Earth calamities and Rumors of war

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Microchips get under the skin of technophile Swedes

Microchips get under the skin of technophile Swedes

Stockholm (AFP) - It's the size of a grain of rice but could hold the key to many aspects of your life.

A tiny microchip inserted under the skin can replace the need to carry keys, credit cards and train tickets.

That might sound like an Orwellian nightmare to some but in Sweden it is a welcome reality for a growing number who favours convenience over concerns of potential personal data violations.

The small implants were first used in 2015 in Sweden -- initially confidentially -- and several other countries.

Swedes have gone on to be very active in microchipping, with scant debate about issues surrounding its use, in a country keen on new technology and where the sharing of personal information is held up as a sign of a transparent society.

Twenty-eight year-old Ulrika Celsing is one of 3,000 Swedes to have injected a microchip into her hand to try out a new way of life.

To enter her workplace, the media agency Mindshare, she simply waves her hand on a small box and types in a code before the doors open.

"It was fun to try something new and to see what one could use it for to make life easier in the future," she told AFP.

In the past year, the chip has turned into a kind of electronic handbag and has even replaced her gym card, she said.

If she wanted to, she could also use it to book train tickets.

Sweden's SJ national railway company has won over some 130 users to its microchip reservation service in a year.

Conductors scan passengers' hands after they book tickets online and register them on their chip.

Sweden has a track record on the sharing of personal information, which may have helped ease the microchip's acceptance among the Nordic country's 10 million-strong population.

Citizens have long accepted the sharing of their personal details, registered by the social security system, with other administrative bodies, while people can find out each others' salaries through a quick phone call to the tax authority.

The implants use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, also used in credit cards, and are "passive", which means they hold data that can be read by other devices but cannot read information themselves.

Although still small, they have the capacity to hold train tickets, entry pass codes as well as access certain vending machines and printers, promoters say.

When Celsing's innovatively minded media company organised an event where employees could get the implants, she followed the crowd.

She said she felt nothing but a slight sting when the syringe inserted the chip into her left hand, which she now uses on an almost daily basis and does not fear hacking or possible surveillance.

"I don't think our current technology is enough to get chip hacked," she says.

"But I may think about this again in the future. I could always take it out then," she adds.

However, for Ben Libberton, a microbiologist working for MAX IV Laboratory in the southern city of Lund which provides X-rays for research, the danger is real.

The chip implants could cause "infections or reactions of the immune system", he warned.

But the biggest risk, he added, was around the data contained in the chip.

"At the moment, the data collected and shared by implants is small, but it's likely that this will increase," the researcher said.

The real question, he added, is what data is collected and who shares it. "If a chip can one day detect a medical problem, who finds out and when?" he asked.

Libberton worried that "the more data is stored in a single place as could happen with a chip, the more risk it could be used against us."

But Jowan Osterlund, a piercings specialist and self-proclaimed champion of chip implantation, brushes off fears of data misuse and conspiracy theories.

He advocates the opposite view, arguing that if we carried all our personal data on us, we would have better control of their use.

Despite unanswered questions however about how the technology will progress, the appeal of being part of a futuristic experience is a strong draw for some users.

"In Sweden, people are very comfortable with technology and I would say there is less resistance to new technology here than in most other places," Libberton said.

At an "implant party" organised by Osterlund in Stockholm, 59-year-old Anders Brannfors stands out with his salt-and-pepper hair among the curious 30-something hipsters.

Delighted to have become a 2.0 version of himself, he has yet however to find a use for his chip several weeks after the implant.

 

[jgr]

The chosen can do no wrong

 

[Bible2+]

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1343:

Delighted to have become a 2.0 version of himself, he has yet however to find a use for his chip several weeks after the implant.

Some people fear that an implanted chip could eventually become the "mark of the beast" (Revelation 16:2, Revelation 13:16-18).

But note that while the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") could require that everyone receive an injected RFID microchip, between their right thumb and forefinger, which could be used as an identification device, a debit/credit card, and a repository of emergency healthcare information (that is, it could alert emergency healthcare workers to any medicinal allergies or conditions which an individual may have), any such microchip would be separate from the "mark of the beast".

For the latter will be visible to people so that they can easily tell in every situation, even one without electricity, whether or not someone should be permitted to buy or sell (Revelation 13:17). It will also be visible because the original Greek of Revelation 13:16 shows that the mark will be placed only "on" (epi), not inside, people's right hands or foreheads. Also, it will be placed on people probably by scarification. For in Revelation 13:16, one of the definitions of the original Greek word (charagma: G5480) translated as the "mark" is "a scratch or etching" (Strong's Greek Dictionary), and scarification is the scratching or etching (that is, the cutting) of the skin to leave a permanent mark. The reason that people will be given the mark in Revelation 13:16, in the context of what was shown previously in Revelation 13:4,8,15, will be to serve as a visible indicator to other people that they are loyal worshippers of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) (Revelation 13:4, Revelation 12:9) and of the Antichrist and his image (Revelation 13:4,8,15), just as some Satanists today put a mark on themselves by scarification.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Turkey urges Islamic world to unite against Israel, calls summit

PressTV-Turkey urges Islamic world to unite against Israel

Turkey has urged Islamic countries to review their ties with Israel after dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on the Gaza border.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told his ruling party in parliament that Ankara would call an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

"Islamic countries should without fail review their relations with Israel," Premier Yildirim said, adding, “The Islamic world should move as one, with one voice, against this massacre."

Yildirim said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the body, called the OIC summit on Friday.

Yildirim said that after the summit at 3:00 pm a giant rally would be held at the vast Yenikapi meeting area in Istanbul under the slogan of "Stop the Oppression" to express solidarity with the Palestinians.

"This has nothing to do with party politics. This is to show solidarity, brotherhood and togetherness," he said.

"The Islamic world should move as one, with one voice, against this massacre," Yildirim added.

Ankara has reacted with fury to the killing Monday of 60 Palestinians in clashes and protests, on the same day as the United States formally moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem al-Quds from Tel Aviv in defiance of international outrage.

Ankara said it was recalling its ambassadors to the United States and Israel for consultations in the wake of the events.

On Tuesday, Israel expelled the Turkish consul in Jerusalem al-Quds.

The Foreign Ministry's spokesman said the consul had been summoned and was told to return to Turkey "for consultations for a period of time."

Yildirim earlier accused the US of sharing responsibility with Israel for a "vile massacre" along the Gaza border, during which dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Monday.

The United States took its place without complaint alongside the Israeli regime in “this massacre of civilians and became a party to this crime against humanity," Yildirim told reporters in Ankara.

"This is … vile massacre and we condemn it strongly," he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a visit to London, said that the United States had lost its role as mediator in the Middle East by moving its embassy to the occupied territories.

Turkish President accuses Israel of 'genocide'

President Erdogan later in a speech broadcast on Turkish state television accused Israel of carrying out a "genocide" as nearly 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in one day of protests.

The Turkish president accused Israel of being a "terrorist" entity and announced he would pull ambassadors out of Israel and the US.

“What Israel has done is genocide," the Turkish president said, adding, "I condemn this humanitarian drama, the genocide, from whichever side it comes, Israel or America.”

He added: “We will continue to stand with Palestinian people with determination."

Thousands held anti-Israeli rally in Istanbul

Thousands gathered in Istanbul's Istiklal Street to condemn the US' decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds and the Israeli bloodshed in the Gaza Strip.

The rally organized by several NGOs under the name "Raise Your Voice Against Occupation."

Demonstrators carried banners that read "Al Quds belongs to Palestinians."

Speaking at the event, organizers and speakers said that the relocation has reignited an awakening for Muslims and encouraged them to put up a fight against the Israeli occupation.

They also called for protests to continue throughout Muslims' holy month of Ramadan outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul.

Israeli gunfire killed 59 Palestinians and wounded over 2,700 in the Monday clashes, the highest toll in a single day since a series of protests demanding the right to return to ancestral homes began on March 30.

The embassy inauguration also coincides with the climax of a six-week demonstration on the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), May 15, when Israel was created.

The occupied territories have witnessed new tensions ever since US President Donald Trump on December 6, 2017 announced US recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” and said Washington would move US embassy to the city.

The dramatic decision triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories as well as Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and other Muslim countries.

 

[seventysevens]

DRC: Ebola outbreak enters 'new phase' after urban case confirmed

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Turkey’s economy is entering a ‘slow burning crisis,’ analysts warn

Turkey’s economy is entering a ‘slow burning crisis,’ analysts warn

Turkey's economy is overheating and if the government doesn't act then the country is in trouble, according to several analysts.

"The government has no intention of tackling imbalances or overheating," Marcus Chenevix, global political research analyst at TS Lombard, said in a research note this week. "It is this unwillingness to act that leads us to believe that we can now say that Turkey is entering a slow burning crisis."

The Turkish lira is at a record low against the dollar, and is ranked among the worst-performing currencies this year. After comments this week by Turkish President Recep Erdogan promising to lower interest rates after the country's June election, the currency tanked to its lowest point yet against the greenback, hitting 4.4527 on Tuesday mid-afternoon. The dollar has appreciated by around 18 percent against the lira so far this year.

The reason? Erdogan has been sitting on interest rates, opting for a monetary policy that prioritizes growth over controlling its double-digit inflation. Turkey's growth rate reached an impressive 7.4 percent for 2017 and leads the G-20, but at the expense of inflation, which has shot up to 10.9 percent.

Market sentiment has driven much of the lira's sell-off, as investors worry about government intervention in monetary policy and central bank independence. Investors have been hoping for a rate rise by the bank, but that now appears unlikely.

Erdogan plays an unusually heavy-handed role in deciding his country's monetary policy, and many observers say he keeps the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey's (TCMB) hands tied. The bank finally raised its rates for the first time in several sessions in late April, moving its late liquidity window rate (which it uses to set policy) up by 75 basis points to 13.5 percent. The lira temporarily jumped on the news.

But Erdogan aims to bring the rate back down, saying it must be done to ease pressure on Turkish households and drive the growth needed to create jobs for Turkey's youth.

Troubling indicators
"I'm seriously concerned about the Turkish lira," Piotr Matys, emerging markets FX strategist at Rabobank, told CNBC. "Is Turkey the domino the market expects to fall next? It's got all those problems — high current account deficit, government borrowing in other currencies."

Emerging market currencies have been feeling particular pain on the back of a strengthening dollar and higher yields in the U.S. But Erdogan's monetary policy plans, Matys said, has resulted in the continued underperformance of the lira against its other emerging market counterparts. And the fall has been accelerated by geopolitical uncertainty over U.S. and Russian military actions in neighboring Syria.

March saw Turkey's current account deficit — a measurement of the country's trade — widen to $4.812 billion, compared to $4.5 billion the month prior and significantly higher than poll forecasts. The February current account deficit was a more than 60 percent increase on the same period in 2017.

"Turkish growth is unbalanced, inflation high rising, foreign debt costs ballooning and domestic FX expectations unmoored," Chenevix said. "Downward pressure on Turkish assets will be back very soon."

Pre-election damage control
Erdogan in April announced early elections in what was widely viewed as a power grab. Presidential and parliamentary elections slated for November 2019 will now be held in June of this year, with the turbulent economy seen as the main reason for the impromptu switch.

A win would allow Erdogan to mitigate the fallout of a worsening economy on his popularity. It would also enable him to eliminate the position of prime minister and weaken parliament, thanks to a constitutional referendum passed last year that would heavily concentrate the president's power.

Doomed? Why Iran's Economic Mess Will Get Worse

Doomed? Why Iran's Economic Mess Will Get Worse

The matter at hand is the decision earlier this month by the Trump administration not to certify the so-called nuclear deal, and that means Iran will soon be subject to harsh U.S. sanctions. Overall the result will be a squeezed economy.

Current situation

Even the latest official statistics for the Iranian economy don't look good. The unemployment rate stands at 11.9% and the inflation rate at 8.3%, according to TradingEconomics.com. However, at least some of the government figures may be more aspirational than actual.

Take, for instance, the inflation rate. Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, makes a regular and sophisticated estimate of how much the price level is moving within the country. For May 8, he estimates Iranian inflation at 71.7%.

Hanke also says the state now has the third highest misery index ranking. The index is the percentage unemployment rate plus the percentage inflation rate. Higher index numbers mean more misery for the population.

While these figures don't exactly sound like the Iranian economy is doing well. Things will be far worse in the coming months.

What's in store and why?

It is true that the European partners to the Iranian nuclear the deal, such as Germany and the U.K. are trying to salvage some form of continued arrangement with Tehran, Iran's seat of government. However, that matters little because few significant corporations would want to spark the ire of the U.S. administration in a way that might cut off their access to the lucrative U.S. market. Remember, that in capitalist economies the government typically doesn't buy nearly as much as do corporations. It will be the latter that will shun doing business with Tehran.

If you doubt that European companies are worried then consider the following from Reuters discussing the desire of some to get a waiver from the sanctions if they continue to do business with Iran:

[French oil giant] Total said any waiver would need to include protection from secondary sanctions that Washington might impose on companies that continue to do business with Iran. These might include the loss of financing in dollars by U.S. banks, the loss of U.S. shareholders and the inability to continue its U.S. operations, it said.



Or put simply, there is a heck of a lot at stake for any European company that wants to keep trading with Iran.

The Reuters report continues by noting there is little the Europeans can do to counter the U.S. move. It is reasonable to expect scant European government protection from U.S. sanctions and therefore few companies based there will continue trading with Iran.

Harder sell

The first fallout will be that Iran will find it harder to sell crude oil on the global market. The revenue from these sales is a vital source of foreign currency. The Washington-D.C.-based Institute of International Finance sees a reduction in Iranian energy exports of around 300,000 barrels a day, according to a recent report by the think tank.

However, at least some others see things differently with a more substantial reduction in energy exports depending on how companies choose to react.

While Tehran may be able to sell oil to some countries, such as India, China, and Russia, it seems likely that the buyers will ask for a deep price discount given the situation in which Iran now finds itself.

Either way, expect Iran's currency to continue falling, which will ultimately push up prices of goods and services for consumers inside the country. "We expect average [consumer price index] inflation to accelerate," states the recent IIF report.

It is important to remember that when the annual inflation rate reaches triple digits (100%) that the spending power of money halves every 12 months. That will place a considerable hardship on the local population of Iran, just as it has in the more extreme example of the hyperinflation in Venezuela.

Protests ahead?

So what? It is when people can no longer afford to feed their families that uprisings happen. Note it was rising food costs that sparked both the so-called Arab Spring in 2011 as well as China's Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Already Iran has experienced mass protests due to the deteriorating economic conditions. They started late 2017 and continued into the early part of this year. See the CNN report here. It may happen again before long.

Capital-drought?

Making matters worse, foreign investment in the country will get hit also. "Uncertainty related to the fate of the nuclear deal will weigh heavily on investment," according to IIF. Investment is vital for any country to grow. The money either has to come from savings inside the country or from foreign investors. However, due to the sanctions, the money coming from external sources will be severely restricted.

Not only will lack of capital inflows hurt economic growth but it will hamper any efforts to develop or modernize Iran's domestic industries. In simple terms, the coming capital-drought will place even further stresses on the already beleaguered economy.

IRGC in crosshairs

A separate part of the U.S. sanctions involved a move against the governor of the Iranian central bank and one of his deputies. Both people are accused by the U.S. Treasury of financially supporting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Corps' Quds Force division. The Quds Force is believed to be the primary way the Iranian government passes support to Hezbollah, according to the Counter Extremism Project website.

"The new measure [by the U.S.] gives substance to the president’s promise to counter Iran’s “aggression” in the region," states a recent report from geopolitical consulting firm Eurasia Group. Perhaps more important is that it will "suffocate Iran’s ability to move money to its main ally" Hezbollah, the Eurasia Group report continues.

Or alternatively, it may just make it more expensive for Tehran to get the cash to Hezbollah, which seems more likely. The added costs of moving cash around will further drain the state's coffers and strain the economy.

The bottom line is that the immediate future for Iran's economy looks bleak.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Amid international pressure, Russia’s economy is a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly

Russia is being squeezed by sanctions, but here's why some investors think it's not all bad

Beset by tough sanctions and worldwide political isolation, a casual observer might be surprised to learn that Russia's economy isn't doing all that badly – even if it still has a litany of problems.

In fact, some investors are fairly bullish on the country, where the outlook is bolstered by surging oil prices. However, there are red flags everywhere, including a new round of sanctions against Russian companies and oligarchs aimed at pressuring President Vladimir Putin.

For the moment, 2018 will mark another year of recovery for the Russian economy after a steep recession triggered by oil's swoon during 2014. Russia's growth is expected to reach 1.7 percent this year, according to a World Bank forecast, largely in line with growth last year but well above the near 3 percent contraction the country saw from 2015-2016.

Russia "maintained strong growth underpinned by solid productivity, with a sustainable growth trend estimated at 2-2.5 percent," noted Denise Simon, head of emerging market debt at Lazard Asset Management.

However, the rebound obscures what Simon explained is "one of the few countries in the world with negative population growth, which reduces their overall growth potential." The population shrinkage — by some measures at around 0.4 percent — dampens productivity, making growth above 2 percent difficult to sustain.

Historically, Russia's market is volatile, and the geopolitical risks have heightened that effect. Meanwhile, Moscow is notorious for presiding over an opaque, corrupt and oligarch-dominated economy that gets low marks from freedom watchers.

That said, Russia's ability to weather geopolitical pressure and fluctuating oil prices has been sufficient enough for some market observers to tout investment opportunities in the country.

Investing in Russia is definitely "risky" amid the macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, said Bin Shi, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Acadian Asset Management, with more than $73 billion in assets under management.

Yet Shi noted that the MSCI Russia, an equity index linked to the performance of the country's market, returned 54 percent in 2016 while the S&P 500 Index returned 12 percent during the same time. That came despite a grueling recession in Russia that began in 2015.


'Acutely aware' of political risks

However, Russia's market has seen some rough days in the wake of new sanctions, tumbling 11 percent on April 6 alone. Meanwhile, international restrictions have banned equity investments in the companies hit by sanctions, and prohibits financial transactions — and even more sanctions could be in the offing.

"The damage to risky assets in Russia is likely to remain in the near term," Shi told CNBC. "Therefore, investors should be cautious despite a number of attractive valuations in the market."

Global investors unaffected by sanctions and seeking a contrarian play could gravitate to Russia. "If structural reforms takes place in the future, Russia could attract long-term investors. But this is unlikely in the near term," Shi said.

Yet not all investors are fleeing the growing risks, which include soaring debt yields and a falling ruble that plummeted 8 percent in one day last month. While the Russian market is not for the faint-hearted, the country's high-yielding assets do attract investors who know the landscape.

"Anybody present in the Russian market, however, is acutely aware of the geopolitical risks and adjusts their portfolio with respect to it," noted Ondrej Schneider, chief economist for Russia at the Institute of International Finance.

"Investors, who had been exposed to these shifts before have not fled the domestic Russian market so far," he said, adding that capital inflows turned positive again after a brief reversal in the wake of sanctions.

Currently, according to Paul McNamara, investment director and lead manager of emerging market bonds at GAM Investments, being a "minority shareholder, an outsider to companies or a small debtholder in the corporate paper is more risky than almost anywhere else."

On the other hand, McNamara pointed to Russia's current account surplus and "vanishingly little net public debt. The country has one of the most robust balance sheets in emerging markets."

Given that the Russian economy is in somewhat of a decent cyclical recovery after two years of private credit tightening and public spending restraint, energy prices are still of importance to both public and private sectors.

"The main economic risk we see is therefore a sharp drop in global energy prices," McNamara said, but oil prices are on the upswing and supported above $65 per barrel.

"Sanctions come a distant second – the impact of the recent sanctions was very hard on certain corporates, but it's difficult to see why they should have significant macroeconomic impact," he added.

 

[Bible2+]

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1346:

Turkey urges Islamic world to unite against Israel, calls summit

Erdogan wants to the be the King of the Muslims, but he never will be.

Indeed, he and Turkey could be a mere sideshow during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.

For there is a fatal flaw in Erdogan, just as there is a fatal flaw in Turkey itself, since its fall (from being the Ottoman Empire).

It will never rise again.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1346:

Yildirim said that after the summit at 3:00 pm a giant rally would be held at the vast Yenikapi meeting area in Istanbul under the slogan of "Stop the Oppression" to express solidarity with the Palestinians.

Maybe Erdogan could start by "Stopping the Oppression" of his own people by himself. For he is a dictator in Turkey. Just ask the Turkish opposition.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1346:

Turkish President accuses Israel of 'genocide'

Erdogan accuses others of genocide while refusing to admit the Turkish genocide of the Armenians during World War I.

Also, Turkey was the ally of Germany during World War II and its genocide against the Jews in the Holocaust.

So Erdogan is throwing rocks in a glass house.

Also, Israel has never committed genocide. It has only attacked those attacking it, in self-defense. Israel has never targeted the Palestinians, who are Arabs, for extinction, like Turkey and its past-ally Germany targeted the Armenians and the Jews for extinction.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1346:

The rally organized by several NGOs under the name "Raise Your Voice Against Occupation."

Indeed, raise your voice against the Turkish Occupation of the Kurdish lands of southeastern Turkey.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1346:

Demonstrators carried banners that read "Al Quds belongs to Palestinians."

No, Al Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem) belongs to the Jews, just as southeastern Turkey belongs to the Kurds.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

New eruption at Hawaii volcano prompts evacuation, produces massive ash cloud

As in the days of Noah

More images at link.

 

[seventysevens]

New eruption at Hawaii volcano prompts evacuation, produces massive ash cloud

As in the days of Noah

More images at link.

Nothing quite like a round of golf while a volcano erupts throwing lava ash thousands of feet into the air right behind ya

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Israel says it won’t cooperate with UN human rights council probe of Gaza deaths

Israel says it won’t cooperate with UN human rights council probe of Gaza deaths

Israel said Friday that it will not cooperate with an investigation ordered by the UN Human Rights Council into the IDF’s killing of Palestinians in violence on the Gaza border this week.

The US, one of two countries to vote against the investigation, called the move “another shameful day for human rights.”

The UN’s top human rights body voted through a resolution calling on the council to “urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry” after the deaths of some 60 Palestinians — the council’s highest-level of investigation. Almost all of the dead were members of Hamas, the terror group has acknowledged.

“We have no intention of cooperating,” Israel’s deputy foreign minister said.

The council voted 29 in favor and two against with 14 countries abstaining. Australia and the US were the two countries to oppose the decision. The council also condemned “the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians.”

The inquiry mandated by the council will be asked to produce a final report next March.

The resolution “makes no mention of Palestinian violence and incitement,” protested Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aviva Raz Shechter. “This resolution entirely disregards Israel’s right and legal duty to defend its citizens,” she said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the vote and the council as “irrelevant.”

“The organization that calls itself the Human Rights Council again proved it is a hypocritical and biased body whose purpose is to harm Israel and back terror, but mostly it proved it is irrelevant,” he added.

“The State of Israel will continue to defend its citizens and soldiers,” he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Israel would not cooperate with the investigation.

“The UN Human Rights Council prefers to back Hamas instead of supporting Israel’s right to defend itself from terror,” tweeted Hotovely. “We have no intention of cooperating with an international investigative committee that wants to dictate results without a connection to facts.”

Israel completely rejected the decision, saying all that it proved was that the council had “an automatic anti-Israel majority, where hypocrisy and the absurd held sway.”

“The results of this investigation are a forgone conclusion and are written in the text of the decision itself,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “It is clear to all that the aim of this council is not to investigate the truth, but to undermine Israel’s right to self-defense and to uniquely demonize the Jewish state.”

Israel accused the council of systematically ignoring real human rights violations around the world and instead “adopting far more resolutions against Israel than against all the rest of the countries in the world combined.”

Israel pointed out that the vast majority of the 60 people killed in Monday’s protest “were Hamas members, as even the leaders of the terror group have acknowledged in their own voices.”

The Israeli statement said Israel’s actions were completely legal and intended to “protect our sovereignty and prevent a mass assault against the border with the intention of killing Israelis and carrying out terror attacks.”

Israel is not a member of the UNHRC, and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Thursday called on the US to leave it. “We need to stop lending a hand to this hypocrisy-fest,” he said.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, slammed the council.

“At a time when Venezuela lurches toward dictatorship, Iran imprisons thousands of political opponents, and ethnic cleansing has taken place in Burma, the UN’s so-called Human Rights Council has decided to launch an investigation into a democratic country’s legitimate defense of its own border against terrorist attacks,” said Haley. “It is another shameful day for human rights.

Hamas welcomed the decision “to probe Israel’s war crimes and violence.”

Earlier, the UN human rights chief slammed Israel’s actions as “wholly disproportionate” and backed calls for the international investigation.

Addressing a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the violence, which the council said has claimed more than 87 Gazan lives in six weeks, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned that “killing resulting from the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute willful killings, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

He pointed out that while 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in a single day of protests that coincided with Monday’s move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, “on the Israeli side, one soldier was reportedly wounded, slightly, by a stone.” Hamas later acknowledged that 50 of the fatalities were its members.

“The stark contrast in casualties on both sides is… suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response,” Zeid told the council.

“Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week,” he said.

“Israel, as an occupying power under international law, is obligated to protect the population of Gaza and ensure their welfare. But they are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity; dehumanized by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest,” said Zeid.

Zeid placed no responsibility on the Hamas terror group whose leader openly called to breach Israel’s border and violently attack the people living there.

Israel, US slam UN
Zeid said he supported the call for an investigation “that is international, independent and impartial, in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice.”

Israel’s Raz Shechter slammed the special session Friday, saying it was “politically motivated and won’t improve the situation on the ground by even one iota.”

“The unfortunate outcome of Monday’s riots can only be attributed to Hamas’s cynical exploitation of its own population, in a violent campaign against Israel,” she said.

The council session would only serve to “empower Hamas and reward its terror strategy and its use of civilians as human shields to advance its terror activities against the citizens of Israel.”

“Israel is conducting independent and transparent investigations on any credible accusation or reasonable suspicion of alleged wrongdoing,” she added. “The IDF maintains a robust, multi-layered investigations system, with numerous checks and balances to ensure impartiality.”

US representative Theodore Allegra also charged that the UN session was “blatantly taking sides and ignoring the real culprit for the recent outbreak of violence, the terrorist organization Hamas.”

Zeid insisted that many of those injured and killed on Monday “were completely unarmed, (and) were shot in the back, in the chest, in the head and limbs with live ammunition,” he said, saying there was “little evidence of any (Israeli) attempt to minimize casualties.”

He said, “some of the demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used slingshots to throw stones, flew burning kites into Israel and attempted to use wire-cutters against the two fences between Gaza and Israel.”

But he added: “These actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force.”

Israel detailed several incidents in which it said soldiers came under fire, including what it said was a gun battle in which it said 8 armed Hamas members were killed.

‘Establish the facts’
The special UN session came after seven straight weeks of mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border with Israel.

Israel has blamed the Hamas terror group that rules the Strip for the violence in Gaza, saying it co-opted the protests and has used them as cover to attempt border infiltrations and attacks on Israelis. On Wednesday, a Hamas official said 50 of the 62 killed on Monday and Tuesday were members of the group and the Islamic Jihad terror group claimed another three as its members.

The council had called for the urgent dispatch of “an independent, international commission of inquiry” — the UN rights council’s highest-level of investigation.

The draft resolution, which was presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and backed by 47 UN member states, said investigators should probe “all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law … in the context of the military assaults on large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018.”

It said the aim should be to “establish the facts and circumstances” around “alleged violations and abuses including those that may amount to war crimes and to identify those responsible.”

Erdogan: 'Time for us to take a physical stance on Israel'

Erdogan: 'Time for us to take a physical stance on Israel'

In a speech in a main square in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel's recent actions with relation to this week's protests in Gaza, saying that the world's Muslims must take a "physical stance on Israel."

His speech began with a cry for Muslims around the world to unite with one another in the face of "fights and conflicts and disputes among themselves." He invoked phrases from the Quran to ignite the crowd, which cheered him on as he spoke of the Muslim unity and the faith's connection to the city of Jerusalem, revered as holy by the three Abrahamic religions.

Whose blood did Da'esh spill? Whose cities did Da'esh burn? Whose lives did Da'esh take? Only Muslims," he said.

Da'esh is the Arabic name for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which has waged a years-long bloody campaign against the civilian populations in both those countries, while simultaneously waging a war against the Iraqi and Syrian militaries. Of ISIS's targets, a majority have been Muslims, but the terrorist organization has also carried out what many to consider to be a genocide of the Yazidis. They have also murdered Christians and many other minorities.

"It is our sole responsibility to pick [up] the Islamic world from this hole of ignorance," Erdogan told the crowd.

The rally was held in support of the Palestinians, with participants waving Palestinian and Turkish flags together.

"The occupation of Jerusalem, the violation of the privacy of the al Aqsa mosque, and the violation of the rights of the folks of Palestine...we declare that we will not accept this," Erdogan continued. Echoing statements made earlier in the week by him and his Foreign Ministry, he condemned the move of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which took place on Monday. After the move, Turkey recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Israel.

Israel later expelled Turkish diplomats in response.

Erdogan did not limit his criticism to Israel, however: He also critiqued the United Nations and the power he believes that the United States has over the international body. The United States is one of the Permanent 5 (P5) countries on the Security Council that allows it to veto resolutions.

He added that the country "only creates more problems" than it solves, and called on American citizens to "raise their voices against the government."

Turkey, he added "will definitely show where it stands with Palestine and Jerusalem issues." He told the crowd that "with the strength of Jerusalem in our feet, let's march together...let's come and unify and be together and fight the tyrants with one hand, with one strong fist."

"There is a global order that knows no human rights," he added, suggesting that both the United States and Israel were a part of this. "Turkey is the country that is targeted the most by Israel and the leader that is targeted the most by Israel is me," he said.

Erdogan and Netanyahu, both career politicians, have sparred on numerous occasions. Relations between the two countries have been rocky since they were re-established in 2016, 5 years after a diplomatic row over the Mari Marmara flotilla cut ties between them completely.

"Neither Erdogan nor the body called the 'UN Human Rights Council' will preach morality to us," former defense minister and IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon said in response to Erdogan's remarks, and to the UNHRC's decision Friday to conduct an independent probe into Israel's actions in Gaza.

"Countries which remain silent about the ongoing massacre of hundreds of thousands of citizens in Syria are trying to tarnish Israel, which is [merely] protecting its borders and its citizens."

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

US readies Mideast peace plan rollout next month, but threatens Palestinian aid

US readies Mideast peace plan rollout next month, but threatens Palestinian aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is aiming to roll out its much-hyped but long-delayed Middle East peace plan next month amid signs it may further alienate the Palestinians by slashing millions of dollars in funding for humanitarian and development projects in the West Bank and Gaza.

Five US officials and a congressional aide say the administration intends to release the peace plan in mid- to late-June, shortly after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, although they cautioned that the timing could slip depending on developments in the region. They say the plan’s main authors — US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Trump’s special envoy for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt — have already begun quietly briefing select allies and partners on elements of the proposal.

Yet any Palestinian willingness to even consider the plan would require conditions to improve and anger to subside considerably in the coming weeks, an unlikely scenario as the Palestinians say evidence of one-sided Trump giveaways to Israel continues to pile up. US allies in Europe and the Persian Gulf also have felt compelled to criticize the administration for its approach. Ostensibly, Trump would need buy-in from those same countries to build enough momentum for any peace plan to succeed.

The administration has been resisting congressional demands to fully close the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington because Greenblatt and Kushner want to keep that channel open in case the Palestinians are open to re-entering negotiations with Israel based on the plan. The office was ordered closed by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last November, but has been allowed to stay open for limited purposes under the administration’s interpretation of the law requiring it to be shut down in the absence of peace talks.

The prospect of Palestinian interest in the peace proposal appears dim, however, particularly since Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recalled the mission’s chief earlier this week to protest Monday’s opening of the new US Embassy in Jerusalem. The embassy move was one of the reasons cited by Hamas for the violent protests in Gaza that were met with deadly force from Israel.

Nearly 60 Palestinians were killed Monday by Israeli forces, prompting condemnations and calls for restraint from Europe and elsewhere. The US declined to join those calls and, while regretting the loss of life, opposed efforts at the UN to launch an international investigation into the violence.

Hamas has since said that 50 of the 60 dead were members of the terror group.

Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the embassy move and the administration’s unreserved defense of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies have alienated and angered the Palestinian leadership, which accuses the administration of abandoning its role as a neutral arbiter in the conflict. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said any deal needs to be between the Palestinians and Israel — not the United States.

“I don’t need Jason Greenblatt. I don’t need Kushner,” Erekat said. “It’s our lives.”

That sense of betrayal may deepen significantly this summer as millions of dollars in US assistance to the Palestinians appears likely to be cut and the funds re-allocated to other regions. That money has been on hold since last year and existing funding for some projects will start to run out in just months if it is not approved in the next two weeks. If that does not happen, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development will have to notify aid recipients that continued US funding is not forthcoming and those programs will begin to be shut down. Local staffers would be laid off and US officials running the projects would be reassigned elsewhere.

Of $251 million in bilateral aid planned for the Palestinians in 2018, only $50.5 million has been reported spent, according to the government’s online tracker, www.foreignassistance.gov. The remaining more than $200 million is currently on hold, a figure that does not include an additional $65 million in frozen US assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency that provides services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon. The US aid pays for programs on education, health, good governance and democracy promotion as well as disaster preparedness and security.

For several months the White House has been sitting on State Department and USAID recommendations to spend at least some of the money, according to the officials. Three officials said there is no indication those recommendations will be acted upon any time soon despite appeals from lawmakers and even expressions of concern from Israel, which sees value in the assistance especially in the security sector. One official said there was “an overwhelming lack of urgency” about making a decision on the funding. The other two said there was no sign that the end-of-May timeframe would be met.

“The administration is currently reviewing US assistance to the Palestinians,” USAID said in a statement to The Associated Press. “USAID is in discussions with all affected implementing partners on the status of the review, and is working closely with the interagency, as the administration concludes its review.”

At immediate risk are between five and 10 of the some 20 USAID projects in the West Bank and Gaza, along with proposed new initiatives, the officials said. Without a quick decision those will run out of money by the end of 2018, they said. Nearly all of the others will run out of money in early 2019 unless the money is unblocked, they said.

U.N. council mulls calling for Palestinian protection force

U.N. council mulls calling for Palestinian protection force

NITED NATIONS - The United Nations Security Council will begin talks on Monday on a Kuwait-drafted resolution that condemns Israeli force against Palestinian civilians and calls for an "international protection mission" to be deployed to the occupied territories.

The draft resolution, seen by Reuters on Friday, asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report within 30 days of its adoption on "ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population."

The United States, an Israeli ally, is likely to veto the move if it is put to a vote by Kuwait, the diplomats said. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, Russia or China to be adopted.

The US mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was unclear when the resolution could be put to a vote.

The push for a resolution comes after the bloodiest day for Palestinians since the 2014 Gaza war. Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Monday in gunfire and tear gas from Israeli troops on the Gaza-Israel border, the Palestinian Health Ministry said as the United States opened its new embassy in contested Jerusalem.

Israel has said it is acting in self-defense to protect its borders and communities. Both Israel and the United States said Hamas, which rules Gaza, instigated the violence, an allegation denied by the militant group opposed to Israel's existence.

Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the draft Security Council resolution as a "shameful" proposal "to support Hamas' war crimes against Israel and the residents of Gaza who are being sent to die for the sake of preserving Hamas' rule."

During a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blamed Hamas for "inciting violence for years, long before the United States decided to move our embassy."

On Monday, the United States blocked a Kuwait-drafted council statement that would have expressed "outrage and sorrow at the killing of Palestinian civilians" and called for an independent and transparent investigation, diplomats said.

 

[Dave Watchman]

New eruption at Hawaii volcano prompts evacuation, produces massive ash cloud

As in the days of Noah

More images at link.

I've been watching this one too. I think it's spooky, but those guys in the picture don't seem to care. The goats are blind. I was curious about volcanoes earlier in the year but this one has me going to dutchsince again.

The elements are stored with fire for the time of destruction.

"For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.​

Back in the days of Noah, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened and rain fell upon the earth. So what if this time the fountains of the deep are opened up but fire comes out instead of water?

I had always thought that when the first trumpet sounded, an asteroid of some kind would break up in the atmosphere and rain fiery hail down upon the earth. But what if it's the volcanoes? If the Lord wanted to, He could cause Mauna Loa in Hawaii to shoot a fiery hail fragment into the stratosphere at the precise trajectory so that it would hit my neighbor in the eye while he slept on the east coast of America. Two would be sleeping in bed, my neighbor would be taken, his wife would be left alive.

There's a guy on another forum who's talking about this. Could this be the burning mountain that falls into the sea?

"December 7, 1941. The Pearl Harbor Attack. It was relayed to me today that 8,888 x pi is the amount of days from the attack on Pearl Harbor to Pentecost May 20, 2018. With the news of the eruptions on Kilauea in the 50th State and Pentecost meaning 50, it was wondered if the burning mountain like at Pentecost could be part of the pillars of smoke in Acts 2. Billy Graham also died 88 days in duration before Pentecost. The Big Island of Hawaii is the largest volcano in the world and at the center of the Ring of Fire. This is speculation, but it is something to keep in mind.​

"The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.​

The guy in this video noticed the golfers too, in the first 2 minutes of the video. There's also a similar picture of two golfers playing in front of an Oregon wildfire.

 

[Dave Watchman]

And not many in the news are talking about the "Hilina Slump".

Where those fissures are opening up parallel along the coast can act like perforations and every couple of hundred thousand years a whole part of that burning mountain falls into the sea. Landslides like that can cause a 1000 foot mega tsunami and create an earthquake comparable with the largest ever measured.

It's pretty spooky, it really would be what seemed to be a great mountain, all ablaze with fire, that was hurled into the sea. It would make a big mess of the west coast of the Americas and Asia.

From Berkeley Seismology Lab:

A Slow Emergency and a Sudden Slump
Categories:   Hawaii

May 7, 2018

"A complete failure of the cliff at the southern side of Hawaii along the extensional Hilina Fault system, however, would generate a huge, sudden disaster. It is estimated that about 10 percent of the island’s total volume could be affected by the collapse. The huge slide could generate a magnitude 9 quake, which is comparable to the largest earthquakes ever measured. It would also generate a mega tsunami with an estimated wave height of more than 1000 feet throughout the islands. Geologic records show that about 110,000 years ago, long before any of the adventurous Polynesian seafarers had reached the island chain, Hawaii was rocked by such a slump and engulfed in the resulting huge tsunami. However, a repeat of such a rare catastrophic event is highly unlikely and it may take many millenia for it to occur.(hra155)

A Slow Emergency and a Sudden Slump
​

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

Great finds brother Dave. I am going to start a new thread so we can discuss this more extensively than we can do here.

Here is the link to the new thread. Please make your comments concerning the volcano here.
A Slow Emergency and a Sudden Slump

 

[Bible2+]

Dave Watchman said in post #1355:

I had always thought that when the first trumpet sounded, an asteroid of some kind would break up in the atmosphere and rain fiery hail down upon the earth. But what if it's the volcanoes?

Note that even before the first trumpet, the sixth seal could be a volcano.

That is, the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12-14) could be fulfilled in our future by a huge volcanic eruption (possibly of the Yellowstone Caldera), which will occur during only the first stage of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. This eruption could begin with a large earthquake (Revelation 6:12), signaling the sudden rising of magma within the volcano. When it erupts, it could shoot so much ash and smoke into the sky that the sun will appear darkened and the moon blood-red (Revelation 6:12b), like happens during large forest fires. The volcano could also shoot blobs of red-hot magma into the sky, which as they fall back down could appear like falling stars (Revelation 6:13). And it could shoot so much super-heated ash and smoke so high and so quickly into the sky that they could form a gigantic mushroom cloud, which will make the sky (the first heaven) look like a scroll being rolled up (Revelation 6:14). Earthquakes connected with the eruption could be so large that they set off a chain reaction of other earthquakes in nearby faults and volcanoes, which could set off even more earthquakes farther away, and so on, so that earthquakes will end up affecting every mountain and island, moving each of their positions at least a little bit (Revelation 6:14b).

Dave Watchman said in post #1355:

[Rev. 8:8-9]
"The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Revelation 8:8a could refer to the future collapse into the ocean of a huge, erupting volcano, possibly one of the Canary Islands. Revelation 8:8b could refer to one-third of the North Atlantic turning blood-red due to a gigantic amount of blood-red mud pouring forth from the volcano into the sea during an extended period of time. Revelation 8:9a could refer to one-third of the sea creatures in the North Atlantic dying because of there being so much mud in the water. And Revelation 8:9b could refer to one-third of the North Atlantic's ships being destroyed in port by a massive tsunami caused by the volcano's collapse into the ocean. This tsunami could destroy the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

If such a tsunami occurs, it could also cause a string of awful, Fukushima-type, nuclear-meltdown radiation disasters in the nuclear power plants and their nuclear-waste storage facilities all along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. (These facilities, all together, are holding tens of thousands of tons of highly-radioactive nuclear waste. Nuclear power was one of the worst ideas ever, as Germany has now wisely realized.) Also, if the tsunami breaks open the germ-containment structures on Plum Island, just off the coast of Connecticut, especially-deadly viruses and bacteria could be washed inland and spread across the U.S. and Canada as they infect animals and people.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

@Bible2+ please make your comments at this link for comments concerning the volcano here.
A Slow Emergency and a Sudden Slump

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]