ONLY GODLESS SHOULD HOLD OFFICE-GOOD LUCK

ROMANS 3:13-18
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.

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

PROVERBS 2:12-15,20-22
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THE EARTH IS BEING JUDGED FOR IT SINS.ITS BECAUSE THERES GODLESS LEADERS IN OFFICE AROUND THE WORLD.AND NOT GOD LOVING,OBEYING LEADERS.

Only Atheists Should Hold Public Office By Andrew Riggio | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Sat, Jan 21, 2012

COMMENTARY | Religion plays a big role in politics. Noted polling organization Pew Research just published a report detailing which candidate people are likely to vote for based on religion. A USA Today report suggests Rick Santorum's popularity in South Carolina has been significantly increased by his religious positions on issues and support of the evangelical Christian movement. That's all a shame because America would be better off if only atheists were allowed to hold public office.

Let me start by saying such an arrangement would actually protect Christians. Leaders who are influenced by religious belief often act in ways that support that religion -- sometimes to the detriment of other faiths. While Christianity may hold sway now in the U.S. other religions might someday enjoy a political majority. If that day comes Christians who have advocated for religious leadership will have no defense against the wishes of officeholders from other religions.Of greater importance, however, is the danger of religious leadership. Theocratic nations restrict freedom and place adherence to religious dogma ahead of real-world issues and common sense. A horrifying example is the practice under Sharia law of punishing rape victims with death for sexual immorality. This even happens in nations where Sharia is not officially used, such as Bangladesh, where a 14-year-old girl was raped by a relative and killed by punitive whipping, according to UPI.Christian dogma is equally violent. The Bible calls for death as punishment for talking back to parents, breaking the Sabbath, wearing clothes of multiple fabrics, and failing to scream loudly enough when being raped, among many other offenses listed by the Skeptics Annotated Bible. If Christian religious dogma is taken seriously by leaders it could lead to terror and death.

Adherence to religious dogma also distracts from pressing, real-world issues. The Bible calls poverty a holy thing. Mother Teresa called abortion the greatest destroyer of peace today in her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech according to the Nobel site. Religious dogma makes adherents want to limit others' rights, dictate social ethics, yet ignore problems like poverty.Atheist leadership would be focused entirely on the actual civic problems facing the country. It may be the only world view that places real world problems first and America needs that.

Iran Vows to Shut Down Strait of Hormuz as EU Passes Oil Embargo Kurt Nimmo Infowars.com January 23, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PZZdpQQGMKc

Iran has reacted angrily to an agreement by European Union foreign ministers to impose an oil embargo on the country.Following the agreement reached on Monday, Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, deputy head of Iran’s influential committee on national security, said the strait would definitely be closed if the sale of Iranian oil is violated in any way.A fifth of the world’s oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz.Tehran will not grin and bear it when its interests are undermined,said lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi, according to Press TV. Boroujerdi is a lawmaker who heads the national security and foreign policy committee in Tehran.

Another lawmaker, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, said Iran has a right to shut down Hormuz. Falahatpisheh is a senior member of Iran’s Majlis, or Iranian parliament.Ali Falahaian, a former intelligence minister, said Iran should stop all its crude exports so that oil prices would go up and the Europeans’ sanctions would collapse.
Iran first issued warnings about closing down the Strait of Hormuz in December.If they impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz,said Vice President Mohamed Reza Rahimi.Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told Iran’s state-run Press TV that closing down the strait would be very easy for Iranian naval forces, but said such a decision should be made by top establishment leaders.It now appears Iran’s leaders are a step closer to considering that option as the EU and the United States impose an embargo and punitive sanctions.
The price of oil surpassed $99 per barrel on news of the embargo and Iran’s response.
Benchmark crude for March delivery moved up about a dollar to trade 90 cents higher at $99.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to the Associated Press.

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 MON JANUARY 23,2012

09:30 AM -2.43
10:00 AM +12.16
10:30 AM +28.43
11:00 AM +11.76
11:30 AM -5.19
12:00 PM -24.98
12:30 PM -44.32
01:00 PM -46.25
01:30 PM -31.56
02:00 PM -30.16
02:30 PM -22.71
03:00 PM -32.02
03:30 PM -2.09
04:00 PM -11.66 12,708.82

S&P 500 1316.00 +0.62

NASDAQ 2784.17 -2.53

GOLD 1,677.10 +13.60

OIL 99.92 +1.29

TSE 300 12,521.70 +124.60

CDNX 1588.91 +17.57

S&P/TSX/60 716.50 +8.27

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -7 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -46 points at low today.
Dow +30 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,669.10.OIL opens at $98.86 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -55 points at low today so far.
Dow +44 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -55 points at low today.
Dow +44 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,902.60 (NOT AT CLOSE)

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD REGIONS) 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).

Franco-German growth plan looks to EU funds and taxes
20.01.12 @ 18:14 By Valentina Pop

BRUSSELS - A six-point plan drafted by France and Germany has suggested corporate tax co-ordination, an EU financial transactions tax and the re-deployment of EU funds in troubled countries as ways to spur growth and jobs.Following Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of nine euro-countries, including France, in which the ratings agency warned that austerity and budget cuts are not the way out of recession, Paris and Berlin have teamed up once more and drafted a six-page paper called Ways out of the crisis - strengthen growth now! The paper - seen by EUobserver - is supposed to be discussed at the EU summits on 30 January and 1-2 March, the latter being a meeting especially dedicated to growth and jobs.The financial transactions tax - a pet project of French President Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of his re-election bid in April - features among the six proposals under efforts to reinforce the framework of financial market.On Monday, hours before meeting their colleagues from the other 25 member states in Brussels, the German and French finance ministers will gather in Paris to thrash out a common position on the so-called Tobin tax, named after the Nobel prize laureate James Tobin who initially conceived it.Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Malta and the Czech Republic oppose the tax, saying it is counter-productive in the absence of a global deal which would stop firms from fleeing to tax havens in Switzerland or the Caribbean.Even more controversial are plans for tax co-ordination and another Franco-German proposal to be put forward by end of February on the convergence of their corporate tax.European institutions and member states should accelerate the process of tax coordination in order to foster growth, removing obstacles to the functioning of the single market and preventing tax abuse and harmful tax practices,the paper says.Apart from the Tobin tax, both leaders want to speed up EU legislation on an energy tax and a common consolidated corporate tax base.

The latter would introduce a common European formula for calculating a tax on the profits of multinational firms, a taboo topic for Ireland, for instance, where corporate tax is only 12.5 percent.Another controversial proposal would have 25 percent of unspent EU regional funds in countries under a bail-out program or under serious economic difficulties redirected to a special fund for growth and competitiveness.The money would no longer be managed by the national authorities, but by the EU commission in liaison with the European Investment Bank.Projects financed by this fund should have clear targets that can be implemented in 2012, for instance loans to small and medium enterprises or research institutes.The two leaders also want existing national programs under which people and companies can apply for EU funding to be revised in order to improve their impact on growth and competitiveness.Late payments to the beneficiaries of EU funding should also be reduced by lowering the ceiling to one month, the paper suggests.As for employment-boosting measures, one of Sarkozy's make-or-break campaign themes, the document asks governments to instruct employment agencies to make an offer to every unemployed person - be it for a job, an apprenticeship or further training.The EU commission is invited to make a comparative study to how short-term jobs and trainings are being used in member states during economic slumps. Labour taxes should be lowered throughout Europe, cross-border employment spurred. And a social forum should be held in the first half of this year.

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.

Tornadoes possible in southern U.S. as snow threatens
ReutersReuters – JAN 22,12

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Severe storms were expected to spread across several southeastern U.S. states on Sunday into Monday with tornadoes, highwinds and large hail possible, weather forecasters said.A second stormfront expected to hit California late Sunday night will bring significant snowfall to the mountain regions, according to the National Weather Service, before rolling into the southern United States later in the week.The potential for severe storms stretched from the Gulf of Mexico in Mississippi to southern Indiana and Ohio, according to AccuWeather.com meteorologist Bill Deger.Some of the thunderstorms are even expected to spawn tornadoes, making for an especially dangerous situation given the veil of night, Deger said.In Alabama, residents were bracing for storms that could hit after dark on Sunday or overnight with a strong cold front from the west combining with warm moist air flowing up from the Gulf of Mexico, said Mary Keiser, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama.The best dynamics for this are going to be across the northwest part of the state and lesser so as you move to the southeast part of the state,Keiser said of the forecast for severe weather to strike in Alabama.

The weather service said thunderstorms could bring wind gusts up to 80 mph, tornadoes or gulf ball-sized hail in Mississippi. Farther west, the weather service warned of a high fire danger in Texas with wind gusts of up to 50 mph.Weather.com said the greatest tornado threat appeared to be in eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, northern Louisiana and northern Mississippi.Parts of central and southern California were under a winter weather warning as a storm system was expected to sweep into the area late Sunday into Monday morning, with the weather service predicting 6 to 12 inches of snow.The Sierras and the Rockies may accumulate as much as 3 feet of snow, the weather service said, and driving in mountain passes will be very hazardous due to low visibility, gusting winds and heavy snowfall.In Reno, Nevada, meanwhile, snowfall provided welcome relief to firefighters who were monitoring remaining hotspots from a blaze that raged near the outskirts of the city beginning Thursday, destroying 30 houses and prompting thousands of people to flee their homes.As long as we keep on getting snow instead of rain, it looks like we'll be okay, at least for the next couple of days,said Mark Regan, spokesman for the Sierra Fire Protection District.Rain had threatened the area with flash flooding on Friday night. Emergency responders had the blaze 100 percent contained as of Saturday, and all residents have been allowed to return to their homes, Regan said.

In the upper Midwest, freezing drizzle was expected to make roads and sidewalks slippery from southeastern Minnesota into Wisconsin, changing to snow later Sunday, the weather service said. Up to 4 inches of snow was expected farther north in southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota.In the northeast United States, a fast-moving storm from central Pennsylvania eastward dropped up to a foot of snow in parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts on Saturday.(Reporting By David Bailey and Mary Slosson; Editing by Tim Gaynor)

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.

U.S. aircraft carrier enters Gulf without incident
ReutersBy David Alexander | Reuters – JAN 22,12


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf without incident on Sunday, a day after Iran backed away from an earlier threat to take action if an American carrier returned to the strategic waterway.The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln completed a regular and routine passage through the strait, a critical gateway for the region's oil exports, as previously scheduled and without incident,said Lieutenant Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet.The Lincoln, accompanied by strike group of warships, was the first U.S. aircraft carrier to enter the Gulf since late December and was on a routine rotation to replace the outgoing USS John C. Stennis.The departure of the Stennis prompted Iranian army chief Ataollah Salehi to threaten action if the carrier passed back into the Gulf.I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf. ... We are not in the habit of warning more than once, he said.The threat led to a round of escalating rhetoric between the two sides that spooked oil markets and raised the specter of a military confrontation between Iran and the United States.Iran threatened to close the strait, the world's most important oil shipping gateway, while the United States warned such a move would require a response by Washington, which routinely patrols international sea lanes to ensure they remain open.

Iran appeared to ease away from its earlier warnings on Saturday, with Revolutionary Guard Corps Deputy Commander Hossein Salami telling the official IRNA news agency that the return of U.S. warships to the Gulf was routine and not an increase in its permanent presence in the region.U.S. warships and military forces have been in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East region for many years and their decision in relation to the dispatch of a new warship is not a new issue and it should be interpreted as part of their permanent presence, Salami said.Pentagon officials declined to comment directly on Salami's remarks, but reiterated that continued U.S. presence in the region reflected the seriousness with which Washington takes its security commitments to partner nations in the region and to ensuring free flow of international commerce.The Lincoln's arrival in the Gulf was unrelated to Iran's statement on Saturday.Tensions between Iran and the United States have been escalating in recent weeks as President Barack Obama prepares to implement new U.S. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program, which Tehran says is for energy production but the West believes is aimed at producing atomic weapons.The EU is preparing to intensify sanctions against Tehran with an embargo on Iran's oil exports and possibly freezing the assets of Iran's central bank. Obama is preparing new U.S. sanctions that target foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank.

Both sides tried to scale down the rhetoric last week. The White House emphasized the United States was still open to international talks on Iran's nuclear program, even as it denied Iranian assertions that discussions were under way about resuming a dialogue.The White House would not confirm or deny Iranian reports that Obama had sent a letter to Iranian leaders, but spokesman Jay Carney said any communications with Tehran would have reinforced the statements Washington has made publicly.The United States supports talks between Iran and the so-called P5 + 1, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - Russia, China, France, England and the United States - plus Germany.Carney urged Iran to respond to the letter sent in October on behalf of the P5 +1 by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.If the Iranians are serious about restarting talks, then they need to respond to that letter,Carney told a White House briefing. That is the channel by which ... the restarting of those talks would take place.(Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by Peter Cooney and Stacey Joyce)

Israeli leader condemns Palestinian Muslim cleric
Associated PressBy DIAA HADID | Associated Press – JAN 22,12

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinians' top Muslim cleric faced sharp Israeli criticism Sunday for a speech in which he quoted a religious text that includes passages about killing Jews in an end-of-days struggle.Mufti Mohammed Hussein's comments came at a political gathering of supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He said his remarks were taken out of context and that he didn't incite people to kill Jews. But by speaking at the venue, Hussein appeared to be linking the battle to the conflict with Israel.The hour of resurrection will not come until you fight the Jews,Hussein told the gathering, citing a hadith, or saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. The Jews will hide behind stones and trees. But the trees and the stones will call: oh Muslim, oh servant of God, there is a Jew hiding behind me so come and kill him.In a separate development, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he hoped to reach a compromise with settlers that would stave off a looming deadline to evacuate the largest unauthorized settlement outpost in the West Bank.The Supreme Court, ruling that Migron was built on private Palestinian land, has ordered the outpost to be uprooted by March 31. With residents vowing to defy the evacuation, Netanyahu suggested they be moved to nearby land that is not privately owned.An Israeli official said the proposal, which would need Supreme Court approval, aims to avert a violent standoff with the settlers. But Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the proposal was merely a stalling tactic.

A spokesman for the residents, Itai Chemo, rejected the proposal. Relocation is not an answer to these attacks,he said. Instead, he called for a brave dialogue with the government to find a proper solution.The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal government plans, said the settlement would be uprooted by March 31 if the residents do not agree to move.The mufti delivered his three-minute speech on Jan. 7 in an Arab neighborhood of east Jerusalem during celebrations of the 47th anniversary of the Palestinian movement Fatah, said Itamar Marcus of Palestine Media Watch, an Israeli watchdog group that tracks incitement.Marcus' group posted excerpts of the speech on YouTube last week. The comments drew angry reactions from Israelis on Sunday.We're talking about a heinous offense that all nations of the world must condemn,Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement sent to reporters by text message. He asked the Israeli attorney general to launch an investigation.It is unclear what authority Israel would have since Hussein is appointed to his position by the Palestinian president. There was no immediate comment from Abbas' office.Hussein, who is based in Jerusalem, said his comments were taken out of context.I was speaking about the final signs of the day of resurrection, Hussein said.I did not incite, and I did not call for killing. We are not, at present, at the end of days.The Quran, Islam's holy book, offers contradictory attitudes toward Jews and Christians. There are texts that enshrine tolerance and respect for other faiths, while others are spiked with hatred and incitement.Some extremist rabbis also have found passages in Jewish texts that they believe justifies violence against the Palestinians.

Tensions between Israelis and the Palestinians have been fueled by a three-year breakdown in peace efforts. Talks broke down in late 2008 and have remained frozen over the issue of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.The Palestinians say there is no point in negotiating as long as Israel continues to build homes for its citizens on occupied land. Israel says the future of settlements is a matter for negotiations.Some 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and some communities deep in the West Bank are considered especially hard line.Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed low-level contacts early this month with the aim of finding a formula for restarting formal negotiations. The Palestinians continue to insist that Israel freeze all settlement construction. Sunday's proposal to delay the evacuation of Migron is likely to harden Palestinian skepticism toward Netanyahu.
Diaa Hadid can be reached on twitter at http://twitter.com/diaahadid

HRW calls on West to accept Islamist rise to power
Associated PressBy MAGGIE MICHAEL | Associated Press – JAN 22,12

CAIRO (AP) — The United States and other Western governments must accept the new reality that Islamists have emerged to fill the power vacuum in the Arab world after a wave of popular uprisings, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Sunday.The New York-based group also urged Islamist parties, which have emerged as the biggest winners in recent elections in Tunisia and Egypt and are expected to fare well in Libya, to respect the rights of women and religious minorities, saying they cannot pick and choose when it comes to human rights.Islamist parties are genuinely popular in the Arab world, said HRW's executive director, Kenneth Roth, warning that ignoring that popularity would violate democratic principles.Being a political Islamic government should not be a reason to turn a government into a pariah, Roth told reporters in Cairo, where the group released its annual report.The Arab Spring revolts began in Tunisia in late 2010 and quickly spread to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, deposing or challenging authoritarian rulers as citizens who long seemed incapable or unwilling to rise against decades of repression took to the streets in a stunning awakening.Since the collapse of the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia a year ago, Islamist groups once largely confined to the political sidelines, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, have formed parties and contested parliamentary polls, winning the greatest share of seats.

Even the ultraconservative Salafis, who abstained from politics under Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak, have fared well, winning more than 20 percent of the vote in the country's first post-uprising ballot.Roth was cautious when asked about concerns about potential human rights violations under Islamist rule. He said that so far, Islamists have said a lot of right things, but said the true test will be how they deal with the full sweep of human rights once in power.These are the big questions,he said.The Muslim Brotherhood, for example, has been most interested in political freedoms, but Roth noted that it is very difficult to secure political freedom if you are not respecting religious and women rights.In some ways, the unexpected Arab uprisings have amounted to a slap to the United States and other Western governments, which had supported autocratic regimes that served as bulwarks against Islamists hostile to the West and appeared to offer stability in a volatile region.The West backed an array of autocrats as long as they, in turn, supported Western interests,Roth said.The West is still adjusting to this historic transformation.He added that the wave of uprisings show that the forced silence of people living under autocrats should never have been mistaken for popular complacency.

Roth acknowledged Western governments were re-evaluating their policies as new governments emerge in the region.Western nations have been accused of being selective in supporting the protesters, with NATO airstrikes proving key to the ouster of slain Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. Meanwhile, the West has stood largely on the sidelines amid continued crackdowns in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.The people driving the Arab Spring deserve strong international support to realize their rights and to build genuine democracies, Roth said in the group's annual report, which covers some 90 countries. He added that the Arab world is in a transformative moment,and it will not be an easy one.Human Rights Watch pointed to five main issues that dominated the relationship between Western governments and their Arab autocratic friends: the threat of political Islam, the fight against terrorism, support for Israel, protection of the oil flow and cooperation in stemming immigration.Even after the leaders of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were toppled, Western governments remained hesitant to lean too hard on other shaky authoritarian leaders, the group said. China and Russia acted obstructionist, using their veto power at the U.N. security council to halt pressure on Syria to stop killings of protesters.The popular uprisings also have alarmed other repressive regimes such as China, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan, where rulers were worried about facing similar fates.The worst response to the Arab Spring is the dictatorial world who are living in fear of the precedents set in this region,Roth said. China greatly deepened its repression in an effort to avoid jasmine rallies.Saudi Arabia also continues to discriminate against its citizens and workers, according to HRW, which said 9 million women, 8 million foreign workers and 2 million Shiite citizens are either suppressed or lacking rights in the country.

The report called on Morocco to change repressive laws, end police violence and reform its judiciary. The chapter on Morocco focused on police harassment of pro-democracy demonstrators, lack of judicial independence and repression of separatist tendencies in the Western Sahara — a disputed territory held by the North African kingdom.Outside the Arab world, the last year did not witness significant progress in countries with poor human rights records, including China and North Korea, according to the report.Corruption, poverty and repression still prevail in Equatorial Guinea, the tiny, oil-rich nation off the western coast of Africa, which has been ruled by Africa's longest-serving ruler, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the group said.Eritrea continues to be governed by one of the world's most repressive governments,and its citizens are subjected to torture, detentions and restrictions on freedom of speech, HRW said.It also cited Colombia, saying armed conflict in the South American country has displaced millions while paramilitary groups with ties to the security apparatus are on the rise.Cuba, HRW said, remains the only country in Latin America that represses virtually all forms of political dissent.The group also claimed that even member states of the European Union have violated human rights through restrictive asylum and migration policies.Additional reporting by Paul Schemm in Rabat, Morocco.

Syria rejects Arab League call for power change
AFPAFP – JAN 22,12

Syria on Monday rejected an Arab League plan for President Bashar al-Assad to transfer power to his deputy, calling the initiative a flagrant interference, state TV quoted an official as saying.Syria rejects the decisions taken which are outside an Arab working plan, and considers them an attack on its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in internal affairs,the official was quoted as saying.The Arab League on Sunday asked the UN to support a new plan for resolving the crisis in Syria that sees Assad transferring power to his deputy and a government of national unity within two months.Assad should delegate powers to the vice president to liaise with a government of national unity,to be formed in two months, according to a statement read by Qatari premier Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani after Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo to determine the fate of their Syrian observer mission.The Syrian official reacting to the Arab League's call said the regional body should instead assume its responsibilities for stopping the financing and arming of terrorists,the television channel reported.The source added that the Arab League initiative ran counter to the interests of the Syrian people and would not prevent the country from advancing its political reforms and bringing security and stability to its people who have shown, during this crisis, their support for national unity as they have rallied around President Assad.Deployed since December 26 to oversee an Arab League peace plan, the mission has been widely criticised for its failure to stem the government's bloody crackdown on democracy protesters.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Riyadh had pulled its observers from the mission because the Syrian government had not respected any of the clauses in the Arab plan aimed at ending the crisis.The Arab League agreed, however, to extend the mission and boost the number of observers, according to the final statement.We will inform the United Nations of all the resolutions of the Arab League... for its approval,Sheikh Hamad said.The League's secretary general Nabil al-Arabi, who attended Sunday evening's news conference, explained that the request to support the United Nations was designed to give more weight to the Arab initiative.The Arab foreign ministers urged the Syrian government and all the opposition factions to engage in a serious dialogue under the auspices of the Arab League, within a period of not more than two weeks, to be able to achieve the formation of a unity government bringing together those in power and the opposition.The new government's mission would be to implement the Arab League plan to end the crisis, and to prepare free and fair legislative and presidential elections under both Arab and international supervision.It would also prepare the election of a constituent assembly within three months and a new constitution which would be put to a referendum.The ministers tasked the bloc's secretary general with nominating a special envoy to Syria in charge of following developments in the country.After reading out the statement, the Qatari premier said the new plan envisaged the peaceful departure of the Syrian regime.The new Arab initiative adopted by the foreign ministers envisages the peaceful departure of the Syrian regime,he said, adding that the plan resembles the one on Yemen,which resulted in President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreeing to step down.If this initiative is not put in place (by Damascus), we will go to the Security Council, where the decisions will be taken, Sheikh Hamad warned.

The Syrian National Council, the country's largest opposition group, has been lobbying in Cairo for UN intervention, and SNC chief Burhan Ghaliun welcomed the League's statement of its intention to seek UN support.But he insisted that any transition in Syria should be preceded with the announcement of Assad's departure.
Earlier, the SNC called for the Syria file to be transferred to the UN Security Council for referral to the International Criminal Court, so that all Syrian officials implicated in crimes against humanity could be prosecuted under international law.International pressure has been steadily growing on Assad's regime, with more than 5,400 people killed since anti-government protests broke out last March, according to UN figures.But a tough Security Council resolution on Syria has been blocked by veto-wielding permanent members China and Russia, with Moscow insisting the opposition is as much to blame for the violence as the regime.A report delivered earlier on Sunday by the chief of the Arab League's monitoring mission, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi of Sudan, also blamed both sides for the bloodshed, according to an Arab diplomatic source.The Arab League deployed observers in Syria on December 26, and there are presently about 165 monitors on the ground.

The Local Coordination Committees, which organises anti-regime protests, said in a statement on Sunday that 976 people have been killed in a bloody crackdown on dissent since the observer mission began.Qatar had proposed that Arab troops be deployed in Syria, but Damascus rejected that idea outright.

I CAN CLEARLY SEE THE PARALLEL IN THE DEATH OF JESUS TO ISRAEL HARDSHIPS WITH THE ARAB-MUSLIMS.THE NWO OF JESUS DAY WERE ALWAYS TRYING TO TRIP HIM UP IN HIS WORDS SO THEY COULD ACCUSE AND KILL HIM.THE ARABS SHOOT 10,000 ROCKETS INTO ISRAELI WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND MEN AND ISRAEL GETS CALLED MURDERERS FOR DEFENDING THEMSELVES AND SHOOTING BACK.AND ISRAEL IS HATED FOR BUILDING HOMES ON THEIR GOD GIVIN LAND.AND ACCUSED OF BEING OCUPIERS OF THEIR OWN LAND.THE ARAB-MUSLIMS CALL FOR KILLING INNOCENT ISRAELIS SO THEY CAN STEAL JERUSALEM AS THEIR OWN WITHOUT ANY JEWS AROUND TO WORRY ABOUT.JESUS THE INNOCENT JEWISH MESSIAH WAS ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMING FOR SAYING IN 3 DAYS I WILL BUILD THIS TEMPLE,WHEN IT TOOK 40 YEARS TO BUILD.THE NWO OF JESUS' DAY TEAMED UP WITH JUDAS TO HAVE THE INNOCENT JEWISH MESSIAH MURDERERED.AND THE ISLAMISTS OF TODAY ARE TEAMED UP WITH THE NWO TO HAVE ISRAEL DESTROYED FOREVER.CAN YOU SEE THE PARALLEL IN JESUS'S DEATH AND ISRAEL TODAY,I SURE CAN.

As region changes, Hamas movement shifts
AFPBy Selim Saheb Ettaba | AFP – JAN 22,12

Buffeted by the winds of the Arab Spring, the Hamas movement is transforming, with power shifting from its exiled leadership towards its government on the ground in Gaza, analysts say.Recent months have seen the group forced to deal with the new regional realities created by the Arab uprisings, including the increasingly precarious situation in Damascus, where its leadership-in-exile is based.The group has also moved towards reconciliation with its longtime rival Fatah, and its chief Khaled Meshaal has talked about the need to focus on peaceful protest.But the shifts have created a new tension within the Islamist group, with the Gaza leadership appearing increasingly emboldened to voice differences of opinion with Meshaal and the leadership-in-exile.On Saturday, Hamas announced that Meshaal did not plan to stand for reelection to the head of the movement, a decision that comes as the group experiences a fundamental reshaping, according to Omar Shaban, director of the Gaza-based Palthink think-tank.Hamas is going through a transformational process, he told AFP, attributing the movement's reshaping to both internal and external factors.

On the internal front, according to Shaban, some within the movement's Gaza-based leadership believe Hamas has suffered as a result of being charged with improving the lives of 1.3 million people in Gaza.Externally, Shaban says, Hamas is caught between the differing fates of the Muslim Brotherhood -- the organisation that gave birth to Hamas -- in Egypt and Syria.Hamas is caught between the hope of Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood has swept democratic elections, and the pressure of Syria, where a government crackdown is targeting activists, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood.The situation in Syria has been particularly problematic for Hamas, which is eager to avoid being seen as interfering in internal issues, but also finds it hard to see the Muslim Brotherhood being targeted.

The atrocities of the Syrian regime are inflicted on the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas is no longer able to maintain its presence in Damascus, said Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a professor of political science at Gaza's Al Azhar University.Internal rumblings and external pressures have helped create a situation in which Meshaal, long considered a radical, now appears more pragmatic than Hamas's Gaza leadership, Abu Saada said.
When Meshaal was getting complete support from the Syrian regime, from Iran, he connected himself with this camp, so he could not make compromises,he said.But the peaceful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, along with his detachment from Iran and Syria, appear to have shifted Meshaal's thinking, convincing him that peaceful popular resistance can be effective.That is something new, Abu Saada said, acknowledging that there has been no consensus within Hamas regarding this issue.
Mahmud Zahar, one of Gaza's senior Hamas officials, notably responded that armed resistance can be popular.Zahar's willingness to challenge Meshaal, on issues ranging from resistance to reconciliation, are another sign of the shifting dynamics in the movement, Abu Saada said.The balance of power is shifting from outside to inside. Hamas's leadership in Gaza is on its own territory, he said, noting Hamas in Gaza is increasingly less dependent on regional aid.The Hamas government has a 2012 budget worth $769 million, a 22 percent increase over 2011, based on an expected intake of $174 million dollars in tariffs and taxes, particularly from the flourishing Egypt-Gaza tunnel industry.

The Hamas government is also wielding the freedom of movement that has come with Egypt's decision to open its border with Gaza.Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya has already completed one major tour to Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Tunisia -- his first since taking office. He is reportedly considering a second trip soon, with stops in Qatar and Iran.Haniya's visit has halted the political siege on Gaza, said Walid al-Mudallal, a political science professor at the Islamic University of Gaza, noting the movement's parliamentary delegation visit last week to Switzerland to take part in the the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting.According to Mudallal, Hamas is closing the gap with the Palestinian consensus to achieve reconciliation, and to be able to deal with the international community.One wildcard in the movement's transformation is the future role of its powerful armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, once considered largely under Meshaal's direction.According to Abu Saada, that allegiance could be shifting.The armed wing of Hamas, Ezzedine al-Qassam, gives loyalty to whoever is giving the money to pay for the weapons,he said.Ezzedine al-Qassam has been showing more loyalty to the Hamas in Gaza.
http://www.infowars.com/u-s-sends-carrier-to-hormuz-amid-rumor-of-al-quds-deployment/