Northern Ireland: Historic Catholic Convent Near St Patrick’s Tomb Destroyed in Deliberate Fire

Northern Ireland: Historic Catholic Convent Near St Patrick’s Tomb Destroyed in Deliberate Fire as Christian Europe Burns

Robert Semonsen

A historic former Catholic convent near the burial place of Saint Patrick in Northern Ireland was devastated by a deliberate fire Sunday night, forcing more than 70 firefighters into an overnight battle to save the adjacent parish church.

The blaze, according to a report from Life Site News, broke out at the former Convent of Mercy in Downpatrick, County Down, at around 7 p.m. on June 28. By the time emergency crews arrived, the building was already engulfed in a well-developed fire.

The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service said the cause is believed to have been deliberate. No injuries were reported, but the damage to one of Downpatrick’s most recognizable Catholic landmarks was severe.

At the height of the emergency, roughly 70 firefighters were on the scene. Ten appliances responded, backed by aerial ladder units, a command support unit and a water tanker.

Crews used breathing apparatus, firefighting jets and aerial ladder jets to bring the inferno under control. Their most urgent task was not only to contain the fire, but to prevent it from reaching St Patrick’s Church.

The former convent was attached to the church, immediately raising fears that the flames could spread to one of the town’s most important Catholic sites. Firefighters worked through the night to stop that from happening.

The Downpatrick Family of Parishes expressed relief that St Patrick’s Church had been saved. The parish said the fire had been prevented from reaching the church by the “heroism and skill” of the Fire Service.

“Fire fighters worked through the night to protect St Patrick’s and to them we owe an enormous debt of gratitude,” the parish wrote. The statement captured the community’s gratitude, but also the deeper grief of seeing a Catholic landmark destroyed.

The timing made the fire even more painful. Just hours before the blaze, the parish had celebrated the ordination to the priesthood of Fr Thomas Hampton inside St Patrick’s Church.

“Coming at the end of a wonderful day in the life of the parish family — the Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Thomas Hampton—when the parish came together in a tremendous act of hospitality and welcome, it is particularly sad that so beautiful a building has been destroyed,” the parish said.

The former Convent of Mercy was built in the 19th century and had long formed part of Downpatrick’s Catholic skyline. Although the building had not recently been in use, it remained a visible symbol of the town’s religious memory and Catholic charitable life.

Local politicians described the scene as devastating. SDLP councillor Conor Galbraith said it was deeply sad to see a fire in “such a historical part of our town.”

The fire occurred in one of Ireland’s most spiritually significant towns. Downpatrick is closely associated with Saint Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, whose reputed burial place is nearby at Down Cathedral.

That symbolism cannot be brushed aside. A former convent burning near the resting place of Saint Patrick is not merely a local property loss, it is another wound to the Christian inheritance of Ireland and the wider West.

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Magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits Mexico's Baja California

Magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits Mexico's Baja California peninsula

Hayley Vawter

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake shook parts of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, marking the latest earthquake to happena along the Pacific Ring of Fire on Tuesday afternoon.

The earthquake happened at 12:45 p.m. Pacific time in the Gulf of California, according to data from the U.s. Geological Survey (USGS).

The quake occurred roughly 6 miles deep and light shaking was reported in the Mexican state of Sinaola in the cities of Los Mochis and Culiacán.

58,870 Buildings Damaged or Destroyed in Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes

58,870 Buildings Damaged or Destroyed in Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes

Video

NASA’s preliminary radar imagery shows an early view of damage from Venezuela’s earthquakes. Researchers estimated about 58,870 buildings were damaged or destroyed, with impacts concentrated along the central coast.

US envoys in Qatar to meet mediators, but no direct talks with Iran set for coming days

US envoys in Qatar to meet mediators, but no direct talks with Iran set for coming days

Jacob Magid

ToI Staff

Top US envoys Steve Witkoff and ‌Jared Kushner were in Doha on Tuesday for meetings with Qatari mediators to discuss negotiations with Iran, but Qatar and Iran said there would be no high-level meeting between Washington and Tehran on Tuesday or in the coming days, contradicting a Monday claim by US President Donald Trump.

“Mr. Steve Witfoff and Mr. Jared Kushner are here in Doha to meet with mediators, with Qatari officials, and the talks will be around all regional issues… including, of course, negotiations with Iran, but also including Lebanon,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said.

“They are not here for their negotiations with the Iranians,” he told a media briefing.

Ansari clarified that no high-level meetings or direct talks between the United States and Iran were planned in Doha.

“To the best of my knowledge, there are no direct meetings scheduled between the two parties in the coming days,” he said, adding that no high-level Iranian delegation was in Qatar.

Instead, there will be so-called technical talks this week on issues including regional security that could later be elevated to senior level, Ansari said, saying the technical meetings “are ongoing… and they haven’t stopped.” They include “tracks on the nuclear side… a track on the economic and state performance issue” as well as security, the spokesman said.

Trump had said Monday that his country’s next meeting with Iran would take place in Qatar on Tuesday.

“Iran has requested a meeting. It will take place tomorrow in Doha!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Additionally, a senior Trump administration official said later Tuesday that Witkoff and Jared Kushner would meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani and other mediators in Doha today “to continue regional dialogue on the MOU” — without any mention of meetings scheduled between US and Iranian negotiators.

“On Wednesday, US and Iran delegations are expected to participate separately in technical talks with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan,” the senior US official said in a statement to reporters.

The developments follow exchanges of fire over the weekend that tested the June 17 interim accord between the United States and Iran. The 14-point pact allowed 60 days for the two sides to negotiate a permanent truce in the conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and to resolve thorny issues including the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

Israel had no part in negotiating the memorandum of understanding, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has distanced himself from it. Still, the terms of the opening clause, permanently ending the war and ruling out any resumption, assert that it is binding on the US, Iran “and their allies.” Israeli officials are bitterly opposed to the deal’s terms, which resolve none of the war’s key goals — notably, eliminating Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and creating the conditions for the fall of the regime.

Both the US and Iran had said they would send officials for meetings in Qatar to discuss the MOU signed by the two sides aimed at ending the war.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said dialogue with mediator Qatar on the implementation of the interim deal, including on the release of frozen Iranian assets, was likely to take place in Doha on Wednesday.

But he added that “no meeting at any level with the American side has been scheduled for the coming days.”

“We have not yet entered the stage of negotiating a final agreement,” he said.

“What will take place in Doha tomorrow is a discussion with the Qatari side about implementing parts of the memorandum of understanding, including the release of Iran’s blocked assets,” Baghaei told journalists at his own briefing.

However, that left open the possibility of messages being passed to the Qataris between the two sides.

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The Earthquakes Just Won’t Stop:

The Earthquakes Just Won’t Stop: The New Madrid Fault And The Cascadia Subduction Zone Both Get Shaken As The Warnings Continue

Michael Snyder

How much shaking is it going to take before most of the population starts paying attention? The ground underneath our feet just keeps shaking. Nobody can deny this. As you will see below, there has been a long list of large earthquakes that have hit our planet over the past week, and this is something that I have been writing about a lot in recent days. What we are experiencing is not normal, and many believe that all of this shaking is just a preview of what is to come.

On Monday morning, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake suddenly struck approximately 140 miles off the coast of Oregon…

The Pacific’s notorious ‘Ring of Fire’ has delivered another jolt amid a recent burst of seismic activity around the globe’s most earthquake-prone region. The US Geological Survey detected a magnitude 5.5 earthquake roughly 140 miles west of the Oregon coast at around 7:35am ET Monday. The earthquake struck deep beneath the Pacific Ocean and there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. No tsunami warning was issued, although residents in Salem and Rockaway Beach reported feeling the shaking.

The reason why this was such a noteworthy quake is because it occurred along the Cascadia Subduction Zone…

The quake occurred along a tectonically active stretch of the Pacific coastline, part of the broader Cascadia Subduction Zone known for producing both frequent moderate events and the potential for far larger ones.

This is one of the most dangerous fault zones in the entire world.

It sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and it has the potential to cause seismic events of cataclysmic proportions.

Scientists assure us that it is just a matter of time before a gigantic earthquake occurs along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and I have repeatedly warned about what this will mean for those living near the coasts of Oregon and Washington once this happens…

Someday, an absolutely gigantic earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone will send a colossal wall of water toward the west coast of the United States. We are talking about a disaster that would be greater than anything we have ever experienced in the entire history of our country so far, and scientists are openly warning us that it is just a matter of time before such a disaster happens. It is being projected that the wall of water could be up to 100 feet tall, and it will cause extreme devastation. Tall buildings will be instantly flattened, vehicles will be picked up and tossed around like toys, and countless numbers of people will instantly go to their watery graves. If you are directly in the path of such a tsunami, there will be no escape.

Do you remember the huge tsunami that hit Japan in 2011?

The tsunami that will eventually hit the west coast will absolutely dwarf that.

This latest earthquake off the coast of Oregon comes just days after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Northern California and a pair of very large earthquakes caused catastrophic damage in Venezuela…

This comes after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake rattled Northern California and major back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela last Wednesday.

Days later, heightened seismic activity across the Pacific Ring of Fire brought earthquakes to Japan, the Philippines, and Nicaragua on Friday.

It is almost as if something has just suddenly snapped.

Over the past 7 days, we have witnessed a very long list of large earthquakes all over the world…

That is a stunning list.

And the shaking just won’t stop.

In fact, Venezuela just got hit by some more very big aftershocks…

Strong aftershocks have struck Venezuela’s capital as rescuers continue to search for tens of thousands of civilians who are still missing in the aftermath of two violent earthquakes.

The aftershock was felt shortly after 7.00am (11.00am GMT) in Caracas and La Guaira on Monday, as the search continues for survivors of last Wednesday’s quakes that have already claimed at least 1,450 lives.

It would be difficult to overstate the scale of the tragedy that we are witnessing in Venezuela.

At this stage, nearly 70,000 people have been reported missing…

The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes has risen to 1,430, with families reporting at least 68,900 people missing. The toll continued to climb even after the 72-hour window for rescuing survivors alive closed Saturday, while anger over the government’s response intensified in some of the hardest-hit areas.

As our planet continues to become even more unstable, there will be even larger earthquakes.

One of the biggest danger zones is right in the middle of the United States, and very early on Monday a magnitude 3.5 earthquake rattled southern Illinois…

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a magnitude 3.5 earthquake registered at 1:05 a.m. in northwest Edwards County, just south of the Richland County line.

This is close to the Illinois-Indiana border.

USGS reports the epicenter was 3.7 miles northeast of West Salem and measured 11.8 miles deep.

This earthquake caused so much shaking that it was actually felt in St. Louis and Louisville…

So far, the USGS says hundreds of people have reported feeling shaking across a wide stretch as far west as St. Louis, Missouri, as north as Effingham, Illinois, as south as Evansville, Indiana and as east as Louisville, Kentucky.

The largest earthquakes in the history of the continental United States occurred along the New Madrid Fault Zone.

Now the New Madrid Fault Zone is waking up again.

One of these days, a colossal earthquake will literally rip the country in halffrom north to south. The scar that will be created in the middle of the nation will be so deep that the Great Lakes will actually flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Since all of the existing bridges will be destroyed, you will actually need to take a boat ride or a flight if you want to travel from the eastern half of the country to the western half of the country.

But most of the population is not alarmed by the shaking that we are currently witnessing at all.

They have been assured that all of this shaking is just temporary and that things will soon return to normal.

Of course the truth is that there will be no return to normal.

Chaos is erupting all over the planet, and I believe that the second half of this year will be even more chaotic than the first half.

Katz warns Iran could attack Israel at any moment, says IDF prepared

Katz warns Iran could attack Israel at any moment, says IDF prepared

Vered Weiss

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that Israel is preparing for the possibility of another military confrontation with Iran, warning that Tehran could attack in response to Israeli operations in Lebanon and reiterating that Israel will not withdraw from security zones in Lebanon, Gaza, or Syria unless terrorist organizations are disarmed.

Presenting Israel’s security doctrine for the northern front and the confrontation with Iran, Katz said the Israel Defense Forces had been instructed to prepare for what he described as a “Blue and White operation in Iran” amid the current security situation.

“If we have definitive intelligence about Iranian decisions, we will act on it,” Katz said. “If Iran attacks us with missiles, we will respond with force, and this has been made clear to the Americans.”

He added that renewed fighting with Iran could occur under two circumstances. “The war with Iran will resume under one of two scenarios: if President Trump decides and we join, or if they fire at us, it will be the Third Iran War. Israel’s position is clear—there is no scenario in which Israel will allow missile fire on its territory.”

Addressing Lebanon, Katz said Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem entered the conflict both to assist Iran and to alter the balance along Israel’s northern border.

He said nearly 100% of homes in villages along the contact line in western and central Lebanon had been destroyed and estimated that about 200,000 residents had not returned.

Katz said the IDF had been instructed to fire warning shots at anyone attempting to return, adding, “The civilian population is considered part of the terrorist threat and potential casualties; therefore, they will not be allowed to return.”

Ebola outbreak spreads to fourth province in Congo as deaths rise

Ebola outbreak spreads to fourth province in Congo as deaths rise

Sweden Herald

The Ebola outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa has spread to a fourth province in the country, while the number of confirmed deaths continues to rise.

The Ebola outbreak has claimed 360 lives and caused 1,274 confirmed cases of infection since it began in mid-May, according to figures compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Ebola haemorrhagic fever broke out in Ituri province. On Monday, it was confirmed that the Ebola virus had spread to the north-eastern province of Haut-Uele, which borders South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

The current outbreak has been caused by the so-called Bundibugyo variant, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment. Clinical trials of the vaccine will begin in the coming days, according to the WHO.

Erin Brockovich Launches Plan to Take on AI Data Centers Around the Country

Erin Brockovich Launches Plan to Take on AI Data Centers Around the Country

Lucas Nolan

Erin Brockovich, who secured a historic $333 million settlement against PG&E in 1993 and was immortalized by Julia Roberts on the silver screen, has launched a new battle against the proliferation of AI data centers across the United States and beyond.

The Guardian reports that the environmental activist who became a household name after her work on the Hinkley, California, groundwater contamination case has identified what she describes as a threat on par with that scandal, only larger in scope. After receiving thousands of emails from concerned citizens, Brockovich has turned her attention to the rapid construction of massive AI data centers happening with minimal public input or environmental oversight.

The campaign began when Brockovich noticed an unusual pattern in her inbox. She received 30 emails from people in the same town, all expressing concerns about data centers. In April, she issued a public call on her website asking anyone with concerns about data centers near them to contact her. Within a month, 3,862 people responded. Brockovich characterizes the situation as “Hinkley on steroids.”

AI data centers are enormous in scale. Some stretch over hundreds of acres, and in May, Utah approved a center twice the size of Manhattan. According to Brockovich, many communities learn about these facilities only after construction has already begun, or in some cases, months after they have been approved by local officials.

A major concern for Brockovich is the secrecy surrounding the approval process. Data center developers often enter into nondisclosure agreements with local officials, making it impossible for residents to understand why projects were approved without environmental impact assessments or public input. Brockovich reports receiving emails from people whose local leaders are changing zoning laws to accommodate these facilities. “If data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?” reads one headline on her Substack blog.

Local governments attempting to pause or halt construction face severe financial consequences. In Hill County, Texas, county commissioners voted on a year-long moratorium after unexpected public outcry. The county was then sued by developers for $100 million in damages and, according to the Texas Tribune, has since backed down from the moratorium.

Beyond concerns about water consumption, residents near operational data centers report significant noise pollution. “It really becomes about the noise, the decibels,” Brockovich says. People describe being driven to distraction by constant humming, hissing, and buzzing from generators operating around the clock. Communities also report increased electricity bills, power surges, and concerns about wildlife disappearing from areas surrounding the data centers.

Brockovich’s immediate goal is to secure case-by-case moratoriums on data center approvals. She is compiling cases through her open-source mapping site and notes that council responses vary depending on how receptive officials are to local complaints. Many states are only now beginning to consider whether state-level regulation and oversight of data centers is necessary.

She emphasizes that opposition to data centers is bipartisan. Her approach focuses on building lawsuits from the ground up rather than seeking immediate policy change from the top. She advocates for environmental impact reports, transparency about power sources, and town hall meetings where residents can voice their concerns.

“We have to have some courage to show up, and it’s difficult to do that when you’re up against forces that have all the money and all the intelligence and all the bandwidth in the world,” Brockovich says. Despite describing herself as being in her “legacy phase” with six grandchildren, she remains committed to the fight, though she acknowledges she cannot win it alone.

Breitbart News previously reported that AI data center opponents have blocked or delayed projects worth $130 billion so far this year:

At least 75 projects worth about $130 billion have been blocked or delayed from January through March across the country as a result of data center opponents, according to a Data Center Watch study obtained by NBC News.

The authors of the study further noted that this hindering of AI data centers is the most on record in a three-month period since they began tracking the matter in 2023.

“The quarter reflected a structural shift rather than a cyclical spike: communities have internalized an opposition playbook, legislative sessions introduced formal regulatory uncertainty, and the number of active opposition groups more than doubled to 833 across 49 states,” the study read.

Sleepwalking Into Nuclear War

THE WEST IS SLEEPWALKING INTO NUCLEAR WAR

Tony Seruga

EUROPE BUILDS DRONE FACTORIES TO STRIKE RUSSIA, THEN ACTS SHOCKED WHEN MOSCOW CALLS THEM TARGETS — THE WEST IS SLEEPWALKING INTO NUCLEAR WAR WHILE YOU WATCH IRAN The Ukraine war just crossed a threshold nobody’s talking about — and it’s not in Ukraine. It’s in Germany. Poland. Lithuania. The UK. Czech Republic. While you’ve been watching Iran, Europe moved Ukraine’s entire drone production onto its own soil. 🇪🇺 Here’s what that actually means: The Russian Defense Ministry published names and addresses of these factories in April. Dmitry Medvedev called them “potential targets.” They’re in Munich. London. Prague. Riga. Milan. Madrid. Ankara. Vilnius. Not covert. Publicly announced. Zelensky stood with German Chancellor Merz in Berlin and called it “the biggest drone deal in Europe.” 🇩🇪🇺🇦 Quantum Systems — a German firm — now has THREE joint ventures with Ukrainian manufacturers. Producing 10,000+ Linza tactical drones per year. On German soil. Auterion signed a contract for “thousands of mid-range, heavy AI-guided autonomous strike systems.” Their words: “autonomous strike at scale.” The German Defense Ministry’s own press release uses the English phrase “deep strike capabilities.” That means hitting targets deep inside Russia. The “Martian” AI drones Bout described — autonomous systems that pick their own targets, any moving vehicle, even a kid on a bike — are being built in Europe right now. Lithuania just signed in June 2026 to produce thousands more. Priority hiring: Ukrainian citizens. Battlefield feedback loop direct to the factory floor. This isn’t aid. This is active belligerence. International law is clear: if you host factories manufacturing weapons for a belligerent, those factories are legitimate military targets. Ask yourself: if Hezbollah had rocket factories in Jordan hitting Tel Aviv, would Israel sit on its hands? You know the answer. Now here’s what the European public doesn’t understand: Russia has the most modern nuclear arsenal on Earth. One Sarmat missile erases England. One Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle — no Western system can intercept it. Russian doctrine states clearly: if the state's existence is threatened, the response is NUCLEAR. Not conventional. Germany is now restricting men from leaving the country without military registration. They’re openly stating they need “the strongest army in Europe within three years.” Sound familiar? It should. Volkswagen plants are converting to weapons production. The economy cratered after cutting off Russian gas. Conscription questionnaires sent to 300,000 young Germans — only 530 signed up. They can’t even recruit soldiers, but they’re building drone factories to strike a nuclear power. The European leadership class has lost its mind. Meanwhile, Iran has: • Blocked the Strait of Hormuz • Cut global fertilizer supply — hitting American farmers already • Disrupted chemical supply chains into China • UN forecasts food shortages and hunger in Africa Two wars. One distracted public. Zero strategic thinking from Brussels. Viktor Bout, who spent 12 years in US prisons and now serves in Russia’s parliament, said it plainly: “We are very close to all-out World War Three in the hottest stage — and there would be no brakes to stop it.” He’s not wrong. The difference between 1914 and 2026 is that in 1914, the weapons couldn’t end human civilization. These can. Trump pulled back from Iran. That’s good. But Europe is still accelerating toward the cliff. If a European-made drone swarm hits something Russia considers existential — and those AI drones don’t ask permission — the response won’t be a strongly worded letter. It will be the last mistake anyone ever makes. Wake up.

The Next War Will Be With Turkey, Says Israel. Ankara Agrees.

The Next War Will Be With Turkey, Says Israel. Ankara Agrees.

L Todd Wood

A new war is brewing in the Middle East, one that could easily go global. It will pit the NATO member nation of Turkey against the American protectorate - the Jewish State of Israel.

The rhetoric is escalating from both sides as both entities want to be the regional hegemon. 

Turkish President Erdogan has been especially vocal about Israel's actions and intentions lately with almost daily speeches. Below are excerpts from this morning's oratory.

"The root cause of the tensions in the Middle East is the Palestinian issue. Unfortunately, lasting peace cannot be achieved in our region as long as the occupation continues and Israel's ongoing land appropriation persists.

"The gateway to lasting peace is a two-state solution. An independent, sovereign, and territorially contiguous Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders must be established.

"We are closely monitoring the attacks—particularly those targeting Lebanon—that seek to undermine the agreement which has brought a much-needed sense of relief to our region and the world. We look to your support in ensuring that the provocations of the genocidal network, which cannot tolerate our region achieving stability and even views such stability as a threat to its own security, are not allowed to succeed.

"Rest assured — you are Gaza's sole hope. You are the hope of Damascus, which is rising to its feet. You are the hope of Aleppo, reborn from its ashes. Mogadishu, Khartoum, Beirut, Tripoli of Sham, Tripoli of the West — you are their hope.  Do not forget: Nicosia is watching you. Baku is watching you. Sarajevo, Skopje, Prizren, Baghdad, Basra are watching you.

Multiple Israeli officials have stated publicly in recent weeks that the next war Israel must be prepared to fight is with Turkey. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said as much in the last days. Bennett may be the next PM if he defeats Netanyahu in the coming elections.

Israel bombed air bases in Western Syria last year to prevent them from falling under Turkish control.

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The Danger Posed By Turkey Is Not Theoretical To Those Who Hold A Biblical Worldview

The Danger Posed By Turkey Is Not Theoretical To Those Who Hold A Biblical Worldview

Breanna Claussen

While the world’s attention is fixed on the Iranian regime, another nation with leadership just as wicked and bent on the destruction of Israel is flying largely under the radar of scrutiny.

Turkey, a member of NATO, has a vast track record of antisemitism—praising the Iranian proxy-led massacre on October 7th, hosting Hamas terrorists, threatening to invade the Jewish State, and even publicly expressing the desire to acquire nuclear weapons. Some Military experts have gone so far as to brand the nation “the new Iran,” expressing concerns over Turkish President Erdogan’s thirst for power and radical anti-Israel rhetoric.

Turkey’s interior minister recently sparked criticism for promising to “liberate” Jerusalem from Israel.

“Just as in the past, those lands will be ours once again. Allah willing, they will come under our sovereignty and dominion once more,” he vowed, referring to the control held under the fallen Ottoman Empire, “because we have a global leader like [Turkish President] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at our helm. A world leader.”

Netanyahu, earlier this month, called Erdogan an “antisemitic dictator,” highlighting his support for terrorism, genocide against minorities, and brutal actions against dissenting voices within Turkey.

On Wednesday, President Trump took a mixed position, stating that he had thwarted Turkish plans to join Iran in attacking Israel during the war, while simultaneously praising Erdogan as a “great leader” and signaling the upcoming approval to sell F-35 fighter jets to the nation—a sale that was previously barred due to Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system in 2019.

The danger posed by Turkey is not theoretical to those who hold a Biblical worldview. Through the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38-39, we know that when the leadership in Turkey threatens to invade the Jewish State, we should take them at their word. 

The prophet Ezekiel details an alliance already vividly formed in our world today, comprised of Turkey, Iran, Russia, and others. God’s Word states that this dark coalition will wage a future attack on the modern state of Israel, attempting an invasion from the north.

While this attack has not yet occurred, the shifting pieces are moving into place, just as God’s Word described, leaping from today’s headlines in astonishing fashion. A mutual hunger for regional control and hatred of Israel continues to tighten the cooperation between Turkey, Iran, and Russia—with two of the three openly stating their intention to wipe Israel off the map.

Another facet of Ezekiel 38-39 worth noting is Israel’s isolation during the future attack. The chapters speak of the nation of Israel standing alone on the world scene, with even the United States neglecting to come to Israel’s defense. While President Trump has taken extraordinary steps in favor of Israel in his first and second terms, recent tensions surrounding Iran and the growing anti-Israel positions gaining traction in America suggest that the US-Israel relationship may be on the brink of waning.

While we don’t know all the elements that will ultimately bring about the precise circumstances of this Ezekiel war, we do know as Christians that it is not all bad news. Will bad actors become further emboldened? Yes. Will Israel stand against an army with no friends to come to her aid? Yes. But that is not the end of the story.

In an awe-inspiring turn of events, Ezekiel 38-39 describes the shattering defeat of Turkey, Iran, and Russia, not as a result of Israel’s military might, but by the direct and spectacular intervention of God. In that day, not only will God’s chosen people be rescued, but the “eyes of many nations” will recognize that these were the actions of almighty God (Ezekiel 38:23).

Data Collection Off the Tracks: Old NSA Data Center vs. New Hyperscale AI Data Centers

Data Collection Off the Tracks: Old NSA Data Center vs. New Hyperscale AI Data Centers

Patti Johnson

Revealed: The Old NSA Data Center Had the Capacity to Track and Store 100 Years’ Worth of Data on Not Only Americans but Also Every Person Worldwide

For years, brave whistleblowers sounded the alarm about the U.S. government’s growing surveillance capabilities that threaten our privacy and freedom. Edward Snowden exposed the NSA’s broad bulk data collection programs (like PRISM and metadata sweeps on phone records), revealing a “collect it all” mindset that raised major alarms about government surveillance of Americans. Wikipedia – Utah Data Center

William Binney, a former NSA technical director and earlier whistleblower, was far more specific about the old NSA Utah Data Center’s capabilities in Bluffdale. Speaking in 2012-2013 about that facility (long before any new
AI Data projects existed), he estimated it could handle 5 zettabytes of data (with some references to even larger yottabyte-scale potential). In his words:

“They would have plenty of space with five zettabytes to store at least something on the order of 100 years worth of the worldwide communications, phones and emails and stuff like that.”

Binney warned the old NSA facility was built to vacuum up and store content (not just metadata) of communications for potential retroactive searching and analysis on a massive scale. He sounding the alarm that this infrastructure already enables unprecedented tracking and long-term storage of personal data from Americans and people worldwide. Skeptics Stack Exchange – Binney Quote

The old NSA center already possessed jaw-dropping capabilities to store and process vast amounts of personal communications for decades. Yet the new hyperscale AI data centers will dwarf it entirely in power and processing – potentially handling more information than humanity has ever generated or imagined before, thanks to AI-driven analysis at speeds and scales that turn “big data” into something truly unimaginable.

During the course of writing this article, intense lobbying and public pressure significantly altered the proposed AI data center I had originally planned to use as the primary example. The Stratos Project in Box Elder County, Utah, was dramatically scaled back from its original ambitions. I am therefore now comparing the revised and reduced Stratos plan to the old NSA Utah Data Center (the “Bumblehive”) in Bluffdale.

For additional perspective, I will also compare the old NSA Bumblehive to five of the largest hyperscale AI data centers proposed or under development in the United States (ranked by announced power capacity and overall campus scale as of mid-2026).

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