FIRES START AGAIN IN CALIFORNIA

OUT of ZION Ministries
A Messianic Ministry Based on Mt Carmel
Website: www.out-of-zion.com

Israel is now facing the most decisive few days of its modern history. If the proposed November 27 peace summit comes to pass and the plans of Bush & Rice are initiated, the country as we know may well be destroyed, and the return of Yeshua to an undivided Jewish Jerusalem will be seriously delayed. As believers we are called to hasten the day of His return ( 2 Pet 3:12 ) by praying for the full restoration of Israel. Therefore until the Annapolis summit is cancelled or fails, please pray fervently for the total cancellation / failure of the Bush / Rice initiative. -David

David's Comment: Pray Like Your Future Depends On It - IT DOES !
James 5:16 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (NKJ)

Tuesday November 27th is the date set for the Annapolis Middle East Peace Summit. If all the parties agree to attend and the summit goes ahead, it could mean disaster for Israel - and disaster for Israel means disaster for every believer, whether they realise it or not. One article I received called it a lynching and described Nov 27th as The date of Israel's ceremonial execution, while all the world cheers. Another called it international gang-rape. Whatever term is used the implication is similar. The nations of the world, led by President Bush and Condalesa Rice are becoming intoxicated by the scent of blood - Israel's blood, as the summit from Hell draws near.We are rapidly approaching the climax of history and the end of the current age. The story of the last 6000 years of world history is the account of the rise and fall of all the great empire, Babylon, Egypt, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. At the very peak of their world domination, each of those empires signed their own death warrant by attacking the apple of God's eye - Israel. Today those powerful empires are either totally gone or just a shadow of their former grandeur, and tiny Israel is back as the most strategically important nation in the world.

Today the world we live in is being fashioned into one global entity, in a plot devised by Satan as he prepares to make a last ditch attempt to destroy Israel and the Jewish people, thus nullifying the Word of God, and preventing the return of Yeshua, and the setting up of God's Kingdom on the Earth. Now can you see why I say that Israel is the most strategically important nation on the Earth? Furthermore as believers, our entire future and destiny is eternally entwined with that of Israel and the Jewish people. The grafted in Church is, or should be, like Ruth - she has made the God of Naomi, the God of the Jewish people her God, and therefore ought to see the Jewish people as her people. As with Ruth in the Bible, the Christians should cling to the Jewish people and never let us go, because the only future for this world is a future where the Son of God rules and reigns from Jerusalem. A world without Israel is a world with out a future. A Similarly the Church without Israel is a Church with out a future. And Satan knows it well.

1 John 5:19 tells us that the whole world lies under the influence of the evil one and that has never been more obvious than it is in these days. Spiritual deception is everywhere. Witchcraft is rampant thanks to Harry Potter. Sexual immorality is rampant thanks to Hollywood - even in the Church. Deviant homosexuality (an ABOMINATION in God's eyes) is rampant - and its also in the Church. Global warming is a fact, but it is not being caused by the Greenhouse Effect as the United Nations and the scientists are trying to tell us. The price of the two most foundational necessities of life in the 21st century are going through the roof. Fuel for our vehicles - oil, and fuel for our bodies - bread. Its all a part of Satan's plan to bring in a New World Order.

At the heart Satan's New World Order plan is to solidify his grip on God's chosen dwelling place on Earth - the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (2 Chron 7:16). For that to take place he must eradicate the Jewish people and destroy the Jewish state. That is what the Middle East Peace process and the Annapolis Summit is all about. The UN & the EU are tools in the Devil's hands, and whether they realise it or not, President Bush and Condalesa Rice are absolutely serving the purposes of Satan not YHVH and Yeshua.

For the sake of Israel, the Church, the World and the desparately needed Kingdom of God, the goals of the Annapolis Summit must NOT be allowed to come to pass. As co-labourers of the One True God we must do all that is within our power to prevent the Devil having his way. If he does have his way at Annapolis, the lynching and gang-rape will take place and the Jewish state of Israel, the only possible location of the Kingdom of God will be destroyed, or at the very least, severely damaged and the return of Yeshua to bring true peace to this deeply troubled world will be delayed.

I don't think YHVH will let it happen, but please don't be one who sits on the side-line as a spectator to see if I am right or not. This is a strategic time for the people of God to rise up and use the authority that Yeshua gave us to overcome the works of the Devil. This is a call to pray and fast over the next few days before the set date of the 27th, to bring an end to the planned lynch and rape of God's chosen nation. The following passages describe exactly what is taking place today - Lets pray the relevant verses back to God and ask Him to perform His promises to Israel, and to carry out His threats upon those who conspire and rage against the Lord and His Anointed One.

Ps 2:1-9 Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.
7 You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.

Ps 83:1-18 Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more."
5 For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them; they have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with Midian, as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor, who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, Let us take for ourselves the pastures of God for a possession.
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest, and frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.

Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie Silver

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.

Wildfire engulfs 20 homes above Malibu By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer NOV 24,07

MALIBU, Calif. - A fast-moving wildfire destroyed about 20 homes and spread through the canyons and hills above Malibu on Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents to flee. No injuries were reported.
The blaze, feeding on brush and trees and driven by the dry Santa Ana wind, began shortly before 3:30 a.m. PST near Malibu Lake on state park land and burned roughly 1,500 acres in about five hours, said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mike Brown.Fire officials estimated about 20 homes had been destroyed, but the exact number was not known. The cause of the fire had not been determined.An enormous wall of smoke rose up over the hills and canyons.About 200 homes in three communities were evacuated, Brown said. An evacuation center was set up at a local high school.

Officials at Pepperdine University told their students to move to a campus shelter as a precaution. However, the university was largely empty because of the holiday weekend.Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday I was told the weather conditions was Santa Ana winds and we all know what that means, said university spokesman Jerry Derloshon.The blaze was blowing downhill toward the Pacific Ocean. It jumped Pacific Coast Highway, the main thoroughfare along the coast, spreading small spot fires.About 500 firefighters were at work on the blaze, aided by 10 water-dropping helicopters, but had not contained any part of the fire by midmorning.We're at the mercy of the winds right now, Brown said.
Hundreds of firefighters had been placed on watch for the weekend as the Santa Ana wind returned to Southern California. Gusts up to 60 mph were reported in some mountain passes during the night.

Role of the European Union in the Israel-Arab Peace process Written by Farhat Jabeen Thursday, 22 November 2007
The role of the EU in the Middle East Peace Process has increased over the years. It actively contributes via:

· EU participation in the Quartet, including the political, financial and human resources support provided by the Community in 2005 and 2006 to the Quartet Special Envoy for Disengagement, James Wolfensohn.
· EU bilateral relations with Israel and the Palestinian Authority (on behalf of the PLO), which are underpinned by Association or Interim Agreements and by European Neighborhood Policy Action Plans adopted in 2005.
· The facilitation of regional dialogue through the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Barcelona Process), which remains the only multilateral forum outside the United Nations where all the conflict parties meet.
· Confidence-building measures, including electoral observation activities funded by the European Commission: free and fair elections are an essential step to guarantee the success of the Road Map. Further confidence-building measures include EU monitoring of the proper implementation of the Israeli/Palestinian agreement on operation of the Rafah border crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and Community assistance to help build up PA border control capacities.
· The organization of trilateral policy dialogues with participation of the European Commission and the Parties on transport, energy and trade.
· Assistance aimed at creating the conditions for peace, stability and prosperity in the region
· to promote Palestinian economic, social, political and security sector reforms, which includes tackling governance issues;
· to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees, and,
· to bring together civil society actors from Israel, the occupied territories and neighboring countries via the EU Partnership for Peace programme.

The European Union is the largest donor to the Palestinians and to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Since the beginning of the second Intifadah in September 2000, EU assistance reflects a mix of emergency support, more medium term institution building measures and support to the reform process. In this context, the conditions attached to EU financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority have led to vastly improved public finance management.

In 2005, the Commission in addition established an infrastructure facility to assist the Palestinian Authority in the context of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The EU is also since 2005 actively engaged in security sector reform, inter alia via efforts to reform Palestinian civil policing (EUCOPPS). The Commission recently launched a € 7 million assistance program to support judicial reform and promote the Rule of Law, which complements work on civil policing.

Together with Norway, the EU co-chairs meetings of the international donor mechanism, the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians (AHLC). The EU is also closely involved in reviewing international and local donor coordination structures, and in local donor co-ordination on issues of electoral reform, financial accountability, judicial reform and humanitarian assistance, working with the Palestinian Authority to advance the reform plans, monitor implementation and identify appropriate benchmarks and barriers that impede reform. The EU focus on governance issues will continue under the reformed local donor coordination structures put in place in December 2005.

The EU is the biggest trading partner and a major economic, scientific and research partner of Israel. The Union is also a major political and economic partner of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

The Middle East is a region where Europe is bond to play an important role. There are close historical ties which infuse the relationship. The region is geographically close to Europe, not only in the sense it can be considered Europe’s near abroad but Europe with the presence of penetrates into Europe with the presence of sizeable Muslim and Middle Eastern communities. Europe also provides a practical model for low a war-torn region can secure peace and prosperity. In terms of the Middle East peace process, to frame work for a more structured and effective European strategy is now easier to delineate.

The European Union needs to determine more closely its view on, and preferences for, the parameters of a peace settlements, in a final settlement will inevitably have to be something close to Luhat was almost agreed in Toba January 2007.

The European Union viewpoint is that is no possibility to make real and credible progress in the Middle East peace process with out full implementation of all commitments freely accepted by the parties. The European Union will continue its aid for Palestinian people and to support Palestine authority and peace process. Flexibility is needed in order to adapt to developments in reality in the ground and to support solution bringing progressing the cause of Middle East and Israel peace process.

The European Union also needs to focus its attention on pressing issues on the Indian Sub Continent. Large numbers of innocent people are killed every day in Kashmir. The Indian Army is responsible for killing over 92,000 over the past 18 years. Meanwhile Kashmiri demands right to self-determination have gone unanswered for over 60 years. The people of Kashmir look to the European Union, the United States and other influential powers and Institutions to intervene in this urgent humanitarian issue.

Farhat Jabeen,Master of Philosophy,Master of Arts in International Politics,Student of PhD

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

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.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

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.

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

Credit heart attack engulfs China and Korea
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Last Updated: 12:47am GMT 23/11/2007

The global credit crisis has hit Asia with a vengeance for the first time, triggering a massive flight to safety as investors across the region pull out of risky assets.

China beats Germany to take world trade crown
China threatens to trigger US dollar crash
A whisper in your ear from City gurus

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 4.15pc, while Tokyo's Nikkei slumped to the lowest level in a year and a half.Yields on three-month deposits in China and Korea have plummeted to near 1pc in a spectacular fall over recent days, caused by panic withdrawls from money market funds and credit derivatives.This is a severe warning sign, said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas. Asia ignored the credit crunch in August but now we're seeing the poison beginning to paralyse the whole global economy, he said.
Korean and Chinese three-month yields have fallen from 4pc to 1pc in a matter of days in a eerie replay of events on Wall Street in late August when flight from banks and the US commercial paper markets caused yields on three-month Treasuries to falls at the fastest rate ever recorded. Asian investors appear to be opting for deposit accounts with government guarantees.It is unclear what prompted this latest heart attack in the credit system, though rumours abound that Asian banks have yet to own up to their share of the expected $400bn to $500bn losses from the US mortgage debacle.Stock markets were battered across the region. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 4.15pc, while Tokyo's Nikkei slumped to the lowest level in a year and a half, dragged down by the shares of the 'Seven Samurai' exporters.Asian jitters set off fresh turmoil on Europe's credit markets. The iTraxx index measuring default insurance on bank and insurance bonds hit an all-time high of 63.5.The whole financial market is in turmoil with Bund-Swap-Spreads going through the roof, said Andrew Guy, director of ADG Capital Management.Marcus Schuler, director of credit marketing at Deutsche Bank, said spreads on low-grade European bonds had been jumping ten basis points a day for the last week. There's been risk aversion across the board, he said.

In a rare move, the European Covered Bond Council said it was suspending trading of mortgage-linked bonds in the inter-bank-market owing to the undue over-acceleration in the widening of spreads.Abbey National today cancelled its sale of covered bonds, the third company to withdraw an issue this week.Charles Dumas, chief strategist for Lombard Street Research, said credit woes had led to an alarming spike in the Ted spread between commercial Libor and US Treasury bills, now near 150 basis points. Libor is at a premium to T-bills not matched the great crash in 1987, he said.Mr Redcker said the flight from risk has led to a sudden unwinding of the $1,200bn yen carry trade as hedge funds and Japanese investors close risky positions. The yen has snapped back violently from yen118 to yen108 against the dollar since early October, with similar moves against other Anglo-Saxon currencies.

We're seeing a liquidation of the carry trade. For years it created liquidity for global equities in an upward spiral, but this has now turned into a downward spiral. Base metal prices are falling, which that tells us that Asia may not be as strong as we thought, he said.Copper prices fell 6.4 percent in Shanghai today. It follows data showing China's copper imports fell 4.4pc in October, a sign that central bank moves to choke off credit is starting to slow runaway investment in heavy industry and construction.Jerry Lou, China analyst for Morgan Stanley, said the Shanghai bourse -- already down 15pc -- was now the word's biggest valuation bubble. Lessons from Japan in the late 1980s show that once the stock market starts to head down, earnings and multiple contraction can together crush the market like a market rolling downhill, he said.

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.

Russia is undermining the OSCE
21.11.2007 - 17:11 CET | By Michael Meyer-Resende

EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - The decision by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation's democracy office not to deploy an election observation mission for the Duma elections on 2 December marks the culmination of a struggle between Russia and the OSCE, which began after the organisation criticised the 2003/2004 Duma and Presidential elections. Ever since, Russia has questioned the OSCE's mandate to comprehensively observe elections. Ahead of the upcoming elections, the Russian election commission invited only 70 OSCE observers, instead of letting the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) decide how many observers are needed, as has been the practice for the past decade. In 2003, the ODIHR sent 450 observers, in order to achieve some coverage of Russia's vast territory. The ODIHR has pulled the plug now that even the deployment of the limited number of observers was being delayed. The Russian intention appears to have been to keep the ODIHR mission small, in order to portray it as one among other invited observer missions, including those by the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Co-operation (Russia, China and Central Asian States); organisations with no track-record of credible election observation.

By seriously restricting the time observers could be on the ground, the Russian authorities probably also hoped that the mission would not be able to gather the facts necessary to make a comprehensive and credible statement. The Russian authorities will therefore welcome that some members of the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly will nevertheless go to the Russian elections, because such short-term observers cannot produce crucial information, e.g. on media coverage, or in-depth review of the election laws. In some ways, Russia's concern about the ODIHR is a compliment for an institution which over the last 10 years has established itself as Europe's primary election watchdog. In the early 1990s, election observation was a largely diplomatic activity with little methodology or impact, so it came as a surprise when ODIHR observers issued a detailed, critical assessment of the Albanian parliamentary elections in 1996. Ever since, the ODIHR has fine-tuned a quasi-scientific observation methodology, involving media monitoring, legal analysis, the presence of long-term observers across the country and a statistically significant number of short-term observers in polling stations on election day. Numerous assessments, both positive and negative have been issued. As a result, the organisation has become the most quoted and trusted source on the quality of elections in Europe and the former Soviet Union and its methodology has been copied by others, e.g. the EU.

Until the Russian elections in 2003/2004 the OSCE's role in election observation was largely unchallenged, but things have become rockier since. The Russian government not only resented the critical OSCE reports on Russia, but has become wary of any democracy promotion activity after the orange and rose 'revolutions' in Ukraine and Georgia. A triumphalist tone in some Western media on those elections contributed to a perception that support for elections is a way to change regimes, rather than promoting the opportunity for citizens to freely choose their government. The Russian position sets a negative precedent that other OSCE members may be happy to follow. Already Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Armenia have signed up for a Russian policy proposal to greatly limit independent OSCE election observation. Reportedly, even some EU member states wonder if the ODIHR's position is too inflexible, which is surprising, because the EU rightly insists on the same approach when it observes elections abroad. The crisis is another sign that the pan-European consensus on democracy and human rights, which made the OSCE effective, is disappearing. This undermines an organisation which already struggles to maintain a role in the context of EU enlargement and increased Russian confidence. This is bad news for citizens in a number of OSCE states, who are struggling for their political rights and bad news for the EU, which relies on the OSCE's expert work in its policies towards Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The author is the co-ordinator of Democracy Reporting International, a Berlin-based group promoting democracy. www.democracy-reporting.org