In The News: Truce Broken - Gaza Rocket Slams Southern Israel

After Months Of Calm, Rocket Slams Into Ashkelon

A rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at Ashkelon early Tuesday morning, breaking months of quiet between Israel and the Palestinian enclave.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for firing the rocket later Tuesday, saying it was retaliation for Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat’s death in an Israeli prison on Saturday. The terrorist group, associated with Fatah, had published a leaflet on Monday urging a harsh response against Israel for Jaradat’s death.

The rocket hit a road in an industrial area in the south of the city around 7 a.m., according to Channel 10 news. There were no injuries, although the road was damaged.

Residents of the southern city reported hearing two blasts and authorities are checking to see if two missiles were in fact fired at the city. There were no warning sirens sounded to alert people in the area.

The rocket was reportedly fired from Rafah in the southern strip, and was the same type used by Hamas in November in attempts to hit Jerusalem, according to Army Radio.

According to the report, Hamas tightly controls the border city of Rafah, which is home to several smugglign tunnels into Egypt, indicating the rocket fire was done with the Strip’s rulers knowledge.

The UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, said on Tuesday that he was “deeply troubled” by “resumed indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza.”

The resuming fire from the strip is “totally unacceptable,” he said in a press release.

Gaza Rocket Slams South For First Time Since Truce

Strong Earthquake Jolts Tokyo

A strong earth quake with a magnitude of 6.2 in the Richter scale hit the Japanese capital Tokyo, Monday, causing the buildings to sway for more than 30 seconds, national broadcaster NHK reported. The broadcaster said there was no alert issued for tsunami.

"An earthquake occurred at about 4:23 p.m. today," an AFP report quoting the Japan Meteorological Agency reported. "Its focus was in the north of Tochigi prefecture. Its depth is about 10 kilometers and its magnitude is estimated at 6.2," it added.

A few minutes later, a 4.7-magnitude aftershock was recorded, The Daily Yomiuri reported. There were no immediate reports of casualties and injuries.

Wall Street Getting Nervous?

Why are some of the biggest names in the corporate world unloading stock like there is no tomorrow, and why are some of the most prominent investors on Wall Street loudly warning about the possibility of a market crash?  Should we be alarmed that the big dogs on Wall Street are starting to get very nervous?  In aprevious article, I got very excited about a report that indicated that corporate insiders were selling nine times more of their own shares than they were buying.  Well, according to a brand new Bloomberg article, insider sales of stock have outnumbered insider purchases of stock by a ratio of twelve to one over the past three months.  That is highly unusual.  And right now some of the most respected investors in the financial world are ringing the alarm bells.  Dennis Gartman says that it is time to "rush to the sidelines", Seth Klarman is warning about "the un-abating risks of collapse", and Doug Kass is proclaiming that "we're headed for a sharp fall".  So does all of this mean that a market crash is definitely on the way?  No, but when you combine all of this with the weak economic data constantly coming out of the U.S. and Europe, it certainly does not paint a pretty picture.

So why are all of these very prominent executives cashing out all of a sudden?

That is a very good question.

Meanwhile, some of the most respected names on Wall Street are warning that it is time to get out of the market.

For example, investor Dennis Gartman recently wrote that the game is "changing" and that it is time to "rush to the sidelines"...

Clouds Of Crisis Return To Europe

Europe’s brief respite from political and financial turmoil has come to an abrupt halt in the wake of a nerve-rattling Italian election, Britain’s loss of its cherished triple-A credit rating and troubling developments on other fronts.

The upshot is renewed unease about Europe’s still unresolved debt crisis that is once again casting dark shadows over stock, bond and currency markets.

EU officials have to be dismayed by the electoral muscle displayed by anti-austerity parties in Italy on the right and left, reflecting continuing public outrage over deficit-reducing measures imposed by the emergency caretaker government of economist and political neophyte Mario Monti. The moves, including higher taxes and public service cuts, appeased Italy’s euro zone partners and global bond investors, reducing government borrowing costs and helping to stabilize the common currency. But the economy fell into a deepening hole, incomes plunged, unemployment worsened and voters took out their anger at the polls. Mr. Monti’s centrist civic movement won only about 10 per cent of the vote.

Life is no better in a large swath of the broader EU. In Britain, Moody’s cited the continuing economic weakness and the resulting risks to the government’s tight fiscal policy for its rating cut. In Bulgaria, where the government fell last week and the economy is in a shambles, rightists who joined mass demonstrations across the country burned a European Union flag and waved anti-EU banners. Other austerity-minded governments in the EU face similar murky political futures.

U.S. Dept. Of Justice To Federal Judge: We Can Force Your Wife To Violate Her Religion

While presenting an oral argument in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last fall, a lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge that the Obama administration believed it could force the judge’s own wife—a physician—to act against her religious faith in the conduct of her medical practice.

The assertion came in the case of Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius, a challenge to the Obama administration’s regulation requiring health-care plans to cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

Tyndale is a for-profit corporation that publishes Bibles, biblical commentaries and other religious works. Tyndale House Foundation, a religious non-profit organization, owns 96.5 percent of the corporation’s stock and receives 96.5 percent of its profits. The foundation’s mission is “to minister to the spiritual needs of people, primarily through grants to other religious charities.”

As a matter of religious principle, the foundation believes that human life begins at conception and that abortion is wrong.

The corporation self-insures, providing its employees with a generous health-care plan. But, in keeping with its religious faith, it does not in any way provide abortions. For this reason, Tyndale sued the Obama administration, arguing that the Obamacare regulation that would force it to provide abortion-inducing drugs and IUDs in its health-care plan violated its right to the free-exercise of religion.

“Consistent with the religious beliefs of Tyndale and its owners, Tyndale’s self-insured plan does not and has never covered abortions or abortifacient drugs or devices such as emergency contraception and intrauterine devices,” Tyndale said in its legal complaint, prepared by the Alliance Defending Freedom.

When Tyndale sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the administration from enforcing the regulation on the company before the federal courts could determine the issue on its merits, Benjamin Berwick, a lawyer for the Civil Division of the Justice Department presented the administration's argument for why Tyndale should be forced to act against the religious faith of its owners. The oral argument over the preliminary injunction occurred Nov. 9 in Judge Walton’s court.

Berwick argued here--as the administration has argued in other cases where private businesses are challenging the sterilization-contraception-abortifacient mandate--that once people form a corporation to conduct business they lose their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion insofar as their business is concerned.

In the face of this argument, Judge Walton asked an interesting question. His wife, a graduate of Georgetown Medical School, is a physician. She has incorporated her medical practice. Does that mean, according to the Obama administration’s argument, that the federal government can force her to act against her religious faith in the conduct of her medical practice?

Berwick effectively answered: Yes.

Here, from the official court transcript, is the verbatim exchange between this Obama administration lawyer and Judge Walton:

News Brief

Just a few articles to start the week. Violence begins again in the West Bank:

Unrest In West Bank Hot Spots As Palestinian Prisoner Buried

Violence broke out at a number of spots around the West Bank Monday as thousands gathered in Hebron for the funeral of a Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli custody Saturday.

Some 25,000 mourners were reported at the funeral, escorting Arafat Jaradat’s body from a Hebron hospital to a cemetery in his home village of Si’ir. Among those participating was Khader Adnan, a former Palestinian prisoner who was freed after going on a high-profile hunger strike in 2012.

The body was transported on a troop carrier with Palestinian security forces to Si’ir for a military burial.

A video feed of the funeral showed large masses of people waving flags and shouting.

Riots were reported in the village of Beit Anoun, between Si’ir and Hebron, just before noon, where some 200 Palestinians gathered, Israel Radio reported.

Protests were also reported in Beituna, outside Ramallah and near the Ofer military prison, where hundreds threw rocks at Israeli security forces.

Forces also clashed with Palestinians at other spots around the West Bank, including Tulkarem and near Tekoa.

Officials had been on high alert, expecting another day of wide-ranging unrest centered around the funeral. Some Palestinians called for Monday to be a “day of rage” on the Palestinian street.

The army said it would expend every effort not to worsen the situation and let Palestinian security forces take control where possible.

Abbas By Fomenting Palestinian Unrest Risks Losing Control

Day by day, Palestinian fury on the West Bank is stoked by one charge against Israel after another. The protesters of Hebron, Nablus and other West Bank towns and villages are in no mood to hear Israel’s version of the facts. Sunday, Feb. 24, Palestinian Authority officials alleged that Israeli mistreatment caused the death of a 30-year old Palestinian Arafat Jaradat in custody after taking part in rocking-throwing clashes with Israeli troops. Israel denied he was beaten and said he had died of heart failure. Israel’s forensic institute conducted an autopsy with a Palestinian physician in attendance with uncertain results. But the Palestinian street, demonstrating violently for the past week in solidarity with four Palestinian inmates on hunger strike, weren’t waiting. Tomorrow, there will be another trigger for protest and Israeli troops will disperse the rioters and stone-throwers with crowd dispersion measures.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials keep the heat up by accusing Israel of “murder, racism, and brutality.”
Clearly, Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his henchmen are prepared to risk matters getting out of hand on the West Bank.

military sources estimate that if the current unrest is allowed to continue unchecked, Abbas will be swept aside by the turbulence. Faceless officers will take over and the force will break up into militias and the Palestinian Authority sink into anarchy.
Already Abbas’s relevance among the Palestinians at large is ebbing along with the welcome mat and donations extended him in most Arab capitals.
Even if Abbas does manage to squeeze another settlement construction freeze out of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, along with the release of jailed prisoners, and even revive the stalled flow of funds to the bankrupt Palestinian Authority, he will still face a tough impediment from the Gaza Strip.
To solve it, he would have to turn the clock back to November, 2012 and reverse a process launched then after the Israel Gaza Operation. The US, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Hamas and Israel, struck a deal, which ended the operation with a ceasefire and boosted Hamas domestically and internationally by ending the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and promoting cooperation between the Palestinian fundamentalists and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Mahmoud Abbas clearly hopes that by fostering spiraling anti-Israel unrest on the West Bank, he can catch up with Hamas’s enhanced standing and recover a strong bargaining position for resumed talks with Israel in time for US President Barack Obama’s visit next month to Jerusalem and Ramallah. But he is skating on very thin ice.
This visit in any case may be postponed if Netanyahu fails to set up a post-election government coalition by March 20.

Also see:

Egypt Vote Could Be 'Road To Total Chaos

Israel Successfully Tests Arrow 3 Missile Defense

Sinister Sites: The Georgia Guidestones

There are a number of so-called "sinister sites" around the world that have been well covered by the Vigilant Citizen with the Denver airport perhaps the most well-known. Another such site - one that has a similar message - is the Georgia Guidestones and as usual the Vigilant Citizen does an excellent job of covering the topic. The entire article is worth reading, but it may relate to biblical prophecy in the sense that it seems to be describing a world that we know is coming soon. Below are just a few interesting quotes, including the conclusions:

Sinister Sites: The Georgia Guidestones

The Georgia Guidestones is a mysterious monument on which are carved ten “commandments” for a “New Age of Reason”. The first commandment? Maintaining the world population under 500 million people. Another sinister fact: the authors of what we now call the American Stonehedge are still a “mystery”… except for those in the know. We will look at the numerous features of this monument, its message calling for a New World Order and explain how it is the work of an occult secret society.

The Georgia Guidestones is an enigmatic granite monument situated in Elbert County, Georgia. Also known as the American Stonehedge, the gigantic structure is almost 20 feet high and is made of six granite slabs, weighing in total 240,000 pounds. The most astonishing detail  of the monument is however not its size but the message engraved into it: Ten rules for an “Age of Reason”. These guides touch upon subjects that are associated with the “New World Order”, including massive depopulation, a single world government, the introduction of a new type of spirituality, etc. The authors of those rules have requested to remain totally anonymous and, until now, their anonymity has been duly preserved. However, this mysterious group left a text explaining the reasoning behind the rules, a text that was not discussed online before. With this new information, the purpose behind the Guidestones become very clear, leaving little room for hypotheses. The Guidestones describe the ideal world, as envisioned by occult Secret Societies. The monument is therefore proof of an existing link between secret societies, the world elite and the push for a New World Order.

Made of Pyramid blue granite, the Georgia Guidestones are meant to withstand the test of time and to communicate knowledge on several levels: philosophically, politically, astronomically, etc. It consists of four major stone blocks, which contain ten guides for living in eight languages: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. A shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient languages’ scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is important to note that those last four ancient languages are of a great importance in the teachings of occult mystery schools, such as the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians, organizations I will discuss later.

The four major stones are arranged in a giant “paddlewheel” configuration which are oriented to the limits of the migration of the sun during the course of the year and also show the extreme positions of the rising and setting of the sun in its 18.6 year cycle. The center stone has two special features: first, the North Star is always visible through a special hole drilled from the South to the North side of the center stone; second, another slot aligns with the positions of the rising sun at the time of the summer and winter solstices and at the equinox.

One World Government

“Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”-David Rockefeller, “Memoirs of David Rockefeller” p.405

Most of the other rules of the Guidestones basically call for the creation of a world government, ruled by an “enlightened few”, who would  regulate all aspects of human life, including faith, social duties, economy, etc. This idea is far from new, as it has been entertained by Mystery schools for centuries. Manly P. Hall wrote in 1917:

“When the mob governs, man is ruled by ignorance; when the church governs, he is ruled by superstition; and when the state governs, he is ruled by fear. Before men can live together in harmony and understanding, ignorance must be transmuted into wisdom, superstition into an illumined faith, and fear into love. Despite statements to the contrary, Masonry is a religion seeking to unite God and man by elevating its initiates to that level of consciousness whereon they can behold with clarified vision the workings of the Great Architect of the Universe. From age to age the vision of a perfect civilization is preserved as the ideal for mankind. In the midst of that civilization shall stand a mighty university wherein both the sacred and secular sciences concerning the mysteries of life will be freely taught to all who will assume the philosophic life. Here creed and dogma will have no place; the superficial will be removed and only the essential be preserved. The world will be ruled by its most illumined minds, and each will occupy the position for which he is most admirably fitted.”
- Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages

Since the monument’s erection on March 22, 1980, numerous authors and researchers have attempted to interpret the rationale behind these ten guidelines. Do they truly consist of a blueprint for a New World Order? Are they simply rules to apply in case of a major catastrophe? The best place to get an accurate answer is to ask the authors of the rules themselves. However, since they have chosen to remain anonymous, it is impossible to do so. They did, however, leave an all-important statement, which has been overlooked by nearly all researchers of the Guidestones. This astonishing text, which describes their motives in great detail, can only be found in The Georgia Guidestone Guidebook, a pamphlet produced by the Granite Company, which produced the monument. Right from the start, it is obvious that the authors of the monument do seek the creation of a New World Order. This is not a “conspiracy theory” or hypothesis. It is written in clear and unequivocal terms. So here is, directly from the pen of the secret authors, the explanation of the 10 rules of the Guidestones (parts in bold have been highlighted by myself, to emphasize noteworthy parts).

In Conclusion

The Georgia Guidestones are a modern day Rosicrucian manifesto calling for (or announcing) a drastic change in the way the world is managed. The monument is of a great importance in the understanding of the forces covertly shaping today and tomorrow’s world. It materializes into stone the crucial link between secret societies, the world elite and the agenda for a New World Order. The push for a world government, population control and environmentalism are issues that are today discussed on a daily basis in current events. They were not in 1981, when the Guidestones were erected. Can we say that great progress was made?

Many of the rules of the Guidestones do make sense for the preserving of Earth on a long-term basis. But between the idealistic words of the Guidestone’s authors and the actual way these policies would be applied on the masses – by power-hungry and greedy politicians – there is a world of difference. Reading between the lines, the Guidestones require from the masses the loss of many personal liberties and to submit to heightened governmental control on many social issues … not to mention the death of 92.5% of the population…and probably not those of the “elite”. Is the concept of a democracy “by and for the people”, as idealized by the Founding Fathers a mere illusion, a temporary solution until the introduction of  socialist world government? Why are the world’s citizens not being consulted in a democratic matter? I guess it is easier for the elites to manufacture consent through mass medias. But maybe it won’t work on everybody…

West Bank On High Alert: Netanyahu Sends Message To PA To Enforce Calm

Netanyahu Sends Message To PA

Security forces were on high alert in the West Bank and east Jerusalem on Sunday morning amid concerns that the death of Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat in Megiddo Prison on Saturday would set off violent Palestinian demonstrations.

The Palestinian Authority on Saturday strongly condemned Jaradat's death from an apparent heart attack and called for a UN investigation into the case.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a message to the Palestinian Authority to calm tensions in the West Bank on Sunday as Palestinians rioted and threw stones at security forces near Hebron.

Senior officials in Jerusalem said that Netanyahu made the request to the PA leadership through his peace talks liaison Yitzhak Molcho.

An IDF soldier was injured from stones thrown by Palestinians close to Beit Hadassah in Hebron.

The IDF employed riot dispersal methods in attempts to contain the rioters.

Jaradat's death came amid heightened tensions as a group of security prisoners in Israeli jails engage in an ongoing hunger strike. Even before Jaradat’s death, Palestinians rioted and attacked security personnel in several places in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem on Friday.

The IDF is investigating the possibility that Israeli civilians shot two Palestinians from Kusra, near Nablus, during clashes with settlers and the IDF on Saturday.

Aron Katsof, a spokesman for the Esh Kodesh outpost, said that Palestinians attacked his small community around noon by throwing stones and that he and others from the outpost and nearby settlements went out to defend their homes. He denied that anyone had shot at the Palestinians.

'Third Intifada' Is Already Here, PA Officials Say

Three thousand Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails went on a hunger strike Sunday to protest the death of Arafat Shalish Shahin Jaradat in Megiddo Prison the day before, amid a wave of clashes in the West Bank that has been stoking Israeli concerns of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Palestinian officials on Sunday morning warned that another popular uprising was indeed unfolding, but asserted that protesters would stick to the path of nonviolence.

“The death of the prisoner is the culmination of an already-tense situation,” Kadoura Fares, a former PA minister and the head of the Palestinian prisoner’s club, told Maariv. “All of the incidents reveal a clear trend – we’re facing an intifada. The hunger-striking prisoners and the tense demonstrations, the violent clashes during which Palestinian civilians are killed, and the frozen peace process – all indicate that we’re sitting on a barrel of dynamite.”

“It may very well be that Jaradat’s death will turn out to have been the match that lit it,” he added.

Jaradat, 30, died of an apparent heart attack Saturday afternoon, according to Prison Services spokeswoman Sivan Weizman.

Following the announcement of Jaradat’s death, prisoners briefly rioted in the Ofer Prison in the West Bank. In Hebron, Palestinian protesters clashed with security forces, who dispersed them using teargas. One soldier and two Palestinians were lightly injured.

Likud Proposes Joint Talks With Yesh Atid And Jewish Home

In what appears to be a concession to the alliance struck between surging political powerhouses Yesh Atid and Jewish Home, Likud officials proposed to hold coalition talks with representatives of both parties at once.

“We told the Jewish Home people that if they are indeed in a close alliance with Yesh Atid, we should sit together in coalition talks too,” a senior Likud official told Maariv. “It’s a waste of time to meet separately with representatives of both the parties. If there is a pact in place and a joint veto on the inclusion of ultra-Orthodox parties in the government, we might as well all meet together.”

Talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beytenu and his former aide Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home were scheduled to resume on Sunday, after representatives met on Friday. The negotiations were said to be held “in a good atmosphere” and dealt with aspects of the coalition’s guiding principles.

Representatives of Bennett’s party were reported to have discussed but not demanded the possible revocation of Netanyahu’s agreement with Hatnua chief Tzipi Livni, whereby Livni joins a Likud-led coalition in exchange for the Justice Ministry portfolio and the task of heading peace talks with the Palestinians. Bennett has been an outspoken critic of such negotiations, and his party represents a cross-section of voters who are largely opposed to a two-state solution along pre-1967 lines.

The differences between the two potential coalition partners were sharpened Saturday, when Livni spoke harshly against government plans to build a new settlement in the contested area known as E1.

“We don’t have to make provocations that just poke out the other side’s eye and stir up the world against us,” she said.

Friday’s Likud-Jewish Home coalition talks ended without any specific signs of progress, and the Likud-Beytenu team then met with Shas’s leadership triumvirate of Aryeh Deri, Ariel Atias, and Eli Yishai. Netanyahu’s key challenge is to find a formula for expanding the number of ultra-Orthodox young men entering military service; Jewish Home and Yesh Atid want almost all Haredi men to serve, while Shas and United Torah Judaism want wide-scale exemptions for full-time Torah study.

Three weeks after Shimon Peres charged Netanyahu with forming a coalition, it is this issue that has made the task so complex, and is gradually fueling speculation that Netanyahu may not be able to build a Knesset majority, though his aides remain confident he will do so.

According to a source within Shas, Friday’s meeting ended without progress and there are still significant gaps between the two sides regarding ultra-Orthodox service.

The Jewish Home party has made it clear that an alliance formed with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, according to which both parties would either join the government together or join the opposition, remains firm. Jewish Home representatives on Friday also said they backed Yesh Atid’s demand that ultra-Orthodox schools teach the full “core curriculum” of subjects, including English and Mathematics, as a condition for state funding.

“The pact with Lapid is iron-clad,” party sources said. “We would rather have new elections than join the government without him.”

Saturday: In The News

Rumors of war and war preparations continue in the epicenter:

Israel Braces For Action Along The Syrian Border

After two years of watching the Syrian conflict from the sidelines, the hostilities seem to have arrived at Israel's doorstep. Syrian rebels are fighting to wrest control of the border from the Syrian Army, and there's an increasing fear that militant groups on both sides of the civil war will get their hands on the country's advanced weapons arsenal and set their sites on Israel next. That presents a quandry for Israeli officials: Can they protect the country without getting sucked in to Syria's violence?

TREADING A VERY THIN LINE 
Analysts say that balancing between the two will be increasingly difficult if the central authority continues to crumble in Syria and multiple power centers emerge in the countrywide war.

On one front, Israel fears that rising chaos and the proliferation of Islamist militants just beyond the Golan Heights fence could lead to cross-border attacks like those from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula into southern Israel after the fall of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. Israeli communities in the Golan Heights have already been put on alert, and local Army commanders said they have formulated a new defense doctrine to cope with the Syrian instability.

Israel also worries about the transfer of advanced weapons and chemical warheads from Syria to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a development Israeli leaders consider a "red line" because it could give the Iranian ally a major boost in a future war. In late January, Israeli airplanes reportedly bombed a convoy in Syria carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Lebanon — the first major Israeli attack on Syria since 2007.

Senior Israel Defense Force (IDF) officers in the Northern Command began predicting last year that, amid Assad's collapse, the Golan might be targeted by militants backed by Iran or global jihadist groups who have flocked to Syria to join the fight against the Assad regime. The IDF declined to comment on the border situation this week, but Mr. Marom said reservists have been replaced by regular elite forces recently. Two months ago, a senior officer said the IDF had updated its intelligence gathering effort, and adopted a new operational doctrine.

"The combination of all of this is to meet the developing threat," said Brig. Gen. Tamir Heiman in a December interview with Channel 2 news. "I don't know if it will happen, but it's good to be ready."

Iran Begins Military Preparedness Exercises

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has begun a three-day ground and air military exercise aimed at upgrading its combat readiness.

State TV says the drills involve ground forces of the Guard, Iran’s most powerful military force, around the city of Sirjan in the country’s south. It showed tanks and artillery attacking hypothetical enemy positions.

The broadcast says the aim of the exercise is to upgrade the capabilities of the Iranian forces. It did not elaborate.

The war games are taking place amid escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. Israel has hinted that it may take military action if talks fail to get Iran stop its uranium enrichment program.

Pestilence:

Los Angeles Asks for Federal Help With Tuberculosis Outbreak

Los Angeles County health officials have asked federal officials for help to contain a worsening tuberculosis outbreak among the homeless in its downtown area.

County health officials here have identified 78 cases of a particular strain of the highly contagious disease in the past five years, resulting in 11 deaths. Of those cases, 60 have been identified as homeless living around Skid Row, making it the "largest outbreak we've seen" among the city's homeless population in a decade, said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Dr. Fielding said as many as 4,500 homeless may have been exposed to the disease. Earlier this month, he asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send health officials to Los Angeles to help identify other possible victims. The move to turn to federal officials was first reported by the Los Angeles Times Thursday.

Tuberculosis is most associated with developing countries. Most of L.A. county's cases of the disease are brought in by foreign travelers, Dr. Fielding said. But L.A. county officials have been grappling with growing numbers of tuberculosis cases among the city's homeless population for years.

"Many people think that TB is something of the past. Unfortunately it's not. This is a population at particular risk. We need to protect them," Dr. Fielding said.

Thousands Exposed To Deadly TB Epidemic Downtown

Persecution:

Jews Under Muslim Attack In Europe

French Jewish community reports a record rise of 58% in anti-Semitic incidents for 2012—a total of 614 compared to 389 in 2011. While seemingly not directly relevant to the question about Obama’s visit, the situation in France—and Western Europe generally—in fact tells much about the Middle East and Israel’s position in it.

Amid the general increase in anti-Semitic activity in France, then, there were almost twice as many physical attacks on Jews there in 2012 as in 2011, and 25% of those involved a weapon. Why the dramatic rise? 

An article this week by leading anti-Semitism scholar Manfred Gerstenfeld makes clear that the problem goes well beyond France and is widespread in Western Europe.

Another study that same year interviewed 117 “Muslim male youngsters (average age 19) in Berlin, Paris and London” and found that “the majority…voiced some, or strong anti-Semitic feelings. They expressed them openly and often aggressively.”

After citing some more findings in this vein, Gerstenfeld notes that “These projects and much anecdotal information reveal that anti-Semitism among substantial parts of European Muslim communities is much higher than in autochthonous populations”—however much, one might add, some in the French Jewish community find it impolitic to mention it.

Gerstenfeld, however, goes on to fault the authorities of those autochthonous populations for “allow[ing] immigrants into their countries in a non-selective way without taking into account the cultural differences…. They should have known that actively promoting anti-Semitism was part and parcel of the cultures these people came from.”

That observation, in turn, is easily substantiated by Pew Center polls of Middle Eastern and other Muslim-majority countries—like the one in 2009 that found 74% of Indonesians, 78% of Pakistanis, 97% of Jordanians, 98% of Lebanese, 95% of Egyptians, and—dare one say it—97% in the Palestinian territories expressing anti-Semitic attitudes.

Death For Preaching Christ In 'Liberated' Libya

Four foreign Christians—including one who holds American-Swedish citizenship—were arrested days ago in Libya.  According to the Guardian, their crime is arousing “suspicion of being missionaries and distributing Christian literature, a charge that could carry the death penalty.”

Apparently the four Christians had “contracted a local printer to produce pamphlets explaining Christianity.”  Proselytizing to Muslims—that is, preaching to them another religion—was banned even under the late Col. Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyans—strongly supported by U.S. President Obama in the name of “freedom”—got rid of Gaddafi but kept the distinctly anti-freedom law.

Discussing this case, Libyan security official Hussein Bin Hmeid, trying to justify the Islamic ban on free speech, observes: “Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100% Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security.” Indeed, Muslim governments—most notably Iran’s—constantly suppress any talk of Christianity, claiming it threatens “our national security.” Such is the tribal mentality of Islam which everywhere declares: If you’re not one of us, you must be an enemy trying to subvert our way of life.

Nor should the arrested Christians expect much sympathy from more “moderate” Libyans.  According to Benghazi lawyer and “human rights activist” Bilal Bettamer, Christians should not offend Muslims by trying to share their faith: “It is disrespectful. If we had Christianity we could have dialogue, but you can’t just spread Christianity.  The maximum penalty is the death penalty. It’s a dangerous thing to do.”

Also see:

The Business Of Arming Terrorists

Yet, the Obama administration has been involved in providing weapons to Syrian rebels who have committed many atrocities across Syria. Why must Americans be disarmed and jihadists be given weapons? Americans are simply observing a right, while the Islamists want guns to force Syria into becoming a Sharia governed state.

Leon Panetta, who is now retiring, and General Martin Dempsey, the principle military adviser of Obama, have both revealed that they supported a plan last year composed by Hillary Clinton and General Petraeus that would provide weapons to the Syrian rebels, who are all fighting for a jihadist cause.

So, to Obama Americans shouldn’t have rifles but Syrian rebels should? This dangerous distortion is just more evidence as to how supportive the current administration has been for the Islamists.

In Syria right now, the most armed entity is the military, the second most equipped are the rebels, and the most defenseless are the civilians. In the midst of the fray, the civilians are the ones who suffer the most, since the Islamists have the weapons, and the military is unable to protect all places of the country at once.

Now, apply this to America. If a full weapons band was ever decreed, the military, the police, and the lawless would be the most armed, and American civilians helpless. Police and military personal would not be able to protect the entire country, leaving the criminals many opportunities to pick out their victims.

UN Proposes 'Food Redistribution' From U.S. And Europe Through 'Swift And Collective Action

If you loved wealth redistribution, remember that money is just the tip of the redistribution iceberg. In the USSR, wealth redistribution gave way to food redistribution. And the UNSSR is moving along that same road.

 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – has issued a new report called Our Nutrient World: The challenge to produce more food and energy with less pollution.

People in the rich world should become “demitarians” – eating half as much meat as usual, while stopping short of giving it up – in order to avoid severe environmental damage, scientists have urged.

Sutton was speaking about the rich west, the US and Europe in particular. He wants the change in diet to be pioneered in Europe, as the US will be a tougher nut to crack.

The UN scientists said people in poor countries should be allowed to increase their consumption of animal protein, which billions of people are lacking. But if that is so as not to cause environmental harm, the move to meat in the developing world must be balanced with a reduction in the amount consumed in developed countries.

In the foreword to this report, Achim Steiner, the head of UNEP, says that “swift and collective action” is necessary and that “our daily decisions” matter.

A more sophisticated set of aspirations must therefore emphasize how the lives of all can be enhanced by allowing the poorest to increase their food and other nutrient consumption, while the richest realise for themselves that it is not in their own interests to over-consume.