Flu Season Among Worst In A Decade
Israel paralyzed by worst storm in decade
Wildfires Hit Australia Amid Worst Heatwave in Decade
Worst drought in decades hits Brazil
2012 pertussis outbreak worst in decades
Lebanon takes the brunt of the Levant's worst storm in decades
China's coldest winter in decades at new low
All railway fares hiked after a decade
International traffic more than doubles in a decade; new services from Shaheen Air and SpiceJet
Brazil posts smallest trade surplus in a decade
Rapes by juveniles jump from 198 to 1,149 in a decade
Hampton Court Palace moat floods for the first time in a decade
Parking fees to increase for first time in a decade
Heatwave WORST EVER!
Income taxes rise sharply for the first time in two decades
BRITAIN FACING 'WORST DECEMBER STORMS IN DECADES'
U.S. crop production, with favorable planting conditions supporting high planted acreage and expectations of record or near-record production, is seeing some of the driest and most unfavorable growing conditions in decades.
Hurricane Sandy was the worst storm in decades
Neb. suffers worst outbreak of EHD in decades
Worst Flooding In Decades Across Parts of Africa
Worst debt crisis in decades as Greeks struggling with soaring fuel prices
GM’s Alliance Partner PSA Implodes: Worst Year In Two Decades
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Biden suggests White House could act without Congress as part of gun control plan
The vice president met Wednesday with gun-safety and victims groups, saying he is "determined" to take "urgent action" to address gun violence.
"This is not an exercise in photo opportunities or just getting to ask you all what your opinions are. We are vitally interested in what you have to say," Biden said.
The White House has sought to avoid prejudging what Biden's recommendations would be. But the vice president hinted Wednesday that executive action -- action by the president in which Congress would not have a say -- would indeed be involved.
"There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken," Biden said, adding "we haven't decided what that is yet."
He also said separate legislative action would be "required."
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, after the meeting affirmed that administration officials "talked about ... their willingness to use executive action where that's appropriate."
Among the gun-advocacy groups attending the meeting Wednesday were Arizona for Gun Safety, the Brady Campaign, the Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus and Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
The vice president will hear from the other side of the gun-control debate Thursday, when the nation's leading gun lobby meets face to face with his task force in what could be a testy session. The National Rifle Association confirmed to Fox News that the group accepted an invitation to meet with the task force, which is running up against an end-of-the-month deadline to produce a set of proposals.
The administration says mental health and the entertainment industry will likely be examined as part of that process. Biden has also scheduled a meeting with representatives from the entertainment and video game industries. But much of the discussion, and proposals from Democratic members of Congress, continue to center around gun control. The meeting Wednesday with gun safety groups will likely focus on those kinds of proposals.
The NRA has been at the helm of fighting those proposals ever since the group broke its post-Connecticut silence and called for a national school security plan to install armed officers at every school in the country.
The White House and the NRA have found little common ground as the two groups craft separate responses to the tragedy.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney reiterated Tuesday that President Obama is "skeptical that putting more guns in schools would solve this problem."
It's unclear how the meeting Thursday will be structured. The NRA told Fox News that they are sending a representative to hear what the White House has to say. Carney, though, said the task force is "designed to get input" from others.
"Then the vice president's group will assess different actions," Carney said.
The Washington Post reported over the weekend that President Obama was considering measures beyond reinstating a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. According to the paper, the task force is considering measures like universal background checks for gun buyers, a national gun database, strengthening mental-health checks and tougher penalties for people carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.
Asked Monday about the report, Carney reiterated that Obama wants to "close the many loopholes in our background check system" and "supports congressional actions right away."
Accelerated efforts to draft new gun control measures have alarmed gun rights groups, including the NRA, at the national and local levels. A separate last-minute effort to craft a restrictive semi-automatic weapon ban in Illinois was put on hold amid a tight deadline and intense opposition. On Capitol Hill, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is again pushing a renewal of the federal assault-weapons ban.
But Congress is also slammed with a pressing set of deadlines regarding a host of fiscal issues -- the debt ceiling, automatic spending cuts and the federal budget itself.
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said the next round of fiscal deadlines will occupy the attention of Congress and push off the consideration of gun legislation for at least three months.
"There will be plenty of time to take a look at their recommendations once they come forward," McConnell said of Biden's upcoming proposals during an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
Obama aides say the president still plans to act quickly on Biden's proposals.
"I believe most Americans would disagree with the idea that in the wake of what happened in Newtown, Conn., that we should put off any action on the issue of gun violence," Carney said Monday in response to McConnell's comments.
Biden's recommendations are likely to include proposals for legislation, as well as executive action Obama can sign into law without lawmakers' approval.
The president already has called on Congress to reinstate a ban on military-style assault weapons, close loopholes that allow gun buyers to skirt background checks and restrict high-capacity magazines.
Pro-gun lawmakers on Capitol Hill have said any comprehensive effort to respond to the Newtown shooting must include more than just tighter gun control.
In addition to Biden's meetings this week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will meet with parent and teacher groups, while Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will meet with mental health and disability advocates.
The White House said other meetings are also scheduled with community organizations, business owners and religious leaders.
FIRST STRAND OF GONORRHEA RESISTANT TO ANTIBIOTICS!
First Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Cases Detected in North America
Completely incurable gonorrhea may be at hand
Gonorrhea infects close to 700,000 Americans each year.
The fears of major health organizations have come true: Gonorrhea that is immune to the last remaining effective oral antibiotic has been detected in at least nine North American patients, meaning the era of "incurable" gonorrhea could be close.
In a study released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of scientists led by Vanessa Allen of Public Health Ontario, found that 6.7 percent of patients with gonorrhea at a Toronto clinic still had the disease after a round of cephalosporins, the last effective oral antibiotic used to treat the disease. Of 133 patients who returned for a "test of cure" visit, nine remained gonorrhea-positive. This is the first time cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea has been found in humans in North America.
Last year, both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control warned that untreatable gonorrhea—the world's second most common sexually transmitted infection—could soon be a reality as the bacteria showed increasing resistance to cephalosporins in lab tests.
"These are the clinical cases we've been waiting for," Allen says. "This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is."
Previously, there had been a couple individual case reports of untreatable gonorrhea cases in the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Norway, and Japan. In an accompanying editorial, Robert Kirkcaldy of the CDC writes that gonorrhea is quickly becoming a more threatening disease.
"Cephalosporin treatment failures have now been documented in North America," he writes. "Although this milestone was expected, its arrival is deeply troubling."
Gonorrhea is estimated to infect close to 700,000 Americans each year. Symptoms include painful urination, abdominal pain, genital discharge, itching, and infertility in women. Women who have both HIV and gonorrhea are more likely to pass HIV to their offspring than women with just HIV.
Less than a year ago, Gail Bolan, director of the CDC's sexually transmitted disease prevention program, wrote that the "threat of untreatable gonorrhea is emerging rapidly." At the time, just 1.7 percent of gonorrhea isolated in the lab were considered resistant to cephalosporins. Allen says her study shows just how fast antibiotic resistance is evolving in the organisms.
"Our results aren't generalizable to the overall population because they all came from one clinic," she says. "But basically, the problem appears worse than we originally thought."
Although each of the nine patients in Canada were cured with the injectable antibiotic known as ceftriaxone, Allen warns that there's been "a parallel increase" in resistance to that antibiotic.
"I think without a doubt this will become a bigger problem," Allen says. "The next threat is when, not if, the same thing happens with ceftriaxone. And then what?"
According to Kirkcaldy, "clinicians now face the emergence of cephalosporin-resistant [gonorrhea] without well-studied, effective backup treatment options."
US Gov, Foreign Troops & Local Police Prepare For Martial Law in 2013
Those with nothing to lose the 47% of Americans on social or subsidy programs are expected to be the ones to take to the streets and riot at the beginning of the 2nd American civil war.
Manufactured poverty has become the standard under the Communist-in-Chief, Barack Obama. This breaks the will of the populace as they are unable to feed their families as the economy suffers while the growth of the government continues. Social norms now dictate that a government handout is nothing to be ashamed of. And the road to serfdom is being paved.
Those able and willing to fight against the “change” that has “come to America” thanks to Obama would be the target of most of the violence. In many documents published by the US government and globalist think-tanks, explanation of effective urban combat has been discussed and plotted. One such document is entitled “Combined Arms Operations in Urban Terrain” , dating back to 2002.
Here the “characteristics” of urban centers are explained and how to successfully lock down a major US city is posed to combine the most effective course of action. From aerial attacks, to small-unit battles on the ground, the scenario of combat through intelligence, through knowledge of the terrain, and preparation is analyzed and presented so that commanders and leaders can consider all options before beginning such an endeavor.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has resumed purchasing hollow-point bullets. In December of 2012, DHS solicited for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to have 200 cases, containing 1000 rounds each, of 13-40 Cal, 180 grain, jacketed hollow-point bullets.
The US Armed Forces being given these deadly bullets are:
• Maritime Law Enforcement and Port Security Training
• US Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy
• US Courts Probation and Pretrial Services Training Academy
• US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Training Academy
• Customs and Border Protection Field Operations Academy
• Naval Criminal Investigative Service
The Pacific Southwest Region of the US Forest Service has solicited ammunition that is supposedly needed for target practice. In this instance, the amounts of hollow point bullets, 12 gauge rifle slugs, and other accessories are smaller than the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has requested through other federal agencies.
DHS previously published a solicitation for 16,000 rounds of .40 S&W JHP. The Social Security Office has also made a ordering more MREs as a replenishment of stocked meals with a shelf life of 30 – 36 months. Because FEMA has made the solicitation, it may be assumed that these MREs are for disaster relief; however knowing how nefarious previous purchases have been, it would leave anyone feeling dubious.
A police lieutenant from North Caroline explains that in his department the officers are being trained for martial law in 2013.
In August of 2012, Major General Jerry Curry asked “who does the government intend to shoot?” Curry asserted that: “No one has yet said what the purpose of these purchases is, though we are led to believe that they will be used only in an emergency to counteract and control civil unrest. Those against whom the hollow point bullets are to be used — those causing the civil unrest — must be American citizens.”
Last October, the US House of Representatives passed HR 6566 which is an amendment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 that imbues the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “to provide guidance and coordination for mass fatality planning, and for other purposes.”
Elected officials assume that in such an event, funeral homes, cemeteries and mortuaries would be overwhelmed should millions of Americans suddenly die in a tragic event. There must also be allowances for survivors of such an event.
Representatives from local and state governments must coordinate with federal agencies, private sector businesses, non-profit organizations and appropriate individuals to prepare and respond to an incident wherein mass casualties occur.
The Congressional Research Service released a report that expounds on the use of military on American streets for enforcement action against civilians. This document states that the Patriot Act gives the US government permission to use military to assist law enforcement in the establishment of a terrorist infiltration, civil unrest, disaster relief and if needed as first responders. This renders Posse Comitatus useless.
According to George Foresman, former undersecretary of the DHS: “When the military is used – whether the decision is made by the president or governor – there has to be an intimate understanding of Posse Comitatus, and unfortunately, this is not the case. Frankly, this CRS report is a document that every key decision-maker or adviser should keep in their bottom desk drawer as a reference, just above their resignation letter. If they don’t, the resignation letter might be the next document they need.”
The Canadian military trained for domestic operations in locking down urban populations with the US Military in September of 2012. The supposition was that a massive revolt could break out as global civilian revolution is believed to be imminent.
In Colorado, rumors of Russian troops practicing to deal with terrorist raids and martial law scenarios have been proven correct by our US Armed Forces. Back in April 2012, Commander Wendy L. Snyder, U.S. Defense Press Officer, stated that “The Russian soldiers are here as invited guests of the U.S. government; this is part of a formal bilateral exchange program between the U.S. and Russia that seeks to develop transparency and promote defense reform.”
Both Russian and American airborne troops held training exercises that included tactical landing operations with specialized focus on “parachuting, operation planning, reconnaissance, assault operations and evacuations by helicopter.”
Back in May of 2012, mainstream media reported that Russian army paratroopers were in Colorado training with the 10th US Special Forces Group at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This collaboration was agreed upon more than a year ago with the purpose of joining forces in “humanitarian operations such as anti-terrorism measures and disaster relief.”
Does anyone else find it interesting that those who GOT the flu shot is not safe from this virus....SO WHY IS IT PUSHED UPON US?
Even those who got flu shots may not be safe from catching the viral infection: Mary Alice Lavin, director of infection, prevention and control at Rush University Medical Center explained to CBS Chicago that the flu vaccine is only effective in about 60 percent of people, though the shot should lessen the impact of the illness -- and it's not too late to still get one.
According to ABC Chicago, eight area hospitals had to turn away emergency room patients with the flu Monday evening due to crowding issues. At least three of them -- Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Swedish Covenant Hospital and University of Chicago Medical Center -- were reportedly still on bypass Tuesday morning.
The hospitals are being overrun with individuals suffering from the flu as the season has hit earlier and harder than it has in recent years, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. In Downers Grove, the Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital was seeing wait times of up to three hours for treatment.
Julie Morita, medical director for the Chicago Department of Public Health's immunization program, told DNAinfo.com Chicago the number of flu cases in the city are still growing.
"So far, it's just going up," Morita told DNA. "Typically the flu increases in January or later, but this is the earliest we've seen in at least the past five years."
Even those who got flu shots may not be safe from catching the viral infection: Mary Alice Lavin, director of infection, prevention and control at Rush University Medical Center explained to CBS Chicago that the flu vaccine is only effective in about 60 percent of people, though the shot should lessen the impact of the illness -- and it's not too late to still get one.
While forty-one states nationwide are also experiencing a flu outbreak, the virus's impact in Illinois has been among the most severe, according to Fox.
Abbas and Meshaal in Cairo for talks
The leaders of Fatah and Hamas are scheduled to meet in Cairo with the Egyptian president in the latest round of reconciliation talks between their long-divided factions.
A spokesman for Mohamed Morsi's office said the Egyptian leader will mediate Wednesday's talks between Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) president, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal.
The two factions signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo in mid-2011, but the main points of the agreement have not been implemented.
Officials from Hamas and Fatah said Wednesday's talks would focus on setting up a unity government, which would pave the way for long-overdue parliamentary and presidential elections.
The parties have been at odds since 2006, when Hamas won a majority of seats in legislative elections. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Ties have slowly begun to improve, with Hamas recently allowing Fatah to start holding rallies in Gaza, and PA allowing Hamas supporters to do the same in the West Bank, which they control.
It is too early to say whether the modest concessions foreshadow more meaningful political reconciliation.
The Hamas delegation will also meet with Egyptian intelligence officials to discuss the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt negotiated the truce that ended an eight-day Israeli military offensive in November in the Gaza Strip, which left more than 150 Palestinians and six Israelis dead.
This will be the first time Morsi hosts a meeting between the two Palestinian leaders.
Obama administration ends post-9/11 restrictions on Saudis entering U.S.
ABU DHABI — The United States, a decade after Al Qaida strikes in
New York and Washington, has opened its doors to Saudi nationals.
New York and Washington, has opened its doors to Saudi nationals.
Diplomats said the administration of President Barack Obama has removed
most restrictions on the entry of Saudis to the United States. They said the
percentage of visa approvals for Saudis has reached unprecedented levels.
most restrictions on the entry of Saudis to the United States. They said the
percentage of visa approvals for Saudis has reached unprecedented levels.
“The United States aims to raise the number of visas that it issues
annually, particularly to Saudi nationals, who represent an important
group,” Joseph Hood, U.S. consul-general in the Saudi city of Dhahran, said.
Hood cited economic reasons for the easing of restrictions on Saudis. He
said Saudi businessmen and students have been allowed to enter the United States in record numbers, with a 60 percent increase since 2010.
said Saudi businessmen and students have been allowed to enter the United States in record numbers, with a 60 percent increase since 2010.
“They form a large segment of travelers to the United States, while they
also represent an important economic factor,” Hood said. “In addition, Saudi Arabia also sends a large number of students to the United States, and the number of Saudi students in the United States rivals those from India.”
also represent an important economic factor,” Hood said. “In addition, Saudi Arabia also sends a large number of students to the United States, and the number of Saudi students in the United States rivals those from India.”
The U.S. consulate in Dhahran reported issuing 100 visas per day to
Saudis. In 2012, the total number of visas reached 21,000, nearly 30 percent
of which went to Saudi students or their relatives. About 15,000 Americans
were reported to be based in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.
Saudis. In 2012, the total number of visas reached 21,000, nearly 30 percent
of which went to Saudi students or their relatives. About 15,000 Americans
were reported to be based in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.
The administration decision came amid a series of incidents in which
Saudis were implicated in criminal and security offenses. In February 2011,
a Saudi student was arrested on charges of plotting to bomb the home of
former President George Bush in Texas. Diplomats said more than 70,000
Saudis were registered as studying in the United States.
Saudis were implicated in criminal and security offenses. In February 2011,
a Saudi student was arrested on charges of plotting to bomb the home of
former President George Bush in Texas. Diplomats said more than 70,000
Saudis were registered as studying in the United States.
Earlier this month, a sergeant in the Royal Saudi Air Force was arrested on
charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Las Vegas. Mazen
Alotaibi was identified as a member of a U.S. training program of Saudi
military personnel at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland near San Antonio,
Texas.
charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Las Vegas. Mazen
Alotaibi was identified as a member of a U.S. training program of Saudi
military personnel at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland near San Antonio,
Texas.
But diplomats said the rate and process of approvals would be enhanced
in 2013. They said the United States has approved more than 95 percent of
visa applications for Saudi Arabia. Those rejected were told they had
provided insufficient documentation.
in 2013. They said the United States has approved more than 95 percent of
visa applications for Saudi Arabia. Those rejected were told they had
provided insufficient documentation.
“The consulate has gotten rid of many of the negativities that
occasionally contributed to the delay in the visa application process,
including the language factor, hiring staff that excel in speaking Arabic
and English to facilitate our dealings with visa applicants, especially
those who aren’t fluent in English, particularly as it is mandatory for all
visa applicants to be interviewed,” Hood was quoted by the Saudi media as
telling a news conference in December.
occasionally contributed to the delay in the visa application process,
including the language factor, hiring staff that excel in speaking Arabic
and English to facilitate our dealings with visa applicants, especially
those who aren’t fluent in English, particularly as it is mandatory for all
visa applicants to be interviewed,” Hood was quoted by the Saudi media as
telling a news conference in December.
Israel: State of Syrian chemical weapons could change in a moment
“Syria’s chemical weapons are under control for now, but no one in America or
Israel can tell what the situation will be five minutes from now,” a senior
Israeli defense official told debkafile Tuesday, Jan.8. The situation is dangerously fluid
because there is no certainty about who is in control, or when some Syrian
chemical unit commander may take it into his head to use it.”
The New York Times Tuesday reported that, in the first instance, Israel’s top military commanders called the Pentagon to discuss troubling intelligence showing up on satellite imagery that “Syrian troops appeared to be mixing chemicals at two storage sites, probably the deadly nerve gas sarin, and filling dozens of 500-pound bombs that could be loaded on airplanes.”
Our sources add that, among the messages’ recipients, were commanders of the top secret Chemical Weapons Unit 450 of the Syrian Air Force. This brought to light for the first time that the US has developed direct channels of communications to Syrian unit commanders, including a top-secret air force outfit which has not so far taken part in the fighting.
According to debkafile’s American sources, the bombs filled with sarin were not dismantled and they are still sitting in stores at - or in close proximity to - Syrian air forces bases, ready for operational use at short notice.
The German newspaper Die Welt recently quoted the head of the BIND external intelligence service as estimating that he Syrian Air Force was able to have chemical weapons ready for operation within four to six hours from receiving an order. The New York Times believes that two hours would be enough.
Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in a rare comment on the Syrian chemical weapons question, told a cabinet meeting that the Syrian regime is very unstable and “the question of chemical weapons here worries us.” He said that Israel was coordinating with the United States and others “so that we might be prepared for any scenario and possibility that could arise.”
UN agency can’t feed 1 million hungry Syrians
The World Food Program says lack of security and the unavailability of the
Syrian port of Tartus for shipments is preventing aid reaching a large number of
hungry people in Syria. UN staff has been pulled out of Homs, Aleppo, Tartus and
Qamisly because of rising danger. After howling winds swept away their tents and
possessions, Syrian refugees in the Zaatari camp in Jordan beat aid workers with
sticks and stones as they distributed bread Tuesday. Seven workers were injured.
Blizzard warnings threatened Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon Wednesday and Thursday,
exacerbating the wretched plight of Syrian refugees.
Assad firm in the saddle, permits Syrian, Turkish Iranian POWs swaps
3. In the first week of January, 2013, the Syrian army finally repulsed a major Syrian rebel assault on Assad’s largest chemical weapons depot at the Al Safira military complex near Aleppo.
In this engagement, too, the insurgents demonstrated they were capable only of limited, local gains, but not up to capturing major targets such as major cities and military sites. They were therefore not equal to vanquishing the army still loyal to Bashar Assad.
4. The place of the departed US fleet in the eastern Mediterranean was gradually filled by a large influx of Russian naval and marine forces. And so, when the Syrian ruler rose to deliver a speech at the Damascus opera house Sunday, Jan. 6, he knew he could afford to flout the calls for him to step down and declare he no longer takes dictation from the West. He knew that moored off the Syrian coast were up to 20 Russian warships carrying more than 2,000 Russian marines - on top of unwavering Iranian support for his regime.
For now, Assad is evidently here to stay. To remove him, the rebels will have to reach him with an assassin’s bullet.
Syria’s 50 tonnes of unenriched uranium missing
Bashar Assad was close to building a nuclear reactor at Al-Kibar in eastern
Syria with assistance from North Korean when it was destroyed by Israel in 2007.
The stock of 50 tonnes of unenriched uranium, enough for weapons grade fuel for
five atomic devices, has since gone missing and may have passed to Iran, the
Financial Times reports Wednesday. Fears have been triggered by signs
of movement at a secret uranium conversion facility that the Syrian regime built
at the town of Marj al-Sultan near Damascus. DEBKAfile: The Syrian reactor was
designed on on the North Korean model at Yongbyon. Had it not been destroyed, an
allied nuclear weapons production chain would have been in operation from
Pyongyang through Tehran to Damascus.
This Is How a Secret Gun Provision Made its Way Into Obamacare Legislation
There’s a widely-unknown provision in the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) — legislative wording that is capturing attention in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Pushed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), a newly-noticed regulation that was placed deep within the bill back in 2010, among other things, bans doctors from documenting patients’ answers to questions that focus upon guns.
The Washington Post first reported on Dec. 30 about the presence of this controversial wording. Under a section with the headline “Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights,” the NRA-advocated wording is nestled deep within the law. The Post called the inclusion, “a largely overlooked but significant challenge to a movement in American medicine to treat firearms as a matter of public health.”
As the outlet also noted, it was in the final stretch of the debate over Obama’s health care legislation that the NRA successfully pushed to insert this language. Below, see the portions of the Affordable Care Act that include mentions of firearms and the parameters through which doctors must operate in questioning patients (read the entire health care bill here):
On Tuesday, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke on-air with “Situation Room” host Wolf Blitzer. The two discussed how the gun provision made its way into health care legislation, while also explaining portions of the text for viewers.
Gupta noted that the initiative to have the wording included during the contentious health care debate was rooted in the NRA’s stance that patients should not be penalized or discriminated against for owning firearms. As can be seen from the above portion of the legislation, while doctors are not banned from asking about guns, they are forbidden from documenting the information and using it for research purposes.
In addition to gun-owner information and how it must be handled by doctors, the text also notes that the law cannot be used to keep and maintain records of individuals’ firearm possession, nor can it be used to track ammunition. Additionally, the language deals with the price of health care coverage, noting that cost cannot be impacted by the possession or ownership of guns, the Post also reported.
Following the tragedy at Sandy Hook, the presence of this provision has gained some press, with select politicians and medical groups taking a stand against it. Advocates are worried that research and medical care could suffer as a result of the wording; some are even pushing the Obama administration to consider changes to the text in light of recent events and an impending battle over new gun control legislation.
The Post has more about the ongoing battle between the NRA and physicians and advocates who stand opposed to the language inserted into the Affordable Care legislation:
While a spokesperson for Reid told the Post that the leader never spoke with the NRA about the wording and that he did not believe that “it changed gun laws in any way,” that hasn’t stopped critics from wondering why Reid so staunchly supported the measure.
The language was purportedly added to stem off criticism from the NRA that could have railroaded, delayed or prevented the controversial health care bill from passing. Also, the wording was placed deep within the bill in an effort to convince people not to embrace so-called conspiracy theories about Obamacare — mainly that the legislation would be used to keep and maintain a massive gun-ownership database. Once the langage was added, the NRA reportedly remained neutral regarding passage of the law.
While Reid has been a gun rights advocate for quite some time, the politician may be having a change of heart in the wake of recent shootings and controversy surrounding this language. An adviser who spoke off-the-record, recently told CNN that the senator is “in a different place than he was in 2010″ when it comes to firearms.
The Washington Post first reported on Dec. 30 about the presence of this controversial wording. Under a section with the headline “Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights,” the NRA-advocated wording is nestled deep within the law. The Post called the inclusion, “a largely overlooked but significant challenge to a movement in American medicine to treat firearms as a matter of public health.”
As the outlet also noted, it was in the final stretch of the debate over Obama’s health care legislation that the NRA successfully pushed to insert this language. Below, see the portions of the Affordable Care Act that include mentions of firearms and the parameters through which doctors must operate in questioning patients (read the entire health care bill here):
On Tuesday, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke on-air with “Situation Room” host Wolf Blitzer. The two discussed how the gun provision made its way into health care legislation, while also explaining portions of the text for viewers.
Gupta noted that the initiative to have the wording included during the contentious health care debate was rooted in the NRA’s stance that patients should not be penalized or discriminated against for owning firearms. As can be seen from the above portion of the legislation, while doctors are not banned from asking about guns, they are forbidden from documenting the information and using it for research purposes.
In addition to gun-owner information and how it must be handled by doctors, the text also notes that the law cannot be used to keep and maintain records of individuals’ firearm possession, nor can it be used to track ammunition. Additionally, the language deals with the price of health care coverage, noting that cost cannot be impacted by the possession or ownership of guns, the Post also reported.
Following the tragedy at Sandy Hook, the presence of this provision has gained some press, with select politicians and medical groups taking a stand against it. Advocates are worried that research and medical care could suffer as a result of the wording; some are even pushing the Obama administration to consider changes to the text in light of recent events and an impending battle over new gun control legislation.
The Post has more about the ongoing battle between the NRA and physicians and advocates who stand opposed to the language inserted into the Affordable Care legislation:
NRA officials say they requested the provision out of concern that insurance companies could use such data to raise premiums on gun owners. The measure’s supporters in the Senate say they did not intend to interfere with the work of doctors or researchers.Just as interesting as the debate over the provision, itself, is the notion that it was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), an NRA-supporter, who added the wording to the bill back in 2010.
But physician groups and researchers see the provision as part of a decades-long strategy by the gun lobby to choke off federal support for studies of firearms violence.
The research restrictions began in the 1990s, when the NRA urged Congress to cut funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division that studied gun violence. In 1996, Congress sharply limited the agency’s ability to fund that type of research.
While a spokesperson for Reid told the Post that the leader never spoke with the NRA about the wording and that he did not believe that “it changed gun laws in any way,” that hasn’t stopped critics from wondering why Reid so staunchly supported the measure.
The language was purportedly added to stem off criticism from the NRA that could have railroaded, delayed or prevented the controversial health care bill from passing. Also, the wording was placed deep within the bill in an effort to convince people not to embrace so-called conspiracy theories about Obamacare — mainly that the legislation would be used to keep and maintain a massive gun-ownership database. Once the langage was added, the NRA reportedly remained neutral regarding passage of the law.
While Reid has been a gun rights advocate for quite some time, the politician may be having a change of heart in the wake of recent shootings and controversy surrounding this language. An adviser who spoke off-the-record, recently told CNN that the senator is “in a different place than he was in 2010″ when it comes to firearms.
THIS IS SCARY LANGUAGE FOLKS! PLEASE GET PREPARED! "The President Is Going To Act, There Are Execu...
Obama to Use Executive Order on Gun Control
Vice President Joe Biden is meeting with victims of gun violence today. Speaking with reporters beforehand, Biden said President Obama may use an executive order to push through more gun control and Second Amendment restrictions. More from the Weekly Standard.
"The president is going to act," said Biden, giving some comments to the press before a meeting with victims of gun violence. "There are executives orders, there's executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet. But we're compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action that we believe is required."We knew this was coming. The White House has been saying for a month that they are acting "quickly" on new gun control measures. Senator Dianne Feinstein's sweeping new gun control legislation hasn't even been introduced yet and Obama isn't the kind of president who has shown a willingness to wait on Congress.
Biden said that this is a moral issue and that "it's critically important that we act."
Biden talked also about taking responsible action. "As the president said, if you're actions result in only saving one life, they're worth taking. But I'm convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of americans and take thousands of people out of harm's way if we act responsibly."
If Obama pushes through new regulations using executive powers, the process will unfold in different parts. After an order is signed, the Department of Justice led by Attorney General Eric Holder, will be in charge of enforcement through the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. Now, how far the order will go is the big question. You can bet it will ban semi-automatic rifles and large ammunition magazines, but how Obama grandfathers in old, lawfully purchases semi-automatic rifles remains unknown. Will he require citizens who already own these weapons to be fingerprinted as Feinstein's bill requires? Or will he go so far as confiscation as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has suggested? Time will tell.
Head of Catholic sect calls Jews ‘enemies’ of Church
TORONTO - Jews are "enemies of the Church," the head of a radical Catholic sect said in Canada.
Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, made the remark during a Dec. 28 address at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in New Hamburg, Ontario, about 90 minutes' drive west of Toronto. He was reviewing the situation of the society, which opposes Catholic Church reforms decided by the Second Vatican Council and is not recognized by the Church.
According to an audio recording posted on YouTube two days later, Fellay spoke about the society's three years of discussions with the Vatican over the society's future and explained how he interpreted behind-the-scenes communications.
Apparently speaking without a text, Fellay asked, "Who during that time was the most opposed that the Church would recognize the society? The enemies of the Church: the Jews, the Masons, the Modernists."
According to the Catholic News Service, Fellay added that Jewish leaders' support of reforming Second Vatican Council "shows that Vatican II is their thing, not the Church's."
As of Friday, there was no response from the society's Swiss headquarters to a Catholic News Service email request for comment, the agency reported.
The Society of St. Pius X, , was founded in 1970 as a reaction against the Vatican's efforts to modernize. In 2009, Pope Benedict launched talks with the society and lifted excommunications imposed on its four bishops.
One of the bishops was Richard Williamson, who has denied that the Nazis used gas chambers and asserted that no more than 200,000 to 300,000 Jews died during World War II.
The society's founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, spoke approvingly of both the World War II-era Vichy regime in France and the far-right National Front, and in a 1985 letter to Pope John Paul II identified the contemporary enemies of the faith as "Jews, Communists and Freemasons."
Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, made the remark during a Dec. 28 address at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in New Hamburg, Ontario, about 90 minutes' drive west of Toronto. He was reviewing the situation of the society, which opposes Catholic Church reforms decided by the Second Vatican Council and is not recognized by the Church.
According to an audio recording posted on YouTube two days later, Fellay spoke about the society's three years of discussions with the Vatican over the society's future and explained how he interpreted behind-the-scenes communications.
Apparently speaking without a text, Fellay asked, "Who during that time was the most opposed that the Church would recognize the society? The enemies of the Church: the Jews, the Masons, the Modernists."
According to the Catholic News Service, Fellay added that Jewish leaders' support of reforming Second Vatican Council "shows that Vatican II is their thing, not the Church's."
As of Friday, there was no response from the society's Swiss headquarters to a Catholic News Service email request for comment, the agency reported.
The Society of St. Pius X, , was founded in 1970 as a reaction against the Vatican's efforts to modernize. In 2009, Pope Benedict launched talks with the society and lifted excommunications imposed on its four bishops.
One of the bishops was Richard Williamson, who has denied that the Nazis used gas chambers and asserted that no more than 200,000 to 300,000 Jews died during World War II.
The society's founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, spoke approvingly of both the World War II-era Vichy regime in France and the far-right National Front, and in a 1985 letter to Pope John Paul II identified the contemporary enemies of the faith as "Jews, Communists and Freemasons."
GUN NEWS COMPILED BY: arewelivinginthelastdays.com
EXCLUSIVE: Cuomo Close To Announcing Sweeping New Gun Control
Laws
A deal to give New York one of the toughest gun control laws in the nation is being negotiated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, sources said Tuesday, is hoping to announce the plan Wednesday during his State of the State speech in Albany.
Iowa Lawmaker: Ban Semi-Automatic Weapons, Then Start Taking Them From Gun Owners if Needed
This Is How a Secret Gun Provision Made its Way Into Obamacare Legislation
" Under a section with the headline Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights, the NRA-advocated wording is nestled deep within the law."
A deal to give New York one of the toughest gun control laws in the nation is being negotiated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, sources said Tuesday, is hoping to announce the plan Wednesday during his State of the State speech in Albany.
Iowa Lawmaker: Ban Semi-Automatic Weapons, Then Start Taking Them From Gun Owners if Needed
This Is How a Secret Gun Provision Made its Way Into Obamacare Legislation
" Under a section with the headline Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights, the NRA-advocated wording is nestled deep within the law."
HARRY DENT: The US Has Gone Over The 'Demographic Cliff' And Markets Will Crash This Summer
Harry Dent is not one to shy away from predictions. Just take a quick look at some of the man's bibliography: he wrote The Great Boom Ahead in 1993 and followed it up with The Great Jobs Ahead in 1995. In 2009, he authored The Great Depression Ahead, and in 2011, The Great Crash Ahead.
Now, Dent, the economic forecaster perhaps best known for the use of demographics in his analysis, is predicting a big market crash this summer.
Dent told CNBC this afternoon:
We think markets are going to go up for a while. I think Maria [Bartiromo] is right – the market wants to go up.
We'll see one more correction into this second fiscal cliff. I think we'll see another rally into March, April, May, or something. By the summer, we get another crash.
I think it's going to be a choppy rally – up, down, up, down, with an upward bias. It's the second half that we think a crash starts – that, just like the last crash, lasts about a year and a half or so, goes into late 2014, early 2015.
We get a slight new high in the Dow this year, and then we get a slight new low in the next crash. That's been the pattern. Higher highs in each bubble, slightly lower lows in each crash.
Again, this should not be something that people go, "Oh my gosh, how could this happen?" It's been happening since 1995. Bubble, crash, bubble, crash, bubble, crash.
Here is what Dent told CNBC regarding why he expects this crash in the second half of 2013:
How many crashes have we seen in the last ten years or so? 2000, 2002 – bubble, crash. 2007 – bubble, crash. We're getting a bubble and crash every four or five years.
This is what we have when you go over a demographic cliff. Remember Japan – Japan went over the demographic cliff. Peak in baby boom spending, peak real estate boom.
They had a bust. Guess what? 22 years later, real estate is still down over 60 percent, still drifting down. Stocks are down nearly 80 percent, not that far off their lows. They keep bubbling up and then going down to new lows.
This is the new normal, given that baby boomers are aging and the next generation is not only not in the workforce yet, largely, but they're not as large when they do [enter]. So, we're never going to see real estate prices at these levels again, and we're not going to see stocks at the level we saw in 2007 for a long time.
So, to me, this is not unusual at all.
Shootings Prompt New Gun Bill to restrict ammunition sales in California
A new bill would restrict ammunition sales in California
The massacre in Newton, Conn., and other mass shootings have prompted for a call to curb gun violence.
California assembly member Nancy Skinner answered that call with a proposal to restrict ammunition sales in the state.
“2,800 people in California were killed last year by gunfire," Skinner said. "It is easier to buy bullets than cough medicine or alcohol. It should not be that easy. We need to have much more scrutiny when it comes to the purchase of guns."
Monday she unveiled Assembly Bill 48. It would require bullet buyers to show identification. It would also require ammunition dealers to be licensed and report all sales to the department of justice.
Emmeryville police chief Ken James supports the tighter restrictions.
”Right now you can buy bullets in any store and the sale is not recorded”, James said. "Gun violence will continue unless we control the sale of bullets."
Oakland mayor Jean Quan also said she supports the bill and that Oakland has seen too much gun violence and the changes may help.
The so-called "bullet bill" would also ban kits to convert ammunition clips into high-capacity magazines. At the same time, this debate goes on some are questioning why a new gun shop is now open for business In Los Gatos.
Templar Sports on University Avenue opened Dec. 29 and employees say business has been steady. Templar Sports did not respond to our request for an interview.
Moscow, Beijing reconnect as reset with US fizzles
Xi Jinping, the secretary-general of the Chinese Communist Party, underlined his country’s commitment to a Russian partnership when he noted that he and President Vladimir Putin "came to the unanimous conclusion” that a “comprehensive strategic partnership” between Moscow and Beijing remains the “top priority of their foreign policy."
The comments were made on Tuesday during a visit to Beijing by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, who is participating in the eighth round of Russian-Chinese consultations on strategic security.
Xi Jingping, 59, who was sworn as the highest-ranking Communist official in November, echoed the sentiments of the Russian president, who noted at his recent Q&A session with international media that Russo-Chinese relations “have become one of the most important factors in the (realm of) international affairs."
Given the geopolitical realities of the region, it should come as no surprise that Moscow and Beijing are looking to forge a strategic partnership.
Whereas China, traditionally an isolationist country that shuns bilateral alliances, rarely reveals its political hand, Russia made a leap of faith when it attempted to forge a so-called reset in relations with Washington. Today, the reset is in shambles, while many in Moscow accuse Washington of allowing the partnership to deteriorate.
Indeed, much of the blame for the Russia-US fallout is due to Washington’s plans to place a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, just miles from the Russian border. NATO, originally declaring its intention to cooperate with Russia on the project, remains intransigent, while even refusing to provide Moscow with a legal guarantee that the system will never be aimed at Russian territory.
Moscow rightly warned its Western partners that without Russia’s participation in the system the strategic balance would be upset and there would be another arms race. Still, US and NATO officials have been reluctant to bring Russia on board, and this refusal has played havoc with Moscow’s and Washington’s efforts to nurture a reset between the former Cold War enemies.
In fact, given the current stalemate, the reset itself seems to have been merely a ploy to win Russia’s trust at the same time that a threatening military technology was being introduced courtesy of the Obama administration.
Meanwhile, China, which recently celebrated the launch of its first aircraft carrier (the US Navy already has six carriers assigned to the Pacific), is witnessing a growing US naval presence in the Pacific.
The US military brass announced in June that up to 60 per cent of the Navy's fleet will be deployed to the Pacific by 2020.
At the same time, Moscow and Beijing hold similar positions on a variety of other international issues, including the situation in Syria, where militants are attempting to force President Bashar Assad from power. Russian and Chinese diplomats have called for a general ceasefire followed by negotiations, whereas the United States has thrown its weight behind the opposition.
“Moscow and Beijing both hold similar positions on the global hotspots, including in Syria, North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran,” Evgeny Bazhanov, president of the Diplomatic Academy of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, told RT in an earlier interview. “They are also both deeply suspicious of the US missile defense system.”
Finally, the China-Russia relationship is motivated by other factors aside from their increasing wariness of American geopolitical intentions.
For example, considering China’s exploding economy, Beijing requires a reliable flow of oil and gas. Russia, meanwhile, welcomes the opportunity to diversify its ample supply of natural resources.
Interstate consultations on strategic issues between Russia and China were launched in 2005.
THIS IS BIBLICAL!!! Palestinian Authority Chief Judge: 'Jerusalem Will Be the Capital of the Caliphate!
(SEE ARTICLE BELOW)
UNDERSTAND WHAT CALIPHATE MEANS
A caliphate is a Muslim spiritual community led by a supreme religious (and even political) leader known as a caliph (meaning literally a successor, i.e. a successor to the prophet Mohammad). The term caliphate is often applied to successions of Muslim empires that have existed in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Conceptually the caliphate represents the political unity of the entire community of Muslim faithful ruled by a single caliph. In theory, the organization of a caliphate should be a constitutional republic, which means that the head of state, the Caliph, and other officials are representatives of the people and of Islam and must govern according to constitutional and religious law, or Sharia. In its early days, the first caliphate resembled elements of direct democracy and an elective monarchy.
Sunni Islam stipulates that the head of state, the caliph, should be elected by Shura – elected by Muslims or their representatives.
Followers of Shia Islam believe the caliph should be an imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (Muhammad's purified progeny).
The caliphate was "the core leader concept of Sunni Islam, by the consensus of the Muslim majority in the early centuries."
Those who stubbornly insist that the Palestinian Authority represents the voice of moderation among Palestinians need to pay attention to recent comments by a PA official calling for the retaking of Jerusalem.
The caliphate will be restored after this tyrannical rule comes to an end... What we are seeing in Egypt are birth pangs. The struggle between Islam and others, and all the conspiracies that aim at stopping the train that has already set out to liberate Jerusalem and to restore Islamic rule. Jerusalem will be the capital of the caliphate, Allah willing… That is why I say that it is imperative to awaken the nation, because it has the capabilities. It is imperative to awaken the nation to its duty to liberate the land of Jerusalem and Palestine – the land of the Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal journal – using all its capabilities.The world can blind itself to the radicalism of the Palestinian people, claiming it is only Hamas that wants to liquidate the Jewish State, but it is clear that the Palestinian Authority are just as culpable.
Prophecy Depot Ministries....This is a good educational article to help you understand more about the Psalms 83 confederacy.
The Palestinian Confederacy is a chapter in the book called Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East. (2008). The updated version of Isralestine is a new book called Psalm 83, The Missing Prophecy Revealed, How Israel Becomes the Next Mideast Superpower.
All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; The men at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it. (Obad. 1:7, NKJV; emphasis added).The prophet Obadiah had a prophetic vision regarding the Edomites. He declares that the Edomites enlist in a future confederacy that ultimately forces them to a border. Obadiah 1:10, 18 makes it clear that the confederacy forms to fight Israel. Thus, we can deduce that the border in question must be Israel’s.
Obadiah 1:7 says – “your” confederacy, “you” to the border; peace with “you,” deceive “you,” prevail against “you,” “your” bread, a trap for “you.” The fact that Obadiah uses “you” or “your” seven-times in combination suggests the Palestinians play a key role within the confederacy.
The prerequisite reading to this study is Psalm 83, whereby Asaph foretells the formation of an Arab confederacy seemingly consisting of Palestinians, Syrians, Saudis, Egyptians, Lebanese, Hezbollah, Hamas, Jordanians, Iraqis, and the Muslim Brotherhood. This confederacy, which wishes the final destruction of the modern-day Jewish State of Israel, is the topic of this study. The premise for interpretation is that the Psalm 83 confederacy appears to be the same as the confederacy contained in Obadiah 1:7.
Furthermore, the Palestinians of today have a contingency of Edomites amalgamated within their overall composite population. Thus, when this study refers to Esau, his descendants, or the Edomites, it finds its closest association with their modern-day equivalents, the Palestinians.
All the men in your confederacy - The whole (kol), or entirety of the confederacy is of the same conspired mindset. All the confederates agree with Esau, the lead member of the confederacy, “your confederacy.” They are all of common cause, and this cause drives or forces Esau’s descendant Edomites to a border or boundary.
Shall force you to the border – The confederate consensus is that the Palestinians must man the borders. Since this confederacy has mandated the destruction of the nation Israel as per Psalm 83:4, this suggests the strategic area of their deployment to be the borders surrounding the reforming nation of Israel.
The men at peace with you – The men, “all the men,” each one, are at peace (shalom) with the Palestinians. This is technically Esau’s confederacy, and the men who conspire with him pledge their allegiance to his cause. However, the prerequisite for achieving such peace is that Esau, as lead member, holds down the frontline at the borders of Israel. The Palestinians are to entrench themselves in the Isralestine territories that most closely surround Israel.
Shall deceive you and prevail against you – Inherent in the conditional peace and support that the Palestinians receive from “all” of the Arab men in alliance with them is their obligation to occupy these borderline territories. In essence, they are not encouraged to assimilate themselves as citizens within the outer lying confederate member territories. This would be unsound strategic deployment of the Palestinians. In fact, most of these member nations make it very restrictive for Palestinians to become naturalized citizens within their respective nations.
They are to maintain their own distinct ethnic identity. Though many of them have ancestral roots from among the surrounding confederate Arab nations, they are discouraged from calling themselves Syrians, Egyptians, Saudi’s, etc. We call them the Palestinians, in spite of the fact that up until 1948 no such ethnic label ever existed. Until that time, the world knew them as the Arabs of the grossly undefined territory of Palestine. Though they are currently predominately a population of refugees, mutual confederate consensus leads them to believe that they deserve their own state and citizenry therein. This propaganda promoted by the Arab community has become the successful deception of “all” the men of Esau’s confederacy.
The prevalent belief among all the nations listed in Psalm 83:6–8 is that the Palestinians are a distinct people, deserved of their own state. Their belief is that all of Israel, including the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, is to become earmarked territory for the drafting of another Arab State in the Middle East called Palestine. This goal discourages the successful establishment of an Isralestine scenario, whereby Israel exists cooperatively in the region, with the Palestinians specifically and the Arabs generally. This is the reason for the confederate call to eradicate the nation of Israel as the Jewish State:
They [all the men in Esau’s confederacy] have said, “Come, and let us cut them [the Jewish State] off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:4, NKJV; emphasis added)
The Arab nations who participate alongside the Palestinians in this momentous quest leave the Palestinians little choice but to fight for their own Palestinian statehood. The Palestinian inability as a displaced population group to assimilate adequately into the outer-lying Arab nations leaves them no option but to remain in a refugee status indefinitely. Thus, “all the men” of the Palestinians confederacy have “deceived” them, the Palestinians, and “forced them to the border” of Israel, and in so doing have “prevailed against” them.
Those who eat your bread - All the men of Esau’s confederacy are eating Esau’s bread in contrast to their own. Again, we see Obadiah use the pronoun “your” in this passage. It is your, Esau’s, confederacy, and your, Esau’s, bread. Esau is the one who invites all the others to his table to deliberate over his Palestinian plight. They break Esau’s bread and agree with him, that Israel must perish as the resolution to the Palestinian problem. Esau does not request these men to open their national borders to his descendant people; rather he beckons their assistance to destroy the descendants of his twin brother Jacob. In essence, the Palestinians request support to destroy the Jewish State, and replace it with a Palestinian State.
The symbolism of these Arab nations eating bread together finds association with a common confederate cause. Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4, and Luke 4:4 declare that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is possible that the prophet Obadiah alludes to the eating of bread in this passage as a spiritual thread that binds these Arabs together religiously. All of the members of Esau’s confederacy are predominately Islamic.
They digest Esau’s baked bread possibly referring to their ideology that it is the will of their god Allah that they form an allegiance with the Palestinians to destroy the Jews. Islam does not favor the existence of the contrasting religion of Judaism, especially in their Middle East neighborhood. The Jewish State of Israel has its religious roots in Judaism, and this is generally problematic for their Arab Muslim neighbors. The confederacy of Esau is motivated to destroy Judaism, and promote Islam, throughout the entire Middle East.
Shall lay a trap for you – “All the men” who participate in Esau’s confederacy entrap his Palestinian descendants. The Hebrew word utilized by Obadiah for trap is mazor, and can refer to an ambush, or as defined by Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary, to a turning aside from truth, a treachery, a plot, or a wound.
What Obadiah likely alludes to, is that the Palestinian descendants of Esau have allowed themselves to be deceived by “all the men,” in their confederacy, and as such have turned aside in a treacherous act from some truth. What truth could they have turned aside from, which ultimately proves to trap or ambush them? This truth must have something to do with the Jewish people and their Jewish State, since this is what the confederacy is attempting to destroy according to Psalm 83.
The truth is that nobody can destroy the Jewish people, according to the covenant their God made to their patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The LORD promised these patriarchal fathers of the Jewish people an everlasting family tree. In order for the predominately-Islamic confederacy of Esau to accomplish its mission, which is the effectual destruction of the Jewish State, it must attempt to destroy every last Jew in the world. If there were any Jew left, the potential would exist for that Jew to restore a Jewish State in his or her ancient promised land. Furthermore, other scriptures refer to the eternal existence of a Jewish State in the land between the Nile River of Egypt and the Euphrates River of modern-day Iraq.
Therefore, the minor premise is that the confederacy of Esau must believe that they can destroy the Jewish people and their potential for any current or future Jewish state, and the major premise is that the God of the Jews, who promised the eternal existence of a Jewish people and a Jewish state, is in essence a promise-breaking liar. Esau thoroughly knew that the God of his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac made these promises to the Jewish people in ages past, but his descendants down through the ages have turned aside (mazor) from this truth. They have allowed themselves to be successfully deceived into thinking that they can prove the Jewish God to be a liar. They contest the Jewish claims of being heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant and often attempt to substitute their patriarch Ishmael as the rightful heir, rather than Isaac; however, this is all part of the deceit of their religion, Islam. The truth they seem to have turned aside from is that the God of the Jews intends to preserve the Jewish people forever. This is a dangerous miscalculation that will ultimately lead to the destruction of Esau’s confederacy.
No one is aware of it – Neither Esau nor all the men in his confederacy realize how severe this miscalculation is. They will leave the God of the Jews no choice but to make an end of their confederate effort aimed at the destruction of the Jewish people and their Jewish State. They will force the enactment of the curse-for-curse-in-kind clause contained in the Abrahamic Covenant (as specified in Genesis 12:2-3). They will attempt to destroy the Jews, but the Jews will destroy them instead (Ezek. 25:14, Obad. 1:18).
The modern-day Jewish state of Israel will not be eradicated from the formerly recognized territory of Palestine. The Israel of today, which has become superimposed upon the Palestine maps of yesterday, has providential protection. No adequate tool can be found to exist in the confederate arsenal that can blot out the Jewish survival clause contained in the Abrahamic Covenant.
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