NO 2ND HOLOCAUST AGAINST ISRAEL

JERUSALEM-ISRAEL TOGETHER FOREVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tR6QHCPNzs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRQSmvjl88&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_0OcWtJHhk&feature=related

Israel to go to war with Iran hours after order Press TV April 18, 2009 Israel is reportedly preparing for a massive attack on Iran’s nuclear sites within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government.

According to a report by The Times, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) is taking every step to ready itself for what would be a risky raid on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours,one senior Israeli defense official told The Times.They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words,the source added.To ready itself for the massive aerial assault on Iran Israel has moved to equip itself with three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and regional missions to simulate the attack.

Israel’s Home Front Command also announced plans earlier to mobilize the Israeli army for the largest military exercise in its history on June 2.The nationwide drill is aimed at preparing the public for the retaliation that Israel could face.The report cites Iran’s enrichment facility in Natanz, its heavy water reactor in Arak, and the country’s Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) in the central province of Isfahan as prime Israeli targets.The distance from Israel to at least one of the cited locations is more than 870 miles, for which Israel prepared for by conducting a training exercise last year.A June report by The New York Times revealed that Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier in the month that appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iranian nuclear installations.More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15fighters, helicopters and refueling tankers participated in the maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece.We would not make the threat [against Iran] without the force to back it, The Times quoted one intelligence official as saying. There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel’s willingness to act.The source, however, admitted that it was unlikely that Israel would carry out an attack without receiving at least tacit approval from the new US administration.

The Times report comes as earlier on Thursday a Washington think tank cautioned against an Israeli mission to take out Iranian nuclear facilities, saying it is unlikely to be hailed a success.A military strike by Israel against Iranian Nuclear Facilities is possible and the optimum route would be along the Syrian-Turkish border then over a small portion of Iraq then into Iran, and back the same route,reads the report by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).The number of aircraft required, refueling along the way and getting to the targets without being detected or intercepted would be complex and high risk and would lack any assurances that the overall mission will have a high success rate,warned the assessment.An Israeli strike on Iran is widely believed to require the green light from the Pentagon.The US Air Force should grant permission to Israeli bombers to fly across Iraq.Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies, played down the prospect of any such permission by President Barack Obama’s administration.The American defense establishment is unsure that the operation will be successful,he told The Times.The new US administration has struck a more reconciliatory tone in dealing with Iran.The US Vice President Joe Biden said earlier that he did not believe that Netanyahu would take the risk of attacking Iran, adding, He would be ill advised to do that.

EU states walk out during Ahmadinejad speech
VALENTINA POP Today APR 21,09 @ 09:44 CET

European diplomats on Monday (20 April) walked out of the UN's anti-racism conference in Geneva after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Israeli government is racist.The move comes after initial divisions among EU states on boycotting the event for fear that Mr Ahmadinejad might use it as a platform to attack Israel.Most of the 27 member states decided to send diplomats to the five-day event in Geneva, entitled the Durban Review Conference and aimed at tackling racism around the globe. Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Italy decided to boycott the event from the start, alongside Israel, US, Canada and Australia.Mr Ahmadinejad, who was the only head of state to attend, said Jewish migrants from Europe and the United States had been sent to the Middle East after World War II in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine.In compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine, he added.French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the speech hateful, while UK foreign minister David Miliband termed it offensive, inflammatory and utterly unacceptable.

All EU delegates walked out within minutes after Mr Ahmadinejad started talking, but most of them returned for the rest of the conference.Participating member states have no outstanding difficulty of substance with the draft outcome document and are ready to give their consent to it during the adoption on Friday, the EU said in a statement. Mr Miliband said British representatives would remain so as to not leave the stage only to those, like President Ahmadinejad, who would take global efforts against racism backwards.

The Czech EU presidency left the conference altogether, however.

In response to the speech by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, in which he described Israel as a country with a racist government, the Czech Republic withdraws definitively from the Durban Review Conference, it said in a statement.The dispute deals a blow to UN efforts to avoid a second fiasco after the original 2001 Durban conference on racism, which also saw Western delegates leave over the Israeli-Arab issue.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had initially criticised the countries which stayed away in protest. But after Mr. Ahmadinejad's speech, the Un chief said he deplored the use of this platform by the Iranian president to accuse, divide and even incite.

WE CAN SEE WHY IRAN ,THE RUSSIAN, ARAB,MUSLIM ARMIES WILL BE DESTROYED BY GOD IN THE FUTURE PUTTING DOWN ISRAEL LIKE THIS IS PUTTING DOWN 5/6TH OF ISLAM WHEN THEY MARCH TO ISRAEL IN THE FUTURE.

President Ahmadinejad's speech at the Durban Review Conference on racism
Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:20:10 GMT

The following is the speech of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva on April 20. Mr. Chairman, honorable secretary general of the United Nations, honorable United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Ladies and gentleman: We have gathered in the follow-up to the Durban conference against racism and racial discrimination to work out practical mechanisms for our holy and humanitarian campaigns. Over the last centuries, humanity has gone through great sufferings and pains. In the Medieval Ages, thinkers and scientists were sentenced to death. It was then followed by a period of slavery and slave trade. Innocent people were taken captive in their millions and separated from their families and loved ones to be taken to Europe and America under the worst conditions. A dark period that also experienced occupation, lootings and massacres of innocent people.

Many years passed by before nations rose up and fought for their liberty and freedom and they paid a high price for it. They lost millions of lives to expel the occupiers and establish independent and national governments. However, it did not take long before power grabbers imposed two wars in Europe which also plagued a part of Asia and Africa. Those horrific wars claimed about a hundred million lives and left behind massive devastation. Had lessons been learnt from the occupations, horrors and crimes of those wars, there would have been a ray of hope for the future. The victorious powers called themselves the conquerors of the world while ignoring or down treading upon rights of other nations by the imposition of oppressive laws and international arrangements. Ladies and gentlemen, let us take a look at the UN Security Council which is one of the legacies of World War I and World War II. What was the logic behind their granting themselves the veto right? How can such logic comply with humanitarian or spiritual values? Would it not be inconformity with the recognized principles of justice, equality before the law, love and human dignity? Would it not be discrimination, injustice, violations of human rights or humiliation of the majority of nations and countries? The council is the highest decision-making world body for safeguarding international peace and security. How can we expect the realization of justice and peace when discrimination is legalized and the origin of the law is dominated by coercion and force rather than by justice and the rights?

Coercion and arrogance is the origin of oppression and wars. Although today many proponents of racism condemn racial discrimination in their words and their slogans, a number of powerful countries have been authorized to decide for other nations based on their own interests and at their own discretion and they can easily violate all laws and humanitarian values as they have done so. Following World War II, they resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering and they sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in occupied Palestine. And, in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine. The Security Council helped stabilize the occupying regime and supported it in the past 60 years giving them a free hand to commit all sorts of atrocities. It is all the more regrettable that a number of Western governments and the United States have committed themselves to defending those racist perpetrators of genocide while the awakened-conscience and free-minded people of the world condemn aggression, brutalities and the bombardment of civilians in Gaza. The supporters of Israel have always been either supportive or silent against the crimes. Dear friends, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. What are the root causes of the US attacks against Iraq or the invasion of Afghanistan? Was the motive behind the invasion of Iraq anything other than the arrogance of the then US administration and the mounting pressures on the part of the possessors of wealth and power to expand their sphere of influence seeking the interests of giant arms manufacturing companies affecting a noble culture with thousands of years of historical background, eliminating the potential and practical threats of Muslim countries against the Zionist regime or to control and plunder the energy resources of the Iraqi people?

Why, indeed, almost a million people were killed and injured and a few more millions were displaced? Why, indeed, the Iraqi people have suffered enormous losses amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars? And why was billions of dollars imposed on the American people as the result of these military actions? Was not the military action against Iraq planned by the Zionists and their allies in the then US administration in complicity with the arms manufacturing countries and the possessors of wealth? Did the invasion of Afghanistan restore peace, security and economic wellbeing in the country? The United States and its allies not only have failed to contain the production of drugs in Afghanistan, but the cultivation of narcotics has multiplied in the course of their presence. The basic question is that what was the responsibility and the job of the then US administration and its allies? Did they represent the countries of the world? Have they been mandated by them? Have they been authorized by the people of the world to interfere in all parts of the globe, of course mostly in our region? Are not these measures a clear example of egocentrism, racism, discrimination or infringement upon the dignity and independence of nations?

Ladies and gentlemen, who is responsible for the current global economic crisis? Where did the crisis start from? From Africa, Asia or from the United States in the first place then spreading across Europe and their allies? For a long time, they imposed inequitable economic regulations by their political power on the international economy. They imposed a financial and monetary system without a proper international oversight mechanism on nations and governments that played no role in repressive trends or policies. They have not even allowed their people to oversea or monitor their financial policies. They introduced all laws and regulations in defiance of all moral values only to protect the interests of the possessors of wealth and power. They further presented a definition for market economy and competition that denied many of the economic opportunities that could be available to other countries of the world. They even transferred their problems to others while the waves of crisis lashed back plaguing their economies with thousands of billions of dollars in budget deficit. And today, they are injecting hundreds of billions of dollars of cash from the pockets of their own people and other nations into the failing banks, companies and financial institutions making the situation more and more complicated for their economy and their people. They are simply thinking about maintaining power and wealth. They could not care any less about the people of the world and even their own people. Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen, Racism is rooted in the lack of knowledge concerning the root of human existence as the selected creature of God. It is also the product of his deviation from the true path of human life and the obligations of mankind in the world of creation, failing to consciously worship God, not being able to think about the philosophy of life or the path to perfection that are the main ingredients of divine and humanitarian values which have restricted the horizon of human outlook making transient and limited interests, the yardstick for his action. That is why evil's power took shape and expanded its realm of power while depriving others from enjoying equitable and just opportunities of development. The result has been the making of an unbridled racism that is posing the most serious threats against international peace and has hindered the way for building peaceful coexistence in the entire world. Undoubtedly, racism is the symbol of ignorance which has deep roots in history and it is, indeed, the sign of frustration in the development of human society.

It is, therefore, crucially important to trace the manifestations of racism in situations or in societies where ignorance or lack of knowledge prevails. This increasing general awareness and understanding towards the philosophy of human existence is the principle struggle against such manifestations, and reveals the truth that human kind centers on the creation of the universe and the key to solving the problem of racism is a return to spiritual and moral values and finally the inclination to worship God Almighty. The international community must initiate collective moves to raise awareness in afflicted societies where ignorance of racism still prevails so as to bring to a halt the spread of these malicious manifestations.

Dear Friends, today, the human community is facing a kind of racism which has tarnished the image of humanity in the beginning of the third millennium. World Zionism personifies racism that falsely resorts to religions and abuses religious sentiments to hide its hatred and ugly face. However, it is of great importance to bring into focus the political goals of some of the world powers and those who control huge economic resources and interests in the world. They mobilize all the resources including their economic and political influence and world media to render support in vain to the Zionist regime and to maliciously diminish the indignity and disgrace of this regime. This is not simply a question of ignorance and one cannot conclude these ugly phenomena through consular campaigns. Efforts must be made to put an end to the abuse by Zionists and their political and international supporters and in respect with the will and aspirations of nations. Governments must be encouraged and supported in their fights aimed at eradicating this barbaric racism and to move towards reform in current international mechanisms. There is no doubt that you are all aware of the conspiracies of some powers and Zionist circles against the goals and objectives of this conference. Unfortunately, there have been literatures and statements in support of Zionists and their crimes. And it is the responsibility of honorable representatives of nations to disclose these campaigns which run counter to humanitarian values and principles. It should be recognized that boycotting such a session as an outstanding international capacity is a true indication of supporting the blatant example of racism. In defending human rights, it is primarily important to defend the rights of all nations to participate equally in all important international decision making processes without the influence of certain world powers. And secondly, it is necessary to restructure the existing international organizations and their respective arrangements. Therefore this conference is a testing ground and the world public opinion today and tomorrow will judge our decisions and our actions.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, the world is going through rapid fundamental changes. Power relations have become weak and fragile. The sound of cracks in the pillars of world systems can now be heard. Major political and economic structures are on the brink of collapse. Political and security crises are on the rise. The worsening crisis in the world economy for which there can be seen no bright prospect, demonstrates the rising tide of far-reaching global changes. I have repeatedly emphasized the need to change the wrong direction through which the world is being managed today and I have also warned of the dire consequences of any delay in this crucial responsibility. Now in this valuable event, I would like to announce to all leaders, thinkers and to all nations of the world present in this meeting and those who have a hunger for peace and economic well-being that the unjust economic management of the world is now at the end of the road. This deadlock was inevitable since the logic of this imposed management was oppressive. The logic of collective management of world affairs is based on noble aspirations which centers on human beings and the supremacy of the almighty God. Therefore it defies any policy or plan which goes against the influence of nations. The victory of right over wrong and the establishment of a just world system has been promised by the Almighty God and his messengers and it has been a shared goal of all human beings from different societies and generations in the course of history. Realization of such a future depends on the knowledge of creation and the belief of the faithful. The making of a global society is in fact the accomplishment of a noble goal held in the establishment of a common global system that will be run with the participation of all nations of the world in all major decision making processes and the definite root to this sublime goal.

Scientific and technical capacities as well as communication technology have created a common and widespread understanding of the world society and has provided the necessary ground for a common system. Now it is upon all intellectuals, thinkers and policy makers in the world to carry out their historical responsibility with a firm belief in this definite root. I also want to lay emphasis on the fact that Western liberalism and capitalism has reached its end since it has failed to perceive the truth of the world and humans as they are. It has imposed its own goals and directions on human beings. There is no regard for human and divine values, justice, freedom, love and brotherhood and it has based living on intense competition, securing individual and cooperative material interest. Now we must learn from the past by initiating collective efforts in dealing with present challenges and in this connection, and as a closing remark, I wish to draw your kind attention to two important issues: Firstly, it is absolutely possible to improve the existing situation in the world. However it must be noted that this could be only achieved through the cooperation of all countries in order to get the best out of the existing capacities and resources in the world. My participation in this conference is because of my conviction to these important issues as well as to our common responsibility of defending the rights of nations vis-à-vis the sinister phenomena of racism and being with you, the thinkers of the world. Secondly, mindful of the inefficiency of the current international political, economic and security systems, it is necessary to focus on divine and humanitarian values by referring to the true definition of human beings based upon justice and respect for the rights of all people in all parts of the world and by acknowledging the past wrong doings in the past dominant management of the world, and to undertake collective measures to reform the existing structures.

In this respect, it is crucially important to rapidly reform the structure of the Security Council, including the elimination of the discriminatory veto right and to change the current world financial and monetary systems. It is evident that lack of understanding of the urgency for change is equivalent to the much heavier costs of delay. Dear Friends, beware that to move in the direction of justice and human dignity is like a rapid flow in the current of a river. Let us not forget the essence of love and affection. The promised future of human beings is a great asset that may serve our purposes in keeping together to build a new world. In order to make the world a better place full of love and blessings, a world devoid of poverty and hatred, merging the increasing blessings of God Almighty and the righteous managing of the perfect human being, let us all join hands in friendship in the fulfillment of such a new world. I thank you Mr. President, Secretary General and all distinguished participants for having the patience to listen to me. Thank you very much. HN/AR/SME/MMA

LINKS RESEARCH
http://www.infowars.com/jesus-missing-from-obamas-georgetown-speech-nice-pyramid-symbolism-though/
PICTURES
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46667

THIS OBAMA IS SUCH A MUSLIM HIPPOCRITE ITS REDICULAS,CLAIMING HIMSELF A CHRISTIAN HE NOTHING BUT A LIER IN EVERY WAY.

Jesus Missing From Obama’s Georgetown Speech; Nice Pyramid Symbolism, Though
Cryptogon April 17, 2009

I didn’t even notice that at first, but because of the nature of the story, I took a closer look at the picture that went along with it. And… Boo! I threw the lines on there to make it stand out a bit more. See the story for the original.Obviously a coincidence.The full text of the speech is here, in case anyone is interested.Via: NBC Washington:Amidst all of the American flags and presidential seals, there was something missing when President Barack Obama gave an economic speech at Georgetown University this week — Jesus.The White House asked Georgetown to cover a monogram symbolizing Jesus’ name in Gaston Hall, which Obama used for his speech, according to CNSNews.com.The gold IHS monogram inscribed on a pediment in the hall was covered over by a piece of black-painted plywood, and remained covered over the next day, CNSNews.com reported.More: Pics of the Boarded up Pediment.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

2 killed in Ala. as storm sweeps across Southeast AccuWeather By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 20, 11:27 am ET

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A line of storms swept across the Southeast with 70 mph winds and possible tornadoes, killing two people in their mobile homes in north Alabama, authorities said Monday.The severe weather knocked down trees, power lines and damaged homes in Georgia and Alabama on Sunday night. The National Weather Service in Huntsville said the storms struck six counties in the Tennessee Valley.Thunderstorms, rain and possibly more severe weather was forecast for the Southeast coast Monday.

In Morgan County, Ala., Robert Irwin, 63, apparently was sitting on a couch in his mobile home watching television coverage of the storms when two trees crashed down and killed him, said Coroner Russ Beard.He probably never did see anything coming, Beard said. Irwin's son was in another part of the mobile home and not hurt, Beard said.In adjacent Marshall County, a storm blew a mobile home across a road, throwing a couple out of it, Coroner Marlon Killion said. Janice Salters, 58, was killed and her husband, Wayne Salters, was seriously injured, Killion said.To the south, the weather service said it was investigating possible tornadoes in Hale, Russell, Shelby and Blount counties.Forecasters said hundreds of trees were blown down in Hale County southwest of Birmingham, and flash floods covered roads across north Alabama.In Georgia, a child was cut and bruised when a tree fell onto the roof of a house in Cherokee County, north of Atlanta. At least a dozen homes were damaged.

Flood-threatened town urges residents: Stay out Elliot Abrams AccuWeather APR 20,09

VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Town officials on Monday urged residents to stay out of town and out of the way while they wait for the Sheyenne River to retreat and work to fix flood damage to the sewer system.Mayor Mary Lee Nielson told businesses to stay closed for at least this week, unless they are absolutely needed.Nielson also had asked residents on Friday to leave the city of about 7,000 after river water overwhelmed the sewer system.But Nielson said Monday she was seeing more traffic, and the North Dakota National Guard had said late Sunday that only 423 homes in Valley City were evacuated.Obviously, I'm worried about that, Nielson said. People may not understand the consequences of putting more pressure on the city's fragile roads, bridges and services, she said.In addition, high water has closed seven of the town's eight street bridges, reducing the routes available for emergency vehicles, she said.

Nielson said the town's flood-damaged sewer system was still not usable, although the town had begun pumping sewage into a holding lagoon rather than directly into the river.We'll be using portable potties, probably for another month,the mayor said.The Army Corps of Engineers said it had reduced the amount of water released from the Baldhill Dam upstream.Corps spokesman Mark Davidson says hydrologists believe the Sheyenne has crested at towns above the dam.Southwest of Valley City in LaMoure County, the National Guard placed more than 290 one-ton sandbags in an effort to slow erosion of an emergency spillway at a dam along Cottonwood Creek. Authorities said it is about 20 miles from the nearest community and the greatest flood threat is to farms and roads.National Guard Lt. Col. Rick Smith said Monday that the spillway was eroding so quickly that the Guard had ordered up 10 commercial dump trucks full of rock to build a secondary dike. The erosion was under control by late afternoon, he said.Also on Monday, Amtrak said it is resuming service between St. Paul, Minn., and Fargo on its Empire Builder passenger train but will have to detour around three other North Dakota cities due to flooding.The railroad had to suspend service in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota last week because of flooding on the tracks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS TUE APR 21,2009

09:30 AM -9.12
10:00 AM -7.89
10:30 AM -30.59
11:00 AM -5.10
11:30 AM +50.65
12:00 PM +72.95
12:30 PM +62.04
01:00 PM +69.69
01:30 PM +62.20
02:00 PM +68.33
02:30 PM +87.61
03:00 PM +84.10
03:30 PM +118.83
04:00 PM +127.83 7969.56

S&P 500 850.08 +17.69

NASDAQ 1643.85 +35.64

GOLD 884.70 -2.80

OIL 46.51 +0.63

TSE 300 9249.37 +123.22

CDNX 974.56 -0.87

S&P/TSX/60 862.24 +7.67

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -10.65%
S&P -7.85%
Nasdaq +1.98%
TSX Advances 469,declines 1,068,unchanged 254,Volume 2,393,687,194.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 282,Declines 492,Unchanged 361,Volume 170,655,803.

Dow -40 points points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -48 points at low today.
Dow +17 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $893.10.OIL opens at $44.87 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -50 points at low today so far.
Dow +135 points at high today so far.

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 1,782,declines 1,622,unchanged 108,New Highs 3,New Lows 30.
Volume 2,550,859,679.
NASDAQ Advances 1,379,declines 1,036,unchanged 137,New highs 7,New Lows 16.
Volume 705,442,728.
TSX Advances 485,declines 665,unchanged 248,Volume 659,366,626.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 181,Declines 223,Unchanged 238,Volume 66,597,831.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -50 points at low today.
Dow +135 points at high today.
Dow +1.63% today Volume 424,014,390.
Nasdaq +2.22% today Volume 2,147,483,648.
S&P 500 today Volume N/A
12.8 TRILLION WAS THE LAST BANK ROBBERS REPORT I HAD IT MUST BE 14 TRILLION ROBBED AND PILIGING AMERICA BY THE FED AND TREASURY AND BANKS NOW.

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

IMF GLOBAL GOVERNMENT NEWS
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/key/quotav.htm

IMF NEWS CONFERENCE
http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.asp?eventid=1440
http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.asp?eventID=1463
IMF GLOBAL STABILITY FINANCIAL REPORT
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/gfsr/2009/01/index.htm

Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics Launches G-20 Statistical Website Press Release No. 09/133 April 21, 2009

The Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics has today launched a new web site covering economic and financial data of the Group of 20 economies. Part of a multi-pronged response to the global financial crisis, the Principal Global Indicators website will help those monitoring economic and financial developments in systemically important countries.

The url for the website is: http://financialdatalink.sharepointsite.net/

The web site presents data available at participating agencies covering the financial, governmental, external, and real sectors for the G-20 economies, and provides links to data in websites of international and national agencies.The site is a joint undertaking of the Inter-Agency Group and is hosted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Inter-Agency Group intends to further develop the site, enhancing the range of relevant indicators and broadening country coverage. The Group is also soliciting public feedback on the contents of the data site. Please send comments to StatisticsQuery@imf.org

Note to Editors

The Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics was created at the end of 2008, and comprises representatives of the Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank, Eurostat, the IMF, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, and the World Bank. The group is chaired by the IMF.

Statement by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Colombia
Press Release No. 09/131 April 20, 2009
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09131.htm

Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made the following statement today:I welcome the announcement by finance minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga and central bank governor José Darío Uribe that Colombia is interested in a one-year precautionary arrangement under the IMF’s Flexible Credit Line (FCL) for 900 percent of quota (SDR 6.97 billion or about US$10.4 billion). I am very pleased by this positive response to the invitation I extended to strongly performing economies to use this new instrument to bolster international confidence on the strength and sustainability of their policy framework.Colombia has a sustained record of sound economic policies, and has very strong economic fundamentals and institutional and policy frameworks. The Colombian authorities’ have responded appropriately to the global financial crisis, and have demonstrated a commitment to maintaining this solid record. I therefore intend to move ahead rapidly in seeking approval by the Fund's Executive Board of Colombia's request for an FCL arrangement.

The FCL is an instrument established on March 24, 2009 that is available to Fund member countries deemed to possess very strong fundamentals, policies, and track records of policy implementation (see Press Release No. 09/85). Access to an FCL arrangement is based on the requesting country having met these criteria, rather than on fulfilling ex-post performance criteria.

BLOOMBERGS REPORT MARCH 31,09 OWN A BANK AND ROB AMERICA....SIMPLE
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=armOzfkwtCA4&refer=patrick.net

Is $12.8 Trillion Even Comprehendable?
Last Wednesday, Bloomberg News published what can only be a mind-boggling number, writing:The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s. (emphasis added)

New pledges from the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. include $1 trillion for the Public-Private Investment Program, designed to help investors buy distressed loans and other assets from U.S. banks. The money works out to $42,105 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and 14 times the $899.8 billion of currency in circulation. The nation’s gross domestic product was $14.2 trillion in 2008.(emphasis added)They added that amount has increased 73% since November when they first estimated the funding, loans and guarantees at $7.4 trillion. Bloomberg provides a table that details how the Fed and the government have committed the money on behalf of American taxpayers over the past 20 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Considering that the current federal budget is north of $3 trillion and that the Obama administration has proposed a budget of $3.6 trillion for the FY 2010 fiscal year, the number $12.8 trillion is nothing short of mind-boggling.To see who Congress thinks will pay for it, see Michael Ramirez’s April 7, 2009 cartoon. And it’s not the current generation, either!HT Mark Levin's reading list for 4/1/09.
Posted by ElGrowlerGrande on April 6, 2009 09:56 PM

CARBON TAX WORLD TAX PAYED TO IMF,WORLD BANK - AUDIO
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95641

Russia invites Europe to join new energy charter
ANDREW RETTMAN Today APR 21,09 @ 09:26 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Russia has floated plans for a new global treaty on trade in fossil and nuclear fuel in an attempt to consign to history an earlier pact, the 1991 Energy Charter Treaty.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev unveiled the project at a press conference with Finnish head of state Tarja Hallonen in Helsinki on Monday (20 April).Our task today is to maintain, or rather ensure for the future, the balance of producers of energy resources, transit states and consumers of energy resources, he said.A detailed paper has been sent to G20 and G8 members as well as Russia's allies and neighbours. Talks at the EU level are to begin as soon as possible.The new pact is to cover oil, gas, nuclear fuel, coal and electricity and to include the US, China and India as well as European countries.It is aimed at replacing the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), which gives legal protection to Western energy investors in the former Soviet bloc and sets out rules on gas transit.The charter has 51 signatories, including the EU states and Russia. But Russia has not ratified it, saying it gives an unfair advantage to Western firms.We have not ratified these documents and do not consider ourselves bound by them,Mr Medvedev said.

The new initiative has a bearing on a major lawsuit in The Hague, where shareholders of the bankrupt Yukos oil firm have attacked Russia on the basis of the 1991 charter.

Russia broke up and sold off Yukos five years ago after its CEO tried to mount a political challenge.Russia cannot unilaterally cancel the ECT,the ex-Yukos side's lawyer, Tim Osborne, told EUobserver. The [arbitration] tribunal will decide whether or not Russia is provisionally bound, not Russia.Mr Medvedev's project could also impact EU-Russia negotiations on a new bilateral treaty, which was supposed to preserve the legal principles of the ECT. Analyst Pierre Noel of the European Council on Foreign Relations says Russia and Germany have worked together on the new global pact, which is likely to have Berlin's support.But he predicted the agreement will be too vague to improve EU energy security.A treaty is only worth signing if it limits the room for manoeuvre of the people signing it. This is what the ECT is, he said. The Russians want to put on the table a treaty that will not constrain anyone.They want to be free in the way they treat investors,Mr Noel added.

The Nord Stream question

The Medvedev-Hallonen meeting also saw Finland withhold support for the Nord Stream gas pipeline for the time being. Ms Hallonen said Helsinki will in June give more details on its evaluation of the Russian-German pipeline's potential ecological impact on the Baltic Sea.Russian analysts say Finland is using the ecology card to secure better rates on timber imports from Russia for its pulp and paper companies.

AUDIONETDAILY Greenhouse taxes to raise cost of everything,They lead to disastrous end April 20, 2009 10:07 pm Eastern 2009 WorldNetDaily

A spokesman for the Institute for Energy Research says greenhouse gas taxes that are going to be implemented by the Obama administration – with or without help from Congress – will raise the cost of everything.Dan Kish, vice president for policy at the organization, said Obama talked about his plans already on the campaign trail before he took office. The question is would they do that knowing it would increase the price of everything and export jobs?he said. The answer? Yes. His comments came in an interview with Greg Corombos of Radio America/WND, and the audio of the discussion is embedded here: Kish said Obama has made it clear the new regulations and taxes are coming whether Congress wants it or now. He said the proposal is being developed to have the Environmental Protection Agency impose the changes by rule if Congress doesn't give Obama exactly what he wants. He said although it will take a little time to implement, it is, in his opinion, the largest attempt to extend government control of anything that I can think of in history.But he said the still-unanswered question remains what voters will think of massive energy tax hikes, already estimated at thousands of dollars per year per household. Voters when they start seeing their bills will not be pleased,he warned.

http://www.infowars.com/a-crash-this-way-cometh/
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/moriarty/moriarty042009.html

A Crash this way Cometh
Bob Moriarty Apr 20, 2009

At Joe Martin's Vancouver Gold show in January of 2008 I predicted a major stock market crash in October. My speech was titled Derivatives and the Crash of 2008.It came true.In October/November I was predicting a market rise into March/April of 2009. We got it.I'm going to crawl way out on a limb. A major crash this way cometh.The stock markets have gone up for six straight weeks. That's a pretty strong sign of a top. Our financial system continues to come unglued as Goldman Sachs leads the looting of the treasury after a financial coup d'état that has stolen $46,000 from each taxpayer to hand it over to the banks now running the country. After over $13.6 trillion has been poured into the banking system, I cannot see that a person I know has been enriched by even a single cent but each American is now indebted to the tune of an additional $46,000.It's going to end badly. We are not at the bottom; we aren't even near the bottom. In terms of the Great Depression, we are in 1931 or so; the bottom is ahead of us. I expect the dollar to default in the next few months after a General Motors and Chrysler bankruptcy convinces everyone that we are truly in a depression.US Bonds are on the brink of a collapse. When they do, the dollar will tank and interest rates soar. As measured by John Williams at ShadowStats.com, the real pre-Clinton unemployment rate is above 20%.I've called for riots by summer but even I have been startled by the number of mass murders in the United States in the last month or so. It's the economy, stupid.It's going to get worse, much worse as the insane financial policies of both political parties over the past fifty years come to their inevitable conclusion. The United States is bankrupt and soon the rest of the world will realize it. The days of writing checks in the firm belief the rest of the world will not cash them are over. The United States has had 89 years of being able to live beyond our means as a result of being the world's reserve currency. It's over and the deconstruction of the United States has begun.

The risk of World War III being ignited by a US/Israeli attack on Iran has diminished considerably under Obama. However daily pronouncements out of Israel serve to remind us that a Zionist nuclear attack on Iran is still the #1 goal of Israel notwithstanding the 16 US intelligence agencies that all conclude Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program. Israel made it clear under the Clean Break from the Peace Process that they intend to attack anyone who might be a threat to them at some point in the future, no matter how distant.Derivatives as measured by the BIS showed as $684trillion [pdf] as of last June. A more current report will come out in a month. I expect it to show an increase in OTC derivatives. That's insane.I saw the danger in the mere size of derivatives in January of 2002. They were out of control then. Now they are seven times larger and growing. And not a single expert in the Obama administration understands the danger of a $700 trillion dollar casino with no regulation and everyone playing with monopoly money. It allows companies such as Goldman Sachs to destroy companies, indeed countries with no risk to themselves. After all, the taxpayers of the United States have assumed all the risk of failure.

Gold is a safe haven and will remain a safe haven. Paper gold may well disappear along with all the other monopoly money assets. We are in for another massive deleveraging that may well drag precious metals shares with it. The safest shares to be in will be those of producing gold and silver companies.Hunker down. This summer is going to get really fugly. [Editor's note: Fugly - I do LOVE this word.]Bob Moriarty President: 321gold.

Canada's Flaherty says serious recession persists By Ros Krasny – Mon Apr 20, 1:48 pm ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Canadian Finance Minister James Flaherty said on Monday he is seeing some small encouraging signs for the country's economy, but that Canada remains in a serious recession.We will continue to have serious challenges; this is a difficult year, Flaherty said on the sidelines of a Chicago Federal Reserve Bank conference on financial literacy.Among the positives, the Canadian bond market is functioning well again and there are some encouraging signs in capital markets,he said.Asked about the possibility that more measures to boost Canada's economy will be needed, Flaherty said that stimulus already in place is just entering the economy now.The fiscal year started April 1 and the major investments are happening in the first quarter -- April, May, June. We need to make those investments and see where we stand,he said.The Bank of Canada is due to meet this week about possible additional measures it can take to stimulate the country's economy beyond rate cuts.Like the U.S. Fed, the BOC has cut interest rates drastically -- in Canada's case to 0.5 percent -- in an attempt to pull the country out of recession.Many market participants expect some form of quantitative easing to be attempted in Canada by the end of the second quarter now that rates are at rock-bottom.Flaherty said a recovery in the banking sector is essential to reviving economic growth.

There are still issues with respect to some of the American banks and some of the European banks. The primary point that we've been making internationally is that fixing the banks is the sine qua non of economic recovery, he said.I'm encouraged by what (U.S. Treasury Secretary) Tim Geithner is doing in terms of stress-testing banks.
The Obama administration has said that results on the stress tests of the nation's 19 top banks would be released on May 4.(Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

GM cutting 1,600 U.S. salaried positions

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Corp said on Monday it is telling about 1,600 salaried U.S. employees this week to leave by May 1 as it scrambles to reduce costs under a restructuring mandated by the U.S. government.The reductions are part of GM's plan to slash its global salaried work force this year by about 10,000, or 14 percent. GM also aims to cut 37,000 hourly jobs worldwide by the end of the year.GM, which has been surviving on $13.4 billion of government loans since the beginning of the year, has until June 1 to prepare deep cuts in debt, labor costs, dealership network and brands to prove that it can return to profitability. The Obama administration has said the alternative would be bankruptcy.The cuts add to the thousands lost in the downturn for U.S. automakers that began in 2005 and has driven both GM and Chrysler LLC to the brink of failure with the added weight of the recession.Chrysler LLC, which also received $4 billion in government loans and is seeking an additional $3 billion, is currently offering buyouts to its U.S. hourly work force after cutting more than 8,000 salaried jobs in 2008.GM, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler have shed more than 140,000 jobs since 2005 and almost half of their workforce since the start of the decade.GM North American President Troy Clarke said in an email to employees that the cuts were needed to ensure GM's long-term viability. The 1,600 employees will be separated effective May 1, GM said.U.S. auto sales tumbled 38 percent to the lowest level in nearly three decades in the first three months of 2009, under the pressure of tight credit and low consumer confidence. GM's U.S. sales plunged 49 percent in the same period.GM's shares were off 19 cents, or 10 percent, at $1.67 IN afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Recession pits small banks against big banks By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press 2009-04-21 08:45 AM

The First National Bank in Staunton, Ill., is seen Wednesday, April, 8, 2009. The FDIC received a written response from this bank and thousands of others across the nation, overwhelmingly from small bankers, protesting the proposed special assessment the government wants to levy against all banks to shore up the FDIC fund, which is being drained by bank failures.The Mansfield Community Bank in Mansfield, Texas, Wednesday, April 8, 2009. The FDIC received a written response from this bank and thousands of others across the nation, overwhelmingly from small bankers, protesting the proposed special assessment the government wants to levy against all banks to shore up the FDIC fund, which is being drained by bank failures.First National Bank and Trust Company, left, is seen Sunday, April 5, 2009, on State Street in Newtown, Pa. The FDIC received a written response from this bank and thousands of others across the nation, overwhelmingly from small bankers, protesting the proposed special assessment the government wants to levy against all banks to shore up the FDIC fund, which is being drained by bank failures.

People enter First National Bank in Staunton, Ill., Wednesday, April, 8, 2009. The FDIC received a written response from this bank and thousands of others across the nation, overwhelmingly from small bankers, protesting the proposed special assessment the government wants to levy against all banks to shore up the FDIC fund, which is being drained by bank failures.The Mansfield Community Bank in Mansfield, Texas, is seen Wednesday, April 8, 2009. The FDIC received a written response from this bank and thousands of others across the nation, overwhelmingly from small bankers, protesting the proposed special assessment the government wants to levy against all banks to shore up the FDIC fund, which is being drained by bank failures.People walk in the early evening Friday, April 3, 2009, past First National Bank and Trust Company in Newtown, Pa. The FDIC received a written response from this bank and thousands of others across the nation, overwhelmingly from small bankers, protesting the proposed special assessment the government wants to levy against all banks to shore up the FDIC fund, which is being drained by bank failures.First they felt their reputations were stained by the financial meltdown. Now they're paying a price they protest is unfair.Small bankers are complaining loudly that they had nothing to do with the excesses of big Wall Street firms, freewheeling deals in the mortgage market and risky investments that precipitated the economic crisis.

Still, in the meltdown's wake, community bankers find themselves under tighter scrutiny from federal regulators. They say the $700 billion financial bailout has favored large institutions. And they are upset about a special assessment the government wants to charge to shore up the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund, which failed banks are draining.This all comes as the government, trying to stimulate the economy, pleading with banks big and small to lend, lend, lend.People on the street should be interested because community banks account for 45 percent of all small business loans, said Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America.They really are the engines of Main Street and if you have an overly aggressive and overly harsh examining atmosphere, then that causes the community banks to pull in their horns.Criticism of loan portfolios in community banks has become so harsh that community bankers say,I'll just stop making loans until this thunderstorm passes,Fine said. He said small banks can turn to other revenue-making practices for a time and wait out the harsh examination environment.The big bankers say banking examiners have become more prickly with them, too.We're hearing from Congress that we need to lend and we're hearing from examiners to shore up the balance sheets,said Scott Talbott, senior vice president for government affairs at the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents large financial firms. We are subject to incredible amounts of scrutiny.Bank consultant Bert Ely said he sees a disconnect between Washington and the banks across America.The bankers are saying that they're getting criticized on a lot of loans and that the examiners have gotten tougher,Ely said.Bankers are telling me that they are lending, but that a lot of the better borrowers don't want to borrow that people are pulling back, projects are getting postponed, people don't want to buy a new car.

Some small banks did get involved in risky lending practice that led to their demise. Other small banks were too weak to survive the recession. Most of the 40-plus banks that have failed since January 2008 had less than $10 billion in assets. But Fine said they represent only a fraction of the country's 8,000 community banks.He notes that more than $10 billion of the $17.8 billion in losses to the FDIC fund last year came from just one large bank IndyMac in Pasadena, California. On the other hand, while Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. caused a loud thud in September when it became the largest U.S. bank failure ever, it was taken over by JPMorgan Chase & Co. The deal was brokered by the FDIC and didn't cost the deposit insurance fund a dime.

What's really raised the ire of the community bankers, however, is the one-time, emergency assessment that all banks are being asked to pay to shore up the FDIC fund, which is struggling to back deposits in a rising number of failed institutions.The FDIC board expects bank failures will cost the fund about $65 billion through 2013. The law requires the insurance fund to be maintained at a certain minimum level of 1.15 percent of total insured deposits. Bank failures have sliced the amount in the deposit insurance fund to $18.9 billion as of Dec. 31, the lowest level since 1987. That compares with $52.4 billion at the end of 2007.Why are community banks paying for the sins of Wall Street banks? Dean Anderson, vice president of Lake Elmo Bank in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, wrote in one of thousands of protest letters the FDIC received over the assessment. Some community banks will not survive this outrageous assessment. I know it will cost our institution almost $400,000 for this unbudgeted item. ... The little guy is always the one who gets hammered and no one seems to care!
Connie Rohde, vice president at Brenham National Bank in Brenham, Texas, wrote: For years we community bankers have fiercely competed with the big guys for every deposit we could get to remain in business. These irresponsible banks were making the big profits, while we struggled to stay alive honestly. And now you are demanding us to bail them out! Can you not feel our frustration? The new emergency premium, to be assessed on the 8,305 federally insured institutions on June 30, will be 20 cents for every $100 of their insured deposits. That compares with an average premium of 6.3 cents paid by banks and thrifts last year.

Fine said the problem with the FDIC assessment lies with how it's calculated. It's partly based on the amount of domestic deposits an institution needs insured.Fine said more than 85 percent of the money that a community bank uses to conduct its business is from domestic deposits while the percentage is much lower for larger banks.We're getting the short end of the stick,Fine said.The assessment comes on top of an increase in regular premiums the FDIC charges institutions every year to insure regular accounts up to $250,000. Starting this month, the FDIC raised the regular insurance premiums to between 12 cents and 16 cents for every $100 in deposits, from a range of 12 cents to 14 cents.Large banks don't like the proposed FDIC assessment either, but they say every bank, regardless of size, must pay to insure their deposits. They say large banks already are putting more in the pot because some of the fees from two new programs aimed at easing the financial crisis are being diverted into the FDIC fund. And they point out that more small banks than big banks are failing and draining the fund.There is a statutory requirement for the FDIC that says they have to treat all institutions of every size fairly. You can't disadvantage one over the other,said Diane Casey-Landry, chief operating officer of the American Bankers Association, which represents both big and little banks. The reality is that the losses in banks that have been failing and the banks that are slated to fail and cost the deposit insurance fund going forward unfortunately are community banks.The multibillion-dollar financial bailout is another touchy subject for the small bankers who say the program has favored big financial institutions over smaller community banks. A majority of the bailout money is in just about 10 percent of the banks, but it was the bigger institutions that were the first priority for the program.Community banks weren't even allowed to try to get the money until about the first of the year, Fine said. I knew community banks that had applications pending for two and three months that didn't hear anything.Now, however, some community banks have decided not to apply, and some are even giving bailout money back.On the Net:http://www.icba.org/
http://www.aba.comhttp://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/2009/09comAD35.html

IAEA urges sticking to talks with North Korea, Iran By Chris Buckley – Mon Apr 20, 7:08 am ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday more talk and deeper trust were needed to defuse nuclear disputes with North Korea and Iran, and urged Washington to stick to dialogue with both states.ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he hoped North Korea, which expelled IAEA monitors last week, would soon invite them back and avoid confrontation, and that Iran would reciprocate recent friendly U.S. overtures by opening its nuclear activities to broader inspections.The only way to resolve these issues is not through flexing muscles,said ElBaradei. He was speaking at a news conference in Beijing during an international meeting on nuclear energy policy.He praised U.S. President Barack Obama's administration for backing dialogue with Tehran and holding out the hope of renewed six-party nuclear disarmament talks with Pyongyang, which recently launched a long-range rocket, drawing U.N. censure.I'm optimistic about the new environment,ElBaradei said of Obama's opening to Iran and calls to eventually end nuclear arms.The IAEA cannot directly broker negotiations over the nuclear disputes with North Korea and Iran. But ElBaradei's comments may bolster calls for patience and negotiations.There is no other solution apart from dialogue, ElBaradei said of North Korea, adding he hoped six-party talks, joining the United States, the two Koreas, Japan, Russian and host China -- talks North Korea has branded useless -- would resume.

We need to find a solution before (the North Koreans) begin building again their nuclear power arsenal. The longer we have this hiatus, the worse for the international community,he said.The IAEA monitors left North Korea last week after being ordered out by Pyongyang, which has raised regional tensions by saying it will abandon the six-party talks and restart the aged Yongbyon nuclear complex it had agreed to shut in an aid-for-disarmament deal reached by those talks.The IAEA was invited to monitor the moribund complex, which includes a reprocessing plant that makes plutonium that can be used for nuclear weapons.The U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket on April 5.

CRY FOR ATTENTION

The launch and subsequent pulling out of six-party talks are seen by analysts as a cry for attention and further leveraging for concessions.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the launch and recent nuclear threats, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.North and South Korea will have rare talks on Tuesday to discuss a joint factory park in the North, where the communist state has held a South Korean worker or about three weeks after he supposedly made derogatory comments about the North's leaders.

ElBaradei also called on Iran to reciprocate U.S. overtures.

The Americans took the first step. I hope the Iranians will reciprocate, and if we continue to move in the right direction then, yes, we should be able to find a solution,he said.The United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain said this month they would ask EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to invite Iran to a meeting to find a diplomatic solution to the long-running dispute. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said Iran was finalizing its response. There has been contradictory statements made by members of this group (six powers) but it was quite clear that the condition stipulated by the Islamic Republic of Iran calling for unconditional talks based on justice, mutual respect ... has been emphasized by us on several occasions,he said in Tehran.The IAEA has wrestled with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions, especially its efforts to enrich uranium, which can be a route to refining the fissile material for atomic weapons. Iran says it is developing enrichment technology for peaceful energy use. ElBaradei said Tehran could build on the opening from Washington by agreeing to more thorough inspections by the IAEA.

Iranian officials at the nuclear conference in Beijing said it was up to Western powers, especially the United States, to shift their position on Iran's nuclear program. Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, said his government was frustrated with what he called the politicization of the IAEA. As for the United States, he said:They have to change their fundamental foreign policy.The vice president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Saeidi, referring to scope for compromise on enrichment, said Western countries would need a new approach.
(Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul and Fredrik Dahl in Tehran; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jerry Norton)

Netanyahu: No second Holocaust against Jews By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 20, 3:15 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday not to allow Holocaust deniers the chance to carry out a second Holocaust against the Jewish people.He spoke at the ceremony marking Israel's annual memorial day for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazis and their collaborators during World War II, but the event fell under the shadow of a U.N. anti-racisim conference in Geneva perceived in Israel as anti-Semitic.Netanyahu criticized the president of Switzerland for meeting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference. Netanyahu said the Iranian leader, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, has denied the existence of the Holocaust.We will not allow the Holocaust deniers to carry out another Holocaust against the Jewish people. This is the supreme duty of the state of Israel. This is my supreme duty as prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu said, speaking at Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial and study center.Earlier Monday at the conference in Geneva, the Iranian president accused Israel of being the most cruel and repressive racist regime and the West of using the Holocaust as a pretext for aggression against Palestinians. His comments prompted European diplomats to walk out of the conference.In research released to coincide with the memorial day, a study found that anti-Semitic incidents worldwide declined in 2008 but spiked during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip in January. A demographer calculated that if the Holocaust had not occurred, the world's Jewish population would be more than double now.

Also, Yad Vashem has been upgrading its Web site to offer research tools. Its latest entry is The Untold Stories, devoted to documenting the massacres of Jews in small and medium-sized communities that had been lost to history.In its annual report on anti-Semitism, The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University found that anti-Jewish incidents dropped 11 percent in 2008, including 560 cases of violence, compared to 632 in 2007.But Israel's military offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip reversed the trend. The researchers estimated that there were 1,000 incidents during January, more than 10 times the number in January 2008.The study counted both violent incidents and verbal and visual expressions and said that 90 of the January incidents fit the violent category, three times the number of the previous January. While violent attacks dipped in February and March, verbal and visual anti-Israel and anti-Jewish expressions had not subsided.The Israeli researchers, working in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress, noted a theme in anti-Israel demonstrations: equating Israel with Nazi Germany, with signs incorporating the Israeli star with the Nazi swastika. The report said the intention was to underline that if Nazism, the monster of the modern era, has no right to exist, then the Jewish state and its supporters, too, should be eliminated.The mass slaughter of Jews in Europe has cost the Jewish people at least half its population, according to calculations by demographer Sergio DellaPergola of Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He built a model that projected that without the Holocaust, there would be between 26 million and 32 million Jews in the world today. DellaPergola said in an earlier study that as of the beginning of 2008, there were about 13 million Jews worldwide.He figured in several factors, including destruction of cultural frameworks, increased intermarriage as a way of avoiding oppression and the high proportion of children, more than 1 million, among the victims.

Untold Stories,the new feature on the Yad Vashem Web site, documents 51 small and medium sites in German-occupied areas of the former Soviet Union it says have not been chronicled up to now. At the top of the page is a picture of a scrap of paper with a few Yiddish lines on it, found in a woman's clothing at the site of a mass murder in Lithuania.My dearest, before I die, I am writing a few words,it says.We are about to die, 5,000 innocent people. They are cruelly shooting us.The memorial day, which began after sunset, continues Tuesday with the sounding of air-raid sirens for a nationwide minute of silence in memory of the victims, followed by an official wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem. In honor of the solemnity of the day, restaurants, bars and places of entertainment are closed in Israel.On the Web:
http://www.yadvashem.org/

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK ON AMERICA)

REVELATION 18:10
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.

Medvedev slams US plans for missile defense shield By MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 20, 1:31 pm ET

HELSINKI – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday that U.S. plans for a missile shield in Europe threaten to disrupt the weapons balance between the two countries.During a visit to Finland, Medvedev noted that Moscow could not reach agreement with the previous U.S. administration on missile defense, but said he expected to begin talks on the issue soon with President Barack Obama.When they met in London earlier this month, the two presidents did not address American preparations to deploy parts of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, but in their joint statement the United States acknowledged Russian concerns.

Russia is very concerned about unilateral efforts to develop missile shields that decidedly pose complications in the mutual balance of weapons,Medvedev said at the University of Helsinki.He said that a truly global missile shield should not serve the interests of only one country or alliance.One party should not decide the properties of such a shield but unfortunately that is happening now when decisions are being made in Europe,Medvedev said, in a speech translated to Finnish.Medvedev repeated plans, agreed with Obama in London, to begin talks soon to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which expires at year's end.We believe that this treaty should also limit nuclear warhead delivery systems, meaning intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based ballistic missiles and heavy bombers,the Russian president said. We believe it necessary to rule out the very possibility of deploying strategic offensive weapons outside national territory.

Earlier, after talks with Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Medvedev said he would present new proposals for energy cooperation with Russia's partners, insisting Russia was not bound by previous agreements, including the European energy charter.Russia has refused to sign the 1991 agreement, designed to give foreign investors a fair shot at its sizable energy sector and to respect market rules in gas and oil pricing and distribution.Medvedev gave no details about the new proposals but said he would send them to the G-8 and 20 leading economic countries.Russia has often raised problems concerning the transport of energy. Unfortunately, many international documents, including the European energy charter, have not brought solutions to these problems,he told reporters.We have not ratified those documents, and we don't believe we are bound by them.Most Russian gas supplies to Europe were cut off for weeks in January because of a price dispute between Moscow and Ukraine. The stoppage left millions of Europeans without heat during a cold spell and angered the European Union, which accused Russia and Ukraine of holding its citizens hostage to their standoff.Medvedev and Halonen also discussed security, Finnish-Russian border trade and a proposed gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea.On Tuesday, Medvedev was scheduled to visit the town of Porvoo near Helsinki, where Czar Alexander I declared Finland an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809.

Russia gives cautious response to Obama nuclear plan By Brett Young and Denis Dyomkin Brett Young And Denis Dyomkin – Mon Apr 20, 1:41 pm ET

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Russia responded cautiously on Monday to U.S. President Barack Obama's plans for a nuclear-free world, saying a number of conditions would need to be met for the vision to become reality.Obama pledged earlier this month in the Czech Republic to cut the U.S. nuclear arsenal, bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty into force and seek tough penalties for those that broke rules on non-proliferation.

On the first day of a two-day official visit to Finland, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a speech at Helsinki University that the topic of nuclear disarmament had become one of high hopes.We noted what was said by the U.S. president in Prague that (disarmament) can be reached under a number of conditions, Medvedev said. These conditions are fair, but I would want to cite more conditions needed to achieve such a treaty.Both Moscow and Washington see a chance to press the reset button on thorny relations driven to post-Cold War lows during the administration of Obama's predecessor George W. Bush.Medvedev and Obama agreed at their first meeting in London this month to start joint work on a successor to the START-1 nuclear arms reduction treaty, which expires in December.First talks on the new pact will begin in Rome later this month.Medvedev said Moscow's conditions include:

-- a ban on deploying nuclear arms in space
-- making it impossible to compensate for a cut in nuclear arms by building up of conventional forces
-- making sure nuclear weapons are destroyed and not just stockpiled.

He repeated Russia's longstanding concern about U.S. plans for a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, a plan promoted under the Bush administration and condemned by Moscow as an act of aggression aimed against it.Bush had said the shield was needed to counter threats from rogue states, but Obama's administration has been less assertive in pushing the plan, saying it would be reviewed for cost-effectiveness and viability.We are very concerned about the prospects of a unilateral deployment of anti-missile systems ... which complicates nuclear disarmament, Medvedev said.Truly global anti-missile defense cannot match the interests of only one or several states. Its parameters cannot be set unilaterally,he said.

HELSINKI PLUS

Medvedev also repeated Russia's call for a new security pact to replace NATO, an idea that initially got a cool response when first broached at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) meeting in Helsinki in December.Russia has said NATO is a Cold War relic. It wants a legally binding pact enshrining arms control, a commitment not to use force, and guarantees that no single state or group of states can take a dominant role in the continent's security. Russia invites all European organizations to agree on comprehensive, modern and effective rules of the game, Medvedev said, referring to it as Helsinki plus,a reference to the 1975 Helsinki Accords that regulated Cold War security ties. The start of such talks on a European security treaty could be given by a top summit with all Euro-Atlantic states, including the EU, NATO, OSCE ... regional organizations and states. We could there decide the best stage for talks and coordinate an agenda,he said. He gave no timetable for when such a meeting could happen. Medvedev noted that Russia had already cut troops and weaponry from its western outpost of Kaliningrad. We decided to reduce the number of troops in the Kaliningrad region, and have already withdrawn many heavy weapons ... (and cut) our forces there many-fold,he said. (Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov, writing by Brett Young; Editing by Charles Dick)

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

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

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).

DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)

REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)

Two Koreas attempt rare talks amid nuclear dispute By Jon Herskovitz APR 21,09

SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean delegation arrived in North Korea on Tuesday for rare talks between the political rivals that come as regional powers are trying to prevent reclusive Pyongyang from restarting its nuclear arms plant.South Korean officials have released few details on the talks over a joint factory park just north of the border requested by North Korea, but are seeking the release of a South Korean worker detained there for nearly a month for allegedly making derogatory comments about Pyongyang's leaders.Also at stake may be the future operations of the Kaesong Industrial Park, where South Korean firms use cheap North Korean labor and land to make goods, and the cash-strapped North receives a steady flow of foreign currency in return.The South's nine-member economic delegation has yet to sit down with the North Koreans because the two sides could not decide on where to hold the talks or the format of the discussions, a South Korea Unification Ministry spokeswoman told reporters.If the North, which is also holding two U.S. journalists captive, tries to do anything other than warn, fine or expel the South Korean worker, the South will make a strong response, spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said, declining to elaborate.North Korea, angered by the decision of President Lee Myung-bak after he took office a year ago to cut a steady flow of aid to his impoverished neighbor, has disrupted work at the park to put pressure on Seoul's government to drop its hard line.

NEEDS THE MONEY

North Korea has all but suspended dialogue with Lee's government and dubbed him a traitor to the nation for tying aid that helped prop up the North's wobbly economy to progress Pyongyang makes in giving up nuclear arms.But the North may be more dependent on the money generated by the Kaesong park due to an expected economic blow from a defiant rocket launch earlier this month widely seen as a disguised long-range missile test that violated U.N. resolutions.The U.N. Security Council chastised the secretive state for sending the rocket over Japan and called for tighter enforcement of existing sanctions.In response, Pyongyang has said it would boycott six-way nuclear disarmament talks, restart a plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium that was being dismantled under a deal reached at those discussions, and threatened war with the South if it joined a U.S. initiative to halt the proliferation of illicit weapons.

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday in Beijing more talk and deeper trust were needed to defuse the nuclear dispute with North Korea, and urged Washington to stick to dialogue.ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he hoped North Korea, which expelled IAEA monitors last week and conducted a nuclear test in October 2006, would soon invite them back.The latest nuclear rumblings from the North have not upset financial players used to the North's threats but worries may increase if the North restarts its aging Yongbyon nuclear plant and tries to produce more plutonium for bombs.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to visit Pyongyang this week to discuss the rocket launch and persuade the North back to the sputtering nuclear talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.(Additional reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul and Chris Buckely in Beijing; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

HEADLINE NEWSTurkish Cypriot vote result of disappointment with EU
HONOR MAHONY Today APR 21,09 @ 09:23 CET

The victory of nationalist hardliners in Sunday's parliamentary elections in northern Cyprus is due to disappointment at the EU's failure to end its isolation, Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat has said.The National Unity Party (UBP), which won the weekend poll, was able to take advantage from the Turkish Cypriot people's disappointment with the failure of the European Union and the international community to fulfil their pledges,Mr Talat told the BRTK television channel on Monday (20 April), reports AFP news agency.The final results of the election showed the UBP receiving around 44 percent of the vote and taking 26 seats in the 50-seat parliament, beating the governing left-wing Republican Turkish Party.The UBP favours a two-state solution and has called for international recognition of the Turkish-Cypriot breakaway state, recognised only by Ankara.The European Union had promised to take measures to end the economic isolation of northern Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots in 2004 strongly backed a UN blueprint to end the island's division.But its efforts have been stymied by Greek Cypriots, who rejected the UN plan shortly before Cyprus became a member of the EU.Reacting to the vote, the European Commission said it did not believe the nationalists' win would throw re-unification talks with the Greek part of the island off course.

We do not think that the outcome of the elections in the northern part of Cyprus should have a direct bearing on the negotiating process,said an enlargement spokesperson on Monday.The spokesperson stressed that Mr Talat remains in charge of negotiations for the Turkish side.UBP leader Dervis Eroglu on Sunday night said he would support the talks.The island has been divided into a Turkish Cypriot northern part and a Greek Cypriot southern part since 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to a Greek Cypriot coup seeking to unite with mainland Greece.

The European roots of Somali piracy
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today APR 21,09 @ 10:49 CET

EUOBSERVER / FEATURE - As global powers ratchet up the naval pressure off the coast of Somalia and the European Union this week prepares to play host to a major international conference on the growing scourge of piracy, very little attention is being paid to the other 'piracy' in the area - the decades of European illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters.The Brussels conference - to take place on Wednesday (22 April) and Thursday - will for the most part be a donors' conference that EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Cristina Gallach predicts will raise in the region of €200 million to bolster Somalia's anaemic security forces. Top EU officials, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the heads of the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the commanders of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia and the EU anti-piracy flotilla will attend. Most likely absent from the meeting will be any discussion of the role that years and years of European illegal activities have had in the origins of the piracy crisis.For any consideration of the roots of the problem, one must instead speak to Somalis themselves, environmental analysts, human rights campaigners and aid workers on the ground who are warning that unless the underlying causes are tackled, navies from the wealthier nations will only find themselves caught in another expensive, unwinnable guerilla war - except this time at sea instead of in the cities of the Middle East or the mountains of Central Asia.

State failure

The piracy is just one aspect, the symptom, of a wider, huge crisis in the country, Andrea Pattison, with development NGO Oxfam in Somalia, told EUobserver. Some 43 percent of the population, or over 3.2 million people, are in desperate need of aid and the situation is worsening because of extreme insecurity, four consecutive years of failed rains deepening the drought in large parts of the country and record high food prices limiting people's access to basic food and shelter.The UN has described the level of human suffering and deprivation in Somalia as shocking. Acute malnutrition rates across most of south and central Somalia are above the 15 percent emergency threshold, and only 29 percent of Somalia's population has access to clean drinking water, according to UNICEF.While the world has been quick to deal with the issue of piracy – the same cannot be said for action to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe engulfing nearly half of Somalia's population. It's time to show the same urgency about alleviating the suffering of millions of people,Ms Pattison said.The organisation believes that it is this crisis and the ongoing attacks on aid workers - some 40 have been killed since the beginning of 2008 - that should be top of the agenda, not the threat to commercial interests from piracy off the Somali coast.

Where the tuna is plentiful and lucrative

Analysts who have experience of the country that significantly predates the current crisis are frustrated with the way the story has been told so far in the media and with the bellicose rhetoric of politicians.One local analyst, who preferred not to be named due to the security situation in the country, told this website: The context that brought the situation about is utterly missing from almost all the discourse about the piracy problem, and that is the responsibility of European boats, particularly Spanish trawlers, who were fishing illegally in Somali waters.Off the coast of northern Somalia particularly, the tuna stocks are plentiful and very lucrative, she recounted. The illegal fishers sell on their catch to Japan and other eastern markets.Initially, Somalis were reacting to this,said the analyst. You find people here who will say: You know, kind of fair enough. They're only protecting what's theirs.This has probably developed into something a bit different now - more political and of course money-making.But it has to be understood that Somalia has been without a functioning government for 20 years and is basically a war economy, so if people are pushed into this to survive, well, why wouldn't they? Oceana, the environmental group that focuses on threats to the sea, has long been studying illegal fishing in the region. According to the group, within Somalia's exclusive economic zone waters, or EEZ, EU-flagged tuna vessels, particularly from Spain, regularly headed there to fish until 2006 when the pirate threat made it too dangerous. These fishing firms engaged in such practices even though there had not been any agreement negotiated between Somalia and the European Commission. The Spanish boats claimed what they were doing was legal because they had signed private agreements with Somalian officials or companies. However, it is up to the European Commission to negotiate fishing agreements with countries beyond the EU. This is currently the case with a number of African countries. As a result, from an EU perspective, no European fishing should be happening in Somali waters. The commission closed its eyes to this knowingly,Anne Schoeer, of the group's Madrid office, told this website.They were aware that Spanish boats were signing these private deals, which some analysts call protection money,with the warlords.A 2005 report from the Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG) for the UK government shows that the Somali economy loses an estimated €73 million a year due to illegal fishing. Other estimates put the figure as high as €230 million a year. On an annual basis, anywhere from 700 to more than a thousand boats have fished illegally since 1991 in the country's waters. It is not only Europe that is responsible: ships from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Yemen and Kenya have also engaged in illegal fishing, according to Somali experts, but since 2006, this has declined as it is too risky to get close to the coast. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero put an end to the practice in the same year, as his government said it could not provide protection.

Flags of convenience

Nathalie Charboneau, the European Commission's fisheries spokesperson, says that they are in touch with the member states including the Spanish authorities on a very regular basis.According to her, the Spanish authorities have informed the commission that the Spanish fishing community receives strict instructions not to transgress the Somali EEZ.She denies that European illegal fishing remains a problem. The commission does regular monitoring of VMS [vessel monitoring system] data from European fishing vessels and data records show that from 2005 to 2008 there were very few entries into Somali space.Particular attention will be paid to analysing future records in depth to assess whether incursions are taking place, if illegal fishing is going on and to what extent this can be curbed,she said. If incursions are spotted, relevant authorities will be asked for explanations.Though quibbling with the dates, Oceana recognises that since 2006 there have been no reports of EU-flagged vessels in Somali waters - essentially as a result of the piracy. However, illegal fishing by European-owned boats with flags of convenience continues to be reported - particularly Greek ships. According to the Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor update from April, these vessels belong to the Greek firm Greco Ltd. and have reportedly flown Cambodian and Panamanian flags.Earlier this month, Abdirahman Ibbi, the deputy prime minister and minister of fisheries and marine resources in the new Somali national unity government, said that an estimated 220 foreign-owned vessels were still engaged in unlicensed and illegal fishing in Somali waters, most of them of European origin.

Ms Schoeer wants the commission to advise European governments to take action against their nationals and companies that are engaged in illegal fishing and make sure tuna imports from the Indian Ocean are coming only from legal and licensed fisheries. Her group also wants the EU to help African countries to set up monitoring and control systems that guarantee only legal fishing takes place.Gustavo Carvalho, a researcher with Global Witness, a London-based NGO that focuses on human rights violations that are related to resource extraction, is scathing about the apparent unwillingness of European authorities to tackle this other form of piracy.The current piracy crisis has raised attention about Somali waters but the historical actions of illegal fishing in the region have been flagrantly ignored,he says, noting that such actions frequently take place with the use of heavily armed support. He says that the countries with strong economic interests in the region's fishing market are also among those most active in pushing for anti-piracy actions in both in the EU and the UN, pointing to Spain and France in particular.According to Mr Carvalho, one side-effect of the piracy is a reduction in the amount of illegal fishing. Why would someone buy an illegal fishing licence if there is still the threat of being hijacked by a pirate?

Dumping ground

But Somalis did not turn to armed conflict at sea only as a way to combat illegal fishing. This irregular, self-styled coast guard also set out to put an end to widespread use of their waters as essentially an exceedingly cheap landfill, scrap yard, toilet and nuclear storage site all rolled into one by foreign ships that have been dumping industrial, medical and even radioactive waste.As early as 2005, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned that the vicious tsunami of the previous December had broken up tonnes of rusting barrels of such waste illegally that had been dumped in the country's waters for years. Some 300 people died at the time from contact with the waste, while others, according to a UN report, notably in the regions near the northeastern coastal towns of Hobbio and Benadir, were afflicted with a range of respiratory and skin infections, mouth ulcers and bleeding, and abdominal haemorrhages at rates far above normal.When this began to happen, UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttal placed the blame squarely on European firms, saying that Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste from the early 1990s and continuing through the civil war.European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of waste there, costing as little as $2.50 a ton where disposal costs in Europe are something like $250 a ton, he said, detailing the many different kinds of waste: lead, heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury, and industrial, hospital and chemical waste. Over a decade ago, from 1997 to 1998, Greenpeace Italy and the Famiglia Cristiana newspaper uncovered evidence that Swiss-based Achair Partners and Progresso, an Italian waste broker had signed agreements with warlord Ali Mahdi to dump hazardous waste in Somali waters.It was the twin scourges of illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping, together with the almost total collapse of governance in the country that combined to foster the piracy that the EU flotilla and the navies of other industrialised nations are now battling.In the absence of any Somali coast guard, young vigilante fishermen took on the task themselves - even calling themselves the National Volunteer Coast Guard (NVCG), or the Somali Marines.Arming themselves, they intercepted the commercial fishing fleets and toxic dumpers and levied 'taxes' on passing ships, acts which later evolved into kidnapping and demanding ransoms.The ransoms that the pirates collect have even delivered mini economic booms to some towns. The pirate economy has transformed these areas, where people are now able to buy food, schooling and generators to provide them with electricity.

No Robin Hoods of the waves

Nevertheless, while illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping together combine with state failure as the root causes of the piracy, it is important not to romanticise the pirates as some Robin Hoods of the waves, warns Ali Abdulahi, a Somali analyst and CEO of a local management advisory firm, Amsas Consulting.Somalis have been catapulted into piracy by the illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping, he told EUobserver. However, there are two types of pirates, the first is a criminal element and the second are the original fishermen who have been displaced by the illegal fishing. But when you combine the two, it is very hard to distinguish one from the other, given the thousands of boats involved.After Somali warlords began to notice the profitability of piracy and the delivery of ransoms, they soon got into the game.

Abdi Ismail Samatar, a professor of geography at the University of Minnesota who has written widely on the political economy of the Horn of Africa, agrees with the businessman.There is a diverse opinion about the pirates amongst Somalis, he says. By and large, whether warlords or hijackers, most Somalis consider them criminals, but there is a wide gulf between this opinion and going so far as to support the military response of industrialised nations. Somalis are not sympathetic to the international community because in the past the international community has not been sympathetic to them.The two also agree that the armada that has been sent to take on the pirates will only exacerbate the situation.A preferable course of action would be programmes that bring aid and security to Somalia by engaging civil society actors rather than warlords or regional dictators, selecting Somali favourites or supporting the Ethiopian occupation,said Mr Samatar, referring to the 2006 Western-backed invasion of the country.Bringing security to the country would bring security to the coasts as well, he argues. Within a year, the coast would be secure - I'm convinced.

Can't dwell on the past

The UN Special Representative in Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, says that Europe does indeed have a lot to answer for, but he also says that recognising the problems of illegal fishing and toxic dumping and understanding the need for the EU's naval mission are not mutually exclusive.Ahead of a meeting in Mombasa, Kenya, with the high command of the EU's Atalanta mission, Mr Ould-Abdallah told this website he has been raising concerns about the issues for some time.There is no doubt that there is illegal fishing from Asia, Europe, but dwelling on this isn't helping, he added. So I also say that the international naval presence is very, very welcome. It deserves to be supported, enhanced and increased.But there must be linkages between the military solution and the humanitarian solution. It cannot be military alone.He lamented that some young people support or even join the pirates: I have great respect for their frustration, but in no country can the law be taken into the hands of individuals. Rather, it is the state that must tackle these problems.Meanwhile, illegal fishing and toxic dumping are not on the radar of the European Union's chief diplomat, Javier Solana. I am not aware of any specific issues of illegal fishing and this is the first time I have heard of any toxic dumping,said his spokeswoman, Cristina Gallach.

This is not to say this is not happening, but we have no information about this, she continued, adding that she had not heard that the UN Special Representative in Somalia had complained about the two issues.But it is the overarching issue of state failure that the Brussels international donors' conference aims to deal with, she said.The flotilla is there not just to deter and repress pirates, but also fundamentally to help humanitarian actions, to escort aid vessels and to escort ships supplying AU forces.She said that 20 World Food Programme vessels have been escorted to port by EU forces since last December, delivering 120,000 tonnes of food which in turn has fed, on average, more than 1.6 million people each day.Mr Samatar worries nevertheless that such humanitarian escorts are an afterthought and that the flotilla is more concerned about protecting the precious cargo that passes through the region's transit corridor, a vital link in world trade.I've often said that this option is the equivalent of trying to fight a guerilla war with a conventional army. And we know from Iraq and from history that this just doesn't work - guerilla wars last forever, unless you absolutely inundate the area with ships, which will only end up turning more people against them - you will not be able to contain it.Without solving the root causes of the piracy, it will not go away, so how long do the world's navies intend to stay there?