Recent news has pushed the Iran-Israel story from the headlines, but this situation remains ongoing and will reach a head at some point as Iran continues with their nuclear development and Israeli PM Netanyahu remains committed to preventing this development:
With tear-gas flying in the streets of Turkey, Ukraine's civil-war raging in the south and east, US drones based in Japan to oversee the South China Sea, and Europe's extremist parties gaining significant traction, today we get one more piece of considerably worrisome geopolitical news that global stock markets must ignore. The Sunday Times reports that Israel is to deploy three submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles in the Persian Gulf that are meant to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land Mossad agents. Iran is not happy, warning that "anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will receive a forceful response from us."
Israel is to deploy three submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles in the Persian Gulf, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.According to the Times report, one submarine had been sent over Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, and in the possession of Syria and Hezbollah, could be used to hit strategic sites within Israel, such as air bases and missile launchers.Dolphin, Tekuma, and Leviathan, all German-made Dolphin class submarines of the 7th navy Flotilla, have been reported as frequenting the Gulf in the past, however, according to the Sunday Times report, this new deployment is meant to ensure a permanent naval presence near the Iranian coastline.A flotilla officer told the Times that the deployed submarines were meant to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land Mossad agents."We're a solid base for collecting sensitive information, as we can stay for a long time in one place," the officer said.The flotilla's commander, identified only as "Colonel O," was quoted by the Times as saying that the submarine force was "an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders."The submarines could be used if Iran continues its program to produce a nuclear bomb. "The 1,500km range of the submarines’ cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran," a navy officer told the Times.
ran's response to this action was not too diplomatic...
Apparently responding to the reported Israeli activity, an Iranian admiral told the Times: "Anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will receive a forceful response from us."Last July, defense sources reported that an Israeli submarine had sailed the Suez Canal to the Red Sea last month, describing the unusual maneuver as a show of strategic reach in the face of Iran.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged the international community not to sanction a Palestinian government that includes Hamas.
"I call on all responsible members of the international community not to race to recognize a Palestinian government that includes and relies on Hamas,” Netanyahu said before the start of the weekly governmental meeting in Jerusalem.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization that calls for Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu said.
He explained that the unification of a newly formed Fatah and Hamas government, “will not strengthen peace” and “will strengthen terrorism.”
On Saturday Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the new unity government would be announced on Monday. However, Hamas on Sunday, said that the differences with Fatah over the formation of a unity government have still not been resolved.
Has Russia gone rogue?
Information revealed last week indicates that it has, and that because of the reckless weakness of Barack Obama, America now faces a neo-Soviet Russian bear primed for aggression, just as in the era of the USSR.
Last week, the spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, announced that Russia is now a vigilante nation. He stated: “And if not a single state in the world is capable of admitting the evident facts that Ukrainian authorities have been acting as criminals, Russia’s Investigative Committee will shoulder this responsibility by opening a criminal case.”
So in other words, Russia will act alone to arrest and punish leaders of foreign governments whom it declares guilty of “crimes,” no matter what the rest of the world may think about it. This from a nation that routinely demands that the U.S. bow to international organizations in places like Syria.
In the Wall Street Journal, seasoned Russia expert Leon Aron of the American Enterprise Institute took a crack at analyzing this new brand of neo-Soviet Russian exceptionalism. He highlighted how Putin has disturbingly offered comments tending to imply the superiority of the Russian race, comments he’s been offering the world for years now. Aron feels that Putin’s “recent rhetoric harks back to Russia's two most reactionary rulers: the 19th-century czars Nicholas I and his grandson, Alexander III.”
Russia has a ruthless, almost feral willingness to use military force, regardless of risk, where one sees only hesitation from the likes of Obama.
Obama justified his massive cuts in military spending by claiming that Russia was a different country now, no longer an foe of freedom and democracy, and therefore should not be thought of as an American enemy. He embarked upon a bold “reset” policy designed to prove this to the world.
He failed miserably. The net result of the Obama “reset” was that the leading Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, was silenced with criminal charges, the internet came under siege, and Russian tanks rolled into Crimea, annexing it from Ukraine just as Hitler annexed the Sudetenland.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing about Putin’s pattern of aggression and confrontation is that, as with Hitler, his actions are laden with heavy doses of extreme racism. He has repeatedly made public comments openly proclaiming Russian genetic superiority, and he clearly believes that Russians have some type of global manifest destiny to bring their racial purity to bear in cleansing the world.
In Soviet times, this type of racism didn’t characterize state policy, because the USSR was much more racially diverse, and the KGB never had the kind of sway then that it does now. As the price of oil rises, it’s possible to coherently argue that in some ways, at least, the Putin regime is worse than its Soviet predecessor.
The Turkish government recently cut off the flow of the Euphrates River, threatening primarily Syria but also Iraq with a major water crisis. Al-Akhbar found out that the water level in Lake Assad has dropped by about six meters, leaving millions of Syrians without drinking water.
Two weeks ago, the Turkish government once again intervened in the Syrian crisis. This time was different from anything it had attempted before and the repercussions of which may bring unprecedented catastrophes onto both Iraq and Syria.
Violating international norms, the Turkish government recently cut off the water supply of the Euphrates River completely. In fact, Ankara began to gradually reduce pumping Euphrates water about a month and half ago, then cut if off completely two weeks ago, according to information received by Al-Akhbar.
A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that water levels in the Lake Assad (a man-made water reservoir on the Euphrates) recently dropped by six meters from its normal levels (which means losing millions of cubic meters of water). The source warned that “a further drop of one additional meter would put the dam out of service.”
The tragic repercussions of the new Turkish assault began to reveal themselves when water levels dropped in al-Khafsa in Aleppo’s eastern countryside (where a water pumping station from Lake Assad is located to pump water through water channels to Aleppo and its countryside).
Meanwhile, water supplies in auxiliary reservoirs in al-Khafsa are close to being depleted and the reservoirs are expected to run out of water completely by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. This threatens to leave seven million Syrians without access to water. Also, Tishrin Dam stopped receiving any water which blocked its electricity generating turbines, decreasing the power supply in Aleppo and its countryside, further intensifying the already severe imbalance in the power supply.
In modern times, the covering up of religious symbols, including The Cross, started with President Barack Obama’s hypocritical address at Gaston Hall, Georgetown University.
There was never any outcry registered by authorities who merely complied with Obama’s command for the coverup of religious symbols during his address.
“Georgetown University admitted covering over the monogram “IHS”—symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—inscribed on a pediment on the stage where Obama was speaking all because the White House had asked the university to cover up ALL signs and symbols there. Proof of the “IHS” covered up monogram was photographed by CNSNews.com,
“Georgetown University admitted covering over the monogram “IHS”—symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—inscribed on a pediment on the stage where Obama was speaking all because the White House had asked the university to cover up ALL signs and symbols there. Proof of the “IHS” covered up monogram was photographed by CNSNews.com,
Why Obama would shy away from appearing on a stage with a cross and other religious symbols in plain sight at Georgetown University in April of 2009—within three months of his inauguration—should be no big mystery.
Did Obama cave in to the fear that these long venerated Christian symbols would provoke his Muslim brothers, or does Obama regard religious symbols as too much competition?
The removal of crosses by threatened and active litigation continues as a trend after Obama’s coverup success at Gaston Hall.
Did Obama cave in to the fear that these long venerated Christian symbols would provoke his Muslim brothers, or does Obama regard religious symbols as too much competition?
The removal of crosses by threatened and active litigation continues as a trend after Obama’s coverup success at Gaston Hall.
And now in the midst of the ongoing VA scandal, it’s ailing vets in care at Iron Mountain, Mich. who are deprived from seeing statues of Jesus and Mary, along with a cross and altar—now hidden behind a curtain in the chapel of the VA hospital there. (Todd Starnes, FoxNews, May 30, 2014)
“The decision to hide the religious icons came after the National Chaplain Center conducted an on-site inspection and determined the hospital’s chapel was not in compliance with government regulations.”
“The decision to hide the religious icons came after the National Chaplain Center conducted an on-site inspection and determined the hospital’s chapel was not in compliance with government regulations.”
Posting photographs of the hidden religious icons on the church’s Facebook page, Richard Riley, pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, called the move “exceedingly disappointing”.
A rousing Amen to that, Pastor Riley.
A rousing Amen to that, Pastor Riley.
Already shamefully deprived of medical help that never comes, ailing veterans at Iron Mountain Hospital are also deprived of any spiritual succor they may seek.
“Heaven forbid someone finds himself offended at the sight of a cross. For the record, the public affairs officer told me that 98 percent of the patients there identify as Catholic or Christian. So the curtains are for the remaining 2 percent,” Starnes wrote.
‘Neutralizing’ veterans hospitals has been government policy since 2008.
“The situation in Michigan is not unique. In April something similar took place at Fort Meade Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fort Meade, South Dakota. There was concern over a makeover to the facility’s chapel,” Starnes wrote.
“Heaven forbid someone finds himself offended at the sight of a cross. For the record, the public affairs officer told me that 98 percent of the patients there identify as Catholic or Christian. So the curtains are for the remaining 2 percent,” Starnes wrote.
‘Neutralizing’ veterans hospitals has been government policy since 2008.
“The situation in Michigan is not unique. In April something similar took place at Fort Meade Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fort Meade, South Dakota. There was concern over a makeover to the facility’s chapel,” Starnes wrote.
Absurdly, authorities at Iron Mountain Hospital now play ‘Peek-a-Boo Jesus’:
To comply with the government orders, Brad Nelson, a public affairs officer for the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, told Starnes the Iron Mountain hospital decided to erect curtains.
“We put up some nice curtains,” he said. “When not being used for Bible study, prayer or services, they are closed.”
To comply with the government orders, Brad Nelson, a public affairs officer for the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, told Starnes the Iron Mountain hospital decided to erect curtains.
“We put up some nice curtains,” he said. “When not being used for Bible study, prayer or services, they are closed.”
“Pastor Riley said the decision to turn the formerly Christian chapel into a religiously neutral room is evidence of a bigger problem.
“Christianity, not only globally, but particularly in the United States, is really under attack,” he said. “Christianity is coming under some horrendous conflict from the media and to some degree from our own government.”
“It’s not the first time Veterans Affairs has been accused of stifling the Savior. Last Christmas a group of Georgia high school students were given a list of government-approved carols to sing at a VA hospital in Augusta. A VA hospital in Texas refused to accept holiday cards that included the phrase, “Merry Christmas.”
And two Baptist chaplains told Starnes they were forced out of a VA chaplaincy program when they refused to stop praying in the name of Jesus Christ. They said they were also told to stop using references to the Bible during classroom sessions.
“While certainly not new, Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council called the hiding of Christian icons an “assault on the Christian faith.” Boykin said the VA policy on religious neutrality is evidence of what he called a “Marxist agenda.”
“Marx called religion the opiate of the masses,” he told me. “This is all part of a Marxist agenda to remove God and replace God with government – government regulation, government control, government influence. The sad fact is we are letting it happen and very few of us are protesting.”(Starnes)
British Police Continue To Treat Christian Preaching As A Hate Crime
Police in Northern Ireland are investigating a ‘hate crime motive’ after James McConnell, Pastor of Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle Church, said that “Islam is heathen, Islam is Satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in Hell” in a recent sermon.
McConnell’s comments were a result of the death sentence pronounced upon Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian woman who has been judged to be guilty of apostasy from Islam. As of Saturday May 31, facing international condemnation, the Sudanese government is apparently yielding to the pressure and withdrawing the sentence.
But that makes the story even more ironic. McConnell called out radical Islam for what it is, a backward bigoted oppressive form of control. Political leaders agree when faced with the conclusion of those facts, but set their law enforcement on those who dare to point it out.
CC’s director Andrea Williams further clarified: “Islam does not provide a coherent basis for peaceful coexistence. Pastor McConnell is right to recognise the danger that Islam represents not just in places such as Sudan but here in Britain. For the sake of society, it is vital that the freedom to critique is maintained and freedom of speech safeguarded.”
Massive Indonesian Volcano Eruption Grounds Flights
A huge volcanic eruption in Indonesia has covered the region in a vast cloud of ash, grounding flights in Australia and south east Asia.
Sangeang Api, a volcano off the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, which lies in one of the most active areas of the Pacific ‘ring of fire’, has erupted at least three times since Friday.
“Christianity, not only globally, but particularly in the United States, is really under attack,” he said. “Christianity is coming under some horrendous conflict from the media and to some degree from our own government.”
“It’s not the first time Veterans Affairs has been accused of stifling the Savior. Last Christmas a group of Georgia high school students were given a list of government-approved carols to sing at a VA hospital in Augusta. A VA hospital in Texas refused to accept holiday cards that included the phrase, “Merry Christmas.”
And two Baptist chaplains told Starnes they were forced out of a VA chaplaincy program when they refused to stop praying in the name of Jesus Christ. They said they were also told to stop using references to the Bible during classroom sessions.
“While certainly not new, Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council called the hiding of Christian icons an “assault on the Christian faith.” Boykin said the VA policy on religious neutrality is evidence of what he called a “Marxist agenda.”
“Marx called religion the opiate of the masses,” he told me. “This is all part of a Marxist agenda to remove God and replace God with government – government regulation, government control, government influence. The sad fact is we are letting it happen and very few of us are protesting.”(Starnes)
But that makes the story even more ironic. McConnell called out radical Islam for what it is, a backward bigoted oppressive form of control. Political leaders agree when faced with the conclusion of those facts, but set their law enforcement on those who dare to point it out.
Dramatic images show smoke, ash and debris shooting into the sky, while a flying saucer shaped current of gas wraps around the plumes.
All flights have been cancelled from Darwin airport, Australia’s Northern Territory capital, and disruption is expected for days as the cloud could reach as far south as Brisbane.
The ash cloud from the first eruption is around 20,000 and 50,000 feet high and around 15 km wide, according to reports. It is moving south-easterly over Australia. A second, now over Darwin is sitting at around 45,000 feet, while a third is over Bali.
"Depending on wind and other weather conditions, the ash has the potential to affect flights to and from other airports, including Brisbane, during coming days. This is currently being fully assessed," Australian deputy prime minister Warren Truss said.
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