23 May 13

IAF Chief: S-300 is En Route to Syria; Surprise War is Possible
"A surprise war can come about through many scenarios at present," he said at a conference of the Fisher Institute for National Security in Herzliya. Isolated incidents can escalate very quickly, he explained, and added that "we are committed to being ready in a matter of hours and to operate up to the end of the spectrum."  

Supreme Court could give landmark ruling on public prayer
In a move that could have national consequences for prayer in public life, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a federal case challenging the constitutionality of opening prayers at the town council meetings of Greece, New York.  

Pope says everyone can do good, regardless of belief
Every human person despite his or her beliefs can do good, and a sharing in good works is the prime place for encounter among those who disagree, Pope Francis said at his Mass today.  

'Israel wants to keep Assad in power'
While some threaten to bring down the wrath of God on President Bashar Assad if he retaliates for a string of recent Israeli airstrikes targeting his missile depots, others are indicating they want him to stay on, suitably weakened of course, because an Islamist regime taking over in Damascus would be much too dangerous.  

Mysterious Illness Kills 2 in Southeast Alabama
Two of the seven have died. The Alabama Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control Respiratory Laboratory are analyzing lab tests from all seven patients. McIntyre says officials hope to have preliminary results on the samples back by Wednesday or Thursday morning.  

Texas passes bill to protect ‘Merry Christmas’ from politically correct opposition
On Monday, state legislators in Austin, Tx. sent Governor Rick Perry its ‘Merry Christmas’ bill, crafted in a bid to fight off political correctness related to the Christian holiday and protect teachers from any lawsuits related to the holiday. It passed in the state legislature Friday.  

US acknowledges killing four American citizens in drone strikes
The US government has acknowledged the killing of four American citizens as part of its drone attack program – one person intentionally and three others not specifically targeted but killed in strikes aimed at terrorist suspects.  

Submerged structure stumps Israeli archaeologists
"It's very enigmatic, it's very interesting, but the bottom line is we don't know when it's from, we don't know what it's connected to, we don't know its function," said Dani Nadel, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa who is one of several researchers studying the discovery. "We only know it is there, it is huge and it is unusual."  

Israel's military chiefs warn of Syria threat
The Syrian army will soon receive advanced missile defense systems and Israel's air force commander warned the weapons could be used against Israel.  

Netanyahu says peace is top priority
Israel is keen to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Netanyahu and Kerry met Thursday in Jerusalem during Kerry's fourth visit to the region in efforts by the Obama administration to jump-start peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.  

Congressman: IRS used 'Soviet-style intimidation'
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, says he needs to know who has been ordering the Internal Revenue Service attacks on conservative organizations. “The main point here is this: Someone is giving out marching orders for these agencies and these employees to do these things. The question is, who is giving out the marching orders?’  

INTENSIFYING RADIATION STORM
A solar radiation storm in progress around Earth is intensifying. It currently ranks S3 (strong) on NOAA storm scales. Passengers and crew in high latitude, high altitude flights may experience increasing radiation exposures. The ongoing radiation storm got started on May 22nd when the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR1745 exploded. The blast produced an M5-class solar flare and hurled a magnificent CME over the sun's western limb:  

Bernanke's QE Dance: Fed Could Taper In Next Two Meetings, Tightening Would Collapse The Market
Markets went on a wild rollercoaster ride as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke addressed Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, first making it clear that tapering QE today would be unproductive, then admitting that it could happen over the next two FOMC meetings if warranted by the data. Channeling his inner Greenspan, Bernanke filled the ether with words meant to mask his underlying intentions, but a few contradictions did make their way into his speech which reveal his easing bias. QE, it seems, is still here to stay.  

Turrialba Volcano spits massive ash and gas trail
At 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Turrialba Volcano, located east of the province of Cartago, began to spew gas and ash from two crater openings, the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori) reported.  

Bernanke signals Fed to maintain stimulus efforts
Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to slow its extraordinary stimulus programs. Reducing the Fed's efforts to keep borrowing rates low would "carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery," Bernanke said in testimony to the Joint Economic Committee, a panel that includes members of the House and Senate.  

Military suffers wave of 'gay' sex assaults
A recent military report on sexual assault in the military shocked many in Washington and around the nation, but a leading expert on military personnel revealed the prevalence of men assaulting other men is one of the major headlines in this study. The Defense Department survey of sexual assault in the military during fiscal 2012 estimated 26,000 assaults took place in the armed forces.  

Iran pushes ahead with new nuclear plant that worries West
Iran is pressing ahead with the construction of a research reactor that Western experts say could offer it a second way of producing material for a nuclear bomb if it decides to make one, a U.N. report showed on Wednesday. Iran has transported the reactor vessel to the heavy water plant near the central town of Arak but has not yet installed it, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a confidential report issued to member states.  

Senate: US must back Israel in case of Iran strike
The Democratic-led Senate voted 99-0 - with one senator not present - on Wednesday night, on a resolution that the United States should support Israel if it were forced to defend itself from an Iranian nuclear threat. The measure also urged Obama to strengthen enforcement of existing sanctions on Iran.  

Hezbollah 'perpetuating Assad's campaign of terror'
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the militant Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah and Iran are helping perpetuate President Bashar al-Assad's "campaign of terror" in Syria. Mr Kerry said thousands of Hezbollah fighters were contributing significantly to the violence. He added that Iran was actively supporting Hezbollah's involvement.  

Nebraska attorney general wants abortion clinic nurse's license revoked
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on Wednesday filed a petition to revoke the license of the only nurse at a controversial abortion clinic in the state for allegedly providing substandard care and improperly administering drugs.  

European banks stop sending money to North Korea: aid groups
European aid groups said their banks in Europe had stopped sending money to North Korea in the wake of U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank, leaving them scrambling for a solution short of hand-carrying cash into the impoverished country.  

Texas Mega-Church Welcomes Islamists To ‘Global Faith Forum’
The 3,000-member NorthWood Church of Keller, T.X. is holding a “Global Faith Forum” in November. In yet another Islamist-attended interfaith event, Christians will hear from a former Saudi intelligence chief, a former director-general of Al-Jazeera, officials from U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entities and the non-Muslims who embrace them.  

22 May 13

Earthquake rumbles through North Hastings
In a report by Natural Resources Canada it was confirmed that the rumbling earth and rattling windows felt by residents throughout North Hastings at 9:43 a.m. was in fact an earthquake measured at a magnitude of 5.2.  

A BIG ASTEROID APPROACHES
Near-Earth asteroid 1998 QE2 is approaching the Earth-Moon system for a flyby on May 31st.  

Biden: Jewish leaders drove gay marriage changes
Biden says culture and arts change people's attitudes. He cites social media and the old NBC TV series "Will and Grace" as examples of what helped changed attitudes on gay marriage. Biden says, quote, "Think — behind of all that, I bet you 85 percent of those changes, whether it's in Hollywood or social media, are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry."  

CIA source: 4th shoe about to drop
a CIA official has told a Drudge Report editor that a fourth shoe is about to drop, make that the 5th shoe in the correct count, that has Obama political operatives at the White House literally shaking in their boots. The CIA source that provided top secret information that a mega-scandal is brewing has been 100 percent reliable in the past when providing hot tips concerning the murky underbelly of Washington, D.C.  

‘Multiculturalism failing’: Swedish PM pleas for order as riots engulf Stockholm suburbs
Hundreds youths hurling rocks, burning cars and smashing windows for the second day in a row in Stockholm say they are protesting against police brutality and inequality. In Sweden, critics of the multiculturalism policies lash out at immigration laws.  

WHO warns Saudi coronavirus may be spreading; calls for urgent search for source
Saudi Arabia, after all, is the home of Mecca. The holy site draws roughly three million Muslims from around the world every year to the Hajj, a mass pilgrimage Muslims are meant to perform at least once in their lifetimes. As well, nearly one million international tourists travel to Mecca during Ramadan — the Muslim month of fasting — to take part in another pilgrimage called Umrah.  

Tunisia: Man dies from new coronavirus after visit to Saudi Arabia
A 66-year-old Tunisian man has died from the new coronavirus following a visit to Saudi Arabia and two of his adult children were infected with it, the Tunisian Health Ministry reported. His sons were treated and have since recovered but the rest of the family remains under medical observation, the ministry said in a statement Monday.  

Top IRS Official to Plead Fifth
a bombshell was dropped into the already explosive IRS scandal when it was reported that Lois Lerner, a top IRS official in the non-profit division that paralyzed Tea Party groups with ongoing harassment, would invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions during Congressional testimony schedule before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.