Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Syria: U.S. Boosting Military Support to Opposition After Chemical Attacks Confirmed
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsThe Star.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The United States has concluded that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons to kill at least 100 people, crossing a “red line” and prompting President Barack Obama to provide direct military support to the rebels for the first time, the White House said.

The United States has concluded that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons to kill at least 100 people, crossing a “red line” and prompting President Barack Obama to provide direct military support to the rebels for the first time in the two-year conflict, the White House said Thursday.

Summer Camp in Gaza: Kids Learn to Abduct Israelis
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsIsrael Today Staff
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The annual Hamas-run summer camp in the Gaza Strip has started up, and features the same unbelievable line-up of activities, such as learning to fire live assault rifles, avoid capture by the authorities and abduct Israeli Jews.

To increase the realism, tires are left burning all around the camp ground, and the sounds of explosions can be heard constantly.

An estimated 10,000 Gaza kids between the ages of six and 16 attend the camp every summer. Let that sink in - first graders are being trained to kill people with guns and violently kidnap Jews.

UK newspaper The Daily Mail, which has a reporter in Gaza, wrote that the camp "appears to have been designed to mold its visitors into the terrorists of tomorrow."

To make sure the children know just what it is their being trained to fight for, their masked Hamas supervisors also provide a number of lessons and workshops on Islam and becoming a martyr for Allah.

Rand Paul: Your Taxes Fund Regimes That Kill Christians ‘for Blasphemy Against Islam’
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily Newscnsnews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

In a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition  conference on Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he was angry over  the fact that U.S. tax money is used to support foreign regimes where  Christians are killed “for blasphemy against Islam,” and where “Muslims  who convert to Christianity” are also put to death.

“It angers me to see my tax dollars supporting regimes that put  Christians to death for blasphemy against Islam, countries that put to  death Muslims who convert to Christianity, and countries who imprison  anyone who marries outside their religion,” said Paul at the conference,  held at the JW Marriott hotel in Washington, D.C.

“There is a war on Christianity, not just from liberal elites here at  home, but worldwide,” said Paul.  “And your government, or more  correctly, you, the taxpayer, are funding it. You are being taxed to  send money to countries that are not only intolerant of Christians but  openly hostile. Christians are imprisoned and threatened with death for  their beliefs.”

Professors: Stop Calling Israel An Occupier
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Professors participating in an international conference at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv this week explained that international law that does necessarily support the claim that Israel is imposing a belligerent occupation on Judea and Samaria.

Under the title of "Israel and International Law," the conference brought together professors of law from around the world to discuss the issue of Israel's presence in and sovereignty over the so-called "West Bank."

Prof. Avi Bell of the University of San Diego explained to Arutz Sheva that it is "a mistake to think of this as a simple black and white matter of law. It's not. It's complicated."

Bell noted that "the way the law is generally discussed is as if it's all absolutely clear that Israel's case is insupportable," while in reality Israel has a very good legal case for continued sovereignty over these territories.

Prof. Jeremy A. Rabkin of George Mason University added that since the creation of the United Nations, "no other country in the world...has ever acknowledged that it is involved in an occupation." As such, this is a very flexible category without modern legal precedent, so it is unfair to create an international law that applies only to Israel.

Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Smith Research on behalf of the Knesset's Land of Israel Caucus found that 68 percent of Israelis oppose surrendering Judea and Samaria because doing so would pose a serious security threat to the Jewish state.

Prior to Israel's capture of Judea and Samaria during the Six Day War in 1967, Arab forces regularly used the strategic highlands to launch terrorist and military attacks on Israel's civilian population centers.

Optimistic Obama Touts Movement on Gay Rights, But Frustrations Remain
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsCNN
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

President Barack Obama hailed steps forward for gay, lesbians and transgendered people on Thursday, asserting this community’s fight for rights has reached a “turning point.”

“We’ve becoming not just more accepting, we’ve become more loving as a country and as a people,” he said. “Hearts and minds change with time; laws do, too.”

His sense of satisfaction and optimism — voiced at a White House gathering to mark Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month — follows milestone on gay marriage, the inclusion of openly gay U.S. military service members and boosting health insurance access for same-sex partners.

But as the president himself acknowledged, obstacles remain. So, too, do frustrations among some gays and lesbians who have been steadfast Obama supporters but had hoped for even more action during his first five years in office.

A CNN analysis of Obama’s biggest fundraisers, known as bundlers, during the 2012 election cycle showed that at least 33 — or about one in every 16 — was openly gay. Together, they raised at least $8 million for the campaign between January and the end of March of last year.

Even with that backing, some have challenged the president over what they see as delays in implementing such promises as an executive order that would ban federal contractors from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

That irritation erupted during a recent Democratic National Committee fundraiser when Ellen Sturtz of the gay rights group GetEQUAL heckled first lady Michelle Obama.

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal, as well,” Obama said in his address after being sworn in.

Engaging, pushing and chiding the president doesn’t take away from the appreciation for what the administration has done for the gay rights community, said Evan Wolfson, president of the non-partisan Freedom to Marry organization.

The gay rights community will be watching closely to see if Obama follows through on a promise to sign an executive order

Obama Rules Out Intervention to Thwart Syria - Hizballah’s Decisive Aleppo Victory
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Aleppo in the balance

The eagerly-awaited White House statement on the decision reached in President Barack Obama’s special consultation on Syria with his national security aides was seen by debkafile’s Washington sources as his final rejection of all the proposals for intervention put before him. The consultation was necessitated by the need for drastic action to thwart the Syrian-Hizballah offensive to capture Aleppo, Syrian’s biggest city.

Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Thursday, June 13: "The president and every member of his national security team are greatly concerned by the terrible situation… and the worsening situation in Syria. As terrible as the situation is in Syria, he has to make decisions when it comes to policy toward Syria that are in the best interests of the United States.”

What Carney conveyed on behalf of the president was that while stopping the battle for Aleppo was crucially important in terms of the Syrian war, intervention was not in the interests of the United States.

Our sources learn that the US president even turned down a plan for a limited no-fly zone being imposed over the northwest city of Aleppo and the province of Idlib, the largest piece of territory still remaining in rebel hands. This plan entailed no more than 20 US and Turkish fighter bombers for preventing the Syrian air force from extending air support to the decisive Aleppo offensive launched by the Syrian army Monday as Operation Northern Storm.

Our military sources report that the Syrian and Hizballah armies need between one to two months to wrest from rebel hands the northwest town of Aleppo and Idlib province which abuts the Turkish border. While their conquest of Al Qusayr was a major regional victory, the fall of Aleppo and Idlib would make Bashar Assad the winner of the 28-month Syrian civil war, just when its death toll nears 100,000 according to official figures.

Nasa Chief Warns of Solar Tornado Season As Storms Dance Across the Sun
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsNational Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The weather in space could have a real adverse effect on the Earth, and since it’s tornado season on the sun, we should be on the lookout.

That’s what NASA chief Charles Bolden said late last week when addressing members of the Space Weather industry forum.

“This conference shines a spotlight on another naturally occurring phenomenon that can be just as punishing as a tornado — space weather,” Space.com reported him saying.

Solar weather can get so bad that it can take out satellites, cause black-outs and even — in the event of a powerful solar storm directed at the Earth — expose humans to harmful radiation, much like getting days worth of sunbathing all at once.

Bolden’s warning comes as a series of solar filaments race across the sun, filaments that have been explained by some as “solar tornadoes.”

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

• US drone kills at least 7 in North Waziristan
  Three missiles fired by a US drone at a house in the Shawal area of the Pakistani region killed at least seven people shortly after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif swore in his new cabinet. Sharif has kept the portfolios of defense and foreign affairs for himself.
• US Ambassador greets Tel Aviv gay parade
  US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro conveyed warm wishes from President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and the American people to the gay parade which took place in Tel Aviv Friday. “There’s no better place to celebrate than in Tel Aviv, the friendliest city in the world to the LGBT community,” said the ambassador. “We learned from Israel to let our troops serve in the military without having to hide who they love,” Shapiro added. “We’re not done yet, there is still much to be done.”
• Al Qaeda leader: Syrian rebels must set up caliphate for all-out war on Israel
  Ayman Zawahiri, the al Qaeda leader, in his first remarks about the Syrian civil conflict, warned rebel fighters “not to do the West’s work by replacing President Assad with a moderate, democratic government.” Instead, an Islamic caliphate must rise in Syria “to wage all-out war with neighboring Israel.”
• Jalili: Enrichment must reach 100 percent
  Leading Iranian presidential candidate Saeed Jalili said Friday” We have to move to a direction that our capacity to enrich [uranium] reaches 100 percent from 5 to 20 percent. Jalili, who is also Iran’s senior negotiator with the six powers on its nuclear program was referring to enrichment up to weapons grade.

Iran votes for new president, Khamenei slams U.S. doubts
The 50 million eligible voters had a choice between six candidates to replace incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but none is seen as challenging the Islamic Republic's 34-year-old system of clerical rule.  

State-by-state look at Iowa to Mid-Atlantic storm
Massive thunderstorms have swept across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states, knocking out power to thousands of people and causing some flash flooding in certain areas. Here's a snapshot of what is happening, state by state:  

Obama Tells Keystone Foes He Will Unveil Climate Measures
With his administration under pressure from environmentalists to reject the Keystone XL pipeline project, President Barack Obama plans to unveil a package of separate actions next month focused on curbing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. At closed-door fundraisers held over the past few weeks, the president has been telling Democratic party donors that he will unveil new climate proposals in July...  

Iranians vote in key presidential elections
Millions of voters across Iran are casting their ballots in the country's presidential elections. Although all six candidates are seen as conservatives, one of them, cleric Hassan Rouhani, has been reaching out to the reformists in recent days. The election will decide a successor to outgoing leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  

'US studying Syria no-fly zone near Jordan border'
As a part of its proposal to provide military aid to the Syrian rebels, the United States is studying setting up a limited no-fly zone in Syria close to the southern border with Jordan in order to protect Syrian refugees and rebel forces training in the area, two senior Western diplomats in Turkey said on Friday.  

Liberty in shambles
When British soldiers were roaming the American countryside in the 1760s with lawful search warrants with which they had authorized themselves to enter the private homes of colonists in order to search for government-issued stamps, Thomas Paine wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” To prevent the recurrence of soldier-written search warrants and the government dragnets and fishing expeditions they wrought, the Constitution mandates that only judges may issue search warrants, and they may do so only on the basis of probable cause of crime, and the warrants must “particularly describ(e) the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”  

Obama Admin Considers Resettling Thousands of Syrian Refugees in U.S.
The Obama administration is considering resettling thousands of refugees who left Syria during the country's ongoing civil war to multiple towns and cities across the United States, the L.A. Times reports.  

Mega-Earthquake Forecasted To Hit British Columbia, Pacific Coast For First Time in 11,000 Years
According to a study published Wednesday by the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University in Victoria B.C., sea floor sediment samples removed off the coast of Vancouver Island confirmed claims that British Columbia is anticipated to experience a high-magnitude quake anytime within the next 700 years. The report, published by CBC News, stated findings that the last 9.0 magnitude mega-earthquake in the region occurred in 1700.  

Third-Graders Introduce Obama at LGBT Pride Event
Nine year-old twins Zea and Luna introduce President Barack Obama at the White House's LGBT Pride Month celebration Thursday, June 13.  

6.7 magnitude Indonesian earthquake shakes Christmas Island
The quake struck at 11.47pm (local time) (12.47am WST) and was felt by residents on the island. There are no immediate reports of damage. According to Geoscience Australia, the quake had a magnitude of 6.7 and was triggered at a depth of 9km.  

What Does the Gov’t Really Know About Your Phone Calls, Internet Activity? AP Fact Check Explores Politicians’ Surveillance Claims
“It’s very, very difficult, I think, to have a transparent debate about secret programs approved by a secret court issuing secret court orders based on secret interpretations of the law,” said Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., a long-time champion of privacy rights.  

Ethiopia ratifies Nile treaty in snub to Egypt
- Ethiopia's parliament unanimously ratified on Thursday a treaty that strips Egypt of its right to the lion's share of the Nile river waters, raising the political temperature in a dispute between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the construction of a dam.  

Residents flee as historic Colorado wildfire burns out of control
Among several Colorado wildfires now burning, the Black Forest fire has become the most destructive in the history of the state. It remains only 5 percent contained  

Sakurajima volcano (Japan) awakes with a series of powerful explosions
After 10 days of almost no activity, the volcano has woken up violently with 3 powerful explosions last night (at 22:05 and 23:58 UTC, ash plumes to 10-13,000 ft) and this morning at 04:26. The eruption this morning appears to be one of the largest explosions for a long time, producing an ash plume rising to 16-20,000 ft (5-6 km) altitude.  

Non bon voyage: French rail system paralyzed by strike after air travel chaos
Transportation in France has been crippled by thousands of striking workers this week, with aviation strikes leading to the cancelation of flights, and rail workers strikes leaving swarms of travelers stranded in stations.  

US to give military support to Syrian rebels as ‘red line' crossed
After concluding that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the country's insurgency, thus crossing a ‘red line,’ the Obama administration has decided to start sending arms to anti-Assad rebels for the first time, officials say.  

Japan to Become More Like Cyprus – Bail - Ins for Japan Banks
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsTrunews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The Financial Services Agency will take a new approach to dealing with troubled financial institutions, forcing losses on investors if necessary to reduce the taxpayer burden. Japan To Adopt ‘Bail-Ins’ For Failed Banks (Nikkei, gated) Non-gated info here: Japan to adopt ‘bail-ins,’ force bank losses on investors if needed, Nikkei says Japan’s Financial Services Agency will enact new rules that will forced failed bank losses on investors, if needed, via a mechanism known as a “bail-in,”

Immigration Law Mandate: Biometric ID Cards to Become Mandatory
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsCNN
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Sensible immigration reform will strengthen American society and economy. But it must also respect the rights of U.S. citizens and those aspiring to join them.

Buried in the comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the Senate are obscure provisions that impose on Americans expansive national identification systems, tied to electronic verification schemes. Under the guise of “reform,” these trample fundamental rights and freedoms.

Requirements in Senate Bill 744 for mandatory worker IDs and electronic verification remove the right of citizens to take employment and “give” it back as a privilege only when proper proof is presented and the government agrees. Such systems are inimical to a free society and are costly to the economy and treasury.

Any citizen wanting to take a job would face the regulation that his or her digitized high-resolution passport or driver’s license photo be collected and stored centrally in a Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services database.

The pictures in the national database would then need to be matched against the job applicant’s government-issued “enhanced” ID card, using a Homeland Security-mandated facial-recognition “photo tool.” Only when those systems worked perfectly could the new hire take the job.

Immigrant employees would probably have to get biometric (based on body measurements like fingerprint scans and digital images) worker ID cards. Social Security cards may soon become biometric as well. Any citizen or immigrant whose digital image in the Homeland Security databank did not match the one embedded in their government-issued ID would be without a job and benefits.

Yet, citizens have a constitutional right to take employment. Since the Butchers Union Co. decision in 1884, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that “the right to follow any of the common occupations of life is an inalienable right … under the phrase ‘pursuit of happiness.’ ” This right is a large ingredient in the civil liberties of each citizen.

The digital ID requirements in S. 744 eliminate that fundamental right to take employment and transform it into a privilege. This constitutional guarantee could in effect be taken away by bureaucratic rules or deleted by a database mistake.

As philosopher John Locke, whose phrase “consent of the governed” animates the Declaration of Independence, once said, everybody “has a property in his own person.” Who is a citizen is today determined by his or her American personhood. Under S. 744, that would no longer be true.

Instead, the determination of whether someone has a right to take a job would be made by two computer files: one in a Department of Homeland Security database and the other on a government-issued ID card. Identity and IDs become “property of the U.S. government.”

Moreover, S. 744 undermines constitutional federalism by resurrecting ID provisions that most states have rejected. Not only does S. 744 mandate “E-Verify” as a national electronic verification system for employment for the 33 states that have not joined it (Illinois actually outlawed its use), the bill also revives the moribund “Real ID” requirement for sharing of driver’s license photos among the states and federal government, which 25 states opposed by law or resolution. Only 13 states joined as of last year.

Forget Prism: Global Cyberchiefs Say They Need to Pry Even Further
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsCNN
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The exposure of the PRISM data-collection program might not fall squarely  under the heading of the third annual International Cyber Security Conference,  which concluded on Wednesday at

Tel Aviv University. The secret data-collection  program, by which U.S. intelligence agencies routinely vacuum up huge  amounts of private communications from Internet users, stands outside the  realm of safeguarding the cyberworld from attacks. PRISM is defended as an  antiterrorism measure, necessary to  detect plots as they are hatched between evildoers communicating with one  another online.

Earthquakes
Jun 14th, 2013
CommentaryPhotorama
Categories: Prophecy

(Earthquakes) Clearly the most watched sign of the times has to be earthquakes. For years there has been a heated debate over the short term frequency of quakes. The long term trend has undeniably seen a significant increase in the number of large earthquakes.

"...earthquakes, in divers places" (Mat 24:7).

Calif. Gender - Bending Bills Target Young People
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily NewsTruNews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

One state Assembly bill, AB 1266, would give teenage boys and girls who “identify” with the opposite sex, full access to sports teams and facilities normally reserved for the opposite gender. That includes showers, bathrooms and locker rooms.

Atheists Up in Arms Over Bible Near Florida Mayor’s Desk
Jun 14th, 2013
Daily Newswashingtontimes.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

City officials, however, say that’s a no-go. The Bible’s been there for more  than 30 years, and laws don’t prohibit its presence, The Blaze reported. The  book was an Oct. 19, 1975, gift to council members from the Kiwanis  club, and it’s been a traditional fixture ever since.

Freedom From Religion  Foundation officials say they don’t care. They sent a letter to city  officials, saying the Bible needs to go because it violates the principle of  separation of church and state.

Editors Note..We see the depths of the hatred for God in the human heart.

Are you good enough to go to Heaven?
Jun 14th, 2013
CommentaryArt Sadlier
Categories: Bible Salvation

Are you good enough to go to Heaven?

Of all the questions you will ask yourself in this life, this is probably the most important.   Check yourself against just a few of God's requirements:

• "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" Has God always had first place in your life?
• Have you ever told a lie? Be honest.
• Have you ever taken anything that doesn't belong to you? That would make you a thief.
• Have you ever felt hate toward anyone? Jesus said that is equal to murder.
• Have you ever looked with lust? Jesus said that is equal to adultery.
• Have you ever coveted, desired something that belongs to another?

These are just a sampling of God's requirements to get into heaven. Who among us can say we have kept God's law. Paul said if you have broken one commandment, you are guilty of breaking all.

Listen to the seriousness of breaking the law. "But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Man! That's Bad News! What should you do?

Simply recognize your sin, see it as God sees it and repent, turn away from it and put your faith and trust in Christ who shed His blood and died to redeem you from sin.

John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”     

John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”   

You cannot produce change in your own life, but true salvation will result in change.   2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”