Mark Armstrong's Update (March 23, 2018)

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has a new weekly update posted (March 23, 2018.).

Let's see what he has to say this time.

This time Mark Armstrong complains that President Trump is not acting as he had hoped by signing the latest spending bill; condemns the March for Our Lives rallies; and reminiscences about his father.

Greetings from Tyler, 

No longer hanging fire is the so-called “omnibus spending bill,” which fully funds much that the President campaigned against.  A half billion for Planned Parenthood, grants for sanctuary cities and full funding for every socialist boondoggle known to man.  The spending bill, a pile of paper stacked nearly three feet in height, two thousand some odd pages, is loaded with legal mumbo jumbo, footnotes and obscure references to obscure references.  In fact, no single human being knows what all is actually contained in the spending bill.  Yet it was presented for consideration less than two days before a deadline would bring the dreaded government shutdown if not approved.

Mark Armstrong states that he is amazed that the spending bill was passed as easily as it did. He grouses that the United States is on the road to bankruptcy. It is not. The United States was actually more indebted per capita then it is today back in the 1940s because of World War II. He complains that Democratic Party legislators boasted of being able to do more while in the minority in both the House and the Senate. This conveniently shifts blame for the spending bill away from his preferred party.

Much to our amazement, the measure zoomed through the House and Senate without drama accompanied by a series of celebratory speeches where those who've been in the forefront of bankrupting the nation are boasting that they've been able to “accomplish more” than was possible when they were in the majority.  Piling additional debt onto our babies' futures is no longer a source of guilt for pious “lawmakers.”

He complains that he got rolled with the President signing the spending bill. He scare mongers that the spending bill may cause severe problems alluding to the Armstrongite teaching that the United States is fated to soon be conquered by a German led European military force with Americans taken as slave labor by this future European military force. The COGs have constantly promoted this fear inducing false prophecy since the 1930s and yet their dire prediction has always failed.

Ruinous funding for the “social justice” agenda is the price for rebuilding the military and sinking America another trillion into debt, atop the $20 odd trillion already accrued.  Every conservative voice urged the President to veto the spending and have a televised heart to heart conversation with the American people explaining why we simply cannot proceed down the path of piling up indebtedness at such a clip.  But that didn't happen. It looks as though he's the one who got rolled this time, along with all those who've supported his agenda.  Brace yourself, the fallout from this expensive faux pas may be well beyond anything the president or his advisors predicted.

He moans about "hand-outs and giveaways" implying such things will somehow cause the United State to go bankrupt.

But this will be the “last time” the President will sign anything like this, he said.  After all, how much of this ridiculous, wasteful spending, particularly on hand-outs and giveaways, can the U. S. sustain?

He appears to be unaware of the fact that the United States was more indebted per capita in the 1940s.

He then suddenly decides to condemn those calling for common sense gun control laws after the massacre in Florida. Even though about 187,000 American students have been exposed to the horror of gun violence in their own schools since the Columbine massacre in 1999 Mark Armstrong insists that those calling for law reforms on this important matter are wrong. He is at peace with the NRA so how dare anyone should criticize their approach to this matter. In his attempt to discredit widespread calls for reforms he cites one instance of a mass murder in France heedless of the well known fact that, alas, gun violence occurs more frequently in the United States than any other developed nation.

You've undoubtedly heard of the crazed Muslim ISIS sympathizer who killed three and wounded a dozen others shooting up a supermarket in the south of France.  Impossible, you might say.  With strict gun control laws firmly in place, surely this kind of thing can't happen.  But it did.  It took policemen with guns to end the carnage.  Unarmed citizens were merely pawns for the terrorist who ran riot knowing there would be no armed citizens or supermarket employees to slow him down.

He indulges in ad hominem attacks against the March for Our Lives rallies. He derides teenage participants as having "emotional immaturity" and seeking "adulation and fame". Insulting the participants of the March for Our Lives rallies is not an argument against calls for implementing laws to prevent gun massacres. He also whines that some people will condemn his statement as being "mean, insensitive, insulting and all the rest." He does not mention in this update that some of those teenage participants he condemns went through the horror of gun violence at school. 

Community organizers of radical, anti-American persuasion, have planned and funded mass “gun control” protests for Washington D. C. this weekend.  Sixty's radicals are taking advantage of the emotional immaturity of thousands of the nation's adolescents and their desire for adulation and fame to produce a massive crowd of sign carrying, script reading kids.  “I don't think we want our nation run by people who ride their bicycles to school,” was the hilarious statement made this morning by radio host Chris Plant.  Some will deride such a statement as mean, insensitive, insulting and all the rest.  But, whether it was timing or content, it was funny.  Of course, nothing is allowed to be funny anymore, no matter how funny it may be.  People are insulted and angry, don't you know.  Thank goodness there are a precious few who, against all odds and in the face of vicious scolding and shaming, still deliver the occasional well-timed punch line. 

Instead of thinking about solving the problem of gun violence in schools he chooses to defend his favored political side. So often he complains about matters occurring in far away lands and yet he seems so eager to stop talking about the horror of gun violence in his own nation's schools.

At this point he finally decides to take a break from indulging in his partisan screeds and he reminiscences about his father and promotes his COG organization as not being authoritarian.

Those who have any background or experience with the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association and the Intercontinental Church of God know that we don't operate an authoritarian enterprise.  We don't have a task-master ministry or an atmosphere of fear where people report on each other and the church takes disciplinary action.   We recently watched a video sermon that my Dad preached in his waning years where he denied being the “spiritual leader” in the church. 

He boasts of refusing "to be bogged down in the depths of despair, with a simmering outrage that defines our very essence" even though most his weekly updates are angry partisan screeds blaming one side of the political divide for all kinds of problems facing the United States.

He was a great teacher, an accomplished speaker and one who had a grasp, not only of the plain simplicity of the Bible, but broad knowledge on a wide range of subjects, all of which brought understanding and entertainment to his messages.  We simply refuse to be bogged down in the depths of despair, with a simmering outrage that defines our very essence, as has become the norm in mainstream media.  Even comedy can't be funny anymore, it has to be angry and outwardly insulting to nearly everybody's intelligence. 

He ends his weekly screed of condemning the left by slurring them as "those who hate the liberty [the Armstrongite God] has uniquely granted" and accusing them of seeking to destroy that liberty.

We may have to endure dark days from time to time in this life, but they will not define us.  God has given us so many blessings and so much for which to be thankful, we can only hope and pray that those who hate the liberty He has uniquely granted will not be successful in destroying it.  Many of us have children and grandchildren who will bear the burden of errors committed now.  Even the Ten Commandments, the foundation of all civilized law, tell us that the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.  None of us know if this nation or this world will be recognizable three or four generations out, but we do know that we'd better do our part to stand for the immutable truths that made our freedom and prosperity possible in the first place.  

Mark

He includes a postscript discussing the upcoming celebration of the Armstrongite versions of Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, Armstrongite appropriations of originally Jewish festivals.

P. S.  The next monthly letter has just been mailed out, nearly ten thousand copies.  A new edition of Twentieth Century WATCH is complete and will be mailed next week.  And we're looking forward to the arrival of quite a few guests to observe the Night to be Remembered, the Passover (Lord's Supper) and first Day of Unleavened Bread.  We're sure that many around the country and across the world are making similar preparations and we salute you!

And so Mark Armstrong ends his weekly update.

Mark Armstrong: "They ... Will Replace Every Last One of Us Eventually"

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has another weekly update posted. (March 16, 2018.)

Let's see what he has to say this time.

One would think that being the leader of the Intercontinental Church of God he would have many issues to deal with managing this organization. One would think that this weekly update would the perfect opportunity for him to tell his followers what is happening with their organization. Instead he uses this weekly update to speak up for his preferred president and rant and complain about those who do not happen to follow his preferred president. The management of the Intercontinental Church of God is seemingly unworthy of comment here.

He complains about undocumented immigrants as he so often does. Such persons are unable to vote so they are convenient targets for invective.

We live at a time when every western nation is at war with itself. Over the past two weeks we've seen something unheard of in our culture, where the Mayor of Oakland warned illegal alien criminals of impending raids. The Attorney General paid California a visit to say that it was insanity for local and state officials to warn criminals in time to elude apprehension. Governor Jerry Brown threw a public fit and said that a state of war had been created between his state and the Federal government. Not so long ago the Obama administration and its defenders, sued the state of Arizona for apprehending illegal aliens. The same saboteurs who now call “sanctuary” city and state laws their right, argued that Federal Law was supreme in the case of Arizona. Funny how these arguments swap ends depending on the desired outcome.

He then alludes to the recent massacre in Florida. It's not about the guns for Mark Armstrong. It's about emergency calls not being followed through. So how dare the survivors of the massacre call for stricter gun control laws and criticize the NRA. Mark Armstrong's heart bleeds for the NRA.

It's too bad the 911 calls to authorities couldn't have been released a month ago. The caller was a woman who explained that the [suspect's surname] kid had threatened her son with a gun to his head, was threatening to shoot up the school and was on his way to purchase the rifle with which he subsequently carried out the pitiless killings. We had to wait for all the demonstrations demanding gun control, the “die ins,” scoldings of lawful gun owners and the NRA before being told how detailed and explicit the warnings had been to law enforcement. 

It's not about the guns. He implies it's about leftist police officers leaving the suspect alone so he could commit the massacre as part of a left wing plot to impose gun control laws that the NRA disapprove of.

“He's on his way to pick up a gun,” she said after relaying the threats he'd made in addition to several incidents where he'd put guns to people's heads. To say this one fell through the cracks is a ridiculous understatement. As we've mentioned previously the FBI was warned directly and did nothing. The local police and sheriffs were warned and did nothing. Conspiracy theorists are wondering if these entities, steeped in leftist drama, didn't stand back and allow this to happen for the benefit of their gun-control agenda. We can't imagine that is the case, but then again, what was the point of Fast and Furious, if not to distribute American guns to criminal Mexican gangs for the inevitable fallout? 

He alleges that the Department of Justice, the FBI and media outlets are working against his preferred president.

It's likely that all the machinations and abuses committed during the Obama years will never be unraveled or adjudicated. But their attempt to prevent the election of Donald Trump, and then quickly destroy the incoming administration may yet. Evidence of the intent and actions of the highest-ranking officials in the Department of Justice and the FBI has been spilling out into the public record since the end of December. Little by little we've seen that there were surreptitious and successful attempts to control the news cycle, aided and abetted by nearly every mainstream outlet. But it seems that those caught committing sedition against Donald Trump's presidency were also in a position to classify their own communications and deeds, shielding them from public view.

He presents Robert Mueller's investigation as a sham maintained, he claims, by the censorship of most media outlets.

To this day, mainstream publications and all the major tech companies are banking on ignorance and distractions of the vast majority of the public. If they don't report the truth, and none of the other big conglomerates don't either, then nothing will come of it. What would be earth-shattering revelations are simply ignored as they have been for over a year now, while they root for Mueller to charge the President or his family members with an act of criminality. Readers and viewers are tantalized with all the “glamor shots” of fast women in slinky attire that have scandalous stories to tell.

Mark Armstrong favors President Trump so to ignore the various negative stories about him he just claims that the media is conspiring against his preferred president.

It may be working. Ratings numbers and statistics would indicate that a relatively small percentage of the population is well informed. Every Internet news giant gratuitously slants their headlines every single day. Only a glance through the headlines they present makes that glaringly obvious. If they don't like the news, it's not there. They just ignore it altogether. Some of the revelations that are coming out of late are impossible to spin, so they pretend to be utterly unaware while interrogating a panel about chaos in the White House.

One may safely ignore the various negative stories about his preferred president, he insists. Soon the negative stores about his preferred president will be revealed to a massive sham.

Those who have been paying attention and are aware of the extent to which our most respected agencies of law enforcement have been misused for corrupt purposes, to destroy a President and his administration, are waiting and waiting. How long before the mainstream can no longer ignore the obvious? When the dam finally breaks, which we're assured it will, how will they spin that? Surely, they'll try. What happens when their heroes, the anonymous high government officials responsible for “leaking,” instigating hundreds of misleading headlines and thousands of hours of expert analysis on air, are shown to have broken nearly every law they'd sworn to uphold? How will they spin that?

He states that only right wing media outlets have reported the truth. He rhetorically asks why no one else have stated such things ignoring the possibility that he might be error.

Much of the information is out. It's been out in stark relief for months. The outlines, without proof were visible long before that. Iron-clad proof has been available and disseminated through conservative media only since December. Have any of the major Internet platforms reported it? Have any of the mainstream networks (beyond the maligned FNC) carried so much as a hint or a word?

He moans that his preferred president is being criticized in the media. Don't they know not to hurt Mark Armstrong's feelings?

The “news” is all about how crazy, petulant, uncouth, brazen, disorganized, selfish and egotistical is the lunatic in office. World records have been set, no doubt. Countless thousands of hours and millions of pages have been dedicated to sneering and smearing, on the basis of one leak, one false report after another.

He complains about how others tend to be given more respect than his preferred president. He also indulges in some Islamophobia by implying that Germany might somehow be taken over by Muslims.

The pope? He's a genius, in touch with modern times. Angela Merkel? Why, she's holding Germany together by claiming, “Islam belongs to Germany.” The way things are going, it might end up the other way around. Global warming? It's a proven fact of reality according to all the media and most politicians. It's just become too dangerous to deny global warming. They'll come out of the woodwork to brand you a “denier,” which hearkens to the claim used to identify those who claim the Holocaust never happened. 

He complains that so many people view matters differently from himself.

It's tangled, and everything is a mess when a majority of society's institutions have buckled to every socialist dictate. Buck the group-think and you'll be attacked from every direction. If you don't agree that there are 67 genders, you flunk. Sorry you can't graduate. Didn't attend the anti-gun rally? Sorry, your suspended from school. Don't believe in global warming, carbon credits and all the half-baked remedies, you're beneath contempt, can't be taken seriously and probably a racist, bigot homo-phobe.

By complaining that he can be dismissed as "a racist, bigot homo-phobe" he seeks to rally his followers to respond to such disparagement by maintaining their loyalty to Mark Armstrong and the Intercontinental Church of God. They are told that staying loyal to him is a way to get back at mainstream society for supposedly looking down at them.

He ends his weekly missive with a rant that mainstream society hates him and those who think like him. He even accuses them of plotting to "replace every last one of us eventually" as his thoughts drift away from coherent thought into a strange, primal cry of anger.

We have something going on in the United States that is unknown elsewhere in the civilized world. The dogma of socialism is being, not only challenged, but dismantled. You can hear the kicking and screaming, the cries of derision and demands that Trump's sick, deplorable supporters be branded from almost every “respected” source. We'd better get back to the destruction of every freedom, every blessing God bestowed, so Hollywood, the universities, the sports franchises and mainstream media can breathe a breath of relief. Stand for God's Word, accept history at face value, make some politically incorrect utterance, and face banishment for life. And that's only so far. They never give up and will replace every last one of us eventually. They demand that we vouch for a pack of lies. And if not, our replacements have already arrived.  

Mark

They are going to replace us? What is he even saying? That last thought is barely coherent.

And so we see that Mark Armstrong continues to use his weekly update to promote his scorn and anger towards those who view matters differently from himself.

PCG's Ron Fraser's Alarmist Articles: Part 2 (2005-13)

The following is a list of the articles by the late Ron Fraser (1941-2013) within PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, from 2004 until 2013. This post is a continuation of Part 1 (1998-2004). His writings well exemplify the harsh manner in which PCG's 1% views the world.

Within the COGs PCG has a reputation of being particularly harsh and authoritarian. Seeing how PCG's 1% seem to insist to their readers that everyone outside their narrow, political bubble are a dire threat one can see how PCG has fallen into authoritarianism among themselves. So much of humanity is viewed as a dire threat to the intended audience of PCG's recruitment magazine.

PCG's leaders often make statements insisting that they know what is going to happen in the future. They don't. They have made over 50 failed predictions since their founding in 1989. Here is one statement by Ron Fraser making the alarmist statement that by 2011 the United States will have fallen into possessing a "second-rate power status."

The United States may well go down in history as the shortest-lived of the singular superpowers which have strutted this world’s stage since Babylon, the world’s first great empire. 

The U.S., which last January [2001] tipped over the edge and commenced its descent from a political economy of singular greatness, is destined to slide into second-rate power status. This process will not take a century. In all probability it will not even take a decade. (Ron Fraser, At The Crossroads, The Philadelphia Trumpet, May 2001.)

Having made such inaccurate predictions clearly there is no need to fear or give their words any sense of awe. They are but false prophets.

**********

In the 2004 US Presidential elections 62,040,610 American voters elected George W. Bush as president. Since Bush belonged to the Republican Party the COGs, including PCG's 1%, were generally pleased at the outcome even though HWA forbade his followers from voting.

2005

January: Big Stories of 2004, pp. 2-7.

January: Drawing the Line, pp. 8-10. (Written with Ryan Malone.)

February: The Overlooked War, pp. 12-15.

March: Germany in Crisis, pp. 4-9, 29.

May: The United States: Neglecting Its Back Door, pp. 12-14, 31.

June: Karol Wojtyła 1920-2005: How He Set the Stage, pp. 2-6.

June: Rome: Once and Future Capitol of Europe, pp. 14-15.

August: The German Shapeshifter, pp. 8-9.

September: The Big Men, pp. 20-21.

September: The Fatal Fault in International Government, pp. 21-23.

November: A Jewel in America's Crown Lost, pp. 7-9, 21.

December: The Bavarian Connection, p. 2-4, 12.

December: Ghosts of the Ratlines, p. 5.

December: Japan Stirs, pp. 10-11.

2006

January: 2005 in Review: Signs of the Times, pp. 4-9.

January: Australia's Homegrown Terrorists, pp. 12-13.

January: To the Victor Go the Spoils, pp. 18-19.

February: Religion and the True Faith, pp. 18-19, 31.

February: Pushy, Pushy, p. 27.

May: From Hero to Outcast, pp. 12-14.

May: The Coming Siege, pp. 22-25.

June: Does the World Need a European Superpower?, pp. 22-25.

August: The Religion Factor, pp. 16-17.

September: America's Forgotten War, pp. 14-16.

September: Will Britain Lose the Falklands?, pp. 21-22.

September: When Germans are Unhappy..., pp. 23-26.

September: Hezbollah's Propagandists, p. 35.

October: Securing the Horn, pp. 16-17.

November: On Jerusalem's Doorstep, pp. 2-3.

November: Lighting Islam's Fuse, pp. 3-10.

PCG has changed the title of the article above to "Lighting Iran's Fuse" in its current online version however in the original publication of the magazine it was given the name mentioned above.

November: Benedict's War Cabinet, p. 10.

2007

March: The Great Global Power Transfer, pp. 20-21.

April: Europe's Golden Anniversary, pp. 24-26.

May: Get Ready for Pope TV, pp. 22-23.

May: Prodi Bows to Vatican Pressure, pp. 24-25.

May: Generation Me, p. 37.

June: EU Anniversary--Crisis Before Solution, pp. 22-24.

June: From Terrorists to Politicians, pp. 32-33.

July: Twilight for Britannia, pp. 26-28.

August: Russo-German Pact Immanent, pp. 27-28.

August: The Golden Years, p. 37.

October: Germany on the Rise, Merkel on the Wane, pp. 26-28.

October: Rare Leadership, p. 37.

November: Pillaging Africa, p. 5.

November: When the Food Runs Out, pp. 6-7.

November: Fool's Paradise, p. 37.

2008

January: War, Peace and Religion, pp. 20-24.

January: EU Ignores Public, Expands Power, pp. 32-33.

(Ron Fraser is unmentioned in February 2008 issue.)

March: The Sick Man of Europe?, pp. 26-27.

March: Yearning for Discipline, p. 37.

April: On the March, pp. 2-5.

April: Exploiting NATO, p. 4.

April: America's Greatest Foreign-Policy Blunder?, pp. 26-27.

April: Ron Fraser is credited with providing "editorial assistance" with Joel Hilliker's article, The Unseen Danger in Political Violence, pp. 22-24.

May: Here's to the Heroes, p. 37.

June: Global Cooling is Coming, pp. 11-13.

June: Islam Pushes, Europe Reacts, pp. 24-26.

June: Germany's Grand Strategy, pp. 32-34.

June: The Joy of New Life, p. 37.

August: New World Order, pp. 12-16.

September: A Confluence of Catastrophes, pp. 3-4.

September: We Are What We Appear, p. 37.

October: Three Things to Watch, p. 7.

October: Serbia: The Demonizing of a Nation, pp. 24-27, 34.

In the 2008 US Presidential election 69,498,516 American voters elected Senator Barack Obama as the new president. Since he belonged to the Democratic Party there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the COGs including among PCG's 1% even though HWA forbade his followers from voting

2009

January: A Marriage Made in Adversity, p. 9.

January: Tough Times for Germans, p. 7.

February: Divining the Future, pp. 2-6.

March: Old Age: The New Young!, p. 15.

March: Your Standard of Living, pp. 22-23.

March: The Inaugural, p. 37.

April: Firestorm, pp. 2-3.

April: Goodbye Britain, Hello Europe, pp. 8-10.

April: Misunderstanding Pope Benedict, p. 34.

May: The German Question Returns, pp. 10-15.

July: Financial Regulation in Prophecy!, pp. 24-26.

July: The Vatican's Hidden Jerusalem Agenda, pp. 33-34.

The July 2009 issue also mentioned Ron Fraser in the following passage from Stephen Flurry's book, Raising the Ruins.

Two months after the college’s final graduation in May, our news bureau chief, Ron Fraser, toured the facilities in Big Sandy on a fact-finding mission for my father. “I was informed,” Mr. Fraser wrote soon after his visit, “that the WCG would seek to sell the whole campus intact.” He explained that if the campus didn’t sell after 12 months, the WCG would consider breaking up the property to sell off parcels. This piqued my father’s interest. (p. 32.)

August: A Bad Year for an Election, pp. 22-23.

August: The EU's Beastly Fines, p. 25.

August: "Human Rights" in Warfare?, p. 37.

The August 2009 issue also mentions Ron Fraser in the following passage from Stephen Flurry's book, Raising the Ruins.

The new administration building—rising 41 feet above the mostly residential countryside—instantly doubled the PCG’s executive office space and made for a tremendous upgrade in quality. Ron Fraser said, “Mr. Armstrong knew that by lifting the tone and quality of environment to the highest possible standard, humans would be inspired to lift themselves to meet that standard.” (p. 30.)

September: America's Decline--From Sinatra to Jackson, pp. 9-10.

In the article above he denounces Michael Jackson in the time immediately after his death while so many were distressed and in mourning. This article was mentioned in a previous post.

September: Pope Benedict and National Socialism--the Connection, pp. 20-21.

October: Resurrecting! The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, pp. 2-8.

October: Military Empowerment by Stealth, p. 4.

November: America Abandons Poland, pp. 2-4.

November: Is There One True Religion, pp. 23-24.

November: America The Corrupt, pp. 28-29.

November: Youth and the Digital Drug, p. 37.

2010

January: The Church that Swallowed a Church, pp. 2-6. (Written with Brad Macdonald.)

January: The Real Significance of Merkel's Speech, pp. 34-35.

January: The Fall That Changed the World, p. 35.

February: The World's Next Superpower, pp. 12-15.

February: "Thou Must Worship on Sunday," p. 15.

March: A Void at Germany's Helm, pp. 20-22.

March: Here Europe! Feel Free to Spy on Us, pp. 34-35.

April: The Greek Crisis was Planned!, pp. 2-5. (Written with Robert Morley.)

April: The Rising Might of Germany, pp. 6-12.

April: How Germany Solves Its Problems, p. 10-11.

April: Crank Up the Defense Industry, p. 14.

April: Why Have Natural Disasters Increased?, pp. 22-23.

April: One True Religion--One True Church, pp. 26-27.

April: Will Crisis Oust Britain from the EU?, p. 30.

April: Another Anti-U.S. Alliance Is Born, p 33.

May: Stratfor Analyst: We Were Wrong--Germany is Taking Over, pp. 24-25. (Written with Brad Macdonald.)

May: Muslims March, Europeans Chafe, p. 33.

July: Crisis in Europe: A Classic Whodunit, pp. 2-5. (Written with Richard Palmer.)

July: Britain's Choice, pp. 5, 36.

July: What's the Emir Doing in Germany?, p. 10.

September: Reconstructing NATO, pp. 22-24.

October: Clash of the Titans, p. 7.

October: What to do with Germany?, p. 20-23.

December: On the Edge of Tyranny, pp. 21-22, 36.

2011

January: Target: Jerusalem, pp. 5-8.

January: Clouds Across the Rainbow, pp. 24-25.

February: Taking Charge, pp. 2-5.

February: Pope: Don't Take Bible Literally, pp. 24-25.

February: Marriage--Soon Obsolete?, p. 35.

April: Charting the Future, pp. 28-30, 36.

May: Enemies and Allies, p. 3-6.

July: Did You See God at the Wedding?, pp. 2-5. (Written with Brad Macdonald.)

July: Lying Wonders, p. 15.

August: And Then There Were 10, pp. 8-9.

September: Greece: Now a German Vassal State, pp. 5-8.

September: What the Future May Hold for the World's Newest Nation, pp. 25, 27.

September: How the Perverse Became the Norm, pp. 30-32.

October: The Joy of Family, p. 35.

In the article above Fraser mentions his early life and states that his father fought for Australia in the Kokoda trail against the Japanese Empire. He survived but the father was killed in a traffic accident when Ron Fraser was ten years old.

2012

January: Europe's Precisely Engineered Disaster, pp. 6-8.

March: Keep Watching Europe!, pp. 10-13. (Written with Stephen Flurry.)

May: Cleansing the German Conscience?, pp. 30-32.

July: The Old Rome-Berlin Axis is Back, pp. 6-8.

July: Sixty Years... And What Lies Ahead, pp. 26-27, 36.

August: Germany-China: The Great Mart, pp. 4-5. (Written with Brad Macdonald.)

October: A Real Gentleman, p. 33.

December: The Spirit Behind the Beast, pp. 30-32.

In the 2012 US Presidential election 65,915,795 American voters re-elected Barack Obama as president. Since he belonged to the Democratic Party there was again much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the COGs including among PCG's 1% even though HWA forbade his followers from voting.

2013

March: A Job for Europe's Youth, pp. 24-25.

May: New World Pope: Restoring Europe's Latin Empire, pp. 12-17.

July: Our Homophilia Fascination, p. 35.

September: Why the News Gets It Wrong, pp. 20-21.

September: A Better Textbook for Mental Health, p. 35.

The article above contains a strange denunciation of mental health science. It is dangerous to ignore the advice of medical professionals. This article was mentioned in a previous post.

On October 4, 2013 Ron Fraser passed away. His memory was commemorated with the article below.

December: Ron Fraser (1941-2013), p. 35.

On the website version of this article it is listed as "Ron Fraser (1941-2013)" but the print magazine itself confusingly lists the year of his birth as 1942. In this discrepancy I would assume that the online version (1941) would be correct but I have no way to prove which year was the year of his birth.

And so Ron Fraser passed away, his many dire proclamations of doom for the United States being left unfulfilled. His dire predictions will never occur.

Mark Armstrong's Tale of "a Massive Conspiracy" by Mainstream Media and the Law against the President

Mark Armstrong has another weekly update posted. (March 9, 2018.) Let's see what he has to say this time.

He complains that the mainstream media were conspiring to make people afraid of President Trump's bellicose statements concerning North Korea.

This ride is turning out to be more fun than we thought!  The mainstream media worked hard to frighten the American public and snowflakes around the world that President Trump was about to touch off World War III with North Korea.  How dare he imperil all humanity by insulting and threatening the North Korean leader?  They said his ego-driven bullying was insane, and unbelievably risky.  The lunatic president was willing to risk an escalating nuclear war, one that would provoke China and then Russia and blow up the whole planet on a whim!

He then mentions the scare in Hawaii following the infamous false alarm.

It generated such intense fear that citizens of Hawaii descended into full blown panic when notified of a false alarm claiming an incoming ICBM.  They were sure they only had minutes to live.  Children were lowered into manholes as adults tearfully said their final goodbyes.  Oops.  Some idiot accidentally touched the wrong icon on a screen and it took authorities a relative eternity to get word out that the whole thing was an either a mistake or a heartless prank.  But seemingly everyone on the receiving end truly believed it was real and untold millions suffered emotional damage that comes with the realization of imminent death.

He brings this up in order to boast of his preferred president agreeing to meet with North Korea's leader.

Even though Mark Armstrong happens to be the leader of the Intercontinental Church of God he chooses to use insulting language seemingly having no regard for how such language might reflect badly on himself and his organization.

What better illustration of the power of deception!  Suddenly, as of yesterday, there's no immediate fear of millions dying due to the blithering insanity of Donald Trump.  At least for the moment, Little Rocket Man isn't detonating nuclear devices or firing ballistic missiles.  The imperious scandal mongers are having to ask themselves, reluctantly, whether it could possibly be that a strategy had played out according to plan?  Since, for the first time in modern history, Trump has agreed to a face-to-face meeting with the worse haircut, what can it mean? 

Since he tends to favor his preferred president he muses that this meeting was offered by the North Koreans out of fear. Other possibilities are ignored.

Sick as it makes the news anchors, they're having to deal with the unexpected possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea, one brought about by the “impulsive lunatic” they despise.  “He did this without consultation!  The State department was caught off guard!  The intelligence community had no input!  This president is clearly shooting from the hip, just doing what he wants.”  There are plenty of skeptics alright, and they say that the Kims have always used diplomacy to buy time to perfect weapons systems, playing naive for financial and trade benefits all the while.  Looking back over the past twenty years and more, that's absolutely right.  But it might be different this time.  There's the slightest outside chance that the meeting suggested by Kim Jong un is one borne of fear and desperation rather than the usual posturing for benefits.

He complains that "network hosts and experts" are claiming that President Trump's acceptance of this offer is an attempt to distract people from the ongoing investigation concerning the Trump-Russia scandal.

That possibility is dismissed by the most jaundiced of network hosts and experts.  They're absolutely sure that acceptance of the meeting with the North Korean dictator is nothing more than a ploy to get scandals off front pages.  “It's obvious,” they claim.  “There can be no other explanation.”  You realize by now, that every effort to run President Trump out of the White House on the basis of “Russian Collusion” has blown up in the faces of the squinter, the doe-eyed pouter and the urgent reporters of back-channel collusion.  Not that they've noticed. 

He then goes on a rant claiming that there is "a massive conspiracy" by law enforcement agencies to get his preferred president in trouble. Somehow this massive conspiracy has been undetected by all but one news network.

He also implies that the mainstream outlets might get an actress to claim she was kissed by his preferred president. This seems to be an allusion to the numerous allegations of sexual harassment that have been made against President Trump. However Mark Armstrong seems to be speculating about something he supposes might happen in the future.

He also characterizes the widespread disaffection of the lobbying power of the NRA as an attempt "to destroy" his preferred president.

He seems to allude to allegations that President Trump had adulterous affairs back in 2006. If so he characterizes such alleged happenings as merely misbehavior.

There's more than a hint of corruption on the part of our incorruptible intelligence and law enforcement agencies.  The fact that one party spent millions on foreign disinformation to convince a FISA judge to grant a warrant to spy is right out in the open.  But no networks, save the one all the others despise, know anything about it.  There was a massive conspiracy all right.   It exposes the deception the mainstream outlets that bet the farm on seeing the president charged, tried, convicted or impeached for the past year and a half.  But they're not giving up.  Maybe they can find an “actress” to claim she was kissed without permission, or worse!  That ought to do it.  The elder statesmen of Watergate and legions of legal experts haven't given up hope that the “Russian collusion” story, or some related process crime might yet vindicate the year and a half they have invested.  But just in case, they might be able to destroy him with the claim that he's controlled by the NRA, or that he misbehaved with the queens of misbehavior. 

He muses that in time this massive conspiracy by the mainstream media might actually cause his preferred president to be removed from office.

If the leading outlets, with their best-known personalities keep after it, surely, they'll finish this president off sooner or later.  This time last year they were so excited they could barely contain their glee.  They reported that impeachment was imminent.  They shamed all who admired the progress of the new administration, particularly those in Congress who weren't rejecting his agenda or participating in the effort to run him off.  Didn't they know they were aiding and abetting Trump's childish, potentially criminal insanity!?! 

So Mark Armstrong claims there is "a massive conspiracy" by all networks (save one) against his preferred president underway at present. What are they trying to do? Why, prevent people from viewing things Mark Armstrong's way by using censorship, of course.

Some millions of informed observers have seen through the frantic outrage of mainstream news outlets.  It's not just the New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and so many others.  It's all the digital platforms too, like Google, Facebook, Yahoo.  They're promoting “social justice,” open borders, gay and trans-gender normality, and engaging in various forms of censorship designed to produce the results they want you to see while concealing those they don't.

This is important. The statement above implies that Mark Armstrong assumes that people view matters differently from himself because other people are being fooled by media censorship. Such an attitude would encourage one to ignore alternative viewpoints. The possibility that he just might be wrong about one matter or another is ignored.

And after mentioning CNN he decides it is time to indulge in more of his strange and bitter rants against Pope Francis.

CNN has been promoting some documentary or other for this weekend.  It's got all the camera angles and silhouettes combined with powerfully thematic orchestral scoring. “The POPE is the most powerful, most recognized religious leader on earth,” intones the narrator with manufactured authority.  “Hundreds of millions look to him for spiritual guidance and instruction,” or words to that effect.  Presumably they're talking about the Vatican and the papacy historically.  Surely, they can't mean Bergoglio!  He can't even get a handle on the coke (and that's not cola) fueled orgies that scandalize his priestly colleagues.

He continues this train of thought.

Though we've not heard any conclusion to the last major scandal, where Rome police walked in on a wild, drug-drenched orgy populated by the most pious weirdos imaginable, the Vatican has another horrible scandal on its hands.  This one involves some sixty priests or more, with paid escorts of the effeminate persuasion and details unfit for human consumption.  But by all means, stir the hearts of the public with awe at the majesty and power of the Vatican and its blasphemous pope! 

He refers to Pope Francis as "a little twerp" again.

It's hard to imagine what depths of deception will be required to get the educated world to bow down to the demands of a little twerp like the current pontiff.  He can't even clean up the corrupt filth in his own domain, assuming that's his intent.  We'll take odds on whether any of that is in CNN's big docudrama.

He ends his weekly polemic by scare mongering that things will soon get worse. This alludes to the claim made by many COGs that a future European Empire led by Germany is fated to conquer the United States and take Americans as slaves shortly before Christ's return.

We're living with the effects of strong deception, the manipulation of information by the richest most powerful organizations on earth.  If the Bible is to be believed, it's going to get a lot worse than what we've seen so far.  We, yes even we might be taken in were it not for the blessings of liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly that we enjoy in the United States and much of the Western world.  We don't take any of that lightly and thank God for it.   

Mark

There are many problems in the world. Life and political matters are complicated and all too often bewildering. But Mark Armstrong keeps it simple. He says the mainstream media use censorship to make people view matters differently from him. He also says that they are part of "a massive conspiracy" to remove his preferred president. Other possibilities are ignored.

PCG's Ron Fraser: "The Japanese Mind Seldom Innovates" (2002)

PCG's Ron Fraser (1941-2013) stated that the "Japanese mind seldom innovates" in an article published in 2002 while once again scare mongering, as PCG often does, that Japan is about to expand its military, make nuclear weapons, ally with Russia and China against the US, and other such alarmist predictions that somehow never quite happen.

Japan is still in an economic straitjacket. Its traditional culture causes market inertia by drastically slowing the restructuring initiatives sorely needed to adjust to the new globalism. 

However, Japan has one great advantage that stems from a particular cultural and ethnic proclivity. The Japanese mind seldom innovates, but it is the world’s expert in taking Western inventions, improving them markedly and selling them back to the innovator as products far superior in nature and quality to the original product. Witness the quality of a Lexus automobile compared to a Cadillac. (Ron Fraser, Rising in the East, August 2002.)

What a ridiculous and racist thing to say. It is terrible that Ron Fraser chose to denigrate Japanese people in this manner.

It is shameful that PCG's leaders allowed a man who could shamelessly state such bigoted things as this to be given as much power and responsibility within PCG as he was.

Mark Armstrong's Word Salad (March 2, 2018)

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has released another weekly update (March 2, 2018). Let's see what he has to say.

He says the students, teachers and parents calling for gun law reform are "understandably emotional".

Bitter disputes dominate every discussion, all looking to place blame for the heinous massacre at the Douglas High School in Broward County.  The now infamous Sheriff Scott Israel teamed up with CNN, the wildly overpaid School Superintendent and understandably emotional students, teachers and parents to demand stricter gun laws and specifically blame the National Rifle Association for the disaster.

But, Mark Armstrong retorts to these "understandably emotional students, teachers and parents" calling for gun law reform, that it is not about the guns, it is about neglecting to arrest people soon enough.

We could hardly believe our ears upon learning that the [suspect's surname] kid had been in constant trouble at the school in question, for assault and for threatening people and had been the subject of scores of calls to the police, including incidents of pointing guns at people's heads.  Somehow, he was never arrested, which meant that he was able to purchase firearms and ammo with nothing appearing on his background check.

It's not about the guns, it's about the people trying to help out troubled teenagers by keeping them out of jail.

It's finally becoming clear that the kid eluded all recognition thanks to the Promise Program.  You see, it just wasn't fair that so many “young men of color” were being funneled through the “school to prison pipeline,” and therefore a conscious decision was adopted by the school and by local police that kids who brought weapons or drugs to school, threatened others and were the subject of police calls should be counseled, mentored and coddled rather than referred to the justice system.  It just wasn't fair that someone like the killer should have an arrest record or have to deal with the criminal justice system.  Pull it up on the Browardprevention.org website.  The closing sentence says it all, 

“The intent of PROMISE is to safeguard the student from entering the judicial system.”  It's part of the great legacy left by our last president and his Fast and Furious Attorney General.

He insists that the mainstream media have conspired to hide this from his audience. The absence of discussion is implied to be proof that he is right.

Don't hold your breath if you're waiting for the mainstream media to carry this information.  They're campaigning, as you saw in CNN's disastrous town hall extravaganza, to hold law abiding gun owners and the NRA responsible for the massacre.  If only we could jettison the Constitution, if only people would give up their guns…  Mention that the F. B. I. failed to look into specific warnings, or the idiotic policies and inaction of Scott Israel and his department, and you're a kook, a gun nut. 

It's not about the guns, for Mark Armstrong, it is simply time for him to demonize the political left as he does in just about all of these weekly updates of his.

If not for FAIRNESS and DIVERSITY nonsense, the [suspect's surname] kid could never have legally bought that gun!  If not for the Promise Program, eliminating the “school to prison pipeline,” seventeen people might not be dead, and millions might not be grieving.  

But don't expect anybody's mind to be changed about anything, ever. 

He complains that people are rigid in their thinking. He seems to have no self awareness that he himself may exhibit that trait as well.

We've come to a place where no point, regardless of its validity or importance, is ever conceded.  You either embrace the mantra of social justice or you're a racist Trump supporter.  We've been divided into camps now, and there's no middle ground.

He complains that the political left are hiding the truth. He even shamefully brings up the conspiracy theory regarding the murder of Seth Rich, a discredited and baseless slur.

The truth?  Uh, that's classified.  It's Top Secret and you're not authorized.  No, you can't see the aerial video of the school shooting, you can't see the FISA warrant application, and you better not be curious about why nobody's interested in the unsolved murder of Seth Rich.  All you need to know is that things need to be banned!  Or mandated.  Banned or mandated, that's it!  Socialism.

He alludes to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela to insinuate that if the political left were to get their way a similar fate would await the United States.

Venezuela is paradise, check it out.  Too bad all those demanding social justice, more versions of the Promise Program, banning legal guns, amnesty for illegal aliens and the impeachment of President Trump, can't have an extended vacation in Venezuela.  They might even lose weight!  After all, the average Venezuelan has lost 25 pounds just this last year.  It's amazing what a diet of garbage scraps and pesky rodents can do for your waistline.

He slurs school teachers as condemning the American nation as racist.

The Western World has taken God's blessings for granted so long, we've forgotten where they came from.  The educational system teaches that these blessings are not fair.  They are in fact racist, homophobic and now responsible for another in a long line of murderous rampages.  But don't worry, the mainstream media, educational institutions and more corporations all the time have everything under control. 

It appears to be Mark Armstrong's opinion that terrible things such as the recent massacre in Florida occur because Americans do not follow his particular religion. It's not about the guns, it's about religion according to Mark Armstrong.

They're bound and determined to bury the truth, advance a godless, gay, trans-gender, diversity agenda at all costs.  But the cost may be the revocation of God's blessings and His protection.  How about we return to the basics?  What if the Ten Commandments and the Fruits of the Spirit were taught and practiced?  They've all been trampled under the lofty ideals of socialism, and we're living with the inevitable result.  Have a better Sabbath. 

Mark

That weekly update seemed quite unfocused. It is strange to imagine what he says seem to be taken quite seriously by his followers and that they are willing to send money to the organization he leads.