CALGARY ATHIEST NUTCASES-PRAYING WON'T HELP-WITHOUT GOD WERE ALL GOOD-THIS IS COMPLETE HOGWASH LIES BY ATHIESTS-DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT CALGARIANS

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.

PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

JUDE 14-16
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.(KING JESUS-GOD)
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

GOD WILL DEAL VERY VERY HARSHLY WITH THE GODLESS. THEIR TIME WILL COME FOR DESTRUCTION.JUST LOOK HOW MADALYN MURRAY O'HAIRS DEATH BY MURDER-CHOP UP WAS.TODAY-THESE ATHIESTS WILL BE NUKED AND KILLED IN WW3 -THEIR TIME IS SHORT.LOOKOUT GODLESS.YOUR TIME IS UP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCQX0YxL2Ow#t=236

Atheist billboard ad hopes to get Calgarians thinking

CBC – FEB 1,14-yahoonews

An atheist organization is hoping its new billboard will challenge the way some Calgarians think.The Centre for Inquiry has installed an ad on Edmonton Trail for six months that reads, "Praying won't help. Doing will. Without God. We're all good."The organization says the campaign has an important message to share.
"We all are inherently moral," said executive director Nate Phelps. "It is a function of what we are born with and what society teaches us. So that's what the message is, that we can be good without ... a belief in God."
He says the Centre for Inquiry is based on science and challenges beliefs based on faith or lack of scientific proof. "We believe that there is a right way to discover the truth, which is the scientific method, and everything else out there can lead to ideas and behaviours that are counterproductive or destructive to society," said Phelps.Calgary is the third city to post the ads.The campaign faced some difficulty in Vancouver when a company that owns billboards refused to post the ads. A competing company later decided to put them up."The hope is that there are going to be some people who are going to look at this and it's going to challenge their ideas, the beliefs that they hold in their mind and that they act on and that we can get movement in the direction of society making better choices — more informed choices," said Phelps.
Phelps says an anonymous donor who supports free speech is paying for the ads in Calgary.

MORE SIN SIGNS

EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-10
9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,(HARDENED SODOMITES) nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,(ALCOHOLICS) nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

JEREMIAH 17:9
9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

LUKE 6:43-45
43  For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

MATTHEW 15:17-20
17  Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

MARK 7:21-23
21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

GALATIONS 5:19-21
19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

REV 22:15
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers,(DRUG ADDICTS-PUSHERS) and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Atheist Ad Goes Up On Calgary Billboard (PHOTO)

The Huffington Post Alberta  |  Posted: 01/31/2014 2:57 pm EST  |  Updated: 01/31/2014 2:59 pm EST

A giant ad promoting atheism has been unveiled on a billboard in northeast Calgary.
Previously seen in Vancouver and Sudbury, the ad informs Calgarians that "praying won't help."
“I know that some people are immediately going to be offended by it and see it as an attack on religion,” Nate Phelps, Alberta executive director of the Centre for Inquiry, the group behind the ad, told Metro Calgary.“But I hope that some religious people are at a point in their life that they’re willing to look at this as a challenge, and consider it.”The billboard features a young woman at her computer with the caption “Jenn 13:1 - Praying won’t help. Doing will. Without God. We’re all good,” and is located on the south side of 3603A Edmonton Tr. N.E.“There exists an idea out there that you can’t be good, you can’t be hopeful, you can’t be positive, you can’t lead a good life unless you subscribe to some religious ideology,” Phelps told 660 News.Some Reddit users were quick to claim hypocrisy in the ad, however."This is stupid because it's likely the people who are putting up that billboard would be the type to tell Christians to not shove their beliefs down their necks," wrote user Yojimbe."If this sign was fashioned against any other group it would be immediately shot down and that's where I take issue," said urahozer.Others, however, believe there's a place - and even a need - for the ad in Calgary."It'll be nice to have something on the other side displayed for once. I'm rather tired of fake images of aborted fetuses, so while Jen 13:1 could have been done better, I'll take it," countered Wistfuljali, referring to ads placed around Calgary by anti-abortion groups."While I think they could have used a better slogan or mantra for it, the message behind it isn't about believing or not believing. It's about believers respecting those who don't, and challenging the social stigma attached to non-theists," said jimmyjames88.The same ad was banned in Vancouver late last year, after Pattison Outdoor - a company who owns many Vancouver billboards - refused to run it. Instead, the ads found a home on the city's downtown transit shelters and on billboards in Burnaby.

L'Isle-Verte to honour victims of fire with commemorative mass

CBC – FEB 1,14-yahoonews

Almost 1,000 people will pack a church in L’Isle-Verte, Que., Saturday morning for a commemorative mass to remember the 24 people who died, and eight who are still missing after a fire burned down a seniors residence.Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church has been closed to the public while about 50 volunteers from L’Isle-Verte and neighbouring towns prepare for the Roman Catholic ceremony.Political leaders such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Gov. Gen. David Johnston and Quebec Premier Pauline Marois will attend the service, along with security officers from the Quebec provincial police and RCMP.L’Isle-Verte’s Mayor Ursule Thériault said she plans to take advantage of Harper’s presence to ask for help from the federal government.“All types of aid for this catastrophe will be welcome,” Thériault said.Parish priest Gilles Frigon said the ceremony will be broadcast so that everyone can grieve.“To have this mass open to the province and to the country is very good — good for us and also very good for those who are offering us their sympathies,” Frigon said.Messages of condolences, as well as a board with pictures of the victims, will be displayed in the church — a way for people in the community to deal with their pain, said one health-care worker.“We have many people who are coming to see us.… People are willing to cry, tell us their stories, and look for help,” said Pierre-Paul Malenfant, a health and social services co-ordinator at the Bas Saint-Laurent Health Agency.Media coverage of Saturday's mass will be limited out of respect for the families involved, organizers said. Radio-Canada will transmit video and audio of the mass, sharing with other media.
So far, 24 people have been confirmed dead, and eight people are still considered missing.Police said the search was suspended on Friday until they get a warrant, after investigators combing through the site found clues they believe could indicate the spot where the fire may have started.

Harper government, unions spar over veteran office closures as protests continue

By Andy Radia | Canada Politics – FEB 1,14-yahoonews

The Harper government and the unions have had some epic battles over the years.But this latest exchange seems a little wacky.The government — and Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino specifically — is accusing the Public Service Alliance of Canada of 'manipulating' the emotions of veterans with regard to their reaction to the closure of eight veterans service centres.The issue hit a climax this week with a testy exchange, caught on tape, between Fantino and several veterans who flew to Ottawa in a last-minute plea to save the offices. The meeting concluded with the disgruntled veterans calling the minister disrespectful and asking him to resign."There are a few things [Fantino] should be told," WWII veteran Roy Lamore according to CBC News."Taught manners is number 1, number 2 to respect the veterans, and number 3, it's time that he better wake up and give us a break on these things."In an interview with Sun News, Fantino alleges that those veterans were being "jacked up" by PSAC officials."[The union] manipulated them. It was taking advantage of people who have served the country and in some cases are getting older. It's scurrilous," Fantino was quoted as saying."Earlier in the day, the union leaders were also overheard briefing the vets on their strategy and questions and lines they were to use."It was a setup," he continued."The union exploited these folks and that to me is reprehensible."For their part, the union admits that PSAC paid for the veterans to fly to Ottawa. But they say that there was nothing wrong with that."We're proud to have supported veterans by paying for their flights and hotel rooms because veterans were finally heard in Ottawa," Yvan Thauvette, the president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, told Yahoo Canada News in a telephone interview."We've asked for months and months and months that the minister fly into those communities where the offices are set for closure to talk to veterans and their families and listen to their concerns. And he didn't do it."So now it's our fault? It's kind of weird."Thauvette claims that PSAC wasn't doing any 'manipulating' on Friday either when hundreds of veterans gathered to protest each of the eight closures.Protesters have also launched a black ribbon campaign."Canada’s veterans are seeing their supports slashed and their benefits cut. Put a black ribbon on your FB profile, twitter avatar and - oh yeah … your clothing - to show you care," notes their 'Twibbon' website.Despite the backlash, the Tories say they won't reverse course and that the closures will not affect the level of service for veterans.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH(BECAUSE OF SIN AND GODLESS PEOPLE)

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

HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

Indonesia volcano kills at least 11, fears over more eruptions

Reuters – FEB 1,14-yahoonews

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's Mount Sinabung volcano erupted and killed at least 11 people on the western island of Sumatra on Saturday, the first time it is known to have claimed any lives, a senior government official said.The volcano has becoming increasingly active in recent months, regularly spewing columns of ash several kilometres into the air. The government has evacuated tens of thousands of residents near the area."Eleven people were killed because of the eruption this morning and the number could increase. No evacuations could be made at this stage because of the potential for more eruptions," Andi Arief, a presidential staff member, told Reuters.Sinabung is one of nearly 130 active volcanoes in the world's most populous country, which stands along the "Ring of Fire" volcanic belt around the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
Indonesia's most deadly volcanic eruption in recent years was of Mount Merapi, near the densely populated city of Yogyakarta in central Java. It erupted in late 2010, killing more than 350 people.(Reporting by Chris Nusatya; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Canadian security agency says airport Wi-Fi spying program isn’t a bad thing

By Matthew Coutts | Daily Brew – FEB 1,14-yahoonews

There is an old saying that has become more prescient in this technological age that goes something like this: If you are not paying for something, then you are not the customer. You are the product.Once upon a time, that was simply another way of saying there is no such thing as a free lunch. Nowadays, it is a reminder that there is a market for, and a desire to collect, personal information shared online. And there still is no such thing as a free lunch.Facebook accounts, Instagram feeds, Starbucks hotspots. These are provided free not out of the goodness of the company's collective hearts, but because they profit in other ways. And as U.S. privacy whistleblower Edward Snowden has proven, security agencies have a taste for your online data as well.The latest battlefield in the war on online privacy is in Canada's airports, where CBC News reports passengers have fed their information to Canada's electronic spy agency hand over fist.In an exclusive report, CBC claims top secret documents obtained by Snowden show that the free Internet service available at a Canadian airport was used to track wireless devices of those who log in, sometimes for days after the fact.
[ Related: Spy agency reportedly kept tabs on Canadian airport passengers ]
In short, when someone logged on to that Wi-Fi hotspot and fired off a few emails before boarding their flight, they could have shared information with more than just the email’s recipient. Metadata could have also been spread, detailing a trove of information about the habits and activities of the user.Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) was quick to respond to the report, stating that it is the agency's mandate to "collect foreign signals intelligence to protect Canada and Canadians, and by law, only directs its foreign intelligence activities at foreign entities." Basically, no Canadians were harmed in the collecting of this metadata.
The statement reads:

In order to fulfill this key foreign intelligence role for the country, CSE is legally authorized to collect and analyze metadata. In simple terms, metadata is technical information used to route communications, and not the contents of a communication.The classified document in question is a technical presentation between specialists exploring mathematical models built on everyday scenarios to identify and locate foreign terrorist threats. The unauthorized disclosure of tradecraft puts our techniques at risk of being less effective when addressing threats to Canada and Canadians.It is important to note that no Canadian or foreign travellers were tracked. No Canadian communications were, or are, targeted, collected or used. And all CSE activities include measures to protect the privacy of Canadians.

It is important to note that no Canadian or foreign travellers were tracked. No Canadian communications were, or are, targeted, collected or used. And all CSE activities include measures to protect the privacy of Canadians.CSE goes on to state that its actions are legal under the National Defence Act. Its "metadata" activities passed inspection in 2011 and are being reviewed again.According to CBC, the Snowden document suggests CSE's tracking operation was a trial run launching in connection with America's powerful National Security Agency (NSA), and that it has now become fully operational.
[ More Brew: Aboriginal healing centre in Vancouver to relaunch as high-end boutique hotel ]
So we have a spy agency using invasive and secretive methods to collect information through a free hotspot to analyze general trends and habits, and flag those who don’t follow the norm. But we are supposed to believe that Canadians are absolved from the process? Actually, as the CBC reports suggests, that likely doesn’t matter much. Canada is part of a Five Eyes intelligence network – with Britain, Australia, New Zealand and America – that shares security information between partners. Is a “you spy on our citizens, we’ll spy on yours” pact impossible, or even unlikely? OpenMedia.ca, a community-based group that recently launched a campaign against CSEC spying, calls the recent development "stunning" and suggests the program is illegal.“This bombshell development unequivocally confirms that this government has been spying and tracking the location of law-abiding Canadians,” said executive director Steve Anderson in a statement.
“Until today, the government has been hiding behind their claim that CSEC was not spying on us. Now, we know the truth - this reckless government spy agency has been caught red-handed invading the privacy of thousands of law-abiding Canadians.”Recently, it was revealed that the CSEC received $460 million of public money last year – up from a budget of $97 million before 9/11. The agency also spent a reported $1.2 billion building new headquarters in Ottawa.The CSEC and its metadata-tracking program have made recent headlines for reportedly eavesdropping on communications related to Brazil's mining industry, as well as playing a role in U.S. spying operations during Toronto's G20 Summit.This latest revelation, coming shortly after confirmation the Canadian Border Security Agency will soon be sharing your personal travel data with other federal agencies and Washington.If you travel, they’ll know all about you.Border security isn’t just about checking bags anymore, and we know that process is far from infallible. But are terrorists really logging onto free public hotspots to detail their terror plots on jihad.com? I won’t even do online banking from Starbucks.At worst, the CSE’s hotspot monitoring is an illegal program that tracks anyone who strays onto an airport Wi-Fi network. At best it is a morally ambiguous program that tracks anyone who strays onto an airport Wi-Fi network, and the angels in charge sift out all information gleaned from Canadian citizens and throw it in the virtual trash.Should it make you uncomfortable? Yes. Is it necessarily a bad thing? Boy, I hope not. Because there’s nothing we can do about it now. Online privacy is all but obsolete. We're the product now.

Kerry: Mideast peace hopes not ‘quixotic’

Secretary hopeful Israelis, Palestinians will reach deal, warns status quo is unsustainable, failure would be disastrous

By Times of Israel staff February 1, 2014, 2:56 pm

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday he was hopeful that the Israelis and Palestinians would be able to reach a peace agreement in the US-brokered talks, saying Washington’s drive for Middle East peace was not “quixotic.”Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Kerry said he believes in the chances of reaching an accord between Jerusalem and Ramallah, and reiterated his warning of the potential fallout should talks fail. He warned that the current relative security Israel enjoy could prove to be an illusion that would change entirely should negotiations not yield an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.“The risks are very high for Israel. People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure,” he said. “We all have a strong interest in this conflict resolution.”“I am hopeful and we will keep working on it,” Kerry said. ”I believe in the possibility or I wouldn’t pursue this. I don’t think we’re being quixotic … We’re working hard because the consequences of failure are unacceptable.”The secretary of state said both sides were working hard to reach a deal, and those efforts would continue in the coming days.“With the help of the EU and Quartet, we are pursuing long-sought and much-needed peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said. Kerry and representatives of the Middle East Quartet — Russia, the European Union and United Nations — met on the sidelines of the Munich conference. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton headed the meeting with Kerry, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

He noted that the status quo couldn’t continue because it threatens the Jewish and democratic nature of Israel and increases the likelihood of Israel’s international isolation.

Saudi Arabia bigger threat to Iran than Israel’

Former US official tells Kuwaiti paper that Iran officials said Hezbollah is Tehran’s first line of defense against Israeli strike on nuclear facilities

By Times of Israel staff February 1, 2014, 1:56 pm 2

Iranian officials told former US State Department official that Tehran considers Saudi Arabia its primary enemy, not Israel or the United States, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Saturday.Frederick Hof told Kuwaiti media outlet al-Rai that in a recent closed door meeting with Iranian officials, they said Riyadh’s intervention in the Syrian civil war on the side of the rebels poses a strategic threat to Tehran.Iran has been a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Hof said that Tehran was “concerned about the consequences of the sectarian and civil war in Syria, but Saudi Arabia will benefit from sectarianism in the region.”“The US and Israel haven’t intervened in Syria,” the Iranian officials were quoted saying. “The real problem is Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.”Hof formerly served as the State Department’s special adviser for transition in Syria.Concerning Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, Hof quoted the Iranian officials saying that the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group serves as Tehran’s “first line of defense in case Israel opts to launch a strike against [Iran's] nuclear facilities.”“Iranian officials believe that any Israeli leader who might think about launching any attack on Iran should first think about the impact of rockets on Israeli cities, economic infrastructure, and military bases,” he added.Providing Hezbollah with material support is “not an easy task for Iran,” Hof is quoted saying. But because Assad is willing to transfer Iranian weapons and supplies to Hezbollah, “Iran will uncompromisingly support him,” the report said.In December, Saudi Arabia pledged to give the Lebanese military $3 billion in financial aid, in part to counter Iran’s material support for Hezbollah.

The Lebanese army is generally seen as a unifying force in the country, and draws its ranks from all of Lebanon’s sects. But it has struggled to contain the escalating violence in the country since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict. It is also widely considered much weaker than the Shiite Hezbollah militant group, which is armed and funded by Iran. 

ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11  In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12  Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14  And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD KILLED IN OVERNIGHT RAID) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.

AMOS 1:5
5  I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

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)

UN chief pushes for quick return to Syria talks

Ban Ki-moon calls on US and Russia to help keep negotiations between Assad, rebels on track

By AP February 1, 2014, 12:04 pm 0-The Times of Israel

MUNICH — The United Nations’ secretary-general pressed the US and Russia to help ensure that peace talks aimed at stemming Syria’s civil war can soon resume, while Russia’s foreign minister said Saturday that it is “very difficult” to push Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government to make concessions.A week of peace talks ended in Geneva on Friday with no concrete progress and no immediate commitment from Assad’s envoys to return on Feb. 10 for more meetings with the Western-backed opposition as suggested by mediator Lakhdar Brahimi.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a conference of global security officials in Munich that he urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry at a meeting on the sidelines “to use their influence to ensure the talks proceed as scheduled on Feb. 10.”The US has insisted that Assad cannot be part of a transitional government and has lost his legitimacy to lead, while Russia has been a key ally of Assad’s government.Ban urged the warring parties to “come back with more sense of earnestness as well as seriousness and urgency.” Specifically, he called on “both sides and the government in particular to allow the unfettered access required under international humanitarian law.”An agreement to allow aid convoys into the central Syrian city of Homs has remained stalled, with the government and opposition accusing each other of holding up the aid delivery into the city, which has been under siege for nearly two years.Lavrov insisted that “Russia can do nothing alone” and urged the US and others to exert their influence on the Syrian opposition.Lavrov said the humanitarian situation in Syria is “outrageous” but insisted that “we’ve got to be realistic,” arguing that the Syrian government is willing to deliver aid to Homs and deliveries to other cities, such as Aleppo and suburbs of Damascus, should also be an issue.“I can assure you that we are putting daily pressure on the Syrian government,” Lavrov said during a panel discussion at the conference. “It is a very difficult situation and to try to convince the government, which is waging a war, to make some gestures — this is a very difficult task.”Kerry raised concern over the humanitarian situation, especially in the besieged areas such as Homs, when he met with Lavrov Friday night. He also insisted anew that the creation by mutual consent of a transitional governing body must be a primary focus in the next round of talks, according to a senior State Department official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the private meeting by name.The meeting discussed the need for the opposition to expand its delegation, the official said.The opposition delegation does not control armed groups inside Syria, including al-Qaida-backed militants, who do not feel bound by agreements reached in the talks.Brahimi has struggled to find positive words about the outcome of the first round of talks, but Lavrov welcomed “the modest but important results” and said he hoped they will be “deepened and expanded” in the next round.Ban said that “it is hard going but we have made a start.”“The parties may still be fighting but now they are also talking – this is the only hope for a political solution,” he said. 

UN pans Israel’s destruction of Jordan Valley homes

New poll finds that only one third of Israelis and Palestinians consider a two-state solution feasible

By AFP February 1, 2014, 9:41 am 0-The Times of Israel

The Jordan Valley. (photo credit: CC BY Trocaire, Flickr)

The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories Friday criticized Israel’s demolition of 36 homes in the Jordan Valley and urged a halt to such actions in the West Bank.Hundreds of activists, meanwhile, staged an overnight demonstration in the Jordan Valley region.The moves came as fresh opinion poll evidence showed that faith in the Middle East peace process has largely evaporated among both Israelis and Palestinians.The demolitions in the Jordan Valley community of Ain el-Helwe on Thursday displaced 66 people, including 36 children, James Rawley said in a statement.“I am deeply concerned about the ongoing displacement and dispossession of Palestinians… along the Jordan Valley where the number of structures demolished more than doubled in the last year,” he said.“This activity not only deprives Palestinians of access to shelter and basic services, it also runs counter to international law.”His office said more than 1,000 people had been displaced last year in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem by demolitions on the grounds that homes had been built without Israeli permits, “which are virtually impossible to obtain”.On Friday, around 300 Palestinians together with Israeli and foreign activists set up camp in abandoned houses near Jericho in the West Bank to protest against Israel’s refusal to pull out of the Jordan Valley in case of a peace deal, an AFP photographer said.The demonstrators in Ain Hijleh village were equipped with generators and said they planned to spend the night in around a dozen of the houses, as Israeli troops and police kept watch from a distance.They held a banner reading: “No peace with settlements.”Their action — dubbed “Melh al-Ard” (salt of the earth) — aimed “to revive an old Palestinian Canaanite village in the Jordan Valley”, to counter any Israeli annexation plans, the activists said in a statement.They condemned Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry.His efforts would “establish a disfigured Palestinian state and recognises the Israeli entity as a Jewish state”, they said.Such a state would put Arab Israelis at risk of deportation at any time, the activists said.Faith in the Middle East peace process has largely evaporated among Israelis and Palestinians in the two decades since the Oslo accords and a famous White House lawn handshake, a new poll found Friday.

According to the Zogby Research Services poll, neither side has much confidence in the new push for peace being led by Kerry, which the pollsters believe is proving a hard sell.Although two decades have elapsed since then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands watched by then US leader Bill Clinton, “it is clear several deep differences exist” plaguing the atmosphere between the two sides.“Twenty years later only 18 percent of Palestinians and 19 percent of Israelis view Oslo as a positive development in the history of their relationship,” the poll said.Both sides believe the other is not committed to peace.And only around a third of people in each community sees a two-state solution as feasible, even though 74 percent of Israelis and 47 percent of Palestinians agree it is the desired outcome.

“From the results of this poll, it is clear that the past 20 years have taken a toll on the confidence both Palestinians and Israelis have in the peace process that began with the 1993 signing of the Oslo accords,” the poll said.Kerry is trying to draw up a framework agreement which would set out the end game in the resumed negotiations and guide the talks going forward over the next few months.Twenty years ago both Palestinians, some 61 percent, and Israelis, some 54 percent, said they “were hopeful” when the Oslo accords were signed, setting out a roadmap for the peace process.The poll was carried out in the Middle East in August 2013 among 1,000 Israelis and Palestinians, just as Kerry persuaded the two sides to resume talks after a three-year hiatus.

Government gave settlers $42 million ‘compensation’ for building freeze

Livni, Labor leaders demand investigation into secret payments, some of which were in turn used by pro-settler lobby group

By Times of Israel staff January 31, 2014, 10:51 pm 1

The Israeli government secretly channeled 148 million shekels (over $42 million) to the local city councils that administer settlements across the West Bank in recent years, to “compensate” them for city taxes they did not receive because of a government-imposed settlement-building freeze in 2009-2010.News of the secret payments, reported by Israel’s Channel 2 News on Friday night, provoked an immediate demand by the opposition Labor Party for an investigation by the Attorney General and the State Comptroller into what it said could be illegal funding. Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni also promised to investigate the affair.

According to the TV report, furthermore, some of the secret government payments were in turn transferred by the local settlement city councils to the Settlers’ Council, a private group that lobbies for the settlements and frequently conducts activities criticizing the government for policies deemed as damaging to the settlers. Israel’s Supreme Court has already ruled that use of public funds by the Settlers’ Council to fund such activities is illegal.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imposed the temporary building freeze on West Bank settlements in November 2009, and it ended in September 2010. It was introduced by Netanyahu under pressure from the Obama administration, as part of an effort to draw the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table. PA President Mahmoud Abbas did resume talks with Israel toward the end of that period, but he walked away from the talks soon after, and Netanyahu refused to extend the freeze. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were then stalled for almost three years before the current negotiations began last July.Because of the freeze, the building of thousands of scheduled homes in the settlements was delayed, and the local councils apparently argued to the government that they should be compensated for the city tax revenue they would have received from residents of those homes had they been built. Thus, every year since the freeze, the government has secretly paid money to the various settlement councils in compensation, the TV report said. To date, the total amount of public money handed over is 148 million shekels. The payments are defined as a “security grant,” the report said.In turn, the report continued, a substantial portion of this money was passed on to the Settlers’ Council lobby group. The Settlers’ Council acknowledged receiving some such monies, the TV report said, but stated that it had done nothing illegal.

Livni said she would look into the matter. The Settlers’ Council was headed for part of the period in question by Naftali Bennett, who led a campaign against the building freeze and who now heads the pro-settler Jewish Home party in the Israeli government. Bennett, Israel’s economy minister, opposes Palestinian statehood, and is a bitter rival of coalition partner Livni, who heads Israel’s negotiating team with the Palestinians.

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

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

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.

Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.

12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

Lifting the veil on the science of counting Jews

Surveying thousands in southern Florida, Professor Ira Sheskin of University of Miami helps Jewish federations plan for the future

By JTA February 1, 2014, 11:05 am 0-The Times of Israel

Fueled by KitKats and Cherry Coke, some two dozen people sit hunched over stacks of questionnaires in a windowless conference room in Miami, a phalanx of 1980s-era push-button telephones in front of them.

It’s the first day of work on a new survey of Miami Jews, and operators are having a hard time finding cooperative respondents.“To you personally, is being Jewish, 1, mainly a matter of religion; 2, mainly a matter of ancestry; or 3, mainly a matter of culture?” a surveyor asks.Ira Sheskin, the go-to man for Jewish communities that want to count their Jews, is overseeing the work. A professor of geography at the University of Miami, Sheskin is now on his 43rd Jewish federation population study, and he’s got it down to a science.He has found that subjects are much more likely to talk if the interviewer is female. Because of the unique background of Miami Jews, Sheskin has hired interviewers who speak six different languages. Those with some fluency in Judaism offer certain advantages, such as the ability to discern when a respondent has misunderstood a question about whether they keep two sets of dishes to be about kitchenware rather than Jewish observance.For the Miami survey, Sheskin has brought some of his veteran interviewers with him: Two women from Pennsylvania who have worked with him twice before and his octogenarian mother-in-law, who sits in a corner dutifully dialing numbers. His son and wife are helping out, too.“When you get someone on the phone who is cooperative, it’s actually a very interesting process that both the respondent and the interviewer benefit from,” says Sheskin, 63, who did his first large community study in 1982, also for the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. “You hear some fascinating stories in these interviews, and you realize how inconsistent some people are.”The last time the Miami federation took a census, in 2004, it found 113,000 Jews in Miami-Dade County. A lot has happened since: Hundreds of Latin American Jewish families from Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina and elsewhere have immigrated. The economic crisis and real estate bust of 2008 hit the state hard, slowing domestic migration to Florida for several years. The Orthodox community in Miami Beach appears to have grown. Old people died. Babies were born.“The change in the complexion of the population has been really dramatic,” says Jacob Solomon, CEO of the Miami federation.

But without hard numbers, no one knows exactly how dramatic. That’s where survey data come in.The new study, whose results are expected to be released this fall, will provide not only demographic data — country of birth, age, number of children, education level, religious denomination, Jewish observance level and more — but also take the pulse of community members on such issues as their emotional attachment to Israel, frequency of synagogue attendance, the importance of being Jewish to their lives and what sorts of Jewish activities they do.In all, there are 151 possible questions, culled from past surveys and refined through 15 focus groups, four federation committee meetings, and discussions between Sheskin and federation leaders. About 80 percent of the survey is identical to Miami’s last one, in 2004.These kinds of population surveys are meant to help Jewish agencies and institutions plan for the future. If, for example, the number of Jewish households with young children is falling in a particular city, it may put the local JCC’s expansion plans on ice. A question in the Miami survey about the newspapers read by respondents is meant to help guide the federation’s newspaper ad spending. A survey Sheskin conducted years ago in nearby Broward County helped a Reform synagogue in Fort Lauderdale figure out that it was better to refurbish their old building than erect a new one 2 1/2 miles away, where it turned out few Reform Jews lived.“There’s no question in my mind that these types of results provide data to federations that allow them to do better planning,” Sheskin told JTA. “I’ve never seen a federation that doesn’t want to do a study. Finding money is always the issue.”

This study is costing the Miami federation about $300,000.“We allocate over $20 million per year — that’s $200 million over 10 years,” said Solomon, the federation CEO. “So to spend $300,000 once a decade to help guide the wisdom of committees and boards and agencies and synagogues as to how spend their money seems like a good investment.”There’s a certain rhythm to survey taking. First, operators cast a wide net, calling number after number on Random Digit Dialing lists Sheskin has generated with local area codes. Finding Jews among respondents is a little like finding needles in a haystack, but it’s not an idle exercise. The early phone calls — probably about 7,000 of them — help calculate the number of Jews as a portion of the total population.Operators then start zeroing in on the Jews, culling numbers from lists provided by Jewish institutions, including cellphone numbers with non-Florida area codes. Interviews usually take 15-17 minutes to complete.Twenty years ago, the work was more straightforward. But telephone surveying has become more difficult due to the decline of landlines, the rising number of locals with non-local cellphone numbers and the propensity not to answer calls from unfamiliar numbers.In the Miami survey, every number gets four tries, and interviewers call back those who specify a more convenient time to talk. In an effort to boost cooperation, the federation has taken out advertisements in local media and mailed thousands of postcards alerting community members they might be calling.The goal is to get a sample size of roughly 1,800 Jews — enough respondents not just for the overall picture, but also enough to learn about subgroups: Holocaust survivors, Latin Jews, Israelis, retirees, parents. In all, the calling period will probably last five weeks. Interviewers work four-hour shifts spread over 12-hour days, earning $18 per hour.Then comes the work of entering and crunching the data — Sheskin’s interviewers record answers by hand — and months of study. By fall, the survey should be ready to make news.“Even if everybody doesn’t respond, and even if things aren’t perfect,” Sheskin says, “you still get a pretty good idea of what the Jewish community looks like.”

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

34 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2014-02-01 10:00:25 UTC-05:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-05:00)34 earthquakes in map area

1. 3.1 56km NNE of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2014-02-01 08:57:54 UTC-05:00 51.0 km
2. 2.6 63km WSW of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 2014-02-01 08:10:33 UTC-05:00 16.2 km
3. 4.7 23km NNW of Ranau, Malaysia 2014-02-01 06:35:10 UTC-05:00 17.4 km
4. 3.3 91km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico 2014-02-01 05:54:06 UTC-05:00 58.0 km
5. 3.0 33km WSW of King Salmon, Alaska 2014-02-01 05:08:08 UTC-05:00 100.0 km
6. 4.8 Central East Pacific Rise 2014-02-01 05:06:28 UTC-05:00 10.1 km
7. 2.9 74km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 2014-02-01 UTC-05:00 35.0 km
8. 2.9 106km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 2014-02-01 04:19:25 UTC-05:00 34.0 km
9. 5.3 Southern East Pacific Rise 2014-02-01 04:17:27 UTC-05:00 10.1 km
10. 3.9 11km ESE of Perkins, Oklahoma 2014-02-01 04:08:02 UTC-05:00 5.0 km
11. 4.5 24km SE of Gharm, Tajikistan 2014-02-01 03:31:22 UTC-05:00 34.1 km
12. 2.9 72km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-02-01 03:20:16 UTC-05:00 20.0 km
13. 4.8 2km ENE of Kainouryion, Greece 2014-02-01 03:14:06 UTC-05:00 26.4 km
14. 3.8 84km SW of Homer, Alaska 2014-02-01 02:10:50 UTC-05:00 46.8 km
15. 4.8 72km W of Lata, Solomon Islands 2014-02-01 01:31:18 UTC-05:00 48.0 km
16. 2.7 71km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 2014-02-01 01:04:52 5:00 29.0 km
17. 4.5 107km NW of Binabalian Ricor, Philippines 2014-02-01 00:57:27 UTC-05:00 16.1 km
18. 4.5 104km NW of Binabalian Ricor, Philippines 2014-02-01 00:40:51 UTC-05:00 14.2 km
19. 6.1 13km SSW of Visokoi Island, 2014-01-31 22:58:43 UTC-05:00 126.6 km
20. 4.8 139km NW of Kota Ternate, Indonesia 2014-01-31 21:43:32 UTC-05:00 14.3 km
21. 3.1 17km SSW of Carpinteria, California 2014-01-31 20:25:18 UTC-05:00 16.0 km
22. 2.8 74km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-31 19:29:28 UTC-05:00 23.0 km
23. 2.7 79km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-31 19:22:15 UTC-05:00 24.0 km
24. 5.0 78km ESE of Amatignak Island, Alaska 2014-01-31 19:00:51 UTC-05:00 39.3 km
25. 3.4 16km WNW of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2014-01-31 17:22:14 UTC-05:00 91.0 km
26. 4.2 55km E of Amatignak Island, Alaska 2014-01-31 17:19:43 UTC-05:00 33.4 km
27. 4.0 55km NE of Kodiak, Alaska 2014-01-31 16:20:54 UTC-05:00 45.6 km
28. 2.6 56km WNW of Dawson, Canada 2014-01-31 16:18:56 UTC-05:00 5.4 km
29. 4.4 78km W of Sinabang, Indonesia 2014-01-31 14:19:46 UTC-05:00 30.5 km
30. 4.5 129km E of Bitung, Indonesia 2014-01-31 13:36:11 UTC-05:00 39.2 km
31. 3.0 7km SSW of Boley, Oklahoma 2014-01-31 12:59:12 UTC-05:00 2.8 km
32. 2.5 68km SSW of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska 2014-01-31 12:18:21 UTC-05:00 100.0 km
33. 5.1 148km SSE of Esso, Russia 2014-01-31 11:39:06 UTC-05:00 158.6 km
34. 3.0 9km E of Helena, Oklahoma 2014-01-31 10:52:58 UTC-05:00 5.0 km