Military Training Drills Resume in Preparation for Martial Law
Competitive Outcomes,an organization training young military recruits from the JROTC, ROTC, cadet programs, foreign militaries and police and fire departments are conducting customized drill training exercises, seminars and providing manuals in 2013 in Marietta, Georgia; Los Angeles and San Diego, California. They work with the US Navy, armed and unarmed divisions of ROTC and JROTC; as well as the Air Force.
Recently black hawk helicopters flew across the skies in Miami, Florida in a joint drill exercise between the US Military and local police. Traffic was blocked off on major streets. Military personnel claimed that the exercises were in preparation for overseas combat missions. However the sound of gunfire could be heard as locals were alarmed.
The Miami-Dade County Police Department said in a statement that this was “routine” and “designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments, prepare forces for upcoming overseas deployments and meet mandatory certification requirement.”Story at Occupy Corporatism
US January Jobs Report 2013: Unemployment Rate To Hold Steady; Payrolls To Show Steady Growth
IBTimes – The U.S. labor market likely started the new year on an upbeat note, but this month’s job growth probably won’t be strong enough to put much of a dent in the stubbornly high unemployment rate, economists said in anticipation of the January nonfarm payrolls report due Friday. Meanwhile, the annual benchmark revision may show that payrolls rose by more than currently believed last year.
“We started the year on a pretty solid footing,” Steve Blitz, chief economist at ITG Investment Research, said. “I think the report is going to be a little bit better than what most people think.”...More
Is This Coke Ad Racist? Arab-American Groups Slam Super Bowl Commercial [VIDEO]
A Super Bowl 2013 Coca-Cola commercial was described as racist by Arab-American groups. But is the new Coke ad racist or just plain dumb?
Whatever your opinion of the Coke ad in question, it’s causing quite a controversy, and one Arab-American advocacy group asked the company to change the ad before Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.more at ITimes
Is Al-Qaeda Still A Global Threat?
Ibtimes - Al-Qaeda is re-emerging as a formidable fighting force in Mali and other unstable countries. But is the threat of terrorism contained?
With a video camera rolling straight ahead and the black flag of al-Qaeda behind him, a one-eyed jihadist and cigarette smuggler named Mokhtar Belmokhtar spelled out his vision for the future of Islamist militancy on a global scale.
It was Jan. 17, during the four-day hostage crisis at a gas plant in the deserts of eastern Algeria, where workers of various nationalities were held hostage until national forces retook the facility. Up to 85 people died in the bloody showdown.
The video, released by the Mauritanian news outlet Sahara Media, marked a new phase in the conflict that’s still raging in the northern reaches of the West African country of Mali. There, Islamist insurgents had established a haven for militants — an unprecedented feat after years of sporadic clashes. At the request of the Malian central government, French forces swooped in with airstrikes and combat troops on Jan. 11…...More
BREAKING NEWS: Senate Approves House Plan to Suspend Debt Ceiling
In a 64-34 vote, the Senate has approved a plan to suspend the debt ceiling, as well as congressional pay if a budget is not produced, sending bill to the President’s desk.
WASHINGTON – Congress passed must-do legislation Thursday to permit the government to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars more to meet its obligations, averting a first-ever government default that had loomed as early as mid-February.
The 64-34 vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate sent the measure to President Obama, who has said he will sign it. The Republican-led House passed the legislation last week.
The legislation would temporarily suspend the $16.4 trillion limit on federal borrowing, which experts say would allow the government to borrow about $450 billion to meet interest payments and obligations like Social Security benefits and government salaries. Fox News
US warns Damascus against transferring arms to Hezbollah
Deputy national security adviser says threats by Iran prove it’s worried about Assad’s regime falling; Syria complains to UN chief over Israeli ‘aggression’
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, left, speaks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, upon their arrival for a dinner, Damascus, 2010 (photo credit: AP Photo/SANA)
Times of Israel – The White House on Thursday warned the Syrian government against transferring arms to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror organization.
“Syria should not further destabilize the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah,” said Ben Rhodes, a US deputy national security adviser.
On Wednesday, Damascus said Israeli planes struck a “research facility” northwest of the Syrian capital. The accusation came after reports from foreign news sources earlier in the day claimed Israel hit a weapons convoy near the Syria-Lebanon border that was transferring arms to Hezbollah.
The Syrian military denied there was any weapons convoy and said low-flying Israeli jets had crossed into its country over the Israeli-held Golan Heights to bomb a scientific research center near Damascus…..More
US official: Israel notified us about Syria attack
Times of Israel – IAF warplanes reportedly hit convoy carrying anti-aircraft weaponry en route to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon; regime claims jets targeted research facility.
US officials told the New York Times on Wednesday that Israel notified the United States about an airstrike it carried out overnight Tuesday near the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The officials said that they believed the target of the strike was a convoy carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry intended to reach Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
An unnamed Western official told the Wall Street Journal that the convoy was carrying sophisticated SA-17 anti-aircraft weapons….More
Iran threatens ‘grave consequences’ for Israel after Syria strike
A missile displayed during a military parade outside Tehran. Iran has continued to buy weaponry despite sanctions. (photo credit: AP/Vahid Salemi)
Times of Israel – Damascus says attacks will not go unanswered, as Tehran joins Russia and Arab world in condemning reported Israeli attack on weapons convoy or research site
Syria added that the attacks “would not go unanswered.”…..More
SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS: Record-setting asteroid to shave past Earth next month
An asteroid about half the size of a football field will zoom past Earth on Feb. 15, closer than the man-made satellites that power GPS, says NASA. “This is a record-setting close approach,” Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at JPL said in a video released by NASA this week. Yeomans, however, emphasized that the asteroid, designated 2012DA14, won’t hit Earth.
DEVELOPING: Russia slams Israeli attack on Syria. US forces in Jordan on alert
The Syrian announcement of an Israeli air strike on a military site near Damascus Wednesday, Jan. 30, drew strong condemnation from Moscow the next day: “Such action if confirmed would amount to unacceptable military interference in the war-ravaged country,” said the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry Thursday. “If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violate the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”
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