US WANTS BUNKER BUSTER FAST

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

Berlusconi says: Vote Tony for EU president
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today OCT 14,09 @ 17:23 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday (14 October) came out in favour of Forza Blair as president of the European Council.Tony Blair has all the credentials to become the first president of the European Council, Mr Berlusconi wrote in a letter that appeared in Il Foglio, a conservative daily.The Italian leader was responding to an editorial entitled Vote Tony, vote Tony! in the paper that had appeared on Monday.Dear editor, I absolutely agreed with your idea, even before you could think of it,the prime minister wrote.He added that the former British prime minister should be appointed to that post as soon as legally and politically possible.On Tuesday, the newspaper known for its Fox-news style neo-conservatism, said that Mr Blair's candidacy was an opportunity both for Europe and for Il Cavaliere.If Silvio Berlusconi, after the furious and embarrassing controversies of recent months, wanted to revive the activities of his government's international profile and give its political agenda a boost, he should exploit a tremendous opportunity: to fight for the nomination of former British prime minister Tony Blair as president of the European Council,the paper wrote.Europe had hope for a future, the article continued,only if a figure of great international calibre, able to warm hearts, to be respected outside Europe and perhaps even feared, but also able to identify the institutions with his leadership, is chosen.The paper said it could also ease tensions with the Italian centre-left opposition, as Mr Blair comes from their political family.

If the Italian leader is hoping to win over resistance to Mr Blair's coronation, he chose an unusual forum. Il Foglio is most known for its robust support of the Iraq war.It has often been said, even by his supporters, that if Mr Blair does not win the post, one of the biggest reasons will be the former prime minister's backing of the invasion of Iraq.The paper also cheered Mr Blair's conversion to Roman Catholicism and signed off the editorial: Forza Blair! echoing the name of Mr Berlusconi's former party.Mr Berlusconi's backing strengthens Mr Blair's chances, although it reinforces the perception that the battle over the ex-UK leader could shape up to be one between large and small EU states. The Benelux countries a week ago released a proposal for the position of European Council president and high representative for foreign affairs - essentially a foreign minister for the EU.The document has been widely interpreted as an anti-Blair move, as their job description of the office of president is closer to a paper-shuffler than a statesman. A Belgian diplomat was also quoted in Le Monde as saying that the anti-Blair interpretation is correct, although it is thought that the Netherlands is taking a softer line.Poland is expected to be releasing its own perspective on what sort of president Europe should have. Early signs suggest Warsaw's thinking is in line with Belgium and Luxembourg, with Poland's EU affairs minister Mikolaj Dowgielewicz recently saying the new appointee should not be a celebrity but should focus on consensus-building instead.

EU gives green light for Macedonia accession talks-Celebratory balloons were floated for the big bang round of enlargement in 2004 (Photo: European Commission)
HONOR MAHONY Today OCT 14,09 @ 17:26 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Wednesday (14 October) issued a series of assessments of countries hoping to join the EU and said enlargement should not be made a scapegoat of Europe's current economic problems.The reports contained the usual Brussels mix of criticism interspersed with praise and rewards for progress towards EU norms.The small republic of Macedonia was told that it was ready to start membership talks, a move that would put it on the same level as Croatia and Turkey in terms of EU relations.EU commissioner Olli Rehn, in charge of enlargement, said the Macedonian government should see the move as very strong encouragement to finally settle the name issue,however. The reference concerns an 18-year old dispute between Macedonia and neighbouring Greece about the use of the name Macedonia.

Croatia, hoping to join the EU in 2011, is nearing the finishing line after years of negotiations, said Mr Rehn, but needs to further tackle corruption and organised crime before negotiations can be concluded.The commission report urges Turkey to do more to ensure freedom of expression and freedom of religion as well as bolster the rights of women and trade unions.Ankara has been lagging far behind Zagreb in its EU progress in part due to poor relations with EU member Cyprus, with whom it still has to fully implement a customs agreement. Progress is also slow due to a lack of enthusiasm on the part of several member states for Turkish membership and the pace of Turkish domestic reform.But with Turkey itself lately taking a more bullish tone about what it can offer the EU in terms of energy security, Brussels was careful to stress the country's importance for energy supplies and promoting dialogue with civilisations.Of the remaining five entities - Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo - that want to join the EU, Mr Rehn had the most to say about Bosnia and Herzegovina.The war-torn country was recently given an ultimatum by the EU and the US to sort out internal problems between Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs by 20 October.

Defining the country as of paramount importance for the region and for the European Union,Mr Rehn said that Bosnia and Herzegovina could only consider an application for EU membership once it can stand on its own two feet.No quasi-protectorate can join the EU,he said, spelling out that the Office of High Representative would have to be closed down first. The post was created as part of the peace deal that ended the 1992-1995 war in the country, and can only be closed after a positive international assessment.Meanwhile, the Serbian government, which is being pushed to arrest two war crimes suspects from the 1990s, was praised for being stable and demonstrating a high degree of consensus on EU integration as a strategic priority.

But even as the EU tries to bind all of the countries of the western Balkans and Turkey ever more closely through political and economic ties and the promise of eventual membership, there are continuous doubts about whether it has the political appetite to go through with another large round of expansion.Apart from Croatia, strongly supported by Germany and where EU membership is virtually assured, internal EU question marks remain over the rest.It's important we don't scapegoat enlargement for some ills that were not caused by enlargement, Mr Rehn said, adding that the current economic crisis was not made in the streets of Belgrade but rather on Wall Street.

Parliament chief reminds EU of historical facts on Stalin-The newly restored Kurskaya metro station, complete with Soviet insignia on the roof (Photo: SergeyRod)
ANDREW RETTMAN Today OCT 14,09 @ 11:55 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Polish head of the EU parliament on Wednesday (14 October) underlined some basic facts about Joseph Stalin at an event held in the context of mounting historical revisionism in Russia.The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 23 August 1939, an agreement between Stalin and Hitler, carved up ownership of Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states, saw millions deported and led to the deaths of 760,000 Poles, many of them children,he said in his speech.We can never forget those victims for they are a reminder of where we come from, and show us how much we have achieved.The parliament president portrayed the EU as a guarantee that great powers will no longer make deals over the heads of smaller countries, including on energy security. What happened 70 years ago, that large states talked among themselves about the fate of small nations, has been made impossible by the European Union,Mr Buzek said.When we discuss energy security or the proposed pipelines across the Baltic Sea, the voice of the smallest has to be heard.The president's reference to Russia and Germany's plan to build a new gas pipeline bypassing Poland and the Baltic states recalls an informal remark in 2006 by the now Polish foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, that the Baltic Sea project is in the ...tradition of Molotov-Ribbentrop.A throng of politicians and historians from the Baltic states attended the one day-long EU parliament symposium to hammer home the importance of historical awareness.The speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, Irena Degutiene, equated Stalinist crimes with Nazi crimes and noted that the Soviet occupation and Stalinist terror totaled the loss of every third resident of Lithuania.We must continue doing the job in order to preserve the historical memory and, particularly, to deepen the knowledge and realisation by our societies (the young generation in particular) of what a large part of our and EU citizens had to go through,she said.

New history for new generation

The EU parliament seminar comes amid a new Russian campaign to rehabilitate the image of Stalin, who oversaw the deaths of millions of Russians but who also helped defeat Nazi Germany.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a World War II commemoration ceremony in Poland last month defended the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact on the basis that Western countries also made deals with Hitler.In September, a new Russian handbook for schoolteachers called History of Russia from 1945 to 2008 described Stalin as an efficient manager and his occupation of the Baltic states as entirely rational.Moscow authorities in August also opened a newly-restored 1950s metro station in the city, complete with Soviet insignia and a plaque saying: Stalin reared us on loyalty to the people. He inspired us to labour and heroism.The pro-Stalin campaign has fueled eastern European fears of a new wave of Russian imperialism, following Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008 and its recent attempts to influence the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine.A US decision to scrap plans for military bases in Poland and the Czech Republic has also raised concerns that Washington is no longer serious about its security promises to former Communist states.

MURDER

GENESIS 4:8-11 (THE FIRST MURDER)
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

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

EXODUS 20:13
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)

REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)

LUKE 21:25
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(OZONE DEPLETION) and in the moon,(FIRST MAN ON MOON) and in the stars;(JUPITER BOMBARDED ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;
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.

Report: Unsafe abortions kill 70,000 annually By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer – Tue Oct 13, 9:40 pm ET

NEW YORK – Increased contraceptive use has led to fewer abortions worldwide, but deaths from unsafe abortion remain a severe problem, killing 70,000 women a year, a research institute reported Tuesday in a major global survey.More than half the deaths, about 38,000, are in sub-Saharan Africa, which was singled out as the region with by far the lowest rates of contraceptive use and the highest rates of unintended pregnancies.The report, three years in the making, was compiled by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights and is a leading source of data on abortion-related trends. Researchers examined data from individual countries and multinational organizations.The institute's president, Sharon Camp, said she was heartened by the overall trends since Guttmacher conducted a similar survey in 1999, yet expressed concern about the gap revealed in the new report.In almost all developed countries, abortion is safe and legal,she said.But in much of the developing world, abortion remains highly restricted, and unsafe abortion is common and continues to damage women's health and threaten their survival.The report calls for further easing of developing nations' abortion laws, a move criticized by Deirdre McQuade, a policy director with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.We need to be much more creative in assisting women with supportive services so they don't need to resort to the unnatural act of abortion,she said.Guttmacher estimated previously that the number of abortions worldwide fell from 45.5 million in 1995 to 41.6 million in 2003 — the latest year for which global figures were available.

A key reason for that drop, the new report said, was that the portion of married women using contraception increased from 54 percent in 1990 to 63 percent in 2003 as availability increased and social mores changed. Guttmacher's researchers said contraceptive use had increased in every major region, but still lagged badly in Africa — used by only 28 percent of married women there, compared with at least 68 percent in other major regions.The report notes that abortions worldwide are declining even as more countries liberalize their abortion laws. Since 1997, it said, only three countries — Poland, Nicaragua and El Salvador — substantially increased restrictions on abortion, while laws were eased significantly in 19 countries and regions, including Cambodia, Nepal and Mexico City.Despite this trend, the report said 40 percent of the world's women live in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws, virtually all of them in the developing world. This category includes 92 percent of the women in Africa and 97 percent in Latin America, it said.The survey concluded that abortion occurs at roughly equal rates in countries where it is legal and where it is highly restricted. The key difference, according to the report, is the high rate of deaths and medical complications from unsafe clandestine abortions in the restrictive countries.Legal restrictions do not stop abortion from happening. They just make the procedure dangerous,Camp said. Too many women are maimed or killed each year because they lack legal abortion access.In one example, the report told of a Nigerian woman named Victoria who first tried to induce an abortion by drinking an herbal concoction, then consulted a traditional healer who inserted leaves in her vagina that caused internal injuries.The report estimated that 19.7 million of the 41.6 million abortions in 2003 were unsafe — either self-induced, performed by unskilled practitioners or carried out in unhygienic surroundings.Almost all of them occurred in less developed countries with restrictive abortion laws,said the report, which estimated that — beyond the tens of thousands of women killed annually from unsafe abortions — another 8 million women suffer complications because of them.

The report makes three major recommendations:
-Expand access to modern contraceptives and improve family planning services.
-Expand access to legal abortion and ensure that safe, legal abortion services are available to women in need.
-Improve the coverage and quality of post-abortion care, which would reduce maternal death and complications from unsafe abortion.

Camp, in an interview, said sub-Saharan Africa is the area of greatest concern to Guttmacher and like-minded groups. The status of women remains low in many of those countries, she said, while political and religious conservatives block efforts to liberalize abortion laws.Although the Vatican remains officially opposed to use of contraceptives, Camp said her institute had detected a shift in approach. The Catholic Church has informally at least stopped fighting against contraception to the degree it once did and put more of its energies into fighting abortion,she said. On the ground there are priests and nuns who refer people to family planning services.McQuade, of the Catholic Bishops Conference, said any priest or nun making such referrals was veering from church policy. She contended that use of artificial contraception could increase a women's health risks and said they would fare better using natural family planning methods approved by the church. Overall, the report is a good news/bad news story,said Susan Cohen, the Guttmacher Institute's director of government affairs, who hailed the decline in abortions and unintended pregnancies.
The bad news is that where most of the poor women live, throughout the developing world, unsafe abortion remains high, and women are dying as a result of it,she said. It's so preventable, and that's the tragedy.Associated Press writer Meera Selva in London contributed to this report. On the Net:http://www.guttmacher.org/

FALSE TEACHERS,PROPHETS,DECIEVERS

MATTHEW 24:4-5,11,24-25
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.

1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

MARK 13:22-23
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

DEUTORONOMY 18:10-12
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Rev. Moon marries thousands in global mass wedding By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer – OCT 14,09

ASAN, South Korea – Brides in white wedding gowns and Japanese kimonos joined grooms in black suits and red ties Wednesday for the Unification Church's biggest mass wedding in a decade — a spectacle church officials say involved some 40,000 people around the world.The blessing ceremony was the church's largest since 1999, and may well be the last on such a grand scale officiated by the 89-year-old Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church.Nearly a half-century after arranging the marriages of 24 couples in his first mass wedding, Moon blessed more than 10,000 couples gathered at Sun Moon University, the school he founded in Asan, south of Seoul.About half are marrying for the first time, some in marriages arranged by Moon himself; the rest are renewing their wedding vows. Officials said Moon also blessed 10,000 couples from Sweden to Brazil taking part in simultaneous ceremonies around the world.The mass wedding comes as Moon is moving to hand day-to-day leadership over to his children. The Rev. Moon Hyung-jin, the 30-year-old son tapped to take over religious affairs, insists his father remains in charge of the church and in good health.The massive global ceremony is meant to mark two key anniversaries in the leader's life: his 90th birthday and his 50th wedding anniversary, church official said.Row after row of brides in veils and grooms in white gloves — hailing from South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Europe — joined married couples renewing their vows. Earlier, they posed for photos, sang and practiced shouting Hurrah! as the wedding rehearsal got under way.I'm a little bit nervous, Rie Furuta, 25, admitted before the ceremony. She had her groom, Tadakuni Sano, both 25-year-olds from Japan, have met only three times since their marriage was arranged in March.

Dressed in an austere black suit, Moon sprinkled holy water toward the couples, who then exchanged rings. After blessing them, he led the crowd of 20,000 in a loud cheer. White confetti floated into the air.It's the realization of a dream I've had for so long. Taking part in a mass wedding only adds to the profoundness — I barely have the words to describe what I feel,Laudicea Corina de Padua, 40, said in Sao Paulo, Brazil.Dressed in a shimmering white gown, she was among some 2,000 people in 40 Brazilian cities who took part in the ceremony via simultaneous broadcast. Her mate, Manoel Marcelino dos Santos, a 38-year-old metalworker, was chosen for her by national church leaders.Marrying in this way, with so many other people around the world, will give more strength to our union, it feels like they are all a part of us,he said.Critics who accuse the church of engaging in cultlike practices say the mass weddings prove it brainwashes its followers. Many let Moon pick their spouses on the belief that he has divine insight, meeting their future spouses for the first time at the mass weddings.Moon, a self-proclaimed Messiah who says he was 15 when Jesus Christ called upon him to carry out his unfinished work, has courted controversy and criticism since founding the Unification Church in Seoul in 1954.He held his first mass wedding in the early 1960s, arranging the marriages of 24 couples himself and renewing the vows of 12 married couples.Over the next two decades, the weddings grew in scale and began to involve followers from around the world. A 1982 mass wedding at Madison Square Garden in New York, the first held outside South Korea, drew tens of thousands of participants — and protesters. The ceremonies had been smaller in recent years.

My wish is to completely tear down barriers and to create a world in which everyone becomes one,Moon said in his recent autobiography.In New York, 22-year-old Krystof Heller said his parents married in the 1982 mass wedding. He celebrated his marriage Wednesday to Maria Lee, 23, of South Korea. They've known each other for about four months.It's something you grow up with. It something you anticipate through your whole life,he said.It's not just about a mass wedding, there is the moral emphasis. The big crowd is just the perk.In Washington D.C., children played in the back as churchgoers watched the ceremony on a large screen flanked by the flags of South Korea, Japan and the United States.This is the best way to make peace,said Fumi Oliver, a native of Japan who married an American, the Rev. Zagery Oliver, 12 years ago.International, intercultural, interracial marriage is the best way to make peace.
Ceremonies also took place in an Oslo, Norway, apartment; a Stockholm, Sweden suburb; and in Japan, Venezuela and across the United States.The ceremony in Honduras marks a new start for the movement in the Latin American nation, said Omar Valle, president of the Unification Church in Tegucigalpa. He said 25 couples will renew their vows.Through this ceremony, we join a large global family, all as brothers,he said.Associated Press writers Bradley Brooks in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Catherine Shoichet in Mexico City and Jessica Gresko in Washington contributed to this report.On the Net:The Rev. Sun Myung Moon: http://www.reverendsunmyungmoon.org
Unification Church: http://www.unification.org

SEX SINS

1 CORINTHIANS 6:9,14-18
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

GALATIONS 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

SINS OF PEOPLE

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

MORE SIN SIGNS

EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Venezuela folk religion seen in secretive rituals By ARIANA CUBILLOS, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 13, 6:00 pm ET

SORTE, Venezuela – Thousands of Venezuelans congregated for candlelit rituals on a remote mountainside where adherents make an annual pilgrimage to pay homage to an indigenous goddess known as Maria Lionza.Many smoked cigars in purification rituals, while others closed their eyes lying face-up surrounded by candles and elaborate designs drawn on the ground with white powder.Some calling themselves the Vikings pricked their tongues with razor blades, drawing blood that ran down their chins and chests. They said they could not reveal the esoteric secrets that govern their traditions.The rituals, which began late last week and lasted through Monday, are held every year in the name of the indigenous goddess Maria Lionza, who according to legend came from the mountain at Sorte, near the northwestern town of Chivacoa.

Some repeated the word strength while dancing atop flaming embers in a ceremony honoring the goddess early Monday at the start of the annual Oct. 12 rituals. Many camped in tents while dedicating several days to the spiritual ceremonies.The traditions centered on Maria Lionza are hundreds of years old and draw on elements of the Afro-Caribbean religion Santeria and indigenous rituals, as well as Catholicism. Believers often ask for spiritual healing or protection from witchcraft, or thank the goddess for curing an illness.Venezuela is predominantly Roman Catholic. The church disapproves of the folk religion but has long since abandoned its attempts to suppress it.A statue on a Caracas highway divider honors Maria Lionza, depicting her naked and sitting astride a wild tapir.Followers of the sect regularly leave offerings of flowers, liquor, coins or fruit at shrines honoring the goddess or other folk saints.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

China and Russia sign missile notification pact Tue Oct 13, 9:22 pm ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – China and Russia signed a pact to notify each other of ballistic missile launch plans during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit this week to Beijing, Chinese media said on Wednesday.The accord, although overshadowed by promises of $3.5 billion in deals and oil and gas supply accords, is a small step toward establishing further trust between the two former Communist allies, who have been in a wary detente since falling out in the late 1950s.It shows the special relationship with the two countries, as the launches of ballistic missiles are core State secrets rarely disclosed to other countries,Li Daguang, a military expert at China's National Defense University, was quoted as saying by the Global Times' English edition.The U.S. and Russia agreed in 1971, during the Cold War, to notify each other of ballistic missile launches extending beyond their territories, and expanded on that in 2000. Chinese media said on Tuesday that the Sino-Russian accord differed from the U.S.-Russian offensive agreement,but did not elaborate.(Reporting by Lucy Hornby;Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

US-Mexico groups urges new US assault weapons ban By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET, Associated Press Writer – OCT 14,09

MEXICO CITY – The United States should reinstate a Clinton-era ban on assault weapons to prevent such guns from reaching Mexican drug cartels, former officials from both countries said in a report released Tuesday.The group, which includes two former U.S. ambassadors to Mexico, also said the U.S. should do more to stop the smuggling of firearms and ammunition into Mexico by stepping up investigations of gun dealers and more strictly regulating gun shows.The Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico Border listed the assault weapons ban as a step the U.S. should take immediately to improve security in both countries. The 10-year ban expired in 2004.Improving our efforts ... will weaken the drug cartels and disrupt their illegal activities, and make it easier ultimately to dismantle and destroy them, said Robert Bonner, co-chairman of the group and former head of both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Customs and Border Protection agency.U.S. and Mexican officials say drug cartels frequently use assault rifles, which are banned in Mexico but easily purchased in the United States.Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a nationwide crackdown on drug cartels when he took office in December 2006. The offensive has been met with unprecedented violence, leaving more than 13,800 people dead.During his run for office, President Barack Obama promised to push to reinstate the ban. He has since said he would rather enforce existing laws that make it illegal to send assault weapons across the border.Other recommendations related to border security included restructuring Mexico's law enforcement operations to create a counterpart to the U.S. Border Patrol, increasing U.S. assistance to Mexico to build up law enforcement and reducing demand for drugs in the United States through more treatment programs.(This version CORRECTS SUBS 3rd graf to correct that 10-year ban ended in 2004, sted 1994. For global distribution.)

FAMINE

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

FAMINE

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

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

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

UNESCO: drought forces 100,000 Iraqis from homes Tue Oct 13, 11:39 am ET

PARIS – Not war but drought has forced more than 100,000 people in northern Iraq to abandon their homes since 2005, with 36,000 more on the verge of leaving, UNESCO said Tuesday.The four-year drought and excessive well pumping have led to the collapse of an ancient system of underground aqueducts, or karez, as they are known in Iraq.Only 116 of 683 karez systems are currently operational, according to a study by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The study says 70 percent of active karez have dried up.The Paris-based organization says the study, the first to research the effects of the droughts on the system of underground aqueducts, concludes that swift and urgent action is needed to prevent further population displacement.UNESCO said it considers the plight of the karez system and the migration as an early warning sign for the future of water in the area.The study provides the Iraqi government with its first inventory of karez, UNESCO said, 84 percent of which are located in Sulaymaniyah and 13 percent in Erbil province. A karez can produce enough drinking water for 8,640 people and 1,440 households, UNESCO said. The technology was developed in ancient Persia.Before the onset of the drought, the greatest threats to the karez in Iraq were political turmoil, abandonment and neglect,a UNESCO statement said.Today, few people in Iraq know how to maintain or repair them, contributing to their state of disrepair.

Entire communities have fled because of the lack of water, with populations declining nearly 70 percent, UNESCO said. It cited as an example the village of Jafaron where 44 of its 52 karez have gone dry since 2008. The lack of water has left barren 113 hectares of irrigated land.UNESCO said it has been working with Iraq since 2007 to rehabilitate the karez system. In 2010, it will launch the Karez Initiative for Community Revitalization, to help Iraqis rebuild the aqueducts.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fatah says signs Egypt's Palestinian unity proposal By Ali Sawafta – Tue Oct 13, 5:10 pm ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party on Tuesday signed Egypt's plan for separate signings of a reconciliation deal with Hamas after the Islamist group balked at attending a unity ceremony.Hamas said it still had not decided whether to agree to the proposal put forward by Egyptian mediators, and another potential obstacle to a deal emerged when Hamas accused Egypt of torturing to death the brother of a spokesman for the group.A Fatah source said the faction had signed the Egyptian paper -- although he did not say who had actually put pen to paper -- and added that a delegation headed by senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmed would deliver it in Cairo on Wednesday.Egypt had invited Fatah and Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in 2006 and violently wrested control of the Gaza Strip from its Western-backed rival in 2007, to attend a ceremony on October 24-26 in Cairo, where they were expected to sign a reconciliation pact.But Hamas asked last week for a postponement, citing Abbas's agreement under U.S. pressure to back the deferral by the U.N. Human Rights Council of a vote on a report that accused Israel of war crimes during Israel's December-January Gaza offensive.The report, by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, also said Hamas militants, who carried out cross-border rocket attacks on communities in Israel, had committed war crimes.Mohammed Dahlan, a senior Fatah leader, said he and other party officials would urge Abbas to hold Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for January 25 unilaterally if Hamas failed to agree to the pact.

U.S. OPPOSITION?

In a report sourced to an unidentified official in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Israel's Haaretz daily said U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell told Egypt that Washington did not support the proposed unity deal.
Mitchell, according to the newspaper, said certain aspects of the agreement would undermine U.S. efforts to relaunch negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The U.S. embassy in Israel had no comment.Hamas opposes peace talks with Israel and has rejected Western calls to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept previous interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.Under the proposed unity deal, a committee of Palestinian factions would act as a liaison between the Fatah-dominated government in the West Bank and Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip and a joint police force would be formed.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said his movement had not finalized its position.It accused Egypt of torturing to death the brother of another spokesman arrested last April.It is strange that Egypt, which is trying to achieve reconciliation, has allowed such an incident to take place inside its prisons,Sami Abu Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman whose brother, Youssef Abu Zuhri, 38, died on Monday, said in Gaza.

Egyptian security officials denied the charge.

In further comments that could stir Hamas anger, Abbas told an audience in the West Bank town of Jenin that Hamas leaders escaped Gaza to Sinai in ambulances to flee Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip last January.Hamas official Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua called Abbas's allegations baseless.Hamas leaders ran the battle from trenches and offered their leaders and members as martyrs,Qanoua said.(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Ramallah and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Richard Williams)

US wants bunker-buster fast, denies Iran is reason Tuesday, 13 October 2009 13:02 News from Jerusalem .The massive ordnance penetrator or MOP bomb

The Pentagon is speeding up delivery of a colossal bomb designed to destroy hidden weapons bunkers buried underground and shielded by 10,000 pounds of reinforced concrete.Call it Plan B for dealing with Iran, which recently revealed a long-suspected nuclear site deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom.The 15-ton behemoth - called the massive ordnance penetrator,or MOP - will be the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal and will carry 5,300 pounds of explosives. The bomb is about 10 times more powerful than the weapon it is designed to replace.The Pentagon has awarded a nearly $52 million contract to speed up placement of the bomb aboard the B-2 Stealth bomber, and officials say the bomb could be fielded as soon as next summer.Pentagon officials acknowledge that the new bomb is intended to blow up fortified sites like those used by Iran and North Korea for their nuclear programs, but they deny there is a specific target in mind.I don't think anybody can divine potential targets,Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.This is just a capability that we think is necessary given the world we live in.The Obama administration has struggled to counter suspicions lingering from George W. Bush's presidency that the United States is either planning to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities itself or would look the other way if Israel did the same.The administration has been careful not to take military action off the table even as it reaches out to Iran with historic talks this month. Tougher sanctions are the immediate backup if diplomacy fails to stop what the West fears is a drive for a nuclear weapon.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently said a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would probably only buy time. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen has called a strike an option he doesn't want to use.The new U.S. bomb would be the culmination of planning begun in the Bush years. The Obama administration's plans to bring the bomb on line more quickly indicate that the weapon is still part of the long-range backup plan.Without going into any intelligence, there are countries that have used technology to go further underground and to take those facilities and make them hardened,Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.This is not a new phenomenon, but it is a growing one.After testing began in 2007, development of the bomb was slowed by about two years because of budgetary issues, Whitman said, and the administration moved last summer to return to the previous schedule.North Korea, led by Kim Jong Il, is a known nuclear weapons state and has exploded working devices underground. The United States and other countries have offered to buy out the country's weapons program. The Obama administration is trying to lure Pyongyang back to the bargaining table after a walkout last year.Iran is a more complex case, for both diplomatic and technical reasons. Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claims its nuclear program is peaceful and meant only to produce energy, but the West suspects a covert bomb program that may be only a year or so away from fruition.

I don't really see it as a near-term indication of anything being planned. I think certainly down the road it has a certain deterrent factor,said Kenneth Katzman, a specialist on Iran and the Middle East at the Congressional Research Service. It adds to the calculus, let's say, of Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong Il.Details about Iran's once-secret program have come out slowly and often under duress, as with last month's surprise confirmation of the hidden underground development site near Qom.
That revelation came a month after the Pentagon had asked Congress to shift money to speed up the MOP program, although U.S. and other intelligence agencies had suspected for years that Iran was still hiding at least one nuclear development site.

The MOP could, in theory, take out bunkers such as those Saddam Hussein had begun to construct for weapons programs in Iraq, or flatten the kind of cave and tunnel networks that allowed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to escape U.S. assault in Tora Bora, Afghanistan, shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2001.The precision-guided bomb is designed to drill through earth and almost any underground encasement to reach weapons depots, labs or hideouts.MyWay

Russian FM: Iran sanctions threats won't work By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 13, 9:40 pm ET

MOSCOW – Russia publicly pushed back Tuesday against U.S. efforts to threaten tough new sanctions if Iran fails to prove its nuclear program is peaceful, dealing an apparent setback to President Barack Obama's hopes for Moscow's backing for fresh penalties against Tehran.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow believed such threats were counterproductive and that only negotiations should be pursued now. Just last month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had said that sanctions are rarely productive but in some cases they are inevitable,a statement the U.S. hailed as a shift of opinion in Moscow.Lavrov, at a joint news conference Tuesday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said diplomacy still has chances to succeed.At the current stage, all forces should be thrown at supporting the negotiating process,Lavrov said.Threats, sanctions and threats of pressure in the current situation, we are convinced, would be counterproductive.Clinton, on her first visit to Moscow as secretary of state, had been hoping for an overt signal from Russia that it will consider new sanctions if Iran refuses to come clean about its nuclear intentions.Instead, Lavrov's comment exposed a tactical rift between the United States and Russia in which Washington is pushing diplomatic engagement backed by the threat of U.N. sanctions, while Moscow wants to discuss only negotiations.

Russia has balked at sanctions. However, there had been indications that its opposition might be softening after Tehran last month disclosed a previously secret uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom. U.S.-Russian relations also improved after Obama dropped Bush administration plans for a missile defense system based for eastern Europe that Russia had fiercely opposed.Lavrov said Medvedev's statement about sanctions last month meant that penalties would be considered only when all political and diplomatic efforts are exhausted.Three senior American officials said later that Medvedev had reaffirmed his earlier statement in a private meeting with Clinton at his home outside Moscow.They denied there was any daylight between the U.S. and Russian positions but could not explain Lavrov's counterproductive remark. They allowed that the comment had taken them aback but said that Medvedev had not repeated it. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private diplomatic discussions.The U.S. believes it is critical to get tangible signs of support from Moscow for at least considering new sanctions because the more united they are, the more likely pressure on Iran is to work.At the news conference, Clinton said she had not sought Moscow's support for actually imposing sanctions and did not believe it was time to do so. But she also said it was critical to let Iran know what will happen should it continue to rebuff the nuclear demands.We have always looked at the potential of sanctions in the event we are not successful and cannot assure ourselves and others that Iran has decided not to pursue nuclear weapons,Clinton said.

Iran has made pledges to take small steps that if fulfilled would serve as confidence-builders. Those include opening up a recently disclosed uranium enrichment plant to U.N. inspectors and sending existing stocks of low enriched uranium to Russia for reprocessing.Iran insists it has the right to a full domestic nuclear enrichment program and maintains it is only for peaceful purposes, such as energy production. The U.S. and others believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.Obama — who visited Russia in July — has vowed to reset U.S.-Russia relations and Clinton brought a wide range of issues to Moscow for discussion.
Clinton apologized for missing Obama's visit because of a broken elbow, but joked that that now both my elbow and our relationships are reset and we're moving forward, which I greatly welcome,she said.Beyond Iran, Lavrov said U.S. and Russia negotiators have made considerable progress on reaching agreement on a new strategic arms treaty. The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires in December and negotiators have been racing to reach agreement on a successor. The two diplomats also discussed possible cooperation on missile defense following Obama's decision not to proceed with the Bush-administration plans. Russia has welcomed Obama's new approach, but has said it was eager for more detailed information.Also on the agenda were Afghanistan, nuclear-armed North Korea, NATO expansion, the situation in Georgia after its conflict with Russia last year, human rights and arms control.Clinton also met with human rights activists and civic leaders some of whom have complained of harassment and abuse.One person not on Clinton's agenda was Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, generally seen as Russia's most powerful political figure. He was in China to sign a framework agreement for $3.5 billion in energy deals. Putin's absence from the Russian capital highlighted Moscow's growing recognition of the global clout of its eastern neighbor — and to some even suggested an effort to show the United States it's not the only game in town.Associated Press writer Lynn Berry contributed to this report.

Analysis: Russia uses ambiguity to boost its power By DOUGLAS BIRCH, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 13, 4:53 pm ET

MOSCOW – As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began her first visit to Moscow as the top U.S. diplomat, the Kremlin sent a message to Washington: Russia must still be wooed and won.It's how post-Soviet Russia has managed to thrive as a world power, despite a shrinking population, a bloated and inefficient military, and an antiquated industrial base.With its few major assets — energy resources, a seat on the U.N. Security Council and an aging nuclear arsenal — it has parlayed a weak hand into a position of expanding global influence.Clinton is on a two-day visit to encourage Russia to talk tough on sanctions against Iran if Tehran fails to cooperate on limiting its nuclear program. President Dmitry Medvedev has spoken sympathetically about how sanctions might eventually be needed, saying last month, in some cases they are inevitable.But Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov apparently dimmed U.S. hopes Tuesday.Threats, sanctions and threats of pressure in the current situation, we are convinced, would be counterproductive,Lavrov said.Later, three senior American officials said Medvedev had reaffirmed his earlier support for the U.S. position in a private meeting with Clinton at his home outside Moscow. They said they were baffled by Lavrov's dismissive comment.By keeping its positions ambiguous — and its options open until the last possible moment — Russia has achieved so much with so little.And that could mean either more U.S. concessions, or less of what Washington hoped for, or both.Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — by most reckoning Russia's most powerful political leader — was in China, where he said Moscow's cooperation with Beijing helps to restrain other powers, a not-so-veiled reference to the United States.

Again, he appeared to be playing the angles.

Russia desperately needs investment to find and develop new energy fields. Putin was in Beijing to sign a framework $3.5 billion energy trade pact. But the details of Tuesday's deal remain to be worked out, and China hasn't agreed to Russia's demand for premium prices for its gas and other resources.Putin seemed to be suggesting to China's Communist rulers that a high-priced energy deal with Russia could pay political as well as economic benefits. And one of those benefits, it seems, would be a strengthened partnership opposing what Putin has called U.S. global hegemony.

Iran is another good example of how Russia has played a weak hand skillfully.

A nuclear-armed Iran could threaten Moscow. On the other hand, Russian support for sanctions might sour important trade deals, especially in armaments and nuclear technology. Worse, Iran might decide to lend clandestine aid to Muslim separatists in the Russian Caucasus.So Moscow has walked a tightrope: joining Iran in scolding the West for its alleged imperial ambitions and blocking sanctions on the one hand, while warning Tehran it will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran on the other.Russia has agreed to sell Tehran sophisticated missile defense technology, but has so far declined to deliver those weapons — without giving up the right at some point to do so.By holding out the hope of sanctions to the U.S., Russia has won a lot of good will in Washington.By keeping alive the possibility of missile sales and continuing opposition to sanctions, it insures it has friends in Tehran. By delivering on neither, Russia has irked both would-be allies. But so far it has preserved its influence in a region where, otherwise, it might have little. Or none. Meanwhile, Russia continues to make incremental progress, it seems, on its own foreign policy goals, including expanding its control of Europe's energy markets and limiting the influence of NATO on its borders.Some U.S. officials suspect the mixed messages coming from Moscow are the product of a lack of coordination at the top. Others see them as mostly reflecting debate and disagreements within the Russian government, perhaps the result of rival factions that surround Putin and Medvedev.Both may play some role. But Russia has been tacking like a sailboat, shifting from position to position to make the most of the prevailing winds, since Putin came to power in 1999.Russia's maneuvering has become even more intense since Putin engineered Medvedev's election and became prime minister in 2008, in effect giving the country two leaders.

Today, Medvedev is often seen as the champion of Western hopes for reform and closer cooperation with leading democracies, while Putin typically plays the heavy.As in the case of Iran and the U.S., the result is that Russia's negotiating partners are whipsawed between their hopes and fears, uncertain about where exactly Russia stands — and perhaps ready to make concessions in order to test the waters and appeal to Russia's better nature.So are Medvedev and Putin rivals battling for the soul of Russia? Or are they silent partners, each playing his role in a grand strategy?

No one outside the Russian government knows for certain.

This is a non-transparent system,said Masha Lipman of the Moscow Carnegie Center think tank.We don't know how decisions are taken.Whatever the reason behind Russia's seeming split personality, Moscow has in the last decade put itself in the center of some of the major foreign policy challenges facing the United States, including Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea and arms control. Russia has repeatedly sought concessions in exchange for these services.And given Moscow's success, there seems to be little likelihood this pattern will change.

Sacrificing peace for propaganda points Tuesday, 13 October 2009 13:12 News from Jerusalem .Abbas - shooting himself in the foot

Should the Palestinian Authority be the main advocate pushing acceptance of the bizarre Goldstone Report in order to demonize Israel at the UN, or might it just stand aside and let a couple of dozen Arab and Muslim-majority states take the lead in doing so? This is - or should be - a minor issue, but it has escalated to push the real barrier to solving the Arab-Israeli conflict into everyone's face once again.When the US government asked the PA not to be the main sponsor in demanding UN sanctions against Israel, the Palestinian leadership agreed for a few hours. But then, unable to resist flaunting its radicalism and obstructionism, it double-crossed the United States. This step further sabotaged President Barack Obama's efforts to advance the peace process, seemingly his No. 1 international priority.The Palestinian leadership is once again shooting itself in the foot. It is throwing away a real opportunity for a state; it is sabotaging its relationship with Western patrons.HOW TO explain this apparent perverseness, which former foreign minister Abba Eban once called never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity? The answer is simple: When it comes down to a choice between continuing the conflict and trying to win a total victory that wipes Israel off the map, or making peace and getting a state, the Palestinian leadership always chooses the former.And when it comes to choosing between being a bit more moderate and gaining Western support, or being demagogically radical and appealing to the most radical forces, the Palestinian leadership chooses the latter. The Fatah-dominated PA doesn't want peace with Israel; it prefers peace with Hamas, its rival that not only murders and tortures Fatah people but - one more irony - is the main beneficiary of the Goldstone Report.

Wishful thinkers beware! Reality is once again battering down your door.The Obama administration is trying to make peace and wants the PA's cooperation. If the UN goes ballistic and now bashes Israel as an evil, illegitimate war criminal - on the basis of Hamas propaganda, no less, which is all the Goldstone commission really purveys - this will not help the cause of peace and will wreck US policy. Israel will reject more concessions; Arab states will have another rationale for not making peace and will demand that the world punish Israel with sanctions or even extinction.
The Obama administration basically said to the PA: Look, we're getting you lots of money and diplomatic help on the basis of the idea that you want peace. No president in history has ever been more sympathetic and supportive of you. So stand aside on this issue for a few days. Do us this little favor.But this is too much for the PA, which now faces protests and criticism at home for daring to make a small tactical concession that has no practical implication.If the PA cannot even refrain from this kind of behavior because of internal dissension and popular pressure, can anyone expect it to compromise on territory, security measures, an end to the conflict, and the settlement of all Palestinian refugees in Palestine? Think about that one for five minutes, please.THIS IS at least the fourth time in the short, nine-month history of the new administration that the Palestinians and Arab states have done this to Obama.

Before the latest development:
-PA leader Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Washington for his first trip and said he had no intention of compromising on anything, but would just wait until the United States delivered an Israel that had to give up everything.
-Abbas refused to negotiate with Israel unless its completely froze construction on all settlements, with no exceptions, despite Obama's desperate efforts to get talks going.
-Arab states that were asked to make small confidence-building steps toward Israel to help the president said, No! So much for Obama's apologies, his Cairo and UN speeches, strong words of support for the Palestinians (the people supposedly in an intolerable situation and desperate for a state), and his panegyrics for Islam. Flattery, Mr. President, will get you nowhere.This strategy merely feeds the fires of radicalism. Unfortunately, the peace process of the 1990s and the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 did the same thing. More concessions breed more violence; more apologies deliver more demands.Remember that the peace process ended when then PA leader Yasser Arafat refused a state, along with more than $23 billion in aid.Remember that the Palestinians, handed all of the Gaza Strip, made it a launching pad for rockets aimed at Israel, instead of making it a model for launching peace.Remember that when the Bush administration was trying to be supportive, the PA made a deal through Hizbullah with Iran to bring in massive amounts of arms on a ship. Discovering how the PA had lied turned that administration against them.

Remember that in 1989, when the United States initiated a dialogue with the PLO on the basis of its stopping terrorism, the organization instead dispatched a terrorist unit to gun down civilians on a Tel Aviv beach. This action led to the end of the dialogue.WAKE UP, people. Peace would be preferable if possible. Peace is a beautiful dream. But that dream keeps getting interrupted by recurring nightmares.
Those who lead nations and are responsible for the lives and welfare of their people, those whose duty is to inform the people, and those who speak out publicly have a duty to cast aside wishful thinking and face the truth, as demonstrated by numerous examples and historical experience:
-Israeli-Palestinian peace is still a long way off.
-The PA is unwilling and incapable of making peace.
-Weakness in dealing with this issue breeds contempt; concessions create more violence and extremism.
-A responsible policy is one that maximizes stability by keeping Hamas from taking over the West Bank and brings down its rule in the Gaza Strip; minimizes violence by supporting Israel's right to self-defense; and does the utmost to raise the standard of living of Palestinians.As for Obama and the European leaders, you've had the experience; now learn the lessons.jpost

Israel to UK: – Tony Blair could end up in handcuffs for war crimes - Tuesday, 13 October 2009 14:44 News from Jerusalem .Tony Blair War Criminal?

After the UK Ambassador to the UN, John Sawers, voiced support for aspects of a UN report that could lead to prosecution of Israeli army officers for alleged war crimes, Israeli officials warned that any British support for the report would boomerang.If a precedent is set of Israelis being prosecuted for acts during the Gaza war, Britons could also be placed in the dock for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, they said:London, which is also in the midst of a war against terror, could find itself in handcuffs if it supports the document they said.

My Comment - The International community have one set of rules for Israel, and one set of rules for other nations.When Israel use self-defense against Hamas on the Gaza-strip, the Israeli leadership is targeted for war crimes. When the Royal Army is fighting in Afghanistan, the World Community sees through their fingers in British soldiers killing innocent civilians 7.000 kilometers away from London.When Israel had to enter the Gaza-strip to end missile fire into Israel, the IDF called up and SMS´ed 200.000 people on the Gaza-strip, and warned them of the attack. The message included information about safe zones that would not be targeted.Which army in the World have ever done such a gesture to safeguard innocent civilians? Even the Islamic terrorists from Hamas knew before the start of Operation Cast lead to which areas they could run, and avoid being arrested by the Israeli soldiers.The targeting of the Israeli leadership based on the Goldstone report is nothing less than an assault on the Jewish people, and a threat to the existence of the state of Israel. The United Nation has declared war on Israel.Welcome to the age when all nations shall rise against Israel and all of us face the return of the Messiah.Ivarfjeld

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.

Sirens wail in Indian Ocean tsunami drill By Reza Munawir – OCT 14,09

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) – Sirens wailed and mosque loudspeakers ordered residents of the capital of Aceh province to seek safety as Indonesia kicked off an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami practice drill on Wednesday.The exercise, a U.N.-backed initiative to test the warning systems and overall preparedness of several nations in the region, is supposed to simulate the magnitude 9.15 quake that struck off Aceh on December 26, 2004 and triggered a huge tsunami.About 230,000 people died as the tsunami raced across the Indian Ocean and hit Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, including 170,000 deaths in Aceh alone.Officials from Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency issued the test earthquake warning, sending out the notification of a 8.3 Richter scale quake off the coast of Aceh via a telephone text message, followed by a tsunami warning.

In Aceh, hundreds took part in the simulation while passers-by looked on.

I'm still traumatized from the (2004) tsunami,said Halimah, 43, who watched the drill but did not take part.If there's another disaster, I prefer to take shelter in the mosque so that if I die, I'd die in the mosque.Hundreds of people have died in a series of recent disasters in Asia, including a devastating earthquake off the coast of Padang, on Indonesia's Sumatra island, and a series of tsunamis in Samoa and American Samoa.Since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, early warning systems ranging from beach loudspeaker sirens to deep ocean monitor buoys have been set up to prompt people to seek safety on higher ground.But some experts have questioned the effectiveness of early alert systems, particularly if the time interval between the alarm and the tsunami hitting the area is very short, as would be the case in Indonesia which lies on the fault lines.Tsunami waves can travel at speeds of 800-1,000 km (500-600 miles) per hour. The height of normal waves and tsunami waves is similar in deep ocean water, but closer to the shore, tsunami waves slow and swell, reaching heights of 10 meters (32 feet) or more.The aim of the drill among members of UNESCO is to identify weaknesses in the system and areas which could be improved.

Countries participating include Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and East Timor.(Additional reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu and Dicky Kristanto in Jakarta; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Sara Webb)

Calif. storm prompts debris flow concerns By SOLVEJ SCHOU and Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press Writers – Tue Oct 13, 7:53 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Homeowners filled sandbags and crews erected concrete barriers to guard southern California property against possible landslides Tuesday as a major Pacific storm threatened to inundate foothills recently denuded by wildfire.A key concern was that heavy rains could cause mud and debris to slip down hillsides made bare from the summer fire, state fire spokeswoman Colleen Baxter said.Some residents have been placing boulders in key areas around their homes, hoping to blunt the destructive power of flash floods.We know the fires go through and do a lot of damage,Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frederic Stowers said. Within L.A. County, much of the slopes burned are going to be critical.Sandbagging and other preparations were being made in southern California neighborhoods under threat, while heavy rains caused more than 260,000 power outages and dozens of voluntary evacuations in parts of central and Northern California.By Tuesday afternoon, several inches of rain had already fallen in some mountainous areas in the north. But precipitation was still relatively light in the south, where flood watches were issued in fire-ravaged parts of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties as the storm was expected to strengthen by nightfall.People living around burn areas near the 250-square-mile Station Fire in Angeles National Forest were warned to brace for possible flows of mud, ash and debris with rainfall of up to 4 inches. Los Angeles County's average rainfall for October is less than half an inch.The storm was expected to drop 3 to 6 inches of rain in Santa Barbara County, where an 8,700-acre fire burned in May, before it moves on to the San Gabriel Mountains, where the U.S. Geological Survey recently warned of massive debris flows near the areas burned in September.

Areas of concern in Los Angeles County included Tujunga, La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta.Dorothy Kruegermann, 44, in La Crescenta, said public works crews were working intensely in the rain to install concrete barriers and sandbags to protect homes.The geologist came on Friday and said we'd be like an island here and might not be able to get out,she said. We might go to in-laws tonight. I saw all that burned area and dirt and rocks that could come down here.Kruegermann said the neighborhood, which had been under evacuation orders during the Station Fire, just had a block party on Saturday to celebrate getting through the disaster.It is obvious to me there are going to be some slides,said Richard Payatt, 46, whose Santa Barbara home was evacuated during the fire in May.It's part of living in Santa Barbara with these beautiful hills. Occasionally you get fires, and then you get slides.Payatt said a local hardware store was sold out of tarps and sandbags because of the storm.If it rains really really hard, and the creeks overflow, we get flooded out,said hair salon owner Walter Claudio, 50, whose Santa Barbara hillside home was also evacuated because of the fire. Several neighbors' homes had been damaged from the flames.We've been putting boulders on my property, to hold some banks close to the house,Claudio said. Everyone's been really proactive the last two months, getting ready for this.Flash flood watches were issued for 11 counties up and down the state, said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Morris.

The agency issued a flash flood watch through Wednesday for the Santa Barbara burn areas. Between 1 and 2.4 inches of rain fell through Tuesday afternoon, Morris said. A flash flood watch for the Los Angeles-area foothills was to take effect at 6 p.m. Tuesday.Stowers said thousands of sandbags were distributed to fire stations throughout Los Angeles County, including more than 10,000 at a station near La Canada Flintridge. In Northern California, forecasters issued high wind warnings for the mountains, where gusts up to 60 mph were expected, and advisories for lower elevations, where gusts were expected to reach 50 mph. By midday Tuesday, more than 6 inches of rain had fallen in parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains and more than 4 inches in parts of Marin County, according to the National Weather Service. Santa Cruz County issued voluntary evacuation orders affecting about 60 homes near areas burned by the Lockheed Fire, a 7,800-acre blaze ignited in August.Geologist Mathers Rowley lives in the Swanton Road area where the voluntary evacuations were under way. He said he did not plan to leave right away as his house was in a safe position.If I lived in another tributary nearby, I wouldn't be here. There are some really steep denuded slopes that with the wind and rain could send debris straight down. But it hasn't developed where I am. If it gets worse, then we'll see,he said.

Crews nearby were bagging 25 tons of sand for people to use to shore up their homes.

High winds knocked out power to about 263,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in central and northern California, but crews have managed to restore power to more than half of those customers, said utility spokesman Joe Molica. In the greater San Francisco Bay area, 23,000 customers remained without power at 1 p.m. AP writer Brooke Donald in San Francisco contributed to this report. On the Net: Wildfires and Debris Flows: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3106/pdf/FS-3106.pdf

Calif. storm causes power outages, mudslide fears By SOLVEJ SCHOU and RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writers – OCT 14,09

LOS ANGELES – A big Pacific storm swept into California on Tuesday with damaging winds and downpours that put a community near Santa Cruz under an evacuation advisory because of potential mudslides, while homeowners near the wildfires that burned parts of Southern California braced for a dangerous overnight drenching.

Homeowners filled sandbags and crews erected concrete barriers to channel potential flows from denuded slopes. Some residents placed boulders in key areas around their homes, hoping to blunt the destructive power of flash floods.The main fear was that the rains would cause mud and debris to rush down hillsides made bare from the summer fire, state fire spokeswoman Colleen Baxter said.We know the fires go through and do a lot of damage,Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frederic Stowers said. Within L.A. County, much of the slopes burned are going to be critical.Authorities urged evacuation of about 60 homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains town of Davenport, 50 miles south of San Francisco, where an August wildfire stripped vegetation from about 12 square miles of land.More than 6 inches of rain fell in the Santa Cruz range, the National Weather Service said.The storm slammed into a drought-stricken state that has become a checkerboard of wildfire scars small, big and gigantic. Flash flood watches were posted for burn areas dating back to early 2008.Heavy rain, however, took its time to reach Southern California, where there was major concern in the Los Angeles foothill suburbs on the perimeter of the notorious Station Fire, which blackened 250 square miles of the Angeles National Forest in August and September, destroying dozens of homes and causing two deaths.The fire stripped steep slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains that rise out of the back yards of homes.The U.S. Geological Survey recently warned that even small storms could unleash massive flows of debris-laden water into communities.Dorothy Kruegermann, 44, of La Crescenta, said she had looked at all the dirt and rocks that might be swept down from the mountains and was considering options.

We might go to in-laws tonight,she said.At a park in La Crescenta, volunteers filled and distributed sandbags.There were 50 people here yesterday all over that bin of sand like ants on candy,said volunteer Steve Pierce, 66. It's a lot to deal with so soon after the fire, but we had a (community) meeting last week and that really motivated people.La Crescenta High School teacher Jim Smiley and his two sons filled their minivan with sandbags. He said a neighbor who had been through fire and floods in 1975 advised that mud would come down their street, go down their driveway and in through the front door.Based on what happened 25 years ago, we're going to have 100 sandbags,Smiley said.It was the same scene northwest of Los Angeles in Santa Barbara, where a May wildfire destroyed many homes.It is obvious to me there are going to be some slides,said resident Richard Payatt, 46.It's part of living in Santa Barbara with these beautiful hills. Occasionally you get fires, and then you get slides.Walter Claudio, 50, whose Santa Barbara hillside home was evacuated because of the fire, said several of his neighbors' homes had been damaged from the flames.We've been putting boulders on my property, to hold some banks close to the house,Claudio said.Everyone's been really proactive the last two months, getting ready for this.High winds knocked out power to more than a quarter-million Pacific Gas & Electric customers in Central and Northern California, but crews had managed to restore power to more than half, said utility spokesman Joe Molica.

Gusts knocked down a 500 kilovolt transmission line near Moss Landing at the center of the Monterey Bay coast, forcing the state's electrical grid manager to declare a power emergency. Authorities said loss of the line made it hard to get power from Southern California and urged the north to conserve. About 20,000 utility customers in Los Angeles also lost power, said Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesman Joe Ramallo.With the first storm of the year we get a lot of outages. Dry palm fronds and branches bring down the lines,he said.The unusually strong fall storm also dropped a half-foot of snow in the Sierra Nevada and whipped up enough dust in the San Joaquin Valley to make air quality unhealthy in Kings, Tulare and Kern counties.Associated Press Writer Brooke Donald in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Tropical Storm Patricia churns toward Baja California Tue Oct 13, 12:33 pm ET

MIAMI (AFP) – Tropical Storm Patricia advanced toward Mexico's Baja California Peninsula with landfall possible late Tuesday or early Wednesday, weather forecasters said.The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said a tropical storm warning was in effect along the southern area of Baja California from the town of Buena Vista to Agua Blanca, an area that includes the popular Cabo San Lucas tourist resort.At 1200 GMT Tuesday, Patricia was moving northward at about nine kilometers (six miles) per hour with maximum sustained winds near 95 kilometers (60 miles) per hour.Forecasters said Patricia was likely to strengthen slightly over the next 24 hours and that rainfall from the storm could total as much as three inches across southern portions of Baja California.Schools and port facilities in the popular tourist destination of Los Cabos were closed Monday by order of state authorities, while two low-lying neighborhoods were to be evacuated on Tuesday.Port facilities in three other coastal towns were also shuttered Monday, with more closings possible up and down Mexico's Pacific coast, officials said.In September, Hurricane Jimena struck the peninsula, leaving one person dead, and causing widespread flooding and property damage.

EARTHQUAKES

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

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

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

Strong 6.2-magnitude quake strikes Indonesia Tue Oct 13, 9:05 am ET

JAKARTA (AFP) – A strong 6.2-magnitude quake struck off Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Tuesday but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued, the country's geophysics agency said.The quake struck at 8:38 pm (1138 GMT) at sea 195 kilometres (120 miles) southeast of Melonguane in North Sulawesi province at a depth of 18 kilometres, the agency said in an SMS alert.The quake has no tsunami potential. We are still trying to determine... if there are any casualties, agency technical chief Suharjono said.Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.A quake in West Sumatra province late last month killed 809 people, according to official figures. But the United Nations has said the toll is likely to be over 1,100.

DISEASES

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

DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS

REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.

REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Lead poisoning sickens nearly 1,000 kids in China By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 13, 9:16 am ET

BEIJING – Nearly 1,000 children in a central Chinese province have tested positive for excessive lead in their blood, state media reported Tuesday, the latest of several lead poisoning cases involving thousands of children across the country.

After reports of large-scale lead poisoning in neighboring Shaanxi province, the health bureau in Jiyuan City, Henan province, conducted blood tests on 2,743 children under the age of 14, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted the bureau's director, Wei Zongchang, as saying.Signs of lead poisoning were found in 968 of the children who live near three major lead smelters, Xinhua said.China's rapid economic development has often come at the cost of heavy environmental pollution. Lead poisoning can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and memory loss.Similar reports of lead poisoning have emerged in Yunnan, Fujian and Shaanxi provinces in recent months, and the number of affected children is now past 3,000.Anger in China is growing over public safety scandals in which children have been the main victims — a concern for the ruling Communist Party, which is concerned about social stability and any challenges to its authority.Last month, residents of the village of Shibin in Jiyuan City demonstrated in front of the factories to protest the pollution, Xinhua said.Jiyuan Mayor Zhao Suping told Xinhua the city's lead poisoning is the result of long-term pollution. The city has been producing lead for 52 years, he said.Yang Anguo, the head of China's largest lead producer, Yuguang Gold and Lead Group, told Xinhua: We do bear responsibility for the pollution. Some pollution has accumulated over the past 20 years or more, and the plant is too near homes.In response to the test results, city officials have suspended production at 32 of 35 electrolytic lead plants and shut down some production lines at the other three major plants, Duan Xizhong, head of the local Communist Party committee, told Xinhua.Families with children living within 1,000 yards (meters) of the smelters have been moved away.

SWINE FLU PROPAGANDA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZos8FAouVk&feature=player_embedded

Swine Flu Shot Propaganda Goes Into Overdrive
Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The establishment’s propaganda drive to convince everyone to take the swine flu shot has gone into overdrive, surpassing any previous effort in the domain of public health and stoking suspicions about the motivations of pharmaceutical giants, especially in light of the fact that the H1N1 virus is far less deadly than the regular seasonal flu.Governments have temporarily backed away from their plans to mandate the shot, but this hasn’t stopped the juggernaut of a mass media brainwashing campaign that is brow-beating reluctant citizens to take the vaccine even in the absence of the widely promised deadlier second wave of the swine flu virus.Everywhere you look, the corporate media is over spilling with big pharma mouthpieces endlessly regurgitating the refrain that the idiot public should shut up, stop asking difficult questions about mercury, squalene and other additives, and just take the damn vaccine.The latest example came in the form of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano’s appearance the The Daily Show the other night, during which she and host Jon Stewart took a sideswipe at people who were concerned about the vaccine by portraying them as paranoid and mentally unstable.Such desperation is only serving to raise more eyebrows amongst the general public, who unlike the corporate networks still retain a memory of what happened during the last mass swine flu vaccination campaign, when the injection killed more people than the virus itself.Such fevered insistence that everyone take the shot simply does not correlate with the fact that swine flu has proven far less deadly than regular seasonal flu.

Denis Coulombier, who heads the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s preparedness and response unit, told AFP that A(H1N1) killed a very small proportion of those who caught it, at about 0.2-0.3 deaths per thousand — a lower rate than seasonal flu, which kills around one patient per thousand.Despite record cold temperatures around the world over the last month, the promised second wave of swine flu has not yet appeared, but Coulombier still all but guarantees another explosion of infections in the coming weeks.The mammoth level of fearmongering that has been whipped up around swine flu despite its relatively benign threat has of course, I’m sure, nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that pharmaceutical giants are reaping vast dividends in profits from vaccine production during what would otherwise have been a struggle amidst an economic recession.Sarcasm aside, the desperation of the establishment expresses itself in no more a revealing way than claims that the efforts of the anti-vaccine lobby are responsible for the outcome of polls that show a huge number of people will reject the shot, as if the anti-vaccine lobby, whatever that is, has one iota of the influence, or indeed the malevolence, enjoyed by the pharmaceutical lobby, an industry that has no less than 1,274 registered lobbyists in Washington D.C. alone and spent around $900 million on lobbying between 1998 and 2005, more than any other industry. Big pharma lobbied on at least 1,600 pieces of legislation between 1998 and 2004.In an article for the London Evening Standard entitled, Stop being so selfish and get the swine flu vaccine, a smug-looking celebrity doctor blames the anti-vaccine lobby for creating doubt surrounding the vaccine by pointing out that its production was rushed and that it bypassed routine safety procedures. In reality, such concerns were not first expressed by the anti-vaccine lobby,but were reported prominently by the London Times on July 13.

The real story here is the fact that the anti-vaccine lobby,which consists of a relative handful of doctors and health professionals in comparison with big pharma, has had such an impact in convincing so many people to reject the swine flu shot, even in the face of such a huge effort on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry and their soapbox, the mass media, to convince them otherwise.

Flu vaccines revealed as the greatest quackery ever pushed in the history of medicine Mike Adams Natural News October 14, 2009

Prepare to have your world rocked. What you’re about to read here will leave you astonished, inspired and outraged all at the same time. You’re about to be treated to some little-known information demonstrating why seasonal flu vaccines are utterly worthless and why their continued promotion is based entirely on fabricated studies and medical mythology.If the whole world knew what you’re about to read here, the vaccine industry would collapse overnight.Shoot up a few flu vaccines, rub your lucky rabbit’s foot, then spin around clockwise seven times and you, too, may be able to generate enough luck to avoid the flu this winter.This information comes to you courtesy of a brilliant article published in The Atlantic (November 2009). The article, written by Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer, isn’t just brilliant; in my opinion it stands as the best article on flu vaccines that has ever been published in the popular press. Entitled Does the vaccine matter?, it presents some of the most eye-opening information you’ve probably ever read about the failure of flu vaccines. You can read the full article here: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/2009…

Perhaps its impressive narrative shouldn’t be too surprising, though, since writer Shannon Brownlee is also the celebrated author of a phenomenal book on modern medicine entitled Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer ( http://www.amazon.com/Overtreated-M…) (http://www.naturalpedia.com/book_Ov…).

While I’ve never done this before, I’m going to summarize this article point by point (along with some comments) so that you get the full force of what’s finally been put into print.This information is so important that I encourage you to share the following summary I’ve put together. Email it to family, friends and coworkers. Or post it on your blog or website (with a link and proper credit to both NaturalNews and The Atlantic, please). Get this information out to the world. People need to know this, and so far the mainstream media has utterly failed to make this information known.(The really good information begins after around a dozen bullet points, so be sure to keep reading…)

Does the vaccine matter?

What follows is my point-by-point summary of this groundbreaking article by Shannon Brownlee, originally published in The Atlantic. My opinion statements are shown in brackets and italics.
-Vaccination is the core strategy of the U.S. government’s plan to combat the swine flu.
-The U.S. government has spent roughly $3 billion stockpiling vaccines and anti-viral drugs.
-The CDC is recommending that 159 million Americans receive a swine flu vaccine injection (as soon as possible).
-What if vaccines don’t work? More and more researchers are skeptical about whether they do.
-Seasonal flu (that’s the regular flu) currently kills an estimated 36,000 people each year in the United States. [But most people who die are already suffering from existing diseases such as asthma.]
-Most colds aren’t really caused by the flu virus. As few as 7 or 8 percent (and at most, 50 percent) of colds have an influenza origin. There are more than 200 viruses and pathogens that can cause influenza-like illnesses (and therefore be easily mistaken for the flu).
-Viruses mutate with amazing speed, meaning that each year’s circulating influenza is genetically different from the previous year.
-The vaccine for each upcoming flu season is formulated by health experts taking a guess [a wild guess, at times] about what strain of influenza might be most likely to circulate in the future.
-The 1918 Spanish Flu infected roughly one-third of the world population and killed at least 40 million.
-In the U.S., the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology predicted that H1N1 influenza could infect up to one-half of the U.S. population and kill 90,000 Americans.

[Keep reading, the good part is coming...]

-Of those who have died from the Swine Flu in the U.S., roughly 70 percent were already diseased with some serious underlying condition such as asthma or AIDS.
-Public health officials consider vaccines to be their first and best weapon against influenza. Vaccines helped eradicate smallpox and polio. [I don't agree with that assessment. Vaccines did relatively little compared to improvements in public sanitation.]
-Each year, 100 million Americans get vaccinated, and vaccines remain a staple of public health policy in the United States.

Why the research is bogus
-Because researchers can’t exactly pin down who has influenza and who doesn’t, the research conducted on the effectiveness of vaccines simply calculates the death rate from all causes among those who take the vaccine vs. those who don’t. [This includes deaths from accidents, heart attacks, medications, car wrecks and everything.]
-These studies show a “dramatic difference” between the death rates of those who get the vaccines vs. those who don’t. People who get vaccinated have significantly lower death rates [from ALL causes, and herein lies the problem...].
-Flu shot propaganda cites these studies, telling people that if they get their flu shots every year, they will have a significantly reduced chance of dying. But this is extremely misleading…
-Critics question the logic of these studies: As it turns out, compared to the number of deaths from all causes, the number of people killed by influenza is quite small. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, deaths from influenza account for — at most — 10 percent of the total deaths during the flu season (and this includes all indirect deaths aggravated by the flu).

-This brings up a hugely important dilemma: If influenza only accounts for roughly 10 percent of all deaths during the flu season, how could an influenza vaccine reduce total deaths by 50 percent? (As is claimed by the vaccine manufacturers.) [It doesn't add up. Even if the vaccines were 100% effective, they should only reduce the total death rates by 10%, given that only 10% of the total deaths are caused by influenza.]

-Here’s a direct quote from the story: Tom Jefferson, a physician based in Rome and the head of the Vaccines Field at the Cochrane Collaboration, a highly respected international network of researchers who appraise medical evidence, says: For a vaccine to reduce mortality by 50 percent and up to 90 percent in some studies means it has to prevent deaths not just from influenza, but also from falls, fires, heart disease, strokes, and car accidents. That’s not a vaccine, that’s a miracle. [Emphasis added.]

The failure of cohort studies
-So how do the vaccine companies come up with this 50% reduction in death rate statistic? Through cohort studies.
-Cohort studies compare the death rates of large groups of people who received the vaccine to large groups of people who did NOT receive the vaccine. But there’s a fatal flaw in this approach: People self-select for vaccinations. And what kind of people? As it turns out: People who take more precautions with their health!
-[Thus, you automatically have a situation where the more health-cautious people are getting the vaccines because they THINK it's good for them. Meanwhile all the masses of people who don't give a darn about their health tend to skip the seasonal flu vaccines. And these people tend to not take very good of their health in lots of other ways. In other words, in terms of the masses, people who get vaccines are more likely to avoid junk food and live a more health-cautious lifestyle. This explains the differences in the death rates between the two groups! It has nothing to do with the vaccine...]
-There is extreme cult-like peer pressure put on doctors and researchers to swallow the vaccine mythology without question. Quoted from the story: Lisa Jackson, a physician and senior investigator with the Group Health Research Center, in Seattle, began wondering aloud to colleagues if maybe something was amiss with the estimate of 50 percent mortality reduction for people who get flu vaccine, the response she got sounded more like doctrine than science. People told me, No good can come of [asking] this,she says.Potentially a lot of bad could happen’ for me professionally by raising any criticism that might dissuade people from getting vaccinated, because of course, We know that vaccine works.This was the prevailing wisdom.[In other words, don't dare question the vaccine, and don't ask tough scientific questions because the vaccine industry runs on dogma, not science... and if you ask any questions, you might find yourself out of a job...].

[Here's where the really good part begins...]
-Lisa Jackson was not deterred. She and three other researchers began to study the widely-quoted vaccine statistics in an attempt to identify this healthy user effect, if any. They looked through eight years of medical data covering 72,000 people aged 65 or older and recorded who received flu shots and who didn’t. Then they compared the death rates for all causes outside the flu season.

The vaccine made no difference in mortality
-What she found blows a hole right through the vaccination industry: She found that even outside the flu season, the death rate was 60 percent higher among those who did not get vaccines than among those who do. [In other words, even when you take the flu season completely out of the equation, elderly people who don't get vaccines have other lifestyle factors that makes them far more likely to die from lots of other causes.]
-She also found that this so-called healthy user effect explains the entire apparent benefit that continues to be attributed to vaccines. This finding demonstrates that the flu vaccine may not have any beneficial effect whatsoever in reducing mortality.
-How well done were these particular studies? Quoted from the story: Jackson’s papers are beautiful,says Lone Simonsen, who is a professor of global health at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., and an internationally recognized expert in influenza and vaccine epidemiology. They are classic studies in epidemiology, they are so carefully done.
-Many pro-vaccine experts simply refused to believe the results of this study [because it conflicts with their existing belief in vaccine mythology]. The Journal of the American Medical Association refused to publish her research, even stating, To accept these results would be to say that the earth is flat! [Which just goes to show you how deeply ingrained the current vaccine mythology is in the minds of conventional medical practitioners. They simply cannot imagine that vaccines don't work, so they dismiss any evidence -- even GOOD evidence -- demonstrating that fact. This is what makes the vaccine industry a CULT rather than a science.]

-Jackson’s papers were finally published in 2006, in the International Journal of Epidemiology.[And here's the really, really juicy part you can't miss...]

Vaccine shortage proves it never worked in the first place
-The history of the flu vaccine reveals some huge gaps in current vaccination mythology, essentially proving they don’t work:
-For example: In 2004, vaccine production was low and there was a shortage in vaccines (a 40 percent reduction in vaccinations). And yet mortality rates did not rise during the flu season. [Clearly, if vaccines actually worked, then a year when the vaccine wasn't even administered to 40% of the people who normally get it should have resulted in a huge and statistically significant increase in mortality. It should have spiked the death rates and filled the morgues... but it didn't. You know why? Because flu vaccines don't work in the first place.]
-In the history of flu vaccines, there were two years in which the formulated flu vaccine was a total mismatch to the widely-circulating influenza that made people sick. These years were 1968 and 1997. In both of these years, the vaccine was a completely mismatch for the circulating virus. In effect, nobody was vaccinated! [Knowing this, if the vaccine itself was effective at reducing death rates, then we should have once again seen a huge spike in the death rates during these two years, right? Seriously, if the vaccine reduces death rates by 50% as is claimed by vaccine manufacturers, then these two years in which the vaccine completely missed the mark should have seen huge spikes in the winter death rates, right? But what really happened was... nothing. Not a blip. Not a spike. Nothing. The death rates didn't rise at all.]

-If vaccines really worked to save lives, then the more people you vaccinate, the lower death rates you should see, right? But that’s not the case. Back in 1989, only 15 percent of over-65 people got vaccinated against the flu. But today, thanks to the big vaccine push, over 65 percent are vaccinated. And yet, amazingly, death rates among the elderly have not gone down during the flu season. In fact, they’ve gone up!
-When vaccine promoters (and CDC officials) are challenged about the 50 percent mortality reduction myth, they invoke dogmatic language and attack the messenger. They are simply not willing to consider the possibility that flu vaccines simply don’t work.
-Scientists who question the vaccine mythology are routinely shunned by the medical establishment. Tom Jefferson from the Cochrane Collaboration is an epidemiologist who questions the claimed benefits of flu vaccines. The reaction [against Jefferson] has been so dogmatic and even hysterical that you’d think he was advocating stealing babies said a colleague (Majumdar).
-Jefferson is one of the world’s best-informed researchers on the flu vaccine. He leads a team of researchers who have examined hundreds of vaccine studies. To quote directly from the article: The vast majority of the studies were deeply flawed, says Jefferson.Rubbish is not a scientific term, but I think it’s the term that applies [to these studies].[And here's the real kicker that demonstrates why flu vaccines are useless...]

Flu vaccines only work on people who don’t need them
-Vaccines supposedly work by introducing a weakened viral strain that causes the immune system to respond by building influenza antibodies. However, as Jefferson points out, only healthy people produce a good antibody response to the vaccine. And yet it is precisely the unhealthy people — the ones who have a poor immune response to the vaccine — who are most at risk of being harmed or killed by influenza. But the vaccines don’t work in them!
-[In other words -- get this -- flu vaccines only work in people who don't need them!]
-[At the same time, it's also accurate to say that vaccines don't work at all in the very people who theoretically could benefit from them. They only produce antibodies in people who already have such a strong immune response that they don't need the vaccine in the first place.]
-Jefferson has called for randomized, placebo-controlled studies of the vaccines. But vaccine pushers are resisting these clinical trials! They call the trials unethical [but, in reality, they know that a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study would reveal the complete failure of flu vaccines, and they will do anything to prevent such a trial from happening. Don't you find it amazing that drug pushers and vaccine advocates claim they have science on their side, but they won't submit their vaccines to any real science at all?]
-[No placebo-controlled studies have ever been conducted on flu vaccines because the industry says they would be unethical.So where do these people get off claiming their vaccines work at all? The whole industry is based on fabricated statistics that are provably false... and the injections continue, year after year, with absolutely no benefit to public health whatsoever...]

Why anti-viral drugs don’t work either
-On the anti-viral drug front, hospitals are urged to hand out prescriptions for Tamiflu and Relenza to almost anyone who is symptomatic, whether they actually have swine flu or not. Concern is growing about the emergence of drug-resistant strains of swine flu. Flu can become resistant to Tamiflu in a matter of days…says one researcher.
-In 2005, the U.S. government spent $1.8 billion to stockpile antiviral drugs for the military. This decision was made during the time when Donald Rumsfeld was Defense Secretary. Rumsfeld also held millions of dollars worth of stock in Gilead Sciences, the company that holds the patent on Tamiflu. That company saw its stock price rise 50 percent following the government’s stockpiling purchase of Tamiflu.
-The evidence supporting Tamiflu’s anti-viral benefits is flimsy at best. Even worse, as many as one in five children taking Tamiflu experience neuropsychiatric side effects including hallucinations and suicidal behavior. [In other words, your kid might be tripping out on some bad Tamiflu...]
-Tamiflu is already linked to 50 deaths of children in Japan. Cause of death? Heart failure.
-The evidence supporting Tamiflu is based on cohort studies, just like the vaccines, which may distort or exaggerate the apparent benefits of the drug.
-Even supporters of Tamiflu admit it’s never been proven to help. A CDC official says that randomized trials to determine the effectiveness of Tamiflu would be unethical.
-In all, neither vaccines nor anti-viral drugs have any reliable evidence that they work against influenza at all. Both are being promoted based entirely on pure wishful thinking, not hard science.
-The history of pharmaceutical medicine is littered with other examples of drugs that doctors knew worked but which later turned out to harm or kill patients. [All along, the proper scientific studies were avoided because, hey, if you already know everything, why bother conducting any actual science to prove anything?]
-The hype about vaccines provides a false sense of security, taking away attention from other things that really do work to prevent influenza deaths. That’s why, except for hand washing,virtually no advice has been offered to the public on preventing influenza beyond vaccines and anti-viral drugs.
-Concluding quote from the author: By being afraid to do the proper studies now, we may be condemning ourselves to using treatments based on illusion and faith rather than sound science.

A recap of these astonishing points

Let’s recap what we just learned here (because it’s just mind-boggling):
-There have been no placebo-controlled studies on flu vaccines because the vaccine pushers say such clinical trials would be unethical.Thus, there is actually no hard scientific evidence that they work at all.
-The 50 percent reduction in mortality statistic that’s tossed around by vaccine pushers is a total fabrication based on rubbish studies (cohort studies).
-Scrutinizing the existing studies that claim to support vaccines reveals that flu vaccines simply don’t work. And when vaccines aren’t available or the formulation is wrong, there’s no spike in death rates, indicating quite conclusively that these vaccines offer no reduction in mortality.
-Flu vaccines only produce antibodies in people who don’t need vaccines. At the same time, they fail to produce antibodies in people who are most vulnerable to flu. Thus, vaccines only work in people who don’t need them.
-The entire flu vaccine industry is run like a cult, with dogma ruling over science. Anyone who asks tough, scientific questions is immediately branded a heretic. No one is allowed to question the status quo. (So much for evidence-based medicine,huh?)

As you can see from all this, the flu vaccine is pure quackery. Those who administer vaccines are, by inference, QUACKS. They claim to have scientific minds, and yet they are the most gullible of all: They will believe almost anything if it’s published in a medical journal, even if it’s complete quackery.Today, countless doctors, nurses and pharmacists across North America and around the world are pushing a medically worthless, scientifically-fabricated chemical injection that offers absolutely no benefit to public health… and yet they’re convinced it’s highly effective! It just goes to show you how easy it is to brainwash people in the field of conventional medicine.They’ve abandoned real science long ago, you know. Now the whole industry is just run on the momentum of dogmatic arrogance and the illusion of authority. From the CDC and FDA on down to the local pharmacist at the corner store, the American medical system is run by some seemingly smart people who have been brainwashed into become full-fledged members of the Cult of Pharmacology where vaccine mythology overrules real science.The vaccine industry is perhaps the greatest medical scam ever pulled off in the history of the world. Don’t fall for it.And don’t forget to read the full article in The Atlantic by Shannon Brownlee: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/2009…

Why people get vaccinated: Superstition

Reading everything you’ve read here, you might wonder: Why do people get vaccinated at all? The reason is because no one knows whether they work or not, so people keep on taking them just in case.It’s exactly the kind of superstitious ritual that science-minded skeptics rail against on a regular basis… unless, of course, it involves their vaccines, in which case superstition is all okay.People take vaccines for the same reason they rub a rabbit’s foot. It’s a good luck ritual that may or may not work, but no one really knows. And besides, what’s the harm in it? (They think…)Personally, I’d rather get some vitamin D and have a healthy, functioning immune system. But for those who prefer to play the lotto, gamble in Vegas or bet their lives on medical superstitions, flu vaccines are readily available.So what are you waiting for? Shoot up a few flu vaccines, rub your lucky rabbit’s foot, then spin around clockwise seven times and you, too, may be able to generate enough luck to avoid the flu this winter

Canada still targets Nov H1N1 vaccination roll-out By Rod Nickel – Tue Oct 13, 4:52 pm ET

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Canada has less than 1 million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine ready for distribution, not enough to move up the start of its vaccination program, one of the country's top health officials said on Tuesday.Country-wide vaccination remains on track to begin in the first week of November, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said in a conference call with journalists.It will move out very quickly in the next few weeks, he said.The timeline is primarily based on the availability of the vaccine.Canada, which has a population of 33.6 million people, has ordered 50.4 million doses of vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline.The vaccination program won't begin until Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq authorizes it, following clinical trials that begin this week and a review of studies from Canada and elsewhere, Butler-Jones said.There are no plans to begin vaccinations sooner in the Pacific Coast province of British Columbia, he said, where some outbreaks of pandemic H1N1 flu have occurred this fall. Also called swine flu, the strain has hospitalized 93 people in the province and killed seven, according to the B.C. Center for Disease Control.The provinces and territories are doing all the work to put it in place so you can, rather than piecemeal, deliver an effective vaccine (program) for the whole country,Butler-Jones said.It's a huge undertaking, so we want to get it right.

A new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal said on Tuesday that rapid roll-out of vaccines is effective in reducing the infection rate of the H1N1 pandemic virus. The study reported on a simulation model of an outbreak that projected how many people would be infected under different disease control strategies.It's never too late (to vaccinate) and any disease averted is an important thing to do,Butler-Jones said when asked if the findings raised concerns about Canada's timing.Seventy-nine people have died in Canada from the H1N1 strain.
(Editing by Rob Wilson)

Near half of swine flu patients otherwise healthy By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer – Tue Oct 13, 2:38 pm ET

ATLANTA – The largest U.S. analysis of hospitalized adult swine flu patients has found almost half were healthy people who did not have asthma or any other chronic illnesses before they got sick.Health officials released the surprising results at a news conference on Tuesday, noting that 46 percent of 1,400 hospitalized adults did not have a chronic underlying condition.They have said before that the majority of swine flu patients who develop severe illness have some sort of pre-existing condition, but the new data suggest the majority may be slimmer than was previously thought.A study of 272 hospitalized swine flu patients, released by the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month, concluded that 83 percent of adults and 60 percent of children had underlying conditions.However, health officials cautioned that the new analysis is preliminary and did not count obesity as an underlying condition. Earlier research has suggested obesity could be a separate risk factor for severe swine flu illness. Further analysis that counts obesity could change the results, said a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The CDC looked at 1,400 adults and more than 500 children with swine flu who were hospitalized in 10 states at medical centers participating in a special disease surveillance network. The hospitalizations occurred from April through the end of August.Looking at a larger number of hospitalizations was important because we wanted to make sure that we weren't missing some important underlying conditions that we hadn't talked about earlier,said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Of the adult cases, about 26 percent had asthma, 8 percent had some other chronic lung disease, 10 percent had diabetes, nearly 8 percent had weakened immune systems, and 6 percent were pregnant.Not as much analysis has been completed on the children's cases, but health officials noted that 6 percent were kids with sickle-cell disease or another condition from the same family of blood diseases.The new virus, first identified in April, is a global epidemic. The CDC doesn't have an exact count of all swine flu deaths and hospitalizations, but existing reports suggest more than 600 have died and more than 9,000 have been hospitalized. Health officials believe millions of Americans have caught the virus.The virus is hitting young people harder. Experts believe older people are suffering from it less, perhaps because they have a bit of immunity from exposure over the years to somewhat similar viruses.On Tuesday, Schuchat said that five additional pediatric swine-flu deaths have been reported since late last week, bringing to 81 the total count of U.S. children who have died with the infection.States have ordered almost 6 million doses of swine flu vaccine in the vaccination campaign that started last week. About half the available doses are shots and half are the nasal spray version of the vaccine, Schuchat said.On the Net:CDC swine flu update: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

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/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED OCT 14,2009

09:30 AM +5.80
10:00 AM +86.91
10:30 AM +78.22
11:00 AM +98.47
11:30 AM +117.07
12:00 PM +109.43
12:30 PM +110.40
01:00 PM +113.82
01:30 PM +119.03
02:00 PM +118.27
02:30 PM +123.04
03:00 PM +113.66
03:30 PM +152.36
04:00 PM +144.80 10,015.90

S&P 500 1092.02 +18.83

NASDAQ 2172.23 +32.34

GOLD 1,063.40 -1.60

OIL 75.12 +0.97

TSE 300 11,532.78 +119.24

CDNX 1336.50 +14.22

S&P/TSX/60 686.06 +7.43

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow +12.47%
S&P +18.81%
Nasdaq +35.69%
TSX Advances 816,declines 759,unchanged 193,Volume 491,774,525.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 506,Declines 484,Unchanged 338,Volume 272,766,156.

Dow +99 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -0.07 points at low today.
Dow +120 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,065.30.OIL opens at $75.36 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -0.07 points at low today so far.
Dow +120 points at high today so far.

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 2,690,declines 996,unchanged 88,New Highs 544,New Lows 73.
Volume 3,041,301,228.
NASDAQ Advances 1,863,declines 769,unchanged 103,New highs 224,New Lows 07.
Volume 1,225,946,322.
TSX Advances 866,declines 538,unchanged 213,Volume 309,309,815.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 396,Declines 350,Unchanged 326,Volume 149,673,701.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -0.07 points at low today.
Dow +154 points at high today.
Dow +1.47% today Volume 284,407,043.
Nasdaq +1.51% today Volume 2,278,253,835.
S&P 500 +1.75% today Volume N/A

MADOFF VICTIMS SUE DEC
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1295150296&play=1
CHARTING COMMODITIES,BANKS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1295138218&play=1
CAN THE DOLLAR BE SAVED
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1295102871&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1295079420&play=1

THE DOW HIT 10,000 POINTS BRIEFLY AT ABOUT 1:05PM AND BY CNBC YOU WOULD THINK EVERYONE IN THE WORLD WON A MILLION DOLLARS EACH.....THE HYPE SCAM IS ON.

A Dollar Rout or More Bernanke Trickery?
Mike Whitney Counterpunch October 14, 2009

The decision to skewer the dollar was made by the big banks and their allies at the Federal Reserve. Everyone else is just along for the ride.Consumer credit is falling fast. In July, consumer credit plunged by $19 billion, followed by an August drop of $12 billion, a 5.8 percent annual rate. Credit card spending decreased by nearly $10 billion in August, while non-revolving debt, including auto loans, fell by $2 billion. Credit has shrunk for 7 consecutive months, the longest period of decline since 1991. The banks have shrugged off their commitment under the TARP program to increase lending to consumers and businesses. They’ve either deposited their excess reserves with the Fed, where they earn interest, or invested them in the equities markets for better returns. The bottom line: Credit is shrinking and the economy is slipping further into deflation.

From MarketWatch:U.S. banks are reducing their lending at the fastest rate on record … According to weekly figures provided by the Federal Reserve, total loans at commercial banks have fallen at a 19% annual rate over the past three months, while loans to businesses have dropped at a 28% annualized pace…if the decline is mainly due to weak banks unable or unwilling to lend, then a turnaround in credit creation may have to wait until banks’ balance sheets are repaired, a process that could be delayed by further expected defaults in consumer loans, mortgages and commercial real-estate loans. (Rex Nutting, Banks cutting back on loans to businesses, Marketwatch)Unemployment is rising and the pool of creditworthy borrowers is declining. When credit contracts in an economy where salaries have stagnated and joblessness is increasing, demand falls and recession deepens. That is, unless government spending takes up the slack in excess capacity.There is no organic growth in the economy at present. The so-called recovery is a result of fiscal stimulus and the Fed’s extraordinary liquidity injections into the financial system. True growth and prosperity do not come via the printing press. The Fed’s actions are just putting more and more pressure on the dollar.

From Bloomberg today:

Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two- quarter rout in almost two decades…Policy makers boosted foreign currency holdings by $413 billion last quarter, the most since at least 2003, to $7.3 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nations reporting currency breakdowns put 63 percent of the new cash into euros and yen in April, May and June…the highest percentage in any quarter with more than an $80 billion increase.Global central banks are getting more serious about diversification, whereas in the past they used to just talk about it, said Steve Englander, a former Federal Reserve researcher who is now the chief U.S. currency strategist at Barclays in New York.It looks like they are really backing away from the dollar.(Bloomberg News)Congress has no say-so. Neither do the American people. The decision to skewer the dollar was made by the big banks and their allies at the Federal Reserve. Everyone else is just along for the ride. The Fed wants a cheaper dollar to increase exports, provide cheap capital for Wall Street, and to lower the true value of household and financial sector debt. But there are many pitfalls to inflating one’s way out of debt. It is a policy which should have been debated by the representatives of the people and not decided by unelected bank-oligarchs pursuing their own self-interests.The dollar’s share of global reserves is steadily falling. Private industry and central banks are shedding dollars to avoid painful adjustments in the future. Last week, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines launched currency market interventions to keep the dollar from plummeting. The situation is grave. The Fed’s monetization and liquidity programs have made dollar-holders jittery. The central banks actions are the first sign of a disorderly unwind. The prospect of a dollar crash is now real.

Surprisingly, there is also a good chance that the dollar will strengthen short-term and that the misinformation about the dollar’s future is being used to achieve the Fed’s objectives. Fed chair Ben Bernanke is already monetizing the debt (via quantitative easing) and has slashed interest rates to zero. What else can he do? The only way to weaken the dollar further is through asymmetrical warfare, a disinformation campaign aimed at triggering a sell-off before the dollar strengthens when the stock market corrects and credit tightens even more. Is that what Bernanke has in mind? The Fed has its back to the wall. It will do whatever is necessary to micro-manage the dollar’s decline and retain its stranglehold on the global system.

Almunia keeps up pressure on Latvia
ANDREW WILLIS Today OCT 14,09 @ 09:21 CET

The EU's economy commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, is keeping up pressure on Latvia to fulfil budget deficit cuts agreed under the terms of a €7.5 billion international loan led by the EU and the International Monetary Fund.This will be extremely important to increase confidence in the markets vis-a-vis the Latvian economy,he told a news conference in Riga on Tuesday (13 October) following discussions with parliamentary leaders.Honestly, I don't see an alternative,he added.Ongoing squabbling between members of the government's five-party coalition recently caused it to row back from the 500 million lat (€711m) deficit cut agreed for this year. But sharp criticism of the proposed move - led primarily by Sweden, whose banks have invested heavily in the country – resulted in a government announcement on Monday to go ahead with the full deficit reduction.This will be achieved through 320 million lats of spending cuts and 180 million lats in new revenues, announced the country's embattled prime minister, Valdis Dombrovskis.Mr Almunia welcomed the decision during his visit to Riga on Tuesday and urged the country's parliament to approve the budget bill.If this 2010 budget is adopted as it has been agreed, this will create the conditions to have again positive figures for growth in the Latvian economy before the end of 2010,he said.

Latvia is suffering one of the worst recessions in the EU following the bursting of a real estate bubble, with the economy expected to contract by 18 percent of GDP this year.But as unemployment rises and politicians position themselves for elections next October, dissent has been growing over the EU and IMF lending terms.
The conservative Peoples' Party – currently the largest in the five-party coalition –is facing electoral wipeout next year based on current polling results, and has opposed certain tax increases.Following a meeting with Mr Almunia however, a chief figure in the Peoples' Party, Vents Armands Krauklis, appeared resigned to Monday's agreement.Nothing else is left other than to fulfil the unreasonable demands of the international lenders,he is quoted as saying.Trade unions protesting in Brussels last week said Latvia's lack of a progressive tax system based on salary earnings mean the country's poor are hit hardest by any tax increases.As many citizens struggle to pay back mortgages on houses whose value has plummeted over the last year, the government is toying with a plan to limit mortgage repayments to banks.
Swedish bank Swedbank has threatened to reduce the level of its operations in the country if the government goes ahead with the plan.

Several EU states put in high-risk band on public finances
ANDREW WILLIS Today OCT 14,09 @ 17:42 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – A new report by the European Commission on the sustainability of public finances concludes that the health of member state coffers varies considerably across the bloc. Britain, Spain, Greece, Ireland and Latvia all fell into the high-risk category as soaring public debt may constrict their ability to meet future obligations such as pension payments.Published on Wednesday (14 October), the Commission's communication and accompanying Sustainability Report 2009 takes into account the impact of the crisis, and is a follow-on from a similar report in 2006.The long-term sustainability of public finances is a concern for all EU countries, although to a considerably varying degree across member states, said the EU executive in a statement. Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger stressed that the report was based on a scenario of unchanged policy from EU governments. In 2007 EU member states had achieved their best aggregate budgetary position in 30 years, with a deficit of 0.8 percent for the EU as a whole.However, the onset of the financial and economic crisis prompted governments to pour billions into bank rescues and economic stimulus packages, sending balance sheets firmly into the red.

The new report stresses that low-growth forecasts for the coming years mean governments should not expect to grow their way out of the mounting debt, with the bloc's ageing population set to place further strain on public finances. Under the new economic climate, deficit and debt reduction, increases in employment rates and reforms of social protection systems were now more necessary than ever, said the EU commission. The EU executive backs more worker training but easier ways to hire and fire, along with an increase in European retirement ages in order to achieve these goals. At the current rate, extending the average European retirement age from 62 to 63 could take until 2060 the EU executive said, while life expectancy is predicted to increase by six years over the same period. The Netherlands, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Cyprus were also listed as needing ambitious budget programmes, while French and Italian budgets received more moderate criticism.Fellow EU members Germany, Belgium and Austria, were deemed to have public finances that are relatively sound.Top marks went to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Bulgaria - classified as low risk because of their healthy public finances and major pension reforms enacted before the crisis started.

Harper concerned by strength of Canadian dollar Tue Oct 13, 3:13 pm ET

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday he was concerned by the recent rise in the Canadian dollar, which he said was a risk to economic recovery.Obviously, it is a concern, Harper told reporters when asked about the rapid rise by the currency.(Reporting by Allan Dowd, writing by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)

Asian stocks up amid China optimism; oil above $75 By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, AP Business Writer – OCT 14,09

HONG KONG – Asian stock markets rose Wednesday as China's economy showed more signs of recovery and oil prices touched a new high for the year above $75 a barrel.
Helping lead the region's advance were shares in major technology companies after U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp. issued a surprisingly cheery profit forecast for the rest of the year. The dollar, meanwhile, resumed its slide against the yen and the euro.

Investors were heartened by news the slump in China's exports eased in September, a sign global trade was improving and aiding the government's efforts to engineer a stronger turnaround in the world's third-largest economy.Combined with huge amounts of easy money freed up by governments to rebuild their economies and companies, growth in China has helped drive Asia's markets in the last six months.The writing is on the wall: China's economy is recovering,said Henry Chan, Hong Kong-based head of Asian equities at Baring Asset Management, which oversees more than $9 billion in assets.And when there's so much liquidity in the system it will have to go somewhere, and I think Asia's markets will go higher.In mainland China, Shanghai's index jumped 62.52 points, or 2.1 percent, to 2,998.71. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 292.93 points, or 1.4 percent, to 21,760.29.Japan's market was the region's only major loser, with the Nikkei 225 stock average shedding 0.2 percent to 10,059.76 amid a stronger yen which hurts exporters.Elsewhere, Australia's market gained 1.1 percent, India's benchmark added 1.2 percent and Taiwan's key index advanced 1.1 percent.Meanwhile, the slumping dollar sent commodities — which are largely priced in dollars and therefore tend to rise when the U.S. currency falls — surging once again. Gold traded near an all-time high of $1,069.6 an ounce.

Oil blew past its previous 2009 high of $75, with a barrel of crude for November delivery rising 96 cents to $75.11. The contract added 88 cents overnight.On Wall Street Tuesday, the Dow fell 14.74, or 0.2 percent, to 9,871.06.The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.00, or 0.3 percent, to 1,073.19, its first loss after six days of gains. The Nasdaq rose 0.75, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,139.89.The dollar tanked to 88.96 yen from 89.69 yen. The euro climbed to $1.4879 from $1.4852.

Central Asia regional group meets on financial crisis OCT 14,09

BEIJING (AFP) – The leaders of Russia, China and four Central Asian nations met here Wednesday for talks that officials said would focus on counter-terrorism and a regional response to the global financial crisis.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, host Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and leaders from four ex-Soviet countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- gathered for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.Representatives from India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan also joined the regional grouping's talks at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, as the four countries have SCO observer status.Ahead of the talks, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya said the fallout from the global economic meltdown, efforts to combat terrorism and the conflict in Afghanistan would be top the agenda.Confronted with these new problems, new threats and new challenges, the SCO members have realised that they could reduce the impacts to the utmost extent only through unity and self-improvement,state media quoted Wang as saying.The SCO members will enhance their determination to jointly fight against terrorism during this meeting,Wang said, according to the Xinhua news agency.The Russian government said at the weekend that the leaders would adopt an important document on joint efforts to combat the effects of the global financial crisis, without giving details.

The SCO grew out of a regional effort in the mid-1990s to reduce military forces among common borders. It later came to involve anti-terrorism efforts and cooperation in the economic and energy fields.Some Western critics say the grouping, dominated by Moscow and Beijing, is ultimately aimed at countering US influence in Central Asia.Putin, who arrived here earlier this week, on Tuesday said Russia and China could better help solve global problems when they adopted a common stance.The joint positions of Russia and China on some or other issues somewhat contain some of our colleagues, colleagues who are more hot-headed than we are,he said, without pointing a finger at specific countries.Putin did not elaborate, but Russia and China have been reluctant to support tougher sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.Both China and Russia conduct peaceful, peace-loving foreign policy. We are not fighting wars anywhere, we don't have our troops abroad.It is a consolidated view towards these problems, an ability to agree the positions on key issues of global development that very often calm down the situation, so to speak -- play a stabilising role.

Oil jumps to 1-year high above $75 a barrel By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer – OCT 14,09

SINGAPORE – Oil prices jumped above $75 a barrel Wednesday in Asia for the first time in a year on investor optimism crude demand will improve ahead of the Christmas shopping season.Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 91 cents to $75.06, the highest since October 2008, by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 88 cents to settle at $74.15 on Tuesday.Oil has traded between $65 and $75 since May as traders have mulled mixed crude supply and demand data.Some analysts expect an increase in diesel fuel demand from U.S. truckers supplying inventory for the year-end holiday shopping season will trigger a sustained rise above $75.We believe oil prices are poised to move higher, Goldman Sachs, which expects prices to rise to $85 a barrel by the end of the year, said in a report.All indicators still point to a normal seasonal pick-up in shipping to retailers this year.A weak dollar is also bolstering crude prices. The euro rose to $1.4886, the highest since August 2008, in early Asian trading from $1.4852 the previous day while the dollar slid to 89.00 yen from 89.69.Burgeoning oil supplies this year have weighed on oil prices. Investors will be looking to the latest U.S. inventory data later on Wednesday and Thursday from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration.The problem is really that we have a lot of crude inventory,said Victor Shum, an analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.This supply overhang makes the price vulnerable to any bad economic news, which we still get from time to time.

It's more likely the price will hang around $70.In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 1.53 cents to $1.94 a gallon. Gasoline for November delivery gained 2.36 cents to $1.86 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery jumped 4.5 cents to $4.63 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, Brent crude rose 84 cents to $73.25 on the ICE Futures exchange.

EU warns of climate stalemate, blames Washington
LEIGH PHILLIPS 13.10.2009 @ 17:39 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU's top climate negotiator, freshly back in Brussels from late-in-the-game talks in Thailand, has warned of a near stalemate in discussions.Bangkok is still miles away from Copenhagen,Artur Runger-Metzger, Europe's chief broker at the talks, told reporters in the European capital on Monday.
There was little movement surrounding the key demand of developing countries, that the industrialised north stump up some hefty cash to pay for measures to adapt to the effects of global warming and to mitigate their carbon emissions, he said.As for the third world,Advanced developing countries need to make a meaningful commitment to their own carbon reductions, he added.This issue of climate finance - the quid pro quo of money from the north in return for mitigation for the South - been the main sticking point for much of the last year, but Mr Runger-Metzger said there had still been no movement on the subject in Bangkok.The discussions in reality are two parallel sets of talks - the one aims to achieve long-term action to combat climate change that all countries are involved in, while the other track aims to develop post-2012 emission reduction targets within the Kyoto Protocol, to which the US is not a party, and focusses mainly on industrialised countries.Developing nations and China, say that for all its faults, they want a maintenance of the protocol for its insistence that while every nation has a responsibility to combat climate change, the burden for the industrialised north, which created the problem, is heavier.The United States meanwhile wants a focus on the big emitters of today, including China, rather than historical emissions, and prefers an abandonment of this principle of common but differentiated responsibilities that is contained in the protocol.The EU says it backs a continuance of the Kyoto Protocol, but developing countries say this is just rhetoric and that in the talks, Brussels is backing the US position.

China and the group of developing nations known as the G77 last week accused developed nations of trying to bury the Kyoto Protocol.It has become self-evident and actually clear that the intention of the developed countries is to kill off the Kyoto Protocol,said Lumumba D'Aping, of the G77 plus China negotiating coalition, in Bangkok.The Chinese representative there, Yu Qingtai, said: I have yet to see a developed country or a group of developed countries coming up to say to the public, the international community and to their own people that they are not here to kill the Kyoto Protocol.Washington to blame, says EU

Mr Runger-Metzger for his part attempted to shift the blame to Washington. You may have heard that China accused the EU of killing off the Kyoto Protocol,he told the Brussels journalists.But it is the US that is trying to kill it. They want everything common and nothing differentiated,he said, referring to the key Kyoto principle.What people are realising is that the US is not going as far or as fast as was anticipated before the summer,he added.The question is: What can Obama really commit the US to? Will he be able to make any sort of compromise? Developing country sources have told this website that in truth, the push for common elements is coming from the US, Japan, Australia and Canada, not the EU but Europe at the same time is doing little to counter this move.The EU is briefing against the US, but they aren't doing anything where it matters - attacking the US position in the talks themselves, said one party close to the negotiations.There are no binding commitments in terms of carbon reduction targets apart from the EU's 20 percent on 1990 levels by 2020. In terms of figures that have been bandied about, taken as a whole, industrialised countries are looking to reduce emissions by between nine and 16.5 percent - far below the 25 to 40 percent reduction scientists say is necessary to avoid catastrophic change.The best that can be said about the Thai discussions, according to the EU negotiator, is that a consolidation of the negotiating texts was achieved, cutting in half the 250-odd-page document tabled at talks in Bonn earlier this year, he told the journalists.There are also no firm numbers on the table in terms of climate finance. The European Commission has suggested between €2 and €15 billion, far below the €35 billion civil society calculates as the EU's fair share, but even this is not a firm European Union sum at all.

EU angels and demons

The Swedish presidency is believed to be pushing hard for firm and substantial climate finance sums to be officially offered and sooner rather than later.Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the UK would also like to see some money on the table.But the key blocker are not the usual villains of Italy or Poland, but Germany, whose finance ministry is blocking, believing that a better game of poker will be played by keeping the EU's cards close to its chest until the last minute in order to extract maximum concessions from developing countries.Germany is also not in favour of climate finance monies being in addition to existing development aid, as if the two pots of money are combined, they get to claim that they have reached their overseas development assistance targets faster and keep more of the money.The UK for its part has suggested that the amount of development aid that could be renamed as climate finance be capped at 10 percent, but this proposal is not gaining much traction amongst EU diplomats.It is understood that climate finance is not a make-or-break issue for Poland, and Warsaw will not block a deal so long as it is bought off with some sort of sweetener.France however is more of a mystery. When at the helm of the EU presidency last year, President Nicolas Sarkozy hyperactively tried to corral member states into backing the bloc's climate and energy package, but has for months now largely been silent on the UN talks.

Guinea signs $7B mining deal with Chinese firm Tue Oct 13, 10:45 am ET

CONAKRY, Guinea – Guinea's military government said Tuesday it has signed a $7 billion mining agreement with a Chinese company.Mines Minister Mahmoud Thiam did not name the company involved but said the Chinese firm will be a strategic partner in all mining projects in the West African country.Guinea is the world's largest producer of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum, and also produces diamonds and gold.Yet its mineral wealth was long siphoned off to enrich the country's longtime ruling elite. Guinea had been ruled by only two people since gaining independence from France half century ago until Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara seized power in a coup in December.Camara initially said he would not run in elections scheduled for January, but recently indicated that he may have changed his mind.A human rights group says 157 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded late last month when soldiers opened fire at 50,000 pro-democracy demonstrators at the national soccer stadium. The government put the death toll at 57.Thiam said the Chinese mining projects will help Guinea's poor and dismissed criticisms that such a deal should have waited until after next year's elections.We are in a transition putting down foundations and hope the next government will follow suit,Thiam said.

Africa's trade with China reached more than $100 billion in 2008 and has multiplied by 10 since 2001, according to the African Economic Outlook.The arrival of the Chinese puts them in direct competition with the American-owned Guinea Bauxite Company CBG and the Russians' RUSAL. The Russians have been in a legal tussle with the junta over whether the mines are owned by Guinea's government.Meanwhile, thousands of Guineans stayed home Tuesday for a second day as a part of a national mourning for those killed at the stadium. Guinea's government has issued a statement saying it supported the trade unions' call for people to stay home for two days.

TSX extends drop as banks weigh Tue Oct 13, 10:24 am ET

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto's main stock index deepened an early decline on Tuesday morning, led lower by Royal Bank of Canada and other banks as they tracked weakness in U.S. financial issues.Financials fell more than 1 percent, under pressure after prominent U.S. banking analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded her rating on Goldman Sachs Group to neutral from buy.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 130.71 points, or 1.14 percent, at 11,306.21.(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; editing by Peter Galloway)