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David Rothkopf
The Daily Beast
Thu, June 23, 2022, 3:59 AM
Bow your heads and say a prayer over the separation of church and state, may it rest in peace. Who knows, doing so may someday entitle you to a government subsidy.
During a week in which much of our focus is on the public assault on our democratic values that took place on Jan. 6—and just as a looming Supreme Court decision seems all-but-certain to strip away the federal guarantee of reproductive rights at any moment—that same court may have more stealthily put the dagger in another principle on which our nation was founded.
In the case of Carson v. Makin, the court ruled that public funds intended to support the education of students for whom a public education option was not available must be made available to parents who wished to use them to pay for religious schools’ tuition. In so doing, the court’s conservative majority essentially ordered that taxpayer funds be used to support religious institutions.
The decision is fraught with problems. In his dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer argued: “The very point of the Establishment Clause is to prevent the government from sponsoring religious activity itself, thereby favoring one religion over another or favoring religion over nonreligion.” (This refers to the section of the First Amendment that prohibits Congress from establishing a state religion.)
Not only is Justice Breyer’s argument sound, but if anything it may understate the problem. That’s because if states are permitted (or even obligated in such a case) to fund a religious enterprise, they are likely to favor some religious groups over others—which is also to the detriment of those who eschew religion. But such funding also opens the door to government interference in the operations of religious groups. This fact is often overlooked by the advocates of permitting such funding.
The state that can write the check can set the rules by which checks get written, or penalize religious groups whose activities fall out of favor. (Would the Bush administration have funded Islamic religious schools they argued promoted extreme views? Should states or the federal government provide funding for entities that promote intolerance or violate certain laws they argue conflict with their beliefs?) In a separate, searing dissent Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote what might be considered the epitaph for the separation of church and state
. “I feared that the Court was leading us to a place where separation of church and state is a constitutional slogan, not a constitutional commitment… Today, the Court leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation,” Justice Sotomayor argued.
In other words, the court’s conservative justices—by ruling that Maine was obligated to provide funds to the religious schools if it was providing funds to other private schools—were opening the door to other such obligations, and with them precisely the sort of establishment of state-supported religions that the Constitution explicitly prohibits.
America has long debated the role of religion in public life. James Madison wanted to include language in the Constitution prohibiting individual states from establishing religions, but the proposal did not carry in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nonetheless, Madison—the lead author of the Constitution wrote years after its passage—wrote in an 1811 letter to Baptist bishops that the, “practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government is essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.”
Thomas Jefferson’s views on religion were such that when he ran for president he was accused of being an atheist. In an 1802 letter, Jefferson wrote, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their ‘legislature’ should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.”
That wall has been breached. Indeed, given the current mood (in both political parties) toward religion, it is likely that Jefferson would not win public office today. Imagine how the public would react to a candidate who meticulously created his own version of the Bible in which references to miracles, Jesus as a deity, even Jesus rising from the grave were edited out with a razor blade.
Face it. Jefferson (yes, the author of the Declaration of Independence) wouldn’t stand a chance in 2022.
American Institutions Might Not Be Crumbling After All
Many may be moved by politicians referring to God and the Bible in both public and private forums, like congressional hearings and campaign rallies. For example, while I appreciate the efforts of the Republicans who stood in Trump’s way on Jan. 6, I’m not exactly comfortable with their repeated invocations of religiosity as a source of validation of virtuous intent. I actually think it’s dangerous.
To be very clear, I don’t begrudge people their beliefs. My concern is that, increasingly, government proceedings and statements of government officials seem to place greater focus on the introduction of religious views into places they do not belong (especially when they favor a focus on a few particular subsets of religious beliefs).
Worse, of course, is that religious demagoguery has grown so commonplace it is almost expected—whether it is Bush administration’s public piety contrasting with its embrace of the use of torture, or recent Democratic presidents who loved to quote scripture but whose personal behavior or public policies were hardly consistent with the values of the book they were quoting, or Donald Trump’s walk across Lafayette Park to stage a photo op holding a Bible as he unleashed federal forces against peaceful protestors.
In the days ahead, we may see more evidence of the religious right’s onslaught against the separations that Madison and Jefferson advocated. The Supreme Court will offer a decision on the case of a football coach who was, in part, fired for post-game prayers on the 50-yard-line of the football field. If they rule in favor of the coach, the door to more religion in publicly funded venues opens wider still. Certainly, overturning Roe v. Wade would be seen as a victory for the religious right as well, a decision in which science and medicine were forced to take a back seat to an extreme religious view of when life starts (that is supported neither by science nor, frankly, by biblical or other traditional religious beliefs.)
In fact, it is clear that over time, whether it is cases like those mentioned above, or others requiring the teaching of Bible-based alternatives to evolution or the ascendancy of those with extreme religious views to our courts (when it is likely atheists would never get confirmed), the wall separating church and state has been so battered and beaten down that it is little more than rubble at this point.
It is a sorry state of affairs. We are living in a moment in which what is broken in our Constitution we can’t fix (see our constitutionally mandated drift toward minority rule) and what is not broken we are breaking.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/separation-church-state-crumbling-eyes-075958036.html
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BY JUDITH BERGMAN/GATESTONE INSTITUTE JUNE 08, 2022
Russia's war on Ukraine has brought renewed attention to Russia's nuclear arsenal and the risk of nuclear war, especially after Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his country's nuclear forces on high alert shortly after invading Ukraine on February 24.
Close to half of Americans are very concerned that Russia would directly target the U.S. with nuclear weapons, and an additional 3 in 10 are somewhat concerned about that, according to a recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Russia has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons -- 6,255 warheads, compared to the United States' 5550 warheads -- according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) 2021 yearbook. Russia has also been modernizing its huge nuclear arsenal for at least two decades, a process likely to conclude this decade.
Russia has not only been modernizing its nuclear triad; it has also been developing new types of nuclear systems. These include the Sarmat, the world's largest and heaviest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which can deliver up to ten nuclear warheads in the United States or Europe, and the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile designed to have "unlimited range" and dubbed "the flying Chernobyl," so called because of its nuclear reactor.
The new nuclear systems also include the Poseidon nuclear-powered autonomous (unmanned) underwater vehicle, and the Kinzhal, a hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile that can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and is designed to be launched from MiG-31 fighter jets. Russia said that it fired the Kinzhal in two attacks on Ukraine in March.
The Poseidon has a range of up to 10,000 kilometers, can be deployed on submarines, and be armed with either nuclear or conventional payloads. One report states:
"Russia could release the drone from its submarine off the U.S. coast and detonate it in a way that would 'generate a radioactive tsunami' that could destroy cities and other infrastructure along the U.S. coast."
Russian television recently featured Dmitry Kiselyov, described as Russian President Vladimir Putin's "mouthpiece", saying that Britain could be plunged "to the depths of the sea using Russia's unmanned underwater vehicle Poseidon. Such a barrage alone carries extreme doses of radiation."
An April 21 report by the Congressional Research Service states:
"In December 2020, Russia's President Vladimir Putin reported that about 86% of Russia's strategic nuclear force was made up of modern weapons, a number he expected to rise to 88% in 2021... Russia is modernizing its ICBM force, replacing the last missiles remaining from the Soviet era with new single warhead and multiple warhead missiles. According to U.S. estimates, Russia is likely to complete this modernization around 2022."
As part of its nuclear arsenal, Russia has nearly 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, also known as non-strategic nuclear weapons. Tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be used on a battlefield, as opposed to strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed to be used against enemy cities, factories, and other larger-area targets to damage the enemy's ability to wage war.
By comparison, the US only has a few hundred tactical nuclear weapons. America's new Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM-N) would be another such tactical nuclear weapon -- more about that below -- but the Biden administration has decided to cancel it.
"Russia is adding new military capabilities to its existing stockpile of nonstrategic nuclear weapons, including those employable by ships, aircraft, and ground forces," Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) noted in 2019.
"These nuclear warheads include theater- and tactical-range systems that Russia relies on to deter and defeat NATO or China in a conflict. Russia's stockpile of non-strategic nuclear weapons [is] already large and diverse and is being modernized with an eye towards greater accuracy, longer ranges, and lower yields to suit their potential warfighting role.
We assess Russia to have dozens of these systems already deployed or in development. They include, but are not limited to: short- and close-range ballistic missiles, ground-launched cruise missiles, including the 9M729 missile, which the U.S. Government determined violates the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces or INF Treaty, as well as anti-ship and antisubmarine missiles, torpedoes, and depth charges."
Russia's stockpile of tactical nuclear warheads, according to Ashley, "is likely to grow significantly over the next decade."
Russia, of course, is not the only nuclear threat to the United States. China has accelerated its nuclear buildup to the extent that Admiral Charles Richard, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee last April:
"For the first time in our history, the nation is on a trajectory to face two nuclear-capable, strategic peer adversaries at the same time, who must be deterred differently. We can no longer assume the risk of strategic deterrence failure in conflict will always remain low."
The US, on the other hand, is in several respects still at the beginning of its nuclear modernization. According to SIPRI:
"US offensive strategic nuclear forces include heavy bomber aircraft, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and SSBNs. These forces, together known as the triad, changed little during 2020. SIPRI estimates that a total of 3570 nuclear warheads are assigned to the triad, of which an estimated 1700 warheads are deployed on missiles and at bomber bases."
When it comes to the land-based ICBMs, a vital part of US nuclear deterrence, "As of January 2021, the USA deployed 400 Minuteman III ICBMs in 450 silos across three missile wings," according to SIPRI.
"The 50 empty silos are kept in a state of readiness and can be reloaded with stored missiles if necessary. Each Minuteman III ICBM is armed with one warhead... SIPRI estimates that there are 800 warheads assigned to the ICBM force, of which 400 are deployed on the missiles."
The Minuteman III ICBMs are badly in need of modernization -- they were built in the 1970s and were originally intended to last for just 10 years. The development of a next-generation ICBM, known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) has been decided, but the process has proven slow and the Air Force only expects the GBSD to begin replacing Minuteman III in 2029. According to General John Hyten, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the GBSD system will not achieve initial operational capability until 2030, or full operational capability until 2035.
"There's no margin left," Air Force Global Strike Command chief General Timothy M. Ray said last June. "We're just going to run out of time"
"It's going to take us 10 to 15 years to modernize 400 [intercontinental ballistic missile] silos that already exist," Hyten said in September 2021 about the GBSD program. "China is basically building almost that many overnight."
The Minuteman III has grave structural problems stemming from the fact that "the missile itself is 51 years old," but the launch capsules and other support facilities are "58 years old," according to Col. Erik Quigley, director of the Minuteman III systems directorate. The "brine Chiller lines", which cool the ICBM launch facility, for instance, are "severely corroded at all 400-plus sites," according to Quigley.
"But guess what? We don't attack that problem when we go do programmed depot maintenance out in the field. We just wait for them to break. And when they break, a missile site goes off alert, which is a huge problem."
The missiles, when inoperable, cannot be used.
The US normally tests the Minuteman III ICBMs four times a year. But in March, the Pentagon postponed a pre-scheduled test of a Minuteman III ICBM, for fear of provoking Russia in the midst of the Ukraine war. According Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby:
"In an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention of engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued, the secretary of defense has directed that our Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch scheduled for this week to be postponed. We did not take this decision lightly, but instead to demonstrate that we are a responsible nuclear power."
Admiral Charles Richard, Commander of U-S. Strategic Command recommended "that we maintain our normal set of operations," emphasizing that he needs the tests to "maintain confidence and reliability" in the Minuteman III, which faces growing reliability concerns as it ages and breaks down. Russia, however, could also interpret the postponement decision as weakness in the face of repeated Russian threats.
In the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, the Trump administration decided that a new Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (known as the SLCM-N), a tactical nuclear weapon, needed to be added to the US nuclear arsenal to provide the US with "a needed non-strategic regional presence" that would address "the increasing need for flexible and low-yield options."
The missile was expected to begin development in 2022 and achieve operational capability in the late 2020s. The Biden administration, however, removed it from the FY2023 budget, while several generals have disagreed with that decision, arguing that it is needed against Russia and China.
"The current situation in Ukraine and China's nuclear trajectory convinces me a deterrence and assurance gap exists," Admiral Charles Richard wrote in a letter to lawmakers in April.
"To address this gap, a low-yield, non-ballistic capability to deter and respond without visible generation is necessary to provide a persistent, survivable, regional capability to deter adversaries, assure allies, provide flexible options, as well as complement existing capabilities."
Removing the SLCM-N from the nuclear arsenal also signals weakness. The Wall Street Journal wrote in an April editorial:
"The Trump Administration proposed the SLCM-N in 2018. Message to Mr. Putin: If you drop a nuke on NATO soil, the alliance has the will and ability to respond in kind. This reduces the risk Mr. Putin will use a nuke....The Trump Administration said the U.S. might reconsider the SLCM-N if 'Russia returns to compliance with its arms control obligations, reduces its non-strategic nuclear arsenal, and corrects its other destabilizing behaviors.' How's that working out? Now Mr. Biden is surrendering this leverage--probably to placate progressives who are opposed to nuclear weapons as an article of faith."
Originally published at Gatestone Institute
https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5406
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11:00AM EDT 6/8/2022 SHAWN A. AKERS
Prophet Chuck Pierce says that between now and the end of July, believers need to watch very closely what is happening in our capital of Washington, D.C.
Ever-accelerating inflation, the crucial abortion issue and debilitating division between the two political parties have put a vise grip on our nation in recent months. Many crucial decisions are expected to come down from Washington in the next two months, including the Supreme Court's ruling on Roe v. Wade.
Pierce says believers should heed the decree of Daniel 7:9, which reads, "I watched until the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of Days was seated, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame, and its wheels as burning fire" (MEV).
"What happens in this scripture is that the Ancient of Days shows up in the midst of the turmoil of Daniel's vision," Pierce says. "And your visions can create turmoil within you. Then, the Ancient of Days shows up. I want you to grab hold of that. We are in a very strategic time where God is giving us revelation. We are all making our journey through, and it becomes critical for us to understand that God sent us in time for today. ... We have to know that some visions carry great weight for intercession.
"In Daniel chapter 7, the Ancient of Days comes down to really encourage the saints. The enemy is warring with you. The enemy wants to wear down the saints of the Most High God. He will intend to change the times and the laws. That's the only thing he has. ... The enemy is trying to wear down our minds, our thinking process. He will speak to you so much that he wears your brain down. He will wear you down and even cause you to fail. But in that, we are in an era that God is strengthening us. ... But we want to stay in timing with the Lord. And from that, you are going to be seated in a new way.
"I want you to know that right now, the timing of D.C. is very key and that everything that goes on between now and the end of July is very key. It can be turned the way the Lord wants it to."
Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
https://www.charismanews.com/culture/89382-chuck-pierce-prophesies-between-now-and-the-end-of-july-dc-is-the-key
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6/7/2022 SHAWN A. AKERS
Jonathan Cahn's blockbuster movie "The Harbingers of Things to Come" comes to one realistic and sobering conclusion for America and its future: "If America falls, it's going to accelerate everything you read about in the Bible."
In a recent interview on Clay Clark's Thrive Time Show, Cahn tells Clark: "We are living in prophetic times, so we have to be a prophetic people. We have to speak to the culture. We are not living in that 'Christian culture' anymore. We have to be radical. We have to be like the prophets.
"In many churches we sing, 'These are the days of Elijah.' That's great, and I love the song. But if these are the days of Elijah, then we have to become the Elijahs of the day. God does raise up voices, but we're all to be prophetic. We have to speak truth; we have to shine the light and we have to be very much like Elijah.
"Keep in mind that when we sing that song, the days of Elijah were actually times of persecution. We have to be the one who will stand. It's like the candle in the daytime—you don't see it. But the candle lights up the night. We are called to become the candle in the night. That's why I believe these can be the greatest times for those who will stand like Elijah and be the prophets of this generation; to speak to the times when God will anoint them and lift us up. This will be our hour."
The Harbingers of Things to Come was a blockbuster success, coming in as one of the top five films viewed across the nation, with the third-highest per-screen average for the two days it was featured in theaters.
The first showing alone saw the film rank number 2 at the box office as the second-highest-grossing film nationally. In total, the explosive motion picture saw almost 100,000 people in just two nights and grossed more than $1 million.
After such a triumph at the box office, The Harbingers of Things to Come is now available for hosting at churches, communities, groups and organizations nationwide, through ticketed streaming events from May 13 to July 31, 2022, at The Faith Content Network. With a network of nearly 150,000 pastors and church leaders, the Faith Content Network is a collection of churches that present new, faith-driven theatrical events available in tandem with their exclusive theatrical releases.
Shawn A. Akers is the online editor for Charisma Media.
HTTPS://WWW.CHARISMANEWS.COM/CULTURE/89375-JONATHAN-CAHN-SAYS-BELIEVERS-MUST-BECOME-RADICAL-FOR-AMERICA-TO-SURVIVE
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11:00AM EDT 6/3/2022 ALVEDA KING
My friends, I don't know about you, but it seems like every day I am being inundated with prayer requests. Meanwhile, I find myself in great need of prayer every day as well.
Sometimes, I just open my Bible and read, and sigh. Other days, I read my Bible, get up and get moving, working to bless others, even as I find myself in need of a blessing.
My colleague Jack Brewer is definitely telling the truth. Our problems in America, personally, in our communities and around the world are all related to a common denominator: sin. Fatherless homes and abortion are at the top of the list. Yet all is not lost. Thank God for Jesus.
"God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant" (Rom. 5:20, NLT).
Many of the prayer requests I am receiving are for people who are sick in their bodies, ill and feeling bad. Others are sick in their minds and in their souls. Marriages are falling apart, children and parents are fighting and disputing, and then there's what's happening on the national and global scene.
My mother just returned from Israel. While she was visiting, there was a fatal shooting of a reporter who was actually attached to mother's traveling group. Mother spoke and prayed for peace while she was in Israel.
"Pray for peace in Jerusalem. May all who love this city prosper" (Ps. 122:6).
Here on the home front, hundreds of babies are still being aborted; children are still being abused. Then we have the tragedies of Buffalo, New York; Uvalde, Texas, and so many other violent shootings and atrocities. Meanwhile, my friend John Voight has posted a couple of videos on Facebook about not attaching the problems of America and around the world simply to gun violence.
People harm people with weapons. Sometimes those weapons are guns, knives, bombs, poison, scalpels, forceps, fists and all sorts of murder weapons. Which measure of violence and murder control should we pursue? People also wound people with their tongues; harmful violent words also kill the human spirit. Why just single out guns, which are one weapon of choice?
Recently my goddaughter, Angela Stanton King, released an open letter to the Republican Party. As an aging Black woman in America, as I read Angela's letter demanding justice for the Black community, I can certainly sympathize. I've been a victim of skin color racism and loss of family to gun violence all my life. I get it.
What is weird is that while other ethnic communities ask for help to live, the Black ethnic community is offered aid to die: by abortion, transgender surgery for minors and other crippling initiatives.
The ask for the Black community? For starters:
—Why not give us a Platinum Plan?
— Why not give the Black community an American Rescue Fund allotment such as the $49.5 billion awarded to the Asian community?
(However, please remove funding for abortion disguised as women's reproductive freedom and other population control secret funding. Give us liberty to live, learn and grow—not death.)
— Why not support conservative Black political candidates?
We are in an incremental process with these individual anti-hate crime bills. Each ethnic group is making demands for its ethnic community. Heretofore, when all of the "anti-hate crime bills" were passed, every group except the Black communities received help to live, not die.
I'm almost breathless to see President Biden's press secretary singing freedom spirituals with the Asian community while still offering Black Americans death affirming "relief" such as abortion, free COVID shots and transgender surgeries to our children along with racist/Marxist critical race theory agendas.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." —Martin Luther King Jr.
Because of this, my heart breaks for everyone with loss of loved ones, regardless of the reason. While I celebrate justice for every ethnic group, I just pray that we stop splintering and dividing. I pray that Jesus, our divine mender and fixer heals us all. Give us Lord a day of an "anti-hate human hate crime bill."
Please give us life too, America.
Now, on another frequency, I know that all of the demands for justice from every community—while some that have been asked for have been rewarded and some have not—in the final analysis, all of these demands for justice for the divided communities must come together as the one blood/one human race. We must not be colorblind but have our eyes wide open, seeing and regarding diversity.
I see the glass half full, and I see the silver lining in the stormy clouds. The glass is already full of air and at the halfway mark when there is something else other than air in the glass, we need to pray about filling that glass up with faith, hope and love. And when the glass becomes empty again, let God just fill it again and again. My cup overflows always with the love of God.
You may have wondered why I have waited so long to release a new commentary on the violence that is constantly occurring in America. Honestly my friends, I had to step back for a moment and just breathe. People all around me are fighting, destroying each other with their mouths, and with other physical, emotional or spiritual weapons. While my heart aches, I thank God my heart is never shattered because my Redeemer lives. So, we must continue to move forward with faith, hope and love. We must vote for leaders who fear God rather than man or who will never compromise for power and money. We can never give up because Jesus never gives up on us.
Independence Day is just around the corner. Father's Day and Juneteenth are on the same day this month. I'm longing for racial harmony in Christ: no division by skin color; united as one human race.
As to liberty and independence? America can never be free until all human life is recognized as sacred unto God and sanctity of life is regarded from womb to tomb.
Also, though my earthly father figures are in heaven now, I'm praying that God restores human fathers and heals our families, our wombs and our lands.
I agree with Brewer: America has a sin problem, yet this is a problem that can be solved. America must return to God.
As we continue to pray and enact strategies of policy with faith, hope and love, let's remember as individuals to remain humble and repentant, forgiving and loving each other and addressing and approaching all of our problems with kindness and sanity.
"America, America, God shed His Grace on thee/ And crown thy good with [humanhood], from sea to shining sea." —"America the Beautiful"
Dr. Alveda C. King is the daughter of the late slain civil rights activist Rev. A. D. King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a Christian evangelist.
https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/89338-alveda-king-the-only-way-america-can-overcome-its-sin-problem
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Wednesday June 22nd, 2022
Newsweek, by Giulia Carbonaro: The risk of a nuclear conflict is the highest it has been since the times of the Cold War, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The “SIPRI Yearbook 2022,” a report published Monday assessing the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security around the world, stated that nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade.
Despite the fact that the total number of nuclear weapons in the world has slightly declined between January 2021 and January 2022 (just before the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), the number is likely to increase in the near future, according to SIPRI.
Some 90 percent of the world’s nuclear arsenal is owned by Russia and the United States, with a total inventory of respectively 5,977 and 5,428 nuclear weapons as of 2022.
The nine nuclear-armed states—the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea—continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals. The weapons that have been dismantled in the U.S. and Russia last year were already “retired” from military services, leaving the arsenal of useable nuclear weapons of the two countries virtually unchanged.
“Although there were some significant gains in both nuclear arms control and nuclear disarmament in the past year, the risk of nuclear weapons being used seems higher now than at any time since the height of the Cold War,” said SIPRI Director Dan Smith.
The war in Ukraine has certainly triggered the worsening of the risk of a nuclear conflict, with Russia having already made several threats about possibly using nuclear weapons in response to Western support for Kyiv.
“Relations between the world’s great powers have deteriorated further at a time when humanity and the planet face an array of profound and pressing common challenges that can only be addressed by international cooperation,” said Stefan Löfven, Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board.
The growth foreseen by the Swedish institute in the global nuclear arsenal would be the end of a steady decline in nuclear weapons since the Cold War ended.
“There are clear indications that the reductions that have characterized global nuclear arsenals since the end of the Cold War have ended,” said Hans M. Kristensen, Associate Senior Fellow with SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme and Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
Last year, Britain announced it will increase the ceiling of its total warhead stockpiles at the same time it declared it will not publicly disclose figures for the country’s operational nuclear weapon stockpile, deployed warheads or deployed missiles.
Prophetic Link:
“The coming of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end. Every report of calamity by sea or land is a testimony to the fact that the end of all things is at hand. Wars and rumors of wars declare it. Is there a Christian whose pulse does not beat with quickened action as he anticipates the great events opening before us?” Evangelism, page 219.1.
Source References
▪ Risk of Nuclear Conflict at Highest Point Since Height of Cold War—SIPRI
https://ktfnews.com/risk-of-nuclear-conflict-at-highest-point-since-height-of-cold-war-sipri
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BY MATT AGORIST/ACTIVIST POST JUNE 04, 2022
The world's ruling elite will meet in secret this week. No press will be allowed in, no one will be interviewed about it, and Bilderberg will not even register as a blip within the mainstream media's radar. As the media hypes gun control and abortion debates, bankers, politicians, military leaders, and information controllers will be discussing their plans for the world behind closed doors and with zero transparency.
The 68th annual Bilderberg Meeting, which has been held in locations around the world throughout the years, kicked off on Thursday in Washington D.C. with absolutely no press coverage at all and is set to end on Sunday June 5. Despite a prestigious guest list of around 120 attendees -- who will arguably have more of a global influence than any elected officials -- the meeting will escape any scrutiny in the mainstream media.
The reason this meeting of the global elite manages to remain free from any mainstream media coverage is no accident. This group of elite power brokers owns the media, they own the politicians, and, arguably, they own the world. In attendance to this year's meeting are war criminals like Henry Kissinger, Albert Bourla the CEO of criminal pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Head of the CIA William J Burns, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Emma Walmsley, Eric Schmidt the infamous former CEO of Google, and other heads of corporate media, foreign heads of state, and military officials.
The key topics for discussion this year at their secret event are:
1. Geopolitical Realignments
2. NATO Challenges
3. China
4. Indo-Pacific Realignment
5. Sino-US Tech Competition
6. Russia
7. Continuity of Government and the Economy
8. Disruption of the Global Financial System
9. Disinformation
10. Energy Security and Sustainability
11. Post Pandemic Health
12. Fragmentation of Democratic Societies
13. Trade and Deglobalisation
14. Ukraine
Nothing sinister at all about some of the largest purveyors of disinformation in the world meeting in secret to discuss possible world war with China and Russia, while plotting how to silence speech they consider "disinformation."
In what many would call a violation of the United States Logan Act, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema will be in attendance. Sinema is a Democrat turned independent currently working with both Democrats and Republicans to push through gun control. She has openly expressed her support for the late warmonger John McCain and has repeatedly pushed for escalation in Ukraine.
As we've reported, former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton both attended Bilderberg conferences in the years before being elected to the Oval Office. Tony Blair was on hand at the 1993 Bilderberg meeting before becoming prime minister of England in 1997, and Emmanuel Macron, the President of France attended in 2014 just prior to being elected.
What's more, the 2008 conference is believed to be the catalyst for that year's US presidential election: rumors suggest that attendees settling on backing Barack Obama for the Democratic Party nomination at that year's event, only for contender Hillary Clinton to bow out two days later. Bilderberg attendees must abide by Chatham House Rules, meaning that while participants can use the information received, they are barred from talking about any individual who may have steered their decisions.
Numerous bloggers and activists have suggested that, based just on what is known already from public statements, simply attending a Bilderberg meeting should constitute sufficient grounds for immediate arrest and investigation of Americans.
In 2011, then-Congressman Ron Paul called for an investigation and noted that U.S. officials participating in the yearly gathering -- specifically Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the time -- were quite possibly breaking the law. "This information about him going over there and violating the Logan Act and getting involved, I'm just impressed that that's in the ordinary media -- I think that's encouraging, too," Paul said during an interview at the time, noting that Gov. Perry's attendance was "a sign that he's involved in the international conspiracy."
Paul is not simply making this up either, the Logan Act clearly states, in part:
"Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United
States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both."
Originally published at Activist Post
https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5399
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9:00AM EDT 6/7/2022 JARED LASKEY
What is God saying for America? Most of us want to know what the Holy Spirit is doing, as it seems the darkness over our nation is getting worse.
God speaks to all of us and through prophets who discern times and seasons. Elizabeth Tiam-Fook of International Young Prophets recently published a broadcast to help answer this question, giving hope in troubling times. The following words were paraphrased by me, but you can watch and listen to these prophetic words for yourself to understand the full context.
Elizabeth said, "These are important topics for the days ahead." She continued, saying she'd heard about food shortages. "God always prepares the prophets, but He gives them insights to prepare us for what He is going to do. People tend to jump into fear, but that's not how God does things. He wants us to operate in faith."
Prophetic reformer Amanda Shiflett said, "Since 2016 the Lord has been telling me, 'It will be the best of times and the worst of times.' And in June 2018 the Lord released me to speak these words, so I began. He said there will be an increase in natural disasters and some of them will be extreme, unprecedented and historic. Last year He said there will be food shortages and you must prepare for that.
"But we don't prepare in fear; it's actually going to be a time of great faith for God's people to know that regardless of what we go through, God is with us and will lead His people as long as we are trusting Him to do that. There will be miracles and lots of amazing things for the best of times. People are to be led by the Spirit to prepare because things will be different in the various parts of the country. Those who are prepared will be used to also evangelize as they help others during the worst of times. And the Lord will multiply food for you to share with others."
Writer and speaker Seth Dahl said, "Families should make sure they are in the river of the Holy Spirit with a clear understanding of what the gospel actually is. Our kids must understand what the cross really did and know what covenant we live under. They need to understand the presence of the Holy Spirit. And it was through a kid bringing two fish and five loaves of bread that Jesus multiplied food. As a church we must be aware of what kids bring for the church. We are to also make sure our kids understand serving the people around you. We are to be dependent on God's government and allow kids to give what they have as God uses them in the days ahead to help turn countries back to the Lord."
Elizabeth also said, "In the Hebrew calendar, this is the 'year of the House.' I think it's strategic that this could be the year that God flips Roe v. Wade. We are going to see Malachi 4:5-6 with our own eyes here in America as God turns the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers."
Watch the whole broadcast with Elizabeth Tiam-Fook, Amanda Shiflett, Seth Dahl, Brandi Belt, and Paul and Ashley Lackie to hear what God is saying about America.
Jared and Rochelle Laskey co-founded Fireborn Ministries to teach believers how to live a daily Spirit-empowered life.
https://www.charismanews.com/culture/89367-prophets-what-god-is-saying-about-america-right-now
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SC Cloud | St. Cloud Times
Mike Aurelius
June 6, 2022
The Reverends Dr. Judy Cummings and Dr. Kevin Riggs write in the Tennessee Lookout, "What does it mean to be a Christian?":
“But confessing with our hearts and mouths is just the beginning of living out our Christian faith. As Christians we are called to live as Jesus called us to live. He made it simple and clear in Matthew 22:37-38 when he said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ These two statements are inextricable, meaning, it is impossible to love God without loving neighbor. Many Christians forget to come back to the foundation of our faith – Jesus Christ. We can look at how he called his disciples to live out the ethics of the kingdom here on Earth.”
In the 1920s, an Indian philosopher named Bara Dada said: “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians, you are not like him.”
That was said 100 years ago, and it is even more true today. The evil, toxic and noxious “Christian” evangelicals are hell-bent on destroying the very foundations of our country and replacing them with their own ideals. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” This means that the government cannot create a state religion or deny the freedom to practice any religion the citizen practices. Not only that, but it protects every citizen from religion as well. You aren’t religious? Don’t worry, you are still protected — no religious belief can be forced upon you.
Evangelicals absolutely hate that they cannot proclaim that the U.S. is a Christian nation. So, what are they doing? They are using religious and “moral” positions to undermine settled law. Let’s look at an example: Abortion. As I’m writing this piece, a leak from SCOTUS has shown that at least five judges are signatories of an unpublished opinion that if published will remove Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. Texas and a couple of other states have already done this by fiat, and more states will soon follow their lead.
But there is a problem. People who practice Judaism do not believe that abortion is against God’s law and is a requirement if the mother’s life is at risk. By banning abortions, states are setting themselves up for a First Amendment challenge by not allowing the free exercise of citizens’ religion.
Rabbi Rachael Pass writes: “If anyone tries to argue that abortion restrictions are justified under the prerogative of religious freedom, we can explain that our religious freedom demands that we have access to abortion care when it is needed and wanted.” (Times of Israel, May 4, 2022)
Dominionism and Christian fascism (sometimes called “Christofascism”) can all be found in the modern evangelical Christian movement today and encompasses the fascistic, totalitarian and imperialistic aspects of the Christian church. Many of the early settlers in America came here fleeing religious persecution in their home countries.
Many more were sent here and other places as prisoners of those self-same religions. Let us not create the same situation in the future by becoming the very thing our forefathers fled in the first place.
In May 1939, a letter writer named Ivan Bussart, published in The Kingsport Times of Kingsport, Tennessee, wrote this:
“The contention of my articles will be that, if and when fascism comes over America, it will be…[an] iron hand encased in a silk glove:
For God and Country!
Freedom and democracy!
Pure Anglo-Saxonism!
Liberty and the Constitution!
—catchwords which will thwart the actual and real rights of the citizenry...”
Sound familiar?
Until next month, if you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding. Trust your doctor (unless they are a religious zealot) and the science community. Ignore the lunatics from the fringes of both parties. And above all, don’t take wooden nickels.
— Mike Aurelius is a member of the Times Writers Group. He is a semi-retired business owner and professional writer who looks askance at the utterances of the extreme right- and left-wing politicians.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/religious-freedom-freedom-religion-under-121001739.html
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10:00AM EDT 6/8/2022 CAITLIN BURKE/CBN NEWS
Electrical substations are in almost every city nationwide. Most house transformers play a huge part in getting power out to you. The larger they are, the more critical.
"Transformers have been called by many people the 'Achilles' heel' of the electric grid," explained Joe Weiss, an engineer and independent consultant.
Transformers take voltage sent by power plants and convert it to a level that can be distributed. Essentially, they keep electricity flowing at safe levels.
While the U.S. electric grid consists of thousands of them, the high voltage carriers make up less than 3%. Even so, they are responsible for transporting 60% to 70% of our electricity.
"These are 500-ton, 20-foot-tall, multimillion-dollar machines," Weiss said.
They're also custom-made in China, and experts like Weiss say while the U.S. is busy securing its networks, China has the ability and opportunity to sabotage the equipment we rely on them to manufacture.
Essentially, they've created a "back door" into our electric grid.
"What they have is the ability ... they have their finger on that trigger today that they can take over that transformer and everything that transformer supplies coming in or going out. That's a very big deal," Weiss cautioned.
He said this is no hypothetical warning. The U.S. has already discovered backdoor electronics in a Chinese-made transformer.
It was that discovery that led then-President Donald Trump to sign an executive order in May of 2020 banning "... the acquisition, importation, transfer, or installation" of any bulk-power systems from "foreign adversaries."
The discovery also led to something that's never happened before.
https://www.charismanews.com/us/89380-china-s-backdoor-threat-that-could-take-down-us-electric-grid