More News From The Epicenter

You have to love this first article. So Israeli PM Netanyahu had the audacity to declare that Hamas/Fatah must be willing to recognize and acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist as an independent nation - as a cornerstone to any negotiations - and this statement is, in their eyes, a declaration of war. Really? Are we somehow living in a parallel universe? Bizarro world?

Palestinians: Netanyahu peace outline unacceptable

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parameters for a peace deal, outlined in a speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, fell far short of what is needed to resume negotiations, Palestinian officials said.

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a "declaration of war against the Palestinians."

Netanyahu said Tuesday that he is willing to make "generous" territorial concessions, but also told Congress that Jerusalem must remain united as Israel's capital and that Israel wants to keep key areas of the West Bank where tens of thousands of Jews have settled, as well as areas of strategic importance.

Abbas is set to meet with leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization and his Fatah movement on Wednesday to discuss their next move. The Palestinians have developed an alternate strategy to moribund negotiations, largely on hold since 2008, and have said they will seek U.N. recognition of their state in September.

Palestinian Statehood Vote Looms Over U.S.-Israel Rift

Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly clashed with President Barack Obama on Friday and held firm in his stance Monday night, the Israeli leader still needs American help on a looming test: a proposed United Nations vote on a resolution to recognize Palestinian statehood. The vote at September's U.N. General Assembly would be mostly symbolic, and carry little legal weight.

But passage—which is expected if the resolution proceeds to a vote—would be a visible show of Israel's isolation on the international stage.der still needs American help on a looming test: a proposed United Nations vote on a resolution to recognize Palestinian statehood.

"There is panic in Israeli government political circles about the U.N. resolution in September and the U.N. is an arena where Israel has almost zero influence," said Yossi Alpher, a former Mossad officer who was an adviser to ex-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. "Netanyahu and his aides have got to be saying to themselves, 'Can I depend on American support after lecturing the U.S. president in the Oval Office?' "

That will be the single most important aspect of September's vote: What will the U.S. do?

Abbas: Netanyahu's speech had 'nothing we can build on'

PA president says if no breakthrough in peace process, he's still planning to seek UN statehood in Sept.; senior Fatah member Shaath says PM isn't serious about peace, claims Hamas seeking peace, not war with Israel

Earlier Wednesday, senior Fatah member Nabil Shaath rejected Netanyahu’s address to Congress and said that Israel's policies won’t lead to peace. Shaath accused Netanyahu of having destroyed any chances for peace, effectively waging war on the diplomatic process to bring about a final settlement.

The PA negotiator also rejected Netanyahu’s call to cancel the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas. He said that Hamas came to Fatah denouncing violence and seeking peace with Israel, not war.

That last statement would be hilarious if the stakes weren't so high. Hamas, who refuses to accept any independent Israeli nation under any circumstances, is "seeking peace with Israel". Yea, right. There comes a point where such statements insult one's intelligence.

Meanwhile:

US: Hezbollah has more missiles than most states

Hezbollah is armed with more missiles and rockets than most states, according to outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, Gates warned against the Shiite group's arming methods and the possibility that it owns chemical and biological weapons, CNN reported Wednesday.

The US official made similar statements last year, but did not back them up with proof. "Hezbollah cruise missiles could threaten US ships with anti-ship missiles with a range of 65 miles," he added.

Two months ago, an Israeli security official provided the Washington Post with a map detailing no less than 550 bunkers, 300 surveillance sites and 100 other facilities the Jewish state believes belong to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

The weapons storage facilities are located in close proximity to medical centers and schools.

And this:

Israel: New Iranian missile likely bound for Hezbollah

A new Iranian missile test-fired on Sunday is likely intended for delivery to terror proxies of the Islamic Republic, like Hezbollah, Israeli defense analysts said on Sunday.

Iran’s Arabic-language state television channel Al Alam reported that the successful test of the new surface-to-surface missile, called Qiyam 1 (Resurrection), demonstrated the country’s self-sufficiency in mass producing weaponry.

Iran did not disclose the range of the missile, but Tal Inbar, head of the Space Research Center at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, said that the Qiyam was similar to the Scud missile, which has a range of a few hundred kilometers, makes up the backbone of Syria’s arsenal and is believed to have been transferred to Hezbollah.

Israel links EU support for Palestinians to anti-Semitism

"It's very easy to put all the blame in the world on the Jewish state. As Joschka Fischer, the former German foreign minister once put it in Israel, he said 'I cannot ignore the fact there is an old European tradition of 2,000 years to blame the Jews.' So maybe some of the animosity toward the state of Israel is a disguised [form of this], is coming from this tradition."

Palestinian diplomats say around 10 European countries, including Greece, Ireland, France, Spain and Sweden, as well as non-EU member Norway, will back the UN bid, which is planned to take place in September.

"Once it will be clear that the Arab people, including the Palestinians, really recognise Israel's right to exist as it was established as a Jewish state, then I think it will be possible to achieve an agreement," he said.

The minister described the UN plan as a "challenge to Israel's very existance" because it would bypass deal-making on questions such as the right of return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees driven out by Israeli soldiers in the 1940s.

Russians Work To Destroy Israel Through Palestinian Statehood

Russia is still manipulating anti-Israeli forces in the Middle East, just as the Soviet Union did before it.
Note that Palestinian People’s Party, mentioned below, is an unreformed Marxist-Leninist organization and the Russian Academy of Sciences was a long time tool of the KGB and the International Department of the old Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Russia is definitely behind the formation of a Palestinian State on israel’s borders; a major stepping stone in the planned destruction of the Jewish homeland.

From Novosti:

Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas said they appreciated the support of Russia in their efforts to reach national reconciliation and establish a sovereign Palestinian state.

Representatives of the two rival movements, which signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo in early May, arrived to Moscow last Friday on an invitation from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The leaders of Fatah and Hamas, as well as of the People’s and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian People’s Party, Al-Shaabare, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday and agreed a joint statement with Russia.

Russia may have dropped the openly Marxist–Leninist trappings of Soviet days, but Moscow’s anti-Western foreign policy goals have changed little.

Westerners need to realize that Russia is not a moderating influence against extremism in the Middle East, but is still the key instigator of religious and political radicalism in the region

And lastly, we see this interesting perspective:

US Congress sides with Netanyahu over Obama

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the US Congress on Tuesday was seen by most Israelis as a resounding success, and as a rejection of President Barack Obama's policy speeches over the previous few days.

Speaking before a joint gathering of the House of Representatives and Senate, Netanyahu reiterated that Israel will not return to its 1967 borders, as Obama had insisted it must do for the sake of peace. The Israeli leader also adamantly restated Israel's position that Jerusalem must not be divided.

Netanyahu's strong statements won no fewer than 29 rounds of applause (26 of them standing ovations) from the lawmakers, despite the fact that he was seen to be defying the Americans' own president.

Writing for Foreign Policy Magazine, analyst Michael Cohen noted that "the idea that Congress would openly side with a foreign leader against the president of the United States seems too far-fetched to believe. Remarkably, however, something not dissimilar happened in Washington Tuesday."

Cohen said congressional leaders, both Republican and Democrat, had consciously provided Netanyahu with the most visible of public podiums from which to rebutt Obama's peace policies.

Israeli cabinet secertary Zvi Hauser told Israel Radio that what the speech also did was put the ball firmly in the Palestinians' court. "Ninety percent of the conflict will be resolved" if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas simply recogizes Israel as the Jewish state, Hauser noted, echoing Netanyahu's own demands.

Indeed. Israel has two simple requests:

1. That they have borders which will ensure their viability as a nation and

2. They are formally recognized as a nation who has a right to exist on their own land.

Some nerve huh?

And this is considered as a declaration of war by the "Palestinians".

Doesn't this conclusively prove what their real intentions are?
Clearly.

The goal is to create borders which will facilitate the next invasion of Israel. It couldn't be more clear. There is no interest in peace - that is a smokescreen for the true intent:

The complete destruction of Israel.

Meanwhile, the politicians around the world ignore this obvious fact and continue on their path to enable these progressive means to ultimately destroy Israel.

We'll see how this works out.

Key Points in PM Netanyahu's address to Congress

The Globe and Mail is carrying the transcripts of Mr Netanyahu's speech before Congress and there a few key elements that are worth repeating and interpreting.

Transcript of Prime Minister Netanyahu's address to U.S. Congress

The first significant topic which seemed to stand out involved the warnings about Iran - right out of the gate too, as they say:

But while we hope for the best and while we work for the best, we must also recognize that powerful forces oppose this future. They oppose modernity. They oppose democracy. They oppose peace.

Foremost among these forces is Iran. The tyranny in Tehran brutalizes its own people. It supports attacks against Americans troops in Afghanistan and in Iraq. It subjugates Lebanon and Gaza. It sponsors terror worldwide.

When I last stood here, I spoke of the consequences of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Now time is running out. The hinge of history may soon turn, for the greatest danger of all could soon be upon us: a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons.

Militant Islam threatens the world. It threatens Islam.

A nuclear-armed Iran would ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It would give terrorists a nuclear umbrella. It would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism a clear and present danger throughout the world.

See, I want you to understand what this means, because if we don't stop it, it's coming. They could put a bomb anywhere. They could put it in a missile; they're working on missiles that could reach this city. They could put it on a -- on a ship inside a container; could reach every port. They could eventually put it in a suitcase or in a subway.

Now, the threat to my country cannot be overstated. Those who dismiss it are sticking their heads on the stand. Less than seven decades after 6 million Jews were murdered, Iran's leaders deny the Holocaust of the Jewish people while calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state. Leaders who spew such venom should be banned from every respectable forum on the planet.

It is interesting because Iran has taken a back-seat to so many other news stories recently, and PM Netanyahu gave the world a stark reminder about Iran and their ultimate goal of destroying the Nation of Israel.

But Mr Netanyahu also realizes that something must be done to stop or delay Iran's race to nuclear arms.

Is he also beginning to set the stage for a future intervention in Iran?

And this was equally significant:

Two years ago, I publicly committed to a solution of two states for two peoples -- a Palestinian state alongside a Jewish state.

(Applause.) I'm willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace. As the leader of Israel, it's my responsibility to lead my people to peace. (Applause.)

So now, here's the question. You've got to ask it: If the benefits of peace with the Palestinians are so clear, why has peace eluded us? Because all six Israeli prime ministers since the signing of the Oslo Accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state, myself included; so why has peace not been achieved?

Because so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state if it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it.

You see, our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state; it's always been about the existence of the Jewish state. (Applause.) This is what this conflict is about. (Extended applause.)

That line was so succinct and really says it all in one single sentence and it is worth repeating:

"Because so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state if it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it."

And this statement had to be made:

In recent years, Israel withdrew from south Lebanon and from Gaza. We thought we'd get peace. That's not what we got. We got 12,000 rockets fired from those areas on our cities, on our children, by Hezbollah and Hamas. The U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, they failed to prevent the smuggling of this weaponry.

So if Israel simply walked out of the territories, the flow of weapons into a future Palestinian state would be unchecked, and missiles fired from it could reach virtually every home in Israel in less than a minute.

I want you to think about that, too. Imagine there's a siren going on now and we have less than 60 seconds to find shelter from an incoming rocket. Would you live that way? Do you think anybody can live that way? Well, we're not going to live that way either.

PM Netanyahu has made his intentions crystal clear and a return to the 1967 borders isn't happening on his watch.

So now the ball is back in the court of the Quartet (Russia, US, UN, EU) and the "Palestinians".

It will be very interesting to see what the next move will involve. In the next few days there will be numerous statements by various leaders.

What may be even more interesting, if you take a step back and look at the big picture is this:

Israel is indeed the center of the world's attention right now. And within that epicenter lies the relatively small city of Jerusalem which also happens to receive equal attention.

Approximately 2,500 years ago God's prophets spoke of this era. An era in which this tiny country called Israel would be regathered from having been scattered throughout the nations, and then come back to the same land as a nation - even to the point of describing that this event would "happen in a day".

And then, prophecy foretold that following the miraculous regathering, in the same generation, Israel would become the center of the world's attention - and that the nations would align against her. Prophecy even dictated that the relatively small city of Jerusalem would be the epicenter within the epicenter and indeed that is the case today.

At times like this, we should feel closer to God for so many reasons. We get to see confirmation of His very existence in prophecy fulfillment - a constant reminder that He is very much alive and well and involved.

His words were meant to comfort us and to remind us that He is indeed in complete control and He has a plan for His Son's Church.

He gave us the warning signs of this generation - not to scare us - but rather to draw us closer to Him and look towards Him and the glory that awaits us.

And whether it is the gathering up of the Church or the battle of "Gog-MaGog", God is on the verge of making His presence undeniably known to the world.

Meanwhile, we see Israel as the epicenter of the world - exactly as the prophets stated.

"Applause heard around world"

The Jerusalem Post is carrying an article with the following title "Analysis: Applause heard in white house, around world". It will be interesting to see how the U.S. press will cover this story.

Netanyahu could only dream of such a reception in Israel; Congress' ovation was heard by Obama, the Palestinians, the world at large.

The overall importance of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyanhu’s speech to a special joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday was not in the substance – he did not break any radical new ground – but rather in the overwhelmingly warm ovation he received.

The prime minister was applauded some 30 times, many of those accompanied by standing ovations.

The nearly four-minute ovation he received when he entered the historic chamber – including a brief period of rhythmic clapping that sounded more like the Mann Auditorium than Congress – was not only heard by Netanyahu, but also by US President Barack Obama, the Palestinians and the world at large.

With all the talk of the country’s existential loneliness, and Israel’s real sense of isolation, when Netanyahu spoke to the most important parliament in the world, it exuded nothing but warmth toward Israel.

Even the prime minister’s comment that Jews are not interlopers in Judea and Samaria – not like the Belgians were in the Congo or the British in India – received raucous applause and standing ovation by most in the hall.

With the resounding applause, on both sides of the aisle, to Netanyahu’s comments on a unified Jerusalem, not returning to the 1967 lines, not negotiating with Hamas, not allowing the descendants of Palestinian refugees to enter Israel, Obama – currently tending to US business in Europe – received a clear signal from Congress that when it comes to Israel, his hands are not free.

We finally have some good prophecy related news. Maybe there is still hope for the U.S. in terms of defending Israel and standing strong for Israel. At least for a while - after the gathering up of the Church Saints the world will be more opposed to Israel than at any other time in history. But while we're here, it sure is nice to see a warm reception for PM Netanyahu.

In the news:

Analysis: Obama's land swap surprise

For all the clarification Obama made during his Sunday speech to AIPAC of what he really meant by saying last Thursday that Israel should withdraw to the 1967 lines with mutually agreed-upon land swaps, in the final analysis Netanyahu didn’t see this coming. He was taken completely by surprise – something that accounts both for his furious phone call with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just before Obama delivered the Thursday speech, and for his harsh response to the speech, which set a nasty tone for the visit before it even got underway.

Volcanic Ash Cloud Again Disrupts Flights in Europe

Ash, smoke and steam erupted from southeastern Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano, buried deep beneath the ice of the uninhabited Vatnajokull glacier. The volcano began spewing fire on Saturday for the first time since 2004. The eruption quickly became Grimsvotn's largest since 1910.

Massive Tornado Outbreak in the Southern Plains Tuesday

After severe thunderstorms and tornadoes damaged parts of the southern Plains over the weekend, another round of devastating tornadoes is on the way for Tuesday.

AccuWeather.com Meteorologists are forecasting that there will be at least 50 tornado reports on Tuesday, many of them across the eastern half of Oklahoma and eastern Kansas. The greatest threat of tornadic activity on Tuesday lies in the corridor from Oklahoma City, Okla., to Wichita, Kan., to already hard-hit Joplin, Mo

A Socialist Debacle in Spain, But Uncertainty Reigns

In what is being viewed as a dress rehearsal for the general election in 2012, Spain’s Socialist Party on May 22 suffered its worst defeat in municipal polls since Spain returned to democracy in 1978 after the death of the dictator General Francisco Franco. Amid mass anger at Spain’s failing economy, the center-right opposition Popular Party won 37.5 percent of the municipal vote across the country, compared with 28 percent for the Socialist Party. The left-wing El País newspaper described the defeat as “a tsunami drowning the Socialists.”

Spain Ripe for Revolt?

The rallies have been instigated by the major economic crisis that has affected Spanish citizens, with the working-class being most affected. Spain’s unemployment level has reached a new eurozone high of 21.3 percent in the first quarter of the year, with a record 4.9. million people out of work. The rate has been the highest reported since 1997.

The protest itself, began on Sunday. On the first evening, police removed protestors, but just last night allowed them to stay overnight. The atmosphere is quite festive, with the mood being peaceful but also unified in their belief for a more democratic society.

US-Israel lobby gathers amid unease in relationship

Thousands of pro-Israel delegates packed a convention center here Sunday, strongly supportive of vital US-Israel ties but shaken by a public spat between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As the president prepared to speak at the annual policy conference for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, delegates appeared subdued in the aftermath of Obama's recent address to the broader Middle East in which he raised hackles by calling for use of the 1967 borders as a basis for peace talks.

The rocky ties between Obama and Netanyahu hit a new low this week as the Israeli leader dismissively rejected Obama's Middle East vision and then proceeded to lecture him in the Oval Office.

Creating A Terrorist State

In this day and age of "political correctness" the truth is often difficult to find. We are basically told by the MSM what is appropriate speech and what is not appropriate, based on their world view. Almost anything outside of this predetermined "group think" is conveniently dismissed as "conspiracy theory", "outside of the mainstream", "not serious", or any other derogatory comment which allows complete and immediate dismissal and as a bonus, allows the MSM to dictate the national discourse.

Thankfully, prophecy watchers don't have this "filtering grid" to deal with, as we seek the truth in terms of what does and does not align with the scriptures contained within the Holy Bible.

This article could ruffle some feathers in the "PC" community, particularly with the use of sarcasm, but a careful reading reveals the truths contained within.

Three Cheers for Terroristine

We need a terrorist state. Where the politicians are terrorists, the police are terrorists and even the men sitting at the desk when you come in to drop off a form are terrorists. There are states that support terrorists, and give safe harbor to them, but that’s not good enough. We don’t want another Pakistan or Iran.

What we want is the genuine article. Terrorists from the top down. Terrorists everywhere. A state where every branch of government and the entire country is nothing but terrorists.

And now after 20 years of negotiations, treaties, suicide bombings, mutilations, billions of dollars in vanishing into Swiss bank accounts and the death of its Egyptian born leader of AIDS—Terroristine is closer than ever to coming into being.

Only one thing stands in its way. The people whose country is in the way. Who have to be thrown out of their homes so that Terroristinians can plant their rockets on the rubble of their houses, the charred remains of their fields, and point them at their cities.

This introduction, although somewhat shocking in the presentation, still rings true. Can any of this be argued?

More below:

Trying to end terrorism by creating a terrorist state makes is like trying to put out a fire with more fire

Trying to end terrorism by creating a terrorist state makes is like trying to put out a fire with more fire. It can’t work, but we must try. So that we can say that we tried. Over and over again. We’ll keep trying until we run out of land to try with. And people to try with. Until there’s nothing left but Terroristines everywhere. Until all the world is Terroristine.

I am proud of Obama for finally standing up to the Israelis and telling them that they must ethnically cleanse hundreds of thousands of Jews, from their ancient towns, villages and cities, to make way for Terroristine. Someone had to say it. And it was either going to be Carter or Obama.

Ouch. That is indeed "biting" commentary, but again, is this not a true characterization?

By endorsing the 1967 borders, he endorsed the outcome of the Arab invasion of Israel in 1948

By endorsing the 1967 borders, he endorsed the outcome of the Arab invasion of Israel in 1948. Every time his administration condemns a Jewish house in Jerusalem, he endorses the Jordanian conquest of the city.

Why are the borders of the 1948 war, so much better than the borders of the Six Day War? Because the Terroristinians came closer to winning that war. Came closer to driving the Yahood into the sea and ululating over mile after mile of their corpses.

And what exactly happened in 1948, immediately after Israeli statehood was announced?

Farmers armed with outdated rifles. Volunteer pilots from America and Canada. Refitted cargo ships filled with half-dead men, women and children straight from the camps. Used Czech artillery. They held off the armies of seven Terroristinian nations. Farm by farm, they stood off tanks and infantry. In Jerusalem, they fought for every house. And so the Zionist entity survived. Allah curse them. They survived.

More truths, more facts:

Had they won in 1948 or 1967 or 1973, there would be no Israel and no Terroristine. The land would have become part of Syria, Egypt and Jordan.

But now there is hope for a two state solution. A state of civilization on one side and a state of terrorists on the other. Hospitals here, launching pads there. Schools here, bomb factories there. Life here, death here.

More sarcasm:

Why do we need Terroristine? Peace. There can be no peace without a terrorist state. Not a chance of it. The only way we’ll ever have peace is to give the terrorists a country of their own. A country dedicated to terrorism. Only then will the Terroristinians finally give up on all the killing, and dedicate themselves to medical research, quantum physics and the arts. It hasn’t happened yet to. But it’s bound to.

After almost two decades as an autonomous territory, spreading death and destruction, it’s time for Terroristine to finally be recognized as an independent state

After almost two decades as an autonomous territory, spreading death and destruction, it’s time for Terroristine to finally be recognized as an independent state. With contiguous borders cutting Israel in half. It is the only hope for peace in the region.

The international community is impatient. Damn impatient. They want Terroristine and they want it now. The negotiations must lead to immediate productive results. Whatever Israel has offered in the past, it isn’t enough. It must offer more and more. Whatever it takes.

There is more to this article but the point is made. Even though this commentary isn't "approved" by the MSM or their thought police, can any of the information discussed above be argued or shot down due to being inaccurate?

Actually, the amazing aspect of this entire scenario is how the above facts are completely ignored by the media, the "Quartet", the "PA", and the U.S. leadership.

Fortunately, Israel has a leader who doesn't forget these facts.

Now we turn to an "analysis" of the situation as proposed by the MSM:

Will Netanyahu's speech to Congress save his relationship with Obama or ruin it?

That title characterizes the situation, as seen through the lens of the MSM (yes, Haaretz is most definitely part of the MSM). Rather than dealing with the truth and what really matters here (such as the viability of Israel as a nation), the concern expressed by the MSM wholly consists of political ramifications.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Tuesday before the U.S. Congress will be the formative event of his term, if not his entire political career. A statement released by his bureau promises that the speech will "garner major international attention," alluding to a surprise.

Instead of praising U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy statement of last Thursday, Netanyahu attacked it.

So, according to Haaretz, PM Netanyahu should reflexly praise Obama, not on the basis of what he said, but simply because Obama made a statement - and the MSM tells us to never question President Obama. The truth spoken by Netanyahu becomes a "maneuver" according to Haaretz. How convenient.

Netanyahu continued in Washington the resolute position he presented to the Knesset last week. To his mind, the Palestinians want to destroy Israel, do not accept its right to exist and want to flood it with millions of refugees.

"To his mind"? No, actually, all one has to do is to look at almost every statement that has come from Hamas, and the fact that they resolutely refuse to accept Israel as an independent nation on their land. This fact isn't something that lurks in Mr Netanyahu's mind, rather it is a well-known public fact.

Just looking at this one simple example, one can easily see how disingenuous the MSM can be, while pushing for their agenda.

The truth is hard to find these days.

We should expect nothing else as we enter the days of massive lies and deception - a process which will worsen considerably as the world faces their entry into the Tribulation:

"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

And this (in reference to the False Prophet):

"And he performed great and miraculous signs...Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth." (Revelation 13:13-14)

The process has already started. The truth is hidden by the MSM in order to promote their agenda, and in this case, the agenda is directly opposed to the Nation of Israel - a process which ignores the facts and the truths of the situation.

But this is just the beginning. Once the Tribulation begins, lies and deception will be the order of the day. The MSM is just getting warmed up.

Daily Headlines

This first article details the cascade of events which will occur in the EU when Greece eventually defaults and when it does, the ramifications will be significant:

What happens when Greece defaults

It is when, not if. Financial markets merely aren’t sure whether it’ll be tomorrow, a month’s time, a year’s time, or two years’ time (it won’t be longer than that). Given that the ECB has played the “final card” it employed to force a bailout upon the Irish – threatening to bankrupt the country’s banking sector – presumably we will now see either another Greek bailout or default within days.

Below we see the beginning effects which will occur upon this expected Greek default. The article lists several more events and effects which will stem from the default - they are all worth reading; below is just a sample:

- Every bank in Greece will instantly go insolvent.
- The Greek government will nationalise every bank in Greece.
- The Greek government will forbid withdrawals from Greek banks.
- To prevent Greek depositors from rioting on the streets, Argentina-2002-style (when the Argentinian president had to flee by helicopter from the roof of the presidential palace to evade a mob of such depositors), the Greek government will declare a curfew, perhaps even general martial law.

Pakistan's nuclear weapons, safe or not?

ISLAMABAD: An assault on a naval base in Karachi is the latest militant attack on military installations in Pakistan, raising fears about the safety of the country’s nuclear arsenal.

Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world and in a decade could pass France as the fourth-largest nuclear power, so such brazen attacks on secure military establishments – militants also attacked the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009 – give Western leaders nightmares about militants acquiring nuclear materials, or worse, an entire weapon.

U.S.: Al Qaeda has interest in strikes on energy infrastructure

The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have warned police across the United States that al Qaeda has a "continuing interest" in attacking oil and natural gas targets, a department spokesman said Friday.

The warning issued Thursday came as a result of information seized during the May 2 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, a U.S. official said.

CNN obtained a copy of a DHS/FBI intelligence bulletin that says al Qaeda has been interested in "targeting unspecified oil tankers abroad" as a means to "draw the West into an extreme economic crisis" by disrupting a significant portion of the oil supply for several years.

Is Iran culpable in 9/11? It 'knew about terror attacks before they happened and trained hijackers'

Iran knew about 9/11 before it happened and helped train hijackers, court papers say.

Lawyers representing September 11th victims’ families claim new evidence shows Iranian officials assisted in training hijackers and had advanced word of the attacks.

There is ‘clear and convincing’ evidence for damages and a federal judge should find Iran culpable in the terror attacks, according to papers filed in Manhattan, New York.

Waging War by decree

Why is this article significant? Just look at the third paragraph below for a clue:

Barack Obama basically stomped on the War Powers Act last week in a hissy fit proclaiming that it did not apply to his Libyan War/Conflict kinetic military action.
Showing clear disdain for the Act and America in general, Obama claimed that it was not applicable since the Libyan debacle was not actually a full-blown war. Under the War Powers Act, the President has 60 days to get authorization from Congress for any military involvement, and if he fails to get that authorization, he must end the involvement within 30 days. The 60-day authorization period expired on Friday the 20th. He penned a letter to Congress saying that the role of the US in the conflict was so limited that he does not need to seek congressional approval.

Bovine excrement. From the beginning of Obama’s invoking the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, the Obama administration has cited the 1973 War Powers Act as the legal basis of its ability to conduct military activities for 60 days without first seeking a declaration of war from Congress. Now he disowns the Act and in typical forked tongue fashion, he utilizes the War Powers Act and then dismisses it when it is no longer pertinent to his agenda. You know, sort of like the way he views our Constitution.

The Libyan debacle was never voted on because Obama knew it would never be passed. Libya was not a current threat to the US. I contend it was a dry run to see how Responsibility to Protect would play out if used in other actions. Such as, just being hypothetical here, Israel.

Obama's call for Israel to self-destruct

This article presents an excellent overview of Israel's claim to their land and the various significant events in the region since 1948. The following paragraphs represent the introduction to this detailed article:

President Obama demands that Israel withdraw to armistice lines that existed after the Arab-Israel War of 1948 ended. These lines did not constitute a border but merely the military positions that existed after the Arab attempt to annihilate Israel failed.

In six days in June, 1967, Israel was forced to fight another war for its survival against a new aggression by Egypt, Syria and Jordan. All three Arab countries lost territory as a direct result of their new genocidal war against the Jewish state failed again.

As a consequence, Israel threw back the Syrian army from its positions on the Golan Heights; the strategic high ground from which Syria had bombarded and shelled Israeli farmers in the Hula Valley below and Israeli fishermen on the Sea of Galilee.

Egypt lost the Sinai Peninsula and Israeli forces dug in on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and developed the Abu Rodeis oil field. All the territory and the oil fields were given away to Egypt in return for a piece of paper; a peace treaty which now is at the point of being torn up by a likely new Egyptian government under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Jordan, which had nineteen years earlier invaded and occupied the territory they subsequently called the West Bank and divided the city of Jerusalem in half, were also thrown back after launching an all-out attack upon Israel.

As a result, the ancestral and biblical Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria was liberated from Jordanian Arab occupation. At the same time, Jews were able to pray again at their ancient holy places and synagogues in Jerusalem, which had been desecrated by the Muslim Arabs. Jerusalem, under Israel’s governance was now for the first time open freely to members of all religions to worship; something the Jordanians had forbidden.

And this part of the commentary (below) is critical to understanding the conflict in the region:

The Arab-Israel conflict is not, and never has been, merely a war over territory. It is, and always has been, a religious war. Islam will never accept a non-Muslim state, whatever size or shape it may be, within lands previously conquered by Muslims in the name of Allah. This is a paramount and fundamental fact, which strangely is never understood.

Look at what the Muslims have done to once primarily Christian Lebanon and what fate awaits the Christian Copts in an increasingly Muslim Brotherhood Egypt. That is why “land for peace"is nonsense. Tiny Israel can give precious land away but it will never receive peace from the Muslim Arab world.

Thus the “two-state solution”, so beloved of President Obama and President George Bush before him, requires the biblical Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria (so-called West Bank) to be given away to the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians.

But these Arabs have no intention of making peace, which should be enough for any Israeli government and Prime Minister with intestinal fortitude to defy the world’s pressure for the Jewish state to slowly and surely disappear.

Pushing Israel back to the “Auschwitz lines”, as Abba Eban, Israel’s early UN delegate and former Foreign Minister had called them, where the Jewish state is only nine miles wide at its most populous region, is what the “Two-State Solution” is all about.

This is what Barack Hussein Obama now demands of Israel. That other dread euphemism employed by the Nazis, “The Final Solution,” was code for the Holocaust, and now comes chillingly to mind.

Power Struggle in Russia

This was too predictable. As many of us speculated Russian PM Putin isn't ever going to give up the reigns to power, and now as expected, he is planning on making another bid for the presidency:

Putin decides to retake presidency

RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has decided to run for the presidency next year, raising the possibility of a power struggle with his protege Dmitry Medvedev, the incumbent Kremlin leader, say highly placed sources.

Insiders familiar with both leaders said Mr Putin, who served eight years as president before becoming Prime Minister three years ago, had begun to lose confidence in Mr Medvedev's loyalty.

If you aren't familiar with this story, here is how we arrived at this point in history:

The Russian constitution allows the president to serve no more than two consecutive terms. Mr Putin stepped down in 2008 and handed the reins to Medvedev on the tacit understanding that he could come back next year if he wished.

At the end of Putin's term, he basically renamed himself as the Prime Minister and also transferred most of the power to the PM position. It was clear that the new President, Medvedev, would serve as a puppet to Putin until Putin could run again. The "rule" was that a president couldn't serve two consecutive terms, Now he will run again, as many of us predicted.

Under the constitution, Mr Putin's move to reclaim the presidency could see him rule for two consecutive six-year terms until 2024, when he will be 72. If so, he would have served as prime minister or president for 24 years in all.

The Russian constitution allows the president to serve no more than two consecutive terms. Mr Putin stepped down in 2008 and handed the reins to Medvedev on the tacit understanding that he could come back next year if he wished.

At first Mr Medvedev was regarded as a puppet. He even took to imitating Mr Putin's distinctive macho stride and speaking style. But three years later, Mr Medvedev, who at 45 is still Russia's youngest leader in more than seven decades, is understood to be reluctant to step aside for Mr Putin.

The President is said to be frustrated at the perception, both at home and abroad, that he is a lame duck. A second term would give him the power to pursue a more liberal agenda of greater political freedom and sweeping judicial reforms, in contrast to that of Mr Putin, who is viewed as authoritarian.

This power struggle will be interesting to watch. Given that we are approaching the epic battle of Gog-MaGog, this political situation in Russia has added significance. It is hard to envision Mr. Putin not gaining the presidency in one way or another; after all, he found a way to maintain power through a loophole in the two term limit by simply changing his title. Now it looks like he may have found a way to remain in power for 24 years.

Could one of these two leaders end up being the "Gog" of Ezekiel 38-39?