Britain's largest diary eight times longer than War and Peace - Telegraph

 
 An interesting read:

Britain's largest diary eight times longer than War and Peace - Telegraph

Cognitive computing: IBM unveils software for its brain-like SyNAPSE chips Trunews:

Cognitive computing: IBM unveils software for its brain-like SyNAPSE chips Trunews:

Glenn Beck Explains the ‘Real Reason Why You Should Care About the Middle East’ | TheBlaze.com

One of the hottest topics in the news day-in and day-out, oftentimes, is the Middle East. On his weekday television program Wednesday, Glenn Beck addressed the fundamental question: why should you care?

Beck began by explaining why he cares, saying his approach radically changed after 9/11, when he vowed to do all he could to better understand the region and the world at large.

One of Beck’s main motivations, which he said you may or may not agree with, is the Bible, and how we are “wound in so deeply to Israel.”

“If you disagree with the Bible, that’s fine, whatever, but you have to understand the role [it] played in history, and why this matters,” Beck said.

“We are a nation that is based on Judeo-Christian values and the Bible, period…But there’s no way to deny that the majority of our laws come directly from the scriptures…and the Bible comes from Judah,” Beck continued.  “The people of Jerusalem – we owe our existence in many ways.  We owe our laws to them…We owe the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we owe our support and our allegiance.  Not blind allegiance – and I’m not talking about putting troops down on the ground.  We have to be not only on their side, but God’s side.”

Click to watch:

Glenn Beck Explains the ‘Real Reason Why You Should Care About the Middle East’ | TheBlaze.com

Millennials and Mainlines

To counter the exodus of young people from American churches, Evans says it’s time to own up to our shortcomings and give millennials what they really want—not a change in style but a change in substance. The answer to attracting millennials, she writes, is NOT “hipper worship bands” or handing out “lattés,” but actually helping them find Jesus.
Amen. I couldn’t agree more.

Don't stop here, read entire article:

Millennials and Mainlines

Sunni-Shi’ite battles spread like wildfire | JPost | Israel News

IRAQI SUNNIS wave national flags, Dec. 31, 2012 Photo: Ali al-Mashhadani/Reuters

 

Two of Iraq’s most prominent Shi’ite leaders, Moqtada al-Sadr and Ammar al- Hakim, called on Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki to resign because of his lack of action in the midst of non-stop bombings and security lapses, according to a report on Wednesday in the London based daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
A week ago, 500 al-Qaida-affiliated prisoners escaped from Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons. Iraq is in the headlines almost every day as another bombing or attack takes a heavy death toll in the sectarian war between the ruling – and majority – Shi’ites and the Sunnis. The security situation has continued to deteriorate, especially since US forces completed its withdrawal from Iraq at the end of 2011. The US eventually was able to keep a lid on the violence by drastically increasing its military presence and by paying off various tribes.

The war raging next door in Syria has also inflamed sectarian tensions in Iraq as the Sunni rebels fight the Iranian allied regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The rebels are resentful of the fact that the Shi’ite regime in Iraq is facilitating Iran’s involvement in the Syrian war.

Sunni-Shi’ite battles spread like wildfire | JPost | Israel News

A high divorce rate means it’s time to try ‘wedleases’ - The Washington Post

We all know that far too many marriages end in divorce, yet this institution does not adapt. Indeed, most Americans today want to expand conventional marriage to include same-sex couples.

So why is there no effort to improve the legal structure of marriage, when it shows itself to be deficient?


A high divorce rate means it’s time to try ‘wedleases’ - The Washington Post

Palestine: Kerry Commits Harakiri

US Secretary of State John Kerry has fallen on his sword in attempting to seek a renewal of negotiations designed to culminate in the creation of a new Arab State between Jordan and Israel for the first time ever in recorded history.

He has apparently learned nothing from the failed attempts of his predecessors - James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger, Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.

Each was confident in his or her ability to persuade and cajole Israel and the PLO to do a deal - but all failed for one simple reason - both Israel and the PLO hold positions from which neither is prepared to resile.

Israel has demanded the PLO recognise Israel as the Jewish State and that any new Arab state - created as a result of negotiations - be demilitarised.

These demands are non-negotiable - since the PLO Charter - first promulgated in 1964 - does not accept the right of the Jewish people to have their own state existing alongside 22 Arab Islamic States and calls for armed struggle to eliminate the Jewish State.


Palestine: Kerry Commits Harakiri - Op-Eds - Israel National News

What happened on the Ninth of Av?

 

The 9th of Av, Tisha b'Av, commemorates a list of catastrophes so severe it's clearly a day specially cursed by G‑d.

What happened on the Ninth of Av? - A Historical Overview - Tisha B'Av and the 3 Weeks

Some Historical Notes on the East Gate

 
After reading a comment that the Eastern Gate was built approximately a thousand years before 691AD when the Dome of the Rock was built, I did a little research.  I had always been under the assumption that the current wall around the old city was ALL constructed by Suleiman the Magnificient.  Here is what I found and the link to the article which included this quote:

" The East Gate or Golden Gate is the oldest of all the city’s gates. It is the only visible entrance to the city of Jerusalem from the east. It is the only gate of the Old City not rebuilt by Suleiman. This is evidenced by the monolithic stones in the wall which are just above the ground. These stones date to the 6th century B.C. from the time of Nehemiah."

Some Historical Notes on the East Gate

Unmasking the embassy threat

There is one thing certain about the publicized threat to our embassies; it is not what it is presented to be. To accept the official explanation of a nebulous threat from al Qaeda as the reason for closing our embassies across the Middle East and North Africa is being dangerously naive and simplistic.

 This is much more serious than what we are being told, but not for the reasons we are being given. We are seeing the consequences of a long running “Cold War” on two major fronts of political conflict that could escalate into military engagement with proxy nations of world super powers. The world, and life as we know it, could change in an instant should we awaken one morning to the news of bombs flying across the Middle East. That is a very real possibility, as we are now in a heightened proxy war environment. We are standing in a thick forest of dry tinder, and the smallest of sparks could ignite a conflagration the likes of which we have never before seen.

Read more:
Unmasking the embassy threat

Obama’s Limits to Growth - Club of Rome & Agenda 21

 In 1972 the Club of Rome put out a blueprint for international action called “Limits to Growth , a study based on computer models simulating unrestrained economic and population growth verses finite planetary resources. Working from a static vision of wealth Limits predicted doom as the world’s population continued to rise and the planet’s resources continued to dwindle. Limits was a landmark document, spawning the “sustainability” movement worldwide.

Read on:

Obama’s Limits to Growth

Is Muslim Group Waging “Stealth Jihad” in American Schools? Trunews:

School officials in Florida are defending a textbook that declares Muhammad as the “Messenger of God” after critics accused an Islamic education group of launching a stealth jihad in American public school classrooms.

The Prentice World History textbook being used in Brevard Public Schools includes a 36-page chapter on Islam but no chapters on Christianity or Judaism.
According to a copy obtained by Fox News, The ninth grade textbook declares that Muhammad is the “Messenger of God” and instructs students that jihad is a duty that Muslims must follow.

“Jihad may be interpreted as a holy war to defend Islam and the Muslim community, much like the Crusades to defend Christianity,” the book states.
The textbook published large passages from the Koran, but failed to include any Scripture from the Bible. And while the book  makes declarations about Muhammad being God’s messenger, it does not make declarations about Jesus being God’s son.

Is Muslim Group Waging “Stealth Jihad” in American Schools? Trunews:

'Israeli Government Surrendered the Temple Mount'

 
"It is truly tragic that the government has chosen to mark this occasion by once again imposing an extended ban on Jewish ascents.

"If this situation passes quietly, we will have reached a point of no return. The police are testing the waters: how important is the Temple Mount to the Jewish public? Our message - and the message of Jews around the world - must be clear: the Temple Mount is the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and we will not abandon it again."


'Israeli Government Surrendered the Temple Mount' - Inside Israel - News - Israel National News

Playing for Islam Against Ourselves

WWI was caused less by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and more by Germany and Austria Hungary’s eagerness in courting the Muslim Ottoman Empire.

Playing for Islam Against Ourselves

U.S. Pentagon Observes Islamic Ramadan Holiday By Hosting Annual Iftar Dinner | Christian News Network

 WASHINGTON – The United States Department of Defense recently observed its 15th annual Iftar dinner at the Pentagon in celebration of the Islamic holiday Ramadan.

According to a report from the U.S. Army, the event was attended by senior defense leaders, White House and Congressional staffers, imams, Muslim employees and other supporters of the Muslim religion.

“The month of Ramadan focuses on a lot of things,” Colonel Thomas Waynick, the Pentagon chaplain, told reporters. “Among them, focusing one’s heart away from worldly activities, the cleansing of one’s soul to free it from harmful impurities, and the practices of self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice and empathy, especially with the less fortunate, and thus encouraging generosity and charity. These things are common to many of the world’s religions.”

The keynote speaker was Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, who is the first Muslim member of Congress. He spoke about the need to be charitable as a nation, and also discussed his thoughts about Muslims in the military.

U.S. Pentagon Observes Islamic Ramadan Holiday By Hosting Annual Iftar Dinner | Christian News Network

John Kerry 'Hosts an Iftar Dinner for Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni' | The Weekly Standard

 (What does an Iftar dinner have to do with Israeli Justice Minister Livni....Iftar is a Muslim dinner celebrating the end of Ramadan.  To me this is an 'in your face', accept what the Muslims want...we are giving them priority.)

Secretary of State John Kerry will host "an Iftar dinner for Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni," according to a copy of his schedule released by the State Department. The dinner will also be attended by "Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat."

John Kerry 'Hosts an Iftar Dinner for Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni' | The Weekly Standard

Rethinking the Conflict | News and Views from Jews Down Under

Posted on 21 July, 2013 by Michael Lumish

One of the fundamental things that we are trying to do at Israel Thrives is simply rethink the conflict.  Two things, to my mind, could absolutely not be more clear.  The first is that the vast Arab majority in the Middle East, including those in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria, have no intention whatsoever of giving up the long war against the Jews.  If that much is not clear by now, I cannot even begin to imagine what it will take for people to acknowledge the obvious.
The second thing that is absolutely clear is that the very way we speak on the issue is detrimental to the Jewish people because the language that we use comes from our enemies.  We need to wrap our brains around this notion, because it’s harming us and harming Israel.  This war, as much as it is anything else, is a cognitive war.

The Arab war against the Jews in the Middle East started off as a street fight by the Arab majority against the indigenous Jewish population.  It started in 1920 with riots and pogroms against the Jewish minority, turned to a civil war in November of 1947, became a conventional war (the kind with tanks and formal armies) between between 1948 and 1973, after which it is characterized by terrorism and the international effort to delegitimize both the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

 Continue reading:

Rethinking the Conflict | News and Views from Jews Down Under

Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought - Quartz

As we’ve written before, the mysterious mass die-off of honey bees that pollinate $30 billion worth of crops in the US has so decimated America’s apis mellifera population that one bad winter could leave fields fallow. Now, a new study has pinpointed some of the probable causes of bee deaths and the rather scary results show that averting beemageddon will be much more difficult than previously thought.
Scientists had struggled to find the trigger for so-called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has wiped out an estimated 10 million beehives, worth $2 billion, over the past six years. Suspects have included pesticides, disease-bearing parasites and poor nutrition. But in a first-of-its-kind study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture have identified a witch’s brew of pesticides and fungicides contaminating pollen that bees collect to feed their hives. The findings break new ground on why large numbers of bees are dying though they do not identify the specific cause of CCD, where an entire beehive dies at once.

When researchers collected pollen from hives on the east coast pollinating cranberry, watermelon and other crops and fed it to healthy bees, those bees showed a significant decline in their ability to resist infection by a parasite called Nosema ceranae. The parasite has been implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder though scientists took pains to point out that their findings do not directly link the pesticides to CCD. The pollen was contaminated on average with nine different pesticides and fungicides though scientists discovered 21 agricultural chemicals in one sample. Scientists identified eight ag chemicals associated with increased risk of infection by the parasite.

Most disturbing, bees that ate pollen contaminated with fungicides were three times as likely to be infected by the parasite. Widely used, fungicides had been thought to be harmless for bees as they’re designed to kill fungus, not insects, on crops like apples.

Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought - Quartz

Coming soon: America’s own Islamic ‘no-go’ zones

Across the EU, there are enclaves where Muslims make up almost 100 percent of the population. They have been known to set up Shariah religious-law courts alongside secular court systems. They exert control over every facet of life, up to and including applying Islamic limits to what people do, say, wear and believe.
“What they’re trying to do is step up from the training camp, the secretive, plotting location … and become their own state within a state,” he told WND.
Law enforcement often even is afraid to enter such zones, he noted.
Then, he said, they want to “connect the dots” and link all of the “no-go” zones together.
The concept is shocking to Western civilization, where for generations the rule of law has prevailed, he said.
“We are so used to in the past hearing about [Islam's plan], now there’s a whole strategy change, to infiltrate and immigrate, and set up societies within societies,” he said.
Dearborn, Mich., where hundreds of thousands of Muslims have settled, is an example, he said. There, city and police officials have been sued in many cases that allege discrimination against Christians effectively by applying Shariah law.
Coming soon: America’s own Islamic ‘no-go’ zones

Crippled Fukushima nuclear plant ‘leaking’ into Pacific – company Trunews:

A Japanese utility said its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is likely leaking contaminated water into sea, acknowledging for the first time a problem long suspected by experts.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, also came under fire for not disclosing earlier that the number of plant workers with thyroid radiation exposures exceeding threshold levels for increased cancer risks was 10 times what it said released earlier.
Crippled Fukushima nuclear plant ‘leaking’ into Pacific – company Trunews: