Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Terrorists ‘Aim to Hit Israeli, Jewish Targets Worldwide’ in Coming Weeks
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsTimes of Israel
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

Israeli and Jewish targets all over the world are likely to be sought out by terrorist organizations in the coming weeks, the Israeli government’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau warned in strikingly strident tones on Monday, listing dozens of countries where it said it had “concrete” indications of a terrorist threat. 

It cited concerns about terrorist acts timed to coincide with the forthcoming Rosh Hashana (New Year), Yom Kippur and Succot festivals, and also said that the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US was likely to be “a favored period” for al-Qaeda and other global jihadist groups to attempt to carry out acts of terrorism. 

Iran and Hezbollah, it warned, were continuing their “global terror campaign” against Israeli and Jewish targets. It noted that Iran remained bent on avenging alleged Israeli responsibility for the killing of Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh in a Damascus car-bombing in 2008, and the deaths of three Iranian nuclear scientists.

It said its information indicated that Israeli businessmen and ex-government officials were prime potential targets for assassination and/or kidnapping.

With all that in mind, the bureau reconfirmed that Israelis are barred altogether from travel to Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, where the “concrete” terror threat was “very high.”

In addition, it ordered Israelis not to travel to Sudan, Somalia, Algeria, Djibouti, Mauritania, Libya and Tunisia, and to leave these countries immediately if they were there, because of a similarly “very high” terror threat. Where Tunisia was concerned, it underlined what it said were the “threats to carry out attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets.”

The unusually shrill and widespread alert included an order to Israelis not to travel to the Sinai Peninsula, because of the chaotic situation in Egypt. The Sinai’s Red Sea resorts are a traditionally popular holiday destination for Israelis, especially at this time of year. The advisory noted that Sinai was off limits not only because of the general Egyptian disorder and a series of recent attacks in the Sinai, however, but also because of “information on the intention to carry out further attacks.”

Using only slightly less urgent language, the bureau, part of the National Security Council under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office, ordered Israelis to “avoid visiting” the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt and Qatar, where it cited what it called a “basic” terrorist threat. Israel maintains peace agreements with both Jordan and Egypt, and the warning underlines what the bureau called “the complex security realities” in nations adjacent to Israel.

The bureau also told Israelis to postpone nonessential visits to Turkey, Oman and Morocco, because of “ongoing potential threats.”

Slightly further afield, it cited “very high” terror threats in Afghanistan, parts of southern Thailand, parts of the southern Philippines, east Senegal, India’s Kashmir province, northern Nigeria, parts of Kenya, and Chechnya. Israel were not to travel to any of those areas, and to leave immediately if they were there, it ordered.

The advisory also specified a “high” terror threat in Indonesia, Burkina-Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo, Mali, Malaysia and Pakistan, telling Israelis not to go there and urging them to leave as soon as possible if they were there now.

The bureau’s warning also specified concerns about terror threats to Israeli “business targets” worldwide, and especially in Africa, “in the wake of the exposure of a terrorist infrastructure in Nigeria over the past year.”

Generally, it urged Israelis traveling worldwide to take extra precautions, such as avoiding unexpected meetings or out of the way places, and to change regular travel routes.

Sun Fires Solar Storm Directly At Earth
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily Newsspace.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The sun unleashed a powerful storm early Tuesday morning (Aug. 20), sending an enormous cloud of superheated particles rocketing toward Earth.

The solar eruption, known as acoronal mass ejection (CME), occurred at 4:24 a.m. EDT (0824 GMT) Tuesday and blasted billions of tons of solar particles toward Earth at a mind-boggling speed of 2 million mph (3.3 million km/h).

“Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 570 miles per second, which is a fairly typical speed for CMEs,” NASA officials wrote in an update today. NASA’s twin Stereo spacecraft and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, operated by NASA and the European Space Agency, captured photos of the solar storm from space.

The particles ejected by Earth-directed CMEs typically take two or three days to reach our planet, at which point they can trigger geomagnetic storms that can disrupt radio communications, GPS signals and power grids.

However, Tuesday’s blast doesn’t appear to have too much disruptive potential.

“In the past, geomagnetic storms caused by CMEs of this strength have usually been mild,” NASA officials wrote.

CMEs that hit Earth can also ramp up the auroras, also known as the northern and southern lights. In fact, an enhanced auroral display may be on tap tonight and tomorrow for some skywatchers, thanks to a CME that erupted on Saturday (Aug. 17).

The cloud from this CME is not expected to slam directly into Earth, but our planet will likely cruise through the cloud’s wake after it passes by, experts said.

Second Round of Israeli - Palestinian Talks in Secret
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Peace Process

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held their second round of talks Tuesday in secret. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni who leads to Israel team said that it is necessary to keep the talks far from the media in order to build mutual trust. She predicted there would be "dramatic decisions in the end," and lamented the hard-line parties in the government coalition  who objected to a two-state solution were making her task more difficult.

Salvation
Aug 21st, 2013
CommentaryThe Bible
Categories: Bible Salvation

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7).

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47).

Reported Syrian Gas Attack Killing Hundreds After First U.S. - Trained Rebel Incursion from Jordan
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Syrian opposition activists report between 200 and 650 dead and hundreds more wounded in a poison gas strike by Bashar Assad’s forces on rebel-held areas of eastern Damascus. They claim nerve gas canisters were dropped by Syrian Air Force fighter planes which were seen flying over the area after the attack, the most extensive reported till now. Their claim has not been verified. The regime denied the accusation, saying there was “no truth whatsoever” in reports that chemical gas was used near Damascus, and maintaining over state television that the Syrian army was conducting a conventional attack on rebel positions south and east of Damascus.
debkafile reports exclusively that Assad is acting to counter the first organized incursion of US-trained Syrian rebels from Jordan into southern Syria. The first group of 250 rebels, trained in special operations tactics by US and Jordanian instructors, entered Syria Saturday, Aug. 17, armed with weapons of Russian provenance supplied by the US and Saudi Arabia.
They are fighting under US and Jordanian commanders based in the Hashemite Kingdom.
A second group of 300 fighters crossed into Syria from Jordan Monday.

They are linking up with local rebel groups chosen from amongst those with no ties with the jihadist Jabhat al-Nusra (Al Qaeda in Syria).
According to our military sources, the rebel units are advancing at speed along the Syrian-Israeli border. They have forced the Syrian brigades posted there into retreating from positions inside a strip of 1-25 kilometers from the border, and captured the villages of Raihaniya, Breiqa and Beer Ajam.
This tactic has moved the Syrian army back from the area opposite the Israeli Golan, and started marking out a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces in the Horan province.
DEBKA’s military sources report that additional Syrian rebel forces are standing ready in Jordan to cross into Syria. The incoming forces will then start extending the nascent buffer zone northward towards Deraa (fountainhead of the Syrian uprising in 2011) and east toward Jabal Druze.

This Jordan-based rebel offensive was launched shortly after Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, visited US forces in Jordan and inaugurated the underground US war room near Amman for commanding the operation in Syria.
Syrian ruler Bashar Assad has more than once declared that if the Syrian capital Damascus came under threat, he would resort to chemical warfare and the entire Middle East including Israel would go up in flames. For now, his army is fighting to keep the rebels from taking control of southern Syria.

Let the Headlines Speak
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Fukushima alert level rise 'significant'
The increase of the severity level of a radioactive water leak at the Fukushima plant is being regarded as a "significant" rise in Japan. The leak was first classified as level one, but has now been upgraded to level three of a possible seven on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.  

Arab perceptions of U.S. weakness may lead to unlikely new alliances with Israel
Israeli generals and politicians lament the increasingly widespread perception in the Arab Middle East of a weak and vacillating United States that is losing much of its influence and sway. For Israel, they say, a diminished America is very bad news.  

Atlantic Ocean Floor Unexpectedly Pumping Iron
The oceanic iron cloud spreads for more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) across the Atlantic from west of Angola, Africa, to northeast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The iron-rich waters flow 1,500 to 3,500 meters (4,921 – 11,482 feet) beneath the surface of the ocean. The complete extent and shape of the iron plume remains to be discovered.  

Al-Jazeera America Opens with Endorsements from McCain, Hillary
McCain recently suggested that he may consider voting for Clinton, despite her role in the Benghazi terror attack scandal, if she won her party's nomination and ended up facing Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in the 2016 presidential contest. Multiple images of President Barack Obama showed up in the montage, as did an image of Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.  

Report: NSA’s Broad Reach Covers 75 Percent of ALL U.S. Internet Traffic
The broad reach of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance network has the ability to cover roughly 75 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic, the Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday. The alarming report suggests the agency’s digital spying capabilities are even more encompassing than officials have publicly disclosed.  

No, This Isn’t a UFO — It’s Eerie Footage of One of the Government’s Newest Weapons
The F-35B recently completed its first vertical landing at night on the USS Wasp. When visualized through a night vision lens, the F-35B looked just like what you might expect of a Hollywood-stylized UFO.  

Report: NSA’s Broad Reach Covers 75 Percent of ALL U.S. Internet Traffic
The broad reach of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance network has the ability to cover roughly 75 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic, the Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday. The alarming report suggests the agency’s digital spying capabilities are even more encompassing than officials have publicly disclosed.  

Ritualistic animal killings investigated by police
The “deeply disturbing” incidents all took place in Devon’s Teign Valley, an area which has be dogged by rumours of satanic slaughter for years. They follow a number of pony mutilations nearby on Dartmoor.  

ANOTHER CME IS ON THE WAY
As Earth passes through the wake of one CME, which did little to stir geomagnetic activity on Aug. 20th, another CME is on the way. NOAA forecasters expect a coronal mass ejection hurled into space yesterday by an erupting magnetic filament to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Aug. 23rd.  

Russia to create ‘cyber-troops’ – Ministry of Defense
The main tasks of these ‘troops’ include monitoring and processing external information, as well as fighting cyber threats, said Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Oleg Ostapenko, as cited by RIA Novosti news agency.  

Egypt PM says country can survive without US military aid
Egypt’s interim prime minister said it would be a mistake on the part of the US to halt its substantial military aid to Cairo, while indicating in a defiant tone that Egypt would "live with the circumstances" if Washington decided to cease aid.  

Lyme Disease Far More Common Than Previously Known
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 300,000 Americans are getting Lyme disease every year, and the toll is growing. "It confirms what we've thought for a long time: This is a large problem," Dr. Paul Mead tells Shots. "The bottom line is that by defining how big the problem is we make it easier for everyone to figure out what kind of resources we have to use to address it."  

Facial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance
The federal government is making progress on developing a surveillance system that would pair computers with video cameras to scan crowds and automatically identify people by their faces... The Department of Homeland Security tested a crowd-scanning project called the Biometric Optical Surveillance System — or BOSS — last fall after two years of government-financed development.  

Syrian opposition: Over 50 killed in chemical attack
Local activists say dozens killed in heavy bombardment of rebel-held areas around Damascus, claim chemical agents used by Assad's army  

Al Jazeera launches US television news service
Al Jazeera is launching a new TV news channel in the United States. Al Jazeera America will be available in almost 48 million US households, offering 14 hours of news each day. The new network replaces Current TV, the cable television network founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, which the Qatar-owned broadcaster acquired in January 2013 for around $500m (£308m).  

EU states debate response to Egypt's deadly crisis
The EU's top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, has offered to return to Egypt to help mediate a political solution to the crisis in the country. "I am more than willing to go back... if they wish me to," she said. She was speaking to reporters in Brussels ahead of an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers, who will discuss whether to continue with a 5bn-euro (£4.3bn) aid package to Egypt.  

Muslim Brotherhood taking out rage on Christian churches, businesses
The Christian groups said the Brotherhood torched at least 40 churches in eight provinces. “It’s Christians in Egypt who pay the price to overthrow tyranny,” Antoine Adel, spokesman for the Maspero Youth Union, said. The Interior Ministry has confirmed that Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi were targeting churches.  

Spanish Bad Loans Re-Spike To 50-Year High
As European stock and bond markets suffer their worst 2 days in 2 months, Spanish bad loans (after a very brief pause in the exponential surge that also provided hope that the worst was over) have re-surged to a new all-time record high. At 11.61% of total lending, bad loans are now at their highest since records began in 1962.  

Syria conflict: 'Chemical attacks' near Damascus
Chemical weapons attacks have killed dozens on the outskirts of Damascus, Syrian opposition activists claim. Rockets with toxic agents were launched at the suburbs of the Ghouta region early on Wednesday as part of a major bombardment on rebel forces, they say.  

Japan's Fukushima nuclear crisis deepens, China expresses 'shock'
apan's nuclear crisis escalated to its worst level in two years on Wednesday, with its nuclear watchdog saying it feared more tanks were leaking contaminated water and China expressing its shock over the disaster. Japan's nuclear regulator also said it feared the disaster exceeded the ability of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, to cope "in some respects".  

Egyptian court could free Mubarak as crisis deepens
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak could be freed from jail after a court reviews his case on Wednesday, potentially stirring more unrest in a country where army-backed authorities are hunting down his Muslim Brotherhood foes. The court will convene at the Cairo prison where Mubarak is being held, judicial sources said, and review a petition from his lawyer demanding the leader overthrown in a 2011 revolt be freed.  

Dempsey: Syrian rebels wouldn't back US interests
The Obama administration is opposed to even limited U.S. military intervention in Syria because it believes rebels fighting the Assad regime wouldn't support American interests if they were to seize power right now, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote to a congressman in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Kansas Public School Promotes 5 Pillars of Islam
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsThe Washington Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Parents in Wichita, Kan., were shocked to learn a giant wall display inside their children’s elementary school was erected to promote the Five Pillars of Islam.

The display was reportedly part of a religion component being taught at Minneha Core Knowledge Magnet School, a school district spokesperson told Fox News’ Todd Starnes.

“The bulletin board that originally caused the concern does represent the 5 Pillars of Islam — in a historical context of their studies,” the spokesperson said.

“There is also a painting of ‘The Last Supper’ hanging in the school as part of the study of art and the Renaissance period,” the spokesperson added.

Israel Stays Clear of Egyptian Crisis, Fearing Russian Military’s Return to a Second Border After Sy
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – not Israel - are lobbying the West for support of the Egyptian military. Their campaign is orchestrated by Saudi Director of Intelligence Prince Bandar Bin Sultan - not an anonymous senior Israeli official as claimed by the New York Times, debkafile’s Middle East sources report. 

The prince is wielding the Russian threat (Remember the Red Peril?) as his most potent weapon for pulling Washington and Brussels behind Egypt’s military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and away from recriminations for his deadly crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

The veteran Saudi diplomat’s message is blunt: Failing a radical Western about-turn in favor of the Egyptian military, Cairo will turn to Moscow. In no time, Russian arms and military experts will again be swarming over Egypt, 41 years after they were thrown out by the late president Anwar Sadat in 1972.

Implied in Bandar’s message is the availability of Saudi financing for Egyptian arms purchases from Moscow. Therefore, if President Barack Obama yields to pressure and cuts off military aid to post-coup Cairo, America’s strategic partnership with this important Arab nation may go by the board.

It is not clear to what extent Russian President Vladimir Putin is an active party in the Saudi drive on behalf of the Egyptian military ruler. On July 31, during his four-hour meeting with Prince Bandar, he listened to a Saudi proposition for the two countries to set up an economic-military-diplomatic partnership as payment for Russian backing for Cairo.

Last Friday, Aug. 16, Putin convened his elite military and intelligence chiefs for an extraordinary meeting in the Kremlin to discuss the Saudi proposition. No decisions were reported - only a suggestive quote from Putin saying that the session was called to “discuss the situation in Egypt and take the necessary steps to the put Russian military facilities at the Egyptian military disposal.” He added that “Russia will arrange for joint military exercises with the Egyptian army.”

Both notions were left dangling without elaboration, a lure without a commitment.

The New York Times of Sunday and Monday (Aug. 18-19) pushed an account of Israel’s diplomats suggesting they were fanning out across Western capitals to urge them to support Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. El-Sisi despite his suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood, with the argument: “At this point, it’s army or anarchy.”

This entire conception doesn’t hold water. From Israel’s perspective, the Bandar initiative if it takes off would lead to the undesirable consequence of a Russian military presence in Egypt as well as Syria. This would exacerbate an already fragile - if not perilous situation – closing in on Israel from the south as well as from the north.

The Israeli and Egyptian armies strictly limit their cooperation to counterterrorist action in Sinai against al Qaeda, Salafist and other terrorists threatening both countries and the Suez Canal international waterway. Even then, the IDF does not go beyond responding to Egyptian requests in cases of mutual security concern. Israel has absolutely no involvement in Gen. El-Sisi’s war on the Muslim Brotherhood. 

On the diplomatic front, Israel’s assets barely hold their own against the hostile Palestinian propaganda permeating Western capitals - least of all come up with the strength and skills for orchestrating a campaign on behalf of Egypt, as the NYT seems to believe.

Indeed, Israel has been extremely wary of any association with the Egyptian defense minister’s domestic affairs out of the cold calculation. If it suited his political and domestic agenda, the general might easily turn around and accuse Israel of unwarranted meddling as his fall guy.

On Saturday, Aug. 17, El-Sisi remarked “This is no time to attack the US and Israel, because our first priority is to disband the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Jerusalem found this remark alarming rather than comforting, noting that he made no promises about the future.

Islam in America: Mosques Popping Up Across U.S.
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsCBN News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

New mosques are popping up across the United States.

Virginia Beach, Va., is now poised for its first mosque. A city planning commission has voted for the Crescent Community Center project to go forward in a rural part of the city.

In neighboring Maryland, the government of Turkey is building a $100 million mega mosque. The Turkish-American Culture and Civilization Center will cover 15 acres in the town of Lanham.

Earlier this year, Turkey's Islamist Prime Minister attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the mosque.

Meanwhile, the Clarion Project reports that about 1,200 mosques are now operating in the U.S., and almost 80 percent of them were built within the last 12 years.

The majority of those mosques are led by Wahhabi clerics - from the same branch of Islam that Osama bin Laden followed.

Erekat: the U.S. Guaranteed All Our Preconditions will be Met
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;Peace Process

The Palestinian Authority (PA agreed to resume peace talks with Israel without preconditions? Not according to chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Erekat revealed, in an interview with the Nazareth-based Arabic language A-Shams radio station on Tuesday, that the PA would not have returned to the negotiating table with Israel had it not received a letter of assurances from the United States, guaranteeing its main negotiating preconditions.

Erekat said in the interview that the U.S. had assured the PA in writing that talks would recognize the indefensible pre-1967 borders as the basis of a Palestinian state, would deal with all core issues (Jerusalem, refugees, borders, security and water), would take place within six  to nine months and would not allow for any interim solutions before a final status agreement is signed.

For years, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas imposed preconditions on talks with Israel, including a demand that Israel release terrorists who were jailed before 1993, freeze construction in Judea and Samaria (after refusing to come to the table when Israel froze construction in 2010) and even present a map of the future Palestinian state before any negotiations take place.

Ahead of this round of talks, Israel agreed to a release of 104 terrorists, but rejected the other two preconditions. Israeli officials have claimed that Abbas had agreed to drop most of his preconditions before this round of talks began.

Erekat also told the radio station that the European Union’s new guidelines which boycott Israeli entities operating beyond the Green Line were basically engineered by the EU as part of a deal reached with Europe so that the PA would resume negotiations.

He said that the PA was currently talking with Latin American countries, China, Russia, Japan and the African Union to adopt similar sanctions toward Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

“This is an accomplishment,” he told A-Shams. “We would not have returned to the table without a written document confirming these points.”

Erekat admitted that in order to ensure Israel’s agreement to release 104 terrorists who were jailed before the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, the PA had to commit not to unilaterally turn to the UN for recognition as a state during the negotiation period.

“It was a heavy price to pay, but a reasonable one,” he told the radio station. “Every country that respects itself wages battles for the freedom of its sons.”

He stressed that if Israel fails to release all 104 terrorists, the PA would be free to turn to the UN. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni recently said that the terrorists would be freed only if progress is made in the negotiations.

If true, Erekat’s comments in the interview mark the first time since the talks restarted that any of the sides reveals the American guarantees it received in order to return to the negotiating table. No Israeli officials have confirmed or denied Erekat's remarks.

So far, details of the discussions between the sides have not been revealed, apparently consistent with a request from Washington last week for a strict news blackout.

On Tuesday evening, the sides met at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem. The meeting was described as “serious”.

The late evening meeting, which ended shortly before midnight, was the second meeting of the day between the sides. Earlier Tuesday, a senior PA official revealed to AFP on condition of anonymity that the negotiators met secretly in Jerusalem.

Egypt: We're Losing Patience With Turkey
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Egypt warned Turkey on Tuesday that it was losing its patience, after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of being behind the removal of former President Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian military.

The state news agency MENA quoted Egyptian ministers as having said that Erdogan's comments aimed to divide Egyptians.

"The cabinet stresses that Egypt's patience is wearing thin," the ministers were quoted as having said.

"Egypt does not share others' enmities, and is not about to go in search of a new identity. Its Arab and Islamic nature is obvious," they added.

In Israel, an official in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office told AFP, "These comments by the Turkish prime minister are nonsense."

Erdogan told members of his AKP party that “Israel is behind the coup in Egypt, we have evidence.”

He reportedly cited an unnamed French intellectual who he claims said in 2011 that the Muslim Brotherhood won’t be in power even if they are elected because “democracy is not the ballot box.”

Erdogan stressed that the intellectual was Jewish, the implications of which are consistent with a long string of anti-Semitic comments and conspiracy theories issued by the Islamist Prime Minister, whose party is sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The White House also condemned Erdogan's claim. Spokesman Josh Earnest said his comments were "offensive and unsubstantiated and wrong."

Last month, Erdogan condemned the military intervention that toppled Morsi as an enemy of democracy.

He chastised the West for failing to brand the ouster a coup.

Al Jazeera America ‘First Born Child’ of the Left’s Marriage to Islam
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsCanada Free Press - Judi MacCleod
Categories: Commentary;Contemporary Issues

Shameful marriage of Islam to the far left has produced a monster child: Propaganda monster called Al Jazeera TV

While unsuspecting societies were fighting Same Sex Marriage in the West,  vowing ‘til’ death do us part’, the far left and Islam had run off and eloped.

The far left and its compliant mainstream media contingent reached out a hand to bring Al Jazeera all the way from Doha, Qatar headquarters into American front rooms—starting this afternoon.

Al Jazeera America begins broadcasting today.  The network once called ‘Osama bin Laden’s network’  is being sold to American masses as “14 hours of straight news everyday, hard-hitting documentaries, correspondences in oft-overlooked corners of the country.  And fewer commercials than any other news channel.” (New York Times, August 18, 2013)

The ‘bin Laden network’ is not a far stretch from an Obama one, and many wonder how long it will take Obama to replace his late night show appearances with Al Jazeera.

In hard economic times, Al Jazeera is launching with a staff of 900, including 400 newsroom employees.

They’re making it sound virtuous that they only devote six minutes per hour for commercials:

“It has cast its lower commercial load—about six minutes an hour, compared with more than 15 minutes an hour on another (sic) news channels—as a perk for viewers.  “Not cluttering the news with commercials,” Mr. Al Shihabi said after a studio tour in New York on Thursday. (NYT)

“It sounds like something a journalism professor would imagine.  In actuality, it is Al Jazeera America, the culmination of a long-held dream among the leaders of Qatar, the Middle Eastern emirate that already reaches most of the rest of the world with its Arabic-and-English news channels.  The new channel, created specifically for consumers in the United States, will join cable and satellite lineups on Tuesday afternoon.

“Al Jazeera acquired Current TV for $500 million in January to start an American channel, after trying unsuccessfully for years to win cable and satellite carriage for its English-language international news channel.”

Thank you, Al Gore.

Thank God cable/satellite licenses don’t allow live streaming of its programs on the Internet.

Now that the Egyptian government closed Al Jazeera after 22 staffers quit in disgust over its pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias, you can safely count on Al Jazeera America’s first broadcast bucking up the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

“For the past three days, Egypt’s three state television channels have broadcast under a banner in English reading “Egypt fighting terrorism”. (AFP, Aug. 20, 2013)

“They report around the clock on the latest clashes between Morsi supporters and security forces that have claimed nearly 900 lives since Wednesday.

“Between broadcasts, patriotic songs play over footage of the armed forces carrying out military exercises and showing kindness to civilians.

“A piece entitled “The Black History of the Brotherhood Organisation” purports to show the group’s violent history.

“It includes archive footage of Brotherhood members, as well as the attempted murder of president Gamal Abdul Nasser and the assassination of president Anwar Sadat by Islamists.”

Who ever would have thought back in 2008 when the Mainstream Media jumped into the tank with Obama that Egypt would kick al Jazeera out of Cairo and the U. S. would welcome it with open arms?

The list of media personalities who have thrown in their lot with the Arab network includes John Siegenthaler, David Shuster, Soledad O’Brien, Antonio Mora, Joie Chen, Michael Viqueira and Ali Velshi.

But al Jazeera’s triumphant march into American homes really got its start from former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) editor in chief Tony Burman, who, in taking on a top post at news network Al Jazeera English, worked to expand “Al-Jazeera’s vast audience reach into important new areas of the world, most notably North America. (Canada Free Press, May 16, 2008)

“In October 2007, Burman received the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s Gordon Sinclair Award for lifetime achievement in broadcast journalism. In October 2009, Arabian Business magazine named him the second most influential non-Arab in the Arab world. Then, in November 2009, the Canadian Expat Association also announced that he had been voted the third most influential Canadian living abroad, behind Michael J. Fox and Wayne Gretzky. (Wikipedia)

Al Jazeera launched in Canada in 2010 and is watched over Bell TV, Rogers and Vidéotron.

Meanwhile, the shameful marriage of Islam to the far left has produced a monster child: a full-steam-ahead propaganda monster called Al Jazeera TV in the front rooms of America.

Airman Punished for Opposing Gay Marriage Files Complaint
Aug 21st, 2013
Daily NewsTod Starnes - Fox News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

An airman who was relieved of his duties after he told his commanding officer that he could not support gay marriage has filed a formal complaint with the military alleging he is the victim of religious discrimination.

Senior Master Sgt. Monk, a 19-year veteran of the Air Force was punished after he disagreed with his commander when she wanted to severely reprimand an instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality.

“I was relieved of my position because I don’t agree with my commander’s position on gay marriage,” Monk told Fox News. “We’ve been told that if you publicly say that homosexuality is wrong, you are in violation of Air Force policy.”

The Liberty Institute filed a formal complaint against Major Elisa Valenzuela  on behalf of the Christian airman.

“Major Valenzuela asked SMSgt. Monk if he could agree with her belief that openly voicing a religious or moral opposition to same-sex marriage is discrimination,” the official complaint reads. “Because of SMSgt. Monk’s sincerely held religious belief, he could not agree with the major. As a direct result, Major Valenzuela immediately relieved SMSgt. Monk from his First Sergeant duties and reassigned him to a different unit.”

Monk was also banned from returning to his unit’s building and required special permission to retrieve his personal belongings.

Liberty Institute attorney Michael Berry said the major’s actions are a violation of the law.

“Your conduct constitutes unlawful discrimination,” Berry wrote in a letter to the major. “According to Department of Defense Directive 1020.02, unlawful discrimination against individuals or groups based on religion is contrary to good order and discipline, counterproductive to combat readiness and mission accomplishment, and shall not be condoned.”

A spokesperson for Lackland Air Force Base public affairs told Fox News Monk was not punished and that he was simply at the end of his assignment.

“They did have a disagreement, but supposedly, they agreed to disagree,” the spokesperson told Fox News. “But the wing commander said there was no punishment.

Monk has served as a first sergeant at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio since 2011. He recently returned from a deployment and discovered he had a new commander – an open lesbian.

“In one of our first meetings, she was talking about her promotion and she mentioned something about a benediction,” Monk told Fox News. “She said she wanted a chaplain but objected to one particular chaplain that she called a bigot because he preached that homosexuality is a sin.”

“She then said, ‘I don’t know what kind of people actually believe that kind of crap,’” Monk said, recalling the meeting. “I knew I was going to have a rough time in this unit and I would have to be very careful what I said.”

That moment came when Monk was called in to advise the commander on a disciplinary matter involving an Air Force instructor accused of making comments objecting to gay marriage.