Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

US demands Israel lift Gaza siege
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

The Obama Administration has significantly increased pressure on Israel to lift its siege of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, according to a report in Ha'aretz.

Late last month, Obama sent a diplomatic message to Israel protesting its policies regarding Gaza and insisting that border crossings between the volatile coastal territory and southern Israel be opened.

Later, both US and Israeli sources confirmed that Washington followed up with verbal communication with Israeli leaders expressing dissatisfaction that Israel was linking the embargo against Gaza to the case of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The issue was raised again when US envoy George Mitchell visited the region last week, and yet again when Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Wednesday.

Many Israelis are wary of America's meddling in the Gaza situation, aware of the fact that it was US interference and unkept promises that convinced Israel to finally surrender the entire territory, including the Gaza-Egypt border. Less than two year later, Gaza was under full Hamas control and and the border had become a conduit for all manner of illicit weaponry.

Russia, China sign cooperation pact
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsUPI.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

MOSCOW,  -- China and Russia formalized their interest in forging a closer relationship Wednesday, signing a five-point statement on mutual cooperation.

The signing came during Chinese President Hu Jintao's three-day state visit to Moscow following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and the meeting of representatives of Brazil, Russia, India

and China in Yekaterinburg in central Russia, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Hu and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev spent time exchanging views on major international and regional issues before reaching a broad consensus, Xinhua said.

With the two countries having worked out their border issues, the two leaders expressed their desire to maintain stability in the region. They also said the countries will work together to develop their energy industries and oppose global trade protectionism.

Public Wary of Deficit, Economic Intervention
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsWall St. Journal - LAURA MECKLER
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

WASHINGTON -- After a fairly smooth opening, President Barack Obama faces new concerns among the American public about the budget deficit and government intervention in the economy as he works to enact ambitious health and energy legislation, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

These rising doubts threaten to overshadow the president's personal popularity and his agenda, in what may be a new phase of the Obama presidency.

"The public is really moving from evaluating him as a charismatic and charming leader to his specific handling of the challenges facing the country," says Peter D. Hart, a Democratic pollster who conducts the survey with Republican Bill McInturff. Going forward, he says, Mr. Obama and his allies "are going to have to navigate in pretty choppy waters."

There's good news for the administration, too, including tentative support for Mr. Obama's health-care plan and approval of his nominee for the Supreme Court. The public seems more optimistic about the country's economic future than it did a few weeks earlier, and Americans are still more likely to blame the last administration for the deficit.

But the poll suggests Mr. Obama faces challenges on multiple fronts, including growing concerns about government spending and the bailout of auto companies. A majority of people also disapprove of his decision to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Nearly seven in 10 survey respondents said they had concerns about federal interventions into the economy, including Mr. Obama's decision to take an ownership stake in General Motors Corp., limits on executive compensation and the prospect of more government involvement in health care. The negative feeling toward the GM rescue was reflected elsewhere in the survey as well.

Obama Extends Benefits To Same-Sex Partners
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsWsahington Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Moral Decline

President Obama signs a memorandum on federal benefits and non-discrimination as Vice President Biden and other officials watch. Gay rights activist Frank Kameny is to the president's right. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Updated 6:23 p.m. ET

President Obama signed a memorandum today extending some federal benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers. The measure does not cover health care and retirement benefits.

“Many of our government’s hard-working and dedicated, patriotic public servants have long been denied basic rights that their colleagues enjoy, for one simple reason: The people they love are of the same sex,” Obama said at an Oval Office signing ceremony.

After what he described as a “long, thorough review,” Obama signed the measure that, among other things, grants employees' same-sex partners access to a government insurance program that pays for long-term conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease. They also would be allowed to take sick leave to care for a sick partner or non-biological child.

"Extending equal benefits to the same-sex partners of Federal employees is the right thing to do, he said, noting that several top employers already offer benefits to same-sex partners.

"Those companies recognize that offering partner benefits helps them compete for and retain the brightest and most talented employees. The federal government is at a disadvantage on that score right now, and change is long overdue," he said.

Still, Obama noted that by law, the government cannot grant gay couples the same range of benefits afforded to heterosexual couples. He said he supports the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, which would further extend benefits to gay couples.

He also reiterated his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act: "It's discriminatory, it interferes with States' rights, and it's time we overturned it," he said.

Earlier in the day during a conference call with reporters, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said "This is a first step, not a final step."

Iran Govt: Death Penalty to Protest Organizers
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hana Levi Julian
Categories: One World Church;Warning

 
Iranian government officials warned Wednesday that they would seek the death penalty for detainees who have been arrested for organizing post-election opposition rallies in Tehran and elsewhere around the country.

The Iranian Fars news agency quoted Mohammadreza Habibi, an Iranian provincial prosecutor as saying the "few elements" behind the unrest could face the death penalty under Islamic law. The prosecutor-general of the central province of Esfahan said "these few elements" were controlled from outside the country and warned them to stop their "criminal activities."

Government forces continued to attack Iranian demonstrators protesting irregularities in Friday's presidential election.

Nevertheless, thousands of Iranians planned to protest for a fifth day in the capital against the skewed results of an election they insist was rigged against challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former president, in defiance of a government ban on all demonstrations. The election results announced by government officials had showed incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with an almost 2 to 1 victory over Mousavi barely two hours after the polls closed, even in Mousavi's own hometown. Numerous polling locations had reported irregularities as well.

IAEA: Iran Trying for Nuclear Bomb
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva -- Hana Levi Julian
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

 

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency took off the gloves this week and bluntly said it was his "gut feeling" that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon. The agency, which has spent years trying to conduct inspections at nuclear installations in the country, has been reticent to make a concrete statement about what Iran intends to do with the nuclear technology it has continued to pursue despite U.N. sanctions leveled against it.

Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in an interview with the British Broadcasting System (BBC) this week, "It is my gut feeling that Iran would like to have the technology to enable it to have nuclear weapons. They want to send a message to their neighbors, to the rest of the world, 'Don't mess with us,'" he said.

The "ultimate aim," he added, was to be "recognized as a major power in the Middle East" and "the road to get that recognition, to get that power and prestige," was through development of the country's nuclear power. "It is also an insurance policy against what they have heard in the past about regime change," he added.

Regime change is a major concern in Iran at the moment: incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is trying to hold on to his position by stifling an insistent roar of protests by activists who say he stole last Friday's presidential election.

The country's Interior Ministry said that Ahmadinejad had won the race in a landslide victory announced in a hasty announcement made barely two hours after the polls had closed. When the votes were supposedly counted, the numbers were suspiciously lopsided even in the hometown of relatively moderate challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has since called for the election to be annulled and held a second time.

Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters have continued to show up for massive protests in cities across Iran despite a violent crackdown on dissidents by Basij militia forces loyal to Ahmadinejad.

Dozens of protesters have been beaten and at least 12 have been shot and killed, according to media reports. Local sources said the numbers were far higher. A massive demonstration was called for Thursday afternoon in the capital, and Mousavi was to address the hundreds of thousands who were expected to attend. The challenger urged his supporters to wear black as a sign of mourning for the rigged elections and in honor of the memory of those who had been slain by government militia forces during demonstrations in the past week.

Presidential Change Won't Bring Policy Change

Political analysts, as well as politicians outside the country, believe it is unlikely Iran's nuclear policy will change, regardless of whether it is Ahmadinejad or Mousavi who ends up as president.

U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters Wednesday that he believes there is little difference between the two, but added that in any case, it didn't really matter.

“It’s important to understand that although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised,” he said.

Obama added that “either way we are going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighborhood and has been pursuing nuclear weapons.”

Hamas refuses to accept Israel, even for Jimmy Carter
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

If anyone could convince Hamas to accept Israel's right to exist, it would be former US President Jimmy Carter, right? After all, no world leader, past or present, has been so willing to give even the most blood-soaked Palestinian terrorists the benefit of the doubt.

But following Carter's visit to Hamas-ruled Gaza this week, the terrorists said they will not agree to his request that they recognize the Jewish state's right to exist in the Middle East.

Deputy Hamas Foreign Minister Ahmed Youssef told the Associated Press that his group greatly appreciated Carter's "historic" visit, but had to turn him down on accepting international conditions for officially including Hamas in the land-for-peace process.

"Hamas finds the conditions unacceptable," he said. "Recognizing Israel is completely unacceptable."

Hamas is still holding out hope that US President Barack Obama and liberal leaders in Europe will reverse those conditions and engage the group in direct dialogue even if its goal remains the destruction of Israel.

Dollar drops on reserve currency doubts
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsBreitbart.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;World Government;Warning

The dollar fell against the euro and yen on Wednesday after major emerging economies cast doubt on its long-term future as the world's main reserve currency, dealers said.

In late morning trading in London, the European single currency climbed to 1.3867 dollars from 1.3838 dollars in New York late on Tuesday.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar slipped to 96.30 yen from 96.42 yen on Tuesday.

Leaders of the so-called BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- had on Monday called for a "more diversified" currency system.

"The BRIC leaders are divided between supporting the US dollar -- as it is the only choice for now -- and advancing the march for an alternative," said Phil McHugh, who heads the corporate foreign exchange desk at currenciesdirect.com.

"The (BRIC) meeting... will affect future sentiment on the dollar," he added.

Clinton and Lieberman spar over Jewish settlements
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

The issue of halting construction both of and inside existing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria highlighted growing tension between Jerusalem and Washington on Wednesday when Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the American capital.

During a press conference following the meeting, Clinton told reporters that the Obama Administration is determined to see "a stop to the settlements."

Lieberman, who himself lives in a Judean settlement, responded that Israel cannot accept a complete freeze on communities where thousands of people live.

London's Financial Times described the exchange at the press conference as "one of the most tense encounters between the sides for several years." One can only imagine how hostile the air must have been when the two were behind closed doors.

Earlier in the week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the Obama Administration's demand that he halt even natural growth in Jewish settlements.

Carter Wants Obama to Remove Hamas from Terror List
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Zalman Nelson
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

The Obama Administration should remove Hamas from the terrorist list, former President Jimmy Carter told media following his visit to Gaza today. He said he plans on pushing for the change when he meets with U.S. officials on Thursday to discuss his latest trip to the Middle East.

Carter’s comments came during a joint press conference with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh following their meeting today in Gaza.  The former president said he tried to convince Hamas leaders to denounce violence, accept the existing interim agreements and recognize the right of the Jewish state to exist.

"Hamas leaders want peace and they want to have reconciliation not only with their Fatah brothers but also eventually with Israelis to live side by side, with two nations, both sovereign nations recognized by each other and living in peace," Carter said.

Haniyeh told Carter that he supported any plan that aims at preserving Arab rights and leads to the establishment of a sovereign Arab state on all the territories that were occupied by Israel in 1967 "with Jerusalem as its capital." He urged Carter to pressure Israel to lift the security blockade which was imposed on Gaza’s border crossings to prevent weapons smuggling.

During his visit Carter handed over a letter from kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit’s parents and asked the group to deliver it on humanitarian grounds. He shared his version of a prisoner swap proposal which included releasing PA women, children, and parliament members he claimed were being held by Israel.

Haniyeh said Hamas desired to end the Shalit case and welcomed Carter's mediation efforts.

Asked about his feeling after touring Gaza, Carter said, "My feeling is a feeling of sadness, anger and despair after seeing all this destruction that was caused to innocent people." He said that he would send President Obama a report explaining in details the situation in Gaza.

Carter said he felt personally responsible that American weapons were during Israel’s offensive in Gaza in January to stop terrorists from launching rockets against Israeli civilians in the south. "I know that the Israeli destruction of houses, infrastructure, and factories in Gaza was carried out by American weapons. I hope that this won't be repeated again," he said.

'Mom, dad better than certified teachers'
Jun 18th, 2009
Daily NewsWND - Bob Unruh
Categories: Commentary;Contemporary Issues

Report says it's 'myth' that 'qualifications' help

Not only do a long list of studies show that mom and dad can teach their own children as effectively as any "certified" teacher, there are indications that for some subjects, those "qualified" instructors actually deliver a negative impact to the performance of their students, according to a new assessment assembled by the Home School Legal Defense Association.

The organization periodically assembles information for its constituency, the hundreds of thousands of families across the United States that teach their own children at home.

He reported, "Educational research does not indicate any positive correlation between teacher qualifications and student performance. Many courts have found teacher qualification requirements on homeschoolers to be too excessive or not appropriate. The trend in state legislatures across the country indicates an abandonment of teacher qualification requirements for homeschool teachers. In fact, Americans, in general, are realizing that the necessity of teacher qualifications is a myth. The teachers' unions and other members of the educational establishment make up the small minority still lobbying for teacher certification in order to protect their disintegrating monopoly on education."

He said homeschoolers need such information to deal with issues such as that raised in Kansas a few years ago, when the state school board association tried to obtain a law that would have required homeschool teachers to be subject to state certification and licensing requirements.

The assessment reviewed literally dozens of studies that looked into the issue. For example, a 1999 Thomas Fordham Foundation study called "Better Teachers, Better Schools" looked at data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study survey of 24,000 eight-grade students.

Two key questions were whether teachers with "standard" certification outperform teachers with alternative or probationary credentials in terms of student achievement and are different teacher licensure components related to achievement.

In that study, the authors found, "Although teacher certification is pervasive, there is little rigorous evidence that it is systematically related to student achievement. Contrary to conventional wisdom, mathematics and science students who have teachers with emergency credentials do no worse than students whose teachers have standard teaching credentials, all else being equal. This result should, at the very least, cast doubt on assertions that standard certification should be required of all teachers."

According to the HSLDA report, "The study also found that having a degree in education has no impact on student science test scores and, in mathematics, having a B.A. in education actually has a statistically negative impact on scores in math!"

According to the evaluation of studies, "Most education officials publicly claim that teachers need special 'qualifications' in order to be effective. As a result, public education organizations often promote legislation or an interpretation of the law which would require home school parents to have one of three qualifications: 1) a teacher certificate, 2) a college degree, or 3) pass a 'teacher's exam.'"

But, the HSLDA report said, "Although this seems reasonable on the surface, such requirements not only violate the right of parents to teach their children as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, but virtually all academic research documents that there is no positive correlation between teacher qualifications (especially teacher certification requirements) and student performance."

"I have talked," wrote Klicka, "with hundreds of school officials who cannot understand how a 'mere mother' with a high school diploma could possibly teach her own children. These officials literally take offense that parents would try to teach their children and actually think that they will do as well as teachers in the public school who have at least four years and sometimes seven years of higher education.

"Unfortunately, critics in the media have also believed this myth and will question the validity of homeschooling by asking, 'But are the parents qualified?' What is so laughable about this belief in teacher qualifications by public school authorities are the statistics which show the appalling decline in competency among certified public school teachers and the failure of the teacher colleges," he wrote.

The assessment said, "One of the most significant studies in this area was performed by Dr. Eric Hanushek of the University of Rochester, who surveyed the results of 113 studies on the impact of teachers' qualifications on their students' academic achievement. Eighty-five percent of the studies found no positive correlation between the educational performance of the students and the teacher's educational background.