Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Yaalon: Assad Controls 40pc of Syrian Territory
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

In his first briefing on Syria to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s reported Monday that Bashar Assad holds just 40 percent of Syrian territory. DEBKAfile: Close analysis shows Assad in control of the lion’s share of the built-up areas in a country almost half of which is desert. The rebels, in contrast - even if they do occupy four Damascus districts – have not achieved control of a single town. Assad has deliberately relinquished certain areas in order to focus on seizing control of and holding the key regions linking the North, Center and South to Damascus, the capital.

The minister went on to report that both sides of the conflict engage in slaughter on ethnic lines. Israel is anxiously watching to see if Russian does indeed deliver S-300 anti-air missiles to Syria. According to our information, Ya’alon said, delivery is due in 2014. The defense minister reiterated that Israel has no interest in intervening in the Syria conflict – only ascertaining that advanced weapons, missiles or chemical weapons, don’t reach Hizballah.

What Happened to Seal Team Six? the Most Serious Scandal of All
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily NewsThe World Tribune
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The media is now consistently referring to three scandals engulfing the Obama presidency, even using a shorthand expression such as a “trifecta” of troubling incidents. Yet, there is a scandal brewing that is worse than the Department of Justice violating freedom of the press, the Internal Revenue Service abusing its power and four Americans left to die at the hands of jihadists in Benghazi, Libya.

Navy SEAL Team Six, the heroic unit that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011, is in grave danger due to the reckless actions of the Obama administration. The parents of three SEALs recently said the government bears criminal culpability in the deaths of their sons.

They are calling for a congressional investigation into the Aug. 6, 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan that resulted in 38 deaths, including 7 members of the Afghan National Army, an Afghan interpreter, 15 SEAL Team Six members, 2 members of West Coast SEAL and other U.S. troops. A rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, causing the fatal crash. It was the deadliest day for America in the Afghan war.

Were the SEALS targeted in retaliation for killing Bin Laden? The elite SEAL Team Six is a special operations unit whose actions are supposed to be classified. They uphold a strict code of secrecy. As a result, it is not publicly known which specific SEAL Team Six members were involved in the killing of the world’s most wanted terrorist, nor how many of those who participated in the raid were on the helicopter that was shot down.

We now know, however, that the elite group and their families were shocked when Vice President Joe Biden publicly identified them on May 3, 2011, two days after the raid. He was speaking at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington D.C. at the 50th anniversary of the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank. It was a speech laden with praise for the intelligence and military community.

“Let me briefly acknowledge tonight’s distinguished honorees: Adm. Jim Stavridis is a — is the real deal; he could tell you more about and understands the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable capacity of his Navy SEALS and what they did last — last Sunday,” said Mr. Biden.

In that moment, the vice president revealed to the world the name of the unit that had tracked down and killed America’s foremost enemy. Every jihadist seeking to avenge Bin Laden’s death was given a clear target.

Even more astonishing, in that speech, Mr. Biden waxed eloquent on the fact that the whole mission had remained secret prior to the raid.

Turkish Police Detain 800 Protesters in Izmir and Ankara
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Turkish protesters clashed with riot police early Monday, the fourth day of the popular protest sweeping the country, after they hurled fire bombs and set fire to the offices of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Islamic AK party in Izmir. In Istanbul, roads around Erdogan’s office were sealed off by police firing teargas to push back protesters following behind a mechanical digger, after they ripped up bus shelters, paving stones and street signs on one of the city's main avenues. In Ankara, police raided a shopping complex where they believed demonstrators were sheltering. Altogether 800 demonstrators were arrested.

Russian Armed Forces to Hold Some 500 Exercises Over Summer
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily NewsRianovosti
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Russian Armed Forces will hold some 500 military drills at various levels this summer, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

“The exercises will be focused on the organization of joint operation of forces, on real cooperation between the ground, air and naval forces and therefore up to 500 military drills of various levels are scheduled to be held,” the ministry said.

The ministry also said that some 20 international military exercises were scheduled to be held by the end of this year, including large-scale joint strategic military exercises with Belarus Zapad-2013.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

New IRS chief to face House as agency's woes grow
Danny Werfel will appear before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee after the Treasury Department’s inspector general released the preliminary report on conference spending this weekend. The report states the IRS spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees from 2010 to 2012, according to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

There Are Many Reasons to Expect a War this Summer
Summer and early fall is the best time to attack because that’s when the sky is the clearest. Israel is committed to destroying the S-300 missile defense systems should they arrive in Syria. Summer and early fall is the best time to attack because that’s when the sky is the clearest. Close to 5,000 Hizbullah troops, if not more, are now fighting in Syria. Thus they are concentrated, which makes their destruction easier. Also they are no longer guarding, with full force, their missiles stored in Lebanon.

China, India, Pakistan boost nuclear arsenals
Three of the world’s nuclear powers — China, India and Pakistan — have increased their arsenals over the past year, while the other five have cut their strength or kept it stable, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said Monday. China now has 250 nuclear warheads against 240 in 2012, while Pakistan has increased its warheads by about 10 to between 100 and 120 and India has also added roughly 10 for a total of 90 to 110, SIPRI said in its annual report.

New IRS Chief Faces Questions on Hill Over Growing Controversies
New acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel to appear before House committee after report says agency spent $50M on conferences, and interviews indicate employees were directed by Washington to target conservative groups.

U.S. will drop peace process if Israelis, Palestinians aren't serious, senior American official warns
If U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry determines that Israelis and Palestinians are not serious about the peace process, he will abandon his efforts on the matter, a senior U.S. official told Reuters. In an article by Arshad Mohammed, the Reuters journalist responsible for covering the State Department in Washington, the reporter cited those who called Kerry a "Lone Ranger" condemning the Middle East peace process, and that many involved call Kerry "naive."

Tony Blair: There Is A Problem Within Islam
Blair made clear that he does not believe there is a problem within Islam per se, but that there is "a strain within Islam" that must be faced. He wrote that this strain "has at its heart a view about religion and about the interaction between religion and politics that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal, open-minded societies." Blair indicated that the problem within Islam is bigger than one or two adherents. In fact, he wrote that it is not simply "the province of a few extremists."

Book: Bill Clinton called Obama 'incompetent'
Former U.S. President Clinton called President Obama "incompetent" and "an amateur," a new book out this week alleges. Edward Klein's new book, "The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House" (Regnery Publishing) also states campaign sources said Clinton extracted a promise from Obama to support his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for president in 2016 in return for the former president's backing in 2012, the New York Post reported Sunday.

Bradley Manning WikiLeaks trial 'dangerous' for civil liberties – experts
The trial of Bradley Manning, the US soldier who leaked a trove of state secrets to WikiLeaks, could set an ominous precedent that will chill freedom of speech and turn the internet into a danger zone, legal experts have warned. Of the 21 counts faced by the Army private on Monday, at his trial at Fort Meade in Maryland, by far the most serious is that he knowingly gave intelligence information to al-Qaida by transmitting hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the open information website WikiLeaks.

Moderate earthquake – Kuril Islands on June 3, 2013
Most important Earthquake Data: Magnitude : 5.2 Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown

IRS agents carrying shotguns not a big deal?
The issue of Internal Revenue Service agents carrying weapons may warrant further scrutiny amid the nationwide distrust of the agency for targeting conservative organizations. The IRS is also the chief enforcer of Obamacare requirements.

SOLAR WIND STORM
A remarkably-fast stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, with speeds reaching 750 km/s (1.7 million mph). In response, NOAA forecasters put the odds of a geomagnetic storm on June 3rd at 40%.

Snow in June: Russia’s Siberian town in absolute anomaly
A layer of snow on the second day of summer has put the citizens of the Russian city of Kemerovo completely out of humor. Meteorologists say the anomaly occurred because a cyclone brought cold Arctic air from Kara Sea region into Siberia dropping, temperature to lows typical for summer north of the Arctic Circle.

12 New Alaskan Volcanoes
In the past three years, 12 new volcanoes have been discovered in Southeast Alaska, and 25 known volcanic vents and lava flows re-evaluated, thanks to dogged work by geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Forest Service. Sprinkled across hundreds of islands and fjords, most of the volcanic piles are tiny cones compared to the super-duper stratovolcanoes that parade off to the west, in the Aleutian Range.

Mayon volcano exhibiting abnormal behavior
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said that in the past 36 hours, three weeks after phreatic explosion on May 7, fumes and crater glow were observed. "PHIVOLCS is raising the alert status of Mayon from Alert Level 0 to Alert Level 1 as a precaution to the public that the volcano is exhibiting abnormal behavior," it said in a Bulletin issued as of 5:00 p.m. local time on Friday.

IRS employee in bombshell congressional interviews about tea party targeting: 'Washington, DC wanted some cases ... I sent seven'
Interviews with IRS employees have established that the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service was engaged in targeting tea party groups and other conservative organizations for unfair levels of scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. Rep. Darrel lssa, chairman of powerful House Committee of Oversight and Government Reform, made that startling announcement on CNN Sunday morning.

Israel prepares as war clouds gather: Russia's determination to supply Syria with S-300 missiles raises fears of arming Hezbollah
From the window of Shrifa Schlomitz’s dental surgery at the top of a high rise in the Stella Maris area of Haifa, you can clearly see the three Patriot missile batteries pointing over the Mediterranean Sea towards the Lebanese border, just 30km away. ...In recent weeks, the drums of war have been beating louder. A week ago, there were reports in the Israeli media that a rocket was fired from Lebanon towards Israel.

Fire north of LA forces nearly 3,000 from homes
Nearly 3,000 people from some 700 homes are under evacuation orders as a wildfire north of Los Angeles kept growing, feeding on old, dry brush, some of which hadn't burned in decades. The blaze had burned about 35 square miles in the mountains and canyons of the Angeles National Forest, destroying at least six homes and damaging 15 more.

Qaeda chief warns attacks on US in 'everyone's reach'
Al-Qaeda's military chief in Yemen warned Americans in an audio message posted online Sunday that the Boston bombings revealed a fragile security as he urged Muslims to defend their religion. Qassim al-Rimi, the military chief of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said making bombs such as the ones used in the twin blasts in Boston in April, is within "everyone's reach".

Ed Balls: Labour would axe wealthy pensioners' fuel cash
Labour would cut winter fuel payments for the UK's richer older people if they won the next general election, shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said. It would affect about 600,000 people over 61 who pay higher and top income tax rates - saving about £100m. Mr Balls said it would be "completely irresponsible" for Labour to pledge higher spending in 2015-6, given the likely "bleak" state of the finances.

'Turkish Spring' tests Erdogan's rule
Violent clashes between protestors and police in Turkey over the weekend have seen its Prime Minister deny accusations that he is becoming a "dictator." A violent crackdown on a peaceful demonstration on Friday (31 May) against plans to demolish a park and to erect a shopping centre in Taksim Square in central Istanbul quickly prompted a larger protest.

'Iran says it catches Mossad-linked spy ring'
Iran claimed on Sunday that it identified and arrested twelve members of a terrorist cell whose head received intelligence and military training in Israel, Iran's Fars News Agency reported. The ringleader of the spy group received a list from Israel of espionage and terrorist actions to be carried out against Iran, according to a statement issued by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.

US lauds Hamdallah as new PA prime minister
US Secretary of State John Kerry praised the the appointment of Rami Hamdallah as the new Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority on Sunday, while encouraging a return to negotiations for a two-state solution. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday asked Palestinian academic Rami Hamdallah to head a government.

Iraq warns Israel against using its airspace to strike Iran
Baghdad has warned Israel against violating its airspace in order to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, Hussein al-Shahristani, Iraq's deputy prime minister responsible for energy affairs told AFP on Monday. Shahrishtani said that the US had already assured Iraqi officials that it would not use Iraqi airspace in order to attack Iran.

Iranian General Warns of Bio - Warefare
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily NewsABCnews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Viruses can be turned into easily concealed weapons with high epidemic powers that could contaminate food, water and animals, Iran has warned.

Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization, in a recent event discussing defensive and offensive measures for cyber-attacks and viruses, talked about the strategic importance of using viruses as weapons to contaminate an environment, according to AsrIran, a media outlet of the Islamic Republic.

“Biological viruses are extremely clever and have the capability to distinguish their environment. These viruses can only be recognized in labs,” he said, stressing that these agents are easily hidden in the environment and can cause widespread epidemics.

Jalali said that viruses, parasites, botanical poisons and animal poisons are elements that can be used in biological warfare.

“The environmental threats include humans, domesticated animals, poultry, environment, natural resources, food industry and drinking water,” he said, identifying seven ways a biological agent could strike.

The United Nations’ Biological Weapons Convention has banned the development, production and stockpiling of these threats since 1975. But based on orders from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country has made great progress in the field and currently several labs in Iran are working independently of each other in developing the biological elements, although the general said the effort is defensive.

WND reported exclusively in December and January that, according to a source in the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence unit with knowledge of Iran’s microbial research and development, Iranian scientists, with Russian and North Korean help, currently possess eight extremely dangerous microbial agents that, if unleashed, could kill millions of people.

Can Science ‘cure’ Religious Fundamentalism?
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsc/net
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

This is an era in which science is finally imposing its supremacy on the lily-livered species that is man.

We’ve tried our emotion-based way of life for a little too long. We talk of love and God as if they are tangibles.

But if a scientist can’t see it, touch it, analyze it, and alter it, then it isn’t real.

Thankfully, we will soon all be wearing Google Glass and behaving like automatons. Life will become rational and predictable. Safe, even. We need no happily-ever-afters because we will simply keep on living in a timeless space. Until the food runs out and the planet melts.

There is still a little work to be done before we reach Nirvana, so how can we begin to adjust some of the extremities of human behavior that plague our daily lives?

Oxford University researcher Kathleen Taylor believes that neuroscience can begin to affect — with a view to, perhaps, curing — human beings of their most extreme beliefs.

She gave a presentation this week at the U.K.’s Hay Festival — the same festival in which Google’s Eric Schmidt warned that teenagers’ mistakes would live forever, thanks, in part, to Google.

As the Huffington Post reports, Taylor thinks that there are certain beliefs that might soon be treated as illnesses.

She said: “Someone who has for example become radicalized to a cult ideology — we might stop seeing that as a personal choice that they have chosen as a result of pure free will and may start treating it as some kind of mental disturbance.”

In her view, certain beliefs cause "a heck of a lot of damage."

She referenced not only religious fundamentalism -- specifically that of Islam -- but also behavioral mores such as spanking children.

On hearing her words, some might venture that so many other seemingly irrational (to some) beliefs -- such as Apple fanboyism or the idea that wearing socks with sandals is somehow acceptable -- can be altered through neuroscientific manipulation.

This is where the moral gradient becomes treacherous.

Who decides which beliefs are really doing "a heck of a lot of damage"? What if those in power decide that everyone should now believe something entirely different from their previous beliefs?

Taylor has been studying the ramifications of brainwashing for some time. She refers to the brain as "that lump of blood-infused blancmange" that is every day impacted by elements of persuasion.

Air Force Removes “Inspirational” Painting
Jun 3rd, 2013
Daily NewsFoxnews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

An inspirational painting that referenced a Bible verse has been removed from a dining hall at Mountain Home Air Force Base after an anti-religion group filed a complaint, Fox News has learned.

The painting featured a medieval crusader and referenced Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation called the painting “repugnant” and an “overt display of Christian nationalism.”

They allegedly received a complaint from someone at the base who said the picture made “me feel terribly uncomfortable, disheartened and disappointed.”

“I have been extremely disturbed and shocked by a clearly Christian picture of religious supremacy very prominently hanging in the dining facility of our Air Force Base, the unidentified complainant state in an email. “I and countless other Airmen were forced to look at this ‘Crusader/USAF’ painting while we ate.”

The unidentified complainant said 21 other individuals also took issue with the painting. None were identified by the MRFF.

MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein called the Pentagon Friday morning to complain about the painting and gave them one hour to comply with his demands to remove the painting. Less than an hour later the picture was removed.

Col. Christopher Short, the commander of the 366th Fighter Wing told Fox News the art work was removed as soon as he was made aware.

“We make reasonable accommodations for all religions and celebrate the religious diversity of our Airmen,” Short said.