Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Mass Exodus of Christians from Muslim World Ignored By Media
May 9th, 2013
Daily Newsfoxnews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway. Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other. 

We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.” In our lifetime alone “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”

Ongoing reports from the Islamic world certainly support this conclusion: Iraq was the earliest indicator of the fate awaiting Christians once Islamic forces are liberated from the grip of dictators. 

The 2010 Baghdad church attack, which saw nearly 60 Christian worshippers slaughtered, is the tip of a decade-long iceberg.

In 2003, Iraq’s Christian population was at least one million. Today fewer than 400,000 remain—the result of an anti-Christian campaign that began with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, when countless Christian churches were bombed and countless Christians killed, including by crucifixion and beheading. 

The 2010 Baghdad church attack, which saw nearly 60 Christian worshippers slaughtered, is the tip of a decade-long iceberg.

Now, as the U.S. supports the jihad on Syria’s secular president Assad, the same pattern has come to Syria: entire regions and towns where Christians lived for centuries before Islam came into being have now been emptied, as the opposition targets Christians for kidnapping, plundering, and beheadings, all in compliance with mosque calls telling the populace that it’s a “sacred duty” to drive Christians away.

In October 2012 the last Christian in the city of Homs—which had a Christian population of some 80,000 before jihadis came—was murdered. One teenage Syrian girl said: “We left because they were trying to kill us… because we were Christians…. Those who were our neighbors turned against us. At the end, when we ran away, we went through balconies. We did not even dare go out on the street in front of our house.”

In Egypt, some 100,000 Christian Copts have fled their homeland soon after the “Arab Spring.” In September 2012, the Sinai’s small Christian community was attacked and evicted by Al Qaeda linked Muslims, Reuters reported. But even before that, the Coptic Orthodox Church lamented the “repeated incidents of displacement of Copts from their homes, whether by force or threat.

Displacements began in Ameriya [62 Christian families evicted], then they stretched to Dahshur [120 Christian families evicted], and today terror and threats have reached the hearts and souls of our Coptic children in Sinai.”

Iraq, Syria, and Egypt are part of the Arab world. But even in “black” African and “white” European nations with Muslim majorities, Christians are fleeing.

In Mali, after a 2012 Islamic coup, as many as 200,000 Christians fled. According to reports, “the church in Mali faces being eradicated,” especially in the north “where rebels want to establish an independent Islamist state and drive Christians out… there have been house to house searches for Christians who might be in hiding, churches and other Christian property have been looted or destroyed, and people tortured into revealing any Christian relatives.” At least one pastor was beheaded.

Even in European Bosnia, Christians are leaving en mass “amid mounting discrimination and Islamization.” Only 440,000 Catholics remain in the Balkan nation, half the prewar figure. 

Problems cited are typical: “while dozens of mosques were built in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, no building permissions [permits] were given for Christian churches.” “Time is running out as there is a worrisome rise in radicalism,” said one authority, who further added that the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina were “persecuted for centuries” after European powers “failed to support them in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire.”

And so history repeats itself. 

One can go on and on: 

In Ethiopia, after a Christian was accused of desecrating a Koran, thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes when “Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes.” 

In the Ivory Coast—where Christians have literally been crucified—Islamic rebels “massacred hundreds and displaced tens of thousands” of Christians.

In Libya, Islamic rebels forced several Christian religious orders, serving the sick and needy in the country since 1921, to flee.

To anyone following the plight of Christians under Islamic persecution, none of this is surprising. As I document in my new book, “Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians,” all around the Islamic world—in nations that do not share the same race, language, culture, or economics, in nations that share only Islam—Christians are being persecuted into extinction. Such is the true face of extremist Islamic resurgence.

Let the Headlines Speak
May 9th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rick Perry says Obama wants to ‘disarm the American public’
President Obama declared to Mexicans that an upside of his efforts to infringe upon the Second Amendment would be to make them safer. “His goal —well before he became president of the United States — was to try to disarm the American public. He just disregards the Constitution.” Mr. Obama said that, “I will continue to do everything in my power to pass common-sense reforms that keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people."  

Operation Smear Benghazi Whistleblowers
It's on. As the White House grapples with a growing backlash over its Libya lies and lapses, President Obama's apologists are gearing up for battle. Put on your hip-waders. Grab those tar buckets. Get ready for Operation Smear Benghazi Whistleblowers.  

Operation Smear Benghazi Whistleblowers
It's on. As the White House grapples with a growing backlash over its Libya lies and lapses, President Obama's apologists are gearing up for battle. Put on your hip-waders. Grab those tar buckets. Get ready for Operation Smear Benghazi Whistleblowers.  

MAGNETIC ACTIVITY
The magnetic underpinnings of this arching prominence may be connected to nearby sunspot AR1736, which is itself unstable and poses a threat for M-class solar flares. If the anchor is unstable, the overlying structure could collapse.  

Human takeover by machines may be closer than we think
The idea of super intelligent machines may sound like the plot of "The Terminator" or "The Matrix," but many experts say the idea isn't far-fetched. Some even think the singularity — the point at which artificial intelligence can match, and then overtake, human smarts — might happen in just 16 years.  

Keeping up marathon meetings, Livni and Kerry to parley
US secretary of state will also powwow with Jordanian counterpart amid ramped up efforts to get Israeli-Palestinian talks on track.  

Putin on Victory Day: Russia a security guarantor
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said at the annual military parade on Red Square that Russia will be a guarantor of world security.  

The volcano blew a huge stack of smoke that went 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) skyward late Tuesday, but surrounding residents were not in danger, said J
After alleged Israel attack on Syria, Iran issues war-like declarations, orders Assad army to protect homeland, according to Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper. ‘Front open to Syrians, Palestinians, to all who wish to fight Israel’  

Popocatepetl Volcano Eruption Covers Mexican Towns In Ash
The volcano blew a huge stack of smoke that went 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) skyward late Tuesday, but surrounding residents were not in danger, said Jesus Morales, Puebla's civil protection director. A three-centimeter (one-inch) thick carpet of ash covered nearby towns, forcing people to wear masks. The National Disaster Prevention Center said Wednesday that ash also fell in the state capital of Puebla.  

Mayon volcano survivor recalls scenes from hell after five companions died
...tour guide Roel Llarena has recalled how a mountain hike turned into a nightmare when the volcano he was climbing began spewing out giant rocks, killing five of his companions. "I stood there frozen. I couldn't believe what was happening, I didn't know what to do. It was like a scene from hell," he said, after surviving the giant ash explosion at Mayon volcano on Tuesday.  

FBI To Internet Providers: Spy For Us Or Face A $25,000 Fine
A new FBI proposal would compel internet communications companies to hand over information--or pay a fine. Existing wiretap law is almost 20 years old and doesn't capture the nuances of modern internet use. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act was first authorized in 1994, and it ordered "telecommunications carriers" to comply with court orders to assist in intercepting communication. Since then, communication online has taken off, while the landscape of what we know has telecommunications carriers has drastically changed.  

PA Official: 'If We Had Nuke, We'd Have Used It This Morning'
"I swear that if we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning," vowed Jibril Rajoub during an interview with the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV channel, as reported by the Palestinian Media Watch.  

Gen. Vallely: White House in 'Collusion' With Other Agencies on Benghazi
"The Obama administration uses heavy-handed Chicago-style tactics to put the lid on people and they threaten them,'' Vallely told "The Steve Malzberg Show'' on Newsmax TV. "They threaten them with their jobs. And that's exactly what been happening.'' Vallely, who served as Deputy Commanding General in the Pacific, commended the three "whistleblowers'' who testified Wednesday in the Congressional hearings on Benghazi. But he urged House members conducting the probe to press even harder.  

‘Brazilian Atlantis’: Scientists discover traces of sunken continent under Atlantic Ocean
The material was reportedly found more than 8,000 feet beneath the sea in a region known as the Rio Grande Elevation. “This is the region that has been least explored worldwide,” added Kawakami. “So, we believe it is very important to research it.” "From an analysis, we began to see that the area could be a piece of the continent that disappeared into the sea millions of years ago," Santos said as quoted by AFP.  

Pro-choice reporter covering Gosnell trial changes mind on abortion
A pro-choice reporter who has been present in the courtroom listening to testimony in the Gosnell trial has changed his mind on abortion, according to one of his fellow reporters. “That's the power of the Gosnell trial,” reporter JD Mullane told former Gov. Mike Huckabee during a recent appearance on the Huckabee Show.  

DOJ: We don't need warrants for e-mail, Facebook chats
The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI believe they don't need a search warrant to review Americans' e-mails, Facebook chats, Twitter direct messages, and other private files, internal documents reveal. Government documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union...show... Justice Department prosecutors and investigators privately insisting they're not legally required to obtain search warrants for e-mail.  

Syria buying advanced Russian missile system, Israel says
US officials say they have been warned by Israel over the impending sale of an advanced Russian missile system to Syria, fearing it could hamper efforts for international intervention in the war-torn country. Israel suspects that Russia plans to sell Damascus six S-300 missile batteries, as well as 144 missiles, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.  

Benghazi attack: Hicks 'stunned' at Rice explanation
A top US official who was in Libya during the deadly attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi has given the first public account of the event. Gregory Hicks, deputy chief of mission in Tripoli, said he was "stunned" by UN Ambassador Susan Rice's comments that the attack was spontaneous. He also told lawmakers he received a phone call from US Envoy Christopher Stevens, just before he died.  

Iran urges war on Israel’s northern front
Iranian officials are believed to be encouraging the Syrian army, Palestinians, and its terror proxy Hezbollah to launch an attack on the Golan Heights, Israeli territory that borders war-torn Syria.  

Pakistan Prepares for Historic Election
Pakistanis head to the polls to vote on a new government Saturday, marking the first handover from one civilian government to another in the country's history.  

Senate bill would sanction Iranian currency exchangers
A bipartisan slate of U.S. senators introduced a bill that would sanction banks that allow Iran to carry out foreign currency exchanges. The Iran Sanctions Loophole Elimination Act, introduced Wednesday by Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Me.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), would sanction any financial institution that exchanges foreign currency for Iranian entities already under sanctions.  

Bangladesh fire kills 8 as collapse toll hits 930
A fire in an 11-story garment factory in Bangladesh killed eight people, including a ruling party politician and a top official in the country's powerful clothing manufacturers' trade group, as the death toll from the collapse of another garment factory building passed 900 on Thursday.  

Libya crisis deepens as rebel groups expand demands
Libya's political crisis deepened on Wednesday as armed groups surrounding two ministries in the capital said they had formed an alliance to present an expanded list of six demands that included the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.  

Free Syrian Army rebels defect to Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra
Syria's main armed opposition group, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), is losing fighters and capabilities to Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamist organisation with links to al-Qaida that is emerging as the best-equipped, financed and motivated force fighting Bashar al-Assad's regime. Evidence of the growing strength of al-Nusra, gathered from Guardian interviews with FSA commanders across Syria, underlines the dilemma for the US, Britain and other governments as they ponder the question of arming anti-Assad rebels.  

Federal Europe will be 'a Reality in a Few Years'
May 9th, 2013
Daily NewsTelegraph.co.uk
Categories: Today's Headlines;Revived Roman Empire

The president of the European Commission has fanned the flames of British debate over EU membership by insisting that fiscal union in the eurozone will lead to "intensified political union" for all 27 member states. 

"This is about the economic and monetary union but for the EU as a whole," he said. 

"The commission will, therefore, set out its views and explicit ideas for treaty change in order for them to be debated before the European elections." 

"We want to put all the elements on the table, in a clear and consistent way, even if some of them may sound like political science fiction today. They will be reality in a few years' time." 

Mr Barroso's announcement that he will set out plans for a European federation next spring, before elections to the European Parliament in May 2014, will further deepen Conservative divisions over the EU. 

The intervention will add weight to the argument made by Lord Lawson, and other anti-EU Tories, that it is pointless to try and improve Britain's membership terms when the dynamic, set by the eurozone, is towards a fully-fledged federal Europe. 

The commission president's argument is that as the eurozone adopts federalist structures on fiscal and economic policy, supported by Britain as necessary for financial stability, there will also be a need for political structures that will fundamentally change the way the EU works. 

"Further economic integration would transcend the limits of the intergovernmental method of running the EU and the eurozone in particular," Mr Barroso said. 

Writing in The Times today, Lord Lawson, the former Chancellor, has reignited the Tory debate on Europe by calling for exit from the EU because developments in the eurozone have changed Europe's politifal structures, an argument that mirrors Mr Barroso's case for a new federal or constitutional treaty. 

"The heart of the matter is that the very nature of the EU, and of this country's relationship with it, has fundamentally changed after the coming into being of the European monetary union and the creation of the eurozone, of which - quite rightly - we are not a part," Lord Lawson wrote. 

Proposals for an EU "political union", with budget policies set in Brussels and an elected president of Europe, will derail David Cameron's attempts to negotiate a new settlement for Britain, culminating in an "in or out" referendum in 2017. 

In stark contrast to the Prime Minister's call for Britain to regain sovereignty from Brussels, Mr Barroso has called on all European leaders to accept that political union is inevitable in order to confront outright opposition to the EU, such as that from the UK Independence Party. 

"This is why I believe the mainstream forces in European politics must seize the initiative, should leave their comfort zone to welcome and embrace this debate, rather than relinquish the momentum to eurosceptic or europhobic forces," he said. 

"If you believe in the democratic resilience of Europe, if you take Europe's citizens seriously, you have to fight with rational arguments and unwavering convictions - and be convinced, as I am personally, that these will win the debate for us in the end." 

Demonstrators Attack Israeli Embassy in Amman
May 9th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The foreign ministries of Jordan and Egypt summoned the two Israeli ambassadors to protest the brief detention of the Mufti of Jerusalem on suspicion of leading a Muslim disturbance on Temple Mount in Jerusalem when a group of Jews visited the shrine.  Muslim worshippers at the al Aqsa mosque hurled chairs at Israeli police officers striving to maintain order. In Jordan, special police dispersed rioters who tried to storm the Israeli embassy.

Damascus Sharpens Threats Against Israel
May 9th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Syrian Dep. Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad said Damascus would respond instantly to any further Israeli attacks. Speaking to AFP Thursday, he said the Syrian army had been directed to hit back with powerful and painful blows without referring to government authority for permission.

China Continues to Build Military Power
May 9th, 2013
Daily Newsfreebeacon.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

China is building two new classes of missile submarines in addition to the eight nuclear missile submarines and six attack submarines being deployed as part of an arms buildup that analysts say appears to put Beijing on a war footing.

“In terms of China’s submarines, they’re investing heavily in a robust program for undersea warfare, developing submarines that are both conventional, diesel-electric powered, air- independent propulsion and nuclear-powered attack submarines,” David Helvey, deputy assistant defense secretary for East Asia, told reporters at a briefing on release of the Pentagon’s annual assessment of Chinese military power.

China has yet to conduct an underwater test firing of its submarine-launched missiles but is deploying new missile submarines and planning advanced versions.

“We see China investing considerably in capabilities for operations in this area,” he said.

The Pentagon’s latest annual report to Congress also includes new details of China’s deployment of an aircraft carrier-killing ballistic missile, two new stealth jet fighters, and a new road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile in addition to three other new ICBMs.

The Chinese military is also developing cyber warfare capabilities that can be used in preemptive attacks, the 92-page report states.

Chinese missile forces, known as the Second Artillery Corps, are “developing and testing several new classes and variants of offensive missiles, forming additional missile units, upgrading older missile systems, and developing methods to counter ballistic missile defenses,” the report said.

Of particular concern to the Pentagon is the deployment near Taiwan of a precision-guided DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile, according to the report.

“We’re concerned about the ability of China to develop missiles that can project its military power with precision at great distances from China—obviously something that can hold at risk large surface ships, including aircraft carriers, is something that we pay attention to, but we put it in the context of a number of China’s military developments, again, that we characterize as anti-access and area denial,” Helvey said.

However, Helvey noted that no single weapons system is the problem. Instead, he said, “it’s the integration and overlapping nature of these weapons system into a regime that can potentially impede or restrict free military operations in the Western Pacific.”

“So that’s something that we monitor and are concerned about.”

“The DF-21D is based on a variant of the DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile and gives the PLA the capability to attack large ships, including aircraft carriers, in the western Pacific Ocean,” the report said, noting that its range is greater than 932 miles and that it is armed with a high-technology maneuvering warhead.

Additionally, the report confirms, China is building a new road-mobile ICBM that is likely capable of being armed with a multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV).

The Free Beacon first reported Aug. 15 that the new missile, described by defense officials as the DF-41, was flight-tested and is expected to be equipped with MIRVs.

“The Second Artillery continues to modernize its nuclear forces by enhancing its silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and adding more survivable mobile delivery systems,” the report said.

New road mobile missiles deployed in recent years include DF-31 and DF-31A mobile ICBMs and the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile. The DF-31A has a range of about 7,000 miles.

“This administration is reluctant to just come out and say it, but this report makes clear that China is preparing for small-scale and then large-scale wars against the United States and its friends and allies,” said Richard Fisher, a China miltiary analyst with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

“It is time to start signalling to China’s leadership the broader economic, political, as well as military costs of its current course before it believes it can confidently embark on surprise military campaigns.”

Beijing is also rapidly building new radar-evading stealth fighter-bombers known as the J-20 and J-31.

“Within two years of the January 2011 flight test of China’s first stealth fighter, which we call the J-20, China tested a second prototype, which is referred to as the J-31,” Helvey said. “The first J-31 flight test, in October 2012, highlights China’s continued ambition to produce advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft.”

Helvey said the Pentagon does not expect either the J-20 or the J-31 “to achieve an effective operational capability before 2018.”

U.S. intelligence assessments from five years ago said China would not field a jet comparable to the U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter before 2018. As a result, the Pentagon canceled production of the F-22 at 187 jets.

The first test flight of the J-20 took place two years ago and surprised the U.S. military. It was tested during the visit of then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was criticized for canceling F-22 production.

China’s surface naval forces are also expanding rapidly with deployment of several new types of warships, including the first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

Helvey said the carrier conducted its first aircraft launch and recovery operations in November with J-15 fighters.

“We anticipate that China will spend the next three to four years on training and integration before achieving an operationally effective aircraft carrier capability,” he said. “China will likely build several indigenous aircraft carriers over the next 15 years.”

Chinese cyber and space weapons capabilities continued to be developed. Helvey said those warfare capabilities are being closely watched.

For the first time, the report linked large-scale cyber attacks and intrusions of computer networks to the Chinese government and military.

“In addition, in 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the United States government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to [People’s Republic of China] government and military organizations,” Helvey said.

Asked about Chinese economic espionage, Helvey declined to provide details but said, “We’re always mindful of the potential threats to the security of our defense technology and defense systems.”

The report also discusses China’s assertions of territorial and maritime claims that are upsetting stability in the region.

“In this report, we do highlight China’s increased assertiveness with respect to its maritime territorial claim,” Helvey said.

China is claiming most of the South China Sea as its territory and is disputing Japan’s claims to the Senkaku Islands. Both areas are said to have large deposits of undersea gas and oil to which energy-hungry states in the region seek access.

China’s government routinely protests the annual report, claiming it is part of a Pentagon campaign to hype the threat from China.

Helvey said the Chinese are aware of the report and were not consulted prior to its release on Monday.

“China’s leaders continue to see the modernization of its military as a central component of their strategy to advance China’s national development goals in the first two decades of the 21st century,” he said.

Fisher, the IASC military analyst, said the latest report is far more useful than the truncated 43-page report from 2012.

“The first ever report disclosure of development of the Type 096 SSBN raises the prospect of a new submarine launched missile that also may be multiple warhead capable,” Fisher said. “As the Administration presses for additional reductions in U.S. nuclear warhead levels and shows reluctance to fund U.S. nuclear arsenal modernization, it is doubly important that Congress be informed about the size and growth of China’s nuclear forces.”

Fisher said the report failed to address China’s transfer of strategic missile technology to North Korea, specifically the transporter-erector launchers for Pyongyang’s new KN-08 road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile disclosed for the first time during a military parade in April 2012.

“A failure to chastise and sanction China’s action will only serve to undermine confidence in American security guarantees and increase interest by our allies in their own nuclear deterrents,” he said.

Former State Department intelligence official John Tkacik said the report’s most important revelations are on the Chinese navy and especially its submarine forces.

“Last year’s report disclosed that two Jin-class ballistic missile submarines were already operational, and now the 2013 report counts three, so I take the DIA bean-counters’ word for it, China is launching one new boomer each year,” Tkacik said.

Each of the missile submarines will be equipped with 12 JL-2 missile that likely will have multiple warheads. The new submarines mean the Chinese are adding at least 180 new nuclear warheads to their arsenal, a sharp increase from the U.S. intelligence estimate of 240 warheads, Tkacik said.

In addition to the new missile submarine planned as a following on to the Jin submarines, China is planning at least one more advanced Typ 096 missile submarine a year indefiniately, Tkacik added.

“The real news is the construction of a new special-purpose class of guided-missile submarine, the Type-095 SSGN,” he said. “A Chinese SSGN [cruise missile-firing submarine] is not only a new threat for the U.S. Navy to worry about, but it will deeply unsettle China’s neighbors in East and Southeast Asia.”

Are All Telephone Calls Recorded and Accessible to the U.S. Government?
May 9th, 2013
Daily Newsguardian.co.uk
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The real capabilities and behavior of the US surveillance state are almost entirely unknown to the American public because, like most things of significance done by the US government, it operates behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy. 

But a seemingly spontaneous admission this week by a former FBI counterterrorism agent provides a rather startling acknowledgment of just how vast and invasive these surveillance activities are.

Over the past couple days, cable news tabloid shows such as CNN's Out Front with Erin Burnett have been excitingly focused on the possible involvement in the Boston Marathon attack of Katherine Russell, the 24-year-old American widow of the deceased suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. 

As part of their relentless stream of leaks uncritically disseminated by our Adversarial Press Corps, anonymous government officials are claiming that they are now focused on telephone calls between Russell and Tsarnaev that took place both before and after the attack to determine if she had prior knowledge of the plot or participated in any way.

On Wednesday night, Burnett interviewed Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, about whether the FBI would be able to discover the contents of past telephone conversations between the two. He quite clearly insisted that they could:

BURNETT: Tim, is there any way, obviously, there is a voice mail they can try to get the phone companies to give that up at this point. It's not a voice mail. It's just a conversation. There's no way they actually can find out what happened, right, unless she tells them?

CLEMENTE: "No, there is a way. We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that conversation. It's not necessarily something that the FBI is going to want to present in court, but it may help lead the investigation and/or lead to questioning of her. We certainly can find that out.

BURNETT: "So they can actually get that? People are saying, look, that is incredible.

CLEMENTE: "No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not."

"All of that stuff" - meaning every telephone conversation Americans have with one another on US soil, with or without a search warrant - "is being captured as we speak". 

On Thursday night, Clemente again appeared on CNN, this time with host Carol Costello, and she asked him about those remarks. He reiterated what he said the night before but added expressly that "all digital communications in the past" are recorded and stored:

Let's repeat that last part: "no digital communication is secure", by which he means not that any communication is susceptible to government interception as it happens (although that is true), but far beyond that: all digital communications - meaning telephone calls, emails, online chats and the like - are automatically recorded and stored and accessible to the government after the fact. To describe that is to define what a ubiquitous, limitless Surveillance State is.

There have been some previous indications that this is true. Former AT&T engineer Mark Klein revealed that AT&T and other telecoms had built a special network that allowed the National Security Agency full and unfettered access to data about the telephone calls and the content of email communications for all of their customers. 

Specifically, Klein explained "that the NSA set up a system that vacuumed up Internet and phone-call data from ordinary Americans with the cooperation of AT&T" and that "contrary to the government's depiction of its surveillance program as aimed at overseas terrorists . . . much of the data sent through AT&T to the NSA was purely domestic." 

But his amazing revelations were mostly ignored and, when Congress retroactively immunized the nation's telecom giants for their participation in the illegal Bush spying programs, Klein's claims (by design) were prevented from being adjudicated in court. 

That every single telephone call is recorded and stored would also explain this extraordinary revelation by the Washington Post in 2010:

Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications.

It would also help explain the revelations of former NSA official William Binney, who resigned from the agency in protest over its systemic spying on the domestic communications of US citizens, that the US government has "assembled on the order of 20 trillion transactions about US citizens with other US citizens" (which counts only communications transactions and not financial and other transactions), and that "the data that's being assembled is about everybody. And from that data, then they can target anyone they want."

Despite the extreme secrecy behind which these surveillance programs operate, there have been periodic reports of serious abuse. Two Democratic Senators, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, have been warning for years that Americans would be "stunned" to learn what the US government is doing in terms of secret surveillance.

Strangely, back in 2002 - when hysteria over the 9/11 attacks (and thus acquiescence to government power) was at its peak - the Pentagon's attempt to implement what it called the "Total Information Awareness" program (TIA) sparked so much public controversy that it had to be official scrapped. But it has been incrementally re-instituted - without the creepy (though honest) name and all-seeing-eye logo - with little controversy or even notice.

Back in 2010, worldwide controversy erupted when the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates banned the use of Blackberries because some communications were inaccessible to government intelligence agencies, and that could not be tolerated. 

The Obama administration condemned this move on the ground that it threatened core freedoms, only to turn around six weeks later and demand that all forms of digital communications allow the US government backdoor access to intercept them. 

Put another way, the US government embraced exactly the same rationale invoked by the UAE and Saudi agencies: that no communications can be off limits. Indeed, the UAE, when responding to condemnations from the Obama administration, noted that it was simply doing exactly that which the US government does:

"'In fact, the UAE is exercising its sovereign right and is asking for exactly the same regulatory compliance - and with the same principles of judicial and regulatory oversight - that Blackberry grants the US and other governments and nothing more,' [UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al] Otaiba said. 'Importantly, the UAE requires the same compliance as the US for the very same reasons: to protect national security and to assist in law enforcement.'"

That no human communications can be allowed to take place without the scrutinizing eye of the US government is indeed the animating principle of the US Surveillance State. Still, this revelation, made in passing on CNN, that every single telephone call made by and among Americans is recorded and stored is something which most people undoubtedly do not know, even if the small group of people who focus on surveillance issues believed it to be true (clearly, both Burnett and Costello were shocked to hear this). 

Some new polling suggests that Americans, even after the Boston attack, are growing increasingly concerned about erosions of civil liberties in the name of Terrorism. Even those people who claim it does not matter instinctively understand the value of personal privacy: they put locks on their bedroom doors and vigilantly safeguard their email passwords. 

That's why the US government so desperately maintains a wall of secrecy around their surveillance capabilities: because they fear that people will find their behavior unacceptably intrusive and threatening, as they did even back in 2002 when John Poindexter's TIA was unveiled. 

Mass surveillance is the hallmark of a tyrannical political culture. But whatever one's views on that, the more that is known about what the US government and its surveillance agencies are doing, the better. This admission by this former FBI agent on CNN gives a very good sense for just how limitless these activities are.

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2013/May09/092.html#VARfFlIkYZm4vQKO.99

America is One Bad Winter Away from a Food Disaster, Thanks to Dying Bees
May 9th, 2013
Daily Newsqz.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Forget the plight of the polar bear for a moment and consider the coming collapse of the $30 billion honey bee economy in the US.

Since 2006 honey bees responsible for pollinating more than 100 crops—from apples to zucchini—have been dying by the tens of millions. As a new report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) details, scientists are still struggling to pinpoint the cause of so-called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and time is running out.

“Currently, the survivorship of honey bee colonies is too low for us to be confident in our ability to meet the pollination demands of U.S. agricultural crops,” the report states.

Some signs of beemageddon: CCD has wiped out some 10 million bee hives worth $2 billion over the past six years. The death rate for colonies has hit 30% annually in recent years and there are now about 2.5 million honey bee colonies in the US, down from 6 million in 1947 and 3 million in 1990. That downward spiral leaves “virtually no cushion of bees for pollination,” the report’s authors write.

If that sounds scary, it is. Take almonds. California harvests more than 80% of the world’s almonds. But you can’t grow the nut without honey bees and it takes 60% of the US’s remaining colonies just to pollinate that one $4 billion cash crop.

If the death toll continues at the present rate, that means there will soon be barely enough bees to pollinate almonds, let alone avocadoes, blueberries, pears or plums. “We are one poor weather event or high winter bee loss away from a pollination disaster,” USDA scientist Jeff Pettis said in the report.

In recent years, agricultural pesticides have become a leading suspect in bee deaths. Attention has focused on a class of chemicals called neonicotinoids. Last month the European Commission imposed a two-year ban on neonicotinoids as global concern grows over the bee population crash, which has affected several European countries too.

But scientists increasingly believe several interacting factors—from disease-carrying parasites to poor nutrition to pesticides—are responsible for the mass die-off. For instance, the report says, studies have shown that exposure to even non-fatal levels of neonicotinoids may make bees more susceptible to disease.

And as agriculture becomes ever more industrial and natural habitats that formerly bordered farmland are destroyed, bees are being starved of the food they need to help produce food for humans. “Undernourished or malnourished bees appear to be more susceptible to pathogens, parasites, and other stressors, including toxins,” said the report.

So how to save the bees? One answer: Breed better bees. The report recommends stepping up efforts to identify genetic traits in particular bees that make them resistance to suspected causes of CCD. Some honey bees, it turns out, take “suicidal risks” when infected with disease to prevent spreading the contagion to the colony.

The report also suggests importing Russian honey bees and other “Old World” bees to diversify bee breeding stock and build up CCD resistance. Scientists already have begun to stockpile bee semen and germplasm in case the worst comes to pass.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2013/May09/091.html#Jfo7J77mWKvA3LwD.99