Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Will Palestinian Unity Fall Victim to Crisis Over Murders?
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsAl-Monitor
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Ben Caspit writes this week that although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to restrain his more hard-line Cabinet ministers advocating a wide-scale military operation against Hamas, he also considers the latest crisis over the murder of three Israeli youths an opportunity to break the Palestinian unity agreement. 

Warning: Biblical Views May Cost Your Job - Chase Bank Surveys Staff for LGBT Loyalty
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A second source has confirmed that JP Morgan Chase has asked each of its employees whether they are “an ally of the LGBT community,” which employees have taken as a veiled threat.

Each year JP Morgan Chase sends its employees a survey asking questions related to management and other non-controversial issues. 

A longtime Chase employee told Professor Robert George of Princeton that the survey this year included the following questions for the first time:

Are you:

1) A person with disabilities;

2) A person with children with disabilities;

3) A person with a spouse/domestic partner with disabilities;

4) A member of the LGBT community.

5) An ally of the LGBT community, but not personally identifying as LGBT.

This employee was alarmed to receive the final question. If he answered no, he feared, he would be opened up to criticism that may affect his employment. Only a few months ago Brendan Eich was hounded out of the CEO role at Mozilla for not supporting LGBT marriage.

The employee told Professor George he fears for his job:

This survey wasn't anonymous. You had to enter your employee ID. With the way things are going and the fact that LGBT rights are being viewed as pretty much tantamount to the civil rights movement of the mid 50s to late 60s, not selecting that option is essentially saying "I'm not an ally of civil rights;" which is a vague way to say "I'm a bigot." 

The worry among many of us is that those who didn't select that poorly placed, irrelevant option will be placed on the "you can fire these people first" list.

After posting the item on the law blog Mirror of Justice, Professor George received skeptical emails and Facebook postings, so he came back to Mirror of Justice with a second source.

This source told him, “I just wanted to confirm the Chase employee survey. It did have the last two options about being an LBGT ally. I have worked for Chase for a number of years and was blown away by this question. I have no idea what they were thinking when they asked that. If this is posted, please spare my identity.”

Breitbart News contacted the media relations office of JP Morgan Chase, and spokesman Loretta Russo said, “We do not comment on internal surveys.”

Report: Israel to Gradually Intensify Military Response to Gaza Rocket Fire
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem told Israel Radio late Monday that the government has resolved to gradually intensify the military response to the Palestinian rocket fire in the western Negev.

The sources said that the government sees “an opening” to take a more aggressive approach in hopes of deterring Palestinians in Gaza from continuing to fire rockets.

Portland Looks to Block Christian Children's Ministry - Psychologically Harmful to Children
Jul 7th, 2014
DailyProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A Christian nonprofit, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), is facing opposition in Portland Oregon as it seeks to bring youth to Christ.

The group's "Good News Club" is being called "psychologically harmful to children" by a newly formed coalition – Protect Portland Children.

The Good News Club is a youth ministry in which children are taught about sin, Jesus, and holiness through engaging songs, games, and Bible stories.

On its website, CEF states that "the purpose ofGood News Club is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living."

Critics of CEF and the Good News Club say the program teaches fundamentalist beliefs to children, and encourages fear, judgment, and divisiveness in youth.

Attorney and blogger Eric Ceynar wrote on his "Intrinsic Dignity" blog that the Club uses shame and fear indoctrination, thought control, attacks on science education, authoritarian conditioning, and deceptive marketing to negatively influence students.

A Seattle parent, John Lederer, said that the Good News Club is not appropriate for young children.

"When I read their mission statement and values and principles it was clear that this was a very theologically conservative, right wing and evangelical form of Christian faith," he told AwayPoint.com.

"My initial concern wasn't that they existed but that they had targeted my child's school and my child is only 6 years old. They are targeting very, very, young children."

The Club is voluntary and requires parents' permission, but Lederer said that children want to participate because of the treats, toys, and games that are available.

"Cake, cookies, balloons are very attractive to [children]," he said. "[CEF] use enticements like these to get children to say to their parents, 'Can I go?' Children can't tell the difference between good news club and school sponsored activities like chess club."

Protect Portland Children seeks to "spread the word that the Good News Club's extreme teachings can be psychologically harmful to children," member Kaye Schmitt told Alternet.

However, the CEF states that the Good News Club shares biblical principles in ways that engage children, and also encourages moral enrichment.

"Each club includes a clear presentation of the Gospel and an opportunity for children to trust the Lord Jesus as Savior," their website states. "Every club also includes strong discipleship training to build character and strengthen moral and spiritual growth."

The Club meets once a week during the school year at community centers, churches, schools, and other locations across the country.

Most People Keen to Share Biometric Data for Smoother Travel
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

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.

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.

MK Calls for 'Caution' Regarding Gaza
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

MK Nachman Shai (Kadima) has urged Israel not to enter Gaza on Monday, despite over 85 rockets being fired into Israel in a matter of hours.

"Israel must not get carried away in Gaza, at a time and place which is [now] convenient for Hamas," Shai insisted. "It is crucial that we keep the situation in our hands."

Shai added that "Hamas would pay" for the rocket fire.

Mike Maloney: the Dollar As We Know It will be Gone Within 6 Years
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsPeak Prosperity
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

This week's podcast sees the return of Mike Maloney, monetary historian and founder of precious metals broker GoldSilver.com.

Based on historical patterns and the alarming state of our current monetary system, Mike believes the fiat US dollar is in its last years as a viable currency. He sees its replacement as inevitable in the near term -- as in by or before the end of the decade:

All of this is converging with the crazy experiments the Federal Reserve has done.

I absolutely believe that there are economic consequences to this that are inescapable. The Fed is not just in a box; a trap has been set. And before the end of this decade, if there is still a US Dollar around it will not be this US Dollar. It will be a dollar that is tied to a very different monetary system.

The last three shifts in our monetary system were little baby steps off of the classical gold standard where it was fully backed. We went down to a 40% reserve ratio with the Federal Reserve in the United States during the Gold Exchange Standard. Then the Bretton Woods system didn't have a reserve ratio specified, but I believe the dollar was about 8% backed by gold by the time Nixon took us off of gold in '71. Now, the only backing that the US Dollar has is the promise to tax us all in the future: it is US Treasury bonds, or the Fed doing its quantitative easing and buying mortgage-backed securities.

And how corrupt is the notion that you can give some entity the power to have a check book that has a $0 balance and they can go out and buy anything they want with that and it just creates currency? That is corrupt in itself.

Think about how immoral this is. First of all, the Fed whipped up that currency not out of thin air but by indebting the public. They buy a Treasury bond or a mortgage-backed security, and now they own the mortgage on your house or they own a Treasury bond that you are going to work for in the future and pay taxes to pay off. And so they give all of this currency to the banks, and then they pay them interest to not loan it out or otherwise stimulate the economy. So they are giving them the gift of interest.

By the way, any profits that the Fed has at the end of the year are supposed to get turned over to the Treasury. Well, they are paying the banks interest that reduces the amount that they give to the Treasury by exactly that amount. So in other words, the public is paying those banks interest. That's where all of the interest comes from. We're not seeing those profits passed on to the Treasury anymore. 

Anyway, I do think that this system is coming to an end before the decade is out. The other shifts in our monetary system were baby steps off of gold. Now we have to go from nothing most likely back to something. And it's going to be a financial, economic convulsion the likes of which the world has never seen. It is going to affect everybody on the planet. During the last three monetary shifts, it was only the world's central banks and big international banks that were affected and were worried. The common man didn't even know what was going on. With this one, everybody is going to feel it. Everybody is going to know it. You will either be a winner or a loser, but everybody is playing this game. 

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Pope’s ‘Unity’ Push in High Gear
The new Jesuit pope is moving rapidly into the vacuum of world politics. As post-Christian America gives up its leadership to the “community of nations,” a vacuum is left that Satan’s end-time leaders are quick to fill.

Obama, Muslim Brotherhood, and Mideast chaos: Presidential Study Directive 11
Chaos and the Islamic ascendancy in the Middle East and North Africa never flourished as under the Obama administration—and precisely because the administration shifted from supporting stability under secular-minded autocrats.  

Three quakes hit area over weekend
ENID, Okla. — The U.S. Geological Survey recorded several earthquakes over the weekend.  

Children's Christian ministry called 'psychologically harmful to children'
A Christian nonprofit, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), is facing opposition in Portland as it seeks to bring youth to Christ.  

The alleged pedophile ring at the heart of the British Establishment
The country was still reeling from the horrors of the Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal that saw the BBC accused of cover up and culture of secrecy to protect itself. But the expose opened the door on a potentially even more explosive scandal – the claims of a VIP Westminster paedophile ring operating from the heart of the British Establishment from the 1960s onwards.  

Federal Agents With Riot Gear Arriving In Murrieta To Subdue Immigration Protesters
Federal agents will be arriving in Murrieta, Calif., the site of ongoing protests against the recent flood of illegal immigrants into the town, on Monday to quell protesters, Breitbart has learned. Murrieta has been in the news since June 1 when protesters blocked a convoy of buses carrying illegal immigrants to a local border patrol station. (RELATED: Hispanics Split Over Obama’s Border Meltdown) Protesters have not left yet, and federal agents are supposedly fed up with American citizens being concerned about their hometown.  

Chilling Implications? Largest U.S. Bank Asks Workers if They Support Homosexuality
The largest bank in the United States now allegedly requires its employees to state whether or not they are supporters of the homosexual lifestyle.  

Will Obama Back Warren For President In 2016 To Screw Over The Clintons One Last Time?
Obama has vowed to throw his complete support behind Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren if she chooses to run for president in 2016, writes Ed Klein in the New York Post.  

9 terror operatives killed overnight in Gaza
Nine members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad were killed overnight Sunday, according to Palestinian sources, when Israeli jets struck 14 sites in Gaza Strip, after a day of near-constant rocket fire on Israeli towns near the Palestinian enclave. But Israeli officials said seven of the fatalities were Hamas operatives killed when a tunnel collapsed upon them.  

Russia mobilizing UN support for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine
Although this issue is still treated by some members in a one-sided manner, Russia was able to mobilize UN support for a peaceful settlement of the protracted internal political crisis in Ukraine. We managed to draw the attention of UN humanitarian agencies to the dire situation in the eastern regions of the country. Without immediate de-escalation of the situation and the cessation of all hostilities a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe cannot be avoided.  

All Employment Growth Since 2000 Went to Immigrants
Government data show that since 2000 all of the net gain in the number of working-age (16 to 65) people holding a job has gone to immigrants (legal and illegal). This is remarkable given that native-born Americans accounted for two-thirds of the growth in the total working-age population. Though there has been some recovery from the Great Recession, there were still fewer working-age natives holding a job in the first quarter of 2014 than in 2000...  

Violent Unrest in Western Uganda Could Presage Islamic Rebelion
Ugandan troops have killed more than 60 suspected insurgents accused of taking part in weekend assaults on police stations and military barracks, a military official said on Monday amid ongoing clashes with gunmen in a volatile region near Uganda’s border with Congo.  

Defying pope, Italian church parade makes detour to stop by Mafioso's house in tribute
In apparent defiance of Pope Francis, a church procession detoured from its route through a southern Italian town to honor a convicted mobster under house arrest.  

2 dead in magnitude-7.1 earthquake in southern Mexico, Guatemala
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake hit at 6:23 a.m. (7:23 a.m. EDT; 11:23 GMT) on the Pacific Coast 5 miles northeast of Puerto Madero, near the Guatemala border.  

General: Border crisis threatens U.S. existence
America’s porous southern border and the recent surge in illegal immigration is more than just a “humanitarian crisis,” claims the top U.S. general in charge of Central and South America, it’s a threat to the United States’ very existence.  

Britain's Largest Trade Union Joins Israel Boycott
The UNITE union adopted the anti-Israel motion at its first policy conference, calling "to vigorously promote a policy of divestment from Israeli companies." The motion added that such a boycott would be "similar to the boycott of South African goods during the era of apartheid".  

Liberman announces Yisrael Beytenu splitting from Likud
The departure of Yisrael Beytenu's 11 MKs from the combined Likud Beytenu faction will leave Likud with only 20 seats, just one more than Yesh Atid and in danger of losing its status as the Knesset's largest party.  

445 dead: Deadly Ebola virus could hit Britain – virus ‘out of control’
A new outbreak of ebola is sweeping across countries in West Africa as authorities struggle to contain it. It has already killed nearly 400 people who suffered multiple organ failure and haemorrhaging. And it could spread to the UK if action is not taken to prevent it.  

Earthquake hits Hudson Highlands; rattled residents take to streets
The "micro earthquake" struck at 10:46 a.m., 3.1 miles beneath the Appalachian Trail in a heavily wooded area of Garrison.  

63 Abducted Nigerian Girls Reportedly Escape From Boko Haram
Local reports say 63 abducted girls were able to flee when their captors went out to fight as campaigners attempt to march on presidential palace to call for renewed action More than 60 women and girls abducted in April by suspected Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria have escaped their captors, sources have told the AFP new agency.  

Putin says Russia must boost arms exports: RIA news agency
Russia should boost its arms exports to help the industry upgrade and add more high-end jobs to the labor market, President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying on Monday. Russia is the focus of military tensions with the West over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. It has also been a long-standing arms supplier to Syria and ally of President Bashar al-Assad, who opposition forces are seeking to oust.  

Jihadists emphasise law and order to win over 'citizens of caliphate'
Jihadists controlling the Iraqi city of Mosul have begun to implement new state services and policies in as they attempt to turn their self-declared Islamic caliphate into a reality. In a bid to win support from local residents, who they now consider the citizens of the new caliphate, the jihadists have announced an anti-corruption drive.  

Ebola outbreak: Ghana reports suspected case
Ghana is treating a suspected case of the deadly Ebola virus, the health ministry said. The virus has so far killed more than 460 people since it broke out in Guinea in February and spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is the world's deadliest outbreak to date and there is no vaccine or cure for Ebola.  

Several EU states impose arms ban on Russia
Most of the EU’s top arms exporters have imposed a quiet ban on sales to Russia, but Ukraine’s military embargo is likely to have a bigger impact on the crisis. EU countries are still in talks on whether to impose a collective arms ban as part of “stage three” sanctions if Russian intervention escalates.  

Grad hits Beersheba as rocket fire from Gaza continues to pummel South
A grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Monday exploded in an open area just outside of Beersheba on Monday. No injuries or damages were reported. The rocket was one of more than twenty launched at Israel after the IAF struck 14 targets in Gaza overnight Monday in two waves of air strikes. Nine terrorists - including seven Hamas operatives who were in a tunnel in Rafah - were killed, though it is not immediately clear whether the seven Hamas...  

ISIL Displaces 30,000 People In Eastern Syrian Town
Al-Qaida-splinter group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has displaced nearly 30,000 people from eastern Syrian town of Shahel after recently capturing it, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday. Xinhua news agency quoted the organisation as saying the people had sought refuge in nearby areas in Deir al-Zour province after being forced out of their homes over the weekend.  

Merkel brings German business leaders to China
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Chinese premier Monday and hailed ties between the two sides as she led a large business delegation on a visit to promote trade with the Asian economic giant.  

Israeli air strikes on Gaza kill nine Palestinian militants
Nine Palestinian militants have been killed in a series of Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip. The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas says six of its fighters died in a single strike near Rafah in the south.  

Merkel says U.S spying allegations are serious
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday allegations that a German man worked as a double agent for U.S. intelligence were serious and, if true, were a clear contradiction of what cooperation between partners is supposed to be about.  

Japan 'set for first arms export' under new rules
Japan is set to approve its first arms export following relaxation of its self-imposed ban, as the nation aims to boost its global military and economic presence, a report said Sunday.  

Jewish Home Mk Calls for Israel to Respond With Force
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home) issued a statement late Monday night on the barrage of over 80 rockets into Israel, calling for the IDF to respond with "great force." 

"Tonight, terror organizations are asking for Israel to hit them hard," Chetboun stated. 

"This is the time for us to answer that request," he added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Breaks Up Yisrael Betenu - Likud Merger
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Yisrael Betenu informed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday that he is dissolving the merger between his party and Likud that was forged before the last election. He acted after a sharp dispute in the cabinet session Sunday. The Foreign Minister repeated his constant attacks on the government for its soft response to Hamas rocket fire and terrorism. The prime minister shot back by accusing him and other critics of his policy of “populism” and trying to capitalize on the current crisis for political gain.

Lieberman told a news conference Monday that his party remains a loyal member of the government coalition and hopes it will serve full term. But he can’t accept the reality of a constant rocket threat hanging over Israel and one and a half million civilians forced to spend days and nights in shelters. Violent lawbreakers must be brought to justice whether they are Jews or Arabs, he declared, stressing that this consensus is shared by all of Israel’s leaders. But his views on how to handle Hamas vary from Netanyahu’s policy.

Lieberman said it is intolerable for the Arab Israeli community to enjoy all the benefits of a democracy while its members surge into the streets brandishing Hamas and Hizballah flags and engaging in violent violations of law and order – in obedience to their leaders.

ISIS Complains Hamas Too Moderate - Sets Up Cells in Gaza Strip
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Despite denials by Hamas, there is growing evidence that the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] -- also known as "The Islamic State" -- has begun operating in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian Authority [PA] and Israeli security sources are convinced that followers of ISIS in the Gaza Strip are responsible for some of the recent rocket attacks on Israel.

Hamas, they say, seems to be losing control over the dozens of terror cells belonging to ISIS and other jihadi groups.

Eyad al-Bazam, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior, earlier this week denied reports ISIS terrorists had infiltrated into Egypt through tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip. He described the reports as "lies and fabrications," adding that they are part of a campaign to "distort the image of the Gaza Strip," and that "There is no presence of ISIS in the Gaza Strip."

The denial came in response to a report in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm according to which Egyptian security forces arrested 15 ISIS terrorists who tried to enter Sinai from the Gaza Strip. According to the report, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip facilitated the infiltration of the ISIS terrorists into Egypt so that they could carry out a terrorist attack against Egyptians.

The report said that the terrorists had been entrusted with establishing terror cells and branches of ISIS in Egypt.

Hamas is obviously nervous about the presence of ISIS terrorists in the Gaza Strip and sees them as a direct challenge to its rule. ISIS believes that Hamas is "too moderate" and is not doing enough to achieve the destruction of Israel.

Last month, Hamas sent its policemen and militias to disperse a rally organized by ISIS followers in the Gaza Strip to celebrate the recent "military victories" of the terrorist group in Iraq. Hamas prevented local journalists from covering the event as part of its attempt to deny the existence of ISIS in the Gaza Strip.

At the rally, attended by dozens of Islamists, the crowd chanted, "Khaybar, Khyabar, Ya Yahud, Jaish Mohamed Saya'ud!" ("O Jews, Mohamed's army will return.")

This is a battle cry that many Islamists like to chant to remind the Jews of the story of the battle fought in 629 CE by the Prophet Mohamed against the Jews of Khaybar, an oasis in northwestern Arabia. The battle resulted in the killing of many Jews, and their women and children were taken as slaves.

Earlier this year, masked militiamen in the Gaza Strip posted a video on YouTube in which they declared their allegiance to ISIS. The militiamen are believed to be members of a radical Islamist salafist group that has been operating in the Gaza Strip for the past few years.

Then, Hamas also denied that ISIS had any followers in the Gaza Strip. But Hamas seems to be trying to cover the sun with one finger.

At the funeral of two Islamists killed by the Israel Defense Forces last week in Gaza, funeral-goers carried flags and banners of ISIS.

Over the past decade, it has become clear that Hamas is not the only terrorist organization operating in the Gaza Strip, which has become a base for dozens of jihadi groups, some linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

The smuggling tunnels that used to link the Gaza Strip with Egypt (most have been destroyed by the Egyptian army over the past year) have facilitated the movement of thousands of Islamist terrorists in both directions.

The Gaza Strip is no longer a threat to Israel, but also to the national security of Egypt.

The only way to confront this threat is through security cooperation between Israel and Egypt, which have a common interest in preventing the Islamists from exporting their terrorism beyond the borders of the Gaza Strip.

ISIL Militants Storm Church, Kidnap Priests in Iraqi Mosul
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Voice of Russia
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

© Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

Sunni militants stormed a church in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Sunday and kidnapped two priests and a nun, witnesses said. Militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group have in recent weeks seized large parts of northern and western Iraq, including Mosul, as well as a string of towns stretching south towards Baghdad.

I Am the Lord, I Change not
Jul 7th, 2014
CommentaryBaptist Bread
Categories: Exhortation;Meditation

Hamas Warns Israel: You will Pay a Heavy Price
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hamas has no intention of caving in to Israel and allowing the Jewish state to “impose conditions on the Palestinian people”, its spokesman said on Monday evening.

Directly addressing Israeli citizens, the spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said, “Our people will not give in to your crimes. You will pay a heavy and painful price.”

General: Border Crisis Threatens U.S. Existence
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsWND
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly

America’s porous southern border and the recent surge in illegal immigration is more than just a “humanitarian crisis,” claims the top U.S. general in charge of Central and South America, it’s a threat to the United States’ very existence.

Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly is commander of the U.S. Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, charged with responsibility for the Caribbean Sea and all lands south of Mexico.

Particularly in regards to the drug trade, murder rates and terrorist activity brewing in Central America, Kelly says, the waves of Latin Americans sweeping through Mexico and illegally into Texas presents a threat to the U.S. every bit as serious as Iran or North Korea.

“In comparison to other global threats, the near collapse of societies in [this] hemisphere with the associated drug and [illegal immigrant] flow are frequently viewed to be of low importance,” Kelly said in an interview with Defense One. “Many argue these threats are not existential and do not challenge our national security. I disagree.”

It isn’t the first time Kelly has sounded the alarm. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March, Kelly complained that budget cuts in recent years have handcuffed the military’s ability to shut down many drug and human trafficking corridors.

“Last year, we had to cancel more than 200 very effective engagement activities and numerous multilateral exercises,” Kelly said, explaining that a full 74 percent of “actionable illicit trafficking events” simply go unanswered, because he doesn’t have the funds or resources to do anything about it.

“I simply sit and watch it go by,” he continued. “And because of service cuts, I don’t expect to get any immediate relief, in terms of assets, to work with in this region of the world.”

Worse yet, he continued, with smuggling routes wide open for business, it’s far more than cocaine or children seeking a better life getting a free pass across the border.

“Clearly, criminal networks can move just about anything on these smuggling pipelines,” Kelly said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in February. “Terrorist organizations could seek to leverage those same smuggling routes to move operatives with intent to cause grave harm to our citizens or even quite easily bring weapons of mass destruction into the United States.”

SOUTHCOM’s intelligence assets reveal the possibility is far more than just crying wolf.

“Supporters and sympathizers of Lebanese Hezbollah are involved in both licit and illicit activities in the region,” Kelly told Congress. “Members, supporters, and adherents of Islamic extremist groups are present in Latin America. Islamic extremists visit the region to proselytize, recruit, establish business venues to generate funds, and expand their radical networks. Some Muslim communities in the Caribbean and South America are exhibiting increasingly extremist ideology and activities, mostly as a result from ideologues’ activities and external influence from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Mr. Chairman, we take all these activities seriously.”

Threat spreads through U.S.

As America’s top military eye on Central America, Kelly is also warning that the recent spike in illegal immigrants moving from countries like Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras across the U.S. border presents another level of threat. Those three countries, he noted, are all among the Top 5 nations worldwide in homicide rates, in part because of their rampant gang activity.

“Although there are a number of other countries I work with in Latin America and the Caribbean that are going in the same direction,” Kelly told Defense One, “the so-called Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) is far and away the worst off.”

Since October, tens of thousands of migrants have made the dangerous journey north from Latin America to the United States border. Many are children, and statistics show the vast majority of the immigrants in the recent influx are unaccompanied minors who have traveled from Central America’s “Northern Triangle.”

And between rampant drug trafficking and human trafficking of Central American youngsters, Kelly warned Congress, cartels and gangs that have already spread throughout the U.S. will only grow more dangerous.

“Chairman, gone are the days of the ‘cocaine cowboys,’” Kelly testified. “Instead, we and our partners are confronted with cocaine corporations that have franchises all over the world, including 1,200 American cities, as well as criminal enterprises like the violent transnational gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, that specialize in extortion and human trafficking.

“The FBI has warned that MS-13 has a significant presence in California, North Carolina, New York, and northern Virginia, and is expanding into new areas of the United States, including Indian reservations in South Dakota,” he concluded.

Roger Noriega, an American Enterprise Institute fellow and former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs during the George W. Bush administration, was quoted last month in the Washington Free Beacon putting a fine point on how gang activity and arms smuggling could create problems not just along the border, but anywhere in the country.

“There’s going to be a time when MS-13 fires an RPG into an Alexandria [Va.] police car, and [Americans] are going to say, ‘What the hell happened?’” Noriega said.

Kelly concluded his appeal before the House Armed Services Committee by arguing the U.S. needs to call upon and equip the military to protect our southern border, now more than ever.

“Some of my counterparts perceive that the United States is disengaging from the region and from the world in general,” Kelly said. “We should remember that our friends and allies are not the only ones watching our actions closely. … And in the meantime, drug traffickers, criminal networks, and other actors, unburdened by budget cuts, cancelled activities, and employee furloughs, will have the opportunity to exploit the partnership vacuum left by reduced U.S. military engagement.” 

France Hits Out At Dollar Dominance in International Transactions
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsCNBC
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ziquiu | IStock/360 | Getty Images

"The price of a barrel of oil is quoted in dollars," he said. "A refinery can take that price and using the euro-dollar exchange rate on any given day, agree to make the payment in euros."

One chief executive of a CAC 40 industrial group said he supported Mr Sapin's push.

"Companies like ours are in a bind because we sell a lot in dollars but we do not always want to deal with all the US rules and regulations," he said.

The uproar over the BNP fine at the usually sedate Cercle des Economistes conference in Aix-en-Provence highlighted what has become yet another friction point in transatlantic relations.

French officials lobbied heavily on behalf of the country's largest bank and argued that BNP broke no European rules, prompting a debate about whether it had been the victim of U.S. judicial over-reach.

Mr Sapin said he would raise the need for a weightier alternative to the dollar with fellow eurozone finance ministers when they meet in Brussels on Monday, although he declined to go into detail about what practical steps might emerge.

<p>France's Saint-Gobain undervalued: Pro </p> <p>All we need to see an upside in Saint-Gobain is a small reversion to the mean in the French housing market, says Alex Gunz, fund manager at Heptagon Capital. </p>

More than half of cross-border loans and deposits are transacted in dollars and in the last global survey of the $5 trillion a day foreign exchange market, the dollar was on one side of 87 per cent of all trades. Despite efforts to diversify, many central banks say that they still see no real alternative to the safety and liquidity of the U.S. Treasury market, and hold more than 60 per cent of their reserves in dollars.

A senior French official cast doubt on the government's ability to stimulate the further use of the euro in international trade: "In the end it is hard to know what they can really do. The market really decides these things."

Mr Sapin on Sunday reiterated comments made last week that the French government was willing to sell some of the €100 billion of corporate shareholdings, taking more of an "active management" over its stakes.

He declined to comment on the scale or pace of the sales but said the money would be used "for reducing the debt, for helping to finance our economy, the energy transition and housing".

When asked about the possible return to politics of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Sapin said: "That's his business, that's his choice and that of his friends. What is clear to me though is that Nicolas Sarkozy has really not changed."

His comments followed Mr Sarkozy's detention last week for questioning by an anti-corruption court, which prompted the former UMP leader to make a formal televised riposte.

Clergy from United Church of Christ Hand Out Condoms Outside Hobby Lobby to Protest Ruling
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The stated mission of the Hobby Lobby case was to protect religious liberty, and different folks apparently have their own way of exercising their religious freedom.

Clergy from the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalists – both very liberal denominations – led a protest outside a Hobby Lobby in Aurora, Illinois, handing out condoms, the Daily Herald reported.

“I’m just hoping that people who see the demonstration realize that this opinion of Hobby Lobby’s owners is not the opinion of religious people as a broad spectrum, but that religious people have many different opinions,” Rev. Emmy Lou Belcher, a Unitarian Universalist pastor told the Daily Herald.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that Hobby Lobby could not be required under the Obamacare law to pay for contraception and abortion-inducing drugs for their employees if they have a religious objection.

Hobby Lobby itself had no problem with paying for 16 of the 20 contraceptives that the health care law requires employers to cover. However, the high court’s ruling protects the religious liberties in accordance with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of closely held private companies to opt out of this portion of the Affordable Care Act.

“You can make the religious freedom argument, you can make the argument about contraception, but ultimately, for me, this is about power,” said Rev. Mark Winters, a United Church of Christ minister. “Jesus had a lot of issue with powerful people using power over the powerless.”

The religious left mobilized after the decision came down.

Think Progress reported that the progressive Christian group Faithful America also organized a protest outside Hobby Lobby’s flagship store in Edmond, Oklahoma, immediately after the ruling Monday.

China's Christians Fear New Persecution After Latest Wave of Church Demolitions
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Guardian
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Christians in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Photograph: Corbis

When we reached Sanjiang, in Zhejiang province, an elderly woman was angrily telling the pastor how at the end of April police dispersed members of her congregation and neighbouring ones who had come to protect their new Protestant church from being bulldozed. Several pastors were arrested and many detained, including those from the Sanjiang church – one of the officially sanctioned (and government controlled) "patriotic" churches. Many supporters were also arrested, including pastors from the underground house church movement. One, who asked to be referred to only as W, escaped the police raid by hiding in a nearby warehouse.

For years, during her evening walks, the woman had watched the construction work taking place on the massive church, which was just a few hundred metres along the main road from her house. When we were there in May, flashing lights warned us of the police roadblock that had closed off access to the church weeks ago, after the Chinese government ordered it to be pulled down. "They want to remove every trace," said W. The old woman added: "During the Cultural Revolution they burned Bibles, but they didn't remove the crosses." The old church survived the Cultural Revolution, but in such a dilapidated state that it was converted into a mat-weaving factory.

The town of Sanjiang lies on a flat strip of land opposite the city of Wenzhou, where the Ou river broadens before pouring its mass of grey water into the South China Sea, 350km south of Shanghai. The township has been earmarked for a new business district alongside the market gardens, so the local government encouraged a plan for a church worthy of its entrepreneurial ambitions. About 15% of Wenzhou prefecture's 9 million inhabitants are Christian.

Wenzhou has a history of its inhabitants migrating to Europe in the last century. It has been neglected by the Chinese government in recent years. Nevertheless, since the economic reforms, the city has been celebrated as the Chinese capital of private enterprise and Christianity, a mutually advantageous relationship that has given rise to it becoming known as China's "Jerusalem". In the urban sprawl between sea, river and mountain, red crosses dot the skyline, marking – mostly Protestant – places of worship. The city boasts 1,500 churches in every possible architectural form, from elongated white buildings bearing the Chinese character that means love to squat grey brick ones to massive edifices in fake freestone with domes and colonnades.

Cao Nanlai, a Chinese anthropologist, published a book, Constructing China's Jerusalem, about the town's particular social dynamics, with its Christian bosses devoted to both conquering new markets and converting their workers.

The budget for the church in Sanjiang was close to $5m. After nine years of dealing with bureaucracy, raising funds and building work, the massive structure rose from the ground with a 60-metre high tower, a 30-metre long transept and a 50-metre long nave bordered by pilasters and arches. It resembled a European gothic cathedral. An annexe served as a home for the elderly. The cross was mounted on 8 August 2013.

In early 2014, church demolitions were reported in several towns in Zhejiang province, Shanghai's rich hinterland. Many crosses deemed too obtrusive were forcibly taken down. Early in April, a Catholic church in a rural county of Wenzhou was demolished and the cross on a Protestant church destroyed. A dozen other churches received ultimatums to pull down buildings or crosses in a campaign against "illegal structures", launched in Zhejiang in 2013. However, Christians in Wenzhou observed that the campaign only targeted churches.

Orders were obeyed in some places, but Sanjiang resisted. "We knew that even if we removed the cross it wouldn't stop there, and therefore we had to stand firm," said W. Although the surface area of the building had exceeded the authorised size, the Sanjiang church administration was confident because its "model church" had received local government approval. "Finally, a compromise was reached when the authorities agreed only to knock down the top two floors of the annexe. But they didn't keep their word," said one evangelical minister from Wenzhou, who asked to be referred to as "Peace".

Chinese security officials monitor a religious parade at a Catholic cathedral in Donglu, Hebei Province. Photograph: Mark Ralston/Getty

On 26 April, 1,000 people, many from neighbouring congregations, came to pray in front of the church in the hope of preventing its destruction. The following day, some 40 church leaders identified as having influence on their congregations were arrested, including official cadres and members of the house church movement. Pastor Peace spent 20 hours in police custody. The riot police intervened at 4am on 28 April, and by 8.30pm the massive church was reduced to rubble.

A pastor in Beijing who monitors the persecution of Christians said: "By making a clean sweep of Sanjiang, the government wants to set an example and show that nothing will stop it." Six other churches or their adjoining buildings were earmarked for demolition in Wenzhou in May. One Protestant church was converted into a "cultural auditorium". In the weeks that followed, the crosses on 15 churches in the Wenzhou region were destroyed and removed by crane.

According to the American NGO China Aid, since the beginning of the year 60 churches in Zhejiang province have received notice that either their crosses or their buildings must be demolished – more than 40 of these are in China's "Jerusalem".

Christians in Wenzhou have not seen such sustained persecution since the Cultural Revolution. According to pastor Joy, a member of the same evangelical network as pastor Peace: "The local government and the churches have always got along well here." Only the heads of the free churches dare to speak out – anonymously of course – because they know that their churches are under threat. The "official" pastors have been forbidden to speak out. The fear now is that the government will turn its attention to the house churches.

China's government-approved churches, such as the one in Sanjiang, have not been targeted in this way before. The officially authorised Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, are organised in such a way as to cloister Chinese Christians from foreign influence. This necessarily gives rise to compromises. For instance, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement encompasses all Protestant denominations in a single doctrine.

Chinese believers have always been able to adapt, and some frequent the official churches as well as the free ones. The clergy also compromise – for example, there are "official" bishops who obtain secret benedictions from the Vatican. In fact, the patriotic churches, be they Catholic or Protestant, have been encouraged by the government to absorb the Christian explosion in China as much as possible. In addition to the official 24 million Protestants and 6 million Catholics, there are reportedly tens of millions of "clandestine Christians" in the country today.

In Sanjiang, people weren't blaming the Wenzhou authorities. They believe that the orders came from Xia Baolong, the Communist party chief and former governor of Zhejiang province. "It comes from much higher up, Wenzhou is just a testing ground for a widespread offensive against Christian influence," said one pastor, citing internal sources. Xia was Xi Jinping's deputy from 2003 to 2007, before the latter became the country's president.

Xi, a leading promoter of China's economic renaissance, incarnates an unashamed patriotism in which neo-Maoism and neo-Confucianism coexist – so long as they contribute to assuring the Communist party's supremacy and promoting its sacred heritage. "The number of Christians has grown to such an extent that there are now more Christians in China than party members and that scares them," said pastor Joy. "But Christians still have a negative image in China where there is a history of persecution. All that has played a part."

For the Beijing pastor, this anti-Christian campaign is part of a stated objective by the new leadership to promote Chinese cultural traditions such as Confucianism and Buddhism. It is no coincidence that much media attention was devoted to Xi's visit to Confucius's birthplace in February. On that occasion, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Xi called for the propagation of a nationwide "ethical doctrine" with "fundamental socialist values" based on "traditional Chinese culture". According to pastor Joy, among themselves party members often use the pejorative expression yang jiao to designate Christianity. It translates as "foreign teaching".

Breaking: Israeli Defense Force Launches Operation Protective Edge to End Hamas Rocket Attacks
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsAlgemeiner
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Israel Air Force helicopters.

The Israel Defense Forces announced the launch of a new major operation late on Monday night aimed at ending rocket attacks from Gaza.

The campaign, titled ‘Protective Edge,’ is aimed at stopping “the constant terror activity that Hamas is aiming at Israeli civilians,” an IDF spokesperson told The Algemeiner.

The operation was announced on Twitter at 5:22 PM EST by the IDF Spokesperson account.

“The IDF will respond forcefully to any threat, and will do everything in its power to protect Israel against terror ItMustStop,” the IDF tweeted. “Since the beginning of the year, Gaza terrorists have fired more then 450 rockets at Israeli civilians ItMustStop.”

Full details on the scope and scale of the operation were not immediately available but according to an IDF spokesperson it is currently limited to “Air Force activity.”

The first salvo of the operation is currently ongoing and the extent and nature of tonight’s targets have not yet been published by the IDF. However, Hamas reported that two houses and four training facilities in the Gaza Strip had been hit, according to The Times of Israel.

According to the IDF, more than 30 rockets were fired in a major escalation earlier on Monday which struck major cities Ashdod and Ashkelon. Four rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome  missile defense system and 16 landed in open areas near Beersheba. According to Israeli media reports, more that 7o projectiles were fired at Israel.

The United Hatzalah volunteer ambulance rescue service reported that eight people were injured in Ashdod, one from rocket shrapnel and seven while running for shelters.

Banks Under the Thumb of America, the Global Cop
Jul 7th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

BNP Paribas is the latest major European bank forced to pay billions for breaking rules imposed by Washington

BNP compliance officers raised the alarm in Geneva in 2005