For Israel, droughts go down the drain | The Times of Israel

For Israel, droughts go down the drain | The Times of Israel: After years of constantly being urged to conserve water, the National Water Authority announced Tuesday that Israelis no longer need to fear droughts and that the country’s water worries are essentially over.

The solution for the longstanding problem comes not from the clouds, which have provided generous amounts of rainfall this winter, but primarily from the sea — and the desalination technology that enables transforming its waters into something you can drink.

Study: New E15 gas can ruin auto engines | WashingtonExaminer.com

Study: New E15 gas can ruin auto engines | WashingtonExaminer.com: The fuel industry's American Petroleum Institute tested the 15 percent ethanol gas approved in 2010 and found it gums up fuel systems, prompts "check engine" lights to come on, and messes with fuel gauge readings.

"Failure of these components could result in breakdowns that leave consumers stranded on busy roads and highways," said the industry report. Worse: API said the fuel problems--not found in E5 or E10 blends--aren't always covered by auto warranties.

Navy cuts up $277M minesweeper | Washington Free Beacon

Navy cuts up $277M minesweeper | Washington Free Beacon: The $277 million USS Guardian, a Naval warship that clears waterways of mines, crashed into a coral reef near the Philippines earlier this month.

The Navy will disassemble it piece by piece in order to avoid damaging the reef rather than tow the multi-million dollar ship off of the reef and perform necessary repairs.

Syria fears send gas mask demand north | The Times of Israel

Syria fears send gas mask demand north | The Times of Israel: Postal officials reported a significant increase in demand for gas masks and other protective gear Wednesday, as fears of Syrian chemical weapons being turned against Israel ramped up.

Statistics showed that on Tuesday, almost three times the average number of citizens came to distribution centers across the country to receive gas masks.

Report: Israel Attacks Arms Convoy on Lebanon-Syria Border

Report: Israel Attacks Arms Convoy on Lebanon-Syria Border: According to Reuters, a "Western diplomat and security sources" said Israel attacked a convoy which may have contained chemical or conventional weapons.

New details surface on Iran nuclear explosion

New details surface on Iran nuclear explosion: Approximately two hours after the explosions, counterintelligence agents arrived and, after interviewing personnel and reviewing tapes, initially concluded that explosives may have been placed in ceiling lamps with some kind of trigger mechanism controlled by a power voltage frequency.
The last images show eight personnel in anti-radiation clothing trying desperately to secure one of the rooms.

The regime believes the technology used with the explosives is unknown to their forces, the source said.

Sunday Times Posts Cartoon of Netanyahu Using Blood Libel

Sunday Times Posts Cartoon of Netanyahu Using Blood Libel: The Sunday Times, a British paper, posted a vile and demented cartoon that accuses Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, of building a wall “cementing peace” using the blood of Palestinians, thus perpetuating the centuries-old “blood libel” that has been cast against Jews.

San Diego top cop boasts 'we broke the NRA' as some chiefs aim for gun control | WashingtonGuardian

San Diego top cop boasts 'we broke the NRA' as some chiefs aim for gun control | WashingtonGuardian: Lawmakers and mayors aren’t the only ones ratcheting up the debate on gun control. Some big city police chiefs are also stepping into the political arena, lobbying for tighter controls that they and their officers would then enforce.

Take for instance San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne, who in an interview last week called for tougher gun laws and clearly chafed at the influence the National Rifle Association has held for years over the national debate.

Boy Scouts close to ending ban on gay members, leaders - U.S. News

Boy Scouts close to ending ban on gay members, leaders - U.S. News: The Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s largest private youth organizations, is actively considering an end to its decades-long policy of banning gay scouts or scout leaders, according to scouting officials and outsiders familiar with internal discussions.

Israel warns of possible pre-emptive chemical weapons strike in Syria - CBS News

Israel warns of possible pre-emptive chemical weapons strike in Syria - CBS News
Israel could launch a pre-emptive strike to stop Syria's chemical weapons from reaching Lebanon's Hezbollah or al Qaeda inspired groups, officials said Sunday.

The warning came as the military moved a rocket defense system to a main northern city, and Israel's premier warned of dangers from both Syria and Iran.

Why Is Obama Bragging About Egypt? � Commentary Magazine

Why Is Obama Bragging About Egypt? � Commentary Magazine
Let me get this straight. President Obama is not merely bragging about a conflict in Libya that led to chaos not only in that country that produced the murders of four Americans including our ambassador. He is also saying that he thinks he positively impacted the outcome of the power struggle in Egypt over the last two years and actually thinks his “leadership” helped create a situation about which we are happy. So what he’s telling us is that he’s not merely pleased with what he did or didn’t do, but that he thinks the current situation in Cairo in which the most populous Arab country is now run by a Muslim Brotherhood government led by a raving anti-Semite is a good thing about which he can brag on national TV.

Ariel Sharon undergoes brain scan | The Times of Israel

Ariel Sharon undergoes brain scan | The Times of Israel: Israeli media report the scan seeks to determine if Sharon’s condition can be improved. Hospital officials would not comment on that claim.

Sabotage! Key Iranian nuclear facility hit?

Sabotage! Key Iranian nuclear facility hit?: According to a source in the security forces protecting Fordow, an explosion on Monday at 11:30 a.m. Tehran time rocked the site, which is buried deep under a mountain and immune not only to airstrikes but to most bunker-buster bombs. The report of the blast came via Hamidreza Zakeri, formerly with the Islamic regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security,

Obama Administration Abandons Israel to UN Witch Hunt

Obama Administration Abandons Israel to UN Witch Hunt: Although Israel is required as a member of the UN to undergo Universal Periodic Reviews of its human rights record, it cut all ties with the 47-member HRC in March of 2012 over condemnation of Israeli community development beyond the Green Line.

The Obama Administration wants Israel to submit to the inevitable public censure it will receive from the HRC. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, the U.S. representative to the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva, said, "We have encouraged the Israelis to come to the council and to tell their story and to present their own narrative of their own human rights situation."

Bye-Bye London

Bye-Bye London: I live in a mildly anti-Semitic country, and Europe is mildly anti-Semitic, and they hold Israel to a higher moral standard than its neighbors. If you bring up Israel in a public meeting in England, the whole atmosphere changes. The standard left-wing person never feels more comfortable than when attacking Israel. Because they are the only foreigners you can attack. Everyone else is protected by having dark skin, or colonial history, or something. But you can attack Israel. And the atmosphere becomes very unpleasant. It is traditional, snobbish, British anti-Semitism combined with present-day circumstances.

A couple of impressions I took away from the experience: First, I can say without hesitation that I hope never to return to Britain. I actually don’t see any point. Jews are targeted by massive anti-Semitism of both the social and physical varieties. Why would anyone Jewish want to live there?

I want to note that the audience was made up of upper crust, wealthy British people, not unwashed rabble rousers. And yet they behaved in many respects like a mob when presented with pro-Israel positions.

State Department refuses to delay F-16 Delivery to Egypt | Washington Free Beacon

State Department refuses to delay F-16 Delivery to Egypt | Washington Free Beacon: “Sixteen F-16s and 200 Abrams tanks are to be given to the Egyptian government before the end of the year under a foreign aid deal signed in 2010 with then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,” Fox News reported Tuesday.

Israel's 'Recount': Dead Heat Awaits Absentee, Military Votes

Israel's 'Recount': Dead Heat Awaits Absentee, Military Votes  
Netanyahu has already invited Lapid to join his government, which would bring him to 50 seats. With either the conservative "Jewish Home" party, or the religious Shas party, Netanyahu could add another 11 seats. However, Lapid would prefer to sit in government with another center-left party, and may refuse to make the compromises necessary to form a coalition with Shas. The Labor party, which came in third with 15 seats, would likely refuse to join Netanyahu and is in fact trying to build a coalition that can unseat him.

Israeli parliament set for record influx of Orthodox lawmakers | Reuters

Israeli parliament set for record influx of Orthodox lawmakers | Reuters: Opinion polls predict that religious politicians will end up with a record 40 of parliament's 120 seats after Tuesday's vote, compared with 25 in the outgoing assembly elected in 2009. Two decades ago only a score of lawmakers were religiously Orthodox.

While some Israelis rejoice, some in the secular majority fear the trend may alter the identity of a nation which has never marked out the troublesome boundaries between religion and state - and which also has a substantial Arab Muslim minority.

PM hits back at Obama: I know wha... JPost - Diplomacy & Politics

PM hits back at Obama: I know wha... JPost - Diplomacy & Politics: A day after American Jewish columnist Jeffrey Goldberg quoted President Barack Obama as saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not understand what is in Israel’s best interest, Netanyahu visited the Gaza border on Wednesday and essentially shot back, “Yes I do.”

During the visit to the headquarters of the IDF’s Gaza Division, Netanyahu was shown figures indicating that December was the quietest month in the South – in terms of rocket and terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip – in the past 12 years, since January 2001.

Barack Obama slaps Israel in the face – yet again – Telegraph Blogs

Barack Obama slaps Israel in the face – yet again – Telegraph Blogs: Barack Obama’s sneering reference to Israel as “a small state” that is already “a pariah,” and one that may not even survive unless it changes its “behavior,” smacks of staggering condescension, and will be music to the ears of every enemy of Israel on the face of the earth.

Positive News for Israel in the New Year

Positive News for Israel in the New Year: • The population of Israel is booming, in contrast to most Western nations, and even many countries in the Arab world. • Israel’s economy is also booming.  Israel’s 2009-2012 economic growth of 14.7% leads the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, ahead of Australia – 10.7%, Canada – 4.8%, US – 3.2%, Germany – 2.7%, France – 0.3%, Euro Bloc – 1.5% decline.

EXPOS�: No-go Areas for Jews in Europe - Op-Eds - Israel National News

EXPOS�: No-go Areas for Jews in Europe - Op-Eds - Israel National News
In the enlightened Europe of today, there is witch hunt against any authentic Jew with a beard and a skullcap.

Jewish students have been advised not to wear a kippa in the streets in Germany either. The Jewish Abraham Geiger Theological College in Potsdam advises its rabbis against wearing a kippah in public, while the orthodox Or Avner school in Berlin has issued similar guidelines.

Whenever its pupils go on trips to the zoo or the museum, Jewish pupils are warned: "Speak German, not Hebrew, put a baseball cap over your kippah so you don't give stupid people something to get annoyed about." Camouflaged in this way, young Jews travel on Berlin's metro trains. The rector of the school has explained that "it is safer to not appear to be a Jewish person".

Israel to build 43-mile security fence in Golan Heights - Telegraph

Israel to build 43-mile security fence in Golan Heights - Telegraph: "We know that on the other side of our border with Syria today, the Syrian army has backed off, and global jihad operatives have taken its place," Mr Netanyahu said.

"We must therefore protect this border from infiltrations and terror, as we have successfully been doing along the Sinai border."