WAS JESUS BORN IN 6BC

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.

Two tornadoes verified in Pine Belt From staff reports DEC 21,07

Officials confirmed today that a tornado struck Jones County on Thursday.The National Weather Service said an EF2 tornado with winds of 125 mph touched down about five miles northwest of Pleasant Ridge. The tornado extended three miles and was about 150 yards wide.

Two injuries were reported.

Also, the National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down in Covington County on Thursday about one mile south of Collins. The EFI tornado had winds of 105 mph and extended about eight miles.In Jeff Davis County, no confirmation has been made yet of a tornado. The National Weather Service said trees were down around Bassfield and 1/4-inch sized hail was reported.

Winter storm walloping Great Lakes Buzz Bernard
Sun Dec 23, 7:18 PM ET

A winter storm is walloping the Great Lakes with high winds, plunging temperatures and snow. Parts of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin have picked up between 14 and 16 inches of snow with more on the way. Heavy snow is falling across western Lower Michigan. Snowfall through Monday morning will be heaviest in westernmost Upper Michigan and adjacent counties of northern Wisconsin along with the western counties of Lower Michigan. Additional snowfall could locally approach 1 foot. Farther east, heavy, wind-driven lake-effect snow will develop overnight and Monday off of Lakes Erie and Ontario. Winds around the storm and its attendant cold front are gusting as high as 40 to 50 mph. In the West, mountain snow continues to pile up. A heavy snow warning is posted for the Washington Cascades as snow levels drop from 6000 feet to 1500 feet and for northeastern Washington state and northern Idaho above 3000 feet. Winter storm warnings and watches plus snow and blowing snow advisories are in effect for various other locations in Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, western Wyoming and Utah into Monday. In the higher elevations, one to two feet of snow are possible.

Five dead in US snow storm: reports Sun Dec 23, 3:28 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A snow storm packing strong winds caused flight delays and closed highways across the central United States, leaving at least five dead in road accidents, US media reported on Sunday. The National Weather Service warned travel conditions had deteriorated at the weekend in Midwestern states stretching from northern Missouri to Michigan due to snow and high wind.A combination of heavy snow, strong winds and bitter windchills will make any form of travel dangerous if not impossible in some areas, the service said early Sunday in a warning for parts of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.The harsh weather posed a potential hazard for travellers ahead of the Christmas holiday Tuesday and for presidential candidates campaigning in the state of Iowa, which on January 3 holds the first contest for each party's nomination race.

A heavy winter storm warning was issued for upper Michigan near the US border with Canada, where the weather service said total snowfall through Sunday night will be four to seven inches (10 to 17 centimeters).In Texas, blowing snow reduced visibility and caused a massive pile-up of cars and trucks on Saturday morning, leaving one dead and five others seriously injured, according to the Amarillo Globe-News.The accident involved some 80 vehicles and shutdown Interstate 40 and another highway for hours, the paper reported.Snowy and slippery roads triggered more than 300 car accidents in the Midwestern state of Minnesota, causing at least three deaths, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.And wet roads caused a deadly accident in Missouri, with a 62-year-old man dying when his sport utility vehicle slid off a highway and struck a sign near Kansas City, the Kansas City Star reported.The storm dropped a blanket of fog on Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, causing the cancellation of at least 170 flights and numerous delays on Saturday, the Chicago Tribune reported.Despite the wave of cold weather, 2007 was likely to be one of the 10 warmest years on the US mainland since 1895 according to preliminary data, the National Weather Service said.

YEARENDER: Spanish king experiences his 'annus horribilis' in 2007 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 05:08:05 GMT Author : DPA Europe (World)

Madrid - For Spain's King Juan Carlos, the year 2007 may not have been an annus horribilis, to use the British queen's famous expression, but it was certainly a stressful one. The royal family had never become entangled in as much controversy since the 69-year-old monarch acceded to the throne 32 years ago. The monarchy has now become an object of political wrangling ahead of general elections in March 2008, with the opposition conservatives seeking the role of its defender against Catalan republicans. The untouchable aura surrounding the royals has been shattered by a scandal over a sex caricature on Crown Prince Felipe, and Princess Elena's separation from her husband has dented the idyllic image of the royal family. The pressure from Catalan anti-monarchists, some other critics and the gossipy media is thought to have influenced the attitude of King Juan Carlos, who has become more outspoken and politically active, even telling Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to shut up.

Juan Carlos did not inherit his throne from his father, but acceded to it by the will of dictator Francisco Franco after the latter's death in 1975. The general's dictatorship had followed the 1931-36 Second Republic and the 1936-39 Civil War. Initially regarded as the dictator's puppet, Juan Carlos won the hearts of Spaniards by thwarting a coup attempt in 1981 and by helping to consolidate democracy. Juan Carlos, Greek-born Queen Sofia and their children Felipe, Elena and Cristina have enjoyed reverential treatment from the media, which has helped to maintain their popularity - at least until 2007. In the summer, the satirical magazine El Jueves published a caricature showing Felipe having sex with his wife and saying to her: If you get pregnant, that will be the closest to real work I have ever done in my life.The authors of the caricature were handed fines of 3,000 euros (4,200 dollars) each, but media treatment of the royals had meanwhile grown bolder, with some television talk shows indirectly criticizing their privileged lifestyle. At the same time, republican currents became more visible in north-eastern Catalonia, where small separatist groups burned pictures of the royal couple as a symbol of Spanish power over the region.

The small Catalan separatist party ERC raised the issue of the royal family's lack of financial transparency, apparently contributing to the king's decision to appoint an auditor to monitor his spending. The rise of Catalan republicanism made the main parties rush to defend the monarchy which, as Juan Carlos himself said in an unusual speech, had presided over the longest period of stability and prosperity in democracy ever experienced by Spain.Yet the parties also drew the monarchy into the electoral battle, with the opposition conservatives seeking the role of champions of Spanish nationalism and unity opposing the Socialist government, which had made concessions to regions seeking more autonomy. The king himself adopted a higher political profile, making a controversial visit to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the Moroccan coast and sparking a diplomatic crisis with Rabat, which claims the enclaves. The visit was the king's own idea, press reports quoted diplomatic sources as saying. Juan Carlos has also become more outspoken, telling Madrid regional premier Esperanza Aguirre that the Catholic Church should exercise tighter control over its radio station Cope.

The king said the church should pray less for me and the monarchy and watch more over the highly conservative Cope, where a commentator had described Juan Carlos as being close to the Socialists and advised him to abdicate in favour of the crown prince. Then in November, the king was involved in a diplomatic incident with Venezuela after Chavez slammed former Spanish premier Jose Maria Aznar as a fascist at an Ibero-American summit in Chile. Why don't you shut up, Juan Carlos snapped at Chavez. The phrase soon became so popular that it sparked a multi-million euro business of selling it in ringtones, T-shirts, websites and the like. A few days after the king's outburst at Chavez, the royal family made other kinds of uncomfortable headlines by announcing that Juan Carlos' eldest child Elena was separating from aristocrat Jaime de Marichalar, her husband of 12 years. The year 2007 was clearly one of change for the Spanish monarchy, but analysts disagreed on whether it would strengthen or weaken the institution in the long run. Some commentators welcomed what they saw as the emergence of a strong crown that acts, arbitrates, intervenes, as historian Santos Julia put it. Others, however, warned that it could be risky for the monarch to be seen as overstepping the boundaries set by the constitution. The king reigns, but does not govern, the daily El Pais pointed out, advising Juan Carlos to stick to his traditional discreet role.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

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

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

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

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

EU Mideast envoy: international force may be set up quickly in Gaza EJP Updated: 21/Dec/2007 15:23

Marc Otte, the European Union's Middle East envoy.

JERUSALEM (EJP)---An international force may be set up quickly in Gaza if Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement on the matter, an EU envoy said. Marc Otte, the European Union Middle East envoy told the Jerusalem Post this week that there is definitely more interest than in the past for the idea of such a force from the Israeli and Palestinian sides. After the second Lebanon War, the sides see the merit in an international security presence, Otte said, referring to the international force in southern Lebanon. At the same time, he said, we are a long way away from implementation.

Otte said that the EU was currently in a listening mode on the matter, adding: We must make sure that all the parties are interested.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have spoken positively about an international force. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at last Monday’s donors’ conference in Paris that France proposes the deployment, when the time and conditions are right, of an international force to assist the Palestinian security services.

Abbas said he supported Sarkozy’s proposal.

We are working for this to become the international position in the near future, he said. Livni hinted at a NATO meeting in Brussels earlier this month that the Atlantic organization would have to play a part in ensuring security if Israel were to carry out significant territorial concessions.

FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS EU, NATO PUT THEMSELVES ABOVE THE LAW

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Vremya novostei of December 21 that only the UN can achieve a political settlement in Kosova and that any unilateral declaration of independence will be illegal. He stressed that if NATO and the EU now state, after ignoring all legitimate legal mechanisms that exist in the UN, that they will decide on how to divide Serbia, how to bite Kosovo off from it, and how to prevent Serbs who live in Kosovo from expressing their opinion on the issue, they will put themselves above international law. He called this a very dangerous game. He did not specify which dangers are involved. Lavrov charged that the Kosova issue marks the first time that Western countries have in effect said they are no longer interested in the UN and will resolve complex issues outside it. He stressed that Russia will veto any move in the UN to grant Kosova independence without Serbia's agreement. Deutsche Welle noted on December 21 that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been at pains to find out from Moscow what it wants in return for cooperation on a host of issues. The broadcast added that some German experts have concluded that Russia is interested only in obstruction. PM

EU is increasingly perceived worldwide as a global player
International opinion survey: US experiences dramatic loss of stature - Rapidly growing awareness of environmental threats - EU recognized as world power

The European Union is increasingly perceived all over the world as a global power, and is anticipated to play a major role on the international stage in 2020 after the US, China and Russia. The US's superpower image is fading, while China and Russia have risen enormously in stature. There was a spike in many parts of the world in people's awareness of the dangers of climate change and environmental devastation. Climate protection and poverty are currently seen as the most important tasks facing international policy makers. These are some of the findings of a worldwide opinion poll conducted by the German foundation, the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

According to the poll, the European Union already enjoys the reputation of a global player, and was ranked fifth on average by all international respondents. This picture improves for the Europeans as time goes on. When asked which nations and organizations would be global powers in 2020, every third person mentioned the EU. On the other hand, the US lost its undisputed leadership position. While 81 percent of people would still call the US a world power today, only 61 percent expect it to retain this position into 2020. Once again, China, India and - more recently - Russia have greatly boosted their own profiles as global players. With a 57 percent response rate, China was mentioned almost as frequently as the US as a future superpower. They were followed further down by Russia with 37 percent, the EU with 33 percent, Japan with 33 percent and India with 29 percent.

Compared to the United Nations, the EU is perceived as a very strong player in global politics. This applies in all countries surveyed except India, where the UN has a higher standing. And in China, the perception of the EU as a world power rose significantly - by 15 percentage points in the past two years.

When asked if their own country should cooperate more closely with the EU, the vast majority of the international respondents - 74 percent on average - said yes. This desire is particularly strong in China and Russia, where stronger ties with the EU are favoured by 98 percent and 91 percent of respondents, respectively. In the US, these numbers were 78 percent, in Brazil 70 percent, in India 68 percent and in Japan 48 percent.

Recent years have seen a shift in perceptions of what challenges face the world and what goals global players should work towards. For example, in almost all the countries surveyed, awareness of environmental threats skyrocketed, while dangers such as global terrorism were viewed as less urgent. Awareness of environmental problems has risen more than 10 percentage points worldwide since 2005. The percentage of people who viewed climate change and environmental devastation as global threats rose in all countries surveyed, but especially in the US (+22 percentage points), China (+17 percentage points) and Japan (+16 percentage points). On average, 54 percent of all people viewed environmental destruction as the most important threat. Only in Russia (31 percent) and India (28 percent) did a minority of the population view this problem as a major threat. At the same time, the perceived significance of global terrorism showed no change compared to two years ago. The other key challenges cited by respondents were poverty and overpopulation, war, resource scarcity, and religious conflicts and fundamentalism.

What global threats predominate in people's views varies considerably from country to country. In India, poverty and overpopulation are mentioned most often, while Russians cite the dangers of war, the Chinese resource scarcity and the French religious fundamentalism.

Summarizing the study, Josef Janning, Head of International Relations at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, noted, People's future expectations hold enormous sway over policymaking. All over the world, people see the US losing its dominant position and China gaining ground. However, they don't expect the kind of harmonious, balanced world order you might expect from a global government run by the United Nations. Instead, in almost every country, people plan to rely on their own strength in global competition and want their own countries to play larger roles in spreading peace and stability. If this perspective and expectation takes hold in global politics, we may see a resurgence of the sort of nationalistic brinkmanship between current and future global powers that we experienced so disastrously in 20th century Europe. However, the threat of climate change appears to be encouraging greater political cooperation at the international level.

Gallup International/TNS-EMNID, an opinion research firm, recently questioned 9,000 people in the US, Russia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Germany, France and the UK for the Bertelsmann Stiftung study. As a benchmark, the findings were compared with a similar Bertelsmann Stiftung survey from 2005. The results of the world power survey were presented at the second meeting of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Global Policy Council in Berlin. The council brings together high-calibre experts from various fields and regions to analyze the challenges and opportunities inherent in the dynamics of globalization, the rise of new powers and the emergence of new security risks.

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

Caribbean-EU trade pact comprehensive, innovative
Sunday | December 23, 2007 David Jessop, Contributor

At about 1:30 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, December 16, weary Carib-bean and European negotiators finally initialled the text of an economic partnership agreement (EPA) between Europe and Cariforum.The final text is complex and daunting - it runs to well over a thousand pages - but it is comprehensive and sometimes innovative.For the average reader, a more accessible version of what was agreed and a good measure of the level of Caribbean negotiators' achievement is contained in a six- page note sent to the regional private sector by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).In outline, the Caribbean EPA offers duty- and quota-free treatment for all Cariforum goods entering Europe as of January 1, 2008, except for rice and sugar. In their case, there will be a two-year transition period and increased quotas before they, too, have quota free and duty-free status.

In return, Cariforum will remove tariffs from 80 per cent of EU imports into the region over a 15-year period, with sensitive goods receiving protection for up to 25 years or indefinitely. In implementing this, Cariforum has a three-year moratorium and will, during this period, continue to charge customs duties on all items other than vehicles and gasolene, for which a different phasing was agreed. Cariforum retained the right to maintain other duties and charges that make up an important part of Government revenues for up to 10 years.There is also extensive language on services industries that implicitly recognises how important such industries have become for the region, and an unprecedented provision that allows Haiti and The Bahamas to be signatories to the full EPA, while being granted extra time to complete their services offer.

Investors to get national treatment

In the European Union (EU), Cariforum investors will get national treatment and most favoured nation treatment. The same applies in reverse. Public services and utilities and other sensitive sectors have not been opened to foreign participation, and Cariforum maintained special reservations for small and medium enterprises in some sectors.In the case of services, there are comprehensive rules in the EPA for the tourism sector, e-commerce, couriers, telecommunications, financial services, and maritime transport. In the case of tourism, large firms will be prevented from behaving in an anti-competitive manner in order to safeguard the interests of the mainly small firms in the Caribbean. The EPA also has special provisions for short-term visitors to Europe for business purposes.In return for most of Europe opening immediately more than 90 per cent of its services sector, Cariforum is opening between 65 and 75 per cent with, in its case, the Dominican Republic's opening more than 90 per cent. In the case of investment, the EC has liberalised almost all sectors for Cariforum firms and has agreed to grant temporary access for Caribbean professionals in 29 sectors.

In an important concession not made before by Europe, there are no quotas on the number of service suppliers that can enter the EU market. In addition, 25 European states will liberalise entertainment services. Again, this is a first for any trade agreement with the EU, and is complemented by an innovative protocol on cultural cooperation.What all this means is that unlike every other region of the ACP, the Caribbean has remained true to its word and has achieved the only comprehensive EPA with Europe. This is astonishing for a region with countries at very different levels of development and capacity, to say nothing of the technical and cultural problems of incorporating the Dominican Republic, when right up to the very end, it was quite possible that its government might seek an arrangement of its own.Moreover, the Caribbean EPA was achieved in the face of a very real threat that the region's exports would be disadvantaged by the introduction of a European tariff regime on January 1, 2008. In this respect, it is worth recording that this was no idle threat as on December 20, customs and revenue authorities across Europe issued notices to importers listing 10 of the more developed ACP nations and another 12 less developed nations, that for technical reasons, would now be subject to tariffs on their exports to Europe.

The turning point came when Caribbean heads of government met in Georgetown on December 7.

Negotiations with the EC

There, faced with the real possibility that the region would be disadvantaged by the EC, the region's political leadership agreed to return to negotiations with the EC on December 14, to conclude a full EPA based on changes to its trade- in-goods offer in return for improved concessions in a number of areas. It was the moment when it was necessary, according to one Caribbean leader, to accept convenience over principle.

Europe's negotiators, too, were prepared for compromise on this basis.

Speaking a few days after the final EPA had been reached, Ambassador Richard Bernal, the region's chief trade negotiator, told me that finishing on its own terms should be seen as an extraordinary confidence-building accomplishment for the region.

The Caribbean EPA was, he said, unique. No one else in the ACP had been able to achieve a full agreement. The region had been able to obtain duty-free and quota-free treatment for all goods; less than full reciprocity; an asymmetrical phase of up to 25 years; the exclusion of 20 per cent of products sensitive to the region; and, comprehensive and sometimes ground- breaking language on services.

Europe, Bernal said, had failed in its attempt to extract concessions. The Caribbean remained sovereign in important areas such as governance and taxation; the free circulation of goods in CARICOM; government procurement; and the region's right to retain import duties and charges. He concluded by noting that the banana, sugar, rice and rum industries were largely satisfied, even if they not achieved all that they had wanted.There remain, of course, doubters who do not share these views and justified concerns about the EPA's development component and its delivery and funding.However, the reality is that at an economic level, the EPA means that Cariforum, an abstract concept, has become one, and its governments and private sector now have between 12 to 15 years to make the single market and economy function. In effect, the EPA will drive integration if the region is not to cede economic control to Europe.

In another column, I will reflect more on this and the lessons learnt; why success in the negotiating process should give the region greater confidence in the world; the dangerous longer-term implications of the lack of understanding shown throughout at the highest political levels of the European Com-mission; and the challenge and the change in thinking needed if the region is to take advantage of what has been agreed.But for now, I, like every one else, will be stopping for Christ-mas, but taking a moment to celebrate the remarkable achievement of Caribbean ministers and the region's trade-negotiating team in reaching agreement on a full EPA despite the many difficulties placed in their way.
David Jessop is director of the Caribbean Council. Email: david.jessop@caribbean-coun cil.org

From The Sunday TimesDecember 23, 2007
Tony Blair finally becomes a Catholic
Robert Watts and Steven Swinford

TONY Blair, who announced his conversion to Catholicism this weekend, has come under pressure from fellow believers to explain his untenable record on issues such as gay rights, abortion and stem cell research during his decade in power.As prime minister, Blair angered Catholics by legalising homosexual civil partnerships and gay adoption, championing stem cell research using embryos and voting against lowering the time limit on abortions. The invasion of Iraq also drew criticism from Pope Benedict XVI.Ann Widdecombe, the Conservative MP who is also a convert, said: He has voted three times in the Commons against some of the core beliefs of the Roman Catholic church on abortion, embryo research and Sunday trading. Since he has made a public conversion to Catholicism we are entitled to ask how he reconciles these actions with such teaching.There were also questions about the role his wife Cherie played in his conversion. She is her husband’s sponsor, charged with providing spiritual support and guidance. One senior churchman said: It’s quite wrong for a spouse to be a sponsor.On Friday evening, at a small service attended by family and friends in the archbishop’s Westminster home, Blair accepted all that the holy Catholic church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God.

Portugal symbolically hands over EU presidency to Slovenia
www.chinaview.cn 2007-12-23 03:27:00

BELGRADE, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Portugal symbolically handed over the EU presidency to Slovenia on Saturday, as Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates gave Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa an astrolabe, said reports reaching here from Slovenia. Socrates said with the seafaring navigation instrument, Slovenia could successfully steer the EU ship when it officially assumes the rotating EU presidency on Jan. 1, the Slovenian national news agency STA reported. The symbolical handing over took place at a celebration at the Skofije/Rabuiese border crossing between Slovenia and Italy of the expansion of the Schengen no-border zone to nine EU countries, including Slovenia. At midnight on Friday, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the15 countries already in the border-free zone. A total of 400 million people from 24 countries are now able to move freely throughout Europe.

Slovenia, the first former Yugoslav state to join the European Union, the eurozone and the Schengen zone, will assume the leadership of the 27-nation, 490-million-people European Union during the first half of 2008. Jansa thanked Socrates and praised the excellent cooperation of the EU presiding trio of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. He said Germany as well as Portugal had proven they are capable of strategic steps, the former with the content of the Lisbon Treaty and the latter with the successful inter-governmental conference and the signing of the document.

According to Jansa, Slovenia will continue down the same path, doing its utmost to ensure that the Lisbon Treaty will be ratified where this is possible in the first half of 2008. Moreover, it would harness the optimism created by the Schengen zone expansion for steps that improve the lives of European citizens, said Jansa.
Editor: Yan Liang

OUR AWESOME GOD WILL REVEAL THE TRUTH TO THE WORLD WHETHER THEY WANT TO BELIEVE IT OR NOT. THE WHEAT AND CHAFF ARE BEING SEPARATED GETTING READY FOR THE ULTIMATE DECIEVER TO COME ON THE WORLD SCENE TO DECIEVE THE ONES THAT WON"T ACCEPT THE TRUTH BUT BELIEVE THE LIES.

Astrophysicist researches Biblical star of Bethlehem
Tom Coyne - Associated Press Writer
OneNewsNow.com December 22, 2007

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - It's long been a puzzle for Christian astronomers, and now a professor from the University of Notre Dame thinks he has it figured out - almost, anyway.His quest: discovering just what the star in the East was that led wise men to travel to Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.As a theoretical astrophysicist, Grant Mathews had hoped the answer would be spectacular - something like a supernova. But two years of research have led him to a more ordinary conclusion. The heavenly sign around the time of the birth of Jesus Christ was likely an unusual alignment of planets, the sun and the moon.Not a lot was written about the star in the Bible. In the Gospel of Matthew it says: Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.

The star, though, has long been immortalized in Christmas songs, plays and movies. Astronomers, theologians and historians for hundreds of years have been trying to determine exactly which star might have inspired the biblical writing. German astronomer Johannes Kepler proposed in 1604 that the star was a conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C.The advantage Mathews has over Kepler and others who have pondered the question is that he had access to NASA's databases.In principle, we can see any star that was ever made from the beginning of time if we knew where to look. So the question is, could we find a star that could be a good candidate for what showed up then? he said.Mathews found several possibilities. He began by posing three questions he would ask when trying to find the answer to any astronomical event: When did it occur? What were its characteristics? Did anyone else see it? The Gospel of Matthew indicates Jesus was born in Bethlehem when Herod was king. Roman historian Flavius Josephus wrote that Herod died after an eclipse of the moon before the Passover. Mathews said among the possibilities are 6 B.C., 5 B.C., 1 B.C. or 1 A.D. The star could have appeared up to two years before the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, he said.Mathews believes that means the Christmas star could have appeared anywhere from 8 to 4 B.C.

Among the characteristics written about the star was that it appeared before sunrise and that it appeared to rest in the sky. Mathews also found writings from Korean and Chinese astronomers of an event about 4 B.C. which described a comet with no tail that didn't move.Using that set of facts, Mathews found several possibilities, including supernovas, novas and planetary alignments.Mathews found two possible supernovas in the right period, but said one was probably too low on the horizon to be seen. The other supernova is known as Kes 75. But it was 60,000 light years away and may not have been particularly spectacular.

There's no real convincing evidence this happened right at 2000 years ago, but it could be in the range of being right because it's in the right location, he said.He also found a number of nova that also could have been the Christmas star. The one he thinks is the most likely candidate is known as Nova Aquilae V603. The problem with novas and comets, though, is that they were believed in ancient times to be a sign of disaster, not a portent of good things to come.For that reason, Mathews believes the Christmas star is most likely an alignment of planets. He said there are three likely times for this:

-Feb. 20, 6 B.C., when Mars, Jupiter and Saturn aligned in the constellation Pisces.

-April 17, 6 B.C., when the sun, Jupiter, the moon and Saturn aligned in the constellation Aries while Venus and Mars were in neighboring constellations.

-June 17, 2 B.C., when Jupiter and Venus were closely aligned in Leo.

Mathews believes the April 17, 6 B.C., alignment is the most likely candidate. It makes sense because he believes the wise men were Zoroastrian astrologers who would have recognized the planetary alignment in Aries as a sign a powerful leader was born.
In fact it would have even meant that (the leader was) destined to die at an appointed time, which of course would have been significant for the Christ child, and may have been why they brought myrrh, which was an embalming fluid, Mathews said. Saturn there would have made whoever was born as a leader a most powerful leader because Saturn had the strength to do it, in their view.
Mathews has been sharing his findings in public lectures at Notre Dame and plans to write a paper to submit to the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He's also considering writing a book.Mathews concedes, though, that any of the other events could have been the famed star. Unless a document is discovered that allows historians to more accurately estimate exactly when Jesus was born, it will be impossible to say what caused the light with absolute certainty, Mathews said.I think it would take more of a historical reference more than an astrophysics, he said. There are plenty of strong opinions out there. I think this is as good as you can do for now.2007 American Family News Network.

Is a New Solar Cycle Beginning?

Dec. 14, 2007: The solar physics community is abuzz this week. No, there haven't been any great eruptions or solar storms. The source of the excitement is a modest knot of magnetism that popped over the sun's eastern limb on Dec. 11th, pictured below in a pair of images from the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
It may not look like much, but this patch of magnetism could be a sign of the next solar cycle, says solar physicist David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Above: From SOHO, a UV-wavelength image of the sun and a map showing positive (white) and negative (black) magnetic polarities. The new high-latitude active region is magnetically reversed, marking it as a harbinger of a new solar cycle.

For more than a year, the sun has been experiencing a lull in activity, marking the end of Solar Cycle 23, which peaked with many furious storms in 2000--2003. Solar minimum is upon us, he says. The big question now is, when will the next solar cycle begin?

It could be starting now.

New solar cycles always begin with a high-latitude, reversed polarity sunspot, explains Hathaway. Reversed polarity means a sunspot with opposite magnetic polarity compared to sunspots from the previous solar cycle. High-latitude refers to the sun's grid of latitude and longitude. Old cycle spots congregate near the sun's equator. New cycle spots appear higher, around 25 or 30 degrees latitude.The region that appeared on Dec. 11th fits both these criteria. It is high latitude (24 degrees N) and magnetically reversed. Just one problem: There is no sunspot. So far the region is just a bright knot of magnetic fields. If, however, these fields coalesce into a dark sunspot, scientists are ready to announce that Solar Cycle 24 has officially begun.

Below: Solar Cycle 23 is coming to an end. What's next? Image credit: NOAA/Space Weather Prediction Center.

Many forecasters believe Solar Cycle 24 will be big and intense. Peaking in 2011 or 2012, the cycle to come could have significant impacts on telecommunications, air traffic, power grids and GPS systems. (And don't forget the Northern Lights!) In this age of satellites and cell phones, the next solar cycle could make itself felt as never before.The furious storms won't start right away, however. Solar cycles usually take a few years to build to a frenzy and Cycle 24 will be no exception. We still have some quiet times ahead, says Hathaway. Meanwhile, all eyes are on a promising little active region. Will it become the first sunspot of a new solar cycle? Stay tuned for updates from Science@NASA.