Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have tentatively agreed to conduct talks in Moscow aimed at ending their decades-old stalemate in the Middle East, Russian officials said Thursday. MORE

Israeli Military & Police Forces already operate in a threat environment, a terrorist threat which is 24/7 365 days a year. They walk on a razor edge where you have less than a second to decide, react. To hesitate could cost the lives of many, especially when the terrorist could be wearing a suicide bomb. In 2014, Dr. Ron Martinelli, forensic criminologist, said that it takes on average .58 seconds to experience the threat and determine if it is real. Then it takes an average of .56 to 1.0 seconds to make a response decision to act. Then comes access to the gun, draw, presentation, and firing, which consume more time MORE

Soviet-era documents show that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas worked in the 1980s for the KGB, the now-defunct intelligence agency where Russian leader Vladimir Putin once served, Israeli researchers said on Thursday.

The Palestinian government denied that Abbas, who received a PhD in Moscow in 1982, had been a Soviet spy, and it accused Israel of “waging a smear campaign” aimed at derailing efforts to revive peace negotiations that collapsed in 2014.

The allegations, first reported by Israel’s Channel One television on Wednesday, surfaced as Russia pressed ahead with an offer by Putin, made last month, to host a meeting in Moscow between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. MORE

A large Catholic health system is dropping saint names from its hospitals to create a more unified identity.

Franciscan Alliance treats more than 1.3 million patients in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. It’s changing its name to Franciscan Health. The Indiana-based organization announced Tuesday it will rename 12 of its 14 hospitals.

The decision means Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis will become Franciscan Health Indianapolis. Franciscan St. James Health in Chicago Heights, Illinois, will become Franciscan Health Chicago Heights. Other hospitals also will drop saint names. MORE

Jurupa Valley Unified Superintendent Elliott Duchon said the school’s classrooms had been decontaminated in response to the threat. MORE

President Obama has fired yet another high-level military commander, and the multiple terminations are causing many Americans to wonder about the reasons behind the “military purge.”MORE – VIDEO

The huge god-like eye appears to be looking down on the city of Astana – the capital of Kazakhstan – where the photo was taken. MORE

Now unsubstantiated claims posted on a pro-Putin website claim it was carried out by Western spies.

The presidential BMW was travelling on Kutuzovsky Avenue in the Russian capital when a Mercedes veered from the other side of the road, smashing into it head-on.

Putin was not in the car at the time, though Russian media report that the president’s official driver was killed in the crash. MORE

Few would be upset — or even notice — the subtle difference between “freedom of religion” and “freedom to worship and believe.”

But the Rev. Thomas Reese sure noticed when the Democratic Party’s initial platform proposed the latter phrase instead of the former.

“Freedom of religion” is considered “the more expansive term,” the Catholic priest writes in the National Catholic Reporter. “It includes worship but also the right of believers to evangelize, change their religion, have schools and charitable institutions, and participate in the public square.” MORE

Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 19 points — 55 percent to 36 percent — among voters who are currently serving or have previously served in the U.S. military, according to the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll. MORE

When Justice Antonin Scalia passed away this February, talk turned almost immediately to who would replace him—although in a large sense he is irreplaceable. Even those who disagreed with Justice Scalia acknowledge his profound impact. His scholarship and judicial opinions, through brilliance and wit, transformed how we think about the law and the Constitution. He inspired a generation of law students and lawyers. He provided a foundation for the work of judges and legislators, as well as attorneys general like myself. And all who knew him personally will attest that his brilliance was matched only by his warmth, cheer, and grace. He will be deeply missed. MORE

Two elementary school children in Riverside County could have Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, according to health officials.

Nursing staff at Indian Hills Elementary School in Jurupa Valley notified county officials Friday of the suspected infections, which will take several weeks to officially confirm, said Barbara Cole, director for disease control for the Riverside County Department of Public Health.

“We have to keep stressing it’s not confirmed,” Cole said. “We’re just at the beginning of the investigation.” MORE

 The Birth of the Virgin Mary – Esteban Murillo (Louvre, Paris)

Thy birth, O Virgin Mother of God, heralded joy to all the world.

For from thou hast risen the Sun of justice, Christ our God.

Destroying the curse, He gave blessing;and damning death, He bestowed on us
life everlasting. Continue reading →