S/A seeks protection from ISIS

MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Saudi Arabia is seeking help from Pakistan and Egypt to protect its borders and religious sites from attacks by the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), the International Business Times reported.
"The kingdom is calling in favors from Egypt and Pakistan. No one is certain what ISIS has planned, but it's clear a group like this will target Mecca if it can. We expect them to run out of steam, but no one is taking any chances," the International Business Times wrote Sunday citing an adviser to the Saudi government.


Read more:


http://en.ria.ru/world/20140804/191716849/Saudi-Arabia-Seeks-to-Protect-Mecca-after-ISIS-Destroys-Iraqi.html

Catalonia, Spain may become home to world's 3rd largest mosque

The tentative plan calls for the Emir of Qatar to purchase the stadium and cover all costs associated with converting the property into a mosque, which would be the third-largest in the world after those in Mecca and Medina.


The mosque would be accompanied by a towering 300-meter (985-foot) minaret which, if approved, would dominate the Barcelona skyline and overshadow the spectacularly emblematic Sagrada Familia, a Roman Catholic cathedral less than one kilometer away.


The mega-mosque is "not suitable" for Barcelona because the "people and countries" involved in the project may have "values which collide with ours," according to Alberto Fernández Díaz, leader of the Popular Party.


Analysts say that Catalonia, which has the largest concentration of radical Islamists in Europe, is already a main center for Salafi-Jihadism on the continent and has the potential to become one of the top incubators for Islamist terrorism in the West.
"Muslims should vote for pro-independence parties, as they need our votes. But what they do not know is that, once they allow us to vote, we will all vote for Islamic parties ... and as we begin to accumulate power in the Catalan autonomous region, Islam will begin to be implemented." — Abdelwahab Houzi, a Salafi jihadist preacher in Catalonia.

Common Core: Dangers and Threats to American Liberty and Education

A view from the other side: "Palestinians: "The Arabs have betrayed us....again"

Since 1948, the Arab countries and government have been paying mostly lip service to the Palestinians.
"They have money and oil, but don't care about the Palestinians, even though we are Arabs and Muslims like them. What a Saudi or Qatari sheikh spends in one night in London, Paris or Las Vegas could solve the problem of tens of thousands of Palestinians." — Abdel Bari Atwan, Palestinian editor.
"Some Arabs were hoping that Israel would rid them of Hamas." — Ashraf Salameh, Gaza City.
"Some of the Arab regimes are interested in getting rid of the resistance in order to remove the burden of the Palestinian cause, which threatens the stability of their regimes." — Mustafa al-Sawwaf, Palestinian political analyst.
"Most Arabs are busy these days with bloody battles waged by their leaders, who are struggling to survive. These battles are raging in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya and the Palestinian Authority." — Mohammed al-Musafer, columnist.
"The Arab leaders don't know what they want from the Gaza Strip. They don't even know what they want from Israel." — Yusef Rizka, Hamas official.

Every now and then, the Palestinians are reminded of the fact that most Arabs don't care about them and their problems.
Arab "indifference" and "silence" toward the current war between Israel and Hamas has once again reminded Palestinians of the "betrayal" by their Arab brethren.


Read more:
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4463/palestinians-arabs-betrayed-us

Numbering & Tracking: RFID 1st Fallout Nears for Arizona

WASHINGTON – Arizona lawmakers told the federal government in 2008 that the state would not cooperate in the Real ID Act, a post-9/11 law that aimed to make it harder for potential terrorists to get fake IDs.


The first fallout from the decision could begin to be felt in Arizona on Monday.
That’s when residents of states that have not complied with the Real ID Act – Arizona is one of 11 such states – will not be able to use their driver’s licenses to get in to restricted areas of nuclear power plants and federal facilities.


In January, the list of areas requiring a second form of identification, like a passport, would expand to include all federal facilities that require identification. Ultimately, the restriction could apply to people trying to board a plane – although that will not come until at least 2016 and only after a Department of Homeland Security evaluation.
It might be time for the state to revisit the Real ID issue before then, said Rep. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Glendale.


Read more:
http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2014/07/first-fallout-approaches-for-states-refusal-to-comply-with-real-id-act/

The ISIS Chronicles - A History

On June 10, 2014, Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq and the capital of Ninawa province, fell to the Salafi-Jihadi organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The fall of Mosul and the subsequent blitz with which ISIS took over other Sunni majority cities shocked Washington and Baghdad. However, the leaderships of the two countries have entertained different visions as to how to deal with this surging threat to regional and international stability. This has only added another layer of misconception about ISIS and its future military and religiopolitical program in the Middle East. ISIS has achieved what Al Qaeda failed to accomplish. A recent statement by ISIS in which it rebranded itself as the “Islamic State,” declaring the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, led by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as Caliph Ibrahim, shows both the astuteness of its military command and ingenuity of its ideologues. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Islamic State has already replaced Al Qaeda as the paradigm organization of Salafi-Jihadists and stands, if not defeated in its formative stage, not only to change the map of political geography of the Middle East, but also the scope and breadth of Salafi-jihadi threat to the West and Middle East.


Read more:
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-chronicles-history-10895

Numbering & Tracking People: Kentucky Driver's Licenses & RFID chips

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT)- Kentucky is working with the Department of Homeland Security to comply with the REAL ID Act of 2005, but if it doesn't make changes by 2016, a Kentucky driver's license will not be enough to board an airplane.
People will have to show a passport, which costs $110, or some other form of federal identification.


The law requires a driver's license to be issued by a single state agency. In Kentucky, local court clerk offices issue them.  Kentucky's Transportation Cabinet commissioner says that makes it more difficult to standardize the process. "There are some obstacles to overcome because we are a large state, and we do issue from a lot of different areas," Kentucky Transportation Cabinet commissioner Rodney Kuhl said. "We have to work through some security features of our issuing offices in order to be able to have the compliance we need to be."


Deadlines for changes:
July 21: Restricted areas for all federal facilities and nuclear power plants
Jan. 19, 2015: Semi-restricted areas, such as those available to the general public but subject to ID-based access control, at most federal federal facilities.
2016 or later: Boarding commercial airplanes. A driver’s license or identification card from a noncompliant state may only be used in conjunction with a second form of ID for boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft.

50,000 Christians Flee Iraqi City Ahead of ISIL

Click to read article:
50,000 Assyrians Flee Fighting in North Iraq

The War on Christians | The Weekly Standard

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life finds that Christians are suffering persecution in more places today than any other religious group; between 2006 and 2012, Pew says, they were targeted for harassment in 151 countries—three-quarters of the world’s states. Similar findings are reported by the Vatican, Newsweek, the Economist, and the 60-year-old Christian support group Open Doors. Most people in the West are unaware of these facts, though that may be changing.


The War on Christians | The Weekly Standard

Iraqi Shi’ite fighters in Syria head home to fight ISIL

(Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim militias fighting in Syria have started returning home to combat a lightning advance by Sunni insurgents in their own country, an exodus that could affect the balance of power in Syria.


The movement demonstrates how intertwined the conflicts in the two neighbouring countries have become, as Sunni and Shi'ite fighters move between them and shifts in battlefield momentum on one side of the border influence the other.


President Bashar al-Assad has relied heavily on Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from Iraq and Lebanon to help turn the tide against overwhelmingly Sunni rebels.
One of those militias, Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed group which fought U.S. troops during the 2003-2011 occupation, confirmed on Wednesday that it was pulling some of its fighters out of Syria.


Spokesman Ahmed al-Kinani said the group was responding to a call from Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric to protect Iraq from Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who seized Iraq's biggest northern city last week.
"Asaib Ahl al-Haq has withdrawn from Syria and returned to Iraq as both are religious duties to defend our sacred sites. Now they are fighting ISIL together with our security forces."


Estimates of the number of Shi'ite fighters in Syria have run in the thousands. Residents in Jaramana, a Damascus suburb with a heavy presence of government troops backed by foreign militias fighting rebels in the nearby district of eastern Ghouta, say fewer Iraqi fighters have been visible lately.


"We easily differentiate them right away from their accents. You can also hear them down the street when they drive their cars blaring Iraqi Shi'ite music,” said one Jaramana resident.


Read more:


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/18/uk-iraq-security-syria-fighters-idUKKBN0ET1VB20140618

Turkish media ban on ISIS reports

On June 15, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the media not to write or talk about the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which seized Turkey’s consulate on June 11 in Mosul, in northern Iraq, taking all 49 consulate workers hostage, including the consul general. Erdogan claimed that the media’s reporting puts the hostages’ lives at risk.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/daloglu-media-mosul-hostages-isis-erdogan-iraq-consulate.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter##ixzz351dmAxkv

Walid Shoebat: Prophecy is being fulfilled, the anti-christ is arising as Iran moves into Iraq

When Iraq faded from the collective consciousness and few were paying attention to it we wrote: “Iraq will weaken as a result of America’s exit to simply be devoured by Iran.” (Article by Walid Shoebat written in 2012 for Jewish Voice Ministries)


And now that Iraq is under the radar again as Mosul, Iraq’s SECOND largest city, was besieged by the Sunni Al-Qaeda front (ISIS), a closer attention should be focused on Iran, which just moved into Iraq’s capital, and the FIRST largest city, Baghdad is devoured by Iran. Make no mistake about it; this is prophetically significant.


The Shiites did not standby idle watching Iraq being devoured by Sunnis, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani convened an emergency meeting of the country’s National Security Council to say this:
“We, as the Islamic Republic of Iran, will not tolerate this violence and terrorism … We will fight and battle violence and extremism and terrorism in the region and the world.”


And he wasn’t like Obama, simply full of hot air, he sent in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards who are already deployed to Iraq and in the name of War on Terror, to help government troops defend (really occupy) the capital city of Baghdad from the escalating threat of Al-Qaeda’s ISIS insurgents which Iranian security sources as well as all the media now confirmed.


The showdown is on, the ISIS has already seized several areas in the northern part of Iraq taking control of Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on Wednesday (June 11), but Revolutionary Guard and Iraqi troops overtook 85 percent of the city of Baghdad on Thursday (June 12).


As the crisis in the Middle East deepens, the Iranian military is also considering shifting troops fighting in Syria and Iraq if the deployment of the Quds Forces is not sufficient to combat the Sunni insurgents.


President Obama responded saying he would not rule out U.S. air strikes against the insurgents and that his government is looking at “all options”, including military action, to help Iraq fight Islamist militants.


Today, the United States is in check and is staggering in confusion, Iran is an enemy, and now since the pull-out of Iraq, the U.S. is all but confused, finding itself with little choices but to look the other way when its arch enemy, Iran, encroaches into Iraq, weighing between an Al-Qaeda takeover to create the Caliphate on the one hand and Iran consuming Iraq on the other. And since we have seen Russia invade Crimea and Obama showed his impotence, Iran has already invaded Iraq’s capital.


Obama said the United States has an interest in making sure jihadists do not gain a foothold in Iraq.


Really? Which Jihadists; Iran or Al-Qaeda?


Its checkmate for the U.S. and prophetically, last year we wrote:


Click to read full article:


http://shoebat.com/2014/06/13/prophecy-fulfilled-antichrist-arising-iran-moves-iraq/

Gary Stearman: The Children of Elam

Click to watch:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmggIAGu_os

Who is ISIS & its Leader?

Is ISIS the first terror group to build an Islamic state?



Click to view short CNN video:
Who is ISIS & its leader?

Islamic Mortgages Blend Faith and Capitalism

A new type of mortgage is gaining popularity in the United Kingdom and the United States. It is a way to combine capitalism with the ethics of religion: Islamic mortgages.

According to Bloomberg news, the global Islamic finance industry is worth a staggering $1.3 trillion, and is continuing to grow, with annual growth rates of 15 percent. A part of that industry is based upon real estate and mortgages. Islamic mortgages have funded a wide variety of purchases, including residential mortgages as offered by the UK’s first lease-based mortgage provider: United National Bank of Pakistan. But these financing tools have also funded larger purchases, like the construction of the Shard of Glass in London.

Rules and Regulations

Islamic mortgages are fundamentally different than traditional mortgages due to religious restrictions of Islam. Under the principles of Shariah (Islamic Law), a payment or interest is prohibited. Conventional mortgages cannot be used by practicing Muslims, but many home prices are too high for a typical customer to buy outright. This is where Islamic home loans assist buyers. For these loans, the bank can purchase a property and sell it back to a mortgage owner in three different ways:

1. A bank can sell the property at a higher price to the mortgagee in an installment plan, or rent it to the homeowners and have the mortgagee pay a contribution towards the equity of the home each month until it is paid off.
2. Owners can choose a “lease to purchase” option because the homeowner rents the property while paying down principal and gaining equity on the property.
3. Mortgagees can create a Limited Liability Company (LLC) where the finance company and the homeowner both own shares of the property.

Due to religious laws, there are restrictions for Islamic-funded real-estate. Islamic financiers focus on businesses that are involved in ethical businesses, according to Richard Thomas, CEO of Gatehouse Bank, a Shariah-compliant bank in the UK. The financing does not go toward businesses such as pubs, casinos, or businesses with questionable moral codes. Currently there are globally-located, Islamic-financed projects with Rolls-Royce, British Telecom, and Procter & Gamble.


Read on:
http://loans.org/mortgage/articles/islamic-funds-blend-faith-and-capitalism

Escorted by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a considerable Israeli security detail and coterie of Muslim and Catholic clerics, Pope Francis ascended the Temple Mount Monday morning – perhaps the most symbolic and contested territory in the Muslim and Jewish divide.


Under a clear blue sky, Francis removed his shoes prior to entering al-Aksa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, where Muslims believe Prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven. It is also Judaism’s holiest site, where the First Temple and Second Temple were destroyed.


May we respect and love one another as brothers and sisters,” the pope reportedly said during the discussion. “May we learn to understand the suffering of others. May no one abuse the name of God through violence.”


Read on:
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Francis-beseeches-Grand-Mufti-to-disavow-Temple-Mount-strife-354444

Is Russia reviving its empire?

(interesting this article comes from Al Jazerra news)


A great many experts, observers and pundits are missing the point in their analyses of events in and around Ukraine by making two flawed assumptions. One, that the personal traits and characters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, or US President Barack Obama, or both, are the main causes of the momentous developments in and around Ukraine; and two, that Putin is executing a master plan.


The reality is something else. International relations are intricate. Decisions made by heads of states are guided by a complex web of domestic and international factors and circumstances. Of course, the person at the top and his or her worldview, leadership qualities and style are key factors in the final determination, but explaining transformative events on the basis of one man's behaviour and actions is overly simplistic and inevitably will miss the point.


What the pundits perceive to be Putin's "ambitions, arrogance and petulance", and Obama's "weakness, indifference and disengagement" are not manifestations of capricious behaviour. Rather, they are ideologically driven labels for behaviour based on convictions, beliefs and values developed through their personal experiences, domestic sentiments and their nation's past and recent history.


Putin is shrewd, smart and calculating. He may or may not be anti-Western, but he certainly is not sentimental towards the West. He doesn't like to be told to play by the rules that the West itself selectively ignores, circumvents and violates.


Read on:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/05/russia-reviving-empire-201452061922194842.html

Is America Starting To Target Thought Crime?

Last week, Michelle Obama made headlines when she exhorted graduating high schoolers in a commencement address to monitor their families for politically incorrect thoughts and behaviors.

To one journalist, this was more than an off-hand comment made by the first lady. In the opinion of Cheryl Chumley, a reporter for The Washington Times and the author of “Police State USA,” Michelle Obama’s remark reflects a growing trend in America to target and attack individuals for committing “thought crime.”

“Michelle Obama’s push for kids around the nation to monitor their family members for perceived racist comments is just another way the government seeks to inject itself into an area it doesn’t really belong — the American home,” Chumley told The Daily Caller Monday.

“Having the first lady wag her finger at us and send America’s youth on some sort of quest to scour the homes and backyards of our nation’s families for any mention of a racist joke, slur or slight is nanny-governance run amok — something that belongs in a George Orwell novel, not the White House, Chumley said.”

Chumley sees a troubling growth of America’s most powerful political figures now singling out private individuals for their beliefs, and using government agencies and public denunciations to intimidate opponents into silence.

Read on:


http://news.yahoo.com/america-starting-target-thought-crime-015023317.html

Putin cuts Western ties in shift to the East

Russian President Vladimir Putin's movement eastwards can no longer be in any doubt.
Attending the St Petersburg Economic Forum, the annual meeting Putin set up in his hometown to rival Davos, last week, was almost more about who wasn't there than who was.


Read on:


http://www.cnbc.com/id/101704562?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101704562%7CPutin%20cuts%20Western%20ties%20i

The Size Of The Derivatives Bubble Hanging Over The Global Economy Hits A Record High

The global derivatives bubble is now 20 percent bigger than it was just before the last great financial crisis struck in 2008.  It is a financial bubble far larger than anything the world has ever seen, and when it finally bursts it is going to be a complete and utter nightmare for the financial system of the planet.  According to the Bank for International Settlements, the total notional value of derivatives contracts around the world has ballooned to an astounding 710 trillion dollars ($710,000,000,000,000).

Other estimates put the grand total well over a quadrillion dollars.  If that sounds like a lot of money, that is because it is.  For example, U.S. GDP is projected to be in the neighborhood of around 17 trillion dollars for 2014.  So 710 trillion dollars is an amount of money that is almost incomprehensible.  Instead of actually doing something about the insanely reckless behavior of the big banks, our leaders have allowed the derivatives bubble and these banks to get larger than ever.
 In fact, as I have written about previously, the big Wall Street banks are collectively 37 percent larger than they were just prior to the last recession.  "Too big to fail" is a far more massive problem than it was the last time around, and at some point this derivatives bubble is going to burst and start taking those banks down.  When that day arrives, we are going to be facing a crisis that is going to make 2008 look like a Sunday picnic.


Read more:


http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-size-of-the-derivatives-bubble-hanging-over-the-global-economy-hits-a-record-high