Most recently, researcher and author Marilyn Sams has advanced the argument that Fortress Antonia, represented by tradition as a monumental or castle-like structure located during Herodian times just north of the Second Temple on the periphery of the large rectangular temple precinct, was actually a much larger complex, more akin to the typical standard Roman fortress layout that existed during the time of 1st century Jerusalem, the time of Jesus.

Sam’s arguments have been built on the foundations of research by earlier scholars, most notably that of Dr Ernest L Martin, whose research and subsequently published book, The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot, also argued that Fortress Antonia actually encompassed the area traditionally ascribed to the Temple Mount and that the temple was more accurately located on the Ophel mound over the area of the Gihon Spring, in the old City of David to the immediate southeast of the traditional Temple Mount precinct.

“When Aristeas (the Greek writer) claims there was a natural spring under the temple, this can be compared with the lack of a known spring under the traditionalist ‘Temple Mount’,” states Sams in concurrence with Martin.

And “when Eusebius says the temple site became a garbage dump, this can be compared with the lack of such findings under the ‘Temple Mount,’ while many garbage sites have been uncovered on the southeastern hill [near to the Ophel],” continues Sams… and “when Josephus describes the foundations [of the temple] as starting in the Kidron Valley and ending as a four-furlong square 450 feet high, this can be compared with the 922 by 1596 by 1040 by 1556-foot measurements of the [traditionally accepted] ‘Temple Mount’ trapezoid, whose maximum height is 158 feet, upslope from the Kidron Valley.”

While the crude oil tanker backlog in Houston reaches an almost unprecedented 39 (with combined capacity of 28.4 million barrels), as The FT reports that from China to the Gulf of Mexico, the growing flotilla of stationary supertankers is evidence that the oil price crash may still have further to run, as more than 100 million barrels of crude oil and heavy fuels are being held on ships at sea (as the year-long supply glut fills up available storage on land).

The storage problems are so severe in fact, that traders are asking ships to go slow, and that is where we see something very strange occurring off the coast near Galveston, Texas. FT reports that "the amount of oil at sea is at least double the levels of earlier this year and is equivalent to more than a day of global oil supply. The numbers of vessels has been compiled by the Financial Times from satellite tracking data and industry sources."

The storage glut is unprecedented: JBC Energy, a consultancy, said in many regions onshore oil storage is approaching capacity, arguing oil prices may have to fall to allow more to be stored profitably at sea. As AP puts it, "a traffic jam of oil tankers is the latest sign of an unyielding global supply glut."

The TPP should be judged on whether it guarantees global economic well-being, not whether it gives advantages to the United States to the detriment of other countries. The ultimate goal of economic policy should be to raise the well-being of all parts of society, including the poor and middle class. Agreements that help the rich at the expense of the poor, capital at the expense of labor, or particular sectors at the expense of consumers should be viewed with skepticism.

The Obama administration surely negotiated the TPP in good faith, and the accord would likely add to global and US economic growth. This is not a pernicious accord, the fruits of a secret cabal as some have feared. Nor is globalization an evil to be fought tooth and nail. The sad truth, however, is that while the administration promised a 21st-century agreement, we have yet another late 20th-century agreement. And we already know the likely results: economic growth at the expense of widening income inequality; excessive power of big pharma, big finance and other sectors with strong lobbying power; and the growing threats of negative-sum trade conflict with China.

Worse still, the advice changes continually. As TV-cook Nigella Lawson recently put it: “You can guarantee that what people think will be good for you this year, they won’t next year.” This may be somewhat inevitable: evidence-based health advice should be constantly updated as new studies explore the nuances of what we eat and the effects the meals have on our bodies.

But when the media (and ill-informed health gurus) exaggerate the results of a study without providing the context, it can lead to unnecessary fears that may, ironically, push you towards less healthy choices.

The husband and wife — co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation — proceeded to direct Ryan D Jayne, a fellow at their activist organization, to send a letter to the director of the Holmes Student Center, explaining why they believe that the Bibles are inappropriate inside accommodations at a public university.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal firm, has pushed back against these claims, accusing the Freedom From Religion Foundation of being on faulty legal ground, calling Gaylor’s arguments “absurd.” “No one is making any guest open the Bible. No one is making them read it. In fact, the university is not ‘providing bibles;’ it is allowing a Christian group to place literature, the Bible, in hotel rooms much like a pizzeria may leave coupons,” American Center for Law and Justice head Jay Sekulow said in a statement.

As TheBlaze previously reported, this isn’t the first time that Bibles have been under fire by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

As you will see below, it takes a ridiculous amount of blind faith to believe that the theory of evolution is true, and the cold, hard evidence clearly points to a Creator. Unfortunately, to be a respected member of the scientific establishment today one must fully embrace an evolutionary model for the origin of life, and at this point Stephen Hawking has left no doubt as to where he stands.

Somehow most of us have become convinced that it is not “intellectual” to believe that God created all things. And a big reason for this is due to the public pronouncements of big name scientists such as Hawking. In the end, Hawking can believe whatever he wants to believe, but he should at least be honest about the fact that he is making a faith choice as well. You see, the truth is that the theory of evolution is not backed up by hard science.

In fact, when you choose to “believe” in evolution, you are doing so in spite of the evidence. So why would anyone do this? Why would anyone believe something as ridiculous as the theory of evolution? Well, in my experience most people believe exactly what they want to believe. And what Stephen Hawking apparently wants to believe is that there is no God and that our existence is some sort of great cosmic accident.

Recently someone asked Coach Dave Daubenmire if he “believed” in evolution, and after reflecting on that question for a while he wrote an entire article in which he shared his thoughts on the matter. The following excerpt is the part that I enjoyed the most…

“We are taught that it takes faith to ‘believe’ in God, or angels, or your spouse. But the truth is; faith is required in order to ‘believe’ anything. Christianity is a religion that requires faith to believe. So are Hinduism, Buddhism, Wicca, Islam, and Santa Claus. But evolution and climate change are religions as well. Macro-evolution is a faith-based belief system regarding the origins of the species. Global warming is a faith-based system regarding the ebb and flow of the climate. Macro-evolution and climate change are far less fact-based than a belief in Jesus.”

Twelve French aircraft, including ten fighter jets, dropped 20 bombs on a command and control center, a jihadi recruitment center, munitions depot and ISIS training camp in the Syrian city of Raqqa, France's Defense Ministry said in a statement. Raqqa is the de facto capital of ISIS' "caliphate."

The "massive" raid was launched from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan and was carried out in coordination with US forces. A Pentagon source told Fox News, "these were French strikes but they were conducted within the coalition. We helped with [the] target list." The US has conducted the vast majority of coalition attacks on ISIS territory up to this point, and has been almost solely responsible for all coalition bombings of ISIS inside Syria. However, the nature of Friday's attacks, which devastated France and shocked the world, changed the calculus.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that Turkish authorities had foiled a plot to stage an attack in Instanbul on the same day as the assault on Paris. The official said five people had been detained, including an associate of "Jihadi John", the notorious ISIS terrorist believed to have been killed by a US airstrike Thursday. "The initial investigation shows we foiled a major attack," the official said. The arrest came ahead of the G20 summit at the resort at Antalya, in southern Turkey.

"They are terrorists, who in the name of Islamist fundamentalism are fighting against democracy, against universal values and also against Muslims who refuse to follow their barbaric ideology," said the president at Germany's Memorial Day commemorating the victims of World War I and II.

Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor, said however that "those who perpetrate or condone these acts must know that the community of democracy is stronger than international hatred.” We bow our heads before the dead, but never will we bow down before terror," he said.

The Islamic State has attached great importance to the Syrian city of Dabiq, near Aleppo. It named its propaganda magazine after the town, and celebrated madly when (at great cost) it conquered Dabiq’s strategically unimportant plains. It is here, the Prophet reportedly said, that the armies of Rome will set up their camp. The armies of Islam will meet them, and Dabiq will be Rome’s Waterloo or its Antietam.

The armies of Rome will mass to meet the armies of Islam in northern Syria; and that Islam’s final showdown with an anti-Messiah will occur in Jerusalem after a period of renewed Islamic conquest.

The caliphate has continued to embrace slavery and crucifixion without apology. “We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women,” Adnani, the spokesman, promised in one of his periodic valentines to the West. “If we do not reach that time, then our children and grandchildren will reach it, and they will sell your sons as slaves at the slave market.”

According to Turkish news source Hurriyet, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the Paris attacks will not bring about a change to the European Union's stance over the immigration crisis. The coordinated assault in the French capital in which at least 129 people were killed, has fueled a debate in Germany over Merkel's welcoming approach to refugees and on how to pin down better intelligence about people entering the country.

The number of refugees has hit a 20 year high due to the growing list of conflicts. Deutsche Bank, citing United Nations data, says more than 60 million people worldwide have fled their homes. The Guardian newspaper picked up that the Serbian newspaper Blic went one step further and said the passport found near one of the bombers in Paris attacks showed that he traveled through Serbia, Croatia, and Hungary as well.

It even published a picture of the passport itself. "The days of uncontrolled immigration and illegal entry can't continue just like that. Paris changes everything," Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Germany has registered some 760,000 people entering the country from January to October, and government officials expect the number of asylum seekers to rise further until year-end.

"One million is way too much. Conceivable at best is an orderly immigration of between 200,000 and 300,000 people," Soeder said. German officials also played down prospects of Germany getting involved in any military response after French President Francois Hollande described the attacks as an "act of war." Anticipating a debate over a bigger German military role, top-selling daily Bild asked: "Do we now have to go to war?"

“The days of uncontrolled immigration and illegal entry can't continue just like that. Paris changes everything,” Soeder said in interview for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. “It is unacceptable that we don’t know who arrives in Germany and what these people are doing. We must stop this by all means,” he added.

The minister pointed out that if the EU fails to protect the bloc’s frontiers, Germany will be forced to guard its own borders. He added that when Berlin also fails, Bavaria will have to do it on its own, Soeder warned. “When the government says ‘we can’t protect our borders alone’, Bavaria will be able to undertake the task,” Soeder said. “We managed to do that in the past.”

The arrest took place on Thursday the 5th, when during a routine inspection police investigated a car driven by a 51-year-old Montenegrin man as he drove west on the major Autobahn-8 road, shortly after crossing the border from Austria. When officers found two handguns and a grenade under the bonnet of the car, the search intensified, and they soon discovered a significant hidden arsenal.

Also secreted about the car behind panels were eight Kalashnikov assault rifles with ammunition, several handguns, two hand grenades, and 200 grams of TNT, reports Bayerischer Rundfunk.

The car wasn’t only being driven west. Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann has confirmed that based on “the data of the man’s [GPS] navigation system, and his cell phone there is strong evidence that the man wanted to go to France”. German media have reported he specifically had Paris programmed into his sat-nav.

The shocking revelation comes at a time where weapons, and particularly grenades flow freely from the Balkans into Western Europe and nations across the continent are under unprecedented pressure to close their borders in the face of the migrant crisis, and Islamist terrorism.

“We believe in the right of everyone to seek his fortune and live, to the respect for the other and tolerance,” said Merkel. “We know that our free life is stronger than any terrorist. Let’s give the terrorists the answer by living our values confidently. And as we affirm these values throughout Europe. Now more than ever.”

Just last month, top security experts warned Merkel that the middle class in Germany is becoming “radicalized” in response to the migrant influx and that domestic unrest may occur as a result. The warning was “circulated among high-ranking security officials in the federal government,” according to the report.

With Poland already announcing that it will refuse to take in any more refugees after the bloody attacks in Paris, Merkel’s open border policy, already under fierce criticism, is likely to face intense opposition given ISIS’ vow to smuggle in jihadists amidst the waves of migrants. Meanwhile, Front National leader Marine Le Pen struck a far different tone to Merkel, calling on France to tighten its borders.

“France must determine who its friends are and who its enemies are. France’s enemies are those who maintain links with Islamism. Once and for all, France must recapture control of its borders,” said Le Pen.

“Islamist fundamentalism must be destroyed, radical mosques must be closed and radical clerics must be expelled. French terrorists must be stripped of their citizenship and banned from this country.”

Someone had sprayed a gallows on the front of his house, along with Herbst's name and the word "Volksverraeter" - traitor to the German people. "Now we indeed have a new situation," Herbst said in a telephone interview the day after the incident. "You start worrying about your safety and that of your family."

The incident reflects a growing public tension in Germany, where far-right groups were quick to seize on the Paris terror attack as evidence of a need to curb immigration. While it's the extremists on the far right who are grabbing most of the headlines, mainstream Germans are increasingly being drawn into inflammatory rhetoric - and at times anti-foreigner sentiment.

The country's normally staid - some might say dull - political debates have in particular become inflamed with vitriol amid the influx of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in recent months. Nazi comparisons, once considered beyond the pale of polite political discussion in a country still grappling with its genocidal past, have become a common slur.

That US-driven rift between Europe and Russia must not be allowed to widen any further. The risks to Europe now are far too great for Paris, Brussels and Berlin to be squandering allies in favor of fickle friends — and Friday’s attacks in the French capital highlight the total absurdity of the West continuing to treat Russia as its enemy in the face of such a menacing common threat.

The pressure from the US side however, might be too great. The Obama administration has demonstrated, for whatever reasons, that cooperating with Russia on an equal footing is not something they feel they can lower themselves to. Washington will attempt to seize the moment and dominate the Vienna talks. The fact that Barack Obama yesterday evening took to a podium to comment on the Paris attacks while the siege was still ongoing — and before even the French president himself had spoken publicly — is evidence enough of that.

Of course, the roots of this go much further back than Syria. The US handed the EU the pen to sign its own death warrant when George Bush invaded Iraq and paved the way for a group as horrifically barbaric as the Islamic State to rise from the carnage and destruction. Terrorism is a global threat. The heinous attacks in Paris prove that nowhere is safe from this menace. Not a small concert venue on a Friday night. Not a friendly football game between neighboring nations. Not an inconspicuous Cambodian restaurant in a Parisian neighborhood.

Truth be told, no one knows how to deal with ISIS. Not Washington, not Paris and not Moscow. There isn’t a rulebook — but there is certainly a list of tried and tested failures that can inform our decision making. What is also clear is that this threat does demand solidarity among nations who should be able to put their minor differences aside to face a common threat.

To allow Washington to fan the flames of a useless rift between Europe and Russia is pure insanity. The longer Europe remains blind to this reality, the longer we treat Russia as an enemy rather than a partner in dealing with IS, the longer we must prepare ourselves for endless violence — in Syria and in our own front yards.