Obama: I will not give up on peace negotiations with the Palestinians

U.S. President Barack Obama sends sharp message to Israel • "Here is a caution ... divided government ... does not necessarily mean foreign policy gridlock," U.S. ambassador says • Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon: Obama administration won't last forever.
Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff


U.S. President Barack Obama still intends to push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement

| Photo credit: AP



U.S. President Barack Obama sent a clear and sharp message to Israel on Tuesday: I will not give up on peace negotiations with the Palestinians, even during the final two years of my presidency. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro issued the message during a speech at Bar-Ilan University's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies on Tuesday.

"There is no other solution" other than two states for two peoples, Shapiro said. The American ambassador chose to say his words on the same stage where in 2009 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu committed to Israeli recognition of the solution of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

According to Shapiro, "The main reason we remain committed to achieving a two-state solution is that we see no alternative that would achieve Israelis' and Palestinians' legitimate goals."

Shapiro said the Obama administration was dedicated to the peace process and "committed to keeping that hope alive," despite Obama's weakness in the House of Representatives and Senate.

"Israelis follow American politics closely, whether during midterm or presidential elections," Shapiro said. "Since our midterms last month, much ink has been spilled about what the results mean for the next two years. Here is a caution, lest anyone jump to conclusions: divided government, in which one party controls Congress and the other the Executive Branch, does not necessarily mean foreign policy gridlock.

"What is unmistakable about our foreign policy system is that the constitution provides the president with the largest share of power. Congress plays a critical role, but history shows that, whether faced with domestic political gridlock or not, presidents often surge and engage even more intensively in national security affairs in their final years in office."

Meanwhile, according to an Army Radio report, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told yeshiva students in Gush Etzion on Tuesday that the Obama administration "will not last forever."

Asked by a student about Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria, Ya'alon replied, "I really want to approve the plans and build more, but now this draws a response first of all from the Americans, and later threats from others. Therefore, we are very, very careful not to stretch the rope too much. I hope this is temporary, as there is now a certain government in the U.S., and the U.S. leads this line. This government will not last forever."

In response to the Army Radio report, a Ya'alon associate said the Israeli and U.S. defense establishments had ties "unprecedented in depth and scope."

Yet, "there are several disagreements between the countries on various matters, but this does not diminish in any way the appreciation and esteem Minister Ya'alon has for the contribution of the U.S. and its government to the security of Israel and the fact that the U.S. is Israel's best friend and strategic anchor."

Credit to Hayom

ISIS: Prelude to Apocalypse

Standing atop a mountain plateau in the stark Judean wilderness, one can look down at the remains of Roman siege camps that eventually trapped some 960 Jewish men, women and children who had fled Jerusalem to Masada while the Romans slaughtered Jews by the thousands in the Holy City in A.D. 70.

Masada stands as a stark testimonial to a chapter in history most thought would never happen again. The scope of Roman savagery is a study in the fallen nature of godless, corrupt tyrants who have no regard for human life.

However, almost 2,000 years later, Christians and an estimated 40,000 people of the Yazidi sect sat trapped last summer on another mountain, awaiting death by starvation, exposure or execution while praying for deliverance. The United Nations estimated that 5,000 Yazidi men were executed and bulldozed into mass graves, while 7,000 women were being kept as slaves. This horror involves the annihilation of Christians and others who refuse to submit to the demands of the jihadist ISIS hordes running rampant through Iraq and Syria.

ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) is a barbaric terrorist group bent on establishing an Islamic caliphate throughout the Middle East. It then plans to move west to create a global Islamic empire. Christians and Jews are marked for annihilation unless they convert to Islam, as are dissenting Muslims and anyone else refusing to submit to ISIS' outrageous demands.

ISIS' stunning barbarism has been displayed in the beheadings of five Western hostages including three Americans. The executions are reminiscent of the slaying of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl by Pakistani terrorists linked to al-Qaeda in 2002.

Beyond this reprehensible savagery is an inflexible ideology. There is no appealing to these people. They will not cede to Western demands. Establishing a triumphant, global Islamist caliphate is their goal, and spreading fear among their enemies is their tactic to silence opposition, as is making their enemies believe concessions equivalent to surrender will bring peace.

ISIS' satanically motivated mass murderers demand acceptance of their concept of Islam. Failing to comply brings death. Being killed for refusing to renounce one's faith in Christ means decapitation, crucifixion or an assortment of demonically concocted horrors designed to inflict the most appalling torture achievable.

In the pagan world of the ancients, watching ravenous beasts tear the innocent limb by limb was a blood sport that entertained the masses. People who delight in murdering, raping and ravishing the helpless, as ISIS does, are driven by the same passion as their ancient counterparts: they love to kill. Their lust for carnage, however, is disguised as a commitment to religion. They do it in the name of their god. Early Christians assembled in small groups on the floors of pagan theaters and arenas because they would not trade their faith for freedom, and they were murdered as a result. The same was true of believers who were bound to stakes, waiting for flames to consume them because they refused to forsake their Savior.

No one anticipated that the most egregious crimes against Christians would be perpetrated in our lifetime. The evil equals or exceeds that of previous eras. Open Doors USA serves the worldwide persecuted church. Each year it compiles its World Watch List. In no fewer than 50 countries, Christians suffer extreme to moderate persecution. In Nigeria, the Islamic Boko Haram terrorists' brutal abductions and assaults on schools, churches and entire Christian communities have forced even the silent mainstream liberal media to report on them.

If the secular media's silence is due to its ideological prejudice or animosity toward Christianity, how does one explain the muteness of the majority of American Christians? Christians should be speaking out because the jihadists who now seem far away proclaim their intent daily for America. There is no better statement on the perils of apathy than that of German Protestant Pastor Martin Niemöller, whose outspoken opposition to Adolf Hitler earned him seven years in a fetid Nazi concentration camp:

First they came for the Socialists,
and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists,
and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Russian military tests new APC 'Rakushka'

US Congress readies new sanctions on Russia

Remember Russia will react..... http://nunezreport.blogspot.com/2014/12/aggressor-nation-bill-put-to-russian.html



U.S. lawmakers were expected on Friday to approve new sanctions on Russian weapons companies and investors in the country's high-tech oil projects, putting more U.S. pressure on President Vladimir Putin for interference in eastern Ukraine.

Late on Thursday, the Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act. A House panel made a small change and sent the bill back to the Senate for a last vote expected as soon as late Friday.

President Barack Obama has said he opposes further sanctions on Russia unless Europe is on board.

Credit to CNBC

http://nunezreport.blogspot.com/2014/12/while-americans-enjoy-shopping-russia.html

Derivative Death Nail: CROMNIBUS Passes House, Big Banks Win

Paying Down The Debt Is Now Almost Mathematically Impossible

Exactly 199 years ago, in 1815, a “temporary” committee was established in the US Senate called the Committee on Finance and Uniform National Currency.

It was set up to address economic issues and the debt accrued by the US government after the War of 1812.

Of course, because there’s nothing more permanent than a temporary government measure, the committee became a permanent one after just one year.

It soon expanded its role from raising tariffs to having influence over taxation, banking, currency, and appropriations.

In subsequent wars, notably the American Civil War, the Committee was quick to use its powers and introduced the union’s first income tax. They also detached the dollar from gold to help fund the war.

This was all an indication of things to come.

Over the subsequent decades there was a sustained push to finally establish the country’s central bank that will control money and credit, as well as institute a permanent income tax to feed the expanding aspirations of government.

They succeeded in 1913 when the Federal Reserve Act was passed and the 16th Amendment ratified, binding the country in the shackles of central banking and taxation of income.

Over the century that followed, the US has gone from being the biggest creditor in the world to its biggest debtor.

Decades of expanding government programs, waste, endless and costly wars, etc. have racked up such an enormous pile of debt that it has become almost impossible to pay it down.

A lot of folks don’t realize that, since the end of World War II, the US government’s total tax revenue has been almost constant at roughly 17% of GDP.

In other words, even though the actual tax rates themselves rise and fall, the government’s ‘slice’ of the economic pie is almost always the same - 17%.

I’ve worked out a mathematical model which shows that, even with absurd assumptions (7%+ GDP growth for years at a time, low interest rates, etc.), it is simply not feasible for the US government to ‘grow’ its way out.

Default has become the only option. And that could mean a number of things.

They could default on their creditors (other governments like China who loaned money to the US government). But this would spark a global financial and banking crisis.

They could default on the Federal Reserve, which owns trillions of dollars of US debt. But this would create an epic currency crisis for the US dollar.

They could also default on their obligations to their citizens—primarily to future beneficiaries of Social Security (who collectively own trillions of dollars of US debt).

Or they could choose to default on their obligations to every human being alive who holds US dollars… and engineer rampant inflation.

None of these is a good option. And simply put, the US government has reached a point of no return.

I aim to demonstrate this to you in today’s video podcast episode. It’s a very sobering realization.

Join me to see it for yourself:

Credit to Zero Hedge

What Is Going on in Kentucky? Residents Report “Emergency Alert” Messages and Low-Flying Military Helicopters

On Tuesday, thousands of Kentucky residents received an alarming “Civil Emergency”alert on their cell phones.

The message was sent by the Emergency Operations Center. Spokesman Buddy Rogers saidthe alert was accidentally sent out “during testing” and was the result of  a “computer error followed by a human error.”

Rogers said the message was sent to cell phones via the Federal Communication Commission’s Wireless Emergency Alert system.

From WTVQ.com:New

According to the FCC, the Wireless Emergency Alert system is a publicsafety system that allows customers who own certain wireless phonemodels and other enabled mobile devices to receive geographically-targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area.

Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars reported that many residents find the messages – which are meant to warn people of immediate safety threats in their area – invasive.

Here’s Watson reporting on the story:

The bizarre message isn’t the only funny business going on in Kentucky, though:

As Watson reported yesterday:

Kentucky residents flooded the Laurel Co. Sheriff Department’s Facebook page with complaints about low flying military helicopters which coincided with a government “emergency alert” sent to thousands of people’s cellphones yesterday.

However, over a hundred respondents flooded the comments of a Sheriff Department’s Facebook post, many of whom reported seeing military helicopters performing low-flying maneuvers immediately after the alert was sent out.

Residents also contacted Infowars, with one writing, “I’m a London Kentucky resident who received this horrible message today along with all of my friends and family. The most un-nerving part of it all was all of the Black Hawk Helicopters in our skies at the same time… This was NO ACCIDENT!!!”

The reader went on to state that locals watched the helicopters “take off from our tiny airport out of nowhere”.

Residents questioned the timing of the “erroneous” message and the presence of the helicopters in the area:

“What was the deal with the low flying Chinook that rattled my roof shortly before the test msg,” asked Casey Woods.

“6 black helicopters above our house this morning shook the whole house!! Then this..scary!” stated Leila Hughes.

“Black hawks everywhere…something isn’t right.. or is it just a parade?” questioned Kyndra Mink.

“If it was just a test then how come 6 army helicopters was flying in formation over Clay Co just moments after the text was sent out?” asked Angie Gibson.

“I don’t care what they say, that wasn’t a test, it was a warning….there’s a few other comments from people that know what I’m talking about,” stated Vince Bowling.

“Maybe they just want us to think it’s a test,” said Angel Norton.

Some speculated that perhaps the message wasn’t sent in error – maybe it was just sent to the wrong people. Maybe it was meant for government employees or emergency responders.

Watson and others have suggested this could be a cover-up of some kind, or a test run formartial law.

Credit to Common Sense