ONTARIO-MAYOR/CANADA SENATE SCANDALS

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

OTHER STORIES ABOUT ROB FORD CASE
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2013/05/rob-ford-allegations-heat-up-even-more.html

DUPUTY MAYOR DOUG HOLYDAY SAID HE BELIEVES THERE IS A DRUG TAPE OF MAYOR ROB FORD.AND THAT ROB FORD SHOULD GET IT OUT IN THE OPEN.WHEN 3 OF YOUR STAFFERS GET FIRED OR RESIGN-THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUS GOING ON AT THE MAYORS OFFICE.OR THE MAYOR WOULD NOT TAKE THE 3;S ADVICE. 

TORONTO MAYOR DRUG ALLEGATIONS
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/28/fords-former-chief-of-staff-went-to-police-after-key-mayor-staffer-discussed-obtaining-alleged-crack-video-report/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NPCanada+%28National+Post+-+Canada+Top+Stories%29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sohihGd3WyE

Rob Ford's office reportedly tipped to location of video

Alleged video said to show Toronto mayor smoking what appears to be crack

CBC News Posted: May 28, 2013 1:42 PM ET Last Updated: May 28, 2013 4:47 PM ET

 

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's staff was told days ago about the potential location of an alleged drug video that has threatened his administration, according to a pair of reports published today.Ford, who turned 44 on Tuesday, has been under fire for more than a week, following reports about an alleged video shown to reporters at the Toronto Star and the U.S. gossip website Gawker. The alleged video reportedly shows the mayor of Toronto smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.The mayor initially called the allegations "ridiculous," and waited days to make a more substantive statement, eventually telling reporters last Friday that he does not smoke crack cocaine and was not addicted to it. He has also denied the video's existence.
Ford staff member David Price declined to speak with CBC reporters who approached him for comment on Tuesday. (CBC)But with each day that has followed the initial reports, more questions have been raised and the media coverage has intensified. During this same period, Ford has seen the departure of three of his senior staff members. The mayor, however, has claimed it's "business as usual" at city hall.On Tuesday, the Star and the Globe and Mail reported that when the reports about the video first broke, a staff member alerted one of his colleagues in the mayor's office that he had information about where the video might be located.
The reports say David Price told Mark Towhey, the mayor's chief of staff before his departure, that he had reliable information about the location of the video.Both newspaper reports said that Towhey subsequently contacted police about what he had been told.When approached by CBC reporters on Tuesday, Price declined to answer their questions.
Price serves as the director of operations and logistics in the mayor's office.
Coun. Doug Ford said that if someone approached him with a video, he would call the police. (CBC)Towhey left the mayor's office last week. He told reporters that he was fired. On Monday, Ford learned that his two press secretaries had resigned.The mayor's brother, Coun. Doug Ford, was asked about the reports that emerged Tuesday and if he was aware that a staff member had received information about the alleged video."I have no knowledge of that and you're going to have to talk to the police about that," he told reporters.Asked if he had tried to obtain the alleged video, Ford said he had not."No, never. No. If anyone ever approached me with a video, I'd call the police — instantly," Ford said.

Seeing video would 'clear up a lot of things'

On Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he had spoken with one of the two Star reporters who wrote about the video and said he believes that it exists."I think if we can just get the video, then we can analyze the video and see if it's doctored or if it's real, and we can go from there. That would clear up a lot of things," he told reporters at city hall.
Coun. Paul Ainslie says that if there is a video, it should be released. (CBC)Two other members of the mayor’s executive committee, Coun. Paul Ainslie and Coun. Michael Thompson, said Tuesday that they were unsure if the video exists."I have no idea," said Thompson.Ainslie called on the people with access to the video to make it public."If there is a tape there, I hope that whoever has it does the responsible thing and releases it," he said.Coun. John Parker told reporters it appears to him that "people are looking for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."And right now people aren’t satisfied that that’s what they're been receiving, so the questions continue to be asked and I expect they will continue to be asked until they are answered," Parker said.Gawker has raised more than $200,000 through online donations, funds the website said it planned to use to purchase the alleged video from someone who had been offering it. But Gawker said it has been unable to contact the person or persons believed to be in possession of it."I am frankly shocked and heartened that this actually happened. We are going to try very hard to make it work," Gawker editor John Cook wrote on the website Tuesday."This will be a very delicate transaction. If the people who are in possession of the video are reading this: Please get in touch with our mutual friend, or with me.… We did what you asked."Ford was elected mayor in the fall of 2010. He had previously served as a city councillor in Etobicoke, the Toronto suburb where he lives with his family.Since taking office, Ford has pushed to cut spending at city hall and limit any tax increases. He has also clashed with councillors on key issues, including transit and the priorities for the city.Ford's life outside his job has also made headlines on numerous occasions.His personal driving habits and his involvement in coaching football at an Etobicoke high school have been among the non-political issues that have drawn media coverage.With files from The Canadian Press 

Round 2 for Duffy Senate expense review to be public

Internal economy committee appears set on sticking with members who rewrote 1st report

CBC News Posted: May 28, 2013 11:03 AM ET Last Updated: May 28, 2013 12:10 PM ET

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to face opposition questions in the House of Commons on Tuesday for the first time since his chief of staff resigned more than a week ago over a $90,000 cheque to repay Senator Mike Duffy's expenses. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to face opposition MPs' questions in the House of Commons today for the first time since a deepening Senate expenses scandal claimed his chief of staff more than a week ago.Meanwhile, the Senate committee tasked with reviewing the controversial expense claims of Senator Mike Duffy is set to meet Tuesday afternoon to plan its second look at the now-former Conservative's books.CBC News has learned that Conservative Senators on the committee will move to open that meeting up to the public, reversing their position of last week when Liberal Senators first requested an open meeting.Harper, who flew to South America for a series of trade missions last week after delivering a speech to his caucus, did not attend question period Monday. In his absence, Heritage Minister James Moore gave as good as he got under questioning by Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and others.Evidence surfaced last week that members of the committee had altered their report on Duffy, now sitting as an Independent, in the hours leading up to its tabling in the Senate on May 9, removing references to the rules being "very clear" and Duffy's travel patterns not being consistent with maintaining a permanent residence on P.E.I.Separate evidence suggested that Duffy was submitting expense claims to the Conservative Party for travel and appearances he made on the party's behalf during the 2011 federal election, while at the same time filing reports that showed he was on Senate business.Faced with controversy over both, Senate leaders agreed on the need to send the Senate's report on Duffy back to the committee for a second review.

Support for open hearings

The committee is expected to meet after Senate question period Tuesday to plan how this review could work.Sources suggest the committee is set to agree to demands from Liberal senators and others that these proceedings happen in public, not behind closed doors.But Conservatives in the Senate do not appear willing to agree to change the chair or members of the steering committee ultimately responsible for the "whitewash" of the Duffy report.The committee's chair, Tory David Tkachuk, has been away recovering from surgery, but is expected to return to his duties on Tuesday. He said in a media interview last week that he did discuss Duffy's case with the Prime Minister's Office before the report was tabled.The other Tory on the three-member steering committee, Carolyn Stewart Olsen, also appears to be staying put. She had moved the motion that changed the report in the hours before its tabling. CBC News has learned that the steering committee itself met Tuesday morning.The prime minister named Stewart Olsen to the Senate after years of service to his office, rising up through the ranks of his communications staff to the point of becoming one of his closest advisers. Following Harper's much-criticized speech to his caucus last Tuesday, she was among the first to approach him, partially blocking him from the view of cameras after journalists unsuccessfully attempted to question him from the back of the room.The third member of the steering committee, Liberal George Furey, stood in the Senate on May 9 and made it clear that the altered report was not unanimous. Subsequent sources have suggested all the Liberals on the committee voted against changing it, which represents a departure from usual practice in the Senate where reports are usually submitted on a more consensual basis.On Monday afternoon, the Commons ethics committee went behind closed doors to consider a Liberal motion to call witnesses and hold hearings on the deal between Duffy and Harper's now-former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, which resulted in Wright cutting a personal cheque as a "gift" to "reimburse the taxpayer" for Duffy's questionable expenses.The outcome of these secret proceedings is not yet known.Wright is still in Ottawa and told a CTV journalist who caught him during his morning run on Tuesday that he is co-operating with an investigation now underway by the federal ethics commissioner. 

Senate expenses scandal: Harper’s ex-chief of staff Nigel Wright says he ‘made some mistakes’

Nigel Wright, who resigned as Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff for his role in the Senate expense scandal, says he will co-operate with the ethics commissioner’s investigation.

By: Les Whittington Ottawa Bureau reporter, Joanna Smith Ottawa Bureau reporter, Published on Tue May 28 2013

OTTAWA—Nigel Wright, a high-profile casualty in the Senate expense scandal, says he “made some mistakes” but will stand behind his actions.Tracked down by CTV News during his early morning run in Ottawa, Wright said he is going to co-operate with an investigation by federal ethics watchdog Mary Dawson. She’s investigating his secret payment to embattled Sen. Mike Duffy.“I’m going to first of all give my submissions to the ethics commissioner, she’s going to look into this and I think I can stand behind everything I did,” Wright told CTV.“I made some mistakes, I’m living with the consequences of those mistakes, but I believe I can account for my actions and I think that’s the right forum for it,” said Wright, who resigned on May 19 after news of the Duffy payment emerged.Meanwhile, the usually secretive Senate committee taking a second look at the living expenses of Duffy is expected to open its meeting to the public Tuesday afternoon.“This afternoon, Conservative senators will move to open the meeting of Internal Economy to the public,” a Conservative source in the Senate said in an email sent to several members of the media Tuesday morning.The Senate committee on internal economy, budgets and administration, which softened the language in its report on Duffy as compared to its similar reports on Sen. Mac Harb and Sen. Patrick Brazeau, is expected to meet late this afternoon after the Senate rises.Opposition MPs are still demanding more details from Harper on why Wright gave Duffy a personal cheque for $90,172.On Monday, a Liberal attempt to force Harper to testify on it at a Commons committee was defeated by the Conservative majority on the ethics committee.“Once again, the Conservatives want to cover up and deny a public hearing into this very important issue,” said Liberal MP Scott Andrews, who moved the motion to call Harper to give evidence.The political skirmish over the alleged Conservative coverup of the Senate expense scandal gathered force Monday after Harper returned to Ottawa — but not the daily Commons question period — following an official trip to Peru and Colombia last week.NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair accused Harper of refusing to come clean with Canadians about the secret payment to Duffy from Nigel Wright, the prime minister’s now-resigned chief of staff.“Last week the prime minister went to hide in Peru in order to avoid having to answer questions on the Senate scandal,” Mulcair said in the Commons. “ When will the prime minister take responsibility, show accountability and finally start answering questions?”Heritage Minister James Moore told MPs Harper “is taking responsibility and showing accountability by moving forward with what we said we would do, which is reform the Senate.” He urged all MPs to support Conservative efforts to bring in term limits for senators and introduce Senate elections.Duffy, who quit the Conservative party on May 16 amid questions about his expense claims, is at the heart of the current uproar. After secretly receiving the cheque from Wright, the senator repaid $90,172 and refused to co-operate with auditors. Conservative senators on the key internal economy committee cited the fact that Duffy had repaid his improper expenses when they moved to exempt Duffy from criticism in a final report.On Monday, the opposition continued to ask who else, besides Wright and Duffy, knew about the secret deal to pay back the senator’s ineligible expenses.“Nigel Wright made it clear in his statements to the public when he resigned as chief of staff that he acted alone,” Moore responded in the Commons.In his May 19 resignation statement, Wright accepted “sole responsibility” for writing the personal cheque to Duffy. But he did not actually say he was the only person involved in the matter.“I did not advise the prime minister of the means by which Sen. Duffy’s expenses were repaid,” Wright said at the time.Mulcair later accused Moore of trying to confuse the House of Commons.“He was misleading the House,” Mulcair told reporters. “They’re playing with words all the time since the beginning of this file.”But Conservatives pointed out Senate spending is being probed by ethics officers in the Commons and the Senate and that the Senate internal economy committee is re-examining Duffy’s expense claims.The opposition questioned whether the Senate committee, having gone easy on Duffy once, should be allowed to do another investigation.“That (the committee) will be checking itself in terms of its own work is a little bit ridiculous,” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau told the media.

The RCMP is also looking into the Senate spending irregularities to see if a criminal investigation is warranted.The Conservatives moved Monday to tighten up senators’ spending by requiring more details on their travel expense claims, restricting access to per diem expenses and cutting back on taxpayer-paid international travel.Meanwhile, Trudeau was under fire from the Conservatives for saying in a Quebec newspaper that Quebecers have an “advantage” because they have 24 seats in the Senate versus the six each from Alberta and B.C. Trudeau explained later he was not expressing an opinion but “a statement of fact..

ROB FORD ALLEGATIONS HEAT UP EVEN MORE

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

ALL MY REPORTS ON THIS STORY SO FAR
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2013/05/now-doug-ford-drug-selling-allegations.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2013/05/rob-ford-no-answers-to-drug-alligations.html
NEW WAY OF QUICK MONEY OFF INTERNET-THIS ROB FORD CASE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v5Ju87fg9w

OH OH THIS STORY WON'T GO AWAY AND IS GETTING MORE COMPLICATED. BETWEEN THE SENATE CORRUPTION AND THIS ROB FORD COMPLICATED STORY.WE ARE IN FOR A BUMPY SUMMER,ONTARIO AND CANADA.

OH OH ITS 2:33PM MON MAY 27,13 AND 2 MORE RESIGNATIONS FROM MAYOR ROB FORDS OFFICE A DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY ISSAC RANSOM AND PRESS SECRETARY GEORGE CHRISTOPOULOS RESIGNED ON THEIR OWN.ROB FORD IS EXPECTED TO HAVE A NEWS CONFERENCE SHORTLY.  

ITS 3:08PM AND ROB FORD IS TELLING THE MEDIA.HES SORRY FOR CALLING THEM MAGGOTS YESTERDAY.AND HE HOPES FOR THE BEST FOR THE 2 WHO RESIGNED TODAY.HE WILL GIVE ONE OTHER PERSON ONE OF THE LOST JOBS TODAY.AT 3:10PM THE NEWS CONFERENCE IS OVER.SHORT AND NO INFO AS USUAL.

Crackstarter breaks $200,000

Posted By: Newstalk 1010 · 5/27/2013 4:13:00 PM

The online fundraising campaign to try and raise the funds to buy the alleged video showing Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine, had reached its goal.Nicknamed the 'Crackstarter' campaign, the 200 thousand dollar goal was passed just before 4 o'clock on Monday afternoon, with about 11 hours to go before the deadline.There's no word though on if a deal will be completed.The website has indicated that they'd lost contact with the original owners of the video. As a matter of fact, they hadn't spoken since LAST Sunday, more than a week ago.There were several postings on the website including this one pointing out where the money would go, if a deal couldn't be done:If we end up meeting that goal and fail to consummate this transaction, we will-as we promised at the outset-donate the proceeds to a Canadian nonprofit that addresses substance abuse issues. We haven't figured out which one yet, but I'm sure we'll be able to select a worthy one.

WATCH: Mayor Ford's Press Secretary Quits

Posted By: Newstalk 1010 · 5/27/2013 2:16:00 PM

Another day, and another story involving the Rob Ford administration at Toronto City Hall. Newstalk1010 has learned that the Mayor's Press Secretary, George Christopolous and his Deputy Press Secretary Isaac Ransom have left their positions. There have been no official reasons given as of yet. Mayor Ford is expected to give a statement sometime this afternoon, and when he does, you'll  hear it live on Newstalk10101. It was just last Thursday, that his Chief of Staff, Mark Towhey was fired from his position.
Mayor Ford took a tour of the empty offices on Monday, once occupied by his staff.
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10549668#comments

Rob Ford crack scandal: Other man pictured with mayor hurt in fatal shooting

One of the men in a photo of Mayor Rob Ford and homicide victim Anthony Smith was injured in the same shooting that killed Smith, the Star has learned.

/

Anthony Smith, left, Mayor Rob Ford, centre, and Muhammad Khattak, right.

By: Robyn Doolittle City Hall, Amy Dempsey GTA, Published on Tue May 28 2013

One of the men in a controversial photo of Mayor Rob Ford and homicide victim Anthony Smith was injured in the same shooting that claimed Smith’s life, the Star has learned.Muhammad Khattak, a 19-year-old living in north Etobicoke, was hit in the arm and back the same night Smith was killed two months ago outside a King St. nightclub.A photo of Ford arm in arm with three young men was given to the Star by a man who later showed this paper a cellphone video of Ford smoking from what appears to be a crack pipe.Two sources, one with the Toronto police and another involved in politics, tell the Star homicide detectives are now investigating whether that phone originally belonged to 21-year-old Smith. (There is no indication Khattak or the third young man is involved in either the video or the drug trade.)Homicide detectives did not return calls.Khattak’s mother, who identified herself as Zen, said she asked Khattak what he was doing in the nighttime photo, in which Ford is casually dressed and Smith is apparently drinking.“He said: ‘Was I drinking? Was I smoking? Did you see anything with me?’ ” she said.Zen said Khattak told her everybody wanted to take photos with the mayor. He would not give her any more details about the night.The Star was contacted about the footage four days after Smith’s death.Khattak’s mother said she has no idea how her son or Smith ended up involved in a shooting.“I’m still shocked. This kid was a very good kid too,” she said, gesturing to Smith’s photo, her eyes puffy and pink.“My son, I know him, he’s a very innocent kid. They’re friends. They’re having fun, whatever they’re doing outside. But I know them — they are nice kids. They are very nice.”She said the duo have been friends since they were as young as 10. They used to play on the same basketball team.“It’s not safe, Toronto,” she said.Khattak recently left his family home to avoid attention generated by the photo’s publication.A Facebook profile under one of his nicknames is peppered with photos of Smith and tributes to the young man.“RIP Big Bro,” reads a caption on one photo, posted April 7, of a man wearing jeans and a dark hooded sweatshirt who appears to be Smith. “Forever In My Heart Mourn Till We Join You General. . . ”Another photo shows a tribute spray-painted at the centre of a community basketball court in Dixon Park. “R.I.P. RONDO,” it reads.Rondo was one of Smith’s nicknames.

The two men were shot outside Loki Lounge nightclub on King St. W. near Portland St., sometime after 2:30 a.m. on March 28.Nisar Hashimi, 23, turned himself in April 4 after he was named a suspect. He has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the death of Smith and shooting of Khattak.

During a recent visit to the Toronto jail, a reporter was told by Hashimi he had never heard of or seen Smith until he was charged in his murder.“I’m innocent,” he said. “I don’t know these guys. . . . I don’t know why I’m here.”Hashimi said all he knows about Smith is what he has read in the newspaper since the drug allegations about Ford have surfaced.Two weeks ago, the Star revealed that two reporters had viewed a 90-second cellphone video that appears to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine. A group of Somali-Canadian drug dealers who claim to have sold the drug to Ford on numerous occasions, offered to sell the video to the Star for $100,000. They also approached the American gossip website, Gawker. Its editor, John Cook, also viewed and wrote about the video.Ford dismissed the stories as “ridiculous” the day after both ran, but it took a week before he issued a full denial. On his Sunday radio show, when a female caller asked him to explain the photo, Ford said he takes photos with “everybody.”“That’s very sad, that she’s a racist,” the mayor said afterward, referring to the fact that the three men in the photo are all minorities.

Both the Star and Gawker declined to pay for the footage. After the contents of the video were made public, the dealers raised their price to $200,000. Gawker launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money. It met its goal just hours ahead of deadline.Neither the Star nor Gawker has been in touch with the men selling the video for a week. A broker who is acting on their behalf is still in touch and says the dealers are “laying low.”Robyn Doolittle can be reached on her cellphone, 647-404-4740, or by email rdoolittle@thestar.ca

With files from Tim Alamenciak and Arshy Mann

TORONTO STAR SAYS MORE COPIES OF THE VIDEO OUT THERE
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/27/rob-ford-video-copies-robyn-doolittle_n_3343234.html

Reports: Mayor Ford staffer questioned by police about tip that links alleged video to killing

Posted By: Newstalk 1010 · 5/27/2013 5:59:00 AM

There are new, unverified allegations regarding the video which purports to show Mayor Rob Ford doing drugs out of a crack pipe.The Globe and Mail says it has confirmed through two separate, but unnamed sources that a staffer within the Mayor's Office told a senior member of Rob Ford's staff that the original owner of the video was killed, possibly because of the value of the contents of that video.The senior staffer, thinking this could be evidence in a murder investigation, called police. The Globe cites one unnamed source as saying two Toronto Police officers interviewed that senior staffer last week, away from City Hall.The report says Police have refused to comment and the Mayor's spokesman has not yet responded to requests for comment.NEWSTALK 1010 has asked for comment from Ford spokesman George Christopolous, by email and phone, but so far there has been no response.This is just the latest in a story that has consumed the media and politics of this city for more than a week.  The brothers Ford were wound up on NEWSTALK 1010's The City on Sunday afternoon, responding to  the Globe story on Saturday alleging that Councillor Doug Ford was a hash dealer in his late-teens and early 20's.
VIDEO OR AUDIO OF SUNDAYS SHOW
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10549367 

Homicide detectives interview Rob Ford staffer after ‘tip’ on whereabouts of alleged drug video from mayor’s office

Josh Visser | 13/05/27 | Last Updated: 13/05/27 11:20 AM ET
More from Josh Visser | @joshvisser

Tyler Anderson/National PostToronto Councillor Doug Ford (L) with his brother Mayor Rob Ford at a press conference where the Mayor addressed allegations that he smoked crack cocaine, May 24, 2013. 

Doug Ford is facing his own drug-related allegations now.

New reports today claim that a staffer within Rob Ford’s office knew the whereabouts of an alleged video that reportedly shows the Toronto mayor smoking crack cocaine, potentially contradicting Ford’s own statements that the video “does not exist.”Toronto homicide detectives confirmed Monday they have interviewed a member of Ford’s staff after they reportedly received a tip from the mayor’s office in relation to the whereabouts of the video.A photo allegedly taken from the video that was given to the Toronto  Star and U.S.-website Gawker appears to show Ford with Anthony Smith, a 21-year-old who was gunned down in a “targeted” murder earlier this year outside a Toronto nightclub.Ford fired his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, last week after sources said the pair had a falling out after Towhey asked the mayor to seek rehab. On his radio show Sunday, Ford said he didn’t discuss personnel issues but did deny the firing was related to football issues.Staff Inspector Greg McLane, the head of the Toronto police homicide division, told CP24 that the investigation was not related to a homicide but his officers conducted the interview because they have expertise other police officers may not.The disclosure comes after Globe and Mail reported Monday that police spoke to a senior staffer after a tip linked a killing to the alleged drug video which was reportedly viewed by an editor at Gawker and two Star reporters that they say shows the mayor smoking drugs.
The Globe article said that the staffer “purported to know the address and unit number” where the alleged drug video was being held.
Neither report named the Ford staffer.

ScreengrabA screenshot of Gawker's report about a video that allegedly shows Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine.“Police did have a serious conversation last week with a senior official in Mayor Ford’s office,” Globe and Mail editor-in-chief John Stackhouse said on CBC’s Metro Morning, one of several interviews he gave Monday morning. “That indicates that senior people in the mayor’s office believe there is a video out there, and certainly enough to pass on information to the police and to participate willingly in an interview with police about circumstances around the video and disappearance of the video.”Gawker has raised nearly $200,000 to buy the video but said the sellers of the video have gone underground and they can’t get in touch with them.When asked about the photo on his radio show Sunday, Rob Ford said he took pictures with “everyone.” He said he could not comment on a video “that does not exist.”Councillor Doug Ford has repeatedly called Gawker’s efforts to buy the alleged video “disgusting.”“I think it is disgusting . . . That an organization like Gawker would go out there and deal with a bunch of extortionists, a bunch of Somali drug dealers,” he said. “I puts a real tarnish on a great community, the Somali community.”On Sunday, the Fords called a caller’s inquiry about the alleged photograph of the mayor with Smith, “racist.”Councillor Ford lashed out at those questioning the mayor for posing “with his arms around two young black men,” deeming the comments “racist.”“That’s very sad that she is a racist,” added Rob Ford.The National Post has not seen the alleged video and therefore cannot verify its authenticity.Meanwhile Councillor Doug Ford has vigorously denied allegations from the Globe and Mail that he was a drug dealer in Etobicoke throughout the 1980s.He called the allegations “disgusting.”“I was not a dealer of hashish in the 1980s. Their stories are not accurate whatsoever. These newest accusations represent, in my opinion, the lowest of the low when it comes to journalistic integrity,” Doug Ford said on the radio.But politically, it seems the damage has already been done to the Fords.Coun. Josh Matlow, a council centralist, said the allegations that Doug Ford was a drug dealer “has been one of the best known secrets around City Hall for a long time.”Coun. John Parker, told CP24 “it’s hard to believe it’s all lies” as Doug Ford has said. With files from Natalie Alcoba, National Post

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

WALID TALKS ABOUT THIS ON TAMAR YONAH
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/4690#.UaOGA9gwneE
http://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/obamas-muslim-brother-pedophile-wife-beater-polygamist/
THE TRUTH ABOUT CAIN AND ABEL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SkA8d0R69-4 

Obama’s Brother Works With Man Who Attacked US Embassy

By Ted on May 24, 2013 in General

By Theodore Shoebat
http://shoebat.com/2013/05/24/obamas-brother-works-with-man-who-attacked-us-embassy/
Since the IRS scam has become the most momentous topic of the day, we now know, thanks to my father, that Obama’s brother, Malik Obama, is deeply associated with Omar al-Bashir, the one who was behind the attack on the US embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, which occurred at around the same time as the Benghazi attack. I was the first to write on this in English when the attack first happened, stating:The attacks by Muslims on American embassies in Egypt and Libya has shocked the media enough, but now North Sudan has just exploded, with mobs raiding both the British, German and American embassies. Who is responsible? According to Al-Rakoba, a Sudanese news site, it is Omar al-Bashir, the president of North Sudan, and his despotic government who is behind this. Al-Bashir is a modern Hitler, an Islamic tyrant responsible for the deaths of over three-million people, all in the name of Jihad and war against Christians.Obama’s brother is working with an enemy to the United States. Is it any wonder, then, as to why he has been so pompous toward American liberty, and yet so helpful to Bashir? In 2012 I wrote an article showing how while Obama has supported the Islamic uprisings in the Middle East, he has in fact stopped a revolution against the Hitler of Africa, Omar al-Bashir, who has been responsible for the deaths of over three million people. I wrote:
The support of the rebels in Syria, and the condemnation of Assad, by the Obama administration can only make one question as to why he is against this particular regimen, but not that of Omar al-Bashir, the tyrant who has been responsible for the deaths of millions through the Jihad that he has commenced against Christians and the non-Arab Muslims of Darfur.In fact, Obama had at one point in time prevented Salva Kiir, [the Christian president] president of South Sudan, from aiding rebels who wanted to topple al-Bashir’s regime, and replace it with a secular government.Malik is the Executive Secretary for the Islamic Da’wa Organization (IDO), which is stationed in Khartoum, Sudan, and which has its primary focus in expanding Wahhabist Islam in the African subcontinent. It was also in Khartoum, as I have written on before, where Bashir declared that he was going to make Sudan’s new constitution “100 percent Islamic”.Malik Obama shares the same desires as Bashir, in fact both of them attended the General Conference of the Islamic Council of South Sudan, and both attended a meeting for the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Da’wa Organization, in which Bashir said that the enemies of Islam who attempt to impose hegemony and make a siege and to encourage plots (and evil measures) towards Sudan will fail, stressing that Sudan rejects such methods of domination, despite the blockade that has been practiced upon it by the plotters of evil that bypassed Sudan with the help of Allah and the [Sudanese] determination.This is all in accordance with the anti-Christian goals and policies which Bashir is pursuing orchestrating, and which Malik Obama upholds and supports. In an article I wrote last year, I reported on how Bashir’s uncle, Eltayeb Mustafa, who is a part of Bashir’s government, supported a fatwa which stated:Of the greatest calamities and evils is to permit an exhibition entitled ‘the Holy Bible,’ this lying forgery, which allows the kufars [non-Muslims] to spread their religion amongst Muslims, and to fascinate the common man, that Christianity prevents them from carrying out the path of Allah. After all, hearts are weak, and people are not equal in distinguishing truth from falsehood, and this work should not be allowed for any sane person. These things are destructive and are of great mischief. The duty for whomever Allah has given a hand by leader or man of responsibility is to prevent this evil, or else he is a traitor to Allah, and his prophet, and to the Muslim community.This is very akin to what the Islamic Dawa Organization, of which Malik Obama is an Executive Secretary, believes in, writing that “Muslims in Kenya suffer from the great challenge of the tyranny of the church which is known for its aggression …”This anti-Christian sentiment which Malik Obama upholds and instills is exactly what is fueling the violence against Christians in Africa.The fatwa which Mustafa affirmed gave the leeway to a number of Bashir’s thugs to slaughter and attack Christians celebrating in front of Kambouni playground with sticks and machetes.Right now, Bashir’s government is executing the dechristianization of and the systematic holocaust of Christians in his country. He is violently enforcing that Arabic, the language of Islam, be the dominant tongue; foreign missionaries have been forcibly deported, and churches have been bulldozed. In 2012, Bashir gave Christians till March 1 to leave North Sudan, but half a million of them were stranded, leaving them open targets for Muslims thirsty for Christian blood.Malik Obama is not only working with a terrorist who attacked the United States, but also a mass murderer.Theodore Shoebat is the author of the book, For God or For Tyranny

http://www.shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Obama_Wahhabist_Fundraising_Empire_101112.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BaA4bGUoVZI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRfGmWjr3HQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPmn_4tsCMg

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3 FEET OF SNOW IN NY STATE-BOYS SCOUTS ALLOW GAYS

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

BOYS SCOUTS ACCEPT GAYS-SCOUTS WILL NEVER BE A MORAL GROUP AGAIN.

Boy Scouts vote to end ban on gay youth members

By Jason Sickles, Yahoo! | The Lookout – Thu, May 23, 2013

[Updated at 6:55 p.m. CT]
DALLAS – The Boy Scouts of America, one of the country’s largest and oldest youth organizations, decided on Thursday to break 103 years of tradition by allowing openly gay members into its ranks.
The controversial move was approved by more than 60 percent of the approximate 1,400 votes cast by the BSA’s national council. According to the new resolution, beginning Jan. 1, 2014, “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”“The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting,” the BSA stated in a press release.Lifting the organization’s ban on gay adult volunteer leaders and paid staff was not considered and remains in place.Pascal Tessier, a gay Scout from Maryland, told Yahoo News that he was ecstatic with the outcome.“Proud, happy and on top of the world,” he said.Tessier, 16, had feared that a no vote would mean he would not earn his Eagle award next year.“The delegates proved me wrong,” Tessier said.Texas Governor Rick Perry told the Texas Tribune, “While I will always cherish my time as a Scout ... I am greatly disappointed with this decision.”The emotionally charged issue has seen those for and against it wage costly public relations campaigns, and has fostered intense debate from coast to coast.In a statement, John Stemberger, an Eagle Scout and leader of a coalition of people who opposed the change, accused the BSA of caving to polls, politics and public opinion.“It is with great sadness and deep disappointment that we recognize on this day that the most influential youth program in America has turned a tragic corner,” Stemberger stated in a press release. “The vote today to allow open and avowed homosexuality into Scouting will completely transform it into an unprincipled and risky proposition for parents. It is truly a sad day for Scouting.”Stemberger, founder of On My Honor, stated his group and other like-minded organizations will meet in Louisville, Ky., next month to discuss creating a new character-development organization for boys.The historic change comes 13 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that BSA is a private club that is allowed to set its own rules for membership. Since then, public pressure has mounted for the Texas-based organization to change the exclusion, especially last year, when a gay California teen was denied his Eagle Scout award and an Ohio lesbian was removed as a den mother from her son’s troop.
Still, just 10 months ago, the Scouts reaffirmed their stance, saying a two-year confidential review revealed a majority of the organization’s parents wanted to keep the policy. The about-face to put it to a vote came “out of respect for the diverse beliefs of Scouting's chartered organizations,” according to the BSA website.
After the vote, the Scouts stated there would be no plans to revisit the issue.“While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting,” they stated in a press release. “ … America’s youth need Scouting, and by focusing on the goals that unite us, we can continue to accomplish incredible things for young people and the communities we serve.”News of the change brought tears of joy to Melanie Gerken, the mother of an Eagle Scout and a longtime volunteer with Cleveland-area troops.“It’s about time,” said Gerken, choking back tears.She said she hopes the organization takes it a step further by allowing gay volunteers to work with Scouts.“Being homosexual doesn’t make you a pedophile,” Gerken told Yahoo News. “I don’t care what goes on in your bedroom behind closed doors. What can you do for other people and youth?”

EZEKIEL 38:4-7
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).

DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)


GERMANY WILL BE WITH RUSSIA/MUSLIMS AND CHINA WHEN THE MARCH TO ISRAEL OCCURRS.

Merkel backs China in EU trade row

Today @ 07:53 MAY 27,13

By Valentina Pop

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to do her utmost to avoid an EU-China trade war over subsidies for solar panels and wireless equipment as she welcomed the new Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, in Berlin on Sunday (26 May)."Germany will do what it can so that there are no permanent import duties and we'll try to clear things up as quickly as possible," she said in a press conference after meeting Li.
The European Commission is considering to impose import duties on Chinese solar panel and wireless device companies for exporting products to the European market that are artificially kept cheap thanks to subsidies from the Chinese government.Merkel said that the commission has the authority to launch such procedures.But she noted that the idea of imposing permanent tariffs is not something Germany "believes in." She also said she wishes to see the conflict solved within six months.Li, who has been in office only since March, said he "emphatically rejects" the =commission's planned sanctions."It not only endangers jobs in Germany. It will also endanger the development of the sector in Europe. That will harm the interests of the European consumers and Europe's industry," he said.Li made a point by not including Brussels on his first trip abroad, with Berlin being the only EU capital he visited after a stop in Switzerland, which became the second European country to sign a free trade agreement with China after Iceland.Earlier this month, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said the commission had agreed in principle to open a case against China, but would first seek talks with Beijing.China's vice-minister for commerce Zhong Shan was due to meet De Gucht later on Monday for talks on the matter, the Chinese government said in a press statement on Sunday.
Trade disputes between China and Europe have multiplied over the past years, with 18 out of EU's 31 current trade investigations involving the Asian giant.As for the German economy, the Chinese visit yielded a series of deals between car manufacturers like Volkswagen and chemical giant Basf.In a bid to appease criticism from civil rights groups, Merkel also announced the continuation of a human rights dialogue between Berlin and Beijing.Just days before the official visit, Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei put out a Youtube video decrying China's human rights record."In the past 60 years there have been innumerable amounts of people who have been killed or sent away from their homes, even tortured to death," said Ai who was convicted by Chinese authorities in 2011 for alleged tax evasion.The music video is a parody of his time spent in jail.

COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL

EZEKIEL 38:10-19
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

Jordan, Israel working as one over Syria: Report

Jordan’s King Abdullah II (R) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Amman. (File photo)

Mon May 27, 2013 2:16PM GMT

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On May 25, Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah defended the Lebanese resistance movement’s decision to fight the foreign-backed militants in Syria’s town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border.Jordan has allowed the Israeli regime to fly its drones over the Jordanian airspace in order to monitor the situation in Syria, a report says.A high-ranking Jordanian official, close to King Abdullah II, told the London-based newspaper Jewish Chronicle that Amman and Tel Aviv were “working as one over Syria.”The official, whose name was not mentioned in the report, stated that Jordan would “of course… allow Israel to use Jordanian air space for another attack on Syria” if the need arose.

On May 5, Syria said the Israeli regime had carried out an airstrike targeting a research center in a suburb of Damascus, following heavy losses inflicted upon al-Qaeda-affiliated groups by the Syrian army. According to Syrian media reports, the strike hit the Jamraya Research Center which had been targeted in another Israeli airstrike in January.“Syria is a crisis whatever happens. Assad is no longer a force for stability… The Israelis don’t mess about and that’s what we need. We are working as one over Syria,” the Jordanian official said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria has been gripped by unrest for over two years, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the foreign-sponsored militancy.The Syrian army has conducted successful operations against the militant groups over the past several days.On May 25, Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah defended the Lebanese resistance movement’s decision to fight the militants in Syria’s town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border. President Assad said on May 18 that militants from 29 different countries were fighting against the government in different parts of the country.MP/HSN/SL

 

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah clinically dead: Report says

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz-Mon May 27, 2013 11:2AM GMT

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Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz is reported to be clinically dead as the monarch is not recently seen in the public.A Saudi journalist working for London-Based Asharq Alawsat says the Saudi monarch has been clinically dead since Wednesday.He also quoted medical sources in Saudi Arabia as saying that the king’s vital organs, including his heart, kidneys and lungs, have stopped functioning.Doctors are said to have used a defibrillator on him several times. He is also reported to be alive with the help of a ventilator.The Royal Court has yet to comment on the report of King's death.The aging Saudi monarch has not recently appeared in the public and the country's crown prince is attending official meetings on his behalf.It is the second time in the past months that Asharq Alawsat reports the death of King Abdullah.In November 2012, the daily reported that Saudi king has slipped into coma and was clinically dead nearly a week after he underwent a 14-hour-long back surgery in a hospital in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.The report was later rejected by the Royal Court.The 89-year-old king’s health has declined over the past few years, during which he has been hospitalized several times.Failing health, old age as well as the death of the king’s half-brothers have raised concerns about the future of the oil-rich country in the face of anti-government demonstrations. HM/PR/SL

War Drill: Second Siren to Sound at 7:05 P.M.

Citizens are asked to enter protected areas when the siren sounds. Three-day-long drill will end Wednesday.

By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 5/27/2013, 1:37 PM-Israelnationalnews

Chemical attack drill (file)-Israel news photo: Flash 90

Sirens sounded nationwide at 12:30 p.m. Monday as part of a national home front drill that began Sunday and will last until Wednesday.Sirens are scheduled to sound again at 7:05 p.m. Monday. Citizens are expected to enter the protected spaces in their homes during this siren.The IDF decided not to hold the drill in the Gaza Belt communities, in order to spare the children there the unnecessary trauma.The annual Turning Point exercise this year rehearses an unconventional attack by Israel's enemies.This is the seventh annual Turning Point exercise. 

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

EU rhetoric fails to stop Israeli land-grab

Today @ 09:27 MAY 27,13

By Andrew Rettman

BRUSSELS - Israel is continuing to seize Palestinian land in the West Bank despite EU and US initiatives to stop the decades-old process.According to a new study by Aida, a coalition of 80 aid agencies, Israel demolished 535 Palestinian-owned structures between May 2012 and April 2013, displacing 784 people, more than half of them children.It also demolished 30 EU-funded structures, such as water cisterns.
It rejected 94 percent of Palestinian applications for building permits.But at the same time, it approved more than 6,600 new housing units for Jewish settlers.Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers continued to turn a blind eye to settler attacks on Palestinians, which injured 150 people, including 33 children, in the past year.According to a separate report by Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday (27 May), the figures on new settler houses only tell part of the story.Israel last year also extended the legal boundaries of old settlements by 1,977 acres - an area twice as big as Central Park in New York.There is nothing new about the facts on the ground.
The land-grab began in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and has so far created some 5 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom live in Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.Aida chose the May to April timeframe because EU foreign ministers in May 2012 urged Israel to halt the "forced transfer" of Palestinian people and to "comply with its obligations under interna­tional law."The aid groups said EU action remains "ad­hoc and unco-ordinated" despite its statements.They added: "The human toll of these demolitions is enormous, dis­rupting children's education, separating family members and causing the declining economic, physical and mental health of the families that experience them."EU foreign ministers plan to hold informal talks on the Middle East Peace Process at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.They are expected to refrain from criticising Israel in order not to upset a new US initiative to restart peace talks.US secretary of sate John Kerry at a conference with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Amman on Sunday unveiled a plan to invest $4 billion in Palestine in the coming years.He gave no details on where the money will come from.He also urged Israeli President Simon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to relaunch negotiations.Peres told Abbas: "Let's sit together - you'll be surprised how much can be achieved in open and direct and organised meetings."But he declined to mention settlements, seen by Palestine as the main obstacle to a two-state solution.The depth of the problem was underlined by reactions to a recent court ruling on a train line built by French firms Veolia and Alstom in occupied East Jerusalem.An appeals court in Versailles, France in March said the firms did not break international law.For his part, Yoel Mester, the spokesman of the Israeli embassy to the EU, told EUobserver the verdict highlights the fact there is no "occupation" of Palestine in legal terms.
"Israel's presence in the territories is often incorrectly referred to as an 'occupation.' However, under international law, true occupation occurs only in territories that have been taken from a recognised sovereign. The last recognised sovereign of the West Bank and Gaza was the Ottoman Empire, which ceased to exist following the First World War," he said."No sovereign Palestinian state has ever existed, neither in the West Bank nor anywhere else," he added.The EU rejects the Israeli interpretation, however.European External Action Service spokesman Michael Mann told this website "the EU continues to regard the West Bank … as occupied territory."He added: "The EU does not refer to the occupation as such as illegal. It does, however, refer to a number of specific measures taken by the government of Israel as the occupying power as illegal. Two such instances are the construction of settlements … and the construction of the separation barrier where it is built on occupied land."

EU Considers Easing Syria Arms Embargo

EU foreign ministers discuss British, French proposal to allow arming rebels. Critics warn of "devastating consequences".

By Ari Soffer-First Publish: 5/27/2013, 3:48 PM-Israelnationalnews

Syrian soldiers-AFP file

EU foreign ministers are mulling a proposal by the French and British governments to ease the arms embargo on all parties in the Syrian civil war, to allow weapons transfers to rebel "Free Syrian Army" brigades.
The EU embargo was first imposed in May 2011, applying equally to government and rebel forces, and is set to expire at the end of this month. Critics of the embargo claimed that such an arrangement effectively hands the initiative to the Assad regime, as its allies - including Russia, Iran and Hizbullah - continue to provide weapons, munitions, logistical support and even fighters on the ground regardless of EU restrictions. In an attempt to address these concerns which has been criticised for not going far enough, in February this year foreign ministers agreed on a somewhat opaque amendment to enable any EU member state to provide "non-lethal" military equipment "for the protection of civilians" or for the opposition forces, "which the Union accepts as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people."Those in favor of an absolute embargo include Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. Recently, the Austrian Foreign Minister insisted that the EU preserve its identity as "a peace community by not being involved in such a conflict", highlighting some of the ideological underpinnings of his country's position.But opposition to arming rebel groups stems at least as much from practical considerations as it does from ideological ones. Pro-embargo voices point out that the "rebels" are not a cohesive movement but a tangle of competing brigades with an array of  loyalties and aspirations, both national and regional, many of which do not align with western interests any more than the Assad regime and its allies.Plenty of evidence exists to support this position, including the increasing influence of Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned brigades, and recent reports that Al Qaeda in Iraq has made significant inroads within the Syrian opposition, both directly as well as via its Syrian "Nusra Front" franchise. Gruesome videos of rebel atrocities, including the infamous video of an Islamist fighter "eating the heart" of a dead Syrian Army soldier, have done little to calm fears over what might happen if advanced western weaponry should fall into the wrong hands.However, those calling for direct western military support to the rebels claim that the influence of Sunni Islamist groups has only occurred precisely as a result of western reluctance to provide support themselves.After their appeals for help fell on deaf ears in the west, Syrian rebels (who are largely comprised of Sunni Arabs) turned to Sunni Islamist powers such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar for help. Those states provided weapons and other support in exchange for allegiance, and spawned Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned units respectively, as a way of fighting their own proxy war against Syria and its Shia Islamist allies in Iran. The involvement of Turkey - initially seen in some quarters as a "substitute" for direct western involvement in Syria, given its membership in NATO - has further contributed to the influence of Islamist groups. Critics say this is unsurprising given that  Turkey's ruling AKP party is itself an Islamist party.The argument is that by providing an alternative source of direct military support western powers can redirect the rebel movement in a more "moderate" direction.
However, supporters of an embargo maintain that whatever the reasons for the proliferation of extremist groups on the ground, it is impossible to control the flow of weaponry to ensure it makes it into "the right hands". Injecting more weapons into the field is therefore a dangerous gamble to take in an increasingly sectarian conflict which has already killed more than 80,000 people.The humanitarian charity Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if the embargo ends, whilst others have cautioned that such a move could jeopardize a proposed "peace initiative" in Geneva next month.

ISAIAH 17:1,12-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
12  Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14  And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

Syria fighting rages, more chemical attacks reported

By Erika Solomon | Reuters – 1 hr 48 mins ago MAY 27,13

By Erika Solomon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy fighting raged around the strategic Syrian border town of Qusair and the capital Damascus on Monday and further reports surfaced of chemical weapons attacks by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on rebel areas.The Syrian military pounded eastern suburbs of Damascus with air strikes and artillery and loud explosions echoed around al-Nabak, 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital, where fighting has cut the highway running north to the central city of Homs, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said.Syrian government offensives in recent weeks are widely seen as a campaign to strengthen Assad's negotiating position before a proposed international peace conference sponsored by the United States and Russia.Opposition activists said Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were pressing a sustained assault on Qusair, a town long used by insurgents as a way station for arms and other supplies from Lebanon.For Assad, Qusair is a crucial link between Damascus and loyalist strongholds on the Mediterranean coast. Recapturing the town, in central Homs province, could also sever connections between rebel-held areas in the north and south of Syria.Hezbollah's deepening involvement in Qusair has raised fears of renewed civil war in neighboring Lebanon, where two rockets hit the Shi'ite Muslim movement's stronghold in south Beirut on Sunday and one was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel.
The rockets struck hours after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised that his anti-Israel guerrillas, fighting alongside Assad's forces, would win whatever the cost.A Lebanese security source said another 107mm rocket, which did not go off, had been aimed at Beirut airport. The launch sites were near Aitat, in the hills just south of the capital.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced "deep concern" overnight at Hezbollah's admitted combat role and the risk that the Syrian conflict will spill into Lebanon and other neighboring states.Ban urged all concerned "immediately to cease supporting the violence inside Syria and instead to use their influence to promote a political solution to Syria's tragedy".
"CHEMICAL ATTACK" AFFECTS DOZENS
The diplomacy so far appears only to have intensified the violence, especially around Qusair and Damascus.
In Harasta, an eastern Damascus suburb largely under rebel control, dozens of people were suffering the effects of an apparent overnight chemical attack, according to opposition sources. Video showed victims lying on the floor of a large room, breathing from oxygen masks.The sides in the conflict, now in its third year, have accused each other of using chemical weapons. France's Le Monde newspaper published first-hand accounts on Monday of apparent chemical attacks by Assad's forces in April.The newspaper said one of its photographers had suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days after an attack on April 13 on the Jobar front, in central Damascus.Another video from Harasta overnight showed at least two fighters being put into a van, their eyes watering and struggling to breathe while medics put tubes into their throats.
It was not possible to verify the videos independently, given the difficulties of media access in Syria.A doctor interviewed in another video said the alleged chemical attack in Harasta was revenge for a rebel raid on nearby military checkpoints. He complained of a severe shortage in staff and medical supplies to treat "dozens of wounded".Syria, which is not a member of the anti-chemical weapons convention, is believed to have one of the world's last remaining stockpiles of undeclared chemical arms.As Washington and Moscow seek to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, European Union foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss calls from Britain and France to ease an EU embargo on arming Syrian rebels.All EU sanctions on Syria could collapse unless the 27-nation bloc agrees on the fate of the arms embargo before it expires on June 1, but several EU members oppose any change.British Foreign Secretary William Hague signaled that Britain was prepared to see EU sanctions fall apart rather than retreat from his demand to give more support to rebels. If the EU could not agree, then "each country will have to ensure it has its own sanctions," Hague declared.Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, whose country provides U.N. observers posted between Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan Heights, opposed any arming of rebels, saying the EU should remain a "peace community".
OPPOSITION DISARRAY
The U.S.-Russian initiative provides the first slim hope in almost a year for a diplomatic end to a conflict that has cost more than 80,000 lives and caused a refugee exodus that the U.N. refugee agency expects to top 3.5 million by the end of 2013.China, which along with Russia, has three times blocked U.N. Security Council action on Syria, said on Monday it would join the proposed peace conference. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said it would make efforts with all concerned to "push for an early, just, peaceful and appropriate settlement of the Syrian issue".Damascus has indicated it will take part in the talks, but the fractured opposition, which has previously required Assad's exit to be guaranteed before any negotiations, has yet to lay out its position and remains mired in internal quarrels.The opposition crisis deepened on Monday when liberals were offered only token representation, undermining international efforts to lend the Islamist-dominated alliance greater support.To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member Syrian National Coalition thwarted a deal to admit a liberal bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo.The failure to broaden the coalition, in which a Qatari-backed bloc influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood is prominent, could sap Saudi support for the revolt.The coalition's Western backers had wanted more seats for liberals, an idea backed by Saudi Arabia, which had been uneasy about Qatar's rising influence, coalition insiders said.France again urged the Syrian opposition to restructure and to clarify its position on the Geneva talks. "We repeat our desire to see the leadership structure of this National Syrian Coalition broadened," the French Foreign Ministry said.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were due to meet in Paris on Monday to discuss the conference they want to hold in Geneva in June.In Geneva, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay appealed for international action to halt the killing and urged the U.N. Security Council to ensure war criminals in Syria faced justice."Confronted with the flagrant disregard of international law and human life on every side, I feel utter dismay," she said, as she reeled off the latest atrocities reported to her office.(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander and Brian Love in Paris, Costas Pitas in London, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Adrian Croft in Brussels and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Military exemptions threaten Israeli coalition

Associated Press – 1 hr 4 mins ago MAY 27,13

JERUSALEM (AP) — The leader of Israel's second largest party says Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition could collapse if it fails to reform the military draft and end a system of exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students.Finance Minister Yair Lapid spoke Monday after a committee meeting tasked with changing the rules ended without results.Military service is compulsory in Israel, but thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews get exemptions each year to pursue religious studies. The ultra-Orthodox insist military service would compromise their strict religious lifestyle, while Israelis who serve in the military say the system is unfair.Lapid's party surged in January's parliamentary election by vowing to make the ultra-Orthodox "share the burden" of military service.Lapid warned Monday, "There will be an equal sharing of the burden, or this government will fall apart."

Israel's New Neighbor: Syrian Al-Qaeda Rebel Group

Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, closely identified with Al Qaeda, has "moved in" next to the border with Israel

By David Lev-First Publish: 5/27/2013, 5:05 PM-Israelnationalnews

Al Qaeda in Syria-Screen shot

In recent months, there has been a shakeout among the various Syrian rebel groups, and one of the dominant ones that has emerged is Jabhat al-Nusra – closely identified with Al Qaeda. The Sunni Islamist group is seeking to take over as much of Syria as possible and place it under Sharia Islamic law.Now, the group has taken up positions close to Syria's border with Israel, adjacent to the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. In a video released on Youtube, the group's soldiers are seen conducting training exercises in the Dar'a area of southern Syria, right next to the Heights. In the exercise, the soldiers are seen attempting to take over a building, using weapons and bombs. They are also seen singing Arabic songs in praise of terror, and swearing revenge on the “unbelievers” - the Alawite group that runs Syria, as well as Shi'ite Muslims who, according to Sunni views, hold an incorrect interpretation of Islam.The video provides evidence of a well-trained, motivated fighting force, military experts said. The group is clearly better equipped and trained than the other rebel groups, the experts said, and apparently has incorporated a large number of Sunni Muslim defectors from the Syrian army.While the group says that putting the “Syrian house in order” is its first order of business, it says that it eventually plans to deal with the “Zionist enemy” and end the “occupation,” first of the Golan, and then of the “rest of Palestine.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2sEsCJM1VVQ 

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

3 feet of snow in upstate NY on Memorial weekend

Associated Press – 12 hrs ago MAY 26,13

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  View PhotoAssociated Press/courtesy of ORDA/Whiteface - This photo provided courtesy of ORDA/Whiteface shows Whiteface Mountain Veterans' Memorial Highway after a heavy snowfall Sunday, May 26, 2013. The late-May storm …more 

WILMINGTON, N.Y. (AP) — A Memorial Day weekend storm has dropped three feet of snow on a New York ski mountain near the Vermont boarder.Whiteface Mountain spokesman Jon Lundin says 36 inches of white powder has blanketed the nearly 5,000-foot tall mountain in the Adirondacks. That has forced the Olympic Regional Development Authority to close Whiteface Veteran's Memorial Highway on the backside of the mountain.Lundin says the snow began lightly falling Saturday and steadily dropped Sunday, finishing in the evening. He didn't know if the 3-foot snowfall was a record for Whiteface.Burlington, Vt., National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Muccilli says the mountain experienced steady snow and gusty winds throughout the weekend.He says Mount Mansfield, in Stowe, Vt., had 13.2 inches of snow Sunday, the latest in the season it's ever had a foot.