2012 to 7.1 percent, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

Gallup found that the increase is due to ”high LGBT self-identification, particularly as bisexual, among Generation Z adults,” who are 18 to 25.

It asked more than 12,000 U.S. adults how they identify during telephone interviews last year. It found that younger U.S. adults are much more likely to identify as LGBTQ than older generations.

More than 1 in 5, or 21 percent, of Generation Z adults identify as LGBTQ, Gallup found. That’s almost double the proportion of millennials, who are 26 to 41, at 10.5 percent, and nearly five times the proportion of Generation X, who are 42 to 57, at 4.2 percent. Less than 3 percent of baby boomers, who are 58 to 76, identify as LGBTQ, compared to just 0.8 percent of traditionalists, who are 77 or older.

As the youngest Americans slowly outnumber and replace the oldest, Gallup predicts the number of LGBTQ-identifying adults will only increase — and likely at a much faster rate than past generations.

The poll found that the percent of Generation X, baby boomers and traditionalists who identify as queer has remained relatively the same over the years. More millennials have increasingly identified as LGBTQ, but only slightly, at 5.8 percent in 2012, 7.8 percent in 2017 and 10.5 percent now.

https://www.nbcnews.com