A massive sandstorm that enveloped much of the Middle East on Tuesday sent Jeddah into total darkness at 6 p.m.
The storm lasted for 40 minutes with sand-laden winds so ferocious that one could hear the rattling of windows in many neighborhoods. . .
“It all happened in a matter of minutes,” said Sadiya Haneef, a resident of Al-Sulaimaniya district. “I could see from my balcony a mushroom-like apparition on the horizon. I thought it was smoke billowing from a faraway district,” she said. Soon it was clear to her that it was a sandstorm. “I had to literally struggle to close the door to my balcony. The gusty winds had sent everything into darkness,” she said.
The experience in another neighborhood was equally bad. “My mother noticed dark clouds when she was seeing off my sister for evening classes,” said 13-year-old Mohammed Tareq. “Within minutes, everything was hazy in Al-Aziziyah district and there was literally no visibility. It was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever experienced. It seemed apocalyptic”. . .
Large parts of Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Cyprus were shrouded in a thick cloud of dust from the storm that began sweeping into the region on Monday. (Read more from “”Apocalyptic” Dust Storm Covers Much of the Middle East” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:50:452015-09-08 21:50:45“Apocalyptic” Dust Storm Covers Much of the Middle East
Over the past nine months, the Marine Corps tested a gender-integrated task force in both Twentynine Palms, Calif. and Camp Lejeune, N.C. in an attempt to gauge what the Marine Corps might look like with women in combat roles.
According to a recent report in the Marine Corps Times, only a small number of women were left by the experiment’s conclusion — two of the roughly two dozen that started — mostly in part because of the physical and mental stress that comes with combat roles. Both the men and women in the task force also reported a breakdown in unit cohesion with some voicing a perceived unequal treatment from their peers.
The experiment comes as all branches of the military face a Jan. 1, 2016 deadline to open all combat positions to women — from basic infantry battalions to elite special operations units such as U.S. Navy SEALs. While branches like the Air Force and Navy have relatively small communities where women are currently barred from serving — namely special operations detachment s— the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have a host of units and jobs closed to woman. These jobs, known as combat arms, include infantry, artillery and armored divisions.
The gender-integrated Ground Combat Element Task Force served as a snapshot of sorts of what the Marine Corps might look like if women were a staple in combat positions. Each closed position was represented: infantry, artillery and mechanized units, such as tank platoons and light armored reconnaissance detachments, all operated in tandem with one another. The women were spread among them in ratios that would be expected in an integrated Marine Corps, with roughly 90 percent of the branch made up of men.
The nine-month exercise was broken down into two parts. Initially there was a four-month training period, or “work-up,” at Camp Lejeune, followed by a five month “deployment” to the Mojave Desert in Twentynine Palms. Certain elements of the task force also participated in training at Camp Pendleton, and mountain warfare in Bridgeport, Calif. This two semester cycle was common over the past 15 years. During the height of the Iraq War, it was common that Marine units would train for six to eight months and then deploy for a similar amount of time. (Read more from “Marine Corps’ Women-In-Combat Experiment Gets Mixed Results” HERE)
As Congress prepares to vote on the Iran nuclear agreement, public support for the deal has declined. Currently, just 21% approve of the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program reached between the United States, Iran and other nations. Nearly half (49%) disapprove of the agreement, while three-in-ten (30%) offer no opinion.
In mid-July, a week after President Obama announced the deal, 33% of the public approved of the agreement, while 45% disapproved and 22% had no opinion. Over the past six weeks, the share approving of the agreement has fallen 12 percentage points (from 33% to 21%), while disapproval has held fairly steady (45% then, 49% now). Somewhat more express no opinion than did so in July (22% then, 30% now).
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Sept. 3-7 among 1,004 adults, finds that the contentious debate over the Iran agreement has not resonated widely with the public. In fact, the share saying they have heard either a lot or a little about the agreement has declined from 79% in July to 69% in the new survey. The share saying they have heard “nothing at all” about it has increased nine percentage points, from 21% to 30%.
Republicans are far more likely than Democrats or independents to say they have heard about the agreement, and these differences have widened since July. Today, 86% of Republicans, 69% of Democrats and 63% of independents have heard at least a little about the nuclear agreement. Since July, the percentage of Republicans who say they are aware of the agreement is unchanged (84% then) while declining nine percentage points among Democrats (78% to 69%) and 14 points among independents (77% to 63%).
While the partisan divide over the nuclear agreement remains substantial, support for the deal has slipped across the board since July. Currently, 42% of Democrats approve of the agreement, while 29% disapprove and an identical percentage has no opinion. In July, 50% of Democrats approved, 27% disapproved and 22% had no opinion. (Read more from “Support for Iran Nuclear Agreement Falls” HERE)
By Stephanie Nebehay. At least 850,000 people are expected to cross the Mediterranean seeking refuge in Europe this year and next, the United Nations said on Tuesday, giving estimates that already look conservative.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR called for more cohesive asylum policies to deal with the growing numbers.
Many are refugees from Syria, driven to make the voyage by intensified fighting there and worsening conditions for refugees in surrounding countries due to funding shortfalls in aid programs, UNHCR said.
“In 2015, UNHCR anticipates that approximately 400,000 new arrivals will seek international protection in Europe via the Mediterranean. In 2016 this number could reach 450,000 or more,” it said in an appeal document.
Spokesman William Spindler said the prediction for this year was close to being fulfilled, with 366,000 having already made the voyage. The total will depend on whether migrants stop attempting the journey as the weather gets colder and the seas more perilous. (Read more from “U.N. Says 850,000 Refugees to Cross Sea to Europe in 2015 and 2016” HERE)
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A New Wave of Migrants Flees Iraq, Yearning for Europe
By Tim Arango. Having sold his car for $4,600, and then some of his wife’s jewelry, and having loaded his smartphone with photographs of his five children, all that was left for Haider Abdella to do was say goodbye.
“From yesterday to today, we are crying,” he said.
His mother sat next to him on the couch, sobbing. “He’s never left me before, from when he was a child until now,” she said. “How can I bear him leaving?”
Mr. Abdella, 42, a police officer, had never left Iraq — never even seen the sea. But last week, he was on a plane to Istanbul, and from there traveled to the coastal resort city of Izmir, Turkey. A day later, he was on a smuggler’s boat to Greece, crying and praying over the phone with his family left behind in Baghdad. By the weekend, he told them, he was well on his way to Germany.
Emboldened by the recent wave of news coverage showing their countrymen and fellow Arabs fleeing the war in Syria and reaching Europe, many Iraqis see a new opportunity to get out. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:47:212015-09-08 21:47:21U.N. Says 850,000 Refugees to Cross Sea to Europe in 2015 and 2016
As police patrol Aurora, Colo., this week, they do so wondering who among the people they see is the caller who used the 911 emergency line Sunday to issue threats against police.
“It’s time that you guys know we are no longer playing around with the police departments. Aurora and Denver, we are about to start striking fear shooting down all cops that we see by their selves,” said the caller. “This will go for the sheriff’s department. You guys are evicting innocent people. Let us catch you by yourself and it’s shots fired.”
A warning sent to Denver-area law enforcement agencies on Monday said the caller was using a disconnected Cricket cell phone. The male caller appeared to be attempting to disguise his voice, or may have used a recording, the warning said.
Four hours after the chilling call, Aurora officers were called to a scene, then shot at. It remained unclear Tuesday whether the incidents were related.
“Because of that, we are vigilant in what we do,” Aurora Police Association President Bob Wesner said. “Officers will be riding two people to a car so that we can keep officers safe on the street.”
“I’m not surprised by the call. People make threats to police all the time, but very rarely do we get anything involving folks wanting to shoot at the police,” Wesner said. (Read more from “Listen to the Bone-Chilling 911 Call That Has Police in One State on High Alert” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:45:432015-09-08 21:45:43Listen to the Bone-Chilling 911 Call That Has Police in One State on High Alert [+video]
Like the Union troops hunkered at Fort Sumter, faithful Christians are now exiles in our own land, and under fire. Anti-Christian “progressives” have demanded unconditional surrender, and federal Judge David Bunning has fired the first mortar round.
[When I wrote this], a soft-spoken and well-respected civil servant of 27 years [sat] languishing, like some violent criminal, in a Kentucky prison. She [was] confined, indefinitely and without benefit of a trial, to a tiny cell. She [was] a political prisoner in a moral and spiritual war.
Like so many accidental civil-rights heroes that came before her, Davis, a Democrat who was overwhelmingly elected as Rowan County clerk, has peacefully and graciously refused to violate her Christian conscience. She has declined to sign her name to marriage certificates that defy God’s natural design for the timeless institution and has requested, as a simple accommodation, that either her name be removed from the marriage licenses, thus eliminating her personalized acquiescence to the Supreme Court’s novel attempt to usurp God’s authority and redefine this cornerstone institution, or, alternatively, “to allow licenses to be issued by the chief executive of Rowan County or [by] developing a statewide, online marriage license process.”
That’s it. Simple, reasonable and fair. Our nation has a rich history of respecting the rights of conscientious objectors, and Kim Davis, like tens-of-millions of her brothers and sisters in Christ, is exactly that.
“There is absolutely no reason that this case has gone so far without reasonable people respecting and accommodating Kim Davis’ First Amendment rights,” said Mat Staver, Davis’ attorney and head of Liberty Counsel, a Christian civil rights organization.
“This is a heaven or hell issue for me and for every other Christian that believes,” Davis said on Thursday. “This is a fight worth fighting. … I’ve weighed the cost and I’m prepared to go to jail.”
And so she has.
Reasonable people can disagree on the propriety of Kim’s actions. Some say that she was right in refusing to violate her conscience by signing her name to a legal document that presumes to solemnize that which God condemns. Still others say that she needs to either “do her job” or resign — that she took an oath and is violating that oath.
Nevertheless, all reasonable people must agree that imprisoning this innocent woman for her conscience is both an outrage and gross violation of her constitutional liberties. Even the ACLU thought it was a bridge too far. The fact remains that people don’t shed their First Amendment rights when they become government employees. Kim Davis swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution, the Kentucky Constitution and the laws of the Bluegrass state. When she took her oath, United States law, the Kentucky Constitution and the Kentucky Revised Statutes all reflected the millennia-old definition of natural marriage: “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky.”
The Kentucky Legislature has yet to change this law one jot or tittle. Instead, five lawyers in Washington, D.C., issued an opinion presuming to move the goalposts mid-game. Court opinions are not “the law of the land.” Judges don’t make laws — only the legislature can do that. Kim Davis is not defying the law; she is upholding it as codified.
Accordingly, she has repeatedly asked, “Under what law am I authorized to issue homosexual couples a marriage license?”
Neither Judge Bunning nor anyone else can answer.
Because no such law exists.
In a statement on Friday, Mat Staver made the same point: “Not long ago 75 percent of Kentuckians passed the state’s marriage amendment. Today a Christian is imprisoned for believing what the voters affirmed: marriage is between a man and a woman. Five people on the Supreme Court imposed their will on 320 million Americans and unleashed a torrent of assaults against people of faith. Kim Davis is the first victim of this tragedy.”
Indeed, many scoffed at our warnings that Christians will someday be forced to either endorse “gay marriage” or go to jail. Well, scoff no more. That day has arrived. In just two months since the high court’s disgraceful Obergefell v. Hodges opinion, the full-on criminalization of Christianity has begun. You must either bow a knee before the false gods of same-sex “marriage” and “gay rights,” or face the fiery “contempt of court” furnace. We have moved from anecdotal instances of anti-Christian discrimination to systemic religious persecution.
Here’s the formula: 1) The government affirms homosexual behavior, abortion or some other institutionalized sin via judicial fiat; 2) Christian objects, refuses to disobey God and requests a reasonable religious accommodation; 3) The government denies the accommodation and jails the Christian for “contempt of court.”
You’re going to hear that term “contempt of court” a lot in coming days. It’s the straw man charge that will be utilized to imprison not just Christian public officials, but private citizens as well. Christian business owners, lawyers, private sector employees, parents of school-age children who don’t want their children indoctrinated by sexual anarchist propaganda and many others will be held in contempt of court, denied due process and incarcerated indefinitely.
The persecution isn’t coming. The persecution has arrived.
And that’s what it means to be a Christ follower.
Pray for a million more like Kim Davis. Is she perfect? Certainly not. None of us is. Indeed, before Kim’s transformational Christian re-birth four years ago, she was thrice divorced and “played in the devil’s playground” for much of her life.
She was lost. But now she’s found. God has an amazing way of taking empty, broken vessels, rebuilding their lives and then using them mightily for His glory and honor.
Stand, like Kim, fearlessly, lovingly and boldly for Christ, declaring, as did the apostles when faced with a similar decision, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (see Acts 5:29).
Indeed, as the Bible’s Daniel, a “public official,” boldly refused to disobey God and commit sin by worshiping a pagan king, so too has Kim Davis honored our Lord by refusing to bow before a pagan court – by refusing to call evil good and good evil.
They wanted to make an example of her. Instead, they made a martyr of her.
And awakened a sleeping giant in the process. (For more from the author of “Needed: A Million More Like Kim Davis” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:44:392015-09-08 21:44:39Needed: A Million More Like Kim Davis
Sarah Palin wants Ohio Gov. John Kasich to take a stand on a bill currently being debated in his state that would ban abortion in cases where the fetus is diagnosed with Down syndrome.
“I don’t think because the child has one extra chromosome they should be able to snuff that life out,” Palin told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Sunday on “State of the Union” . . .
“There is some fear there of the unknown,” Palin said. “Certainly, there was fear in my heart about how in the world are we going to be able to handle the challenges up ahead, not necessarily thinking of the beauty that could come from a child being different, being unique.”
Between 60% and 90% of prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis result in abortion, according to a review of termination rates in the United States between 1995 and 2011 conducted by the International Society for Prenatal Diagnosis. On Sunday, Palin blamed cultural acceptance for the prevalence of abortions in such cases . . .
Palin’s comments come as the Ohio legislature considers a bill that would prohibit abortions in cases involving Down syndrome. Kasich, a 2016 presidential hopeful who opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to preserve the life of the mother, has not yet commented on the bill. (Read more from “Palin: Down Syndrome Is No Reason for Abortion” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:43:552015-09-08 21:43:55Palin: Down Syndrome Is No Reason for Abortion
Armed drones could be used by police in the US state of North Dakota after local lawmakers legalized their use.
While they will be limited to “less than lethal” weapons, tear gas, tasers, rubber bullets and pepper spray could all be used in theory by the remote controlled flying machines.
In a classic case of unintended consequences, the original sponsor, Republican state representative Rick Becker said he was unhappy with the way legislation turned out.
His original intention was to prevent law enforcement officials from using the unmanned aerial vehicles from conducting surveillance on private property without a warrant . . .
The original draft of the House Bill 1328 said: “A state agency may not authorize the use of, including granting a permit to use, an unmanned aircraft armed with any lethal or non-lethal weapons, including firearms, pepper spray, bean bag guns, mace, and sound-based weapons.” (Read more from “Here Is the First State to Legalize the Use of Armed Drones by Police” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:42:232015-09-08 21:42:23Here Is the First State to Legalize the Use of Armed Drones by Police
Rejoice, asthmatics, paranoiacs and even the merely sun-conscious! Soon there may be a wearable just for you.
Australian engineers are working on patches that can detect all sorts of environmental hazards, like UV radiation and toxic gas. Stretchy and transparent, the sensors would stick to the skin, like a nicotine patch, or be sewn into clothing. From there, they’d send you a smartphone alert to seek shade when the sun’s UV rays are too strong or when pollution levels get too high. And then the data could be uploaded to a cloud-based monitoring system to flag environmental no-go zones. “We’ve shown in the lab they work,” says Philipp Gutruf, who led the research at RMIT University in Melbourne.
Besides potentially preventing skin cancer, lung cancer, asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, the invention could save lives from gas leaks that sometimes occur in mines and power plants, the RMIT University engineers say. Although such places already have portable gas detection systems, they’re clunky — about the size of a shoe box. A sensor stitched into workers’ uniforms would be more user friendly. And by using zinc oxide, which can detect gas at room temperature, the Australian engineers got a side benefit: The metal can measure UV radiation too.
The first test: the sensor’s ability to detect hydrogen — a colorless, odorless gas that can explode if left to leak — and nitrogen dioxide, a brownish gas that contributes to smog. The engineers then measured its resistance to an electric current. As expected, the sensor’s resistance changed depending on whether it detected hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide or UV light. What’s more, the stretchy sensor beat out its stiff counterparts in speed and sensitivity. (Read more from “Here Come the Wearables That Aim to Save Your Life” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:41:392015-09-08 21:41:39Here Come the Wearables That Aim to Save Your Life
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is to be released from jail in Grayson, Kentucky, a judge ordered today, nearly a week after Davis was jailed for refusing a judge’s order to issue marriage licenses, including to same-sex couples.
“After remanding Defendant Davis to the custody of the U.S. Marshal, five of her six deputy clerks stated under oath that they would comply with the Court’s Order and issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples,” an order issued by U.S. District Judge David Bunning said.
“On September 8, 2015, Plaintiffs filed a Status Report at the Court’s behest. According to the Report, Plaintiffs have obtained marriage licenses from the Rowan County Clerk’s Office,” the order noted. “The Court is therefore satisfied that the clerk’s office is fulfilling its obligation to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.”
Over the weekend, Liberty Counsel, which represents Davis, filed an appeal of Bunning’s contempt order with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Today, Liberty Counsel filed an emergency motion to have Davis released from jail.
“She can never recover the past six days of her life spent in an isolated jail cell, where she was incarcerated like a common criminal because of her conscience and religious convictions,” Davis’ attorney, Mat Staver, said in a statement today. “She is now free to return to her family, her coworkers and the office where she has faithfully served for the past 27 years. We will continue to assist Kim and pursue the multiple appeals she has filed.” (Read more from “Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Set to Be Released From Jail” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:38:002015-09-08 21:38:00Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Released From Jail
A massive sandstorm that enveloped much of the Middle East on Tuesday sent Jeddah into total darkness at 6 p.m.
