OBAMA DOESN'T TALK THIS TIME HINT

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

Ireland promises Lisbon ratification by end of 2009
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today DEC 11,08 @ 18:49 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Ireland has promised to ratify the EU's Lisbon Treaty by November next year in exchange for concessions from the other EU states on its key demands.A document green-lighted by EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday (11 December) reads: The Irish government is committed to seeking ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of the term of the current [European] Commission, in November 2009.Irish voters said No to the Lisbon Treaty on 12 June. (Photo: EUobserver)It is important to Irish society and to future generations that we make the right decision now in terms of retaining an active, influential role at the heart of the European Union, Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin told RTE Radio prior to the decision.In exchange, EU leaders have agreed that each member country will keep one commissioner in the next European Commission if the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.In its current form, the Lisbon Treaty foresees a reduction of the commission whereby as of 2014 just two-thirds of the member states would have a commissioner at any one time. The reduction can be changed by the EU countries however, if they agree to such a move unanimously.Dublin has said that according to their research into why their citizens voted No, keeping their commissioner had been a key concern, together with holding on to its traditional neutrality. Ireland has also sought assurances that the EU would not impose rules concerning taxation or ethical issues, such as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriages.

Ireland has secured concessions on these points as well. The European Council [EU member states] has carefully noted the other concerns of the Irish people presented by the taoiseach as set out in the statement annexed relating to taxation policy, family, social and ethical issues, and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) with regard to Ireland's traditional policy of neutrality, reads the document.The European Council agrees that these concerns shall be addressed to the mutual satisfaction of Ireland and the other member states by way of the necessary legal guarantees, it continues.The Irish commitment to pass the Lisbon Treaty means the country is likely to hold a second referendum on the document sometime next year, possibly before the end of October. The Irish first rejected the text on 12 June by a vote of 53.4 to 46.6 percent.An Irish Times poll last month showed that given such assurances, voters would approve the treaty in a second referendum, however, with 43 percent of respondents saying they would now vote Yes, 39 percent No and 18 percent having no opinion.

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.

Storms drench Italy, 1 dead in Rome By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer DEC 11,08

weather.com ROME – Violent storms flooded parts of Rome on Thursday, killing at least one person as the sea threatened to once more inundate Venice.Firefighters in the capital said they had to evacuate dozens of people trapped in cars on flooded streets and on ground floors of buildings. Civil protection officials said more rain was expected Friday, further swelling the roiling Tiber river, which runs through the city.Rescuers found one woman dead inside her car, which was submerged in an underpass as hail and rain poured down on Rome early Thursday, spokesman Gennaro Tornatore said.From midnight to 8 a.m. Thursday, 60-101 millimeters (2.36-3.98 inches) of rain fell in Rome — more than the average for the entire month of December, said Fabrizio Santori, head of the city's security commission.Aerial pictures of the capital showed the streets of entire neighborhoods submerged by brown mud.Snow has fallen in northern Italy over the last few days, and the bad weather is now reaching across the center and south of the country.The situation in Rome is critical, but the weather conditions tell us we need to keep an eye on the south too, Tornatore said.Mayor Gianni Alemanno asked authorities to declare a state of emergency, and Italy's largest union scaled back a planned general strike because of the weather. The civil protection said it was monitoring several swelling rivers, including the Tiber and Florence's Arno.Authorities urged Italians not to travel by car unless strictly necessary. The weather has been snarling traffic in cities and causing delays at train stations and airports across the country.In Venice, alarms sounded early in the morning as the high tide came in, flooding the city's lowest parts, including the landmark St. Mark's Square.The historic piazza was covered only in a few inches (centimeters) of water, far less than last week, when an unusually high tide caused one of the worst floods in the city's recorded history.However, the municipality said strong southern winds pushing water into the lagoon could increase the high tide level.

Rare snow covers south Louisiana, Miss.By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer DEC 11,08

NEW ORLEANS – A rare snowfall blanketed south Louisiana and parts of Mississippi Thursday, closing schools, government offices and bridges, triggering crashes on major highways and leaving thousands of people without power.Parts of Louisiana were expected to get up to four inches of snow. Snow also covered a broad swath of Mississippi, including the Jackson area, and closed schools in more than a dozen districts. The National Weather Service in Jackson said up to 8 inches was possible in the southern and eastern parts of the state.A heavy band of snow coated windshields and grassy areas in New Orleans, where the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning.Office workers stepped out of high-rises to catch a snowflake, snap pictures with cell-phone cameras and swap snow stories.At a park in New Orleans' Uptown neighborhood, Sara Echaniz, 41, snapped photos and dodged snowballs thrown by her son, 3-year-old Sam. He didn't believe it was snow until it started sticking to the ground, said Ecahniz, a native of Rochester, N.Y., who was pregnant with the child the last time it snowed in New Orleans, in December 2004.

In Alabama, heavy rains prompted forecasters to issue a flood watch for parts of the state. Wintry precipitation also was possible later Thursday as temperatures were expected to drop.Flood watches were issued through Thursday night for much of North Carolina ahead of the storm system. Colder air behind the front could produce snow late Thursday and early Friday in the mountains.In Louisiana, nearly 7,000 power outages were reported in south-central parishes as falling tree limbs snapped under the weight of ice and snow.Some flights at Louis Armstrong International Airport outside New Orleans were delayed and canceled. Airport spokeswoman Michelle Wilcut said deicing equipment was being used on planes. Cleco Corp., one of the state's largest power providers, said the number of outages was expected to grow.Forecasters said the mix of sleet and snow was expected to diminish later in the day as the weather system moved east.In southeast Louisiana, temperatures were above freezing so accumulations were not expected to linger much beyond Thursday. An inch was forecast for New Orleans.The wintry weather is rare in south Louisiana, though the state's northern parishes see it about once a year. New Orleans' last snowfall, in 2004, was a dusting that came nine months before Hurricane Katrina struck. The record snowfall for the city is about 5 inches, recorded Dec. 30, 1963.The weather service said the previous earliest date for measurable snowfall in New Orleans was Dec. 22, 1989.

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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/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS THU DEC 11,2008

09:30 AM -50.23
10:00 AM -57.51
10:30 AM -2.23
11:00 AM -10.59
11:30 AM -44.13
12:00 PM +10.25
12:30 PM -4.14
01:00 PM +28.99
01:30 PM -35.28
02:00 PM -65.63
02:30 PM -80.13
03:00 PM -164.39
03:30 PM -204.46
04:00 PM -196.33 8565.09

S&P 500 873.59 -25.45

NASDAQ 1507.88 -57.60

GOLD 820.10 +11.30

OIL 47.22 +3.70

TSE 300 8391.90 -242.10

CDNX 713.44 +7.90

S&P/TSX/60 507.73 -17.32

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

Dow -208 at low so far today.
Dow +32 at high so far today
Dow -124 at 4 minutes of trading today.
All 50 Democratic Senators want Blagojevich to resign.
House passes bailout 237-170,sends $14 BILLION plan to Senate.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS

Dow -248 points at low.
Dow +32 points at high.

Dow -2.2% today.
S&P -2.8% today.
Nasdaq -3.6% today.
Dow,S&P 500 has risen 10 times in last 13 sessions but down today.
Oil prices surge more then 10% today.
Energy stocks rebound as oil prices rise.
Financials lead stocks lower.
4 of 30 Dow stocks up at close.
Stocks trim losses in last 20 minutes.

Wall Street tumbles on auto bailout worries By JOE BEL BRUNO and TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer DEC 11,08

NEW YORK – Wall Street's anxiety about Detroit automakers welled up Thursday, sending stocks sharply lower in an afternoon sell-off as investors grew fearful that a bill to rescue the companies wouldn't make it through the Senate.The pullback follows mostly moderate moves in stocks since mid-November and is a fresh reminder of investors' fears about the economy.Prospects for the $14 billion in loans to cash-starved General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC dimmed Thursday afternoon as opposition from both parties mounted.Lawmakers opposed to the plan are arguing that any support for the nation's auto industry should carry significant concessions from autoworkers and creditors and reject tougher environmental rules imposed by House Democrats. The House approved the plan late Wednesday on a vote of 237-170 to infuse money within days to the two struggling automakers. Ford Motor Co. has said it does not need aid.The heads of the three automakers said that even one of the companies going into bankruptcy would slam an already battered economy with thousands of job losses.Wall Street has been betting Washington would extend a lifeline to the automakers and even recovered early Thursday from a sell-off at the opening bell that followed weak readings on unemployment and the trade deficit. But the worries about the carmakers weighed on a market that managed to trade flat for much of the session.What we had was a little bit of a jumping of the gun, overreaction to the auto-rescue bill, said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers Montreal. The Dow tried to put a good face on things, but at the end of the day, reality set in.According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 196.33, or 2.24 percent, to 8,565.09. The decline comes a day after the Dow added 70 points after a surge in gold and other commodities prices gave investors reason to snap up energy and materials stocks.The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 25.65, or 2.85 percent, to 873.59, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 57.60, or 3.68 percent, to 1,507.88.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies tumbled 25.19, or 5.3 percent, to 451.21 as investors looked for the safety of larger companies expected to fare better in a weak economy.

Declining issues on the New York Stock Exchange outnumbered advancers by more than 3 to 1, while trading volume came to a moderate 1.47 billion shares. Lighter trading can exacerbate the market's swings.What's going to happen in the Senate is really weighing on the market in a big way, said Dr. Robert Froehlich, chief investment strategist for DWS Investments. He contends that a failure of the auto bailout would trigger a sell-off similar to what occurred when a financial sector rescue plan didn't make it out of Congress on the first try. The Dow Jones industrials tumbled 777 points on Sept. 29 as the plan failed an initial House vote.Wall Street remains on edge, as was clear by Thursday's pullback, but trading has been generally more orderly since the S&P 500 and the Dow hit multiyear lows on Nov. 20. Even some big moves in stocks in recent weeks don't compare with the enormous swings in September and October.One measure of unease in the market is still elevated but well off its highs. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, is at 56. Ordinarily what's known as Wall Street's fear gauge might be in the 20s and 30s but it had near 90 in October.Ed Hyland, global investment specialist for J.P. Morgan's Private Bank, said investors are hoping the government's medicine, from interest rate cuts to financial infusions in banks, will eventually help lift the economy but that it remain unclear how soon the economy will recover.There is still a high degree of uncertainty out there, he said. All you have to do is look at the Treasury market to get a gauge of how much fear there is in the overall investment community.In Treasurys, the yield on the three-month T-bill stood at 0.02 percent, unchanged from late Wednesday. The low yield still indicates a high degree of investor unease. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which also moves opposite its price, fell to 2.63 percent from 2.69 percent late Wednesday.The one-month T-bill's yield was at 0.01 percent, down from 0.04 percent late Wednesday. It was auctioned on Tuesday with a yield of zero percent, a sign that institutional and foreign investors were so eager to preserve principal they were willing to forgo interest. The dollar was mostly lower against most other major currencies, while gold rose. Oil prices surged 10 percent as the dollar weakened and as investors hoped for a significant OPEC production cut next week to boost the market. Light, sweet crude jumped $4.46 to settle at $47.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Chevron Corp. rose $1.02, or 1.3 percent, to $79.46 following the rise in oil, while Hess Corp. advanced $3.02, or 6.8 percent, to $47.71. U.S. automakers declined as investors worried about the prospects for a bailout. GM fell 48 cents, or 10.4 percent, to $4.12, while Ford fell 35 cents, or 10.8 percent, to $2.90. Chrysler isn't publicly traded. Financials fell amid worries about their balance sheets. US Bancorp warned it is earmarking more than $1 billion in the fourth quarter for bad loans. US Bancorp fell $2.82, or 10.2 percent, to $24.85. JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell $3.58, or 10.7 percent, to $29.94, while Wells Fargo & Co. declined $3.29, or 11.3 percent, to $25.90. Consumer stocks fell after a surprise jump in weekly unemployment claims touched off fresh worries about weak consumer spending. Costco Wholesale Corp. fell $1.63, or 3 percent, to $52.06 after the warehouse chain's first-quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street's projections following a drop in sales of discretionary items. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.70 percent. Britain's FTSE-100 rose 0.49 percent, Germany's DAX slipped 0.78 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.43 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Auto bailout stalled, GOP seeks UAW concessions By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAVID ESPO, Associated Press Writers DEC 11,08

WASHINGTON – A $14 billion auto industry bailout bill stalled in the Senate on Thursday, and Republicans demanded upfront concessions from the United Auto Workers as the price for support needed for passage.UAW officials were in talks with key Republicans and Democrats at the Capitol, although it wasn't clear what, if any, givebacks the union was willing to discuss.The developments unfolded after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined other GOP lawmakers in announcing his opposition to a White House-backed bill that was approved by the House on Wednesday. He called for an alternative that would reduce the wages and benefits of the Big Three automakers to bring them in line with those paid by Japanese carmakers Nissan, Toyota and Honda.Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the sponsor of that proposal, was in closed-door meetings with UAW officials and Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the Banking Committee chairman, to see if it could be modified to win the support of Democrats, who count labor unions among their strongest political allies.A growing number of Republicans and Democrats were turning against the House-passed bill — itself the product of hard-fought negotiations between the Bush White House and congressional Democrats — despite urgent entreaties from both President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama for quick action to spare the economy the added pain of a potential automaker collapse.

The rescue plan would speed emergency short-term loans to cash-starved General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.Ford Motor Co. would be eligible as well but has said it has enough cash to survive without federal help.The measure would create a Bush-appointed overseer — a kind of car czar — to dole out the money but also with authority to yank it back if the carmakers didn't cut quick deals with their unions and creditors, among others, to restructure.McConnell said that measure isn't nearly tough enough.Pushing to convert skeptics in both parties, Democrats agreed to drop at least one unrelated provision that threatened to sink the measure, a congressional official said. They eliminated a pay raise for federal judges after Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who represents an automobile manufacturing state, announced she would oppose the carmaker aid unless that provision was removed.Supporters had an uphill battle pressing the rescue package on a bailout-fatigued Congress — particularly a measure designed to span the administrations of a lame-duck president and his successor. Forced together by growing economic turmoil, the incoming and outgoing presidents were united in pressing hard for swift approval.In Chicago, Obama told reporters that an industry shutdown would have a devastating ripple effect on the already ragged economy.

Earlier, just after the Labor Department reported new applications for jobless benefits were at their highest level in 26 years, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the country couldn't afford an auto industry meltdown.On Capitol Hill, patience was wearing thin as the clock ticked down on the current Congress.Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader, called for swift separate votes Thursday on compromise legislation backed by Democrats and the White House as well as the GOP proposal. If not, he promised a test vote Friday morning to force a final up-or-down decision within days.We have danced this tune long enough, Reid declared.But many Republicans remained staunchly opposed to the rescue, and some Democrats were ill or absent from the emergency, postelection congressional session. Supporters of the bailout acknowledged that in this scenario, getting the needed 60 votes to pass it would be very difficult.It's a challenge for us, but we're working as hard as we can and I would just say it's very close, said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. Republicans were directly challenging Bush, arguing that any support for the domestic auto industry should carry significant, specific concessions from autoworkers and creditors. They are also bitterly opposed to tougher environmental rules carmakers would have to meet as part of the House-passed version of the rescue package — something that also faces some Democratic opposition. The House approved its plan late Wednesday on a vote of 237-170. Supporters cited dire warnings from GM and Chrysler executives, who have said they could run out of cash within weeks. A pair of polls released Thursday indicated that the public is dubious about the rescue plan. Just 39 percent said it would be right to spend billions in loans to keep GM, Ford and Chrysler in business, according to a poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 45 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans supported the idea. In a separate Marist College poll, 48 percent said they oppose federal loans for the struggling automakers while 41 percent approved. Associated Press Writers Ken Thomas and Alan Fram contributed to this report.

THIS RIGHT OFF BY OBAMA SOUNDS LIKE THE LEWINSKI SCANDLE,HE GOT THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON HIS LIST ALL EX CLINTON LEADERS. CLINTON:QUOTE I NEVER HAD SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN.OBAMA QUOTE:I NEVER TALKED TO THE GOVERNOR ABOUT SELLING MY SEAT TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER. PAY TO PLAY SCHEME.

THE DEEPER THIS SCANDLE GOES THE MORE I KNOW MY PREDICTION THAT AMERICA WILL COME TO NOT IS COMING TO LIGHT QUICK,OBAMAS NOT EVEN IN OFFICE YET AND THIS SCANDLE WHICH HE KNOWS NOTHIN ABOUT AND THE BIRTH CIRTIFICATE SCANDLE WHAT HE SAYS IS A REAL CERTIFICICATE AND NOT A KENYAN BORN BUT HAWAIIAN BORN IS COMPLETE (HINT).

WITH 41 DAYS TILL THE INAUGURATION OBAMAS PAL JESSE JACKSONS'SON IS #5 PERSON THAT WAS TRYING TO GET THE SEAT. ON OCT 31,08 SOMEONE TOLD BLAGOJEVICH:WE WERE APPROCHED 'PAY TO PLAY' THAT,YOU KNOW,HE RAISE ME 500 GRAND($500,000).AN EMISSARY CAME. THEN THE OTHER GUY WOULD RAISE A MILLION ($1 MILLION),IF I MADE HIM (SENATE CANDIDATE 5)A SENATOR. COULD THIS RAISER BE NON OTHER THAN JESSE JACKSON SR,ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

Obama denies link in Illinois scandal Anne Davies, Washington December 11, 2008 FBI reveals Governor's brazen bid to sell right to succeed president-elect in US Senate.

FOWL LANGUAGE (BE PREPARED)

PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama has denied any knowledge of a staggering web of corruption that came to light in his home state of Illinois, after the state's Governor, Rod Blagojevich, was arrested, taken away in handcuffs, and charged with trying to sell the right to replace Mr Obama in the US Senate.President-elect Barack Obama says he had no contact with the Illinois Governor accused of trying to sell his vacant Senate seat.

- Obama denies knowledge of alleged plot
- FBI taps conversations
- Governor: 'I can parachute me there' claim

The Governor, who has the sole right to appoint Mr Obama's replacement in the Senate, was caught by wiretaps in his campaign office and on his home phone,plotting ways to leverage personal financial benefit from the appointment, including — at one stage — a cabinet post in the Obama administration.According to an FBI affidavit, Blagojevich was caught on wiretaps saying the Senate seat is a f---ing valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing. He was also recorded saying that unless I get something real good, he would appoint himself to the vacancy.In another conversation, he described the power to appoint as f---ing golden. I'm just not giving it up for f---ing nothing. I'm not going to do it, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there.Despite the fact that it is well known that the FBI has been running a five-year investigation into corruption in Illinois politics — 15 people have already been charged — Blagojevich brazenly discussed with aides and lobbyists acting as advisers how he could make money out of the Senate appointment and other decisions before him.As late as Monday, as he faced the media outside a shuttered factory in Chicago, Blagojevich was denying that he was the target of any probe.

He was secretly recorded canvassing the idea of getting a cabinet position in Mr Obama's administration — he wanted Health and Human Services or an ambassadorship for appointing Mr Obama's preferred candidate and close friend, Valerie Jarrett — but he later realised this was aiming too high.He then turned to schemes to get the president-elect to appoint him to a non-profit organisation and to lean on several wealthy individuals to fund it, in return for which he would appoint Mr Obama's preference. He also talked to aides about getting Mr Obama to help his wife get a $US150,000-a-year ($A228,000) board position.Blagojevich's chief of staff, John Harris, has also been charged. Both were granted bail and their passports confiscated.It is unclear whether these schemes were relayed to Ms Jarrett or to the Obama transition team, but Mr Obama explicitly said he had not spoken with the Governor about the appointment.US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said at a press conference: We make no allegations that he (Mr Obama) was aware of anything.He went on to describe the allegations against the Governor as a political corruption crime spree that revealed a pattern of pay to play in Chicago politics.Other tapes revealed Blagojevich planning how to get the financially stressed Tribune Group, which publishes the Chicago Tribune, to remove one of its editors and certain critics from its editorial board, before he would consider giving state assistance for the sale of Wrigley Field, the famous baseball venue owned by the company.

The Tribune Group did not sack the individual or the board members — indeed, it continued its investigation of Blagojevich and at one stage refrained from publication at the request of the FBI to protect the bureau's investigation.The indictment also alleges Blagojevich was seeking $US2.5 million in campaign contributions by the end of the year from companies and individuals.The investigators said the pay to play culture in Illinois politics was deeply entrenched. If it isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's certainly one hell of a competitor, said Robert Grant, head of the FBI's Chicago office.The arrest of Blagojevich poses questions over how the vacant Illinois Senate seat can now be filled. Moves are afoot to pass urgent legislation allowing Illinois to hold a special election to fill the spot.Unless Blagojevich resigns or is impeached, he could fill the Senate position tomorrow with his choice of candidate.

Pan-Europe Libertas Party launched to fight anti-democratic Brussels
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today DEC 11,08 @ 16:00 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Declan Ganley, the Irish businessman behind the Libertas campaign group, of the key organisations that defeated the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland's referendum on the text in June, has launched Libertas as the first truly pan-European political party.The new Libertas Party, which aims to run candidates in all 27 European Union states for the European Parliament elections in June 2009, says it wants to democratise the European institutions, with an elected commission and a president.We are founding the party to campaign for the people of Europe to respond to the growing anti-democratic tendency in some of the institutions in Brussels, Mr Ganley told reporters on Thursday (11 December) in the organisation's new offices just metres away the European Council building where European premiers and presidents were arriving to meet for their last summit of the year.The Irish taoisheach, Brian Cowen, is expected at the meeting to tell European leaders that he will hold a second referendum on the treaty if his counterparts accede to two requests: A declaration that Irish taxation policy, family, social and ethical issues, and common security and defence policy with regard to Ireland's traditional policy of neutrality should all be safeguarded; and a pledge to maintain the one-commissioner-per-state principle abolished in the Lisbon Treaty.Pointing out that a greater percentage of Irish citizens voted against the treaty than the percentage of US citizens that voted for Barack Obama, Mr Ganley said that it is undemocratic to force Ireland to hold a second referendum and that other European citizens have been prevented from voting on the text.We will give [the EU leaders] the referendum they did not want to give the people of Europe.We are at a fork in the road, between the Europe of the Lisbon Treaty, an anti-democratic Europe that does not derive its legitimacy from the citizens ... and a democratic Europe.He insisted that the new party is not anti-EU or eurosceptic.

We want Europe to be strong and stand tall in the world, but based on democratic principles, he said. This is a pro-European organisation. There is no future for Euroscepticism. The European Union is necessary, he added.It is the status quo that if left as it is, will allow euro scepticism to grow.The new party will not partner with other political parties, but rather run all its candidates under the Libertas banner in each of the EU states.Beyond its position on democracy in Europe, Libertas' social and economic positions will be centrist, in order to attract people from across the political spectrum, although Mr Ganley was not sure about communists.
The left in Ireland played a prominent role in campaigning against the treaty, as did the left during the French and Dutch referendums that defeated the Lisbon Treaty's precursor, the Constitutional Treaty.However, at the press conference announcing the new party, Mr Ganley was light on policy details much beyond the treaty and the structure of the EU.Pressed by reporters to flesh out its other positions, Mr Ganley said that the party would be broadly free-market oriented, that European defence was very serious and that climate change could be addressed by a pan-European competition for entrepreneurs to develop innovative new technologies.

He also said that abortion and gay marriage were not issues Libertas had campaigned on in Ireland, suggesting that these are not issues the pan-European party will either.The party will hold a congress in Brussels the spring and hammer out its policy positions.Mr Ganley said that no candidates had been picked yet and would not say whether any prominent politicians had signed up to his cause. He did however say that should Philippe de Villiers, the French leader of the right-wing Mouvement pour la France so wish, he would be very pleased to have him as a candidate.Declan Ganley said he would like to be a candidate himself, but had not yet made a decision.The party's offices were bankrolled by Mr Ganley's Libertas Institute in Ireland, but is inspired by the online fundraising success of the Obama campaign. He encouraged EU citizens to visit Libertas.eu, and donate a euro or a zloty or any European currency up to the €12,000 maximum.We badly need it, he said.Speaking directly to voters, he said: [Voting for Libertas] may be the only opportunity you ever have to have a referendum on Europe.Although there are umbrella groupings in the European Parliament, such as the Party of European Socialists - the centre-left political family, and the European People's Party - its centre-right counterpart, they are still very loose and split along national lines, with very different platforms. Libertas will be the first genuinely pan-European political party with a common programme.

UKIP grumbles at competition

Britain's eurosceptic party, the UK Independence Party, said there was absolutely no common ground on Europe between Declan Ganley's new party, Libertas, and UKIP.UKIP's leader, Nigel Farage, said: Libertas has nailed its colours firmly to [UK Tory chief] David Cameron's mast of wishing to stay within the European Union and try to reform from inside.I think it will come as a surprise to many to learn just how pro EU Mr Ganley is, he added.Graham Watson, head of the Liberals in the European Parliament, described the new party as anti-European, but welcomed the challenge coming from Libertas and said that it ironically may even galvanise pro-Europeans to defend the EU.We are far from condemning this initiative of Declan Ganley. He is doing Europe a favour by stimulating interest and debate about the EU, which may result in a higher turnout at next year's European elections, the Liberal leader said.

Greek-inspired protests spread across Europe By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer DEC 11,08

MADRID, Spain – The unrest that has gripped Greece is spilling over into the rest of Europe, raising concerns the clashes could be a trigger for opponents of globalization, disaffected youth and others outraged by the continent's economic turmoil and soaring unemployment.Protesters in Spain, Denmark and Italy smashed shop windows, pelted police with bottles and attacked banks this week, while in France, cars were set ablaze Thursday outside the Greek consulate in Bordeaux, where protesters scrawled graffiti warning about a looming insurrection.At least some of the protests were organized over the Internet, showing how quickly the message of discontent can be spread, particularly among tech-savvy youth. One Web site Greek protesters used to update each other on the locations of clashes asserted there have been sympathy protests in nearly 20 countries.More demonstrations were set for Friday in Italy, France and Germany.Still, the clashes have been isolated so far, and nothing like the scope of the chaos in Greece, which was triggered by the police killing of a teenager on Saturday and has ballooned into nightly scenes of burning street barricades, looted stores and overturned cars.Nevertheless, authorities in Europe worry conditions are ripe for the contagion to spread.As Europe plunges into recession, unemployment is rising, particularly among the young. Even before the crisis, European youths complained about difficulty finding well-paid jobs — even with a college degree — and many said they felt left out as the continent grew in prosperity.In Greece, demonstrators handed out fliers Thursday listing their demands, which include the reversal of public spending cuts that have brought more layoffs, and said they were hopeful their movement would spread.

We're encouraging nonviolent action here and abroad, said Konstantinos Sakkas, a 23-year-old protester at the Athens Polytechnic, where many of the demonstrators are based. What these are abroad are spontaneous expressions of solidarity with what's going on here.Across the continent, Internet sites and blogs have popped up to spread the call to protest.Several Greek Web sites offered protesters real-time information on clash sites, where demonstrations were heading and how riot police were deployed around the city. Protest marches were arranged and announced on the sites and via text message on cell phones.In Spain, an anti-globalization Web site, Nodo50.org, greeted visitors with the headline State Assassin, Police Executioners and told them of hastily called rallies Wednesday in Barcelona and Madrid.We stand in solidarity with the Greek protesters, the site said.Elsewhere in Europe, reports about the clashes in Greece were quickly picked up online by citizen journalists, some of whom posted details of confrontations on Twitter. At the Independent Media Center, photos and video of the demonstrations were uploaded and plans were listed for upcoming solidarity actions in London, Edinburgh and Berlin.One writer on the site london.indymedia.org exhorted people to follow the Greek example and reclaim the streets. Burn the banks that robbed you ... It is a great opportunity to expand the revolution in all europe.What's happening in Greece tends to prove that the extreme left exists, contrary to doubts of some over these past few weeks, French Interior Ministry spokesman Gerard Gachet told The Associated Press.

But, he added, the coming days and weeks would determine whether there's a danger of contagion of the Greek situation into France.In cities across Europe, protests flared in solidarity with the demonstrations in Greece. One rally outside the Greek Embassy in Rome turned violent on Wednesday, damaging police vehicles, overturning a car and setting a trash can on fire. In Denmark, protesters pelted riot police with bottles and paint in downtown Copenhagen; 63 people were detained and later released. And in Spain, angry youths attacked banks, shops and a police station in Madrid and Barcelona late Wednesday. Some of the protesters chanted police killers and other slogans. Eleven people — including a Greek girl — were arrested at the two rallies, which drew a total of about 200 protesters. Daniel Lostao, president of the state-financed Youth Council, an umbrella organization of Spanish youth groups, said young people in Spain face daunting challenges — soaring unemployment, low salaries and difficulty in leaving the family nest because of expensive housing. Still, he said he doubted the protests in Spain would grow. We do not have the feeling that this is going to spread, Lostao said. Let's hope I am not wrong.In France, protesters set fire to two cars and a garbage can filled with flammable material outside the Greek consulate in Bordeaux Thursday and scrawled graffiti threatening more unrest, Greek Consul Michel Corfias said. Graffiti reading solidarity with the fires in Greece, was scrawled on the consulate and the word insurrection was painted on the doors of neighboring houses. The events in Greece are a trigger for French youth angry by their own lack of economic opportunity, Corfias said. Associated Press reporters Matt Moore in Berlin, Daniel Woolls in Madrid, Ariel David in Rome, John Leicester and Jamey Keaten in Paris, and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.

Suicide bomber kills 55 in packed Iraq restaurant By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer DEC 11,08

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber killed at least 55 people Thursday in a packed restaurant near the northern city of Kirkuk where Kurdish officials and Arab tribal leaders were trying to reconcile their differences over control of the oil-rich region. The brazen attack — the deadliest in Iraq in six months — occurred at a time of rising tension between Kurds and Arabs over oil, political power and Kirkuk.No group claimed responsibility for the attack at the upscale Abdullah restaurant, which was crowded with families celebrating the end of the four-day Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. The U.S. blamed the blast on al-Qaida, which uses suicide bombings as its signature attack.Police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir, who gave the casualty figures, said the dead included at least five women and three children. About 120 people were wounded.It appeared, however, that the target was a reconciliation meeting between Arab tribal leaders and officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdish party of President Jalal Talabani, on ways to defuse tension among Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen in the Kirkuk area.Kurds want to annex Kirkuk and surrounding Tamim province into their self-ruled region of northern Iraq. Most Turkomen and Arabs want the province to remain under central government control, fearing the Kurds would discriminate against them.Iraq's parliament exempted the Kirkuk area from next month's provincial elections because the different ethnic groups could not agree on how to share power.A guard at the entrance said the blast occurred moments after a man parked his car and walked inside. He was not searched because the guards had not been told to frisk customers, the guard said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears for his own safety.At the city's main hospital, family members wept and screamed in the blood-smeared corridors as doctors tried to save lives. Many victims were horrifically wounded, and mangled bodies lay unattended on the emergency room floor.

Salam Abdullah, a 45-year-old Kurd, said he was having lunch with his wife when they saw shrapnel flying through the room.I held my wife and led her outside the place. As we were leaving, I saw dead bodies soaked with blood and huge destruction, he said. Abdullah was wounded in his head and left hand; his wife suffered head and chest injuries.I do not know how a group like al-Qaida claiming to be Islamic plans to attack and kill people on sacred days like Eid, said Awad al-Jubouri, 53, one of the tribal leaders at the luncheon. We were only meeting to discuss our problems with the Kurds and trying to impose peace among Muslims in Kirkuk.The attack was the deadliest in Iraq since June 7, when a car bomb killed 63 people in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad.U.S. officials say attacks are down 80 percent nationwide since March, though major bombings still occur. A double truck bombing killed 17 people on Dec. 4 in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah west of Baghdad.It was unclear what effect Thursday's attack would have on reconciliation efforts in Kirkuk, since the victims included both Arabs and Kurds. Mass attacks against civilians have prompted many Sunnis to turn against the insurgency.But ethnic competition is intense in Kirkuk and elsewhere in the volatile north, the most ethnically mixed part of the country.The U.N. mission, which has been trying to defuse tension in Kirkuk, urged community leaders to demonstrate responsible leadership and to urge restraint by their followers at this difficult time.In a joint statement, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and the top U.S. commander Gen. Ray Odierno condemned the bombing and accused al-Qaida of trying to divide Iraqi communities and halt the progress toward a stable, inclusive and tolerant society.

U.S. commanders have long believed that resolving differences among the ethnic communities is the key to defeating the insurgents in the north because al-Qaida and the dozen other Sunni extremist groups there exploit those tensions. But progress has been difficult because of deep-seated suspicions and conflicting claims on Kirkuk, the center of Iraq's vast northern oil fields which the Kurds have long wanted to bring into their autonomous region. Kirkuk has been hit by at least 41 suicide attacks since May 2005, according to an Associated Press tally. The deadliest attack occurred July 17, 2007, when a suicide truck bomber struck a Kurdish political office, killing at least 80 and wounding more than 180. Iraq's constitution provides for a referendum to be held in Kirkuk to determine whether it would be annexed to the Kurdish regional administration. But the vote has been repeatedly postponed because of fears that the balloting would worsen ethnic tension. At the same time, relations between the Kurds and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have worsened because of differences over control of oil resources, Kirkuk and power-sharing. A draft law to regulate the oil industry has been stalled for nearly two years because the Kurds withdrew their support, maintaining it gave too much control to the national government. The Kurds also want a bigger say in decision-making within the ruling coalition. Al-Maliki has accused the Kurds of breaking the law by sending Kurdish troops outside the self-ruled region, ostensibly to protect Kurdish communities in central government territory. Associated Press reporters Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad and the AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report.