22 GROWOPS 6.6 MILLION

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Two weak quakes shake Greek Peloponnese region, no damage reported. 3-Hurricanes to batter Britain. 4-Floods kill nine in Somalia, death toll climbs to 89. 5-Russia said to deliver arms to Iran. 6-A secret agreement between India and China to slowly build a counter NATO of Asia. 7-U.S. global NATO plan to get summit thumbs-down. 8-Polonium-210 difficult to detect. 9-Region-building should replace nation-building. 10-New savage twist to violence in Baghdad. 11-Palestinians and Israel Say They Are Open to Truce. 12-Prodi, Chirac endorse EU initiative to halt Mideast violence. 13-22 grow-ops in one highrise.

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 = Sat Nov 25 09:00 AM EDT

NOV 25,2006
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS

NOV 24,2006
MAP 4.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.4 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 TONGA REGION
MAP 4.8 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.0 KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, RUSSIA
MAP 5.7 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAP 4.5 SICILY, ITALY
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.3 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA

Two weak quakes shake Greek Peloponnese region, no damage reported Fri Nov 24, 7:58 AM ET

ATHENS (AFP) - Two tremors measuring 4.1 and 4.2 points on the open-ended Richter scale have shaken the Greek Corinthian Gulf, north of the southern Peloponnese region.The tremors were recorded at 4:58 am (0258 GMT) and 11:03 am (0903 GMT) with
an underwater epicentre around 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Athens, the Athens Observatory's Geodynamic Institute said Friday.

There were no immediate reports of damage in surrounding towns.An institute seismologist declined to say whether the tremors were part of wider activity in what is one of Greece's most active seismic areas, simply saying that colleagues were monitoring the situation.Greece is more affected by seismic activity than any other European country and bears the brunt of half of all earthquakes on the continent.

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.

Hurricanes to batter Britain (THESUN)
By JOHN COLES,November 25, 2006

BRITAIN is bracing itself for a battering today with hurricane-force winds of up to 75mph forecast.Weather experts predict disruption to transport and power supplies, widespread damage to property and flooding.A vigorous autumn storm will hit most of the country from early morning, with the West Country, the South and Eastern England most at risk.The exact path of the storm is uncertain but forecasters warn that Wales, the Midlands and the North will also to be affected.The severe gales will be accompanied by heavy rain.Last night the Environment Agency had flood watches on 11 locations across the South and Midlands.

Forecaster Julian Mayes of MeteoGroup UK predicted that it was likely to be windier than at any time last winter.He added: It’s going to be extremely unsettled and windy, particularly throughout Saturday. All areas are going to be windy. The areas that are most likely to have damaging gales will be dependent on the exact track taken by the depression.The Met Office said gusts of between 65-75mph were expected.Winds above 73mph are classed as hurricane-force on the Beaufort Scale of wind speed.

A Met Office spokesman said: Gusts to this strength are infrequent across the south-east and likely to lead to disruption to transport and power supplies.This will be a vigorous autumn storm which will bring severe gales to many parts of Britain and the public should take extra care.Although the very strong winds are expected to be the main concern, the storm will also bring heavy rain and an increased threat of flooding.The key message to people is to keep up-to-date with the forecast and to make sure they plan ahead for any weekend activities.j.coles@the-sun.co.uk

Floods kill nine in Somalia, death toll climbs to 89 by Mustafa Haji Abdinur Fri Nov 24, 8:38 AM ET

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Raging flood waters killed at least nine people, including five sleeping children, overnight as a third week of heavy rains pounded southern Somalia, bringing the death toll to at least 89.And with no end in sight to unusually heavy seasonal rains that have brought misery to a country already on the brink of war, UN officials said conflict could badly hurt emergency relief efforts for nearly a million Somalis.The children were killed when their homes in villages near the provincial town of Jowhar, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Mogadishu, were washed away by waters from rivers that burst their banks, local officials said.Five children died after heavy floods swept their homes away while they were sleeping, said Ibrahim Nur Osman, the security commander for Somalia's powerful Islamist movement in Middle Shabelle region where Jowhar is situated.Meanwhile, rescuers recovered the bodies of four people buried in the mud around Mustaqbal village in Lower Shabelle region, where tens of thousands are facing acute food shortages.

Four bodies, one of them an elderly woman, have been discovered dead around Mustaqbal in the mud, said Garad Abukar Mohamed, the secretary for the local Islamic administration.

The water level is rising all the time and thousands of people are trapped in flood-hit areas that nobody can reach, he told AFP, adding that the death toll would likely rise as food stocks had been destroyed.Scores of survivors were clinging to trees, grieving for the loss of their loved ones and property as well as trying to avoid being eaten by crocodiles unleashed by the flooding of the Shabelle and Jubba rivers, residents said.At least 13 of the flood fatalities are known to have been devoured by the crocodiles, which have been on a feeding frenzy in Beledweyne, further north of Jowhar, according to locals.Casualties are increasing day-by-day, Osman told AFP. People are getting killed, others injured, while others are being evacuated. Everybody is grieving from treetops where they have escaped.

The village of Bulo-Warey, where the children died overnight Thursday, was completely inundated, with the surviving residents fleeing as best they could, an official said.I tell you that none of the affected people is in the village because the whole place is covered by water, said Osman Adan Ibrahim, a local Islamist representative.The floods have compounded difficulties for Somalis already on edge fearing an outbreak of all-out war between the Islamists and the country's weak Ethiopian-backed government that many believe could spark a regional conflict.Despite assurances from the rival sides that airlifts of relief supplies necessary because most land routes have been cut will be safe in the event of war, UN officials said they feared fighting would derail aid operations.That is a
disaster and we want to avoid it, Eric Laroche, head of the Kenya-based UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for Somalia, told reporters in Nairobi.OCHA appealed for 15 million dollars (11.5 million dollars) for its urgent Somali operations, but warned that amount might increase in the coming days as torrential rains continue to pound Somalia.Nearly one million Somalis are estimated to be affected by the flooding, of which at least 336,000 have been forced from their homes, according to the United Nations.Health officials have also sounded the alarm for outbreaks of waterborne diseases, particularly cholera, which has already been confirmed in two areas. The rains have destroyed farmlands, disrupted food supplies, cut off villages and washed away roads, complicating the delivery of aid to the most vulnerable and impoverished in remote areas.

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).

DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)

REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
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.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)

Russia said to deliver arms to Iran By JUDITH INGRAM, Associated Press Writer Fri Nov 24, 8:42 AM ET

MOSCOW - Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Tehran in spite of Western criticism.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue, declined to specify when the deliveries had been made and how many systems had been delivered.Ministry officials have previously said Moscow would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December, according to Russian media reports.The United States called on all countries last spring to stop all arms exports to Iran, as well as ending all nuclear cooperation with it to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities.Israel, too, has severely criticized arms deals with Iran.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and its allies suspect Iran is trying to develop weapons.The U.N. Security Council, where Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member, is currently stalemated on the severity of sanctions on Iran for defying its demand to cease enrichment.The Tor-M1 deal, involving conventional weapons, does not violate any international agreements.

Russian officials say the missiles are purely defensive weapons with a limited range.According to the Interfax news agency, the Tor-M1 system can identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets simultaneously at a height of up to 20,000 feet.Russian media have reported previously that Moscow had conducted talks on selling even more powerful long-range S-300 air defense missiles, but Russian officials have denied that.

A secret agreement between India and China to slowly build a counter NATO of Asia Media Release ,Nov. 23, 2006

All discussion was in hush-hush. Russians are in secret agreement with India and China. It is not clear if Russia will be part of it. The need comes from NATO’s Afghanistan operations. The Iraq invasion and also the dreadful past Vietnam and Afghanistan. India and China has in principle agreed to build a NATO of Asia that may include three formidable militaries India, China and Russia. Any future invasion of Asian soil will have to face formidable challenge. The talks included cooperation in military hardware and software build up. China and India recognizes Military strength in number does not mean much. The warfare is electronic and remote controlled. It is more of a show of strength and capabilities than actual battle. Also in future the wars if any will be fought with command and control center deep in the tectonic plates miles below the earth’s surface and even from space and the moon and other planets.

The cooperation and joint development will be in Research and development. The key lies in being able to develop next generation stealth, communication and seek-scan-neutralize capabilities.India and China have agreed to move ahead with their military ties but the build up is likely to be a slow process.

U.S. global NATO plan to get summit thumbs-down By Mark John
Fri Nov 24, 7:44 AM ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A U.S. plan to forge a network of partnerships around NATO from Scandinavia to Asia will get the thumbs-down at a summit next week from members wary of the alliance going global, diplomats said on Friday. NATO leaders meeting in Riga from Tuesday will acknowledge the need to boost contacts with countries such as Sweden,South Korea, and Australia some of whom have troops under NATO command in Afghanistan but will make no offer of formal ties.

The year-old proposal has won a lukewarm response from Asian countries unwilling to have a contractual relationship with NATO. It also hit firm resistance from some European allies and aggravated Russian concerns that NATO was trying to encircle it.Underlining persistent transatlantic differences about how to tackle emerging security threats, a core of west European nations led by France and Germany have sought to fend off U.S.-led moves to broaden NATO's geographic and strategic scope.We don't see the point in creating a mini-United Nations around the alliance, and others share that view, said a senior diplomat from one European NATO member.

Washington argued the September 11, 2001 attacks planned by al Qaeda from bases in Afghanistan showed that threats could emerge from anywhere in the world, and called on NATO to develop a security providers forum of countries keen to combat terror.

Many inside the alliance agree its existing web of post-Cold War partnerships including tie-ups with Russia, former Soviet satellites and fledgling links with Middle East and Gulf states is in need of a revamp.The U.S. initiative assumed countries which have offered troops to NATO operations such as Australia, New Zealand and Sweden in Afghanistan would jump at the chance to have more of a say in the running of alliance missions.But even staunch U.S. ally Australia has made it clear it does not want to be tied in with a partnership accord.I don't think ... we want to be traveling over to Brussels week by week for formal meetings and arrangements. It's just a logistical nightmare for us, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters during a one-off NATO visit in September.

NO POSSE

New Zealand, which has a small contingent in restive eastern Afghanistan, has also ruled out formal ties with the 26-member alliance, insisting a U.N. mandate rather than other allegiances was the key to whether it did peacekeeping duties.This is not a posse. This is New Zealand fulfilling its role as a good international citizen in line with the principles of the UN charter, Defense Minister Phil Goff noted this year in comments that government sources said still reflected policy.U.S. officials do not see such responses as a rebuff, arguing that practical collaboration on the ground, as in Afghanistan, matters more than formal links.

Both Wellington and Canberra seek better cooperation with NATO such as jointmilitary training and information exchange along the lines of an accord New Zealand signed in February to share classified information.The same applies to Japan, which already has a security alliance with Washington under which U.S. forces have an obligation to defend Japan, but Japanese troops cannot help U.S. counterparts unless there is an attack on Japan.South Korea is also wary, with Seoul concerned any closer relationship with NATO could exacerbate tensions with its nuclear-armed communist neighbor to the north.The feeling in the government is that the proposal will have to be approached very cautiously, keeping in mind how South Korea's position on it will affect relations with North Korea,a foreign ministry official in Seoul said. (Additional reporting by Carsten Lietz in Brussels, Gyles Beckford in Wellington, George Nishiyama in Tokyo, Jack Kim in Seoul and James Grubel in Canberra)

Polonium-210 difficult to detect By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
NOV 24,2006

LONDON - Polonium-210 the radioactive substance that killed a former Russian spy in London is one of the world's rarest elements, first discovered in the 19th century by scientists Marie and Pierre Curie.It is highly lethal when ingested and extremely hard to detect, experts said Friday.For days doctors struggled to identify the poison that led to the rapid deterioration of Alexander Litvinenko's health, and ultimately his death late Thursday.Britain's Health Protection Agency said Friday that polonium-210 was found in his urine.The agency's chief executive, Pat Troop, said the high level of polonium-210 indicated Litvinenko would either have to have eaten it, inhaled it or taken it in through a wound.Police were investigating, but said they were treating it as an unexplained death for now.This seems to have been a substance carefully chosen for its ability to be hard to detect, said Dr. Philip Walker, a physics professor at the University of Surrey.

Polonium occurs naturally in very low concentrations in the Earth's crust, and experts said small amounts but not enough to kill someone are used legitimately in Britain and elsewhere for industrial purposes.Polonium-210 was a critical component in early nuclear weapons, and the former Soviet Union used polonium in power supply systems for spacecraft in the 1970s. It also is used in industrial devices designed to eliminate static electricity.Professor Dudley Goodhead, a radiation expert at the Medical Research Council, said that to poison someone, much larger amounts are required and this would have to be manmade, perhaps from a particle accelerator or a nuclear reactor.The element can be a byproduct from the chemical processing of uranium, but usually is made artificially in a nuclear reactor or particle accelerator. These nuclear facilities are monitored and tightly regulated under
international agreements.

Chris Lloyd, a British radiation protection adviser, said it would be relatively easy to smuggle polonium into a country, because its alpha radiation would not set off radiation detectors.Polonium is so rare that only about 100 grams is believed to be produced each year, said Dr. Mike Keir, a radiation protection adviser at Royal Victoria Infirmary.Only a very, very small amount of this would need to be ingested to kill, Keir said.

Unless you can remove the material, there's very little you can do except treat the symptoms.Given Litvinenko's symptoms including hair loss, organ failure and immune system breakdown experts said it was understandable why doctors didn't initially recognize polonium-210 as the cause.Trying to identify the exact agent that was making him sick was like looking for a needle in a haystack, said Dr. Alistair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at Leeds University. Numerous toxins are capable of causing such serious damage without being immediately identified in the body, he said.The alpha rays emitted by polonium are extremely hard to detect, and a fatal dose of the element may have rapidly penetrated his bone marrow without raising immediate suspicion. Earlier this week, doctors said Litvinenko was in need of a bone marrow transplant.

As a result of alpha ray radiation, there are very clear genetic changes in the body,Keir said.But to know for certain that it was polonium radiation, you need to actually find polonium particles. Polonium was discovered in 1898 by Nobel laureates Marie and Pierre Curie as they were searching for the cause of radiation decay in uranium. They named it polonium in honor of her country of origin, Poland. The Health Protection Agency said the use of polonium as a deliberate poisoning would be an unprecedented event. Several experts also said they were unaware of any other known poisonings from the element. I've been in radiation sciences for 30-odd years and I'm not aware of any such incident, said Roger Cox, director of the agency's center for radiation, chemicals and environmental hazards.Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Region-building should replace nation-building
24.11.2006 - 08:57 CET | By Peter Sain ley Berry

EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - My father collected European swords, prompted no doubt by his having been at one time a fencing international.

I still have a few of them. Most are dress swords or late copies of earlier arms. But at least one is a real weapon and for all I know may even have been used in anger.Nothing these days appears quite so obsolete as a fighting sword. Even a longbow manages a semblance of modernity. The sword I am talking about is an eighteenth century shortsword, with a blade about two-thirds of a metre. It is a foot soldier's weapon, cheaply made, hammered out in some little armoury and crudely stamped with a name and what could be a date. All of these observations tally with its alleged provenance as having been retrieved after the Scottish battle of Culloden Moor in April 1746, discarded perhaps by a desperate highlander fleeing the government forces.

This infinitely sad event, fought in a sleeting gale, was the final throw by the grandson of Britain's last Catholic King to overturn the Protestant succession. As battles go it was an insignificant affair, decisively determined in a quarter of an hour, though the long aftermath was attended by great brutality.

Culloden is distinguished, however, for another reason: it was the last pitched battle to have been fought in Britain, though at the time this was of course by no means apparent. But gradually the phenomenon of the pitched battle has been eliminated throughout European territory.While there remains the question of how exactly you define a battle, we may, if we are optimistic, come to regard the Balkan wars of the 1990s as the last battles in Europe.

A creeping state of affairs

And though we don't want to tempt fate, this is the state of affairs in much of the world. Something that has crept up on us almost unnoticed, like the gradual elimination of a disease. While insurgencies and terrorist acts may continue, wars have been eliminated, quite possibly, from the two American continents and, despite the current instability in the Korean peninsula and across the Taiwan strait, from North Asia as well.

Cold war there may be; hot war, I would like to believe, can be avoided henceforward provided we are always vigilant and employ careful diplomacy.But at the same time war continues to be endemic to Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. These regions contain some of the poorest countries of the world and also some of the worst polluters. Forest fires in Africa charge the atmosphere with carbon dioxide at a rate broadly comparable to fossil fuel burn in the United States.They are also regions in which transnational partnerships are either non-existent or else in their very early stages. And where they do exist they are hesitant, weak and under funded.

The African Union, modelled on that of Europe, won't alone be able to resolve the wretched morass of problems on that Continent. But one can see how a stronger, better financed and more effective transnational body, which could speak with authority for Africa on the international stage, might contribute to the process.In addition to the central conflict in its midst the Middle East is clearly a region which shares many common, border-transcending problems. And in South Asia it was the case until very recently that only some 2 per cent of India's trade was with Pakistan, so bitter was the hostility between the two. Yet this state of affairs is in the interests of neither. Both suffer by letting local problems and difficulties prevent the addressing of wider and ultimately graver problems. What is more, cumulating evidence suggests that such wider problems are best addressed by multilateral partnerships co-operating under the rule of law rather than by inter-governmental arrangements.

Region-building

Is this what George Soros, the billionaire financier and political guru meant when he called upon the European Union this week to promote a global open society? His analysis seemed to be suggesting that following the disastrous intervention in Iraq, the project for a New American Century, that planned millennium of American Values, would have now to be postponed for a bit. It was time for Europe to play a more active role, he said.A New European Century, were ever it to be promulgated, might be as hubristically doomed as the American project. That would not be Europe's way at all. But that is not to say that Soros isn't accurate as he so often is in identifying the desirability for Europe to make its influence felt more widely on a global scale.Not necessarily in military or financial interventions in the world's trouble spots, but by promoting those transnational frameworks which allow not nation-building, but region building.Where Soros may be off beam is in imagining, as he does, that the EU can simply brush aside its current constitutional imbroglio; that the treaty could be unbundled and presented piecemeal, while it gets on with its good works on the international stage.Here he seems to be confusing Europe and the United States. Of course, given a federal government and a strong presidency this is perhaps what should be done. But in the absence of any such arrangements here there is simply no mechanism for doing what he suggests.

Even if such a move were not betraying those electorates who have voted for or against the constitution as it stands, unbundling the package would simply unravel every intricately knitted compromise that Mr Ahern did so much to secure in that heady spring of 2004.

Nevertheless, the fact that someone like George Soros agrees that the constitutional reforms are necessary (even if not delivered in a constitutional settlement) should encourage the doubters and give some heart to Mrs Merkel and the German Presidency team on which much now seems to be riding. The clock is ticking. Given the Christmas festivities there remains only three or four weeks to kick-off, as it were. And compared to 2004, when at least all Heads of Government were prepared to defend the process of reform, there is almost as much plurality and indecision among the leaders now as among the voters. It is not a good omen.Before ending I must congratulate Madame Royal on winning the Presidential candidacy for the French Socialists. Should she be elected in the spring she might consider extending her revolutionary idea of supervising cabinet discussions with citizen's juries to meetings of the European Council itself. Being surrounded by a group of sharp-eyed tricoteuses, would surely be enough to frighten any group of leaders into agreement. Even in Europe regions have to be built.The author is editor of EuropaWorld

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
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 (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

New savage twist to violence in Baghdad By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer NOV 24,06

BAGHDAD, Iraq Revenge-seeking militiamen seized six Sunnis as they left Friday prayers and burned them alive with kerosene in a savage new twist to the brutality shaking the Iraqi capital a day after suspected Sunni insurgents killed 215 people in Baghdad's main Shiite district.

Iraqi soldiers at a nearby army post failed to intervene in Friday's assault by suspected members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia or subsequent attacks that killed at least 19 other Sunnis, including women and children, in the same neighborhood, the volatile Hurriyah district in northwest Baghdad, said police Capt. Jamil Hussein.Most of the thousands of dead bodies that have been found dumped across Baghdad and other cities in central Iraq in recent months have been of victims who were tortured and then shot to death, according to police. The suspected militia killers often have used electric drills on their captives bodies before killing them. The bodies are frequently decapitated.But burning victims alive introduced a new method of brutality that was likely to be reciprocated by the other sect as the Shiites and Sunnis continue killing one another in unprecedented numbers. The gruesome attack, which came despite a curfew in Baghdad, capped a day in which at least 87 people were killed or found dead in sectarian violence across Iraq.

In Hurriyah, the rampaging militiamen also burned and blew up four mosques and torched several homes in the district, Hussein said.Residents of the troubled district claim the Mahdi Army has begun kidnapping and holding Sunni hostages to use in ritual slaughter at the funerals of Shiite victims of Baghdad's raging sectarian war.Such claims cannot be verified but speak to the deep fear that grips Baghdad, where retaliation has become a part of daily life.President Jalal Talabani emerged from lengthy meetings with other Iraqi leaders late Friday and said the defense minister, Abdul-Qader al-Obaidi, indicated that the Hurriyah neighborhood had been quiet throughout the day.But Imad al-Hasimi, a Sunni elder in Hurriyah, confirmed Hussein's account of the immolations.

He told Al-Arabiya television he saw people who were drenched in kerosene and then set afire, burning to death before his eyes.Two workers at Kazamiyah Hospital also confirmed that bodies from the clashes and immolation had been taken to the morgue at their facility. They refused to be identified by name, saying they feared retribution.And the Association of Muslim Scholars, the most influential Sunni organization in Iraq, said even more victims were burned to death in attacks on the four mosques. It claimed a total of 18 people had died in an inferno at the al-Muhaimin mosque.The extreme violence continued to tear at the Iraq's social fabric even after the government had banned pedestrians and cars from the streets and closed the international airport until further notice in anticipation of a storm of retaliation for the five bombings and two mortar rounds which killed 215 in Sadr City on Thursday.The airport closure forced Talabani to delay his planned Saturday departure for Tehran for meetings with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader also invited Syrian President Bashar Assad, but it now appeared he would not attend.The chaos also cast a shadow over the Amman, Jordan, summit next week between Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Bush.

Politicians loyal to radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to boycott parliament and the Cabinet if al-Maliki went ahead with the meeting. The political bloc, known as Sadrists, is a mainstay of support for al-Maliki. The Mahdi Army is the organization's armed wing.Sadrist lawmaker Qusai Abdul-Wahab blamed U.S. forces for Thursday's attack in Sadr City because they failed to provide security.We say occupation forces are fully responsible for these acts, and we call for the withdrawal of occupation forces or setting a timetable for their withdrawal, Abdul-Wahab said.A U.S. helicopter patrolling above Sadr City came under intense fire from the ground and shot back, wounding two people Friday night, according to police 1st. Lt. Qassim Mohammed and witnesses. The U.S. military said the helicopter had taken fire from six rockets launched from one site and destroyed the launcher. The military statement did not address whether there were casualties. White House spokesman Scott Stanzil said there was no change in the president's plans to meet with al-Maliki on Wednesday and Thursday. Al-Maliki is increasingly at odds with the Bush administration for his refusal to disband militias and associated deaths squads that are believed responsible for killing thousands of Sunnis since an al-Qaida attack last February blew up the Golden Dome Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Mortar fire rained down again on Sunni Islam's holiest shrine in Baghdad, the Abu Hanifa mosque in the Azamiyah neighborhood, wounding at least five people. Several mortars crashed into the area Thursday night within hours of the attacks in Sadr City, one of them puncturing the dome of the shrine and damaging the interior, including its library.

Also, militia gunmen raided a Sunni mosque in the Amil section of west Baghdad, killing two guards, according to police 1st Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razaq. And in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Sunni insurgents blew up the dome of the important Shiite mosque of leading cleric Abdul-Karm al-Madani. In the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, 23 people were killed and 43 wounded when explosives hidden in a parked car and in a suicide belt worn by a pedestrian detonated simultaneously outside a car dealership, said police Brig.

Khalaf al-Jubouri. Altogether, 56 people were killed across in Iraq on Friday, and police said they found 31 bodies dumped throughout Baghdad, most of them tortured before being shot. In Sadr City, cleanup crews continued removing remains of the dead from wreckage of the car bombs, and tents were erected throughout the ramshackle district for relatives to receive condolences. Hundreds of men, women and children beat their chests, chanted and cried as they walked beside vehicles carrying the caskets of their loved ones toward the holy Shiite city of Najaf for burial. Despite Baghdad's curfew, al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, ordered police to guard the processions. As the funeral processions reached the edge of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad, the cars and minivans left most of the mourners behind and began the 100-mile drive south to Najaf, a treacherous journey that passes through many checkpoints and areas controlled by Sunni militants in Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death. AP correspondents Thomas Wagner, Bassem Mroue and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.

Palestinians and Israel Say They Are Open to Truce (NEW YORK TIMES)
By STEVEN ERLANGER,Published: November 25, 2006

JERUSALEM, Nov. 24 After another surge of violence in and around the Gaza Strip over the past month, Israel and the Palestinians moved gingerly on Friday toward reinstating an often-broken cease-fire between them.In Gaza, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas confirmed that the Palestinian factions including Islamic Jihad, which had previously rejected any cease-fire with Israel would halt their rocket fire if Israel halted its military operations in both the West Bank and Gaza. Israel called the offer a media presentation, but said it was open to a more serious, formal proposal. It’s not a question of, You go first, said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. It’s a question of, What are we talking about? A halt to all Israeli military operations in return for a halt to rocket fire alone would be unacceptable, she said.

On Thursday night in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said that since the summer, Palestinians have been victims of a barbaric Israeli offensive that has left more than 400 dead and 1,500 wounded while thousands of homes have been destroyed. But he added, All that on the pretext of homemade rocket fire, and unfortunately we are giving them such a pretext.In fact, Israel re-entered Gaza in late June in response to the capture of a soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, by a group of Palestinian militants that included Hamas. Hamas said that they were responding to Israeli shelling that had killed civilians; Israel said the shelling was in response to Palestinian rocket fire. Since Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza in September 2005, at least 1,100 rockets have been fired from Gaza, and four Israelis have died two of them in the past 10 days.

Mr. Abbas, aided by Egypt, is negotiating with Hamas over a national-unity government that could meet the conditions for ending an international freeze on direct budget aid, as well as Israel’s withholding of tax and duties collected on behalf of the Palestinians. The government is also held up by disagreements over the release of Corporal Shalit and different demands about the number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for him.

Israel wants the corporal back before releasing prisoners. These issues are holding back the prospect of a meeting between Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to make an unannounced visit here to see both men next week. The United States is eager to break the bloody stalemate and at least have Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas talking again.Amid the negotiating, the shooting continued Friday, with Israeli troops in Gaza killing two Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, including a militant who served as a cameraman for Hamas’s military wing. A 10-year-old boy, Abdel Aziz Salman, died from gunshot wounds, hospital workers said. Palestinians said he was hit by an Israeli sniper; the Israeli Army said its troops in Beit Lahiya had no knowledge of the boy’s death.

Prodi, Chirac endorse EU initiative to halt Mideast violence

LUCCA, Italy, Nov 25 (KUNA) Italian Premier Romano Prodi and French President Jacques Chirac Friday called for a greater European role in the Middle East peace process in order to put an end to the tragic situation Palestinians were witnessing due to the continuous Israeli siege on the Gaza strip.The two leaders said in a press conference held after their summit meeting in the Tuscan town of Lucca hoped that such a move would help end the recent bloodshed in the region and pave the way for peace efforts, such as the initiative launched last week by Spain, France and Italy.They also called for the rapid formation of a Palestinian national unity government due to its significance to resume peace talks with Tel Aviv.The initiative calls for an immediate cease-fire, formation of a Palestinian national unity government that could gain international recognition, prisoners exchange, talks between Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian president and deployment of an international mission in Gaza to monitor the cease-fire. (end) mn.hb,KUNA 242040 Nov 06NNNN

DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS

REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.

REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

INIQUITY(great wickedness or injustice) ABOUNDING.

MATTHEW 24:12
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

ROMANS 1:29-32
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.

22 grow-ops in one highrise
Police say filthy apartments were potential fire threats
Nov. 24, 2006. 05:57 AM,PHINJO GOMBU,STAFF REPORTER

When Toronto's drug-squad detectives arrived at an apartment building on Jane St. just north of Sheppard Ave. W. yesterday morning armed with search warrants for five apartments, they knew they'd have a busy day.

But nothing prepared them for what they found when they started searching the other apartments in the building.By 6 p.m. yesterday, stunned detectives had uncovered a $6.6 million marijuana grow-operation with some 6,600 plants being grown in 22 apartments.The grow-ops, scattered throughout nine floors of 2600 Jane St. ,a 13-storey building with roughly 117 units on the northwest corner of a busyintersection anchored by strip-mall businesses and the Jane-Sheppard Mall is one of the largest discovered in Toronto.From what we can tell, they all appear to be built the same way, said Det. Sgt. Dave Malcolm of the Toronto police drug squad. They all appear to be soil-based, they all appear to be filthy and they all appear to be fire threats.

By the time officers finished breaking down doors with battering rams, they'd tallied a massive operation in apartments from the fourth to 12th floors.Police believe the operation has been in place for one year.They say an Asian-Canadian group is involved in the operation. So far two men have been arrested, but police are remaining tight-lipped about their connection, if any, with the group.
Investigators today will continue examining every rental agreement in the building to find out who rented the apartments, Malcolm said.No one was living in the two-bedroom units. Police say growers had planted about 300 plants in each unit, unplugging the ovens and using the 220-volt outlets to power 1,000-watt grow lights.The plants were grown in pots and toxic fertilizer was strewn across the various apartments.It's a soil-based operation, not a true hydroponic grow, Malcolm said. It's not a matter of if there's going to be a fire, it's a matter of when.

A rough calculation of the street value of the plants told detectives that what they had smashed was a $6.6 million operation.Late into the evening, officers gowned in protective suits and face masks continued to haul away such things as lampshades, power cables, light bulbs and paper bags full of marijuana plants, which were carefully marked with stickers.Among the items seized by police were fans used to exhaust air out the windows and help clear the apartments of chemicals that were being used to make the plants grow quicker.It was a streamlined operation yesterday as officers commandeered one of the elevators, while residents used the remaining elevator to get to their apartments.Well past 9 p.m. officers were still systematically going through the apartments, including Unit 1202 on the 12th floor. Inside the apartment, placed on the kitchen floor, were rows upon rows of potted baby marijuana plants. Above the plants was a powerful 1,000-watt bulb. The entrance to the kitchen was shut off from the living room with black garbage bags. The living room itself had a couch, a bed, a television set, and a bunch of DVD and VCR players stacked neatly one on top of the other.

Landlords need the tools to countermeasure these things.Harry Birman, senior building manager. In order to prevent police from using a battering ram to break open doors, the building manager called in three locksmiths to open the apartment doors with master keys.Many residents said they weren't surprised by the discovery of grow-ops in the building, but some were taken aback by the scale of the operation.Denis Sanchez, 25, a machinist who lives on the 11th floor, where some of the grow-ops were located, said he knew something was going on because the building had been plagued by power outages in the summer.I guess they were using a lot of electricity, Sanchez said.Toronto police were first alerted to the existence of a grow-op in the building when a fire broke out in April in one of the apartments where marijuana had been grown.Malcolm, however, said that was not what tipped off police, resulting in yesterday's raid in five apartments.

The officer said police are aware that enterprising growers have used apartment buildings for some time.It's not ingenious, it's an extremely lucrative business growing marijuana indoors, Malcolm said. This is unusual in the number of apartments in the same building.One of the biggest draws to Toronto apartment buildings by growers is that many have a single hydro meter for the entire building, enabling extraordinary hydro use in an apartment without ready detection.Building owners have to be more vigilant and notice if their hydro bills go up, Malcolm noted.Harry Birman, a senior manager for the building, however, said that owners are hamstrung by tenant protection laws, which prohibit them from entering apartments when they suspect there is a grow-op. He said they have to give 24 hours' notice. By then they can clear up, these guys are very sophisticated.

This is very upsetting for us, Birman said, adding that the cleanup bill would cost the owners more than $250,000. Landlords need the tools to countermeasure these things. And one of them is the ability to inspect suites when we suspect there are marijuana grow-ops. According to provincial property records, the building is owned by 667661 Ontario Inc., and signs posted in the building said it was being operated by Cando Property Management, 25 Duncanwoods Dr., North York. The company operates numerous apartment buildings in the Greater Toronto Area.Ironically, Birman had just received some signs yesterday that he was going to put up in the lobby saying that management would be inspecting rooms for marijuana grow-ops.When the police arrived, he had to send the guy who was going to put up the signs home.

Oscar Henriquez, 52, who works in a neon sign shop, said he'd smelled marijuana from time to time but didn't think much of it because a lot of people around the building smoked and sold the drug. I try not to know anybody because I'm afraid of the people. I have two kids, Henriquez said.Other residents said the building is located in an area where trouble breaks out routinely. Just last year, a man was shot in the parking lot in front of the building, and one resident said there had been a drive-by shooting at a nearby convenience store this past summer.We've never noticed anything, said an 18-year-old man who lives on the second floor and gave his name as Oscar. Kids smoke in the stairwells, but that's about it.Toronto police planned to hold a news conference today at 11 a.m. to provide further details about the bust.