Tuesday, October 29, 2013

JEWISH GROUPS LOST AT LEAST 150 MILLION TO MADOFF

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Abbas said to soften stance on interim peace agreement

Details leaked earlier this week revealed that PA is keeping a hard line on terms desired by Israel

By Gavriel Fiske and Ilan Ben Zion October 29, 2013, 9:32 am 3-The Times of Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly softened his objection to an interim peace agreement, an option he was known to vehemently resist previously.Abbas is no longer completely opposed to such a deal, which would create a framework for two states but likely postpone the resolution of the toughest issues such as final borders, shared sovereignty over Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, according to a Tuesday Israel Radio report, which gave no further details.Palestinian Authority officials, and Abbas himself, have repeatedly said they were strongly against an interim peace agreement with Israel. In September, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Abbas said the current round of negotiations were “the last chance” to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians but rejected “the dizzying exhilaration of interim agreements” in lieu of a permanent resolution.The Oslo Peace Accords, signed by the two sides in 1993, were an interim peace agreement which stipulated that final-status issues must be resolved within five years. The so-called “Oslo Period” ended with the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, after then-prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat failed to agree on a final deal.On Sunday, a Channel 2 report revealed details on the peace negotiations, leaked by a disgruntled Palestinian official, which indicated that the Palestinians were taking a hard line on terms desired by Israel.According to the report, the Palestinian Authority demanded that any land swap agreement with Israel as part of a peace deal not exceed 1.9 percent of the West Bank, less than half of the land necessary to incorporate the lion’s share of settlers.The Palestinians are also insisting that they gain control over water resources, border crossings and the area on their side of the Dead Sea; that a Palestinian state be able to sign agreements with other states without Israeli intervention; that Israel release all Palestinian prisoners; and that all Palestinian refugees and their descendants be granted the right to choose to live in Israel or the Palestinian territories as part of a final agreement, according to the report.The report made no mention of Israel’s position on these issues, but the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been wary of a Palestinian state exercising full sovereign powers that might threaten Israeli security, and all Israeli governments have rejected the possibility of anything other than a token influx of Palestinian refugees, for fear of changing the demographic balance of the Jewish state.Israel, for its part, according to the TV report, has demanded that any peace deal provide Israel with territorial contiguity, that there be an IDF presence in the Jordan Valley for a prescribed period of time, and that, in addition to border adjustments covered by the land swaps, further land be annexed by Israel to cover the major settlement blocs in return for financial compensation to the Palestinians.In previous rounds of negotiations, the Palestinians agreed in principle to swap some West Bank land for Israeli territory, in order to allow Israel to annex some settled areas adjacent to its border. Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin has estimated that annexation of 4% of the West Bank would be necessary in order to incorporate the majority of the settler population in a final agreement.The US-brokered peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority reportedly reached an impasse last month due to the Israeli refusal to discuss land-swap and border issues. The recent reports appear to indicate that the sides have broached the subject.

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

Military graveyard defaced with anti-prisoner release messages

‘Your death was in vain,’ signs read; terror victims’ association submits appeal to Supreme Court to stop release

By Gavriel Fiske October 29, 2013, 2:53 pm 1-The times of Israel
Signs purporting to be from the Israeli government were placed on dozens of military graves at the Mount Hertzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Tuesday, in protest of the impending release of 26 Palestinian prisoners later Tuesday. The release constitutes the second phase of a four-stage deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority meant to keep the US-brokered peace talks on track.The signs, which read in Hebrew, “Sorry we forgot. For us, your death was in vain — [signed] the Israeli government,” were evidently placed by an anonymously run group, “Sorry We Forgot,” which maintains a Facebook page to document its activities. The group uploaded a video of the signs it placed on the graves Tuesday morning.In an interview with Army Radio, a woman who is part of the group and who gave her first name as Ortal said the act represented the “cry of the victims [who were killed by Palestinian terrorists].”“If we hurt anyone, we apologize,” she added.
Eli Ben-Shem, the chairman of Yad Labanim, the association of bereaved families of fallen soldiers, called the act appalling.“This is a very severe act, it’s shameful and it hurts the families of the fallen. It’s an illegitimate protest,” he told Army Radio. “Red lines have been crossed, this is a desecration of graves,” he added.Ben-Shem called for a full investigation into the incident.Peace Now’s Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted. “The use of the fallen soldiers and terror victims in a political campaign is a despicable, low act and it disrespects the deceased. They [the perpetrators] should be put on trial,” he said.Meanwhile, the Almagor Terror Victims’ Association submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon to stop the prisoners’ release scheduled for later in the night.“The government did not bother to discuss the latest wave of terror in the West Bank over the past few weeks. It’s turning the other cheek even as we’re talking about the second phase of the release,” said Naftali Wertzberger, a lawyer working with the bereaved families who submitted the appeal. “Releasing terrorists only adds fuel to the terrorist fire. I’m optimistic and hopeful we’ll stop [the releases] ” he added.Ahead of the first prisoners’ release in August, the organization’s appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Earlier Tuesday, “Israel Forgets” wrote on its Facebook page that the day “will be known as a sad day in the history of Israel. We will do everything we can to stop this evil decree.”The group, which was registered on Facebook last week, wrote in its description that “104 Arab terrorists are going to be released by Israel in the near future… leaving behind victims in cemeteries around the country,” referring to the total number of Palestinian prisoners to be released under the framework of renewed, US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.“We are here to ask forgiveness… from those who were sacrificed, whom the government of Israel sold out cheaply, at the cost of forgotten lives,” the group wrote.

Netanyahu: Prisoner release one of ‘toughest’ decisions as PM

Bennett and Livni continue spat over plan; all 26 inmates moved to Ofer Prison ahead of their release

By Lazar Berman October 28, 2013, 7:26 pm 2-The times of Israel
“The goal is to silence us and tame us. If, God forbid, someone thinks a Palestinian state is a mistake, he is called a right-winger, extremist, fascist, and violent. But it doesn’t matter — we will not be silenced. We have clear positions and we are proud of them.”Bennett compared the attacks against him to those directed at Netanyahu during the 1990s when he was a vocal critic of the Oslo peace process.At Hatnua’s faction meeting, members criticized the Jewish Home, which has sought to place the blame for the release in the lap of Hatnua’s party chair, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is leading Israel’s negotiations with the Palestinians. “I have reached a conclusion in the past week,” said Livni, “that hypocrisy, self-righteousness, dirty maneuvers and attempts to shirk responsibility don’t work.”“What the Jewish Home is doing is 100 percent incitement. I recommend that everyone remember where those weeds sprouted from back then,” said Hatnua MK Amram Mitzna, ostensibly referring to the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. “We must view these things with the utmost severity.”Criticism of the release was also sounded in some of Monday’s committee meetings. Likud MK Miri Regev, chairwoman of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, called the decision a sign of “cowardice and weakness on the part of the government. No normal country frees murderers, and in exchange we received a rocket on Ashkelon, a tunnel from Egypt, and the murder of Israelis.”The Israel Prison Service late Sunday night published the names of 26 Palestinian prisoners set to be released over the next 48 hours as part of a deal to keep the US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on course. All are convicted murderers.Six of the inmates have been imprisoned for just under 30 years. All but two were imprisoned for murders committed before the signing of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. A government statement said earlier that 21 of the inmates were from the West Bank and five were from the Gaza Strip.

Jewish groups in new database admit losses of $150 million to Madoff

Washington Post list covers 1,000 organizations in all; history’s biggest Ponzi scheme estimated to have cost $18 billion

By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil October 29, 2013, 4:10 am 0-The times of Israel
WASHINGTON — A new database of non-profit organizations’ tax disclosures sheds light on the scale of the damage inflicted on Jewish community organizations by the Madoff Ponzi scandal. It also paints a picture of organizations changing their regulations to prevent such disasters in the future.Almost two dozen Jewish organizations are included on the list of over 1,000 nonprofit organizations which suffered a “significant diversion” of assets through unauthorized uses or unanticipated losses such as theft, investment fraud and embezzlement between 2008 and 2012. Half of the organizations’ losses can be attributed to the giant investment fraud scheme conducted by Bernard Madoff.The entire database, compiled by the Washington Post, covers a veritable cross-section of American civil society, ranging from local parent-teacher organizations to the Teamsters, from Washington think tanks to small-town fire stations.Investment funds linked to Madoff’s scheme, which targeted portfolios ranging in size from individual shareholders to massive organizations, are documented in the database as defrauding Jewish organizations of over $150 million. This database does not, however, include a number of the organizations also known to have been defrauded by Madoff, including the Women’s Zionist Organization of America and the Elie Wiesel Foundation. Total estimated losses as a result of what is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme in US history are around $18 billion.Yeshiva University, where Madoff sat on the Board of Directors and even served as treasurer, is prominent in the newly published list of declared losses. Madoff’s investment scam depleted almost $110 million from the New York institution and its affiliate organizations.The database shows that the losses were at times catastrophic, but sporadic in their impact on YU affiliates. The Yeshiva Endowment Foundation alone lost some $2.6 million in 2008, and ended the year with negative revenue figures of over $1.3 million. They did better, relatively, than the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, which had over $10 million invested through Madoff, and finished the year with almost $2.4 million in negative revenue.Following the scandal, Yeshiva University sprang into action to change its business practices. In December 2008, the university hired a law firm “to assist management in reviewing and addressing the then-current policies and procedures relating to corporate governance and oversight.” Following the review, the university toughened up its conflict-of-interest policy under which members of the Board of Trustees “may not be engaged in business with the University or the high schools” and established a waiver committee to review any exceptions.University officials are no longer entitled to manage the money in the university’s investment pool or any individual investments, and the university engaged in a process of divestment from any investments managed by the university’s board of Trustees or Investment Committee. In addition, the Investment Committee was disbanded and reconstituted, university officials were required to fill elaborate conflict-of-interest forms and disclosures, and a professional chief investment officer was hired to oversee investments.The database also gives some sense of the loss to local Jewish federations, the backbone of community life in dozens of states.The Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles disclosed that in 2008, it lost approximately $6.4 million in investments due to the Madoff scandal. In February 2009, it filed a securities investment protection corporation customer claim for $500,000 related to the loss. The Jewish Community Fund of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles reported a more dire loss — $23.9 million, including $5.86 million of alleged earnings on investments that turned out to be fictitious.  Reeling from the loss, the foundation appointed a special committee to investigate the fraud and to attempt to recover funds from Madoff’s liquidated assets.The Los Angeles-based Lee and Herman Ostrow Family Foundation, which is active in Jewish giving, suffered losses as a result of the Jewish Community Foundation’s “common investment pool”, which invested its funds with Madoff. In that case – similar to Yeshiva University – the investment committee was reconstituted, and oversight was drastically increased.
The Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul, which registered some $3.1 million in revenue in 2009, noted that the organization had $800,000 invested through Madoff, and added that “the organization does not expect to recover these funds.” The Jewish Community Centers Association of North America wrote succinctly that “the organization became aware during the year of one material diversion of the organization’s assets which related to its investments with Bernard L. Madoff Securities.”The organization, which listed total 2008 revenue at $12.6 million, did not enumerate the scale of its losses. Organizations are only required to report such diversions if the total sum is above $250,000 or if they exceed 5% of an organization’s annual gross receipts or assets.The American-Jewish Congress took a large hit, too. It recorded that approximately $2.2 of investiture “were stolen by Mr. Madoff” and that some $16 million in trust funds administered by AJC officers and employees were “also taken by Mr. Madoff.” The AJC’s total revenue that year was slightly over $1.3 million – significantly less than the amount pilfered in the Ponzi scheme.ELEM Youth in Distress also recorded losses in 2008, but its files could not be accessed for further details. In other interviews, Zion Gabbai, Elem’s Israel director, said that the organization which cares for highly at-risk Jewish and Arab youth had invested some $850,000 with Madoff as a “safety net”.The Etzion Foundation said in its disclosure that it had not known that its investment in Ascot Partners LP had been invested in Madoff Securities. The Teaneck-based organization which funds Orthodox educational initiatives in Israel and North America, did not disclose the amount lost for the organization, which had over $2 million in revenue in 2008.
The American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic were also hit by the Madoff scandal, writing tersely on the declaration that “as an investor with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC, AFIPO’s account no longer exists.” The America-Israel Cultural Foundation did not mention Madoff by name at all, but just noted in 2008 that “the custodian of the investment pool did not invest the funds and stole the remaining monies under his custody.”The new database shows how ripples of the Madoff effect spread outside of the framework of Jewish community organizations. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy also took a hit on an investment with Tremont Group Holdings that was a feeder fund to Madoff Securities. The Washington think tank, which recorded slightly over $6 million in revenue in 2008, noted that its market value loss was almost $1.2 million and the principal loss was $250,000. In the shadow of the loss, the Washington Institute noted that in the next year the Board of Directors adopted “a new investment policy with enhanced due diligence standards and procedures.”Not all the losses documented in the database, however, were from Madoff. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany reported in 2010 losses estimated at $42 million after swindlers created thousands of fake identities of Holocaust survivors based on Russian-speaking elderly people who received kickbacks. The organization first reported the fraud to the FBI in 2009, and in 2010, 11 employees and several other individuals were indicted on fraud and embezzlement charges. Estimates of losses now are closer to $60 million.The New York-based Touro College divulged in its forms that in 2010 “a former construction manager pled guilty to wire fraud for diverting Touro College assets. The perpetrator, with the aid of an unscrupulous contractor, utilized a sophisticated kickback scheme.” The disclosure forms emphasize that the “college aided in the investigation of the matter” but did not reveal the sums purloined.Less-nationally prominent organizations were not immune from major fraud either. The Jewish Community Center of Duchess County (New York) recorded in 2010 that “it was discovered after the fiscal year end that the bookkeeper at the time was involved in an embezzlement scheme and had stolen company assets” and in 2010 the Lubavitch Center of Essex County’s director discovered that former employee Susan Shack had been embezzling money from the center. Shack was obligated by the court to return $220,000, although the organizations believes that the amounts embezzled were higher.
Philadelphia-based Jewish Heritage Programs appeared on the list as well, but no documentation of embezzlement could be seen for 2009, the year cited by the Washington Post. In its 2010 forms, the organization registered as Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community Inc. recorded that approximately $62,000 – over 10% of its annual revenue – was diverted during an 21-month period by an independent contractor. The next year, the organization reported that the individual returned $70,000 to the organization to cover the loss and the related legal fees.Another organization, Chessed Rivka – which, according to the Washington Post, is headquartered in Lakewood, CO, could not be found, and its documents could not be accessed.In at least two cases, the losses were incurred in Israel, not in the United States.The American-registered “Israel Tennis Center” organization recorded that in 2008, “a material diversion of the organization’s assets occurred as it pertains to the leasing agreements for both the Ramat Hasharon Center and the Sajor Center” and in 2009, the American Friends of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art reported that “certain works of art were stolen and destroyed by fire during the current year.”It is possible that losses at Jewish charitable organizations may be even higher. The question that formed the basis of the database is only asked of larger non-profit groups, while smaller organizations and private foundations fill out different – or even no – paperwork documenting such losses.

LUKEWARM CHURCHES

REVELATION 3:15-19
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I(GOD) will spue (VOMIT) thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

10/28/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Vatican improves transparency and anti-money laundering rating

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The Vatican
The Vatican

The Standard Ethics rating agency has elevated the Standard Ethics Rating (SER) attributed to Vatican City State from “EE-” to “EE, putting it on a par with Italy

Andrea Tornielli vatican city The Holy See has received some good news from London: all recent initiatives to get its anti-money laundering measures up to International standards have paid off, as the Standard Ethics rating agency has elevated the Vatican City State’s Standard Ethics Rating (SER).Standard Ethics, the number one independent sustainability rating agency gives ratings to OCSE member nations. Nations with important economies such as Brazil and China have also joined and so did the Vatican City State last 21 February. This morning, Standard Ethics issued a statement informing that it has raised the Standard Ethics Rating (SER) attributed to the Vatican City State from “EE-” TO “EE”.The statement said that the Vatican City State was evaluated as a sovereign State subject to international public law, which is separate from the Holy See and according to standard general parameters, specific to it. Standard Ethics reported that since the Vatican it was given a “positive outlook” last July, the Vatican City State has successfully met international requests to provide greater financial and accounts transparency of its financial institutions.The statement emphasises the significant steps taken against money laundering, illicit financial transactions and financing of terrorism, in great part due to the Vatican’s gradual adherence to criteria laid out by the Financial Action Task Force (Groupe d’action financière FATF-GAFI) and the adoption of recommendations from the Moneyval Division of the Council of Europe – which is necessary for getting on to the OECD’s white list. Essentially, Standard Ethics recognises that the Vatican City State is on the right track and is collaborating with international bodies to adhere to anti-money laundering standards.The new positive rating was made possible thanks to the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State’s approval of Legislation No. XVIII of October 8, 2013. This law provides for a stable body governing transparency, supervision and financial information. The new law follows the constitution a few years ago of the Authority for Financial Information (AIF).Further elements of transparency, the Standard Ethics statement reports, are the publication of the Annual Report on Financial Activity, and the AIF’s Year 1- 2012 publication of the annual report on the website of the Vatican Bank (Istituto per le Opere Religiose IOR) on October 1, 2013.These things help create a system of efficient and sustainable checks in the long run. Meanwhile, changes to the internal legislation regarding child sex-abuse are being monitored.The Vatican City State’s upgrade from “EE-” to “EE”, means it is leaving the group which includes nations such as Brazil, Bulgaria, Estonia, Mexico, Poland, Romania and South Africa and moving to the same country cluster as Japan, Greece, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Vatican still has some way to go before it can make it into the three higher rating groups (EEE, EEE- and EE+) but it is clearly on the right track.

Christians in Iran Reportedly Sentenced to 80 Lashes for Drinking Wine During Communion

The Blaze
By Sharona Schwartz 24 minutes ago-OCT 29,13-yahoonews
A court in Iran has sentenced four Christian men to 80 lashes each for drinking wine during a communion ceremony, a Christian advocacy group and international news outlets reported.The sentencing coincides with a government crackdown on so-called "house churches" -- unofficial spots in which Christians gather in Iran to practice their faith undetected. The arrests and harsh sentences suggest that despite the moderate image of President Hassan Rouhani and the outreach to Iran by the Obama administration, religious persecution of Christians in the Islamic Republic continues.Despite Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's moderate image, the crackdown on Iranian Christians appears to be continuing. (AP).The four men -- Behzad Taalipasand, Mehdi Reza Omidi (Youhan), Mehdi Dadkhah (Danial) and Amir Hatemi (Youhanna) -- were convicted of drinking alcohol and possessing a receiver and a satellite antenna, according to a statement issued by Christian Solidarity Worldwide.They were first arrested during a worship service last year around Christmastime, the U.K. Independent reported.The verdict was handed down Oct. 20 in the city of Rasht, and the men have 10 days to appeal. The names in parenthesis are the biblical names each man has adopted, according to the Jerusalem Post.The Post reported that just this month, the United Nations issued a report detailing the persecution of Christians in Iran.U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran Dr. Ahmed Shaheed said in the report, "At least 20 Christians were in custody in July 2013. In addition, violations of the rights of Christians, particularly those belonging to evangelical Protestant groups, many of whom are converts, who proselytize to and serve Iranian Christians of Muslim background, continue to be reported."
He said further that "authorities continue to compel licensed Protestant churches to restrict Persian speaking and Muslim-born Iranians from participating in services, and raids and forced closures of house churches are ongoing ... More than 300 Christians have been arrested since 2010, and dozens of church leaders and active community members have reportedly been convicted of national security crimes in connection with church activities, such as organizing prayer groups, proselytizing and attending Christian seminars abroad."
Iran responded to the U.N. report with a statement broadcast on Press TV, saying Shaheed "has not paid sufficient notice to Iran's legal system and Islamic culture and considers whatever he sees in the West as an international standard for the entire world."According to National Catholic Register, the men who were sentenced to the lashes are members of the Church of Iran, a Protestant ecclesial community.Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide said in a statement: "The sentences handed down to these members of the Church of Iran effectively criminalize the Christian sacrament of sharing in the Lord's Supper and constitute an unacceptable infringement on the right to practice faith freely and peaceably."
Protestant Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen, has been in Iran's notorious Evin Prison for more than a year on charges of threatening national security by evangelizing in the Islamic country. His wife said in September that the pastor has been told he would be freed if he denies his Christian faith.As TheBlaze reported last year, two Iranians were sentenced to death for the repeat offense of drinking alcohol.Iranian law is based on Shariah Islamic law, which prohibits the consumption of alcohol.

Banksy Calls World Trade Center Design 'Disaster'

NEW YORK October 29, 2013 (AP)
By ULA ILNYTZKY Associated Press-yahoonews
The elusive British graffiti artist Banksy, who has been writing and spray painting images on New York City buildings, is causing another sort of sensation with an essay condemning the design of the new World Trade Center as "a disaster."The 104-story skyscraper "clearly proclaims the terrorists won," the artist asserts in an essay posted on his website Sunday. It includes a picture of the tower with the words "replace with better artwork."The essay is designed to resemble a New York Times op-ed column. The artist said he submitted it to the newspaper, which declined to publish it."We couldn't agree on either the piece or the art so it was rejected," Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said Monday.The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the Trade Center site, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Banksy, who refuses to give his real name, could not be reached for comment. He has been visiting the city for the past few weeks.He announced earlier this month that he was undertaking "residency" on the streets of New York in October and has posted pictures on his website of his paintings on city buildings without providing exact locations. But those who spotted the graffiti spread the word through social media.Banksy writes that the tower lacks "any self-confidence." He likened it to a "tall kid at a party, awkwardly shifting his shoulders trying not to stand out from the crowd."He suggests that "a better building" be constructed immediately in front of the nearly completely skyscraper.He ends by saying: "You currently have under construction a one thousand foot tall sign that reads — New York — we lost our nerve."

EARTHQUAKES

ISAIAH 42:15
15  I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

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

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

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide

25 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2013-10-29 09:30:42 UTC-05:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-05:00)25 earthquakes in map area
  1. 2.5 19km W of Lompoc, California 2013-10-29 08:38:30 UTC-05:00 0.0 km
  2. 5.0 25km NW of Chivay, Peru 2013-10-29 07:51:03 UTC-05:00 119.2 km
  3. 4.5 60km S of Chirilagua, El Salvador 2013-10-29 07:44:57 UTC-05:00 52.3 km
  4. 2.5 6km E of East Foothills, California 2013-10-29 06:42:41 UTC-05:00 6.6 km
  5. 3.2 23km NNW of Leavenworth, Washington 2013-10-29 06:24:14 UTC-05:00 10.9 km
  6. 5.1 81km NNE of Ndoi Island, Fiji 2013-10-29 06:01:54 UTC-05:00 571.3 km
  7. 6.0 Balleny Islands region 2013-10-29 05:37:55 UTC-05:00 10.0 km
  8. 4.3 14km NW of Kendari, Indonesia 2013-10-29 05:16:21 UTC-05:00 35.1 km
  9. 5.0 South of the Fiji Islands 2013-10-29 03:21:53 UTC-05:00 71.7 km
  10. 3.0 51km WNW of Fort Yukon, Alaska 2013-10-29 02:58:34 UTC-05:00 46.3 km
  11. 4.6 74km S of Mawlaik, Burma 2013-10-29 02:51:27 UTC-05:00 95.1 km
  12. 4.5 Prince Edward Islands region 2013-10-29 02:41:34 UTC-05:00 10.0 km
  13. 2.6 71km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico 2013-10-29 01:34:25 UTC-05:00 13.0 km
  14. 3.1 106km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-10-28 23:57:05 UTC-05:00 72.0 km
  15. 4.6 17km SSW of Ovalle, Chile 2013-10-28 22:40:50 UTC-05:00 47.8 km
  16. 4.3 60km NNW of Coquimbo, Chile 2013-10-28 22:35:02 UTC-05:00 55.1 km
  17. 4.7 85km W of Kuripan, Indonesia 2013-10-28 18:27:46 UTC-05:00 63.0 km
  18. 3.0 89km SSE of King Salmon, Alaska 2013-10-28 17:38:23 UTC-05:00 119.8 km
  19. 5.0 297km SSE of Kushiro, Japan 2013-10-28 15:59:42 UTC-05:00 35.5 km
  20. 5.0 56km NNW of Visokoi Island, 2013-10-28 15:36:01 UTC-05:00 116.5 km
  21. 2.8 64km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2013-10-28 15:02:36 UTC-05:00 10.0 km
  22. 5.3 61km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2013-10-28 15:01:27 UTC-05:00 57.6 km
  23. 3.0 44km NW of Rincon, Puerto Rico 2013-10-28 12:17:20 UTC-05:00 15.0 km
  24. 4.6 184km ENE of Angoram, Papua New Guinea 2013-10-28 11:23:28 UTC-05:00 34.5 km
  25. 5.3 294km SW of Longyearbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen 2013-10-28 09:54:27 UTC-05:00 10.0
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