Thursday, November 30, 2006

LITVINENKO SMUGGLED NUCLEAR MATERIAL

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Earthquake rattles Canadian mining town. 3-Strong quake destroys buildings in northeastern Indonesia island. 4-Hurricane season ends quietly. 5-Philippines on red alert for Typhoon Durian. 6-Bushfires burn in SA as heatwave approaches. 7-London stock trader urges move to amero. 8-Scientists Find Mutations That Let Bird Flu Adapt To Humans. 9-Elton John says Up yours to Aussie PM over gay marriage.10-First of its Kind: Instant Halachic Times Via SMS Text Message. 11-Pope urges religious tolerance in Turkey.12-Iran leader appeals to Americans on Iraq. 13-Israel warns losing patience over truce violations. 14-No Hope for PA Coalition Government. 15-Nuclear Strikes From Rogue States Possible. 16-Privacy expert highlights risks of implanting chips in patients.17-Radiation found on 2 jets in spy probe.18-Litvinenko smuggled nuclear material.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Thu Nov 30 12:10 AM EDT

NOV 30,06
MAP 5.1 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

NOV 29,06
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.0 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.5 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO
MAP 5.6 REYKJANES RIDGE
MAP 4.8 REYKJANES RIDGE
MAP 4.8 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO
MAP 3.5 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.1 ONTARIO, CANADA
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.1 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

Earthquake rattles Canadian mining town NOV 29,06

TORONTO (Reuters)A small earthquake that awoke residents in a northern Ontario city early on Wednesday did not cause any damage or injuries, officials said, though one major mining company said it was still conducting precautionary inspections.

An earthquake of magnitude of 4.1 struck the mining town of Sudbury, about 390 km (240 miles) north of Toronto, at 2:22 a.m. (0722 GMT) on Wednesday and was followed by a pair of aftershocks at 2:36 a.m. and 2:38 a.m..Officials said the earthquake was a little stronger than the area is used to but not totally unexpected as the region is known for scattered earthquake activity.Relative to earthquakes around the world it is still quite a small event, said Stephen Halchuk, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada.

Just large enough to shake you strongly but certainly not damage anything.Halchuk said the earthquake rattled dishes in people's houses and sounded like a heavy truck driving by.We received a number of calls but mostly from people who wanted to know if we knew what it was, said Constable Bert Lapalme of the Sudbury Police. This was a little stronger than usual, but in regards to injuries or damage nothing was reported to police.

Sudbury has a population of about 155,000 and is known for its mining industry, notably the huge nickel operations owned by CVRD-Inco and Xstrata Plc's Falconbridge.CVRD-Inco said there were no reports of damage or injury at its Creighton mine in the area but said it has no plans to send any production personnel below the 5,000-foot level as a precautionary measure until inspection are completed.

Strong quake destroys buildings in northeastern Indonesia island Wed Nov 29, 7:32 AM ET

JAKARTA (AFP) A strong deep sea quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale has hit northeastern Indonesia and damaged or destroyed more than a dozen buildings but there were no immediate reports of casualties, officials said.

The quake struck Wednesday at 0132 GMT and was centred near the Maluku Islands, 216 kilometres (134 miles) northeast of the North Maluku capital Ternate at a depth of 74 kilometres.The quake destroyed three buildings and damaged a dozen others on Morotai island near the epicentre off Halmahera island, but there were no reports of casualties, a district chief said.Besides a mosque and a madrassa (an Islamic religious school), a health polyclinic was also destroyed while the number of houses damaged now stands at 10. Two schools were also damaged, but there was no loss of life, North Halmahera district chief Hein Namotemo told Elshinta radio.

He said no one was evacuated or fled their home.So far, no casualty has been reported in the disaster, the official Antara news agency quoted Morotai police spokesman Senior Commissioner Ramli as saying.No tsunami alert was issued.There's no potential for a tsunami, meteorological agency official Andi Zurfika told AFP.A 5.1-magnitude deep sea earthquake hit South Sulawesi Friday causing minor damage.The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh province.A 7.7-magnitude earthquake in July on the south coast of the main island of Java also killed more than 600 people.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Hurricane season ends quietly By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press Writer NOV 29,06

MIAMI /The mild 2006 Atlantic hurricane season draws to a close Thursday without a single hurricane striking the United States a stark contrast to the record-breaking 2005 season that killed more than 1,500 people and left thousands homeless along the Gulf Coast. Nine named storms and five hurricanes formed this season, and just two of the hurricanes were considered major. That is considered a near-normal season and well short of the rough season government scientists had forecast.We got a much-welcome break after a lot of the coast had been compromised in the last several years, but this is a one-season type break, said Gerry Bell,

lead seasonal hurricane forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.In May, scientists predicted 13 to 16 named storms and eight to 10 hurricanes, with four to six of them major.The 2005 hurricane season was the busiest on record, with 28 named storms, including 15 hurricanes, four of which hit the United States, including Katrina and Rita.Bell urged people not to become complacent about the next season, which starts June 1.

Forecasters say the Atlantic is still in an active hurricane period that began in 1995 and could last another decade or more.This year, a warm-water trend known as El Nino developed more quickly than expected in the Pacific, squashing the formation of storms in the Atlantic and creating crosswinds that can rip hurricanes apart. At the same time, upper-level air currents pushed most hurricanes out to sea, away from the U.S. mainland.Only two storms, Tropical Storms Alberto and Ernesto, hit the U.S. mainland in 2006. Neither caused significant damage.The season effectively ended with Hurricane Isaac, the last named storm, which dissipated Oct. 2.On the Net:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov

Philippines on red alert for Typhoon Durian By Karen Lema
Wed Nov 29, 7:42 AM ET


MANILA (Reuters) The Philippines raised its highest alert level and warned residents to move to higher ground on Wednesday as Typhoon Durian barrelled toward the north of the country, gaining strength on a path toward Manila.Disaster officials warned of possible flash floods, landslides and storm surges of up to 15 feet from Durian, the fourth typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian archipelago in three months.Schools in Manila and surrounding provinces were suspended and all sea travel was halted as residents braced for Durian to hit the eastern island of Catanduanes on Thursday morning en route toward the densely-populated northern island of Luzon.Durian, named after a pungent fruit, was packing winds of up to 190 kph (120 mph) with gusts of up to 225 kph (140 mph) but the weather bureau said it was likely to weaken when it reaches land.

If the storm continues on its current path, it could sweep close to Manila on Friday morning. The sprawling capital of 12 million people was severely battered by Typhoon Xangsane in late September.

Luzon, where Manila is based, is the country's business hub and the main growing area for rice and coconuts.All governors have convened their disaster coordinating councils and have stockpiled medicines and food. Their heavy equipment and rescue teams are already on standby, Anthony Golez, deputy administrator of the Office of the Civil Defense, said.Two other typhoons, Cimaron and Chebi, hit the country in late October and early November, causing landslides and flashfloods in some areas and widespread crop damage.Storms regularly hit the Philippines. In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died on the central island of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.In 2004, a series of storms left about 1,800 people dead or missing, including 480 who were killed when mudslides buried three towns in Quezon, an eastern province.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Bushfires burn in SA as heatwave approaches (theage.com)
November 29, 2006 - 10:51AM


South Australia's Country Fire Service (CFS) is on full alert today amid fears hot weather could spark bushfires across the state.With the temperature forecast to hit 38 degrees Celsius in Adelaide and for hotter conditions in some country centres, the CFS said people were urged to be ready for bushfires.Victoria's fire services are bracing themselves for similar conditions tomorrow with the weather bureau predicting scorching temperatures, strong winds and low humidity for most of Victoria.Temperatures are expected to reach 38 in Mildura, 37 in Swan Hill and 36 in Horsham, Albury-Wodonga and Wangaratta.On Thursday, the mercury is set to soar to 39 in Mildura, 38 in Swan Hill, 37 in Horsham and 36 in Shepparton.Total fire bans had been declared in nine of SA's 15 districts and CFS deputy state coordinator Tim Davis said there was a genuine likelihood of significant fires over the next two days.

We're expecting extreme fire weather over the next two days, coupled with the high possibility of more lightning, Mr Davis said.Bushfires are a reality in the South Australian environment and anyone who lives in the Adelaide metropolitan fringe, near bushland or in a rural area is at risk and needs to be prepared.Being prepared means being bushfire ready, and part of that is the implementation of a bushfire action plan on days of extreme fire danger as we are expecting on Wednesday and Thursday.

Overnight, firefighters continued to monitor a number of fires already burning in SA's mid-north, in the Riverland and on the Eyre Peninsula.The largest was in the Hincks Conservation Park on the eastern Eyre Peninsula which had destroyed about 800 hectares of scrub.

Firefighters started a backburn last night to consolidate control lines on the southern and western boundaries of the park and were expected to continue working in the area today.A 200-hectare fire also was burning yesterday in the Never Never Range, south of the Bundaleer Forest in the mid-north.More than 90 firefighters were in the area with the blaze in often inaccessible terrain and water bombing aircraft were also being used.In the Riverland, work also continued to contain a fire at Gluepot Station near Waikerie.The blaze was not expected to pose a threat to homes in the area.AAP

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
London stock trader urges move to amero
Says many unaware of plan to replace dollar with N. American currency,Posted: November 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern,By Jerome R. Corsi,WorldNetDaily.com

In an interview with CNBC, a vice president for a prominent London investment firm yesterday urged a move away from the dollar to the amero, a coming North American currency, he said, that will have a big impact on everybody's life, in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Steve Previs, a vice president at Jefferies International Ltd., explained the Amero is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The aim, he said, according to a transcript provided by CNBC to WND, is to make a borderless community, much like the European Union, with the U.S. dollar, the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso being replaced by the amero.

Previs told the television audience many Canadians are upset about the amero. Most Americans outside of Texas largely are unaware of the amero or the plans to integrate North America, Previs observed, claiming many are just putting their head in the sand over the plans.

CNBC asked Previs whether he thought NAFTA was working and doing enough.

He replied: Until it created a lot of illegal immigrants coming across the border. I don't know. You get the pros and cons on NAFTA. For some people it is a good thing, and for other people it has been a disaster. The speculation on the future of a new North American currency came amid a major U.S. dollar sell-off worldwide that began last week.Yesterday, the dollar also reached new multi-month low against the euro, breaking through the $1.30 per euro technical high that had held since April 2005. At the same time, the Chinese central bank set the yuan at 7.0402 per dollar, the highest level since Beijing established a new currency exchange system in 2005 that severed China's previous policy of tying the value of the yuan to the U.S. dollar. Many analysts worldwide attributed the dramatic fall in the value of the U.S. dollar at least partially to China's announcement last week that it would seek to diversify its foreign exchange currency holdings away from the U.S. dollar. China recently has crossed the threshold of holding $1 trillion in U.S. dollar foreign-exchange reserves, surpassing Japan as the largest holder in the world.

Barry Ritholtz, chief market strategist for Ritholtz Research & Analytics in New York City, in a phone interview with WND, characterized today's downward move of the dollar as wackage, a new word he coined to convey that the dollar is being whacked in this current market movement. Ritholtz told WND that yesterday's downward move was a major market correction that points to the risk of subsequent downside to the dollar. Asked whether he would characterize the dollar's downside move as signaling a possible collapse, Mr Ritholtz told WND, Not yet. Ritholtz pointed out market professionals had long looked at a dollar collapse as a low probability event, but the recent fall suggests the probabilities have increased of a major dollar correction, or even of a collapse.

U.S. trade imbalances with China have hit a record $228 billion this year, largely reflecting a surging flow of containers from China with retail goods headed for the U.S. mass market.Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez is in Bejing leading a trade delegation of more than two dozen U.S. business executives.

The future should be focused on exporting to China, Guiterrez told reporters in Bejing, noting that this year, U.S. exports to China are up 34 percent on a year-to-year basis, surpassing last year's gain of 20 percent. One way to improve the U.S. trade imbalance may be to ease up on restrictions of exporting high-tech products and allowing technology transfers to China, a move likely to be politically charged in the U.S. The decline in value of the dollar will also make U.S. exports more attractive and Chinese exports to the U.S. more expensive.

In February 2007, a virtually unprecedented top-level U.S. economic mission is scheduled to travel to China. Included in the mission are Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr., Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Previs declined to be interviewed for this article, telling WND in an e-mail he did not want to be quoted directly in any article that may express a political point of view.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

Scientists Find Mutations That Let Bird Flu Adapt To Humans
Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu News,Article Date: 21 Nov 2006 - 1:00am (PST)


By comparing influenza viruses found in birds with those of the avian virus that have also infected human hosts, researchers have identified key genetic changes required for pandemic strains of bird flu. The new work, reported in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Nature, illustrates the genetic changes required for the H5N1 avian influenza virus to adapt to easily recognize the receptors that are the gateway to human cells. We identified two changes that are important, says Yoshihiro Kawaoka, the senior author of the Nature paper and a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. Both changes are needed for the H5N1 virus to recognize human receptors.

The new report provides a molecular blueprint for the genetic changes required to transform a virus that only infects birds to a virus capable of easily recognizing human receptors. Receptors are molecules on the surface of cells that permit the virus to dock with the cell and commandeer it to initiate a cascade of infection. By knowing what genetic changes are required for the virus to easily infect human cells, it may be possible to detect the emergence of pandemic strains earlier, providing public health officials and vaccine manufacturers with precious time to prepare for a global outbreak of highly pathogenic influenza. To be successful, a virus must be able to recognize and attach to a host cell. But human and avian influenza viruses recognize different cell receptors. Avian flu viruses have demonstrated an ability to evolve to easily infect humans by exchanging genes with human viruses that subsequently permit them to recognize human receptor molecules and gain easy access to cells, typically in the human respiratory system.

The change is thought to occur when human patients are exposed at the same time to a human flu virus and an avian flu virus. Most viruses, including influenza, readily swap genes with one another.

In the new study, conducted by an international team of researchers, the viruses isolated from human patients in Vietnam and Thailand could recognize both human and avian cell receptors. By contrast, the viruses found in chickens and ducks could only recognize the receptors on avian cells. The work helps flesh out the changes that have occurred in the worrisome strain of avian influenza virus known as H5N1, a strain some fear could be the organism that will trigger a pandemic of virulent human influenza. The avian virus has already changed dramatically from when it was first identified in 1997, says Kawaoka, who also holds an appointment at the University of Tokyo. There are big differences between the virus first found in 1997 and the virus we see now, Kawaoka explains. We are watching this virus turn itself into a human pathogen.

The mutations found by Kawaoka's group have not yet conferred a complete ability on avian flu to easily recognize the topography of human cells, but they are key steps on that pathway. More mutations, says Kawaoka, will be required for the virus to fully adapt to humans, but it is not known how many mutations are needed for such a change. However, if scientists are able to continue to monitor and secure viral isolates from humans infected with bird flu, they may be able to map a mutation trajectory that will help predict when the avian virus will cross the threshold to become a human pathogen. The last two flu pandemics in 1957 and 1968 were caused by avian viruses that had accumulated enough genetic mutations to be considered hybrids of animal and human viruses, Kawaoka notes.The new work was supported by grants from the Japan Science and Technology Agency; the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; the Japan Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare; and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. - Terry Devitt ,Contact: Yoshihiro Kawaoka ,University of Wisconsin-Madison

HOMOSEXUALS.

GENESIS 19:5
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.(A SEX SAYING)

ROMANS 1:18-32
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:(HOMOSEXUALITY,AND ALL SEX SINS)
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:(LESBIENS)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,(SODOMITES) and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.(AIDS ETC)
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Elton John says Up yours to Aussie PM over gay marriage Tue Nov 28.06

SYDNEY (AFP) Outspoken British pop icon Sir Elton John has delivered a blunt public message to Australian Prime Minister John Howard over his opposition to gay marriage: Up yours.The gay superstar became one of the first couples in Britain to wed in a new legally-recognised civil partnership with longtime partner David Furnish last December.It was just a commitment I wanted to make because I love him, and vice-versa, and it was just a great day, the singer told the Seven Network late Tuesday while on a concert tour of Australia.When the famously direct star was asked what message he would like to pass on to Howard regarding his views on gay marriage, John irreverently replied: Up Yours.

Howard earlier this year shut down plans to allow gay marriages in one of the country's territories, saying the government of the Australian Capital Territory had no right to pass such a law.He denied the move was homophobic. It is not a question of discriminating against them, he said.It is a question of preserving as an institution in our society marriage as having a special character and if you look at the legislation, what it effectively says, a civil union is not a marriage, but it will be treated for all purposes as being equivalent to a marriage, he added.John, 59, said earlier this month that religion should be outlawed because it lacks compassion and promotes hatred of homosexuals.

DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

First of its Kind: Instant Halachic Times Via SMS Text Message (INN) NOV 29,06

A new service allows anybody with a cellular phone to find out, in an instant, prayer times, what the daily daff is, or what time the Sabbath begins in any town in Israel.The new service, called Zmanim Express (zmanim means times in Hebrew) is being offered by Beit El’s Yeshiva.org.il. For half a shekel per request, anyone in Israel may use their telephone’s text messaging SMS feature to receive immediate accurate information on every aspect of the Jewish calendar.The service is currently available in Hebrew only, though the programmers are already working on an English version as well. The programming must take into account all the variations in spelling of everything from the names of Israeli cities to abbreviations and transliteration of Hebrew terms, says Ezra Cohen, one of the service’s developers.In the meantime, phones can easily be adjusted to send SMS messages in Hebrew, and anybody who emails can be notified when the English version is available.

Currently, the service operates as follows (adjust encoding on your web browser to Hebrew Windows if Hebrew is not displayed): A customer types ??? or ???? followed by the requested information – for example ????? ??? or ??? ??? ????? ??? ??''? – followed by the place (???????? or ????? ????? for example) followed by the requested day or date. The information is then sent to 1315.

Seconds later an answer will be received with the requested times or information for the day or week asked about.The system can be tried out for free on its Hebrew web site (English listed below).Covered by the service are times for sunrise, putting on tallit and laying tefillin, dawn, latest time for reciting Kriat Shma or the Amidah (either according to the Magen Avraham or the Gra), hatzot, mincha gedola and ketana, plag hamincha, sunset, tzeit hakochavim (according to Rabbeinu Tam and otherwise), the entry and exit of the Sabbath, and the translation of any civil date to the corresponding Hebrew one.Also available is Daf Yomi information - the assigned pages for the day in the worldwide coordinated effort to study the Babylonian or Jerusalem Talmud and the Mishneh Berurah.We saw that such a service was provided by Egged [Israel’s main bus company –ed.] to keep travelers informed on schedule times and places, and knew there needed to be such a service to provide such information on spiritual matters as well, Cohen says. For more information, or to be informed when the English service is made available, email BeitEl@Yeshiva.org.il or click here.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Pope urges religious tolerance in Turkey By BRIAN MURPHY, AP Religion Writer NOV 29,06

ISTANBUL, Turkey -Pope Benedict XVI began his pilgrimage among Turkey's tiny Christian communities Wednesday by paying homage to an Italian priest slain during Islamic protests and expressing sympathy for the pressures facing religious minorities in the Muslim world.The messages made at one of the holiest Christian sites in Turkey could set the tone for the remainder of Benedict's first papal trip to a Muslim nation as he tries to strengthen bonds with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.

The pope is expected to sharpen his calls for what the Vatican calls reciprocity that Muslim demands for greater respect in the West must be matched by increased tolerance and freedom for Christians in Islamic nations.But too much pressure by the Roman Catholic pontiff could risk new friction with Muslims after broad gestures of goodwill in the opening hours of the trip Tuesday that sought to ease simmering Muslim anger over the pope's remarks on violence and the Prophet Muhammad.A statement claiming to be from al-Qaida in Iraq denounced the pope's visit as part of a crusader campaign against Islam and an attempt to extinguish the burning ember of Islam in Turkey. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the declaration posted on several Islamic militant Web sites shows the need for faiths to fight violence in the name of God.He said neither the pope nor his entourage are worried.

Still Turkish authorities took massive security precautions for the Istanbul stop, with thousands of police on the street and roads cleared of all traffic for the papal motorcade.The pope's deepening ties with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I called the first among equals of the Orthodox leaders also is watched with suspicion in Turkey as a possible challenge to state-imposed limits on Christian minorities and others. Benedict has declared a fundamental commitment to try to heal rifts between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which split nearly 1,000 years ago over disputes including papal authority.At Bartholemew's walled compound in Istanbul, the pope stood amid black-robbed Orthodox clerics and urged both sides to work for full unity of Catholics and Orthodox.The pope began the day at the ruins of a small stone home at the end of a dirt road near the Aegean Sea the site where the Virgin Mary is thought to have spent her last years.At an outdoor Mass attended by 250 invited guests, the pope noted the challenges facing the little flock of Christians in Turkey.I have wanted to convey my personal love and spiritual closeness, together with that of the universal church, to the Christian community here in Turkey, a small minority which faces many challenges and difficulties daily, the pope said.

At times, he smiled and showed flashes of the pastoral flair of his predecessor, John Paul II, in one of the most intimate papal gatherings since John Paul's trip to remote Mount Sinai during a trip to Egypt in 2000.Benedict went on to honor the memory of a Catholic priest who was slain in Turkey amid Muslim anger over the publication in European newspapers of caricatures of Muhammad.Let us sing joyfully, even when we're tested by difficulties and dangers as we have learned from the fine witness given by the Rev. Andrea Santoro, whom I am pleased to recall in this celebration, said Benedict, who later walked amid the crowd as they reached to touch his gold-and-white robes and cried Viva il Papa and Benedetto, his name in Italian.In February, a Turkish teenager shot the Italian priest as he knelt in prayer in his church in the Black Sea port of Trabzon. The attack was believed to have been linked to outrage over the cartoons. Two other Catholic priests were attacked this year in Turkey, where Christians have often complained of discrimination and persecution.

On Tuesday, the pope urged religious leaders of all faiths to utterly refuse to support any form of violence in the name of faith. He also said religious freedom was an essential element of democratic values.He sought a careful balance as he held out a hand of friendship and brotherhood to Muslims, and expressed support for measures that Turkey has taken in its campaign to join the European Union. But winning over Turkish sentiments may be easy compared with the complexities ahead. The legacy of Christianity in Turkey is a tangle of historical and religious sensitivities. Turkish armies captured the Byzantine capital Constantinople now Istanbul in 1453 to begin a steady decline for Christians, who had maintained communities in Asia Minor since the time of the Apostles.As the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the early 20th century, large numbers of Armenian Christians perished
in mass expulsions and fighting. Turkey vehemently denies that it committed genocide against Armenians, though many nations have classified the World War I-era killings as such. Later, in the 1920s, Turkey and Greece carried out a massive population
exchange under the treaty that established modern Turkey, with hundreds of thousands of Greek Orthodox sent to Greece and smaller numbers of Muslims going the other way.Bartholomew heads the remnants of the Greek community in Istanbul that now number no more than 2,000 among about 90,000 Christians in Turkey.But they still represent a powerful symbolic presence for the world's more than 250 million Orthodox, which often denounce Turkey for placing obstacles in the way of Bartholomew and his clerics.

Turkey refuses to acknowledge the ecumenical, or universal, title of the patriarch and instead considers him only the head of the local Greek Orthodox community.

The Turkish worry is that granting wider status to the patriarch could undermine the idea of a single Turkish nationality a pillar of the nation's secular system and inspire demands for special recognition by minorities including Kurds and Muslim groups such as Sufis and Alevis, considered a branch of Shiite Islam. Now, Turkish officials are concerned the papal visit and support for Christian minorities could embolden Bartholomew to press Turkey for concessions, including return ofconfiscated property and the reopening of a Greek Orthodox seminary that closed more than two decades ago after authorities blocked new students. The EU has also pushed Turkey for greater religious openness to help its faltering bid for membership.

Against the backdrop of universal peace, the yearning for full communion and concord between all Christians becomes even more profound and intense, he said at the ancient Christian site. Nestling on a mountain in woods between the ancient city of Ephesus and the town of Selcuk, near the Aegean coast, St. John the Apostle is believed to have brought the Virgin Mary to the house to care for her after Jesus death. Another belief maintains that the Virgin Mary died in Jerusalem. The ruins of the house, whose earliest foundations date to the first century, have become a popular place of pilgrimage for both Muslims and Christians since the 1950s.A chapel was built over the ruins, and some believe in the healing powers of both the chapel and waters flowing from a nearby spring.Of Turkey's 70 million people, some 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians, 20,000 are Roman Catholic and 3,500 are Protestant, mostly converts from Islam. Another 23,000 are Jewish.AP writer Victor L. Simpson contributed to this report.

Iran leader appeals to Americans on Iraq By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer NOV 29,06

UNITED NATIONS -Iran's president urged the American people in an open letter Wednesday to demand the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and reject the Bush administration's policies in the war on terrorism. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also appealed directly to the new Democratic-controlled Congress, saying the American people showed their discontent with President Bush's policies in the recent midterm elections and it was up to lawmakers to change course.I hope that in the wake of the midterm elections, the administration of President Bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people, Ahmadinejad wrote.But if the approach remains the same, it would not be unexpected that the American people would similarly reject the new electoral winners, although the recent elections, rather than reflecting a victory, in reality point to the failure of the current administration's policies, he warned.

Ahmadinejad's letter to Noble Americans, which was distributed by Iran's mission to the United Nations, also said that the U.S. invasion of Iraq had led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, an exponential growth of terrorism and the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure.I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billions of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure, he said.

He suggested that it would be beneficial for the U.S. to withdraw its troops from the country and spend its money instead on domestic problems, citing the many victims of Hurricane Katrina who continue to suffer.The letter makes no mention of Iran's disputed nuclear program, which the U.S. alleges is geared toward secretly developing atomic weapons.Ahmadinejad wrote a rambling, 18-page letter to Bush in May, which Washington criticized for also not addressing Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. is leading the drive to impose U.N. sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

Israel warns losing patience over truce violations by Jean-Luc Renaudie NOV 29,06

JERUSALEM (AFP)Israel has warned that the Jewish state was losing patience over Palestinian rocket attacks that have continued to violate a tentative four-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.Wednesday's warnings come amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts to shore up the truce, with Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Israel and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas Thursday.The test period accorded by the prime minister to the Palestinians is nearing the end, said Tzahi Hanegbi, a key ally of premier Ehud Olmert and chairman of parliament's influential defence and foreign affairs committee.The prime minister said the policy of restraint will only last a few days, the MP added, speaking on public radio.

Militants in Gaza fired isolated rockets towards southern Israel on each of the first three days of the truce, violating an accord brokered after 400 Palestinians and three Israelis were killed in Gaza in five months.

A source in Olmert's office similarly emphasized that Israel's patience has limits, in comments to AFP on Wednesday.The prime minister ordered the army not to respond although since the start of the ceasefire 12 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, added the official on condition of anonymity.At talks with EU ambassadors on Tuesday, Olmert, who has outlined a vision of peace with the Palestinians, said Israel will continue to show restraint but will react if the rockets continue, said spokesman Miri Eisin.Olmert also said he was disappointed by the continued firing of rockets.I very much hope that the Palestinians will honor their commitments and that the ceasefire will continue as we are doing, he said, according to Eisin.The latest projectile landed on Tuesday in the cemetery of Sderot, Defence Minister Amir Peretz's home town that has borne the brunt of many thousands of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel over the past six years.

One of the nebulous cells of the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is linked to Abbas's Fatah party, claimed the attack, which it charged had targeted the sprawling Israeli city of Ashkelon.Although Palestinian rockets are frequently inaccurate, they have killed 10 people inside the Jewish state since the Palestinian uprising broke out in September 2000, causing misery and fear in communities close to the Gaza Strip.Consolidating the truce will be a priority of talks between Washington's top diplomat and Abbas on Thursday amid stirring international optimism about hopes of kickstarting Middle East peace efforts after a six-year hiatus.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice would press Abbas to cement the truce and pointed out that while the president had deployed security forces in northern Gaza, they had so far failed to stop the sporadic attacks.We would hope that they would be effective in stopping any further rocket attacks or any terrorist attacks that might emanate from Gaza, he said, ahead of the meeting in the West Bank oasis town of Jericho.

In Israel, Suleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief, who last week met the exiled political chief of the radical ruling Palestinian party Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, was to meet with Olmert and other top ministers Wednesday.Talks would focus on efforts to release an Israeli soldier captured by militants in June, sparking five months of deadly violence, the truce and ending arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, an Israeli official said.

Apart from Olmert, Suleiman was to meet the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, Defence Minister Amir Peretz and Infrastructure Minister Benyamin Ben Eliezer. Israeli army radio reported that Hamas and Israel are at odds over the details of a prisoner swap in exchange for the conscript Gilad Shalit. While the Islamists want 1,400 Palestinian detainees released simultaneously with Shalit, Israel wants to release only 1,000 prisoners after the soldier has been returned.

No Hope for PA Coalition Government
12:30 Nov 29, '06 / 8 Kislev 5767


(IsraelNN.com) There is no longer any real hope of Fatah and Hamas reaching an agreement that will result in the formation of a oalition government in the PA (Palestinian Authority), the daily Yediot Achronot reports.According to Yediot, talks collapsed for good on Tuesday, with both sides realizing the two organizations are politically too far apart for any real expectations of working side-by-side in a coalition framework.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Nuclear Strikes From Rogue States Possible
Added: Nov 28th, 2006 12:17 PM,by Staff Writers,Moscow (RIA Novosti)


Russia's Air Force commander said Wednesday he considers nuclear missile launches by terrorists or rogue states to be a genuine threat. Increasingly probable and dangerous for the U.S., Russia and European countries are single or multiple missile strikes from third countries, known as rogue states, countries with unstable, non-democratic regimes, or terrorist organizations with access to missile technology, Vladimir Mikhailov said.Mikhailov said accidental launches were also possible.Although accidental launches of missiles with nuclear warheads have not occurred in the history of nuclear missile technology, this does not mean they will not occur in the future, given the growing spread of nuclear missiles, he said.Mikhailov also said terrorist organizations and the countries harboring them would not be deterred by the threat of a retaliatory strike, which has acted as a constraint for Russia and the United States, the world's largest nuclear powers.

The objective of terrorists is to attract as much attention to their attacks as possible,he said.Retaliation against a missile strike is also fraught with massive civilian casualties and destruction, the commander said, referring to recent warfare between Israel and Lebanon.Mikhailov warned that missile technology will be increasingly popular in 21st century conflicts due to its combat capability and relatively small size.International non-proliferation efforts have been facing difficulties in recent years.North Korea said it conducted its first nuclear test on October 9, which could make it the ninth country known to have nuclear weapons, along with the U.S., Russia, France, China, Britain, India, Pakistan, and Israel, the latter three being de-facto nuclear powers.

The secretive Communist state is already under UN sanctions over the move, while Iran faces sanctions over its defiance to halt uranium enrichment. The Islamic Republic has been in at center of an international nuclear dispute, suspected of pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian energy program.Russia has taken a moderate position in both disputes, acknowledging the countries right to peaceful nuclear power under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but voicing concerns over their unwillingness to ease the international suspicions.Source: RIA Novosti,SpaceDaily.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

REVELATION 14:9-11
9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Privacy expert highlights risks of implanting chips in patients
VeriChip's implantable product.Rationale should be studied before technology is used, conference told 11/13/2006 4:50:00 PM by Laura Eggertson


OTTAWA /Canadians need to engage in a broader discussion about the societal issues involved before hospitals and physicians embrace implantable microchips or other technologies touted as the next step in electronic patient records, a privacy expert warned Monday.There’s a huge potential here for disruptions and for problems, Ian Kerr, a Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law and Technology, told a day-long conference on electronic health information and privacy.Kerr, a professor at the University of Ottawa, portrayed a universe in the near future where people use implantable microchips to communicate with each other and with electronic devices through an ad hoc personal wireless network, a universe where receivers tracking that information are a fixture of public venues.Ultimately, the technology will exist to transmit information like a person’s blood alcohol level directly to the police, Kerr said.

Although that might be deemed a societal good, What this technology allows for is a kind of surreptitiousness that would (also) make it more difficult to hold accountable those that don’t want to go down the privacy road, he said after his speech.The technology is closer than most Canadians believe, since they’re still worried about having their credit card information stolen, believe, Kerr said.For example, Florida-based VeriChip Corporation, which has an office in Ottawa, has already received a patent and FDA approval in the United States for implantable radio frequency identification microchips. The company and its sister firm, Digital Angel, tout the technology as a breakthrough that could track wanderers with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as missing children and pets.In addition to a unique identification number, the microchips could ultimately store patients’ health records. In a Nov. 1 news release, VeriChip announced that 1100 physicians and about 260 hospitals in the United States are already signed up to learn how to implant and scan patients microchips.

Although the argument for microchips is that they are a portable, secure source of patient information that would result in better care, the technology can be spoofed, and could potentially cause health problems for patients wanting to remove the chips, Kerr told the conference.Once we go down the road of integrating machine parts into our body, we should ask ourselves the question of why we are doing it, he said in an interview following his speech.In this case, the chip doesn’t do a whole lot more than the Medic Alert bracelet, which is a fairly non-invasive, privacy-friendly type solution. So I would ask the question why move to the next level?

People seem to have a fairly blind acceptance of technology sometimes, Kerr added.

Existing electronic patient records are already subject to misuse, as illustrated by a breach of privacy at the Ottawa Hospital. In July, Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian upheld the complaint of an Ottawa patient who warned that hospital that her ex-husband, a hospital employee, might try to access her health information to use it in a divorce and custody proceeding.

Cavoukian found that a nurse at the hospital the ex-husband’s girlfriend had indeed accessed the patient’s electronic file and given the ex-husband information about the woman’s chronic heart condition. As Dr. Glen Geiger, the Ottawa Hospital’s medical director of clinical information systems told the conference, even hospital employees don’t want their personal health information loaded onto the electronic patient record. They flag their records to have them registered in special outpatient accounts so the results do not populate the electronic record, Geiger said.Treating personal health information for staff differently from that of everyone else creates two classes of citizens,Geiger said. That’s wrong. If our staff don’t trust us to keep their information private, why should anyone else?

One of the key issues from a privacy perspective is the secondary use of information in patient electronic records. Although there are compelling reasons for electronic health records, concerns arise when patient information is used for research, employment or insurance purposes, said Patricia Kosseim, general counsel with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.Those are the ones that up to now, at least from a public policy and public engagement standpoint, have not had as fulsome a discussion, Kosseim said. She called on Canadians to clarify their terms and conditions for use of their electronic health record.Comment: info@itbusiness.ca

PESTILENCES (CAN MEAN CHEMICAL,BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS)

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Radiation found on 2 jets in spy probe By TARIQ PANJA, Associated Press Writer NOV 29,06

LONDON Officials found traces of radiation on two British Airways jets, and the airline appealed Wednesday to tens of thousands of passengers who flew to or from Moscow and other cities to come forward as investigators widened the search for clues into the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.The airline said the risk to public health is low, adding that it was in the process of contacting tens of thousands of passengers who flew on the jets.Two planes at London's Heathrow Airport tested positive for traces of radiation and a third plane has been taken out of service in Moscow awaiting examination, British Airways said.Natalia Remnyova, administrator at Domodedovo Airport, the Moscow airport used by British Airways, said she knew nothing of a plane grounded there. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he could not comment because he had no information about the issue.

The airline said it was contacted by the British government Tuesday night and told to ground the jets and to allow investigators looking into Litvinenko's death to test them for radiation.High doses of polonium-210 a rare radioactive element usually manufactured in specialized nuclear facilities were found in Litvinenko's body, and traces of radiation have been found at sites in London connected with the inquiry into his death.All three planes had been on the London-Moscow route, British Airways said. In the last three weeks, the planes had also traveled to routes across Europe including Barcelona, Frankfurt and Athens. Around 30,000 passengers had traveled on 220 flights on those planes, said Kate Gay, an airline spokeswoman.The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have traveled on flights operated by these aircraft, which operate within Europe, British Airways
said in a statement.

British Airways understands that from advice it has been given that the risk to public health is low, the airline statement said.The airline has published the flights affected on its Web site, and advised customers who took the flights to contact a special help-line set up by the British Health Ministry.Litvinenko, a former colonel with Russia's Federal Security Service the successor agency to the KGB had been a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin before his death from radiation poisoning on Nov. 23.

From his deathbed, he blamed Putin for his poisoning. Putin has strongly denied the charge.Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, who chaired a meeting of COBRA, the government's emergency committee, said tests on the planes were part of a wider scientific investigation into sites that could be linked to Litvinenko's death.Meanwhile, Italian security expert Mario Scaramella, who was one of the last people to meet with Litvinenko before the former spy fell ill, said tests cleared him of radioactive contamination.

Scaramella came from Rome and met Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on Nov. 1 the day the former intelligence agent first reported the symptoms.I am fine, Scaramella told The Associated Press by telephone. I am not contaminated and have not contaminated anybody else.Scaramella returned to London to undergo tests and talk with the police Tuesday. He said he is in security protection and refused to say where he was.More than three dozen staff at the two hospitals that treated Litvinenko will be tested for radioactive contamination, Britain's Health Protection Agency said.The agency said 106 staff at Barnet General Hospital and University College Hospital had been assessed for possible exposure, and 49 would have their urine tested. The mysterious death has clouded Anglo-Russian relations. Prime Minister Tony Blair said police were determined to find out who was responsible for Litvinenko's death.

The police investigation will proceed, and I think people should know that there is no diplomatic or political barrier in the way of that investigation, Blair said in Denmark. It is obviously a very, very serious matter indeed. We are determined to find out what happened and who is responsible. Media reports in Britain and Russia on Wednesday said that Litvinenko had been engaged in smuggling nuclear substances out of Russia. The Independent newspaper reported that Litvinenko told Scaramella on the day he fell ill that he had organized the smuggling of nuclear material for his former employers at Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB.

The newspaper reported that Litvinenko said he had smuggled radioactive material to Zurich in 2000. But Scaramella told the AP that he had been misquoted by the newspaper. He (Litvinenko) wanted to see me because he knew about smuggling of nuclear material, but as far as I know he was never involved in nuclear smuggling, he said. London police say they are investigating the case as a suspicious death rather than murder, although they have devoted a large anti-terrorist force to the investigation.

Scaramella said he had been cleared of any involvement in the 43-year-old former spy's death. Let me take the opportunity to say that I'm not under investigation by any British authority, he said. I am cooperating with them (the police). Police declined to say whom they had spoken to.

Scaramella said he showed Litvinenko e-mails from a confidential source identifying the possible killers of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and listing other potential targets for assassination including himself and Litvinenko. Following Litvinenko's death, more than 1,100 people called a health hot line over concerns they might be at risk from polonium poisoning, which is deadly in tiny amounts if ingested or inhaled. Sixty-eight have been referred to health authorities, the Health Protection Agency said including the 49 hospital staff. Eight have been referred to a special clinic as a precaution. The tests should take about a week.Traces of radiation have been found at six sites visited by Litvinenko. A coroner will perform an autopsy on Litvinenko on Friday, subject to appropriate precautions, said the local authority responsible, Camden Council. Doctors had sought expert advice on whether Litvinenko's radioactive body posed a threat to those performing the post-mortem. A coroner's inquest will be opened Thursday and then adjourned until the police investigation is complete, the council said. Associated Press Writers Jill Lawless in London and Ariel David in Rome contributed to this report.

Litvinenko smuggled nuclear material
By Cahal Milmo, Peter Popham and Jason Bennetto
Published: 29 November 2006


Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoned former Russian agent, told the Italian academic he met on the day he fell ill that he had organised the smuggling of nuclear material out of Russia for his security service employers. Mario Scaramella, who flew into London yesterday to be interviewed by Scotland Yard officers investigating Mr Litvinenko's death, said Mr Litvinenko told him about the operation for the FSB security service, the successor to the KGB.Police said that Mr Scaramella, who met Mr Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on 1 November to discuss a death threat aimed at both of them, was a potential witness. He was being interviewed at a secure location in London but was not in custody.

The Health Protection Agency said that eight people had been referred to a clinic in London for tests for exposure to polonium-210, the radioactive substance that killed Mr Litvinenko. It declined to say whether Mr Scaramella was among them.A post-mortem examination will be carried out on Mr Litvinenko on Friday.In an interview with The Independent shortly after the poisoning became public, Mr Scaramella said that Mr Litvinenko, a friend and professional contact since 2001, told him he had masterminded the smuggling of radioactive material to Zurich in 2000. There have long been concerns that turmoil in Russia and other former Soviet states after the fall of Communism created an international black market in radioactivesubstances.The operation would have been one of the last carried out by Mr Litvinenko while still an FSB officer, in a unit tackling organised crime and smuggling. He fled Russia for London that year after the FSB began investigating him for corruption charges which he claimed were invented as revenge for his decision to expose an FSB plot to assassinate the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky.Friends of Mr Litvinenko, a critic of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said last night that they were unaware of his involvement with any smuggling for the FSB. Alex Goldfarb, an ally of Mr Berezovsky, said: He did not mention anything about nuclear material while serving with the FSB.

Mr Litvinenko died on Thursday last week after publicly accused Mr Putin of ordering his poisoning.Mr Scaramella, an academic and examining magistrate based in Rome and Naples, had been due to meet Mr Litvinenko on 10 November in London, but brought the meeting forward at short notice on 1 November. The Itsu restaurant in Piccadilly, where traces of polonium-210 have been found, is thought to be the first location visited by Mr Litvinenko on 1 November.Later he met two Russian business associates at a Mayfair hotel and visited the nearby offices of Mr Berezovsky and a security firm, where polonium traces have also been found. Last night police confirmed that they were searching the five-star Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair as well as an office building in the West End.Mr Scaramella has denied any involvement in his friend's death and derided suggestions that he was himself a Russian agent.He claims that he has long been involved in investigating the smuggling of radioactive material by the KGB and its successors. He claimed last year that Soviet destroyers had laid 20 nuclear torpedoes in the Bay of Naples in 1970, where they remain.Mr Berezovsky, the exiled Russian billionaire visited almost daily by Mr Litvinenko,
said: I am deeply saddened at the loss of my friend. I credit him with saving my life and he remained a close friend and ally.

Russian authorities again denied involvement in the case, while Tony Blair vowed that there would be no diplomatic or political barrier to the inquiry. Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoned former Russian agent, told the Italian academic he met on the day he fell ill that he had organised the smuggling of nuclear material out of Russia for his security service employers. Mario Scaramella, who flew into London yesterday to be interviewed by Scotland Yard officers investigating Mr Litvinenko's death, said Mr Litvinenko told him about the operation for the FSB security service, the successor to the KGB.Police said that Mr Scaramella, who met Mr Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on 1 November to discuss a death threat aimed at both of them, was a potential witness. He was being interviewed at a secure location in London but was not in custody.The Health Protection Agency said that eight people had been referred to a clinic in London for tests for exposure to polonium-210, the radioactive substance that killed Mr Litvinenko. It declined to say whether Mr Scaramella was among them.A post-mortem examination will be carried out on Mr Litvinenko on Friday.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

US DOMINANCE OF MIDEAST ENDS

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Strong quake hits near Indonesia's Moluccas islands. 3-Small quake rattles California coast. 4-Seven killed in Kenyan floods, toll hits 47. 5-Powerful cold front targets Midwest Wednesday. 6-NEW JERUSALEM TALMUD FOR SALE. 7-1,400 Terrorists for Gilad Shalit? 8-NATO to expand role to include WMD, terrorism. 9-Asia-Pacific leaders to study free trade zone. 10-Manhigut Yehudit Leaders Issue Statement on PM Olmert's Concessions. 11-Olmert's Speech Angers Many, Even in Kadima. 12-Analysis: U.S. dominance of Mideast ends.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Wed Nov 29 1:00 AM EDT

NOV 29,2006
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 3.0 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.1 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

NOV 28,2006
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 FIJI REGION
MAP 4.6 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.9 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA

Strong quake hits near Indonesia's Moluccas islands NOV 29,06

JAKARTA (Reuters) A strong undersea earthquake struck near the Moluccas islands in northern Indonesia on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site, but there were no reports of a tsunami or casualties. The U.S. agency put the strength of the quake, which struck at 10.32 a.m. (0132 GMT), at a magnitude of 6.1.Indonesia's state meteorological agency in Manado on nearby Sulawesi island originally measured it at a 6.6 magnitude and because of that issued a tsunami warning to local broadcasters.With that magnitude, it has a tsunami potential but a tsunami has not happened. If it did happen, it would have occurred by now. But we had to circulate a tsunami warning here,agency official Mudjie told Reuters by phone from Manado, which was 360 km (220 miles) from the epicenter in the Moluccas sea.We are waiting for signs to cancel (the warning), he said.The Hawaii-based Pacific Warning Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami warning.Manado, the closest large city from the epicenter, is some 2,200 km (1,370 miles) northeast of the capital Jakarta.There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the earthquake.

Small quake rattles California coast Mon Nov 27, 11:49 PM ET

PASO ROBLES, Calif. A magnitude-4.1 earthquake rattled California's central coast Monday night, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, authorities said.

The quake struck at 8:06 p.m. and was centered about four miles west of Paso Robles, or about 95 miles southeast of Monterey, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed three minutes later by a magnitude-2.1 aftershock.San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Nefores said his department had not received any calls about injuries or damage.The quakes were near the location of a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in December 2003 that killed two women and caused at least $200 million in damage countywide.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Seven killed in Kenyan floods, toll hits 47 Tue Nov 28, 2:58 PM ET

NAIROBI (AFP)At least seven children have been killed in flood-related incidents across Kenya, where aid agencies are scrambling to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by torrential rains, police said.Police confirmed the new deaths a day after aid groups urged the Kenyan government to declare the devastating floods across the country a national disaster.They bring the death toll after four weeks of flooding to 47.Five children were killed early on Tuesday in the country's Eastern province, a region that is usually dry but which has suffered flooding in recent weeks.Three children drowned in Mutito Andei division, while two others were buried when the wet walls of a well collapsed in Kasikeu, a police official in Makueni township told reporters.

In the northwestern town of Nakuru, two children drowned late on Monday after they attempted to swim in a flooded dam.We were informed by the public that two children aged eight and 15 had drowned in a dam, which they thought was shallow, said Titus Yoma, a police commander in Nakuru, 140 kilometres (88 miles) northwest of the capital, Nairobi.The United Nations has said at least 723,000 people have been affected by the flooding, including tens of thousands of Somali refugees, prompting the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) to urge the government to declare an emergency.The last time Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared a national disaster was at the end of last year, when a scorching drought hit east Africa, putting millions at risk. Many of those people live in areas now inundated by the floods.The KRCS this month has appealed for 562 million shillings (8.0 million dollars, 6.1 million euros) to assist about 300,000 people. Officials said the appeal is likely to be revised to reflect prevailing and future needs.

In neighbouring Somalia, floods have killed at least 96 people, displaced more than 300,000 and otherwise affected about a million others. Some of those who died were devoured by crocodiles lurking in the flood waters.Officials in Somalia have sounded the alarm for outbreaks of waterborne diseases, particularly cholera, which has already been confirmed in two areas.In both countries the floods have destroyed farmland, disrupted food supplies, cut off villages and washed away roads. In Somalia the disappearance of roads has complicated the delivery of aid to vulnerable, poverty-stricken people living in remote areas.Last week, Ethiopia's disaster response agency appealed for 7.6 million dollars (5.8 million euros) to help hundreds of thousands of flood-affected people in the country's southeastern Somali state, which borders Somalia proper.The flooding has been caused by unusually heavy seasonal rains across the Horn of Africa. This time last year the same region was facing a searing drought, that endangered the lives of 11 million people in five countries.

Powerful cold front targets Midwest Wednesday Senior Meteorologist,
The Weather Channel Tue Nov 28, 8:46 PM ET


Midwest

A powerful cold front will slide eastward through Wisconsin, Lake Michigan, Illinois and Missouri tomorrow. Cloudbursts and thunderstorms, some severe (at least in Illinois and Missouri), will accompany the front, while elsewhere in the Midwest only scattered light showers are expected. Behind the front, the precipitation may change briefly to wind-driven freezing rain and snow before ending. Locations in and around Kansas City should be particularly alert to this eventuality late tomorrow. High temperatures are expected to range from the wind-chilled single digits and teens in the Dakotas and much of Nebraska to the 70s in parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley and western Kentucky. Most of the lower Midwest will see maxima in the 60s.

South

A few showers will dot areas of the South east of the Mississippi River tomorrow, but the heaviest showers, accompanied by thunderstorms, will splash down in eastern Oklahoma (mainly) and eastern Texas.

A few severe storms are a good bet for eastern Oklahoma and central Texas. Much colder air driven by blustery northerly winds will slam southward into Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle during the late morning and afternoon, so temperatures in those areas will be retreating. Overall, highs will range from the 30s in the Oklahoma Panhandle to the 80s in south Texas and the western portions of the Florida Peninsula. The Deep South and most of Texas will enjoy readings in the 70s.

West

Wintry weather will be less widespread in the West tomorrow than on recent days, but temperatures will continue to be very much on the wintry side. The heaviest snows, on the order of a half foot or so, will be found in limited areas of the Southwest, mainly in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico and the Rim Country of east-central Arizona. Wind-driven light snow and flurries will dust the frigid Montana plains, and light snow and gusty winds will blanket eastern Colorado, including Denver. Late in the day, light snow may trundle into northwest Washington ahead of a Pacific storm system. Farther south, chilly Santa Ana winds will sweep into Southern California. High temperatures are forecast to range from the single digits in much of Montana to the 60s in a small sliver of Southern California and southwest Arizona. Most of the Interior West will experience highs only in the teens and 20s.

Northeast

A few showers will dot parts of the Northeast tomorrow, but amounts will be quite light and many areas won't see any rain at all. High temperatures will be well above average for the season with readings ranging from the 30s in far northern Maine to the 70s in southeast Virginia. Maxima in the 50s and 60s will be widespread.

THERES A NEW VERSION OF THE JERUSALEM TALMUD IN HEBREW OUT, TO GET IT, READ BELOW.

NEW JERUSALEM TALMUD FOR SALE.

As is well-known, the introduction states, the Jerusalem Talmud was outshadowed over the course of many generations by the Babylonian Talmud, and was not even
available to many of the early Sages yet redemption has finally been achieved for the Jerusalem Talmud with the publication of a modern and precise edition of the entire work.

The new edition of the Jerusalem Talmud is published by Ketuvim Publishers of Jerusalem, which can be emailed at ketuvim@bezeqint.net.

WORLD TERRORISM

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

1,400 Terrorists for Gilad Shalit?
By Hillel Fendel (INN) NOV 28,06


Reports of an imminent prisoner-exchange deal are once again in the air. This time, they speak of up to 1,400 Arab terrorist prisoners going free in three stages, in return for Gilad Shalit.Egypt's Minister of Intelligence, Omar Suleimon, is scheduled to arrive in Israel within the next two days to finalize the details of the agreement.

Egypt figures heavily in the deal: the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit is scheduled to be transferred to that country, and from there to Israel, as part of the deal.The agreement under consideration stipulates the following three steps: An unknown number of Palestinian terrorists currently incarcerated in Israel for various crimes will be set free, immediately after which Corp. Shalit is to be transferred to Egypt. A second group of terrorists will then be freed, followed by Shalit's return to Israel. In the third stage, Israel will free a final group of terrorists.

Just yesterday, speaking at a memorial to David Ben-Gurion in Sde Boker, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert implied that terrorists would be freed only after the kidnapped soldier is returned home.

I hereby declare, he said, that when Gilad Shalit is released and returned to his family, safe and sound, the Government of Israel will be willing to release many Palestinian prisoners including ones who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in order to increase the trust between us and prove that our hand is truly extended in genuine peace.That the agreement is reportedly close to fruition is due to a phone call between Olmert and Abu Mazen, an understanding between Abu Mazen and Hamas leader Ismail Haniye, and the fragile truce in Gaza reached this week between Hamas and Israel. However, similar agreements have reportedly been nearly ready several times in the past as well, yet did not materialize.The identities of the terrorists to be freed are not yet known, nor whether Israel has agreed to the incessant PA demands to free convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti and the killers of Government Minister and former IDF General Rehavam Ze'evi.The question of releasing hundreds of terrorists in exchange for kidnapped Israelis has long been a controversial one in Israel. IDF historian Meir Pa'il totally dismisses the theory that if Israel gives in to Hamas demands, terrorists will kidnap more Israelis.

It's important for every soldier and Israeli to know, Pa'il said, that if he is taken captive, we'll do everything to redeem him.Col. (ret.) Meir Indor of the Almagor Terror Victims Association retorts, That's important, but it's also important for every soldier and every Israeli to know that he won't be the next candidate for kidnapping. The kidnappers must be dealt with forcefully.Family members of Shalit, as well as those of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev two soldiers who were kidnapped by Hizbullah 4.5 months ago into Lebanon have departed for Europe to lobby for their sons release or at least an initial sign that they are alive. No sign of life has been received from any of the three. The families will hold a public demonstration outside the European Parliament in Brussels, together with thousands of European Jews, on Wednesday.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

NATO to expand role to include WMD, terrorism NOV 25,06

LONDON: NATO should expand its role to include counter-terrorism, fighting cyber-crime, and the security of natural resources, according to a confidential document that will be endorsed at a summit next week, the Financial Times said on Friday.

The document, which the newspaper obtained prior to its being made public next week, has already been endorsed by defence ministers, ahead of a conference in Riga, Latvia beginning on Tuesday. Presidents and prime ministers at the Riga summit will also endorse it, the newspaper said.According to the FT, however, diplomats hopes for the conference are being scaled back because of the continuing struggle to quell a violent insurgency in Afghanistan, where more than 30,000 troops are under NATO command.The summit, unnamed NATO officials told the newspaper, is unlikely to provide major new commitments of troops.

Are we magically going to get big new news against the artificial deadline of the summit? I don’t think so, an unnamed senior NATO official told the FT.The classified document obtained by the paper seeks to provide a framework and political direction for NATO’s continuing transformation ... for the next 10 to 15 years. Over that period, it says, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction are likely to be the principal threats to the alliance.

Other challenges for NATO will include instability due to failed states, more sophisticated conventional weapons, and the disruption of the flow of natural resources.The document also says that NATO should be ready to fight more than one major operation at a time, along with an increasing number of smaller ones.This requires forces that are fully deployable, sustainable and interoperable and the means to deploy them, the document reads, according to the FT.

Officially called the comprehensive political guidance, it says that the alliance should put a premium on the ability to deter, disrupt, defend and protect against terrorism, and more particularly to contribute to the protection of the alliance’s populations, territory, critical infrastructure and forces.Other priorities for NATO should be the ability to protect information systems of critical importance to the alliance against cyber attacks, greater flexibility in responding to crises, the ability to carry out operations in difficult terrain, and increased protection against weapons of mass destruction. afp

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

Asia-Pacific leaders to study free trade zone
NOVEMBER 27,06


Asia-Pacific leaders pledged at the end of a two-day summit to study the feasibility of a free trade zone comprising 21 key economies as part of the wider objective of regional integration.We have instructed officials to undertake further studies on ways and means to promote regional economic integration, including a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific as a long-term prospect, the leaders said in a statement in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.While there are practical difficulties in negotiating the so-called FTAAP, it would be timely to seriously consider more effective avenues toward liberalizing trade and investment, they noted.

Results of the studies will be reported back to them at the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Australia next year.The United States tried to breathe life into the idea of an Asia-Pacific trade area, which would stretch from China to Chile and account for 60 percent of global economic output, at this week’s summit in Vietnam, a concept first raised by the region’s business executives in 2004.Some countries represented in Hanoi supported the idea, saying that such a sweeping free trade zone could serve as an alternative liberalization vehicle, should talks to free up global commerce under the World Trade Organization collapse.

But it also received lukewarm support from some APEC members, which said the forum should focus its efforts on reviving the multilateral trade negotiations already under way.To be honest, before this meeting, people weren’t so enthusiastic about the idea of the FTAAP, said Taiwan’s chief delegate to the summit, Morris Chang.But I would say that after this meeting, people are more enthusiastic about the concept now. And people are more supportive of this idea. So I would say that this is a major achievement.

Chang said however it might take a decade or two to achieve the goal of a Pacific Rim free trade area.

Main points of the APEC joint communiqué

The forum issued a wide-ranging joint statement at the end of a two-day summit in Vietnam on November 19. Here are the main points:

WORLD TRADE: The leaders stressed their support to free global trade and said reviving the stalled Doha round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 remained a top priority. They said they would spare no effort to break the current deadlock in the Doha round of the talks and achieve an ambitious and balanced outcome.

REGIONAL TRADE: They also pledged to study ways to promote regional economic integration, including a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific as a long-term prospect. They acknowledged practical difficulties with creating such a free zone, but said their officials would report back on the idea at next year’s summit.

TERRORISM: Member economies said they were determined to combat terrorism and praised progress in efforts to dismantle trans-boundary terrorist groups and to eliminate the danger posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. They emphasized that securing food supply chains against terrorist attacks was a priority for 2007.

HEALTH: They endorsed a 2006 APEC action plan to prevent, or respond to, avian influenza pandemics and affirmed their commitment to implementing it.

The leaders also agreed to enhance cooperation on fighting HIV/AIDS and ensure the protection of the rights of those living with the disease.

NATURAL DISASTERS: On the threat of natural disasters, the joint statement urged member economies to further intensify cooperation, including with the private sector, to maximize regional available resources to prepare for disaster and post-disaster rehabilitation and construction.

BUSINESS: Members stressed the importance of intellectual copyright protection and to step up efforts against counterfeiting and ensure that governments and their agencies do not use illegal software. They also promised to fight corruption, which they identified as one of the greatest obstacles to economic and social development.

US, Russia sign long-awaited WTO accord

The United States and Russia have signed a bilateral agreement paving the way for Moscow to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) after 12 years of tough negotiations.US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref signed the more than 800-page pact on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi.

Putin, holding his second meeting with Bush on November 19 in a week after one in Moscow on the 15th, suggested the accord would ease US-Russian relations across the board.This creates a favorable background for all our activities, including solving complicated international problems, he told reporters.Outlining tariff reductions on everything from aviation and medicine to the car industry, as well as detailing intellectual property rights protection, the agreement is seen as an American vote of confidence in Russia’s developing economy.

Without doubt this accord is a very important occasion for the integration of Russia into the global economy, Gref said after signing the document.Schwab said the accord was a very important milestone as Russia moves one important step closer to becoming a member of the WTO.The United States was the last member of the 149-member WTO global trade body still withholding consent for Russia to join, citing concerns on intellectual property rights and restrictions on foreign financial services. Up until the last minute, Russia had expressed concerns about sanitary conditions for US meat imports.The US leader also told Putin that Washington had lifted sanctions imposed on Russian military aircraft maker Sukhoi for providing weapons-related material to Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

The US-Russian agreement must now be ratified by legislatures in both countries, and Russia must also strike an overall multilateral accord with the whole WTO. Gref said that could take another seven to eight months.Particular attention in the multilateral talks would be paid to Russia’s ability to protect intellectual property rights, Schwab and Gref said. The accord had been repeatedly delayed amid mutual accusations that bilateral economic issues were being used as political leverage over unconnected disputes.American business groups are urging Congress to move swiftly on granting Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status and to abolish Cold War-era limits imposed on commerce with the former Soviet Union.Congress cannot block Russia’s WTO accession but without PNTR, US and Russian businesses will not enjoy full access to each other’s economies, even after Moscow joins the global body.

LAND FOR PEACE

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE----PRESS RELEASE----FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Moshe Feiglin,Co-Founder & President Contact: Shmuel Sackett
(516) 330-4922 (cell phone),Shmuel@Manhigut.org Shmuel Sackett,Co-Founder & International Director Manhigut Yehudit Leaders Issue Statement on PM Olmert's Concessions

Jerusalem, November 27, 2006 Following is a statement on yesterday's speech made by Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in which he granted the Arab enemy significant diplomatic concessions which came on the heels of an unenforceable cease fire he also granted them, issued by Moshe Feiglin, President, and Shmuel Sackett, International Director of Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership), the largest faction inside the Likud party.Manhigut Yehudit President Moshe Feiglin deplores Prime Minister Olmert's promises to the Palestinians in his speech at David Ben Gurion's memorial service. PM Olmert called on the Palestinian leadership to choose the new path ofnegotiations while promising them a state void of Jews in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

Mr. Olmert is attempting to prove that Albert Einstein's most common sense postulate defining insanity as doing the same thing over and expecting a different result is fallacious. PM Olmert is solely attempting to repackage his plan of unilateral withdrawal of Jews from Judea and Samaria into a negotiated settlement even though he surely will act as all Israeli Prime Ministers since the Oslo Accords were signed and not hold the enemy to ANY of their signed obligations. As the withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza have proven to be a disaster for the State of Israel and a harbinger of further and larger enemy attacks and wars, so will this surrender to our enemy bring further death and destruction to Israel.The State of Israel needs and deserves strong leadership now which identifies with its Jewish heritage, not the leadership of Ehud Olmert, who so infamously stated last year that we are tired of winning, and we are tired of being courageous.

A Prime Minister such as Olmert who calls upon his nation to forgo its national ethos should remember the chilling words of Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain at the onset of World War II: You accepted shame to avoid war - now you have both.
Manhigut Yehudit is the largest faction inside the Likud party, and strives to Turn the State of the Jews into The Jewish State. Am Yisrael Chai.

Olmert's Speech Angers Many, Even in Kadima
By Hillel Fendel (INN) NOV 28,06


How can it be that the Prime Minister, the leader of our party, talks about a new broad diplomatic plan without even consulting with his own party members? So say at least two Kadima members.The NFC Hebrew website reports on two Kadima Knesset Members who have scathing criticism for their party leader and Prime Minister. Because there's a ceasefire for a day and a half, we have to go and promise a Palestinian state and the release of terrorist prisoners? rails one of them, preferring to remain anonymous.Another Kadima MK said he categorically opposes Olmert's plan as it was articulated yesterday, noting that other MKs feel the same way.

Olmert said the Arab side must give up its demands for the right of return of millions of Arabs to Israel but this followed a list of far-reaching Israeli concessions that he offered. The Prime Minister said that in exchange for an end to terrorism, the formation of a Quartet-approved government, and the release of Gilad Shalit, the Palestinian Authority would achieve a contiguous and independent state, the release of many terrorists, and the evacuation of many territories and communities that were established therein.

Arab spokesmen refused Olmert's demand to give up the right of return. Hamas deputy leader Abu Marzouk, based in Damascus, said, We reject any deal that does not recognize the right of return... The Palestinian people will never give up this sacred right. Our people have been fighting for 58 years to achieve the right of return for all those who were expelled from their homeland.Hamas spokesman Razi Hamad that Olmert is trying to bypass the core of the Palestinian cause, namely the right of return for the refugees.MK Tzvi Hendel, of the National Union party, was disgusted by Olmert's offer to destroy more Jewish communities. I have no expectations, he said, from a man who is so devoid of morality that in the middle of a terrorism war, and amidst threats of murderous terrorism from every direction, he is not embarrassed to promise the enemy the expulsion of the residents and the
establishment of a terror state.

Hendel said he expects Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) and Eli Yishai (Shas) not to betray their voters, and to immediately quit the Olmert government.Speaking at a memorial to David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, Olmert said he believes Ben-Gurion would have supported his plan but MK Gilad Erdan of the Likud said it is more likely that Ben-Gurion is actually turning over in his grave at the military and diplomatic blindness shown by the Prime Minister. MK Erdan said that Olmert continues to ignore the warnings of the security leaders, choosing instead to deal with withdrawals and retreats instead of strengthening Israel's strength and deterrence power.MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud), a former Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, condemned Olmert for offering to make an agreement with a group that has broken all agreements in the past. The speech symbolizes the end of Israel's determination to fight terrorism, said Shteinitz, a former left-wing professor. Olmert promises land to Hamas, which has murderously violated all the previous agreements and truces without changing its principles and charter.

On the other hand, far-left Meretz MK Chaim Oron said, Finally, the mantra that 'we have no partner has been replaced. The Government of Israel must act to strengthen the PA's national unity government that will arise and conduct a real dialogue towards a permanent arrangement that will bring an end to the cycle of bloodshed in our region. Internal PA negotiations for a unity government have been stuck for months.The Labor Party welcomed Olmert's speech. Faction whip MK Yoram Marciano said, Labor supports Olmert's diplomatic initiative and peace moves, as they were expressed [in his speech]... In response, the Palestinian Authority must stretch out its arm in peace and lay down its arms in order to create a life of hope and peace between the two nations.

Analysis: U.S. dominance of Mideast ends
By CLAUDE SALHANI,UPI International Editor


WASHINGTON,Nov. 27(UPI) U.S. dominance in the Middle East has ended, giving way to a new era in the modern history of the region amid growing anti-American sentiment.

This is the conclusion of a study by Richard N. Haas, president of the Council on
Foreign Relations in an article titled The New Middle East published in the November /December 2006 issue of Foreign Affairs. Expectations of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Middle East based on the European model will not be realized, says Haas.

Much more likely is the emergence of a new Middle East that will cause great harm to itself, the United States, and the world. Haas writes that the most significant factor contributing to the end of this era has been the Bush administration's decision to attack Iraq in 2003 and its conduct of the operation and resulting occupation. Among the casualties of the war in Iraq is the Sunni's domination, a factor which was strong enough and motivated enough to balance Shiite Iran. This, explains Haas, has given rise to tensions between Sunnis and Shiites. Fighting between the two rival Muslim groups has reached new heights in Iraq with a car bomb claiming more that 160 lives in a single day last week. And in Lebanon tension between the Shiite Hezbollah and Sunnis has reached the point where it could easily tip into armed conflict.

Another casualty of the Iraq war has been the rise of terrorism. Terrorists have gained a base in Iraq where they developed a new set of techniques to export, says Haas. The war in Iraq, says Haas has reduced U.S. leverage worldwide by tying down a large number of U.S. troops in the area. Haas considers this as one of history's ironies. The first war in Iraq, a war of necessity, marked the beginning of the American era in the Middle East and the second Iraq war, a war of choice, has precipitated its end. The most significant factor contributing to the demise of the U.S. domination in the Middle East, according to Haas, has been the Bush administration's decision to attack Iraq in 2003. Haas also points out other relevant factors such as the demise of the Middle East peace process and the failure of traditional Arab regimes to counter the appeal of radical Islamism. In the Middle East's new era the United States will be challenged by China, Russia and the European Union. Iran will be one of the two most powerful states in the region, says Haas. Iran is the most powerful external influence in Iraq, and holds considerable sway over both Hamas and Hezbollah.

Haas calls the Islamic Republic of Iran a classic imperial power. Iran has ambitions to remake the region in its image and the potential to translate its objectives into reality. Israel, the only country in the region with a nuclear arsenal, still is in a weaker position today than it was before this summer's crisis in Lebanon. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other large oil producers will benefit from the rising price of oil, which Haas believes is far more likely to exceed $100 (per barrel) than it is to fall below $40. Haas further predicts Iraq, traditionally a center of Arab power, will remain messy for years to come, with a weak central government, a divided
society, and regular sectarian violence. At worst, it will become a failed state wracked by an all-out civil war that will draw in its neighbors.The political landscape of the Middle East is changing. With Arab nationalism and Arab socialism a thing of the past, democracy belongs in the distant future at best, and a number of Arab regimes are likely to remain authoritarian. Arab unity is a slogan, not a reality, says Haas.

Islam will continue to make great strides and will continue to fill the intellectual vacuum in the Arab world, he says, adding Islam will provide a foundation for the politics of a majority of the region's inhabitants. Lack of imagination will continue to hurt Arab countries.

Says Haas: The Middle East's best-known organization, the Arab League, excludes the region's two most powerful states, Israel and Iran. Haas says the continuing war between Arab forces and Israel will continue to preclude the participation of Israel in any sustained regional relationship.While the tension between Iran and most Arab states will also frustrate the emergence of regionalism. The author of the report cautions U.S. policymakers not to be over reliant on brute military force. He points to two instances where two superior powers the U.S. in Iraq and Israel in Lebanon were unable to achieve their objectives. Secondly, cautions Haas, it would be a mistake to count on the emergence of democracy to pacify the region.

Creating mature democracies is no easy task, says Haas. If and when the experiment succeeds it takes decades. Among the dangers of the new Middle East is the possibility that Syria might be more interested in working with Tehran than with Washington.

Washington's shunning of Damascus and Tehran as part of its foreign policy is in fact the absence of a coherent policy. Diplomacy, writes Haas, is the best option available to Washington. Indeed, what seems to be emerging in the Middle East today is a new axis of power with Syria as its main cog and incorporating Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. And following the re-establishment of relations between Damascus and Baghdad could bring Iraq back into the anti-American fold.

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