The Faithful Watchman

Africa Swine Fever: Is China downplaying another disease outbreak?

DW – September 17, 2021

During a teleconference more than two years ago, Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua urged health authorities to step up efforts to rein in a growing outbreak despite initial “positive results,” and suggested that “enhancing quarantine and monitoring” measures would help prevent the spread of the virus.

Hu’s comments came before the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Instead, he was referring to a different, far deadlier disease: African Swine Fever (ASF) — an illness that affects pigs.

Chinese officials first identified ASF in 2018 in Liaoning, a coastal province in China’s northeast. Unlike SARS-CoV-2, ASF does not threaten human health. The disease, however, is highly virulent in pigs and mortality rates approach 100%.

ASF is of particular concern in China, the world’s top pork consumer and home to roughly half of the world’s pigs. Given the country’s enormous pig population, ASF could turn China into a significant reservoir of disease and pose a threat to China’s neighbors in the region if it becomes endemic.

This year, China reported 12 ASF cases to the OIE, the intergovernmental body that tracks animal diseases, down from a high of 105 in 2018. Except for a small bump in cases earlier this year, ASF numbers have consistently declined, according to official figures.

Some industry experts, however, believe that China may be obfuscating African Swine Fever’s actual toll on hog herds by under-reporting infection numbers, and painting an artificially rosy picture.

The cost of pork in China is an economic bellwether. Tapping into China’s strategic pork stockpile allowed Beijing to stabilize pork prices from a high last year, but ASF could still cause headaches of epic proportions.

https://www.dw.com

Broken Arrow pastor arrested outside Tulsa Women’s Clinic

Katie Keleher – September 02, 2021

TULSA, Okla. — A Broken Arrow pastor is charged with disturbing the peace after being arrested outside of the Tulsa Women’s Clinic.

Pastor Greg McEntire said he and members of his church, Broken Arrow Baptist Temple, have prayed and sung while protesting abortion outside of the Tulsa Women’s Clinic every week for five years.

He said there were about 25 of them outside of the clinic. He said after being there for about an hour, a police officer showed up, asking them to tone down their singing. McEntire said the officer told them you could hear them singing from inside the clinic, which is a violation of Tulsa’s noise statute. McEntire said the officer was going to write him a ticket, but McEntire refused to sign it. He was then arrested.

McEntire said he feels like they were trying to take his voice away.

“We feel like it’s an attempt to silence our voices because if we get so soft we can’t be heard, why should we be there. If people can’t hear us, why are we there,” McEntire said.

https://www.kjrh.com

FDA purchased baby heads and other body parts, documents show

WND Staff – September 14, 2021

Hundreds of pages of U.S. Food and Drug Administration records obtained under a Freedom of Information Act case brought by government watchdog Judicial Watch reveal the U.S. government was buying the heads of unborn babies, and other body parts, for its “humanized mice” project.

The watchdog organization announced this week it has obtained 198 pages of records from the FDA confirming the purchase plans for “human fetal heads, organs and tissue.”

The “supplies” came from Advanced Bioscience Resources, and many of the deals were reached between Perrin Lawton, of ABR, and Kristina Howard, an officer with the FDA.

The lawsuit over the records had sought “all contracts and related documentation on disbursement of funds, procedural documents and communications between FDA and ABR for the provision of human fetal tissue to be used in humanized mice research.”

A federal court recently ordered the government to provide more details about the purchase of the human body parts, “including ‘line item prices,’ or the price per organ the government paid to ABR,” Judicial Watch said.”

The court also found ‘there is reason to question’ whether the transactions violate federal law barring the sale of fetal organs. Documents previously uncovered in this lawsuit show that the federal government demanded the purchased fetal organs be ‘fresh and never frozen,'” Judicial Watch reported.

https://www.wnd.com

Another Australian State Legalizes Voluntary Euthanasia

Newsmax – September 16, 2021

Voluntary euthanasia became legal in a fifth Australian state on Thursday, more than 20 years after the country repealed the world’s first mercy killing law for the terminally ill.

Queensland’s Parliament passed the law with 61 of the state’s 93 lawmakers voting in favor.

New South Wales, the nation’s most populous state, is now the only state that doesn’t allow assisted suicide.

The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory do not have the same rights as states and the Federal Parliament has barred them from making such laws.

Queensland’s law, which takes effect in January 2023, allows people suffering from a disease or medical condition that is advanced, progressive, and terminal to have access to so-called voluntary assisted dying.

Their condition must be expected to cause death within a year, they must have decision-making capacity, and proceed without coercion.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the law would ease pain and suffering.

“It has been a very considered debate and … it’s been a very difficult debate,” Miles told Parliament.

Opponents argued that due to a funding shortfall for palliative care, the law would put pressure on some patients to end their lives.

https://www.newsmax.com

Russian & Belarusian troops practice fighting side-by-side in huge war-games, with rockets & tanks deployed across Eastern Europe

RT – September 12, 2021

Close to 100,000 Russian and Belarusian soldiers, sailors and airmen are taking part in massive military exercises spanning half the width of Europe and involving hundreds of aircraft, armored vehicles and even missile systems.

In a statement issued on Friday, Moscow’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Zapad-2021 drills had begun in earnest, across 14 separate training grounds from the Baltic Sea to Central Russian cities like Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod.

Troops from former Soviet republics, including Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as personnel from India and Mongolia are taking part. Delegations of officers from China, Pakistan, Vietnam and Myanmar are also understood to be in attendance.

However, Moscow’s military commanders insist that while the exercises involve large numbers of squadrons and military hardware, the quantity of troops involved in any one set of exercises does not exceed 6,400 people, in line with requirements under international law.

The objective of the drills is to demonstrate and test the level of combat readiness of Russian and Belarusian troops to defend the Union State which binds the two nations.

The wargames come amid escalating tensions between the West and Russia, along with Belarus. A number of naval vessels are involved in drills, with warships, missile cruisers and destroyers, as well as submarines, setting out into the Baltic Sea as part of the dry run for potential conflict.

https://www.rt.com

‘No further powers to Brussels’: Hungary’s foreign minister calls for more sovereignty within the EU

RT – September 4, 2021

Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto has called for limiting Brussels’ dominance over nations on the continent. Speaking to Swiss media, he accused the EU of “extortion” and questioned its authority.

“The EU is strong when its member states are sovereign and strong themselves, and that means – no further powers to Brussels,” Szijjarto said in an interview with Swiss daily Blick. Competitiveness among member states must also be increased, the minister said, suggesting European countries should not be restrained by the membership. “We definitely don’t want the United States of Europe,” he said.

Hungary is “always the target of attacks” from Brussels, Szijjarto alleged, claiming such an attitude is the result of his country’s policies oriented toward national interests.

Hungary’s conservative government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban is frequently criticized by the EU authorities. Its stance on the bloc’s migration policies has been a sticking point. In May, Budapest angered Brussels when it vetoed a proposed revision to a longstanding EU trade and development agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) partnership countries, citing concerns over the draft’s implications for increasing ACP migration to the EU.

The EU leadership has also been particularly condemnatory over Budapest’s contentious law against LGBT propaganda, which resulted in withholding investment plans, containing grants and loans, earlier this year.

“This is extortion,” the minister told Blick, saying that “the contributions are not humanitarian donations that are paid out of generosity, but part of a contract between the EU and Hungary.”

Budapest is now “in conflict with the European Union,” the publication alleged, saying that it led the Eastern European country to seek closeness with Switzerland. While so far the two states mainly cooperate economically, Szijjarto and Swiss Vice President Ignazio Cassis aim to tighten political partnership. “Both countries value sovereignty and pride themselves on their heritage, culture and independence,” the Hungarian official said.

https://www.rt.com

Massive earthquake in Mexico produced “rare lights” in the sky gripping locals with fear of “apocalypse”

ETH – September 8, 2021

A rare natural light show flashed across the night sky during a powerful earthquake that shook Mexico City and beach resort Acapulco late on Tuesday, adding to a sense of doom as startled residents rushed into the streets.

According to Reuters, Twitter users posted dozens of videos of the phenomenon, prompting a trend under the tag Apocalipsis, which is Spanish for Apocalypse, the biblical term used to denote the end of the world. The 7.0 magnitude quake, which hit 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Acapulco in southwestern Guerrero state killed one man and damaged buildings in the holiday getaway but did not appear to cause widespread destruction, authorities said in initial reports.

There were no reports of significant damage in Mexico City. USN reported that in footage from Acapulco, the flashes start shortly after the ground starts shaking, illuminating previously darkened hills behind the ocean bay and at one point appearing to bathe buildings on the shoreline in bright light.

In Mexico City, panicked residents tried to keep their balance outside an apartment building while the sky flashed blue, white, and pink, another video on social media showed. Strange lights reported during earthquakes around the world are often imbued with religious meaning by those who witness them.

There is little scientific consensus on what causes the luminosity, or even if it is a real phenomenon. Theories for what researchers call Earthquake Lights (EQL) include friction between moving rocks creating electrical activity. Similar lights were reported by some people during a destructive quake in Mexico in 2017. Skeptics say witnesses may be seeing more mundane lightning.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

New “Pandemic Potential” Brain-Destroying-Virus With 75% Death Rate Spreading In India

Summit News – September 7, 2021

A different virus classified by the World Health Organisation as having ‘pandemic potential’ is spreading more than usual due to care shortages caused by COVID.

The London Telegraph reports that the Nipah virus, which attacks the brain and has an up to 75% fatality rate, has killed a twelve year old boy who was shunted around five different hospitals because of COVID.

It is believed that the boy came into contact with close to 200 people, with two health workers and the boys mother already in isolation after developing the symptoms, which are similar to those of COVID.

The Nipah virus has been known since 1998, but has been contained, with the worst outbreak occurring twenty years ago in West Bengal when 45 out of 66 people infected with the virus died.

The bat-borne virus was the inspiration for the movie Contagion, and while more deadly than COVID it spreads less efficiently.

Health authorities in Kerala where the boy died are urging people to get tested for Nipah, with lockdowns being implemented in the surrounding regions.

“People should continue to wear masks and practice social distancing to stop the Nipah virus from spreading. In hospitals, doctors and nurses can also wear PPE,” said Kerla doctor Arun N Madhavan.

The Telegraph notes that “There are currently no drugs available to treat Nipah, although the WHO has identified the virus as a priority disease for the development of a vaccine.”

In June, The Oxford University team of virologists who developed the COVID AstraZeneca vaccine announced that they had made a “big step forward” in testing the Nipah vaccine.

https://summit.news

Police Surround Synagogue & Fine Jewish Worshippers For Holding ‘Illegal Gathering’

Milne News – September 7 , 2021

AUSTRALIA – Police surrounded a Melbourne synagogue to break up a Jewish New Year celebration and issue $5,452 fines for holding an “illegal gathering” to all adults who attended the celebrations.

An estimated 100 people attended the all-day Jewish New Year celebrations at the orthodox Adass Israel Synagogue in Glen Eira Avenue, Ripponlea, with Victoria Police dispersing the group around 9 pm on Tuesday night.

A second, smaller prayer group who assembled for Jewish New Year was also broken up by police from an apartment above the Ripponlea IGA supermarket, also on Glen Eira Avenue.

Police said they were alerted to the gatherings on Tuesday morning and they waited for people to exit the celebrations during the day.

But tensions grew as worshipers and their supporters confronted police in the early evening.

Two worshippers climbed onto a nearby roof around 6 pm as the confrontations ignited with some supporters heard abusing police and accusing media and health authorities of anti-Semitism.

‘Victoria Police has spoken to a number of people who attended an address on Glen Eira Road, Elsternwick on Tuesday 7 September,’ a Victorian Police statement said.

Under Melbourne’s latest lockdown, which began on August 5 and is still in place, no private or public gatherings are allowed.

‘All adults who attended will be issued with a $5452 fine. A number of children who were present will not be fined. Investigators believe a number of other people were present and are yet to be spoken to by police. Investigators are working to identify them.’

Earlier, police blocked roads around the synagogue where an estimated 100 worshippers celebrated Jewish New Year.

It is understood the worshippers stood their ground and refused to leave the two buildings on Tuesday despite Police attempts to make them get out.

Jewish New Year celebrations, known as Rosh Hashanah, commenced on Monday, September 6, and last until the evening of Wednesday, September 8.

https://milnenews.com

Feminist Calls Killing Babies in Abortions a “Sacred Ritual”

Alexa Moutevelis – Sep 10, 2021

Salon’s resident rabid pro-abortion extremist Amanda Marcotte is perhaps outdoing her usual psychotic self in her freak out over Texas protecting the lives of unborn babies. How unhinged has the radical feminazi gotten? She’s taken to embracing Satanists.

Yep, her article from Tuesday is actually titled, “The Satanists are right: Texas’ abortion ban is a direct attack on freedom of religion.” You know you’ve lost the argument and are going off the deep end when you begin with the phrase “The Satanists are right…”

She asserts the Satanic Temple “does not literally worship Satan,” but they do sue states to force them to display Satanic imagery along with Christian ones and claim “abortion is one of their sacred rituals, making the ban a major imposition on their free expression of religion.” It’s hard to get more devil-worshiping than child sacrifice. They’re actually saying the quiet part out loud.

The reason Marcotte loves the Satanic Temple so much, besides their mutual interest in shedding the blood of the innocents, is because she thinks their trolling legal maneuvers highlight her crazy conspiracy theory that “The anti-choice movement is just one part of a larger effort by Christian fundamentalists to covertly turn the U.S. into a more theocratic state.”

Yes, she seriously thinks this: “Conservatives go to great lengths to hide how much being anti-abortion is about forcing all Americans to live by the religious tenets of the white evangelical minority.”

One way we supposedly do this is by lying about science. She ludicrously writes that science hasn’t advanced in the last 50 years, arguing, “In 1973, scientists understood perfectly well how embryonic development worked and that understanding hasn’t meaningfully changed since then.” Then claims:

Indeed, the pretense for banning abortions so early — the “fetal heartbeat” — is also a lie. As actual medical scientists and doctors told NPR, there is neither a fetus nor a heart that early in pregnancy, but more “a grouping of cells that are initiating some electrical activity” that GOP legislators misleading call a “heartbeat.”

Oh, yeah, it’s 2021 GOP legislators in Texas who suddenly came up with the idea of detecting an unborn baby’s heartbeat at 6 weeks; it’s not language that all doctors use with their expectant patients and that every pregnancy-related book or website has featured as a factoid for decades.

https://www.lifenews.com