ORTHODOX JEWS PROTEST GAY MARCH

DOUG AND LAURIE FRI'S 6-9 PM EST ABOUT THE ISSUES OF THE DAY
http://www.usaradio.com/listen_live_usa2.php
LAURIE ROTH SHOW ARCHIVES 2011-DOUG-LAURIE ON MOST FRIDAYS FOR 3 HRS
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/january-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/february-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/march-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/april-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/may-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/june-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/july-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/august-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/september-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/october-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/november-2011/
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/december-2011/
HAGMANN & HAGMANN-JUDI MCLEOD REPORT SAT'S 8-10PM ON BLOGTALK RADIO
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cfp-radio

MUST LISTEN TO ALL TUE JULY 26,11
Guest host: Douglas J. Hagmann; Special guest: Ibn Q. al Rassooli - Explosive interview! (Hour 1 & 2)& 3RD HOUR DOUG RANTS ABOUT THE NEWS-ALL MUST LISTEN TO
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/july-2011/

LAURIE ROTHS SITE
http://therothshow.com/
DOUG HAGMANNS SITES
http://homelandsecurityus.com/
https://hagmann-pi.com/Home.html
http://theneinblog.blogspot.com/
CANADA FREE PRESS-JUDI MCLEOD
http://www.canadafreepress.com/
OLIVE TREE MINISTRIES SHOWS
http://olivetreeradio.com/OTM2011_07_09A.mp3
http://olivetreeradio.com/OTM2011_07_09B.mp3

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest Jerusalem gay march
AFP AFP – JULY 28,11

Participants take part in Jerusalem's annual gay parade. Ultra-Orthodox Jews hurled bags of foul-smelling liquid and threats of hellfire at marchers in Jerusalem's annual gay pride march on Thursday but the event passed without serious violence
Participants take part in Jerusalem's annual gay parade. Ultra-Orthodox Jews hurled …
Ultra-Orthodox Jews hurled bags of foul-smelling liquid and threats of hellfire at marchers in Jerusalem's annual gay pride march on Thursday but the event passed without serious violence.A man was arrested on the spot for throwing bags of liquid at participants, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. Apart from that there were no other incidents.In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed three participants in the march and was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in prison.Ultra-Orthodox Jews consider the event to be an abomination and desecration of the Holy City.Police estimated the number of marchers this year at 3,000 and said that 1,000 police were deployed to keep order.Although the march was routed away from predominantly ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, a small number of protesters held placards, including one reading, Gays, they are waiting for you in hell.Other opponents brought donkeys, symbolising their view of homosexuality as a beastly act.

George Lopez Will Self-Deport If Palin Wins: Another Great Reason to Vote Palin!- John Lillpop Thursday, July 28, 2011 CFPRESS
http://www.mrctv.org/video/104040

Hispanic racist and alleged comedian George Lopez has made the American people an offer that we simply cannot afford to pass on.Said the befuddled Lopez:If Sarah Palin becomes president at any point, I would say allegedly, I will move to Canada, Lopez told the British talk show host. I will go further north. I’ve been south but I will go further north. I will leave the United States of America.When Morgan asked Lopez to expand on this drastic decision, the Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 actor explained that he wants people in power to be politically experienced.I like my politicians to actually have a political background, to know politics, Lopez said of the former vice presidential candidate and governor.Imagine that! A voter who actually wants politicians to have a political background.If only millions of Americans had used that criteria in 2008, Barack Obama would still be misrepresenting the people of Illinois in the U.S. Senate!Here is hoping that Palin wins AND that Lopez keeps his promise and takes 20 million illegal aliens with him!
Sorry about that, Canada!

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/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS FRI JULY 29,2011

09:30 AM -2.16
10:00 AM -96.11
10:30 AM -101.34
11:00 AM -49.72
11:30 AM -26.83
12:00 PM -45.41
12:30 PM -65.91
01:00 PM -76.25
01:30 PM -53.05
02:00 PM -54.00
02:30 PM -56.87
03:00 PM -65.24
03:30 PM -71.18
04:00 PM -96.87 12,143.24

S&P 500 1292.28 -8.39

NASDAQ 2756.38 -9.87

GOLD 1,631.20 +15.00

OIL 95.89 -1.55

TSE 300 12,945.60 -102.20

CDNX 1979.10 -4.85

S&P/TSX/60 733.30 -7.52

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -117 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -149 points at low today.
Dow +11 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,632.80.OIL opens at $95.48 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -149 points at low today so far.
Dow +11 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -149 points at low today.
Dow +11 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,632.80 (NOT AT CLOSE)

Labor Unions, GE, and the Job Czar CANADA FREE PRESS
- Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh Thursday, July 28, 2011

In a free market economy, no single wage level applies to all workers. In general, wage differentials are determined by the fact that we have many labor markets, each with its own supply and demand and equilibrium wage.Each worker in a specific labor market has certain ability and expends a degree of effort commensurate with their ability and work ethic. Other factors of production make American workers more productive because they have generous supplies of machinery, natural resources, and technical expertise. Therefore, they earn higher wages. Some workers have a superior education, training, and experience.The size of the available working population explains the magnitude or dearth of industrial activity. Sparsely populated Alaska experienced high wages when the Alaskan oil pipeline created many jobs, while wages in Appalachia remain low.The nonmonetary attractiveness of a job explains why pleasant and self-satisfying jobs, such as teaching, attract many workers and pay a relatively low wage. Disagreeable and dangerous jobs, such as working with gunpowder or mining, command higher wages.Some workers receive economic rent for their unique abilities that few people can duplicate, such as a famous surgeon, athlete, or actor. Their wages will have a component to the pay that does not reflect necessarily the amount of labor hours.Investment in education or human capital is also a variable in wage differentials. It is the perceived incorrect opinion that an educated person will make a better worker.

Doctors and lawyers earn such high salaries partly because of their many years of training and financial investment in their human capital, time, tuition and books. They have to eschew any part-time work for years in order to study for very difficult classes and exams. The years that they do not work, is income lost that cannot be recovered in the future.Education theorists assume that students in high schools and colleges acquire skills that make them more productive and knowledgeable. Experience tells us that is not necessarily the case. Some are more willing to learn than others are, but are not necessarily productive. People with higher education earn more money but there is definitive disagreement among experts why.The dual labor market has the primary good jobs market with the possibility of promotion and the secondary bad jobs market with little hope for advancement. Increased education leads to promotion in the first tier while more education in the second tier offers little hope for promotion.In many labor markets, the supply of labor is not competitive because it is controlled by labor unions and collective bargaining, a form of monopoly. Less than 9 percent of the labor force is now unionized; the decline was caused by the diminishing manufacturing base and the move to a service economy.Unions, as monopoly sellers of labor, have the power to push wages above the competitive level in the marketplace. Unions and management settle on the terms of a labor contract through a process called collective bargaining: mediation, arbitration, and strikes.Outsourcing and cheap foreign labor, in spite of the economists denial, have hurt the American manufacturing base and American workers. Consumers, however, have benefitted greatly and so did the Chinese, other foreign workers, and their respective economies, built on the destruction of our industrial base and reverse engineering.The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was established by Executive Order 6763 on June 29, 1934 and was formed on July 5, 1935. In 2008, it had 1,628 employees.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the U.S. government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of protected concerted activity.The NLRB is governed by a five-person board and a General Counsel, all appointed by the President with Senate consent. Board members are appointed to five-year terms and the General Counsel is appointed to a four-year term. The General Counsel acts as a prosecutor and the Board acts as an appellate judicial body from decisions of administrative law judges.In April 2011, NLRB filed a complaint seeking to force Boeing to bring an airplane production line back to its unionized facilities in Washington State instead of moving the work to a nonunion plant in South Carolina.
Companies have taken advantage of the right to work rules in most Southern states to locate there without fear of work stoppages at every turn. Any company should have the right to locate their business where they feel it is in their best interest. Apparently, the government disagrees when union employees are employed in another state.Boeing transferred a second production line of its 787 Dreamliner plane to South Carolina; they were accused of unlawful retaliation against union workers for their past strikes in Washington and discouraging future strikes. NLRB acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, said it was illegal for companies to take actions in retaliation against workers for exercising the right to strike.

President’s appointees at NLRB have declared open season on Right to Work states, independent workers, and job providers

President’s appointees at NLRB have declared open season on Right to Work states, independent workers, and job providers like the Boeing Company.The saga continues with a quickie or ambush election rule that would shorten the time for union elections from a median 38 days to as little as 10. The stacked deck in favor of unions would:Deny employees adequate time to make informed decisions on whether to join a union
Silence employers from expressing their views on unionization to employees
Push Big Labor’s radical agenda

Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker waged a battle with labor unions in his attempt to balance the state’s budget. Wisconsin had public collective bargaining rights since 1959 and employees had very generous benefits. I would never understand why public employees need protection from the public, essentially themselves. They simply expected other workers in the state to pay for their Cadillac health care plans, benefits, generous salaries, and retirement pay.After a three week standoff during which massive union and Democrat forces from across the country caused millions of dollars in damage to the State’s Capitol, the 14 Democrat Senators fled the state in order to deny a quorum vote to pass a budget measure, the Republicans outmaneuvered them, and the law was passed.A recent update alleges that some school districts in Wisconsin are now showing a surplus instead of a deficit. It seems that the insurance company that provided all the benefits to the teachers was owned and operated by the teacher’s union.The insurance was guaranteed to get the teacher’s business and the State had to pay for it, not the teachers. The insurance would increase the annual costs every single year, to become the most expensive insurance in the state. In turn, the insurance company would donate millions of dollars to their favorite Democrat politician. Once elected, the politicians kept funding the unions’ outrageous costs.The latest development in the Big Labor saga is the move by the General Electric to transfer its X-ray machine operations from Waukesha, Wisconsin to China. The 100-year old business will “tap emerging market growth.” Is this a wondrous coincidence or what?

GE will invest $2 billion across China, including opening six customer innovation and development centers.Is this a good idea since we have such high unemployment here in the U.S.? Are they using taxpayer dollars when we are broke and are debating default v. raising the debt ceiling by borrowing another trillion dollars from China? The move follows the introduction earlier this year of GE Healthcare Spring Wind initiative to develop and distribute medical products and services in China,GE said in a statement.GE is the biggest maker of MRI and CT scanners and sold $1.1 billion of its $16.9 billion in China last year. GE will hire 65 new engineers and support staff at the new Chengdu facility. GE has already hired a large number of engineers who are in training.Considering that Mr. Immelt, General Electric’s CEO is our Jobs Czar, does it not seem bizarre that he is killing jobs in the U.S. and creating jobs in China? Is this punishment for Governor Walker winning the fight in Wisconsin against Big Labor?

Democrat Senators Say They Will Refuse to Stop Spending - Sher Zieve Thursday, July 28, 2011 CAN FREE PRESS

Despite any and all protestations from the American people—and just as they forced ObamaCare down our throats—Democrat Senators (each and every one of them) have declared they will NOT stop spending We-the-People’s money…period! In fact, in a Wednesday letter sent to Speaker of the House John Boehner, all 53 Marxist-Democrat Senators said they will refuse to pass the House debt ceiling increase ($900 Billions) and spending reductions of about the same amount proposal, even before the revised effort (more spending cuts are now appropriately included in the first year) has been read.Instead, they are demanding Sen. Harry Reid’s (and apparently also RINO Sen. Mitch McConnell’s) proposal be swallowed; a bill that demands the debt ceiling be raised by $2.7 Trillions! Please note that the spending cuts referred to as in the proposal and neither visible nor itemized. By the way, when was the last time a Marxist-Democrat cut out any spending at all? And, yet, the CBO is said to favor the Marxist plan? Only the Marxists claim the now wholly-owned Obama CBO is non-partisan.With no additional doubts—whatsoever—Democrat Senators have now come out into the open and are shouting that they rule over us all, they have ended our Republic and that we’d better shut up and get used to taking anything they and their Emperor-and-usurper-in-Chief Obama decide to employ against us. In other words, these beings have openly announced that they now own We-the-People body and soul, we can’t do anything about it and if you want us to be benevolent slave masters, you’d better smile and say Yes Massa when we speak and give you one of our new commandments!

Marxist-Leninist Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. John McCain (with childish Lord of the Rings references) continue to blame the various TEA Parties—who now actually represent the majority of the American people—for not compromising with the aging totalitarian Senate. These reprobates also quietly blame the TEA Parties for the increased political knowledge and savvy of the American people. It’s now much harder for the degenerates to pull the proverbial wool over our eyes. After McCain’s comments on the Senate floor Wednesday, I think this majority wishes that he would return to middle earth.This Armageddon is totally manufactured by our overseers. As a country, we take in approximately $200Billions/month and can well afford to pay all of our debts and responsibilities. The lies Obama & Co have been spewing about no Social Security checks and no Medicare (Obama and the Congressional Democrats have already stolen $500Billions from Medicare to pay for their We now control your bodies ObamaCare program) are only due to the fact that the Tyrant Obama can opt NOT to pay them if he so desires. And, a recent poll suggests that at least 40% of polled Americans believe he would do it. Even the majority of those who voted for Obama probably didn’t see this coming. Folks, we’re quickly approaching—actually being unmercifully pushed into by those we elected to office who now contend they are our betters—the time when we will have to actively and physically fight back at our oppressors or live in a police state that we allowed to take us over. Chillingly, we’re almost there, and Congress and the dictator-in-chief are working on driving the final nails into our coffin. Be both forewarned and as prepared as possible for yourselves and your families. Unless we stop it, the deep darkness will continue to descend upon us…

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.

THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.

Tropical Storm Don crossing Gulf, bound for Texas
By The Associated Press – JULY 28,11

MIAMI – Tropical Storm Don is over the central Gulf of Mexico but the system is not expected to become a hurricane as it moves toward southeastern Texas.The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Don's maximum sustained winds Thursday were 45 mph (75 kph). Slow strengthening is forecast before the storm makes landfall on the Texas coast late Friday or Saturday.A tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast from Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass.The storm is centered about 410 miles (660 kilometers) east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, and is moving west-northwest at 16 mph (26 kph).

Record rains soak U.S. Midwest, prompting more flood fears By James Kelleher – Thu Jul 28, 1:57 pm ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Overnight storms dumped a record amount of rain on parts of the Midwest, including more than 10 inches falling on Dubuque, Iowa, prompting fears of more Mississippi River flooding.The hardest hit area appeared to be the Mississippi River town of Dubuque, Iowa, where more than 10.3 inches fell over the past 24 hours, prompting officials to close the city's flood wall along the river, which has risen over two-and-a-half feet since Wednesday.The storm, which was accompanied by spectacular thunderstorms that lit up the night skies like a Fourth of July fireworks display, triggered numerous lightning strikes in Dubuque. One bolt knocked off a section of an apartment building, according to Dubuque Fire Chief Dan Brown.We did call in all personnel, the first time in my career that I remember that we've called all hands,Brown said.That order went out almost immediately when we saw the magnitude of this event.Lightning strikes in Chicago and Detroit were blamed for blackouts and other electrical problems that left tens of thousands of people without power.Fire fighters also rescued a few Dubuque residents from flooding homes. Dubuque Police Chief Mark Dalsing said most of the city streets that were closed last night due to flooding were reopened by mid-morning.One of the biggest draws of our resources last night was stranded motorists and cars that were getting struck in the waters, trying to sneak through swollen roadways,Dalsing said.

In Chicago, the storms knocked out power to more than 60,000 customers, according to ComEd. In Detroit, the utility DTE said 19,000 customers were without power.The overnight storm brought Chicago's July total rainfall to nearly 10 inches, the most in more than 120 years.It also provided temporary relief from the extreme heat that has baked the city and surrounding region for more than a week and caused at least 64 fatalities in 15 states, according to the National Weather Service.The Julian Dubuque Bridge over the Mississippi River is closed and Highway 151 has been closed near Cascade as water is over both lanes of the road.Dubuque Public Works director Don Vogt says his crews are busy picking up debris and finding manhole covers to make the city streets passable.The Mississippi River is expected to rise another two feet on Thursday at Dubuque, Vogt said.The weather service said 10.36 inches of rain fell in the past 24 hours at the Dubuque airport. Rainfall of 7.4 inches for Wednesday alone set a new record for Dubuque. The old record, of just over three inches, was set in 1896.The Jo Davies County Courthouse just across the border in Illinois is closed, due to the rain, and some residents of East Dubuque, Illinois, were evacuated this morning. Reports along the Maquoketa River indicate some livestock were swept away in flash-flooding.(Writing by James B. Kelleher; Reporting by Kay Henderson; Additional reporting by Christine Stebbins and Mark Weinraub; Editing by Greg McCune)

Landslides, Flooding Bring Disaster to South Korea
Tammy Lee Morris – Thu Jul 28, 1:30 pm ET
Contribute Network

South Korea saw natural disaster Wednesday after a landslide engulfed a resort in Chuncheon and heavy rains caused flash flooding that left streets and subways underwater in the Korean capital city of Seoul. The landslide buried 10 college students, a married couple and a store owner while the flooding in Seoul brought a landslide that killed at least 16 people.In total, the death toll stood at 36 from the landslides and flooding, but that number was expected to go up as rescue workers continued searching for survivors; according to The Associated Press, dozens were still missing. In Seoul, more than 17 inches of rain fell, while 13 inches hit Chuncheon. According to the Korea Meteorological Society, average rainfall totals for the country during the month of July is around 13 inches.More rain is expected in the region by Friday to the tune of about 10 more inches, adding more risk of flash flooding and potential for landslides.According to a news report, the heavy rains that started Tuesday and continued through Wednesday left more than 600 people homeless after over 700 houses and about 100 vehicles were flooded.Flooding has been a constant headline this year, with heavy rains causing disaster in many countries, including the United States, which saw spring and summer flooding in several states in the Midwest and Great Plains.

Earlier this month, heavy rains caused landslides in Nepal, killing at least 65 people and trapping several more. It was reported that at least 44 people were killed by landslides. In that country, more than 100 people die each year from similar disasters.In the Philippines, at least 20 people died after flooding and landslides that were triggered by Tropical Storm Nock-ten.Three days of heavy rain in Chittagong, Bangladesh, left 17 dead in late June after the rains triggered a landslide that buried several shanty houses where several women and children were sleeping, according to AFP.More than 400 have been left dead or missing in China since the month of June following excessive rains that triggered landslides and flooding in that country. Early July brought a landslide in the Shaanxi, a province in northern China. Most recently, a mudslide triggered by rain damaged a bus and a truck, leaving 13 dead.In the U.S. state of Utah, mudslides that were triggered by rain in early July brought temporary closure of American Fork Canyon. There were no reports of injuries and those mudslides were described as minor.

Asian markets open lower amid US debt nervousness JULY 28,11

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Asian markets moved mostly lower early Friday as a congressional vote on a bill to extend the U.S. government's debt ceiling was delayed with time running out ahead of a deadline for action next week.The Treasury Department says the debt ceiling — currently at $14.3 trillion — must be raised by Tuesday or the government won't have enough money to cover all its bills, which has led to fears the United States could default on its debt and harm the fragile global economy.In Asia, markets moved downward, but the declines were far from steep as investors appeared to take a wait-and-see stance amid the ongoing political wrangling in Washington.Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 0.1 percent to 9,891.45. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.2 percent to 22,525.65. China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1 percent to 2,707.28.South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3 percent to 2,149.15. Australia's benchmark also fell, but New Zealand's moved higher.

The dollar fell to 77.72 yen in Asia from 77.88 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro fell to $1.4313 from $1.4311.Republican leaders in the House of Representatives delayed the vote on the bill to extend the government's debt limit and cut federal spending, though there was an expectation it would occur later Thursday evening in Washington.On Wall Street, a late sell-off Thursday erased earlier gains as investors fretted that the bill headed for a vote in the House of Representatives would fail to lead to a breakthrough in the debt stalemate.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 62.44 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 12,240.11 on Thursday. The index had been up as many 82 points earlier in the day following an unexpected decrease in new claims for unemployment benefits.The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.3 percent to close at 1,300.67. The Nasdaq composite index, however, edged up 0.1 percent to 2,766.25.Benchmark oil for September delivery was down 24 cents to $97.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose 4 cents to settle at $97.44 Thursday.

Debt-limit vote postponed as GOP seeks support
AP By DAVID ESPO - AP Special Correspondent | JULY 28,11

WASHINGTON (AP) — The endgame at hand, House Republicans struggled Thursday to pass legislation to prevent a looming government default while slicing nearly $1 trillion from federal spending. Senate Democrats pledged to scuttle the bill — if it got to them — in hopes of forcing a final compromise.As afternoon debate headed toward evening, GOP leaders ordered an unexplained halt on the measure and Speaker John Boehner summoned a string of recalcitrant rank-and-file Republicans to his office.
Asked what he and Boehner had talked about, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said,I think that's rather obvious. .. There's negotiations going on.Another Republican, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, said he was unhappy Boehner had jettisoned a requirement contained in earlier legislation for Congress to pass a constitutional balanced-budget amendment and send it to the states for ratification.Why are we negotiating with ourselves? he asked rhetorically.It wasn't clear how long the delay might last, although a spokesman for Boehner said the vote was still expected to take place later in the evening.The White House quickly taunted Boehner's Republicans.Clock ticks towards August 2, House is naming post offices, while leaders twist arms for a pointless vote. No wonder people hate Washington, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer tweeted.

Earlier, Boehner had exuded optimism.Let's pass this bill and end the crisis, said the president's principal Republican antagonist in a new and contentious era of divided government.It raises the debt limit and cuts government spending by a larger amount.President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the measure, and in debate on the House floor, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida savaged it as a Republican plan for default. She said the GOP hoped to hold our economy hostage while forcing an ideological agenda on the country.Despite the sharp rhetoric, there were signs that gridlock might be giving way.Around here you've got to have deadlock before you have breakthrough,said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. We're at that stage now.Wall Street suffered fresh losses as Congress struggled to break its long gridlock. The Dow Jones industrial average was down for a fifth straight session.The Treasury Department moved ahead with plans to hold its regular weekly auction of three-month and six-month securities on Monday. Yet officials offered no information on what steps would be taken if Congress failed to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit by the following day.Without signed legislation by Aug. 2, the Treasury will not have enough funds to pay all the nation's bills. Administration officials have warned of potentially calamitous effects on the economy if that happens — a spike in interest rates, a plunge in stock markets and a tightening in the job market in a nation already struggling with unemployment over 9 percent.White House press secretary Jay Carney outlined White House compromise terms: significant deficit reduction, a mechanism by which Congress would take on the tough issues of tax reform and entitlement reform and a lifting of the debt ceiling beyond ... into 2013.

The last point loomed as the biggest obstacle.The House bill cuts spending by $917 billion over a decade, principally by holding down costs for hundreds of government programs ranging from the Park Service to the Agriculture Department and foreign aid.
It also provides an immediate debt limit increase of $900 billion, which is less than half of the total needed to meet Obama's insistence that there be no replay of the current crisis in the heat of the 2012 election campaigns.An additional $1.6 trillion in borrowing authority would be conditioned on passage of at least $1.8 trillion in further savings to be recommended by a newly created committee of lawmakers. Those deficit reductions would presumably come from cuts to benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare, as well as an overhaul of the tax code generating additional government revenue.The GOP bill's $917 billion in upfront spending cuts was trillions less than many tea party-backed rank-and-file Republican lawmakers wanted, but a total that seemed nearly unimaginable when they took power in the House last winter with an agenda of reining in government. Numerous Republicans grumbled that the legislation didn't cut more deeply, and Boehner and the rest of the GOP leadership have spent their week cajoling reluctant conservatives to provide the votes needed to pass it.By most accounts, they were succeeding.It gives us a little bit of heartburn because it doesn't go big enough, said Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., a first-term lawmaker who said he would vote for the bill as the best one available.Another first-term Republican, Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama, said the bill was far from perfect. But I don't have the luxury of writing the plan by myself, and neither does Speaker Boehner.While the White House and Democrats objected to the House bill, they readied an alternative that contained similarities.Drafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, it provides for $2.7 trillion in additional borrowing authority for the Treasury. It also calls for cuts of $2.2 trillion, including about $1 trillion in Pentagon savings that assume the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Even before the House voted, Reid served notice he would stage a vote to kill the legislation almost instantly.

No Democrat will vote for a short-term Band-Aid that would put our economy at risk and put the nation back in this untenable situation a few short months from now, he said.With the House and Senate focused on debt-limit legislation at opposite ends of the Capitol, eleven religious leaders protesting budget cuts were arrested in the Rotunda midway between the two chambers.Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine said on the House floor that they were praying for those who will be hurt the hardest by the bill being considered.Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., countered that he, too was praying — to avoid a default.The day's events marked the climax of a struggle that began last winter, when the Treasury Department notified Congress it would need additional borrowing authority, and Boehner said any increase would have to include steps to reduce future spending.At first the White House balked at the terms, then relented. That gradually morphed into a series of bipartisan negotiations, one led by Vice President Joe Biden, then another by Obama, and finally, a round of golf that led to stab at a grand bargain between the president and Boehner.Boehner announced last Friday he was calling off the talks, setting in motion a frantic week of maneuvering as the default deadline grew near.Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Donna Cassata, Stephen Ohlemacher, Larry Margasak, Martin Crutsinger, Charles Babington, Darlene Superville and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

IMF warns France on budget deficit targets
HONOR MAHONY 28.07.2011 @ 09:24 CET

The International Monetary Fund has warned France that it will have to carry out more spending cuts to ensure it reaches its deficit reduction commitments amid lower-than-expected growth expectations.While France has predicted 2.25 percent growth for 2012, the Washington-based fund in its yearly assessment of the French economy said the economy will only grow by 1.9 percent next year.Under (IMF) staff's current projections, achieving the deficit target of three percent of GDP by 2013 requires further measures.As tax rates are already among the highest in Europe, France will have to reduce spending, said the IMF, citing healthcare and pension spending in particular.French president Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to get the budget deficit down to 5.7 percent of GDP this year, 5.6 percent next and within the EU limit of 3 percent in 2013.He is under pressure to meet the commitments having last week spearheaded, along with Germany, a second bailout for Greece in order to contain the eurozone debt crisis.The IMF also underlined the importance of cutting medium-term spending for maintaining France's strong credit rating.France cannot risk missing its medium-term fiscal targets given the need to strengthen implementation of the (EU) Stability and Growth Pact and keep borrowing costs low by securing France's AAA-rating,the report said.But with presidential elections next year, Sarkozy is likely to have a difficult juggling act between keeping the electorate sweet and maintaining his budget commitments.

Cyprus downgrade

Meanwhile the markets continue to view key eurozone countries with a jaundiced eye even after last week's deal which attempted to draw a line under the crisis.The borrowing costs of Greece, Italy and Spain rose on Wednesday following comments by German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble that the more flexible arrangements agreed by EU leaders for the use of the €440bn eurozone rescue fund would not amount to a blank cheque.In a letter to German MPs, obtained by Reuters news agency, he stressed the "strict conditions" needed for allowing the European Financial Stability Facility to purchase bonds on the secondary market.On the same day, Standard and Poor's rating agency, one of the three main international agencies, put Greece's credit rating further into junk territory, putting it just two grade above default status, saying that EU plans to get Athens' economic house in order would put the country into selective default.This followed a move by Moody's rating agency on Monday to downgrade Greek debt to one notch above default status.There was bad news for Cyprus too on Wednesday.Citing the increasingly fractious domestic political climate and Cypriot banks' exposure to Greece, Moody's downgraded the Mediterranean island's credit rating by two notches and warned a further cut was possible.The downgrade raised the spectre of Cyprus becoming the fourth eurozone country to need a bailout, following Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

EU scrambling for measures against lone wolf terrorists VALENTINA POP 28.07.2011 @ 18:53 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An Oslo-type of attack would be hard to prevent in any EU country, since the lone-wolf terrorist went to great lengths to avoid being detected, an EU counter-terrorism expert has said.It's true that nobody expected what happened last Friday,Timothy Jones, advisor to the EU counter-terrorism co-ordinator, told reporters on Thursday (28 July) after a snap meeting of EU and Norwegian anti-terror experts.Expressing his admiration for the calm and measured way Norwegian leaders have dealt with this shocking event, Jones said that such an attack could have been carried out in any EU country, because the perpetrator put a lot of effort into avoiding detection by the police and intelligence services.

Anders Behring Breivik, the self-confessed mass murderer of 76 people killed by a car bomb in central Oslo and a separate shooting spree on an island last Friday, had set up an organic farm to cover for the fact that he was buying large quantities of fertiliser to fabricate the bomb. He also legally owned the two assault rifles he used in the attack.EU experts, pending the results of the Norwegian investigation, are now looking at the possibility of making stricter rules on access to chemicals that can be used to make bombs, such as ammonium nitrate and hydrogen peroxide. Further restrictions on the sale of weapons may also be taken into consideration, Jones said.Examining the psychological mechanisms that make someone with radical ideas turn to violence is also on the table.There is a lot of academic work about this, but we're trying to get some workable input that people on the ground - social workers, policemen - can use,he explained.But the counter-terrorism expert also acknowledged the limitations of this approach, like if a person such as Breivik, a 32-year old highly educated Norwegian native, never gets in touch with social workers or police. We try, but we can never guarantee this will succeed,Jones said.The expert also rejected criticism that the EU may have been focusing too much on jihaddists and neglecting rising right wing radicalism.

Counter-terrorism experts always look at the whole spectrum of radicalism, he said, noting that the rise of right-wing extremists were flagged up in Europol's latest reports.But it's also important to remember that it is not the ideology which triggers these people to become terrorists. A lot of people have radical ideas and don't turn to violence. There are other factors, they are alienated individuals trying to make a point about the way they see the world. In some cases they chose al Qaeda ideology to pursue that, in other cases they may choose another ideology, he noted.An intensification of surveillance measures is however likely to happen, Jones said, with more focus on "analysing what groups are saying on the internet, looking at people's travel patterns and suspicious financial transactions.

Norwegian security

Meanwhile, the Norwegian authorities have also announced they will review their security strategy.An independent commission is set to look at all aspects of the deadliest attacks the Nordic country experienced since World War II, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.Breivik's claims that other people in Norway and abroad are part of his deadly plans are being investigated, but Norwegian security police chief Janne Kristiansen said there was no evidence found so far to sustain his claims.We don't have indications that he has been part of a broader movement or that he has been in connection with other cells or that there are other cells, she said, adding that Norwegian authorities were in close contact with authorities in countries.Security measures have been tightened in Oslo, and the central station was briefly evacuated on Wednesday after a false bomb alert.

Just How Much Would it Cost to Satisfy Protesters Demands? by David Lev 29/07/11, 12:46 AM

It seems to be protest season in Israel, as groups around the country, with various backers, coalesce into a movement that could have real force at the polls in a future election.Usually, it is the hareidi-religious who demonstrate for their needs in the summer bein hazmanim period when they are off from yeshiva while the rest of the country enjoys what Israelis call the cucumber season, an idiom for the lazy days of summer.The protests that began just weeks ago with a boycott against cottage cheese have picked up steam far faster than anyone thought could happen, to the point that on Thursday, the protests for affordable living expanded to include parents of young children, who are now demanding totally free education for children up to age five.This week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his government announced a wide-ranging plan to build more affordable housing, with the state reducing taxation for contractors who promise to rent out apartments at reasonable prices, and state-sponsored construction of apartments for the poor and dormitory rooms for students. Unsatisfied with that, Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini threatened a major strike next week unless real changes were made to the economy – and in response, Netanyahu sent Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz to negotiate with Eini.

Considering the fiscal prudence with which Netanyahu and Steinitz have conducted the government until now, observers have been somewhat surprised at how free the pair have been with money in recent weeks. Perhaps out of concern that the Prime Minister and Finance Minister are blowing the nation's budget, sources in the Treasury released a report Thursday estimating how much it would cost the state if the government were to attempt to buy its way out of the protests, providing funds to solve the problems protesters are railing against.For example, the plan announced this week, if it indeed delivers the estimated 160,000 housing units needed to provide all those who seek one an affordable apartment, will cost the government at least NIS 2 billion in lost taxes and fees, as the land for rental apartments and affordable housing will be sold at a discount to contractors who promise to build affordable housing.In addition, the plan includes another billion shekels for infrastructure development. Add to that sum billions more for affordable housing for students, as well as NIS 300 million for dormitories for students that the plan promises.Providing free space for children in day care pre-1A and nursery school – long demanded by parents, who on Thursday took the streets as well – would cost the government a whopping NIS 16 billion, the report estimates.Extending maternity leave to a full year, also long demanded by women's groups, would cost another billion.

And recognizing child care expenses for tax purposes, allowing deductions for day care and pre-kindergarten education (an alternative to full government funding for these classes) will cost the state NIS 7.1 billion in taxes that it will no longer collect.And, if the government lowers the price of gas by cutting various taxes, capping gas taxes at 30% of the actual cost, the state would give up NIS 8 billion.
Last but not least, agreeing to all the demands of striking doctors will cost NIS 2.5 billion.Altogether, the government would have to spend some NIS 60 billion if it indeed wanted to spend its way out of protesters's pressures – and with Netanyahu and Steinitz committed to keeping taxes and costs down, observers were wondering just where the money to pay for all these demands would come from.

Canada's Opposition Loses Leader at Critical Stage-Jack Layton, arguably Canda's most popular politician, is taking a leave of absence to fight cancer.by Amiel Ungar 29/07/11, 1:13 AM

Even in the rough and tumble world of politics, it is saddening to see a politician sidelined by illness rather than by the voters. This is particularly the case with New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton who is personally responsible for taking a marginal party, whose leadership he assumed in 2003, and transforming it into Canada's center-left party by displacing the Liberals - the perennial contenders for governmental power.In less than ten years Layton quadrupled the party's support. Under his leadership, the NDP also marginalized the Quebec separatists in the last election and became the dominant party in the French-speaking province.Layton has now announced a leave of absence from politics to fight a new outbreak of cancer.

The Conservatives in May won a majority in Parliament that will suffice for four years, so Layton has time to make a recovery, and when he returns, as the party hopes, the NDP interim leader will gladly step aside. .Layton has constantly polled better than his party. He has also been skilled in welding together the party's various factions. There are members who still consider the NDP to be a socialist party, while the pragmatists would like to move into the space left vacant by the defeat of the Liberals and display a more business-friendly side.Layton hopes to be back in time for the opening of the parliamentary session on September 19, but he recommended the selection of Nycole Turmel as interim leader. Ms. Turmel is a newcomer to Parliament, was the first female head of the Public Service Alliance union and joined the NDP after supporting French nationalist parties in the province of Quebec.This was another challenge that Layton hoped to manage - solidifying the party's tremendous breakthrough in the French-speaking province. The success was so astounding that 58 members of the NDP's 109 parliamentarians come from Quebec.As Turmel's career indicates, just because these parliamentarians were elected as NDP candidates, it does not necessarily mean that they are averse to French-Canadian nationalism. The trick is to maintain dominance in Quebec without offending English speaking Canadians, many of whom feel that their politicians have babied the French speakers. Layton, who grew up in Quebec but represents a district in Ontario, was deemed capable of mastering that challenge.

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.

Obama Administration Attempts to Pacify Critics of Russia by Amiel Ungar 28/07/11, 8:58 PM

The Obama Administration has put much stock in its reset policy with Russia. Under reset, the United States did not publicly criticize Russia for human rights violations and other practices that are inimical to democratic standards.In response for such realism, the administration hoped to gain Russian support on such issues as Iran and North Korea, as well as an alternative supply route to Afghanistan. This policy satisfied the Russian leadership to the extent that President Dmitry Medvedev has already endorsed Barack Obama for a second term in office.This week the reset was looking a bit tattered. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informed Congress that the US was imposing visa restrictions on Russian officials connected with the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital.Hermitage Capital was a seed fund started by banker Edmond Safra and Bill Browder (ironically, the grandson of the former American Communist Party leader Earl Browder) for investments in Russia. Magnitsky charged Russian police officials and bankers with tax fraud and the police turned around and charged Magnitsky with the same crime. During his remand he was denied medical treatment and as result he died at the age of 37. Browder has launched a crusade to punish the guilty.

Actually, the Administration announced the measure to head off a more comprehensive bill in Congress. The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act would not only blacklist the 60 police officials involved in that case, but also those involved in the murders of Russian reporters and human rights workers.The State Department warned the law makers that the passage of the bill could jeopardize important American interests that required cooperation with Russia.The Russians were not amused as visa blacklisting is a tactic frequently employed against Haitian or African dictators, but not exercised against states that regard themselves as great powers. The measure is viewed as attempts to interfere in the course of the investigation and pressure judicial bodies, hence inadmissible.President Dmitry Medvedev ordered an independent investigation into the Magnitsky case when he sensed the diplomatic fallout. This effort has silenced criticism within the European Union but has not produced the same calming effect in the United States.In the Russian Duma, nationalist deputies suggested that Russia could retaliate by restricting entry, freezing assets and banning business deals by foreigners suspected to have violated the rights of Russian citizens.In another sign of growing tension, Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, called Republican senators John Kyl of Arizona and Mark Kirk of Illinois radicals and monsters of the Cold War. After meeting with them he came away convinced that if Barack Obama was defeated, US-Russian cooperation would collapse.

Ahmadinejad: Arab Unrest Saving Israel
by David Lev 28/07/11, 10:28 PM

The protests in the Arab world against government tyranny – like that practiced by the governments of Syria and Libya – are not really about securing liberty for the residents of those dictatorships, says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the latest iteration of Ahmadinejad's blame everything on the Jews ideology, the Iranian leader says that the only reason Arabs are protesting is that they were put up to it by the Zionists.In the final days of their existence, plotters intend to cause difference and clash in our region to save the Zionist regime (Israel), Ahmadinejad said, dismissing the claims of the protesters themselves, who claim they are fighting oppressive, entrenched leaders who care not a whit about them. Untrue, says Ahmadinejad: Arrogant powers are selling their arms and creating conflicts in the region,the state-run IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.These arrogant powers – generally Ahmadinejad's code name for Israel and the U.S. – use such weapons to damage countries and plunder assets and oil of nations under the pretext of making progress in their countries, he added. It was the protests in the Arab world that were saving Israel, he said – and Arabs would do well to patch up their internal differences and concentrate on the true enemy.In an earlier statement, Ahmadinejad more directly blamed Israel for the unrest in the region. Meeting with Turkish officials, Ahmadinejad said that Israel and the U.S. had placed their agents in Arab countries in order to sow discord. The Zionist entity is the greatest threat to the region,the Iranian dictator said. Arab states must be wary of the plots of foreigners.