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.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these
things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE)
then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE)
draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30
When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that
summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT
COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A
fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES
AGAINST ISRAEL) 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.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say
to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour
every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall
not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC
BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
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
US envoy says Trump understands why Israel
needs to hold West Bank-David Friedman tells AIPAC a future
administration won’t cotton to the risks for Israel of giving up
security control of the territory-By Eric Cortellessa and TOI staff-MAR
28,19
WASHINGTON — US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman
warned American Jews on Tuesday that a future administration won’t
understand Israel’s need to maintain security control over the West
Bank, suggesting that US President Donald Trump won’t force Israel to
relinquish the territory that Palestinians envision as their own in a
future state.The Trump White House will continue to pursue a Middle East
peace accord, Friedman told a crowd of 18,000 at the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee’s annual confab, because the president’s
successor won’t be sensitive to Israel’s security challenges.Such an
administration, he said, won’t recognize “the existential risk to Israel
if Judea and Samaria are overcome by terrorists,” using the biblical
terms for the West Bank. He emphasized Hamas’s seizure of the Gaza Strip
after Israel’s withdrawal in 2005.What’s more, he added, it won’t
internalize that “in the Middle East peace comes through strength, not
just through words on a paper.”While he didn’t explicitly refer to a
Democratic alternative to Trump, Friedman said that a future
administration could be “potentially willing to penalize Israel for
having the audacity to survive in a dangerous neighborhood.”“We will
continue to work with the Israeli government, with the Palestinians,
with other regional players,” he said, acknowledging that there will be
“some turbulence along the way.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
his main election rival Benny Gantz are committed to maintaining overall
Israeli security control in the West Bank — positions that rule out
fully independent Palestinian statehood.Friedman, a former Trump
attorney who has a history of financially supporting West Bank
settlements before assuming his diplomatic post, celebrated the
president’s recognizing the Golan Heights as sovereign Israel on Monday,
with Netanyahu by his side at the White House.“For two generations,
Israelis of all political stripes proclaimed: ‘The nation is with the
Golan,’ which can never be severed from the State of Israel,” Friedman
said Tuesday. “Without the high ground of the Golan, Israel is exposed
to extraordinary risks from treacherous enemies. This will never happen
on President Trump’s watch.”In remarks after the White House event on
Monday, Netanyahu said the US recognition underlines “one important
principle in international relations: When you start wars of aggression,
and lose territory, don’t come back and claim it later. It belongs to
us.” In further comments on his journey back to Israel Tuesday, the
prime minister appeared to hint at possible future West Bank annexation,
saying: “Everyone says it is impossible to hold an occupied territory,
and behold — it is possible if it is ours in a defensive war.”In his
AIPAC address, the US ambassador also addressed the firing of a rocket
by Hamas terrorists into central Israel, injuring at least seven
Israelis.That rocket, Friedman said, was not aimed at Orthodox, Reform,
or conservative Jews, it was not aimed progressives or conservatives,
Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jews. “That rocket was designed just to kill
Jews,” he said, in an attempt to urge Jewish unity. “We can learn much
from that rocket. It cared not a whit about the differences among Jews.
Let’s put our differences aside in favor of our common goals, now and
always.”Friedman endured a tumultuous confirmation battle in 2017, as
left-wing American Jewish leaders excoriated his past writings, in which
he said the liberal Jewish group J Street was “worse than kapos” — Jews
who turned in their fellow Jews in the Nazi death camps — and lambasted
liberal Jewry for advocating policies that, he said, would put the
Jewish state at risk.In his confirmation hearing, he apologized. “These
were hurtful words,” Friedman said, “and I deeply regret them.”
Syrians
protest US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Golan
Heights-Demonstrations against Trump’s move held in cities throughout
Syria, minister calls for ‘a strong response’ during Damascus rally-By
AFP and TOI staff-MAR 28,19
DAMASCUS, Syria —
Demonstrations spread across Syria on Tuesday denouncing Washington’s
recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, in a show of
unity in the war-torn country, state media said.US President Donald
Trump on Monday signed a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty
over the strategic border area captured from Syria in the 1967 war.
Israel applied Israeli law to the area in 1981 in a move not recognized
by the international community.Trump’s move immediately drew criticism
from the Syrian government, which described it as a “blatant attack” on
the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.On Tuesday,
demonstrators took to the streets across Syria to protest Washington’s
decision.They staged rallies in Damascus, the government strongholds of
Latakia and Tartous, the northern city of Aleppo, the central city of
Homs, Deir Ezzor in the east and the southern cities of Daraa and
Quneitra, state news agency SANA said.Syrians also protested in the
Kurdish-majority northeastern cities of Qamishli and Hassakeh, it
said.Demonstrators carried portraits of President Bashar Assad and
raised the Syrian and Palestinian flags, in photos carried by SANA.“The
blatant US bias toward Israel will not change the Syrian identity of the
Golan,” Information Minister Imad Sara told state television during a
rally in Damascus.“There needs to be a strong response,” not just
condemnations, he said. “We want action on the ground.”In Aleppo,
hundreds gathered in the central Saadallah al-Jabiri square.“We are here
to condemn Trump’s Golan decision,” said Mohammad Shaaban, a
protester.“The Golan is Arab and Syrian whether they like it or not,” he
said.In Damascus, the lawyers’ syndicate gathered at the justice palace
to decry the move, pro-regime television showed.“America is now the
primary enemy of the Arabs,” a syndicate representative read from a
statement.The lawyers’ syndicate in Hama paused court sessions for one
hour in protest over the US decision, SANA said.Trump’s Golan decision
spurred condemnation from several regional states, including Turkey,
Iran, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.It also drew criticism from the Syrian
regime’s ally Russia, which warned of a “new wave” of tensions in the
Middle East.The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss the Golan on
Wednesday during a meeting on renewing the mandate of the UN
peacekeeping force deployed between Israel and Syria in the Golan, known
as UNDOF.
Defense Ministry rebukes Israeli spy tech
company for unlawful exports-Ability Computer and Software Industries,
Ability Security Systems have licenses suspended after hearing; most
details in case under gag order-By TOI staff-MAR 28,19
The
Defense Ministry on Tuesday suspended the licenses of two subsidiaries
of Israel tech company Ability for violating defense export laws. A gag
order was placed on most of the details surrounding the
investigation.The two companies — Ability Computer and Software
Industries, and Ability Security Systems — were suspected of marketing
and exporting listening and positioning systems without licenses against
the law, the ministry said.Representatives of the companies were
summoned to a hearing by the Defense Ministry Tuesday, following an
investigation.The decision to suspend the licenses, which the companies
say “provide intelligence technologies to government agencies and the
military,” was an unusual move by the ministry.At the end of the
proceedings, Ability Security Systems was suspended from the Defense
Export Registry, along with its marketing, export and encryption
licenses. Ability Computer and Software Industries also had licenses
suspended.Israel’s defense exports are regulated according to a 2007 law
that requires defense contractors to consider what and where Israeli
weapons will be used for. The law is designed to prevent companies from
knowingly selling weapons to countries that intend to use them to commit
atrocities.While the contractors are legally required to take potential
human rights violations into consideration under the law, this
requirement can be overruled out of diplomatic or security
concerns.Currently, Israeli law only prevents the sale of weapons to
countries that are under an official embargo from the UN Security
Council. However, such embargoes rarely happen, generally because of
vetoes by China and Russia.Israel has been accused of selling weapons
and military services to human rights violators around the world for
decades, including to apartheid South Africa, Rwanda during the 1994
genocide and in recent years to South Sudan, despite a near-universal
arms embargo over the bloody civil war there.Israeli company NSO is
currently facing lawsuits alleging it sold spyware to governments with
questionable human rights records. Channel 12 news reported last month
that NSO hired controversial private investigation firm Black Cube to
investigate those involved with the case. The NSO Group denied the
claim.Recently, Israel has also been accused of supplying Myanmar with
“advanced weapons” during the country’s ethnic cleansing campaign
against its Rohingya Muslims. The Foreign Ministry admitted last year
that Israel had sold weapons to Myanmar in the past, but said that it
had frozen all contracts earlier in 2017.In 2018, controversial
Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte told President Reuven Rivlin that
his country would only buy weapons from Israel due to its lack of
restrictions. He has said in the past that he sees Israel as an
alternative supplier of weapons after the US and other countries refused
to sell him arms over human rights violations.The recent warming of
ties between Israel and Chad was reportedly conditioned on Jerusalem’s
willingness to sell arms to the African country, which critics say is
guilty of human rights violations.Israel has also come under criticism
for its cooperation with Azerbaijan, another country accused of human
rights violations, despite it being one of the few majority-Muslim
countries with which the Jewish state enjoys an openly positive
relationship.Azerbaijan is seen as an important ally given that it
shares a border with Israel’s nemesis, Iran. Last year, the country’s
president, Ilham Aliyev, revealed Azerbaijan had purchased some $5
billion worth of weapons and defense systems from Israel.In February,
top officials in the Israeli drone manufacturer Aeronautics Defense
Systems Ltd. were suspended over suspicions the company tested one of
its “suicide drones” against the Armenian military on behalf of
Azerbaijan in 2017.
U.S. House fails to override Trump veto
of resolution to end border wall emergency-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-By Susan
Cornwell-March 28, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.
House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to override President Donald
Trump's first veto, leaving in place the "national emergency" he
declared last month to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall that Congress has
not funded.Democrats who control the House did not attract enough
Republican support to reach the two-thirds majority vote needed to
overturn Trump's veto. Just 14 Republicans joined 234 Democrats in
voting to override, one more Republican than had bucked Trump in a
previous House vote on the border wall emergency. One Democrat and two
Republicans did not vote.With the 248-181 tally, Trump is now likely to
continue scouring federal accounts for money he wants redirected to
building a border wall, his signature issue.However, House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi vowed lawmakers would keep trying to block Trump's move through
the regular congressional process of appropriating funds, as well as
reviewing his declaration of emergency again six months from now.The
battle over Trump's emergency declaration also shifts to the courts,
with various legal challenges already underway. A coalition of 16 states
sued in February to block Trump's move.Trump declared the national
emergency on Feb. 15 in an attempt to bypass Congress and move taxpayer
funds for the wall away from other uses already approved by the
legislature. Bipartisan majorities of both the House and Senate rejected
his move, voting to terminate the emergency before the president vetoed
their resolution on March 15.Democrats argued the Republican president
had overstepped his authority by going around Congress, because the
legislature has the power to control spending under the U.S.
Constitution."We take an oath to the Constitution, not to the president
of the United States," Pelosi said on the House floor.But Republicans
insisted Trump had acted legally under a 1976 law known as the National
Emergencies Act, under which previous presidents had declared dozens of
emergencies."The president has the authority to act. The president is
using the authority Congress has given him," said Republican
Representative Sam Graves.Trump's position on Tuesday was possibly
strengthened by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's conclusion after a
22-month investigation that the Republican president's campaign team did
not collude with Russian interference in the 2016 election. Moscow has
denied meddling.That political victory for Trump may make it more
challenging for Republicans to defy the president on a range of issues,
including his border emergency.“Even though the two issues clearly
aren’t related, it increases the president’s strength and popularity and
puts him in a stronger position,” Republican Representative Tom Cole
said before the vote.After the vote, Pelosi said Congress would keep
working through the appropriations process to "terminate this dangerous
action" by the president.Indeed, earlier Tuesday, the House Armed
Services Committee sought to deny the Pentagon the authority to
reprogram funds for the wall, an action that could potentially set up
another courtroom battle.The Pentagon had announced Monday that it was
shifting $1 billion from military construction projects to build part of
the wall. But Democratic Representative Adam Smith, the Armed Services
Committee's chairman, said Tuesday the panel did not approve the
proposed use of Pentagon funds.BYPASSING CONGRESS-For two years,
Congress has refused to meet Trump's demands for funding the wall he
promised in his 2016 election campaign, although it appropriated some
funds for border fencing and other barriers.Trump has made clamping down
on illegal immigration a cornerstone of his presidency, and it promises
to be central to his 2020 bid for re-election.His drive for billions of
dollars to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall - one that he initially
promised Mexico would pay for - has placed a wedge between him and
Congress, including some Republicans who are uncomfortable talking about
a wall.Many in Congress say effective border security requires a range
of law enforcement tools, and Democrats dispute Trump's claim there is a
crisis at the border.(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Additional reporting
by David Morgan; Editing by Peter Cooney, Bill Trott and Jonathan
Oatis)
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
ISAIAH 66:15-16
15
For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots
like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with
flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
ISAIAH 26:21
21
For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS
COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 4 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed
one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Democrats, Muslim lawmaker decry opening prayer as divisive-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-MARK SCOLFORO-TOI-March 28, 2019
HARRISBURG,
Pa. (AP) — The first female Muslim member of the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives said Tuesday she was offended by a colleague's decision
to open a voting session with a prayer a day earlier that "at the name
of Jesus every knee will bow."Democratic Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell of
Philadelphia said she felt the remarks by Rep. Stephanie Borowicz
shortly before Johnson-Harrell took the oath of office on Monday used
her religion against her."I thought that for the most part, the entire
invocation was offensive," Johnson-Harrell told reporters, noting that
her own religion respects Jesus. "But to use Jesus as a weapon is not
OK."Borowicz, a Republican and associate pastor's wife who was elected
to represent a rural central Pennsylvania district in November, also
thanked President Donald Trump during the Monday invocation for standing
behind Israel.Johnson-Harrell said she respects everyone's right to
praise the president, but "we cannot weaponize what's going on with
Israel and Palestine."Prayer should not be among the things that
Republicans and Democrats fight about, she said."It was directly a
political statement, and I think we need to be very, very clear that
everybody in this House matters, whether they're Christian, Muslim or
Jew, and that we cannot use these issues to tear each other down,"
Johnson-Harrell said. "And not only that, it was made during my swearing
in."Johnson-Harrell won a special election earlier this month to fill a
seat vacated by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Vanessa Lowery
Brown, who had been re-elected in November after being convicted of
bribery.Her swearing-in drew 55 guests, a majority of them Muslim. A
Muslim prayer was said from the House dais during the ceremony.Borowicz
defended her remarks Monday, saying, "I pray every day. I prayed." She
did not immediately return a message seeking a response to
Johnson-Harrell's comments Tuesday."At the name of Jesus every knee will
bow and every tongue will confess, Jesus, that you are Lord," Borowicz
said on Monday.Her floor remarks drew a rebuke from Democratic Leader
Frank Dermody of Allegheny County, who called Borowicz's invocation
"beneath the dignity of this House" and asked that a group be set up to
review the procedure.Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday he was
"horrified" by Borowicz's invocation and apologized to Johnson-Harrell
on behalf of all Pennsylvanians."I was horrified. I grew up in
Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn on the basis of
freedom of conscience. I have a strong spiritual sense. This is not a
reflection of the religion I grew up in," said Wolf, a Methodist.Another
Muslim lawmaker, Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-Philadelphia, opened the session
on Tuesday by reading from the Quran. His invocation was followed by
applause.House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, who controls the daily
invocation process, lost a federal court decision last summer that
halted his policy of preventing nonbelievers from making the
invocations. Turzai is appealing that ruling , and currently has the
invocations performed by state representatives themselves.After
Borowicz's comments on Monday, Turzai read for House members the
guidance that has previously been provided to religious professionals
about keeping remarks respectful of all religious beliefs and refraining
from commenting on extraneous matters.___Associated Press writer Marc
Levy contributed.
Roadblocks removed, schools to reopen as
calm returns to Gaza border-Authorities resume running trains through
south, begin removing restrictions as informal ceasefire following day
of fighting appears to hold-By TOI staff and Judah Ari Gross-MAR 28,19
The
Gaza border area slowly returned to normal on Tuesday, a day after a
sharp spike in violence between Gaza and Israel that led local councils
to close schools, roads and train routes throughout southern
Israel.Defense officials said Tuesday afternoon they believed the danger
of an escalation in violence had passed for the time being, with Israel
and Hamas reportedly reaching an informal ceasefire.The Israel Defense
Forces began removing road blocks and other obstacles around the Gaza
Strip that prevented civilians from approaching the area, including
access roads to some border villages like Kibbutz Nahal Oz.The army also
said schools would reopen after consultations with local officials, and
all other restrictions lifted.Officials earlier ordered train traffic
to resume, opening stations over the course of the afternoon.The first
train in the area left Ashkelon for Beersheba at 4:10 p.m., and another
left Beersheba for Ra’anana at 5:20 p.m.The return to normal came after a
day of relative calm following a night in which over 60 rockets were
launched from the Gaza Strip and the IDF struck dozens of targets in the
Palestinian territory.After firing around 30 rockets and mortar shells
at Israel Monday evening, the Hamas terror group said it had accepted an
Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement with Israel that entered into
effect at 10 p.m. But terrorists in the Strip continued to attack
southern Israel into the night, with the army saying another 30
projectiles were launched between 10 p.m. and 3:15 a.m.Israel carried
out heavy bombardments in Gaza, striking several targets across the
Strip, including the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. On Tuesday,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israel could step up the
attacks as an Israeli official denied it had agreed to a ceasefire.The
IDF had shuttered schools across the south on Tuesday in response to the
fighting, and put other rules in place to limit large gatherings.Train
routes throughout the south were also canceled over fear that stations
and tracks could be struck in a rocket barrage.Businesses were allowed
to operate as usual so long as there was easy access to bomb shelters
nearby. Farmers were also permitted to return to their fields if they
coordinated their work with the local military brigade.No Israelis were
injured in the rocket attacks, though a home in the southern town of
Sderot sustained a direct hit by a rocket that did not explode.The round
of fighting began with a rocket that slammed into a home in the town of
Mishmeret northeast of Tel Aviv, leveling a home and injuring seven
people.The rocket strike, which was attributed to Hamas, represented a
significant increase in the level of violence from the coastal enclave,
following weeks of heightened tensions and border clashes, as well as
recent skirmishes in an Israeli jail between Hamas security prisoners
and prison guards.There are fears in Israel that violence will ramp up
this week, with Hamas hoping to draw hundreds of thousands of rioters to
the fence at the weekend to mark a year since the start of the
so-called March of Return protests, which began March 30,
2018.Additional Iron Dome air defense batteries have been deployed
throughout the country and two additional brigades were dispatched to
the Gaza region.The army also called up approximately 1,000 reservists
for air defense and other select units.Raphael Ahren, Adam Rasgon and
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Without mentioning
Omar, Pelosi at AIPAC decries ‘myth of dual loyalty’-Support for Israel
remains ‘relentlessly bipartisan,’ says House speaker, a day after Pence
tells confab Democratic Party ‘co-opted’ by anti-Semites-By Eric
Cortellessa-TOI-MAR 28,19
WASHINGTON — Without mentioning
freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar by name, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
addressed the elephant in the room Tuesday morning.Speaking to the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s 2019 Policy Conference, the
Democratic leader argued that support for Israel remained “relentlessly
bipartisan” as she implicitly rebuked Omar for her controversial
comments last month that pro-Israel activists pushed lawmakers to show
“allegiance” to Israel.“In our democratic societies we should welcome
legitimate debate on how best to honor our values and to advance our
priorities without questioning loyalty or patriotism,” Pelosi told the
crowd of more than 18,000.She cited a House resolution that Democratic
leaders shepherded several weeks ago to condemn anti-Semitism and all
forms of bigotry in response to the firestorm sparked by Omar’s
comments.The motion was criticized by Republicans, who called it a
“watered down” version that did not call out Omar directly and that
steered away from a narrow focus on anti-Semitism.Pelosi on Tuesday
attempted to challenge that notion by reading directly from the
resolution’s passage that castigated anti-Semitic invective.“This month
the whole house came together to condemn the anti-Semitic myth of dual
loyalty and all forms of bigotry with a resolution that ‘rejects the
perpetuation of anti-Semitic stereotypes in the United States and around
the world, including the pernicious myth of dual loyalty and foreign
allegiance, especially in the context of support for the United
States-Israel alliance,'” she said.Elsewhere in her speech, Pelosi
insisted that there was still support for Israel on both sides of the
aisle. On Monday, US Vice President Mike Pence told the same crowd
precisely the opposite, claiming the Democratic Party had been
“co-opted” by anti-Semites.“Support for Israel remains ironclad and
bipartisan… relentlessly bipartisan,” Pelosi said. “We will never allow
anyone to make Israel a wedge issue.”The California representative did
not mention Pence or US President Donald Trump — who recently called
Democrats “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish” — in her speech.She listed all
the pro-Israel Jewish Democrats who have leadership positions in the
House, including Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, Intelligence
Committee Chair Adam Schiff, and Appropriations Committee Chair Nita
Lowey.“Assistance to Israel is vital and it’s not going anywhere,”
Pelosi said, “because if you care about America’s security, you must
care about Israel’s security.”
Federal judge ends North Carolina ban on abortions after 20 weeks-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-March 28, 2019
(Reuters)
- A U.S. federal court struck down North Carolina's decades-old ban on
abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, saying any "week- or
event-specific" abortion ban is unconstitutional.The law, which took
effect in 1973, only allowed an abortion after 20 weeks in the case of a
medical emergency. Abortion-rights groups sued in 2016 after the health
exception was further narrowed.U.S. District Judge William Osteen in
Greensboro overturned the ban on Monday, allowing an abortion to take
place at any point before the fetus is viable, or able to potentially
live outside the womb, as determined by a doctor.His order will take
effect in 60 days, allowing the state to appeal, should it decide to do
so, or to propose alternative abortion legislation.Citing U.S. Supreme
Court precedent, Osteen wrote "a state is never allowed to prohibit any
swath of pre-viability abortions outright, no matter how strenuously it
may believe that such a ban is in the best interests of its citizens or
how minimal it may find the burden to women seeking an abortion."Laura
Brewer, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina attorney general's office,
said her office was reviewing the decision.The groups that brought the
lawsuit - the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil
Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood - welcomed the decision."This ban
is unconstitutional and ignores the unique circumstances, challenges,
and potential complications pregnant women face," Genevieve Scott, a
staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a
statement on Tuesday. "Politicians taking medical options off the table
for women at any stage of pregnancy is irrational and dangerous."The
ruling appeared to thwart a bill brought by Republican lawmakers in
North Carolina earlier this year that would have banned abortions after
13 weeks.Several Republican-controlled states have attempted to pass new
abortion restrictions. In a law enacted earlier this month, Mississippi
banned a woman from obtaining an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is
detected.Some conservatives hope these laws will end up being used to
challenge Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's 1973 landmark ruling that
women have a constitutional right to an abortion.(Reporting by Jonathan
Allen; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH
BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN
ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE
MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE
REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND
LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
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.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with
child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF
THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And
he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS)
man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be
against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against
him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL
ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the
morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF
THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM
MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Austrian
far-rightist probed for ties to New Zealand shooter-Right-wing populist
Martin Sellner received large donation possibly linked to Christchurch
mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant-By Frank Jordans-TOI-MAR 28,19
BERLIN
(AP) — Austria’s leader called Tuesday for authorities to “ruthlessly”
investigate possible ties between an Austrian nationalist group and the
alleged Christchurch mosque gunman, after it emerged that a prominent
far-right activist in the Alpine nation had received a donation in the
suspected shooter’s name.Martin Sellner, head of the Identitarian
Movement of Austria, said on social media that police searched his
apartment Monday and seized electronic devices after he received a
“disproportionately high donation” from a person named Tarrant — the
same surname as the suspected Christchurch shooter.Christoph Poelzl,
spokesman for Austria’s Interior Ministry, confirmed Tuesday that the
country’s BVT domestic intelligence agency searched Sellner’s apartment
in Vienna at the request of prosecutors in the city of Graz.“Any
connection between the Christchurch attacker and members of the
Identitarians in Austria needs to be comprehensively and ruthlessly
investigated,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted, adding that
he had spoken to Justice Minister Josef Moser about the issue.“It is
important that the independent justice system can use all necessary
means and resources to conduct its investigation together with the
security services and expose these networks,” he said. “There needs to
be total clarity about all extremist activities.”Hansjoerg Bacher, a
spokesman for Graz prosecutors, said prosecutors had stumbled across the
donation as part of an existing probe against Sellner into possible
financial offenses.“The purpose of the investigation is to examine links
between Mr. Sellner and the Christchurch attacker,” Bacher told The
Associated Press.He declined to confirm when the donation took place,
but said it was much higher than other contributions made to Sellner or
his Identitarian Movement.“Most donations were in the area of
two-to-three figures, whereas this donation was in the low four-figure
area,” Bacher told The AP.“This made it stand out, and the events in New
Zealand put a face to this donation.”He said the investigation against
Sellner is based on Austrian anti-terror laws.“We need to determine
whether there is a connection and if so, whether it’s criminally
significant,” said Bacher.Sellner denied having anything to do with the
March 15 massacre, in which 50 Muslims were killed in the southern New
Zealand city.Australian Brenton Tarrant was arrested within an hour of
the mosque shootings and has been charged with murder.“I had nothing to
do with the attack,” Sellner said in a video statement posted on
YouTube, adding that he would donate the money to a charitable
organization.He suggested the reason for the donation might have been to
provoke repressive measures against “patriots.”Austrian authorities
said last week that the Christchurch shooter visited Austria, but
declined to confirm when or whether he met with any far-right activists
during his trip.Some of Tarrant’s anti-Muslim views are echoed by the
Identitarian Movement. The group is close to sections of the nationalist
Freedom Party, which is part of the country’s coalition
government.Austria’s vice chancellor, who leads the Freedom Party,
echoed Kurz’s call for a comprehensive probe into possible Austrian ties
to the Christchurch gunman.“All suspicions of extremism are acted upon,
whether they are right, left or religiously motivated,” Heinz-Christian
Strache said on Twitter. “Fanaticism has no place in our society.”
Gaza
groups said to pledge not to escalate as long as IDF halts raids-Weekly
protest scheduled for Tuesday at border between Israel and the Strip
canceled; schools and businesses reopen in Gaza City-By Adam
Rasgon-TOI-MAR 28,19
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip told
Egyptian intelligence officials that they would not escalate tensions
with Israel as long as Israeli security forces halt their air raids on
the coastal enclave, Qatar-based news outlet Al-Jazeera reported Tuesday
morning, citing a Palestinian source.The report came after residents in
southern Israel and Gaza woke to a tense but relatively quiet morning,
following a night in which terror groups in the Strip launched
approximately 60 rockets at the Jewish state and the IDF struck dozens
of Gazan targets.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum announced late Monday
night that Egypt had succeeded in brokering a ceasefire between the
terror groups and Israel. However, the two sides continued to exchange
fire until the early hours of Tuesday.Tensions between Israel and the
terror groups ramped up Monday morning after a rocket fired from Gaza
hit Mishmeret, a village in the center of the country, injuring seven
including two infants.Israel blamed the rocket attack on Hamas, which
did not issue a statement confirming or denying responsibility for the
attack.Meanwhile, committees responsible for organizing protests on the
border between Israel and Gaza announced on Tuesday that a weekly
demonstration in northern Gaza on the beach near border separating the
Jewish state and the coastal enclave was canceled “because of the
security situation the Strip is going through in the wake of Israel’s
ongoing escalation.”For the past six months, Palestinians have
participated in almost weekly protests, which have included violence, at
the border. The protesters have called for Israel to lift restrictions
on the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza.Israel
maintains that its limitations on movement aim to prevent Hamas and
other terror groups from transferring weapons to Gaza.A resident of Gaza
City said that markets and businesses were open Tuesday morning.“People
are back on the streets, but there is concern that tensions will
escalate later today,” the resident, who works at a tile factory in
Gaza, said by phone, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We are
waiting to see what happens.”Israeli politicians on Tuesday pushed back
against Hamas’s claim that a ceasefire was concluded.Israel did not
agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, and is ready to continue its airstrikes
on targets in the Gaza Strip, a senior official in Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s entourage to Washington said Tuesday afternoon,
minutes before the delegation’s plane landed in Tel Aviv.
Senior
official says no ceasefire with Hamas, as troops remain on Gaza
border-While shaky truce appears to hold, security precautions in effect
across south after massive exchange of fire between IDF and Hamas after
Gaza rocket smashed home in central Israel-By Raphael Ahren and Judah
Ari Gross-TOI-MAR 28,19
Israel did not agree to a
ceasefire with Hamas, and is ready to continue its airstrikes on targets
in the Gaza Strip, a senior official in Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s entourage to Washington said Tuesday, minutes before the
delegation’s plane landed in Tel Aviv.“There was no ceasefire,” the
senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Netanyahu was
in constant contact with the IDF chief of staff and other security
officials throughout the 12-hour flight back to Israel, the official
added.Israeli troops and tanks along the Gaza border remained at the
ready on Tuesday afternoon, hours after an unofficial ceasefire went
into effect following the latest bout of warfare between the Israel
Defense Forces and Hamas terror group in the coastal enclave.“We had
many targets in Gaza. These were the hardest blows Hamas has suffered
since Operation Protective Edge,” the senior official said, referring to
the 2014 war with the terrorist group in Gaza.“We hit office buildings
and other infrastructure. We sent a strong message,” the official went
on. “The images were reminiscent of the end of Protective Edge.“And
we’re prepared to do even more. We will see what happens,” the official
added.Asked by The Times of Israel if Israel has adopted a “quiet will
be met by quiet” formula, the official demurred. “I am not saying
anything. We will see what happens.”Netanyahu’s plane returned to Israel
from the US at around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, and Netanyahu immediately made
his way to the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv for additional
security consultations with IDF chief Aviv Kohavi and other top defense
officials.At this stage, Netanyahu has not convened the security
cabinet, but will merely “assess the information,” the senior official
said.Though the truce, which was announced by Hamas but not formally
acknowledged by Israeli officials, appeared to be holding, the Israel
Defense Forces was preparing for the possibility of renewed violence in
the Gaza Strip.The latest round of violence was kindled when, just after
dawn on Monday, a rocket from the southern Gaza Strip that Israel says
was fired by Hamas struck a home in the town of Mishmeret, northeast of
Tel Aviv, leveling the building. Two of the people inside were
moderately wounded and five others, including two small children, were
lightly injured.It was the farthest-reaching rocket strike from the
Strip since the 2014 war.Shortly after the attack, the military sent two
additional brigades to the Gaza region and called up approximately
1,000 reservists for air defense and other select units. Meanwhile,
additional Iron Dome air defense batteries were deployed throughout the
country.The rocket strike, which Israeli officials attributed to Hamas,
represented a significant increase in the level of violence from the
coastal enclave, following weeks of heightened tensions and border
clashes, as well as recent skirmishes in an Israeli jail between Hamas
security prisoners and prison guards.After a tense 12 hours of
deliberations on the Israeli side and failed attempts by the Egyptian
military to preemptively broker a ceasefire, the Israeli Air Force
launched a large-scale retaliatory bombing campaign, destroying dozens
of targets, including the offices of Hamas chairman Ismail Haniyeh in
Gaza City.At least three Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli
strikes, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The extent of
their injuries was not immediately known.In response, shortly before
8:30 p.m., terrorists in the coastal enclave began launching mortar
shells and rockets at southern Israel, triggering air raid sirens
throughout the region and sending tens of thousands of Israelis
scrambling for bomb shelters.From Monday night and into Tuesday morning,
approximately 60 projectiles were fired at Israeli towns near the Gaza
Strip.The barrages caused no injuries, but a number of projectiles
struck homes in the town of Sderot in southern Israel, causing damage.
Most of the rockets and mortar shells landed in open fields. Several
others were intercepted by the IDF’s Iron Dome missile defense system,
the army said.The last of the rockets were fired at 3:15 a.m., despite
Hamas officials saying earlier that Egypt had brokered a ceasefire that
would go into effect at 10 p.m.On Tuesday morning, the Israeli military
called for a number of precautionary safety measures in southern Israel:
schools in the area were closed, though some informal education was
permitted so long as it took place in fortified buildings; businesses
were only allowed to open if workers had easy access to bomb shelters;
and some government services were not made available in light of the
threat of renewed violence.Throughout the morning, residents of the
Israeli town of Sderot found fragments of rockets from the night
before.Departing the US for Israel around 2 a.m. (Israel time),
Netanyahu — who, with elections looming, has come under strong criticism
from the opposition and coalition over his Gaza policies — threatened a
land invasion.“We will deal with these issues,” he said. “We gave a
very powerful response. Hamas needs to know that we won’t hesitate to go
in [to Gaza] and take any required steps.”There are fears in Israel
that violence will ramp up this week, with Hamas hoping to draw hundreds
of thousands of rioters to the fence this weekend to mark a year of
so-called March of Return protests, which began March 30, 2018.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE 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.
DEUTORONOMY 28:22-24
22
The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and
with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword,
and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until
thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC)
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,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
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.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Death toll from Indonesia floods, mudslides rises to 89-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-March 19, 2019
JAYAPURA,
Indonesia (AP) — The death toll from flash floods and mudslides
triggered by torrential downpours in Indonesia's easternmost province
has risen to 89, with dozens of others missing, officials said
Tuesday.Floodwaters and landslides destroyed roads and bridges in
several areas of Papua province's Jayapura district early Sunday,
hampering rescue efforts.National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the worst-hit area from the flooding was
Sentani subdistrict, where tons of mud, rocks and trees from a landslide
on a mountain rolled down to a river that burst its banks, sweeping
away residents.He said 89 bodies had been pulled from the mud and
wreckage of crumpled homes by Tuesday. Another 159 people were injured,
including 84 who were hospitalized, many with broken bones and head
wounds.The number of dead is expected to rise as rescue workers comb
through affected areas.More than 1,600 rescuers, including soldiers and
police, faced difficulties on Tuesday in clearing huge piles of debris
due to shortages of heavy equipment, said Papua military spokesman Col.
Muhammad Aidi."We face difficulties removing debris and the bodies under
rubble as we don't have enough excavators," Aidi said, adding that
rescuers were searching for 74 people reportedly missing and feared
dead.Nugroho said about 7,000 residents were displaced from their homes,
with more than 400 houses and other buildings damaged and thousands of
others submerged.Seasonal downpours cause frequent landslides and floods
that kill dozens each year in Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands
where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood
plains.
After devastating floods, U.S. Midwest farms need
more than 'paper towels' to recover-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-By Andrew
Hay-March 28, 2019
(Reuters) - Missouri farmer Richard
Oswald needs a lot of help to recover from flooding that left his home
and farm looking like a manmade island in an inland sea.Relief groups
are giving tetanus shots and handing out free meals and cleaning
supplies near his farm in the Langdon-Rock Port area, about 100 miles
(161 km) northwest of Kansas City. But what Oswald really needs is
money.Hit by the worst flooding in living memory, he and thousands of
other farmers along the Missouri River will each require hundreds of
thousands of dollars in disaster funds or loans to start over."The
typical response on flood relief is groups like the Red Cross show up
with paper towels and rubber gloves and scrub buckets," said Oswald, 69,
who does not expect to be able to get to his home or land for weeks.
"The biggest thing farmers need is cash, or ways to access
funds."'BOUNCE BACK'-Slammed by a trade war and low commodity prices,
Midwest family farms have been in the red and in decline for the last
five years. The number of U.S farms fell by 100,000 between 2010 and
2017, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.Thousands
more will now go under without emergency financial support for flooding,
pummeling heartland economies almost entirely dependent on agriculture,
farmers and aid groups said.It is a call federal and state agencies, as
well as non-governmental and faith-based relief groups are
answering.President Donald Trump has approved disaster declarations for
Nebraska and Iowa, making federal disaster funding available in
flood-hit areas. Missouri Governor Mike Parson declared a state of
emergency, paving the way for similar actions in his state."I know we
aim for bringing everything back up to where it was," said Rosalynn
Days-Austin, a USDA emergency coordinator helping direct Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) efforts in flood-affected areas.
"Sometimes that’s not always possible, for a variety of reasons, but the
goal is definitely to help them bounce back from their loss."CASH
PREFERRED-Relief groups like Farm Aid are tending to the immediate needs
of farmers, distributing tens of thousands of dollars in "emergency
grants" - $500 gifts from cash donations that help families pay for
things like groceries. After that, the group and its partners advise
farming families on how to access federal disaster funds they hope are
coming soon."What we’re hearing, because of the snowpack and rain and
the wet ground, is that farmers are going to be dealing with this
throughout the spring. So we're in it for the long haul," said Jennifer
Fahy, a spokeswoman for the group established by country singer and
activist Willie Nelson.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
is coordinating a long-term response to get displaced families housed,
navigate the red tape of insurance companies and federal agencies and
tend to the mental health needs of people who have suffered extreme
trauma, said Bishop Brian Maas."We have national partners and coalitions
within the state," said Maas, who is asking people to hold off donating
more material goods, for now. "There will be stresses because we’ve not
done anything of this magnitude."Now we have mountains of cleaning
supplies and so forth that can't be used," Maas said, appealing to
people to get back in touch in a month to see how they can donate then.
"Cash is the most flexible way to respond."'FEMA IS WORTHLESS'-Another
immediate need is feed for livestock.Relief organization Farm Rescue is
collecting donations of hay in the Dakotas and trucking it to farmers
whose cattle are starving after their feed stands were submerged in
floodwater."I don’t know of anything this widespread that has ever
affected so many people in our service area," said Dan Erdmann, a
spokesman for the group which helps family farms get through crises
ranging from natural disasters to medical emergencies.Farm workers, some
of them undocumented and legal migrants, have been hit hard. Lutheran
Family Services of Nebraska is looking at housing assistance for
displaced people who previously paid around $300 a month rent and now
face rents triple that due to a dearth in properties, said Stacy Martin,
chief executive of the social services charity.While relief groups tend
to urgent needs, farmers like Scott Olson say more federal relief money
is needed at a time when low crop prices and high debt levels are
limiting farmers’ access to credit. He is counting on a farm relief bill
in Congress for extra disaster compensation after he successfully
lobbied in Washington for similar funds following 2011 flooding."Flood
insurance isn’t going to cover this worth a darn. FEMA is worthless,"
said Olson, who farms 3,000 acres near Tekamah, Nebraska and runs a farm
equipment business. "They don’t have any money, nobody has any
money."(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Additional reporting by
Tom Polansek in Chicago; editing by Bill Tarrant and Lisa Shumaker)
