Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

With Global Economy Stuttering, Governments Urged to Open Purse
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsReuters
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde holds a news conference during the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Washington October 9, 2014.

But the effort could well founder on the politics tied to public spending in high-debt nations like the United States, as well as the realities of infrastructure itself: for every well-designed road or port, there's a "bridge to nowhere," an underused Olympic stadium or a pork barrel project that has added to government debt without a clear economic payoff.   

(Reuters) - Advocates of a global infrastructure push foresee hundreds of billions of dollars of efficiently managed projects springing up across developed and developing nations alike, putting the unemployed to work while paving the way for stronger economic growth in the future.

The International Monetary Fund, a prime mover in the call for some governments to ease their fixation over debt and invest in economically worthy projects, warned in a recent report that while the best projects can pay off, “in practice, public investment decisions frequently are not guided by economic rationale."

Studies done by groups like the McKinsey Global Institute estimate the world needs to spend tens of trillions of dollars on airports, roads, bridges and power plants over the next 15 to 20 years.

It won't come fast.

In the United States, an Obama administration proposal to overhaul roads and bridges is stymied in Congress, evidence of the difficulty even wealthy nations may face in deciding between higher debt today and future productivity.

Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank fall meetings in Washington, also said there was no rush in his country.

"We understand the importance of infrastructure. The question is how much you devote to it. But we think Canadians, who are paying on average I think it is 43 percent of their income on some form of tax, ... are paying enough, too much actually," Oliver said.

German officials have also balked, arguing the risk of a fresh recession in the rest of Europe was no reason for them to start borrowing and spending to excess.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Thursday dismissed the idea of "writing checks" in Europe to bolster growth even as Europe's largest economy, which contracted by 0.2 percent in the second quarter, faces the prospect of flatlining in the third quarter and weakening into 2015.

DIGGING YOURSELF OUT OF TROUBLE

The message from IMF officials, however, was blunt: for countries that can afford it, there may be no choice but to open the spigot to keep the world economy from backsliding.

"There has been a big drop in aggregate demand. Someone has to fill that gap," IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu said.Underlying that comment is a recognition that six years of crisis-fighting has failed to do the job. Loose monetary policy has pumped trillions of dollars into global markets, but much of it is sidelined in the form of bank reserves or large corporate cash holdings - and less of it translated into business investment or household spending.

Recovery programs in Europe and Japan have failed to gain traction, China is slowing, and American officials are worried the situation could choke off the U.S. recovery as well.

Global efforts at structural reform and trade liberalization have also stalled.

During a panel discussion here on Thursday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi ventured close to a fiscal prescription for the euro zone, noting that investments in public education could also be construed as "infrastructure," and making an only slightly veiled call on Germany to loosen the purse strings.

"For governments that have fiscal space it makes sense to use it. You decide to which countries this sentence applies," Draghi said.

There are doubters, and even advocates at the IMF say the effort will need to proceed with a level of care not always present in public works projects.

Doubt about the public and economic benefits of the largest infrastructure programs led the World Bank to largely abandon them until a few years ago, a policy current President Jim Yong Kim is reversing.

At a conference where he urged a stronger world fiscal response, IMF Deputy Managing Director Naoyuki Shinohara also acknowledged the wasteful public works spending in Japan that ran the country's debt to the highest in the world, with parallel roads built by different ministries, for example.

Beyond that, developed nations in Europe and elsewhere may be too debt-constrained to spend much more.

"I don't see the conditions in the largest economies to have a sudden increase," Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.

Wall St. Nightmare Hits Shares
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Age
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Shares have had a horror end to the week and fears of a correction are growing after the local market suffered its worst day since mid 2013.

U.S. Praises Hamas - Fatah Unity Meeting As 'Positive Step'
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Hamas terrorist group was present as the Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government held its first full cabinet meeting on Thursday in Gaza, and according to the White House it was a "positive step."

"The only way to have a long-term sustainable solution for Gaza is for the Palestinian Authority to assume full authority in Gaza," US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Thursday. "So we support this interim technocratic government in its efforts and we view this meeting as a positive step in that direction."

Judging by the response, apparently the PA was successful in its move to hold the meeting in Gaza so as to convince world donors ahead of the October 12 donor meeting in Cairo that it, and not Hamas, is in charge of Gaza, thereby trying to placate fears the money will go to terrorist uses. PA foreign minister Riyad al-Malki directly stated that this was the goal of the meeting.

The American administration has already pledged roughly $118 million to rebuild Gaza after Hamas's latest terror war on Israel, with Psaki on Wednesday saying "we do think that Israel will need to play a role in the Gaza reconstruction."

America has previously claimed Hamas is not represented in the unity government to justify its supportive stance on that government - despite the fact that one of the unity government ministers was previously the education minister in Hamas's Gaza government.

However, following the meeting Thursday that Psaki termed a "positive step," Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and unity government Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah vowed in a press conference that they will press for elections after the reconstruction of Gaza.

Those elections will almost certainly see more Hamas members brought into the government given the swelling of support for the terror group in polls since Operation Protective Edge, making the White House support further questionable.

Likewise, Haniyeh said in the conference "the division in the Palestinian people has ended. We have one government and one region," a claim that similarly makes the initial US justification that Hamas is separate from the unity government irrelevant.

The PA unity government has already demanded the staggering sum of $4 billion from the world to rebuild, aside from $4.5 billion to save itself from its massive debt. Many fear the money will once again be funneled for terrorism and to pad the pockets of officials, particularly after a Fatah spokesperson recently accused Hamas of stealing $700 million in international funds.

The Obama Administration's Unprecedented Outburst Against Israel
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Commentary

The exceptionally vicious U.S. condemnation of Israel with regard to housing construction in the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem is not merely misguided but also reflects irrational bias. Incidentally, this behavior also has many ominous parallels to the inhumane incarceration of Jonathan Pollard, despite pleas for his commutation from all sectors of American society.

The harsh outburst relates to a 2,600-unit housing project planned as an extension of an exclusively Jewish neighborhood adjacent to the suburb of Talpiot and Kibbutz Ramat Rahel both within the Green Line. It incorporates primarily barren land on which Ethiopian and Russian immigrants had been housed temporarily in mobile homes. Highly significant — but a fact that is ignored — is that nearly half of the construction was designated to provide housing for Arabs. 

Construction permits were approved two years ago but it was the far left-wing group, Peace Now [Shalom Achshav], that saw fit to highlight the issue in a press release on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in a calculated effort to embarrass the prime minister and provoke tensions.

The successive statements by both the White House and State Department spokesmen must be considered among the most bitterly prejudiced and unbalanced condemnations of Israel ever expressed by the U.S. They make a mockery of repeated claims by the Obama administration that it considers Israel to be a close ally.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest stated, "This development will only draw condemnation from the international community, distance Israel from even its closest allies, poison the atmosphere, not only with the Palestinians [sic] but also with the very Arab governments with which Prime Minister Netanyahu said he wanted to build relations."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki took it even a step further and said that these construction plans would "call into question Israel's ultimate commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement with the Palestinians." This outrageous remark will be seen as an attempt by Obama to reassure Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he would still stand by the Palestinians, despite condemnation of Abbas' disgusting U.N. speech, which was also a slap in the face of the U.S.

This was clearly a crafted position. The U.S. is fully aware that the location for this construction is in the heart of Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods and will always remain under Jewish sovereignty. They also conveniently overlooked the fact that this particular project was to include Arab housing.

To compound matters, the administration also condemned the legitimate purchase of seven residential homes by Jews in the Silwan Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem. In so doing the Obama administration is endorsing the PA's policy of preventing Jews from buying homes in Arab-populated areas of Jerusalem. This, despite the fact that Arabs live freely among Jews in west Jerusalem and throughout Israel. The U.S. is therefore validating the "Judenrein" ethnic cleansing policies of Abbas, who had the gall to accuse Israel of being an apartheid state in his recent belligerent U.N. address.

The U.S. statements unequivocally exhort other countries — including Israel's "closest allies" — to condemn Israel over this routine municipal construction which contrary to utterly uninformed allegations, in no way undermines a two state solution. Not surprisingly, they have already been echoed by individual European countries and the European Union, which also called "into question Israel's commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement."

They went so far as to convey the message to moderate Arab states that Israel is "poisoning the atmosphere," discouraging them from reciprocating Netanyahu's efforts to reach out and develop a new relationship with them.

The bitter attack on Israel for construction in the Jewish neighborhoods of its own capital is unique not only because of the disproportionate ferocity of this public condemnation of an ally but also when viewed in the broader context. Setting aside the Gaza war and the histrionic attacks against Israel by Abbas at the U.N. General Assembly, it is impossible to comprehend such a reaction against the backdrop of regional events. Entire countries — Iraq and Syria — are imploding; literally millions have been displaced from their homes and become refugees; over 200,000 were murdered in Syria alone; barbaric decapitations of innocent people which are publicly circulated on the Internet. 

Yet, it is against the background of this maelstrom that the U.S. sees fit to condemn and isolate its most devoted ally, the sole democratic state in the region and the only place where chaos does not prevail. Why? Because two years ago, the municipality of its capital, Jerusalem, approved a housing project in a Jewish neighborhood (which would also provide housing for Arab residents).

The irrationality and severity of these rebukes of Israel, encouraging other "friends" to join in the condemnation, suggests that Obama remains obsessively determined to force Israel to adopt his approach. And this, despite the events of recent months and his own admission in his U.N. speech that he had hitherto erred in asserting that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a major impediment to regional stability.

No responsible Israeli government could ever contemplate acquiescing to such demands. We must never apologize for building homes in Jewish Jerusalem and there is an element of insanity in the U.S. condemning us for doing so.

Netanyahu speaks on this matter on behalf of the entire nation. This is not the approach of a particular government. It reflects the consensus — other than the extreme left-wing Meretz and marginal post-Zionist groups. This is a time for us to stand up and be counted. Opposition Leader MK Isaac Herzog should speak up as a genuine Labor Zionist leader and state that his party is at one with the government regarding construction in Jerusalem. Should he fail to do so, he will be turning his back on the Labor Zionist ideals of Israel's founders and his Labor party will become a discredited delusional left-wing marginal group.

The response of the American Jewish leadership is also crucial. They have until now displayed a reticence to respond publicly to biased statements on Israel expressed by Obama. But this will put them to the test. If the leaders fail to speak out against such a vicious attack which effectively encourages other countries to join in exerting pressure on Israel, it will be perceived as dramatic erosion of their political influence and their community standing. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) should now actively launch a public information campaign, speak out robustly about Israel's rights in Jerusalem and make a concerted effort to canvass support from members of Congress.

If Obama can behave in such a contemptuous manner towards Israel five weeks before congressional elections, one is left with a chilling feeling that we may see even more unfortunate initiatives during the remaining term of office of this president who seeks to distance himself from Israel as he simultaneously engages with rogue states and appears determined to rehabilitate Iran.

The Illusion Behind the Muslim Claim to the Temple Mount
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Commentary

Masked Arab rioters threw fireworks and rocks at security forces on the Temple Mount on Wednesday, hours before the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Riot police pushed the attackers back by 
setting up roadblocks, but it was not enough to deter the unrest. The rioters continued to throw rocks, bricks and iron bars at police from inside the Al-Aqsa mosque, while shooting 
fireworks at police and spraying an unidentified flammable liquid on them.

They also threw a firebomb at police, which ignited, wounded four officers lightly. The police later restrained the rioters and removed all barriers protecting the entrance to the mosque. 
The wounded policemen were treated on the spot. The Jordanian Waqf keeps an iron fist on the Temple Mount and its activities; Jews face constant discrimination and violence for visiting the 
site, and there is a blanket ban on Jewish prayer there.

Perhaps the most hotly contested thirty-seven acres of land in the world, the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem, is considered a holy site to the three largest monotheistic 
religions in the world; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each of these, attribute significant events in the history of their religion as having occurred there. Control of this holy site is 
so contentious that it threatens to ignite war at almost any moment!

The Islamic claim to the holy site rests on a vague Koranic verse in Surah 17:1 which reads, “Exalted is he who took his servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose 
surroundings we have blessed, to show him of our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” This story of the flying horse with the face of a woman is found in both Islamic tradition 
and commentary, according to an article in the American Thinker.

The tradition teaches that Mohammed took a trip to “the farthest mosque” or al-Aqsa, in Jerusalem on the back of a magical horse, with the face of a woman, wings of an eagle, tail of a 
peacock, and hoofs reaching to the horizon. Mohammed tethered the horse to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, and was transported to the seventh heaven with Gabriel, along the way 
meeting Jesus and holy men of Judaism and Christianity. Although Jerusalem is not named in the verse, the location is assumed by Islamic scholars.

One of the problems with this narrative is the time line. Mohammed died in June 632 A.D. so of course, the trip would have had to occur prior to the date. Historically, Muslims did not gain 
access to Jerusalem until the year 637 A.D., five years after Mohammed’s death. These two facts are not debated by Jews, Christians, or Muslims, as they are considered historical truth. 
Therefore, no al-Aqsa mosque existed in Jerusalem during Mohammed’s lifetime. Mike Konrad in his article in the American Thinker categorizes the supposed al-Aqsa mosque, visited by 
Mohammed, as a “fraud.”

Before his death, Mohammed attempted to recruit the Jews to join his fledgling religion; he established the direction of prayer toward Jerusalem. Unsuccessful in this attempt, he then 
murdered many of the Jews and changed the direction of prayer toward Mecca. Mohammed’s abandonment of Jerusalem is consistent with the fact that the Koran never mentions the city.

Fifty years after Mohammed’s death, in 682 AD, following a war between two Islamic factions, pilgrims were prevented from reaching Mecca and Jerusalem was chosen as an alternate site for 
the Hajj. Sura 17:1 was used to justify the change and thus the history of Jerusalem as an Islamic holy site was concocted.

According to the Israeli scholar Dr. Mordecai Kedar, Islamists, by claiming the Temple Mount, seek to delegitimize both Judaism and Christianity, and thus present Islam as the replacement 
for both. Believing that both Jews and Christians have altered the Word of God, thereby forfeiting their favor with God, Islam seeks to expel the two faiths from Jerusalem. “Only Islam-“the 
religion of truth” has this right, (to possess Jerusalem) and forever,” claimed the Shaykh Ikrima Sabri, the former mufti of Jerusalem, on the Palestinian Authority radio. “Though Judaism 
and Christianity can exist side by side in Jerusalem, Islam regards both of them as betrayals of Allah and his teachings,” continues Dr. Kedar.

Mike Konrad, in his piece, asserts that anyone who has studied history knows that “only the Jews have a genuine religious claim to the Temple Mount. Even Christians- who do have a 
legitimate claim to other sites in the area-do not contest the Mount.”
Since 1967, the Temple Mount has been controlled by a Jordanian Waqf, an endowment to an Islamic religious trust. Jews are forbidden to pray or worship freely on the Temple Mount. Israel 
has strictly enforced the Waqf, even prosecuting Israeli offenders. Requests by the Israeli government for the Jordanians to lighten the restrictions on Jewish prayer have been to no avail.

The frequent riots on the Mount indicate that as Israel moves more toward the political right, Jews are asserting their claim to the Temple Mount and the Muslims are defiantly resisting. 
Since neither the Jews nor the Muslims seem inclined to relinquish their claim to the sacred site, the violence will likely continue and could escalate at any time.

Starting Sunday Palestinian Authority to Supervise Construction Materials Transfers
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa announced that the Palestinian Authority will be assuming the responsibility for transfers of materials into the Gaza Strip starting this coming Sunday, as reported by Yedioth Aharanoth and in the LA Times.

Fearful that aid might be diverted for military purposes leading to another war, the international community is anxious to see the Palestinian Authority take an active and effective role in Gaza's reconstruction. Recently, the PA and the UN agreed on a procedure for the supervision and transfer of construction materials into the Strip, which would monitor their use, ensuring that they are solely utilized for civilian purposes.

Report: Blast At Suspected Iran Nuke Facility Was Caused By Foreign Country
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Times of Israel
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Unconfirmed Kuwaiti report claims Western intel believes Iran trying to test nuclear warheads; Israeli TV says 12 buildings badly damaged in Parchin explosion

2004 satellite image of the military complex at Parchin, Iran (photo credit: AP/DigitalGlobe - Institute for Science and International Security)

An unnamed foreign country was responsible for the blast at Iran’s secretive Parchin facility on Monday, a Kuwaiti news site claimed Thursday, quoting unnamed Washington-based European diplomats.

The report by Kuwait’s Al Rai also claimed Western intelligence agencies believe that Iran has been conducting tests at the facility, aimed at loading nuclear warheads onto ballistic missiles.

It was the Monday strike, the report further said, that prompted Iran to order Hezbollah to target an Israeli army patrol on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border the next day, in which two soldiers were injured.

There was no independent confirmation of the report, which was also cited on Israel’s Channel 2 news.

The blast, which is said to have killed at least two people, caused substantive damage to 12 buildings at the heart of the site, Channel 2 said Thursday.

According to satellite images taken after the blast, Israeli researcher Ronen Solomon told the TV channel, the affected buildings were bunkers where work was being carried out on triggers to detonate nuclear devices.

The reports emerged just as the latest UN effort to probe suspicions that Iran is working to attain nuclear weapons ended on a downbeat note, with diplomats saying that Tehran refused entry to Iran to a US nuclear expert on the UN’s investigating team.

The diplomats also said Thursday that the trip this week didn’t succeed in advancing a decade of UN efforts to investigate suspicions that Tehran worked on such weapons.

Tehran has denied IAEA inspectors access to Parchin since 2005.

Reza Najafi, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, confirmed that an International Atomic Energy Agency staff member was refused a visa. Najafi didn’t identify the person, but told Iran’s Fars news agency that he had a “particular nationality.”

The IAEA’s inquiry is formally separate from US-led talks with Iran focused on long-term caps on Tehran’s atomic programs in exchange for an end to nuclear-related sanctions, which resume next week in Vienna.

But Washington says a successful investigation by IAEA must be part of any final deal. That is unlikely by Nov. 24 — the target date for such an agreement.

Two diplomats from IAEA member nations said the US expert first applied for a visa eight months ago and had been turned down several times since.

Iran says it doesn’t want nuclear arms and never worked toward them. But the IAEA says it has collected about 1,000 pages of information that point to attempts to develop such weapons.

Several meetings have resulted in little progress since Iran and the IAEA agreed late last year on a new effort to try and clear up the allegations.

The agency said Thursday that Iran presented no new proposals at the latest talks with IAEA experts. An IAEA statement gave no date for a new meeting.

On Wednesday, an exiled Iranian opposition group accused Tehran of secretly moving a key nuclear research hierarchy to avoid international inspections.

The dissident group said the Tehran-based Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) was “the nerve center of the militarization of the Iranian nuclear program,” which has been responsible for “the design and manufacture of the atomic bomb.”

“The transfer of the SPND was completed in July,” said the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which has made significant revelations about Iran’s nuclear program in the past.

“Managers and key services were relocated to secret locations, while some administrative officials were left in place to deceive IAEA inspectors,” said dissident leader Afchine Alavi.

The SPND was targeted in August by a new round of US sanctions against companies and individuals seen as providing support to illicit Iranian nuclear activities.

The brains behind the SPND, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, sought for years by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is being “hidden by the regime”, the NCRI said in a report.

“This game of hide-and-seek with the IAEA proves that the regime has no intention of abandoning the military aspect of its program and that it does not want to be transparent.”

Following Monday’s mysterious blast at Parchin, east of Tehran, satellite imagery obtained Wednesday by Israel’s Channel 2 and Israel Defense magazine claimed to show extensive damage at the site.

Images of the facility taken Tuesday, a day after the explosion, showed that several buildings at the location sustained heavy damage and some even collapsed, Channel 2 reported.

The photos “clearly show damage consistent with an attack against bunkers in a central locality within the military research complex at the Parchin military compound,” Israel Defense wrote.

The images were taken by the French satellite Pleiades the morning following the blast.

Screenshot from Israel Defense showing satellite images of the Parchin site east of Tehran before and after Monday’s explosion at the suspected nuclear facility on October 8, 2014.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported Monday that the explosion occurred at a defense ministry plant east of Tehran for the production of explosives.

The Defense Industries Organisation, quoted by IRNA, said a fire broke out at the plant on Sunday night but it gave no further details.

The BBC, citing a report from the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), reported on Monday that the incident happened in an “explosive materials production unit” at the site south-east of the capital Tehran.

According to ISNA, the blast was so powerful it shattered windows up to 12 kilometers away and the glare from the explosion lit up the night sky.

Several arms facilities and military bases are located east of the Iranian capital, including Parchin.

The base lies at the center of allegations of past Iranian research into sophisticated explosives that can be used to detonate a nuclear warhead.

In August Iran reiterated that it will not allow IAEA inspectors to visit the site.

Police Prepare for Friday, Holiday Rioting on Temple Mount
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Hamas headband and toy gun on Temple Mount

Flash 90

The Jerusalem District Police have restricted the entry of Arab worshippers on the Temple Mount, it announced on Friday, due to concerns over a swell in rioting incidents that culminated in a tense clash on Wednesday.

Arab men under the age of fifty will be banned from visiting the Mount, a statement said, ahead of the beginning of Shabbat during the week-long holiday of Sukkot (the Feast of the Tabernacles).

Police have been deployed throughout Arab majority neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the Old City area as well.

On Wednesday, Hamas vowed to fight on the Mount - which is Judaism's holiest site - "to the last drop of blood" during Friday's usual round of riots.

The declaration not only follows a "gesture" by which the IDF let Hamas - which has been found to actively fund the rioting - release 500 Gazans to visit on the Mount, but also violent rioting Wednesday which saw Arabs throw fireworks and rocks at police officers. Four officers were wounded and five men arrested during the clash. 

The Jordanian Waqf has had de facto rule of the Mount since the 1967 Six-Day War, and keeps an iron fist on the Temple Mount and its activities; Jews face constant discrimination and violence for visiting the site, and there is a blanket ban on Jewish prayer there. 

Muslims, however, have free reign to worship at and visit the Mount, and recently celebrated the Eid al-Adha "sacrifice of Ishmael" holiday there on the same Saturday as Yom Kippur. 

Unrest on the Mount has escalated recently, as part of a cycle of chaos and violence in Jerusalem known as the "silent intifada" which has seen terrorism in and around Jerusalem rise by a staggering 509%.

Pastors Same Sex Stance Brings Disfellowshipping
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Apostasy;Commentary

Division within the Christian church is nothing new. Since the establishment of the faith in the 1st century AD differences in the interpretation of scripture have fostered debate and disagreement among Christian adherents. Today division continues as a centuries old interpretation of scripture is being questioned and ultimately reinterpreted by some believers.

Consider the case of the New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, California. When faced with a Pastor who, in his own words, “realized I no longer believed in the traditional teachings on homosexuality,” the church affirmed the Pastor’s decision and essentially turned its back on 2000 years of orthodox understanding of the Bible’s prohibition on the practice on homosexuality within the body of Christ. New Heart Community Church has adopted what they call a “third way”, which allows church leaders to hold differing views on the issue of homosexuality and same sex unions.

The deacons of the New Heart Community Church admitted, in a letter to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, that although the church has not taken an official stance on the issue, their pastor has officiated at a same sex union. Also, as the deacons noted, there does exist a division in the congregation with some affirming the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman, and another segment of the church that believes same sex unions can be” blessed by God.”

In response to the stance of the New Heart Community Church, the Executive Committee, acting on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention, voted on September 23, to withdraw fellowship from the church. The SBC Constitution, Article III states that churches which” affirm, approve, or endorse homosexual behavior”, are not in cooperation with the SBC. SBC President Ronnie Floyd emphasizes that the decision represents a matter of conviction, not a lack of compassion for homosexuals in the church.

Asserting Biblical authority and a determination to uphold that authority, Shane Hall, chairman of the EC’s administrative committee, stated in an interview with Baptist Press that “once we allow the undermining of scripture in one area, then we open up a door to the undermining of scriptures in all areas.” He further stated that this ruling represents an effort to keep the top on a “Pandora’s box” of issues threatening the authority of the Bible.

Danny Cortez, the pastor of New heart Community Church first admitted his reversal of opinion on the subject of homosexuality and same sex union in a one hour video posted on his church website, followed by a February 2014 sermon in which he admitted to his congregation that his stance on the subject had changed. Cortez acknowledged this change as a “radical shift” from what the church and the SBC has historically upheld.

In what the Executive Committee chairman Mike Routt deems as a “reinterpreting” of scripture, Cortez argues that Romans 1 only condemns violent , lustful homosexuality and that homosexual relationships today are somehow different than they were when Paul penned Romans. Believing that the issue involves more than just homosexuality but in fact represents a “collision of orthodox faith and radical theology”, Routt advocates, as did Paul in Jude 3,” earnestly contending for the faith that was once entrusted to the saints”, rather than reinterpreting that faith.

Reiterating the SBC’s love for all people, including homosexuals, the Southern Baptist Convention’s EC President Frank Page, stated that” when you love someone, you tell them the truth about their actions.” He further emphasized that the SBC has and will continue to pray for the repentance of the church and all practicing homosexuals, urging them to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Albert Mohler, Jr. President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the decision, by the SBC, to disfellowship the church,” a solemn moment and perhaps a moment to be repeated any number of times in the coming months and years.” 

Obamas Cybersecurity Adviser: Biometrics will Replace Passwords for Safetys Sake
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Washington Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The days of using a password to access a bank account or cellphone will soon be a thing of the past, President Obama’s top cybersecurity adviser said Thursday.

The risk of getting hacked by criminals has grown so widespread that far more sophisticated identification technology — including biometric scanning devices — will become the norm, said Michael Daniel, the White House’s cybersecurity coordinator.

“You’ve started to see some of that with the emergence of the fingerprint readers,” said Mr. Daniel, adding that the technology will become increasingly mainstream as cellphone cameras, “hard” card readers and other authentication gadgets replace the annoying process for millions of Americans of punching in a password to confirm their identity.

“Frankly, I would really love to kill the password dead as a primary security method because it’s terrible,” Mr. Daniel said at an event hosted by the Center for National Policy, Northrop Grumman Corp. and the Christian Science Monitor

Since passwords can so easily be hacked, a variety of new technologies will provide more protection and some “will be biometric related,” he said.

Mr. Daniel’s comments come against a backdrop of recent friction between the U.S. Justice Department and private tech giants like Apple, which unveiled a host of new privacy features for its iPhones and iPads last month designed to frustrate government snoopers.

Features like fingerprint scanners on phones are popular because consumers believe such advancements will protect them from government intrusions on their private data.

FBI Director James Comey lashed out on the subject in late-September, accusing tech companies of “marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law.”

So far the Obama administration has been reluctant to push legislation that would require private companies to take any specific cybersecurity measures.

In February, however, the administration launched a “Cybersecurity Framework,” described as the “result of a yearlong private-sector led effort to develop a voluntary how-to guide for organizations in the critical infrastructure community to enhance their cybersecurity.”

Mr. Daniel one point told the audience that the administration feels strongly that “market forces” can be trusted to take the lead on guiding private companies toward taking sufficient cybersecurity measures without heavy government intervention.

But he later said there are concerns inside the White House that almost all private companies — when left to their own devices — have a habit of not paying enough attention to cybersecurity threats.

“Expediency will trump cybersecurity every time,” he said.

But resistance to putting legal requirements on companies like JPMorgan Chase and others such as Target and Home Depot — two others that have fallen victim to hackers over the past year — stems from the fact that “the speed of regulation does not move at the speed of technology,” he said.

The government has to be “mindful” that any regulations will probably be outdated by the time they are issued, he added.

Let the Headlines Speak
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

‘We’re screwed!’: Hot mic catches reporters after WH Ebola presser   A hot mic generally picks up conversations that are embarrassing, funny, or truthful. But when the words “we’re screwed” come out of a reporter’s mouth at a White House Ebola presser, something tells me things are about to get real.  

Indian Navy Puts Warships On High Alert Following Karachi’s Naval Dockyard Attack: Report
India's navy is preparing for a terror attack by placing its warships on high alert following an attempt last month by al-Qaida’s South Asia wing to hijack a Pakistani navy frigate, The Indian Express reported Friday, citing military sources. The newly created group reportedly attempted to seize the Pakistani naval ship to fire rockets at U.S. vessels in the Arabian Sea.  

Super Typhoon Vongfong: Japan Braces For Strongest Storm Of The Year As It Moves North
The super typhoon is reportedly following the path of the deadly Typhoon Phanfone, which reportedly claimed the lives of more than nine people in Japan on Monday. Vongfong is reportedly expected to make landfall on Okinawa, an island chain about 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo, on late Saturday or early Sunday, BBC reported. The typhoon is reportedly carrying winds up to 160 miles per hour.  

Reporter body-slammed for asking Harry Reid question
'How does someone on a government salary most of their career accumulate your type of wealth?' “It’s funny how Harry Reid has no problem vilifying the Koch brothers for their wealth, but when it comes to questions about his own, it’s a different story.”  

Ebola Virus Outbreak: NYC Hospitals Isolated 27 Patients On Suspicion Of Ebola In Past 2 Months
“In the last two months we’ve had over 25 patients who have been held on suspicion that they had Ebola, but none of them turned out to have it. That’s just in the 11 hospitals that make up the New York City public hospital system, but then there are a lot of other hospitals in New York,”  

Ebola Virus Vaccine: The Drugs That Will Help End The 2014 Ebola Outbreak
As Ebola spreads from West Africa to countries including Spain and the U.S., world health authorities are scrambling to find a way to put an end to the outbreak. There is currently no federally endorsed cure or vaccine for the disease, but two new candidate vaccines are being fast-tracked for approval by the U.S. government, and a number of drugs are in various stages of development.  

Ebola Children Survivors Accused of Witchcraft, Black Magic in West Africa
"There's a strong belief in witchcraft that Ebola is contracted through a curse or in some cases that it is a white man's fabrication," "There is a mistrust of foreigners, and in one place everyone threw away soap given out by the government because they thought it was poisoned."  

Putin says ex-Soviet states must remember Moscow when getting closer to the West
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country does not oppose ex-Soviet states seeking closer ties with Western countries, but has criticized them for not taking Moscow's interests into account.  

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un reportedly misses key celebration due to 'pulled tendon'
North Korea's mysterious leader Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for 35 days and was not on a list of dignitaries at a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party on Friday, sparking speculation that the head of one of the world's most secretive countries is ailing or has been removed in a secret coup.  

Kotel Rabbi: 'Temple Mount has Turned into a Terror Base'
the rabbi of the Kotel (Western Wall) and Holy Sites, decried the Arab attempts to wreck the week-long Sukkot holiday by launching violent riots against police and Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.  

Amputees discern familiar sensations across prosthetic hand
Spetic, of Madison, Ohio, can feel with the prosthetic system being developed by Case Western Reserve University and the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Spetic was excited just to "feel" again, and quickly received an unexpected benefit. The phantom pain he'd suffered, which he's described as a vice crushing his closed fist, subsided almost completely.  

Briton 'dies of Ebola in Macedonia' - latest
A British man has died in Macedonia of suspected Ebola, Macedonian officials have said. A second Briton had also shown symptoms of the virus, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. The Foreign Office said they were investigating both reports. "We are aware of the reports and are urgently looking into them," said a spokesman.  

Fears of global Ebola outbreak spread across continents
Fears of a global Ebola outbreak spread yesterday as French officials sealed off a building with 60 people inside, an Australian nurse was tested for the disease and airplane cleaners went on strike in New York. In France, police imposed a lock-down on a social services centre in a town near Paris after four people who arrived from Guinea this month fell ill with headaches and fever.  

INCREASING CHANCE OF FLARES
NOAA forecasters have raised the odds of an M-class solar flare today to 40%. The likely source is sunspot AR2182, which has tripled in size since yesterday.  

Yemen: Suicide blasts kill dozens in Sanaa and Hadramawt
At least 47 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on supporters of a Shia rebel group in the centre of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, reports say. The blast struck as hundreds of people were arriving in Tahrir Square for a demonstration called by the Houthis. Later, a suicide bomb attack on an army checkpoint in the eastern province of Hadramawt left 20 soldiers dead.  

North and South Korea 'exchange land border fire'
North and South Korea have exchanged fire across their land border, South Korean officials say. The incident came as South Korean activists launched balloons containing leaflets condemning North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Pyongyang had warned of "catastrophic" consequences if Seoul allowed the activists to go ahead.  

Germany on brink of recession as exports tumble
Data published by the Federal Statistics Office on Thursday (9 October) indicated that exports slumped by 5.8 percent between July and August, the sharpest monthly fall since 2009, at the height of the financial crisis. Imports also fell by 1.3 percent, suggesting that German consumers are also losing faith in the country's economy.  

Europe at risk of 'huge number' of returning jihadist fighters
The EU is planning to step up border checks and passport controls to counter the threat of returning jihadist fighters. “We may be faced soon with...huge returns from Syria and Iraq,” the EU’s counter-terrorism co-ordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, told reporters... He said the US-led airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) in Syria could prompt European nationals fighting alongside the jihadists to go back home.  

EU considers military response in Africa on Ebola crisis
EU institutions are analysing potential evacuation of EU citizens from Ebola-hit African states and military operations to restore security in the outbreak zone. The EU foreign service... said: “The EU and MS [member states] have not yet designed an operational strategy making the best of all our collective assets”.  

Report: Hezbollah attack on Har Dov ordered by Iran following explosion at nuclear facility
According to unnamed sources in Washington, Iran ordered its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah to carry out Tuesday's attack on Israeli forces patrolling the Israel-Lebanon border following an alleged attack on the Parchin nuclear facility in Iran "by a foreign state," the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai reported on Friday.  

Watch: Islamic State honors its youngest 'martyr' - a 10-year-old Saudi boy
Supporters of the Islamic State terrorist organization recently posted a tribute video on social media in honor of a 10-year-old who they claim is the youngest "martyr" to die during their campaign to conquer territories across Syria and Iraq. The boy, who went by the name Abu Obadya al-Abassi, was nicknamed "Baghdadi's puppy," a reference to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Japan braced for 'powerful' Typhoon Vongfong
Japan is bracing for the arrival of a powerful typhoon, Vongfong, which officials have said will be the strongest storm to hit Japan this year. The southern island of Okinawa is likely to bear the brunt of the storm when it makes landfall late Saturday or early Sunday.  

Ebola is 'entrenched and accelerating' in West Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Ebola is now entrenched in the capital cities of all three worst-affected countries and is accelerating in almost all settings. WHO deputy head Bruce Aylward warned that the world's response was not keeping up with the disease in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.  

Two suicide attacks leave 70 dead in Yemen
Two suicide bombers struck in Yemen on Thursday — one targeting a gathering of Shia rebels in the country’s capital and the other hitting a military outpost in the south — in attacks that killed nearly 70 people, officials said.  

Spain Ebola patient at 'serious risk' of dying
A Spanish nurse who is the first person known to have been infected with Ebola outside Africa is at "serious risk" of dying after her condition worsened Thursday, officials said.  

The US Is In The Midst Of A Full-Scale Strategic Meltdown In Syria
For a while there, he had us going. When President Obama announced his long-contemplated strategy for confronting the Islamic State (ISIS) last month and made it clear that this would necessitate air strikes in Syria, many Syrians rejoiced at the news, believing that any intervention in their ravaged country was better than no intervention at all.  

No One Really Knows What Happened To Kim Jong Un
Kim Jong Un, the 31-year-old "semi-divine" leader of the world’s most secretive state, has not made a public appearance in almost 35 days. Rumors have been flying about what happened to the dictator — some say he's having health problems, some say someone else has taken control of the country, and others speculate the regime is about to topple.  

Kotel Rabbi: 'Temple Mount Has Turned Into a Terror Base'
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Arab riot on Temple Mount (file)

Reuters

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Kotel (Western Wall) and Holy Sites, decried the Arab attempts to wreck the week-long Sukkot holiday by launching violent riots against police and Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva, the rabbi argued that the Arab rioters are intentionally trying to prevent Jews from reaching the site on Sukkot, one of the three Jewish pilgrimage holidays that in ancient times required Jews to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem, a practice maintained by many.

"The Arab leadership's feigned ignorance in the face of these acts of violence by young rioters is shocking," said Rabbi Rabinowitz. "How can they deny the reality that the Temple Mount and the (Al-Aqsa) mosque has been turned into a terror base?"

Indeed, on Friday police prepared for riots by limiting access for Muslims over concerns that ongoing riots would be further inflamed, particularly after Hamas called for that violence the night before saying "we will fight till the last drop of blood."

"If someone harms the holiness of the site it's the rioters manipulating the sensitivity and holiness of the location to harm the gentle fabric in the Old City, throwing rocks and molotov cocktails from the mosque," emphasized the rabbi.

The Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust) that holds de facto rule over the site has banned Jewish prayer at the site, while at the very least turning a blind eye to constant violent rioting. According to the rabbi, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is not being treated as a holy site by the Waqf - rather it is a political trump card.

"We have never heard of a 'holy site' being a site of violence," said Rabbi Rabinowitz. "These activities demonstrate that the Temple Mount for them is a platform for a political struggle and not a religious matter."

The rabbi called on the Arab leadership to "gird courage and condemn the rioters, and distance them from the Temple Mount, and the world must condemn the acts of violence and not defend rioters when they use the holy site for violence."

Rabbi Rabinowitz called on Jews to visit Jerusalem during Sukkot: "that's the answer to the attempts of these hooligans trying to disrupt the traditions of the house of Israel."

Ahead of the first day of Sukkot on Wednesday, Muslim rioters hurled rocks and fireworks at police wounding at least four officers; in response, Jordan blamed the victim by condemning Israel for arresting nine attacking rioters during the chaos.

Shabak (Israel Security Agency) revealed in May that senior Hamas terrorist Mohammed Toameh had been captured and admitted in investigation that the group funds violent riots on the Temple Mount.

Toameh stated that Islamist groups in Israel launder Hamas cash and "donate" it to young Muslims to "study Islam" on the Temple Mount - in fact, they were earning between 4,000 and 5,000 shekels a month to throw rocks when Jews visit the site so as to block Jewish access.

Iran Admits Testing Nuclear 'Bridge Wires' At Exploded Parchin
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Aerial view of Parchin site (file)

Reuters

Just last Friday, Arutz Sheva published an article explaining how the IAEA in November 2011 reported that it had received “highly credible” information that Iran had tested “neutron initiators" at the site, and that Iran had told it that it had exploding bridge wire technology.

The same November 2011 IAEA report also reported that Iran had tested exploding bridge wires. Exploding bridge wires act to simultaneously trigger the conventional explosives components of a nuclear bomb, so as to create the right condition for the nuclear core to fully detonate in a nuclear reaction.

In specific, the IAEA November 2011 Annex stated that "among the alleged studies documentation are a number of documents relating to the development by Iran, during the period 2002–2003, of fast functioning detonators, known as 'exploding bridgewire detonators' or 'EBWs.'"

It added that in 2008, Iran told the IAEA that "before the period 2002–2004, it had already achieved EBW technology. Iran also provided the Agency with a short undated document in Farsi, understood to be the specifications for a detonator development program, and a document from a foreign source showing an example of a civilian application in which detonators are fired simultaneously. However, Iran has not explained to the Agency its own need or application for such detonators."

"Given their [EBWs’] possible application in a nuclear explosive device, and the fact that there are limited civilian and conventional military applications for such technology, Iran’s development of such detonators and equipment is a matter of concern," warned the IAEA document.

As recently as September 5, the IAEA reiterated that Iran is still trying to explain its civilian, non-nuclear-weapon, "need" for explosive bridge wires.

The graphics below illustrate how the explosive bridge wires simultaneously detonate the conventional explosives placed around the spherical implosion-type nuclear bomb so as to create a symmetric inward detonation wave to ensure uniform compression. In this way, a uranium or plutonium fissile nuclear weapons’ core can be compressed and pressured enough to reach “supercritical density” and set off a proper and efficient nuclear chain reaction.

Such an implosion bomb was estimated by A.Q. Khan, father of the Pakistani nuclear-bomb, to be able to achieve a 20-21 kiloton yield equivalent to the plutonium implosion bomb code-named “Fat Man” that was dropped on Nagasaki August 9, 1945, and killed an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 people outright.

German IDF Soldier Versus 9,300 'Israelis for Berlin'
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany (file)

Flash 90

As the storm rages around the Facebook protest calling for Israelis to migrate to Berlin for supposed lower costs of living, organizers say they have received 9,300 Israeli requests to move to Germany - and one German IDF soldier can't understand why.

Cpl. Anshel Holzapfel, a 19-year-old Jewish lone soldier from Germany who left his family in Dusseldorf at the age of 18, finished his training this week with the Golani Brigade.

Speaking to Channel 2, Holzapfel, who now lives in the western Galilee kibbutz of Yehiam with other immigrants, acknowledged that "life in Germany is very good."

However, speaking about the protest to migrate he stated "I think they're wrong. Our country is more beautiful than Germany, this is the land of the Jews."

"In their place I wouldn't go, particularly now with all that's going on in Europe with the negative treatment of Jews. There were many weekends with clashes between Muslims and Jews when I lived there," said Holzapfel, referring to skyrocketing anti-Semitism in Europe.

The soldier continued "maybe the quality of life in Germany is better, but I would tell them (the Israelis) not to leave. It will be hard for them in Germany because of the mentality. ...Other than that, we are supposed to be here, not there. This is our land. Leave Berlin and come to Golani."

Speaking about his satisfaction over having made the choice to leave Germany and fight for the Jewish state, Holzapfel added "before I immigrated I think in my daily life I didn't do anything really meaningful. In the IDF we do something meaningful."

9,300 Israelis leaving for Berlin?

According to those organizing the Facebook protest that currently has 11,313 likes, they have received 9,300 requests from Israelis wanting to leave for Berlin.

The organizers say they have turned to German chancellor Angela Merkel in a request for thousands of visas, with one initiator of the protest telling Channel 2 "I asked for 25,000 temporary work visas for three years, under the conditions of the Germany government."

"Additionally I turned to free German financial experts to help me come up with a plan to improve the housing and food market in Israel," continued the organizer.

He added that he plans to ask Spain to also speed up the granting of citizenship for three million Jews in Israel whose ancestors were expelled from the country in the middle ages - despite the rampant anti-Semitism ratcheting up there as in Germany.

The organizer added that in the future the protest intends to set its sights on New York, London, Washington, Miami, Los Angeles, Prague, Costa Rice and Rome, opening groups urging Israelis to leave the Jewish state for supposed economic benefit.

"People who can't buy a home even after working 35 years, people who save more than 15 years only for an initial investment to buy an apartment...turn to us and ask us not to reveal their names, but that they are dying to get out of (Israel) to a place where they can buy a home," claimed the organizer.

While Israel is currently gripped by a housing crisis, many have noted that situation is primarily caused by 70% of the population living in the coastal area, arguing that Judea and Samaria which reportedly is over 90% unpopulated holds the key to solving the issue.

The crisis has only deepened as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continues to institute a covert Jewish construction freeze in the areas, as well as in eastern Jerusalem.

On Tuesday Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) criticized the Berlin movement, saying "there have always been post-Zionists and anti-Zionists; these people are anti-Zionists." The same day Lapid pledged to lower prices so as to prevent the economic draw bringing Israelis to Berlin.

Meanwhile Avichai Shikli, head of the Tavor Mechina (pre-university school) in Nazereth Illit, told Arutz Sheva on Tuesday the Facebook campaign chose Berlin precisely out of spite, saying "there are still Holocaust survivors living among us, and this trend is a knife in their hearts."

Ebola Virus Vaccination Trial Commences
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

An Ebola virus vaccine trial has commenced with the vaccination of three health care workers in Mali, in the latest clinical trials to be launched. The West African outbreak has turned into a full blown epidemic, having infected more than 8,000 people, killing half of them, with the death toll likely to rise, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Mali has not yet been invaded by the virus.

NBC News has reported that although it would be months before the vaccine would be available, and even then not in large quantities, it would be a first step in getting more medical worker to join in the fight against the virus, as health care workers are at highest risk of getting infected.

The vaccine was developed at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial, which usually takes six to 11 months set up because of all the regulatory and ethical hoops to jump through, was launched in two months.

Could ISIS Target the West With Ebola?
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

Military expert says infecting carriers with the virus is remarkably easy - and could be easy to weaponize.

Ebola virus (file)

Thinkstock

Islamic State (ISIS) could be planning to use biological warfare against the West, a military expert stated earlier this week - by introducing the Ebola virus into the camps of its enemies. 

While the theory sounds like it was ripped from the script of the 2002 horror classic 28 Days Later, it is feasible, experts say. 

According to Captain (ret.) Al Shimkus, a Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College, spreading the virus would be remarkably simple.

“The individual exposed to the Ebola Virus would be the carrier,” Shimkus told Forbes earlier this week. “In the context of terrorist activity, it doesn’t take much sophistication to go to that next step to use a human being as a carrier.”

Shimkus, who teaches a course in biowarfare, stated that ISIS would simply need to send "a half dozen operatives" into any West African country battling the epidemic to create a carrier - then intentionally infect as many people as possible in a target country. 

The fatality rate for Ebola hovers at 50% - making it an effective weapon - but that rate could skyrocket to well over 90% in countries without sufficient medical care, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Shinkus isn't the only expert to warn about Ebola being weaponized. 

Amanda Teckman, author of the paper “The Bioterrorist Threat of Ebola in East Africa and Implications for Global Health and Security” concluded in 2013 that “the threat of an Ebola bioterrorist attack in East Africa is a global health and security concern, and should not be ignored.”

And last month, a Tunisian terrorist for ISIS was found researching biowarfare on his laptop - although the scope of his research focused on the bubonic plague, not Ebola. 

Experts say the find proves not that ISIS already has biological weapons, but is at least actively seeking them to expand their jihadist campaign in the Middle East and around the globe - and become an unprecedented threat if they do.

“If they obtain biological or chemical weapons, they will use them," Princeton University Jurisprudence professor Robert George stated to the Glenn Beck show in September. "There’s no question. There’s nothing that’s stopping them from using those weapons." 

Over 7,200 people have been infected with Ebola, according to latest WHO estimate - including several cases recorded in Spain and in Macedonia.

'Gender Inclusive' School District Says Drop 'boys and Girls,' Call Kids 'Purple Penguins'
Oct 10th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues;Commentary

The fine folks who run the school system in Lincoln, Neb., are on a campaign to make their classrooms gender-inclusive. And that means teachers will no longer refer to boys and girls … as boys and girls.

“Don’t use phrases such as ‘boys and girls,’ ‘you guys,’ ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ and similarly gendered expressions to get kids’ attention,” reads a handout from the Lincoln Public Schools that was given to teachers.

The handout was part of an effort to educate teachers and administrators about transgender issues, educators told the Lincoln Journal Star.

So instead of asking boys and girls to line up as boys or girls, teachers have been encouraged to segregate the children by whether they prefer skateboards or bikes, or whether they like milk or juice.

“The agenda we’re promoting is to help all kids succeed,” Brenda Leggiardo the district's coordinator of social workers and counselors told the newspaper. “We have kids who come to us with a whole variety of circumstances, and we need to equitably serve all kids.”

“Always ask yourself, ‘Will this configuration create a gendered space?’” the handout stated.

The handout, provided by Gender Spectrum, a website which "provides education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for children of all ages" does not explain what to do if all of the children like juice or skateboards. But it does suggest teachers “create classroom names and then ask all of the ‘purple penguins’ to meet at the rug.”

Purple penguins?

The Nebraska Watchdog website published copies of the handouts, titled, “12 easy steps on the way to gender inclusiveness…”

The documents are chock-full of all sorts of advice for teachers as they deconstruct and reconstruct the notion of what constitutes a boy and what constitutes a girl. (To avoid offense, those terms will henceforth be known as the “b-word” and the “g-word.”)

“Provide an opportunity for every student to identify a preferred name or pronoun,” the document reads. “At the beginning of the year or at Back-to-School Night, invite students and parents to let you know if they have a preferred name and/or pronoun by which they wish to be referred.”

Back when I was in school, teachers only asked kids if they’d like to be referred to by their first name or their middle name. Of course, I went to school during the Dark Ages.

The document also provides teachers with information to prevent kids from getting bullied on the playground. They suggest teaching kids to use phrases like, “Please respect my privacy” and “Hey, they’re called ‘private parts’ for a reason.”

Yes sir, that kind of tough talk should definitely dissuade the playground bullies.

Teachers were also encouraged to share anecdotes from their own lives “that reflect gender inclusiveness.”

“Even better, share examples when you were not gender inclusive in your thinking, words or behaviors, what you learned as a result and what you will do differently next time,” the handout states.

I wonder if teachers are allowed to opt out of that part of the assignment. Perhaps they could tell the kids, “They’re called private parts for a reason.”

Back when I was in school, the only thing the teacher did was read nursery rhymes – like “Rub-a-Dub-Dub.” It was the Dark Ages, folks.

It was an incredibly insensitive time in our nation’s history, when girls were girls and men were men (with respect to Archie Bunker).

To illustrate its point, the district provided an illustration of a gingerbread man. There I go again. How insensitive of me. It’s a gingerbread person. But for the sake of the teachers, the illustration was called a “genderbread person.” Clever, right?

The “genderbread person” was created by social justice comedian Sam Killermann. Who knew there was such a thing? But word on the street is the social justice people have quite the funny bone.

“Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand, but most people don’t,” Killermann wrote. “Like ‘Inception,’ gender isn’t binary. It’s not either or. In many cases it’s both/and.A bit of this, a dash of that. This tasty little guide is meant to be an appetizer for gender understanding. It’s okay if you’re hungry for more. In fact, that’s the idea.”

So what are the b-words and g-words supposed to call Superman and Wonder Woman? Super Being and Wonder Entity?

And I suspect some schools will have to rename their athletic teams – like the Smith County Cowpersons.

As you might imagine, some parents are not all that happy with the gender inclusiveness agenda. Rachel Terry fired off an email to other moms and dads accusing the district of social re-engineering.

The Journal Star obtained a copy of her email. She said the district was using taxpayer dollars to promote “the deconstruction of fundamental family and religious values.”

In her defense, Mrs. Terry probably grew up in the Dark Ages, too – when little g-words wore dresses and little b-words wore Husky jeans.

One school district official rejected her argument and said it was not pushing a political or religious agenda. Nor was it pushing a sexual preference on people.

“Part of education in addition to academics is the feeling of welcomeness, the relationship piece,” district official Russ Uhing told the newspaper.

In its quest for “welcomeness,” perhaps the district could ban all homework and allow children to eat cupcakes in the lunchroom. I’m sure the b-words and g-words would feel mighty welcome with those changes.

Still, the folks at Gender Spectrum admit there will be times when teachers will have to use a gender-specific term.

“When you find it necessary to reference gender, say ‘Boy, girl, both or neither,’” the handout states. “When asked why, use this as a teachable moment. Emphasize to students that your classroom recognizes and celebrates the gender diversity of all students.”

And that, dear readers, is a glimpse into what they’re teaching kids in public schools these days.

While we’re on the subject, what’s a gender-neutral term for morons?