Recent archaeological findings near the ancient Philistine city of Gath have unearthed evidence of fighting around this town known in the Bible as the home of Goliath.  “Diggers at Gath have also uncovered traces of a destruction of the city in the 9th century B.C., including a ditch and embankment built around the city by a besieging army—still visible as a dark line running across the surrounding hills.  The razing of Gath at that time appears to have been the work of the Aramean king Hazael in 830 B.C., an incident mentioned in the Book of Kings” (see 2 Kings 12:17).

Vanderbilt University in Tennessee has added Wiccan and pagan holidays to its annual academic calendar.  The university calendar informs faculty and students what days qualify for excused absences.  This calendar recognizes Christian holidays, Jewish holidays, Muslim holidays—and now Wiccan/pagan holidays.  Wicca is an officially recognized “religion” in the United States and many other nations.  So now, witches can request days off to observe the Feast of the Dead and worship the sacred marriage goddess (USA Today, August 17, 2011).

In 2007, the cover article of Tomorrow’s World magazine asked the question Resurgent Germany: A Fourth Reich? (see September-October issue).  Last week, London’s Daily Mail ran an article entitled, “Rise of the Fourth Reich, how Germany is using the financial crisis to conquer Europe.”

Three weeks ago, “A balloon-festooned barge bearing the standards of the service branches sponsored by the Defense Ministry sailed among about 80 other floats, with music blaring from most of them and dancers dressed in flamboyant costumes—or very little….”   The parade in Amsterdam “capped a weeklong festival of around 300 parties and events.  It included the popular ‘Drag Queen Olympics’….”

“A car bomb in the southern Philippines killed one person and wounded seven Monday in an attack targeting a governor who took office after many of his relatives were slain in the country’s worst political massacre in 2009.”  Among the suspects in the 2009 massacre are a “powerful family patriarch and former governor, Andal Ampatuan Sr., and a number of his sons…,” and almost 200 others!