The Faithful Watchman

Florida House Committee Passes Pro-Life Bill to Save Babies From Abortion

Micaiah Bilger – Jan 28, 2022

Despite abortion activists’ continuous disruptions, a Florida House committee advanced legislation Thursday to protect unborn babies by banning abortions after 15 weeks.

Florida Politics reports pro-abortion protesters repeatedly interrupted the meeting with shouts and chants before the state House Healthcare Appropriations Subcommittee voted 10-5 to move forward with the bill.

The Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act (House Bill 5) would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions would be allowed if the mother’s life is at risk or the unborn baby has a fatal disorder. It also includes measures to reduce infant mortality and a requirement that abortion facilities report suspected human trafficking cases to the state.

The legislation has a good chance of passing the Republican-controlled state legislature, and Gov. Ron DeSantis recently “welcomed” pro-life legislation. Polls consistently show strong public support for banning abortion after the first trimester as well.

On Thursday, committee members listened to more than an hour of public comment before ending public discussion to allow lawmakers time to debate before they voted, according to the report.

However, a female abortion activist interrupted their discussion, and security guards escorted her out of the room. As they did, other abortion activists began chanting “Let her speak!”, eventually prompting lawmakers to stop the meeting and clear the room, WTSP 10 Tampa Bay reports. Later, they allowed people back inside and reconvened the meeting.

Abortion activists accused lawmakers of not allowing them to speak, but Andy Shirvell, executive director for Florida Voice for the Unborn, who attended the meeting, said the abortion activists monopolized the public comment period.

“One pro-abortion activist after another testified, with only one pro-life advocate able to speak,” Shirvell said. “Many pro-lifers, including myself, were there to testify but we never got the chance.”

He speculated that the committee chair may have given more time to abortion activists in an attempt to mollify them, but the opposite occurred.

“As grateful as Florida Voice for the Unborn is for today’s victory, nonetheless what took place at the subcommittee hearing was completely unacceptable,” Shirvell said.

https://www.lifenews.com

New Russian hypersonic missile set for delivery

Jonny Tickle – January 21, 2021

Trials of the state-of-the-art Zircon sea-launched hypersonic cruise missile are currently being completed, and the projectiles will be deployed to the Russian Navy later this year, a deputy defense minister revealed on Thursday.

The Zircon has made significant headlines worldwide for its capabilities, and last year it was named by US Navy Admiral Charles A. Richard as a threat to America.

“Because of these challenges, our current terrestrial- and space-based sensor architecture may not be sufficient to detect and track these hypersonic missiles,” he said.

With testing now nearing an end, the high-speed guided projectile is due to be deployed in the near future.

“State tests of the Zircon sea-based hypersonic cruise missile are being completed. Its serial deliveries will start in 2022,” Aleksey Krivoruchko told his superior, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

The Zircon missile has been undergoing testing for seven years and in recent times has been fired from both frigates and submarines, with most testing being undertaken in the White Sea, in Russia’s far north.

Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the tests were proceeding well.

“Now, it is especially important to develop and implement the technologies necessary to create new hypersonic weapons systems, high-powered lasers, and robotic systems that will be able to effectively counter potential military threats, which means they will further strengthen the security of our country,” he said.

https://www.rt.com

‘The fire has been lit’: U.S. Federal Reserve’s push for digital dollar worries Wall Street

Joe Light – March 22, 2021

The financial services industry, braced for what could be its biggest disruption in decades, is about to get an early glimpse at the Federal Reserve’s work on a new digital currency.Wall Street is not thrilled.Banks, credit card companies and digital payments processors are nervously watching the push to create an electronic alternative to the paper bills Americans carry in their wallets, or what some call a digital dollar and others call a Fedcoin.

As soon as July, officials at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which have been developing prototypes for a digital dollar platform, plan to unveil their research, said James Cunha, who leads the project for the Boston Fed.

A digital currency could fundamentally change the way Americans use money, leading some financial firms to lobby the Fed and Congress to slow its creation — or at least ensure they’re not cut out.

Seeing the threat to their profits, the banks’ main trade group has told Congress a digital dollar isn’t needed, while payment companies like Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are trying to work with central banks to make sure the new currencies can be used on their networks.

“Everyone is afraid that you could disrupt all the incumbent players with a whole new form of payment,” said Michael Del Grosso, an analyst for Compass Point Research & Trading LLC.

https://financialpost.com

What In The World Is Happening To Our Planet? One Of The Most Catastrophic Disasters In Modern History Should Be A Wake Up Call For All Of Us

Michael Snyder – January 16, 2022

Why does our planet keep getting hit by “historic disaster” after “historic disaster”? Over the past couple of years, an extremely unusual series of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions has rocked the globe. Authorities keep telling us that “everything is normal”, but the truth is that there is absolutely nothing about any of this that is “normal”. Major changes appear to be happening to our planet, and that has enormous implications for our future.

Unfortunately, the corporate media gives very little attention to the major disasters that take place outside of the United States, and so most Americans don’t even understand the seriousness of what we are facing.

Over the weekend, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga experienced a “once in a thousand years explosion”. This eruption sent a 3 mile wide mushroom cloud of red hot ash, steam and gas 12 miles into the air.

To put that in perspective, the entire island of Manhattan is only 2.3 miles wide.

This eruption was so massive that it actually created an entirely new island, and the sonic boom from the blast could be heard 6000 miles away in Alaska.

One of the most remarkable things about this disaster is the incredible amount of volcanic lightning that it produced.

It is being reported that there were approximately “200,000 lightning events” during the first hour of the eruption alone.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Suicide is now a public health epidemic, not a personal problem

Hedieh Mirahmadi – January 20, 2021

The Surgeon General recently reported that our teenagers are more at risk of suicide since the pandemic than ever before in our nation’s history. Their feelings of isolation, uncertainties about the future, substance abuse, and other problems occurring in the home have triggered soaring rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts nationwide. Young people across every socio-economic class, race, and ethnicity are affected, with 6,600 teenagers committing suicide in 2020 alone. Our children are dealing with more uncertainty than any other generation in history. The average American youth will have seen close to 200,000 violent acts on some form of media by the time they turn eighteen, and most no longer live in two-parent households that provide emotional support. Consequently, many have an over-dependence on their peers, which ends up creating greater emotional instability.

During a recent podcast episode, my husband I were surprised to learn how many people in the church were affected by the horrible tragedy of suicide. Out of a dozen live listeners, five of them had an immediate family member who either attempted or committed suicide – including myself. My husband shared how in his early twenties, he placed a loaded gun inside his mouth, having lost the will to live. Interestingly, a commercial on TV about starving kids in Africa ultimately shocked him back into the reality that his life was worth living. For another, her son’s girlfriend committed suicide right before Christmas while pregnant with his child. It shook the family to their core, but their faith in God is helping them heal.

For myself, I deal with the powerlessness that comes from being the parent of a child who struggles with mental illness and thoughts of suicide. My faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and knowing my daughter has also accepted Christ comforts me and allows me to surrender the burden to Him. Yet, I can’t help but face the very real notion that God is ultimately in control and none of us know what life may have in store. Kay Warren, whose son took his own life in 2013, eloquently expressed the paradox in this way:

“My hope was pretty much centered around what could happen here. Rather than taking the longer view, sometimes things don’t happen the way we want them to here on Earth…Yet I can be safe and secure and even joyful with that confidence of what God is doing, ultimately.”

When anxiety about ourselves or our loved ones builds up inside, the real danger is turning away from the Lord and towards ourselves. Whether it’s money, social distancing, escapism in substance abuse, anger, or resentment against the “other,” none of these offer a real solution to the problem. In the midst of being threatened, we must realize God is our refuge. The pressure should lead us to run towards God for rest and peace rather than running away.

https://www.christianpost.com

‘Revival and Reformation Is Needed’: Canadian Pastors Sound Off On New Law That Threatens To Criminalize Evangelism

Ben Zeisloft – January 16, 2022

Days ago, Canada approved a “conversion therapy” ban that condemns Christian doctrine on the sinfulness of homosexuality and transgenderism as “myth.” Indeed, bill C-4 — passed unanimously by both the Senate and the House of Commons — threatens pastors with up to five years of prison time if they remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As thousands of American ministers stand in solidarity with Canadian believers by preaching about biblical sexual ethics on Sunday, January 16, two Canadian pastors — Jacob Reaume of Trinity Bible Chapel and Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church — told The Daily Wire about the implications of C-4 and how Canadian Christians plan to respond.

‘The Church must be a prophetic witness’

While describing C-4, Reaume — whose church incurred over $100,000 in fines last year for refusing to shut its doors in defiance of Canada’s COVID-19 lockdowns — noted that the edict will “make the preaching of the biblical gospel a criminal act.”

“The biblical gospel is a message of conversion, whereby Christ causes sinners to be born-again, thus converting them from sinful propensities to godliness,” he explained. “The bill’s language is vague enough that many think it might criminalize a biblical call to forsake sodomitic propensities to embrace righteousness.”

Stephens — who was jailed in a maximum-security facility last summer for refusing to close his church — added that “the law is overly broad in defining conversion therapy,” thereby enshrining “progressive gender ideology and queer theory as normative.”

https://www.dailywire.com

France’s Macron Calls For Abortion To Be Added To EU’s Fundamental Rights Charter

Cathy Burke – January 19, 2021

French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for abortion to be added to the European Union’s charter of fundamental rights.

Speaking to members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in eastern France on Wednesday, Macron said the rights charter needed to be revised, the National Catholic Register (NCR) reported.

“We must update this charter to be more explicit on the recognition of the right to abortion or on the protection of the environment,” he said, according to NCR.

“Let us open up this debate freely with our fellow citizens … to breathe new life into the pillar of law that forges this Europe of strong values,” he said.

The European Union charter recognizes the right to life but does not mention abortion.

Macron made the appeal the day after the European Union’s law-making body elected the pro-life politician Roberta Metsola from Malta as its new president, the news outlet noted.

Metsola, at 43 the youngest-ever president of the European Parliament — told Euronews after her election that she would respect the assembly’s majority view in favor of abortion during her renewable term of 2 1/2 years.

“The position of the parliament is unambiguous and unequivocal, and that is also my position,” she said Tuesday, Catholic News Agency reported. “That is exactly what I will do throughout my mandate as president on this issue.”

According to NCR, the European Parliament voted last June in favor of a report describing abortion as “essential healthcare” and seeking to redefine conscientious objection as a “denial of medical care.”

The report also declared violations of “sexual and reproductive health and rights” are “a form of violence against women and girls.”

Most of the EU’s 27 member states permit abortion on demand or broad social grounds, except Malta and Poland, which have strong pro-life laws, NCR reported.

https://www.newsmax.com

Doomsday Clock stands at 100 seconds to midnight, World ‘remains in an extremely dangerous moment’, Closest ever to Apocalypse

ETH – January 21, 2021

(OPINION) Doomsday is as close today as it was yesterday, according to a hypothetical timepiece known as the Doomsday Clock; for the second year in a row, the clock’s hands hover at 100 seconds to midnight — the hour of humanity’s destruction.

However, it’s still not too late to turn back the clock’s hands and make the world safer for people worldwide, said “timekeepers” with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS). Representatives of the nonprofit announced the clock’s new time on Thursday (Jan. 20), at a virtual press event, which you can watch on Live Science.

The past year included “several bright spots and many disturbing trends,” including the alarming rise of online misinformation that curbed progress in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic and hindered strategies for addressing climate change, BAS President and CEO Rachel Bronson said at the press event.

The 2022 Doomsday Clock statement explains that the “decision does not, by any means, suggest that the international security situation has stabilized. On the contrary, the clock remains the closest it has ever been to the civilization-ending apocalypse because the world remains stuck in an extremely dangerous moment.”

Rachel Bronson, president, and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said the clock “continues to hover dangerously, reminding us about how much work is needed to be done to ensure a safer and healthier planet. We must continue to push the hands of the clock away from midnight.”

“It’s an imperfect metaphor,” Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University, told CNN, highlighting that the clock’s framing combines different types of risk that have different characteristics and occur in different timescales. Still, he adds it “remains an important rhetorical device that reminds us, year after year, of the tenuousness of our current existence on this planet.”

https://endtimeheadlines.org

US envoy in Europe says ‘drumbeat of war is sounding loud’

Laura Kelly – January 13, 2022

Washington’s envoy in Europe on Thursday issued a stark warning of war in Eastern Europe amid Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s border but said the U.S. and the majority of its allies support ongoing dialogue to tamp down tensions.

“We’re facing a crisis in European security. The drumbeat of war is sounding loud, and the rhetoric has gotten rather shrill,” said Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Carpenter spoke with reporters following a meeting of the OSCE focused on advancing diplomacy between the U.S., Europe and Russia, the conclusion of an extraordinary session of three diplomatic meetings on the continent this week and in response to Russian military provocations.

“There’s close to 100,000 troops on the Russian side of its border with Ukraine. Their presence and the live fire measures being carried out are raising many questions about Moscow’s intention,” Carpenter said.

https://www.msn.com

Prominent Mystic: Next year will be the final Jubilee, year of Messiah’s arrival

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz – January 12, 2022

Rabbi Yekutiel Fish, a prominent mystic from Jerusalem, gave a lesson last week in which he proved through a precise mathematical equation that next year will be the final Jubilee before the arrival of the Messiah.

“We are now in the month of Shevat on the eve of the Messiah,” Rabbi Fish said at the beginning of his lesson. “If you happen to hear a shofar, don’t be alarmed or confused,” the rabbi joked. “It is only the arrival of the Messiah.”

Rabbi Fish attributed the teaching to Rabbi Oren Evron, a prominent mystic-numerologist.

“Rabbi Evron told me the following message in the most simple manner possible, like an innocent child and not like a Torah authority,” Rabbi Fish said. “But after he told me, I realized that what we have here is an atomic bomb. Rabbi Evron informed me that next year, 5783, will be a Jubilee year and will usher in the Messiah.”

It should be noted that the current year, 5782, is a shemittah (Sabbatical) year. The Shemitah is part of a larger framework of seven Shemitah (sabbatical) cycles, in which we count 49 years, and then the 50th year is the Jubilee year, as described in Leviticus.

https://www.israel365news.com