LOUISIANA HIT BAD BY HURRICANE IDA.

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)

 DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN

REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
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) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).

THE COVID-19 TOTALS.
WORLD OVER ALL CASES 217,459,955 - DEAD 4,518,784 - AS OF MON AUG 30,2021 (PROBABLY IN THE LAST 200,000 DEAD-150,000 STILL GOT COVID AND DIED AFTER GETTING BOTH VACCINE SHOTS)

As infections rise, WHO fears 236,000 more COVID-19 deaths in Europe in 3 months-Europe director Hans Kluge says low vaccination rates on the continent are of particular concern, with skepticism of inoculation holding up stabilization of pandemic-By Camille BAS-WOHLERT-AUG 30,21-Today, 8:35 pm

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Monday that another 236,000 people could die from COVID-19 in Europe by December 1, sounding the alarm over rising infections and stagnating vaccine rate on the continent.Countries across the region have seen infection rates tick up as the highly transmissible Delta variant takes hold, particularly among the unvaccinated.Poorer nations, especially in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia, have been hardest hit, and deaths are mounting as well.“Last week, there was an 11 percent increase in the number of deaths in the region –- one reliable projection is expecting 236,000 deaths in Europe, by December 1,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said Monday.Europe has registered around 1.3 million Covid deaths to date.Of the WHO Europe’s 53 member states, 33 have registered an incidence rate greater than 10 percent in the past two weeks, Kluge said. Most are in poorer countries.High transmission rates across the continent were “deeply worrying, particularly in the light of low vaccination uptake in priority populations in a number of countries.”Kluge said the Delta variant was partly to blame, along with an “exaggerated easing” of restrictions and measures and a surge in summer travel.While around half of people in the WHO’s Europe region are fully vaccinated, uptake in the region has slowed.“In the past six weeks, it has fallen by 14 percent, influenced by a lack of access to vaccines in some countries and a lack of vaccine acceptance in others.”Only six percent of people in lower and lower-middle income countries in Europe are fully vaccinated, and some countries have only managed to vaccinate one in 10 health professionals.“The stagnation in vaccine uptake in our region is of serious concern,” Kluge said, urging countries to “increase production, share doses, and improve access.”-Vaccines for teachers-Kluge stressed that since public health and social measures were being relaxed in many places, “the public’s vaccination acceptance is crucial.”“Vaccine skepticism and science denial is holding us back from stabilizing this crisis. It serves no purpose, and is good for no one.”The warning comes as the WHO and UNICEF urged European countries earlier Monday to make teachers a priority group for vaccinations so schools can stay open throughout the pandemic.As schools reopen after the summer holidays, the agencies said it was “vital that classroom-based learning continue uninterrupted”, despite the spread of the Delta variant.“This is of paramount importance for children’s education, mental health, and social skills, for schools to help equip our children to be happy and productive members of society,” Kluge said.“The pandemic has caused the most catastrophic disruption to education in history,” he added.The agencies urged countries to vaccinate children over the age of 12 who have underlying medical conditions that put them at greater risk of severe Covid-19.It also recalled the importance of measures to improve the school environment during the pandemic, including better ventilation, smaller class sizes, social distancing, and regular COVID-19 testing for children and staff.

Associated Press-As districts insist on vaccines, some teachers push back-GILLIAN FLACCUS and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN-Mon, August 30, 2021, 12:02 PM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Some of the biggest school systems in the U.S. are taking a hard line with teachers and staff members who are not yet vaccinated against COVID-19: Get a jab or lose your job.Most teachers already are vaccinated, and national teachers' unions have endorsed vaccine mandates, but the policies have sparked protests from educators and, in some cases, pushback from local district leaders who fear large numbers of departures.In Oregon, where school staffers statewide are required to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, the board for the 7,500-student district of Redmond last week passed a resolution protesting the mandate and mandatory mask-wearing in schools after “significant” opposition.“This could do serious damage to the other mandate that we have, which is to provide excellent education to the children and the families of our district,” board member Michael Summers said. “We’re attempting to speak for people.”Teachers in many school districts with vaccine requirements can opt out as long as they submit to regular testing for the coronavirus, but New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis are among a growing list of places that are limiting exemptions to bona fide medical and religious reasons. Washington and Oregon have adopted similarly strict vaccination policies statewide.As a new school year begins, governments are taking a harder line on vaccinations to ward off the highly contagious delta variant. Coronavirus vaccines are not yet available to children younger than 12.“This is to ensure that the children we all cherish are safe, that their families are reassured,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, said last week.Underscoring the risks of infection in classrooms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented a case study in its weekly report Friday detailing how an unvaccinated teacher in Marin County, California, north of San Francisco, spread the virus to 22 of the instructor’s 24 students at school. The CDC said the teacher sometimes read aloud to the students while unmasked.Some school staff members who have held off on getting vaccinated say they would leave their jobs before taking the shots.Marlene Washington, an elementary school teachers in New York City, said as she protested de Blasio's order outside City Hall last week that she is considering retirement after two decades in the classroom. She said she questions the long-term safety of the vaccines.“I’m still undecided about what to do,” said Washington, 62. “But I do know that I’m not taking the vaccine.”Kiara Coleman, a food service worker for Philadelphia schools, said she isn't budging despite uncertainty over the consequences of refusing a vaccine.“I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I find out more details of the mandate. I would hate to throw away all that time I have with the schools,” said Coleman, who said she has concerns about potential long term effects of vaccines.Philadelphia parent Rebecca Smith, who has daughters in the third and sixth grades, said school officials have an obligation to protect unvaccinated children.“The one thing I shouldn’t have to worry about is the people employed to care for my children making them sick,” she said in written testimony to the school board. “School employees are tasked with caring for some of the most vulnerable members of our society -- our children under 12, who right now are the ONLY group who can not get a vaccine to protect themselves.”While teachers unions including the United Federation of Teachers, which represents New York City teachers, have supported the no-opt out rules for vaccines, they also advocate on behalf of dissenting members in negotiations with the city. Some of those talks focus on severance packages for those who leave their jobs and leaves of absences that could allow some teachers to return once the public health crisis passes.“We will represent them and we will protect their interests. But there is a deep disagreement here,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the parent organization of the New York City teachers union.“At the end of the day, employers have the right to impose these kinds of vaccination policies and they will do that,” she said.At least 72% of the 75,000 public school teachers in New York City have gotten at least one shot of a vaccine.Protestors gathered in Olympia, Washington, when Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, announced teachers would have until Oct. 18 to be fully vaccinated or face firing. A protest on Saturday attracted hundreds of state employees, from ferry workers to teachers, who rallied against the vaccine mandate.Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, moved toward mandatory vaccinations as COVID-19 hospitalizations have surged nearly 1,000% since early July.About 700 teachers have contacted the Freedom Foundation, a right-wing legal organization that has represented businesses cited for violating COVID-19 restrictions in Oregon and elsewhere.“We’ve been telling everybody to make the school fire you,” said Jason Dudash, the group’s Oregon director. “Don’t quit. If they’re going to do this, make them do it.”A 675-student district in central Oregon delayed the start of school three weeks until Sept. 20 to deal with the fallout from the vaccine mandate, Culver School District Superintendent Stefanie Garber said in a letter to families.She said her district will comply but feels state officials are threatening unreasonable penalties, including the possible loss of a district’s liability insurance and the revocation of teachers’ licenses.In another small, rural town, a district-sponsored vaccine clinic set up after Brown’s vaccine mandate attracted fewer than 10 teachers and there is concern about staffing if some decide to leave rather than get the shots, said Lebanon Community School District Superintendent Bo Yates.Yates estimated that between 50% and 60% of the teachers and staff in his 4,000-student district are vaccinated. Several dozen teachers and their supporters protested the mandate when it was announced earlier this month.“In a certain sense, I empathize with them because some of the people that are protesting have been our superstars during this COVID period. They’ve been the food service workers that have been feeding our community on a nonstop basis or our bus drivers,” Yates said. “But we’ve got to follow the mandates that we’re given or we’ll be swimming in this sea forever.”In Redmond, Oregon, the school board resolution protesting the vaccine mandate passed on a 3-2 vote. The district will comply with the vaccine mandate as it fights to regain local control of decisions around mask-wearing and vaccines in schools, board members said.One board member who voted against the resolution, Liz Goodrich, noted COVID-19 is surging in central Oregon and only 57% of eligible residents in Redmond are fully vaccinated.“To me, local conditions are not good and we have heard over and over," she said, “that the spike of this delta variant is not done.”___Calvan reported from New York. Associated Press reporters Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington, contributed to this report.

Associated Press-GOP's Larry Elder looks for shock win in California recall-MICHAEL R. BLOOD-Mon, August 30, 2021, 1:08 PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s next governor could be a Black conservative who would erase state vaccine and mask mandates, is critical of gun control, disputes the notion of systemic racism in America and opposes the minimum wage because he says it tramples the free market.The rapid ascent of Republican Larry Elder in the Sept. 14 recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is a striking turn in a state regarded as a Democratic fortress and national showcase for liberal policies on climate change, immigration and health care.Elder is a talk radio host who Newsom identifies as his biggest threat in an election widely acknowledged as tight. Elder is promising to reverse California's progressive drift that he blames for an unrelenting homeless crisis, high taxes, spiking crime rates and government creep into people’s lives and livelihoods — from “anti-science” coronavirus mandates to regulations he says slow-walk housing construction.There is a saying that the future happens first in California, and Elder's potentially historic victory could have broad implications, coming on the threshold of 2022 elections that will decide control of Congress.An Elder win would also trigger a power struggle with Sacramento's Democratic state legislative majority over everything from government appointments to how to spend billions of taxpayer dollars.In California “young families are leaving, the taxes are going up on gasoline and this governor is either incompetent or indifferent,” says Elder, who would become the first Black governor of the nation's most populous state. “He’s got to go.”In another year, the charismatic Elder’s candidacy in heavily Democratic California might be a footnote — the GOP hasn't won a statewide race since 2006 and Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by nearly 2-to-1. Former President Donald Trump lost the state to Joe Biden last year by more than 5 million votes.But the unusual math that underlies the rare, late-summer recall election could upend the expected.For years, Republicans have envisioned that a confluence of crises might result in a pendulum swing in leadership in a state that was home to — and voted for — Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.Mail-in ballots went out in mid-August. They are being returned at a time when COVID again is spiking and many voters are angry and looking for someone to blame.The recall was driven by weariness over Newsom's whipsaw pandemic rules that closed businesses and schools, but it's buttressed by grievances that range from frustration with sprawling homeless encampments to soaring housing costs.The GOP's chances rest in the atypical rules of the recall election.There are two questions on the ballot: First, should Newsom be removed, yes or no? If a majority agrees to oust him, his successor is whoever gets the most votes on the second question. With 46 candidates, the winner could get 25% or less.It's a rare opportunity for the GOP in a state where Democrats hold every statewide office and dominate the Legislature and congressional delegation. Republicans account for only 24% of registered voters, but the dynamics of the recall have allowed Elder and other conservative candidates to target their campaigns at right-leaning voters who could provide a sufficient winning edge.Elder quickly overshadowed a field of GOP rivals that include businessman John Cox, state Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and former Olympian and reality TV personality Caitlyn Jenner.Newsom was successful in keeping prominent Democrats off the ballot, though YouTube personality Kevin Paffrath has emerged as a potential contender within Newsom's party.At 69, Elder is a latecomer as a first-time candidate and he’s far from a household name. However, he’s been a celebrity within conservative circles for years through his provocative radio show that for many stations is part of lineup of conservative voices that includes Elder's mentor, Dennis Prager. Elder has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and counts nearly 2 million followers on social media.The self-styled “Sage of South Central” –- a reference to the rough Los Angeles neighborhood where he grew up -- is taut with energy that belies his age. When arguing points, he can talk with the rapid-fire certitude of the lawyer that he is — Elder is a 1977 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, and received an undergraduate degree from Brown University.Arguably Elder’s biggest headline since entering the race July 12 was an unwelcome one – a former fiancee, Alexandra Datig, alleged he was emotionally abusive and showed her a gun during an argument in 2015, a claim Elder denies.However, the allegations do not appear to have slowed his campaign’s trajectory. He rolled out endorsements last week that included GOP national Committeeman Shawn Steel and former Democratic state Senate leader Gloria Romero, who favors charter schools, as does Elder.His political views reflect a libertarian mindset that would elicit cringes among progressive voters — he believes government has grown too big, too intrusive, too costly.He stands opposed to what he sees as government overreach, hence his opposition to sweeping mask mandates and the minimum wage. He’s been critical of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, arguing that such restrictions should be left to states.To Elder, climate change is real but he also warns against a “war on oil and gas” and shifting too quickly into a renewable-energy economy, which he says would cost jobs and fail to keep the lights on.His views on race often have put him at odds with other Blacks. Elder is critical of the Black Lives Matter movement, and he has called racial quotas a “a crutch and a cop-out.” He opposes efforts to “defund” police. In a 1995 interview with The Orange County Register he said, “We have to stop bitching and moaning and whining and crying and blaming the white man for everything.”Black Democratic leaders recently held an event to denounce his views on race.“He may look like us, he may talk like us, but he is not one of us,” said Malia Cohen, a member of the California State Board of Equalization, which oversees collection of state taxes.The embattled Newsom has called Elder “more extreme than Trump in many respects.”From the start, Democrats have sought to link the recall effort to the former president, who is widely unpopular in the state outside his conservative base.Elder rejects the notion that he’s a mirror image of Trump, noting that he's broken with him on trade — Elder disagreed with tariffs and other restrictions imposed by the former president — and also thought Trump erred by cutting Afghanistan troop levels.Newsom’s steady focus on Elder isn’t a surprise, says Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin. It allowed the governor to recast the race from a referendum on his own tenure by “putting a face on the alternative.”“Without a clear alternative, it was hard for Gavin and the Democrats to say, ’Oppose the recall,' because it’s such an amorphous thing,” Tulchin said. “Now, he can hold up Elder to define the race on partisan terms.”With mail-in ballots already being returned, the contest remains heavy with unknowns, including who will bother to vote in an election scheduled in what is normally an off-election year.Elder might benefit from little-noticed wrinkles in state voting patterns. California has a liberal tilt, but not always.Voters in 2020 rejected an organized labor-backed attempt to partially dismantle the state’s decades-old cap on property taxes, as well as reinstate affirmative action, while Republicans ousted Democrats in four U.S. House seats.Elder says he considers the race a longshot, given Newsom’s ability to raise unlimited funds. But he believes he’s the only Republican likely to deliver a stunning surprise next month.“I don’t think anybody can win except for me,” he says.

PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)

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.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)

IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)

ISAIAH 34:10
10  It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29  And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30  The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031  One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32  And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)

COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AM

EZEKIEL 39:11-22
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18  Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19  And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20  Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21  And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

Israel and US working on ‘Plan B’ if Iran nuke talks fail, Gantz says-In wide-ranging briefing, defense minister says intel ties with US getting stronger, calls for strengthening the PA and keeping a strict blockade on Gaza until Hamas frees captives-By Judah Ari Gross-AUG 30,21-Today, 5:49 pm

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday said Israel and the United States had restored intelligence ties and were working to develop a “Plan B” if the stalled talks between Washington and Tehran regarding a fresh Iran nuclear deal sputter out, following a meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and US President Joe Biden last week.Gantz warned that if Iran becomes a nuclear state, it will trigger an international arms race in which many other nations, in the Middle East and beyond, will attempt to acquire an atomic bomb.“The United States and Israel share intelligence information, and the cooperation with the United States in this field is only getting stronger. We are working with them in order to establish a Plan B and to demonstrate that if there is no deal, other activities will begin, as President Biden said,” the defense minister said, speaking to military correspondents ahead of the Jewish New Year next week.On Friday, the US president told a joint press conference with Bennett that his administration was “ready to turn to other options” if diplomatic talks with Iran failed, likely alluding to the possibility of clandestine operations and military strikes.The White House meeting came a day after US officials told the New York Times that Israel’s previous administration had downgraded intelligence sharing with the US after Biden took office. Bennett has sought to restore ties with US Democrats after their relationship with former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu became frayed, though Iran was the focus of the Friday meeting.Gantz did not specify what the “Plan B” could entail, but Israeli officials have signaled a need for a credible military threat to deter Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons.Gantz’s comments joined a flurry of threats by Israeli defense officials toward Iran in recent days, including Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, who told reporters last week that the military was preparing plans and funding for a potential military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.“We are allocating resources in order to strengthen our ability to act against challenges in the region, chief among them Iran,” Gantz said.The defense minister made his comments during an extended briefing with reporters at the Defense Ministry’s offices in Tel Aviv’s Kirya military base, focusing on Iran along with his meeting Sunday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the lingering threats from the Gaza Strip following May’s conflict with terror groups there, the Middle East in general and the ongoing efforts by the government to pass the budget and fund the Defense Ministry’s programs.“A defense budget allows us to rearm and allows for the operational ability that we need, alongside important social considerations. We are working to improve fortifications in the north and to build the [Lebanese border] barrier that was held up for years,” Gantz said.Referring to recent efforts by the government to encourage ultra-Orthodox men to perform national service, the defense minister said he was working to expand this in order to get a larger majority of Israelis to enlist, warning that if this is not accomplished within the next decade, Israel will be forced to move to a professional, volunteer military.“The goal is to get more than 70 percent of people to serve each year, when today we only have roughly 50 percent,” Gantz said.The defense minister said he instructed the IDF to begin preparing for the possibility that it will have to continue to support the national pandemic response through the end of 2022, after initially planning to scale back the military’s involvement in these efforts following this year’s massive vaccination drive.-Strengthening the PA-Gantz reiterated his support for strengthening the Palestinian Authority, which works closely with Israel on security issues, particularly against Hamas and other terror groups in the West Bank. However, the PA is often maligned in Israel for its financial support for terrorism in the form of stipend to the families of Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli on terrorism charges or killed as they perpetrated terror attacks, as well as for its repeated efforts to gain unilateral recognition as a state in international forums such as the United Nations.“I told Abbas that we aren’t going anywhere and that the Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. I went to the meeting in order to build confidence and preserve the interests of the State of Israel and the important ties we have with the Palestinian Authority, which I believe we need to strengthen,” Gantz said.“As the Palestinian Authority gets stronger, Hamas gets weaker, and so long as it has greater governance, we will have more security and we will have to act less,” he added.The defense minister did not bring up the possibility of renewed peace talks with the Palestinians, and an official close to the prime minister told reporters earlier in the day that “there is no diplomatic process with the Palestinians nor will there be.”Regarding the Gaza Strip, which has recently seen a significant increase in violence along the border, Gantz said Israel was maintaining its policy of making full reconstruction and further development of the enclave contingent upon the release of two Israeli civilians and the remains of two fallen IDF soldiers from Hamas captivity.The defense minister said the military would also continue to strike more forcefully than it did in the past in response to low-level violence along the border, such as the launching of balloon-borne incendiary devices.“We said that what had been will not be again, and what had been is not what is happening now. This is in terms of the nature and strength of our retaliations, in the different mechanism through which Qatari funds are being transferred, also on civilian issues and on the dependence of reconstruction on the captives, as I said at the end of the operation,” Gantz said.Echoing similar comments made recently by IDF chief Kohavi, the defense minister warned that Israel may be at the outset of a fresh round of fighting in Gaza, continuing the campaign from May’s 11-day conflict, known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls, if the violence along the border continues.“Our strikes in Gaza have been precise and have hit rearmament facilities that are painful for Hamas and that deny it capabilities. I cannot promise that we will not have to continue with a 12th day of Guardian of the Walls,” he said.Gantz also noted that rocket attacks from Lebanon, which began during Operation Guardian of the Walls, appeared to be the work of Palestinian terror cells linked to Hamas.During the fighting in Gaza, three rounds of rocket fire were launched at northern Israel, causing neither injuries nor damage. A fourth attack was launched on July 20 and a fifth on August 4 by these Palestinian cells.“We have seen that Hamas International is trying to create an infrastructure in Lebanon,” Gantz said.The IDF does not see these cells as a major threat, but has allocated additional intelligence resources to monitoring them. The main threat in Lebanon remains the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist militia.After Israel retaliated forcefully to the August 4 attack, Hezbollah fired 19 rockets at northern Israel, the first time the organization has openly launched such an attack since the 2006 Second Lebanon War. These rocket attacks from Lebanon raised the specter of a potential two-front war in the future, in which Israel would have to fight both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.“The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is very worrying, but so are the rearmament efforts of Hezbollah. We are prepared for the possibility of fighting on the northern front, including a situation in which we would be fighting on northern and southern fronts,” Gantz said.

Congresswoman demands Israel release body of alleged Palestinian attacker-Without mentioning Mai Afana’s attempted June assault on soldiers, Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib slams Israeli policy of holding onto bodies of assailants killed during attacks-By Ron Kampeas-AUG 30,21-Today, 8:34 pm

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called for Israel to return the body of a woman who was killed while she attempted to kill Israeli soldiers.In a Twitter thread on Saturday, Tlaib, one of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress, slammed Israel for its policy of holding onto the bodies of assailants who are killed during an attack.“Meet Mai Afana’s mother, Khuloud, who is fighting to be able to bury her daughter & begin her healing,” wrote Tlaib, a Palestinian American. “Mai was a mother, loving daughter & successful PhD student. She was killed by the Israeli government last June. Israel won’t release her body to her family.”Attached to the tweet was a photo of Afana’s mother holding up a poster of her daughter.Afana was killed on June 16. The Israeli military said at the time that she had rammed her car into a West Bank checkpoint near Jerusalem and then, holding a knife, had rushed the soldiers at the checkpoint. An Israeli soldier was lightly injured in the attack.Israel routinely holds bodies of assailants as a means of bargaining for live Israeli captives and the bodies of Israelis held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Meet Mai Afana's mother, Khuloud, who is fighting to be able to bury her daughter & begin her healing. Mai was a mother, loving daughter & successful PhD student. She was killed by the Israeli government last June. Israel won't release her body to her family. pic.twitter.com/kHehtA0yeW — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 28, 2021-Tlaib does not in her Twitter thread explain the background to Afana’s death except for an apparent allusion to her belief that the army had not made its case against Afana, saying that bodies are held “without proof.”“I am sharing Mai’s story because I began to only learn last year of this inhumane practice by the Israeli govt,” Tlaib wrote. “Without proof, they make claims, and all to just continue to dehumanize Palestinians even after they have died. We must stand against this form of collective violence.”An Israeli soldier stands near a car said to be used in an attack near Hizmeh Junction in the West Bank, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)-Tlaib also does not address the underlying rationale for the policy — Hamas’ refusal to return Israeli bodies and captives. She does link to a Human Rights Watch report condemning Israel for holding another Palestinian’s body; that report mentions Israel’s rationale for holding the bodies and condemns Hamas as well.“The Palestinian people deserve the same dignity as any other human being,” Tlaib wrote. “To deny the right to see their loved ones for a modicum of closure is another form of painful violence from the US sponsored, Israeli arsenal. Mai’s dead body is one of hundreds being held.”Tlaib is one of a handful of progressive Democrats who back the boycott Israel movement and who during the Israel-Hamas conflict in May called for a cut in funding to Israel. She is the only member of Congress who says she believes Israel should not exist as a Jewish state.

US military investigating reports of civilian casualties in Kabul airstrike-According to reports, 10 members of one family, including seven children, were killed when a US drone strike targeted Islamic State fighters in Kabul-By TOI staff and Agencies-AUG 30,21-Today, 8:24 pm

A drone strike in Kabul on Sunday that the US said targeted terrorists about to carry out an attack killed 10 members of one family, including seven children, according to media reports.US officials said Sunday’s drone strike hit a vehicle carrying multiple Islamic State suicide bombers, causing secondary explosions that indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material. A senior US official said the military drone fired a Hellfire missile at a vehicle in a compound between two buildings, after people were seen loading explosives into the trunk.According to The New York Times, 10 members of one family were killed, including an aid worker for the American charity organization, Nutrition and Education International, and a contractor with the US military. CNN reported that nine members of a family, including six children, were killed in the air strike.In a statement, US Central Command said it was looking into the reports of civilian casualties that may have been caused by the secondary explosions. An Afghan official said three children were killed in the strike. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul today,” Captain Bill Urban, a CENTCOM spokesman, said in a statement. “We are still assessing the results of this strike, which we know disrupted an imminent ISIS-K threat to the airport,” he continued.“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” Urban added. “It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further. We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life.”Afghan people are seen inside a house after US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 29, 2021. (AP Photo/ Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi)-The strike on Sunday, and a separate strike on Saturday against IS, came in the wake of the deadly suicide bombing at the Kabul airport on Thursday which killed 13 US service members and close to 170 Afghan civilians. IS claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, which came as scores of Afghans were fleeing the country after the Taliban’s stunning and rapid takeover of Afghanistan as US forces withdraw.The Islamic State-Khorasan group also claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Monday which targeted the Kabul airport but struck a nearby neighborhood.“The soldiers of the caliphate targeted Kabul’s international airport with six… rockets,” the group said in a statement.Some of the rockets landed in the Salim Karwan neighborhood, striking residential apartment blocks, witnesses said. That neighborhood is some three kilometers (less than two miles) from the airport. There were no immediate reports of injuries.Five rockets targeted the airport, said Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command. A defensive weapon known by the acronym C-RAM — a Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System — targeted the rockets in a whirling hail of ammunition, Urban said. The system has a distinct, drill-like sound that echoed through the city at the time of the attack.The rockets did not halt the steady stream of US military C-17 cargo jets taking off and landing at the airport.US President Joe Biden has set a deadline of Tuesday to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan, drawing to a close his nation’s longest military conflict, which began in retaliation for the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Islamic State-Khorasan group, rivals of the Taliban, pose the biggest threat to the withdrawal.

Side effects feared from vaccine are more common in COVID cases — Israeli study-Research on 2 million Israelis fails to find high incidence of any serious side effect post-inoculation; coronavirus patient 4 times more likely to get myocarditis than vaccinee-By Nathan Jeffay-AUG 30,21-Today, 7:10 pm

COVID is far worse than vaccines in elevating risk of myocarditis and other conditions that have been feared as post-inoculation side effects, Israeli research shows.The authors of the peer-reviewed side effects study, thought to be the largest of its kind to date, say it offers new reassurance on the safety of the Pfizer vaccine. They believe that it should prompt a serious rethink among people who shun the shots because of the rare side effects.“Anyone who has been hesitant to get vaccinated so far due to concerns about rare side effects such as myocarditis, should be aware that the risk is higher among unvaccinated people infected with the coronavirus,” said Prof. Ran Balicer, head of research at the Clalit Health Services, which produced the study.The study looked at almost two million medical records, and failed to identify high incidence of any serious side effect post-vaccination — while finding that several conditions are less common than normal among the newly inoculated.According to Balicer, it provides clear figures that put the incidence of side effects, which loom large in the minds of many, into perspective.Balicer, a senior adviser to the Israeli government on the coronavirus, said: “So far one of the main motives for hesitation to get vaccinated has been a lack of information about possible vaccine side effects. This in-depth study provides reliable information on the safety of the vaccines, and we hope it will help those who have not yet decided on the vaccine.”One of the most discussed vaccine side effects, a heart condition called myocarditis, was found to be elevated among vaccinated people, with 2.7 more cases per 100,000 people than would normally occur (known as surplus cases). But among people who didn’t vaccinate and subsequently caught COVID-19 and recovered, surplus cases stood at 11 per 100,000.The study, just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, focused on people who received the Pfizer vaccine, and tracked patients’ health for six weeks. The study concluded that “the BNT162b2 vaccine was not associated with an elevated risk of most of the adverse events examined.”The main exceptions were lymphadenopathy, which enlarges lymph nodes, and shingles. There were 78 surplus cases of lymphadenopathy per 100,000 vaccinated people but only 3 among the unvaccinated and infected.There were nine fewer cases of shingles per 100,000 among the unvaccinated population than the norm, but 16 surplus cases among vaccinated patients.The data indicates that the conditions feared as side effects were largely in the normal range — or even less common than normal — among vaccinated people, but elevated among those who caught COVID-19.Acute kidney injury and arrhythmia turned out to be less common among the vaccinated than would be expected. Yet among the unvaccinated and infected patients, there were surplus cases — as many as 125 and 166 per 100,000 in the case of acute kidney injury and arrhythmia respectively.There were other conditions that were more common among recovered patients, but in the broadly normal range among the vaccinated. These included pulmonary embolism (62 surplus events per 100,000 among the infected), deep vein thrombosis (43 events), myocardial infarction (25 events), pericarditis (11 events), and intracranial hemorrhage (7.6 events).Appendicitis was found higher than the norm among both vaccinated people and the unvaccinated infected to a similar level — with five and four surplus cases per 100,000 people respectively.The research was conducted in partnership with Harvard University, which chose to study Israeli data because it is comprehensive. Marc Lipsitch, director of Harvard’s Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, a co-author of the study, said that a major challenge of vaccine safety research is comparing like-for-like patients.“This is especially challenging when it comes to vaccines that are advancing so fast, but Clalit’s extraordinary database makes it possible to design research that addresses these challenges in a way that builds confidence in the reliability of the research’s conclusions.”

Israel agrees to send NIS 500 million to PA, bypassing terror stipend freeze-So-called loan to Ramallah will be paid back via garnished tax revenue held by Israel, allowing Jerusalem to circumvent its own law requiring offsetting funds PA pays to terrorists-By Judah Ari Gross-AUG 30,21-Today, 7:03 pm

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday said Israel had offered to transfer the Palestinian Authority NIS 500 million ($155 million) in order to keep the cash-strapped government afloat.The arrangement announced by Gantz, which he described as a loan, will allow the Israeli government to effectively circumvent a law passed in 2018 that requires it to offset any payments made by the PA to Palestinians wounded, jailed, or killed by Israel — including avowed terrorists — by withholding the same amount from the Palestinian tax revenue that Israel collects.Instead, Israel will loan the PA approximately NIS 500 million, and pay itself back next June out of the roughly NIS 600 million ($186 million) it withheld earlier this summer and put in escrow, which was estimated to be roughly the same as what Ramallah paid out in salaries to terror convicts and families of so-called martyrs in 2020.Gantz’s announcement came after a meeting he held the night before with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, the first such public meeting between high-level Israeli and Palestinian officials in over a decade. At a briefing Monday, Gantz called for the PA to be bolstered as a bulwark against Hamas and other terror groups.“I told Abbas that we aren’t going anywhere and that the Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. I went to the meeting in order to build confidence and preserve the interests of the State of Israel and the important ties we have with the Palestinian Authority, which I believe we need to strengthen,” Gantz said.The PA did not immediately comment on the offer of funds. The two sides have been negotiating the matter for some time. Last week, a Palestinian official confirmed that these talks were taking place, though it described the arrangement as an “advance” on funds that the PA was owed, “not a loan.”The defense minister said Israel would also recognize the status of Palestinians or their spouses currently living in the West Bank without proper documentation, most of whom came from the Gaza Strip or from abroad without official permission over the years in order to marry people in the West Bank. This status change would only apply to adults and would be performed according to the relevant security protocols, his office said.A senior Palestinian official, Hussein Al Sheikh, confirmed that the PA had agreed to work with Israel to get approvals for 5,000 undocumented spouses as a first step toward addressing this issue in general.Tens of thousands of undocumented spouses of Palestinians and others are thought to live in the West Bank, facing deportation or arrest if caught, and Israel, which is not obligated to approve these requests in accordance with a 1987 High Court ruling, has largely halted its recognition of undocumented Palestinian spouses over the last 12 years.We have reached an agreement with the Israeli government on the Palestinian families’ reunification file, to have 5000 as a first batch in the road to finalising this file entirely in a prearranged timeframe. — ???? ????? Hussein Al Sheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) August 30, 2021-Under the Oslo Accords, the PA requires Israeli approval in order to issue identity cards, but it has largely refused to pass along requests for these undocumented spouses, believing that Israel should not have this authority.  One former Palestinian official told The Times of Israel that 35,000 such residency applications were stuck in limbo between Israel and the PA.Israel was also digitizing many of its permit applications for Palestinian in order to streamline the process and make it cheaper and easier, according to Gantz.An additional 16,000 Palestinians will also be permitted to work in Israel, 1,000 of them specifically in tourism industries, and Israel will also approve more building in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli security control, he said.The defense minister did not bring up the possibility of renewed peace talks with the Palestinians, and an official close to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters earlier in the day that “there is no diplomatic process with the Palestinians nor will there be.”Gantz’s meeting with Abbas came as Bennett returned from Washington after meeting with US President Joe Biden. Biden raised the Palestinian issue with the new Israeli leader during their discussions.During Biden’s meeting with Bennett, the president underscored “the importance of steps to improve the lives of Palestinians and support greater economic opportunities for them” and noted “the importance of refraining from actions that could exacerbate tensions, contribute to a sense of unfairness, and undermine efforts to build trust,” the White House said.Bennett has vowed to prop up the ailing PA government and economy, although he has ruled out working to establish an independent Palestinian state.The last high-level face-to-face talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders were in 2010, at the beginning of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s second term in office. While the two leaders crossed paths on occasion later, ties became increasingly strained as the peace process went on indefinite hold; their last public phone call was in 2017 after a Palestinian terror attack.In recent years, high-level contact between the two sides became rare.According to Gantz’s office, the politicians held two rounds of discussions. The first was attended by Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians, Ghassan Alian, Palestinian Authority intelligence chief Majid Faraj and al-Sheikh. In the second, Gantz and Abbas spoke privately.Gantz spoke on the phone with Abbas in mid-July, marking the highest-level public contact between the two sides since Netanyahu’s 2017 phone call. A flurry of meetings and phone calls have followed: Public Security Minister Omer Barlev spoke with Abbas a few weeks later, while ministers on both sides held rare meetings with their counterparts.Israeli officials have publicly emphasized strengthening the PA’s economy as Ramallah faces a growing fiscal crisis. In July, Israel increased the number of work permits for West Bank Palestinians seeking employment inside Israel in an attempt to ease the economic pangs.Palestinian workers enter Israel through the Mitar checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron, on May 3, 2020. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)-The West Bank economy has been battered by the coronavirus, shrinking by 11.5 percent over the course of 2020. The PA government budget has also taken a serious hit, with a Western diplomat warning The Times of Israel in late July that the PA was “about to collapse due to lack of revenues.”At the same time, Ramallah has seen a major drop in Arab and international aid, which previously accounted for a significant chunk of its budget. In 2019, the PA received around $300 million in budget support by the end of June. In 2021, however, it got just $30.2 million — barely more than one-tenth the amount.Aaron Boxerman contributed to this report.

Fact checkers debunk MK’s claim that Biden fell asleep in Bennett meet-Clips widely shared on social media, including by Likud’s Galit Distel Atbaryan, were altered to cut out the president’s response in order to deliberately mislead, Reuters notes-By TOI staff-AUG 30,21-Today, 9:28 pm

US President Joe Biden did not fall asleep during a meeting last week with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, according to a Reuters fact check of the incident.The false claim was widely disseminated on social media, in the US and Israel, including by a Likud MK.Biden and Bennett met on Friday morning at the White House, after their planned meeting was delayed 24 hours following the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport on Thursday which killed 13 US military officers.In clips shared on social media, Biden appears to have fallen asleep as Bennett is speaking. But those clips have been altered to cut out Biden’s remarks made immediately after he briefly lowered his eyes while listening, Reuters noted.Observers also noted that Biden’s remarks immediately after Bennett stopped speaking — “You’ve given me credit, much of which should go to Barack Obama, for making sure that we committed to the qualitative edge you would have” — were a direct response to the prime minister’s comments.The "Biden asleep" video is now being reported by #Iran's state broadcaster. The footage they've shared is clearly snipped to show a few seconds where Biden's dropped his head in conversation with Israeli PM Bennett.The vid below includes a longer version of the snipped scene. pic.twitter.com/2TQN1TFeWQ — Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) August 29, 2021-Likud MK Galit Distel Atbaryan, who was among those to share the misleading clip, accused the Israeli media of “falling asleep itself and not paying attention to this historical moment.”Distel Atbaryan’s tweet accumulated more than 5 million views.It was also flagged with a warning from Twitter for sharing “manipulated media.”During the 2020 presidential election, Biden was dubbed “Sleepy Joe” by his opponent, former president Donald Trump, and critics of the president have repeatedly attempted to share disinformation claiming that Biden has fallen asleep during meetings or at events.

Associated Press-Cyprus: Syrian oil slick could reach the island in 24 hours-Mon, August 30, 2021, 2:05 PM

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — An oil slick believed to have originated from a power plant inside one of Syria’s oil refineries could reach Cyprus' northeastern tip in the next 24 hours, the Mediterranean island nation's Fisheries and Marine Research Department said Monday.The Department said the most recent computer model indicates the oil spill could affect Apostolos Andreas Cape in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus by late Tuesday.It said information and photographs received from ships in the region show the slick is a thin film of oil rather than thick cr.The Cypriot government has informed Turkish Cypriot authorities about the slick’s progress and is ready to offer any assistance.Syria’s state news agency said last week that the spill occurred after fuel leaked from a tank at the Baniyas Thermal Station.Syria’s oil resources are mostly outside of government-controlled areas but its two refineries are under government control. This makes Damascus reliant on Iran for fuel, but U.S. Treasury sanctions have hindered the supply network, which spans Syria, Iran and Russia.

SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.

GENESIS 1:5,145 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-CHEMICAL WEAPONS

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) 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)
REVELATION 16:21 80-120LB HAIL ON HUMANS
21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:(80-120 LBS) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

FAMINE

EZEKIEL 5:16
16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

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: 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, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

DEUTORONOMY 28:24
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.

LOCUSTS (DEMONIC) TORTURES SINNERS 5 MONTHS
REVELATION 9:1-6
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke (DEMONIC) locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

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.

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,221 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
 
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Hundreds trapped, 1 million without power, as Ida churns through Louisiana-Officials say it could take six weeks to fully restore power to parts of New Orleans hit hard by hurricane, as extent of damage seen for first time-By Rebecca Santana, Kevin McGill and Janet McConnaughey-AUG 30,21-Today, 8:21 pm

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — Rescuers set out in hundreds of boats and helicopters to reach people trapped by floodwaters and utility crews mobilized Monday after a furious Hurricane Ida swamped the Louisiana coast and made a shambles of the electrical grid in New Orleans and beyond, in the sweltering, late-summer heat.One of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the US mainland weakened into a tropical storm overnight, as it pushed inland over Mississippi with torrential rain and shrieking winds, its danger far from over.Ida was blamed for at least one death — someone hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge — but with many roads impassable and cellphone service knocked out in places, the full extent of the storm’s impact was still coming into focus.Officials warned that it could be weeks before power is fully restored.The hurricane “came in and did everything that was advertised, unfortunately,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said.All of New Orleans lost power right around sunset Sunday, as the hurricane blew ashore on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, leading to an uneasy night of pouring rain and howling wind.When daylight came, streets were littered with tree branches and some roads were blocked. While it was still early, there were no immediate reports of the catastrophic flooding city that officials had feared.“I had a long miserable night,” said Chris Atkins, who was in his New Orleans home when he heard a “kaboom” and sheetrock from the walls of the living room fell into the house. A short time later, a whole side of the living room fell onto his neighbor’s driveway.New Orleans firefighters assess damages as they take photos and look through debris after a building collapsed from the effects of Hurricane Ida, August 30, 2021, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)“Lucky the whole thing didn’t fall inward. It would have killed us,” he said.Four Louisiana hospitals were damaged and 39 medical facilities were operating on generator power, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.The governor’s office said over 2,200 evacuees were staying in 41 shelters, as of Monday morning, a number expected to rise as people were rescued or escaped from flooded homes. Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for the governor, said the state will work to move people to hotels as soon as possible so that they can keep their distance from one another.“This is a COVID nightmare,” Stephens said, adding: “We do anticipate that we could see some COVID spikes related to this.”Interstate 10 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge — the main east-west route along the Gulf Coast — was closed because of flooding, with the water reported to be four feet (1.2 meters) deep at one spot, officials said.An area just west of New Orleans got about 17 inches (43 centimeters) of rain in 20 hours, Greg Carbin of NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center tweeted.Still, it appeared that the levees that failed in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina held up in Ida, the governor said.“For the most part, all of our levees performed extremely well — especially the federal levees — but at the end of the day, the storm surge, the rain, the wind all had devastating impacts,” Edwards said. “We have water systems that are out. We have tremendous damage to homes and to businesses.”New Orleans firefighters assess damage as they look through debris after a building collapsed from the effects of Hurricane Ida, August 30, 2021, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)-The rain and surge of seawater in the maze of rivers and bayous south of New Orleans threatened hundreds of homes. On social media, people posted their addresses and directed search-and-rescue teams to their attics or rooftops.The Louisiana National Guard said it activated 4,900 Guard personnel and lined up 195 high-water vehicles, 73 rescue boats, and 34 helicopters. Local and state agencies were adding hundreds of more.Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans knew of 500 people who said they were going to stay in areas that were flooded, and it began sending out dozens of boats to account for everyone and start rescuing them, Parish Council member Deano Bonano told WWL-TV.More than a million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi were without power, according to PowerOutage.US, which tracks outages nationwide. That left them without air conditioning and refrigeration in the dog days of summer.“We don’t know if the damage is extensive. We don’t know if the damage is something we can get up quickly,” Entergy New Orleans CEO Deanna Rodriguez told WWL-TV.The hurricane twisted and collapsed a giant transmission tower in Jefferson Parish along the Mississippi River, and the wires fell into the river, causing widespread outages and halting river traffic, parish Emergency Management Director Joe Valiente said.The tower, which survived Katrina, is one of eight ways power is brought into New Orleans, and the failure of one of them might have led the others to shut down as well, Rodriguez saiD.Other areas were also in the dark.“One-hundred percent of the grid is smashed, hundreds of telephone poles snapped, trees hit power lines and just ripped them out,” Valiente told NPR. He said that the entire power grids collapsed in about 10 parishes and that it could take six weeks to fully restore power.Edwards said on Sunday that 30,000 utility workers were in the state to help restore electricity.AT&T’s phone system was down all across southeastern Louisiana. Many people resorted to using walkie-talkies. The governor’s office staff had no working phones.New Orleans’ levees underwent major improvements after Katrina, which breached the city’s flood defenses, caused catastrophic flooding, and was blamed for 1,500 deaths. Ida posed the city’s biggest test since that disaster.A news crew reports on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain, ahead of approaching Hurricane Ida in New Orleans, August 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)-Farther south, emergency officials had not heard from Grand Isle since Sunday afternoon. About 40 people stayed on the barrier island, which took the brunt of the hurricane and was swamped by seawater, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng told NBC.Ida’s 150 mph (230 kph) winds tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the mainland. Its winds were down to 45 mph (72 kph) early Monday, and forecasters said it would rapidly weaken, while still dumping heavy rain over a large area.In Mississippi’s southwestern corner, entire neighborhoods were surrounded by floodwaters, and many roads were impassable.Ida was expected to pick up speed Monday night before dumping rain on the Tennessee and Ohio River valleys on Tuesday, the Appalachian mountain region Wednesday, and the nation’s capital on Thursday.Forecasters said flash flooding and mudslides are possible along Ida’s path before it blows out to sea over New England on Friday.

Yahoo Finance Video-Hurricane Ida cuts into U.S. oil production, gas supplies-Mon, August 30, 2021, 11:22 AM

Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi and Myles Udland discuss how the energy sector is faring as Hurricane Ida slams Louisiana with Dan Dicker, The Energy Word Founder.Video Transcript-BRIAN SOZZI: But first, let's start on Tropical Storm Ida, which slammed Louisiana and key oil assets on Sunday at Category 4 status. Joining us now is Dan Dicker, the "Energy Word" founder. Dan, always good to speak with you here. Take us-- talk to us a little bit why we're not seeing a bigger reaction in the oil and gas markets here.DAN DICKER: Well, first of all, Brian, I think the oil guys have gotten really good about dealing with these storms, especially since Katrina, the big storm that really knocked out supply both in the Gulf of Mexico and also the distribution from the Gulf Coast refineries afterwards. And since then, they've just done a tremendous job, and basically, they-- you know, these storms keep getting more and more frequent and more ferocious, and yet, they get better and better prepared for them. So in the Gulf of Mexico, that 1.75 million barrels that came offline-- you know, when the wind goes under 25 knots, they're right back taking the covers off and they'll be back in production in 18 hours.The refineries will be a little bit longer. I mean, those take a little while to ramp up. So I think we're going to see some higher gas prices, particularly in the southern areas of the country that might last a month or so. There's never-- there's never a storm that happens where the refinery guys and the pipeline guys don't use it as an opportunity to, you know, catch a little break in terms of better RAC prices at the pumps.MYLES UDLAND: Well, Dan, let's talk then about what we've seen in the energy market and the gas market. We had the Colonial Pipeline-- what was that, three, four months ago at this point? That was a catalyst for some higher gas prices. We're talking about this as a potential catalyst for higher gas prices.What is the setup today in the oil markets? Crude right around 70, I think. You know, it's now been, what, 18 months since the -40 Brent. I mean, where is-- where is the market going from here? We found stabilization, let's say in that 60 to 70 range, or do you think it's likely higher for oil prices and then in turn gas prices?DAN DICKER: I mean, you know this-- this-- this storm is very much a, you know, a bump in the road. The two big things we're looking at are very obvious. First, of course, the pandemic, delta, and how-- how bad that's going to get in terms of shutdowns, and then, you know, growth problems and the same kinds of things we saw you eight months ago with the original virus. So we're always watching that. We're watching the-- the rates of infection and the death numbers and-- and how that's going to play out in those anti-vaccination states, for lack of a better word.The second thing, of course, is OPEC themselves, who has taken the opportunity of higher oil prices to put together an increase in production. That's managed to scuttle prices a bit. I mean, we had a drop of close to $12. It's rallied back about $5. A lot of that has been part of a technical bounce, as well as the storm. It has made a difference in terms of oil prices going back to around $66 and change and so on.But, you know, right now, what we're going to look at particularly with this OPEC meeting coming up on Wednesday, is whether they will stick to that increase in production. Generally, you get the-- the OPEC guys tend to turn chicken when they see oil prices go up and up, which they feel they can get greedy and start to increase production again. Oil prices tend to settle down and then you wonder whether they're going to get frightened by that settling and renege on the increases in production that they've just recently put into place.My guess is that they won't. They'll have this increase in production, and we're going to resume this kind of flattening of the curve and flattening of oil prices that we started to see towards the beginning of July, actually, and has been running through a large part of August. And I think we're going to see prices again moderate back towards that $60 area until we get further clarity, one, on what OPEC is going to ultimately do, and, of course, in the way that, you know, this pandemic is going to play out, in terms of how it's going to affect the global economy. And, you know, I just-- I don't see it being a very good trajectory right now.BRIAN SOZZI: Dan, someone just handed me a good note out of Goldman Sachs moments ago on the oil market. They're noting-- just going back to the storm-- they're noting that Valero and Exxon Mobil could eventually see a delayed impact to their operations as, I guess, damage is assessed here. Would you agree with that, that they are-- these downstream companies are most exposed, and do you think there's an earnings risk here because of the storm to those companies?DAN DICKER: You know, this is one of those trader plays as opposed to fundamental plays. So Goldman is right. The downstream is going to have an issue in this quarter from the storm. They always do. It's small, it's-- it's, you know, it's something that can be moderated and so on.But the trade has always been to buy these refiners right before the storm sort of gin up in the Gulf. And for Valero, particularly, because it is, you know, the premier Gulf Coast refiner, it's had a 12% move up, you know, over the last four or five sessions. So the question is whether the fundamentals start to impact what now that the storm is dissipating and going north. And my guess is that, yes, we've seen a very, very nice run in Valero, which got under 60 bucks and is now, you know, in the mid-60s, 66 and 1/2 or so, and it would be a time if you had that trade-- which, by the way, some of my subscribers did, I gave it to them as an old-school kind of storm refinery trade-- that this would be a great moment to cash in on some short-term profits in those refinery stocks.BRIAN SOZZI: Dan Dicker, the "Energy Word" founder. Always good to see you. Stay safe, sir.DAN DICKER: Ah, thanks, Brian. Thanks. Nice to see you, too.

Associated Press-Lithium fuels hopes for revival on California's largest lake-A dried up former boating dock is seen along the Salton Sea Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Desert Shores, Calif. Demand for electric vehicles has shifted investments into high gear to extract lithium from geothermal wastewater around California's dying Salton Sea. The ultralight metal is critical to rechargeable batteries. Despite widespread availability in the United States, Nevada has the country's only lithium plant, and U.S. production lags far behind Australia, Chile, Argentina and China. California's largest but rapidly shrinking lake is at the forefront of efforts to make the U.S. a major global player, though decades of economic stagnation and environmental ruin have left some residents on its receding shores indifferent or wary. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)-ELLIOT SPAGAT-Mon, August 30, 2021, 2:34 PM

CALIPATRIA, Calif. (AP) — Near Southern California’s dying Salton Sea, a canopy next to a geothermal power plant covers large vats of salty water left behind after super-hot liquid is drilled from deep underground to run steam turbines. The vats connect to tubes that spit out what looks like dishwater, but it’s lithium, a critical component of rechargeable batteries and the newest hope for economic revival in the depressed region.Demand for electric vehicles has shifted investments into high gear to extract lithium from brine, salty water that has been overlooked and pumped back underground since the region’s first geothermal plant opened in 1982. The mineral-rich byproduct may now be more valued than the steam used to generate electricity.California’s largest but rapidly shrinking lake is at the forefront of efforts to make the U.S. a major global player in production of the ultralight metal. Despite large deposits in the U.S., Nevada has the country’s only lithium plant, and American production lags far behind Australia, Chile, Argentina and China.Decades of environmental ruin and failed economic promise have left some residents on the Salton Sea’s receding shores indifferent or wary.The Salton Sea formed in 1905 after the Colorado River breached a dike and two years of flooding filled a sizzling basin. In the 1950s, the lake thrived as a tourist destination, drawing anglers, boaters and celebrity visitors including Frank Sinatra.But storms in the 1970s destroyed marinas and resorts. Flooding wrecked many homes in the tiny, former resort town of Bombay Beach, and after the water dried, left an almost apocalyptic atmosphere that has recently attracted artists.The lake level peaked in 1995 but, with little rain, has since been evaporating faster than Colorado River water seeping downhill through farms can replenish as farmers conserved more water.Since 2003, the 324-square-mile (839-square-kilometer) lake has shrunk 40 square miles (104 square kilometers), exposing vast lakebed with microscopic wind-blown dust that contributes to poor air quality and asthma.The sea is a key stopover for migrating birds, but species are declining as the fish they eat become scarce. Carcasses of oxygen-starved tilapia no longer blanket shores periodically with a stench that could reach Los Angeles because there are so few left.In Salton City, a town of about 6,000, roads curve along empty lots, a legacy of its first developer who stopped construction in 1960. Street signs with idyllic names like Harbor Drive and Sea Shore Avenue mark a barren landscape of cracked pavement.Pat Milsop, a 61-year-old retired restaurant owner, hits golf balls across a dry canal. His view is filled with dilapidated docks on bone-dry soil that harbored boats when his mother-in-law bought his house in 2004. He is skeptical that lithium will restore some of the lake’s glory.“Are they going to do something good for the community or just buy up all the land and kick everybody out?” he asks. Nostalgic for livelier days, he plans to move to his farm near Lubbock, Texas.The lake is at the southern tip of the San Andreas Fault, which has shifting tectonic plates that bring molten material closer to Earth’s surface.Controlled Thermal Resources Ltd. is building what would be the region's first new geothermal facility in more than a decade and anticipates the $520 million plant would start producing lithium in 2024. In July, General Motors Corp. said it invested in the project as it seeks to eliminate tailpipe emissions from light-duty vehicles by 2035.Owners of 11 existing geothermal plants around the lake’s southern shores are retooling for lithium and possibly other brine minerals instead of building from scratch. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co. has state and federal grants for lithium demonstration projects and says it could begin construction for commercial operations in 2024.EnergySource LLC opened its geothermal plant in 2012 and its sister company, EnergySource Minerals, has extracted lithium there on a small scale since 2016, said Derek Benson, chief operating officer. It plans to start building a $500 million addition for mineral extraction by the end of March.Before it is pumped back underground, the brine is “borrowed” for a few hours to extract lithium under a nearby canopy, Benson said.Extracting lithium from geothermal brine has never been done on a commercial scale. Supporters say it causes less environmental damage than the two dominant production methods: mining for rocks and using cooler brine that bakes under the sun in large ponds for about two years until the water evaporates. The Nevada plant uses evaporation ponds.The Salton Sea is in Imperial County, which, despite hugely productive land that stocks U.S. supermarkets with winter vegetables, has a poverty rate of 22%, among California’s highest. El Centro, the county seat, perennially has one of the highest unemployment rates among 389 U.S. metropolitan areas.Ruben Hernandez, 54, has worked for an Imperial Valley landowner since he was 8. He and his wife own a Mexican restaurant in the largely deserted town of Niland near the lake. His wife wants to stay, but “there’s nothing here, no town,” he said.Lithium project backers who come for breakfast tell him he could eventually be feeding 20 to 30 people and delivering lunches to their plant.“If they are going to lift this town up, it would be great,” he said.