Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Sun Goes Spotless, Baffling Scientists
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Sydney Morning Herald
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Some astronomers call it the Big Quiet – the absence of sunspots during what is supposed to be a period of heightened magnetic activity on our sun.

For past four or more days, telescopes pointed at the sun have detected only a handful of sunspots, sometimes none at all, in a “very weird” development that is baffling scientists, said Alan Duffy, an astrophysicist at Swinburne University.

“Sunspots can change all the time, but when you should be seeing many dozens at any one point of time, it’s quite strange that we’re not seeing any at all,” Dr Duffy said.  “We don’t have any idea why that is.”

Active sunspots. Photo: NASA

Sunspots have been studied for centuries and are one gauge of the solar cycle – a roughly 11-year period of above- or below-average magnetic activity. During maximum periods, such as the current one, observations of sunspots and solar flares being fired by the sun should be more common.

Viewers of the World Cup, for instance, would have been grateful for the relative lack of interference of energetic bursts of radiation normally associated with solar-maximum periods that can force satellites to shut down and interfere with other electronics, Dr Duffy said.

Less fortunate, though, are tourists who have headed to the Arctic Circle to view the usually spectacular northern lights, or Aurora Borealis. “If you’ve got to the North Pole on one of these staggeringly expensive trips to see the northern lights, you’ll be really feeling cheated because there’ll be nothing for a while,” Dr Duffy said.

Lighting up - the Aurora Borealis. Photo: NASA

Climate link?

Scientists have been studying the effect of the relatively weak period of solar radiation for possible effects on the Earth’s climate for decades.

While global warming hasn't ceased, a waner sun has contributed on the margin to a flattening of recent surface temperature readings. (See a separate report about the role of the oceans, particularly during El Nino cycles.)

Aurora Borealis on a good night. Photo: NASA

The latest report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted “there are indications the mean magnetic field in sunspots may be diminishing on (a) decadal level”, but added the decrease in solar activity “will be much smaller in magnitude than the projected increased forcing due to greenhouse gases”.

Michael Ashley, a physics professor at the University of NSW, said weaker solar activity in past decades had contributed to a cooling of the planet of about 0.1-0.2 degrees. “To counteract global warming you’d need 10 times that,” he said.

“What is more worrying is if (the sun) warms up to its long-term average, then we’re going be a lot worse off,” Professor Ashley said.

Interest in the role of the sun in driving climate change picked particularly after the 1960s when researchers identified the so-called Maunder Minimum of low sunspot activity between about 1645 and 1715.

That period coincided with the so-called Little Ice Age when Europe especially experienced a drop in temperatures of about half a degree compared with the start of the 20^th century, according to Steve Sherwood, a professor specialising in atmospheric climate dynamics, also at the UNSW.

In recent years, though, scientists have begun to downplay the role of the sun in shifting climates, viewing volcanic activity, ocean current changes and other factors playing important parts.

The Maunder Minimum, for instance, was about 50-60 years in the middle of the Little Ice Age but the cool period extended “a lot longer either side...so it couldn’t have just been the sun”, Professor  Ashley said.

The solar cycle “does have an impact but it’s overwhelmed by the greenhouse-gas effect,” he said, referring to emissions produced by humans burning fossil fuels and clearing land.

Russian Military Says Detected Ukrainian Su - 25 Fighter Plane Close to MH17 Before Crash
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsRia Novosti
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ukrainian Combat Jet Su-25

MOSCOW, July 21 - An Ukrainian combat jet was detected in close approach to the Malaysian passenger plane shortly before it crashed in eastern Ukraine killing all 298 people on board, the Russian military said Monday.

“An altitude gain was detected for a Ukrainian combat jet, supposedly a Su-25, flying at a distance of 3-5 kilometers [1.8-3.1 miles] from the Boeing,” Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the HQ of Russia’s military forces, told a media conference in Moscow.

The presence of the Ukrainian combat jet can be confirmed by video shots made by the Rostov monitoring center, Kartopolov stated.

The Su-25 (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) ground attack aircraft can hit a target at a distance of five kilometers (3.1 miles) as it’s equipped with air-to-air missiles, the head of the Main Operations Directorate said.

“We would like Kiev to explain why a combat jet was flying almost at the same altitude and the same time with a passenger plane along the route dedicated for civilian air traffic,” the general underlined.

In addition, MH17 crashed within the operating zone of the Ukrainian army’s self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air Buk missile systems, Kartopolov added.

Malaysia Airlines' Flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers on board the airliner died, including 283 passengers and 15 crew members.

Ukrainian government and militia have been trading blame for the alleged downing of the airliner ever since reports suggested foul play, with independence supporters saying they have no required technology to shoot a target at altitude of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).

Commenting on the crash, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was vital to abstain from hasty conclusions on the case before the international investigation was over.

The UN Security Council late on Sunday night completed the text of its resolution regarding the Malaysia Airlines crash. Russia introduced its own draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an impartial investigation into the circumstances of the crash.

Russia Calls for Investigation of Foreign Mercenaries Participation in Ukraine Hostilities
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsRia Novosti
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, July 21 - Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday demanded that Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states and France conduct a thorough investigation into alleged involvement of mercenaries from these countries in hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

“We demand the authorities of the above-mentioned countries to conduct a thorough investigation into these facts and condemn the participation of mercenaries in the hostilities in eastern Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said this while commenting on an article in Italy’s Il Giornale newspaper which was published over the weekend. The publication reported that mercenaries from ex-Soviet Baltic states, as well as Sweden, Finland and France fought in the Azov Battalion, a paramilitary group supporting the Kiev government troops and financed by Ukrainian oligarch and governor Ihor Kolomoiskyi.

“If the information in this article is true, than it is yet another confirmation of involvement of foreign fighters in the armed internal conflict in Ukraine,” the statement reads.

Last month, Russia issued arrest warrants for Kolomoyskyi, as well as Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, on charges of organizing murders and abductions, using banned means and methods of warfare, and preventing legal journalistic activities.

Moscow also believes the Azov Battalion played a key role in the violent attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev in mid-June, causing tensions between Moscow and Kiev to boil over.

Report: Israeli Airstrike Targets Home of Hamas Arch - Terrorist
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Gaza

Flash 90

Foreign media outlets report that an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday targeted the Khan Yunis home of arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif, commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s so-called “military wing”.

According to the reports, two people were killed in the airstrike.

Deif is considered the official who determines the agenda of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and is regarded as the “brain” behind Hamas.

He is likely hiding underground somewhere inside Gaza, fearing the IDF will try to eliminate him.

Deif started out as a student of Yahya Ayyash, who was nicknamed “the Engineer” and who was the chief bombmaker of Hamas in the late 1990s, when the organization started carrying out suicide bombing attacks within Israel. Ayyash was eliminated by Israel in 1996.

Following Ayyash’s elimination, Deif carried out numerous murderous terror attacks in Israel, including two suicide bombing attacks on buses in Jerusalem and kidnapping attempts within Israel.

Israel tried to kill Mohammed Deif several times, without success. One time, he lost an eye and likely his hand as well. In another attempt he was seriously wounded, his hands and legs were amputated and he has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.

Meanwhile, the IDF said that a Golani force discovered two tunnel access shafts in northern Gaza on Tuesday.

So far, members of the brigade have uncovered three shafts of tunnels within Gaza, eliminated over 25 terrorists and seized weapons and intelligence means belonging to Hamas.

Pro Lifers At All Time High
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Are the unborn able to receive news while still within their wombs, interpret it and actually react to it? The notion isn’t quite as far-fetched as it sounds. The Bible gives us an account when this actually happened, when Elizabeth and Mary were both respectively pregnant with John the Baptist and Jesus Christ:

Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

Well, there is more good news that perhaps today’s unborn children would leap for joy for, if they heard about it: The percentage of American voters who call themselves pro-life is at an all-time high, according to a new national survey from Rasmussen Reports. A recent report on the survey was recently published by lifenews.com and listed key findings. 

According to the Lifenews.com report, some Americans who take a pro-life position on abortion still confusingly call themselves pro-choice. Also, Americans asked about abortion in general without using the two popular terms, take a pro-life perspective. The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 30 – July 1, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Highlights extracted from the Rasmussen Reports included in the lifenews.com article are as follows:

1. The percentage of pro-choice voters is down from March’s all-time high of 56% and is the lowest level measured in the past year. 48% of Likely U.S. Voters now consider themselves pro-choice.

2. Prior to the latest survey, the number of pro-life voters ranged from 35% to 43%, and has now increased to 44%.

3. Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters now consider abortion to be morally wrong most of the time, up slightly from 49% in March but also the highest finding since August 2012. Thirty-two percent (32%) believe abortion is morally acceptable in most cases, while 16% are undecided.

4. Forty-nine percent (49%) think there should be a mandatory waiting period before a woman is allowed to get an abortion, which ties January’s recent high. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.

5. Voters by a 49% to 39% margin agree with this past week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case that business owners should be able to opt out of the new health care law’s requirement that they provide health insurance with free contraception if it violates their religious beliefs.

6. Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters view abortion as at least somewhat important to how they will vote in the next congressional election, including 34% who say it is Very Important. Thirty percent (30%) say the issue is not important to their vote, including 11% who say it is Not At All Important. These findings, too, are in line with past polling. As is usually the case, pro-life voters place more importance on abortion as a voting issue than pro-choice voters do.

7. One year ago after several states advanced new restrictive abortion laws, 44% of voters favored a ban on abortion after 20 weeks. Forty-one percent (41%) opposed such a ban.

8. Unaffiliated voters by a 48% to 41% margin lean toward being pro-choice.

9. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters think it is too easy to get an abortion in the United States today, while 21% believe it is too hard. One-in-four voters (25%) think the level of difficulty in getting an abortion is about right, while 16% more are not sure. These findings are generally in line with past surveys.

10. Forty-nine percent (49%) of women are pro-choice, while 40% are pro-life. Men are more closely divided on the question. Fifty percent (50%) of women still believe abortion is morally wrong in most cases, compared to 54% of men. Women are slightly more likely to see abortion as a Very Important voting issue.

11. Republicans place more importance on abortion as a voting issue than Democrats and voters not affiliated with either party do. Most GOP voters (66%) are pro-life, while most Democrats (63%) are pro-choice.

12. Seventy-one percent (71%) of Evangelical Christians and 56% of Catholics are pro-life, but majorities of voters of other faiths are pro-choice.

Based on the poll, it can be deduced that the first eight viewpoint statistics generally work in favour of protecting the God-ordained rights of the unborn to live, while the rest seem to either favor pro-choice or are somewhat balanced between the two options.

Should the unborn be “leaping in joy” over this news? Not entirely, and perhaps not until every last unborn child is safe from the abortionists. The unborn may have more friends in America today, but their enemies remain resolute. 

Meanwhile, those professing to be pro-life must go beyond mere words and expressing their preferences: they must go the extra mile to do whatever they can to guard the sanctity of life, whether born or unborn. 

We would all do well to heed the wisdom of Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.  The Bible fully agrees:

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians. 6:7).

Netanyahu to Ambassadors: Stand Up to Hamas
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Moshe Ya'alon, Binyamin Netanyahu

Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu strongly defended Israel’s counter-terror operation in Gaza during a visit Tuesday to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

During his visit, Netanyahu spoke to dozens of foreign ambassadors, and told them that he expects them to not only support Israel in its fight against terrorism, but also to stand up to Hamas.

“Any democracy would have done what Israel is doing to defend itself,” he declared.

The Prime Minister visited soldiers wounded in Operation Protective Edge. “The entire nation of Israel embraces you and wishes you a speedy recovery,” he told them.

“You were wounded as part of the most important mission there is – defending our home,” he said.

Wounded Soldiers Eager to Return
Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan and IDF Chief Rabbi Rafi Peretz spent Tuesday morning visiting wounded soldiers in Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital as well.

Ben-Dahan expressed amazement at the soldiers’ determination, even in the face of the injuries they suffered. Not only were the soldiers not discouraged, he related, they were more determined than ever to return and fight.

“I came to give them encouragement, and I was the one who was encouraged,” he said. “These soldiers, who were injured so recently, already want to return to the battle.

“The bravery and fighting spirit of the young generation are qualities the entire nation of Israel can take pride in,” he continued. “The nation of Israel is determined to continue this operation in order to defend residents of Israel and to bring long-term quiet to residents of the south.”

Minister Calls Out U.S. on Pro - Palestinian Focus
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) issued sharp criticism of US President Barack Obama Tuesday, after the White House's repeated calls for a cease-fire in Gaza. 

"It's disappointing to hear the President of the United States present his request for an immediate ceasefire out of concern toward civilians in Gaza," Katz said. "What about the citizens of Israel, who have been bombarded by rockets for years and threatened with abductions? What about the IDF forces, who have paid a heavy price to complete their mission?"

Katz said that he trusts Netanyahu will make the right decisions, including "what should be done to remove the threat of terror that looms over the citizens of Israel." 

The US called for Israel to "take even greater steps to ensure the protection of civilians" Monday, as well as to "to live up to their own standards related to protecting the welfare and well-being of innocent civilian bystanders."

Obama said earlier Monday that while Israel has the right to defend itself against a barrage of Hamas rockets, Washington has "serious concerns about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives."

"That is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a ceasefire that ends the fighting and that can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in Gaza and in Israel," he said.

Approximately 550 Palestinians - mostly Hamas terrorists, according to the IDF - and 27 Israelis have died since the operation began two weeks ago. Twenty-five of them were IDF soldiers. 

The IDF has provided copious evidence that Hamas has been actively prodding Gazans to become human shields. Tuesday, video emerged of Gaza terrorists making a getaway in an ambulance.

MH17: Secret Calls Led to Breakthrough Agreement on Bodies, Blackboxes
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Sydney Morning Herald
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

MH17 black boxes handed over to Malaysia

Two black boxes from flight MH17 have been handed over to Malaysian authorities, reports Nick Miller from Kiev.

Kuala Lumpur: After cautiously refusing to blame pro-Russian rebels for shooting down MH17, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak used secret diplomacy to reach an agreement for the transfer of the bodies and black box recording devices from the plane to Malaysian representatives.

Under the agreement with Alexander Borodai, commander of the separatist forces in Donetsk, the bodies will be flown in a Dutch C-130 Hercules with Malaysian representatives to the Netherlands for identification.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Photo: Reuters

The black box devices, which could provide an insight into the last moments of the flight were handed over to Malaysian officials in Donetsk early on Tuesday.

Under the agreement international investigators will also be guaranteed safe access to the crash site near the Russian border in eastern Ukraine.

Mr Najib has been criticised in Malaysia for failing to directly blame the separatists for bringing down the plane as anger grew across the country about the lack of dignity for the bodies, 43 of whom were Malaysians.

A rescue worker carries what is believed to be a flight data recorder at the crash site. Photo: Reuters

But he instead held a series of secret telephone calls with Mr Borodai who is believed to have said he would only hand over the bodies and black boxes to Malaysia.

“In recent days there were times I wanted to give greater voice to the anger and grief that the Malaysian people feel,” Mr Najib said  on Tuesday. “But sometimes we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome,” he said.

Mr Najib stressed the agreement would depend on work and good faith by the separatists but added they have “so far given their co-operation".

Alexander Borodai (centre) at the MH17 crash site. Photo: AFP

 He said only now could the investigation into the tragedy begin and the victims given the “respect they deserve.”

 Mr Najib has vowed to bring the Malaysian bodies home by next week, the end of the Muslim fast month of Ramadan, the most significant time of the year for Muslims. Under Islam bodies are supposed to be buried within 24 hours.

“We need to know what caused the plane to crash and who was responsible for it so that justice can be done,” Mr Najib said.

A pro-Russian rebel guards the train holding the bodies of MH17 victims. Photo: Getty Images

Several Malaysian ministers, including Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, have been in Kiev helping to negotiate the agreement that achieved what more powerful nations, including Russia, could not.

Malaysia was already mourning the loss on March 8 of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that mysteriously veered thousands of kilometres off course and is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysian ministers and Malaysia Airlines have had to fend off accusations that MH17 should not have been flying over the Ukraine war zone, saying it was a normal route that was kept open by Ukraine authorities.

Malaysia, a Muslim majority country, has been played a leading role in trying to negotiate peace deals for insurgencies in both the Philippines and Thailand.

The shooting down of MH17 was deeply personal for Mr Najib, whose step-grandmother was on the plane.

The pro-government New Straits Times newspaper in Kuala Lumpur welcomed the news that the bodies would be flown to Amsterdam with a front page headline “Breakthrough”.

MH17 Flight Crashed Within Ukrainian Missile Systems Firing Range - Russian Military
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsRia Novosti
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777

MOSCOW, July 21  – The Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed within the operating zone of the Ukrainian army’s self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air Buk missile systems, the Russian military said Monday.

"The flight scheme indicates that the plane’s route and possible point of destruction fall into the operational range of Buk air defense systems deployed by the Ukrainian armed forces,” Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the HQ of Russia’s military forces, said during a media conference in Moscow.

The Russian military published some of the data gathered as part of the probe into the July 17 Boeing crash during the briefing.

Russian monitoring systems detected up to four Ukrainian Buk M1 air defense systems in the crash area on the day of the accident, the Russian general said.

“Why would the Ukrainian military deploy this weaponry…if, as we all know, the armed militia [in eastern Ukraine] does not have aircraft?” the general queried.

Kartapolov also said the intensity of Ukrainian air defense system radar stations increased dramatically on the day of the MH17 crash.

Malaysia Airlines Flight Boeing-777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed near the town of Torez in Donetsk Region on Thursday, killing all the 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board.

Ukrainian government and militia have been trading blame for the alleged downing of the airliner ever since reports suggested foul play, with independence supporters saying they have no required technology to shoot a target at altitude of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).

Buk is a family of medium-range surface-to-air missile systems designed by the Soviet Union and Russia to engage targets at the altitude of 11 to 25 kilometers (6.8 to 15.5 miles).

Commenting on the crash, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was vital to abstain from hasty conclusions on the case before the international investigation was over.

The UN Security Council late on Sunday night completed the text of its resolution regarding the Malaysia Airlines crash. Russia introduced its own draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an impartial investigation into the circumstances of the crash.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

US Appeals Court Throws Out IRS Rule on Obamacare Subsidies
Obama's healthcare overhaul suffered a potentially crippling blow as a U.S. appeals court ruled the government cannot give financial assistance to anyone buying coverage on the insurance marketplace run by federal authorities. The decision, if it withstands appeals, may deprive more than half the people who signed up for Obamacare the tax credits they need to buy a health plan.  

Putin Left Out of Global Rally as $28 Billion Erased From Moscow Stock Exchange
President Vladimir Putin’s meddling in Ukraine cost Russia dearly in financial markets. With the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, the toll is only getting worse.  

What’s Happening To Gordon College Is Just The Beginning
In June, Gordon’s president added his name to a public letter asking President Obama to not force religious organizations into hypocrisy. Obama plans an executive order that would be the equivalent to many organizations of forcing Human Rights Campaign to hire adherents of Westboro Baptist Church. It would force anyone who receives federal funds to hire people whose sexual conduct disgraces all the world’s major religions.  

Louie Gohmert Shares Chilling Details of Attack on Border Agents in Pre-Dawn Border Visit
“The Border Patrol said they had something new that they had never experienced here along the river,” Gohmert said, driving in the dark near the border on Saturday. “They were down by … one of the more popular places where people covertly cross, and they started getting .50 caliber rounds coming in. And ricochets came up, so they had to take cover.”  

Dermer: IDF deserves Nobel Peace Prize for ‘unimaginable restraint’
“Some are shamelessly accusing Israel of genocide and would put us in the dock for war crimes,” Dermer said. “But the truth is that the Israeli Defense Forces should be given the Nobel Peace Prize… a Nobel Peace Prize for fighting with unimaginable restraint.”  

Turkey’s Erdogan: ‘I no longer talk to Obama’
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has stopped talking to US President Barack Obama on the phone, amid growing strains between Ankara and Washington over Syria and the Gaza conflict.  

Islamic State crushes and coerces on march towards Baghdad
Using its own version of "soft" and "hard" power, the Islamic State is crushing resistance across northern Iraq so successfully that its promise to march on Baghdad may no longer be unrealistic bravado.  

EU threatens Russia with more sanctions, but words ring hollow
European Union foreign ministers threatened Russia on Tuesday with harsher sanctions over Ukraine, but tougher talk may not be matched by much action after France's president signaled the disputed delivery of a warship to Moscow would go ahead.  

Kerry Not Wanted In Middle East
Former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren believes that America’s presence isn’t welcome at all. During an interview with an Israel news network on Monday, Oren said that Kerry coming to the region is “to our chagrin.” Oren cited Kerry’s history of failed attempts at peace negotiations in the region, and strained U.S. relations with Egypt, as well as the Obama administration’s poor relationship with both Israel and Palestine.  

IRS Settles with Atheists, Agrees to Crack Down on Churches for ‘Electioneering’
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has reached a settlement with a prominent atheist organization, agreeing to crack down churches and religious groups for infringements of its prohibition against ‘electioneering.’  

QUIET SUN
Solar activity remains very low. There is only one sunspot (AR2119) on the Earth-facing side of the sun, and it has a simple magnetic field that poses no threat for strong explosions.  

Claim: Obama hid 'gay life' to become president
“Nobody who knew Obama in the gay bar scene thought he could possibly be president,” said DuJan.  

Typhoon Rammasun kills more than 100 in China and Philippines
The strongest typhoon to hit southern China in four decades has killed at least 16 people in the region after leaving scores dead in the Philippines.  

Thank God for Rick Perry
As the rest of the world sizes Barack Obama up as a man who pees sitting down, the Texas Governor, not prone to wear mom jeans, has ordered his National Guard down to the border.  

The Politicization of Science in the Media
We are all by now conditioned to accept the fact that when the media reports about politics, they are likely doing so from a left-leaning angle.  

IRS: Maybe Lois Lerner Emails Aren’t So “Lost” After All, Oh, And We Lost a Few More Too
New testimony from a key Internal Revenue Service official indicates the IRS may not have lost two years of emails sent by former top IRS official Lois Lerner after all. Kane told Oversight staffers last week that the backup tapes that held two years of lost Lerner emails may actually still exist.  

Luis Gutierrez to La Raza: Obama Assured Steps to 'Stop the Deportation of Our People'
On Saturday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) said President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was a "down payment" to the Hispanic community before more grants of amnesty for illegal immigrants. ...Gutierrez said that Obama assured him during a White House meeting with Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus...that he would be as "generous and broad" as he can to "stop the deportation of our people each and every day."  

Anti-Jewish Leaflets Found on Cars in Chicago
Anti-Jewish leaflets were found on several vehicles on Chicago's Northwest Side, police said. Six vehicles were discovered with leaflets containing anti-Semitic threats in their windshields Saturday morning in the 6300 block of North Monticello Avenue, according to Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Janel Sedevic.  

Trojan report claims 'aggressive Islamist agenda'
An "aggressive Islamist agenda" was being pursued in some of the so-called Trojan horse schools in Birmingham, says a Department for Education report. Peter Clarke, a former counter-terror chief, is publishing the findings of his inquiry into allegations of a hardline Muslim "take-over" of schools. Mr Clarke found a lack of intervention from the local council and weaknesses in the oversight of academies.  

MH17 plane crash: UK wants EU to widen Russia sanctions
The UK is urging EU foreign ministers to impose tougher sanctions on Russia amid widespread anger over the Malaysia Airlines crash in east Ukraine. France hinted that it could suspend delivery of a warship to Russia, as the ministers gathered in Brussels. Earlier UK Prime Minister David Cameron attacked the sale of two French Mistral helicopter carriers - a deal also criticised by the US and other leaders.  

Texas Governor Rick Perry to deploy troops to US border
The governor of Texas has ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the US border with Mexico to protect against what he described as criminals, human traffickers and drug cartels. Rick Perry, a Republican, said he had to act because the federal government had failed to secure the border. Mr Perry said the troops would work alongside law enforcement.  

Livni: 'No real option for cease-fire now'
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni dismissed on Tuesday the possibility of an imminent halt in fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, adding that the IDF ground incursion in the Strip was impossible to avoid. "There is no real option for a cease-fire now. This operation is unavoidable," the left-wing minister told Army Radio.  

11 parents of Nigeria's abducted girls die
About a dozen parents of the more than 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls will never see their daughters again. Since the mass abduction of the schoolgirls by Islamic extremists three months ago, at least 11 of their parents have died and their hometown, Chibok, is under siege from the militants, residents report.  

Malaysia Airlines may be taken over by government or enter bankruptcy
Ailing carrier Malaysia Airlines may be taken private by its major government shareholder or enter bankruptcy protection to allow it to renegotiate contracts with unions.  

China's President Xi Jinping signs Venezuela oil deal
Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed a series of oil and mineral deals with Venezuela. They include a $4bn (£2.34bn) credit line in return for Venezuelan crude and other products. The agreements came on the latest stop of a four-country visit to Latin America.  

Gaza conflict: Diplomats push for ceasefire
Diplomatic efforts to broker a truce in Gaza have intensified, with US Secretary of State John Kerry meeting the UN chief Ban Ki-moon in Cairo. Mr Kerry said the US was concerned about Palestinian casualties, but lent his support to Israel's "appropriate and legitimate" military operation. He said the US was sending $47m (£28m) in aid to Gaza "to try to alleviate the immediate humanitarian crisis."  

Nigeria Boko Haram attack causes over 15,000 to flee
More than 15,000 people have fled an area around the northeast Nigerian town of Damboa after a spate of lethal assaults by Islamist Boko Haram fighters during the weekend, the emergency services said on Monday.  

Ten killed in air strike north of Baghdad
Ten people were killed, including a mother and three children, in a government air strike on a militant-controlled town north of Baghdad on Monday, hospital sources and witnesses said.  

Israeli mood turns dark with mounting casualties
For almost two weeks, Israel practically bristled with confidence and pride: The Iron Dome air defense system was dependably zapping incoming Hamas rockets from the skies, the military was successfully repelling infiltration attempts on the ground and from the sea, and the conflict with Hamas was causing almost no casualties in Israel.  

Japan's 2011 Earthquake May Lead to Mount Fuji Volcanic Eruption, Study Says
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily Newsweather.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Will Famous Volcano Blow Its Top?

In 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Honshu, Japan. The quake — the country's strongest ever — and resulting tsunami claimed more than 15,000 lives and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings.

But according to a study published in Science, a new cataclysm from the devastating quake could be on the horizon: a major eruption of Japan's Mount Fuji.

Using seismic data collected in the wake of the earthquake, French and Japanese researchers pieced together a map of the geological underpinnings of Japan most "disturbed" by the 2011 quake. What they found was alarming: the geology of volcanic areas, particularly the one found underneath Mount Fuji, suffered the most damage from the earthquake, hinting at the possibility that the disturbances could spark the first major eruption of Mount Fuji since 1707.

As The Guardian notes, prevailing logic might seem to suggest that the area closest to the earthquake's epicenter would exhibit the most geological disturbance, but instead geologically volatile volcanic areas suffered the most from the massive tremor. 

"The volcanic regions are the ones where the fluids trapped in the rock – boiling water, gas, liquid magma, which cause an eruption when they rise to the surface – exert the greatest pressure. The seismic waves add to this pressure, causing even more disturbance," Florent Brenguier, the lead author of the study told The Guardian.

Even though Mount Fuji hasn't erupted in more than 300 years, volcanic activity and history are pointing at a potential eruption.

In fact, the strongest earthquake to hit Japan before the 2011 quake, an estimated 8.7-magnitude tremor, occurred back in 1707, just 49 days before Mount Fuji last erupted, Quartz reports. Just four days after the 2011 earthquake, a 6.2-magnitude quake centered near Mount Fuji likely further disrupted the geological underpinnings of the volcano.

Then, in 2012, the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention discovered that the pressure in Mount Fuji was nearly 16 times the pressure found in the volcano before it last erupted in 1707, further indicating the stability of the volcano.

Should such an eruption occur now, Quartz notes, the effects would likely be catastrophic. Tokyo, a city of more than 8 million people, is just roughly 80 miles away from Mount Fuji and would likely see volcanic ash that could weigh-down and cripple infrastructure. The more than 1 million people closest to the mountain could experience pyroclastic and lava flows capable of leveling any and all structures.

Still, the study's findings don't mean that an eruption at Mount Fuji is definite.

"Our work does not say that the volcano will start erupting, but it does show that it's in a critical state," Brenguier said. "All we can say is that Mount Fuji is now in a state of pressure, which means it displays a high potential for eruption. The risk is clearly higher."

Israel's Operation to Stop Rockets Expands to War to Crush Hamas
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy News Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;War

Another seven IDF officers and men died in combat with Hamas Monday, July 21 on the fourth day of Israel’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip, raising the total of Israeli fallen in this operation to 25. Four men were killed guarding the Israeli side of the Gaza border by terrorists who jumped out of a tunnel 200 meters from Kibbutz Nir Am, disguised in IDF uniforms and flak vests. Ten were killed in a counter-attack and helicopter strike averting a mega terrorist attack of kidnap attempt. This was the fourth tunnel terrorist attack in three days.

Two more soldiers died in combat in the Shejaiya district of Gaza, and one by friendly fire.

There was no let-up in Hamas rocket barrages, two of which were carried out during Monday against a wide range of Israeli targets including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Iron Dome knocked out a large number. 

The IDF’s Shejaiya operation in the Gaza Strip continues apace, carried forward by five task forces now heading for the center of Gaza City amid casualties on both sides. Sunday, July 20, Israel’s crack Golani Brigades lost 18 fighters, without slowing down, compared with 170 Palestinian fatalities.

debkafile’s military sources report that each task force, the size of half a division, is an integrated amalgam of air, armored, artillery and engineering forces, capable of operating almost autonomously in field combat. The buildup of the last 24 hours has expanded Israel's fighting strength in the Gaza Strip to a total of 75,000 men, the largest ever fielded in this territory. Because of its scale, Israeli leaders are referring to Defensive Edge as a war rather than an operation.

The battle for Shejaiya waged Sunday burst into public prominence because of the heavy losses suffered by the Golani Brigades, but it is not the largest engagement underway at present. The other ongoing IDF battles, their progress, the units involved and their locations, are kept secret. We can only point to their general locations as being around Beit Hanoun in the north; Zeitun, south of Gaza City and the Shati refugee camp to the north.

More arenas are scheduled to be added to the list of battle zones Monday.

Rather than causing despondency, the high IDF casualty toll Sunday – the highest in a single engagement since the 2006 Lebanon War – has invigorated the fighting forces in the field, making them more determined than ever to get the better of Hamas with all possible speed.

Whereas their orders on Sunday were to advance warily and slowly, meanwhile testing the strength of Hamas resistance and observing their tactics, the tempo went into high gear at dawn Monday, when the troops were told to speed their advance from the outer fringes of Gaza City into its center.

Their performance in Shejaiya and other engagements Sunday deeply impressed Israel’s war leaders and made them confident enough to step up the rate of advance.

This upbeat mood was evident in the comments made Sunday night by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and, from the field, by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz. While condoling deeply with the bereaved families of the 18 soldiers who died in combat, they were full of praise for the troops’ performance “in defense of our home” which outdid all expectations.

The following decisions were reached in consequence:

1. Gen. Gantz would stay in the field and lead the forces from there, rather than from staff headquarters in Tel Aviv.

2. The prime minister and defense minister would manage the war, without constant recourse to security cabinet sessions to obtain its approval of every stage of the plan of operation, the final goal of which debkafile has learned, is Israel’s military takeover of the Gaza Strip.

3. As the military operation unfolded, the three war leaders were convinced more than ever that demolishing Hamas’ terror tunnel complex was not optional, any more than wiping out the rocket menace hanging latterly over five million Israelis and, for nearly a decade over the million people living directly in the shadow of the Gaza border. Publicity guidelines were to be built around this conclusion.

International statesmen are flitting busily around regional capitals, including Jerusalem, in search of an opening to broker a ceasefire in Gaza hostilities. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been holding meetings and US Secretary John Kerry will try and reach the Middle East in the coming days, according to a White House directive – unless he again cancels at the last minute.

According to debkafile’s sources, the requisite political and military conditions for a ceasefire are not yet in place because of a number of circumstances, not least of which is Hamas’ refusal to contemplate a halt.

Israel, for its part, is fighting for the first time in its history with solid Arab backing from the Egyptian-Saudi-United Arab Emirates bloc. So determined are its members to obliterate the Muslim Brotherhood that they have virtually blacklisted Qatar for supporting the Brothers and for patronizing the Palestinian Hamas, regarded as the MB’s paramilitary arm.

This rift has put a spoke in the diplomatic effort to set in motion effective mediation for a Gaza ceasefire predicated on co-opting Qatar.

A bid to make Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas the bridge between the Egyptian-Saudi-UAE grouping and Qatar has likewise foundered. And there isn’t much Secretary Kerry can do if and when he comes over to try his hand.

US President Barack Obama’s suggestion, when he called Netanyahu Sunday, to build a new Gaza ceasefire around the 2012 formula concocted by the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey - and accepted by Israel and Hamas - for ending Operation Pillar of Defense, shows him to be cut off from the fundamentally altered diplomatic and military realities of the current Gaza conflict.

He declines to recognize the emergence of a powerful new Arab bloc. It will be necessary to twist the arms of each of its members, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE, to gain their consent for a bid to cut the Israeli offensive short to rescue Hamas from defeat. And even then, they will stall.

And although anti-Israel demonstrations are being staged in some parts of the world, the most violent in Paris, hardly any world governments have openly condemned the Israeli operation – as yet.

ISIS Torches 1,800 - Year-old Church in Mosul; Priest Says City is 'now Empty of Christians'
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsChristian Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Members of the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) reportedly torched a 1,800 year-old Catholic Church in Mosul, Iraq and have effectively left that city "empty of Christians" as believers fled the area in fear of their lives, according to Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako.

Sources told Shoebat that the ISIS group in Mosul called "Daash" completely burned the Syriac Catholic Diocese and its contents in Mosul. A Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrian Website released photos of the church in flames Saturday.

The torching of the church comes on the heels of the destruction of a number of other Christian monuments in Iraq in recent months including the tomb of biblical prophet Jonah, which was dug up by ISIL militants in the east of Mosul.

Many Christians still in Mosul also hurried to leave the city before Saturday when an ISIS ultimatum that Christians convert to Islam, pay a tax or leave came into effect.

"We left Mosul as we saw that [we] were close to being butchered, and under the threat of armed militants. It was serious and firm," a Christian named Mukhalis Yeshua told Shoebat.

"…But the issue that sparked the pain and sorrow was the checkpoints exiting Mosul as the armed men searched the families, and robbed all their money as search parties from the IS (Islamic Caliphate) searched all the women and robbed their jewelry and money, telling them that such money is Islamic property," added the Christian.

Patriarch Sako told AFP Friday that: "Christian families are on their way to Dohuk and Arbil," in the neighboring autonomous region of Kurdistan. "For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians," he said.

Once home to an estimated 1 million Christians before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted former President Saddam Hussein, church officials now place the Christian community in Iraq at about 450,000.

ISIS in Control of 35 Percent of Syrian Territory
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsAl Arabiya
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rebel fighters during clashes with ISIS militants on the outskirts of Aleppo on July 13, 2014. (AFP)

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is now in control of 35 percent of the Syrian territory following a string of victories, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.

ISIS holdings include nearly all of Syria’s oil and gas fields, the monitoring group said in a statement.

One of the latest gains of the self-proclaimed “caliphate” was the seizure of the country’s biggest oil fields, in Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria, earlier in the week.

Deir Ezzor borders Homs province as well as Iraq, where the jihadist group has spearheaded a major Sunni militant offensive that has seen large swathes of territory fall out of the Baghdad government’s control.

‘Biggest ISIS operation’

Meanwhile, jihadists have killed 270 Syrian regime fighters, civilian security guards and employees since seizing a gas field in Homs province, the Observatory added, according to Agence France-Presse.

The London-based group described Thursday’s takeover of the Shaar field as “the biggest” anti-regime operation by the ISIS since it emerged in the Syrian conflict a year ago.

The watchdog said it had documented “the death of 270 people killed in the fighting or executed” since Thursday.

“A large majority of the men killed were executed at gunpoint after being taken prisoner following the takeover of the camp,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory director said.

“Eleven of the dead were civilian employees, while the rest were security guards and National Defence Forces members,” he added.

A counter-attack by Bashar al-Assad’s forces on Friday left 40 ISIS militants dead, Abdel Rahman said.

The fate of nearly 100 people who worked at the site remained unknown, according to earlier figures released by the Observatory.

Abdel Rahman condemned the deaths of the 270 Syrian regime fighters.

“The Observatory condemns summary execution as a war crime, regardless of which side it is committed by in the Syrian conflict,” he said.

“Summary execution is a war crime -- whether of civilians or combatants. They are prisoners of war and must not be executed.”

The Syrian government did not officially confirm the deaths, but supporters of Assad posted photographs of the dead, and described their killings as a “massacre”.

One pro-regime Twitter user wrote: “Thirty martyrs were brought to Homs hospital from the Shaar gas field... Homs is still bleeding.”

Gruesome footage apparently recorded by the jihadists at the gas field and posted on YouTube showed dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, strewn across a desert landscape.

One video shows a jihadist posing with the bodies as he speaks in German interspersed with religious terms in Arabic, seemingly celebrating the killings

Honey, I Tracked the Kids (and Grandpa) Using LG's Kizon Wristband
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

LG has unveiled a new tracking device for children that allows parents to locate them in real time using a smartphone or tablet app.

The KizON wristband uses GPS and Wi-Fi to pinpoint the child’s location, continually reporting back to the parent over a 2G or 3G mobile internet connection and allowing parents to call the wristband, which will automatically answer.

“Children as well as the elderly are ideal customers for wearable technologies,” said Dr Jong-seok Park, chief executive of LG Electronics mobile. “Wearables allow us to stay connected without the worry of losing a device or the inconvenience of having to carry a large item in a pocket.”

The band straps to the the child’s wrist like a large, bulky watch and has one button on the top that instantly calls a pre-set number allowing the child to contact its parents in an emergency.

A day's battery life, so yet another thing to charge

The KizON has a rated 36 hours battery life, requiring a charge each night, but will automatically alert a parent or guardian when the battery falls below 25%. 

The locator is made of blue, pink or green plastic, is water and stain resistant and has a range of accessories including animated characters to personalise the band and keep the children interested, despite its large size.

LG is not the first company to create this kind of kid-tracking band. British company KMS developed a very similar device for tracking children and the infirm last year, which was on show at the CES electronics trade show in Las Vegas in January.

Tracking devices for children have split opinion. Some parents seeing it as a great way of keeping tabs on their kids while giving them more freedom to roam, knowing they will be able to pinpoint their location at any time.

Others have seen it as part of a dystopian future, where a child's every move is tracked, judged and tagged like a convicted criminal released back into society.

LG’s KizON will be available in South Korea in July with the US and Europe, including the UK, seeing a later third-quarter release for a to-be-announced cost.

Faith Tested for Christian Private Schools, Charities and Parachurch Organizations
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A Christian college in Massachusetts requested the freedom to live out its ideals, and since some powerful people don’t share those ideals they’re set to destroy Gordon College—unless it agrees to retreat to the closet.

In June, Gordon’s president added his name to a public letter asking President Obama to not force religious organizations into hypocrisy. Obama signed an executive order Monday that is the equivalent to many organizations of forcing Human Rights organizations to hire adherents of Westboro Baptist Church. It will force anyone who receives federal funds to hire people based on their sexual conduct.

Gordon, like every other observant religious institution in the world, does not want to be forced to hire people that represent the opposite of what it stands for. For that, it’s been pilloried in the press and persecuted by apparently every local public official who gets morally high from judging Gordon’s beliefs. 

It has already lost a contract with a local town to manage its historic town hall, and its accreditation will soon be under review—all for merely signing a letter. Gordon is only the vanguard. There is far more of this ahead, for every religious school, charity, parachurch organization, and even churches. So it’s time to pay attention to the tenderhooks of tyranny.

Don’t Take Federal Money, Even Though It’s Yours

Gordon is at federal mercy, first, because it takes federal money. Nearly every college receives federal funds, because the federal government is the nation’s largest sponsor of subprime higher education—meaning, of course, it is by far the largest provider of student loans, made freely available without discrimination upon the basis of academic merit or likelihood of college completion.

This would be only an economic problem, not an individual liberty problem (besides the tax extortion), if the feds ever sent people’s tax dollars back to them with no control measures attached. But they don’t. Control is half the point of getting it in the first place. It’s a fishing expedition, and you’re the catch. 

Although a few other colleges realized some time ago that federal money inherently threatens freedom, most are so hooked they would now have to dissolve if they did not accept it. Liberty University, for example, of Virginia and Jerry Falwell fame, regularly makes news for being among the top consumers of federal Pell Grants. It got a cool $81 million from the feds in 2010-11.

This isn’t just a college problem. It’s a charity problem, and parachurch problem, as our own Mollie Hemingway made very clear when discussing the World Vision debacle. It’s even a private K-12 school problem, since private schools can take federal lunch money (and its accompanying, idiotic regulations), have their teachers trained by their public school competitors, and more.

Accreditation May Be Worse

The danger to Gordon’s accreditation, however, may be worse, because it’s a far less visible instrument of control. Without accreditation, it’s difficult for an education institution to function, because accreditation gives the school a license to hand out real diplomas, and for its course credits to transfer to other institutions. As one might expect, that’s really important to schools’ customers.

In K-12, states regulate private school curriculum and teacher preparation (aka everything a child learns and how he learns it) through accreditation. So far accreditors have been content to demand low academics, Progressive curriculum, and fuzzy teaching methods, but in the current climate it’s no stretch to think not just the feds but also some state and private accreditors will demand that private schools condone gay sex. 

In higher education, accreditation is also a hoop schools have to jump through to get federal funds, but even worse, the feds are directly involved in determining what hoops a school has to jump through to get accredited. So even if a school did not receive federal funds, it could be pressured on myriad fronts by the federal government or anyone else with power and an agenda through its accreditation agency. Such are the dangers of centralizing power, and allowing the government to do what private individuals and coalitions can manage much better themselves. It hands tyrants tools for oppression.

President Obama is clearly aware of the federal power over accreditation—he’s proposed changes to the accreditation process that involve more intimate data-collection on students, among other things. Since government-regulated accreditation does essentially nothing to improve school quality and is therefore a giant exercise in providing sustenance for the mosquito-like bureaucracy, and now a tool for potential religious discrimination, it’s time to abolish it.

Back to Gordon College, however. It is now excruciatingly clear we live in a time where some people who have political power are on a crusade against people who, in their view, commit moral thought crime. A religious college loses all reason for existence if it must conform to a diametrically opposite moral code. 

It makes no sense for a school to hire teachers to teach children, among other things, that sex belongs in marriage between a man an woman, if that very teacher’s actions negate his or her words. Such a teacher must either lie to children, or the school must. (Perhaps the entire goal is to expose children to such forced hypocrisy.) If a religious school cannot act as a religious school, it logically cannot exist. It can only shift its morality to match that of its oppressors, or dissolve.

That may be the point.

Bennett: the Enemy Hasn't a Chance Against the 'Eternal People'
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Min. Bennett at funeral

PR photo

Israel's Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) took part in the funeral of Nachal Brigade Sergeant 1st Class Oded ben Sira which took place at the soldier's home town of Nir Etzion, a veteran religious moshav near Haifa.

Bennett eulogized ben Sira, saying, "Anyone who thinks we will give up, should open a Bible, read the Covenant G-d made with Abraham pledging to give him this land, and should look at the faces of our soldiers, at their steadfast spirit."

"The enemy hasn’t a chance in this battle against the Eternal People [of Israel]", he continued.

Bennett referred to the long road the Jewish People have travelled in the past generation, adding: "The liturgical poet Rabbi Judah ben Shmuel Ibm Abbas, says with regard to the binding of Isaac 'the eyes weep bitterly but the heart is glad' and that is how we feel today as well. At this moment, our eyes weep bitter tears, so many tears. How much sadness accompanies your leaving us. But with all that, our inner hearts are glad. They are glad because we know and understand what Oded's grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, would have said to us all at this time."

"My brothers and sisters, in just one day during the Holocaust of our people, more Jews were murdered than in all of Israel's wars put together. And Oded fell as a Jewish soldier protecting his people in the Land of Israel", he said.

"Against a cowardly enemy whose commanders hide behind women and children, flee to hiding places under hospitals and schools, deciding that their people can die, you, Oded, decided to volunteer to be on the front line. Against an enemy that glorifies death, you fought so that we will be able to live our lives here. Against an enemy that has no roots, you deepened our roots here, and even when a branch is plucked , no one can uproot the tree it is on.  No one. We were here before the Hamas terrorists and we will be here long after they are gone."

"You entered Gaza as a regular soldier and you left a reservist. You entered Gaza as a soldier who had been drafted, but you left as a volunteer. You entered Gaza alive, yet you left there alive in our hearts You went into Gaza to stop the deaths. And you left there willing us our lives.

Oded, rest in peace, rest assured that we will complete the mission you began."

10 More Questions Russian Military Pose to Ukraine, U.S. Over MH17 Crash
Jul 22nd, 2014
Daily NewsRT
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Head of General Staff of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Andrey Kartopolov ( left) and chief of the Air Force Main Staff Lt. Gen. Igor Makushev ( right) at a media conference in Moscow, July 21 (RIA Novosti / Vadim Savitsky)

Russia has released military monitoring data, which shows Kiev military jets tracking the MH17 plane shortly before the crash - and posed yet another set of questions to Ukraine and the US over the circumstances of the tragedy.

Military officials – chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Andrey Kartopolov and chief of the Air Force Main Staff Lt. Gen. Igor Makushev - posed a number of questions to Kiev and Washington concerning the possible causes of the catastrophe in Eastern Ukraine that killed almost 300 people last Thursday.

1. Why did the MH17 plane leave the international corridor?

“Please note that the plane stayed within the corridor until it reached Donetsk but then it deviated from the route to the north,” said Kartopolov.

2. Was MH17 leaving the route a navigation mistake or was the crew following instructions by Ukrainian air traffic controllers in Dnepropetrovsk?

“The maximum deviation from the left border of the corridor was 14 km. Following that, we can see the plane maneuvering to return to the corridor, yet the Malaysian crew did not get a chance to complete the maneuver. At 17.20, the plane began to lose speed, and at 17.23 it disappeared from Russian radars.”

3. Why was a large group of air defense systems deployed to the militia-held area if the self-defense forces have no planes?

“As far as we know, the Ukrainian military had three or four air defense battalions equipped with Buk-M1 SAM systems deployed in the vicinity of Donetsk on the day of the crash. This system is capable of hitting targets within the range of 35 km at the altitude of up to 22 km.”

Buk missile defense units in Donetsk Region, 5km north of Donetsk city, on July 14, 2014. (RIA Novosti)

4. Why did Kiev deploy BUK missile systems on the edge of militia-controlled zones directly before the tragedy?

“We have satellite photos of the places where Ukraine had its air defense units deployed in the southeastern parts of the country. The first three photos were made on July 14. The first photo shows Buk launchers 8 km northwest of Lugansk. You can clearly see a TELAR and two TELs. The second photo shows radars 5 km north of Donetsk. You can see two TARs along with other equipment and technical structures. The third photo shows air defense systems north of Donetsk. You can clearly see a TELAR launcher and about 60 military and auxiliary vehicles, tents for vehicles and other structures.

“Here’s a photo of the same area made on July 17. Please note that the launcher has disappeared. The fifth photo shows a battery of Buk missiles at the village of Zaroshchenskoye 50 km east of Donetsk and 8 km south of Shakhtyorsk on the morning of the same day. The sixth photo shows the same area on July 18. As you can see, the battery has left.”

5. On the day of the crash Kiev intensified Kupol-M1 9S18 radar activity, key BUK system components. Why?

“Also, July 17 saw increased activity on the part of Ukraine’s Kupol-M1 9S18 radars, which are part of the Buk system. Here on this chart you see that there were seven radars operating on July 15, eight radars operating on July 16, and nine radars operating on July 17 in the area. Then, starting with July 18, the intensity of radar activities radically decreased, and now there are no more than two or three radars operating a day. The reason behind this is yet to be found.”

6. What was a military plane doing on the route intended for civilian flights?

“There were three civilian planes in the area performing their regular flights at this time. There was a flight from Copenhagen to Singapore at 17:17, there was a flight from Paris to Taipei at 17:24, and then there was the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.”

“Also, Russian monitoring systems registered that there was a Ukrainian Air Force jet, probably Su-25, climbing and approaching the Malaysian Boeing.”

“The Su-25 was 3-5 km away from the Malaysian plane. Su-25 is capable of climbing to the altitude of 10,000 meters for a short period of time. Its standard armament includes R60 air-to-air missiles, which are capable of locking and hitting targets from 12 km and which are guaranteed to hit the target from the distance of 5 km.”

(RIA Novosti / Vadim Savitsky)

7. Why was the military jet flying at so close to a passenger plane?

“At 17:21’35, with [the Boeing’s] velocity having dropped to 200 kilometers per hour, a new mark detecting an airborne object appears at the spot of the Boeing’s destruction. This new airborne object was continuously detected for the duration of four minutes by the radar stations Ust-Donetsk and Buturinskaya. An air traffic controller requested the characteristics of the new airborne object, but was unable to get any readings on its parameters – most likely due to the fact that the new aircraft was not equipped with a secondary surveillance radar transponder, which is a distinctive feature of military aircraft,” said Makushev.

“Detecting the new aircraft became possible as it started to ascend. Further changes in the airborne object’s coordinates suggest that it was hovering above the Boeing 777’s crash site, monitoring of the situation.

“Ukrainian officials earlier claimed that there were no Ukrainian military aircraft in the area of the crash that day. As you can see, that is not true.”

8. Where did the launcher – from the video circulated by Western media and showing a Buk system being moved allegedly from Ukraine to Russia – come from? As the video was made on the territory controlled by Kiev, where was the launcher being transported?

“I’d like to say that the information we have presented here is based on objective and reliable data from various technical systems – unlike the groundless accusations made against Russia,” said Kartopolov.

“For example, media circulated a video supposedly showing a Buk system being moved from Ukraine to Russia. This is clearly a fabrication. This video was made in the town of Krasnoarmeisk, as evidenced by the billboard you see in the background, advertising a car dealership at 34 Dnepropetrovsk Street. Krasnoarmeisk has been controlled by the Ukrainian military since May 11.” </p>

“For example, media circulated a video supposedly showing a Buk system being moved from Ukraine to Russia. This is clearly a fabrication. This video was made in the town of Krasnoarmeisk, as evidenced by the billboard you see in the background, advertising a car dealership at 34 Dnepropetrovsk Street. Krasnoarmeysk has been controlled by the Ukrainian military since May 11.”

9. Where is it right now? Why are some of the missiles missing on the launcher? When was the last time a missile was launched from it?

10. Why haven’t US officials revealed the evidence supporting claims that the MH17 was shot down by a missile launched by the militia?

“US officials claim they have satellite photographs proving the Malaysian airliner was shot down by a missile launched by the militia. But no one has seen these photographs so far. As far as we know, there was indeed a US satellite flying over southeastern Ukraine on July 17 from 17:06 to 17:21 Moscow time.

“This satellite is part of an experimental system designed to track and monitor the launches of missiles of various ranges. If our US colleagues have imagery from this satellite, they should release it for the international community to examine it in detail. This may be a coincidence, but the US satellite flew over Ukraine at exactly the same time when the Malaysian airliner crashed.”

Buk missile defense units in Zaroschinskoe, 50km south of Donetsk city and 8km south of Shakhtyorsk, on July 17, 2014.Photo courtesy of the Russian Defense Ministry

This is not the first time Russia brings up questions on the plane crash. No explanations have followed with Kiev insisting they have full evidence of Russia being behind the attack, but so far only releasing tapes.

The USA, putting the blame on the self-defense forces, has yet refused to release any intelligence material. On Monday State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf described Russia’s statements as “propaganda and misinformation” - but when reporters asked her whether Washington would be releasing their intelligence and satellite data, Harf only replied "may be." So far the US has been backing its statements by social media and "common sense."