Friday, April 02, 2021

Die gefälschte Bibel

Glaubt man der Bibel, dann hat Gott zur Zeit des Propheten Mose Völkermorde, die Todesstrafe und Tieropfer befohlen. Gleichzeitig gab Gott durch Mose jedoch das Gebot: „Du sollst nicht töten“. Auch distanziert sich Gott durch einige Propheten des Alten Bundes deutlich von den Ritualen der Tieropfer. Wie kommt das? Hat Gott zwei Meinungen - oder wurde die Bibel gefälscht?

Es erstaunt: Für die Katholische und die Evangelische Kirche sind alle Teile der Bibel, trotz der vielen Ungereimtheiten und offensichtlichen Fälschungen, das wahre „Wort Gottes“. Um die Antwort zu finden, warum es so viele Widersprüche in der Bibel gibt, muss zuerst der Frage nachgegangen werden: Wer hat die Bibel geschrieben? Wer hatte entschieden, welche Schriften in die Bibel aufgenommen wurden und welche nicht - und warum nicht?

Die Antwort ist ernüchternd: Es waren durch alle Zeiten die Pharisäer, Schriftgelehrten und Theologen, die diese Entscheidungen getroffen haben - im übertragenen Sinn die „Priesterkaste“. Doch welche Interessen waren im Spiel? In der TV-Dokumentation „Die gefälschte Bibel“ wird diesen Fragen nachgegangen. Die Ergebnisse überraschen und lassen erstaunen.


Thursday, April 01, 2021

Nikotin ~ Droge mit Zukunft! | Doku | ARTE

Opinion: Boris Johnson’s Government Is Built on Cruelty

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Determined to make good on the nativist promise of Brexit, it has embraced anti-migrant authoritarianism.

LONDON — Last week, as Britain focused on its gradual emergence from lockdown, the home secretary, Priti Patel, laid out the government’s “New Plan for Immigration.”

The details were deeply sinister. Only those coming through resettlement schemes, who amount to less than 1 percent of refugees globally, would be welcomed. Everybody else, forced to take life-threateningly dangerous journeys, would be branded “illegal” and aggressively penalized. They would be blocked from key state support, given diminished family reunion rights and be permanently liable for removal, even if granted asylum.

These drastic proposals — which some suggest could contravene the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention — have been months in the making. Last year, Ms. Patel reportedly raised the possibility of sending asylum seekers to islands in the south Atlantic and considered deploying the Navy to prevent people from reaching Britain’s shores. Her plan, inhumane and wrongheaded, exemplifies how the British government treats migrants and refugees.

But such cruelty goes further than the asylum process. Since Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government took office in December 2019, promising to “Get Brexit Done,” it has sought to institute a harsher, more punitive system of immigration and border control. In the name of British sovereignty, it has suffused its rule with anti-migrant authoritarianism. » | Maya Goodfellow | Thursday, April 1, 2021

Top UK Brain Surgeon Calls for Urgent Inquiry into Assisted Dying

THE GUARDIAN: Henry Marsh reveals he has advanced prostate cancer and says law ‘insists I must suffer’

Henry Marsh, one of the UK’s leading brain surgeons and a bestselling author, has called for an urgent inquiry into assisted dying after revealing he has advanced prostate cancer.

Marsh, the author of Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery, said dying of cancer could be “a very horrible business” but the law “insists I must suffer”. Politicians had “shown a striking lack of compassion by ducking this issue for too long and are inadvertently guilty of great cruelty”, he said.

His call for an inquiry is backed by more than 50 MPs and peers from different parties, some of whom have previously voted against changing the law. Their letter to Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, argues that the UK has now fallen behind many other countries on the issue of assisted dying.

Last month Spain became the latest European country to approve legislation giving patients with incurable diseases or unbearable conditions the right to choose to end their lives with the assistance of a doctor. » | Harriet Sherwood | Thursday, April 1, 2021

ORF Zeit.Geschichte: 30 Tage bis zum Untergang Österreichs 1938

The RCA's Ban on Smoking Tobacco versus Judaism's Take (2009)

Timeshift: The Smoking Years (BBC)

Ask The Rabbi: Is Smoking a Sin?

The Difference Between Judaism, Christianity & Islam

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

What Is God?

This lecture was Sponsored in memory of Barbara Schwartz by her family.

Leaders of Covid-hit German States Call for National Lockdown

THE GUARDIAN: Leading virologist says country is in ‘serious and complicated’ stage of pandemic

Regional leaders of two German states badly hit by a third wave of coronavirus have urged the rest of the country to reimpose a tough lockdown to flatten infection rates, as a leading virologist said Germany was in a “serious and complicated” stage of the pandemic.

In a joint letter reported on by Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Bavaria’s conservative premier, Markus Söder, and the Green head of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, said the situation was “more serious than many believe”.

“That is why we must live up to our responsibility now and not discuss it any longer,” the two politicians said, in an apparent swipe at other state leaders seen as reluctant to enforce an emergency break on easing restrictions. » | Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Emmanuel Macron : Adresse aux Français

Whitney Houston: ’When You Believe’ ft. Mariah Carey – from ‘The Prince Of Egypt’ | Official Video

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Prince Albert of Monaco Weighs In on Harry and Meghan's Interview: 'It Did Bother Me’

TATLER: The son of Grace Kelly opened up during an interview with the BBC

Prince Albert II of Monaco has become the first royal to speak out about the bombshell interview that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave to Oprah Winfrey at the beginning of the month, telling the BBC that it 'did bother [him] a bit'.

Speaking to journalist Yalda Hakim about his environmental work, including the need to preserve the planet's marine ecosystems, he was asked for his take on the royal drama.

'This kind of display of public dissatisfaction, to say the least, these type of conversations should be held within the intimate quarters of the family. It doesn't really have to be laid out in the public sphere like that,' he says. 'So it did bother me a little bit. I can understand where they are coming from in a certain way but I think it wasn't the appropriate forum to be able to have these kinds of discussions.' » | Rebecca Cope | Friday, March 26, 2021

No Joke: Volkswagen Confirms It Will Change Name to Voltswagen in US

THE GUARDIAN: In what was initially thought to be an April Fool’s prank, company confirms name change to reflect its investment in electric cars

For 65 years, Volkswagen has been one of the most popular and best-known names in American motoring, its iconic VW Beetle snaring generations of enthusiasts and helping sell millions of vehicles.
But now, in North America at least, the Volkswagen brand is no more. In what was initially thought to be an April Fool’s prank, apparently thanks to a premature announcement by an overeager publicist, the German auto giant has confirmed its metamorphosis into Voltswagen – an attempt to reflect its investment in the growing electric vehicle (EV) market.

A statement posted to Volkswagen’s US website on Tuesday hailed the move, which takes effect on 21 May, as “a public declaration of the company’s future-forward investment in e-mobility”. » | Richard Luscombe in Miami | Tuesday, March 30, 2021

W5: The Shadowy Underworld of Contraband Tobacco (2018)

Off-brand and tax-free cigarettes produced on First Nations reserves look like a deal for smokers, but as W5's Kevin Newman reveals, organized crime is reaping the profits and costing the government billions in lost revenues.

Black Market Tobacco Floods Australian Market (2016)

As cigarette prices have risen, illegal tobacco or chop-chop is being imported into the country in increasing amounts. The Feed went undercover with Customs to see how hard it was to buy.


Price Rankings by Country of Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) (Markets) »

An Alliance of Autocracies? China Wants to Lead a New World Order

THE NEW YORK TIMES: As President Biden predicts a struggle between democracies and their opponents, Beijing is eager to champion the other side.

President Biden wants to forge an “alliance of democracies.” China wants to make clear that it has alliances of its own.

Only days after a rancorous encounter with American officials in Alaska, China’s foreign minister joined his Russian counterpart last week to denounce Western meddling and sanctions.

He then headed to the Middle East to visit traditional American allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as Iran, where he signed a sweeping investment agreement on Saturday. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, reached out to Colombia one day and pledged support for North Korea on another.

Although officials denied the timing was intentional, the message clearly was. China hopes to position itself as the main challenger to an international order, led by the United States, that is generally guided by principles of democracy, respect for human rights and adherence to rule of law. » | Steven Lee Myers | Monday, March 29, 2021

The 'Firm' Strikes Back: Inside Royal Reaction to Meghan and Harry Interview | 60 Minutes Australia

No More Tax Breaks for Billionaires

Does anyone out there honestly believe that the answer to growing income and wealth inequality is to give more tax breaks to billionaires? That is absurd.

Monday, March 29, 2021

Brexit Is a Catastrophic Mistake and the Government Knows It

After just three months Brexit is clearly a disaster. Fishing, farming, food production, SME’s trying to supply the EU and those in the performing arts all experiencing the disastrous consequences of the madness that is Brexit. Our borders are open, imports flood in whilst exports are blocked. The government knows it is a disaster but have no idea what to do. Anger is increasing throughout the population and social unrest seems almost inevitable

Why Jews Don't Accept Jesus as the Messiah

Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman discusses the various reasons why Jews don’t accept Jesus as the Messiah.

Why Does Jewish Law Prohibit Cremation?

Why does Judaism care what happens to the body after death. Rabbis Yossi New Yitzchak Schochet & Mrs. Rivkah Slonim answer this important question.

What Is God?

Dr. Birx Drops Bombshell about US Covid-19 Deaths

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus task force coordinator until former President Donald Trump, revealed in an interview with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta that the number of coronavirus deaths could have been "decreased substantially" if cities and states across the country had aggressively applied the lessons of the first surge toward mitigation last spring, potentially preventing the surges that followed.

"I look at it this way. The first time we have an excuse," Birx said. "There were about a hundred thousand deaths that came from that original surge. All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially." #DrSanjayGupta #CNN #Newday


Peter Jennings Reporting: How to Get Fat without Really Trying

First aired December 8, 2003 on ABC

Obesity is fast on its way to becoming the nation’s largest and most costly public health problem. While much of the public debate about obesity has focused on personal responsibility, Peter Jennings Reporting – How To Get Fat Without Really Trying reveals how federal government agricultural policies and food industry practices are contributing to America’s growing obesity epidemic.

In this program, Jennings demonstrates for the first time how more federal agricultural subsidies are going to foods Americans should be eating less, while few subsidies go to foods we should be eating more. Jennings investigates the type of food products the packaged food industry introduces each year and finds that the vast majority of new food products are those that dietary guidelines say Americans should be eating least.

Jennings also takes a bold look at the marketing of unhealthy food to children. Studies reveal that young children are not capable of understanding the intent of advertising and Jennings questions the ethics of such marketing, raising the question: should children be protected from junk food marketing – despite the economic impact that might have on food companies and broadcast networks?

Within days of this documentary airing, schools across the country requested copies for use in their classrooms. Nutrition scholars are re-directing their research to examine the relationship of agricultural subsidies to the obesity epidemic. The Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission has indicated that food marketing is an area in which the agency will become more involved. And California legislators scheduled a screening of the program as they were considering restrictions on marketing of junk food to children.


Sunday, March 28, 2021

If God Created the Universe, Who Created Him?

Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz answers the classic questions: 'If all things have a creator, then who created God?'

Proof That God Exists In 4 Minutes!

The real question should be, how do you answer such a question in 4 minutes?

Returning to the 3 aspects: creation, revelation and redemption, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks OBM answers this important question with references to modern day philosophers and great societies built by people deeply influenced by the Hebrew Bible.

Abraham who lived close to 4000 years ago, with no army and no empires, but with lessons so pure, true and eternally valid, that his effect has influenced every culture since.

This video should not be missed.



Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks dies of cancer at 72 » | JC Reporter | Saturday, November 7, 2020

Indonesia: Suicide Bombers Attack Church after Palm Sunday Mass | DW News

At least 20 people have been injured in a suicide bombing outside a Catholic cathedral in the Indonesian city of Makassar. Authorities say two bombers were killed in the attack. Churches have been targeted in Indonesia in the past by Islamic extremists. Pope Francis said he would pray for the victims, who were attending Palm Sunday Mass.

The beginning of Easter week is a holy time for Christians. But in Makassar the celebrations were marred by violence. As worshippers were leaving Sunday Mass, two suspected suicide bombers set off explosions outside the Indonesian city's main Catholic cathedral. One of them was said to be a woman.

President Joko Widodo called for calm, saying his government would ensure people of all faiths can worship without fear. Places of worship in Indonesia have been targeted before. Police are investigating if this attack is linked to religious extremism.

The majority Muslim country has a history of Islamist attacks. Indonesia has been on high alert in recent months following the arrest of the prominent leader of an extremist group. Counterterrorism squads have arrested dozens of suspects across the country, including in Makassar.


Communities of Hate: Why People Join Extremist Movements

The recent attack on the US Capitol and our democracy remind us of the ever-present dangers of hatred and propaganda. Join us for a discussion about how, 75 years after the Holocaust, white supremacist and other hate groups continue to exploit racism, conspiracy theories, and antisemitic lies. Speakers: Arie Kruglanski, Holocaust Survivor, Terrorism Expert, and Psychology Professor, University of Maryland Patricia Heberer Rice, Senior Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Moderator: Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

How Did Young Americans Respond to the Nazi Threat

While growing up in a time of racial segregation and the Great Depression, some young Americans looked beyond the struggles of their own nation to respond to the Nazi threat in Europe.

Why Yasmine Mohammed Left Islam

Yasmine Mohammed is a Canadian former Muslim and an outspoken critic of Islam, the hijab, and the oppression of women. She has written a book called ‘Unveiled’.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

On Smoking: Mark Littlewood in Conversation with Simon Clark

On 16th May 2019, to mark the 40th anniversary of the smokers' group FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), Mark Littlewood, director-general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, spoke to Forest director Simon Clark.

How Americans Got Sold on Cigarettes

Mein Kampf: The Secrets of Adolf Hitler's Book of Evil | Free Documentary Nature

Today Adolf Hitler’s autobiography cum Nazi manifesto is still sold all over the world, under the counter, on the internet or simply at the bookshop. This 700 page book, published in 1925, was re-edited numerous times since the death of the author. How was it written? Was Hitler really the author? Were the war and the Holocaust truly inscribed in its pages? This documentary plunges deep into the secrets of Mein Kampf. A simple book of paradoxes: famous but unknown, fascinating and repulsive.

A Collapse Foretold: How Brazil’s Covid-19 Outbreak Overwhelmed Hospitals

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The virus has killed more than 300,000 people in Brazil, its spread aided by a highly contagious variant, political infighting and distrust of science.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — The patients began arriving at hospitals in Porto Alegre far sicker and younger than before. Funeral homes were experiencing a steady uptick in business, while exhausted doctors and nurses pleaded in February for a lockdown to save lives.

But Sebastião Melo, Porto Alegre’s mayor, argued there was a greater imperative.

“Put your life on the line so that we can save the economy,” Mr. Melo appealed to his constituents in late February.

Now Porto Alegre, a prosperous city in southern Brazil, is at the heart of an stunning breakdown of the country’s health care system — a crisis foretold.

More than a year into the pandemic, deaths in Brazil are at their peak and highly contagious variants of the coronavirus are sweeping the nation, enabled by political dysfunction, widespread complacency and conspiracy theories. The country, whose leader, President Jair Bolsonaro, has played down the threat of the virus, is now reporting more new cases and deaths per day than any other country in the world. » | Ernesto Londoño and Letícia Casado | Saturday, March 27, 2021

Yasmine Mohammed | Spirituality | Rubin Report

Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Yasmine Mohammed (Author and Activist) about Ex Muslims, being married to someone in Al Qaeda, Islamists, the Hijab, Linda Sarsour, Sharia Law and more.

Friday, March 26, 2021

Dominion Voting Sues Fox News for $1.6bn over Election Fraud Claims

BBC: Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6bn (£1.2bn) defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing it promoted baseless claims of vote-rigging.

Conservatives and Trump campaigners had claimed last year that the US company had altered its voting machines to deny re-election to Donald Trump.

The false claim of a stolen election was promoted by Mr Trump and helped fuel the 6 January attack on Congress.

Fox News said it would fight the "baseless lawsuit in court"

. The lawsuit argues that Fox News, which hosted guests touting anti-Dominion conspiracy theories during the 2020 election, "recklessly disregarded the truth" because "the lies were good for Fox's business".

"Fox News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and we will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court," the media company said in its response. » | Friday, March 26, 2021

France Claims UK Will Struggle to Source Second Covid Jabs

THE GUARDIAN: EU will not be blackmailed over Oxford/AstraZeneca doses, says foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian

Britain will struggle to source second Covid jabs for those who have already had their first dose but the EU will not be “blackmailed” into exporting vaccine to solve the problem, France’s foreign minister has claimed.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, a close political ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, claimed that the UK’s success had been built on driving forward with first jabs without having secured the second doses necessary for full vaccination.

The EU and the UK are locked in talks about the fate of Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs produced in a factory in the Netherlands.

In an interview with FranceInfo radio, Le Drian suggested that the EU should not have to lose out on the doses to help Britain with a problem of its own making. EU officials and top-rank politicians have repeatedly said they will block any export request by AstraZeneca.

“The UK is proud to have vaccinated many people with the first dose, but they will have a problem with the second dose,” Le Drian said. “And we are fully vaccinated with two doses, not one. Today we have the same number of fully vaccinated people in France and the United Kingdom. » | Daniel Boffey In Brussels | Friday, March 26, 2021

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Markle for President?

BAHAMAS TRIBUNE – EDITORIAL: We are living in serious times. But what makes it worse is that certain persons who are in positions to influence public opinion are making a joke of our predicament – particularly in the United States, where it is now being suggested that Meghan Markle, who could not adapt to palace life in the UK, is now interested in running for president of the United States!

It is claimed that one of the reasons that she was not keen to give up her American citizenship when she married Prince Harry was that she wanted the option left open to her in case she could one day realise her dream to become the first female president of the United States! Just to think that she was not smart enough to get a thorough briefing before marrying Prince Harry as to what life would be like in the Palace and how much she would have to adapt to a new world – now she wants to aim for the stars? I refuse to believe that she could be this dumb. » | Editor, The Tribune | Monday, March 22, 2021

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

DOCU | You Don't Know Nicotine

Amidst radical changes in nicotine use globally, one filmmaker's journey through the confusion & fear leads to a startling discovery about Earth's most hated stimulant. Society may be changed forever.

Smokefree: A Better Britain?

Talking Liberties webinar, 10th March 2021: 'Smokefree: A Better Britain?', featuring Andrew Allison, campaigns director, The Freedom Association; Liz Barber, friend of Forest and confirmed smoker; Mark Oates, director, We Vape and the Snus Users Association; tobacco investment analyst Rae Maile; and Simon Hills, former associated editor of The Times Magazine and author 'Strictly No! How We're Being Overrun by the Nanny State'. Is a smoke free Britain achievable let alone desirable? Join the conversation. 73 minutes, including audience interaction.

Angela Merkel kippt Oster-Ruhe und entschuldigt sich

Es sei nur ihr Fehler gewesen, sagte die Kanzlerin Angela Merkel im Bundestag.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Dan Barker | God Does NOT Exist

Dan Barker gives his argument against the existence of God.

COVID-19: Germany Imposes Strict Lockdown over Easter | DW News

Germany is extending the current lockdown through to April 18, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Tuesday. The country will enter an even stricter lockdown from April 1 to April 5, over the Easter holiday period when shops, including grocery stores, will largely have to close. Merkel warned that Germany needed to "break the exponential growth of the third wave." Case numbers have reached levels that authorities say will overburden intensive care units.

Tuesday's announcement marks a reversal from earlier this month when state leaders agreed to begin a cautious reopening process.

Talks between leaders of Germany's 16 federal states and Merkel lasted until the early hours of the morning following a lengthy interruption.

What are the new measures?

As well as prolonging existing measures such as the closure of cultural, leisure and sporting facilities, tougher restrictions will apply over the Easter period.

- Churches will be asked to hold services marking the Christian festival online. - No more than five adults from two households will be able to meet over the five-day period. - Testing and vaccination centers can remain open. - Public gatherings will be prohibited. - Almost all shops will be shut during the five days. Only grocery stores may open on Saturday, April 3. - Anyone from Germany holidaying abroad will have to be tested before boarding a flight back to Germany. - The "emergency brake" will halt further re-openings and will apply to areas exceeding 100 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over a seven-day period.

If an area has an incidence rate of over 100 for three consecutive days, harsher lockdown measures will once again apply.


Top Saudi Official Issued Death Threat against UN's Khashoggi Investigator

THE GUARDIAN: Senior official twice threatened to have Agnès Callamard ‘taken care of’ in meeting with UN colleagues in Geneva in January 2020

A senior Saudi official issued what was perceived to be a death threat against the independent United Nations investigator, Agnès Callamard, after her investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In an interview with the Guardian, the outgoing special rapporteur for extrajudicial killings said that a UN colleague alerted her in January 2020 that a senior Saudi official had twice threatened in a meeting with other senior UN officials in Geneva that month to have Callamard “taken care of” if she was not reined in by the UN.

Asked how the comment was perceived by her Geneva-based colleagues, Callamard said: “A death threat. That was how it was understood.” » | Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington | Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Prince Harry Joins $1bn Silicon Valley Startup as Senior Executive

THE GUARDIAN: Duke of Sussex’s first formal role since ending royal duties involves ‘meaty role’ as chief impact officer at BetterUp

Prince Harry has been given a job by a $1bn (£730m) Silicon Valley startup which provides professional coaching, mental health advice and “immersive learning” as its chief impact officer.

The Duke of Sussex said he hoped to be able to “create impact in people’s lives” by working with BetterUp to provide “proactive coaching” for personal development, increased awareness and “an all-round better life”.

It is the Duke’s first formal position at a private company since he stepped down from being a working member of the royal family a year ago.

Harry and his wife, Meghan, have also signed multimillion-dollar deals to provide content for Spotify and Netflix.

As chief impact officer at BetterUp Prince Harry will be expected to help with product strategy decisions, charitable collaborations, and advise on topics related to mental health. Harry has already worked closely with mental health charities. » | Rupert Neate | Tuesday, March 23, 2021