Moral clash between US and Africa

By Julio Severo

Laying bare a strong moral clash, President Barack Obama on Thursday (June 27) urged African leaders to extend special rights to gays and lesbians but was bluntly rebuked by Senegal’s president, who said his country “still isn’t ready’ to decriminalize homosexuality, according to a AP report.

Obama opened his weeklong trip to Africa one day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the defense of traditional marriage in the US federal law to grant special rights for gay couples. In his first in-person comments on the ruling, Obama said the court’s decision marked a “proud day for America.” He pressed for similar homosexual acceptance in Africa, wading into a sensitive area in a region marked by stark moral contrasts with the US. Dozens of African countries outlaw homosexuality, with their past experience of widespread boy abuses by homosexuals.

Obama and Macky Sall

During a news conference with Senegalese President Macky Sall at the grand presidential palace in Dakar, Obama touted the striking down of the defense of marriage in the US federal law.

He urged Sall to have similar legal changes in Senegal, putting the defense of traditional marriage below the gay agenda.

However, Sall gave no ground. Senegal, he said, is “still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality.” Will it be ready someday?

It will depend on the “persuasion” powers by the US government. “Cultural imperialism,” an excellent video produced by Family Watch International (http://youtu.be/HbjAFUGQ3Xg), shows how UN and US use pressure and blackmail to force developing nations to embrace immoral agendas.

By the US measure, will not African nations be labeled democratic until their adherence of immoral agendas, especially the homosexual agenda? Reportedly, 38 African countries criminalize homosexuality. This, in Obama’s view, is undemocratic.

Democratic is what the US government does: indoctrinate its school children into homosexual perversions and criminalize criticism of wicked homosexual acts plainly condemned by the same Bible that was instrumental in the lives of the Founding Fathers.

Curiously, current America is a vast moral contrast not only with African nations, but also with the America envisioned and created by her Christian Founders.

Essentially, the Bible and Christian values have been criminalized in America, which abandoned their Bible-based Republic to embrace and impose a homosexual advocacy democracy.

I hope Africa may be able to resist such “democracy.”

With information from Associated Press.

Portuguese version of this article: Conflitos morais entre EUA e África

Source: Julio Severo in English: www.lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com

Recommended Reading:

Mourning: End of the Defense of Marriage in US federal law

Leading the world by evil example: Obama and gay “marriage”

United States: between Gayland and Mohammedland

Will legal same-sex marriage result in religious persecution?

Mourning: End of the Defense of Marriage in US federal law

By Julio Severo

In a historical decision, the Supreme Courte issued today (June 26, 2013) two rulings against natural family. In response to demands from gay supremacists, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was invalidated in the protection that it granted to natural marriage against the gay “marriage” ideology. The Supreme Court found unconstitutional federal law upholding “marriage as only between a man and a woman.”

What will follow next? A decision saying that it is unconstitutional a marriage among only human beings, opening the doors to other perversions?

The other ruling struck down an initiative, approved by the Californian people, hindering gay supremacism from defacing and mutilating natural marriage with its marriage pirate copy.

US president Barack Obama immediately expressed his euphoria for the gay victory in the highest court. Obama said:

“Today’s DOMA ruling is a historic step forward for #MarriageEquality. #LoveIsLove”

Obama also called the leading gay activists involved in the DOMA defeat, congratulating them.

Hollywood joy

Hollywood, always in the forefront of the promotion of behavioral perversions, reacted with joy to the Court rulings, according to an AP report.

* “Historic day. Well done #SCOTUS.” Leonardo DiCaprio said.

* "We stand tall today. #DomaStruckDown So many fought for so long. Be proud, the prejudice are now the minority.” Lady Gaga said.

In official statement, Obama said:

“I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it.”

Apostasy

Nothing of it would be possible if the American Church were not so advanced in shameless apostasy — an apostasy sweeping especially historical Protestant churches. Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral, said:

“Today’s rulings advance civil marriage equality, but they should also serve as a call for Christians to embrace religious marriage equality. Countless faithful Christians have lived out their lives in committed same-sex relationships, and we have seen the fruits of their fidelity in our families, our congregations and our communities. If we use this historic moment to see more clearly how their faithfulness contributes to the common good, we will better be able to walk with our LGBT sisters and brothers as an act of Christian faith.”

Washington National Cathedral

In contrast, Billy Graham always mentions a declaration by his wife: “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

With the Supreme Court rulings today, it no longer possible to know how different from Sodoma America is.

Supreme Court Owner

When I read the headlines in the morning, I was shocked. I was also very sad by that gigantic step backwards.

Supreme Court building

My wife, who had not read the news, had also wakened up very sad and only later told me that she had a dream, where she saw a building like a temple. When she described me the building, I could understand that it was the Supreme Court building. I showed her the picture of this building, and it was really this. She saw Satan there inside, being adored by the judges and others who work in that place. She saw Satan as big as the Supreme Court temple itself, showing hate for all those who worship Jesus Christ.

She saw Jesus’ worshipers, who had a small prayer room in that building, very sad and fearing for things yet to come, because Satan, who she saw as the owner of the whole Supreme Court space, wanted to take more measures to persecute Christians. The striking down of the Defense of Marriage is only the first step of the Supreme Court owner.

Conservative leaders’ anguish

That striking down brought anguished reactions from conservative leaders:

* “We are devastated that the Supreme Court succumbed to political pressure by voting to weaken the sacred institution. They neglected our most precious children who need a mother and a father united in marriage for healthy development.” — Rev. William Owens, president of Coalition of African-American Pastors.

* “We are deeply saddened by today's decision to not only allow but encourage same-sex marriage in our country- a country that was founded on biblical principles. We mourn for America's future, but we are not without hope.” — Tim Wildmon, president of American Family Association.

DOMA had been passed in the 1990s to stop the gay “marriage” militants’ advance. The federal law specifically declared that marriage was only between a man and a woman.

With its striking down, now every defense of marriage should also include gay couples.

Consequences for Brazil and other countries

How will the Supreme Court rulings affect Brazil and other countries?

America is today the only superpower in the world, and she is prioritizing homosexual issues in her society and in her foreign policies.

The priority of the US State Department, since two years ago, has been to advocate the so called homosexual rights.

Last year, Family Watch International produced an excellent video exposing homosexual imperialism especially coming through the US government. The video, which is here (http://youtu.be/HbjAFUGQ3Xg), shows that nations that don't give in to the imperialism imposed by America end victims of American cruelty, losing necessary help.

The US blackmail politics to poor countries today is for them to accept the gay agenda in return for a plate of food or medicines.

The psychological pressure of this imperialism comes especially from Hollywood, which is the world’s biggest propaganda machine, entirely in the service of the gay agenda.

The fight of pro-family Christians will be now more difficult, because by equaling natural marriage with gay “marriage,” America will be leading, as a superpower, the weakening of natural family in all of the countries under her cultural and financial influence.

If we struggle against gay militants who use public school children to promote homosexual propaganda, they will be able to defend themselves easily by saying, “We are just defending family. Did you forget that even America now officially says that gay ‘marriage’ is normal marriage is? We are equal. To attack gay agenda is now to attack family.”

Welcome to the world recreated in the image and likeness of the homosexual imperialism sponsored by America.

The Supreme Court rulings today give reason for perverted parties for those who want destroy the natural family, but they are mourning for families around world.

With information from Associated Press and Daily Mail.

Portuguese version of this article: Luto nos EUA: O fim da Defesa do Casamento na lei federal dos EUA

Source: Julio Severo in English: www.lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com

Recommended Reading:

Leading the world by evil example: Obama and gay “marriage”

United States: between Gayland and Mohammedland

Will legal same-sex marriage result in religious persecution?

A Warning To The Church In America

By Dr. Scott Lively, President, Defend the Family International

You may have heard of me. I am the pastor being sued in U.S. Federal Court for “Crimes Against Humanity” for preaching against homosexuality in Uganda. But I am really a “Canary in the Coal Mine,” with a warning for every Bible-believing Christian in our land, especially pastors and ministry leaders.

The American church is about to come under spiritual and cultural warfare the likes of which we have never seen and which most are not prepared for. The attacks will come from every corner of the secular world to challenge, condemn and punish us for our beliefs about homosexuality. These attacks will split denominations, congregations and even Christian families to a degree and with an intensity that will shock even those who have experienced the first ripples of “gay” conflict in the church over the past few decades. Large numbers of self-identified Christians will begin embracing so-called “Gay Theology,” and some will actually join the attacks against the remnant who stand firm on the truth. The pressure to give in to escape the psychological and sometimes physical persecution of the Christian “homophobes” will be so great that I believe a majority of church-goers will succumb, and a great many pastors will choose to “change with the times,” so as not to lose “their” church.

This collapse of the Christian infrastructure of America is, in my opinion, already in progress and irreversible because it is part of God‘s judgment. The “end-times” revival which many, including myself, expect and eagerly await will not stop this collapse, but will in fact hasten it by strengthening the remnant in their obedience to Christ while hardening the world (and fallen Christians) against us. The crisis will be so pervasive that no-one will be spared the choice of embracing or rejecting Biblical truth on this topic. The whole purpose of this trial is to test the strength of believers to endure greater troubles ahead.

We shouldn’t be surprised that God is using this issue as our test. A careful examination of His Word shows that open homosexuality in the Bible is symbolic of extreme rebellion against God leading to judgment. Thus, unique in all of scripture, Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed by fire and brimstone as the examplar of God’s wrath (2 Peter 2:6, Jude 1:7, Genesis 19:1-12), male on male sodomy is listed as the most heinous sin on the short list of sins which caused the land to “vomit out” the Canaanites from the territory promised to Abraham (Leviticus 18:1-30, esp. 22), and both male and female homosexuality are together identified as the examplar of the depraved or “reprobate” mind that defines the age of apostasy leading to Christ‘s return (Romans 1:18-32, 2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Noah’s Flood was preceded by the “marrying and giving in marriage” (Matt 24:37-40) of people whose thoughts were “only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5), evidence which the ancient Hebrew scholars interpreted as “gay marriage,” the final insult to God which unleashed the deluge. And in the final book of the Bible, just prior to the return of Christ to “judge and make war” against His enemies (Rev 19:11ff), Jerusalem under the Antichrist is “mystically called Sodom and Egypt,” signifying its essential association (I believe) with homosexuality and Islam respectively (Revelation 11:3-8).

Even 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, the “ex-gay” passage that proves that healed and recovered homosexuals were a part of the church from its earliest days, warns that unrepentant homosexuals “will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” There is no room, even when we emphasize compassion for homosexual sufferers, to condone homosexual relationships or worse, to claim that homosexuality is blessed by God as a normal, intended variant of human sexuality.

My life’s work has been to stand against the (increasingly successful) assault of the homosexual movement on Biblical values in our society and around the world. My nearly 25 years of full time, front lines ministry on this battlefield has given me special insights and understanding of this issue. My refusal to be silenced by a long series of increasingly more dishonest and aggressive attacks on my work and reputation has familiarized me both with persecution and with the tactical “playbook” of the “gay” movement. I am thus issuing my warning to the church not so much as a prophesy (though it is confirmed in my spirit), but as the natural conclusion of deductive reasoning by a front-lines analyst with a unique vantage-point. In support of that conclusion, I offer the following observations.

First, on June 28, 1969 the goal of the American homosexual movement shifted from tolerance (the right to be left alone) to control (the complete restructuring of society in its own image, with “gays“ or their surrogates in all seats of power). Its tactics shifted from civil dialogue to implacable militancy. That was the date of the Stonewall Riot in New York City, today celebrated annually as “Gay Pride Day.” Logically, this movement cannot achieve its goal without replacing the Biblical social ethic of marriage-based heterosexual monogamy and the natural family with its own philosophy of unlimited “sexual freedom” (which is in reality moral anarchy). In short, the true and necessary goal of the “gay” movement is the defeat of Christianity.

Second, in the space of just forty years homosexual militants have defeated every secular institution in their path in the United States. The first to fall was the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, when “gay” activists, using Brownshirt tactics of disruption and intimidation, forced the APA to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV. The most recent and final secular institution to fall was the Boy Scouts of America in 2013 when the BSA leadership voted to allow openly self-declared homosexual boys into the organization. The next-to-last entity to fall was the U. S. military. In both cases, the first news following the capitulation was of uniformed members of each organization marching triumphantly in “Gay Pride” parades.

Third, the “gays” have always intended to attack the church in the final stage of their conquest of our culture. As early as 1987 they openly admitted this plan in an article called The Overhauling of Straight America, which later became the basis for the book After the Ball, which has ever since been their primary strategic blueprint. They wrote:

When conservative churches condemn gays…we can use talk to muddy the moral waters. This means publicizing support for gays by more moderate churches, raising theological objections of our own about conservative interpretations of biblical teachings, and exposing hatred and inconsistency. Second, we can undermine the moral authority of homophobic churches by portraying them as antiquated backwaters, badly out of step with the times and with the latest findings of psychology. Against the mighty pull of institutional Religion one must set the mightier draw of Science & Public Opinion (the shield and sword of that accursed "secular humanism"). Such an unholy alliance has worked well against churches before, on such topics as divorce and abortion. …. At a later stage…it will be time to get tough with remaining opponents. To be blunt, they must be vilified. (Guide Magazine, November 1987)

Frankly, even at this late stage of the game, much of the church seems to be still asleep or in denial about the state of our culture. Even many conservative Christian leaders who are awake to the seriousness of the crisis are only dimly aware that the culture war at its foundation is and has always been a winner-take-all contest between Christians and homosexual activists. Now that the last secular barriers to the “gay” agenda have been crushed, all of their weapons and all of their warriors will be focused on the last remaining obstacle to their power, the Christian church.

What comes next is a full-on homosexual blitzkrieg against “homophobia” and “hatred” in the church, and a concurrent culture-wide advocacy of “gay theology.” Gone, of course, will be all concern for the “separation of church and state” as the secular powers work hand-in-hand with the “gays” to shame and “correct” the Bible-believing church, using Scripture that has been deviously twisted to fit their goals. The only defense will be Biblical literacy backed unshakable faith. To be blunt, we will be all be vilified and only the strong of faith will endure.

To be sure, one’s view of homosexuality is not necessarily a salvation issue, but one’s ability to cling to Christ through persecution may well be. Will a person too spiritually weak or cowardly to defend Biblical truth on such a clear and fundamental teaching be strong enough to resist the Mark of the Beast? During a time of testing such as we are entering, the Prophet Jeremiah put it this way: “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, Then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?”

It might not be noticeable now, but their campaign has been launched and will steadily increase in breadth, depth and persuasiveness. Remnant, be prepared, and share this warning.

Source: www.defendthefamily.com, via Julio Severo in English: www.lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com

Recommeded Reading:

Christian minister accused of “Crime against Humanity”

United States: between Gayland and Mohammedland

NSA has total access via Microsoft Windows

F. Michael Maloof

WASHINGTON – The National Security Agency has backdoor access to all Windows software since the release of Windows 95, according to informed sources, a development which follows the insistence by the agency and federal law enforcement for backdoor “keys” to any encryption, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Having such “keys” is essential for the export of any encryption allowed under U.S. export control laws to foreign users.

The NSA plays a prominent role in deliberations over whether such products can be exported, and routinely turns down any requests above a certain megabyte level that exceeds NSA’s technical capacity to decrypt it. That’s been the standard for years for NSA, as well as the departments of Defense, Commerce and State.

Computer security specialists say that the Windows software driver used for security and encryption functions contains unusual features which give NSA that backdoor access.

These security specialists have identified the driver as ADVAPI.DLL. It enables and controls a variety of security functions. These specialists say that on Windows, it is located at C:\\Windows\system directory of anyone’s computer that uses Windows software.

Nicko van Someren says the driver contains two different keys. One was used by Microsoft to control cryptographic functions in Windows while another initially remained a mystery.

Then, two weeks ago, a U.S. security firm concluded that the second key belonged to NSA.

Read more at WND

Source: WND, via Last Days Watchman

Recommend Reading:

“1984” Live! US Surveillance Scandal Is The Biggest Story Of Your Lifetime

Beware: You Are Being Monitored!

Homeland Security surveillance detected on Julio Severo website

US surveillance on blogs and websites

“1984” Live! US Surveillance Scandal Is The Biggest Story Of Your Lifetime

By Julio Severo

“The (National Security Agency) NSA surveillance scandal is the biggest story of your lifetime” – that was, according WND, Michael Savage’s message all this week, as details emerged about the US government spying on Americans and people around the world.

However, “They obviously weren’t spying on Muslims, or people known to have associated with terrorists,” Savage pointed out. Otherwise, the authorities would have prevented the Boston Marathon bombing.

The White House assures that its massive surveillance is to stop terrorists, and yet it won’t snoop in mosques, where the terrorists are.

The US government’s sweeping surveillance of most private communications excludes the jihad factories where homegrown terrorists are radicalized.

Since October 2011, mosques have been off-limits to FBI agents.

This is particularly disturbing in light of recent independent surveys of American mosques, which reveal some 80% of them preach violent jihad or distribute violent literature to worshippers.

So if the US massive surveillance is not aimed at Muslims, who were behind 11/9, what its aim? Throughout his administration, Obama has been charged of aiming at Christians and pro-lifers. More recently, the US Army and DHS labeled conservative Christians as “hate groups.”

This is not only an American problem. Two years ago, WND reported on DHS monitoring my blog. I am a Brazilian citizen. Why such surveillance on me? Are my pro-life and pro-family activities a threat to America?

Probably yes. A 2011 WND report said about the Obama plan to have the US as a global LGBT sex cop. In Brazil, I am in the frontlines against gay tyranny.

Thirty years ago, if someone had told me about a global surveillance program, I would have pointed Soviet Union as its source.

After my recent article was published on Free Republic about the NSA scandal, an American told me, “The US government has taken the road of anti-Christian, anti-freedom, pervert tyrants. I don’t know when it will be the end times, but I imagine the US creating an oppressive and hateful KGB ruled globe, would be a part of it.”

The leaks made by Edward Snowden reveal that there is a powerful American KGB watching you on Facebook, Skype, Google and other internet channels. There is no safe place. Big Brother is watching you.

Big Brother is, according to George Orwell’s “1984” novel, an omnipresent, totalitarian government keeping a watchful eye on its citizens.

In fact, sales of Orwell’s classic novel have rocketed in the wake of the scandal evolving around the National Security Agency surveillance programs. Last week, four editions of the book were in the top 40 of Amazon’s “Movers and Shakers” list. At one point one of the editions was up 10,000 percent.

Thanks to the massive, global US surveillance, “1984” is here, and what Edward Snowden has said about the U.S. government spying should send a chill up our spine. He said,

1 – “The majority of people in developed countries spend at least some time interacting with the Internet, and Governments are abusing that necessity in secret to extend their powers beyond what is necessary and appropriate.”

2 - “The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to.”

3 - “…I can’t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building.”

4 - “The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything.”

5 - “With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your e-mails or your wife’s phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your e-mails, passwords, phone records, credit cards.”

6 - “Any analyst at any time can target anyone. I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President…”

7 - “…they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behavior in the world known to them.”

8 - “Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you're being watched and recorded. …it’s getting to the point where you don't have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call, and then they can use this system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you've ever made, every friend you've ever discussed something with, and attack you on that basis, to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life.”

9 - “Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest.”

10 - “Everyone everywhere now understands how bad things have gotten — and they’re talking about it. They have the power to decide for themselves whether they are willing to sacrifice their privacy to the surveillance state.”

11 - “I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.”

12 - “I don’t want to live in a world where there's no privacy, and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.”

13 - “The great fear that I have regarding the outcome for America of these disclosures is that nothing will change. [People] won’t be willing to take the risks necessary to stand up and fight to change things... And in the months ahead, the years ahead, it’s only going to get worse. [The NSA will] say that… because of the crisis, the dangers that we face in the world, some new and unpredicted threat, we need more authority, we need more power, and there will be nothing the people can do at that point to oppose it. And it will be turnkey tyranny.”

Calling whistleblower Edward Snowden “a patriot, not a traitor,” Dr. Michael Savage declared that “the NSA scandal makes Watergate look like what it was: a green pea inside a tidal wave.”

Edward Snowden

What George Orwell “leaked” was, through his a novel, his perception about how a future government would watch people. Fiction has become reality. What Edward Snowden has leaked are facts about how the US government is already doing it.

Even though being a socialist, Orwell was not considered a “traitor” for revealing where socialism would take society. If his book, which is fiction, has been praised, much more deserving is Snowden’ act of revealing what is not fiction. It is “1984” live.

I agree with Joseph Farah, who said that Snowden should be granted immunity to speak everything he knows about how Big Brother is watching you.

With information from WND, Investors and The Economic Collapse.

Portuguese version of this article: “1984” ao vivo! Escândalo de monitoração dos EUA é a maior história da sua vida

Spanish version of this article: ¡“1984” en vivo! Escándalo de vigilancia en Estados Unidos es la más grande historia de su vida

French version of this article: «1984» en direct! Scandale du système de surveillance des États-Unis est la plus grande histoire de sa vie

Source: Julio Severo in English: www.lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com

Recommended Reading:

Beware: You Are Being Monitored!

Homeland Security surveillance detected on Julio Severo website

US surveillance on blogs and websites

Massacred by the government’s taxes, more than 100,000 Brazilians protest against government

Commentary by Julio Severo:

The massive protests in Brazil may be summarized in the complaint from a Brazil, who said,

“We’re massacred by the government's taxes, yet when we leave home in the morning to go to work, we don't know if we'll make it home alive because of the violence. We don't have good schools for our kids. Our hospitals are in awful shape. Corruption is rife. These protests will make history and wake our politicians up to the fact that we're not taking it anymore!”

We Brazilians have been massacred by high taxes indeed. By God’s standard, government should punish criminals and praise good people (Romans 13). But the Brazilian government wants to occupy the role of good people. So it takes from Brazilians much of their hard-earned money through high and corrupt tax laws. Its excuse is to grant Brazilians education, health, housing, etc.

It does grant them, of very poor quality. But, at the same time, there is no security. Crime is rampant. Brazilians suffer more than 50,000 murders a years. The Brazilian governo is very far away from fulfilling its divine mandate to punish criminals. See:

Brazil: more violent than nations in war

Children who carry guns in Brazil: Shocking images that show drug gangs’ brutal grip on Brazil streets where hundreds of thousands will travel for next year’s World Cup

I doubt that these massive protests will change the corrupt Brazilian government and its actions to massacre its people through its high taxes. Only God can help the Brazilian people!

Please, pray for Brazil, so that its Christian leaders may understand the right place for government and taxes and be tools for a revival.

Read now the FoxNews report:

June 17, 2013: Protestors march in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

More than 100,000 in Brazil protest against government services, corruption

SAO PAULO –  Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship have broken out across this continent-sized country, uniting tens of thousands frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden.

More than 100,000 people were in the streets Monday for largely peaceful protests in at least eight big cities. However, demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte were marred by vandalism and violent clashes with police.

About two dozen people were reported injured.

The wave of protests, which began over a hike in bus prices, was also in large part motivated by widespread images of Sao Paulo police last week beating demonstrators and firing rubber bullets during a march that drew 5,000. In Rio, the violent police crackdown on a small and peaceful crowd Sunday near the Maracana stadium incited many to come out for what local news media described as the city's largest protest in a generation.

Tuesday's newspapers and morning news shows were filled with images of clashes between demonstrators and police in Rio, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte. The vast majority of Rio's protesters were peaceful, but a small group of demonstrators attacked the state legislature building, setting a nearby car and other objects ablaze. The newspaper O Globo cited Rio state security officials as saying at least 20 officers and 10 protesters were injured there.

Monday's protests came during soccer's Confederations Cup and just one month before a papal visit, a year before the World Cup and three years ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The unrest is raising security concerns and renewed questions over Brazil's readiness to host the mega-events.

A cyber-attack knocked the government's official World Cup site offline, and the Twitter feed for Brazil's Anonymous group posted links to a host of other government websites whose content had been replaced by a screen calling on citizens to come out to the streets.

In a brief statement late Monday, President Dilma Rousseff acknowledged the demonstrations, saying: "Peaceful demonstrations are legitimate and part of democracy. It is natural for young people to demonstrate." Rousseff recently saw her popularity rating recently dip for the first time in her presidency, largely over sluggish growth, increasing inflation and security worries. Rousseff faces re-election next year.

Brazilians have long tolerated pervasive corruption, but in about 40 million Brazilians have moved out of poverty and into the middle class over the past decade and they have begun to demand more from government. Many are angry that billions of dollars in public funds are being spent to host the World Cup and Olympics while few improvements are made elsewhere.

In Rio, the confrontation between police and a small group of protesters dragged on late into the night despite sporadic rain. As the group moved on the state legislature building, footage broadcast by the Globo television network showed police firing into the air. At least one demonstrator in Rio was injured after being hit in the leg with a live round allegedly fired by a law enforcement official.

Local news media reported that a high school student in Maceio was shot in the face after a motorist forced his way through the demonstrators' barricade. Protesters were raining fists down on the car when a shot was fired. The extent of the 16-year-old's injuries were not immediately known.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic hub, at least 65,000 protesters gathered Monday at a small, treeless plaza then broke into three directions in a Carnival atmosphere, with drummers beating out samba rhythms as people chanted anti-corruption jingles. They also railed against the action that sparked the first protests last week: a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares.

Thousands of protesters in the capital, Brasilia, peacefully marched on Congress. Dozens scrambled up a ramp to a low-lying roof, clasping hands and raising their arms, the light from below sending their elongated shadows onto the structure. Some congressional windows were broken, but police did not use force.

"This is a communal cry saying: `We're not satisfied,"' Maria Claudia Cardoso said on a Sao Paulo avenue, taking turns waving a sign reading "(hash)revolution" with her 16-year-old son, Fernando, as protesters streamed by.

"We're massacred by the government's taxes, yet when we leave home in the morning to go to work, we don't know if we'll make it home alive because of the violence," she added. "We don't have good schools for our kids. Our hospitals are in awful shape. Corruption is rife. These protests will make history and wake our politicians up to the fact that we're not taking it anymore!"

Protest leaders repeatedly warned marchers that damaging public or private property would only hurt their cause. Many Brazilians were angry over Sao Paulo's first protests last week after windows were broken and buildings spray-painted.

Police, too, changed tactics. In Sao Paulo, commanders said publicly before the protest they would try to avoid violence, but could resort to force if protesters destroyed property. There was barely any perceptible police presence at the start of Monday's demonstration.

In Belo Horizonte, police estimated about 20,000 people took part in a peaceful protest before a Confederations Cup match between Tahiti and Nigeria. Earlier in the day, demonstrators erected several barricades of burning tires on a nearby highway, disrupting traffic.

Protests also were reported in Curitiba, Vitoria, Fortaleza, Recife, Belem and Salvador.

Source: FoxNews, via Last Days Watchman