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Secret Documents Reveal Iran’s Smoking Gun’ for Nuclear Bomb
Dec 14th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

 
Secret documents obtained and translated by the Times of London reveal that Iran has been working for two years on a plan to test a nuclear bomb component that triggers an explosion.

American intelligence experts previously had denied Israeli reports on Iran’s nearing nuclear capability. They claimed that Tehran in 2003 had halted preparations to make nuclear weapons and would not resume work on the project before mid-2007. The United States earlier this year admitted its information was incorrect.

Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow for non-proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, told the Times, "The most shattering conclusion is that... this was an effort that began in 2007…. If Iran is working on weapons, it means there is no diplomatic solution.  

“Is this the smoking gun? That’s the question people should be asking. It looks like the smoking gun. This is smoking uranium.”

The technical document describes the use of a neutron that independent experts say have no use other than for a nuclear weapon, according to the Times.

The documents have been transferred to the  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog arm of the United Nations.

The revelation is one of a series of reports the past two years that indicate Iran’s progress in manufacturing a nuclear weapon. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly has said that Israel is a "cancer” that should be “wiped off the face of the map.”

The U.S. Congress is pressing for tougher sanctions on Iran in a bid to cripple its economy as a way to force it to allow United Nations officials to inspect its nuclear facilities. U.S. President Barack Obama has pursued a strategy of diplomatic pressure.

Hamas celebrates its 22nd anniversary and calls for all of Israel to be their nation called Palestine
Dec 14th, 2009
News UpdateJimmy DeYoung
Categories: Jimmy DeYoung News

Tens of thousands of Palestinians turned out in the Gaza Strip to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the founding of the Islamist group Hamas, and at the same time, the Hamas Prime Minister, Ismael Haniyah, called for the liberation of all of Palestine, the Palestinian state, which is today the Jewish state of Israel. Haniyah said that Hamas liberated the Gaza Strip with the help of the militant factions, referring to the terrorist groups operating under the umbrella of the Palestinian resistance, and then he added that they are not satisfied with Gaza, they look forward to the whole of Palestine.

Hamas, founded 22 years ago by the late Sheik Yassin, and Islamic fundamentalist radical cleric who not only wanted to take the land from the Jews by destroying the Jewish state of Israel, but he wanted to set up an Islamic republic in Palestine and live under Sharia Law, Islamic law as the law of the land.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

The celebration in the Gaza Strip of the 22nd anniversary of the founding of Hamas, the Islamic terror group, is a precursor to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

As tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered in the Gaza Strip to celebrate the founding of an Islamic terror group that wants to eliminate the state of Israel and extend its liberation of Palestine from Egypt to Lebanon, the world watched the unfolding of a religiously motivated quest. The late Sheik Yassin, the founder of Hamas, based his every action and that of the Hamas warriors on the Islamic holy book, the Koran, and its call for jihad, holy war, against the Jewish occupiers of the land that he called Palestine. This short militant history of Hamas does speak to a prophetic scenario for the last days as it relates to the Palestinians, the Jews, and the land that is called Israel.

The ancient Jewish prophet Malachi wrote that the Edomites, the Biblical people known today as Palestinians, would rise up in the last days and take back what they say is theirs (Malachi 1:2-4). Another prophet, Ezekiel, said that the Palestinian people would kill the Jews and then take their land (Ezekiel 35:5-12). The end result of this militant struggle will be that the Palestinians will be defeated (the book of Obadiah).

The Hamas celebration is indeed setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Dubai Gets $10b from Abu Dhabi to Cover Debt
Dec 14th, 2009
Daily NewsAP
Categories: Today's Headlines

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai got a $10 billion lifeline from oil-rich Abu Dhabi to save one of its prized companies from imminent default Monday, calming fears for now about the city-state's shaky finances. Dubai's main stock market spiked more than 10 percent on the news.

Dubai World — a sprawling conglomerate with assets ranging from the oceanliner Queen Elizabeth 2 to luxury retailer Barney's New York — had been up against a Monday deadline to repay a pile of loans from its Nakheel property division. Some $4.1 billion of the emergency funds will be used to pay off those bills. The rest will go to shore up Dubai World itself.

Dubai officials' reluctance to fully stand behind Dubai World's $60 billion in debts had raised serious concerns about the emirate's creditworthiness, and the move by Abu Dhabi appeared aimed at quashing those worries before they undercut confidence in the United Arab Emirates as a whole. The two emirates share control of the UAE, a federation of seven semiautonomous city-states.

Authorities also softened their stance Monday, vowing that the city-state was committed to "transparency, good governance and market principles." Officials outlined a legal framework that promised to increase openness and protect creditors in future dealings with the conglomerate, offering lenders further reassurance in a country where formal bankruptcy proceedings are largely untested.

"We are here today to reassure investors, financial and trade creditors, employees and our citizens that our government will act at all times in accordance with market principles and internationally accepted business practices," Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Dubai supreme fiscal committee, said in a statement.

The bailout is the latest by Abu Dhabi. The emirate which controls the UAE's presidency has directly and indirectly provided Dubai with $25 billion over the past year, mostly by buying Dubai bonds. In all, Dubai owes more than $80 billion — roughly equal to its total economic output last year. The full extent of its liabilities is unknown, however, with some analysts putting the total at $100 billion or more.

The aid package is key for Dubai, the second-richest of the UAE's city-states but which has little of the oil wealth held by Abu Dhabi. Dubai's ruler is the UAE's vice president and prime minister.

Dubai created Dubai World — which has interests in seaports, real estate, tourism and retail — to diversify its economy and boost its international clout. Much of the growth was fueled by easy credit. As the bills came due, Dubai struggled to repay as its economy was battered by the global economic downturn.

Dubai said the rest of the funds provided by Abu Dhabi will be used to cover the conglomerate's interest expenses and general business needs through the end of April, and to pay bills owed to "existing trade creditors and contractors."

Bankers said the last-minute cash injection signaled a national approach to tackling Dubai's problems rather than leaving the struggling emirate to fend for itself.

Climate Talks Head Into Second Week of Crunch Talks
Dec 14th, 2009
Daily NewsAFP
Categories: Today's Headlines;World Government

The marathon UN climate summit entered its second week Monday, as environment ministers readied closed-door meetings to hammer out disagreements over a draft agreement to combat global warming.

In the first such concession of its kind, major player China, the world's biggest polluter, said it did not expect developed countries to underwrite Chinese efforts to fight climate change.

"Financial resources for the efforts of developing countries (to combat climate change are) a legal obligation," Chinese vice foreign minister He Yafei, China's top negotiator, told The Financial Times in an interview published Monday.

"That does not mean China will take a share -- probably not... We do not expect money will flow from the US, UK (and others) to China."

China has said it plans to curb 2020 emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels, but had demanded that developed countries provide funding for its climate efforts. Related article: China might not take funds

Danish police earlier detained around 200 anti-capitalist protesters who tried to block a section of Copenhagen's busy port during a demonstration on the sidelines of the talks, a day after the first mass protest of the gathering.

Four dozen environment ministers representing countries with varied economies and interests in the 194-member United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gathered informally for their first major get-together of the summit on Sunday as the 12-day marathon took a day off.

Meeting under the chairmanship of former Danish minister Connie Hedegaard, they are tasked with turning a problem-plagued blueprint into a landmark deal on climate change that can be endorsed on Friday by about 120 world leaders.

But in its first six days, negotiators made negligible progress on any of the major issues, stoking fears that the outcome would be a poor fudge.

Penny Wong, Australia's climate change minister, said Sunday's talks had been "frank and robust" but noted that "clearly, we have a lot of work ahead."

French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said there was a widespread desire to ensure that the summit did not end in stalemate and everyone understood what was at stake.

"We don't want to end up one day regretting that we had an extraordinary opportunity but allowed fear to win the day," he told AFP.

The UNFCCC conference is seen by some commentators as the most important parlay since the end of World War II.

Its goal is nothing less than taming greenhouse gases -- the invisible byproduct derived mainly from the burning of coal, oil and gas that traps the Sun's heat and warms Earth's atmosphere.

Scientists say that without dramatic action within the next decade, Earth will be on course for warming that will inflict drought, flood, storms and rising sea levels, translating into hunger, homelessness and misery for many millions.

But scaling back carbon emissions has become a fierce political issue, pitching rich countries against poor, and opening up divisions within each of those blocs.

To reduce their pollution, countries have to become more energy-efficient or switch to clean renewables, moves that carry a sometimes heavy economic price.

On Saturday, more than 30,000 marchers took to the streets in Copenhagen, capping a day of lobbying by green activists in many cities around the world. Related article: Danish police flex muscles at climate talks

The Copenhagen rally was festive, although sporadic violence broke out on its margins and police made nearly a thousand arrests, triggering charges of maltreatment.

At a vigil outside city hall, Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu handed a petition signed by half a million people to UNFCCC chief Yvo de Boer that called for dramatic action to roll back the threat posed by greenhouse gases.

"This is a problem. If we don't resolve it, no-one is going to survive," Tutu told a crowd of more than a thousand.

De Boer meanwhile warned "there will be huge political fallout if we fail to reach an agreement this week."

If all goes well, the conference will agree an outline deal of national pledges to curb carbon emissions and set up a mechanism to provide billions of dollars in help for poor countries in the firing line of climate change.

More talks would be needed next year to agree on vital technical details, themselves a political minefield.

Chief Rabbi of Tzfat: All Rabbis Must Oppose Barak's Decision
Dec 14th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hillel Fendel
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

 
The Chief Rabbi of Tzfat, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, plans to initiate an urgent session of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, in light of the decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to remove the Har Brachah yeshiva from the Hesder arrangement with the army.

Rabbi Eliyahu said he will work to recruit all the rabbis of the country against Barak's decision. The Yesha Rabbis Council of Judea and Samaria, co-headed by Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba and Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El, has already announced its support of Yeshivat Har Brachah and its dean's right and obligation to teach Torah without the army telling him what not to say.

Rabbi Eliyahu similarly said that Barak has no right to attempt to undermine the independence of the yeshivot. "The Torah sages throughout the generations were willing to sacrifice themselves in order to maintain the independence of those who hand down Halakhic [Jewish lega rulings," he said. "We expect the Chief Rabbinate to call upon all rabbis, from all camps, to stand in a united front against the Defense Minister's intentions."

One for All and All for One

Though not all rabbis in the Hesder Yeshivot Union agree with the strong stance presented by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed of Har Brachah against adhering to orders to demolish Jewish homes and expel Jews from the Land of Israel, the organization says Barak's decision is a "very grave precedent." The Union says in a statement that it will hold an emergency meeting in the coming days to discuss its response, "and we will work to make sure the decision is revoked."

One rabbi said it is expected that the rabbis will tell Barak, "We are all for one and one for all," and will not accept Barak's decision to remove the yeshiva from the Hesder arrangement.

Hesder Union rabbis also said that it appears that Barak's decision was "made in advance," and that it will act as a boomerang against him. This, because it was learned that Rabbi Melamed had drafted a response that could have been acceptable to the Defense Ministry, but it was turned down just before Barak announced his decision. Rabbi Melamed's response reiterated his previously expressed stance against public protests by soldiers-in-uniform regarding the demolitions - but Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, to whom it was addressed, told Rabbi Melamed, "It's too late; it's out of my hands."

Just hours later, on Sunday evening, Barak announced his decision removing Har Brachah from the Hesder arrangement.

It is also thought that the increasing popularity of Yeshivat Har Brachah among potential students that has been noted since the beginning of the current clash between Rabbi Melamed and the Defense Ministry will continue. In addition, it is likely that many students who under normal circumstances would have chosen the Hesder path of combining army service and Torah studies, will now choose full-time Torah learning - thus costing the army some of its best soldiers

Barak Ousts Rabbi Melamed’s Yeshiva from ‘hesder’ Program
Dec 14th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gadalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

 
Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Sunday night he is throwing out the Har Bracha yeshiva, headed by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, from the Hesder yeshiva program. Barak charged the rabbi with “undermining democratic principles” and “inciting” students to refuse IDF orders to expel Jews from their homes.

The Hesder yeshiva program allows young men to service in the IDF for up to two years, instead of the usual three, and to learn at yeshiva for at least three years. The organization of the Hesder yeshivas has not commented on the historic decision by the Defense Minister, who also is chairman of the Labor party.

Picture: Rabbi Melamed   The Defense Minister said that the IDF should be kept out of political arguments, exactly the same claim made by many leading national religious rabbis concerning the decision by Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi to use soldiers to help expel Jews from their homes. Police normally undertook the expulsions until the massive forced evacuation of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria four years ago.

Defense Minister Barak said he decided to ban Rabbi Melamed’s yeshiva from the Hesder program after consulting with IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi. Barak's spokesmen said he also spoke with other rabbis of Hesder yeshivas.

The organization of Hesder yeshivas said they made it clear last week to Defense Minister Barak that they opposed excluding Har Bracha from the Hesder program.

Barak said the order will not go into effect immediately in order to allow Har Bracha students to join another Hesder yeshiva.

Former High Court Justice Yaakov Turkel said on Voice of Israel government radio Sunday night said that Barak is wrong in punishing yeshiva students for the rabbi’s statements

Ancient Tablets Decoded; Shed Light on Assyrian Empire
Dec 14th, 2009
Daily NewsFox News.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Archaeology

Meticulous ancient notetakers have given archaeologists a glimpse of what life was like 3,000 years ago in the Assyrian Empire, which controlled much of the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Meticulous ancient notetakers have given archaeologists a glimpse of what life was like 3,000 years ago in the Assyrian Empire, which controlled much of the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform, an ancient script once common in the Middle East, were unearthed in summer 2009 in an ancient palace in present-day southeastern Turkey.

Palace scribes jotted down seemingly mundane state affairs on the tablets during the Late Iron Age—which lasted from roughly the end of the ninth century B.C. until the mid-seventh century B.C

But these everyday details, now in the early stages of decoding, may open up some of the inner workings of the Assyrian government—and the people who toiled in the empire, experts say.

'Witch Hunt' Expected Under New U.S. 'hate Crimes' Law
Dec 14th, 2009
Daily NewsWND - Bob Unruh
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

Lawyer who handled Boissoin saga says Obama plans to bring back 'inquisitions'

The lawyer who handled the years-long battle by Pastor Stephen Boissoin over "hate speech" charges for a letter he wrote to the editor of a local newspaper that cited the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality is forecasting a nationwide "witch hunt" in the U.S. prompted by an expanded "hate crimes" law signed by President Obama.

Gerald Chipeur,  who supervises law offices across Canada, worked from his Calgary headquarters on the defense of Boissoin, who was accused by a university professor of instigating hate against homosexuals with his letter to the editor.

As WND reported, an appellate court in Canada recently reversed the decision by an administrative judge that Boissoin was to pay $5,000 and give a written apology to the professor.

Alberta had adopted a "hate speech" law with promises it would be reserved for actions that accompany "hate speech." Boissoin's letter to the Red Deer Advocate criticized those who "in any way support the homosexual machine that has been mercilessly gaining ground in our society since the 1960s."

:"Our children are being victimized by repugnant and premeditated strategies, aimed at desensitizing and eventually recruiting our young into their camps. Think about it, children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system… Your teenagers are being instructed on how to perform so-called safe same gender oral and anal sex … Come on people, wake up!" Boisson wrote

University of Calgary professor Darren Lund filed the complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission . An administrative law judge later ordered the $5,000 payment and written apology from Boissoin along with instructions not to express his beliefs further.

Chipeur today told WND the damage to religious liberties from the case was immediate and dramatic and continues even though the decision has been overturned.

"I had church pastors, church school principals, board members coming to me for legal advice [when the case erupted]," he said. "They were saying, 'What should we do about our statement of faith, our bylaws, our policies. Should we just completely repeal them so that we won't have people offended?'"

Chipeur said his advice was for organizations to "tell the truth as you see it from the Bible" and the law firm's job was to defend that right.

"Even though I gave them that advice, many pulled punches," he said. "They reversed policies, they buried their statements of faith, ran for the hills. They tried to do everything they could."

Benjamin Bull, chief counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, agreed with the damage assessment.

"Homosexuals got exactly what they wanted. In the marketplace of ideas, one side has now been censored," he said. "This [situation] is exactly what homosexual activists have in mind."

That damage – the suppression of religious beliefs because of the intimidating effect of the lawsuit – continues today, Chipeur said.

"I can tell you there was significant damage from the decision. People continue to be afraid. People aren't going to feel safe overnight. That was the impact of the decision. Christians became afraid," he said.

"They're only human. They were frightened. They acted upon that fear, and started to reverse policies that had been in place forever," he said.

Chipeur described the core problem with the Boissoin case as a misunderstanding on the part of many who believe "hate crimes" laws will make "everyone love everybody."

Further, there are minorities who are not happy with the liberty to live their lives as they choose; they demand government endorsement and approval. Once given that, they then want to crack down on anybody who disagrees with them, he warned.

In practicality, he said, such "hate" laws – the ones in Canada and the U.S. are similar – are intended to address actions, not thoughts.

"This legislation does not address your ability to think it. It does not address your ability to speak it. It does affect your ability to act on this, to prevent someone from having a job, to get accommodations to buy things because of race, religion or sexuality," he said.

But Chipeur said he expects the same issues now to be raised in the U.S., because of the expanded "hate crimes" law signed by Obama.

"I would be shocked if you did not have 100 times more problems with this legislation than we are. Your system is set up to encourage lawyers to do this, and you have so many more people, there is more opportunity for people to take offense," he said.

"There are certain people in society who look to the government for everything, including to help them with their hurt feelings. The government was never made for that," he said.

Regardless, "there are those who want the government to bless their approach to life, whatever it is, because they have this view. They come to the point they want the government to say … you are right."

"We've learned from history that's a very bad idea. You get persecution, which is exactly what's happening here," he said.

Then those interests want the "power of the state to punish anyone who disagrees," he said. The result is, "doing exactly what we did 500 years ago. They will be going on a witch hunt, [repeating] the Spanish Inquisition."

"This is not theoretical. We've already seen it, hospitals, school boards, religious organizations pummeled with this. There are board meetings going on as we speak … talking about what they can do to avoid having complaints," he said.

The Boissoin appeals court ruling did not strike down the "hate speech" law, but it sets limits for its use. The Alberta ruling means "hate speech" laws cannot be used to silence religious expression or public debate simply because someone takes offense. Such a provision would, in fact, violate the Canadian Charter of Human Rights, the ADF said.

The accuser in such a case "must demonstrate that the speech contributed to actual harm," ADF said.

Obama signed the "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act" in October after Democrats strategically attached it to a "must-pass" $680 billion defense appropriations bill.

The law cracks down on any acts that could be linked to criticism of homosexuality or even the "perception" of homosexuality. As Congress debated it, there were assurances it would not be used to crack down on speech. But with the law only weeks old, it has yet to be tested in court.

Days after Obama signed it, in response, pastors and other Christian leaders gathered to read from the Bible at a rally organized with the help of Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Coalition.

Former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt of PrayInJesusName.org read from Romans: "And they that commit such things are worthy of death."

"The government has to invade my thoughts to decide what my motive was in quoting the Bible," Klingenschmitt explained. "I can be prosecuted if the government thinks my motive was wrong."

The rally took place in front of the offices of Attorney General Eric Holder, who supported the bill although he explained it does not protect all people equally. He is charged with enforcing the law.

Obama boasted of the "hate crimes" bill when he signed it into law.

"After more than a decade, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are," he said.

"If this law is used to silence me or any of these preachers for speaking the truth, then we will be forced to conscientiously defy it," Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, declared. "That is my calling as a Christian and my right as an American citizen."

Janet Porter of Faith2Action called it a "sad day for America."

"While a small minority of homosexual activists are celebrating, thousands of pastors, priests and rabbis are lamenting their loss of First Amendment freedoms. I for one refuse to bow before this unjust and unconstitutional law, and I intend to continue to preach the whole counsel of God as revealed in the Scriptures,'" she wrote.

"But this law doesn't just affect pastors; it will criminalize the beliefs of millions of ordinary people who may now be afraid to speak even their pro-marriage positions lest it spark a federal 'hate crime' investigation," Porter wrote.

Cass noted in the U.K., a senior citizen was accused of "hate crimes" for writing a letter objecting to a pro-homosexual festival:

This is the way it gets implemented in all the other countries," Cass said. "Christians are singled out for prosecution, with threats, imprisonment and fines simply for refusing to stop doing what Christ commands: proclaiming the truth."

"[These cases] are a good precursor of where this goes," he warned.

The bill signed by Obama was opposed by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which called it a "menace" to civil liberties. The commission argued the law allows federal authorities to bring charges against individuals even if they've already been cleared in a state court.