STORMS CONTINUE

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.

STORM OUTLOOK FOR SATURDAY
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TORNADOES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
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Power outages widespread in Texas after Dolly By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer JULY 25,08

HARLINGEN, Texas - Business at reopened restaurants was humming, grocery store parking lots were packed and residents of south Texas were venturing out on the newly dry roads again as the remnants of Hurricane Dolly moved well away from the Rio Grande Valley. But thousands were still without power Thursday and cleanup was ongoing following the Category 2 storm. Officials also warned that Dolly's aftereffects were not necessarily gone for good.Downed power lines remained the greatest danger. One person in Matamoros, Mexico, died from electrocution after walking past a power line on the ground.

Fallen billboards and business signs still littered the streets, but residents were out and about after hunkering down for most of Wednesday. As the sun peeked through dark clouds, people began cleaning up and expressed relief that the storm didn't take many lives.We're all OK, said Hilario Cruz as he chopped up a felled tree that just missed his pickup truck in Harlingen. We covered the windows. The water was up to our knees yesterday.There will be substantial cleanup: President Bush declared 15 counties in south Texas a disaster area to release federal funding to them, and insurance estimators put the losses at $750 million.By Thursday afternoon, forecasters downgraded Dolly to a tropical depression. The storm, which brought 100 mph winds, was expected to break up by Friday. It left behind more than a foot of rain in some areas and broke all-time July rainfall records in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

But with Dolly long gone, 159,000 people in the region were still without power at 10 p.m. EDT Thursday, according to Gov. Rick Perry's office. The figure was down from 228,000 earlier in the day.

Steve McCraw, the state's homeland security director, said about 1,500 workers were on hand to help restore power and seven stations were distributing water, ice, food and hygiene kits.An aerial view of the Rio Grande Valley showed fields forming a checkerboard pattern, some inundated with water, others spared. Traffic was moving again in most places, but some residential areas were surrounded by floodwaters and debris was strewn across lawns.Perry, who flew over the area Thursday with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, cautioned residents not to rest easy just yet.It appears that we have handled it as well as it can be handled. But it is far from over, Perry said, noting possible flooding over the next five days from runoff as the storm moves northward.Sen. Cornyn said Dolly should remind the federal government that it needs to fund levee improvements along the Rio Grande.We're lucky Mother Nature didn't deal us a harsher blow, Cornyn said.After crashing ashore on South Padre Island midday Wednesday, Dolly meandered north, leaving towns on the northern tip of the Rio Grande Valley with a surprise. Officials had feared the Rio Grande levees would breach, but the storm veered from its predicted path and they held strong.We're glad it didn't make a direct hit but it just refocuses on the issues we have, said Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos. The levees are suspect. Nothing's changed in my opinion.While the area near the border that expected the bulk of the storm was counting its blessings, residents a little farther north were wondering what hit them.In the La Quinta section of San Benito, flooding is routine as rain normally drives torrents of water off a nearby expressway and pool around raised railroad beds. But they said Thursday they'd never seen anything like this.

One subsidized housing project will likely have to be torn down, having just barely survived three or four other floods, said Arnold Padilla, the city's housing director. If it was salvageable at all, it would be three or four months before it was livable, Padilla said. The raised railroad tracks that define the neighborhood became the vantage point, boat launch and the only dry ground around. Residents waded through waist-deep brown water with a few belongings wrapped in plastic bags held high in a sad caravan of Dolly's displaced. A bit farther northwest in Harlingen, Joanna Nunez was considering how to fix the new hole in her roof. She said that not long after the storm had torn away the chunk, a neighbor boy staying at her house asked if he could go outside to see Dolly.

I told him, We are outside, she said, smiling and looking at the hole. Rain and wind from Dolly probably doomed much of the cotton crop in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. About 92,000 acres of cotton in the region were awaiting harvest but driving rains and high winds knocked bolls to the ground, making them unsalvageable, Texas Agri Life Extension agent Rod Santa Ana said. Sorghum acres damaged by rain in early July also could be doomed, he said. A remnant of the storm on Thursday blew several roofs off houses and businesses on San Antonio's south side, about 300 miles northwest of where the storm made landfall. There were no immediate reports of injuries and the National Weather Service sent a storm survey team to determine whether it was a tornado or strong winds. On South Padre Island, which endured the worst of Dolly's wrath, power could be out for another day, said town spokeswoman Melissa Zamora. A 9 p.m. curfew was set for the second night in row Thursday, and the National Guard and FEMA were distributing ice, water and food.

South Padre Island officials said no buildings were in danger of collapse, but damage was widespread to hotels and other businesses. There were no dollar estimates on damage yet. Avi Fima was mourning the damage to my baby — his Surf Stop store on Padre Boulevard. Windows were blown out, half the roof was torn away and water bubbled up the carpeting inside. This is going to hit us good, Fima said. We actually started summer really good. ... To rebuild it — the season will be over. We have a month left.Across the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico, power was restored to large parts of Brownsville's sister city, and Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez said he hoped the lights would be on by the end of the day. Gas stations and factories reopened as about 2,500 police and soldiers patrolled to prevent looting while many of the 13,000 people who had taken shelter returned home. The last hurricane to hit the U.S. was the fast-forming Humberto, which came ashore in southeast Texas last September. The busiest part of the Atlantic hurricane season is usually in August and September. So far this year, there have been four named storms, two of which became hurricanes. Federal forecasters predict a total of 12 to 16 named storms and six to nine hurricanes this season. Associated Press writers Christopher Sherman in San Benito, Betsey Blaney in Lubbock and Mark Walsh in Matamoros, Mexico, contributed to this report.

Deadly storm hits New Hampshire, damages homes Thu Jul 24, 3:06 PM ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - Severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado tore into New Hampshire on Thursday, killing at least one person, leaving an unidentified number trapped in homes and bringing down trees, residents and local media said. We still have live wires and trees down everywhere, said Mary Frambach, a volunteer at the fire department in Epsom, a town in eastern New Hampshire hit hard by the storm that struck central and eastern areas of the state.She told Reuters that rescue authorities were helping remove people trapped in badly damaged homes, including at least one that had collapsed.New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch declared a state of emergency in five counties and opened an emergency operations center.The area covered by the state of emergency is home to 675,000 people, more than half of the largely rural state's population. It includes the state capital Concord as well as vacation towns around Lake WinnipesaukeeLake Winnipesaukee.The situation is still ongoing. I urge all New Hampshire citizens to take sensible precautions and to heed all warnings from public safety officials, Lynch said in a statement.At least one person was killed near Northwood Lake in Epsom, New Hampshire's Union Leader newspaper reported.We have reports of about 100 homes damaged, Colin Manning, a spokesman for the governor, said in a telephone interview, adding that Lynch was in a helicopter inspecting affected areas.There clearly were quite a number of houses that were damaged. Some of them appear to be completely flattened or large portions of them flattened, said New Hampshire's State Emergency Management spokesman, Jim Van Dongen.

Todd Gutner, a meteorologist at WBZ-TV, said that based on reports of damage it was likely the area was hit by a tornado, a rare occurrence in the region.I have never seen rain come down like that, Mike Hedstrom, a resident in Northwood, New Hampshire, told the television station. Houses are down, roofs are off, trees are down, he added.Wayne Murray, a 58-year-old resident in Deerfield, New Hampshire, told the Union Leader that part of the roof on his house tore off in the winds and the area looked like a war zone.
(Reporting by Jason Szep and Scott Malone, Editing by Xavier Briand)

Genevieve becomes hurricane but is not near land JULY 25,08

MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Genevieve has strengthened into a hurricane far off Mexico's Pacific coast, and forecasters say it is expected to stay out at sea. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Genevieve was 585 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas in Baja California and was moving west-northwest at about 12 mph with winds clocked at 75 mph.Forecasters say the storm will likely reach its peak intensity Friday and then start to weaken by Saturday. Genevieve is the fourth Pacific hurricane of the season.

Flooding feared along U.S.-Mexico border from Dolly By Joe Mitchell Thu Jul 24, 6:17 PM ET

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Hurricane Dolly, which lashed the U.S.-Mexico coastline, weakened to a tropical depression on Thursday over South Texas, but concern remained over flooding along the populous Rio Grande Valley. Initial reports indicated that aging levees holding back the Rio Grande River withstood a surge from Dolly, which dumped up to 12 inches of rain in the first hours after coming ashore at the barrier island of South Padre Island on Wednesday and spurred widespread flooding across South Texas and northeast Mexico.The full effect of the flooding might not be seen for days as rain flows into the region where more than 1 million people live.Local officials said the levees have held under the strain, though flooding was widespread.They held up fine, said Johnny Cavazos, emergency management coordinator for Cameron County, which borders Mexico and the mouth of the Rio Grande. I don't see this being a problem as Dolly moves inland.Dolly, the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season, left about 245,000 homes in the valley without power as of Thursday afternoon, according to the state's grid operator.Dolly came ashore on Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane, the second level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kmh), but steadily lost strength as it moved inland.At 5 p.m. EDT the storm was 35 miles south of Eagle Pass, Texas, with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kmh), the National Hurricane Center said.The Miami-based forecasters said it could produce total rainfall of up to 20 inches in some places. These rains are very likely to cause widespread flooding, it said.

DISASTER AREAS

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has put 1,200 National Guard troops on alert in case they are needed to help cope with the storm's aftermath.

There were no reports that levees along the Rio Grande had been breached.The Bush administration declared 15 of the Texas counties hit hardest by the storm as disaster areas, allowing them to draw on federal funds for cleanup and rebuilding.In South Padre Island, residents emerged from their homes and shelters to walk through streets littered with debris, toppled street lights and downed power poles.Everything is gone. Everything got wet, said Amber Acevado, who runs a flooring store on the island. You stand here inside the store, you can see right through to the outside.Many residents and tourists trapped on the island by the storm left after a causeway to the mainland reopened.Offshore drilling rigs and production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico emerged from the storm mostly unscathed.U.S. crude oil prices rose earlier this week on worries of possible storm damage to offshore drilling rigs. But oil prices fell after the storm barely dented supplies, hitting a 7-week low of $123.50 a barrel on Thursday. In Mexico, Dolly flooded towns along the northeast coast up to waist level, and a man was killed in the border city of Matamoros when power cables fell into floodwater and electrocuted him, local authorities said. Mexico's navy on Wednesday recovered the body of a fisherman who had vanished off the Yucatan Peninsula as the storm passed through. In South Padre Island, a 17-year-old boy was seriously injured when he fell seven stories from a condominium balcony during the storm.

(Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth in San Antonio, Tomas Bravo in Playa Bagdad, Mexico, Jose Cortazar in Cancun, Mexico and Catherine Bremer in Mexico City; Writing by Chris Baltimore; Editing by Xavier Briand) (For latest U.S. National Hurricane Center reports, see http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ )

Dolly destroys Texas cotton, sorghum crops By BETSY BLANEY, AP Agriculture Writer Thu Jul 24, 4:23 PM ET

Hurricane Dolly probably doomed South Texas's cotton and sorghum crops already damaged by heavy rains earlier in the summer. But analysts said the loss, while devastating for local producers, will have only a short-term effect on the markets. Nonetheless, it doesn't look good for either crop, Texas AgriLife Extension agent Rod Santa Ana said Thursday.About 92,000 acres of cotton in the region was awaiting harvest until driving rains and high winds stained the cotton and drove the bolls to the ground, where harvest becomes useless. Even if the bolls had remained on the plants, the resulting cotton cloth's quality would have been severely diminished.No firm figures will be available on the damage until after Dolly passes and cotton producers are able to get back in their fields.Santa Ana said 170,000 acres of sorghum had already slipped a grade — bringing producers fewer dollar per hundred weight — from rains earlier this month. Farmers were still deciding whether to harvest it at all, when Dolly hit and answered the question for them. It no longer makes financial sense to bring in the damaged plants.Sorghum is used to feed cattle and poultry in Mexico. Prices of cattle and poultry feed already are soaring as a result of rising corn prices. The recent floods in the Midwest engulfed an estimated 2 million or more acres of corn and soybean fields, and U.S. production of ethanol, an alternative fuel that can be made with corn, also has driven prices higher.Once fields dry, insurance adjusters will survey sorghum producers' losses.

The loss of cotton acres to Dolly amount to about two-tenths of 1 percent of the world's cotton supply for the year, so it won't affect markets in the long run, analysts said.Texas, the nation's leader in cotton production, planted 4.8 million acres, more than half the country's 9.24 million acres.But a loss of that amount is very serious to the producer that lost it because it's 100 percent of their cotton for the year, said Roger Haldenby, spokesman for the Plains Cotton Growers, which serves 41 Texas counties in the world's largest contiguous growing patch.The losses could affect futures market but only in the short term, said Mike Stevens of Swiss Financial Services, Inc. The price could tighten the difference for October contracts, now trading at roughly 71 cents per pound, and December contracts, which rose 0.94 cent on Thursday to close at 73.86 cents a pound on the ICE Futures US exchange.

Still, cotton futures have fallen 25 percent from their March high, driven lower by weather-induced declines in corn, wheat and soybeans, which tend to influence cotton futures and other agriculture products.Don't expect to see the price of cotton clothing rise, Haldenby said.I don't see that it would affect the cost of Levi's or Hanes undershirts whatsoever, he said.The U.S. supply of cotton from this year's crop is still up in the air and mostly because of West Texas, Stevens said. Severe drought and gusty winds there damaged irrigated and dryland plants in June.It's such a mishmash that I don't think anyone is going to have a good handle on it, until September's crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.The U.S., which exports far more than it consumes, still has about 10 million carryover bales from last year's crop. Demand for U.S. cotton is very fragile because of the economic situation as questions of whether we're really in recession linger, Stevens said.India, where the monsoon season isn't coming on as producers there had hoped, is the U.S.'s largest cotton competitor and is working to make inroads to sell more cotton to China than American producers. A short crop in India could bode well for U.S. producers as supplies would tighten, said John Robinson, an associate professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University, said. If they come up short that could really make things volatile on the upside for prices to producers, he said.

Obama urges Iran to accept EU nuke proposal By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer JULY 25,08

PARIS - Democrat Barack Obama said Friday that Iran should promptly accept an international call to freeze its uranium enrichment program, which some nations see as a potential step toward obtaining nuclear weapons, and not wait for the next U.S. president. The presidential candidate met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, where they discussed Iran, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change and other issues.Speaking later at a news conference, Obama said Iran should accept the proposals made by Sarkozy and other Western leaders. He urged Iran's leaders not to wait for the next U.S. president to push them because the pressure, I think, is only going to build.The United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and demand that it freeze its uranium enrichment program. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Obama said that he and Sarkozy agreed that Iran poses an extraordinarily grave situation. He said the world must send a clear message to Iran to end its illicit nuclear program.Obama said: My expectation is that we're going to present a clear choice to Iran: change your behavior and you will be fully integrated into the international community with all the benefits that go with that. Continue your illicit nuclear program and the international community as a whole will ratchet up pressure with stronger and increased sanctions. And we should have no illusion that progress will come easily.Obama is in the midst of a weeklong tour of the Middle East and Europe as the first-term U.S. senator seeks to burnish his international credentials for the general election campaign against Republican rival Sen. John McCain. The trip began with a campaign-season tour of the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan and ends with meetings with old allies France and Britain.Obama told reporters that Afghanistan is a war we have to win. The Taliban and terrorist groups it supports, he said, pose an unacceptable threat to the U.S., France and other nations.We've got to finish the job, said Obama, who often has said the Iraq war was an unwise move that distracted the United States from efforts to find Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders and to root out the Taliban forces in Afghanistan.Sarkozy said he agreed that the Taliban must be defeated in Afghanistan, where French troops are part of a multinational force.The joint news conference had many light moments. Sarkozy called his guest my dear Barack Obama, and said the French have been following the U.S. presidential race with passion.It's fascinating to watch what's happening there, he said.

The two men recalled their 2006 meeting in Washington, when Sarkozy was the French interior minister. Obama said the only other U.S. senator who Sarkozy visited then was McCain, now the presumed Republican nominee for president.Obama urged U.S. political reporters to seek Sarkozy's insight because he seems to have a good nose for how things play out.Sarkozy wished Obama luck, but did not endorse him. He said it was up to Americans to choose their president.Asked by a French reporter how he would differ from President Bush on foreign policy, Obama noted that he is a senator, not president.I am a candidate for president, he said. But there's a wonderful tradition in the United States, that's not always observed, but I think is a good one. Which is that you don't spend time criticizing a sitting president when you're overseas.What I can say affirmatively is that an effective U.S. foreign policy will be based on our ability not only to project power but also to listen and to build consensus, Obama said. AP Special Correspondent David Espo contributed to this report.

Stocks advance on upbeat economic reports By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer JULY 25,08

NEW YORK - Upbeat economic data lifted stocks Friday, placating a market pummeled a day earlier by concerns about housing and the financial sector. A better than expected report on home sales helped Wall Street shake off some early uncertainty. The Commerce Department said June sales of new single-family homes fell by 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 530,000 units; the market expected sales to total 505,000. That report helped offset concerns raised by a weak reading on existing home sales on Thursday.And there was good news about consumers, whose shyness about spending has troubled Wall Street. The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment for the first part of July came in at 61.2, while economists forecast a reading of 56.4, which was the level hit in June — a 28-year-low.The Commerce Department also said orders for durable goods rose 0.8 percent last month, far better than the 0.4 percent decline economists expected. It was the best showing since a 1.1 percent rise in February and reflected strength in demand for heavy machinery, primary metals such as steel and even a slight rebound in the beleaguered auto industry.

Linda Duessel, equity market strategist at Federated Investors, said economic figures such as the durable goods numbers are important because they reveal continued demand from abroad, which could help U.S. companies continue to rake in profits even if the U.S. economy isn't running at full steam.That's good news for market participants as we try to find a footing in the market because we really don't want to see our weakness leak outside the U.S., she said.Meanwhile, a barrel of light sweet crude fell $1.85 to $123.64 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have fallen over $20 in recent weeks, alleviating some of Wall Street's concerns about the impact of inflation consumers' ability to spend.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.94, or 0.21 percent, to 11,373.22. The Dow, which fluctuated in early trading, fell more than 280 points Thursday.Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 4.58, or 0.37 percent, to 1,257.12, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 23.21, or 1.02 percent, to 2,303.32.Bond prices moved lower as investors shifted back into stocks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.09 percent from 4.00 percent from late Thursday.The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.The stock market's volatility this week — rallying Tuesday and Wednesday only to erase those gains Thursday — illustrates tentativeness behind some of the bets investors are laying, said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors. He said the market tends to react to whatever the latest headlines are.It's just news sensitive and the real question is What's the next news going to be? Good or bad? That means that the market doesn't have a trend or a direction. It depends entirely on whether the news is going to be good or bad on any given day and that doesn't give you, as an investor, a lot of confidence, he said.Johnson said the ride for investors will likely remain bumpy as Wall Street awaits next Friday's government employment report for July.If the consensus is correct they'll have little choice but to leave interest rates unchanged, he said referring to the difficulties Federal Reserve policymakers would have in hiking rates to battle inflation without damaging the economy.In corporate news, Juniper Networks Inc., the maker of networking equipment, reported a 40 percent increase in earnings for the second quarter, helped by a new product line. Results narrowly surpassed Wall Street projections. The stock rose $3.21, or 14 percent, to $25.78.Chemicals maker Huntsman Corp. said it was approached by investors offering funding to help complete its $6.5 billion takeover by Apollo Management. Huntsman rose 68 cents, or 5 percent, to $13.95.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined as investors worried about the government-chartered mortgage finance companies' financial stability. Fannie Mae fell 75 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $11.27, while Freddie Mac fell 61 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $8.20. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 711.6 million shares. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 9.95, or 1.42 percent, to 712.34. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.97 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.13 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.06 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 0.67 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

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

Sarkozy's Grand Mediterranean Plan founders on one word: Jewish By David Singer July 24, 2008 ISRAEL INSIDER

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has had to eat humble pie after his ground-breaking plan to establish the 43 member Mediterranean Union failed to reach an agreed final communiquי because of the opposition to its wording by the Palestinian Authority (PA) -- the only non-state member present. President Sarkozy's efforts in bringing Israel and 9 members of the Arab League -- including Syria -- to this inaugural meeting promised to introduce a ray of light for Israeli-Arab co-operation and an end to regional turmoil.

Hopes were high that the moribund state of negotiations between Israel and the PA under the Roadmap proposed by America, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- the Quartet -- might miraculously be brought back to life. Israel's Prime Minister Mr Olmert had been remarkably upbeat in claiming - prior to the meeting -- that his country had never been closer to a peace deal with the Palestinians. The images of President Sarkozy, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Mr Olmert smiling and enjoying a three way bear hug would have encouraged President Sarkozy into believing that he would be able to achieve the diplomatic breakthrough that had eluded the Quartet for the last 5 years. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner however was not taken in by Mr Olmert's absurd assessment and had sounded a word of warning when he bluntly told European News (12 July): Being around the same table with people you have fought is the beginning of something, it is the wind of hope. I'm sorry to say that the talks between the Israelis and Palestinians are not part of this wind of hope.Little did Mr Kouchner -- or President Sarkozy -- imagine that the fundamental disagreements between Israel and the PA would be used by the PA to undermine the grand design of President Sarkozy to bring the nations of the Mediterranean and the European Union together in a new spirit of co-operation and joint venture. The unfriendly wind Mr Kouchner had felt was shortly to blow away any hopes of an agreed summit position when the PA objected to the wording of the summit declaration. Why the PA thought it necessary to incur the wrath and displeasure of President Sarkozy by importing the Middle-East conflict into the formation of the Mediterranean Union was puzzling. Quibbling over a few words in an otherwise agreed document remained a mystery - until the PA tried to explain the significance - and insidiousness - of its objection. PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told reporters according to Xinhua news agency (July 15): The Israelis insisted on the inclusion of the words -- state for the Jewish people -- something we are categorically opposed to. It was out of the question for us to accept this wording. We wanted to ensure the final statement was very clear on this point.

The Israeli delegation had a different take on what had happened telling Xinhua that Israel was in agreement with everything that has been adopted in the declaration because it was done by consensus.Mr Kouchner was more forthcoming on what had actually occurred to spoil President Sarkozy's party. He told Xinhua that the standstill had been caused by the use of the expressions nation state, national state, and democratic state. This had resulted in a last minute deadlock between the Israelis and the Palestinians which meant that the final text had to undergo some little changes. The use of the expression national state implies difficulties in ensuring the return of refugees to the Jewish State or non-Jewish, Palestinian State.How the PA could ever hope to succeed in getting the Mediterranean Union members to unanimously agree to wording in the summit declaration that would support the entry of millions of Arabs into Israel and deny the Jewish people its own State is unbelievable. These two intransigent demands of the PA have long been the sticking points in ensuring that President Bush's vision -- the creation of a 23rd Arab state between Israel and Jordan - will remain an impossible dream incapable of fulfilment. Now they had been brought to France by the PA to embarrass and undermine President Sarkozy's vision -- the establishment of the Mediterranean Union. The supine French reaction to these untenable and badly mistimed demands was entirely predictable. President Sarkozy could have told the PA to take a cold shower or to re-apply for membership of the Mediterranean Union when it had received international recognition as the governing authority of a sovereign and democratic state. Alternatively he could have suggested the PA be given observer status at the Mediterranean Union until statehood was achieved.

Mindful that any such action would have provoked an Arab walkout, President Sarkozy bit his tongue and chose the diplomatic path -- sending the hapless Mr. Kouchner on an appeasement journey to ease the frustration Sarkozy must have felt at this upstart non-state thwarting mighty France at the very brink of what was to be one of its greatest achievements. Mr. Kouchner was left to tell Xinhua (July 15): At the last moment we failed, perhaps for half an hour, to advance due to one word.That one word was Jewish. The Arab campaign to delegitimize the Jewish State was once again exposed as it continued in earnest in Paris at the birthplace of the Mediterranean Union. One Jewish State on this planet remains an anathema to most of the 22 Islamic Arab States as they continue to not recognise it, resist it and call for its destruction wherever and whenever the opportunity arises. Mr. Kouchner is fooling no-one as he bends the French knee -- or worse, perhaps -- once again in deference to this racist alliance that has actively opposed the existence of the Jewish State in its ancient homeland since its establishment 60 years ago. It will take more than half an hour and more than one word before these nations are disabused of their evil intentions. Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.

Italian Lisbon vote builds pressure on Ireland:Rome: the founding EU treaty was signed in the Italian capital in 1957 (Photo: EUobserver.com)PHILIPPA RUNNER 24.07.2008 @ 09:26 CET (1957 TREATY WAS THE REVIVED ROME TREATY)

The Italian senate's unanimous support for the Lisbon treaty on Wednesday (23 July) should help force Ireland into a revote, Italian politicians said, with Ireland looking increasingly likely to stand out as the only EU country not to ratify the text.If ratification takes place in the other 26 states, in the autumn we will be able to ask Ireland to find a solution which will not block the integration process and go to the European elections with the new rules foreseen in the Lisbon treaty, the senate's foreign affairs committee head, Lamberto Dini, indicated. The challenge [of solving Europe's political problems] will begin on the day when the treaty enters into force and when [EU] countries find out they can no longer rely on the right to veto by one of them, Italian foreign minister and former EU commissioner, Franco Frattini, added.The remarks came as all 286 Italian senators who turned up for the Lisbon vote on Wednesday afternoon gave their backing to the text, with the Italian lower house also expected to approve the treaty by a large majority when it votes next week.The Northern League, which had earlier called for a referendum on Lisbon, voted in favour but made a show of supporting separatist European regions by waving flags from the Basque Country, Catalonia, Sardinia, Venice, Liguria and Lombardy during the senate debate.Twenty one out of 27 EU states have definitively ratified the EU treaty despite the Irish No vote in a referendum in June. The Spanish, German and Polish parliaments have also approved the text, which now awaits the signatures of the respective heads of state.The Swedish parliament is set to pass the treaty without serious opposition when it begins its autumn session in September. And Czech Prime Minister Miroslav Topolanek this week pledged the full support of his divided ODS party when parliament votes in autumn.

Meanwhile, France is pushing Ireland to hold a second vote, with President Nicolas Sarkozy on his visit to Dublin on Monday suggesting that the June 2009 European Parliament elections would be a good time for another referendum on Lisbon.The EU summit in October will see the next major discussion of the future of the EU treaty, with Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin pledging to give clarity on Ireland's plans in December.

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.

Eurozone at risk of first-ever recession
LEIGH PHILLIPS JULY 25,08 Today @ 09:45 CET

The eurozone is facing the threat of the first ever recession in its brief history since 1999, according to the latest business data on the 15-country single currency bloc.A survey issued on Thursday (24 July) of some 5,000 companies showed both manufacturing and services activity declining rapidly in July, after the second quarter from March to June already showed economic contraction. If the July to September period continues on its downward trajectory, the eurozone will meet the technical definition of a recession: two consecutive quarters of shrinking output.The Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), produced by market research group Markit dropped to 47.8 points in July down from 49.3 in June, falling lower than economists' predictions.The PMI for services companies dropped to a five-year low of 48.3 from 49.1. In the manufacturing sector, the index was down to 47.5 from 49.2.A figure above 50 in the index indicates growth, while below 50, the sector is going backwards.Employment in the service sector also shrank in July, the first time the number of services jobs has not grown in four years. And Employment in manufacturing dropped to a three-year low.

Manufacturing output is at its lowest rate since the attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001 and new orders are at their lowest level in seven years.A slew of other surveys of the French, German and Italian economies also backed up the PMI data.A key survey of German business sentiment, the Ifo index, showed the business climate in Europe's largest economy at a three-year low.

In France, business confidence fell this month for the sixth month in a row, and slipped to its lowest level since May 2005, according to the INSEE index.In Italy, business sentiment plunged to its lowest levels for almost seven years, according to a survey from market analysts ISAE.For its part, the Spanish government, struggling with a collapse in the housing market, has cut its growth forecast for 2008 to 1.6 percent, down from 2.3 percent.

Economic growth in the eurozone is coming almost to a halt, said Bank of America economist Holger Schmieding, according to AFP.

EU agency gives guarded ok to cloned meat
RENATA GOLDIROVA JULY 25,08 Today @ 09:57 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Meat and milk from cloned animals or their offspring are as safe to eat as products from conventionally bred animals, the European Union's food safety watchdog has said. The body has admitted, however, that the base of evidence - while showing consistent findings - is still limited.On Thursday (24 July), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released its final scientific opinion on the impact of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and welfare as well as the environment. The study - triggered by the European Commission's request for advice in February 2007 - has concluded that for cattle and pigs, food safety concerns are considered unlikely. The composition and nutritional values of meat and milk from healthy clones and their offspring are not different from those obtained from conventionally produced animals, Professor Vittorio Silano, the head of EFSA's scientific committee, told the EUobserver. But when asked whether there is any risk linked to eating and drinking cloned food products, he sticked to the term unlikely. Science normally does not give this kind of reply: [a definitive] Yes or No. The reply we can give confidently is that it is unlikely that there might be a problem, Professor Silano said, although recommending additional research in order to increase the data basis for any conclusion. In addition, EFSA has stressed that meat and milk must be derived strictly from healthy animals, while it is important to track back sick animals and remove them from food chain. The study has also raised concerns over health and animal welfare aspects, as a significant proportion of clones have been found to be adversely affected, often severely and with a fatal outcome. But there is no evidence that there is any carry-over to the next generation, Professor Dan Collins, a member of EFSA's scientific committee, told the EUobserver. The European Commission - in charge of making any policy recommendations based on EFSA's study - has responded cautiously to study results. They give rise to increased concerns on aspects of animal health and welfare and left open questions of food safety, it said, according to the Guardian. According to Professor Silano, it is going to take a long time before food from cloned animals' offspring reaches store shelves in Europe. I guess this is the trend in the US, but I am not so sure that this is the trend in Europe, he said, citing many objections concerning animal welfare and skeptic public opinion as two main reasons.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

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

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

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

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

Obama rallies Europe for war on terror
PHILIPPA RUNNER JULY 25,08 Today @ 09:14 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama urged Europe and a strong EU to stand by the US in a war on extremism in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, in a poetic speech delivered to 200,000 people in Berlin's Tiergarten Park on Thursday (24 July) evening. We must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it, he told the huge crowd. We can...dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman, in London and Bali, in Washington and New York.

Speaking at times of a new global security partnership that would involve Russia, Mr Obama focused on a traditional Atlanticist model in which the US and Europe use a mixture of warfare, diplomacy and aid to bring democracy and a market economy to strategic regions.

America has no better partner than Europe, he said, adding we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad, and calling NATO the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.On Afghanistan, the presidential hopeful said the Afghan people need our troops and your troops to defeat the Taliban. More ambiguously on Iraq, he called for European support in order to pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.Mr Obama urged Europe to send a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions and to back pro-democracy movements in Lebanon. He also appealed for help for refugees and dissidents in Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow, said Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan.

Mea culpa

Walking a tightrope between the sensibilities of US voters and his anti-Iraq war, anti-Guantanamo Bay European audience, he admitted We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

Mr Obama also apologised for America's past refusal to join international agreements on climate change, saying Let us resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere.In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth.

Pop-star status

The event saw Mr Obama greeted like a pop-star in a festival atmosphere, with young people pressed against barriers trying to shake his hand and the crowd roaring its approval when he spoke of nuclear disarmament, common humanity or the improbable hope for a better world. A muted silence descended when he spoke of your troops in Afghanistan.A recent poll showed that between 74 and 82 percent of German, French and British people back the Democrat against Republican candidate John McCain. But US surveys show Mr Obama leads by just one to seven points ahead of the 4 November American elections. He will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Friday and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London on Saturday, having travelled to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel and the Palestinian territories in the past week.

Not president yet

Mr McCain, who ate in a German restaurant in Ohio the same day, criticised his rival for posing as a leader before the November vote. I'd love to give a speech in Germany but I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate, he said.Left-wing commentators in the US were also taken aback by Mr Obama's tone, with New York Times reporter Katherine Q. Seelye writing One unusual thing about this speech: can anyone recall another time when an American who is not president has gone overseas and asked another country for its troops? European reactions also focused on the hawkish nature of the address. He went onto German turf and asked for more troops in Afghanistan...This will probably create some embarrassment, especially among Europe's progressive forces, which already consider Obama a symbol, Rome's Center for Strategic Studies analyst Germano Dottori told AP.

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

EU endorses idea of collecting air passenger data
RENATA GOLDIROVA JULY 24,08 Today @ 09:16 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU interior ministers have given their general backing to a Brussels-drafted proposal to collect, store and analyse air passengers' personal data so that security agencies across Europe can identify high-risk travellers. We reached an agreement on the principle of the European PNR, French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie said after meeting her colleagues on Thursday (24 July), referring to a system for the collection and analysis of passenger name records suggested by the European Commission in November last year as part of its new anti-terrorism strategy. According to the ministerial deal, a number of working groups will be set up in order to look into different aspects of the proposal - including what exact information should be captured and whether the data should come only from foreigners flying to Europe or all passengers.The duration of retention of personal data and how best to protect them also need to be studies by national experts in consultation with the European Parliament as well as transport sector, the French minister said. EU home affairs commissioner Jacques Barrot wants the union's air passenger name recording scheme - similar to the controversial US database on European air travellers - to be up and running by the end of 2009.

The Netherlands and the UK have already been testing their own pilot projects.