Saturday, September 06, 2008

TROPICAL HANNA AND IKE ROARS IN USA

VIDEO - STATIONS KEEP UP ON THE HURRICANES.

CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

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.

4.0 quake shakes San Francisco and East Bay Mercury News
Article Launched: 09/05/2008 09:42:15 PM PDT


A 4.0 earthquake centered in Alamo near the Calaveras Fault shook the San Francisco Bay Area Friday night. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake at 9 p.m., four miles northwest of Danville and seven miles south of Concord in Contra Costa County. It was felt as a sharp rumble that lasted about seven seconds. Two aftershocks, measuring 1.3, struck shortly after. The light quake halted BART trains for about five minutes. According to the USGS., the quake had a depth of 10.1 miles, and residents as far away as San Jose and Stockton reported feeling a jolt.Wow! I was surprised that was only a 4.0. I felt the jerk sitting on my chair, said a woman who lives in Oakley. She said the power went out for a second, but there were no other noticeable effects.We have not received any reports of injuries or property damage, Contra Costa Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said. We all felt it, though.USGS seismologist David Oppenheimer said the quake originated on a nameless fault, which is perpendicular to the Calaveras Fault, that was last active in 1990. In April 1990 it (was active) for three weeks, he said.It had hundreds of earthquakes and caused structural damage.Local police agencies said they received no reports of injuries or damage caused by Friday's temblor. This is a good reminder that we are in an earthquake country, Contra Costa sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said. People should have an emergency kit and plan.

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.

Remnants of Hanna expected to deliver wet punch to Maritime provinces
By The Canadian Press SEPT 06,08


HALIFAX - Tropical storm Hanna was racing up the east coast of the United States on Saturday, making its way toward the Maritimes and threatening to drench a region already saturated from a summer of heavy rain. The storm, which left 137 people dead in Haiti, came ashore Saturday near the boundary between North and South Carolina and was losing steam as it began churning toward New England. The Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S., said very wet remnants of the storm are expected to deluge the Maritimes on Sunday. Prince Edward Island, northern Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick will be hit the hardest, with between 60 and 80 millimetres of rain predicted. With Hanna, there's quite likely going to be some local, heavier amounts, said meteorologist Mike Campbell. We're even talking about possible local amounts...up to 100 millimetres.Another system that expected to bring up to 15 millimetres of rain kick-started the stormy weather Saturday in some areas of the Maritimes. Campbell said rain associated with Hanna would mostly be an inconvenience to residents in southern New Brunswick and western P.E.I., while it could cause major headaches for other regions in the Maritimes. The big concern would be places like eastern P.E.I., and up into Cape Breton (because) the ground is fairly saturated; they've had about two to three times the normal rainfall for August, he said. This additional amount could cause a fair bit of overflowing on road systems and so forth.Transportation Department officials in Nova Scotia are still surveying the damage after several roads were washed out by flash floods last weekend.

During that storm, heavy rains flooded ditches and culverts in Pictou County, while rising waters in New Glasgow overwhelmed the town's sewer system and flooded the basements of several downtown businesses. Prince Edward Island, meanwhile, officially recorded its wettest month ever in August, after a total of 238.8 millimetres of rain fell on the province. Normal rainfall for August is about 87 millimetres. Campbell said rain on Sunday could fall for about six consecutive hours, making driving treacherous, especially along busy highways or areas that are known to flood. It's a matter of avoiding travel more than anything else, especially areas that are prone to being waterlogged,he said. While the storm will mostly be a rain event, winds gusting up to 70 kilometres an hour are expected in parts of Nova Scotia. Hanna is expected to move out of the Maritimes on Sunday night before arriving in southeastern Newfoundland in a weakened state. There were no weather warnings issued for Newfoundland on Saturday. Meanwhile, forecasters were keeping a close eye on hurricane Ike. The powerful storm was downgraded Saturday to a Category 2 storm, but it was expected to intensify again as it approaches Cuba and southern Florida by Monday. Campbell said it was unlikely that Ike would impact the Maritimes. It will definitely will be an American issue, but it's not going to affect Canadian territory at all, he said.

WOW HANNA JUST PULVERISED HAITI SAD.

Nearly 500 dead in flooded Haitian town: police SEPT 5,08

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Haitian police found 495 corpses when muddy floodwaters began to recede on Friday from the port city of Gonaives following days of heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hanna, the town's police commissioner said on Friday.The weather is calm now and we are discovering more bodies. We have found 495 bodies so far and there are 13 people missing, commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille told Reuters.The smell of the dead is very unpleasant in Gonaives. The death toll could be even higher.(Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva, Editing by Michael Christie and Todd Eastham)

Hurricane Ike targets Gulf, Hanna's toll rises By Gene Cherry SEPT 05,08

SALVO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Fierce Hurricane Ike weakened as it charged across the Atlantic on Friday and took aim at south Florida and the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico, while Tropical Storm Hanna buffeted the Carolinas after killing at least 529 people in Haiti. Hanna was expected to be just short of Category 1 hurricane strength when it crosses the U.S. East Coast near the North Carolina and South Carolina border early on Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Nevertheless, authorities declared states of emergency, several North Carolina beach communities were under evacuation orders, campgrounds were shut and storm alerts were issued from Georgia to New Jersey, including for Washington, D.C., as the eighth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season pulled away from the 700 far-flung islands of the Bahamas.Ike was far more threatening.An extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir Simpson scale on Thursday, it weakened a notch to a Category 3 with top sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph), the Miami-based hurricane center said.By 8 p.m. (0000 GMT Saturday), it was spinning 315 miles

north-northeast of Puerto Rico and was expected to sweep westward over the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southern Bahamas by Sunday.The Bahamian government sent soldiers and emergency supplies to Mayaguana and San Salvador, southern islands left short of food and water by an overdue mail boat.If we have heavy flooding and lose power, we could be in an uncomfortable situation, said chief councilor Earnel Brown of the island of Mayaguana.Some further weakening was possible but the hurricane center said Ike was expected to remain a major storm of Category 3 or higher.Ike's track was riddled with uncertainty.The hurricane center's official forecast took it through the Florida Keys island chain as a ferociously destructive Category 4 hurricane into the Gulf of Mexico, where around 4,000 offshore platforms produce a quarter of U.S. crude oil and 15 percent of the energy-hungry country's natural gas.

Visitors were ordered to evacuate the Keys on Saturday and residents were ordered out beginning on Sunday.Some computer models took Ike near the heavily populated Miami area in southeast Florida, where up to 1.3 million people could be ordered to leave the coast.It's a lot coming at us. But we must remain vigilant, focused and calm, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said.A Category 4 hurricane strike on Miami would be a huge disaster because of the billions of dollars of vulnerable real estate in low-lying islands like Miami Beach and along the coast of the Florida peninsula. Power would be out for millions of people for an extended time.

TRIO OF THREATS

Tropical Storm Josephine churned weakly in Ike's wake across the Atlantic, with 40-mph (65-kph) winds as it spun about 725 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. The trio of Atlantic storms followed Hurricane Gustav's rampage through the Caribbean to Louisiana, where it came ashore on Monday west of New Orleans, largely sparing the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina three years ago. The flurry underscored predictions for an unusually busy six-month hurricane season. An average season has 10 tropical storms, of which six strengthen into hurricanes with top sustained winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph). Josephine was already this year's 10th, and the statistical September 10 peak of the storm season still lies ahead. While Hanna did little damage in the Bahamas and posed only a moderate threat to the U.S. East Coast, the death toll in Haiti was rising steadily as the floods unleashed by its torrential rains began to recede. Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille said 495 bodies had been found in the mud-heaped port city of Gonaives, where thousands survived by climbing on rooftops. That brought the toll for all of Haiti to at least 529. Ships and planes had begun to arrive with desperately needed aid for Haiti, which has been hit by three deadly storms in less than a month. By 8 p.m. (0000 Saturday GMT), Hanna was 200 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina. It was racing north at 20 mph (32 kph) with top winds of 70 mph (115 kph). Hanna roiled the ocean off North and South Carolina with 18-foot (5.5-metre) waves. Sunny skies gave way to showers and breezy conditions on North Carolina's Outer Banks where residents tested power generators and tied down trash cans and beach chairs. It's a little breezy but not any more than a normal rainy day, said Lisa Bell, a manager at Howard's Pub and Restaurant on Ocracoke Island, where the pirate Blackbeard once sailed. The storm was expected to strike at high tide, bringing a 5-foot (1.5-metre) storm surge likely to cause moderate coastal flooding, and heavy rains were expected far inland. (Additional reporting by John Marquis in Nassau; Writing by Jane Sutton and Michael Christie)

Speedy Tropical Storm Hanna charges for Carolinas By JEFFREY COLLINS and MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer SEPT 05,08

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Tropical Storm Hanna cruised toward the Carolinas on Friday, forecast to hit land overnight and promising to deliver gusty winds and heavy rain during a dash up the Eastern Seaboard that could wash out the weekend for millions of people. Not far behind was a much bigger worry: a ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike, on a path similar to the one taken by Andrew, the Category 5 monster that devastated South Florida in 1992. Ike could hit Florida by the middle of next week.

Emergency officials urged evacuations in only a few spots in the Carolinas and about 400 people went to shelters in both states. Forecasters said there was only a small chance Hanna could become a hurricane, and most people simply planned to stay off the roads until the storm passed.My vacation lasts through Sunday, said Jesse King of Asheboro, N.C., who hid under a Myrtle Beach pier as winds picked up and bursts of blinding rain fell Friday evening. They are going to have to tell me I have to leave if they want me to go before Sunday.Rain started falling early Friday on the Carolina coast, with streets in some spots flooding by late afternoon and wind gusts hitting 45 mph as the leading edges of the storm approached land, making people gathered on beaches shout to be heard.Hanna was expected to blow ashore early Saturday morning between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, N.C., then race up the Atlantic Coast, reaching New England by Sunday morning. Tropical storm watches or warnings ran from Georgia to Massachusetts, and included all of Chesapeake Bay, the Washington, D.C., area and Long Island.Terry Hash arrived in Myrtle Beach on Thursday, ready to celebrate her 50th birthday with college friends from Colgate University at the Raiders football game against Coastal Carolina.I'm not worried because it's not a Category 4, Hash said. I just love the beach when it's stormy. It really shows the power the ocean has.As night fell and clouds gathered, residents and visitors flocked to the main beach at Atlantic Beach, N.C.I'm glad it's not as bad as they were predicting, said 84-year-old May Craig Kernodle of Burlington as she held her walker.Several inches of rain were expected in the Carolinas, as well as central Virginia, Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania. Some spots could see up to 10 inches, and forecasters warned of the potential for flash flooding in the northern mid-Atlantic states and southern New England.South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said people in low-lying areas, mobile homes, camping trailers or places susceptible to wind damage should consider leaving: Now is the time to look at taking shelter.In Wilmington, Kirby King, a 50-year-old Army veteran, arrived at a shelter in an elementary school housing about 140 other people, but said he didn't think the storm would be bad.I've been married twice and been in the service 15 years. This storm doesn't scare me, he said.Federal Emergency Management Agency officials expected Hanna to move quickly but said they had supplies in place and emergency crews ready to respond if needed.

Utilities as far north as New Hampshire put electric and natural gas crews on notice that they might have to work long hours to repair any damage. At the Ocean Edge Resort and Club on Cape Cod in Brewster, Mass., staff members braced for rain as they prepared for an outdoor wedding Saturday.Hopefully it will blow out to sea and it won't even bother them, said Bryan Webb, director of sales and marketing. Everyone's going to be dressed so impeccably. You don't want to have someone ruin a dress or a purse.At 8 p.m. EDT, Hanna had maximum sustained winds near 70 mph and was centered about 200 miles south of Wilmington, N.C. The storm, blamed for disastrous flooding and more than 100 deaths in Haiti, was moving near 20 mph. A hurricane watch was in effect for Edisto Beach, S.C., to the Outer Banks of North Carolina near the Virginia line. In Washington, officials prepared for the possibility of flooding in low-lying neighborhoods by removing debris from catch basins, stockpiling sandbags and lining up portable pumps and generators. In New Jersey, 300 dump trucks hauled in sand to fortify a beach in the Strathmere section of Upper Township. These shipments of sand are a good thing, but if they don't work out, the people down here could lose their houses, said Tim Buckland, whose family has owned an oceanfront house in Strathmere for 50 years. He was at the beach Friday, playing in bigger-than-normal waves with his family. Amtrak canceled some Saturday service in preparation for Hanna. Ten trains, including the Silver Meteor between New York and Miami, and the Auto Train between Lorton, Va., and Sanford, Fla., were halted. Organizers of the U.S. Open in New York said they may have to reschedule some of the tennis matches after seeing forecasts calling for about 12 hours of rain and wind up to 35 mph. For all the talk of Hanna, there was more about Ike, which could become the fiercest storm to strike South Florida since Andrew. Andrew was blamed for 65 deaths and more than $35 billion in damage. FEMA officials said they were positioning supplies, search and rescue crews, communications equipment and medical teams in Florida and along the Gulf Coast — a task complicated by Ike's changing path. Tourists in the Keys were ordered to leave beginning Saturday morning. In Morehead City, N.C., charter captain Bobby Ballou sat on a bench and spliced lines to tie up his boat at the dock before Hanna arrived. I'm not too worried about this one, the 74-year-old Ballou said. That Ike, I don't like him.
Mike Baker reported from Nags Head, N.C. Associated Press writers Estes Thompson in Atlantic Beach, N.C., Kevin Maurer in Wilmington, N.C., Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, N.C., Ben Evans in Washington, Bruce Smith in Charleston and Jim Davenport in Columbia contributed to this report.

US east coast braces for deadly Hanna, Hurricane Ike nears SEPT 05,08

MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical Storm Hanna closed in on the US east coast on the verge of hurricane strength after leaving 163 dead in Haiti, as a more powerful Hurricane Ike threatened Caribbean islands and the United States. A major rain-generator, Hanna churned through the Bahamas en route to the US Atlantic coast, prompting emergency preparations along more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) of coastline, after unleashing flooding and landslides in Haiti that displaced thousands and left as many as 200,000 with little or no food or water.The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts the storm will crash ashore in North or South Carolina overnight Friday and race up the US east coast over the weekend, potentially affecting tens of millions of Americans.Heavy rain, wind and high surf began to lash the southeastern coast late Friday hours after the governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford called for voluntary evacuations in two counties threatened by the storm.Packing sustained winds near 110 kilometers (70 miles) per hour at 0000 GMT Saturday, the center of the storm was about 165 kilometers (100 miles) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving north at around 32 kph (20 mph), the NHC said.Although no significant change in strength is forecast before landfall, it would take only a small increase in wind speed for Hanna to become a hurricane, it added.

But amid signs of storm fatigue -- several southern US states have endured a barrage in recent weeks from Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav -- officials expressed concern that people along the coast were not taking Hanna seriously.The response is not what we would want it to be, Sam Hodge, emergency manager for Georgetown, South Carolina, told CBS News.We feel there should be more people evacuating.A hurricane watch remained in effect for parts of the North and South Carolina coast and tropical storm watches extended as far north as Massachusetts as authorities kept a wary eye on a more formidable storm, Hurricane Ike, out in the Atlantic.Ike was forecast to spare Haiti as it plowed across the Atlantic while the Caribbean nation struggled to recover from devastating flooding from Hanna which killed 136 and stranded hundreds of thousands.At least for now Haiti looks likely to be spared yet another hit, NHC spokeswoman Karina Castillo said.But the poorest country in the Americas is still reeling from the devastation inflicted by a succession of three storms in as many weeks that killed more than 280 people in total.The country's third largest city Gonaives remained largely under water following Hanna, and Senator Yuri Latortue who represents the city called the situation catastrophic.

I know perfectly well that the hurricane season has hit our entire country, but the situation in Gonaives is truly special, because now some 200,000 people there haven't eaten in three days, Latortue said.A lifeline was extended to thousands of people in and around Gonaives Friday when a boat carrying tons of World Food Program relief supplies docked at the port, the WFP said.Haiti's government pleaded for international aid, and the United Nations was in the process of launching an emergency appeal. Switzerland, France, the United States, the European Union and the Red Cross were among the countries and bodies to commit emergency relief.While it may spare Haiti, Ike was on course to batter the Bahamas Saturday and Sunday before possibly slamming into Cuba, another island nation recently battered by this hurricane season's conga line of storms. Ike is then forecast to make landfall in south Florida on Wednesday as a major hurricane, Castillo warned. Densely populated south Florida, including the cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, has not been hit by a major hurricane since devastating Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Andrew was the costliest natural disaster in US history until it was topped by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Ike was downgraded slightly Friday but remained a major hurricane as it churned over the western Atlantic, with sustained winds of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour -- a category three on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC said. As of 0000 GMT Saturday, the eye of Ike was 675 kilometers (420 miles) east of Grand Turk Island and was moving west at about 24 kilometers (15 miles) per hour, the NHC said. Ike and Hanna were part of a trio of storms in the Atlantic that includes Tropical Storm Josephine churning in the eastern Atlantic west of Cape Verde. The storms follow Hurricane Gustav, which ripped through the Caribbean then slammed the US Gulf Coast, and Tropical Storm Fay, which also pounded several Caribbean islands and made landfall in Florida four times, dumping record amounts of rain.

Some 500,000 Entergy customers still lack power Fri Sep 5, 6:20 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 500,000 customers in Entergy Corp's service area in Louisiana and Arkansas remained without power on Friday, four days after Hurricane Gustav caused massive damage to the company's power grid. Gustav cut power to more than 1.8 million homes and businesses along the Gulf Coast and shut more than a dozen oil refineries and many oil and natural gas pipelines - the second worst outage in New Orleans-based Entergy's 95-year history.Entergy has been able to restore power to nearly 454,000 customers, or 47 percent of the total that lost power. including 347,000 in Louisiana by mid-day Friday.All power was restored in 28 parishes in Louisiana, Renae Conley, an Entergy official told reporters.Entergy has declined to estimate the cost of rebuilding its system, after calling damage extremely severe and estimating that full restoration of power was weeks away.

Repairing the swathe of twisted power lines left by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 cost the investor-owned utility about $1 billion.Entergy and other utilities still face a herculean task of rebuilding storm-damaged lines, said the Edison Electric Institute, which lobbies for utilities like Entergy and Cleco.Gustav brought down a network of poles, towers and wires, which must be rebuilt while working around storm debris, said Tom Kuhn, president of the group.Crews closed a section of Interstate 10 on Friday near Baton Rouge to restore a damaged 230-kilovolt line to allow more power to flow in an area where transmission damage was most severe, officials said.Overall, two more critical lines linking Baton Rouge and New Orleans have been restored, said Randy Helmick, Entergy's vice president of transmission and official storm boss.Of the 216 transmission lines knocked out by the storm, 113 have been restored to service. Of the 270 substations knocked out, 171have been restored, officials said.Most of the remaining lines are below 230-kv level, said Helmick.Helmick called initial reports of Gustav's damage to the bulk-power network from limited ground patrols immediately after the storm alarming. But once workers performed aerial inspections, he was relieved to see much of the damage was moderate or created by debris hitting power lines, he said.That allowed us to get lines back faster, Helmick said.While Gustav was not as powerful as Hurricane Katrina which devastated the state in 2005, Gustav was felt across a much greater area, said Greg Rigamer, chief executive of GCR & Associates, a New Orleans consulting firm.Katrina was more severe, but Gustav was more expansive, Rigamer said.

A few heavily damaged areas, near Baton Rouge and along the Louisiana coast, will take longer.Entergy planned to restart the Waterford nuclear reactor on Saturday. The return of the River Bend nuclear power station will take a week, the utility said. At the peak, about 850,000 Entergy customers were without power primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi. Another 93,000 customers lost power in Arkansas on Wednesday. Hurricane Gustav caused the second largest number of outages in the company's 95-year history behind only Katrina, which left 1.1 million out in 2005.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Eileen O'Grady; Editing by Chris Baltimore and David Gregorio)

Quebec recalls eight cheese products suspected of containing listeriosis
Sat Sep 6, 11:19 AM By The Canadian Press


MONTREAL - The Quebec government has ordered the recall of a total of 11 cheese products that may contain the Listeria bacterium after one person died of infection and 14 other cases were confirmed. Health officials say the number of cases could go as high as 24. Quebec health officials say eight of the cheeses were recalled Saturday and are manufactured by Menard de St-Gedeon of Lac-St-Jean, Que. and were packaged after July 12. The Fromagiers de la table ronde in Ste-Sophie, Que., made the other three cheeses, which were recalled Thursday and have packaging dates after July 14. The two companies distribute to 300 outlets in the province. The cheeses go under the names Le Rang des Iles, Le 14 Arpents, Les Petits Vieux, Le Gedeon, Le Menard, Le Couvertine, Le Cabrouet, Les Cailles, Le Fleurdelyse, Le Fou du Roy and Le Rassembleu. A listeriosis strain outbreak that was linked to a Maple Leaf Foods meat plant in Toronto has been blamed for at least 13 deaths.

CANADA WE GO TO THE POLES OCTOBER 14,08 WE BETTER KEEP HARPER IN OFFICE OR WE WILL BE IN BIG TROUBLE. I WISH MIKE HUCKABEE AND SARAH PALIN WERE LEADERS OF 2 OF OUR PARTIES THEN WE COULD GET GOD AND HIS WORDS AND COMMANDMENTS BACK IN CANADA.

Canada set to hold general election in October
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2008-09-03 07:26


Canadians are set to go to the polling stations next month, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears determined to trigger an election later this week.
During the past few days, the prime minister has talked with leaders of all three opposition parties. Declaring the parliament in a deadlock, he said he wanted to see if there is any common ground between his minority government and the oppositions to keep the legislature running. The Parliament, scheduled to resume on Sept. 15, has been on summer recess for almost three months. Harper has recently depicted it as dysfunctional, saying the oppositions have tried to block his government's agenda.

Harper met with New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe last week before his latest meeting with Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion on Monday. All three leaders emerged from their meetings saying Harper has made up his mind about calling an election within this week's time. They accused the prime minister of manipulating the election time to best serve his party's interest. They also criticized Harper for breaking the law about a fixed election date that his own government introduced. According to a legislation passed in 2007, the next election will only take place on Oct. 19, 2009. But the prime minister was determined to ignore the law, when he said last Tuesday at a news conference in Ottawa that the legislation only applied to a majority government and not his minority government. It was then that he indicated he wanted an election in the near future. After that, Harper sought the meetings with the opposition leaders and made a three-day tour to the North during which he announced several measures to strengthen Canada's sovereignty in the North Pole. These announcements, including geo-mapping searches for resources and extension of Canada's jurisdiction into the Arctic, are seen as important campaign issues. Harper also asked Governor General Michaelle Jean to cancel her trip to China slated to begin on Sept. 4, so she will be available to dissolve the parliament. According to senior government sources, after having met with all three opposition leaders, the prime minister will declare that he believes his minority government no longer has the confidence of Parliament. He will then have the excuse to go to the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and hit the campaign trail.

It will happen between (September) 5th and the 7th,a senior government source told The Canadian Press. There will be an election kickoff between Friday and Sunday.The election will be held on Oct. 14, said the source. An immediate election call offers Harper a number of political advantages, observers have noted. Firstly, with the economy wavering, Canada is expecting a federal deficit for the current fiscal year, the first such after the former Liberal government managed to achieve surpluses for years in a row. Harper hopes to finish the election before the fiscal report comes out, thus exempting his campaign from being affected by the negative news. Secondly, as the Liberal Party has been threatening to topple the government this fall, the Conservatives decided to take matters into their own hands and take control of the election timing, rather than wait for Liberal leader Stephane Dion to gain more support as time goes on. Thirdly, by calling for an early election, Harper also wants to avoid a series of by-elections set for next week. Polls suggest the Conservatives will fair badly in these elections. The Conservatives came to power after defeating the Liberals in the January 2006 election. The minority government occupies only 127 seats in the 308-seat parliament and needs the support of at least one opposition party to pass legislation or stay in power.Source:Xinhuanet

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.(TR 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).

EU lobbyists shun European Commission register
LEIGH PHILLIPS 05.09.2008 @ 09:35 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - While Brussels is home to an estimated 15-20,000 lobbyists, who daily and doggedly attempt to win lawmakers to their clients' point of view, up to now, only around 300 lobbying organisations have signed up to the European Commission's voluntary registry.As of Wednesday (4 September) - a day when across the Atlantic, Jack Abramoff, once one of Washington's most powerful lobbyists, was sentenced to four years in prison for his extensive corrupt practices - in Europe's capital, a total of 303 lobbying groups had filed with the public record of EU lobbyists, or registry of interest representatives.Campaigners for lobbying transparency in Europe have repeatedly argued that it is only because the US has a mandatory registry that characters such as Mr Abramoff - whose network of corruption has now delivered 13 guilty pleas from public officials and lobbyists - can be caught. In Brussels, they warn, lobbying remains too shadowy an activity after the launch of a voluntary registry, which would never bring an Abramoff-style case to light.A spokesperson for commission vice-president Siim Kallas, the commissioner responsible for administrative affairs, audit and anti-fraud, said the figure was not satisfactory. It is low, said spokesperson Valerie Rampi. 300 for the moment is not enough even though the summer period may have played a role.Of the 300-odd on the public list, 126 trade associations representing groups of businesses and 56 NGOs make up the majority of those willing to sign on. None of the major lobbying firms have registered, and only three think-tanks have done so.I do not see yet the big professional public relations consultancies, nor many law firms - only two have registered so far, Ms Rampi noted.

However, I want to stress the importance of being cautious about the numbers that could be used to measure the 300 figure against, Ms Rampi said. The figure often quoted in the media of around 15,000 individual lobbyists is an external estimate, which the commission does not endorse, she added, pointing out that this is an estimate of the number of individuals, whereas the commission's register lists organisations. Commissioner Kallas has however himself quoted the 15,000 figure on a number of occasions.

More work than you'd imagine

The European Public Affairs Consultancies Association (EPACA), the Brussels lobbyists' professional organisation, is to hold a members' meeting on 10 September to decide how to approach the registry. Jose Lalloum, the president of EPACA, said the organisation has recommended to its members that they register by the end of the month. However, it will still take some time, he warned: There's more work than one imagines in complying with the registry. What counts as lobbying, what doesn't, making sure the client is okay with being registered and ensuring there isn't double counting [both the lobbyist and the group on whose behalf the lobbyist lobbies].The consultants are pretty clear on all of this, but the clients still need explained to them where lobbying starts and where lobbying stops.

One year's testing

The commission says it is to give lobbyists a year to demonstrate their transparency, while the EU executive tests the technicalities of the system to see if it is working. Alter-EU, the coalition of NGOs, green groups, academics and trade unions that has campaigned for lobbying transparency, is concerned at how few large corporations have registered, as well as how they are reporting how much they spend on lobbying.There seems to be wide variation in their reported lobbying costs, Olivier Hoedeman of Alter-EU told EUobserver.Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica for example reports that its EU lobbying costs in 2007 were €950,000, while French car maker Renault says it spent between €200,000 and €250,000, and Air France-KLM reports between €50,000 and €100,000.Do these figures reflect real differences or are they just the result of the commission's failure to provide clear and unambiguous guidelines for calculating lobbying expenses? he asked. Instead of improving lobbying transparency, the register appears to be creating confusion.The coalition, which is itself a lobbyist organisation - albeit one that lobbies about lobbying - is currently drafting guidelines for its 160-odd members and other civil society groups on how to sign up to the registry. Once they do so, they will also list the names of individual lobbyists and not just the organisation - something the commission backed down from demanding.Apart from fulfilling what the commission asks for, we will go much further and disclose much more, including names of our own lobbyists, this way showing that the commission's register should have been, but fails to do due to the lack of political will in the Berlaymont building.

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)

EU ministers map out Georgia peace mission
PHILIPPA RUNNER 05.09.2008 @ 12:38 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The final shape of an EU security mission to Georgia and broader EU-Russia relations will top the agenda of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in France this weekend. The possibility of relaxing sanctions against Belarus and prospects for a new Ukraine treaty will also come up for debate.The EU is keen to send over 200 personnel to Georgia under its European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) umbrella and has already begun recruiting for a chief of staff, political advisers and logistics officers. The participants must have negotiating skills and the ability to work professionally in a stressful and diverse environment, the job advertisement says, asking for availability on 15 September 2008 at the latest, with deployment on the ground envisaged before 15 October.It remains uncertain if the unit will be composed of EU-badged policemen or soldiers however, if it will stand alongside OSCE monitors or be part of an OSCE-led team and if it will have access to the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.Shooting stopped on 12 August between Russian and Georgian forces. But a ceasefire deal allowing Russia to take additional security measures has left Russian soldiers inside the two rebel regions, in control of two 15 km buffer zones inside Georgia proper and manning security checkpoints near the Georgian towns of Gori and Poti. The status quo also sees tens of thousands of Georgian refugees unable to return home, amid ongoing tension as Russia accuses the US of re-arming the Georgian military.

Russian reality

One EU official told Reuters EU peacekeepers should deploy alongside OSCE monitors and Russian soldiers inside the buffer zones, in a mission that will evolve over time to creep into the separatist regions and encourage Russian soldiers to leave.

But another source told EUobserver the EU mission will not have the military force to guarantee security in a hot conflict zone. It will not be that kind of a mission. And the OSCE could never stop a new outbreak in fighting. The reality is, the Russians could be there for a long time yet.Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said Russia would welcome the EU as part of an OSCE team in the buffer areas. But he added that Russian soldiers will stay for now and that only Abkhazia and South Ossetia - which Russia recognises as independent states - have the authority to invite international monitors onto their territory. The EU foreign ministers meeting in the medieval papal palace in Avignon, France on Friday (5 September) will also discuss future EU commercial, judicial, energy and cultural co-operation with Russia ahead of the EU-Russia summit on 14 November.The EU reaction has so far has been limited to freezing technical-level talks on a new EU-Russia treaty. But a European Commission crisis team has drawn up a secret list of potential punitive measures that could be imposed if relations continue to deteriorate. The problem is that we have no sanctions that can really hurt Russia, a commission contact said. So long as Moscow has its hand on the [EU oil and gas] tap, what kind of sanctions can we impose?

The Belarus question

The Avignon meeting will also examine if the EU should relax sanctions against Belarus, which last month released three political prisoners and promises to hold its free and fairest-ever parliamentary elections on 28 September.EU diplomats say the one-time Russian ally is keen to improve ties with the West to shore up its independence after Russia showed expansionist tendencies in the Georgia campaign.

But even Belarus' closest partners in the EU - Lithuania and Latvia - are treating Minsk with caution. There is still a lot of work to be done there in terms of developing a democratic society, one Lithuanian diplomat said. There will be no quick [sanctions] fix.

Saving Ukraine

Foreign ministers will also debate the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit in Evian, France on 9 September, in the shadow of political turbulence in Kiev, where the pro-Western ruling coalition fell apart this week.The Evian summit had been due to see the signing of the political chapter of a new Association Agreement and the launch of talks for future visa-free travel to Europe. But Germany has blocked the insertion of a phrase saying the EU recognizes Ukraine's accession perspective in the treaty preamble, with Ukraine saying it will not sign a watered-down text.

Bilateral energy deals threaten EU security, IEA says
RENATA GOLDIROVA 05.09.2008 @ 09:31 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU capitals should create a united front in order to beef up their position vis-a-vis major energy suppliers such as Russia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggested on Thursday (4 September). Many EU member states prefer to maintain their bilateral relationships with supplier countries, which may affect the strength of the EU to act as a single entity, IEA chief Nobuo Tanaka said, labelling the current fragmented approach perhaps the weakest policy area.In the long run, it means they [EU states] will lose out, Mr Tanaka stressed. Russia supplies the 27-nation bloc with a third of its oil and 40 percent of its natural gas - a dependence expected to rise significantly in the future.The Baltic states, Finland and Slovakia are the most dependent on Russia's gas, while Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK form the least reliant group. According to the Paris-based body - acting as energy policy advisor - the EU should better co-ordinate its external relations so it can use its full weight when talking to Russia. It has also backed the idea of diversifying the union's supplies. Calls to reduce the EU's dependency on Russia have gained more ground in the face of recent events in the South Caucasus.

In August, Moscow launched a military incursion into Georgia in response to its attack on the rebel-held town of Tskhinvali in South Ossetia - the conflict that has, among other things, raised worries about the security of energy supplies crossing Georgia. The International Energy Agency echoed a union's own political message resulting from the EU leaders's summit on EU-Russia ties earlier this week (1September). Recent events illustrate the need for Europe to intensify its efforts with regard to the security of energy supplies, the summit conclusions stated, inviting EU institutions to examine ways to diversify energy sources and supply routes.

Brussels makes case for Nabucco pipeline

EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, for his part, reiterated on Thursday (4 September) his support for the Nabucco energy corridor, a pipeline designed to lessen the bloc's dependency on Russian gas.Our objective of diversifying our sources and routes is even more important after the events in Georgia, Latvia's commissioner said and called for more political engagement to remove all obstacles to bringing Caspian energy resources to the European market. The Nabucco project is to connect Turkey with Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, with its capacity amounting to 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. The EU hopes construction will begin in 2010 - despite uncertainty over how to feed the pipeline sufficiently.

Further liberalisation needed

In its first review of EU energy policies, the International Energy Agency has backed the controversial idea of splitting energy companies' production and supply wings - known as ownership unbundling - in order to boost competition and bring down prices. We are concerned about the resistance against what we think is the right proposal by the [European] commission for full ownership unbundling, the IEA head said, calling on the EU's executive body to stick to its guns. Earlier this year, EU governments adopted a softer line on liberalisation of the union's gas and electricity sector, meaning that European energy giants will not be forced to sell their transmission networks. The European Parliament also rejected the forced break-up of gas companies, but supported it in electricity sector. The 27-nation EU received an undoubtedly positive evaluation when it came to its green goals to boost renewable energy and lower CO2 emissions. But more should be done to introduce trading of green energy within the bloc before 2020.

Arms deal tests Finland-Slovenia relations
LISBETH KIRK 05.09.2008 @ 09:27 CET


Tensions between two EU countries, Finland and Slovenia grew to new heights on Thursday (4 September), with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa delivering an official note of complaint to the Finnish ambassador in Ljublajana over Finnish TV accusations of bribes in relation to a weapons deal.On Monday (1 September) the investigative journalism programme MOT claimed Finnish defence material manufacturer Patria paid a total of €21 million in bribes indirectly to Slovenian officials and to the prime minister in return for arms orders. The news was broadcast on Finland's national public service broadcaster, YLE.Mr Jansa refuted the claims as being unfounded, saying that MOT could effect the friendly relations between the two countries.We have officially demanded that the television channel that broadcasted this apologise and present evidence for the claims, the Slovenian prime minister said in a message published on the government's website.Mr Jansa added the decision to purchase weapons form the Finnish company Patria was taken during the previous government's term of office. This is a complete lie and fabrication, and it is no coincidence that these claims have been brought forth now, he said.The news has popped up at an unfortunate moment for the Slovenian prime minister, a few weeks ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled in Slovenia for 21 September.The deal with the Slovenian armed forces was signed in December 2006 and included 135 armoured personnel carriers and 120 mm mortars worth some €280 million, according to the largest Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.

The Slovenian prime minister has been in contact with his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen over the issue. But the Finnish government says it is not able to intervene in a YLE television programme.The chief executive of Patria, Jorma Wiitakorpi, announced last month he would step down over ongoing police investigations into Patria deals in Egypt and Slovenia. Mr Wiitakorpi has denied any wrongdoing.The State of Finland owns 73 percent of the Patria defence material manufacturer.

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 gives blessing for Italy's Roma fingerprint scheme
LUCIA KUBOSOVA 05.09.2008 @ 09:28 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Italy's plan to fingerprint Roma people has received a green light from the European Commission, with Brussels' experts suggesting that the controversial measures are not discriminatory or in breach of EU standards.A commission spokesman told journalists on Thursday (4 September) that the practice proposed by Italian authorities earlier this year is only aimed at identifying persons who cannot be identified in any other way and excludes the collection of data relating to ethnic origin or the religion of people.The centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi sparked protests from human rights organisations and several in the European Parliament after announcing its plan to fingerprint Roma people - including children - as part of a census of Roma camps. Some critics of the move compared it to the policies of Benito Mussolini, the country's fascist leader during the Second World War.EU justice and security commissioner Jacques Barrot had earlier himself voiced concerns about the legality of the census, asking the Italian government to respond to the criticism by revealing the details of the practice.

But his spokesperson said on Thursday that the report submitted by Italy's authorities in early August showed that no EU principles of human rights protection or non-discrimination were violated, as due to the good co-operation between Brussels and Rome, some debatable measures had been changed.Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni from the anti-immigration Northern League party welcomed the evaluation as highly satisfying, adding that it is fair after all the accusations and insults we have received over the past few months, according to ANSA agency. The European Parliament is also planning to perform its own research into the controversial practice, with a delegation of MEPs set to visit some camps and seek details on how the census is carried out.Reacting to the commission's blessing to the Italian plan, Hungarian Roma liberal MEP Viktoria Mohacsi said: I find it most strange that, contrary to the commission statement claiming compliance with the EU law, the fingerprinting procedure seemed to be applied exclusively to Roma, which I cannot interpret otherwise than a discriminatory treatment targeting one specific ethnic group.Between 90,000 and 110,000 Roma live in Italy, according to the Council of Europe. Many live there without official permission and have set up temporary camps. Earlier this year, Mr Berlusconi's government declared a national state of emergency in response a sharp rise in crime blamed mainly on foreign nationals, particularly from Romania, and adopted several laws clamping down on clandestine migrants. The centre-left opposition suggested such a reaction was only further boosting xenophobic sentiment across the country.

Push for pan-European Direct Debit by Vanessa Macdonald - editorial@di-ve.com
Business & Finance -- 05 September 2008 -- 14:15CEST


The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) have encouraged the European Payments Council (EPC) to move ahead with the launch of the SEPA Direct Debit scheme. Under this scheme, bank customers would be able to arrange direct debits to pay companies with bank accounts in any of the 31 European countries participating in SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area). The Commission and ECB recognise the potential advantages of the SEPA Direct Debit scheme, in terms of economies of scale and increased competition liable to drive efficiency and innovation in the area of payments to the benefit of European consumers and companies. The Commission and the ECB have indicated to the EPC that they would be prepared to support the idea of a 'multilateral interchange fee' for cross border direct debits within the framework of the SEPA scheme on condition that such fees were objectively justified and transitional (applicable only for a limited period). In order for SEPA Direct Debit to take off, the right incentives should be in place. In particular, banking communities where an interchange fee for national transactions exists could be allowed to apply this fee as currently exists at national level also for SEPA Direct Debit transactions, but only during a limited and well defined transitional phase.

At the end of the transitional phase there would no longer be any transaction-based multilateral interchange fee, neither at the national level, nor at the cross border level, neither for SEPA Direct Debits, nor for national legacy direct debits. Direct debit schemes allow bank customers to give companies or organisations authorisation to take money directly from their bank accounts to pay their bills (e.g. gas, electricity, telephone). Currently there are separate national direct debit schemes and it is not possible to establish direct debit arrangements across frontiers in Europe.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

Russia scores Uzbek natural gas By JOHN C.K. DALY UPI International Correspondent Published: Sept. 5, 2008 at 9:31 AM

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The consequences of last month's armed confrontation between Georgia and Russia over the disputed enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia continue to ripple, extending their influence to Uzbekistan, far to the east.

Stripped of the rhetoric, the lesson that all the former Soviet republics drew from the encounter was that EU, NATO and American promises fall short of deterring Russian foreign policy toward what it terms the near abroad.The subtext of the clash is that Washington's and the EU's assumptions about Russia blithely standing by as alternative export routes are built for Caspian and Central Asian energy assets now appear naive at best, and, for the local states, increasingly hollow. Western plans to build a natural gas pipeline to parallel the 1,092-mile, $3.6 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which could be joined by an additional Trans-Caspian underwater pipeline to transfer Turkmen and Uzbek natural gas to Western markets, now appear more and more problematic.Taking advantage of the situation, Russia's energy giant Gazprom recently has been reaching out to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and, in a major policy reversal, offering to pay near-market European rates for future natural gas production. Azerbaijan is considering Moscow's offer and, if it is accepted, the proposed Nabucco pipeline is likely to be abandoned, as insufficient gas reserves are likely to be found to fill it.The Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan has concluded that, for the moment at least, its exports options lie more with Moscow than any Western proposals.

While Uzbekistan under President Islam Karimov has doggedly pursued a foreign policy independent of Moscow since the country achieved independence in 1991, in this instance at least, geography trumps Western relations. On Sept. 1 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew into Tashkent and held two hours of discussions with Karimov. The upshot of the meeting was that Russia agreed to pay Uzbekistan $300 per thousand cubic meters of natural gas, which, while still below the nearly $400-plus tcm that Gazprom currently charges European customers, nevertheless represents a nearly 100-percent increase in what Gazprom pays at present.The two leaders also agreed to renovate two Soviet-era natural gas pipelines, Central Asia Center-1 and Central Asia Center-2, which will allow Uzbekistan to export its natural gas to Russia through Turkmenistan. By any measure the agreements represent as great a triumph for Russia in the energy Great Game as they do a setback for the West, particularly Washington.The agreement represents yet another setback for Washington's efforts to wean Central Asia away from Moscow's orbit. Of all the Stans, Karimov's government was the most disposed to cooperate with Washington, as epitomized in the agreement signed in the month after Sept. 11, 2001, that saw Tashkent grant Washington the use of its Karshi-Khanabad airbase for Operation Enduring Freedom in neighboring Afghanistan.Washington previously had sought to introduce globalistic free market shock therapy economic reforms in the post-Soviet space, which Karimov declined, preferring his government to manage the nation's transition from a centrally planned economy to capitalist principles internally rather than relying on hordes of suitcase-toting Western advisers. Accordingly, Uzbekistan was spared the hyperinflation that ravaged the Russian middle class in 1992 as well as the chaos that enveloped the Russian Federation six years later when Moscow allowed the ruble to float freely, again unleashing massive inflation. As Tashkent declined Washington's economic guidance, cooperation focused largely on military matters.The tragic events of May 2005 in Andijan, where government troops suppressed demonstrators who previously attacked police and military installations as well as a prison, freeing hundreds of inmates, resulted in an official death toll of 178, which Western human rights activists claimed was far higher. In the wake of Washington's muffled and ambivalent response, Tashkent abrogated its status of forces agreement with Washington, leading the Pentagon to leave Karshi-Khanabad six months later. Relations have recently improved, particularly since Washington and Tashkent share a common interest in seeing Afghanistan pacified, but relations have yet to be restored to their previous level. The tragedy of the misunderstanding is that Uzbekistan's fuel and electrical resources could have been supplied southward to aid in Afghanistan's reconstruction, but, nearly seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, peace seems as elusive as ever.

Not that all is sweetness and light between Moscow and Tashkent. The administration of President Dmitry Medvedev has been aggressively seeking support from former Soviet Central Asian republics for his government's unilateral acknowledgment of Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence, something that the regional leaders have steadfastly refused to do up to now, most notably at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Dushanbe last weekend. Lest his illustrious visitor be in any doubt about Uzbek intentions, Karimov politely told Putin, We will examine the circle of pressing timely issues that we see and observe, on which we have our own views and which we are ready not only to discuss together, but honestly to express our own position on those issues. An Izvestia correspondent, seeking to salvage something positive from the experience, noted that at a dinner that Karimov held for his guest, Karimov's dinner-table toasts were anti-Georgian.This week Putin will have another chance to solicit his Central Asian colleagues for support at the upcoming Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Moscow, as on Aug. 29 Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. CSTO, which has observer status at the U.N. General Assembly, consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Azerbaijan and Georgia, which perhaps not coincidentally U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited this week, withdrew from the organization in 1999.

Putin is unlikely to make much headway with Karimov, however, as they share the common trait of fierce nationalism, and the Uzbeks, having suffered more than 130 years of Russian imperialism, continue to put their national interest first, however much it might annoy their former overlords.And so the Great Game continues. Putin can take some solace in his rebuff that Uzbekistan has not recognized Kosovo's independence, either, unlike neighboring Afghanistan, which was the first.(e-mail: energy@upi.com)

Total signs three oil and gas agreements in Syria by: OilOnline
Friday, September 05, 2008


Total has signed three oil and gas agreements in Syria that will strengthen the Group’s long-term presence in the country. The first agreement renews the Deir Ez Zor oil license, wholly-owned by Total and jointly operated by Total and the Syrian Petroleum Company via the Deir Ez Zor Petroleum Company joint venture. The license was extended for 10 years to 2021, and enables Total to prolong and optimize production from the Jafra, Qahar and Atalla fields. The second agreement covers enhancing output from the Tabiyeh gas and condensate field to increase gas deliveries to the domestic market from the Deir Ez Zor plant. This agreement will help Total develop its activities in Syria’s gas industry. Lastly, Total signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company and Syrian Gas Company to set up a strategic partnership that will allow the development of common projects between Total and those companies. I’m very pleased that these three agreements have been signed. They pave the way for increased cooperation between Total and Syria and bolster our operations in partnership with the national oil companies of this country, said Christophe de Margerie.

Russia's deal-making in Africa raises alarms in Europe
By Tom Pfeiffer ReutersPublished: September 3, 2008


RABAT, Morocco: Russia is reviving an interest in Africa that collapsed along with the Cold War, and its growing appetite for deals in oil and natural gas is an added cause of unease in an energy-hungry Western Europe.Companies from Russia say their goal is to diversify energy interests and secure raw materials for a fast-growing economy, but the businesses are also seen as tools of an increasingly assertive Kremlin foreign policy.The fact that Russian companies have yet to make major progress in Africa has not assuaged Western concerns, particularly because the Russian intervention in Georgia raised new questions about the reliability of energy supplies from the east.Northern Africa is already an especially important alternative source for European countries that fear over-reliance on Russian energy.

Quietly, but with rising amounts of panic, we're hearing officials from major European governments complain about what the Russians are doing, said Jon Marks, editorial director of the industry newsletter Africa Energy.Russia's push goes beyond traditional allies that it supplied with weapons and money during the Cold War.One of its biggest trading partners in Africa is Morocco, a staunch U.S. ally that supplies Russia with mineral phosphates consumed in large quantities for fertilizer.But Russia also has shown that it wants to keep strong ties with Algeria, a former ally and a neighbor and rival to Morocco. The Kremlin agreed in 2006 to write off $4.7 billion of Cold War-era debt in exchange for a deal to sell Algeria combat jets, submarines, warships and missiles.Russian companies, like counterparts from China and other Asian countries, are spending billions of dollars for better access to the mineral wealth of countries across the continent. Such interest is particularly welcome to those African governments that balk at conditions on democracy, human rights and openness that can be attached to dealings with Americans or Europeans.The big concern in Western Europe is that Russia's tentative deals with African members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are an attempt to get a stranglehold on Europe's natural gas supplies. The Russian company Gazprom, which already provides a quarter of Europe's gas, agreed with the Algerian oil company Sonatrach to seek out and commercialize natural gas together after Vladimir Putin visited Algiers last year as Russia's president, before he became prime minister.

Sonatrach is the European Union's third-biggest supplier of gas, after Russia and Norway.This week, Gazprom signed an oil and gas exploration agreement with Nigeria, although details are yet to be determined, Nigerian National Petroleum announced Wednesday.Gazprom said in April that it was in talks to take part in a multibillion-dollar project to pipe Nigerian gas to Europe across the Sahara.In July, Gazprom said it could build a pipeline to pump Libyan natural gas to Europe. Libya has also agreed to sell some of its oil and gas to Russia.There is a distinct strategy here, said Marks, the Africa Energy editorial director. Gazprom doesn't necessarily get a controlling stake, but the Russians are getting a place at the table.He said a deal Italy signed last weekend to compensate Libya for misdeeds during its colonial rule was partly intended to maintain Italy's critical energy relationship with Libya.

IS OPRAH BIAST SHE WON'T INTERVIEW PALIN
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=5736716&page=1

FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN Now terror subs prowl Caribbean. Navy fears Hezbollah bringing drugs, weapons to United States September 04, 2008 11:35 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports.

Hezbollah flag

The waters in the Caribbean and around Latin America for a long time have provided a path for illicit drugs to flow into the United States, but the U.S. Navy has increased its patrols in the region now looking for something else – Hezbollah terrorists, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.The Navy, in trolling for mini-submarines sometimes used to transport drugs, has discovered that some of them apparently are being operated by Hezbollah.The mini-subs are small semi-submersibles, made of fiberglass and capable of carrying up to four people plus a payload. They are popular with drug smugglers, and now the U.S. is concerned elements of Hezbollah have begun using them for drug-running or smuggling weapons.In 2006, we were tracking around three of these, said Navy Admiral James Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command. In the year 2007, (the number) jumped to about 30. This year so far, in three months, we've seen about 30.In drawing the connection to Hezbollah, Stravridis said there is concern about the tri-border area (of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay). It is, in my view, principally Hezbollah activity.

There is clearly fund-raising, money laundering, drug trafficking, Stravridis added. And, certainly a portion of the funds that are raised in that are making their way back to the Middle East.The suspected Hezbollah activity is centered largely in the tri-border region, particularly Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, a focal point of Islamic fundamentalism to include the Sunni Hamas and Shiite Hezbollah.Now it has branched beyond the tri-border area into other regions of Latin America to include Venezuela.Indeed, as far back as 2000, Iran had designated the Hezbollah to be its liaison to Hamas and the Sunni Palestinian Islamic Jihad throughout Latin America.

Stravridis expressed concern over this linkage.

(U.S. Southern Command) is concerned about linkage between the Iranian state and nascent Islamic radical terrorism in this region, Stravridis said.Now, Iran itself is showing a growing presence in the region, to which sources claim the administration has paid little attention. This presence includes diplomatic and intelligence not only in Venezuela but also Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador.Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.For the complete report and full immediate access to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, subscribe now.

Rice meets Gadhafi on historic visit to Libya By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer SEPT 05,08

TRIPOLI, Libya - The United States and Libya sealed a historic turnaround after decades of terrorist killings, American retaliation, suspicions and insults with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's peacemaking visit Friday with Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's mercurial strongman. The relationship has been moving in a good direction for a number of years now and I think tonight does mark a new phase, Rice said following a traditional Muslim dinner — the evening meal that breaks the day's fast observed during the holy month of Ramadan — at Gadhafi's official Bab el-Azizia residence. It is the same compound hit by U.S. airstrikes in 1986 in retaliation for a deadly Libyan-linked terrorist attack in Germany. The attack killed Gadhafi's baby daughter.We did talk about learning from the lessons of the past, Rice said. We talked about the importance of moving forward. The United States, I've said many times, doesn't have any permanent enemies.Rice is the highest-ranking American official to visit Libya in a half-century. The United States considers Gadhafi rehabilitated since the days when President Reagan called him the mad dog of the Middle East, because of the Libyan's surprise decision in 2003 to renounce terrorism and give up weapons of mass destruction. His government has also agreed to resolve legal claims from the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other alleged terror attacks that bore Libyan fingerprints.Libya has changed, American has changed, the world has changed, Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said following a meeting with Rice. Forget the past.Gadhafi welcomed Rice in a room redolent of incense. Wearing flowing white robes, his trademark fez and a green pin of Africa, Gadhafi bowed slightly and put his right hand over his heart in a traditional Arab greeting. The two did not shake hands, but Gadhafi did shake the hands of Rice's male aides.They then exchanged pleasantries, with Rice offering Gadhafi greetings from President Bush and Gadhafi asking about the hurricanes that have hit or are headed to the U.S. mainland, before dozens of reporters, photographers and television cameramen were ushered out.

Their small talk belied almost 30 years of dismal U.S.-Libyan relations that hit their low point in the 1980s when Reagan ordered the retaliatory airstrike and Gadhafi swore revenge.We're off to a good start, Rice said later. It is only a start, but I think, after many, many years, it's a very good thing that the United States and Libya are establishing a way forward.The United States withdrew its ambassador from Libya in 1972 after Gadhafi renounced agreements with the West and vilified the United States in speeches and public statements. Washington cut off diplomatic relations with Libya after a mob sacked and burned the American Embassy in 1979.U.S. officials had expected the notoriously secretive Gadhafi to dine with Rice in a tent, but it turned out they had dinner in a private kitchen.Gadhafi is known for often unpredictable behavior and has cultivated images as both an Arab potentate and African monarch since taking power in a 1969 coup. In a televised address to the nation this week he said he considers the United States neither a friend nor an enemy.In an interview with Al-Jazeera television last year, Gadhafi spoke of Rice in most unusual terms, calling her Leezza and suggesting that she actually runs the Arab world with which he has had severe differences in the past.

I support my darling black African woman, he said. I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders. ... Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. ... I love her very much. I admire her, and I'm proud of her, because she's a black woman of African origin.Rice is the first secretary of state to visit Libya since John Foster Dulles in 1953 and the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit since then-Vice President Richard Nixon in 1957.Libya has agreed to pay compensation to the families of victims of the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and those of a 1986 attack on a disco in Berlin. The disco attack killed two U.S. servicemen and drew Reagan's order to attack Libyan targets, including Gadhafi's residence.Rice was spending only a few hours in Tripoli, an ancient city fronting the Mediterranean Sea and backing to the North African desert but took time to visit the offices that serve as the U.S. Embassy in Libya.Plans to send a full-fledged ambassador and build a new embassy are hung up in Congress over concern that Libya has not fulfilled its promises to compensate terror victims. Rice's visit comes amid a surge in interest from U.S. companies, particularly in the energy sector, to do business in Libya, where European companies have had much greater access in recent years. Libya's proven oil reserves are the ninth largest in the world, close to 39 billion barrels, and vast areas remain unexplored for new deposits. Rice said she raised the case of a prominent Libyan dissident who remains detained, and said she discussed other human rights concerns respectfully. Shalgam defended Libya's record.

Iran calls Sarkozy nuclear claims baseless Fri Sep 5, 7:20 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Friday dismissed as baseless remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Tehran was pursuing its controversial nuclear programme for military purposes. Sarkozy's comments, made on Thursday during a visit to Iran's regional staunch ally Syria, are baseless, foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said in a statement received by AFP.Nuclear weapons are not part of Iran's defence doctrine, he added.Sarkozy warned Iran that its determination to press ahead with its programme of uranium enrichment risked provoking an Israeli military strike.Iran is taking a major risk by continuing the process of seeking nuclear technology for military ends, the French president said at a four-way summit in Damascus with the leaders of Syria, Qatar and Turkey.Iran has consistently denied that its nuclear programme is aimed at making an atomic weapon, and says it wants only to generate energy for its growing population.The Islamic Republic of Iran has always, along with other nations, wanted nuclear disarmament in all countries and the destruction of their arsenals, Ghashghavi said.The United States and its staunch ally Israel -- the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed nation -- have never ruled out taking military action against Iran, which they accuse of seeking to make a nuclear bomb.Iran has repeatedly vowed that any attack will be met by a crushing response.Tehran risks a fourth round of UN sanctions over its failure to abide by international calls to freeze uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also be used to build the core of a nuclear weapon.

SINS OF PEOPLE

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

MORE SIN SIGNS

EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

AS YOU WILL READ SUNDAY IN MY NEW AGE OCCULT STORY THIS GUY WAS LEAD BY SATAN, HE WAS DECIEVED BY THE DEMONIC SEDUCING SPIRITS.

Wash. rampage suspect in court: I kill for God SEPT 05,08

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - I kill for God. I listen to God, a man accused of a northwest Washington shooting rampage said Friday at a hearing where six charges of first-degree murder and four of first-degree assault were filed against him. Isaac Zamora made the chilling comment twice at the brief hearing in Skagit County District Court while investigators wrapped up their work at eight crime scenes. The 28-year-old is being held on $5 million bail in the wake of Tuesday's rampage, which left six people dead and four injured.District Court Judge Warren Gilbert read each charge and the penalties, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. That doesn't mean the death penalty is off the table, according to the Skagit County prosecutor.

Do you talk about it? Sure you talk about it, Prosecutor Rich Weyrich told the Skagit Valley Herald. Where it goes, it's way too early to decide that.Zamora was not required to enter a plea Friday. The charges filed in District Court allow Zamora to be held in custody for 30 days. He will later be formally charged in county Superior Court.A hearing has been set for Oct. 3.The affidavit for probable cause, which details in support of the charges, remains sealed for 10 more days while the investigation continues.The attacks began near Zamora's mother's home near the tiny town of Alger, 70 miles north of Seattle, and continued on Interstate 5. After a high-speed police pursuit, Zamora surrendered at a sheriff's office in Mount Vernon, about 20 miles south of Alger.Among the dead was Skagit County Deputy Sheriff Anne Jackson, who had responded to a call to check on Zamora.

Also killed were a man shot at the same location as Jackson; two male construction workers shot nearby; a 48-year-old woman found a few houses away; and a 64-year-old motorist killed along I-5 near a rest stop, authorities said. Two people were wounded near Alger — one by stabbing — and two were wounded on the freeway, including a state trooper.Zamora, who has a long record of run-ins with the law, had been admitted several times to hospitals for mental health treatment and attempted suicide several times, his friends and family said.

OZONE DEPLETION

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Melting Swiss glacier yields Neolithic trove, climate secrets by Hui Min Neo
Fri Sep 5, 1:56 AM ET


BERN (AFP) - Some 5,000 years ago, on a day with weather much like today's, a prehistoric person tread high up in what is now the Swiss Alps, wearing goat leather pants, leather shoes and armed with a bow and arrows. The unremarkable journey through the Schnidejoch pass, a lofty trail 2,756 metres (9,000 feet) above sea level, has been a boon to scientists. But it would never have emerged if climate change were not melting the nearby glacier.So far, 300 objects dating as far back as the Neolithic or New Stone Age -- about 4,000 BC in Europe -- to the later Bronze and Iron Ages and the Medieval era have been found in the site's former icefields.

We know now that the discoveries on Schnidejoch are the oldest of this kind ever made in the Alps, said Albert Hafner, an expert with the archaeology service in Bern canton.They have allowed researchers not only to piece together snapshots of life way back when, but also to shed light on climate fluctuations in the past 6,500 years -- and hopefully shed light on what is happening now.For us, the site itself is the most important find because we have this correlation between climate change and archaeological objects, Hafner said.We know that people were only able to walk on this site when it was relatively warm, said Martin Grosjean, executive director of a national network called Swiss Climate Research. When it was too cold, the glacier advanced and it was not a passable route.Scientists have long known there were periods of warmer weather in the region but the artefacts allowed them to identify the exact years, when the site would have been passable on foot.According to Grosjean, such data could help sharpen forecasts for the future by taking into account patterns of natural temperature fluctuation.The treasure trove preserved in the icefields was discovered after two hikers noticed a strange piece of wood lying upon some stones in 2003.It turned out to be a quiver -- a case for arrows -- made from birch bark and dating as far back as 3,000 B.C. Hafner said this object may be the most significant single discovery at the site.It is the only quiver found that is made of birch bark. It is unique in Europe, he said.Since then, even older objects have been excavated, including a wooden bow estimated to predate by 1,000 years the famed Oetzi the Iceman -- a 5,100-year-old frozen body found high in the Tyrolean Alps on a glacier straddling Italy and Austria in 1991.

Experts have deduced that many of the most valuable items may have originated from one ill-fated person, probably carrying the quiver, bow and arrows and clothed in leather pants and shoes.We think the person may have been killed during an accident because there were several objects from the same period found on the site, said Hafner. It is unlikely that people would be leaving these objects so high up in the mountain.The leather samples are also the oldest of their kind ever found, said Grosjean. Leather decays easily in ambient temperatures. We know there were villages by the lakes in Switzerland but we've never found such leather objects, he said.

Analysis showed the pants' patch was made from a domesticated goat that resembled a breed recorded in Laos in those days.But the chances that the goat migrated from Laos are very slim. It could be a species that we had never before recorded to have been present in the Europe. Or its lineage may have died out since, said Grosjean.

Five years on, discoveries continue as the glaciers retreats. Last week, we found another Roman coin, said Grosjean, while Hafner said talks were underway with several museums on a future exhibition of the finds. And with climate change, more such sites could emerge. The leather pieces are the oldest such finds now but maybe in the coming years, with other glaciers retreating around the world, they may not be the oldest for long, said Grosjean. A recent UN Environment Programme report said by the end of the century, swathes of mountain ranges worldwide risk losing their glaciers if global warming continues at its projected rate. The ongoing trend of worldwide and rapid, if not accelerating, glacier shrinkage ... may lead to the deglaciation of large parts of many mountain ranges by the end of the 21st century, the report warned.

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

Silver State Bank in Nevada is shut By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer SEPT 05,08

WASHINGTON - Nevada regulators have shut down Silver State Bank. It was the 11th failure this year of a federally insured bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the bank, located in Henderson, Nev. It had $2 billion in assets and $1.7 billion in deposits as of June 30.The FDIC said Friday the bank's insured deposits will be assumed by Nevada State Bank of Las Vegas. Its branches will reopen Monday as offices of Nevada State Bank in Nevada and National Bank of Arizona in Arizona.The agency said depositors of Silver State Bank will continue to have full access to their deposits.The 11 failures so far this year compare with three for all of 2007, and federal banking officials have said that more banks are in danger of collapse.Silver State Bank has operated 12 branches in Nevada and Arizona as well as loan offices in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California and Florida.The FDIC estimated its resolution will cost the deposit insurance fund between $450 million and $550 million.Regular deposit accounts are insured up to $100,000; for some individual retirement accounts, the limit is $250,000.There were about $20 million in uninsured deposits held in roughly 500 accounts at Silver State that potentially exceeded the insurance limit, the FDIC said.Concern has been growing over the solvency of some banks amid the housing slump and the steep slide in the mortgage market. The pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures have been battering many banks, large and small, across the nation.The largest bank failure by far this year has been that of savings and loan IndyMac Bank, which was seized by regulators on July 11 with about $32 billion in assets and deposits of $19 billion.The seizure of Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac, which was the largest regulated thrift to fail in the United States, prompted hundreds of angry customers to line up for hours in Southern California to demand their money. IndyMac also was the second-largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, after Continental Illinois National Bank in 1984.The FDIC has been operating the bank, now called IndyMac Federal Bank, under a conservatorship.The FDIC plans to raise insurance premiums paid by banks and thrifts to replenish its reserve fund after paying out billions of dollars to depositors at IndyMac. The fund, currently at $45 billion, is expected to take a hit from IndyMac of $4 billion to $8 billion.Federal officials expect turbulence in the banking industry to continue well into next year, and more banks to appear on the FDIC's internal list of troubled institutions.

Of the 8,500 or so FDIC-insured banks in the country, 117 were considered to be in trouble in the second quarter — the highest level in about five years and up from 90 in the first quarter. The agency doesn't disclose the banks' names.Only 13 percent of banks that make the list fail, on average, and most are nursed back to health or acquired by stronger institutions, according to the FDIC.Federally insured banks and thrifts set aside a record $50.2 billion to cover losses from soured mortgages and other loans in the April-June quarter, when profits plunged 86 percent from a year earlier. Silver State Bank customers with accounts exceeding $100,000 can contact the FDIC at 1-800-523-8177 to set up an appointment to discuss their deposits.

Stocks mostly rise as investors snap up financials By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer Fri Sep 5, 6:00 PM ET

NEW YORK - Wall Street wrestled with intensifying economic worries Friday, extending sharp losses after a disheartening jobs report and then grudgingly engaging in some mild bargain hunting that gave the market some modest gains. The major indexes ended the week with big declines, a sign that investors, who not long ago expected the economy to improve, are now growing increasingly discouraged. Stocks initially fell after the Labor Department reported that payrolls shrank more than predicted last month and that the unemployment rate reached a five-year high. But stocks that had been pounded lower, including a huge drop on Thursday, were suddenly more attractive to investors willing to make some bets.The government said payrolls shrank by 84,000 last month, more than the 75,000 economists predicted, and higher than the 51,000 jobs lost in July. The unemployment rate rose to a five-year high of 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent.The report confirmed Wall Street's fears that the economy continues to weaken. The nation has lost nearly 550,000 jobs so far this year, eroding investors' hopes for a late-year recovery.This was an ugly number that pretty much confirms that our economy continues to trend downward, said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank. I had thought things were stabilizing, and this just knocks the legs out of any hope of seeing much economic improvement right now.But investors, with little conviction but willing to make a few bets, picked up some of the stocks hit in a sell-off Thursday, particularly banks and insurers. That lifted the market off its lows, but it was hardly a solid advance.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32.73, or 0.29 percent, to 11,220.96; the blue chips had been down 150 points at their lows of the session.Broader stock ended mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.48, or 0.44 percent, to 1,242.31, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.16, or 0.14 percent, to 2,255.88.Friday's moves follow a dismal performance on Thursday in which all three major indexes moved back into bear market territory, defined as a 20 percent drop from a recent peak. The Dow plunged more than 340 points in a selloff underpinned by disappointing economic news and lackluster sales reports from retailers; the news drove home to investors that the economy was more troubled than many had thought.For the week, the Dow lost 2.8 percent, its fourth straight week of losses and the biggest drop since late June. The S&P 500 gave up 3.2 percent and the technology-heavy Nasdaq, home to many stocks seen as riskier than the blue chips, fell 4.7 percent.Bond prices fell Friday as investors took profits from the gains logged earlier in the week. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.69 percent from 3.62 percent late Thursday.Since mid-July I think it's become apparent that the global economies have really weakened pretty sharply, said Thomas J. Lee, U.S. equities strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. He said that while investors had been applauding the drop in oil prices since then, there was an assumption that lower commodities prices would hasten a recovery in the U.S. economy. Now, he said, investors are worried that the economy might be weakening even as oil falls.It's disinflation coupled with an accelerating downside in the economy. That's not what people were prepared for. I think people were expecting disinflation as an economic recovery was under way, Lee said. The surge in unemployment today really underscores that fear.Wall Street again found little comfort from falling oil. Crude dropped to nearly $105 a barrel in Friday's session as the dollar continued to gain on the euro and investors waited to see whether OPEC would move to restrict output next week following a two-month plunge in prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet early next week in Vienna and has indicated it may take action to defend the $100-a-barrel level.Light, sweet crude settled down $1.66 to $106.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Among financials carving out advances, Citigroup Inc. rose 77 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $19.07, while Bank of America Corp. rose $1.63, or 5.3 percent, to $32.23. Wachovia Corp. rose $1.22, or 7.9 percent, to $16.75.Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. rose $1.03, or 6.8 percent, to $16.20 after a Sandler O'Neill & Co. analyst said he expects the troubled investment bank to survive the credit crisis. The stock has fluctuated on reports that it is hammering out a deal for a cash infusion or buyout.

In the consumer staples sector, smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc. surged following a report from The New York Times that Altria Group Inc. plans to acquire the company. Altria, parent of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, dismissed the report as pure speculation. Nonetheless, UST, the maker of Skoal and Copenhagen brands, jumped $13.55, or 25 percent, to $67.55, while Altria rose 29 cents to $20.95. Energy names slipped as oil continued its drop. Chevron Corp. declined $1 to $80.22, while ConocoPhillips fell $1.05 to $75.43. Advancing issues narrowly outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.91 billion shares compared with 5.11 billion shares traded Thursday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.23, or 0.03 percent, to 718.85. Investors overseas sent shares sharply lower on concerns about America's effect on global growth. Japan's Nikkei stock fell 2.75 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 ended down 2.26 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 2.42 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 2.49 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 322.59, or 2.79 percent, at 11,220.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 40.52, or 3.16 percent, at 1,242.31. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week down 111.64, or 4.72 percent, at 2,255.88. The Russell 2000 index finished the week down 20.65, or 2.79 percent, at 718.85. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index — a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies — ended Friday at 12,702.58, down 421.91 points, or 3.21 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 14,846.39. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

The CARMEL ALERT Sept 5th 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.

Guest Comment: Don't Do It by Scott Baker
Isaiah 46:13 I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel.

I've seen the Glory of God once. Ezekiel talks about it as an actual tangible entity in nine different places. For example, Ezekiel 43:4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And, Ezekiel 3:23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.

This experience happened here in Haifa when I was at a conference over 10 years ago. The Glory of God came tangibly into the room, as a mighty rushing wind. Although it was a windless night, the curtains flapped perpendicular to the floor as this rushing wind blew into the room with a heavenly whooshing noise and a different atmosphere. As the atmosphere came in the room, there were many baby Russian believers in attendance, letting out gasps of awe and joy. Three men were ministering from the States, relatively unknown (you wouldn't know their names). Many prophetic words were released at this conference, but of all the words spoken, that which I remember that stayed with me most I can summarize like this: God is coming for revival in Israel - but don't just look for revival in Israel, He is coming to bring revival to the entire Middle East region.

As I write this and ponder these things that happened many years ago, Condelisa Rice has been busy here in the region and Israel brokering talks with the leaders of Israel and the leaders of the Palestinians, which includes the division of Jerusalem. It has been under the radar, and there has been no mention of this what so ever in the Israeli press or news media all week, , except for this article I found: http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73428 . (As of this writing, it is confirmed that they are negotiating over Jerusalem: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73965 .)

According to sources, the pace of this brokering is being done at break-neck speed, so that George Bush may put the crowning achievement on before his final term is finished. Normally I would be very grieved and upset, but I have resigned in my heart that there is nothing I can do to change things but pray, and God is still in control. I see that of all people, it is a Christian Arab who can see with the prophet's eyes to rebuke the folly of men ( http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73129 ) as well as the leaders of this nation of Israel and the other nations who will not listen to wisdom.

God is in control, and even as the leaders scurry to make names for themselves at the expense of God's people...God says in Zechariah 12:2, 3, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around...and that, in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

I tremble for what George Bush and Condolisa Rice are doing to Israel, and especially to Jerusalem. And in that respect, I truly fear what Ehud Olmert and our leaders are going to do to Jerusalem. I believe that it will bring on what is called, the time of Jacob's trouble as described in Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

But it is not only the time of Jacob's trouble...the scripture says that he shall be saved out of it. In the next verse, God says that Jacob shall return and be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid any more (Jeremiah 30:10). But God says in the next verse Jeremiah 30:11 to Jacob (the Jewish people) that, For I am with you, declares the LORD, to save you;...but the next verse is scary...For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,...

You see, in the arrogance of man (and not just in the world leaders), but also in our leaders here in Israel as well...God has a contention with them! He is long suffering as we all know, but it is also wise to maintain a healthy fear of displeasing the LORD, and it sounds that according to His word the status of Jerusalem is very important to Him. And He didn't entrust His land because He wanted it given away to non-believers (Muslims) - whose Al Asqa Mosque in the heart of the temple Mount in Jerusalem boldly and defiantly proclaims in Arabic: God does not beget, nor has he begotten (a statement in contempt to the heart of the true message of John 3:16). Yeshua said to Jerusalem, to the Jewish people: You will not see me again, until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD - which I believe means an undivided Jerusalem...and from what I can tell in the scripture, God says that He will enter into judgment because according to Joel 3:2, On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.

Oh, that our leaders in Israel knew! It is NOT your Land to give away! It is God's land, and I am concerned that they are digging their own graves as the expression goes (and everyone else's). Here is the emboldened truth that actually happens when terrorists receive land back from Israel: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73969

In one of the movies of the Raiders of the Lost Ark, they had the Ark of the Covenant, and they (ordinary men) weren't aware that they were tampering with the Divine (we know that today, we are the Ark of the Covenant - our temples are the holders of His Glory...living stones being grafted together into a spiritual temple made without hands...at least that is the way it is supposed to be)...and when they finally tampered with and opened the Ark, they didn't know what it was or what hit them. I can see a similar twist to what is going on with God's Land.

God's glory is coming back to Israel, it doesn't matter what is happening. Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

The bible says, there are certain things that God hates. I'm sure He hates all sin, but there are seven things mentioned that are an abomination to Him, and one of them is a proud look (Proverbs 6:16, 17). Anyone who suffers from the blight of being anti-Semitic, has this proud look when looking down upon a Jew, when they consider themselves better. Most of the Muslim Arab world is in operation to this spirit described perfectly in Psalm 83 - (Psalm 83: Oh God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God. be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. Come. they say, let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.)

Let this Flash presentation be your prayer...I highly recommend it...pass it around. God bless you as you stand up for, defend and support and pray for the people of Israel: http://www.acwitness.org/psalm83english.html

The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.

Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * THE CENTRAL, DEFINING ISSUE IS JUDGMENT Note: Though I taped the segment yesterday, the interview Glenn Beck did with me yesterday will actually air tonight - Thursday, September 4th - on CNN Headline News at 7pm, 9pm and midnight. By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., September 4, 2008) -- Understanding how to protect American lives and American interests from serious threats in Iran, Iraq and Russia and helping the U.S. establish real energy independence in the years ahead are among the defining issues of this presidential campaign.

Senator Obama and his chief advisors all but concede he has almost no foreign policy experience. He was, after all, a community organizer and has spent most of his time in the Senate running for President. But to a man, the Obama camp says experience is not that important. The central and defining issue, they argue, is a candidate's judgment. This is why Sen. Obama himself said in his acceptance speech in Denver: If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.It is indeed a debate worth having. The problem is, Senator Obama has shown disastrous judgment on Iran, Iraq, Russia and energy independence, as Governor Palin and Rudy Guiliani noted so effectively last night.

Consider a few examples:

OBAMA SAID IRAN IS A TINY COUNTRY AND NOT A SERIOUS THREAT: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union, said Sen. Obama in a May 2008 speech to a town hall meeting during his primary campaign. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us . . . . Iran, they spend 1/100th of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance. The media and Democratic establishment was stunned. The next day, Obama changed course and gave prepared speech saying Iran is a grave threat. But his initial, gut instincts were telling - and wrong. Iran is a real and grave and growing threat to the national security of the U.S. and our allies.

OBAMA SAID THE SURGE IN IRAQ WOULDN'T WORK, AND WOULD MAKE THINGS WORSE: I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there [in Iraq], said Sen. Obama during a January 2007 TV interview the night President Bush announced the policy of putting more troops in Iraq. In fact, I think it will do the reverse. Just one problem: the surge has worked phenomenally well. We're winning in Iraq. And we will soon be able to bring our troops home in victory and with honor.

OBAMA STILL REFUSES TO SAY THE SURGE IS WORKING NOW: During a July 2008 interview with Sen. Obama on ABC News, Terry Moran noted that Iraqis' rejection of both al Qaeda and Shiite extremists have transformed the country, that attacks are down more than 80% nationwide, and U.S. combat casualties have plummeted, five this month so far, compared with 78 last July, and Baghdad has a pulse again. He then asked Sen. Obama, If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you - would you support the surge? Sen. Obama said no. Moran was stunned. But the Senator continued, Well, no, keep - these kinds of hypotheticals are very difficult. Hindsight is 20/20. I think what I am absolutely convinced of is that at that time, we had to change the political debate, because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with. Moran finally concluded: And so, when pressed, Barack Obama says he still would have opposed the surge. It's one thing to have flawed judgment and make a major foreign policy mistake. But should one not at least concede the obvious and give credit where credit is due? It was Sen. McCain who championed the surge and persuaded President Bush to go along. The facts are clear, even to the media. McCain was right. Obama was wrong.

OBAMA TOLD GEORGIA TO SHOW RESTRAINT WHEN RUSSIA INVADED HER: I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict, Sen. Obama said in a statement. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full-scale war. The entire free world condemned Vladimir Putin and the Russian government for raping and pillaging a small but free and democratic country. Why in the world would Sen. Obama urge Georgia to show restraint in defending her people and her freedom? Eventually, Obama corrected his mistake and sounded a little tougher on Russia. But his first instincts were dead wrong, demonstrating his judgment was seriously flawed.

OBAMA OPPOSES DRILLING FOR AMERICAN OIL IN AMERICA AND OFFSHORE: [O]ffshore oil drilling will have little impact on prices, Sen. Obama said in an August 2008 speech in Iowa. It won't lower prices today. It won't lower prices during the next administration. In fact, we won't see a drop of oil from this drilling for almost 10 years. Without drilling for American oil in America, how does Sen. Obama plan to wean us off of Middle Eastern oil and protect our energy security? After all, we actually have a lot of oil we could use for ourselves - if we could only drill for it. The Department of the Interior estimates that there are 112 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil beneath U.S. federal lands and coastal waters, noted Investor's Business Daily in July. That's enough oil to power 60 million cars for 60 years. That's not counting the trillion barrels locked up in shale rock - three times the total oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

OH BY THE WAY THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER SO THIS DOOMSDAY SENERIO WILL NOT HAPPEN. SURE WE MIGHT GET QUAKES AND TSUNAMIS BUT NOT TOTAL DESTRUCTION AS JESUS RULES FROM JERUSALEM FOREVER NEVER ENDING. SO WHEN HE RETURNS TO EARTH BODILY SHORTLY THE EARTH WILL STILL BE HERE.

Are we all going to die next Wednesday? SEPT 5,08

Two nightmare scenarios, two ends of the world. In the first, there is little warning. For maybe a month there would be no sign that life was about to come to an abrupt and nasty end for all living things on Earth.Then, earthquakes would start unexpectedly, alerting geologists that something terrible, unimaginable, was amiss.

After a few days, these seismic disturbances would reach catastrophic proportions.

Cities would be levelled, the oceans would rise and wash in a series of mega-tsunamis that would attack the world's coasts, killing millions.The fact that the earthquakes were striking randomly, not along well-known geological faultlines, would be proof that something devastating was afoot.Finally, the end would come, in a disaster of Biblical scale. The Earth would literally start to crack up.Molten lava would wash over the land and the seas would start to boil.Mega-hurricanes would level buildings and forests the world over. Eventually, mountains would crumble as the Earth's crust continued to disintegrate.The fabric of the planet itself would start to disappear, trillions of tonnes of rock, water, air and life sucked into a whirlpool of unimaginable force.From space, our blue-and-white home would appear to vanish down a plughole in a flash of light.At least in this scenario we would have a little time, perhaps, to come to terms with the end.However, a second doomsday scenario is even more terrifying. There would be no warning at all.In an instant - about one-twentieth of a second - the entire Earth would simply vanish from space.

Less than two seconds later, the Moon would follow suit. Eight minutes later, the Sun would be ripped apart, followed by the rest of the planets in the solar system and onwards, a wave of destruction caused by a rent in the fabric of space itself, spreading out from our world at the speed of light.But why should we now be worrying about such possible causes of Armageddon? The answer is a gargantuan machine - the largest, most expensive scientific experiment in history, the Large Hadron Collider, to be turned on next Wednesday.Although it was designed to answer the fundamental questions of life, some people have claimed that it could end up destroying the entire cosmos.This gigantic £4 billion-plus atom-smasher has been built under the Swiss-French border near Geneva, and is the most powerful device ever built for probing the secrets of the atom and the forces and particles which make up our Universe.It is a staggering device, occupying a train-sized tunnel 18 miles long, buried 300ft underground, studded with gigantic, cathedral-sized ring-shaped detectors where collisions between packets of heavy subatomic particles, hadrons, will take place in the hope that the innermost workings of matter and energy will be revealed.The LHC is, arguably, the most impressive machine ever built by Mankind.But a few people are convinced that it should never be turned on. A lawsuit has been lodged at the European Court For Human Rights by a small group of maverick scientists.They claim there is a small - but not zero - chance that when the LHC is activated it will create either a mini-black hole which would fall into the ground and swallow the Earth from within (scenario one).Or, even more bizarrely, trigger a catastrophic chain reaction in the very fabric of space and time itself, which would rip apart the entire universe like the skin of a bursting balloon (scenario two).

Bizarrely, this group, led by a German chemist called Otto Rossler, are using the European Convention on human rights to argue that, should the LHC destroy the entire Universe, it would violate the right to life and right to private family life.In fact, since 1994, when the collider was first mooted by the multi-national European nuclear research organisation (CERN), a small number of doomsayers have claimed that by replicating the conditions pertaining at the start of the universe (Big Bang), about 13,700 million years ago, there would be a small but real risk an unstoppable cataclysm would take place.This is not a threat taken seriously by the scientists at CERN. When I visited the place a couple of years ago, to see the collider being built, any mention of mini-black holes and other risks elicited only raised eyebrows and shrugs of derision.The LHC was not designed to destroy the universe, of course, but to fill in some of the embarrassingly large gaps that still run through our basic understanding of physics and how the universe works.It could discover, for instance, what most of the Universe is actually made of.The ordinary stuff that we see around us - the atoms and molecules of water, carbon, iron, oxygen and the rest that make up our bodies, the planet Earth, the Moon, the other planets, the Sun and all the stars - actually accounts for only about one part in 25 of the total 'ingredients' of the cosmos.

Astronomers know that something else, invisible and mysterious, must pervade every inch of space, its subtle gravity affecting the movements of the galaxy.This material - no one really has a clue what it is - has been dubbed 'dark matter' and it is hoped that the collider just might shed some light on what it is, perhaps uncovering a new type of particle.Perhaps more embarrassingly, we don't know what it is that gives even ordinary matter its mass.In the 1960s, British physicist Peter Higgs proposed the existence of a new particle, now known as the Higgs Particle, which effectively lends weight to the stuff of the universe.So important and fundamental is this hypothetical entity that it has been dubbed the God particle.It is hoped that if Higgs is right, the collider could finally clear up this mystery and, as a result of its super-powerful collisions, traces of this particle could emerge.That alone would, in itself, be justification for a large chunk of that £4 billion outlay. By simulating the Big Bang, it is hoped the LHC will act as a universe in a test tube, allowing scientists to examine a whole suite of exotic subatomic particles and forces and to go some way to completing the work started by Einstein and the other giants of 20th-century physics.So is there really a chance that the scientists have made a terrible miscalculation and that their new toy could inadvertently kill us all? Happily, the simple answer is no. CERN's scientists have in fact commissioned several safety reviews (such as those that have taken place before other big particle accelerators have been turned on).All have concluded that there is no measurable risk whatsoever. Perhaps the best argument against the LHC doomsday scenario is that cosmic rays - natural high-energy particles from space - smash into the Earth's atmosphere all the time with far, far more energy than will be generated by this machine.If it were possible to create a dangerous black hole by simply bashing atomic particles together, this would have happened naturally long ago, and we wouldn't be here to build this particle accelerator in the first place. So we are safe.In fact, what the scientists at CERN really fear is not the end of the world, but that their machine simply isn't big or powerful enough to uncover anything new - that to probe the deepest secrets of the cosmos they will have to ask for yet more cash to build something on an even greater scale.Either that, or their equations are simply wrong and a whole new approach is needed, despite the billions they have spent.Not a doomsday for Earth, perhaps, but a catastrophe for physics.

As for the rest of us, we have to hope that the scientists have done their sums right - and keep our fingers crossed next Wednesday.

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