CONCERN OVER PAKISTAN MISSLE TEST

DAY 2 PASSOVER IN ISRAEL TODAY AT 6PM.

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.

Scientists say Midwest quakes poorly understood By DAVID MERCER, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 19, 9:56 AM ET

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Scientists say they know far too little about Midwestern seismic zones like the one that rumbled to life under southern Illinois Friday morning, but some of what they do know is unnerving. The fault zones beneath the Mississippi River Valley have produced some of the largest modern U.S. quakes east of the Rockies, a region covered with old buildings not built to withstand seismic activity.And, when quakes happen, they're felt far and wide, their vibrations propagated over hundreds of miles of bedrock.

Friday's quake shook things up from Nebraska to Atlanta, rattling nerves but doing little damage and seriously hurting no one. It was a magnitude 5.2 temblor centered just outside West Salem in southeastern Illinois, a largely rural region of small towns that sit over the Wabash fault zone. The area has produced moderately strong quakes as recently as 2002.But it hasn't been studied to nearly the degree of quake-prone areas west of the Rockies, particularly along the heavily scrutinized Pacific coast.We don't have as many opportunities as in California, said Genda Chen, associate professor of engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla, which sits near the well-known and very active New Madrid fault zone.We cannot even borrow on the knowledge they learn on the West Coast because quakes that happen in California — where tectonic plates beneath the Earth's surface collide — are so different from Midwestern quakes that happen far away from the edges of the nearest plates.

It isn't entirely clear, for instance, whether the Wabash faults are related to the New Madrid faults or not.Some scientists say they are related, noting that the Wabash faults, which roughly parallel the river of the same name in southern Illinois and Indiana, are a northern extension of the New Madrid zone. Others say they're not.The New Madrid fault zone produced a series of quakes in 1811 and 1812 that reached an estimated magnitude 7.0, putting them among the strongest known quakes to have occurred east of the Rockies. The quakes changed the course of the Mississippi River and were felt in New England.That distance of well over a thousand miles sounds impressive, but experts say quakes that happen in the Midwest commonly radiate out for hundreds of miles because of the bedrock beneath much of the eastern United States.

Our bedrock here is old, really rigid and sends those waves a long way, said Bob Bauer, a geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey who works in Champaign.He compared the underground rock, which in much of the Midwest lies anywhere from a few thousand feet to just a few feet below the earth's surface, to a bell that very efficiently transmits seismic waves like sound.California is young bedrock, he explained. It's broken up ... like a cracked bell. You ring that, the waves don't go as far.The question of whether Friday's quake was centered along a branch of the New Madrid zone or not is of more than academic interest. The area even now produces smaller, very regular quakes, and experts say it still has the potential to produce a quake that could devastate the region.

The Wabash faults have the potential to do the same, at least based on distant history, said Columbia University seismologist Won-Young Kim.The strongest quake produced in recent history by the Wabash was a magnitude 5.3 in southern Illinois in 1968, but researchers have found evidence that 4,000 to 6,000 years ago, much stronger quakes shook the region, Kim said, as strong as magnitude 7.0 or more.A similar quake is still possible, if the region is given time to build up enough energy, Kim said. But knowledge about the area is too thin to say whether that's likely, he added.

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.

Chinese officials expand search for 18 missing fishermen after tropical storm Neoguri Sun Apr 20, 2:03 AM
By Tini Tran, The Associated Press

BEIJING - Rescue officials expanded their search Sunday for 18 Chinese fishermen still missing after tropical storm Neoguri brushed over southern Hainan island this weekend. Five rescue ships and two helicopters have been deployed in the search mission, said an official with the Hainan provincial disaster relief office who gave his surname as Wu. Three fishing boats went missing in the storm and rescuers have so far found 44 of their crew, Wu said, adding that China has contacted officials in Vietnam and the Philippines to see whether ships from those countries have rescued any of the 18 men still missing. China's first typhoon of the year hit land Saturday afternoon but weakened to a tropical storm and moved into the western part of Guangdong province. Torrential rains were still lashing southern Guangdong province Sunday, but an emergency alert for wind storms had been lifted, according to a report by the China News Agency.

Neoguri had initially hit Hainan's northeastern coast with gusts of up to 61 kilometres an hour, blacking out the city of Wenchang and stranding about 3,000 passengers at the island's main airport in Haikou, the official Xinhua News Agency reported earlier. About 21,800 boats with 80,000 fishermen were ordered to return to port ahead of the storm, Xinhua said. Hainan is famous for its beaches, resorts, orchards and fishing industry.

April storm hands Calgary a snowy weekend
Sat Apr 19, 9:45 PM

SASKATCHEWAN (CBC) - More than 35 weather warnings were in effect in Calgary and southern Alberta Saturday as snow continued to blanket the region for a second day.The spring snowfall began Friday morning and hit Calgary with more than 10 centimetres by evening. Another 10 to 15 cm were forecast for the city and the Foothill Regions by Sunday morning.The RCMP is warning people to drive carefully on icy and slick highways in the area.Calgary police reported responding to 30 crashes involving injuries and 211 collisions involving vehicle damage between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday. Several cars slid into the ditch along icy Deerfoot Trail.Sunshine Village in Banff, Alta., reported more than 50 cm of snow falling around the resort on Friday. A concert there by Canadian country singer Aaron Pritchett scheduled for the weekend will be rescheduled because of the snow.Last week, a surprise storm dumped 23 cm of snow on Calgary.

Snow, cold blanket western Canada, while east sees summer-like temperatures Sat Apr 19, 11:07 AMBy The Canadian Press

Weather conditions at opposite ends of the country this weekend will be as different as well, east is from west. A massive spring snowstorm is moving its way across the Prairies, with Environment Canada forecasting up to 25 centimetres of snow for Calgary by Sunday, and 30 to 50 centimetres in some areas near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. In B.C., unseasonably cold weather has fruit growers in the Okanagan Valley worried about the fate of their spring crops. However, parts of Eastern Canada, recovering from one of the worst winters in recent memory, are now basking in almost summer-like temperatures. Daytime highs surpassing 20 degrees Celsius are being seen from Ontario through to the Maritimes, with several daily records set in New Brunswick Friday. A smog alert was even issued for parts of southern, central and eastern Ontario on Friday, and is to continue through early Saturday afternoon.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

Oil conference opens as prices hit high SUN APR 20,08

ROME - The chief executive of Eni SpA said Sunday that the share of profits taken by governments of oil-rich countries is cutting international oil companies' profits, in some cases below their capital costs. The average government take is now moving to overcome the critical barrier of 90 percent, which means that oil companies' profitability is decreasing, Paolo Scaroni, the CEO of Italy's largest oil and gas company by revenue, said in a speech at the International Energy Forum.Major Western oil companies have been forced to renegotiate contracts as hydrocarbon-rich countries aim for a bigger slice of profits on the back of surging crude prices.International oil companies need to profoundly rethink their business model in order to survive and prosper, Scaroni said.

Government ministers from oil-rich nations and international oil company executives were meeting in Rome for a three-day energy conference that ends Tuesday. While the energy ministers of most OPEC states will be present, the group was not expected to announce any policy shifts during the International Energy Forum, which being is held as crude oil prices have reached a new high of $117 a barrel.Italy's outgoing Development Minister Pier Luigi Bersani told the conference in his opening remarks Sunday that the high price of oil will have an impact on inflation for all of 2008.The price of oil has had an impact on the inflation dynamic in many countries and it is reflected in part also on food stuffs in general, Bersani said.This dynamic will persist for all of 2008.On the sidelines of the conference, Eni signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Petroleum International to pursue key joint projects in Africa and the Mediterranean focusing on natural gas and crude oil. It also envisions cooperation in the petrochemical industry and power generation.

REVELATION 17:1-2
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(VATICAN IN POLITICS)

Pope to bless ground zero in NYC, pray for peace By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer SUN APR 20,08

NEW YORK - Pope Benedict XVI has reached out in compassion to beleaguered clergy, victims of clergy sex abuse and members of other religious groups during his first U.S. trip. On the final day of his journey, he turns his focus to the people of New York, in a prayer service Sunday at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Benedict has invited 24 people with ties to ground zero to join him: survivors, relatives of victims and four rescue workers. He will pray for peace, hope and healing, including for those who became ill after breathing toxic air in the ruins.More than 2,700 people were killed in the terrorist strike.God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world, the pope is expected to pray. Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.The site where the World Trade Center was destroyed is normally filled with hundreds of workers building a 102-story skyscraper, a memorial and transit hub. It bears little resemblance to the debris-filled pit where crews toiled to remove twisted steel and victims' remains.Benedict will travel down a ramp now used mostly by construction trucks to a spot by the north tower's footprint. He will kneel in silent prayer and bless the ground with holy water, acknowledging the many faiths of the victims at the scene of incredible violence and pain.The remains of more than 1,100 people have never been identified.

Benedict will be joined by New York Cardinal Edward Egan and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New York Gov. David Paterson and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine have also been invited. The land is owned and managed by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.Benedict has addressed terrorism several times during his six-day visit.In a private meeting with President Bush, the two leaders touched on the need to confront terrorism with appropriate means that respect the human person and his or her rights, according to a joint U.S.-Holy See statement.Benedict has been critical of harsh interrogation methods, telling a meeting of the Vatican's office for social justice last September that, while a country has an obligation to keep its citizens safe, prisoners must never be demeaned or tortured.Addressing the United Nations on Friday, Benedict warned diplomats that international cooperation needed to solve urgent problems is in crisis because decisions rest in the hands of a few powerful nations.The pope also insisted that the way to peace was by ensuring respect for human dignity.The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and increasing security, the pope said.Those whose rights are trampled, he said, become easy prey to the call to violence and they then become violators of peace.Later Sunday, the pope will celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium, before returning to Rome.On the Net: Official papal visit site: http://www.uspapalvisit.org/

INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.

2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.

GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).

MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.

LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.

ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.

12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

EZEKIEL 47:13-23,48:1-35
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.

Israel at 60: A vibrant nation still in search of itself By STEVEN GUTKIN and JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writers
Sat Apr 19, 12:47 PM ET

JERUSALEM - The story of Israel at 60 is the tale of a little town named Sderot whose children play indoors because of Palestinian rockets, of a world-class tech industry that pioneered Wi-Fi and instant messaging, of a nation filled with pride and fierce patriotism, yet living in fear of annihilation from abroad and of a demographic time bomb at home. Six decades after fighting six Arab armies to realize the ancient dream of a Jewish return to Zion, Israel is still searching for its identity and place in the world, lacking recognized borders and a way of sharing the land with its Arab inhabitants, the Palestinians.This existential struggle plays itself out every day in the Holy Land, whether in the furious construction of Israeli homes on disputed territory, or the touch-and-go attempts to make peace with moderate Palestinians while clashing daily with the militants in the Gaza Strip.Geut Aragon has a piece of shrapnel permanently lodged in her brain from a rocket that struck her home in Sderot, the southern town near Gaza, three months ago. She keeps her two young sons indoors.

Since they were born they know nothing else, Aragon says. Sirens, sheltered rooms — they don't play like regular children. Although she still suffers from headaches and dizziness, she vows to stay in Sderot and even plans to celebrate on independence day, May 8, the Jewish calendar date for Israel's declaration of statehood on May 14, 1948.Just a 90-minute drive away, in a Jerusalem studio, cutting-edge technology is putting together Wild Bunch, Israel's first feature-length 3-D animated film for Hollywood. It has nothing to do with rockets, religion or revenge. It's a family comedy about a flower meadow taken over by genetically modified corn.Erel Margalit, the Israeli venture capitalist behind the film, says he wants to make the ancient city of Jerusalem a modern day hub of creativity.The plight of Sderot and the innovation at Jerusalem's Animation Lab illustrate the central struggle of Israel at 60: its quest for normalcy in a neighborhood that's anything but normal.

Rising from the ashes of the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews, Israel finds itself unable to resolve the contradictions at the core of its existence. European or Middle Eastern? Religious or secular? A specifically Jewish state or a multicultural state for all its citizens, 20 percent of whom are Arab? Israel has given the world Natalie Portman of Star Wars fame, an annual gay parade in the streets of Jerusalem, and microscopic cameras that can be swallowed in a pill. It also has Ovadiah Yosef, a politically powerful rabbi who says Hurricane Katrina was God's retribution to the U.S. for supporting Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.It's a vibrant democracy where untrammeled free speech fills the airwaves 24/7 and where Arabs serve in Parliament and government. But it has occupied another nation for 41 years, and has suffered constant censure from the U.N. and human rights monitors.Israelis from the country's founding generation are now well into their twilight years, and many miss the selflessness of bygone times when nobody was jealous of somebody else, says 88-year-old Tamar Eshel, a former member of the Haganah, the pre-state Jewish army.

In 1948, Britain still ruled Palestine and was blocking Jewish immigration. Eshel was then in France, forging passports for Holocaust survivors and matching up complete strangers to look like families and stand a better chance of getting past the British restrictions. One cold night there was sudden singing and dancing. It turned out that by pure chance she had matched up a boy with his real parents.Her voice still shakes with emotion at the memory. Everybody there who lost their nearest people suddenly had hope that some miracle would happen to them, too.Days later Israel declared statehood, and hundreds of thousands of Jews began pouring in freely.Yet for all they have achieved since, this independence day finds Israelis in a grumpy mood, at least where politics are concerned. The sabras, or native-born Israelis who followed the founding generation into power, have generally fared badly, and the present prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is no exception, badly tarnished by the shortcomings revealed in Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah and his failure to stop Hamas' rockets.For an Israeli prime minister to be judged soft on security is politically crippling. Yet many Israelis would agree with Arnold Roth's stoic assessment of the risks of living in Israel.No one ever promised us an easy life, and as much as we want our children to be happy and productive and safe, history tells us this does not come easily, said Roth, an immigrant from Australia who moved here with his wife and four children, and then had three more kids. He and his wife sort of kidded with one another that if the conflict with the Arabs continued up until the times when our sons reached army age we'd hide them in the closet. We never for a moment imagined that the real danger would be to our daughter, he said. His teenage daughter, Malki, was killed seven years ago by a Palestinian suicide bombing at a Jerusalem pizzeria.

More than 1,100 Israelis and 4,800 Palestinians have been killed since the outbreak of the second Palestinian intefadeh — or uprising — eight years ago. This helps explain Israel's construction of a massive barrier of steel, barbed wire and concrete to keep out West Bank militants. The barrier and other measures severely restrict the movement of Palestinians, and draw accusations that they amount to a land grab. But while more and more Israelis reach the realization that the occupation is a long-term millstone around their necks, they manage to block out the conflict most of the time and concentrate on making their lives better. Tel Aviv, celebrating its centenary next year as the world's first city founded by Jews for Jews, has renovated its old sea port with a new boardwalk, shops and restaurants. Israel, once famous for the Uzi assault rifle, may now be just as famous for exporting supermodel Bar Refaeli and In Treatment, an Israeli TV show about a psychotherapist and his patients that was remade into an HBO hit. Even more ambitious are its green-technology dreams, notably a government plan, in partnership with Renault-Nissan and Israeli-American entrepreneur Shai Agassi, to install the world's first electric car network here by 2011, with a half million recharging stations crisscrossing the New Jersey-sized country.

Dispirited though they may be about their political predicament, Israelis don't lose sight of the astonishing fact that nearly 2,000 years after the Romans extinguished Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land, their reborn republic is still standing tall again, peopled by Jews from dozens of countries as disparate as Russia and Ethiopia, Chile and Denmark, Australia and Azerbaijan. Robert Aumann, a Nobel-prizewinning economist, recalls moving to Israel from the United States five decades ago, feeling I was coming home to live the Jewish people's biblical connection to the Promised Land. Today, he says, We're here, we've accomplished great things and we're here to stay.For Holocaust survivors, with the gas chambers, ghettoes and death marches to look back on, Israel is their own private miracle. For many, many years we Jewish people did not have any homeland. Finally after 2,000 years we have our own. Nobody else will tell us that you are a Jew and you should get out, says Jack Handeli, a Greek Jew who was sent to Auschwitz when he was 15. But conflict is never far away. Every mall has metal detector, bus stops in southern Israel have rocket-proof shelters, every school has armed guards, and military service is mandatory for both men and women. Israel feels its enemies both near and far — less than a mile from Sderot, and 1,000 miles away in Iran, with its nuclear ambitions, its support for anti-Israel militants and its president's calls for Israel's destruction. Israel's conflict with the Palestinians is the biggest obstacle to its quest for normalcy. The fighting has only intensified since the Jewish state's creation resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Arabs, and has become a rallying point for Muslims throughout the world.

Israelis argue that the Palestinians have had ample opportunity to reach peace, most notably at the end of the Clinton administration when Israel offered most of the West Bank for a Palestinian state. But even as negotiations have gone on, Israel has continued to build in settlements in the West Bank — and refused to take down small settlement outposts built without its permission — and this has seriously deepened Palestinians' distrust of Israel's professed willingness to share the land. The West Bank road system is designed to keep Jewish and Arab motorists apart, and hundreds of checkpoints keep Palestinians from moving about freely. Olmert recognizes that settlements are binding the West Bank so closely to Israel that at some point the Palestinians — 3.7 million in the West Bank and Gaza plus 1.6 million in Israel proper and Israeli-controlled east Jerusalem — will simply wait until they can outvote the Jewish population, now 5.4 million. The day will come when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, Olmert told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in November. As soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished.Olmert's comment caused a stir in Israel, where many people wince at any comparison to apartheid, even as it gains currency among Israel's critics. Although Israeli public opinion has turned in favor of a Palestinian state, Olmert's attempt to wrap up a peace deal by year's end appears hopelessly optimistic. The Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip following Israel's withdrawal from the territory has many Israelis wary of ceding more territory to a Palestinian leadership that can't control its militants. Their fear: today Sderot, tomorrow Tel Aviv. At the same time, Olmert's hands are tied by his coalition with the hard-line Shas party and by the settlers, armed, politically connected and determined to resist expulsion. Years of peace summits, secret negotiations and shuttle diplomacy have already produced the parameters for what most agree is the only solution: a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza; land swaps to make up for Israeli sovereignty over major West Bank settlements; Jerusalem as a shared capital and compensation for Palestinian refugees. All this will require excruciating compromises that neither Israelis nor Palestinians, with their shared sense of victimhood, might be prepared to make. The Palestinians still refer to Israel's creation as the naqba, or catastrophe, and it guides their national ethos, just as the Holocaust dominates Israeli thinking.

Israel's 84-year-old president, Shimon Peres, whose life has mirrored the history of Israel, says his country must do everything to strengthen the Palestinians who are willing to make a deal. Their weakness is our weakness, he told The Associated Press in his Jerusalem office, which features his Nobel peace Prize certificate and a picture of him seated beside Israel's founding father, David Ben-Gurion. And we shouldn't use the weakness as an excuse. We should help to overcome it.Associated Press Writer Beth Marlowe contributed to this report. It will be followed next week by a similar report on the Palestinians 60 years after the creation of Israel.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:20,30
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.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Smith concern over Pakistan missile test
Email Print Normal font Large font April 20, 2008 - 9:25AM

Australia fears Pakistan's missile testing could provoke instability in the region, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.
Pakistan's military on Saturday said it test fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a range of 2,000km.Mr Smith on Sunday said Australian officials had not confirmed the test but are assuming it happened.Any testing which occurs within that region does have the potential to cause tension or instability, he told Network Ten.Mr Smith said nuclear rivals Pakistan and India had in recent years been having good talks about such issues.We certainly hope that dialogue continues, he said.We of course would prefer that the testing didn't occur but we certainly hope that it doesn't lead to any tension or instability in the region.2008 AAP

Pakistan-Missile Test Pakistan test fires long-range nuclear capable ballistic missile Islamabad, April 19, IRNA

Pakistan on Saturday carried out a successful test fire of its long ballistic missile which can carry nuclear and all kind of warheads, the state-run television reported. The surface-to-surface ballistic Missile Hatf VI (Shaheen II), can hit target at 2000-kilometre, PTV reported. The missile test was part of continuous process of validation and technical improvement, which Pakistan follows to consolidate and verify its various land based strategic missile systems. Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was the chief guest at the missile test, who said Pakistan will maintain minimum defence deterrence. He congratulated the scientists and engineers on the successful test, an army statement said. Hatf VI (Shaheen II) is Pakistan's longest range ballistic missile system with a range of 2000 kilometers. It is a two-stage solid fuel missile, which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with high accuracy. The test was also witnessed by the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed, and other top military generals and the staff of Pakistan's Strategic Organizations on achieving an important milestone in Pakistan's quest for sustaining strategic balance in South Asia. Gilani made it clear that Pakistan's strategy of credible minimum deterrence was fully in place and was a guarantee of peace in the region. He said the defence need of the country would always remain his government priority and the strategic programme particularly, which enjoyed complete national consensus, would continue to be consolidated and strengthened in line with the needs of national security. The missile test was part of the continuous process of validation and technical improvement which Pakistan follows to consolidate and verify its various land based strategic missile systems, officials said.