Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

U.S. Unblocks $500m for Palestinians
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsAFP
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

State Department spokeswoman Nuland says aid money frozen by Congress for months freed up as PA faces worst economic crisis in years

The United States has quietly unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority which had been frozen by Congress for months, a top US official said Friday.

The news that the funds had finally been freed up came after US President Barack Obama met top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a landmark visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week.

The Internet Unlocked Something Dark in Humanity. Top Author Anthony Horowitz
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsMailonline - Rebecca Evans
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Temple Activists Expect Police to Block Ascent
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Gil Ronen
Categories: Commentary;The Nation Of Israel

Several Temple movement activists will try to make the Pesach sacrifice on the Temple Mount Monday, but they expect police to block their way, as has happened in previous years.

The activists said they plan to assemble at the promenade near the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City at 1:30 p.m., with the goats and lambs they plan to sacrifice.

At 1:45, led by Noam Federman, they will try to begin advancing toward the Temple Mount, with the hope of setting up what they term a minimal kosher altar" there.

The activists said that they know their chances of success are slim, and noted that in previous years, police used force to block their way and arrested some of them as well. Charge sheets were also filed against some of them, on alleged unauthorized transport of animals and cruelty to animals.

Some activists hope, however, that police will be more sympathetic to their efforts, because the new Knesset and government include Temple activists like MK Moshe Feiglin and Minister Uri Ariel in senior positions.

The Temple organizations note that hundreds of supporters have signed petitions calling on the government to enable the Pesach sacrifice on the Temple Mount, as part of the freedom of religion and worship that the government must allow, by law.

Syria’s Opposition Leader Quits; Leaves Coalition in Free Fall
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsLignet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The leader of Syria’s opposition coalition, Moaz al-Khatib, resigned yesterday, raising doubts about the ability of the fragile alliance to remain united and form a stable government after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is driven from power. The departure of Khatib hurts the international reputation of the Syrian opposition and reflects the growing role of Islamists – including the Muslim Brotherhood – in the anti-Assad resistance.

Syria Crisis Jumpstarts Turkish - Israeli Relationship
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsLignet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Shared concerns over the deteriorating situation in Syria, including the possible use or transfer of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, led to last week’s rapprochement between Turkey and Israel. The restoration of full diplomatic relations could help facilitate greater intelligence and military cooperation between the two countries at a critical time given the region’s multiple sources of instability.

Pesach (passover) Holiday to Begin Monday Eve
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Commentary;The Nation Of Israel

Passover (Pesach) will take place this year between sunset on Monday, March 25, and sunset on Monday, April 1. The first and seventh days are marked as Sabbath-like holy days (Yom Tov) in which work is forbidden.

Jews outside of Israel, and those visiting Israel only for the holiday, observe an additional day in both the beginning and end of Pesach, which lasts eight days for them.

On this evening, the enslaved Jews were freed from Egyptian bondage after the Ten Plagues forced King Pharaoh of Egypt to listen to Moses and Aaron's call to "Let my people go!" The best known name of the holiday is Passover, to commemmorate the passing over of the Jewish homes during the plague that killed each Egyptian firstborn son. The holiday is also known as the Holiday of Matzahs, the Holiday of Our Freedom and the Holiday of Spring.

Jews are commanded to tell the story of leaving Egypt as if it had happened to them personally and not as a mere historical event, in order to emphasize the importance of our hard-won and precious freedom.

The government of Israel sold its “chametz,” leavened bread, to an Arab before the holiday in order not to transgress the commandment of not owning any chametz during the holiday. This includes any food product that contains leavened wheat, oat, barley, rye, or spelt products.

After a search for remaining chametz in houses Sunday night, Jews burn it the following morning, several hours before Pesach begins. Not a drop of chametz is allowed to remain in Jewish hands during the entire holiday, so that each family sells its own chametz for the week as the government does.

Dishes also are changed for the holiday or were made kosher through a procedure that depends on what material they are composed of. Glassware dishes can be koshered for Pesach by cleaning, leaving them unused for a period of time and then dipping them in water. Metal, if completely cleaned, is dipped in boiling water and prior to the holiday, large vats of boiling water are manned by people at various locations for that purpose. Not all materials can be made useable for Pesach and a rabbi should be consulted with any questions.

In the absence of leaven, Jews will eat specially prepared unleavened bread, or matza, on Pesach, as was done at the Exodus, when the Jews did not have enough time to wait for dough to rise before leaving Egypt.

First-born males over 13 are required to fast on the day before Passover – in commemoration of the fact that first-born Jewish males were spared when first-born Egyptian males were killed during the tenth plague – but may be released of this obligation by participating in a special festive meal, like the ones that accompany the conclusion of study of a tractate of the Talmud or a circumcision, on the morning before Passover.

The traditional Seder is held Monday night – Monday and Tuesday nights for Jews outside of Israel. The guide for the Seder is detailed in the Haggadah, literally "narration," which relates the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

A plate placed on the Seder table contains several special foods: a roasted egg, symbolizing the special holiday sacrifices which were brought in the Temple; a roasted shank bone, recalling the Passover lamb offered and eaten by every family in Jerusalem in Temple times and brought in Egypt right before the Exodus; a mixture of chopped apples, nuts, wine and cinnamon known as charoset, symbolizing the mortar that the Hebrew slaves in Egypt used to make bricks; sprigs of parsley and lettuce, symbolizing spring; a bitter herb symbolizing the bitterness of slavery; and salt water, recalling the tears shed by the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. There are additional explanations for some of the symbols.

Three whole pieces of matza mark the division of the Jewish people into priests (Cohanim), Levites and the general population are also placed on the table. There are also other explanations for this custom, as there are for almost all of the customs.

During the course of the Seder, the Ten Plagues are recalled. When each of the Plagues is mentioned, each participant dips a finger into his/her cup of wine and removes a drop; even though the Jews were oppressed in Egypt, we are reminded that we must not rejoice over the Egyptians' suffering. Our cups of wine cannot thus be full.

Four cups of wine are drunk at specific parts of the seder, to remember the four words symbolizing redemption that appear in the Biblical Exodus narration.

One of the more popular Seder customs for children concerns the afikoman, a special piece of matza that is the last food eaten during the Seder. The head of the household customarily hides the afikoman somewhere in the house, and the children then search for it. Once found, the afikoman is "ransomed," since the Seder cannot continue until the afikoman is eaten. This helps to keep the children focused on the Seder and to pique their curiosity regarding the entire Passover epic.

On the morning of Monday March 26, festive prayers, including a prayer for dew during the spring and summer, and special readings, will figure prominently in synagogue services.

During the intermediate days, between the first and last days, special prayers also are recited in synagogue. In Israel, all of Pesach is an official holiday for schools and most government offices and vacationing families fill the national parks and museums, many of which are free.

Jewish tradition maintains that the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army occurred on the seventh day of Passover, but even though Passover celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, Jews nevertheless do not rejoice over the death of the Egyptians in the sea and only an abridged version of Hallel (Psalms 113-118) – a holiday prayer – is recited after the first day of Passover.

On the Sabbath of the intermediate days of Passover (Saturday March 30), the day's special readings will include the Song of Songs and Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

From the evening prayer ending Tuesday March 26, Jews will keep a nightly count of the 49 days (seven weeks), until the evening of Tuesday, May 14, one day before the holiday of Shavuot. This count commemorates the Temple offering of the omer, or sheaf of new grain, in keeping with the Biblical injunction of Leviticus 23:15-16.

Maimouna – an informal, yet widely celebrated holiday which originated among the Jews of North Africa, particularly those from Morocco – will be celebrated immediately after Passover, from sunset on Monday April 1. According to custom, families prepare elaborate tables with various sweets and baked goods, and host friends and family members. Whole neighborhoods often close as celebrations spill out into the streets and parks.

Editors Note....The above article, if carefully read will reveal the triune God and the ressurection of Christ. The veil is on Jewish eyes concerning their Messiah, but will one day be lifted and "they will look upon Me whom they have pierced," (Zechariah 12:10).

Let the Headlines Speak
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Temple Groups Practice Passover Sacrifice
Jewish groups held a mock Passover sacrifice on Thursday opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The ritual slaughter was not merely a historic reenactment, but, they say, practice in advance of the reconstruction of the Temple.

Temple Activists Expect Police to Block Ascent
Several Temple movement activists will try to make the Pesach sacrifice on the Temple Mount Monday, but they expect police to block their way, as has happened in previous years. The activists said they plan to assemble at the promenade near the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City at 1:30 p.m., with the goats and lambs they plan to sacrifice.

The dangerous drift towards world war in Asia
This is what the Japanese are brought up on, so different from the "Patriotic Education" campaign in China for the last twenty years. Beijing's policy has whipped up revanchist hatred against the Japanese for the sins of the 1930s and 1940s, no doubt to divert popular wrath away from a Communist Party tarnished by corruption.

Bloomberg: 'Big Brother. Get used to it!'
'You wait, in five years, they'll be cameras everyplace ... whether you like it or not'

Monument with ‘Palestine’ replacing Israel was hidden from Obama
Palestinian authorities in Bethlehem removed ‘State Monument,’ put peace dove in its stead, three days before president came to pray at Church of the Nativity

US reportedly suggests Israeli-Palestinian summit in May
Kerry met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday night and into Sunday morning, several hours after holding talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Amman. He is reportedly pushing a US-devised package of arrangements to pave the way for new negotiations.

Vial of deadly virus goes missing from Texas lab
Officials say a vial containing a virus that can cause hemorrhagic fever has gone missing from a research facility in Galveston, but say there's no reason to believe there's a threat to the public. The University of Texas Medical Branch said Saturday that there was no breach in the security its Galveston National Laboratory and no indication of wrongdoing. Officials suspect the missing vial containing the Guanarito virus was destroyed during the lab's cleaning process but the investigation continues.

Meteor Over Manhattan: East Coast Fireball Sets Internet Abuzz
A bright meteor briefly outshined the lights of New York City Friday evening (March 22), according to reports by witnesses who used Twitter and the Internet to report sightings of the fireball streaking over a broad stretch of the U.S. East Coast.

NYC Warns of Deadly Meningitis Spread Through Gay Encounters
A deadly strain of bacterial meningitis that is reportedly spread through sexual encounters between men who meet through websites, iPhone applications, or bars has killed seven people in New York and sickened 22 others.

US and South Korea sign military plan against North Korea aggression
The United States and South Korea have signed a plan that paves the way for a joint military response to any future North Korean aggression. At a time of heightened tension in the region, the two allies sign the military agreement, which addresses the response to a low-level action such as a limited cross-border excursion.

Earthquake Swarm Continues North of Reno
The earthquake swarm continues to move the California side of Peavine Mountain near Bordertown. According UNR's seismology lab, equipment detected more than a dozen quakes Saturday and another dozen Sunday morning.

6.1 quake off Kamchatka, far east of Russia: USGS  -  A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of far-eastern Russia early Sunday, the US Geological Survey reported. The quake, which hit at 0418 GMT at a depth of 9.7 kilometres (six miles), was centred 269 kilometres from the eastern Russian city of Ozernovsky, on the southern tip of the Kamchatka peninsula.

Fertile locusts swarm into Israel on Passover eve
A day before Passover, farmers in southern Israel were suffering from another plague of locusts, entering the country from Egypt with biblical timing. The pests hit fields and greenhouses in the south; the Agriculture Ministry was working to prevent heavy damage to crops in the Negev and stop the insects from penetrating deeper into the country.

Arab League reportedly gives Syria’s seat to rebels
The move represents a blow to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose seat has been vacant since its suspension in November 2011, several months after the unrest in the country began.

McCain emerges as key senator in expanding background checks
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has emerged as a key player if Senate Democrats are to have any chance of passing legislation to expand background checks for private sales of firearms. McCain and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) are at the top of a list of Republicans considered most likely to sign on to legislation expanding background checks after talks with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) stalled earlier this month.

Spain Brings the Pain to Bank Investors
The Spanish government will impose heavy losses on investors at nationalized banks and hire external advisers to help it manage these banks' assets, its latest efforts to overhaul a financial sector battered by the collapse of a decadelong housing boom. Forcing shareholders and bondholders to share the cost of restructuring the country's five nationalized banks...was required under the terms of a European Union bailout of Spain's...lenders.

Cyprus bailout: Deal reached in Eurogroup talks
Eurozone finance ministers have agreed a 10bn-euro bailout deal for Cyprus to prevent its banking system collapsing and keep the country in the eurozone. Laiki (Popular) Bank - the country's second-biggest - will be wound down and deposit-holders with more than 100,000 euros ($130,000; £85,000) will face big losses. However, all deposits under 100,000 euros will be "fully guaranteed".

Michael Bloomberg funds $12m US gun law campaign
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is bankrolling a $12m (£7.8m) advertising campaign for tougher gun control laws. The television adverts will run in 13 states and urge voters to persuade their senators to back comprehensive background checks for gun buyers. Mr Bloomberg, a strong supporter of gun control, has said he is cautiously optimistic of winning over Congress, which votes on the issue next month.

Moderate face of Syrian uprising quits
The head of Syria's main opposition group resigned on Sunday, weakening the moderate wing of the two-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule and complicating Western efforts to back the rebels.

North Korean leader Kim sings military's praises, oungum-style
Forget "Hail to the Chief". In North Korea, the army sing their leader's praises with a chorus of "We Will Defend General Kim Jong-un at the Cost of Our Lives", or the catchy accordion and tap-dance tune, "The Naval Port in the Evening". Kim, the third of his line to rule North Korea, praised musical instruments made by the North's 1.2 million-strong army on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported.

Kerry warns Iraq on Iran flights to Syria
Just days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confronted Baghdad for continuing to grant Iran access to its airspace and said Iraq's behavior was raising questions about its reliability as a partner.

How Russia's Billionaire Oligarchs Got So Very Rich
Everyone's been talking about Russia's super rich oligarchs lately — first because of the banking crisis in Cyprus, and now because of the mysterious death of one oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, in London this weekend. Expect the talk to continue. Berezovksy's death will lead to questions for the Kremlin, his former partner Roman Abramovich and a whole host of other super wealthy, powerful individuals that inhabit the world of Russia's elite.

MOODY'S: Even With The New Deal, Cyprus Could Still Default And Leave The Euro
Cyprus finally reached a deal with the EU on how to bail out its troubled banking system tonight. Nonetheless, the events of the past week have likely shattered confidence in Cypriot banks.

Former U.S. Treasury Official - Banks Move to Enslave Humanity
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsKWN
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary;Contemporary Issues

Today a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury spoke with King World News about the crisis in Cyprus and warned that banks are now moving to enslave humanity. Former Assistant of the US Treasury, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, also told KWN the people of Cyprus need to take to the streets and fight against this oppression. Below is what Dr. Roberts had to say in the second part of two extraordinary interviews which have been released today.

Eric King: “You talked about the Cypriot government standing up against the arm-twisting from the IMF and the ECB, if they stand strong and this starts to spread to other countries, what does that mean for the European Union?”

Dr. Roberts: “It saves it from being privatized by a handful of banks. So it would be a good thing. If the banks have to write down the loans, that’s what they are supposed to do. They are already damaged from buying all of the toxic Wall Street waste, all of the junk that we marketed to them.

So if they have to write down European sovereign debt on top of that, they may be damaged. But in that case the European Central Bank should focus directly on saving the banks, and not on destroying democracy in order to have power concentrated in the EU.

You see this crisis is being used by the EU bureaucracy in Brussels to destroy the financial sovereignty of the individual countries....

“That’s what this is all about. They are saying, ‘We can’t trust you with the euro because you create too much debt. So we’re going to decide your budget, your tax policies, and your spending policies.’

Trichet, the (former) head of the European Central Bank, he made this clear in all of his public speeches that this is where it was going. So what you see is the whole bailout, at the expense of the public, the purpose is to destroy the sovereignty of the individual members, and to concentrate the power in Brussels and in the private banks.

It’s the same here (in the US). Who runs the Treasury? Who runs the financial regulatory agencies? Who runs the Fed? It’s all of the executives of the banks that are ‘too big to fail.’ That’s exactly who they are. So the various CEO’s who got the banks in trouble are now running economic policy in the United States. That’s essentially where it is headed in Europe.”

Eric King: “What are your thoughts when you see this kind of government theft?”

Dr. Roberts: “Well, if they get away with it, if the people accept it, they are being reenserfed (or enslaved). People are becoming serfs again. They exist for the purposes of that state.

So I’m all in favor of the Cypriots to take to the streets, and to whatever level of violence they need take it to. Democracy is a human achievement. It took centuries. So why should we just let it go away because there is a banking crisis?”

Dr. Roberts also added: “The Russians may simply say, ‘It’s our money that they are after. Back off.’ You can’t predict how the Russians may respond.”

Assad's Fellow Alawites Turn on Him
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Opposition activists from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect called for his overthrow on Sunday, Al Arabiya reported. The activists urged their co-religionists in the army to rebel.

It was the first meeting of its kind by Alawites who support the revolt. Delegates to the convention distanced themselves from Assad's crackdown against the uprising that has been raging in Syria for two years, in which 70,000 people have been killed.

"We call on our brothers in the Syrian army, specifically members of our sect, not to take up arms against their people and to refuse to join the army," the delegates said in a statement after two days of meeting in Cairo.

“The last card the regime can play is civil war and dividing the country,” they said.

The Alawite opposition figures met in Cairo "to support a democratic alternative to Assad’s rule and try to distance the community from wholesale association with the government’s attempts to crush a two-year uprising," Al Arabiya explained.

"As the war takes on an increasingly sectarian bent," the Saudi-based news source wrote, "severing the Alawite fate from that of Assad could be crucial for the survival of the community, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam that comprises about 10 percent of Syria’s population."

Al Qaeda Brigade Captures Syrian - Israeli-Jordanian Border Junction
Mar 25th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The highly strategic intersection of the Syrian, Israeli and Jordan borders, just east of the Golan, was captured by the Al Musanna Brigade of al Qaeda’s Syrian arm, Jabhat al-Nusra on Passover Eve, Monday, March 25, debkafile’s exclusive sources report.

This put the jihadists directly opposite 14 Israeli southern Golan villages and at a distance of 5-6 kilometers from one of Israel’s earliest kibbutzim, Ein Gev, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
debkafile’s military sources report that this sensitive area fell to al Qaeda in a fierce battle waged with the Syrian army’s 5th Division in the village of Sham Al-Jawla. Control of this village has opened the way for the jihadists to reach the Syrian Golan sector from the south and for direct access to the Syrian-Israeli-Jordanian borders.

On a second front, al Qaeda fighters have seized control of Wadi ar-Ruqqad, a 70-kilometer long waterway which forms the Golan’s eastern boundary.

This wadi rises at a point north of Quneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan, flows south through a shallow gulch to become a waterfall which drops south west into a 20-kilometer basalt tunnel of which 6 kilometers run through Israeli territory. Ar Ruqqad waters then flow into the Yarmuk River up to the point where the Syrian, Israeli and Jordanian borders connect.
It is not the first time that the jihadists fighting with Syrian rebels have occupied positions abutting on Israeli soil, but this time they have gained control of one of its precious sources of water.

Israel and Jordan share out the Yarmouk waters under a pact they concluded which also covers the ar-Ruqqad tributary.
While most media attention in the West and Israel has been drawn to the threat posed by Syria’s chemical arsenal, al Qaeda’s descent on new, highly strategic ground affecting three nations has been ignored.

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry discussed at length in their talks in Jerusalem, Amman and Ankara the danger of chemical weapons falling into Islamist terrorist hands fighting with the rebels in Syria. Until a few hours ago, the two American visitors, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah were not fully apprised of al the Jabhat al Nusra’s rapid advance.
Before he left Amman for home Saturday, Obama received information that the Iraqi Al Qaeda front had begun preparing Chlorine gas-CI trucks ready to push across the border into Syria for the use of its Jabhat al Nusra partners.

This poisonous gas was used more than once for jihadist terrorist attacks inside Iraq. And this peril brought John Kerry hurrying over to Baghdad Sunday, March 24. He was not able to persuade Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to discontinue the Iranian airlift of weapons and troops to Assad through Iraqi skies, but he left al-Malilki with a grave warning that Washington would hold Baghdad responsible if any of the chorine gas trucks reached Syria.