OBAMA PAL HASSELS CORSI

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.

Global warming causing more tropical storms: NASA Fri Dec 19, 2:38 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Global warming is increasing the frequency of extremely high clouds in the Earth's tropics that cause severe storms and rainfall, according to a NASA study released Friday.The space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said a study by its scientists found a strong correlation between the frequency of these clouds and seasonal variations in the average sea surface temperature of the tropical oceans.For every degree Centigrade (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) increase in average ocean surface temperature, the team observed a 45-percent increase in the frequency of the very high clouds, according to the study, recently published in Geophysical Research Letters.At the present rate of global warming of 0.13 degrees Celsius (0.23 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade, the team inferred the frequency of these storms can be expected to increase by six percent per decade.JPL Senior Research Scientist Hartmut Aumann headed the study on five years of data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua spacecraft, an instrument that observes climate variations.The link between global warming and the frequency and intensity of severe storms has long been a source of speculation for climate modelers, noted the Pasadena, California-based JPL.

Toronto's snow woes spark flight delays across Canada Flights in Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg slowed by Pearson ripple effect Last Updated: Friday, December 19, 2008 | 6:31 PM ET CBC News

Snow blankets Fittons Road in Orillia, Ont., during the winter storm that swept across Southern Ontario on Friday. (Submitted by Annabell Ball)A major snowstorm in southern Ontario added to delays and cancellations across the country on Friday, as the country's busiest airport ramped up staffing to handle weather woes and crowds of holiday travellers.The storm system covered a swath of the province stretching from Windsor east to Kingston, and as far north as Peterborough, bringing snow and gusty winds into the late evening. The Greater Toronto Area was hit with as much as 20 centimetres of snow, while other areas received upwards of 25 centimetres.The snow was whipped up by 60 km/h winds that reduced visibility on runways and roads alike.Planes were still coming and going from Toronto's Pearson International Airport throughout the day, but more than 350 of the 1,200 flights scheduled out of the airport were either delayed or cancelled as of Friday evening, the CBC's Christine Birak reported from Pearson.

Commuter/travel notices

The Toronto Transit Commission ran trains with glycol on rails in open areas, such as outdoor stations, after the subway closed at 1:30 on Friday morning. Go Transit cancelled several afternoon trains on the Lakeshore east and west lines. Via Rail says it is running all trains as usual, but warns about heavy demand for seats. Information and reservations are available at 1-888-VIA-RAIL (1-888-842-7245).
Greyhound Canada says it will be assessing conditions each day and is warning bus travellers to expect delays, but the company is not cancelling service or issuing advisories. WestJet issued an advisory for travel to Toronto for Friday and said travellers could rearrange their flights at no extra cost by calling 1-800-538-5696. Air Canada also said customers with flights through Toronto on Friday could book other flights without penalty, space permitting. The airline advises travellers to check their flight status prior to leaving for the airport through aircanada.com or by calling 1-888-422-7533. Many passengers prepared to spend the night sleeping in terminals in hopes of flying out in the morning.Since the airport is one of the main connector hubs for flights to all points across Canada, delays affect schedules across the country.

Most Ottawa-to-Toronto flights cancelled
Many passengers were stranded at the Ottawa airport Friday, as all flights to Toronto except one were cancelled for the day by 1 p.m., CBC's Jeff Semple reported from the scene.Some passengers were able to rebook on the one remaining flight, but the rest will have to rebook on flights scheduled for Saturday or Sunday.Ottawa airport spokeswoman Krista Kealey said some flights to and from other destinations were also delayed or cancelled, partly because the schedule for a single plane may send it through several airports in one day. That means if a flight from Toronto to New York is cancelled, it won't be available to fly out of New York to its next destination, which could be Ottawa or Montreal.So it causes a ripple effect and can sometimes take a little bit of time to right itself once the weather … ceases, she said.Unlike much of Ontario and the northeastern United States, Montreal received just a dusting of snow Friday. However, flight delays in the affected regions meant planes destined for Montreal touched down late or never arrived.The storm is surrounding us. The problems we are experiencing here are that the airplanes can't leave their original airports, said Stéphanie Lepage, a spokesperson with the Montreal airport authority.Phillip Mikolajczyk and his two brothers were supposed to fly to Miami on Continental Airlines to meet their parents and grandmother for a holiday cruise.It's very disappointing, he said. They are saying it's cancelled until the 24th. That's the next flight we could get.Meanwhile, dozens of flights leaving the Calgary International Airport were delayed, as travellers faced lineups of up to three hours just to check in.

Extra airport staff
Pearson added extra staff and aircraft to cope with expected delays on one of the busiest travel days of the year.Roughly 100,000 people were expected to pass through Canada's busiest airport on Friday, the last work or school day before the Christmas holiday break for many.Trish Krale, spokeswoman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said it's an all-hands-on-deck situation for staff.Air Canada and WestJet continued to offer people travelling on Friday the chance to rebook their flights without penalty.VIA Rail also said it was prepared to add rail cars where possible to meet the increased volume.

Long lineups
Officials advised travellers to check their flight status before heading to the airport and leave lots of extra time to get there.Airport officials said people have heeded that advice, with long lineups snaking through the airport terminals before the snow started to fall Friday morning.Claire Langlois and her daughter were headed to warmer weather in the Dominican Republic. The pair said they were nervous because it was their first time flying.We're worried if the flight is going to be delayed or cancelled, or if it'll go on or what. But we were here nice and early, Langlois said.

Christine Smith and her friends were worried their afternoon flight to Jamaica would be cancelled.I think we'll probably be delayed. I'm just praying it won't be cancelled, but I think we'll be delayed, Smith said.With files from the Canadian Press.

Powerful winter storm cuts power, disrupts travel By POLLY ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer Friday, Dec. 19, 2008.

A winter storm packing snow, freezing rain and biting wind cut power to tens of thousands of customers Friday, disrupted travel and gave schoolchildren from Iowa to New England an early start on their holiday break. One thing about it, you're going to have a white Christmas this year, said Lee Longdyke, as he shoveled a sidewalk in Pontiac, Mich., for the third time Friday morning. More than 200 flights were canceled at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and more than 650 at three New York City-area airports. Many remaining flights had hourslong delays.Runways at Milwaukee's airport were closed for much of the morning because snowplows could not keep up with whiteout conditions, airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe said.Snowfall affected a large region, but the worst of the ice storm — and resulting power outages — was in a band across northern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Power companies reported 60,000 customers in Illinois without service Friday, more than 35,000 in Ohio, and a whopping 180,000 in Indiana, where the area around Fort Wayne was particularly hard-hit.When you combine ice, which is an electric utility's nightmare, with wind, you've got some serious issues, said Indiana Michigan Power spokesman Mark Brian.Freezing rain was also a problem in Iowa, but authorities there said only scattered power outages were reported, because there wasn't much wind to bring ice-laden tree limbs down onto power lines.A foot or more of snow fell in parts of Michigan, and some areas reported wind gusts of up to 25 to 30 mph. Nearly 8inches of snow had fallen in Detroit by midafternoon.Schools were closed across the region. The Toledo Zoo was forced to cancel its holiday season light show for Friday evening.In Madison, Wis., The Nutcracker went on as scheduled, but the expected audience of 2,000 dwindled to about 150 thanks to school closings.I told the cast after warm-ups all you need for a show is one (person), said W. Earle Smith, artistic director of the Madison Ballet.In the Northeast, hard hit by last week's ice storm, snowfall totals of up to 15 inches were forecast. Biting, wind-whipped snow began late morning in White Plains, N.Y.I thought I had enough on, said Gloria D'Arce, 29, as she tried to keep out of the wind while waiting for a light to change. But this is coming sideways, right in my face. I'm, like, two blocks from my car and I feel like I'm not going to make it.

The evening rush-hour jam began a few hours early in Rochester, N.Y., where 6 inches of snow had already fallen by midafternoon.Fearing afternoon traffic jams, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick asked nonessential state employees Friday morning to stay home. But in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg sounded more concerned about the economy than the weather.There's really no reason to stay indoors today, he said. Go to work, get in the last-minute holiday shopping — the stores need the business, and you need to buy things and an awful lot of things are on sale.In New Hampshire, several thousand homes and businesses were still in the dark more than a week after last week's storm. As authorities prepared for the new storm, Gov. John Lynch said the state hoped to get utilities to improve their communication with customers in the future.I certainly understand that people in New Hampshire are cold, they're tired, and in many cases they're frustrated, especially with Christmas coming, Lynch said.On Wednesday and Thursday, wintry weather had made life miserable in parts of the West. A record December snowfall of 3.6 inches was recorded in Las Vegas, while in Spokane, Wash., nearly 2 feet of snow fell and more was in the forecast for this weekend.On Friday, 11 people were hurt in Seattle when two charter buses crashed on an icy street, pushing one through a guardrail next to Interstate 5 and leaving its front wheels dangling above the freeway. Heavy snowfall preceded an alert for high avalanche danger in northern Utah mountains throughout the weekend.
Associated Press writers Rupa Shenoy in Chicago, Ben Leubsdorf in Pontiac, Mich., and Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.

VIDEO WITH STORY
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83977

MONEYNETDAILY IMF warns of economic riots, police ready for civil unrest
Paulson discussed worst-case scenario at bailout meeting – declare martial law
December 18, 2008 7:00 pm Eastern By Chelsea Schilling 2008 WorldNetDaily

Pentagon resources and U.S. troops may be used if needed to quell protests and bank runs during an economic crisis, the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute reported. Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security, the War College study states. Incidents of economic collapse, terrorism and disruption of legal order could require deployment of forces within the U.S., it said. A strategic shock could require the nation to use military force against hostile groups inside the United States.International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has warned that advanced nations could face civil unrest during distressful economic times [S]ocial unrest may happen in many countries – including advanced economies if the economic crises are not properly dealt with, Strauss-Kahn said. He added that violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite, London's Guardian reported. In a recession where consumer spending is plummeting, foreclosures are rampant, workers are losing jobs, credit is tight and markets are strained, some are warning about a worst-case scenario. Last month, trends forecaster Gerald Celente told Fox News that America will morph into the first undeveloped nation of the world by 2012. He said there will be a tax revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellion, tax revolts and job marches. He also said by 2012, the holidays will be more about getting food rather than gifts.

According to the Phoenix Business Journal, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson considered the prospect of civil unrest while he pushed for September's Wall Street bailout – even suggesting martial law might be essential. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Barack Obama's pick for secretary of Homeland Security, would not provide comment to the Business Journal on the possibility of civil unrest during economic crisis. But state and local police indicated that they have trained for such an event. The Phoenix Police Department is not expecting any civil unrest at this time, but we always train to prepare for any civil unrest issue. We have a Tactical Response Unit that trains continually and has deployed on many occasions for any potential civil unrest issue, Phoenix Police spokesman Andy Hill said. We have well established plans in place for such civil unrest, Scottsdale Police spokesman Mark Clark told the Business Journal. Maricopa County Sheriff Deputy Chief Dave Trombi concurred: We're prepared.Nick Dranias, director of constitutional government at the libertarian Goldwater Institute, told the Phoenix Business Journal declaration of martial law would allow U.S. armed forces to control civilian authorities. While he said the Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in domestic law enforcement, he referenced a 1994 U.S. Defense Department Directive (DODD 3025) that gives military commanders authority during domestic emergencies to save lives, prevent suffering or mitigate great property damage, according to the report. I don't think it's likely, he said. But it's not impossible.

Stocks end bumpy session mostly higher By MADLEN READ and SARA LEPRO, AP Business Writers – Fri Dec 19, 6:27 pm

NEW YORK – Stocks finished a bumpy session mostly higher Friday, as investors, while still somewhat cautious about the economy, were encouraged by the government's pledge to lend as much as $17.4 billion to U.S. automakers.The Dow Jones industrial average finished down about 25 points, but both the broader Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes posted moderate advances, finishing higher for the second straight week in a row. Stocks that rose outpaced those that fell by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.Though the session was choppy — with the Dow rising as many as 182 points in early trading, then moving in and out of negative territory for much of the afternoon — it was a relatively calm day on Wall Street compared with the wild swings experienced in September, October and early November.

In the early going, investors cheered the government's pledge to provide General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC with $13.4 billion in short-term financing, and another $4 billion at a later date.The decision to provide emergency help to carry the struggling industry into the new year comes after a $14 billion bailout for the automakers failed to make it out of the Senate last week.The companies' cash flows have been dwindling to a slow trickle due to the weak economy, slumping sales and the credit crunch.But the aid hinges on conditions that must be quickly met; GM and Chrysler must prove viability, defined as positive cash flow and the ability to pay back government loans, by March 31. Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, is not asking for short-term assistance, but its CEO predicted the aid will stabilize the broader industry.GM CEO Rick Wagoner said the company had much work ahead, but he was confident it could reinvent itself with the government help.

Some analysts expressed doubts.

I think that there's a lot of skepticism about how much real reform we're likely to see, particularly at GM, given the parameters under which the loans have been made, said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments. There is a lot of skepticism about whether GM is prepared to do what needs to be done.Still, the government's move staved off, for the time being, a major bankruptcy that could have sent a debilitating blow to the economy and the labor market.Investors have been concerned about the job market ramifications of a possible bankruptcy filing by an automaker like GM or Chrysler, which some analysts said could result in up to 3 million U.S. job losses. The government lost more than half a million jobs in November, and the Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for unemployment remained well above 500,000 last week. When unemployment rises, spending declines and credit deteriorates.The White House's action Friday prevents the collapse of a very high profile industry less than a week before Christmas, said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. That's not to say that these guys won't collapse next March, but it takes it out of the headlines now, and takes the threat of an auto industry default off the table until next spring.GM shares jumped 83 cents, or 23 percent, to close at $4.49, while Ford shares added 11 cents or 3.9 percent to $2.95. Chrysler is not publicly traded.The Dow fell 25.88, or 0.30 percent, to 8,579.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.60, or 0.29 percent, to 887.88, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.95, or 0.77 percent, to 1,564.32.

For the week, the Dow ended down 0.59 percent, while the S&P 500 finished up 0.93 percent and the Nasdaq up 1.53 percent. All of the indexes are still down more than 35 percent for the year.The technology-heavy Nasdaq was lifted by big gains from Oracle Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd., both of which released earnings reports after the bell on Thursday. Oracle's profit weakened for the first time in years, but its shares rose 7 percent as investors bet that the company will fare better than others as the economy struggles. BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion rallied $4.39, or 11 percent, to $42.83, after reporting better-than-expected revenue guidance for the fourth quarter and strong holiday sales of its new smart phones.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.09, or 1.48 percent, to 486.26.

Consolidated volume on the NYSE came to 6.04 billion shares, up from 5.46 billion on Thursday. Some analysts attributed much of the market's choppiness on Friday to the expiration of options contracts, as well as the routine rebalancing of stock indexes. Earlier Friday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that Congress should release the second $350 billion from the rescue fund that it approved in October to bail out financial institutions. Paulson said tapping the fund for the auto industry basically exhausts the first half of the $700 billion total. At the same time, he said he was confident that the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. had the resources to address a significant market event if one should occur before Congress approves the use of the second half of the largest government bailout program in history. Meanwhile, the industry that has already gotten billions in government funding — the financial sector — remains in sad shape. On Friday morning, Standard & Poor's downgraded its ratings on 11 major U.S. and European financial institutions, including Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Wells Fargo & Co. Citigroup shares sank 41 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $7.02. Wells Fargo slipped 29 cents to $29.36. On Thursday, the stock market tumbled, shaken by a negative ratings outlook for industrial conglomerate and Dow component General Electric Co. A drop in oil prices also weighed on stocks, pulling down the energy sector and revealing how downbeat investors are about consumer demand. The market's losses on Wednesday and Thursday erased most of the Dow's 360-point rally on Tuesday, which was sparked by the Federal Reserve's historic interest rate cut. The central bank set its target for the rate at which banks lend to each other to a range of zero to 0.25 percent, the lowest level on record, and vowed to use all available tools to jump-start the economy. Still, analysts believe Wall Street has entered a period of relative stability, and the market's performance on Friday only reinforced that notion. Even though there's been a lot of really bad news coming out about the economy in the last few weeks, especially in unemployment numbers, the market hasn't been reacting negatively to that, said Richard Sparks, senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research. Since their multiyear lows on Nov. 20, the Dow is up 13.6 percent and the S&P 500 is up 18 percent.

Yields on long-term Treasurys recovered from record lows on Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.21 percent late Friday from 2.07 percent late Thursday. The yield on the popular three-month T-bill — whose yield has at times gone negative due to frenzied buying — was unchanged from late Thursday at zero. The January contract for light, sweet crude, which expired Friday, fell $2.35 to settle at $33.87, the lowest close in nearly five years after falling at one point to $33.44. The dollar rose against other major currencies. Gold prices fell. Markets overseas were mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.91 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index sank 2.39 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.01 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.26 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 50.57, or 0.59 percent, at 8,579.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished up 8.15, or 0.93 percent, at 887.88. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week up 23.60, or 1.53 percent, at 1,564.32. The Russell 2000 index finished the week up 17.83, or 3.8 percent, at 486.26. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index — a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies — ended at 8,924.03, up 123.85 points, or 1.41 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 14,644.64. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

Don't destabilize Russia, Putin warns foes By Oleg Shchedrov DEC 20,08

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Russia's foes on Friday against trying to destabilize a country facing broadening economic crisis, Russian news agencies reported.Putin did not specify who might pose a threat to Russia's stability. But in the past, he has often blamed Western security services of trying to destabilize the country using opposition groups and non-governmental organizations as their instruments.Any attempts to weaken or destabilize Russia, harm the interests of the country will be toughly suppressed, they quoted ex-KGB spy Putin as telling an annual meeting of top spies and security officers ahead of their professional holiday.Putin, who was the Russian president in 2000-08, has contributed greatly to the growth of influence of Russia's FSB federal security service, a successor of the Soviet-era KGB.Many ex-KGB officers became key government and regional officials during his presidency forming his power base, which largely remained intact after Putin handed over powers to his successor Dmitry Medvedev in May.Critics say that under Putin, security services have become excessively influential and expressed fears Russia could one day become a police state.Rights campaigners have urged Medvedev to veto a cabinet bill ordering that professional judges rather than juries run trials involving terrorism, civil unrest and several other serious crimes.They also urged Medvedev to block government attempts to impose high treason charges on people accused of harming the constitutional order, which critics believe could lead to a political witch-hunt.

Analysts say the role of the security services is likely to grow even further as Russia plunges into an economic crisis marked by rising unemployment and financial woes that threaten the popularity of the government.Avoiding civil unrest and maintaining political stability is viewed by the government as a top priority.

MEDVEDEV ABSENT

The Day of Security Officers is marked annually on December 20, a day when in 1917 Bolshevik rulers created the CheKa secret police to suppress their foes. After a string of transformations, the Cheka became the KGB.As president, Putin always personally attended the holiday meetings of security officials. Medvedev, a former corporate lawyer with no security background, stayed away and sent his chief of staff Sergei Naryshkin to deliver his greetings.Medvedev, who faced the challenge of a brief war with Georgia soon after becoming president which soured Russia's ties with the West, said security concerns remained paramount.In the past 20 years the world has changed but has not become a quieter place, Naryshkin said, reading out his letter, according to Interfax.

Turkey's Alevi muslims look to EU for protection from intolerance
TERESA KÜCHLER 19.12.2008 @ 20:51 CET

From next year, there will be a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in Istanbul, just like in the EU. There is no chance that that will ever work here though, says Ozlem, a Turkish musician, as he roles himself another cigarette. The tobacco is from his eastern home region in Turkish Kurdistan. It has a soft, sweet taste and smell. This kind goes very well with raki, Ozlem's friend the taxi driver fills in, serving yet another round of the strong drink, a local version of France's pastis or Greece's ouzo. I will get you a pack, he adds. They are trying to please Europe with the smoking bans, continues Ozlem, who has travelled almost the entire continent with his band, and seems to know every obscure festival in the European alternative music landscape. If Turkey joins the EU, he could follow his German girlfriend to Germany, would he want to. He pretty much likes Istanbul. Sitting just off the city's busiest shopping and party street, Istiklar, under a breathtaking sunset over the Bosporus and with some cold Raki in hands, it's difficult to see why he would not. In the last ten years, a lot has changed in this country. It is true that you see more veils on women - the new government has made Islam more trendy, kind of. But look around you, the girls are drinking cocktails and wearing tight jeans and all, the 35-year-old divorcé says, pointing at the people around us. The attitudes towards Kurds in Istanbul is better now, maybe it is because Europe is watching, he says. Ozlem and his friends are Kurdish and on top of that Alevi muslim, a not-so-trendy - in the eyes of the government - version of Islam.

A progressive, controversial, Islam

Last month, tens of thousands of Alevi muslims gathered for the Great Alevi March through the streets of Ankara, demanding full religious rights. They accused the government of pursuing an assimilation campaign, sending imams to Alevi villages to push them towards Sunni Islam.The demonstrators called for abolition of compulsory Sunni religion classes, and demanded that their cemevis places of worship are recognised as such. Between 15 and 30 percent of the 70 million Turks, depending on who is counting, follow Alevi doctrine. One must not violate the rights of the other person, believe in the unity of God, love the other person and share with the other person. According to Alevi leader Izzetin Dogan these are the four main principles of Islam. He says Alevism is a philosophy of love. Modern Alevism is however more political than such a description. Strongly influenced by humanism, it promotes an unflinchingly progressive stance on a number of controversial issues: Alevis favour support abortion rights and equal opportunities for women and gays. They are also extreme pacifists. Alevism allow alcohol and forbids polygamy, and its followers do not perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca - a journey that according to most Muslims must be carried out at least once in a lifetime. God does not reside in a stone, but in the heart of people, the Alevis argue, referring to the Black Stone within the Kaaba, the most sacred site within Islam.

Commentators on EU-Turkey relations in the country say that the treatment of the Alevis may become the key litmus test to see whether the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, a moderate Islamic party that has fought to ease Turkey's strict secularist rules, is committed to religious freedom for any other religion than its own. The country's government and its Religious Affairs Directorate, a state-run department that funds mosques, churches and synagogues, refuse to recognise Alevi cemevi as places of worship. Or at least they did until Brussels started presenting the EU candidate state with paragraphs on minority rights in its treaties. Suspicion of Alevis is however deeply rooted in secular yet Sunni Turkey.

Incest rites and orgies

From the magnificent Sultan Ahmet Camii, or Blue Mosque, in the heart of the Old Town of Istanbul, practicing Muslims pour out from Friday prayers into the street and soon mix with crowds of tourists and vendors of religious kitsch.We Sunnis do not believe that Alevis are real Muslims, even if some of them seem to believe it themselves. They do not fast during Ramadan; they do not go to mosques ... they have strange ideas, a middle-aged man who lingers around the mosque in the cold autumn sun to enjoy a roasted corn cob together with his son.The man says he is not bothered with the Alevis in his daily life, for that, he is far too busy. But he would not want his son, Mehmet, a lanky teenager who translates his fathers words into correct school English, to marry an Alevi woman, he says.Turkish media have reported about assaults on alcohol sellers in neighbourhoods with both Sunni and Alevi populations. Some commentators argue that the assaults have nothing to with Islamic resistance to alcohol in general - the centre of Istanbul is full of bars who serve the same kind of alcoholic beverages as in any other European metropolis - but rather come from anger from the neighbours that Alevis have moved into the quarter. False rumours about Alevis engaging in group-sex and conducting religious rites in cemevis involving incest are also widespread.

Alevi goes to court

But despite the intolerance shown them, Alevi self-confidence has grown considerably over the last few years. Many look to the West for support.Last year, an Alevi parent took the Ankara government to the European Court of Human Rights, angered over the fact that his daughter had to participate in compulsory Sunni religion classes. The Strasbourg-based court ruled that the school's biased teaching was not upholding principles of pluralism and objectivity, and demanded that the Turkish government develop new school curricula. So far, no new curricula have emerged. Early this month, however, the governing AKP announced that they might be open to the teaching of Alevi faith in Turkish schools.Religion class should depart from individual demands. If Alevis want to learn the Alevi faith, then we can pave the way for this, Nihat Ergun, deputy leader of the AKP parliamentary group recently told media in Ankara.Furthermore, following EU remarks on what the union perceives as intolerance against non-Sunnis within the Turkish government, Ankara has throughout the year promised Brussels it will increase the rights of the Alevi and other minorities. But the Religious Affairs Directorate refuses to fund cemevis. Instead, the culture ministry will handle the matter, somewhat surprisingly though, as the culture minister had earlier said his ministry had nothing to do with the representation of religious groups.The state cannot define what is a faith, and what is not, culture minister Ertugrul Gunay told Turkish media late last month.

Islam and Europe

The role of muslims in Europe and European attitudes towards Islam has moved up the political agenda in the EU, with the bloc officially celebrating the year of intercultural dialogue throughout 2008.Focusing on religious education in schools, EU culture commissioner Jan Figel said earlier this year that in most European schools, students are separated according to faith and are taught separately and only about their own religion. He said he would encourage member states to review school curricula so that pupils will receive knowledge of the cultures they live with and around, such as Islamic cultures. Individual MEPs have pointed out that even in countries that are not very religious, people should know more about religion, if for no other reason than to be able to distinguish what is not religion - referring to the fact that people wrongly link violence and terrorism to Islam. Alevi leader Muharrem Ercan from the Karacaahmet Sultan cemevi in Istanbul said recently in an interview that he believes that Alevi doctrine can improve relations between Islam and the West, saying: We solved the issue of whether Islam could be tolerant 750 years ago. He said it is now up to the rest of Turkey to catch up with them.

OBAMA WATCH CENTRAL Corsi detention orchestrated by Obama's political friend
Investigative reporter held in Kenya while reviewing president-elect's links
December 20, 2008 12:30 am Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

WND senior staff writer Jerry Corsi

The Kenyan official who reportedly orchestrated the detention of WND senior staff reporter Jerome R. Corsi when he visited Kenya to investigate President-elect Barack Obama's close ties to the nation's prime minister, Raila Odinga, was Odinga himself, according to WND sources inside Kenya. Corsi, whose recent book, The Obama Nation, raised questions about the Democrat when he was a candidate for president, had scheduled a news conference in Nairobi to discuss his discoveries during his visit this fall. However, he was detained by immigration officials and held without food for much of a day until he was escorted onto his already-booked flight leaving Kenya with the sendoff, See you in hell.Now sources inside Kenya have reported to WND that his detention was orchestrated by Odinga, not President Mwai Kibaki or Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka. Corsi, in fact, had discussed with governmental officials for the president and vice-president his findings, and they provided no objection to his scheduled press conference. However, investigations conducted for WND by members of Odinga's own party, the Orange Democratic Movement, reported the links to Odinga. The investigators are being left unidentified by WND for their own safety. The Kenyan sources for WND identified the links between the detention and Odinga as a bodyguard for Odinga, identified by sources only by the name Magajo, and an immigration minister, Mr. C. Nyangeso. Both were contacted by telephone in Kenya by WND. Get the full story about an Obama presidency: The Obama Nation, by Corsi, at a special $4.95 price! Nyangeso responded to a query from WND about who gave the orders that Corsi be detained by admitting he had information, but he would not disclose it on the phone, promising to e-mail it later. The e-mail did not arrive.

The bodyguard told WND on the telephone he also knew the source of the orders for Corsi's detention, but he would not reveal any information before a payment of $600 would be delivered to him. WND previously has reported Corsi, while in Kenya, shared with the offices of Kibaki and Musyoka copies of his prepared remarks for the scheduled Oct. 7 press conference in Nairobi that was shut down when he was detained by Kenyan military and immigration authorities. Through the day when I was detained and prevented from giving the press conference in Kenya, top Kenyan immigration officers who were Kikuyu tribesmen identified themselves and told me Odinga had made the phone calls which led to my detention, Corsi told WND.

Sen. Barack Obama with Raila Odinga

I had been in Kenya for a week and was planning to hold the press conference on the last day I was in Kenya, Corsi said. After extensive meetings with the government, I knew the office of the president and vice president knew the press conference was scheduled and had no problems with the statements I was going to make about my investigations in the country.Corsi's prepared statements, published later by WND, established links between Obama and Odinga's presidential campaign in Kenya, including documentary evidence showing Obama helped raise nearly $1 million for Odinga's presidential campaign in three separate visits Odinga made to the U.S. with the assistance of Obama's staff. Corsi also was prepared to release 2006 e-mail documents handed to him in Kenya by former ODM party members and validated by the sources as authentic that established Obama designated Mark Lippert in his U.S. Senate office to be the go-between in communications with Odinga. Lippert was identified by the Chicago Sun-Times as a member of Obama's inner circle of foreign policy experts who is expected to join Obama's White House staff. Corsi also was prepared to present at the press conference additional confirmation of the authenticity of the memorandum of understanding Odinga signed with Sheik Abdullah Abdi, the chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum to expand Islamic law, or Shariah, in Kenya. In exchange, NAMLEF agreed to swing Muslim voters to Odinga in the December 2007 presidential election. In Kenya, Corsi also was told by government authorities, without confirming that Obama was born in Kenya, that the government's position was that any documents that might exist regarding Obama's birth in Kenya were under seal or otherwise unavailable. I was able to interview Obama’s uncle, Sayid Obama, the brother of Obama's father, when I was doing the research for The Obama Nation, Corsi said. But Auma Obama, Obama's half-sister, declined an interview by telephone, telling me that the Obama campaign had advised the Obama family not to speak with me, either from the United States by phone, or in person in Kenya.Kibaki and Odinga this week created a special tribunal to investigate allegations that various Kenyan cabinet members and other prominent politicians were involved in the post-election tribal violence in which enraged Luo tribesmen rampaged after Odinga alleged voter fraud had caused him to lose the 2007 election. As WND reported, more than 1,000 largely-Kikuyu tribal members, including women and children, were killed and up to half a million Kikuyu tribal family members were displaced in tribal violence. Odinga utilized the chaos, with the intervention of former-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Obama, to assume the position of prime minister in a power-sharing agreement that ended the violence.

Both Odinga and Obama's extended family members are Luo tribe members, while Kibaki is a Kikuyu. But violence also left hundreds of Christian churches destroyed, but Islamic mosques were undamaged.This tribunal is just more cover-up, Corsi said. By acting as prime minister and assisting in forming the tribunal, Odinga is cleverly trying to move himself from the person who should be investigated for causing the tribal violence to the government authority who is doing the investigating. After losing the election, Odinga called on his Luo tribe supporters to take to the streets, knowing full well this was a call to violence, Corsi charged. The violence only ended when Odinga got what he wanted and the prime minister position was created so he could claim to be co-head of state with Kibaki.The Kenyan constitution has no provision to establish an office of prime minister under a government in which the president is elected by popular vote to be sole head of state. In Kenya, Corsi was told by government authorities that Rice had asked Vice President Musyoka to step down voluntarily so Odinga could be appointed to replace him. When Musyoka refused, Rice, in conjunction with Annan and Obama, came up with the alternative to create for Odinga the position of prime minister, disregarding the constitutionality of the move. Kibaki and Odinga agreed to sign the bill creating the tribunal investigating the post-election violence within hours of a deadline set by the International Criminal Court. Had the Kenyan government not acted to create the investigating tribunal, the International Criminal Court was planning to assume the authority at The Hague. Obama continues to remain silent about his close relationship to Odinga, for obvious reasons, Corsi said. Obama has no interest in the U.S. public understanding how strongly he supported Odinga, a fellow Luo tribesman, for the Kenyan presidency (and) Odinga's willingness to sign an agreement with radical Islam and his willingness to exploit the post-election tribal violence as a way to catapult himself into a co-head of state relationship after losing the presidential election.WND has documented that the Kibaki government objected to what was perceived in Kenya as Obama's endorsement of Odinga's presidential run and his campaigning on Odinga's behalf. The appearances came while Obama was in Kenya on a U.S. taxpayer-paid fact-finding visit. Corsi had scheduled the Oct. 7 press conference on the morning of the day he was scheduled to take an 11:45 p.m. British Airways flight from Nairobi to London. I feared my life would be in danger once I revealed the information and documents I had uncovered in Kenya, Corsi said, so I scheduled to leave that evening, once I had completed the press conference and had some time to do follow-up one-on-one interviews with interested reporters.During his visit to Kenya, Corsi held extensive private meetings with numerous highly positioned government officials, former leaders of Odinga's ODM party, influential Christian missionaries, African Christian pastors and various long-time experts in Kenyan politics.

About 15 minutes before the press conference was scheduled to begin at the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi, Corsi was confronted by about 30 Kenyan immigration officers and uniformed military armed with automatic rifles, demanding to see his passport. Corsi was taken by the immigration authorities and detained at Nyayo House, the provincial government headquarters in Nairobi, for what turned into 13 hours of detention, during which Kenyan officials conducted an official investigation into his immigration status. Immigration officials detaining Corsi assured him he was not under arrest and that he was not being charged with any crimes, even though they insisted he accompany them to the main Nairobi immigration building. Corsi later was escorted by immigration officials and armed military to the airport, where his cell phone was confiscated until he was allowed to leave Kenya on his originally scheduled British Airways flight. While escorting Corsi to the flight, an unidentified Kenyan immigration official told him, Don't ever come back. See you in hell.

Israeli strike kills Gaza militant DEC 20,08

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian medics say an Israeli strike has killed a militant in the Gaza Strip.The militant is the first person to be killed since Gaza's Hamas leaders said they wouldn't extend a truce with Israel.Palestinian medic Moawiya Hassanein says the militant was killed in northern Gaza on Saturday. Israeli security officials say the man was about to fire rockets at Israel.Details about the strike were not available.The truce began June 19, but increasingly unraveled in recent weeks. Hamas said Friday it would not extend the cease-fire.Israel says the truce has no expiration date, but its forces have responded to renewed rocket fire with air strikes.