Saudi Arabia warns it will strike out on its own

A senior advisor to the Saudi royal family has accused its Western allies of deceiving the oil rich kingdom in striking the nuclear accord with Iran and said Riyadh would follow an independent foreign policy.

Nawaf Obaid told a think tank meeting in London that Saudi Arabia was determined to pursue its own foreign and policy goals. Having in the past been reactive to events, the leading Sunni Muslim nation was determined to be pro-active in future.

Mr Obaid said that while Saudi Arabia knew that the US was talking directly to Iran through a channel in the Gulf state of Oman, Washington had not directly briefed its ally.

"We were lied to, things were hidden from us," he said. "The problem is not with the deal struck in Geneva but how it was done."

In a statement the Saudi government gave a cautious welcome to the Geneva nuclear deal. It said "good intentions" could lead to a comprehensive agreement on Tehran's atomic programme. "This agreement could be a first step towards a comprehensive solution for Iran's nuclear programme, if there are good intentions," the Saudi government said

But it warned that a comprehensive solution should lead to the "removal of all weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear, from the Middle East and the Gulf".

A fellow of Harvard University's Belfer Centre and adviser to Prince Mohammad, the Saudi ambassador to London, Mr Obaid said Saudi Arabia would continue to resist Iranian involvement in the Syrian civil war. In particular he pointed to Iranian Revolutionary Guards involvement in battles in Syria on behalf of the regime.

"[Saudi Arabia] will be there to stop them wherever they are in Arab countries," he said. "We cannot accept Revolutionary Guards running round Homs."

Saudi Arabia's fury at the diplomatic detente with Iran is commonly held with Israel. While both countries are in the same posion Saudi Arabia disavows any suggestion of an open alliance. Until the Palestinians have a state, Saudi Arabia will not work with Israel.

Saudi Arabia is increasingly at odds with Washington over Syria. It rejected a seat on the UN Security Council in protest at the body's failure to "save" Syria.

Credit to The Telegraph

Powerful 7.0 magnitude quake strikes south Atlantic

WASHINGTON – A powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck in the south Atlantic ocean 314 kilometers (195 miles) southeast of Stanley, the main city on the Falkland Islands, the US Geological Survey said early Monday.

The quake struck at 0627 GMT at a depth of 10 kilometers in the lightly populated area, the USGS said. The epicenter was also 877 kilometers east of Ushuaia, Argentina, the USGS said.


Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/534523/powerful-7-0-magnitude-quake-strikes-south-atlantic-usgs#ixzz2lfS2fqLd
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The 10 Corporations That Control Almost Everything You Buy

We know the ten "people" that run the world, that 25 cities represent over half the world's GDP, and that the world's billionaires control a stunning $33 trillion in net worth... but who controls what the average joe-sixpack on Main Street buys? As PolicyMic notes, these ten mega corporations control the output of almost everything we buy - from household products to pet food and from jeans to jello. The so-called "Illusion of Choice," that these corporations (and their nepotistic inter-relationships) create is remarkable...




(Note: The chart shows a mix of networks. Parent companies may own, own shares of, or may simply partner with their branch networks. For example, Coca-Cola does not own Monster, but distributes the energy drink. Another note: We are not sure how up-to-date the chart is. For example, it has not been updated to reflect P&G's sale of Pringles to Kellogg's in February.)

Here are just a few examples: Yum Brands owns KFC and Taco Bell. The company was a spin-off of Pepsi. All Yum Brands restaurants sell only Pepsi products because of a special partnership with the soda-maker.

$84 billion-company Proctor & Gamble — the largest advertiser in the U.S. — is paired with a number of diverse brands that produce everything from medicine to toothpaste to high-end fashion. All tallied, P&G reportedly serves a whopping 4.8 billion people around the world through this network.

$200 billion-corporation Nestle — famous for chocolate, but which is the biggest food company in the world — owns nearly 8,000 different brands worldwide, and takes stake in or is partnered with a swath of others. Included in this network is shampoo company L'Oreal, baby food giant Gerber, clothing brand Diesel, and pet food makers Purina and Friskies.

Unilever, of soap fame, reportedly serves 2 billion people around the world, controlling a network that produces everything from Q-tips to Skippy peanut butter.

Credit to Zero Hedge

WORLD'S VOLCANO ACTIVITY INCREASING AS COMET C/2012 S1 ISON PLUNGES TOWARDS THE SUN (NOV 24, 2013)

Obama Accedes to Israel's Possible Annihilation

Ben Stein has a recent article in The American Spectatortitled, Is This Really Happening? The sub-title reads, "Obama Accedes to Israel's Possible Annihilation."

Stein writes, "I really cannot believe what I am seeing in the news about the U.S. and Iran. In 2013, less than 70 years after the end of the Hitler regime in Europe that killed half of all of the Jews in the world, roughly half of the Jews in the world are threatened with annihilation again--and the U.S. administration is not only going along with it, but cheering on the possibility."

He further writes, "Hitler did not have nuclear weapons, thank God, and there was no tiny little country like Israel where 7 million of the race he hated with such a crazed vengeance lived. So he had to send police and militia and the Gestapo and the SS and local anti-Semites to round up the Jews.

"The Iranians in the recent past, have pledged to destroy the Jewish people in the Middle East. Some of their leaders have boasted that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, Iran will have 'a holocaust in an afternoon' by rocketing a few nuclear weapons into Israel.

"Naturally, the Israelis are desperately worried.

"The problem is that Iran has made many promises about stopping the nuclear program. It has not kept any of them. It has not signed the non-proliferation treaty. It has not allowed inspectors in its most secret plants. It has raced on towards nuclear weapons that could, in a half hour or less,cause another holocaust.

"Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror. Many of its top brass have expressed a wish to see an earth rid of Jews altogether. For Mr. Obama to trust these people--the same ones who killed 300 Marines in a terror attack in Beirut 30 years ago last month--to actually change their stripes and suddenly become trustworthy, is deeply naive or worse.

"It's death for Israel. It's another Holocaust and the world--except for France--is standing by saying, 'Go for it, Iran. We trust you.' There is something biblically horrifying about the whole situation. 

"This is no time to reduce the sanctions. If Iran actually destroys its nuclear factories and labs, that's a better bet. But just for a promise of a freeze to stop the sanctions that can be reversed in hours?

Stein closes by asking, "Have we learned absolutely nothing from Hitler? Will we have the most wicked stain possible on the human race again within one lifetime? Obviously, Mr. Obama is willing to take the chance--with the lives of seven million Jews. Maybe Congress will have more heart."

Who would have anticipated that America would one day cheer for the annihilation of Israel? But that's what is happening. And for that there are consequences. Horrific consequences.

Ken Blackwell writes a penetrating article in The Christian Post stating, "Now, the world is distracted and distressed. Financial meltdowns, ethnic conflicts, and a toxic popular culture combine to unfocus our gaze. Iran is proceeding -- boldly, defiantly -- toward nuclear weapons. The Obama administration clearly has no idea how to prevent this.

"Mr. Obama assures Israelis if they like their country they can keep it. But his word is not to be relied upon."

Blackwell continues, "Can it be that salvation--at least in this temporal sense--is once more to come from the Jews?Nothing can be clearer than that if the world must rely on Barack Obama to stop the Iranians, they will not be stopped."

Blackwell concludes, "For these reasons, we need to look to Jerusalem for our security. Once again, the peace of Jerusalem is linked to the fate of the world. This time, let us pray the leaders of the Jewish state do their duty without fear, without interference, and without deference to a muddled leadership in the White House."

Of course we look to God for our security, but Blackwell is double emphasizing the importance of Israel and our dependence on her rather than Israel's dependence on America. Our foolish leaders cannot see this. He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121). I don't think she is going to be annihilated! America may be, but not Israel.

America is currently in a Luke 21 scenario: We have "distress with perplexity." We have dilemmas for which there are no solutions. There is no way out of the ObamaCare steel trap. No matter which way we turn in the maze, we run into a wall!

How about 80 tornadoes close to Christmas? Is there a message to us in that nightmare? Perplexity.

Despite the fact that we have a more than trillion dollar deficit, an almost 17 trillion dollar debt, and roughly 100 trillion dollars in unfunded Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security liabilities, we seem incapable of slowing down our spending. Our country will be bankrupt in 5-15 years unless something is done. Perplexity.

The more government expands, the more freedom contracts and less vibrant and healthy our society becomes. This is producing an Orwellian country. Perplexity.

The degenerate and dishonest behavior of our politicians, school shootings, abortion, trashy reality TV, drug use, gang activity, gay marriage and children being born out of wedlock, among many, many other issues, are eating away at the core of our once-solid values. Perplexity.

I believe some of this national decline is directly tied to our support or abuse of one of our best allies, Israel.

Always pay attention to the meaning of Genesis 12:3.There are blessings and cursings involved with the treatment of Israel.

It just never ever pays to stick your finger in the "apple of God's eye." No nation, denomination, church, political party, ministry, or individual, will get away with it forever. Behavior has consequences.


Credit to Understanding the times

Israel Betrayed

For years, I have documented the betrayal of Israel at the hands of the US government, but this latest betrayal is the most open and blatant that I have ever seen. And, more than Israel has been betrayed. The Arabs have been betrayed and hung out to dry. Worse, the head of Saudi Intelligence, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, painted a big bull’s-eye on them by demonstrating to the Russians that the Saudis are their biggest, baddest, worst enemy –come get us. Do you smell a setup?

Yeah. I smell a setup.

There is no logical reason why the US and Europe did this deal with Iran. None. This isn’t going to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons program. It’s not even going to slow it down. No, in fact, it’s going to provide the Iranian mullahs with MORE money to speed up their program. And, in so doing, engulf the Middle East in apocalyptic war.

And, THAT is the setup.

Whoever is pulling the strings wants a war that will destroy Israel, destroy the Middle East, and bring down the financial system – all of which will cause a realignment of the power structure of the world. How do I know this?

Because I can do math. The great thing about math is that two plus two will ALWAYS equal four. You could be on the other side of the galaxy and two plus two would STILL equal four.

This is why I know there is a grand design at play here. The US State Department knows EXACTLY what will happen as a result of the deal signed with the Iranians. They KNOW that Israel must attack Iran. And, they KNOW that Iran will close the Straits of Hormuz. They KNOW that this will cause a catastrophic increase in the price of oil. They KNOW that this will crash the economies of the world.

They know this, and did it anyway.

This means that it’s what they want. So, either they are insane, or they have a plan. Would you believe that they AREN’T insane?

No, these are the most dead-eyed rational people on the planet. The problem is that there are wheels within wheels at work here, and even the soulless psychopaths that have offered up Israel to the Iranians don’t even know that they are bit players in the biggest game of all.

The final plan of the global elite has been put in play.

Are you ready for this?

Credit to Omegashock.com

The Sides Are Forming for the Coming Civil War

 

I remember as a young child that the key to winning a lot of the neighborhood games in football and basketball was all about who got picked first. If you were lucky enough to get Michael on your team, then you knew you were going to win. If you were in a foreign park playing against kids you did not know, Michael was the great equalizer. I also knew that getting the right kids on my side helped in spelling bees and walking home from the movies so I didn’t get beat up. Learning how to organize my team with the right people, served me well when I became a men’s college head basketball coach in terms of winning the recruiting wars. I always felt the April recruiting wars was the deciding factor in many games in the following December.

America is in the choosing sides phase of the coming civil war. To use a college recruiting phrase, it is accurate to state that the letters of intent to join one side or another have mostly been signed and the commitments offered. However, there is one big uncommitted piece, but very soon the sides will be drawn.

The Chess Pieces of Civil War

What is going on today in America all about choosing sides. There are clear lines being formed in the United States. The recruiting pool consists of the Department of Homeland Security, the American military, local law enforcement, the Russian troops pouring into the United States, the trickle of Chinese troops coming into the country through Hawaii and, of course, the poor, the middle class and elite. This is the recruiting pool which will form the chess pieces of the coming American Civil War.

The Contextual Background for Civil War

Even if all parties in this country wanted the country to continue, even in its present mortally wounded state, it would be foolish to believe that it could continue for much longer.

There are three paramount numbers that every American should be paying attention to and they are (1) national deficit ($17 trillion dollars), (2) the unfunded liabilities debt ($238 trillion dollars), and (3) the derivatives/futures debt (one quadrillion dollars which is 16 times the entire wealth of the planet. The net result of these staggering numbers can only end one way, and that is with a financial collapse, followed by a bank holiday, rioting in the streets and the full roll out of martial law. These financial numbers guarantee that the party cannot continue much longer.

Since America, in her present form, cannot continue much longer without experiencing a cataclysmic shift, we would be wise to realize what resources are going to be the impetus for civil war. When you play the board game, Monopoly, the properties on Boardwalk are among the most coveted. It is no different in real life. The biggest prize of the coming conflict is real estate. Homes, office buildings and shopping malls are the most coveted prize. The MERS mortgage fraud continues unabated as millions of homes have been confiscated through mortgage fraud. When the dollar is worthless and is awaiting its replacement (e.g. the Amero or the Worldo), real estate will be more valuable than gold.

Other big game that is being hunted by both sides in the coming civil war will be bank accounts, which must be looted before the dormant computer digits we call money can be converted into hard assets. That is why my advice is, and has been, convert your cash into tangible assets which can enhance your survivability in the upcoming crash.

Also, your pensions, your 401K’s and your various entitlement programs are also at risk as evidenced by Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew’s “borrowing” from various Federal retirement accounts in order to increase the debt ceiling fight that will resurface in Congress, again, early next year.

Again, my advice is to convert your assets in tangible items which will aid in getting you through some very dark days coming up in the near future. Before the cognitive dissonance crowd rears their ugly heads and accuses me of fear mongering, ask yourself what the elite did prior to the crash of the economy in 1929. For example, Joseph Kennedy took his money out of the stock market the day BEFORE it crashed. Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Westinghouse, et al., all took their money out just prior to the crash, leaving the ignorant masses unaware of what was coming. Don’t make the same mistake.

Barring a false flag event, US martial law will have a trigger event, which will lead to martial law, that will be financial and it will naturally occur as we are already on a collision course with destiny.

Building Fences Around the Ignorant

Please allow me to ask you an ignorant question. If you knew that a virus was coming to your neighborhood which would infect much of the local canine population, wouldn’t it be prudent to build a fence around all of the dogs in the neighborhood in order to isolate any potentially infected dogs? Well, this is how the elite view you.

Many of us, devoid of financial resources, will soon become like a pack of rabid dogs and we must be contained. As I have written about recently, it is becoming very difficult to get your money out of the country. Banks, such as JP Morgan Chase and HSBC have already imposed withdrawal limits. If you withdraw more than $10,000 cash, you run a good chance of being investigated by the IRS. One layer of fencing has already been placed around you and your assets.

The NDAA constitutes another big fence being built around the people in which all due process will soon be gone. The NDAA will allow the administration the “legal” right to secretly remove any burgeoning leadership of citizen opposition forces. The second provision which will allow this country to quickly transition to martial law is Executive Order (EO) 13603 which allows the President to take control over any resource, property and even human labor within the United States. This EO gives the President unlimited authority including the ability to initiate a civilian draft as well as a military draft. In short, this spells the potential enslavement of the American people. For those of you who still have your blinders on, research the NDAA and EO 13603 and then when you realize that I am correct in my interpretation, ask yourself one question; If the powers that be were not going to seize every important asset, then why would the government give itself the power to do just that? And while you are at it, remember the Clean Water Act gives the EPA to control all private property as well as the precious resources of all water. 

And then of course, the FDA and the conflicts with local farmers is escalating. And if this is not enough to convince the sheep of this country that the storm clouds are overhead, then take a look at HR 347 which outlaws protesting and takes away the First Amendment. This unconstitutional legislation makes it illegal to criticize the President and the government, as a whole, in the presence of Federal officials. I have news for you, there are Federal officials in every town, city and county in America. If one violates HR 347, they will be immediately arrested and charged with a felony.

I just saw the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, and this is eerily similar to what I saw in the movies in that the people are being provoked to revolution. In fact, in the TV show, Revolution, the most evil entity in the series is the re-emergence of the United States government and the heroes of the show are rebelling against the abuse. It seems like everywhere we turn in the media, the people are being encouraged to rise up now and challenge authority. I am sure the establishment would rather confront a small group of dissidents and squelch the rebellion now, before the numbers can become significant and overwhelming to the establishment and this theme is being carried out in the media.

Along these same lines, Obama has done nothing but agitate the middle class. I like to ask Obama supporters, can you name one thing Obama has done, on behalf of the establishment elite, to improve the plight of the American middle class? I can’t think of even one thing.

The fences have been built around the soon-to-be rabid dog population, so when the infected dogs go crazy, the pieces will have been put in place to deal with the uprisings that will surely follow the loss of everything. Containment is nearly complete. The final action will consist of gun confiscation and one side of the coming conflict is attempting to position themselves to do that in the near future and that would be the DHS, the Russians and the Chinese. I cannot think of another legitimate reason which would describe why they are here.

Cognitive dissonance only relieves one of psychological distress for so long.

Choosing Sides

I have told you what is at risk before the inevitable economic crash. Now it is time to take stock of the sides of this coming civil war and a very clear picture is emerging.

The poor have no resources other than their food stamps which are already under attack. The middle class and their resources are the target for the coming conflict. And most of the middle class has no idea that they have been targeted. Soon the divide and conquer strategies will lose their effectiveness and the poor and the middle class will be on the same team because they will both have lost everything.

As most of you know, I have been screaming from the roof tops that the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming, in reference to a bilateral agreement signed between the Russian military and FEMA. Well, the Russians are not coming, they are here and so are the Chinese. As most of you also know the Russians are Chinese have threatened to nuke the United States over Iran and Syria in the past several months. Yet, this administration thinks it is a good idea to include the Russians and Chinese in participating in highly secure operations with profound national security implications in such drills as Grid EX II and the upcoming RIMPAC war games which we used to use to fight against the imaginary Chinese and Russian forces. This is insanity, however, in athletic parlance, one side conducted a trade and is now receiving the services of their once arch-rival.

The sides of the coming civil war looks like this. On one side, we find the evil empire consisting of the elite, their government puppets, the DHS and perhaps the military. The other side, for the moment consists of the middle class and now the poor as they move towards having their entitlements incrementally taken away.

There is one big prize and its allegiance has not yet been determined and that is the American military.

Carving Up the Military Like a Thanksgiving Turkey

Obama is purging the military like no president has ever done. Bush fired two Generals. Obama has fired hundreds of command level officers. Why? Because the military leadership is the key to the coming civil war. Who will the military support? Will the military support an out of control administration who would use foreign military assets against the people? Or, will they support the people that they are sworn to defend?

Obama has the Russians and the Chinese military coming into the country because our military cannot be trusted to do what needs to be done when the economic crash occurs. Obama knows that the military is conditioned to protect the people. He is hoping that he can change the entire structure of the military and thus, change its mission through changing its leadership.

I personally do not think Obama can change the rank and file of the military. I think he can only have a minimal effect on the leadership of the military. If Obama’s purge of the military is anything but for the purpose of commandeering its services for the upcoming civil war, I would really like to hear another explanation, because, for the life of me, I cannot see another purpose.

Obama needs to be impeached for treason.

Commanding Military Officers Terminated By Obama

-General John R. Allen-U.S. Marines Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] (Nov 2012)
-Major General Ralph Baker (2 Star)-U.S. Army Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn in Africa (April 2013)

-Major General Michael Carey (2 Star)-U.S. Air Force Commander of the 20th US Air Force in charge of 9,600 people and 450 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (Oct 2013)

-Colonel James Christmas-U.S. Marines Commander 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit & Commander Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Unit (July 2013)

-Major General Peter Fuller-U.S. Army Commander in Afghanistan (May 2011)

-Major General Charles M.M. Gurganus-U.S. Marine Corps Regional Commander of SW and I Marine Expeditionary Force in Afghanistan (Oct 2013)

-General Carter F. Ham-U.S. Army African Command (Oct 2013)

-Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon (3 Star), Jr.-U.S. Army 58th Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, NY (2013)

-Command Sergeant Major Don B Jordan-U.S. Army 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command (suspended Oct 2013)

-General James Mattis-U.S. Marines Chief of CentCom (May 2013)

-Colonel Daren Margolin-U.S. Marine in charge of Quantico’s Security Battalion (Oct 2013)

-General Stanley McChrystal-U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (June 2010)

-General David D. McKiernan-U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (2009)

-General David Petraeus-Director of CIA from September 2011 to November 2012 & U.S. Army Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] and Commander U.S. Forces Afghanistan [USFOR-A] (Nov 2012)

-Brigadier General Bryan Roberts-U.S. Army Commander 2nd Brigade (May 2013)

-Major General Gregg A. Sturdevant-U.S. Marine Corps Director of Strategic Planning and Policy for the U.S. Pacific Command & Commander of Aviation Wing at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan (Sept 2013)

-Colonel Eric Tilley-U.S. Army Commander of Garrison Japan (Nov 2013)

-Brigadier General Bryan Wampler-U.S. Army Commanding General of 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command [TSC] (suspended Oct 2013)

Nearly 160 Majors through the rank of Colonel have been let go by Obama.

Commanding Naval Officers Terminated by Obama

-Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette-U.S. Navy Commander John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group Three (Oct 2012)-Tried to rescue Ambassador Chris Stevens but was arrested during the attempt.

-Vice Admiral Tim Giardina(3 Star, demoted to 2 Star)-U.S. Navy Deputy Commander of the US Strategic Command, Commander of the Submarine Group Trident, Submarine Group 9 and Submarine Group 10 (Oct 2013)

-Lieutenant Commander Kurt Boenisch-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011)

-Rear Admiral Ron Horton-U.S. Navy Commander Logistics Group, Western Pacific (Mar 2011)

-Lieutenant Commander Martin Holguin-U.S. Navy Commander mine countermeasures Fearless (Oct 2011)

-Captain David Geisler-U.S. Navy Commander Task Force 53 in Bahrain (Oct 2011)

-Commander Laredo Bell-U.S. Navy Commander Naval Support Activity Saratoga Springs, NY (Aug 2011)

-Commander Nathan Borchers-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer Stout (Mar 2011)

-Commander Robert Brown-U.S. Navy Commander Beachmaster Unit 2 Fort Story, VA (Aug 2011)

-Commander Andrew Crowe-Executive Officer Navy Region Center Singapore (Apr 2011)

-Captain Robert Gamberg-Executive Officer carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (Jun 2011)

-Captain Rex Guinn-U.S. Navy Commander Navy Legal Service office Japan (Feb 2011)

-Commander Kevin Harms- U.S. Navy Commander Strike Fighter Squadron 137 aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (Mar 2011)

-Commander Etta Jones-U.S. Navy Commander amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011)

-Captain Owen Honors-U.S. Navy Commander aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (Jan 2011)

-Captain Donald Hornbeck-U.S. Navy Commander Destroyer Squadron 1 San Diego (Apr 2011)

-Commander Ralph Jones-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Green Bay (Jul 2011)

-Commander Jonathan Jackson-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 134, deployed aboard carrier Carl Vinson (Dec 2011)

-Captain Eric Merrill-U.S. Navy Commander submarine Emory S. Land (Jul 2011)

-Captain William Mosk-U.S. Navy Commander Naval Station Rota, U.S. Navy Commander Naval Activities Spain (Apr 2011)

-Commander Timothy Murphy-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, WA (Apr 2011)

-Commander Joseph Nosse-U.S. Navy Commander ballistic-missile submarine Kentucky (Oct 2011)

-Commander Mark Olson-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer The Sullivans FL (Sep 2011)

-Commander John Pethel-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock New York (Dec 2011)

-Commander Karl Pugh-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 141 Whidbey Island, WA (Jul 2011)

-Commander Jason Strength-U.S. Navy Commander of Navy Recruiting District Nashville, TN (Jul 2011)

-Captain Greg Thomas-U.S. Navy Commander Norfolk Naval Shipyard (May 2011)

-Commander Mike Varney-U.S. Navy Commander attack submarine Connecticut (Jun 2011)

-Commander Jay Wylie-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer Momsen (Apr 2011)
Forty one more were fired in 2012. One hundred and fifty seven were fired in 2013.


Partial Documentation

http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20120103/NEWS/201030335/

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/obamas-military-purge/

http://investmentwatchblog.com/list-of-names-military-purge-high-officers-terrifying/

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67653.html

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20130718/CAREERS03/307180027/Commander-22nd-Marine-Expeditionary-Unit-relieved-command

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20131018/CAREERS03/310280001/Colonel-charge-Quantico-s-Security-Battalion-relievehttp://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/09/3-star-navy-admiral-fired-as-deputy-chief-nuclear-command-demoted-to-2-star

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/11/air-force-general-in-charge-nuclear-missiles-to-be-fired-officials-say/?intcmp=latestnews

IRAN DEAL LEAVES ISRAEL FEW OPTIONS

JERUSALEM (AP) -- After feverishly trying to derail the international community's nuclear deal with Iran in recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has little choice but to accept an agreement that he has derided as deeply flawed.

Netanyahu believes the six-month deal leaves Iran's military nuclear capabilities largely intact, while giving Iran relief from painful economic sanctions, undermining negotiations on the next stage. At the same time, Israel's strongest piece of leverage, the threat of a military strike on Iran, seems to be out of the question despite Netanyahu's insistence it would remain on the table.

"Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world," Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday, calling the deal a "historic mistake."

He said Israel was not bound by the agreement, and reiterated Israel's right to "defend itself by itself," a veiled reference to a possible military strike against Iran.

Netanyahu has spent years warning the world against the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran, calling it an existential threat due to Iranian references to Israel's destruction, its support of hostile militant groups on Israel's borders and its development of missiles capable of reaching Israel and beyond.

Israel also believes that a nuclear-armed Iran will provide militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah an "umbrella" of protection that will embolden them to carry out attacks.

As momentum for a deal built the past week, Netanyahu delivered speech after speech and held meeting after meeting, urging the world to seek better terms from Iran. Last week, he hosted French President Francois Hollande, then rushed off to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin in a last-ditch attempt to alter the agreement.

Netanyahu had said that any deal must ensure that Iran's enriching of uranium - a key step toward making a nuclear bomb - must end. He also said all enriched material should be removed from the Islamic Republic, and called for the demolition of a plutonium reactor under construction.

But after the deal was announced, it was clear that Netanyahu made little headway. While freezing parts of Iran's enrichment capabilities, it will leave others, including the centrifuges that are used for enrichment, intact. The deal relies heavily on Iranian goodwill, a still-to-be-defined system of international inspections and the continued pain of sanctions that remain in place.

Yoel Guzansky, who used to monitor the Iranian nuclear program for Israel's National Security Council, said a deal that would satisfy Israel was unlikely from the outset due to differing "red lines" between Israel and the U.S.

While Israel sees any enrichment as a cause for concern, the U.S. was willing to tolerate nuclear development as long as it was unable to produce weapons, said Guzansky, who is now an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.

"It's a bad agreement because of what it symbolizes," he said. "It means Iran is getting an acceptance, a signature that it's a legitimate country." Even worse for Israel, he added, the agreement amounts to "acceptance of Iran as a nuclear threshold state."

U.S. officials said Sunday's deal was just a first step and further negotiations aim for a final agreement that would prevent any threat from Iran's nuclear program.


Credit to AP

700,000-Year-Old Horse Found in Yukon is the Oldest DNA Ever Decoded

I guess he was not subject to evolution....

The frozen remains of a horse more than half a million years old have reluctantly given up their genetic secrets, providing scientists with the oldest DNA ever sequenced.

The horse was discovered in 2003 in the ancient permafrost of Canada’s west-central Yukon Territory, not far from the Alaskan border.

The Przewalski’s Horse, which lives on the steppes of central Asia, likely deviated from the lineage leading to modern domesticated horses some 50,000 years ago. (Photo: Joe Ravi)

And although the animal was dated to between 560,000 and 780,000 years old, an international team of researchers was able to use a new combination of techniques to decipher its genetic code.

Among the team’s findings is that the genus Equus — which includes all horses, donkeys, and zebras — dates back more than 4 million years, twice as long ago as scientists had previously believed.

“When we started the project, everyone — including us, to be honest — thought it was impossible,” said Dr. Ludovic Orlando of the University of Copenhagen, who coordinated the research, in a statement to Western Digs.

“And it was to some extent, with the methods available by then. So it’s clearly methodological advances that made this possible.”

Orlando and his colleagues published their findings this summer in the journal Nature; he discussed them today in a lecture at The Royal Society, London.

Previous to this, the oldest genome ever sequenced was of a 120,000-year-old polar bear — no small feat consider that the half-life of a DNA molecule is estimated to be about 521 years. By this reckoning, even under the best conditions, DNA could remain intact for no more than 6.8 million years.

Credit to Western digs

CNN: If You’re Christian, It’s Your Fault That People Don’t Have Health Insurance

As tens of millions stand to lose their health insurance benefits over the coming months, mainstream establishment mouthpiece CNN has been investigating why there are so many poor and under-insured Americans.

In an investigative report titled The Obamacare ‘scandal’ you haven’t heard about CNN journalist John Blake thinks he’s figured it out.

It’s not that the government has created an air of learned helplessness, or shipped jobs to foreign countries through restrictive legislation and taxes, or that Americans have seen their purchasing power decrease exponentially making it impossible for them to meet their basic needs.

And the Patient Affordable Care Act certainly can’t be to blame, even though the health exchanges don’t work, and people are being rapidly removed from their current insurance policies because of regulations set forth by the new law, or that those who do manage to sign up will see a tripling of their rates which will further impoverish them.

No, the problem, according to CNN, is the Christians; specifically, the Christian pastors and their churches in southern states who have apparently done nothing to address poverty or failed to push their governments to expand social health care services through forced wealth redistribution.


In an article on CNN.com’s Belief Blog, CNN writer John Blake says that, while famous pastors “preach in states where crosses and church steeples dot the skyline,” they do nothing about “the poor who can’t get the health insurance they would receive if they lived elsewhere.”

That refers, in turn, to the decision of twenty-five states not to participate in Obamacare’s expanded Medicaid funding. The states were allowed to opt out following last year’s controversial Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, which upheld the law as a whole but struck down the mandatory state participation in Medicaid expansion, citing the protection provided to state powers under the Tenth Amendment.

Blake covers different perspectives on the question of speaking out. But the premise of CNN’s article is that churches are to blame for Obamacare’s failures–not the federal government, not the Democrats who passed it, and not President Barack Obama himself. The thinly-veiled implication–a repeated theme in leftist critiques–is that Christians are hypocrites who care about personal salvation, but not about good works.

Source Breitbart

If CNN and John Blake would have done their research, what they would have found is that if there’s anyone in this country providing community outreach to the poor, handicapped and uninsured, it’s faith-based networks, most of which are Christian.

In 2001 there were approximately 26,000 food pantries in America. Of those, fully 75% were operated by faith-based organizations. They were staffed not by government employees bilking the system for millions of dollars in reckless spending and outrageous benefit and pension plans, but by Christian volunteers. In fact, 9 out of 10 people working in faith-based food pantries in America are volunteers doing so out of their own free will, good nature, and need to give back to those who are less fortunate.

Moreover, with respect to health care itself, faith-based hospitals in America have been found to provide higher quality health care than their counterparts. These hospitals and the Christian organizations that support them raise hundreds of millions of dollars a year in an effort to assist the poorest of our society with their medical needs – again primarily through individual donations, not wealth confiscation.

Thus, while Mr. Blake et. al. make the argument that Christians don’t care about the poor, the facts prove otherwise. It’s the very people he criticizes in his ‘investigative report’ on this ‘scandal’ that are spending their personal time and money to help those in need.

And the kicker? No one had to write a law and force these people to do it by the barrel of a gun. They do it because they care, not because they were mandated to do so. Moreover, they don’t forcibly take the funds needed to operate these outreach programs from others. They get them in the form of private donations, from hundreds of thousands of other Christians across America who want to make a difference any way they can.

So, Mr. Blake, before you bloviate about how followers of the teachings of Jesus are to blame for the world’s problems, go take a look in the mirror.

If you’re going to cast stones, you may want to start there.




Credit to Shftplan

China establishes 'air-defence zone' over East China Sea

China said Saturday that any noncommercial aircraft entering a broad zone over the East China Sea must first identify themselves to Beijing, at the risk of facing “defensive emergency measures” by Chinese armed forces.

China’s establishment of a so-called air defense identification zone, announced by its Ministry of National Defense, adds a new dimension to the simmering territorial dispute with Japan and raises the odds of armed conflict.

The eight uninhabited islands at the center of that dispute fall within China’s new aerial zone. Based on guidelines that China’s Defense Ministry released Saturday, any Japanese aircraft flying around those islands would need to submit their flight plans to China’s Foreign Ministry or civil aviation administration. They would also need to maintain radio communication with Chinese authorities.

China did not detail what measures it would take against aircraft that disobey, but defense experts say its military could scramble jets or even shoot down planes it views as a threat.

Later Saturday, the country’s air force conducted its first air patrol after the establishment of the new zone, with two large scouts leading the mission and early-warning aircraft and fighters providing support and cover, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Credit To Washington Post