The New Chief Chaplain at Harvard? An Atheist.

DNYUZ – August 26, 2021

The Puritan colonists who settled in New England in the 1630s had a nagging concern about the churches they were building: How would they ensure that the clergymen would be literate? Their answer was Harvard University, a school that was established to educate the ministry and adopted the motto “Truth for Christ and the Church.” It was named after a pastor, John Harvard, and it would be more than 70 years before the school had a president who was not a clergyman.

Nearly four centuries later, Harvard’s organization of chaplains has elected as its next president an atheist named Greg Epstein, who takes on the job this week.

Mr. Epstein, 44, author of the book “Good Without God,” is a seemingly unusual choice for the role. He will coordinate the activities of more than 40 university chaplains, who lead the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other religious communities on campus. Yet many Harvard students — some raised in families of faith, others never quite certain how to label their religious identities — attest to the influence that Mr. Epstein has had on their spiritual lives.

“There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition but still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life,” said Mr. Epstein, who was raised in a Jewish household and has been Harvard’s humanist chaplain since 2005, teaching students about the progressive movement that centers people’s relationships with one another instead of with God.

To Mr. Epstein’s fellow campus chaplains, at least, the notion of being led by an atheist is not as counterintuitive as it might sound; his election was unanimous.

https://dnyuz.com

US lab admits they sell hearts and heads of aborted babies

David Rojas – September 9, 2019

An independent journalist said the representative and founder of the StemExpress laboratory admitted her company sells beating hearts and intact heads of aborted babies for medical research, the Epoch Times reported.

Michael Daleiden is one of two independent journalists who revealed that Planned Parenthood made a profit selling parts of aborted babies.

The confession took place during a trial, in which Daleiden and his colleague Sandra Merritt were charged with 14 counts of invasion of privacy by the multinational Planned Parenthood, which claims they impersonated representatives of the tissue procurement company BioMax to obtain their evidence, according to the conservative media The Federalist.

Daleiden and Merrit belong to the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), a group of citizen journalists “dedicated to monitoring and reporting on medical ethics and advances.”

Both had already confirmed through undercover videos that high officials and doctors from Planned Parenthood were illegally marketing the parts of aborted babies.

The accusations state that, in 2014 and 2015, they did not use their real names to enter meetings of the National Abortion Federation (NAF) where they made video recordings, according to the Christian Post.

Through its Twitter account, the CMP regularly reports on the developments with the proceedings that Daleiden and Merritt currently face. The organization detailed the intervention of the founder and CEO of the laboratory StemExpress (whose code name is ‘Doe 12’):

“When @StemExpress’s Doe 12 is asked about the head of a baby being attached to the body upon tissue procurement, Doe 12 says the photos from CMP are accurate and show that the heads are sometimes attached and sometimes are not attached to other parts of body.”

“If you have a fetus with an intact head and an intact body, and intact extremities, that is something that would indicate that child was born alive, and then had their organs cut out of them, or that that child was the victim of an illegal partial-birth abortion,” Peter Breen, Daleiden’s attorney and member of Thomas More Society, told Life Site News. “Both of these are gruesome and violent acts,” he concluded.

https://m.thebl.tv

Mark of the COVID Beast: Store Denies People Food, Water Without Vaccine Passport – Report

Samantha Chang – August 23, 2021

The liberal nation of France has deteriorated into a fascist police state whose vaccine passport requirements may be preventing the unvaccinated from getting basic essentials such as food, judging by a disturbing Twitter video.

“French supermarkets have hired bouncers in order to deny people basic human rights to food and water because they didn’t get the right government permission slip,” independent journalist Luke Rudkowski tweeted on Friday.

The alarming video he posted shows a security guard brutally grabbing a masked woman and throwing her out of the store like a trash bag.

The woman gets outraged by the abusive manhandling and yells at the security guard.

After she leaves, a man approaches the bouncer and scolds him for not allowing the female shopper to get “alimentaire” (a French word for food).

The shocking video is evocative of the “mark of the beast,” a biblical hallmark of those pledged to the forces of evil.

In an Aug. 20 commentary in the Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram, titled “Is the COVID vaccine the ‘mark of the beast’”, the Rev. Darin Wood, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Midland, explained that “in Revelation 13:16-18, the Apostle John speaks of an apocalyptic pair of beasts who will rule the earth with vengeance, cruelty and animosity. Their severe manner and harsh rule will inflict pain and grief on all those on the earth at the time.

https://www.westernjournal.com

The Collapse Of Afghanistan Has Brought Us A Lot Closer To A Chinese Invasion Of Taiwan

– August 17, 2021

The way that the Biden administration has handled the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is not going to bring peace.  Instead, I believe that it is going to result in more war.  For decades, the overwhelming strength of the United States restrained other major powers from becoming too adventurous.  But now the stunning defeat in Afghanistan has exposed how weak we have become.  At this point, the U.S. is like a rapidly aging boxer that is becoming even more feeble with each passing day.  At one time we may have been able to take on anyone, but now we are in an advanced state of decline and we have utterly incompetent leadership in the White House, in Congress and in the Pentagon.

As I discussed yesterday, the debacle that is currently playing out in Kabul is going to greatly embolden the enemies of the United States.

In particular, Chinese leaders are absolutely loving what they are seeing, and they can’t help but express their delight…

Chinese state media, meanwhile, reported on America’s “humiliation” in Afghanistan with relish, using scenes of the chaotic US evacuation and swift resurgence of the Taliban as proof of the superiority of China’s hands-off approach to other countries’ internal affairs.

“The drastic change in Afghanistan’s situation is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the US. It declared the complete failure of US intent to reshape Afghanistan,” the state-run tabloid Global Times said in an editorial published late on Sunday night. “This defeat of the US is a clearer demonstration of US impotence than the Vietnam War — the US is indeed like a ‘paper tiger.’”

In this instance, the Chinese are 100 percent correct.

The United States really has become a “paper tiger”.

Our “woke military” has become a pathetic shadow of what it once was, and even if we had a competent military the brass in the Pentagon would have no idea how to use it because they are completely and utterly clueless.

And this is a huge problem for our friends in Taiwan, because the U.S. military has been the only thing holding the Chinese back from invading the island.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

US declares first-ever Colorado River water shortage – Arizona and Nevada affected

Strange Sounds – August 17, 2021

For the first time ever, the US federal government has declared a water shortage on the Colorado River.

That’s because Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, is lower than it’s ever been. It provides water to 25 million people across Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico, but as of Monday it’s at just 1,067 feet above sea level – about 35% full.

The federal water-shortage declaration means that Arizona and Nevada will face mandatory water cut-backs in January. The cuts will mostly affect farmers in Arizona; the state will lose about one-fifth of the water it normally gets from the river.

“It’s very significant,” explains Brad Udall, senior water and climate scientist at Colorado State University. “It’s something that those of us in the climate community have been worried about for over a decade, based on declining flows and increasing droughts.”

Drought Monitor, which tracks such conditions across the country. Last week, 26.5% of the country was in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought.

Such droughts will probably become more common and more intense as global temperatures continue to rise in the coming decades. Rising temperatures will also reduce the snowpack that would normally replenish the Colorado River every year. That could lead to more severe water cutbacks.

https://strangesounds.org

West Africa placed on high alert as first case of deadly Ebola-like Marburg virus with 88% fatality rate detected

End Time Headlines – August 10, 2021

(ETH) – A highly infectious hemorrhagic virus similar to Ebola has been detected for the first time in West Africa, triggering a rush to identify potential contacts and squash the outbreak before it spreads.

According to the Telegraph, the Marburg virus was detected in a male patient in Guinea who has since died, according to the World Health Organization. The pathogen is from the same family of viruses as Ebola, but it has no known vaccines or treatments and a fatality rate as high as 88 percent.

The individual sought treatment in the Gueckedou province, a region in southeast Guinea close to both Sierra Leone and Liberia, raising some concerns that it could jump across the borders. “The potential for the Marburg virus to spread far and wide means we need to stop it in its tracks,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, adding that Guinea’s health workers had instigated “quick investigative action”.

According to Sky News, Symptoms include a high fever and muscle pain, but some patients later suffer bleeding from their eyes and ears. After the male patient sought treatment and died in Gueckedou, the case was confirmed by a laboratory in Guinea and again by the Institut Pasteur in nearby Senegal. Contact tracing is under way, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Gueckedou was the location of Guinea’s 2014 to 2016 Ebola outbreak, which went on to kill 11,325 people. According to the Guardian, There have been 12 major Marburg outbreaks since 1967, mostly in southern and eastern Africa. Guinea’s new case was first identified last week, just two months after the country was declared free of Ebola following a brief flare-up earlier this year that killed 12 people.

The patient, who has since succumbed to the illness, first sought treatment at a local clinic before his condition rapidly deteriorated, the WHO said on Monday. Analysts at Guinea’s national haemorrhagic fever laboratory and the Institute Pasteur in Senegal later confirmed the Marburg diagnosis.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Taliban Going Door To Door Seeking Christians, Searching Through Phones For Bible Apps: Report

Jon Brown – August 19, 2021

Afghan Christians are reportedly fleeing to the mountains in a desperate attempt to escape the Taliban who is going door to door trying to kill them.

An underground church that partners with Frontier Alliance International (FAI) has reported that the Taliban are targeting Christians for death. According to FAI:

The Taliban has a hit list of known Christians they are targeting to pursue and kill. The US Embassy is defunct and there is no longer a safe place for believers to take refuge. All borders to neighboring countries are closed and all flights to and from have been halted, with the exception of private planes. People are fleeing into the mountains looking for asylum. They are fully reliant on God, who is the only One who can and will protect them.

The Taliban are going door-to-door taking women and children. The people must mark their house with an “X” if they have a girl over 12 years old, so that the Taliban can take them. If they find a young girl and the house was not marked they will execute the entire family. If a married woman 25 years or older has been found, the Taliban promptly kill her husband, do whatever they want to her, and then sell her as a sex slave.

Husbands and fathers have given their wives and daughters guns and told them that when the Taliban come, they can choose to kill them or kill themselves—it is their choice.

Taliban are also reportedly rifling through people’s phones to look for any apps that would give them away as Christians.

https://www.dailywire.com

DHS Bulletin Says Opposition To COVID Mandates Is Potential “Domestic Terrorism Threat”

Tyler Durden – August 15, 2021

On Friday the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an almost unbelievable new “terrorism” alert contained in a so-called ‘awareness bulletin’. While focused heavily on the threat posed by “false narratives and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election” – clearly making connections to Jan.6, the bulletin pivoted to unprecedented territory.

It’s nothing new for the Biden administration to warn and hype about “calls to violence” related to the “Capitol insurrection” – but what is new and unprecedented is its warning about potential “attacks” by “violent extremists” related to COVID-19 “conspiracy theories”.

The document was the result of a DHS meeting held with top officials and high ranking intelligence officers across multiple agencies from departments in New York, Washington, and Las Vegas, NBC News reported.

The threat bulletin describes that extremists “may seek to exploit the emergence of COVID-19 variants by viewing the potential re-establishment of public health restrictions across the United States as a rationale to conduct attacks.”

This is the first time to our knowledge that “terrorism” is linked to the movement among large groups of skeptical Americans to push back against local, state and federal efforts to impose drastic mask, vaccine, and so-called ‘COVID passport’ mandates.

Interestingly the DHS document is heavily focused on such “extremism” initially manifest online in social media and chat forum groups.

Presumably, given the demographic breakdown, this means DHS is accusing young black folk of being “domestic terrorists?

https://www.zerohedge.com

Transgender Surgeries Surged During Pandemic as All Other Health Care Fell Dramatically

Dr. Susan Berry – August 19, 2021

The American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS) released its first report outlining statistics for “gender confirmation surgeries,” one that reveals a double-digit increase in transgender surgeries in 2020, even as all other healthcare services dropped dramatically because of the coronavirus pandemic’s restrictions.

“Despite the pandemic and its accompanying difficulties, the report shows a double-digit increase of 12 percent in [transgender] procedures performed from 2019 to 2020,” ASPS noted in a report published at the end of July on surgeries performed by its member surgeons in 2020.

Elective mastectomies for “trans male patients,” i.e., biological women who identify as men, saw a 15 percent increase from 2019 to 2020, and “trans female” facial and breast surgeries similarly jumped 14 percent.

ASPS member Loren Schechter, M.D., said it should not be surprising to see double-digit increases in elective double mastectomies and other transgender surgeries during a pandemic.

“I think the trend line over the last eight to 10 years has been an increase in the number of individuals seeking surgery – across most types of procedures,” Schechter said, suggesting that COVID-19 presented a “confounding” issue, with various restrictions on surgeries.

“Some of the more complex surgeries, which required longer inpatient stays, like the male bottom surgeries, were down – not necessarily because of interest, but practical issues related to COVID-19,” Schechter added.

https://www.breitbart.com

Bigger Than Burj Khalifa: ‘Potentially Hazardous’ Asteroid to Pass by Earth on Saturday

Sputnik News – August 20, 2021

NASA is keeping a close eye on 1,000 space rocks that are “potentially hazardous” to our planet.

The asteroid known as “2016 AJ193,” classified as “potentially hazardous” by NASA, will whizz past Earth on Saturday, 21 August. The 1.4 km-wide space rock – which is traveling at 94,208 km per hour – will pass within 3,427,445 km of Earth.

The asteroid will approach our planet at 11:10 am ET (8:40 pm IST and 3:10 pm GMT).

NASA will observe the asteroid from 20 to 24 August using radar. It’s 1.5 times the size of the Burj Khalifa, more than three times the size of the Empire State Building, and over 4.5 times the size of the Eiffel Tower – it was spotted in January 2016 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) facility, which is part of Hawaii’s Haleakala Observatory.

Every 5.9 years, it orbits the Sun – as it travels towards Earth’s orbit it shoots off in Jupiter’s direction. This visit will be 2016 AJ193’s closest approach to Earth for at least for the next 65 years.

NASA is currently tracking over 26,000 near-Earth asteroids, while over 1,000 are considered potentially hazardous.

https://sputniknews.com