PURIM IN ISRAEL TODAY

PURIM IN ISRAEL STARTS AT 6PM TONIGHT.

PURIM IN ISRAEL
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Purim in Israel- Israel - Eilat - Haifa - Jerusalem - Tel Aviv

The festivals of the Jews are often marked with a cheerful spirit and many of the Festivals and Events in Israel wear the cheerfulness as the country celebrates them with a gusto. As all the Jewish festivals stem from some chapter in history, Purim too owes its origin to the Biblical episode of the victory of the Jews over the Babylonian forces. Purim in Israel is therefore a happy occasion as the day spells to the country a time for rejoicing the victory. The festival is a symbolic observance of the historic event which saved the Jews from the Haman’s lethal plans.
The Biblical book of Esther recounts the decisive war which saved the Jews from annihilation. As the ancient warriors triumphed on the 13th day of the month of Adar, the Jews today celebrate the victory on the 14th day of the month, though Sushan observes the festivity on the 15th day of the month. The event follows immediately after the fast of Esther and the Jews rejoice the day after the fast with sumptuous feasts and an all round gaiety.

Purim in Israel is a major public holiday. With carnivals, parades, feasts, and public performances, the day is spent much in the spirit that rings in Halloween. As a festival devoted to fun and celebration, Purim at Israel is marked with a distinct vibrancy. The streets are flocked with children dressed up as Purim characters and masked pageants walk down to the synagogues to hear the Book of Esther being read. With a spirit of liberation pervading through the event, Purim includes several rituals which are often unrefined when compared to the usual somber customs that mark the other Jewish festivals. For instance, burning effigies of Haman, or shouting when his name is announced form common customs of Purim. The synagogues too indulge in the licentiousness for the day, and the rituals of the day permit a libelous celebration. Feasting is an inherent part of the festival and as in the other countries; Purim is Israel is celebrated with sumptuous meals called Seudat Purim. With abundant wine drinking, dancing and exchanging of gifts the entire country rings with happy notes, thus making Purim a festival to look forward to.

ESTHER 1:1-22
1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;
6 Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.
7 And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.
8 And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.
9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,
11 To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.
12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.
13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment:
14 And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)
15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.
17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
18 Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.
19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:
22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.

ESTHER 2:1-23
1 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.
2 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:
3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:
4 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
8 So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.
10 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.
11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.
12 Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)
13 Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.
14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.
15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.
16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.
19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.
20 Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.
21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name.
23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

ESTHER 3:1-15
1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.
2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.
3 Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?
4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
7 In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
8 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.
9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.
10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
11 And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.
12 Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.
13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.
14 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.
15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.

ESTHER 4:1-17
1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
2 And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.
5 Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.
6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate.
7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

ESTHER 5:1-14
1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
4 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.
5 Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
6 And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;
8 If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.
9 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.
10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
12 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
14 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

ESTHER 6:1-14
1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
4 And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.
13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

ESTHER 7:1-10
1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.
5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.
9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.

ESTHER 8:1-17
1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.
2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces:
6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.
9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
10 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries:
11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,
12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
13 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14 So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.
15 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.
16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.
17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

ESTHER 9:1-32
1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)
2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.
3 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.
4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.
5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.
6 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.
7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,
8 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
9 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,
10 The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.
11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.
12 And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done.
13 Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.
14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.
15 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.
16 But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,
17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
18 But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;
25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,
27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;
28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.
29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.
30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,
31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.
32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

ESTHER 10:1-3
1 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea.
2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

TESTING THE FAITH Pastor now tells how to prep for imminent catastrophe,Wilkerson says be ready,See the salvation of the Lord March 09, 2009 8:35 pm Eastern 2009 WorldNetDaily

David Wilkerson
A nationally known pastor and author who predicts an imminent catastrophe of God's judgment on America is now telling concerned Christians it is time for peace and preparation, not panic. This is what I hear the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart concerning my own spiritual response to impending calamity,writes David Wilkerson, author of The Cross and the Switchblade and founder of a ministry to troubled New York street kids, on his blog today.It is simply this: Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.As WND reported, Wilkerson drew attention by publishing on his blog over the weekend a vision for impending fires and riots sweeping through New York City and other cities across the country. An earth-shattering calamity is about to happen,he writes.It is going to be so frightening, we are all going to tremble – even the godliest among us.In this age of evil, be a champion for God and stand up for the absolute truth of Scripture, not the misconceptions you've been led to believe. Get the No. 1 best-seller Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told personally autographed! It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires,he explains.What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath.After such dire words, Wilkerson was asked how people should respond to his message, and, with today's blog post, the pastor answered. I can only answer by sharing what the Holy Spirit is speaking to my own heart and what I am to do, writes Wilkerson.I shared that I was led in a practical way to lay aside a month’s supply of food — because I have witnessed the panic in the wake of terrorism.Wilkerson's call to prepare for catastrophic circumstances comes during a time when, as WND reported, the economic crisis has prompted a surge of business in the emergency preparedness industry.

Bill Heid of Survival Seeds, a company that sells banks of high-yielding vegetable seeds sealed for long-term storage, told WND,The survivalist mentality used to be considered a fringe element, but now that economic times are such as they are, many more average, regular folks are adopting the same set of preparations.But Wilkerson also sees a spiritual application of his message, calling Christians to exhibit peace and hope in God's salvation in the midst of fearful times. My warning is just one voice among many who are saying the same thing, writes Wilkerson.We may all tremble for a season, but those who truly know God’s Word will be quickly comforted by the Holy Spirit. We will be baptized with a great peace – a supernatural quietness – which will be a tremendous witness to the fearful multitudes.One of the many Christian leaders with a similar message is Dr. Gary Dull, pastor and founding member of The Faith and Freedom Institute. America was founded with a spiritual basis, but there are those who want to make it a purely secular nation,said Dull to an NBC reporter.Because of the rejection of God and His values, we can expect nothing but His judgment. All one needs to do is to read in history and find out how that when a nation forgot God, God forgot the nation.A past vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention is hoping believers pay attention to Wilkerson's message.I have known David Wilkerson for more than 25 years as well as many of his friends and associates,said Pastor Wiley Drake.He is a godly man and I believe he is listening to God. I encourage each Christian to read and heed what God is saying through our brother.Wilkerson is the founding pastor of Times Square Church in New York City, where he launched a ministry to gang members and drug addicts in 1958. He is a highly regarded mentor to other pastors in evangelical circles and travels the world holding conferences for other Christian ministers. His work in New York in the 1950s and 1960s led to the formation of Teen Challenge – a nationwide ministry to reach out to people with life-controlling habits. Teen Challenge has grown to include 173 residential programs and numerous evangelism outreach centers in the U.S., and 241 centers in 77 other countries. The program claims a recovery rate of 86 percent. The story of Wilkerson's first five years of ministry in New York is told in The Cross and the Switchblade,a book he co-authored in 1963. The book, which spawned a movie, became a best-selling phenomenon, and more than 15 million copies have been distributed in over 30 languages.

AND THE GODLESSNESS RULES IN AMERICA AND THE WORLD THATS WHY ALL THE JUDGEMENTS TO COME ON THE EARTH BECAUSE TAKING GOD OUT OF EVERYTHING AND HIS TEN COMMANDMENTS.

More Americans say they have no religion By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer – Mon Mar 9, 12:14 am ET

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region, with Vermont reporting the highest share of those claiming no religion, at 34 percent. Still, the study found that the numbers of Americans with no religion rose in every state.No other religious bloc has kept such a pace in every state,the study's authors said.In the Northeast, self-identified Catholics made up 36 percent of adults last year, down from 43 percent in 1990. At the same time, however, Catholics grew to about one-third of the adult population in California and Texas, and one-quarter of Floridians, largely due to Latino immigration, according to the research.Nationally, Catholics remain the largest religious group, with 57 million people saying they belong to the church. The tradition gained 11 million followers since 1990, but its share of the population fell by about a percentage point to 25 percent.Christians who aren't Catholic also are a declining segment of the country.

In 2008, Christians comprised 76 percent of U.S. adults, compared to about 77 percent in 2001 and about 86 percent in 1990. Researchers said the dwindling ranks of mainline Protestants, including Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians, largely explains the shift. Over the last seven years, mainline Protestants dropped from just over 17 percent to 12.9 percent of the population.The report from The Program on Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., surveyed 54,461 adults in English or Spanish from February through November of last year. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 percentage points. The findings are part of a series of studies on American religion by the program that will later look more closely at reasons behind the trends.The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral.About 12 percent of Americans believe in a higher power but not the personal God at the core of monotheistic faiths. And, since 1990, a slightly greater share of respondents — 1.2 percent — said they were part of new religious movements, including Scientology, Wicca and Santeria.

The study also found signs of a growing influence of churches that either don't belong to a denomination or play down their membership in a religious group.

Respondents who called themselves non-denominational Christian grew from 0.1 percent in 1990 to 3.5 percent last year. Congregations that most often use the term are megachurches considered seeker sensitive. They use rock style music and less structured prayer to attract people who don't usually attend church. Researchers also found a small increase in those who prefer being called evangelical or born-again, rather than claim membership in a denomination.Evangelical or born-again Americans make up 34 percent of all American adults and 45 percent of all Christians and Catholics, the study found. Researchers found that 18 percent of Catholics consider themselves born-again or evangelical, and nearly 39 percent of mainline Protestants prefer those labels. Many mainline Protestant groups are riven by conflict over how they should interpret what the Bible says about gay relationships, salvation and other issues.The percentage of Pentecostals remained mostly steady since 1990 at 3.5 percent, a surprising finding considering the dramatic spread of the tradition worldwide. Pentecostals are known for a spirited form of Christianity that includes speaking in tongues and a belief in modern-day miracles.Mormon numbers also held steady over the period at 1.4 percent of the population, while the number of Jews who described themselves as religiously observant continued to drop, from 1.8 percent in 1990 to 1.2 percent, or 2.7 million people, last year. Researchers plan a broader survey on people who consider themselves culturally Jewish but aren't religious.The study found that the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as Muslim grew to 0.6 percent of the population, while growth in Eastern religions such as Buddhism slightly slowed.On the Net: Survey results: http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/

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.

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.

5.3-magnitude earthquake off Guatemala's coast Mon Mar 9, 4:47 pm ET

GUATEMALA CITY – A 5.3 magnitude earthquake rocked Guatemala's Pacific coast Monday but no injuries or major damage were reported, the national emergency service said.
The quake hit just after midnight and was centered 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Guatemala City.The quake was felt from the capital to the Salvadoran border.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

Zimbabwe cholera deaths over 4,000: WHO Mon Mar 9, 9:22 am ET

GENEVA (AFP) – The cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has claimed more than 4,000 lives and more than 89,000 people have the disease, the World Health Organisation said in a new toll published Monday.The water-borne disease has killed 4,011 people, according to the latest WHO figures, although a spokeswoman has said the real death toll is higher because of under-reporting due to difficulty in reaching some areas of the country.

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced last Thursday that the death toll had broken through the 4,000 mark, and said the figure was likely an underestimate.However, the WHO said on Friday the outbreak was showing signs of slowing. Spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said the number of cases had been averaging 4,000 to 4,500 a week recently, compared to peaks of nearly 8,000 earlier in the outbreak.

We have recorded a certain decline in cases and deaths from week to week,she said.

S.Africa cholera outbreak declining Mon Mar 9, 7:22 am ET

CAPE TOWN (AFP) – A cholera outbreak in South Africa is being brought under control after 59 people died and more than 12,000 were infected since November, the health department said on Monday.We are seeing a very welcome decline in figures,said Thami Mseleku, the department's director-general.Most of the cases were in regions near the border with Zimbabwe, where more than 4,000 people have been killed by the disease.

But officials said the outbreak in South Africa could not be blamed entirely on Zimbabwe.Cholera started to develop in South Africa as a consequence of general living conditions and unsafe water supplies,Health Minister Barbara Hogan told a press briefing.Government also defended the decision to shut down a makeshift refugee camp on the Zimbabwe border housing thousands of asylum seekers, saying the conditions there were appalling.The situation is totally untenable, said Water Minister Lindiwe Hendricks.She said crowds at the municipal showgrounds often swelled to 8,000 in the evenings as farmworkers came to try and receive food parcels meant for asylum seekers in the border town of Musina.Global medical charity Doctors Without Borders had on Wednesday denounced plans to shut down the refugee camp.Hogan said refugee processing would move to an unused army base with better infrastructure and toilets.A political crisis in Zimbabwe, compounded by severe poverty and economic collapse, has sent millions of Zimbabweans flooding into South Africa and other neighbouring countries in search of a better life.

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)

MacKay dismisses nationality requirements for NATO chief,I don't believe that a person's nationality, given the number of NATO counties there, should ever be a bar to ascendancy to any role in NATO By Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News Service March 9, 2009

Defence Minister Peter MacKay is rumoured to be in the running for the top job at NATO, which will be formally filled at the alliance's summit next month.OTTAWA — The next secretary general of NATO does not have to come from Europe, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Monday.MacKay is rumoured to be in the running for the top civilian job at NATO, which will be formally filled at the alliance's summit next month. His latest remarks are the strongest indication to date of his interest in the position.

NATO insiders in Brussels have told Canwest News Service that MacKay is a long shot, because a European is favoured to be the political boss of the 26-country alliance to balance the fact that NATO's military commander comes from the United States.I don't believe that a person's nationality, given the number of NATO counties there, should ever be a bar to ascendancy to any role in NATO,MacKay said Monday.A report in Monday's Washington Post suggested that U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden would be advocating for MacKay to get the job, when he travels to Brussels on Tuesday.MacKay, who visited Washington last week for talks with his U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates, said Monday he has not talked to Biden about the job.MacKay has been coy about whether he wants the secretary general's post, telling a news conference in Ottawa again on Monday that, I have a lot on my plate right here in Canada.The minister also talked about how Canada's 60 years as a member in NATO, as well as the current contributions of Canadian soldiers in Kandahar, has raised and very much elevated Canada's profile in Europe.MacKay's competition for the job comes from top politicians from Norway, Denmark and Poland, but there's no consensus in Europe over which of those countries should send its man to Brussels.The odds-on favourite is Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, but he has not indicated strongly that he's willing to give up on his domestic political career just yet.In the meantime, MacKay appears to be building his own momentum, designed to overcome European skepticism.

He travelled to Washington last week, where he talked about the war in Afghanistan with Gates on Thursday. On Friday morning, MacKay turned up at the leading transatlantic think-tank, the German Marshall Fund, to give his views on the way forward in Afghanistan.MacKay emphasized the need to maintain the military momentum in Afghanistan and not ease up in the face of the U.S. military surge, but there were more questions about his interest in the top job in Brussels from the audience filled with European diplomats and officials.Appearing in front of a GMF audience is the sort of thing current Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has done during his tenure. That included a spotlight event at last year's NATO summit, where he shared the stage with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.The U.S. Obama administration has also made it clear it wants to see more of a military contribution from NATO's European members, a message Biden himself has underlined.If Biden follows through and backs MacKay in Brussels, it will send a strong message that Washington is serious about wanting European countries to do more in Afghanistan.

MacKay's comments Monday were not the first to question the supposedly sacrosanct view that the NATO secretary general has to be a European, in order to deal with the Europe-heavy membership of the alliance, and to provide balance to the military commander, who is an American.As Kurt Volker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, told Bloomberg Television last month: If the right person comes out of Germany, the right person comes out of Central Europe; the right person comes out of Canada, we're equally open.Canwest News Service.

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

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

SPECIAL CONFERENCE MAR 23-24,2009,ALL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS WILL BE THERE,ALL THE EU MEMBERS WILL BE THERE,AND THE G-20 WILL BE THERE.THIS SAME GROUP OF EU,BANKERS,G-20 WILL ALSO BE IN LONDON IN APRIL TO LAY PLANS FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER,ESPECIALLY THE G-20.https://futurefinance.wsj.com/index.php

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS TUE MAR 10,2009

09:30 AM +16.69
10:00 AM +205.49
10:30 AM +247.71
11:00 AM +248.50
11:30 AM +276.62
12:00 PM +310.47
12:30 PM +315.25
01:00 PM +290.64
01:30 PM +288.57
02:00 PM +291.67
02:30 PM +300.24
03:00 PM +312.06
03:30 PM +340.81
04:00 PM +379.44 6926.44

S&P 500 719.60 +43.07

NASDAQ 1358.28 +89.64

GOLD 898.30 -19.70

OIL 45.73 -1.34

TSE 300 7879.43 +312.49

CDNX 818.55 +4.36

S&P/TSX/60 479.38 +20.69

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -25.40%
S&P -25.10%
Nasdaq -19.56%
TSX Advances 529,declines 988,unchanged 257,Volume 1,924,886,321.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 294,Declines 430,Unchanged 336,Volume 146,094,757.

Dow +120 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow +16 points at low today.
Dow +234 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $909.80.OIL opens at $47.92 today.
Wholesale Inventories -0.7%(JAN)Vs -1.5%(DEC).
Major Indices +3% in first half hour of trading.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow +16 points at low today so far.
Dow +326 points at high today so far.
BERNANKE:WORLD IN WORST ECONOMIC SHAPE SINCE THE 1930'S.
BER:REFORM ON US FINANCIAL SYSTEM SHOULD BE COORDINATED GLOBALLY.

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 3,265,declines 413,unchanged 46,New Highs 6,New Lows 125.
Volume 3,690,942,200.
NASDAQ Advances 2,202,declines 403,unchanged 96,New highs 3,New Lows 141.
Volume 900,614,535.
TSX Advances 794,declines 487,unchanged 247,Volume 1,285,451,332.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 176,Declines 241,Unchanged 306,Volume 54,341,894.

THE BANKS ARE BREAKING AND ROBING THE WORLDS ECONOMIES,9.7 TRILLION MISSING OR UNACCOUNTED FOR IN AMERICA AND $10 TRILLION UNACCOUNTED FOR WORLDWIDE=$19.7 TRILLION TO THE BANKS UNACCOUNTED FOR.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -1 points at low today.
Dow +379 points at high today.
Dow +5.80% today Volume 639,678,208.
Nasdaq +7.07% today Volume 2,147,483,648.
S&P 500 +6.37% today Volume N/A

Dow,S&P up for only 4th time in 17 sessions.
Nasdaq up for only 3rd time in 17 sessions.
Major Averages have biggest percentage gains since NOV 24,2008.

S&P FACTS
8th time in 5 months S&P +5%+ in one day.
5 of past 7 were 1 day events.
5% of 700 is 40% less than 5% of 1100.
FICTION:were home free.

Businesses cut 651,000 jobs in FEBRUARY.
JAN job losses revised from -598,000 to -655,000.
4 Q GDP drop of 6.2% largest decline since 1982.
3 Q GDP -0.5%.
2 Q GDP +2.8%.
1 Q GDP +0.9%.

MADOFF PLEADS GUILTY THURSDAY TO 11 COUNTS.

RECORD LOWS DOW
-Sept 30,1996 5,882.17
-Oct 30,1996 5,993.23
-Nov 6,1996 6,177.71
-Dec 16,1996 6,268.35
-Apr 15,1997 6,587.16
-Apr 21,1997 6,660.21
-Apr 28,1997 6,783.02
-May 1,1997 6,976.48
-May 7,1997 7,085.65

RECORD LOWS S&P 500
-Sept 5,1996 649.44
-Sept 6,1996 655.68
-Sept 11,1996 667.28
-Sept 12,1996 671.13
-Oct 1,1996 689.08
-Oct 28,1996 697.26
-Nov 4,1996 706.73
-Nov 5,1996 714.14
-Dec 17,1996 726.04

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

FROM JEROME CORSI'S RED ALERT U.S. dollar replaced by ... digital gold? Electronic currency could be global money of future March 09, 2009 8:48 pm Eastern 2009 WorldNetDaily

When the dollar collapses, digital gold as a private bank-managed currency may replace it for international transactions, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports. Digital gold is a form of electronic market backed by gold storage. Private clients deposit gold or buy gold reserves from the digital gold bank. Private clients then utilize digital gold accounts to make or receive international payments. Payment values are determined by the price of gold backing transactions. Globalists are now promoting digital gold as a private-bank solution to the potential devaluation of fiat currencies.Ironically, the digital gold market reflects increasing concern in international foreign currency markets about whether major currencies, including the dollar and the euro, will survive the current global financial meltdown,Corsi wrote.

A key concern is that the Obama administration's multi-trillion dollar deficit spending could cause the dollar to collapse on world currency markets since Obama has no alternative but to finance federal budget deficits by instructing the U.S. Treasury to sell debt securities, largely to foreign nations such as China, Japan and the petrodollar nations of the Middle East,he continued. Private-bank digital gold is a move away from traditional fiat currencies issued by nation-states, such as the dollar, where there is no backing by gold or silver, and the currency has a floating value determined by world currency exchanges. The idea surfaced in a January 2007 article in the London Financial Times by Benn Steil, a senior fellow and director of International Economics at the Council of Foreign Relations. Steil has consistently argued that the dollar as a nation-state currency is outmoded, and that a regional currency should replace the dollar on the way to a one-world currency. Gold banks already exist that allow clients to make and receive digital gold payments – a form of electronic money, backed by gold in storage – around the globe,Steil wrote. He noted the digital gold business has grown significantly in recent years, in tandem with the dollar's decline.Red Alert's author, whose books The Obama Nation and Unfit for Command have topped the New York Times best-sellers list, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972. For nearly 25 years, beginning in 1981, he worked with banks throughout the U.S. and around the world to develop financial services marketing companies to assist banks in establishing broker/dealers and insurance subsidiaries to provide financial planning products and services to their retail customers. In this career, Corsi developed three different third-party financial services marketing firms that reached gross sales levels of $1 billion in annuities and equal volume in mutual funds. In 1999, he began developing Internet-based financial marketing firms, also adapted to work in conjunction with banks.

In his 25-year financial services career, Corsi has been a noted financial services speaker and writer, publishing three books and numerous articles in professional financial services journals and magazines. For more information on digital gold and for financial guidance during difficult times, read Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium, online intelligence news source by the WND staff writer, columnist and author of the New York Times No. 1 best-seller,The Obama Nation.For the complete report and full immediate access to Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, subscribe now. Subscribe to Jerome Corsi's new weekly economic newsletter, Red Alert, for one year and, for a limited time get The Obama Nation free. (This offer applies only to annual subscriptions for $99.)

INTERESTING A WORLD COURT FOR BANKING ISSUES.......INTERESTING.

Madoff case sparks calls for global court over finance fraud MAR 09,09 USA TODAYBy Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — A multi-national coalition of law firms is asking G-20 nations to form an international financial court for cases like the global scam allegedly run by Bernard Madoff.Representatives of the 45-member coalition, made up of law firms from 25 nations representing some 10,000 Madoff victims, said Monday the proposal is needed to ensure the financial services market trust, transparency and legal certainty that's been threatened by the case.They have asked for discussion of the proposal at the April 2 London meeting of G-20 finance ministers from industrialized and developing nations.Javier Cremades, president of the group and a partner at Spain-based Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, said an international solutions is needed for a complex case that is a global threat to everyone, including the governments.Madoff, who may plead guilty to federal charges at a federal court hearing set for Thursday, allegedly victimized investors worldwide by reporting almost uniformly positive returns for decades. The global nature of the alleged scam has investors scrambling for the best legal route to seek recovery.

Citing one example, Cremades said an estimated 3,000 clients from Argentina invested millions of dollars with Madoff through banks or funds in Miami, the Bahamas or elsewhere. Where should they sue? There is no answer at all,to questions about the overlapping and potentially conflicting legal jurisdictions, said Cremades.An international financial court would help cut through the confusion, said Gaytri Kachroo, the coalition's vice president and a law partner at U.S.-based McCarter & English.

EU wants to see IMF funds doubled: document Mon Mar 9, 7:12 pm ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union will call on Tuesday for the International Monetary Fund's resources for struggling nations to be doubled to 500 billion dollars (396 billion euros), a draft document showed.It is essential that the IMF has appropriate financial means to assist countries particularly affected by the current crisis,said the text EU finance ministers are due to approve ahead of a key G20 summit in London.Late Monday, ministers from the 16 eurozone countries gave their backing to the document, with EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia also backing a greater international regulatory role for the IMF.We agreed on the need to increase the resources of the IMF, to increase the lending capacity in these circumstances,Almunia told a press conference.We agreed also on the need to improve the way the IMF can contribute to the surveillance of the financial sector.

The draft document seen by AFP on Monday stated that EU member states support a doubling of IMF resources and are ready to contribute to a temporary increase if needed.However, the statement, which is subject to last-minute changes, stressed that while quotas should be the main source of IMF financing, their increase is not a viable solution in the short term.Each IMF nation is assigned a quota based on its relative size in the world economy, and are used as the basis for how much member states must contribute and how big of a say they have at the international lender.The EU document said that additional resources should be mobilised in the first instance via enlarging and expanding an existing facility known as the New Arrangements to Borrow, a credit line from members that can be tapped in exceptional circumstances.

While the document recommended shared burden sharing,it suggested that the extra funds could come in particular from countries which have amassed huge foreign reserves -- an allusion to countries such as China and Japan.While Japan already contributes to the New Arrangements to Borrow facility, China does not.The IMF has repeatedly warned that its resources, and therefore its ability to lend to countries in difficulty, could shrink if the economic crisis endures.It has already signed an agreement for Japan to borrow up to 100 billion dollars, although other reserve rich countries have not followed Tokyo's example.The European members of the G20 group -- Britain, France, Germany and Italy -- have voiced support for doubling IMF resources in preparation for a G20 summit of leading economic powers on April 2.

World Bank offers dire forecast for world economy
By Edmund L. Andrews Published: March 8, 2009

WASHINGTON: In a bleaker assessment than those of most private forecasters, the World Bank predicted Sunday that the global economy would shrink in 2009 for the first time since World War II.The bank did not provide a specific estimate, but bank officials said its economists would be publishing one in the next several weeks.Until now, even extremely pessimistic forecasters have predicted that the global economy would eke out a tiny expansion but had warned that even a growth rate of 5 percent in China would be a disastrous slowdown, given the enormous pressure there to create jobs for the country's rural population.The World Bank also warned that global trade would contract for the first time since 1982, and that the decline would be the biggest since the 1930s.In a report prepared for a meeting next week of finance ministers from the 20 industrialized and large developing countries, the World Bank said the economic crisis that started with junk mortgages in the United States was causing havoc for poorer countries around the world, not only stifling their growth but also choking off their access to credit as well.The bank said the financial disruptions were all but certain to overwhelm the ability of institutions like it and the International Monetary Fund to provide a buffer.

The bank, which provides low-cost lending for economic development projects in poorer countries, pleaded for wealthy governments to create a vulnerability fund and to set aside a fraction of what they spend on stimulating their own economies for assisting other countries.This global crisis needs a global solution and preventing an economic catastrophe in developing countries is important for global efforts to overcome this crisis,said Robert Zoellick, the World Bank president. We need investments in safety nets, infrastructure, and small and medium-size companies to create jobs and to avoid social and political unrest.The bank said developing countries, many of which had been growing rapidly in recent years, were now being devastated by plunging exports, falling commodity prices, declining foreign investment and vanishing credit.The effect of the global slowdown varies widely among countries, and the drop in prices for oil and other commodities has created winners and losers, But as a whole, the bank said, emerging-market countries faced a combined financing gap in 2009 of at least $270 billion and as much as $700 billion.The report detailed the variety of ways in which the global slowdown had hammered poorer countries in Latin America, Central Europe, Asia and Africa.Central European countries like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are hurting from diminished exports to Western Europe as well as a severe credit crunch among major European banks, which have suffered huge losses on U.S. mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.East Asian countries are reeling from plunging global trade. Demand for inexpensive manufactured goods has plunged in the United States. That slump has hit many Asian countries directly and indirectly, through falling demand by China for raw materials and component products.Lower commodity prices have caused great problems in many African and Latin American countries. The steep slide in oil prices - 69 percent between July and December of 2008 - has spurred growth in poorer oil-importing countries but has caused immense difficulty in poorer oil-exporting countries.Brazil, an exporter of oil as well as many other commodities and manufactured goods, reported its first trade deficit in eight years as exports dropped 28 percent in 2008.Zoellick called for rich countries to set aside 0.7 percent of the amount of money they spend to stimulate their own economies for a vulnerability fund to help stabilize poorer countries.Zoellick said the new fund could then make the money available to countries through the World Bank, the United Nations or other global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund.He said the World Bank had the potential to triple its own lending in 2009 to $35 billion, though that would still be a small fraction of even the most optimistic estimate on the shortfall facing poor countries.

EU relations under strain over credit crunch: Miliband MAR 09,09

LONDON, (AFP) – Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the economic crisis had put relations in the European Union under strain, adding its achievements were being tested as never before.Miliband added the EU must keep the door open for countries like Iceland and Ukraine -- both hit particularly hard by the credit crunch -- possibly to join.The sense of solidarity within Europe, between east and west, rich and poor, new and old is under strain, he said in a speech at the London School of Economics.The achievements of the last 30 years -- from the single market and enlargement to the euro -- are being tested as never before.His comments, made ahead of the meeting of G20 leaders in London in April, come amid divisions between western and eastern European leaders over the EU's response to the credit crunch.At the start of this month, EU leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels ruled out a regional bailout plan for eastern Europe.The area, hit by a wave of social protests, has been particularly badly affected because their economies are highly dependent on credit from Western sources that has all but dried up in recent months.Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany was among those calling for a support fund, adding: We should not allow a new iron curtain to be set up and divide Europe in two parts.

Hungary, Latvia and Ukraine have secured rescue packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help them cope with the crisis.Miliband added that there were countries like Iceland or Ukraine for which, though there is no formal membership commitment, we must keep open the prospect of membership.He added that the crisis underlined the need for EU reform and renewed Britain's warnings against protectionism, which Prime Minister Gordon Brown has made a recurring theme of his comments on the issue.Now is the time we need new reform to preserve the gains of the past, Miliband said.Our belief in the long term benefits of the freedom of people, money, goods and services to move across borders is confronted with the short term temptations of protectionism.He added: The temptation, given the severity of the economic crisis, is to turn inwards and focus on domestic problems... but solidarity and support between nations is a vital part of the European compact.

Canada housing starts mark sixth monthly decline By Ka Yan Ng Ka Yan Ng – Mon Mar 9, 12:44 pm ET

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian housing starts fell by a greater than expected 12.3 percent in February, marking a sixth consecutive monthly decline and their lowest level since June 2000, as the domestic economy struggles through a major downturn.

Groundbreakings on new homes dropped to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 134,600 units last month from 153,500 in January, with declines seen in the single- and multiple-dwelling sectors, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said on Monday.The number of starts in February was below analyst forecasts for 145,000 starts.The Canadian dollar briefly fell to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since September 2004 following the housing data.But there was a silver lining in the weak numbers. While it suggests builders are responding to weaker demand, which could have a short-term negative effect on economic activity, it also indicates there may not be a severe oversupply of homes.As an economist looking at this, it's good news that the markets are working. They're taking their cues from the price signals and those signals are telling them not to build right now, said Pascal Gauthier, an economist at TD Bank.Economists continue to describe the Canadian housing downturn as a correction that will last the better part of 2009, and few predict the sector is facing a U.S.-style meltdown. Most economists and trade groups expect the market to recover in 2010.Recent statistics show broad weakness within the housing sector as existing homes sales activity has slowed, home prices have eased and building permits have fallen.CMHC said the decline was in line with its forecast for 2009. It sees housing starts of around 160,250 units this year, within a range of 141,000 to 180,000units.

These decreases, however, should be viewed in the context that housing starts have been exceptionally strong over the past seven years, exceeding 200,000 units per year,the federal housing agency said in its monthly report.Construction of urban single-family homes fell 11 percent to 44,500 units last month from 50,000 in January. Construction of multiple dwellings, such as condos, dropped 17.5 percent to an annual rate of 63,300 units.All regions except for Atlantic Canada had weaker starts in the month, led by a 19.6 percent drop in Quebec. Atlantic Canada reported a 10.8 percent rise in starts.Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 26,800 units in February.(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; editing by Rob Wilson)

EU Investment Bank ramps up lending as crisis worsens
ANDREW WILLIS 09.03.2009 @ 17:33 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Investment Bank is rising to the challenge of the economic recession by increasing lending to countries, banks and companies, its president, Philippe Maystadt, said on Monday (9 March) at the bank's annual press conference in Brussels. The EIB has committed itself to contribute to the European Economic Recovery Plan agreed by EU leaders last December and will increase its overall lending to €66 billion in 2009, an increase of €15 billion on their initial plans.Really, we are doing our best to respond as quickly as possible to the call from our shareholders from the member states, said Mr Maystadt, pointing to the large jump in lending to EU states over the last five months.The bank, created by the Treaty of Rome to provide long-term loans to projects furthering EU policy objectives, lent €57 billion in 2008, up from €48 billion in 2007.Funds are targeted towards helping small and medium-sized businesses, energy projects - especially those fighting climate change - and projects aimed at to removing the disparities in wealth across the EU.The EIB does not rely on member-state contributions, instead raising money for lending on the international capital markets by issuing bonds. It raised €59.5 billion in this way in 2008.The bank was able to issue under favourable terms for most of 2008. We benefited from our triple-A credit rating ... but at the end of the year, this became more difficult because of the tightening of market conditions, said Mr Maystadt.He added that despite the huge increase in sovereign bonds on the market, the EIB has so far managed to raise €24 billion in the first two months of this year, more than one third of the funding programme for 2009.

Concerns over SMEs

Last month, the EIB teamed up with the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in announcing a €24.5 billion funding programme for banks in central and eastern Europe. Under the plan, the EIB has agreed to supply some €11 billion in SME lending facilities in central, eastern, and southern Europe.

But Mr Maystadt admitted on Monday that he was concerned that SMEs in southeast Europe were suffering from a shortage of credit and said the EIB would meet the region's banks to discuss the issue. What concerns us is that even though these credit lines exist and we are ready to lend to banks, until now they have used relatively little,he said. Therefore, we have decided to organise a meeting with all the banking groups represented in these countries to help us understand why to date they are lending relatively little to SMEs.A survey carried out last week by the Association of European Chambers of Commerce (Eurochambres), suggests that over two thirds of European businesses face growing difficulties in accessing credit.

Funding for car sector

Mr Maystadt said that by the middle of this year the EIB will have approved €7 billion in loans to the EU car sector, which is currently struggling with plummeting sales, plant closures and thousands of worker layoffs. This figure represents over 10 percent of total lending forecast for 2009. As a result of the huge demand from the car sector, the EIB has placed a lending ceiling of €400 million per car company per year to avoid over exposure to any one company and to avoid lending all the bank's funds to too few countries. We are a European institution and we must aim for a balanced approach,Mr Maystadt said.German car company Volkswagen recently received €400 million from the bank to develop green technologies.

Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg unite on bank secrecy
HONOR MAHONY 09.03.2009 @ 09:26 CET

Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland rallied together on Sunday (8 March) in a last ditch attempt to protect their banking secrecy regimes, under threat amid global efforts to tackle the economic crisis.Ministers of the three countries - EU members except for Switzerland - met in Luxembourg to discuss how they can best keep their countries off an international blacklist of tax havens.The list is set to be decided at a meeting of G20 countries in London next month, but the three nations are not part of the group of 20 nations.Debates about bank secrecy are conducted in fora to which we do not belong, like the G20 for example, said Luxembourg budget minister Luc Frieden, according to AFP news agency.We regret that some countries are talking about tax havens without having led debate about the criteria that define a tax haven, he said.He added that Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg want to be integrated into the debate to find ways to maintain banking secrecy, while at the same time we are open to a dialogue on how to find ways to improve collaboration on tax offences.Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz, who is also finance minister, said: It is the aim of the Swiss government to avoid the automatic exchange of information because that would mean giving up banking secrecy.He noted that tax haven black lists should not be created if Switzerland and others are not part of the talks, reports Reuters news agency.

Bank secrecy to the fore

Bank secrecy has come to the fore since the onset of the economic crisis, with countries increasingly wanting information on the billions of dollars kept in banks in tax haven nations.Switzerland, whose long-enshrined bank secrecy laws have turned the Alpine state into an international finance centre, has already given in once to external pressure.In February, it allowed Swiss bank UBS to reveal the identity of around 300 of its US clients and paid a fine of $780 million after being accused by Washington of abetting tax fraud by US customers.

However, the pressure is continuing.

The US government also wants UBS to disclose the names of around 52,000 US customers who it claims are evading taxes and has filed a separate lawsuit on the issue.

Meanwhile, France and Germany last week said that the G20 should break off bilateral fiscal conventions with countries considered to be unco-operative tax havens.But the bank secrecy trio's stance has some support from within the EU. Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenbeg said Switzerland's banking secrecy should not be broken at all costs.Certainly a couple of million euros escape one tax coffer or the other, he said, according to Switzerland's NZZ am Sontag But the country's independence and the tradition of the autonomous and neutral Switzerland are to be valued higher. Why do you have to break that at all costs? he said. The Czech Republic currently holdis the EU's rotating presidency.

Romania needs EU, IMF loan says president
VALENTINA POP 09.03.2009 @ 17:43 CET

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS – Romanian President Traian Basescu on Monday urged the country's parliament to approve austerity measures and said the country needed foreign loans to ease private-sector debts. If the country decides to knock on the International Monetary Fund's door, it would be the third EU member state do so after Hungary and Latvia.Romania needs a safety belt, meaning a foreign loan, the centre-right president said in his address to the Romanian parliament. He explained that the problem was not so much the public debt or the budget deficit, but the debt of the private sector, amounting to €24 billion this year. This was not credit they took out to go on vacation, but loans for investing in Romania. If they default, it would only increase unemployment and lead to reduced productivity of our country,Mr Basescu argued.He said that Romania was able to win a loan from EU institutions and referred to the €24.5 billion earmarked for new member states by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank.However, Mr Basescu pointed out that the condition for an EU loan was to combine it with supervision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), known for its tough conditions regarding public spending and structural reforms.The EU does not have the control mechanisms of how the money is spent and what the macro-economic situation of the country is. That's why they are asking us to go for an IMF loan as well, because the IMF has these tools,he explained.An IMF mission was heading to Bucharest this week to assess the economic situation and Romania's ability to tackle the crisis, deputy prime minister Dan Nica said.

An IMF loan is however viewed with great unease by the Social Democratic party, which is part of the coalition government led by center-right premier Emil Boc. Social-Democrat leader Mircea Geoana last month said he still felt the shivers of Romania's previous experience with the IMF in the 1990s.The conditions are very harsh, with huge social costs and significant restrictions,he said, arguing against an IMF loan.

Governments in the region, including Bucharest, have recently publicly rejected the notion of a undifferentiated, region-wide eastern European slump, stressing that each their countries be treated differently. Unlike Bulgaria or the Baltic states, Romania's national currency, the leu, is not pegged to the euro and has sharply fallen against the euro.

Unreformed public administration

As Mr Basescu pointed out, the last government increased public spending and was unable to restructure the public administration, which had still a very low performance in terms of the very low rates of EU funds absorption.Adding to that, last year Romania's public deficit skyrocketed, surpassing by 2.4 percent the three percent threshold demanded of future eurozone countries. A delay of the country's accession to the eurozone, aimed in 2014, would be disastrous, Mr Basescu said.He warned against the temptation of uncontrolled spending for quick electoral gains, especially in light of the upcoming EU and presidential elections this year and urged trade unions to refrain from demanding salary raises against the backdrop of the crisis.State reforms, austerity and solidarity equal a chance for Romania to come out well from this crisis. If we fool ourselves that we can live off comfortably from borrowed money, we won't be able to close the gap between us and the rest of the EU, he concluded.

EU ministers draft finance chapter of spring summit
ANDREW WILLIS 09.03.2009 @ 09:28 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU finance ministers will meet in Brussels on Tuesday (10 March) to prepare a number of key policy documents for agreement by EU leaders who will gather for a summit on 19-20 March.Chief amongst these will be a key issues paper outlining a list of measures to be taken this year to tackle the financial crisis and economic slowdown.Ministers will debate the proposals for increased financial regulation published by a high-level group of experts headed by former IMF managing director, Jacques de Larosiere. The Larosiere report calls for a European Risk Council to be set up under the auspices of the ECB, designed to gather information on the systemic risks facing the EU economy and financial sector. It also calls for tough new powers to be handed to the existing committees that oversee national regulation of individual banks. The flurry of recent meetings between European leaders, including an informal meeting of EU G20 heads of state and government in Berlin last month, is partially due to their desire to present a unified voice at the upcoming G20 meeting of world leaders in London on 2 April. On Tuesday EU finance ministers will discuss the terms of reference for the EU's representatives at the important meeting, with topics likely to include offshore banking centres, regulation of hedge funds and the future role of the IMF.The London meeting on 2 April will be the second of its kind after leaders from industrialised and developing nations met in Washington last November in a frantic bid to restore economic confidence and stability following the breakout of the financial crisis last autumn.

Also on Tuesday, finance ministers will discuss member state stability and convergence programmes submitted by governments to the commission in January. The plans outline government spending programmes and expected tax receipts for the coming years.The topic is likely to dominate a meeting of eurozone finance ministers the evening before (Monday, 9 March) as concerns mount over rising budget deficits and potential difficulties meeting debt repayments.Ministers may discuss the possibility of one member state coming to the rescue of another member state and also the idea of a common eurobond for members of the group sharing the euro currency. Several countries feel the creation of a eurobond would reduce their borrowing costs but the idea faces considerable opposition from Germany and the Netherlands who fear the reverse scenario would apply to them. Following this week's discussion, finance ministers from the EU27 will decide next month whether the commission should start excessive deficit procedures against a number of member states. In December, EU leaders asked finance ministers to reach agreement by March on measures to reduce Valued Added Tax in certain sectors as part of European Economic Recovery Plan.

Accordingly, ministers will likely agree to an extension of reduced VAT rates in areas deemed to be labour intensive such as the housing construction sector, hairdressing, caring and private cleaning sectors. Tuesday's council meeting will also discuss the future financing of measures to combat climate change and are likely to adopt conclusions to be submitted to the European council on 19-20 March.A United Nations convention will be held in December in Copenhagen to secure a new global agreement on climate change as the current framework, the Kyoto protocol, is due to expire in 2012.

Israeli demolitions fuel conflict, EU diplomats say
PHILIPPA RUNNER 09.03.2009 @ 08:53 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Israel is damaging the prospects for peace with Palestinians by grabbing land and violating civil liberties in East Jerusalem, according to an internal EU report.During the Six-Day War in 1967 Israel invaded and occupied the city's eastern part, which is currently home to some 190,000 Israelis as well as 210,000 Palestinians and the third holiest site in Islam, the al-Aqsa Mosque.Since 2004, it has demolished 400 Palestinian homes, with 1,000 more demolition orders pending. But since 2007, it has approved the building of almost 3,000 new Israeli housing units. Israeli settlements without building permits are rarely disturbed, the EU report says.The 20-page document was drafted by the heads of EU member state embassies in Tel Aviv on 15 December and leaked over the weekend by the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions, a Jerusalem-based NGO.Israel is, by practical means, actively pursuing the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem,it says.House demolitions in occupied east Jerusalem are illegal under international law, serve no obvious purpose, have severe humanitarian effects and fuel bitterness and extremism.

The housing policy problem is made worse by discriminatory spending on public services, leaving Palestinian areas with poor roads and sewage systems compared to Israeli districts.The construction of a 725 kilometre-long security wall around East Jerusalem forces Palestinians in the West Bank to seek temporary passes to enter the city. In some cases, this leaves people unable to farm their land or obtain cancer treatment at specialised hospitals. EU diplomats also voiced concern about Israeli state collusion in helping extreme settler groups organise archeological digs in religiously sensitive areas.In this manner, archaeology is becoming an ideologically motivated tool of national and religious struggle carried out in a manner that modifies the identity and character of the city and threatens to undermine its stability.The EU maintains friendly links with Israel under a June 2000 Association Agreement.On 9 December, it agreed to upgrade relations in an initiative which is to see regular bilateral summits and more trade. The latest Gaza conflict - which claimed over 1,300 Palestinian lives - exposed divisions within the bloc, however. The European Commission paused talks on the upgrade. Ireland and Sweden also called for an enquiry into alleged Israeli war crimes, but Germany, Italy and the Netherlands opposed any probe.

Black and white

British liberal MEP Chris Davies told EUobserver that Brussels should suspend the Association Agreement over Israel's actions in East Jerusalem and Gaza. The idea that our close co-operation with a nation that is in military occupation of Palestinian land gives us influence in shaping Israeli policy is a complete nonsense,he said.

Pro-Israeli commentators say the EU report lacks historical context, such as mention that Palestinians between 1948 and 1967 tried to remove all signs of Jewish historical presence and built on land that they did not own.This is the reason that I and many other Jews chose to live in Jerusalem - to make the statement that we will not be moved again,political studies professor Gerald Steinberg of the Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, told this website. This [EU report] will increase distrust among many Israelis, for whom Jerusalem is the most sensitive dimension of the conflict.

US protests harassment by Chinese vessels BY PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer MAR 09,09

WASHINGTON – Chinese ships surrounded and harassed a Navy mapping ship in international waters off China, at one point coming within 25 feet of the American boat and strewing debris in its path, the Defense Department said Monday. The Obama administration said it would continue naval operations in the South China Sea, most of which China considers its territory, and protested to China about what it called reckless behavior that endangered lives.At one point during the incident Sunday the unarmed USNS Impeccable turned fire hoses on an approaching Chinese ship in self defense, the Pentagon said. At another point a Chinese ship played chicken with the Americans, stopping dead in front of the Impeccable as it tried to sail away, forcing the civilian mariners to slam on the brakes.We view these as unprofessional maneuvers and a violation of international law, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.The incident had overtones of spycraft, but the U.S. ship is not, strictly speaking, a spy ship. It maps the ocean floor with sonar, compiling information the Navy can use to steer its own submarines or track those of other nations.The Impeccable was specifically designed to augment the Navy's anti-submarine capability, although military spokesmen would not be specific about the ship's duties when it was surrounded.A Pentagon accounting of the confrontation documents the actions of the startled and cornered American crew as a Chinese vessel closed to within 25 feet. Pictures released by the Navy give a sense of the surreal scene: The Chinese mariners had stripped to their underwear following the blast by the Impeccable's fire hoses.

Whitman called that immature, and said the confrontation was the most aggressive of a series of incidents recently in the same area.Impeccable's crew radioed to tell the Chinese ships that it was leaving the area and requested a safe path to navigate, the Pentagon said.But two of the Chinese ships stopped directly ahead of the Impeccable, forcing it to an emergency stop, the U.S. account said. The Chinese also dropped pieces of wood in the water in Impeccable's path.The incident came just a week after China and the U.S. resumed military-to-military consultations following a five-month suspension over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. And it came as Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was due in Washington to meet with U.S. officials.We're going to continue to operate in those international waters, and we expect the Chinese to observe international law around that,White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.A protest was lodged with the Chinese government by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing over the weekend and was repeated to a Chinese defense attache at a Pentagon meeting Monday.

In Beijing, Chinese officials did not immediately respond to voicemail messages and e-mail regarding the U.S. allegations.Pentagon officials said the incident followed increasingly aggressive acts by Chinese ships against the Impeccable on Wednesday and Saturday and against the USNS Victorious surveillance ship on Thursday while it operated in the Yellow Sea.The Chinese ships included a Chinese Navy intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries Patrol Vessel, a State Oceanographic Administration patrol vessel and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers, officials said.

China views almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its territory. China's claims to small islets in the region have put it at odds with five governments — the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.Pentagon officials said the close encounter followed these other incidents last week:On Wednesday, a Chinese Bureau of Fisheries Patrol vessel used a high-intensity spotlight to illuminate the Victorious, an ocean surveillance ship, as it operated in the Yellow Sea, about 125 nautical miles from China's coast, the Pentagon said. The next day, a Chinese Y-12 maritime surveillance aircraft conducted 12 fly-bys of Victorious at an altitude of about 400 feet and a range of 500 yards. On Thursday, a Chinese frigate approached USNS Impeccable without warning and crossed its bow at a range of approximately 100 yards, the Pentagon said. This was followed less than two hours later by a Chinese Y-12 aircraft conducting 11 fly-bys of Impeccable at an altitude of 600 feet and a range from 100-300 feet.On Saturday, a Chinese intelligence collection ship challenged Impeccable over bridge-to-bridge radio, calling her operations illegal and directing Impeccable to leave the area or suffer the consequences.Sunday's incident near Hainan Island is reminiscent of a much more dramatic foreign policy crisis with China that played out in the same area. The forced landing of a U.S. spy plane and China's seizure of the crew in April 2001 came just four months into President George W. Bush's tenure.Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.