The Faithful Watchman

Court rules: Jews can pray on Temple Mount

David Sidman – October 6, 2021

For the first time since Jewish worship returned to the Temple Mount, an Israeli court approved the act and provided it with unprecedented legal standing.

Justice Bilha Yahalom of Jerusalem’s Magistrate Court, accepted on Wednesday an appeal by Temple Mount activist Rabbi Aryeh Lippo against the police ban on prayer that he witnessed during his visits to the holy site.

“His daily Temple Mount attendance shows that this is a matter of principle and meaning for him,” Judge Yahalom noted in her ruling.

During the hearing, the court viewed a video documenting Jewish people praying on the Temple Mount. The court ruled that silently praying on the holy site is not a violation of police guidelines.

“The prosecutor doesn’t dispute that the appellant, like many others, prays on a daily basis on the Temple Mount, and this activity in and of itself is not a violation of police instructions,” Judge Yahalom wrote.

Temple Mount organizations ad activists welcomed the ruling as it recognizes and green-lights “the positive process that is going on the Temple Mount.”

Activist Arnon Segal called it a “beautiful victory” while blasting the police for harassing Rabbi Lippo for no reason.

Shai Glick, CEO of the B’Tsalmo rights organization hailed the decision tweeting: “This is the first time we can say the words ‘the Temple Mount is in our hands.’ We are talking about a historic day for the Nation of Israel in its entirety.”

https://www.israel365news.com

Global Corporate Tax Deal Nears as Holdouts Drop Objections

Newsmax – October 8, 2021

A global deal to ensure big companies pay a minimum tax rate of at least 15% and make it harder for them to avoid taxation is set to be finalized on Friday after Ireland, Estonia and Hungary agreed to sign up, leaving a few holdouts isolated.

The agreement aims to end a four-decade-long “race to the bottom” by governments that have sought to attract investment and jobs by taxing multinational companies only lightly and allowing them to shop around for low tax rates.

Negotiations have been going on for four years, moving online during the pandemic, with support for a deal from U.S. President Joe Biden and the costs of COVID-19 giving additional impetus in recent months. Some 140 countries are now involved.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which has been leading the talks, is due to announce the outcome of Friday’s discussions around 1600 GMT.

The agreement will set a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% and let governments tax a greater share of foreign multinationals’ profits.

It aims to prevent big groups from booking profits in low-tax countries like Ireland regardless of where their clients are, an issue that has become ever more pressing with the rise of tech giants that easily do business across borders.

https://www.newsmax.com

Solar Cycle 25 overperforms: Sunspot counts for Sept. 2021 were the highest in more than 5 years, exceeding the official forecast

Strange Sounds – October 3, 2021

Solar Cycle 25 continues to overperform. Sunspot counts for Sept. 2021 were the highest in more than 5 years.

And, for the 11th month in a row, the sunspot number has significantly exceeded the official forecast:

“The NOAA/NASA co-chaired, international panel to forecast Solar Cycle 25 released their latest forecast for Solar Cycle 25. The forecast consensus: a peak in July, 2025 (+/- 8 months), with a smoothed sunspot number (SSN) of 115. The panel agreed that Cycle 25 will be average in intensity and similar to Cycle 24.

“Additionally, the panel concurred that solar minimum between Cycles 24 and 25 will occur in April, 2020 (+/- 6 months). If the solar minimum prediction is correct, this would make Solar Cycle 24 the 7th longest on record (11.4 years).”

The plot above shows sunspot counts vs. time. The red curve traces the forecast issued by the NOAA/NASA Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel in 2019. It calls for a relatively weak solar cycle peaking in July 2025.

The sun has a mind of its own, though. Higher-than-expected sunspot counts suggest a stronger cycle, with a peak occuring in late 2024 instead of mid-2025. This is good news for aurora watchers, but maybe not so good for the Internet. [Space Weather]

https://strangesounds.org

China’s Xi warns of ‘grim’ situation with Taiwan

AFP – September 26, 2021

Beijing — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that relations between Beijing and Taipei were “grim” on Sunday, urging the island’s main opposition party to help seek “unification of the country.”

China views self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and vows to retake it one day, by force if necessary.

Xi has become the most bellicose leader since Mao Zedong, describing the seizure of the island as “inevitable.”

In a congratulatory letter to Eric Chu — the newly elected leader of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party — Xi said the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT should collaborate under a “shared political basis.”

“In the past our two parties insisted on ‘1992 consensus’ and opposing ‘Taiwan independence’ … to promote peaceful developments in cross- strait relations,” Xi said in the letter released by the KMT.

“At present the situation in the Taiwan Strait is complex and grim,” he said, urging the parties to jointly seek peace and “the unification of the country.”

Ties between Taiwan and China improved markedly under former president Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT between 2008 and 2016, culminating with a landmark meeting between Xi and him in Singapore in 2015.

The KMT has sidestepped frictions with China by accepting the so-called 1992 consensus — a tacit agreement that there is only “one China” without specifying whether Beijing or Taipei is its rightful representative.

In response, Chu said in a letter to Xi that the two sides should “seek common ground and respect their differences” to promote peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing has stepped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who views the island as a sovereign nation and not part of “one China.”

Last year, Chinese military jets made a record 380 incursions into Taiwan’s defense zone, with some analysts warning that tensions between the two sides were at their highest since the mid-1990s.

https://thelibertyloft.com

Mice plague spreading across new Australian states as summer sparks surge in pest numbers

Anton Nilsson – September 23, 2021

Despite a lull over the winter, Australia’s mouse plague never ended – and now it’s threatening new areas of the country.

Large numbers of mice continue to plague rural Australian communities as farmers fear yet another crop will be ruined.

After dwindling in the winter cold, mouse populations have begun growing rapidly again, CSIRO mouse expert Steve Henry said.

“We’re quite concerned, given them the numbers that have been reported at the moment,” Mr Henry said.

NSW Farmers vice president Xavier Martin, who operates a farm in Gunnedah, said the new wave of mice would be a hard blow for farmers still reeling from the plague earlier in the year.

“A lot of farmers are on edge because they’re still trying to deal with contaminated hay and crops,” he said.

“Some contaminated produce had to be buried or burnt. So they’re very wary about this upcoming harvest and hay making.”

The mice are multiplying fast across a wide area that stretches from northern NSW to southern Queensland.

The worst-hit areas in recent weeks appear to be around Walgett and Moree in NSW, and in the Darling Downs in Queensland.

But there is also an area in Western Australia where mice are breeding fast, according to Mr Henry.

https://www.news.com.au

Massive facility overseen by Pope Francis to pave the way for a “One World Religion” in 2022

ETH – September 30, 2021

(OPINION) Are we about to see the formation of what will ultimately facilitate and pave the way for a “One World Religion”? The Abrahamic Family House, which encloses a synagogue, a church, and a mosque in a single complex, and which is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2022, is 20 percent complete, the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Committee, which is also supervising the project, said it is inspired by the 2019 Document on Human Fraternity. Constructed on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the project is closely followed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of al-Azhar, who endorsed the design, the HCHF said.

The Abrahamic Family House derives its name from the Old Testament biblical figure, Abraham, who is recognized and greatly revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The Abrahamic Family House’s design, by architect Sir David Adjaye, captures. the values shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, through three main buildings, including a mosque, a church, and a synagogue in one place.

“As such, the complex innovatively recounts the history and builds bridges between human civilizations and heavenly messages.” The names of the three separate iconic houses of worship in the Abrahamic Family House complex are officially unveiled as “Imam AlTayeb Mosque,” “St. Francis Church,” and “Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue”. Moses ben Maimon was a prolific and influential Sephardic Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

We Are On The Verge Of The Greatest Shortage Of Healthcare Workers In U.S. History

Michael Snyder – September 28, 2021

It didn’t have to be this way. After sacrificing so much over the past couple of years, thousands of heroes of the COVID pandemic are now being forced to make a heartbreaking choice. Either they will have to violate very deeply held convictions and beliefs, or they will have to give up their careers. The way that our healthcare workers are being treated is utterly shameful, and it is a stain on this nation that will not soon be erased. And thanks to these “mandates”, the next time you go to the hospital the lack of workers may mean that you don’t get the treatment that you desperately need.

We already had a shortage of healthcare workers before the pandemic came along, and this is something that I have written about multiple times over the years. When COVID started sweeping across America, many healthcare facilities were absolutely overwhelmed, and there were some healthcare workers that couldn’t handle the pressure. Many ended up leaving, and that resulted in the shortages getting even worse.

Of course countless numbers of healthcare workers have been faithful to keep showing up for work day after day throughout this entire crisis, and now thousands upon thousands of them are being ruthlessly discarded. Mandates that have been instituted by major healthcare providers, state governments and the federal government are going to force the firing of countless numbers of COVID pandemic heroes.

I can’t even begin to describe how heartless this is.

And considering the fact that we are already experiencing shortages of healthcare workers all over the country, this appears to be a really, really foolish thing to do. According to Fox Business, healthcare institutions all over America “are bracing for worsening staff shortages”…

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Abortionist Celebrates Killing Babies, Tells Congress “Abortion is a Blessing, Abortion is an Act of Love”

Micaiah Bilger – September 30, 2021

Abortion is a “blessing” and an “act of love,” a Texas abortionist told lawmakers at a U.S. House hearing Thursday.

Ghazaleh Moayedi, a Texas abortionist invited by Democrats to testify at a hearing about abortion, slammed the new state heartbeat law, which prohibits abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable, about six weeks of pregnancy.

The law, which went into effect Sept. 1, has saved as many as 2,800 unborn babies’ lives so far and spared countless mothers from the physical and emotional pain of abortion.

Moayedi, however, who makes her living aborting unborn babies, claimed that the pro-life law is “extremely dangerous” and abortion is a “blessing.”

“We need laws that elevate science and evidence and recognize the dignity and autonomy of people accessing care,” she said, adding that it is a “global fact” that “when people do not have access to abortion care, that maternal morbidity and mortality rates rise.”

Several studies refute this claim and at least one found the opposite to be true: Countries with pro-life laws have lower maternal mortality rates than countries with pro-abortion laws.

Moayedi went on to claim that killing unborn babies in abortions saves lives.

“Texas deserves better. I know firsthand that abortion saves lives,” she continued. “For the thousands of people I’ve cared for, abortion is a blessing, abortion is an act of love, abortion is freedom.”

Many women who have had abortions disagree. Countless women regret their abortions, and thousands have shared their stories of regret and healing through the Silent No More Awareness Campaign and other pro-life efforts.

And there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, more women who cannot speak out against such lies because they died along with their unborn babies in supposedly “safe, legal” abortions.

https://www.lifenews.com

Texas Teachers Instructed To Help Students Hide Gender Identity From Parents

Mairead Elordi – September 30, 2021

A teacher training for a Texas public school district directed teachers to hide information about students’ gender identity from their parents in order to make school a “safe” place.

Teachers at Leander Independent School District north of Austin received a training presentation in October last year that instructed them to discuss gender identity with students and ask them whether it was okay to share students’ preferred pronouns with their parents.

The training, titled “Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth in Schools,” was led by two school social workers working for the district, Felix Barnhart and Monica Kelly, who describes herself as a “fat-positive, sex-positive therapist.”

“Add your pronouns wherever your name is published and then also whenever you are introducing yourself, just to normalize the sharing of pronouns,” Kelly suggested to participants in the training.

Another idea, she said, is to “let students identify themselves on the first day of class with their individual name and pronouns,” and make sure to inform substitute teachers and anyone else visiting the classroom of their correct pronouns, “so that way it protects that student from being misgendered or called a name that they don’t identify with.”

“We kind of do this already for students who have nicknames,” Kelly remarked. “We’re just asking to extend that courtesy to students whose gender identity may be different from their sex assigned at birth.”

However, in her next breath, Kelly appeared to admit that pronouns are much more sensitive than nicknames, encouraging teachers to ask students whether it is okay to refer to them by their preferred pronouns when speaking with their parents.

“May I use these pronouns when I contact home?” reads a question on a form Kelly suggested teachers have students fill out.

Another question reads, “Would you like to follow up with me in a private conversation about your pronouns?”

“A student may be out at school, but they may not be out to their parents,” Kelly explained.

https://www.dailywire.com

Woman with Down Syndrome Loses Challenge to UK Eugenic Abortion Law

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. – September 24, 2021

A British court decided Thursday against a young woman with Down syndrome who challenged a law permitting the abortion of children with her condition up to birth.

While abortions in England, Wales, and Scotland are forbidden after 24 weeks of pregnancy, an exception is made when there is “a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped,” in which case abortion may be performed at any time before birth.

Heidi Crowter, a 26-year-old woman with Down syndrome who lives on her own and recently got married, called the legislation “offensive” and together with two others took the Department of Health and Social Care to the UK High Court, contending that a provision of the 1967 Abortion Act is discriminatory and violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

During the two-day hearing of the case in July, Jason Coppel QC, representing the petitioners, told the court that Down syndrome is the single most common justification for “late-term abortions” under the Abortion Act.

In their decision, two senior judges, Lord Justice Rabinder Singh and Mrs. Justice Nathalie Lieven, dismissed the case, arguing that not all mothers will want to carry a pregnancy to term if they believe the child will be born with disabilities.

“The evidence before the court powerfully shows that there will be some families who positively wish to have a child, even knowing that it will be born with severe disabilities,” they said. “But the evidence is also clear that not every family will react in that way.”

“The evidence is also clear that, although scientific developments have improved and earlier identification may be feasible, there are still conditions which will only be identified late in a pregnancy, after 24 weeks,” the judges said.

During the hearing of the case, Crowter told reporters that the law was “out of date.”

https://www.breitbart.com