Wednesday, July 23, 2014

NEWS BRIEFS: JULY 23, 2014


Current Events And Commentaries

Netanyahu: ‘A Man’s Gotta Do,
What A Man’s Gotta Do’

Lead Story by Matthew Burke, Tea Party News Network (TPNN) —
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, was interviewed by NBC News’ Brian Williams, explaining that while he’s extremely saddened by reports of rising civilian casualties, he affirmed that Israel must defend itself from relentless bombs from Hamas terrorists.

Netanyahu explained to Williams that at some point, if it’s your country getting bombed, you’d say to your leader, “A man’s gotta do, what a man’s gotta do,” quoting the old American idiom.

“But, you know, at a certain point you say what choice have you got? What would you do?” Netanyahu asked Williams. “What would you do if American cities, where you’re sitting now, Brian, would be rocketed, would absorb hundreds of rockets?” he asked.

Hearing no answer from Williams, Netanyahu answered his own question, predicting what any citizen would tell their leader under similar circumstances.


“You know what you’d say? You’d say to your leader, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, and a country’s gotta do what a country’s gotta do.”


Netanyahu reiterated that the country can’t sit idly by while getting pummeled by Hamas rockets, telling Williams, “We have to defend ourselves. We try to do it with the minimum amount of force, with targeting military targets the best as we can, but we’ll act to defend ourselves. No country can live like this.”

“It’s very saddening to see any of these civilian deaths. It’s terribly saddening,” Netanyahu said to Williams who had asked him how he viewed the reports of increased causalities from a father’s point of view. “We regret every one of them, and we don’t seek to have even one civilian death. We’re targeting Hamas terrorists,” Netanyahu answered.

Netanyahu said that the Hamas terrorists have broken “every norm in the book,” and are purposely placing civilians in harm’s way, even refusing them from being treated at a hospital Israel opened in Gaza.

“I can tell you that we opened up a humanitarian field hospital on the edge of Gaza , and Hamas doesn’t let the people come there. They’re hiding rockets in hospitals. They’re hiding arms in hospitals. They’re shooting from hospitals. They just don’t care. They break every norm in the book, every rule in the book. I mean, committing triple war crimes–targeting civilians, hiding behind civilians, piling civilians in places where they’ll be placed in harm’s way.”

“I think to the extent there’s any blame, it should be laid squarely at Hamas’s door because these are not symmetrical conditions,” he continued.
Netanyahu On Gaza


» Hello, World – My Name Is Israel
WND —
Hello, world. My name is Israel. Can we talk? If you’re reluctant to shake my hand, let me assure you of my legitimacy. In fact, I’m the most legitimate nation on earth! My claim to my little slice of land is endorsed by the Bible and the United Nations. Russia is half the size of the moon. Is Russia’s existence legitimized by the Bible and the U.N.? Or Britain’s, China’s, Germany’s, France’s, America’s?

I’m told I’m good at fighting. I hate that compliment. I’ve got a scrapbook over 5,000 years old that proves how much happier I am building than destroying. Take a look at the staggering number of Nobel Prizes I’ve earned in every field, even though we Jews are a miniscule percentage of the world’s population. Get to know me and you’ll agree I’m much happier making deserts bloom than conquering them by force. You doubt me? I’ve given back conquered lands – including Gaza – double the size of my own territory, to neighbors who hate me, in hopes of gaining peace. Silly? Naïve? Of course. But at least it shows I’ll try anything for peace...

» Islamic State Bolstered By Large Cache Of U.S. Weapons
Alex Jones’ Infowars —
Capture of artillery batteries give IS capability to bomb large areas
The Islamic State, formerly ISIS, has captured a large amount of U.S. weapons in Iraq. In addition to combat ground vehicles and artillery previously acquired from the Iraqi military, the new trove taken from U.S. bases includes more than 50 155mm M-198 artillery batteries and 4,000 PKC machine guns. “The booty could help ISIL transform into a military,” an official told World Tribune. The additional weapons added to the IS arsenal were reported earlier this month in a Central Command review submitted to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel...

» Fast And Furious Is Alive And Well And Is Being Used To Expand Drug And Gun Trafficking
Dave Hodges, The Common Sense Show —
According to my confidential sources the manner in which the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) deals with confiscated weapons associated with the commission of a drug crime has changed. Formerly, when the DEA would execute a drug bust and seize weapons, they would simply destroy the guns, unless the guns were to be used as evidence in an upcoming trial. In such cases, guns would be destroyed when they had outlived their evidentiary usefulness. Then came along Mr. Fast and Furious, Eric Holder who has ordered that all guns seized by any Federal agency, including the DEA, must be turned over to the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Some of you who know your history already know where this is going...

» Rep. Wolf Accuses ISIS Of Genocide, Targeting Christians In Iraq ‘For Extinction’
CNS News —
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) accused the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) of genocide for “systematically targeting Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq for extinction” during an impassioned speech on the House floor Tuesday. Wolf – who earned an international reputation as a champion of human rights for his humanitarian efforts in China, Tibet, Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries during his 34 years in Congress - told his House colleagues that “I believe that what is happening to the Christian community in Iraq is genocide. I also believe it is ‘a crime against humanity’.”...

» SHAPIRO: Why Vladimir Putin Is Making A Fool Of Barack Obama
Truth Revolt —
On Monday, four days after Vladimir Putin's minions in Ukraine shot down a passenger airliner carrying 298 people, including an American citizen, President Barack Obama emerged from the White House to issue a statement. Scowling at the camera, Obama stated: "Russia has extraordinary influence over these separatists. No one denies that. Russia has urged them on. Russia has trained them." Finally, after fulminating for several minutes about the nastiness of the Russian government, Obama approached the predictable climax: threats of action. Except that there were none...

» Gaza Conflict: Is US Pressuring Israel With Airport Ban?
The Sydney Morning Herald —
The US denies that a ban on US airliners flying to Tel Aviv and a stark US travel warning are ploys to push Israel to agree a Gaza truce. "I would wholly disagree with that argument," deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, when asked if the two directives were a political move to put pressure on Israelis. "We issued travel warnings because one of our top priorities is protecting US citizens overseas," she told reporters on Tuesday. "This is a step we have taken when we've felt the situation on the ground warranted it. Obviously that is a process that we go through, that in no way is policy related or politically related."...

» USGS Increases Earthquake Risk Along New Madrid Fault
WDRB.com —
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Midwest region is preparing for earthquakes that are bigger and more powerful than ever believed imaginable. The U.S. Geological Survey updated their seismic hazards map last week, and in it, Kentucky is listed as one of 16 states at highest risk of earthquakes. USGS says the New Madrid Fault, which runs through a number of midwestern states, has been identified as an area that has potential for larger and more powerful quakes than previously thought. Far Western Kentucky is highlighted on the map as being an area of "high risk." Geoscientists say if a major earthquake hits along the New Madrid Fault, damage and possibly even fatalities could reach as far as Louisville, Ky...

» Iraq’s Waterless Christians: The Campaign To Expel A Religion
Bloomberg —
Qaraqosh is one of the last refuges in northern Iraq for Christians fleeing persecution by the militants of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who swept into the region in June. A historic Christian city of 50,000 about 19 miles southeast of Mosul, Qaraqosh is under the formidable protection of the well-armed Peshmerga—the Kurdish fighters whose autonomous region disputes the area with both ISIL and the Iraqi central government based in Baghdad. Now, in a further effort to oust Christians from land they have inhabited for two millennia, the Islamic militants have begun turning off a precious utility: water...

» Hamas Are The True Occupiers In Gaza
i24News —
Toronto, Caracas, Paris, London, Norway, Peru, Turkey. Processions and demonstrations against Israel and its operation in Gaza, of varying degrees of violence, are being held all over the world. Protesters call upon us to "end the siege", "end the horrors", "end the operation", "end the occupation."

The protesters are a mixed bunch. Some are Arabs, some radical leftists. The Arabs’ interest is obvious: they want to destroy us because we are not Muslims. The current operation in Gaza, which will postpone the current attempt to destroy the Zionist entity, disrupts the master plan of a heretic-free zone. Any hit sustained by the terror organizations which are trying to murder us, kidnap us and frighten us is a setback to their dream. They know, as does any other Muslim on the face of the planet, that it is not about human rights; that this is only an excuse. The true goal is jihad, and any method on the way to that victory - military, political, democratic or terrorist - is legitimate [...]

Demonstrations around the world, if things were seen as they really are, would turn against Hamas, which is the real and absolute villain in this story...

Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 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. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee. ~ Psalm 83:1-5

—Daily Cartoon—
Flights To Israel Canceled

» Cartoonist: Jimmy Margulies is an editorial cartoonist in the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York City. He is the past winner of both the National Headliner Award and The Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition.


‘Linkster Diversions - Signs of the Times’ Milestone:
This post marks the 6000th post of this incarnation of ‘Linkster Diversions’