IRAN CAN MAKE ONE ATOM BOMB LOOKOUT

AUDIO Max Keizer of the Oracle interviewed on BBC radio 5 live.Rekovik on the Thames....serious banking crisis in london in next few months.State sanctioned Socialism-Nationalization of the banking industry. We'd call it Marxism with Capitalist flavour.The current financial tsunami,.collapse of banks anticipated. Reason for new Banking Secrecy Rules.Sterling a giant ponzi scheme.....Government promulgating fraudulent policies. Screw savers, back speculators.
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2009/02/max-keizer-of-oracle-interviewed-on-bbc.html#links

John Loeffler Steel on Steel: The Global Geopolitical Tour.
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2009/02/2212009-global-geopolitical-tour-if-we.html#links

NEW BANKING POWERS - VIDEO
uk/1/hi/business/7901814.stm

THIS WILL BE THE BEGINING OF BANK NATIONALIZATIONS THAT WILL BE POWERFUL AND TAKE WORLDWIDE CONTROL,JUST WATCH AND SEE.

New Banking Act comes into effect FEB 21,09

Customers of a failed bank can be compensated sooner under the act
The UK's new Banking Act, which gives greater powers of intervention to the Bank of England, is coming into force. The act enables the Bank to intervene more quickly to help troubled banks and protect investors. The Bank will be able to give hidden support to stricken banks, with the aim of maintaining financial stability. However, critics of the act say it throws a cloak of secrecy around the banking world, which could be detrimental for consumers. The act allows certain decisions to be exempt from disclosure under Freedom of Information laws. If a bank collapses, the act allows for savers to receive compensation within a week. The idea is that, if there is a bank that gets into trouble, to insulate it and make the wider impact of that less Peter Thal-Larsen, Financial Times

Call for £20bn economy boost

At present, payouts for savers with failed banks can take weeks, leaving many customers concerned about access to money in the interim. Transferring customers from a failed bank to another should also now be easier. One of the Bank of England's formal objectives under the act is to maintain stability. Peter Thal-Larsen, banking editor of the Financial Times, told the BBC's Working Lunch programme the act will basically allow financial authorities to take early action to move savers' deposits from a failing bank before tackling other problems. The idea is that, if there is a bank that gets into trouble, to insulate it and make the wider impact of that less, but I don't think they can actually stop banks from getting into trouble in the future, he said.

Stigma

Colin Melvin, chief executive of Hermes Equity Ownership Services, said: We welcome the new Banking Act and the enhancement it will bring to the regulatory framework, including the strengthening of the Bank of England. However, we need to do more to stimulate growth and restore confidence and trust in the financial sector.The new laws make permanent temporary laws introduced in the wake of the collapse of Northern Rock, which was nationalised after confidence in it disappeared. BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said that until recently it was unusual for Britain's banks to apply for emergency funding from the Bank of England due to the stigma attached and the ensuing drop in confidence. Northern Rock's very public appeal for funds accelerated its demise 18 months ago. The new legislation is unlikely to prevent banks collapsing but it arms the financial authorities with the ability to act behind the scenes in the overall interest of the economy, our correspondent adds.

The Big Banks vs. America: A Roundtable with David Kotok and Josh Rosner
By Chris Whalen - January 29th, 2009, 11:56AM

Banking bailouts were sold to us as a necessary evil because we were told only our existing network of banks could irrigate the economy with cash and so rescue industry. Now we know they can’t do that because their legacy absorbs all the resources, it would appear more sensible to let the old banks fail and start a new generation of banks. After all, the best credit risk is the institution that has no debt. So you could say the error wasn’t to let Lehman collapse, but not to have allowed all the banks to collapse in order to have a fresh start. And right now the job market has plenty of bankers available to set up and run new institutions. With just a quarter of the $800 billion or so already splashed about you could start a whole new Wall St. It’s not a matter of saying no more banking system but no more fatally compromised old banking system burdened with structural insolvency.(Ban)king is dead. long live (ban)king.

A reader of The IRA

The term bad bank is being tossed around Washington dinner tables this week, a sign that the situation facing the largest banks is reaching a boiling point. It is amazing to us to see how little people understand the choices facing us with the big banks, how narrow those choices truly are and how the numbers in terms of losses are so BIG that they will ultimately force us to do the right thing. A couple of points:

First, IRA’s estimate for accumulated bank charge offs for 2009 is in the neighborhood of $1 trillion vs. $1.5 trillion in Tier 1 Risk Based Capital at all US banks today. Good news, though, is that 2/3 to 3/4 of that loss number comes from the top 4 - Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYES:BAC), JPMorganChase (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), in that order of risk profile.Since most of the toxicity in the banking system is concentrated among the larger banks, with perhaps US Bacorp (NYSE:USB) on down viable in the long run, perhaps we can rebuild the industry using the next round of TARP funds to bulk up these relatively smaller banks and thereby end up with 10-15 larger super regionals in the $300-$500 billion asset range. There may even be banks of this size still doing business under the current names of C, JPM, BAC, etc, but these new banks will have new owners and creditors.Second, the Good Bank/Bad Bank debate is really a political battle between the large banks listed above plus Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) et al among the Sell Side survivors in NYC vs. the rest of the industry and the US economy. In preparing their plans for review by the White House, we hear that the Fed and OCC are supporting further bailouts for the larger banks, while the rest of the industry is being resolved and recapitalized a la Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers.

Perhaps we ought to feed the good bank parts of the too big to fail crowd, a crowd prone to leverage and bad risk management, to the smaller and plain vanilla bankers that comprise the nominal majority of the industry. This would solve many things including reducing the lobbying power that Wall Street has in Washington. Come to think of it, President Obama should think about banning lobbying by any company participating in the TARP.Remember that the entire banking industry stands in front of the taxpayers in terms of loss absorption at the FDIC, so you can understand why the smaller banks in the industry are SERIOUSLY PISSED OFF at the large banks and their minions in the Obama Administration like Tim Geithner and Robert Rubin. Oh, and don’t forget Chairman Ben Bernanke and the entire Fed board of governors. These leading officials are increasingly talking the side of the large banks in the battle over limited financial resources, a fact that is causing the community bankers to rise in anger. Stay tuned.Third, juxtapose the Fed/OCC position of let’s bail out the big banks (equity and debt) which Tim Geithner established in the Bear Stearns and AIG rescues, and reiterated in his confirmation testimony, with the modified tough love position of Sheila Bair, where she proposes to buy bad assets from the Big Four Zombies w/o a resolution. It seems clear that both sides of the equation in Washington are prepared to socialize the large bank losses and in particular subsidize the bond holders at public expense, an act of generosity that could cost the industry and taxpayers another $1 trillion before all is said and done.But at least with the modified tough love proposed by Bair, the US government still would clearly end up as the explicit owner and the existing equity and preferred would be diluted out of existence as the quid pro quo for the bad asset purchases. That is the little detail people in Washington still don’t understand. Indeed, if you think about C as perhaps accounting for one third of the $1 trillion IRA charge off estimate, then Washington must impose a haircut on debt or ask the banking industry and the taxpayer to subsidize the loss.

The better course for the economy outside NYC is to resolve these large institutions over the course of 2009 and beyond, first by diluting the equity (common and preferred) and effecting a conservatorship a la Fannie/Freddie. This eliminates the issue for the markets. A formal open bank assistance might be a default under the ISDA contract template, something the Fed’s conflicted madarins would not initially accept, but when the charge-offs at C rise above total risk based capital and keep rising, perhaps minds in DC will begin to change. Then we can haircut the Big Four Bank debt in a negotiated deal pre-receivership, and sell the non M2M bank assets and liabilities to stronger hands. This is the traditional American way of dealing with insolvency in the absence of political meddling by the Fed and the Congress. Let Sheila Bair and the FDIC do the job and we can make the economy rebound with surprising speed. It only takes political courage. We have the money.

Roundtable: David Kotok & Josh Rosner

For additional perspective on this issue, The IRA spoke last week to Josh Rosner of Graham Fisher & Co and David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors:The IRA: The basic question everyone’s asking is what do we do with the big banks, particularly C and BAC and the growing tension between the cost of supporting the big banks w/o a resolution and the rest of the industry, which is being resolved according to the law. You can see our discussion of the issue and our view of loss rates above.

Rosner: First, I am very cautious about making loss estimates because your loss number could be very low. I can actually draw a scenario that gets us well above that level of charge offs, especially if we assume worsening macro conditions and their further impacts on ADC books, corporate defaults and other areas outside of the structured exposures.

The IRA: We shall so stipulate. Let’s just say we all agree that the actual level of 2009 losses will probably not be below our 2x 1990 estimate.

Kotok: At the end of the day, what difference does it make? Either way, the path to a solution must deal with the number whatever it ends up to be.

Rosner: Yes and this is why I wanted to have this conversation. I am hearing very clearly from within the regulatory community that it is their primary concern that whatever they are planning is predicated on the notion that we must keep the large banks alive. But if we start off with saving the big banks as the point of departure, then there is no way we can marry that to an efficient or effective proposal. Lets define the solution based first on what is workable not by tying a hand behind our back with preconceptions.

Kotok: I am hearing the same thing. The motivation of keeping big banks alive is driven by a desire to avoid another Lehman on the Obama watch. I hear people saying that we cannot have another Lehman, therefore we cannot permit a failure…

The IRA: And by that we mean a good old fashioned failure of a publicly listed parent holding company a la Lehman or Washington Mutual, where the equity was entirely wiped out and the unsecured debt holders got pennies on the dollar?

Kotok: Yes, precisely. Hence, whatever it takes we must avoid it. It is the Lehman failure and the contagion that is driving this policy.

The IRA: Well this just confirms that nobody in Washington understand the problem. As we have heard from many people in the industry who did the diligence on Lehman, there was no way for a private buyer to do the deal, so bankruptcy was the only choice w/o a very large, several hundred billion public bailout. The fact that the Fed and Treasury professional staff support this type of idiocy, over tinme, will destabilize the political consensus in this country behind an independent central bank. We might as well just make the Fed part of Treasury now.

Kotok: It looks to me as well that we now have Paul Volcker saying that we cannot tolerate another Lehman failure. Maybe Chris has some thoughts on this?

The IRA: My conversations with Chairman Volcker are OTR unless he says otherwise.

Rosner: In the Lehman failure, we had the tree that came down in a windstorm that nobody had prepared to allow to fall. But when you fell a tree deliberately, that is another matter. Remember, even if you wipe out these banks, the debt holders are guaranteed under the new temporary FDIC powers so the tree can safely fall.

Kotok: If they can find a way to fell the tree without new risk of contagion, perhaps, but remember that the big banks are also the primary dealers of US government bonds and agency paper. Of the 16 primary dealers that remain, nine of them are foreign owned. Therein lies the other problem.

The IRA: So fine, we resolve C and sell the bank, the branches and the capital markets business to the new investors on the other side. Take a couple of years to complete the process for say C, BAC and JPM. Not sure if WFC will need a restructure. Look, Barclays bought the Lehman broker dealer on the other side of a bankruptcy and JPM bought a clean WaMu. This is the way to fix the problem. The loss rates coming out of C, then BAC, then JPM this year are going to be so large that a managed sale process is the only rational choice. The equity is impaired in economic terms. Thus the question comes, what do you do with the debt? I don’t think Paul Volcker is embracing a subsidy for debt holders of banks, but maybe so.

Rosner: I think what you are going to see is, on the one hand, the Fed, Treasury and OCC put together a proposal for a continuing or institutionalization of the insurance wrap approach used with C and BAC. This is a useless approach, in my view, and as we saw in the case of C because it created greater market confusion, which assets were circled, etc. The market does not seem to be confident based on the performance of C stock. It is also unclear how it will be possible to get an independent view of the government’s share of losses since they will be managed by the banks themselves.

The IRA: Nobody in the Congress or the White House wants to acknowledge that the policy prescriptions coming from the Fed and Treasury are badly flawed when it comes to bank solvency. The market liquidity measures have had success, but the save the big banks approach by the Fed is just more of the same nonsense that cause the problem in the first place.

Rosner: Exactly. In operational terms, there are no longer institutions that are too big to be resolved. As we discussed with the tree analogy, that is different from ‘failing’. Any risk of a run on C or the other banks is now ameliorated. The recently enacted changes to guarantees on deposits, non-interest bearing transactions accounts, etc, addressed that issue. The other systemic issue was counterparty risk, but with the qualified financial contract rule just put in place by the FDIC that risk is also largely gone and you can resolve a bank’s counterparty exposures into a good bank/bad bank configuration with little problem and without creating larger systemic risk. If the a counterparty’s financial contracts are adequately collateralized, then they can go with the good bank, but the FDIC must retain unilateral power as receiver to reject or accept contracts. The notion that we can’t allow C to be wound down and broken up is a spurious argument. I think this arguement has less to with Lehman and more to do with the fact that the Fed of New York and the Board have always benefited from the failure of small institutions and the absorption of those assets by the big banks. There is no way that they can stomach seeing their regulatory power dissipated by those institutions now being broken up and sold. Perhaps we have to go back to the question of whether it makes sense for the Fed to be a regulator as well as a central bank.

The IRA: Especially to investors outside of the New York district and even outside the Fed’s immediate jurisdiction, to foreign investors. But whether anyone at the Fed or Treasury likes it or not, we are talking about the absorption by the US Treasury of at least half a trillion in losses for the top three banks in the next 12-18 months if an FDIC resolution is to be avoided. Putting the ill-informed discussion in Washington aside, we see a continuation of the open bank assistance now in place for C, with asset sales and an eventual pre-pack for the debt holders, in a process that lasts years. The dealers will be kept open. If we use the power of time and changes in accounting rules, the C bond holders might see some recovery but make no mistake that the bond holders of C are the current owners in economic terms.

Rosner: If the FDIC, which is supposed to be the sole and non-politically motivated regulator in charge of winding down troubled institutions, play their cards right, they may come closer to what we all agree is good policy in terms of forcing a resolution. I would guess that the bad bank approach we have heard the FDIC float would be to buy the bad assets. You mark the assets to value (not market price) in a relatively fair way, closer to what a mark plus a reversal of the liquidity discount would suggest and then buy them. If the bank is then able to privately raise 50% of the capital that it would take to get them to CAMELS level 1 or 2 the government can invest the rest at the same terms. If they can’t do it then they are out of luck. This is not nationalization, many of these banks are ill enough that in any other environment we would just resolve them. The government would probably take equity warrants or hopefully new preferred. Unfortunately, the FDIC can’t own straight equity and I hate the idea of warrants. Warrants create a conflict where regulators can’t resolve an unsafe institutions because lobbyists will say if you resolve that institution you will be wiping out taxpayer assets.They also push off the day of dilution. People forget that Chrysler was bailed out in 1980 and after they returned to profitability they almost succeeded in having Congress rip up the warrants.

The IRA: The taxpayer equity in C is already gone, at least in economic terms. David, are you playing in this investment opportunity Rosner describes?

Kotok: No and I think that as soon as you do anything conditional it fails.

Rosner: Well, but understand the motive. The FDIC is essentially telling the markets what bad assets it will buy and then offers an opportunity for investors to participate. Banks that are able to raise money in this way are given another chance. Those that cannot, then the FDIC can go back to the Fed and Treasury and say look, we tried, this bank needs to be resolved.Then we take all the assets into the FDIC.

Kotok: Tell me who sells this to whom and under what authorities does it occur?

Rosner: If the FDIC determined C is sick enough, were it not politically blocked by the Fed and OCC, then the FDIC has the authority to resolve C tomorrow.

The IRA: We are reminded of one of the drafts of the TARP legislation where somebody inserted language that would have allowed the FDIC unilateral authority to declare an institution insolvent without first getting a declaration of same from the primary regulator. Needless to say, the provision was not included in the final bill, but this illustrates the civil war that rages between the Fed and OCC, on the one hand, and the FDIC and the state regulators on the other. This issue of resolving the larger banks has been a political issue going back to Paul Volcker’s day. Democracy is inefficient.

Kotok: The Fed has a problem here because it cannot function without the dealers. The lesson of Lehman was that a foreign government ended up making the decision about the failure of a primary dealer. I hear that the FSA and the Bank of England stopped Barclays from advancing a deal with Lehman and essentially the BOE, through Barclays, put requirements on the deal that the Fed could not swallow. Or Bernanke decided that he did to want to lose $180 billion of the taxpayers money and have to account for this to the Congress later. Because he couldn’t explain it, nobody would believe him, but today if he said he needed $180 billion to prevent another Lehman they would give it to him. Bernanke changed his story on Lehman, don’t forget, from saying that they did not bring us a plan at the NABE luncheon last year right after the Lehman bankruptcy to his current story which is we did not have the legal authority. Geithner took the same lack of authority position in his testimony.

The IRA: Well, we were speaking to one investor who actually did the diligence and he said that the fact that Lehman had outsourced much of the record keeping for their MBS conduit and portfolio was a major obstacle to completing a deal. What is the view on Geithner? Looks like a confirmation?

Rosner: Yes, the conservative Republicans refuse to skewer this guy because they are afraid that there is a socialist in the wings.

The IRA: You mean Larry Summers? How could an avowed socialist be any worse than the statist policies followed by Geithner, Paulson and Bernanke today? We think the conservatives are making a big mistake turning their backs on the community bankers. The small banks will be paying higher insurance premiums for decades to offset the large bank losses to the DIF.

Kotok: Bill Dudley will go to the NY Fed presidency and he’ll be fine from a policy perspective, but it remains to be seen if he can hammer out deals in the internal battles. Geithner is sufficiently wounded that he is not going to be a factor, so the drivers end up as Volcker and Summers, in my view. My question to you Chris, tell me if I am right, but Volcker is the elder statesman here. Volcker will propose, Obama will approve and Geithner will implement. Do you agree?

The IRA: Well, I don’t think that the final battle internally between Rubin and Volcker has been decided. IMHO, Paul Volcker and Robert Rubin, and Larry Summers, represent very different and ultimately incompatible world views. Volcker is all about public service, transparency and fairness. Rubin and also Summers represent political duplicity and malfeasance on a grand scale, especially when you look at their role in blocking regulation of OTC derivatives and structured finance. Ultimately, one tendency or the other will prevail and if the winner is Volcker, then Rubin must be publicly rejected by Obama, especially as the situation at C unfolds and the true cost of the large bank rescue is made public. Otherwise the Democrats end up owning this mess politically.

Kotok: They will reject Rubin, but you have known Paul Volcker for a long time. Did you ever think you would see the day when he would go before the Congress and embrace a tax scofflaw?

The IRA: No, it is an indication of the fear and uncertainty that prevails within the Obama Administration and in our society. Our leaders including Volcker are grasping for straws and Geithner is a very slender reed indeed. There are some conservatives in the House who will be glad to see Geithner confirmed. They plan to use him as a punching bag, especially with conservative audience that are antithetical to the big New York banks and Wall Street. But Geithner seems to have Volcker’s full support.

Rosner: I don’t think that it is Volcker at this point, but rather Summers on a day-to-day basis that will be calling in the plays that Geithner will execute. Unlike Paulson, I expect Geithner will have to manage up and report back to Summers and the White House. He is expected to be on the team executing the President’s policies and not creating his own. My only concern with Summers is that while he is a fine economist, he is not a financial markets guy either.

The IRA: We’d be happier with Summers if he would publicly acknowledge the policy mistakes of which he was a part. I’m not sure there is any hope of turning Larry Summers into a proponents of resolving the large banks.

Rosner: Summers is just as capable of being misdirected by the same Wall Street inputs as caused this mess. We need to somehow communicate to Summers et al, though the media if necessary, that the managed breakup of the big New York banks does not necessarily mean a systemic failure and another crisis. I believe that we can restructure these banks without a resolution, wipe the equity and maybe the preferred, and start from there.

The IRA: How do you avoid a haircut for the C bond holders if we see loss rates at 5-6% of total loans and leases? A 30% loss rate at C wipes out the equity several times.

Kotok: I agree. How do you restructure these banks without a bankruptcy for the parent, especially given the loss estimate from you and Chris among others?

Rosner: The answer is that the FDIC has the power to abrogate contracts and seize institutions, we have already guaranteed the debt holders. The Machiavellian mandarins at the Treasury and the Fed seem to have sold us on the notion of taking equity warrants. It means that if the FDIC comes in to do their jobs, they must wipe out the taxpayer equity.

Kotok: But the problem you have is how do you get the bond holders to agree? These are very loss-averse, well-organized investors. Why should they agree to a haircut? This is why the sub-debt of Fannie and Freddie has not been touched.

The IRA: At least not yet. As we’ve said before, the loss numbers from the GSEs and the large banks will be so large that we will no longer have a choice but to embrace a resolution and receivership. We’ll leave it there. Thanks.

Questions? Comments? info@institutionalriskanalytics.com
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IRA offers advanced analytics for credit risk surveillance and investment research via subscription products such as the IRA Bank Monitor for Professionals covering the US banking industry and the IRA Corporate Monitor covering global public companies.

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.

Spring flooding forecast for southern Manitoba Friday, February 20, 2009 | 3:51 PM CT CBC News

River waters are once again forecasted to rise in southern Manitoba this spring but flood forecasters don't foresee any major disasters. (CBC)It could be a wet spring in southern Manitoba, so communities are being urged to prepare volunteers to hold back the rising tide.The Manitoba government released the first flood outlook of the year on Thursday and it suggests the province is on pace for the fourth highest flood levels on record.While there has been average snowfall this winter, soil moisture levels are 150 per cent higher than normal, which means the ground won't be able to absorb much water come spring thaw, according to Manitoba Water Stewardship (MWS).As a result, emergency planners have contacted communities along the Red River to warn them. Near-record water levels are expected along the Red River Valley, the Interlake, and areas around the Souris and Pembina rivers.Don Brennan, spokesperson for the Emergency Measures Organization (EMO), told CBC that detailed plans are already in the works to deal with flooding in those areas.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.
—Don Brennan, Emergency Measures OrganizationBut the best-laid plans aren't any good without volunteers to help carry them out, he said.Volunteers are absolutely essential. Especially in Manitoba we depend a lot on volunteers and they should be revisiting the volunteer list to see who's ready and willing, Brennan said, adding the EMO is working closely with municipalities to get equipment to the regions before the flooding starts.While there could be cause for some evacuations, the potential for major disaster is small, Brennan said.This is done every single year. We bring the evacuation committee together, not that we anticipate evacuations, but failing to plan is planning to fail,he said.The forecast is based on the assumption the province will receive average precipitation until the spring thaw. Should that hold, officials predict a flood of inconvenience, one that affects fields and municipal roads, but is not expected to damage homes or communities.It would affect the transportation system and two ring-dyke communities would have to have partial closure — those would be Morris and St. Adolphe, said MWS spokesperson Steve Topping.

Minor, localized flooding could occur during the early part of the run-off due to ice jams and, while the probability of major ice jams on larger rivers is only average, these larger ice jams cannot be ruled out, says the flood forecast by MWS.

No repeat of 1997 flood
Should the province receive more than average precipitation leading to the thaw, we could experience the second-highest water levels recorded, but they will still fall far short of what has been called the Flood of the Century in 1997, according to MWS.
Even with unfavourable weather, peak water levels on the Red are predicted to be significantly lower than 1997. Under present conditions, there is less than a five per cent chance of a flood comparable to 1997, the flood forecast states.That flood, the most severe in the region since 1826, caused $4.4 billion in damages along the Red River Valley between Winnipeg and Grand Forks, N.D. About 80,000 people were evacuated from their homes.The 2009 outlook also calls for much less concern to communities along the Assiniboine River, where the flood potential is listed as average.The risk is average to below average in the Westman area from Riding Mountain to The Pas and in the north of the province.

Fresh snowstorm to hit parts of U.S. Northeast By Haitham Haddadin Haitham Haddadin –Fri Feb 20, 4:42 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A fresh snowstorm is expected to hit parts of the U.S. Northeast starting this weekend, possibly dumping as much as a foot of snow in the northernmost reaches of the region, forecasters said on Friday.The main thrust of this fast clipper system will be in New England as key Northeastern cities dodge the storm.Below-normal temperature readings on average across the Northeast Sunday to Tuesday could spell an uptick in demand for home heating oil in the world's biggest market for the fuel.Washington, Philadelphia and New York will probably miss a big snow, but New England will not, said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist John Kocet. Up to 12 inches of snow were possible from central New Hampshire to northern New Brunswick, he noted on the company's website.Andrew Rosenthal, a meteorologist with private forecaster WeatherBug.com, noted that the storm approaching the East Coast late Saturday into Sunday will likely bring light snow for the interior Northeast but significant accumulations closer to the coast, especially into New England.Before heading east, the storm system reaches the northern Plains Friday evening, spreading snow across the Dakotas, Iowa and Minnesota, Rosenthal said on the WeatherBug.com website.Temperatures in Northeastern states average 0-3 degrees Fahrenheit below normal on Sunday, 2-4 F below normal Monday and 3-6 F below normal Tuesday, said DTN Meteorlogix.Heating load is expected to average near to above normal Friday through Tuesday, the forecaster noted.

However, DTN's 6 to 10 day forecast sees temperatures near to above normal.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March heating oil futures finished down 0.78 cent at $1.1967 per gallon on Friday, well above session lows of $1.1470.Meanwhile, in the New York Harbor cash market, heating oil differentials were marginally lower on Friday with supplies seen ample to meet any uptick in demand, traders said.

Government data on Thursday showed that in the PADD 1 East Coast region, heating oil stocks fell a little last week and stood 3 percent below year-ago levels, but in the New England section the inventories were up on a weekly basis.Stephen Schork, editor of the Schork Report, pointed out that the data was bearish, noting that a 700,000-barrel draw in national inventories of heating oil last week was a third of what we normally see at this point in the season.

MOSTLY DRY SATURDAY

Weather Channel's Weather.com said the Boston to Washington megalopolis will be dry Saturday with mostly sunny skies.But the Midwestern clipper storm that will approach the Northeast is expected to spread snow into western Upstate New York and western Pennsylvania later that day, and by Sunday southern New England, Boston and Providence could pick up several inches.Maine could be New England's big snow winner Sunday into Monday with locally over a foot possible, Weather.com added.The remainder of the Northeast will start the week dry but cold with temperatures 5 to 15 degrees below average for the most part,it noted, adding temperatures rise later though some rain or snow was due in Upstate New York and New England. (Editing by Jim Marshall)

SOROS VIDEO OIL AS A WEAPON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kao5vH4m5ec&eurl=http://www.infowars.com/soros-admits-lindsey-williams-assertion-oil-is-a-weapon/&feature=player_embedded

LINDSAY WILLIAMS PREDCTIONS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomBdZYObh0&eurl=http://www.infowars.com/soros-admits-lindsey-williams-assertion-oil-is-a-weapon/&feature=player_embedded

Soros Confirms Lindsey William’s Assertion Oil is a Weapon
Kurt Nimmo Infowars February 20, 2009

If you scrub the above YouTube video to 3 minutes, 45 seconds, you will hear the globalist George Soros at the elite confab last month in Davos, Switzerland, admit that the price of oil is being used as a weapon against the enemies of the prevailing world order, i.e, the New World Order. Soros pegs these enemies as Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. Chavez, declares Soros, his days are numbered.In Iran, the price of oil will lead to the defeat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and bring in a “more reasonable regime,that is to say a regime that takes orders from the global elite.

In the case of Russia, Soros is worried. He believes the falling price of oil and the resulting social and political chaos in that country will prompt Putin and the Russian leadership into some foreign adventure… to divert attention, possibly in Ukraine or elsewhere in the neighborhood. Soros confirms in spades the prediction of Lindsey Williams, who told Alex Jones on several occasions that the global elite have planned to drastically reduce the price of oil in order to take out the oil-producing states and also foment a world-wide economic depression. America will see a financial collapse so great that it will take years to come out of it, Williams told Alex Jones on November 21, 2008. On February 18, Pastor Williams, appearing on Alex Jones TV, updated and added details to his prediction, based on insider information.Listening to George Soros, one might get the idea that the radical drop in the price of oil is simply a result of market dynamics and a coincidental opportunity to deal a crushing blow to enemies of the prevailing world order, when in fact it is a carefully orchestrated event. George Soros knows this, but he is not about to tell you.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) 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)

DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

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.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; 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.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

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.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

US IRAN - NOGOTIATIONS - AUDIO
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2009/02/nuclear-confrontation-watch-this.html#links

Iran holds enough uranium for bomb By Daniel Dombey in Washington
February 20 2009 00:51

Iran has built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.If such a quantity were further enriched it could produce more than 20kg of fissile material – enough for a bomb.It appears that Iran has walked right up to the threshold of having enough low enriched uranium to provide enough raw material for a single bomb, said Peter Zimmerman, a former chief scientist of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.The new figures come in a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, released on Thursday. This revealed that Iran’s production of low enriched uranium had previously been underestimated.When the agency carried out an annual stocktaking of Natanz in mid-November Iran had produced 839kg of low enriched uranium hexafluoride – more than 200kg more than previously thought. Tehran produced an additional 171kg by the end of January.It’s sure certain that if they didn’t have it [enough] when the IAEA took these measurements, they will have it in a matter of weeks, Mr Zimmerman said.Iran’s success in reaching such a breakout capacity – a stage that would allow it to produce enough fissile material for a bomb in a matter of months – crosses a red line that for years Israel has said it would not accept.UN officials emphasise that to produce fissile material Iran would have to reconfigure its Natanz plant to produce high enriched uranium rather than low enriched uranium – a highly visible step that would take months – or to shift its stockpile to a clandestine site.No such sites have been proved to exist, although for decades Iran concealed evidence of its nuclear programme.A senior UN official added that countries usually waited until they had an enriched uranium stockpile sufficient for several bombs before proceeding to develop fissile material. He conceded that Iran now had enough enriched uranium for one bomb.Do they have enough low enriched uranium to produce a significant quantity [enough high enriched uranium for a bomb]? he said.In theory this is possible, [although] with the present configuration at Natanz it isn’t.

David Albright, the head of the Institute for Science and International Security, said: If Iran did decide to build nuclear weapons, it’s entering an era in which it could do so quickly.The Financial Times Limited 2009.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

A-BOMB EFFECTS
http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/4526/index1.html
http://www.hiroshima-cdas.or.jp/HICARE/en/12/index.html

Damages Caused by Atomic Bombs

The Manhattan Project
The United States concealed its project to develop an atomic bomb under the name Manhattan Engineer District. Popularly known as the Manhattan Project, it carried out the first successful atomic explosion on July 16, 1945, in a deserted area called Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the dead) near Alamagordo, New Mexico.

Dropping the First Atomic Bomb
At 2:45 A.M. local time, the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber loaded with an atomic bomb, took off from the US air base on Tinian Island in the western Pacific. Six and a half hours later, at 8:15 A.M. Japan time, the bomb was dropped and it exploded a minute later at an estimated altitude of 580 +- 20 meters over central Hiroshima.

The Hiroshima Bomb Size: length - 3 meters, diameter - 0.7 meters.
Weight: 4 tons. Nuclear material: Uranium 235. Energy released: equivalent to 12.5 kilotons of TNT. Code name: Little Boy.

Initial Explosive Conditions
Maximum temperature at burst point: several million degrees centigrade. A fireball of 15-meters radius formed in 0.1 millisecond, with a temperature of 300,000 degrees centigrade, and expanded to its huge maximum size in one second. The top of the atomic cloud reached an altitude of 17,000 meters.

Black Rain
Radioactive debris was deposited by black rain that fell heavily for over an hour over a wide area.

Demaging Effects of the Atomic Bomb
Thermal Hear. Intense thermal heat emitted by the fireball caused severe burns and loss of eyesight. Thermal burns of bare skin occurred as far as 3.5 kilometers from ground zero (directly below the burst point). Most people exposed to thermal rays within 1-kilometer radius of ground zero died. Tile and glass melted; all combustible materials were consumed.

Blast. An atomic explosion causes an enormous shock wave followed instanteneously by a rapid expansion of air called the blast; these represent roughtly half the explosion's released energy. Maximum wind pressure of the blast: 35 tons per square meter. Maximum wind velocity: 440 meters per second. Wooden houses within 2.3 kilometers of ground zero collapsed. Concrete buildings near ground zero (thus hit by the blast from above) had ceilings crushed and windows and doors blown off. Many people were trapped under fallen strunctures and burned to death.

Radiation. People exposure within 500 meters of ground zero was fatal. People exposed at distances of 3 to 5 kilometers later showed symptoms of aftereffects, including radiation-induced cancers.

Bodily Injuries
Acute symptoms. Symptoms appearing in the first four months were called acute. Besides burns and wounds, they included: general malaise, fatigue, headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, abnormally low white blood cell count, bloody discharge, anemia, loss of hair.

Aftereffects. Prolonged injuries were associated with aftereffects. The most serious in this category were: keloids (massive scar tissue on burned areas), cataracts, leukemia and other cancers.

Atomic Demographics
Population. The estimated pre-bomb population was 300,000 to 400,000. Because official documents were burned, the exact population is uncertain.

Deaths. With an uncertain population figure, the death toll could only be estimated. According to data submitted to the United Nations by Hiroshima City in 1976, the death count reached 140,000 (plus or minus 10,000) by the end of December, 1945.
Health Card Holders. Persons qualifying for treatment under the A-bomb Victims Medical Care law of 1957 received Health Cards; holders as of March 31, 1990, numbered 352,550.

Nagasaki. The atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki exploded at 11:02 A.M. on August 9. Using plutonium with an explosive power of 20 kilotons of TNT-equivalent, it left an estimated 70,000 dead by the end of 1945, although both population and the deaths are uncertain.

GM, Chrysler ask for billions in Canadian aid Chrysler resubmits U.S. plan to Canadian authorities Saturday, February 21, 2009 | 12:31 AM ET CBC News

People walk through the parking lot at the General Motors Canada Oshawa Car Assembly Plant in Oshawa, Ont., on Tuesday. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)General Motors has outlined a restructuring plan that would cut its Canadian workforce to 7,000 and seek as much as $7 billion from the federal and Ontario governments, while Chrysler is requesting around $2.8 billion in aid.GM didn't specify how much it will ask for, but Reuters quoted federal Industry Minister Tony Clement as saying the company is asking for between $6 and $7 billion.GM expects there will be no further plant closures in Canada, but it plans to slash executive salaries by 10 per cent, cut benefits to hourly employees and build new models at its Ontario plants.Under the plan, GM's Canadian workforce — which numbered 20,000 in 2005 and currently stands at 12,500 — would be pared down to 7,000 by 2010.Clement said Friday he's encouraged that GM is committed to not closing any more Canadian plants.We're not bailing out pension plans. Let me be crystal clear on that.—Tony Clement, Federal Industry Minister.This is an existential moment for the Canadian car industry. Everyone needs to come to the table. Executives have to cut their salaries and costs,he said.What that means specifically, I'm leaving up to the automakers. We're in constant contact with the union and the automakers. We're following their discussions. The only thing I've said to both of them is Canada has to be cost-competitive.GM Canada had already been offered $3 billion by the Ontario and federal governments, but it later declined that aid, saying it didn't need it immediately.

Possible showdown over pensions
GM wants the Canadian Auto Workers agreement to achieve long-term cost reductions, including pensions.Pensions are important for General Motors Canada, because we've been here for 100 years and we have more than three retirees for every active worker. That ratio is actually increasing and will actually move up to five to one, said David Paterson, GM Canada's vice-president of corporate and environmental affairs.We really need to get at those disproportionate legacy costs that our competitors do not share and find ways to stop the growth in those costs.CAW president Ken Lewenza stressed that pensions must be protected.The GM plan was underfunded even when it was profitable,he said at a Friday evening news conference in Toronto.I don’t think it’s necessary to go into the pockets of our pensioners.Our pensioners deserve the respect that they received when they signed on to retire.
Clement said the companies have to do the math themselves.But we're not bailing out pension plans, he said. Let me be crystal clear on that.Clement said he would need to see specifics before he could commit any taxpayers' money.

No Canada-specific plan from Chrysler
We understand the severity of the auto industry, said Chris Buckley, head of the local in Oshawa, Ont.We understand what it means to be competitive in nature. So we’ll do what we can in a responsible manner in order to protect our members' interests and our retirees' interests.Even though Friday was the deadline for the companies to put in their restructuring plans, Chrysler had no Canada-specific plan ready to submit. Instead, the company simply resubmitted the plan offered to Washington on Tuesday.Chrysler CEO Reid Bigland said in a letter to Clement and Ontario Economic Development Minister Michael Bryant that the plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury was an integrated one that includes Canadian operations.Chrysler requested aid from the federal and provincial governments proportionate to the $9 billion US asked of Washington. That would be around $2.8 billion Cdn.Our members could work for nothing every day and not resolve the global financial crisis or the loss of market share.—— Chris Buckley, CAW OshawaBenoît Charette, editor of l'Annuel de L'Automobile, criticized GM and Chrysler's plans for a lack of specifics.What this tells me today is they're not ready, he told CBC News from Montreal. They improvised a lot but they need money to continue the improvisation.They haven't done their work, and today, basically what they presented was a pile of general stuff and we're going nowhere with this.Auto analyst Tony Faria with the University of Windsor expected most of the job losses set for Canada have already been announced.But long-term, certainly GM and Chrysler, and Ford as well, are going to be looking for significant concessions from the Canadian Auto Workers in line with what the UAW is coming up with in the U.S. And in the future, they’re certainly going to be evaluating labour costs between Canada and the U.S., said Faria. On Tuesday, GM and Chrysler asked for $21.6 billion US in additional aid from Washington.GM, which had previously received $13.4 billion, asked for an additional $16.6 billion, bringing its total to $30 billion. Chrysler, which had secured $4 billion in December, asked for $5 billion more.Both companies are also cutting 50,000 jobs in an effort to turn operations around.Ford has said it will not likely need immediate assistance.North American automakers are suffering from their slowest sales in 26 years and dwindling operating cash.Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said earlier his province won't put a limit on how much it's willing to spend on a bailout until it knows how many jobs will be affected by the automakers' proposals.

THE GAY,HOMOSEXUAL NAME IS JUST A MEDIA MADE NAME,I FROM NOW ON WILL BE CALLING GAY,HOMOSEXUALS THE TRUTH,THE SODOMITE RAINBOW GROUP SINCE ITS A PROUD CULT BUILT ON RIGHTS,BUT ARE HATERS OF OTHERS RIGHTS.

SPEECHLESS SILENCING CHRISTIANS - VIDEO
http://www.silencingchristians.com/

ISAIAH 66:15
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 19:17-21
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

MEDIA MATTERS Censorship query uncovers pro-gay activist,Spokesman worked at station that silenced Christian program February 20, 2009 11:40 pm Eastern By Drew Zahn 2009 WorldNetDaily

A Michigan television station agreed to broadcast a Christian documentary critical of the gay rights movement, but later backed out – and now a family values organization is questioning whether the station's about-face was influenced by a former newsroom executive who is a homosexual activist. As WND reported, WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids, Mich., originally agreed to air the hour-long paid program Speechless: Silencing Christians, a documentary seeking to expose the agenda of homosexual activists and their impact on families and freedom of religion. The station later canceled the agreement shortly after the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-homosexual organization, issued a national alert against the film urging people to call for its cancellation. The American Family Association of Michigan, however, has now learned that Trevor Thomas, the deputy communications director for the HRC in Washington, D.C., once worked in WOOD-TV's newsroom. Gary Glenn, president of AFA-Michigan, said in a statement to WOOD-TV General Manager Diane Kniowski that he originally suspected the cancellation was merely a matter of political correctness, but now wonders how deeply the connection runs between Thomas and the station. Now, Glenn wrote to Kniowski, we learn that a public spokesman for the so-called Human Rights Campaign – the national homosexual activist group that claimed credit for pressuring your station to censor and breach its agreement to air AFA's paid documentary – is a former long-time WOOD-TV newsroom executive who while holding that position was allowed by the station to actively and publicly campaign against the Marriage Protection Amendment approved by Michigan voters in 2004. That new information, Glenn continued, leads us to question whether the real story is that WOOD-TV management was unduly influenced by or even acted in collusion with a former high-level staffer who you allowed to openly campaign for homosexual activists' political agenda while with the station and who now promotes that agenda full-time nationwide.

According to the HRC website, Thomas worked as an assignment editor and news producer at WOOD-TV from at least September 2001 through November 2004. During his tenure at the station, Thomas also wrote an essay for The Grand Rapids Press, speaking out against Michigan's 2004 marriage amendment. Following its publication, he served on a number of college panels on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. Thomas' work also includes a three-year tenure on the board of directors for the Network of Western Michigan: a non-profit that aides the GLBT community. Two television station professionals, according to a Michigan Messenger report, denied any hint of collusion between Thomas and the station, and scoffed at the AFA description of Thomas' news room producer position as either an executive or a high-level staffer.The Messenger reached Thomas by phone, but he declined to comment on the allegations of collusion. A WOOD-TV statement released following cancellation of Speechless suggested the station was attempting to back out of the controversy over the program. Our station is being bombarded with calls and messages, and we find ourselves in the middle of someone else's fight, Kniowski said in the statement. We are removing ourselves from this matter.Glenn, however, says the timing of WOOD-TV's cancellation announcement – coming only an hour after the HRC's action alert was issued – suggests there may have been an intentional coordination. He said WOOD-TV's claim that it cancelled the broadcast to avoid controversy is simply nonsensical in light of the station's actual actions, which were tailor-made to generate as much controversy and publicity as possible.The question, Glenn continued, is whether WOOD-TV was influenced by its former editor and producer to handle it this way on purpose to make sure its censorship of the AFA video got as much publicity as possible and their former newsroom executive's new employer got the credit.Speechless, hosted by talk show host Janet Parshall, emphasizes the media's role in promotion of homosexuals' radical agenda, and includes examples of how television shows and movies such as Friends,Will & Grace,The L-Word,The War at Home,ER and Entourage attempt to persuade viewers that aversions to homosexuality stem from bigotry and ignorance. Speechless explores the homosexual lobby's impact on school curriculums. Videos promoted as anti-bullying actually endorsed gay lifestyles, and students were forced to view them during school hours. It claims homosexual lobbyists also push for gay literature in schools. According to the program, the homosexual activist agenda demands same-sex marriage, teaches children that homosexuality is normal, promotes homosexual service in the armed forces, pushes for hate crime laws that threaten freedom of speech, calls for laws forcing Christian business to hire homosexuals and insists upon reserving minority status and preferential treatment for them. If you think that agenda is bad for America, you must do something, a female voiceover states.