1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Magnitude-4.7 quake hits northern Calif.. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Volcanic activity in Indonesia increases. 5-Olmert and Kadima Plummet, Netanyahu - Up. 6-Israel Develops Remote Air and Land Combat Robots. 7-Israeli Diplomat: Abu Mazen Lied to Us Thrice (3 Times). 8-11 states oppose North American Union. 9-David's Comment: Don't Let Them Rattle Your Faith - It's A Load of 'Baloney. 10-Take for Every Man a Lamb (WORLD CONDEMNES SANHEDRIN SACRIFICES.
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 Mar 10 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 09,07
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.4 BANDA SEA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.9 MID-INDIAN RIDGE
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.8 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.2 PRIMORYE, RUSSIA
MAP 3.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAR 08,07
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 6.2 EAST OF THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.1 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.7 TONGA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
Magnitude-4.7 quake hits northern Calif. Thu Mar 8, 11:35 PM ET
BRIDGEPORT, Calif. - A light earthquake struck the mountains of Central California on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage. The quake at 7:17 p.m. PST had a preliminary magnitude of 4.7 and was centered about 114 miles east of Sacramento, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed by several smaller aftershocks.Calls inquiring about the temblor were pouring in to the sheriff's department, but no injuries or damage were immediately reported, a dispatcher said.At the Bridgeport Inn, the quake rattled the nerves of some guests, said manager Dennis Williams.It was a five-second roller and then a really hard jolt, Williams said. This building was built 1877. ... It's been standing this long, and this little earthquake wasn't going to take it down.
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Fri Mar 9, 6:40 AM ET
Warmer temperatures were forecast Friday for the Northeast, with some locations topping Thursday's highs by as much as 20 degrees. Scattered thunderstorms were anticipated in the central Mississippi Valley.Highs in the Southwest were expected to reach the upper 80s in many areas.Rain was forecast for much of the Pacific Northwest.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a low of minus 22 degrees at Berlin, N.H., to a high of 91 degrees at East Mesa, AZ.
Volcanic activity in Indonesia increases By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 9, 6:25 AM ET
MOUNT TALANG, Indonesia - An earthquake that killed more than 70 people in western Indonesia may have led to heightened activity at three volcanoes, experts warned Friday. Geologists said sensors on the slopes of three active volcanoes — Talang, Tandikat and Merapi — have detected above-average activity since the 6.3 magnitude temblor, which was also felt in Singapore and Malaysia.We usually need about a month to observe whether the earthquake could trigger an eruption, said Gede Suantika, an official from Indonesia's volcanology institute.Tuesday's quake, which was followed by a powerful aftershock, flattened scores of homes and buckled roads on Sumatra island's western side.We should see the quake as a test for all of us ... and redeem ourselves by doing good deeds, Muhammad Thantawi, a preacher, told worshippers gathered outside a destroyed mosque.
Residents living near Talang one of the country's most active mountains were nervous. In 2005, a minor eruption forced the evacuation of more than 2,500 people.
Every night I keep my eyes on the peak before I go to sleep, said Nur Hayati, adding that an official from the volcano's monitoring post had told her village to be alert.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.Suantika said the quake's epicenter was located on a fault line that goes close to the three volcanoes on its way to the southern part of Sumatra, which like many of Indonesia's 17,000 islands is dotted with volcanoes.Some survivors living near Mount Talang said they were running low on food because they had not returned to work in fields on its slopes.Food, water and instant noodles have arrived in cities, but assistance has been slow to reach victims in surrounding areas, said Ahmad Arsnal, an official at the provincial emergency relief agency. Agencies have given conflicting death tolls, as is common in disasters here.A presidential spokesman said Wednesday that 52 people died, revising the toll down from 70 reported on the day of the quake. But a day later, West Sumatra vice governor Marlis Rahman said 74 people had died.
Great video how Ben (Bibi) Netanyahu confronts Godless bill maher.
http://www.onejerusalem.org/blog/archives/2007/03/netanyahu_takes.asp
Olmert and Kadima Plummet, Netanyahu - Up
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAR 09,07
In probably the lowest show of support for an incumbent in the history of political polling, only 3% of the populace feel Olmert should continue to serve as Prime Minister. The New Wave Institute poll, first reported on Channel Ten, shows that 57% of the respondents feel that new elections should be held. If elections were held now, the survey shows, Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu would receive ten times more support than Olmert - 30% of the electorate. Front-runner Netanyahu is followed by Labor's Ami Ayalon, with 18%. Only 1% support current Labor leader Amir Peretz for Prime Minister. Ayalon is the current favorite to win the race for leadership of the Labor Party, in aprimaries vote to be held in May. Netanyahu and other Likud members have been promoting the message that the Olmert government is all but doomed. Most of the country has lost confidence in the government, Netanyahu told reporters on Wednesday.
The nation wants either new elections, or at least a major change in the composition of the government. MK Gideon Saar (Likud), asked today what could save the Olmert government, said, Nothing.
Netanyahu said that several former Likud members who joined Kadima now wish to return to the Likud. He refused to name them, but said that contacts are underway. Some key non-politicians have also lost faith in Kadima - and some have re-joined the Likud. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's nephew Ya'ir Olmert has left Kadima, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livny's brother Eli - a Galilee surveyor and a Lt.-Col. in the reserves - announced this week that he was leaving Kadima and returning to the Likud.
Yet another blow to Prime Minister Olmert came from the direction of a Smith Institute poll commissioned by Ynet. The survey shows that in the much-publicized fracas between Olmert and State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, 58% believe the latter's version, while only 9% believe Olmert. Lindenstrauss had said that Olmert was working to delay the publication of the Comptroller's findings regarding the lack of Home Front readiness for last summer's war with Hizbullah.
Israel Develops Remote Air and Land Combat Robots
by Ezra HaLevi (INN) MAR 09,07
Israel has developed the capabilities to engage in both air and land combat via remote control.
Israels Air Force received the Heron (Mahatz in Hebrew) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Thursday. The UAV is called the Shoval by the IAF and expands Israels capabilities greatly. The Heron has a 50-foot wingspan, can fly at an altitude of up to 30,000 feet and carries a 550-pound payload. It can fly up to 30 hours without refueling and can be operated completely remotely. The large UAV can identify the launch sites of missiles as well as deliver air-to-surface missiles itself, eliminating targets as far away as Iran. It will be phased in at the expense of the older Sarcher model.
The Heron is considered the most advanced UAV in the world and can carry the largest payload as well. Israel leads the UAV market and is currently producing several models on rush order for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another Israeli defense company, Elbit Systems, has designed a new robot that can enter a combat zone, hurl grenades and shoot an automatic pistol at enemy forces.
Called the VIPeR, the robot is about the size of a small television. The machine moves on tread and is undeterred by stairs, rubble, dark alleys caves or narrow tunnels, according to Elbit. Elbit says the machine has bomb-detecting capabilities as well and greatly reduces the risk to soldiers in hand-to-hand combat situations such as those encountered in the war against Hizbullah terrorists last summer.
Israeli Diplomat: Abu Mazen Lied to Us Thrice (3 Times)
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAR 09,07
Israeli sources say the ceasefire is already all but non-existent, and that in any event, Hamas is massively building up its arms arsenal for a confrontation with Israel. PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah has broken three explicit promises he made to Israel regarding diplomatic matters, and cannot be depended upon. So says a top Israeli government official. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this Sunday.
Abbas will reportedly ask Olmert to show flexibility on two issues - regarding both of which he (Abbas) has lied to Israel in the past. Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman, to whom the source spoke on condition of anonymity, reports that the first lie occurred last June, when terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails formulated what became known as the Prisoners Document. The paper's goal was to formulates guidelines for Hamas-Fatah understandings, and called for an Arab state in all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. It also emphasized no fewer than five times the so-called right of return for millions of Arabs to Israel, and encouraged further terrorism. In meetings with Israeli officials, Abbas promised clearly that he would not support the document, which was drawn up under the leadership of arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti. Not only did he support it, however, he made great efforts to have Hamas support it as well.
The second deception of Abu Mazen was just several weeks ago, on the eve of the Hamas-Fatah summit meeting in Mecca. Abu Mazen had promised beforehand that he would not form a unity government with Hamas unless it included the Quartet's pre-conditions: recognition of Israel and agreements signed with it, and renunciation of terrorism. In the end, however, the agreement signed in Mecca for a Hamas-Fatah unity government does not recognize Israel, does not renounce terrorism, and includes only an oblique reference to respecting - not fulfilling - past agreements with Israel.
Abu Mazen's third lie was revealed in the Maariv newspaper yesterday (Thursday). The paper reported that tax monies Israel handed over to Abbas, based on a clear understanding that they would not reach the Hamas government, in fact made their way to Hamas. Abbas, viewed as a moderate by the United States and the international community, is not trustworthy, the Israeli diplomat concluded.
However, when he meets with Olmert this Sunday, PA sources say he plans to ask the Israeli leader not to torpedo the PA unity government's activities even though it was conceived in contrast with Abu Mazen's promise to Israel. He also intends to request of Olmert not to pressure the international community to continue its economic siege on the PA despite the fact that previous monies given to PA were given to Hamas.Abbas reportedly plans to say that if Olmert does not come through on the above requests, the ceasefire in Gaza will be in jeopardy. Israeli sources say the ceasefire is already all but non-existent, and that in any event, Hamas is massively building up its arms arsenal for a confrontation with Israel.
11 states oppose North American Union
Eagle Forum working with legislators to halt globalists' plans March 9, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern.WorldNetDaily.com
Eleven states are working on resolutions that would oppose not only the implementation but the idea of a North American Union, or other plans that would lead to the integration of the United States into a larger structure. Americans are rapidly learning the new vocabulary of the globalists, Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum told WND, and they don't like it.While President Bush, many members of Congress, and Bush administration bureaucrats deny there are plans for a North American Union, under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, those in state legislatures are taking no chances. Already, 11 states have introduced resolutions to oppose the SPP, the NAU, and even the idea of the amero, a proposed currency that could be used to replace the dollar.
The resolutions also typically oppose the creation of North American Free Trade Act superhighways along the model of the Trans-Texas Corridor, the car-truck-train-pipeline corridor that is four football-fields wide and is being built parallel to Interstate 35 from Laredo, Texas to the border with Oklahoma, south of Oklahoma City. Schlafly told WND that those lawmakers, and their constituents, are reacting against a wide range of concepts and structures being generated by the increasing pace of the integration of North America they see under the Bush administration. That's why state legislators are responding with resolutions criticizing a North American Community, SPP, harmonization of regulations, NAFTA superhighways, foreign-owned toll roads, totalization of Social Security, and speculation about the amero, Schlafly explained. The groundswell is growing against measures that lead to economic integration' with other countries.Schlafly also has joined with Howard Philips of the Conservative Caucus to create an organization specifically opposing the NAU and NAFTA superhighways. Phyllis Schlafly is doing a magnificent job leading the charge to oppose the North American integration at the state level, Phillips told WND. Once again, we see the genius of Eagle Forum being able to communicate a message throughout America in terms that mobilize voters to take action.
American University Professor Robert Pastor
Robert Pastor is an American University professor who is using his book, Toward a North American Community, to promote the development of a North American union as a regional government and the adoption of the amero as a common monetary currency to replace the dollar and the peso. The resolutions are typically worded to oppose, in addition to SPP and the NAU, the construction of NAFTA Superhighways and the creation of the Amero as a North American unitary currency.
David's Comment: Don't Let Them Rattle Your Faith - It's A Load of Baloney MAR 09,07
One of last week's major news items was the announcement of the discovery of a burial cave in Jerusalem which was being hailed as the tomb of a certain Joseph, Mary and Jesus. I couldn't help but observe the glee on the faces of the CNN & SKY announcers as they reported the find. I suppose when one is living in denial of a Surpreme Being / Creator who lays down His standards for righteousness, and living a sinful secular life, then any evidence to prove that the Bible is wrong, whether it be true or false, must bring a great deal of comfort to ones concerns for eternity.
If this ancient tomb was in fact the tomb of the family of the One who millions believe to be the Son
of God, the One who was crucified foe the sins of the world 2000 years ago, it would throw great doubt on whether the resurrection actually took place. And that would shatter the very foundation of faith of the Christians and Messianic Jews. No wonder they news people were smiling as they read.
Tragically ( for them ) most of them are living their lives outside of a covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe, also known as The God of Israel. And as Yeshua warned in Luke 13:3, unless they repent they will perish for all of eternity.
Back to the story of the tombs. Just like the Da Vinci Codes, this is just the latest attempt to disprove the Bible, to belittle Yeshua, and to destroy, or at least rattle the faith of Christians around the world.
If this truly were the burial tomb of Yeshua of Nazareth, then the truth of the resurrection would be in serious doubt, and as Paul said that we of all people would be most pitiful 1 Cor 15:13-19 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up-- if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (NKJ)
I felt to write about this to arm you with the real facts, to enable you to assist people you may know whose faith may have been shaken by this find, or to present a strong argument to those who want to argue with you about the truth of the Bible. We can all rest easy While CNN & SKY gloated over the news of the tombs, the secular Israeli media told the truth. They interviewed several Israeli archeological experts who all expressed the same opinion. The facts that the movie presents are nothing more than exaggerated speculation. A study released last week has cast doubts on the statistical methods used in the new documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus to conclude there is a 599-out-of-600 chance a burial cave in Talpiot was the family tomb of Christ.
To quote from various reports I have received since the story broke, Dr. Stephen Pfann of the University of the Holy Land reviewed the record of inscribed Jewish names on first century ossuaries found in Jerusalem, and out of 917 ossuaries in Israel's custody, only 231 (25.2%) are inscribed with Hebrew names.
Of these, Yeshua occurs 10 times, while Mary occurs 20 times or on roughly half of the ossuaries inscribed with female names. He thus contends that the methods and findings of the documentary team are based upon a number of fallacies and a general misuse of statistics.
Cameron, the director of the film is known as a man whose job is to turn fiction into believability. His partner in this movie, Israeli Simcha Jacobovici has been completely discredited by the scholarly community as nothing more than a modern-day, self-proclaimed Indiana Jones. The Lost Tomb of Jesus, is full of inaccuracies, and Israeli experts insists there is nothing here of any substance. Nor is there anything remarkable about finding bone boxes inscribed with the names of Yeshua,or Miriam, since Yeshua was one of the most popular male names of that period, he adds, and 30 percent of women were named Mary at that time. Lastly, Yeshua's family were poor Galileans and it is highly unlikely that they would have been able to afford a large tomb in Jerusalem.
The media interest seems to have already died down and moved on, so .........Don't Let Them Rattle Your Faith - It's just a load of baloney - and you can be sure it will happen again .... and again .....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 . Do not be silent, but share this to 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
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE WITH ACTIVE SACRIFICES (LITERALLY) WILL HAPPEN
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he(THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Take for Every Man a Lamb (WORLD CONDEMNS SANHEDRIN SACRIFICES)
Adar 19,5767/March 9, 2007 (Temple Institute)
Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, saying: In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household; and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man's eating you shall make your count for the lamb. (Exodus 12:3-4).The modern-day Sanhedrin, headed by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, has decided to purchase a herd of sheep to be used for the Passover sacrifice ritual to be held this year if possible at the Temple Mount. In light of the well-known Biblical commandment cited above, the news item concerning the contemporary Sanhedrin's intentions to acquire lambs for this year's Pascal offering should not even have been considered news worthy. Yet a quick search on the internet will reveal blaring newspaper headlines, the world over, condemning the Sanhedrin as being a group of radical fringe elements, bent on causing war. Unfortunately, even a rabbi was quoted as declaring that the era of animal offerings ended two thousand years ago, and its return is not to be desired. Let's hope that his words were misconstrued.
For starters, let us dispel the myth that today's Sanhedrin is comprised of fringe elements. This slur is patently untrue, as is readily apparent to any knowledgeable person. So what then, is their beef, (or should we say, lamb)? Is it because the Rabbis of the Sanhedrin are plotting to storm the Temple Mount with their lambs and slaughtering knives? Is it because they are proposing that Moslems not be allowed to pray on the Mount, or congregate on the Mount in groups numbering more than a handful?
Or is it because they are engaged in a protracted propaganda blitz, aimed at denying any Moslem spiritual or historical connection to the Mount? The reason the world takes umbrage at the Sanhedrin's statement begins and ends with the fact that the Sanhedrin is attempting to fulfill the word of G-d, as quoted above. No more, no less. Today's politically correct world is no more accepting of the Jewish nation's desire to practice Torah precepts than was Pharaoh, in his day. Some will shout that the slaughter of animals is inhumane and vulgar. Others will add that to do so in the name of G-d is nothing less than pagan!
Millions of animals are slaughtered each day across the world in assembly line factories, far from the eyes of the tens of millions of people blithely consuming their flesh each day, yet the world, by and large, is silent. Apparently, the mass destruction of animal life for the purpose of physical gratification is quite acceptable, as long as it's done out of sight, out of mind.The Pascal lambs were slaughtered one at a time, by the Temple priests, in the light of day, while the entire nation of Israel was watching.
Each lamb was slaughtered in the name of the mitzvah - commandment - attaching lofty spiritual import to the act. The slaughtering was performed in a strictly proscribed manner designed to minimize any pain caused to the animal. The slaughtering was done in shifts, within the confines of the Temple Courtyard. Between shifts, the priests completely washed down the Courtyard, maintaining the cleanliness and the dignity appropriate to the Holy Temple.
The animal in its entirety was to be eaten. Each lamb was designated to be eaten by predetermined groups. The groups were based on family units. The poor, or people without families, were assigned by the elders to the predetermined groups. No one was allowed to be absent from the Passover meal, on what has come to be known as the Seder night. No one was allowed to go hungry.What then, is the objection? It would seem that if modern society conducted itself in a similar fashion to that described above, showing respect for all living things, and caring for all members of society, the world might be a better place to live in. This of course, is a description of a world in which there is a Holy Temple. A world in which G-d dwells among us. Until that day when the nation of Israel can once again go up to the Holy Temple in freedom, all we can do is everything possible to prepare for that day. And that is the spirit behind the Sanhedrin's decision to acquire a herd of sheep.
This week, due to the Purim festivities, there is no new Temple Talk broadcast. Next week, Temple Talk will be broadcast as usual.This week's Light to the Nations on the Universal Torah Network, features Rabbi Richman's latest teaching, entitled The Soul of King David: A continuation of Holy Temple Studies 21: The Waters of the Depth.Be sure to view Rabbi Richman's five minute teaching on this week's Torah reading of Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35), also on the Universal Torah Network.
Also this week, in honor of the reading of Parashat Parah Adumah (the Red Heifer, Numbers 19:1-22) on this upcoming Shabbat, Rabbi Richman presents a short video teaching on the Red Heifer. We are please to announce that the Light to the Nations video teachings are now available on DVD. If you would like to be able to view past episodes of Light to the Nations at your leisure, or send the gift of Torah to a friend.
May we merit a speedy redemption,
Yitzchak Reuven
THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE
PO Box 31876
Jerusalem, Israel 97500
www.templeinstitute.org
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
RUSSIA -IRAN - SYRIA WEAPONS DEAL
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Magnitude 6 quake off eastern Japan, no damage. 3-La Nina may form in Pacific by May as El Nino disappears. 4-Australia's west braces for tropical storm. 5-Northeast cold snap; Southwest hot spell. 6-This Week with Rabbi Eckstein. 7-RUSSIA SIGNS MAJOR ARMS DEALS WITH IRAN, SYRIA. 8-Jordan's king exhorts U.S. to take lead in Mideast peace process.
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 = Fri Mar 9 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 08,07
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.6 EAST OF THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.1 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.7 TONGA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
MAR 07,07
MAP 5.3 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO
MAP 5.1 TAIWAN REGION
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
Magnitude 6 quake off eastern Japan, no damage Thu Mar 8, 2:09 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - A magnitude 6 earthquake was registered southeast of Japan's eastern coast, the Meteorological Agency said on Thursday. The focus of the tremor was 140 km (87 miles) below the surface of the earth near Torishima, an uninhabited island 600 km south of Tokyo, the agency said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.The earthquake measured up to two on the Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion. A quake with that reading could be felt by some people.Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
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.
La Nina may form in Pacific by May as El Nino disappears Thu Mar 8, 10:18 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The La Nina weather anomaly may form in the equatorial Pacific in the next two to three months, possibly increasing the risks for more hurricanes later this year in the Atlantic.
A transition to La Nina conditions is possible during the next two to three months, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in its monthly update on Thursday.It also said the El Nino weather pattern, whose wind shear ripped apart and reduced the amount of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in 2006, has disappeared.Typically, El Nino causes rampant flooding in Peru and Ecuador while causing searing drought in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines among other countries.
La Nina usually has the opposite effect, and U.S. government forecasters have warned it may cause a higher-than-normal number of hurricanes.For instance, with El Nino running at full bore last year, only nine named storms formed in the Atlantic. That was much lower than the record 28 storms in 2005 that included monster storms like Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma which ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.The prediction center said warm sea surface temperatures that accompanied the last El Nino fell rapidly last December and January.These trends in surface and subsurface ocean temperatures indicate that the warm (El Nino) episode has ended and that conditions are becoming favorable for La Nina to develop, it said.Some of the computer forecast models indicate a rapid transition to La Nina conditions during March-May 2007, the center added.
The more famous El Nino is an anomaly that results in an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific, wreaking havoc in weather patterns from Latin America to Asia.Literally, it means little boy in Spanish and was called El Nino by Latin American anchovy fishermen in the 19th century who first noticed it usually peaked during the Christmas season.The last La Nina occurred from 1998 to 2001, leading to drought across much of the western United States.
Australia's west braces for tropical storm Thu Mar 8, 1:53 AM ET
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Communities on Australia's north west coast prepared for a severe tropical cyclone expected to hit the region early on Friday, with mines and oil production shut down and emergency services placed on alert. Cyclone George was expected to hit the remote coast between Port Hedland and Karratha early on Friday, bringing heavy rain and winds of up to 235 km per hour (146 miles per hour).A second storm, tropical cyclone Jacob, was also heading toward Western Australia, but was still far off the coast and was 240 km south of the Australian territory of Christmas Island.Mining company BHP Billiton Ltd./Plc. said it had closed its iron ore port operations in Western Australia's Port Hedland as George was expected to intensify from category three to a category four cyclone within hours, just one step short of the maximum level five.
People have been sent home to look after their own properties, a company spokeswoman said.Much of the offshore oil production in the area was also suspended as a precaution, affecting about half of Australia's daily oil output.The storm was moving slowly south toward the coast, in an area known as Cyclone Alley, at 16 km (10 miles) per hour and the Bureau of Meteorology expected it to cross the coast around 6 a.m. on Friday (2200 Thursday GMT).Emergency services issued a yellow alert -- the second highest -- for the area between Broome and Dampier, warning of destructive winds and advising people to shelter in the strongest parts of their homes.Ships in the area's iron ore ports were heading to the safety of deeper water to ride out the cyclone and await the possible arrival of category two Jacob.
The storm threat revived memories of Cyclone Glenda, a destructive category four storm, which forced oil and gas fields to shut down and thousands of people to take shelter when it hit the region last March.Destructive storms also caused havoc along Western Australia's southern coast and goldfields in January, bringing flooding and strong winds.The weather bureau said George also threatened to bring extensive flooding and dangerous storm tides as it crossed the coast, after which its power was expected to weaken quickly.Cyclones are a regular feature of the Australian summer in the tropical north and the season still has another month to run. The most deadly on record was Cyclone Tracy, which killed 65 people in the northern city of Darwin in 1974.
Northeast cold snap; Southwest hot spell Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Thu Mar 8, 12:38 PM ET
Northeast
A cold front will move across the New England states today, bringing a chance of snow showers from Buffalo north through Burlington. Much colder temperatures will also move into these areas, with afternoon highs only in the single digits and teens. Ahead of the cold front from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, north through New York, breezy winds of 15 to 25 mph will develop, with afternoon highs generally in the 30s. Gusty winds will also develop across northern New England, resulting in decreasing wind chills through the day today, into tonight. Dangerous wind chills of 20 to 30 below will be possible. Overnight, high pressure will build across the area resulting in very cold temperatures. Friday morning low temperatures will range from 10 to 20 below across northern New England to the teens and single digits elsewhere. Several record low temperatures will be possible Friday morning, from New York City north through Boston and Burlington. Into the weekend, high pressure will move offshore resulting in a shift of winds to a more southwesterly direction. This will bring milder air across the area, along with an increasing chance of precipitation.
South
High pressure will continue to dominate much of the South today, resulting in mostly sunny skies. Areas from Atlanta and New Orleans, west through Dallas and Houston will see afternoon high temperatures in the 70s today, with lower 80s across Florida, from Orlando to Miami. A developing weather system over the central Plains will bring a chance of a few showers and isolated thunderstorms to the southern Plains from Tulsa to Oklahoma City on Friday. A few showers may also develop along the Southeast and Florida eastern coasts, as an onshore flow develops there. By Saturday, the weather system over the southern Plains will spread showers and a few thunderstorms into the Lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. The warm temperatures, along with a chance of showers and thunderstorms, will spread across much of the South through the weekend.
West
A series of weather disturbances will continue to impact parts of the Pacific Northwest into this weekend. Today will feature a general break in the stormy pattern but a persistent onshore flow will keep the scattered showers from Seattle to Portland. With this continued wet weather, temperatures will be held down a bit this afternoon, with highs in the upper 40s and lower 50s. Meanwhile, a weather disturbance will track across the central Rockies spreading a few rain and snow showers between Salt Lake City and Denver, while the Southwest remains warm and dry with afternoon highs in the 70s and 80s from Los Angeles to Phoenix. Friday and Saturday, the next in a series of disturbances will bring steady rain back into the Pacific Northwest, some of which could be heavy at times. Higher elevation snow will also be on the increase. With the potential for more rain, some heavy, through the weekend, parts of the Pacific Northwest may develop flooding concerns. Across the Southwest, heat will begin to build with the potential for record highs over parts of southern California and southern Arizona into the weekend.
Midwest
High pressure will dominate much of the central Plains, Upper Midwest, and Midwest today, resulting in mainly dry and sunny conditions. A few scattered snow showers may occur over the far northern Great Lakes, but these will not amount to much. A shift toward milder air will kick in across the area today, as more of a southerly flow develops. Afternoon highs will range from the 30s across Fargo, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Cleveland, to the 50s from Omaha and Kansas City, to St. Louis and Louisville. A developing weather system will move into the central Plains on Friday, bringing a few scattered showers from Kansas City and Omaha, through St. Louis and Chicago. By Saturday, this system will move across the Midwest, affecting the Ohio Valley with a few showers from Cleveland to Louisville. Meanwhile, milder temperatures will continue build across the area into the weekend.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
March 8, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
I've spoken before about the disturbing phenomenon of Christians who have stood against Israel by supporting divestment from the Jewish state, harshly criticizing Israel's efforts to defend herself, and portraying terrorists as innocent victims of Israeli aggression. Most of these are in leadership positions in the mainline denominations—the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and others—that used to make up the religious establishment in this country, but have for many years been waning in membership and influence.Once again we've seen evidence of the moral confusion and dangerous political naiveté of some of these church leaders. Late last month, a delegation from the National Council of Churches (NCC), an umbrella organization of mainline and orthodox denominations, went to Iran to meet with its Israel-hating president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and members of the country's ruling religious authority.Ahmadinejad's outrageous statements against Israel have been well publicized. He has threatened to wipe Israel off the map, promised the annihilation of the Jewish State, and denied the Holocaust ever occurred. He repeatedly launches vicious verbal attacks on the U.S., and is actively pursuing nuclear weapons in defiance of the international community.
None of this seems to faze the NCC. While acknowledging that the Iranian president's views on Israel undercut attempts to build relationships, a spokesperson concluded that the meeting provided three encouraging items: a clear declaration that Iran does not intend to acquire nuclear weapons; a statement that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved militarily, and…a willingness to talk with US government officials. Despite all the hard evidence to the contrary, the NCC took Ahmadinejad at his word when he said he is a man of peace! But the NCC reserved their greatest praise for the Ayatollahs, Iran's ruling religious authorities, whom they describe as learned and wise men who enjoy significant public support, legitimacy and authority. These learned and wise men, of course, are known as sponsors of worldwide terrorism and brutal oppressors of the Iranian people. But to the NCC they are colleagues with whom we could engage in the task of finding common ground.By portraying the hateful Iranian regime in a positive light, the NCC is bringing shame upon itself and granting to tyrants an air of legitimacy they do not deserve. It is, in effect, saying to the world that all Iran's threats need not be taken seriously, and is undermining international efforts to get Iran to stop its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Anyone who supports Israel—in fact, anyone who cares about liberty and democracy—should be outraged by these actions.It can indeed be discouraging to hear about groups like the NCC who seem committed to spreading distorted views of Israel and to reversing the great progress that has been made in Jewish-Christian relations over the past decades. And yet, it is at times like this that I am especially heartened to know that there are millions of Christians who do not share these views—who are true friends of Israel, committed to supporting the Jewish people and helping Israel in its ongoing struggle for peace and security.The psalmist said, How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity (Psalm 133:1). Today, my friend, I thank you with all my heart for expressing your unity with the Jewish people through your support of The Fellowship's programs, for standing with Israel through all her trials, and for your continued prayers for the peace of Jerusalem.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship Of Christians and Jews.
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 SIGNS MAJOR ARMS DEALS WITH IRAN, SYRIA MAR 08,07
MOSCOW [MENL] -- The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to keep secret its arms deals with Iran and Syria.Russia's leading business daily Kommersant asserted that a reporter who had been investigating Moscow's defense exports to Iran and Syria was killed. Kommersant said the reporter, former Col. Ivan Safronov, who fell from his apartment window to his death, disclosed the Russian sale of advanced Su-30 fighter-jets to Syria and S-300PMU-1 anti-aircraft systems to Iran.From what we know already it is clear it was not suicide, Russian SJR journalist union secretary -general Igor Yakovenko said. The chances that it was a murder linked to the exercise of his profession are very high.On March 5, the Russian prosecutor's office launched an investigation into Safronov's death on March 2. In a statement, the office termed the probable cause of death incitement to suicide. An autopsy did not find any drugs or alcohol in Safronov, scheduled to be buried on Wednesday.
Jordan's king exhorts U.S. to take lead in Mideast peace process MAR 8,07
CAPITOL HILL Jordan's King Abdullah says the U-S must quickly take the lead in creating conditions for a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking to a joint meeting of Congress, Abdullah said he looked to the U-S to play a historic role, adding that results are needed this year, and not in one year or five years. The king told Congress he wanted "no more bloodshed, no more lives pointlessly taken.He said history has shown the progress in Mideast peace is impossible without American leadership.Abdullah delivered the half-hour speech in flawless English, with an occasional aside in Arabic. He was interrupted a number of times by applause.
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 = Fri Mar 9 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 08,07
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.6 EAST OF THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.1 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.7 TONGA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
MAR 07,07
MAP 5.3 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO
MAP 5.1 TAIWAN REGION
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
Magnitude 6 quake off eastern Japan, no damage Thu Mar 8, 2:09 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - A magnitude 6 earthquake was registered southeast of Japan's eastern coast, the Meteorological Agency said on Thursday. The focus of the tremor was 140 km (87 miles) below the surface of the earth near Torishima, an uninhabited island 600 km south of Tokyo, the agency said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.The earthquake measured up to two on the Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion. A quake with that reading could be felt by some people.Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
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.
La Nina may form in Pacific by May as El Nino disappears Thu Mar 8, 10:18 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The La Nina weather anomaly may form in the equatorial Pacific in the next two to three months, possibly increasing the risks for more hurricanes later this year in the Atlantic.
A transition to La Nina conditions is possible during the next two to three months, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in its monthly update on Thursday.It also said the El Nino weather pattern, whose wind shear ripped apart and reduced the amount of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in 2006, has disappeared.Typically, El Nino causes rampant flooding in Peru and Ecuador while causing searing drought in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines among other countries.
La Nina usually has the opposite effect, and U.S. government forecasters have warned it may cause a higher-than-normal number of hurricanes.For instance, with El Nino running at full bore last year, only nine named storms formed in the Atlantic. That was much lower than the record 28 storms in 2005 that included monster storms like Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma which ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.The prediction center said warm sea surface temperatures that accompanied the last El Nino fell rapidly last December and January.These trends in surface and subsurface ocean temperatures indicate that the warm (El Nino) episode has ended and that conditions are becoming favorable for La Nina to develop, it said.Some of the computer forecast models indicate a rapid transition to La Nina conditions during March-May 2007, the center added.
The more famous El Nino is an anomaly that results in an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific, wreaking havoc in weather patterns from Latin America to Asia.Literally, it means little boy in Spanish and was called El Nino by Latin American anchovy fishermen in the 19th century who first noticed it usually peaked during the Christmas season.The last La Nina occurred from 1998 to 2001, leading to drought across much of the western United States.
Australia's west braces for tropical storm Thu Mar 8, 1:53 AM ET
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Communities on Australia's north west coast prepared for a severe tropical cyclone expected to hit the region early on Friday, with mines and oil production shut down and emergency services placed on alert. Cyclone George was expected to hit the remote coast between Port Hedland and Karratha early on Friday, bringing heavy rain and winds of up to 235 km per hour (146 miles per hour).A second storm, tropical cyclone Jacob, was also heading toward Western Australia, but was still far off the coast and was 240 km south of the Australian territory of Christmas Island.Mining company BHP Billiton Ltd./Plc. said it had closed its iron ore port operations in Western Australia's Port Hedland as George was expected to intensify from category three to a category four cyclone within hours, just one step short of the maximum level five.
People have been sent home to look after their own properties, a company spokeswoman said.Much of the offshore oil production in the area was also suspended as a precaution, affecting about half of Australia's daily oil output.The storm was moving slowly south toward the coast, in an area known as Cyclone Alley, at 16 km (10 miles) per hour and the Bureau of Meteorology expected it to cross the coast around 6 a.m. on Friday (2200 Thursday GMT).Emergency services issued a yellow alert -- the second highest -- for the area between Broome and Dampier, warning of destructive winds and advising people to shelter in the strongest parts of their homes.Ships in the area's iron ore ports were heading to the safety of deeper water to ride out the cyclone and await the possible arrival of category two Jacob.
The storm threat revived memories of Cyclone Glenda, a destructive category four storm, which forced oil and gas fields to shut down and thousands of people to take shelter when it hit the region last March.Destructive storms also caused havoc along Western Australia's southern coast and goldfields in January, bringing flooding and strong winds.The weather bureau said George also threatened to bring extensive flooding and dangerous storm tides as it crossed the coast, after which its power was expected to weaken quickly.Cyclones are a regular feature of the Australian summer in the tropical north and the season still has another month to run. The most deadly on record was Cyclone Tracy, which killed 65 people in the northern city of Darwin in 1974.
Northeast cold snap; Southwest hot spell Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Thu Mar 8, 12:38 PM ET
Northeast
A cold front will move across the New England states today, bringing a chance of snow showers from Buffalo north through Burlington. Much colder temperatures will also move into these areas, with afternoon highs only in the single digits and teens. Ahead of the cold front from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, north through New York, breezy winds of 15 to 25 mph will develop, with afternoon highs generally in the 30s. Gusty winds will also develop across northern New England, resulting in decreasing wind chills through the day today, into tonight. Dangerous wind chills of 20 to 30 below will be possible. Overnight, high pressure will build across the area resulting in very cold temperatures. Friday morning low temperatures will range from 10 to 20 below across northern New England to the teens and single digits elsewhere. Several record low temperatures will be possible Friday morning, from New York City north through Boston and Burlington. Into the weekend, high pressure will move offshore resulting in a shift of winds to a more southwesterly direction. This will bring milder air across the area, along with an increasing chance of precipitation.
South
High pressure will continue to dominate much of the South today, resulting in mostly sunny skies. Areas from Atlanta and New Orleans, west through Dallas and Houston will see afternoon high temperatures in the 70s today, with lower 80s across Florida, from Orlando to Miami. A developing weather system over the central Plains will bring a chance of a few showers and isolated thunderstorms to the southern Plains from Tulsa to Oklahoma City on Friday. A few showers may also develop along the Southeast and Florida eastern coasts, as an onshore flow develops there. By Saturday, the weather system over the southern Plains will spread showers and a few thunderstorms into the Lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. The warm temperatures, along with a chance of showers and thunderstorms, will spread across much of the South through the weekend.
West
A series of weather disturbances will continue to impact parts of the Pacific Northwest into this weekend. Today will feature a general break in the stormy pattern but a persistent onshore flow will keep the scattered showers from Seattle to Portland. With this continued wet weather, temperatures will be held down a bit this afternoon, with highs in the upper 40s and lower 50s. Meanwhile, a weather disturbance will track across the central Rockies spreading a few rain and snow showers between Salt Lake City and Denver, while the Southwest remains warm and dry with afternoon highs in the 70s and 80s from Los Angeles to Phoenix. Friday and Saturday, the next in a series of disturbances will bring steady rain back into the Pacific Northwest, some of which could be heavy at times. Higher elevation snow will also be on the increase. With the potential for more rain, some heavy, through the weekend, parts of the Pacific Northwest may develop flooding concerns. Across the Southwest, heat will begin to build with the potential for record highs over parts of southern California and southern Arizona into the weekend.
Midwest
High pressure will dominate much of the central Plains, Upper Midwest, and Midwest today, resulting in mainly dry and sunny conditions. A few scattered snow showers may occur over the far northern Great Lakes, but these will not amount to much. A shift toward milder air will kick in across the area today, as more of a southerly flow develops. Afternoon highs will range from the 30s across Fargo, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Cleveland, to the 50s from Omaha and Kansas City, to St. Louis and Louisville. A developing weather system will move into the central Plains on Friday, bringing a few scattered showers from Kansas City and Omaha, through St. Louis and Chicago. By Saturday, this system will move across the Midwest, affecting the Ohio Valley with a few showers from Cleveland to Louisville. Meanwhile, milder temperatures will continue build across the area into the weekend.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
March 8, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
I've spoken before about the disturbing phenomenon of Christians who have stood against Israel by supporting divestment from the Jewish state, harshly criticizing Israel's efforts to defend herself, and portraying terrorists as innocent victims of Israeli aggression. Most of these are in leadership positions in the mainline denominations—the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and others—that used to make up the religious establishment in this country, but have for many years been waning in membership and influence.Once again we've seen evidence of the moral confusion and dangerous political naiveté of some of these church leaders. Late last month, a delegation from the National Council of Churches (NCC), an umbrella organization of mainline and orthodox denominations, went to Iran to meet with its Israel-hating president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and members of the country's ruling religious authority.Ahmadinejad's outrageous statements against Israel have been well publicized. He has threatened to wipe Israel off the map, promised the annihilation of the Jewish State, and denied the Holocaust ever occurred. He repeatedly launches vicious verbal attacks on the U.S., and is actively pursuing nuclear weapons in defiance of the international community.
None of this seems to faze the NCC. While acknowledging that the Iranian president's views on Israel undercut attempts to build relationships, a spokesperson concluded that the meeting provided three encouraging items: a clear declaration that Iran does not intend to acquire nuclear weapons; a statement that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved militarily, and…a willingness to talk with US government officials. Despite all the hard evidence to the contrary, the NCC took Ahmadinejad at his word when he said he is a man of peace! But the NCC reserved their greatest praise for the Ayatollahs, Iran's ruling religious authorities, whom they describe as learned and wise men who enjoy significant public support, legitimacy and authority. These learned and wise men, of course, are known as sponsors of worldwide terrorism and brutal oppressors of the Iranian people. But to the NCC they are colleagues with whom we could engage in the task of finding common ground.By portraying the hateful Iranian regime in a positive light, the NCC is bringing shame upon itself and granting to tyrants an air of legitimacy they do not deserve. It is, in effect, saying to the world that all Iran's threats need not be taken seriously, and is undermining international efforts to get Iran to stop its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Anyone who supports Israel—in fact, anyone who cares about liberty and democracy—should be outraged by these actions.It can indeed be discouraging to hear about groups like the NCC who seem committed to spreading distorted views of Israel and to reversing the great progress that has been made in Jewish-Christian relations over the past decades. And yet, it is at times like this that I am especially heartened to know that there are millions of Christians who do not share these views—who are true friends of Israel, committed to supporting the Jewish people and helping Israel in its ongoing struggle for peace and security.The psalmist said, How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity (Psalm 133:1). Today, my friend, I thank you with all my heart for expressing your unity with the Jewish people through your support of The Fellowship's programs, for standing with Israel through all her trials, and for your continued prayers for the peace of Jerusalem.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship Of Christians and Jews.
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 SIGNS MAJOR ARMS DEALS WITH IRAN, SYRIA MAR 08,07
MOSCOW [MENL] -- The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to keep secret its arms deals with Iran and Syria.Russia's leading business daily Kommersant asserted that a reporter who had been investigating Moscow's defense exports to Iran and Syria was killed. Kommersant said the reporter, former Col. Ivan Safronov, who fell from his apartment window to his death, disclosed the Russian sale of advanced Su-30 fighter-jets to Syria and S-300PMU-1 anti-aircraft systems to Iran.From what we know already it is clear it was not suicide, Russian SJR journalist union secretary -general Igor Yakovenko said. The chances that it was a murder linked to the exercise of his profession are very high.On March 5, the Russian prosecutor's office launched an investigation into Safronov's death on March 2. In a statement, the office termed the probable cause of death incitement to suicide. An autopsy did not find any drugs or alcohol in Safronov, scheduled to be buried on Wednesday.
Jordan's king exhorts U.S. to take lead in Mideast peace process MAR 8,07
CAPITOL HILL Jordan's King Abdullah says the U-S must quickly take the lead in creating conditions for a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking to a joint meeting of Congress, Abdullah said he looked to the U-S to play a historic role, adding that results are needed this year, and not in one year or five years. The king told Congress he wanted "no more bloodshed, no more lives pointlessly taken.He said history has shown the progress in Mideast peace is impossible without American leadership.Abdullah delivered the half-hour speech in flawless English, with an occasional aside in Arabic. He was interrupted a number of times by applause.
RACING TO ARMAGEDDON
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-35 injured in western Iran quake. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Coldest March 6 on record looked a lot like spring. 5-Muslims enthusiastic, Christians apathetic about end times. 6-German clerics enrage Yad Vashem. 7-Answers in Genesis founder labels claims in 'Jesus Tomb' as nonsense. 8-Deadly Antibiotic-Resisting Bacteria Has Killed Dozens. 9-THE ID PEOPLE. 10-Racing Toward Armageddon.
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 = Thurs Mar 8 12:11 AM EDT
MAR 07,07
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAR 06,07
MAP 4.8 WESTERN IRAN
MAP 5.4 SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.2 COLOMBIA
MAP 4.9 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 TONGA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.3 MONA PASSAGE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MAP 2.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.4 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
35 injured in western Iran quake Wed Mar 7, 3:16 AM ET
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) - Thirty-five people were injured when an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale struck the city of Daroud in western Iran before dawn on Wednesday, local officals said.
Most of the injuries were caused by shards of glass from broken windows or when dazed victims were trampled in the aftermath of the quake at 2:00 am (2230 GMT), city governor Nasrollah Rashno said, according to the IRNA agency.Rashno added that most of the casualties were only lightly injured.The earthquake in Lorestan province comes just under a year after a much stronger quake of 6.0 magnitude struck the same area, killing around 70 people and leaving thousands homeless.Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of them devastating.The worst quake in recent times hit Bam in the south of the country in December 2003, killing 31,000 people, about a quarter of the city's population, and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Wed Mar 7, 7:24 AM ET
Snow flurries were falling early Wednesday across the eastern Great Lakes, southern New England, New York and the northern mid-Atlantic region. High pressure was to produce mostly sunny and dry conditions throughout the Tennessee Valley, much of the southern mid-Atlantic region, the Southeast and Florida.Frigid weather was expected to continue in the Upper Midwest and Northeast, while temperatures in the 60s and 70s were expected in the Southeast.A Pacific cold front was predicted to push inland across the West Coast, bringing some rain and high elevation snow to the Northwest and northern California.Fair skies and dry conditions were expected throughout the Mississippi Valley, the Plains region, the Rockies, the Great Basin, the Desert Southwest and southern California.
Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Tuesday ranged from a low of minus-30 degrees at Raco, Mich., to a high of 90 degrees at Santa Ana, Calif.
Record weather deceived
Coldest March 6 on record looked a lot like spring
BRIAN WHITWHAM - DAVE CARTER, GUELPH MERCURY GUELPH (Mar 7, 2007)
The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the roads looked clear and the birds were chirping, yet about 90 schools across the Guelph region were closed.Don Drone, director of education for the Wellington Catholic District School Board, is the first to admit things weren't quite as they seemed yesterday.It's days like (yesterday) that what you see isn't what you get with the weather, Drone said.
It can be deceiving.Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said yesterday might have looked like a welcoming pre-spring day through the window, but it was actually the coldest March 6 on record for Guelph.The projected high for the day was -13 C and the temperature was still at -16 C early in the afternoon.Phillips said the previous coldest recorded March 6 was in 1901, with a projected high of about -10 C.
The only thing is that it's not quite as brutal as it was this morning because we're into calmer winds, Phillips said yesterday afternoon. But it could still freeze flesh in a matter of minutes.Several roads were closed in rural areas of Dufferin and Wellington counties early yesterday morning because of icy conditions.The frigid temperatures and the wind chill are the main reasons the public and Catholic school boards decided early yesterday to close local schools.Martha Rogers, director of education for the Upper Grand District School Board, said it's been about five years since the schools were closed because of the cold alone.
It's not something we do lightly, she said. Parents have to go to work and they reasonably expect that their children will go to school.Rogers said the boards worked together to create a policy on temperatures and wind chill about a decade ago. She said it was decided that when the wind chill hits -35 C, schools should be closed so that students don't have to walk.Rogers said the wind chill had hit -34 C yesterday around 5 a.m. and it was expected to drop further when she and Drone decided to close the schools.
She said some students have to walk lengthy distances to get to class. Grade 7s and 8s for example, walk up to 4.8 kilometres before becoming eligible to ride the school bus.I can't in good conscience condone that as something that's safe (in the cold), Rogers said. Sometimes people will agree with my call and sometimes people will disagree with my call.But it's based on the children's well-being.Drone said it's always difficult to make decisions based on weather predictions.e go with the information we have early in the morning, Drone said. If we can minimize the danger, then it's worth it.Drone said yesterday they did expect schools to be open today, but that decision was to be made this morning.
Phillips said several municipalities across Ontario set new records for the coldest March 6. Environment Canada issued a warning early yesterday morning about the wind chill, predicting it would reach -35 C in this part of the province.But he said Guelph was lucky the wind speeds slowed from about 30 km/h at 2 a.m. to about 9 km/h by 4 a.m., when the mercury dropped to its lowest point, -22 C. That took some of the bite off the wind chill, he said.Environment Canada expects a high of -5 C today and Phillips said it's expected to warm up through the week.He said the good news is Saturday's forecast predicts spring-like conditions with rain and a high of 3 C.By Saturday, spring should be here, Phillips said. I'm not saying this is winter's last hurrah. I wouldn't put the snow shovel away yet, but the good news is that winter is duking it out with spring.And in the long run, spring always wins.bwhitwham@guelphmercury.com
Muslims enthusiastic, Christians apathetic about end times
Chad Groening OneNewsNow.com February 27, 2007
Pro-Israel ministry leader Jan Markell says she is frustrated that many Christians are apathetic about the idea of the glorious return of Jesus Christ while Muslims, for the most part, demonstrate intense passion and fervor about their belief in the imminent return of their Islamic messiah.
She believes seeker-sensitive churches are partly to blame.Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, says Muslims around the world, particularly in Iran and Iraq, are causing death, violence, and destruction in attempts to hasten the return of the one they regard as the ultimate savior of mankind, their so-called twelfth Imam or Mahdi. When I look at the enthusiasm and, if I can use the word, barbarism that some of the Islamic people are perpetrating for this Islamic Mahdi to return, they are absolutely adamant that there's a great day coming, the ministry spokeswoman says, and that the Islamic messiah ... is going to transform the Earth. Unfortunately, she notes, she does not see the same kind of enthusiasm among Christians for the prophesied return of the biblical Messiah.
Part of this is because the church has dropped this issue [of Jesus Christ's Second Coming] so that the church can be more seeker sensitive and not be divisive, Markell asserts. The contemporary church has set this topic aside, she says, and therefore, the congregation isn't by nature apathetic -- they don't know anything.Muslims, on the other hand, are going to great lengths, the Olive Tree Ministries spokeswoman points out, to try to hasten what they believe will be the return of their Mahdi, according to certain Islamic prophetic traditions. They believe it with all of their heart, she says, and I would just like to see Christians getting that excited for the return of the true Messiah.
Markell says even though Titus 2:13 talks about the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus, most Christians today are not focused on that event. Apparently, she says, many believers think earthly business comes first for now.
German clerics enrage Yad Vashem
bt Etgar Lefkovits March 6, 2007 JPOST
Yad Vashem lambasted a group of visiting German Catholic bishops on Tuesday for comparing the situation in the Palestinian territories with the Holocaust, calling the contentious remarks political exploitation and demagoguery and a gross distortion of history. The sharp condemnation by Israel's Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority followed reports in the German press of comparisons made by senior German bishops between conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II and current conditions in Ramallah, resulting from Israeli military activities. The remarks illustrate a woeful ignorance of history and a distorted sense of perspective, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev wrote in a Tuesday letter to Cardinal Karl Lehmann, who led the Conference of German Catholic Bishops on a 10-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. The group visited Yad Vashem last Friday.
Making analogies between the mass murder that was part of the plan to annihilate the Jewish people, carried out under the German Nazi regime and the current situation in Ramallah, and using words whose rhetorical power is immense, does nothing to help us understand what is going on today; such words only further poison the atmosphere making it that much more difficult to find workable solutions to deeply entrenched and thorny problems. These unwarranted and offensive comparisons serve to diminish the memory of victims of the Holocaust and mollify the consciences of those who seek to lessen European responsibility for Nazi crimes, he wrote. The German bishops' bitterly contentious comparisons stunned Yad Vashem officials, who had hosted the senior Christian leaders just hours earlier. In the morning, we saw the pictures at Yad Vashem of the inhumane Warsaw Ghetto, while in the evening we were in the Ramallah Ghetto, Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke reportedly said.
Another visiting bishop, Joachim Meisner, who serves as the Archbishop of Cologne, reportedly described the conditions at Israeli security checkpoints as something done to animals, not to humans.In his letter, the head of Yad Vashem noted the words of of the late Pope John Paul II when he visited Yad Vashem in which he said no one can diminish the scale of the Holocaust. I urge all people to keep the Holocaust out of cheap political exploitation and demagoguery, Shalev wrote.
Such use of the Holocaust misrepresents both today's reality as well as that of the Shoah; it distorts historical facts and context, and trivializes the memory of the Holocaust's victims and events, he concluded.
Answers in Genesis founder labels claims in 'Jesus Tomb' as nonsense
Allie Martin OneNewsNow.com March 6, 2007
The president of Answers in Genesis says there's no new information in a documentary that chronicles claims by archaeologists that they have found a coffin containing the bones of Christ. Ken Ham says the recent documentary is the latest example in a string of increasing attacks on the Bible.
The documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, premiered this weekend on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron, the documentary claims forensic tests support the view that six of the ten ossuaries, or coffins, found in the tomb in 1980 bear inscriptions linking them to Jesus.But Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, says the claims are nonsense.
Anyone can take a documentary and take certain evidence they find and then, because of their own anti-Christian bias or whatever it is, put their own particular interpretation on that and make it sound so good in a movie, he says.Ham says people have tried unsuccessfully to debunk the Bible for thousands of years, and notes there has been an increase in attacks of the Bible from the secular world. But he points out that eyewitness accounts from God's Word support the fact that Christ rose from the dead. When it comes to interpreting the past -- of course you weren't there in the past; you weren't there to see the things happen -- that's why it's so important to trust God's Word, who's always been there, who knows everything, who tells us what happened in the past to help us correctly interpret the present, says Ham. And of course we know from scripture that you don't find the bones of Jesus because he was raised from the dead -- and it's an empty tomb.Ham points out that Christians must be ready to give answers to such claims. Christians need to be equipped; they need to be ready for these things.
Deadly Antibiotic-Resisting Bacteria Has Killed Dozens
by Hana Levi Julian MAR 07,07
A deadly antibiotic-resistance strain of bacterium has infected hundreds and killed dozens of patients in hospitals across Israel being treated for other illnesses. The story first broke Tuesday night on the Channel 1 Mabat TV program.
The bacterium is not new to Israeli hospitals, although this latest strain, Klebsiella pneumoniae, appeared in recent months. The bacterium attacks hospital patients being treated for other illnesses, and has infected mostly those who have been hospitalized for over 25 days.Several new strains have appeared in recent years that have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics have been entirely ineffective in treating this most recent strain, which has spread rapidly in hospitals around the country. Normally found in the mouth, skin and intestines, Klebsiella pneumoniae is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. The germ often causes hospital-acquired urinary tract and burn wound infections, but is also known to cause bacterial pneumonia. Its identification is complicated and can involve a large number of tests.
Patients with weak immune systems, such as the elderly, are particularly at risk of contracting an illness associated with the bacterium, which is found in contaminated medical instruments and in feces.
Health Ministry officials have not released census figures on the epidemic, but according to infectious diseases specialist Dr. Galia Rahav, 130 patients at Sheba Hospital have become infected and of those, a third have died. All were hospitalized for other conditions. Health Minister Yaakov Ben-Yizri (Pensioners) said that the problem has been known for several weeks, but was not publicized in order not to cause public panic.
Director-General Professor Avi Yisraeli told reporters that a team of medical experts has been set up to address the situation. This is not the first instance of a bacteria evolving into a strain that does not respond to antibiotics, said Yisraeli Tuesday night. It is happening abroad as well, he said, noting that the phenomenon is happening more frequently due to the overuse of antibiotics in industrialized nations. Only very ill patients in hospitals are at risk, stressed Yisraeli. The group will be led by epidemiologist Professor Yehuda Carmeli, of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. One of the main purposes of the team will be to identify and isolate patients who have become infected with the bacterium.
THE ID PEOPLE by Professor Paul Eidelberg MAR 07,07
Who and what are the ID People? No, they're not libidinous disciples of Sigmund Freud. Truth to tell, some are prime ministers. Some are foreign ministers. Others are party leaders. More than a few are academics and journalists. They are legion. And whatever their differences or diverse nationalities, they all have one thing in common: they are Intellectually Dishonest. What does their dishonesty consist in? Simply this: They know you can't make peace with people committed to your destruction.
They know you can't make peace with people who do not recognize the sanctity of human life. They know you can't make peace with people conditioned by a culture of hatred -- a hatred so deep as to induce these people to use their own children as human bombs. But this means that those prime ministers and foreign ministers and party leaders who would have Israel engage in peace negotiations with the Arab Palestinian are not merely ignorant or obtuse: no, they are Intellectually Dishonest. Their dishonesty has so warped their minds that some almost believe that peace is possible between the Jews of Israel and their Muslim enemies.
There is no point in telling these ID People about the murderous verses in the Quran or in the Hadith the recorded or reported sayings and deeds of Muhammad. It's futile to cite Robert Spencer or Bat Ye'or or Nonie Darwish or Brigitte Gabriel or Ibn Warraq or Winston Churchill and others who have written about Islam's barbaric character.
The brilliant American Lee Harris he has been called the philosopher of 9/11 agrees with Syrian-born psychiatrist Wafa Sultan, that Islam is the enemy of civilization. To expect genuine peace with the followers of a bellicose religion is to sacrifice one's intellect, that is, to succumb to Intellectual Dishonesty. (And to make much in wartime of Muslim moderates when mainstream Islam is anything but moderate is also indicative of Intellectual Dishonesty.) The Middle East expert Daniel Pipes recently admitted that Israel's peace treaty with Egypt has proven to be a failure, that the Egyptians are committed to Israel's annihilation no less than Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Dr. Pipes has also warned that it would take at least two generations to undo the murderous hatred of Jews which Palestinian leaders have instilled in their children. Dr. Pipes, a man of wisdom and courage, knows that one would have to sear into Arab consciousness a hatred of war, which could only occur as a result of their being devastated.
Ariel Sharon's protégé Ehud Olmert, knows this, and so does Benjamin Netanyahu. The trouble is they are Intellectually Dishonest and it's time they were called such. I would say the same of Condoleezza Rice.
Lady, you're not a fool; you're not deceived by Mahmoud Abbas and the hype about his being a moderate. You're just Intellectually Dishonest. This is no time for politeness. It's time to call a spade a spade. It's time to say that the Big Lie of the Middle East is the word peace. It's time to say that all those who talk about making peace between Israel and the Palestinians are Intellectually Dishonest, be they politicians, journalists, or even rabbis. And if you want to add that they are moral cowards, go to it! We have to transcend the misleading and mendacious language of public discourse. Stop calling so-and-so politically correct when he or she is simply Intellectually Dishonest. When Olmert and others advocate a Palestinian state, call him Intellectually Dishonest, because the rival clans that compose the Palestinians don't want a state; they want to destroy the Jewish state.
When Bibi calls for negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of reciprocity, a term foreign to the Arab-Islamic mind, call him Intellectually Dishonest. Intellectual Dishonesty is so rampant among politicians, academics, and journalists that it is undermining Western civilization. Western civilization has two basic sources: the Bible of Israel (on which Christianity is based) and classical Greek
philosophy.
If there is one thing these two basic sources have in common, it is this: Truth. Without truth there can be no trust. Without trust there can be no civilization. If it be objected that politeness is a necessary aspect of civilization, I answer: if politeness supplants truth, then it's nothing more than hypocrisy another form of Intellectual Dishonesty. It follows that Islam, which, by the way, makes a virtue of mendacity, is not the only enemy of civilization. No less dangerous is the enemy within: the Intellectual Dishonesty rampant among our opinion-makers and policy-makers. These ID People must be exposed. They are undermining the respect for truth which animates civilization: its rationality, its dignity, and its progress. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net
Spring 2007 Racing Toward Armageddon (REFORM JUDAISM)
Shabtai Shavit served as director of Mossad (the equivalent of the CIA in Israel) from 1989 to 1996. A former member of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Commission on Future Preparedness on Counterterrorism (for the New York Fire Department), he is a founding member of Friends of Israeli Firefighters and director of EMG Israel, a company which is working on a natural gas project from Egypt to Israel. He was interviewed by Reform Judaism editor Aron Hirt-Manheimer and managing editor Joy Weinberg.
What do you see as the main threat facing Israel today?
Iran.
What makes Iran so great a threat?
Iran is a very big country—in size, population, and natural resources, mainly oil and gas, which this year will bring in $60 billion. Iran’s national reserve is about $65 billion, about 2.5 times its national debt, and as long as world oil prices remain high, Iran will have as much money as it needs.
As it needs for what?
To explain, I have to go back to the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq fought an almost ten-year war, eventually won by Iraq. The Iranians have learned the lessons of that war. Their defeat, they concluded, was due to Iraq’s use of long-range rockets as well as chemical weapons introduced during the last stages of the war. As a result, Iran decided to shore up its military operations through chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry, and the capabilities to launch them against its enemies.
To launch against whom in particular?
In the early 1990s, when Iran began to develop and procure non-conventional weapons, it was widely assumed that they would be used as deterrents in a future conflict with Iraq. But as director of Mossad, I was very skeptical about this assessment. Following the research and development pattern of the Iranian arms industry, we discovered that the surface-to-surface missiles they were starting to develop had a range of 1,300 kilometers, which was much longer than what’s needed to hit Iraq from
the western side of Iran. Yet, that range was enough to cover all of Israel. We concluded that their objective was not to deter Iraq—but to build offensive capabilities against Israel.
Has Iran developed these weapons and missile capabilities?
Iran already has chemical and biological warheads for their surface-to-surface missiles, with launching capabilities of 3,500 kilometers, which could reach Russia and parts of Europe. They’re developing a ballistic missile with launching capabilities of 5,000 kilometers, capable of striking the U.S. They’re also investing heavily in the eventual building of submarines with missile-launching capabilities. And they are rapidly pursuing development of nuclear weapons to be launched by air, ground, and sea.
From whom are they acquiring technical assistance to proceed at such a fast pace ?
Over the years they have received nuclear assistance from Pakistan, surface-to-surface missile technology from North Korea and China, and technical support from Russian scientists—especially right after the demise of the Soviet Union, a chaotic time when Russian scientists and other technological experts couldn’t find work and make a living, and so they offered their expertise to anyone willing to pay for it. And the Iranians were ready to pay very handsome salaries for these services. Russia is still a main supplier of armaments and nuclear technologies to Iran.
You’ve been talking about capabilities; what about Iran’s intentions?
It’s a good question. As an intelligence officer, I always tried to answer two questions:
what are an enemy’s capabilities and what are its intentions?
Determining intentions is usually far more difficult than ascertaining capabilities—it’s more of an art. Let’s take Syria, for example. It is very hard to penetrate into Bashar al-Assad’s mind, to know his intentions. However, with the Iranians there are no secrets. They broadcast their intentions, telling everybody their main objective is to erase Israel from the map, destroy the Israeli people—and not only the Israeli people, but all infidels.
Who else do they want to destroy?
That answer is rooted in Iranian religious beliefs that date back to medieval times. There are many tenets—I’ll discuss the main ones. First, according to Shiite writings, Iran’s spiritual leader, who at this time is the Ayatollah Khamenei, is believed to be a reincarnation of God Almighty, infallible and incapable of making mistakes. Second, the Iranian religious leadership is authorized by God Almighty to do whatever is necessary—cheat, deceive, etc.—in order to serve the purpose of the end game; we’ll get to that in a moment. Third, there is to be no religious coexistence in the world. The Iranian people are therefore instructed by God Almighty through their supreme leader to fight the infidels—to either eliminate them or convert them to true Islam.
Their ultimate goal is to establish a global or world Muslim caliphate. And according to their ideology, which is described in many of their religious texts, the twelfth imam—the Mahdi who disappeared in the 12th century—must reappear. In order for this to happen there must be a martyrdom event on the scale of biblical proportions, an Armageddon. All devout Muslims are instructed to be proactive to
hasten the reappearance of the Mahdi. Now, if you stretch this logic further, one must conclude that Iran’s leaders are intent on perpetrating such an Armageddon. To do so, Iran would need precisely the kinds of weapons of mass destruction it is acquiring, including nuclear warheads.
How widely accepted is this ideology?
These are widely accepted, deep-rooted beliefs among devoted Shiites in Iran.
Does the Israeli leadership share your analysis?
They do.
How, then, will Israel stop Iran from carrying out its intention?
Here I am talking only for myself; I stopped working for the government ten years ago. I personally believe Israel should exhaust all political options before deciding to use force, an assessment I believe is shared by the Israeli government and the American administration. This remains a challenge. The politically correct Europeans are characteristically on the fence; unfortunately, they have to learn
lessons the hard way. China, which relies on Iran as its main source of energy, is very cynical in its strategic decisions and therefore unlikely to join an international coalition against the Iranians in the foreseeable future. Russia, which has had an adversarial relationship with Iran, including a few wars over some 700 years, has changed course and become Iran’s prime benefactor, supplying weapons
systems, building Iran a nuclear reactor, allowing Russian scientists to work in Iran, and more.
How do you account for this shift?
In the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union’s demise, the Russians were badly in need of money, so it made sense for them to support Iran’s development of nuclear weaponry for a price. But today, with Russia sitting on a huge pile of oil revenues, money can no longer be the reason for the Kremlin’s continuing assistance. What is the reason? The only answer I can come up with is that Russia will do just about anything to regain its status as a superpower, and to do so Russia will oppose the U.S. at every turn. If Washington considers Iran an enemy, then Moscow will consider Iran a friend.
One day, however, the Kremlin will wake up to the realization that a nuclear Iran is not in Russia’s national-security interest.
What can be done to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions?
The Western democracies have tried everything possible—sanctions, threats, temptations, promises, you name it—to convince the Iranians to cease enriching uranium. But Iran won’t budge.
Still, there is some time before Iran reaches the point of no return—how much time is a matter of debate. One possibility is an American military strike. Another is a change of regime through a kind of implosion from within—a revolution by Western-educated Iranians, of which there are many, who are fed up with being kept in a straitjacket by the religious leadership of their country. This may be wishful thinking, but it cannot be ruled out.
If the Americans don’t unleash force and there is no change of regime from within, then the Israeli government will have to face a very hard decision.
If Israel couldn’t defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon, how could she take on a powerhouse like Iran?
It’s a wild exaggeration that Hezbollah humbled the IDF—a perception fed by the media in Israel and internationally. The reality is very different.
How so?
First, you have to reframe your perception—this war was different because in the past Israel won its wars decisively, and here the war went on for six weeks without a clear-cut victory. Still, I believe Israel won this war. The situation today is much better than it was before the war. We no longer have Hezbollah sitting on the border; instead, the Lebanese sovereign military and U.N. forces are there. A new U.N. resolution 1701 calls for disarming Hezbollah—it hasn’t been delivered, but it still strengthens Israel politically. And if you were to ask me what the chances are that Hezbollah will shoot new rockets at us tomorrow, my answer would be nil.
Would Iran’s leaders agree with your analysis?
Tehran is not happy about what happened in Lebanon because Iran built Hezbollah as a tool to use when it suits the Iranians’ interests and timetable, and then Hezbollah messed it up. In fact, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasralla publicly admitted that had he known what the Israeli reaction would be, he wouldn’t have approved the attack that launched this war.
At Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in NYC, you said, It takes a lifetime of experience to be an optimist, but I believe the good guys are going to win at the end of the day.
what makes you think the West will prevail?
To answer, I will mix realism with a bit of philosophy. Speaking philosophically, I just don’t believe that the radical Islamists, whatever their brand—Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Iranian ayatollahs—will win.
Let me try to explain with a short story. I did my master’s degree at Harvard University, where I took a class on the Cold War and the relationship between the Soviets and the Americans. Back in the fifties, all the innovative research and development was being done by the Americans, while the Russians took shortcuts—they stole, bought, cheated. The American response was to adopt a strategy where at all times the U.S. would be a step and a half ahead of the Russians. So even when the Russians succeeded in acquiring technology through espionage, America was still half a step ahead of them.
Today the adversaries are different, but the same principle applies. If you compare the translation of Islamic thinking into Western languages with Western writings translated into Arabic during the last 500 years, it’s at the rate of 100 to one. Islam has never been interested in what’s happening in the West. The same applies to technological development. The technologies they’ve acquired are not as a result of their own independent research and development; they come from others.
In short, I believe that Western ingenuity will enable us to remain at the cutting edge. Israel, too, will continue to be more innovative and technologically advanced than the Muslim states. This—our best and strongest advantage—gives me confidence that the good guys are going to win at the end of the day.
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 = Thurs Mar 8 12:11 AM EDT
MAR 07,07
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAR 06,07
MAP 4.8 WESTERN IRAN
MAP 5.4 SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.2 COLOMBIA
MAP 4.9 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 TONGA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.3 MONA PASSAGE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MAP 2.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.4 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
35 injured in western Iran quake Wed Mar 7, 3:16 AM ET
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) - Thirty-five people were injured when an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale struck the city of Daroud in western Iran before dawn on Wednesday, local officals said.
Most of the injuries were caused by shards of glass from broken windows or when dazed victims were trampled in the aftermath of the quake at 2:00 am (2230 GMT), city governor Nasrollah Rashno said, according to the IRNA agency.Rashno added that most of the casualties were only lightly injured.The earthquake in Lorestan province comes just under a year after a much stronger quake of 6.0 magnitude struck the same area, killing around 70 people and leaving thousands homeless.Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of them devastating.The worst quake in recent times hit Bam in the south of the country in December 2003, killing 31,000 people, about a quarter of the city's population, and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Wed Mar 7, 7:24 AM ET
Snow flurries were falling early Wednesday across the eastern Great Lakes, southern New England, New York and the northern mid-Atlantic region. High pressure was to produce mostly sunny and dry conditions throughout the Tennessee Valley, much of the southern mid-Atlantic region, the Southeast and Florida.Frigid weather was expected to continue in the Upper Midwest and Northeast, while temperatures in the 60s and 70s were expected in the Southeast.A Pacific cold front was predicted to push inland across the West Coast, bringing some rain and high elevation snow to the Northwest and northern California.Fair skies and dry conditions were expected throughout the Mississippi Valley, the Plains region, the Rockies, the Great Basin, the Desert Southwest and southern California.
Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Tuesday ranged from a low of minus-30 degrees at Raco, Mich., to a high of 90 degrees at Santa Ana, Calif.
Record weather deceived
Coldest March 6 on record looked a lot like spring
BRIAN WHITWHAM - DAVE CARTER, GUELPH MERCURY GUELPH (Mar 7, 2007)
The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the roads looked clear and the birds were chirping, yet about 90 schools across the Guelph region were closed.Don Drone, director of education for the Wellington Catholic District School Board, is the first to admit things weren't quite as they seemed yesterday.It's days like (yesterday) that what you see isn't what you get with the weather, Drone said.
It can be deceiving.Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said yesterday might have looked like a welcoming pre-spring day through the window, but it was actually the coldest March 6 on record for Guelph.The projected high for the day was -13 C and the temperature was still at -16 C early in the afternoon.Phillips said the previous coldest recorded March 6 was in 1901, with a projected high of about -10 C.
The only thing is that it's not quite as brutal as it was this morning because we're into calmer winds, Phillips said yesterday afternoon. But it could still freeze flesh in a matter of minutes.Several roads were closed in rural areas of Dufferin and Wellington counties early yesterday morning because of icy conditions.The frigid temperatures and the wind chill are the main reasons the public and Catholic school boards decided early yesterday to close local schools.Martha Rogers, director of education for the Upper Grand District School Board, said it's been about five years since the schools were closed because of the cold alone.
It's not something we do lightly, she said. Parents have to go to work and they reasonably expect that their children will go to school.Rogers said the boards worked together to create a policy on temperatures and wind chill about a decade ago. She said it was decided that when the wind chill hits -35 C, schools should be closed so that students don't have to walk.Rogers said the wind chill had hit -34 C yesterday around 5 a.m. and it was expected to drop further when she and Drone decided to close the schools.
She said some students have to walk lengthy distances to get to class. Grade 7s and 8s for example, walk up to 4.8 kilometres before becoming eligible to ride the school bus.I can't in good conscience condone that as something that's safe (in the cold), Rogers said. Sometimes people will agree with my call and sometimes people will disagree with my call.But it's based on the children's well-being.Drone said it's always difficult to make decisions based on weather predictions.e go with the information we have early in the morning, Drone said. If we can minimize the danger, then it's worth it.Drone said yesterday they did expect schools to be open today, but that decision was to be made this morning.
Phillips said several municipalities across Ontario set new records for the coldest March 6. Environment Canada issued a warning early yesterday morning about the wind chill, predicting it would reach -35 C in this part of the province.But he said Guelph was lucky the wind speeds slowed from about 30 km/h at 2 a.m. to about 9 km/h by 4 a.m., when the mercury dropped to its lowest point, -22 C. That took some of the bite off the wind chill, he said.Environment Canada expects a high of -5 C today and Phillips said it's expected to warm up through the week.He said the good news is Saturday's forecast predicts spring-like conditions with rain and a high of 3 C.By Saturday, spring should be here, Phillips said. I'm not saying this is winter's last hurrah. I wouldn't put the snow shovel away yet, but the good news is that winter is duking it out with spring.And in the long run, spring always wins.bwhitwham@guelphmercury.com
Muslims enthusiastic, Christians apathetic about end times
Chad Groening OneNewsNow.com February 27, 2007
Pro-Israel ministry leader Jan Markell says she is frustrated that many Christians are apathetic about the idea of the glorious return of Jesus Christ while Muslims, for the most part, demonstrate intense passion and fervor about their belief in the imminent return of their Islamic messiah.
She believes seeker-sensitive churches are partly to blame.Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, says Muslims around the world, particularly in Iran and Iraq, are causing death, violence, and destruction in attempts to hasten the return of the one they regard as the ultimate savior of mankind, their so-called twelfth Imam or Mahdi. When I look at the enthusiasm and, if I can use the word, barbarism that some of the Islamic people are perpetrating for this Islamic Mahdi to return, they are absolutely adamant that there's a great day coming, the ministry spokeswoman says, and that the Islamic messiah ... is going to transform the Earth. Unfortunately, she notes, she does not see the same kind of enthusiasm among Christians for the prophesied return of the biblical Messiah.
Part of this is because the church has dropped this issue [of Jesus Christ's Second Coming] so that the church can be more seeker sensitive and not be divisive, Markell asserts. The contemporary church has set this topic aside, she says, and therefore, the congregation isn't by nature apathetic -- they don't know anything.Muslims, on the other hand, are going to great lengths, the Olive Tree Ministries spokeswoman points out, to try to hasten what they believe will be the return of their Mahdi, according to certain Islamic prophetic traditions. They believe it with all of their heart, she says, and I would just like to see Christians getting that excited for the return of the true Messiah.
Markell says even though Titus 2:13 talks about the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus, most Christians today are not focused on that event. Apparently, she says, many believers think earthly business comes first for now.
German clerics enrage Yad Vashem
bt Etgar Lefkovits March 6, 2007 JPOST
Yad Vashem lambasted a group of visiting German Catholic bishops on Tuesday for comparing the situation in the Palestinian territories with the Holocaust, calling the contentious remarks political exploitation and demagoguery and a gross distortion of history. The sharp condemnation by Israel's Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority followed reports in the German press of comparisons made by senior German bishops between conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II and current conditions in Ramallah, resulting from Israeli military activities. The remarks illustrate a woeful ignorance of history and a distorted sense of perspective, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev wrote in a Tuesday letter to Cardinal Karl Lehmann, who led the Conference of German Catholic Bishops on a 10-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. The group visited Yad Vashem last Friday.
Making analogies between the mass murder that was part of the plan to annihilate the Jewish people, carried out under the German Nazi regime and the current situation in Ramallah, and using words whose rhetorical power is immense, does nothing to help us understand what is going on today; such words only further poison the atmosphere making it that much more difficult to find workable solutions to deeply entrenched and thorny problems. These unwarranted and offensive comparisons serve to diminish the memory of victims of the Holocaust and mollify the consciences of those who seek to lessen European responsibility for Nazi crimes, he wrote. The German bishops' bitterly contentious comparisons stunned Yad Vashem officials, who had hosted the senior Christian leaders just hours earlier. In the morning, we saw the pictures at Yad Vashem of the inhumane Warsaw Ghetto, while in the evening we were in the Ramallah Ghetto, Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke reportedly said.
Another visiting bishop, Joachim Meisner, who serves as the Archbishop of Cologne, reportedly described the conditions at Israeli security checkpoints as something done to animals, not to humans.In his letter, the head of Yad Vashem noted the words of of the late Pope John Paul II when he visited Yad Vashem in which he said no one can diminish the scale of the Holocaust. I urge all people to keep the Holocaust out of cheap political exploitation and demagoguery, Shalev wrote.
Such use of the Holocaust misrepresents both today's reality as well as that of the Shoah; it distorts historical facts and context, and trivializes the memory of the Holocaust's victims and events, he concluded.
Answers in Genesis founder labels claims in 'Jesus Tomb' as nonsense
Allie Martin OneNewsNow.com March 6, 2007
The president of Answers in Genesis says there's no new information in a documentary that chronicles claims by archaeologists that they have found a coffin containing the bones of Christ. Ken Ham says the recent documentary is the latest example in a string of increasing attacks on the Bible.
The documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, premiered this weekend on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron, the documentary claims forensic tests support the view that six of the ten ossuaries, or coffins, found in the tomb in 1980 bear inscriptions linking them to Jesus.But Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, says the claims are nonsense.
Anyone can take a documentary and take certain evidence they find and then, because of their own anti-Christian bias or whatever it is, put their own particular interpretation on that and make it sound so good in a movie, he says.Ham says people have tried unsuccessfully to debunk the Bible for thousands of years, and notes there has been an increase in attacks of the Bible from the secular world. But he points out that eyewitness accounts from God's Word support the fact that Christ rose from the dead. When it comes to interpreting the past -- of course you weren't there in the past; you weren't there to see the things happen -- that's why it's so important to trust God's Word, who's always been there, who knows everything, who tells us what happened in the past to help us correctly interpret the present, says Ham. And of course we know from scripture that you don't find the bones of Jesus because he was raised from the dead -- and it's an empty tomb.Ham points out that Christians must be ready to give answers to such claims. Christians need to be equipped; they need to be ready for these things.
Deadly Antibiotic-Resisting Bacteria Has Killed Dozens
by Hana Levi Julian MAR 07,07
A deadly antibiotic-resistance strain of bacterium has infected hundreds and killed dozens of patients in hospitals across Israel being treated for other illnesses. The story first broke Tuesday night on the Channel 1 Mabat TV program.
The bacterium is not new to Israeli hospitals, although this latest strain, Klebsiella pneumoniae, appeared in recent months. The bacterium attacks hospital patients being treated for other illnesses, and has infected mostly those who have been hospitalized for over 25 days.Several new strains have appeared in recent years that have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics have been entirely ineffective in treating this most recent strain, which has spread rapidly in hospitals around the country. Normally found in the mouth, skin and intestines, Klebsiella pneumoniae is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. The germ often causes hospital-acquired urinary tract and burn wound infections, but is also known to cause bacterial pneumonia. Its identification is complicated and can involve a large number of tests.
Patients with weak immune systems, such as the elderly, are particularly at risk of contracting an illness associated with the bacterium, which is found in contaminated medical instruments and in feces.
Health Ministry officials have not released census figures on the epidemic, but according to infectious diseases specialist Dr. Galia Rahav, 130 patients at Sheba Hospital have become infected and of those, a third have died. All were hospitalized for other conditions. Health Minister Yaakov Ben-Yizri (Pensioners) said that the problem has been known for several weeks, but was not publicized in order not to cause public panic.
Director-General Professor Avi Yisraeli told reporters that a team of medical experts has been set up to address the situation. This is not the first instance of a bacteria evolving into a strain that does not respond to antibiotics, said Yisraeli Tuesday night. It is happening abroad as well, he said, noting that the phenomenon is happening more frequently due to the overuse of antibiotics in industrialized nations. Only very ill patients in hospitals are at risk, stressed Yisraeli. The group will be led by epidemiologist Professor Yehuda Carmeli, of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. One of the main purposes of the team will be to identify and isolate patients who have become infected with the bacterium.
THE ID PEOPLE by Professor Paul Eidelberg MAR 07,07
Who and what are the ID People? No, they're not libidinous disciples of Sigmund Freud. Truth to tell, some are prime ministers. Some are foreign ministers. Others are party leaders. More than a few are academics and journalists. They are legion. And whatever their differences or diverse nationalities, they all have one thing in common: they are Intellectually Dishonest. What does their dishonesty consist in? Simply this: They know you can't make peace with people committed to your destruction.
They know you can't make peace with people who do not recognize the sanctity of human life. They know you can't make peace with people conditioned by a culture of hatred -- a hatred so deep as to induce these people to use their own children as human bombs. But this means that those prime ministers and foreign ministers and party leaders who would have Israel engage in peace negotiations with the Arab Palestinian are not merely ignorant or obtuse: no, they are Intellectually Dishonest. Their dishonesty has so warped their minds that some almost believe that peace is possible between the Jews of Israel and their Muslim enemies.
There is no point in telling these ID People about the murderous verses in the Quran or in the Hadith the recorded or reported sayings and deeds of Muhammad. It's futile to cite Robert Spencer or Bat Ye'or or Nonie Darwish or Brigitte Gabriel or Ibn Warraq or Winston Churchill and others who have written about Islam's barbaric character.
The brilliant American Lee Harris he has been called the philosopher of 9/11 agrees with Syrian-born psychiatrist Wafa Sultan, that Islam is the enemy of civilization. To expect genuine peace with the followers of a bellicose religion is to sacrifice one's intellect, that is, to succumb to Intellectual Dishonesty. (And to make much in wartime of Muslim moderates when mainstream Islam is anything but moderate is also indicative of Intellectual Dishonesty.) The Middle East expert Daniel Pipes recently admitted that Israel's peace treaty with Egypt has proven to be a failure, that the Egyptians are committed to Israel's annihilation no less than Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Dr. Pipes has also warned that it would take at least two generations to undo the murderous hatred of Jews which Palestinian leaders have instilled in their children. Dr. Pipes, a man of wisdom and courage, knows that one would have to sear into Arab consciousness a hatred of war, which could only occur as a result of their being devastated.
Ariel Sharon's protégé Ehud Olmert, knows this, and so does Benjamin Netanyahu. The trouble is they are Intellectually Dishonest and it's time they were called such. I would say the same of Condoleezza Rice.
Lady, you're not a fool; you're not deceived by Mahmoud Abbas and the hype about his being a moderate. You're just Intellectually Dishonest. This is no time for politeness. It's time to call a spade a spade. It's time to say that the Big Lie of the Middle East is the word peace. It's time to say that all those who talk about making peace between Israel and the Palestinians are Intellectually Dishonest, be they politicians, journalists, or even rabbis. And if you want to add that they are moral cowards, go to it! We have to transcend the misleading and mendacious language of public discourse. Stop calling so-and-so politically correct when he or she is simply Intellectually Dishonest. When Olmert and others advocate a Palestinian state, call him Intellectually Dishonest, because the rival clans that compose the Palestinians don't want a state; they want to destroy the Jewish state.
When Bibi calls for negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of reciprocity, a term foreign to the Arab-Islamic mind, call him Intellectually Dishonest. Intellectual Dishonesty is so rampant among politicians, academics, and journalists that it is undermining Western civilization. Western civilization has two basic sources: the Bible of Israel (on which Christianity is based) and classical Greek
philosophy.
If there is one thing these two basic sources have in common, it is this: Truth. Without truth there can be no trust. Without trust there can be no civilization. If it be objected that politeness is a necessary aspect of civilization, I answer: if politeness supplants truth, then it's nothing more than hypocrisy another form of Intellectual Dishonesty. It follows that Islam, which, by the way, makes a virtue of mendacity, is not the only enemy of civilization. No less dangerous is the enemy within: the Intellectual Dishonesty rampant among our opinion-makers and policy-makers. These ID People must be exposed. They are undermining the respect for truth which animates civilization: its rationality, its dignity, and its progress. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net
Spring 2007 Racing Toward Armageddon (REFORM JUDAISM)
Shabtai Shavit served as director of Mossad (the equivalent of the CIA in Israel) from 1989 to 1996. A former member of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Commission on Future Preparedness on Counterterrorism (for the New York Fire Department), he is a founding member of Friends of Israeli Firefighters and director of EMG Israel, a company which is working on a natural gas project from Egypt to Israel. He was interviewed by Reform Judaism editor Aron Hirt-Manheimer and managing editor Joy Weinberg.
What do you see as the main threat facing Israel today?
Iran.
What makes Iran so great a threat?
Iran is a very big country—in size, population, and natural resources, mainly oil and gas, which this year will bring in $60 billion. Iran’s national reserve is about $65 billion, about 2.5 times its national debt, and as long as world oil prices remain high, Iran will have as much money as it needs.
As it needs for what?
To explain, I have to go back to the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq fought an almost ten-year war, eventually won by Iraq. The Iranians have learned the lessons of that war. Their defeat, they concluded, was due to Iraq’s use of long-range rockets as well as chemical weapons introduced during the last stages of the war. As a result, Iran decided to shore up its military operations through chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry, and the capabilities to launch them against its enemies.
To launch against whom in particular?
In the early 1990s, when Iran began to develop and procure non-conventional weapons, it was widely assumed that they would be used as deterrents in a future conflict with Iraq. But as director of Mossad, I was very skeptical about this assessment. Following the research and development pattern of the Iranian arms industry, we discovered that the surface-to-surface missiles they were starting to develop had a range of 1,300 kilometers, which was much longer than what’s needed to hit Iraq from
the western side of Iran. Yet, that range was enough to cover all of Israel. We concluded that their objective was not to deter Iraq—but to build offensive capabilities against Israel.
Has Iran developed these weapons and missile capabilities?
Iran already has chemical and biological warheads for their surface-to-surface missiles, with launching capabilities of 3,500 kilometers, which could reach Russia and parts of Europe. They’re developing a ballistic missile with launching capabilities of 5,000 kilometers, capable of striking the U.S. They’re also investing heavily in the eventual building of submarines with missile-launching capabilities. And they are rapidly pursuing development of nuclear weapons to be launched by air, ground, and sea.
From whom are they acquiring technical assistance to proceed at such a fast pace ?
Over the years they have received nuclear assistance from Pakistan, surface-to-surface missile technology from North Korea and China, and technical support from Russian scientists—especially right after the demise of the Soviet Union, a chaotic time when Russian scientists and other technological experts couldn’t find work and make a living, and so they offered their expertise to anyone willing to pay for it. And the Iranians were ready to pay very handsome salaries for these services. Russia is still a main supplier of armaments and nuclear technologies to Iran.
You’ve been talking about capabilities; what about Iran’s intentions?
It’s a good question. As an intelligence officer, I always tried to answer two questions:
what are an enemy’s capabilities and what are its intentions?
Determining intentions is usually far more difficult than ascertaining capabilities—it’s more of an art. Let’s take Syria, for example. It is very hard to penetrate into Bashar al-Assad’s mind, to know his intentions. However, with the Iranians there are no secrets. They broadcast their intentions, telling everybody their main objective is to erase Israel from the map, destroy the Israeli people—and not only the Israeli people, but all infidels.
Who else do they want to destroy?
That answer is rooted in Iranian religious beliefs that date back to medieval times. There are many tenets—I’ll discuss the main ones. First, according to Shiite writings, Iran’s spiritual leader, who at this time is the Ayatollah Khamenei, is believed to be a reincarnation of God Almighty, infallible and incapable of making mistakes. Second, the Iranian religious leadership is authorized by God Almighty to do whatever is necessary—cheat, deceive, etc.—in order to serve the purpose of the end game; we’ll get to that in a moment. Third, there is to be no religious coexistence in the world. The Iranian people are therefore instructed by God Almighty through their supreme leader to fight the infidels—to either eliminate them or convert them to true Islam.
Their ultimate goal is to establish a global or world Muslim caliphate. And according to their ideology, which is described in many of their religious texts, the twelfth imam—the Mahdi who disappeared in the 12th century—must reappear. In order for this to happen there must be a martyrdom event on the scale of biblical proportions, an Armageddon. All devout Muslims are instructed to be proactive to
hasten the reappearance of the Mahdi. Now, if you stretch this logic further, one must conclude that Iran’s leaders are intent on perpetrating such an Armageddon. To do so, Iran would need precisely the kinds of weapons of mass destruction it is acquiring, including nuclear warheads.
How widely accepted is this ideology?
These are widely accepted, deep-rooted beliefs among devoted Shiites in Iran.
Does the Israeli leadership share your analysis?
They do.
How, then, will Israel stop Iran from carrying out its intention?
Here I am talking only for myself; I stopped working for the government ten years ago. I personally believe Israel should exhaust all political options before deciding to use force, an assessment I believe is shared by the Israeli government and the American administration. This remains a challenge. The politically correct Europeans are characteristically on the fence; unfortunately, they have to learn
lessons the hard way. China, which relies on Iran as its main source of energy, is very cynical in its strategic decisions and therefore unlikely to join an international coalition against the Iranians in the foreseeable future. Russia, which has had an adversarial relationship with Iran, including a few wars over some 700 years, has changed course and become Iran’s prime benefactor, supplying weapons
systems, building Iran a nuclear reactor, allowing Russian scientists to work in Iran, and more.
How do you account for this shift?
In the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union’s demise, the Russians were badly in need of money, so it made sense for them to support Iran’s development of nuclear weaponry for a price. But today, with Russia sitting on a huge pile of oil revenues, money can no longer be the reason for the Kremlin’s continuing assistance. What is the reason? The only answer I can come up with is that Russia will do just about anything to regain its status as a superpower, and to do so Russia will oppose the U.S. at every turn. If Washington considers Iran an enemy, then Moscow will consider Iran a friend.
One day, however, the Kremlin will wake up to the realization that a nuclear Iran is not in Russia’s national-security interest.
What can be done to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions?
The Western democracies have tried everything possible—sanctions, threats, temptations, promises, you name it—to convince the Iranians to cease enriching uranium. But Iran won’t budge.
Still, there is some time before Iran reaches the point of no return—how much time is a matter of debate. One possibility is an American military strike. Another is a change of regime through a kind of implosion from within—a revolution by Western-educated Iranians, of which there are many, who are fed up with being kept in a straitjacket by the religious leadership of their country. This may be wishful thinking, but it cannot be ruled out.
If the Americans don’t unleash force and there is no change of regime from within, then the Israeli government will have to face a very hard decision.
If Israel couldn’t defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon, how could she take on a powerhouse like Iran?
It’s a wild exaggeration that Hezbollah humbled the IDF—a perception fed by the media in Israel and internationally. The reality is very different.
How so?
First, you have to reframe your perception—this war was different because in the past Israel won its wars decisively, and here the war went on for six weeks without a clear-cut victory. Still, I believe Israel won this war. The situation today is much better than it was before the war. We no longer have Hezbollah sitting on the border; instead, the Lebanese sovereign military and U.N. forces are there. A new U.N. resolution 1701 calls for disarming Hezbollah—it hasn’t been delivered, but it still strengthens Israel politically. And if you were to ask me what the chances are that Hezbollah will shoot new rockets at us tomorrow, my answer would be nil.
Would Iran’s leaders agree with your analysis?
Tehran is not happy about what happened in Lebanon because Iran built Hezbollah as a tool to use when it suits the Iranians’ interests and timetable, and then Hezbollah messed it up. In fact, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasralla publicly admitted that had he known what the Israeli reaction would be, he wouldn’t have approved the attack that launched this war.
At Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in NYC, you said, It takes a lifetime of experience to be an optimist, but I believe the good guys are going to win at the end of the day.
what makes you think the West will prevail?
To answer, I will mix realism with a bit of philosophy. Speaking philosophically, I just don’t believe that the radical Islamists, whatever their brand—Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Iranian ayatollahs—will win.
Let me try to explain with a short story. I did my master’s degree at Harvard University, where I took a class on the Cold War and the relationship between the Soviets and the Americans. Back in the fifties, all the innovative research and development was being done by the Americans, while the Russians took shortcuts—they stole, bought, cheated. The American response was to adopt a strategy where at all times the U.S. would be a step and a half ahead of the Russians. So even when the Russians succeeded in acquiring technology through espionage, America was still half a step ahead of them.
Today the adversaries are different, but the same principle applies. If you compare the translation of Islamic thinking into Western languages with Western writings translated into Arabic during the last 500 years, it’s at the rate of 100 to one. Islam has never been interested in what’s happening in the West. The same applies to technological development. The technologies they’ve acquired are not as a result of their own independent research and development; they come from others.
In short, I believe that Western ingenuity will enable us to remain at the cutting edge. Israel, too, will continue to be more innovative and technologically advanced than the Muslim states. This—our best and strongest advantage—gives me confidence that the good guys are going to win at the end of the day.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
LANDMINES IN ISRAEL FROM SYRIA
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Powerful Indonesian earthquake kills 70. 3-Dozens of cars crash near Barrie, closing highway. 4-Threat of ice bombs closes Toronto. 5-Numbing cold in the Northeast. 6-Families flee active volcano in Ecuador. 7-Palestinian heads fail to agree on gov't. 8-Poll: Americans More Pro Israel, More Polarized. 9-Leftists to Build Illegal Arab Houses on State Land. 10-Land Mines Lobbed Into Israel From Syria.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Wed Mar 7 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 06,07
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.2 COLOMBIA
MAP 4.9 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 TONGA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.3 MONA PASSAGE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MAP 2.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.4 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
MAR 05,07
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.9 NEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.2 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 WESTERN XIZANG
MAP 2.5 MAUI REGION, HAWAII
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.6 GUATEMALA
MAP 5.2 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
MAP 2.7 ONTARIO-QUEBEC BORDER REGION, CANADA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
Powerful Indonesian earthquake kills 70 By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer MAR 06,07
PADANG, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake crumpled houses across a large swath of western Indonesia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds, authorities said, predicting that the toll would rise. The magnitude 6.3 quake struck on Sumatra island and was felt as far away as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, where some tall buildings were evacuated. It was followed by several strong aftershocks.Women were crying out in terror. We all just fled as quickly as we could, said Alpion, a welder in the seaside town of Padang who uses a single name. Along with thousands of others, he was running to higher ground, fearing a tsunami that never came.
Indonesia straddles one of the world's most seismically violent zones and has been hit by a string of natural disaster in recent years, the most deadly being the 2004 tsunami that killed 160,000 people on Sumatra's northern tip.Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters in Jakarta that at least 70 people had been killed by the quake, which hit the island's western coast. The worst-affected area appeared to be Solok, a bustling town close to the epicenter where two children were killed by falling debris on a school playground.Dozens of buildings had been destroyed and hundreds others damaged, local police chief Lt. Col. Budi Sarwono said. TV footage showed a flattened three-story home and thick cracks in the road.Hospitals were overflowing with patients, many of them with broken bones and cuts. Scores were laid out on cots where they were given emergency care, said Sarwono.
So far we have recovered 19 bodies and hundreds of injured people, he said. The two hospitals are overwhelmed with victims.At one hospital in nearby Padang, panicked doctors and nurses fled into the streets, startled patients limping behind, according to Metro TV.Local government spokesman Hasrul Piliang said the number of dead would likely rise because tolls from remote areas were still being collected and there were reports of others trapped under debris.The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor struck 20 miles below Solok. It was followed by several strong aftershocks, one measuring 6.0.The tremor was felt in Singapore, 265 miles from the quake's epicenter, forcing the evacuation of several older office buildings, TV station Channel NewsAsia reported.In Malaysia's southern coastal city of Johor, citizens fled offices, buildings and shopping centers, eyewitnesses said.Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
In addition to the 2004 tsunami, earthquake-spawned waves also killed nearly 5,000 on Java island last year.Tuesday's quake was about 660 miles west of the country's capital Jakarta.
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.
Dozens of cars crash near Barrie, closing highway
Blowing snow causes shutdown of major highways across southern Ontario
Monday, March 5, 2007 CBC News
Pileups involving more than 75 vehicles closed Highway 400 south of Barrie on Monday afternoon, as blowing snow and powerful wind gusts caused accidents across Southern Ontario.Ontario Provincial Police Const. Sally Stewart said police are aware of at least one life-threatening injury and several serious injuries, but no fatalities so far.Sometimes we give tips about winter driving but when there's zero visibility, there really isn't a safe way to drive. OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley We have a lot of drifting snow and high winds today, Stewart said. It makes [snow] very loose and therefore the wind can pick it up and throw it around, which causes complete whiteouts.Police closed ramps onto the highway in the area of the pileups as emergency crews worked to free people from the wreckage.The northbound pileup happened near Highway 88. The southbound pileup was further north, near Highway 89.The northbound accident, involving more than 30 cars, three trucks and two coach buses, was the most serious, according to CBC reporter Steven D'Souza. A truck driver and a van driver were taken to hospital with critical injuries. At least 35 others are in hospital with minor injuries.Sections of Highway 400 near the accident scene are expected to remain closed until Tuesday morning.
It's like driving in milk
Hundreds of minor accidents were reported across southern Ontario as snow and winds gusting up to 100 km/h pummelled the region, hitting areas along Lake Huron and Georgian Bay the hardest.More than a dozen major highways across southern Ontario were closed because of the blowing snow, with visibility as low as half a kilometre in some spots.OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley suggested motorists avoid driving west of Highway 400, saying conditions are fluctuating between sunshine and whiteouts that make it feel like they're driving in milk.Sometimes we give tips about winter driving but when there's zero visibility, there really isn't a safe way to drive, Woolley said.The severe weather closed all county roads in Dufferin County, about 80 kilometres northwest of Toronto.Police asked drivers not to skirt blocked highways by taking back roads, warning there is little chance of being found if something happens on the less-travelled routes.It's really a dangerous situation starting to build and it's getting worse, said Woolley, adding another bad storm is headed for Ontario.
Threat of ice bombs closes Toronto
Tuesday Mar 6 08:56 AEDT (Reuters)
Toronto major streets are closed on fears that table-sized sheets of ice could shear off tall buildings and smash down on cars and pedestrians.Roads closed to traffic included parts of the Gardiner Expressway, an elevated freeway that leads to downtown Toronto, as well as part of King Street, the normally busy thoroughfare that is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange and Canada's financial district.Yellow tape kept even pedestrians indoors, leaving an eerie calm in the center of Canada's largest city.It's a situation where we had a mild December, then cold in mid-January, and over the last week or so a good blast of snow and freezing rain, said Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
On top of some of those buildings, especially the ones with black roofs, it may be several degrees above zero. And when a piece of ice a couple metres (yards) across falls 30 floors it's like a bomb going off.CP-24 Television showed pictures of cars with smashed windshields from chunks of ice and said witnesses reported seeing ice slabs the size of a kitchen table flying off the sides of the soaring CN Tower.The ice is on the northeast side of the tower about 350 metres from the ground, said Irene Knight, the tower's manager of public relations. It's too dangerous to send anyone up to deal with it right now.The road closures snarled traffic during both morning and evening rush hours. Current weather conditions are presenting safety concerns, police said in a bland statement. The closures will remain in effect as long as there is a danger to public safety.A winter storm last Thursday dumped several centimetres of snow on Toronto and a night of rain turned that snow into icy porridge.Then the weather turned cold again, and the porridge turned back to ice, which started melting and falling from buildings.
Numbing cold in the Northeast Mark Avery, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel MAR 06,07
Northeast
The Northeast continues to deal with the leftovers of an Alberta clipper that brought snow and wind on Monday across the region. A few light snow showers or flurries are possible today in the Northeast, but the biggest impact will be the bitter cold and wind. Some of the coldest temperatures of the winter season (when compared to average temperatures) are possible today in the Northeast. Tomorrow, another clipper will affect the region, bringing a chance of snow mainly to the Mid-Atlantic and bringing a messy afternoon/evening commute to Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia Wednesday evening. A few snow showers will linger in far Northern New England on Thrusday before skies dry on Friday. Another chance of rain and snow moves into the region over the weekend. After bitter cold temperatures over the next three days, temperatures moderate toward Friday and the weekend with above average highs expected across the region this weekend.
Midwest
The Upper Midwest will be affected by an Alberta clipper today into tonight. The heaviest snows are expected over northern Minnesota into the Great Lakes. This system quickly moves out of the region, with a few snow showers possible in the Upper Ohio Valley Wednesday morning as the system leaves the Midwest. Thursday will give the region a break before the next system moves in and brings a chance of rain, with some snow near the Great Lakes, on Friday. The weekend looks to be mainly wet across most of the region, with the Northern Plains being the driest. Temperatures will be warming as the week progresses as well: temperatures over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes are expected to be below average today through Thursday, but be above average region-wide by the weekend.
West
The Pacific Northwest and Northern California coasts will see the chance of rain returning tonight after enjoying a mostly dry day today. This system will bring valley rain and mountain snows across the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies tomorrow. A steady stream of moisture off of the Pacific will keep the chances of rain going through the weekend in the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, the Southwest will remain bone dry and warm. High pressure is expected to move over the Great Basin later this week and bring potential Santa Ana conditions to Southern California for Thursday through the weekend. Temperatures are expected to remain above seasonal averages across the region, with a brief cool down in the Northwest on Thursday.
South
The South remains relatively quiet today. The dry conditions are prompting red flag warnings due to the high fire danger over much of Florida and Georgia, as well as South Central Texas. Oklahoma and the Red River Valley of Texas also have an increased fire danger today due to breezy south winds expected. A few showers are possible on the East Coast of Florida on Wednesday, with a better chance of rain coming on Saturday and Sunday. Rain returns to the lower Mississippi Valley and Southern Plains on Friday and Saturday, with Saturday being a wet day across most of the South. Temperatures are expected to be near or above average across most of the region through the weekend, with Virginia and the Carolinas being below average today, warming tomorrow, and then briefly cooling off Thursday and Friday. Warmer than average temperatures should prevail over the weekend.
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.
Families flee active volcano in Ecuador Mon Mar 5, 9:42 PM ET
QUITO, Ecuador - Authorities evacuated about 100 families from the slopes of a volcano in central Ecuador which began showering villages with flaming rocks and ash last month. Firefighters, police and civil defense officials conducted a voluntary evacuation because of the Tungurahua volcano's intensifying activity, Jorge Arteaga, director of Ecuador's Red Cross rescue squad, told Radio Quito on Monday.The 16,575-foot volcano, whose name means throat of fire in the Quechua language, shot a 1.2-mile plume of ash into the sky on Feb. 12.Santiago Arellano, a technician at Ecuador's Geophysics Institute, told The Associated Press that Tungurahua is registering its most intense activity since it erupted last August, killing four people and destroying or severely damaging nearly 5,000 homes.Arellano said Monday that an eruption is not imminent, but warned the volcano's activity could increase within hours. The volcano is located about 85 miles south of the capital of Quito.
Palestinian heads fail to agree on gov't By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer MAR 05,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A daylong gunbattle between rival Palestinian factions raged in the streets of Gaza City Monday as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh again failed to agree on the formation of a unity government. Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said there would be another meeting tomorrow, where the two men planned to discuss the crucial issue of who would be interior minister, controlling security forces.The two leaders are negotiating the basis of an accord hammered out last month in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, laying out the framework of a government bringing Abbas' Fatah into partnership with Haniyeh's Hamas.Abbas hopes that bringing his more moderate Fatah back into the government would placate the West, which cut off aid to the Palestinian regime when Hamas took over a year ago after winning an election. However, the West insists that any Palestinian government must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace accords. Hamas rejects the conditions, and the Mecca accord falls short of meeting them.
The U.S. State Department said Monday that full funding of a proposed $86 million in security assistance for the Palestinian Authority hinges on whether officials receive assurances that none of the funds can benefit Hamas.Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European countries and Israel.Haniyeh has another two weeks to present the unity government, according to Palestinian law. His original Hamas-led government resigned to allow formation of a Hamas-Fatah team. Abbas has said the main goal is to stop armed conflicts that have killed more than 130 Palestinians in recent months.On Monday, members of a Hamas militia engaged in a daytime gunbattle with Fatah-allied security officers in the worst outbreak of internal violence since the Mecca accord was signed, security officials said.The gunbattle broke out in Gaza City when Hamas and Fatah loyalists argued over who had control of a nearby training compound, they said.The security forces demanded the Hamas militiamen leave the area, but they refused, saying it fell under the control of the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, security officials said. There were no injuries.
In two other incidents, unknown assailants fired shots at the house and car of a senior security officer who has had past problems with Hamas, security officials said. Shots were also fired at a police headquarters, and police returned fire, the security officials said.Also, security officials said they believed hardline Muslims were behind the bombing of a music shop in the southern town of Khan Younis early Monday, following a similar attack on an Internet cafe on Sunday. Another Internet cafe owner was also briefly kidnapped. Nobody was injured in the attacks.While there were no claims of responsibility, security officials suspect extremist Muslims trying to enforce strict moral conduct were behind the attacks. Hardline Muslims have said youths download pornography from Internet sites, are distracted from prayer by music and buy condoms and hallucinogenic drugs from some pharmacies. Since October, at least 20 such shops have been targeted.
Poll: Americans More Pro Israel, More Polarized by Gil Ronen MAR 06,07
A solid majority of Americans (58%) say their sympathies lie with the Israelis and only 20% say their sympathies are more with the Arabs of the Palestinian Authority, according to Gallup's annual World Affairs survey. Americans' sympathy towards Israel is holding at the same levels as in 2005 and 2006.
A comparison between Gallup polls conducted in the 1990s and those conducted since 2000 shows that the average level of sympathy for Israelis has risen, long term, from 41% to 53%, while the average sympathy for the Arab side of the conflict rose from 13% to 16%. The question posed was simply, In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?
Gallup's experts explain the results as clearly showing that as Americans have moved out of the no preference columns (on the Israeli-Arab issue), they have moved disproportionately into the pro-Israeli column.Public preferences for Israelis in last year's February 2006 survey were at their highest since the 1991 Gulf War a survey that showed a slight dip in sympathies toward the Palestinian Authority. The recent shifts may be attributed to the events preceding them, namely Ariel Sharon's hospitalization and Hamas' election victory. The same general pattern is seen in a separate set of questions asking Americans to give their opinions of various countries. The total percentage of Americans viewing Israel favorably fell slightly between 2006 and 2007 - from 68% to 63% - while favorable views of Palestine, as the Palestinian Authority was presented in the poll, increased slightly, from 11% to 16%. However, between the two, Israel enjoys the much more positive image in the United States.
Americans are more pro-Israeli in their views today than they were 10 and 20 years ago, but, they are also more polarized generally. Today, a combined 78% of Americans favor one side or the other, while the remaining 22% express no partiality. Fourteen years ago, 43% of Americans had no preference in the dispute. BBC Releases Partial Information on Poll: Israel Deemed Very NegativeMeanwhile, a BBC World Service poll shows that a majority of people in 27 countries believes that Israel and Iran lead the list of countries seen as having a mainly negative influence in the world. The BBC staff did not disclose which countries were on the list and how many of them were Arab. The BBC admitted that Israel was most unpopular in Arab countries. Israel and Iran, each of which received a 56% negative rating in the BBC survey, are closely followed by the United States (51%) and North Korea (48%). The poll asked 28,000 respondents in 27 countries to rate a dozen countries, as well as the European Union, in terms of whether they have a positive or negative influence. Canada, Japan and the EU are viewed most positively in the survey.
Leftists to Build Illegal Arab Houses on State Land
16 Adar 5767, March 6, '07
(IsraelNN.com) Israeli leftists, together with foreign PLO supporters, plan to rebuild illegal Arab homes built on state-owned lands in the southern Hevron hills and plant trees on areas near the Gvaot Olam and Chavat Gilad (Gilad Farm) communities. The leftists have encouraged local Arabs to bring claims to the lands to sympathetic Israeli courts. When they obtain a court order, they plant trees or destroy Jewish crops, and when they are ruled against (as is the case in the Hevron Hills), they violently block the destruction and help the Arab illegally rebuild. An hour ago that the powers that be ruled in favor of a farmer from Hares. Twice last week we didn't succeed in planting on his lands next to the settlement of Revava, writes Rabbis For Human Rights rabbi-director Arik Ascherman. He went on to call upon activists to join Arabs from the Samaria village of Yanoun Wednesday in planting on land claimed by Gvaot Olam founder Avri Ran. Aschman, together with Ta'ayush, ISM, The Israeli Committee Against [Arab] House Demolitions, Gush Shalom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch, Yesh Gvul, Peace Now and Meretz (of Be’er Sheva) are calling upon leftists and foreign activists to prepare for a prolonged struggle in the Hevron Hills. Ascherman can be reached at: 050 560 7034.
Land Mines Lobbed Into Israel From Syria
by Gil Ronen MAR 06,07
Ten anti-personnel mines were discovered by an IDF patrol along the border with Syria in the Golan Heights on Saturday. The mines were not concealed or covered and IDF experts determined that they had been thrown over the border fence between Syria and Israel around midday Saturday. It is not clear who threw the mines into Israel or why. Syrian soldiers, terrorists and shepherds have been mentioned as the possible culprits. An IDF engineering unit was dispatched to neutralize the mines.
Israel planned to file an official complaint with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which is deployed in Syria to oversee the 33-year-old ceasefire with Israel. An unnamed IDF officer said Sunday that responsibility for the event rests with the Syrian government, even if it was a local initiative that did not get an official green light from Damascus. The Syrian military has moved military infrastructure, including fuel depots, closer to the border with Israel.Military sources revealed that the mines were actually Israeli mines that the IDF had planted east of the security fence, but still within Israeli territory. Ten of these mines were taken out of the ground and lobbed over the fence. Six were found on the dirt road used by IDF patrols, north of Golan Brook in the southern part of the Golan Heights.
One possibility being looked into is that the Resistance Committees for Freeing the Golan Heights were involved in the incident. This Syrian guerrilla organization announced its inception in the summer of 2006, and said it would use Syrian terrorists to wage a guerrilla war in the Golan. The group also claimed that it was holding Israeli soldier Guy Hever, who went missing in the Golan on August 17, 1997. The Jerusalem Post reported on Friday that Syria has spent the past few months moving infrastructures to its southern border - and constructing additional infrastructures there as well - for the purpose of launching a war against Israel. According to defense officials, the Syrian military has moved military infrastructure, including fuel depots, closer to the border with Israel, and the Syrians have built structures that could serve as weapons storage facilities and military bases. The Syrian army is restricted in the number of troops it is allowed to deploy along the border.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Wed Mar 7 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 06,07
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.2 COLOMBIA
MAP 4.9 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 TONGA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.3 MONA PASSAGE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MAP 2.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.4 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
MAR 05,07
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.9 NEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.2 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 WESTERN XIZANG
MAP 2.5 MAUI REGION, HAWAII
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.6 GUATEMALA
MAP 5.2 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
MAP 2.7 ONTARIO-QUEBEC BORDER REGION, CANADA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
Powerful Indonesian earthquake kills 70 By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer MAR 06,07
PADANG, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake crumpled houses across a large swath of western Indonesia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds, authorities said, predicting that the toll would rise. The magnitude 6.3 quake struck on Sumatra island and was felt as far away as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, where some tall buildings were evacuated. It was followed by several strong aftershocks.Women were crying out in terror. We all just fled as quickly as we could, said Alpion, a welder in the seaside town of Padang who uses a single name. Along with thousands of others, he was running to higher ground, fearing a tsunami that never came.
Indonesia straddles one of the world's most seismically violent zones and has been hit by a string of natural disaster in recent years, the most deadly being the 2004 tsunami that killed 160,000 people on Sumatra's northern tip.Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters in Jakarta that at least 70 people had been killed by the quake, which hit the island's western coast. The worst-affected area appeared to be Solok, a bustling town close to the epicenter where two children were killed by falling debris on a school playground.Dozens of buildings had been destroyed and hundreds others damaged, local police chief Lt. Col. Budi Sarwono said. TV footage showed a flattened three-story home and thick cracks in the road.Hospitals were overflowing with patients, many of them with broken bones and cuts. Scores were laid out on cots where they were given emergency care, said Sarwono.
So far we have recovered 19 bodies and hundreds of injured people, he said. The two hospitals are overwhelmed with victims.At one hospital in nearby Padang, panicked doctors and nurses fled into the streets, startled patients limping behind, according to Metro TV.Local government spokesman Hasrul Piliang said the number of dead would likely rise because tolls from remote areas were still being collected and there were reports of others trapped under debris.The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor struck 20 miles below Solok. It was followed by several strong aftershocks, one measuring 6.0.The tremor was felt in Singapore, 265 miles from the quake's epicenter, forcing the evacuation of several older office buildings, TV station Channel NewsAsia reported.In Malaysia's southern coastal city of Johor, citizens fled offices, buildings and shopping centers, eyewitnesses said.Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
In addition to the 2004 tsunami, earthquake-spawned waves also killed nearly 5,000 on Java island last year.Tuesday's quake was about 660 miles west of the country's capital Jakarta.
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.
Dozens of cars crash near Barrie, closing highway
Blowing snow causes shutdown of major highways across southern Ontario
Monday, March 5, 2007 CBC News
Pileups involving more than 75 vehicles closed Highway 400 south of Barrie on Monday afternoon, as blowing snow and powerful wind gusts caused accidents across Southern Ontario.Ontario Provincial Police Const. Sally Stewart said police are aware of at least one life-threatening injury and several serious injuries, but no fatalities so far.Sometimes we give tips about winter driving but when there's zero visibility, there really isn't a safe way to drive. OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley We have a lot of drifting snow and high winds today, Stewart said. It makes [snow] very loose and therefore the wind can pick it up and throw it around, which causes complete whiteouts.Police closed ramps onto the highway in the area of the pileups as emergency crews worked to free people from the wreckage.The northbound pileup happened near Highway 88. The southbound pileup was further north, near Highway 89.The northbound accident, involving more than 30 cars, three trucks and two coach buses, was the most serious, according to CBC reporter Steven D'Souza. A truck driver and a van driver were taken to hospital with critical injuries. At least 35 others are in hospital with minor injuries.Sections of Highway 400 near the accident scene are expected to remain closed until Tuesday morning.
It's like driving in milk
Hundreds of minor accidents were reported across southern Ontario as snow and winds gusting up to 100 km/h pummelled the region, hitting areas along Lake Huron and Georgian Bay the hardest.More than a dozen major highways across southern Ontario were closed because of the blowing snow, with visibility as low as half a kilometre in some spots.OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley suggested motorists avoid driving west of Highway 400, saying conditions are fluctuating between sunshine and whiteouts that make it feel like they're driving in milk.Sometimes we give tips about winter driving but when there's zero visibility, there really isn't a safe way to drive, Woolley said.The severe weather closed all county roads in Dufferin County, about 80 kilometres northwest of Toronto.Police asked drivers not to skirt blocked highways by taking back roads, warning there is little chance of being found if something happens on the less-travelled routes.It's really a dangerous situation starting to build and it's getting worse, said Woolley, adding another bad storm is headed for Ontario.
Threat of ice bombs closes Toronto
Tuesday Mar 6 08:56 AEDT (Reuters)
Toronto major streets are closed on fears that table-sized sheets of ice could shear off tall buildings and smash down on cars and pedestrians.Roads closed to traffic included parts of the Gardiner Expressway, an elevated freeway that leads to downtown Toronto, as well as part of King Street, the normally busy thoroughfare that is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange and Canada's financial district.Yellow tape kept even pedestrians indoors, leaving an eerie calm in the center of Canada's largest city.It's a situation where we had a mild December, then cold in mid-January, and over the last week or so a good blast of snow and freezing rain, said Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
On top of some of those buildings, especially the ones with black roofs, it may be several degrees above zero. And when a piece of ice a couple metres (yards) across falls 30 floors it's like a bomb going off.CP-24 Television showed pictures of cars with smashed windshields from chunks of ice and said witnesses reported seeing ice slabs the size of a kitchen table flying off the sides of the soaring CN Tower.The ice is on the northeast side of the tower about 350 metres from the ground, said Irene Knight, the tower's manager of public relations. It's too dangerous to send anyone up to deal with it right now.The road closures snarled traffic during both morning and evening rush hours. Current weather conditions are presenting safety concerns, police said in a bland statement. The closures will remain in effect as long as there is a danger to public safety.A winter storm last Thursday dumped several centimetres of snow on Toronto and a night of rain turned that snow into icy porridge.Then the weather turned cold again, and the porridge turned back to ice, which started melting and falling from buildings.
Numbing cold in the Northeast Mark Avery, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel MAR 06,07
Northeast
The Northeast continues to deal with the leftovers of an Alberta clipper that brought snow and wind on Monday across the region. A few light snow showers or flurries are possible today in the Northeast, but the biggest impact will be the bitter cold and wind. Some of the coldest temperatures of the winter season (when compared to average temperatures) are possible today in the Northeast. Tomorrow, another clipper will affect the region, bringing a chance of snow mainly to the Mid-Atlantic and bringing a messy afternoon/evening commute to Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia Wednesday evening. A few snow showers will linger in far Northern New England on Thrusday before skies dry on Friday. Another chance of rain and snow moves into the region over the weekend. After bitter cold temperatures over the next three days, temperatures moderate toward Friday and the weekend with above average highs expected across the region this weekend.
Midwest
The Upper Midwest will be affected by an Alberta clipper today into tonight. The heaviest snows are expected over northern Minnesota into the Great Lakes. This system quickly moves out of the region, with a few snow showers possible in the Upper Ohio Valley Wednesday morning as the system leaves the Midwest. Thursday will give the region a break before the next system moves in and brings a chance of rain, with some snow near the Great Lakes, on Friday. The weekend looks to be mainly wet across most of the region, with the Northern Plains being the driest. Temperatures will be warming as the week progresses as well: temperatures over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes are expected to be below average today through Thursday, but be above average region-wide by the weekend.
West
The Pacific Northwest and Northern California coasts will see the chance of rain returning tonight after enjoying a mostly dry day today. This system will bring valley rain and mountain snows across the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies tomorrow. A steady stream of moisture off of the Pacific will keep the chances of rain going through the weekend in the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, the Southwest will remain bone dry and warm. High pressure is expected to move over the Great Basin later this week and bring potential Santa Ana conditions to Southern California for Thursday through the weekend. Temperatures are expected to remain above seasonal averages across the region, with a brief cool down in the Northwest on Thursday.
South
The South remains relatively quiet today. The dry conditions are prompting red flag warnings due to the high fire danger over much of Florida and Georgia, as well as South Central Texas. Oklahoma and the Red River Valley of Texas also have an increased fire danger today due to breezy south winds expected. A few showers are possible on the East Coast of Florida on Wednesday, with a better chance of rain coming on Saturday and Sunday. Rain returns to the lower Mississippi Valley and Southern Plains on Friday and Saturday, with Saturday being a wet day across most of the South. Temperatures are expected to be near or above average across most of the region through the weekend, with Virginia and the Carolinas being below average today, warming tomorrow, and then briefly cooling off Thursday and Friday. Warmer than average temperatures should prevail over the weekend.
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.
Families flee active volcano in Ecuador Mon Mar 5, 9:42 PM ET
QUITO, Ecuador - Authorities evacuated about 100 families from the slopes of a volcano in central Ecuador which began showering villages with flaming rocks and ash last month. Firefighters, police and civil defense officials conducted a voluntary evacuation because of the Tungurahua volcano's intensifying activity, Jorge Arteaga, director of Ecuador's Red Cross rescue squad, told Radio Quito on Monday.The 16,575-foot volcano, whose name means throat of fire in the Quechua language, shot a 1.2-mile plume of ash into the sky on Feb. 12.Santiago Arellano, a technician at Ecuador's Geophysics Institute, told The Associated Press that Tungurahua is registering its most intense activity since it erupted last August, killing four people and destroying or severely damaging nearly 5,000 homes.Arellano said Monday that an eruption is not imminent, but warned the volcano's activity could increase within hours. The volcano is located about 85 miles south of the capital of Quito.
Palestinian heads fail to agree on gov't By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer MAR 05,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A daylong gunbattle between rival Palestinian factions raged in the streets of Gaza City Monday as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh again failed to agree on the formation of a unity government. Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said there would be another meeting tomorrow, where the two men planned to discuss the crucial issue of who would be interior minister, controlling security forces.The two leaders are negotiating the basis of an accord hammered out last month in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, laying out the framework of a government bringing Abbas' Fatah into partnership with Haniyeh's Hamas.Abbas hopes that bringing his more moderate Fatah back into the government would placate the West, which cut off aid to the Palestinian regime when Hamas took over a year ago after winning an election. However, the West insists that any Palestinian government must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace accords. Hamas rejects the conditions, and the Mecca accord falls short of meeting them.
The U.S. State Department said Monday that full funding of a proposed $86 million in security assistance for the Palestinian Authority hinges on whether officials receive assurances that none of the funds can benefit Hamas.Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European countries and Israel.Haniyeh has another two weeks to present the unity government, according to Palestinian law. His original Hamas-led government resigned to allow formation of a Hamas-Fatah team. Abbas has said the main goal is to stop armed conflicts that have killed more than 130 Palestinians in recent months.On Monday, members of a Hamas militia engaged in a daytime gunbattle with Fatah-allied security officers in the worst outbreak of internal violence since the Mecca accord was signed, security officials said.The gunbattle broke out in Gaza City when Hamas and Fatah loyalists argued over who had control of a nearby training compound, they said.The security forces demanded the Hamas militiamen leave the area, but they refused, saying it fell under the control of the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, security officials said. There were no injuries.
In two other incidents, unknown assailants fired shots at the house and car of a senior security officer who has had past problems with Hamas, security officials said. Shots were also fired at a police headquarters, and police returned fire, the security officials said.Also, security officials said they believed hardline Muslims were behind the bombing of a music shop in the southern town of Khan Younis early Monday, following a similar attack on an Internet cafe on Sunday. Another Internet cafe owner was also briefly kidnapped. Nobody was injured in the attacks.While there were no claims of responsibility, security officials suspect extremist Muslims trying to enforce strict moral conduct were behind the attacks. Hardline Muslims have said youths download pornography from Internet sites, are distracted from prayer by music and buy condoms and hallucinogenic drugs from some pharmacies. Since October, at least 20 such shops have been targeted.
Poll: Americans More Pro Israel, More Polarized by Gil Ronen MAR 06,07
A solid majority of Americans (58%) say their sympathies lie with the Israelis and only 20% say their sympathies are more with the Arabs of the Palestinian Authority, according to Gallup's annual World Affairs survey. Americans' sympathy towards Israel is holding at the same levels as in 2005 and 2006.
A comparison between Gallup polls conducted in the 1990s and those conducted since 2000 shows that the average level of sympathy for Israelis has risen, long term, from 41% to 53%, while the average sympathy for the Arab side of the conflict rose from 13% to 16%. The question posed was simply, In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?
Gallup's experts explain the results as clearly showing that as Americans have moved out of the no preference columns (on the Israeli-Arab issue), they have moved disproportionately into the pro-Israeli column.Public preferences for Israelis in last year's February 2006 survey were at their highest since the 1991 Gulf War a survey that showed a slight dip in sympathies toward the Palestinian Authority. The recent shifts may be attributed to the events preceding them, namely Ariel Sharon's hospitalization and Hamas' election victory. The same general pattern is seen in a separate set of questions asking Americans to give their opinions of various countries. The total percentage of Americans viewing Israel favorably fell slightly between 2006 and 2007 - from 68% to 63% - while favorable views of Palestine, as the Palestinian Authority was presented in the poll, increased slightly, from 11% to 16%. However, between the two, Israel enjoys the much more positive image in the United States.
Americans are more pro-Israeli in their views today than they were 10 and 20 years ago, but, they are also more polarized generally. Today, a combined 78% of Americans favor one side or the other, while the remaining 22% express no partiality. Fourteen years ago, 43% of Americans had no preference in the dispute. BBC Releases Partial Information on Poll: Israel Deemed Very NegativeMeanwhile, a BBC World Service poll shows that a majority of people in 27 countries believes that Israel and Iran lead the list of countries seen as having a mainly negative influence in the world. The BBC staff did not disclose which countries were on the list and how many of them were Arab. The BBC admitted that Israel was most unpopular in Arab countries. Israel and Iran, each of which received a 56% negative rating in the BBC survey, are closely followed by the United States (51%) and North Korea (48%). The poll asked 28,000 respondents in 27 countries to rate a dozen countries, as well as the European Union, in terms of whether they have a positive or negative influence. Canada, Japan and the EU are viewed most positively in the survey.
Leftists to Build Illegal Arab Houses on State Land
16 Adar 5767, March 6, '07
(IsraelNN.com) Israeli leftists, together with foreign PLO supporters, plan to rebuild illegal Arab homes built on state-owned lands in the southern Hevron hills and plant trees on areas near the Gvaot Olam and Chavat Gilad (Gilad Farm) communities. The leftists have encouraged local Arabs to bring claims to the lands to sympathetic Israeli courts. When they obtain a court order, they plant trees or destroy Jewish crops, and when they are ruled against (as is the case in the Hevron Hills), they violently block the destruction and help the Arab illegally rebuild. An hour ago that the powers that be ruled in favor of a farmer from Hares. Twice last week we didn't succeed in planting on his lands next to the settlement of Revava, writes Rabbis For Human Rights rabbi-director Arik Ascherman. He went on to call upon activists to join Arabs from the Samaria village of Yanoun Wednesday in planting on land claimed by Gvaot Olam founder Avri Ran. Aschman, together with Ta'ayush, ISM, The Israeli Committee Against [Arab] House Demolitions, Gush Shalom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch, Yesh Gvul, Peace Now and Meretz (of Be’er Sheva) are calling upon leftists and foreign activists to prepare for a prolonged struggle in the Hevron Hills. Ascherman can be reached at: 050 560 7034.
Land Mines Lobbed Into Israel From Syria
by Gil Ronen MAR 06,07
Ten anti-personnel mines were discovered by an IDF patrol along the border with Syria in the Golan Heights on Saturday. The mines were not concealed or covered and IDF experts determined that they had been thrown over the border fence between Syria and Israel around midday Saturday. It is not clear who threw the mines into Israel or why. Syrian soldiers, terrorists and shepherds have been mentioned as the possible culprits. An IDF engineering unit was dispatched to neutralize the mines.
Israel planned to file an official complaint with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which is deployed in Syria to oversee the 33-year-old ceasefire with Israel. An unnamed IDF officer said Sunday that responsibility for the event rests with the Syrian government, even if it was a local initiative that did not get an official green light from Damascus. The Syrian military has moved military infrastructure, including fuel depots, closer to the border with Israel.Military sources revealed that the mines were actually Israeli mines that the IDF had planted east of the security fence, but still within Israeli territory. Ten of these mines were taken out of the ground and lobbed over the fence. Six were found on the dirt road used by IDF patrols, north of Golan Brook in the southern part of the Golan Heights.
One possibility being looked into is that the Resistance Committees for Freeing the Golan Heights were involved in the incident. This Syrian guerrilla organization announced its inception in the summer of 2006, and said it would use Syrian terrorists to wage a guerrilla war in the Golan. The group also claimed that it was holding Israeli soldier Guy Hever, who went missing in the Golan on August 17, 1997. The Jerusalem Post reported on Friday that Syria has spent the past few months moving infrastructures to its southern border - and constructing additional infrastructures there as well - for the purpose of launching a war against Israel. According to defense officials, the Syrian military has moved military infrastructure, including fuel depots, closer to the border with Israel, and the Syrians have built structures that could serve as weapons storage facilities and military bases. The Syrian army is restricted in the number of troops it is allowed to deploy along the border.
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