CULT SAYS END OF WORLD

1-Second tropical storm brews off North Carolina. 2-Monsoon hits Korea. 3-World reactions,Israel is right. 4-EU to plan for Rapid Reaction border force. 5-Berlin in plans to split EU neighbourhood states. 6-G-8 and Sovereign democracy. 7-Hp unveils competitor RDIF chip. 8-Doomsday cult says September end of world (Good luck Cult, will not happen)

LUKE 2125-26
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
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.

Second tropical storm of 2006 brews off North Carolina coast 48 minutes ago

MIAMI (AFP) - The second tropical storm of the 2006 hurricane season formed off the coast of North Carolina, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported. At 5 pm (2100 GMT) tropical storm Beryl was located 290 kilometers (180 miles) in the Atlantic southeast of Cape Hatteras, with winds of 64 kilometers (40 miles) per hour.Forecasters believe the storm will eventually move north-east and away from land, but have nevertheless issued a tropical storm warning for the northern half of North Carolina's coastline.

Beryl is the second Atlantic storm since last year's record-smashing season of 28 named storms, including 15 that became hurricanes.US weather experts forecast that between eight and 10 hurricanes as many as six of them major would form in the
Atlantic basin during the six-month storm season that started on June 1.

The first Atlantic tropical storm of the year was Alberto, which fizzled out in mid-June one day after its landfall brought heavy rain but none of the destructive power of last year's killer hurricanes.

Monsoon hits Korean peninsula, 150 dead or missing 1 hour, 18 minutes ago

SEOUL (AFP) - At least 150 people on the Korean peninsula are believed dead or missing and several thousand are homeless after monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides, officials and aid workers said. The Red Cross reported that at least 100 people were either dead or missing in the impoverished North, where a further 9,000 had been left homeless by the rains.In some remote areas, whole villages have been swept away and essential public services, such as health care clinics, have been destroyed, Jaap Timmer,the head of North Korean operations at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in Geneva.

Over the heavily-militarised border in South Korea, the disaster agency said the monsoon rains had pounded the north and east for a fifth straight day and had left 19 people dead and 31 missing.Most of the victims came from the mountainous eastern province of Gangwon, where 17 were killed in landslides or flash floods, said the National Emergency Management Agency.More than 550 millimeters (21.6 inches) of rain have fallen there since Friday, according to the agency.There was little official word on casualties or damage from the authorities in the reclusive North and the Red Cross said communications networks had been severely disrupted making it difficult to collect reliable information.There has also been widespread damage to roads and bridges, which has left many people displaced or stranded,Timmer said in a statement.

A typhoon, which struck last Friday, totally or partially destroyed more than 11,500 houses, the Red Cross said.It also destroyed out vast swathes of farmland, a major blow for the secretive communist nation which has long relied on international food handouts after failed harvests.The North Korean Red Cross had mobilised more than 2,300 volunteers to provide first aid and rescue and evacuation support in affected provinces, the aid group said.It had also sent blankets, kitchen sets, plastic sheeting, water containers and water purification tablets to almost 10,000 families whose homes were completely destroyed in South Pyongan, North Hwanghe and Kangwon provinces.Meanwhile, South Korea's President Roh Moo-Hyun had designated 18 cities and counties as special disaster areas where victims could receive state-organized special loans, subsidies and tax breaks, the disaster agency.

The special disaster areas covered seven places in the Gangwon province and 11 elsewhere, including some southern towns hit by typhoon Ewiniar last week and heavy rain more recently, the agency said.It warned there could be more flood victims with casualty reports still coming in. Relief efforts continued with more than 3,700 people remaining homeless as of early Tuesday, it said.The downpour has flooded homes, swept away roads and inundated farmland and villages. Tens of thousands of residents were also left without power.Police, military and disaster agencies have evacuated victims to schools and other safer areas while airlifting relief to flooded areas.In the capital Seoul, some of the once submerged and closed riverside expressways and roads were partially opened for traffic again Tuesday morning as the rain front was moving southward. Heavy rains were expected to fall on the Korean peninsula for another few days.

World Reactions: Israel is Right, and Talk of World War III
By Hillel Fendel (aruts-7 INN)

The G-8 leaders, including Bush, Blair, and Putin, are showing no signs of pressuring Israel to go easy - yet. In the U.S., there's talk of World War Three. World leaders meeting in a suburb of the Russian city of St. Petersburg at the G-8 summit have come down squarely on Israel's side. They called for Hamas and Hizbullah to return the Israeli soldiers they are holding captive and for the cessation of rocket attacks on Israel - as conditions for Israel's cessation of its offensive on Lebanon. The G-8 is a self-proclaimed Group of Eight industrialized nations, namely, the U.S., Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan.

Canada took a surprisingly pro-Israel approach when Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters before the summit that Israel has a right to defend itself, and that Israel's offensive in Lebanon was a measured manifestation of that right. He clearly blamed the current warfare on Hamas and Hizbullah.

In response to calls for a more proportionate Israeli response to Hizbullah and Hamas, an Israel Radio correspondent in Washington quoted observers who said that such a response would have to include indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians, just as both terrorist groups have done. Israel should therefore be commended for not acting proportionately, the observers say.Former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has described the Israel-Lebanon-Hamas warfare as part of the beginning of World War III.

The Republican Senator from the southern state of Georgia, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, mentioned a series of locations in which the west and Muslim terrorists are clashing. Noting the question of the survival of Israel, as well as bombs in India, the war in Afghanistan, the Iran/Syria/Hamas/Hizbullah alliance, the war in Iraq funded largely from Saudi Arabia and supplied largely from Syria and Iran,and Muslim terrorist threats in Britain and the United States, as well as the missiles from North Korea, Gingrich concluded, I mean, we… are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war.

Sen. John McCain (R, Az.), appearing on CNN on Monday, was only a shade more conservative, saying, We need to make our European allies understand that this is the most serious challenge we have faced in the Middle East in a long time.McCain added that the U.S. might have to take direct action itself.

Frankly,Gingrich said, the Israelis have every right to insist that every single missile leave south Lebanon, and the United States ought to be helping the Lebanese government have the strength to eliminate Hizbullah as a military force.The threat to the United States,Gingrich said, is an ideological wing of Islam that is irreconcilable to modern civilization as we know it throughout most of the world. The United States and her allies face a long war with this irreconcilable wing of Islam.

Brussels to unveil plan on EU rapid border teams
17.07.2006 - 14:20 CET | By Lucia Kubosova

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is this week set to adopt a plan to establish EU rapid reaction teams aimed at safeguarding the bloc's external borders. At their last meeting before the summer break, commissioners are set on Wednesday (19 July), to approve a document seen by the EUobserver which outlines the tasks and rules under which rapid border intervention teams would operate.

The plan is based on a voluntary scheme where member states willing to participate in the project would be asked to draw up a list of national border guards available to other countries in critical situations.

The rapid intervention teams would work on an ad hoc basis and only be deployed in times of crises to "fill any gaps in the control and surveillance performed by the national border guard service of the requesting member states.The joint operations would be conducted by the EU's agency for external borders management (Frontex), while the states facing the immigrant influx would need to approve the deployment of guards from other member states on their territory. The guest officers would help out in tasks such as checking the travel documents of people crossing the border of a country at stake, conducting interviews or searching vehicles or belongings.They may also take part in external border patrols and even act to prevent illegal crossings of borders.

Guest officers and members of the Rapid Border Intervention Teams shall moreover be entitled to wear their own uniforms, however with insignia clearly identifying them as participating in a joint operation.They shall also be issued with a document identifying them and giving proof of their right to exercise their tasks,states the draft proposal.The agency would cover the costs of joint operations estimated at €11.4 million between 2008-2013 - such as accommodation, travel, vaccination or special insurance costs but not the regular salaries of the national experts.Frontex would also provide basic training for guest experts - so that they have the same high level of expertise on border control related issues and are able to work together efficiently in crisis situations,says the proposal.

The border agency is already provided with so-called joint support teams but they are used to tackle regular operations organised by the agency - such as major international events taking place in some of the member states.

Malta and Spain troubles

The issue has come to a head recently with Malta and Spain's Canary Islands seeing a high influx of immigrants. Both governments have strongly pressed for more EU action to tackle the problem.Malta, which is 316 square km and has 400,000 inhabitants, is
currently hosting 1,031 illegal immigrants at its open centres.Spain's Canary Islands have also seen a day-by-day increase of immigrants crossing its borders, with 160 having arrived over the weekend.

Over 11,000 people have landed on the islands this year about twice as much as in 2005, according to Spanish media.Over the weekend, both countries were involved in an incident where their authorities refused to accept immigrants and could not agree on who should take care of them.On Sunday, Maltese officials denied the entry of a Spanish fishing boat with 51 African immigrants on board claiming to have been rescued outside the coast of the Mediterranean island.

DANIEL 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Berlin in plans to split EU neighbourhood states
17.07.2006 - 09:57 CET | By Aleander Balzan

The EU could downgrade its relations with its partners from the Middle East in reforms mooted by Germany which will take over the EU presidency in the first half of 2007, according to a UK daily.The move could have an effect on Middle East countries that are currently members of the EU neighbourhood policy (ENP). The Guardian reports that the German plans intend to split the countries taking part in the current EU neighbourhood policy scheme, separating those that have membership hopes from those who would never be admitted to the EU. This means that Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority will be given a less prominent position than members who are geographically within Europe.

Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia will be among the countries to be admitted to the more advanced club. But the German plans have been criticised by European experts believing that the EU must not demote its relations with the 10 non-European members.The problems of North Africa are just as important to the EU as those of eastern Europe.

It is wrong to tell North Africa that because they are Muslims and live in sandy places, they can't be integrated,Charles Grant, director for the Centre for European Reform, told the Guardian. But Rolf Welberts, a senior official at the German foreign ministry, defended the plans, arguing that the current neighbourhood policy had not been a success.

Ukraine should not be treated in the same way as Morocco or Algeria. We think the action plan of the ENP should be replaced with something deeper,Mr Welberts was reported saying by the Guardian. Mr Welberts added that Ukraine must be offered the hope of EU membership. Otherwise "there is a real risk that Ukraine will turn away,Mr Welberst concluded. However, Berlin's plans may dash rather than boost the membership aspirations of states like Ukraine. German politicians have previously mooted ideas for a privileged partnership with Ukraine as well as western Balkan states which would take the form of something between ENP ties and full membership. These ideas have been widely seen as an alternative, not a step in between, to fully fledged EU membership.

The European Neighbourhood Policy was developed after the EU's 2004 enlargement, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbours. Under this policy the EU offers its neighbours a privileged relationship.

G8 and sovereign democracy
18:05 | 17/ 07/ 2006

MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov) - The G8 summit in St. Petersburg is over, and everyone seems to be writing the same thing about it. I'll do my best to buck the trend. In my view, one of the summit's priorities was the issue of independence and sovereignty in relations between democratic countries, although it was not on the agenda and none of the leaders spoke about it explicitly. In a unipolar world dominated by the United States and its desire to be generous to humankind by forcing the North American worldview on it, this issue was bound to surface at bilateral talks within the G8 and during joint discussions.

This issue is also interesting because some members of the Russian political elite have coined a new phrase, sovereign democracy,as a reaction to two opposing phenomena. One of them is the unquestionable and rapid (in historical terms)
strengthening of Russia, which is buttressing its independence and reinforcing its prestige on the international scene and in the global economy (although mostly in the energy sector so far).

The other is the equally unquestionable and rapidly growing concern and discontent in influential American quarters over the strengthening of Russia. In an ideal world, it would be logical and correct to develop partner relations with a strengthening Russia, not seek confrontation with it. But life, especially in the political world, has never been ideal, and Cold War stereotypes are resurfacing increasingly fast. Paradoxically, the U.S. democracy is becoming increasingly jealous of the rising Russian democracy, which it criticizes for not being its carbon copy. This is absurd, because all successful democracies, although they use the same democratic instruments, proceed in their own way, with due regard for national traditions and specifics. France is not like Sweden, Spain is different from Japan, and the United States is not Switzerland. However, despite their successes, an objective observer will also see their weak sides, small sins and oddities.

This is also true of the U.S. The G8 summit in St. Petersburg began with President George W. Bush meeting with a dozen NGO representatives. President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, had met and talked with hundreds of representatives of Russian and foreign NGOs ahead of the summit and later conveyed their requests to the G8 leaders, just as he had promised. But it is not arithmetic that matters in this case. The odd thing is that Russian NGOs brought to President Bush a request from American NGOs, who want their president to meet with members of U.S. civil society.

Isn't it shocking that the American president, who tries to teach Russians democracy, does not deem it necessary to hear the opinion of his own NGOs? Another oddity: During a news conference on the results of bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart, the Chief Executive - even though he had promised not to interfere in Russia's internal affairs before the summit - said he had told the Russian president about his hopes for institutional change in the world, citing Iraq as an example of a new democracy. The Russian leader, who did his best to act as a polite host, nevertheless retorted to the applause and laughter of journalists: Frankly speaking, we would not want to have a democracy like the one in Iraq.

It is difficult to say if Bush's recommendation was an unsuccessful impromptu, or the U.S. elite is so far removed from reality as to think that the tottering Iraqi democracy, which is kept alive by the occupation forces, is what Russians want. Do the Americans like the Iraqi semblance of democracy because it is a puppet government at Washington's beck and call? Is this the main gauge of a successful and correct policy?

Iraq should not be the only example in this case. President Bush could cite Ukraine or Georgia, which also do Washington's bidding. When Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko decided to sack Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, she ran to complain to
the American ambassador. Why is it that Ukraine's leading politicians seem unable to act without advice from the U.S. embassy?

During the summit, all of the G8 leaders worked on their relations with Washington in one way or another. London did not need to do this, as it has long been traveling in the wake of U.S. policy, but France is fighting for the right to an independent opinion.

The joint news conference of Jacques Chirac and George Bush showed that the two leaders differ considerably over the situation in the Middle East. This is why France, just like Russia, is not one of Washington's favorite countries. Maybe the French should also learn democracy in Iraq?

So, the reasons for the appearance of the phrase sovereign democracy in the Russian political dictionary are clear. However, this term does not seem to be quite correct, because genuine democracy that respects the interests of all countries can only be sovereign, or else it would not be a democracy. So, sovereign democracy is much of a muchness.Spain is a good example of sovereignty in a democratic state. Acting at the request of its citizens, the Spanish government pulled out troops from Iraq without stopping to think whether this would displease the United States. Russia will proceed into the future in its own way.

Its apparent objective is to become a full and effective democracy, but ways towards that goal can differ. Russia can move in a Russian way, whereas France and Spain may be moving towards the same objective in their own manner. And the United States should respect their choice.

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.

HP Unveils RFID's Future Competitor
07.17.06 By Natali T. Del Conte

Hewlett-Packard unveiled a memory chip the size of a tomato seed on Monday in its Palo Alto laboratories. The tiny chip, called the Memory Spot, can be attached unobtrusively to any object and carry media or data. The Memory Spot will rival RFID tags in carrying information on movable physical objects, but HP calls it the smarter alternative.It has some of the characteristics of RFID but it's very different because it's orders of magnitude different in bandwidth, said Howard Taub, vice president and associate director of HP Laboratories. It's like comparing a monkey and a human. There are some similarities but the capabilities are very different.

The Memory Spot has a 10 megabits-per-second data-transfer rate and can store up to 4 megabits of data, although the demonstration chips stored only 256 kilobits. The chip has an integrated antenna, which is why it is so much smaller than an RFID chip, which gets most of its size from the separately attached antennae. It receives power through inductive coupling from a special read-write device that extracts data from the memory on the chip.

HP says that the chip will "bridge the digital and physical worlds. Taub demonstrated picture albums with the nearly-invisible chip attached to the borders. When a reader touched the chip, audio from the picture was played. Taub next waved the reader over the chip on a medicine bottle and the attached computer received the dosage, direction, and all other pertinent information from the prescription.Other proposed applications include sending digital postcards with movies and sounds like the moving pictures in a Harry Potter movie.

The chip can also be used to attach catalogs to merchandise, resumes to business cards, and digital information to a document in order to photocopy it without scanning. Magnetic Memory Chips Hit the Market Chip Titans Look to Startup for Flash Lift Intel To Talk Up 'Rosedale 2' WiMAX Chip Intel to Speed Up Chip Redesigns The reading devices have yet to be developed, but Taub has hopes that mobile phone companies and PDA manufacturers will want in.

A PDA is a good reader because it's got a screen and audio and video capabilities, but cell phones are the perfect readers, Taub said. Everybody has one with them at all times and they can play video and audio. But cell phones are not designed for this yet, so the cell phone companies would have to decide if they want to be part of the ecosystem. Information transfer requires actual physical connection to the Memory Spot and Taub says they designed it that way. We don't want to increase the range of contact, he said. We think it's just right.Memory Spot technology works independently of Internet connection. It is meant for physical data transmission, much like RFID, although another fundamental difference is that the data on Memory Spot is rewriteable whereas the majority of RFID chips are read-only. In a world with infinite connection and infinite bandwidth, you probably wouldn't need this, but I still don't have cell phone connection here in the basement,Taub said.

HP's business divisions have not put a price approximation on Memory Spot, particularly because they do not have a manufacturer lined up yet. Taub estimates that the chips could cost consumers $1 each, but emphasized that this price point is pure speculation. Because this Memory Spot is in such early phases, consumers will not actually see or use it for at least another two to five years. We're just announcing the technology right now,Taub said.

The hard part is building the ecosystem. You have to get your readers and writers, and I don't know how long it will take me to convince the cell phone companies to do this. How long has RFID been around and it's still not completely built out? An integral part of building the ecosystem will also involve building new standards for Memory Spot. Taub says that they have applied to some standards boards, although he would not say which ones, as well as complied with FCC regulations. He said that HP will announce the new standard in the near future.

MATTHEW 24:4-5
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

House of Yahweh: Doomsday cult sees end to world in September
AFP, via the Daily Star (Bangladesh), France,July 16, 2006
www.thedailystar.net

The escalating Middle East conflict has strengthened the convictions of a doomsday cult in central Kenya that believes the world will come to an end in September. Members of the "House of Yahweh" sect here have begun selling off their belongings and preparing for Armageddon, attracting the attention of authorities concerned the group's leaders may be taking advantage of believers.The goings-on now in Israel are a clear indication of what will happen,says Ruth Wanjiku, a member of the Kenyan branch of the House of Yahweh that is based in the US state of Texas.This is the beginning of the end of the world as prophesied by the 'Book of Yahweh',she says, referring to the group's version of the Bible that holds Armageddon will begin on September 12.The End. Again.

Handshake of Death: According to the House of Yahweh, a Christian sect, when Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands at the White House on Sept. 13, 1993, they began a seven-year tribulation that will end this Sept. 13 and bring about the end of the world. Los Angeles Times, Jan. 10, 2000.

According to the prophesy, the end of the world will begin that day when the United States moves to protect Israel, sparking a war that sucks in nuclear powers China, North Korea, Iran, India and Pakistan, as well as non-nuclear state Sudan.Recent developments in the Middle East, with Israel attacking militant positions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, have only bolstered the group's assertions.

There will be a 'nuclear winter' with temperatures dropping to below zero degrees centigrade (32 Fahrenheit) and killing all non-believers,Wanjiku says, explaining the group's belief that conflict in the Middle East will cause the apocalypse.The high nuclear concentration will slowly move to low-concentration areas and this is how lives will be wiped from the face of the earth,adds fellow member Dominic Karichu.

In order to survive, believers are selling off possessions to build massive mud bunkers and store food, moves that have alarmed officials in Kinangop, a small trading post about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Nairobi.Since we cannot risk staying in our houses after September 12, we are selling them to finance the bunkers and food, Wanjiru said.It was not immediately clear if other branches of the House of Yahweh were taking similar preparations to the group's Kenyan followers but local officials said they will take action against any unscrupulou behavior.

Authorities said they had ordered village chiefs and police to arrest House of Yahweh leaders who instruct members to sell their homes and other possessions.Some people could be taking advantage of this to fleece the unsuspecting faithful and we are not going to leave anything to chance,said Nyandarua district commissioner Khamasi Shivogo.

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