A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – In the wake of reports that Israel struck a chemical weapons facility in southern Syria, Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi on Thursday warned that Israel was consistently working to combat its enemies ‘both near and far.’

“We are dealing with these threats, both near and far, with determination and our enemies in every arena know very well the combination of (our) precise intelligence and operational capabilities,” he said at a memorial for former president Chaim Herzog in Tel Aviv.

“The serious security threats against Israel from armed groups are being aided by Iran, which are serious, but not existential threats,” Halevi said. “Iran is working to position itself on our borders with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, flooding those borders with deadly ideology.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A red line’s a red line. That was Israel’s message Wednesday, when it struck a major Syrian arms facility from the air.

Jerusalem officials declined to comment for the record, but Syrian and Lebanese media reported that the Israeli Defense Force struck a major missile and military research facility at Masyaf, Syria, that’s controlled by President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian co-conspirators.

The daring attack carried all the hallmarks of Israel’s unique brand of non-proliferation enforcement. In an age of major proliferation crises, that method should be studied carefully and emulated when possible.

Wednesday night’s strike was “not routine,” tweeted Amos Yadlin, the director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies. “It targeted a Syrian military-scientific center for the development and manufacture of precision missiles” that also “produces the chemical weapons and barrel bombs that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – North Korea’s chief diplomat at the United Nations was not hiding his satisfaction with Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test, warning the U.S. that it can expect more “gift packages” to come its way.

Han Tae Song addressed the U.N.-sponsored conference on disarmament on Tuesday, just two days after North Korea claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb that could fit an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its sixth nuclear test to date.

“I am proud of saying that just two days ago on the third of September, DPRK successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test for intercontinental ballistic rocket under its plan for building a strategic nuclear force,” Han said at the meeting, held in Switzerland, referring to North Korea by its official title, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). [ Source:Newsweek (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Germany said on Thursday that Russia was planning to send more than 100,000 troops to war games on NATO’s eastern flank this month, disputing Moscow’s version that only 13,000 Russian and Belarussian servicemen would participate.

The Sept. 14-20 exercises known as Zapad, or “West” in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, are stirring unease in NATO despite Moscow’s assurances troops would rehearse a purely defensive scenario.

“It is undisputed that we are seeing a demonstration of capabilities and power of the Russians,” German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at an EU defense ministers’ meeting in Tallinn.

(Worthy News) – The race to flee Hurricane Irma became a marathon nightmare as more than a half-million people were ordered to leave South Florida on Thursday.

With the storm barreling toward the tip of Florida for perhaps a catastrophic blow this weekend, normally quick trips turned into daylong journeys on crowded highways amid a constant search for gasoline and lodging. Airline seats out of Florida were in short supply as well.

Late Thursday, the National Hurricane Center issued the first hurricane warning for the Keys and parts of South Florida, including some of the Miami metropolitan area of 6 million people. It added a storm surge warning and extended watch areas along the east and west coasts. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – For an entire generation in South Florida, Hurricane Andrew was the monster storm that reshaped a region. Irma is likely to blow that out of the water.

Bigger and with a 90-degree different path of potential destruction, Irma is forecast to hit lots more people and buildings than 1992’s Andrew, said experts, including veterans of Andrew. At the time Andrew was the costliest hurricane in US history with damages of $26.5 billion in 1992 dollars (about $50 billion in current dollars), according to the National Weather Service.

“The effect of Irma on the state of Florida is going to be much greater than Andrew’s effect,” said Weather Channel senior hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross, who was a local television meteorologist hailed as a hero during Andrew. “We’re dealing with an entirely different level of phenomenon. There is no storm to compare with this. Unless you go way back to 1926.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The U.S. military is keeping a wary eye on Iran’s most violent proxy militia in Iraq, which has vowed to start killing Americans again once the Islamic State is expelled.

With the Islamic State’s defeat in Iraq coming closer — the U.S. estimates that the once 25,000-strong terrorist group is down to a few thousand followers at most holding only pockets of resistance — the danger from the Hezbollah Brigades is fast approaching.

A commander in the Shiiite battalion, also known as Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) and the largest and most ruthless Iranian-trained militia fighting in Iraq and Syria, warned Americans on Sunday that they must leave Iraq or face a new war, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported. [ Source:Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple said he’s willing to serve anyone, but said the government shouldn’t force him to create something against his conscience.

Jack Phillips, the baker, is taking his case to the Supreme Court later this year, asking the justices to overturn a lower court ruling that found he violated a same-sex couple’s civil rights by declining to back them a cake.

“I never thought the government would try to take away my freedoms,” said Mr. Phillips. “What the state of Colorado did was force me to lose 40 percent of my business.”

Speaking at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, Mr. Phillips said he was ordered to either bake wedding cakes for everyone — or bake none at all.

Some 86 members of Congress, all Republicans, have signed onto an amicus brief with the Supreme Court backing Mr. Phillips. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Trump shocked and angered Republicans on Wednesday by agreeing with Democrats on a bill to suspend the debt ceiling for three months, but by Thursday, Republican lawmakers and aides were acknowledging that Trump’s plan was better for Republicans than the plan put forward by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

Many Republicans weren’t all that happy with either proposal. Ryan was proposing an 18-month suspension of the debt ceiling that would have let the government keep borrowing as much as it needed, and said the long time frame was needed to provide for market stability.

But Democrats said they could only agree to a three-month suspension since they wanted leverage more immediately for other issues they want to pursue in the coming weeks. Trump’s decision to take the Democratic plan was seen by some as a betrayal of Republicans, and a sign Trump was abandoning the GOP on a key legislative package.

After the dust settled, however, Republican lawmakers and aides made it clear they saw the three-month plan as a slight improvement over Ryan’s plan. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – More than 6,500 people registered to vote in New Hampshire on Nov. 8 using out-of-state driver’s licenses, and since then the vast majority have neither obtained an in-state license nor registered a motor vehicle.

⦁ 6,540 people registered and voted on Nov. 8, based on presenting out-of-state licenses.
⦁ As of Aug. 30, about 15 percent (1,014 of the voters) had been issued New Hampshire driver’s licenses.
⦁ Οf the remaining 5,526, barely more than 200 (3.3 percent) had registered a motor vehicle in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire law gives drivers 60 days upon establishing residence to obtain a state license.

But more than 80 percent of voters who registered on Nov. 8 using out-of-state driver’s licenses, or 5,313 of them, neither had a state license nor registered a motor vehicle almost 10 months later.

In the presidential race, Democrat Hillary Clinton defeated Republican Donald Trump in New Hampshire by 2,736 votes. In an even tighter race, for the Granite State’s U.S. Senate seat, Democratic challenger Maggie Hassan defeated incumbent Republican Kelly Ayotte by 1,017 votes. [ Source (Read More…) ]