TORNADO STRIKES KANSAS

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

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.

UN HEAD GOES TO CHINA
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DEATH TOLL EXCEEDS 60,000 DEAD 5 MILLION HOMELESS
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China warns quake death toll could reach 80,000 By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer Sat May 24, 1:36 PM ET

YINGXIU, China - China warned Saturday that the death toll from a massive earthquake two weeks ago could take a major leap and pass 80,000, suggesting the government may be giving up hope of finding more survivors. But rescuers rushed anyway to reach 24 coal miners who officials said were trapped in three mines by the disaster, though it was not known if the miners were alive.We have had the miracle in the past that a miner was found alive after being trapped underground for 21 days, Wang Dexue, the deputy chief of the government's work safety department, told a news conference in Beijing. We are carrying out rescue work on the assumption that they are still alive. We absolutely will not give up.Wang gave no further details of the trapped miners. China's mines are the world's deadliest, with explosions, cave-ins and floods killing nearly 3,800 people last year.Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a brief visit Saturday to one of the hardest-hit towns, Yingxiu — a helicopter ride that offered a rare bird's-eye views of the destruction wrought by the 7.9-magnitude quake on May 12.The mountains in central Sichuan province showed huge tracks of naked earth from landslides. Layers of mud covered fields. Rivers churned brown. Yingxiu itself was largely piles of rubble, and the buildings left standing had caved in, giving the surreal impression that they had melted.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, said Saturday the latest confirmed death toll for the quake — China's biggest disaster in three decades — was 60,560, with 26,221 people still missing. Premier Wen Jiabao, on a return visit to the quake zone to accompany Ban, warned the toll could go much higher.It may further climb to a level of 70,000, 80,000 or more, Wen said, standing amid the rubble in Yingxiu. The jump could occur as the number of missing are added to the number of dead.About 15 minutes before Wen started talking, yet another minor aftershock rumbled.Ban, who came to China directly from cyclone-stricken Myanmar, promised the U.N. would help with reconstruction and that it was waiting for China's assessment of what was needed.If we work hard, we can overcome this, Ban said, with Wen standing at his side. The whole world stands behind you and supports you.The secretary-general left China later Saturday and was to attend an aid donors conference in Myanmar for cyclone victims on Sunday.About 4,800 of Yingxiu's 18,000 people were killed in the quake, a military officer told Ban during a tour. Reporters could see government workers in hooded white protective suits spraying disinfectant on the rubble.

Underscoring doubts that more survivors would be found, Wen said the government's focus had shifted from rescue to rebuilding.

Previously our main priority was the search and rescue of affected people, Wen said. Our priority now is to resettle the affected people and to make plans for post-quake reconstruction.It won't be easy. The quake destroyed more than 15 million homes, Wen said. He said the government needed 900,000 tents and urged Chinese manufacturers to make 30,000 a day.As the government grappled with the task of rebuilding — a process Sichuan Vice Governor Li Chengyun has said could take three years — it also watched for a variety of secondary disasters. Experts searched for 15 radiation sources buried in the rubble, although they said there were no leaks or public health risk. And survivors left flood-risk areas downstream from rivers that had been dammed by landslides. With their water pooling and the rainy season coming, the quake lakes could breach the earthen barriers and sweep down already fragile valleys. Meanwhile, some 10,000 medical workers have been dispatched to prevent disease outbreaks. The second major challenge facing us is epidemic prevention and control, Wen said, adding that no outbreaks had been reported so far. The premier also promised that China would continue its openness about the quake, in which the government has accepted foreign relief teams and allowed Chinese media to report in relative depth on the disaster. From the very beginning of the disaster relief, we put people's lives above all, Wen said, We have adopted an open policy because we think it was not only the disaster for Chinese people, but the people of the world. Our spirit of putting people above all and our open policy will not change.

Also Saturday, eight pandas reached Beijing safely after a long journey from their damaged reserve near the quake's epicenter. The pandas will spend the next six months at the Beijing Zoo on a special Olympics visit that was planned long before the quake. The pandas' home at the world-famous Wolong reserve was badly damaged by the quake and five staff members were killed. The pandas have been closely watched because they seemed nervous after the earthquake, sometimes eating and sleeping less. But the pandas appeared lively after they were moved into their exhibit space at the Beijing Zoo on Saturday evening, even putting their paws on the glass separating them from the media and the public.

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.

TORNADO ON GROUND IN OKLAHOMA
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FURTHER HOPE FOR BURMA AIDE
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Myanmar concedes to access ahead of donor meeting Sat May 24, 3:07 PM ET

YANGON, Myanmar - Aid agencies geared up Saturday to go into Myanmar's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta after the country's ruling junta vowed to open its doors to help ahead of an international donors meeting. After weeks of stubbornly refusing assistance, Myanmar's ruling generals have told the United Nations they are now willing to allow workers of all nationalities to help survivors of the storm that left about 78,000 people dead and another 56,000 missing.The ability to assess the situation will be critical in securing pledges from foreign governments, and the junta's about face was seen as a concession to get more aid when 45 potential donor nations meet Sunday in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.An estimate released Saturday by the U.N. said that while about 42 percent of the 2.4 million people affected by the storm had received some kind of emergency assistance, only 23 percent of the 2 million people living in the hardest-hit areas had been reached.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Myanmar's ruling generals had told him that international aid workers will be able to freely reach the needy people, a pledge the junta has not publicly acknowledged.Ban made the comments during a trip Saturday to China's earthquake zone before heading to Bangkok, Thailand.Ban and the Thai prime minister inaugurated a new hub for relief efforts, a warehouse at Bangkok's old international airport. Ban said authorities were planning two flights a day from there into Yangon, using Ilyushin 76 and Antonov 12 airplanes.The World Food Program — which has gotten the go-ahead for helicopter operations — and other non-government aid organizations also will use this hub.On the first flight from the hub, UNICEF sent three mobile water treatment plants that can produce 10,000 liters of water a day to help 3,200 people. It will save lives, Ban said.The United Nations has launched an emergency appeal for $201 million. That figure will likely increase once disaster relief experts are able to survey the stricken Irrawaddy Delta.So far, the U.N. has received about $50 million in contributions and about $42.5 million in pledges in response to the appeal, said Stephanie Bunker, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.Myanmar has estimated the economic damage at about $11 billion.The conference Sunday is being sponsored by the U.N. and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is taking the lead in organizing the delivery of aid to Myanmar, one of its members.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, calling it a Coalition of Mercy, said he believed donors would show their goodwill, but added that they would be unlikely to honor pledges if the junta failed to follow through on its promises for international access.I don't think we have any doubt that there will be a lot of goodwill coming through, Surin said. But again it will depend on how we carry out this goodwill, or administer this goodwill, with the cooperation of Myanmarese authorities.We expect no obstacles, he said.The junta's apparent concession came Friday after three weeks of blocking relief for cyclone survivors.I want to be optimistic, but I'm skeptical, Lionel Rosenblatt, president emeritus of U.S.-based Refugees International said. The devil is going to be in the implementation.The possible breakthrough distracted attention from the junta's widely criticized decision to push ahead Saturday with a constitutional referendum in Yangon and hard-hit areas of the delta. Turnout for the vote appeared low, which was expected since many potential voters remained consumed with rebuilding their lives and the government already had announced the final results. The rest of the country voted May 10 on the controversial proposed charter and state radio has reported that the delayed balloting could not reverse the constitution's reported approval by 92.4 percent of the 22 million eligible voters. Myint Maung, a lawyer who voted against the constitution along with five family members, said officials at his polling station in Yangon's Sanchaung township told him under half of the 2,000 eligible voters turned out Saturday. A cyclone victim, 27-year-old Naing Lin, said he was not even aware of the referendum, and even if I were, I wouldn't be interested.Naing Lin, whose entire immediate family died in the storm, was staying at a monastery in Kyonemaw village southwest of Yangon.

Monasteries and schools have served as de-facto shelters for many of those left homeless by the cyclone but many people have been displaced from them as the government has tried to gather people in official refugee camps. In some cases, the were sent way because schools were to be used as polling stations. The government has been widely criticized over the proposed charter, not only for the timing of the vote so soon after the cyclone, but because it is viewed as an effort to strengthen the military's grip on power. The xenophobic junta has kept the delta virtually off-limits to foreign aid workers, who have been barred from traveling outside Yangon.

Aid agencies said much needs to be clarified from Ban's meeting, ranging from logistical issues about when aid workers' visas will be granted to how long they will be allowed to stay in Myanmar and where they can work. We're hopeful that it means more foreign aid workers will go to the worst-affected areas, said Save the Children spokeswoman Kate Conradt. We already have a number of expatriate staff in Yangon. They just can't leave the city.Senior Gen. Than Shwe has refused to relent on the landing of military ships — U.S., French and British warships are waiting with aid off Myanmar's coast but have not been allowed to dock. Myanmar's junta is nervous about any shore landings because it fears an invasion or political interference. Ban said consultations on that front were likely to continue. Ban flew to Chengdu in China on Saturday to inspect the damage from the May 12 earthquake there. While touring earthquake-hit areas, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China will pledge $10 million in aid for Myanmar at Sunday's conference. The U.N. chief was to return to Yangon on Sunday to co-chair the donor's conference.

Floods displace 15,000 in Chile
Fri May 23, 6:16 PM By Antonio de la Jara

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Heavy rains and flooding that killed five people and displaced thousands in south-central Chile have collapsed road and rail bridges, closed the world's largest underground copper mine and left many in the capital without drinking water, the government said on Friday.Many schools remained closed in Santiago and elsewhere after floodwaters churned up sediment at water treatment plants, while several rivers burst their banks farther south, deluging thousands of homes.More than seven rivers have overflowed, said Juan Saldivia, undersecretary of public works. We had a very complex situation overnight, and Route 5(Chile's main north-south highway) has been cut in three places.

Landslides caused by the rains also forced the shutdown of the giant El Teniente copper mine, owned by state miner Codelco.Codelco said it could take 48 hours to clear rock, earth and floodwaters blocking access to the mine, which lies 50 miles south of Santiago and was recovering from disruptions from the latest in a series of strikes by subcontractor workers.Television footage showed a collapsed railway bridge in the wine-producing region of Maule, about 125 miles south of Santiago, which forced the suspension of rail services to the south.The government said 8,000 homes had been affected and that 316 people were stranded across the country. About 500 people were in shelters while most of around 15,000 forced from their homes were living with friends and family.Of the five people killed earlier in the week by the flooding, two died in landslides, one was struck by a boulder and another was hit by a falling tree. One man died of hypothermia.

RAINS FILL RESERVOIRS

Streets turned into rivers in some areas.In Santiago, 1.4 inches (35.7 millimeters) of rain fell in 24 hours -- the normal amount of rainfall for the entire winter season.Parts of Chile experience downpours and flooding around this time every year.Police and firemen armed with sandbags and heavy machinery sought to build flood defenses to protect houses in the eastern sector of the capital after a canal overflowed.There were no immediate details of any effects on crops, which had been hurt by one of the worst droughts in decades.Rains eased on Friday, but further rainfall was expected next week.On the upside, the rains have refilled hydroelectric dam reservoirs drained in recent months by the worst drought in decades, and reduced the likelihood of electricity rationing.The major Colbun reservoir, owned by the company of the same name and located in southern central Chile, has seen its levels rise beyond the May average.The rains imply that we can relax a bit and that the chances of rationing have been reduced, Energy Minister Marcelo Tokman told an energy seminar in Santiago.

Even though it is a big help for the coming months, the truth is we are still at lower reservoir levels ... compared to a normal year, so we must remain cautious.Scant rainfall has hit hydroelectric power generation, while cuts in natural gas imports from neighboring Argentina and high costs of running diesel generators are putting pressure on industry and the public.Tokman said the rains and guarantees of at least limited natural gas from Argentina have brightened the energy outlook for now.(Additional reporting by Monica Vargas, Rodrigo Martinez and Pav Jordan; Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Vicki Allen)

COLORADO TORNADO STORY
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Tornadoes strike western and central Kansas By DAVID TWIDDY, Associated Press Writer MAY 24,08

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Forecasters said Saturday that at least a dozen tornadoes spun across western and central Kansas a day earlier, destroying numerous homes, downing trees and injuring several people. The National Weather Service in Dodge City said there were at least 10 twisters that touched down in central Kansas, while the Goodland office reported seven or eight in the western part of the state.At least four people were hurt in Stafford County, including one person who was taken to a Wichita hospital with serious injuries, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.Meanwhile in Colorado, where a large tornado devastated the northern farm town of Windsor, residents were expected to return to their homes in an area of town that officials had earlier deemed unsafe following Thursday's twister.Natural gas leaks and the threat of explosions had kept hundreds of residents from their homes on Friday.Officials were meeting with residents to plan their return, incident management team spokesman Dan Hatlestad said. With no power, it may be an unpleasant place to live, but it's up to the homeowners, Hatlestad said.The tornado, with wind speeds between 111 mph to 165 mph, tore through a 35-mile stretch of northern Colorado, killing one person and injuring dozens. It tipped 15 rail cars off the tracks in Windsor, about 70 miles north of Denver.In Kansas, the weather service sent out survey teams Saturday morning to determine the size of the twisters. Ed Berry, science operations officer in the Dodge City office, said many of the twisters appear to be significant in size.

In Stafford County, at least seven homes suffered major damage, along with damage to several other structures, power lines and trees, Watson said Saturday.A man in Gove County suffered minor injuries after his car was blown across Interstate 70 into a ditch, according to George Lies, emergency management director for Logan and Gove Counties.Lies said two tornadoes hit in Gove County, with at least a dozen homes sustaining major damage.One twister was on the ground south of Quinter, went back into the clouds as it went over the town, then dropped back down on the other side, damaging four rural houses.Portions of Kansas also have been hit hard by flooding, with as much as 8 inches of rain falling in a 48-hour period, according to Chris Foltz, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Goodland.Associated Press writer Ivan Moreno in Denver contributed to this report.

Tornadoes tear through northern Oklahoma Sat May 24, 4:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Supercell storms plowed across northern Oklahoma state Saturday spawning several tornadoes that crushed structures and sent debris flying miles away, US media reported. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the storms would drop a few tornadoes near an outflow boundary where wind shear is very favorable for rotation. Other scattered severe storms are possible farther southward through Oklahoma this afternoon and evening.Local television KWTV filmed the large tornadoes, near the towns of Hennessey and Bison, around 2000 GMT, perched close to the system in a helicopter as tornado funnel clouds -- black shadows against a grey-sky backdrop -- churned up ground below, sending rocks, splinters of wood and other debris skyward.There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities.A NWS spokesman in Norman, Oklahoma told AFP the well-developed tornadoes hit Kingfisher and Garfield counties.

RAW OKL TORNADO VIDEO
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RAW TORNADO VIDEO KANSAS
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Tornadoes rake parts of Kan., Okla.; 2 found dead By DAVID TWIDDY, Associated Press Writer MAY 24,08

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Authorities checking on a car stranded in a field Saturday morning found two people killed by a powerful storm that raked the state a day earlier with at least 17 tornadoes. The Friday storm destroyed several buildings and injured at least six people, including one hospitalized in serious condition in Wichita, authorities said.Several tornadoes touched down Saturday in northwestern Oklahoma. A twister destroyed three barns at a hog farm near Lacey in Kingfisher County, about 75 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Department.No one at the farm was injured, and there were no immediate reports of injuries elsewhere — although the storm continued to pose a threat.Ooten said the hog farm was considered a complete loss and damage also was reported to a grain elevator on State Highway 132 in far northwestern Kingfisher County.

Kingfisher County Sheriff's dispatcher Lonnie McDade said the only damage he knew of in that county was to the hog farm, along with some downed power lines.It's all been out mostly in the countryside, McDade said. But that farm happened to be in the path and took a direct hit.Several other tornadoes touched down in nearby counties. Many were caught on television and appeared to dissipate within moments of touching down.The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for several counties. A warning was issued before the earlier twisters.The car the man and woman found dead Saturday were in was blown 150 yards off the highway they were on into a field about 13 miles east of Pratt, the Pratt County Sheriff's Office said. Gary S. Whitlow, 33, and Kimberly S. Whitlow, 29, were pronounced dead at the scene.Their the car, barely visible from the road, was destroyed by a twister that also swept a semi-truck off the highway and knocked down power poles and lines across the road.A Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft flew along the path of the tornado on Saturday to make sure there were no other victims.In Colorado, hundreds of residents were allowed to return to their homes in the farming town of Windsor, which was ravaged by a large tornado on Thursday. Parts of the town had been cordoned off because of natural gas leaks.Our house is not too bad, said Courtney Schinner. Our roof is gone, a lot of windows are blown out, but the interior is OK.

We got really lucky compared to a lot of people, she said as she gathered her valuables and prepared to move into a hotel while her apartment is repaired.Officials met with residents to advise them of the dangers still in the area from exposed electrical wires, severed gas lines, nails, broken boards and other debris still littering the area.There may be some damage, and with no power it may be an unpleasant place to live, but it's up to the homeowners, incident management team spokesman Dan Hatlestad said.There were 596 homes damaged, with 102 deemed unsafe to occupy, when the tornado with wind speeds between 111 mph to 165 mph tore through a 35-mile stretch of northern Colorado, killing one person and injuring dozens. It tipped 15 rail cars off the tracks in Windsor, about 70 miles north of Denver. In Kansas, National Weather Service survey teams toured the area Saturday to determine the size of the twisters. Ed Berry, science operations officer in the Dodge City office, said many of the twisters appear to have been significant in size. In Stafford County, at least five people were injured and seven homes suffered major damage, along with damage to several other structures, power lines and trees, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department. Two tornadoes touched down Friday in Gove County, with at least a dozen homes sustaining major damage, said George Lies, emergency management director for Logan and Gove counties. A man also suffered minor injuries after a tornado picked up his car and blew it across Interstate 70 into a ditch, Lies said. A twister touched down south of Quinter, went back into the clouds as it went over the town, then dropped back down on the other side, damaging four homes. Parts of Kansas also have been hit hard by flooding, with as much as 8 inches of rain falling in a 48-hour period, said Chris Foltz, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Goodland. About 100 people have died in U.S. twisters so far this year, the worst toll in a decade, according to the weather service, and the danger has not passed yet. Tornado season typically peaks in the spring and early summer, then again in the late fall.
Associated Press writer Ivan Moreno in Denver and Jeff Latzke in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

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

CALIFORNIA FIRES
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Calif. wildfire grows despite effort, calmer winds MAY 24,08

GILROY, Calif. - Firefighters took advantage of cooler temperatures and calmer winds Saturday as they continued to fight a persistent wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains that has chewed through acres of centuries-old redwoods, destroyed at least 17 homes and displaced hundreds of people. Efforts were also helped by the higher humidity, but a possible storm could bring lightning and stronger winds that could spread the fire, officials said.The fire was about 25 percent contained and expected to grow to more than 6 square miles before it's brought under control, fire officials said. It has burned more than 5 square miles and destroyed 28 structures. Another 500 buildings were threatened.Almost 2,000 residents remained under evacuation orders — more than 450 of them mandatory — while more than 3,000 personnel and a swarm of air tankers, helicopters and fire engines were deployed to the area, said Dave Shew, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. One firefighter suffered minor heat-related injuries.As long as we don't have this fire contained, then the homes are still threatened, Shew said. We don't consider this to be anywhere near contained. I wouldn't say we're out of the woods yet.Smoke from the wildfire left a haze over the San Francisco Bay area that was expected to linger through the Memorial Day weekend.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the Santa Cruz Mountains Friday to assess the damage and declared a state of emergency in Santa Cruz County to allow access to funds for the effort.Shew said the cost of battling the blaze has risen to about $1.7 million and he expects the containment effort to continue through the weekend. Crews were focused on building fire lines to keep the blaze from growing, he said.Officials were investigating the cause of the fire, which was first reported Thursday morning in the mountain range that separates Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. The area, about 15 miles south of San Jose, is rural but dotted with homes.

I feel a great sadness in my heart for everybody who is involved in this event, said Kenneth Rich whose house was destroyed. It's devastating.To the south, the stormy weather in Southern California that got the Memorial Day weekend off to a soggy start was expected to continue through Saturday before clearing, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Palestinian PM pleads case for unity MAY 24,08

LONDON (AFP) - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad insisted unified authority in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was absolutely essential to progress, in a BBC radio programme broadcast Saturday. The Palestinian Authority needed to have sole control over arms in the territories for any unity to be enduring, he said in the panel debate, recorded in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.The private investors vital for kick-starting the Palestinian economy would never be attracted to the territories unless they had confidence that they would remain stable, he added.Fayyad was speaking at a debate that also included the Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair and Israel's Defence Minister and deputy prime minister Ehud Barak.Tony Blair, speaking in the same programme, said Palestinians needed to decide what to unify their state around, with no ambiguity about rejecting terrorism.Fayyad said: The current situation, in terms of apartness and separation, is something that has to end, it's exceptional.To do it, we really all need to be on the same page as to what is absolutely, positively required.

The Palestinian Authority is not viewed as whole for all Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, meaning it having sole ownership... over arms and weapons.This concept alone has to be understood. If it is then we will have a good shot not only at uniting the country but at sustaining that unity.We cannot get there soon enough. It is absolutely essential for us to reunite the country... as soon as possible.Blair, the peace process envoy for the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, said everyone involved in the process had to accept that it should be resolved through negotiation.Citing his experiences in Northern Ireland, the former British prime minister said everybody could get in the room, no matter what their view, provided they agreed violence was not the way to achieve it.He added: If you want a Palestinian state, then it's about having one authority with one rule of law and you cannot have a situation in which there is any ambiguity or ambivalence about terrorism or the use of terror in order to get your way.You've got to decide what you're going to unify it around. And if there's any ambiguity about that, there is no real unity.The Palestinians needed to establish a culture of openness to others for economic prosperity to flourish, he added.

For Israel, Barak said the Jewish state needed peace urgently and felt a strong commitment to do whatever it took to achieve it.
However, peace cannot be achieved by one side. it takes two to make peace, he said.Israel might find itself with no choice but to try to flourish and move forward even without peace. But it should be misreading reality to think that we cannot do much, much better if we would finally reach a peace agreement... with all our neighbours. Normally, in our region, a pessimist is an optimist with experience, he added.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Abbas fears Olmert probe may hold up peace talks By Wafa Amr Sat May 24, 5:20 PM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he feared a criminal investigation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and looming U.S. elections could hold up Middle East peace talks. Senior Abbas aide Tayeb Abdel-Rahim reported the Palestinian president's briefing comments to his ruling Fatah faction in the West Bank city of Ramallah on the latest developments in U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel.

Abdel-Rahim said Abbas hopes that recent events, such as the obstacles facing the Israeli prime minister, and American preoccupation with elections would not obstruct the peace process desired by Palestinians.Israeli police questioned Olmert on Friday for a second time. Israel's chief prosecutor said on Monday investigators suspected Olmert had taken cash-filled envelopes from New York fundraiser Morris Talansky.Olmert, who was first questioned three weeks ago, has denied any wrongdoing but said he would resign if indicted.On Thursday, Abbas said negotiations with Israel on sensitive final status issues were continuing, but that gaps were still wide between the sides.The issues include the fate of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements, setting borders and the right of return for refugees.Western diplomats and Palestinian officials said Abbas had told them he believed Olmert was serious about reaching a final deal with the Palestinians despite his problems at home.Olmert and other Israeli officials have reported some progress in the U.S.-sponsored talks but chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie said no agreement had been reached yet on any of the issues under negotiation.The Palestinians are also worried that the Americans' preoccupation with presidential elections, scheduled for November, will push peace moves away from the spotlight.It will take the new administration time to settle in before it turns its attention to our problems, a Palestinian official said.Israeli and U.S. officials have said even if a deal is reached this year, it will not be implemented as long as the Islamist Hamas group continues to control the Gaza Strip.Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, seized the Gaza Strip from Abbas' Fatah security forces in a brief and bloody civil war last June.Abdel-Rahim said Abbas told Fatah officials on Wednesday that internal Palestinian divisions, and Hamas' coup ... have weakened the Palestinian (negotiating) position.(Editing by Ori Lewis and Andrew Roche)

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

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

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

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

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

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

Buffett sees long, deep U.S. recession Sat May 24, 7:30 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States is already in a recession and it will be longer as well as deeper than many people expect, U.S. investor Warren Buffett said in an interview published in German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday. He said the United States was already in recession and added: Perhaps not in the sense that economists would define it with two consecutive quarters of negative growth.But the people are already feeling the effects, said Buffett, the world's richest man. It will be deeper and last longer than many think.But he said that won't stop him from investing in selected companies and said he remained interested in well-managed German family-owned companies.If the world were falling apart I'd still invest in companies, he said.Buffett also renewed his criticism of derivatives trading.It's not right that hundreds of thousands of jobs are being eliminated, that entire industrial sectors in the real economy are being wiped out by financial bets even though the sectors are actually in good health.
Buffett complained about the lack of effective controls.That's the problem, he said. You can't steer it, you can't regulate it anymore. You can't get the genie back in the bottle.(Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by James Jukwey)

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)

THE DOLLARS LONG FALL
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7953295&ch=4226720&src=news

Iran to raise domestic gas prices: senior official Sat May 24, 3:29 PM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran plans to hike domestic gas prices in order to encourage consumers to conserve and to help to free up supplies for export, officials said on Saturday. The decision is to be announced this summer or just after, said a senior government official.He was speaking at the third annual Ravand Institute conference, which brings together political and economic leaders and experts from Iran and abroad, and whose proceedings may only be reported under the cloak of anonymity.Natural gas sells for only two US cents per cubic metre (35 cubic feet) in Iran, compared with 30 cents in neighbouring countries, and the difference represents a subsidy of around 40 billion dollars a year, the official said.The plan will be to raise the price to 15 cents for industrial customers, the official said, but he did not provide a figure for individual customers.Ironically, while Iran has the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas, the country is a net importer because of a highly inefficient use of it in industry and profligate use on the part of private consumers.An official from Iran's gas sector said the country needed to economise in order to export, and that it is consuming too much.But an executive from an Iranian gas company said it was ironic that with such high reserves, Iran could not heat its houses and forecast that gas shortages are going to be with us for a long time.The senior government official said the peak of consumption went above 500 million cubic metres a day last winter but our production did not reach that level.In January, Iran announced record production of only 460 million cubic metres a day.

The country has a 20-year plan aiming to hike production to 1.45 billion cubic metres a day, with 642 million earmarked for domestic consumption, 259 million for injection in oil production wells and 550 million for export.But these projects need massive investment, hampered by a US economic boycott.

AP IMPACT: What makes up the price of gas? By JOHN PORRETTO and JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writers Sat May 24, 10:45 AM ET

Consider the game of chicken that plays out every day across Pennsylvania State Highway 441. In Marietta, where the road hugs the Susquehanna River, a Rutter's Farm Store gas station stands on one side, a Sheetz gas station on the other. Kelly Bosley, who manages Rutter's, doesn't even have to look across the highway to know when Sheetz changes its price for a gallon of gas. When Sheetz raises prices, her own pumps are busy. When Sheetz lowers prices, she has not a car in sight.She calls Rutter's headquarters to report the competition's new price and wait for instructions.I call a lot of times and say, They went down, hurry up! Hurry up! Call me! Call me!' Or it could be where theirs goes up, and I'll say, Take your time! You know, I like being busy.' But I have no control over that.You think you feel helpless at the pump? Bosley makes a living selling gas — and even she has little control over what it costs.So how exactly are gas prices set? What determines the hair-pulling figure you see displayed in large electronic or plastic numbers? Why is a gallon of gas, say, $4.11 — not $4.10 or $4.12? Why is the price different across the street?

It all starts with oil.

The biggest factor in the skyrocketing price of gasoline is the historic ascent of crude oil, which has surged from $45 per barrel in 2004 to more than $135 this past week, setting new record highs all the while.In the first quarter of this year, based on a retail price of gas that now seems like a steal — $3.11 a gallon — crude oil accounted for all but about a dollar, or 70 percent, of the cost, according to the federal government.The rest is a complex mix of factors, from the cost of turning oil into gas to taxes to marketing costs to, sometimes, nothing more than the competitive whims of your local gas station owner.Not that understanding the breakdown makes it any less cringe-inducing to filler up.

First a primer on how gas gets to your tank:

Once oil is pumped from the ground, it can be sold on the spot market, a last-minute trading arena where oil companies and distributors buy and sell to each other, or straight to refiners. After it's brewed into gasoline, the product can again be sold on the spot market, or directly to wholesalers, who in turn can supply their own stations or sell it to other retailers.Each step of the way, buyers and sellers negotiate a price until, finally, drivers pay the ultimate tab at the pump.At the starting point of all this is the price of oil — which, like the oil itself, is nothing if not crude.The knee-jerk villains are the oil companies, fat with multibillion-dollar profits, frequent targets of populist anger. But wait: The oil companies don't set the price of oil or the cost of a gallon of gas. Prices are a function of the open market, the result of futures contracts being traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, or Nymex, and other exchanges around the world. Buying the current July crude oil futures contract means you're buying oil that will be delivered by the end of July. But most investors who trade futures have no intention of ever accepting the underlying oil: Like stock investors who frequently buy and sell their holdings, they're simply betting that prices will rise or fall.

Of late, on the Nymex, oil futures have been rising.

Why? Blame the falling dollar. Oil is priced in U.S. dollars, and the weaker the dollar gets, the more attractive dollar-denominated oil contracts are to foreign investors — or any investor looking for a safe haven in the turbulent stock market. The rush of buyers keeps pushing oil futures to a series of new records, and the rest of the energy complex, including gasoline futures, has followed. That pushes up the price of gas that goes into your tank. Crude is the driver, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill. As long as it stays up there, gasoline's not going to be able to decline much at all, even if demand slips. That's just the way it is.There is some evidence Americans are buying less gas as the price marches higher, and common sense suggests they would cut back even more if gas rose to $4.50 or $5 a gallon. Lower demand should mean lower prices — but it takes time for that to happen, given the enormous scale of refining operations that produce gasoline. Once demand begins to slow, that needs to translate into inventories, then you get some price weakening, Ritterbusch said. But it takes a while.

Oil and gasoline prices often move in the same direction, but they aren't linked directly. In fact, while oil prices have more than doubled in the past year, gasoline is only up about 19 percent during the same time. Oil prices often fluctuate with production decisions from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which supplies about 40 percent of the world's crude, or when conflict in the Middle East or Nigeria threatens supplies. For example, oil prices rose $2.46 in one day last month amid reports a ship under contract to the Defense Department fired warning shots at two boats in the Persian Gulf that may have been Iranian. A Navy spokesman later said the origin of the boats was unclear, but the news raised concerns that a conflict between U.S. and Iranian forces could cut oil supplies from the region. That same day, gas prices rose another 2.1 cents to a then-record national average of $3.577 a gallon on other supply concerns. And the rise has only grown more dramatic. Oil sprinted higher this past week, rising more than $4 a barrel on Wednesday alone and past $135 on Thursday.

As for gasoline prices: They're closely tied to demand from U.S. drivers and how efficiently refineries are operating. Falling production or inventories often send prices skyrocketing. Those prices can vary greatly depending on the region. The Gulf Coast is the source of about half the gasoline produced in the United States, and areas farthest from there tend to have higher prices because of the cost of shipping gas via pipeline and tanker truck all over the country. Some of those places, like California and New York, also have higher local taxes that push the price higher.

Oil companies may not set the price of oil and gasoline, but not everyone is willing to sit back and let them claim to be innocent bystanders. In particular, for the second time this year, Big Oil's biggest executives were on Capitol Hill in recent days getting pummeled by many in Congress for their record profits while Americans struggle with record fuel prices. Where is the corporate conscience? Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked the top executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies. Soaring gas prices have led to cries for a variety of answers, from Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain's suggestion to suspend the federal gas tax this summer to President Bush's call to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and some offshore waters that are now off limits to oil development. Others have suggested a windfall profits tax on oil companies, although some economists say that might actually hurt supply. Oil companies say they're not to blame for spiking fuel prices, and their earnings, measured against revenue, are in line with other industries. On top of that, rising oil prices have sharply cut profit margins for refining, and that hits the major oil companies — which both pump oil and refine it for use as gasoline. A giant like Exxon Mobil can handle the blow. Its refining and marketing profits for the first quarter were down 39 percent from a year ago, but Exxon still banked a nearly $11 billion profit because of the hefty prices earned on crude it pumped out of the ground. Smaller refiners aren't so fortunate. Sunoco Inc.'s refining and supply business lost $123 million in the first quarter, hurt by lower margins. Tesoro Corp. lost $82 million for the same period. In any case, huge profits at big oil companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron aren't because of high prices at the pump. Their massive profits are tied to their exploration and production arms, which are benefiting from record crude prices.

Higher crude costs also have squeezed profits at the refining arms of companies like ConocoPhillips, which don't produce enough crude themselves to refine at full capacity without buying more oil from other producers. CEO Jim Mulva said ConocoPhillips, the second-largest U.S. refiner behind Valero Energy Corp., buys about 2 million barrels of crude a day at market prices to refine into gasoline and other products. If oil costs us $30 a barrel or $40 a barrel or $120 a barrel, that's why the cost of gasoline is what it is, he said. It's not because of taxes. It's not because of ... refining and distribution. It's because of the cost of oil.But it's not only about the price of oil. Other costs are a factor — though they've remained relatively stable. For example, federal and state taxes added 40 cents to a gallon of gas in the first three months of this year, roughly the same amount as they added four years ago.

California's 63.9 cents of tax is the nation's highest, Alaska's 26.4 cents the lowest. How the money is used varies from state to state, though the federal take helps to build and maintain highways and bridges. Marketing and distribution costs — the tab for delivering gasoline from refiner to retailer — were 27 cents to start the year, only 6 cents above the cost four years ago. The cost of refining added 27 cents to a gallon in the first quarter of this year, a nickel less than what it added in 2004, according to the Energy Information Administration. That refining occurs at sprawling industrial complexes across the U.S., with most of the biggest along the Gulf Coast. Barrels of crude arrive each day by pipeline, ship and barge. The refineries, by heating, treating and blending the raw oil, turn out products like diesel and lubricating oil. And, of course, gasoline. What happens when that gasoline makes its way to your neighborhood gas station?

Major oil companies own fewer than 5 percent of gas stations. Most are owned by small retailers — and many of them say they're struggling these days to turn a profit on gas. That's because wholesale gasoline prices have risen sharply in recent months — again, blame it on crude — but station owners have been unable to raise pump prices fast enough to keep pace. And you can't keep jacking up the price when drivers are buying less. Gas station owners face a balancing act: They must try to maintain a price that allows them to afford the next shipment of gasoline but not give the competition an edge. Stations pay tens of thousands of dollars for each gas shipment before they see a cent in the register. Eventually, many make only a few cents on a gallon of gasoline, a margin that can disappear altogether when credit card fees are added in. Thank goodness for beef jerky and sodas. Most gasoline retailers long ago got past any illusion they can make money by selling gas. They rely on gas sales to drive traffic to their shops, where they hope auto repairs or food and drink sales will help them turn a profit. You're always out there competing with the guy next door — literally with the guy across the street — and worried too about how you're going to pay for your next supply, said Rayola Dougher, a senior economic adviser at the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's trade association. In the Philadelphia suburb of Havertown, Pa., earlier in the week, Sunoco station operator Steve Kehler received a load of gasoline — 9,000 gallons — which, at a wholesale price of $3.729 a gallon, cost him 4cents more than the previous load. That left him in a sticky situation: Should he raise prices right away to recoup some of his higher gasoline expenses, or should he hold off for a couple of days in hopes his competitors will also have to raise their prices?

I'm surrounded by $3.89's, and I'm already at $3.91, said Kehler, referring to his prices and those of some nearby competitors. I'm going to play a little waiting game right now.The $33,600 Kehler must pay for his overnight gasoline delivery won't be debited from his bank account for a few days. That gives him a little breathing room, time to hold prices steady. Hiking prices too quickly will hurt sales. I'll probably change it tomorrow night, at closing, Kehler said. I'll go up 4 cents.That will put Kehler at a gross margin of about 20 cents a gallon. After paying credit card fees, labor and rent, Kehler will be lucky to break even on his gasoline sales. But many times, he loses money selling gas. Kehler, like most other service station operators, relies entirely upon his car repair business for income. Of course, the plight of retailers is little consolation for drivers. Mayra Perez said she works two fast-food jobs to help support her family, and gasoline is becoming harder to afford. She said perhaps the government should step in to help ease the burden, possibly by placing price limits on gasoline.

She was filling the tank of her compact car in Miami this past week to the tune of $3.89 per gallon for regular gas. This is horrible, she said. On the weekend, my husband and I use only one car to save on gas. But then there's the cost of food, milk, eggs, the rent.AP Business Writer Adrian Sainz in Miami contributed to this story.