BABBIES CHIPED

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.

Small quake reported at Mount St. Helens Wed Jan 16, 10:18 PM ET

VANCOUVER, Wash. - Steam seeping from a fracture atop the lava dome in Mount St. Helens' crater and the mountain's first noteworthy seismic activity since 2004 have caught scientists' attention this week as signs that something is moving inside it.
While the likelihood of a major eruption seemed low, scientists have quit venturing into the volcano's crater and are checking the monitoring equipment along St. Helens' flanks.We're just being cautious. It's not that we're anticipating any activity, Cynthia A. Gardner, scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory, said Wednesday.Geologist John S. Pallister was flying over the volcano in southwestern Washington on Sunday when he spotted the steam.It was interesting enough to take some pictures, said Pallister, a private pilot who works in the hazards section of the volcano observatory.After landing, he learned that a magnitude-2.9 earthquake had registered on seismographs at an observatory in Vancouver. That was followed by a small tremor that lasted nearly an hour and a half, an unusually long period, punctuated by a second quake of magnitude 2.7 — all in the same period in which he saw the steam.

Tiltmeters also registered alternate ground swelling and deflation near the lava dome, which has been growing in the crater since fall 2004.All are typical signs that magma, superheated gases or both are moving through conduits beneath St. Helens, which blew its top with devastating force on May 18, 1980, leveling 230 square miles of forest and killing 57 people.The last noteworthy tremor at the volcano lasted 55 minutes on Oct. 2, 2004, and was much more powerful, registering on seismometers from Bend, Ore., to Bellingham and causing a hasty evacuation of the Johnston Ridge Observatory five miles north of the crater.No evacuations had been ordered by Wednesday, because the seismic activity had slowed down.

The precise cause of the recent activity was not entirely clear, Gardner said.The settling of the growing lava dome might have caused some fracturing and might have changed the subsurface openings so that water was either being squeezed out of openings or opening new areas, he said Tuesday.The last precise measurements, drawn from images in July, indicated the latest eruptive phase has pumped 123 million cubic yards of material into the crater. The rate has slowed considerably, but the episode Sunday showed that could change at any time, Pallister said.It's still got some surprises, he said.

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.

Rains lash some desert Gulf states as others shiver Wed Jan 16, 1:37 PM ET

DUBAI (AFP) - Rare torrential rains in the United Arab Emirates forced schools to close on Wednesday and created traffic nightmares in the desert country, while neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Kuwait shivered. Pupils received an unexpected day off in Dubai, and five other emirates in the seven-member UAE were also ordered by the education ministry to shut on Wednesday and Thursday because of unstable weather.Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate and federal capital, was excluded.The traffic chaos and frigid weather also led to a number of deaths around the region.

Under Water, blazoned a banner headline in the Dubai-based daily Gulf News over a picture of motorists and pedestrians braving rivers of rain water.Rain is a boon in the UAE and other Gulf oil-rich desert countries, but the downpour of the past few days has caused chaos on the streets, trapping drivers for hours, flooding main avenues and cutting off some roads.Hundreds of accidents were reported as vehicles skidded and nerves frayed.Within a few hours on Wednesday, Dubai police recorded 584 accidents that killed two people in the emirate, usually a destination for tourists seeking a sunny break from cold weather at home.Five people were killed and 1,307 accidents recorded on Tuesday amid forecasts of more rain, according to the Abu Dhabi-based daily Al-Ittihad.Heavy rains have also lashed tiny gas-rich Qatar for nearly a week as temperatures dropped to an unusually low seven degrees Celsius (45 Fahrenheit), and authorities reported 1,200 drainage operations.

In Bahrain, which had its lowest recorded temperature of 2.7 degrees Celsius (37 Fahrenheit) in 1964, the mercury dropped to between five and seven degrees Celsius over the past few days, but there were only scattered showers.In Kuwait, where temperatures soar to above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in July and August, the mercury dropped to sub-zero temperatures, but the state has had virtually no rain this winter.The temperature in the open desert dropped to minus three Celsius (27 Fahrenheit) at dawn on Wednesday for the second straight day, while passengers landing at Kuwait airport were greeted by minus one Celsius (30 Fahrenheit).According to Kuwait's meteorological department, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the open desert was minus four Celsius (25 Fahrenheit) in 1964. The cold spell was expected to continue until the weekend.Saudi Arabia, a vast country with an area of 2,240,350 square kilometres (865,000 square miles) covering most of the Arabian peninsula, has also been hit by a unprecedented cold spell.Kingdom finds itself in icebox, headlined the Saudi daily Arab News on Sunday as the capital Riyadh officially reached zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).Snow has fallen on some northern Saudi cities where at least two people died from the cold. One was an Asian worker, and the other an Egyptian who froze to death in his room on the farm where he worked, newspapers said.

Another Egyptian worker died from inhaling the fumes of a coal fire he lit in his room. Papers said King Abdullah ordered emergency relief supplies, including foodstuffs and blankets, to be distributed to needy citizens hit by the weather.

Northeast to see above or below norm temps JAN 17,08

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Northeast from upstate New York to Maine will have equal chances of above- or below-normal temperatures during February and in the 3-month February-April period, the National Weather Service predicted on Thursday. The mid-Atlantic states, the southern half of the United States and the Ohio Valley were forecast to have above-normal temperatures next month and through April by the agency.La Nina conditions are expected to have the greatest impact on U.S. temperature and precipitation in February relative to previous months and La Nina conditions in December appear at their strongest so far, the NWS said.The southern half of the U.S. will be drier than normal in February, while the Pacific Northwest and an area from the Ohio and Tennessee Valley northward into the Great Lakes region will have above-normal precipitation next month, the agency predicted.
(Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by John Picinich)

Snowy storm wallops central Nfld. for second day
Wed Jan 16, 11:12 AM

ST..JOHNS (CBC) - Schools along a lengthy stretch of Newfoundland's northeast coast remained closed for the second day in a row Wednesday.Thick, heavy snow forced closures for at least the morning between Springdale and New-Wes-Valley.The Newfoundland and Labrador transportation department said roads remained slippery on Wednesday morning. As well, many were snow-covered, and drivers were facing poor visibility in some areas because of drifting.The Trans-Canada Highway was reduced to one lane for part of Wednesday morning near the Hampton junction, after tractor-trailer trucks became caught in snowdrifts. The lanes were reopened after crews cleared the way.

Severe cold, snow claim 120 lives in Afghanistan
Wed Jan 16, 6:38 AM

KABUL (AFP) - Two weeks of heavy snowfalls, avalanches and severe cold in Afghanistan have killed 120 people and tens of thousands of domestic animals, government officials said Wednesday.Parts of northern Afghanistan are under 3.5 metres (11 feet) of snow with several roads blocked, cutting off scores of remote villages and districts that are home to thousands of people, the disaster management department said.In two weeks to Tuesday, 106 people were recorded dead and 134 wounded, it said. Nearly 30,000 animals were also killed and more than 50 districts cut off, it said in a statement.The hardest-hit province was Herat in the west, where 60 people were confirmed dead and 17 missing, it said.Authorities in the northwestern province of Faryab announced separately Wednesday that 14 people, including four children, had died in the severe cold.Up to 100,000 animals were also dead, the head of the provincial council, Sayed Farokh Jenab, told AFP. Six people were in hospital, he said.Afghanistan, where most people live in severe poverty, is a country of climatic contrasts: scorching, dry summers are replaced by bitter winters that claim scores of lives, with many killed in avalanches in the Hindu Kush mountains.

Peace Now Will Have to Publicize EU Contributions
by Hillel Fendel JAN 17,08

(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset has passed a law requiring the publication on the internet of all contributions from foreign countries to Israeli associations. The bill, proposed by MK Uri Ariel (National Union), stipulates that the foreign donations must be announced not only to the Non-Profit Associations Registrar, as has been the case until now, but also to the public at large, via the internet.The bill's final Knesset readings were approved on Wednesday.The bill is designed chiefly to fight Peace Now, a far-left Israel-based organization promoting Israeli retreat to pre-1967 borders and the end of all Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. Peace Now is largely funded by foreign governments in the European Union. The organization, which spends large sums of money to locate every new Israeli structure in Judea and Samaria, has effectively been on the payroll of at least three European governments, according to the Knesset Interior Committee, based on research by Israeli investigative reporter David Bedein.

In 2005, for instance, European Union countries funded Peace Now to the tune of 1.75 million shekels (some $400,000), and three times that amount in 2006. The biggest donors were Great Britain and Norway, which are opposed to the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria - thus that the money they give Peace Now essentially serves those governments' foreign policy interests. Given Peace Now's surveillance activities over Israeli communities and IDF military installations in Judea and Samaria, the organization is thus in effect spying on Israel for foreign governments, Bedein reported.The Knesset Interior Committee confirmed in 2004 that Peace Now had received 50,000 Euros from the government of Finland to conduct intelligence activities in Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, the Golan, Gaza and Jerusalem. The Israel Penal Code for Espionage defines photography of sensitive areas of Israel for any foreign power as an act of espionage, punishable by ten years imprisonment. It was reported last month that Peace Now was suspected of setting up a financial scam to mask the European sources of its funding. The Non-Profit Associations Registrar suspects that Peace Now used a non-profit organization called Sha'al, which supposedly dealt with educational matters, to receive and disburse millions of shekels over a period of many years.MK Ariel said that the streaming of tremendous sums of money from foreign nations to various political non-profit associations leads to foreign and hostile international intervention in Israeli affairs.MK Ariel's bill was originally designed to ban outright all foreign contributions to non-profit associations. However, after protracted negotiations with government representatives, the government agreed only to back a bill requiring full transparency of the contributions.

Stocks extend plunge; Dow falls 306 By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer Thu Jan 17, 6:14 PM ET

NEW YORK - Wall Street extended its 2008 plunge Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrials down 306 points and to their lowest level since last March after a regional Federal Reserve report showed a sharp and unexpected decline in manufacturing activity. Downgrades of key bond insurance companies added to the market's black mood, with investors fearing an escalation of months of credit market problems. The Dow lost nearly 2.5 percent, giving the index its worst three-day percentage decline since October 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500, the index closely watched by market professionals, fell nearly 3 percent Thursday. The Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite index have now given back all of the gains they achieved in 2007.Stocks opened higher but quickly gave up their gains after the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its survey of regional manufacturing activity registered a negative 20.9 from a revised reading of negative 1.6 in December. The latest number came in well short of what Wall Street had been expecting and underscored the seriousness of the economic worries that have gripped both Wall Street and Washington in recent weeks.Credit concerns also dogged Wall Street after rating agency Moody's Investors Service placed bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corp. on review for a possible downgrade. That possibility alarmed investors because it would place all bonds insured by Ambac on review as well. Wall Street are concerned that bond insurers would be unable to absorb a spike in claims.

Investors' fears of a slowing economy, the consequence of a months-long housing and credit market crisis, dominated trading, as they have since the start of the year.The Philadelphia Fed just announced dreadful numbers, said John O'Donoghue, co-head of equities at Cowen & Co. He said if you look back at Philadelphia Fed data for similar numbers, it takes you back to the 2001 to 2002 recession.It's not rocket science — the economy is slowing dramatically, and it's being reflected in economic reports.The Dow, which had been up more than 50 points early in the session, closed down 306.95, or 2.46 percent, at 12,159.21.The Dow is now off 8.33 percent for the year; there have been just 12 trading days so far in 2008, but the index's frequent triple-digit losses have now forced it to give back its 2007 gains. The Dow had its lowest close since it ended the March 16, 2007, session at 12,110.41.The Dow's decline also left it about 150 points above 12,000, a level it hasn't closed below since November 2006.The broader market indicators also plummeted. The S&P 500 index lost 39.95, or 2.91 percent, closing at 1,333.25, and leaving it was a year-to-date loss of 9.2 percent, while the Nasdaq dropped 47.69, or 1.99 percent, to 2,346.90, giving it a 2008 deficit of 11.51 percent.

Thursday brought the lowest close for the S&P 500 since October 2006and the worst for the Nasdaq since March of last year.Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to a heavy 5.41 billion shares compared with 5.25 billion traded Wednesday.Bond prices rose as stocks fell and anxious investors sought the safety of government-issued securities. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.63 percent from 3.68 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies.The Chicago Board Options Exchange's volatility index, known as the VIX, and often referred to as the fear index, jumped nearly 17 percent Thursday.Light, sweet crude fell 71 cents to settle at $90.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after Bernanke's prediction of slower economic growth this year. Slowing growth could dampen demand for oil.

The Philadelphia manufacturing reading caught Wall Street by surprise — igniting fears that the economy is slowing precipitously and that policymakers might be too late in contemplating aid.
Economists had expected the Philadelphia index would come in at a negative 1.5, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Instead, the negative 20.9 figure was the weakest since October 2001 when the economy was reeling from the shock of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Jim Herrick, manager of equity trading at Baird & Co., contends that the Philadelphia Fed reading and other recent negative economic reports indicate the economy is likely in a downturn. Other economic reports added to investors' glum mood. The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged 14 percent to 1.01 million in December, marking the weakest pace of home building in more than 16 years. In addition, permits to build new homes dropped 8 percent last month to 1.07 million, the lowest level since 1993.

The week's steady flow of news, much of which has dented investor sentiment, has led to a growing chorus of calls for the Fed to cut rates. The Fed's monetary policy committee will meet Jan. 29-30 and is widely expected to lower its Fed funds target from the current 4.25 percent level. Bernanke on Thursday reiterated recent signals that the central bank will reduce rates for a fourth straight time.
Some on Wall Street have called for the Fed to intervene sooner with steep rate cuts. The economic concerns come in a week in which some of Wall Street's biggest names have posted huge losses following bad bets on mortgage investments. Financial shares fell sharply Thursday after the reports have made clear that there is also increasing weakness in home equity and other consumer banking operations. Merrill Lynch & Co. on Thursday posted a massive loss that underscored the depth of the economy's credit problems. The world's largest brokerage said it lost $9.91 billion in the fourth quarter, hurt by big write-downs from investments and trades battered by tight credit conditions. John Thain, the new chief executive at Merrill, said he believes the red ink will constitute the bulk of the company's write-downs from its subprime mortgage exposure. But he would not speculate about what 2008 might hold in store in other areas. Earlier this week, Merrill secured a new round of capital infusions from foreign funds.

Merrill fell $5.64, or 10 percent, to $49.45.

Moody's announcement that it will review Ambac came after the insurer booked a $5.4 billion write-down on its credit derivative portfolio during the fourth quarter. Ambac plunged $6.73, or 52 percent, to $6.24, while Ambac rival MBIA Inc. fell $4.18, or 31 percent, to $9.22. First Horizon National Corp. fell $2.43, or 13 percent, to $16.48 after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its rating on the bank's long-term credit. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 19.34, or 2.76 percent, to 680.57. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 2.07 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 finished down 0.68 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.78 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 1.31 percent.
On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Iran president says Bush confrontational By SEBASTIAN ABBOT, Associated Press Writer JAN 17,08

CAIRO, Egypt - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that President Bush sent a message of confrontation during his recent Mideast trip. Bush spent much of his visit to the region, which he wrapped up on Wednesday, rallying support among Arab allies for a strong stance against Iran — calling the country the world's top sponsor of terrorism. President George Bush sent a message to the Iranian people and all the nations worldwide, said Ahmadinejad during an interview in Farsi with Al-Jazeera television. This message reflects his own conceptions and it is a message of rift, a message of sowing the seeds of division. It is a message of confrontation demeaning the dignity of mankind.The Iranian president said Bush's statements were made for domestic political reasons.They are in need of these statements for their presidential race, said Ahmadinejad. However, these statements increase the sentiment of resentment of the Iranian people against the U.S. officials.Ahmadinejad also lashed out at Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Mideast, saying the country was rapidly doomed to collapse.All these nations believe they (the Israelis) are a murderous group carrying arms and trying through threats to change their image, said Ahmadinejad.

Israel on Thursday successfully tested a new long-range missile, said senior defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the project. Israeli radio reports indicated the missiles are capable of being armed with nuclear warheads.Ahmadinejad dismissed the missile test, saying Israel lacks the courage to launch any attack against the Iranian state.

They are aware that any attempt or strike will be confronted by a very strong response, added the Iranian president.Tensions between Iran and both Israel and the U.S. have remained high over Tehran's controversial nuclear activities. The U.S. and Israel claim Iran's program could be a pathway to nuclear weapons development, but Tehran insists its intentions are peaceful.They would like to deceive our people alleging that the nuclear capability would amount to a nuclear weapon, said Ahmadinejad on Thursday.U.S. attempts to keep up international pressure against Iran were complicated by a December intelligence report saying Iran suspended its weapons development program in 2003 and has not restarted it.
Bush used his first major Mideast trip to stress to Arab allies that Iran's continued uranium enrichment — a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb — still posed a threat to the region.The U.N. Security Council has passed two sets of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend enrichment. Germany and the five permanent Security Council members plan to meet Tuesday in Berlin for talks that diplomats say will include attempts to finalize a third set of sanctions.

Ahmadinejad said the U.N. Security Council had no legal justification for focusing on Iran's nuclear program, claiming their sanctions were based on false information.If we pay close attention today, it is opportune time for the U.N. Security Council to rectify their false statements, he said.The Iranian president said his country's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency meant that the IAEA should be the only U.N. body with jurisdiction over the nuclear issue.In November, an IAEA report said Iran had been generally truthful about key aspects of its nuclear history, but warned that its knowledge of Tehran's present nuclear work was shrinking.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER
Hospitals tagging babies with electronic chips
Privacy advocates protest as half of Ohio birthing centers turn to tracking technology January 15, 2008 By Jerome R. Corsi
2008 WorldNetDaily.com

Over half the birthing facilities in Ohio are being equipped with an RFID infant protection system placed on infants at birth to prevent them from being abducted from the hospital or from being given to the wrong mother. Standard protocol in the hospitals using the VeriChip system is that the baby receives an RFID anklet at birth and the mother receives a matching wristband, VeriChip spokeswoman Allison Tomek told WND. The mothers are not asked.

VeriChip Corp., a publicly listed company headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., is marketing though its wholly-owned subsidiary, Xmark, a HUGS brand tag-and-bracelet infant security system. The RFID tag is attached to an infant at birth by an ankle bracelet that is detected by monitors positioned throughout the hospital.
Critics charge the VeriChip system is an intrusive technology solution to a problem that is rare. The VeriChip infant security system is a technology looking for a solution, said Katherine Albrecht, founder and director of CASPIAN, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering. Baby snatching from hospital facilities is a diaper full of nonsense, Albrecht told WND. She cited a January 2003 report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concluding that of approximately 4.2 million births per year at 3,500 birthing centers in the U.S., abductions by non-family members are estimated at between zero and 12 per year. Of those, the mother is re-united with the child 95 percent of the time. Ironically, relying on RFID technology could end up making a rare occurrence more likely, Albrecht said. Once hospital staffers rely on computer systems to track the human inventory in their care, they become less vigilant.

Albrecht is co-author along with Liz McIntyre of Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Purchase and Watch Your Every Move.The HUGS system can detect if the RFID tag is lifted from the baby's skin, if the ankle strap broken or if the baby's RFID tag and the mother's don't match. If a newborn is removed from the ward without authorization or a baby is placed with the wrong mother, the system triggers an alarm that can cause hospital entrances and exits to lock shut. The infant abductions that do occur tend to happen in larger, more impersonal hospitals, Albrecht emphasized. We actually investigated an abduction that involved a baby who was wearing an RFID ankle bracelet at the time of the abduction, Albrecht said. What happened was a woman dressed up in hospital scrubs. Even though the other staffers in the maternity ward did not recognize this woman, nobody reported her, because they thought the RFID system would take care of any problem.The woman figured out how to turn the RFID system off, Albrecht said, 'and she just walked right out of the hospital carrying the baby, without anybody stopping her.

VeriChip objects, claiming its RFID anklet-and-bracelet infant security system has prevented baby abductions. Spokeswoman Tomek, however, declined to cite specific proof, claiming privacy issues and the need to keep hospital security procedures confidential.
The VeriChip RFID anklets and bracelets are removed by the birthing facility when the mothers and babies are released. HUGS system RFID anklets and bracelets are not equipped with GPS technology. VeriChip also produces a human implantable RFID chip that is marketed in the health care area for chronic diseases, including diabetes or stroke, or memory impairment illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease. The only viable part of the VeriChip market right now is this infant security system, Albrecht told WND. People in the United States don't want the human implantable RFID chips VeriChip thought was going to be the core of their business.Albrecht said VeriChip hopes eventually there will be a mandatory program such as the UK has for implanting RFID chips in prisoners.The VeriChip human implantable RFID chip was cleared for medical use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration in October 2004. VeriChip currently has a market capitalization of about $20 million and 2006 sales of more than $27 million. VeriChip stock closed yesterday at $2.02 a share.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

New bird deaths reported in east India By MANIK BANERJEE, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 17, 2:28 AM ET

CALCUTTA, India - Health officials Thursday investigated new bird deaths in eastern India to check whether bird flu was spreading to additional areas despite a poultry cull aimed at curbing the disease. Hundreds of bird deaths were reported in four new districts of West Bengal state on Wednesday after an outbreak of bird flu killed more than 54,000 birds in nearby Birbhum and Dinajpur districts, said Anisur Rahman, state minister of animal husbandry.Rahman said the symptoms in the new deaths, which all occurred in areas close to each other, suggested they were not caused by bird flu, but by a virus locally known as Ranikhet — a contagious and fatal disease affecting all species of birds but with no record of attacking humans.But we are not taking chances and have sent samples to laboratories for testing for bird flu, he told The Associated Press.The new areas under watch are in Nadia, Murshidabad, Burdwan and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal state, Rahman said.

The culling of chickens started on Wednesday, a day after the federal government confirmed that the birds in two West Bengal districts were infected with the H5 strain of bird flu, and tests were under way to determine whether it was the virulent H5N1 subtype.No human deaths or unusual illnesses have been reported in the region, Rahman said Thursday.About 400,000 chickens were being slaughtered the affected areas. Health workers were also going door-to-door in the areas looking for people with high fevers or breathing trouble.An outbreak of the H5N1 virus hit western India in 2006, but India declared the country bird flu-free after slaughtering hundreds of thousands of chickens. No human cases were reported. A smaller outbreak in northeastern India was contained last year.The H5N1 virus has afflicted more than 60 countries, forcing the slaughter of hundreds of millions of birds since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003.

It is now entrenched in several countries, including Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria, and has killed at least 206 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.The virus remains hard for people to catch, but experts fear it may mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic. So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds.

EVIL INVENTIONS ARE PREDICTED IN THE BIBLE.

ROMANS 1:29-32
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Scientists make human embryo clones By MALCOLM RITTER, AP JAN 17,08

NEW YORK - Scientists in California say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men, a potential step toward developing scientifically valuable stem cells. The new report documents embryos made with ordinary skin cells. But it's not the first time human cloned embryos have been made. In 2005, for example, scientists in Britain reported using embryonic stem cells to produce a cloned embryo. It matured enough to produce stem cells, but none were extracted.Stem cells weren't produced by the new embryos either, and because of that, experts reacted coolly to the research.I found it difficult to determine what was substantially new, said Doug Melton of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He said the next big advance will be to create a human embryonic stem cell line from cloned embryos. This has yet to be achieved.Dr. George Daley of the Harvard institute and Children's Hospital Boston called the new report interesting but agreed that the real splash will be when somebody creates stem cell lines from cloned human embryos.It's only a matter of time before some group succeeds, Daley said.Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk claimed a few years ago that he'd created such cell lines, but that turned out to be a fraud.

Dr. Samuel Wood, a co-author of the new paper and chief executive of Stemagen Corp. of La Jolla, Calif., said he and his colleagues are now attempting to produce stem cell lines from the embryos.
The work was published online Thursday by the journal Stem Cells.
Scientists say stem cells from cloned embryos could provide a valuable tool for studying diseases, screening drugs and, perhaps someday, creating transplant material to treat conditions like diabetes and Parkinson's disease.But critics raise objections. The process involves creating human lives in the laboratory solely to destroy them for alleged benefit to others, said Richard Doerflinger, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Citing the earlier work in Britain, he also said that as a scientific advancement, the new work was very limited.Other objections to cloning include concerns about health risks and exploitation if large numbers of women are asked to provide eggs.
Those objections are one reason that an alternative route to stem cells made headlines last November. Scientists reported a relatively simple way to turn skin cells directly into stem cells. This direct reprogramming carries a theoretical risk of cancer for the recipients of tissue from these cells, however, and many scientists have urged that work continue on the cloning technique as well.The cloning approach involves inserting DNA from a person into an egg, and then growing the egg into an embryo about five days old before extracting the stem cells. At that stage, the embryo is a sphere of about 150 cells.In the new work, researchers took skin cells from Wood and another volunteer and produced three embryos with DNA matching the men's. Further DNA testing on one of these embryos strengthened the case that it was a clone, researchers said.

MEPs rage at choice of religious visits to the parliament
15.01.2008 - 17:55 CET | By Teresa Küchler

The visit of an Islamic cleric to the European Parliament has sparked outrage among MEPs questioning the presence of religious figures in the strictly political forum, as well as the complete absence of women on the guest list for future debates on religion in the EU. Syria's grand mufti, the country's top religious authority, Sheik Ahmad Bader Hassoun, on Tuesday (14 January) was the first of a series of religious and state leaders to address MEPs in the context of the newly launched European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The aim of the programme is to create closer links between European cultures, languages, ethnic groups and religions. In his speech, the Syrian cleric rejected the notion of a clash of civilizations between the West and the Islamic world, saying the real clash was between culture and ignorance, terrorism and backwardness.

Intercultural dialogue should be open and open-ended and based on mutual respect, Mr Hassoun said. Speaking directly to journalists, the sheik accused the media of being responsible for unleashing a conflict over Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed two years ago. He said he disapproved of the drawings and condemned what he called disrespect for any sacred personality, be it the Prophet Mohammed or Buddha.We have to respect the various cultures and not abuse the freedom of expression, the cleric said.EP President Hans-Gert Pottering described the mufti as an advocate of an open and free society, and called for his help in building cultural bridges across the Mediterranean Sea.

But where are the women?

The European Parliament's draft guest list of speakers to the debates on religion, put together by the leaders of the seven political groups represented in the house, has caused outrage among MEPs, as not a single woman is to be found on the list. So far, the list contains major religious figures such as pope Benedict XVI, the Dalai Lama and British chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks. The EP is also expected to invite the current president of the African Union, John Kufuor, UN Secretary General Ban Ki -Moon, Israeli President Shimon Perez and the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Dutch Liberal MEP Sophie in 't Veld asked why in approving the list as part of the Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the group leaders had interpreted this exclusively as being an inter-religious monologue. Could the list not be widened to include women and non-religious representatives? Ms in 't Veld asked. Reasoning along the same line, Swedish Green MEP Carl Schlyter told Euobserver: It is absolutely scandalous that the European Parliament invites eight old men to discuss these topics, and not a single woman.

Other MEPs objected to bringing in religious leaders into European politics at all. The parliament's Party Working Group on the Separation of Religion and Politics in a letter to Hans-Gert Pottering last year wrote: It is unbecoming for any of the EU institutions to provide an exclusive platform to any particular grouping, including religions, in particular as the majority of European citizens are not religious or no longer practice their religion.Thus millions of individual citizens do not have a voice in the dialogue, the letter concluded. Christians around Europe are increasingly led in worship by female priests, pastors and bishops, and according to a recent Eurobarometer survey, some 48 percent of European citizens claim to be non-confessional.

Replying to the criticism, the parliament's president, Hans-Gert Pottering, pointed out that the list of speakers had been approved by a majority of the Conference of Presidents, but that it was not final.With goodwill, the EP will be able to produce as balanced a list as possible, he said.

Grand Mufti of Syria Threatens Europeans at EU Parliament, EU Media Silent From the desk of Fjordman on Wed, 2008-01-16 23:33

This information was brought to my attention by the blog Snaphanen. As a part of the deliberate merger of Europe and the Islamic world that is the policy of the European Union at the highest levels, yet almost never debated in European media, 2008 will be a Year of Intercultural Dialogue, which means that Europeans will be bombarded with propaganda about how good it will be to submit to Islamic rule, and some veiled threats about what happens if we don't. The visiting Grand Mufti of Syria threatened Europeans over the misuse of free speech to criticize Islam. This has been carefully left out of the official EU reports from his speech at the EU Parliament. One of the EU Commissioners, or unelected pan-European Ministers, addressed the European press a while ago, hoping that they would participate in this brainwashing of the public. Not in those exact words, of course, but the journalists got the message, and disturbingly enough didn't seem to protest. This is the hallmark of a totalitarian state, where the authorities instruct the press on what to write and which ideologies to broadcast. That is what the EUSSR is rapidly becoming, as former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky has warned.

Perhaps the most shameful aspect of the history of Eurabia is how the supposedly critical media has allowed itself to be corrupted or deceived by the Eurabians. Most of the documents about the Euro-Arab Dialogue place particular emphasis on working with the media, and the Eurabians have played the European media like a Stradivarius. A conference on Racism, Xenophobia and the Media in Vienna in May 2006 was coordinated by the EU. By the end of 2006, the network of media practitioners involved in the Euro-Arab Dialogue had grown to over 500 (pdf). These included people, media and organizations from all 37 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership. European and Arab journalists produced dozens of recommendations on how to enhance their cooperation and promote mutual understanding between their cultures and religions in the media.Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy (read: Eurabian affairs), addressed the assembly of journalists. According to her, we do not believe the media should be regulated from outside, but rather that you find ways to regulate yourselves. [...] 2008 is the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, and I am determined that by then we will have made significant improvements in the level of mutual respect and understanding our communities have for one another. In the months and years to come we must reach beyond the elites to the man and woman on the street. That is a vital part of the fight against racism and xenophobia. And you will be the key to achieving that.

This document is available on the Internet, but I doubt most Europeans have heard about it. Ferrero-Waldner also stated that Freedom of expression is not the freedom to insult or offend. Hate speech is always abhorrent. The EU has in numerous agreements with Muslim countries made it clear that Islamophobia is a form of racism and hate speech.The EU is now practicing this media censorship. According to Dutch blogger Klein Verzet, the Grand Mufti of Syria threatened Holland: Should it come to riots, bloodshed and violence after broadcasting the Quran movie by PVV-leader Geert Wilders, then Wilders will be responsible. This was said by the Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, Tuesday in the European Parliament, where he gave a speech at the invitation of the fraction presidents. If Wilders tears up or burn a Quran in his film 'this will simply mean he is inciting wars and bloodshed. And he will be responsible', according to the Grand Mufti. Al Hassoun thinks it is 'the responsibility of the Dutch people to stop Wilders'.If you read the official texts by the EU media, this threat has been totally removed. Euractiv.com, a website subsidized by the EU, reports today:

No 'conflict of cultures', Islamic leader tells EU Parliament

The Grand Mufti of Syria yesterday told MEPs that he did not believe in the conflict of cultures because we are all building one culture, becoming the first religious leader to address the Parliament during the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. A series of eminent religious and cultural leaders are set to address the plenary session of the European Parliament on the subject of intercultural dialogue throughout 2008. The Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, yesterday (15 January) told Parliament's Strasbourg plenary that perceived clashes of culture were instead conflicts of ignorance, terrorism and backwardness.

He stressed that although religion gave culture its moral values, it is we who build civilisation, arguing that we must create states on a civil basis rather than a religious one. Moreover, he said there was no such thing as a holy war. Meanwhile, around 400 Muslim groups signed a charter last week (10 January) outlining their rights and responsibilities in European society. The charter contains 26 points, among which are clauses aimed at dispelling myths surrounding the link between Islam and violence and clarifying the term jihad.In a separate development, a UN project designed to combat terrorism by promoting cross-cultural understanding, particularly between the West and the Islamic world, began its first forum yesterday in Madrid. The Alliance of Civilisations initiative, co-sponsored by Turkey and adopted by the UN in 2005, was proposed by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in the wake of the Madrid bombings in 2004.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was brought to power by the Islamic terror attacks in Madrid in 2004 and has been appeasing Muslims through his Alliance of Civilizations idea ever since. He has pledged to drum up EU support for building an undersea tunnel physically connecting Spain and Morocco, and thus Europe and Muslim North Africa. Zapatero claims this project will change Africa and Europe. He's certainly right about that.Yesterday, the EU Commission’s website for intercultural dialogue wrote:

Grand Mufti of Syria: a single culture unites us all

In a speech to MEPs on Tuesday on the subject of intercultural dialogue, the Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, stressed the value of culture as a unifying rather than a dividing force. Dr Hassoun was addressing a formal sitting of Parliament as the first speaker in a series of visits by eminent religious and cultural leaders in 2008, which has been designated European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Opening his address, the Grand Mufti stressed that there is one single culture in the world, the culture of humankind. Indeed, he said, we are all building one culture, so I do not believe in the conflict of cultures. Closing his speech, Dr Hassoun praised Europe today as embodying a miracle in overcoming two world wars and bringing down the Berlin wall without bloodshed. Seeing the European Parliament as a model, he called on the EP to help us build a universal parliament. And since Damascus is this year the Cultural Capital of the Arab World, he asked the EP, as a practical gesture, to hold a meeting there to show that the world is one.In his introductory speech, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering said peaceful coexistence between cultures and religions, both in the European Union and in relations with peoples in all parts of the world, in particular on the other side of the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, is both possible and essential. He added we must build an intellectual and cultural bridge across the Mediterranean, one founded on mutual enrichment and shared values.In 2006, the above mentioned German Christian Democrat Hans-Gert Pöttering stated that European school textbooks should be reviewed for intolerant depictions of Islam to ensure they don't propagate prejudice. He suggested that the EU could co-operate with the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference to create a textbook review committee. Islamic countries are thus supposed to decide what is taught about Islam throughout the European Union. One would assume that prejudice against Islam will include any mention of almost 1400 years of continuous Jihad warfare on several continents, including Europe. This confirms my view that the only way to save Europe now, or even parts of it, is to totally dismantle the entire European Union.

Jan 17, 2008 15:21 First Temple seal found in Jerusalem
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS JURUSALEM POST

A stone seal bearing the name of one of the families who acted as servants in the First Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said Wednesday. The 2,500-year-old black stone seal, which has the name Temech engraved on it, was found earlier this week amid stratified debris in the excavation under way just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig. According to the Book of Nehemiah, the Temech family were servants of the First Temple and were sent into exile to Babylon following its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The family was among those who later returned to Jerusalem, the Bible recounts. A crescent moon, the symbol of the chief Babylonian god Sin, appears on the top of the altar. Under this scene are three Hebrew letters spelling Temech, Mazar said.

The Bible refers to the Temech family: These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city. [Nehemiah 7:6]... The Nethinim [7:46]... The children of Temech. [7:55]. The fact that this cultic scene relates to the Babylonian chief god seemed not to have disturbed the Jews who used it on their own seal, she added. The seal of one of the members of the Temech family was discovered just dozens of meters away from the Opel area, where the servants of the Temple, or Nethinim, lived in the time of Nehemiah, Mazar said. The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible, she said. One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find.The find will be announced by Mazar at the 8th annual Herzliya Conference on Sunday.

The archeologist, who rose to international prominence for her recent excavation that may have uncovered King David's palace, most recently uncovered the remnants of a wall from Nehemiah. The dig is being sponsored by the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem research institute where Mazar serves as a senior fellow, and the City of David Foundation, which promotes Jewish settlement throughout east Jerusalem.

Orthodox priest who is on WCC governing body to head new US grouping JAN 15,08Chris Herlinger

New York (ENI). The Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, director of external affairs and interchurch relations of the Orthodox Church in America, has been named moderator of Christian Churches Together, a grouping of US Christians that was launched in 2006. At an 8 to 11 January meeting held near Baltimore, Maryland, the church alliance said it was continuing to explore the convergences and divergences of the participant churches and organizations regarding poverty.Richard Hamm, the grouping’s new executive administrator, said in a statement it would press the new US president-elect (in late 2008 and early 2009) to make the elimination of domestic poverty a part of his or her administration's goals.

The appointment of Kishkovsky, who is also a moderator of Religions for Peace, a multi-religious coalition, and who serves on the main governing body of the World Council of Churches, its central committee, came as the church alliance officially commissioned Hamm as its executive administrator. Christian Churches Together is the only grouping that includes the five most prominent Christian traditions in the United States: Roman Catholic, mainline or historic Protestant,evangelical/Pentecostal, Orthodox, and predominately non-white churches. Kishkovsky succeeds Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, the general secretary of the Reformed Church in America, who helped oversee the creation of the alliance, beginning with talks among US church leaders in 2001. The group was formally launched in 2006. Hamm previously served as general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the US and Canada. There are now 43 denominations or church-related bodies in the grouping, and among the seven that joined at the Baltimore meeting were the American Bible Society, the humanitarian organization Habitat for Humanity and two churches rooted in the peace tradition, the Church of the Brethren and the Mennonite Church.

Rightwingers quit, weakening Olmert majority
Rory McCarthy in Gaza City Thursday January 17, 2008
The Guardian

A rightwing party walked out of the ruling Israeli coalition yesterday in protest at a new effort to start peace talks with the Palestinians.The departure of the hawkish Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party was widely predicted but leaves the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, with a weakened majority. Lieberman, an immigrant from Russia who lives in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, warned that he would resign from the cabinet if Olmert began to negotiate on core issues with Palestinian leaders.Negotiations on the basis of land for peace are a critical mistake ...and will destroy us, Lieberman said yesterday. If we pull back to the 1967 borders, everyone should ask himself, what will happen the following day? ...Nothing will change.Olmert brought him into the government in late 2006 to shore up his coalition after Yisrael Beiteinu emerged as the best performing rightwing party in elections that year.Yesterday Israeli forces killed three Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including a boy aged 12, and shot dead a militant from Islamic Jihad in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian militants fired more than 20 makeshift rockets and mortars into southern Israel.

Feiglin Congratulates Lieberman on Leaving Coalition Now Shas Must Leave January 16, 2008...

Moshe Feiglin congratulated Avigdor Lieberman on his party's resignation from the Olmert government. It is not clear why Lieberman joined the Olmert government in the first place,” he commented. We can only hope that his resignation will be a first step toward rectifying the damage that his participation in the government has caused. From now on, the responsibility for the division of Jerusalem lays squarely on the shoulders of the Shas party.Manhigut Yehudit officials point out that Shas has stated its goals as returning the crown of the Torah to its former glory, and repairing the alleged continued economic and social discrimination against the Sephardic population of Israel . However, by remaining in the Olmert government they are negating these goals and thereby negating their reason to exist as a political party.The Torah clearly delineates the borders of the Land of Israel. The sand and soil of Judea , Samaria and Hebron have holiness as does the sand and soil in Jerusalem. Not only is it negating a biblical commandment to disregard it - as Shas does - but it is also negating a biblical commandment to disregard Jewish brothers and sisters in all parts of the Land.

Just as Jonathon Pollard has stated that he does not want to be released at the expense of releasing enemy prisoners who would most likely attempt to kill Jews again, Manhigut Yehudit is certain that there is not one Sephardic family in Israel that would want one penny of government assistance at the expense of a Jewish life in Israel .The Oslo process has cost in Jewish blood - over 1,500 dead Jews and thousands maimed. It is not permitted in Jewish law to have a Mitzvah haba v'avera (a Mitzvah that comes from a sin).While upholding the crown of Torah one should not allow for Chillul Hashem (the desecration of G-d's name). It is a Chillul Hashem that the Arabs and the entire world see clearly and understand that the Jews know that giving away Jewish land only brings about the spilling of more Jewish blood, and yet Israel continues to do just this. It has been widely reported that United Torah Judaism is considering replacing Lieberman in the coalition. The same principles why Shas should leave this government immediately should keep United Torah Judaism from joining Olmert, as they are also a Torah-based party.According to Arutz 7, Avigdor Lieberman stated the land-for-peace formula that has governed Israeli negotiations for nearly 20 years has been a dramatic failure, and stressed that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria have nothing to do with the Arab world's ongoing rejection of Israel as a Jewish country. There was terrorism, there was also a conflict before 1967 [when Israel liberated Judea and Samaria ], and before 1948 [the establishment of the State of Israel]. Anyone who chooses to ignore that fact brings destruction to the Jewish state, he said.Manhigut Yehudit congratulates Lieberman on finally following his own advice.

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Mid-Week Guest Comment: A Serious Word From Jerusalem - Pastor David Decker

I definately was not intending to send another Mid Week Comment so soon, but I just received this and it extremely good.
God bless you ...... David

Shalom dear praying friends:

It has been sad and also very disturbing that our dear deceived President Bush is the first United States president who has ever so clearly and with such determination and vigor articulated all this nonsense .... and right here in the very Holy Land !! it is all a matter now of public record.

Bush declared here this week that Biblical Judea and Samaria, Israel's Biblical patrimony, as declared by the Holy One of Israel in His own immutable Word, is now the rightful Palestinian national homeland !! He asked Israel to end the supposedly unlawful occupation of its own Biblical patrimony ! But unlawful based on whose law ?? Certainly not God's law.!! It seems clear that our dear president has stopped reading God's law and God's book now, at least when it comes to this very vital matter..... Instead he foolishly, eagerly and with both two hands, has now picked up for himself and by proxy for all of the USA, the fateful cup of reeling and trembling, so clearly described in Zech 12:2-3. for privately, according to media reports, he has also been calling for Israeli leaders to make painful concessions when it comes to the Holy city.

That is all code language planning to divide up Jerusalem !! And he aims to be back here in May just to make sure that Israel has started to carry through on such things !! the month of May 60th birthday !! Supposedly to be a time of joyfully celebrating the miracle of modern Zionism !! At least half the people here almost certainly wish he would just stay home next time !! I am sorry, but with friends like this does Israel really need outright enemies ?? Ask the average person here on the street !!

Meanwhile in Bethlehem, he declared how happy he was to be there in Palestine !! And at dinner in Jerusalem he openly urged Olmert's wavering coalition partners in the Shas party and in the Israel Beitenu parties to please not leave Olmert's government because, he said , we ( ie. the United States ???) need this strong leader (strong leader ??? Olmert ?? I think Olmert must have looked around the room at that point to see who he was speaking about !! ) to keep this vital process going!! Vital for who ??

With such blatant meddling in Israeli politics, it makes us wonder what goes on behind the scenes ?? !! How awful !! These coalition partners are correctly and righteously considering to pull out of Olmert's coalition because they see where all this is headed !! ie. God is telling them, it seems, to do one thing, while President Bush, clearly and openly, is telling them to do the opposite thing that they really should be doing !! dear Lord, dear Lord.....

And he seems absolutely determined now to carry forth this bold new deception of his all on his own!! Bush now has made all this his personal business, more, much more than ever Carter or Clinton or any misguided leader from the Democratic party ever dared to do, until now, in all of American history !! Yes, it is George W. Bush , Republican of Texas, and weak Christian brother in the Lord, who has made this now personal new obsession of his into the major new and declared American foreign policy, when it comes to the Holy Land !! Ouch !!

Meanwhile our current feckless Israeli leadership under the Chamberlain -like Olmert are being all compliant, and fawning, acting absolutely obsequious toward Bush. It has been a disgusting display of cowardice . Bibi Netanyahu, an often double minded politician himself, at least had the nerve to call Olmert and the whole gang a bunch of spineless sychophants !! And this time Bibi was right !! Is Olmert a patriotic Israeli Jewish Zionist leader or just the compliant and wimpering puppy dog now of both Rice and Bush ??

Remember also, this is not just Condi Rice anymore folks, no, we are now past that... nor is this just another assault on Zionism coming from foggy bottom, just from the State Department !! No dear friends, warning !! this is now the president of the USA, and our Christian brother in the Lord, who is leading the global charge for the whole world, as it would seem, against Israel and against the Holy Land !! So I for one, as an American Christian Zionist take this all to be a very serious matter !!

Bush is also being very double minded....since while here he did also declare that the future shrunken down version of Israel that he envisions, what is to be left of Israel, after all these concesions to Abbas and his terrorist friends have been made, is the rightful Jewish homeland !! Thanks but no thanks !!

God's version of what is the rightful Jewish homeland just happens to be several times bigger mister president ! Pease, no more favors No, Israel for once and at last needs to and must put it's trust only and forever in the Living God, not in Olmert and his cronies, and not in Uncle Sam either !!

On Thursday morning, Jan. the 10th we had a rare dense fog and drizzle settle over Jerusalem which grounded the presidents helicopters. Praise the Lord !! That was so interesting ! Rare pea soup fog all over the Holy city !! I believe it was the Lord mercifully giving the administration a way out, so that Bush could have cancelled the trip planned that morning over to Ramallah to meet there with Abbas and make yet more evil and misguided public declarations while standing at his side !! He could have, but he didn't !! instead, apparently, Bush made an executive decision, against security concerns, to go to Ramallah by car instead !! This was a sad last minute change in all the careful security plan !!

So brother Bush, a weak Christian, who nevertheless is our brother in the Lord, has become so head strong now, and so fixed on this wrong path....that a record breaking , for Israel, 45 car presidential motorcade was hastily assembled in order to keep this evil appointment in Ramallah and get him there on time !!. Later he joked about it on TV...... and quite arrogantly too....which personally made me just shudder...

Yes, it has all been rather scary to watch........a freak mid winter Tornado outbreak in the USA, a once in 50 year probability, on jan. the 8th, the day bush leaves Dc on his misguided mission to Israel , and come on !! one of the tornados rips through an obscure town in Arkansas called Jerusalem !! Destroying the main church in the town, knocking over tombstones in the church cemetary, killing one person there locally and making world news via CNN and the internet. Now I am afraid, and I hope and pray I am wrong, seriously, I do, that all this is just a small prequel and sign of what may be coming...

Say what you wish, but the Lord God of Israel, is not pleased with the current direction of this president !! a at least not when it comes to his new policy for Israel !! I challenge anyone, Biblically, to prove so otherwise !!

Media reports here in Israel say that Bush is now going to make a 30 billion USD arms deal with Saudi Arabia on this same trip, right now !! So the USA is actively and brazenly arming the sworn enemies of Israel while weakening Israel herself , all on the same trip !! dear dear Lord...

This is a very duplicitous strategy for a supposed friend of Israel....my conclusion friends ??

President Bush is not a real friend of Israel !! Although once he was deemed to be, not so any more. no, not the way he is behaving !! That arms deal is being made, of course, to also bolster the faltering United States economy. But friends, this is utter foolishness, for the Lord can wipe out any such gains in about one second of judgement, or in one hour of stock market losses. If he would so choose please spare us from your wrath oh Lord !! And in wrath please remember mercy ! Habakkuk 3.2 .

Please please have mercy dear Lord...we need to be praying as never before, especially for America !!

Meanwhile, poor Israel since the departure of Bush on Friday the 11th, has been hit by a nasty cold wave from Siberia !! Same cold wave that brought a once in a lifetime snowfall over in Baghdad Iraq yesterday !!

Already we have been in the grips here of one of 5 worst winter droughts so far in modern Israeli history, since 1948, and now we are expecting wide spread killing frosts, every night, night after night, through at least Monday....this cold wave is impacting all the country and could take a heavy toll on local agriculture. Here in Israel ...below zero celsius temperatures, ie. under 32 degrees fahrenheit ,for many hours, has just hit the Valley of Megiddo today, on Shabbat morning, especially near Afula...with probably some heavy killing frosts in that prime agricultural area....

Lord have mercy...cold and dry......but with low humidity, so it has turned clear and cold now, after all the unusual heavy fog has lifted and yet there is still no significant precipitation anywhere on the horizon. we are still praying here against this pernicious drought, please join us !! The visibility however now is excellent, with such an extremely clear and crisp air mass presently over us!!

Oh that the Mighty One of Israel would please now open our spiritual eyes, the eyes of all of us, beginning please lord with me, to see things as he sees them, just that clearly !!

Much in prayer in shivery cold, clear and dry Jerusalem....

by His love and truth,
Pastor/meteorologist
David Decker
Jerusalem, Israel

David & Josie Silver
Out of Zion Ministeries
www.out-of-zion.com