DOLLAR DEVALUATION DESTROY AMERICA PICK UP STEAM

SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.

GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS

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.

Stargazers in awe as total eclipse arcs across Pacific by Martin Bernetti – Mon Jul 12, 3:53 am ET

HANGA ROA, Chile (AFP) – A total solar eclipse drew an 11,000-kilometer (6,800-mile) arc over the Pacific Sunday, plunging remote territories into darkness, but drawing thousands of curious tourists and their dollars.The skies grew black in the middle of the day as the Moon slipped in front of the Sun and aligned with the Earth, blotting out the sunshine that just moments earlier had swathed the island's silent, ancient stone guardians.Applause erupted from thousands of stargazers who began gathering days ago on this remote Chilean outpost for the rare four-minute, 41-second eclipse.It was like being in the stadium at night with artificial light. It was like being in a dark room with a 10-watt bulb, awe-struck local official Francisco Haoa told AFP.It started with a shadow. The skies were perfectly blue, with lots of wind that chased away the clouds. Everyone applauded.We saw a luminous object near here and people started saying they were sure it was a UFO.

In Tahiti, where the solar eclipse began its trek, the effect was so stunning that crowds of football-mad Polynesians turned away from the World Cup final on their television screens to look to the skies instead.It was like the Sun was smiling, said eight-year-old Hinanui. The Sun seemed like a horizontal crescent, then the Moon covered up the bottom of the Sun, which reappeared again as a crescent.Opticians and pharmacies sold more than 120,000 pairs of protective eyewear in Tahiti, which has 260,000 inhabitants, and warned of the dangers of vision loss if people looked directly at the eclipse.Beginning at 1815 GMT, when the umbra or shadow fell about 700 kilometers (440 miles) southeast of Tonga, the eclipse zipped in an easterly arc, cloaking Easter Island at 2011 GMT.It finished with a pass across southern Chile and Argentina, where it came to an end at 2052 GMT, just before nightfall in Patagonia.An estimated 4,000 tourists, scientists, photographers, filmmakers and journalists flocked to this World Heritage site of only 160 square kilometers (60 square miles), doubling the barren island's population.

The Sun is 400 times wider than the Moon, but it is also 400 times farther away. Because of the symmetry, the lunar umbra that falls on the face of the Earth is exactly wide enough to cover the face of the Sun.Throughout human history, superstition, awe and dread -- fears for the birth or death of kings, victories or defeats, bumper harvests or gnawing hunger -- have attended the moment when the Earth is plunged into daytime darkness.Easter Island authorities increased security, especially around key heritage sites, including the 3,000-year-old large stone statues, or moai, that put the far-flung ethnic Polynesian islanders on the world culture map.In local ancient lore, such an eclipse would have been seen as a very powerful signal of upcoming upheaval,as their world view was rooted in nature, in the earth, the sea and especially the sky,said Patricia Vargas of the University of Chile.A French and a Japanese tourist were arrested for mounting platforms where they are not allowed to touch and climb the statues,said police chief Cristian Gonzalez.Mayor Luz del Carmen Zasso said visitors were asked to treat the island with respect. Easter Island is an open-air museum, and the eclipse is part of this museum,she added. Meanwhile, in the small Patagonian town of El Calafate, just across the border from southern Chile in the snow-capped Argentine Andes, hundreds of people gathered to witness the natural phenomenon.We are pleased and excited by the interest generated by the eclipse. The five daily flights arriving in El Calafate were full on Friday and Saturday, and the climate is excellent for watching,said tourism director Ana Ianni.Forecasters said there were clear skies with below-freezing temperatures in the southern hemisphere winter.The more adventurous could choose to spend the day in heated tents, high up in mountain spots only accessible with the help of guides and the stunning Perito Moreno glacier as a backdrop.

METEORS HIT THE EARTH

REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

REVELATION 8:12-13
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!

European Space Agency looking closely at asteroid By VERENA SCHMITT-ROSCHMANN, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jul 10, 6:06 pm ET

BERLIN – The European Space Agency has taken the closest look yet at asteroid Lutetia in an extraordinary quest some 280 million miles in outer space between Mars and Jupiter.The comet-chaser Rosetta transmitted its first pictures from the largest asteroid ever visited by a satellite Saturday night after it flew by Lutetia as close as 1,900 miles (3,200 kilometers), ESA said in Darmstadt, Germany.These are fantastic and exciting pictures, space agency scientist Rita Schulz said in a webcast presentation. She said it would take several weeks before all 400 pictures and all data from the high-precision instruments aboard Rosetta would come through to Earth.I am a very happy man, said ESA manager David Southwood. It is a great day for European Science and for world science.Though Lutetia was discovered some 150 years ago, for a long time it was little more than a point of light to those on Earth. Only recent high-resolution ground-based imaging has given a vague view of the asteroid, the agency said.At the moment we know very little about it, Schulz said.Lutetia is believed to be 83.3 miles (134 kilometers) in diameter with a pronounced elongation, but scientists have been puzzled as to what type of asteroid it is — a primitive one containing carbon compounds or a metallic asteroid.

We are now going to get the details of this asteroid, which is very important, Schulz said.There will be a lot of science coming from that mission.Scientists hope to find in the information and images gathered by Rosetta clues to the history of comets and asteroids and of the solar system, Schulz said.For Rosetta, examining Lutetia and other asteroids is only a side event on its long journey to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — the mission's destination, said project manager Gerhard Schwehm.Rosetta was launched in 2004 and is expected to reach its target in 2014.
Though the wait is long, scientists are certain it is going to be worthwhile, Schwehm said.We want to study the material out of which the planets formed, he said. This is possible only close up, he said.

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

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS MON JULY 12,2010

09:30 AM -3.43
10:00 AM +6.96
10:30 AM -11.28
11:00 AM -23.05
11:30 AM -22.56
12:00 PM -27.02
12:30 PM -7.95
01:00 PM -15.44
01:30 PM +12.67
02:00 PM +15.06
02:30 PM -1.14
03:00 PM +6.05
03:30 PM +13.69
04:00 PM +18.24 10,216.27

S&P 500 1078.75 +0.79

NASDAQ 2198.36 +1.91

GOLD 1,199.10 -10.70

OIL 74.89 -1.20

TSE 300 11,565.80 -4.70

CDNX 1370.13 +0.58

S&P/TSX/60 679.52 +0.43

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -23 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -53 points at low today.
Dow +17 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,204.20.OIL opens at $75.63 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -53 points at low today so far.
Dow +21 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -53 points at low today.
Dow +21 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,260.90 (NOT AT CLOSE)

EU seeks to boost investor protections
JULY 12,10

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union unveiled new rules on Monday to protect investors who lose their money in fraudulent investment schemes and account holders whose banks collapse.The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, unveiled draft rules aimed at restoring consumer confidence in the wake of fraud scandals and a financial crisis which forced governments to bail out banks.We do not want to wait for new Madoff scandals to better protect investors in Europe, said European financial services commissioner Michel Barnier, referring to Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street fraudster jailed for running a giant pyramid scheme.The commission proposed to raise the minimum level of compensation for investors who lose their money due to fraud, administrative malpractice or operational errors from 20,000 euros to 50,000 euros (62,800 dollars).In the case of a bank collapse, account holders would get their money back faster, within seven days, and a higher safety net of up to 100,000 euros under national deposit guarantee schemes.The new rule would mean that 95 percent of European account holders would get their savings back if their bank fails, the commission said.During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the EU moved urgently to raise the coverage ceiling for account holders to 50,000 euros from 20,000 euros. The commission proposes to double that amount from next year.The European Commission wants to harmonise bank deposit guarantee schemes in Europe because there are 40 different programmes across the 27-nation EU.The new rules have to be cleared by EU states and the European parliament.

Oil falls below $76 ahead of US company earnings By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer - JULY 12,10

Oil prices dropped below $76 a barrel Monday as the dollar strengthened and investors awaited second-quarter company earnings reports for clues about the strength of the U.S. economy.By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for August delivery was down 46 cents to $75.63 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 65 cents to settle at $76.09 on Friday.Oil prices rose sharply last week on investor optimism that the U.S. economy, while likely to slow, won't slip into recession later this year.The bottom line is that the economic recovery is slowing down sooner than many analysts expected, energy consultant and trader The Schork Group said in a report. But we will take a slow recovery over no recovery any day of the week.Traders will be eyeing closely second quarter corporate earnings season, beginning this week with reports from Alcoa Inc., Intel Corp., Google Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp.Oil investors often look to equities as a barometer of overall investor sentiment, and all major Asian and most European stock markets rose Monday after the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 5.3 percent last week.A stronger dollar helped keep oil prices in check by making crude more expensive for investors holding other currencies.The euro was down to $1.2565 on Monday from $1.2647 late Friday in New York, while the British pound fell to $1.5008 from $1.5067.

On the bullish side, a report from Commerzbank in Frankfurt cited official data from China showing crude oil imports rising by a monthly 25 percent in June, to 5.42 million barrels a day.China remains the fundamental pillar of global oil demand, Commerzbank said. How long this demand dynamics can be sustained, remains to be seen in view of the latest signals for a slowdown of the Chinese economy.In other Nymex trading in August contracts, heating oil fell 0.93 cents to $2.0164 a gallon, gasoline dropped 1.26 cents to $2.0574 a gallon and natural gas was steady at $4.401 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, Brent crude was down 47 cents to $74.95 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

World stocks lifted by strong Chinese trade data By CARLO PIOVANO, Associated Press Writer - JULY 12,10

LONDON – World stock markets mostly rose Monday after robust Chinese trade figures eased worries about the global recovery and investors looked ahead to the upcoming corporate earnings season.China's customs agency said over the weekend that exports were up 35 percent in June from a year earlier despite concerns Europe's debt crisis could hurt trade. Exports to Europe rose 36 percent.Data for June shows China's trade account continuing to defy gravity, with exports strong despite mounting evidence of a faltering global recovery, and imports strong despite expectations of slowing domestic investment growth, Tom Orlik, an analyst in Beijing for Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, said in a research note.With most Asian indexes closing higher, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent at 5,143.31, France's CAC-40 rose 0.1 percent to 3,557.39 and Germany's DAX was 0.2 percent higher at 6,077.39.

After strong gains last week, in which the Dow rose 5.3 percent, Wall Street was expected to slide on the open. Dow futures were down 0.3 percent to 10,102 and Standard & Poor's 500 futures were 0.4 percent lower at 1,068.50.Traders are preparing for the earnings season, which kicks off in the U.S. on Monday with Alcoa Inc. Intel is due to announce results on Tuesday, JP Morgan and Google on Thursday and Bank of America, Citigroup and General Electric on Friday.In Europe, the focus will be on a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels for any comments on the bank stress tests, simulations that gauge firms' health under various scenarios of market turmoil. The results are due later this month, but while some experts question the rigor of the tests, others underscore its importance in bringing clarity to the health of the financial sector.Early indications are positive but the scope of the tests remains the main concern,said Mitul Kotecha, analyst at Credit Agricole.Shares in BP, which on Monday said its costs related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill have now topped $3.5 billion, were up 6.9 percent on reports the company is considering some asset sales.Over the weekend, The Sunday Times in London reported that BP was talking with Apache Corp. about selling 12 billion pounds ($18 billion) in assets including a stake in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay field. The Sunday Times also reported that ExxonMobil Corp. had approached U.S. government officials asking if they would object to a takeover bid for BP. None of the companies would comment on the reports.

In Asia, markets were boosted by South Korea's central bank upgrade to its growth forecast for 2010 to 5.9 percent from 5.2 percent.In Japan, a weaker yen wasn't able to completely offset concerns about the country's economy after the ruling party's defeat in upper house elections Sunday.The Nikkei 225 stock average reversed early gains to fall 37.21 points, or 0.4 percent, to 9,548.11. Exporters benefited as the dollar hovered near the 89-yen level. Sony Corp. jumped 3.6 percent, and Honda Motor Co. rose 3.1 percent.Japanese voters handed a stinging electoral defeat to Prime Minister Naoto Kan's party Sunday, which lost its slim majority in the upper house. The results reflect voters' rejection of Kan's proposal to raise taxes to lower the country's ballooning debt and points toward policy uncertainty in the months ahead.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4 percent to 20,467.40 and the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.8 percent to 2,490.72. Miners helped push Australia's S&P/ASX 200 up 0.3 percent to 4,409.90.Benchmarks in South Korea, Indonesia and India also rose. Markets in Taiwan and Singapore fell.In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 percent 10,198.03. The finish marked its best week in a a year as investors placed their last bets before the start of second-quarter earnings reports.
The dollar rose to 88.59 yen from 88.56 yen late Friday. The euro fell to $1.2579 from $1.2641.Benchmark crude for August delivery was down 22 cents at $75.87 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (This version corrects figure for BP spill cost.)

POISONED WATERS

REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Robots replace cap over gushing BP oil well by Mira Oberman – Mon Jul 12, 3:41 am ET

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – Engineers worked Monday to replace a cap over a gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico after reporting good progress in attempts to contain the worst environmental disaster in US history.Operations reached a critical phase as engineers raced to take advantage of a stretch of fine weather in the midst of the Atlantic hurricane season and install a new system with the potential to capture all the leaking crude.Expected to take between four and seven days, the round-the-clock work began at midday on Saturday when the old, less efficient cap was ripped off a fractured pipe a mile down on the sea floor by robotic submarines.

We are pleased with our progress, BP Vice President Kent Wells told journalists.We have carefully planned and practised this whole procedure. We've tried to work out as many of the bugs as we can.A transition spool must first be lowered and bolted onto the leaking pipe before a gigantic funnel -- weighing 150,000 pounds (68 tonnes) and dubbed the Top Hat 10 -- can be set in position.The old Top Hat collected 25,000 barrels (one million gallons) of crude on average each day, but estimates suggest that could be less than half the total leak.BP says the new system and the deployment of a third containment ship called the Helix Producer will raise capacity to between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels a day, enough to contain the whole leak. We'll capture it all at some point, said Wells.The new system is also designed so it can be disconnected and reconnected more easily in the case of a hurricane and has a built-in device that should give the first precise estimate of the overall flow.We're in a very critical point in the containment efforts, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told NBC television. The new containment procedure will more than triple our containment capacity when it's all said and done.

No permanent solution is expected until mid-August at the earliest when the first of two relief wells is due to be completed -- allowing drilling fluids to be injected into the well, which would then be sealed with cement.The removal of the old cap forced the suspension of the main containment operation, but a separate siphoning system is taking a smaller proportion of the oil, some 8,000 barrels a day, to be flared off on a surface vessel.Wells said two more ships would join a fleet of 46 skimming vessels scooping oil off the sea, and 15 controlled burns of crude had been carried out on Saturday thanks to the calm conditions.Oil has washed up on beaches in all five Gulf states -- Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida -- forcing fishing grounds to be closed and threatening scores of coastal communities with financial ruins.Meanwhile, Kenneth Feinberg, the man charged with doling out compensation to victims of the spill, said Sunday he could not estimate whether the initial 20-billion-dollar fund set up by BP would be enough to pay compensation claims.But US and British media reported Sunday that BP was in talks to sell up to 12 billion dollars (9.5 billion euros) of assets, including a substantial stake in a giant Alaskan oil field, to Apache Corporation as it seeks to build up the disaster fund.While the containment effort and the claims process continued apace, the attorney general said the Justice Department was still weighing whether to bring criminal charges.We are in the process of accumulating documents, talking to witnesses on both the criminal side and the civil side, Eric Holder told CBS's Face the Nation program.

Holder stressed that when he announced the probe on June 1, he had been careful not to mention BP by name as the British energy giant was not the only party involved with the Deepwater Horizon rig. At congressional hearings back in May, BP, rig owner Transocean and oil services provider Halliburton blamed each other for the spill as executives from the three oil titans were grilled by US lawmakers.The BP-leased rig exploded on April 20 killing 11 workers. It sank two days later, unleashing the nation's worst ever environmental disaster.

AP Interview: New drilling chief promises balance By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer - Mon Jul 12, 3:59 am ET

WASHINGTON – The former federal prosecutor who now heads the government agency that oversees offshore drilling says he is not afraid to fine lawbreaking oil companies or even put some executives in jail.But Michael Bromwich says he is not an anti-drilling zealot and will probably take actions that upset both industry groups and those who oppose drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and other sites.I don't have an agenda on this at all. I come at this straight down the middle, Bromwich told The Associated Press in his first interview since being sworn in last month as head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.I'm not going to say you can't drill, but I'm not going to say you should drill and ignore safety and the environment, he said.The drilling agency, which both regulates the oil and gas industry and collects billions of dollars in royalties from it, was known until last month as the Minerals Management Service. The agency has long had a reputation for a cozy relationship with oil companies and lax oversight, and its new name is intended to serve as a fresh start. The name change took effect the day Bromwich was sworn in.

Two scathing reports by a federal inspector general highlighted drug use and sex among agency employees and industry executives, and said drilling regulators have accepted gifts and trips from oil and gas companies and even negotiated to go work for the industry while overseeing it.The once-obscure agency was thrust into the spotlight after the deadly explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana coast in April, and the subsequent oil spill that has dumped as much as 170 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. The former MMS director was forced out May 27 amid concerns she was not moving fast enough to implement reforms.Bromwich, 56, had no previous experience in the oil and gas industry before taking over the 1,700 employee agency three weeks ago. Still, he said he understands that offshore drilling is an energy reality for us for the foreseeable future. Anybody who tries to stop that dead in its tracks is, I think, blinding themselves to the realities of what we need in order to make this country run and keep our economy going.At the same time, he added, We've just seen the incredible economic and human tragedy that's caused when the values of safety and regulation and environmental protection are not observed adequately, and when there is too much of a rush to drill, even when it is not safe.Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has proposed restructuring the agency into three parts to avoid conflicts of interest. One division would focus on energy development, another on safety and enforcement and a third on revenue collection.Bromwich said he hopes to work with Congress to sharply increase the number of drilling inspectors. Salazar recently told a Senate hearing he wants to quintuple the number of inspectors, from 62 to more than 300.

The number represents a drastic increase from Interior's budget request, but Bromwich said he believes Congress will be receptive.I think there's a real acknowledgment we need more inspectors now,he said.There's no time to wait.One way to do that is to recruit top graduates of petroleum engineering schools to join the agency. While government cannot match industry salaries that start at more than $80,000 a year, Bromwich said he hopes to boost pay for inspectors that now ranges from about $39,000 to $75,000 a year in Louisiana.Just as Justice Department lawyers sacrifice higher salaries for a career in public service, Bromwich said he hopes to convince young engineers of the value of working to ensure safe and environmentally sound drilling to move us into an energy future. I would think that would be appealing to people.Defense attorney E. Lawrence Barcella, a former federal prosecutor, called Bromwich extremely bright and almost compulsively thorough and said his lack of experience in the oil and gas industry should not hamper Bromwich in his new job.As a white-collar lawyer, you've got learn new things in every investigation you do, Barcella said, calling Bromwich one of the best investigators he knows.Industry executives and agency employees alike should prepare for a bulldog who sets high standards and expects others to meet them, Barcella said. Whatever standard he sets is going to be black and white so they better meet it,he said. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Bromwich was inspector general at the Justice Department from 1994 to 1999 and served from 2002 to 2008 as the independent monitor for the District of Columbia's police department, ensuring compliance with civil rights and other laws. He also led investigations into the Houston police crime lab and the FBI's conduct in the Aldrich Ames spy case.Bromwich, whose Interior Department office is cluttered with boxes and framed pictures not yet hung on the walls, said he approaches his new job as a lawyer and investigator. One of his first actions was to create an internal investigations team to help him improve the agency's performance. The team would coordinate with Interior's inspector general to probe allegations of wrongdoing in the industry as well as among agency employees.

From his days at Justice, Bromwich said he learned that if you catch people at wrongdoing and punish them — even put them in jail — there's a tremendous deterrent effect, not only on that company but on others.His message to oil companies is direct: We're going to jump on evidence of violations.Word will spread quickly that the agency is more willing than in the past to issue fines and even jail terms for those who break the law, he said. But if companies follow the rules and don't make misrepresentations and false statements they have absolutely nothing to fear from me.
That same message applies to his own employees, Bromwich said. While some critics have urged mass firings, Bromwich said he does not intend to clean house at the drilling agency, which has offices ranging from Washington to Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and Alaska.The risk of saying off with their heads across the board is you risk losing a tremendous amount of knowledge and expertise,he said. But the truth is if people don't get the message that we are really stressing regulation and enforcement to an unprecedented degree they will have problems with me. There's a reason why we renamed the agency and put regulation and enforcement in the name.

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.(TR 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).

Ship Ahoy! Lobby firm buys up EU maritime officials LEIGH PHILLIPS
Today JULY 12,10 @ 09:29 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Transparency campaigners are worried that a PR outfit which lobbies the EU on maritime issues has bought up the top of the EU's maritime department lock, stock and barrel.The alert comes as Malta's Joe Borg, the commissioner responsible for maritime affairs and fisheries until last year, gets set to start work with Fipra, a PR consultancy actively lobbying on maritime issues, whose main office is about 100 yards from the commission's headquarters in Brussels.

On 11 June, the commission gave Mr Borg the green light to work at the firm, saying: In view of the fact that Mr Borg's envisaged activity falls outside the scope of his portfolio during his time in office,it did not even need to convene its Ad Hoc Ethical Committee, a body which examines potential conflict of interest when commissioners leave the EU.Mr Borg is to join his old colleague John Richardson, a former director in the European Commission's Directorate General Mare, the EU's maritime and fisheries department, who in September 2008 became Fipra's maritime policy and diplomacy special advisor.During his time at the commission, Mr Richardson headed the task force that drafted the EU's 2007 Integrated Maritime Policy, which deals with competition, employment and environmental standards in the sector. He also headed up the Baltic Sea, North Sea and Landlocked Member State directorate. Corporate Europe Observatory, the EU transparency watchdog, has sharply criticised the developments, noting that Fipra has not even signed up to the commission's own lobbyist registry.These two unacceptable revolving doors cases show that the commission's narrow interpretation makes the rules applying to former commissioners and commission staff totally irrelevant,the group's Erik Wesselius said. Fipra appear to have bought up the top of the EU's maritime department lock, stock and barrel.A total so far of six of the 13 EU commissioners who retired earlier this year have now gone on to work for banks, lobbying firms, insurance companies and airlines.

Do you mind if we do?

In the case of Mr Richardson, he told the EU executive that one of his potential Fipra clients would be Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the world's second largest cruise firm. Despite this, commission spokesman Michael Mann told EUobserver that: It was considered at that point in time that his envisaged activities would not be incompatible with his former functions.Should elements now come to light that would indicate that Mr Richardson would not have respected his obligations, this would be looked at by the relevant commission services,he added.There is some confusion about when Mr Richardson actually left the commission. Formally, he quit on 1 August 2008. But at an event on 17 to 19 September in Kaunas, Lithuania - the Baltic Sea States Sub-regional Co-operation annual conference - he spoke at two workshops in his EU Commission DG Maritime Affairs capacity, according to the conference brochure. The crux of Messrs Borg and Richardsaon's defence is that their new activities do not overlap with their old commission jobs.Mr Borg, when notifying the commission of his new post, said he is in principle not going to advise clients on matters related to his former commission portfolio.When contacted by EUobserver, Mr Richardson said: The role I play is in advising companies on their dealings with governments. That's clearly in the public interest.Fipra's chairman, Peter Lehrell, told this website: Our one major maritime-related client is Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and I don't really think that's going to set the commission on fire.Mr Borg will not be performing any tasks related to his past portfolio whatsoever, although I would like the right to go back to the commission and say: Do you mind if we do? he added.He was Maltese foreign minister for a while ...I hired him because we don't have any representation there and I need a good man in Malta.

Special affection for Royal Caribbean

Fipra's own website and the activities of the two men in question indicate there is an intimate connection between their old and new roles, however. Our staff are public affairs professionals with many years of experience of working with government and public institutions - and who in many cases have themselves served in the positions of those you are likely to be dealing with,Fipra's website boasts.Mr Borg while still commissioner was already rubbing shoulders with Fipra people. He spoke at the company's annual conference on 7 May in Malta last year in praise of Europe's cruise industry.Europe's cultural heritage and artistic richness make Europe a natural cruise destination,he said.The ingredients for solid growth in European cruises are there. We now need to make sure that this growth is realised.Mr Borg and Mr Richardson were both at a commission maritime event on 18 to 20 May 2009 in Rome, where Mr Richardson spoke about the cruise industry. Messrs Borg and Richardson were also listed as speakers at the Biomarine forum in October 2008 in Marseilles, France.

While Mr Lehrell downplayed the company's maritime activities, it has at least five other employees dealing with the sector: Hilary Hudson; Ukko Metsolo, a former senior advisor in the Prime Minister's Office in Finland; Jogi Humberto Oshiai, another former commission official; Mariella Palazsolo; and John Tzoannos, who was for six years until 2010 the secretary general of the Greek Ministry of the Mercantile Marine, with responsibility for the regulation of maritime affairs in Greece. Regarding the importance of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as a client Mr Lehrell says on Fipra's website that he and his family have a special affection for the company.Mr Borg's old Maltese connections could certainly prove helpful in this area. Historically, cruise liners were predominantly flagged in the Caribbean, but in the last couple of years have shifted en masse to Europe. The Maltese maritime flag is now the second largest in Europe after Greece and the seventh largest worldwide.Royal Caribbean for its part once registered many of its ships in Liberia to avoid European and US regulation, but has begun to register in Malta, notably ships from the company's Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, and Azamara Club Cruises subsidiaries, according to the maritime department of Transport Malta.The company could do with some good PR, having long been the target of environmental campaigners for the levels of bacteria, pathogenic and heavy metal pollution emitted from its ships' waste streams.In guilty pleas before US courts in the 1990s, Royal Caribbean admitted that engine rooms on its ships were rigged with secret piping used to let oily bilge bypass costly pollution-treatment machines and dump it overboard, which it did at night to avoid detection. Under pressure from campaigners, the company was forced to clean up its act.

All in the family

The manner of Mr Borg's recruitment also sheds light on his approach to the Fipra role.Fipra's Ukko Metsolo, who is married to Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas, a legal attache in the Maltese mission to the EU, indicated that Mr Borg used personal connections to fish for a job with the lobbying firm.Joe Borg knew my family, Mr Metsolo explained. And we'd met professionally a few times. There were multiple data points between us, if you will ... He was really curious about Fipra. He wanted to find out more. So it happened that we met in Malta in April after Easter and then the chairman flew over for a lunch meeting. Then, a couple of months after, things moved forward and we realised the only way to proceed was to get the authorisation of the commission.I wouldn't say it was me who was instrumental in getting him, he said. But getting my former boss, the ex-Finnish minister for agriculture and forestry, Kalevi Hemila. He was also the former CEO of the Confederation of Finnish Industries. That I can say was really my work.We've become something of a magnet for recently retired high-level officials, with multiple former ministers, MEPs and heads of competition authorities,he added.Meanwhile, Mr Richardson's background as head of the commission's Baltic Sea team dovetails with Fipra's work on Baltic Sea regulatory issues, including the environment, ports, labour and visas, on behalf of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.During Mr Borg's speech at the Fipra dinner on 7 May in Malta, the commissioner noted: One might say that maritime policy is somewhat more closely related to the operational methods of Fripra [than EU fisheries policy].Fipra and the European Commission have more in common than one might think.

Ireland objects to EU-Israel data deal
ANDREW WILLIS Today JULY 12,10 @ 09:29 CET

Irish minister for justice Dermott Ahern has confirmed that Dublin is seeking to block a new European Commission initiative that would allow the free transfer of personal data on EU citizens to Israel.The minister's statement over the weekend, reported in Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday (12 July), follows recent media reports that Ireland is concerned the data could be misused after eight fake Irish passports were allegedly used by Israel's intelligence agency Mossad in the assassination of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh earlier this year.As a result, Irish officials last week called for the scrapping of commission plans to declare Israeli data protection standards as being sufficient to allow the transfer of personal data.

Without the formal declaration, the broad transfer of the personal information such as bank and telephone details between the two sides is forbidden.It may well be the case that Israel provides data protections which meet EU standards,a spokesman for Mr Ahern said last week, reported the Irish Times.But the minister believes the EU committee has to take very serious account of the forgery of EU passports – including Irish ones – by Israel in recent months.Personal data provided innocently to Israeli officials by Irish citizens was used in forging passports. Other EU countries, particularly the UK, had similar experiences and that is a matter of the gravest concern.The commission initiative to make the EU declaration on Israeli data protection standards would have gone ahead automatically if no member state had raised an objection by Tuesday's deadline. But following the Irish objection, national officials will discuss the matter in a committee that deals with the protection of personal data. The Irish government's decision to intervene partially stems from a concern that the country's citizens would not support the go-ahead on data transfers after the recent passport debacle. Ireland expelled an Israeli diplomat from Dublin last month as punishment for the alleged illegal use of forged Irish passports in the killing of the Hamas arms dealer in a Dubai hotel in January.

Dubai police have accused Israeli government operatives of being behind the incident and are currently carrying out an investigation.Separate investigations by the Irish police have found no additional evidence linking the passport forgeries to Israel.

Trichet moves to shore up eurozone confidence
ANDREW WILLIS 09.07.2010 @ 09:27 CET

European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet has said pessimism over the eurozone is overblown, with the 16-member region unlikely to suffer a double-dip recession. Mr Trichet struck a cautiously optimistic tone while speaking to journalists on Thursday (8 July) in Frankfurt, after a meeting of the bank's governing board decided to hold interest rates at one percent.We are in a situation where a number of facts and figures and data are not, I would say, confirming that we would have stagnation or a double-dip, he told the news conference.Data suggest second quarter eurozone growth this year was significantly stronger than the previous three months, although the ECB's growth forecast for 2010 remains unchanged on one percent.

Germany is largely driving the improved scenario, with the county enjoying a rise in exports of 9.2 per cent and industrial production by 2.6 per cent in May compared with April.One should not underestimate Europe, said Mr Trichet, who has overseen the ECB's provision of an array of extraordinary measures in order to shore up Europe's financial sector and wider economy.Most controversial was the decision in May to enter the secondary sovereign bond market, with the bank's bond purchases totaling just €4 billion last week, down from €16.5bn in its first week of operation.

The veteran banker hinted that this trend may result in the scheme coming to an end shortly, as investors gradually incorporated information about the €750 billion rescue mechanism created by the EU and IMF.Mr Trichet said plans to publish the results of stress tests on the regions top banks later this month was also adding to a growing confidence in the region.

Israeli conversion bill moves ahead, draws anger By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer - JULY 12,10

JERUSALEM – Liberal Jewish groups were angered Monday after a parliamentary committee in Israel approved a bill that would give Orthodox rabbis more control over the sensitive issue of conversions to Judaism.The Reform and Conservative movements, which are the largest Jewish denominations outside Israel but wield little clout inside the Jewish state, fear the new bill could increase the influence of Orthodox rabbis at their expense and undermine their own legitimacy and connection to Israel.Nathan Sharansky, the former Russian political prisoner who now heads the Jewish Agency organization responsible for Israel's relations with Jews abroad, said he had received angry calls from Jewish leaders.The meaning of this is a split between the state of Israel and large portions of the Jewish people," he told Israel Radio.Of the world's roughly 13 million Jews, half live in Israel, with most of the rest concentrated in North America. Each Jewish denomination has its own requirements for people who want to convert, typically a prolonged process that involves studying Jewish tradition and accepting Jewish observance.Under the current practice, Israel recognizes only conversions performed by Orthodox rabbis inside Israel, but people converted by non-Orthodox rabbis outside the country are automatically eligible for Israeli citizenship like other Jews.The liberal Jewish denominations are concerned that the new bill, which would make minor changes in the conversion system in Israel while enshrining the control of Israel's Orthodox religious establishment, could mean that immigrants who converted to Judaism with non-Orthodox groups abroad would now be denied Israeli citizenship.

Uri Regev, a rabbi who heads the religious equality group Hiddush, said the bill threatened to sideline the liberal Jewish denominations.This bill hurts Judaism outside Israel because it embraces the Orthodox monopoly here, Regev said. He called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to publicly express his position on the bill, to oppose it.The bill's sponsor, David Rotem, an Orthodox lawmaker from the largely secular Yisrael Beitenu party, rebuffed the criticism, saying his goal was to make conversion easier for immigrants from the former Soviet Union who make up the majority of his party's voters.This will not affect non-Orthodox conversions performed abroad. The non-Orthodox denominations have no reason for concern, he said.

Monday's approval by the committee clears the way for voting in parliament. The bill has to pass three rounds of voting before becoming law, a process that will likely take months.In another collision Monday between supporters and opponents of religious pluralism in Israel, police arrested a woman for carrying a Torah scroll at the Jewish holy site known as the Western Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City.The woman was part of a group praying at the wall to protest rules that forbid behavior straying from the strictures of Orthodox Judaism at the site. Carrying a Torah scroll is traditionally a male ritual.Police said the arrest complied with a court ruling on acceptable behavior at the site. The woman was released on bail.

Israel to release critical report on flotilla raid By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer - JULY 12,10

JERUSALEM – Defense officials say Israel's first internal report on the deadly raid against a Gaza-bound flotilla will criticize the planning and intelligence-gathering that preceded the operation.The report commissioned by the military is to be released later Monday.The officials say it is not expected to fault the commandos who opened fire after being confronted by pro-Palestinian activists on board one of the ships. The officials are familiar with the report but spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not yet been released.The deadly raid provoked an international outcry that led to an easing of Israel's land blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The naval blockade remains.Israel has resisted calls for a U.N.-led inquiry into the raid.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

Russia says Iran moving closer to nuclear weapons
JULY 12,10

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Iran was moving closer to having the potential to create nuclear weapons.Iran is moving closer to possessing the potential which in principle could be used for the creation of nuclear weapons, Medvedev told a meeting of ambassadors in Moscow.The statement, which comes after a row with Tehran over Moscow's support of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, is one of the first times the Kremlin has recognized in public that Iran may be moving toward a nuclear weapon.The United States and major European Union powers suspect that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Dmitry Solovyov)

Israel warning as Libya aid boat eyes Gaza landing
by Hazel Ward – Sun Jul 11, 1:45 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel on Sunday vowed to prevent a Libyan aid ship from running the Gaza blockade after it appeared to be heading for the besieged enclave despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts to divert it to Egypt.Israel will not let the boat reach Gaza, minister without portfolio Yossi Peled told Israel's public radio a day after the 92-metre (302-foot) freighter Amalthea set sail from the Greek port of Lavrio.Allowing vessels to reach the Hamas-run Gaza Strip without being checked would have very serious consequences for Israel's security, he said.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also insisted on Sunday that Israel was determined to enforce the four-year Gaza blockade to keep weapons out of the territory, in an interview with Fox News.We are enforcing a security blockade in order to prevent weapons and war material from getting into Gaza, Netanyahu said.My policy is simple. Weapons out, everything else in,he said, recalling that his government last Monday gave the go-ahead for the international community to import construction materials into Gaza.

Meanwhile there was confusion over the Libyan aid ship's destination on Sunday.
Organisers said it was staying the course for Gaza, despite diplomatic reassurances from Greece that it was headed for the Egyptian port of El-Arish.We are heading for Gaza. We will not change direction, Mashallah Zwei, a representative of the Kadhafi Foundation, a Libyan charity, told AFP by satellite phone from on board the Amalthea.
Zwei said the ship was currently close to Crete and would likely reach Gaza in about two days.He insisted the foundation was not seeking a confrontation or a provocation,when asked about the risks of a repeat of an Israeli naval raid on an aid flotilla on May 31 that killed nine Turks.Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the attempt to reach Gaza was an unnecessary provocation.The goods can be transferred to the Gaza Strip through Ashdod port (southern Israel) after being checked,a statement from his office said.

However, we will not allow the entry of arms, weapons or anything which will support fighting into Gaza. We recommend that the organisers either let the ship be escorted by navy vessels to Ashdod port or that is sails directly to the port of El-Arish.Barak's office had earlier said the defence minister spoke with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and asked if Egypt would agree to accept the boat at the port of El-Arish.It was not immediately clear if Egypt had acceded to Barak's request.The ship's agent and the Greek foreign ministry had on Saturday assured Israel that the Moldova-flagged vessel, chartered by a charity linked to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, was heading for El-Arish.The Kadhafi Foundation, headed by Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, the son of the Libyan leader, insisted however that the ship had not changed course. The ship is heading toward Gaza as planned, executive director Youssef Sawan told AFP by telephone from Tripoli, saying the mission was purely humane.The ship is loaded with 2,000 tonnes of foodstuff and medications and a crew comprising six Libyans, a Moroccan, a Nigerian and an Algerian. Meanwhile Arab Israeli parliamentarian Ahmed Tibi also said that the ship was heading as planned to Gaza.Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has been talking with his counterparts in Greece and Moldova in a bid to encourage the Amalthea to call off its mission, his office said.The foreign ministry believes that due to these talks, the ship will not reach Gaza,a statement said.Last month's disastrous Israeli naval assault provoked a major diplomatic crisis with Ankara and unleashed a torrent of international criticism.Global pressure over the incident has since forced Israel to significantly change its policy on Gaza, and now it only prevents the import of arms and goods that could be used to build weapons or fortifications.Meanwhile Jordanian activists and trade unionists said they plan to head to Gaza overland on Tuesday through the Egyptian border carrying aid relief and medical supplies.Last month, Egypt banned a group of Jordanian trade unionists from Gaza through its Rafah crossing, saying they had failed to give prior notice of their arrival.

20 kilos of 20 pct enriched uranium ready: Iran
Sun Jul 11, 1:52 pm ET

TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran said on Sunday it has produced around 20 kilogrammes of 20 percent enriched uranium, in defiance of the world powers who want Tehran to suspend the controversial nuclear work.We have produced around 20 kilogrammes of 20 percent enriched uranium and we are working to produce the (fuel) plates, Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi told ISNA news agency.World powers led by Washington want Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment activity which they suspect masks a nuclear weapons drive, and on June 9 backed a UN Security Council resolution for a fourth set of sanctions on Iran.Enriched uranium can be used as fuel to power nuclear reactors as well as to make the fissile core of an atom bomb.

Tehran says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.On Sunday, Salehi reiterated his previous claim that by September next year Iran will on its own deliver the fuel for the Tehran research reactor.He previously said that Iran has acquired the technical know-how to make the actual fuel plates which power the reactor, a claim dismissed by Western powers.They say that the Islamic republic does not possess the technology required to convert the 20 percent enriched uranium into fuel plates for powering the reactor.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the refining of uranium to 20 percent after a swap deal, aimed at providing nuclear fuel for the Tehran reactor and drafted by the UN atomic body in October, hit a deadlock.Brazil and Turkey brokered a counter proposal in Tehran on May 17 under which Iran would send its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for research reactor fuel to be supplied later.But the world powers cold-shouldered that proposal and voted through a fourth set of sanctions, which had the effect of further tightening financial and military restrictions on Tehran.On Sunday, in a separate report on ISNA, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran was ready to talk with the so-called Vienna group over the fuel swap deal as brokered by Brazil and Turkey.He said that the Vienna group -- comprising Iran, France, Russia, the UN atomic watchdog and the United States -- has accepted the presence of Brazil and Turkey in these talks.Mottaki added that Iran has two options for getting the fuel -- through the swap deal or by producing it on its own.We are ready for whatever they (world powers in the Vienna group) choose,he said.The Vienna group was formed to work out the fuel swap deal for the Tehran reactor.

UN Green Light for a Pre-emptive US-Israel Attack on Iran? Security Council Resolution Transforms Iran into a Sitting Duck by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, June 11, 2010

A sitting duck is a defenceless victim, an easy target, vulnerable to attack.What this latest resolution suggests is that Washington and its NATO allies not only control the UN Security Council, they ultimately also call the shots on foreign policy in Moscow and Beijing. This Security Council resolution should dispel the myth of competing super powers. Both China and Russia are an appendage of the New World Order.As far as international diplomacy is concerned, both China and Russia are Paper Tigers, with no teeth. Paper Tiger [纸老虎 (zhǐ lǎohǔ)], meaning something that seems as threatening as a tiger, but is really harmless.Both China and Russia are the victims of their own failed decisions within the United Nations Security Council.An attack on Iran would immediately lead to military escalation. Syria and Lebanon would also be targeted. The entire Middle East Central Asian region would flare up, a situation which could potentially evolve towards a World War III scenario.In a very real sense, the US-NATO-Israel military adventure threatens the future of humanity.The UN Security Council voted on June 9 the imposition of a fourth round of sweeping sanctions against The Islamic Republic of Iran, which include an expanded arms embargo as well tougher financial controls. In a bitter irony, this resolution was passed within days of the United Nations Security Council's outright refusal to adopt a motion condemning Israel for its attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters.It also followed the holding of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference in Washington under UN auspices, which called for the establishment, in its final resolution, of a nuclear free Middle East as well as the dismantling of Israel's nuclear weapons arsenal. Israel is considered to be the World's sixth nuclear power, with, according to Jane Defense, between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads. ( Analysts: Israel viewed as world's 6th nuclear power, Israel News, Ynetnews, April 10, 2010). Iran in contrast has no known nuclear weapons capabilities.

UNSC Resolution 1929 is based on a fundamental falsehood. It upholds the notion that Iran is an upcoming nuclear power and a threat to global security. It also provides a green light to the US-NATO-Israel military alliance to threaten Iran with a pre-emptive punitive nuclear attack, using the UN Security Council as rubber stamp. The Security Council exercises double standards in the application of sanctions: Whereas Iran is the target of punitive threats, Israel's extensive nuclear arsenal, is either ignored or tacitly accepted by the international community. For Washington, Israel's nukes are an instrument of peace in the Middle East. Moreover, whereas all fingers are pointed at Iran which does not possess nuclear weapons, five so-called non-nuclear European states including Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy and Turkey not only possess tactical nuclear weapons under national command, these warheads are deployed and targeted at Iran.

Resolution 1929 (June 9, 2010):

7. Decides that Iran shall not acquire an interest in any commercial activity in another State involving uranium mining, production or use of nuclear materials and technology as listed in INFCIRC/254/Rev.9/Part 1, in particular uranium-enrichment and reprocessing activities, all heavy-water activities or technology-related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and further decides that all States shall prohibit such investment in territories under their jurisdiction by Iran, its nationals, and entities incorporated in Iran or subject to its jurisdiction, or by persons or entities acting on their behalf or at their direction, or by entities owned or controlled by them;

8. Decides that all States shall prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to Iran, from or through their territories or by their nationals or individuals subject to their jurisdiction, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, and whether or not originating in their territories, of any battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems .... , decides further that all States shall prevent the provision to Iran by their nationals or from or through their territories of technical training, financial resources or services, advice, other services or assistance related to the supply, sale, transfer, provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of such arms and related materiel, and, in this context, calls upon all States to exercise vigilance and restraint over the supply, sale, transfer, provision, manufacture and use of all other arms and related materiel;(Security Council Imposes Additional Sanctions on Iran, Voting 12 in Favour to 2 Against, with 1 Abstention, Includes complete text of UNSC Resolution 1929, UN News, June 9, 2010, emphasis added, )

The Arms Embargo. Implications for Russia and China

Both the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China have caved in to US pressures and voted in favor of a resolution, which is not only detrimental to Iran's security, but which seriously weakens and undermines their strategic role as potential competing World powers on the Eurasian geopolitical chessboard. The resolution strikes at the very heart of the structure of military alliances. It prevents Russia and China to sell both strategic and conventional weapons and military technology to their de facto ally: Iran. In fact, that was one of major objectives of Resolution 1929, which Washington is intent upon enforcing. At the same time, by barring Iran from purchasing conventional military equipment, the resolution prevents Iran from defending itself from a US-NATO-Israel attack.The resolution, were it to be fully enforced, would not only invalidate ongoing bilateral military cooperation agreements with Iran, it would create a wedge in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).It would also significantly weaken trade and investment relations between Iran and its Russian and Chinese partners. The financial and banking provisions in the resolution also point to Washington's resolve to not only isolate Iran but also to destabilize its financial system.

Washington is intent upon enforcing this resolution. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appointed Robert Einhorn, Special Advisor for Nonproliferation and Arms Control, as U.S. coordinator for the implementation of the sanctions regime directed against both Iran and North Korea:.U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the resolution, saying it will put in place the toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government and send an unmistakable message to Tehran about the international community's commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.(Clinton appoints coordinator for sanctions against Iran, DPRK, Xinhua, June 10, 2010

We expect every country to aggressively implement Resolution 1929 said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. Were China and Russia to decide not to abide by the resolution's provisions, particularly those relating to weapons sales to Iran (art. 8), Washington would use this as an opportunity to engage in an increasingly confrontational diplomacy in relation to Beijing and Moscow.The resolution is also intended to establish a US led hegemony in the production and export of advanced weapons systems. It is is heavy blow, almost a death sentence, for China and Russia's lucrative international weapons trade, which competes with the US, UK, France, Germany and Israel. In the post-Soviet era, the arms trade has become a central component of Russia's fragile economy. The potential repercussions on Russia's balance of payments are far-reaching.

Disabling Iran's Missile Defence System

UN Security Council resolutions are an integral part of US foreign policy. They are on the drawing board of Washington's think tanks, including the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Heritage Foundation. In this regard, it is worth noting that the substance of article 8 of UNSC Resolution 1929 (June 9, 2010 was contained in a January 2010 report of the Heritage Foundation, which calls for blocking arms sales to Iran including Russia's S-300 missiles:Washington and its allies should make every effort to deprive Iran of foreign arms transfers, particularly the impending sale of Russian S-300 surface to air missiles, which could provoke Israel to strike sooner rather than later. Stronger multinational efforts also need to be made to prevent Iran from trans­ferring arms to Hezbollah and Palestinian terror­ist groups, which pose a threat not only to Israel, but to stability in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan. On November 3, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Francop, an Antigua-flagged cargo ship that was transporting about 500 tons of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, via Syria.[22] The U.S. should press other allies to join in giving greater assistance to Israeli efforts to intercept Iranian arms flows, particularly to Hezbollah and Hamas.(James Phillips, An Israeli Preventive Attack on Iran's Nuclear Sites: Implications for the U.S, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, January 2010)

Did Moscow assess the implications of the proposed arms embargo? Immediately following the adoption of the UNSC resolution on June 9th, several Russian press reports indicated that the sale of Russian S-300 missiles to Iran would be frozen, despite assurances by foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the UNSC resolution would not affect the air-defence deal..(Russia says in talks with Iran on new nuclear plants, Haaretz, June 10, 2010) These contradictory statements suggest that there are significant divisions within the Russian leadership, without which Russia would have duly exercised its veto power in the UN Security Council.

Russia's S-300 Surface to Air Missile

Without Russian military aid, Iran is a sitting duck. Its air defence system depends on continued Russian military cooperation. Moreover, without Iran, Russia would be constrained to selling military equipment to countries in the US-NATO orbit. (See Russia to offset loss of Iran arms sales with Iraqi, Afghan deals, Russia, RIA Novosti, June 11, 2010)

Pre-emptive nuclear attack on Iran

The World is at dangerous crossroads. The real threat to global security emanates from the US-NATO-Israel alliance. The UN Security Council directly serves the interests of the Western military alliance. The Security Council resolution grants a de facto green light to wage a pre-emptive war against Iran, which has been on the Pentagon's drawing board since 2004.An operational plan to wage aerial attacks on Iran has been in a state of readiness since June 2005. Essential military hardware to wage this operation has been deployed. (For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Nuclear War against Iran, Jan 2006). In 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney ordered USSTRATCOM to draft a contingency plan, which would include a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. (Philip Giraldi, Attack on Iran: Pre-emptive Nuclear War , The American Conservative, 2 August 2005).Under the Obama administration, the threats have become increasingly pervasive and far more explicit than under the NeoCons. In October 2009, The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) organized an Event at Washington's Wohlstetter Conference Center on Should Israel Attack Iran?:Iran's nuclear weapons development continues apace, threatening the security of its neighbors and the international community. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, more than 60 percent of the American public believes preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons warrants military action. Israel's deputy foreign minister, Daniel Ayalon, emphasized on September 21 that Israel has not taken any option off the table when it comes to countering the Iranian threat. The same day, Israel's top general, chief of staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, made it clear that he would not rule out a military strike on Iran's nuclear installations, repeating that Israel has the right to defend itself and all options are on the table.As the debate intensifies over how to respond most effectively to Iran's provocations, it is timely to explore the strategic and legal parameters of a potential Israeli strike against the Islamic Republic and provide some thorough analysis about implications for the United States. (American Enterprise Institute, Should Israel Attack Iran?, October 2009, emphasis added)From a military standpoint, Israel could not undertake a unilateral attack on Iran without the active coordination of the Pentagon:. As President Obama extends an open hand, seeking direct talks with Tehran in his attempt to halt its nuclear programme, Mrs Clinton appeared [June 2009] ready to unnerve the Iranian leadership with talk of a pre-emptive strike the way that we did attack Iraq. She said that she was trying to put herself in the shoes of the Iranian leadership, but added that Tehran might have some other enemies that would do that [deliver a pre-emptive strike] to them. It was a clear reference to Israel, where Binyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, has talked about the possibility of military action to halt Iran’s nuclear programme — something he views as a threat to the Jewish state. ( Don’t discount Israel pre-emptive strike, Hillary Clinton warns Iran, Times Online, June 8, 2009, emphasis added)

In April 2010 the message was crystal clear: Washington would use atomic weapons only in extreme circumstances and would not attack non-nuclear states, but singled out outliers Iran and North Korea as exceptions.( Iran to Take US to UN Over Obama's Threat to Use Nuclear Weapons against Iran, AlJazeera, April 11, 2010). Defence Secretary Robert Gates explained in a television interview that Washington was making exceptions of Tehran and Pyongyang because they had defied repeated UN Security Council ultimatums over their nuclear programmes.(Ibid).

UN Green Light for a World War Three Scenario? Is this latest Security Council resolution the green light which Washington has been seeking? The substance of the Security Council resolution is also directed at Iran allies: China and Russia.
Ironically, while China and Russia failed to exercise their veto power, they are nonetheless the object of veiled US threats. China is surrounded by US military facilities. US missiles in Poland and the Caucasus are pointed towards Russian cities. More recently, the Obama administration has called for the extension of the sanctions regime directed against Russia's ally, Belarus.Washington has also announced that The Pentagon is preparing to embark on a mini-building boom in Central Asia, which would include the construction of strategic US facilities military in all five Central Asian states, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. (See Defense Dollars Building Boom: Pentagon Looks to Construct New Military Bases in Central Asia, Eurasianet, June 6, 2010). These various military cooperation agreements with former Soviet republics are not only intent upon weakening the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the CSTO, they are part of the US-NATO strategic encirclement of Russia and China.What this latest resolution suggests is that Washington and its NATO allies not only control the UN Security Council, they ultimately also call the shots on foreign policy in Moscow and Beijing.This Security Council resolution should dispel the myth of competing super powers. Both China and Russia are an appendage of the New World Order.As far as international diplomacy is concerned, both China and Russia are Paper Tigers, with no teeth. Paper Tiger[纸老虎 (zhǐ lǎohǔ)], meaning something that seems as threatening as a tiger, but is really harmless.Both China and Russia are the victims of their own failed decisions within the United Nations Security Council.An attack on Iran would immediately lead to military escalation. Syria and Lebanon would also be targeted. The entire Middle East Central Asian region would flare up, a situation which could potentially evolve towards a World War III scenario.In a very real sense, the US-NATO-Israel military adventure threatens the future of humanity.Michel Chossudovsky is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky.