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JUNE 2, 20121

THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

Europe Prepares NewStage in Financial Union

J U N E 2 , 2 0 1 2

BY ROBERT MORLEY

Americas featherbrained leaders 2

Something rotten in the Vatican 4

Gun sales skyrocket 9

Has a race war already begun? 10

Bizarre episode of The Twilight Zone 11

see UNION page 12Mario Draghi

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JUNE 2, 20122THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

MIDDLE EAST

weeks are expected to get ugly as bothmen reach out to the percent ofthe population that must now choosebetween Islamist fascism and military

authoritarianism. Morsis strengthis that he has the support of both theIslamist elements and those who fear aShafiq presidency and possible returnto the old regime. Shafiqs strength isthat he speaks for those who fear anIslamist regime, explained StratforsGeorge Friedman (May ).

n Saudi Arabia says it will pursuenuclear weapons if Iran gets bombTe Saudi king has vowed to pursue

nuclear weapons if Iran obtains anuclear bomb. Former senior U.S.diplomat Dennis Ross confirmed onuesday for the first time that King

Abdullah warned back in April :If they get nuclear weapons, we willget nuclear weapons. Haaretzreports,

Rosss direct quote of the Saudi kingappears to be the first public confir-mation of the Saudi position and thethreat of a Middle East nuclear armsrace if ehran acquires a nuclearbomb (May ). Te fear that SaudiArabia and other Arab states have ofa nuclear Iran is prophesied to lead tothose states allying with Europe.

TW I N B R I E F

n Muslim Brotherhood advancesin Egyptian elections

In the first round of Egypts presi-dential elections, Mohammed Morsi,the Muslim Brotherhoods anti-Israel, anti-Christian, sharia-lovingcandidate, won first place with .percent of the vote. Second place wentto Ahmed Shafiq, the former primeminister and a carryover from theMubarak regime. He received .percent of the vote. Both candidateswill now participate in a run-offelection on June -. Te next two

T plenty of issues these daysthat expose how deeply flawed theU.S.-dominated Western media are.But few do it better than Egypts ongo-ing revolution and the dramatic rise ofthe Muslim Brotherhood.

Ever since it began in January ,Egypts revolution has been widelyreported in the West as a splendid new epoch in Egyptshistory, an invigorating time in which democracy is takingroot and creating a new, freedom- and justice-loving, pro-Western, moderate nation.

When the revolution first began, Western leaders and

experts downplayed the possibility that the Brotherhoodmight gain decisive power in Egypt. In a Feb. , , edito-rial titled Egypts Bumbling Brotherhood, the New Yorkimes assured readers that the Egyptian street mani-fests little support for the Brotherhood, and thereforethere is little reason for the United States to fear a takeoverby the Muslim Brotherhood (emphasis added through-out). A week later, the imescontinued to lull readers byrunning an op-ed from a member of the Muslim Broth-erhoods guidance council, Essam El-Errian, who wrotethat the MB did not intend to take a dominant role in theforthcoming political transition.

Ten the elections came, and Islamist parties !When the Brotherhood then announced it would not

run a candidate in presidential elections, media gurus inthe West sighed relief and went back to sleep. Tey wereawakened a few weeks later when the MB suddenly renegedon its promise and announced that it was joining the fray.

When Islamists (including the MB) gained a strong major-ity in the council selected to construct Egypts constitution,few in the West batted an eye.

Aer being duped three times, youd think Westernleaders and the media would have taken the Brother-hoods quest for the Egyptian presidency a little moreseriously.

Not so. In the lead-up to the May - presidentialelection, Western leaders and journalists continued toso-pedal the chances of the MBs candidate. Most toutedthe polls, which suggested the MB would get as little as

percent o the vote,and forecast it would come in fourth orfih behind the more secular, moderate candidates. Te

runaway victory that Egyptian voters handed to Islamistparties in recent parliamentary elections is looking increas-ingly Pyrrhic, reported the Wall Street JournalApril .We were told by countless smart people that the MuslimBrotherhood was a D-list celebrity, a non-factor. Terewas only one problem: A large percentage of the Egyptianpeople disagreed.

O , M M, MB -I, -, - , . .

Tis is embarrassing and tragic. Here we are, less than months afer Mubarak was ousted,facing not a pro-Western,

moderate, liberal, democratic government, but a state inwhich Islamists have an absolute majority in parliament,an absolutely majority in the council tasked with creatingEgypts new constitution, and a virtual lock on gaining thepresidency. But whats most embarrassing (and tragic) is theway America and the West have consistently downplayedthe significance of the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood!

Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood and AmericasFeatherbrained Leaders

BRAD MACDONALD

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EUROPE

n U.S. excludes Israel from wardrills in JordanTe United States has completed thelargest military drills the Middle Easthas seen in a decade, but Israel wasnot invited to participate. Te mul-tinational joint military exercise insouthern Jordan ran from May -,

teaching soldiers how to coordinate

ground, artillery and air attacks. Teevent brought together more than, soldiers from countriesincluding Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Paki-stan, Great Britain, France and theU.S. However, the Pentagon excludedone of the most significant countriesin the Middle East: Israel. Although

Israel has extensive security pacts with

both Jordan and the U.S., its militarywas not invited to participate in thewar exercises. In part, this was be-cause several Arab countries that par-ticipated in the drills are technicallystill at war with the Jewish nation. Tesnub is also attributable to Washing-ton tilting its foreign policy toward

the Arabs and away from the Jews.

W been here before: the eurozone equivalent ofGroundhog Day. Alarm is gripping European finan-cial markets, borrowing costs are rising for the countriesof the periphery, and one is in the spotlight. Tis time it isSpain.

Te one place where very little is being said publicly,however, is the country whose approval as principal finan-cier is essential to making any such deal work: Germany.Te official line is clear: We are confident the Spanishgovernment can deal with the problem. Te measures ithas taken so far have been sensible. We believe them whenthey say they do not need European money.

Te superficial view is that Germany is just beingbloody-mindedagainforcing excessive austerity on its

partners in exchange for its financial support. Te reality israther more complex. Under the surface, however, thereis a more lively debate taking place in Germany about theway forward for the eurozone, and the future of the EU,than in any other member state. It is less doctrinaire andmore radical than the outside world seems to realize.

For a start, there is a broad consensus across the Ger-man political establishment, from Angela Merkels Chris-tian Democratic Union on the right to the Social Demo-crats and Greens on the le, in favor of closer economicintegration in the eurozone. Loosely defined as fiscalunion, it certainly goes well beyond the present ill-enforcedbudget discipline. It would involve much more closely co-

ordinated national budget strategies.Joschka Fischer, one-time revolutionary, Green party

leader and former foreign minister, says the EU needs aclear vision to revive public confidence. At a meeting of the

European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin this week,he spelt out the challenge. We are now very close to break-up, he said. Either we move ahead very fast, or we will goback to disintegrating. Will we share our wealth? Will weintegrate our debt? Will we transfer our power to commoninstitutions?

Germany is ready to put all those things on the negotiat-ing tablein exchange for closer integration. Te problemis that its partners in the eurozoneincluding France, Italyand Spain, the three most importantwant to see the colorof the German cash first, and negotiate the integration later.

ake jointly guaranteed eurozone bonds, for example.

From Italys Mario Monti, to Franois Hollande, Francesnew Socialist president, and Mariano Rajoy, Spanishprime minister, such a pooling of debt is seen as a vitalstep to restoring confidence in the sovereign bond markets.Ms. Merkel does not say no to eurozone bonds. She says:Not without treaty change.

But does anyone else want it? Te Pew Global Attitudespoll on uesday showed that Germany is the only Euro-pean country (out of eight questioned) where a healthymajority ( percent) still thinks economic integration isa good thing. Te same poll indicated that Germany isthe most respected country in Europeeverywhere exceptin Greeceand Ms. Merkel is the most respected leader. It

does not quite tally with headlines suggesting Ms. Merkelis isolated and Berlin is seen as the big bully.

German Calm Belies Vibrant Eurozone DebateQuentin Peel, FINANCIAL TIMES | May 31

In Search ofResource PartnersGERMAN FOREIGN POLICY | May 29

B applying pressure toobtain more exclusive resourcepartnerships to ensure the supply of

natural resources for German indus-try. According to the Ministry of theEconomy and echnology, the Ger-man government has its eye on Chile,Peru, Zambia, South Africa, andNamibia as new resource partnercandidates. Tis type of alliance hasalready been forged with Mongolia

and Kazakhstan. Berlins plans fora supplementary accord with Chile,which holds the worlds greatest cop-per deposits, are furthest advanced.German enterprises are also receivinga large portion of their supplies fromChile. Against strong popular pro-tests, the rightwing Chilean Sebastin

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Piera government is carrying outa privatization policy, which is veryadvantageous for German access tothe countrys resources.

Germany is intensively seeking to

obtain contractual privileged access tothe raw materials of important resourcecountries (resource partners) to rein-force its national industrys position onthe global market. Since the recent con-clusion of so-called resource partner-ships with Mongolia and Kazakhstan,similar alliances are being sought withChile, Peru, Zambia, South Africa, andNamibia. According to Werner Ressing,director of the Department of Indus-trial Policy in the German Ministry

of Economics and echnology, sevencountries have been identified withwhich Germany would like to enterresource partnership alliances.

Tis frantic search has been caused

by the heightened global market com-petition and therefore the dramaticrise in prices of raw materials over thepast few years. Te focus is not onlyon energy resources, such as oil andgas, but also on mineral resources,which are indispensible to the indus-try, such as iron ore or copper. TeGerman economy had progressivelyretreated from the actual productionof raw materials, because raw materi-als generally remained at a relatively

low price for decades, and the neces-sary resources could be bought ratherinexpensively on the world market.Terefore, today, it finds itself at adisadvantagedue to the rapid rise

in the price of resourcesin relation-ship to other countries, which had nottaken this course, for example GreatBritain, Australia, China and Brazilwith their leading multi-national steeland mining companies.

Since some time, Berlin has beenseeking to expand its own influ-ence on the natural resources sectorthrough a concerted action involvingpolitics and economy. Te resourcepartnerships that the German

A B diplomat, sent as Her Majestys representativeto the Holy See, once characterized the Vatican as beinglike a palace, floating adri from the rest of the world. Itis an image that has surfaced again this week with the ex-

traordinary spectacle of the Vatileaks scandal, in whichPope Benedict s butler has been accused of passingstolen documents to the Italian press at the behest of seniorclerics who want to discredit their rivals at the papal court.

Paolo Gabriele, a -year-old valet who has worked forBenedict since , is being held in custody in securerooms within the Vatican, the worlds smallest sovereignstate at just acres. As a Vatican citizen, one of only ,he faces being dealt with by its own justice system ratherthan the courts in Rome, which surrounds this enclave.

Not that the international boundary that cuts acrossSaint Peters Square has deterred the Italian press fromworking itself up into a frenzy. Among the revelations in

the private documents are details of church tax problems,its handling of child sex abuse cases, and the on-goingnegotiations between Benedict and ultra traditionalist

Lefebvrists, currently excommunicated from the church,but whom the pope wants to readmit to his flock, appar-ently at any price.

More telling, though, is the picture the leaks paint ofgossip and intrigue being the lingua franca of Benedictssenior clerical courtiers, all plotting to gain an advantageover rivals behind their elderly bosss back. If it soundslike murky machinations of the court of some medievalabsolute monarch, then that is because it is precisely what it

is, according to Robert Mickens, long-time Vatican-watcherand the Rome correspondent of the international Catholicweekly, the ablet.

Te Roman curia, the Vaticans bureaucracy, runson a model that is hierarchical and designed to suit theneeds of years ago. oday it is simply anachronistic

and detached from reality. It badly needs reform, but thatis never going to happen when you have a system whereall the senior figures are clerics, there are no women inprominent roles, and it is all about the pecking order and

an absurd obsession with secrecy. Pope Benedict this week took the unusual step of

making a personal appeal to his employees to work onin the spirit of sacrifice and in silence. Clearly dis-turbed by the revelations about his butler, he tried todampen speculation. Suggestions have been multiplied,amplified by some media, which are totally gratuitousand which have gone well beyond fact, he said. Teyare offering an image of the Holy See which does not cor-respond to reality.

Te problem, though, is that the reality which outsid-ers experience when they have dealings with the Vaticanis so very odd. It offers a context in which the wildest of

stories can appear plausible. And then to fuel the firesof those determined to suspect the worst, Benedict hasappointed a member of Opus Dei to the commission ofcardinals he has set up to look into the Vatileaks scandal.Anywhere else it would be regarded as a public relationsgaffe for, in most peoples minds, Opus Dei is inextrica-bly linked with Dan Browns lurid allegations in Te DaVinci Code.

Te curia is slowly but steadily imploding because it isso removed from the rest of the world, concludes Rob-ert Mickens. Tis latest scandal is just another stage inthat process. Cornwell, though, counsels caution before

writing off this system of government. Te curious thingis that, although I can describe its failings, it continues tohave an extraordinary ability to keep going. If you thinkabout the damaging revelations that came out from theVatican Bank in the s, the system should never havesurvived. But it has.

Is There Something Rotten in the Vatican Court?TELEGRAPH | May 31

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government has already concludedwith Mongolia and Kazakhstan areparticularly aimed at exclusive accessto their rare earth deposits. Germa-

ny, in exchange, promises an allegedlyjust as exclusive transfer of scientificexpertise. At the beginning of theyear, German industries initiated anAlliance to Secure Resources, com-prised of companies including Bayer,, TyssenKrupp and Daimler.Te Alliance plans to enter, in grandstyle, both direct production and thecommerce of raw materials.

At the moment, Berlin primarilyhas its eye on Chile for the expansionof its resource partnerships. Tat

resources rich country has the worldslargest copper deposits

Spain Faces TotalEmergency as FearGrips MarketsTELEGRAPH | May 30

S facing the gravest dan-ger since the end of the Franco

dictatorship as the country is frozenout of global capital markets andslides towards an epic showdown withEurope. Were in a situation of total

emergency, the worst crisis we haveever lived through, said ex-PremierFelipe Gonzalez, the countrys elderstatesman.

Te warning came as the yields onSpanish -year bonds spiked to .percent, pushing the risk premiumover German Bunds to a post-eurohigh . Te index of stocksin Madrid fell . percent, the low-est since the dot-com bust in .Chaos over the . billion rescue ofcrippled lender Bankia has led to the

abrupt resignation of central bankgovernor Miguel ngel FernndezOrdez, who testified to the senatethat he had been muzzled to avoidenflaming events as confidence in thecountry drains away.

Markets are on tenterhooks asSpanish yields test levels that forcedthe European Central Bank to re-spond last November with its tril-lion liquidity blitz. Nobody is shortSpanish debt right now because they

are expecting intervention, saidAndrew Roberts, credit chief at .If it doesnt comeif we take out .percentwere going to see a hyper-

bolic sell-off, he said.Italy felt the full brunt of conta-gion from Spain on Wednesday, with-year yields back near percent.Te euro fell to a two-year low of. against the dollar. Crude oiland metal prices plummeted andsafe-haven flight pushed rates ontwo-year German debt to zero. Giltyields fell to . percent, the lowestin history.

Te country is caught in a classicdeflationary vice: a rising debt burden

on a shrinking economic base. Onceyou get into such a negative feedbackloop, you can move beyond the pointof no return quickly, he said.

Tere is massive disaffection with theeuro in Spain and papers like El Paisand Vanguardia are turning anti-Ger-man, he said.

Te is pushing Spain to accepta loan package from the EU bail-out fund (), the proper body forfiscal rescues. Mr. Rajoy has refused

O the concerns that theoverseers of Germanys boomingexport economy have had is that thecurrent imposition of austerity mea-sures on European Union economieswould work to reduce the capacity

of their major marketEU membernationsto continue to buy German-manufactured goods.

Enter China.In its report titled China and Germany: Why the

Emerging Special Relationship Matters for Europe, is-sued in May, the European Council on Foreign Relationsstates: Europes future relationship with Chinaoneof its most important strategic partnerswill be deter-mined to a large extent by Germanys rapidly evolvingbilateral relationship with China. Germany is Chinasnumber one trade partner in the EU . Te burgeoningeconomic interdependence between China and Germany,

based on a technology-for-markets swap, is the basis foran increasingly close political relationship . In short,Germany is now by far the biggest European player inChina.

Te relationship is already growing stronger. Aer aFebruary visit to Beijing by Chancellor Merkel, the Chinese

commenced investing heavily in Central and EasternEurope.

Tis region forms a major customer base for Germanindustry. However, as austerity measures imposed onEU member nations have started to bite deep into theseeconomies, orders for German goods have reduced. With

Germany deeply involved in directing the handling of theongoing euro crisis, Berlins most obvious solution to thisproblem of diminishing export demand was to lobby Chi-na to invest in Central and Eastern Europe, thus enablingthose economies to again stimulate demand for Germanproducts, boosting German exports.

As the most dominant trading nations in the worldtoday, Germanys and Chinas futures have become irrevo-cably intertwined.

Isaiah and Ezekiel speak of two great markets,identified as German-dominated Europe and China, whichwill hold massive trading power.

One would have to truly have his head buried deep

in the sand to not admit to the profound reality of theseprophecies being fulfilled before our very eyes. Yet, sadly,most do have their heads buried deep in the sand of willingignorance and in the all-too-many distractions from realityoffered by this worldtoo blind and deaf to see the gravedangers of a repetition of history looming in Europe.

China and Germanythe Great Mart Forms

RON FRASER

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vehemently. Any recourse to the is viewed with horror in Madrid, en-tailing an unacceptable loss of sover-eignty. Te result is paralysis as bothsides refuse to shi ground.

Guy Mandy, credit strategist atNomura, said the has lost sightof the big picture and risks losing the

euro altogether if it fails to restorebasic confidence. Tey need toweigh up events on a grander scale,stop worrying about moral hazard,and do the job of a central bank, hesaid.

TW I N B R I E F

n Eurozone nations could pawngold to GermanyAn intriguing compromise designedto break the eurozones deadlock is

gaining traction. Endorsed as a pos-sible way forward by the InternationalMonetary Fund, Socit Gnrale andGermanys main opposition party theSocial Democratic Party, the plan is

just the type of deal the rumpethasforecast for years: Germany bails outEurope in exchange for power andgold. Te scheme gets around the ob-

jections of Germanys ConstitutionalCourt and could gain the approval ofthe German public. Called the Euro-

pean Redemption Pact and draedby the German Council of EconomicExperts, the plan would see nationspool all debt that they owe over percent of their . Tis would givestruggling nations a lower interestrate, but Jefferies Fixed Income esti-mates it will cost Germany an extra. percent of a yeararound

billion. In return, governmentswould surrender control of parts oftaxation and spending policies toGermany. But the condition gainingthe most attention is the demand fornations to put up collateral for theirdebt. Tis collateral could be takenfrom the countrys currency and gold

reserves, said the Council. Te planstill has a long way to go before beingadopted. But some type of bargainlike thisGermany given power inEurope in return for bailing countriesoutis inevitable. Its just a case ofhow bad things will have to get beforethe eurozone gives in to Germanysconditions.

n A new head of the Vatican bank?Ettore Gotti edeschi, president ofthe Vatican Bank, was forced out of

office in a vote of no confidence May aer attempting to clean up thenotoriously corrupt fund. Te banksboard accused Gotte edeschi of notdoing his job, and generally exhibit-ing progressively erratic personalbehavior. But Michael Day wrote inBritains Independentnewspaper thatalthough Gotte edeschis push forgreater transperancy was approvedby key figures at the Vatican, includ-ing the powerful secretary of state,

Cardinal arcisio Bertone whenMr. Gotti edeschi insisted that theanti-corruption regulations shouldbe retroactive, Cardinal Bertone andother key figures are thought to haveturned against him (May ). TeCatholic abletnewspapers Romecorrespondent, Robert Mickens, said:

Tey gave him the job knowing that

he had a reputation for integrity. Butthey also assumed that as a memberof Opus Dei, he would not rock theboat. When he did, they kicked himout. Te Vatican Insider reports thatformer head of the Bundesbank Hansietmeyer is the favorite for the newjob and has the support of the pope.

As the Insidernotes, the Vaticanbanks main partner is Deutsche Bank.Te Jesuit-trained Mario Draghi headsthe European Central Bank; the Jesuit-trained Mario Monti is prime ministerof the national home of the Church ofRome and the domicile of the GermanPope Benedict, Italy; the committedRoman Catholic German ex-banker ofrenown Hans ietmeyer is frontrun-ner for the top Vatican bank post, withthe powerful Deutsche Bank deeplyembedded in the popes bank. What

a club!

n Barroso to push for earlyintegrationEuropean Commission President JosManuel Barroso said he supportedearly plans for tighter eurozone inte-gration, as the Commission publishedits economic policy recommendationsfor all EU nations. Te movementis in favor of more integration in theeuro area, he said. Te EU Observer

reports that the Commission is likelyto call for a banking uniontightersupervision, direct access for banksto the eurozones bailout fund and asingle deposit guarantee schemeandstability bonds, a way of metalizingeurozone debt when it presents itsrecommendations to EU leaders laterthis month.

ASIA

TW I N B R I E F

n China and Taiwan cozy upOn Wednesday, Chinese authori-ties said Beijing wants more politicaltrust with aipei. Tey also reiteratedthat the one-China policy must berecognized. Chinas push for unifica-tion with aiwan has intensified since when Ma Ying-jeou becameaiwans president. In demonstration

of his allegiance to mainland China,Ma oen refers to the two nations asone country, two areas. He recentlysaid both sides could take inspirationfrom the reunification of Germany.Closer ties between China and aiwanare bad news for the United Statesand other nations that are concernedabout Chinas ascendancy. In thepast, aiwan has served as a valuable

listening post thanks to the islandsproximity to China, its advancedtechnology, and its democratic values.Shared language, ethnicity and cul-ture also allow aiwanese intelligenceagents to blend into Chinese society.But reports have emerged that Ma hasalready curtailed intelligence opera-tions in China, and is planning to stopsharing intelligence with the U.S. and

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ANGLO-AMERICA

its allies. Expect Chinas so powerpolicy toward aiwan to continue.

n China and Japan to start directcurrency tradingChina and Japan agreed to start trad-ing their currencies directly startingJune . Previously, China allowed

its currency, the yuan, to be tradedonly against the U.S. dollar. But onuesday, the Peoples Bank of China

said it has authorized the change inorder to improve the foreign exchangemarket, develop Chinas capital mar-kets, and promote cooperation withJapan. Meanwhile, Japanese FinanceMinister Jun Azumi said that bypass-ing the dollar will revitalize okyomarkets by reducing transaction costs.

Tis decision will streamline foreignexchange dealings between China andJapan and strengthen the relationship

between the worlds second- andthird-largest economies. Since Chinaand Japan are Americas largest twocreditors, any move they take awayfrom the dollar has the potential to de-stabilize the U.S. currency. Te rum-

pethas long predicted a Sino-Japanesealliance that will ultimately challenge

Western powers. Tis currency dealrepresents a stride in the direction ofthe creation of that Oriental bloc.

W line-up that includes Drew Barrymore, DavidBeckham, Orlando Bloom, and Ricky Martin, the UNschoice of ambassadors has been known to cause raisedeyebrows or the odd smirk. Seldom, however, has there beensuch anger, or questioning of the organizations credibility,as that greeting the appointment of a new internationalenvoy for tourism: Robert Mugabe.

Improbable as it seems, the Zim-babwean president, who is widelyaccused of ethnic cleansing, riggingelections, terrorizing opposition,controlling media and presiding

over a collapsed economy, has beenendorsed as a champion of effortsto boost global holidaymaking.

Despite the fact Mugabe, , isunder a travel ban, he has beenhonored as a leader for tourismby the UNs World ourism Orga-nization, along with his political ally, Zambian PresidentMichael Sata, . Kumbi Muchemwa, a spokesman forthe Movement for Democratic Change (), said: I cantsee any justification for the man being an ambassador. Anambassador for what? Te man has blood on his hands. Dothey want tourists to see those bloody hands?

Meanwhile, British M.P. Kate Hoey, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe, said: It is an ab-solute scandaland an affront to the people of Zimbabwe,who didnt vote for Mugabe as their president but had himimposed because he used violence and the armed forces tohang on to power in defiance of the democratic will of thepeople of Zimbabwe.

For a man who has destroyedhis countrys infrastructure andcynically engineered hunger tobe an ambassador for tourism isdisgracefulparticularly as he has

been personally responsible for thedownward spiral of the economyand destroyed the hotel, travel andtourism industry in the process.

Mugabe and his allies aresubject to EU and U.S. sanctionspreventing them from traveling

to EU countries including Britain, although he does at-tend the UN General Assembly in New York. Muchemwaadded: Robert Mugabe is under international sanctions,so how do you have an international tourism ambassadorwho cant travel to other countries? Te UN is losingcredibility.

Robert Mugabe Asked to be UN Leader for TourismGUARDIAN | May 29

The United Nations Conference is producing

nothing but strife and bickering, and is destined

from its inception to end in total failure. Yet

world leaders are pronouncing it THEWORLDSLAST

HOPE

with the only alternativeANNIHILATIONOF

HUMANITY! THEUNITEDNATIONSORGANIZATIONWILLFAIL.

ITISDOOMEDBEFOREITSTARTS!

HERBERT ARMSTRONG

RADIO BROADCAST, APRIL 29, 1945

Half of U.S. Lives inHousehold GettingBenefits

WALL STREET JOURNAL | May 26

C spending isno easy task, and its made morecomplicated by recent Census Bureaudata showing that nearly half of the

people in the U.S. live in a householdthat receives at least one governmentbenefit, and many likely received morethan one.

Te . percent of the populationin a household that gets benefits is upfrom percent in the early s and. percent as recently as the thirdquarter of .

Te increase in recent years is

likely due in large part to the linger-ing effects of the recession. As ofearly , percent of people livedin a household that received foodstamps, percent had someoneenrolled in Medicaid and percenthad a member receiving unemploy-ment benefits. Te Census data showthat percent of the populationlives in a household where at least

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one member receives Social Securityand percent receive or live withsomeone who gets Medicare. Tereis likely a lot of overlap, since SocialSecurity and Medicare tend to go

hand in hand, but those percentagesalso are likely to increase as the BabyBoom generation ages.

With increased government spend-ing comes the need to pay for it, andif taxes arent going to increase thatmeans deficits. Nearly three-quartersof Americans blame the U.S. budgetdeficit on spending too much moneyon federal programs, according toa Gallup poll last year, but whenthe conversation turns to whichprograms to cut, the majorities are

harder to find. For example, per-cent of respondents oppose makingsignificant changes to Social Securityor Medicare.

Te more people who receive bene-fits, the harder its going to be to makecuts, and its never popular to raisetaxes. In some respects that argues forletting a combination of tax increasesand spending cuts that is set to auto-matically hit in take effect. Teres

just one problem: the Congressional

Budget Office says it would sink theeconomy into recession.

House Rejects

Bill Penalizing Doctorsfor Sex-SelectiveAbortionsTHE HILL | May 31

T H on Tursday rejected aRepublican bill that would imposefines and prison terms on doctorswho perform abortions for the solepurpose of controlling the gender ofthe child, a practice known as sex-

selective abortion.Te Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act(), H.R. , was defeated in a- vote. While thats a clear ma-jority of the House, Republicans calledup the bill under a suspension of Houserules, which limits debate and requiresa two-thirds majority vote to pass. Inthis case, it would have required moresupport from Democrats.

Earlier in the day, House SpeakerJohn Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated that

the issue of stopping sex-selectiveabortion is important enough thatthey would try again, but he was notspecific. Tis type of sex selectionmost Americans find pretty repulsive,

and our members feel strongly aboutit. Tats why it is being brought tothe floor. During debate on the billWednesday, Republicans said the billis consistent with the broader U.S.position that sex-selective abortionshould be condemned around theworld.

In , the United States spear-headed a UN resolution to condemnsex-selective abortion worldwide, saidRep. rent Franks (R-Ariz.), the spon-sor of the bill. Yet, here in the land of

the free and the home of the brave, weare the only advanced country le inthe world that still doesnt restrict sex-selective abortion in any way.

It is another Republican intrusioninto a womans right to choose, saidRep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) ofthe bill on Wednesday. Womenshould be able to make such sensitiveand private decisions with their fami-lies, their doctors and their god, freefrom the fear of the police.

P O put his foot in his mouth by referringto a Polish death camp as he was awarding a posthu-mous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a Polishhero who tried to stop the Holocaust. Tere couldnt have

been a worse time to make this blunder of calling Germanconcentration camps Polish.

Te only things Polish about Nazi concentration campslike Auschwitz were the victims. Auschwitz is a Germanname; German guards patrolled it; the German words

Arbeit macht frei hang over the entrance.Poland has been one of Americas greatest allies in the

War on error, and Obamas comments are putting a strainon this important relationship. Our presidents commentsare such a scandal over there that Polands president, primeminister and foreign minister have all demanded that heapologize.

Karski was a hero for Poles. And he was such a hero for

Jews that Israel made him a citizen aer the war. He riskedhis life to sneak into the Jewish ghetto, where he promisedJewish leaders he would tell their story to the Allies. He alsodisguised himself as a Ukrainian guard to visit a Germanconcentration camp. Ten Karski traveled across war-torn

Europe to London and Washington to deliver his eyewit-ness account of Nazi Germanys mass murder of Jews.

Tis is not just semantics. Te documentary UpsideDown showed that Canadian and American school-

children thought Poland built the concentration campsbecause theyre oen referred to as Polish. Aer theKosciuszko Foundation began a drive two years ago askingnews outlets to stop using the phrase Polish concentrationcamps to refer to the German horrors in Nazi-occupiedPoland. Te Wall Street Journal, Te New York imes, the

Associated Press and other media organizations changedtheir stylebooks.

Yet the White House has issued only a lukewarm state-ment from a press officer saying that Obama misspoke.Misspoke? Tis offensive phrase was on the teleprompter.Tat means the presidents staff didnt care enough aboutthis issue to research Karskis history on the Internet.

Poles thought that by honoring Karski, Obama was go-ing to set the record straight about the death camps. But byusing this phrase to honor a Polish war hero, our presidentpoured salt on wounds that keep getting scratched nearlyseven decades aer the war ended.

President Obamas Polish BlunderAlex Storozynski,NEW YORK POST | May 31

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Powerful FlameCyber Weapon Foundin Middle EastREUTERS | May 28

S have discovereda new data-stealing virus dubbedFlame they say has lurked insidethousands of computers across the

Middle East for as long as five years aspart of a sophisticated cyber warfarecampaign. It is the most complexpiece of malicious soware discoveredto date, said Kaspersky Lab securitysenior researcher Roel Schouwenberg,whose company discovered the virus.

Schouwenberg said he did not knowwho built Flame.

If the Labs analysis is correct,

Flame could be the third major cyberweapon uncovered aer the Stuxnet

virus that attacked Irans nuclearprogram in , and its data-stealingcousin Duqu, named aer the StarWars villain. Te discovery by one ofthe worlds largest makers of anti-

virus soware will likely fuel specula-tion that nations have already secretlydeployed other cyber weapons.

A always loved theirguns, but lately they are loading upmore than ever. U.S. civilians own anestimated million gunsnearlynine privately owned firearms for

every people.Because of exploding demand, fire-

arm manufacturers simply cant keepthe shelves stocked. Gun maker Sturm,Ruger and Co. received more orders in the first quarter ofthis year than the number of guns it made in all of .Smith & Wesson said its backlog at the end of January was. million, percent of what it was the year before.

Clearly, people are concerned. Many are anxious overeconomic instability and the potential for societal break-down. As local, state and federal budgets are cut back, pub-lic services, including law enforcement, are being trimmed.A growing number of people just dont think the govern-

ment will protect them. Also, more and more believe theworld is coming to an end and are bracing themselves tosurvive doomsday conditions.

Added to these fears is growing nervousness that politi-cians are about to enact stricter gun control. A showdownis unfolding: On one side are officials, including the Obamaadministration, who say that keeping guns out of peopleshands makes everyone safer. On the other are many whobelieve the opposite: that making guns harder to procurelegally only leaves law-abiding people vulnerable to crimi-nals who procure them illegally. As society grows moredangerous, they argue, the only source of protection they

can really have confidence in is themselves.What isyoursource of protection? Its an extremely im-portant question, because the prophecies of the Bible showthat, truly, in the time just ahead, those who lackprotec-tion are going to find themselves in a world of trouble.

Te end-time prophecy of Ezekiel , for example, revealsthat America is soon going to fall victim to a siege of violencewithin its major cities. Economic collapse willcause seriousbreakdowns in the smooth functioning of society. Te spreadof lawlessness and panic will give rise to rioting, burning andbrutality amid population centers. Te worst evils of humannature will be on display. Adding millions o gunsto thisequation is going to make these conditions far deadlier.

What wouldyoudo in these nightmarish conditions?How wouldyousurvive? Given current trends, its not dif-ficult to see things descending to that point.

But when you understand those biblical prophecies, aterrible reality emerges: Tose guns are only going to help

so much. Tere is, in fact, another, ar more effectiveformof protection available.

When Jesus Christ walked this Earth, He spoke about thesubject of self-defense. Resist not evil, Jesus said. [W]ho-soever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him theother also (Matthew :). Te approach of arming oneself,intending on using guns to defend oneself against other hu-man beings, contravenes Christs clear instruction.

Not that restraining orcewouldnt be appropriate toexercise under certain circumstances. But someone whois striving to live by Gods law of love, even if provoked,should never fight back or use a weapon with intent to in-flict injury on another person. Dearly beloved, avenge not

yourselves, wrote the Apostle Paul, but rather give placeunto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay,saith the Lord (Romans :).

However, it is far from true that Christ le His disciplesdeenseless. He well knew ofand specifically prophesiedothe crime and violence that would overwhelm ourworld today. For then shall begreat tribulation,He said ofthe time just before His Second Coming, such as was notsince the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor evershall be (Matthew :).

Knowing that this society would be fraught with dan-gers, He instructed His disciples to pray daily, Deliver us

from evil (Matthew :). Many people who call them-selves Christians ridicule the idea of divine protection. ButGod . His power to save from danger those who fearand obey Him is real!Te Lord knoweth how to deliverthe godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust untothe day of judgment to be punished ( Peter :).

Tere is no limit on Gods ability to intervene on ourbehalfexcept the quality o ones aith and obedience.Andwhatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep hiscommandments, and do those things that are pleasing inhis sight ( John :). Areyoudoing what is pleasing inhis sight? Te question is about to become one of life anddeath: Doyouhave Gods protection?

As Gun Sales Skyrocket, What Is YourSource of Protection?

JOEL HILLIKER

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If Flame went on undiscoveredfor five years, the only logical conclu-sion is that there are other operationsongoing that we dont know about,Schouwenberg said in an interview.

Te Moscow-based company is con-trolled by Russian malware researcherEugene Kaspersky, and gained noto-

riety in cyber weapons research aersolving several mysteries surroundingStuxnet and Duqu.

Researchers at Kaspersky said theywere only starting to understand howFlame works because it is so complex.Te full significance will not be knownuntil other cyber security firms obtainsamples of Flame. Te Labs researchshows the largest number of infectedmachines are in Iran, followed by theIsrael/Palestine region, then Sudanand Syria.

Te virus contains about timesas much code as Stuxnet, which at-tacked an Iranian uranium enrich-ment facility, causing centrifuges tofail. It has about times as muchcode as a typical virus designed tosteal financial information, Schou-wenberg said. Flame can gather datafiles, remotely change settings oncomputers, turn on PC microphonesto record conversations, take screenshots and log instant messaging chats.

EU Warns UK SchoolStandards ThreatenEconomyTELEGRAPH | May 30

B educational stan-dards pose one of the biggestthreats to the long-term success ofthe economy, a key report from theEuropean Commission has warned.

oo many people in the UK are leav-ing school functionally illiterate andinnumerate, with no qualificationswhen the economy increasingly needsmedium- and high-skilled workers.Policy is not helping, the report added,by focusing on basic skills trainingrather than addressing the chronicproblem of early school leavers.

Te UK continues to have toomany people with low skills, resultingin inequality and skills mismatches.

Te economic costs of this problemare likely to increase over time if it isnot effectively addressed, the reportsaid. It added that Britain has higherlevels of early school leavers than theEU average for all subgroups exceptfor migrants, and that the proportionhad increased by . percentage points

since to . percent. Te report argued that better quality

education was the best way out of theproblem, but the government was fo-cusing its resources on the wrong area.

Te main focus in vocational educa-tion and training policy is on basicskills and level qualifications, whilethe economy increasingly demandsmore advanced vocational educationand training qualifications, it said.

Te UK has an oversupply of low-skilled workers, for whom demand is

falling, and a shortage of workers withhigh-quality vocational and techni-cal skills, the report said. Tere is apersistently large number of function-ally illiterate and innumerate adults inthe UK, usually with no qualifications.Te country could gain significanteconomic and social benefits from do-ing more to address the needs of thisgroup.

Has a Race WarAlready Begun?Dennis Leap | May 31

E unprovoked violenceby young black gangs against whitepeople are happening, yet are not be-ing reported by the news media.

In mid-April, two white reportersfor the Virginian-Pilotwere beaten byat least blacks. Teir wounds wereso severe they had to take a week off

work. However, the newspaper theyworked for did not report the storyuntil early May. Police officers calledto the scene downplayed the beatingsas a simple assault.

Similar attacks on whites have oc-curred in Denver, Chicago, Cleveland,Los Angeles, New York and Wash-ington. Both the authorities and themedia have brushed these incidentsaside as well. Tey do so by ignoringthe race of the people involved, or

claiming there was no racial motiva-tion (even in cases where the attackerswere spewing out anti-white state-ments), or simply failing to report theincidents altogether.

Why? Some thinkers believe thata race war is being censored to avoidwhite backlash.

Economist and columnist TomasSowell, writing for Investors.com,states, What the authorities and themedia seem determined to suppressis that the hoodlum elements in manyghettos launch coordinated attacks onwhites in public places. If there is any-thing worse than a one-sided race war,it is a two-sided race war, especiallywhen one of the races outnumbers theother several times over.

Teir efforts to keep the lid on sucha catastrophe may be understand-

able, he said. But a lot of pressure canbuild up under that lid. If and whenthat pressure leads to an explosionof white backlash, things could get alot worse than if the truth had comeout earlier, and steps taken by bothblack and white leaders to deal withthe hoodlums and with those whoinflame the hoodlums.

Tese latter would include not onlyrace hustlers such as Al Sharpton andJesse Jackson but also lesser known

people in the media, in educationalinstitutions and elsewhere who hypegrievances and make all the problemsof blacks the fault of whites.

Te race problem we see today ismore than an American problem: Itis a global epidemic. Everywhere welook, we see ethnic division and racialhatred accompanied by gruesome actsof violence and war, we wrote in theMay/June rumpetissue. And itis intensifying! It seems as if we are re-minded daily that mans never-ending

attempt to solve the problems of thisworldapart from God and His im-mutable lawshas utterly failed! Tesolutions men propose only incitemore violence and more hatred. Soon,these simmering tensions, passionsand hatreds will boil over into full-scale race wars!

God has warned about all of thiswell in advance of it actually happen-ing, which is why the rumpetfollowsthese disturbing trends so closely.

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OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

D believe that parents should be able to spanktheir children? Do you ever express that opinion toothers? If so, then you could be sent to prison. Sadly, thatis exactly what happened to one pastor up in Wisconsinrecently.

A minister named Philip Caminiti was sentenced totwo years in prison for simply teaching that parents shouldspank their children when they misbehave. Please notethat Caminiti was not accused of spanking anyone or ofphysically hurting anyone. He was put in prison simply forhis speech. He was put in prison simply for what he wasteaching others to do.

Whether you agree withspanking or not, this should beincredibly sobering for all ofus. Increasingly, speech is beingpenalized in the United States.Much of the time, the focus of

the attacks by the forces of po-litical correctness is on religiousspeech. If this trend continues, many of you that arereading this article might be put in jail for the things thatyou say in the coming years.

When many of us were growing up, once in a while ourparents would take out a belt or a wooden paddle and giveus a paddling on the behind when we did something wrong.Was there anything wrong with that? Of course not.

Yes, there is real child abuse that goes on out there, butin the vast majority of instances spanking does not do any

lasting physical harm. Rather, it benefits the child becauseit helps them learn what is right and what is wrong. Iknow that when I got a licking on the behind as a chi ldthat helped me to remember not to do the same thingagain.

But Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi wasabsolutely horrified that some parents would actually usea wooden spoon to spank their little children when theymisbehaved. Instead of going aer the parents who weredoing the spanking, prosecutors chose to go aer the pastorinstead. Tey claimed that Caminiti was the spoke in thewheel of this conspiracy.

Even aer Caminiti leavesprison, he will be forbidden fromhaving any contact with his oldchurch. Caminiti will be onextended supervision for six yearsaer his release from prison.

Despite objections on consti-tutional grounds by Caminitislawyers, Sumi ordered that he not have any contact withthe Aleitheia Bible Church and have no leadership role inany church.

What in the world is happening to this country? Crimi-nal predators are literally eating the faces off of people, andyet authorities want to go aer pastors that are encouragingtheir congregations to follow the teachings of the Bible?Have we stepped into a really bizarre episode of Te wi-light Zone?

Pastor in Prison for Teaching That Parents Should SpankAMERICAN DREAM | May 30

TW I N B R I E F

n Americas unemployment woesshow no sign of improvementWith unofficial unemploymentestimates ranging between and percent, it should come as no surprisethat good-paying manufacturing jobsare harder than ever to find. At one

Hyundai plant in Alabama, morethan , people recently appliedfor one of the job openings. Tisis just one example of how desperatethe job situation has become. Lastsummer, Ford had over , peopleapply for one of only , jobs ata retooled Louisville plant. Back in, over , people applied forone of , jobs at a ennessee Volk-swagen plant. Expect employment

Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands

afar off; for truth has fallen in the public squares,

and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and

he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

ISAIAH 59:14-15

opportunities to become even scarcerin the future as a natural consequenceof Americas rebellion against Godseconomic laws.

n China buying more debt thandisclosedA little-noticed change in how

Washington sells debt is shedding newlight on Americas delicate balancingact with its biggest creditorChina.A recent Reuters investigation foundthat China is using this change to buymore U.S. government debt than is be-ing disclosed. Te United States sellsdebt to investors through auctionsthat are held one to four times a week.At these auctions, investors can buydebt directly from the U.S. reasury

or through any of elite primarydealers. Historically, the reasuryhas limited the amount any singlebidder can purchase to percent.Since , however, a rule change hasallowed China to forge gentlemansagreements with primary dealers topurchase a certain amount of reasury

securities on offer at an auction with-out being reported as bidders in thatauction. Tese vast debt purchasesby China represent a serious vulner-ability to America. If the Chineseever decide to sell off all their treasurybonds at one time, is could undermineU.S. markets and drive interest ratessky-high. Tis is just one more wayAmerica could meet a catastrophiceconomic end.

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JUNE 2 201212THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

weeksnot monthsaway from de-

fault. What would that do to marketsand thus economies?

Unless policymakers come up withradical new solutions with respect to

the crisis they will soon be faced withthe prospect of delivering closer scal

integration or overseeing the breakup ofthe euro, warned Hewson.

If it was the prospect of closer scal integration Hewson

was looking for, he couldnt have been disappointedbe-cause in one way or another, virtually all of Europe was

calling for it.Our discussion also demonstrated that we need to take

Economic Monetary Union to a new stage, announced Eu-ropean Council President Herman Van Rompuy followingthe summit. There was a general consensus that we need

to strengthen the economic union to make it commensuratewith the monetary union.

When pressed for details, he said leaders would try to

stick to current EU treaties, but if the Brits failed to givetheir approval, other hypotheses such as a new inter-governmental agreement were also on the table.

According to insiders, Europe is split into two opposingcamps. The eurozone is split along north-south lines.

On one leg, France is leading an emerging Latin bloc

(Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal). Britain and Ireland alsoappear to back this group. These nations make up the bulk

of Europes gross domestic product and population. Theyalso are the nations burdened with the highest debt, slowest

growth, weakest economies, and poorest credit ratings.These nations are ghting tooth and nail to prevent eco-

nomic collapse, yet maintain their economic sovereignty.

Led by Frances new president Franois Hollande, thesenations want the creation of a European Union-wide depos-

it insurance scheme similar to that of Americas to preventbank runs. They want an activist European Central Bank

that will print money to stimulate the economy. And mostimportantly, and controversially, they want the creation of

eurobonds. These eurobonds would be similar to U.S. gov-

ernment bonds. They would be jointly offered and jointlybacked by all nations. They would allow these nations to

borrow money at much more affordable rates.But they want all this to be given to them out of the

goodness of Germanys heart.On the other leg, opposing the Latin bloc, is a group of

Nordic nations led by Germany. These nations have dy-

namic economies, budget surpluses and strong credit rat-ings. And they fear that further economic integration will

let the south spend money that the north will have to payback. The Telegraphs Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports

that Germanys Angela Merkel was uncharacteristicallyquiet at the meeting. It was her Dutch and Finnish allies

who vehemently argued that there could be no eurobonds,and no new stage of economic union, unless there wassome mechanism for the north to enforce nancial ac-

countability by other member governments.ECBPresident Mario Draghi appears to be lined up with

this group. Eurobonds make sense when you have a scal

union, otherwise they dont make sense, he told report-

ers in Brussels. Germanys ECBexecutive board memberJorg Asmussen said prior to the meeting that the eurozone

should be backed by a scal union and banking union aswell as a democratic legitimized political union.

Frances President Hollande summed up the north-south divergence: For now, Germanys line of thinking

is that eurobonds could only be an end point, whereasfor us they are a starting point. In other words, we wantGermanys checkbook without the liability. Fat chance of

Germany agreeing to that one.But despite the disagreement, one thing is clear: the

growing clamor of voices that see further economic inte-gration as the only solution to Europes debt crisis.

Europes leaders are on the cusp of a unication projectthat will turn the disparate nations of Europe into a true

superpower. As Europes debt woes increase, so too willthe desire for further integrationat any cost. With eachcrisis, Germanys position is strengthened. If unication is

to proceed, it will be on German terms.

ROBERT MORLEY

UNION from page 1

COVER DANIEL ROLAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Each year, thousands of students graduate from colleges all over

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have learned valuable skills for productive careers, but are they

learning how to really live? Are they learning how to solve this

worlds mounting problems or the problems in their own lives?

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