The Faithful Watchman

UK govt launches immediate investigation into sexual abuse in schools, after 11,000 alleged victims post testimonies online

RT – March 31, 2021

An immediate review of safeguarding policies in British state and independent schools will be launched, the government has announced, following the online posting of thousands of reports of sexual abuse.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department for Education said it had asked the UK’s education watchdog, Ofsted, to look at “the extent and the severity of the issue”, and ensure the correct practices are in place to support potential victims.

The review will be carried out by the end of May and will involves the police, as well as representatives from social services, victim support groups and schools.

A new helpline, run by the NSPCC, the UK’s leading children’s charity, will also go live from Thursday to support young people and help them report sexual abuse in school to the police, the department said.

The scale of the problem facing British schools has been laid bare in recent weeks, as more than 11,500 testimonies of rape, sexual violence and abuse were posted to the website Everyone’s Invited.

“ Sexual abusein any form is abhorrent, and it is vital that these allegations are dealt with properly,” UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said in response to the deluge of allegations of abuse.

While the review is to focus on state-run and independent schools, in recent weeks, the spotlight has also been thrown on alleged serial abuse in private institutions that don’t have existing formal co-operation networks with police.

https://www.rt.com

Former Students Sue to Force LGBT Orthodoxy on Christian Colleges

Tyler O’Neil – March 31, 2021</s

When five unelected super-legislators on the Supreme Court unilaterally amended the Constitution to legalize same-sex marriage in 2015, Chief Justice John Roberts warned that the ruling would pose “hard questions” about the freedom of religious colleges to operate according to their convictions. Former Solicitor General Donald Verrilli said, “It will be an issue.” This week, Roberts’ warning has come to pass, and the time in which Verrilli’s “issue” comes to the fore is now.

On Monday, 33 current and former students at federally-funded Christian colleges and universities launched a historic attack on religious freedom by filing a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Education (DoE). The lawsuit, Hunter et al. v. Department of Education, claims that the DoE violated the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by granting religious exemptions to Christian institutions that allegedly “discriminate” against “sexual and gender minorities.”

“The religious exemption to Title IX impermissibly burdens the fundamental marriage rights of same-sex couples seeking to attend taxpayer funded religious educational institutions that prohibit their marriages,” the lawsuit, filed by the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, alleges. “When sincerely held religious beliefs become enacted as school policies that harm LGBTQ+ students at taxpayer-funded colleges and universities, the necessary consequence is that the U.S. Department of Education has put its imprimatur on an exclusion that demeans and stigmatizes sexual and gender minorities.”

“The federal government cannot claim a legitimate governmental interest in furthering discrimination that harms sexual and gender minority students,” the lawsuit adds.

https://pjmedia.com

Iran fired missile at Israeli ship in Arabian Sea – report

EVE YOUNG – March 25, 2021

An Iranian missile was fired at an Israeli ship in the Arabian Sea, hitting and damaging it, N12 reported Thursday.

The container ship is owned by an Israeli businessman and was making its way to Tanzania from India, it reported.As the ship sailed between India and Oman, it was hit by a missile and damaged, the report said.

The incident was reported to Israeli security officials and to the ship’s owners. The ship will continue on its way to India, where the damage will be assessed, N12 reported.

Israeli security officials are examining the possible implications of the incident and estimate that it could mean Iran intends to attack more Israeli ships, the report said.

The ship is owned by Haifa-based XT Management, it said.

Iran was also the main suspect behind an attack in late February on the Israeli-owned cargo vessel MV Helios Ray, which was damaged by a mysterious explosion in the Gulf of Oman.

https://www.jpost.com

For first time in Israel: Two Public Priestly Blessings on Passover

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz – March 21, 2021

One of the most impressive gatherings of the year is the Birkat Kohanim, the twice-annual priestly blessing held on the second intermediate days of Passover and Sukkoth when some 40,000 Jews come to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem to be blessed by hundreds of Kohanim (the descendants of Aaron the priest).

Among fears that the event would be canceled or held in a subdued fashion as it has been the last two times (Sukkot in October and last year during Passover), the Western Wall Heritage Foundation announced that the event will be held in all its glory. But to allow for social distancing while still opening the event to the general public, the Kohanim will bless the Jews in two separate events.

Last Passover marked 50 years since the reinstatement of the priestly blessing ceremony, this event took place in a minimal manner with a quorum of ten priests blessing an equal number of Jews who were all residents of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, in accordance with the special regulations for the coronavirus pandemic. They recited a special prayer and blessing dedicated to the complete recovery of the United States and the entire world by U.S. Ambassador David Friedman who is also a kohen.

In October, the Birkat Kohanim for Sukkot took place with dozens of kohanim who were residents of the Jewish Quarter, and with almost no public.

“With praise and gratitude to G-d, this Passover, kohanim from around Israel will be allowed to participate in the traditional event and bless the Jewish people, in accordance with regulations,” the Western Wall Heritage Foundation stated in a media release.

https://www.israel365news.com

7 Plagues That Are Hitting Our Planet Right Now

Michael Snyder – March 21, 2021

Things are starting to get really crazy out there. In recent interviews, I have used the term “stability” to describe the current state of affairs, and some people may think that is quite strange. But I stand by that assessment. In the short-term, we have experienced a period of relative stability over the last couple of months, but of course that will soon change. I believe that global events will soon greatly accelerate, and much chaos is on the horizon. However, that certainly doesn’t mean that nothing of importance is happening at the moment. In fact, the following are 7 plagues that are hitting our planet right now…

#1 A Plague Of Millions Of Rats In Australia

Could you imagine having so many rats infesting your community that it is literally impossible to ever get away from the smell? Right now, millions upon millions of rats are making lives miserable for countless residents of Australia, and in some instances it is literally taking hours just to clean up all of the poop that they leave behind…

#2 Large Earthquakes

According to the USGS, usually we get about 15 earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater each year…

So far in 2021, we have already had 7 that are magnitude 7.0 or greater, and that includes a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that just shook Japan…

#3 Volcanoes Are Roaring To Life All Over The Globe

According to Volcano Discovery, 29 volcanoes around the planet are currently erupting right now, and that includes a volcano in Iceland that had been dormant for hundreds of years…

#4 The “Megadrought” In The Southwestern United States

Earlier this month, I wrote an entire article about the megadrought in the Southwest entitled “You Were Warned That Dust Bowl Conditions Would Return, And Now It Has Happened”.

Well, this drought just continues to get even worse. In fact, NBC News is telling us that there is “little hope for relief” any time soon…

#5 Armies Of Locusts In Africa And The Middle East

In 2020, giant armies of locusts the size of major cites relentlessly marched across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Millions of farmers had their crops wiped out, and experts told us that it was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

That was only supposed to be a one year plague, but now it is happening again…

#6 H5N8 Bird Flu In Russia

When cases of H5N8 bird flu started to pop up in Russia, many experts started to become extremely concerned that it could start being transmitted from human to human.

Because if it starts spreading widely among humans, the percentage of victims that will die will be far higher than for COVID.

Unfortunately, one of the top experts in Russia says that there is “a fairly high degree of probability” that it is now being passed from one person to another…

#7 The COVID Pandemic

Even though people are being vaccinated at a feverish pace all over the globe, the number of confirmed cases in Brazil is higher than ever before and experts are telling us that a “fourth wave” has begun in Europe.

Could it be possible that the vaccines are not going to be the “saviors” that so many people were anticipating?

At this point, more than 2.7 million victims have already died from COVID, and more are passing away every single day.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Oregon health officials monitoring 4 people for Ebola

KGW Staff – March 25, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) on Thursday announced it is monitoring four people for Ebola after those people recently returned from Guinea and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), two West African countries in the midst of Ebola outbreaks.

OHA said there is low risk for people in Oregon. It did not say where the four individuals are located.

Local public health departments and OHA have been in touch with the four people, who arrived back in Oregon in early March. They are considered “persons under monitoring”, OHA said.

“We want to make sure these individuals have the support they need to monitor their health, stay in contact with public health officials and safely get help with medical services if it comes to that,” said Dr. Richard Leman with the OHA Public Health Division.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued Level 3 travel warnings for the affected regions in both Guinea and DRC. The CDC recommends people avoid nonessential travel there.

Since March 4, the CDC has required all airlines to supply contact information for all U.S.-bound travelers who have been in Guinea or Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 21 days, which is the largest known incubation period for Ebola, OHA said. Those travelers are interviewed upon arriving in the U.S. to determine if they are symptomatic and to confirm their contact information. If they are symptomatic, they will be offered medical evaluation.

https://www.kgw.com

Calif. bill could ban conservative Christians from serving as police

Press California – March 16, 2021

SACRAMENTO – A Bay Area assemblyman wants to ban from service police officers and police officer candidates who are members of hate groups or have used hate speech in the past, even in “a private discussion forum” online.

Yet the definition of a “hate group” and “hate speech” used by Assemblyman Ash Kalra’s (D – San Jose) new bill, AB 655, is incredibly broad. Not only does it include armed militia groups and white supremacists promoting “domestic terrorism,” it also includes police officers expressing conservative religious or political views on abortion, marriage, and gender or with membership in a political party or church that does.

One legal expert said the bill would “usher in a new era of McCarthyism” where Muslim, Catholic, Evangelicals, and even registered Republicans would be blacklisted from law enforcement jobs.

“Under the guise of addressing police gangs, the bill at the same time launches an inexplicable, unwarranted, and unprecedented attack on peaceable, conscientious officers who happen to hold conservative political and religious views,” wrote Pacific Justice Institute Senior Staff Attorney Matthew McReynolds.

“Indeed, this is one of the most undisguised and appalling attempts we have ever seen, in more than 20 years of monitoring such legislation, on the freedom of association and freedom to choose minority viewpoints.”

According to a bill fact sheet provided by Kalra’s office, AB 655 is needed to root out “extremist infiltration” into our police departments as evidenced by “the apparent cooperation, participation, and support of some law enforcement,” gave to insurrectionists during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

The document goes on to say that California sheriff departments all over the state have been “plagued by texting, email, and social media scandals where officers exchanged racist and homophobic messages.”AB 655 would require police candidates to receive a background check for “official membership in a hate group, participation in hate group activities, or other public expressions of hate.”Public complaints of employed police officers would result in the same investigation, “and if sustained, could lead to termination.”

https://presscalifornia.com

Supreme Court Charts Next Move on Abortion Limits

Jeffrey Rodack – March 19, 2021

The Supreme Court will meet privately on Friday to consider if it should take up a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

As various states continue to adopt abortion prohibitions, many of the new laws are headed to the high court. As a result, the justices could opt to wait to take any action on abortion, CNN reported.

Mississippi officials had appealed a ruling by an appellate court that had invalidated the 15-week ban. The ruling found that the Supreme Court precedent prevents prohibitions when the fetus would be unable to live outside the womb.

The case stems from a Mississippi abortion clinic suing the state in 2018, shortly after then-Gov. Phil Bryant signed the 15-week ban. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled it was unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Reeves had ruled correctly.

But in late 2019, Mississippi asked the entire appeals court to reconsider the case, and the full panel later denied the request.

If the Supreme Court justices do agree to take up the 15-week abortion ban it, would likely spark intense national debate. And even if they deny the Mississippi petition, individual justices could issue statements regarding the denial and elaborate on their arguments for future rollbacks on abortions, CNN noted.

Mississippi’s Attorney General Lynn Fitch is urging justices to hear the case. Fitch has asked the court to clarify its standard and to disallow clinic lawsuits on behalf of women.

https://www.newsmax.com

Biological male wins female beauty pageant in Nevada

Phil Shiver – March 18, 2021

A transgender person is now one step closer to being crowned Miss USA.

Kataluna Enriquez, a biological male, won the Miss Silver State USA pageant this week, an event considered the biggest preliminary competition for the Miss Nevada USA pageant, KVVU-TV reported.

The outlet called it a “monumental win” for Enriquez, who will now move on to the statewide competition in the pageant circuit that leads to Miss USA and, eventually, the Miss Universe competition.

The pageants, collectively run by the Miss Universe Organization, were once owned by former President Donald Trump and are widely recognized for awarding among the most coveted crowns in the pageant world.

In an interview with the local news outlet after the victory, Enriquez called the experience “a celebration of womanhood and diversity and this celebration of being your true self.”

https://www.theblaze.com

Biden defense secretary warns US forces ready to ‘fight tonight’ after North Korea warning

Audrey Conklin – March 18, 2021

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday warned North Korea that U.S. forces are ready to “fight tonight” after the dictatorship condemned military drills taking place in South Korea.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries have resumed springtime drills in South Korea after pausing exercises last February due to coronavirus concerns.

Austin discussed the U.S. military’s commitment to “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and “the importance of maintaining military readiness” during a press conference Wednesday.

“Our force remains ready to ‘fight tonight,’ and we continue to make progress toward the eventual transition of wartime Operational Control to a [Republic of Korea]-commanded, future Combined Forces Command,” the defense secretary said.

He continued: “While meeting all the conditions for this transition will take more time, I’m confident that this process will strengthen our alliance.”

U.S.-led diplomacy focusing on North Korea’s nuclear weapons remains stalemated because of disputes over sanctions. Experts are debating whether the United States and its allies should settle for a deal that would freeze North Korea’s nuclear activities in return for relaxing sanctions to prevent its arsenal from growing.

Earlier this week, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned the United States to “refrain from causing a stink,” while criticizing the U.S.-South Korean drills that her government views as an invasion rehearsal.

“We take this opportunity to warn the new U.S. administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement to state news agency KCNA, according to Reuters. “If it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.”

https://www.foxnews.com