Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

White House Map 'Erases' Jerusalem, Biblical Territories
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily NewsWND - Aaron Klein
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

TEL AVIV – The White House has released what it says is a map of Israel. The only problem is that Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights are missing.

An Obama administration video highlighting the president’s plans for his Mideast trip depicts Jerusalem, the Golan and the West Bank – also known as Judea and Samaria – as non-Israeli territory.

The Washington Free Beacon, which first reported the discrepancies, noted the video shows the Golan Heights as part of Syria; Jerusalem is depicted as part of the West Bank; and northern Israel is shown as part of Lebanon. WND reported in August 2012 when the White House refused to name the capital of Israel – not once, but twice – as the two most senior White House correspondents cornered Obama’s press secretary, doggedly questioning him on whether the Obama administration considered Jerusalem or Tel Aviv to be the capital of the Jewish state.

The itinerary on the White House website further implies that Jerusalem is not Israel’s capital or even part of Israel, reported the Free Beacon. Obama’s schedule lists two stops in “Tel Aviv, Israel” and one in “Amman, Jordan,” while his trip to Israel’s capital city is identified as taking place only in “Jerusalem.”

The itinerary is consistent with information first released by WND disclosing Obama’s planned visit already has secured Israeli and Palestinian pledges to restart so-called land-for-peace talks that aim to see Israel relinquish the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, according to informed Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials.

The officials disclosed the Obama administration told both sides the talks would be aimed at creating a Palestinian state in what is known as the 1967 borders, meaning an Israeli retreat from some of the strategic West Bank and possibly some eastern sections of Jerusalem.

According to the informed officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that once the talks begin, there will be a silent, undeclared freeze on all Jewish construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem with the exception of what are known as main blocs – Maale Adumin, Ariel and Gush Etzion.

The officials said the White House was adamant that Israeli talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas begin regardless of the position of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Still, the U.S. is supporting Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey in back-door efforts to broker a national unity deal between Abbas and Hamas during the same time period that the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are set to take place, the officials said.

There is already close coordination between the White House and members of Netanyahu’s government coalition, who are known to be sympathetic to creating a Palestinian state, primarily former opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

Further, WND was told that Livni and former Minister Haim Ramon are currently coordinating the renewal of talks with the PA’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat.

Regarding Jerusalem, the informed Israeli and Palestinian officials said the White House has been nonspecific other than to champion talks based on what is known as the Clinton parameters.

The formula, pushed by President Bill Clinton in the Camp David talks in 2000, called for Jewish areas of Jerusalem to remain Israeli while the Palestinians get sovereignty over neighborhoods that are largely Arab.

WND previously reported Palestinians are building illegally in Jewish-owned areas of Jerusalem, creating Arab majorities in certain neighborhoods.

Two U.S. Senators: Chemical Weapons in Syria Cross Obama’s Red Line
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Two leading Republican lawmakers, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, said Tuesday that reports of chemical weapons use in Syria, if true, mean the president's threshold for involvement in the country's civil war has been met. They said that if the reports of a Scud B hitting Aleppo with a poison warhead are substantiated, “The President’s red line has been crossed, and we would urge him to take immediate action to impose the consequences he has promised."

The Palestinians: Ten Points the U.S. Needs to Consider
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily Newsgatestoneinstitute.org
Categories: Today's Headlines;Peace Process

It is hard to find one Palestinian who believes that US President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to the region will lead to a breakthrough in the Middle East "peace process."

Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah said they too are not pinning any hopes on Obama's visit. "The situation is much more complicated than Obama thinks," remarked a top PA official in a briefing ahead of the US president's visit. "We do not believe we will see any changes on the ground."

But as Obama prepares to visit the region, he would do well to take the following facts into consideration:

1. Any agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would be rejected by a large number of Palestinians, especially Palestinian refugees who continue to insist on the "right of return" to their former villages inside Israel.

2. A majority of Arabs and Muslims would also reject a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, especially in wake of the "Arab Spring," which has seen the rise of Islamists to power in a number of Arab countries.

It is hard to see how the ruling Muslim Brotherhood organization in Egypt, for example, would welcome any peace agreement with the "Zionist entity."

3. Even if a Palestinian state were established in the West Bank, Hamas and other groups would work to take control of it and, with the help of Iran and Al-Qaeda, turn it into a launching pad for attacking Israel and other neighbors.

The Palestinian Authority is in power thanks to the presence of the Israel Defense Force in the West Bank. Ironically, ending Israeli "occupation" would also bring an end to Abbas's rule.

4. Most Palestinians do not see the US as an honest broker. Any agreement reached under the auspices of the US Administration would be received with utmost suspicion.

Already, many Palestinian activists are waging a campaign on Facebook and Twitter to "prevent Obama from desecrating the land of Palestine." The activists have called for "huge demonstrations" in the West Bank to protest against Obama's visit; they are even preparing shoes to throw at his motorcade.

5. With the exception of Fatah, all Palestinian organizations -- primarily Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- would automatically reject any peace agreement with Israel for various reasons.

Some of these groups want to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth, while others believe that Israel would never accept all their demands, such as a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines and the release of all Palestinian prisoners.

6. The Palestinians are divided into two camps not only geographically, but also ideologically. The first is a radical camp that does not want to deliver on any front: it believes that Israel has no right to exist.

The second is the less-radical camp, or the "moderates." This second camp is also not able to deliver: it does not have enough control over the Palestinian territories, let alone a mandate from the Palestinians.

7. Abbas is opposed to the idea of reaching an interim agreement with Israel that would lead to the establishment of a temporary Palestinian state on the parts of the West Bank that are controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

8. Even the Palestinian Authority appears to be divided into two camps, one headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the second led by Abbas. Tensions between the two have been mounting in wake of the resignation of Palestinian Finance Minister Nabil Qassis. While Abbas has rejected the resignation, Fayyad has accepted it, triggering a crisis with the Palestinian Authority president.

9. Many Palestinians, including Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership, are opposed to the resumption of peace talks unless Israel releases a significant number of Palestinian prisoners, halts all construction in settlements, as well as east Jerusalem, and accepts the pre-1967 lines as the future borders of a Palestinian state.

10. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas does not have a mandate from his people to reach any agreement with Israel: his term in office expired in January 2009.

Planet Reeling from Spasm of Quakes: Seismic Stress Could be Building Towards An Event
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily NewsTEP
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

March 19, 2013 – PLANET – The planet is currently reeling from a dense spectrum of moderate to light tremors, which have struck along major tectonic plate boundaries over the last 18 hours. As a precursor to this seismic dynamism; we have seen elevated activity at many of the world’s volcanoes, including hotspots in Hawaii, Etna, and the Canary Islands. The latest spat of seismic activity across the globe has every indication of being a precursor to a major seismic stress release, which I have forecasted since last week. This event could be hours, or even days away. The window of elevated hazard risk, at present, extends through March 23, and is annunciated by the spring equinox.

Obama, Netanyahu Face Wide Differences on Nuclear Iran, Chemical Syria
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

President Barack Obama was greeted on his arrival in Israel midday Wednesday, March 20 with unprecedented ceremonial honors and fanfare, but after the handshakes and the drive through the sunny, flag-draped streets of Jerusalem, he and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu were to sit down for tough talk on their yawning differences on three issues: nuclear Iran, Syria and the first use of chemical weapons, and the Palestinians. Expressions of devout commitment to a historic alliance and the president’s unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security will be left outside the door in the public domain. Obama is to be confronted with the fallout for Israel of the policies he pursued in his first term, especially his backing for the Arab Revolt which erupted in December 2010.

1. Since then, Iran has been allowed to reach a point just short of the development of two types of nuclear bombs, one fueled by enriched uranium and the other by plutonium.

2. Regardless of repeated fruitless endeavors, President Obama still holds to diplomacy and sanctions for achieving a breakthrough with Iran over its nuclear program. Circles in Washington and Jerusalem maintain that the gap between Washington and Jerusalem is over nothing more than the timeline estimated for Iran to attain a nuclear bomb capacity. But this is just a US-Israeli maneuver for giving their diplomats and intelligence officials space to pour honey and pretend the two governments can still sort out their differences.
This maneuver has been used by self-styled “nuclear experts” in both capitals as a PR exercise to cover up a very real rift. They criticize the Netanyahu government as intransigent for insisting on Iran’s total cessation of 20 percent uranium enrichment (a step before weapons grade), the shutdown of its Fordo enrichment plan and removal from the country of low-enriched uranium.

Israel must give way on these demands for the sake of an accommodation with Tehran, they say.
This view is supported by the “strategists” who maintain Israel is not up to the military challenge of preempting a nuclear Iran and must rely on US cooperation. Therefore, it is important to trust President Obama when he declares that his administration will not allow Iran to attain a nuclear bomb.

So firmly has this viewpoint taken root in the mass media, that deviant opinions are discredited as mistaken, even when they come from highly regarded and well-informed individuals like Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and one of his predecessors, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, which they support with a whole battery of updated facts and educated evaluations.

3. The infamous Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah alliance has not suffered the slightest crack despite Obama’s promise to work it loose. Many Middle Easterners find it is stronger than ever. For instance, whereas before the Syrian war, Hizballah commanded a well-trained 30,000-strong army which held the whip hand in Beirut, this former militia has expanded into a veritable Shiite army of 50,000 combat-seasoned troops who are fighting in Syria for Bashar Assad alongside the Iranian Al Qods Brigades.
The Hizballah militia has grown into a formidable army.
4. President Obama, who long held the belief that Assad’s fall was “imminent,” no longer mentions this possibility. Indeed, before he set out on his Middle East trip, US sources in Washington were whispering the latest intelligence forecast that Syrian rebels would control half of Damascus by the end of the summer and so replicate the Aleppo partition.

5. In the 48 hours leading up to the president’s arrival in Israel, the Syrian Air Force for the first time bombed targets inside Lebanon (March 18) and fired a Scud missile armed with a chemical warhead which exploded in Aleppo on March 19. While Israel is acutely concerned by this escalation just across its frontiers, the Obama administration has not reacted – evidence of another major gap between Washington and Jerusalem.
6. Israel feels it has been dropped in the middle of a dangerous vortex set up by the US-backed Arab Revolts in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt and gaining in momentum from the bloody tumult in Syria. The Jewish state is now beset with hostile Islamist regimes in which al Qaeda and Iran are increasingly embedded.

If King Abdullah’s throne in Jordan succumbs to the wave of unrest set up by the Muslim Brotherhood there too, Israel will be completely surrounded.

7. On peace talks with the Palestinians, the Obama administration has made no headway for bringing the Palestinians to the negotiating table.
In short, the omens at the outset of the US president’s talks in Israel are not encouraging.
The US mainstream media campaign to discredit Israeli intelligence findings and estimates on Iran’s nuclear progress has not abated and indeed intensified in time for the Obama visit.
Furthermore, in the absence of an administration reaction, Israeli officials made a point of confirming the onset of chemical warfare in Syria. This contingency the Obama administration had pledged would bring forth US intervention.

These differences cannot be accounted for by claims of personal antipathy between the US president and Israeli prime minister. They deeply affect matters of substance and policy.

Obama to Hold Three Working Sessions With Netanyahu
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

President Barack Obama was welcomed when he landed in Israel Wednesday midday with full ceremonial honors - ahead of tough talks, DEBKAfile reports. He has just ended a visit to President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem before going on to meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the first of their three working sessions - mainly on Iran and Syria. A press conference is scheduled for 8:10 pm local time.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will pay his first visit Israel next month. He reported this to Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon when they exchanged congratulations over their new appointments and promised to strengthen cooperation in light of common challenges in the Middle East.

Nigel Farage Message to Europeans:
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily NewsTyler Durden
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

In Nigel Farage's first TV appearance since the Cypriot wealth tax was announced, the Englishman pulls no punches. In all his years and all his experience of the desperation of the European Union's leadership "never did [he] think they would resort to stealing money from people's savings accounts." The simple fact is that they know they cannot let any country leave, no matter how small, for "once one country goes, the whole deck of cards will come tumbling down." There is now "clear irreconcilable differences" between the North and the South of Europe and now that they have done this in one country, "they are quite capable of doing it in Italy, Spain and anywhere." The message that sends to people is "get your money out while you can." As far as his British constituents, he strongly recommends George Osborne (UK Chancellor) urge ex-pats to remove all their money and do monthly transfers from home. "Do Not Invest In The Euro-Zone," he concludes, "you have to be mad to do so - as it is now run by people who do not respect democracy, the rule of law, or the basic principles upon which Western civilization is based."

"They are propping up a Eurozone that, in the end, will collapse in disastrous failure and they are prepared to do anything to do so."

Let the Headlines Speak
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Cops: U.S. law should require logs of your text messages
AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and other wireless providers would be required to capture and store Americans' confidential text messages, according to a proposal that will be presented to a congressional panel today. The law enforcement proposal would require wireless providers to record and store customers' SMS messages -- a controversial idea akin to requiring them to surreptitiously record audio of their customers' phone calls -- in case police decide to obtain them at some point in the future.

Oklahoma House Passes Bill to Ban UN Agenda 21
Following Alabama’s lead, lawmakers in the Oklahoma House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve popular legislation protecting private-property rights and banning a controversial United Nations “sustainable development” scheme known as Agenda 21, which critics say represents a serious threat to American values and liberty

Francis I: The ‘End of the World’ Pope
Francis announced to the world, “You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. An interesting and significant phrase filled with foreboding in these troubling times, many perceive of apocalyptic worldwide turmoil. Particularly to those lending credence to the prophesies of Irish Saint Malachy, a 12th century Archbishop of Armagh who had a vision when visiting Rome of 112 future popes that the Church would supposedly have from his days onwards.

NATO planning for possible Syria missions, official says
The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that NATO is conducting contingency planning for possible military involvement in Syria and American forces would be prepared if called upon by the United Nations and member countries.

Five Syrian shells land in Lebanon despite warning
Five shells fired from Syria landed in Lebanon on Wednesday, one day after Lebanese President Michel Suleiman warned that Syrian strikes on its neighbor were an unacceptable violation of its sovereignty. Witnesses said the shells landed in fields near al-Qasr, a village less than a mile from the border, but no one was hurt.

South Korea raises alert after hackers attack broadcasters, banks
South Korean authorities were investigating a hacking attack that brought down the servers of three broadcasters and two major banks on Wednesday, and the army raised its alert level due to concerns of North Korean involvement. Servers at television networks YTN, MBC and KBS were affected as well as Shinhan Bank and NongHyup Bank, two major banks, the police and government officials said.

Barack Obama in Israel for first time as president
Barack Obama has arrived in Israel for his first trip there as US president, amid protests and tight security in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The war in Syria and concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions will loom large in talks, say correspondents. But US officials are trying to lower expectations that Mr Obama will seek to make significant headway on restarting the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

Chemical attack in north Syria: 'People fell dead to the floor'
Israeli security officials believe chemical agents were in fact used near Aleppo by rebels or Assad forces. Young girl: My chest closed up. I couldn't talk. I couldn't breathe...

Nato announces Afghanistan Wardak agreement
An agreement has been reached between Nato and the Afghan government on the withdrawal of US special forces from Wardak province, alliance officials have announced. The agreement appears to bring to an end a bitter dispute between the coalition and the Afghan government. The troops and their Afghan counterparts have been accused of murder and intimidation in the area.

US panel backs trial for anthrax vaccine on children
A US presidential commission has paved the way for testing an anthrax vaccine on children, prompting criticism that participants would be "guinea pigs". But the bioethical issues report said researchers would have to overcome many hurdles before conducting any trial. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius must decide whether to act on the paper's recommendations.

Senate Democrats to drop assault weapon ban from gun bill
US lawmakers will ditch a plan to ban assault weapons, all but killing off a key part of a gun control campaign prompted by a recent school massacre. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said her proposal would be left out of the firearms control bill. Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid made the decision, saying the proposal could not get enough votes.

Germany to Cyprus: your banks might never re-open
Germany has warned Cyprus that the European Central Bank (ECB) will pull the plug on its two largest banks in the absence of a bailout programme and said the terms of the rescue will not change. German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the ZDF public broadcaster on Tuesday night (19 March) he "took note with regret" of the Cypriot parliament's rejection of the bailout deal, but insisted that the terms will stay the same.

Worker admits cutting 10 babies at abortion clinic
A medical assistant told a jury Tuesday that she snipped the spines of at least 10 babies during unorthodox abortions at a West Philadelphia clinic, at the direction of the clinic's owner. Adrienne Moton's testimony came in the capital murder trial of Gosnell, who owned the clinic and is on trial in the deaths of a patient and seven babies. Prosecutors accuse him of killing late-term, viable babies after they were delivered alive, in violation of state abortion laws.

Pakistan Arrests Suspect in 2002 Murder of Daniel Pearl
Pakistani security forces have arrested a suspect in the 2002 murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in the port city of Karachi, according to Pakistani police and military officials. Qari Abdul Hayee, a former leader of the Sunni sectarian group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, or LeJ, was aware of the plan to kidnap Pearl, the Wall Street Journal’s South Asia bureau chief, who was later decapitated, according to a military official with knowledge of the detention, who asked not to be named because he isn’t authorized to comment on the case.

Asian giants aim free trade
China, Japan and South Korea will begin talks for a free trade agreement between themselves. A spokesperson for the Chinese Trade Ministry, Shin Danyang, said that the first round of talks between the three countries would take place in Seoul on March 26-28. Danyang stressed that the possible free trade agreement would be beneficial for the whole region.

Report: Al-Qaida Claims French Hostage Killed
A Mauritanian-based website said that al-Qaida's North African branch has executed a French hostage in retaliation for France's military intervention in northern Mali. In Paris, a French Foreign Ministry official said the government is aware of the report and is investigating. The hostage's father said he has not received confirmation of the death.

Saudi arrests 18 spies including Iranian: ministry
The Saudi authorities have arrested 18 suspected spies, including an Iranian and a Lebanese, on charges of espionage for a foreign country, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. "Sixteen Saudis, an Iranian and a Lebanese were arrested in coordinated and simultaneous operations in four regions of the kingdom," including the capital Riyadh and the holy city of Mecca, the ministry said in a statement.

Satanist Insider Waxes Triumphant
We can only succeed if we give the sheeple what they want - spiritual, moral, societal and personal decay! A culture of hopelessness, if you will. Soon drones will deliver fast food, like pizza. This will calm the sheeple into their acceptance. Australia is at the forefront of this work. Drones will fill the skies to keep sheeple safe, degraded and irrational.

Analyst: Russia Prepping Military To Fight U.S.
The Russian military doctrine adopted in 2010 after the “reset” with the Obama administration considers the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, the main threats Moscow must be prepared to fight, according to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. This is the assessment of Alexei Arbatov, a former Duma, or parliament, deputy and currently head of the Center for International Security of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Israeli Source Confirms: Chemical Weapons used in Syria Attack
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Maayana Miskin
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

An Israeli source confirmed Tuesday that chemical weapons were used in attacks on the cities of Aleppo and Damascus in which 25 people were killed and dozens more injured.

Both Syrian rebels and the Assad regime had claimed that chemical weapons were used, but there had been no conclusive proof. Each side is accusing the other in the early morning attack.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and United States President Barack Obama are expected to discuss the volatile situation during Obama’s visit to Israel this week.

According to The Guardian, Netanyahu will ask Obama to support an attack on Syria if it is discovered that Assad is sending weapons to Hizbullah. He is reportedly particularly concerned about the possibility that Hizbullah will obtain long-range missiles.

Syrian rebels say Assad’s regime has already sent chemical weapons to Hizbullah. An Israeli expert made similar claims in March, and warned that Syrian rebels pose a greater threat.

First Cyprus, Then the World - How Safe is Your Money?
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily Newsoilprice.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Cyprus is a beta test. The banksters are trying to commit bank robbery in broad daylight, and they are eager to see if the rest of the world will let them get away with it.

Cyprus was probably chosen because it is very small (therefore nobody will care too much about it) and because there is a lot of foreign (i.e. Russian) money parked there.

The IMF and the EU could have easily bailed out Cyprus without any trouble whatsoever, but they purposely decided not to do that. Instead, they decided that this would be a great time to test the idea of a "wealth tax".

The government of Cyprus was given two options by the IMF and the EU - either they could confiscate money from private bank accounts or they could leave the eurozone.

Apparently this was presented as a "take it or leave it" proposition, and many are using the world "blackmail" to describe what has happened. Sadly, this decision is going to set a very ominous precedent for the future and it is going to have ripple effects far beyond Cyprus.

After the banksters steal money from bank accounts in Cyprus they will start doing it everywhere. If this "bank robbery" goes well, it will only be a matter of time before depositors in nations such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal are asked to take "haircuts" as well.

And what will happen one day when the U.S. financial system collapses? Will U.S. bank accounts also be hit with a "one time" wealth tax? That is very frightening to think about.

Cyprus is a very small nation, so it is not the amount of money involved that is such a big deal. Rather, the reason why this is all so troubling is that this "wealth tax" is shattering confidence in the European banking system. Never before have the banksters come directly after bank accounts.

If everything goes according to plan, every bank account in Cyprus will be hit with a "one time fee" this week. Accounts with less than 100,000 euros will be hit with a 6.75% tax, and accounts with more than 100,000 euros will be hit with a 9.9% tax.

How would you feel if something like this happened where you live?

How would you feel if the banksters suddenly demanded that you hand over 10 percent of all the money that you had in the bank?

And why would anyone want to still put money into the bank in nations such as Greece, Italy, Spain or Portugal after all of this?

One writer for Forbes has called this "probably the single most inexplicably irresponsible decision in banking supervision in the advanced world since the 1930s."

And I would agree with that statement. I certainly did not expect to see anything like this in Europe. This is going to cause people to pull money out of banks all over the continent.

If I was living in Europe (and especially if I was living in one of the more financially-troubled countries) that is exactly what I would be doing.

The bank runs that we witnessed in Cyprus over the weekend may just be a preview of what is coming. When this "wealth tax" was announced, it triggered a run on the ATMs and many of them ran out of cash very rapidly. A bank holiday was declared for Monday, and all electronic transfers of money were banned.

Needless to say, the people of Cyprus were not too pleased about all of this. In fact, one very angry man actually parked his bulldozer outside of one bank branch and threatened to physically bulldoze his way inside.

But this robbery by the banksters has not been completed yet. First, the Cypriot Parliament must approve the new law authorizing this wealth confiscation on Monday. If it is approved, then the actually wealth confiscation will take place on Tuesday morning.

According to Reuters, the new president of Cyprus is warning that if the bank account tax is not approved the two largest banks in Cyprus will collapse and there will be complete and total financial chaos in his country...

President Nicos Anastasiades, elected three weeks ago with a pledge to negotiate a swift bailout, said refusal to agree to terms would have led to the collapse of the two largest banks.

"On Tuesday ... We would either choose the catastrophic scenario of disorderly bankruptcy or the scenario of a painful but controlled management of the crisis," Anastasiades said in written statement.

In several statements since his election, he had previously categorically ruled out a deposit haircut.

The fact that the new president had previously ruled out any kind of a wealth tax has a lot of people very, very upset. They feel like they were flat out lied to...

"I'm furious," said Chris Drake, a former Middle East correspondent for the BBC who lives in Cyprus. "There were plenty of opportunities to take our money out; we didn't because we were promised it was a red line which would not be crossed."

But apparently the wealth confiscation could actually have been far worse. According to one report, the IMF and the EU were originally demanding a 40% wealth tax on bank account holders in Cyprus...

As the President of Cyprus proclaims to his people that "we' should all take responsibility as his historic decision will "lead to the permanent rescue of the economy," it appears that the settled-upon 9.9% haircut is a 'good deal' compared to the stunning 40% of total deposits that Germany's FinMin Schaeuble and the IMF demanded.

Could you imagine?

How would you feel if you woke up someday and 40% of all your money had been taken out of your bank accounts?

At this point, there is still some doubt about whether this plan will actually be adopted or not.

Right now the new president of Cyprus does not have the votes that he needs, but you can be sure that there is some high level arm twisting going on.

Originally the vote was supposed to happen on Sunday, but it was delayed until Monday to allow for some extra "persuading" to be done.

And of course the people of Cyprus are overwhelmingly against this wealth tax. In fact, one poll found that 71 percent of the entire population of Cyprus wants this plan to be voted down.

The funny thing is that Cyprus is not even in that bad of shape.

The unemployment rate is around 12 percent, but in other European nations such as Greece and Spain the unemployment rate is more than double that.

Cyprus has a debt to GDP ratio of about 87 percent, but the United States has a debt to GDP ratio of well over 100 percent.

So if they will go directly after bank accounts in Cyprus, what will stop them from going after bank accounts in larger nations when the time comes?

In the final analysis, this is a game changer. No longer will any bank account in the western world be considered to be 100 percent safe.

Trust is a funny thing. It takes a long time to build, but it can be destroyed in a single moment.

Trust in European banks has now been severely damaged, and that damage is not going to be undone any time soon.

A recent blog post by the CEO of Saxo Bank, Lars Christensen, did a great job of explaining how incredibly damaging this move by the IMF and the EU truly is...

This is a breach of fundamental property rights, dictated to a small country by foreign powers and it must make every bank depositor in Europe shiver.

Although the representatives at the bailout press conference tried to present this as a one-off, they were not willing to rule out similar measures elsewhere - not that it would have mattered much as the trust is gone anyway. It is now difficult to expect any kind of limitation to what measures the Troika and EU might take when the crisis really starts to bite.

if you can do this once, you can do it again. if you can confiscate 10 percent of a bank customer's money, you can confiscate 25, 50 or even 100 percent. I now believe we will see worse as the panic increases, with politicians desperately trying to keep the EUR alive.

Depositors in other prospective bailout countries must be running scared - is it safe to keep money in an Italian, Spanish or Greek bank any more? I dont know, must be the answer.

Is it prudent to take the risk? You decide. I fear this will lead to massive capital outflows from weak Eurozone countries, just about the last thing they need right now.

This is the biggest moment that we have witnessed since the beginning of the European financial crisis.

Financial authorities in Europe could try to calm nerves by at least pretending that this will never happen again in any other country, but so far they are refusing to do that...

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the group of euro-area ministers, on Saturday declined to rule out taxes on depositors in countries beyond Cyprus, although he said such a measure was not currently being considered.

Such a measure is "not currently being considered" for other members of the eurozone?

Yeah, that sure is going to make people feel a lot more confident in what is coming next.

Debkafile: Agent 15 “choking Gas” U.S.ed Lethally in Aleppo
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

DEBKAfile reports from western military sources that present in the rocket which exploded in the Aleppo neighborhood of Khan al-Assal Tuesday March 19 were phosphorus, chlorine and Agent 15 or BZ. Although the Assad regime and the Syrian rebels charged each other with firing the rocket, which killed 15-31 people and injured more than a hundred, it was not possible to verify which side was responsible. The White House denied it was the rebels, while Moscow backed Damascus by insisting that it was.

Cypriot Parliament Says No to Savings Tax
Mar 20th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Parliament in Nicosia Tuesday rejected a plan to tax savings in Cypriot banks stipulated in the EU/IMF 10 billion euro bailout deal. Banks stay closed until Thursday. Eurozone ministers advised Cyprus to move the tax burden – 7% on depositors of up to 100,000 euros, away from small savers. This would leave the big investors exposed to the tax - many of them Russians who used the island as an offshore or money laundering site. President Vladimir Putin said it is “unfair and sets a dangerous precedent,” but this precedent has also sent uneasy waves through the European banking system.