Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

World Economic Group Calls for Global Exchange of Tax Information to Fight Evasion
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily NewsWashington Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;World Government

A top world economic group has called for the creation of a global system to automatically funnel financial information about individuals and companies from countries where their earnings and investments are located to jurisdictions where they might owe taxes.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is spearheading an effort to curb tax evasion by individuals and close some controversial tax loopholes for corporations, said that the foundation of such a system is already emerging because of reporting requirements newly imposed by the United States.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act requires overseas financial institutions to send the Internal Revenue Service information about accounts held by Americans in an effort to curb the use of foreign tax havens.

Though overseas banks have complained about the regulatory burden, major financial centers such as the United Kingdom already have reached data-sharing agreements with the United States. What’s more, the OECD said, the U.S. requirement is prompting other nations to consider sharing the information they will already have to send to the United States.

In a paper submitted to the Group of 8 top economic powers meeting in Ireland this week, the OECD said that such a system should be made automatic and go global — with data flowing freely from banks, investment houses and other financial institutions to governments around the world.

The resulting network of information, the OECD said, would curb what it characterized as a global problem as governments fight for revenue in a time of budget constraints throughout the industrialized world.

West Virginia Teen Now Facing Year in Jail Over NRA T - Shirt Read
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily Newsfoxnews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A West Virginia eighth-grader who was suspended from school for refusing to  change his National Rifle Association T-shirt faces up to one year in jail and a  $500 fine after being formally charged with obstructing an officer.

Jared Marcum, 14, appeared before a judge Monday and was hit with formal  charges that carry a maximum $500 fine and up to a year in jail.  The Logan  County Police Department initially claimed that Marcum was arrested April 18 for  disturbing the education process and obstructing an officer. His father said  that officers even went as far as threatening to charge Jared with making terror  threats.

The Road to Rome: the New Evangelization Plan to Win Back The Lost Brethren
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily NewsRoger Oakland
Categories: Commentary;False Doctrine

When Christians speak of evangelism, they are usually referring to efforts to fulfill the Great Commission. Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus commissioned every believer to proclaim the good news when He said: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

This Gospel of Jesus Christ is very simple. It is a message that even a child can understand. It is about God’s plan to save us from our sins. Since the fall of man, all have been born into this world separated from God our Creator by sin. About two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, supernaturally came to this earth, born of a virgin. While here on earth, Jesus lived a sinless life. He died upon the Cross at Calvary, and His blood was shed as a sacrifice for our sins. All those who will accept and believe in Jesus (that is, who Jesus is and what He has done) can enter into a relationship with Him, the Creator of the universe. This relationship will then last for eternity. This is the simple Gospel.

Unfortunately, Satan has always had an agenda to complicate the Gospel or confound people into believing in something less or something more than what the Gospel message teaches. Paul talked about “another gospel” when he was warning the Corinthians (II Corinthians 11:4) and the Galatians (Galatians 1:6) about the dangers of being deceived. Satan is a clever schemer. Deceiving people  in the name of the Savior is part of the devil’s ultimate plan.

Not everything labeled the gospel is the true Gospel. Further, it follows that the term evangelization, if it is based on a counterfeit gospel, will seduce people into believing they are going to heaven, when instead they may be on their way to hell.

 The New Evangelization [is] a program currently being promoted by the Catholic Church and designed to win the world to Christ—the Eucharistic Christ.

What is the New Evangelization?

While reading a book or an article, have you ever come across a term you have never seen before and suddenly your mind was illuminated? Just as if a light switch was turned on and a darkened room was lit, the significance of what you read became apparent. Such was the case for me when I came across the phrase the New Evangelization.

 I was reading an article published by Zenit (The World Seen from Rome) that presented a news item based on statements made by Pope John Paul II. The article caught my attention because it was about an announcement the pope had made about the Eucharist. The article was titled “Why the Pope Would Write an Encyclical on the Eucharist: To Rekindle Amazement.”

While I was already aware the pope had declared the Eucharist to be the focal point for the Catholic Church’s missionary vision at the Eucharistic Congress in June of 2000, the idea that the pope had written an Encyclical on the Eucharist to “Rekindle Amazement” in the Eucharist was new to me. I found the following statement made by the pope very enlightening:

[T]he Church will only be able to address the challenge of the new evangelization if she is able to contemplate, and enter into a profound relationship with Christ in the sacrament that makes his presence real.

For me, this statement helped solve a puzzle that was now beginning to fall into place—this new evangelization program was directly linked to the Eucharistic Christ.

Further, the Zenit article gave more details on how the pope wanted to see this program develop:

I would like to rekindle this Eucharistic “amazement” by the present Encyclical Letter, in continuity with the Jubilee heritage which I have left to the Church in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte and its Marian crowning, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. To contemplate the face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the programme which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out into the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the new evangelization.

Making it clear that the new evangelization program would be tightly associated with the sacrament of the Eucharist, the pope concluded:

To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the living sacrament of his body and his blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist, by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened.

The Facts about the New Evangelization
To find out more about this New Evangelization program, I decided to look for more information. It did not take long tofind out there were many sources available confirming such a program existed. One article that was particularly helpful was found on the EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) web site. Under a heading “The New Evangelization: Building the Civilization of Love,” I read:

 As the Holy Father entrusts the Third Millennium to the Blessed Virgin Mary, EWTN inaugurates it’s New Evangelization specialty site. This site will forever be a work in progress, as we continue to bring to you information about the Catholic Faith on the 5 continents. We hope that the information on the synods will be a help to those whose mission is to evangelize, a mission which belongs to all of us at least through prayer. The historical, statistical and devotional material should give every visitor a sense of the universality of the Church and its mission.

Then one additional and very significant statement: 

Under the protection of St. Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of the Missions, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, to whom the Pope has committed the New Evangelization, may the Spirit of God bring about the New Pentecost to which the Church looks forward with hope.

 This above statement may come as a surprise to Protestants who are enthusiastically joining hands with Catholics for the sake of evangelism. The Catholic program is committed to “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Furthermore, it would be good to check out what is meant by this “New Pentecost.” Paul also warned the Corinthians about “another spirit” that was associated with “another gospel” and “another Jesus.”

(This is from chapter 6 of Another Jesus by Roger Oakland.)

Syrian Civil War 'dress Rehearsal' for World War?
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Yossi Aloni
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A leading Israeli expert on the Middle East suggested last week that with all the foreign involvement in the ongoing Syrian civil war, that conflict could be the harbinger of a much wider conflagration.

Prof. Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, told those attending a symposium at Tel Aviv University that in the eyes of the Arab world, the final outcome of the Arab Spring hinges on the results of the struggle in Syria.

According to Prof. Rabinovich, the Syrian conflict is a Middle Eastern version of the Spanish Civil War, which was itself a dress rehearsal for World War II.

In Syria, the opposition is supported by the US and Europe, while the regime is backed by Hezbollah, Iran, and China. For Russia, the stakes are also high. Moscow sees Syria as a key to restoring Russia's status in the region, so replacing the Assad regime with one supportive of America is unacceptable to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Still, it's Iran that probably has the most to lose in Syria. Prof. Rabinovich explained that Iran has actually invested more than Russia when it comes to Syria. Iran wants hegemony in the Middle East, and thus far it has only managed to export its Islamic Revolution to Lebanon, in the form of Hezbollah, which is today more powerful than the state itself.

Iran needs to maintain Syria as a vital link to Hezbollah if it hopes to succeed anywhere else in the region. "The civil war in Syria is not being run by Assad, but rather by Iranian military commanders," Rabinovich revealed. "Hezbollah is also commanding much of the fighting with troops that entered the country from Lebanon."

Students Face Detention Rather Than Wear Unpopular Badges Around Their Necks At AAHS
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily NewsAltoona Mirror
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

For the past four months, Altoona Area junior and senior high students have been ordered by school administrators to wear identification cards on lanyards around their necks or face detention.

Detention halls have been filled more frequently than usual over the past four months, students sad.

Senior Uthman Hill has had a couple detentions, no, “a lot,” he said for forgetting his ID. “If you forget a few times, you get Saturday detention. It’s corny,” he said of the rule.

The reason for the ID cards was presented by administrators as “for security reasons,” but many students don’t think it’s effective.

“I don’t know how it will stop someone from coming into the school,” junior Katelyn Mauser said.

“I don’t like them – a lot of girls don’t like them. It ruins outfits,” she said.

Some have accepted the change.

“I really don’t mind them anymore,” sophomore Sam Figard said. “They are just a habit. Everybody complains about them, but it’s really not a big deal to me.”

The IDs don’t necessarily serve a purpose to senior Devaughn Brawley.

“I don’t think they are needed, but I don’t think they are useless. I just put it on because I was told to – ‘for security reasons,’ which implies the whole Newtown thing,” he said.

Although the reason for the IDs was not expressly stated, students believe they understand their purpose – “because of what happened in Connecticut,” seventh-grader Cory Graffius said. “In some way they are useful because they can identify who you are,” he said.

Nationwide, students wearing IDs around their necks has been a common practice for as long as Kevin Quinn, National Association of School Resource Officers president, can remember.

Quinn is also a 12-year Arizona school resource officer.

The IDs serve as a way to quickly identify students, Quinn said.

The reason for the IDs at Altoona isn’t just Newtown, said district Community Relations Director Paula Foreman.

IDs are required at Altoona junior and senior high schools because students from other school districts have entered the schools to blend in with their Altoona Area friends as a joke, she said.

Graduate Harry Smeltzer said the badges may keep drugs out of schools.

But upset that administrators sought to discredit his complaints instead of listen to him, Mike Lattieri has pulled his daughter out of the district and enrolled her in a cyber school after she was given detention for forgetting her ID during what was supposed to be a “grace period” during the first few weeks of the new rule.

He sought understanding from administrators, but they were not responsive, he said.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Clinton urges 2-state solution for Israel
The only choice for Israel to remain a Jewish and democratic nation is to work toward a two-state solution, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said. "You have to cobble together some kind of theory of a two-state solution, and the longer you let this go, just because of sheer demographics, the tougher it's going to get. I don't see any alternative to a Palestinian state," the former U.S. President said in a speech before the Peres Academic Center in Rehovot Monday night.  

Rage in Brazil
The days of rage have caught observers of this emerging Latin American powerhouse by surprise and rattled a government already suffering from decaying popularity. Triggering the revolt was an innocuous-seeming fare increase of about nine cents for public transportation in São Paulo. But the outrage touched a nerve in this sprawling metropolis of 18 million, where 7 million people depend on a precarious network of buses and subways,  

Beck: Government ‘Dragging’ Us Into a War We ‘Will Not Survive’ in the Middle East
Glenn Beck asserted on his weekday television program Monday that “we are moving in the wrong direction [as] a country,” particularly with regard to the Middle East, and that that “we will all be destroyed because of it.” Speaking about the U.S. government’s recent decision to arm the rebels in Syria, Beck said lawmakers in both parties are “dragging” us into yet another war.  

‘A Redrawing of the Map’: Syria’s Assad Delivers Chilling Warning to Europe & the World
Syria’s president warned that Europe “will pay a price” if it delivers weapons to the rebels fighting him, saying in an interview published Monday that arming them would backfire as the “terrorists” return to their countries with extremist ideologies. Assad further warned that as the conflict spills into neighboring countries, blurring borders, it will set off a domino effect.  

Does the Bible Predict God’s End-Times Destruction of Syria — and Is Prophecy About to Unfold Before Our Eyes?
As the situation in Syria intensifies and the United Nations reports that 93,000 civilians have been killed since 2011, the United States is taking increased action. With the deadly drama continuing to progress, it’s likely that some — especially considering Syria’s Biblical and geographical significance — will see End Times prophecy unfolding.  

There’s an Actual Pagan Academy in NYC Training Adults to Become Real-Life Witches
Those who dislike or are relatively unfamiliar with the occult will likely be surprised to learn that a witchcraft school — like an adult version of Hogwarts — is in full operation in the center of New York City. The Wiccan Family Temple Academy of Pagan Studies, while...different from the fictional school that Harry Potter...attended, does provide some intriguing elements that will serve as a surprise to those with little familiarity with Pagan beliefs and witchcraft.  

Met Office experts meet to analyse 'unusual' weather patterns
About 20 of the UK's leading scientists and meteorologists are due to meet at the Met Office to discuss Britain's "unusual" weather patterns. They will try to identify the factors that caused the chilly winter of 2010-11 and the long, wet summer of 2012. They will also try to work out why this spring was the coldest in 50 years - with a UK average of 6C (42.8F) between March and May.  

World economic group calls for global exchange of tax information to fight evasion
A top world economic group has called for the creation of a global system to automatically funnel financial information about individuals and companies from countries where their earnings and investments are located to jurisdictions where they might owe taxes.  

Edward Snowden: Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped
“Journalists should ask a specific question: since these programs began operation shortly after September 11th, how many terrorist attacks were prevented SOLELY by information derived from this suspicionless surveillance that could not be gained via any other source? Then ask how many individual communications were ingested to achieve that, and ask yourself if it was worth it. Bathtub falls and police officers kill more Americans than terrorism, yet we've been asked to sacrifice our most sacred rights for fear of falling victim to it.”  

INCREASING CHANCE OF FLARES
The magnetic field of sunspot AR1775 is growing more complex, increasing the chance of an eruption. NOAA forecasters estimate a 20% chance of M-class solar flares on June 19th. Meanwhile on the farside of the sun, an un-numbered active region is seething with activity, and appears capable of significant eruptions.  

SARS Virus Variant MERS Spreading from Middle East
Thirty-three people are dead from MERS, a coronavirus that the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling a “threat to the entire world”. MERS, for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, is a newly discovered virus that causes severe respiratory infection.There have been 58 laboratory-confirmed cases world-wide since the virus was discovered last September. Saudi Arabia claims about half of all cases of MERS. Some 30 people have died. Alarm bells are not over what has been MERS has done, but for what it has the potential to do.  

New 'Embryonic' Subduction Zone Found
"What we have detected is the very beginnings of an active margin -- it's like an embryonic subduction zone," Dr Duarte said. "Significant earthquake activity, including the 1755 quake which devastated Lisbon, indicated that there might be convergent tectonic movement in the area. For the first time, we have been able to provide not only evidences that this is indeed the case, but also a consistent driving mechanism."  

Report: Kim Jong Un Hands Copies of 'Mein Kampf' to Top Officers
A report from New Focus International, a North Korean news organization that runs underground to avoid the scrutiny of the tyrannical government, senior government officials got copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf for Kim Jong Un’s birthday in January. Only a few copies were handed out, since most books are banned in the country; such gifts are called “hundred-copy books” in North Korea.  

BREAKING NEWS! Millions of Protestors in Rio de Janeiro Brazil
At this time, we are unsure on what is going on in Brazil, but the mainstream media isn't reporting this. Something is up. All we have on this breaking news story is this photograph and the video of the protestors in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.  

Obama Says Bernanke Has Stayed at Fed ‘Longer Than He Wanted’
President Barack Obama said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has stayed in his post “longer than he wanted,” one of the clearest signals the central bank chief will leave when his current term expires next year. “Ben Bernanke’s done an outstanding job,” Obama said...when asked about nominating him for another term subject to Senate approval. “He’s already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to.”  

Syria rebels 'beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs' as fears grow over Islamist atrocities Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news
Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities committed by Islamic extremists.  

Police arrest dozens in raids across Turkey after protests
Police raided addresses across Turkey on Tuesday and detained dozens of people after nearly three weeks of anti-government protests, local media reported. State media TRT said 25 people had been detained in the capital Ankara, 13 in Eskisehir to the west and "many" in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul. A police source confirmed the operation and said: "For now, only provocateurs will be taken for questioning."  

Nicaragua shook by 5.4-magnitude earthquake
Nicaragua’s Pacific coast continues to shake, rattle and roll. At 9:12 on Monday morning another 5.4-magnitude quake was registered 61 kilometers off the coast of Puerto Sandino, León. No damage or injuries were reported.  

India floods: Death toll rises amid heavy rain
The death toll from flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain in northern India has risen to 70, media reports say. At least 45 people have died in Uttarakhand state, while flood-related deaths have also been reported in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Over 150 buildings in Uttarakhand have been damaged, and at least one building washed away.  

Afghans take nationwide security lead from Nato
Nato has handed over security for the whole of Afghanistan for the first time since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. At a ceremony in Kabul, President Hamid Karzai said that from Wednesday "our own security and military forces will lead all the security activities". Observers say the best soldiers in the Afghan army are up to the task but there are lingering doubts about some.

Israel: Iran's New President will Continue Nuclear Quest
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Ryan Jones
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Israeli experts continue to caution and erroneously placated West that Iran's new president will press forward with his nation's nuclear arms program. His track record proves as much.

From the US to Europe to Russia, the international community has breathed a collective sigh of relief over the election of Hasan Rohani as Iran's new president, hailing the bearded cleric as a "moderate" leader.

But few seem to remember that Rohani previously served as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator during the term of former President Mohammed Khatami. It's true that between 2003-2005 Rohani halted Iran's uranium enrichment program, but it's also true that he started it right back up again once the immediate threat of US military intervention had passed.

That's right - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not, as many have wrongly come to believe, the originator of Iran's defiant nuclear program. In fact, none of these politicians are more than advisers when it comes to such important matters of state. Iran's nuclear program, and even who gets elected as president, is all ultimately under the control Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini and his Guardian Council.

What that means is that Iran's nuclear program will continue if Khameini says it will, and Rohani has no power to stop it, assuming he even wanted to. And that is a pretty big assumption to make, considering the man's past remarks and actions.

In 2004, Rohani advocated accelerating Iran's nuclear program to the point where the international community would have no choice but to accept it as a fact of life, as had previously happened with Pakistan.

"Rohani is a dyed-in-the-wool Khomeinist and part of the consensus on Iranian nuclear energy, which is a code word for nuclear weapons," explained Ze’ev Maghen, an Iran scholar at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, in an interview with the Times of Israel

Nor is Rohani necessarily any friendlier toward Israel than his predecessor. In his first public address since winning the election, Rohani asserted that international sanctions against Iran had been imposed in service to Israel.

According to Maghen, Rohani is every bit as hostile toward Israel as Ahmadinejad, he simply has better style.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to remind everyone that Rohani had only won the election because the ayatollahs of the Guardian Council had allowed him to, meaning Rohani must, like Ahmadinejad before him, hold views that fall in line with the ayatollahs' agenda.

"We are not deluding ourselves," Netanyahu said at Sunday's cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "We need to remember that the Iranian ruler at the outset disqualified candidates who were not in line with his extreme world view, and from among those whom he did allow, the one seen as least identified with the regime was elected. But we are still speaking about someone who calls Israel the 'great Zionist Satan.'"

First European & NATO Heavy Arms for Syrian Rebels. Russian Reprisal Expected
Jun 18th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

NATO and a number of European governments, most significantly the UK, have started airlifting heavy weapons to the Syrian rebels poised in Aleppo to fend off a major Syrian army offensive, according to debkafile’s exclusive military sources. They disclose that the first shipments were landed Monday night, June 17, and early Tuesday in Turkey and Jordan. They contained anti-air and tank missiles as well as recoilless 120 mm cannons mounted on jeeps. From there, they were transferred to rebel forces in southern Syria and Aleppo in the northwest.

Our sources report that the first weapons reached rebel-held positions in Aleppo early Tuesday. More than 2,000 Hizballah troops are standing by to enter the decisive contest between Assad’s army and the opposition for control of Syria’s second most important city.

The hardware for the rebels is coming in from three sources:

1. NATO stores in Europe, which have been filling up in the past year with arms evacuated from Afghanistan. These weapons have been in operational use and are not new.
2. The Libyan black market.
3. The Balkan black market, chiefly Serbia and Montenegro.
Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad cautioned Europe it would pay the price for delivering arms to rebel forces in Syria. In an interview to in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he said: “If the Europeans deliver weapons, the backyard of Europe will become terrorist…”

The volume of the new arms airlift to the Syrian rebels may be estimated by the number of airfreight flights from Libya to Turkey:  27 aircraft landings were counted in the last few days, according to our intelligence sources.

This major Western policy reversal on the arming of the Syrian opposition – combined with the Obama administration’s decision last week to provide the rebels with military aid - was graphically registered in the glum miens of Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin at their meeting Monday on the first day of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. Beyond exchanging bare courtesies, neither concealed the deep rift between them on Syria – even in the presence of reporters and TV cameras.
Tuesday, the Group of Eight had its work cut out to formulate a Syrian item in its final communiqué that would be acceptable to all seven plus the Russian president. However, in Syria itself, all the signs portend the prolongation of the conflict: Russia is expected to respond to Western arms supplies to the rebels by ramping up its own military assistance to the Assad regime.
The word from Moscow Tuesday was that if the West does try to impose a no-fly zone over Syria, Russian flights will continue, in defiance of any such restrictions.