People of the Keys!

“For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies.”
(Isaiah 34:2)

Indignation Of The LORD

Dear Friends,

Greetings! The cacophony of evil that now permeates the world can be expressed in the words of the apostle John in the book of Revelations chapter seventeen when expressing his reaction upon seeing “Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots and of the Filth of The Earth, I was stunned with a great astonishment when I saw her.” Aramaic Bible in Plain

English.

The article below, “Aborted babies incinerated to heat UK hospitals” shows the depths of depravity that the once great Christian United Kingdom has sunk.

The United Kingdom gave the world the likes of William Carey known as the father of modern missions, David Livingstone, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Eric Liddell, and George Muller who in “his orphanage in England took care of more than 10,000 children”.

If you are particularly sensitive you may not care to read this article.

We are again living in the days of the worship of Molech!

As one reader commented on the article said; “My God, what have we come to!

Thank God for Jesus who will be coming soon to rescue us out of this madness.

Paul Craig Roberts

Washington has both Russia and China on it's target list, because both are in the way of Washington's world hegemony

One can only wonder why Putin doesn’t preempt the coming US military attack on Russia by destroying NATO economically without firing a shot. All Putin needs to do is to cut Europe off from energy. It would take Washington three years to create the capability to deliver US natural gas, achieved by fracking’s destruction of US water supplies, to Europe. By that time NATO governments would likely have been overthrown by mass unemployment and economic suffering. Putin could also seize all foreign assets in Russia and rapidly complete the arrangements with China, India, Brazil, and South Africa to abandon the use of the US dollar in international settlements.

The US dollar as world reserve currency is the source of American imperialism. The five countries that comprise the BRICS have half of the world’s population. They can conduct their economic affairs without the dollar.

The world needs to understand that the neoconservative US government is the Third Reich on steroids. It is a malevolent force with no sense of justice or respect for truth, law, or human life. Just ask the residents of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon, Honduras, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran. Even the deluded western Ukrainians will soon catch on.

Obama himself declared that the US is “the exceptional nation.” This is the neoconservatives version of Hitler’s declaration that the German nation was exceptional and, therefore, above all others. The only difference between Washington and National Socialist Germany is that Washington has a far more powerful police state and nuclear weapons.

The hubris and arrogance that arises from Washington’s belief that it is the government of the “indispensable and exceptional nation” means Washington has no respect for any other country, nor for law whether its own or international. Washington can invade countries without cause, a war crime. Washington can kidnap and torture people, a crime under US and International law. Washington can ignore the self-determination of peoples, such as Crimeans. Who are mere Crimeans to vote on their own future without Washington’s consent, without Washington determining the outcome? Washington declares the Crimean people’s self-determination “illegitimate and illegal,” and refuses to recognize self-determination, while pretending to be the home of “freedom and democracy.”

No government in human history can come close to the hypocrisy and malevolence of Washington. Armed with nuclear weapons and a military doctrine of pre-emptive nuclear first strike, Washington alone stands as the threat to life on earth.

If Americans were to read three history books, they could free themselves from their self-righteous delusions that endanger all life on earth. Those books are: A People’s History of The United States by Howard Zinn, The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, and The War Lovers by Evan Thomas.

No one who reads one of these books will ever again believe that the US government in Washington is the “light unto the world,” the “exceptional and indispensable” government that brings “freedom and democracy” to the conquered provinces of the American Empire.

Washington is the home of warmongering self-interested parties that have no concept of compassion or justice and serve only their own power and enrichment. Americans are as indifferent to the populations that their government bombs as Teddy Roosevelt was to the prospect of his own country’s coastal cities being bombarded. As Russia’s President Putin reminded the world on March 18, 2014, the US prefers the rule of the gun to international law.

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The following are excerpts from a March 19 2014 interview with Umberto Pascali, Macedonian TV program, “The People’s Voice” directed by Slobodan Tomic.

The Ukrainian crisis? It is basically the opposite of what the media and politicians keep repeating both in the US and Europe. They say that the so-called International community have isolated Russia and Vladimir Putin.

In fact it is the real sponsors of the coup d’état and the violence in Ukraine who are isolated not only morally but also strategically.

And it is Putin, the first leader who resisted and defeated the strategy of world domination, who is enjoying the enthusiastic support of his people and the growing admiration of the world. The well financed media and politicians do not want to hear this, but this is the reality.

Only few know precisely how dangerous the situation has been. How close to a real war.

The incompetent representatives of the ‘international community’ lost any sense of reality and deployed the weapons of social destabilization, armed insurrection, assassination by snipers, a fascist March on Kiev reminiscent of Mussolini’s March on Rome, targeting of the Russian population.

They intended to give Russia the Libya treatment, and they did not make a secret of it.

After the assurances given by George H W Bush to Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO couldn’t be used for a push toward East, successive US governments did exactly that. Their objective is to surround Russia. With the smiling hypocrisy of hyenas, they made clear that there was no alternative but to surrender to the military power and propaganda capabilities of NATO.

No compromise, no negotiations. Or better when negotiations took place like on Feb 21, the neo-Nazi gangs in Kiev were incited to escalate the armed violence and take over the Parliament and Government buildings, beating and intimidating whoever did not agree.

The Western “diplomats” immediately recognized the neo-Nazi coup d’état as the legitimate government. Yatsenyuk, the candidate of Victoria Nuland, declared himself Prime Minister while members of the parliament were brutally beaten in the street, their houses invaded and violated, their families terrorized... to ensure their support for the democratic process…

These criminal politicians even pushed the situation close to a real nuclear war. Putin made clear that Russia — which had lost a large percentage of its population in the war against Nazism and accepted to see Moscow in flames in order to defeat the superior forces of Napoleon — was not going to surrender. That moment was more dangerous than the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Putin called their bluff... Then, while the Crimean (and not only Crimean) population asked for protection against the NATO-supported armed gangs, the propaganda machine went into full speed in the West, but it was too late. In this sense Putin not only saved Russia, but gave a chance to the whole of Europe... like in WWII

The fascist armed insurrection and the Kiev coup were not simply a war against Russia, they were also a war against Europe. Not the EU bureaucracy in Brussels, whose loyalty lies with the big financial institutions, but the Europe of the various countries reduced to misery and despair by austerity measures and the economic looting of Wall Street and the city of London.

Ukraine has been destabilized in order to make sure that Europe would be in a perennial war with Russia.

In fact, both, the interests of Europe and that of Russia, lie in a common economic plan for the development of the whole area. This is what was proposed by Putin and by several leaders such as former German chancellors Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schroeder. This is exactly what had to be prevented with the Victoria Nuland $5 billion ‘to help democracy.’ And now, despite all the noises and rhetoric, this is the most obvious direction to go.

The most important point to understand is that this war and looting policy is not in the interest of the Europeans or even of the Americans.

This is the big secret that now cannot be covered anymore. The governments of the US and the European countries are NOT independent entities, they are not sovereign. They do not have the will or even the ability to act on behalf of their people. They are controlled by powerful banking interests. They have been taken over by two financial centers that do not care for the real economy. They pursue only speculation and looting.

In response on March 4th the economic adviser to Putin, Sergey Glazyev declared openly that if the financial vultures persisted, Russia would create on the spot an independent financial system which is separate from that of the US Dollar.

Glazyev explained to the vampires:

‘We have wonderful economic and trade relations with our Southern and Eastern partners. We will find a way not just to eliminate our dependence on the US but also profit from these sanctions.... .If sanctions are applied against Russia’s state structures we will have to move into other currencies and create our own settlement system. We will be forced to recognize the impossibility of repayment of the loans that the US banks gave to Russian state structures. Indeed, sanctions are a double-edged weapon, and if the US chooses to freeze our assets, then our equities and liabilities in dollars will also be frozen...’

This strategy is known as the Financial Nuclear Option. It could lead to the end of the predatory looting system of Wall Street.

The ‘Southern and Eastern partners’ Glazyev is talking about are clearly the members of the BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, the sane part of the world economy, the future.

And it is exactly what the official spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov indicated in an interview to the BBC:

“Sanctions against Russia could be the final trigger that will force many countries to create a new independent financial system based on the real economy. The world is changing rapidly. How many civilizations grew and died in the course of history? Who will be able to resist the pressure of dying systems and indicate to the people the road toward the future?”

The possibility of a new financial system independent from the collapsing dollar empire, as consequence of anti Russia sanctions was also emphasized by an authoritative the Russian media including RT. (See:http://rt.com/op-edge/russia-switches-to-brics-sanctions-357/)

...Western sanctions might push Russia to deepen cooperation with BRICS states, in particular, to strengthen its ties with China, which will possibly turn out to be a big catastrophe for the US and the EU some time later.

On March 18, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Russia would switch to new partners in case of economic sanctions being imposed by the European Union and the United States. He highlighted that the modern world isn’t unipolar and Russia has strong ties with other states as well, though Russia wants to remain in good relations with its Western partners, especially with the EU due to the volume of trade and joint projects.

Those “new partners” are not really new since Russia has been closely interconnected with them for almost 13 years. This is all about the so-called BRICS organization, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS represents 42 percent of the world’s population and about a quarter of the world’s economy, which means that this bloc of states is an important global actor.

The BRICS countries are like-minded in regard to supporting the principles of international law, the central role of the UN Security Council and the principles of the non-use of force in international relations; this is why they are so actively performing in the sphere of settling regional conflicts. However, the cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa goes beyond political aspects and is also demonstrated by dynamic trade and multiple projects in different areas.

Today, in total, there are more than 20 formats of cooperation within the BRICS which are being developing. For example, in February the member-states came to an agreement about 11 possible projects of scientific and technical cooperation, from aeronautics to bio- and nanotechnology.

In order to modernize the global economic system, at the center of which stand the US and the EU, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have created the BRICS Stock Alliance and are creating their own development bank to finance large infrastructure projects. On the whole, despite fierce criticism of BRICS as an organization with no future, it is developing and increasing cooperation with its members and, in fact, BRICS is showing pretty good results.

With the suspension of Russia’s participation in G8 and the strengthening of economic sanctions against Russia, specific industries may be targeted, including limits on imported commodities.

While the West seeks to hit Russia hard, it is important to notice that Russia is ready to switch to other markets, including BRICS, with a view to expanding its trade.

***

zero hedge

Russia Sees Chinese Yuan As World Reserve Currency

Zero Hedge March 24, 2014

Following China’s unwillingness to vote against Russia at the UN and yesterday’s news that China will sue Ukraine for $3bn loan repayment, it seems Russia is returning the favor. Speaking at the Chinese Economic Development Forum, ITAR-TASS reports, the Chief Economist of Russia’s largest bank stated that “China’s Yuan may become the third reserve currency in the in the future.”

Managing Director and Chief Economist of investment company Sberbank Yevgeny Gavrilenkov said at the 15th governmental Chinese economic development forum in the Chinese capital on Sunday (via ITAR-TASS):

“China’s yuan (renminbi) may become a third reserve currency in the world in the future”

“This forecast can be made on figures of domestic economic growth. Probably the country will keep high GDP growth rate and the GDP volume will increase to around 14-16 trillion U.S. dollars for a brief period of time, the indicators comparable to the European Union and the United States.

Meanwhile, Chinese securities are more attractive for the countries that have a surplus in economy, particularly the Middle East states; and China will obviously follow the path of securing the country’s assets,”

The forum which opened in the Chinese capital on March 22 discusses a broad range of issues of economic reforms and China’s stronger role as the second largest world economy. First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chinese State Council Zhang Gaoli, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde and top managers of major world corporations participate in the forum as honorary guests.

Of course, as we noted previously, nothing lasts forever… and with Friday’s “Petrodollar Alert” perhaps things are moving faster than many assumed.

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MailOnline

We're being dragged into a new Cold War by a puffed-up bullfrog (and I don't mean President Putin)

By PETER HITCHENS

PUBLISHED: 20:38 EST, 22 March 2014 | UPDATED: 20:38 EST, 22 March 2014

Stupidity and ignorance rule the world. The trouble is that the stupid and the ignorant think that they are clever and well-informed.

Take Mrs Hillary Clinton, next President of the United States and former chief of American foreign policy. She has directly compared Russia’s Vladimir Putin to Hitler. And she has compared events in Crimea to the Czech crisis of 1938.

Dozens of other politicians and grandiose journalists are currently doing the same.

Our Prime Minister is puffing himself up like a bullfrog, and busily creating a new Cold War that will benefit nobody except spies and weapons-makers, for a cause he doesn't understand and can't explain, writes Peter Hitchens

It’s the one thing they think they know about history – that Britain’s pathetic Neville Chamberlain didn’t stand up to evil Adolf Hitler in 1938 at Munich over Czechoslovakia, so making Hitler believe that he could take over the world. And that the brave Winston Churchill then saved the world.

Almost no part of this legend is true. Even those bits that are true are misleading, with one exception. Hitler was certainly evil. But so was Stalin, the communist mass-murderer who ended up as our main ally in the fight against Hitler.

If we had gone to war to save Czechoslovakia in 1938, we would have been beaten. We had no proper army. Nor did the USA, whose army at that time was about the same size as Portugal’s.

When we later went to war to ‘save’ Poland, we didn’t in fact save it at all, leaving it to be bombed, starved and massacred by Hitler, carved up between Germany and the USSR and later swallowed whole by Stalin. And we were beaten – just not actually invaded.

Churchill was indeed a great man, but his achievement was to secure our bare survival, which came at the desperate cost of our national wealth and our empire. Later in the war, Churchill appeased Stalin by giving him the whole of Poland and Eastern Europe. Just like Chamberlain at Munich seven years before, he had no choice. The Yalta conference, which finalised these arrangements, was as disgracefully self-interested as Munich.

Yet the silly, half-educated politicians of today still like to pose as tough guys with the following formula, addressed to anyone who suggests that Russia might have a case over Ukraine and Crimea.

It goes: ‘Putin is Hitler. You are Neville Chamberlain. I am Winston Churchill – hear me roar.’

Apart from knowing nothing about European history, and apart from their bone-headed inability to distinguish Christian Russia from the communist USSR, these people also don’t understand what is going on in Ukraine.

It never occurs to them that Russia has good historical reasons to fear its neighbours. It never crosses their mind that the borders drawn by the victorious West in 1992, like those drawn at Versailles in 1919, are an unsustainable, unjust mistake.

They never ask why Britain (or the USA) should be hostile to Russia, or what the quarrel between us actually is. What is it to us whose flag flies over Sevastopol? Yet it matters greatly to those who live there.

They cast every Russian action as evil, and every Ukrainian action as saintly. The world is not like that.

I hated the old USSR as an evil empire. But, having lived in Moscow, I feel a strong affection for post-communist Russia and count Russians as good friends. That does not make me an apologist for Mr Putin. I have repeatedly condemned him for his suppression of opposition and the many evil things done by his state. I can see his faults and do not pretend they do not exist.

But the warmongers are selectively blind. Hardly any British news media have mentioned an event in Kiev last week. A group of five louts, one of them an MP from the thuggish, racialist ‘Svoboda’ party, forced their way into the office of Oleksandr Panteleymonov, chief of the main Ukrainian TV station. There they physically attacked him and shouted anti-Russian racial abuse at him.

The MP involved is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament’s committee on ‘Freedom of Speech’. And the louts were so proud of what they did that they filmed it and posted it on the internet.

These people are supposed to be our allies and friends.

On their behalf, our Prime Minister is puffing himself up like a bullfrog, and busily creating a new Cold War that will benefit nobody except spies and weapons-makers, for a cause he doesn’t understand and can’t explain.

If this is the kind of statesman it produces, it strikes me that Eton can’t be such a good school after all.

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MainOnline

'The Russian world is uniting': Model minister of breakaway region urges Putin to make her country his next conquest in wake of Crimea takeover to alarm of Nato

Nina Shtanski said: 'The people's wish for unity cannot be stopped'
She is foreign minister of Russian-speaking region Transdniestria
Shtanski is calling for a similar takeover of her breakaway republic

By WILL STEWART

PUBLISHED: 18:28 EST, 23 March 2014 | UPDATED: 06:03 EST, 24 March 2014

The glamorous foreign minister of a breakaway region of Moldova is calling on Vladimir Putin to make her country his next conquest in eastern Europe.

Few may have heard of Transdniestria, the unofficial and fictitious-sounding statelet whose head of international relations is 36-year-old Nina Shtanski.

However, senior Western figures are alarmed that following the annexation of Crimea it is step two in a Kremlin masterplan to redraw the frontiers of Europe.

This top diplomat in staunchly pro-Russian Transdniestria, who has a penchant for revealing black dresses, is gushing in her praise of Putin's takeover of the Black Sea peninsula.

She openly invites him to make the same move in her landlocked territory of 509,000 people, wedged between strife-torn Ukraine and Moldova.

'We are pleased to say that the outcome of the Crimean referendum almost fully coincides with the results of the Transdniestrian referendum of 17 September 2006, when over 97 per cent of voters chose independence and the prospect of voluntary unification with Russia,' she said in a statement.

'The obvious match of the will expressed by people in Crimea and Transdniestria demonstrates that the Russian World is uniting and the people's wish for unity cannot be stopped.'

Russian troops are assembling on Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. An annexation of Transdniestria would be a significant expansion of Russian territory.

A Russian force of 1,300 troops - currently on high alert - is already on the ground as 'peacekeepers' in the self-declared state - which boasts the hammer and sickle on its mainly red flag.

Last week there were reports of plain-clothed Russian FSB secret services agents flooding into breakaway territory.

Under international law, the unofficial country is part of Romanian-speaking Moldova, but after a war as the USSR broke up, Ms Shtanski and the local population have never accepted rule by Moldova.

They are now bent on being formally integrated as a region of the Kremlin, which has long subsidised this outpost.

The fear for Western military planners is that after taking Transdniestria, Putin could then seize an arc from there to Crimea, sealing off the southern Black Sea regions of Ukraine.

In the process, he would grab another old Russian jewel, the port city of Odessa, and cripple Kiev's economy.

'Unity and integration, as shown by today's realities, are not always associated with geography,' explained mother-of-one Ms Shtanski in the district's capital Tiraspol.

'We are a striking confirmation of this fact. We consider ourselves part of the Russian world. We do not separate ourselves from the Russians and Russian civilization.

'We consider ourselves part of Russia, and not without reason. This has legal and historical background.'

Transdniestria was originally seized by Russia in 1792 under Catherine the Great but is today a Soviet timewarp with Lenin statues and military checkpoints.

Like many others, Ms Shtanski cannot use her Transdniestrian passport to travel and instead relies on her Russian citizenship, for example when travelling to Moscow to complete her doctorate in international relations.

Leading U.S. voices including former Republican presidential candidate John McCain and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have warned about the risk to Western interests in a Putin takeover.

'Now that we've had a crash course on Crimea, read ahead about Transdniestria, a likely target for Putin's next move,' warned Strobe Talbott, a former U.S. diplomat who is president of the Brookings Institution.

In Moscow, powerful deputy premier Dmitry Rogozin - hit last week by Western sanctions - has been put in charge of Russia's response on Transdniestria amid complaints from locals that they are being blockaded by both Ukraine and MoldovaThe local pleas could become a pretext for Moscow's intervention fronted - Crimean-style - by local self-defence squads.

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WND

PUTIN ALL SMILES OVER EXPECTED SYRIAN 'VICTORY'

Fading rebellion solidifies Russia's naval power

Published: March 23, 2014

AARON KLEIN

TEL AVIV – Arab countries in the Middle East widely expect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to win the rebel-led insurgency that has been targeting his regime for the last three years, thereby strengthening Russia’s presence in the region.

The anticipated victory will further solidify the position of the large Russian Navy fleet docked at Syria’s Tartus port. That position is more strategic now that Russia has seized the Ukrainian naval headquarters located in Sevastopol, where Moscow stationed its Black Sea Fleet.

Control of both the Tartus and Sevastopol ports provides Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, with open access to the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and beyond for both military and energy needs.

Russia and Iran have been the biggest state backers of Assad, while the U.S. and moderate Arab countries worked to aid the rebels fighting to topple the Syrian president.

Ahead of the Arab summit in Kuwait this week, Sunni Arab countries are operating under the working assumption that Assad’s regime is no longer in danger and that the Syrian president will be able to quell the rebellion, Egyptian security officials told WND.

In a major blow to the rebels, the security officials said Qatar has made a dramatic about face and is now ready to help Assad with finances to reconstruct Syria. Qatar previously worked with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to arm and aid the Syrian rebels.

According to reports, Assad already rid Damascus of rebels and has retaken scores of rebel strongholds. His victories were aided by instances of infighting within the rebel ranks, including the open rebellion of several rebel factions allied with al-Qaida.

The Egyptian security officials said Assad still faces pockets of resistance, particularly in the city of Daraa near the Jordanian border and in the north toward the Syrian border with Turkey. These locations contain important supply roads for arms transports to the rebels.

Another rebel stronghold is located near the Syrian border with Israel, the scene of clashes in recent days.

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InvestmentWatch

Its Starting to Unravel : Swiss decide AGAINST Russian Sanctions…UPDATE: Now Germany Is Against Sanctions

March 26th, 2014

The position of our country is independent of the UN,” Swiss president Didier Burkhalter told a press conference in Bern, saying Switzerland can only use sanctions when they are based upon “international law and the interests of the Swiss”.

“And in this case the rights and the interests play a role… we need to find a balance,” he added, as well as noting that Russian interests in Switzerland were “very large”.

More in link

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_27/German-chancellor-Merkel-against-imposition-of-economic-sanctions-on-Russia-6195/

How Sanctions Against Russia Could Signal the Beginning of ‘World War III’

Russia is preparing to fight World War III against the United States, not with conventional weapons but with the American dollar, a financial analyst told TheBlaze.

Kevin Freeman, a global financial analyst with expertise in financial warfare and terrorism, warned that Russia, along with allies like China, could cripple the U.S. financial system.

It’s not a theory but a “very real reality” that should not be ignored, he said.

“The real risk is if we go after them with economic weapons, they come back after us and this creates World War III,” said Freeman, who has consulted for the Pentagon, CIA and FBI. ”This is a very tough game of chicken that we’re playing, and Putin is serious.”

On Wednesday, The Blaze TV’s For The Record investigative news magazine show will examine the global impact of the Ukraine crisis in “Resistance” (8 p.m. ET). For The Record will take viewers into Ukraine and reveal firsthand accounts of the deadly violence that has gripped the country, and explain how the international tug of war over Crimea could change the world.

The threat of economic warfare is nothing new. Freeman, who was hired by the Pentagon as a contractor to investigate the 2008 stock market crash, believes the economic crisis was the result of a purposeful attack on the U.S. financial market by a state actor or by financial terrorists. Last September, For The Record revealed how hostile nations such as China and Russia may have been the instigators of the 2008 crash and how a system with substantial growing debt is vulnerable to such attacks.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/18/how-sanctions-against-russia-could-signal-the-beginning-of-world-war-iii/

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Zero Hedge

Here Is The YouTube "Start A False Flag War With Syria" Leaked Recording That Erdogan Wanted Banned

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/27/2014 21:22 -0400

UPDATE: *TURKEY'S DAVUTOGLU SAYS LEAK IS 'DECLARATION OF WAR': TURKIYE

As we noted here, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan had blocked Twitter access to his nation ahead of what was rumored to be a "spectacular" leak before this weekend's elections. Then this morning, amid a mad scramble, he reportedly (despite the nation's court ruling the bans illegal) blocked YouTube access. However, by the magic of the interwebs, we have the 'leaked' clip and it is clear why he wanted it blocked/banned. As the rough translation explains, it purports to be a conversation between key Turkish military and political leaders discussing what appears to be a false flag attack to launch war with Syria.

Among the most damning sections:

Ahmet Davutolu: “Prime Minister said that in current conjuncture, this attack (on Suleiman Shah Tomb) must be seen as an opportunity for us.”

Hakan Fidan: “I’ll send 4 men from Syria, if that’s what it takes. I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey; we can also prepare an attack on Suleiman Shah Tomb if necessary.”

Feridun Sinirliolu: “Our national security has become a common, cheap domestic policy outfit.”

Ya?ar Güler: “It’s a direct cause of war. I mean, what’re going to do is a direct cause of war.”

...

Feridun Sinirolu: There are some serious shifts in global and regional geopolitics. It now can spread to other places. You said it yourself today, and others agreed… We’re headed to a different game now. We should be able to see those. That ISIL and all that jazz, all those organizations are extremely open to manipulation. Having a region made up of organizations of similar nature will constitute a vital security risk for us. And when we first went into Northern Iraq, there was always the risk of PKK blowing up the place. If we thoroughly consider the risks and substantiate… As the general just said…

Yaar Güler: Sir, when you were inside a moment ago, we were discussing just that. Openly. I mean, armed forces are a “tool” necessary for you in every turn.

Ahmet Davutolu: Of course. I always tell the Prime Minister, in your absence, the same thing in academic jargon, you can’t stay in those lands without hard power. Without hard power, there can be no soft power.

And just in case you had faith that this was all made up and Erdogan is right to ban it... he just admitted it was true!

To summarize: a recording confirming a NATO-member country planned a false-flag war with Syria (where have we seen that before?) and all the Prime Minister has to say is the leak was "immoral."

Erdogan is not amused:

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described the leaking on YouTube on Thursday of a recording of top security officials discussing possible military operations in Syria as "villainous" and the government blocked access to the video-sharing site.

...

"They even leaked a national security meeting. This is villainous, this is dishonesty...Who are you serving by doing audio surveillance of such an important meeting?" Erdogan declared before supporters at a rally ahead of March 30 local polls that will be a key test of his support amid a corruption scandal.

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21st Century Wire

Flight MH370 Found? Not Quite – Now the Real Whitewash Begins.

MARCH 25, 2014 BY 21WIRE 8 COMMENTS

21st Century Wire says…

After nearly one month of turning up absolutely nothing, suddenly the public are being told that the case of missing Malaysian airliner MH370 has been solved, well, sort of…

It was a search and rescue operation on an unprecedented scale, combing through over 30,000 nautical miles, involving 60 ships and 50 aircraft – all in an effort to find one missing Boeing 777 which is said to have set off from Kula Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, only to disappear into thin air, without a trace.

This week Malaysian authorities made the dramatic announcement that they had finally “found” the aircraft, without any “debris sighting” . On cue, global mainstream media outlets ran continuous coverage on Monday March 24th of this week, showing footage of men looking out the window of Royal Australian Air Force P-3, looking rather intensely at a trail of smoke hanging over the water, but failed to tell viewers in many instances – that this was merely a “smoke marker placed there”, no doubt for the cameras.

This,we are told, is meant to draw a line under the story in a communal ‘move on’ moment.

The Malaysian prime minister boldly announced that analysis of satellite data concludes “beyond a doubt” that the plane had in fact gone down in the southern Indian Ocean 2,500 kilometers (1,500) west of Perth, Australia.

A few objects were said to be found, but these were not shown on TV or to media. “Objects could be picked up in a few hours”, Malaysia’s transport minister said, while Australian PM Tony Abbott said, “One object was circular and grey or green, and the other rectangular and orange – but it could be flotsham“. In reality, nothing.

What is clear now – is that there is still no evidence of a Being 777 crash-landing there.

Here where things get dicey: this suddenly incredible “debris sighting” has been based on information from one private British telecoms firm, Inmarsat, who run a fleet of 30 satellites globally overlapping with systems run by US-based Raytheon. Inmarsat claim to have come to their conclusion based on data “relayed between the plane and ground station by satellite”. Inmarsat then sent its computer findings on Friday to the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch based in Aldershot, Hampshire, who spent one day “going over the figures” before sending it to the Malaysian authorities.

  Of all the likely destinations for the missing flight, it seems incredible that would fly for 3 or more hours south, only to ditch the plane in the water miles from any land mass. This latest conclusion is based almost solely on computer modeled data – supplied Inmarsat, and as yet, no physical proof that Flight HH370 has actually crashed at the location they are claiming it did.

  By contrast, an actual eyewitness sighting was reported the morning of the crash, but was more or less ignored by all governments and mainstream media outlets. Haveeru local news previously confirmed that, “Residents of the remote Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll have reported seeing a “low flying jumbo jet” on the morning of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.” That report continues:

  “Eyewitnesses from the Kuda Huvadhoo concurred that the aeroplane was travelling North to South-East, towards the Southern tip of the Maldives – Addu. They also noted the incredibly loud noise that the flight made when it flew over the island.

  “I’ve never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We’ve seen seaplanes, but I’m sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly,” said an eyewitness.

  “It’s not just me either, several other residents have reported seeing the exact same thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the tremendous noise too.

”  Coincidentally, The Maldives Islands are more or less along a direct flight path to the US and British island military base at Diego Garcia. Make of that what you will, but you cannot discount this in connection to reports that one of the MH370 pilots has Diego Garcia plotted on his own home flight simulator.

Confusion was stirred up even more after retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General, Thomas G. McInerney, turned up on a FOX News program hosted by Mike Huckaby, proceeding to infer that the US has known all along where the plane had traveled, and that the missing Boeing 777 was already in Central Asia.

***

The Telegraph

Aborted babies incinerated to heat UK hospitals

The remains of more than 15,000 babies were incinerated as 'clinical waste' by hospitals in Britain with some used in 'waste to energy' plants

More than 15,000 aborted or miscarried babies were burned as 'clinical waste' an investigation has discovered Photo: Alamy

By Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent

7:00AM GMT 24 Mar 2014

The bodies of thousands of aborted and miscarried babies were incinerated as clinical waste, with some even used to heat hospitals, an investigation has found.

Ten NHS trusts have admitted burning foetal remains alongside other rubbish while two others used the bodies in ‘waste-to-energy’ plants which generate power for heat.

Last night the Department of Health issued an instant ban on the practice which health minister Dr Dan Poulter branded ‘totally unacceptable.’

At least 15,500 foetal remains were incinerated by 27 NHS trusts over the last two years alone, Channel 4’s Dispatches discovered.

The programme, which will air tonight, found that parents who lose children in early pregnancy were often treated without compassion and were not consulted about what they wanted to happen to the remains.

One of the country’s leading hospitals, Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge, incinerated 797 babies below 13 weeks gestation at their own ‘waste to energy’ plant. The mothers were told the remains had been ‘cremated.’

Another ‘waste to energy’ facility at Ipswich Hospital, operated by a private contractor, incinerated 1,101 foetal remains between 2011 and 2013.

They were brought in from another hospital before being burned, generating energy for the hospital site. Ipswich Hospital itself disposes of remains by cremation.

“This practice is totally unacceptable,” said Dr Poulter.

“While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay.”

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, has written to all NHS trusts to tell them the practice must stop.

The Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, has also written to the Human Tissue Authority to ask them make sure that guidance is clear.

And the Care Quality Commission said it would investigate the programme's findings.

Prof Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said: “I am disappointed trusts may not be informing or consulting women and their families.

“This breaches our standard on respecting and involving people who use services and I’m keen for Dispatches to share their evidence with us.

“We scrutinise information of concern and can inspect unannounced, if required.”

A total of one in seven pregnancies ends in a miscarriage, while NHS figures show there are around 4,000 stillbirths each year in the UK, or 11 each day.

Ipswich Hospital Trust said it was concerned to discover that foetal remains from another hospital had been incinerated on its site.

A spokeswoman said: “The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust does not incinerate foetal remains.”

She added that the trust “takes great care over foetal remains”

A spokesman for the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that trained health professionals discuss the options with parents ‘both verbally and in writing.’

"The parents are given exactly the same choice on the disposal of foetal remains as for a stillborn child and their personal wishes are respected,” they added.

(Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.Leviticus 18:21 Deuteronomy 18:10 Jeremiah 32:32 )

***

NATURAL NEWS

FDA considers approval of genetically modified babies

Monday, March 24, 2014 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) As mainstream society inches increasingly further away from the natural order of things, some scientists are busy hatching new methods of human reproduction that employ the same gene-altering techniques used by biotechnology companies like Monsanto. And according to new reports, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is fully on board with this brave new agenda, having recently met to discuss the future of what the mainstream media is now referring to as genetically modified (GM) human beings.

A chilling report by The New York Times (NYT) explains that a special FDA advisory committee recently met to discuss the approval of "radical biological procedures" that involve splicing and dicing the genetic blueprint of the human form. Referred to by the FDA as "mitochondrial manipulation technologies," this disturbing concept, which is already being pushed as a viable fertility option, involves reprogramming the natural process of fetal development to supposedly create healthier babies with lower disease risk.

"The procedures involve removing the nuclear material either from the egg or embryo of a woman with inheritable mitochondrial disease and inserting it into a healthy egg or embryo of a donor whose own nuclear material has been discarded," writes Marcy Darnovsky in a recent NYT editorial. "Any offspring would carry genetic material from three people -- the nuclear DNA of the mother and father, and the mitochondrial DNA of the donor."

Long-term viability of GM babies completely unknown

The script is essentially the same as it is for GM crops -- natural organisms are inherently flawed, and in desperate need of tinkering by Frankenscientists with God complexes who think they have the capacity to improve upon nature. In this case, the goal is to mix and match the "best" eggs with hand-selected nuclear DNA to achieve the most desirable human beings.

But like GM crops and other GM organisms, nobody truly knows the long-term adverse effects of such tampering. As real science continues to peel back the layers of GMO deception, particularly at the crop level, exposing a wake of disease and death caused by human pride and arrogance, faux science continues to push forward with this massive global experiment in reshaping life at the genetic level.

"[T]hese procedures are deeply problematic in terms of their medical risks and societal implications," adds Darnovsky. "Will the child be born healthy, or will the cellular disruptions created by this eggs-as-Lego-pieces approach lead to problems later on? What about subsequent generations? And how far will we go in our efforts to engineer humans?"

'High-tech eugenics' behind push to create 'perfect' human race

Despite how little is actually known about the immediate and long-term consequences of re-mapping the human genome, genetic scientists are busily working to achieve what maniacal dictators like Adolph Hitler only dreamed of accomplishing in their ethnic cleansing endeavors. Except, today, this agenda is disguised as "science" for the betterment of humanity.

"If we go down the road of deciding which genes are appropriate and which aren't, that will never end," writes one USA Today commenter about the issue. "One day, somebody who supposedly knows better than you will decide that a gene which tends toward a belief in the supernatural [for instance] is inappropriate."

"In the hands of those who believe they know what is best for the world, they will use this as a way to eradicate such 'dangerous' beliefs."

You can view an FDA announcement about the meeting, which includes contact information for those involved with the decision-making process on this issue, by visiting:

http://www.fda.gov.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.nytimes.com

http://www.fda.gov

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.usatoday.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/044428_genetic_modification_babies_FDA.html#ixzz2wyciYXvX
(And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord.

And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence.

And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.

And the Lord said, I will blot out man that I created from the face of the earth, yea from man to the birds of the air, together with cattle and beasts that are in the field for I repent that I made them.

And all men who walked in the ways of the Lord, died in those days, before the Lord brought the evil upon man which he had declared, for this was from the Lord, that they should not see the evil which the Lord spoke of concerning the sons of men.

And Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord chose him and his children to raise up seed from them upon the face of the whole earth.

Jashur 4:16-21

And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Genesis 6:12

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:37)

***

Forbes

Israel closes embassies around the world as diplomats strike

BY ALLYN FISHER-ILAN

JERUSALEM Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:09am EDT

(Reuters) - Israeli diplomats launched an unprecedented strike on Sunday, forcing the complete closure of embassies around the world as they escalated a dispute over pay, officials said.

The industrial action has already threatened to postpone a visit by Pope Francis to Israel planned for May - one of 25 trips by foreign officials affected by a work slowdown the diplomats began on March 5 when wage talks broke down.

By escalating the action to a full strike - the first by the diplomatic corps since the country's establishment in 1948 - the diplomats will close all of Israel's 102 missions abroad, paralyzing most diplomatic work with other countries and the United Nations.

"We are completely shutting down the (foreign ministry) office and missions abroad. This is the first time ever," ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

Another ministry official told Reuters: "As of now, the foreign ministry doesn't exist. It's not possible even to submit complaints".

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Called the strike "irresponsible" and "a wretched decision and a display of a loss of control on union's part."

"We shall do whatever possible to minimize the damage to the country and its citizens," Lieberman said.

Diplomats said the strike - involving some 1,200 foreign service employees - was open-ended and had been called after the Treasury had failed to present any acceptable proposals.

They are demanding an increase in monthly salaries, which they put at 6,000-9,000 shekels ($1,700-$2,600), and want compensation for spouses forced to quit jobs due to foreign postings. They say about a third of their number has quit in the past 15 years due to poor wages.

Yacov Livne, spokesman for the diplomats' union, said: "the Treasury is determined to destroy the foreign ministry and Israeli diplomacy."

***

The Telegraph

Pope Francis: 'hell awaits' mobsters unless they change their ways

In a trenchant speech, the Pope railed against the mafia and donned a ceremonial garment once worn by an Italian priest killed by the mob

By Tom Kington, Rome

7:08PM GMT 21 Mar 2014

Pope Francis has warned Italy’s mafia they will go to hell unless they repent and reminded them they cannot take their “blood stained money and blood stained power to the next life.”

Speaking at an emotional vigil in Rome on Friday attended by around 900 relatives of people murdered by Italy’s mafia clans, Francis told mobsters to “please change your life”, adding: “We pray for you, I am asking you on my knees to convert, it is for your own good.”

Francis delivered his somber, strongly worded attack after the names of all 842 innocent people killed in Italy by the mafia since 1893 were read out at the Church of San Gregorio VII, close to the Vatican.

“This life that you live will not give you joy or happiness,” he said. “Convert, there is time before you finish up in hell, which is what awaits unless you change path,” he said. “You have a father and a mother – think of them and convert.”

Francis singled out in his speech three year old Domenico Petruzzelli who was shot dead with his mother and her partner in a car near Taranto in southern Italy on Monday by mafia gunmen.

Father Don Ciotti, the head of the Libera organisation, which fights the mafia and organised the prayer vigil, called Francis’s presence “a gift”, adding that by showing up, the pope was supporting “all of humanity which is fragile and injured, as well as drawing attention to the mafia, corruption and the many forms of injustice.”

Francis’s repeated call to mafiosi to convert recalled Pope John Paul II’s famous denouncement of the mafia in 1993 during a trip to Sicily when he condemned the mob’s “culture of death” and warned bosses that “the judgement of God will arrive”, unless they converted. Two months later the mafia bombed two churches in Rome.

Stefania Grasso, whose father was shot by the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia in 1989, spoke at the vigil, asking Francis to “look at all of us, see in our eyes the loss of a father, a mother, a son, brother, sister, wife or husband. See in our faces the signs of their absence, but also their courage and their pride in our will to live.”

After his speech, Francis donned a ceremonial garment once worn by Italian priest Father Giuseppe Diana, who was murdered by the Camorra mafia in Naples in 1994.

Some priests in southern Italy are still accused of turning a blind eye to the crimes of devotedly Roman Catholic mobsters who pay fortunes for the upkeep of churches and place themselves at the head of religious parades in small towns.

“The Church has not always given attention to the victims of the mafia and to the phenomenon of organised criminality,” Father Ciotti said in his speech during the vigil.

Grasso said Francis’s decision to attend the vigil could help change things.

“Francis’s presence today was an extraordinary message to his priests in the south of Italy, telling them to choose a courageous path of opposition to the mafia,” she said.

***

Washington's Blog

Anti-Science: Those Who Wish to Debate Climate Threatened with Death or Jail

Washington’s Blog March 24, 2014

Preface: The scientific method requires allowing a free-for-all of hypotheses, which then rise or fall based upon the results of actual experiments.

Image: Global Warming (Wiki Commons).

For example, imprisoning Galileo for life because he didn’t agree with the “accepted” consensus that the Sun revolved around the Earth was not a great example of the scientific method. Instead of conducting experiments to see whether the Earth or Sun were the center of the Solar System, those with the prevailing view simply silenced the dissenter.

Anyone who has studied the history of science knows that many theories that were universally accepted and “known” to be true turned out to be false.

Noam Chomsky said years ago that he would submit to fascism if it would help combat global warming:

Suppose it was discovered tomorrow that the greenhouse effects has been way understimated, and that the catastrophic effects are actually going to set in 10 years from now, and not 100 years from now or something. Well, given the state of the popular movements we have today, we’d probably have a fascist takeover-with everybody agreeing to it, because that would be the only method for survival that anyone could think of. I’d even agree to it, because there’s just no other alternatives right now.”

In 2006, Grist called for Nuremberg-style trials for climate skeptics. (The article was later retracted.)

Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lashed out at global warming skeptics in 2007, declaring “This is treason. And we need to start treating them as traitors.”

In 2007, a UN official – Yvo de Boer – warned that ignoring the urgency of global warming would be “criminally irresponsible.”

The same year, another UN official – UN special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland – said “it’s completely immoral, even, to question” the UN’s scientific consensus on climate.

In 2008, prominent Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki called for government leaders skeptical of global warming to be “thrown into jail.”

The same year, British journalism professor Alex Lockwood said that writers questioning global warming should be banned.

In 2009, a writer at Talking Points Memo advocated that global warming “deniers” be executed or jailed. (He later retracted the threat.)

James Lovelock – environmentalist and creator of the “Gaia hypothesis” – told the Guardian in 2010:

We need a more authoritative world. We’ve become a sort of cheeky, egalitarian world where everyone can have their say. It’s all very well, but there are certain circumstances – a war is a typical example – where you can’t do that. You’ve got to have a few people with authority who you trust who are running it. And they should be very accountable too, of course.

But it can’t happen in a modern democracy. This is one of the problems. What’s the alternative to democracy? There isn’t one. But even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.

Earlier this month, an assistant philosophy professor at Rochester Institute of Technology said he wants to send people who disagree with him about global warming to jail.

And there are many other examples of threats made in regard to the climate debate.

Postscript: If we can’t have free speech and an open scientific debate, then we are no longer living in a democracy or a society which follows the scientific method. Threatening scientific debate is anti-science and anti-liberty.

It is especially troubling given the background of climate discussions. Specifically, in the 1970s, many American scientists were terrified of an imminent ice age. Obama’s top science advisor – John Holdren –was one of them. Holdren and some other scientists proposed pouring soot over the arctic to melt the ice cap and so prevent the dreaded ice age. Holdren warned of dire consequences – including starvation and the largest tidal wave in history – if mankind did not rally on an emergency basis to stop the coming ice age.

Were those who questioned the likelihood of an imminent ice age also threatened with death or imprisonment?

Moreover, it is also concerning that many of the “solutions” proposed to combat a changing climate could do more harm than good (and see this). That’s sort of like invading Iraq after 9/11 because we had to “do” something…

Let’s say that – hypothetically – 100% of all climate scientists reached a consensus that manmade global warming from carbon dioxide was an imminent threat. Shouldn’t we choose approaches that actually work – and which do more good than harm (more) – instead of messing things up even further?

ENENEWS

Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Specialist at Beyond Nuclear, Mar. 18, 2014: [...] now the scientific models are showing the liquid plume in the ocean reaching the shores of North America [...] this is an unprecedented radioactive catastrophe for the world’s oceans. [...] contact every level of representative government that we have and if you live on the west coast, that would certainly include your local and state governments. But the federal government is supposed to be taking care of this matter on behalf of the American people [...] it calls for international involvement, and something to keep in mind is that these discharges did not end on March or April 2011, in fact the discharges to the ocean are a daily occurrence. We are talking 300.000 iters per day of radioactive ground water flowing into the ocean. So, this is an international catastrophe, the oceans do not belong to Japan of course, and so, yes, there should be the best minds and independent monitors sent to Fukushima to try to get the truth as to how bad this is, where [it's] going. [...] seafood contamination is a serious issue especially because of bio-concentration of radioactivity in the food chain and we sit at the top of food chain [...] testing of seafood is essential [...] that needs an urgent priority placed upon it at the federal level.

BLACKLISTED NEWS

NILE RIVER DAM THREATENS WAR BETWEEN EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA

March 23, 2014

Ethiopia is building one of the largest dams in the world, the Grand Millennium Dam (GERD), on the River Nile near the Sudan border. (InternationalRivers.org)

CAIRO - When Egypt’s then-president Mohamed Morsi said in June 2013 that “all options” including military intervention, were on the table if Ethiopia continued to develop dams on the Nile River, many dismissed it as posturing. But experts claim Cairo is deadly serious about defending its historic water allotment, and if Ethiopia proceeds with construction of what is set to become Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, a military strike is not out of the question.

Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia have soured since Ethiopia began construction on the 4.2 billion dollar Grand Renaissance Dam in 2011.

Egypt fears the new dam, slated to begin operation in 2017, will reduce the downstream flow of the Nile, which 85 million Egyptians rely on for almost all of their water needs. Officials in the Ministry of Irrigation claim Egypt will lose 20 to 30 percent of its share of Nile water and nearly a third of the electricity generated by its Aswan High Dam.

Ethiopia insists the Grand Renaissance Dam and its 74 billion cubic meter reservoir at the headwaters of the Blue Nile will have no adverse effect on Egypt’s water share. It hopes the 6,000 megawatt hydroelectric project will lead to energy self-sufficiency and catapult the country out of grinding poverty.

“Egypt sees its Nile water share as a matter of national security,” strategic analyst Ahmed Abdel Halim tells IPS. “To Ethiopia, the new dam is a source of national pride, and essential to its economic future.”

The dispute has heated up since Ethiopia began diverting a stretch of the Nile last May, with some Egyptian parliamentarians calling for sending commandos or arming local insurgents to sabotage the dam project unless Ethiopia halts construction.

Ethiopia’s state-run television responded last month with a report on a visit to the site by army commanders, who voiced their readiness to “pay the price” to defend the partially-built hydro project.

Citing a pair of colonial-era treaties, Egypt argues that it is entitled to no less than two-thirds of the Nile’s water and has veto power over any upstream water projects such as dams or irrigation networks.

Accords drawn up by the British in 1929 and amended in 1959 divvied up the Nile’s waters between Egypt and Sudan without ever consulting the upstream states that were the source of those waters.

The 1959 agreement awarded Egypt 55.5 billion cubic meters of the Nile’s 84 billion cubic meter average annual flow, while Sudan received 18.5 billion cubic meters. Another 10 billion cubic meters is lost to evaporation in Lake Nasser, which was created by Egypt’s Aswan High Dam in the 1970s, leaving barely a drop for the nine other states that share the Nile’s waters.

While the treaty’s water allocations appear gravely unfair to upstream Nile states, analysts point out that unlike the mountainous equatorial nations, which have alternative sources of water, the desert countries of Egypt and Sudan rely almost entirely on the Nile for their water needs.

“One reason for the high level of anxiety is that nobody really knows how this dam is going to affect Egypt’s water share,” Richard Tutwiler, a specialist in water resource management at the American University in Cairo (AUC), tells IPS. “Egypt is totally dependent on the Nile. Without it, there is no Egypt.”

Egypt’s concerns appear warranted as its per capita water share is just 660 cubic meters, among the world’s lowest. The country’s population is forecast to double in the next 50 years, putting even further strain on scarce water resources.

But upstream African nations have their own growing populations to feed, and the thought of tapping the Nile for their agriculture or drinking water needs is all too tempting.

The desire for a more equitable distribution of Nile water rights resulted in the 2010 Entebbe Agreement, which replaces water quotas with a clause that permits all activities provided they do not “significantly” impact the water security of other Nile Basin states. Five upstream countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda – signed the accord. Burundi signed a year later.

Egypt rejected the new treaty outright. But after decades of wielding its political clout to quash the water projects of its impoverished upstream neighbors, Cairo now finds itself in the uncomfortable position of watching its mastery over the Nile’s waters slip through its fingers.

“Ethiopia’s move was unprecedented. Never before has an upstream state unilaterally built a dam without downstream approval,” Ayman Shabaana of the Cairo-based Institute for Africa Studies had told IPS last June. “If other upstream countries follow suit, Egypt will have a serious water emergency on its hands.”

Ethiopia has sought to assure its downstream neighbors that the Grand Renaissance Dam is a hydroelectric project, not an irrigation scheme. But the dam is part of a broader scheme that would see at least three more dams on the Nile.

Cairo has dubbed the proposal “provocative”.

Egypt has appealed to international bodies to force Ethiopia to halt construction of the dam until its downstream impact can be determined. And while officials here hope for a diplomatic solution to diffuse the crisis, security sources say Egypt’s military leadership is prepared to use force to protect its stake in the river.

Former president Hosni Mubarak floated plans for an air strike on any dam that Ethiopia built on the Nile, and in 2010 established an airbase in southeastern Sudan as a staging point for just such an operation, according to leaked emails from the global intelligence company Stratfor posted on Wikileaks.

Egypt’s position was weakened in 2012 when Sudan, its traditional ally on Nile water issues, rescinded its opposition to the Grand Renaissance Dam and instead threw its weight behind the project. Analysts attribute Khartoum’s change of heart to the country’s revised domestic priorities following the secession of South Sudan a year earlier.

According to AUC’s Tutwiler, once Sudan felt assured that the dam would have minimal impact on its water allotment, the mega-project’s other benefits became clear. The dam is expected to improve flood control, expand downstream irrigation capacity and, crucially, allow Ethiopia to export surplus electricity to power-hungry Sudan via a cross-border link.

Some studies indicate that properly managed hydroelectric dams in Ethiopia could mitigate damaging floods and increase Egypt’s overall water share. Storing water in the cooler climes of Ethiopia would ensure far less water is lost to evaporation than in the desert behind the Aswan High Dam.

Egypt, however, is particularly concerned about the loss of water share during the five to ten years it will take to fill the dam’s reservoir. Tutwiler says it is unlikely that Ethiopia will severely choke or stop the flow of water.

Houseboats line the Nile bank in Cairo. Some 85 million Egyptians depend on the Nile for water. (Cam McGrath/IPS)

***

Huffington Post

Nun Rocks It On Italy's 'The Voice' Singing Competition And No One Can Believe It: Sister Cristina Scuccia Wows

The Huffington Post |by Yasmine Hafiz

Posted: 03/20/2014 6:01 pm EDT Updated: 03/21/2014 1:59 pm EDT

Sister sister! You've never seen a nun shut it down like this one.

The judges of singing competition "The Voice of Italy" couldn't believe their ears when they heard Sister Cristina Scuccia belting out Alicia Keys' "No One," but they were in for a greater shock when they saw what Scuccia looked like.

Judges begin the show with their backs to the stage, and if they like what they hear they can swivel their chairs around-- but none of them were prepared for the sight of 25-year-old Scuccia, a member of the Ursuline Sisters of the Holy Family, delivering a jaw-droppingly good performance in her black habit and silver cross. As the crowd cheered, her fellow sisters jumped up and down in delight.

The shocked and impressed judges asked her if she was really a nun, to which she replied, "Yes, I am truly, truly, a sister."

A native of Sicily, she arrived at the show accompanied by four sisters from her community as well as her parents. “I came here because I have a gift and I want to share that gift. I am here to evangelize,” she said, reports Catholic News Agency.

"If I had found you at Mass I would always be in church," said J-Ax, an Italian rapper who is one of the judges. "You and me are like the devil and holy water."

She trended on Twitter after her unbelievable performance, with many Italians showing their love for "#suorcristina."

The judges asked her what the Vatican would think of her singing, to which she replied, "I hope that Pope Francis will call me now," according to NY Daily News.

We can't wait to see more of this sister act!

***

Until next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions

“Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”

(Psalm 144:15)