If you are weak enough to confess your sins, God is strong enough to save you from them. —Thabiti Anyabwile
Mar. 31, 2015
BLOOMBERG
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Ben Cardin says an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear activities is possible though he and other lawmakers will insist on strong safeguards because they don’t trust that country’s leaders.
Indiana-based companies including Eli Lilly & Co. and Anthem Inc. pressed state leaders to enact legislation clarifying that the state’s new religious-freedom law can’t be used to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
National Security Agency police thwarted an intrusion at the highly secure Maryland campus by firing on a vehicle making an unauthorized entry, killing one person and wounding another in an incident the FBI said wasn’t related to terrorism. An NSA police officer also was hurt.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said interest rates will probably be raised in 2015 and made the case for a cautious approach to subsequent increases that will keep borrowing costs low for years to come.
German unemployment dropped to a record low as the labor market continued to underpin the country’s position as Europe’s economic powerhouse. The jobless rate fell to 6.4 percent in March from 6.5 percent in February.
Just when it seemed bond yields that averaged 1.6 percent at year-end couldn’t get any lower, Mario Draghi and the European Central Bank flooded the market with cheap cash. That pushed yields in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Broad Market Index to 1.39 percent on Monday, within 0.06 percentage point of the record low reached in January.
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities appreciated at a faster pace in the year ended in January, indicating the residential real-estate market continues to firm. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 4.6 percent from January 2014, the biggest gain since September.
None of the 40 runners who attempted to finish the 100-mile Barkley Marathons in the mountains of eastern Tennessee completed the race, the first time since 2007 that the endurance test had no finishers. “The mountains won,” said Gary Cantrell, who created the event in 1986. “I was pleased with the outcome. It’s a competition between the humans and the mountains.”
Many have argued that the jobs recovery of the past six years has been mostly low-wage jobs, but Deutsche Bank Chief International Economist Torsten Sløk says that’s not true. The unemployment rate has fallen dramatically since the financial crisis, and is now at 5.5%. The February employment report was the 12th straight month the economy added more than 200,000 jobs, the best streak since 1995.
AP Top Stories
Hillary Rodham Clinton emailed her staff on an iPad as well as a BlackBerry while secretary of state, despite her explanation she exclusively used a personal email address on a homebrew server so that she could carry a single device.
A mother was charged with murder after she locked herself in the bathroom of a New York City restaurant on Monday with her one-year-old son, who was later pronounced dead, police said.
Demonstrators gather at Monument Circle to protest a controversial religious freedom bill recently signed by Governor Mike Pence during a rally in Indianapolis March 28, 2015. More than 2,000 people gathered at the Indiana State Capital Saturday to protest Indiana’s newly signed Religious Freedom Restoration Act saying it would promote discrimination against individuals based on sexual orientation.
While Indiana lawmakers try to contain the fallout from a religious exemptions bill that’s been widely criticized for opening a backdoor to discriminate against LGBT residents, Alabama’s poised to pass a similar bill today. In total, more than 28 states are contemplating similar legislation ahead of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality hearing next month.
The Islamic State jihadist group Tuesday executed at least 37 civilians, including two children, in a raid on a regime-held village in Hama province of central Syria, a monitor said.
The U.N. human rights office in Geneva said that in the past five days, at least 93 civilians have been killed and 364 wounded in five Yemeni cities engulfed in the violence, including the capital, Sanaa.
Saudi forces and Yemeni Houthi fighters exchanged artillery and rocket fire along several stretches of their border on Tuesday.
A man suspected in the death of a 1-year-old Maryland boy found inside a backpack in a central Ohio creek was charged with murder Monday after the toddler’s mother agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
BBC
Myanmar’s President Thein Sein has witnessed the signing of a draft ceasefire agreement between the government and 16 rebel groups.
A Singapore teenager has been charged over an online video criticizing Christianity and the country’s recently deceased founding PM Lee Kuan Yew.
France’s Senate has rejected a planned 2013 law penalizing people who pay for sex, and has chosen to maintain the offence of soliciting.
Russia’s foreign minister has said prospects of a preliminary agreement on Iran’s nuclear program are “very good” on the final day of negotiations.
WND
An activist group calling itself “Disarm NYPD” is seeking to strip officers of their firearms and boot them from select neighborhood streets, all in the name of keeping city citizens safe.
ISIS terrorists have been sending out a series of photographs on Twitter showing their “graduating class” of local and foreign recruits, sending the overall message: We’re organized, growing and not afraid to show it.
Project Veritas, the investigative organization begun by James O’Keefe to out organizational corruption and dishonesty, just released a video that shows a Barry University official embracing a proposed idea from an undercover videographer to start a pro-ISIS club at the Miami campus.
The Next-Generation Weapons That Russia Will Use Against The United States In World War III
The Russian military is in the midst of a sweeping modernization program, and it is currently developing some incredibly impressive offensive and defensive next-generation weapons that are designed to be used in a future war with the United States. The key to winning World War III will be to strike hard and to strike fast, and the Russians understand this. Meanwhile, the U.S. military has totally shifted gears from a “Cold War mindset” and is now completely focused on fighting smaller regional wars in the Middle East and elsewhere. As a result, U.S. strategic forces have suffered. There has been very little effort to modernize, and many of our nuclear missile silos are using technology that is ridiculously outdated. For example, CBS News has documented that eight inch floppy disks are still being used in many of our missile silos. And don’t expect things to change any time soon. At this point, the U.S. military plans to keep Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles that were originally deployed in the 1960s and 1970s in service until 2030. (Read More…)
5 Charts Which Show That The Next Economic Crash Is Dead Ahead
When an economic crisis is coming, there are usually certain indicators that appear in advance. For example, commodity prices usually start to plunge before a recession begins. And as you can see from the Bloomberg Commodity Index which you can find right here, this has already been happening. In addition, I have previously written about how the U.S. dollar went on a great run just before the financial collapse of 2008. This is something that has also been happening over the past few months. Some people would have you believe that nobody can anticipate the next great economic downturn and that to try to do so is just an exercise in “guesswork”. But that is not the case at all. We can look back over history and see patterns that keep repeating. And a lot of the exact same patterns that happened just before previous stock market crashes are happening again right now. (Read More.…)
Daily Digest
March 31, 2015
THE FOUNDATION
“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God.” –Patrick Henry, Speech to the Virginia Convention, 1775
TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Conn. Governor Lashes Out at Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law
In response to Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced he would sign an executive order banning state-funded travel to Indiana. This is the same knee-jerk reaction from Malloy that brought Connecticut some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation. “Because of Indiana’s new law, later today I will sign an Executive Order regarding state-funded travel,” Malloy wrote on Twitter. “When new laws turn back the clock on progress, we can’t sit idly by. We are sending a message that discrimination won’t be tolerated.” Well, we guess every liberal has to do his or her part to chip away at religious liberty. But Malloy really could have given it some thought before he acted, as Connecticut is one of the 19 states in the union that has the very same law on its books. In fact, some argue the Constitution State’s law is more absolute in protecting religious Liberty than Indiana’s — and it hasn’t been a problem until liberals decided otherwise. More…
Just Who’s Opposed to Indiana’s Law?
Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act stirred plenty of opposition, including from many corporations doing business in the Hoosier State — Cummins, Apple and the NCAA to name a few. But National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke wonders how this is possible, writing, “We were told at the time of Hobby Lobby that companies can’t have consciences. We were told that they can’t have feelings. We were told that they can’t corporately opine on moral or legal questions as might an individual, and in consequence they can’t be worthy of praise or admonition. What, one wonders, has changed? It couldn’t be, could it, that progressives are opposed to the idea that corporations are entities that are capable of holding opinions and taking political stands … until they are needed in a fight that they care about?” Remarkable, isn’t it, how “new” arguments present themselves when leftists have a bone to pick?
SCOTUS: School Safety More Important Than Free Speech
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case of a group of California students who were sent home after they wore American flag-themed shirts on Cinco de Mayo. In 2010, the Morgan Hill Unified School District forbade students from wearing American flag themes because it feared the act would spark racial violence. But the Supreme Court upheld the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling that justified stifling the students’ speech. In an amicus brief, siblings Mary Beth Tinker and John Tinker wrote to the Supreme Court, “If students learn that threatening speakers is an effective way to suppress speech, this will produce more threats, and more suppression of a wide range of other speech. And beyond this, even peaceful students will learn that free speech must yield whenever its opponents are willing to threaten violence — a message antithetical to all things this Court has tried to convey about the First Amendment.” It wasn’t always this way. The Tinkers were the two siblings in a 1976 ruling that students have First Amendment rights just like every other citizen. More…
Obama to Pledge Goals for UN Global Warming Treaty
The Obama administration will announce today what the U.S. will contribute to the UN’s effort to fight global warming and change the world economy as we know it through an international treaty. But the pledge to the UN will be a rehash of all Barack Obama’s old dreams. According to the Associated Press, Obama will pledge to cut America’s greenhouse gas emissions 26% to 28% by 2025 — a war on cars, coal and capitalism. It’s a move that’ll make Obama’s international cronies happy, but will probably face fierce opposition at home. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Considering that two-thirds of the U.S. federal government hasn’t even signed off on the Clean Power Plan and 13 states have already pledged to fight it, our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal.” In the months before the UN’s December meeting in Paris to draw up the treaty, look for the Obama administration to embellish the grandeur of it all: the legacy, the hope, the change. But this time, Obama has to work against a Republican Congress to enact his goals. More…
Ted Kennedy Institute Remarks a Bridge Too Far
Barack Obama spoke Monday at the Dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston, which, by the way, cost taxpayers $38 million. Naturally, he spoke well, if inaccurately, of the “Liberal Lion” of the Senate. “What if we carried ourselves more like Ted Kennedy?” Obama asked. “What if we worked to follow his example a little bit harder? To his harshest critics, who saw him as nothing more than a partisan lightning rod — that may sound foolish, but there are Republicans here today for a reason. They know who Ted Kennedy was. It’s not because they shared Ted’s ideology or his positions, but because they knew Ted as somebody who bridged the partisan divide over and over and over again, with genuine effort and affection, in an era when bipartisanship has become so very rare.” Wait, did he just use the word “bridged” in a eulogy for Ted Kennedy? Joe Biden was even worse, saying, “He was an anchor to many of us.” Mary Jo Kopechne was not available for comment.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Deadline for Iran Nuke Talks: A Bad Deal Ahead
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The deadline is midnight on Tuesday for a deal resulting from the latest round of nuclear talks between the United States, several other world powers and Iran, and — surprise! — it appears Iran is backing away from some of the terms. But at least the nations can look forward to a new round of talks and a real deal in the future — at least, in the words of Secretary of State John Kerry, “Allah willing.”
Several months ago, Iran tentatively agreed to send a large portion of its stockpile of enriched uranium to Russia, where it would be inaccessible for the Iranians to use in any future nuclear weapons program. However, Iran’s deputy foreign minister ruled out such an agreement, claiming, “The export of stocks of enriched uranium is not in our program, and we do not intend on sending them abroad.”
So much for the tentative agreement. So, on to Plan B, which according to Western officials consists of convincing Iran to blend the enriched uranium into a more diluted form that can’t be used as weapons-grade material — at least not until the process is reversed in a couple of weeks. Quite the diplomacy here; uh, you can keep the enriched uranium, but only if you dilute it. Political analyst Charles Krauthammer calls this “one cave after another.”
If Iran were to agree to option two, then the Obama administration will be swift to claim that as long as regular inspections are conducted all will be well. At least until Iran bans inspectors from entering the country — a move right out of North Korea’s playbook.
We aren’t sure why this news is surprising to anyone, given that Iran has long desired and pursued nuclear weapons capability. Why on earth would they want to give up the enriched uranium they have when it’s their stated goal to destroy Israel? Further, why is this administration so inept at dealing with rogue nations like Iran, which supports terrorism and has a long track record of breaking its word?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t at all impressed with the Iran nuclear negotiations, as he has warned all along. Netanyahu realizes that if Iran created a nuclear weapon, it would threaten his country. Regarding the nuclear talks, he told members of his cabinet, “This deal, as it appears to be emerging, bears out all of our fears, and even more than that.” He said Iran is trying to “conquer the entire Middle East,” citing the recent Iranian-allied advances in Yemen. Netanyahu went as far as condemning the talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, outright, stating that “the Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis is very dangerous to humanity, and must be stopped.”
Israel’s leader has the backbone to stand up to the Iranians, so why can’t the world’s major powers do the same? Because our “leaders” haven’t learned from previous talks with Iran.
As we’ve repeatedly noted, ever since it was discovered in 2003 that Iran had a nuclear program, Iran has used these bait-and-switch tactics. The United States and the major powers in Europe come to the negotiating table thinking they have a deal only to see Iran demand new concessions and blame the West for the impasse. More often than not, this ploy works. If and when the talks fail, the West has to regroup, and Iran continues to go on working toward having nuclear weapons capability. Over time, Iran makes demands for more concessions in order to come back to the table, all the while knowing it’s buying time for its nuclear weapons program.
Instead of acquiescing to Iran’s refusal to abide by any agreement, why not just lay out an offer and add or enhance sanctions upon Iran’s rejection? Well, that would require Netanyahu to be present, or the likes of Reagan or Churchill.
Obama and his diplomatic clowns just can’t seem to accept that, in dealing with Iran’s nuke program, no deal is better than a bad deal — even if they’ve said so themselves. A bad deal with Iran is a bad deal for the entire Middle East and the world.
Yet Obama is more concerned with partisan politics, telling Senate Democrats they need to stick with him on this terrible deal. His pitch to them is that if the Iran nuclear talks fail, then the GOP wins. How’s that for foreign policy? He’s more concerned about his perceived enemies from the other party than he is about a real enemy that wants to wipe the United States and Israel off the map.
Reid’s Replacements Don’t Exactly Inspire
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The happy news of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s impending retirement has lost some of its luster now that he’s tapped Chuck Schumer of New York as his successor. So what do we have to look forward to?
Schumer, now the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, is one of the party’s most prodigious fundraisers. He is also a shrewd political strategist who was the architect of the strategy that flipped 14 Republican-held seats in two consecutive election cycles in 2006 and 2008, giving Democrats a filibuster-proof majority to pass ObamaCare in 2009.
The New York Democrat has an unrivaled reputation as a press hound. One of the running jokes in DC is that the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera.
A number of Schumer’s colleagues, including Minority Whip Dick Durbin, have endorsed him for leader primarily because of his extensive work in bolstering the Democrat caucus. He is known for burning up the phone lines to keep the caucus in line and for his dogged leadership at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Policy and Communications Center, which he founded. Schumer has a reputation for being a pragmatic dealmaker … with other Democrats, that is.
Senate Republicans can look forward to a nightmare not much different than they faced with Reid. Schumer has always been a vocal and unapologetic proponent of Big Government and the nanny state, and he won’t hesitate to twist arms to get it — or pick any fight to stay in the media spotlight.
Schumer’s list of crusades over the years is a sign of what’s in store. Schumer has called for investigations, regulations or outright bans on so many products and services it’s difficult to keep track: cereal prices, e-cigarettes, fast-food bread, powdered caffeine, yoga mat chemicals, Bitcoin, laser pointers, payday lending and flame retardants to name a few.
Furthermore, Schumer’s on the record musing about nationalizing oil companies, pushing a universal carbon tax, and, of course, even more taxes for the “wealthy,” however that is defined these days.
Most important, Schumer has never seen a gun control measure he didn’t like — unless it wasn’t strict enough.
The quest to find a Democrat candidate to run for Reid’s Senate seat in Nevada isn’t as clear as who will fill his leadership post. Nevada has become uncertain territory for Democrats, and Reid may have decided to retire rather than risk losing his re-election bid in 2016. He denied being worried, but he nearly lost in 2010. And he said, “I think it is unfair for me to be soaking up all the money to be re-elected.” If he had it in the bag, why would it take so much money to win?
To take his Senate seat, the outgoing minority leader favors former Nevada attorney general Catherine Cortez Mastro, who he claims is unbeatable. Other possible candidates include Ross Miller, who lost the attorney general race last year, and former representatives Steven Horsford and Shelley Berkley, voted out of office in 2014 and 2012, respectively.
The only other viable candidate may be Rep. Dina Titus, but Democrats might not want to risk running her, as she is the only remaining member of the state’s Democrat delegation in the House. Whoever they choose to run for the open seat in 2016 will almost surely face Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, a strong candidate who could give the GOP a pickup in Nevada.
All in all, we’re glad to see Reid headed for the Senate exit, as he has done tremendous damage to the institution itself. But Schumer won’t be an improvement, and if a Democrat wins Reid’s seat little will have been gained.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Arnold Ahlert: A Deal Like the One With North Korea?
- Thomas Sowell: Etiquette Versus Annihilation
- Dennis Prager: Life Lessons From the German Air Disaster
- Michael Barone: Where the Red Line Came From — Before It Was Crossed
- Tony Perkins: The End of the Road for Religious Freedom?
OPINION IN BRIEF
French sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859): “The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money.”
Columnist Thomas Sowell: “Why is Barack Obama so anxious to have an international agreement that will have no legal standing under the Constitution just two years from now, since it will be just a presidential agreement, rather than a treaty requiring the ‘advice and consent’ of the Senate? There are at least two reasons. One reason is that such an agreement will serve as a fig leaf to cover his failure to do anything that has any serious chance of stopping Iran from going nuclear. Such an agreement will protect Obama politically, despite however much it exposes the American people to unprecedented dangers. The other reason is that, by going to the United Nations for its blessing on his agreement with Iran, he can get a bigger fig leaf to cover his complicity in the nuclear arming of America’s most dangerous enemy. In Obama’s vision, as a citizen of the world, there may be no reason why Iran should not have nuclear weapons when other nations have them.”
Columnist Dennis Prager: “One psychopath, in one hour, killed 149 innocent people aboard a Germanwings airliner. How many people will ever be able to do nearly as much good for 149 people in a lifetime? With very few exceptions, good can only be achieved one by one by one. That’s why, if you want your name remembered by many people, you have a far better chance of accomplishing it by doing evil than by doing good. And that’s why most great evils are done by movements that want to change the world. If you really want to change the world for the better, work on making better people, not a better world. … [Andreas] Lubitz murdered 149 people because he was a narcissistic individual who lacked a properly functioning conscience. The number of people walking around in the world with a broken moral compass is quite large. Not all of them are depressed. And I am not only referring to violent Islamists. The U.N. just voted to condemn one country in the world for mistreatment of women: Israel. Are all those U.N. ambassadors depressed?”
Humorist Frank Fleming: “We need to stop Christians from forcing their beliefs on us about how we shouldn’t be forcing beliefs on them.”
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.
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Taiwan, Norway seek to join China-backed AIIB, Japan still cautious
Japan remains cautious about signing up to the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), indicating that Tokyo will miss the March 31 deadline for application, but both Taiwan and Norway said they would seek to join the institution. Finance Minister Taro Aso reiterated Japan’s concerns about governance at the AIIB, its debt sustainability and environmental and social safeguards.
Sierra Leone Ebola lockdown exposes hundreds of suspected cases
A three-day lockdown in Sierra Leone has exposed hundreds of potential new cases of Ebola, aiding efforts to bring to an end an epidemic that has already killed 3,000 people in the country. Reports to authorities of sick people increased by 191 percent in Western Area, which includes the capital, during the lockdown compared with the previous weekend, said Obi Sesay of the National Ebola Response Center.
NY Assembly Passes Abortion Bill Allowing Shooting 3rd Trimester Babies Through the Heart With Poison
The New York State Assembly voted a resounding 94-49 Wednesday to approve a bill that would allow third trimester abortions using procedures such as a shot of poison to the baby’s heart by medical professionals who won’t necessarily be doctors. “And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.” 2 Kings 17:17 (KJV)
What an Iran nuclear deal could look like
World powers want to cut Iran’s ability to build an atomic weapon to a “one-year breakout time.” That would mean Tehran would need at least 12 months to be able to produce enough material for a nuclear bomb. The assumption is that the international community would have enough time to detect such a move — and could seek to strike or destroy the facilities.
Iran Likely to Force Obama to Back Down on ‘Deadline Threat’
Quoting anonymous sources, AP said that marathon talks have produced “mixed results” but that both sides will issue a general statement to continue negotiations, exactly what President Obama said would not happen.
One-Third of GOP Voters See Obama Worse for US than Assad and Putin
A Reuters online poll reveals that 34 percent of Republican voters view President Barack Obama as more of an imminent threat to the United States than Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON
On Saturday morning, April 4th, sky watchers in the USA can see a brief but beautiful total eclipse of the Moon.
If Liberals Are The Good Guys, Why Do They Lie So Much?
If you listen to liberals, you’d believe that conservatives are hateful, racist, cruel, selfish dishonest, mean-spirited Fascists while liberals are compassionate, caring, open minded, honest, giving saints who want the best for everyone. If that’s true, then why is it that liberals have to incessantly lie about what they’re doing, what’s happening in the world and about conservatives?
Multiple Earthquakes Recorded In Oklahoma
at 12:57 a.m., a 3.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded 11 miles west of Stillwater, At 1:06 a.m., a 3.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded ten miles west of Stillwater, And again, at 9:17 a.m., another 3.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded 11 miles east, northeast of Perry…
South Pacific Earthquakes Rattle Several Nations, Small Tsunami Follows
A pair of strong earthquakes rattled the South Pacific nations of Tonga, Samoa and Papua New Guinea Monday. The South Pacific earthquakes resulted in a small tsunami, frightening locals near the epicentre. However, there had been no reports of damage or injuries so far
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria From American Cattle Become Airborne
Airborne particulate matter wafting off American cattle yards contains antibiotics, bacteria, and antibiotic-resistant DNA, a new study finds. …The work suggests airborne transmission may be contributing to an emerging global health problem, where doctors find it increasingly difficult to treat life-threatening infections.
Turkey power outage hits big cities
Massive power cuts have hit dozens of provinces across Turkey, with officials saying a break in connections with mainland Europe could be to blame. The outage has affected power stations and public transport, including Istanbul’s tram and metro systems. A crisis centre has been set up at the energy ministry.
Sources: US may push renewed discussion of the Saudi peace initiative
The United States may push a renewed discussion of the Saudi initiative to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, diplomatic sources in New York believe. According to the sources, the US would not initiate the move itself, but would “make sure” that another western state would introduce the move.
Russia’s foreign minister to rejoin Iran talks, sees chance of success
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he would rejoin talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Lausanne later on Tuesday and said there was a good chance of success. “The chances are high. They are probably not 100 percent but you can never be 100 percent certain of anything. The odds are quite ‘doable’ if none of the parties raise the stakes at the last minute,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.
‘Biden told US Jews that Israel – not America – guaranteed their security’
Vice President Joe Biden told a gathering of prominent American Jewish officials last fall that they should look to Israel – and not the United States – as the ultimate guarantor of their community’s long-term safety. The surprising remarks, which were made during a Rosh Hashana celebration attended by government officials and members of Congress, were reported by Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg…
Pentagon chief considers easing of enlistment standards
Saying the military needs to do more to compete with corporate America for quality recruits, Defense Secretary Ash Carter opened the door Monday to relaxing some enlistment standards — particularly for high-tech or cybersecurity jobs. Speaking to students at his former suburban Philadelphia high school, Carter said the military could ease age requirements and bring in older people who are mid-career, or provide student loan repayments to attract students who have finished college.
NBC’s Ann Curry Compares Conservatives in U.S. to Skeptical Iranian Leaders Ahead of Deadline
While reporting on Monday’s NBC Nightly News with the latest from the Iranian side of the international talks in Switzerland over their nuclear program, Ann Curry became yet another member of the liberal media in smearing U.S. conservatives by likening them to radical hardliners in Iran’s Islamic regime.
Iran nuclear talks intensify as key deadline nears
Foreign ministers from six world powers are meeting their Iranian counterpart, amid hopes of a breakthrough after almost 18 months of negotiations. They want to impose limits that would prevent Iran from producing enough fuel for a nuclear weapon within a year.
Anti-Semitic incidents rise in Florida, across nation
Last summer, South Florida saw a spate of anti-Semitic incidents involving synagogues and cars spray-painted with swastikas, “Hamas” and hateful symbols, as well as protestors holding offensive signs at anti-Israel rallies
Palestinians join ICC with Israelis in sights
The Palestinians formally gain membership of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday with the aim of pursuing Israelis for war crimes, despite uncertainty over the move’s wider ramifications.
Former CFO on Food Stamps After Controversial Viral Video About Chick-Fil-A
A former CFO is now on food stamps after a video he posted on YouTube two and half years ago criticizing Chick-Fil-A went viral and destroyed his career.
The McAvany Intel Memo
Some people in the liberal US media see Russia’s recent moves as Putin flaunting his chess skills. However, the moves in recent months by Putin, and even those from Obama and other Western countries, are more like a high-stakes poker game. One bad hand, a mistake that gives you away, a wrong bet, a failed bluff, and we could see desperate nations taking desperate actions. Is Putin bluffing regarding the Ukraine? He claims there are no Russian troops in the former Soviet state. The West says it has video footage confirming just the opposite. Would they lie? Regardless of whether he does or not, Putin’s moves today are built on preserving and building his country’s wealth, power, and sovereignty.
Putin’s opponent in the poker game is making it easy for him. President Obama telegraphs every move he’s going to make – as he did in the US-Russian confrontation over Syria in September 2013. Obama looked like a fool to the entire world when Putin backed him down from his hoped-for US invasion of Syria. Obama is predictable. He’s a known liar. And he’s scared to death of war with Russia or China – but that’s not necessarily true of his Neocon handlers. Putin believes Obama’s pacifist leanings are hiding a much more sinister revolutionary mindset – one that will attack when provoked. So Putin is preparing militarily (think nuclear) for the worst-case scenario. Economically, Putin and Russia expect oil prices to plunge. So they have built up reserves to cover any shortfall they may have. In fact, Russia has taken steps to build its economy regardless of the US/EU sanctions.
(Excerpt from McAlvany Intelligence Advisor, December 2014
Germanwings’ terror adds to annals of rogue pilots (WorldNetDaily)
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5 Charts Which Show That The Next Economic Crash Is Dead Ahead Posted: 31 Mar 2015 06:47 AM PDT
The post 5 Charts Which Show That The Next Economic Crash Is Dead Ahead appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| The Next-Generation Weapons That Russia Will Use Against The United States In World War III
Posted: 31 Mar 2015 06:43 AM PDT
The post The Next-Generation Weapons That Russia Will Use Against The United States In World War III appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Chile floods death toll rises to 17 – one of driest places on earth hit by worst flooding in 80 years
Posted: 31 Mar 2015 06:38 AM PDT
The post Chile floods death toll rises to 17 – one of driest places on earth hit by worst flooding in 80 years appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Billionaire investor warns of coming central bank collapse followed by gold seizure
Posted: 31 Mar 2015 06:34 AM PDT
The post Billionaire investor warns of coming central bank collapse followed by gold seizure appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line
Posted: 31 Mar 2015 06:27 AM PDT
The post Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Use of antibiotics in cattle feed leads to airborne antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Posted: 31 Mar 2015 06:22 AM PDT
The post Use of antibiotics in cattle feed leads to airborne antibiotic-resistant bacteria appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Russian Tanks and Fighters Enter Eastern Ukraine
Posted: 30 Mar 2015 06:56 PM PDT
The post Russian Tanks and Fighters Enter Eastern Ukraine appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Cyber air warfare: Mass hack sees British Airways freeze thousands of accounts
Posted: 30 Mar 2015 06:49 PM PDT
The post Cyber air warfare: Mass hack sees British Airways freeze thousands of accounts appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Saudi Arabia sends war planes into Yemen in terrifying clash with Iran
Posted: 30 Mar 2015 06:43 PM PDT
Truly, it is a terrifying development. The great religious fissure between Sunni and Shia Muslims that dominates the Middle East has erupted into open conflict in Yemen, the region’s poorest country, threatening to engulf the entire area in a wider war. In a dramatic escalation of the stakes, a Sunni coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels who have swept south through the country. As Yemen veered towards political disintegration, the conflict exploded into a region-wide crisis that could have far-reaching and unpredictable international consequences. FULL REPORT The post Saudi Arabia sends war planes into Yemen in terrifying clash with Iran appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
| Third Blood Moon coming for Passover, April 4th
Posted: 30 Mar 2015 06:37 PM PDT
The post Third Blood Moon coming for Passover, April 4th appeared first on End Time Headlines. |
On today’s Episode of The Briefing
1) Criticism of Indiana religious liberty law piles on, showing priority of sexual revolution
Malloy Bars State Travel to Indiana Amid “Religious Freedom” Law Backlash, NBC Connecticut
Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous, Washington Post (Tim Cook)
2) New York churches may now be forbidden from using school facilities for worship
Supreme Court Leaves Intact New York’s Ban on Religious Services in Schools, New York Times (Marc Santora and Adam Liptak)
3) Secularist opposition to religious education exposes recognition of import of theology
Mayor de Blasio Emerges as an Unexpected Champion of Religion, New York Times (Michael M. Grynbaum and Sharon Otterman)
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan for prayer break in pre-K classes raises concerns, Syracuse Post-Standard (AP)
NYC mayor reaches out to religious schools to boost free pre-K access, World Magazine (Laura Edgehill)
4) College senior defends shutting down free expression of ideas for the sake of free expression of ideas
Campus ‘Safe Spaces’, New York Times
In other news…
Stressed pets put on ‘Prozac’ by absent owners, The Telegraph (Patrick Sawer)
New spa-like abortion clinic is part of a trend to ‘destigmatize’ the procedure Washington Post (Sandhya Somashekhar)
Ooop’s, Another Pastor Inflates His Resume With an Unearned Doctorate
Hillsong insider: “I was not prepared for what I was about to witness that night”
The Idols of Alcoholics Anonymous
Video – Chris Rosebrough, Debunking Hagee’s Four Blood Moons
Mass exorcism of schoolkids leaves many in hysterics as priest attempts to ‘banish the Devil’
NY Assembly Passes Abortion Bill Allowing Shooting 3rd Trimester Babies Through the Heart With Poison
The New York State Assembly voted a resounding 94-49 Wednesday to approve a bill that would allow third trimester abortions using procedures such as a shot of poison to the baby’s heart by medical professionals who won’t necessarily be doctors.
“And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.” 2 Kings 17:17 (KJV)
National Right to Life, highlighted the approval of the bill, AB 6221. The bill was culled from the previous 10-point Women’s Equality Act, which was broken down into stand-alone bills.
Protections relating to human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual harassment in the Women’s Equality Act had been stymied by abortion advocates pushing the expansion of third-trimester abortions.
Unborn Baby Claps Hands While Mum Sings Nursery Rhyme in Ultrasound Scan:
The bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, would expand New York State law, which now only allows abortion in the third trimester when the mother’s life is in danger, to permit abortion up to nine months of pregnancy. The bill also seeks to make it legal for a woman to have an abortion for any reason “relevant to the well-being of the patient.” This reason could be physical, emotional or psychological.
Lori Kehoe, New York State Right to Life executive director, decried the passage of the bill.
“Expanding cruel and brutal third-trimester abortions has long been a goal of the anti-life lobby who never met an abortion they didn’t like,” she said. “With no regard for the fully developed unborn baby who is violently dismembered, or otherwise killed, the New York State Assembly once again put the abortion lobby above New York State women and their children.” source
The post NY Assembly Passes Abortion Bill Allowing Shooting 3rd Trimester Babies Through the Heart With Poison appeared first on Now The End Begins.
Anonymous Says It Will Take Down Israel On April 7th With An ‘Electronic Holocaust’ (VIDEO)
Anonymous says it will be attacking Israel on behalf of and in solidarity with the Palestinian people
“Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.” Deuteronomy 3:22 (KJV)
The clip is edited in the style of a television news report and features a masked and suited individual sitting behind a desk and reading from a prepared script as he declares plans for a massive cyber attack on April 7 – one week before Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Declaring Palestinians youths a ‘symbol of freedom’, Anonymous says it will take down ‘servers, government websites, Israeli military websites, and Israeli institutions’ in a move that will ‘erase Israel from cyberspace in our electronic Holocaust‘.
‘Our message to the foolish Benjamin Netanyahu and all leaders in the Zionist entities, we will continue to electronically attack until the people of Palestine are free,‘ it adds.
The video threatens Israel with an ‘electronic Holocaust’ on April 7 – just one week before Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Israel as Yom HaShoah.
The event is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany.
News of Anonymous threat comes as a Jerusalem district court indicted a Palestinian from east Jerusalem on charges of traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group.
Read the rest of the story on Daily Mail UK…
The post Anonymous Says It Will Take Down Israel On April 7th With An ‘Electronic Holocaust’ (VIDEO) appeared first on Now The End Begins.
Obama’s Israel hate, his next moves could involve a covenant at the UN dividing Israel’s land
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| Left, Israel’s Netanyahu, right, Obama in 2012. Their relationship has not improved since then. Source |
Today Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, chief rabbi of Efrat, compared US President Obama to the biblical figure of Haman, enemy of the Jews. The Jerusalem Post reports,
“The president of the United States is lashing out at Israel just like Haman lashed out at the Jews,” he said. “I’m not making a political statement,” he clarified, “I’m making a Jewish statement.” … Just as Mordechai was focused on saving the Jews of Persia from destruction, he said, so Netanyahu is focused on saving Israel and the world from destruction.
Rabbi Riskin is a prominent Rabbi in both the US and in Israel. Wikipedia lists Riskin’s associations and accomplishments:
“Riskin is the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 20 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the West Bank; dean of Manhattan Day School in New York City; and founder and Chancellor of the Ohr Torah Stone Institutions, a network of high schools, colleges, and graduate Programs in the United States and Israel.”
In the article, Rabbi Riskin was referring to a recent round of nuclear talks between Israel and Iran with the US as mediator. The JPost article reported,
The World Values Network, founded and run by American rabbi and public figure Shmuley Boteach, took out a full page advertisement in The New York Times on Saturday comparing the deal being drawn up with Iran on its nuclear project to the Munich Agreement signed in 1938 by British prime minister Neville Chamberlain with Adolf Hitler, widely seen as an act of appeasement that emboldened the Nazi leader.
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| Foreign Affairs cover, 2012. |
Six world powers and Iran are at work to meet a deadline Tuesday (March 31, 2015) for an agreement that would constrain Iran’s nuclear program or best case scenario, put it completely out of Iran’s reach. The nations meeting to discuss this are the US, represented by Secretary of State John Kerry, Iran represented by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Britain’s Philip Hammond and top diplomats of Russia, China, France and Germany. This is the first time they are meeting since November. The Iran/Nuclear issue has actually been on the table as a UN agenda item for 12 years.
The issue is that Israel and the West claim that Iran is working assiduously to obtain a nuclear bomb. Iranian scientists are hard at work underground like worker bees with spinning centrifuges and scientific advances that will allow them to create and presumably use a nuke, presumably against Israel. Israel believes this is an existential threat against their existence because Iran has said many times that it wants to wipe Israel from the earth. Iran’s use of a nuke on the tiny country would certainly go a long way toward that dastardly goal.
The other issue is that the 6 mediating nations, including the US, are taking Iran at their word when they say they will not use the bomb, that their pursuit is for “peaceful purposes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blasted the impending nuclear deal between the P5+1 world powers and the Iranian regime, calling the accord a historically bad agreement that lets Iran race towards nuclear weapons development.
Worst, it has become clear that Obama is an enemy of Israel and a friend to Iran. The Jewish Press goes so far as to say that Obama’s behavior toward Israel, our only Middle East ally, is actually a declaration of war against the Jewish nation. The American Thinker said today that Obama creates chaos and calls it peace. Of the proposed nuke deal with Iran, Fox News asks if Obama wants Israel to commit suicide.
And now we are back to that interesting quote from the Rabbi with which I opened this article Obama as Haman-type and Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu as a Mordecai-type.
Republicans see Obama as more imminent threat than Putin
The poll showed 34 percent of Republicans ranked Obama as an imminent threat, ahead of Putin (25 percent), who has been accused of aggression in the Ukraine, and Assad (23 percent). Western governments have alleged that Assad used chlorine gas and barrel bombs on his own citizens. View the graphic.
The Last Days
Two of the most dominant eschatological positions in Christendom today, are Amillennialism, and Post-Millennialism. Literally, hundreds of millions of people who claim the Christian faith, are taught and believe in either of these two views whether knowingly or unknowingly. In fact, most of these people have very little knowledge about the last days, and are kept in the dark by their denominational leadership. But why? I mean after all, why are Christians, of all people, so opposed to the return of the Messiah they claim to follow?
Close Aide To Iranian President DEFECTS During Nuke Talks, Leaks Stunning Obama’s Deception
A close media aide to Iranian President Rouhani has just defected during the height of nuclear talks, and leaked very disturbing information about the United States’ so-called “negotiating” team.
He revealed that the European powers are opposed to the weak deal that Obama is pushing, and that the Obama team is acting as agents of Iran in the talks.
Revenge, Abandonment, Betrayal – Markell
Did you ever expect to see those three words linked to the U.S.-Israel relationship? Have we fallen down a hole and we now are in an “Alice-in-Wonderland” world? America embraces her enemies and lifts sanctions on Iran. She will likely place sanctions on Israel. It is an upside down world. Is the Mad Hatter in charge?
Things aren’t falling apart–they’re falling in place.
The entire world is in the process of abandoning Israel which the Bible foretells in Zechariah 12:3. It is ultimately fulfilled in the Tribulation but the process begins much sooner.
Here’s what some are saying.
‘Islam Is a Very Dark Theory’: How the Son of a Founding Member of Hamas Rejected Extremism and Converted to Christianity
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the bestselling author of “Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices,” appeared on The Glenn Beck Program Monday to discuss how he rejected radical Islam and converted to Christianity.
“I was brought up in a state of delusion, believing the Islamic theory that once we control the globe and build an Islamic State we can bring humanity, justice and happiness and solve the human condition,” Yousef said. “Islam is a very dark theory and we need to face this reality.”
1 in 4 Americans Don’t Believe in God; Lack of Trust in Local Churches Cited as a Reason Why Adults Are Leaving the Faith
The study also found that rejection of the Bible and lack of trust in the church are two main reasons why people are turning away from faith. (Zaimov, The Christian Post)
Planned Parenthood received $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds from 2010–2012
by Marsha West
According to Christian News Network:
A new report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that the abortion giant Planned Parenthood received $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding from 2010–2012.
Indiana’s Mike Pence: “We’re not going to change the law”
by Marsha West
News Max reports:
Indiana has been under an “avalanche of intolerance” from people opposed to the state’s new religious freedom restoration law, said Gov. Mike Pence Sunday. Nevertheless, he supports the law and insisted that it will not be changed.
Our Time is Short
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Jesus Booklet
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About Christianity
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As the pastor of a Baptist church I frequently encounter this recurring couplet of questions posed by prospective members:
