Reading Mark Mendiola's Article, A Crude Awakening? (2000)

The seventh issue of LCG's recruitment magazine, Tomorrow's World (July-August 2000), featured an article by Mark Mendiola entitled "A Crude Awakening?" (pp. 14-18.) This was the seventh of several articles Mendiola would write for this recruitment magazine. Here he scare mongers that America was vulnerable to the effects of a future oil blockade.

Let's take a look at what he has to say.

As oil prices spiral upward, the United States is facing the consequences of its dependence on foreign oil—and on the nations that control the oil. How and why have the oil-exporting nations kept the United States “over a barrel”—and what does this mean for America’s future? (p. 14.)

Mendiola emotively compares high oil prices to an act of war.

Just as it did in the 1970s, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) still has much of the world over a barrel. Back then, U.S. President Jimmy Carter called a paralyzing global energy crisis the "moral equivalent of war." But if this is a war, who is winning it, and why? How does this crisis fit into Bible prophecy? And what can we expect for our future? (p. 14.)

He complains that Americans are complacent.

Complacent Americans, accustomed to cheap gasoline, faced a rude awakening as prices crept up past $2 per gallon. In a matter of months, gas prices nearly doubled, bringing about a startling reality check for Americans unaware of world events. (p. 14.)

Although he spends most of this article complaining about OPEC nations in the following paragraph he admits something that he fails to note elsewhere in the article, namely that OPEC is severely divided and rarely acts in a united manner together.

In many other nations, high taxes bring gasoline prices to $5 per gallon. Most of the world envies the United States' low gas prices. But these prices spiraled when OPEC decided in March 1999 to reduce a worldwide oil glut by cranking down production. Oil producers stuck to this agreement with a 90 percent compliance rate—an impressive feat for a cartel notoriously unable to maintain unity. (p. 14.)

Seventeen years later OPEC is, if anything, even more divided today as much of the Middle East is affected by intense rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. But focusing on OPEC's disunity might make Mendiola's readers less worried and less inclined to listen to him.

He cites a Republican Senator who mentions that at this time the United States was importing some oil from Iraq even while the United States continued to impose sanctions upon that nation.

Murkowski said the failure of U.S. energy policy is illustrated by the import of 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Iraq, despite the Persian Gulf War and U.S. military efforts to contain Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "We're bombing the guy who is refueling our warplanes," he said. "What kind of an energy policy is that?" (p. 15.)

LCG like most of the COGs tend to lean to the right but nevertheless they are certainly capable of acting like they are not so partisan.

Democrats countered that Republicans blocked energy conservation and more fuel-efficient vehicles, would not consider a ban on Alaskan oil exports to Asia, ruled out a drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—where 565 million barrels of crude oil are stored for emergencies—and resisted creating a heating oil reserve in the Northeast because such measures were opposed by the U.S. oil industry. (p. 15.)

He moans about Saudi Arabia having so much oil.

Consuming about 20 percent of the world's oil, the United States imports much more than the 35 percent it imported in 1973 when Arab nations retaliated against the U.S. for its support of Israel by imposing an oil embargo, creating long lines at gas stations. In December 1999, OPEC was the source of nearly half of U.S. oil imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency. Saudi Arabia was by far the largest source of those imports, supplying 43,118,000 barrels that month. 

OPEC supplies more than 40 percent of the world's oil and owns about 78 percent of the world's crude oil reserves. It produces about 26.6 million barrels of crude oil daily, with the Saudis accounting for about a third of that total. (pp. 15-16.)

Citing a Democratic Senator he scare mongers that the United States is more vulnerable to an oil embargo than back in 1973.

In remarks made on March 20, Sen. John Breaux, D-La., explained how the U.S. finds itself increasingly addicted to foreign oil, noting Arab countries hobbled the U.S. nearly 30 years ago when they only slightly restricted supplies and when the U.S. was importing much less petroleum percentage-wise. (p. 16.)

And then Mendiola starts to cite Armstrongite dogma to interpret this problem.

The United States of America has been blessed beyond any other nation in history with an abundance of natural resources, but it is starting to see those blessings stripped away. The oil, gas, mineral and agricultural wealth enjoyed in such great abundance in North America and other English-speaking nations has come from Almighty God. The Holy Bible is plain about that. (p. 17.)

This statement is based on the discredited dogma of British Israelism. Much of Armstrongite dogmas about the future is based on this assumption. Once it is recognized that British Israelism is false then so much of the assumptions stemming from that false conception falls away. Americans are not the descendants of the Biblical Israelites so the dire warnings of the Old Testament do not specifically apply to the United States. The author talks of nonsense.

But Mendiola is devoted to the discredited dogma of British Israelism so he continues to use it to insist that (LCG's) God's wrath will soon descend on America.

Just as parents discipline children when they go astray and engage in harmful activities, God punishes nations when they refuse to keep His commandments, veer from His ways and no longer fear Him. (p. 17.)

Mendiola melodramatically proclaims that the western world's baskets, stores and reserves are cursed by (LCG's) God.

It is no coincidence the western world find itself under what appears to be a worsening economic curse as westerners more blatantly sin by breaking God's divine law. We are witnessing a dramatic reversal in our fortunes. Cursed are our basket, our store, and our reserves! ... Hostile nations are on the rise as we are on the decline. (p. 17.)

He shrilly insists that the American is already brought low and is prostrating itself to oil producing nations in a crass appeal to parochialism.

The oil crisis is one of many national curses the U.S. faces as it rejects God, refuses to acknowledge His blessings and flagrantly breaks His law. Yet, it is official federal policy for the nation to prostrate itself before foreign nations that have been antagonistic in the past and allies who easily could turn on it. (p. 17.)

After moaning about Saudi Arabia he then complains about Iran and Kuwait.

Iran is OPEC's second largest producer. An international crisis was provoked in 1979 when Iranian religious revolutionaries overthrew the Shah of Iran, shut off the Persian nation's oil spigot and kept 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. An oil price surge peaked at $39 a barrel in 1981; U.S. interest rates climbed into double digits; the U.S. inflation rate flared up to 9 percent and unemployment approached 8 percent.
Iran opposed, vehemently, OPEC's decision last March to raise production and ease pressure on the world's petroleum markets. Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran's representative to OPEC, said Iran balked at going along with the rest of OPEC to protest American pressure on the cartel. It questioned whether the international oil shortage was extreme and whether production needed to be escalated. 

One major disappointment for American officials was Kuwait's resistance to increasing production. That is despite the massive investment and sacrifice made by western and other allies in Operation Desert Storm to repel Kuwait's invasion by Iraq. Kuwait aligned with the likes of Algeria, Libya and Iran earlier this year to adopt a hard line against raising OPEC production levels, but later agreed to ease output after U.S. diplomatic arm twisting. (pp. 17-18.)

Mendiola then shrilly insists that the American government's alliances with oil producing nations are somehow "worse than prostitution".

The Living God who has so richly blessed the U.S. and other western nations frowns upon our policy of buying off friends and enemies in exchange for their favors, turning our backs on Him. Such policy earns the disdain of friend and foe alike. In God's eyes, it is even worse than prostitution and will backfire! (p. 18.)

"Treaties and alliances will not save them," Mendiola proclaims belittling diplomatic relations with oil producing nations. He insists that "unprecedented national tribulation" is about to come to the United States.

The Bible shows that both allies and enemies ultimately will turn against the nations identified in the Bible as modern Jacob. Treaties and alliances will not save them. Only God's divine intervention can save them from the unprecedented national tribulation that looms! (p. 18.)

In certain contexts Armstrongite writers talk as though the conquest of the United States by Europeans can be avoided but generally it is believed within the COGs that this military conquest is inevitable. In practice the COGs teach that only they themselves will be supernaturally protected by God and taken to a place of safety during the times of turmoil just before Christ's return.

Mendiola insists that relying on other nations for the supply of oil is "a potentially fatal weakness."

The United States is leaving itself exposed and precariously vulnerable by increasing its dependence on foreign nations for vitally important oil, putting itself in a compromising position and revealing a potentially fatal weakness. (p. 18.)

He complains that the Middle East is an unreliable source of oil.

As crises in the extremely volatile Middle East have underscored in the past, the western industrialized world cannot rely on that region for a steady, uninterrupted flow of petroleum. Even the European Commission issued a rare plea in February for OPEC to boost output to prevent slowing the world economy. (p. 18.) 

He scare mongers that various oil producing nations might turn against the United States and stop selling oil to the United States.

Should pro-western leadership in oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico suddenly turn anti-American, the national and economic security of the U.S. could be severely jeopardized and a dramatic shift in the international balance of power could occur. (p. 18.)

To this day Saudi Arabia and Mexico are closely aligned with the United States. Venezuela turned away from being closely aligned with the United States but it has not proven to be much a threat to the United States. But little did Mendiola know that soon the oil industry would soon shift its focus to extracting oil using fracking techniques making the United States less reliant on overseas oil. Although there is widespread concern about environmental and social repercussions of using this method.

Mendiola ends his article with these words insisting that America will face "horrendous suffering and calamity" unless his audience follow LCG's teachings.

As in the past, geopolitical events could turn Islamic countries violently against the U.S., Israel and other western nations, prompting Arabs to take drastic measures and sharply crank down their oil production in retaliation.  

Unless there is heartfelt repentance and a return to God in humility and gratitude for all His blessings, our national punishments will intensify and worsen before Jesus Christ returns to liberate us from horrendous suffering and calamity. ... There is wonderful news beyond today's troubling world as we approach the dawn of Tomorrow's World! (p. 18.)

What clap trap. He makes these dire predictions and now seventeen years later we are still no closer to his dire words being fulfilled. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are still closely aligned with the United States. Saudi Arabia and Iran are engaged in a bitter power struggle with each other so they cannot unite together in OPEC against the United States. Venezuela embraced turned to the left but that country is currently going through intense political and economic turmoil so it would be absurd to view it as a threat in its current state.

There was as a matter of fact a sharp rise in the price of oil back in 2008 but it shortly afterward went down to a more reasonable price and the reason for that spike had little to do with the OPEC nations or supply and demand. (That story is explained in chapter 4 of the 2010 book Griftopia by Matt Taibbi.)

Clearly there is no need to fear Mendiola's dire proclamations.

In September 2006 Mendiola left LCG and joined Dave Pack's Restored Church of God. Around 2008 he left RCG and joined Don Billingsley's Church of God-Faithful Flock.

PCG's New Version of "thetrumpet.com" Removes Many PDF Files (March 2017)

Back in March this year PCG drastically revamped their website, thetrumpet.com. Some things were removed while reorganizing the website.

The Trumpet Weekly, a weekly publication that had been running since late 2007 was ended and its back issues were taken offline. The Trumpet Weekly has been replaced with another such publication that is not publicly available on its website.

Also before this revamp thetrumpet.com provided PDF files of all the issues of their recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, from the November 2003 issue to the present. It also contained the PDF files for the March-April 1998 issue to the July 1999 issue. After the revamp one can only access PDF files of issues dating back to the February 2011 issue.

Posts discussing issues of PCG's Trumpet Weekly may be seen through the following links: 2007-8, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

A PCG Writer Failing Grammar

PCG claims to be the only "true church" on the face of planet Earth. Other educational institutions are rubbished as being under the influence of Satan with only PCG being able to provide "true education" (referring to PCG's religious teachings).

And despite such lofty claims one of PCG's writers still has difficulty writing proper English. This may be seen the title of the following PCG article by Kieran Underwood: namely "Why the Global Peace Index Is Nonsense Pseudoscience" (June 11, 2017).

It is ungrammatical to write, "nonsense pseudoscience." He could have written it as "nonsensical pseudoscience" or even "nonsense and pseudoscience" but he cannot write "nonsense pseudoscience" without breaking the grammar of the English language.

He even repeats this ungrammatical gibberish twice in the article itself.

There is a problem though. Drawing any conclusions from a “Global Peace Index” is nonsense pseudoscience. ... 

That’s why the media’s reporting of the Global Peace Index is nonsense pseudoscience that you should avoid wasting your time reading.

Maybe the author should learn to proof read what he writes before posting it online.

Now we all make mistakes with grammar. I know I certainly do. But it is jarring to see such a thing from an organization which makes such lofty claims about itself.

It is awful to imagine that there are some people who sacrifice so much for this organization and trust them to do so much for them and yet PCG's leaders make grammatical mistakes. If PCG's leaders can make such simple mistakes as this how could one place so much trust in what they say about the future if they cannot even get their English grammar right?

PCG Blinded by Severe Partisanism

Even though Republican legislators are trying to pass a bill which if passed will cause about 22 million Americans to lose their health insurance PCG wants their audience to loathe the left in general by citing a story that presents CNN in a bad light in a recent broadcast of PCG's Trumpet Daily hosted by Stephen Flurry.

Earlier this week, three CNN journalists resigned after running a story that was supposed to back the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. As it turns out, the story was based on one anonymous source and wasn’t backed by any evidence. Then an undercover video surfaced featuring CNN producer John Bonifield. Bonifield admitted the Trump-Russia stories were not true and that he can understand why President Donald Trump would say this is a witch hunt. This is the new age we’re living in—where journalistic ethics are cast aside to improve ratings and rake in more cash.

While a large proportion of PCG's audience face the prospect of losing health insurance PCG's 1% still tell them to loathe the left.

PCG Bigger Than Jay Sekulow

Recently The Guardian published an article discussing the income of Jay Sekulow. It is mentioned that he and his family were paid about $60 million since 2000. If we divide that figure by 17 that would indicate that they enjoyed an annual income of about $3.5 million per year.

PCG is bigger than Jay Sekulow. Back in 2013 PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, boasted that his organization, PCG, had an annual income of about $19.5 million in 2012. That would indicate that PCG enjoys an annual income about five and a half times greater than Jay Sekulow's organization.

Reading Mideast Strife—Will It Lead To Armageddon? by Garner Ted Armstrong (1998)

In 1998, shortly after having to start up another COG splinter group after he was caught on tape behaving in a shameful and immoral manner, Garner Ted Armstrong released a booklet discussing events in the Middle East entitled "MIDEAST STRIFE—Will It Lead To ARMAGEDDON?" This booklet was written during the height of the time of the peace process begun under Rabin, continued under Peres and was still being maintained by Netanyahu when this booklet was published.

In the 1880s an nationalist movement arose among the Jewish communities of Europe dreaming of creating a Jewish nation state in Palestine, which was then a province of the Ottoman Empire. This desire arose partly in response to the frightful persecution of Jews in the Russian Empire in the 1880s. After decades of hard work the desired nation state came to be with the establishment of the State of Israel in 78% of Mandatory Palestine during the Israeli War of Independence in 1947-9. However while creating this nation state about 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes into the surrounding Arab nations and the Israeli government refused to let them return. Furthermore the evident military superiority of the State of Israel compared with the surrounding Arab nation states made them quite fearful of the State of Israel.

By 1998, the time of this booklet's publication, there was still much strife and contention between the State of Israel on the one hand and the Palestinian people and the surrounding Arab nation states on the other hand. The State of Israel made peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994. Meanwhile the peace process with Yasser Arafat's Fatah continued on its path until it would soon collapse with the start of the Second Intifada in 2000.

Let's take a look at Garner Ted Armstrong's booklet.

(Page numbers are based on the PDF version.)

Why do the Arabs hate the Jews? Why do so many Jews hate the Arabs? Why the continual strife; bombings, knifings, shootings, rocket attacks; terrorism against helpless civilians in Jerusalem? To understand the real roots of protracted conflict between Arabs and Jews, you need to know the history of Jerusalem and Palestine; understand the ethnic and religious roots of the peoples who live there. Even more importantly, you need to understand the PROPHECIES of your Bible; how events yet to occur in Palestine and Jerusalem will affect YOUR life where YOU live! (p. 1.)

At the start of this paragraph Garner Ted Armstrong writes, "Why do the Arabs hate the Jews? Why do so many Jews hate the Arabs?" These words make it appear as though he is neutral and is able to discuss this topic from both sides. However he taught British Israelism, the inaccurate idea that white Americans and British are descended from Biblical Israelites. Consequently he viewed Israeli Jews as being related to himself while the Palestinians are excluded from this imagined (and fanciful) connection. With that in mind taking into account what he wrote in this booklet it is clear that he reserves most of his sympathy for one side and it is not for the Arabs. This attitude is quite common among the COGs. Why does he pretend otherwise in this opening paragraph?

Also note that the last sentence that paragraph. The terrible situation in the Holy Land which has seen so many people die and suffer is relegated as just background for his speculations about the future. This terrible and deadly conflict is reduced into a magical barometer which will supposedly allow him to foretell Christ's return.

Always, the media seems fixated on TERRITORY as the problem! Continually, they speak of "land for peace." Millions of Americans are disgusted with the Jews; seeing them as obstructionists to the "peace process." Many in the media debate back and forth about where "a mere 13 per cent of Israel's territory" would bring peace in the region! How utterly ignorant they are about the REAL CAUSE; the real ROOTS of the conflict! Many of those young reporters who bring you your news on television were not born when Israel fought the combined armies of six Arab nations; many were not born when the famous "six-day war" was fought, which brought about the occupation of the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the "West Bank," including the old city of Jerusalem! The U.S. media has virtually parroted the Palestinian Arabs, as they continually speak of the "occupied territories." Millions seem unconcerned that the Jews speak of "security," meaning buffer areas between themselves and hostile Arab neighbors. Ignorance of history, gullibility, propaganda—all play a part in shaping public opinion in the U.S. Much, if not most, of that public opinion is very badly skewed. (p. 1.)

He is right to note that the conflict is not only about dividing up the land. There is also the issue of Palestinian refugees who yearn to return home, the widespread demand of Palestinians for prisoners to be released as may be seen in the recent prisoner hunger strike, etc.

The State of Israel's possession of territory not recognized as belonging to it is justified as a security measure ignoring the legal view that the land acquired in 1967 does not belong to the State of Israel and is instead viewed as occupied territory. This is why many governments places their embassies in Tel Aviv and not Jerusalem.

Jews base their claims on Jerusalem to the time of David and Solomon, while many Arabs believe it was their ancestors who were dispossessed of their lands when Israel "invaded" Palestine following the Exodus. (p. 1.)

Note how the State of Israel claim over East Jerusalem is falsely equated with Jews laying claim to it. A political struggle between rival nationalist movements is misleadingly presented as a struggle between different religious groups.

Bizarrely Garner Ted Armstrong refuses to discuss the mass expulsion of about 750,000 Palestinians from the territory of the State of Israel during the Israeli War of Independence of 1947-9. Does Garner Ted Armstrong really imagine that Palestinian hostility to the State of Israel is because of something that happened over three thousand years ago and not because of the mass expulsion?

To the average man on the street, the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Israel may seem like the natural effect of an obvious cause: Israel continues to "occupy" the West Bank; continues to build housing projects on land claimed by the Palestinian Arabs (even though it is privately-owned Jewish land); continues to occupy the Golan Heights; continues its refusal to negotiate over Jerusalem. Thirty years have passed since Israel was attacked by five Arab armies and won an astounding victory which resulted in their occupation of the disputed lands. Notwithstanding, the Palestinian Arabs and Syrians demand that Israel relinquish all lands won by force of arms, including East Jerusalem! Yet, from the Israeli point of view, those very lands; the Golan in the north, overlooking the Sea of Galilee; the Gaza Strip to the south, pointing like a dagger into the heart of Israel; Jerusalem and the West Bank to the west, provided dangerous jumping off points for armored columns of Arab armies. Prior to that war, as any map of that time shows, Israel had such a narrow waist it could have been cut in two by a thrust from Latrun to the Mediterranean!  

Israeli military commanders and Israeli governments from that time to this have not relished the prospect of returning to those disastrous borders, any more than the U.S. has contemplated giving back California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, or part of Florida to Mexico. Now, let us go back into the past, and come to understand BOTH sides of this volatile issue—a conflict that could lead to another destructive WAR in the Mideast—a conflict that could drag the major power into war; a conflict that will eventually lead to ARMAGEDDON! (p. 2.)

Actually some of the settlements have been built on land that was owned by Palestinians. If land in the West Bank is not maintained for three years the Israeli authorities judge that land to be empty and take it as state land from the Palestinian owners to be disposed of as the Israeli government chooses. (Marwan Darweish and Andrew Rigby, Popular Protest in Palestine, 2015, Chapter 5.)

Garner Ted Armstrong complains that "the Palestinian Arabs and Syrians demand that Israel relinquish all lands won by force of arms, including East Jerusalem!" He ignores the fact that international law does not recognize that land as belonging to the State of Israel. This is the same reason the United States, Britain and many other countries have their embassies in Tel Aviv and not Jerusalem.

It is a false equivalence to compare to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to "California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, or part of Florida" because the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were never annexed by the State of Israel. Although the State of Israel ruled over the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since they were not annexed they were not citizens of the State of Israel and thus unable to vote in Israeli elections. Israeli law was not applied to those Palestinians. But at the same time the Israeli settlers who were encouraged by the government to move to settlements in the Palestinian territories were treated as Israeli citizens able to vote in Israeli elections.

The term "Palestine" comes from "Philistine," the name of a tribe that was in virtually a continual state of war with ancient Israel. Goliath, the giant whom David slew with a slingshot, was a Philistine. Misraim, the second son of Ham, begat Casluhim, "out of whom came Philistim" (Genesis 10:14). It would be an error to assert that the present-day Palestinian Arabs are "Philistines." The Philistines were not of Arab stock. (p. 2.)

At least Garner Ted Armstrong gets that right about the Philistines. The Philistines were not Arabs. It is absurd to compare the Palestinians of Gaza with those ancient Philistine people. Even if they were descended from them the identity of the Philistine people has dissipated away through the ages. What is not mentioned in this booklet is that many of the Palestinians in Gaza fled there during the Israeli War of Independence and to this day yearn to go back there.

The story of Abraham's possession of the land of Palestine and the perpetual promises made to him by God is one of the most fascinating in all history. It is only by understanding the call of Abraham that one can truly gain a proper perspective on the whole history of the Mideast. (p. 4.)

The current conflict is a modern problem partly stemming from the rise of nationalist ideologies within Europe. Nation states as we know them simply did not exist until the modern era following the rise of industrialization.

Abraham's children were prophesied to spread abroad to all points of the compass. ... His grandson Esau, Jacob's brother, is the progenitor of the Edomites, commonly believed to be the Turkish people. For a most fascinating insight into the identity of the United States and Britain, as well as the most ancient Europeans and the Germans ... write for your copy of the book, "Europe and America in Prophecy." (p. 4.)

The belief that the Turks are the descendants of the ancient Edomites is nonsense. This idea developed back in Victorian times during the time of the Ottoman Empire.

At no time was Jerusalem ever the political capital of any Arab state. It is important to remember that Israel occupied the land of Palestine after the Exodus when no such religion as "Islam" existed. The peoples of early Palestine were entirely heathen. Many practiced infant sacrifice. They were polytheistic, worshiping "Baal" (Nimrod, or Isis) and various versions of Semiramus, or "Ishtar," (pronounced "Easter") the mother/wife of Nimrod, and founder of the Babylonish mystery religion. (p. 10.)

The claim that Semiramis was the mother and wife of Nimrod is an idea derived from Alexander Hyslop's anti-Catholic polemic, The Two Babylons (1853-8). This teaching is nonsense.

Also he implies that the word Easter came from Ishtar. Actually in Greek, Spanish, French, Russian and many other languages Easter is known as Pascha, the same word used in those languages for the Passover. If Easter is so "pagan" then why is it that in so many languages it is given the same name as the Jewish Passover? This slur against Easter (Pascha) fails to withstand scrutiny.

The nationalist movement to create and then maintain Jewish State is a modern thing. Nationalism as we know it only become possible in the modern era as advances in technology made it possible to people to be more connected with each other. Since nationalism did not exist until the modern era it never occurred to Jews before then to create a Jewish State until the 19th century.

Even after frightening acts of persecution such as the Crusades, or the mass expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 or the mass expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 they never tried to create a state in response to those crises because nationalism as we know it did not exist back then.

It was only in the 19th century as nationalism gained traction in Europe that similar nationalist ideas began to gain political strength among some Jews. Following acts of persecution against Jews in Tsarist Russia in the 1880s onward some Jews began to migrate to Palestine with dreams of creating a Jewish state. Back then Palestine was neither empty nor sparsely populated but rather it was predominantly inhabited by Palestinians and was a part of the Ottoman Empire.

Garner Ted Armstrong then states that the Islamic religion arose after Judaism and Christianity. However it should be noted that many of the Palestinians happen to be Christian, non-religious or even belong to another religion such as the Samaritans.

Islam, or "Mohammedanism," the creation of "Mahomet," did not appear on the world scene until more than six centuries after the birth of Christianity, and more than three centuries after the Council of Nicea [Nicaea] in 325 A.D. The religion of the Middle East was at first that of the patriarchs following the flood, then of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and finally that of Israel, when they were brought out of slavery in Egypt, and into the promised land. There are marked similarities between the religion of Islam and that of Moses, and Muslims claim a distinct relationship to Abraham, not only religiously, but ethnically. (p. 11.)

He states that he heard the call to prayer that is practiced in Muslim majority countries.

There are five religious "duties" in Islam. The first is as expressed above. The second is to practice five legally prescribed acts of prayer each day. In my many visits to the Middle East, I have poignant memories of the recorded voices emanating from loudspeakers in the minarets from Amman to Cairo, and from Jerusalem to Istanbul, echoing about the cities with the "call to prayer." (p. 14.)

But did he listen to their views about political events?

Note below how Garner Ted Armstrong keeps viewing Muslims and Arabs as the same even though most Muslims in the whole world are not Arabs. What a narrow view he had on this matter.

In mosques all over the world of Islam, millions of Arabs kneel in orderly rows, listening to the prayers as they repeatedly press their foreheads to the carpet on the floor. (p. 14.)

He presents a brief introduction to some of the beliefs and practices of Islam. Strangely when mentioning the pilgrimage to Mecca he brings up a novel that is not at all about the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The fifth obligation is to perform at least a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the holy places in Arabia, preferably Mecca. The Arabic word for pilgrim is "hajj." Once a Moslem has made such a pilgrimage, he is entitled to wear the name like a title, in front of his name. A highly recommended book is "The Haj," by best-selling author Leon Uris of "Exodus" fame, which gives fascinating insight into the attitudes of Arabs and Israelis who lived side by side in Palestine for decades prior to the creation of the state of Israel and the 1967 six-day war. (pp. 14-15.)

It seems odd that while discussing the pilgrimage to Mecca he decides to mention a novel that is not about the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Also it is incorrect to refer to the Jewish community in Palestine as Israelis before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 since the State of Israel did not exist before then. Before 1948 the Jewish community in Palestine was known as the Yishuv (settlement).

They [the Turks] came from the deserts of Turkestan (the term meant "one who looks like a Turk"), and were no doubt Edomites. (p. 16.)

Again it is nonsense to claim that the Turks are the descendants of the Edomites. This is not true.

The Ottoman Empire ruled the Middle East for about seven hundred long years. It is very important to note that not once during this vast period of time was there ever a suggestion on the part of any of the Arab or Turkish leaders that a "separate Palestinian state" be established in Palestine, or that Jerusalem be made a political capital. (p. 16.)

That is because the current borders of the Middle East were drawn up by British and French diplomats during and after World War I. Since Palestine was not politically separated from the surrounding region before World War I there was no need for it to be separate. It was the British authorities that chose to turn Palestine into a distinct political entity with borders separating it from the surrounding nations. At the time the surrounding region was also controlled by Britain and France. Britain controlled Egypt and Jordan. France controlled Syria and Lebanon.

The influence of Islam in the Balkans planted the seeds which have blossomed into genocidal wars for centuries, including the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in recent times, and the protracted butchery that took place between Serbs (many of whom are Greek Orthodox) and Croats (many of whom are of Islam) in Bosnia. (p. 17.)

Note how he simplistically blames one religion for many problems that had afflicted the Balkans over the centuries. He fails to hide his parochial bias. Even though he constantly denounced mainstream Christian churches he still viewed Muslims as outsiders,

Actually there is no genetic difference between Serbs, Croatians and Bosnians. They speak different dialects of the same language. Also the Croatians tend to identity as Catholic. It is the Bosnians who tend to identity as Muslim. Furthermore some non-Muslims living in Bosnia also chose to fight for the fledgling Bosnian state during the long armed struggle for independence.

Lord Balfour's declaration was accepted, which provided for a "Jewish national homeland." The various caliphates and the Ottomans had been in control of Palestine and Jerusalem for many hundreds of years until this time. Never was there a move on the part of the caliphate of Baghdad, or the Ottoman Turkish empire to provide for a separate "Palestinian State," or a move toward making Jerusalem into a political capital. Resulting from the Balfour Declaration, significant Jewish immigration began in 1920, when a British Palestine Mandate was established. The tide of refugees and immigrants swelled considerably in the 1930s as Jews fled Hitler's Germany and other nations in Europe. In 1922 the land east of the Jordan was detached from the Palestine Mandate, and became "Trans-Jordan." (p. 18.)

But who accepted the Balfour Declaration? The declaration was made on November 2, 1917 even before Britain took possession of Jerusalem on December 9, 1917. The Palestinian population had no opportunity to influence that decision. Once they were aware of it they were firmly opposed to the declaration.

As might be expected, the declaration was viewed with great dismay and hostility by the various Arab states in the Mideast. Arabs argue that from the inception of the British Mandate in 1922 there were about half a million Moslems to only 83,790 Jews in Palestine; 71,764 Christians and some 7,000 others. (p. 20.)

Intriguingly he ignores how the Palestinians themselves viewed the Balfour Declaration as wrong and vigorously opposed it instead merely saying that the various Arab states opposed it.

Also he makes a telling error. The figures he mention seem to be based on the 1922 Census of Palestine which was conducted by the British authorities then ruling Mandatory Palestine. However it must be stated that Armstrong's figures differ slightly from those of the census. Consequently it appears as though he is wrong to claim that "Arabs argue" that was the population of Palestine when it was actually the British authorities who compiled the census.

Under the British mandate the Palestinians and the Yishuv were opposed to each other while the British authorities ruled over them all, at times favoring one side and then the other leaving both sides dependent upon British favor. In time Palestinian opposition to the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine erupted into a general strike which after several months turned into an armed insurgency in 1936-9. It was a time of the most severe violence and bloodshed. It was the Palestinians who endured the full wrath of armed repression at the hands of British forces with about 5,000 Palestinians being killed. About 300 Jews of the Yishuv and 262 British were killed during those terrible days.

After the insurgency the British authorities chose to restrict Jewish immigration to Palestine to placate the Palestinians. A small section of the right within the Yishuv led by one Avraham Stern formed an organization named Lehi in 1940 and launched an armed insurgency against the British. The other militias of the Yishuv such as the Palmach and the Irgun, chose not to fight the British at that time. In time the right wing Irgun chose to fight the British in 1944 and the left wing Palmach decided to fight the British on October 1, 1945. Garner Ted Armstrong quotes a poster that Lehi distributed in England after the British seizure of the Exodus in 1947.

During the 1940s the "Fighters for Freedom of Israel [Lehi]" displayed a poster in England worded as follows: 

TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND! 

TO THE PEOPLE WHOSE GOVERNMENT PROCLAIMED "PEACE IN OUR TIME" 

THIS IS A WARNING! 

YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS DIPPED His Majesty's Crown in Jewish blood and polished it with Arab oil —YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS VIOLATED every article of the Eretz-Israel Mandate, Flouted international law and invaded our country. 

Oswiecim [Auschwitz], Dachau and Treblinka made way for the "Exodus" to the Hitler-Bevin Alliance—To the murder of the survivors whom Hitler's wrath could not reach 

WE ARE RESOLUTE
That it shall not come to pass again! 

WE WILL CARRY THE WAR
To the very heart of the empire! 

WE WILL STRIKE
With all the bitterness and fury of our servitude and bondage 

WE ARE PREPARED TO FIGHT
a war of liberation now to avoid a war of enslavement tomorrow. 

PEOPLE OF ENGLAND! 

PRESS YOUR GOVERNMENT TO QUIT ERETZ-ISRAEL NOW! 

DEMAND THAT YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS RETURN HOME OR YOU MAY NOT SEE THEM AGAIN (pp. 20-21.)

Eventually the British authorities decided to cut their losses and withdraw from Palestine with their mandate to end in 1948, partly because of the armed insurgency against them by factions within the Yishuv. With the British authorities out of the way the Yishuv had the opportunity to bring the dream of a Jewish state into fulfillment. The Lehi integrated its armed component into the Israeli Defense Force and its political organization integrated itself into the Israeli right with the Irgun. One Lehi member, Yitzhak Shamir, would later become Prime Minister of the State of Israel (1983-4, 1986-92).

For many years prior to British withdrawal from Palestine, violence had spilled blood between the Arabs and Jews. Such Jewish organizations as the "Haganah," the "Palmach," and the "Irgun" were known to resort to assassinations and terrorist attacks against the occupying British and the Arabs alike. (p. 21.)

The Haganah, Palmach and Irgun were militia groups, not merely "organizations" as he euphemistically calls them.

Late in the 19th century, there also has been heavy Arab immigration from Syria and Lebanon into Palestine. (p. 21.)

This statement is used to belittle the claims of Palestinian refugees' right to return to land in the 1949-67 borders of the State of Israel. During the Israeli War of Independence of 1947-9 about 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes. After the war they were forbidden from returning to their homes by the Israeli government. Their property and lands were confiscated by the Israeli government. The Palestinian refugees were forbidden by the Israeli government from reaping the fruits of their labor and property.

Another war resulted in 1956 when Israel invaded Egypt's Sinai. For a short time, both British and French forces entered into the war, and a U.N. cease fire was arranged by November 6th. (p. 21.)

That war was prompted in part by the British government refusing to respect the Egyptian government's nationalization of the Suez Canal and consequent loss of money to financial interests in Britain and France connected with it. The State of Israel was brought into this alliance against Egypt. This involvement with Britain and France taught the Arab world that the State of Israel was a threat to them having the resources and ability to wage offensive war into neighboring territory.

Never did the three Arab governments propose the creation of a separate Palestinian state in any of these regions, or in any aggregate of them. For one thing, one of the major sources of income for Jordan was tourism. The old city of Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem, among other sites, were favorite tourist attractions, and crowded with pilgrims from the west during Christmas and Easter holidays. (p. 22.)

Palestinian society was in such a state of disrepair after the Israeli War of Independence that in that time the Palestinians had not manged to rebuild their society being scattered as refugees throughout the Arab world. Many Palestinians placed their hope in President Nasser that he would be able to return them to their homes from which they had been expelled from during the Israeli War of Independence. But after the Six Day War many Palestinians saw that Nasser and the Arab world as a whole was simply unable to militarily defeat the State of Israel and this motivated many Palestinians to build up their own institutions with the goal of returning. Israel's victory of 1967 led directly to the rise of Fatah and Yasser Arafat.

When the 1967 six-day war broke out, my father and I were en route to Jerusalem. I had left Pasadena, and was in England, preparing to go on to Jerusalem, where our radio program was to be broadcast to the Mideast for the first time. Mr. Adlai Muhtadi, who was head of the Jordanian Broadcasting Corporation, had arranged for a contract with the station in Jerusalem, which was then in Jordanian hands. .... my father and I intended doing the first few inaugural broadcasts in person. When the war suddenly broke out, Mr. Muhtadi, who has remained a close personal friend, lost his very fine home; found himself back in Amman. The radio station was now no longer in Jordanian hands, so the war brought an end to plans for our broadcast going to the region.  

Mr. Muhtadi is a Palestinian Arab, with a lovely family, several of whom live and work in the United States. He and his wife Saida were here to visit us in our offices near Tyler in 1997. He is a very prominent individual among leaders in the Mideast, and remains a consultant to the Jordanian Government. (p. 22.)

So Garner Ted Armstrong knew this Palestinian man who lost his home because of Israel's victory in the Six Day War and yet amazingly he imagines that Palestinians are annoyed about something that happened 3,500 years ago as he states on page 1? It is little wonder why this individual would be hostile to the State of Israel since he lost his home to Israeli forces advancing in the Six Day War.

Garner Ted Armstrong states he insisted to various Egyptian officials that he was apolitical.

On the first visit, Mr. Muhtadi had set up interviews with several major officials of the Egyptian government, including their "Speaker of the House," (who was later assassinated by terrorists in Cyprus), the publisher of "Al Ahram," the official Cairo daily newspaper, and several cabinet-level members of the government. I wanted them all to know that I was completely "apolitical" in my views; that I intended presenting both sides of all the issues fairly, and these many meetings were necessary to reassure the Egyptian government on that point. (p. 23.)

Garner Ted Armstrong was not apolitical on this matter. Traditionally on this matter the COGs tend to be pro-Israel as is the case with this booklet. Is it right that he should have said this to those Egyptian officials? How could he separate his personal views when making such a production?

Following our formal on-camera interview, I had an opportunity for a free-wheeling discussion with President Sadat, who spoke feelingly of his past, his family, and his younger brother, who had been an officer in the Egyptian Army during the Yom Kippur war, and who had been killed in the fighting. "He was like a son to me," Mr. Sadat said, explaining the large age difference, and how he had helped raise his younger brother. It was obvious he was moved by the loss of his brother. He spoke of how he had died a hero, fighting for Egypt. (p. 23.)

No wonder Egypt had such hostile relations with the State of Israel at the time. President Sadat's own brother died on the field of battle against Israeli forces. And amazingly Garner Ted Armstrong thought that the hostility of much of the Arab world towards the State of Israel is about something that happened 3,500 years ago which he states on page 1.

And during the same interview in which he heard about Sadat's brother he suggests to him to just visit the government that his brother died fighting.

I said, "Mr. President, why don't you just go to Israel? Why not just tell them you're coming, get on your airplane, and go there? You would go down in history as a great leader, who brought peace to the Middle East."

I reminded him that Egypt was the largest Arab nation in population; in labor force. I said, "The Israelis are like a brain trust. There is a very high per capita proportion of scientists, educators, doctors, engineers and the like. Why not combine the very large Egyptian labor force with the skills and expertise of the Israelis for the mutual benefit and prosperity of all?"  

I went on for some time about the tragedy of war, and the great benefits to be had by peaceful cooperation. I had no need to remind him of the poverty and squalor that was everywhere visible in Cairo.  

He told me he could not go to Israel; cited, without naming any specific organizations, the dangers of his doing such a thing because of the outrage it might stir up among his own people; how some of his own supporters might feel betrayed; spoke of his political enemies, and how they might use such a move on his part to their advantage.  

He indicated that he felt he might be rebuffed by the Israelis. I specifically remember saying, "But if you just went there—told them you were en route for personal talks—what would they do? They wouldn't dare shoot down the personal airplane of the President of Egypt!" I mused aloud about how the entire Middle East could become a major power on the world scene; how, if real cooperation among all the Arab states and Israel could occur, a kind of a "United States of the Middle East" could be created which would be of great benefit for all. (pp. 23-4.)

Garner Ted Armstrong wonders if this conversation led to President Sadat's visit to Jerusalem.

At length our meeting came to an end. I have carried vivid memories of it in my mind ever since. I cannot help but wonder, in retrospect, if I planted some seeds of thought in his mind which led to his later actions. Within only months of our talk, in November of 1977, President Anwar Sadat, in a surprise visit, went to Jerusalem to meet Prime Minister Begin of Israel. (p. 24.)

He boasts that during the Cold War he never taught that the Soviet Union would go to war with the United States. The truth is the United States and the Soviet Union were very close to going to war at times, as was seen in the Cuban missile crisis, and we are lucky that such a thing did not happen. Such a cataclysm could well have happened.

For many decades, would-be prognosticators have predicted that the Soviet Union would invade Palestine! This was because of their assumption that the "king of the North" meant Russia, rather than a major ten-nation European power. For over forty-two years, I have said repeatedly that a war between Russia and the United States was not prophesied! During the very darkest days of the cold war; even during the Kennedy-Khrushchev Cuban missile standoff, when the world believed we were on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviets, I was saying over radio and television, and to large live audiences, that we would not go to war with Russia.  

Instead, I continually emphasized that a "United States of Europe" would eventually emerge in Europe, following the collapse of present-day governments, and the emergence of military dictatorships in many countries. (p. 25.)

On pages 26-7 he discusses the Palestinian refugees who were expelled from their homes by the forces of the Yishuv in the Israeli War of Independence and later in the Six Day War.

For decades, tens of thousands of Palestinian Arabs have lived in squalor and poverty in refugee camps. Early on, following the 1967 six-day war, there were encampments in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. 

Today, there are many, many thousands of young Arabs in southern Lebanon, and in the Gaza strip, who have been born in such camps, and who are in their teens, twenties, and early thirties. (p. 26.) 

Actually those Palestinian refugee camps were established as a result of the mass expulsion of Palestinians during the Israeli War of Independence of 1947-9. His own mother, Loma Armstrong, mentioned seeing some of these Palestinian refugees in Syria in 1956, eleven years before the Six Day War. (However her own bias led her to make the ludicrous assertion that Palestine was too small to contain so many Palestinians.)

We were then driven by an Arab to a refugee camp-the most miserable place we had yet seen. We saw one-hundred thousand Arabs living in huts made from old oil cans or anything else they could find. The dust was thick under our feet and the people were filthy and sickly and ragged. They were covered with flies. Most of them were beggars. 

We were told that they had been driven out of Palestine by the Jews but Palestine does not seem large enough to hold the thousands of Arab refugees we saw in all the different places which the Arabs claim were driven out by the Jews from Palestine. (Loma Armstrong, Mrs. Armstrong's Diary, Plain Truth, November 1956, p. 12.)

(Warning: The November 1956 issue contains Holocaust related imagery that some readers may find disturbing.)

One wonders why Garner Ted Armstrong would obscure the fact that thousands of stateless Palestinian refugees lived lives of misery and uncertainty for twenty years before 1967? All that time they yearned to return and still do.

One might think that Garner Ted Armstrong would be sympathetic toward people living lives of poverty in refugees camps who cannot even get a passport because of their stateless status. However he was not sympathetic to their plight. He presents them as being filled with hatred and yearning for revenge. Note the inflammatory manner in which he presents the Palestinian refugees to his readers.

They have been fed a steady diet of hatred by their parents and peers. 

When one sees television reports of the latest riots in Gaza or the West Bank, one almost always sees mere youths hurling stones and bottles at Israeli police or soldiers. Each act of terror from either side fuels additional resentment and hatred; spawns reasons in the minds of the young Arabs for revenge. 

In recent years, it has become commonplace to see riotous, shouting, weeping, gesticulating young Arabs carrying aloft on their shoulders a coffin, draped with a Palestinian flag, containing the body of yet another of their compatriots who has died as a result of either real or rubber bullets. Each such event fuels yet other events, until the burning hatred in the minds of thousands takes on a life of its own. (p. 26.)

It is clear that Garner Ted Armstrong views these Palestinians in a negative manner.

It must be noted, and thoroughly understood, that, for all the rhetoric and support from Arab governments for the Palestinians' cause—statehood—none of the neighboring Arab governments truly allowed the Palestinians to become assimilated into their populations! For years, then decades, Palestinian Arabs have been kept in "refugee camps" along Israel's borders. (p. 26.)

After the Palestinians were forcibly expelled from what became the State of Israel the neighboring nation states that received these Palestinian refugees wanted the State of Israel to let them return. Now that the fighting was over they wanted the Palestinian refugees to return. But the Israeli government did not allow this. The surrounding nation states did not see why they had to accept the Palestinians as civilians considering that it was the State of Israel's armed forces that had expelled them.

There are several painfully obvious reasons for this: (1) It has been in the interests of Yassir Arafat's PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) to keep these displaced persons in the camps as a continual reminder of their plight; as if they are poised, ready at any moment, to move back into the "occupied territories," meaning lands Israel seized in 1967. (2) The camps have been a hotbed of seething hatred, and a ready source for terrorist attacks into Israel. (3) None of the "host" Arab countries have allowed the Palestinians to assimilate. (p. 26.)

If keeping the Palestinians in refugee camps served the PLO as a PR exercise then what was happening before the rise of Yasser Arafat assumed leadership within the PLO in 1969 after gaining sufficient political support within the PLO after the Battle of Karameh? Previously the neighboring Arab nation states were accused of keeping the Palestinians in refugees camps as a PR exercise as well as may be seen in Leon Uris' 1958 novel, Exodus.

The Palestinian Arabs are progressive, intelligent, energetic. Thousands of them have been allowed to hold jobs in such places as Saudi Arabia (many were deported during the Gulf War because of anti-Israeli sentiments), where they have sent part of their earnings to help support their families in Gaza or in the camps. (p. 26.)

Garner Ted Armstrong seems to be confusing Saudi Arabia for Kuwait. After the Gulf War many Palestinians were expelled from Kuwait as part of the diplomatic fallout of that war. It was most emphatically not for holding "anti-Israeli sentiments". Astoundingly Garner Ted Armstrong gets both the country and the cause for expulsion wrong.

He then discusses the Sabra and Shatila massacres of 1982.

One of the most infamous events in the history of Israeli armed forces was on September 16, 1982. Israel had invaded Lebanon in a coordinated land, sea and air attack, because the PLO was openly operating from strongholds inside Lebanon. Its headquarters were in Beirut itself. Syrian armed forces fought against the Israeli armored columns in the southern Bekaa Valley, but Israel eventually encircled Beirut by August 21st. A new government was to be put in place in Lebanon. The Maronite Christian elected Bashir Gemayal, a very popular leader, who was promptly assassinated in a bomb explosion on September 14th. In a rage, Lebanese Christian Phalangists entered two of the refugee camps and slaughtered hundreds of men, women, and children. 

The Israeli armed forces had surrounded the camps. Israeli troops without could hear the gunfire, and Israeli officers were accused of having allowed the Lebanese Christians to enter the camps. A wave of outrage and protest occurred in Israel. For the first time, the elite Israeli Army experienced incidents of soldiers and airmen directly resisting orders from their superiors. A number of Israeli fighter bombers simply dumped their bombs into the sea, because they said they could not trust the veracity of their assigned targets. Were they bombing helpless civilians, or terrorists? (p. 26.)

He neglects to mention how long the massacre lasted. The massacre lasted for thirty-six hours from Friday night till Sunday morning. All that time Israeli soldiers were stationed outside the Palestinian refugee camps.

Southern Lebanon remains a continual battlefield. In 1993, Israel struck back at guerilla [sic] bases in the region with air strikes and artillery barrages, causing over 200,000 people to flee their homes. Again in 1996 Israel struck at terrorist bases, which dislocated some half a million people. The problem is not resolved. Each such attack inevitably causes "collateral" death and injury, and becomes the newest outrage for the displaced Palestinian Arabs. Then, another terrorist attack is planned and executed; Russian-made "katyusha" rockets are launched, which results in yet another Israeli retaliatory air and artillery strike. (p. 27.)

After the initial invasion the State of Israel ruled over southern Lebanon. In 1985 the State of Israel withdrew south ruling over a smaller area. However some of the people of southern Lebanon, who were predominantly Shia Muslims, did not want to be ruled by the State of Israel and launched an armed insurgency to expel the Israeli forces. The insurgency was organized by Hezbollah. Other Lebanese also wished to fight the Israelis in southern Lebanon but Syria made sure arms headed to southern Lebanon only reached Hezbollah essentially monopolizing the insurgency to Hezbollah to give it more power and prestige within Lebanon and the Arab world. When the Lebanese Civil War finally ended in 1992 all sectarian militias were required to disarm except Hezbollah in order to let them continue their armed insurgency against the State of Israel in the hope of regaining southern Lebanon and to please the Syrian government. (The Politics of Sectarianism in Postwar Lebanon, 2015, Chapter 2.) In 2000, two years after the publication of this booklet, the Israeli government unilaterally withdrew from southern Lebanon.

Garner Ted Armstrong also does not directly mention the bombardment of Qana of April 18, 1996 in which 107 people were killed in a United Nations facility by Israeli artillery. Following the withdrawal of Israeli forces in 2000 from southern Lebanon the Israeli artillery was unable to reach that area. (Tim Llewellyn, Spirit of the Phoenix: Beirut and the Story of Lebanon, 2010, pp. 188-90.)

Garner Ted Armstrong mentions how the Israeli government had integrated West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem. It is not mentioned that the 161 nation states that recognize the State of Israel regard East Jerusalem as not legally belonging to the State of Israel because it was acquired by military force during the Six Day War of 1967 so it is viewed by those nation states as occupied territory. That is why many governments placed their embassies at Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem.

When the Jewish government of Israel decided to declare that Jerusalem was once again the capital city of their state, they began implementing complete integration of the formerly divided city. The infrastructure of the city began to become integrated; things like water and electrical lines, telephone lines, sewage lines, streets, bus routes; Jerusalem became one great city.  

When I interviewed long-time Mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kolleck a few years ago, I asked him on camera whether Israel would ever consider "trading land for peace" by handing over east Jerusalem to the Arabs. He said, repeating it twice, very emphatically, "NOT ONE INCH! NOT ONE INCH!" Subsequent national governments have reiterated the same thing. The Netanyahu government has stated over and over again that Jerusalem is "not negotiable," notwithstanding strident claims by Yassir Arafat the Palestinian Authority. (p. 27.)

As part of transforming Jerusalem into the capital of the Jewish state harsh policies were implemented against the Palestinians who were already living in East Jerusalem. (Separate and Unequal: The Inside Story of Israeli Rule in East Jerusalem, 1999.)

Garner Ted Armstrong cites one Israeli newspaper to imply that Iran had acquired nuclear weapons.

In a recent edition of the Jerusalem Post, the HEADLINE shouted, "IRAN HAS THE BOMB!" The article showed that Iran had obtained "several nuclear warheads" from a former Soviet Republic, and that they had been "maintained" by Russian scientists. It was asserted that a U.S. government consultant admitted secret documents had been obtained which were "real, and we have had them for years." Iran, though not Arabic (they are Persians), is Islamic. Iran is known to have harbored and sponsored various of the terrorist organizations which seek to annihilate Israel. ... Israel believes Iran now has a small nuclear arsenal. (p. 29.)

Nineteen years later Iran still has no nuclear weapon. It is safe to say now that that claim was completely wrong.

He mentions tensions between the United States and Iraq in 1998.

Major news media were shrilly trumpeting the possibility of imminent WAR breaking out between the U.S. and Iraq in early 1998, when UN inspectors were hindered from inspecting suspected chemical and biological weapons sites. In this instance, albeit perhaps temporarily, a major war in the gulf was averted when Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, made a quick, desperate journey to Baghdad, gaining a few feeble concessions from the Iraqi government, thus averting a major U.S. air strike perhaps only hours before it was scheduled. (p. 29.)

Starting on page 30 he presents an outlines of events he states will occur in the future. He scare mongers that the far right will arise in Germany. While it is true that in the early 1990s there did occur in Germany a wave of violence by Neo-Nazis against ethnic minorities but thankfully this wave of violence soon dissipated. Nineteen years later the racist, far right in Germany are as marginal as ever.

When that happens, massive unemployment, and the strident voices of ultra-nationalists will be heard in the streets of many nations, especially in Europe and Germany. Already, Germany is witnessing a steep rise in ultra right-wing violence as various neo-Nazi groups commit thuggery, cause riots, demonstrate against the government, and spray graffiti against foreigners. A special, flying riot squad has been organized in Berlin to deal with the rapid rise of skinhead violence. If Germany slips into deep depression, look out! (pp. 30-1.)

He predicts that "race war" will arise in the United States, an absurd and racist prediction.

The United States and Britain will be attacked both from within and from without. Writhing in the midst of unbridled crime and violence; race war; total chaos, our peoples will not be prepared to withstand the combined blows of economic collapse, and the threat, or the actual use, of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons against us. The prophesied "Great Tribulation" ... will have begun. (p. 31.)

Despite what happened in 1969 with Denis Michael Rohan and in 1990 when about twenty Palestinian protesters condemning calls for the construction of a Third Temple were killed by Israeli police and in 1996 when the construction of a tunnel sparked a sort of mini-intifada in which over 100 Palestinians and 24 IDF soldiers were killed Garner Ted Armstrong nevertheless makes the inflammatory speculation that a Third Temple might be constructed in the near future.

At some point in time, perhaps even before point number (6) above, a temple may be built in Jerusalem. IF orthodox Jews destroy the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa mosque in order to replace them with a Jewish temple, all the Arab nations would unite, and a major war would break out. This time, the Arab nations may well use biological and chemical weapons against the Jews. The ostensible reason for European intervention in the Mideast would be to "save" the surviving Jews from being exterminated. This move, by the false prophet AND by combined European armies, would fulfill Christ's prophecies about the "Abomination of Desolation" and "Jerusalem surrounded with armies." (p. 31.)

He insists that the problems in the Middle East are unsolvable.

As you have seen, the roots of conflict in the Mideast are buried very deep in the soil of the past. They extend all the way back to Isaac and Ishmael; to Moses and the Amorites; to David and the Philistines; to the days of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. The conflict extends back to the days of the early Mohammedans who swept into Palestine and Egypt; to the British Mandate following World War I; to the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948, and to the 1967 six-day war between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The roots of conflict are so deep that no mere humanly devised "peace process" will succeed. (pp. 31-2.)

Amazingly he omits to mentions the rise of the nationalist movement to create a Jewish state in the late 19th Century in Europe, particularly after the pogroms in Tsarist Russia in the early 1880s and work of Theodor Herzl. Traditionally the Jewish community had never strived to create a Jewish state. Even after terrible catastrophes such as the mass expulsion from England in 1290 or the mass expulsion from Spain in 1492 the Jewish community never tried to create a Jewish state. It was only with the rise of nationalist ideologies in 19th Century Europe that some within the Jewish community began to imitate the surrounding Europeans and call for the creation of a Jewish state.

At the end he finally gets to the real purpose of this booklet: an appeal to the reader to help fuel his organization.

ARMAGEDDON is shaping up! It is COMING, and it will affect the WHOLE WORLD! Jesus Christ warned us all, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:36). If YOU are one whom God is calling to take part in His WORK during these last days of proclaiming the witness of Christ; the Good News of His soon coming intervention in human affairs; if YOU are one who wants to have a part in the "work of the watchman" (Ezekiel 33), then call, or write immediately to find the name and number of the hosted fellowship group or chartered church nearest your home. (p. 32.)

Alas, the respite in relations between the State of Israel and the Palestinians came to an end about two years after this booklet's publication. Prime Minister Barak offered about 86% of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Yasser Arafat in the Camp David negotiations but insisted on keeping Israeli settlements that had been built over the objections of the Palestinian people and had often been confiscated from the Palestinian people. Arafat had already agreed to relinquish a claim of sovereignty over 78% of what was Mandatory Palestine hoping to get 22%. He refused to give up the claim of sovereignty over parts of the 22% of Mandatory Palestine, the Palestinian territories acquired in 1967, as well.

During the course of the Oslo Peace Process many Israelis perceived that this process legitimized the settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the settler population greatly expanded in the 1990s. This also encouraged the national religious settlers who believe that it is divinely ordained for Jews to settle all the land and expanded settlements seeking to fulfill their nationalist religious ideology. As the settler population expanded more land was taken from the Palestinians. More water was taken by the Israeli government for the benefit of the settlers while water often failed to be delivered for the Palestinians living nearby. Many of the settlements were constructed on hilltops to intimidate the Palestinians. Palestinian land worth a billion dollars was confiscated by the Israeli authorities to build bypass roads connecting the settlements. (The New Intifada, 2001.) Settlers were regarded as citizens of the State of Israel and could vote in elections while these things were denied to the Palestinians living nearby. As the settler population expanded they were protected by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were there to protect the settlers. Some settlers read between the lines and perceived that they could use violence and intimidation against the Palestinians with little chance of punishment by Israeli judicial authorities.

And so it is seen that this booklet by Garner Ted Armstrong is really an attempt to promote his views about the future. The many important events discussed in this booklet are just part of the package to insist that Garner Ted Armstrong can see the future and foresee that the second coming will be soon.

***

Also I find myself amazed at the occasional flashes of astounding ignorance displayed in this booklet. One would think that a man who had traveled around the world and even interviewed President Sadat would not write such glaring errors.

On page 1 he implies that Palestinian grievances toward the State of Israel is caused by anger over the conquest of Canaan in the time of Joshua. It is hard to convey how astoundingly ignorant this statement is.

On pages 14-15 while mentioning the Islamic practice of the pilgrimage to Mecca he mentions a novel by Leon Uris named The Haj which has nothing to do with the pilgrimage to Mecca.

On page 17 he says many Croatians are Muslims when in fact they tend to be Catholic. It is the ethnic Bosnians who tend to be Muslim. Furthermore it bears repeating that the Bosnians, Croats and Serbs are genetically speaking the same people. They even all speak differing dialects of the same language which are mutually intelligible.

On page 26 he says Saudi Arabia expelled many Palestinians during the time of the Gulf War for anti-Israeli sentiments when he seems to be actually referring to events in Kuwait.

On page 29 he cites an Israeli newspaper to claim that Iran already had nuclear weapons. Nineteen years later it is now clear that that claim was completely wrong.

On page 31 he claims that some sort of "race war" will occur in America in the near future. What a ridiculous, shameful and inflammatory claim to make.

Clearly there is no need to place any trust in Garner Ted Armstrong.

May peace soon come to the Holy Land.

A Portrait of Tensions in Palestine in 1933

Recently by chance I came upon a copy of the 1933 book, This Mighty Hour! The Message of These Stirring Times by Arthur S. Maxwell (1896-1970), a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Later in the 1950s Maxwell would write The Bible Story, a ten volume retelling of the Bible for children.

This Mighty Hour discussed world conditions as they were in 1933. It can be quite useful to see how people of the time viewed events to get a better understanding of the situation. Among many other things he also discussed the situation in Palestine as it was in 1933.

At the time much of the Arab world including Palestine was ruled by Britain and France as part of the (somewhat incomplete) implementation of the Sykes-Picot Treaty of 1916. Like America before 1775 there was widespread resentment within the Arab world at being ruled by foreigners and the Arab people of all religions, including the Palestinians, yearned for independence.

Also the British authorities overseeing Palestine allowed Jews to migrate there and join the Jewish community there which was named the Yishuv (settlement). Since the 1880s there had arisen a nationalist movement which dreamed of creating a Jewish state. It arose partly as a response to the horrors of anti-Semitic persecution in Tsarist Russia. The leaders of the Yishuv dreamed of creating a Jewish state. To fulfill this dream in 1901 the nationalist movement had founded the Jewish National Fund which used donations from Jews in the diaspora to purchase Palestinian land for Jewish immigrants in order to bring the dream of a Jewish state into reality. Among the Yishuv the ideal of self-labor and Hebrew labor arose to encourage the Yishuv to employ Jews. The dream of the Yishuv's leaders would become real after an insurgency against the British authorities and the Israeli War of Independence in 1947-9.

Below is what Maxwell wrote about the situation in Palestine on pages 116-120. He mentions tensions regarding the purchase of land and the 1929 riots.

*******

ARAB HATRED OF JEWISH ASCENDANCY

In Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Arabia, Trans-Jordania, there have been similar heart-stirrings since the war. Great promises were made to some of the native peoples of these countries as compensation for their services at the front.  Allegiance was purchased with dream-pictures very difficult to fulfill. Here again old ambitions revived and national aspirations blossomed forth. 

In Palestine, however, a serious complication arose. Seeming to forget the feelings of the hundreds of thousands of Arabs already in possession, Mr. Balfour, in his famous proclamation, virtually handed the country over to the Jews. At least, that is what the Arabs thought when they heard the story of the proposed Jewish National Home. And when they saw the Jews begin to pour into their country from all parts of the world, buying up the land and little by little taking possession of it as their fathers long ago took it from the Canaanites their worst fears seemed to be justified. 

They could not resist the tempting offers of Jewish gold, and yet they bitterly resented the wholesale loss of their heritage. Many indeed did not realize what they were doing when they made the exchange. They were glad enough to be paid four or five times what they thought their land was worth; it was in many cases more money than they had ever expected to see in their lives; but they did not appreciate the fact that they could not return to their homes again, that they must drift into the cities or begin to farm again elsewhere. And oft-times their money was spent before a new holding could be obtained, and all that remained to them was a deep-rooted sense of injury. 

The simmering pot of racial and religious passions boiled over in August, 1929, at the Wailing Wall, claimed as a holy place by both Jews and Mohammadans. Following a dispute as to the right of the Jews to worship there, stones were thrown. Then knives were drawn. The trouble spread. For several days the Arabs engaged in an organised slaughter of Jewish families all over Palestine. It was a ghastly exhibition of murderous fanaticism. When at last order was restored an inquiry was held, and it was admitted by Arab witnesses that practically the whole Mohammadan population was united in hostility towards the Jews because of the fear that they were being dispossessed of their country.

A WIDESPREAD REVOLT

A statement made at the time by the Grand Mufti and president of the Supreme Moslem Council is of special significance:- 

"What has happened in Palestine," he said, "will reverberate in every corner of Moslem Arabia. It is not a religious controversy but a national rebellion in which we have the sympathy and support of all the Moslem Arabs of Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and North Africa. British bayonets may impose tranquility for the moment, but ultimate peace in Palestine and Arabia will never be made so long as the Arabs are forcibly deprived of their rights, their land, and their independence." 

Anyone who has been to Palestine cannot but have noticed the tense feeling that exists between the rival factions. Talking with a Jew in Jerusalem one day, we asked him whether he thought there was any possibility of the Jews recovering possession of the Temple Area and replacing the Mosque of Omar with a modern replica of the temple of Solomon. He replied optimistically, expressing confidence in the power of gold to overcome all religious scruples. The Rothschild millions, he said, might even accomplish this seemingly impossible transition. But we were quickly disabused of this fantastic notion. The sight of an angry mob of Moslems expelling an intruder from the precincts of the mosque was a sufficient answer to such questionings, and convincing evidence that the spirit that burns within the heart of these dwellers in Jerusalem today is the same spirit that burned in the hearts of their forefathers. 

DANGEROUS MOVEMENTS ON FOOT 

The situation all through Palestine is still full of peril. There is little doubt that, but for the presence of the British, there would soon be general upheaval. If the restraining hand were for any reason withdrawn, the Jewish colonists would instantly be at the mercy of a frenzied and fanatical mob, supplemented by Arabs from Trans-Jordanian and elsewhere, who would swarm to their kinsmen's aid to complete the destruction of their hated enemies. 

What happened in 1929 may not, as the Grand Mufti said, have been a religious controversy; but call it what one may, there are certainly all the elements present for a holy war of the first magnitude. And if such a war should ever break out, judging by the temper of modern Mohammadanism, it would be conducted with all the ferocity of the holy wars of old.

These primitive peoples may have absorbed something of Western culture, but at heart they remain as they ever were. They may have cast off their eastern cloaks for morning suits, exchanged the fez for the trilby hat, adopted new methods of eating, installed wireless and other products of European and American factories in their homes; but underneath all this veneer of civilisation the soul of the Arab, the Turk, the Egyptian, remains untouched. There has been no large conversion to Christianity. No people are more impervious to its teachings. The fiery fanaticism that murdered the Jews in 1929 and massacred the Armenians during the war is by no means dead. The appetite for blind savagery is unabated. Beneath apparent serenity glows a veritable volcano which, in its ultimate eruption, must bring incalculable sorrow upon mankind.

*******

The Balfour declaration was issued without consulting the Palestinian people who were already there. The Palestinians made it clear that they opposed it as soon as they learned of it.

Intriguingly the author makes no mention of Palestinian Christians. Many of the Palestinian Arabs were Christians and this is true today but the author talks of them as Arabs and Muslims. The Palestinian Christians are left unmentioned. Instead the author complains that there had been no mass conversion to Christianity within Mandatory Palestine.

Recently PCG had a British columnist visit their headquarters who downplayed the importance of land in the tensions between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. And yet back in 1933 Maxwell wrote of the Palestinians being worried about those who dreamed of a Jewish National Home "buying up the land," that "they bitterly resented the wholesale loss of their heritage" after their land was sold to the Yishuv, that they did not fully understand what selling land to the Yishuv would mean, that they had "the fear that they were being dispossessed of their country." Just fifteen years later about 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and their land by the forces of the Yishuv. The fear of dispossession proved well founded.

In regards to the sale of land it needs to be mentioned that before the rise of the nationalist movement to create a Jewish state the practice in Palestine regarding farm land was that when the landlord sold it the tenant farmers were simply left to continue farming. The ownership could change but the farmers were secure in knowing that even in such an eventuality they would still be on the land. But when the persons of the nationalist movement began to purchase land using the Jewish National Fund the Yishuv wanted the farmers themselves to be Jews and not Palestinian so the Palestinian farmers were kicked out of their farms. To the Palestinian farmers who were used to having the land change ownership without being personally affected this was a terrible shock.

As Palestinians observed this behavior continuing many Palestinians called for land to not be sold to the Jewish National Fund in order to protect their farms. But as the call went out it also became quite manifest that some landlords would choose to sell the land despite widespread opposition to such transactions among the Palestinian people. Some of those landlords were absent from the land and did not perceive how the Palestinian people viewed these sales.

The author is rather vague about what happened in the riots of August 1929. 133 Jews and 129 Palestinian Arabs were killed in that terrible paroxysm of violence.

One reason for the start of the riots was tensions over arrangements at the Wailing Wall. Among Palestinians there was the fear that the Yishuv wanted to build a Third Temple. And then in 1933 Maxwell happens to talk to a man of the Yishuv who was optimistic that such a thing could be done. Who this man was is left unmentioned. Most likely he was unimportant but it is saddening to see that the author would choose to mention a man saying such inflammatory and unrealistic things in writing this book.

At one point the author talks of "Jewish gold." He also states that this individual in Jerusalem talk of the "Rothschild millions." Such talk is regrettable. We must always guard ourselves against reducing peoples to simplistic stereotypes. It is wrong to stereotype people.

The last paragraph is quite regrettable reading it today with his dire view of Arabs, Turks and Egyptians. In a sense he was foreseeing the advent of decolonization but he viewed it as something to be feared and loathed even though his own nation had gained independence after fighting the military forces of Britain. As the colonized peoples of the world gained more education and experience many yearned for independence. It proved untenable to maintain colonialism once the colonized perceived that they were fully capable of managing their own affairs for themselves and that they did not need the colonizers to rule over them.

Reading this book from 1933 reminds us that the tensions in the Holy Land have been ongoing for a long time. The length of this problem makes a solution producing lasting peace even more urgent. We must not lose hope that such a thing cannot be made and just accept this bloodshed and turmoil as a fact of life. Peace is possible. May peace soon come to the Holy Land.

Overview of the August 2017 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

PCG has released another issue of their recruitment magazine (August 2017) in an attempt to gain more tithes paying converts. Back in 2012 PCG had an income of about $19.5 million according a booklet by their leader, Gerald Flurry. Even as early as 1996 PCG claimed to have more than $5 million in annual income. Recently PCG has even bought its own plane.

Let's take a look at what PCG's leadership are saying this time.

Even though Republican legislators are trying to pass a healthcare law which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cause 23 million Americans to lose their health insurance that weighty matter is ignored. Instead the issue argues that one should be worried about nuclear war.

The editors are Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Joel Hilliker, Brad MacDonald, Richard Palmer, Robert Morley, Jeremiah Jacques, Dennis Leap and Phillip Nice.

The circulation for this issue is 255,897 issues. July's circulation was 267,569. May-June's circulation was 263,551. April's circulation was 267,569 (which happens to be the same as July's figure). March's circulation was 271,949. February was 273,591. January was 267,992. November-December was 277,131.

Gerald Flurry has a particularly bitter personal article condemning the Paris Climate Accord by denouncing it as an attempt to undermine and control America. He also moans about former President Obama for supporting the Paris Climate Accord even though he is no longer president. He defends President Trump's decision to withdraw from it. 

Andrew Müller has an article insisting that there is no scientific consensus that climate change is happening because of the excess emission of greenhouse gases by humans. He implies that concerns about climate change is an attempt "to frighten people into surrendering their freedom to centralized government." (p. 6.) However the vast majority of scientists say that climate change is real and it is being by human activities.

Jorg Mardian has a little article extolling the health benefits of enjoying laughter.

Richard Palmer has an article denouncing the leaders of Britain's Labour Party as "Communists" even though such heated rhetoric has clearly failed to stop the Labour Party's strong electoral performance in the last election. It also includes a side article by Richard Palmer blaming the youth for the Labour Party's increased share of the vote.

Brad MacDonald has an interview with the German journalist Niklas Frank discussing Germany and the journalist's infamous father, Hans Frank.

Stephen Flurry has an article insisting that America is propping up the supposed rise to power of both Europe and Iran. He excoriates Obama for making the nuclear power deal with Iran and Trump for calling on Germany to spend more money on its military.

Kieran Underwood has a little article discussing what would happen if European nations increased their military budgets.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article bemoaning that in his opinion China has succeeded in establishing control of its claimed territory in the South China Sea.

Andrew Müller has an article denouncing the various murders of white South African farmers. As is well known South Africa presently has a severe problem with violent crime which harms everyone of all races and all socioeconomic classes.

Gerald Flurry has an article promoting (PCG's edited version of) Mystery of the Ages insisting that it can reveal various religious teachings about the nature of God.

Joel Hilliker has a little article encouraging readers to manage stress by being healthy. This would be easier to do if a certain proposed legislation, which if passed will cause 23 million Americans to lose their health insurance, gets rejected by the Senate.

Abraham Blondeau has an article scare mongering that the European nation states are a "hidden superpower." The Infographic shares the same theme.

WorldWatch mentions that Germany will establish a military vase in Jordan; NATO is to conduct military operations against ISIL; Lebanon presenting a request for $12 billion in aid from Europe; a spokesman of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announcing that they will continue to develop their missile capabilities; speculation that Iran has copied a submarine design from North Korea; a thaw in relations between Iran and Hamas; North Korea's test launch of a Hwasong-12 missile on May 14; scare mongering that states and cities bear more debt than is generally acknowledged; and speculation that the newly elected South Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-in may ease relations with North Korea.

SocietyWatch mentions gang violence by MS-13 criminal gang in order to condemn President Obama's supposedly soft stance regarding immigration (even though more people were deported under President Obama than any other president); that 36% of respondents in a Gallup poll said that pornography was moral; and citing the murder rate in Baltimore to insist that the murder rate was caused by the riots of 2015 that occurred after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. PCG has a long history of condemning Black Lives Matter protesters and insisting that their grievances are wrong and illegitimate.

There are letters. Only four of them this time. Here is one letter from Huntsville, Alabama from a person who used to read HWA's recruitment magazine and seems to be unaware that there are hundreds of COG splinter groups which all teach many of the same things that PCG teach as well.

I used to be hooked on Herbert Armstrong’s magazine. I’d go and find them in the stands everywhere and read them. But then I stopped finding those stands. But when I took my mom to the doctor here in town, low and behold, I found the Philadelphia Trumpet—only this is by Mr. Gerald Flurry. And if you can get the word to him, tell him he is doing a wonderful work. I sure do appreciate it. I have a lot of questions, and none of the other denominations answer them, but Mr. Flurry sure does.

Here is one letter from Phoenix, Arizona from a person of German background insisting that the situation in Europe is worse than what PCG has said. No wonder PCG's writers picked this letter to publish.

I really like getting your magazine! It talks a lot about Europe, and I have a German background, so I’m very interested in what’s going on over there. Your magazine is true. What’s happening over there is far worse than what they are publishing here. I agree with what you say about it.

Here is one letter from Florida.

I am a permanently disabled combat veteran, and I read the magazine every month. I agree with most everything it says, and I don’t agree with much these days.

It is certainly to be hoped that one who had sacrificed so much will be looked after and be blessed with a happy and prosperous life.

For whatever reason there is no mention in this recruitment magazine of the controversy surrounding President Trump's firing of the director of the FBI.

PCG's writers insists that there are so many threats directed toward their audience and yet they make no mention in this issue of the proposed legislation now heading to the Senate which if passed will cause about 24 million to lose their health insurance. No doubt that would include thousands of those who read this recruitment magazine. And yet PCG's leadership says nothing about that in this issue.

And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine seeking to gain new recruits and to keep their followers overawed towards PCG's 1% by thinking that they can see the future. They cannot. Since its founding in 1989 PCG has made at least 52 failed predictions. Getting a British columnist to talk at their headquarters cannot change that fact. Clearly PCG's leaders are but false prophets. There is no need to fear their dire proclamations. PCG's leaders are but false prophets.