Closed: Last Synagogue in Egypt 2

Iran Seizing Major Iraqi Banks 3

Saudi Oil Drying Up 3

the TRUMPET WEEKLY

Democrats Fumble Israel and God 10

September 8, 2012

Is the EU About to Enforce Sunday

Worship in Greece?

by Richard Palmer

reece must introduce a six-day working week, or lose

its bailout money, Greeces creditors said, according to
a letter leaked to the Guardian and published September4.
This demand means Greeks would have to work Saturday
and rest on Sunday as theyre forced to conform to the
teachings of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, regardless of their personal beliefs.
The Guardian reported that the letter orders the government to extend the working week into the weekend.
It was sent last week to Greeces finance and labor ministries. An excerpt from the letter published by the Guardian called on the government to increase the number of

maximum workdays to six days per week for all sectors.

The letter is from the troikaGreeces three main
creditors who oversee its bailout program: the European
Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They also called for Greece to take
several other steps to make working hours more flexible
and to cut labor market regulation.
Their demand for a six-day week would mean that
workers would be pushed to work on Saturday, not Sunday.
Greek law already forbids working on Sunday. It states:
Employees are entitled to a minimum continuous period
of rest of at least 24 hours per week,
see sunday page 12

Insisting on a six-day working week for

Greece, will the EU soon enforce this
on all member states?

PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images

September 8, 2012

middle east

Iran Eager to Further Develop Ties With Ethiopia

Fars News Agency | September 6

ranian Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Mansour

Borqeyee underscored Tehrans enthusiasm for the further
expansion of relations and cooperation with the African
nations, specially Ethiopia.
Borqeyee made the remarks in a meeting with Ethiopian
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Berhane GebreKristos. He also expressed Irans readiness
to strengthen cooperation with Ethiopia in various fields
based on mutual respect.
Borqeyee underlined the need for mutual consultations and continued exchange of views between the two

Closed: Last Synagogue in Egypt

Gatestone Institute | September 7

here religious fanatics have

started by persecuting minorities, it has not been long before they
turned on their own, accusing them of
irreligiousness, heresy and insidious
betrayal. The religious freedoms of all
Egyptians are in peril.
Fears for the future of religious minorities in Egypt were accentuated last
week when it was announced that the
last synagogue in the country would
be closed down. The Eliyahu Hanavi
Synagogue, which had operated in
Alexandria, was the last functioning
center of Jewish life in the country. It
is now clear that its cavernous halls,
built in the nineteenth century, will
not be open to worshippers hoping to
mark Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
services this year.
Traditionally, the synagogue has
been managed by an Israeli rabbi
of Egyptian descent who frequently
returns to the country to lead services there. Although there are many
synagogues around Egypt, the one in
Alexandria is the only active one, the
others having been turned into tourist
sites.
This year, as Rabbi Avraham Dayan
was making preparations for the High
Holidays he was told that the Egyptian
authorities could not guarantee the

countries officials for further expansion of cooperation

and solving regional and international issues.
GebreKristos, for his part, said Iran and Ethiopia have
always had amicable relations, and underlined the positive decision and approach of the Ethiopian government to
expansion of ties with Iran.
Tehran has prioritized promotion of its economic and
political ties with the African states and the country is now
considered as one of the African Unions strategic partners.
Iran is also an observing member of the AU and has shown
an active presence in previous AU summit meetings.

safety and security of those wanting

to attend the synagogue. Dayan told
Ynet: This year there have been some
violent demonstrations in Alexandria,
and they [sic] are afraid to take responsibility over peopleWe are trying to organize a quorum, but because
of the security-related situation we
are not really succeeding. We are still
in touch with the Egyptian security
organizations and are trying to make
some progress.
Sectarian tensions across Egypt
have been heightened ever since last
years revolution, with Christian
minorities bearing the brunt of the
violence.
One of the unintended consequences of the Arab Spring is the guarantee of security long assured by the
regions old dictators; it has been cast
away by the tide of popular unrest
sweeping the region.
The power vacuum and instability
caused by the overthrow of Mubarak
empowered Salafist and Brotherhood activists who increasingly stoke
sectarian tensions. Last October, when
Christian activists took to the streets
of Cairo to protest their mistreatment,
they were first involved in scuffles
with radical Islamists before the
army moved in. During the resulting
crackdown, more than 25 Christian
protesters were killed and more than
300 injured. It marked one of the most
bloody and shameful sectarian episodes in Egypts recent history.
The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

This kind of instability has meant

the Jewish presence in Egypt has
steadily declined over much of the last
century
The news that Egypts last synagogue, the Eliyahu Hanavi, will now
be unable to hold services effectively
brings an end to any remaining semblance of Jewish life in Egypt. This is
something which should concern not
just Jews, but Muslims too, as it epitomises growing intolerance and persecution of a minority. Where religious
fanatics have started by persecuting
minorities, it has not been long before
they turned on their own, accusing
them of irreligiousness, heresy and
insidious betrayal. The religious freedoms of all Egyptians are in peril.

U.S. Carrier Stennis

En Route to Iran

Tyler Durden,
ZeroHedge | September 5
ack in early July we wrote that
contrary to expectations, veteran Middle Eastern aircraft carrier
CVN-74 Stennis would end its shore
leave far earlier than expected, and be
redeployed back to its usual stomping
grounds just off Iran months ahead of
schedule. As of days ago, the Stennis has quietly departed Naval Base
Kitsap-Bremerton and is off. It will
join CVN-65 Enterprise (which is
doing its last tour of duty ever before

Iran Seizing Major Iraqi Banks

Geostrategy direct | September 5

he United States has concluded that Iran is taking over banks and financial institutions helping Tehran. They said
Iraqs financial community.
Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard, with a huge presence
The U.S. Treasury Department, in cooperation with the
in Iraq, was also using money-changers, or hawala, in
intelligence community, is tracking Iranian takeovers of
Baghdad and other major cities.
major Iraqi banks and other financial institutions. Officials
Whenever we have detected successful efforts by Iran to
said the Tehran regime, through Iraqi nationals, is evading abuse Iraqi territory to circumvent sanctions, we have been
U.S. and United Nations sanctions through routing funds
clear and forthright with the Iraqis to try to work through
through Baghdad.
the issues, State Department
The most powerful [Islamic] country in the
The Iraqi Elaph Islamic Bank
spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
Middle East is Iran. Can you imagine the power said on August 20. But this is
is accused of facilitating transactions worth millions of dollars by they would have if they gained control of Iraq,
something we all have to continue
the second-largest oil-producing country in the to work on.
Iranian banks that are subject to
sanctions.
So far, the Obama administraworld? ... Such a move would, in all likelihood,
This has been very profitable
tion, overseeing more than $12
give Iran power to cause a sizable increase in
for the Iraqis, and they are being the price of oil. This could help trigger a collapse billion in U.S. weapons deals,
supported by the highest levels in
has acted with caution toward
of the Western worlds weak currencies. This in Iraq. The president has discussed
the government, an official said.
turn could cause Europe to quickly unite into the reports that Baghdad allowed Iran
In July, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Iraqs most powerful economic bloc in the world. That to fly weapons through Iraqi air
Elaf Islamic Bank for conducting very event is prophesied to occur in your own
space to neighboring Syria as well
transactions for Irans energy and Bible!] Is Iraq About to Fall to Iran?
as serving as a front for Iranian
military sectors. This marked the
procurement. There is a feeling
Gerald Flurry, Trumpet, December 1994
first time that the administration
that if Washington pushes even a
of President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Iraq
little bit, Al Maliki will go straight into the arms of Iran,
for allegedly helping the Teheran regime. It facilitated
another official said.
transactions worth millions of dollars on behalf of Iranian
Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs
banks that are subject to sanctions for their links to Irans
of Staff, went further. Dempsey, who visited Baghdad in
illicit proliferation activities, Obama said.
August, said Iraq would come under much greater presMalikis government is right in the middle of this, a
sure by Tehran should the regime of Syrian President
former senior U.S. intelligence official told the New York
Bashar Assad collapse. My judgment is that if Irans posiTimes.
tion erodes in Syria, they will try to increase it in Iraq,
Other officials said Elaf was one of at least four Iraqi
Dempsey said.
being decommissioned) and CVN-69
Eisenhower in the Arabian Sea, aka off
the coast of Iran.
This will be one of the only times
in history when the U.S. has had three
aircraft carriers in close proximity to
[Iran]. Expect Stennis to reach Iran
in the third week of September.

Saudi Oil Well Dries Up

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard,
Telegraph | September 5

f Citigroup is right, Saudi Arabia will

cease to be an oil exporter by 2030, far
sooner than previously thought.
A 150-page report by Heidy Rehman on the Saudi petrochemical industry should be sober reading for those
who think that shale oil and gas have

solved our global energy crunch.

I dont wish to knock shale. It is a
Godsend and should be encouraged
with utmost vigor and dispatch .
But it is for now plugging holes in
global supply rather than covering
the future shortfall as the industrial
revolutions of Asia mature.
The basic pointcommon to other
Gulf oil producersis that Saudi local
consumption is rocketing. Residential
use makes up 50 percent of demand,
and over two thirds of that is airconditioning.
The Saudis also consume 250 liters
per head per day of waterthe worlds
third highest (which blows the mind),
growing at 9 percent a yearand most
of this is provided from energy-guzzling desalination plants.
All this is made far worse across the
The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

Gulf by fuel subsidies to placate restive

populations.
The Saudis already consume a
quarter of their 11.1 million barrels a
day of crude output. They are using
more per capita than the U.S. even
though their industrial base as a share
of gdp is much smaller.
The country already consumes all
its gas. (Neighboring Kuwait is now
importing lng gas from Russia .)
This may concentrate a few minds
in the kingdom. The country is
already planning an 80GW nuclear
blitz though they are woefully short
of nuclear power experts. It has big
hopes from solar projects based on
successes of solar farms in California.
Both nuclear and solar would allow it
export more of its oil output.
While I dont wish to judge the

claims of this reportI merely pass

it on to readers since I dont know
enough about the Saudi systembut it
is yet another piece of evidence pointing to peak cheap oil.
Jeremy Leggett, the head of the UK
Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security, says Britain is sleepwalking into
a potential disaster by failing to prepare fully for a global supply crunch.
The refusal to listen to warning signals is comparable to the complacency
in the build-up to the financial crisis,
he argues, but with graver implications for the British economy.
I agree.

TW i n b r i e f
n Sparks fly in high-level meeting
between U.S. and Israel

On Friday of last week, the Israeli

newspaper Yediot Ahronot ran a
front-page story reporting on a recent
meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu
and Dan Shapiro, Americas
ambassador to Israel, and Mike
Rogers, a Republican congressman
and the chairman of the House
Intelligence Committee. Here are a few
snippets from the article, translated
by The Blaze and printed under the
telling headline, The Confrontation:
Netanyahu, according to a source
who participated in the meeting, was
particularly surly and stressed. At

the start of the meeting, he opened

with a sharp attack on the Obama
administration which according to
him has not done enough on the
Iranian issue. Instead of effectively
pressuring Iran, Obama and his
people are pressuring us not to attack
the nuclear facilities, he said, and
then moved on to a harsh criticism of
the administrations pronouncements
indicating there is still room for
diplomacy. The time has run out, he
said resolutely. For many years now,
the Trumpet has been warning about
an inevitable split in the formerly
rock-solid U.S.-Israel relationship.
Bible prophecy says that in the end
time, this historic brotherhood would
be severed (Zechariah 11:14).

adherence to Islam. Many Western

analysts saw the fall of Mubaraks
government as a positive development
and a doorway to democracy in Egypt.
The Trumpet, however, warned for
nearly 20 years that Egypt was not
destined for democracy, but a sharp
turn toward Islamic radicalism.

n Germany selling submarines

to Egypt

Newsreader Fatima Nabil delivered

the evening news last Sunday wearing
the Muslim hijab headscarf. It marked
the first time that a woman has worn
the Islamic veil on the state television
channel since its first program aired
in 1960. Wearing the veil during a
newscast had been banned for decades
under the regime of former President
Hosni Mubarak. Egypts new,
Islamist-dominated government lifted
the ban, and many secularists are now
worried that the new government
will enforce an increasingly strict

Germany has agreed to sell two

submarines to Egypt, Egyptian
newspaper Al-Ahram reported August
31. The German government has
refused to confirm or deny the sale.
Al-Ahram quoted the commander in
chief of the Egyptian Navy, Osama
al-Gindi, as saying: We have agreed
to a deal with Germany to procure
two submarines of the latest 209
Class. Israeli newspapers report that
the Israeli government is not happy
about the sale, and that relations with
Germany are now strained. Germans
quiet Middle East policy is to build an
alliance to confront Iran, primarily
using arms sales. Its already involved
in deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Following the Arab Spring, Egypts
allegiance is more flexible. This arms
sale is a German attempt to bring
Egypt into its anti-Iranian alliance.
Germanys efforts will fail, however
the Trumpet has forecast for years that
Egypt will ally with Iran instead.

conditions, he told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Mr. de Guindos said the crisis
engulfing the region is larger than any
one country and warned north Europe
not to scapegoat Spain. My colleagues
are aware that the battle for the euro
will be fought in Spain. Spain is right
now the breakwater for the eurozone,
he said, adding that solidarity would
be well-advised.
The warning comes as German
Chancellor Angela Merkel leaves for
Madrid for talks with Premier Mariano Rajoy to thrash out the conditions
of a full sovereign rescue of up 300
billion (238 billion), beyond the 100
billion bank rescue already agreed.

The ecbs executive board met today

to prepare crisis proposals for the governing councils meeting on Thursday,
including a yield band to lower borrowing costs for Spain and Italy.
The ecb has tied its hands under
an implicit deal with Germany, announcing that it cannot proceed until
Spain and Italy request help from the
eurozones bailout funds and submit
to tough conditions.
Germany now seems fully behind
the bond plan of ecb chief Mario
Draghi. Jorg Asmussen, Germanys
ecb board member, said today that
bond purchases are necessary to save
the euro and, therefore, within the
banks mandate.

n Egypt: Female newscaster

wears hijab

europe
Brinkmanship: Spain
Warns Over Bailout
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard,
Telegraph | September 4

pain has issued a veiled warning

that it will not accept a full bailout from Europe if the terms are too
harsh, a move that would paralyze the
European Central Bank and call the
euros survival into question.
In an escalating game of brinkmanship, Spanish Finance Minister Luis
de Guindos said his country is not yet
willing to sign a memorandum giving
up fiscal sovereignty to EU inspectors. First of all, one must clarify the

The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

Do You Still Want Us Jews?

Der Spiegel | September 5

harlotte Knobloch, the former head of the Central

Council of Jews in Germany, wrote a stinging editorial
on Wednesday attacking the circumcision debate, calling
talk of a Jewish revival a sham and wondering whether she
was right to spend her adult life defending Germany.
Germany has been debating the rights and wrongs of
circumcising infant boys ever since a German court ruled
in June that the ritual, a core part of the Jewish religion,
was unlawful.
Now Charlotte Knobloch, 79, the former president of
the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has had enough.
In a furious editorial published on Wednesday in one of
the countrys top newspapers, Sddeutsche Zeitung, she
said the controversy was calling the existence of Germanys
small Jewish community into question and asked: Do you
still want us Jews?
For 60 years I have defended Germany as a survivor of
the Shoah. Now I ask myself if that was right, she wrote.
Knobloch is president of the Munich Jewish community
and vice president of the World Jewish Congress.
The verdict by a court in Cologne was denounced
by Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant leaders as a
serious intrusion on religious freedom. Chancellor Angela
Merkel said Germany risked becoming a laughing stock
if Jews were not allowed to practice their rituals.
The risk premia of sovereign
bonds now reflect not just the insolvency risk of some countries but an
exchange rate risk, which should not
theoretically exist in a currency union.
The markets are pricing in a breakup
of the eurozone. Such systemic doubts
are not acceptable, he said.
It emerged today that Spains social
security system has raided a rainyday fund to cover state pensions for
the first time as deepening recession
erodes contributions.
Meanwhile, official data shows that
the toxic property loans of Spains
four nationalized banks have reached
75 billion and are rising faster than
feared.
Nomuras Jens Nordvig said Spains
crisis has entered a more dangerous
phase, resembling the sort of currency dramas once confined to emerging
markets.
Capital flight has been running at
an annual rate of 50 percdent of gdp,
more than twice the rate in Indonesia
during the Asian meltdown in the
1990s. Foreigners have sold Spanish

In July, the lower house of parliament passed a resolution to protect religious circumcision and the government
has promised a new law to make clear that doctors or families will not be prosecuted for carrying out the procedure.
But the debate has gone on. Doctors and politicians
have weighed in, warning about supposed health risks and
infringements of infants rights.
It didnt occur to me even in my nightmares that I
should have to ask myself the question ahead of my 80th
birthday whether I was allowed to survive the murder of
the Jews to have to witness this, wrote Knobloch.
Born in Munich in 1932, she survived the Holocaust
because a former employee of her uncles, Kreszentia Hummel, took her in and pretended she was her illegitimate
daughter.
She said German Jews had spent decades justifying
their continued presence in Germany to their families and
friends abroad. For six decades I have had to justify myself
because I stayed in Germanyas a remnant of a destroyed
world, as a sheep among wolves, wrote Knobloch. I
always readily carried this burden because I was firmly
convinced that this country and these people deserved
it. For the first time my basic convictions are starting to
shake. For the first time I feel resignation. I seriously ask if
this country still wants us.

securities worth 19 percent of gdp over

the past quarter. Spanish residents
have shipped funds worth 16.7 percent
of gdp into foreign bank accounts.
Net claims on Spain through the
ecbs Target 2 payments system have
reached 39 percent of gdp.
The buildup in central bank liabilities is explosive, said Mr. Nordvik.

German Command
of Kosovo Renewed
The Local | September 7

erman General Volker Halbauer

took command of natos kfor
troops in Kosovo on Friday as the
flaring ethnic tensions in the majoritySerb north remain a challenge for the
5,600-strong force.
Just hours before the hand over
ceremony in Pristina unknown attackers in northern Kosovo opened fire
at vehicles of the EU-mission eulex
and Kosovo police, wounding a police
officer. This was the latest in a series of
The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

attacks on Kosovo police and international troops since Serb protesters

violently clashed with kfor troops in
a border dispute last year.
Germany is a major contributor
to kfor and Halbauer is the fourth
German general in row to lead the
nato-led troops in Kosovo.
Also saluting the contribution of
international peacekeepers to Kosovo,
president Atifete Jahjaga said they
gave to the citizens the opportunity
to shape our future in safe and secure
environment. Thanks to kfors
presence in Kosovo our country
was able to overcome most of the
consequences of war within a short
period of time, Jahjaga said.
nato launched its mission in Kosovo after the 1998-1999 war between the
forces of then Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and ethnic Albanian
guerrillas. The conflict ended nato
planes ousted the Belgrade forces out
of the territory.
Kosovo declared independence
in 2008. It has been recognized by
around 90 countries, including the

Europes Crises Are Back!

fter an August spent frolicking

on the warm beaches of Greece and
Spain and sipping chardonnay on the
sunlit steppes of southern France and
northern Italy, Europeans have now
returned to workand to a month
that promises to be the antithesis of
relaxing and stress-free. Here are two
brad macdonald
looming events among many you need
to pay close attention to.
1) German Constitutional Court Ruling: On September 12, Germanys Constitutional Court will rule on the
legality of Germanys participation in the European Stability Mechanism (esm).
Most analysts expect the German high court to approve
of Berlin continuing to contribute to the esm. Many,
however, expect the court to impose strict conditions on
Germanys participation.
A yes, but decision from the court will elicit two general responses from Europe. First and most unlikely, ailing
European states could flatly reject German/esm assistance
on account of its imposition on national sovereignty. This
would be a decision that effectively amounts to national
financial suicide.
Second, and more likely, eurozone states could simply
capitulate to Berlins demands and sign away sovereignty in
return for sorely needed cash.
Either way, a yes, but decision by Germanys Constitutional Court will augment Germanys position at the center
of Europes debt crisis.
If Germanys Constitutional Court says no to Germanys
participation in the esma decision Moodys says is
U.S. and all but five members of the
EU. However, Serbia opposes the
move, considering the territory as its
southern province.
Kosovo Serbs, who make up the
majority of the population in the north
also refuse to recognize the ethnic
Albanian authorities in Pristina.

In the Balkan Peninsula, it will then

be game, set and match to Germany.
Germanythe peace-broker in
Kosovo, the future administrator of
Kosovo and of the whole Balkan
Peninsulathe lead nation in the Euro
combine shortly to rule the European
continent and extend its powerful
reach globally to impact all nations.
Gerald Flurry,
The rising beast, 1999

40 percent likelyit would gut Europes current bailout

infrastructure. A negative ruling, reported Reuters, would
cast the 17-nation
European single currency area into
turmoil, spurring panic on bond markets, and quite likely
precipitate a major political and financial catastrophe.
2) Grexit: On September 12, or sometime soon after, the
European Central Bank (ecb), the European Commission
and the International Monetary Fund (imf) will release
their combined assessment of how well Greece is doing at
keeping its promises to impose austerity. The report comes
ahead of the decision by Germany and others of whether to
give Greece more bailout cash.
If the report is positive, which everyone knows is highly
unlikely, Athens will be given more bailout money. If the
report is negative, and says that Greece has failed to live up
to its commitments, then Germany and its allies will have
to decide if theyre willing to continue funneling money to
Athens. Chances are, Berlin will say no.
If that happens, the much-talked about GrexitGreeces
exit from the eurozoneis likely to happen.
The New York Times recently reported that big American
banks and consultancy groups have been doing a brisk
business advising their corporate clients on how to prepare
for a splintering of the eurozone.
The banks are putting together contingency plans like
driving truck or train loads of money into Greece to pay
employees as the financial system falls apart.
As these events unfold, theyre likely to be so dramatic
and significant they will even make headlines in the mainstream media, perhaps even in America.
Follow Brad Macdonald:
Twitter

Eurozone Factories
Faltering as Core
Crumbles
Reuters | September 3
he eurozone manufacturing sector contracted faster than previously thought last month, despite factories cutting prices, as core countries
failed to provide any support, a survey
showed on Monday.
The downturn that began in
the smaller periphery members of
the 17-nation bloc is now sweeping
through Germany and France and the
situation remained dire in the regions
third and fourth biggest economies of
Italy and Spain.
Larger nations like France and
Germany remain in reverse gear
the (manufacturing) sector is on

The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

course to act as a drag on gross domestic product in the third quarter,

said Rob Dobson, senior economist at
data collator Markit. The rate of
decline was a little slower than in July,
providing some heart that the manufacturing downturn may be easing,
but the sector is on course to act as a
drag on gross domestic product in the
third quarter, Dobson said.
Factories in Germany, Europes
largest economy, and Francethe
second biggestsaw activity fall for
the sixth consecutive month although
both saw an easing in the decline.

TW i n b r i e f
n Barroso: EU needs new treaty:

European Commission President Jose

Manuel Barroso called for EU nations to sign a new treaty as he called

Mario Draghis Momentthe Devils in the Details

he president of the European

Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has,
seemingly overnight, become the most
powerful single personality having
influence over the world economy.
In less than a year since taking over
the European Central Bank presidency
in November 2011, the Jesuit-educated
Ron FraseR
son of Rome, Mario Draghi, suddenly
holds power far in excess of his counterparts at the Federal
Reserve, the International Monetary Fund and the World
Bank.
As Associated Press reported yesterday,
The European Central Bank president is overtaking the
Federal Reserve chairmanas the central banker with the
most influence on the global economy and markets[T]he
focus of the global financial world has shifted to Draghi.
Draghis role in averting an implosion of the eurozone
puts him in the unfortunate position of being the central
banker with the greatest influence on global financial
stability in the short term, says Eswar Prasad, professor of
trade policy at Cornell University.
However, there is one powerful influence that places limits on Draghis initiativesthe combined political and economic clout of Europes most dominant nation, Germany.
for greater unity within European
Union, during his first major speech
after the summer break, September
1. His speech comes after reports that
Germany has been quietly making the
same proposal despite it being opposed
by most EU nations. The crisis has
made it clear that we must not only
complete the economic and monetary
union, but also pursue greater economic integration and deeper political and
democratic union with appropriate
mechanisms of accountability, he explained. But much of his analysis mirrors what the Trumpet has been saying
for years. To survive the crisis, the
eurozone does need to act more effectively. It needs closer integration. This
is why this integration will happen,
whether all the member states want it
to or not. Some, probably many, will
opt out of this integration. But Barosso
is rightthe crisis is forcing Europe to
unify, which is exactly what European
elites designed the crisis to do.

n France and Germany join forces

to combat economic crisis

Germany and France announced last

As Julian Brigden, managing partner of Macro Intelligence 2 Partners, an investment consultancy, reportedly
observed, Draghi can do a lot, but hes significantly more
constrained by politics (ibid). Those politics are overwhelmingly German. Recognizing this, last week Draghi
sent out a special appeal to the German electorate to support his initiatives.
Draghi urged Germans to support his efforts to rescue
the euro. Writing in the German weekly Die Zeit, he said
the ECB sometimes must use exceptional measures to
stabilize the currency alliance (ibid).
Thus it is, as we have publicized in the recent past,
Europe is once again at the behest of a Rome/Berlin axis.
To the extent that Mario Draghis decisions in concert
with Berlin impact global marketsand the possibility is
considerablethis really means that the global economy is
currently at the disposal of decisions made by the Rome/
Berlin axis.
The outcome of this scenario is obvious to all students
of Bible prophecy. That the devils in the details is made apparent by the prophecies contained in Revelation 13. There
has never been a time when the need to warn the world of
this outcome was more urgent!
Follow Ron Fraser:
Twitter

week the creation of a joint group

seeking to improve the EUs banking
situation and advance its monetary
union. German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schauble said the two nations wanted to make joint decisions to battle the Continents ailing
economy. French President Francois
Hollande was forward enough to call
the cooperation of France and Germany concerning the crisis the key
to the reorientation of Europe. The
emphasis is on a single rulebook for
a single market regulated by a single
supervisory body. Europe wants to
unite financially, which is virtually
impossible without further political integration. Following the precedent set by former President Nicolas
Sarkozy, France has been seeking an
increasingly closer relationship with
Germany. By doing so, it boosts Berlins influence and sway in developing
European policies.

nNeo-Nazis now third most

popular party in Greece

The Neo-nazi Golden Dawn party is

now the third most popular party in
The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

Greece, according to a survey by Pulse

RC published in To Podiki weekly,
September 6. Golden Dawn has the
support of 10.5 percent of the population. The New Democracy party is
in first place, with support from 25
percent of those who voted, followed
by the radical left-wing Syriza. PASOK, which used to be a major party,
received the support of only 8 percent.
The poll shows a stunning change in
Greek politics. In elections three years
ago, PASOK won with 44 percent of
the vote. Golden Dawn received 0.29
percent. Golden Dawn and its supporters have been implicated in brutal
attacks on Greek immigrants (though
the party insists it is not behind these
attacks). Yet their popularity has continued to rise. The situation in Greece
is a shocking example of how quickly
and radically a nation can change
once its economy falls apart. Crime
increases and the once trendy multiculturalism is swiftly rejected as many
struggle against poverty. Continue to
watch Greece. As economies around
the world fail, other nations will come
under the same pressure. Greece is a

preview of the political change that

will soon sweep Europe.

n EU investigates Gazprom

The European Commission began

a formal investigation into Russian
energy giant Gazprom, it announced
September 4. Russia supplies over a
third of the EUs natural gas, with
some countries relying completely on

Gazprom. The Russian government

owns a 51 percent stake in the company, and it often uses gas supplies
to get what it wants from dependent
nations. The Commission will investigate whether Gazprom is holding back
competition in gas markets in Central
and Eastern Europe. It says Gazprom
may be trying to stop its customers
from finding alternative sources and

burdening them with unfair prices. It

could give Gazprom a fine of up to 10
percent of its global revenue, if it finds
the company guilty. The investigation
is part of an on-and-off tussle with
Russia over gas supplies that goes back
years. Calling Gazprom out on its
anti-competitive practices looks like
the latest push in this battle over vital
resources.

africa/latin america
First Platinum, Now
Gold: As S.A. Strike
Spreads
ZeroHedge | September 2

wo weeks ago we showed dramatic footage as striking miners

at Lonmins Marikana South Africa
platinum mine were fired upon by the
local cops, killing dozens of protesters in the process. Aside from the
implications of what happens when
the establishment loses control and
desperate workers revolt with complete disregard for their own safety,
the strike has crippled the worlds
third-largest platinum maker, and has

cut daily production of the precious

metal by 2,500 ounces. Since then the
Lonmin situation has remained critical, with just 6 percent of the South
African companys workers turning
up for work last week.
In the meantime, the strike bug has
gone airborne, and has now impacted
Gold Fields, the worlds fourth-largest
gold mine. From the FT: Some 12,000
workers at a gold mine operated by
Gold Fields have gone on strike, in the
latest industrial strife to hit South Africas mining industry. Sven Lunsche,
a spokesman for Gold Fields, said the
wild-cat strike was not directly related
to the crisis at the Marikana platinum
complex. But he acknowledged that
Gold Production

Top 8 in 2011 and Percent Change Since 2006

255%

-3%

-1%

25%

Australia

United States

Russia

-28%

-26%

10%

South Africa

Peru

Canada

350

300

Metric Tons

250

200

150

100

50

China
Source: U.S. Geological Survey

Country
The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

the atmosphere in the mining industry is very volatile at the moment and
this may have had an indirect impact
on the situation.
Furthermore, it appears that where
the striking miners of Lonmin and
Gold Fields have boldly gone, many
more local unionized workers are set
to go as well, in the process shuttering
the biggest industry in the Southern
African nation .
[T]he Marikana crisis has triggered
nervousness throughout the industry, while also putting focus on what
appears to be growing dissatisfaction
among workers .
As a reminder, South Africa is the
worlds third-largest producer of gold
(although the
output has been
steadily declining
year after year), and
the broader mining
accounts for just
-17%
under 20 percent of
the countrys gdp.
Should the local
workers grasp that
they have the bulk
2006
2011
of the leverage in
this critical industry, it is unknown
how far the metal
production shutdown will extend,
and how far the
price of gold will
rise as fears of a
persistent supply
contraction, coupled
with once again increasing demand by
Indonesia
both retail and central banks, spread.

asia
n Russia suspends naval base
in Syria

Russia has suspended the use of

its only warm-water naval base in
Tartus, on the Syrian coast, the
Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta
reported on August 24. Moscow has
maintained that it will continue to
support Syrian President Bashar
Assad on a political level, but the

naval withdrawal has sent a clear

message that Russia will not go so far
as to support the regime with military force. Our naval base in Tartus
will not support a military option.
We cannot physically act militarily against countries supporting the
Syrian opposition, a Russian Defense
Ministry source told the Russian paper. The message comes at a bad time

for Assads Alawite regime, when the

West has begun to actively support
the opposition. It appears that a deal
over the future of Syria is in the process of being cut between Russia and
the West. The Bible predicts that Syria
will eventually leave its alliance with
Iranand form a confederacy with
other anti-Iranian nations, including
Germany.

anglo-america

Land Down Under to Go Under?

ustralia is no Spain. Thats what

Australias Deputy Prime Minister
and Treasurer Wayne Swan said in July,
replying to comments made by Andy Xie,
a Singapore-based economist who said
Australia is in danger of becoming
Spain or Ireland.
robert morley
It might come to a shock to people
living in Australia that outside analysts are comparing the
nation to countries in deep financial turmoil. But Australians need to wake up to the fact that much of their prosperity could be very fleeting.
According to Andy Xie, Australias Achilles heel is its
heavy reliance on China. China is now Australias largest
trading partner, eclipsing both Japan and the United States.
The relationship between Australia and China today is
similar to the relationship between Africa and the Europeans during the colonial era. China is using Australia as
an easy and reliable place to obtain raw, unprocessed, non
value-added materials in bulk quantities. Australias worldclass mines run flat out to supply Chinas demand.
This has been a fantastic opportunity for Australia. Over
the past decade, prices of Australias exports have skyrocketed. Consequently, tens of billions of dollars are dumped
into Australia per year.

DNC Give Illegal Alien

Speaking Slot
Washington Times | September 5

emocrats broke yet another

barrier Wednesday when they
invited an illegal immigrant young
adult onto the stage at their nominating convention in Charlottepart of
a historic Hispanic outreach program

Yet the relationship with China has not been all good.
Despite the money bomb that has been dropped on Australia due to high commodity prices, Australia continues
to see its manufacturing sector erode. Australias persistent
trade deficit is case in point. Despite the massive amount of
income it receives selling ore to China, it spends even more
money importing Chinese finished goods.
Australia has a classic case of the Dutch Disease,
writes economic analyst Jonathan Tepper. While Australias natural resources are increasingly exploited, its manufacturing capability is withering.
During Europes colonial days, the advanced economies
bought the raw resources from the colonies, turned them
into finished products and then sold them back to the colonies for a profit. The result was a win for both, but a greater
win for the advanced economy, which grew its manufacturing expertise and earned the greater share of the wealth.
The colony tended to stay manufacturing underdeveloped
and generally dependent on the colonial power.
But now Australias boom times may be nearing their
end. Chinas command economy is drastically slowing,
inventory is piling up, and demand for raw commodities is
almost sure to wither. Australia beware.
Follow Robert Morley:
Twitter

the party hopes will cement ties to the

fast-growing ethnic voting bloc in the
country.
Its likely the first time an illegal
immigrant has taken the podium at
a major party convention, and highlights President Obamas own stance
on the issue: The student, Benita Veliz,
had her deportation halted under Mr.
Obamas non-deportation policies.
In a pointed political appeal, Rep.
The trumpet weekly

September 8, 2012

Luis V. Gutierrez, the Illinois Democrat who has become his partys de
facto leader in pushing immigration
reforms, said the fate of Ms. Veliz and
a million other illegal immigrants rests
on whether Mr. Obama gets reelected.
President Obama is protecting immigrants. Mitt Romney wants to send
them back, Mr. Gutierrez said. This
election will determine whether high
school valedictorians, football team

Democrats Fumble Major Israel Issue

CBS | September 5

big flip-flop by the Democratic Party has replaced

what was perceived as a big snub to Israel. It was a stunning development. The
party had dropped the
assertion that Jerusalem was the capital of
the Jewish state, but on
Wednesday evening
the Democrats had a
change of heart.
The vote went down just
before 6 p.m. and it was
quite contentious on the
floor.
Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa,
the Convention chairman, needed to take
three separate votes to
Getty Images
get the motion passed,
and he was booed when he ruled it in. Thats because the
crowd of delegates on the floor sounded more split 50-50,
than having delivered the two-thirds majority needed, cbs
2s Marcia Kramer reported.
The Democrats caved after there was strong opposition

captains, and student council presidents will be treated with respector

treated like suspects. Whether they
reach their dreams, or whether Mitt
Romney turns their dreams into
nightmares.
But Kansas Secretary of State Kris
Kobach, who helped draft the Arizona immigration crackdown law and
stiffer enforcement language in the Republicans 2012 platform, said The
dnc leaders are now portraying law
breakers as heroes . They are promoting the myth that Dream Act amnesty recipients are not responsible for
their law breaking, referring to them
as children. When these adults
choose to stay illegally in the United
States in defiance of federal law, they
are defying our countrys laws. Now
the dnc is cheering them on.
The Democrats convention reflects
the rising power of Hispanics in
American politics, with the party putting one Hispanic after another on the
podium .
One key ingredient is the flood
of minority faces from the podium,

from church groups and many New Yorkers, cbs 2s Kramer

reported.
President Barack
Obama handed the
Republicans a new
avenue of attack on a
silver platter when he
supported a Democratic
Party platform change
that does not state that
Jerusalem is the capital
of Israel. It was a dramatic change from what
the president said when
he was running for office
the first time. Jerusalem
will remain the capital
of Israel and it must
remain undivided, he
said back in 2008.
Many Palestinians were also annoyed. They want Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
The flip-flop was explained away by campaign officials
saying the change was done to reflect the presidents personal point of view.

where an Hispanic mayor from San

Antonio became the first Hispanicto
deliver a partys keynote address on
Tuesdaypart of a night that also
highlighted top black officials nationwide.
The people on stage yesterday
you cant compare that to any other
convention, said Rep. Michael M.
Honda, California Democrat and
former chairman of the Congressional
Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Mr. Honda said that a decade ago the
Asian caucus members at conventions
could be counted on one hand, but
this year there are 321 here.

Food-Stamp Use Climbs

to Record, Reviving
Campaign Issue
Bloomberg | September 4
ood-stamp use reached a record
46.7 million people in June, the government said, as Democrats prepare to
nominate President Barack Obama for

The trumpet weekly

10

September 8, 2012

a second term with the economy as a

chief issue in the campaign. Participation was up 0.4 percent from May and
3.3 percent higher than a year earlier
and has remained greater than 46
million all year as the unemployment
rate stayed higher than 8 percent.
New jobless numbers will be released
September 7.
Too many middle-class families
who have fallen on hard times are still
struggling, Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack said in an e-mailed statement today. Our goal is to get these
families the temporary assistance they
need so they are able to get through
these tough times and back on their
feet as soon as possible.
Food-stamp spending, which more
than doubled in four years to a record
$75.7 billion in the fiscal year ended
Sept. 30, 2011, is the U.S. Department
of Agricultures biggest annual expense. Republicans in Congress have
criticized the cost of the program,
and the House budget plan approved
in April sponsored by Rep. Paul
Ryan of Wisconsin, the partys vice

presidential nominee, would cut expenses by $33 billion over 10 years.

During the Republican primary
campaign, then candidate Newt Gingrich labeled Obama as the best foodstamp president in American history.
When the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
called his statements inaccurate and
divisive, Gingrich dismissed the
complaints as a smear from modern
liberals who are off the deep end.
Food-stamp enrollment is rising
partly because the usda is pushing
higher participation too aggressively,
giving government money to people
who may not need or want it, U.S.
Sen. Jeff Sessions said in a telephone
interview. This administration has
been hawking food stamps, said the
Alabama Republican, who has called
for lower spending on the program.
Every additional dollar in this program is borrowed money, he said.
Its one more example of government
incompetence.

A Nation of Takers
Richard Palmer,
Thetrumpet.com | September 5

mericas entitlement spending

is destroying the economy. But
political economist Nicholas Eberstadt
isnt worried about that. In an article
published in the Wall Street Journal
August 31, Eberstadt argued that the
effect entitlement spending is having
on the nations character is far more
dangerous.
He outlines a shocking increase
in entitlement spending: 727 percent
in the last 50 years. And thats after
adjusting for inflation and the increase
in population.
Within living memory, the
federal government has become an
entitlements machine, he wrote. As a
day-to-day operation, it devotes more
attention and resources to the public
transfer of money, goods and services
to individual citizens than to any
other objective, spending more than
for all other ends combined.
American families, specifically
American men, have borne the full

brunt of the resulting attack on character, argues Eberstadt. He devoted

considerable attention to making this
point in the full essay, but the Wall
Street Journal overlooked it.
The adverse influence of transfer
payments on family values and family
formation in America is critical, he
writes. Earlier studies showed that
the perverse incentives embedded in
federal-family support policies were
actually encouraging the proliferation
of fatherless families and an epidemic
of illegitimacy, he wrote. The payments were a vehicle for financing
single motherhood and
the out-of-wedlock lifestyle in America.
Manhood was also
directly attacked. Before the age of entitlements, self-reliance and
the work ethic were integral and indispensable
elements of the ideal of
manliness in America,
he wrote.
Put simply the arrival of the entitlement
society in America has coincided
with a historically unprecedented exit
from gainful work by adult men, he
continued. And once again, Eberstadt
commands a battery of statistics. Most
surprisingly, more able-bodied American men shirk work than in almost
all of Europe, despite the Continents
infamy for entitlement spending.
Eberstadts numbers also show
that America is tolerating widespread
cheating. In 1960, 455,000 people
received government payments for
disability. In 2011, its 8.6 million.
Nearly half of all these payments go to
people suffering mood disorders or
sicknesses affecting musculoskeletal
system and the connective tissue,
like back pain. These two are almost
impossible for doctors to diagnose.
The entitlement system draws
millions of people into a lifestyle of
lying and cheating. And Eberstadt
doesnt just blame the claimants of
the disability pay. The doctors and
health-care workers that allow this
are collaborators, as is the U.S.
judicial system. American voters and

The trumpet weekly

11

September 8, 2012

politicians are willing and often

knowing enablers.

West Nile Cases Jump

Reuters, September 5

he number of U.S. cases of West

Nile virus rose 25 percent in the latest week, putting the 2012 outbreak of
the mosquito-borne disease on track
to be the most severe on record in the
United States, health officials said on
Wednesday. Its already the worst year
ever in Texas, they said.
This year saw the highest
reported number of West Nile
virus cases through the first
week in September since the
disease was first
detected in New
York City
in 1999.

So far this year, 1,993 cases have

been reported to federal health officials, up from 1,590 reported the week
before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its weekly
update of outbreak data. A total of 87
people have now died from the disease, compared with 66 reported one
week ago.
The disease has been reported in
people, birds or mosquitoes in 48 U.S.
states, so far absent only in Alaska and
Hawaii. About half of all human cases
are in Texas, the cdc said.
Of the nearly 2,000 cases reported
to the cdc this year, 1,069, or 54 percent, are of the severe neuroinvasive
form of the disease, which can lead to
meningitis and encephalitis.
The milder form of the disease
causes flu-like symptoms and is rarely
lethal.
The cdc said the number of cases
so far this year is the highest reported
to federal health officials through
the first week in September since the
disease was first detected in the New
York City in 1999.

SUNDAY from page 1

including Sunday as a rule, depending on the labor law provisions in force for each category of employees, according
to the European Commissions website (emphasis added
throughout).
If the working week is extended to six days, this law will
almost certainly remain in force. Employers could soon
be demanding a six-day week from most Greek workers. If
someone tries to stick to his religious principles by working
on Sunday and resting on Saturday, it would be illegal.
Catholic bishops have been working to introduce similar
laws across the EU, robbing Europes citizens of the choice
of which day they rest. They have tried several times to
change Europes Working Time Directive, which says that
all European workers must have at least one rest day a week,
to say that all EU workers must take that rest day on Sunday.
They continued this push in July, when European religious leaders held their annual meeting with the presidents
of EU institutions. Monsignor Gianni Ambrosio, vice president of the Commission of the Bishops Conferences of the
European Community, called for the EU mandated Sunday
worship to encourage stable families and help combat Europes demographic crisis. Especially for the family, for the
spiritual life of its members and for human relations, both
inside the family and with relatives and friends, the common Sunday rest is of fundamental importance, he said.
In March, the Catholic Church and trade unions across
Europe joined up in what the church called a holy alliance

to call for governments to enforce Sunday observance.

Herbert W. Armstrong warned for years that a European power would enforce Sunday worship. Anyone that
refused would not be able to earn a living, to earn a wage
or salary, or to engage himself in business, he wrote.
That is exactly what is happening in Greece!
The Bible is full of proof that Christ and the early
Church kept the Sabbath on Saturday, not Sunday. But if
you live in Greece and want to follow Christs example
refusing Sunday observance and keeping Saturdayyou
could soon be out of a job! This is exactly what the Bible
prophesied.
We dont know, yet, if Greece will submit to this six-day
week. It may be able to negotiate a way out of it. It could
quit the euro. Or it may be thrown out. But the economic
crisis will get worse. And now we know that the EU sees
the six-day week as a solution.
The Bible prophesies that Europe will rise from the crisis
as the global economic superpower. Perhaps one of the
ways it will do this is by introducing a six-day workweek
across the Continent.
This enforced Sunday observance wont end with
Greece. Watch this trend very closely. The Bible clearly
reveals that Sunday observance is in fact the mark of the
beast, as prophesied in Revelation.
For more information on this vital subject, read our free
booklets Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast? and Which
Day Is the Christian Sabbath?

Other news
How Ants Mimic
Internet Protocol
SmartPlanet, August 31
n a sign that nature still has an awful
lot to teach us, a Stanford biologist
and computer scientist have discovered that harvester ants hunt for food
the same way Transmission Control
Protocol (tcp) operates to determine
and manage network congestion.
Thats right. The foundation of the
Internet is based on an algorithm that
ants have used for millions of years.
The way ants use the networking
process is by measuring the rate of
return by hunters seeking food, and
using that data to vary the number of
individuals sent out to help with the
effort. In other words, when early ant

seekers return quickly after leaving

speed up the delivery rate. However, if
the nest to find food, more ants are di- acknowledged receipts are slower, then
rected to help gather the spoils. Howthe sender knows the network is conever, when it takes longer for the first
gested, and that it should slow down
ants to return, that means that food is
transmission accordingly.
scarce, and more
ants can stay
home rather than
following their
brethren into the
wild.
The Internet
works in a similar
way using tcp. If
packets of data
We launched our Trumpet Google+ page!
are acknowlClick here to connect to our community, where you
edged quickly by
can see featured articles and videos and post your
a receiver node,
own comments. Join the conversation!
then the sender
You can also follow @theTrumpet _com on Twitter.
knows it can

The trumpet weekly

12

September 8, 2012