Gary Heavin, founder of Curves Fitness and Actor/Producer of the upcoming film Amerigeddon, shares some startling information both about Presidential Candidate and his Senator, Ted Cruz, as well as how the political primary system functions.
This clip is from an unaired taping of The Jim Bakker Show from April 2016.
By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s top leader on Wednesday said missiles were key to the Islamic Republic’s future, offering support to the hardline Revolutionary Guards that have drawn criticism from the West for testing ballistic missiles.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supported last year’s nuclear deal with world powers but has since called for Iran to avoid further rapprochement with the United States and its allies, and maintain its economic and military strength.
“Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors,” Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, was quoted as saying by his website.
“If the Islamic Republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country.”
His comments may have been directed at former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the de facto leader of a more moderate political alliance, who last week tweeted “the future is in dialogue, not missiles”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards conducted ballistic missile tests earlier this month, in what they said was a demonstration of Iran’s non-nuclear deterrent power.
AMBIGUOUS RESOLUTION
The United States and several European powers said the tests defied a U.N. Security Council Resolution that calls on Iran not to test nuclear-capable missiles, in a joint letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
However, Washington has said that a fresh missile test would not violate a July 2015 accord under which Iran has restricted its disputed nuclear program and won relief from U.N. and Western financial sanctions in return. That agreement between Iran and six world powers was endorsed in Resolution 2231.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Iran’s ballistic missile had caused “alarm” and it would be up to the major powers in Security Council to decide whether fresh sanctions should be applied.
But Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, said the tests did not violate Resolution 2231.
“You may like it or not that Iran launches ballistic missiles – but that is a different story. The truth is that in the 2231 resolution there are no such bans,” Interfax cited Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the ministry’s department for non-proliferation and arms control, as saying.
Iran has consistently denied its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons.
(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Moscow and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Sam Wilkin; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
VIENNA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The first glimpse of a secretly negotiated U.S.-Iran prisoner exchange came on Saturday in a flurry of early morning electronic filings in federal courts from New York to California as prosecutors dropped sanctions violations cases against more than half a dozen Iranians.
The legal steps were soon followed by Iran’s announcement via state media that it was freeing four Iranian-Americans, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine.
The prisoner swap was choreographed to coincide with a high-level diplomatic gathering in Vienna to seal the lifting of international sanctions on Iran in return for meeting its commitment to curb its nuclear program.
The deal, a major step toward overcoming acrimony standing in the way of any further rapprochement between longtime foes Washington and Tehran, was the culmination of months of diplomatic contacts, secret talks and legal maneuvering.
And, according to an account pieced together by Reuters on previously unreported Obama administration deliberations, the prisoner exchange came close to falling apart because of a threat by Washington in December to impose fresh sanctions on Iran for recent ballistic missile tests.
The nuclear deal signed on July 14 between Iran and world powers was trumpeted by the White House as a signature foreign policy achievement by President Barack Obama. But he also faced criticism for refusing to make the accord contingent on Iran’s release of Americans known to be held by Iran.
In public comments, Obama had insisted as recently as mid-December that linking the Americans’ fate directly to the nuclear negotiations would have encouraged the Iranians to seek additional concessions.
U.S. officials who recounted the complex process that led to the prisoner deal stuck to that assertion but acknowledged that the nuclear deal had opened up a channel of communication about the American detainees that they were eager to use.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES CONTACTS
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who developed a close rapport during months of unprecedented talks hammering out last year’s deal, played crucial roles in moving forward on the prisoner issue.
In particular, a conversation with Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s brother in Vienna once the nuclear deal was clinched last year helped spur efforts toward a prisoner deal, U.S. officials said.
But much of the diplomatic heavy lifting was handled by Brett McGurk, a State Department envoy with strong Middle Eastern experience, who conducted months of secret negotiations with an unnamed Iranian representative, a U.S. official said.
“We have been raising these American prisoners for some time and the nuclear talks gave us the opportunity to raise it face to face,” a senior U.S. official said, adding that the U.S. side would always carve out time to discuss the prisoners on the margins of the nuclear talks.
“The Iranians said they wanted a goodwill gesture on our part as a reciprocal measure. They gave us over time a list of Iranians, mostly dual nationals, that were either imprisoned or convicted or charged in our courts,” the official said. “We whittled down the list to exclude anyone that was charged with crime related to violence, with terrorism.”
But there were some bumps and missteps along the road to Saturday’s prisoner announcement.
The day before the Obama administration was due to slap new sanctions on Iran late last month over the ballistic missile tests, Zarif warned Kerry the move could derail the prisoner deal, U.S. officials told Reuters.
Kerry and other top aides to Obama, who was vacationing in Hawaii, convened a series of conference calls and concluded they could not risk losing the chance to free Americans held by Tehran.
At the last minute, the administration officials decided to delay a package of limited and targeted sanctions, the officials said.
Asked whether Obama was involved in the decision to delay the sanctions, a senior U.S. administration official said: “This absolutely requires the president’s approval and this is something he was briefed on regularly over many months.”
“SAEED IS RELEASED”
While discussions about the prisoners was occurring, another dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, was detained by the Iranians. “We insisted that he be in the mix as well,” a U.S. official said.
In the end, Iran agreed to release Rezaian, the Post’s Tehran bureau chief held in an Iranian prison for about 18 months; Abedini, 35, an Iranian-American pastor from Idaho; the former Marine Hekmati; and Khosravi-Roodsari, about whom little is known. A fifth prisoner, American student Matthew Trevithick, was released separately from the other four, a U.S. official said.
“It is confirmed: Saeed is released from Iranian prison,” Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh Abedini, wrote on Twitter even before official U.S. confirmation. The couple had regularly traveled to Iran on Christian mission work until 2009. He was setting up an orphanage in the country in 2012 when Iranian authorities detained him.
Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent and DEA agent, who disappeared in Iran since 2007, was not on the list. U.S. officials have believed for several years that Levinson died in captivity. Iranian officials had repeatedly denied any knowledge of his disappearance or whereabouts.
“Iran has also committed to continue cooperating with the United States to determine the whereabouts of Robert Levinson,” a U.S official said.
Obama granted clemency to three Iranians charged with sanctions violations as U.S. authorities moved to drop charges or commute prison sentences for five other men, according to court records and people familiar with the matter.
Iranian officials have met recently with some of the prisoners held in the United States to see if they would be willing to return to Iran if a swap was agreed, said a person familiar with the cases who asked not to be identified. It was not known how many of them if any would go back.
The men pardoned were Bahram Mechanic, Tooraj Faridi, and Khosrow Afghahi, according to Mechanic’s lawyer, Joel Androphy. They were accused in 2015 of shipping electronics to Iran. Mechanic and Afghahi were being held without bail in Houston, while Faridi was out on bail. All three are Iranian-American dual citizens and had pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors filed legal motions to abandon other sanctions-related cases in courts in New York, Houston, Los Angeles and Boston.
(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan, Joel Schectman in Washington, Editing by Stuart Grudgings and Ross Colvin)
By Kami Klein
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguen held a press conference late Wednesday night to identify the suspects in the shooting earlier today at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA which caused the deaths of 14 people; 17 were injured. The suspects killed in a shootout with police were identified as Syed Rizwan Farook (28) and Tashfeen Malik (27) . According to a report by CBSN, the two had been married for two years and have a 6 month old daughter.
The U.S. born Syed Rizwan was employed with San Bernardino County as an environmental specialist for the last five years. He had attended a meeting/ party that has been an annual event for the county and reports were that he left angry. It is still unclear what the disagreement was about or with whom.
Chief Burguen says both law enforcement and the FBI feel that although first reports were that there were three suspects, they believe the two that went into the building were the same that were killed in the suspects car and the only shooters.
In an interview with his brother-in-law, CBSN reports that Sayed Riswan and Tashfeen lived in the house in Redlands, CA that is now being investigated and belongs to his mother. Syed is the name he went by for work and in public but the family called him Riswan.
Speaking on a motive for the case Police Chief Burgeun stated.
“We do not have a motive at this time. We understand that when these kinds of things happen, information changes frequently at the beginning of the investigation. We have not ruled out terrorism at this time. But we do not yet know a motive.”
In regards to the crime scenes, Chief Burgeun said that for the last couple of hours they have been working on the explosive devices that have been found.
“We feel that all explosives have been found and disposed of and are just now being able to get in there and process the evidence. Some degree of planning went into this attack.”
Both of the suspects had 223 assault rifles and semi automatic handguns in their possession when the gun battle with police took place.
Chief Burgeun concluded the press conference with a message for his community.
“ We understand that you are scared and concerned but please understand that we are doing everything we can to keep people safe here. If we see a threat we will be sure to communicate that to the community to protect you and your families.”
Wednesday Morning at approximately 11:15 Pacific Time three gunman, armed with long assault weapons entered the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA , and opened fire in a conference room. Witnesses said that the three suspects were on a mission, wearing masks and dark tactical clothing and sounds of bullets filled the air for approximately three to four minutes before fleeing the scene in a black SUV. In their wake were 14 dead and 17 injured while hundreds of employees locked themselves down and hid waiting for authorities to arrive.
At a press conference, law enforcement officials said that about 4½ hours later, multiple police cars were involved in a high-speed chase beginning as police followed a lead to a home in the nearby city of Redland. After a dark SUV emerged from this home. police went into pursuit. After arriving again in the San Bernardino area, a shootout occurred with police. One female suspect and one male suspect were killed and one officer wounded with non life threatening injuries.
The dead suspects were armed with assault weapons, handguns and possible explosive material as well as being clothed in dark tactical style gear. Law Enforcement is handling the scene cautiously until they are sure that there no danger for anyone else. A third suspect was apprehended while fleeing the neighborhood and is being detained for questioning. Police are not sure if this person is involved in the shooting or with the dead suspects.
Assistant Director of the FBI in Los Angeles, David Bowdich, offered true sadness and sympathy to the families that have been involved in this tragedy and reassured them that all law enforcement resources will work diligently together to solve this case. The FBI has been brought in to analyze the evidence and find all of those who are responsible for carrying out and planning this devastating act.
“Is this terrorism? We do not know that for sure. It is a possibility. We are not willing to go down that road just yet and will go where the evidence takes us.” Bowdich stated. “This is a very fluid, active investigation, we will get there when we get there. ”
Police Chief Jarrod Burguan added that authorities do not yet know who the suspects are, if the home they came from belonged to them or what the motive is for this horrific attack.
Burguan reported that police authorities are still processing and releasing the scene at Inland Regional Center, the scene where the shootout occurred in a neighborhood close by and is also processing evidence at the home where the suspects vehicle came from. Neighborhoods have been searched for any other possible suspects and police feel that the areas in question have been cleared.
Chief Burguan stressed that this is still an active crime investigation and will be sure that media receives information as soon as they are able to do so.
In the news, Iran celebrates while chanting ‘Death to Israel and America’. Israel reels from a proposed contract that threatens their nation’s very existence and leaders of our American government congratulate themselves on making a deal regarding nuclear weapon capabilities with Iran. As a lifelong, passionate student of the Word of God, I should be saying that this doesn’t surprise me. Although the Bible has been warning of these last days and what will happen, I would not have imagined that America would turn on Israel as it has now. I am witnessing what is happening with my own eyes all the while knowing deep in my heart that it is our relationship with Israel that has that has kept us from Judgment rather than ‘given us grace with God’. It seems the world has gone topsy turvy. What made sense in our lives even a year ago in our country and around the world has changed. What do we do? Continue reading
A new report says that ISIS is training terrorists in Britain via video conference to carry out chemical weapons attacks on trains and other public transportation systems.
“I am convinced that IS (another name for ISIS) fighters are all being given training in chemical weapons and the British ones, who are likely to be more educated, will all be targeted in the hope they may return home,” said Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the retired head of chemical and biological weapons for the British Army, according to the Mail Online.
The Colonel said that because of British laws, people can obtain large amounts of chlorine without a license, so the bomb could be a chlorine weapon.
“They will have a reasonable idea on how to use chlorine and other toxic chemicals as a terror weapon,” he added.
“This could happen on a train or tube or even at a big football match. Acquiring weapons and ammunition is very difficult in the UK but you can get up to 90 tonnes of chlorine without any license.”
Chlorine can burn the lungs when present in the air in a concentrated amount.
“Chlorine is not very toxic and the green and yellow clouds are easy to see and avoid. It is very non-persistent only lasting for a few minutes. It was used in the First World War but dropped because it did not work very well,” he continued.
“It is key that ISIS don’t get the advantage of an unexpected chemical attack in the UK. If you can hold your breath for 30 seconds and run in the opposite direction you will be okay. If outside you should aim to climb or reach higher ground.”
A major eruption in Chile has thousands of people fleeing as heavy smoke fills the air and lava rushes down the slopes.
The Villarrica volcano blew its top at 3 a.m. local time according to the National Emergency Office. A red alert was issued for the region and authorities immediately started forced evacuations of residents from around the bottom of the mountain.
In addition to the lava flow, authorities say mudslides caused by melting snow could destroy entire villages.
“It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” 29-year-old Australian tourist Travis Armstrong told the Associated Press. “I’ve never seen a volcano erupt and it was spewing lava and ash hundreds of meters into the air. Lightning was striking down at the volcano from the ash cloud that formed from the eruption.”
Rivers in the area were rising and residents downriver from the mountain are preparing for flooding issues.
The mountain has been erupting on a regular basis every 10 to 15 years.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has released their first public video showing the beheading of two men they claim are “spies.”
“This latest release shows Boko Haram is not a mere copycat of ISIS; rather, it is incorporating itself into the Islamic State,” said Veryan Khan, editorial director of Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium.
“Islamic state supporters are already starting to call Boko Haram the ‘Islamic State Africa.'”
The video shows a farmer being beaten by Islamic state terrorists and forced to “confess” he was “spying” for local police. The video then shows the farmer and another man beheaded with their hands folded on their chests.
I believe Boko Haram is more than just copying the Islamic State — their image is being ‘shaped’ at very least in the ISIS media wing,” he continued. “Immediately after Baghdadi declared the Islamic State Caliphate, Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau did the same. We then started seeing (in the videos) the Islamic State flags being painted onto Boko Haram’s most prized possessions, their AFVs and tanks, most recently on Feb. 20 during the ops within the Northeastern Nigeria border.”
Analysts say that Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, is insane and too extreme even for Boko Haram. They say that Shekau mixes voodoo into his version of radical Islam.
A disease that has been feared since Biblical times is on the rise in Florida.
Officials near Daytona Beach say that three people have been diagnosed with leprosy over the last five months. Two of the patients reportedly had been infected after close contact with armadillos.
Three cases are unusually high for a disease that is considered rare.
Brevard County officials say that 18 cases of leprosy have been found in their county in the last five years and most of those cases are patients who had some kind of contact with armadillos.
Health officials say that only 150 to 250 new cases of leprosy are found in the United States each year.
Florida health officials say that the disease is not very contagious to the public at large.