GERALD RIGHT AGAIN AS PREDICTED

Livni, Netanyahu said weighing alliance talks By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer –Fri Mar 13, 6:22 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are taking another look at teaming up in a governing coalition, according to media reports Friday.The alliance would give the incoming government stronger international support because of Livni's commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state.The reports emerged as Netanyahu appeared on the verge of forming a narrow government with ultranationalist and religious parties that would take a harder line on concessions to the Palestinians than Livni's Kadima Party.Livni said after her last round of coalition talks with Netanyahu two weeks ago that Kadima would not sit in a coalition that was not committed to negotiations on Palestinian statehood. She also has said she would only join Netanyahu's government if he let her serve as prime minister for half of the government's four-year term. Netanyahu rejected the proposal.Netanyahu spokeswoman Dina Libster said Friday that the two camps exchanged messages through intermediaries. She wouldn't discuss the content of those messages, disclose whether the two leaders spoke directly or whether they had plans to meet.Livni adviser Gil Messing said envoys from Netanyahu's Likud party have been trying since the Feb. 10 elections to persuade Kadima to join the government.

We have our stands and our principles on the diplomatic front and others and we won't budge, Messing said.He said there were no plans for the two leaders to meet, and that there would be no sitdown unless Netanyahu agreed to accept Kadima's positions.

Bringing Livni into the coalition would blunt the hawkish edge that a narrow coalition would have and give the incoming government a stable parliamentary majority.

Without Kadima, Netanyahu appears able to muster the parliamentary backing of no more than 65 lawmakers in the 120-seat parliament. That means virtually any of his partners would be able to bring down his government in a dispute — as happened during his first term as prime minister in the 1990s.A centrist government with Livni also would help Netanyahu avoid a clash with President Barack Obama, who has promised to become aggressively involved in pursuing Mideast peace.Netanyahu has until April 3 to piece together his government. Ehud Olmert, Israel's outgoing prime minister, continues in a caretaker role until Netanyahu can form a new ruling coalition.

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.

WELL GERALDS RIGHT AGAIN THE PEOPLE ARE BEING DECIEVED BY JOHN STEWART AND CRAMER WHILE THE REST OF THE MEDIA PICK UP ON IT AND DECIEVE EVEN MORE PEOPLE.

GERALD CELENTE - TREND RESEARCH
http://www.trendsresearch.com/gerald.html

TOP TRENDS OF 2009
http://www.trendsresearch.com/journal.html

That's Entertainment 2009 forecast
During the grim times of the Great Depression, arts and entertainment flourished, and with the repeal of Prohibition the good times rolled … and they’ll roll again. Lifting spirits, and drinking them, will be big businesses and major pastimes for both down-and-outs and the Uptown crowd during the Greatest Depression.

STEWART CRAMER - VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9by4zHpF_M
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Television/story?id=7075368&page=1

Stewart, Cramer square off over market meltdown
Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:28am EDT

LOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - Comedian Jon Stewart and financial commentator Jim Cramer squared off on Thursday night over the CNBC TV network's reporting of Wall Street ahead of the market meltdown, and Cramer conceded he -- and others -- gave some bad advice.In recent days on his mock news program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the funnyman has taken Cramer, host of CNBC's Mad Money, to task by saying he and CNBC reporters befriended Wall Street executives and former government officials instead of questioning them as journalists should.Cramer, who offers advice and stock market tips on his CNBC show, has fought back, saying Stewart chose only examples of bad advice Cramer had given.I think everyone could come in under criticism. We all should have seen it before,Cramer said.Everybody got it wrong. I got a lot of things wrong.Average people trusted financial advisors who told them to pour money into market-oriented accounts for the long term, Stewart said, and those people lost their money when Wall Street used those savings to generate short-term profits.Stewart said financial reporters like Cramer and others on CNBC should have taken the time to uncover financial shenanigans and not have been so quick to trust business executives and government officials.The financial news industry is not just guilty of a sin of omission but a sin of commission,Stewart said.With financial markets headed upward almost daily in recent years, Cramer said it was hard to believe the march skyward would not continue. The market was going up for a long time and our real sin, I think, was to think it could continue to go up a lot, Cramer said.

In the end, the two agreed the financial press corps should refocus on asking hard questions of top executives.Maybe we can ... start getting back to fundamentals on the reporting, and I can go back to making (GAS) noises and funny faces, Stewart said.
I think we can make a deal right here,Cramer said, and the two shook hands.(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte, editing by Vicki Allen)

Obama’s Gun Ban List Is Out Alan Korwin Infowars March 13, 2009

Here it is, folks, and it is bad news. The framework for legislation is always laid, and the Democrats have the votes to pass anything they want to impose upon us. They really do not believe you need anything more than a brick to defend your home and family. Look at the list and see how many you own. Remember, it is registration, then confiscation. It has happened in the UK, in Australia, in Europe, in China, and what they have found is that for some reason the criminals do not turn in their weapons, but will know that you did.Remember, the first step in establishing a dictatorship is to disarm the citizens.Gun-ban list proposed. Slipping below the radar (or under the short-term memory cap), the Democrats have already leaked a gun-ban list, even under the Bush administration when they knew full well it had no chance of passage (HR 1022, 110th Congress). It serves as a framework for the new list the Brady’s plan to introduce shortly. I have an outline of the Brady’s current plans and targets of opportunity. It’s horrific. They’re going after the courts, regulatory agencies, firearms dealers and statutes in an all out effort to restrict we the people. They’ve made little mention of criminals. Now more than ever, attention to the entire Bill of Rights is critical. Gun bans will impact our freedoms under search and seizure, due process, confiscated property, states’ rights, free speech, right to assemble and more, in addition to the Second Amendment. The Democrats current gun-ban-list proposal (final list will be worse):

Rifles (or copies or duplicates):M1 Carbine,Sturm Ruger Mini-14,AR-15,Bushmaster XM15,
Armalite M15,AR-10,Thompson 1927,Thompson M1;AK,AKM,AKS,AK-47,AK-74,ARM,MAK90,NHM 90,
NHM 91,SA 85,SA 93,VEPR;Olympic Arms PCR;AR70,Calico Liberty ,Dragunov SVD Sniper Rifle or Dragunov SVU,Fabrique National FN/FAL,FN/LAR, or FNC,Hi-Point20Carbine,
HK-91,HK-93,HK-94,HK-PSG-1,Thompson 1927 Commando,Kel-Tec Sub Rifle;Saiga,SAR-8,
SAR-4800,SKS with detachable magazine,SLG 95,SLR 95 or 96,Steyr AU,Tavor,Uzi,
Galil and Uzi Sporter,Galil Sporter, or Galil Sniper Rifle ( Galatz ).Pistols (or copies or duplicates):Calico M-110,MAC-10,MAC-11, or MPA3,Olympic Arms OA,TEC-9,
TEC-DC9,TEC-22 Scorpion, or AB-10,Uzi.Shotguns (or copies or duplicates):Armscor 30 BG,SPAS 12 or LAW 12,Striker 12,Streetsweeper. Catch-all category (for anything missed or new designs):A semiautomatic rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and has:(i) a folding or telescoping stock,(ii) a threaded barrel,(iii) a pistol grip (which includes ANYTHING that can serve as a grip, see below),(iv) a forward grip; or a barrel shroud.Any semiautomatic rifle with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds (except tubular magazine .22 rim fire rifles).A semiautomatic pistol that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine, and has:(i) a second pistol grip,(ii) a threaded barrel,(iii) a barrel shroud or(iv) can accept a detachable magazine outside of the pistol grip, and(v) a semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.A semiautomatic shotgun with:(i) a folding or telescoping stock,(ii) a pistol grip (see definition below),(iii) the ability to accept a detachable magazine or a fixed magazine capacity of more than 5 rounds, and(iv) a shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

Frames or receivers for the above are included, along with conversion kits.
Attorney General gets carte blanche to ban guns at will: Under the proposal, the U.S. Attorney General can add any semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General.Note that Obama’s pick for this office, Eric Holder, wrote a brief in the Heller case supporting the position that you have no right to have a working firearm in your own home. In making this determination, the bill says, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.In plain English this means that ANY firearm ever obtained by federal officers or the military is not suitable for the public.The last part is particularly clever, stating that a firearm doesn’t have a sporting purpose just because it can be used for sporting purpose — is that devious or what? And of course, sporting purpose is a rights infringement with no constitutional or historical support whatsoever, invented by domestic enemies of the right to keep and bear arms to further their cause of disarming the innocent.

Respectfully submitted, Alan Korwin, Author Gun Laws of America http://www.gunlaws.com/gloa.htm

Forward or send to every gun owner you know…
Watch This, If You Want More Proof:
YouTube - CNN- Obama To BAN Guns SPREAD THIS FOLKS, PLZ!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv3p2lLmjGk

A partial list of gun rights groups:

Gun Owners of America
http://gunowners.org/

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
http://www.jpfo.org/

FREEDOM=GUNS
http://www.tcsn.net/doncicci/freedom.htm

National Rifle Association
http://www.nra.org/

Second Amendment Committee
http://www.libertygunrights.com/

Second Amendment Foundation
http://www.saf.org/

Second Amendment Sisters
http://www.2asisters.org/

Women Against Gun Control
http://www.wagc.com/

Have we elected a king? Hal Lindsey Posted: March 13, 2009 1:00 am Eastern
2009 WND

The Democrat reaction to talk-show host Rush Limbaugh's comment that he hopes President Obama fails reminds me of the classic line from the movie Casablanca.As Inspector Renault pockets his winnings from the gambling tables, he orders Rick's Place closed. When Humphrey Bogart's character, Rick, protests, Renault (Claude Raines) exclaims loudly, I'm shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on in here.The Democrats are shocked, shocked to find that Rush Limbaugh doesn't want the socialist agenda of the most liberal president in American history to succeed. Shocked, I say! It isn't that Rush Limbaugh's comments need defending – they don't. America is not a monarchy or a dictatorship. We still have freedom of speech – at least, for the time being. What American president in our history has been above criticism? America is a constitutional republic, not a socialist democracy. Obama has made no secret of his desire to advance socialist democratic principles. So he and his cohorts should expect vigorous objections from those who know and believe in the U.S. Constitution. I don't want to see Obama succeed in turning America into a socialist worker's paradise, either. Socialism has been proven wrong in every place it has been tried.

The president is not the State. Wanting Obama to fail is not the same as wanting America to fail. Indeed, from Rush Limbaugh's perspective, it is the equivalent of wanting America to succeed. The outrage being ginned up by the Democrats is therefore phony on its face. It would be ridiculous to the point of humorous if it weren't so revealing. First off, it reveals the degree to which many Americans still regard President Obama as The One. They are evidently incapable of separating what is good for Barack Obama from what is good for America. It is this group that scares me the most. Barack Obama is not America. He is America's current and temporary leader. The next president could reverse any or all of Obama's policies as quickly as Obama reversed those of President Bush, which brings us to the second point about this phony outrage. Entire factions of the Democrat Party not only announced their desire to see President Bush fail, but proclaimed their intention to actively work toward the failure of the Bush presidency. There was no Bush policy too important to the country to be permitted to succeed, and no price too high to pay if it ensured his failure. Even though young Americans were spilling their blood on foreign soil to win in Iraq, the phonies at home were arguing for their failure, so long as it meant President Bush's failure.The Democrats were so effective in convincing the public that it was possible to support the troops while hoping that they lose that they made losing the war part of their campaign strategy. As late as last year, Democrat James Clyburn admitted his fear that a favorable report from Gen. Petraeus about the Iraq war could be a real problem for Democrats.

In August 2006, just before the mid-term elections that crowned Nancy Pelosi America's first queen, a Fox News Opinion Dynamics Poll asked the question: Would you say you want President Bush to succeed or not? Ninety percent of Republicans wanted him to succeed. Sixty-three percent of Independents wanted him to succeed. Fifty-one percent of Democrats said they did not. That's a majority. A slim one, but a majority is a majority.If wanting a presidential agenda to fail because you disagree with it is somehow un-American or disloyal, doesn't that make the 51 percent of Democrats in this poll guilty also? The most frightening thing about this whole Limbaugh smear campaign is how seriously many Americans are taking it. It shows that they must think Barack Obama is America. Sieg Heil!

LINKS TO ELIGIBILITY STORY
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91649

BORN IN THE USA? Eligibility bill hits Congress,Representative files law requiring candidates show birth certificate March 13, 2009 3:09 pm Eastern By Drew Zahn 2009 WorldNetDaily

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla.

A freshman representative has introduced a bill to the U.S. Congress that would require presidential candidates to provide a birth certificate and other documents to prove their eligibility to occupy the Oval Office. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., filed H.R. 1503, an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which increased required campaign fund disclosure and was later amended to establish the Federal Elections Commission. According to the Library of Congress' bill-tracking website, H.R. 1503 would require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of president to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate, together with such other documentation as may be necessary to establish that the candidate meets the qualifications for eligibility to the Office of President under the Constitution.George Cecala, a spokesperson for Rep. Posey's office, told WND that constituents had been calling, questioning whether Barack Obama – who has publicized a Certificate of Live Birth, but not his official birth certificate – has demonstrated that he meets the Constitution's requirement to be a natural-born citizen. Those are legitimate constitutional concerns,Cecala said.Folks have brought the issue up, and the court really hasn't clarified. And I think American citizens have a right to have answers from their government.Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the natural-born American clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join more than 325,000 others and sign up now! When seven-year-olds play soccer in Brevard County, to be in Little League they have to prove their residency, Cecala said. To be president there are three requirements: one is citizenship, two is the age of 35, and three, you have to have been a resident for 14 years. We're simply saying when you file your statement of candidacy with the FEC, you should also file documentation that you fulfill the three requirements to be president. There's two standards here,Cecala told WND,one for Little League and one for president.

Opponents of President Bush used the 2000 election results and the court decisions to question the legitimacy of President Bush to serve as president, explained Rep. Posey in an official statement.Opponents of President Obama are raising the birth certificate issue as a means of questioning his eligibility to serve as president. Neither of these situations is healthy for our republic. This bill, by simply requiring such documentation for future candidates for president will remove this issue as a reason for questioning the legitimacy of a candidate elected as president.
Cecala further told WND that there's no political motivation in proposing the bill, and the Congressman hopes passing the bill will help clear the air for the president, enabling the government to get beyond the election controversy to dealing with the nation's other important issues. Once we pass this bill, we can be assured that future elections won't have this problem, Cecala said. It's not an attack on President Obama; it's just clarifying for future elections.Cecala also explained that if passed, the amendment to election law would require Obama, just like any other candidate, to provide a birth certificate in any future presidential elections.

H.R. 1503 has been referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

WND has reported on dozens of legal challenges to Obama's status as a natural born citizen.The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.Some of the lawsuits question whether he was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time. Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born. Although Obama officials have told WND all such allegations are garbage, here is a partial listing and status update for some of the cases over Obama's eligibility:New Jersey attorney Mario Apuzzo has filed a case on behalf of Charles Kerchner and others alleging Congress didn't properly ascertain that Obama is qualified to hold the office of president.Pennsylvania Democrat Philip Berg has three cases pending, including Berg vs. Obama in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a separate Berg vs. Obama which is under seal at the U.S. District Court level and Hollister vs. Soetoro a/k/a Obama, (now dismissed) brought on behalf of a retired military member who could be facing recall to active duty by Obama.Leo Donofrio of New Jersey filed a lawsuit claiming Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court but denied a full hearing.Cort Wrotnowski filed suit against Connecticut's secretary of state, making a similar argument to Donofrio. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court, but was denied a full hearing.

Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes headlines a list of people filing a suit in California, in a case handled by the United States Justice Foundation, that asks the secretary of state to refuse to allow the state's 55 Electoral College votes to be cast in the 2008 presidential election until Obama verifies his eligibility to hold the office. The case is pending, and lawyers are seeking the public's support.Chicago attorney Andy Martin sought legal action requiring Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle to release Obama's vital statistics record. The case was dismissed by Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Bert Ayabe.Lt. Col. Donald Sullivan sought a temporary restraining order to stop the Electoral College vote in North Carolina until Barack Obama's eligibility could be confirmed, alleging doubt about Obama's citizenship. His case was denied.In Ohio, David M. Neal sued to force the secretary of state to request documents from the Federal Elections Commission, the Democratic National Committee, the Ohio Democratic Party and Obama to show the presidential candidate was born in Hawaii. The case was denied.Also in Ohio, there was the Greenberg v. Brunner case which ended when the judge threatened to assess all case costs against the plaintiff.In Washington state, Steven Marquis sued the secretary of state seeking a determination on Obama's citizenship. The case was denied.In Georgia, Rev. Tom Terry asked the state Supreme Court to authenticate Obama's birth certificate. His request for an injunction against Georgia's secretary of state was denied by Georgia Superior Court Judge Jerry W. Baxter.California attorney Orly Taitz has brought a case, Lightfoot vs. Bowen, on behalf of Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate on the ballot with Ron Paul, four electors and two registered voters.In addition, other cases cited on the RightSideofLife blog as raising questions about Obama's eligibility include:
In Texas, Darrel Hunter vs. Obama later was dismissed.In Ohio, Gordon Stamper vs. U.S. later was dismissed.In Texas, Brockhausen vs. Andrade.In Washington, L. Charles Cohen vs. Obama.In Hawaii, Keyes vs. Lingle, dismissed.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

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

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

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

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

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

G20 discuss credit crunch fight, deny split by Katherine Haddon MAR 13,09

HORSHAM, England (AFP) – Finance ministers from the world's biggest economies hold talks Saturday trying to find common ground ahead of a vital G20 summit on April 2 -- but already the talk is of splits, not harmony.The world's richest countries -- the United States, Japan and China -- plus wealthy European nations and emerging powers like South Korea will bid to lay the foundations for a plan to pull the global economy out of its tailspin.But the build-up to the meeting at a luxury hotel near Horsham, south of London, has been marred by clashes between the United States and Europe on whether this is best done through new stimulus measures or tougher regulation.Failure to come up with a clear commitment to action will dampen hopes that the much-heralded G20 summit, to be hosted by current G20 president Britain in London, can fulfil its promise and further hit already volatile stock markets.On the eve of the finance ministers' meeting, Britain's finance minister Alistair Darling tried to play down talk of splits between the US -- whose positive view of stimulus is shared by Japan and China -- and Europe.

I don't actually think that the divisions between the European countries and the US are anything like what has been described over the last few days, Darling, the event's host, told BBC radio.I think on both sides of the Atlantic -- and also, for that matter, in other parts of the world -- there is a commitment to ensure that we support people, support businesses and our economies.But recent exchanges suggest there are real differences.In recent days, senior US officials including Obama's top economic adviser Larry Summers have said leading nations must try to jumpstart a global recovery by pumping more money into their economies.That has not been welcomed in Europe, where many leaders do not want more spending because of already big budget deficits.French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Thursday to join forces at the summit to urge tighter regulation to avert future crises instead of more spending, in a rare show of unity.And the chairman of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg added this week that US calls for more cash to be injected into the world economy do not suit us.Obama said this week he was optimistic about the prospects for agreement, adding: Everybody understands that we're in this together.Whether or not they reach agreement, finance ministers at the meeting will find it hard to forget that many of their countries are facing their worst recessions for decades amid shrinking consumer demand.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick, who has provided some of the most sobering analyses of the current situation, arrived Friday after warning that 2009 was turning into a very dangerous year for the economy.Earlier this week, Zoellick said the current crisis was the worst since the 1930s. He added that any new stimulus plans would be like a sugar high unless you fix the banking system.Those in favour of tighter regulation received a boost Friday when Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria said they would relax their sensitive bank secrecy laws amid growing international pressure to stamp out tax havens.Their announcements followed similar moves Thursday by Belgium, Liechtenstein and Andorra. France and Germany have been leading the charge to clamp down on tax havens amid claims a lack of transparency helped fuel the crisis and the issue is likely to remain on the agenda at Saturday's meeting. The meeting is also likely to touch on trade protectionism and increasing funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bail out struggling countries.

Swiss in currency sell-off to fight deflation
ANDREW WILLIS Today MAR 13,09 @ 09:26 CET

Switzerland became the latest country to adopt irregular deflation fighting measures on Thursday (12 March) after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) started selling the Swiss franc on international currency markets in a bid to drive down its value. The results were immediate with the franc dropping dramatically against foreign currencies, reaching 1.54 francs to the euro on Thursday afternoon, its lowest level this year.
The Swiss franc plunged against the euro on Thursday as the Swiss National Bank sold large quantities of the currency on the market. (Photo: Goldline international)

On the same day, the SNB also cut interest rates from 0.5 percent to 0.25 percent saying the economy faced its biggest crisis since 1975 and predicting consumer prices would stagnate over the next three years. The bank justified it dramatic intervention on the currency markets by pointing to the franc's steady appreciation against other currencies in recent months. We decided to block a further appreciation of the Swiss franc vis-a-vis the euro. These measures are necessary for our rate cuts to have effect,SNB President Jean-Pierre Roth said in an interview with SF Swiss television.

As interest rates around the world approach zero, central banks have turned to other policy tools at their disposal in a bid to avoid a deflationary spiral, a damaging situation for the economy under which consumers postpone purchases due to anticipated lower prices in the future. Last Thursday the Bank of England started a process known as quantitative easing, electronically creating more money and embarking on a buying spree of government and corporate debt. It intends to spend £75 billion (€80bn) in this way over the next three months with the possibility to rise to £150 (€160bn) billion after that. This latest Swiss move is significant however as it opens up the prospect of other countries engaging in similar currency selling operations in a bid to drive down their currencies, with the knock-on effect of increasing export price competitiveness.It is also the first time a large central bank as actively operated on the currency markets since Japan sought to weaken the yen in 2004.Let the currency wars begin,said Chris Turner at ING Financial Markets according to reports in the Financial Times.However, other analysts poured cold water on the prospects of a currency devaluation battle, despite the fact that Japanese officials have long complained of an overvalued yen.

Competitive currency devaluation is not likely in Japan now because the risks of sparking trade friction are too great,Masahiro Sato, joint general manager of the treasury division at Mizuho Trust & Banking Co., told Reuters. The Swiss can get away with this because of the relatively small size of their economy and the limited role they play in the global economy,he added.Japan is the world's second largest exporter after Germany. The strength of national currencies is a highly sensitive subject for governments around the world who object strongly to third parties meddling in the area.Recent comments by US treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, saying that he considered China to be a currency manipulator where therefore seen as highly inflammatory.Large economies usually avoid currency disputes by agreeing rates in the G7 forum of industrialized countries.

China worried about US Treasury holdings By JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer MAR 13,09

BEIJING – China's premier didn't say it in so many words, but the implied warning to Washington was blunt: Don't devalue the dollar through reckless spending.Premier Wen Jiabao's message is unlikely to be misunderstood at the White House. It is counting on Beijing to help pay for its stimulus package by buying U.S. bonds. China already is Washington's biggest foreign creditor, with an estimated $1 trillion in U.S. government debt. A weaker dollar would erode the value of those assets.Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried, Wen said at a news conference Friday after the closing of China's annual legislative session. I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets.The appeal suggested the outlines of Chinese President Hu Jintao's stance when he meets with President Barack Obama at an April 2 summit in London of the Group of 20 major economies on possible remedies for the global crisis.Wen gave no indication whether Beijing wants changes in U.S. policy. But economists said his comments reflect fears that higher U.S. budget deficits from Washington's $787 billion stimulus package could drive down the dollar and the value of China's Treasury notes.

China is telling the U.S. to be careful, not to overspend and keep an eye on the dollar, said Kelvin Lau, regional economist at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. There are risks that China cannot control, so they're depending on the U.S. to maintain fiscal prudence and keep the dollar reasonably stable.Analysts estimate China keeps nearly half of its $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves in U.S. Treasuries and notes issued by other government-affiliated agencies.Inside China there has been a lot of debate about whether they should continue to buy Treasuries,said Frank Gong, chief China economist for JP Morgan.Beijing is trying to increase its leverage at the London G-20 meeting by reminding its partners of its role in financing U.S. spending, Gong said.Without China's buying (Treasuries) and continuing to fund U.S. deficit spending, interest rates could have been much higher. That could be very destabilizing in this very recessionary environment, he said.By attracting a lot of attention to this issue, China is already increasing its influence ahead of the G-20 meeting.Finance officials from the G-20 meet this weekend. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is pressing for a new coordinated global stimulus. Japan is supportive but European governments are reluctant to make expensive commitments before they see how current plans are working.Wen also offered an unqualified defense Friday of his government's policies in Tibet, ignoring questions about a massive security buildup in the Himalayan region.Tensions have spiked ahead of two key anniversaries this week — the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile and Saturday's one-year anniversary of violent anti-Chinese riots in Lhasa that sparked the largest protests in decades.Asked whether the massive security presence pointed to failings in Beijing's policies, Wen said: The situation in Tibet is on the whole peaceful and stable. The Tibetan people hope to work in peace and stability.

Tibet's continuous progress (has) proven the policies we have adopted are right, he said.Wen expressed confidence the world's third-largest economy can meet its official growth target of 8 percent this year and emerge from the crisis at an early date. But he said Beijing is ready to expand its 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus if needed.We already have our plans ready to tackle even more difficult times, and to do that we have reserved adequate ammunition,he said.That means that at any time we can introduce new stimulus policies.Communist leaders worry about rising job losses and possible unrest amid a trade slump that saw Chinese exports fall 25.7 percent in February from a year earlier. They have promised to spend heavily to create jobs and boost exports.Chinese bank lending and power demand have risen, suggesting the stimulus is taking effect. But growth in retail sales is weakening, indicating it has yet to spur private sector spending and investment, which analysts say will be key to its success. Private sector economists expect growth as low as 5 percent this year. That would be the strongest of any major country but could lead to more waves of job cuts.I really believe we will be able to walk out of the shadow of the financial crisis at an early date, Wen said. After this trial, I believe the Chinese economy will show greater vitality.Wen also said Beijing wants the G-20 summit in April focus on helping the poorest countries. The premier said Beijing has met its own commitments to help developing countries by erasing a total of $40 billion in debt owed by 46 countries and giving out 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) of aid to developing countries.We must see to it that we show concern for developing countries, he said.AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

45 percent of world's wealth destroyed: Blackstone CEO Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:42pm EDT By Megan Davies and Walden Siew

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity company Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) CEO Stephen Schwarzman said on Tuesday that up to 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed by the global credit crisis.Between 40 and 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed in little less than a year and a half, Schwarzman told an audience at the Japan Society.This is absolutely unprecedented in our lifetime.But the U.S. government is committed to the preservation of financial institutions, he said, and will do whatever it takes to restart the economy.U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to unfreeze credit markets through a new program that will combine public and private capital in a fund that would buy bank toxic assets of up to $1 trillion.In all likelihood, that will have the private sector buy troubled assets to clean the banks out in terms of providing leverage ... so that we can get more money back into the banking system,Schwarzman said.He expects the private sector to end up making some good money doing that, but added there were complex issues on how to price toxic assets.He put part of the blame for the financial crisis to credit rating agencies.What's pretty clear is that, if you were looking for one culprit out of the many, many, many culprits, you have to point your finger at the rating agencies,he said.

Rating companies have been the focus of intense criticism for their role in granting top AAA ratings for complex bonds that later plummeted in value, resulting in subsequent rating cuts, in many cases to junk status.Once you bought into ... the Triple A paper and it turned out to be paper that was in many situations going to end up defaulting, then you really had the makings of a global problem,he said.Schwarzman said problems were then exacerbated by mark-to- market accounting rules. Those rules ask banks and other financial institutions to price assets at a value related to how they would be sold in the open market.Blackstone reported a quarterly loss in February after writing down the value of its portfolio and eliminated its fourth-quarter dividend.Asked where was a good place to invest, Schwarzman said it made sense to buy cyclical names, which are less exposed to the economic cycles.He said investors also may find value in debt products, including senior layers of certain securitizations,where investors can see 15 percent to 20 percent returns, he said.

Geographically, he said there were pockets of strength in China, which is committed to getting to an 8 percent growth level, and in India, where the economy is slowing but banks are in good shape.(Editing by Andre Grenon)

Financials lead stocks to best week since November By SARA LEPRO and TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writers – Fri Mar 13, 6:42 pm ET

NEW YORK – A sharp rebound in bank shares and easing worries about the economy pushed stocks to their best week since late November.The market shot up in one week as it might in some years, with major indicators chalking up gains of around 10 percent.

Friday's gains were modest compared with the rallies on Tuesday and Thursday, but investors welcomed the market's ability to hold its ground. Several recent rallies have ended with disappointing selloffs.Fears eased during the week that the nation's major financial institutions would collapse or at least require additional government lifelines to stay alive. Market veterans were quick to rein in hopes that stocks would chart an easy recovery but many still saw the four straight days of gains a good sign.The overriding question people have is Is this rally it? said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford. For that to happen I think we need to see more evidence of a turnaround. We still have significant problems in terms of unemployment. The problems with the banks are still there.On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.92, or 0.8 percent, to 7,223.98. The Dow hasn't put up four straight gains since late November.The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.81, or 0.8 percent, to 756.55. The Nasdaq composite index rose 5.40, or 0.4 percent, to 1,431.50.For the week, the Dow jumped 9 percent, the S&P 500 index added 10.7 percent and the Nasdaq rose 10.6 percent. It was the best week for the major indexes since the week ended Nov. 28.Still, the Dow and the S&P 500 index remain down by about half from their peak in October 2007.The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, which reflects nearly all stocks traded in America, jumped 10.7 percent for the week. That's a paper gain of about $900 billion.

The turnaround began Tuesday as the head of Citigroup Inc. said the bank had managed to turn a profit in the first two months of the year. That helped ease worries about bad debt that have cloaked financial stocks since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September.Traders who last week pounded Citi shares to be low $1 began buying the stock again. The gains in the beaten-down industry were enormous: Citi surged 73 percent for the week, Bank of America Corp. jumped 83 percent and Wells Fargo & Co. rose 62 percent.Traders are often reluctant to hold on to large positions ahead of the weekend out of fears that bad news could be on the way. Many on Wall Street looked to a weekend packed with events that could have a great affect on trading next week.Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 countries were meeting Friday and Saturday outside London, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was set to discuss the financial crisis in a rare interview to be broadcast on CBS'60 Minutes Sunday.Energy stocks dragged on the market Friday ahead of a weekend OPEC meeting on whether the cartel should adjust oil production. Health stocks rose after Schering-Plough Corp. reported positive trial results for an anti-clotting drug. Merck, which said at the start of the week it planned to acquire Schering-Plough, jumped $3.04, or 12.7 percent, to $27.07.

Financial stocks mostly rose Friday following reports that Citigroup Inc. Chairman Richard Parsons said the bank doesn't need additional government support. Citigroup has received three rounds of emergency funding.Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also said this week that they have been profitable so far this year. The market has been quick to embrace the encouraging signs about the financial system after weeks of unrelenting selling spurred on by concerns that the government's efforts to break a freeze in lending weren't working.Investors also grew more confident about the prospects for the economy during the week. A government report on retail sales for February wasn't as bad as many analysts had feared. Word also arrived that an accounting board may recommend an easing of financial reporting rules of tough-to-sell assets. Banks say a change in so-called mark-to-market accounting rules would help their bottom lines. Officials in Washington also said they would consider reinstating a rule that makes it harder to place bets a stock will fall. Some analysts blame so-called short selling with fanning the volatility in the market, particularly the financial stocks. Analysts said technical factors that helped drive the market for the week continued Friday, including short-covering, when traders buy stock to cover their short-sale trades. Despite the glimmers of hope, analysts are still a long way away from declaring that the worst is over. We are going to remain cautious because the slightest bit of bad news could turn this thing around,said Joe Arnold, investment adviser at Dawson Wealth Management.

But some unease can be good for the market, Krosby said.

She noted that doubt about the rally and the more incremental gains Wednesday and Friday actually increase the chances it could hold some of its advance. Oddly enough, the more skepticism about the duration of the rally the better it is because it's telling you there are still buyers on the side.Upbeat reports from companies in a range of industries lifted the market after stocks finished at their lowest levels in more than a decade on Monday. General Motors Corp. said Thursday it wouldn't need the latest installment of government bailout money, and a cut in General Electric Co.'s credit rating on the same day wasn't as bad as some had feared. On Friday, Citigroup rose 11 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $1.78, while Bank of America fell 9 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $5.76. Wells Fargo slipped 1 cent to $13.94. General Motors extended its gains on Friday, jumping 54 cents, or 24.8 percent, to $22.72. For the week, GM rose 88 percent.More than 2 stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 6.65 billion shares compared with 7.2 billion shares traded Thursday.Bonds were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.90 percent from 2.86 percent late Thursday. The yield on the three-month T-bill fell to 0.20 percent from 0.22 percent Thursday.The dollar fell against other most other major currencies, while gold prices rose.Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 78 cents to settle at $46.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.7 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.4 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 5.2 percent.The Dow Jones industrial average closed the week up 597.04, or 9 percent, at 7,223.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 73.17, or 10.7 percent, to 756.55. The Nasdaq composite index rose 5.40, or 0.4 percent, closing at 1,431.50.The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of small company stocks, rose 42.04, or 12 percent, to 393.09.The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index — a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies — ended at 7,675.94, up 740.56, or 10.7 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 13,266.85. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

France and Germany unite positions ahead of summit
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today MAR 13,09 @ 09:24 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – France and Germany on Thursday (12 March) agreed that the emphasis at the upcoming G20 meeting in London should be on greater financial regulation and rejected calls coming from the US to increase spending as a way to deal with the crisis.During a meeting of their cabinets in Berlin, the two countries underlined their determination to pursue and strengthen the co-ordination of their economic policy in the face of the financial and economic crisis and to work together so that such a crisis does not reproduce itself,reads a joint declaration of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.They said they would stand united in calls for more financial regulation and for the April G20 summit in London to achieve substantial and concrete results on that point.We defend a totally identical position, Ms Merkel was quoted as saying by Reuters.Mr Sarkozy also underlined that at the G20, France and Germany would make the same proposals, defend the same convictions and have the same demands for results.The French president also indicated that he and Ms Merkel could take a common initiative before the G20 that we will communicate in due time.

EU – US split

The two countries' display of unity comes after recent calls from Washington that governments around the world should focus more on additional fiscal measures than on regulation as a reaction to the global turbulence.It also underlines a growing split between the EU and the US.Fiscal stimuli are important – and Europe has made its contribution in this regard – but they cannot replace the necessary regulation, Ms Merkel said.In Europe, we have invested a lot into growth. The priority now is not to spend more but to put in place a system of regulation that will stop such a catastrophe from happening again,Mr Sarkozy underlined.We do not want to spend more money,he was quoted as saying by the International Herald Tribune.On Thursday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also defended the European position as opposed to the American one and stressed that more regulation was what the G20 would need to focus on.When we talk about fiscal stimulus, it's not the same thing in the US and in Europe because the Americans usually think about discretionary additional fiscal stimulus,Mr Barroso said at a press conference in Brussels.I would like to see the European ambition matched by others, regarding new rules of supervision and regulation of the financial sector,he added.

EU leaders to reiterate regulation calls

The statements come as the EU's 27 member states will be meeting in Brussels next week in order to discuss the financial crisis and the best ways to tackle it.The bloc's leaders will put a specific emphasis on preparing for the G20 summit and are expected to re-iterate the calls for more financial regulation.In a four-page annex to the conclusions they are to adopt after their meeting – a draft of which has been seen by EUobserver, EU heads of state and government are to present an agreed language with a view of the G20 summit in London.Among other things, they will call to strengthen transparency and accountability to avoid pitfalls of the past, in particular by making macro-prudential supervision standard part of the financial sector oversight.Appropriate regulation or oversight of all financial markets, products and participants that may present a systemic risk, without exception and regardless of their country of domicile should also be ensured, reads the draft.The EU leaders will also insist on the need to reform the governance of international financial institutions,in particular the International Monetary Fund, whose resources they would like to see doubled so that the fund can help its members swiftly and flexibly if they experience balance of payments difficulties.

Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg relax banking secrecy
ANDREW WILLIS Today MAR 13,09 @ 18:30 CET

Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg announced a relaxation of their banking secrecy laws on Friday (13 March) following mounting pressures on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down non-cooperating tax zones. The news comes only one day after Liechtenstein and Andorra made similar declarations, as a number of financial centres around the world attempt to pre-empt any decision coming out of the G20 leaders summit on 2 April.As western governments feel the pinch due to expensive stimulus spending projects coupled with reduced tax receipts, the spotlight has been turned on a handful of geographic locations that profit by harbouring capital owned by companies and wealthy individuals from abroad.The Swiss government said on Friday that it intends to adopt OECD standards on the sharing of banking information between different countries, citing its desire to avoid being placed on the organization's black list of tax havens. If Switzerland were to wind up on a black list it wouldn't only hurt the banking sector,Finance Minister, Hans-Rudolf Merz, said at a press conference in Bern implying that the economy as a whole would suffer. In the past, Switzerland has said that signing up to OECD standards would compromise the banking secrecy of its clients.Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, last month handed over the names of 300 customers to the US government after it produced strong evidence they were avoiding paying tax.

It is estimated that Switzerland holds around $2 trillion worth of capital from abroad reports the BBC.In a separate announcement on Friday, Luxembourg also said it would cooperate with tax authorities from other countries but will only provide client details once concrete proof of tax evasion is provided. For its part, Austria said will renegotiate current agreements on banking secrecy in the fight against tax fraud and evasion its finance minister, Josef Proell, said on Friday. It too has only agreed to hand over information once supplied with evidence of tax evasion by individuals with accounts in the country.There won't be an automatic exchange of information, but we will renegotiate a number of the 80 tax agreements that we have with other countries, Mr Proell said in Vienna. We have been fighting tax evasion and fraud in the past, and we will continue to do so,he added. France, which has lead calls in recent weeks for a comprehensive review of the uncooperative jurisdictions', was initially guarded in its response to the news. The devil is in the details, said French Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde, in Paris. We must go all the way and see if banking secrecy is sufficiently lifted.UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the changes were the beginning of the end of tax havens.Tax evasion, which costs the global economy billions of pounds each year, will become more difficult in future.

Liechtenstein, Andorra move on bank secrecy
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today MAR 13,09 @ 09:47 CET

As pressure mounts on tax havens from global leaders ahead of the April meeting of the G20 to restructure the international financial architecture, Liechtenstein and Andorra have announced that they are to relax aspects of their banking secrecy rules.

Listed on the OECD's roll of uncooperative tax havens, the countries will not end secrecy entirely, but hope to reach bilateral agreements with other countries covering tax evasion.Liechtenstein on Thursday (12 March) said it is to launch talks on the matter with Germany on Friday and the UK next month. Andorra, for its part, announced that it aims to pass legislation easing bank secrecy by November.The Liechtenstein government accepts the OECD standards on transparency and information exchange in tax matters and supports the international measures against non-compliance with tax laws,the principality said in a statement.The two tiny states, neither of which are in the European Union, are the latest in a list of offshore centres that have come under pressure in the wake of the global financial crisis to ease banking secrecy laws.This week, the British Channel Island of Jersey reached an agreement with London over the exchange of tax data. Elsewhere, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, and the Cayman Islands have made similar announcements in recent weeks. Singapore said it would adopt OECD rules earlier this month, while in February, Hong Kong declared it would be exchanging tax information with foreign authorities.Belgium has also said it is to lift its own banking secrecy rules and share information on account holders with other EU member states. Austria and Luxembourg, the two other member states with banking secrecy laws, are resisting the move. The three countries are not on the OECD list of uncooperative tax havens, however.

The moves come as such fiscal paradises are increasingly targeted by those who would rebuild the global economy.In Horsham, Sussex, the UK is host to a pre-G20 meeting of finance ministers on Friday and Saturday that will discuss what to do about tax havens, as well as wider questions of re-regulating the financial sector. Meanwhile on Thursday, coming out of a Franco-German Council of Ministers meeting in Berlin, France and Germany issued a statement calling for an international sanctions mechanism to crack down on such fiscal black holes.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said:Every product, every actor and every place in the world must be transparent.We must act with all determination, she continued [against these] uncooperative countries.

Race to get end-of-term legislation through EU parliament,Strasbourg hemicycle: The last plenary meeting of the current parliament will take place at the beginning of May (Photo: European Parliament)HONOR MAHONY 12.03.2009 @ 17:43 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - With just three plenary meetings left before the European Parliament finishes its current term, MEPs still have some major legislation to clear before they hit the campaign trail ahead of the June elections.Among the most important are the energy and telecoms bills - flagship liberalisation projects of the current commission. Both are only inching their way through the legislative pipelines.

The telecoms package, which aims to create an EU-level supervisor for telecoms regulators and overhauls the rules for management of radio spectrum, is stalling on the issue of how much power should be given to the European Commission.Three-way talks - between MEPs, member states and the commission - are aiming to finalise a compromise so that the vote can be taken before May, the last session of the current European Parliament.Meanwhile, the energy package, aimed at deregulating the gas and electricity sectors, is in difficulty over the scope of unbundling - the separation of electricity generation from its transmission, breaking the control of large national providers' over both production and supply.Other big chunks of legislation include the working time directive, a controversial law restricting the working week to 48 hours. Late last year, MEPs upset the apple cart by rejecting a recommendation from the member states and voting to end opt-outs from the 48-hour-week within three years. If a joint text can be agreed with member states, the final vote could be held in May.MEPs are also due for first-round votes on an EU bill to make it easier for patients to receive paid medical treatment in other member states (with a first vote in April), one on extending the protection of authors' copyright by 20 years up to 95 years (March), and another law on making buildings more energy efficient.

Meanwhile, a bill on the nutritional labelling of food may be postponed until the next legislature because of the sheer number of amendments it has received.Draft EU laws that have already begun the legislative process in the European Parliament, meaning that they have been voted on in committee, are automatically carried over to the next term.After the final May plenary session, parliament will reconvene in July for its constitutive session following the June elections. Its first legislative meeting will be in September.Meanwhile, the new parliament (2009-2014) will see a major increase in its powers if the Lisbon Treaty is passed in Ireland, which is to hold a second referendum on the pact later this year.

The Lisbon question

The new EU rulebook would give MEPs co-legislative rights in a series of new areas, including agricultural and fisheries policies, judicial co-operation in criminal matters, police co-operation, services of general economic interest, space policy and tourism.Mindful of the upgrade in their powers, the euro-deputies in the constitutional affairs committee earlier this week asked the European Commission to tell them of pending proposals that will be affected by moving from one treaty to another.It also left open the option of changing its opinion on a piece of legislation if it moves from a consultative basis to full co-legislation.Parliament will decide which position it takes regarding opinions that have already been adopted in consultation procedures on matters which have been changed to the ordinary legislative procedure,said a report by German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen.

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Japan protests NKorea's rocket launch plan By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer MAR 13,09

SEOUL, South Korea – Japan hinted it could down an incoming North Korean rocket, but analysts said the communist country will go ahead with a planned April launch with little fear of the consequences.The North announced this week it will send a satellite into orbit between April 4-8, saying it would fly over Japan and designating a danger zone off the neighboring country in order to warn international shipping and aviation to avoid the area.The rocket's first stage is expected to fall in waters less than 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Japan's northwestern shore, according to coordinates Pyongyang provided to U.N. agencies. The other zone where the second stage should fall lies in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii.The U.S. and other governments have warned that any rocket launch — whether missile test or satellite — would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning North Korea from ballistic missile activity.We protest a launch, and strongly demand it be canceled,Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said Friday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the country reserves the right to take out the rocket if it looks like it could hit.Legally speaking, if this object falls toward Japan, we can shoot it down for safety reasons, he said.Japan, which was shaken in 1998 when a North Korean missile flew over its territory and landed in the Pacific, has since moved to develop missile defense capabilities with some success. It downed a ballistic missile from a ship at sea in a 2007 test.Lance Gatling, an independent defense analyst, said the country is capable of intercepting a medium-range missile. North Korea, though, is expected to fire a long-range rocket next month.He said the most efficient way to launch a satellite into orbit is to send it eastward toward Japan because of the Earth's motion.Masao Okonogi, an international relations professor at Tokyo's Keio University, said Japanese officials feel they have little choice but to engage in strong rhetoric.Government officials are talking tough because they don't want to be seen as passive in the face of a North Korean launch,he said.Other analysts say North Korea is likely to stick with its plan despite intense international criticism as it has little to fear and much to gain by following through with what is seen as an attempt to bolster its standing in nuclear negotiations with the United States.After the launch, there will be a little bit of noise but that will pass and things will move on to the next stage, said Kim Tae-woo, of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.I believe the U.S. will offer dialogue.Ultimately, a successful satellite launch would provide North Korea with the upper hand in its future negotiations with the U.S. as it would mean the country could show it has a delivery vehicle for its nuclear weapons, according to Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the private think tank Sejong Institute near Seoul.Then, the North will have not only a nuclear card but a missile card,he said.Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi and Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report.

SAKOZY ANNOUNCES RETURN TO NATO

THE OBAMA DECEPTION (LIES)IS OUT ON VIDEO ON YOUTUVE NOW - WATCH PARTS 1 TO 12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FRW-Lvw0vs

OBAMA DECEPTION FULL 1H:53M HERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw&eurl=http://www.infowars.com/review-the-obama-deception-by-alex-jones/

THIS BANK OF THE WORLD I BELIEVE TO BE THE IMF AS WELL AS THE WORLD BANK,THE VATICAN IN CHARGE AND 5 OTHER EUROPEAN BANKS SINCE THE BIBLE SAYS THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL CONTROL THE WORLDS ECONOMY.

We Need a Bank Of the World,The financial crisis is global, and only an international central bank can deal with it.Jeffrey E. Garten NEWSWEEK From the magazine issue dated Nov 3, 2008

If George W. Bush's upcoming global summit on how to fix the world's broken financial system—an event proposed by several European presidents and prime ministers—is to be a serious effort, the leaders should begin laying the groundwork for establishing a global central bank.The idea of such an institution would have been a political nonstarter before the current debacle. The crises of the last several decades—the Latin American debt meltdown in the early 1980s, the stock-market crash in 1987, the savings and loan collapse of the early 1990s, the Asian financial blowup of the late

1990s, the Internet-stock collapse earlier in this decade—did not involve the extent of global linkages among financial institutions or the mind-boggling consequences of complex securities that we are seeing today. In none of these previous blowups did the global credit system shut down, as it did in recent weeks; in none did governments in both the industrialized and developing world intervene so massively, coming close to nationalizing the entire global banking system.And in none was it so clear that there is no effective governing authority at the center of global finance. There was a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve played this role, as the prime financial institution of the world's most powerful economy, overseeing the one global currency. But with the growth of capital markets, the rise of currencies like the euro and the emergence of powerful players such as China, the shift of wealth to Asia and the Persian Gulf and, of course, the deep-seated problems in the American economy itself, the Fed no longer has the capability to lead singlehandedly.After World War II, the IMF was designed to be a central financial institution, too. But over the decades it has had less and less influence on the rich industrialized nations. Its credibility with Asia and Latin America has also waned. It is still involved in bailouts for countries such as Iceland and Pakistan, but its once central role in protecting global stability is clearly over. And most important, its political legitimacy is deeply flawed, because its management structure reflects the 1950s, with Belgium having more voting power than China.In the future, a global central bank is needed to oversee the rudderless global financial system. There are a number of critical functions it could perform.

It could be the lead regulator of big global financial institutions, such as Citigroup or Deutsche Bank, whose activities spill across borders. It could monitor risks that are building in the global market and create an early-warning system that alerts banks and national regulators that trouble is coming, and pushes them to modify their policies.It could act as a bankruptcy court when big global banks that operate in multiple countries need to be restructured. It could oversee not just the big commercial banks, such as Mitsubishi UFJ, but also the alternative financial system that has developed in recent years, consisting of hedge funds, private-equity groups and sovereign wealth funds—all of which are now substantially unregulated.

A new institution could have influence over key exchange rates, and might lead a new monetary conference to realign the dollar and the yuan, for example, for one of its first missions would be to deal with the great financial imbalances that hang like a sword over the world economy.A global central bank would not eliminate the need for the Federal Reserve or other national central banks, which will still have frontline responsibility for sound regulatory policies and monetary stability in their respective countries. But it would have heavy influence over them when it comes to following policies that are compatible with global growth and financial stability. For example, it would work with key countries to better coordinate national stimulus programs when the world enters a recession, as is happening now, so that the cumulative impact of the various national efforts do not so dramatically overshoot that they plant the seeds for a crisis of global inflation. This is a big threat as government spending everywhere goes into overdrive.The IMF could continue to exist, but its board would have to be restructured, its bailout role for smaller nations carefully defined, and its directions—including the severity of the conditions it imposes on borrowers—would have to come from the new central bank.To give it legitimacy, a global central bank would have to be governed in light of political realities. That means that its board would include not only the top financial officials of the United States, the U.K., the euro zone and Japan, but also China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, South Africa and perhaps a few others.

If a global central bank had existed before today's financial crisis, it could have sounded a shrill warning about irresponsible financial transactions much earlier; and if it had been set up with the enforcement teeth it deserves, it would have had the clout to demand, perhaps as early as 2005, that banks and other financial institutions start building reserves when times were booming, rather than allow them to maintain lower reserves precisely because profits were soaring. It would have seen that financial institutions were accumulating debt that was 30 times their capital and imposed—or caused national central banks to impose—more sober leverage ratios.

A global central bank worth its salt would have reined in not just commercial banks but also loosely-regulated investment banks, because all such institutions would have been obligated to adhere to the global banks' regulatory standards or else be blacklisted in global markets. It would have intervened to deal with Lehman Brothers and AIG, both with truly global reach, and thereby put the burden not just on American taxpayers but also taxpayers of other countries who used these institutions' services.Had it existed, a global central bank would have acted without the air of panic that has been exhibited by national central banks and finance ministries in this meltdown. Ideally, it would have gathered its governing board well in advance of a financial blowup to execute a coordinated rescue and global-stimulus plan, part of what should be its ongoing role of preparing for crises.It would be hard to overestimate the political pushback that any official proposal for a global central bank would draw from various constituencies, most especially within the United States. Among their many charges, critics will protest the establishment of world government.But we have a World Trade Organization with legally binding powers over trade disputes. We have a World Health Organization for communicable disease with the ability to quarantine entire countries. And a World Court functions today that has considerable legal and moral clout.

No one should want too much globally centralized oversight. But the world's gathering misery shows that too little leadership from the center can be equally dangerous. The November summit itself won't solve anything, but if it gave instructions to finance ministers and central bankers to explore what a new central bank could do, with a deadline to come back with concrete ideas shortly after a new U.S. president is inaugurated, it will have made real progress on one of the great problems of our times.Garten is the Juan Trippe Professor of international trade and finance at the Yale School of Management.

Geithner embraces G20, IMF, World Bank in global crisis battle plan
March 13, 2009 By Rebecca Christie

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has urged Group of 20 (G20) nations to take forceful action to end the financial crisis. He also called for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to expand its supplementary borrowing programme by about $500 billion (R5.1 trillion).This is a global crisis which requires a global response, Geithner said on Wednesday. G20 countries must take strong macroeconomic and financial sector measures. A reasonable benchmark was the IMF's recommendation for stimulus equivalent to 2 percent of a nation's gross domestic product, he said.

Geithner will make the recommendations at a meeting starting today of finance ministers from 20 of the world's industrial and developing nations, to lay the groundwork for a summit of leaders on April 2 in London.Geithner also proposed expanding the IMF's capacity to borrow extra funds from some of member nations by as much as $500 billion. The fund currently is able to borrow about $50 billion through special supplementary financing arrangements. The US contribution was about 20 percent, indicating a possible new commitment of about $100 billion, Geithner said.

We should consider further ways to strengthen the IMF's capacity to provide support to emerging markets,he said separately.US President Barack Obama would soon push Congress for legislation that would allow the IMF to mobilise its stockpile of gold, Geithner said on Wednesday. Congress would need to approve the IMF funding expansion, although it would not count against the budget deficit, he said.He said the US wanted to support efforts by the World Bank to give a co-ordinated boost to trade financing from governments around the world.At the G20 summit, Geithner plans to compare notes about actions aimed at stemming the global financial crisis. The US was working on a new programme to help banks clear out the toxic assets that were gumming up the system, using a mix of private investment and public financing, Geithner said.

There was consensus among major economies that executive pay levels needed to be reined in, since past practices had contributed to the buildup in leverage and risk that led to the current financial crisis.I do believe that compensation just got way divorced from any meaningful appreciation of risk, Geithner said. We're going to need a much stronger set of standards applied very evenly across the major globally active financial institutions.Geithner said he would go before Congress in two weeks to lay out a new plan to strengthen US financial regulation. This plan would include more carefully designed restraints on leverage and an overhaul of supervision for systemically important financial institutions, he said.Our economy needs a revival of global growth to complement the stimulus we are injecting at home,said Geithner. - Bloomberg.

G-20 Moves Focus From Regulation as Economy Battling For Life
By Simon Kennedy

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- The guardians of the world economy are finding their efforts to revamp the global financial system overwhelmed by the deepening recession and banking crisis. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and their Group of 20 counterparts meet near London today having originally intended to push along plans to tighten market regulation. Distracting them is a global economy in freefall, pressuring them to instead focus on ways to revive growth and tackle toxic bank assets. It’s like a patient battling for life in an emergency room, said Nouriel Roubini, a professor at New York University. That’s not the time to advise about the benefits of exercise and healthy diet. You have to first make sure the patient survives.The prognosis is worsening and failure to find a cure may disappoint investors as G-20 leaders prepare for their own summit in three weeks. The International Monetary Fund expects the first global contraction in six decades and equity investors are $3 trillion poorer than a quarter ago. The cost of borrowing dollars is rising, Citigroup Inc. fell below $1 and companies from Deere & Co. to Volkswagen AG are axing jobs or investment.

Divided

The G-20 remains divided as European governments rebut U.S. overtures to bolster spending, while President Barack Obama’s administration takes heat for lacking the staff to work on an international remedy. That risks an impasse when officials convene tonight and tomorrow at a luxury countryside retreat near Horsham, southern England, that counts Winston Churchill among its former guests. The Europeans want to use this as a forum to discuss global coordination of regulation, and the Americans are more interested in global coordination of firefighting, said Randal Quarles, a former U.S. Treasury undersecretary and now a managing director at the Carlyle Group in Washington.The conflagration of the 19-month crisis is putting policy makers under enormous pressure to take more action and head off further deterioration, said Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit MIB in London. The U.S. has yet to implement its plan to remove tainted assets from banks and the Federal Reserve’s $1 trillion initiative to prop up the market for consumer and business loans won’t start until later this month. The European Central Bank has lagged behind the Fed in cutting interest rates and the region’s governments have been slow to cut taxes.

Failure

Failure by the G-20 to step up efforts to rid banks of damaged securities may delay the recovery beyond 2010, says IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The stimulus will not work without a healthy financial sector, Strauss-Kahn said in an interview March 9. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said two days later that the crisis needs to be fought with far greater urgency.The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks say they charge each other for three-month funds has climbed back to the highest since Jan. 8 as financial companies stung by almost $1.2 trillion of writedowns and losses hoard money. Policy makers are also under pressure to coordinate their efforts more or risk diluting their individual moves. While governments and central banks have provided more than $495 billion in aid for financial companies and cut rates to record lows, their efforts have been uneven.

Budget Boost

The IMF estimates that only Saudi Arabia, Australia, China, Spain and the U.S. will introduce budget boosts worth 2 percent of gross domestic product this year -- a benchmark Geithner endorses as reasonable.The refusal of some governments to be as generous undermines those efforts and the Fund calculates the U.S. receives twice the boost of higher government spending if it’s matched elsewhere. European ministers argue their social safety nets are bigger than elsewhere and blowing up budgets would create future problems. The appeals from the U.S. were not to our liking, Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker said March 9. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Germany’s Peer Steinbrueck of Germany instead want the G-20 to focus more on cracking down on bankers’ bonuses, hedge funds, tax havens and credit ratings companies.All that is froth,” said Richard Portes, a professor at London Business School. The accelerating decline in economic activity has to be dealt with first.

Reach

One previous participant says the G-20 doesn’t need to decide between fighting the current crisis and unveiling a long- term solution to rewire the system. It’s quite possible and desirable for the G-20 to pursue both goals, said Daniel Price, President George W. Bush’s G-20 negotiator and now senior partner for global issues at Sidley Austin LLP in Washington. An overhaul of the financial system may nevertheless exceed the group’s reach in the immediate future. Obama has yet to outline a detailed program for regulation, lacks key Treasury advisers and would have to work with Congress. Nor has the European Union formed a plan to improve the rules governing its own 27 members. The most likely outcome is that the G-20 agrees to principles on regulatory reform, said Jim O’Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.That could include an agreement that banks put away money during good times so they have a buffer to fall back on during hard times, he says. Other areas of agreement may include boosting IMF resources and warning against protectionism.

G-20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union. Officials from Spain and the Netherlands will also be present. To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Kennedy in Paris at Skennedy4@bloomberg.net

To Sell Or Not To Sell: That Is The Carbon Cap Question
Jay Yarow|Mar. 1, 2009, 3:28 PM|1

Barack Obama is projecting massive revenue from a cap and trade system in his current budget. How will he get that revenue? Presumably by selling off carbon credits. But auctioning credits is a tough sell in a recession, as it equates to a tax on business, which in turn could mean increased energy prices.The revenue the President foresees earning from a cap and trade system will go towards tax breaks for lower and middle income families who might get stung by the cap and trade system. However, that still won't make it easy to pass the legislation or to sell credits. As a result, the government might have to give away, rather than sell, the large majority of its first credits if a system is implemented:Bloomberg: Obama will likely have to cut the amount of allowances sold to about 30-50 percent of the initial total to win support, Abyd Karmali, the London-based head of carbon emissions for Merrill Lynch & Co., the New York investment bank bought by Bank of America Corp., said by phone yesterday.

Under the proposal, companies could trade allowances on an open market, similar to one in force in the European Union, to give them incentives for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and moving toward cleaner technology. The plan aims to cut emissions 14 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels.Auctioning all allowances may be a very difficult proposition to push through as lawmakers look to protect the economy and limit power-price rises, Karmali said. The U.S. may reach 100 percent auctioning by about 2020, he said. That’s consistent with the European Union, which has the world’s biggest emissions market.Under that program, factories and power stations will receive about 95 percent of allowances for free in the five years through 2012, Mark Lewis, a Paris-based Deutsche Bank AG analyst, estimated in a Feb. 23 research note. That period is the EU program’s second phase. The first phase ran for the three years through 2007.

Ralph Nader: We need a global carbon tax December 3rd, 2008 · posted in the Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal By RALPH NADER and TOBY HEAPS

If President Barack Obama wants to stop the descent toward dangerous global climate change, and avoid the trade anarchy that current approaches to this problem will invite, he should take Al Gore’s proposal for a carbon tax and make it global. A tax on CO2 emissions — not a cap-and-trade system — offers the best prospect of meaningfully engaging China and the U.S., while avoiding the prospect of unhinged environmental protectionism.China emphatically opposes a hard emissions cap on its economy. Yet China must be part of any climate deal or within 25 years, notes Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, its emissions of CO2 could amount to twice the combined emissions of the world’s richest nations, including the United States, Japan and members of the European Union.According to the world authority on the subject, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it will cost $1.375 trillion per year to beat back climate change and keep global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Cap-and-traders assume, without much justification, that one country can put a price on carbon emissions while another doesn’t without affecting trade or investment decisions. This is a bad assumption, given false comfort by the Montreal Protocol treaty, which took this approach to successfully rein in ozone-depleting gases. Chlorofluorocarbons are not pervasive like greenhouse gases (GHGs); nor was the economy of 1987 hyperglobalized like ours today.Good intentions to limit big polluters in some countries but not others will turn any meaningful cap into Swiss cheese. It can be avoided by relocating existing and new production of various kinds of CO2-emitting industries to jurisdictions with no or virtually no limits. This is known as carbon leakage, and it leads to trade anarchy.How? The most advanced piece of climate legislation at the moment, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, contains provisions for retaliatory action to be taken against imports from carbon free-riding nations. Married with the current economic malaise, the temptation to slide into a righteous but runaway environmental protectionism — which Washington’s K Street lobbyists would be only too happy to grease — would almost certainly lead to a collapse of the multilateral trading system. This scenario was presented to the world’s trade ministers last December at the United Nations climate talks in Bali by David Runnalls of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.True, trade anarchy might reduce emissions via a massive global depression. But there would be a lot of collateral damage. Because of the sheer scale of the challenge and the state of the hyperglobalized economy, we will need the same price on carbon everywhere, or it won’t work anywhere.

President Obama can define his legacy in the first 100 days by laying the groundwork for a global tax on carbon dioxide emissions that is effective, efficient, equitable and enforceable. An effective, harmonized tax on C02 emissions must stabilize the growth of atmospheric concentrations of GHGs by no later than 2020. The tax must also be adjusted annually, by a global body, according to this objective.The IPCC has crunched the numbers and says this means a tax of about $50 levied on every metric ton of GHGs, or carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e to use their terminology). In the short-term, consumers would feel the pinch. But the tax would pave the way for cheaper, cleaner energy and ways of getting around.The most efficient way to apply a carbon tax is at a relatively small number of major carbon bottlenecks, which cover the lion’s share of GHGs. The key points where flows of carbon are the most concentrated include: trunk pipelines for gas, refineries for oil, railroad heads for coal, liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals, cement, steel, aluminum and GHG-intensive chemical plants.Collecting and spending the bulk of revenues from a carbon tax must remain the sovereign right of participating nations. For instance, nations could decide to make the tax revenue-neutral by reducing taxes on income or helping finance industrial retooling for a green economy.

However, we in the rich world must recognize our culpability for creating three-quarters of this global warming mess, as well as our greater capacity to finance industrial retooling. Thus, there could be a carrot for developing-world nations which commit to applying the phased-in carbon tax: Access to a portion of the carbon tax levies from rich countries to help preserve forests and to prepare for climate change through flood walls, improved irrigation, drought resistant crops, desalination facilities, and the like. This is no small change: 10% of $50/metric ton CO2e carbon tax levied in all rich countries would be $100 billion per year. The stick for carbon free-riding countries would come in the form of incrementally severe penalties, leading up to countervailing duties on carbon-intensive imports.A global carbon tax levied on a relatively small number of large sources can be monitored by satellite and checked against the annual surveillance of fiscal and economic polices already carried out by IMF staff. Thus, the accounting involved is much more precise and much less subject to the vagaries of corruption and conflict over which industries and companies get their free handouts of carbon credits — carbon pork — than in a cap-and-trade system.There are three reasons why countries, such as China and India, that have traditionally resisted any notion of a common responsibility to make current polluters pay would do well to enlist in this effort.First, while there is no limit on the downside for missing a hard cap, with a carbon tax you just pay as you go. If a fast-growing country like China accepted an emissions cap and then overshot it, they would have to purchase carbon credits on the international market. If they missed their target by a lot, carbon credits would be scarce, and purchasing them would suck dry their foreign exchange reserves in one slurp. That’s why a carbon tax is much easier to swallow and, anyway, through the power of the price signal, it would produce the same desired result as a hard cap.

Second, administering billions of dollars of carbon credits in a cap-and-trade system in an already chaotic regulatory environment would invite a civil war between interest groups seeking billions in carbon credit handouts and the regulator holding the kitty. By contrast, a uniform tax on CO2 emissions levied at a small number of large sites would be relatively clear-cut. During the Montreal Protocol talks in the 1980s, India smartly balked at a suggestion to phase out CFCs in certain products and not in others because of the chaos that would result from the ambiguity.

Third, key people in China read our newspapers. They see the ominous clouds of protectionism under the guise of environmentalism in bills like Lieberman-Warner and they don’t want to be harmed; neither should we, given the trillions of dollars of Treasury bills they hold. Showing compliance with a harmonized carbon tax at a small number of large bottleneck points would be child’s play compared to the chaos of cap-and-trade.If President Obama hits the ground running fast in the direction of a global carbon tax, he can usher in a new dawn that might finally make peace between man and climate.Mr. Nader is a consumer advocate and three-time presidential candidate. Toby Heaps is the coordinator of Option 13, a campaign to help broker a successor to the Kyoto Protocol that includes all major nations.

As Crisis Flu Affects Eastern Europe, Differences among Countries becoming Clearer - An Interview with Orsalia Kalantzopoulos, World Bank Country Director for the EU10 countries March 12, 2009

1: How is the global economic crisis affecting the EU10 countries?

A: There are some key channels that are common, not just for the EU10 countries but for the global community – the collapse of export demand, the stalling of international capital flows, and a burgeoning crisis of confidence.

And there certainly is an important common story for the EU10 countries – ambitious reforms and EU accession, excellent well-educated labor forces, and fairly well-developed infrastructure, which fostered tremendous potential for private sector growth. The opening of the European markets presented very fertile ground for exports from these countries. So, we saw the private sector responding to these opportunities with tremendous foreign direct investment – either through specific economic activities or through the banking sector—and, more recently, rising levels of foreign borrowing, especially by banks. And, now, with the international financial crisis escalating, foreign capital inflows are drying up, and the private sector has become exceedingly risk averse – in some cases, rightly so. First credit, then output, income, and now employment in these countries, as in the rest of the world, are feeling the shock.

2: There was recently a statement put out by several Central European countries that said observers are not differentiating enough between the different countries in the region. Is that true and can you elaborate on that?

A: What is becoming clearer to careful observers as the crisis progresses is that the differences between these 10 countries are as important as the similarities. And these differences are mostly in initial conditions, that is, the situation in each country before the crisis hit, rather than how governments have responded during the crisis.

Some countries, especially the smaller ones, had fostered fast growth driven by very high levels of exports, especially exports to the rest of the EU. For these, the drying up of export markets has been a heavy blow. Others accumulated high levels of foreign borrowing by the private sector, including borrowing in foreign currencies. The mortgage markets in a number of countries were bolstered by this type of borrowing. And, of course, some countries ran much more conservative fiscal and monetary policies.

On one hand, there are several countries in the region that allowed very large imbalances in terms of current account deficits, which were mostly financed with foreign capital. Or they had very large budgetary deficits which again were financed from abroad, and also they preserved very limited foreign reserves. These countries need to adjust their policies sharply and quickly to cope with the crisis. On the other hand, there are countries in the group that implemented strong economic policies and kept high levels of reserves, and now require smaller adjustments in their policies.

And yet, nobody is immune to the crisis – everyone is affected. It is a case of a flu in the region – some people are catching a cold without really having any systemic or policy problems themselves, but they are affected because of what is going on around them.

So it is important to remember that not everybody should be put in the same basket.

3: So which countries are relatively better off at this point in the crisis?

A: Take the case of Poland. This is a country that has a very well-managed economy in terms of macroeconomic policies – both on the fiscal side and on the monetary side, as well as on banking supervision. Its policy mix is very sound, including a highly flexible exchange rate, which is helping to protect growth in this difficult external environment. Poland also has strength in structural areas, such as labor market regulations, pension reform, and health and education. Of course, there are still details that can be improved, but then this is true even in the US or Germany or France.

Poland’s economy has the same potential today as it had six months or a year ago, yet too many observers have lumped Poland into the same basket with weaker neighbors.

Another example of a better-off country is Bulgaria, which is running a fixed exchange rate policy through a currency board, but is compensating with extremely tight fiscal policies. Strong fiscal policy and very large accumulated reserves provide them with a cushion against these external shocks.

Other countries with strong economic management that have been unfairly thrown into the general regional basket include the Czech Republic, as well as Slovakia and Slovenia.

4: What is the World Bank advising these countries to do now to weather the crisis?

A: To some of the good performers, like Poland, where we are financial active, we recommend marginal changes on the economic policy front that would pay off in the long-term. Let me emphasize, not because there is an emergency today, but something that will bear fruit in five and ten years – for example, long-term care for the aging.

In the short-term, we are advising countries to look at their social safety nets. Because of the economic downturn, they will have more people becoming unemployed. Are these countries well-equipped in terms of social safety nets? Are their social safety nets well targeted to make sure that the poor and vulnerable are covered? Can we make sure that there is sufficient money going to health and education, so social systems will survive this difficult period?

In addition, it is critically important to preserve the productive spending that is taking place, so that in a difficult environment like this where you may be forced to cut spending in order to maintain the necessary fiscal discipline, these cuts do not end up being made across the board. Instead, they should be based on the rationalization of inefficient spending programs that will leave enough funding to both finance the ongoing reforms and to protect productive spending in health, education, and infrastructure.

Periods like this are seen very negatively normally, but they also present tremendous opportunities. If we take these as opportunities, we can really help to increase the efficiency of spending, and to do more with less. This is advice we have given to Bulgaria consistently, and that they have taken up through the years. Now one can see that this country has tremendously improved its efficiency of spending in the social sectors, and they have a more effective social safety net, so are able to reach more people with fewer resources.

In addition, there are other ways in which one can alleviate the overall cost of doing business for the private sector. And this is something that many countries are pursuing, but where probably more could be done.

So using this as an opportunity, one can increase the efficiency of the bureaucracy and the efficiency of public spending.

One additional area that we feel quite compelled to be in, together with our development partners, is to inject liquidity through well-managed banks so that the private sector in general is not completely crowded out or suffocated during these difficult periods.

5: The World Bank recently joined forces with the EIB and EBRD on a joint initiative aimed at helping the banking sector in the region. How will this help?

A: This initiative has both public sector and private sector dimensions. While the private sector dimension is likely to take the form of support, in particular, to systematically important banks operating in Central and Eastern Europe, a lot of the attention and the first efforts to help re-energize the economies will happen through the public sector, which is fine provided that it has adequate fiscal space and the focus is on activities that make good economic sense.

At the same time, you want to be able to substitute for the decreased foreign capital that has dragged down the private sector. This is exactly what the initiative tries to address – it tries to address the lack of liquidity towards the private sector and help preserve its role in the economy.

A key part of this new approach is the coordination between institutions, because there’s no doubt that the financial sectors in many of these countries, if not most, are under some degree of pressure. In addition, the financial integration across Europe that has benefited Eastern and Central Europe has also led to great interdependence across the banking sector. All the countries, irrespective of their diverse situations, have an interest in ensuring a regional approach to systemic banking issues. In some countries, the financial sector has expanded very quickly in very aggressive ways; and in others, the financial sector is feeling the impact of the local real economies’ fall into recession. Having a joint response makes sense for everyone because of the heightened impact of coordination, because it’s easier for governments, and because we can leverage resources to different areas to be more effective.

EU10 countries include Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

World Bank Announces Membership of High Level Commission on Modernizing the Governance of the World Bank Group Press Release No:2009/246/EXC
Contacts:David Theis (202) 458-8626 dtheis@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2009 – The World Bank today announced the membership of an independent, high-level commission tasked with making recommendations on how the institution is governed so that it can better fulfill its mission of overcoming global poverty.The Commission was created by World Bank Group President, Robert B. Zoellick in October 2008 to focus on the modernization of World Bank Group governance so the World Bank Group can operate more dynamically, effectively, efficiently, and legitimately in a transformed global political economy. It will report back at the World Bank Group’s October 2009 Annual Meetings.By bringing the perspectives of a diverse group of leaders from outside the institution, the High-Level Commission will complement the Board’s important work on internal governance reform, said Zoellick. I thank the Commission’s members for their willingness to take on this important task and encourage them to be bold and far-sighted.The 12 members of the Commission, chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, have all held or hold senior positions at an international level and are drawn from developed and developing countries. Announcing the commission’s membership in London, World Bank Group Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: The commission is timely as it further enhances the voice of developing countries in contributing to governance reform within the World Bank Group.Members of the High Level Commission on the Modernization of World Bank Group Governance:
Dr. Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico
Dr. Arminio Fraga, former President of the Central Bank of Brazil
Dr. Rima Khalaf, former U.N. Assistant Secretary General, Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States at the United Nations Development Program, and former Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan.
Mr. John Kufuor, former President of Ghana
Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Mrs. Sadako Ogata, President of Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Mr. John F.W. Rogers, Secretary to the Board, Goldman Sachs
Mr. Herman Wijffels, former World Bank Executive Director and former Chairman of the Board of Rabobank
Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, India
Baroness Shriti Vadera, Minister for Economic Competitiveness and Small Business and former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for International Development, United Kingdom
Mrs. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
Dr. Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the People’s Bank of China

Background on other recent World Bank Group reform initiatives

Recently, the World Bank’s Board of Governors approved a first phase of reforms to increase the influence of developing countries within the World Bank Group, including adding a seat for Sub-Saharan Africa to allow developing countries a majority of seats on the Executive Board, and expanding voting and capital shares. Since Zoellick became World Bank Group President, 7 of 9 of his senior appointments have been from developing countries.

Development Finance Institution Meeting Seeks Closer Cooperation to Reduce the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Developing Countries Press Release No:2009/252/IFC World Bank Group Contact:Lotte Pang Tel: +12027584290 Email: LPang@ifc.org Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG Contact:Peter GumpingerTel: + 43 (1) 531 27 2441Email: Peter.Gumpinger@oekb.at OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) Contact:Sam Ifeagwu Tel: +431-51564139 Email: S.Ifeagwu@ofid.org

VIENNA, AUSTRIA, MARCH 12, 2009 —The world’s largest International Finance Institutions (IFIs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) met in Vienna today to discuss closer cooperation in responding to the global financial and economic crisis and to share information on initiatives aimed at supporting banking, trade, infrastructure, agribusiness, and other key sectors in developing countries.The meeting, hosted by the Development Bank of Austria, OeEB, and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, brought together 14 institutions including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), other World Bank Group members IBRD and MIGA, the African Development Bank, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the UK’s CDC, Germany’s KfW and DEG, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Netherlands’ FMO, Norway’s Norfund, and Spain’s Cofides.Michael Wancata, Member of the Board of OeEB, said, OeEB appreciates IFC´s initiative to bring together a number of DFIs to discuss harmonized activities. In times like this, Development Finance Institutions should assume an active role and demonstrate they are reliable partners to their clients.OeEB announced at the meeting that it will commit €20 million to the Microfinance Enhancement Facility, founded by KfW and IFC. The $500 million fund will boost the available pool of refinancing available to the microfinance industry. The African Development Bank announced that its Board has approved a three point action plan including an emergency liquidity facility of $1.5 billion for the benefit of its medium income member countries, a $1 billion trade finance initiative to support the needs of African DFIs and commercial banks, and an African Development Fund action plan.OFID announced at the meeting that it will commit $30 million to an Africa-focused sub-fund of the IFC Recapitalization Fund. The $5 billion IFC Recapitalization Fund, founded by IFC and JBIC, will help ensure banks in developing countries can continue to lend and support economic recovery and job creation through the financial crisis.

Said Aissi, OFID’s Assistant Director General for Operations, said, “Poor countries in Africa are suffering from a slowdown in economic development and a credit crunch which may bring millions of people to the poverty line. It is important for International Finance Institutions to provide social safety nets to alleviate the effects of this crisis as well as to help poorer sections of the population through microfinance. International Finance Institutions have also agreed to act collectively through providing finance to vulnerable banking systems, increasing investments in vital infrastructure and social sectors, and protecting trade finance. OFID is committed to supporting these initiatives alongside other IFIs. The Governing Board of OFID, which met this week, has approved an investment of $30 million to a sub-fund of the IFC Recapitalization Fund which will make urgently needed investments to banks in Sub-Saharan Africa.Jyrki Koskelo, IFC’s Vice President for Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Global Financial Markets and Funds, said, We are encouraged to see an emerging global partnership taking shape to support recovery and particularly thank OeEB, OFID, JBIC, and KfW for their partnership on IFC’s initiatives for bank recapitalization, trade, and microfinance. Mobilizing funds and ideas from across the finance and development community will allow us to deliver practical and timely responses to the crisis and limit its impact on the poor.The DFI meeting in Vienna follows a Joint IFI Action Plan announced in February through which the EBRD, the EIB, and World Bank Group pledged €24.5 billion in support of the banking sector and lending to the real economy in central and Eastern Europe.Upcoming events aimed at convening institutions from the multilateral, public, and private sectors, include the Summit of the Americas and the World Bank Group Spring Meetings in April.

About OeEB

Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) has an official mandate from the Government of Austria and is specialized in the implementation of private sector projects which need long-term finance and which create sustainable development.OeEB provides tailor-made financing solutions for a diverse set of long-term investments that would otherwise find it difficult to raise funding or borrow money in international capital markets. The bank is mandated to assume higher risks on individual transactions (loan volume, tenors, high-risk countries), compared to commercial banks.Additionally OeEB provides Technical Assistance, so-called Assistant Services which can be used to enhance the developmental impact of projects.

About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information please visit www.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and www.ifc.org.

About OFID
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) is an intergovernmental Development Finance Institution established in 1976 by member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The primary aim of OFID is to contribute to the social and economic development of low-income countries. Cumulatively until December 2008, OFID had committed US$ 10.3 billion in development financing to 121 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.

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).

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER Canada joins Transatlantic Union effort,Working along with U.S for free-trade deal with European Union March 10, 2009 9:39 pm Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi 2009 WorldNetDaily

Canada has decided to join the United States in negotiating a transatlantic free trade agreement with the European Union. According to Canada's daily Financial Post, Canada and the EU have come to an agreement on the areas they would like to negotiate in a free trade deal that Canadian government officials believe could expand Canada's economy by approximately $12 billion. The agreement announced last Thursday concluded scoping exercises between Canada and the EU that began Oct. 17. The exercises determined 14 areas to be placed on the negotiating table, including trade in goods and services, investment, trade facilitation, customs regulation, technical barriers to trade, competition policy and sustainable development. As WND has reported, competition is a key free-trade theme that shows up, for instance, in the 30-member North American Competitiveness Council, the 30-member multinational advisory council selected by the chambers of commerce in the U.S., Mexico and Canada to advise the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Sustainable development is a code term coined by the United Nations' Agenda 21, which critics have charged outlines a globalist agenda for redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor, on the premise wealth is accumulated at the expense of the poor.

As WND previously reported, a key step in advancing the goal of creating a Transatlantic Union was the creation of the Transatlantic Economic Council by the U.S. and the EU through an agreement signed by President Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel – then the president of the European Council – and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a White House summit April 30, 2007. The agreement constituted the Transatlantic Economic Council as a permanent body that committed the U.S. to deeper transatlantic economic integration,without ratification by the Senate as a treaty or passage by Congress as a law. The formation of a Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union by 2015 has been targeted by the http://www.tpnonline.org/about.html Transatlantic Policy Network, a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington and Brussels with a policy advisory board of U.S. congressmen and senators. In February 2007, the Transatlantic Policy Network formed a Transatlantic Market Implementation Group to put in place a a roadmap and framework to direct the activity of the Transatlantic Economic Council to achieve the creation of the Transatlantic Common Market by 2015. The Transatlantic Policy Network is chaired by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, and advised by a bipartisan congressional policy group consisting of six U.S. senators and 49 U.S. congressmen. Another NGO urging transatlantic integration is the Atlantic Council of the United States, a Washington-based policy group headed by former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who currently serves as the group's chairman of the board. On April 20, 2007, an Atlantic Council commission co-chaired by Stuart E. Eisenstat, former deputy-secretary of the treasury, and Grant D. Aldonas, former under-secretary of commerce for international trade, issued a report entitled Transatlantic Leadership for a New Global Economy.

The report argued that to deal with a new international economy, the U.S. and EU must lead a major effort to restructure the governing institutions of that economy and seek new ways to reduce barriers to trade and investment.Among the group's recommendations was that the U.S. and EU should establish a barrier-free Enhanced Trade Market as a first step toward moving into a more open global market.As WND previously reported, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger openly called for the Obama administration to manipulate the current financial crisis to create a new world order.Kissinger's commentary in the International Herald Tribune made clear globalists intend to utilize the current financial meltdown. In developing his call for action, Kissinger also made clear that his view of globalism involves a lessening of American power and influence to elevate less-advantaged countries. The economic world has been globalized,Kissinger proclaimed.Its institutions have a global reach and have operated by maxims that assumed a self-regulating global market.Kissinger warned against individual countries taking action through national political institutions to cushion the shock of the current financial decline, with a view to ameliorating their domestic economies.Rather than focus on domestic politics, Kissinger said the solution involves creating global political institutions to better govern and regulate global economic markets and institutions. Every major country has attempted to solve its immediate problems essentially on its own and to defer common action to a later, less crisis-driven point,Kissinger wrote.So called rescue packages have emerged on a piecemeal national basis, generally by substituting unlimited governmental credit for the domestic credit that produced the debacle in the first place – so far without more than stemming incipient panic.Kissinger strongly objected to nation-states action as such to protect their domestic economies. In the end, the political and economic systems can be harmonized in only one of two ways: by creating an international political regulatory system with the same reach as that of the economic world,he suggests,or by shrinking the economic units to a size manageable by existing political structures, which is likely to lead to a new mercantilism, perhaps of regional units.

Race to get end-of-term legislation through EU parliament,Strasbourg hemicycle: The last plenary meeting of the current parliament will take place at the beginning of May (Photo: European Parliament)HONOR MAHONY 12.03.2009 @ 17:43 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - With just three plenary meetings left before the European Parliament finishes its current term, MEPs still have some major legislation to clear before they hit the campaign trail ahead of the June elections.Among the most important are the energy and telecoms bills - flagship liberalisation projects of the current commission. Both are only inching their way through the legislative pipelines.

The telecoms package, which aims to create an EU-level supervisor for telecoms regulators and overhauls the rules for management of radio spectrum, is stalling on the issue of how much power should be given to the European Commission.Three-way talks - between MEPs, member states and the commission - are aiming to finalise a compromise so that the vote can be taken before May, the last session of the current European Parliament.Meanwhile, the energy package, aimed at deregulating the gas and electricity sectors, is in difficulty over the scope of unbundling - the separation of electricity generation from its transmission, breaking the control of large national providers' over both production and supply.Other big chunks of legislation include the working time directive, a controversial law restricting the working week to 48 hours. Late last year, MEPs upset the apple cart by rejecting a recommendation from the member states and voting to end opt-outs from the 48-hour-week within three years. If a joint text can be agreed with member states, the final vote could be held in May.MEPs are also due for first-round votes on an EU bill to make it easier for patients to receive paid medical treatment in other member states (with a first vote in April), one on extending the protection of authors' copyright by 20 years up to 95 years (March), and another law on making buildings more energy efficient.Meanwhile, a bill on the nutritional labelling of food may be postponed until the next legislature because of the sheer number of amendments it has received.

Draft EU laws that have already begun the legislative process in the European Parliament, meaning that they have been voted on in committee, are automatically carried over to the next term.After the final May plenary session, parliament will reconvene in July for its constitutive session following the June elections. Its first legislative meeting will be in September.Meanwhile, the new parliament (2009-2014) will see a major increase in its powers if the Lisbon Treaty is passed in Ireland, which is to hold a second referendum on the pact later this year.

The Lisbon question

The new EU rulebook would give MEPs co-legislative rights in a series of new areas, including agricultural and fisheries policies, judicial co-operation in criminal matters, police co-operation, services of general economic interest, space policy and tourism.Mindful of the upgrade in their powers, the euro-deputies in the constitutional affairs committee earlier this week asked the European Commission to tell them of pending proposals that will be affected by moving from one treaty to another.It also left open the option of changing its opinion on a piece of legislation if it moves from a consultative basis to full co-legislation.Parliament will decide which position it takes regarding opinions that have already been adopted in consultation procedures on matters which have been changed to the ordinary legislative procedure,said a report by German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen.

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.

Forecasters see chilly spring for U.S. Northeast By Haitham Haddadin – Thu Mar 12, 3:44 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A colder-than-normal start to spring is in the cards for the U.S. Northeast this year, signaling an extended heating season in the world's largest heating oil market, forecasters say.For the remainder of winter and the first half of spring, temperatures will be a little below average in the Northeast ... then in the second half it will start to go above average, said Jeff Johnson, long-range forecaster at DTN Meteorlogix.Forecasters say spring-like temperatures which straddled the 60s Fahrenheit in some areas of the Northeast last week gave way by Thursday to below normal temperatures in the 20s to 40s Fahrenheit (minus 7 to plus 4.5 Celsius) in the region.The milder temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic on Wednesday will be a thing of the past on Thursday, Weather.com said in its near-term outlook, adding it sees cooler temperatures from New York State to New England with highs running below average.Expect temperatures to range from the teens in far northern Maine to the 20s and 30s over upstate New York and the 40s in southern New England, it said on its website.Forecasters say the intermittent cold this month could even return snow and bitter cold back to parts of the Northeast.Manager of Energy Weather Matt Rogers at EarthSat, a Rockville, Maryland-based private forecaster, says he is looking at highs in the low-to-mid 30s in New England by mid-March, well below last weekend temperature highs in the 60s.March is looking like an extremely volatile month for the Northeast, Rogers told Reuters.There is more cold on the way but it's back and forth ... It will be a little of everything.AccuWeather.com Chief Long-Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi said in a recent forecast a so-called negative North Atlantic Oscillation Pattern (NAO) is notorious this time of year and could lead to storminess along the Eastern Seaboard.

March and April are predicted to be colder-than-normal months, but by May, the weather will warm above normal across much of the country as true spring finally starts, he said.Each warm surge that we see in the next couple of weeks won't be the true end of winter,he added.Agrees Johnson of Meteorlogix also sees a continuation of the NAO pattern which essentially causes cold air masses from Canada to slide down into the eastern United States.We've seen a lot of that this winter, with a tendency for cold air extending its stay in the Northeast; we are likely to see this pattern hang on,Johnson told Reuters.Johnson, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, also expects a colder-than-normal start to spring for the Northern Plains and Great Lakes region where bitter cold currently holds.(Editing by Christian Wiessner)

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

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

EARTHQUAKES

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

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

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

Earthquake shakes Costa Rica; no major damage Wed Mar 11, 5:38 pm ET

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – A strongly felt earthquake shook Panama and parts of Costa Rica on Wednesday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage.

The quake hit at 11:24 a.m. local time (1724 GMT, 1:24 p.m. EDT), sending panicked people running out of buildings in the Costa Rica port city of Golfito and knocking items from shelves in several southern towns.The magnitude 5.9 quake was centered 58 miles (94 kilometers) west of David, Panama, more than 200 miles (300 kilometers) from San Jose, the Costa Rican capital, said the U.S. Geological Survey. A preliminary report said the quake's magnitude was 5.7.It was pretty strong and caused a scare but so far we've only had calls to report minor damage from items falling, said Luis Madrigal of the Red Cross in the Costa Rican city of San Vito de Coto Brus, near the epicenter.A magnitude 6.1 earthquake in January left 23 dead in Costa Rica.

USGS: 5.0-magnitude earthquake hits central China Thu Mar 12, 10:31 am ET

CHENGDU, China – A 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck central China's Sichuan province on Thursday near the border with Gansu province, the U.S. Geological Survey said.The agency said the quake's epicenter was 125 miles (200 kilometers) northeast of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. Many parts of the province were devastated by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake on May 12 that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.There were no reports of casualties from Thursday's tremor, an aftershock of the May earthquake, the official Xinhua News Agency said. However, cell phone service was down in Quhe township of Guangyuan city, the epicenter, it said.The aftershock could be felt in Chengdu for about five seconds, Xinhua reported.

Sichuan's Qingchuan county has registered nearly 1,600 aftershocks from Jan. 1 to March 8 this year, it said.

MEPs urge EU to decide on Macedonia accession talks
ELITSA VUCHEVA 12.03.2009 @ 17:27 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – MEPs adopted a resolution on Thursday (12 March) calling on member states to set a date for opening accession talks with Macedonia this year.

In a resolution adopted by MEPs with 478 votes in favour and 92 against, the European Parliament said it regrets …that, three years after it [Macedonia] was granted the status of candidate for membership of the EU, accession negotiations have not yet started, which is an unsustainable situation having demotivating effects for the country, and risks destabilising the region.The parliament urges the Council [the EU member states] to accelerate this process by deciding on a date for the beginning of accession negotiations, during the current year [provided that other conditions are met].We have to recognise that in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia things are not going worse than in other countries,said Dutch MEP Erik Meijer, referring to the problems with corruption and organised crime in the small Balkan country.He said it would be at least 2017 before Macedonia makes it into the bloc, so negotiation may as well as start now.

Upcoming elections – moment of truth

Macedonia was granted the status of EU candidate in December 2005, but accession talks have not been opened ever since, mainly due to Greece.Athens has refused to recognise its neighbour's constitutional name - the Republic of Macedonia - since it declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. This is because a northern region in Greece is also called Macedonia and Greece believes allowing Skopje to use the name will open the way to territorial claims. It also believes the appellation is part of its own historical heritage.Greece has been blocking Macedonia's NATO bid for the same reason.EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn stressed that free and fair presidential and local elections later this month and in April would be a key condition for Macedonia to be allowed to start accession talks, after violent incidents marked last year's general elections.I share [MEPs'] regret that, three years after the country achieved candidate status, accession negotiations have not yet started,Mr Rehn said in the parliament's plenary in Strasbourg on Wednesday.The key outstanding condition is the ability to meet international standards for the conduct of free and fair elections …The presidential and municipal elections in March and April will be a moment of truth,he added.

Time running out for Croatia

MEPs also approved a Croatia resolution deeply regretting that [Croatia's] accession negotiations have been effectively blocked for a considerable time because of bilateral issues.Due to a dispute between Croatia and Slovenia on their common land and sea border Ljubljana has been blocking almost a third of the chapters of Zagreb's EU accession package.But the parliamentarians said they were confident that the goal of concluding negotiations in 2009 ...can [still] be achieved, provided that the Croatian government implements the needed reforms in fields such as corruption and organised crime, as well as administrative and judicial reform.The Czech EU presidency expressed less optimistic views saying it was concerned about the stalemate between Slovenia and Croatia on solving the dispute and noting that time is running out for Zagreb to finish talks by the end of this year and become an EU member by 2011.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS FRI MAR 13,2009

09:30 AM +11.80
10:00 AM +45.71
10:30 AM -1.60
11:00 AM +16.09
11:30 AM -2.87
12:00 PM -27.96
12:30 PM -44.53
01:00 PM -8.61
01:30 PM +18.08
02:00 PM +17.52
02:30 PM +10.83
03:00 PM +23.47
03:30 PM +62.68
04:00 PM +53.92 7223.98

S&P 500 756.55 +5.81

NASDAQ 1431.50 +5.40

GOLD 928.90 +4.90

OIL 45.75 -1.28

TSE 300 8303.39 +21.12

CDNX 848.97 +5.55

S&P/TSX/60 505.83 +1.68

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -18.30%
S&P -16.88%
Nasdaq -9.57%
TSX Advances 1,083,declines 465,unchanged 262,Volume 2,609,872,894.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 392,Declines 319,Unchanged 336,Volume 176,819,105.

Dow +10 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -62 points at low today.
Dow +75 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $934.20.OIL opens at $46.89 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -62 points at low today so far.
Dow +75 points at high today so far.

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 1,770,declines 1,818,unchanged 106,New Highs 5,New Lows 50.
Volume 3,902,365,362.
NASDAQ Advances 1,288,declines 1,270,unchanged 153,New highs 8,New Lows 28.
Volume 969,010,275.
TSX Advances 653,declines 607,unchanged 248,Volume 1,196,501,518.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 252,Declines 229,Unchanged 244,Volume 61,612,532.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -62 points at low today.
Dow +75 points at high today.
Dow +0.75% today Volume 479,009,777.
Nasdaq +0.38% today Volume 1,908,888,483.
S&P 500 +0.77% today Volume N/A

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

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

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE,WEEKENDER
Dow -17.69%
S&P -16.24%
Nasdaq -9.23%
CANADAS WEEK ENDING STATS
TSX Advances 874,Declines 638,Unchanged 262 Volume 2,160,557,170.
TSX Venture Advances 348,Declines 336,Unchanged 327 Volume 130,609,639.

Madoff's new home: Cell the size of walk-in closet By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer MAR 12,09

NEW YORK – Bernard Madoff's new Manhattan home is the size of a walk-in closet, with cinderblock walls, linoleum floors and a bunk bed. Breakfast will be served before sunrise, and the disgraced financier can stretch his legs outside, but only every other day — in a cage.The Metropolitan Correctional Center, which has housed accused terrorists and reputed mobsters, welcomed the 70-year-old Madoff on Thursday after he pleaded guilty in one of Wall Street's biggest investment swindles and a judge revoked his bail.The federal jail in lower Manhattan stands between a courthouse and a church and holds inmates awaiting trial or serving short sentences. Currently, about 750 men and women are behind bars there.Since his arrest in December, Madoff has been confined to his $7 million penthouse apartment.When inmates first arrive at the jail, they are given physical and psychological exams and instructed on the rules. If cleared to enter the general population, they are issued a baggy brown uniform and assigned to cells measuring 7 1/2-by-8 feet, each fitted with a sink and toilet.Many inmates must share their cells with another prisoner, but it was not immediately clear Thursday whether Madoff would have a cellmate.There's a strict schedule: Lights on at 6 a.m., breakfast at 6:30 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m., dinner at 5 p.m., lights out at 11 p.m. During the day, inmates can watch television, play ping pong, work on their cases in a legal library or volunteer for janitorial duty.

On alternate days, they are allowed up on the caged roof, where from courthouse windows they can be seen playing basketball. For court dates, they are shackled and escorted by deputy marshals through an underground tunnel.The facility alots three hours a week for visits by family or lawyers. Inmates can also spend up to 300 minutes per month making phone calls, which can be monitored.Those who misbehave or present a risk of violence are thrown into a separate unit where they spend nearly all day locked in their cells and must endure strip searches and constant monitoring by cameras.Authorities tightened security in the unit after a guard was seriously injured in 2000 by a terrorist convicted in the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.Notable inmates have included blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to blow up five New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt's president, and John Junior Gotti, the Gambino crime family scion now jailed in Brooklyn on murder charges.Current inmates include former Florida hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel, who is accused of bilking investors out of up to $350 million.

Stocks rally on good news for banks, GM, retailers By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer – Thu Mar 12, 6:27 pm ET

NEW YORK – Investors have been clamoring for months for a bit of good news. On Thursday, they got a load of it.The Dow Jones industrials shot up 240 points to a two-week high of 7,170, bringing its gains over the past three days to 622 points, or 9.5 percent. It was the index's biggest three-day jump since last November.Surprisingly positive signals this week from companies across all industries, particularly banks, have made traders think twice about continuing to drive stocks lower. It's too soon to tell whether this week's upturn is the beginning of a bull market or simply a temporary rally within a bear market, but either way there has been a pronounced change in Wall Street's tone.How all this turned around in a week, I don't know, said Scott Bleier, president of CreateCapital Advisors.But it's certainly a better outlook than how it looked two weeks ago.The rally got an extra dose of adrenaline Thursday after an accounting board told Congress it may recommend an easing in financial reporting rules of tough-to-sell assets — a change that banks say would help their bottom lines. Upheaval in the banking industry has been dogging the market since 2007, and hope that banks might finally get relief in how they value their bad assets spurred a flurry of buying on Wall Street.We might find that the banks are not as bad, or not bad at all, if these assets are marked differently, said Doreen Mogavero, president of the New York floor brokerage Mogavero, Lee & Co.Better-than-expected retail sales figures also helped stocks, as did positive news from four Dow companies: Bank of America Corp., General Electric Co., General Motors Corp., and Pfizer Inc.

GE's credit rating was cut by less than expected, GM said it will not need a $2 billion loan it previously requested from the government, and Pfizer reported a successful cancer drug trial. Bank of America's CEO told reporters his bank was profitable in January and February. Citigroup Inc. triggered this week's rally Tuesday with similar remarks.No one is calling the end to the selling on Wall Street. The economic picture is too uncertain, and much of this week's rally has been driven by technical factors. One of those factors is traders' inclination to buy stock to cover short bets, or bets that a stock will fall.But it's been the most reassuring week in months for the stock market. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, which reflects nearly all stocks traded in America, has jumped 11.2 percent over the past three sessions. That's a paper gain of $900 billion.There's a lot of money on the sidelines, and a lot of people who've been waiting for the turn to come, Mogavero said. I think that probably, people will want to get some of their money in the market.The Dow rose 239.66, or 3.5 percent, to 7,170.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 29.38, or 4.1 percent, to 750.74. The Nasdaq composite index gained 54.46, or 4 percent, to 1,426.10.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 23.82, or 6.5 percent, to 390.12.After a modest decline Monday and three days of buying, the Dow is up 8.2 percent so far for the week. The S&P 500 index is up 9.9 percent and the Nasdaq is up 10.2 percent. Before this week's rebound, the Dow and S&P had tumbled to their lowest levels since 1997 and 1996, respectively.Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by more than 10 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, where consolidated volume came to 7.2 billion shares, up from 7.1 billion shares Wednesday.

Not all of Thursday's data was positive. The Commerce Department said retail sales dipped by a modest 0.1 percent in February, but the Labor Department reported that first time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to 654,000 from 639,000 the week before, more than analysts had expected.Investors are also aware that much of this week's rebound can be attributed to covering short positions. Traders have been covering short bets by buying stocks, especially after the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was considering reinstating the Uptick Rule. The rule, eliminated in 2007, aimed at curbing short-selling by only allowing it when a stock edged higher.On Thursday investors grew more optimistic about bank stocks after the chairman of the independent Financial Accounting Standards Board told the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets that the board could have the guidance in three weeks on so-called mark-to-market accounting. Frozen demand in the credit markets has sharply lowered the value of assets having anything to do with real estate or consumer credit — even though most of the loans themselves are still getting paid off. Those lower asset values have translated into huge losses for banks.Citigroup rose 8.4 percent, Bank of America rose 19 percent, Wells Fargo & Co. rose 17 percent, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 14 percent. GM rose 17.2 percent to $2.18 after its chief financial officer said it would not need its federal loan for March.GE rose nearly 13 percent to $9.57 after Standard & Poor's downgraded the conglomerate by one notch from "AAA" due to troubles in GE's lending arm. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical stocks soared Thursday on more acquisition news and a positive drug trial at Pfizer Inc.

Pfizer said it ended a successful trial of its cancer drug Sutent early after data showed the drug met its goal of slowing the progression of pancreatic cancer. Shares of Pfizer, a Dow component, rose nearly 10 percent to $14.02. Switzerland's Roche Holding AG agreed to buy the rest of Genentech Inc. for $46.8 billion, while Gilead Sciences Inc. agreed to buy CV Therapeutics Inc. for $1.4 billion. Earlier this week, drugmakers Merck and Schering-Plough agreed to merge in a $41 billion deal.

Government bond prices rose, driving the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.86 percent from 2.91 percent late Wednesday. The dollar strengthened against other major currencies, gold prices gained, and crude oil surged $4.70 to $47.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Overseas markets were mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.1 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average dropped 2.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Japan PM orders new stimulus package MAR 12,09

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso has ordered top ruling-party officials to put together an additional economic stimulus package to battle the country's deepening recession.Aso asked for a draft of an extra budget that will include stimulus measures spread out over several years, and said he would seek expert advice on how to best tackle the problems in Asia's biggest economy.We should not just do it as a political party alone. Rather we should seek counsel from various people, like scholars, he told reporters.The package is expected to be worth at least 20 trillion yen (204 billion dollars), the Yomiuri Shimbun daily and other media said, quoting unnamed sources within the ruling party.Previous packages have been a mixture of spending and measures such as loan guarantees to help struggling companies.Japan's economy logged its worst performance in almost 35 years in the last quarter of 2008, contracting at an annualised pace of 12.1 percent, according to the latest government estimate released on Thursday.The economy is facing a steep drop-off in exports because of the global downturn.Aso previously announced in December a stimulus package worth 23 trillion yen, in addition to a 26.9 trillion yen boost unveiled in October.The latest package is likely to include fast-tracking express railway construction, earthquake-proofing for school buildings, environmental measures and social welfare programmes such as child and elderly care, reports said.

Centre-left MEPs criticise Europe's recovery plan
ANDREW WILLIS 12.03.2009 @ 09:25 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Centre-left deputies in the European Parliament have strongly criticised the European Commission on how it is dealing with the current economic crisis.Sitting in Strasbourg for one of the few remaining plenary sessions before the European elections in June, MEPs on Wednesday (11 March) passed a report drafted by Portuguese Socialist MEP Elisa Ferreira that warned that national rescue plans may harm Europe's global competitiveness if they are not well co-ordinated at EU level.

Ms Ferreira's report on the commission's European Economic Recovery Plan (EERP) said stimulating the EU economy, improving competitiveness and restoring health to the financial markets are vital if rising unemployment is to be halted. But, she added, member states must be prepared to support each other. The EU is about competition but also cohesion and solidarity. That is why we conferred sovereignty to the EU before embarking on this whole project,she said during the debate. Measures to release EU funds, improve the financial supervisory system and tackle tax havens also feature among the report's recommendations.Attending the debate, commission President Jose Manuel Barroso outlined a number of commission initiatives to fight the recession and said his number one concern was the social impact of the crisis. However both he and Czech deputy prime minister for European affairs Alexandr Vondra, representing member state governments at the meeting, were sharply criticised by Socialist MEPs in particular for doing, in their words, too little, too late. The leader of the Socialist group in the parliament, Martin Schulz, said only the UK, Germany and Spain had met their target of 1.5 per cent of GDP stimulus spending agreed under the EERP, adding that there was a need for solidarity between states. Socialist party president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said Mr Barroso was painting an overly rosy picture of the spending being carried out under the plan, saying it was closer to 0.9 per cent of GDP rather than the commission estimate of 3.3 per cent.

Mr Rasmussen asked Mr Barroso whether he agreed with the statement by Jean-Claude Juncker - chairman of the 16 eurogroup countries and Luxembourg's prime minister - after a eurogroup meeting on Monday in which he said that Europe had done enough to counter the crisis.You have not done enough,he declared, appealing to the commission to launch a new recovery effort that would include the launch of eurobonds, the issuance of debt at the EU level, a move that would ease the borrowing costs of southern European member states and Ireland.French Socialist MEP Pervenche Beres, who heads the powerful economy committee in the parliament, joined in on the attack. Europe has to put into place the right measure and the European economic recovery plan is not enough,she said.Mr Vondra countered calls for the EU to match US spending levels by pointing out that the US was not seeking financial support packages from the International Monetary Fund. Both Hungary and Latvia have received aid from the multilateral lender so far and Romania is currently in negotiations. Solidarity must be accompanied by government responsibilities,he said. MEPs also approved a report calling on EU leaders to make employment measures a priority at next week's summit meeting and another saying advanced spending on regional projects would help tackle the crisis.

Sarkozy announces France's return to NATO
VALENTINA POP 12.03.2009 @ 09:28 CET

French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday (11 March) announced the return of his country to the military structures of NATO, 43 years after general Charles de Gaulle left the alliance to mark Paris' independence of the US.The time has come to stop excluding ourselves. The absentees are always wrong, Mr Sarkozy said in a speech at the Ecole Militare in Paris.The president said he would formally notify France's allies of its return to the military structures during NATO's 60th anniversary summit on 2-4 April in Strasbourg/Kehl.Apart from the two NATO military commands earmarked for Paris ahead of the announcement, French media reported that US president Barack Obama has also agreed to make a stop at the World War II Normandy landings beaches before the summit to underscore the history of the US-French alliance.The breach with the 43-year old Gaullist tradition was highly contested by the Socialist opposition, as well as some circles within Mr Sarkozy's own centre-right party, the UMP.

Former premier Dominique de Villepin, a longterm Sarkozy rival, has criticised the decision as being a blunder that would dilute the independence of French foreign policy.Socialist leader Martine Aubry spoke about an Atlanticism that becomes an ideology, while centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou has called it an amputation.To raise the stakes within the UMP, which holds a large majority in both chambers of the French legislature, prime minister Francois Fillon has scheduled a confidence vote for next Tuesday (17 March) in connection with the return to NATO structures.But it is seen as highly unlikely that even the most Gaullist of UMP members would vote against their own government and risk early elections over this issue.

France already an active NATO member

French defence minister Herve Morin underscored last week that the return will change nothing, in concrete terms.We are in the contradictory position of France taking part in all NATO missions since 1995, of commanding NATO missions, of joining 36 of 38 NATO committees and yet continuing to talk as if we were some kind of exception,he added.Despite general de Gaulle's surprise withdrawal from the military structures, France never left the overarching North Atlantic Alliance, which also has a strong political component.Within a year the practical effect of withdrawing from the integrated command was also watered down. A secret accord between US and French officials, the Lemnitzer-Aillert agreements, laid out in great detail how French forces would dovetail back into NATO's command structure should East-West hostilities break out.In recent times, French forces, the largest in Europe, with 259,000 regulars and 419,000 reservists, have been major contributors to NATO missions. More than 3,000 French soldiers have been dispatched to Afghanistan and, since Mr Sarkozy became president, have expanded their role to include combat missions. We send our soldiers onto the terrain but we don't participate in the committee where their objectives are decided? he said on Wednesday. The time has come to end this situation. It is in the interest of France and the interest of Europe.

Better EU-NATO co-ordination

France's return to the military structures will contribute to soothing EU-NATO relations, leaving the Cyprus-Turkey dispute as the only real problem for co-operation between the two organisations. For a long time, Washington viewed France's strong push behind EU's own security and defence policy (ESDP) as an attempt to counter NATO's weight in Europe. At times, France had also discreetly thrown its weight behind Greece's support for the Cypriot cause in the dispute with Turkey, also to undermine NATO coherence, alliance sources told EUobserver.Now, Mr Sarkozy predicted that the country's return to NATO command will also accelerate development of a European defence force, long a goal of French diplomacy. Previously, he said, Britain and to some degree Germany and other countries were reluctant to co-operate with France on such a force out of fear it would be interpreted as a split from NATO. As a result, the idea of a European defence force was hailed repeatedly at European Union summit meetings, but has produced little in the way of practical results so far.

UN agencies: NKorea plans April satellite launch By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer MAR 12,09

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea told two U.N. agencies it plans to launch a communications satellite between April 4-8 — an unprecedented disclosure seen as trying to fend off international worries that it is really a test of long-range missile technology.The notification to the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization underscores the communist regime is intent on pushing ahead the launch in an attempt to gain greater leverage in negotiations with the United States, analysts say.North Korea specified two danger zones — one close to Japan — in its disclosure of the satellite launch plan. Pyongyang gave the U.N. agencies coordinates where parts of its multiple-stage rocket would fall, making it clear the projectile would fly over Japan toward the Pacific.

One of the zones is in waters off Japan's west coast, less than 75 miles (120 kilometers) from its northwestern shore, according to the agencies. The other lies in the middle of the Pacific between Japan and Hawaii.Though it is an international norm for countries to provide such specifics as a safety warning ahead of a missile or satellite launch, it was the first time the communist North has done so.The U.S. and other governments have said any rocket launch — whether missile test or satellite — would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning North Korea from ballistic missile activity.The U.N. agencies said Thursday that North Korea informed them by letter of the launch details the day before. It is the first time the regime has offered a safety warning ahead of a missile or a satellite launch, according to the South Korean government.They want to do the launch openly while minimizing what the international community may find fault with, said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University. The launch will earn North Korea a key political asset that would enlarge its negotiating leverage.Countries planning a space launch or missile test normally notify maritime or aviation authorities so aircraft and ships can be warned to stay away from affected regions.But North Korea did not do so ahead of its purported satellite launch in 1998 over Japan and a failed 2006 test-flight of a long-range missile, drawing international condemnations.Few buy Pyongyang's claim that it needs a communications satellite when one of the nation's stated top national goals is addressing chronic food shortages.Use of mobile phones, the Internet and international calls are tightly controlled in the totalitarian North.They might put a transistor on the rocket and claim it was a satellite launch, said Hong Hyun-ik, a North Korea expert at the security think tank Sejong Institute, who is skeptical of the North's intentions.

Officials and experts have said even if a satellite is launched, the North's ultimate goal is to test and demonstrate its missile capabilities.U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said Tuesday the North may be planning a space launch, but said the technology is no different from that of a long-range missile and its success would mean the country is capable of striking the U.S. mainland.If a three-stage space launch vehicle works, then that could reach not only Alaska and Hawaii but part of what the Hawaiians call the mainland and what the Alaskans call the lower 48,he told a Senate panel.South Korea, Japan and the United States have warned the North against any rocket launch.It's provocative, it's not helpful and it's destabilizing, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Thursday. We think the North needs to desist, or not carry out this type of provocative act, and sit down ... and work on the process of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that a launch will threaten the peace and stability in the region.Analysts say a rocket launch would increase the stakes and, more importantly, the benefits the impoverished nation might get from negotiations with the U.S. and other countries trying to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons program. Associated Press writers Kelly Olsen, Kwang-tae Kim and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.