In the news:

4.2 magnitude quake shakes Israel

An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter Scale struck less than ten minutes before noon Sunday and was felt in various parts of the country. The institute received reports from people who felt the quake in Haifa, Afula, Tel Aviv, Herzliya and Kibbutz Nativ.

Rare Quake Rocks Israel's Coast

An unusual and rare earthquake struck Israel’s central coast Sunday, and tremors were felt as far south as Gaza. The earthquake registered 4.3 on the Richter scale, and no one was injured.

“We have no trace of any historic important earthquakes in the past” in the area, earthquake-report.com reported.

Lieberman says he'll ask gov't to cut all ties with PA

FM: Palestinians planning unprecedented violence in September; PA can't have both security cooperation, try to bring Hague charges against IDF; warns against taking defense funds for social programs.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a press conference Sunday he will ask the government to cut off all contact with the Palestinian Authority, including security cooperation.

Lieberman also said that it was clear that with the expected statehood recognition vote at the UN in September, the PA was planning “the worst violence and spilling of blood that we have ever seen.”

He ridiculed claims by the PA that they were only interested in non-violent protests, saying that if they plan a march of thousands of people to checkpoints, and try to pass through the check points, it is clear there will be violence.

He said that the Palestinians were busy planning the details of the march, including how to transport people, and which checkpoints to march on.

Lieberman said that cutting off ties with the PA was necessary to get across the message that they cannot work against Israel on all international fronts without facing any consequences. “They have to understand that there is a price,” he said.

Lieberman Warns PA Ready for 'Bloodshed' in September

Lieberman said the PA is making preparations to carry out wholesale bloodshed in September. At that time, the PA plans to ask the United Nations to officially recognize it as an independent country, and to grant it membership status within the international body.

The foreign minister said PA officials, despite claims of “non-violent action,” are instead preparing to flood checkpoints with tens of thousands of PA Arabs who might then force their way past IDF soldiers and into Israel's major cities.

“The Palestinian Authority is getting ready for bloodshed on a scale we haven't seen,” he warned. “The more they speak about non-violent action, the more they are preparing for bloodshed.”

Gloating China Says "Has Every Right To demand U.S. Address Its Debt Problem", ASKS FOR NEW GLOBAL RESERVE CURRENCY

China has released a scathing op-ed in Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, in which the authors waste no time to humiliate a "debt-ridden Uncle Sam" following the S&P downgrade, in the most violent surge in the recent war of words between the ascendent and descendent superpowers.

"International supervision over the issue of U.S. dollars should be introduced and a new, stable and secured global reserve currency may also be an option to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country."

And this quote below comes directly from China:

International supervision over the issue of U.S. dollars should be introduced and a new, stable and secured global reserve currency may also be an option to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country.

And below are two more articles that may be of interest. The first details what the "downgrade" in US credit from AAA to AA+ actually means:

Life after D-Day

Yesterday, as everyone knows, Standard & Poor’s downgraded US credit one notch to AA+, the first time since 1917 that we have fallen below the top AAA rating. Most people wonder what this will mean for the country and for us as individuals. How will a lower bond rating affect us? ABC has a pretty good five-point explanation, but it tends to assume that the rating drop came out of nowhere. I’ll address them point by point:

What do we do know? It’s time to acknowledge that Ponzi schemes don’t work, and that entitlement programs are destined for collapse under current parameters.

And this:

Socialism's God - Karl Marx: Was He Stupid, Insane...or Possessed?

Here is the intro to this interesting article:

Karl Marx lived from 1818-1883. The question addressed today is whether Marx accidentally created the most inefficient and murderous set of beliefs in history, or if something more dreadful was at work in his mind and heart.

The crux is whether Marx simply gave up belief in God, or more darkly—decided to cast his lot with Satan against Yahweh, in spite of the implications?

Surprisingly, Marx made a large number of statements seemingly in support of the Devil, judgment and hell. But the reader can decide themselves the question of this essay—whether Marx was stupid, crazed or diabolical.