Notes from PCG's Trumpet Weekly (2007-8)

In December 2007 PCG began a weekly newsletter that contains columns by PCG's writers and selected articles from various news sources.

Recently I have been looking through them. Here is a look at whatever article caught my interest while looking through the issues of 2007-8. 

One thing that really took me aback while looking through these was just how constantly they fear monger about Muslims. Just about every issue contains comment about some extreme thing that some extremist Muslim said. Now I am sure they would say they are only talking about militant Muslims who are quite prominent in certain parts of the world. But really one reading this could be forgiven for thinking that Muslims are bloodthirsty war mongers out to get a gun and kill you.

Of course The Trumpet Weekly goes on about things as well but they just constantly go on about these Islamic fundamentalists. There seems to be very few attempts to portray Muslims simply as ordinary people. There also seems to be few attempts to understand why certain militant groups behave the way they do, instead they are just stereotyped as the bad guys who cannot be reasoned with. It is true that certain countries that have Muslim majority population have problems and there are violent conflicts in certain Muslim majority countries but to go on and on about it the way they do.

If they wrote an article entitled, Most Muslims are Normal People who Hate Violence as Much as You, that would be truly amazing, not the fear mongering this publication indulges in so much.

***

Here a few notes I took while looking through this publication. Some articles cited were written outside of PCG but they are still mentioned as it is PCG's writers who have added these articles to The Trumpet Weekly.

Some articles are mentioned as titles. Other lines are notes about what was said in that issue.

2007

December 15. "Now Kosovo is about to erupt, and few people are talking about Germany’s fundamental role in this crisis." (Brad MacDonald, "Misreporting Kosovo", p. 6.)

Kosovo has yet to erupt nearly seven years later.

This issue also contains a quote from Gerald Flurry which is yet another declaration that the Muslim Brotherhood would gain power and radicalize Egypt completely failing to foresee their blood stained fall from power in 2013.

“Egypt is one of the largest and most influential nations in the Middle East. As Mubarak’s health weakens and the [Muslim Brotherhood] grows stronger, watch for Cairo to distance itself from America. Should the MB ever take control, there is no doubt that a strong alliance between Iran and Egypt will be built. Certainly, as discontent with the political system in Egypt increases, we can expect to see the Islamists grow in popularity. A change of leadership will occur—and probably sooner rather than later. I have been predicting for almost a decade that Egypt will fall under the influence of Islamists.”
—Gerald Flurry, Co-worker letter, Jan. 3, 2006

December 22.

Now those peaceful dreams are being replaced with a horrifying new reality. Relations between Egypt and Iran are strengthening, and a major geopolitical realignment is unfolding. These states are even talking about resuming full diplomatic relations, which could easily happen in 2008. ...

Now relations are improving between Egypt and Iran: Few things could gut the national security policy of the Jewish state more completely and painfully than a strong Iranian-Egyptian alliance! (Brad MacDonald, Egypt, Israel: The Geographic Reality, December 22, 2007.)

2008

Fars News Agency labels itself a leading independent news agency in Iran. It has three times the Internet traffic as the Jerusalem Post, so it’s a popular site in the Middle East. Fars recently used most of an article we posted on our website two weeks ago, titled, “Egypt and Iran Stride Toward Full Diplomatic Ties.” I thought it was interesting that it included this portion of our article: “Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has predicted for over 13 years that Iran would be the king of the Middle East, and that we would witness an alliance take place between Iran and Egypt. “Daniel 11:42 implies that Egypt will be allied with the king of the south, or Iran. … This prophecy indicates that there would be a radical change in Egyptian politics.”

We have prophesied for over 13 years that Iran would head up the “king of the south.” And we have also prophesied that the Iranian power would ally itself with Egypt. How did we know that? Because God said so in His Bible— something you can prove. (Gerald Flurry, Egypt-Iran Alliance Prophesied, January 5, 2008.)

January 5, 2008 issue has article decrying xenophobia in Germany. Recently PCG has been doing the same thing they condemn by fear mongering about illegal immigrants.

February 2. "The Collapse of America's Foreign Policy" by Stephen Flurry

February 9. "If You Think Oil Prices Are High?" by Robert Morley.

 February 16. "The Audacity of Selling Hope". "Princess Obama."

February 23. "Trusting in Foreigners" by Joel Hilliker

March 8. "Arab Third Intifada Underway?" It cites a Washington Times (WT) article. How appropiate.

March 22. Talks of Jeremiah Wright and Obama.

March 29. Talks of speculation of Lehman Brothers defaulting.

April 5. Insinuates Venezuela is arming terrorists.

April 12. This issue cites CBN News and Washington Times. Talks of Basra crisis.

April 19. Talks of food riots. Cites Hamas preacher talking about sacking Rome.

May (early) Talk of Hamas having 200,000 suicide bombers in Gaza.

May 17. Quotes article saying America is Hezbollah's enablers.

May 24. Mentions cyclone in Burma to say the second coming is soon. Says German bonds more secure then US dollars, thus failing to foresee Eurozone crisis.

May 31. "Gulf States to Flee Dollar." 1930s dry spell walk in the park. Barroso bullies Ireland. Britain attacks fatherhood. Feminists deny boys' crisis.

June 7. "Obama's Story of Race and Religion".

June 14. "Rewriting History". (Iraq and WMD).

June 21. "Hamas still biting hand that feeds them." Ron Fraser hysterically says efforts are being made to ban national symbols in Britain and America.

June 28. Talks of jihadis recruiting Europeans.

July 19. This issue includes this quote.

“The peace pact Israel agreed to several years ago was an agreement to make concessions to a people who would never be satisfied! Most of the Arabs are only using it to get as much as they can before the actual fighting begins. That certainly makes the peace process a deadly wound. But it is far more deadly than any Israelis can possibly see.” —Trumpet, November 1997 

July 26. Croatia bans Sunday shopping. This is cited to reinforce the induced phobia that the Pope will soon persecute PCG members.

August 2. Ron Fraser says Karadzic demonized. No specific mention of what actually happened in the war in Bosnia.

August 8. Ron Fraser mutters nonsense about Bosnia being part of Islamic expansion into Europe. The Bosniak Muslims have lived there for hundreds of years. Also is that photo on page 10 from 2001?

August 16. Quotes CNS News. Why is PCG quoting a news source from those Sunday observing Christians they constantly belittle as false Christians?

August 23. War between Russia and Georgia. "UN hands over Kosovo to EU mission."

August 30. Quotes Washington Times. Says Hezbollah in Venezuela.

September 6. Egypt invites Hezbollah delegation. Also fear mongers that natural disasters are a sign of horrors to come.

“God is using the weather to curse us. Those curses are designed to bring repentance. But our peoples are very stubborn. We should expect mind-staggering racial crimes, greater acts of terror and violent weather to intensify …. It is prophesied!” —Co-Worker Letter, Jan. 21, 1997

September 13. Blames mortgage holders for financial crisis.

September 20. "Who will bailout Uncle Sam?" (CBS article.) Although PCG did not write it they chose to include it here and it deserves comment.

The federal government may seem like a financial knight on a white steed riding to the rescue of big companies in trouble. The irony is that Uncle Sam’s got enormous money problems of his own. The government is far deeper in debt than any of the companies it’s bailing out. As of this morning, the national debt stands at over $9.634 trillion. That’s trillion—with a “T.” And that’s nearly $4 trillion more than it was on the day President Bush took office. This year alone, it’s costing taxpayers more than $230 billion just to pay the interest on the national debt. ... But where does the federal government go when it needs a bailout? Taxpayers need only look in the mirror.

Did the US needed a bailout? No. It is not possible for a government to be forced to default on debt denominated in its own currency. So Uncle Sam never needed a bailout during the terrible financial crisis that broke out in 2007-8.

October 4. Blames minorities for taking mortgages they could not pay back. That blames the victim. This ignores the fact that those minorities were targeted by predatory lenders.

[Incorrectly observed Feast of Tabernacles break.]

October 25. "Germany threatens Ireland" by Ron Fraser. (They could do that because Ireland gave up its own currency for the Euro.)

Because credit is the lifeblood of capitalism, the current credit freeze is jeopardizing the whole system. Here is a suggestion on how to fix our economy. It is radical, but it is guaranteed to work: Criminalize usury. Make it illegal to loan money with interest. (Joel Hilliker.)

This advice was ignored.

November 1.

It has gained in relation to the once mighty euro and the Swiss franc. It has humbled the British pound, the Canadian dollar, and the Russian ruble. It has made the Asian tigers look like pussycats. Surprising as it may be, the above sentences refer to the U.S. dollar. The greenback just experienced its best week of gains in 16 years against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners. (Robert Morley.)

A Washington Post reporter took an informal survey at the United Nations: Obama or McCain? The overwhelming favorite: Obama. Amir Taheri saw Obama! Allah willing! written on walls in the Gaza Strip. Congo’s UN ambassador, Atoki Ileka, praises the fact that Obama’s father is from Kenya: “We do not consider him an African American. We consider him an African.” Some of these worldwide supporters are actively funding his campaign. The Federal Election Commission has reported 11,500 foreign contributions to the Obama campaign totaling $33.8 million. (Joel Hilliker.)

November 8. EU to embrace Croatia.

November 16. Stephen Flurry fantasies about reminiscing about the fall of the Berlin Wall and incorrectly remembering it as somehow confirming that HWA was right (which is complete nonsense).

November 22. Brad MacDonald says Russo-German relations have warmed up after the war in Georgia. Has article mocking US government's bailout of the big auto companies.

November 29. "Welfare State Spreads". Stephen Flurry talks about concert series heavily subsidized by PCG.

Article condemning auto bailouts from Europacific Capital. This article is not from PCG, but PCG's writers chose to include it here.

If Washington bails out General Motors, the funds will never be recovered. GM will simply burn through the bailout money and then be back for more. … Given the staggering “legacy” costs … Detroit cannot produce cars profitably. … Detroit will remain a bottomless money pit.

This proved wrong and the auto companies did return to profitability.

December 6. Ron Fraser says the future can only be seen with divine revelation.

Predicting the future is a chancy profession unless you have biblical revelation as your foundation. Without the depth of Bible prophecy as one’s guide, one’s predictions about the future remain shallow at best.

Morley says the US dollar is doomed.

People are so afraid of the current Wall Street meltdown that they are willing to purchase federal bonds that pay interest rates far less than the rate of inflation. In other words, these people know that they will technically lose money by purchasing treasuries, but are willing to take the loss in order to avoid the possibility of an even greater loss in other investments like U.S. businesses, stocks, and the real-estate market.

Unfortunately, this time the bond market will not prove to be a safe haven. The structural problems in the U.S. economy and America’s massive debt load mean that the dollar is doomed too.

Those were terrible days. The crisis was very severe. But Morley is wrong about the federal debt being a problem. It is impossible for a government to default on public debt denominated in its own currency. The US government is not going to default. Six years later it has not. Actually, when you account for inflation, US federal debt is actually lower then what it was during the 1940s. And no one worried about the US going bankrupt then.

December 13. Brad MacDonald asks Is Britain being conquered from the inside by Muslims? The answer is no, by the way.

Morley mocks economists who correctly foresaw that the US government would be able to get through the crisis.

Quotes Jeremy Clarkson with an alarmist column, but he was talking about Ireland. Ireland does not have a sovereign currency. It has the Euro. That is why it did get bailed out by the EU and the IMF. So its situation was very different and more severe then the US. The US was not in danger of that.

December 20. "How America Killed Itself" by Robert Morley, in which he inaccurately fear mongers that America has financially collapsed. Maybe he should tell the Taliban that. I'm sure they would love to know that.

But it won’t end there. The whole nation—head to toe—is sickened with debt. Federal, state, municipal, corporate, personal debt; America is maxed out. Trillions upon trillions. That debt is coming due!

Turns out America was not maxed out. Morley was wrong.

December 27. Stoiber visits Pope. "This Depressing Year" by Ron Fraser.

And so 2009 begins. But this post ends here.