Weekly News Archive
Broadcast Notes
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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
MONDAY MAY 14, 2012
News Alert: Ron Paul ends his hunt for votes
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas said
Monday he will not compete in primaries in any of the states
that have not yet voted - essentially confirming Mitt Romney
will win the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr. Paul said he will continue to work for delegates in states
that have already voted and where the process of
delegate-selection is playing out. He said that’s a way to make
his voice heard at the nominating convention in Tampa, Florida,
in August.
“Moving forward, however, we will no longer spend resources
campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet voted,” Mr.
Paul said. “Doing so with any hope of success would take many
tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have.”
He did encourage his supporters to still turn out and vote.
Source: washingtontimes.com MORE
More than 60 nuclear
experts at work building Iranian nuclear bomb
The names and addresses of 60 Iranian experts employed by 11
different Iranian agencies under the control of the Iranian
Defense Ministry were revealed Saturday, May 12, by the main
Iranian opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI). This is the
first time an extensive, highly secret, central organizational
structure dedicated to building a nuclear weapon has been
revealed in detail – specifically the Ministry of Defense under
the command of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which also runs
the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
The information updated to April 2012 was provided by “sources
within the Iranian regime’s agencies, including military
institutions.”
It contradicts the fundamental conclusion reached by the US and
five world powers and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- that Iran’s nuclear program is not run by a single
organization - on the basis of which they entered into
negotiation with Tehran. Most of all, it refutes another key
argument heard in the West that Iran has not yet decided to
actually build a weapon because Iran’s supreme leader Ali
Khamenei has said it would be a “sin.”
The Mujahedin-e Khalq, which Tehran accuses of collaborating
with US and Israeli intelligence to assassinate its nuclear
scientists, clearly timed the publication of its findings for 11
days before the Six Powers were due to hold a second round of
nuclear talks with Iran in Baghdad on May 23, DEBKAfile’s
intelligence and Iranian sources report . . . .
The exhaustively detailed Mujahedin-e Khalq document presents a
completely new picture of a well-advanced and centralized
nuclear weapons program, quite different from the one broadcast
by the US and its fellow nuclear negotiators - and even by some
Israeli circles.
Refuting the belief Iran has not actually started building a
nuclear warhead or bomb, the Iranian opposition group provides
chapter and verse to demonstrate that Iran is way past the
decision and flying ahead at top speed on its manufacture.
The project is revealed to be working out of the “headquarters
of the Iranian Defense Ministry’s SPND (New Defense Research
Organization) at the Mojdeh site in the western part of Malek
Ashtar University in the Lavizan region.”
(This university was first exposed in 2009 along with its three
campuses in Tehran, Isfahan and Urma.)
Where the document breaks startling new ground is in detailing
the SPND’s 7 sub-sections, “each of which conducts research and
tests in a specific field:”
(1) Working on the main element for the bomb, i.e. enriched
uranium and fissile material.
(2) Shaping and molding the required material, including metal
elements, to build a warhead.
(3) Producing metals required for building a nuclear warhead.
(4) Producing high-explosive material used to detonate a nuclear
bomb.
(5) Conducting research on advanced chemical material.
(6) Blue prints and carrying out electronic calculations
required for building a nuclear warhead.
(7) Laser activities applicable in the nuclear field.
To each sub-division, the Mujahedin-e Khalq document has
attached diagrams of its internal structure plus the full names
and addresses of its heads, officers, researchers and the
liaison [officers] among the departments. Some are provided with
their landline and cell phone numbers. The information is said
be updated to April 2012.
In response to these revelations, some official American sources
commented that they could not be confirmed and were skeptical
about the document’s credibility. Our intelligence sources note
that all of this Iranian group’s previous disclosures in the
past nine years have proved accurate.
Source:
debka.com
MORE
Note: see also Drawing Focuses On Iran's Nuke Work
- A drawing provided to The Associated Press is said to come
from inside an Iranian military site at Parchin and to show a
structure used in secret work on nuclear arms ... The official
who shared the image demanded that he and his nation be not
named in exchange for providing the classified information
LINK
Tripoli clashes after
direct orders from Assad to Lebanese army
Syrian ruler Bashar Assad is no longer relying on Iranian agents
in Lebanon and Hizballah to lead the covert war against his
Western and Arab foes. DEBKAfile’s military sources
disclose that he is now issuing direct instructions to the
Lebanese army (56,000 men) on their roles in operations for
suppressing the Syrian uprising.
The immediate result was a flare-up of armed hostilities in the
mixed northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Since Saturday, May 12,
the various armed groups and sects have been at each other’s
throats: the local Alawites who side with the Syrian ruler and
the Lebanese Army on the one side, but separate, and Sunni
groups led by former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, his
al-Mustaqbal and Salafite militias, on the other.
The Lebanese army is keeping the numbers of fatalities quiet,
admitting to only three, hoping to keep the unrest in the
sectarian war-prone country under control. But Monday, one
person was killed and 10 injured in early morning fighting.
Our military sources report that the clashes in Tripoli are an
offshoot of the six-month bloody contest between Assad’s tanks
and rebel forces in the Syrian city of Homs. Lebanese Sunni
elements have been pumping fighters, arms, money, medicines and
food to beleaguered rebel forces in Homs.
Saad Hariri, a Sunni leader, has sworn to topple Assad whose
agents assassinated his father, the former Prime Minister Rafiq
Hariri, in 2005. His al-Mustaqbal group has established a
forward command in Tripoli to provide the Syrian rebels with
logistical backing.
Then, there are the Salafist militias commanded by Sheikh Shadi
al-Mawlawi which aid Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda elements in
Syria. They distribute the arms, ammunition, money and inside
intelligence supplied them by Saudi and Qatari security
agencies.
To cut the Syrian rebels’ lifeline at [its] source, the Syrian
General Staff in Damascus last week sent the Lebanese Chief of
Staff General Jean Kahwagi a crude ultimatum: Take care of the
Syrian rebels’ helpers in Tripoli, or else the Syrian army will
enter Lebanon and do the job itself.
In response, the Lebanese General Security Department began
rounding up key Sunni figures actively supporting Syrian rebels.
Saturday, the Salafist sheikh al-Mawlawi was placed in custody
on charges of “terrorist operations.”
The Sunni militias, aware that the Lebanese security officers
had acted on orders from Damascus rather than Beirut, then
turned on Assad’s Alawite sympathizers in Tripoli [to] force an
end to the arrests and the release of detainees.
Sunday, Hariri’s outfit demanded that Prime Minister Nabil
Miqati resign for failing to stop the bloodshed in Tripoli – and
indirectly implying that he must stop playing ball with
Damascus. He rejected [Miqati’s] statement that a decision was
taken by [the] national government in Beirut “not to provide
political cover for any security violator in the northern city
of Tripoli.”
To stem the flow of war materiel to the rebels, Assad’s border
units are also subjecting Lebanese border villages to frequent
cross-border shelling, supported on the other side by Hizballah
under joint Syrian command. [no further content]
Source:
debka.com
LINK
Note: see also Lebanese Army Imposes Tenuous Calm In
Tripoli
LINK
[Note: Also see
Sectarian Clashes Rock Lebanese City ... 3 Killed
in today's News Briefs section.]
Hizballah rushes arms
to Syria ... Iran sets up security cameras in Damascus
The shocking impact of the twin explosions which killed 55
people and injured almost 400 in Damascus Thursday, May 10,
galvanized Bashar Assad’s allies, starting with Iran, into
frenetic activity. Within hours, Tehran had ordered its Lebanese
proxy Hizballah to open up its arms stores and run quantities of
weapons and military equipment across the border to the Syrian
army – a striking reversal of the routine direction of arms
supplies. Thursday night, Washington quietly asked Lebanese
President Michel Suleiman to put a stop to the traffic.
While the Syrian opposition and Assad regime blamed each other –
or al Qaeda - for the worst attack Damascus has seen in the
14-month uprising, it was obvious to both that it must have been
the work of a major and very professional undercover agency.
In Tehran, Moscow and Beirut, the scale of the bombing attacks
which leveled a key Syrian security headquarters was judged a
sharp escalation in the offensive for President Assad’s
overthrow - more intense even than the NATO campaign which last
year removed the Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi.
DEBKAfile’s sources in Moscow say the event has
consequently cast a dark shadow over relations between the Obama
administration and Vladimir Putin at the outset of his third
term as Russian president.
This week, Putin pointedly declined to attend the G-8 summit of
world leaders meeting next week at the US presidential retreat
of Camp David. He decided to send Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
over in his place.
The Russian president has three large bones to pick with
Washington: (a) He suspects American hands of stirring up
opposition demonstrations against him during his election
campaign; (b) He is flat against the US missile shield going up
in Europe and the Middle East to intercept Iran’s ballistic
missiles; and (c) He is solidly behind the Assad regime which he
accuses the US of seeking to overthrow.
In its message to Beirut, the US reminded the Lebanese president
that the transfer of war materials by Hizballah to Syria was a
violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the
2006 Lebanon war between the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group and
Israel. Arms transfers between Syria and Lebanon were banned in
both directions. But this prohibition was never upheld. Regular
arms consignments have been crossing into Lebanon for Hizballah
from and via Syria for the past six years without any
interference by the United Nations force UNIFIL stationed in
South Lebanon.
Washington knows perfectly well that no one in Lebanon will stop
the arms flow to Syria either. But the request to President
Suleiman is intended to lay the ground for expanded
international and US intervention in the Syrian conflict.
Another step Tehran took straight after the Damascus bombings to
firm up the Assad regime was to start organizing a network of
closed circuit security cameras to be installed in all parts of
Damascus and its exits and entries for three functions:
(1) Opponents of the regime will have less freedom of movement
in the capital;
(2) The army and security forces can economize on manpower for
securing the city. Patrols will fan out after cameras register
hostile or suspicion movements.
(3) Syrian and allied intelligence services can keep track of UN
monitors’ movements. The UN mission is regarded by Syria, Iran
and Russia as “the eyes and ears of the West.” [no further
content]
Source: debka.com
LINK
Press
Release: New
Potential Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods Found
The potential dangers of Genetically Modified Foods have been
well documented in recent years. However, recent medical
research combined with new documentation posted at health and
wellness portal BeWellBuzz.com has discovered a new batch of
potentially harmful side-effects which GMO’s transfer to the
human body.
Genetically modified foods (GMO) are those foods that are
primarily derived from genetically modified organisms. These
genetically derived organisms have undergone specific changes to
their DNA using genetic engineering techniques that exploit the
natural forms of gene transfer. Scientists at the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) have warned about potential health
problems associated with GMO’s as far back as the early 1990’s.
According to documents released from a lawsuit, the scientific
consensus at the agency was that GMO foods were inherently
dangerous, and might create hard-to-detect allergies, poisons,
gene transfer to gut bacteria, new diseases, and nutritional
problems.
"The GM soybean and corn varieties used in the feeding trials
'constitute 83 percent of the commercialized GMOs' that are
currently consumed by billions of people,” stated a research
paper documented by the Institute for Responsible Technology.
“While the findings may have serious ramifications for the human
population, the authors demonstrate how a multitude of GMO-related
health problems could easily pass undetected through the
superficial and largely incompetent safety assessments that are
used around the world."
In recent months, doctors have [decided] to prescribe GM-free
diets to their patients. According to Dr. Amy Dean, a Michigan
internal medicine specialist, and board member of AAEM, “I
strongly recommend patients eat strictly non-genetically
modified foods.” Ohio allergist Dr. John Boyles continues to go
on the record about the dangers of GMO foods by stating,
“I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy
is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people
never to eat it.”
After reviewing more than 600 scientific journals, world
renowned biologist Pushpa M. Bhargava concluded that
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a major contributor to
the sharply deteriorating health of Americans. American
Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has been warning
[about] use of GM foods and how these genetically modified foods
are a threat to human health. However, the production and sale
of GMO’s continues and it is left to consumers to decide whether
it is suitable for consumption. [no further content, emphasis
added]
Source:
prweb.com
LINK
[Note: To learn more about the top 10 foods which are being
produced through GM techniques, see
LINK
to the article posted at BeWellBuzz.com]
________________________________
NEWS BRIEFS
________________________________
Followup story
Abbas warns of 'national disaster' over
hunger strikers
RAMALLAH -- Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas warned on Sunday
of a "national disaster" if any of the 1,550 Palestinian
prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails were to die. Abbas
spoke as two of the hunger strikers, Bilal Diab and Thaer
Halahla, entered their 75th day without eating, and after
international rights groups and governments said they were
concerned that prisoners could die if they continued to refuse
food. "The situation of the prisoners is extremely dangerous,"
Abbas told a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's
executive committee. "Some of them face real harm, and that
would be a national disaster that no one can tolerate. I hope
and pray to God that no one gets hurt because it would be a
major disaster." Diab and Halahla are specifically protesting
their jailing by Israeli authorities without charge under a
procedure known as administrative detention. The broader hunger
strike by around 1,550 Palestinian prisoners is intended to
pressure Israeli prison authorities to end the use of solitary
confinement and ease a wide range of restrictions, including on
family visits and prisoner education. The protest has attracted
widespread support throughout the Palestinian territories, and
Abbas said he had raised the issue in discussions with Israeli
negotiator Yitzhak Molcho and US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton. "These prisoners have a right to justice, and we are
talking about the conditions of detention and the prison
conditions that Israel is trying to ignore," Abbas said. "The
issue of the prisoners is the most important issue we're working
on these days." Palestinian sources say negotiations are under
way with Israeli representatives on a package of measures to
ease conditions for the 4,700 Palestinians held in Israeli
jails.
MORE
Note: see News Update:
Hunger Strikers Ink Deal With Israel To End Mass Fast
LINK
Abbas,
Netanyahu Issue Joint Statement on Peace
Palestine and Israel issued a rare joint statement May 12, which
said they were committed to peace after Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu dispatched an envoy to meet Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas. The envoy carried a letter from Netanyahu
replying to one he received last month from Abbas, in which the
Palestinian leader stated his grievances over the collapse of
peace talks in 2010 and laid out his parameters for a resumption
of negotiations. Details of Netanyahu’s letter were not
released, but Israeli officials said last week that they did not
expect him to accept a key Palestinian demand to halt all
settlement building in the occupied territories before reopening
any talks . . . Few diplomats expect any breakthrough
ahead of the United States presidential elections in November;
however, the surprise formation of a national unity government
in Israel last week has provided a slight flicker of hope . .
. The head of Kadima, Shaul Mofaz, has long blamed Netanyahu
for the failure of the peace talks and told reporters last week
that entering new negotiations “was an iron condition for
forming the unity government.”
MORE
Rep Ron Paul: 'It will Lead to War'
Statement on H.R.4133, The US-Israel Enhanced Security
Cooperation Act of 2012 ... It more likely will lead to war
against Syria, Iran, or both
Mr. Speaker: I rise in opposition to HR 4133, the United
States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, which
unfortunately is another piece of one-sided and
counter-productive foreign policy legislation. This bill's real
intent seems to be more saber-rattling against Iran and Syria,
and it undermines US diplomatic efforts by making clear that the
US is not an honest broker seeking peace for the Middle East.
The bill calls for the United States to significantly increase
our provision of sophisticated weaponry to Israel, and states
that it is to be US policy to "help Israel preserve its
qualitative military edge" in the region. While I absolutely
believe that Israel - and any other nation - should be free to
determine for itself what is necessary for its national
security, I do not believe that those decisions should be
underwritten by US taxpayers and backed up by the US military.
This bill states that it is the policy of the United States to
"reaffirm the enduring commitment of the United States to the
security of the State of Israel as a Jewish state." However,
according to our Constitution the policy of the United States
government should be to protect the security of the United
States, not to guarantee the religious, ethnic, or cultural
composition of a foreign country. In fact, our own Constitution
prohibits the establishment of any particular religion in the
US. More than 20 years after the reason for NATO's existence –
the Warsaw Pact – has disappeared, this legislation seeks to
find a new mission for that anachronistic alliance: the defense
of Israel. Calling for "an expanded role for Israel within the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including an enhanced
presence at NATO headquarters and exercises," it reads like a
dream for interventionists and the military industrial complex.
As I have said many times, NATO should be disbanded not
expanded. This bill will not help the United States, it will not
help Israel, and it will not help the Middle East. It will
implicitly authorize much more US interventionism in the region
at a time when we cannot afford the foreign commitments we
already have. It more likely will lead to war against Syria,
Iran, or both. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. [no
further content]
LINK
U.N. inspectors to push Iran on
military site access
VIENNA -- A senior U.N. nuclear official said Iran must give his
inspectors access to information, people and sites as he began a
two-day meeting with Iranian officials on the Islamic state's
disputed atomic activities on Monday. The meeting in Vienna will
test Iran's readiness to address U.N. inspectors' suspicions of
military dimensions to its nuclear program, ahead of high-stakes
talks on the program in Baghdad next week between Iran and six
world powers. Two meetings in Tehran this year with U.N.
inspectors failed to make any notable progress, especially on
the inspectors' request for access to Parchin, a military site
where the watchdog believes nuclear weapons-relevant research
may have taken place. "The aim of our two days (of talks) is to
reach agreement on an approach to resolve all outstanding issues
with Iran," Herman Nackaerts, deputy director general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters as he arrived
at an Iranian diplomatic mission in a smart area of Vienna. "In
particular, clarification of the possible military dimensions
remains our priority ... It is important now that we can engage
on the substance of these issues and that Iran let us have
access to people, documents, information and sites."
MORE
Sectarian clashes rock Lebanese city
... 3 killed
TRIPOLI, LEBANON (AP) -- Sectarian violence linked to the unrest
in neighboring Syria shook the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli
on Sunday, with the state news agency reporting a soldier and
two civilians killed in the street clashes. The fighting
highlights how easily trouble in Syria can raise tensions in
Lebanon, with which it shares a complex web of political and
sectarian ties and rivalries. Residents say gunfire broke out in
the city Saturday and continued through the night primarily
between a neighborhood populated by Sunni Muslims who hate
Syrian President Bashar Assad and another area with many Assad
backers from his Alawite sect . . . An Associated Press
reporter in the city said the Lebanese army sent reinforcements
to the city, but that gunmen still patrolled the streets and
intermittently shot at each other with automatic rifles. Heavier
weapons, like rocket-propelled grenades, have also been fired.
Similar clashes in the area in February killed two people. The
fourteen month-old conflict in Syria has exacerbated sectarian
and political tensions in Lebanon, and many fear Syria's chaos
will eventually bleed across the border. Lebanon is sharply
split along sectarian lines, with 18 religious sects. But it
also has a fragile political fault line precisely over the issue
of Syria. An array of pro-Syrian parties support Assad's regime,
as do many Lebanese citizens. Others hate Assad and accuse
Damascus of heavy-handed meddling in Lebanese politics. The two
sides are the legacy of, and backlash against, Syria's virtual
rule over Lebanon from 1976 to 2005 and its continued influence
since.
MORE
Sudan airstrikes could be international
crime
JUBA -- Sudanese airstrikes on foe South Sudan could amount to
international crimes, the U.N. rights chief warned Friday,
adding that she was “saddened and outraged” at bombing raids
that broke a U.N. cease-fire order. “Deliberate or reckless
attacks on civilian areas can, depending on the circumstances,
amount to an international crime,” said U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay. Khartoum has repeatedly denied its
warplanes have bombarded Southern territory, including civilian
areas and a U.N. base as well as Southern army positions along
the contested frontier. However Pillay, who has been visiting
South Sudan, said Khartoum had carried out “indiscriminate
bombing without consideration that civilians are living there.”
A May 2 Security Council resolution called for Sudan and South
Sudan to cease hostilities along their border and settle
unresolved issues after the South’s separation last July
following a 1983-2005 civil war. Sudan’s army said Wednesday it
had fought with South Sudan, while the South said it had come
under renewed Sudanese air attack. “What the U.N. has done in
response to the aerial bombardment by Sudan in the territory of
South Sudan is mostly the adoption of a Security Council
resolution, which is very serious when it reaches this stage,”
Pillay said. [no further content]
LINK
Note: see these related items:
UN Resolution Violated As Sudan Says It Fights South
LINK
Commentary: To Stop The War On
South Sudan, The U.S. Should Send Weapons
LINK
China wants Russia out of South China
Sea
Claims region as its exclusive 'sphere of influence'
WASHINGTON -- Just as it has demanded of the United States,
China now is putting pressure on Russia to remove its commercial
presence from the South China Sea, particularly the oil
exploration projects it has with Vietnam, says a report from
Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. Not only is Moscow working with
Hanoi on the commercial side, but it is selling submarines that
Vietnam believes it needs to stand up to Beijing as its feud
continues over offshore mineral rights. Moscow’s commercial and
military interests in Vietnam, however, are part of a larger
strategic issue of maintaining its presence in the South China
Sea, which Beijing claims is in its area of influence.
MORE
U.S., Pakistan Negotiate Reopening
NATO Supply Line
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- The United States has been holding intense
negotiations with Pakistan to get the country to reopen its
border to supplies meant for NATO troops in Afghanistan, a U.S.
official said Monday, a day before senior Pakistani decision
makers are set to discuss the issue. The clock is ticking ahead
of a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21 that is largely focused
on the Afghan war. Pakistan will likely only receive an
invitation if it ends its nearly six-month blockade of NATO
supplies.
MORE
Report: Iraqi police training program
may end
WASHINGTON -- The United States has reduced - and may phase out
entirely - a multi-billion-dollar police training program that
was to have been the centerpiece of a hugely expanded civilian
mission in Iraq, The New York Times reported Sunday. Citing
unnamed State Department officials, the newspaper said that what
was originally envisioned as a training cadre of about 350 US
law enforcement officers in Iraq was quickly scaled back to 190
and then to 100. The latest restructuring calls for 50 advisers,
but most experts say even they may be withdrawn by the end of
this year, the report said. The training effort, which began in
October and has already cost $500 million, was conceived of as
the largest component of a mission billed as the most ambitious
American aid effort since the Marshall Plan, the paper said.
Instead, it has emerged as the latest high-profile example of
the waning American influence there following the military
withdrawal, The Times said. "I think that with the departure of
the military, the Iraqis decided to say, OK, how large is the
American presence here?'" the report quotes James Jeffrey, the
US ambassador to Iraq, assaying in an interview. "How large
should it be? How does this equate with our sovereignty? In
various areas they obviously expressed some concerns." [no
further content]
LINK
Russia, U.S. start first joint
anti-terror war games on American soil
Russia and the US are holding their first ever joint anti-terror
military exercises on American territory. A group of Russian
paratroopers has taken off to Fort Carson military base, located
in the US state of Colorado. A special unit of American land
forces and a reconnaissance unit of Russian special forces will
be taking part in the exercises. Russian paratroopers will first
familiarize themselves with American small arms, military
equipage, munitions, communication and reconnaissance equipment,
parachute systems and types of landing operations. In addition,
Russian and American servicemen will have joint gun practice,
mountain training and will take a course in demolition
techniques. They will also have parachute training using
American military equipment. At the end of May the exercises
will enter the “active” stage with combat training, in the
course of which participants are supposed to find, seize and
destroy a large base of international “terrorists”.
[Or is the target "domestic
terrorists"? -Ed.] [no further content]
LINK
Student in fight for her life battling
flesh-eating bacteria (Georgia)
Flesh-eating bacteria - a rare, aggressive infection that
violently attacks the deepest layers of skin - has claimed a
Georgia student's leg, hands and remaining foot, thrusting her
into the fight of her life and stirring nationwide interest
about her ordeal. Aimee Copeland, 24, was kayaking near the
Little Tallapoosa River in Georgia on May 1 when she hopped on a
homemade zip-line for a ride. The line snapped, Copeland fell,
and she suffered a cut to her calf. The gash was deep enough to
warrant medical attention - doctors closed the wound with 22
staples. But a dangerous bacteria - necrotizing fasciitis -
found its way into the wound. Within days, Copeland was back in
the hospital in grave condition. The scourge has led to the
amputation of the West Georgia University student's left leg.
She is also expected to lose her hands and her remaining foot,
according to the Associated Press. She is listed in critical
condition at the Joseph Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in
Augusta, Georgia . . . Necrotizing fasciitis is
especially difficult to treat because it can be initially
overlooked, experts said. The outside of the wound appears to be
healing, but the devastation is taking place on a much deeper
level, Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University Medical
School told Reuters. "This often is a very subtle infection
initially," he told Reuters. "These bacteria lodge in the deeper
layers of the wound. The organism is deep in the tissues, and
that's where it's causing its mischief."
MORE
Marchers in Rome protest Italy's
allowing abortion
ROME (AP) -- A few thousand people opposed to Italy's 1978 law
allowing abortion have marched through the Italian capital in a
protest drawing people from around the world, including
Americans and Poles. Nuns, priests and lay people marched in
Rome Sunday from the Colosseum to Castel Sant'Angelo, a landmark
near the Vatican. In Italy, abortion on demand is legal through
to the end of the third month of pregnancy. After a long battle
between secular forces and the church, voters upheld the law in
a 1981 referendum. There is no major momentum now to rescind the
law. Some in the Mother's Day march pushed babies in strollers.
One American participant, the Rev. Dominick Holtz, from St.
Louis, Missouri, said the march united people from around the
world against legalized abortion. [no further content]
LINK
City rules church not 'charitable'
enough (Maine)
A city in Maine has decided to enforce thousands of dollars in
property taxes on a congregation because, its assessment board
ruled, the church doesn’t qualify as a charity. Aldersgate
United Methodist Church in Rockland, Maine, filed suit in the
Knox County Superior Court last month over a legal loophole that
allows the city to charge taxes on the church’s driveway and
parking lot, while exempting other non-profit organizations from
the same costs. “Maine’s tax exemption statutory scheme is
fundamentally flawed,” explains the Alliance Defense Fund, a
non-profit legal organization that defends religious freedom.
“The statute broadly exempts property owned by and used for
not-for-profit groups, including charities, hospitals,
fraternities, child care centers and veterans groups. The
parking lots of these organizations are tax-exempt, no questions
asked. “But the statute treats ‘houses of religious worship’
differently,” the ADF continues. “They are limited to the
exemption of their church building, furniture, burial plots and
a portion of the parsonage. No other not-for-profit is similarly
limited.” The inequitable treatment could be overlooked, the ADF
claims, if the city would recognize the church as a form of
charity and applied the broader exemption law.
MORE
Christian messages banned in Buffalo
(New York)
A federal lawsuit has been filed against the city of Buffalo,
New York, alleging that police threatened to arrest a Christian
for peacefully handing out tracts and talking with passersby who
were willing to chat with him on public property. The complaint
was filed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) on behalf of
Gregory Owen. While handing out tracts to willing recipients on
a public street during a public festival, Owen was approached by
a police officer who declined to identify himself but told him
that the Buffalo Police Department is “the law” and he should
stop handing out tracts. According to the lawsuit:
“Subsequently, another police officer, Officer Slomka, arrived
on the scene. She quickly informed Owen that they could not hand
out tracts in the festival and explained that the prohibition
was ‘by our orders.’ Owen asked for her name, and she replied:
‘Slomka, write it down.’ Owen advised that he believed the
tracts to be free speech; nonplussed, Officer Slomka reiterated
that they couldn’t hand out tracts there and had to go outside
of the festival area to continue with their expressive
activity.” Then, “Owen inquired as to whether they would be
arrested if they continued to hand out tracts in the festival
area, to which, Officer Slomka replied: ‘Yes.’” Nate Kellum, one
of more than 2,100 attorneys in the ADF alliance, said people of
faith “shouldn’t be threatened with arrest for peacefully
expressing their beliefs.” “The Constitution and court precedent
in these types of cases is clear: Officials cannot toss someone
out of a public event simply because they don’t like the views
he’s expressing,” he said. “This is a classic example of free
speech that the First Amendment protects,” he said.
MORE
________________________________
MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY
________________________________
Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.
Mad moms to food
police: We'll eat what we want (Minnesota)
Moms in Minnesota are preparing to defy state dictates over when
and how they can access food supplies for their families, with a
rally scheduled Monday to coincide with the beginning of the
trial of the manager of a farm buying club, according to the
Farm Food Freedom Coalition.
World Net Daily previously has reported on disputes between
farmers and consumers on one side and federal regulators on the
other. They have involved the purchase by consumers of raw milk;
the rights of consumers to access milk from their own cows; a
radio program that offered natural products; and a blogger who
wrote about his battle with diabetes and was threatened with
jail.
The newest development comes from the Farm Food Freedom
Coalition, which is assembling a protest at the Minneapolis
trial of Alvin Schlangen, a farm buying club manager.
The group said that mothers in the state who act as hosts for
“drop sites” for farm buying club members now have been
threatened with criminal charges.
The May 14 protest will be at 7 a.m. outside the Minneapolis
courthouse where Schlangen’s trial is scheduled, officials said.
“At the rally supporters will sign a ‘Declaration of Food
Independence’ and demonstrate non-compliance against what they
deem ‘unjust’ regulations,” the organization announced.
Another supporting organization, the Raw Milk Freedom Riders,
said that Schlangen founded the Freedom Farms Coop, which simply
connects people with the foods of their choice from local
producers.
“Over the past two years the Minnesota Department of Agriculture
(MDA) has illegally raided Alvin’s van, warehouse, and farm. The
state has now brought four charges against Alvin related to food
distribution; all are misdemeanor counts. If convicted, Alvin
faces up to a year in jail and hefty fines … just for helping to
connect consumers to the producers and foods of their choice.”
Organizers confirm that “several Minnesota mothers who organize
community access to local fresh farm foods plan to risk criminal
charges by openly and publicly defying warnings from the
Minnesota Department of Agriculture.”
“The MDA has threatened several mothers, conducted
investigations against them and sent them warning letters that
if they continue helping provide fresh food to their friends and
neighbors, they will be subject to criminal charges and
prosecution. The MDA alleges the mothers are violating
food-handling regulations.”
Hundreds are expected to join the rally, organizers estimate.
“It is absolutely outrageous that during this time of economic
crisis our state government is investigating and sending warning
letters to mothers and putting farmers on trial who are helping
provide communities with fresh foods. It is my right to contract
privately with a farmer for the food of my choice just as it is
the right of every American,” said Melinda Olson, a mother and
recipient of one of the MDA’s warnings.
“The MDA’s harassment against mothers will not work. We plan to
ignore this warning and continue operating as we are. MDA should
not waste taxpayer money investigating, prosecuting and jailing
peaceful farmers and mothers for helping their communities
secure fresh foods. Our time to stand up against this tyranny is
now!” she said.
Source: wnd.com
MORE
Commentary:
Kofi Annan's Syrian peace plan has been
blown out of the water (Abdel Bari Atwan)
While Syria's opposition is unlikely to prevail unaided,
extremists seem intent on driving the conflict's deep
sectarianism
The two suicide car bombs in Damascus on May 10 were an alarming
development. Before last December suicide bombs were unheard of
in Syria. Now there have been 10 such attacks, becoming
increasingly deadly – 55 died in the latest atrocity; and on May
11 another attack was thwarted in Aleppo, Syria's largest city
. . . .
Damascus and Aleppo are home to Syria's business and
professional classes, who have not, in general, participated in
the uprising, tending to remain loyal to the Assad regime. The
suicide bombs have targeted government buildings, the security
services and the ruling Ba'ath party's headquarters. While many
civilians died in Thursday's blasts, significant numbers of
security personnel have also been killed.
None of this suggests that the regime is carrying out these
atrocities, as the opposition has claimed . . . Moreover,
it is unlikely that the Free Syrian Army, the armed wing of the
opposition, has appropriated methods that are the hallmark of
jihadist, not secular, groups.
My fear is that a third element has crept into this
conflict, possibly from Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, and that its
agenda has nothing to do with the Arab spring or the clamour for
democracy.
On Friday an Islamist group calling itself al-Nusra (Victory)
Front released a video in which it added the Damascus bombs to
others it has already claimed . . . The spokesman
highlighted the sectarian intentions of the attack, stating that
Sunni Muslims need "protection" from the ruling Shia Alawites,
who will be made to "pay the price".
And this apparently sinister development has not occurred in
isolation. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf states were keen
to arm the Syrian revolution – not because they are lovers of
democracy and reform, but because they would like to see Assad
removed from power. Under pressure from the Islamist
establishment inside their own countries (which has its own
sectarian agenda), the Saudis in particular are also mindful of
the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri . . . which led to
a long-standing personal vendetta between the Saudis and the
Assad regime, which they held responsible.
The problem is that the Free Syrian Army, even well equipped, is
unlikely to prevail, unaided, against Syria's mighty and highly
professional armed forces, which in general remain loyal.
Meanwhile, the advent of suicide bombers has given Assad a
pretext for escalating the violence against his own citizens.
Given the course of events in Libya, the opposition were,
understandably, gambling on foreign intervention, but none has
been forthcoming . . . Any American intervention is
likely only after the presidential elections in November, and
would be linked to an attack on Iran, which remains the main
focus in the region.
Any hopes that Kofi Annan's peace initiative might succeed have
been blown out of the water by the apparent arrival of an
extremist group, or groups, intent on escalating the sectarian
aspect of the conflict, which neither the regime nor the
opposition can hope to control.
If the extremist groups manage to hasten the fall of the regime,
their agenda is unlikely to end there. In post-Saddam Iraq, Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida offshoot fanned the flames of a
Sunni-Shia sectarian war that was only extinguished by the US
army's "surge" and General Petraeus' "Awakening" campaign, which
overwhelmed the jihadis temporarily. But in Syria there are no
US forces, no Petraeus in sight.
Whoever governs post-revolutionary Syria is unlikely to rule
over a united country, but rather sectarian or ethnic pockets,
engaged in ongoing battles with each other. The historical
precedent here is Lebanon, which was mired in civil war from
1975 for 16 years.
Nor is the prospect of sectarian conflict confined to Syria's
borders. Regional polarisation might see a Sunni bloc, headed by
Turkey and Saudi Arabia and incorporating any number of
extremist groups, facing off a Shia alliance led by Iran. Here
we have an even more chilling template – from 1514 the Sunni
Muslims of the Ottoman empire and the Shia Safavid of Persia
battled over the region for more than a century, fuelled by
their religious differences. [emphasis added]
Source: guardian.co.uk
MORE
________________________________
ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
________________________________
Syria troops storm village ... month-old truce in tatters
LINK
More deadly violence hits Syria
LINK
Algerian elections turn back jihadists
LINK
___________
Doomsday scenarios spread about No. 4 reactor at Fukushima plant
LINK
TEPCO has issued statements reassuring the public
that such a disaster would not occur, saying the structure has
been reinforced to withstand serious shaking
___________
Iran
boasts U.S. has abandoned Israel
LINK
Claims 'rejection by West' paves way to annihilate
Jewish state
Iran warns West against applying pressure
ahead of nuclear talks
LINK
Gulf Nations Set for New Union (Followup)
LINK
GCC states meeting Monday May 14 in Riyadh
NATO chief determined to move ahead
with missile shield
LINK
Israel Won't Be at 'Biggest Summit in NATO History'
LINK
Yemen retaking Qaeda-held city
LINK
Yemen: U.S. drone strikes kill 11 Al-Qaeda militants
LINK
Al-Qaeda suspects blow up Yemen gas pipeline
LINK
North Korean women sold into 'slavery' in China
LINK
[analysis]: When False Flags Don't Fly
(4-19-10)
LINK
Now we know what the real definition of
terrorism is ... It is governments scaring their own populations
into line
Abbotabad Raid: Publicity Stunt Says Senior
Pakistani Intelligence Official (Interview)
LINK
[18 month old terrorist] ordered off plane
at Fort Lauderdale airport
LINK
New York police frisk more people despite criticism
LINK
New York police conducted more than 200,000 frisk
searches in the first three months of this year, a 10 percent
increase from the same period last year, even as critics say the
practice often is racial profiling
New York police tout improving crime
numbers to defend frisking policy
LINK
[analysis]: 'They Think We Are Animals': How America's Police
State Controls Black People
LINK
'Sonic cannons' emitting pain-inducing noise to be used during
Olympics to keep crowds under control
LINK
Court: U.S. spy agency can keep mum on Google ties
LINK
How Corporations Like Monsanto Have Hijacked Higher
Education
LINK
Academic research is often dictated by corporations that
endow professorships, give money to universities, and put their
executives on education boards
[analysis]: Indentured Servitude for
Seniors: Social Security Garnished for Student Debts
LINK
Largest U.S. Bank J P Morgan Hit by 'Egregious' Trading
Loss of $2 Billion
LINK
Senator Carl Levin: "The enormous loss JPMorgan announced
today is just the latest evidence that what banks call 'hedges'
are often risky bets that so-called 'too big to fail' banks have
no business making"
[analysis]: What Jamie Dimon's $2 Billion
Dollar Fail Reveals About Our Banking System
LINK
What just happened at J.P. Morgan – along with its
leader’s cavalier dismissal – reveals how fragile, opaque and
dangerous the banking system continues to be
Massive [HSBC] fraud ignored
(Followup)
LINK
Fear grows of Greece leaving euro
LINK
GAO: Recoverable Oil in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming 'About
Equal to Entire World's Proven Oil Reserves'
LINK
Netanyahu mulls adding magnesium to Israel's water supply
LINK
Magnesium is said to help maintain a normal heart
beat, adding it to the water could save the lives of 250
Israelis a year ... If Israel does add the mineral to
desalinated water, it would be the first country in the world to
do so
Mexico volcano [Popocatepetl] spews huge
ash cloud, frightens villagers
LINK
House Armed Services Committee: Chaplains Cannot be Forced to
Perform [Sodomy-Based] Marriages
LINK
Senator Rand Paul on Obama: 'What Version of the Bible is He
Reading?'
LINK
[analysis]: Demonic oppression is real: Here's how to beat it
LINK
Christianity Today's Leadership Journal finds out
from expert
New study: raw milk promotes health in
Amish children
LINK
HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts LINK
________________________________
"Now we know what the real definition of terrorism is ... It is governments
scaring their own populations into line."
James Corbett, The Corbett Report
________________________________
CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
TUESDAY MAY 15, 2012
- no news edition -
CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
WEDNESDAY MAY 16, 2012
New U.S. battle
strategy against Iran [seen] in U.S. movements and Israeli drill
A series of apparently unconnected military movements observed
in Middle East seas and skies in the last ten days have a common
factor: introduction of the new US Air Sea Battle (ASB)
doctrine, which is designed to make the most of tightly
coordinated operations by air, land, sea, undersea, space and
cyberspace capabilities for defeating those of the enemy.
Monday, May 14, the day that Saudi Foreign Minister Saud
al-Faisal warned Iran not to meddle in the evolving
Saudi-Bahraini union, large US Navy and Marine forces put into
Jeddah port for [the] first time in 11 years.
Last week, Israel’s Navy and Air Force and their special
operations units - Shaldag, Shayetet 13 and 960 Task Force -
carried out their largest combined exercise ever in the
Mediterranean. It ended with Israeli surface ships and
submarines arrayed in a dense defensive line against enemy
vessels armed with unconventional weapons approaching the
Israeli coast.
The Israeli exercise, which ended May 13, practiced the new
American ASB doctrine of simultaneously massing large-scale sea
and air strength against Iran on two seas, in this case, the
Mediterranean and Persian Gulf. It also drilled operating in
unison with their American counterparts under the same doctrine.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Washington timed
the unveiling of the new battle strategy for May 10, two weeks
before the Six Power nuclear talks with Iran resume in Baghdad.
US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jon Greenert explained that
the ASB concept was developed "to defeat A2AD (Anti-Access/Area
Denial) strategies such as the closure of the (Hormuz) strait,
cyber attack, mines, cruise and ballistic missiles and air
defense systems, threats enhanced by technological
advancements.”
Our military sources add: The concept is also closely applicable
to American tactics for defending the Persian Gulf nations
against possible Iranian aggression as the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) takes its first unification steps to shore up its
defenses against that threat.
Admiral Greenert wrote: “There’s been attention recently about
closing an international strait using, among other means, mines,
fast boats, cruise missiles and mini-subs.”
DEBKAfile: Those are precisely the systems Iran’s
Revolutionary Guards hold ready for a decision to block the
strategic Strait of Hormuz to international oil traffic.
ASB concepts include “submarines hitting air defense and cruise
missiles in support of Air Force bombers: F-22 Air Force stealth
fighters taking out enemy cruise missile threats to Navy ships.”
Admiral Greenert was the first senior American commander to put
on public record the measures for repelling Iranian cruise
missile attacks on US aircraft carriers deployed in the Persian
Gulf. He also spelled out the mission for which a squadron of
F-22 jets was stationed at the al Dhafra air base in late April.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly revealed on May 4 that a second squadron was
due to land soon in the Gulf region.
On May 16, Admiral Greenert and US Air Force chief General
Norton Schwartz are to discuss the ASB in a public event at the
Brookings Institute in Washington.
US and Israeli air, sea and special forces have meanwhile begun
operating under the new doctrine in the Mediterranean, the Red
Sea and Persian Gulf. Monday, the US Amphibious Ready Group, led
by the USS Iwo Jima put into Jeddah, the Saudi Navy’s Red Sea
command port, with 2,200 Marines aboard.
It was the first time since the 2001 Gulf War that the Saudis
had permitted US naval and air units of this size to anchor in
one of their ports and, moreover, allowed American military
personnel to show themselves in its streets.
The GCC summit which began in Riyadh on the same day had three
key items on its agenda: Iran’s military, political and covert
threat to the region’s stability; the Syrian crisis; and
unification steps between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to ward off
Iranian interference in the Shiite-led unrest. [no further
content]
Source: debka.com
LINK
[Note: Also see Iran Fumes As Six Arab States Consider Saudi Plan For A Closer Union in today's News Briefs section.]
Followup story
U.S. Leads Major War
Drill in Jordan ... Israel Not Invited
The United States is leading what it described as the "largest
military exercises in the Middle East in 10 years" in Jordan on
Tuesday.
Eager Lion 2012 “is the largest exercise held in the
region in the past ten years,” Major General Ken Tovo, head of
the US Special Operations Forces, told reporters in Amman.
“Yesterday we began to apply the skills that we have developed
over the last weeks in an irregular warfare scenario … They will
last for approximately the coming two weeks,” he added.
“The message that I want to send through this exercise is that
we have developed the right partners throughout the region and
across the world … insuring that we have the ability to … meet
challenges that are coming to our nations,” Tovo said.
Over 12,000 soldiers are taking part in the war games,
representing 19 countries, including Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Britain, France,
Italy, Spain and Australia.
Jordanian army operations and training chief Major General Awni
Adwan said the military exercise “has been in the planning phase
for the past three years.”
“No forces will be deployed north … the exercise is not
connected to any real world event,” Adwan said when asked if the
war games were related to the ongoing violence in Jordan’s
northern neighbor Syria.
"This has nothing to do with Syria. We respect the sovereignty
of Syria. There is no tension between the Syrians and us. Our
objectives are clear,” Adwan said.
Israel – despite having extensive security agreements with
Jordan – was not invited to participate in the exercises.
Several Arab nations participating in the drill are still
formally at war with the Jewish state.
Washington has granted Amman $2.4 billion in military and
economic aid in the past five years, according to official
figures. [no further content]
Source: israelnationalnews.com
LINK
Iran drills first
large-scale paratroop drops for offensive action
Special operations units of the Iranian army and Revolutionary
Guards (IRGC) Tuesday, May 14, began a two-day practice of
offensive tactics, for the first time dropping large-scale
forces from the air deep behind enemy lines. The many war games
Iran has conducted until now focused on defense of strategic and
nuclear locations and repelling invaders. This drill displayed
its aggressive capabilities. Codenamed Ja’far Tayyar, it was
staged in remote Khorasan near the Afghan border, so as not to
expose the commando tactics it employed.
In announcing the exercise, Gholam-Ali Gholamian, Deputy
Commander for Operations for the IRGC Ground Forces, cagily
called it another routine exercise for “maintaining the
preparedness and promoting the combat capability of units
stationed in the region.”
DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose that there was
nothing routine about it. The units taking part were not
stationed in the region but flown in especially.
Western intelligence sources observing the exercise report that
its offensive nature was evident: Air transports coming in from
the rest of the country dropped large numbers of paratroopers
and special forces; Air Force fighter-bombers practiced intense
bombardments of small targeted locations; and helicopters
drilled rapid transfers of forces between points and air cover
for the units reaching the ground.
Monday, the Persian Gulf rulers invited to Riyadh by Saudi King
Abdullah for a summit on the Iranian threat dwelt long and hard
on the exercise and concluded the threat had been exacerbated
and that Tehran had more in store for them than closing the
Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic in the event of war. They saw
special forces being prepared by Iran to strike deep inside
their countries up to and including their oil-producing regions.
The exercise also served the ongoing trade of war signals
between Washington and Tehran. Staging a special forces exercise
not far from the US military presence in Afghanistan was meant
as a rejoinder to [the] US-led special forces maneuver taking
place in Jordan across the border with Syria with the
participation of 17 nations.
Iranian and Syrian media made much of the fact that the US-led
war game was named Eager Lion 12 as a deliberate insult
to Bashar Assad, whose name is the Arabic for Lion. [no
further content]
Source: debka.com
LINK
Israel [is] staging
Iranian spy runs from Iraq
WASHINGTON -- Israel is using bases in the Sunni Kurdish portion
of northern Iraq to launch missions inside Shi’ite Iran to
gather intelligence on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, a
number of informed sources said in a report in Joseph Farah’s G2
Bulletin.
With the help of recruited Iranian dissidents in Kurdistan, the
Israelis are attempting to gather sufficient information to
convince the United States and the United Nations that Iran is
involved in using its nuclear development program to make
nuclear weapons.
Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government officially has denied
claims by Iranian officials regarding the missions.
But various reports including a recent Times of London report
suggest that Israel is using specially modified U.S.-supplied
Black Hawk helicopters to carry 12-member armed teams with
sensitive equipment to monitor radioactivity and the magnitude
of explosives tests.
The helicopters may be similar to the specially modified stealth
Black Hawks which were used in the [alleged
-Ed.] May 2011 assassination of al-Qaida leader Osama
bin Laden by U.S. Navy SEALS in Abbottabad, Pakistan . . . .
In undertaking missions inside Iran, sources suggest that the
commandos are dressed as members of the Iranian military and use
Iranian military vehicles.
In separate activities, the Israelis also may be teaming up with
members of the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MeK), who use northern Iraq
as a safe haven against Iran when they launch their own attacks.
The MeK, which is a group comprised of militant anti-government
Iranians, also has been implicated in working with the Israelis
to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists.
Source: wnd.com
MORE
________________________________
NEWS BRIEFS
________________________________
Followup story
Palestinian inmates in Israeli jails
end hunger strike with Egyptian-brokered deal
GAZA -- Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails agreed Monday to
an Egyptian-brokered deal aimed at ending a mass hunger strike
that challenged Israel’s policy of detention without trial and
raised fears of a bloody Palestinian backlash if any protesters
died . . . An Egyptian official involved in the talks
said that under Monday’s deal to end the strike, Israel had
agreed to end solitary confinement for 19 prisoners and lifted a
ban on visits to prisoners by relatives living in the Hamas-ruled
Gaza Strip. Israel agreed to improve other conditions of
detention, and to free so-called administrative detainees once
they complete their terms unless they are brought to court, he
added.
MORE
Iran 'could order Hezbollah hit on
Israel'
JERUSALEM -- Lebanon's Hezbollah may not want a new war with
Israel but an order to attack would come from Tehran in the
event of a strike on Iran, a senior military official in
Israel's northern command told AFP. And if the regime of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad collapses, the resulting unrest could
see Al-Qaeda type groups create chaos on the Syrian Golan
Heights, he said in an interview conducted on Sunday, speaking
on condition of anonymity. Any military strike on Iran's nuclear
facilities would likely spark a deadly response from its ally
Hezbollah, whose leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday that
its missiles could strike anywhere inside the Jewish state. But
senior military officials do not believe Nasrallah wants another
war with Israel and would only attack as a direct result of
orders from Tehran. "The biggest spending of Iran in 30 years
has been on the nuclear programme, and Hezbollah is the second,"
the Israeli official told AFP, adding that Tehran's aim was to
create "Iranian footprints near the border with Israel." "If
something would happen in Iran, it's a tool that they can use in
all kinds of scenarios," he said.
MORE
Iran Fumes As Six Arab States Consider
Saudi Plan for a Closer Union
(CNS News) -- A proposal by six Arab Gulf states to explore a
possible union drew an angry response in Iran, where
lawmakers are painting it as part of a plot to “annex” tiny
Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) agreed at a summit in Riyadh on Monday that their
foreign ministers would study further a Saudi-led proposal for a
closer union that envisages political, economic and military
coordination, more open borders, and a centralized
decision-making body to replace the GCC secretariat. Although
the decision for further study – ahead of an extraordinary
summit at a yet-to-be-determined date – in fact delays the
proposal, Tehran is unhappy with what it says is an attempt,
under the guise of deeper regional integration, to “prevent the
success of Bahrain’s [Shi’ite-led] revolution.” . . . The
statement warned that what Iran considers a joint plot by the
Saudi and Bahraini governments to annex Bahrain would spread
unrest into Saudi Arabia. (The kingdom’s oil-rich eastern
province is home to a restive Shi’ite minority.) [emphasis
added]
MORE
Note: see these related stories:
Saudi Foreign Minister Tells Iran To Keep Out Of
Saudi-Bahrain Affairs - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince
Saud al-Faisal said Monday that Iran should keep out of the
kingdom's relations with Shiite-majority Bahrain, even if the
two states decide to form a union
LINK
Iran Says Saudi-Bahrain Union Plan Deepens Crisis -
"Any kind of foreign intervention or non-normative plans without
respecting people's vote will only deepen the already existing
wounds" - Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast
LINK
CIA Rendition Victim Will Have
His Day in EU Human Rights Court
Top Macedonian official expected to confirm Masri's
kidnapping
The “extraordinary rendition” of Khalid el-Masri, the bungled
CIA kidnapping of a German car salesman over a case of mistaken
identity, is going to get a very high profile, very public
hearing, as the European Court of Human Rights has agreed to
hear the case. El-Masri was kidnapped during his vacation by the
Macedonian government at the behest of the US in late 2003.
During his detention he was tortured by the CIA for several
months, and sent to Afghanistan and Iraq. The CIA apparently
thought it had Khaled al-Masri, a completely different person,
and when they discovered that they had kidnapped an innocent car
dealer, they dumped him off in a deserted road in Albania in the
middle of the night. The German government says the US has
confirmed that it [had “mistakenly” [kidnapped] el-Masri, and a
WikiLeaks cable revealed that the US had warned Germany not to
attempt to issue any warrants related to the case. Though the
kidnapping is a recognized fact, the Macedonian government has
repeatedly denied any involvement. This is expected to change,
as an unnamed senior minister in the Macedonian government is
planning to testify at the court that the account Masri gave of
the “rendition” was accurate. [no further content]
LINK
Business As Usual Alert:
States Use Housing Aid Cash to Plug Budgets
In a budget proposed this week, California joined more than a
dozen states that want to help close gaping shortfalls using
money paid by the nation’s biggest banks and earmarked for
foreclosure prevention, investigations of financial fraud and
blunting the ill effects of the housing crisis. California was
awarded more than $400 million from the banks, and Governor
Jerry Brown has proposed using the bulk of that sum to pay the
state’s debts. The money was part of a national settlement
valued at $25 billion and negotiated with five big banks over
abuses in their mortgage and foreclosure processes. The
settlement, reached in February after a year of talks and
intervention by the Obama administration, was the second-largest
in history involving the states, trailing the tobacco industry
settlement, and represented the first large-scale commitment by
banks to provide direct aid to borrowers. As part of the
settlement, the banks agreed to pay the states $2.5 billion,
money intended to help homeowners and mitigate the effects of
the foreclosure surge. But critics complained that this
was the only cash the banks were required to pay - the rest
comes in the form of “credits” for reducing mortgage debt and
other activities. Even that relatively small amount has proved
too great a temptation for lawmakers. Only 27 states have
devoted all their funds from the banks to housing programs,
according to a report by Enterprise Community Partners, a
national affordable housing group. So far about 15 states
have said they will use all or most of the money for other
purposes. [emphasis added]
MORE
'Existential threat' to Western U.S.
states
The Obama administration has launched a new battle over water
rights that threatens not only the the economies of arid Western
states, which largely voted against him in the 2008 election,
but their very existence. World Net Daily reported last month
that the federal government was creating obstacles for
Tombstone, Ariz., to restore its water supplies following last
year’s forest fire and monsoon-triggered floods in the nearby
mountains. The federal government said crews could not use
machinery to rebuild pipelines and spring-water collection
systems. Now, a letter contradicting longstanding federal
practice asserts a claim to water in arid Western states, such
as Utah, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and others, that
supersedes all other authorities, including decisions by state
water courts . . . [The] Goldwater Institute, called it
an “existential threat to the Western states.” The institute is
fighting on behalf of Tombstone for its right to repair its
water supply system and use the water. A statement from the
institute said the city of Tombstone “is no longer the only one
fighting the federal government for water rights.” “The
latest move by the federal Bureau of Land Management appears to
herald a bigger and much more comprehensive effort to seize
water and access rights on federal lands throughout the Western
states,” the statement said. [emphasis added]
MORE
Followup story
Father: Georgia student with
flesh-eating bug wants book
A week ago, doctors gave her little chance of survival. Now a
Georgia grad student who is battling a rare flesh-eating
infection is alert and bored enough to ask for a book, her
father told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Aimee Copeland
remained in critical condition at an Augusta hospital, unable to
speak because of a breathing tube in her throat as she continued
to fight the life-threatening disease that took hold after she
gashed her leg in a fall from a broken zip line. Doctors had to
amputate most of 24-year-old woman's left leg to save her life,
and her father says she'll likely lose her fingers too. But he
told AP that doctors now believe they'll be able to save not
only the palms of his daughter's hands but her right foot as
well. Days ago she faced losing both of her hands and feet.
"This doctor can't fathom a reason for why she's improved the
way she has," Andy Copeland said in a telephone interview. "Her
spirits are extraordinarily high. I am absolutely amazed."
MORE
Note: see also Georgia Student With Flesh-Eating
Bacteria Makes Progress
LINK
Imprisoned Iranian pastor alive, in
good spirits
Though Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani remains in prison in Iran, a new
letter gives reason to believe he is still alive. Jason DeMars
of President Truth Ministries received the letter that
Nadarkhani reportedly wrote from prison. But it actually
addresses "all those who are worried about [his] current
situation." "He wanted to let everybody know that he's in
perfect health in the flesh and in the Spirit, and he looks at
the days that he's being persecuted as 'a day of exam and trial'
of his faith," DeMars reports. "He's using them as a trial in
order to prove his loyalty and sincerity before God, and he's
doing everything he can to stay right with what he's learned
from God's Word." Jason DeMars (Present Truth Ministries)The
pastor writes that though he wants his ordeal to end, he has
surrendered himself to God's will . . . Nadarkhani was
given the death penalty for converting from Islam to
Christianity, although he has stated frequently that he never
practiced the Muslim faith to begin with. Now, he is asking "all
the beloved ones to pray" for him.
MORE
________________________________
MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY
________________________________
Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.
Commentary:
Fighting Erupts in Lebanon
(Tony Cartalucci)
U.S., Israeli, and Saudi-funded terrorists destabilizing
Syria now under fire in Lebanon
Excerpt:
According to a 2007 New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh, "The
Redirection," the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia had been
assembling a region-wide army of extremist-mercenaries to battle
Hezbollah in Lebanon, destabilize and overthrow Syria, and
create a united front against Iran. The forces recruited for
this effort would come from the ranks of the CIA-created "Arab
foreign legion," Al Qaeda itself - extremist groups fresh back
from fighting US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, including
listed terror organizations like the Libyan Islamic Fighting
Group (LIFG) from Libya.
Hersh's 2007 report exposed the groundwork for the very violence
unfolding in Syria today, and now Lebanon. Forces to destabilize
Syria were primarily to be staged in northern Lebanon, as
explained in the article, and indeed the heaviest fighting over
the last year has been seen in the Syrian city of Homs, just
across the border from northern Lebanon . . . .
Now, the very staging ground in northern Lebanon being used to
destabilize neighboring Syria has erupted into violence. Not by
Syrian troops crossing the border, but by indigenous Lebanese
factions facing off against each other. News is trickling out
slowly and the Western media appears intent on keeping the
violence as nebulous and confused as possible, but initial
information indicates that extremist groups backed by the US,
Israel, and Saudi Arabia are fighting factions connected to
Hezbollah. Extremist leaders across the region are attempting to
frame the violence as "Sunni verses Shi'ia" . . . .
Far from genuine sectarian violence, it was planned since 2007,
to use terrorist proxies in a battle stretching from Lebanon to
Iran with Arab nations from North Africa to the Middle East
aiding the effort, dominated by freshly installed US proxies
(Tunisia and Libya) and the Muslim Brotherhood, stated in
Hersh's 2007 article to be wards of the West.
Violence has raged for nearly a week, in and around Lebanon's
northern port city of Tripoli. While being depicted as violence
"spilling over" from Syria, it is clear that the violence is
indigenous, sectarian in nature, and directly related to the
larger conflict envisioned by US-Israeli-Saudi machinations in
2007 - pitting Sunnis against Shi'ia . . . .
"[Sectarian]" differences between Sunni and Shi'ia Muslims were
planned for exploitation since at least as early as 2007 by the
US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, for the sole purpose of advancing
their self-serving hegemonic agendas throughout the region.
Source:
globalresearch.ca
MORE
Note: see these related items:
North Lebanon Calm After Syria Spillover Clashes
LINK
Commentary: Tripoli Clashes:
Harbinger Of Violence To Come?
LINK
Obama: Same-Sex Marriage 'Strengthens Families' - "We
have never gone wrong when we expanded rights and
responsibilities to everybody" [?!]
LINK
Administration Opposes Attempt To Bar Same-Sex Marriage On
Military Property And Shield Military Chaplains
LINK
Commentary:
Obama Most MORALLY BANKRUPT
IMPOSTER PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY (Devvy Kidd)
Excerpt:
Obama/Soetoro/Dunham is a champion of infanticide - the killing
of infants. While serving in the Illinois State Senate, Barry
Soetoro aka Barack Obama, voted three times to allow infants who
survive abortion [to] be left to lay there and die . . . .
Would you stand there and allow a living, breathing infant to
die if you were a doctor or nurse? How could anyone, doctor,
nurse or just plain human stand by and allow an infant who has
survived the horror of abortion - just let them die without
trying to save that precious life? Soetoro did because his soul
died a long time ago. And, how did Barry justify it?
"Listen to audio from Obama’s 2002 Illinois Senate floor debate
wherein he argued that while babies might be aborted alive, it
would be a “burden” to a mother's “original decision” to assess
and treat them." In other words, the mother wished to kill the
infant, so be it . . . .
The American people, out of fear [of] being called intolerant,
have walked right into the jaws of the beast. This nation has
forsaken all that God has bestowed upon our land in favor of
moral rot passed off as "progressive", "social" and other words
meant to persuade individuals to turn their backs on what they
know in their hearts Almighty God has told them is wrong. The
created now think they are more powerful than the Creator. A big
mistake.
Source:
newswithviews.com
MORE
Note: see these related items:
From Conception To Birth - Visualized (Video)
LINK
Commentary: Obama's Wicked
Marriage Proposal - It's one thing to be a hypocrite,
which Mr. Obama has been for years ... It's quite another thing,
however, to invoke Christ when doing the devil's work
LINK
Commentary: Obama Calls Nation
To Rebel Against God ... Where Are Our Ministers? -
Regardless of what your political philosophy may be, every
believer in America should be incensed that the leader of our
country has called for a national embrace of a behavior that God
Himself reserved the word "abomination" to describe
LINK
Commentary:
JUST THINKING OUT LOUD
(Coach Dave Daubenmire)
Marriage used to be called Holy Matrimony. “Matri” is Latin for
“mother.” “Mony” is a suffix that means “to make.” Hence, Holy
Matrimony was a sacrament whereby a woman received the blessings
of God for the purpose of becoming a mother. It was a
God-ordained, God-established union for the purpose of producing
a family. A “marriage license” is not necessary in order to be
joined in Holy Matrimony.
In fact, the marriage license is a legal document that makes the
state a partner to the marriage. It gives jurisdiction over the
union. Until 1923 marriage licenses were only needed for
inter-racial marriages. A marriage license, like the 501(c)(3)
corporation , partners the sacred with the secular . . . .
Most Christians are not really Christians. The unbiblical idea
of walking the aisle and repeating a prayer is a modern-day
invention. Becoming a Christian requires a complete surrender of
one’s will. You don’t “come to Jesus,” “ask Jesus into your
heart,” or “accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.”
Becoming a Christian requires your dying to self and becoming a
bond-servant to Jesus Christ. “You must be born-again” … not
repeat a prayer.
Most “Christians” have it backwards. Most have never died to
self. They think Jesus serves them . . . .
Homosexuals are ashamed of their behavior. That is why they work
so hard to get others to approve and accept their deviancy. In
their hearts they know that what they do is unacceptable and are
looking for validation for the un-natural behavior. So, they
look for the god-of-government to tell them that they should be
proud of what they do. But their tale-tell heart will not give
them peace. Even they know their activities are vile . . . .
“Pro-life” is nothing more than a political position that
conservative candidates hold. When does a baby become a baby? At
what point should it be protected? Why does a woman’s right to
choose end at the baby’s birth? The birth makes the child
more dependant on the mother. Ask the mother of any
new-born. Born babies are much more work than a fetus.
Abortion is not choice. Ice-cream flavor is choice. Abortion is
murder . . . .
Americans are not permitted to “marry” anyone we want. I can’t
marry my son. I can’t marry my daughter. If marriage is a “civil
right” why are [there] any restraints on it? Homosexual-sodomy
based marriages are special rights … not civil rights … [It’s]
affirmative sin . . . .
Romans 13 does not teach that Christians must obey civil
government. Romans 13 was written by a Christian, to Christians,
for Christians. It had nothing to do with secular government,
but church government. Jesus defied governmental authority .
. . Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, much of it
from jail. Shadrach, Daniel, Moses. Paul and Silas … you’d think
they’d practice what they preached.
And when they had brought them, they set them before the
council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we
straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and,
behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend
to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other
apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than
men. [Acts 5:27-29] . . . .
I’ll know a president is serious about being pro-life when he
vows to issue an executive order outlawing it as his first act
in office.
Source: newswithviews.com
MORE
________________________________
ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
________________________________
U.N. convoy attacked in Syria
LINK
U.N. team in Syria evacuated from tense town
LINK
Dozens killed in Syria ... Saudi doubts Annan peace plan
LINK
Jihadist group denies claiming Damascus bombings
LINK
Al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group unknown before
the Syrian revolt, has denied in a statement that it had claimed
responsibility for Damascus bombings last week that killed 55
people
Yemen battles rage ... 37 Qaeda militants
reported killed
LINK
[George W. Bush]: 'Arab Spring' Is 'Broadest Challenge to
Authoritarian Rule Since Collapse of Soviet Communism'
LINK
___________
Iran executes 'Israel spy, nuclear
scientist' killer
LINK
Robert Joseph Goes Nuclear
LINK
Former State official: Obama softline policy
toward Iran, North Korea creates a more dangerous world
Iran, IAEA in 'good exchange' ... to
meet again Monday
LINK
New Palestinian cabinet to be sworn in Wednesday
LINK
Foreign force strikes Somali pirate land base for first time
LINK
A European naval helicopter fired a volley against
pirate skiffs stowed away on a beach in Somalia's central region
Greece faces repeat elections as coalition
talks collapse
LINK
Bosnia war crimes trial of Mladic opens
LINK
Nearly 50 mutilated bodies found on Mexico road
LINK
Don't tell anyone, but that al Qaeda mole op had zero to do with
the Obama administration
LINK
Underwear bomb plot: British and U.S. intelligence rattled over
leaks
LINK
Leak about UK involvement described as despicable by CIA
as anger turns to Obama administration for compromising mission
FAA To Ease Rules For Police
Agencies To Fly Unmanned Drones
LINK
Feds clearing way for drones over your house
LINK
“I would predict, I’m not encouraging, but I
predict the first guy who uses a Second Amendment weapon to
bring a drone down that’s been hovering over his house is going
to be a folk hero in this country” - Commentator Charles
Krauthammer
[analysis]: Predator Nation: How Endless
Drone War Is Turning the Promise of America into a Promise of
Death
LINK
The CIA’s global drone assassination campaign has
long been a bragging point in Washington, even if it couldn’t
officially be discussed directly before, say, Congress
[press release]: ['Intellistreets' -
street lights with speakers and listening devices]
(5-3-12)
LINK
Operating effectively without cable installation,
underground trenching or wire maintenance to set-up the control
of the outdoor lighting, sound and video, SmartSite is a 24/7
area-wide system that offers architectural luminaire styles, a
robust platform, digital wireless solutions, Wi-Fi capabilities,
and a myriad of homeland security features ...
[press release]: Intellistreets: Big
Brother or Big Idea?
(10-27-11)
LINK
Obama administration shrugs off contempt threat against Holder
(Followup)
LINK
“We believe that a contempt proceeding would be
unwarranted given the information the Department has disclosed
to the Committee to date; unprecedented given the law
enforcement sensitivities at issue; and ill-advised given the
damage it would cause to relations between the Executive and
Legislative Branches” - Deputy Attorney General James Cole
Wrong man was executed in Texas, probe says
LINK
Rhode Island Considers First-Of-Its Kind 'Homeless Bill Of
Rights'
LINK
Don't Look Now - Banks Are Still Ruining America: 6 Harsh
Lessons from the J P Morgan Fiasco
LINK
JP Morgan Chase is part of an entwined system of
too-big-to-fail institutions that are ripping us off
European leaders and financial markets
braced for Greece exit from euro
LINK
Return to drachma nears amid political impasse in
Athens and open discussion in Brussels of possible end of single
currency
Looming U.N. Mega-Conference in Rio to Seek
'More Sustainable Future'
LINK
Jordan center translates Babylonian Talmud into Arabic
LINK
A Jordanian research center says it has recently
published the first Arabic translation of the Babylonian Talmud.
U.N.: Maternal deaths cut by half
LINK
Brain implant allows paralysed woman to
control a robot with her thoughts
LINK
The BrainGate implant can decode a patient's brain
signals and instruct a robotic arm to reach and grasp objects
HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts LINK
________________________________
And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this
counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye
cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to
him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they
commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And
they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every
house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Acts 5:38-42 (KJV)
________________________________