Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Why Kids are Becoming Obsessed With the Occult
Dec 27th, 2012
videoRoger Oakland
Categories: Warning;Commentary

West Longs for Jew - Free Zones in Jerusalem
Dec 27th, 2012
Daily Newsfrontpagemag.com - David Hornik
Categories: The Nation Of Israel;Commentary

Israel plans to step up the building of residences within the settlement blocs and—drawing particular ire—in parts of Jerusalem that were under Jordanian occupation from 1949 to 1967. The Jerusalem plans include housing for both Jews and Arabs.

In this holiday season, those plans should be cause for rejoicing instead of heightened rebukes. The city’s status as a hub of three religions, and also of tolerance, pluralism, and across-the-board demographic growth, is being strengthened. Instead, official Western reactions have been harshly critical.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: “We are deeply disappointed that Israel insists on continuing this pattern of provocative action.” The French Foreign Ministry called the building plans “a provocation that further undermines…trust…and leads us to question Israel’s commitment to the two-state solution.” British foreign secretary William Hague called the plans “a serious provocation and an obstacle to peace.”

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton even hinted at repercussions, saying the EU would “closely monitor the situation…and act accordingly.”

And 14 of the 15 countries on the UN Security Council—with the U.S. as the only exception—issued condemnations as well. Four of them—Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal—said in a joint statement that they were “extremely concerned by, and strongly opposed, the plans…all settlement activity, including in east Jerusalem, must cease immediately.”

It should be noted that, except the U.S., all of the abovementioned countries either voted aye or abstained in last month’s UN General Assembly vote conferring a watered-down form of statehood on the Palestinian Authority. It was partly in reaction to the Palestinians’ move, which blatantly violated the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords that the EU once sanctioned, that Israel announced the new building plans.

Israel, though, couldn’t win. It couldn’t persuade the European states to oppose the Palestinian move; and once it reacted to the move, it was roundly condemned.

Israel was particularly disappointed by Germany’s abstention in the UN vote, after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government had seemed to be intending to vote nay. Germany, as already mentioned, then joined three other countries in demanding that even “East Jerusalem”—where 200,000 Jews now live, 40 percent of Jerusalem’s total Jewish population—be treated as a Jew-free zone.

Beyond these specific points, though, stands the ongoing spectacle of the world’s leading Western powers seeming to pine for a redivided Jerusalem, this time with the Palestinians ruling the Jew-free part. Even if a Palestinian sovereign entity were to arise in the West Bank, “Ramallah,” as David Solway notes in his new book, “…is a good enough Palestinian capital.” Why, then, the insistence on East Jerusalem?

It doesn’t seem reasonable that Washington, London, Paris, Berlin et al. would be nostalgic for the previous period of Muslim Arab rule over that part of the city. The Jordanian occupation was particularly hard on Jews, who were denied all access to their holy sites while Jordanian snipers fired repeatedly into the Jewish part of the city. But the Christians under Jordan’s control suffered as well, their number dwindling from 25,000 in 1949 to 10,000 in 1967 as they were given only paltry access to their holy sites and forced to teach the Koran in their church schools.

Would it be better under the Palestinians? Not if one takes Bethlehem—where the Palestinian Authority has wielded autonomy since late 1995—as a test case. Palestinian Muslim control there has caused ongoing steep demographic decline for the town’s Christians as they suffer from terror, intimidation, land theft, sexual assault, forced marriages, and the like not surprisingly in light of the continuing severe persecution of Christians throughout the region.

Indeed, however eager the West is for Palestinian rule in East Jerusalem, it turns out that even the predominantly Muslim Palestinians there don’t want it. As Evelyn Gordon notes, the numbers of these Palestinians requesting Israeli citizenship has dramatically climbed in recent years. Polls find that, even if the Palestinian state was established, most East Jerusalem Palestinians would prefer to remain Israeli.

Considering that the Palestinians’ supposed desire to shake off Israeli rule is a shibboleth of Western diplomacy, one might ask why that would be so. But anyone who has been both to Israel and the Palestinian Authority—one is tempted to say, anyone but Western diplomats—knows that the former is an island of Western democracy, prosperity, tolerance, and pluralism in a harsh region. Jerusalem Palestinians, exposed to those upsides since Israel reunited the city in 1967, have come to know their worth.

As Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat put it in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed,

Since [1967] the city has maintained freedom of access, movement and religion. Peace-seeking pilgrims of all faiths can again visit the holy places without limitation or restriction. Tourism to Jerusalem is thriving, as is the city’s economy, and its per capita crime rate is among the world’s lowest….

Isn’t it ironic that many in Europe who recently celebrated 25 years of the reunification of Berlin are at the same time calling for the division of another capital on another continent?

And as Barkat went on to ask: “By 2030, the city’s population will expand to one million residents from 800,000 today (33% Muslim, 2% Christian and 65% Jewish). Where does the world suggest we put these extra 200,000 residents?”

If the answer is, “Put them where you want, but make sure you keep some parts off-limits to Jews,” Israel’s answer is: no.

Peace and goodwill to all.

Toying with Death and Learning to Love Violence
Dec 27th, 2012
CommentaryBerit Kjos
Categories: Warning;Contemporary Issues

"Police investigating the Virginia Tech killings are looking at whether Cho Seung-Hui was copying parts of a violent film when he murdered 32 people. Officers believe he repeatedly watched Oldboy as part of his preparation for the killing spree.... It contains stylized scenes of killings and an attempted suicide, and is filled with what one critic called 'punishing emotional violence'.... The video, which Cho posted to an American TV network while carrying out his murderous rampage, appears to include photographs of Cho re-enacting scenes from the film." "Killer Enacted Violent Film"

"After the Jonesboro shootings, one of the high-school teachers told me how her students reacted when she told them about the shootings at the middle school. 'They laughed,' she told me with dismay. A similar reaction happens all the time in movie theaters when there is bloody violence. The young people laugh and cheer and keep right on eating popcorn and drinking pop. We have raised a generation of barbarians who have learned to associate violence with pleasure, like the Romans cheering and snacking as the Christians were slaughtered in the Coliseum."

"Visitors at a beauty spot near Glasgow watched helplessly as three boys [aged 18, 17 and 15) forced a terrified schoolboy to fall 25ft over a cliff and then cheered as their victim plunged on to rocks below, a court heard yesterday."

"Are we training our children to kill?" asked Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman, an expert in the field of killology. For many years, he has "traveled the world training medical, law enforcement, and U.S. military personnel about the realities of warfare." He contends that point-and-shoot video games actually train young players to accurately shoot and kill human targets in spite of their natural, God-given resistance. His statistics validate his frightening conclusions:

"The per capita murder rate doubled in this country between 1957... and 1992. A fuller picture of the problem, however, is indicated by the rate people are attempting to kill one another—the aggravated assault rate. That rate in America has gone from around 60 per 100,000 in 1957 to over 440 per 100,000 by the middle of this decade.

"Violence is rising in many nations with draconian gun laws. ... There is only one new variable present in each of these countries, bearing the exact same fruit: media violence presented as entertainment for children.

"Children don't naturally kill. It is a learned skill. And they learn it... most pervasively, from violence as entertainment in television, the movies, and interactive video games.
"Killing requires training because there is a built-in aversion to killing one's own kind... Within the midbrain there is a powerful, God-given resistance to killing your own kind.... When we human beings are overwhelmed with anger and fear, we slam head-on into that midbrain resistance that generally prevents us from killing. Only sociopaths—who by definition don't have that resistance—lack this innate violence immune system....
"During World War II, US Army Brig. Gen. S. L. A. Marshall had a team of researchers study what soldiers did in battle.... They discovered that only 15 to 20 percent of the individual riflemen could bring themselves to fire at an exposed enemy soldier. Men are willing to die, they are willing to sacrifice themselves for their nation; but they are not willing to kill. It is a phenomenal insight into human nature; but when the military became aware of that, they systematically went about the process of trying to fix this 'problem.'...

"The training methods militaries use are brutalization, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and role modeling. ... Just as the army is conditioning people to kill, we are indiscriminately doing the same thing to our children, but without the safeguards."

1. Desensitization & Brutalization

In the military 'boot camp,' "brutalization is designed to break down your existing mores and norms" and cause you "to accept a new set of values that embrace destruction, violence, and death as a way of life," explained Col. Grossman. "In the end, you are desensitized to violence and accept it as a normal and essential survival skill.... Something very similar ... is happening to our children through violence in the media—but instead of 18-year-olds, it begins at the age of 18 months. At that age, a child can watch something happening on television and mimic that action. ... When young children see somebody shot, stabbed, raped, brutalized, degraded, or murdered on TV, to them it is as though it were actually happening.” He gave this example:

"The Journal of the American Medical Association published the definitive study on the impact of TV violence. It compared two nations or regions that were demographically and ethnically identical; only one variable is different: the presence of television. 'In every nation, region, or city with television, there is an immediate explosion of violence on the playground, and within 15 years there is a doubling of the murder rate.

"Why 15 years? That is how long it takes for the brutalization of a three-to five-year-old to reach the ‘prime crime age.’"

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation published another revealing study last fall: "43% of the kids age 2 and younger watched TV on a typical day and... 26% had a TV in their room. The median amount of time spent watching: two hours a day." Small wonder our elementary schools are changing!

"Temper tantrums are nothing new in kindergarten and first grade," wrote Claudia Wallis in a Time Magazine article last December, "but the behavior of a 6-year-old girl this fall at a school in Fort Worth, Texas, had even the most experienced staff members wanting to run for cover." She described the crisis:

"Asked to put a toy away, the youngster began to scream. Told to calm down, she knocked over her desk and crawled under the teacher's desk, kicking it and dumping out the contents of the drawers. Then things really began to deteriorate. Still shrieking, the child stood up and began hurling books at her terrified classmates, who had to be ushered from the room to safety.
"Just a bad day at school? More like a bad season. The desk-dumping incident followed scores of other outrageous acts by some of the youngest Fort Worth students at schools across the district. Among them: a 6-year-old who told his teacher to 'shut up, bitch,' a first-grader whose fits of anger ended with his peeling off his clothes and throwing them at the school psychologist, and hysterical kindergartners who bit teachers so hard they left tooth marks.
"'I'm clearly seeing an increasing number of kindergartners and first-graders coming to our attention for aggressive behavior,' says Michael Parker, program director of psychological services at the Fort Worth Independent School District.’”

The child-advocacy group Partnership for Children confirms this observation. A preliminary report of its study "shows that 93% of the 39 schools that responded to the survey said kindergartners today have 'more emotional and behavioral problems' than were seen five years ago. More than half the day-care centers said 'incidents of rage and anger' had increased over the past three years. 'We're talking about children—a 3-year-old in one instance—who will take a fork and stab another child in the forehead.'"

"Violence is getting younger and younger," said Ronald Stephens, director of California's National School Safety Center. "Initially, it was high schools that created these schools [for disruptive students], then middle schools. Now it's elementary. Who would have thought years ago that this would be happening?"

Actually, Col. Grossman did. He cited a study by Journal of the American Medical Association on the impact of TV violence:

"Hundreds of sound scientific studies demonstrate the social impact of brutalization by the media. The Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that 'the introduction of television in the 1950's caused a subsequent doubling of the homicide rate, i.e., long-term childhood exposure to television is a causal factor behind approximately one half of the homicides committed in the United States, or approximately 10,000 homicides annually.' (June 10, 1992)."

Of course, if children spent less time in front of the TV screen, they would have more time to learn about God and the wonders of the real world. Consider these sad statistics:

• "More than half of 2-to-7-year-olds and 82 percent of 8-to-18-year-olds live in homes with at least one video game console."
• "The average child watches 27 hrs of TV each week."
• "The average child gets more one-on-one communication from TV than from parents & teachers combined.
• "60% of men on TV are involved in violence.... 11% are killers."
• "20% of suburban high schoolers endorse shooting someone 'who has stolen something from you.'"
• "After TV was introduced to a Canadian town in 1973, a 160 percent increase in aggression, hitting, shoving, and biting was documented in 1st and 2nd graders." No change was seen in two control communities.
• "15 years after introduction of TV in USA, homicides, rapes and assaults doubled."

2. Classical Conditioning

You may remember Pavlov's dogs. Week after week, those four-legged Soviet laboratory specimens were fed at the sound of a bell, and eventually they learned to associate the ringing bell with their tasty morsels. Once conditioned, they would salivate whenever the bell rang. This study—together with the Hegelian dialectic process—helped lay the foundation for Communist brainwashing. Col. Grossman explained its relevance today:

"What is happening to our children is the reverse of the aversion therapy portrayed in the movie A Clockwork Orange. In A Clockwork Orange, a brutal sociopath, a mass murderer, is strapped to a chair and forced to watch violent movies while he is injected with a drug that nauseates him. So he sits and gags and retches as he watches the movies. After hundreds of repetitions of this, he associates violence with nausea, and it limits his ability to be violent....
"We are doing the exact opposite: Our children watch vivid pictures of human suffering and death, learning to associate it with their favorite soft drink and candy bar, or their girlfriend's perfume.
"The result is a phenomenon that functions much like AIDS, which I call AVIDS--Acquired Violence Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS has never killed anybody. It destroys your immune system, and then other diseases that shouldn't kill you become fatal. Television violence by itself does not kill you. It destroys your violence immune system and conditions you to derive pleasure from violence."

3. Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is based on the simple psycho-social formula: stimulus-response, stimulus-response..... A modern example of this procedure is the use of flight simulators to train pilots. "An airline pilot in training sits in front of a flight simulator for endless hours," wrote Col. Grossman. "When a particular warning light goes on, he is taught to react in a certain way. When another warning light goes on, a different reaction is required. Stimulus-response, stimulus-response, stimulus-response. One day the pilot is actually flying a jumbo jet; the plane is going down, and 300 people are screaming behind him.... But he has been conditioned to respond reflexively to this particular crisis."

The reverse of this principle is used to train both our soldiers and our police force. According to Col. Grossman,

"The military and law enforcement community have made killing a conditioned response. This has substantially raised the firing rate on the modern battlefield. Whereas infantry training in World War II used bull's-eye targets, now soldiers learn to fire at realistic, man-shaped silhouettes that pop into their field of view. That is the stimulus. The trainees have only a split second to engage the target. The conditioned response is to shoot the target, and then it drops. Stimulus-response, stimulus-response, stimulus-response....

"Later, when soldiers are on the battlefield or a police officer is walking a beat and somebody pops up with a gun, they will shoot reflexively and shoot to kill. We know that 75 to 80 percent of the shooting on the modern battlefield is the result of this kind of stimulus-response training.
"Now, if you're a little troubled by that, how much more should we be troubled by the fact that every time a child plays an interactive point-and-shoot video game, he is learning the exact same conditioned reflex and motor skills....
"This process is extraordinarily powerful and frightening. The result is ever more homemade pseudo-sociopaths who kill reflexively and show no remorse. Our children are learning to kill and learning to like it; and then we have the audacity to say, 'Oh my goodness, what's wrong?'"

A report from the Schiller Institute in Washington D.C. shows an even more sobering side of the problem:

"Recently released medical studies indicate that violent video games damage the brain, possibly permanently. Video games may be more dangerous to your health than cigarettes or alcohol. This national scandal has been covered for the benefit of the $10 billion-a-year video-game industry, of which violent games rated 'M,' for Mature, are the fastest-growing segment. Approximately 20 million Americans, many under 18, play these 'M' games. The studies, many years in the making, show that repeated playing of violent video games 'desensitizes' the activities of the brain involved in reasoning and planning, while activating those functions that respond to violence. The studies include scientific data indicating that these games may actually cause destructive behavior."

Those who are obsessed with point-and-shoot RPGs learn more than a killer instinct. Many embrace the occultism that drive the myth behind the violence. "Peter," a former occultist who became a committed Christian several decades ago, helped me to understand this phenomenon. Today, he serves his Lord by warning and equipping vulnerable youth to resist and overcome the deadly dangers of occult RPGs.

"Are you familiar with aviation simulators?" he asked me during a telephone call. "They simulate the inside of a cockpit in flying a plane. You can learn how to fly a plane in a flight simulator. But in a simulator there is no risk. All personal danger has been removed. When you play these occult games, you're doing the exact same thing that you would be doing in a flight simulator. No risk. So why not try the real thing?

Many players do. "These kids are easily drawn into occult groups through [role-playing] tournaments," Peter explained. "When kids transition from simulation—when they actually experience the POWER that is available to them through the rituals they are learning to perform under the guise of 'fantasy'—that power becomes like an addiction and they get hooked. But they don't see that."

"I could walk up to any of these teens who showed promise," he continued, "and I could put my hand on their shoulder, look them in the eye and say, 'If you get a rush from this, how would you like to do it for real?' No one has ever answered no."

4. Role Models

Children who watch television and youth who play violent and occult role playing games find plenty of shocking role models that shape their dreams and mold their values. The fictional heroes hidden in popular anime, slasher movies and RPGs teach behavior as well as values. So do the young killers who win their moment of media fame through televised fanfare. According to Col. Grossman,

"Research in the 1970s demonstrated the existence of 'cluster suicides' in which the local TV reporting of teen suicides directly caused numerous copycat suicides of impressionable teenagers. Somewhere in every population there are potentially suicidal kids who will say to themselves, 'Well, I'll show all those people who have been mean to me. I know how to get my picture on TV, too.'... Thus we get copycat, cluster murders that work their way across America like a virus spread by the six o'clock news. No matter what someone has done, if you put his picture on TV, you have made him a celebrity, and someone, somewhere, will emulate him."

Resisting the Violence

What can parents do to monitor and restrict violent and occult media messages? There are no simple answers. They certainly can't trust the video labels. In his article, "Lazy cops on the video game beat," columnist Brent Brozell writes,

"Two Harvard researchers, Kimberly Thompson and Kevin Haninger, recently discovered that parents of teenagers can't rely very heavily on the video game ratings system created by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a self-regulating body....

"A graver problem for parents is that the games that many youngsters desire and chatter about are not rated 'T,' but rated 'M,' for supposedly 'mature' audiences. This is the TV-land of ultraviolence, casual sex and casual profanity....'"

Vile "entertaining" images mold the minds of children and youth around the world! Do you wonder what will happen to our nation and culture when these conditioned youth reach adulthood? Might the civilized world be following a path to corruption and chaos that makes the decadence in ancient Rome seem mild by comparison? Even if our own children refuse to participate in this dark and depraved world of the imagination, will they live in a world eventually subjugated to barbarians and thugs?

We can only touch the children in the sphere of influence God has given us. But we can't afford to be silent! So here are a few suggestions:

1. Pray! Our Shepherd will show each of us what we can do to equip our personal and our Christian family.

2. Be watchful. Explain the danger of RPG's to your children in age-appropriate ways. Share the statistics and the horrendous consequences of the conditioning process. Show them items in the newspaper that provide current and relevant examples and warnings.

3. Put on the Armor of God. The greatest weapon against the world's deceptions is God's Word. That "Armor" (Ephesians 6:10-18) provides an outline of the vital truth that expose and oppose Satan's lies.

4. Understand the Nature and Tactics of Satan. Children need to be alert to both his timeless and his current strategies. We are all engaged in a spiritual war -- and we cannot close our eyes to the realities of the foes that assault us.

5. Thank God. "Faithful is He who calleth you, who will also di it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Reports: Israel Operating in Syria, U.S. Preparing to Join
Dec 27th, 2012
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Ryan Jones
Categories: Commentary;The Nation Of Israel

Various Western, Arab and Israeli media reports have been claiming for over a month now that Israeli special forces are on the ground in Syria in an effort to keep tabs on its chemical weapons stockpile.

Those reports mesh well with news that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited neighboring Jordan this week to discuss with King Abdullah a possible air strike on the bulk of Syria's weapons of mass destruction. Such an air strike would require targeting groups to be on the ground.

On Thursday, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon said that American forces were also gearing up for possible intervention in Syria should the embattled regime of dictator Bashar Assad employ chemical weapons against rebels.

US President Barack Obama has already stated that the use of chemical weapons by Assad would be a "red line."

Despite a flurry of reports earlier this week that Assad's forces had in fact used chemical weapons against rebels in several battles, Ya'alon told Israel Radio that there was no evidence of this being true. More likely, the reports were an attempt to elicit attacks on Assad's regime by outside forces.

For Israel, the real fear is that Syria's sizable chemical weapons stockpile will fall into the hands of the rebels, who are turning out not to be the "good-guy freedom fighters" many in the West portray them as.

"It is enough that only a tiny percentage of [Syria's chemical weapons] fall into the hands of elements that are part of the Global Jihad organizations and find a way outside of Syria to create an unprecedented terror threat," wrote security expert Amir Rapaport in the journal Israel Defense.

On Sunday, the Jordan-based leader of one of the Syrian rebel groups said that after toppling Assad, Syria's new rulers will turn their guns on Israel.

"We tell Benjamin Netanyahu...get ready. The army of the Prophet Mohammad is coming your way," declared Abed Shihadeh, who added that after "taking Damascus" his group and its allies will "head for Tel Aviv."

These are the same groups that, as they fight against Assad, are also threatening and persecuting local Christians.

For instance, this week a rebel group posted a video on the Internet warning the Christian towns of Mharda and Sqilbiya to stop permitting Syrian government forces to take up positions there (as if they have a choice) or face a merciless rebel attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noted that the two threatened towns used to have populations in the tens of thousands, but that most locals have already fled.

A UN investigation concluded this week that Syria's civil war is becoming increasingly sectarian, and that minority groups, like Christians, are in more danger than ever.

Top rebel leaders rejected that assessment and insisted that the revolution is "neither bloody nor sectarian."

However, Egyptian television recently aired an address by one Syrian rebel leader, Ahmad Al Baghdadi Al Hassani, who warned that Syria's Christians are "friends of the Zionists" and must choose between "Islam and death."

Netanyahu: Assad’s Air Force uses Banned Weapons
Dec 27th, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Netanyahu and Jordan's King Discussed Syria's Chemicals
Dec 27th, 2012
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently made a secret trip to Amman, where he met with Jordan's King Abdullah, the British-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi Arabic newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Netanyahu and King Abdullah discussed their mutual concern over use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

On Wednesday evening, senior Israeli officials confirmed to Kol Yisrael radio that Netanyahu recently visited Amman and met with King Abdullah. However, no details were disclosed about what the two had discussed.

The United States and its allies, including Israel, have repeatedly expressed concern that Syria's stockpile, believed to be one of the biggest in the world, could be stolen and fall into extremist hands or be transferred to the Hizbullah terror group by a crumbling Syrian regime.

Recent reports indicated that Israel has consulted with Jordan twice over the issue of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, both times with plans to take out multiple sites.

Intelligence officials in two countries told The Atlantic's Jeff Goldberg that "Israel has been seeking Jordan's 'permission' to bomb these sites, but the Jordanians have so far declined" to agree.

At this week's Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that Israel's defense establishment is continuing to monitor events in Syria, “where there are dramatic developments almost daily.”

Israel, he said, is cooperating with the United States and the rest of the international community on making preparations for the possibility that Assad may fall. The prospect includes the possibility that Syria's chemical weapons arsenal could be transferred to terrorist control, be used against rebel forces, or in a completely different scenario, be fired in an attack on Syria's neighbors, including Israel.

"We... are taking the necessary measures to prepare ourselves for the possibility of far-reaching changes in the regime, with implications for the sensitive weapons systems there,” Netanyahu said.

Reports of the use of chemical weapons by Assad's troops against the rebels have become more frequent recently.

Al Jazeera reported on Monday that Assad had dropped bombs containing toxic gases, killing six people and blinding others in Homs. Opposition forces released a video showing a victim struggling to breathe after the attack.

Doctors have said that Assad’s forces are probably also using “Agent 15,” which causes paralysis.

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 27th, 2012
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Pentagon Preps Stealth Strike Force to Counter China
The U.S. military has begun a staged, five-year process that will see each of its three main stealth warplane types deployed to bases near China. When the deployments are complete in 2017, Air Force F-22s and B-2s and Marine Corps F-35s could all be within striking range of America’s biggest economic rival at the same time. With Beijing now testing its own radar-evading jet fighters — two different models, to be exact — the clock is counting down to a stealth warplane showdown over the Western Pacific.

Davidic-era temple unearthed in dig near Jerusalem
“The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judea at the time of the First Temple,” said excavation directors Anna Eirikh, Hamoudi Khalaily and Shua Kisilevitz. They said the structure’s uniqueness was enhanced by the site’s proximity to Jerusalem, which was the kingdom’s main center and the seat of kings David and Solomon.

Piers Morgan: Both the Bible and U.S. Constitution Are ‘Inherently Flawed’ and Need to Be Amended
While CNN’s Piers Morgan is a well known critic of America’s Second Amendment, he has now ventured into a new campaign to reform...the Bible. During a discussion on...Christmas Eve — with Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, Morgan argued that there needs to be an “amendment to the Bible” for same-sex marriage, because like the Constitution, the Bible is “inherently flawed.”

No deal in sight as deadline for fiscal deal nears
Lawmakers are engaged in a playground game of "who goes first," daring each political party to let the year end without resolving a Jan. 1 confluence of higher taxes and deep spending cuts that could rattle a recovering, but-still-fragile economy. President Barack Obama returns from Hawaii Thursday to this increasingly familiar deadline showdown in the nation's capital, with even a stopgap solution now in doubt.

Another blow for Assad
The noose around President Bashar al-Assad’s neck tightened still further yesterday with the defection of a senior security official. By joining Syria’s rebels, General Abdulaziz al-Shalal, formerly commander of the military police force, showed once again that key figures near the apex of the regime view Mr Assad’s downfall as inevitable.

'Brighter than a full moon': The biggest star of 2013... could be the comet of the century
...Comet Ison could draw millions out into the dark to witness what could be the brightest comet seen in many generations – brighter even than the full Moon. ...By late November it will be visible to the unaided eye just after dark in the same direction as the setting Sun. Its tail could stretch like a searchlight into the sky above the horizon.

Social Security Ran $47.8B Deficit in FY 2012
The Social Security program ran a $47.8 billion deficit in fiscal 2012 as the program brought in $725.429 billion in cash and paid $773.247 for benefits and overhead expenses, according to official data published by Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration also released new data revealing that the number of workers collecting disability benefits hit a record 8,827,795 in December--up from 8,805,353 in November.

Egypt's President Morsi hails constitution and urges dialogue
President Mohammed Morsi has congratulated Egyptians for endorsing a new constitution and urged all parties to join him in a national dialogue. In a TV address to the nation, Mr Morsi said the economy was a priority and that changes to the cabinet would be made if necessary. Some 63% backed the constitution in the controversial referendum.

Japan says it will review plans to abandon nuclear power
The new government in Japan has announced it will review the planned nuclear power phase-out proposed by the previous administration. Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said that reactors would be restarted if considered safe by the nuclear authority. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised bold measures to revive the economy.

Nicaragua San Cristobal volcano: Hundreds told to leave
Nicaraguan authorities have ordered the evacuation of several hundred people living near San Cristobal volcano. Officials also declared an amber alert for five sq km ( two sq miles) around the volcano, which began spewing ash and gas on Tuesday. However, some 1,500 farmers are refusing to leave the area, the French news agency AFP reports.

Severe snowstorm hits US, bears down on East Coast
A severe winter storm that whipped up tornadoes in the southern US has brought heavy snow to the Midwest and threatens disruption in the east. At least six people have been killed and authorities have told people to stay at home rather than brave freezing temperatures and treacherous roads. A state of emergency has been declared in Mississippi and Alabama after the storm downed power lines.

Land border sealed, Greek police chief says
A chief of police in a border town in northeastern Greece says irregular migrants are no longer crossing into the country from its land border with Turkey. Barbed-wire fences, landmines, thermal night vision cameras and regular patrols are among the tools used to stop a phenomenon the Greek state considers a national security threat.

Israel Air Force Showed Fraction of Capabilities in Gaza Op
Dec 27th, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

In last month’s Pillar of Defense anti-terror operation in Gaza, “the Israeli Air Force displayed only a fraction of its capabilities,” said IAF chief Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel at the passing-out parade of the flyers' course at Hatzerim Thursday. The IAF has the range for striking at any would-be aggressors with a force that would resound across the Middle East. Maj. Eshel added: “It is worth remembering that more than one line connects Gaza and Iran.” DEBKAfile: This was a reference to the Iranian arms smuggling line to the Gaza Strip and a warning that if it continued, Israel would hit back at Tehran itself.

Have the Palestinians Tied Israel’s Hands?
Dec 27th, 2012
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Elizabeth Blade
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

On Sunday, several foreign and Israeli news outlets reported that the radical Gaza-based group Hamas was preparing to take over the West Bank, determined to oust the current Western-backed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

According to reports, the Islamists were emboldened by their recent war with Israel and the alleged victory that followed.

Militants claimed that Israel failed to cripple their ability (and will) to launch attacks against civilian targets, with some going as far as to suggest that Hamas left the battleground if not victorious, then at least stronger diplomatically. The movement was also encouraged by the absence of a full-scale ground invasion that could easily have toppled the Hamas regime.

To add insult to injury, Israel’s government agreed (as part of the ceasefire deal) to eliminate the so-called “no man’s land”, a buffer zone beyond Israel’s security fence along the Gaza border. The removal of this cordon sanitaire not only left the Jewish state more vulnerable to attacks by Hamas and other terrorists, but will also invited "publicity stunts" by various non-governmental organizations under the direction of Hamas.

Israel Won, Hamas Was Defeated

Nevertheless, there are some who view the recent Israeli operation as successful, and who insist that it was Hamas that suffered defeat.

Prof. Hillel Frisch, an expert on Palestinian and Islamic politics from the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, says Operation Pillar of Cloud achieved maximum deterrence. "It has been the first time since 2001 that [Hamas] ceased all fire. They marked the end of the war on the national calendar and declared it a holiday, but the truth is that they were defeated.”

The expert added: “After realizing that their tactics of shooting rockets into Israel was no longer working, Hamas decided to pursue other, to their mind, more effective means of harassing Israel, one of which was staging mass demonstrations near the [security] fence.”

Indeed, two days after the sides agreed to a ceasefire on November 21st, a group of 300 Palestinians approached the fence in the southern Gaza Strip and held a violent disturbance along the border. The army had to use force to disperse the crowds, killing one Palestinian and injuring several others. Another Palestinian was killed in similar developments several days later.

Hamas Won, Israel Failed

Others, such as Dimitri Diliani, spokesman for Abbas’ Fatah movement, insisted Israel had utterly failed in the recent Gaza conflict.

“Compared to other Israeli wars [where the country achieved measurable results], the recent operation was not fruitful. It failed to achieve the goals declared by the government, mainly to cripple Hamas’ ability to launch rockets into the state of Israel,” said Diliani.

Referring to Hamas’ victory claims, Diliani agreed that although the Palestinian people were dealt a severe blow (the amount of military and civilians losses on the Palestinian side was much higher), they did create the sense of succeeding to defeat the powerful Israeli army on a moral (or even psychological) level.

“In a way, it is a victory for all Palestinian people suffering at the hands of the Israeli occupation [sic],” the Palestinian official continued. “At the same time, Hamas has been trying to take the credit for all the achievements to itself, which is fundamentally wrong, considering the many political factions within the Strip that participated in defending Gaza during the Israeli aggression.”

Friends in High(er) Places

Frisch tried to explain the motivation behind Hamas' bold bragging: "Hamas allows itself such liberties because it feels backed by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.”

Referring to the recent apparent nosedive in Hamas-Egypt relations, Frisch noted, “On the one hand, it might look as if Egypt chose to scrap its ties with the terrorist organization. On the other hand, Egypt is trying to reassure Hamas that the cool-down in relations is only temporary. After achieving their ultimate goal of establishing theocracy, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood will start bolstering Hamas again.”

According to Frisch, Hamas understood that Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood first had to take care of business at home without overly alarming the international community. “Morsi thus compelled Hamas to accept a complete ceasefire, something that Hamas refused to do since it began launching rockets in 2001.”

However, Egypt is far from being the only country to support the militant group. It is no longer a secret that Hamas is also backed by Iran (main weapons’ provider) and the Gulf states (particularly Qatar).

Ripple Effect

Encouraged by Hamas gains, the Abbas regime decided to move ahead with its own battle against Israel, this time on a diplomatic level. At the end of November, Abbas approached the United Nations' General Assembly asking the international body to upgrade his government’s status from “entity” to “observer state.” The request was granted with 138 members (out of 193) voting in favor.

But was Abbas motivated by a genuine desire to change things? Experts seem to be divided.

"The UN bid gave the Palestinians the feeling that a Palestinian state would soon come into being," said Frisch. "The Palestinian Authority doesn't enjoy much credibility in the West Bank," added the expert suggesting that the move was aimed at boosting Abbas' popularity.

Gatestone Institute, an international policy think tank, echoed this view, stating that Abbas' UN drive was “… the last chance for Mahmoud Abbas to remain in charge. In recent weeks he has been phoning around the foreign ministries of Europe explaining that if they don't back him this time in the non-state statehood bid, then it is all over and all we have to deal with is Hamas…”

Diliani disagreed, stressing that the move was dictated by the desire to pursue peace, freedom and justice.

“It actually nullified the Israeli right-wing agenda to expand settlements under the pretext of land disputes,” he charged. “UN recognition provided Palestinians the tools to defend themselves from Israel's settlement activity or targeted killing.”

Slippery Slope

Although the upgrade didn't change things on the ground, the UN's overwhelming support did embolden Abbas, who was given a green light to pursue additional unilateral measures instead of sitting down for talks with Israel that could translate into painful concessions on both sides.

In Israel, however, most experts and top brass disregarded Abbas' move saying it was insignificant.

Diliani rebuked that position: “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is not interested in admitting defeat, especially at election time. That's why he spreads this propaganda, trying to marginalize the importance of the Palestinian victory, when the truth of the matter is that Israel was dealt a severe diplomatic blow that exposed its international isolation as a result of the continuation of occupation.”

Hamas-Fatah Unity = Trouble For Israel

Although it is too early to tell whether the UN upgrade will result in significant changes, Abbas' flirting with Hamas might. Recent reports suggested that a reunion between Fatah and Hamas (two staunch rivals) was on the horizon.

The Palestinian street seems to be favoring the move. Thousands took to the streets in the Gaza Strip to celebrate Abbas’ victory at the UN, whereas crowds in the West Bank rallied in support of Hamas, celebrating the fact that its rockets had struck as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

What could this potential union mean for Israel? Simply put: trouble.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders are already preparing for the next round of fighting with Israel, promising that “in the next war, Israelis will be forced to flee not only their homes, but the whole country”. Fatah is also reading itself for a possible confrontation, with some leaders calling for a new intifada [uprising] against Israel, especially in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

Can Israel Divide and Conquer?

But Frisch was skeptical. “I doubt that Fatah will ever want to reunite with Hamas. Abbas and those around him are scared of Hamas’ potential take-over the West Bank. Although many Palestinians don’t support Hamas, Fatah leaders are afraid of the organization's strong desire to take control and the ruthlessness with which they are able to do so," stressed the expert.

Diliani rebutted those allegations and claimed Hamas was too scared of Fatah's growing popularity: “So far, Hamas has failed the people, they have proven to be incompetent to govern, let alone lead politically. Fatah and Hamas are not going to be united. Reconciliation is possible and highly desirable; unity is not. We might have serious disagreements on the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but that won't prevent us from sitting down for talks.”

But if this reunion (or even reconciliation) does take place, will Israel be willing to negotiate with Hamas? Have Hamas and Fatah manage to tie Israel's hands this time? Time will tell...