the

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United PAGE 5 QUeen PAGE 6 Politics PAGE 7 Year PAGE 8 aUstralia PAGE 9

A DIGEST OF SIGNIFICANT WORLD NEWS FROM THE PHILADELPHIA TRUMPET STAFF FOR THE WEEK OF DEC. 26, 2010 - JAN. 1, 2011

The ood zone covers

an area larger than France
and Germany combined
and bigger than
the state of Texas.
This was the year the
Earth struck back.
We violated all the rules
because we wanted to
close ranks and really
rescue the eurozone.
What were seeing in
Mexico is cartels as new
state making agencies.
And one of the most
powerful ways of doing
this is through sport
and games.
O
ver the past year, the largest off-
shoot of Herbert W. Armstrongs
Worldwide Church of God,
ironically named the United Church
of God, has been rocked by internal
division and contentious strifemuch
of it brought on by disgruntled minis-
ters who are unhappy with the way the
church is governed.
The ucgs frst ministerial conference
in May 1995 attracted 150 former elders
of the Worldwide Church of Goda veritable whos who of
the wcg hierarchy. Former members of the wcg, fed up with
Tkachism, fed for United in droves. Within weeks of its
coordinated kickoff, the United Church of God became the
largest splinter group to ever break away from the wcg. By
the end of 1996, its worldwide membership had swelled to
about 20,000 people. A few years later, it had well over 300
elders worldwide.
From the outset, ucg ministers made no secret of their
intent to try out a new approach to governmenta bottom-
up format where the general assembly of ministers would
regularly vote for a council of elders.
The interim council set up in 1995 chose David Hulme,
a well-known wcg evangelist and presenter on the World
Tomorrow television program, to serve as the churchs frst
president. After his appointment, Hulme admitted the ucgs
collaborative process was a radically different approach to
what Mr. Armstrong used, but was convinced that Gods
hand was behind the establishment of the ucg. The breth-
ren, he said, just needed to give it time.
As it turns out, Hulme gave it less than three years. After
a contentious and protracted struggle with the council of el-
ders, he was removed from offce in early 1998 and left the
church soon after. I could no longer support a governance
structure that I believe has failed, Hulme wrote. I have
had to admit that Herbert W. Armstrong was right in Mys-
tery of the Ages, especially Chapter Six, where he describes
a proven form of government for the Church.
It took 20 years of service as a minister in the Worldwide
Church of God and three years as president of the United
Church of God for Hulme to fnally conclude that Mr. Arm-
strong was right. But instead of searching for a worldwide
work that was backed by Gods family government, Hulme
opted to start another churchan offshoot of the offshoot.
Rod Meredith is another prominent wcg evangelist
who got burned by the collaborative scheme. When he
broke free from the wcg in 1993 to form the Global Church
of God, he claimed to be following in the footsteps of Mr.
Armstrong. Yet the very frst doctrine he changed was the
principle of Gods government that Mr. Armstrong used
throughout his ministry.
Mr. Armstrong had it all wrong on the subject of govern-
ment, Meredith believed. The right kind of government,
he wrote in 1993, should be collegial in form. It should
include a broad representation of all the elders in the
church.
Five years later, after the churchs board of directors
terminated Merediths employment at the Global Church of
God, he quickly changed his tune on the subject of church
governance. After starting another offshoot of the offshoot,
Meredith handpicked his board of directors and charged
them with the responsibility of advising the president,
rather than ruling the church.
It took Mr. Meredith 40 years of service as an evangelist
in the Worldwide Church of God and fve years as president
of Global to fgure out that Mr. Armstrong got it right on
the principle formation of Gods government in the Church.
Given these much-publicized, embarrassing failures,
you would think these men would wonder, Where was God
during the three years I served as president of United? Or,
Where was God when I founded Global?
Prior to the frst ucg conference in 1995, David Hulme
said he was skeptical that a large group of ministers could
ever reach a consensus on church governance. After he
came out on top, however, he was convinced that Gods
hand was behind it.
Rod Meredith was equally sure that God was behind
his collegial experiment back in 1993. He claimed to be
faithfully preaching everything Mr. Armstrong taught
assuming, of course, that everything does not include his
radically different approach to church government and his
rejection of Mr. Armstrong as the end-time type of Elijah
(Matthew 17:11).
Today, both Meredith and Hulme head up two spin-offs
of wcg offshoots. All totaled, there must be at least 100 off-
shoots of what once was the Worldwide Church of God.
see EVILS page 10
STEPHEN FLURRY
COLUMNIST
the United church of God
and the evils of 300-Man rule
Middle east
P
alestinian leaders have rejected Israels suggestion of an interim
peace agreement after the failure of direct talks between the two
sides. In an interview on Monday evening, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu for the frst time publicly suggested an interim
deal that would not have to include the most divisive core issues such
as the sovereignty of Jerusalem. An aide to Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas made it clear that such an interim agreement was not
an option. Jerusalem is a red line as it is to be the capital of a future
Palestinian state, he said.
At the same time, Israel is trying to fght the growing effort in the
West to delegitimize the Jewish state, the Telegraph reports. The
Israeli Defense Ministry on Tuesday designated the Palestinian Return
Center, a campaign group based in London, as a front organization for
the militant group Hamas. [T]he center is involved in initiating and
organizing radical and violent activity against Israel in Europe, while
delegitimizing Israels status as a nation among the European com-
munity, a statement said. Among other terror-affliated activities, the
center organizes many conferences in various European countries for
Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood activists from all around the world .
Dissent among Palestinians against Palestinian National Authority
policies is not tolerated and is often met with repression and brutal force,
according to Khaled Abu Toameh, an Arab Muslim journalist writing for
the Hudson Institute (December 24). The Palestinian Authority has been
held up by the international liberal media as the antithesis of the suppos-
edly brutal Israeli security forces. The truth, however, is that the PA is
conducting a campaign using violence and intimidation to silence critics
and opposition fguresand journalists who would report objectively.
Only a quarter of Palestinians in the West Bank believe they can criticize
the Palestinian Authority, a recent public opinion poll found. There is
also a lack of media freedom in the West Bank, evidenced by the fact that
the three major newspapers are controlled by the Palestinian government.
A Commentary article this week reports that over the past six months
Tehran has been working hard on one way of undermining Americas
ability to conduct military strikes against Irans nuclear program: de-
nying us our use of regional military bases for the attack. The article
outlines how Tehran used an intimidation campaign to push Bahrain into
announcing in August that it would not allow its territory to be used as
a base for offensive operations. With Qatar and Oman, Iran has sought
bilateral defense-cooperation agreements, Commentary says. Last week,
Qatar hosted an unprecedented visit by three Iranian warships and a
military delegation, with the Persian Gulf state announcing its readiness
to conduct joint military exercises with Irans Revolutionary Guard. In
August, Oman signed a defense-cooperation agreement with Iran, which
was ratifed by the Iranian Parliament this month. Washingtons latitude
to calibrate force against Iran is effectively gone, writes Commentary.
The United States fnds itself in this position today becausedue to its
lack of national willit failed to deal with the head of the snake early on.
WORLD MAGAZINE | December 30
remaking a religion
M
arvin olasky interviews Daniel Pipes.
Do you agree with those who say Europe is fnished?
I disagree. Non-Muslims still constitute 95 percent of
Europe and have it within their means to say no to Islamizationand
thats what theyre doing. Parties that did not exist or had insignifcant
existence 10-20 years ago are now potently saying no. There are two
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 2
army, terrorists,
now in lockstep?
the lebanese Army and Hezbollah, which
the U.S. describes as a terror group, recently
combined their efforts to hunt down and
destroy what sources report were Israeli spy
devices inside Lebanon.
And the new level of cooperation is bring-
ing into focus the reality that the U.S. will
at some point need to deal with the issue
that the military supplies it delivers to
Lebanons army may, in fact, end up in the
hands of terrorists. Ultimately, ongoing U.S.
military support for the [Lebanese Army]
will require an understanding of the deeply
embedded Hezbollah position in southern
Lebanon and a realistic understanding of
what stability the laf [Lebanese Armed
Forces] is capable of delivering in both the
short and long term, as peace initiatives
either Israel-Syria or broader Arab peace
agreementstake root, said Middle East
expert Eli Clifton.
The Obama administration argued for
continued assistance to the laf, pointing to
what independent analysts suggest is an in-
tention of having the laf take on greater se-
curity and infrastructure building. The hope
is that it will bring greater stability among
the Sunnis, Shias and Christians who make
up the Lebanese population. [However],
concern remains whether the Lebanese
Armed Forces can develop a strong national
defense posture to replace Hezbollah before
another outbreak of war.
The laf is unlikely to engage in direct
confrontation with Hezbollah, if for no other
reason than Hezbollah has succeeded to a
considerable extent in depicting itself as
Lebanons primary defense against Israel,
Clifton said.
The recent cooperative effort was another
signal that the Lebanese Army would not
oppose the Shia Hezbollah in any fght but
instead would be in lockstep to resist any
attack on Lebanon or put down internal
militia attacks aimed at Hezbollah.
Analysts further point out that some 80
percent of the Lebanese Army is comprised
of Shia but a good number of them either
are sympathetic or belong to Hezbollah.
In a leaked cable, Amos Gilad, an aide to
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, cau-
tioned that given the ties between Hezbollah
and the laf, Israeli troops eventually would
face the laf in any confict with Hezbollah.
This, of course, then raises the question
of the potential success of continued U.S.
military assistance to the laf, which Iran in
recent weeks has offered for free if the U.S.
puts a stop to it.

G2 BULLETIN | December 29
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 3
options: Eurabia, or No.
Which way? Its too early to
predict.
How exactly do they say no?
Thats the question, I
dont know how exactly, but
I would expect protracted
civil confict, expulsions, use
of force. Its not going to be
pretty. I cant give you precise scenarios, but Europe has within its his-
tory and its potential the prospect of pretty nasty treatment of Muslims.
europe
W
ith seven out of Germanys 16 states holding elections in 2011,
next year could see some dramatic changes in the German gov-
ernment. The public appears to be against German Chancellor
Angela Merkels Christian Democrats (cdu); opinion polls suggest only
37 percent of Germans support her government. The March 27 election
in Baden-Wrttemberg is the most important of the 2011 elections,
according to Spiegel Online. It is a traditional cdu bastion, having been
ruled continuously by the party since 1953. Opinion polls suggest
that the center-left Social Democrats (spd) and the Greens have a real-
istic chance of ousting the cdu in Baden-Wrttemberg in what would be
nothing less than a political earthquake (December 28). It looks even
worse for the cdus coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democratic
Party (fdp). After winning 14.6 percent of the vote in the last elections,
the fdps approval rating has shrunk to only 3 percent. The fdps leader
Guido Westerwelle could lose his post. Chancellor Merkel is deeply
concerned that immigration, or more specifcally Islam, is becoming a
major issue in Germany, writes the Telegraphs Bruno Waterfeld. She
fears that a German Geert Wilders could spring from within her Chris-
tian Democrat ranks to challenge her by emulating the popular and suc-
cessful Dutch anti-Muslim politician (December 24). Indeed, there is
a void in Germany that a charismatic anti-immigration politician could
fll, rising to great popularity. Watch this void closely in 2011.
Germany will develop a National Cyber-Defense Center in 2011,
Interior Ministry spokesman Stefan Paris said on December 27. It will
work by bundling existing know-how in the area of cyberdefense, he
said. There has been a sharp rise in so-called electronic attacks on
the networks of German government and local authorities, he told a
regular government briefng. Germany is a very high-tech country
with considerable experience and know-how, so of course others will
naturally try to get hold of this knowledgeChina is playing a large role
in this. The U.S. has already created a Cyber Command Center, and
the UK is working to improve in this feld. As Trumpet editor in chief
Gerald Flurry has often pointed out, the U.S. is especially vulnerable in
the area of cybersecurity.
Five people were arrested for plotting to attack newspaper offces
in Copenhagen on December 29. The group planned to enter an offce
block that housed several papers including Jyllands-Postenthe paper
that published cartoons of Muhammad in 2005and kill as many
as possible of those around, according to Danish pet security police.
On the basis of the investigation, it is the pets assessment that the
detainees were preparing a terror attack against a newspaper, which
according to the pets information was Jyllands-Posten, they said. It
is likewise the pets view that the attack was due to be carried out in the
coming days. Continue to watch for terrorist plots to rouse Europe to
act more strongly against the Islamic threat.
Forty-nine percent of Germans want the deutsche mark back, ac-
And at the time of the end shall the king
of the south push at him: and the king of
the north shall come against him like a
whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen,
and with many ships; and he shall enter into
the countries, and shall overow and pass
over. Daniel 11:40

RON FRASER | COLUMNIST
extreme right-wing move-
ments in Europe are linking
up. German-Foreign-Policy.
com reports that Several
of the uttermost right-wing
parties in Europe are pro-
ceedingwith the coopera-
tion of German organiza-
tionsto forge international
alliances (December 22).
Of concern to those familiar with European
history of the past century is the increas-
ing tendency, as German-Foreign-Policy.com
reports, of the the strongest uttermost right-
wing parties on the Continent [to be] profting
from the renewed German hegemony over
Europe (ibid.).
The Austrian Freedom Party, the Belgian
Flemish Vlaams Belang and the Sweden Demo-
crats, plus supporters of the Dutch right-wing
politician Geert Wilders, are forging alliances
that smack of the connection between the Eu-
ropean extreme nationalist movements of the
frst half of the 20th century.
Of greatest concern is the Nazi or pro-Nazi
roots of some of the foremost rightist movements
in Europe. As German-Foreign-Policy.com so
rightly points out, Right-wing extremist pro-
German structures, some dating back to days of
Nazi collaboration, are growing in Europe and
are seeking acceptability to govern. Having be-
come stronger over the years, German hegemony
is providing them favorable conditions (ibid.).
This is not an unfamiliar story to anyone
who understands the conditions in Weimar
Germany that created a similar right-wing
surge in the 1930s. In this context there are
simply too many situations converging right
now in Europe for sharp observers not to
be concerned about this spread of far-right
political infuence in Germany: the pressure of
Islamic immigration, the euro crisis, the rise of
the far-right political groups and their reach-
ing out beyond their home nations, the reform
of the German military forces, the weakness
of the governing coalition in Germany, the
prominence of a single populist personality in
German politics in the form of Defense Minis-
ter Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the empower-
ment of the German economy through export
dominance, the weakening of the Franco-Ger-
man alliance. Add to this right-wing extremist
pro-German structures, some dating back to
days of Nazi collaboration growing in Europe
and seeking acceptability to govern in a
Germany having become stronger over the
years, with German hegemony providing
them favorable conditions, and the German
question is as alive today as it was in 1935.
extreme right Wing
crosses atlantic
cording to a survey recently published by the German Bild newspaper.
Only 41 percent said theyd rather stick with the euro. The poll of 1,068
Germans, conducted by YouGov, found that 77 percent of Germans
said they had not profted from the euro. If Germany were not already
part of the eurozone, only 30 percent would vote to join, and 60 percent
would oppose. Sixty-seven percent said they were not sure that the euro
could survive times of crisis. Fifty-six percent said they feared infation.
A survey conducted earlier in December by Infratest dimap found that
57 percent said theyd have been better off keeping the mark. Continue
to watch German attitudes toward the euro.
A bomb exploded outside two court buildings in Athens on Decem-
ber 30. The explosion damaged cars and blew out windows, including
those in nearby shops, but no one was hurt. Authorities believe that a
far-left or anarchist group is behind the attacks.
TELEGRAPH, AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD | December 29
italys debt costs
approach red Zone
I
talys borrowing costs have jumped to the highest level since the
fnancial crisis over two years ago, raising concerns that Europes
biggest debtor may slip from the eurozones stable core into the
high-risk group on the periphery. Yields on 10-year bonds rose 10
basis points to 4.86 percent after a poor auction of short-term debt in
Rome.
The spike in rates came as money supply data released by the
European Central Bank showed that real M1 deposits have collapsed
at a rate of 2.8 percent over the last six months in the emu bloc of Italy,
Spain, Greece, Ireland and Portugal, even though they are rising in
northern Europe. This is comparable with the decline in early 2008
just ahead of the plunge into recession, said Simon Ward from Hender-
son Global Investors. The eurozone periphery is locked into a double
dip that will undermine fscal consolidation. M1 typically gives
advance warning of economic shifts by six to nine months.
The poor auction in Rome may be a warning sign that EU leaders
offered too little to restore confdence at their Brussels summit two
weeks ago. German Chancellor Angela Merkel vetoed the creation of eu-
robonds or any serious move towards fscal union, and shot down calls
for an increase in the eurozones 440 billion emergency loan fund.
The ecb has so far refused to step in to the breach with overwhelming
action.
Italy avoided the sort of property bubble seen in Spain or Ireland and
has kept a tight rein on public spending under Finance Minister Giulio
Tremonti. However, the rise in yields looks ominously like the pattern
seen in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain when they frst began to
lose easy access to the capital markets.
Neil Mellor, currency strategist at the Bank of New York Mellon,
said big institutional investors have been pulling funds out of Italy and
rotating into German debt on
a large scale. Our fow data
shows that the trend has
been just as concerted out of
Italian debt as it has been out
of Irish or Greek debt. Italy
should be able to weather
2011 in good shape but the
governments debt dynamics
are very poor, he said.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 4
Watch closely. Germany will use this crisis
to force Europe to unite more tightly. In the
process, some eurozone countries will be
forced out of the union. Every country
that leaves the EU puts us one step closer to
seeing the German-led 10-nation European
superstate!
Gerald Flurry, Trumpet, February 2011
We dont understand German thoroughness.
Hitler has lost. This round of war, in
Europe, is over. And the Nazis have now
gone UNDERGROUND. In France and Norway
they learned how effectively an organized
UNDERGROUND can hamper occupation and
control of a country.
Herbert W. Armstrong,
World Tomorrow, May 9, 1945
its eerily quiet in the depths of the German
Foreign Ministry, where tens of thousands of
documents are fled away in narrow draw-
ers. The documents consist of telegrams and
reports fled by German ambassadors from
all over the world as well as from diplomats
based in Berlin.
One document on display tells of the
Wannsee Conference in 1942. There, in a
villa in southern Berlin, a group of top Nazi
offcials drew up plans for the fnal solution
of the Jewish question. What is coming
to light nowand causing a major debate
in Germany over the past few weeksis the
active involvement by Nazi Germanys civil
servants in the annihilation of Jews.
For decades, bodies like the Foreign
Ministry and the Finance Ministry managed
to make the public believe they had been
relatively clean during the Nazi years. They
pointed to their continuing effciency as a
source of pride. What is revealing is the way
the civil service, the bureaucrats, applied the
law, said Professor Jane Caplan, a historian
at St. Anthonys College, Oxford, and part of a
commission investigating the German Finance
Ministrys past. They were not passive in their
work. They became sources of innovation in
order to make the system more effcient.
It all started in 2003 when Foreign Min-
istry offcials published a glowing obituary
about a former German diplomat, Franz
Nsslein, in an internal newsletter. But the
obituary omitted Mr. Nssleins past: Before
becoming a West German diplomat, he had
served a long sentence as a war criminal be-
cause he had been responsible for numerous
death sentences against Czech citizens during
the German occupation of Prague.
Mr. Nsslein was not the only one. Until
recently, few German diplomats were identi-
fed publicly for their involvement in justify-
ing and helping to carry out Hitlers plans.
And hardly any mention was made of those
diplomats who had strong Nazi sympathies
but were allowed to stay on in the ministry af-
ter 1949 to serve the new, democratic Federal
Republic of Germany.
reich Bureaucrats
seen in a new light
NEW YORK TIMES,
JUDY DEMPSEY | December 26
WALL STREET JOURNAL | December 17
toward a United
states of europe
S
ince the euros founding, the common currency has rested on two
central pillars: The European Central Bank would provide price
stability for the entire eurozone, and each member state would be
responsible for looking after its own budgetary and borrowing needs.
This week, after a year in which the EU bailed out Greece and Ireland,
and Portugal and Spain seem to be teetering on the edge of insolvency,
Europes leaders yanked away that second pillar and replaced it with
a permanent mechanism for rescuing member states that cant meet
their obligations. Going forward, the eurozones members will stand as
guarantors of each others national debts.
Offcially, the EUs heads of government are calling this a limited
treaty change, one that does not require the consent of Europes citi-
zens.
But in an interview Friday, the day after the
change was agreed upon, French Finance Min-
ister Christine Lagarde was more frank. Its a
major adjustment, she told us. The change in
the euros foundations was necessary, she says.
Why? In the course of 2010, We violated all
the rules because we wanted to close ranks and
really rescue the eurozone.
Ms. Lagarde explains the short history of
the euros current crisis thus: If you look at the
beginning of the year, we had this religion about
the no bailout [rule], where everybody had to
stand on their feet and sort out their fnancial situation. But then came
the Greek crisis. The Treaty of Lisbon, she says, was very straight-
forward. No bailing out. And yet here we are, and on Thursday Europe
unanimously agreed to abrogate that section of the treaty. The change,
according to the EUs statement Thursday night, does not increase the
competences, or powers, conferred on the EU.
Thats plainly false. The European Stabilization Mechanism, as the
new, permanent bailout fund is called, will not only give the EU the
power to bail out member stateswhich, after all, it was doing already.
It will also empower the EU to enforce strict conditionality, which is
bureaucrat-speak for coming in and telling a country what it must do
on taxes, spending and economic policy as the price of being rescued.
[Ms. Lagarde] adds: It was wishful thinking to assume it was going
to work without a much strongernot a straitjacket, but something
more coercive, and stronger in terms of discipline.
Twenty years ago, Hans Tietmeyer, then Germanys central bank
chief, said that monetary union required the degree of solidarity char-
acteristic of a nation. Under the brave new world sketched out by Ms.
Lagarde, this is more true than ever.
At one point she even invokes the history of the United States both as
a contrast and a model for where Europe needs to go: When you start
in 1789 with the principles of a federation, the principles all laid out by
the wonderful Founding Fathers of the U.S., you start from scratch.
We start from 27 different bases with different histories, different rules,
and we decide to converge.
For this to work, as she puts it, We cannot have the schizophrenia of
deciding something in Brussels when we are among ourselves as min-
isters of fnance and then coming back to parliament and saying Its a
real pity, but Brussels decidedan all too popular game in European
capitals. No, she says. Brussels is us. So that needs to change.
This is a high-stakes gamble.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 5
PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
CHRISTINE LAGARDE
with 2010 drawing to a close, the American
moment is ending not with a bang but a
whimper. The 2000s will be remembered as
the era of American decline.
Instead of trying to reverse this, Washing-
ton is hastening it. The lame-duck Congress,
with help from Republicans, passed Presi-
dent Obamas tax deal, which adds nearly an-
other trillion to the debt. It is a massive stim-
ulus in disguisewith no offsetting spending
cuts. Moreover, Mr. Obamaagain with gop
helpsucceeded in getting dont ask, dont
tell (dadt) repealed, enabling homosexuals
to serve openly in the military. This is one of
the most revolutionary and damaging acts
ever done to a core American institution. It
will decimate the greatest fghting force on
earth, undermining unit cohesion, morale
and disciplinethe lifeblood of a successful
military. It is an act of national suicide.
This will add another layer of diffculty
to our already inconclusive wars. Consider
that the last time the United States won a
major war was 1945Korea was a stalemate,
Vietnam a defeat; the frst Gulf War failed
to topple Saddam Hussein; Afghanistan and
Iraq have become prolonged quagmires.
Total victory has become alien to us.
Mr. Obama is simply continuingand
intensifyingmany of the disastrous Bush
policies. Runaway government spending,
new entitlements (for example, the prescrip-
tion drug beneft), soaring defcits, bailouts,
the Troubled Asset Relief Program, expen-
sive stimulus packages, a porous southern
border and nation-building abroadall of
this began under Mr. Bush. Mr. Obama is
accelerating the big-government corporat-
ism and social-engineering militarism that
marked the Bush years. At its core, Mr.
Obamas presidency is a culmination ofnot
a break fromBushism.
Economic stagnation has set in. Mr.
Obamas trillion-dollar defcits have pushed
us to the brink of national bankruptcy.
Like many Europeans, Americans have
become addicted to la dolce vitathe good
life. Generous social programs combined
with increasing consumerism and sexual
hedonism characterize the modern West. It
is the end result of a society stripped from
its Christian moorings.
All civilizations rise and fall. Ancient
Greece, Persia, Rome, medieval Europe, the
great Italian city-states, the Ottoman Em-
pire, the vast European empiresthe past
is littered with the corpses of once unparal-
leled and dominant powers that are now a
distant memory. So too has America passed
its zenith.
the Fall of america
WASHINGTON TIMES,
JEFFREY KUHNER | December 30
asia
C
hina is gearing up for military confict in every direction, Chinese
Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said in an interview published
on Wednesday. In the coming fve years, our military will push
forward preparations for military confict in every strategic direction,
Liang said. We may be living in peaceful times, but we can never forget
war, never send the horses south or put the bayonets and guns away.
Chinas party line is that its rise is peaceful, but the scope of its military
buildup has many of its neighbors worried, including Japan, which,
earlier this month, called Chinas expanding military might a global
concern. Also this month, Beijing announced that it will be launching its
frst aircraft carrier next year, which is a year earlier than U.S. analysts
had forecast. China is also close to unveiling carrier-killing missiles
which could sink American aircraft carriers from far off. This develop-
ment will effectively reorder the balance of power in Southeast Asia,
which has been dominated by the U.S. since World War iis end. We can
expect China to make good on Liangs claims, and to emerge as the domi-
nant player in the region as the U.S. continues its decline.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian former oil tycoon who was im-
prisoned in 2003 for defying then Russian President Vladimir Putin,
was sentenced on Thursday to six more years of jail time. The ruling is
viewed as a jab at the credibility of Russias current president, Dmitry
Medvedev, who has vowed to bolster the independence of the nations
judicial system. Khodorkovsky, who is in the fnal year of what was
originally an eight-year prison sentence, was originally convicted
in 2003 for stealing from his own oil company, Yukos. Shortly after
Khodorkovskys arrest, Janes intelligence frm said, [I]t is becoming
clear that Russia is undergoing a profound political convulsion. This
amounts to nothing less than the birth of the Second Russian Republic
. But it will be a country in which President Vladimir Putin controls
both the political and economic levers of power (Nov. 5, 2003). The
latest sentence is widely seen as an indication of Putins unwavering
power over Russia ahead of 2012s presidential elections, which he is
expected to run in. Putin will not risk the possibility that a liberated
Khodorkovsky could help rally his political opponents. The ruling re-
veals that little has changed under Medvedevs reign despite his pledges
to fortify the independence of Russias courts. We can expect Putin to
continue ruling and manipulating Russia from behind the scenes until
his leadership is offcial once again.
REUTERS | December 29
chinas rare earths
export cut raises trade
concerns
C
hina has raised fresh international trade concerns after slashing
export quotas on rare earths minerals, risking action from the
United States at the World Trade Organization.
China, which produces about 97 percent of the global supply of rare
earth minerals, cut its export quotas by 35 percent for the frst half of
2011 versus a year ago, saying it wanted to preserve ample reserves, but
warned against basing its total 2011 export quota on the frst half fgures.
The U.S. Trade Representatives offce was very concerned about
Chinas export restraints on rare earths and had raised its concerns
with China, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. U.S. makers of high-tech
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 6

BRAD MACDONALD | COLUMNIST
last saturday, Queen
Elizabeth ii was presented
with an opportunity. To give
her subjects, and every ear
and heart that was prepared
to listen, a desperately
needed shot of hope and
inspiration. To resurrect
the reputation of the British
monarchy as an institution with purpose
and meaning, one with a strong moral and
spiritual compass, and one that is ready to
lead Britain into a brighter future.
Sadly, the opportunity was squandered.
The tradition of an annual Christmas
broadcast was started in 1932. Although
British royals deliver hundreds of speeches
each year, the Christmas address is unique.
Not only is it accessible to billions, it is, as
the Independent noted, one of the rare
occasions when [the Queen] does not turn
to the government for advice and is able to
voice her own views (emphasis mine).
The Queen began by invoking memories
of King James vi of Scotland, specifcally
his decision to commission the production
of the King James Bible. Next year marks
the 400th anniversary of that translation,
and for a few minutes the Queen eloquently
recalled its enduring role as a force for cre-
ating unity and harmony in the Christian
community and the kingdoms of England
and Scotland. Four hundred years later,
the Queen transitioned, it is as important
as ever to build communities and create
harmony.
How does the Queen propose we set
about doing this? and one of the most
powerful ways of doing this is through
sport and games.
How defating! The world is experienc-
ing a time of massive upheaval, and the
Queens solution for creating harmony is
more sport and games! Seriously, does
anyone really think that sport and games
really is one of the most powerful ways
of forging peace in our suburbs, of build-
ing harmonious communities, of instilling
peace and contentment between nations?
Moreover, advocating sports and games
as a mode of creating peace and harmony
that is equally as effective as the King
James Bible trivializes the accomplish-
ment of King James vi and the pivotal
truth contained in the Bible.
The fact the Queen failed to mention
is that the very Bible of which she spoke
contains the secret to attaining peace and
unity!
the Queen Missed
an opportunity
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 7
products such as Apple Incs iPads, along with Japanese companies,
have been scrambling to secure reliable supplies of the minerals outside
of China as Beijing steadily reduces export allocations.
africa/latin aMerica
A
t least 86 people were killed and over a hundred hospitalized in
attacks and fghting between Muslim and Christian youths in
Nigeria on December 24. A radical Islamic group Jamaatu Ahlus-
Sunnah LiddaAwatu Wal Jihad claimed responsibility for the bomb-
ings. The name has previously been used by the radical Islamic group
Boko Haram. The group fought government forces last year as it tried
to establish sharia law in the nation.
Venezuelas national assembly used its last few days in offce to grant
more powers to President Hugo Chvez. They approved Chvezs request
for the power to pass laws by decree for the next year and a half. They
passed a law banning nongovernment organizations such as human
rights groups, and political parties from receiving money from outside
the country. Another law labels anyone who switches political party a
fraud and puts him at risk of being disqualifed from public offce. This
law makes it harder for anyone to defect from Chavezs coalition. Posting
a message online that aims to incite or promote disobedience of the
current legal order or refuse the legitimately constituted authority
could now land you with a fne or see your website taken down. Televi-
sion station owners must now be in Venezuela when their station re-
applies for a broadcast license. This law appears to be targeted at one of
the few news networks in the country critical of Chvez: Globovisin. Its
owners are in exile in the U.S. One has to say it clearly: A new dictato-
rial model is being imposed in Venezuela, said Ismael Garca, a former
ally of Chvez who now works with the opposition.
anglo-aMerica
T
he u.s. government built up more debt during 2010s Congress than
in the frst 100 congresses put together, according to data published
by the U.S. Treasury this week. The current Congress, Americas
111th, accumulated $3.22 trillion of debt$10,439.64 for every American.
cns news reports that the 111th Congress not only has set the record as the
most debt-accumulating Congress in U.S. history, but also has outstripped
its nearest competitor, the 110th, by an astounding $1.262 trillion in new
debt. Each congress lasts for two years. America continues to jeopardize
its future by getting in more debt than it could ever hope to pay back.
Over a quarter of teens and children in the U.S. regularly take
prescription drugs, according to the nations biggest pharmacy-beneft
manager, Medco Health Solutions Inc. Almost 7 percent take two sets
of prescription drugs. Doctors and parents warn that prescribing med-
ications to children can be problematic, warns the Wall Street Journal.
There is limited research available about many drugs effects in kids.
And healthcare providers and families need to be vigilant to assess the
medicines impact, both intended and not. Although the effects of some
medications, like cholesterol-lowering statins, have been extensively
researched in adults, the consequences of using such drugs for the bulk
of a patients lifespan are little understood.
A study commission by the Fabian Society found that 45 percent
of Britons say that EU membership has been bad for Britain. Only 22
percent said it has been good. The study, conducted by YouGov, will be
released next year, though preliminary results are already available.
War on drugs Gives
Way to dangerous
narco-Politics
a shotgun blast of news this year shredded what
most Americans believe about what used to be
called the war on drugs. Instead, it left us
all facing the new dangers of narco-politics,
whether it is cartels challenging governments
and attacking social institutions, capitalizing
on corruption, or involvement in the drug trade
by terrorist groups.
As a veteran California law enforcement of-
fcer told Politics Daily: What were seeing in
Mexico is cartels as new state making agen-
cies.
A study by the private Center for a New Amer-
ican Security released in 2010 reported that
crime, terrorism and insurgency are interwoven
in new and dangerous ways that threaten not
just the welfare but also the security of societies
in the Western Hemisphere . [T]he capability
to destabilize governments has made the cartels
an insurgent threat as well as a criminal one.
Terrorists may tax smugglers of drugs,
sometimes as a prelude to taking over the busi-
ness.
By the end of 2010, narco-related violence
will have accounted for nearly 30,000 murders
in Mexicoeverything from grisly beheadings
to thug vs. thug gunfghts, to raids by squads of
cartel gunmen.
Mexicos Congress failed to act on President
Felipe Calderons plan to squeeze the cartels by
cracking down on money laundering and reor-
ganizing local police forces so that they could
better stand up to them. Mexicos ordinary
citizens are losing faith in their government.
Cartel-fostered lawlessness has prompted ordi-
nary Mexicans to resort to vigilantism .
Cartels attack every element of legitimate
societycops, teachers, medical personnel.
Cartels attack journalists, prompting El Dia-
rio, the leading paper of Juarez, Mexico, this
September to publish an extraordinary Sunday
front page letter to the cartels, saying: Ex-
plain to us what you want from us. What are we
supposed to publish or not publish, so we know
what to abide by? You are at this time the de
facto authorities in this city .
In a blood-soaked irony, many guns in cartel
arsenalsincluding AK-47s and other assault
rifescome from the United States . Mean-
while, Mexican cartelsalready key importers
of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the U.S.
now dominate what was once our homegrown
market in meth .
Economists talk about contagiona
political, cultural, or social force infecting a
neighboring group. Contagion is an issue for the
United States .

POLITICS DAILY, JAMES GRADY | December 26
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 8
Forty-nine percent said EU nations should loosen the ties between them.
Twenty-one percent said they should cooperate more closely, and 9 per-
cent said they have the balance just right. British attitudes continue to
harden against Europe. Expect the nation to leave or be kicked out soon.
A senior bishop in the Church of England warned on December 25
that the British legal system now discriminates against Christians. The
judiciary, said Michael Scott-Joynt, the bishop of Winchester, goes out
of its way to protect sexual minorities at the expense of Christians. He
gave the example of a relationship councelor sacked by the charity Re-
late for refusing to give therapy to a homosexual couple. Also in Britain,
two Christians are being sued for not allowing two homosexuals to
share a room at their bed and breakfast. The owners do not allow any
unmarried couples to share a room. The British government is forcing
adoption agencies that wont place children with same-sex couples to
shut down. Britains moral slide is becoming more and more obvious.
DAILY MAIL | December 30
teenagers Without
Parental role Model
less likely to Get a Job
Y
oung men with no
male role models in
their lives and wom-
en without a mother fg-
ure struggle to keep their
lives on track, a hard-
hitting report warns
today. The Princes Trust
youth index, the largest
survey of its kind, found
that young people with-
out a positive fgure of
the same gender are 67
percent more likely to be unemployed than their counterparts.
They are also signifcantly more likely to stay unemployed for longer
than their peers, the report suggests. It found that young men with no
male role model are 50 percent more likely to abuse drugs and young
females in the corresponding position are signifcantly more likely to
drink to excess.
Young people who have no positive fgure of the same gender are
also statistically much more likely to feel suicidal than those who do. In
total, more than a third of youngsters34 percentadmitted to having
felt suicidal at some point, but this fgure rose to 42 percent for those
without positive fgures in their lives.
Nearly one in fve young men with no father fgure or positive male
infuence said they used illegal drugs, compared to one in ten with a
male role model. Young men with no male role model to look up to
were twice as likely to turn or consider turning to crime as a result of
being unemployed.
The report, which was based on interviews with 2,170 16-to-25-year-
olds, revealed that one in three young men and almost a quarter of young
women have no positive fgure to look up to. It found that this was likely
to impact signifcantly on their mental well-being and their outlook on life.
The research suggests that young women who do not have a female
role model in their lives are particularly affected, with 50 percent say-
ing they have felt suicidal.
PHOTOSTOGO
A recent report reveals one in three young
men do not have a positive gure to look up to.

JOEL HILLIKER | COLUMNIST
more than a quarter million
people perished in earth-
quakes, heat waves, foods
and other natural disasters
in 2010. This was the year
the Earth struck back, wrote
the Associated Press. Natu-
ral disasters claimed more
lives in 2010 than terrorism
has in the last 40 years combined.
The vast majority of deaths came in the
devastating Haiti earthquake last January.
Deadly quakes also hit China, Indonesia,
Chile and Turkey. A typical year sees 16
earthquakes of at least magnitude 7.0. This
yearone of the most seismically violent
in decadessaw 22. A weather system in
Asia brought a killer heat wave to Russia
and caused epic fooding in Pakistan, kill-
ing nearly 17,000 people. In the U.S., the
Federal Emergency Management Agency
declared more disasters this year than
evernearly 2 times the annual average.
Most people glean no wisdom from such
calamities. They dig themselves out, curse
the random cruelty of nature, and move
on. But after the deadliest year of natural
disasters in a generation, scientists are
looking for lessons. Some blame population
growth in high-risk areas, or poor-quality
construction. Others point to man-made
global warming.
The fact is, catastrophes should chal-
lenge our thinking. In our modern world,
we have done everything possible to insu-
late ourselves from the elements. We have
abandoned our farms in favor of climate-
controlled homes, offces and malls.
Concrete, steel and glass shield us from
routine rain, hail, sleet, snow, heat, chill.
Its only when nature gets really nasty that
we even think to acknowledge the power it
still holds over us. Impressive as our Tower
of Babel society is, it remains awkwardly
vulnerable to the sheer elemental power of
the planet in its fury.
It is for our own good that it is so. It is, in
fact, a tool that the Creator has reserved for
Himself in order to communicate with us.
After all, we dont tend to listen very well.
But the Bible reveals that sometimes God
uses severe natural phenomena to correct
peopleand not for poor urban planning
or carbon emissions. It is by breaking His
spiritual laws that we have angered the
Being who has power over these phenom-
ena. Not until we learn that lesson will the
disasters subside and the Earth be at peace.
the Year the earth
struck Back
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 9
TELEGRAPH | December 28
the Muslim Population:
What does this Mean for
liberal Britain?
T
here is a remarkable statistic in todays main Daily Telegraph
leader: The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimates that
there are 2,869,000 Muslims in Britain, an increase of 74 percent
on its previous fgure of 1,647,000, which was based on the 2001 census.
No demographic statistics are reliable in an era of open borders, but
such an expansion is unprecedented.
The Pew Center, based in Washington, d.c., is one of the most re-
spected demographic research bodies in the world; its methodology is
scrupulous and its approach non-partisan. The material about global
Islam in the 2010 report is fascinating, but its the revision of British
fgures that took me by surprise. Why was it not more widely reported
in the autumn? And what are the implications for society?
Pews UK fgure for 2010 is 2,869,000, which is equivalent to 4.6
percent of the population. In absolute terms, the UK has the third-larg-
est Muslim community on the Continent, after Germany (4,119,000)
and France (3,574,000).
Im not sure that common sense tells us what this demographic
earthquake means in practice for British public life. Setting aside for
the moment the topics of Muslim ghettos and jihadist Islam, lets ask
another question. How will the rapid growth of a conservative religion
affect British social attitudes towards womens rights, marriage, di-
vorce, homosexuality and abortion?
ABC NEWS | December 31
australia Floods larger
than France
M
ilitary aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by foods in
northeastern Australia as the prime minister promised new
assistance Friday to the 200,000 people affected by waters
covering an area larger than France and Germany combined.
Residents were stocking up on food or evacuating their homes as
rising rivers inundated or isolated 22 towns in the state of Queensland.
Bundaberg resident Sandy Kiddle told [Prime Minister Julia] Gillard
she lost cherished items after foodwaters surged through her house.
She may not be able to return home for a week. It was just a sea of
water, and I thought the beach would never come to our house, she told
Gillard, who gave her a hug.
Offcials say half of Queenslands 715,305 square miles (1,852,642
square kilometers) is affected by the relentless fooding, which began
last week after days of pounding rain caused swollen rivers to overfow.
The food zone covers an area larger than France and Germany com-
bined and bigger than the state of Texas. While the rain has stopped,
the rivers are still surging to new heights and overfowing into low-
lying towns as the water makes its way toward the sea.
The muddy water inundating thousands of homes and businesses has
led to a shortage of drinking water and raised fears of mosquito-borne
disease. This is without a doubt a tragedy on an unprecedented scale,
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
the college
diploma Fraud
for more than a half-century, government has
tried to close racial gaps in educational at-
tainment. Sad to say, those gaps have proven
intractable. Nevertheless, the impulse remains
as heartfelt as ever (perhaps due to its fnan-
cially lucrative character), but the emphasis is
now shifting from actual learning to equality of
graduation rates.
President Obama has spoken of adding 5
million graduates to the workforce by 2020,
and credential-mania is now all the rage. This
shift is a disaster in the making; imparting
knowledge is commendable, but just handing
out diplomas is harmful deception. A cynic
might aver that the shift from knowledge to
graduation rates is a tacit admission that the
gap-closing quest is futile.
Consider a recent Washington Post story,
Mds Towson University conquers graduation
gap. The story explains how Towson is now
among the tiny few that have equalized gradua-
tion across blacks, whites, and Hispanics. The
articles tone was clearly celebratory. Meanwhile,
a report prepared by The Education Trust (cited
in the Post story) that examines the topic more
broadly insisted that equal graduation rates
would be a very big step in putting our country
on a path to a better and more equitable future.
The tip-off to this educational chicanery is
the silence regarding actual learning, as if the
physical piece of paper signifed educational
competency. There is nothing about what these
graduates majored in, their class rank and
future academic success in graduate schools,
professional certifcation exams scores, or fu-
ture employment. Having the piece of paper is,
apparently, the great accomplishment.
University outsiders seldom grasp the ease
of manipulating graduation statistics when
deception is offcially tolerated. Critically, this
sham is almost invisible to outsiders. I cannot
for sure say how Towson University achieved
these happy numbers, but in nearly four de-
cades of university teaching, I have personally
witnessed multiple ruses, and my colleagues
often confrmed my observations.
AMERICAN THINKER,
ROBERT WEISSBERG | December 21
Educationand the world of its creation
has lost all knowledge of the PURPOSE and
true meaning of life. It has lost all sense of
true values, while blindly leading the pursuit
of the false. Education has failed to teach
THE WAY to peace, happiness, and abundant
well-being. The actual bitter fruits of this
modern materialistic progress are increased
unhappiness, discontent, boredom, and moral,
spiritual and educational DECADENCE!
Herbert W. Armstrong, Plain Truth, June 1966
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY January 1, 2011 10
EVILS from page 1
It makes you wonder: How many failed experiments with collab-
orative government will it take for former members of the Worldwide
Church of God to wake up and fgure out where God is working today?
Since fring David Hulme in 1998, the United Church of God has
tried out four other presidents. Last year, amid swirling controversies
about a proposal to move the home offce, complaints of politicized
bloc voting within the general conference of elders and charges of un-
ethical behavior and fnancial mismanagement aimed at board mem-
bers, ucgs fourth president, Clyde Kilough, decided to give up his chair
on the council, but continue on serving as president.
Against this backdrop, the council distributed an eight-page heart-to-
heart letter to all the elders in the church. In it, board members main-
tained that God was still leading United, but that the ucg ministry had be-
come deeply divided and the atmosphere in the church had become toxic.
The council wrote, Due to this negative spiritual incursion into our fel-
lowship, for more than two years we have been forced to focus our churchs
time, energy and resources inwardly . Later, board members expressed
grave concern about the preservation of the United Church of God.
The church, we now know, was teetering on the brink of total col-
lapse.
We predicted this would happen way back at the start, when the
former wcg ministers gathered themselves together to experiment with
a new government format. On May 6, 1995, for example, my father said
this about the newly-established United Church: It absolutely will fail
because its a new form of government, and not the one that Herbert
Armstrong taught us, inspired by God.
He issued the very same warning in response to Merediths collegial ex-
periment in 1993: You cant do Gods work without Gods government. Mr.
Meredith will have that proved to him by God ... (Trumpet, April 1993).
Its so simpleif youre submitted to Gods family government. If not,
thenas we have seenhistory simply repeats itself.
Earlier this year, the ucg council of elders terminated Clyde Kiloughs
presidency and settled on Dennis Luker as the churchs ffth different
president in just 15 years. Over the past six months, Luker has been
desperately working to keep the sinking ucg ship afoat. The worst of it
started about the same time Luker was voted in as president. That same
week, the council terminated the employment of Leon Walker, who had
served as regional coordinator for Latin America. Firing Walker trig-
gered a mass exodus of Spanish-speaking brethren and ministers from
the ucg and resulted in the establishment of another offshoot.
Incredibly, when responding to the crisis, President Luker pinned
the blame for the split on hierarchical government, rather than the
collaborative form that has repeatedly failed inside his own church!
Walkers rebellion, Luker wrote in a letter to ucg members, represents
the very reason that hundreds of ministers collectively chose some 15
years ago to embrace and refne the administrative structure that we
now have. We have seen the destructive outcomes that one man rule in
a Church of God organization can wreak ....
In looking at the fruits, one would think he would at least acknowl-
edge how destructive 300-man rule has been over the past 15 years. In
the six months since the ucg council relieved Mr. Walker of his ministe-
rial duties, at least 100 more ucg elders have either resigned or been
removed from the ministry.
That can only mean that many more offshoots are on the way.
Meanwhile, the one organization that actually started the right way
as a tiny mustard seed planted in 1989, without any of the best-known
former ministers of the wcg or their many thousands of supporters, but
with Gods governmentcontinues to grow and prosper as it fulflls
its God-given commission to prophesy again before all the world and
to raise up the ruins of a work God established and built through His
servant Herbert W. Armstrong.
Becoming a
squatter nation
you live in Squanderville.
Big house. Sparkly car. Lots
of gizmos and gadgets. Life
could hardly be better.
But what if Squander-
villes richest man told you
that your fnances were
actually a shambles, you
were going bankrupt, and
that you would soon be homeless?
To keep doing what you were doing would be
fnancial self-destructiona road to economic
destitution. Yet on a national scale, that is
exactly what America is doing.
The federal government says the national
debt is now $13.5 trillion. But this is like Gen-
eral Motors pretending it doesnt have union
obligations. According to the Dallas Federal
Reserve Bank, the real national debtwhen
calculated using generally accepted accounting
principles that take Social Security, Medicare
and Medicaid liabilities into considerationis a
practically incomprehensible $100 trillion!
Almost 1 million homes will have been fore-
closed on this yeara number that would be
unprecedented, says RealtyTracs senior vice
president Rick Sharga. Americans lost close to
a million homes last year too.
And even if by some fortunate, impossible
turn of events America could fnd someone to
lend it an amount equal to seven times the coun-
trys gross domestic product, the bigger question
would be: What do those lenders want in return?
Any banker can tell you the answer: collateral.
And what happens when you cant pay? The
bank takes your house, and you are out on the
street.
For years, Americas savings rate was nega-
tive. People were spending more than they were
making. Now it is time to pay the price.
Squanderville is about to become Squatter-
town.
Three decades of massive [trade] defcits
have converted the United States from the
worlds bankerable to pay any price and bear
any burden in the cause of freedomto the
worlds largest debtor, utterly dependent on
foreign interests, said Charles McMillion, chief
economist of Washington-based mbg Informa-
tion Services.
We are so deeply in debt that it ham-
strings our monetary, fscal and trade policies,
warns McMillion. Weve really mortgaged our
fnancial future.
That national mortgage is coming due,
and we dont have the money to pay it. What
happens next? Just ask the banks and all the
foreclosed homeowners. America is about to
become Squatternation.

ROBERT MORLEY | COLUMNIST