Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 6th, 2012
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Next year's "brightest comet in modern times" to be "once in a civilization" event
But that hasn't dampened enthusiasm for what Astronomy Now is awkwardly calling "a once-in-a-civilisation's-lifetime" event. The comet expert John E. Bortle is already comparing ISON with the Great Comet of 1680, which, according to contemporary accounts, caused the people of New York's Manhattan Island to be "overcome with terror at a sight in the heavens such as has seldom greeted human eyes.... In the province of New York a day of fasting and humiliation was appointed, in order that the wrath of God might be assuaged."

Europe Prays to Paper Peace, Paper God
Europeans have a bad habit of holding up paper agreements as if they guarantee peace, progress, prosperity. It used to be the price agreement on farm products-from butter to chocolate. Now it is UN declarations that the warring "Palestinian" tribes-the PLO Hatfields and the Hamas McCoys-now constitute a real, living, breathing national state.

Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order
The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said. As recently as Tuesday, officials had said there was as yet no evidence that the process of mixing the "precursor" chemicals had begun. But Wednesday, they said their worst fears had been confirmed: The nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs.

Mystery tremors puzzle experts
Corsicana — Reports of earthquake-like tremors starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing until early Wednesday can’t be confirmed as true earthquakes, but experts can’t say what it is, either. “We started getting calls at 3:09 p.m. (Tuesday),” said Eric Meyers, Navarro County Emergency Coordinator. “The first calls were north of Corsicana in the Hickory Hollow area with two separate residents out there reporting unusual tremors being felt along with a rumbling type of noise.”

IAEA hacked over Israeli nuclear program
The UN nuclear agency has confirmed that one of its servers has been hacked. A previously unknown group posted contact details of more than 100 experts working with the IAEA, calling on them to act against Israel’s alleged nuclear activities.

Israel rejects UN call for nuclear transparency
Israel has rebuffed a UN call to adhere to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and open itself to international inspectors, calling the suggestion a "meaningless mechanical vote" of a body that “lost all its credibility regarding Israel.”

A wary Iraq weighs its options as Syrian civil war deepens
Fears in Iraq of a spillover of Syria's fighting, or a victory for Sunni Islamists hostile to the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, have Iraq weighing its options.

Israel, Palestinians escalate settlement showdown
Palestinians and Israelis hardened their positions Wednesday over a contentious new settlement push around Jerusalem, with Israel going full throttle on plans to develop the area and the Palestinians trying to block it through an appeal to the U.N. Security Council.

Philippines finds survivors after typhoon kills 332
Rescue workers found a 54-year-old man alive on Thursday who had survived on coconuts for two days after a powerful typhoon ravaged the south of the Philippines killing 332 people, with hundreds missing.

Pentagon now preparing for massive cuts as fiscal negotiations appear stalled
The Pentagon said Wednesday it is now preparing for billions of dollars in budget cuts should President Obama and congressional Republicans fail to reach an alternative plan by Jan. 1. The move breaks from earlier statements that no plans were being made – a signal that difficulties reaching a deal are beyond the public stalemate or so-called “political theater” and that Washington officials are bracing for the worst.

U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands
The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.

Tsunamis, Earthquakes Overdue in Lake Tahoe
A tsunami-producing fault in Lake Tahoe is overdue for another earthquake, scientists said here yesterday (Dec. 4) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The West Tahoe Fault is capable of producing a magnitude-7.3 earthquake and tsunamis up to 30 feet (10 meters) high in the clear blue lake, where million-dollar homes line the shore, researchers said.

New Map Pinpoints The World's Biggest Earthquake Zones
Seismologists on Wednesday unveiled a map highlighting zones most prone to unleashing the world's biggest earthquakes, including the 9.0 monster that struck northeastern Japan in March 2011. These mega-quakes spring mostly from regions where fractures on the sea floor intersect with subduction zones, or zones where one slab of Earth's crust is diving slowly under another, they said. The evidence is statistical, coming from data from 1,500 earthquakes.

Online sales tax to be added to defense authorization bill
This may be the last Christmas of online shopping without paying sales tax. A proposed online sales tax has been offered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, much to the ire of opponents. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, a group that opposes this move, says that an online sales tax will burden small businesses, “some of the most promising candidates for future economic growth.”

Strong extremely shallow earthquake in Iran kills at least 8 people, 23 injured and a lot of damage
The epicenter of the quake was 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the town of Zohan, at a depth of nine kilometers, the Iranian Seismological Center said on its website. The quake caused damage to rural buildings and cut power lines and telephone communication. Iran has mostly adobe and brick stone houses who have a little or no resistance against earthquakes.

French economy buckles as car sales collapse
France’s industrial woes deepened last month as car sales crashed 19pc and French brands lost market share at an dramatic pace, raising fears of a serious economic crisis next year once austerity hits.

U.S. manufacturers grind to a halt
Manufacturing activity came to a standstill in the United States, as global competitors reported improving conditions in November, according to separate reports released Monday. The Institute of Supply Management's monthly reading on the U.S. manufacturing sector came in at 49.5 in November, the lowest level since July 2009.

Marijuana decriminalised in Washington state
Possession of marijuana has become legal in the US state of Washington, a month after voters opted for decriminalisation. From midnight (08:00 GMT) anyone aged 21 and over was allowed to carry up to 1oz (28.4g) of cannabis, but smoking it in public will remain illegal. It has been legal for medical use in the state since 1998.

Sandy: Barack Obama 'to seek $50bn aid from Congress'
US President Barack Obama is expected to ask Congress for about $50bn (£31bn) in extra emergency aid for states hit by Storm Sandy, Democrats have said. The administration is still compiling its request but may ask for between $45bn and $55bn, US media reported. The spending request would be smaller than the $83bn in disaster aid that the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are seeking.

Egypt army deploys tanks to protect Morsi's palace
At least four tanks deployed outside the Egyptian presidential palace on Thursday in a street where supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi had been clashing into the early hours of the morning. Three armored troop carriers were also in the street outside the palace. The violence that had stretched from Wednesday afternoon into the early hours of Thursday had abated and the streets were calm.

Chicago Teachers Union VP Busted Participating in Midwest Marxism Conference
While a guest on a local Chicago radio show, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) VP Jesse Sharkey was questioned over his recent participation in the Midwest Marxism Conference and refused to answer why he was there and what relationship the Chicago Teachers Union has with the conference and sponsoring organization, the International Socialists Organization.

'West using WMD fears as pretext for intervention'
Western powers are whipping up fears of a fateful move to the use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war as a "pretext for intervention", President Bashar Assad's deputy foreign minister said on Thursday. He spoke as Germany's cabinet approved stationing Patriot anti-missile batteries on Turkey's border with Syria, a step requiring deployment of NATO troops that Syria fears could permit imposition of a no-fly zone over its territory.

U.S. fails to win early limit on Net controls at global gathering
A U.S. and Canadian proposal to protect the Internet from new international regulation has failed to win prompt backing from other countries, setting up potentially tough negotiations to rewrite a telecom treaty.

Report: CIA 'officials' behind Benghazi talking points
"There appears to be a concerted effort to mislead the American people," says Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah. "At this point the Obama administration has been elusive at best and misleading at worse." Chaffetz was responding to a report in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal that CIA "officials" wanted the terrorist origins of the attack kept from the public because the spy agency did not want certain al-Qaeda operatives to know it was monitoring its communications.

Iran aims biological warheads at Israel
According to a source who served in Iran’s Intelligence Ministry and who recently defected, the Islamic regime has 170 missiles targeted at Tel Aviv from underground silos, some of which are armed with biological warheads. Islamic regime ruling Iran has prepared for the total destruction of Israel as well as a capability to target European capitals, he said.

Rare Tornado Kills 3 in New Zealand's Largest City
An unusually destructive tornado swept through neighborhoods around New Zealand's largest city Thursday, killing three people and forcing 250 more to evacuate damaged and powerless homes.

UPDATE 1-Philippines finds elderly survivor after typhoon kills 332
Rescue workers found a 77-year-old man alive on Thursday who had survived on coconuts for two days after a powerful typhoon ravaged the south of the Philippines killing 332 people, with hundreds missing.

DHS grant spending questioned amid budget woes
The Homeland Security Department paid for an underwater robot in a Midwest city with no major rivers or lakes nearby, a hog catcher in rural Texas and a fish tank in a small Texas town, according to a new congressional report highlighting what it described as wasteful spending of tax money intended for counterterrorism purposes.

As GOP demands deficit cuts to raise debt limit, fight from 2011 makes a return appearance
The political fight that took the nation to the verge of defaulting on its debts last year is back, overshadowed by "fiscal cliff" disputes but with consequences far graver than looming tax hikes and steep spending cuts.

Cairo calm after clashes kill at least five
Overnight clashes in Cairo between supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist leader killed at least five people, the Interior Ministry said Thursday, as the nation further descended into political turmoil over the constitution drafted by President Mohammed Morsi's allies.

Dead and Injured in Rising Anti - Morsi Riots in Cairo
Dec 6th, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Two or three Egyptians are reported killed and many more injured in the escalating street clashes in Cairo around the presidential palace Wednesday night between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi. Gunfire, firebombs, rocks and beatings by sticks figured in the disturbance. Three members of Morsi’s advisory team quit to protest the violence. The former nuclear agency director, opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradai, said the protests and their handling by the Muslim Brotherhood ruling Egypt have ended the legitimacy of the incumbent regime.