Nothing Is What It Seems

Russia Concerned by Reports of Israeli Air Strike on Syria

MOSCOW, January 31 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow is “deeply concerned” over reports of Israeli air strikes on Syrian territory on Wednesday and is seeking confirmation of what could be a serious violation of the UN charter, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Moscow said it is looking into reports that Israeli fighter jets carried out an air strike on a military research center near Damascus on Wednesday.

If the reports of “unprovoked strikes” hitting a sovereign country’s territory are confirmed, this would constitute a violation of fundamental United Nations principles, the Foreign Ministry said.

Such attacks are ”unacceptable, no matter where their motivations lie,” the Foreign Ministry added.

Syrian state media, citing the army’s general command, said the strikes killed at least two people. Western media reports said Israeli jets had bombed a convoy allegedly carrying weapons destined for the Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has previously fired rockets into Israel from Lebanon.

The Associated Press quoted an anonymous US official saying the convoy was carrying Russian-made Buk M-2 (NATO: SA-17) anti-aircraft missiles.

In March 2012, Israel’s Haaretz daily reported Syria had supplied Hezbollah with advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft missile systems and was training operators how to use them, in a move which could threaten Israeli air supremacy in the region.

In 2007, Israel carried out another air raid on Syria, hitting what it said was intended to be a nuclear reactor site. It also destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in a bombing raid in 1981.

Israel has not officially commented on the reported incident. Earlier this week, Israeli officials voiced alarm over Syrian chemical or biological weapons possibly falling into the hands of Hezbollah or other militant groups which might use them against Israel.

The Russia Foreign Ministry also called on for peaceful dialogue without foreign influence in Syria, where over 60,000 have died according to the UN in almost two years of civil war.

RIA Novosti

New al Qaeda threat

A jihadist website posted a new threat by al Qaeda this week that promises to conduct “shocking” attacks on the United States and the West.

The posting appeared on the Ansar al Mujahidin network Sunday and carried the headline, “Map of al Qaeda and its future strikes.”

The message, in Arabic, asks: “Where will the next strike by al Qaeda be?” A translation was obtained by Inside the Ring.

“The answer for it, in short: The coming strikes by al Qaeda, with God’s Might, will be in the heart of the land of nonbelief, America, and in France, Denmark, other countries in Europe, in the countries that helped and are helping France, and in other places that shall be named by al Qaeda at other times,” the threat states.

The attacks will be “strong, serious, alarming, earth-shattering, shocking and terrifying.”

Under a section of the post on the method of the attacks, the unidentified writer said the strikes would be “group and lone-wolf operations, in addition to the use of booby-trapped vehicles.”

“All operations will be recorded and published in due time,” the message said. “Let France be prepared, and let the helpers of France be prepared, for it is going to be a long war of attrition.”

The reference to France appears linked to the group’s plans for retaliation against the French-led military strikes in northern Mali in operations to oust al Qaeda terrorists from the North African country.

The Ansar al-Mujahidin network is a well-known jihadist forum that in the past has published reliably accurate propaganda messages from al Qaeda and its affiliates.

U.S. counterterrorism actions over the past 10 years have prevented al Qaeda from conducting major attacks. However, U.S. officials warn that the group continues to be dangerous, despite the killing of its top leaders in drone strikes and special operations.

A U.S. official said the threat is being taken seriously by the U.S. government.

“Extremists regularly make threats online,” he told Inside the Ring. “This one is not particularly unusual, but of course should be taken seriously.”



Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/30/inside-the-ring-new-al-qaeda-threat/#ixzz2JZBmz9na

Iran threatens ‘grave consequences’ for Israel after Syria strike

Iran threatened that a reported Israeli strike in Syria would have “grave consequences for Tel Aviv” on Thursday, days after saying that an attack on Syria would be seen as an attack on Iran.

Syria added that the attacks “would not go unanswered.”

On Wednesday, Damascus said Israeli planes struck a “research facility” northwest of the Syrian capital. The accusation came after reports from foreign news sources earlier in the day saying Israel hit a weapons convoy near the Syria-Lebanon border that was transferring arms to the terror group Hezbollah.

“The Israeli regime’s strike on Syria will have serious consequences for Tel Aviv,” one of Tehran’s deputy foreign ministers was quoted by the semi-official PressTV network as saying.

Iran is a major backer of both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi condemned the airstrike on state television, calling it a clear violation of Syria’s sovereignty. His statement echoed similar condemnations from Russia, the Arab League and Hezbollah.

Last week, Iran warned the West against intervening in the ongoing civil war in Syria, with top adviser Ali Akbar Velayati saying that “an attack on Syria is considered an attack on Iran and Iran’s allies.”

Syrian officials also said they would not stay quiet after the attack.

“All options for a response against Israeli aggression are open,” an official close to the Assad regime said, according to Syrian press reports. “The Zionists are trying to use the situations in Syria to restart the crisis when the government was managing to work toward a diplomatic solution.”

The Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim said Israel, the Americans and the Arab regimes who took their side “know Syria will defend its sovereignty and land.”

Damascus “is capable of executing a surprise response to the attack on the science research center in Jamariah,” Karim told reporters in Beirut.

The site targeted by Israel was the target of multiple attacks by those objecting Assad’s rule over the past two years, Karim added.

The Jamraya research center is in the town of Jamraya, 20 kilometers east of the Lebanese border, surrounded by army bases.

Diplomats in the Middle East familiar with Jamraya told Reuters that it a crucial element of Syria’s missile program, and that it is also home to a chemical weapons facility.

People who visited Jamraya recently told reporters it is surrounded by high walls and guarded by plain-clothed agents.

Asked about rebel attacks in the area, they said there had been some attempts to target the tanks with mortars but were not aware of any rebel activity in the last few days.

Israel has declined to comment on the reports of the strikes. Officials have said in the past that it would act to keep chemical weapons or other arms from being transfered to Hezbollah.

Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said Sunday that any transfer of arms to Hezbollah “would be crossing a line that would demand a different approach.”

Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, who became in December one of the most senior Syrian army officers to defect, told The Associated Press by telephone from Turkey that the targeted site near Damascus is a “major and well-known” center of weapons development known as the Scientific Research Center.

Al-Shallal, who until his defection was the commander of the Military Police, said no chemical or unconventional weapons were at the site. He added that foreign experts, including Russians and Iranians, are usually at such centers.

On Wednesday, reports surfaced that Israel’s air force carried out a number of sorties around the Lebanese-Syrian border on Tuesday and Wednesday. The target was reportedly a convoy carrying advanced weaponry to Hezbollah.

Regional security officials said Wednesday the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would enable the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

A Western official told The Wall Street Journal that the two reports may not be mutually exclusive.

Russia, Syria’s strongest international ally, said Moscow is taking “urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details.”

“If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “Whatever the motives, this is not justified.”

Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah condemned the attack, claiming that it was intended to stunt “Arab and Islamic technological development.”

“In line with its inherent spirit of aggression and criminality, and in accordance with its policy of preventing any Arab or Islamic power from developing technological and military capabilities, Israel perpetrated a barbaric attack against a Syrian installation for scientific research on Syrian territory, causing the death of a number of Syrians, the injury of others, and the destruction of the installation,” the statement read.

Lebanon and the Arab League slammed Israel for the attacks, calling them a violation of the countries’ sovereignty.

Jerusalem has long feared that Syrian chemical weapons could be turned against Israel.

Earlier this week, Israel moved a battery of its new Iron Dome rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. The Israeli army called that move “routine.”

Israel Military Intelligence Chief Aviv Kochavi is in Washington for consultations at the Pentagon, including meetings with Joint Chiefs of Staff head Martin Dempsey.

US officials told The New York Times on Wednesday that Israel notified the United States about the reported airstrike.

MK Tzachi Hanegbi, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stopped short of confirming Israel’s involvement in the strike.

Hanegbi hinted, however, that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future. He said pinpoint strikes were not enough to counter the threat of Hezbollah obtaining sophisticated weaponry from Syria.

“Israel’s preference would be if a Western entity would control these weapons systems,” Hanegbi said. “But because it appears the world is not prepared to do what was done in Libya or other places, then Israel finds itself like it has many times in the past facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to,” he added.

He was referring to NATO’s 2011 military intervention in Libya that helped oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

“Even if there are reports about pinpoint operations, these are not significant solutions to the threat itself because we are talking about very substantial capabilities that could reach Hezbollah,” he added.

Times of Israel

You only think you know what's coming...EXO-VATICANA (Part No.9)

Stories of anomalous cryptids moving in and out of man’s reality such as described in the previous two entries were once considered fact in ancient times. Early people around the world viewed “them” as coexisting with man and who could be seen whenever the netherworld beings willed it. This included the opening of portals or spirit gateways and the idea that through these openings could come the sudden appearance of werewolves, ghosts, goblins, trolls, and those mythical beings of legend that have an even more interesting connection to modern UFO lore known as fairies. 

              Fairy variety is considerable and listing each type here is beyond the scope of our interest. However, some of them are virtually identical with ancient descriptions of demons including a particular one called the bogie or “bogeyman” who haunts the dark and enjoys harming and frightening humans. These fairies appear very similar to traditional descriptions of “Bigfoot” with the same furry bodies together with fiery red eyes. Other Fairy classifications are practically indistinguishable from the flying witches of Classical Antiquity and the Ancient Near East. Olaus Magnus, who was sent by Pope Paul III in 1546 as an authority to the council of Trent and who later became canon of St. Lambert in Liége, Belgium, is best remembered as the author of the classic 1555 “Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus” (History of the Northern Peoples), which chronicled the folklore and history of Europe. In it, he provided engravings of fairy-demons carrying women away for intercourse. Before him, in 1489 the legal scholar Ulrich Molitor did the same, providing etched plates in his Latin tract on sorcerous women (“De laniis et phitonicis mulieribus”) depicting demons abducting women for coitus. Besides such similarities to current UFO and alien-abduction activity, these fairies often left “the devils mark”—a permanent spot or scar believed to have been made by the demon (or the devil himself) raking his claw across the flesh or by the red hot kiss of the devil licking the individual. This happened at night, at the conclusion of the nocturnal abduction episode. This mark was also known as “fairy bruising” and as the “witche’s teat” and appeared as a raised bump or scoop mark in the flesh often on the most secret parts of the body. In modern times, alien abductees often bear the same marks as those described in olden days as the Devil’s Mark—cuts or scoops on the backs of the legs, arms, neck, purplish circular spots around the abdomen and genitals, and in patterns consistent with those from medieval times ascribed to witches, incubi and fairies. Thus the actual mythology of these creatures and the “little people” that traveled with them between our reality and fairyland or “Elfland” portrays an image quite different than that of cutesy “Tinkerbell” fluttering overhead at Disneyland! Fairy legend includes the identical alien-sounding roles of abduction, inducing some type of paralysis in which the victim can see what is happening but is powerless to intervene (the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology says the colloquial English usage of ‘stroke’ for cerebral hemorrhage derives from its relationship with “paralysis” and originated with the “fairy-stroke” or “elf-stroke” of legend ^[i]), levitating of people and flying them away to “fairyland” (or what some today call “Magonia”), and traveling in UFO-like discs or circular globes of light.

In the 1960s, legendary French UFO researcher Dr. Jacques Vallée began to explore these commonalities between UFOs, alien abduction, and fabled figures like fairies in his book Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers  (this work by Vallée is no longer available but will be provided free in digital format with the release of the book Exo-Vaticana that this series is based on). Out of this research he developed a “multidimensional visitation hypothesis” beyond space-time that would allow for undetected coexistence between humans and non-human beings, which have been seen and detected for thousands of years and that seem to present themselves in a way that suggests: 1) either they are mutating their persona to match our current belief systems (i.e. they once were called the little people of Elfin lore who stole and replaced children with “changelings” while today they are the little grays of ET abduction who steal and replace embryos with hybrid babies); or 2) they are doing what they have always done and we are the ones interpreting their presence in ways that accommodate our current understanding of science and religion. For Vallée, the comparisons between the ancient fairy stories and modern alien-abduction phenomenon were too similar to be coincidence. He cites the work of Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (1878—1965), an anthropologist and expert on “fairy-faith” in Celtic countries (whose 1911 book/dissertation on the subject is also free with the data packet that comes with Exo-Vaticana), as powerful evidence for consistency of the phenomenon throughout history.

Evans-Wentz, also a theosophist, is famous for compiling and editing the sacred texts on Tibetan Buddhism which were published by Oxford University Press in the early twentieth century. Consequently, he is widely credited with pioneering western Buddhism associated with Astrobiologist Chris Impey (whom we discuss later). However, before his travels to Sri Lanka and India, Evans-Wentz wrote his doctoral thesis at Oxford University on the Celtic belief in fairies. He approached the subject as a scholar examining the history and folk-lore of the British Isles through the lens of anthropology and psychology. It is perhaps one of the most thorough and scholarly endeavors ever conducted on the subject.

As the nineteenth century rolled over into the twentieth the industrial revolution was driving the populations toward the cities and the population was booming. Evans-Wentz did extensive ethnographic fieldwork interviewing folks in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany and the Isle of Man. Encounters with fairies were plentiful enough to be commonplace in the early nineteenth century, but as modernity approached they waned. Today fairies are largely forgotten, relegated to old wives tales and legend, albeit the phenomenon still exists.

Jacques Vallee is convinced that the fairies were not only real but that they currently endure under the modern guise of extraterrestrials. What Evans-Wentz was able to capture was the time of transition when the entities plagued by the encroachment of modernity transformed themselves. Through his field work Evans-Wentz noted that the nearly all of the older folks had witnessed fairies or believed in them. It transcended legend as a commonly accepted fact. However, the next generation, influenced by the industrial zeitgeist, lacked fairy belief. John Bruno Hare, founder of the internet Sacred-Text.com archive, surmised, “We come away from this study with a multi-dimensional view of the fairies, who, much like the grey aliens of UFO belief, inhabit a narrative which seems too consistent to be the product of insanity, yet too bizarre for conventional explanation.”^[ii] This suggests a line of congruence between the accounts of fairies and that of today's so-called extraterrestrials. Vallée writes:

We have now examined several stories of abductions and attempts at kidnappings by the occupants of flying saucers. These episodes are an integral part of the total UFO problem and cannot be solved separately. Historical evidence, gathered by Wentz, moreover, once more points in the same direction.

This sort of belief in fairies being able to takepeople was very common and exists yet in a good many parts of West Ireland. . . . The Good People are often seen there (pointing to Knoch Magh) in great crowds playing hurley and ball. And one often sees among them the young men and women and children who have been taken(emphasis in original).

Not only are people taken, but—as in flying saucer stories—they are sometimes carried to faraway spots by aerial means. Such a story is told by the Prophet Ezekiel, of course, and by other religious writers. But an ordinary Irishman, John Campbell, also told Wentz:

A man whom I have seen, Roderick Mac Neil, was lifted by the hosts and left three miles from where he was taken up. The hosts went at about midnight.

Rev. Kirk gives a few stories of similar extraordinary kidnappings, but the most fantastic legend of all is one attached to Kirk himself: the good reverend is commonly believed to have himself been taken by the fairies.

Mrs. J. MacGregor who keeps the key to the old churchyard where there is a tomb to Kirk, though many say there is nothing in it but a coffin filled with stones, told me Kirk was taken into the Fairy Knoll, which she pointed to just across a little valley in front of us, and is there yet, for the hill is full of caverns and in them the “good people” have their homes. And she added that Kirk appeared to a relative of his after he was taken.

Wentz, who reports this interesting story, made further inquiries regarding the circumstances of Kirk’s death. He went to see the successor to Kirk in Abcrfoyle, Rev. Taylor, who clarified the story:

At the time of his disappearance people said he was taken because the fairies were displeased with him for disclosing their secrets in so public a manner as he did.  ^[iii]

Some UFO researchers go so far as to call the Reverend Robert Kirk “the first genuine martyr of the exo-politics movement.”^[iv] His seminalThe Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies provides a wealth of parallels to modern UFOlogical research (which is also included in the free data packet that will come with Exo-Vaticana). Was Kirk spirited away to the ever-enigmatic place called Magonia?

Vallée documented how “the physical nature of Magonia, as it appears in such tales, is quite enigmatic. Sometimes, it is a remote country, an invisible island, some faraway place one can reach only by a long journey. Indeed, in some tales, it is a celestial country…. This parallels the belief in the extraterrestrial origin of UFO’s so popular today. A second—and equally widespread—theory, is that Elfland constitutes a sort of parallel universe, which coexists with our own. It is made visible and tangible only to selected people, and the ‘doors’ that lead through it are tangential points, known only to the elves. This is somewhat analogous to the theory, sometimes found in the UFO literature, concerning what some authors like to call the ‘fourth dimension’—although, of course, this expression makes much less physical sense than does the theory of a parallel Elfland. (It does sound more scientific, however!)” ^[v]

            Vallée’s argument is persuasive given the history of demonic entities and their deceitful record of assuming any appearance that gains them acceptance into society. Recall the creatures in the film “They Live” and their ability to appear quite human. According to 2 Corinthians 11:14 even Satan himself can manifest as “an angel of light”! Vallée also notes this deception on the part of the modern alien-fairies seems to be for the purpose of taking and replacing babies or smaller children with “changelings.” In alien abduction many women report the removal of their fetus followed later by introduction to (supposedly) the post-gestational baby. In fairy lore the child is removed and replaced with a “changeling,” a human-looking copy especially of Western European folklore and folk religion. Numerous theories were developed between the 13^th and 15^thcenturies to explain the reason for this abduction and replacement of children including that the earthly child was a “tithe to Hell” or tribute paid by the fairies to the devil every seven years. But Vallée updates this point, noting how the modern alien-abduction phenomenon and the numerous accounts of abductions by the fairies focused “especially on pregnant women or young mothers, and they also are very active in stealing young children.” He says:

Sometimes, they substitute a false child for the real one, leaving in place of the real child …one of their children, a changeling: By the belief in changelings I mean a belief that fairies and other… beings are on the watch for young children…that they may, if they can find them unguarded, seize and carry them off, leaving in their place one of them. ^[vi]

Vallée then points to a television series that capitalized on the aspect of UFO lore and the connection between modern and ancient abductions:

In the show, the human race has been infiltrated by extraterrestrials who differ from humans in small details only. This is not a new idea, as the belief in changelings shows. And there is a well-known passage in Martin Luther’s Table Talk, in which he tells the Prince of Anhalt that he should throw into the Moldau a certain man who is, in his opinion, such a changeling—or killcrop, as they were called in Germany.

What was the purpose of such fairy abductions? The idea advanced by students of folk talks is again very close to a current theory about UFO’s: that the purpose of such contact is a genetic one. According to Hartland:

The motive assigned to fairies in northern stories is that of preserving and improving their race, on the one hand by carrying off human children to be brought up among the elves and to become united with them, and on the other hand by obtaining the milk and fostering care of human mothers for their own offspring. ^[vii]

Baby switched with a changeling in “The legend of
St. Stephen” by Martino di Bartolomeo

           

Thus the idea of deceptive nighttime creatures probing humans to gather genetic material for use in generating hybrid offspring agrees with Vallée and his contemporaries who, following extraordinary research, determined that whatever the modern alien abduction encounters represent, its goal is a repeat of ancient activity involving the collection of DNA for 1) a Breeding Program, followed by 2) a Hybridization Program, and finally 3) an Integration Program, exactly what Watchers accomplished with Nephilim in ancient times.

            But why would “aliens” be involved in such a program? Over the last few decades secular alien abduction researchers like Budd Hopkins and Dr. David Jacobs have posited that the aliens are a dying race and must pass on their genetic material through hybrids to maintain their species. The Barney and Betty Hill case of September 19–20, 1961, marked the first widely-publicized claim of such alien abduction and the beginning of the public’s knowledge of the phenomenon. Yet the part of their story often overlooked is how ova was reportedly retrieved from Betty Hill’s body and sperm from her husband Barney, presumably for use in the hybridization scheme. In the years since, tens of thousands of people have slowly emerged from around the world to claim they too have been subject to a mysterious alien procedure in which human genetic material is harvested including sperm and eggs for a reproductive agenda involving human hosts as surrogates and incubatoriums for fetuses wherein alien-human hybrids are produced. Entire communities have grown up around the idea that children now exist on earth that are part-human and part-alien. Some claiming to be parents of hybrid children have their own websites, host conferences, and are building social networks across the web. These people include academics, physicists, psychologists, attorneys, actresses and school teachers. Furthermore, according to researchers, it isn’t just child hybrids that are now among us. Adult versions have spread throughout society too. Budd Hopkins—who, before he died of cancer at the age of 80 in 2011, was considered the father of the alien-abduction movement—claimed that he and Dr. Jacobs especially were building new case files containing disturbing evidence related to specific entities and their integration within human society. He was planning to illustrate that the science fiction-horror film “They Live” was not that far off after all, and that, from local bread factories to halls of congress, alien-human hybrids are now firmly entrenched within earth’s cultures. Not long before he passed away, he wrote on the Journal of Abduction-Encounter Research (JAR) website:

I investigated the reports of two women who described seeing an adult male hybrid wearing glasses. Each made a drawing of the hybrid, and the two drawings are amazingly similar. Both portray a strange-looking man, with sharp cheeks, wearing oddly-shaped glasses. The two women independently drew the same person. Some of these hybrid beings have been seen by more than three people at once and they are described by the witnesses the same way. As far as hybrids operating in the human world, we have many reports of them driving automobiles, shopping in stores, and behaving more or less naturally in other mundane places, but manifesting the kinds of powers aliens seem to have, i.e., the ability to control minds, and to communicate telepathically. The powers the gray aliens possess in the world can entail a complex series of repeated similar events, as if these adult hybrids do not really understand our world and our behavior but are trying to learn exactly how we act and what we say, all of which gives us an uneasy feeling of what their agenda might be leading to. There definitely is strong evidence that an infiltration into human society is taking place. ^[viii]

^{Raidersnewsupdate.com}

Francofail: 'If France hits buffers, end of Euro inevitable'

MUSLIMS BURN CATHOLICS ALIVE IN NIGERIA

Shameful U.S. media is asleep at the wheel again

I was gut punched and reminded yet again of the horrifying truth of Islam and its tactics worldwide. Thanks to Ruth White the fearless editor and publisher of BreakingNewsJournal I saw the photo below of those burned alive simply for not being Muslim and practicing a different faith.

Father Jaun Carlos Martos commented: “This is a brutal example of how far the struggle between Muslims and Catholics in Nigeria has reached. Muslims determined to impose their ‘religion’ all over Africa as well as in other continents and countries of the world have but one goal: rule the world at any cost!”

Ruth White tried to get the truth out of this International hate crime but was stunned at the response, basically nothing. She then trying to post the photo on Facebook but that didn’t work either. The photo was classified as 

‘pornographic’ ‘violent’ or ‘inappropriate’, thus she was not allowed to publish it to provide proof of the unbelievable human rights violations going on as we speak in Nigeria. It is genocide against Christians of all kinds and where is the U.N?

Face book and others in media talk ‘porn’ and ‘violence.’ Funny how that happens when Muslims burn Catholic churchgoers alive. 3rd degree burns, bloody flesh and melting eyes, ears and noses tend to look and smell nasty!!! It is unbelievable to our eyes and ears but it happened and continues all around the world in the name of Islam and the Jihad mission to wipe out the Infidels. Do you get yet some of you ‘polite’ and ‘careful’ type morons?

The guts of Islam IS evil and murderous no matter how many peaceful posers are walking through its halls amongst those pushing the international Caliphate and murderous ‘cleansing’ of the world.

I agree with Ruth White in her anger and horror regarding this. Where is the U.S. media? Where is the outraged and horrified U.N. and every human rights group on earth??? Don’t talk to me about ugly. Islam and the push for worldwide domination and executions is the definition of pornographic, ugly and violent, yet all we here is ‘Islamaphobia’ ‘redoing of our curriculum in school to convert our children’ and ‘special rights for growing Muslim madness.’ Is it a hate crime to smell the burning flesh in the air and notice the screaming?

It is the alleged ‘religion of peace Islam’ that should take leadership in harshly and loudly screaming their rebuke of this murderous genocide in Nigeria. Islamics should be screaming out against this and demanding media attention. Instead there is tacit support by their sick silence. I bet you more than a few Catholics and Christians in Nigeria are ‘Islamaphobic today.’

Look at the picture above and let it sink in. I hope your stomach turns and you wake up to the evil of Islam against Christians and Jews.

Laurie Roth

Swiss Banks Now Offer Allocated Gold, Silver Accounts

Swiss Banks Offer Allocated Accounts As Move To Allocated Internationally

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,666.25, EUR 1,230.70, and GBP 1,057.20 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,660.50, EUR 1,235.12, and GBP 1,057.17 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $31.36/oz, €23.25/oz and £19.25/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,690.00/oz, palladium at $754.00/oz and rhodium at $1,200/oz.


Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)

Gold rose $7.80 or 0.47% in New York yesterday and closed at $1,662.70/oz. Silver surged to a high of $31.47 and finished with a gain of 1.59%.

Gold managed to hold firm after recovering from a 4 day slide on the likelihood that the U.S. Fed will continue with its ultra loose quantitative easing policy.

The U.S. FOMC is expected to confirm in a statement at 1915 GMT that it will continue the $85 billion in monthly bond purchases until unemployment rates drop significantly. Even though some Fed officials and many market participants have expressed concern over the side effects from such measures.

The U.S. nonfarm payrolls data expected on Friday will give a closer look at the labour market. A poll of economists by Reuters shows that they expect U.S. unemployment to be unchanged from last month at 7.8%.

Climbing oil prices continue to stir investor worries about inflation. Brent crude hit a 3 month high in the prior session.

Silver jewellery exports from India are projected to rise to 30% this year as world demand grows, noted the India's Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

American Eagle silver coin sales in January surged to an all time monthly high. The U.S. Mint recently resumed sales after huge demand led to a lack of inventory and created a temporary suspension of sales.

Gold bullion coins also saw their highest sales since July 2010.

As of January 29, Silver Eagle sales for the month were 7.1 million ounces, data from the U.S. Mint's website showed, surpassing its previous record of 6.1 million ounces set in January 2012.

Reuters reports that “huge quantities” of silver bullion coins were being bought by investors, including entire monster boxes full with 500 1 oz bullion coins sealed by the US Mint.

Swiss banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, have moved to offer allocated gold and silver accounts to their clients – including high net worth, hedge funds, other banks and institutions.


Gold in U.S. Dollars, Monthly – (Bloomberg)

The move allows these entities to take direct ownership of their bullion in allocated accounts.

According to the Financial Times, the banks say that they are making the move in order to reduce exposure and risks on balance sheets and in an effort to be more transparent.

“Under more common "unallocated" gold accounts, depositors' bullion appears on the banks' balance sheets, forcing them to increase their capital reserves. Like their global peers, UBS and Credit Suisse are under pressure from regulators to reduce capital-intensive activities ahead of the introduction of new Basel III global banking rules.”

It is more likely that the banks made the move to allocated storage due to an increased preference from their investors who are weary of continuing systemic risk.

We have spoken and written about this trend for some time.

In recent months there has been a definite change by our clients and by bullion owners internationally from owning gold and silver in unallocated accounts, to owning bullion coins and bars in allocated and segregated accounts.

Investors who were unwilling before to pay annual storage fees on allocated accounts are now willing to pay the extra cost. This is due to increased awareness and concern about systemic risk and a preference for owning gold directly and eliminating counter party risk.

Indeeed, we and other bullion dealers who offer allocated storage outside the banking and financial system have seen flows out of bullion banks unallocated gold account offerings and into allocated accounts such as with Perth Mint and Via Mat.


XAU/JPY Gold in Japanese Yen, Monthly – (Bloomberg)

Smart money internationally is moving towards allocated storage and away from more risky unallocated storage and this trend is set to continue.

With unallocated storage one is an unsecured creditor of the provider or bank whereas with allocated storage the client directly owns the gold and the gold cannot become encumbered.

Allocated and segregated storage costs more money as more space is required in vaults and there is a higher insurance cost. Banks have realised that there is a preference to own allocated gold and are moving to offer that. They may also be able to make a small margin on the annual storage fee, in and above, the cost of storage to them.

The move by the Swiss banks is a reactive one in order to prevent the loss of clients who are concerned about systemic risk and want to own bullion in the safest way possible.

Zero Hedge

ISRAELI NAVY INTERCEPTS SHIP CARRYING ADVANCED WEAPONRY

TEL AVIV – The Israeli navy intercepted a ship containing advanced weaponry destined for Lebanon, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials speaking to WND.

The security officials said the weapons seizure took place three weeks ago and has been kept under wraps until now.

The officials said the ship flew a Qatari flag and was registered to a Qatari company. They said the ship contained advanced weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles.

Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces said the incident is “not familiar” to the IDF.

The information of a purported seized weapons shipment comes amid foreign media reports that Israeli forces attacked a target on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight believed to be a weapons convoy.

The alleged attack took place during a period of growing concern over the fate of Syrian chemical and conventional weapons.

A spokeswoman for the IDF refused to confirm or deny the report.

“We do not comment on reports of this kind,” she said.

Earlier, Beirut’s news agency claimed Israeli fighter jets conducted three separate aerial incursions into Lebanon’s airspace overnight, flying over the En Nakura area as well as the border village of Ramish.

Agence-France Presse quoted security sources today saying the Israeli air force bombed a weapons convoy just as it was crossing from Syria into Lebanon.


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/israeli-navy-intercepts-ship-carrying-advanced-weaponry/#WoqOjyfEfgp66K1V.99

Syria confirms Israel bombed site near Damascus

Israel conducted a rare airstrike on a military target inside Syria, foreign officials and Syrian state TV said Wednesday, amid fears President Bashar Assad’s regime could provide weapons, including chemical arms, to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

According to a Syrian military statement cited by the official SANA news agency, the IAF fighter jets came from the north, “flying at a low altitude and below radars,” and bombed a “scientific research center” in the Jamraya area just northwest of Damascus.

The statement added that Israel, along with Turkey and Qatar, were in league with local rebels, or as they call them “terrorists,” aiding their effort to topple the Assad regime.

The statement concluded by affirming that “such criminal acts will not weaken Syria and its role and will not dissuade Syrians from continuing to support resistance movements and just Arab causes, primarily the Palestinian cause.”

Two workers at the facility were killed and five were injured in the strike, the Syrian Army said, adding that considerable material damage was caused to the site, which was responsible for “raising the level of resistance and self-defense” of Syria’s military.

The statement denied earlier reports that the strike was aimed at a convoy carrying weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and did not specify as to the purpose of the installation that was hit.

At 1:30 a.m., the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCCSy)tweeted that emergency response vehicles were en route to Dumar, a neighborhood adjacent to Jamraya, that it said is home to a scientific facility. An hour and a half later, LCCSy reported that forces belonging to the elite Syrian Army 105th Brigade were deployed in Dumar to cordon off the area following an attack on the facility.

The Times of Israel

Russia's new Defense Minister eyes security threats

Russian Defense Minister, General Sergei Shoigu, presented the Defense Plan of Russia to the Supreme Commander Vladimir Putin. According to the Minister of Defense, in the preparation of the document a complete analysis of Russia's future in the coming decades was carried out.

Introducing the plan for the defense to the head of state, Sergei Shoigu said that representatives of 49 ministries and departments participated in its preparation. "All the details and fragments have been worked out. The plan was approved by everyone. But the most important thing is that the plan takes into account the future, further development, including the implementation of the state program of armaments", the Minister said at a meeting with the president. The Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov also participated in the meeting.

Sergei Shoigu emphasized that the document took into account all possible risks. "In our opinion, a fairly complete analysis of what we can expect in the coming decades has been conducted. This is why we believe that it is ready for approval. I would certainly like to add that at the same time it is not a final, inflexible document. Considering various events around the country, different threats, it can definitely be adjusted and will be adjusted, of course," said the Minister of Defense.

Most importantly, he said, "for the first time we were able to take into account all programs related to the defense of Russia, including the weapons program, mobilization program and the programs of all the ministries and departments, in fact, all over the country ".

"Vladimir Vladimirovich, we are asking you to approve this Defense Plan," said Sergei Shoigu, referring to the President. The commander in chief responded: "Let's look at the details."

In fact, it was Vladimir Putin who in October of last year proposed to supplement the federal law "On Defense" with an article providing for the development of the plan for the defense of the Russian Federation.

This is the first document of this kind in the modern history of Russia. Its development was conducted by the General Staff in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and 49 other ministries and departments.

Sergei Shoigu often mentions security threats to Russia. Last Saturday, speaking at a general meeting of the Academy of Military Science, the Minister brought up increasing military threats to Russia. In his words, "methods of force continue to play an important role in resolving economic and political differences between the countries." "Hot spots" are located close to our borders," said the head of the Defense Ministry.

"In this regard, we must be ready to respond to any challenges and threats. This requires that we have armed forces with the best structure, an efficient management system, modern weaponry and professional staff," he said.

Among the priority tasks Sergei Shoigu named enhancing the effectiveness of command and control, equipping the army with modern weapons and equipment, staffing military units, and developing mobilization base and mobile deployment of the armed forces.

As for the current issues, at the meeting with the President he discussed repair and maintenance of military equipment.

First, the Defense Ministry proposed to sign "from cradle to grave" contracts, i.e., from manufacturing of the equipment to its disposal. Second, it is planned to transfer capital and medium repair to the manufacturers. According to Sergei Shoigu, the negotiations on this matter with a number of companies are close to completion. The Minister said that the new system would allow more efficient use of funds.

Pravda

Italy Crashes Most In Six Months Despite EURUSD Strength

Wherever you looked today in Italy, shares were halted. From Saipem to Seat and From Banco Popolare to BMPS, individual stocks fell between 5% and 45% in some cases. 

Spain also fell alongside its incorrigible risk-on peripheral neighbor as dividend suspensions, outlook cuts, rating downgrades, and a growing concern about the banking system's legitimacy wear on sentiment. 

Italian sovereign risk was largely unchanged but as the US opened it started to bleed wider - but in general bonds ignored the stress in stocks. FX markets also were un-phased as EUR continued to test higher. CHF did, however, strengthen notably (against the USD, EUR, and mostly against the JPY - up 28% in the last six months!). The CHF strength did nothing for demand for Swiss rates though as they pushed higher to 10-month highs. The big problem though lies in credit. Just as in the US, credit markets in Europe are massively divergent from stocks' exuberance - and today's surge in Europe's VIX also echoes the disconnect we are seeing evolve in the US. Things are shifting...


Ugly day in Italian stocks...

CHFJPY strength...wow...is this how the SNB is doing it?

As Italy played catch-down to Spain on the week...

but it is credit markets that are starting to show signs of stress...