"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." Northwoods is a ministry dedicated to refreshing Christians and challenging them to search for the truth in Christianity, politics, sociology, and science
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour
This is in Justin Trudeau's riding of Papineau, Montreal. We should be hearing from the Prime Minister very soon on what a deplorable act has been committed in his riding, on his watch.
Shots Fired at Montreal Yeshiva
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 7:31 PM | < 1Minute Read
By Matis Glenn, Hamodia
Front door of Belz Yeshiva Katana riddled with bullet holes.
The Montreal Jewish community was shocked by yet another early morning shooting at a religious institution Tuesday, as antisemitic hate crimes continue to increase.
Four bullets were shot through the front door of Belz Yeshiva Katana at 3:35 a.m. Baruch Hashem no injuries occurred.
The suspect is still at large and the investigation is ongoing.
Surveillance camera footage shows the gunman, but not his vehicle; he had parked at a distance from the building.
European elections: French parties compete for seats at the EU parliament
Europeans will be voting from June 6-9 for members of the European Parliament, where France holds 81 of the 720 seats up for grabs. French voters will choose among candidate lists submitted by the country’s political parties; those hoping to lead their parties to EU victory are known as têtes de liste (head of the list). FRANCE 24 looks at the seven whose parties are likely to surpass the 5 percent threshold needed to win a seat in the European Parliament.
A record 38 French parties are fielding candidate lists for the European parliamentary elections this year, some of them established political figures and others less known.
Representation at the European Parliament is allocated by population, with France holding the second-highest number of seats with 81 after Germany, which leads with 96.
Member nations' seats are allocated proportionally, so if a party wins 25 percent of its national vote it will also receive 25 percent of its country’s seats at the European Parliament.
The newly elected members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will join supranational political groups organised by political affiliation; France's Socialists, Greens, far-right parties and others will join like-minded counterparts from across Europe. There are currently seven active groups at the European Parliament.
Georgian opposition supporters rally against a "foreign agents" bill in downtown Tbilisi on Tuesday on which lawmakers were expected to later vote to override a presidential veto clearing the way for the legislation, which has divided the country, to become law. Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/EPA-EFE
May 28 (UPI) --On Tuesday, Georgian lawmakers overrode a presidential veto of a controversial law forcing Western-backed NGOs and media to register as foreign agents that opponents fear jeopardizes any chance of EU membership and takes the country down the path of closer union with Russia.
Parliament elected to override President Salome Zourabichvili's veto of the "transparency of foreign influence" law in an84-4 vote with most opposition MPs abstaining.
Protestors gathered outside the legislature in the capital, Tbilisi, before the vote to reverse the May 18 veto at a crucial juncture, the outcome of which will have major implications for the South Caucasus nation for years to come.
Ahead of the vote, a defiant parliamentary procedural committee said sovereign nations were "not subject to any sanctions by any international standards" and that the vote to override the presidential veto, which unlike the U.S. Congress only requires a simple majority,would go ahead.
The governing Georgian Dream party managed to get the bill requiring media outlets, corruption watchdogs and campaign groups that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to declare they represent the "interest of a foreign power," through with a 54-vote majority on May 14 after reviving the proposal six weeks earlier.
NGOs, media and other groups that receive grants for pro-democracy and anti-graft efforts from the United States, Germany, Sweden and other Western liberal democracies would be disproportionately affected by the new law which imposes stiff penalties for non-compliance.
The fight put Georgian Dream politicians pushing Kremlin-type conspiracies of an underground "Global War Party" that is pushing Ukraine and Georgia toward war with Russia up against those who see the law as a watershed moment that will either see Georgia align itself with the West, or pivot toward Moscow.
The Global War Party is actually NATO, being controlled by America's Deep State. NATO functions as a storefront for American arms manufacturers and so, they have a great interest in keeping the Ukraine War going, and even growing.
The government had promised to ditch the law "unconditionally" after massive opposition internationally and at home that brought tens of thousands of Georgians onto the streets in March 2023, protests that were met with a heavy-handed response from security forces.
The scene was peaceful as protestors gathered outside the parliament building Tuesday, with a larger rally due to be held closer to the evening vote inside but there were reports of masked security forces in and around the complex.
The United States responded to the passage of the bill by announcing visa restrictions on Georgian officials and a review of its relationship with the country.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there were "clear indications of a campaign of intimidation and the use of violence" to suppress protests and that the law undermined Georgia's democracy and fundamental freedoms.
As if America wasn't involved in organizing and provoking the protests, which is the point of the legislation.
The European Union's top foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, warned that the adoption of a law he said was "incompatible" with EU values and norms "negatively impacts Georgia's progress on the EU path."
He said the European Council's granting candidate country status to Georgia was on the understanding that the relevant 9 steps set out in the Commission recommendation of Nov. 8, 2023, were implemented.
"These steps require human rights to be protected and civil society as well as media to be able to operate freely. They also refer to the need for depolarisation and the fight against disinformation."
Borrell issued a statement on Tuesday, along with the European Commission, saying that the EU and its member states "are considering all options to react" to the vote.
"Beyond the law on transparency of foreign influence, there has been so far insufficient political attention mobilized to progress substantially on the nine steps," they said. "We urge the Georgia authorities to reverse this trend and to return firmly on the EU path. There is still time to change the dynamics -- but a strong commitment by the governing authorities is needed."
On Monday, the speakers of seven European parliaments also called on Georgia's parliament to withdraw the law, urging the country to stay on the path toward integration with the EU.
The path toward integration with the EU, is the path toward yielding sovereignty, like the rest of Europe has to the hegemony of the USA.
More than four million chickens in Iowa will have to be killed after a case of the highly pathogenic bird flu was detected at a large egg farm, the state announced Tuesday.
Crews are in the process of killing 4.2 million chickens after the disease was found at a farm in Sioux County, Iowa, making it the latest in a yearslong outbreak that now is affecting dairy cattle as well. Last week, the virus was confirmed at an egg farm west of Minneapolis, Minnesota, leading to the slaughter of nearly 1.4 million chickens.
Overall, 92.34 million birds have been killed since the outbreak began in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Although bird flu has become somewhat common among poultry, its spread to cattle has added to worries about the disease. In May, a second dairy farmworker was diagnosed with bird flu, and the virus was detected in both beef and milk. It has been confirmed on dairy cattle farms in nine states.
2:17
Australia, U.S. report second bird flu cases in humans
Health and agriculture officials have said the risk to the public remains low. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the meat from a single sickened dairy cow was not allowed to enter the nation’s food supply and beef remains safe to eat.
Workers exposed to infected animals are at a higher risk. The only three human cases confirmed in the United States included two dairy workers and one man working to slaughter infected birds on a poultry farm.
Will this be the next global pandemic with mRNA vaccines that are approved, indeed mandated, without ever having serious clinical trials?
Europe should study this technique. Maybe there is a way to apply it to the deportation of radical Muslims.
North Korea sends balloons with feces, trash attached into South Korea
An extreme version of slinging mud pies on the playground is playing out on the Korean peninsula as North Korea took responsibility for sending hundreds of balloons filled with feces and trash over its border with South Korea.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said about 260 North Korean balloons have been found all over the country as of Wednesday afternoon. Chemical and explosive response teams have been sent out to recover the balloons and debris.
This photo provided by South Korea Defence Ministry, shows balloons with trash in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, on Wednesday. South Korea Presidential Office via AP
Photos released by the military show some still-intact white balloons with trash bags attached to them while others show scattered pieces of plastic and paper on city streets. Apart from the trash, the South Korean military says manure and animal feces were also deployed by some of the balloons. So far, no human excrement has been found.
Somebody checked?
An alert was sent to South Korean residents warning them to stay inside and to report any balloon sightings to authorities. Most of the balloons landed near border provinces, but some made it hundreds of miles south to South Gyeongsang.
Trash from a balloon sent by North Korea seen strewn on a street in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. South Korea Presidential Office via AP
North Korea’s vice defence minister Kim Kang Il said the bizarre provocation was a “tit-for-tat” move in retaliation for South Korean activists sending balloons across the border with leaflets criticizing North Korea’s human rights abuses. The balloons sometimes include USBs that contain K-pop music videos and K-drama TV shows, which are banned in the authoritarian state.
“Tit-for-tat action will be also taken against frequent scattering of leaflets and other rubbish (by South Korea) near border areas,” Kim said Sunday. “Mounds of wastepaper and filth will soon be scattered over the border areas and the interior of (South Korea) and it will directly experience how much effort is required to remove them.”
South Korea’s military said in a statement that the North’s balloons “violate international law and seriously threaten our people’s safety.”
“(We) sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop these inhumane and vulgar acts.”
Trash from a balloon sent by North Korea seen strewn on a street in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. South Korea Presidential Office via AP
This statement caught the attention of Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, who argued that North Korea is merely exercising its freedom of expression by sending the balloons. The Seoul government has used freedom of expression as a reason for why it’s unable to stop activists from sending leaflets over the border.
“Once you experience how nasty and exhausting it feels to go around picking up dirty filth, you will realize that you shouldn’t talk about freedom of expression so easily when it comes to (leafletting) in border areas,” she said. “We will make it clear that we will respond with tens more times the amount of filth to what the (South Koreans) spray to us in the future.”
There were no immediate reports of damage caused by the balloons. Similar North Korean balloon activities damaged cars and other property in 2016.
In this photo provided by Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, balloons with trash hang on electric wires as South Korean army soldiers stand guard in Muju, South Korea, on Wednesday. Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters via AP
The balloon campaign came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged his military scientists to overcome a failed satellite launch and continue developing space-based reconnaissance capabilities, which he described as crucial for countering U.S. and South Korean military activities, state media said Wednesday.
In his first public comments about the launch failure, Kim also warned of unspecified “overwhelming actions” against South Korea over an exercise involving 20 fighter jets near the inter-Korean border hours before North Korea’s failed launch on Monday. In a speech Tuesday, Kim described the South Korean response as a “hysterical attack formation flight and strike drill” and “direct military challenge” toward North Korea, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday.
Animosities between the Koreas are at their worst level in years as the pace of both Kim’s weapons demonstrations and South Korea’s combined military exercises with the U.S. and Japan have intensified since 2022.
Air Canada says one of its flights from Toronto to Delhi on Monday evening developed an engine issue shortly after take-off and had to land back at Pearson airport.
The airline said Flight AC042, which left Toronto at 7:44 p.m. Monday, requested a “priority landing,” as the return was not scheduled, after discovering the engine issue.
The engine was shut down following standard operating procedures, the airline said, adding that the aircraft are designed to operate with one engine and their pilots are trained to fly safely in such situations.
“The aircraft landed normally and taxied to the gate,” Air Canada said in a statement to Global News.
The passengers originally on that flight will be travelling to Delhi on a new flight.
IDF map showing location of the air force strike preceding the Rafah civilian tent fire
Once again, Israel has been accused of heinous and inhuman behaviour — a charge that has incited yet further global hysteria and exterminatory hatred against the Jewish state — which turns out to be a vicious falsehood.
On Sunday, Israel’s air force carried out a strike in Rafah targeting two senior Hamas commanders whom it had tracked by aerial surveillance to a compound in the Tal as Sultan area.
Following this strike, a terrible fire broke out in a number of refugee tents where Gazans displaced by the war were burned alive. The Hamas-run health ministry says 45 civilians were killed here and many more injured.
This was clearly an appalling and horrifying thing to have taken place. But what happened next transformed a deeply regrettable tragedy of warfare into a malevolent blood libel.
The western media, politicians and “humanitarian” groups parroted the Hamas claim that the Israelis had wilfully targeted a refugee camp that Israel itself had designated as a protected humanitarian area. The BBC chose to report that the Irish deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin, had condemned an Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians, describing it as “barbaric”.
The fact that Israel had done what the world had demanded but said was impossible, by moving almost one million Gazans for their safety out of the area of Rafah where the IDF was about to conduct its military operations, counted for nothing. The strike on this humanitarian area, said the world — from the UN to the EU to the French president Emmanuel Macron — showed that there was “no safe space anywhere”. This apparently proved that the IDF assault on Rafah, in the teeth of the global requirement to desist, demonstrated the Israelis’ callous disregard for human life and the rules of war and therefore that they were truly monstrous.
Except that this was totally untrue. The Israeli strike had taken place one and half kilometres away from the designated humanitarian area. The IDF’s target location was inside the Rafah combat zone. You can see this clearly on the IDF map above.
According to the Israelis, the strike was carried out
in accordance with international law, was based on intelligence and executed using precision weaponry.
Israeli jets had used two small bombs to minimise civilian casualties. The IDF said it had taken steps ahead of the attack to ensure that no women or children were in the Hamas compound. The strike took place more than 100 metres away from the shelters that caught fire.
So what actually happened?
Earlier, Israeli officials toldthe Biden administration that shrapnel from the strike may have ignited a nearby fuel tank. Further information that has come to light, however, suggests that the tents were actually ignited by Hamas munitions.
This video footage, reportedly filmed by a Gaza resident in the immediate aftermath of the Israeli strike and obtained by the website Abu Ali Express, features an onlooker saying that what was hit was a Hamas Jeep “filled with ammo and weapons,” and he expressed a worry that “any moment a [Hamas] rocket can fly at us…”
The IDF says it now suspects that ammunition, weapons, or some other inflammatory material was stored in the area of the strike, causing a secondary blast and the fire that spread to the civilian tents.
The IDF has released an intercepted conversation between two Gazans suggesting that an ammunition store in the area had ignited. The first speaker says:
… and they say that they (the Hamas terrorists that were bombed) sat in a meeting and that there is a facility and in addition they had ammunition because all of the ammunition that started exploding. Bags of money were flying in the air, Abu Rafiq.
Second speaker:
These (the ammunition that exploded) were really ours?’
First speaker:
Yes, this is an ammunition warehouse. I tell you it exploded….I mean the Jewish bombing wasn’t strong, it was a small missile because it didn’t create a large hole.
Second speaker:
And afterwards a lot of secondary explosions.
The IDF has also released a satellite photo of the area indicating that there was at least one Hamas rocket launcher near the compound that was bombed.
So since this was not the designated humanitarian area, why were any civilian tents in this danger zone? Possibly these Gazans had been forced to remain there by Hamas; we don’t know. And we don’t yet know all the details of what actually happened, which await an Israeli military inquiry.
What’s now clear, however, is that Hamas was once again using Gazan civilians as canon fodder and human shields by situating amongst them terrorist leaders, rocket launchers and ammunition — incorporating civilians into what international law regards as legitimate military targets.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described the fire as “a tragic mishap”. Not, note, a “mistake”, as some media outlets have wrongly reported him as saying — which would have meant Israel erroneously bombed civilians. This was an event that was as unforeseeable as it was terrible. It was not Israel’s fault.
But of course, it has been turned into yet another weapon with which to demonise Israel by those wishing for its destruction, including the western media which promotes murderous blood libels about Israel as facts.
The day after the Rafah fire, this picture was published in various outlets purporting to show Gazans’ grief over one of the victims of the tent inferno.
