EVENTS IN TIME (BIBLE PROPHECY LITERALLY FULFILLED)(BY GOD)

I WRITE NEWS ABOUT AND PUT NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM PERTAINING TO BIBLE PROPHESY HAPPENINGS.JOEL 3:20 But Judah (ISRAEL) shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.(THATS ISRAEL-JERUSALEM WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED AGAIN)-WE CHRISTIANS ARE ALL WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TO OCCUR.SO WE CAN GO TO JESUS AND GET OUR NEVER DYING BODIES.SO WE CAN RULE OVER CITIES OURSELVES.WHILE JESUS RULES FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER IN JERUSALEM.

Friday, November 28, 2008

MEDVEDEV IN CUBA

Irish report backs second vote on EU treaty
LUCIA KUBOSOVA Today NOV 28,08 @ 09:28 CET

A second referendum on a modified Lisbon treaty is the main option for Ireland, according to a report submitted by an cross-party group of deputies in the country's parliament on Thursday (27 November).The group was set up under the auspices of the Joint Committee on European Affairs with the formal title of the Subcommittee on Ireland's Future in the European Union.Dublin will announce its next move on the EU's reform treaty - rejected in Ireland in a June referendum - to the bloc's leaders at their gathering in Brussels on 11 and 12 December.The parliamentary report does not recommend any particular action to the Irish government but it highlights two possible options - ratification or non-ratification of the document, which needs to get a unanimous backing across the member states so as to come into effect in the 27-strong Union.Of the two options, the Irish parliamentary report clearly favours ratification, in form of a repeated popular vote. If a decision is made to hold another referendum, it would be expected that the Government would make an attempt to respond at both domestic and EU level to the range of concerns expressed during the referendum campaign.Those concerns would be best tackled in a joint declaration by member states attached to the treaty, instead of legally stronger protocols, as their inclusion in the document would have to be confirmed by a re-ratification of the treaty in all member states, argues the Irish study.Not all members of the special group appointed to analyse the issue agreed with the text, with Sinn Fein publishing their own opinion and the party's MEP Mary Lou McDonald saying that the subcommittee report was simply a re-articulation of the Yes argument, according to the Irish Times.The Lisbon Treaty has been so far voted been ratified by all EU countries apart from the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. czech parliamentary ratification is likely to proceed soon after this week's ruling by the Czech constitutional court confirming that the treaty is in line with the country's constitution.France as the current holder of the EU's presidency is expecting a deal on the issue at the December summit of the bloc's leaders.I think we will reach a very balanced political accord with the Irish that will open the perspective of the application of the Lisbon treaty, France's Europe minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet told the French parliament on Thursday (27 November).

EU states bin telecoms super-regulator idea
LEIGH PHILLIPS 27.11.2008 @ 17:41 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU telecoms ministers have rejected European Commission proposals to harmonise oversight of communications networks across Europe under a commission-controlled super-regulator.Meeting on Thursday (27 November) in Brussels, the ministers dashed the commission's hopes of seeing the establishment of a new EU-level telecoms body that would supercede national regulators and give the EU executive the right to veto member state decisions in the area.Under the commission's original November 2007 telecoms proposals, the new body would have replaced the current European Regulators Group (ERG). Where the ERG gathers together national regulators to co-ordinate telecoms regulation, the commission's preferred solution would have been controlled by the EU executive, supervised domestic regulators and been able to overrule national decisions.Telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding called the agreement amongst telecoms ministers today an improvement on earlier suggested compromises, although she said she was disappointed with the outcome.I continue to believe that Europe's telecoms sector requires better rules than those now on the table here.Expressing her frustration, she made reference to a US intelligence report published on Friday (21 November) that predicted the EU would become a hobbled giant by 2025 - powerful economically but powerless politically - if it did not overcome its internal bickering. She warned that if telecoms regulation was not harmonised under the commission's surveillance, the dire predictions contained in the report would come true.Last week, an American intelligence report painted a picture of the world in 2025. The EU was predicted to have a diminished status as a hobbled giant, she said.

It is decisions that we take now that will determine whether this is indeed our fate, whether our giant market of 500 million consumers and many innovative companies remains hobbled by 27 varieties of regulation, by fragmentation, and by the absence of a level playing field for our industry.Ms Reding called on France, currently chairing the EU presidency, to call a meeting of ministers, the commission and the European Parliament to attempt to achieve a final agreement before Spring.

The parliament has an equal say with national ministers in the realm of telecommunications. The agreement between national ministers made on Thursday provides the basis for the negotiations on a final deal on the subject between them and the European Parliament. The parliament's position - established in September- is to give the ERG a new name, but to keep its current loose co-ordination role, with the sole move towards the commission line being that the new body could take decisions by qualified majority, rather than unanimously.

The 11 cent cap

Ministers on Thursday also rejected the commission's wish to see EU-level co-ordination of the allocation of radio frequencies - or spectrum - that will be no longer be in use after television has completed the shift from analogue broadcast to digital.But they did back commission plans for limiting the price of sending text messages or email via a mobile when abroad but still within the EU.The EU has already imposed price limits on mobile phone calls from abroad - also known as roaming - as Ms Reding felt that it was unfair that consumers should pay substantially more when calling from another EU state, if the union is supposed to have a single market.This price limit will now be extended to text messaging and data traffic.Mobile operators will now be required to introduce a Euro-SMS tariff by July 2009 that should not exceed 11 euro centes, excluding value-added tax. Wholesale charges for sending data over mobile networks - such as surfing the web or sending emails - would be limited to €1 per Mbit. The commission did not propose to limit retail prices in order to give what it feels is still a young market the chance to regulate itself.

Three strikes rule struck out

The commission and national capitals also came together on criticising French proposals to force internet service providers to cut off subscribers that repeatedly download copyrighted material without permission.The French government is considering the so-called graduated response law that would see users lose their internet connection after three strikes. First an email would be sent to the offender, then a letter in the post and finally the subscriber would be cut off from the internet for a year.Internet users have reacted with horror at the plan, and the commission and parliament are not fans, arguing that access to the internet is increasingly the main avenue of accessing information, connecting to health service providers and other essentials. Cutting off an internet connection is almost akin to cutting off someone's electricity, many believe.In September, the European Parliament approved by a large majority an amendment to the telecoms legislation package outlawing internet cut-off. The commission afterward backed the parliament's amendment, with the telecoms ministers now also on board.

Another Shephard slain, but no outcry follows Silence of homosexuals is deafening when it comes to their own murdering innocent people November 28, 2008
1:35 am Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

A pro-family organization in Pennsylvania is raising questions about the lack of outrage over the murder of a man named Shephard in a dispute involving homosexuality. No, not Matthew Shepard, whose murder in Wyoming a decade ago has been used by gay activists ever since as a reason to demand enhanced hate crimes for anyone who perpetrates criminal activity against a homosexual. This case involves an innocent man who was murdered by a homosexual when the victim resisted his attacker's sexual advances. The latest case involves Jason Shephard, 23, who was attacked and killed by Bill Smithson, an openly homosexual man, who slipped the victim the date rape drug GHD and attempted to rape him. When the young man resisted his sexual advances, he was strangled, reported the American Family Association of Pennsylvania. The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), remembers another Shepard who was murdered 10 years ago in the state of Wyoming and homosexual activists used that murder to push for hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation, the organization said yesterday, following Smithson's sentencing to life in prison.But unlike with Matthew Shepard's death, there's been no outcry from the ranks of homosexual activists. The silence of homosexuals is deafening when it comes to their own murdering innocent people. The murders of both Matthew Shepard and Jason Shephard were tragic, but one murder is being used by homosexual activists to push their agenda of special rights. No additional laws are needed – murder is murder, but apparently the murder of Matthew Shepard was more important for those pushing an agenda, said Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA. The organization reported homosexual activists say that Matthew Shepard was specifically targeted to be killed because he was homosexual, yet the evidence shows something else. An ABC 20/20 investigation which included interviews with the two murderers revealed that Shepard's murder resulted from a botched robbery, the organization said. In fact, a commentary by John Aman, a writer for Coral Ridge Ministries and author of the book, Ten Truths About Hate Crimes Laws, reveals the truth about the case. It was the perfect hate crime. Backers of hate-crime legislation in Washington – and their allies in the homosexual lobby – could not have hoped for anything better. Suddenly, here was evidence of America's hate-crime epidemic blasted to the nation and the world via wall-to-wall media coverage. The need to pass hate crime legislation immediately was evident. he wrote. Matthew Shepard, it was reported, had died at the hands of two bigots enraged by his homosexuality. They mercilessly beat him with a .357 magnum pistol, stole $30 and left him tied to a split-rail fence outside Laramie, Wyo. Alone, in near-freezing nighttime temperatures, the 21-year-old college student fell into a coma and was not found until 18 hours later. He died on Oct. 12, 1998, six days after the brutal attack,he continued.

Homosexual-rights groups, some in the media and even a few politicians charged that Christians who oppose homosexuality were to blame for Matthew Shepard's death. Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest homosexual advocacy group, charged on NBC's Today show that Shepard was murdered because people's minds have been twisted with cruel stereotypes about gay and lesbian people.Birch blamed a pro-family ad campaign featuring men and women who had left homosexuality, for having poisoned the atmosphere, Aman wrote. Even today, Aman noted, Matthew Shepard's name is synonymous with the campaign to enact hate-crime laws. Supporters of the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 want to add sexual orientation to the list of groups granted special protection from so-called hate crimes, he said.

Only the story isn't accurate.

Money for drugs, not homophobia, was the motive for Matthew Shepard's murder, Aman noted. The ABC report said Aaron McKinney, sentenced in 1999 to two life sentences for Shepard's murder, was on a sleepless week-long methamphetamine binge and in search of money for more drugs when he and his accomplice, Russell Henderson, met Shepard at a bar.McKinney himself has said, All I wanted to do was beat him up and rob him.Henderson also denied the hate-crime charge. It's not because me and Aaron had anything against gays or anything like that, he said.The American Family Association of Pennsylvania said there are similar instiances. In Benton County, Ark., 13-year-old Jesse Dirkhizing was sodomized by two homosexuals and allowed to die in his own vomit in 1999, the group said. Jason Shephard was a young college student targeted by a homosexual man to fulfill his sexual desires. Homosexual activists are silent on this murder – yet they still use Matthew Shepard as the poster child for their campaign to write 'sexual orientation' into hate crimes laws. Hate crime laws are not needed - Wyoming still does not have one and Pennsylvania's was thrown out this summer, the organization said. Matthew Shepard's murderers are spending the rest of their lives behind bars just as the murderers of Jason Shepherd, Jesse Dirkhising and Mary Stachowicz are. Murder is murder and increased penalties for attacking a specially protected group listed in a hate crimes law is a waste of everyone's time and resources. Such a law creates unequal protection under the law, said Gramley. According to Philly.com, a website for the Inquirer and Daily News, Smithson, during his trial and sentencing, never admitted to the murder, nor did he express sorrow to the victim's parents. He blamed his behavior on his struggles with drugs, too. Testimony at his trial revealed he held a ligature around his victim's neck for up to two minutes after he lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen, assuring his death. WND also reported after voters in Florida, Arizona and California joined residents of 27 other states with constitutional protections for traditional marriage – and homosexual activists responded with terroristic threats against Christians and their churches.Burn their -----ing churches to the ground, and then tax the charred timbers, wrote World O Jeff on the JoeMyGod blogspot after California officials declared Proposition 8 had been approved by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. Confirmation on voter approval of amendments in Florida and Arizona came earlier.The amendments in all three states essentially limit marriage to one man and one woman. In California, the measure states the only marriages valid and recognized in the state are those between one man and one woman.On a blog website, Tread wrote, I hope the No on 8 people have a long list and long knives.

Another contributor to the JoeMyGod website said, While financially I supported the Vote No, and was vocal to everyone and anyone who would listen, I have never considered being a violent radical extremist for our equal rights. But now I think maybe I should consider becoming one. Perhaps that is the only thing that will affect the change we so desperately need and deserve.A contributor identifying himself as Joe said, I swear, I'd murder people with my bare hands this morning.Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs for Liberty Counsel, called the statements hate crimes for their intent to create violence against someone based on their beliefs.

This is not just a matter of some people blowing off steam because they're not happy with a political outcome. This is criminal activity, he said. The homosexual lobby is always calling for tolerance and diversity and playing the role of victim. They claim to deplore violence and hate. Here we have homosexuals inciting, and directly threatening, violence against Christians.

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

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

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

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

KEYS TO PROSPERITY
TLB DEUTERONOMY 14:23
THE PURPOSE OF TITHING (10% TO GOD'S KINGDOM TO WIN SOULS)IS TO TEACH YOU ALWAYS TO PUT GOD FIRST IN YOUR LIVES.

15 MINUTE DOW RESULTS FRI NOV 28,2008 CLOSING AT 1PM TODAY

09:30 AM -22.58
19:45 AM +10.44
10:00 AM +2.79
10:15 AM -17.20
10:30 AM -2.39
10:45 AM -7.80
11:00 AM -1.83
11:15 AM -11.42
11:30 AM +19.76
11:45 AM +25.97
12:00 PM +54.96
12:15 PM +70.89
12:30 PM +41.58
12:45 PM +72.80
01:00 PM +102.43 8829.04

S&P 500 896.24 +8.56

NASDAQ 1535.57 +3.47

GOLD 819.5 +8.2

OIL 52.46 -1.98

TSE 300 9270.62 +516.85

CDNX 766.35 +18.12

S&P/TSX/60 563.09 +32.27

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

Dow up 2.9% Wednesday.
Dow down 34% year to date.
S&P 3.5% Wednesday.
S&P up 18% last 4 sessions.
S&P down 40% year to date.
Nasdaq up 4.6% on Wednesday.
Nasdaq up 16.4% last 4 sessions.
Nasdaq down 42% year to date.

NYSE STATS AS OF 10:30AM
Advances 1,331,Declines 1,523,Unchanged 100.
New Highs 1,New Lows 14.
Nasdaq stats Advances 946,Declines 1,303,Unchanged 169.

Dow -19 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -51 points at low today.
Dow +50 points at high today so far.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS

Dow -51 points at low today.
Dow +102 points at high today.

BLACK FRIDAY SALES:
-128 MILLION will shop this weekend down from 7 MILLION last year.
-81% of Black Friday shoppers will buy for themselves.
-81% will shop at discount stores.
-78% will shop at department stores.
-63% will shop at Electronic stores.

BLACK FRIDAY BIZ (CENTRAL earnings and news)
-Monday:Mastercard spending pulse.
-Tuesday:Sears,Staples.
-Wednesday:Aeropostale.
-Thursday:Big lots.
RETAIL OUTLOOK SINCE 1995
-Q1 Performance:S&P retail Index(.RLX)has outperformed the S&P 500 11 times.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS 1PM EARLY SHORT TRADING DAY
Dow up 1.2% today.
Dow up 9.7% this week.
Dow up 16.9% over last 5 days.
Down down 5.2% in November.
S&P up 0.9% today.
S&P 19.1% over last 5 days.
S&P up 12% this week.
S&P down 7.5% in November.
S&P best week since 1974.
S&P,Dow biggest 5 day percentage gain since 1933.
S&P,Dow have not had 5 day winning streak since July 2007.
Nasdaq up 0.2% today.
Nasdaq up 10.9% this week.
Nasdaq up 16.7% last 5 days.
Nasdaq down 12% in November.
STOCKS TRADE IN SHORTENED SESSION,CLOSING BELL AT 1PM.

Stocks end shortened session with moderate gains By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer NOV 28,08

NEW YORK – Wall Street kept up a broad winning streak Friday, giving blue chip stocks their fifth straight advance as investors looked for clues about whether dire predictions for the holiday shopping season would prove accurate.The stock market closed three hours early the day after Thanksgiving and locked in gains of 9.7 percent for the week for the Dow Jones industrial average and 12 percent for the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index. The Nasdaq, which had moderate losses in recent sessions, still logged a weekly advance of 10.9 percent. It was the first time the Dow rose for five consecutive sessions since July 2007.Analysts largely looked past Friday's moves, however, as they came in light trading volume. A better test of market sentiment will come next week as traders return from the long weekend and as Wall Street digests a slew of economic data ranging from a reading on the manufacturing sector on Monday to the all-important employment report from the Labor Department on Friday.But even with light trading volume during the week and at times only modest moves higher, Wall Street's ability to continue its overall climb was welcome. Only last week, the S&P 500 posted its lowest close since 1997 and touched off another set of worries about how far the market would fall from its October 2007 peak.But with President-elect Barack Obama starting to reassure the market late last week by naming an economic team and the government stepping in to prop up Citigroup Inc., investors have found some reassurance that broad efforts are still being made to fight the financial crisis that intensified in September with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.Investors are now examining the prospects for the holiday shopping period, which began in earnest Friday. Wall Street expects retailers will suffer as consumers, nervous about a difficult job market, lower home values and a jittery stock market, grow more restrained in their spending this year. But some retail stocks rose Friday as some investors hoped the predictions have been overly dour. Macy's Inc. added 5.6 percent, though some discounters, like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., slipped.

You've seen all sorts of numbers that point to the fact that discretionary spending in the economy has come to an absolute halt, said David Reilly, director of portfolio strategy at Rydex Investments.A rare drop in year-over-year holiday spending would be troubling as it is the most important period of the year for most retailers and because consumer purchases account for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. But while some stores around the nation appeared busy Friday as shoppers looked for bargains, the early evidence was anecdotal and Wall Street would have to wait for cash register tallies.The discounting appears to be unbelievable, said Reilly. The retail sector is going to do whatever it can to get people through the door.Reilly said investors likely would remain nervous as they try to estimate how long the economy will remain weak.I think the market is still in the process of adjusting to the fact that we're in a very difficult recession.According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 102.43, or 1.17 percent, to 8,829.04. It was the Dow's longest string of advances since the period ended July 17, 2007 and the biggest percentage gain over five sessions since Aug. 8, 1932.Broader stock indicators also rose Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 8.56, or 0.96 percent, to 896.24, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.47, or 0.23 percent, to 1,535.57 after spending much of the session lower.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.28, or 0.91 percent, to 473.14.Government bonds were mixed Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.93 percent from 2.99 percent late Wednesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, edged up to 0.05 percent from 0.03 percent Wednesday.Citigroup was by far the biggest gainer among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials, rising $1.24, or 17.6 percent, to $8.29. Just a week ago, the bank's stock was selling off precipitously, before the government put together a rescue plan for the bank.Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research, noted that the day after Thanksgiving is historically a winning day for the market and that next week's economic readings should offer fresh insight into how much the economy has suffered from the evaporation of credit that began in September with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Financial troubles at Lehman and elsewhere made banks hesitant to make loans to each other as well as businesses and consumers for fear of not being repaid.

Detrick said the recent bounce resembles those seen in October when the market stormed higher on relatively light volume only to retreat in the face of gloomy economic readings. Market advances on light volume can indicate that there are simply fewer sellers rather than a strong number of buyers snapping up stocks with conviction. We're looking at this like not much more than a light-volume, bear market bounce, he said. They go away just as quickly as they happen, unfortunately.

He said the holiday shopping season likely will prove a weak one and that Wall Street will need to see some improvement in economic data before it is likely to put together a lasting rally. Investors also will be looking next week as Detroit's major automakers send their restructuring plans to Capitol Hill by Tuesday in a bid to secure federal loans. General Motors Corp. rose 43 cents, or 8.9 percent, to $5.24Friday, while Ford Motor Co. rose 54 cents, or 25 percent, to $2.69. Chrysler LLC isn't publicly traded. Among the market's movers Friday, financials rose while industrial companies like Caterpillar Inc. advanced $1.66, or 4.2 percent, to $40.99. Weakness in chip stocks curtailed the Nasdaq's gains. Intel Corp. fell 17 cents to $13.80.

The dollar mostly rose against other major currencies, while gold prices rose. Light, sweet crude rose $1.08 to $55.52 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Advancing issues outpaced decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 787 million shares. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.23 percent. Stocks in India rose a day after trading was suspended because of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the country's financial capital. The Sensex Index ended the day with an advance of 0.7 percent. Britain's FTSE index rose 1.46 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.09 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 0.38 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Spain: economic stimulus plan to create jobs NOV 27,08

MADRID, Spain (AP) — Spain's prime minister has announced an euro11 billion ($14 billion) stimulus plan to revive the country's flagging economy.Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says the package will feature major spending on public works and other projects to create jobs and offset an 11.3 percent unemployment rate, the EU's highest.Zapatero told Parliament Thursday he believes the package can create 300,000 jobs by the end of next year.Part of the package will aim to help Spain's auto industry, which accounts for 20 percent of Spanish exports and has been hard hit by the economic crisis.Spain's once-buoyant economy is in a sharp downturn because of a crash in the construction sector. Spanish GDP shank 0.2 percent in the third quarter, the first such decline in 15 years.

Commission unveils €200bn stimulus plan
LEIGH PHILLIPS 27.11.2008 @ 07:06 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Warning of the risk of a vicious cycle of recessions crashing upon Europe's shores if nations did not act swiftly, the European Commission on Wednesday called upon the EU's member states to back a €200 billion stimulus package that involves a mix of increased public spending on green initiatives, tax cuts and soft loans for industry.However, economists worry whether all countries will be able to contribute and whether the amount, which package together stimulus sums already announced by countries such as the UK and Germany will be able to do much.Most - around €170 billion - would have to come from national budgets, with the remaining €30 billion split between the EU and the European Investment bank. If backed by member states, the monies, which would be spent over the coming year, represent 1.5 percent of GDP, somewhat higher than earlier plans to produce a €130 billion package.Explaining the need for such pump-priming measures, President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters:Business as usual is not an option. That would lead to a vicious recessionary cycle.It would lead to falling purchasing power and falling tax revenues, to rising unemployment and the accompanying human misery, to ever wider budget deficits, ultimately to a risk of social instability, he said. That is the lesson of the 1930s.However, the president was clear this was no wholesale return to post-war government intervention and Keynesian economic strategies. This is a temporary measure and governments must come up with detailed plans about how they will pay back any borrowed monies.

But there is also a lesson from more recent recessions, notably in the 1970s ... short-term spending without structural reform and without a smart strategy for investing and paying back the borrowing can fuel a downward spiral of debt and unemployment in the future.The cost of fighting this crisis must not be a worse crisis in the future as we struggle to deal with a hangover of debt.The measures, which are more guidelines or even spending ideas from the commission and not a detailed architecture of what member states must do, include €5 billion in additional funding for energy infrastructure and high-speed internet connections to those areas in which the market is reluctant to invest.The commission also proposes €2.1 billion, or just over one percent of the total, on energy-efficient buildings, a Factories of the Future initiative that would support new technologies in industry, and encouraging automobile companies to produce green cars. However, these latter funds are just a redeployment of sums from existing budgets.Another €500 million would be allocated to supporting trans-European transport networks and another €500 million again for various other projects.The European Investment Bank will back this with €15.6 billion in new interventions in 2009.The commission also wants member states to slash VAT on labour-intensive services.With declining revenues and increased spending, member states' budget deficits would be likely to exceed the three percent of GDP maximum allowed in the Euro zone. In response, the commission insists that this ceiling has not been removed, but it will be more flexible in dealing with such breaches.

Ireland, Germany lukewarm

Meanwhile, the Irish finance department has already said it will not participate in the EU stimulus scheme and Germany is opposed to any cut in sales taxes - at least until after the 2009 German federal elections.Reacting to the stimulus proposals, German government spokesperson Thomas Steg said on Wednesday: The chancellor is firmly convinced that tax cuts can only be considered after the federal election in 2009.Jakob von Weizsacker, a research fellow with the centre-right Bruegel Brussels think-tank, worried that some countries might let some states expand their deficits while they themselves resisted any increased spending.There is a fundamental difficulty here as every member state has an incentive to free ride, he said. As many countries as possible should be included in the coordinated effort. Only countries in highly exceptional circumstances like Hungary should be exempted.Mr von Weizsacker also worried much of the spending would be old wine in new bottles. It needs to be ensured that any agreement at the European level leads to additional spending. Otherwise, member states may be tempted to meet their commitments by re-labelling spending that they were planning for 2009 anyway.Graham Watson, leader of the Liberal grouping in the European Parliament largely welcomed the package, but warned: We should ... resist unnecessary subsidies for industry. If we want European industry to thrive we need to find ways of boosting green industrial products and consumer spending power as priority.Conservatives in the house also saluted the plan, with the centre-right EPP-ED grouping saying it would do everything it could to ensure it was passed. Group leader Joseph Daul said however that there should be a quid pro quo in return for the looser purse strings: We agree with the commission's position that a budgetary stimulus should be provided, but not without structural reforms in the member states who should take measures to boost their economies, without increasing their deficits.

No Green New Deal

Meanwhile greens and the left were sceptical that this was in anyway the Roosevelt-inspired 'Green New Deal' they have been calling for as a solution to the triple finance, energy and climate crisis that would see massive public spending on a shift away from a carbon-based economy.The EU Recovery Plan will only work if it makes the economy more equitable and sustainable. This means addressing the real economy and investing in green jobs, but to achieve this the EU should be reversing the Lisbon strategy and reigning in market liberalism, rather than 'reinforcing' it as Barroso suggests, said Myriam Vander Stichele, of SOMO, the Dutch Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.Focussing new investments on the fight against climate change is a good idea, but the commission's claims about are not credible says Oscar Reyes of eco-watchdog Carbon Trade Watch. The European car industry, which stands to gain from a bailout, has a dreadful record in attempting to circumvent environmental regulation at every stage. And channelling significant new climate funds through the European Investment Bank - which has a woeful environmental record - raises series questions about the integrity of the EU´s recovery plan.Across the Atlantic, the incoming Obama administration is scheduled to announce its own stimulus package in the new year. No figures have yet been announced, but the sums expected to be unveiled are between €550 and €800 billion ($700 billlion to around €1 trillion).

Meltdown far from over, new mortgage crisis looms By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer – Thu Nov 27, 1:17 pm ET

AP – A foreclosure sign stands on top of a sale sign outside an existing home for sale in the west Denver … WASHINGTON – The full scope of the housing meltdown isn't clear and already there are ominous signs of a new crisis — one that could turn out the lights on malls, hotels and storefronts nationwide.Even as the holiday shopping season begins in full swing, the same events poisoning the housing market are now at work on commercial properties, and the bad news is trickling in. Malls from Michigan to Georgia are entering foreclosure.Hotels in Tucson, Ariz., and Hilton Head, S.C., also are about to default on their mortgages.That pace is expected to quicken. The number of late payments and defaults will double, if not triple, by the end of next year, according to analysts from Fitch Ratings Ltd., which evaluates companies' credit.We're probably in the first inning of the commercial mortgage problem, said Scott Tross, a real estate lawyer with Herrick Feinstein in New Jersey.That's bad news for more than just property owners. When businesses go dark, employees lose jobs. Towns lose tax revenue. School budgets and social services feel the pinch.

Companies have survived plenty of downturns, but economists see this one playing out like never before. In the past, when businesses hit rough patches, owners negotiated with banks or refinanced their loans.But many banks no longer hold the loans they made. Over the past decade, banks have increasingly bundled mortgages and sold them to investors. Pension funds, insurance companies, and hedge funds bought the seemingly safe securities and are now bracing for losses that could ripple through the financial system.It's a toxic drug and nobody knows how bad it's going to be, said Paul Miller, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, who was among the first to sound alarm bells in the residential market.Unlike home mortgages, businesses don't pay their loans over 30 years. Commercial mortgages are usually written for five, seven or 10 years with big payments due at the end. About $20 billion will be due next year, covering everything from office and condo complexes to hotels and malls.The retail outlook is particularly bad. Circuit City and Linens 'n Things have sought bankruptcy protection. Home Depot, Sears, Ann Taylor and Foot Locker are closing stores.Those retailers typically were paying rent that was expected to cover mortgage payments. When those $20 billion in mortgages come due next year — 2010 and 2011 totals are projected to be even higher — many property owners won't have the money.Some will survive, but those property owners whose loans required little money up front will have less incentive to weather the storm.

Refinancing formerly was an option, but many properties are worth less than when they were purchased. And since investors no longer want to buy commercial mortgages, banks are reluctant to write new loans to refinance those facing foreclosure.

California, New York, Texas and Florida — states with a high concentration of mortgages in the securities market, according to Fitch — are particularly vulnerable. Texas and Florida are already seeing increased delinquencies and defaults, as are Michigan, Tennessee and Georgia.The worst-case scenario goes something like this: With banks unwilling to refinance, a shopping center goes into foreclosure. Nobody can buy the mall because banks won't write mortgages as long as investors won't purchase them.Credit markets have seized up, corporate securities lawyer Michael Gambro said. People are not willing to take risks. They're not buying anything.That drives down investments already on the books. Insurance companies are seeing their stock prices fall on fears they are too invested in commercial mortgages. The system has never been tested for a deep recession, said Ken Rosen, a real estate hedge fund manager and University of California at Berkeley professor of real estate economics. One hope was that the U.S. would use some of the $700 billion financial bailout to buy shaky investments from banks and insurance companies. That was the original plan. But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has issued a stunning turnabout, saying the U.S. no longer planned to buy troubled securities. For those watching the wave of commercial defaults about to crest, the announcement was poorly received. He's created havoc in the marketplace by changing the rules, Rosen said. It was the stupidest statement on Earth.The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering another option that might ease the crisis, one that would change accounting rules so banks don't have to declare huge losses whenever the market declines. But the only surefire remedy is for the economy to stabilize, for businesses to start expanding and for investors to trust the market again. Until then, Tross said, There's going to be a lot of pain going forward.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Palestinians: Punish Israel for building in biblical heartland Seek economic sanctions preventing construction in historic, holy cities November 27, 2008 3:50 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

West Bank, including cities of Nablus, Jericho, Hebron and Bethel
JERUSALEM – Four days after WND broke the story the Palestinian Authority has quietly asked the U.S. to impose sanctions on Israel if the Jewish state continues building any new housing structures in the strategic and historic West Bank, the PA today publicly asked Palestinian diplomats to campaign abroad for economic steps against Israeli West Bank settlements. We want you to make the whole world aware of the problem because condemnations and press conferences are not enough anymore, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad told a public gathering of Palestinian diplomats today. Fayad reportedly singled out Britain as a model for other countries to follow in imposing economic sanctions on Israeli West Bank construction. Britain has said it is pressing European countries for tighter controls of imports to the EU from West Bank settlements, demanding West Bank Jewish imports be labeled separately from the rest of the Jewish state's general imports. We call on other countries in the EU to follow suit with Britain on this issue, Fayad said. Last week, WND quoted a top PA source revealing the PA has asked the U.S. to impose sanctions on Israeli West Bank construction. The source, who works from PA President Mahmoud Abbas' office, said the threat of sanctions would be part a series of Israeli-Palestinian understandings to be guaranteed by the U.S. that both sides are trying to reach before January. The understandings, the source said, would result in an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the vast majority of the West Bank, an area rich in biblical history and significance.

Secret peace talks exposed

Last week, informed Israeli and Palestinian sources told WND that despite media reports painting a dismal picture of negotiation prospects, Israel and the PA are still quietly working to conclude a major agreement before President Bush leaves office at the end of the year. Aside from a major West Bank withdrawal, the agreement would also grant the PA permission to open official institutions in Jerusalem but would postpone talks on the future status of the capital city until new Israeli and U.S. governments are installed next year. A top source said the PA requested that as part of the understandings, the U.S. would threaten sanctions for any new Jewish construction in the West Bank. Israel recaptured the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War. The territory, in which about 200,000 Jews live, is tied to Judaism throughout the Torah and is often referred to as the biblical heartland of Israel. The book of Genesis says Abraham entered Israel at the West Bank city of Shechem (Nablus) and received God's promise of land for his offspring. He was later buried with the rest of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs, except for Rachel, in Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs. The West Bank's Hebron was site of the first Jewish capital. The nearby West Bank town of Beit El–anciently called Bethel, meaning house of God–is where Scripture says the patriarch Jacob slept on a stone pillow and dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. In that dream, God spoke directly to Jacob and reaffirmed the promise of territory. Earlier, God had promised the land of Israel to Abraham at Beit El. In Exodus, the holy tabernacle rested just north of Beit El in Shiloh, believed to be the first area the ancient Israelites settled after fleeing Egypt. The understandings both sides are trying to reach before January are part of an original plan initiated at last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit, which sought to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, by January. The summit launched talks aimed at concluding a final status agreement on all core issues – borders, the status of Jerusalem and the future of so-called Palestinian refugees. But a final agreement has been hampered by several recent events here, most notably Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to resign amid corruption charges, leading to general elections scheduled for February that will see a new prime minister elected.

The candidate for office from Olmert's Kadima party, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is said to oppose reaching a deal on Jerusalem or refugees ahead of elections, fearing it will harm her prospects among center-right voters. Livni is Olmert's chief negotiator with the Palestinians. In spite of the upcoming elections and the Israeli government's subsequent political instability, teams of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been quietly meeting regularly the past few weeks in hope of concluding a series of understandings on key issues. Informed sources said any understandings reached will be backed up by Bush in an official letter. It is unclear how much weight such a letter will carry under a new U.S. administration.

According to the sources, neither side expects to conclude any deal on the status of Jerusalem or Palestinian refugees before January, putting aside those issues for future talks. Instead, negotiations are focused on reaching an agreement emphasizing borders, particularly a pledged Israeli evacuation of the vast majority of the strategic West Bank, which borders central Israeli population centers. A Palestinian source told WND the U.S. is said to favor Israel withdrawing from nearly the entire West Bank. The source said the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has been closely monitoring Israeli activities in the territory, which the source said has led to the Jewish state clamping down on what are termed illegal outposts, or Jewish structures built in the West Bank without government permission. Israel has recently announced a series of small West Bank evacuations, including the threatened forced removal of Jews who legally purchased a house in the ancient city of Hebron.

Olmert announced he wants quick peace deal

On Tuesday, Olmert seemed to confirm the WND report exposing secret Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at reaching an agreement on core issues, when he announced in Washington his intention to continue negotiations in hope of an agreement on core issues. In principle there is nothing to prevent us from reaching an agreement on the core issues in the near future, Olmert said regarding ongoing peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. We're in a situation where it's possible to do so, and I hope we do. It would be good for the state of Israel, said Olmert speaking to Israeli reporters after a meeting with President Bush. Speaking of a painful sacrifice of parts of the land of Israel and the history of the Jewish people, Olmert told reporters now was the time for decisions.I am ready to make that decision, and I hope the other side will make it as well, he said. You don't need months to make a decision.

Brooklyn Rabbi and Wife Caught in Attacks
By FERNANDA SANTOS Published: November 27, 2008

In 2003, barely out of their teens and newly married, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, moved from Brooklyn to the coastal city of Mumbai, India, to manage a mix of educational center, synagogue and social hall known as a Chabad house, one of about 3,500 outposts around the world run by the Lubavitch Hasidic movement.The place soon became a year-round magnet for Israeli backpackers and the Jewish businessmen and tourists who flock to Mumbai, as well as for the Iraqi and Indian Jews who live there. Mrs. Holtzberg served visitors coffee and homemade kosher delicacies. Rabbi Holtzberg always offered a helping hand to someone who was sick or stranded, often calling worried parents or spouses miles and miles away to calm them.

On Wednesday, the Holtzbergs’ Chabad house became an unlikely target of the terrorist gunmen who unleashed a series of bloody coordinated attacks at locations in and around Mumbai’s commercial center.Firing grenades and automatic weapons, the men also took the Holtzbergs and at least six other people hostage in the Chabad house, according to friends of the Holtzbergs. The couple’s 2-year-old son, Moshe, and a cook managed to escape about 12 hours into the siege, the friends said. The boy’s pants were soaked in blood when he emerged. By late Thursday afternoon in New York, there was still no news of his parents’ fate. It is not known if the Jewish center was strategically chosen, or if it was an accidental hostage scene. But if the center lacked the size and prominence of the attackers’ other targets, the news of its fate reverberated among Chabad houses in Australia, Argentina, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Norway and 67 other countries.But perhaps nowhere was it felt more strongly than in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the nerve center of the Lubavitch community and the neighborhood where Rabbi Holtzberg grew up. At the group’s world headquarters on Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue, men filed into the synagogue all day to pray for the Holtzbergs’ safe release. In a separate room, women swayed on their knees as they read the Torah. In the offices upstairs, rabbis and friends of the couple manned telephones, staying in contact with a sizable network of volunteers at the house in Mumbai, waiting for news.We were up all night, trying to sort fact from fiction, figure out what their status is, Rabbi Dovid Zaklikowski, 28, a friend of Rabbi Holtzberg since high school, said in an interview. The Lubavitchers’ headquarters occupies a wide five-story building that is the tallest on the block. It is the site of an annual conference for the emissaries who run Chabad houses. This year’s conference ended last weekend, but many of the participants stayed behind to spend Thanksgiving with relatives in the area.On Thursday, they found themselves drawn to the synagogue, even those who said they knew Rabbi Holtzberg only by name. Someone scribbled an English translation of the Hebrew sign affixed to the temple’s doors, bearing the couple’s names. The translation read, in part: Think positive thoughts and good will come.

For our movement, this is a very somber day, said Rabbi Sagee Harshefer, who heads the Chabad house in Ness Ziona, Israel, about 12 miles south of Tel Aviv. But there is hope.Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were born in Israel, though he and his siblings were brought to Crown Heights as children by their parents. The couple married a year before they went to Mumbai, formerly Bombay, to fulfill a role that Rabbi Zaklikowski said fit perfectly with Rabbi Holtzberg’s personality.He has a huge heart, always willing to help somebody in need, the rabbi said. It’s only natural that he would give himself to the community.Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, who directed the Chabad emissaries’ conference, said of Rabbi Holtzberg, “He is a very dynamic, energetic individual who turned Mumbai’s Chabad house into a home away from home for thousands and thousands of Jews.At midafternoon in New York on Wednesday, the first reports of the attacks in Mumbai hit the news, but no one in the Crown Heights Lubavitch community knew exactly where they had occurred — and no one suspected that the Chabad house had been hit. Still, some friends wanted to make sure that Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife and son were all right, so they phoned. There was no answer.

Yacov Young, Rabbi Holtzberg’s cousin, said he had been at home in Crown Heights, celebrating the birth of his son and a brother-in-law’s marriage, when his phone rang about midnight. Our hearts sank when we heard the bad news, Mr. Young said as he dashed into the synagogue.Rabbi Holtzberg’s parents, Noah and Freida, spent most of Thursday holed up in their house in Crown Heights, but left for Israel late in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Rivka Holtzberg’s parents, Rabbi Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, who live in Israel, boarded a plane to Mumbai. They were accompanied by a crew from the Israeli relief organization ZAKA, said Dov Maisel, a medic with the group, by telephone from Israel.They are on a mission to get their grandson, but they are very, very nervous about their daughter and son-in-law, Mr. Maisel said. Some 24 hours have passed, and they have heard nothing.Liz Robbins contributed reporting.

WORLD TERRORISM

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Hostages said dead in Mumbai Jewish center NOV 28,2008 3:30PM
By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer

MUMBAI, India – Commandos who stormed the Mumbai headquarters of an ultra-orthodox Jewish group found the bodies of five hostages inside, including a New York rabbi and his wife, officials said, as a fresh battle raged at the luxury Taj Mahal hotel and other Indian forces ended a siege at another five-star hotel.More than 150 people have been killed since gunmen attacked 10 sites across India's financial capital starting Wednesday night, including at least 14 foreigners.Early Friday night, Indian commandos emerged from a besieged Jewish center with rifles raised in an apparent sign of victory after a daylong siege that saw a team rappel from helicopters and a series of explosions and fire rock the building and blow giant holes in the wall.

Inside, though, were five dead hostages.

A delegation from Israel's ZAKA emergency medical services unit entered the building after the raid and reported through an Indian aide that five hostages and two gunmen were dead, a ZAKA spokesman in Israel said. The spokesman had no information on the hostages' identities or whether there were wounded inside.Jewish law requires the burial of a dead person's entire body, and the mission of the ultra-Orthodox ZAKA volunteers is to rescue the living — and in the case of the dead, carry out the task of gathering up all collectable pieces of flesh and blood.Numerous local media reports, quoting top military officials, also said five hostages and two gunmen had been killed in the Jewish center.The airborne assault on the center run by the Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch was punctuated by gunshots and explosions as forces cleared it floor by floor.Late Friday, Rabbi Zalman Schmotkin, a spokesman for the Chabad Lubavitch movement, said that Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, were among the dead.Holtzberg was one of at least three Americans killed in the attacks. Rivka was born in Israel and lived for many years in New York but it was not immediately clear if she had U.S. citizenship.The couple's toddler son, Moshe Holtzberg, was smuggled out of the center by an employee, and is now with his grandparents.By Friday evening, at least nine gunmen had been killed and one had been arrested, said R. Patil, a top official in Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is the capital. Media reports said one or two were thought to still be in the Taj Mahal.

Patil said a total of more than 150 people had been killed and 370 injured. Local officials said earlier that 22 foreigners were killed, but that number could not be confirmed.After hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions Friday at the Taj Mahal, a hotel with 565 rooms, the battle heated up at dusk when Indian forces began launching grenades at the hotel, where at least one militant was believed to be holed up inside a ballroom, officials said.CNN reported the government had cut off their live transmissions from the scene in Mumbai. Authorities have asked not to show live footage of their battle with the militants because they believe the gunmen were monitoring the news. Most channels have largely obliged.Commandos had killed the two last gunmen inside the nearby Oberoi earlier in the day.The hotel is under our control, J.K. Dutt, director general of India's elite National Security Guard commando unit, told reporters, adding that 24 bodies had been found. Dozens of people — including a man clutching a baby — had been evacuated from Oberoi earlier Friday.Security officials said their operations were almost over. It's just a matter of a few hours that we'll be able to wrap up things, Lt. Gen. N. Thamburaj told reporters Friday morning. The group rescued from the Oberoi, many holding passports, included at least two Americans, a Briton, two Japanese nationals and several Indians. Some carried luggage with Canadian flags. One man in a chef's uniform was holding a small baby. About 20 airline crew members were freed, including staff from Lufthansa and Air France. I'm going home, I'm going to see my wife, said Mark Abell, with a huge smile on his face after emerging from the hotel. Abell, from Britain, had locked himself in his room during the siege. The well-coordinated strikes by small bands of gunmen starting Wednesday night left the city shell-shocked. Late Thursday, after about 400 people had been brought out of the Taj hotel, officials said it had been cleared of gunmen, but they later said two to three more were still inside with about 15 civilians.

Early Friday, Thamburaj, the security official, said at least one gunman was still alive inside the hotel and had cut of electricity on the floor where he was hiding. Shortly after that announcement, another round of explosions and gunfire were heard coming from the hotel. On Friday, India's foreign minister pointed an accusing finger across the border at rival Pakistan. According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible for Mumbai terror attacks, Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in the western city of Jodhpur. Proof cannot be disclosed at this time, he said, adding that Pakistan had assured New Delhi it would not allow its territory to be used for attacks against India. India has long accused Islamabad of allowing militant Muslim groups, particularly those fighting in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, to train and take shelter in Pakistan. Mukherjee's carefully phrased comments appeared to indicate he was accusing Pakistan-based groups of staging the attack, and not Pakistan itself. Earlier Friday, Pakistan's Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, in Islamabad, denied involvement by his country: I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents.Indian home minister Jaiprakash Jaiswal said a captured gunmen had been identified as a Pakistani and Patil, the Maharashtra state official, said: It is very clear that the terrorists are from Pakistan. We have enough evidence that they are from Pakistan.Neither provided further details. Pakistan's government said Friday that it will send its spy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, to India to help probe the attacks. The gunmen apparently came to Mumbai by boat, and Indian forces expanded their investigation to the sea. Authorities stopped a cargo ship off the western coast of Gujarat that had sailed from Saudi Arabia and handed it over to police for investigation, said Navy Capt. Manohar Nambiar. They also stopped a cargo ship that had come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan, but released it when nothing suspicious was found on board. The British government, meanwhile, was investigating whether some of the attackers could be British citizens with links to Pakistan or the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, a British security official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work.

The gunmen were well-prepared, apparently scouting some targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy. It's obvious they were trained somewhere ... Not everyone can handle the AK series of weapons or throw grenades like that, an unidentified member of India's Marine Commando unit told reporters, his face wrapped in a black mask. He said the men were very determined and remorseless and ready for a long siege. One backpack they found had 400 rounds of ammunition inside. He said the Taj was filled with terrified civilians, making it very difficult for the commandos to fire on the gunmen. To try and avoid civilian casualties we had to be so much more careful, he said, adding that hotel was a grim sight.Bodies were strewn all over the place, and there was blood everywhere.A U.S. investigative team was heading to Mumbai, a State Department official said Thursday evening, speaking on condition of anonymity because the U.S. and Indian governments were still working out final details. India has been shaken repeatedly by terror attacks blamed on Muslim militants in recent years, but most were bombings striking crowded places: markets, street corners, parks. Mumbai — one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million people — was hit by a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.

These attacks were more sophisticated — and more brazen.

They began at about 9:20 p.m. with shooters spraying gunfire across the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station, one of the world's busiest terminals. For the next two hours, there was an attack roughly every 15 minutes — the Jewish center, a tourist restaurant, one hotel, then another, and two attacks on hospitals. There were 10 targets in all. Associated Press writers Ramola Talwar Badam, Erika Kinetz, Anita Chang and Jenny Barchfield contributed to this report.

Indian comandoes end siege of Mumbai hotel By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer NOV 28,08

MUMBAI, India – Commandos ended a siege of the luxury Oberoi hotel on Friday while other forces rappelled from helicopters to storm a besieged Jewish center, two days after a chain of militant attacks across India's financial center left at least 143 people dead and the city in panic.While explosions and gunfire continued intermittently at the elegant Taj Mahal hotel Friday afternoon, officials said commandos had killed the two last gunmen inside the nearby Oberoi.The hotel is under our control, J.K. Dutt, director general of India's elite National Security Guard commando unit, told reporters, adding that 24 bodies had been found. Dozens of people — including a man clutching a baby — had been evacuated from Oberoi earlier Friday.The airborne assault on the center run by the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch was punctuated by gunshots and explosions — and at one point an intense exchange of fire that lasted several minutes — as forces cleared it floor by floor, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. By Friday afternoon, the commandos had control of the top two floors.One camouflaged commando came out with a bandage on his forehead, while soldiers fired smoke grenades into the building and a steady stream of gunfire reverberated across narrow alleys.

Israel's ambassador to India, Mark Sofer, said they believed there were up to nine hostages inside. Their fate was not clear. Sofer denied reports that Israeli commandos were taking part in the operation.Moshe Holtzberg, a 2-year-old who was smuggled out of the center by an employee, is now with his grandparents. His grandfather told Israel Radio on Friday that he had no news of Moshe's parents.More than 143 people were killed and 288 injured when suspected Islamic militants attacked 10 sites in Mumbai starting Wednesday evening.Security officials said their operations were almost over.It's just a matter of a few hours that we'll be able to wrap up things, Lt. Gen. N. Thamburaj told reporters Friday morning.The group rescued from the Oberoi, many holding passports, included at least two Americans, a Briton, two Japanese nationals and several Indians. Some carried luggage with Canadian flags. One man in a chef's uniform was holding a small baby. About 20 airline crew members were freed, including staff from Lufthansa and Air France.I'm going home, I'm going to see my wife, said Mark Abell, with a huge smile on his face after emerging from the hotel.Abell, from Britain, had locked himself in his room during the siege. These people here have been fantastic, the Indian authorities, the hotel staff. I think they are a great advertisement for their country, he said as security officials pulled him away.The well-coordinated strikes by small bands of gunmen starting Wednesday night left the city shell-shocked.Late Thursday, after about 400 people had been brought out of the Taj hotel, officials said it had been cleared of gunmen. But Friday morning, army commanders said that while three gunmen had been killed, two to three more were still inside with about 15 civilians.A few hours after that, Thamburaj, the security official, said at least one gunman was still alive inside the hotel and had cut of electricity on the floor where he was hiding. Shortly after that announcement, another round of explosions and gunfire were heard coming from the hotel.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed external forces" for the violence — a phrase sometimes used to refer to Pakistani militants, whom Indian authorities often blame for attacks.On Friday, India's foreign minister ratcheted up the accusations over the attacks. According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible for Mumbai terror attacks, Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in the western city of Jodhpur.

Proof cannot be disclosed at this time, he said, adding that Pakistan had assured New Delhi it would not allow its territory to be used for attacks against India. India has long accused Islamabad of allowing militant Muslim groups, particularly those fighting in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, to train and take shelter in Pakistan. Mukherjee's carefully phrased comments appeared to indicate he was accusing Pakistan-based groups of staging the attack, and not Pakistan itself.

Islamabad has long denied those accusations.

Earlier Friday, Pakistan's Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, in Islamabad, denied involvement by his country: I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents.The gunmen were well-prepared, apparently scouting some targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy. It's obvious they were trained somewhere ... Not everyone can handle the AK series of weapons or throw grenades like that, an unidentified member of India's Marine Commando unit told reporters, his face wrapped in a black mask. He said the men were very determined and remorseless and ready for a long siege. One backpack they found had 400 rounds of ammunition inside. He said the Taj was filled with terrified civilians, making it very difficult for the commandos to fire on the gunmen. To try and avoid civilian casualties we had to be so much more careful, he said, adding that hotel was a grim sight. Bodies were strewn all over the place, and there was blood everywhere.A U.S. investigative team was heading to Mumbai, a State Department official said Thursday evening, speaking on condition of anonymity because the U.S. and Indian governments were still working out final details. India has been shaken repeatedly by terror attacks blamed on Muslim militants in recent years, but most were bombings striking crowded places: markets, street corners, parks. Mumbai — one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million people — was hit by a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.

These attacks were more sophisticated — and more brazen.

They began at about 9:20 p.m. with shooters spraying gunfire across the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station, one of the world's busiest terminals. For the next two hours, there was an attack roughly every 15 minutes — the Jewish center, a tourist restaurant, one hotel, then another, and two attacks on hospitals. There were 10 targets in all. Indian media showed pictures of rubber dinghies found by the city's shoreline, apparently used by the gunmen to reach the area. Both the luxury hotels targeted overlook the Arabian Sea. Analysts around the world were debating whether the gunmen could have been tied to — or inspired by — al-Qaida. A previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility in e-mails to several media outlets. The Deccan is a region in southern India that was traditionally ruled by Muslim kings. Survivors of the hotel attacks said the gunmen had specifically targeted Britons and Americans, though most of the dead seemed to be Indians and whoever else was caught in the random gunfire. One of the gunmen stopped once and asked, Where are you from? Any British or American? Show your ID, Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen dining at the Oberoi, told reporters. Among the dead were two Australians and a Japanese, said the state home ministry. An Italian, a Briton and a German were also killed, according to their foreign ministries.

The United States, Pakistan and other countries condemned the attacks. Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of India's 1 billion population, and Muslims, who make up about 14 percent, have sporadically erupted into bouts of sectarian violence since British-ruled India was split into independent India and Pakistan in 1947. Associated Press writers Ramola Talwar Badam, Erika Kinetz, Anita Chang and Jenny Barchfield contributed to this report.

EU condemns Mumbai attacks
LEIGH PHILLIPS 27.11.2008 @ 09:18 CET

The European Union has condemned the gunmen responsible for the killing of some 101 individuals and injuring 287 in a series of attacks across seven sites in Mumbai's tourist and commercial districts.The French EU presidency has reacted with horror and indignation at the terrorist acts perpetrated in Mumbai, India, and condemns them in the strongest terms.The presidency knows the attachment the Indian people have for democracy - the target of such terrorist acts.Europe joins the Indian nation in mourning and stands by her side during these trying times.The European Commission echoed the words of the presidency.The European Commission condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attacks this night in Mumbai, which have cost the lives of many innocent people and injured others, said external relations spokesperson Christiane Hohmann in a statement. Terrorism is never justified and is no means to achieve any goal. We stand by the Indian government in its fight against terrorism.A co-ordinated series of machine-gun and grenade assaults rocked India's commercial centre on Wednesday night, targeting up-scale hotels - the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Oberoi Trident, a popular tourist restaurant, the main train station, a hospital and the police headquarters.A previously unknown group, the Deccan Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attacks.From the five-star Oberoi Hotel on Thursday morning (27 November), a militant told India TV that seven individuals from the group were still holding hostages.We want all mujahedeen held in India released, and only after that we will release the people, he said.

Amongst those hiding in the hotel are two MEPs, UK Conservative Sajjad Karim, and independent right-wing Polish deputy Jan Masiel, that were part of a group of seven deputies in the city ahead of an EU-India summit.The Times of London reported that Mr Karim had barricaded himself in the hotel's basement, while Mr Masiel was thought to be in his hotel room, along with an official with the parliamentary delegation.

Erika Mann, a German Social Democrat MEP, hid in a hotel restaurant kitchen after gunmen attacked dining guest, but subsequently escaped, according to the same edition of the Times.The UK daily also reported that the head of the delegation had received text messages from the two stranded MEPs saying there were all right.

Medvedev meets with Raul Castro in Cuba NOV 27,08

HAVANA (AFP) — Visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Cuban President Raul Castro seeking to forge closer ties with the former Soviet Union's Cold War ally, on the last leg of a tour to boost Russia's reach in Latin America.Not long after arriving in Havana around 2050 GMT from Venezuela, Medvedev held two rounds of official talks -- one private and one between the two countries' delegations -- at the imposing Palace of the Revolution.Then the Cuban president, who maintains a low public profile, and Medvedev paid a visit to the new Russian Orthodox cathedral in colonial Old Havana, with bells tolling and security tight.It marks the last stop for Medvedev on a four-nation trip, including Peru, Brazil and Venezuela, where he visited Russian warships due to carry out joint maneuvers next week.It was unclear whether Medvedev, on the first visit by a Russian leader to Cuba since 2000, would also meet ailing former president Fidel Castro, 82.The visit could be light on substance: there were no agreements scheduled to be signed though the countries do have cooperation in fields such as oil, nickel, telecommunications, biotechnology and tourism.Medvedev's Latin America tour largely has sought to boost trade, despite the world economic slowdown, but was also seen as a rebuff to US moves in formally Communist-ruled parts of Europe, such as planned missile defense facilities.The Russian leader arrived from Venezuela, where he signed a string of accords, including a nuclear energy deal, with anti-US President Hugo Chavez.Medvedev is only the second Russian president to travel to Cuba after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to a decade of distant relations broken by a visit by former president Vladimir Putin in 2000.But Putin's decision to close a Russian spy base in Lourdes, south of Havana, in 2001, created a new chill in relations that lasted until 2007, when Moscow showed a new interest in Latin America.Medvedev's visit follows an accelerated process of reconciliation, including new deals on military, energy, telecommunications and transport ties.Cuba has been and will continue to be one of our key partners in Latin America, Medvedev said after hosting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque in Russia this month.

Relations are developing in a very dynamic way, Medvedev said on announcing a planned trip by Raul Castro to Russia in 2009.The Russian ambassador said Saturday that the country was negotiating major investments in Cuba's oil and nickel industries, with deals under consideration with specific Russian firms to search for oil offshore in Cuba's exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico.Since Raul Castro replaced his ailing brother, who held Cuba's helm for five decades, he has implemented minor and not radical systemic economic changes. The government controls the economy and media, and still outlaws opposition forces.Earlier this month, Russia granted Cuba a 20-million-dollar trade credit as part of agreements on oil, mining and transport, during a visit by Russian deputy premier Igor Sechin.In a Russian drive in the region after an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru earlier this month, Medvedev also visited Brazil, and his foreign minister, Serguei Lavrov, stopped off in Colombia and Ecuador.Russia sees Latin America as a center of economic growth, Lavrov said Thursday in Quito.Medvedev's visit to Cuba follows a trip by Chinese President Hu Jintao, who put off some of Cuba's debt payments and agreed to cooperation deals to strengthen ties between the two communist nations.

HOMELAND INSECURITY Campaign warns Americans about looming Shariah code Detroit billboard says religious law imposed by Islam threatens rights November 28, 2008 1:35 am Eastern By Bob Unruh 2008 WorldNetDaily

Shariah, or Islamic law, may be spreading around the world, but it isn't going to be established in the United States without opposition, vow members of the United American Committee. Officials with the non-profit have erected a 48-foot-long billboard just outside of Detroit, home to one of the largest groups of Muslims in the U.S. SHARIA LAW THREATENS AMERICA,warns the sign.

The UAC says it's dedicated to awakening the nation to the threats of radical Islam and works to educate Americans on the nature of Islamic extremism. The group's mission is to battle against the ideological aspects of the war on terror to counter elements of radical Islam in America.Shariah law is a legal system recognized in many Islamic countries such as the former Taliban regime of Afghanistan, and currently Saudi Arabia, and is a legal system which dictates beheadings, stonings, and other punishments for what are listed as crimes under Shariah such as homosexuality and adultery, and according to critics views women as inferior granting them little rights, the organization stated. Tom Trento, a spokesman, said, Muslims are the biggest victims of Shariah law in the world. We hope this message inspires the Muslims of America who came to this country to escape Shariah to stand up against it.The organization's website, whose address is featured on the billboard, highlights a video of Wafa Sultan, a Syrian Muslim who escaped the Middle East and has become a fierce critic of Islam and Shariah.At times, it feels to me that Shariah is following me to the United States, Sultan says in the video, referring to radical Islamic charities and organizations operating in the U.S.

Sultan also points out that in Britain and France Shariah is being enforced in various ways in certain communities. Britain recently sanctioned the establishment of Shariah courts for civil matters among Muslims, the UAC noted. Our Constitution is not compatible with Shariah, Sultan said. Under the religious rules, Women and children are deprived of rights we in the West take for granted.Homeless in America is more attractive to me than living as a woman under Shariah, she added. I don’t want to face again the hell that I had kicked off 20 years ago. My biggest obligation is to preserve the free spirit of this wonderful country and not allow destructive forces to ruin it.The UAC billboard is in Luna Pier, 10 miles north of Toledo and 20 miles south of Detroit on Interstate 75, officials said. The announcement about the sign comes as Islam expert Daniel Pipes warns in a report in the Jerusalem Post Shariah is advancing one step at a time into Western Europe and North America. Pipes cited the recent case of a Scottish judge who bent the law to acknowledge a polygamous household, a status allowed under Shariah. The case involved a Muslim male who drove 64 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone – usually grounds for an automatic loss of one's driving license. The defendant's lawyer explained his client's need to speed: He has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow and sleeps with one one night and stays with the other the next on an alternate basis. Without his driving license he would be unable to do this on a regular basis,Pipes reported.

Sympathetic to the polygamist's plight, the judge permitted him to retain his license, he said.The report said the ruling suggests monogamy, long a foundation of Western civilization, is silently eroding under the challenge of Islamic law.Pipes reported at least six Western jurisdictions now accept harems, including Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Australia and Canada. Canada, for example, acknowledges a marriage that is actually or potentially polygamous, if it was celebrated in a jurisdiction whose system of law recognizes it as valid.WND reported just days ago a Heritage Foundation expert's warning the U.S. also needs to maintain active opposition to plans for religious anti-defamation laws both within its borders and on an international scale or face consequences.In a report published on the foundation's website, Steven Groves said the U.S. must remain wary of continuing efforts by U.N. member states to gain wider acceptance of the defamation of religions' concept. The proposal primarily targets any criticism of Islam.

Proponents will continue to push the defamation of religions' agenda at the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. General Assembly, and at other international forums such as the April 2009 Durban Review Conference, Groves warned.Groves is the Heritage Foundation's Bernard and Barbara Lomas Fellow in the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies.He also said within its own borders, the U.S. should refuse to recognize a new legal cause of action that bans insults or criticism of religion, because it would provide no benefit whatsoever.States already have laws to condemn religious discrimination and prosecute acts of incitement to violence, he argued. The federal government should tread extremely lightly where disputes over religious doctrine are concerned. The U.S. does not need a national speech code that would restrict the First Amendment rights of Americans, no matter how offensive that speech may be to any particular religious denomination.Groves cited the 2005 attempt by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., who wanted to require that the Islamic holy book, the Quran, be treated with dignity and respect.Any attempt to establish a criminal or civil defamation of religions law in the United States … must be strongly opposed, Groves said. Attempts to introduce such legislation may be incremental – notably, in May 2005, when a group of U.S. congressmen sponsored a resolution, he said. Such piecemeal legislation must be closely guarded against.WND previously reported the original U.N. plan that could turn ordinary Christians in America into international criminals.

U.S. Department of the Treasury

WND also has reported the Treasury Department has announced it will teach Islamic finance to U.S. banking regulatory agencies, Congress and other parts of the executive branch. According to its announcement, the Islamic Finance 101 forum is designed to help inform the policy community about Islamic financial services, which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry.The Treasury Department has collaborated with Harvard University's Islamic Finance Project to coordinate its instructions. Revealingly, a recent report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND, said Britain's MI6 intelligence service identified a group that raises funds with impunity in London as the organization whose militia members in Somalia imposed a Shariah death sentence on a 13-year-old rape victim. The report describes how the group recently imposed the brutal punishment on a child in the Somalian town of Kismayo. A 13-year-old girl, described in an intelligence report as little more than a pretty child, was sentenced to be stoned to death by the all-male court.It imposed the sentence on Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow after she had complained to the local Shariah court that she had been gang-raped by, among others, her cousins.But the court found her guilty of adultery and sentenced her to death by stoning.She was taken from the courthouse to a local sports stadium. There she was buried up to her neck in sand and then stoned in front of a 1,000-strong crowd.

EVENTS IN TIME (BIBLE PROPHECY LITERALLY FULFILLED)(BY GOD)

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Friday, November 28, 2008

MEDVEDEV IN CUBA

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