Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

UN Condemns Palestinians for Breaking Ceasefire
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Robert Serry, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, condemned Palestinians for breaking the agreed-to ceasefire, which was supposed to last for 72 hours.

"If corroborated, this would constitute a serious violation of the humanitarian ceasefire in place since 8 am this morning by Gazan militant factions, which should be condemned in the strongest terms," the UN statement said.

He said he is concerned about what the results of breaking the ceasefire could be for Gaza. 

The statement said that Serry called on the Palestinian parties that agreed to the ceasefire to reaffirm their commitment to the ceasefire as soon as possible. "He [Serry] is deeply concerned regarding the serious consequences on the ground that could arise as a result of this incident."

UN Blasts Israel for not Sharing Iron Dome With Hamas
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Reuters

In what may be one of the most ridiculous accusations yet against Israel, the UN's top human rights official condemned Israel on Thursday for failing to share the Iron Dome anti-missile system with Hamas, Breitbart reports.

According to the report, human rights commissioner Navi Pillay condemned Israel’s military actions to stop Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, telling reporters that Israel was “deliberately defying International Law... in a way that may constitute war crimes.”

"There is a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes,” Breitbart quoted Pillay as saying following a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on Gaza.

She backed this statement by citing Israel’s refusal to share its Iron Dome ballistic missile defense shield with the "governing authority" of Gaza.

Pillay criticized the U.S. for helping Iron Dome, adding, "No such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling.”

Just because Hamas fires rockets indiscriminately aimed at Israeli civilian population centers without provocation and fires them from within its own population centers does not “absolve” Israel from its own legal violations, Pillay told reporters, according to Breitbart.

Pillay failed to mention that the Iron Dome was developed in order to save the lives of innocent civilians from Hamas’s endless rocket attacks against Israelis.

The Iron Dome is designed to intercept rockets that are fired towards populated areas. It has proven very effective and its success rate was listed as 90% in 2012.

According to Breitbart, Pillay also condemned what she termed Israeli "targeting" of UN-run schools and hospitals in Gaza.

She did not mention, nor was she reminded by any of the reporters present, that at least three UN-run schools in Gaza have been used as rocket warehouses, a gross violation of international law that clearly falls within the category of war crimes.

"What I'm seeing now is a recurrence of the very acts that the Gaza fact-finding mission indicated as constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity," she said.

While the claim regarding the Iron Dome is a new one, Pillay’s latest comments are certainly not the first time she has condemned Israel for “war crimes”.

Just last week, Pillay opened an emergency UN debate on Gaza by saying there is a "strong possibility" that Israel is violating law in Gaza, and that could amount to war crimes.

She said the killing of Gaza civilians, especially children, raises concerns on Israel's precautions and respect for proportionality.

U.S. to Pressure Israel, Hamas Into Extending Truce
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The number-two US diplomat will head to Cairo and seek to extend beyond 72 hours a truce agreed by Israel and Hamas, a senior US official said Friday.

According to AFP, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns - a veteran career diplomat frequently tasked with delicate missions - will travel to Egypt this weekend to take part in talks as part of the three-day truce that took effect Friday, the official said.

The official said Burns would look to see if the two sides can extend the truce in the deadly conflict, especially as negotiators need time to travel to Cairo.

Israeli officials rarely meet during the Jewish Sabbath that starts at sundown on Friday.

"There is a hope for an extension because people have to travel and don't want to lose a whole day," a senior US official said on condition of anonymity in New Delhi, where Secretary of State John Kerry was on a visit.

But the official said an extension also depended on compromises during the talks, which aim to find a more lasting solution to the Gaza crisis.

"We obviously hope there will be (an extension of the ceasefire) and would encourage that, but obviously to do so there's got to be some sense of serious purpose on the table," the official said.

The US placed enormous pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire since earlier this week, when Secretary of State John Kerry convened special talks in Paris with envoys from Turkey, Qatar, and Hamas in Gaza.

Despite vowing not to end the operation "until the job is done," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu officially accepted the truce on Friday morning, following an announcement from Kerry and Hamas's alleged acceptance of the deal.

U.S. Airports on High Alert for Travellers With Signs of Ebola
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsHerald Sun
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

AMID fears of a global Ebola epidemic, the feds are keeping a close eye on passengers arriving at JFK and other international airports in the United States to quarantine anyone showing signs of the deadly virus.

And the city’s Health Department alerted doctors and other health providers to immediately report anyone they suspect might have the disease, reports The New York Post.

“Quarantine officers” at JFK and 19 other US airports are on alert, and airline personnel are trained to spot the symptoms, which include fever, red eyes, severe vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding, said a spokesman for the US Centres for Disease Control.

“If you’re a passenger on a plane and you say you’re sick, you will be met when you land by the CDC,” spokesman David Daigle told The Post.

The deaths of 57 more people from Ebola in west Africa have pushed the overall fatality toll from the epidemic to 729, the World Health Organisation says.

The 57 deaths were recorded between Thursday and Sunday last week in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the UN health agency said in a statement overnight.

It said 122 new cases were detected over those four days, taking the total number of confirmed and likely infected cases from the outbreak so far to 1323.

WHO said the trend in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone “remains precarious with ongoing ... transmission of infection”.

Global threat ... US health officials are monitoring the Ebola outbreak in Africa but say the risk of the deadly germ spreading to the United States is remote. Picture: AP/CDC

He added that if Ebola is suspected, the patient will be quarantined and rushed to a hospital.

The city Health Department, meanwhile, urged doctors and other health care providers to be on the lookout for signs of the disease.

“The Health Department issued a health alert to providers to remind them to immediately report suspected Ebola cases,” the department said in a statement.

“We are monitoring the situation and are prepared to protect the health of New Yorkers against any infectious diseases imported into the city.”

A CDC official said during a briefing that a US outbreak is highly unlikely because the disease is difficult to contract.

Deadly ... Staff of'Doctors without Borders' staff remove the body of a person killed by viral haemorrhagic fever, at a centre for victims of the Ebola virus in Guekedou, Guinea. Picture: AFP

“While it’s possible that someone could become infected with the Ebola virus in Africa and then get on a plane to the United States, it’s very unlikely that they would be able to spread the disease to fellow passengers,” said Stephan Monroe, deputy director of the National Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the CDC.

“The Ebola virus [only] spreads through direct contact with the blood, secretions, or other body fluids of ill people,” he said.

There is no vaccine or treatment for the virus, and few labs are capable of testing for it.

“There are no commercial labs I’m aware of that provide testing for Ebola virus. We have testing capability here at CDC and through the Department of Defense Laboratory at Fort Dietrich in Maryland,” Mr Monroe said.

Threat ... Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, right, demonstrates to people how to wash their hands properly in order to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia. Picture: AP

The CDC has issued a “Level 2” alert for travellers, which means those in the African countries where the outbreak has occurred are urged to take extra precautions to avoid coming into contact with infected people.

Mr Daigle said the CDC could raise the alert to a Level 3, which would discourage Americans from any non-essential travel to the countries in West Africa where the virus has struck hardest.

Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, an expert in viral diseases and professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, said there is no reason for New Yorkers to panic.

“The risk of an outbreak is remote, very, very unlikely. Is it possible that someone could return to the US and that individual could infect one or two persons, but it’s not possible for there to be a widespread outbreak,” Dr Lipkin said.

Great risk ... Doctors Without Borders personnel work in the facility in Kailahun, Sierra Leone where Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan died on July 29 after risking his life to treat Ebola patients. Picture: AP

The Ebola outbreak has sickened more than 1200 and killed at least 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and Lipkin said the outbreak in Africa could grow far more deadly as the disease is spread.

“I’m not worried about the US. I’m worried for the people in Africa. This is indeed the worst outbreak that we’ve seen. It’s a humanitarian nightmare, but the risk is there, not here,” he said.

The West's Reckless Rush Towards War With Russia
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsPeak Prosperity
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

For reasons that have no rational explanations at this time, the US and Europe have embarked on a concerted program to demonize Putin, ostracize Russia, and bring the world as close to a major conflict as it's been since the Cold War, a time hardly memorable to many in the current crop of our elected officials.

Within hours of the MH-17 plane crash, the United States pinned the blame on Russia generally, and Putin particularly. The anti-Putin propaganda (and if there were a stronger term I'd use it) has been relentless and almost comically over-the-top (see image above, and those below).

The US and the UK in particular, are leading the charge. Indeed, the UK's Daily Mail managed to crank out an article on the MH-17 affair within just a few hours on the very same day it occurred with this headline:

The blood on Putin's hands...

The world may have averted its gaze towards Israel and Gaza, but this week the rumbling warfare in eastern Ukraine has been erupting into something growing daily more dangerous.

Meanwhile the Russian bear, still pretending to be an innocent party despite blood dripping from its paws, has begun stealthily rebuilding its forces on the border.

Now we may well have witnessed the kind of shocking event that happens when heavy armaments are placed in the hands of untrained and desperate militias.

That's really an amazing piece of journalism to have managed to have figured out the who, the what and the why of a major catastrophe without the benefit of any evidence or investigation.  One wonders who the author's source was for obtaining what have become very crisp talking points that both the US and Europe are echoing as they exert increasing pressure on Russia?

Nearly two weeks later, neither the US nor Europe has provided substantial evidence of any sort to support their assertions that Ukrainian separatists and/or Russia are to blame for the MH-17 catastrophe. There's literally been nothing. 

In the meantime, very important questions surrounding the shoot-down have gone entirely unaddressed by US officials and the western media. Why? Perhaps because they raise the possibility that there could be an alternative explanation:

• What about the Russian satellite photos showing Kiev controlled BUK-1 missile batteries in the area on July 17th?
• What about Russia's evidence that the radar of these units were active on July 15th, 16th and 17th?
• What were on the air traffic control recordings that were immediately seized by Ukrainian authorities, and why have they not been released?
• Why was a Ukrainian SU-25 flying within a few kilometers of MH-17 at the moment of the shoot-down and what did that pilot see?
• Why has the US not responded to nor released the satellite images and data from its spy satellite that Russia claims was in the right position to capture the precise moment of the MH-17 shoot-down?

So far, the entire case made by the US State Department and Obama administration boils down to a few highly-questionable social media clips gathered right after the incident, plus several out-of-date low-resolution satellite photos taken from a private company (DigitalGlobe) along with a bevy of 'trust us' statements.

Nonetheless, despite the lack of solid, verified and credible evidence, the current narrative has now been embedded firmly in the media cycle and nearly everyone on the streets of the US, UK and most European nations will tell you that Putin and/or Russia was responsible. 

Similarly, in 2007, years after all the facts were verified and known, when asked  "Do you think Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?"  41% of Americans answered 'yes' when the proper answer was (and remains) 'Absolutely not.'

It's a fact of modern life that most people really don't pay close attention to important world events. Due to that lack of engagement, even the most patently obvious lies can quickly become entrenched in the public mind as truth if touted by mainstream news outlets. 

Here now in July 2014, there is a rush towards war similar to those that proceeded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. Important questions are not being asked by the media, our once again missing-in-action fourth estate, and unsubstantiated and unverified political talking points are simply being reprinted as facts.

But this time the war fervor is being directed at a nuclear powerhouse, not a derelict Middle East country. And the stakes could hardly be higher. For Europe, even if things don't progress much further than they already have, economic damage (we don't know how much yet, or how much worse it may get) has already been done to its fragile recovery. The people of Europe really ought to be asking what exactly they're hoping to achieve by attempting to box Putin into a corner. 

After all, that might not even be possible. He enjoys an 83% approval rating in Russia, a level beyond the fantasies of most western politicians, plus his country supplies a vast amount of Europe's natural gas and a hefty percentage of the world's exported oil. Temporary loss of either would be a painful body blow to Europe, while a sustained loss of oil exports would be crippling to the world at large.

In all of the thousands of column inches I've read demonizing Putin over the developments in Ukraine and MH-17, I've yet to identify a single compelling answer to this question: What vital US interest is at stake if Russia keeps Crimea and helps to defend the Russian-speaking people along its border?  To my knowledge, it's not yet been articulated by anyone at the State Department or White House. 

At this stage, all we know is: the West thinks that Russia is bad, and Putin is worse. But, given the stakes involved, we all deserve to know more than that.  A lot more.  We deserve proper and complete answers.

There's a lot of context to this story. It involves broken promises, desirable resources, power plays, and a dangerous lack of diplomatic sophistication by the current US administration.

Diplomacy and Statesmanship

My greatest concern in seeing this rush towards judgment before the facts are in -- or worse -- war, is that the people running the show in the White House and the US State Department are not cut from the same cloth as the old-school diplomats that preceded them.

After all, extremely dangerous conflicts transpired in the past (the Cuban Missile crisis, anyone?) and yet talks between sides were held and resolutions reached, preventing the more dire of outcomes from coming to pass. 

In that spirit, I found this recent piece by Pat Buchanan (someone I've not always agreed with in the past), to be spot on:

Is Putin Worse Than Stalin?

When then did this issue of whose flag flies over Donetsk or Crimea become so crucial that we would arm Ukrainians to fight Russian-backed rebels and consider giving a NATO war guarantee to Kiev, potentially bringing us to war with a nuclear-armed Russia?

From FDR on, U.S. presidents have felt that America could not remain isolated from the rulers of the world's largest nation.

Ike invited Khrushchev to tour the USA after he had drowned the Hungarian Revolution in blood. After Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba, JFK was soon calling for a new detente at American University.

Within weeks of Warsaw Pact armies crushing the Prague Spring in August 1968, LBJ was seeking a summit with Premier Alexei Kosygin.

After excoriating Moscow for the downing of KAL 007 in 1983, that old Cold Warrior Ronald Reagan was fishing for a summit meeting.

The point: Every president from FDR through George H. W. Bush, even after collisions with Moscow far more serious than this clash over Ukraine, sought to re-engage the men in the Kremlin.

Whatever we thought of the Soviet dictators who blockaded Berlin, enslaved Eastern Europe, put rockets in Cuba and armed Arabs to attack Israel, Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush 1 all sought to engage Russia's rulers.

Avoidance of a catastrophic war demanded engagement.

How then can we explain the clamor of today's U.S. foreign policy elite to confront, isolate, and cripple Russia, and make of Putin a moral and political leper with whom honorable statesmen can never deal?

 

That's really an amazing piece of context. Past US presidents managed to hold dialogs with Stalin, who killed millions, and Khrushchev, who directly threatened the US with nuclear missiles.

What exactly has Putin done to surpass the excesses of past Russian/Soviet leaders? What the US still refers to as the "illegal annexation of Crimea" was actually the result of a heavy turn-out vote by the Crimean people where 97% of the votes cast were in favor of rejoining Russia.

So, to recap, Crimea's people voted overwhelmingly to shape their future in the way they best saw fit, and not one life was lost during the annexation. That sounds pretty peaceful and democratic if you ask me. What would Washington DC prefer? To undo that particular vote and have the people of Crimea be forcibly reunited with Ukraine? For what purpose? To prevent map makers from having to once again redraw Ukraine's wandering borders?

More likely -- and this is the part that concerns me -- is that the current people in power in Washington DC are just not the equals of the statesmen of old.

In researching this piece, I came across this 1998 interview with George Kennan that I found both illuminating and troubling:

His voice is a bit frail now, but the mind, even at age 94, is as sharp as ever. So when I reached George Kennan by phone to get his reaction to the Senate's ratification of NATO expansion it was no surprise to find that the man who was the architect of America's successful containment of the Soviet Union and one of the great American statesmen of the 20th century was ready with an answer.

''I think it is the beginning of a new cold war,'' said Mr. Kennan from his Princeton home.

''I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. This expansion would make the Founding Fathers of this country turn over in their graves. We have signed up to protect a whole series of countries, even though we have neither the resources nor the intention to do so in any serious way. [NATO expansion] was simply a light-hearted action by a Senate that has no real interest in foreign affairs.'' 

''What bothers me is how superficial and ill informed the whole Senate debate was,'' added Mr. Kennan, who was present at the creation of NATO and whose anonymous 1947 article in the journal Foreign Affairs, signed ''X,'' defined America's cold-war containment policy for 40 years.

''I was particularly bothered by the references to Russia as a country dying to attack Western Europe. Don't people understand? Our differences in the cold war were with the Soviet Communist regime. And now we are turning our backs on the very people who mounted the greatest bloodless revolution in history to remove that Soviet regime. 

''And Russia's democracy is as far advanced, if not farther, as any of these countries we've just signed up to defend from Russia,'' said Mr. Kennan, who joined the State Department in 1926 and was U.S. Ambassador to Moscow in 1952.

''It shows so little understanding of Russian history and Soviet history. Of course there is going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then [the NATO expanders] will say that we always told you that is how the Russians are -- but this is just wrong.'' 

(...)

As he said goodbye to me on the phone, Mr. Kennan added just one more thing: ''This has been my life, and it pains me to see it so screwed up in the end.''

 

The master statesman pretty much nailed it.  Instead of bringing Russia into the fold, a petulant strain of 'diplomacy' took over that goaded and threatened Russia and now we are, in fact, being treated to endless repetitions of oh you know - that's just how Russians are. Instead we might also note that the current debate seems superficial and ill-informed.

As I recently wrote in the piece on the Ukraine Flashpoint, the expansion of NATO to the east towards Russia happened even though the US had previously struck an explicit agreement not to progress any further. Not one inch, was the vow. That vow was consciously and repeatedly broken.  So who exactly is it that has cause not to trust the other?

The West had the opportunity to bring Russia and its extensive abilities and resources closer into partnership. But for some reason (Military industrial complex anyone?  Campaign contributions from same?), the decision was made during the Clinton administration to violate the NATO agreement instead and move many millions of inches eastward. 

The last encroachment both brought NATO right to Russia's borders and placed millions of culturally-Russian people under the heavy-handed rule of Ukrainian ultra-nationalists. Some of these same ultra-nationalists were caught on tape recommending that the 8 million Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine should be "nuked".

Perhaps an idle threat. However, one of the first actions of Kiev's new government this February was to immediately revoke legal equality for the use of Russian language:

Perhaps the most obvious of the new Kiev government's mistakes came last week, when deputies in the nationalist party Svoboda, or Freedom, pushed through the cancellation of a law that gave equal status to minority languages, such as Russian.

The previous law had allowed regions across the country to use languages other than the official national language, Ukrainian, on commercial signs, in schools and government documents. When it passed in 2012, it was seen as a victory for the areas where Russian was the dominant language, particularly in the east and south. 

Suffice it to say, there's a very long list of very good reasons why the Russian-speakers in the east of Ukraine might want nothing to do with being under the rule (thumb?) of western Ukraine.

Propaganda

Propaganda is information that is designed to mislead and provoke an emotional response. The covers of western newspapers and magazines have been absolutely choked with anti-Putin propaganda. After such yellow journalism, what sort of dialog, what rapprochement, can be proposed with Putin?

Would not Obama (or any other leader) be seen as 'siding with the enemy' if he engaged in dialog with Putin after all this?

That Newsweek cover with the darkened face and mushroom clouds reflected in the glasses is especially ominous.  Exactly what's the message being represented there? Well that's easy. It's Armageddon.

Before you take Newsweek's views too seriously, you need to know that the once respectable publication went through some hard times, went out of print for while, was bought and is now run by these folks:

On Saturday, news broke that IBT Media, a company that runs the online business (at least, in theory) newspaper International Business Times, had purchased Newsweek from IAC. So IBT Media now owns Newsweek. But exactly who controls IBT Media?

IBT Media’s corporate leadership site lists two cofounders: Etienne Uzac, the company’s CEO, and Johnathan Davis, its chief content officer.

But some say that the company is actually controlled by—or at least has very close undisclosed ties to—someone whose name appears nowhere on the site: David Jang, a controversial Korean Christian preacher who has been accused of calling himself “Second Coming Christ.”

Before founding IBT, Mr. Davis was the journalism director at Mr. Jang’s Olivet University. 

 

So Newsweek may or may not have a larger agenda to push beyond just getting the facts out. It's another case where knowing that an editorial slant exists can be helpful in maintaining a healthy stance of skepticism.  

But beyond Newsweek, the entire suite of publications ranging from the NYTimes, Washington Post, Financial Times, and nearly every other main pillar of the Fourth Estate have been running with the "Putin's responsible" meme.

And, it bears repeating, all without any solid evidence, none(!), plus a host of legitimate serious questions that are being met with zero investigative vigor by the mainstream media and complete radio silence from the government agencies that should be examining and addressing them.

This relentless campaign of propaganda directed against Russia (generally) and Putin (specifically) is now at a fever pitch. My caution to you is that you should be actively suspicious of any media outfit that chooses to run this propaganda.

Perhaps their travel and dining sections can be trusted; but I'd advise reading the front section with a huge grain of salt.

Poking the Bear

With all of that background, we're now at the point where we can understand just how annoyed Russia must be at the sanctions that have been recently levied against it, various of its industries, and in certain cases, specific wealthy and influential citizens.

Since the MH-17 downing and all of those resulting accusations of Russian responsibility, Russia has been accused of firing artillery and rockets across its border into Ukraine. The only "evidence" to this is the aforementioned crude satellite photos taken by a private company. These photos were then drawn upon (literally) to show trajectories the missiles *could* have followed. These very non-rigorous images were then tweeted out of the account of one Geoffrey Pyatt as hard fact. If his name isn't familiar to you, he's the US Ukrainian ambassador who was famously caught on tape with Victoria Nuland (Asst. Sec. of State) discussing the imminent coup against then-Ukrainian President Yanukovych.

Next, a western tribunal in The Hague suddenly ruled that the former shareholders of the dismantled Russian oil giant Yukos were entitled to $50 billion in compensation to be paid by the Russian government. Surprise!

In chilling response, a person close to Putin reportedly said,  “There is a war coming in Europe. Do you really think this matters?”

Following that, the US accused Russia of violating the 1987 nuclear arms treaty by testing ground based missiles in...wait for it...2008. I'm sure the timing of this is in no way connected to the dust-up over Ukraine...

And most recently, both the US and the EU levied additional sanctions on Russia and certain Russian individuals:

President Obama announced expanded sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, just hours after the European Union imposed its most sweeping measures yet penalizing Moscow for its role in supporting separatists in neighboring Ukraine.

The latest American actions took aim at more Russian banks and a large defense firm, but they also went further than past moves by blocking future technology sales to Russia’s lucrative oil industry in an effort to inhibit its ability to develop future resources. The measures were meant to largely match those unveiled earlier in the day in Europe.

“Today is a reminder that the United States means what it says and we will rally the international community in standing up for the rights and freedom of people around the world,” Mr. Obama said on the South Lawn of the White House.

 

While one could be forgiven for thinking that the "rights and freedom of people" might include the freedom to vote for the future one wants, and the right not to be ruled over by people hostile to one's language and customs, apparently the Obama administration has other ideas for the people of Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

The final act of hostility by the US towards Russia that bears mention here concerns a Senate bill introduced by the ranking member of the foreign relations committee, Sen. Bob Corker, that outlines what would happen if Russia does not 'comply' and leave Crimea and Ukraine entirely within seven days of the act's passage:

Corker’s bill would declare Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine “major non-NATO allies” of the United States, move NATO forces into Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, accelerate the building of an ABM system in Eastern Europe, and authorize U.S. intelligence and military aid for Ukraine’s army in the Donbass war with Russian-backed separatists.

U.S. aid would include antitank and antiaircraft weapons.

S. 2277 would direct the secretary of state to intensify efforts to strengthen democratic institutions inside the Russian Federation, e.g., subvert Vladimir Putin’s government, looking toward regime change.

If Putin has not vacated Crimea and terminated support for Ukraine’s separatist rebels within seven days of passage of the Corker Ultimatum, sweeping sanctions would be imposed on Russian officials, banks and energy companies, including Gazprom.

Economic relations between us would be virtually severed.

In short, this is an ultimatum to Russia that she faces a new Cold War if she does not get out of Ukraine and Crimea, and it is a U.S. declaration that we will now regard three more former Soviet republics – Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia – as allies.

 

Poor George Kennan. Once again the US Senate is operating without the benefit of either humility or historical perspective.

The people of Russia are not in any mood to be bullied by the US Senate, just as the US Senate would refuse to be dictated to by the Russian parliament.  That's just common sense.

It's completely obvious that the impact of any such Act passed by the US legislature would be to further erode, if not collapse, relations and economic ties between Russia and the US.

The main conclusion here is that not only is the US poking the bear, but it is doing so with increasing frequency and upping the ante dangerously with each step.

The Churchs Silence on Domestic Violence
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

If a short list was made of the issues the American church does not talk about from the pulpit, sexual and domestic violence would probably top the list. According to Rick Santos, President and CEO of IMA World Health, there is little information out there about what is actually happening in the U.S. faith community on this issue. 

What makes the poll unique is that there is not much data on how pastors view and address the issues of domestic and sexual violence. Why are most churches all but totally silent on the issue of abuse? Researchers found about 4 in 10 (42 percent) pastors "rarely" or "never" speak about domestic violence. Less than a quarter (22 percent) speaks to their church about the issue once a year.

Violence against women was named as a “significant public health issue” by the World Health Organization in 2013, which reported that 35 percent of women around the globe have experienced sexual or physical abuse by a partner or non-partner. And according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the chance of a man experiencing abuse at the hand of an intimate partner was one in four.

A recent LifeWay Research pastor's survey is one of the first of its kind on the topic of domestic violence. For many Protestant pastors, domestic violence is the pro-life issue they almost never talk about.

The report states that based on the number of times they speak to their congregations about sexual or domestic violence each year, the majority of pastors do not consider sexual or domestic violence central to larger religious themes such as strong families, a peaceful society, pursuing holiness, social justice, etc. 

Pastors also tend to downplay the possibility domestic violence can affect their congregation. About 3 in 10 (29 percent) believe domestic violence is not a problem in their church. 72 percent are more likely to say it is a problem for their community.

The LifeWay Research found that most Protestant senior pastors say they know victims of domestic violence and believe stopping abuse is a pro-life issue. But those pastors seldom address domestic violence from the pulpit. And less than half have been trained in how to help victims. More than half of senior pastors don't have sufficient training to deal with cases of domestic or sexual violence, the survey shows. But 81 percent of pastors say they would help reduce domestic violence if they had more training.

Those are among the findings of a new telephone survey of 1,000 senior pastors of Protestant churches from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. The survey was co-sponsored by two Christian non-profits: Washington, D.C.-based Sojourners and Maryland-based IMA World Health.

It is evident that there is a gap between occurrence and awareness. Rev. Jane Eesley of Christ United Methodist Church said that it is important to let parishioners know clergy will not judge them, but love and care for them. Eesley also stated that in her view, people should not be kept in abusive relationships: “When you send a person who is abused back to an abuser, it’s enabling the abuse.”

Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research Division said: "When two-thirds of pastors address the issue of domestic violence in church one time a year or less, we have a serious disconnect with the realities of American life," Stetzer continued: "Pastors cannot ignore or downplay the issue, when lives are being ruined—and sometimes lost—through sexual and domestic violence right in their own communities and churches. The church needs to be part of the solution here. This is an issue where people of faith, across theological lines, can speak together that it matters, we care, and it must change." Stetzer also added: "The gospel sets prisoners free—and that includes victims of domestic violence, who often feel like prisoners in their own home. “Pastors can do more to proclaim that message."

Justin Holcomb, co-author of Is It My Fault?: Hope and Healing for Those Suffering Domestic Violence, said some abusers use scriptures like Malachi 2:16—which says God hates divorce in some translations—against their victims. He believes pastors can counteract that message and as much as God hates divorce, He also hates the abuse of women. 

Most pastors (74 percent) know of a friend, family member or church member who has experienced domestic violence. And most (83 percent) say they would turn to outside experts in order to address cases of domestic violence. But more than half (62 percent) have also provided "couples or marriage counseling" to those experiencing domestic violence. Advocates for victims say that is a dangerous practice, especially for women who are victims of abuse. Holcomb reported that a counseling session may actually lead to more violence when the couple return home and the woman has to pay for it. 

Pastors have used the following responses when dealing with domestic and sexual violence situations:

Provided a referral to a service agency – 70%

Provided marriage or couples counselling – 62%

Provided private counselling with the abuser – 43%

Conducted a safety risk assessment with the victim – 31%

Have not dealt with domestic violence situations – 15%

Other – 7%

Rev. Amy Gopp, Director of Member Relations and Pastoral Care at Church World Service said, “I hope this report will educate faith leaders about the importance of reaching out to domestic violence programs in their communities and creating strong partnerships so that survivors are served in the way they deserve.” 

Some churches have sought to confront domestic violence. According to author and blogger John Shore, there are six reasons why pastors struggle with addressing domestic violence:

- The issue is fundamentally unbelievable and incomprehensible to most people – even pastors

- Wife abusers are masterful manipulators and sociopaths. 

- Pastors also think spousal abuse only happens in certain kinds of families; 

- Pastors have not thought enough about the gray area between "submit" and abuse; 

- Pastors believe what they preach; 

- Pastors simply are not trained on domestic violence. 

Despite the poll's major finding — that pastors underestimate the pervasiveness of sexual and domestic violence in their congregations — the report offers some hope. Of the pastors polled, 81 percent reported that they would "take appropriate action to reduce sexual and domestic violence if they had the training and resources to do so."

Some communities are beginning to actively engage churches to expand their involvement in combating domestic violence. The Rockford community, led by Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey, is taking a stand by appealing to faith organizations to help, as clergy may be a vast and largely untapped resource in the fight to break the painful cycle.

Morrissey said: “I asked for this map to be put together, a kind of heat map where we overlaid our domestic violence calls over all our churches, synagogues, temples and places of worship. What you find ironically is that in an area with a high activity level of domestic violence, we also have a ton of churches.”

Rockford Police Department Deputy Chief Dave Hopkins said that the role that clergy could play in this fight is not clear, and that protecting victims of domestic violence should be a top priority for anyone working on the issue, but sometimes faith organizations prioritize family preservation over separation. Victims often feel trapped and may feel their lives are in danger, but they are also afraid that leaving an abusive spouse is a sin. 

The Rockford Police Department responds on average to three domestic disturbance or violence calls a day. The department received an average of 365 domestic violence-related calls for service per month the first five months of 2014. That number went up in May to 418.

Shelter Care Ministries Director Lou Ness organized a domestic violence training seminar for clergy in Rockford and encouraged churches to develop domestic violence policies. Morrissey said the training session was a first step in the effort to better include clergy in the fight against domestic violence.

Jesus Christ said in John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Individuals, families and communities in Christ are called to change the world by showing the power of love.

And finally: Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.

Soldier Feared Kidnapped, Says IDF
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

An IDF soldier was feared kidnapped by terrorists, said the IDF Spokesman's Office Friday afternoon.

At around 9:30 a.m. fire was opened on security forces in southern Gaza, and preliminary information indicates that a soldier was kidnapped. The incident is still underway, and the IDF was expanding operational and intelligence efforts to locate the missing soldier.

Russias Holy War - the Union of Church and State
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

As the West continues the march into secularism; shedding its religious identity and insisting upon absolute “separation of church and state”, Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, is experiencing a revival and return to its religious “ roots”.

Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, which resulted in the assassination of Czar Nicholas II and his family, Russian Church and State were intimately entwined.
Today, throughout Russia, evidence of a Russian revival of state religion, along with old-world style military expansionism abounds.

In Russia past, the two were inseperaable.Large parcels of land and people were conquered by the Tsars and annexed into the Russian state in a bid to reestablish the long dead Byzantine Empire under the religious tutelage of the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church.

In some Russian circles, this is quietly being encouraged again, although, for obvious reasons’ is not widely publicized, according to Marisa Martin, in a recent WND article. 
Following 70 years of Marxist Atheism, some Russians are returning to a “spiritual” veneration of Tsar Nicholas II. He and his family are now all considered religious martyrs, murdered only for their faith.

Also, the Russian Supreme Court exonerated the Romanovs in 2008, and they were canonized along with an assortment of Russian saints and soldiers.

In recent year’s veneration for Tsar Nicholas II has included statements such as the following by Bishop Alexander of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad: “[Nicholas] was an earthly symbol of the Heavenly King, the protector and upholder of the Orthodox Church in Russia, and the heir of Byzantium. … He too was the head of Russia’s Eastern Orthodox Church. Under Nicholas II, Moscow was still seen as the new City of Constantine, the ‘Third Rome’ (since the 15th century).”

Russian Orthodox religious icons are also, making a comeback in popularity after being hidden for decades. The” Kazan Lady”, Russia’s National icon, embodies Russian nationalism and militarism. The “Kazan Mother of God “is a religious icon, used for centuries by Russian generals and Emperors.

The “Kazan” icon is considered imbued with miraculous power to help in military matters. Her aid is attributed to fending off Napoleon and the Turks, Persians, Swedes, Poles and Germans.

Recently recalled to duty, the Kazan Lady, dispatched by President Vladimir Putin, went on a trip to Crimea in February, shortly before Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and military actions in Ukraine.

In 2007, the important icon was also sent on a highly politicized journey around the globe by the Orthodox Church, and endorsed by Vladimir Putin, with the goal of “reconciliation among Russians at home and abroad.”

Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church, and Vladimir Putin, are both promoting the reunion of Church and State, and seem to ‘be joined at the hip “in this endeavor.

However, the Western press doesn’t seem to notice, as they continue the quest to dismantle all vestiges of Christianity in the West.

Nevertheless, Putin and Kirill are aligning Church and state in a pre-revolutionary union. Could the ultimate goal be a revival of the Russian Empire?

Reservists in Judea - Samaria Prepare for Long-term Deployment
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

IDF patrol (file)

Flash90

Reserve units who have been called up to replace security forces normally serving in Judea and Samaria during Operation Protective Edge have prepared to stay for the long haul, according to a senior IDF officer.  

Lt. Colonel Yishai Gertler, a former infantry battalion commander who serves in the Ramallah area, told Arutz Sheva Friday that combat soldiers have received emergency stores with new and advanced equipment - and motivation is sky-high. 

"The battalion was drafted very fast, we were here for two days before the war," Lt. Col. Gertler said, noting that emergency equipment was all that was available and that soldiers were still scrambling to get organized. Many of the soldiers have never dealt with this type of security situation before.

"This time, we have new equipment - quality equipment," he continued. "We have learned a lot, and the level of absorption of these new lessons is surprising." 

Over 97% of reserve soldiers have showed up for reserve duty; of the 3%, most are simply abroad, according to the officer. Many are younger soldiers, but all ages are represented, up to age 45. 

"Everyone understands that everyone must show up for this mission, that we work as an army of one," he added. "They [the soldiers reservists are replacing - ed.] are operating in the South and we will operate in this sector." 

Lt. Col. Gertler also summarized events over Ramadan, during which the IDF was ordered to keep the peace admit a flurry of violent protests and uprisings protesting the operation. 

"We were able to contain all [security] events," he said. "The IDF allowed the Palestinians to demonstrate here and there, but instead of unrest spreading, our forces have stopped the phenomenon." 

"[In Judea and Samaria], residents can now move safely on the roads and go on with their lives." 

The secret to high motivation, he said, is a strong home front. 

"As long as they need us we will be here," he said, noting that "families and employers are very encouraging."

"We also have the incredible support of the Jewish communities themselves and the Binyamin Regional Council, as both have sent countless packages of food and toiletries to us from across the country."

Possible Abduction of IDF Soldier
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ground offensive in Gaza.

Flash90

The IDF Spokesperson's office announced Friday that at about 9:30 am, terrorists opened fire on Israeli forces in southern Gaza and preliminary information indicates that there is a concern that a soldier was kidnapped during the fighting. 

An investigation is underway and at this time, the IDF maintains a high-level operational and intelligence effort to locate the soldier.

"We are continuing our activities on the ground," IDF Spokesman Peter Lerner stated.  "Our initial indications suggest a soldier has been abducted by terrorists in an incident where terrorists breached the ceasefire."

The soldier's family has been notified. 

Heavy fighting broke out on the outskirts of Rafah shortly after the UN and US-brokered "humanitarian ceasefire" went into effect, after a group of terrorists allegedly emerged from a tunnel and began opening heavy fire at IDF forces stationed there. 

At least one report, this time from Walla! News, says that a suicide bomber detonated himself directly next to IDF forces before the fighting began, wounding several soldiers. 

Intense clashes ensued; according to Palestinian media sources, thirty are killed - at least eight terrorists among them - and roughly 100 wounded.   The United Nations said two soldiers had been reported killed, apparently during the same firefight that led to the abduction.

A senior IDF commander stated on condition of anonymity that it is unclear if the missing soldier is in full health. 

"We don't know whether he was wounded during the attack," he said. 

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad officials have been told by Egypt that talks for a long-term truce have been postponed. 

"The Egyptians contacted the Islamic Jihad and said Israel told them that a soldier has been captured," the terror group's deputy leader Ziad al-Nakhale told AFP. "The talks have been postponed."

Hamas has tried to blame the broken cease-fire on Israel, according to AFP.

"It is the occupation which violated the ceasefire. The Palestinian resistance acted based on... the right to self defense (and) to stop the
massacres of our people," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a statement.

Hamas also claimed reports of the abduction - which it has not confirmed or denied, at least in English-speaking media - were simply "justification for Israel retreating from the truce, and a cover-up for massacres especially in Rafah."

Obama Calls on Hamas to Release Kidnapped Soldier
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement at the White House

Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday called on Hamas to unconditionally release Second Lieutenant (Platoon Leader) Hadar Goldin, who is feared kidnapped in Gaza.

Releasing Goldin, Obama said in a statement, would show that Hamas is serious about a ceasefire.

“I think it’s important to note that we have and I have unequivocally condemned Hamas and the Palestinian factions that were responsible for killing two Israeli soldiers and abducting a third minutes after a ceasefire was announced,” he said, according to the Guardian.

“I want to make sure they are listening... That soldier needs to be unconditionally released as soon as possible,” he added.

"I think it's going to be very hard to put a ceasefire back together again if Israelis and the international community can't feel confident that Hamas can follow through on a ceasefire commitment," Obama said.

The President said Israel has a right to defend itself and that the threats from rockets and tunnels is intolerable.

“At the same time we must be clear that innocent civilians in Gaza caught in the crossfire have to weigh on our conscience and we have to do more to protect them... a ceasefire was one way,” he said.

“Israel committed to that 72-hour ceasefire, and it was violated. And putting that back together will be difficult,” noted Obama.

Earlier on Friday, the White House condemned the Hamas attack as a "barbaric" violation of the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire which began just hours before.

"The Israelis of course are reporting this morning that that ceasefire was broken," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told CNN. "And that apparently Hamas individuals used the cover of a humanitarian ceasefire to attack Israeli soldiers and even to take one hostage. That would be a rather barbaric violation of the ceasefire."

MKs Urge Netanyahu to Stop Cease - Fire Agreements
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

MK Miri Regev

Israel news photo: Flash 90

MK Miri Regev made a strong statement against further cease-fire attempts Friday, after Israel and Hamas allegedly accepted a US-brokered ceasefire - and terrorists began firing rockets on Israel hours later. 

"We call on the Prime Minister to return Israel her sovereignty," MK Miri Regev (Likud) stated Friday. "We must stop these cease-fires - they give over a message of hesitancy."

"We must not accept a single condition in a cease-fire," she continued. "We must either demilitarize or retake Gaza; there is no middle ground. Now is the time." 

Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) joined the chorus of critical voices Friday, relating also to Friday afternoon's reported abduction of an IDF soldier by Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorists. 

"We give strength to the IDF soldiers, who are now out risking their lives to locate a missing soldier," Ariel stated. 

"The concept of 'humanitarian ceasefire' has smacked us in the face over and over again," he continued. "I call on the Prime Minister to convene the government and make a decisive and unilateral plan of action to destroy Hamas once and for all." 

Regev's and Ariel's statements surface after weeks of similar statements from ministers, many of whom have conveyed disappointment over Prime Minister Netanyahu's willingness to dabble in the demands of the international community regarding a cease-fire. 

Netanyahu sharply lashed out at ministers over their comments on Wednesday, insisting that criticism during war is "inappropriate" and urging ministers to present a united front for the public. 

"Criticism from home during a war is intolerable," Netanyahu reportedly said. 

Be aware of what you say and watch what you're doing. The Cabinet ministers are the ones who need to serve as a model for the public as a whole; during this, the people have expected us all to rally behind the end goal." 

"We are stronger the more united we are," he added.

Let the Headlines Speak
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Tropical Storm Bertha approaching the Caribbean
Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and other nearby islands as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches the Caribbean.  

CDC chief: Ebola 'could arrive in the U.S.'
Virus 'definitely not under control' as agency issues alert. He said the CDC, consequently, has issued a nationwide health alert to health-care providers in the U.S., with instructions to isolate anyone suspected of being infected.  

Court releases 'Fast and Furious' info withheld by Obama
A federal court has ruled that the Obama Department of Justice must turn over to the non-profit watchdog group Judicial Watch an index of materials related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-running scandal that were withheld by the White House under executive privilege claims.  

Key to aging immune system: Discovery of DNA replication problem
"We have found the cellular mechanism responsible for the inability of blood-forming cells to maintain blood production over time in an old organism, and have identified molecular defects that could be restored for rejuvenation therapies,"  

MINOR STORM WARMING
A CME is heading for Earth. The cloud was hurled into space on July 30th when a magnetic filament on the sun erupted, and it appears to be on course to sideswipe Earth's magnetic field. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Aug. 2nd when the CME arrives.  

A Thank You Letter From Hamas to the Media
Dear Members of the Mainstream Media, You've been awesome! Everyone knows that we start unwinnable wars with Israel because the real victory happens when you predictably side with us each time. And you've been so supportive of our strategy that we really want to acknowledge your helpfulness. In particular, we thank you for:  

Gallup: 'God Gap' Persists; Very Religious Are Mostly Republican; Non-Religious Are Mostly Democrat
The so-called "God Gap" between Republicans and Democrats continues to play an important role in partisan differences, according to a new Gallup poll. Among very religious Americans, about half, 49 percent, identify as Republican or are likely to vote Republican. Among nonreligious Americans, also about half, 52 percent, identify as Democrats or are likely to vote for Democrats.  

Rosetta the comet hunter arrives at its target
The space probe has spent a decade flying around the planets, gaining enough speed and the right trajectory to rendezvous perfectly with the icy mass of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This week it moves into position, and becomes the first man-made object ever to fly alongside a comet as it speeds towards the Sun, grabbing some stunning photographs and revealing science data in the process.  

Quake of 5.5 magnitude strikes near Algerian capital-USGS
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 9 miles (14 km) southeast of the Algerian capital Algiers on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said.  

Rouhani: ‘This Festering Zionist Tumor Has Opened Once Again’
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani lashed out at Israel in vitriolic terms on Wednesday, referring to Israel as a “festering Zionist tumor.” Rouhani, who has been championed by Western media as a moderate reformer who could change Iran’s extremist ways, appears to be adopting a violent tone similar to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has advocated for the complete destruction of Israel in recent days.  

Russia enacts 'draconian' law for bloggers and online media
A new law imposing restrictions on users of social media has come into effect in Russia. It means bloggers with more than 3,000 daily readers must register with the mass media regulator, Roskomnadzor, and conform to the regulations that govern the country's larger media outlets. Internet companies will also be required to allow Russian authorities access to users' information.  

Fighting in Gaza continues as truce collapses
The 72-hour cease-fire brokered by the United States and the United Nations ended just hours after it went into effect, as fighting resumed on both sides Friday morning. Code Red sirens rang out in southern Israel around 10 a.m., just as Palestinian media reports of Israeli artillery fire began to surface.  

Ebola crisis: Infected aid worker heads to US
A hospital in Atlanta is preparing to receive a US aid worker infected with the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa. The unnamed patient will be flown to the US in the next few days for treatment at a high-security ward at Emory University Hospital, medics said. The worst outbreak in history has swept through the region, killing 729 people.  

Israeli Iron Dome firms 'infiltrated by Chinese hackers'
The BBC has seen evidence that appears to confirm hackers stole several secret military documents from two government-owned Israeli companies that developed the Iron Dome missile defence system.  

Gaza 72-hour humanitarian truce by Israel and Hamas begins
Israel and Hamas have begun an unconditional 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The truce came into effect at 08:00 (05:00 GMT) on Friday. Talks on a more permanent truce are to start in Cairo. Israel says it will continue to destroy tunnels built by Hamas into Israel.  

Gaza's Next Disaster: No Cement for Rebuilding
For years before the latest hostilities, Hamas, the Palestinian political organization, complained that Israeli restrictions on cement imports into Gaza were preventing the population from constructing homes, schools, and hospitals. As it turns out, a large share of the cement that did reach Gaza went into building underground lairs and attack tunnels for fighters from Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimate that each of the three dozen underground passages that troops have found so far required 350 truckloads of building supplies.  

China confirms new generation long range missiles
China has acknowledged the existence of a new intercontinental ballistic missile said to be capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads as far as the United States, state-run media reported Friday.  

Kerry: Israel and Hamas Agreed to 72 - Hour Ceasefire
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsTruNews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday night, according to AFP.

Kerry said that the two sides would begin the truce at 8:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and that Israelis and Palestinian Arabs would enter talks in Cairo.

“This ceasefire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence,” Kerry said in a hastily arranged mid-morning statement on a visit to New Delhi.

“During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive urgently needed humanitarian relief, and the opportunity to carry out vital functions, including burying the dead, taking care of the injured, and restocking food supplies,” he added.

Read more at http://www.trunews.com/kerry-israel-hamas-agreed-72-hour-ceasefire/#uAwXWH0Ee68GVzpr.99

Kerry Demands Hamas Release Kidnapped IDF Soldier
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

John Kerry speaks to reporters in Beirut

Reuters

The United States placed the blame for Friday's rapid breakdown in the latest Gaza ceasefire squarely at the door of Hamas, AFP reported.

Speaking after Hamas killed two Israeli soldiers and captured a third, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. “condemns in the strongest possible terms today's attack, which led to the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the apparent abduction of another.”

"It was an outrageous violation of the ceasefire negotiated over the past several days, and of the assurances given to the United States and the United Nations," he added, according to AFP.

Kerry demanded that Hamas "immediately and unconditionally release the missing Israeli soldier."

Earlier on Friday, the White House condemned the Hamas attack as a "barbaric" violation of the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire which began just hours before.

"The Israelis of course are reporting this morning that that ceasefire was broken," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told CNN. "And that apparently Hamas individuals used the cover of a humanitarian ceasefire to attack Israeli soldiers and even to take one hostage. That would be a rather barbaric violation of the ceasefire."

The White House's Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken called on world leaders to join condemnations of Hamas's actions.

"This is an outrageous action and we look to the rest of the world to join us in condemning it," he told MSNBC television.

Blinken also defended U.S. diplomacy with respect to Gaza, denying that confusion between an Egyptian-led initiative and one from Turkey and Qatar had undermined peace efforts.

"The reason for going through Turkey, going through Qatar, is they have a relationship with Hamas. They need to use their influence with Hamas," he said.

"The Egyptians had an initiative. The Israelis signed up to it repeatedly and that was a good basis for trying to move forward. But Secretary Kerry said last night in announcing this humanitarian pause that it was incredibly fragile and unfortunately we've seen the demonstration that that's true."

Both U.S. officials defended Israel against the charge that its assault on Gaza had been needlessly reckless with civilian lives, while still expressing concern over the death toll.

"Hamas intentionally targets civilians. The Israelis do everything they can to avoid targeting civilians," Blinken said, accusing Hamas of using Palestinians as "in effect human shields."

"Israel holds itself to a very high standard, but what we've seen is that it's incredibly difficult to meet its very own high standard," he added, according to AFP.

Israeli Soldier Feared Kidnapped By Hamas in Rafah
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The IDF confirmed Friday that an Israeli soldier was feared kidnapped in Rafah in one of a range of gross Hamas breaches which caused the 72-hour truce imposed Friday at 8 p.m. to break down. Hamas official Mussa Abu Marzuk claimed in Cairo that “an Israeli officer was taken prisoner.” The family has been informed. A team of Israeli soldiers was clearing a terror tunnel Friday, when it came under heavy Hamas fire and a suicide terrorist jumped out of the tunnel and blew himself up. IDF artillery and air force responded to the attack by pounding the Rafah-Khan Younes area, as troops scoured southern Gaza Strip for the missing soldier. The Palestinians report many dead.  Up to 20 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israeli towns and communities from 10 a.m. and are still ongoing..

Is Global Chaos the New Normal?
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

It's a chaotic world out there. But we'd better get used to it; this may be the new normal.

The Middle East is in flames, not only Gaza but Syria, Iraq and Libya as well. Russia is massing troops on the border of Ukraine. Central Africa is a mess, as are Afghanistan and Pakistan. Parts of Mexico and Central America are ruled by criminal gangs and drug cartels. And those are merely the crises big enough to command front-page attention.

"This is historically unprecedented," former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski told Foreign Policy magazine recently. "Huge swaths of global territory are dominated by populist unrest, anger and effective loss of state control."

Brzezinski's point wasn't merely that disorder is loose in the world; that's happened in earlier periods of war and revolution (think of Europe in the aftermath of World War I, for example). His point was that chaos is breaking out simultaneously in many regions, and that governments are less capable of meeting those challenges than before.

Moreover, in an age of instant communication, conflicts can spread more readily. In the Middle East, the democratic uprisings of the Arab Spring led to anarchy in Libya, a counterrevolution in Egypt and a civil war in Syria. The war in Syria immediately became part of the larger, regionwide conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and spread across the border into Iraq.

And with that, two epic struggles were joined: the political battle over who will govern the fractious nations of the Arab world, and a religious war between two major branches of Islam.

These aren't the kind of conflicts that end quickly or neatly. Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, says the closest analogy he can come up with is the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants, a conflict that devastated Europe from 1618 to 1648. That's a daunting thought.

And it's not only the Middle East. Ever since the end of the Cold War 25 years ago, foreign policy pundits have been warning that the world is becoming more unstable because power is fragmenting.

Big governments and conventional armies could once command obedience around the world; in the 19th century, five British warships compelled the sultan of Zanzibar to surrender after only 38 minutes of artillery fire. The great powers don't enjoy that kind of military superiority anymore. The United States spent more than a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan but couldn't fully pacify either country.

The reason isn't that the great powers are no longer powerful; the difference is that their opponents — balky local governments, insurrectionists and jihadists alike — are more potent than they used to be. They're better equipped, better funded and more skilled at guerrilla warfare.

At the same time, outside powers like the United States have lost their appetite for fighting long counterinsurgency wars. It's become harder and more costly to keep a lid on the developing world's disorders, so we're more reluctant to try.

The result is what one scholar, Randall Schweller of Ohio State, has called "an age of entropy" — a leaderless world with no superpowers to enforce order.

Republicans have two words to explain how we got to this leaderless state of affairs: Barack Obama.

But the big changes around the world aren't entirely (or even mainly) his fault. Nor are they, as Democrats insist, mainly the fault of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who took the United States to war in Iraq.

That's not to say that either of their foreign policies was flawless. Bush had a naive faith in America's ability to extend the reach of democracy. Obama began his presidency with a naive hope that an outstretched hand to Iran, Russia and other adversaries would be met with cooperation. And, when the Arab Spring arrived, he underestimated the problems that upheaval would bring, trying to promote democracy on the cheap by cheering uprisings in Libya, Syria and elsewhere, but doing little to help them succeed.

Obama has now retreated to a more minimalist version of his foreign policy. Despite what his most partisan critics assert, he hasn't abandoned international affairs; instead, he has focused on his biggest priorities: counter-terrorism, Iran, China and Russia. But his core foreign policy doctrine is now one of restraint.

That's been infuriating to internationalists who view the United States as the indispensable nation, duty-bound to sort out the world's problems. As Brzezinski put it: "We are … increasingly devoid of strategic will and a sense of direction."

That's overstated. But if Obama is looking for a big goal for his final years in office, here's one he should embrace (and can hardly avoid): articulating an overarching global strategy for the United States in an increasingly chaotic world, and convincing Americans that it makes sense.

How? That's a question for another column.

Humanitarian Ceasefire Broken; Heavy Fighting in Gaza
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hamas terrorists fire rockets at Israel

Flash 90

A "humanitarian ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas has broken Friday, after Hamas fired yet another salvo of rockets on Israel despite the bilateral truce. 

Heavy fighting has now broken out between Israel and Hamas in southern Gaza, according to Palestinian sources, who also claim that eight terrorists have been killed since 10:00 am. 

Earlier, Hamas fired a salvo of rockets at the south just before 7:00 am Friday; two rockets hit open areas in S'dot HaNegev and in the Merhavim area. No injuries or damage were reported.

Additional rockets were fired at Ashkelon and Ashdod, just after 7:30 am. Two rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system over Ashdod; there are no reports of injuries or damage. 

Yet another salvo was fired, just five minutes before 8:00 am, at Gaza Belt communities.

The barrages were fired just minutes before a 72-hour ceasefire was to take effect, in a UN and US-brokered deal slated to begin 8:00 am Friday. 

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced Friday morning that Israel has officially accepted the three-day truce.

"In accordance with the Cabinet decision, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister [Moshe Ya'alon] have accepted the US's and UN's proposal for a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire, beginning from 8:00," it said, in a statement. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry first announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the ceasefire; an announcement from Hamas accepting followed shortly thereafter. 

Earlier Friday, the IDF announced that five soldiers had been killed in Gaza while fighting Hamas terrorists on the ground. Their names have not yet been released for publication. 

Sixty-one (61) soldiers have been killed since Operation Protective Edge began 25 days ago.

Hong Kong Buys $2.07 Billion in Week to Defend Currency Peg
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsBloomberg
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Photographer: Jerome Favre/Bloomberg

Hong Kong’s de facto central bank bought $2.07 billion this week to stop the local currency from strengthening beyond its 31-year-old peg to the greenback.

Share listings, dividends and mergers and acquisitions are driving demand, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said July 26. OAO MegaFon, Russia’s second-largest wireless operator, has shifted some of its cash holdings into the city’s dollar as the U.S. and Europe ratchet up sanctions, Chief Financial Officer Gevork Vermishyan said in an interview yesterday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index of shares rallied 6.8 percent in July, the biggest monthly gain since September 2012, while the world’s second-largest exchange-traded fund investing in Chinese stocks said demand is so strong that it is close to exhausting its domestic investment quota. Data today showed China’s manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years in July.

“Besides technical reasons due to commercial activities, the Hong Kong dollar has been strong as inflows are coming for China-related assets,” said Ho Man Chun, a strategist at Bank of Communications Co.’s Hong Kong branch. “The Hong Kong dollar is likely to stay strong as China’s economic recovery continues.”

The currency was linked to the U.S. dollar in 1983 when negotiations between China and the U.K. over the city’s return to Chinese rule spurred capital outflows. It was kept at HK$7.8 per dollar until 2005, when policy makers committed to limiting declines to HK$7.85 and capping gains at HK$7.75. The Hong Kong dollar traded at HK$7.7500 as of 11:15 a.m. local time.

Citic, OCBC

The HKMA bought the greenback on July 1 for the first time since December 2012, and injected a total $8.394 billion last month. Demand for the Hong Kong dollar comes from commercial activities with June-September being the peak season for dividend distribution, HKMA Deputy Chief Executive Peter Pang wrote in a July 26 article on the authority’s website. This year’s dividend payouts will be as much as HK$200 billion ($25.8 billion), he said.

Citic Pacific Ltd.’s HK$53 billion share issuance for the acquisition of its parent’s assets and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s purchase of Wing Hang Bank Ltd., which involved about HK$40 billion, were also drivers, Pang wrote. OCBC will delist Wing Hang after increasing its ownership to 97.52 percent, the lenders said in statements to the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges on July 29.

Moscow-based Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium, is also keeping some of its cash in Hong Kong dollars now, said two people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Fed Stimulus

Hong Kong’s currency peg means the city must follow the U.S. policy on interest rates, which have been kept near zero since December 2008. The Federal Reserve this week reduced its monthly bond purchases to $25 billion amid signs the U.S. economy is strengthening.

The Hong Kong dollar’s overnight interbank rate was at 0.05214 percent today, down from 0.19857 percent on June 30, according to fixings provided by the Hong Kong Association of Banks. The rate for 12 months was 0.85046 percent.

A CSOP Asset Management Ltd. exchange-traded fund, which invests in Chinese stocks, recorded an all-time high inflow of HK$8.48 billion in July with its unit price rising 12.9 percent to HK$9.65. Investors are also keen to buy China stocks because of a planned Hong Kong-Shanghai bourse link, Jack Wang, CSOP’s Hong Kong-based managing director, said in a July 30 interview.

The shift in market expectations over the timing and pace of U.S. interest-rate increases may affect fund flows to emerging markets including Hong Kong, the HKMA said in a statement to Bloomberg News yesterday. “In light of the gradual normalization of the U.S. monetary conditions, banks, enterprises and individuals should manage their liquidity and interest rate risks prudently, and avoid excessive borrowing,” it said.

Homeland Security Report Confirms Diseases Spreading At Border Facilities
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsBreitbart
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The OIG outlined a two-week report from the beginning of the month on the detention of Unaccompanied Alien Children. According to DHS IG John Roth’s memo to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, the IG office continues to make unannounced site visits to numerous detention centers along the southern border where Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are temporarily sheltering UACs.

The IG says they did not observe any misconduct or inappropriate conduct of DHS employees during their unannounced visits and did not receive any new complaints during their random interviews of UACs. However, the IG office stressed the problem of communicable diseases that are being spread at the detention centers.

“Many UAC and family units require treatment for communicable diseases, including respiratory illnesses, tuberculosis, chicken pox, and scabies,” the IG report said. “UAC and family unit illnesses and unfamiliarity with bathroom facilities resulted in unsanitary conditions and exposure to human waste in some holding facilities.” The report continued:

Contract cleaners and OHS employees are working to maintain sanitary conditions. DHS employees reported exposure to communicable diseases and becoming sick on duty. For example, during a recent site visit to the Del Rio USBP Station and Del Rio Port of Entry, CBP personnel reported contracting scabies, lice, and chicken pox. Two CBP Officers reported that their children were diagnosed with chicken pox within days of the CBP Officers’ contact with a UAC who had chicken pox. In addition, USBP personnel at the Clint Station and Santa Teresa Station reported that they were potentially exposed to tuberculosis. 

A senior spokesman for the CDC told Marc Siegel at Slate.com that HHS is spearheading medical services for facilities in southwest Texas and Arizona. According to Slate, it takes two to three weeks “for a vaccine to confer protection, [so] more cases of flu are likely within the centers. It is also possible that the disease will spread to the local community and beyond.”

Additionally, the IG report says that DHS employees are “donating clothing, toys, and games to UAC and family units,” as well as buying food “with their own money, to supplement contract food supplies.”

Heavy IDF - Palestinian Clashes in Rafah After Hamas Breaches Truce
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Heavy fighting is ongoing in the Gaza Strip after a combined Hamas-Islamic Jihad force attacked IDF troops dealing with terror tunnels in the Khan Younes-Rafah sector, less than three hours after an agreed 72-hour truce went into effect at 8 p.m. Friday morning. The IDF responded with artillery shelling of Rafah. The Palestinians report five dead. Red alerts of fire from Gaza also sent people running for shelter in the Eshkol and Kerem Shalom border communities. Israel has closed the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Gold Falls to Six - Week Low
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsHerald Sun
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

GOLD prices have closed at their lowest level in six weeks, after jobless claims data pointed to a potentially strong US employment number for July.

Gallup: God Gap Persists; very Religious are Mostly Republican; Non - Religious are Mostly Democrat
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The so-called "God Gap" between Republicans and Democrats continues to play an important role in partisan differences, according to a new Gallup poll.

Among very religious Americans, about half, 49 percent, identify as Republican or are likely to vote Republican. Among nonreligious Americans, also about half, 52 percent, identify as Democrats or are likely to vote for Democrats.

This God gap, sometimes called the "religious participation gap," has characterized party politics in the United States for at least the seven years that Gallup has been measuring it, Frank Newport, editor in chief for Gallup, pointed out in a blog post.

Religiosity was measured using two survey questions. One asked respondents how important religion is in their daily lives. The other asked how often they attend religious services. With the answers, Gallup created a three category classification — very religious, moderately religious and nonreligious.

Among the moderately religious, a plurality, 44 percent, supported the Democrats while 38 percent supported Republicans. Independents comprised a slightly greater proportion of the nonreligious, 15 percent, than the religious, 11 percent.

Looking at race and ethnicity, the God Gap persisted among whites, Latinos and Asians, but not among blacks. Blacks showed strong support for Democrats, about 75 percent, regardless of their level of religiosity.

"From a practical politics standpoint," Newport wrote, "Republicans face the challenge of expanding their party's appeal beyond the minority of Americans who are very religious, and appealing to Hispanics and Asians given that even the most religious of these growing groups tilt Democratic, albeit not as much as others in these groups who are less religious. Democrats face the challenge of attempting to broaden their party's appeal beyond the base of those who are moderately or nonreligious, a tactic that most likely will require effort to frame the party's positions on social justice and equality issues in a way that is compatible with a high degree of religiousness."

The poll of 87,023 American adults was taken from January to June. The margin of error is plus or minus one percentage point.

California Drought: 'May Have to Migrate People'
Aug 1st, 2014
Daily NewsCNBC
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Damian Dovarganes | AP Photo

Michael Korte walks on the brown lawn in front of his home in Glendora, Calif.

It's going from worse to worst each week in California.

Suffering in its third year of drought, more than 58 percent of the state is currently in "exceptional drought" stage, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map.  That marks a huge jump from just seven days ago, when about 36 percent of the state was categorized that way.

Exceptional drought, the most extreme category, indicates widespread crop and pasture losses and shortages of water in reservoirs, streams and wells.

If the state continues on this path, there may have to be thoughts about moving people out, said Lynn Wilson, academic chair at Kaplan University and who serves on the climate change delegation in the United Nations.

"Civilizations in the past have had to migrate out of areas of drought," Wilson said. "We may have to migrate people out of California."

Wilson added that before that would happen, every option such as importing water to the state would likely occur— but "migration can't be taken off the table."

The drought has nearly depleted the state's surface water—which is seen being reduced by about one-third this year. Farmers in California have turned to groundwater to keep crops irrigated.

That has led to fears of depleted groundwater in the years ahead if that continues, according to a report released earlier this month.

"So far, groundwater has helped get crops to market and keep food prices in line," said Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis, which released the report.

But the study said the drought in California will cost the state $2.2 billion and put some 17,000 agricultural workers out of a job this year.

Key findings form the report include:

• Direct costs to agriculture total $1.5 billion (revenue losses of $1 billion and $0.5 billion in additional pumping costs). This net revenue loss is about 3 percent of the state's total agricultural value.
• The total statewide economic cost of the 2014 drought is $2.2 billion.
• The loss of 17,100 seasonal and part-time jobs related to agriculture represents 3.8 percent of farm unemployment.
• 428,000 acres, or 5 percent, of irrigated cropland is going out of production in the Central Valley, Central Coast and Southern California because of the drought.
• The Central Valley is hardest hit, particularly the Tulare Basin, with projected losses of $810 million, or 2.3 percent, in crop revenue; $203 million in dairy and livestock value; and $453 million in additional well-pumping costs.
• Agriculture on the central coast and in Southern California will be less affected by this year's drought, with about 19,150 acres fallowed, $10 million in lost crop revenue and $6.3 million in additional pumping costs.
• Overdraft of groundwater is expected to cause additional wells in the Tulare Basin to run dry if the drought continues.

More drought ahead

To try and curtail the drought's effects, California started implementing fines statewide this week of up to $500 for watering lawns and washing cars. But experts aren't sure more conservation will work.

Wastershed's Lund said that agriculture is by far the state's greatest water user, accounting for 75 percent of consumption—while cities and suburbs use about 20 percent of the state's water.

He added that California is always desperate for water and "hard to drought-proof."

But the situation could get worse before it gets better. Predictions for the drought have it lasting through 2015.