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

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

Saturday, April 12, 2008

LEADERS TACKLE BANK REFORM

GINGRICH I'M WORRRIED ABOUT ISLAM.(A MUST SEE WARNING)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZiw3qVdFzw

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Powerful 7.1 quake in Southern Ocean Fri Apr 11, 11:56 PM ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A strong earthquake hit near the remote Australian territory of Macquarie Island Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Web site said no tsunami alert has been issued following the magnitude 7.1 quake.

The U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors quakes around the world, reported the temblor hit at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and was centered beneath open ocean, 70 miles southwest of Macquarie Island, Australia's main sub-Antarctic territory.It was located 1,240 miles south of the New Zealand capital, Wellington.

Earthquake shakes hills near Rome APR 12,08

ROME - Italian authorities say a small earthquake has shaken the Alban Hills southeast of Rome. No injuries or damage have been reported. Many people were awakened by the quake, which struck at 1:44 a.m. EDT Saturday. Parts of eastern Rome also have reported feeling it.Italy's Civil Protection Department says the quake had a 3.8 magnitude.About 15 minutes after the quake, an aftershock shook the area of the epicenter, near the wine-growing towns of Frascati and Marino.Ciampino, a town near the hills that has a small airport serving Rome, also reported feeling the tremors.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Kilauea volcano explodes again Fri Apr 11, 5:34 PM ET

VOLCANO, Hawaii - Kilauea Volcano has exploded again. Officials say a small explosion that sent rocks more than 200 feet up onto the rim of the volcano's main Halemaumau crater occurred Wednesday night, hours before the park reopened. The park was evacuated Tuesday and remained closed Wednesday because of elevated sulfur dioxide emissions.The U.S. Geological Survey says Wednesday's blast at Halemaumau crater was much smaller than a similar explosion in March, but still enlarged the new vent in the wall of the crater about 15 to 30 feet.Scientists say they found lava splatters and rocks ejected by the blast, which also contained volcanic glass shards.They say there is increasing evidence that molten lava is collecting about 300 to 600 feet below the new vent.

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.

Gale-force storm, hail showers hit Kuwait
Fri Apr 11, 4:45 PM

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - One person was killed and several wounded on Friday when a strong sandstorm triggered by gale-force winds and hail lashed the desert state of Kuwait, officials said.The victim, a man, drowned in the sea while several people were injured at a shopping mall where glass shattered and fell on shoppers, a security official said.The meteorological department said the storm was caused by gale-force winds that blew in semi-tornado fashion at around 90 kilometres (56 miles) per hour and warned that a similar storm is expected to hit the emirate on Saturday.The violent winds also uprooted hundreds of traffic signposts, billboards, and trees and damaged many cars in several parts of Kuwait, witnesses reported.Authorities appealed to people to stay indoors.

More storms damage homes in South By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 12, 4:07 AM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Another round of severe weather raked the storm-weary South with rain, hail and high winds Friday, damaging homes and injuring at least five people in Tennessee and Kentucky. A mother and two children were hurt when strong thunderstorms moved through southern Kentucky in the early morning, knocking over their trailer near Bowling Green. Tara Duvall, a spokeswoman for Warren County Emergency Management, said all three were hospitalized.

Apparently, the trailer rolled twice and fell apart, Duvall said.

Charles Foster, who lives nearby, said he helped pull one of the children from the wreckage.I ran up there and helped. There was a little girl, 6 or 7 years old, standing by the wall that had crumbled and had the mother and little boy pinned under the trailer, Foster said. The little girl looked OK.Homes were also reported destroyed in Kentucky's Wayne county. In Tennessee's Lawrence County, a possible tornado damaged 56 homes, felled trees and littered yards with debris.In northern Giles County, power lines were knocked down, a dozen homes were damaged and three people were injured when trees fell on an ambulance, emergency management officials said.Wind or rain damage apparently caused a roof to collapse at an apartment complex in Hoover, Ala., Friday evening, forcing the evacuation of about 20 units, said Mark Kelly of the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency. No injuries were reported.The damaging storms come in the same week as heavy rains that flooded parts of West Virginia and Tennessee and two months after tornadoes killed 33 people in the state.In northern Wisconsin, schools closed, thousands lost power because of trees falling on power lines and snow plows were back at work Friday as blizzard-like conditions hit.Keith Kesler, Douglas County's emergency management coordinator, said as much as 9 inches of snow had fallen near Superior, with wind gusting to 62 mph.

Tree limbs are flying through the air, he said. It is a little unusual for April to get hit like this. Winter is winter. It is getting awfully long this year.The record for April snowfall in the area near Duluth, Minn., occurred a year ago, when 12.1 inches fell April 7.Springtime in Superior, I guess, said Steve Erickson, 59, whose home lost power for about two hours Friday. I gassed up my snowblower in anticipation but the stuff is so heavy and slushy that I don't know if it is going to blow it or not.Recent heavy rains have swelled the Mississippi River so much that workers in Louisiana began opening a major spillway Friday to divert river water through Lake Pontchartrain and into the Gulf of Mexico.The opening of the Bonnet Carre spillway, about 30 miles above New Orleans, was being done to guard communities against flooding, ease pressure on levees and make for safer navigation conditions for ships and barges.In Missouri, where heavy rain fell Wednesday and Thursday, authorities reported the death of a 14-year-old boy in Shannon County. The boy, Kenneth Davidson, was swept away by rushing water Thursday while trying to cross a normally shallow arm of Loggers Lake, officials said. Emergency crews later found his body tangled in roots.In Oklahoma, which has been beset in recent days by tornadoes, severe storms and flooding, Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of emergency on Friday — the first step toward seeking federal assistance. Associated Press writer Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.

This is spring? Snow, winds whip through Labrador
Fri Apr 11, 2:02 PM

ST..JOHNS (CBC) - Snowplows took to the roads across much of Labrador Friday, as a storm closed schools and made driving treacherous.The south coast of Labrador is expected to bear the worst of the storm, with up to 25 centimetres of snow expected. Around Happy Valley-Goose Bay, about 10 centimetres of snow had fallen by midday, with forecasters saying the worst had passed.

However, high winds - which are expected to increase through Friday and into Saturday - have already led to heavy drifting and poor visibility.Schools in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, where Environment Canada said a storm watch warning was in effect, closed Friday. As well, Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay shut down for the morning.The provincial Transportation Department issued cautions about poor driving conditions in several areas, including the roads connecting Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Wabush and to Churchill Falls.

Laval on flood watch as spring melt comes
Fri Apr 11, 9:54 AM

MONTREAL (CBC) - Laval waterfront residents are on high alert after the Mille-Illes and Rivi?re-des-Prairies spilled their banks late Thursday, flooding streets and homes.Several streets and three riverside homes in the Fabreville district of Laval were evacuated, civil authorities said.A bridge spanning the Chaudi?re River near St-Joseph de Beauce was also closed to traffic because of high water levels.Rivi?re-des-Prairies and the Mille-Illes cause flooding every year and public security authorities have an emergency plan that includes shelter in community centres for any people forced from their homes, said Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.Mild temperatures forecast in the next few days will cause the water levels to rise more even more, Vaillancourt said.
Elsewhere in Quebec, authorities are on alert for flooding along the L'Assomption, Nicolet, Saint-Francois, Yamaska and B?cancour rivers.

Rideau River breaches banks, flooding Ottawa streets
Fri Apr 11, 8:28 AM

Three streets in the Old Ottawa South neighbourhood closed Friday morning after the Rideau River breached its banks, washing out parts of Belmont Avenue and Fentiman Avenue and completely submerging Rideau River Drive.City of Ottawa work crews left a mound of sand in nearby Windsor Park for people who would like to start filling sandbags to use on their property.Most residents haven't started sandbagging yet - but with the river expected to peak over the weekend, they should be prepared to take action, said Patrick Larson, a senior water resources technician with the Rideau River Conservation Authority.[The peak] is entirely dependent on how much rain and when the rain occurs, he said. But definitely there will be some increase, possibly to what had been experienced in 1993.In 1993, the same section of the Rideau River rose 2.4 metres above its natural level without any serious damage to property.David Strutt spent Friday morning watching the water rise from a front-row seat at his Belmont Avenue home.This morning, it was just at the edge of the sidewalk and now it's up over the sidewalks, Strutt said. So it's come up six to ten inches (15 to 25 centimetres) in the last 24 hours.Nearby Windsor Park looked more like a mangrove forest than an Ottawa park Friday morning, as the Rideau River spilled onto the land, submerging half a tennis court.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Calgary extends fire ban through weekend
Fri Apr 11, 7:48 PM

CALGARY (CBC) - Despite Thursday's snowfall, a fire ban remains in effect through the weekend, the Calgary fire department said.Fire officials said Friday that lifting the ban, first issued on March 26, would be premature in light of warm weather forecast for the weekend.The precipitation that fell on Thursday - altogether about 23 centimetres of snow - mainly hit the city of Calgary, so there's still concern about dry conditions in outlying communities, said spokesman Jeff Budai.The ban, which will be re-evaluated next week, covers:- Regulated fire pits.- Regulated burning barrels.- Charcoal barbecues.- Chimeneas.- Fireworks or pyrotechnics.- Incinerators, including for farm and acreage use.- Fire contained within approved facilities and appliances in designated camping and recreational areas.Fireplaces inside homes, camp stoves, fire pits and propane or natural gas barbecues are exempt from the ban.

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

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 finance leaders tackle bank reform By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer APR 12,08

WASHINGTON - World financial leaders facing the gravest economic crisis in at least a decade are pledging tighter control of banks and other financial institutions and hoping the U.S. slump is short. The 185-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank readied for weekend discussions following talks among the world's seven richest industrial countries.The IMF, the lender of last resort for countries in trouble, is facing its own hard times. One proposal on the agenda would trim 15 percent of the agency's staff and sell about $11 billion in the institutions' vast gold reserves.Overshadowing the sessions was the severe credit crisis, which could result in losses approaching $1 trillion before it is over, according to an IMF estimate released this week.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson assured the IMF's policy-setting panel on Saturday that the Bush administration was dealing aggressively with the U.S. slowdown, but that risks remain.The weak housing market, together with high energy prices and stress in financial markets, is penalizing U.S. economic growth, he said. We must expect more bumps in the road.The world's economic powers endorsed a plan Friday to keep closer watch over big banks, investment houses and other financial firms. These institutions have reported billions of dollars in losses from the credit crisis. The problem began with the widespread defaults on subprime mortgages in the United States, but quickly spread to other types of global investments.Announcement of the tighter oversight came in a joint statement after talks among the Group of Seven nations — the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada. other types of investments around the world.The turmoil in global financial markets remains challenging and more protracted than we had anticipated, G-7 officials said.The U.S. economy has to get over the economic unrest, Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga told reporters. What happens in the United States, he said, will affect Asia and other countries.An IMF economic outlook predicted a mild recession this year in the U.S., the world's biggest economy. That is seen as raising the risks of a global recession to 1-in-4.Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tried to reassure officials that U.S. policymakers are doing everything possible to loosen U.S. credit markets. That would enable businesses and consumers to get loans more easily and help the economy revive.

Axel Weber, head of Germany's central bank, said the measures that were taken in the U.S. have already had some effect and that the Fed's interest rate cuts should help bolster growth.Democrats in Congress are pushing for a more aggressive program to help an estimated 2 million homeowners at risk of defaulting on their mortgages. But Paulson said the administration believes its plan, which relies heavily on voluntary efforts by the private sector, was the best approach.

The G-7's statement's also touched on currencies.

Europeans won in an effort to note concern about the sharp fluctuations in currency values. It was the first major change in the language on the issue in four years and was meant to show European worries about the dollar's decline to record lows against the euro. That has led to cries of protests from European manufacturers losing sales to American producers whose goods are now more competitive.French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the true test of the revised wording would come Monday when currency markets reopen. But there was no expectation the words would be backed up by any joint intervention to prop up the dollar.

The proposal to bolster financial regulation is intended to ensure that companies have sufficient capital to protect against losses, improve risk-management procedures and set deadlines so countries act quickly to put in place reforms. Associated Press writers Jeannine Aversa, Harry Dunphy, Foster Klug and Desmond Butler contributed to this report. On the Net: International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org
Treasury: http://www.ustreas.gov/ Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov/

Polygamous sect encouraged fear By JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writer APR 12,08

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Texas child welfare officials have brought in mental health professionals and behavioral experts as the agency tries to ensure a sense of normalcy for the more than 400 children removed from a polygamous sect's enclave, an agency spokeswoman said. But for all their lives, the boys and girls of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been told the outside world was hostile and immoral. Venturing beyond the brilliant white limestone walls of their compound would consign them to eternal damnation, their church leaders preached.

Now, if the state gets its way, hundreds of children could be put in foster homes, in what could be a wrenching cultural adjustment that may require intensive counseling.What they are up against is having to deprogram an entire community, said Margaret Cooke, who left the sect with seven of her eight children near the end of 1994. The children are so naive and they have been sheltered to the point that they don't even trust their own judgment.Marleigh Meisner, a spokeswoman for the state Children's Protective Services, said the agency is working with mental health and other experts to meet specific needs of the children. That information would be passed to foster families if a judge decides the children should be transferred to foster homes, she said.We want to keep their world as normal as possible, Meisner said. We also want to be certain that these children have gained a trust with us. We want these children to know that even if they may not have been safe in the past, they will be safe as long as they are with us.Meanwhile, in court papers unsealed Friday, authorities said they found a cyanide poisoning document in their search of the compound in the town of Eldorado. But the 80-page list of items seized gave no further explanation.Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said the document consisted of pages torn out of a first-aid book on how to treat cyanide poisoning. But she said she didn't know why the sect would have such information on hand.Child welfare officials seized more than 400 children, most of them girls, in the raid on the FLDS compound known as the Yearn for Zion ranch, saying the youngsters were in danger of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

The renegade Mormon splinter group requires girls at puberty to enter into polygamous marriages with much older men and produce children, authorities say. The sect also teaches children to fear the outside world, including the very authorities who removed them until a court hearing Thursday that will help determine their future.You're taught to fear everyone and everything, said Cooke, herself a 16-year-old bride.The children and the 139 women who followed them voluntarily out of the compound are being so secretive that child welfare officials are having trouble sorting out who the youngster' parents are.Most of the children are the offspring of the faith's inner circle — including its now-imprisoned prophet, Warren Jeffs — who were born since construction began on the compound in 2003, or were hand-selected by Jeffs to come to the enclave, which the sect regards as part of Zion on Earth.In 2003 and 2004, Jeffs, the spiritual leader of an estimated 6,000 followers in two adjoining towns along the Utah-Arizona line, plucked children under the age of 6 to bring to Texas, some without their parents, former sect member Isaac Wyler said.

Over age 6 they were too contaminated for the world to be of use to God, said Wyler, who still lives in Colorado City, Ariz., and has 38siblings. He picked the ones that would be the most obedient, the ones that would be qualified to go to Zion.Authorities raided the Eldorado ranch April 3 after a girl from the clan made a whispered telephone call for help to a family violence shelter. The 16-year-old, who indicated she was a few weeks' pregnant, said her 50-year-old husband beat and raped her. The girl has not yet been identified among the 416 children and may not even be among them.

In the call, the girl said that sect members warned her that if she ever left, outsiders would hurt her and force her to cut her hair, wear makeup and have sex with many men.Most of the sect's children have never attended public schools or worn modern clothing. The girls wear long, pioneer-style dresses and keep their long hair pinned up in a braid. In their search of the compound, police uncovered dozens of journals and other documents that contain birth, marriage and other genealogical records. That may help social workers match children with their parents. The hearing next Thursday will determine whether the state gets full custody of the children or whether they can return to the compound in Eldorado.

The women and children are being held at Fort Concho and nearby at the Wells Fargo Pavilion. Men from the YFZ ranch and any other relatives are not being allowed to visit. I think under the circumstances the folks are as happy in their environment as they can possibly be, said Kevin Dinnin, the shelter manager from the Texas governor's Division of Emergency Management. Beyond the basic needs of food, fresh water, showers and bedding, Dinnin said his agency has worked to provide toys for the children and address the unique clothing and laundry needs of the FLDS, who wear long, religious underwear year-round which are not meant to be seen by outsiders. The educational needs of the children were being assessed as were medical needs, including the treatment of about a dozen kids with chicken pox and prescription medications, he said. Mental health services are also being provided. We have encouraged sibling groups and mothers to stay together, Dinnin said of the living arrangements. More than 500 people are working with the shelter guests, and the agency is spending between $25,000 and $35,000 daily, Dinnin said. Associated Press writer Betsy Blaney contributed to this report from Lubbock.

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Livni Gives Away Northern Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel APR 12,08

(IsraelNN.com) Negotiations for Jerusalem continue apace, with a local Jerusalem paper reporting that Foreign Minister Livni has agreed to give away Atarot Airport. Shas says it's still not leaving the government.The Kol HaZman (All the Time) paper reports that in ongoing secret talks with top Palestinian Authority negotiator Abu Ala, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has agreed, in the name of Israel, to transfer the Atarot airfield in northern Jerusalem to PA control. The paper states it source as senior Foreign Ministry elements.

The Goal: Strengthen Fatah
Israel apparently recognizes Hamas control in Gaza as permanent, and therefore wishes to strengthen Fatah - perceived as more moderate - in Judea and Samaria. Fatah terrorists, members of the organization's Al Aqsa Brigades, have carried out many murderous attacks against Israeli civilians in recent weeks, months and years. One of the most active terrorist forces in the area, it has been designated terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union, Canada, and Japan.Alternatively, it is not clear that the Hamas-takeover scenario will not repeat itself in Judea and Samaria, thus leaving the Atarot Airport in Hamas hands - if Israel in fact relinquishes it.

Mayor is Against
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski is strongly against the loss of Atarot to the terrorists. His aides said he was astonished to hear of the secret agreement, and feels it will be a grave security failure and a significant concession on Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. It is inconceivable, the mayor reportedly said, that while Israeli flights from Atarot have been stopped because of security fears, the threat will now become even more severe, with control of the entire area being given over to the PA. He warned of the dangers of hostile airplanes in the skies of Jerusalem.

Lupoliansky promises he will work even harder to advance his plan to build 10,000 housing units for Jews in Atarot, hoping to thus thwart the plan to give it to the PA. Jerusalem Municipality officials said the agreement to give away Atarot represents a de-facto recognition of the division of Jerusalem.

Olmert Takes no Responsibility
Staffers in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said, These are talks being handled by the Foreign Minister, and therefore answers must be received from her. Livni's press secretary said that the contents of the talks are not meant to be publicized.

Shas Doesn't Budge
Meanwhile, the Shas Party - whose departure from the government coalition would likely lead to the toppling of the government and new elections - continues to stay put. Relating to a new American initiative to give the PA partial control of Jerusalem for five years, Shas spokesman Ro'i Lachmanovitch told Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine on Thursday that Shas was going nowhere: We continue to stand behind the stance set by [the party's spiritual leader] Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, which is that the moment Jerusalem is placed on the agenda of the diplomatic talks, Shas will quit the coalition.
A late-breaking development in another sphere may move Shas, however: The sudden decision by the Cabinet secretariat not to discuss the non-enforced chametz law in this Sunday's agenda. Shas had hoped for quick government action to legislate a change in the law that would enable its enforcement, in light of a recent court ruling allowing chametz to be sold in stores. Shas MKs are reportedly angered by the decision, and political analysts estimate that Shas may threaten to quit the coalition over it - though this has not yet happened.

WELL CARTERS SO ANTI-ISRAEL ITS REDICULAS, STICKING UP FOR HAMAS AND THE ARABS ALL THE TIME.

Rice criticizes Carter over Hamas plans Fri Apr 11, 7:44 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized former President Carter on Friday for his reported plans to meet the exiled leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas during a visit to Syria. Carter has not confirmed the plans to meet Khaled Mashaal, but Hamas has said the former Democratic president sent an envoy to Damascus requesting a meeting with the militant group's officials.I find it hard to understand what is going to be gained by having discussions with Hamas about peace when Hamas is, in fact, the impediment to peace, Rice said at a press event with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.Rice was responding to a question about Carter's plans but did not mention him by name.

Hamas is a terrorist organization, she said, repeating the Bush administration's explanation for why it will not meet with members of the group.The State Department says it twice advised Carter against meeting any representative of Hamas. A Carter-Mashaal meeting would be the first public contact in two years between a prominent American figure and Hamas officials.A press release from the Carter Center said the former president was to lead a study mission to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan as part of his ongoing effort to support peace, democracy and human rights in the region.Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work in mediating conflicts while in office and his humanitarian travels for the Carter Center since. One of his mediations was the 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, for which Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin were awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.Several Democratic members of the House plan to forward a letter to Carter Monday urging him to reconsider his scheduled meeting with leaders of Hamas during his next visit to the Middle East. Reps. Artur Davis of Alabama, Shelley Berkley of Nevada, Adam Schiff of California and Adam Smith of Washington state asked Carter to drop the planned meeting.

The letter said we believe that your efforts to forge peace in the region will be overshadowed by this meeting. It said Carter's meeting could confer legitimacy on a group that embraces violence.

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

SLOVAKIA IS THE 9TH EU COUNTRY TO RATIFY THE LISBON TRETY. ONE THIRD ARE COMPLETED TILL THE EU PRESIDENT OR SEAT OF THE BEAST OR FUTURE EU POLITICIAN IS BORN.

EU welcomes ratification of Lisbon Treaty 11/4/2008 10:27

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso yesterday welcomed Slovak parliament's approval of the Lisbon Treaty. I would like to congratulate the Slovak Republic on the successful approval of the Treaty of Lisbon by the parliament today, said Barroso in a statement. I appreciate the support for the treaty from all sides of the political spectrum and that the parliament was able to approve the treaty in good time.He asked the European Union (EU) member states which have not ratified the treaty to do so. Slovakia is the ninth member state to approve the Lisbon Treaty after Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, Romania, France, Bulgaria, Austria and Poland.

The Lisbon Treaty, signed by EU heads of state and government last December, will make EU's much needed institutional reforms possible. The entry into force of the treaty requires the ratification of all 27 member states of the EU. Xinhua

Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union
By Patrick Seale, Special to Gulf News
Published: April 11, 2008, 01:01

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France believes passionately in a Mediterranean Union, and is putting a great deal of energy - and urgency - into bringing it to birth.Heads of state and government of 43 potential member states have been invited to attend a summit meeting on 13 July, when they are expected to issue a ringing declaration formally launching the Union. For extra solemnity, the summit will be held in the grandiose setting of the Grand Palais, a vast ironwork and glass structure, built in the heart of Paris for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. In the meantime, planning for the launch is in the hands of a high-powered French team, led by Ambassador Alain Leroy, which Sarkozy has housed under his direct supervision at 23 Avenue Marigny, a former Rothschild mansion just across the street from the Elyse Palace.

What exactly is the proposed Mediterranean Union about, and why the urgency? The Mediterranean lies at the centre of Sarkozy's geo-political vision. The Mediterrean, he likes to say, is not our past but our future, in the sense that he believes that many of Europe's most acute problems can be solved only in close coordination with the countries on the other side of the sea. This vision has led him to undertake several state visits to North Africa.The problems he has in mind are familiar ones which have been much debated: terrorism; illegal immigration; pollution of the sea affecting tourism and fisheries; scarcity of fresh water; rampant unemployment and over-population in the South; desertification which is spreading to countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece; and a widening of the already wide gap in personal incomes between North and South.In other words, Europe's security and prosperity can only be assured if the countries bordering the Mediterranean also enjoy security and prosperity - but this requires a major joint initiative by both North and South. Behind this thinking is a sense that since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western Europe has tended to neglect its southern flank while devoting much aid and attention to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union project faced early objections from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She feared that he was planning to include only France, Spain and Italy in the proposed Mediterranean Union, excluding all other European Union member states. This problem was resolved when it was agreed that all 27 members of the EU would be members of the Union pour la MediterranÃ©e (UPM). They will be joined by the countries bordering the Mediterranean, as well as by Jordan and Mauritania - 43 countries in all.Turkey was alarmed because Sarkozy's plan was first billed as a device to keep Turkey out of the EU by offering it the alternative of membership of the UPM. Turkish anxieties have since been partially allayed by its proposed participation in some of the major economic projects Sarkozy hopes to initiate.

Political conflicts

More than a decade ago, the Barcelona Process was launched in 1995, precisely in the hope that European money would help resolve political conflicts among the states bordering the Mediterranean, leading to economic development - and thus to preventing the import into Western Europe of terrorism and unwanted migrants.But the Barcelona Process has been a failure - or at least only a very partial success. It was launched at a time of high expectations. The Madrid Conference of 1991 and the Oslo Accords of 1993 seemed to open the way to a settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. But these expectations were soon disappointed.The assassination of Israel's prime minister Yitzak Rabin by a Jewish fanatic in November 1995 put an end to peace-making. It was followed instead by a period of heightened Arab-Israeli tension and violence. This in turn has contributed to the rise of militant Islamic movements, to the terrorist attacks on America of September 11, 2001, to neo-colonial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to a dangerous, and still un-bridged, rift between the West and the Arab and Islamic world. Against these odds, the Barcelona Process could make little headway.One should add that another reason the Barcelona Process failed was because it was undermined by the conflict between Morocco and Algeria over the Western Sahara, which prevented the creation of a single market in North Africa and thus discouraged inward investment into the region.

Over time, the Barcelona Process came to be seen as a doomed paternalistic project, launched by European governments for their own selfish purposes, with little input from countries in the east and south of the Mediterranean.Sarkozy's strategy today is to reverse the objectives. Instead of pressing for the resolution of political conflicts as a preliminary to economic development, his approach is to start with major economic projects in the belief that they will, in time, yield political dividends.Among the projects now being discussed on both sides of the Mediterranean is a scheme to clean up - or de-pollute - the sea by 2020, with a first-stage investment of $2 billion. Another scheme, dear to Egypt, is to create a high-speed shipping route between Alexandria and Tangiers - a sort of maritime motorway. There are plans to harness solar energy for the Mediterranean region, and to manage scarce water resources more efficiently, so as to provide drinking water for all and a better use of waste water for irrigation.

The French are particularly keen on creating a unified Mediterranean scientific and university space, in which professional training will be provided for managers, scientists and technicians, so as to improve agriculture and fisheries, and check the relentless advance of desertification. Plans are also being prepared for a Mediterranean civil protection centre, for an agency to promote small and medium sized industries, for a possible Mediterranean bank, and much else besides.Unlike the Barcelona Process, the idea this time is fully to involve the populations of the southern and eastern Mediterranean, to seek the participation of private sector interests and civil society associations, as well as financing not only from European governments and institutions, but also from the oil-rich countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.The idea is that the Mediterranean lies at the centre of a vast region extending from Africa to the Gulf. The calculation is that a healthy and prosperous Mediterranean will reinforce the position of Europe in the world and allow European to play a greater role in advancing the cause of peace in the Middle East.

The objective of the Mediterranean Union is political, Ambassador Leroy says, but it is driven by economics. We cannot wait for conflicts to be resolved before launching our projects. But the Union will launch a process which will, it is hoped, help solve the political conflicts. He adds that the great project of the European Union - 27 member states and a combined population of 495 million - started with the modest Coal and Steel Community.Sarkozy is determined to make the Mediterranean Union one of the great achievements of his presidency. It remains to be seen whether the injection of his redoubtable political will can make the ambitious project a reality.Patrick Seale is a commentator and author of several books on Middle East affairs.

EU to speed up trade talks with ASEAN
www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-12 16:43:42

JAKARTA, April 12 (Xinhua) -- A visiting official of the European Union (EU) said in Indonesia that the EU will speed up negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to local press Saturday. Karl Falkenberg, the European Commission's deputy director general for trade, said negotiations had made some progress since talks began in May 2007. It's important for us to know where the individual ASEAN members are, he was quoted by major newspaper The Jakarta Post assaying. We have set the rather ambitious target of completing negotiations in about a year or a year and half, so we should be able to achieve some kind of outcome, Falkenberg told the daily, adding that the EU is interested in moving the talks forward rapidly and comprehensively. Falkenberg will also hold similar talks with trade ministers of Brunei and the Philippines, according to the newspaper. Editor: An Lu

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

Spy photos reveal secret launch site for Iran's long-range missiles A close examination of the photographs has indicated that the Iranians are following the same path as North Korea

Michael Evans

The secret site where Iran is suspected of developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets in Europe has been uncovered by new satellite photographs. The imagery has pinpointed the facility from where the Iranians launched their Kavoshgar 1research rocket on February 4, claiming that it was in connection with their space programme. Analysis of the photographs taken by the Digital Globe QuickBird satellite four days after the launch has revealed a number of intriguing features that indicate to experts that it is the same site where Iran is focusing its efforts on developing a ballistic missile with a range of about 6,000km (4,000 miles). A previously unknown missile location, the site, about 230km southeast of Tehran, and the link with Iran's long-range programme, was revealed by Jane's Intelligence Review after a study of the imagery by a former Iraq weapons inspector. A close examination of the photographs has indicated that the Iranians are following the same path as North Korea, pursuing a space programme that enables Tehran to acquire expertise in long-range missile technology.

Geoffrey Forden, a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that there was a recently constructed building on the site, about 40 metres in length, which was similar in form and size to the Taepodong long-range missile assembly facility in North Korea. Avital Johanan, the editor of Jane's Proliferation, said that the analysis of the Iranian site indicated that Tehran may be about five years away from developing a 6,000km ballistic missile. This would tie in with American intelligence estimates and underlines why President Bush wants the Polish and Czech components of the US missile defence system to be up and running by 2013. The Czech Republic has now agreed to have a special radar system on its soil and the Polish Government is still negotiating with Washington over the American request to site ten interceptor missiles in Poland. The Kavoshgar 1 rocket that was launched in the presence of President Ahmadinejad of Iran was based on the Shahab 3B missile, a version of the North Korean Nodong liquid-propellant missile. Dr Forden said that the Kavoshgar launch did not demonstrate any significant advances in ballistic missile technology. But it does reveal the likely future development of Iran's missile programme, he said.

At a meeting on February 25 between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Iranians, UN inspectors confronted them with evidence of design studies for mounting nuclear warheads on long-range missiles. The Iranians denied any such aspirations. However, according to Jane's Intelligence Review, the satellite photographs prove that the Kavoshgar 1 rocket was not part of a civilian space centre project but was consistent with Iran's clandestine programme to develop longer-range missiles. The examination of the launch site revealed that it was part of a large and growing complex with very high levels of security and recent construction activity. It was clearly an important strategic facility, Dr Forden said. The former Iraq weapons inspector said that Iran was benefiting from the North Korean missile programme and following its designs. The Taepodong 1 consisted of a liquid-propellant Nodong (like the Shahab 3) first stage, a liquid-propellant Scud second stage and a solid-propellant third stage. The production and testing facility next to the Kavoshgar 1 launch site would seem well positioned to contribute to this third stage, Dr Forden said.

EU accused of undermining UN development goals through free trade 10.04.2008 - 17:40 CET | By Leigh Phillips

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – A group of NGOs, trade unions and civil society groups have accused the EU of undermining global poverty reduction goals through its pursuit of free trade deals with African states.Gathered outside the European Commission building in Brussels on Wednesday, the demonstrators said that UN goals to eradicate poverty by 2015 were being threatened by the EU's programme of economic partnership agreements (EPAs) and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with their governments.The UN goals, known as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), consist of eight goals aimed at eradicating poverty, promoting human and social development and ensuring environmentally sustainable development across the globe. They were agreed by 189 United Nations members in 2000.Through the EPAs and the FTAs, the EU contradicts its commitments to development and the MDGs by forcing developing countries to open their markets to European firms with which they cannot compete, said John Hilary, of the UK-based aid group War on Want.

Twenty years ago, for example, some 90 percent of rice in Ghana was grown in Ghana. Today, liberalisation forced upon the country by the rich world has resulted in only 10 percent of the rice that is eaten in Ghana having been grown there, and so the country cannot develop a domestic strategy to deal with soaring food prices.Dot Keet, of the Africa Trade Network, said: The promise of aid or the threat of withholding aid weighs more on the minds of African governments than the promise of market access. This is why many of them feel they have to sign these agreements.Many government officials have openly acknowledged that they won't benefit from increased market access. Their most immediate problem is the potential loss of aid.Ms Keet's words were an echo of comments from the secretary-general of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of nations, John Kaputin, who said on Monday (7 April), that the EU had pressured countries to agree to clauses in Economic Partnership Agreements that were harmful to development interests.

The race towards the deadline of December 31, 2007 [by which point EPAs had to be signed] was fraught with panic, confusion and frustration, he said.In the end, only 35 out of 77 countries initialled interim or full EPAs. Many more may not have initialled, but were held captive by the possibility of trade disruption that would have followed if they had not initialled, he added.

EU failing on aid promises

The NGOs' criticism comes as new figures released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show that EU member states are failing to meet pledges to increase aid – part of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.The figures showed that aid from Europe dropped last year for the first time since 2000. EU aid amounted to 0.38 percent of gross national income (GNI) in 2007, down from 0.39 percent of GNI in 2006. This translates to a total of €47.7 billion in 2006 and €46.1 billion in 2007 – a drop of €1.7 billion.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday (9 April) called on member states to recommit to pledges made in 2005 to increase development aid to 0.56 percent of GNI by 2010 and 0.7 percent by 2015. Only the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Luxembourg have already met or exceeded the target of spending 0.7 percent of GNI on aid.He said the figures revealed some worrying, even dangerous tendencies.

The consistent gap between rhetoric and reality from member states to poor countries cannot be allowed to continue, said Luis Morago, head of development NGO's Oxfam's EU office.Europe has committed many times in the past to increasing its aid. Unless a massive improvement is seen in 2008, there's no way that Europe's targets to reduce poverty will be met, he added.

The CARMEL ALERT April 11th 2008
A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.

David's Comment: Calling All Prayer Warriors to Battlestations !!!
In just two weeks, Jewish people in Israel and in every nation will celebrate the Biblical feast of Passover - the remembrance and celebration of the Hebrew's deliverance from slavery under the Egyptian Pharaoh. That event took place almost 4000 years ago, but for the Jewish people, history continually repeats itself. The history of the Jews is a story line of successive demon possessed men who, under the direction of Satan, have attempted to destroy the Jews, and thus abort the plans and purposes of God to bring about world redemption through the Jewish people, and the re-establishment of YHVH's Kingdom rule upon the Earth. Haman, Antiochus, Herod, Hitler and Arafat are the most prominent names on the time line, with the addition of the current ones, Hizbollaah's Sheik Nasrallah, Hamas's Khalid Masahhl, and Iran's Machmud Ahmadinejhad.

Recent News Reports Concerning the Possibility of War in the Middle East
* As Passover 2008 approaches, the news is once again reporting a major increase in tension between Israel and Syria, Hizbollah, and Iran. Tension between Israel and Syria has been high recently, and there were reports that Defense Minister Ehud Barak cancelled his planned visit to Germany this week because of it. Defense Ministry advisor Amos Gilad denied this report and said that the Defense Minister changed his schedule because of a heavy workload.
Syria has also raised the state of alert of its armed forces because it knows Hizbullah's revenge attack against Israel for the killing of Imad Mughniyeh is near, according to Israel's Channel 2 TV.

* The Al-Arabiyah television network reported Sunday that the Lebanese military ordered residents of southern villages to move away from the border with Israel. According to the report, the Lebanese Army set up dirt roadblocks and inspection towers along the border with Israel to prevent Lebanese civilians from getting too close to the fence.

* Following public threats by Hamas this weekend to harm kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, cabinet ministers from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s ruling Kadima party warned the terrorist militia on Sunday it would lead to terrible consequences

* There are also intelligence reports that the United States is preparing to go to war with Iran because Iran is fueling the insurgence in Iraq. The London Telegraph reported that “British officials gave warning yesterday that America’s commander in Iraq will declare that Iran is waging war against the US-backed Baghdad government. A strong statement from General David Petraeus about Iran’s intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a US attack on Iranian military facilities, according to a Whitehall assessment.”

The last item alone could be enough to set the Middle East ablaze. I dont believe that the timing of this reported escalation is a coincidence. Surely both sides of the spirit realm becomes much more sensitive and intense as the Feasts of the Lord approach. As much as YHVH loves His appointed times, Satan and the Kingdom of darkness hate them, and must become very agitated and even more intent to destroy Israel and the Jewish people.

So its an extremely strategic time for the Body of Messiah to pray and intercede for Israel right now. We need to pray in light of the above news reports, and we need to pray with the Holy Spirit. We need to pray up to, through, and until after the week of Passover, which means to the end of the month. For Zion's sake, please take this call to prayer as seriously as the serious situation calls for.

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

Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie

Shalom Stan, MESSIANIC BIBLE PROJECT APR 12,08

One of my cousins lives in Eilat, the southern most city in Israel by the Red Sea - which God parted when Moses and the Israelites crossed as they fled Egypt at Passover 3500 years ago. She recently asked me, Zev, why do we need a new Bible, our ancestors wrote our Bible thousands of years ago? Ayelet, our Jewish people rarely read the Bible, because they focus on the Talmud and other spiritual Jewish books. This keeps them from finding the Messianic prophecies in their own Jewish Bible.For 2000 years, the Messianic prophecies have been the best kept secret from our Jewish family!

Then I told my cousin that soon Jewish people around the world will find out about these prophecies because many Believers like you Stan are sponsoring these new Messianic Prophecy Bibles that will be given out to Jewish people for Free.A couple of years ago I told you about my cousin Ayelet, who is 20 years old, and is currently in the Israeli Army, doing her duty in Eilat. Israeli young women do two years of compulsory army, navy, or air force duty, while the young men from age 18-21, do three years. Many of these young Jewish people in the Israeli army are searching for answers, so it is my goal that we will give Bibles to them while they do their duty in the Israeli Forces.Zev, I think that if these prophecies you speak about really were fulfilled by Yeshua (Jesus), then everyone here in Israel should know about them, Ayelet exclaimed with her enthusiastic smile, as she gave me a hug. If I will believe in Yeshua, then I will give a Bible to every person on my base, and I will tell everyone about Yeshua, she said.

Please pray for my cousin Ayelet, because she is open to the Gospel!

With your help Stan many Jewish people in Israel and around the world will hear the Gospel of Yeshua for the first time, and I know that many will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven! Your financial gifts will provide many Prophecy Bibles in Hebrew, English, Russian, and Spanish to unsaved Jewish people. Please make the best gift you can today for this urgently needed Messianic Prophecy Bible.All correspondence should go to: vered@biblesforisrael.com or call Toll-Free: 866-242-5344

Carter's Visit With Terrorist Hurts The Cause of Peace
April 12, 2008

Dear Friend of Israel,

Friends of Israel know that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is a fierce critic of the Jewish state. In some respects, this is unremarkable - Israel has no shortage of critics. What makes Carter notorious is both his outspokenness and his willingness to disregard facts in order to portray Israel in the worst possible light.Carter's anti-Israel bias was painfully obvious in his 2006 book, Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, which was roundly criticized by many Middle East experts. Dennis Ross, Middle East Envoy during the Clinton administration and one of the negotiators at the 2000 Camp David Summit, said of the book, It is certainly legitimate to debate whether President Clinton's proposal could have settled the conflict. It is not legitimate, however, to rewrite history. One of Carter's former associates, director of the Institute for the Study of Modern Israel Kenneth Stein, ended his longstanding relationship with the former president’s non-profit organization, the Carter Center, for the book’s factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions, and simply invented segments.

Then this week came the news that the former President intends to meet with Khaled Mashaal, leader of Hamas, during an upcoming trip to the Middle East. When it comes to Israel, Mashaal does not mince words. He has pledged that Hamas, which the U.S. State Department has designated a terrorist group, will never recognize the legitimacy of the Zionist state that was founded on our land. During a 2006 address he proclaimed that "Before Israel dies, it must be humiliated.Carter's actions not only undermine the U.S. government, which has a general policy of refusing to negotiate with terrorists like Hamas. They also fly in the face of common sense and decency. The cause of peace cannot be furthered by negotiating with someone whose only desire is to destroy the Jewish state - on the contrary, there is every reason to believe that Carter's meeting will do little more than embolden Hamas. In fact, there is evidence that it has already - one Hamas leader said the meeting with Carter would prove that Hamas is a power that can't be ignored.Obviously, it would be better if this meeting did not happen at all - and today I'm asking you to help us see that it doesn't. We've made it easy for you to send a message to the Carter Center demanding that Jimmy Carter cancel his meeting with Khaled Mashaal and instead publicly call on Hamas to disavow its tactics of terror and recognize Israel’s right to exist. With your help, we can challenge Carter’s anti-Israel bias, and strike a blow for fair treatment for Israel.Send your email to the Carter Center today - and then don't forget to forward this message to a friend. On behalf of Israel and Jewish people everywhere, I thank you for taking a bold stand for Israel.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS

A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE

THE DESTROYER

More than 100,000 U.S. deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year. Direct and indirect causes of death include drunk driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke.1

This means that each decade one million drop from our ranks, the victims of man's old and deadly enemy.

At 8: 15A.M. on August 6,1945, the first atomic bombs used on human beings were dropped on Hiroshima and then three days later, August 9, 1945 on Nagasaki, Japan, ushering in the apocalyptic nuclear age. Before the war, Hiroshima had been the seventh largest city in Japan with a population of 340,000. When the atomic explosion was over and the nightmarish mushroom cloud had ascended, 80,000 of Hiroshima's citizens were dead. In Nagasaki, 35,000 lives were snuffed out. The misery among the living in both cities remains unthinkable.

Most Americans would rather not dwell on the awful destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; many are still debating whether there might have been another way to end the war. Still, we tolerate a Hiroshima’s and a Nagasaki each year in our own land. No wonder Edwin R. Anderson entitled his tract on alcohol: The A Bomb Has Already Fallen.

The war in Vietnam was one of the most tragic chapters in American history. Apart from the Civil War, no conflict has ever found the nation so divided, so torn apart. Families were at war among themselves over national policy. With the benefit of hindsight, some have changed positions since the war ended, but refugees from that troubled land are still seeking shelter and a place to live in peace.

Casualties in Vietnam were high: More than 57,000 Americans died in the nine years of fighting. But on another front the casualties were higher: During the same period, alcohol killed nearly two million at home.

On December 24,1965, in Phoenix, Arizona, a drunken man driving a pickup truck sped through two red lights at eighty miles an hour. Seconds later, he veered across the center line and smashed head on into a station wagon.

In the car were a father and mother and two teen-age children on their way from Idaho to San Diego to meet a son returning from Vietnam. The parents were smashed against the instrument panel and died instantly.

The two teen-agers were hurled from the car into the street, where they lay critically injured.

The drunken driver in the pickup truck was so entrapped in the twisted wreckage that it took rescuers using a blowtorch thirty-five minutes to extricate him.

But that hardly mattered. He had died in the shattering impact.2

The soldier son arrived safely in San Diego, having survived the dangers of battle. But his family had been cut down by a different enemy.

The beloved enemy may not capture as much television coverage or as many headlines as a foreign war, but if you are one who works in the trenches you will see as much blood and misery as on any battlefield.

Ask the ambulance drivers, the policemen, the doctors and nurses-even the family members of those addicted to alcohol.

Highway deaths due to alcohol are a continuing national nightmare. The curtain never goes down on this deadly drama. There were 16,885 alcohol-related fatalities in 2005 - 39 percent of the total traffic fatalities for the year. The 16,885 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes during 2005 represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes. An estimated 254,000 persons were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present - an average of one person injured approximately every 2 minutes.3

Often nondrinkers are victims.

Crash Kills Safe Driver and Five Others, read the headline. The news article told the heartbreaking story.

A national highway safety leader, his wife and a son died in a two-car crash which took six lives. Another son is in critical condition. On a straight stretch of highway an oncoming car swerved across the center line and slammed into the car coming in the opposite direction.

State Patrol Sgt. T. H. Embry said all three of the men in the weaving car had been drinking heavily. The official report said the trio had been refused more beer at two different places shortly before the wreck.4

Any other plague claiming 17,000 lives a year would call forth a national effort to root it out and eradicate it. Telethons would be staged to raise money to fight the destroyer. Rewards would be offered to persons finding a cure. Politicians would run on platforms dedicated to conquering the plague.

But beloved alcohol marches that number into the grave each year, while leaders lift their glasses in toasts to life.

The facts are in. Alcohol is a drug that causes violence, injury, and death.

Still, the general public remains unmoved. Impressive statistics have not proved effective in getting the message across.

It would be unfair to say that the public is unconcerned about traffic deaths and injuries. We have tried everything from seat belts to reduced speed limits in the interest of highway safety. But we have scarcely dented the accident figure. In spite of all our efforts, automobiles remain unsafe.

Why? Because we refuse to deal with the principle cause of car crashes: drinking drivers.

A common misconception about alcohol's highway killing is that most of it is done by drunken drivers. Actually, even a small amount of alcohol can make an otherwise capable driver a threat to himself and to others.

In his article What Two Drinks Will Do to Your Driving, Don Wharton claims that drinking drivers are an even greater menace than drunken drivers because there are so many more of them. He writes:

By focusing attention on drunken drivers , who are relatively rare , it whitewashes drinking drivers, who are almost numberless. A study of traffic around Evanston, Ill., showed that for every drunken driver there were about 30 who had been drinking. A report on 17,000 traffic accidents in Michigan reveals that about three times as many accidents were caused by drivers who had been drinking as by those actually under the influence.5

Even a casual acquaintance with the enemy may make you a highway death statistic.

How does a little alcohol affect drivers? Wharton explains:

It slows down reactions. The average man after one large whiskey, according to New Zealand's Road Code, will take about 15 percent longer than usual to depress his brake or swing his wheel in an emergency.

It creates a false confidence. New Zealand's Road Code put this neatly: A little alcohol has the double effect of making him drive worse and believe he is driving better.

It impairs concentration, dulls judgment. Alcohol makes drivers talk more and causes their attention to be more easily diverted.

It affects vision. Dr. Goldberg (of Sweden's Caroline Institute) conducted laboratory tests which showed that moderate drinking caused a 32 percent deterioration in vision. Alcohol has the same effect on vision, he concluded, as driving with sunglasses in twilight or darkness; a stronger illumination is needed for distinguishing objects and dimly lit objects will not be distinguished at all; when a person is dazzled by a sharp light it takes a longer time before he can see clearly again. A British ophthalmologist found that alcohol reduced peripheral vision-the capacity to see out of the comer of the eye and spot vehicles coming from side roads or pedestrians stepping off curbs,6
Drinking drivers see poorly. And some of their victims are not seen at all until it is too late .

It's not a new revelation. Hear Solomon on the subject:

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine: they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things (Proverbs 23:29-31).

Although traffic fatalities and injuries loom large on alcohol's grisly trail of destruction, that is but one area of the enemy's destruction. Alcohol is a threat to safety in nearly all of life 's activities.

5% of all deaths from diseases of the circulatory system are attributed to alcohol.

15% of all deaths from diseases of the respiratory system are attributed to alcohol.

30% of all deaths from accidents caused by fire and flames are attributed to alcohol.

30% of all accidental drownings are attributed to alcohol.

30% of all suicides are attributed to alcohol.

40% of all deaths due to accidental falls are attributed to alcohol.

45% of all deaths in automobile accidents are attributed to alcohol.

60% of all homicides are attributed to alcohol. 7
How widespread is alcoholism in industry?

Some sources estimate that one out of every ten industrial employees is an alcoholic. Add to these statistics the many drinkers who are not considered alcoholics but who often drink too much, and you have an immense potential for industrial accidents, to say nothing of the costs involved or the inferiority of the goods produced. People in the know hope they will not purchase an automobile or other item manufactured on a Monday after a weekend binge.

From the highway to the marketplace, alcohol is an enemy, a destroyer. The full impact of its devastation is difficult to grasp. Even America's most famous booze fighter, Billy Sunday, struggled for words to describe alcohol's destruction.

I wish I could unlock the door, gentlemen, that conceals the secrets of this damnable charnel house, but I am here to tell you, sir, that God never gave any man imagination powerful enough nor lips nor tongue eloquent enough to picture its damnable wreckage and its ruin.

If hydrophobia [rabies] produced one millionth part of the disease and trouble the saloon causes, every dog in America would be killed off before Monday morning.8

In reaching for words to expose the enemy that day in 1917 in Pittsburgh, Billy Sunday found one that deserves our study: disease.

What does alcohol do to our bodies?

Is beverage alcohol really harmful to health?

NOTES:

Substance Abuse: The Nation’s Number One Health Problem, Feb. 2001

Walter B. Knight, Knight's Up-to-the-Minute Illustrations (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), p . 11.

http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html

Walter B. Knight, Knight's Treasury of Illustrations (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1963), p. 397.

Don Wharton, What Two Drinks Will Do to Your Driving, The Rotarian (October, 1951).

Ibid.

FAS Community Resource Center - http://www.come-over.to/FAS/alcdeath.htm

Billy Sunday, The Trail of the Serpent, 1917 sermon, The Sword of the Lord, July 14, 1967.

2007-08 FINAL NHL STANDINGS

NHL COACHES 2007-08 SEASON

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Ottawa Senators - John Paddock - Bryan Murray
Toronto Maple Leafs - Paul Maurice
Boston Bruins - Claude Julien
Montreal Canadians - Guy Carbonneau
Buffalo Sabres - Lindy Ruff

Atlantic Division

New Jersey Devils - Brent Sutter
Philadelphia Flyers - John Stevens
New York Islanders - Ted Nolan
New York Rangers - Tom Renney
Pittsburgh Penquins - Michel Therrien

Southeast Division

Tampa Bay Lightning - John Tortorella
Washington Capitals - Glen Hanlon - Bruce Boudreau
Atlanta Thrashers - Bob Hartley - Don Waddell
Florida Panthers - Jacques Martin
Carolina Hurricanes - Peter Laviolette

Western Conference

Central Division

Detroit Red Wings - Mike Babcock
St Louis Blues -Andy Murray
Chicago Black Hawks - Denis Savard
Nashville Preditors - Barry Trotz
Columbus Blue Jackets - Ken Hitchcock

Pacific Division

Dallas Stars - Dave Tippett
Anaheim Ducks - Randy Carlyle
Los Angeles Kings - Marc Crawford
Phoenix Coyotes - Wayne Gretzky
San Jose Sharks - Ron Wilson

Northwest Division

Colorado Avalanche - Joel Quennville
Vancouver Canucks - Alain Vigneault
Minnesota Wild - Jacques Lemaire
Edmonton Oilers - Craig MacTavish
Calgary Flames - Mike Keenan

Stanley Cup - HOPEFULLY CALGARY

NHL STANDINGS 2007-08 SEASON FINAL AS OF APR 06,08

Eastern Conference

TEAM GP W L OT PTS GF GA HOME AWAY
01 MONTREAL 82 47 25 10 104 262 222 22-13-6 25-12-4
02 PITTSBURGH 82 47 27 08 102 247 216 26-10-5 21-17-3
03 WASHINGTON 82 43 31 08 094 242 231 23-15-3 20-16-5
04 NEW JERSEY 82 46 29 07 099 206 197 25-14-2 21-15-5
05 NEW YORK R 82 42 27 13 097 213 199 25-13-3 17-14-10
06 PHILADELPHIA82 42 29 11 095 248 233 21-14-6 21-15-5
07 OTTAWA 82 43 31 08 094 261 247 22-15-4 21-16-4
08 BOSTON 82 41 29 12 094 212 222 21-16-4 20-13-8

09 CAROLINA 82 43 33 06 092 252 249 24-13-4 19-20-2
10 BUFFALO 82 39 31 12 090 255 242 20-15-6 19-16-6
11 FLORIDA 82 38 35 09 085 216 226 18-15-8 20-20-1
12 TORONTO 82 36 35 11 083 231 260 18-17-6 18-18-5
13 NEW YORK I 82 35 38 09 079 194 243 18-18-5 17-20-4
14 ATLANTA 82 34 40 08 076 216 272 19-19-3 15-21-5
15 TAMPA BAY 82 31 42 09 071 223 267 20-18-3 11-24-6

Western Conference

TEAM GP W L OT PTS GF GA HOME AWAY
01 DETROIT 82 54 21 07 115 257 184 29-09-3 25-12-4
02 SAN JOSE 82 49 23 10 108 222 193 22-13-6 27-10-4
03 MINNESOTA 82 44 28 10 098 223 218 25-11-5 19-17-5
04 ANAHEIM 82 47 27 08 102 205 191 28-09-4 19-18-4
05 DALLAS 82 45 30 07 097 242 207 23-16-2 22-14-5
06 COLORADO 82 44 31 07 095 231 219 27-12-2 17-19-5
07 CALGARY 82 42 30 10 094 229 227 21-11-9 21-19-1
08 NASHVILLE 82 41 32 09 091 230 229 23-14-4 18-18-5

09 EDMONTON 82 41 35 06 088 235 251 23-17-1 18-18-5
10 CHICAGO 82 40 34 08 088 239 235 23-16-2 17-18-6
11 VANCOUVER 82 39 33 10 088 213 215 21-15-5 18-18-5
12 PHOENIX 82 38 37 07 083 214 231 17-20-4 21-17-3
13 COLUMBUS 82 34 36 12 080 193 218 20-14-7 14-22-5
14 ST LOUIS 82 33 36 13 079 205 237 20-15-6 13-21-7
15 LOS ANGELES 82 32 43 07 071 231 266 17-21-3 15-22-4

2007-08 PLAYOFF MATCHUPS BEST OF 4 OF 7 CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL

A - BOS AT MTL
B - OTT AT PIT
C - PHI AT WSH
D - NYR AT NJ

E - NSH AT DET
F - CGY AT SJ
G - COL AT MIN
H - DAL AT ANA

REGULAR SEASON POWER PLAY - PENALTY KILL TEAM RECORDS

POWER PLAY PENALTY KILLING

TEAMGP ADV PPF PCT TEAMGPTSH PPA PCT
MTL 82 372 90 24.2 SJ 82 310 44 85.8
PHI 82 385 84 21.8 DAL82 352 51 85.5
PIT 82 378 77 20.4 NSH82 335 49 85.4
DET 82 391 81 20.7 MIN82 330 49 85.2
TB 82 296 57 19.3 EDM82 366 56 84.7
FLA 82 313 60 19.2 NYR82 343 53 84.6
MIN 82 338 64 18.9 STL82 359 56 84.4
CAR 82 420 79 18.8 DET82 357 57 84.0
WSH 82 346 65 18.8 CLB82 378 63 83.3
SJ 82 372 70 18.8 BUF82 333 56 83.2
PHX 82 339 63 18.6 PHI82 388 65 83.2
OTT 82 328 60 18.3 ANA82 408 69 83.1
DAL 82 354 64 18.1 NJ 82 314 54 82.8
BUF 82 366 66 18.0 VAN82 368 64 82.6
TOR 82 343 61 17.8 MTL82 342 60 82.5
BOS 82 319 56 17.6 FLA82 374 66 82.4
LA 82 366 64 17.5 CHI82 385 69 82.1
VAN 82 369 63 17.1 TB 82 312 56 82.0
CGY 82 352 59 16.8 NYI82 375 68 81.9
ANA 82 361 60 16.6 COL82 301 56 81.4
EDM 82 344 57 16.6 CGY82 388 72 81.4
NYR 82 370 61 16.5 OTT82 380 72 81.0
ATL 82 316 52 16.5 PIT82 357 68 81.0
CHI 82 365 58 15.9 PHX82 332 64 80.7
NJ 82 320 50 15.6 WSH82 349 68 80.5
CLB 82 356 53 14.9 CAR82 355 75 78.9
NSH 82 358 53 14.8 ATL82 354 75 78.8
NYI 82 330 48 14.6 BOS82 332 71 78.6
COL 82 335 49 14.6 TOR82 350 77 78.0
STL 82 334 47 14.1 LA 82 309 68 78.0

REGULAR SEASON PENALTIES - OVERTIME RECORDS

TEAM PENALTIES TEAM OVERTIME RECORDS 2007-08

TEAM GPPIM BM AVG TEAMGP W OTL SOL
NJ 82 830 08 10.1 ANA 20 12 02 06
MIN 82 862 12 10.5 ATL 23 15 02 06
COL 82 884 20 10.8 BOS 21 09 06 06
TB 82 897 06 10.9 BUF 21 09 03 09
SJ 82 955 16 11.6 CGY 16 06 07 03
DET 82 982 24 12.0 CAR 13 07 03 03
CAR 82 1021 14 12.5 CHI 17 09 04 04
NYI 82 1062 24 13.0 COL 18 11 04 03
ATL 82 1097 26 13.4 CLB 17 05 04 08
NYR 82 1109 22 13.5 DAL 15 08 04 03
DAL 82 1133 22 13.8 DET 14 07 02 05
MTL 82 1133 14 13.8 EDM 25 19 02 04
TOR 82 1139 12 13.9 FLA 18 09 03 06
OTT 82 1173 12 14.3 LA 14 07 04 03
FLA 82 1181 18 14.4 MIN 19 09 02 08
NSH 82 1179 24 14.4 MTL 20 10 04 06
BUF 82 1200 18 14.6 NSH 17 08 05 04
CGY 82 1204 22 14.7 NJ 22 15 03 04
VAN 82 1206 16 14.7 NYI 19 10 06 03
STL 82 1223 20 14.9 NYR 25 12 04 09
WSH 82 1233 16 15.0 OTT 14 06 03 05
LA 82 1239 24 15.1 PHI 17 06 05 06
PIT 82 1249 38 15.2 PHX 16 09 01 06
BOS 82 1256 24 15.3 PIT 16 08 04 04
EDM 82 1285 22 15.7 SJ 19 09 04 06
PHI 82 1301 16 15.9 STL 17 04 08 05
CHI 82 1332 16 16.2 TB 13 04 08 01
CLB 82 1357 20 16.5 TOR 19 08 07 04
PHX 82 1445 28 17.6 VAN 20 10 01 09
ANA 82 1457 30 17.8 WSH 19 11 04 04

Friday, April 11, 2008

LAKE TSUNAMI OCCURS

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.

GET READY AMERICAN ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE WHEN HURRICANE SEASON COMES THANKS TO YESTERDAYS STORY ABOUT DIVIDING JERUSALEM IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS. DON'T SAY NOBODY WARNED YOUOF THE COMING DESTRUCTION.

One dead as tornadoes sweep US
Friday, 11 April, 2008

Double lightning strike in Texas (AAP) Powerful storms and at least one tornado have battered three states across the central US, leaving one woman dead and causing flooding and widespread power cuts. Hail and high winds have swept across Arkansas, a state already contending with three weeks of flooding and the aftermath of 10 tornadoes that hit the region last week. Most of the state is under a flash flood warning and forecasts warn a new round of storms could include further tornadoes later in the day. Roads are flooded and people have been urged not to travel unless absolutely necessary. It's just getting worse, said sheriff's dispatcher Nola Massey. We're just trying to get everybody to stay home and not get out in it.

Vehicles flipped over

In Oklahoma, state officials reported damage to more than 200 homes and businesses from strong winds. A tornado with winds of up to 112km/h moved through west Texas, tearing shingles from roofs, shattering glass and flipping vehicles. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost electricity in Oklahoma and the Dallas area.

Homes were damaged in Texas, and flooding in Oklahoma forced about a dozen state highways to close; some schools called off classes for the day. A woman died in Oklahoma when her car skidded off the road during downpours, and three people were treated for minor injuries in Texas. Source: AP/SBS

Multiple Tornadoes Confirmed Across N. Texas Edited: Thursday, 10 Apr 2008, 8:26 PM CDT

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least four tornadoes touched down in multiple areas of North Texas on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, and that number could rise as field crews continue to investigate the damage.In DeSoto, an EF-1 tornado damaged about a dozen homes with winds between 73 and 112 miles per hour. There was severe roof damage at a senior apartment complex and at a hotel with about 50 people in it at the time, said Kathy Jones, a spokeswoman for the city of DeSoto. DeSoto police said they don't have any major injuries.One-third of residents in DeSoto were without power and several roads were blocked off because of downed power lines. The Red Cross has set up a shelter at the Community Missionary Baptist Church in DeSoto.

More damage happened in Stephens County when an EF-0 tornado developed along F.M. 576 near Eolian, and an EF-1 struck the airport in Breckenridge. There, several planes were flipped, many hangars destroyed, and serious damage to nearby mobile homes and power poles. Investigators say the tornado's path stretched more than seven miles.In Palo Pinto County, another EF-1 tornado left a path of debris more than a mile and a half long and snapped trees in half or uprooted them altogether near the community of Oran. This supercell thunderstorm was part of one of the most active 24-hour periods in recent North Texas weather history, said the National Weather Service in a statement.

REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

1/3RD OF SHIPS DESTROYED

REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

Melting causes lake in Chile to empty APR 11,08

SANTIAGO, Chile - Melting ice in southern Chile caused a glacial lake to swell and then empty suddenly, sending a tsunami rolling through a river, a scientist said Thursday. No one was injured in the remote region. Glacier scientist Gino Casassa said the melting of the Colonia glacier, which he blamed on rising world temperatures, filled the Cachet Lake and increased pressure on the ice sheet.The water bored a 5-mile tunnel through the glacier and finally emptied into the Baker River on April 6.The remarkable thing is that the mass of water moved against the current of the river, Casassa told The Associated Press by telephone from the Center for Scientific Studies in the southern city of Valdivia. It was a real river tsunami.The lake was nearly full again by late Wednesday, he said.Casassa said temperatures were unusually high during the recent Southern Hemisphere summer.This is a phenomenon that occurs periodically during the summer season, caused by the melting of large masses of ice that swell some lakes, he said. The basic cause is global warming.The Tempano lake in Chile's Bernardo O'Higgins National Park abruptly disappeared last year, and has since recovered just some of its former volume.

Noted hurricane forecaster sees above-average season in 2008Wed Apr 9, 2:09 PM By Danica Coto, The Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A noted hurricane researcher predicts rising water temperatures in the Atlantic mean a well above average storm season this year. The updated forecast by William Gray's team at Colorado State University calls for 15 named storms in the Atlantic in 2008. Gray's team says at least four of those storms will be major hurricanes, with a better than average chance that at least one major hurricane will hit the United States. Gray projected seven hurricanes with three major storms in a preliminary forecast in December. The 2007 Atlantic season saw 15 named storms, six of which became hurricanes. Two were major storms. An average of 5.9 hurricanes form in the Atlantic each year. The Atlantic is a bit warmer than in the past couple of years, said Phil Klotzbach, a member of the forecast team. That is something we would like to keep an eye on.

One of the most closely watched hurricane forecasters, Gray has been issuing hurricane predictions for more than 20 years. But he and others have been criticized in recent years for forecasts that were off the mark. Before the June-November season last year, U.S. government scientists predicted 13 to 17 named storms and six hurricanes, three to five major. Gray was further off, forecasting 17 named storms, including nine hurricanes, five of them major.

Gray's team says precise predictions are impossible, and the warnings raise awareness of hurricanes. We have not been ashamed of our forecast failures. It is the nature of seasonal forecasting to sometimes be wrong, Klotzbach said in a telephone interview from the Bahamas, where the team announced the forecast at a weather conference. U.S. government forecasters issue their seasonal outlook in late May. U.S. National Hurricane Center director Bill Read, who is in his first year on the job, has said he would prefer to characterize the season in general terms - as above average, average or below average - instead of trying to forecast a precise number of storms. It doesn't matter what the numbers are, centre spokesman Dennis Feltgen said Wednesday, repeating a centre mantra that it takes only one powerful storm to make it a bad season.

Forecasters see La Nina through July Thu Apr 10, 1:47 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The La Nina climate phenomenon under way in the Pacific Ocean has weakened but is expected to continue at least through midsummer, government weather forecasters said Thursday. La Nina is a periodic cooling of the tropical Pacific sea surface which reduces rainfall in the region and can affect weather around the world.Its primary effect over the United States in spring and summer is below-average rainfall over parts of the Southwest, extending from Texas to Nevada.It tends to produce above-average rains over Indonesia.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central equatorial Pacific were about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1degree Celsius) below average.In December, the cool areas ranged from 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) below normal.Despite this improvement, forecasters said they expect La Nina to continue through July.La Nina is the opposite of the better known El Nino condition in which the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than normal.On the Net:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov

Apparent Tornadoes Hit Texas, Oklahoma APR 10,08

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — An apparent tornado with winds of up to 70 mph moved through West Texas early Thursday, tearing shingles from roofs, shattering glass and flipping vehicles.Paramedics were dispatched throughout the city, but San Angelo police didn't have a number of injured.The storm pelted the city with quarter-sized hail just after midnight with winds of up to 70 mph, said Hector Guerrero, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Angelo.The National Weather Service received reports of cars and a tractor trailer flipped over. At least one building downtown was damaged and power lines were down in some areas, Guerrero said.

Shortly after, the storm system moved out of the area, Guerrero said. San Angelo is about 110 miles southeast of Midland.Hours earlier, two apparent tornados also moved through another section of West Texas, and there were also reports of a tornado in Oklahoma, where one woman died when her car skidded off the road in heavy rain.In Breckenridge, 125 miles west of Dallas, at least five homes were destroyed and minor injuries were reported, police said.

Robbie Dewberry, an administrator at Stephens Memorial Hospital, said the hospital treated three people for storm-related injuries. He said the hospital was operating on emergency backup power.Crews with Oncor Electric Delivery were surveying the extent of the damage in Breckenridge, where about 3,500 customers were without power, Oncor spokesman Neal Blanton said.KTVT-TV of Dallas-Fort Worth showed footage of damage at the small airport in the town. A twin-engine plane sat amid the crumpled sheet metal that had been a hangar.Several outbuildings were also damaged, but officials could not immediately confirm that the damage was caused by a tornado, said Jessica Schultz, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Another possible tornado hit Palo Pinto County between Graford and Oran, meteorologist Jennifer Dunn said. Officials said roofs had been blown off a few homes and trees were down in Oran, about 80 miles west of Dallas.In Oklahoma, meteorologist Andrew Taylor said there were two reports of a tornado in Choctaw County in the southeastern part of the state, although no damage was reported. Taylor said the reports could have been about the same tornado.

Flooding caused the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to close five highways in the state, and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for several eastern Oklahoma waterways.Heavy rain and flash flooding were also reported in Arkansas. Entergy Arkansas said it opened spillway gates at the Remmel Dam in Hot Spring County to release excess water from Lake Catherine, about 50 miles southwest of Little Rock.In Polk County, along the Oklahoma state line, U.S. 71 was covered with as much as a foot of water, while state Route 375 had 6 inches of water on it, the weather service said. Sheriff's officials said workers at the hospital in Mena were putting sandbags in place to keep water out of the emergency room.

Meanwhile, a small tornado caused scattered damage in southwest Michigan, authorities said.No injuries were reported, but authorities said several horses were trapped inside a barn damaged by the stormy weather early Wednesday.

OZONE DEPLETION

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

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

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

Scientists predict more floods, droughts By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 10, 8:09 PM ET

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Scientists predicted Thursday that climate change in coming decades will cause more flooding in the Northern Hemisphere and droughts in some southern and arid zones. In addition, they said that some areas around the Mediterranean, parts of southern Africa, northeastern Brazil and the western U.S. region will likely suffer water shortages.Rajendra Pachauri, the chief U.N. climate scientist, said at the end of a meeting in Budapest that the rising frequency and intensity of floods and droughts could lead to a food crisis.We may see a decline in agriculture production, said Pachauri, who is also chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.An IPCC report presented at the meeting said the decline of water quantity and quality would lead to shortages of water for drinking and agriculture.Millions of Africans could be afflicted by such water problems by 2020, unless action is taken to mitigate climate change, experts said.While the proportion of heavy rainfalls will very likely increase, so will the areas simultaneously affected by extreme droughts.

One of the co-authors of the IPCC report said water issues would be one of the main problems of climate change.Everybody pretty much agrees that water is central to the way climate change is going to affect ecosystems and every human being, said Kathleen Miller, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.Miller mentioned deltas of major rivers in Asia, such as the Mekong, as one of the areas where floods were an increasing concern.Those places will be much more vulnerable, Miller said.She said that in the U.S. there's a high likelihood of the west getting drier.AP science writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington D.C.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

WELL MAYBE THIS IS HOW AMERICA BECOMES A 2ND RATE POWER TO THE EUROPEAN UNION. I THOUGHT THE DEMOCRATES WOULD GET IN POWER AND KILL AMERICA BY TAKING TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ.

MONEYNETDAILY
Will trade deficit trigger depression?
Economists: It's de-industrializing America, leading nation toward 2nd-rate power status April 09, 2008 12:45 am Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – America is selling its birthright not for a mess of pottage, but for a mess of Chinese junk, and the resulting unsustainable trade deficit is leading to the collapse of the dollar, depression and conversion of the United States to a second-rate power, says a new book written by three generations of a family of economists.Not only will the United States feel the pain, but other countries will as well, write Raymond, Howard and Jesse Richman in Trading Away Our Future.Because other countries are dependent upon the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency and because they are dependent on exports to the United States to sustain their own economies, the eventual collapse of the dollar could wreak havoc on the economies of the whole world.

While some other economists have claimed there is no danger from a trade deficit that has reached nearly $60 billion, and some have even suggested they represent a blessing for Americans, the authors strongly disagree.A basic principle of economics is that there is no free lunch, they write. Those who think that the Chinese, Japanese, Saudis, et al, are giving the United States a free lunch when they sell more than they buy are engaged in short term thinking that ignores huge long term costs.The book is released at a time when more Americans are searching for answers about the stumbling state of the economy – with the dollar declining, foreclosures rising and credit tightening.The Richmans tie the growing trade deficit to the de-industrialization of America.

The financial flows that sustained these deficits did not go to expand the U.S. capital stock – they mostly financed consumption of foreign goods, they explain. Japan and China and other Pacific Rim nations stole industry after industry from the United States. America's manufacturing investment declined so much that by 2004 and 2005, net investment in American manufacturing actually went into negative territory, meaning that U.S. manufacturers were not even investing enough to replace wearing out machinery and plants. The U.S. manufacturing workforce declined steadily, so that by 2007 over a fifth of the U.S. manufacturing jobs that would have existed given balanced trade had been lost. Those losing their manufacturing jobs often took less skilled jobs in the service sector, causing media wages to stagnate. In 2007, the United States was in a much weaker position to compete in world markets and the dollar had nowhere to go but down.It's not just a lack of foresight by American policy makers that has created the problem, the authors write. It is also a conscious policy of some foreign countries to practice neo-mercantilism – with the U.S. as the target.

Beginning in the late 1990s, China copied the policy that had converted Japan from a weak and backward economy to a world powerhouse, they say. In recent years, more and more countries have been joining the bandwagon, with the United States as their primary target. They have been accumulating dollar assets in order to manipulate currency values and preserve the conditions that produce trade surpluses for them and trade deficits for us.Adding to the problem, the authors write, was the emergence of a blind ideological commitment across the American political spectrum to free trade that really wasn't free at all.As advocates of free markets, we generally approve of relying on the free play of market forces to provide the highest level of welfare for Americans," they write. But we discovered that free trade, normally beneficial, had become an ideology blinding the United States establishment from seeing key causes of the trade deficits and their disastrous consequences. The trade deficits are sustained by government policies, both U.S. government tax policies and foreign government mercantilist policies, not by the free play of market forces.The authors believe the situation can still be reversed, preserving American dominance of the world economy.If not, then resolutely non-democratic China will dominate, they say. The world's future is in the balance.

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

Chavez: Castro predicted fall of dollar FRI APR 11,08

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that his close friend Fidel Castro predicted the fall of the U.S. dollar. Chavez said Cuba's 81-year-old former president mentioned the prediction some time ago before signs of a weakening dollar had begun to appear. Fidel told me one day, Chavez, it won't be long before the crisis of the dollar occurs,the Venezuelan leader said in a televised speech.Chavez said Castro handed him a document he had written during one of their meetings in Havana that said the United States has bought half the world with paper bills that don't have real backing. ... The world can't sustain that bubble.There it is, the crisis of the dollar, Chavez said.Chavez called the United States' economic woes a terrible economic crisis, noted that some Americans are losing their jobs and suggested that much worse is to come.I think if things continue on like this in the United States, we'll have to start preparing to receive the refugees here, Chavez said.The U.S. remains the leading buyer of Venezuelan oil, but Chavez is seeking to rally opposition to Washington's stances, from free-market economic policies to the war in Iraq.His opponents accuse him of using his perpetual conflict with the U.S. to stir up nationalistic sentiment and draw away attention from domestic problems including rampant crime, soaring inflation and sporadic shortages of some basic foods.

PM Olmert:We'll Reach an Agreement, But It Can't Be Implemented by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz APR 11,08

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday evening that he is certain Israel and the Palestinian Authority can reach an agreement by the end of this year. He just doesn't see any chance of it being implemented anytime soon, as it requires an end to PA terrorism. I don't see any chance of us being able to implement an agreement in the near term, the Prime Minister said,
Prime Minister Olmert angrily dismissed criticism that he and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are compromising on Jerusalem.
addressing a pre-Passover holiday toast at Kadima party headquarters in Petach Tikva. We will insist on all the terms of the Road Map, first and foremost among them a cessation of terrorism, as a precondition for implementation of any understanding. But the first step creating a horizon of hope for us and for the Palestinians can be taken, it must be taken, and we will make every effort in order to successfully do so this year.

Of the negotiations with the PA, Prime Minister Olmert told the assembled leaders of his party, I promise you that we will reach understandings ensuring that the State of Israel will be able to be a secure state, that knows how to defend itself, that has room to live, whose existence will not be made conditional on any circumstance or prerequisite. I believe it is possible to reach understandings that will produce a incomparable solution.Prime Minister Olmert angrily dismissed criticism that he and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are compromising on Jerusalem and other key issues: We don't need lessons from anyone - certainly not from our opponents in the opposition - about what the important issue are, that we have to insist upon and diligently defend. No one can teach me or any Kadima minister anything about the status, the importance and the symbolism of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

We Have Security
Turning to the ongoing rocket attacks from PA-controlled Gaza and IDF retaliatory raids, Prime Minister Olmert laid full responsibility at the feet of the Hamas terrorist organization. We don't care which organization each terrorist belongs to, Olmert said, the one managing what goes on in Gaza is Hamas. And that organization, and all of its members, is responsible for the ongoing terrorism and will have to suffer the unavoidable consequences of its actions in the south of the country.The Prime Minister promised that the response to Hamas will be such that it will be unable to act against the citizens of Israel as it currently is.Olmert concluded his pre-Passover remarks to his party loyalists by saying, Ahead of the 60th Independence Day, we can stand tall and tell ourselves: we have a wondrous country, we have achievements, we have power, we have security - and with them we will march forward [kadima in Hebrew - ed.].

Report: Western Wall Too Controversial For Bush Visit
by Ezra HaLevi APR 11,08

(IsraelNN.com) The Western Wall has been deemed too controversial a place for US President George W. Bush to visit. He is opting instead for Masada – where Jewish rebels committed mass suicide.

Bush will be visiting Israel as part of Israel’s 60th Independence Day celebrations. His visit will be 60 hours long. In addition to addressing the Knesset, Bush is reportedly searching for a symbolic location to visit, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as his tour guide.People of all races and faiths flock to the Western Wall to pray to the G-d of Israel.Haaretz reported that Bush’s aids were leaning toward the Masada fortress. The site was where Jews held out against the Roman army, but were eventually beaten and committed suicide rather than face the humiliation and torture of captivity. Haaretz mentioned the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron, the Golan Heights and the Western Wall, explicitly, as places deemed too controversial for Bush to visit.

The Western Wall, also called the Kotel (wall in Hebrew) or Wailing Wall, is the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site. The mount itself is occupied by two Muslim structures and Jewish worship there is severely restricted. The Western Wall is highly symbolic as it has been the focal point of Jewish worship in the most recent return to Zion. It was approachable via a small alleyway prior to the War of Independence, was off-limits to Jews under Jordanian rule following the 1949 armistice and was liberated in the 1967 Six Day War. Among the most famous photos in Israel's history is that of IDF paratroopers looking up at the wall with awe following their participation in the battle for the Old City. Shortly after the victory, Israel bulldozed the area around the wall, creating a huge prayer plaza.Muslims have recently been staking a claim not only to the Temple Mount, but to the Western Wall as well. They call it Al-Burak and say the religion's founder, Mohammad, tied his horse there during a midnight journey that took him to the farthest mosque - which they say is a reference to the Jerusalem mosque later given that name.The Bushes also want to witness the Biblical prophecy of the ingathering of the exiles first-hand. White House staffers report that the Bushes are looking to meet with recent olim (Jewish immigrants to Israel) during the visit.Bush will not be visiting Palestinian Authority-controlled areas or meeting with PA officials during his visit to Israel, but will hold a meeting with Fatah chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Egypt afterward.

Media analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner of Israel Media Research and Analysis says that the phenomenon of Bush steering clear of the Western Wall does not bode well and belies statements by Israeli officials’ claiming an improved relationship with the US due to Israel’s willingness to make repeated concessions to Fatah. Things are so screwed up that while the Pope can visit the Western Wall in what was clearly the Israeli portion of his visit, President Bush can't make the same photo op as part of his historic trip marking Israel's 60th anniversary, Lerner opined. And now an example of the incredible lack of thinking on the part of whoever is working on this trip: instead of visiting places associated with Israel's rebirth or ancient life - the idea is a photo op at a place remembered in history for the group of Jews who committed suicide rather than fall captive to the Romans.Dr. Lerner concluded, with tongue-in-cheek: Then again. How appropriate. PM Olmert, who critics warn is following a suicidal path with the Palestinians, will visit Masada with Bush.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

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

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

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

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

A plan for Britain’s new model army

As military chiefs and ministers meet to slash £4.5 billion costs, Robert Fox suggests a radical plan.It is time to tear up Britain’s defence policy and start again. British forces, ill-equipped and over-stretched, are engaged in open-ended campaigns in two countries, with little idea of how either should be ended. Former ministers and commanders have talked of a train crash, and serving men and women are heading for civvy street. A radical overhaul is necessary. But the old guard, who have been sounding off a lot lately, and the present senior command are too trapped in their institutional conventions to come up with it. Ideas need to come from original thinkers lower down the order: sparky young captains and corporals who can draw on real experience - before they, too, leave. The country really does need its armed and security services. (People only ever realise why after a major emergency has come and gone.) We should accept that the numbers need to stay roughly the same - a budget of £35bn (two per cent of GDP) and around 200,000 full-time personnel.

But how to spend that money and recruit and use those men and women? Here is a ten-point plan for the 21st century:

We need flexible forces that can deal with conventional tasks and acquire new skills for humanitarian and disaster relief, counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency.

Education, training, welfare and support must be improved in order to encourage recruitment. Servicemen and women should be offered something like the American GI Bill - an educational or vocational qualification, a contract of a minimum six to ten years, plus incentives including a provision for housing when they leave.

We need to be able to hire more foreigners from more countries - Commonwealth and EU and other nationals should be invited under strict contract terms. In effect, our own Foreign Legion.

The structure of the forces needs to be less fragmented and complex. There are too many HQs. The Army, in particular, is over-officered.

The RAF should be held at 40,000 personnel, and should stick to its core business of deep strike, surveillance, transport and emergency rescue.

The Royal Navy should stick to its task of keeping the sea lanes open and preserving maritime security.

The Army should be restructured as a mobile force of about 90,000 plus a permanent reserve and volunteer reserve of about 10-15,000 each. Like the Roman army, it should be built on an ascending scale of simple building blocks, the company (a few hundred), the battle group or battalion of 1,000, and the brigade of about 3,500.

The old regimental cap badges could be kept for team loyalty, but should fit the new structure rather than the other way round.

More obscure specialisations such as arctic and jungle warfare should be cut.

Extravagant equipment programmes need to be cut or cancelled. The Typhoon aircraft (£24bn), the Astute submarine programme

Hiring foreign nationals should be more flexible - in effect, our own Foreign Legion(£5 - £7bn) and the new Joint Combat Aircraft (£20bn-plus) all need reviewing. Likewise the Trident replacement due to be signed in 2012 - at a likely cost of around £75bn over 40 years. The fact is that ever since World War II, British politicians have been appeasing the defence industry - and the Brown government is no exception. We are lumbered with gargantuan programmes many of which - on purely military (if not political) grounds - could be dropped. Recently the US Army and Marines produced new training Field and Counter Insurgency Manuals to equip them for the tackling real issues in a real world. They underline the need for sustainable forces and policies. Most important, they point up the need for strategic vision.

Here's a walkthrough:The message of Fitna APR 9,08

0:25: First off, we have the dreaded bomb-in-turban drawing by Kurt Westergaard, with the fuse lit. We're in for some tough scenes of Islamic terrorism. For copyright reasons, this drawing has been replaced with a new original drawing with an identical motif.

0:45: Quran 8:60: And make ready against them all you can of power, including steeds of war, to threaten the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others besides whom, you may not know but whom Allah does know.... This is a well-known Quran quote from sura 8, The Spoils of War. Translations differ, as do the comments inserted by the translator. The Noble Quraan, for one, inserts this clarification on steeds of war: (tanks, planes, missiles, artillery). Wilders uses a more moderate version.

1:12: Scenes from the WTC terror attack on September 11th. Really nasty stuff, panicky dialog, people jumping from the windows to their death. Clearly a reference to the encouragement to use all means of war against infidels. The emotional impact of this is undeniable.

1:44: Scenes from the terror attack against Spanish commuter trains, including surveillance cameras showing one of the actual explosions. Grim.

2:00: Dead bodies, presumably from the Spanish terror attack, or a different one. A radical imam preaches that killing of infidels causes Allah to be happy. This, in a way, is weird, for it is also taught in Islam that nothing can influence Allah. Yet, few if any Muslims seem to challenge radical views like this one.

2:56: Quran 4:56: Surely, those who disbelieved in our evidence, we shall burn them in Fire. As often as their skins are roasted through, we shall change them for other skins that they may taste the punishment. Truly, Allah is ever most powerful, all-wise.
This rather graphic description of the fate of infidels is puzzling. Is this really holy? What kind of god would threat the humans he allegedly created himself in such a Hellish manner? Then, apart from the theological speculations, this is an obvious threat against infidels. Intimidation at its worst.

3:54: Bashmallah, a girl of 3½, expresses her hatred against Jews. A reference to the institutionalized antisemitism in the Palestinian areas. That some raise children to hate before they can read comes across as a crime against humanity. Or at least against the next generation.

4:40: More antisemitism, more justification of killing Jews.

4:55: Poster from an Islamic demonstration with the telling text God Bless Hitler.

5:10: Quran 47:4: So when you meet those who disbelieve, smite their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind them firmly. The Noble Quraan translator inserts: (in fight - Jihad in Allah's cause), to make the intention clear. A religion of peace must have trouble including a passage like this.

5:30: Theo van Gogh expresses his lack of fear to be killed after creating Submission. As we all know, his audacity and fearlessness was unjustified, van Gogh was shot and stabbed by an Islamic extremist shortly thereafter.

5:50: And here we meet the killer. He's unrelenting, which has the obvious implication that this could happen to anyone who has the guts to be critical against Islam.

6:00: The quote See what happened to van Gogh is another to Islam-critic individuals.

6:25: A clip from Iqra TV (Saudi) showing the moments before a decapitation of an infidel. One wonders why Islamic leaders haven't condemned this in unison. Stuff like this should be buried deep under unholy, not just be tolerated.

6:50: Quran 4:89: But if they turn back from Islam, take them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither helpers nor friends from them. This famous verse instigates the death penalty for leaving Islam. One may wonder what makes Islam so terrible that something this drastic is needed to keep the adherents in line. Other religions do not have clauses like this, or have at least rendered them outdated and useless. But there's another point to this quote, namely that befriending 'infidels' is not permitted. This anti-integration attitude is obviously problematic.

7:30: The inherent supremacy of Arabs and Muslims is preached. This is an aside in Islam that is not frequently heard of or addressed, even though undercover recordings in mosques, like in Channel 4, keeps turning up this attitude. It's racism, pure and simple.

7:55: Quran 8:39: And fight them until there is no more Fitnah, and the religion will be all for Allah alone. An unpleasant message for adherents of other religions. Most people prefer tolerance, not fighting.

8:22: Iranian president Ahmadinejad preaches that the message of Islam is universal, implying of course that everybody on the planet should and will at some point submit to Islam. This is followed by

9:00: preaching that Islam is destined to rule the world,

9:15: and that freedom can go to hell. A sinister message indeed.

9:35: Netherlands under the spell of Islam. The mosque will be part of the system of government of Holland. This is an interesting statement that points to an underexposed issue, namely that the mosque is not merely a place of worship, it is also part of the government of Islamic countries, to the point where some imams are tolerating the use of mosques for the storage of weapons and explosives. The point is not elaborated, though, as it would take an entire documentary to itself to investigate this issue.

10:20: It is quoted that one millions Muslims now live in the Netherlands. The setting up of a satellite receiver disc has the unspoken implication that many of these take their news and opinions from the Arab world, not from the society they live in.

10:42: Here we meet one of the weirdest customs in Islam, killing people for illegal love. The mere concept that the state / society / tribe of Islam has a say in who is permitted to love who is quite alien to a Western mind, but in the Middle East, arranged and even forced marriages are still the norm in many areas. Also the notion of killing for love is patently weird. If capital punishment is to be used at all, why not target pedophilia instead of relations between consenting adults? Family executions still take place in many places, though some are now being disguised as suicides.

11:00: An Islamic leader preaches homophobia. While rare, such statements usually go unchallenged, which is a problem.

11:20: More preaching, this time against democracy and secularism. It looks like imams are always against something...

11:30: Stoning for the crime of illegal love. This is just barbaric. Even supposedly moderate leaders like Tariq Ramadan refuses to call this unholy. but instead calls for a moratorium on the punishment. The attitude to stoning is, BTW, a quite effective way to distinguish a moderate Muslim from a fundamentalist (Salafist - one who takes the scripture literally). Salafists will not make unconditional, public condemnations of the use of stoning.

11:40: Will homosexuals be executed if Europe turns Islamic, like they are in Iran today? Images of children and women carrying knives, smeared with blood. Disturbing - but the context is lacking, which makes these images come across as manipulative. For the first time in the movie.

12:30: A collection of Dutch newspaper headlines about Islam-related crimes and atrocities.

13:50: The Quran is quoted as being a License to kill.

14:20: Tearing out a page from the Quran? Not quite, but close. We are hearing, yet not seeing, a page being torn, and are told that the tearing is not from the Quran, it is from a phone book. For the reason that non-Muslims cannot tear out the violent passages of the Quran with any effect. Only Muslims will be able to effectively remove the violent elements of their religion, and they are encouraged to do so.

15:00: Finally, the Westergaard bomb goes off, and the message Stop the Islamisation is displayed.

REVELATION 12:7-10
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.(SPACE WARS COMING)
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

China's Space Ambitions
By Christopher Griffin, Joseph E. Lin
Posted: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Armed Forces Journal
Publication Date: April 7, 2008

Research Fellow Christopher Griffin
Nearly a decade after the U.S. clamped down on the transfer of dual-use American space technology to China, commercial aerospace cooperation between the two countries has all but died. Yet in this period, China's space and military capabilities, including those designed to defeat U.S. forces in East Asia, have advanced exponentially.In 2007, the Chinese government conducted its 100th space launch with a Long March rocket, carried out a successful anti-satellite (ASAT) test, commenced operations of the Beidou satellite navigation and positioning system, and launched its Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter. A busy year for Beijing, and one punctuated by the now-regular annual deployment of an additional 100short-range ballistic missiles on China's coast.After a decade of fighting the tide, it appears that American attempts to frustrate China's growing military space capabilities have reached a critical point of failure.While these developments reflect China's rapidly growing defense spending, ongoing transfers of dual-use technology--this time from West European aerospace companies--have played a crucial role in allowing the Chinese defense industry to leapfrog research and development barriers. Indeed, this explosion of China's military space technology has been aided by rapidly expanding access to European suppliers since the rupture of civilian space relations with the U.S.

The Final Frontier

The impetus behind China's drive toward developing military space capabilities lies within the Chinese military's view of future warfare, with the U.S. as its most likely adversary. The Chinese military, known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA), has been obsessed with information-age warfare ever since the U.S. leveraged its space-based C4ISR systems to eradicate Saddam Hussein's military during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. One Chinese military commentator noted with awe afterward: The United States deployed three defense communications satellites, established 128 defense satellite communications terminals and built an ultra-high frequency network before the assembling of allied troops.Indeed, the American advantage in the area of military satellites presents the Chinese government with what it recognizes as an asymmetric disadvantage. The U.S. is so dominant in this sphere of military competition that it seems impossible to win a head-to-head competition. Faced with this dilemma, the People's Liberation Army has developed a two-pronged response that invests in both its own space assets and in anti-satellite capabilities with which to disrupt American space dominance.Even if the PLA believes it cannot compete directly with American space power, the necessity to invest in space assets is by no means wasted in Beijing. The Chinese military is developing aerospace networks in pursuit of the technological advantages that the U.S. has come to expect during wartime. A 2004 article printed in the People's Liberation Army Daily stated: Information dominance cannot be separated from space dominance. We can say that seizing space dominance is the root for winning the informationalized war. Indeed, the U.S. Defense Department reports that China plans to launch some 17 satellites in 2008 in an ambitious bid to have a fully indigenous satellite fleet by 2010.

But even as China deepens its own reliance on space-based assets in support of military operations, policymakers in Beijing are fixated on the deficit they face in a conflict with the U.S. and the concomitant requirement to challenge American space power. One PLA analyst recently argued that in modern wars, seizing space dominance has already become a vital part of seizing information dominance, from which one can then retain the active position in the war. In a less-subtle argument for the use of offensive capabilities in space, another PLA officer recently proclaimed that China requires ASAT capabilities for destroying, damaging and interfering with the enemy's observation and communications satellites.The same official concluded that the ultimate purpose of such efforts is to blind and deafen the enemy, making their command and control retarded. The U.S. takes this threat seriously. A 1994 war game conducted by the U.S. Navy found that if the PLA opened a war with a sophisticated ASAT campaign, American aircraft carriers would be left vulnerable without having any significant counteroffensive capabilities. In this scenario, U.S. forces were routed.Of course, jumping from a limited survey of open-source publications by PLA colonels to conclusions about China's intentions is a leap in the dark. Fortunately, the Chinese government has provided a combination of indicators that should relieve American uncertainty, if not anxiety, about China's space warfare ambitions. The PLA is testing its ASAT capabilities and preparing legal justifications for offensive space capabilities.

Beijing already has invested in significant space-denial capabilities that will allow it to destroy or disable American satellites in the event of a future conflict. The January 2007 ASAT test--when a direct-assent kill vehicle made a direct hit against a satellite that was traveling at 7.42 meters per second--was the most potent demonstration of this emerging capability. While the PLA was preparing for the ASAT test, then-U.S. National Reconnaissance Office Director Donald Kerr revealed that Beijing had used lasers to paint a U.S. military reconnaissance satellite, indicating that the government is investing in technology to either blind the electro-optical sensors of some American satellites or disable satellites with even stronger energy beams. The wartime operational capability of these systems is unknown, but the Chinese government has given no indication that it intends to halt their development of that or other, unpublicized, systems.In its relationship with China, the U.S. must recognize that the militarization of space inspires the most revisionist elements of Chinese strategy.An additional indication that space warfare has received serious official attention in the PLA is provided by Larry Wortzel's recent study on the topic. Wortzel, a former U.S. Army attache in Beijing, concluded in a survey of open-source materials that the PLA General Political Department has prepared numerous legal briefs and articles providing what it calls the political preparation of the battlefield for space warfare. These writings argue that China is within its legal rights to defend the inseparable and integrated area above ground, airspace and outer space, a clear assertion of China's legal right to attack foreign satellites in the future.A final indicator that China is dedicated to developing its military space capabilities is the basic structure of its space complex, which does not include a proper civilian sector as Americans may think of it.

China's largest developer of launch vehicles, including the Long March series that are used for civilian satellites, is the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). Employing some 20,000 people, CALT is also the largest developer of Chinese ballistic missiles, such as the East Wind series that includes China's intercontinental ballistic missiles. Moreover, CALT is a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., a company that is itself managed by the China's military defense research and development agency, the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. Finishing this incestuous network of relations among military and nominally civilian institutions, the general manager of the aerospace corporation was appointed last fall to be the minister of the commission.The intersection of military and civilian interests in China's space program was captured in a study last year by Defense Department analyst Michael Pillsbury in which he quoted a PLA colonel: We should combine military and civilian technology and integrate peacetime and wartime facilities. Space equipment is costly to develop and maintain, so it is important to have civil-use technology that can also be used in military applications.

One Door Closes, Another Opens

Even as China pours considerable political and financial resources into developing its military space technology, it continues to depend heavily on infusions of foreign know-how as a means of innovation. This practice of integrating and modifying foreign technology to meet Chinese needs is evident throughout the history of the Chinese space program. Qian Xuesen, considered to be China's Father of Rocketry, was a leading American scientist who was deported to China as a victim of McCarthyism in 1955. Qian transformed his U.S. experience and education into the foundation of China's space and missile programs. The Soviet Union also supported China's early ballistic missile program, which, coupled with Qian's guidance, allowed China to launch its first satellite in 1970.By 1988, China's space launch capability had matured to the point that U.S. companies began launching their commercial satellites on Long March rockets, and Beijing continued to benefit from international technology transfers. For example, after Long March 2E rockets failed to take off in 1992 and 1995, Hughes Space and Communications International informed CALT that the crashes were caused by the flawed design of the rocket's fairing, or nose cone. Unfortunately, and illegally for Hughes, this transfer of information not only corrected a crucial design flaw in the Long March rocket, but would have been essential for equipping China's intercontinental ballistic missiles with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles. An ensuing series of similar scandals raised the specter of a wholesale transfer of vital military space technology to a potential adversary.In response to these transfers, the 1998 Strom Thurmond Defense Authorization Act mandated that the export of commercial satellites be governed by the U.S. State Department's Munitions List and made subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). This transfer of bureaucratic jurisdiction meant that satellites, along with their components and software, would be treated as weapons systems that were prohibited from being exported to Beijing under the terms of a post-Tiananmen Massacre arms embargo. A silent monument to these restrictions is Chinasat 8, a Space Systems/Loral satellite that has been shelved in a warehouse since its completion in December 1998.

U.S. export restrictions effectively closed the Chinese market to all Western launches for several years. The international nature of the satellite business in the West meant that no major producer had a model that did not included components affected by U.S. ITAR restrictions. But even as the Chinese civilian launch market stagnated, Europe and China were embarking on a bold new relationship. Bilateral trade relations boomed in the late 1990s, with China emerging as Europe's second-largest trading partner. The blossoming of Sino-European trade accompanied a desire for an emergent strategic partnership that could serve mutual goals. From the perspective of the European Commission in Brussels, East Asia was a convenient playground for exercising a unified European diplomacy. For China, Europe was the perfect partner in its effort to build a multilateral international system in which political power is more equally distributed among Beijing, Brussels and Washington.

The final manifestation of growing ties between China and Europe came in the form of security relations between the two sides, including military sales. This was a tricky subject--the arms embargo barred the sale of lethal equipment to the Chinese government. But this prohibition was nonbinding, and the annual value of new arms sale licenses from EU countries to China increased nearly ninefold from $51 million in 2001 to more than $430 million in 2004. Moreover, Chinese purchases focused on electronic equipment, military imaging equipment and software for the design and use of weapons systems, crucial capabilities that the Chinese industrial base is deficient in and that can multiply the effectiveness of PLA forces.The 2004-2005 period also marked a watershed in Sino-European relations as the European Union committed to lifting its arms embargo on China. When the media reported this effort along with other ambitious moves, such as Franco-Chinese negotiations on the sale of Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft for the PLA Air Force, American politicians took the warpath against perceived European perfidy. Knowing how to land a hard punch, the House of Representatives promptly adopted a resolution threatening limitations and constraints on transatlantic defense-industrial ties if the EU lifted the embargo.Although the EU reluctantly backed off of lifting the arms embargo, it is unclear how much difference this has made. European arms manufacturers continue to sell to China, leveling off at about $438 million in 2006, with the largest sales made in military command and control, imaging, and electronics equipment. Moreover, in the past five years, China and the European Union have launched a space technology partnership far more expansive than that which Beijing enjoyed with Washington during the 1990s. It is also one that conveys far greater access to European technical expertise.

A Sino-European Space Partnership?

As Europe and China develop their space relationship, the pace with which sensitive technology is transferred to Beijing has only increased. In fact, two recent cases show just how rapidly the transfer of military space technology is undermining the objectives of the post-Tiananmen arms embargo.If it was American policy to use the ITAR system to prevent China from acquiring sensitive satellite technology from the West, the policy effectively failed in April 2005. That month, commercial satellite launches on Chinese Long March rockets resumed with the launch of the APSTAR VI communications satellite, based on the Thales Alenia Space (then Alcatel Alenia Space) Spacebus 4000 platform.The Spacebus 4000 is one of a kind. Intentionally developed without any U.S. components, the satellite may be launched on China's Long March rockets without running into American ITAR restrictions, a cost-saving advantage that Thales Alenia has emphasized in its marketing. According to one of the company's vice presidents, the compatibility between Thales Alenia's ITAR-free satellites and the Long March launch vehicle has been a crucial factor behind several recent satellite sales. In all, five Thales Alenia Space satellites, all ITAR-free, have been slotted for Long March launches.

Thales Alenia's satellite exports are commercial in nature, but they indirectly have provided the Chinese with Western technological know-how, principally concerning kick motors. In civilian satellite launches, these propulsion systems are used to position a satellite in its orbit, using a permanently attached booster to modify trajectory. But kick-motor technology is highly sensitive and dual-use in nature. For example, kick motors are a crucial component of ground-based ASAT weapons that utilize kinetic kill vehicles to strike their target. A kick motor was almost certainly used to propel and maneuver the kill vehicle for the final stage of its flight during China's January 2007 ASAT test. The U.S. State Department is also concerned that kick-motor technology can be used to refine guidance systems on nuclear missiles with multiple re-entry vehicles.Moreover, the transfer of technology concerning kick motors raises questions regarding Chinese ambitions to develop an anti-satellite satellite that could be placed in orbit and then maneuvered, at a later time, to intercept a U.S. satellite. Given reports that the same KT-1 mobile rocket launcher that was used in January 2007 could be used to place such a microsatellite in orbit, this is a risk that the U.S. should treat seriously.While these significant military applications of satellite kick motors are recognized, it is not clear what degree of technology transfer has occurred during Long March rocket launches of Thales Alenia's ITAR-free satellites. However, every such launch requires that Thales Alenia engineers work with their Chinese counterparts in interfacing the satellite's kick motor with the rest of the launch vehicle; during this process, technical specifications of the kick motor are exchanged, providing the Chinese government access to a sensitive Western technology with grave military potential.

An additional opportunity for Chinese acquisition of sensitive dual-use technology has arisen from Beijing's participation in the European Union's global navigation satellite system project, Galileo. In September 2003, Beijing invested $259 million in the European navigation system in return for a stake in the project and access to the technological architecture of the navigation system. Under the agreement, Beijing is responsible for building Galileo's ground stations in China, a role that will give Chinese engineers access to Galileo's technical codes.Although there are commercial incentives for Chinese participation in the Galileo project, the effort to participate overlaps with Chinese ambitions to develop its own global navigation satellite system, known as Beidou. Indeed, according to some reports, one of the pressing reasons the European Commission ultimately sought Chinese participation in the project was because Beijing was already siphoning off so much technology through industrial espionage that Europe sought to recoup some of its losses in the form of a Chinese investment.

Beijing likely hopes that access to the Galileo architecture will help it resolve the principal weakness in the Beidou system, a lack of accurate positioning. The Beidou system has been dogged by weaknesses in its timing technology, a crucial failing that limits its positioning accuracy to approximately 10 meters. In contrast, Galileo's target of 1-meter accuracy will involve developing the precise technologies that China seeks.The difference in such degrees of accuracy could be significant for the military applications of a highly accurate global navigation satellite system. For example, as China ponders the likelihood of conflict in East Asia, one of its primary challenges will be to use its massive conventional missile force to engage relatively precise targets, such as American military bases that are forward located in allied countries. Striking such targets directly could make the difference between disabling U.S. forces and intimidating American allies, or incurring civilian casualties and additional foes in an escalating regional conflict.Beidou's potential for use as a force-tracking mechanism for logistics and friend-or-foe identification could also be vital in a future conflict. The benefits of such a force-tracking mechanism were demonstrated during the opening stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, when coalition soldiers wore uniforms containing integrated GPS technology. Indicating the potential for such a military use, a recent report by Xinhua, the official Chinese state-run news agency, boasted that Beidou already was capable of tracking and monitoring vehicles transporting dangerous chemicals throughout the country.Even though Beidou's military applications are readily recognized by the Europeans, they insist China's participation in Galileo will not result in the transfer of sensitive dual-use technologies.

Acknowledging this divergence between Chinese and European interests, Pedro Pedreira, the European Commission's director for the Galileo program, recently admitted that technology transfer is an important consideration behind China's continued participation in Galileo and that European officials knew when we started with China that they wanted to build their own military system. He is nonetheless confident that a strict technology control regime and the encryption of the Galileo system's most accurate signals will prevent either outcome from occurring. Both historical experience and the vulnerabilities that necessarily accrue from placing ground stations in China caution otherwise.

Untying the Knot

After a decade of fighting the tide, it appears that American attempts to frustrate China's growing military space capabilities have reached a critical point of failure. This dilemma has no easy solution. A combination of European arms manufacturers and aerospace firms appear to have decided to provide China with arms and dual-use technology so long as they can avoid providing Beijing with the lethal tip of its military hardware. Faced with this defeat, the U.S. must retake the initiative in its dealings with both the Chinese and the Europeans in this critical matter.In its relationship with China, the U.S. must recognize that the militarization of space inspires the most revisionist elements of Chinese strategy. Beijing appears to have made the long-term decision that it is in a struggle with the U.S. over a variety of security issues in East Asia and that preparing for potential military conflict will require the ability to cripple the U.S. military satellite system.There should be opportunities to engage China on military space issues, even if it has already made this fundamental calculation. It would be worthwhile to develop a Sino-American strategic dialogue on space in which the U.S. could explain its self-imposed restrictions on the militarization of space, and how more provocative steps by China may result in the erosion of those restrictions. Such a dialogue would also provide the U.S. with the opportunity to present nonsensitive areas for cooperation, such as the standardization of spacecraft docking hatches, a move that helped to decrease tensions during the Cold War. Likewise, as China's military lawyers analyze the terms under which the PLA could conduct ASAT and other space operations against the U.S., Washington should demarcate some red lines for Chinese behavior.

Further, recognizing the potential for long-term competition with China over the future control of space, the U.S. must take steps to mitigate its potential losses and guarantee that it retains escalation superiority in any future conflict. Investing in a hardened, robust satellite system is the obvious first step in any such effort. Developing redundancy through additional layers or C4ISR capabilities is another necessary step in this regard. Rapid improvements in unmanned aerial vehicles promise to facilitate such an effort, and would push the Sino-American competition to a cutting-edge field in which the U.S. retains a clear technological lead.The relationship with Europe presents no less thorny a problem. After more than a half-century of allied transatlantic relations, the tools of engagement and compromise should be readily available. The State and Defense departments already have launched enhanced dialogues with European allies to discuss concerns with regard to China's military modernization and the concerns it raises for the U.S. This dialogue should be expanded to include space issues.Also, it seems that the European Union ultimately will have to address the question of its arms embargo and code of conduct with regards to China. The code of conduct should be made mandatory and its contents devised in consultation with the U.S. Particular issues that should be discussed include such components as military electronics and software that now flow freely between Europe and China. Although nonlethal items in the strictest terms, they may greatly enhance the lethality of Chinese weapons systems deployed against the U.S or its Asian allies in the future.

If European arms manufacturers and aerospace companies continue to sell weapons systems and permit the transfer of sensitive space technology to China, the day may come when Washington recognizes that the shared strategic vision underlying U.S.-European defense-industrial cooperation has passed. The only rational consequence to such a development will be for the U.S. to reassess its defense-industrial relationship with Europe, accept that we can no longer afford to subsidize the arming of an adversary, and accept that the transatlantic partnership has reached the end of its natural life.
Christopher Griffin is a research fellow at AEI.