the

TRUMPETweekly

literally PAGE 4 dead PAGE 5 hijacked PAGE 7 assaults PAGE 10 marriage PAGE 10

A DIGEST OF SIGNIFICANT WORLD NEWS FROM THE PHILADELPHIA TRUMPET STAFF FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 14-20, 2010

Almost 1,000 pupils a

day are sent home from
school for attacking or
verbally abusing fellow
pupils or staff.
Thirty-nine percent of
Americans said marriage
was becoming obsolete.
The pope now has
reasserted the medieval
stance that the only
authentic interpretation of
Scripture is that endorsed
by the Catholic Church.
For 18 minutes
in April, China hijacked
15 percent of the worlds
Internet trafc.
The idea that countries
can stand alone is an
illusion and a lie.
P
resident Obamas bipartisan defcit
commission released a draft
report on fxing Americas bud-
get problems last week. The Examiner
called it shock therapy for America.
cnn said it was a call for action.
The good news is the authors think
America can be saved. The bad news is
that if all the spending cuts, asset sales,
and tax increases are implemented,
Americas formerly plush landscape will
resemble barren wasteland, possibly for years to come.
Americas problem is that 40 cents out of every budget
dollar spent is borrowed. The government will add $1.3 tril-
lion to the national debt this year alone.
Read that again. Forty percent of Americas current
federal expenditures is borrowed. How long can you bor-
row 40 percent of your yearly salary on credit cards and
personal loans before the interest payments leach the life
out of you and you start defaulting?
At present, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid take
up all of federal revenue, reported the authors. The rest of
the federal government, including fghting two wars, home-
land security, education, art, culture, you name it, veter-
ansthe whole rest of the discretionary budget is being
fnanced by China and other countries, said Alan Simpson
of Wyoming.
Entitlement programs take up 100 percent of tax revenue.
This cannot go on for long. Therefore it wont. We
cant grow our way out of this, former White House Chief
of Staff Erskine Bowles said. We could have decades of
double-digit growth and not grow our way out of this enor-
mous debt problem.
That is how bad it is. Decades of double-digit growth and
America still wouldnt be able to escape its debt problem!
Americas national debt is already close to 90 percent of
gross domestic product. By this time next year it could be
approaching 100 percent, which is pretty close to European
crisis levels.
Of the problems facing America, one of the biggest is So-
cial Securityor lack thereof. Last year, Social Security went
negative. More benefts were paid out to retirees than was
collected in taxes. The recession has wrecked the fnancial
models. Planners apparently never considered that America
could ever suffer a moderate recession. Now the plan is in
the red and is expected to be in the red again next year.
By 2037, Social Security will have no money, reports the
commission. Millions of workers who paid into the system
will have nothing. And that is the best-case scenario. If the
economy doesnt get back to strong growth, and quickly, the
fund will be out of money much sooner.
The situation is actually even more direbecause politi-
cians have stolen the Social Security money. There is no
Social Security trust fund. The money has been spent. In
its place are $2.5 trillion worth of government iOus (in the
form of treasury bonds).
Now that Social Security is in the red, instead of the gov-
ernment being able to pilfer the money for general spending,
it has to pay it back. It is a double whammy to the budget.
Worse yet, all those iOus could disappear overnight. If
the dollar were ever to collapse, all those government trea-
suries would be worthless.
It is sad because there is no need for Social Security to
be broke.
Think of what $2.5 trillion could have bought American
taxpayers. It would have been the largest sovereign wealth
fund in the world. Instead of government iOus, the fund
could have been owners, or minority owners, of the best
companies in the worldand all those corporate profts
would be fowing toward Americans. After all, that is ex-
actly what the Arabs, Russians and Chinese do. They take
their surpluses and buy strategic assets.
$2.5 trillion would buy a 49.9 percent interest in Exxon
Mobil, PetroChina, Apple, PetroBrazil, Industrial & Com-
mercial Bank of China, Microsoft, China Mobile, Hong
Kong Mobile, Berkshire Hathaway, China Construction
Bank, bhp Billiton, Wal-Mart Stores, Royal Dutch Shell,
Nestle, hsbc, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Procter
& Gamble, ibm, AT&T, Chevron, Vale, Novartis, JP Morgan
Chase, Pfzer, Coca-Cola, Oracle, Rio Tinto and Bank of
America.
In case you are wondering, those are the 28 biggest com-
panies in the world, according to the Financial Times. In fact,
the trust could have owned many more companies too, since
the funds would have been invested years ago when these
companies were worth just fractions of their current value.
Nevertheless, the defcit reduction commission says
Social Security can be saved. Politicians simply need to slash
payouts, raise the retirement age and jack up contributions
by employees and employers. In short: steal some more from
retirees. Easy. And oh, hope that the dollar stops plummeting.
is the defcit commission on to something?
see DEFICIT page 10
ROBERT MORLEY
COLUMNIST
Middle east
I
ran and Pakistan have agreed to boost security ties and strengthen
regional cooperation, Irans Press tv reported Wednesday. Pakistani
Interior Minister Rehman Malik, meeting with the Iranian ambas-
sador to Islamabad, Mashallah Shakeri, on Tuesday, said, Iran and
Pakistan are two brother and Muslim countries which would never let
insecurity and border problems damage solidarity among their nations.
The Iranian ambassador reportedly called for the two countries to ex-
change intelligence and carry out joint operations against drug traffck-
ers. The same day, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also spoke
of the need for regional cooperation to establish peace and security in
the region, adding that foreign forces in the region do not have this goal.
The Iranian offcial was meeting with Pakistans Minister of Popula-
tion Welfare Firdous Ashiq Awan in Tehran. Irans Fars News Agency
reports that Tehran has sent 5,300 tons of aid to Pakistan during recent
months, in the wake of the massive foods that have affected more than
20 million Pakistanis. The Pakistani minister reportedly expressed
appreciation to Iran for this assistance. These signs of increasing soli-
darity between Iran and Pakistanbased largely on a shared founda-
tion of Muslim ideology and anti-Western sentimentshould be cause
for concern for the West. An unstable, nuclear-armed state, with an
increasingly radicalized population, allying with a terrorist-sponsoring,
nuclear-aspiring state would make for a dangerous combination.
In an effort to get
the United Nations
to declare it free
of Lebanon border
violations, Israel has
agreed to withdraw
Israeli forces from
the northern part of a
village that straddles
the Israeli-Lebanese
border. Israeli Secu-
rity Cabinet offcials
voted on Wednesday
to transfer the north-
ern section of Ghajar,
an Arab village, to UN control. At the conclusion of the Second Lebanon
War in 2006, UN Resolution 1701 stipulated that Israel must withdraw
from all Lebanese territory, including the northern part of Ghajar. Village
residents are reportedly against the move, wanting the fate of the village
to instead be linked with that of the Golan Heights. We demand that the
village remain whole and that the debate on it be part of a peace agree-
ment with Syria stipulating the return of the Golan Heights, said council
spokesman Najib Khatib. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
will take over security for the northern part of the village, supposedly to
prevent Hezbollah infltration. While this may sound plausible in theory,
unifils track record in southern Lebanonwhere it has simply looked on
while Hezbollah has rearmed and rebuilt to be stronger than everdoes
not provide much assurance. In reality, this unilateral retreat by Israel is
just one more concession by Israel that will weaken its security and only
be met with more demands from its Arab enemies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to push for a
one-time three-month freeze on settlement construction in a bid to re-
start peace talks with the Palestinians. The proposed freeze, negotiated
by Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clin-
ton on November 11, has yet to be approved by the Israeli cabinet. The
United States has offered a package of incentives, including military aid,
if Israel implements the freeze. It is hoped that in three months, enough
progress could be made on exchanging settlement blocks for other land,
An Israeli soldier stands guard at the outskirts
of the disputed village of Ghajar.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 2
JALAA MAREY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
And at the time of the end shall the king of the
south push at him: and the king of the north
shall come against him like a whirlwind, with
chariots, and with horsemen, and with many
ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and
shall overow and pass over.
Daniel 11:40
THE INDEPENDENT,
ROBERT FISK | OCTOBER 29
in the center of the rebuilt Beirut, the
massive old Maronite Cathedral of St.
George stands beside the even larger mass
of the new Mohammad al-Amin mosque.
The mosques minarets tower over the
cathedral, but the Maronites were built a
spanking new archbishops house between
the two buildings as compensation. Yet
every day, the two calls to prayerthe
clanging of church bells and the wailing
of the muezzinbeat an infernal percus-
sion across the city. Both bells and wails
are tape recordings, but they have been
turned up to the highest decibel pitch to
outdo each other, louder than an aircrafts
roar, almost as crazed as the nightclub
music from Gemmayzeh across the
square. But the Christians are leaving.
Across the Middle East, it is the same
story of despairingsometimes fright-
enedChristian minorities, and of an
exodus that reaches almost biblical pro-
portions. Almost half of Iraqs Christians
have fed their country since the frst Gulf
War in 1991, most of them after the 2004
invasiona weird tribute to the self-pro-
claimed Christian faith of the two Bush
presidents who went to war with Iraq
and stand now at 550,000, scarcely 3
percent of the population. More than half
of Lebanons Christians now live outside
their country. Once a majority, the nations
1 1/2 million Christians, most of them
Maronite Catholics, comprise perhaps 35
percent of the Lebanese. Egypts Coptic
Christiansthere are at most around 8
millionnow represent less than 10 per-
cent of the population.
This is, however, not so much a fight of
fear, more a chronicle of a death foretold.
Christians are being outbred by the major-
ity Muslim populations in their countries
and they are almost hopelessly divided. In
Jerusalem, there are 13 different Christian
churches and three patriarchs. A Mus-
lim holds the keys to the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre to prevent Armenian and
Orthodox priests fghting each other at
Easter.
the changing map
of the middle east
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 3
as well as other signifcant issues, so that a settlement freeze would no
longer be a Palestinian demand for moving forward (New York Times,
November 15). Even if the freeze comes into effect, it is a vain hope that
any real progress toward peace will be made.
NATIONAL POST | November 5
just What the World
Needs: durban iii
H
ere we go again. The United Nations is planning Durban iii, one
more racist anti-racism eventthis time to take place in New
York City in September 2011. The original conference, and the
non-governmental forum that preceded it, were held in Durban, South
Africa, in 2001. That notorious platform for violent, pro-terrorist and
anti-Semitic rhetoric included such speakers as Yasser Arafat and Fidel
Castro. It ended just three days before 9/11. Now the UN is going to
mark the 10th anniversary of its historical gathering of hate-mongers
to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the death and destruction that
such hatemongering has wrought.
Durban i produced the infamous Durban Declaration and Program
of Action (ddpa), which claims Palestinians are victims of Israeli racism.
Durban ii was headlined by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadine-
jad, who saw the occasion as ideal for issuing another denial of the Holo-
caust and an endorsement of genocide against the Jewish state. Timing
Durban iii for the annual opening of the UN General Assembly is meant
to guarantee the extensive involvement of presidents and prime minis-
ters, their association having eluded organizers of Durban i and ii.
The intergovernmental working group charged with preparing next
years commemoration session just wrapped up its frst planning meet-
ing in Geneva. The Libyan representative in Geneva let slip a few
more details about the intentions behind the 10th anniversary event,
including plans to draw attention to the alleged escalation of Islamo-
phobia, citing such affronts as the Danish cartoons and threats to burn
books in Florida.
ISRAEL TODAY | November 16
israelis Plead With god
to send rain
I
sraels chief rabbis have declared that this Thursday will be a day of
prayer and fasting in Israel to implore God to send much-needed rain.
Israel has entered its seventh year of drought, though this winter
was predicted to be the driest yet. So far, those forecasts are proving ac-
curate. Since winter offcially began two months ago, very little rain has
fallen. Most parts of Israel are still experiencing dry summer-like weather.
The land is dry due to our many sins, and this is a troubling mat-
ter, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger and Chief Sephardi Rabbi
Shlomo Amar wrote in an open letter to the public last week. The rabbis
continued: It is our duty to
seek and delve into our deeds,
and come close to God with
all our hearts, and set forth
our pleas with a broken and

STRATFOR | NOVEMBER 17
financial markets roiled Tuesday on
rumorsoften reported as newsthat the
European Union was about to issue a sec-
ond bailout, this time to Ireland. In a curi-
ous twist of events, the rumors of a bailout
didnt start in Dublin, but in Berlin. And
the denials of those rumors came from the
Irish themselves.
But there is more to Irish exception-
alism than good behavior. For the Ger-
mans, Irish membership in the European
Union has always felt a little odd, and the
Germans are attempting to use the Irish
banking crisis to remove a thorn from
their side.
Few argue that Germany is the eco-
nomic center weight of the union, with
every signifcant member-state counting
Germany as its single largest trading part-
ner. But not Ireland. Ireland is dependent
upon Germany for a smaller proportion
of its economic wellbeing than any other
state in the union, trading about twice as
much with the United States or the United
Kingdom than it does with Germany. This
degree of separation from the increas-
ingly German-dominated club has allowed
the Irish to do things a little differently
from the rest of Europe. Ireland has
twicevoted down EU treaties, and in the
aftermath been immune to the political
pressure emanating from Paris and Berlin.
More relevant to Tuesdays issues,
Ireland has also maintained corporate
tax rates that are the lowest in Western
Europeroughly one third of what they
are in France and Germanyin order to
attract (primarily American) investment.
It is this policy that is not only responsible
for the rise of the Celtic Tiger, but what the
Germans and French blame for the overall
disinterest of extra-European investors
in mainland Europe (read: Germany and
France).
Berlins goal is pretty clear, so clear
that a key architect of the Greek bailout
Christian Democratic Union lawmaker
Michael Meisterhas emphatically noted
that not only is an Irish bailout inevitable,
but one condition for it will be the altera-
tion of Irelands corporate tax structure
to something more in line with European
norms.
Without that tax advantage, many of
the reasons frms set up subsidiaries in
Ireland would fall away, and Ireland would
look a lot less exceptional and be a lot
more vulnerable to Berlins desires.
ireland refuses
eu Bailout
And I will break the pride of your power; and
I will make your heaven as iron, and your
earth as brass. Leviticus 26:19
despondent heart.
Without a drastic improvement in rainfall during the second half of
the winter season, Israeli offcials have suggested that water rationing
may become necessary in the coming year.
europe
I
relands ecOnOmy continues to be in serious trouble, once again
creating headlines around the world discussing the euros demise.
The Irish government is worried that the countrys banks may need
another 20 million to stay afoat. Ireland is heavily indebted already.
Including guarantees that it has made to its banks, Irelands budget
defcitthe amount of money it cannot pay on just this years budgetis
32 percent of its gdp. Yet Ireland is adamantly refusing to go to Europe
for a bailout. Ireland wants to protect its low corporate tax rate12.5
percent. Ireland attracts a lot of investment this way, and so does much
more business with the U.S. and UK than it does with Germany. This
gives it a lot of independence from Germany. Naturally, Berlin wants to
force Ireland to raises its corporate tax rate, and so become more reli-
ant on Germany. As Stratfor writes, Without that tax advantage, many
of the reasons frms set up subsidiaries in Ireland would fall away, and
Ireland would look a lot less exceptional and be a lot more vulnerable
to Berlins desires (November 17). The whole situation further exposes
that Germany is using the fnancial crisis to its own advantage.
The EU failed to agree on a budget for 2011, when a fnal attempt to
negotiate a solution fell apart on November 15. Members of the Euro-
pean Parliament (meps) wanted new powers in future budget planning
such as being able to collect money through Europes own resources
i.e., Europe-wide taxes. They also wanted budget fexibilitythe
ability for the budget to expand when faced with unexpected expenses.
On the other hand, Britain demanded that the budget rise by no more
than 2.9 percentless than half the increase that meps originally
wanted. In the meantime, the EU will continue to use the 2010 budget
on into 2011. Expect more of these kinds of confrontationswhere
Europe wants more power and some nations, led by Britain, refuse to
budgeuntil Britain leaves the Union.
German Chancellor
Angela Merkel gave a
powerful speech at the
Christian Democratic
Union (cdu) Confer-
ence on November 15,
where she asserted
Germanys role as a
major world power.
Merkel also empha-
sized Germanys role
as a Christian nation.
Whoever wants to
live here must learn
German (and) obey
our laws, she said.
Its not that we have too much Islam, but rather that we have too little
Christianity . We speak too little of our Judeo-Christian heritage.
The gist of the speech was that Germany was a European leader, it
should not be ashamed of its German identity and it needed a modern
army to defend its interests. However, its standing in the world was
not guaranteed and the looming demographic crisis could very well
threaten its preeminent position, Stratfor wrote of Merkels comments.
Its politicians are beginning to speak of a German security and defense
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 4
JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

RON FRASER | COLUMNIST
in direct relation to the
study of the Bible, Pope
Benedict has criticized
fundamentalist or liter-
alist interpretations and
urged renewed apprecia-
tion for the symbolic and
spiritual interpretation
techniques used by the an-
cient fathers of the church (cna/ewtn News,
November 11, emphasis mine).
In the popes most recent apostolic
exhortation, Verbum Domini (The Word
of the Lord), issued November 11, Benedict
declared, An authentic interpretation of the
Bible must always be in harmony with the
faith of the Catholic Church.
This is a direct attack on all who believe
the inerrancy of the literal Scriptures as
inspired by God!
The pope now has reasserted the medieval
stance that the only authentic interpretation
of scripture is that endorsed by the Roman
Catholic Church.
That is a blatant papal lie that the very
Scriptures themselves oppose!
Your Bible clearly declares, frst and fore-
most, that no prophecy of the scripture is of
any private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20) and
that all scripture is given by inspiration of
God (2 Timothy 3:16). Theres no instruc-
tion here to resort frst to any symbolic and
spiritual interpretation techniques used by
the ancient fathers of the church!
It is not for the pope, nor for any of his
priestsit is not for man at allto interpret
the Scriptures based on any particular reli-
gious ideology!
Theres only one power that can unlock
the plain, straightforward meaning of Scrip-
ture. That is the power of the mind of God
alone, exerting His infuence directly on the
mind of an individual by the power of His
Holy Spirit.
Could it be that this pope is in reality
seeking to hide what inerrant Scripture
reveals as to the true nature of the religious
body he leads and its prophesied end (Rev-
elation 13 and 17)? Hide the truth by wrest-
ing the Scriptures to suit the whim and the
will of the Vatican? (2 Peter 3:16).
By contrast, it is those who have contin-
ued through time to hold fast to the original
instructions of Jesus Christ to His disciples
who alone understand the truths of the bible,
the simplicity that is in Christ (John 8:31-32;
2 Corinthians 11:3).
Pope BenedictBible
cannot Be taken
literally
Angela Merkel asserts Germanys power before
the Christian Democratic Union Party.
strategy in mature tones, without a prerequisite were sorry attached
to every policy statement. In short, Germany is ascending to what it
feels is its rightful place as a global power, if not one of the worlds true
superpowers. The article concludes: Current Cold War-era institu-
tions that dominate Europe politically, economically and in terms of
securitythe European Union and natOwere not originally designed
for a unifed, assertive and unashamed Germany. The Germany that
Merkel spoke to on Monday will either make these institutions work
for Berlin or will leave them behind (November 16). Merkels speech
clearly demonstrates that Germany is no longer inhibited by its past,
but is openly becoming an overtly self-interested nation once again.
Reaffrming what Merkel said about Germanys Christian heritage,
a row has erupted in Bavaria over a schools decision to remove a cross
in one of its classrooms. Every state school classroom in Bavaria has a
crucifx, but, due to a court ruling, schools have to remove them if par-
ents complain. The Suddeutsche Zeitung reported on November 17 that
exactly this happened. The Christian Social Union (csu), ally of Merkels
cdu, is demanding that the cross be returned. csu member Gerhard
Weber said, I have no understanding for one parents demand to take
a cross out of a classroom if it defes the wishes of the majority of other
parents. Cases like this show what an infuence the Catholic Church
already has on parts of Germany. Expect that infuence to grow.
Germany has been on a heightened terror alert, with German Inte-
rior Minister Thomas de Maizire giving an urgent warning to the na-
tion on November 17. The German government has been warning of the
high risk of a terrorist attack for several weeks, but it was saying it had
no concrete information. The situation has changed, said de Maizire.
Now there are concrete investigation leads. Spiegel Online reports
that De Maizires warning to the German public is one of the most
explicit warnings ever given in Germany. The next day, German police
reported that police in Namibia found a piece of suspicious luggage at
the airport that was possibly meant for an Air Berlin fight to Munich.
The luggage contained batteries, a detonator and a ticking clock. How-
ever, an Air Berlin spokesperson said there were no explosives in the
device. Continue to watch Germany and the backlash against Islamists
that could come.
Archbishop of Can-
terbury Rowan Wil-
liams met Pope Bene-
dict xvi on November
18 in Rome. They met
after Williams visited
the Vatican for a con-
ference on Christian
unity that marked the
50th anniversary of
the founding of the
Pontifcal Council for
Promoting Christian
Unity. At the confer-
ence, the pope said
that his top priority in unifying the church was dialogue with the Or-
thodox churches and the ancient Eastern churches, with which bonds
of the closest intimacy exist. He said, [W]e have reached a crucial
point of confrontation and refection: the role of the bishop of Rome in
the communion of the church. In other words, the Orthodox churches
are close to coming under Romes authority. The union of churches
generally is a commitment that falls into what could be called politi-
cal categories, in which negotiating ability or greater capacity to reach
compromise come into play, he saidi.e., other churches must obey
Catholicism. Williamss meeting with the pope came after fve An-
glican bishops announced they were leaving for Rome. The meeting
was private, and neither party revealed the details of their conversa-
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 5
FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
the age of the nation-state is over and
the idea that countries can stand alone
is an illusion and a lie, the EU presi-
dent believes. In one of the most open
proclamations of the goal of a European
superstate since the heyday of Jacques
Delors, Herman Van Rompuy went on to
denounce Euroskepticism as the greatest
threat to peace.
Tory backbenchers condemned the
infammatory comments in the speech
made by Mr. Van Rompuy to mark the 21st
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
They said it proved that David Cameron
would have a battle on his hands if he is
to prevent extra powers being handed to
Brussels.
Mr. Van Rompuys speech in the Ger-
man capital told his audience that the
time of the homogenous nation state
is over. He added that the danger of
Euroskepticism was spreading beyond the
confnes of countries such as Britain and
was becoming a stronger force across the
whole Continent. We have together to
fght the danger of a new Euroskepticism,
he declared. This is no longer the monop-
oly of a few countries.
In every member state, there are peo-
ple who believe their country can survive
alone in the globalized world. It is more
than an illusionit is a lie. The Belgian
equated Euroskepticism with fear, which
eventually leads to warechoing former
French President Francois Mitterrands
famous phrase that nationalism is war.
The biggest enemy of Europe today
is fear, he said. Fear leads to egoism,
egoism leads to nationalism, and national-
ism leads to war. In a strong defense of
the euro, he said the recession would have
been far worse if France still had its franc
and Germany still had its mark.
Again employing the imagery of war,
he said: Just imagine the big recession of
2008/09 with the old currencies. It would
have resulted in currency turmoil and the
end of the single market. A currency war
always ends in protectionism.
And in a section about the fall of the
Berlin Wall, he praised the statesmen
of 1989Helmut Kohl, Francois Mitter-
rand, Jacques Delors. Conservative mp
Douglas Carswell said: At last we see the
real intentions of the Eurocrats. If thats
what Mr. Van Rompuy believes, he should
at least get elected by someone before he
says it.
Nation-states are
dead: eu chief says

DAILY MAIL | NOVEMBER 11
Pope Benedict XVI hosts the Archbishop of Can-
terbury at his ofcial residence.
tion. However, on Vatican Radio, Williams said that he did not see the
popes invitation to Anglicans as an aggressive act. He also stated that
Christians are drawn closer together than in any other circumstances
when they face persecution. Expect the Vatican to move on all sides to
bring other churches into the fold.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is on the ropes once again.
Being beset by scandals that would be unthinkable in a longstanding
democracy such as the U.S. or Britain is common for Berlusconi. But
this time his allies seem to be deserting him. The New York Times
writes that Berlusconis former loyalists, who did not abandon him
when he lost power in 2006 but who sense political weakness the way
a dog smells fear, have visibly begun repositioning themselves for the
next chapterwhen Mr. Berlusconi is unlikely to be the leading man.
On November 15, four ministers associated with Gianfranco Fini, who
founded the People of Liberty party with Berlusconi, but later fell out
with the prime minister, resigned. On November 13, Berlusconis gov-
ernment agreed to hold a confdence vote after the budget for 2011 has
been approved. If he loses the vote, to be held on December 14, in either
the upper or lower chambers of Italys parliament, then he will have to
resign. On the same day, Italys Constitutional Court will decide if a law
that grants the prime minister immunity from prosecution is constitu-
tional. If it is not, he could face charges that he bribed a lawyer to give
false testimony. And so Berlusconis allies are turning. Having said
that, many have forecast Berlusconis demise before, only to be wrong
time and time again. The real kingmaker in Italy is the Catholic Church.
Ultimately, whether Berlusconi stays in power or not is up to the church.
Frances Constitutional Court will decide whether same-sex mar-
riage will be legal in France, it was announced on November 16. It will
rule on whether or not a rule making same-sex marriage illegal is
constitutional. It will take up to three months to decide. As these kinds
of court cases push Europe leftward, expect the Vatican to respond.
THE HINDU | November 17
the european unions
ugly resource grab
E
urOpes dependence on cheap raw materials is threatening the
progress of developing nations.
Could the global fnancial crisis further marginalize the
worlds poorest countries? The answer may well be yes if European
governments get their way in implementing a little-known initiative
dreamed up by policymakers in Brussels and backed by the British
government.
Two years ago, EU governments quietly launched a new strategy
to address its dependence on imports of strategically important raw
materialsespecially hi-tech metals like cobalt, rare earths and tita-
niumalong with wood, chemicals and hides and skins. Access to these
was seen as critical to the EUs industrial competitiveness. The Euro-
pean Commission is about to release a progress report on implement-
ing the strategydubbed the Raw Materials Initiativethat is likely to
mark a step-up in a new global resource grab.
In order for EU companies to gain access to new supplies of these
raw materials, Brussels is pushing for fundamental changes to other
countries trade policies. It wants developing countries to stop restrict-
ing exports of these materials and to abolish investment rules that
deny EU companies access to them. The main targets are China, Russia
and Ukraineand, critically, poorer African countries. The problem is
that such restrictive trade policies can be critical to reducing poverty,
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 6
the horrible truth
starts to dawn on
europe
the entire European Project is now at risk of
disintegration, with strategic and economic
consequences that are very hard to predict.
In a speech this morning, EU President Her-
man Van Rompuy warned that if Europes
leaders mishandle the current crisis and allow
the eurozone to break up, they will destroy the
European Union itself.
Were in a survival crisis. We all have to
work together in order to survive with the
eurozone, because if we dont survive with the
eurozone we will not survive with the Euro-
pean Union, he said.
Jacques Delors and fellow fathers of emu
were told by Commission economists in the
early 1990s that this reckless adventure could
not work as constructed, and would lead to a
traumatic crisis. They shrugged off the warn-
ings.
They were told too that currency unions do
not eliminate risk: They merely switch it from
currency risk to default risk.
But no, the EU masters would hear none of
it. There could be no defaults, and no prepara-
tions were made or even permitted for such an
entirely predictable outcome.
Mr. Delors told colleagues that any crisis
would be a benefcial crisis, allowing the EU to
break down resistance to fscal federalism, and
to accumulate fresh power. The purpose of emu
was political, not economic, so the objections of
economists could happily be disregarded. Once
the currency was in existence, EU states would
have [to] give up national sovereignty to make it
work over time. It would lead ineluctably to the
Monnet dream of a fully-fedged EU state. Bring
the crisis on.
Behind this gamble, of course, was the as-
sumption that any crisis could be contained at a
tolerable cost once the imbalances of emus one-
size-fts-none monetary system had already
reached catastrophic levels, and once the credit
bubbles of Club Med and Ireland had collapsed.
It assumed too that Germany, the Netherlands,
and Finland would ultimatelyunder much
protestagree to foot the bill for a Transfer-
union.
We may soon fnd out whether either as-
sumption is correct. Far from binding Europe
together, monetary union is leading to acrimony
and mutual recriminations. We had the frst
eruption earlier this year when Greeces deputy
premier accused the Germans of stealing Greek
gold from the vaults of the central bank and kill-
ing 300,000 people during the Nazi occupation.
Greece is now under an EU protectorate, or
the Memorandum as they call it.
TELEGRAPH,
AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD | NOVEMBER 16
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 7
something that EU free-trade ideologues continue to reject.
EU frms have already acquired or requested 5 million hectares
of land in developing countries to produce biofuels. With investment
barriers eliminated, land-grabbing, deforestation and dubious mining
projects by EU companies are likely to multiply. Poor countries need to
attract more investment but on their own terms, not those of EU frms.
If preventing development were not enough, the EUs new resource
grab also risks increasing tensions among the worlds great power blocs.
China and the West are vying for control over raw materials while
Africa remains plagued by confict over diamonds, timber and oil. Ac-
cording to the UK Ministry of Defense, the shift in global power from
the West to Asia, along with the challenges of resource scarcity and
population growth, are likely to result in intense competition between
major powers and scrambles for energy, minerals and fertile land are
likely to occur with increasing intensity.
EU trade policy has long been hijacked by European business, which
wants raw materials at cheap prices.
THETRUMPET.COM | November 17
hungary Pledges
allegiance to germany
A
s hungary prepares to take over the presidency of Europe, Hun-
garian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi vowed that his nation
would use its new infuence to support Germany.
A strong and successful Germany is vital for the strength of Europe,
Martonyi told the press, after meeting with his German counterpart
Guido Westerwelle in Berlin on November 4, according to Hungar-
ian newswire service mti. As EU president, we will support all that is
important for Germany, he said.
The role of president of the European Council rotates among EU
nations, with each nation taking the helm for six months. Currently
Belgium holds the presidency. Hungary will take it for the frst half of
2011, and then Poland will take it for the second half.
Hungary also wants to use its stint in the presidency to push for
a Danube Strategy. EUbusiness reports that such a strategy aims
at modernizing road, rail and river infrastructure, attracting more
tourists, creating a regional energy market and reinforcing security, all
while protecting the environment.
The Danube begins in Germany, and this kind of strategy will inte-
grate all of the Danube nations more closely. It will make them more
dependent on the industrial, export-oriented power upstream.
Germanys economic power already makes it the de facto leader of
Europe. Starting in January it will also have the EU presidency rooting
for it. Germany will only continue to expand its power in Europe in 2011.
EWTN NEWS | November15
Fifty anglican clergy to
enter catholic church
F
ifty clergy of the Church of England will enter the Catholic Church
as part of the Anglican ordinariate that is taking shape, accord-
ing to the Telegraph. Last week, fve Anglican bishops announced

NATIONAL DEFENSE | NOVEMBER 12
fOr 18 minutes in April, Chinas state-con-
trolled telecommunications company hijacked
15 percent of the worlds Internet traffc,
including data from U.S. military, civilian orga-
nizations and those of other U.S. allies.
This massive redirection of data has re-
ceived scant attention in the mainstream
media because the mechanics of how the
hijacking was carried out and the implications
of the incident are diffcult for those outside the
cybersecurity community to grasp, said a top
security expert at McAfee, the worlds largest
dedicated Internet security company.
In short, the Chinese could have carried
out eavesdropping on unprotected communi-
cationsincluding e-mails and instant mes-
sagingmanipulated data passing through
their country or decrypted messages, Dmitri
Alperovitch, vice president of threat research at
McAfee, said.
This is one of the biggestif not the big-
gesthijacks we have ever seen. And it could
happen again, anywhere and anytime. Its
just the way the Internet works, he explained.
What happened to the traffc while it was in
China? No one knows.
For example, a person sending informa-
tion from Arlington, Va., to the White House
in Washington, D.C.only a few miles away
could have had his data routed through China.
Since traffc moves around the world in mil-
liseconds, the computer user would not have
noticed the delay.
This happens accidentally a few times per
year, Alperovitch said. What set this incident
apart from other such mishaps was the fact
that China Telecom could manage to absorb
this large amount of data and send it back out
again without anyone noticing a disruption in
service. In previous incidents, the data would
have reached a dead end, and users would not
have been able to connect.
Also, the list of hijacked data just happened
to include preselected destinations around the
world that encompassed military, intelligence
and many civilian networks in the United
States and other allies such as Japan and Aus-
tralia, he said. Why would you keep that list?
Alperovitch asked.
The incident involved 15 percent of Inter-
net traffc, he stressed. The amount of data
included in all these packets is diffcult to
calculate. The data could have been stored so
it could be examined later, he added. Imagine
the capability and capacity that is built into
their networks. Im not sure there was anyone
else in the world who could have taken on that
much traffc without breaking a sweat, Alpero-
vitch said.
china hijacked u.s.-
Based internet
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 8
that they would leave the Church of England and enter the ordinariate
envisioned by Pope Benedicts apostolic constitution Anglicanorum
Coetibus.
asia
F
Oreign ministers from China, India and Russia have vowed to
boost cooperation in the areas of energy, aerospace, high-tech sec-
tors, innovation, trade, cultural exchanges and geopolitical affairs.
They made the pledges on Monday after two days of meetings in Wu-
han, China. At the meetings, Chinese offcials also emphasized the need
for Russia, Japan and Singapore to ally themselves with China econom-
ically in order to capitalize on the massive infuence they collectively
wield within the international monetary system. Expect economic and
political cooperation between these Eastern powers to increase, and for
that camaraderie to pave the way for military alliance.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin left Bulgaria last weekend
with an agreement for Russias state-owned energy giant Gazprom to
work with Bulgarian Energy Holding to build and run the Bulgarian
section of the South Stream pipeline. The pipeline is planned to trans-
port Russian gas through the Black Sea, and over Bulgaria to arrive in
Europes Balkan region. The agreement, Moscows most recent victory
in a rapid expansion of Kremlin-operated energy frms into the EU,
means that Bulgaria has followed Polands example of teaming up with
Russia to circumvent the EUs anti-monopoly legislation. European en-
ergy offcials have expressed concern over the Russian-Bulgarian deal
because of its failure to comply with EU legislation, and because the EU
views South Stream as a rival to Europes ongoing Nabucco project. Na-
bucco is aimed at breaking Russias grip on the European energy sector
by linking Iraq and Caspian Sea reserves to Europe via Turkey, which
would bypass Russia altogether. Some analysts believe that a primary
aim of South Stream is to hinder the progress of Nabucco. Expect the
Kremlin to intensify efforts to expand infuence into Eastern Europe
and other former Eastern bloc territories. Watch for tensions between
Russia and the EU to build in this area as each tries to expand its terri-
tory and power, even if for now these tensions largely simmer under the
surface.
latin aMerica
V
enezuelan dictatOr Hugo Chvez seems to have rescued himself
from a very tricky position. In August, one of the worlds most
wanted drug smugglers, Walid Makled, was arrested in Colombia.
He is rumored to have recordings of all of his dealingsincluding those
with high-ranking members of the Venezuelan government. If released,
that information would be catastrophicand could even bring down
Chvezs government. Key government members could faces charges of
money laundering, drug traffcking and even terrorism. But on Novem-
ber 16, Colombia agreed to extradite Makled to Venezuela, not to the
U.S. In exchange, a desperate Chvez is giving a lot to Colombia. On No-
vember 18, Venezuela announced it would extradite at least four mem-
bers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (farc) and Na-
tional Liberation Armyrebel groups that Chvez usually protectsto
Colombia. Over the past couple of months, Venezuela has been closing
down camps belonging to these two groups. They have started paying
back the hundreds of millions they owe to Colombian frms. However,
Venezuela will not get its hands on Makled quite yet. Colombia said the
Britains spiritual
inversion
if yOu like to dance around
stones and worship thun-
der, you should think about
moving to Britain.
Last month, the Charity
Commission recognized
druidism as an offcial
religion. Druids in Britain,
of which there are about
10,000, can now claim tax exemptions and
have access to other valuable rights. For in-
stance, druids in prison may now take twigs, or
magic wands, into their cells, and can request
time off work to worship the sun.
Many are concerned that this decision
will crack the door open for Britains growing
number of witches, warlocks and wizards to
seek legitimacy from the Charity Commis-
sion. According to the Pagan Federation, which
defends and promotes the interests of witches,
druids and other followers of polytheistic or
pantheistic nature-worshiping groups, there
are now 300,000 pagans in Britain. Theyve
even infltrated the British military, which has
roughly 100 pagans and a further 30 witches.
Britain is also reported to have 500 pagan
policemen, who can legally take time off work
to practice pagan rituals, which include setting
out food for the dead, concocting potions and
casting spells and worshiping the sun god.
Then theres the recently released 300-page
diversity handbook. Produced by the Metro-
politan Police Service, the handbook provides
police offcers with guidelines for when they
come into contact with various religions. The
manual gives special attention to pagans, tell-
ing offcers to avoid touching a witchs Book
of Shadows (book of spells) or her athame
(dagger). Additionally, offcers are told not to
be alarmed if they knock on the door of a home
and see a person naked and blindfolded with
his or her hands bound. This is in accordance
with ritual and has the full consent of the par-
ticipant, the offcers are assured.
The bbc also fawns over pagans. On Hallow-
een, or as its called by pagans, Samhain, the
bbc gushed for hours over the various pagan cer-
emonies and festivals underway throughout the
country. During its coverage, the bbc included
interviews with druid leaders, as well as witches
who spoke about casting spells and worshiping
inanimate objects, and who were praised by the
bbc as fgureheads of a reinvented religion.
On its website, the bbc even has a page
devoted to paganism, which lauds the virtues
of paganism and actively promotes it as a
mainstream religion, yet says nothing about its
links to Satanism, or its historic connection to
Aryanism.

BRAD MACDONALD | COLUMNIST
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 9
extradition would need approval from its Supreme Court, and that the
process could take 6 to 18 months. In the meantime, the U.S. may be
able to get plenty of information from Makled. Venezuelas desperation
may, at least in the short term, make a U.S. enemy a bit less belligerent
to its neighbor. The Trumpet has long watched for Latin American na-
tions to draw closer together as part of a trade bloc that will eventually
align with Europe. A quieter Chvez (for now at least) may help the U.S.,
but it also could allow the whole continent to draw closer together.
In Madagascar, a group of army offcers announced that they had
launched a coup after a referendum on November 17. The group of 21
offcers claims that all state institutions have been suspended. However,
signs from the country indicate that a successful coup has not taken
place, and that the old regime remains in power.
anglo-aMerica
C
anadian prime Minister Stephen Harper took a strong stand for
the State of Israel on November 8. Speaking at a conference on
anti-Semitism, Harper warned that persecuting Jews was being
dressed up as a human rights agenda, and that a new holocaust is not
impossible. I know, by the way, because I have the bruises to show for
it, that whether it is at the United Nations, or any other international fo-
rum, the easiest thing to do is simply to just get along and go along with
this anti-Israeli rhetoric, to pretend it is just about being even-handed,
and to excuse oneself with the label of honest broker, Harper said
on Parliament Hill, referencing Canadas lost bid for a seat on the UN
Security Council. There are, after all, a lot more votesa lot morein
being anti-Israel than in taking a stand. The prime minister went on to
say that taking a stand for the Jews was more than just the right thing.
Citing history, Harper said, [T]hose who threaten the existence of the
Jewish people are a threat to all of us.
On Tuesday, an F-22 Raptor stealth fghter, the U.S. Air Forces most
advanced plane, crashed in Alaska. Air Force statistics reveal that in
its short history, the Raptor has had seven Class-A accidents, each of
which caused more than $1 million in damage.
In other military news, the military is warning pilots and soldiers
not to use certain smartphone applications when they are in the feld.
The Air Force stated that careless use of these services by airmen
can have devastating security and privacy implications. If just one
soldier accidentally accesses a popular application such as Foursquare
of Facebook Places, terrorists or other enemies would simply have to
log on to the service to know where he is located, which could lead to
security breaches.
Idaho State University geologists have found a new 40-mile fault
line in the Rocky Mountains. The fault line is capable of unleashing
earthquakes of up to 7.5 magnitude. Theres a chance in the next few
decades that there will be an earthquake on this fault, and if it does
happen, it will be a rather large earthquake, Glenn Thackray, chair-
man of the universitys geosciences department, said.
Prince Georges County, Md., is engulfed in a massive corruption
scandal. fbi agents arrested Executive Jack Johnson on Monday on
charges of witness tampering and destruction, altering and falsifcation
of evidence, in an extensive federal investigation into bribes paid by real
estate developers to county offcials. Johnsons wife, who was caught
with tens of thousands of dollars hiding in her bra, was also arrested
and similarly charged. Mr. Johnsons arrest came in a crackdown on
what fbi Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeeley called corruption
at all levels of Prince Georges government. So far, three police offcers
have been charged in a sweep that saw nine offcials carted away. The
police offcers were charged with various counts including conspiracy to
a Bad Plan
Poorly disguised
with Our economy sagging and our
international clout waning, one of the few
assets upon which the United States can
rely is the confdence that the rest of the
world has traditionally showered upon
us. That confdence is the reason why the
U.S. dollar was elevated to global reserve
status more than 65 years ago.
With so much riding on perception,
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithners recent
statements denying the existence of a
dollar debasement campaign could not be
seen as anything less than foolhardy.
Responding to a critique made in a
Financial Times opinion piece by former
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, Geithner
asserted, We will never seek to weaken
our currency as a tool to gain competi-
tive advantage or to grow the economy.
Instead, he attributed recent dollar weak-
ness to the reversal of safe haven capital
fows that had been legion during the
fnancial crisis but which have abated as
the global economy has recovered.
One must scour the earth with great
care to fnd an individual who would
agree with Mr. Geithner on this point.
Its clear from myriad other actions that
the administration sees a weaker dollar
as a panacea for our economic problems.
The blatant misinformation relayed by
the Treasury Secretary can only serve to
further increase already high tensions at
the G-20 summit now underway in Seoul,
South Korea.
Over at the Federal Reserve, Chairman
Bernanke doesnt talk about currency
debasement. Instead, he extols the virtues
of pushing up infation to levels consis-
tent with our mandate. He hopes that
no one will understand that he is using
different adjectives to describe the same
action. With the possible exception of the
New York Times editorial board, he is
fooling no one.
If dollar devaluation becomes too
pronounced, Washington threatens to
kill the goose that lays the golden eggs:
namely, the dollars reserve status. If that
were to happen, a global fnancial crisis of
staggering intensity would surely erupt,
the resolution of which would not favor
the United States.
Whether or not it is openly acknowl-
edged, the U.S. government is pursuing a
policy of great risk that offers no reward
at the end of the tunnel. Its the worst of
all possible worlds.
EUROPACIFIC CAPITAL,
JOHN BROWNE | NOVEMBER 15
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY November 20, 2010 10
DEFICIT from page 1
Actually, the defcit commission seems to present a thoroughif op-
timisticpicture of what could be done to balance the national budget.
Different scenarios include: a trillion dollars worth of new taxes; elimi-
nating the mortgage interest deduction; selling off 64,000 government
buildings; plus major Medicare reductions. Other options include slash-
ing government employment by hundreds of thousands, eviscerating the
military budget, reducing foreign aid and jacking up gasoline taxes.
The next question is what will politicians choose to do with the report.
They know the danger facing the country. Will they be able to put
aside differences and for oncejust onceact for the welfare and ben-
eft of the nation?
Dont count on it. The recommendations are dead on arrival, pro-
nounced former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. They are simply
unacceptable. And as far as Republicans are concerned, some of them
are already backing away from campaign promises to eliminate ear-
marks. Wasnt the election just a few weeks ago?
If Republicans are going to commit to what they ran on, that means
making some awful hard decisions that arent very popular politically,
says Chris Lehane, a Democratic political strategist. At the end of the
day, if theyre really serious about putting government on a diet, what
theyre talking about is a liquid diet. Are they going to cut back on So-
cial Security and Medicare? They could look at other places, but those
are tiny amounts of money.
Many Republicans looked upon the recent elections as a turning
point for the country. Not likely. At a time when decisive, dramatic ac-
tion is needed to put the nations fnancial house on track, the polarized
nature of politics in America means the country will instead be gripped
by paralysis.
In times of crisis, paralysis can be deadly.
interfere with commerce by extortion, conspiracy to distribute and pos-
session with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and conspiracy
to possess a frearm in the furtherance of a drug traffcking crime. Pub-
lic scandals such as these, work to further erode trust in America and its
leaders, at a time when trust in the system is nearing all-time lows.
DAILY MAIL | November 18
1,000 Pupils sent home
for assaults every day
A
lmOst 1,000 pupils a day are sent home from school for attacking
or verbally abusing fellow pupils or staff, it was revealed yester-
day. Schools Minister Nick Gibb released fgures showing that
schools were forced to expel or suspend pupils 182,090 times for abuse
or physical assaults in the 2008/09 academic year.
The revelation came as experts said bad behavior in schools was worse
than stated by offcials because heads routinely hid classroom trouble-
makers from Ofsted [Offce for Standards in Education] inspectors.
Education specialists said Ofsted reports claiming most behavior
in schools was good were not worth the paper they were written
on. Tom Trust, a former member of the General Teaching Council for
England, yesterday told a cross-party group of mps that he was aware
of schools which had managed to ensure Ofsted never saw classes with
unruly pupils.
marriage is
Becoming Obsolete
is marriage becoming obsolete? As families
gather for Thanksgiving this year, nearly one in
three American children is living with a parent
who is divorced, separated or never-married.
More people are accepting the view that wed-
ding bells arent needed to have a family.
A study by the Pew Research Center, in
association with Time magazine, highlights
rapidly changing notions of the American
family. And the Census Bureau, too, is
planning to incorporate broader defnitions
of family when measuring poverty, a shift
caused partly by recent jumps in unmarried
couples living together.
About 29 percent of children under 18 now
live with a parent or parents who are unwed
or no longer married, a fvefold increase from
1960, according to the Pew report being re-
leased Thursday. Broken down further, about
15 percent have parents who are divorced or
separated and 14 percent who were never
married. Within those two groups, a sizable
chunk6 percenthave parents who are live-
in couples who opted to raise kids together
without getting married.
Indeed, about 39 percent of Americans
said marriage was becoming obsolete. And
that sentiment follows U.S. census data
released in September that showed marriages
hit an all-time low of 52 percent for adults 18
and over. In 1978, just 28 percent believed
marriage was becoming obsolete.
When asked what constitutes a family, the
vast majority of Americans agree that a mar-
ried couple, with or without children, fts that
description. But four of fve surveyed pointed
also to an unmarried, opposite-sex couple
with children or a single parent. Three of fve
people said a same-sex couple with children
was a family.
Marriage is still very important in this
country, but it doesnt dominate family life
like it used to, said Andrew Cherlin, a profes-
sor of sociology and public policy at Johns
Hopkins University. Now there are several
ways to have a successful family life, and
more people accept them.

ASSOCIATED PRESS | NOVEMBER 18
Marriage soon to become obsolete? Never! On
the contrary, the only humans left in existence
after Gods master plan has nally worked out
His purpose here below will be those made
immortal and divine, living for eternity in the
happy, blissful, family union that is the life of
the everliving God!
Why Marriage! Soon Obsolete?,
Herbert W. Armstrong