Sound The Trumpet : What's New

Must Listen

Must Read

What Art Thinks

Pre-Millennialism

Today's Headlines

Sorry... Not Available

Locally Contributed...

Audio

Video

Special Interest

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Shamir Urges Calm Among Israelis
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir on Wednesday urged calm amid calls by Israelis for revenge against Arabs over the murder of the three teenagers.

"The evildoers who took the lives of Gilad, Eyal and Naftali must be caught and punished. Those who sent them must be persecuted but this should be done from the head,” he said. “Just as brutal murder is not a policy, so is revenge not a policy. The expressions of hate and violence must be uprooted, regardless of religion, race or political view. This erodes us and hurt us.”

Russian Army Wont be Ready to Intervene in Ukraine Before Mid - July
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsEuromaidan Press
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian soldier green men

The Russian military was ready to invade Ukraine in April but stopped short of doing so, Pavel Felgengauer, a leading independent military analyst in Moscow, says. Now it is not and probably won’t be until the middle of July at the earliest “regardless of what happens in Ukraine.

Felgengauer’s comments came in the course of a wide-ranging interview on Ekho Moskvy in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s decision to ask the Russian parliament to rescind its authorization for the use of force in Ukraine about where Moscow is now and what it is likely to do next.

Felgengauer began by suggesting that what is taking place in Ukraine and Russia resembles strategically “a matryoshka doll,” in which various layers are involved. “There are the separatists” who “in a military sense” are weaker than Kyiv and have lost to the Kyiv regime.” If no one else were involved, Ukraine would “liquidate them” in a month or two.

“But the Ukrainian forces are weaker than the Russian forces,” the independent Russian military analyst continues, and “Russia is weaker than the united West.” As a result, what is taking place is “a very complicated game” within and among these various levels.

Russia’s “strategic goal” is “now perfectly obvious: to transform what is taking place in Donetsk and Luhansk into a frozen conflict like Abkhazia or Transdniestria” by establishing a ceasefire, involving peacekeepers and observers, and thus “stabilizing the situation as it now exists.”

Such an outcome would give Moscow enormous advantages because it would leave it with “a serious lever” on Kyiv for a long time to come.

But getting to that point is “very complicated,” Felgengauer continued, not least of all because Kyiv and the West understand what Putin is trying to do and why. Kyiv doesn’t want to provoke Moscow, but it doesn’t want Moscow to succeed either. And the West is in much the same position.

Putin’s request that the Russian parliament rescind its authorization for the use of force is part and parcel of this game, he said. Kyiv wanted this as a confidence building measure, even though everyone knows that the Federation Council’s approval is unnecessary – Putin didn’t get it for Georgia in August 2008 – or can be secured instantly whenever he asks for it.

But at the same time, the analyst said, “right now Russia is not prepared for any serious actions in Ukraine. We were ready in April, and at the end of April in essence moved forward. Then we stopped.” Felgengauer added that he did “not know why” the order to invade did not come at that time.
When it didn’t, “demobilization took place.” Draftees were sent home, tactical battalions were shifted. “Now several of them have returned but,” he said he “thinks” that “before the middle of July or the end of the world soccer championship final Putin plans to attend there will not be any sharp actions” regardless of what takes place on the ground in Ukraine.

“The second half of July and August are the times of some risk, depending of course on how the situation in Ukraine will develop,” Felgengauer said, although he added that “in Moscow, of course, they would like to get through this peacefully” by “freezing the situation and retaining the leverage it would give the Kremlin on Kyiv.

Securing the necessary agreements, however, may not happen because the Ukrainian military is gaining in strength. It is integrating its various elements, identifying and appointing better commanders, and elaborating better strategy and tactics, he suggested. If Russia weren’t continuing to supply the secessionists, Kyiv would win.

But Moscow “will not agree to closing” the border or stopping the flow of arms and personnel from the Russian side, Felgengauer said. To do so would be to give up on its frozen conflict strategy, one that has worked well for some time elsewhere. This time may be different, however.

The Ukrainian side, the Moscow analyst continued, also views a ceasefire as important “because [Kyiv and its forces] are becoming stronger.” Time is thus on Ukraine’s side, although the time it needs to “put its house in order” may be longer than it has, especially given that Moscow shows every sign of continuing to interfere.

Rome will be Conquered Next, Says Leader of Islamic State
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, left, and an Isis flag

Isis demands all Muslims pledge obedience to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, left

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of the 'Islamic State' stretching across Iraq and Syria, has vowed to lead the conquest of Rome as he called on Muslims to immigrate to his new land to fight under its banner around the globe.

Baghdadi, who holds a PhD in Islamic studies, said Muslims were being targetted and killed from China to Indonesia. Speaking as the first Caliph, or commander of the Islamic faithful since the dissolution of the Ottoman empire, he called on Muslims to rally to his pan-Islamic state.

"Those who can immigrate to the Islamic State should immigrate, as immigration to the house of Islam is a duty," he said in an audio recording released on a website used by the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.

"Rush O Muslims to your state. It is your state. Syria is not for Syrians and Iraq is not for Iraqis. The land is for the Muslims, all Muslims.

"This is my advice to you. If you hold to it you will conquer Rome and own the world, if Allah wills."

Having claimed the title of "caliph", Baghdadi appealed to "judges and those who have military and managerial and service skills, and doctors and engineers in all fields."

He also called on jihadi fighters to escalate fighting in the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Sunday. "In this virtuous month or in any other month, there is no deed better than jihad in the path of Allah, so take advantage of this opportunity and walk the path of you righteous predecessors," he said. "So to arms, to arms, soldiers of the Islamic s, fight, fight."

In a reflection of the havoc wreaked the past month by the Sunni insurgency led by the group, the United Nations said more than 2,400 people were killed in Iraq in June, making it the deadliest month in the country in years.

Baghdadi's claims to control vast territority have yet to be tested by an Iraqi government counter attack. Many Muslim groups dispute his putative caliphate. However some experts fear his rise could transform the appeal of extremist Islam, partly by harassing social media to build a global following.

Hassan Hassan, an analyst at Abu Dhabi's Delma Institute, wrote that Baghdadi provided the most radical challenge since the emergence of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. "The whispers of support to a caliph in Afghanistan are now replaced by clear words and acts, amplified by social media," he said. "Jihadism has evolved significantly. It is no longer limited to narrow “elitists” who travel to distant countries to wage jihad. Today’s jihad is more sophisticated and individualised and can be waged everywhere."

The Sunni insurgents' advance, which has plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since US troops left in 2011 puts it up against avowed enemies in Shia areas.

Rabbi Lau Calls for Restraint Amid Tensions Over Murders
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau

Flash 90

Rabbi David Lau, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, on Wednesday called on Israelis to exercise restraint amid calls for revenge on Arabs over the murder of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas terrorists.

“The discourse about revenge is wrong morally, ethically and halakhically,” said Rabbi Lau.

"We have to trust that the security forces will do their job properly and not think at all about taking revenge which can lead the entire region down a dangerous path,” he added.

“Our revenge will be in the punishment of the murderers and in continuing the wonderful way of uniting hearts and strengthening the Jewish faith,” said the Chief Rabbi.

The comments come as an investigation continues into the abduction and murder of an Arab youth found Wednesday morning.

While there has been speculation that the youth was murdered by Jews as a possible act of revenge after the kidnapping murder of the three Jewish teens, there have also been reports that the abduction was carried out by Arabs and that the murder was an "honor killing" or another kind of criminal murder.

Now Feds Do Gunpoint Searches of Private Planes
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsWorld Net Daily
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Senator draws up plan to rein in Homeland Security, SWAT teams

Leo Hohmann is a freelance journalist and photographer working out of the Atlanta area. He has been a reporter and editor at several suburban newspapers in the Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, areas and also served a stint as managing editor of Triangle Business Journal in Raleigh, North Carolina.

BorderPatrolHeli

A U.S. senator is joining a fight against federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security who have been harassing small-time aviators who fly from one U.S. city to another – without ever venturing near an international border.

Documented abuses that have been reported include tracking pilots with military jets, detaining them at small airports for hours and searching their planes without a warrant.

The searches typically are conducted by armed agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol but the TSA and even local police SWAT teams working under the orders of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also have been involved.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., author of the original Pilot’s Bill of Rights in 2012, posted a draft of a proposed bill to his website on June 30 that would update that law with new protections against overzealous law-enforcement agencies.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has documented more than 50 cases of abuse – often involving heavily armed SWAT units conducting secret raids against independent pilots flying small planes from one city to another well within the nation’s interior.

Inhofe, a pilot and certified instructor with more than 11,000 hours of flight time, said he is working with the AOPA to solve the problem by updating the Pilot’s Bill of Rights, which was signed into law by President Obama in August 2012.

“This wasn’t even an issue in 2012, that we knew of,” said Ken Mead, general counsel for the APOA, which is based in Frederick, Maryland.

Of the 50 cases documented by the AOPA, Mead said not one resulted in an arrest.

“If someone has a planeload full of drugs we’re all for that. Go after them,” Mead told WND. “But you can’t just randomly stop someone. You have to have reasonable suspicion of a crime to stop someone and then you need probable cause to get a search warrant.”

But that’s not what happened in October 2012, when the association received the first call from a pilot, clearly shaken by his experience with Border Patrol.

“When that first pilot called in and told us what happened we looked at ourselves and asked ‘is this guy even telling the truth?’ Because it sounded so bizarre, cops surrounding his plane with dogs and ordering him out of the cockpit,” Mead said.

Then other reports started to trickle in that were just as disturbing.

“We started getting very isolated reports at first so you didn’t know what to make of them,” Mead said. “People would be landing and there would sometimes be a government plane coming in behind them, and other times no plane would follow behind them but they would be surrounded on the ground by police from all kinds of agencies, they would jump out of their SUVs with full body armor on, guns drawn, they approach the pilot, who at this point is scared to death, and they start asking questions.”

The AOPA soon realized that these were not isolated incidents. Something new was happening, a new policy was clearly put in place treating independent pilots with suspicion even if they were law-abiding citizens playing by all of the federal rules.

Craig Spence, vice president of operations and international affairs for AOPA, said once the organization started seeking out information from its members, it discovered that the random raids began around 2005 or 2006. They were rare at first, but started increasing in frequency in 2012.

After his initial investigation for AOPA, Spence discovered 45 member pilots had been targeted for the aggressive government searches, with the majority occurring after January 2012. The group started filing Freedom of Information requests to find out what was going on. The federal agencies were very uncooperative, stalling for up to six months and then responding with very little information that Spence said was vague and heavily redacted.

But local law enforcement agencies doing the bidding of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were more cooperative.

“What we found was that about 76 percent of these searches were done but SWAT units of predominantly local law enforcement upon the request by Border Patrol,” Spence said. “In one incident there was a total of 40 officers and 26 vehicles responding, all for a four-seater plane about the size of a Honda Civic.”

In another case, a man was flying en route to a Florida vacation with his family and he was met on the ground by a SWAT team.

“They ordered his kids out and surrounded them with dogs,” Mead said.

In most of the FOIA requests filed with local law enforcement agencies, the local sheriffs and police chiefs said they received a call from Customs and Border Patrol, which operates under Homeland Security, requesting assistance in searching an aircraft.

“They said they were acting on a request from Homeland Security and not knowing what they are up against,” Spence said. “Is it excessive? Yes. Is it egregious? Yes.”

The DHS did not immediately respond to WND requests for comment.

So the AOPA, which has 400,000 members, realized it was facing a serious threat to pilots’ freedom to fly. It aggressively started lobbying Congress and the Obama administration for changes.

Inhofe, a veteran pilot, was quick to respond. The jury is still out on the administration. Gil Kerlikowske took over as the new commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol about four months ago and met with AOPA officials on April 30, at which time Spence said he agreed to conduct a “top-down review” of the program. He’s agreed to hold off on any further raids until that study is completed, according to the AOPA’s assessment of the meeting.

“It was scaring the dickens out of our people and we felt it was intimidating and interfering with their freedom to fly, so we made a big deal out of it,” Mead said. “Under the new pilot Bill of Rights we have under consideration a provision that simply stated that you cannot stop these aircraft and sometimes detain people unless you have reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.”

The agencies conducting the searches typically give no reason to the pilot as to why his or her plane is being targeted.

Richard Rosenthal, a New York pilot and a civil rights attorney, said the legislation proposed by Inhofe is long overdue as the problem has been festering for years.

“They descend like a SWAT team, 15 to 20 agents, often from multiple agencies, and the waste of assets is remarkable, from all of the manpower to the F-16s and all the fuel they burn,” Rosenthal said. “It’s illegal, it’s a violation of civil rights, you’re not authorized to make the stop, you have no probable cause to make the search and it violates the Constitution.”

He said Border Patrol has claimed the right to conduct these searches and that they are lawfully conducted either with warrants or after consent is given to search without a warrant. But when agents approach with guns drawn, your inclination as a pilot is to give “consent” to whatever they “ask,” Rosenthal said.

“It’s intimidation. They detain the people, and realistically, 20 federal agents coming with guns drawn and saying we want to search your plane, is not exactly a voluntary request,” Rosenthal said. “There is no search warrant and in some cases there is no probable cause.”

Rosenthal said the raids have largely targeted small planes that fly between small airports, often called “pleasure planes.”

“You can fly for hours in the Midwest without talking to anybody, literally, you’re not near major airports. They’re targeting from my understanding pleasure planes. Pilots who didn’t talk to anybody, didn’t file a flight plan, because there’s no requirement to. I just get in my plane and go, so the government says we’re going to stop and search you, the only thing is there is no legal basis for it. These are pilots who were not violating any laws or doing anything they weren’t supposed to be doing. They got in their planes and flew.”

None of the 50 cases documented by AOPA from 2006 through early 2014 resulted in any arrests. But the Border Patrol told the AOPA that in the most recent one-year period they stopped 12 planes for searches and found evidence of laws being violated in four of those 12 cases. It provided no documents to prove those arrests nor did it say exactly what the charges were for.

Even if the charges were legitimate, four out of 12 is still not a very good record for a program based on dubious constitutional principles, in Rosenthal’s opinion.

“If they made 50 stops and in 48 of them they found major amounts of drugs and contraband, maybe you ask is there a way to do this legally, but to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars and find nothing, but hey, we trashed the Constitution, that is not a record I would be proud of,” he said.

He said ultimately Obama is responsible for what has become an abusive program, even though it was started under former the Republican administration of George W. Bush. Obama came in as a constitutional lawyer promising to clean up the abuses that occurred under Bush, but instead he expanded them.

“Bottom line is, the buck stops there,” Rosenthal said. “If Obama came out clearly and said ‘you’re wasting money on illegal searches and somebody’s going to lose their job if it doesn’t stop,’ then guess what? Somebody would get the message that this is unacceptable.”

Spence said he is cautiously optimistic that between the new legislation sponsored by Inhofe and the new commissioner at Border Patrol who is at least willing to study the issue, the problem can be solved.

“We’re not even close to saying ‘mission accomplished,’” he said.

Rosenthal is equally cautious. Even if the raids slow down, they have a “chilling effect” on pilots exercising their freedom to fly, he said.

“It would be one thing if these were planes coming over the border or flying near the border, but they’re in the middle of the country traveling between two U.S. cities and there’s no probable cause whatsoever. A few times I have landed and seen black SUVs, not knowing if it’s the government, and the first thing that pops into my mind is ‘Oh boy, am I going to be detained?’ I don’t know of a pilot who doesn’t now have a fear of that sort of thing, because there is no way to protect yourself from it.”

AOPA has an entire section on its website titled, “What to do if stopped by law enforcement,” under which it cites “a growing number of reports from law-abiding pilots stopped by armed federal agents on the ramp, AOPA has prepared a kneeboard checklist on how to handle the situation.”

NATO Uses Situation in Ukraine to Revive Alliance - Russian Envoy to NATO
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Voice of Russia
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Photo:RIA Novosti

NATO countries used the situation in Ukraine, to breathe "new life" into the alliance. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass by Russian permanent representative to NATO Alexander Grushko.

"If we talk about the essence of the processes, taking place in NATO, I am sure that in many ways, some member countries of the North Atlantic bloc took advantage of the situation in Ukraine in order to breathe new life into the alliance," he said. "In fact, NATO has serious system crisis. The 20 years operations period has ended, the results are well known: the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, decaying of Libya, the current events in Iraq, and the following way out of Afghanistan with none of the tasks resolved."

"If to talk about collective defense tasks," the diplomat continued, "For 20 years, the Article 5 of North Atlantic Treaty was applied only once, in 2001, after the events of September 11, and the purpose of the alliance in the new security environment is unclear".

Russia's permanent representative recalled that the North Atlantic Community has left the international projects, joint with Russia in the areas of common interest on unilateral basis, "as they were defined at the Lisbon summit in 2010".

"First of all," he said, "it is the fight against terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, piracy".

According to him, decisions, adopted in Brussels concerning this, were "completely unfounded", they were taken "violating all existing obligations under the Founding Act of the Rome Declaration."

"Real cooperation is minimized," stated Grushko. "However, Russia, as a responsible member of the international community, will continue to implement these projects whether independently or with other partners, as they meet the interests of our national and global security." At the moment, he said, NATO is preparing for the summit. "We are closely following the preparation and know that a lot of attention in the summit will be paid to Russia and to Russia-NATO relations," the diplomat added. "Of course, we will judge the future intentions of the alliance not by words, but by concrete steps."

"Our assessment on what NATO is doing around the Russian borders is well known," said Grushko. “We believe that there is no real reason for the "muscle-flexing" near our borders. We believe that the measures, taken by NATO to provide additional protection to its members, are redundant. They are not adequate and do not reflect the real situation in the field of security. Nobody is threatening NATO countries." According to him, NATO’s play-war near the Russian border "only causes tensions, destabilize the situation in some regions and destabilize the situation in Ukraine".

"At the moment, very specific measures are needed in order to stop violence in Ukraine, instead of showing support to Kiev in the issue of using force against its own people” he added. "Kiev authorities are responsible for the corresponding decisions."

"If NATO believes that the alliance can make some contribution to the resolution of the crisis, it should send a signal to Kiev," said the diplomat. "NATO member countries have repeatedly stated that a military solution is not an option, and that NATO has no military or political role in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," he explained. "Therefore, we believe that these statements, these declarations will be fulfilled."

"Nevertheless, NATO is quite pointedly providing substantial support to the authorities in Kiev," said Grushko. "This is a signal that they have been sending for a long time, of the continuation of the policy of unlawful acts towards its own population. Moscow has repeatedly reminded the colleagues in NATO-Russia Council that in February the alliance has made a number of statements about the need to start an inclusive political process, that armed forces should remain politically neutral, without interfering in the internal conflict".

"We believe that there is no reason that would prevent NATO from taking the same position since the task to launch an inclusive process remains in force," said the permanent representative.

N. Korea Launched 2 Missiles Into the Sea
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

North Korea launched two short-range missiles into the sea, from its eastern shore, South Korean security forces report.

The missiles were fired after South Korea declined its northern neighbor’s proposal to reduce tensions between the two countries.

Most People Keen to Share Biometric Data for Smoother Travel
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsComputer Weekly
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A study of people’s attitudes to the use of biometric identification for travellers has revealed that 89% of citizens are willing to provide details such as fingerprints.

The huge backing comes despite the fact that 69% of the 3,000 people questioned have not yet shared biometric data.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

The survey of people in the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the US was carried out by Accenture.

Over half (62%) of citizens in the six countries said they were willing to share biometric information to make their country’s borders more secure, 58% said they would give details if it sped up customs and border control processing, and 56% would do so if it made travel more convenient. UK citizens were the most willing of the six nationalities in every category, at 69%, 64% and 62% respectively.

“The survey findings show strong support from citizens for the greater use of biometrics to secure national borders, enable more convenient travel and facilitate faster processing through customs and border control,” said Mark Crego, head of Accenture’s global Border and Identity Services business.

“The majority of citizens are willing to share biometric details to help increase border security and, at the same time, reap benefits such as faster processing times at borders and more convenient travel.”

Pre-registration to help travellers clear customs and border control quicker is one reason that 58% of respondents said they would be willing to share their biometric details.

Only 23% of those questioned had used automated border clearance solutions, such as e-gates at airports and border crossings, but of those, 80% said they would use an e-gate again.

“The strong support by citizens for technologies that can improve travel and secure borders demonstrates how important it is for border management agencies to continue to adopt new tools that meet the demands of citizens and better manage the transit of people across borders,” said Crego.

“Increasing the use of biometrics and introducing registered traveller programmes can make travelling faster, safer and more convenient, and strengthen both border and national security through improved intelligence gathering.”

Of those questioned, 71% support the use of biometrics to verify the identities of all persons crossing borders, while 73% believe the use of biometrics makes countries more secure.

But 68% said that prior to sharing biometric information, they would want to know what security measures were in place to protect the data, and 67% would want to know how it was going to be used.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Gallup Poll: Confidence in Government, President at New Low
America's trust for its government has reached new lows. A Gallup poll released Monday found that confidence in all three government branches had fallen significantly, with just 7 percent of Americans saying they felt good about Congress, a historic dip, Politico reported.

Quinnipiac: Obama Worst President Since World War II, Reagan the Best
President Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, and the United States would have been better off if his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, had won the election in 2012, a new Quinnipiac University national poll released today reveals.

10 Facts About The SWATification Of America That Everyone Should Know
Thanks to relentless illegal immigration, drug cartels are thriving and there are now at least 1.4 million gang members living in the United States. But there are many that believe that the militarization of our police forces has gone way too far. Almost weekly, SWAT team brutality somewhere in America makes national headlines. You are about to read about a couple of horrific examples of this...

Apostasy Rising: 4 Denominations In Less Than a Week Defy God's Word
The UCC, which considers itself a mainline Protestant denomination—claiming over 1 million members and about 5,200 congregations in the U.S.—proudly announced it will serve as a major sponsor of the Gay Games. The UCC will now go down in Christian history as the first major denomination to sponsor the homosexual Olympics when the games roll into Cleveland, Ohio, in August.

Protesters Turn Back DHS Buses Carrying Illegal Immigrants
The standoff in Murrieta came after Mayor Alan Long urged residents to complain to elected officials about the plan to transfer the Central American illegal immigrants to California to ease overcrowding of facilities along the Texas-Mexico border. The government is also planning to fly migrants to Texas cities and another site in California, and has already taken some migrants to Arizona.

Tropical Storm Arthur threatens July 4th plans along East Coast
A hurricane watch was issued for part of North Carolina's coast early Wednesday, covering an area from Bogue Inlet to Oregon Inlet, including Pamlico Sound. A tropical storm watch was in effect for parts of Florida and South Carolina. The storm's maximum sustained winds early Wednesday were near 60 mph (95 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Arthur was expected to strengthen and become a hurricane by Thursday.

What Does an "Islamic Caliphate" in Iraq Mean?
On the first day of the month of Ramadan (29 June 2014), the day on which World Pride Day was celebrated as a marker of social and cultural progress, the reestablishment of the Islamic caliphate (state) was declared in Iraq and a caliph was appointed to lead it. The declaration of the establishment of the caliphate was transmitted via audiotape by Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, spokesman of ISIS – the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Greater Syria) – which changed its name to “the Islamic State.”

John Boehner vs. Obama 101: Could plan to sue president work?
House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio plans to introduce legislation in July that would authorize the US House to sue President Obama. In a memo to members on Wednesday, the speaker said the suit would compel the president to “faithfully execute the laws of our country.”

Bio-printing transplantable tissues, organs: Another step closer
Researchers have made a giant leap towards the goal of 'bio-printing' transplantable tissues and organs for people affected by major diseases and trauma injuries, a new study reports.

2 earthquakes recorded Tuesday
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 3.3 magnitude quake at 3:20 a.m. was centered 16 miles southwest of Medford and 16 miles north/northwest of Enid. It was 2.5 miles deep. A 3.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded at 9:22 a.m. 11 miles north/northeast of Enid.

That ISIS "Caliphate Map" Is Bogus, So Stop Freaking Out
Judging from the comments on Twitter, a lot of people are panicking over the map that's appeared on ABC News, purporting to show ISIS' "five-year expansion plan" for conquering vast territory. Let's stop this meme right now, shall we? ISIS didn't even make the map—and a neofascist group is circulating it.

Hamas: Not interested in confrontation with Israel, but ready
Hamas is not interested in any confrontation with Israel, but if a confrontation is imposed, the movement is ready, says a spokesman of the Islamist movement.

Study: Big Earthquakes Doubled This Year
There’s been a whole lot of shakin’ going on: 2014 is shaping up to be a big year for big earthquakes. Geologists say there were more than twice as many big quakes, those larger than magnitude 7, in the first quarter of the year than the average for all the quarters since 1979, reports Live Science.

Obama vows to act alone, taunts Republicans
President Barack Obama defiantly dared congressional Republicans on Tuesday to try to block his efforts to act on his own and bypass a divided Congress that has thwarted his policy initiatives. "So sue me," he taunted on a sweltering day, as he pushed lawmakers to pay for road and bridge repairs. "I'm not going to apologize for trying to do something."

Exclusive: Controversial US scientist creates deadly new flu strain for pandemic research
A controversial scientist...has completed his most dangerous experiment to date by deliberately creating a pandemic strain of flu that can evade the human immune system. ...“He took the 2009 pandemic flu virus and selected out strains that were not neutralised by human antibodies. He repeated this several times until he got a real humdinger of a virus,” said one scientist who was present at Professor Kawaoka’s talk.

Palestinian teenager's body found in Jerusalem
Israeli police have found the body of a Palestinian teenager who was kidnapped overnight in East Jerusalem. Mohammed Abu Khdair, 17, was seen being forced into a car early on Wednesday. Within hours, his partly-burned corpse was discovered in a forest. Israeli police were unable to confirm the motive, but Palestinian sources said it appeared to be a revenge attack for the murder of three Israeli teens.

Ebola: WHO calls emergency talks on outbreak
Health ministers from 11 African countries are meeting in Accra, Ghana, in an attempt to "get a grip" on the deadly and worsening Ebola outbreak. So far, 763 people have been infected with the virus - and 468 of these have died. Most of the cases have been in Guinea where the outbreak started.

Sharp rise of chikungunya virus cases in the Caribbean
The number of suspected and confirmed cases of chikungunya virus in Caribbean countries has risen sharply over past weeks, health officials say. Tens of thousands of new cases have been reported in the Dominican Republic and its neighbour, Haiti. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for the mosquito-born virus which resembles dengue fever and can cause fever, skin rash and joint pain.

The Fed Has Failed… And Wasted Trillions of Dollars
The Fed has long believed that money printing or credit creation equals growth. In an effort to prove this (and to prop up the insolvent big banks), the Fed has embarked on QE 1, QE 2, QE 3, QE 4, Operation Twist 1 and 2, and kept interest rates at zero for over five years. All told, the Fed has spent nearly $4 trillion. To put this number into perspective, it comes down to a little over $12,000 for every man woman and child in the US.

Iraqi Council of Representatives fails to elect speaker
Iraq's new parliament has ended its first session in disarray, with MPs failing to make any progress in choosing the country's new leadership. The Council of Representatives was due to elect a speaker, but Kurdish and Sunni Arab MPs did not return after a break, depriving it of a quorum.

Hungary says will not suspend South Stream pipeline
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Tuesday his country would not give up on Russia's controversial South Stream gas pipeline project as it was key to securing the country's energy supplies.

Syria-Iraq 'caliph' incites Muslims to holy war
The leader of the al Qaeda offshoot now calling itself the Islamic State has called on Muslims worldwide to take up arms and flock to the "caliphate" it has declared on captured Syrian and Iraqi soil.

How Israeli teen murders are portrayed in Arabic and Hebrew media
Not surprisingly, Hebrew and Arabic news outlets differ sharply in their reporting on the three-week kidnapping and Israel’s response. The differences reflect the distrust that exists – and highlight the distance needed before sustained peaceful coexistence can be reached.

Israel Could Get Dragged Into ISISs War, Obama Admin Warns
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The terror group that’s taken over major portions of Iraq and Syria won’t be content with roiling those two countries, senior Obama administration officials told Senators in a classified briefing this week. The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) also has its eyes on Jordan; in fact, its jihadists are already Tweeting out photos and messages claiming a key southern town in Jordan already belongs to them.

An ISIS attack on Jordan could make an already complex conflict nightmarishly tangled, the officials added in their briefing. If the Jordanians are seriously threatened by ISIS, they would almost certainly try to enlist Israel and the United States into the war now engulfing the Middle East.

“The concern was that Jordan could not repel a full assault from ISIS on its own at this point,” said one senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another Senate staff member said the U.S. officials who briefed the members responded to the question of what Jordan’s leaders would do if they faced a military onslaught from ISIS by saying: “They will ask Israel and the United States for as much help as they can get.”

If ISIS were to draw Israel into the regional conflict it would make the region’s strange politics even stranger. In Iraq and Syria, Israel’s arch nemesis, Iran, is fighting ISIS. Israel, on the other hand, has used its air force from time to time to bomb Hezbollah positions in Syria and Lebanon, the Lebanese militia aligned with Iran. If Israel were to fight against ISIS in Jordan, it would become a de facto ally of Iran, a regime dedicated to its destruction.

But Jordan is also an important ally for Israel. It is one of two countries (along with Egypt) to have a peace treaty with the Jewish state. Jordanian security forces help patrol the east bank of the Jordan River that borders Israel and both countries share intelligence about terrorist groups in the region.

For now the one thing Iran and Israel do agree on is that U.S. intervention in Iraq is risky. Khamenei has told Obama to just stay out. Netanyahu was more subtle, warning that Obama should not promise Iran anything in the nuclear negotiations that might entice its cooperation in Iraq. His advice was for Obama to weaken both sides.

But behind the scenes, Israeli diplomats have told their American counterparts that Israel would be prepared to take military action to save the Hashemite Kingdom.

“The concern was that Jordan could not repel a full assault from ISIS on its own at this point. They will ask Israel and the United States for as much help as they can get.”

Thomas Sanderson, the co-director for transnational threats at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Israel and the United States view the survival of the Jordanian monarchy as a paramount national security objective.

“I think Israel and the United States would identify a substantial threat to Jordan as a threat to themselves and would offer all appropriate assets to the Jordanians,” he said.

Sanderson, who is a former contractor for the Defense Intelligence Agency, said those assets would include air power and intelligence resources, but he stressed that whatever Israel and the United States offered Jordan would be tailored to the kind of threat ISIS posed. “It’s impossible to rule out boots on the ground from Israel or the United States, but that is the least likely scenario. Amman would have to be under siege for that to happen,” he said.

While the U.S. intelligence community estimates that ISIS only has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters who are full members of the organization, the group is nonetheless a potent force. In its military campaigns in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has seized millions of dollars worth of cash and advanced military equipment from bases abandoned by the Iraqi and Syrian armies.

That said, Jordan’s special operations forces are considered by military experts to be professional and competent. The tiny country that borders Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iraq has survived terrorism, insurrection and regional war since it gained independence in 1946.

A spokeswoman for the Jordanian embassy in Washington, Dana Daoud, said the country’s military and security forces were fully capable of meeting the ISIS threat. “We are in full control of our borders and our Jordanian Armed Forces are being very vigilant,” she said. “We have taken all the precautionary measures. So far, we have not detected any abnormal movement. however, if anything threatens our security or gets near our borders it will face the full strength of our Jordanian Armed Forces.” Earlier this week, Jordan closed a major border crossing with Iraq.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and is a co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Jordan Caucus, said in an interview that the threat from ISIS could draw the United States into the conflict. But he also said he had more confidence in Jordan’s military than he did in Iraq’s.

“I don’t think there is any sense that the rank and file Jordanian forces will melt away the way the Iraqis did,” he said. “It’s a different context in Jordan. If the need arises, they will provide more than a match for ISIS.”

In the last two decades Jordan has made a strategic decision to ally closely with America. Today the country is one of America’s closest partners in counter-terrorism. After U.S. forces lost access to Iraqi military bases in 2011, Jordan emerged as the most important base for the CIA in the region. The CIA, for example, trains Syrian rebels from positions inside Jordan. On Thursday, the White House asked Congress to authorize an additional $500 million for military training and equipment for those opposition forces.

At times, the close partnership with Jordan has resulted in tragedy. A triple agent provided to the CIA by Jordanian intelligence ended up detonating himself and seven other CIA operatives at one of the agency’s outpost in Khost, Afghanistan in 2009.

In the last year, the U.S. military has also positioned batteries of Patriot missiles and a fleet of F-16s inside Jordan along with a contingency of U.S. soldiers known as Centcom-Forward Jordan. That group is led Brig. General Dennis McKean, one of whose missions is to help plan for Jordan’s defense in the midst of the chaos that has enflamed the region.

“Jordan is a very close partner to the United States, and we have shared their concerns about violence spilling across the border for some time,” said Commander Bill Speaks, a spokesman for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. “We are committed to supporting Jordan’s security and continually assess the situation and how best to support our friends in the region.”

One of those threats today is coming from the southern Jordanian city of Ma’an. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum who specializes in jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, said, “Jordan is a part of the Sham, the Levant states that also include Lebanon, that ISIS aims to control as part of its near-term ambitions. But Jordan is a more viable target for them than Lebanon at the moment and the signs of local support, like in Ma’an, will embolden them.”

Even before the ISIS offensive in Iraq, supporters of the group had tweeted maps showing the city of Ma’an in southern Jordan, as part of a regional Caliphate. Last week, a photo from Ma’an showed ISIS supporters holding a banner declaring the city "the Fallujah of Jordan," comparing it to the city in western Iraq that fell to ISIS in January.

With the threat to Jordan rising, Secretary of State John Kerry met Thursday with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Paris in a group that also included Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed.

“The reason that he pulled them together is because, one, the threat of [ISIS] is not just to Iraq. It’s to the region,” said a senior administration official.

But Kerry and the Arab foreign ministers didn’t discuss any specifics of how to work together to fight against ISIS, the official added. They talked generally about the situation on the ground, the formation of the new Iraqi government, and their shared frustration with Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, but not about direct security cooperation.

“As a sort of front-line state in the fight against [ISIS], Jordan is certainly one of the countries that we are directly referencing when we talk about the potential of a threat,” the official said. “That said, the current focus of [ISIS] activity is inside Iraq, is inside Syria, and to the extent that [ISIS] has sort of designs on other places, that was not directly discussed today.”

The threat to Jordan is on the minds of many lawmakers though in Washington. Schiff said that if the Kingdom of Jordan were in danger of falling, “We would be prepared to provide a whole different level of material support than anything we are talking about in Iraq.”

He added, “I still don’t think there are many foreseeable circumstances for American boots on the ground, nor do I think the Jordanians would ask for them. But the willingness to provide greater material support, greater intelligence support, and the willingness to stand behind the Jordanian government is an order of magnitude greater than what we have done for Iraq.”

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why the senators who emerged from this week’s briefing on ISIS were so grim.

“We have to be concerned no longer simply about what’s happening in Iraq, but the risk it poses to Jordan and other countries in the region as well,” he said. “We need to work closely with our allies in the region, particularly Jordan, to protect them from the growing risk that this poses.”

Islamic State Demands Allegiance of All Muslims After Unilaterally Declaring Caliphate
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe National Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

This undated image posted by the Raqqa Media Center, a Syrian opposition group, on Monday, June 30, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State.

AP Photo/Raqqa Media CenterThis undated image posted by the Raqqa Media Center, a Syrian opposition group, on Monday, June 30, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State.

The leader of the extremist group that seized much of northern Iraq and Syria called on Muslims worldwide on Tuesday to join the battle and help build an Islamic state in the newly conquered territory.

The 19-minute audiotape from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi came two days after his organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, unilaterally declared the establishment of an Islamic state, or caliphate, in the land it controls. It also proclaimed al-Baghdadi the caliph (and a direct decendant of Muhammad), and demanded that all Muslims around the world pledge allegiance to him.

In the statement, al-Baghdadi makes clear his global ambition and presented himself as the leader of all Muslims. With his group’s dramatic blitz in the heart of the Middle East, the Iraqi-born al-Baghdadi has made a bid to eclipse even al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri as the jihadi movement’s most influential figure.

He said the Islamic state is a land for all Muslims regardless of nationality, telling them it “will return your dignity, might, rights, and leadership.”

“It is a state where the Arab and non-Arab, the white man and black man, the easterner and westerner are all brothers,” he said — an appeal aimed at broadening his support base beyond the Middle East. “Muslims, rush to your state. Yes, it is your state. Rush, because Syria is not for the Syrians, and Iraq is not for the Iraqis. The earth is Allah’s.”

To help build that state, he appealed to those with practical skills — scholars, judges, doctors, engineers and people with military and administrative expertise — to come “answer the dire need of the Muslims for them.”

He also called on jihadi fighters to escalate fighting in the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Sunday. “In this virtuous month or in any other month, there is no deed better than jihad in the path of Allah, so take advantage of this opportunity and walk the path of your righteous predecessors,” he said. “So to arms, to arms, soldiers of the Islamic state, fight, fight.”

Al-Baghdadi also urged Muslims worldwide to “Stand up and rise. For the time has come for you to free yourself from the shackles of weakness, and stand in the face of tyranny.”

The audio was posted on militant websites where the group has issued statements in the past, and the voice resembled that on other audiotapes said to be by the shadowy al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi militant who has rarely been photographed or appeared in public.

Al-Baghdadi’s group has already been a magnet for jihadi fighters from across the Arab world, the Caucasus and extremists from Europe and some from the United States — drawn by an organization that in a few short years has transformed from just an al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq into a transnational military force that has conquered and held a massive chunk of territory. Al-Qaida’s al-Zawahri ejected al-Baghdadi from the terror network earlier this year.

Over the past year alone, al-Baghdadi’s group — which has changed its name to simply the Islamic State, dropping the reference to Iraq and the Levant — has managed to effectively erase the Syria-Iraq border and lay the foundations of its proto-state. In June, Iraq saw its deadliest month in years, with more than 2,400 people killed, a reflection of the havoc wreaked as the group’s fighters captured the country’s second largest city in the north, Mosul, then swept south seizing most Sunni-dominated areas of northern and western Iraq and pushing close to Baghdad.

The Sunni insurgents’ advance in Iraq appears to have crested, at least for now, as it reaches Shiite-majority areas, where resistance is tougher, and as it seeks to consolidate its control of the territory already in hand.

But in neighbouring Syria, the group has continued to advance. On Tuesday, it captured the town of Boukamal near the Iraqi border. Its fighters advanced toward the town of Shuheil, just to the northwest, a stronghold of a rival extremist group, the Nusra Front. As fighting between rival groups intensified later Tuesday, thousands of Shuheil’s inhabitants were seen fleeing the town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

AP Photo/Iraqi Interior Ministry, FileUndated file picture released on Wednesday Jan. 29, 2014, by the official website of Iraq's Interior Ministry claims to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, who unilaterally announced the creation of a new Islamic caliphate.

The Islamic State group also held a triumphant parade Monday evening in Raqqa, the largest city it controls in Syria. Fighters drove through the city displaying material apparently captured in neighbouring Iraq — U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machineguns, tanks and armoured personnel carriers and a flatbed truck carrying what appeared to be a Scud missile.

Videos posted online by activists showed the militants carrying automatic rifles and black flags, sitting atop vehicles and driving through Raqqa, honking amid occasional bursts of gunfire. The videos appeared genuine and matched Associated Press reporting of the event.

After melting away in the initial onslaught, Iraq’s military and security forces have regrouped and managed to stem the tide at the outskirts of Shiite-dominated regions.

The country’s political leaders, however, remain deeply divided.

On Tuesday, Iraq’s new parliament deadlocked less than two hours into its first session when minority Sunnis and Kurds walked out, dashing hopes for the quick formation of a new government that could hold the country together in the face of the militant blitz.

Iraqi politicians are under pressure to quickly form a more inclusive government that can bring backing from the Sunni Muslim minority, which holds deep grievances with Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Maliki, who has held the post since 2006, is being pressed to step aside, with even most of his former allies blaming his failure to promote reconciliation for stoking Sunni support for the insurgency.

Acting speaker Mahdi al-Hafidh ended the proceedings after most of the 328-member legislature’s Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers did not return following a short break, depriving parliament of a quorum.

The impasse prolongs what has already been days of intense jockeying as political blocs try to decide on a prime minister, president and speaker of parliament.

The main sticking point is the job of prime minister, which holds the main levers of power. Under an informal system that took hold after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraq’s prime minister is chosen from the Shiite Muslim community, the president from the ethnic Kurdish minority and the speaker of parliament from the minority Sunni Muslim community.

Al-Maliki has shown no willingness publicly to bow out. His bloc won the most votes in April elections, which traditionally would give him first crack at forming a new government.

Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq said the Sunnis walked out of Tuesday’s parliament session because they feel they need more time to reach an understanding to “change the course that has led the country to the current disaster.”

“We do not want only to discuss the distribution of posts and the names of the candidates,” he told the AP. “Rather, we think we need to discuss how to change the behaviour of the failing government.”

ISIS Weapons Windfall May Alter Balance in Iraq, Syria Conflicts
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Los Angeles Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A gunman carries his weapon in Fallouja, where the lethal capabilities of Sunni Muslim militants were bolstered from the stockpiles of the Iraqi armed forces. (Associated Press)

Nabih Bulos, Patrick J. McDonnell, Raja Abdulrahim contact the reporters

SyriaIraqIslamic State of Iraq and SyriaAl-QaedaNouri Maliki

ISIS militants got a weapons windfall when Iraqi soldiers fled

Weapons plundered by ISIS militants could alter the balance in the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts

Six months ago, Sunni Arab militants faced a daunting firepower imbalance in their uprising against the U.S.-equipped Iraqi army west of Baghdad.

But once their campaign for the city of Fallouja was launched in January, their lethal capabilities were bolstered from the stockpiles of the Iraqi armed forces.

Many soldiers fled, throwing down their weapons, which were picked up by the insurgents. Police stations and security posts overrun by Sunni militants yielded more martial booty to be turned against the forces of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Shiite Muslim-led government.

"Praise God, we soon had enough weapons to fight for one or two years," said Ahmad Dabaash, spokesman for the Islamic Army, a Sunni rebel faction, who spoke in a hotel lobby here in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region. "And now? Don't even ask!"

Shiite Turkmens in the Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmatu prepare to head out in mid-June to defend their homes in the nearby town of Basheer after it was seized by Sunni militants. (Karim Sahib, AFP/Getty Images)

By "now," he was referring to the current ground assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, the Al Qaeda breakaway group that in the last two weeks has seized large swaths of northern and western Iraq, including Mosul, Iraq's second-most populous city. Fighting alongside ISIS formations are other Iraqi Sunni Arab factions such as the Islamic Army, which rose against the U.S. occupation a decade ago.

As the Iraqi government mobilizes to halt the insurgents' advance toward Baghdad, the capital, there is no full accounting of the stocks of plundered arms, ordnance and gear. But experts agree that the haul is massive, with implications for the merging wars in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Rival Syrian rebel factions already report seeing U.S.-built, ISIS-commandeered Humvees almost as far west as the vicinity of Aleppo, some 250 miles from Iraq. The influx of arms and fighters from Iraq could shift the balance of power among fractious groups fighting for supremacy in Syria.

ISIS, which also reportedly snatched the equivalent of close to $500 million in cash from a Mosul bank, has been catapulted to the position of the world's wealthiest and best-equipped militant group, analysts say. Its riches easily eclipse those of Al Qaeda under Osama bin Laden, despite his personal fortune. The group, which has attracted thousands of fighters from the Arab world, Europe and elsewhere, also holds sway over a broad swath of contiguous territory in the heart of the Middle East.

"ISIS are well-trained, very capable, and have advanced weapons systems that they know how to use," said Michael Stephens, researcher at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies.

In the current ISIS-led thrust, the scenario played out earlier by Sunni insurgents in western Iraq has been replicated on a monumental scale.

Government forces retreated en masse from the onslaught, leaving behind a military hardware bonanza, including the U.S.-made armored Humvees as well as trucks, rockets, artillery pieces, rifles, ammunition, even a helicopter. Some of the seized materiel was old or otherwise non-functioning; but a lot was promptly put to use on the battlefield.

Pictures of grinning Islamist warriors cruising in U.S. Humvees bedecked with white-on-black militant flags flooded the Internet and became the signature image of the ISIS rampage.

ISIS social-media enthusiasts even mocked the global #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign, referring to girls kidnapped by an Al Qaeda offshoot in Nigeria. ISIS sympathizers began tweeting #BringBackOurHumvee.

Though ISIS initially encountered little opposition from the Iraqi army in central and western Iraq, the insurgents have not directly challenged Kurdish troops known as the peshmerga who control a more than 600-mile front in northern Iraq.

Stretching from the Syrian to Iranian borders, this territory is protected by the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. Iraqi soldiers who once patrolled much of the line retreated and are now found only along about a 35-mile stretch close to Iran, according to Kurdish security officials.

ISIS "took the weapons stores of the 2nd and 3rd [Iraqi army] divisions in Mosul, the 4th division in Salah al Din, the 12th division in the areas near Kirkuk, and another division in Diyala," said Jabbar Yawar, secretary-general of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, punctuating his words with quick flicks of his laser pointer as he stitched a scythe-like arc across a map denoting various provinces and cities strung across northern and central Iraq.

"We're talking about armaments for 200,000 soldiers, all from the Americans," concluded Yawar, a mustachioed figure whose office in Irbil features a photograph of him as a young peshmerga fighter in the 1980s against the government of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein.

With such an immense quantity of captured weaponry, Yawar said, ISIS and its confederates are now capable of laying down "a colossal intensity of bullets" against their foes.

Though the group's advance in Iraq has garnered headlines, the plundered weapons and a likely flood of new recruits might also shift the initiative among militant groups in neighboring Syria. ISIS emerged from the turmoil of the Syrian conflict but later suffered setbacks in internecine combat.

This year ISIS faced an assault from rival insurgent factions that cut its presence to a few strongholds in northern and eastern Syria, including the city of Raqqah. Various Syrian militant groups, including the Islamic Front and Al Nusra Front, the latter the official Al Qaeda franchise in Syria, are avowed enemies of ISIS, which broke away last year in a bitter dispute.

But the newly galvanized ISIS recently made substantial gains along the desert borderlands of the Iraqi-Syrian frontier. It seized the border town of Qaim and tore down border fences and bulldozed berms and ditches in a dramatic gesture meant to illustrate its goal of creating a unified Islamist caliphate.

ISIS forces also advanced near the eastern Syrian city of Dair Alzour, capital of the oil-rich province of the same name.

The lightning assault and attendant publicity may be winning new allies, even among Al Nusra Front.

Several days ago, a group of Al Nusra militants in the Syrian town of Bokamal, along the Euphrates River on the border with Iraq, pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to various accounts. ISIS's captured Humvees helped alter the balance of power on the border battlefield, said one Al Nusra fighter reached via Skype.

More ISIS militants and weapons are expected to pour into Syria from Iraq, said Col. Abdulrazzaq Abu Bilal, a commander with Al Tawheed Brigade, one of the Syrian groups arrayed against ISIS.

For a week, ISIS has been massing forces north of Aleppo and clashing with rival militant groups just 12 miles from the main highway linking Aleppo with Turkey, Bilal said in an interview via Skype from Syria.

"After the Iraqi borders opened and ISIS seized control of the Dair Alzour suburbs, this gave them the motivation to advance toward Aleppo," said Bilal, a defector from the Syrian air force.

The group's success has prompted President Obama to seek $500 million from Congress to train "appropriately vetted elements of the moderate Syrian opposition."

As ISIS continues to storm through Iraq, Bilal said, its leaders seem determined to repeat the same offensive trajectory in Syria — and regain areas ceded to rivals in northern Syria.

Heavy fighting reported as Iraq army pushes back against insurgents

"They are seeking to control the Turkish border in its entirety," he said, and "to cut off the supply routes and retake all the areas they lost."

ISIS Calls on Muslims Worldwide to Join Its Holy War
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, chief of Al Qaeda-Iraq, called Wednesday on all the Muslims in the world to bear arms and come to Iraq to fight for the caliphate he established this week ‘from Diyala to Aleppo.” His call came shortly after the Iraqi parliament tried to bring the various factions together for a coalition government to fight ISIS. The session broke up after an hour without assent

Indoctrination of Hate - Why Three Jewish Teens will not be the Last Victims
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Israel and the world are mourning the deaths of three teenage boys who were kidnapped near the town of Alon Shvut on June 12th and found buried in shallow graves near Hebron on June 30th. The boys went missing while hitchhiking home from Torah classes, the latest victims in a century’s long conflict that threatens to rip the region open on any given day.

To further demonstrate the intensive hatred some Palestinian Arabs feel toward the Jews, it was reported by the Tazpit News agency that “the teams working to recover the bodies were attacked by Arab rioters.”

Additionally, it was reported that the very ambulance used to transport the children’s bodies was attacked with paint and rocks, shattering the windshield and windows of the IDF Humvee.

The IDF is currently searching for two fugitive Hamas operatives in connection with the kidnappings and subsequent murders of the boys.

It is difficult to imagine such intense hatred that motivates someone to kidnap and murder random teenagers. What creates such intense hatred and leads to this violence?

For many Palestinian Arabs, it is a hatred that is indoctrinated into the mind from the earliest ages, like most prejudice and bigotry. However, this abhorrence goes so deep as to inspire heinous acts of violence toward the hated.

Such radicalism must be planted into the mind of a child and nurtured for it to grow and develop into full blown terrorism. No matter how evil that may sound, it is reportedly what is being done to many Arab children.

This deeply entrenched culture of hate is promulgated to these children by their families, schools, religious institutions, and political organizations. It is no wonder then that the children adopt the same bigotry of the adults entrusted with their care.

Each year various Palestinian groups conduct summer camps for the indoctrination and training of children to become martyrs for the Palestinian cause.

In these camps, attended by hundreds of thousands of children, they are taught to fire Kalashnikov rifles, handle hand grenades and kidnap IDF soldiers, all in the name of the plight of the Palestinians.

Last year Journalist David Bedein, who has written extensively about United Nations activities for the Israel Resource News Agency in Jerusalem Channel 2 said the UN had promised to look into the indications in the report that UNRWA-funded camps were inciting hostility to Israel among young Palestinians.

Entitled “Camp Jihad,” the report says it shows footage from UNRWA summer programs in the Balata refugee camp north of Nablus and in the Gaza Strip. The focus of the camps, according to campers and staff in the clip, is educating the young Palestinians about the “Nakba”, the Palestinian term for the consequences of the 1948 war in which Israel won its independence.

In one scene, Amina Hinawi, director of the Gaza camp, explains her educational approach: “We teach the children about the villages they came from…,” she says, “this way, every child will be motivated to return to their original village.”

“UNRWA finances this summer camp,” she continues. “I’m very, very, very appreciative of UNRWA.”

The United States was the largest single donor to UNRWA in 2011, according to the organization’s website, with a total contribution of over $239 million, followed by the European Commission’s $175 million. These two sources accounted for about 42 per cent UNRWA’s income for its core program budget.

“We teach the culture of the Nakba to campers,” emphasized Nasrin Bisharat, an UNRWA social worker at the Balata camp, in the report. “That way they know their origins. Even the names of their teams are, for example, Haifa, Acre… We try, on days like Nakba Day, to commemorate the Nakba in the school.”

In another scene, a teacher is heard asking the students, “Do you want to return to Jaffa?” They respond enthusiastically, “Yes!” “Haifa?” “Yes!” “Nazareth?” “Yes!”

All these cities are inside modern sovereign Israel.

Created in 1949 to aid Palestinian refugees, UNRWA has been slammed by some in Israel and the US for backing terror organizations and causing more harm than good.

In one case, former UNRWA head Peter Henson was heavily criticized for saying “there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don’t see that as a crime.” During 2010, the Canadian government cut off funding to the organization, saying its money would be transferred to projects in a more accountable way.

“Neutrality is critically important to United Nations humanitarian agencies,” reads the UNRWA website, “– as well as ICRC and NGOs – to gain and maintain the confidence of all needed to operate independently, safely and effectively, especially in politically-charged or conflict situations. Neutrality is also a core obligation and value of UN staff and an important condition for our donors’ continued trust and financial and political support.

“UNRWA’s adherence to UN neutrality is absolutely incompatible with funding or in any way assisting terrorism, terrorists or members of guerrilla-type organisations.”

That message conflicts starkly with a burka-clad speaker in the report who tells a circle of young campers, “With God’s help and our own strength we will wage war. And with education and Jihad we will return to our homes!”

Another scene shows a young girl singing to a circle of her clapping friends. “I will not forget my promise to take back my land,” she sings.

“We are filled with rage,” sings an older camper.

Many of the children and teachers return to the theme of an idyllic, worry-free Palestinian existence, sitting on the beach and sailing the Mediterranean, until the Jews expelled them.

“Our parents were on the beach,” a teacher in Balata tells the young campers sitting around her during story time. “They sailed ships, they would travel, they had cars, palaces, and villas… Every night they would tell stories.”

She then asks the children if Palestinians still have the sea, and if they want to go to the sea in Jaffa, Haifa, and Acre. Notwithstanding her passion for teaching about local geography, she asks the children if they would like to return to the sea in the land-locked city of Nazareth.

Her story soon takes a chilling turn. The Palestinians were having a nice barbecue on the beach when a wolf appeared, she recounts. “Who is the wolf?” the teacher asks. “The Jews! Isn’t it true that the Jews are the wolf?”

“Who expelled us?” she asks the kids, who listen with rapt attention. “The Jews!” they yell energetically.

“I will defeat the Jews,” a camper named Tayma tells the documentary crew. “They are a gang of infidels and Christians. They don’t like Allah and do not worship Allah. And they hate us.”

One young campers sums up, “The summer camp teaches us that we have to liberate Palestine.”

Irresponsible adults, who put their own political interest ahead of the interest of innocent children, are to blame for the culture of hate-mongering.

Perhaps the mother of one of the suspects in the case of the murders in Israel of Naftali, Eyal, and Gilad, sums up the source of such murderous hate.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 the mother stated,” If He did the kidnapping I’ll be proud of him. I raised my children on the knees of the (Islamic) religion, they are religious guys, honest and clean-handed, and their goal is to bring victory to Islam.”

Homosexuals Wage Holy War on Israeli Village
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Nestled in the hills outside of Jerusalem is a Messianic communal village founded nearly 40 years ago by Finnish Christians who believed in the biblical restoration of Israel to the Jewish people. Today, some 150 Israeli believers and evangelical Christians live and work there while providing a “living testimony” as Israeli believers in Jesus Christ.

But now the faith-based community of Yad Hashmonah may be forced to shut its doors after being ordered by an Israeli court to compensate two lesbians who were not allowed to hold their “gay” wedding at the banquet hall and biblical gardens.

“We do not hate homosexuals or lesbians. We love them. We simply told the court that it is God’s word in the Bible that calls homosexuality an abomination,” Ayelet Ronen, general secretary for the village, told Israel Today.

The women, who were married in England, where same-sex unions are legal, wanted to renew their vows and hold a reception at the Messianic Israeli moshav, or settlement. When the receptionist explained “the owners are believers in the Bible and cannot perform a ceremony of this nature here,” the women filed a lawsuit.

A judge ruled in favor of the lesbian couple and awarded them $20,000 in “damages.” And now that lower court ruling has been upheld by the Jerusalem District Court.

Judge Moshe Yoad Cohen determined the village violated a law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and that the village cannot refuse to host a same-sex wedding reception despite religious objections.

During the trial, representatives of the moshav quoted from both Old and New Testaments.

“As a faith-based community we need to be able to refuse events that blatantly oppose our religious beliefs. We explained to the judge that a same-sex celebration would ruin our business. The majority of our clientele are Christians who vigorously oppose gay marriage,” said Ronen.

The lesbians’ lawyer also accused the village of “homophobia” after the moshav published an announcement that “no homosexual or lesbian organization will be allowed to rent space for functions on our premises.”

As Bible believers, the community also refuses services for abortion activists and yoga enthusiasts.

“We have already received phone calls from many more homosexual groups and couples saying they want to get married here. To avoid another legal problem, for now, we simply cannot book anything at all,” said Ronen.

The moshav has now completely shuttered its banquet facility, resulting in huge financial losses.

“We used to host an average of 35-50 weddings a year over the past 12 years. Israelis from all over the country, religious and secular, loved to come here. Now there are none,” added Ronen.

Hamas Begs Turkey for Help Against Israeli Attack
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Arabic language Sky News reported that the head of Hamas’ Diplomatic Bureau, Khaled Mashaal, spoke with the Turkish government and said that Hamas had no hand or information regarding the abduction and murder of the three Israeli boys.

Mashaal asked the Turkish government to become involved in its plight and stop any Israeli attack against Gaza, and made it clear that Hamas is not interested in an intensification of tensions and respects accords reached at the end of Operation Pillar of Defense.

Former NATO Chief: ISIS Jihadists will Target Western Nations Next
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Hill
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A former NATO commander warned Monday that it was “only a matter of time” before a Sunni insurgent group that has captured parts of Iraq and Syria turns its attention to attacks in Europe.

Retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis urged U.S. and European allies to do more to prevent jihadists with western passports from returning home to stage terror attacks.

"As [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] ISIS consolidates its position across the Syrian and Iraqi divide, NATO must realize that it is only a matter of time before a wave of EU-passport-bearing jihadists will be headed back home to wreak havoc," Stavridis said in an op-ed for the Atlantic Council.

"Those AK-toting fundamentalists are a bit busy at the moment destroying two Shiite/Alawite regimes in Iraq and Syria, respectively, but the eye of Sunni extremism will inevitably turn its attention to the capitals of Europe," he wrote.

Terrorism experts have long warned about foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq with western passports returning to their home countries to carry out attacks.

Lawmakers say the threat has grown following the ascent of ISIS, which is now threatening Iraq’s capital Baghdad.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said last week there was a possibility ISIS could team up with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, another terror group considered to be the biggest operational threat to the U.S.

“So you have all of these new relationships happening in a way that’s really concerning,” he told reporters.

Stavridis, the dean of Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, also called for NATO to send at least a hundred special forces to assist the 300-strong U.S. team in Iraq. President Obama deployed U.S. forces to help Baghdad counter ISIS.

"Why is this uniquely a U.S. mission? The NATO Special Forces Command is fully capable of putting such a force package together under direction of the Supreme Allied Commander for operations and moving them forward alongside Americans," Stavridis said.

Stavridis also recommended sending NATO special forces into Syria and Iraq to provide intelligence and prepare for "possible NATO operations” in those countries.

"This region of the world is spinning rapidly out of control, with dangerous implications for both Europe and the United States. The alliance has enormous capability, but does it have the political will to lean into this dangerous situation?" he said.

Stavridis said NATO should focus on Syria’s border with Turkey, an ally of the military coalition.

"NATO needs a quick shot of strong Turkish coffee to get its energy level up and make some decisions about engagement — because what's emerging now is a clear and present danger along the southern flank of the alliance," he said.

Stavridis also urged the West to counter online jihadist propaganda from ISIS and other Sunni extremist groups.

Apostasy Rising: 4 Denominations in Less Than a Week Defy Gods Word
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The United Church of Christ (UCC) bills itself as "the church where God is still speaking." Apparently, God's Word is falling on deaf ears of the leadership.

The UCC, which considers itself a mainline Protestant denomination—claiming over 1 million members and about 5,200 congregations in the U.S.—proudly announced it will serve as a major sponsor of the Gay Games. The UCC will now go down in Christian history as the first major denomination to sponsor the homosexual Olympics when the games roll into Cleveland, Ohio, in August.

I guess my jaw shouldn't have dropped when I read the news, considering the UCC in April filed a gay marriage rights lawsuit in North Carolina. But not only did my jaw drop, I'm shaking my head. J. Bennett Guess, one of the UCC's national officers and its first openly gay church executive, calls it a social justice issue and says the denomination prides itself on "being a bold voice for progressive Christianity."

In case you aren't familiar with what the term "progressive Christianity" really means, let's take a moment to define it. Progressive Christianity has a strong focus on social justice and environmentalism. Progressive Christianity focuses on concepts like "collective salvation"—where entire cultures and societies, rather than just individuals with faith in Christ, are redeemed—and bends toward a Marxist economic philosophy. And Progressive Christianity does not subscribe to the biblical doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture.

That last line explains a lot. For example, it explains why the UCC was the first mainline denomination to affirm equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. It explains why the UCC was the first to ordain an openly gay man. And, overall, it explains why the UCC has fallen into the deception of sponsoring events that celebrate LGBT people instead of trying to love them to Christ.

But even denominations that don't consider themselves part of the Progressive Christianity movement are falling into this deception. The Presbyterian Church (USA) last week voted to allow its ministers to perform gay weddings in states where it's legal. On Tuesday, Methodist Pastor Frank Schaefer, who was defrocked for officiating his son's gay wedding, was fully reinstated and the Moravians voted to ordain gay clergy. My research shows there's a long and growing list of gay-affirming denominations, including the Affirming Pentecostal Church International.

Saints, we're seeing 1 Timothy 4:1 playing out right before our very eyes. It's called the Great Apostasy and it's well underway. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

A Stuxnet - Like Virus Has Infected Hundreds of U.S. and European Energy Companies
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsBusiness Insider
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A sophisticated cyber weapon has infected industrial control systems of hundreds of European and U.S. energy companies over the last 18 months, Sam Jones of The Financial Times reports.

Researchers first reported on the espionage operation, linked to the Russian government, in January.

Symantec, a U.S. cybersecurity company that uncovered more details, said it believes the group behind the attacks is “based in eastern Europe and has all the markings of being state-sponsored.”

Jones writes that the cyber weapon, dubbed "Energetic Bear," allows its operators "to monitor energy consumption in real time, or to cripple physical systems such as wind turbines, gas pipelines and power plants at will."

Symantec reported that the attackers first infected three leading specialist manufacturers of industrial control systems, then inserted the malware covertly into legitimate software updates that companies sent to clients.

The Specter Of Stuxnet

The malware is similar to Stuxnet, a virus created by the U.S. and Israel that infected Iran's Natanz nuclear facility in 2007 and reportedly destroyed roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges by causing them to spin out of control.

Stuxnet is the most powerful cyber weapon ever created, and cybersecurity expert Ralph Langer contends that the attack "changed global military strategy in the 21st century." And it seems that Energetic Bear is the new reality of cyberwarfare.

"The sober reality is that at a global scale, pretty much every single industrial or military facility that uses industrial control systems at some scale is dependent on its network of contractors, many of which are very good at narrowly defined engineering tasks, but lousy at cybersecurity," Langer wrote in Foreign Policy.

Symantec found that the attack has compromised the computer systems of more than 1,000 organizations in 84 countries. The main targets, which appear to be based on espionage, were in Spain and the U.S., followed by France, Italy, and Germany.

“To target a whole sector like this at the level they are doing just for strategic data and control speaks of some form of government sanction," Stuart Poole-Robb, a former MI6 and military intelligence officer and founder of security consultancy KCS Group, told FT. “These are people working with Fapsi [Russia’s electronic spying agency], working to support mother Russia.”

10 Facts About the Swatification of America Everyone Should Know
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The number of SWAT team raids in the United States every year is now more than 25 times higher than it was back in 1980. As America has conducted wars overseas in recent years, our police forces have become increasingly militarized as well. And without a doubt, many of our cities have become much more dangerous places.

Thanks to relentless illegal immigration, drug cartels are thriving and there are now at least 1.4 million gang members living in the United States. But there are many that believe that the militarization of our police forces has gone way too far. Almost weekly, SWAT team brutality somewhere in America makes national headlines.

You are about to read about a couple of horrific examples of this below. Once upon a time, police in America were helpful and friendly and the public generally trusted them. But now our police forces are being transformed into military-style units that often act like they are in the middle of Iraq or Afghanistan. The following are 10 facts about the SWATification of America that everyone should know…

#1 In 1980, there were approximately 3,000 SWAT raids in the United States. Now, there are more than 80,000 SWAT raids per year in this country.

#2 79 percent of the time, SWAT teams are deployed to private homes.

#3 50 percent of the victims of SWAT raids are either black or Latino.

#4 In 65 percent of SWAT deployments, “a battering ram, boot, or some sort of explosive device” is used to gain forced entry to a home.

#5 62 percent of all SWAT raids involve a search for drugs.

#6 In at least 36 percent of all SWAT raids, “no contraband of any kind” is found by the police.

#7 In cases where it is suspected that there is a weapon in the home, police only find a weapon 35 percent of the time.

#8 More than 100 American families have their homes raided by SWAT teams every single day.

#9 Only 7 percent of all SWAT deployments are for “hostage, barricade or active-shooter scenarios”.

#10 Even small towns are getting SWAT teams now. 30 years ago, only 25.6 percent of communities with populations between 25,000 and 50,000 people had a SWAT team. Now, that number has increased to 80 percent.

And thanks to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, police forces all over the nation are being showered with billions of dollars of military equipment that is coming home from overseas. The following is what a recent Time Magazine article had to say about this phenomenon…

As the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have wound down, police departments have been obtaining military equipment, vehicles and uniforms that have flowed directly from the Department of Defense. According to a new report by the ACLU, the federal government has funneled $4.3 billion of military property to law enforcement agencies since the late 1990s, including $450 million worth in 2013.

Five hundred law enforcement agencies have received Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, built to withstand bomb blasts. More than 15,000 items of military protective equipment and “battle dress uniforms,” or fatigues worn by the U.S. Army, have been transferred. The report includes details of police agencies in towns like North Little Rock, Ark., (pop: 62,000), which has 34 automatic and semi-automatic rifles, a Mamba tactical vehicle and two MARCbots, which are armed robots designed for use in Afghanistan.

But when you start arming the police like military units and your start training them like military units, eventually they start acting like military units and the results are often quite frightening.

For example, just check out what happened when a SWAT team in Florida raided the home of one young couple earlier this month…

At approximately 6:16 am on June 10th, 2014, Kari Edwards and her live-in boyfriend were seized upon by a SWAT team who smashed in the door and using flashbangs and armed to the teeth, swarmed upon the couple and even stripped Ms. Edwards naked in the process.

The couple says that the group entailed personnel from DHS, for whom Edwards once worked. After smashing in the door, the tactical team threw in flashbang grenades, traumatizing their cat and swarmed upon Edwards’s boyfriend and Edwards who had just gotten out of the shower.

“They busted in like I was a terrorist or something,” Edwards said.

“[An officer] demanded that I drop the towel I was covering my naked body with before snatching it off me physically and throwing me to the ground.”

“While I lay naked, I was cuffed so tightly I could not feel my hands. For no reason, at gunpoint,” Edwards said. “[Agents] refused to cover me, no matter how many times I asked.”

That is the kind of thing that I would expect to happen in Nazi Germany, not the United States of America.

But this next example is even more horrifying. The following is what one mother says happened to her 2-year-old son when a SWAT team raided her home…

After the SWAT team broke down the door, they threw a flashbang grenade inside. It landed in my son’s crib.

Flashbang grenades were created for soldiers to use during battle. When they explode, the noise is so loud and the flash is so bright that anyone close by is temporarily blinded and deafened. It’s been three weeks since the flashbang exploded next to my sleeping baby, and he’s still covered in burns.

There’s still a hole in his chest that exposes his ribs. At least that’s what I’ve been told; I’m afraid to look.

My husband’s nephew, the one they were looking for, wasn’t there. He doesn’t even live in that house. After breaking down the door, throwing my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children, the officers – armed with M16s – filed through the house like they were playing war. They searched for drugs and never found any.

I heard my baby wailing and asked one of the officers to let me hold him. He screamed at me to sit down and shut up and blocked my view, so I couldn’t see my son. I could see a singed crib. And I could see a pool of blood. The officers yelled at me to calm down and told me my son was fine, that he’d just lost a tooth.

Does that make you angry?

It should.

That young child is probably going to be disfigured for the rest of his life because of the brutality and the carelessness of that SWAT team.

Yes, we live in perilous times and many of our communities would rapidly descend into anarchy if there were no police.

But that does not mean that they have to act like Nazis. They should be able to protect us while treating us with dignity and respect at the same time.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Must Listen

Must Read

What Art Thinks

Pre-Millennialism

Today's Headlines

Administrative Area

Locally Contributed...

Audio

Video

Special Interest

Shamir Urges Calm Among Israelis
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian Army Wont be Ready to Intervene in Ukraine Before Mid - July
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsEuromaidan Press
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rome will be Conquered Next, Says Leader of Islamic State
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rabbi Lau Calls for Restraint Amid Tensions Over Murders
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Now Feds Do Gunpoint Searches of Private Planes
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsWorld Net Daily
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Senator draws up plan to rein in Homeland Security, SWAT teams

NATO Uses Situation in Ukraine to Revive Alliance - Russian Envoy to NATO
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Voice of Russia
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

N. Korea Launched 2 Missiles Into the Sea
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Most People Keen to Share Biometric Data for Smoother Travel
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsComputer Weekly
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Israel Could Get Dragged Into ISISs War, Obama Admin Warns
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Islamic State Demands Allegiance of All Muslims After Unilaterally Declaring Caliphate
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe National Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

ISIS Weapons Windfall May Alter Balance in Iraq, Syria Conflicts
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Los Angeles Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

ISIS Calls on Muslims Worldwide to Join Its Holy War
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Indoctrination of Hate - Why Three Jewish Teens will not be the Last Victims
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Homosexuals Wage Holy War on Israeli Village
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Hamas Begs Turkey for Help Against Israeli Attack
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Former NATO Chief: ISIS Jihadists will Target Western Nations Next
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Hill
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Apostasy Rising: 4 Denominations in Less Than a Week Defy Gods Word
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A Stuxnet - Like Virus Has Infected Hundreds of U.S. and European Energy Companies
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsBusiness Insider
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Specter Of Stuxnet

10 Facts About the Swatification of America Everyone Should Know
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Must Listen

Must Read

What Art Thinks

Pre-Millennialism

Today's Headlines

Administrative Area

Locally Contributed...

Audio

Video

Special Interest

Shamir Urges Calm Among Israelis Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsArutz ShevaCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian Army Wont be Ready to Intervene in Ukraine Before Mid - July Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsEuromaidan PressCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rome will be Conquered Next, Says Leader of Islamic State Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsThe TelegraphCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rabbi Lau Calls for Restraint Amid Tensions Over Murders Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsArutz ShevaCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Now Feds Do Gunpoint Searches of Private Planes Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsWorld Net DailyCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Senator draws up plan to rein in Homeland Security, SWAT teams

NATO Uses Situation in Ukraine to Revive Alliance - Russian Envoy to NATO Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsThe Voice of RussiaCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

N. Korea Launched 2 Missiles Into the Sea Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsArutz ShevaCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Most People Keen to Share Biometric Data for Smoother Travel Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsComputer WeeklyCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Let the Headlines Speak Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsFrom the internetCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Israel Could Get Dragged Into ISISs War, Obama Admin Warns Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsProphecy New WatchCategories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Islamic State Demands Allegiance of All Muslims After Unilaterally Declaring Caliphate Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsThe National PostCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

ISIS Weapons Windfall May Alter Balance in Iraq, Syria Conflicts Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsThe Los Angeles TimesCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

ISIS Calls on Muslims Worldwide to Join Its Holy War Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsDebkafileCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Indoctrination of Hate - Why Three Jewish Teens will not be the Last Victims Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsProphecy New WatchCategories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Homosexuals Wage Holy War on Israeli Village Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsProphecy New WatchCategories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Hamas Begs Turkey for Help Against Israeli Attack Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsArutz ShevaCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Former NATO Chief: ISIS Jihadists will Target Western Nations Next Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsThe HillCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Apostasy Rising: 4 Denominations in Less Than a Week Defy Gods Word Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsProphecy New WatchCategories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A Stuxnet - Like Virus Has Infected Hundreds of U.S. and European Energy Companies Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsBusiness InsiderCategories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Specter Of Stuxnet

10 Facts About the Swatification of America Everyone Should Know Jul 2nd, 2014 Daily NewsProphecy New WatchCategories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Shamir Urges Calm Among Israelis
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian Army Wont be Ready to Intervene in Ukraine Before Mid - July
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsEuromaidan Press
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rome will be Conquered Next, Says Leader of Islamic State
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rabbi Lau Calls for Restraint Amid Tensions Over Murders
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Now Feds Do Gunpoint Searches of Private Planes
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsWorld Net Daily
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

NATO Uses Situation in Ukraine to Revive Alliance - Russian Envoy to NATO
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Voice of Russia
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

N. Korea Launched 2 Missiles Into the Sea
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Most People Keen to Share Biometric Data for Smoother Travel
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsComputer Weekly
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Israel Could Get Dragged Into ISISs War, Obama Admin Warns
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Islamic State Demands Allegiance of All Muslims After Unilaterally Declaring Caliphate
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe National Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

ISIS Weapons Windfall May Alter Balance in Iraq, Syria Conflicts
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Los Angeles Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

ISIS Calls on Muslims Worldwide to Join Its Holy War
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Indoctrination of Hate - Why Three Jewish Teens will not be the Last Victims
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Homosexuals Wage Holy War on Israeli Village
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Hamas Begs Turkey for Help Against Israeli Attack
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Former NATO Chief: ISIS Jihadists will Target Western Nations Next
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Hill
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Apostasy Rising: 4 Denominations in Less Than a Week Defy Gods Word
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A Stuxnet - Like Virus Has Infected Hundreds of U.S. and European Energy Companies
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsBusiness Insider
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

10 Facts About the Swatification of America Everyone Should Know
Jul 2nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary