1-88 Houses Damaged in Series of Earthquakes in Albania. 2-Moderate quake rattles El Salvador, Guatemala. 3-FARMING: COLDIRETTI - 1BN DAMAGE BY STORMS AND DROUGHT. 4-China's worst storm in decades arrives. 5-Stronger hurricanes spawn bigger storm surges. 6-3.5 million face flood risk, India's diamond city inundated. 7-Green pigment spins chip promise. 8-Russia-NATO-En largement Russian minister: Russia questions NATO enlargement Belgrade. 9-Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever death toll in Turkey rises. 10-Bomb plot' throws air travel into chaos.
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.
88 Houses Damaged in Series of Earthquakes in Albania
10 August 2006 | 16:55 | FOCUS News Agency
Tirana. 88 houses were damaged in a series of earthquakes in the southern parts of Albania, the Macedonian TV channel SITEL reported. The Mayor of the town of Himara announced that the damages in his town were not so significant.
Two villages near Himara were more severely struck by the earthquakes.An earthquake measuring 5.5 in magnitude rocked the southern parts of Albania on Wednesday shortly after midnight. The same morning another earthquake measuring 4.8 was registered in the region.
Seismic activity continued throughout the whole day.
Moderate quake rattles El Salvador, Guatemala 1 hour, 30 minutes ago
SAN SALVADOR (AFP) - A moderate earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, shook El Salvador and Guatemala, alarming residents but causing no injuries, officials here have said. The quake, recorded by seismologists at 1:03 am (0703 GMT), had an epicenter in the Pacific, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of the mouth of the Paz River, which separates El Salvador and Guatemala, and 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of San Salvador.The earthquake had a depth of 25 kilometers (15 miles).
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
FARMING: COLDIRETTI - 1BN DAMAGE BY STORMS AND DROUGHT
(AGI) - Rome, 9 Aug - The bad weather has caused damage across northern central and southern Italy, with many regions announcing the launch of the procedure for a declaration of a state of emergency, reports Coldiretti's monitoring of the effects of the wet weather crossing Italy following the long drought in the north and with a national toll of at least a billion euros lost in farming caused by the varied weather comprising storms and dry weather that has marked summer 2006. The heavy rainstorms and storms have affected regions already hit by the drought, such as Emilia Romagna where in Ferrara, after 40 days without rain, wind and rainstorms caused a millions of euros of damage.
But also those that had been saved from the drought, such as Puglia and Molise, have seen wind and rainstorms. In the province of Taranto, as a result of a violent rainstorm that hit hundreds of businesses, Coldiretti reports that the harvest of eating grapes and grapes for wine, olives, fruit and vegetables has been irreparably damaged across an area of around four thousand hectares between Castellaneta, Palagianello and Palagiano, damaging between 70pct and 100pct of crops.
In lower Molise losses of six and a half million euros have been estimated due to the hailstorms that have badly hit 350 hectares of vineyards, 250 hectares of tomatoes and also plums olives and with a state of emergency being recognised. Lighter rain in some areas brought relief in some areas of the country while severe damage has been recorded in areas where there have been full force rainstorms with strong winds and hailstones causing irreversible damage to buildings and farm land.
The arrival of storms on land suffering from the lengthy drought increased the risk of further landslips and landslides - a possibility that affects all regions given that 7.1pct of land to a total of 21,000 km sq is considered to be at risk of landslides and floods. There is a need to deal with the state of emergency but there is also a need to think about the future with a plan to protect the environment
and the development of land that offers huge opportunities for competitive growth at the local production level. A commitment that should be accompanied - concludes Coldiretti - with overcoming the delays in work on infrastructure that needs modernisation and new plants in the face of climatic change, the management of water and the local safety and development of the land.(AGI) -
091941 AGO 06
China's worst storm in decades arrives By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago
BEIJING - The most powerful typhoon to hit China in five decades slammed into its southeastern coast Thursday, destroying hundreds of homes and battering the region with rain and wind after more than 1.3 million people were evacuated, state media
reported. At least two people were killed. Typhoon Saomai was the eighth major storm to strike China in this summer's unusually violent typhoon season.
Torrential rains were forecast in the next three days as it churned inland across crowded areas where Tropical Storm Bilis killed more than 600 people last month.Saomai, with winds up to 135 mph, made landfall at the town of Mazhan in coastal Zhejiang province at 5:25 p.m. and was moving northwest at 12 mph, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing weather officials.
Xinhua said two people were killed in the city of Fuding, while 80 people were injured and more than 1,000 houses toppled in and around Mazhan.Saomai was the most powerful typhoon to hit China since the founding of the communist government in 1949, Xinhua said, citing the Zhejiang provincial weather bureau.
Before its arrival, at least 760,000 people were evacuated from flood-prone areas of Zhejiang and 569,000 from the neighboring coastal province of Fujian, Xinhua said. It said a total of 70,000 ships had returned to port in the two provinces.The area is about 950 miles south of Beijing, the Chinese capital, which was not affected by the storm.In Hong Kong, airport officials said Thursday that 10 flights between Hong Kong and Taiwan and the mainland city of Fuzhou had been canceled and 16 flights delayed as of midafternoon.
In the central and southern Philippines, two people died and seven others were reported missing after giant waves and heavy rains generated by the typhoon battered coastal villages this week, officials said.More than 200 houses built on stilts were destroyed as waves up to 10 feet tall ravaged the coast of Bongao, the capital of southern Tawi-Tawi province, before dawn Wednesday, provincial Gov. Sadikul Sahali said. A child died and another was reported missing, he said.There is floating debris everywhere,Sahali said.
Elsewhere, a man was killed as big waves washed away about 200 shanties in seaside villages in Talisay city on central Cebu island early Wednesday, the civil defense office said.Saomai passed across the Japan's Okinawa island group on Wednesday with
winds up to 89 mph, prompting airlines to cancel 141 flights and affecting 24,000 passengers.
China's weather bureau had forecast unusually heavy typhoon action this summer, saying warmer than normal Pacific currents and weather patterns over Tibet would create bigger storms and draw them farther inland.Bilis triggered flooding and landslides as far inland as Hunan province, hundreds of miles from the coast.
Most of the deaths happened in areas away from coastal communities that have elaborate dike networks and a long history of evacuating flood-prone areas.Typhoon Prapiroon lashed China's southern coast last week, killing at least 80 people in floods and landslides in Guangdong province and neighboring Guangxi.Even as Saomai stormed ashore, Chinese forecasters were already closely watching Tropical Storm Bopha, which trailed behind it farther out in the Pacific. Bopha crossed Taiwan overnight with sustained winds of 40 mph but no major damage or casualties were reported.
Stronger hurricanes spawn bigger storm surges By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent Wed Aug 9, 4:23 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stronger hurricanes forecast for the next few decades could flood major cities including Miami and New Orleans, environmental scientists said on Wednesday. Storm surges walls of water up to 30 feet high pushed ashore by
hurricanes could pose a higher risk to coastal areas than the threat of rising seas tied to global warming, scientists from the group Environmental Defense said.
More intense hurricanes -- some as strong as 2005's devastating Katrina are likely in the future, the scientists said, because global climate change could mean warmer sea surface temperatures, which fuel hurricanes' development.
There's been a lot of talk about the threat to coastal areas of sea level rise, and that is a very, very real issue ... but one that is going to unfold over a period of decades, if not a century,said Bill Chameides, Environmental Defense's chief scientist, in a telephone news conference.What we think will actually be a more immediate risk to coastal areas ... is the threat of storm surge, which is actually exacerbated by sea level rise due to these growing-intensity storms,Chameides said.Using U.S. government data, the scientists created maps showing flood risk areas in Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina, and Miami, based
on projections of storm surges from hurricanes ranked as Category Three, Category Four and Category Five.
FLOOD RISK
A Category Three storm, with a typical surge of 9 feet (2.7 meters) to 12 feet above normal, would pose a flood risk to all of Miami Beach and much of downtown Miami, according to the scientists' projections.By contrast, a Category Five storm, with surges of 18 feet or higher, would pose a risk to a larger area, extending further inland, their maps indicated.The maps and other information are
available online at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/go/hurricanes/.
For New Orleans, the scientists did not project possible risk of flooding; instead, they used data from the U.S. Geological Survey showing how far the flood waters went after devastating Hurricane Katrina came ashore last year.As Hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed, the 9,546 square miles of land close to sea level (in Louisiana) are especially vulnerable to storm surges -- highly destructive moving crests of water that often cause the bulk of the damage in a high-category storm, the scientists wrote online.
Chameides agrees with many climate scientists who believe human-caused global warming is responsible for raising sea surface temperatures, making stronger hurricanes more likely; but other scientists maintain hurricane intensity goes in natural cycles, and say the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic and Caribbean season was part of a high-category hurricane cycle.
U.S. government forecasters on Tuesday revised their hurricane predictions for 2006, saying the Atlantic hurricane season would be slightly less intense than last year and less active than they predicted in May with 12 to 15 named storms and seven to nine hurricanes, of which three or four could be classified as major hurricanes.Last year there were 28 tropical storms, of which 15 became hurricanes, including four major hurricanes, notably Katrina, which devastated New Orleans, killed 1,300 people and caused $80 billion in damage.
3.5 million face flood risk, India's diamond city inundated Wed Aug 9, 1:06 PM ET
AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) - Swirling floods intensified in parts of rain-lashed India as the authorities warned that 3.5 million residents of the main diamond-cutting city of Surat were at risk from rising water levels. Troops backed by naval craft and heavy-lift air force helicopters were evacuating people from flooded homes in Surat in the western state of Gujarat as diamond merchants perched on rooftops for protection.Nationwide, the flood-related death toll rose by 197 in the past eight days to 574 since the monsoons hit the country in mid-May.Some 543,000 people have been hit by floods in the inundated southern Andhra Pradesh state and another 105,000 people displaced in neighbouring Maharashtra, officials said.Surat Police Commissioner Sudhir Sinha painted a horrific picture of the city, which accounts for around 70 percent of India's polished diamond exports.
Due to the release of 900,000 cusecs (cubic inch per second) of water from the Ukai dam into Tapti river, 80 percent of Surat is under water and the situation is likely to worsen with the high tide (in the Arabian Sea),Sinha told reporters.Most of Surat's 3.5 million population is badly affected,Sinha said. He put the number of people killed at six in the past four days.A total of 190,000 people have so far shifted from Surat, officials said, adding that communications links were also down.Casualties will rise if the water-sheet enters the first floor of houses in the vicinity of Tapti river. Right now people are on rooftops,he said.Sinha reported
growing shortages of emergency supplies in the once-prosperous city. The diamond-cutting industry was in disarray.All diamond and textile units have been closed for the last three days and diamond cutters are stranded on the rooftops of their houses,Dhiru Gajera, provincial legislator from Surat, said in Gujarat's main city of Ahmedabad.
Nanubhai Vasani, ex-chief of the Gujarat Diamond Association, estimated the industry was daily losing 1.3 billion rupees (29 million dollars).And if the floods continue, then Surat will become the grave of India's diamond industry,he said.India's state run and private petroleum firms also reported disruptions in production in Gujarat's bountiful gasfields due to the havoc.Soldiers in powerboats roared across waterways which were once lush boulevards, plucking people from trees, submerged houses and even the top of vehicles, witnesses said. Helicopters dropped food or winched up those in dire straits.Our operations will continue until we save every life we can and feed ever child we can,a helicopter pilot told reporters at an airbase in Gujarat after carrying out dozens of sorties Wednesday.The military was also out in Andhra Pradesh, where 900,000 acres (364,217 hectares) of crops and 71,000 houses are under floodwater in six districts, an official said.In Maharashtra state, which adjoins Gujarat, thousands of homeless in 15 of its 35 districts are living off food dropped by the air force.
DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS MICROCHIPS ETC)
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Green pigment spins chip promise
Spintronics promises smaller, more powerful microchips An unpopular pigment used by artists in the 18th Century could lead to more energy efficient, faster computers. Cobalt green, as the dye is known, has been tested by a US team who believe it could be used in spintronic devices. Spintronics involves manipulating the magnetic properties of electrons to do useful computational work.
Cobalt green may be useful for building working devices as it can be used at room temperature, unlike many other materials which must be supercooled. The big challenge is to develop materials that can perform these kinds of functions not just at cryogenic temperatures but at practical temperatures,said Professor Daniel Gamelin of the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the team that carried out the work.
Magnetic force
Cobalt green, sometimes known as Rinmann's green, is a mixture of zinc oxide and cobalt. The semi-transparent pigment was developed by the Swedish chemist Sven Rinmann in 1780. The dye never found favour with artists as it was expensive and created relatively weak colours. The breakthrough with the materials we tested is that they exhibit their magnetic properties at room temperature Professor Gamelin However, the material could be useful in spintronic devices because of its magnetic properties.
Conventional electronics rely on the movement and accumulation of electrons to carry out calculations or to store data. In addition, spintronics uses the spin of electrons - detected as a weak magnetic force - to increase the computational power of a device.
Spintronic devices, in theory, should be much quicker than conventional electronics and require much less power. The technology is already used in some hard discs and could eventually be used for sensors and computer memory.
Antique promise
A goal of spintronics is to develop a semiconductor that can manipulate an electron's magnetism. Semiconductors are used to manufacture microchips, at the heart of all computers and many other electronic devices. Semiconductors are at the heart of all computers As computers have become faster, chips have become smaller. But manufacturers recognise that conventional chip fabrications techniques will eventually reach a physical limit. Spintronics offers a potential solution. To create a useful spintronic device the semiconductor must be magnetised and remain stable at room temperature. Researchers have proposed that the best way to create material like this is to incorporate a magnetic element into a traditional semiconductor such as silicon.
Until now, most attempts to do this have only shown useful spintronic properties at low temperature, typically around minus 200C. This is much too cold to be useful in a working device. Cobalt green appears to work at more useful temperatures. The breakthrough with the materials we tested is that they exhibit their magnetic properties at room temperature,said Professor Gamelin.
Chip makers
To test the antique pigment the researchers processed zinc oxide, a simple semiconductor material, so that some of the zinc ions were replaced with ions of magnetic cobalt. The process is known as doping. This work shows there is a real effect here, and there is promise for these materials Professor Gamelin The cobalt ions were then aligned by exposing the semiconductor to a zinc metal vapour. The alignment causes the material to become magnetic. The magnetism continued when the material was warmed to room temperature and when the exposure to the zinc metal vapour was stopped. When the material was heated further the magnetic properties disappeared. This work shows there is a real effect here, and there is promise for these materials,said Professor Gamelin. However, the research is still in its early stages. To be of use to chip-makers the technique must be shown to work using
common semiconductor material. The next step is to try to get these materials to interface with silicon semiconductors.
Today: Thursday August 10, 2006 Russia-NATO-En largement Russian minister: Russia questions NATO enlargement Belgrade, Aug 9, IRNA
Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia has long been urging a suspension of NATO enlargement, questioning its final aim as a worldwide military entity. According to Tanjug news agency, the minister said in a statement published
on Wednesday in Montenegrin daily Vijesti, It is for us to understand who NATO is getting to fight against.
Noting that if the enlargement continues at the same pace, the whole planet would be soon in NATO, wondering what the meaning of the alliance would be. When asked by a journalist about whether relations between Russia and Montenegro would deteriorate if Montenegro gets accepted in NATO, Shoigu replied that the relations would not improve. Shoigu also said that the accession in NATO is the issue that Montenegro alone should decide. Heading a high-ranking economic delegation, Shoigu has been touring the region this week including a visit to Belgrade on Monday where he held talks with Serbian president Boris Tadic.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever death toll in Turkey rises
Aug 9, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – The number of deaths in a Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) outbreak in Turkey has increased to 20, with a total of 242 cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported yesterday. Since WHO's last update on
the outbreak on Jun 30 there have been 92 new cases and 9 new deaths.
One of the fatalities involved a healthcare worker who acquired the infection while treating a patient with CCHF. Lab-confirmed cases were reported in 22 Turkish provinces, though most were reported from six northeastern provinces of Kelkit Valley: Tokat, Sivas, Gumushane, Amasya, Yozgat, and Corum.
A Jul 10 WHO update on CCHF said most of the patients who were evaluated for the disease had been infected through tick bites. Contact with the blood of infected livestock can also transmit the virus.
CCHF is a viral hemorrhagic fever caused by Nairovirus organisms of the Bunyaviridae family. The disease is primarily a zoonosis;
sporadic cases and outbreaks do occur in humans. The disease in humans is severe and has a high mortality rate. (The case-fatality rate in the current outbreak is 8.3%, according to the WHO.) CCHF is endemic in many African, European, and Asian
countries.
In an advisory for travelers, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said no cases have been reported from popular tourist resorts on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. The ECDC said the number of cases in 2006 suggests
increased viral activity in the area; however, they added that detection and diagnosis of CCHF have improved. In Turkey, CCHF in humans was first documented in 2002.
A note posted today on ProMED-mail, the online reporting system of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, said the death of the healthcare worker serves as an important reminder that those treating suspected CCHF patients should take proper
infection control precautions during their exposure to infected patients.
Nosocomial infection risk is highest in the early stages of a patient's infection. The Turkish Ministry of Health is continuing control measures, which include enhanced nationwide CCHF surveillance. The WHO Country Office in Turkey and the WHO Regional Office for Europe are closely monitoring CCHF activity in the country.
CIDRAP overview on viral hemorrhagic fever
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/vhf/biofacts/vhffactsheet.html
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with 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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
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.
Bomb plot' throws air travel into chaos
Thursday 10 August 2006, 18:09 Makka Time, 15:09 GMT
Passengers have been left stranded at airports.Air travel to and from Britain has been plunged into chaos after police foiled a suspected plot to blow up aeroplanes on transatlantic flights.London Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, suffered massive congestion as many airlines cancelled short-haul flights to Britain on Thursday.Police said they had arrested 21 people and foiled a plot to blow up planes flying from Britain to the United States, and put the country on its highest state of alert for terror attacks.
They said said that the plot involved hiding explosive devices in hand baggage.
Stringent security measures have been imposed across the country's airports, including requiring passengers with infants to taste bottles of baby milk to prove it did not contain any harmful substances.Congestion built up rapidly as aviation authorities enforced the new regulations.
Cancellations
British Airways cancelled all its short-haul flights due on Thursday between Heathrow and other British and European cities, as well as the Libyan capital of Tripoli.Flights across Europe have been grounded. BA added that it was also cancelling some of Thursday's domestic and shorthaul services in and out of London's second airport, Gatwick.Airports operator BAA had earlier requested the suspension of all flights due to take off from Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport.The inter-connected nature of international air travel meant the disruption spread across the world.Lufthansa of Germany said it was pulling all flights to Britain until 1500 GMT. It said 22 flights and 3,041 passengers would be affected, but that it expected flights later in the day to go ahead as planned.Spain's Iberia said its service to Heathrow would be halted until at least lunchtime.
Train switch
Alitalia grounded all its flights to Britain and aviation authorities in the Netherlands said they were cancelling all flights to Heathrow until at least 1500 GMT.
Security has been ramped up at airports
French airline Air France said it had cancelled its three morning flights from Paris to London due to the situation.Passengers who had already boarded an Air France flight to London were told to disembark from their plane on the tarmac at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.The chaos resulted in 2,500 extra bookings for cross-channel Eurostar train services from London, Paris and Brussels.In Asia, airlines said they were waiting for further information and that it was highly possible they would have to cancel flights to Britain.Meanwhile Michael Chertoff, the US homeland security secretary, said the threat level for commercial flights from Britain to
the US has been raised to severe, or red.
US security
US airlines said they were not planning to cancel flights to Britain but warned of severe delays.All US carriers flying from Britain informed passengers of strict new limitations on carry-on baggage in line with emergency directives issued by the British government.It's a fluid situation. But we have no cancellations of UK-bound flights,said Brandon Borrman, a spokesman for United Airlines.New security measures have caused mass congestion.We are experiencing delays of at least two hours out of (London) Heathrow,he added.Delta noted that additional security measures had been put in place for all flights bound for Britain.
Delta continues to operate its flights from the UK to the US, although customers may experience delays due to revised check-in requirements issued by the UK's Department for Transport,it said in a statement.All the major US carriers including American Airlines and Continental warned passengers not to bring any fluids or gels such as toothpaste on to flights departing from British airports.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
IRAN THREATENS US
1-Massive Western Aliyah This Week, Despite Month of War. 2-IDF Chief of Staff Shakes Up Northern Command. 3-Israeli shakes up war's chain of command. 4-Israel's peace partners still seek its demise. 5-World Church Bodies Unite in Call for Peace in Lebanon. 6-Iranian president criticizes Bush.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Massive Western Aliyah This Week, Despite Month of War
By Ezra HaLevi(INN)
Despite the two-front war, the thousands of missiles, and the evacuation of northern communities, more than 800 North American and British Jews are moving to Israel this week. After a month of war, and even though they have had plenty of time to postpone or reschedule their Aliyah (immigration to Israel), four planeloads of Jews are scheduled to arrive in Ben Gurion airport in the coming week – the first on Thursday.On Wednesday, August 16th – the one year anniversary of the forced eviction of the Jews of Gaza – three simultaneous flights will arrive. Embodying the Jewish prayer that the nation be gathered “from the four corners of the Earth, the planes will depart from Canada, America and England – all arriving simultaneously in the Holy Land.
The August 16, 2006 influx will constitute the largest number of Jews in history making Aliyah to Israel from Western countries in a single day.Overall this summer, 3,000 North American and British Jews are moving to Israel on specially chartered flights organized by the Nefesh b'Nefesh Aliyah assistance organization, in close cooperation with the Jewish Agency.Greeting the arrivals Thursday will be Minister of Public Security and former Shabak Chief Avi Dichter (Kadima) and Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze'ev Boim (Kadima). Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu greeted the last group of arrivals last month.Visit the Nefesh b'Nefesh web site to learn about immigrating to Israel or sign up to greet the new immigrants upon their arrival.
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.(THIS EU POLITICIAN COMES FROM THE OCCULT)
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
IDF Chief of Staff Shakes Up Northern Command
By Yechiel Spira and Ezra HaLevi(INN)
Despite a carefully worded IDF statement, IDF Chief of Staff Lt-General Dan Halutz has clearly expressed no-confidence in his northern district commander, Major-General Udi Adam. Halutz, who has not appeared in public in recent days, announced Tuesday that his deputy chief of staff, Major-General Moshe Kaplinsky (photo above), will work alongside Adam, overseeing all military forces operating in Lebanon. The IDF spokesperson was quick to add that Lt.-General Halutz has total confidence in Adam’s performance, but wishes to appoint Kaplinsky to oversee air, land and naval forces operating in Lebanon. This, senior officers explain, is tantamount to Adam getting the boot. They say that after the war, Adam will have no alternative but to resign his command.
Military analysts on the nightly news programs Tuesday explained that Halutz’s move was nothing less than Adam’s notice of dismissal, a sign of no-confidence and dissatisfaction with his performance since the warfare began some 29 days ago.
Others explain that the move signals more than dissatisfaction, but also a clear sign that Halutz expects to receive the green light from the prime minister for a large-scale military operation, one that will involve more than the close to 100,000 reservists already activated for service, one that will bring IDF forces deeper into Hizbullah territory in Lebanon.
Military historians report that Halutz’s move is not without precedent, citing that during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, then Chief of Staff David Elazar appointed his predecessor, former IDF Chief of Staff Chaim Bar-Lev to take command of the southern district, replacing Southern District Commander Major-General Shmuel Gonen (Gorodish).
Defense Minister Amir Peretz supports Halutz’s position, seeking to deploy tens of thousands of IDF forces in southern Lebanon towards bringing a halt to daily rocket attacks. Military intelligence reports that Iranian and Syrian support for Hizbullah has not waned, perhaps explaining why Syrian forces have been placed on a state-of-alert -- a level of preparedness that has not been seen in decades. Halutz on Tuesday expressed his opinion in clear terms, not flinching at the reality that a large-scale incursion deeper into southern Lebanon would result in considerable loss of life, with predictions hovering between 300-500 soldiers. Halutz warns that there is no alternative, explaining that if a ceasefire is forced on Israel with the current realities, Hizbullah will declare victory and the result will be a real threat to Israel’s future existence.
Most analysts are in agreement, albeit some hesitantly, admitting that then Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s unilateral retreat from the security zone in May 2000 has provided Hizbullah the stage to prepare for the current war, leaving the Syrian/ Iranian back guerilla army six years to stockpile weapons and train forces for the big standoff with Israel. Since the start of the warfare, 105 Israelis, civilians and military personnel, have been killed. 3,487 Katyusha rockets were fired into Israel, and Magen David Adom emergency medical service officials responded to 1,070 calls for assistance resulting from rocket attacks. Air force officials’ report pilots have carried out over 5,127 sorties, and foreign sources report close to 800 Lebanese have been killed. Despite Peretz’s and Halutz’s definitive position, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is moving cautiously, with aides admitting the prime minister remains undecided.
Olmert is seeking additional guarantees regarding a decisive IDF victory, realizing the past four weeks have not produced the desired results. Analysts agree that IDF forces have ‘won’ most battles, but Hizbullah has not exhibited true signs of defeat as rockets continue to pound civilian population centers.
Halutz’s move to override Adam’s authority in the northern district is a major step towards achieving such a goal. Some military analysts also view Halutz’s move as one to cover his back, realizing when the war ends, a national inquiry into the events will also focus on the operation of the IDF, and Halutz has just thrown a significant portion of the responsibility for any failure on Adam’s shoulders.
One example is the successful Hizbullah attack that set the war in motion in July, citing the lack of preparedness of northern border forces, permitting the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who are both still in
Hizbullah hands. While reports indicate the two are alive, and some stating with a modicum of confidence alive and well,but in reality, no one has been permitted to visit them since they fell into captivity, not even representatives of the International Red Cross.
Olmert will have to make a decision soon, realizing on the other side of the Atlantic, frantic French and Arab League efforts to impose a ceasefire on Israel are moving ahead in earnest, enjoying the support of UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan.Adam, in his response to Halutz’s statement admitted to Galei Tzahal (Army) Radio on Tuesday evening that he is keeping much inside,and will comment when the time is right,but added it is Halutz’s right to appoint a special officer to oversee war efforts.
Israeli shakes up war's chain of command By RAMIT PLUSHNIK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer 52 minutes ago
JERUSALEM -Israel has appointed a plain-speaking combat veteran to command the war in Lebanon after a 30-year career mostly focused on fighting Hezbollah guerrillas.In a sudden shake-up, Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski was inserted over the head of Maj. Gen.
Udi Adam, the commander of the northern front, as the senior battlefield officer.
The appointment came Tuesday night, hours before Israel's Security Cabinet approved a major expansion of the military operation in Lebanon.Military analysts said Adam was seen as too cautious to score a decisive victory over Hezbollah. By sidelining Adam, Israel's military and political leadership also may have tried to answer critics of the army's failure to stop the relentless rocketing of northern Israel despite a month of fighting.
While Adam's military roots are in the Armored Corps, the 49-year-old Kaplinski's background in the infantry may be more suited to a ground offensive, especially in view of Hezbollah's recent success with anti-tank missiles.In 1976, Kaplinski enlisted in the Golani Brigade, an infantry unit based in northern Israel with a proud history of battle with Syria and with irregular forces in Lebanon.
He was commander of the brigade's reconnaissance unit in 1982, the year Israel invaded Lebanon to drive out the PLO and pushed all the way to the southern outskirts of Beirut. Kaplinski was wounded early in the fighting but returned to the war later; Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years.Kaplinski — often called Kaplan for short — was a close associate of Ariel Sharon and was appointed his military secretary after Sharon, a former general, became prime minister in 2001.He was considered the leading candidate to succeed Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz as chief of staff, but the promotion was thrown into doubt after Sharon suffered a devastating stroke in January and new elections were held.Kaplinski is described as warm but tough, nonchalant and less than a stickler for pressed dress and military bearing.
People always describe him as a charismatic teddy bear,said Amos Harel, a military correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Kaplinski is good at cutting down tensions around him and backing officers who are lower ranking,Harel said.Some analysts wondered whether he will be able to work with Adam.There is no room for two generals, wrote Alex Fishman in the Yedioth Aharonot
daily.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Israel's peace partners still seek its demise
Poll: Nearly all 'Palestinians' back Hizb'allah
By Ryan Jones,August 09, 2006
Seemingly encouraged by Israelis failure to defeat Hizb'allah after more than a month of warfare in southern Lebanon, the Palestinian Arabs are becoming increasingly radicalized in their view of the Jewish state, according to the results of a new public opinion poll.Conducted by the Ramallah-based Near East Consulting group, the poll revealed that 97 percent of Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and Gaza support Hizb'allah in its aggression against Israel. They have gone so far as to publicly cheer on Hizb'allah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah even when the Lebanese terror group's missiles came dangerously close to impacting Palestinian Authority-controlled towns in northern Samaria.
The poll also showed that public support for Hamas is on the rise, despite Israeli and Western economic sanctions meant to diminish Hamas appeal on the Palestinian street. A 55 percent majority now says Hamas should not alter its position regarding the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state.Furthermore, support for a lasting peace settlement with Israel is down 25 percent since June. Now just barely more than half of all Palestinians even care to negotiate peace with the Jews.
World Church Bodies Unite in Call for Peace in Lebanon
Posted: Wednesday, August 9 , 2006, 11:00 (BST)
Leaders from three of the largest church bodies in the world have come together to call for an end to violence in the Middle East.The World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) have called upon Israel and Hezbollah to end the fighting in Lebanon and upon the United States, the European Union, and the Arab States to exercise their influence toward this end. It also calls upon the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza.With the title A call to end the violence, the joint appeal is signed by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, LWF president Bishop Mark Hanson and WARC president Rev. Dr Clifton Kirkpatrick.
The call comes as reports emerge telling how Lebanese civilians and aid workers face even more dangers on their return home, as experts fear that around 10 per cent of the 3,000 rockets, artillery shells, cluster bombs and other artillery being fired into Lebanon each day for the past 28 days of conflict remain unexploded.The estimates leave returning civilians and aid workers exposed to around 7,000 unexploded munitions across the conflict zone.
The full text of the appeal is shown below:
A CALL TO END THE VIOLENCE
In the face of tragedy of such magnitude, we affirm that God calls us to do justice, reconcile with our enemies, and live together in
peace. Joint WCC-LWF-WARC statement on Lebanon
As followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and as leaders of the World Council of Churches and the worldwide fellowships of Lutheran and Reformed churches, we are shocked by the relentless violence, death, and devastation occurring in Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. We mourn the loss of life.
We abhor the untold human costs of this conflict, especially its impact on innocent people. We deplore the destruction of infrastructure and property. In the face of tragedy of such magnitude, we affirm that God calls us to do justice, reconcile with our enemies, and live together in peace.We call upon Israel and Hezbollah to end the fighting in Lebanon, and we call upon the United States, the European Union, and the Arab States to exercise their influence toward this end.
We call upon the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza.The number of Lebanese deaths approaches 1,000, one-third of them reportedly children under 12, and the number of Israeli deaths moves toward 100. Whatever the reality of the alleged provocations by both sides of the conflict, this spiral of violence serves no end but the devastation of Lebanon and the inflicting of wounds of terror in Israel.
Neither the terror of Katyusha rockets nor the destruction of Lebanese homes, schools, and villages can contribute to a lasting peace in the region. Such acts will lead to even deeper hatred between the parties than that which has fuelled the current violence. The Israelis have declared that they will continue military operations in Lebanon until there is a peacekeeping force on the ground. Hezbollah, in return, declares that they will not stop fighting until all Israeli military presence has left Lebanon. It is time for this intransigence by both parties to end. Israel must withdraw speedily from all the Lebanese territory, and Hezbollah, at the same time, must cease its actions against the Israeli people.
Close to 175 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed since Israel began military operations in the Gaza Strip. The devastation of the infrastructure of Gaza brings added hardship to people who already have nothing. The people of Israel know the terror of random rockets launched day and night.
While it is true that terms for a lasting peace cannot be reached in a brief time frame, the world cannot wait for signs of a new Middle East to stop the killing. It is time for the leaders of the nations, working through the United Nations, to bring to bear the full force of their influence. A cease-fire is an imperative first step to end the violence. As people of faith, we implore all parties, in God’s name, to agree to this, lest violence spread further through a region already stained with the blood of innocents.
When a cease-fire is achieved, we call the leaders of nations and other parties to begin the work for a compassionate order that will lead to a lasting peace. Our organisations and our churches are eager to share in that endeavour. The task is great and the way is hard, for fear must be overcome with faith, hate with trust, enmity with reconciliation, and injustice with justice. But it is a task worthy of our efforts and it is the way that leads to life.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
General Secretary
World Council of Churches
Rev. Dr Clifton Kirkpatrick
President
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
Bishop Mark Hanson
President
Lutheran World Federation
Daniel Blake
daniel@christiantoday.com
OH OH AHMADINIJAD, TAKE THE ADVICE I GAVE YOU BEFORE GRAB YOUR LITTLE TOWEL (TURBIN), GET ON YOUR CAMEL AN GO TO MAUDI IN THE WELL TELL HIM YOUR IN TROUBLE AND YOU WANT TO HIDE IN THE WELL WITH HIM BECAUSE GEORGE W AND ISRAEL ARE COMING TO GET YOU.
SINCERILY STAN L BOWMAN JR (ISRAEL SUPPORTER)
Iranian president criticizes Bush Wed Aug 9, 5:31 PM ET
NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized President Bush for failing to respond to his overture made in a letter in May, warning that those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate. The hard-line leader declared in the letter in May that liberalism and democracy had failed, and he lambasted Bush for his handling of the Sept. 11 attacks and a host of other issues ranging from the invasion of Iraq to U.S. support for Israel.It was the first formal communication between leaders of the two nations in 27 years, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed it, saying it failed to resolve the dispute over the Iranian nuclear program.
Well, I wanted to open a window toward the light for the president so that he can see that one can look on the world through a different perspective. ... We are all free to choose, Ahmadinejad told CBS' Mike Wallace in an interview Tuesday. But please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate.In response, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Wednesday: The president's view is that he doesn't respond publicly to private correspondence.
Ahmadinejad said public opinion was turning against Bush at home and internationally. You see that his approval rating is dropping every day. Hatred vis-a-vis the president is increasing every day around the world, the Iranian president said. For a ruler, this is the worst message that he could receive. Rulers and heads of government at the end of their office must leave the office holding their heads high.
CBS released excerpts and said the full interview would be broadcast Sunday on 60 Minutes.The Iranian leader also accused Washington of ignoring Tehran's efforts to negotiate over the nuclear issue by insisting on a U.N. Security Council resolution that was passed last month calling for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment by Aug. 31 or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions.The United States has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons though Tehran maintains its program is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.They want to build an empire. And they don't want to live side-by-side in peace with other nations, he said. The American government, sir, it is very clear to me they have to change their behavior and everything will be resolved.
Bush believes that his power emanates from his nuclear warhead arsenals, Ahmadinejad said. The time of the bomb is in the past, it's behind us. Today is the era of thoughts, dialogue and cultural exchanges.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Massive Western Aliyah This Week, Despite Month of War
By Ezra HaLevi(INN)
Despite the two-front war, the thousands of missiles, and the evacuation of northern communities, more than 800 North American and British Jews are moving to Israel this week. After a month of war, and even though they have had plenty of time to postpone or reschedule their Aliyah (immigration to Israel), four planeloads of Jews are scheduled to arrive in Ben Gurion airport in the coming week – the first on Thursday.On Wednesday, August 16th – the one year anniversary of the forced eviction of the Jews of Gaza – three simultaneous flights will arrive. Embodying the Jewish prayer that the nation be gathered “from the four corners of the Earth, the planes will depart from Canada, America and England – all arriving simultaneously in the Holy Land.
The August 16, 2006 influx will constitute the largest number of Jews in history making Aliyah to Israel from Western countries in a single day.Overall this summer, 3,000 North American and British Jews are moving to Israel on specially chartered flights organized by the Nefesh b'Nefesh Aliyah assistance organization, in close cooperation with the Jewish Agency.Greeting the arrivals Thursday will be Minister of Public Security and former Shabak Chief Avi Dichter (Kadima) and Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze'ev Boim (Kadima). Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu greeted the last group of arrivals last month.Visit the Nefesh b'Nefesh web site to learn about immigrating to Israel or sign up to greet the new immigrants upon their arrival.
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.(THIS EU POLITICIAN COMES FROM THE OCCULT)
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
IDF Chief of Staff Shakes Up Northern Command
By Yechiel Spira and Ezra HaLevi(INN)
Despite a carefully worded IDF statement, IDF Chief of Staff Lt-General Dan Halutz has clearly expressed no-confidence in his northern district commander, Major-General Udi Adam. Halutz, who has not appeared in public in recent days, announced Tuesday that his deputy chief of staff, Major-General Moshe Kaplinsky (photo above), will work alongside Adam, overseeing all military forces operating in Lebanon. The IDF spokesperson was quick to add that Lt.-General Halutz has total confidence in Adam’s performance, but wishes to appoint Kaplinsky to oversee air, land and naval forces operating in Lebanon. This, senior officers explain, is tantamount to Adam getting the boot. They say that after the war, Adam will have no alternative but to resign his command.
Military analysts on the nightly news programs Tuesday explained that Halutz’s move was nothing less than Adam’s notice of dismissal, a sign of no-confidence and dissatisfaction with his performance since the warfare began some 29 days ago.
Others explain that the move signals more than dissatisfaction, but also a clear sign that Halutz expects to receive the green light from the prime minister for a large-scale military operation, one that will involve more than the close to 100,000 reservists already activated for service, one that will bring IDF forces deeper into Hizbullah territory in Lebanon.
Military historians report that Halutz’s move is not without precedent, citing that during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, then Chief of Staff David Elazar appointed his predecessor, former IDF Chief of Staff Chaim Bar-Lev to take command of the southern district, replacing Southern District Commander Major-General Shmuel Gonen (Gorodish).
Defense Minister Amir Peretz supports Halutz’s position, seeking to deploy tens of thousands of IDF forces in southern Lebanon towards bringing a halt to daily rocket attacks. Military intelligence reports that Iranian and Syrian support for Hizbullah has not waned, perhaps explaining why Syrian forces have been placed on a state-of-alert -- a level of preparedness that has not been seen in decades. Halutz on Tuesday expressed his opinion in clear terms, not flinching at the reality that a large-scale incursion deeper into southern Lebanon would result in considerable loss of life, with predictions hovering between 300-500 soldiers. Halutz warns that there is no alternative, explaining that if a ceasefire is forced on Israel with the current realities, Hizbullah will declare victory and the result will be a real threat to Israel’s future existence.
Most analysts are in agreement, albeit some hesitantly, admitting that then Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s unilateral retreat from the security zone in May 2000 has provided Hizbullah the stage to prepare for the current war, leaving the Syrian/ Iranian back guerilla army six years to stockpile weapons and train forces for the big standoff with Israel. Since the start of the warfare, 105 Israelis, civilians and military personnel, have been killed. 3,487 Katyusha rockets were fired into Israel, and Magen David Adom emergency medical service officials responded to 1,070 calls for assistance resulting from rocket attacks. Air force officials’ report pilots have carried out over 5,127 sorties, and foreign sources report close to 800 Lebanese have been killed. Despite Peretz’s and Halutz’s definitive position, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is moving cautiously, with aides admitting the prime minister remains undecided.
Olmert is seeking additional guarantees regarding a decisive IDF victory, realizing the past four weeks have not produced the desired results. Analysts agree that IDF forces have ‘won’ most battles, but Hizbullah has not exhibited true signs of defeat as rockets continue to pound civilian population centers.
Halutz’s move to override Adam’s authority in the northern district is a major step towards achieving such a goal. Some military analysts also view Halutz’s move as one to cover his back, realizing when the war ends, a national inquiry into the events will also focus on the operation of the IDF, and Halutz has just thrown a significant portion of the responsibility for any failure on Adam’s shoulders.
One example is the successful Hizbullah attack that set the war in motion in July, citing the lack of preparedness of northern border forces, permitting the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who are both still in
Hizbullah hands. While reports indicate the two are alive, and some stating with a modicum of confidence alive and well,but in reality, no one has been permitted to visit them since they fell into captivity, not even representatives of the International Red Cross.
Olmert will have to make a decision soon, realizing on the other side of the Atlantic, frantic French and Arab League efforts to impose a ceasefire on Israel are moving ahead in earnest, enjoying the support of UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan.Adam, in his response to Halutz’s statement admitted to Galei Tzahal (Army) Radio on Tuesday evening that he is keeping much inside,and will comment when the time is right,but added it is Halutz’s right to appoint a special officer to oversee war efforts.
Israeli shakes up war's chain of command By RAMIT PLUSHNIK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer 52 minutes ago
JERUSALEM -Israel has appointed a plain-speaking combat veteran to command the war in Lebanon after a 30-year career mostly focused on fighting Hezbollah guerrillas.In a sudden shake-up, Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski was inserted over the head of Maj. Gen.
Udi Adam, the commander of the northern front, as the senior battlefield officer.
The appointment came Tuesday night, hours before Israel's Security Cabinet approved a major expansion of the military operation in Lebanon.Military analysts said Adam was seen as too cautious to score a decisive victory over Hezbollah. By sidelining Adam, Israel's military and political leadership also may have tried to answer critics of the army's failure to stop the relentless rocketing of northern Israel despite a month of fighting.
While Adam's military roots are in the Armored Corps, the 49-year-old Kaplinski's background in the infantry may be more suited to a ground offensive, especially in view of Hezbollah's recent success with anti-tank missiles.In 1976, Kaplinski enlisted in the Golani Brigade, an infantry unit based in northern Israel with a proud history of battle with Syria and with irregular forces in Lebanon.
He was commander of the brigade's reconnaissance unit in 1982, the year Israel invaded Lebanon to drive out the PLO and pushed all the way to the southern outskirts of Beirut. Kaplinski was wounded early in the fighting but returned to the war later; Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years.Kaplinski — often called Kaplan for short — was a close associate of Ariel Sharon and was appointed his military secretary after Sharon, a former general, became prime minister in 2001.He was considered the leading candidate to succeed Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz as chief of staff, but the promotion was thrown into doubt after Sharon suffered a devastating stroke in January and new elections were held.Kaplinski is described as warm but tough, nonchalant and less than a stickler for pressed dress and military bearing.
People always describe him as a charismatic teddy bear,said Amos Harel, a military correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Kaplinski is good at cutting down tensions around him and backing officers who are lower ranking,Harel said.Some analysts wondered whether he will be able to work with Adam.There is no room for two generals, wrote Alex Fishman in the Yedioth Aharonot
daily.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Israel's peace partners still seek its demise
Poll: Nearly all 'Palestinians' back Hizb'allah
By Ryan Jones,August 09, 2006
Seemingly encouraged by Israelis failure to defeat Hizb'allah after more than a month of warfare in southern Lebanon, the Palestinian Arabs are becoming increasingly radicalized in their view of the Jewish state, according to the results of a new public opinion poll.Conducted by the Ramallah-based Near East Consulting group, the poll revealed that 97 percent of Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and Gaza support Hizb'allah in its aggression against Israel. They have gone so far as to publicly cheer on Hizb'allah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah even when the Lebanese terror group's missiles came dangerously close to impacting Palestinian Authority-controlled towns in northern Samaria.
The poll also showed that public support for Hamas is on the rise, despite Israeli and Western economic sanctions meant to diminish Hamas appeal on the Palestinian street. A 55 percent majority now says Hamas should not alter its position regarding the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state.Furthermore, support for a lasting peace settlement with Israel is down 25 percent since June. Now just barely more than half of all Palestinians even care to negotiate peace with the Jews.
World Church Bodies Unite in Call for Peace in Lebanon
Posted: Wednesday, August 9 , 2006, 11:00 (BST)
Leaders from three of the largest church bodies in the world have come together to call for an end to violence in the Middle East.The World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) have called upon Israel and Hezbollah to end the fighting in Lebanon and upon the United States, the European Union, and the Arab States to exercise their influence toward this end. It also calls upon the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza.With the title A call to end the violence, the joint appeal is signed by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, LWF president Bishop Mark Hanson and WARC president Rev. Dr Clifton Kirkpatrick.
The call comes as reports emerge telling how Lebanese civilians and aid workers face even more dangers on their return home, as experts fear that around 10 per cent of the 3,000 rockets, artillery shells, cluster bombs and other artillery being fired into Lebanon each day for the past 28 days of conflict remain unexploded.The estimates leave returning civilians and aid workers exposed to around 7,000 unexploded munitions across the conflict zone.
The full text of the appeal is shown below:
A CALL TO END THE VIOLENCE
In the face of tragedy of such magnitude, we affirm that God calls us to do justice, reconcile with our enemies, and live together in
peace. Joint WCC-LWF-WARC statement on Lebanon
As followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and as leaders of the World Council of Churches and the worldwide fellowships of Lutheran and Reformed churches, we are shocked by the relentless violence, death, and devastation occurring in Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. We mourn the loss of life.
We abhor the untold human costs of this conflict, especially its impact on innocent people. We deplore the destruction of infrastructure and property. In the face of tragedy of such magnitude, we affirm that God calls us to do justice, reconcile with our enemies, and live together in peace.We call upon Israel and Hezbollah to end the fighting in Lebanon, and we call upon the United States, the European Union, and the Arab States to exercise their influence toward this end.
We call upon the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza.The number of Lebanese deaths approaches 1,000, one-third of them reportedly children under 12, and the number of Israeli deaths moves toward 100. Whatever the reality of the alleged provocations by both sides of the conflict, this spiral of violence serves no end but the devastation of Lebanon and the inflicting of wounds of terror in Israel.
Neither the terror of Katyusha rockets nor the destruction of Lebanese homes, schools, and villages can contribute to a lasting peace in the region. Such acts will lead to even deeper hatred between the parties than that which has fuelled the current violence. The Israelis have declared that they will continue military operations in Lebanon until there is a peacekeeping force on the ground. Hezbollah, in return, declares that they will not stop fighting until all Israeli military presence has left Lebanon. It is time for this intransigence by both parties to end. Israel must withdraw speedily from all the Lebanese territory, and Hezbollah, at the same time, must cease its actions against the Israeli people.
Close to 175 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed since Israel began military operations in the Gaza Strip. The devastation of the infrastructure of Gaza brings added hardship to people who already have nothing. The people of Israel know the terror of random rockets launched day and night.
While it is true that terms for a lasting peace cannot be reached in a brief time frame, the world cannot wait for signs of a new Middle East to stop the killing. It is time for the leaders of the nations, working through the United Nations, to bring to bear the full force of their influence. A cease-fire is an imperative first step to end the violence. As people of faith, we implore all parties, in God’s name, to agree to this, lest violence spread further through a region already stained with the blood of innocents.
When a cease-fire is achieved, we call the leaders of nations and other parties to begin the work for a compassionate order that will lead to a lasting peace. Our organisations and our churches are eager to share in that endeavour. The task is great and the way is hard, for fear must be overcome with faith, hate with trust, enmity with reconciliation, and injustice with justice. But it is a task worthy of our efforts and it is the way that leads to life.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
General Secretary
World Council of Churches
Rev. Dr Clifton Kirkpatrick
President
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
Bishop Mark Hanson
President
Lutheran World Federation
Daniel Blake
daniel@christiantoday.com
OH OH AHMADINIJAD, TAKE THE ADVICE I GAVE YOU BEFORE GRAB YOUR LITTLE TOWEL (TURBIN), GET ON YOUR CAMEL AN GO TO MAUDI IN THE WELL TELL HIM YOUR IN TROUBLE AND YOU WANT TO HIDE IN THE WELL WITH HIM BECAUSE GEORGE W AND ISRAEL ARE COMING TO GET YOU.
SINCERILY STAN L BOWMAN JR (ISRAEL SUPPORTER)
Iranian president criticizes Bush Wed Aug 9, 5:31 PM ET
NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized President Bush for failing to respond to his overture made in a letter in May, warning that those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate. The hard-line leader declared in the letter in May that liberalism and democracy had failed, and he lambasted Bush for his handling of the Sept. 11 attacks and a host of other issues ranging from the invasion of Iraq to U.S. support for Israel.It was the first formal communication between leaders of the two nations in 27 years, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed it, saying it failed to resolve the dispute over the Iranian nuclear program.
Well, I wanted to open a window toward the light for the president so that he can see that one can look on the world through a different perspective. ... We are all free to choose, Ahmadinejad told CBS' Mike Wallace in an interview Tuesday. But please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate.In response, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Wednesday: The president's view is that he doesn't respond publicly to private correspondence.
Ahmadinejad said public opinion was turning against Bush at home and internationally. You see that his approval rating is dropping every day. Hatred vis-a-vis the president is increasing every day around the world, the Iranian president said. For a ruler, this is the worst message that he could receive. Rulers and heads of government at the end of their office must leave the office holding their heads high.
CBS released excerpts and said the full interview would be broadcast Sunday on 60 Minutes.The Iranian leader also accused Washington of ignoring Tehran's efforts to negotiate over the nuclear issue by insisting on a U.N. Security Council resolution that was passed last month calling for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment by Aug. 31 or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions.The United States has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons though Tehran maintains its program is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.They want to build an empire. And they don't want to live side-by-side in peace with other nations, he said. The American government, sir, it is very clear to me they have to change their behavior and everything will be resolved.
Bush believes that his power emanates from his nuclear warhead arsenals, Ahmadinejad said. The time of the bomb is in the past, it's behind us. Today is the era of thoughts, dialogue and cultural exchanges.
12TH IMAM IN ISLAMIC PROPHECY
1-US sends plane to check on Atlantic tropical wave. 2-Diplomats wrangle over UN draft. 3-U.S. beefing up presence in central, eastern Europe. 4-DRC denies sending hidden shipment of uranium to Iran. 5-EU Presidency Accuses Members of Leaking Docs to Israel. 6-Peretz Talks Tough: No Cease Fire Without Hostage Release. 7-12th Imam,’ key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East turmoil, experts say.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
US sends plane to check on Atlantic tropical wave 44 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force is sending a plane to investigate whether a strong tropical wave near the Windward Islands has strengthened into a tropical depression or storm, the U.S.
National Hurricane Center said in a report Wednesday. The U.S. Air Force Reserve Reconnaissance aircraft will arrive in the afternoon at the wave located about 225 miles east of the Windward Islands and moving westward at about 20 to 25 miles per hour, which had become more concentrated on Wednesday
morning.All of the hurricane models show the wave crossing the Windward Islands and moving toward the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico over the next several days.
The Windward Islands include Martinique, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Saint Vincent, The Grenadines, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago.It is too soon to say whether the storm could get into the Gulf of Mexico, where it could disrupt the U.S. oil and natural gas production and refining.If a tropical storm forms, the NHC would name it Debby.The NHC did not expect a tropical storm to form anywhere else through Thursday.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Diplomats wrangle over UN draft
A building collapsed after air strikes on south Beirut Diplomats at the United Nations are discussing possible changes to a draft resolution aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. An Arab League delegation is travelling to New York to push Lebanon's demands for the text to call for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces. Lebanon has pledged 15,000 troops for the border area when Israel pulls out. Israel continued air strikes overnight after at least 49 people died in raids on Lebanon on Monday.
The current text - drafted by the US and France - calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and lays the groundwork for a second resolution that would install an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. But the Lebanese government wants changes which include a requirement that Israel withdraw all its forces as soon as there is a cessation of hostilities - rather than waiting for the eventual deployment of a multi-national force.
Violations
The talks came as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a new report criticising both sides for targeting civilians during the fighting. Mr Annan said the Israeli bombing of the village of Qana on 30 July could be part of a pattern of violations of international law. He called for a further investigation into the Qana attack, which killed at least 28 people, according to Human Rights Watch although initially the toll was put at 56. Israel says it carried out about 80 air strikes across Lebanon on Monday night, targeting what it said were Hezbollah buildings and rocket launchers. On Monday, Israeli air strikes on Lebanon were met by the militant group Hezbollah with a barrage of more than 100 rockets, wounding some Israeli civilians.
Rescuers in Beirut said at least 15 people had been killed in evening air strikes on a southern suburb that caused a building to collapse. The Israeli army warned southern Lebanese residents to stay indoors from 2200 (1900 GMT) on Monday.
Three Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil, the Israeli military said, adding that five Hezbollah militants were also killed. Mr Olmert told reservists Israel was not stopping its offensive The Israeli military said it had downed an Hezbollah drone - the first time an unmanned spotter plane has been destroyed in the conflict. The Israeli army also released video footage that purported to show a Hezbollah fighter confessing to taking part in the 12 July raid in which two Israeli soldiers were captured, triggering the conflict. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora drastically revised down the death toll of an Israeli air strike in the village of Houla, where he initially said 40 people had died when a building collapsed on them. A UN spokesman later said five people had died in the attack.
Vote delay
Correspondents say the UN Security Council will vote, at the very earliest, on the draft resolution on Tuesday. Both the US and France have said they will listen to the Arab delegation's concerns. But US President George W Bush, at his ranch in Texas, warned against creating a vacuum into which Hezbollah and its sponsors are able to move more weapons. The BBC's diplomatic correspondent says the US and France will be reluctant to see the vote delayed very long for fear that the whole plan could collapse.
Senior Israeli officials have said they are broadly happy with the text of the UN resolution. More than 900 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, the Lebanese government said. More than 90 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed. Israeli Defence Minster Amir Peretz said Israel would step up its offensive against Hezbollah rocket-launching sites if the diplomatic process does not reach a successful conclusion. And Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to his office, told reservists on a visit to the Lebanese border: I give to you all the power and the backing. We are not stopping.
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.(THIS EU POLITICIAN COMES FROM THE OCCULT)
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
U.S. beefing up presence in central, eastern Europe
European and American media have spread far and wide the move of the United States to build a guided missile defense system in central and eastern European nations for some time. A few days ago, it was confirmed by the Czech news agency, which said in a news dispatch that US military experts arrived at a military base in Bohemia, Czech for the selection of a guided missile defense site. In addition to Czech, the United States also thinks of turning to Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria for the selection of similar guided missile defense sites.
Since the conclusion of the cold war in the early 1990s, the European Union (EU) and the United States have distanced gradually in establishing the new world order (One World Government) and coping with a number of major international affairs, and many
Western nations have been grieved over the US unilateralism.
The foreign and defense policies of the EU have lagged far behind its fast progressing economic integration, so the EU has failed to shape their common stance on a quite number of major issues.
In this backdrop, the United States has kept shifting the gravity of its influence eastward and hopes to enhance its concept of value through its intensified contacts and intercourse with the central and eastern European nations.
These nations have all materialized their dream of return to Europe. In the course of prolonged, complex negotiations to join the EU, nevertheless, the candidate nations indignantly resented to the harsh and selfish terms imposed upon them by the EU member countries. A Czech newspaper once reminded people that it was France that tried to curb the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the EU from being enlarged and it was Germany that attempted to stop the East Europeans from entering into the labor market freely.
Therefore, many central and eastern European nations want eagerly to draw support from the United States, or the third force, to defend and safeguard their political and economic interests in the EU. Most of these nations are imbued with strong, prevalent pro-American sentiments due to changes in their ideology, and hold that it was the US support that have enabled them to get rid of the yoke of the former Soviet Union and eventually to join in the EU. So, the foreign policies of these central and eastern European nations sometimes underscore much more the concept of value than those of Western European countries. They have followed the United States more closely whenever the latter sets forth various kinds of prosals and resorting to military actions overseas under the banner of morality.
Hungary permitted the United States to use its ground military base even before it jointed into the NATO. Almost all central and eastern European nations have involved themselves in the Iraq War under the command of the United States. Non-government
organizations (NGO) of Slovakia, Poland, Czech and three Baltic states, namely, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, have given active support to the pro-Western democratic movement of Serbia, George, Ukraine and Belarus.
The US moves in central and eastern European nations would possibly inflict intense dissatisfaction and pressure upon Russia. The aim of the guided missile defense system is obvious, though it is not nuclear weaponry and its main function is to intercept nuclear weapons at early stage. So either U.S.-Russian ties or the relations between the central and eastern European nations and Russia would likely stand new, severe tests. By People's Daily Online
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
DRC denies sending hidden shipment of uranium to Iran
August 8, 2006
The Democratic Republic of Congo government has denied that a uranium shipment left its territory last year bound for Iran.It's a great big lie, government spokesman Henri Mova Sakanyi said. All our nuclear activities are under the control of the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported that a smuggled shipment of uranium 238 had been intercepted in Tanzania in October. The report cited a senior Tanzanian customs official and an unpublished report by the UN from July 18.The article said the shipment had come from a closed mine in Lubumbashi, Congo, then had been driven via Zambia into Tanzania, where it had been uncovered during a scan at the port in Dar es Salaam while awaiting shipment to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
Anyone who knows about uranium knows that it is not exported in raw form in trucks. It must be treated and purified, and we don't enrich uranium in Congo,Sakanyi said.The paper cited a Tanzanian customs official, who it did not identify by name, as saying that the uranium was hidden inside a cargo of 50-kilogram drums of coltan, a mineral used to make computer chips.The Sunday Times said the uranium was suspected of having been extracted illegally from the Shinkolobwe mine, which was closed in 1961. - Sapa-AP
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
EU Presidency Accuses Members of Leaking Docs to Israel
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
HELSINKI, Finland — The European Union presidency on Tuesday accused member states of leaking important foreign policy documents to countries outside the bloc, including Israel. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, wrote in an opinion piece that the leaks are hampering the 25-member bloc's ability to act as a united force in global politics.It has long been known that all EU documents that deal with the Middle East also are known in Tel Aviv within an hour after having been distributed to the member states, and probably also in Washington and Moscow,Tuomioja wrote in the Helsinki newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.
CountryWatch: Finland
He said the leaks encourage member states to act outside the EU's formal decision-making structure.This is problematic for the whole union, but especially harmful to the smaller member states,he wrote.Tuomioja also criticized EU ministers for acting in national interests — or at least giving that impression to the media — and preparing for summits as if they were facing hostile countries.It would have great significance for the EU's morale, credibility and efficiency if ministers came to EU meetings with a certain feeling of common goals and not primarily to bring home gains ... for domestic use,he wrote.He also accused the media of exaggerating differences within the union. For example, he said the union had a common view on how to respond to the violence in the Middle East, contrary to many news reports.Finland holds the rotating six-month presidency for the remainder of the year.
FOXNEWS.COM
Peretz Talks Tough: No Cease Fire Without Hostage Release
16:54 Aug 08, '06 / 14 Av 5766
(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Amir Peretz categorically stated Tuesday that Israel will not agree to a cease fire without the release of two IDF soldiers who were kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists at the outset of the war on July 12. Their freedom originally was a demand by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice but has not been specifically stated in the past several days.
Minister Peretz also repeated demands that Hizbullah be disarmed before the IDF retreats and allows the Lebanese army to patrol southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government which approved the deployment, for the first time in more than 20 years, includes five Shi'ite ministers who support Hizbullah.
12th Imam,’ key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East turmoil, experts say Aug 7, 2006,By Olivia Tulley,Baptist Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Among the nearly 68 million people in Iran, the vast majority are Muslim who place their hope not in modern-day politics or rulers but in a person who walked the earth centuries ago and is promised to return.
Both Islam and Christianity have a very well-defined eschatology, or period of the last days; both of them cannot be correct …,said William Wagner, senior professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and author of the book, How Islam Plans to Change the World.A majority of Shiite Muslims traditionally believe that the 12th Imam (Islamic religious leader), born in 868 A.D., was placed by God into hiding (known as occultation) until the day of judgment. Southern Baptist author and evangelist Anis Shorrosh explained that many Shiites also refer to the 12th Imam as the Mahdi, an Arabic word that generally references a messiah, or a guide.
This man will come to show them the way, because the prayer of every Muslim five times a day …ends with ‘Show us the right path, not the path of those who have incurred your anger or those who are lost, but those upon whom grace has come, Shorrosh said.Though most strains of Islam have a belief in the Mahdi, Shiites traditionally believe he is Mohammed ibn Hasan, the 12th in the line of imams who were descendents of the prophet Mohammed. Though they do not know when the Mahdi will return, they believe he will come to end the misery of his people. Some strains of Islam even hold a belief that Jesus will be the Mahdi who will return and proclaim Islam as the true religion.Satan always tries to duplicate everything that God does, Wagner said, and I believe he has created his own eschatology that is somewhat similar to that of Christianity, but false enough to where it is apparent that it is not the truth.
Ray Tallman, director of the school of intercultural studies at Golden Gate Seminary, noted that the major eschatological question for Shiite Muslims is when the Mahdi’s return will take place -– and many hold the belief that the time is near. The increasing clash with Israel and that with Christianity are two indications to Shiites that the Mahdi’s return could be near, said Tallman, who spent seven years as the international director for Arab World Ministries.All of that is sort of a sign of the times that now it has come to this, and that what is actually being done now out of hate has an eschatological sign of promise to it,Tallman said of the Shiite view.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been cited by various news sources as not only believing in the eventual return of the Mahdi, but that the return is near and that it is the responsibility of the Iranian government to prepare the country for his return.
Belief in a savior is universal,BBC News quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in January. It is the pivot of our beliefs as Muslims and Iranians. We believe that an offspring of the prophet, may peace be upon him, will be the ultimate savior. His name and attributes are clear. He will come and will administer ultimate justice.The belief that the Mahdi’s return is near is not a new claim among Shiites, Wagner said, but one that has been held almost since the 12th Imam was historically placed into hiding.Almost every generation has some figures in Islam that either claim to be the 12th Imam or claim that the 12th Imam will come to himself, Wagner said.
Although Shiites and Sunnis often battle against each other, as is currently the case in Iraq, Wagner noted common efforts among both groups of Muslims to destroy Israel, which is a critical part of Islam taking control in the world and thus ushering in the Mahdi.
They feel like one of the major blocking points is Israel, and that is one reason why they feel like they must destroy Israel, Wagner said.Wagner further noted that Islam is on the march with the intention of the entire world becoming Muslims.The problem is that in many parts of the world today, Christianity has become very weak, Wagner said. It is extremely necessary for all Christians to reevaluate their faith and to become stronger in their faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one thing that Islam fears the most because, down deep; they know that they cannot compete with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.Wagner also noted that Islam is a religion of fear, with many Muslims fearing their own faith.It is the task of Christians to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to Muslims everywhere so that they can be released from this fear and find the assurance of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, Wagner said.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
US sends plane to check on Atlantic tropical wave 44 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force is sending a plane to investigate whether a strong tropical wave near the Windward Islands has strengthened into a tropical depression or storm, the U.S.
National Hurricane Center said in a report Wednesday. The U.S. Air Force Reserve Reconnaissance aircraft will arrive in the afternoon at the wave located about 225 miles east of the Windward Islands and moving westward at about 20 to 25 miles per hour, which had become more concentrated on Wednesday
morning.All of the hurricane models show the wave crossing the Windward Islands and moving toward the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico over the next several days.
The Windward Islands include Martinique, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Saint Vincent, The Grenadines, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago.It is too soon to say whether the storm could get into the Gulf of Mexico, where it could disrupt the U.S. oil and natural gas production and refining.If a tropical storm forms, the NHC would name it Debby.The NHC did not expect a tropical storm to form anywhere else through Thursday.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Diplomats wrangle over UN draft
A building collapsed after air strikes on south Beirut Diplomats at the United Nations are discussing possible changes to a draft resolution aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. An Arab League delegation is travelling to New York to push Lebanon's demands for the text to call for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces. Lebanon has pledged 15,000 troops for the border area when Israel pulls out. Israel continued air strikes overnight after at least 49 people died in raids on Lebanon on Monday.
The current text - drafted by the US and France - calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and lays the groundwork for a second resolution that would install an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. But the Lebanese government wants changes which include a requirement that Israel withdraw all its forces as soon as there is a cessation of hostilities - rather than waiting for the eventual deployment of a multi-national force.
Violations
The talks came as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a new report criticising both sides for targeting civilians during the fighting. Mr Annan said the Israeli bombing of the village of Qana on 30 July could be part of a pattern of violations of international law. He called for a further investigation into the Qana attack, which killed at least 28 people, according to Human Rights Watch although initially the toll was put at 56. Israel says it carried out about 80 air strikes across Lebanon on Monday night, targeting what it said were Hezbollah buildings and rocket launchers. On Monday, Israeli air strikes on Lebanon were met by the militant group Hezbollah with a barrage of more than 100 rockets, wounding some Israeli civilians.
Rescuers in Beirut said at least 15 people had been killed in evening air strikes on a southern suburb that caused a building to collapse. The Israeli army warned southern Lebanese residents to stay indoors from 2200 (1900 GMT) on Monday.
Three Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil, the Israeli military said, adding that five Hezbollah militants were also killed. Mr Olmert told reservists Israel was not stopping its offensive The Israeli military said it had downed an Hezbollah drone - the first time an unmanned spotter plane has been destroyed in the conflict. The Israeli army also released video footage that purported to show a Hezbollah fighter confessing to taking part in the 12 July raid in which two Israeli soldiers were captured, triggering the conflict. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora drastically revised down the death toll of an Israeli air strike in the village of Houla, where he initially said 40 people had died when a building collapsed on them. A UN spokesman later said five people had died in the attack.
Vote delay
Correspondents say the UN Security Council will vote, at the very earliest, on the draft resolution on Tuesday. Both the US and France have said they will listen to the Arab delegation's concerns. But US President George W Bush, at his ranch in Texas, warned against creating a vacuum into which Hezbollah and its sponsors are able to move more weapons. The BBC's diplomatic correspondent says the US and France will be reluctant to see the vote delayed very long for fear that the whole plan could collapse.
Senior Israeli officials have said they are broadly happy with the text of the UN resolution. More than 900 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, the Lebanese government said. More than 90 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed. Israeli Defence Minster Amir Peretz said Israel would step up its offensive against Hezbollah rocket-launching sites if the diplomatic process does not reach a successful conclusion. And Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to his office, told reservists on a visit to the Lebanese border: I give to you all the power and the backing. We are not stopping.
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.(THIS EU POLITICIAN COMES FROM THE OCCULT)
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
U.S. beefing up presence in central, eastern Europe
European and American media have spread far and wide the move of the United States to build a guided missile defense system in central and eastern European nations for some time. A few days ago, it was confirmed by the Czech news agency, which said in a news dispatch that US military experts arrived at a military base in Bohemia, Czech for the selection of a guided missile defense site. In addition to Czech, the United States also thinks of turning to Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria for the selection of similar guided missile defense sites.
Since the conclusion of the cold war in the early 1990s, the European Union (EU) and the United States have distanced gradually in establishing the new world order (One World Government) and coping with a number of major international affairs, and many
Western nations have been grieved over the US unilateralism.
The foreign and defense policies of the EU have lagged far behind its fast progressing economic integration, so the EU has failed to shape their common stance on a quite number of major issues.
In this backdrop, the United States has kept shifting the gravity of its influence eastward and hopes to enhance its concept of value through its intensified contacts and intercourse with the central and eastern European nations.
These nations have all materialized their dream of return to Europe. In the course of prolonged, complex negotiations to join the EU, nevertheless, the candidate nations indignantly resented to the harsh and selfish terms imposed upon them by the EU member countries. A Czech newspaper once reminded people that it was France that tried to curb the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the EU from being enlarged and it was Germany that attempted to stop the East Europeans from entering into the labor market freely.
Therefore, many central and eastern European nations want eagerly to draw support from the United States, or the third force, to defend and safeguard their political and economic interests in the EU. Most of these nations are imbued with strong, prevalent pro-American sentiments due to changes in their ideology, and hold that it was the US support that have enabled them to get rid of the yoke of the former Soviet Union and eventually to join in the EU. So, the foreign policies of these central and eastern European nations sometimes underscore much more the concept of value than those of Western European countries. They have followed the United States more closely whenever the latter sets forth various kinds of prosals and resorting to military actions overseas under the banner of morality.
Hungary permitted the United States to use its ground military base even before it jointed into the NATO. Almost all central and eastern European nations have involved themselves in the Iraq War under the command of the United States. Non-government
organizations (NGO) of Slovakia, Poland, Czech and three Baltic states, namely, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, have given active support to the pro-Western democratic movement of Serbia, George, Ukraine and Belarus.
The US moves in central and eastern European nations would possibly inflict intense dissatisfaction and pressure upon Russia. The aim of the guided missile defense system is obvious, though it is not nuclear weaponry and its main function is to intercept nuclear weapons at early stage. So either U.S.-Russian ties or the relations between the central and eastern European nations and Russia would likely stand new, severe tests. By People's Daily Online
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
DRC denies sending hidden shipment of uranium to Iran
August 8, 2006
The Democratic Republic of Congo government has denied that a uranium shipment left its territory last year bound for Iran.It's a great big lie, government spokesman Henri Mova Sakanyi said. All our nuclear activities are under the control of the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported that a smuggled shipment of uranium 238 had been intercepted in Tanzania in October. The report cited a senior Tanzanian customs official and an unpublished report by the UN from July 18.The article said the shipment had come from a closed mine in Lubumbashi, Congo, then had been driven via Zambia into Tanzania, where it had been uncovered during a scan at the port in Dar es Salaam while awaiting shipment to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
Anyone who knows about uranium knows that it is not exported in raw form in trucks. It must be treated and purified, and we don't enrich uranium in Congo,Sakanyi said.The paper cited a Tanzanian customs official, who it did not identify by name, as saying that the uranium was hidden inside a cargo of 50-kilogram drums of coltan, a mineral used to make computer chips.The Sunday Times said the uranium was suspected of having been extracted illegally from the Shinkolobwe mine, which was closed in 1961. - Sapa-AP
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
EU Presidency Accuses Members of Leaking Docs to Israel
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
HELSINKI, Finland — The European Union presidency on Tuesday accused member states of leaking important foreign policy documents to countries outside the bloc, including Israel. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, wrote in an opinion piece that the leaks are hampering the 25-member bloc's ability to act as a united force in global politics.It has long been known that all EU documents that deal with the Middle East also are known in Tel Aviv within an hour after having been distributed to the member states, and probably also in Washington and Moscow,Tuomioja wrote in the Helsinki newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.
CountryWatch: Finland
He said the leaks encourage member states to act outside the EU's formal decision-making structure.This is problematic for the whole union, but especially harmful to the smaller member states,he wrote.Tuomioja also criticized EU ministers for acting in national interests — or at least giving that impression to the media — and preparing for summits as if they were facing hostile countries.It would have great significance for the EU's morale, credibility and efficiency if ministers came to EU meetings with a certain feeling of common goals and not primarily to bring home gains ... for domestic use,he wrote.He also accused the media of exaggerating differences within the union. For example, he said the union had a common view on how to respond to the violence in the Middle East, contrary to many news reports.Finland holds the rotating six-month presidency for the remainder of the year.
FOXNEWS.COM
Peretz Talks Tough: No Cease Fire Without Hostage Release
16:54 Aug 08, '06 / 14 Av 5766
(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Amir Peretz categorically stated Tuesday that Israel will not agree to a cease fire without the release of two IDF soldiers who were kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists at the outset of the war on July 12. Their freedom originally was a demand by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice but has not been specifically stated in the past several days.
Minister Peretz also repeated demands that Hizbullah be disarmed before the IDF retreats and allows the Lebanese army to patrol southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government which approved the deployment, for the first time in more than 20 years, includes five Shi'ite ministers who support Hizbullah.
12th Imam,’ key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East turmoil, experts say Aug 7, 2006,By Olivia Tulley,Baptist Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Among the nearly 68 million people in Iran, the vast majority are Muslim who place their hope not in modern-day politics or rulers but in a person who walked the earth centuries ago and is promised to return.
Both Islam and Christianity have a very well-defined eschatology, or period of the last days; both of them cannot be correct …,said William Wagner, senior professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and author of the book, How Islam Plans to Change the World.A majority of Shiite Muslims traditionally believe that the 12th Imam (Islamic religious leader), born in 868 A.D., was placed by God into hiding (known as occultation) until the day of judgment. Southern Baptist author and evangelist Anis Shorrosh explained that many Shiites also refer to the 12th Imam as the Mahdi, an Arabic word that generally references a messiah, or a guide.
This man will come to show them the way, because the prayer of every Muslim five times a day …ends with ‘Show us the right path, not the path of those who have incurred your anger or those who are lost, but those upon whom grace has come, Shorrosh said.Though most strains of Islam have a belief in the Mahdi, Shiites traditionally believe he is Mohammed ibn Hasan, the 12th in the line of imams who were descendents of the prophet Mohammed. Though they do not know when the Mahdi will return, they believe he will come to end the misery of his people. Some strains of Islam even hold a belief that Jesus will be the Mahdi who will return and proclaim Islam as the true religion.Satan always tries to duplicate everything that God does, Wagner said, and I believe he has created his own eschatology that is somewhat similar to that of Christianity, but false enough to where it is apparent that it is not the truth.
Ray Tallman, director of the school of intercultural studies at Golden Gate Seminary, noted that the major eschatological question for Shiite Muslims is when the Mahdi’s return will take place -– and many hold the belief that the time is near. The increasing clash with Israel and that with Christianity are two indications to Shiites that the Mahdi’s return could be near, said Tallman, who spent seven years as the international director for Arab World Ministries.All of that is sort of a sign of the times that now it has come to this, and that what is actually being done now out of hate has an eschatological sign of promise to it,Tallman said of the Shiite view.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been cited by various news sources as not only believing in the eventual return of the Mahdi, but that the return is near and that it is the responsibility of the Iranian government to prepare the country for his return.
Belief in a savior is universal,BBC News quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in January. It is the pivot of our beliefs as Muslims and Iranians. We believe that an offspring of the prophet, may peace be upon him, will be the ultimate savior. His name and attributes are clear. He will come and will administer ultimate justice.The belief that the Mahdi’s return is near is not a new claim among Shiites, Wagner said, but one that has been held almost since the 12th Imam was historically placed into hiding.Almost every generation has some figures in Islam that either claim to be the 12th Imam or claim that the 12th Imam will come to himself, Wagner said.
Although Shiites and Sunnis often battle against each other, as is currently the case in Iraq, Wagner noted common efforts among both groups of Muslims to destroy Israel, which is a critical part of Islam taking control in the world and thus ushering in the Mahdi.
They feel like one of the major blocking points is Israel, and that is one reason why they feel like they must destroy Israel, Wagner said.Wagner further noted that Islam is on the march with the intention of the entire world becoming Muslims.The problem is that in many parts of the world today, Christianity has become very weak, Wagner said. It is extremely necessary for all Christians to reevaluate their faith and to become stronger in their faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one thing that Islam fears the most because, down deep; they know that they cannot compete with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.Wagner also noted that Islam is a religion of fear, with many Muslims fearing their own faith.It is the task of Christians to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to Muslims everywhere so that they can be released from this fear and find the assurance of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, Wagner said.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
DECADE OF TURMOIL
1-Anderson Cooper interviews Council on foreign relations lee Feinstein on the future force on the Israeli-Lebanon border. 2-Magnitude 6.7 quake hits near Vanuatu. 3-F-3 tornado in Warroad had 180 mph winds. 4-Flooding halts production at India's largest gas fields. 5-Floods in west, north of Austria after heavy rain. 6-India races to help hundreds of thousands hit by floods. 7-33 more feared dead in Pakistan rains. 8-Volcano belches more ash in Philippines. 9-Iran's supreme leader urges Muslims to 'defend' Hezbollah. 10-Decade of turmoil.
On CNN Anderson Cooper interviewed Council on Foreign Relations member Lee Feinstein about the Force that must be on the Israeli-Lebanon border.
lee says this UNIFIL force is useless, and this un lead force they want to bring in now is UNIFIL on steroids. He says unless there are significant changes to this future force it will be useless as well.
Lee goes on to say: Theres always a temptation to throw a Peace keeping force at an intractable political problem. And thats the issue were facing here. First of all the peace keeping operation has to be understood as supporting a larger Political goal. By itself it's not going to be ableto nullify Hezbollah.
Israeli Defence forces are not able to do that. And unless the International Community is prepared to go to war, it's hard to imagine any stabilization force under a blue helmeted operation, a UN operation, or any other kind, to really succeed it.
Anderson then asks lee: Who needs to run this Operation force?
lee Answers: In the best case senario, you have a compitant Military force whos prestege is on the line. Run by a League nation such as France. France is a good candidate for this. You could even have the force run by a group of Nations like the European Union. But you need that kind of leadership and clear command in order to stand any chance of success.
JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS ITS THE EU NOT THE US THAT GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY IN THE FUTURE. IN THIS FUTURE LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY OF DANIEL 9:27.
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.
Magnitude 6.7 quake hits near Vanuatu Mon Aug 7, 10:53 PM ET
SYDNEY, Australia - A powerful earthquake struck near the Pacific island of Vanuatu Tuesday but caused no injuries or damage, officials said. The magnitude 6.7 temblor struck at midmorning and was centered about 140 miles northwest of the capital, Port Vila, and about 100 miles below the earth's surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said.Vanuatu disaster official Job Esau said there was no damage or injuries at Port Vila or any of the country's outlying islands.New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management said the earthquake was too deep to pose any risk of a tsunami.Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides Islands, is made up of 13 main islands located about 1,400 miles east of Australia.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
F-3 tornado in Warroad had 180 mph winds
Associated Press,Last update: August 07, 2006 – 9:58 PM
A tornado that struck Warroad over the weekend was an F-3, with winds up to 180 miles per hour, National Weather Service officials said.Meteorologist Greg Gust, who went to the community Sunday as part of a weather service storm assessment team, said it was a miracle no one was killed.The tornado flipped over 16 semitrailers at the Marvin Windows plant and tore down a sign at the Pepsi bottling plant.Dale Sand and Tom Pepera like to watch storms, but when they saw the dangerous-looking clouds Saturday night, they headed for home and took shelter in a crawl space under their house on the northern edge of Warroad.
Something like that, all you can do is close your eyes and pray, Sand said.The Sand and Pepera home, in the Warroad estates neighborhood, was at the center of the storm, their neighbors said. The tornado took the roof off an old garage near the house and lifted a new garage away, smashing it into a field.One plate in a collection remained on their wall but broke in half; another plate was carried across the room and gently set down without a scratch.
Flooding halts production at India's largest gas fields 20 minutes ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) - State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has halted production at India's two largest gas fields after monsoon rains flooded a processing plant in the western state of Gujarat.The Hazira processing plant was shut down Monday night, the Press Trust of India news agency said Tuesday.All gas production from the fields connected to Hazira has been suspended, Oil and Natural Gas chairman and managing director R.S. Sharma told PTI. "The Hazira plant is in no position to take gas from the fields and so the wells had to be shut.The Hazira plant, which can process 32.5 million standard cubic meters of gas per day (1.14 billion cubic feet), receives gas supplies from the Bassein field off Mumbai and the Panna-Mukta-Tapti field off the Gujarat coast.
The two gas fields produce around 41 million standard cubic meters per day, PTI said.A gas pipeline that supplies industries in the north, including to the national capital where public buses run exclusively on compressed natural gas, was also shut.The state-owned Gas Authority of India, which operates the pipeline, has been asked to ration supplies with transport getting priority followed by power plants, the report said.Sharma was unable to say when gas production was expected to resume.It may take at least a couple of days to drain the Hazira facility before gas production is restarted,he said.The plant is submerged by about five feet (1.5 metres) of water, the report said.
Floods in west, north of Austria after heavy rain Tue Aug 8, 6:56 AM ET
VIENNA (AFP) - Parts of northern and western Austria were put on flood alert following heavy rain over the weekend but the situation was improving early Tuesday, authorities have said. This comes after the country experienced record high temperatures of up to 36 degrees in recent weeks.Flood alarms were triggered around Vienna, in the spa town of Baden just south of the capital and in Krems and St. Poelten, in the province of Lower Austria.Streets and railways in that province stood under water and had to be closed, several towns were cut off and one house had to be evacuated following a landslide. Over 2,000 firefighters and emergency services were working to pump the water out of houses and cellars.
In the towns of Frankenfels and Annaberg, west of Vienna, 180 litres per square metre of rain fell in just 24 hours, the Austria Press Agency reported.In Sonntagberg, the river Ybbs which flows into the Danube carried away a bridge holding a gasoline main, causing a considerable gas leak,according to authorities. Lower Austria's gas provider EVN immediately cut the supply.Parts of Carinthia and Upper Austria were also flooded following heavy rain on Monday.But despite fears the Danube might reach the record level of 9.20 metres registered in March 2002, when large parts of Europe were flooded, the water level only went as high as 8.60 metres early Tuesday before falling further to 8.45 metres as the rain abated, the Lower Austrian alert centre said.
India races to help hundreds of thousands hit by floods by Syed Amin Jafri 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
HYDERABAD, India (AFP) - Rescuers are racing to get food and clean water to more than 750,000 people left homeless in four flooded Indian states, officials said, as the death toll linked to lashing monsoon rains in the past week rose to 187. In southern Andhra Pradesh state more than 100 people have died in the past week and 472,000 have been hit by the floods, senior administration official Priyadarshini told AFP on Tuesday.More than 600 villages in three districts were under water and 296 relief camps had been set up to house those displaced by the flooding, she said in the state capital Hyderabad.Some 283 boats, including a naval craft, had been deployed to rescue marooned people while seven helicopters were dropping food, drinking water, milk sachets and medicines to those trapped.
The rains were easing and water levels starting to drop, Priyadarshini added.In neighbouring Gujarat state, the authorities have relocated 190,000 people from Surat, famous for its diamond polishing industry, an official from the state flood control room said.
Indian army, air force and paramilitary personnel have been asked to assist the relief efforts, distributing food, clean water and moving people from submerged areas,said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.Five people had been washed away by floodwaters in the state, the Press Trust of India news agency said.Thousands of people in Surat were forced to move out of their houses after water was released from the swollen Ukai dam upstream on the Tapti river which flows through the town.The water level in the dam is just one foot below the danger mark at 344 feet (105 metres) and we have to do something soon to relieve the situation,the official said.About 300 soldiers equipped with 10 boats and life jackets were rescuing people trapped on rooftops of submerged houses in waterlogged areas, he said.
We also have four air force helicopters (to drop) food packets and clean water sachets to the people,he added.Low-lying bridges were closed to traffic and authorities had issued fresh warnings, asking people living along river banks to move to safer places as they prepared to release water accumalated in many dams in the state.In the western state of Maharashtra, thousands left homeless by the monsoon rains in 15 of the states's 35 districts were being airdropped food and medicines, a state official said.
Twenty-seven people had died overnight taking the death toll in the state due to the current spell of rains that began a week ago to 62, said Bhupathy Pandey, Maharashtra's relief and rehabilitation secretary.About 105,000 people had been displaced by floods, Pandey said, adding people in another 184 villages would need to be relocated to higher ground as many of the dams and rivers in the state were overflowing.
Six navy boats had been pressed into service in the flood-devastated districts of Nasik and Nandanwadi to rescue marooned people, Pandey said.An India air force AN-32 transport aircraft was dropping supplies.The situation is under control,Pandey said. In the Maoist insurgency-affected tiny central state of Chhattisgarh, 20,000 people had been evacuated to 19 relief camps, an official said.
The latest deaths took the nationwide death toll linked to the annual monsoon rains since mid-May to 567, 187 of them in the past week alone, according to an AFP tally.The flood situation in the country was raised in India's national parliament with Home Minister Shivraj Patil assuring MPs that New Delhi was ready to provide any assistance needed.
33 more feared dead in Pakistan rains 1 hour, 1 minute ago
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AFP) - Torrential monsoon rains are feared to have killed another 33 people across Pakistan, including 20 when a bus slid off a flooded mountain road and plunged into a ravine. Ten bodies have been recovered after Tuesday's bus accident in Swat, a scenic mountain region in northwest Pakistan, and another 10 are still missing, local official Jamal Khan said on Tuesday.Another five people were killed in Pakistani Kashmir when a landslide sheared off a mountainside left unstable by last October's South Asia earthquake.A woman, her daughter aged three and three sons died when a huge boulder fell on their home near the town of Balabandi, local police chief Zahoorul Hassan told AFP.
The United Nations warned last week that landslips and floods could displace thousands of people already in temporary shelters after October's quake, which killed 73,000 people.Flash floods swamped several villages in rugged southwest Pakistan on Monday, said Baluchistan province's government spokesman Shakeel Ahmed.One woman died when the roof of her house collapsed near the town of Sibi and seven others were missing after they were swept away by overflowing rivers, Ahmed said.Hundreds of people were being evacuated to safer places.Incidents blamed on the annual monsoon rains have claimed more than 170 lives in Pakistan in the past two weeks.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with 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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Volcano belches more ash in Philippines By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago
MATANAG, Philippines - A volcano in the Philippines showed more signs of erupting Tuesday, belching ash three times overnight as officials evacuated tens of thousands of villagers. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert for the 8,118-foot Mayon volcano to Level 4 on Monday — the second highest level — after six explosions sent ash columns up to a half mile high. The explosions prompted the mandatory evacuation of about 35,000 villagers in Albay province, about 210 miles southeast of Manila on Luzon island.Officials also extended the government's permanent danger zone from 4.3 miles to 5 miles on the volcano's southern side.
Mayon ejected ash at least three times late Monday and was emitting unusually high volumes of sulfuric dioxide, said volcanologist Ed Laguerta. He said instruments detected more than 100 volcanic earthquakes overnight, mostly unfelt by humans.This means there is more magma rising from beneath the volcano,he said.More than 28,600 of the 35,000 villagers who were ordered to leave their villages on the southeast slopes of the volcano had been evacuated by late Tuesday, said Jukes Nunez of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council of Albay province.An additional 20,000 people would have to be moved out of harm's way in case of a major eruption, said Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzalez.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo commended authorities for an orderly evacuation so far and predicted no casualties even if a major eruption occurs. She assured evacuees there would be enough food rations and services in temporary shelters.With the ... effective handling of this crisis, we are confident of achieving a zero-casualty goal in this looming natural disaster,she said. We call on the local residents not to flirt with danger by going back to the declared danger zones.Despite the mandatory evacuations, many villagers stayed put on farms around Mayon to tend their crops and livestock while guarding their homes and belongings.In Matanag, a farming village of about 1,400 people, about 600 residents left Monday, but many more chose to stay behind. An army truck sat at the village entrance, ready to assist in a quick escape and soldiers dropped a coconut tree across the road to Matanag to block incoming traffic.My mother said that we would not evacuate now unless it's really urgent and there's a big eruption,13-year-old Jennilyn Nantes said as she walked to school.
Lava began flowing from the volcano on July 14 and has been slowly extending down Mayon's slopes. Its most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.The Philippines is in the Pacific Ring of Fire,where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Iran's supreme leader urges Muslims to 'defend' Hezbollah 1 hour, 17 minutes ago
TEHRAN (AFP) -Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has renewed calls on Muslims to rally to the defence of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah in its war against Israel, state television reported. Today it is the entire Muslim community's duty to defend Hezbollah,Khamenei told a meeting Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Shiites' first Imam, Ali.Iran helped to create and arm Hezbollah in 1982 in response to Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and Tehran stands accused by the United States and Israel of fomenting chaos in the region by channelling weapons to the guerrillas.Iran denies the allegation, saying it provides only moral support to the movement.
Khamenei's comments came as Arab ministers were due to plead Lebanon's case in New York before the UN Security Council, which is debating a draft French-US resolution calling on Israel and Hezbollah to stop the fighting which has raged for the past month.The all-powerful Iranian leader lashed out at the United Nations for what he called its incompetence, and also attacked some Arab countries for looking on in silence.Some Arabic states that have kept quiet should know that the United States will never consider their interests,Khamenei said.More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians have been killed in the Israeli offensive unleashed after the capture of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid from Lebanon on July 12.Khamenei also accused the US and Britain on Tuesday of encouraging the Zionists' crimes and seeking to eradicate Islam in this region.
Decade of turmoil
Linda MacDonald,Sunday August 6, 2006,The Observer
1997
15 January
Palestinians sign a deal with Benjamin Netanyahu's government clearing the way for the handover of 80 per cent of Hebron to Palestinian rule.
18 March
Israel defies world opinion by building the Har Homa settlement on Jabal Abu Ghneim to complete Jewish settlements around occupied East Jerusalem.
1998
23 October
Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat, Netanyahu and US President Bill Clinton sign the Wye River deal foreseeing a phased Israeli withdrawal from 13 per cent of the West Bank in exchange for Palestinian security measures protecting Israel. Netanyahu freezes the deal two months later.
199913 September
New Prime Minister Ehud Barak signs a deal with Arafat agreeing to carry out a modified version of the Wye River deal.
2000
21 March
Israel hands over last portion of West Bank territory agreed at Wye River.
28 September
Ariel Sharon, leader of right-wing opposition Likud party, visits a Jerusalem shrine holy to Muslims and Jews. Violence erupts.
2001
6 February
Sharon, becomes Prime Minister
13 June
A fragile ceasefire takes shape calling on Arafat to clamp down on militants, and on Israel to withdraw from territory seized during the intifada.
14 August
Israeli tanks move into the West Bank city of Jenin.
11 September
Terrorist attack by al-Qaeda on America kills 3,000 people.
2 October
Bush says he is prepared to back the creation of a Palestinian state.
2002
6 May
The US adds Syria to its 'axis of evil'. Mentioned in State of the Union address
2003
20 March
America launches its 'shock and awe' attack on Iraq and tries to oust Saddam Hussein.
4 June
Sharon and Palestinian Authority PM Mahmoud Abbas pledge to implement road map for peace - calling for end to violence and a Palestinian state by 2005 - at summit with Bush but ceasefire falls apart.
6 September
Abbas resigns and Arafat nominates Ahmed Qurie as prime minister.
2004
2 February
Ariel Sharon reveals his intention to withdraw from Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, with or without signing a final peace agreement with the Palestinians.
International Court of Justice in the Hague pronouncesIsrael's 'wall' illegal and says it should be torn down.
11 November
Arafat dies. Abbas becomes the new head of PLO.
2005
9 January
Abbas wins election landslide.
12 September
Israel completes military withdrawal from Gaza. Palestinian Authority takes control of abandoned settlements.
21 November
Sharon announces he is quitting Likud to lead new centrist party Kadima in order to give him a freer hand
2006
January
Sharon's powers transfer to Ehud Olmert. Islamic militant group Hamas wins the Palestinian parliamentary election.
June
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, alleged leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is killed by US forces. Cpl Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, is kidnapped by militants. Israel launches an offensive against targets in Gaza.
12 July
Hizbollah guerrillas capture and kill soldiers around Lebanese border. Olmert calls it an 'act of war' by Lebanon. Two days later opposition from the US and Britain means no resolution on a ceasefire is agreed at a UN meeting on Lebanon. G8 summit
20 July
Deaths in Iraq have reached 100 a day
28 July
Blair flies to Washington for talks with Bush about the crisis. They call for a UN-backed peacekeeping force to be sent in and warn Tehran and Damascus over their alleged role in the conflict.A leaked memo from Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad warns Blair of the likelihood of civil war in Iraq.
On CNN Anderson Cooper interviewed Council on Foreign Relations member Lee Feinstein about the Force that must be on the Israeli-Lebanon border.
lee says this UNIFIL force is useless, and this un lead force they want to bring in now is UNIFIL on steroids. He says unless there are significant changes to this future force it will be useless as well.
Lee goes on to say: Theres always a temptation to throw a Peace keeping force at an intractable political problem. And thats the issue were facing here. First of all the peace keeping operation has to be understood as supporting a larger Political goal. By itself it's not going to be ableto nullify Hezbollah.
Israeli Defence forces are not able to do that. And unless the International Community is prepared to go to war, it's hard to imagine any stabilization force under a blue helmeted operation, a UN operation, or any other kind, to really succeed it.
Anderson then asks lee: Who needs to run this Operation force?
lee Answers: In the best case senario, you have a compitant Military force whos prestege is on the line. Run by a League nation such as France. France is a good candidate for this. You could even have the force run by a group of Nations like the European Union. But you need that kind of leadership and clear command in order to stand any chance of success.
JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS ITS THE EU NOT THE US THAT GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY IN THE FUTURE. IN THIS FUTURE LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY OF DANIEL 9:27.
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.
Magnitude 6.7 quake hits near Vanuatu Mon Aug 7, 10:53 PM ET
SYDNEY, Australia - A powerful earthquake struck near the Pacific island of Vanuatu Tuesday but caused no injuries or damage, officials said. The magnitude 6.7 temblor struck at midmorning and was centered about 140 miles northwest of the capital, Port Vila, and about 100 miles below the earth's surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said.Vanuatu disaster official Job Esau said there was no damage or injuries at Port Vila or any of the country's outlying islands.New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management said the earthquake was too deep to pose any risk of a tsunami.Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides Islands, is made up of 13 main islands located about 1,400 miles east of Australia.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
F-3 tornado in Warroad had 180 mph winds
Associated Press,Last update: August 07, 2006 – 9:58 PM
A tornado that struck Warroad over the weekend was an F-3, with winds up to 180 miles per hour, National Weather Service officials said.Meteorologist Greg Gust, who went to the community Sunday as part of a weather service storm assessment team, said it was a miracle no one was killed.The tornado flipped over 16 semitrailers at the Marvin Windows plant and tore down a sign at the Pepsi bottling plant.Dale Sand and Tom Pepera like to watch storms, but when they saw the dangerous-looking clouds Saturday night, they headed for home and took shelter in a crawl space under their house on the northern edge of Warroad.
Something like that, all you can do is close your eyes and pray, Sand said.The Sand and Pepera home, in the Warroad estates neighborhood, was at the center of the storm, their neighbors said. The tornado took the roof off an old garage near the house and lifted a new garage away, smashing it into a field.One plate in a collection remained on their wall but broke in half; another plate was carried across the room and gently set down without a scratch.
Flooding halts production at India's largest gas fields 20 minutes ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) - State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has halted production at India's two largest gas fields after monsoon rains flooded a processing plant in the western state of Gujarat.The Hazira processing plant was shut down Monday night, the Press Trust of India news agency said Tuesday.All gas production from the fields connected to Hazira has been suspended, Oil and Natural Gas chairman and managing director R.S. Sharma told PTI. "The Hazira plant is in no position to take gas from the fields and so the wells had to be shut.The Hazira plant, which can process 32.5 million standard cubic meters of gas per day (1.14 billion cubic feet), receives gas supplies from the Bassein field off Mumbai and the Panna-Mukta-Tapti field off the Gujarat coast.
The two gas fields produce around 41 million standard cubic meters per day, PTI said.A gas pipeline that supplies industries in the north, including to the national capital where public buses run exclusively on compressed natural gas, was also shut.The state-owned Gas Authority of India, which operates the pipeline, has been asked to ration supplies with transport getting priority followed by power plants, the report said.Sharma was unable to say when gas production was expected to resume.It may take at least a couple of days to drain the Hazira facility before gas production is restarted,he said.The plant is submerged by about five feet (1.5 metres) of water, the report said.
Floods in west, north of Austria after heavy rain Tue Aug 8, 6:56 AM ET
VIENNA (AFP) - Parts of northern and western Austria were put on flood alert following heavy rain over the weekend but the situation was improving early Tuesday, authorities have said. This comes after the country experienced record high temperatures of up to 36 degrees in recent weeks.Flood alarms were triggered around Vienna, in the spa town of Baden just south of the capital and in Krems and St. Poelten, in the province of Lower Austria.Streets and railways in that province stood under water and had to be closed, several towns were cut off and one house had to be evacuated following a landslide. Over 2,000 firefighters and emergency services were working to pump the water out of houses and cellars.
In the towns of Frankenfels and Annaberg, west of Vienna, 180 litres per square metre of rain fell in just 24 hours, the Austria Press Agency reported.In Sonntagberg, the river Ybbs which flows into the Danube carried away a bridge holding a gasoline main, causing a considerable gas leak,according to authorities. Lower Austria's gas provider EVN immediately cut the supply.Parts of Carinthia and Upper Austria were also flooded following heavy rain on Monday.But despite fears the Danube might reach the record level of 9.20 metres registered in March 2002, when large parts of Europe were flooded, the water level only went as high as 8.60 metres early Tuesday before falling further to 8.45 metres as the rain abated, the Lower Austrian alert centre said.
India races to help hundreds of thousands hit by floods by Syed Amin Jafri 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
HYDERABAD, India (AFP) - Rescuers are racing to get food and clean water to more than 750,000 people left homeless in four flooded Indian states, officials said, as the death toll linked to lashing monsoon rains in the past week rose to 187. In southern Andhra Pradesh state more than 100 people have died in the past week and 472,000 have been hit by the floods, senior administration official Priyadarshini told AFP on Tuesday.More than 600 villages in three districts were under water and 296 relief camps had been set up to house those displaced by the flooding, she said in the state capital Hyderabad.Some 283 boats, including a naval craft, had been deployed to rescue marooned people while seven helicopters were dropping food, drinking water, milk sachets and medicines to those trapped.
The rains were easing and water levels starting to drop, Priyadarshini added.In neighbouring Gujarat state, the authorities have relocated 190,000 people from Surat, famous for its diamond polishing industry, an official from the state flood control room said.
Indian army, air force and paramilitary personnel have been asked to assist the relief efforts, distributing food, clean water and moving people from submerged areas,said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.Five people had been washed away by floodwaters in the state, the Press Trust of India news agency said.Thousands of people in Surat were forced to move out of their houses after water was released from the swollen Ukai dam upstream on the Tapti river which flows through the town.The water level in the dam is just one foot below the danger mark at 344 feet (105 metres) and we have to do something soon to relieve the situation,the official said.About 300 soldiers equipped with 10 boats and life jackets were rescuing people trapped on rooftops of submerged houses in waterlogged areas, he said.
We also have four air force helicopters (to drop) food packets and clean water sachets to the people,he added.Low-lying bridges were closed to traffic and authorities had issued fresh warnings, asking people living along river banks to move to safer places as they prepared to release water accumalated in many dams in the state.In the western state of Maharashtra, thousands left homeless by the monsoon rains in 15 of the states's 35 districts were being airdropped food and medicines, a state official said.
Twenty-seven people had died overnight taking the death toll in the state due to the current spell of rains that began a week ago to 62, said Bhupathy Pandey, Maharashtra's relief and rehabilitation secretary.About 105,000 people had been displaced by floods, Pandey said, adding people in another 184 villages would need to be relocated to higher ground as many of the dams and rivers in the state were overflowing.
Six navy boats had been pressed into service in the flood-devastated districts of Nasik and Nandanwadi to rescue marooned people, Pandey said.An India air force AN-32 transport aircraft was dropping supplies.The situation is under control,Pandey said. In the Maoist insurgency-affected tiny central state of Chhattisgarh, 20,000 people had been evacuated to 19 relief camps, an official said.
The latest deaths took the nationwide death toll linked to the annual monsoon rains since mid-May to 567, 187 of them in the past week alone, according to an AFP tally.The flood situation in the country was raised in India's national parliament with Home Minister Shivraj Patil assuring MPs that New Delhi was ready to provide any assistance needed.
33 more feared dead in Pakistan rains 1 hour, 1 minute ago
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AFP) - Torrential monsoon rains are feared to have killed another 33 people across Pakistan, including 20 when a bus slid off a flooded mountain road and plunged into a ravine. Ten bodies have been recovered after Tuesday's bus accident in Swat, a scenic mountain region in northwest Pakistan, and another 10 are still missing, local official Jamal Khan said on Tuesday.Another five people were killed in Pakistani Kashmir when a landslide sheared off a mountainside left unstable by last October's South Asia earthquake.A woman, her daughter aged three and three sons died when a huge boulder fell on their home near the town of Balabandi, local police chief Zahoorul Hassan told AFP.
The United Nations warned last week that landslips and floods could displace thousands of people already in temporary shelters after October's quake, which killed 73,000 people.Flash floods swamped several villages in rugged southwest Pakistan on Monday, said Baluchistan province's government spokesman Shakeel Ahmed.One woman died when the roof of her house collapsed near the town of Sibi and seven others were missing after they were swept away by overflowing rivers, Ahmed said.Hundreds of people were being evacuated to safer places.Incidents blamed on the annual monsoon rains have claimed more than 170 lives in Pakistan in the past two weeks.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with 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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Volcano belches more ash in Philippines By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago
MATANAG, Philippines - A volcano in the Philippines showed more signs of erupting Tuesday, belching ash three times overnight as officials evacuated tens of thousands of villagers. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert for the 8,118-foot Mayon volcano to Level 4 on Monday — the second highest level — after six explosions sent ash columns up to a half mile high. The explosions prompted the mandatory evacuation of about 35,000 villagers in Albay province, about 210 miles southeast of Manila on Luzon island.Officials also extended the government's permanent danger zone from 4.3 miles to 5 miles on the volcano's southern side.
Mayon ejected ash at least three times late Monday and was emitting unusually high volumes of sulfuric dioxide, said volcanologist Ed Laguerta. He said instruments detected more than 100 volcanic earthquakes overnight, mostly unfelt by humans.This means there is more magma rising from beneath the volcano,he said.More than 28,600 of the 35,000 villagers who were ordered to leave their villages on the southeast slopes of the volcano had been evacuated by late Tuesday, said Jukes Nunez of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council of Albay province.An additional 20,000 people would have to be moved out of harm's way in case of a major eruption, said Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzalez.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo commended authorities for an orderly evacuation so far and predicted no casualties even if a major eruption occurs. She assured evacuees there would be enough food rations and services in temporary shelters.With the ... effective handling of this crisis, we are confident of achieving a zero-casualty goal in this looming natural disaster,she said. We call on the local residents not to flirt with danger by going back to the declared danger zones.Despite the mandatory evacuations, many villagers stayed put on farms around Mayon to tend their crops and livestock while guarding their homes and belongings.In Matanag, a farming village of about 1,400 people, about 600 residents left Monday, but many more chose to stay behind. An army truck sat at the village entrance, ready to assist in a quick escape and soldiers dropped a coconut tree across the road to Matanag to block incoming traffic.My mother said that we would not evacuate now unless it's really urgent and there's a big eruption,13-year-old Jennilyn Nantes said as she walked to school.
Lava began flowing from the volcano on July 14 and has been slowly extending down Mayon's slopes. Its most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.The Philippines is in the Pacific Ring of Fire,where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Iran's supreme leader urges Muslims to 'defend' Hezbollah 1 hour, 17 minutes ago
TEHRAN (AFP) -Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has renewed calls on Muslims to rally to the defence of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah in its war against Israel, state television reported. Today it is the entire Muslim community's duty to defend Hezbollah,Khamenei told a meeting Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Shiites' first Imam, Ali.Iran helped to create and arm Hezbollah in 1982 in response to Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and Tehran stands accused by the United States and Israel of fomenting chaos in the region by channelling weapons to the guerrillas.Iran denies the allegation, saying it provides only moral support to the movement.
Khamenei's comments came as Arab ministers were due to plead Lebanon's case in New York before the UN Security Council, which is debating a draft French-US resolution calling on Israel and Hezbollah to stop the fighting which has raged for the past month.The all-powerful Iranian leader lashed out at the United Nations for what he called its incompetence, and also attacked some Arab countries for looking on in silence.Some Arabic states that have kept quiet should know that the United States will never consider their interests,Khamenei said.More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians have been killed in the Israeli offensive unleashed after the capture of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid from Lebanon on July 12.Khamenei also accused the US and Britain on Tuesday of encouraging the Zionists' crimes and seeking to eradicate Islam in this region.
Decade of turmoil
Linda MacDonald,Sunday August 6, 2006,The Observer
1997
15 January
Palestinians sign a deal with Benjamin Netanyahu's government clearing the way for the handover of 80 per cent of Hebron to Palestinian rule.
18 March
Israel defies world opinion by building the Har Homa settlement on Jabal Abu Ghneim to complete Jewish settlements around occupied East Jerusalem.
1998
23 October
Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat, Netanyahu and US President Bill Clinton sign the Wye River deal foreseeing a phased Israeli withdrawal from 13 per cent of the West Bank in exchange for Palestinian security measures protecting Israel. Netanyahu freezes the deal two months later.
199913 September
New Prime Minister Ehud Barak signs a deal with Arafat agreeing to carry out a modified version of the Wye River deal.
2000
21 March
Israel hands over last portion of West Bank territory agreed at Wye River.
28 September
Ariel Sharon, leader of right-wing opposition Likud party, visits a Jerusalem shrine holy to Muslims and Jews. Violence erupts.
2001
6 February
Sharon, becomes Prime Minister
13 June
A fragile ceasefire takes shape calling on Arafat to clamp down on militants, and on Israel to withdraw from territory seized during the intifada.
14 August
Israeli tanks move into the West Bank city of Jenin.
11 September
Terrorist attack by al-Qaeda on America kills 3,000 people.
2 October
Bush says he is prepared to back the creation of a Palestinian state.
2002
6 May
The US adds Syria to its 'axis of evil'. Mentioned in State of the Union address
2003
20 March
America launches its 'shock and awe' attack on Iraq and tries to oust Saddam Hussein.
4 June
Sharon and Palestinian Authority PM Mahmoud Abbas pledge to implement road map for peace - calling for end to violence and a Palestinian state by 2005 - at summit with Bush but ceasefire falls apart.
6 September
Abbas resigns and Arafat nominates Ahmed Qurie as prime minister.
2004
2 February
Ariel Sharon reveals his intention to withdraw from Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, with or without signing a final peace agreement with the Palestinians.
International Court of Justice in the Hague pronouncesIsrael's 'wall' illegal and says it should be torn down.
11 November
Arafat dies. Abbas becomes the new head of PLO.
2005
9 January
Abbas wins election landslide.
12 September
Israel completes military withdrawal from Gaza. Palestinian Authority takes control of abandoned settlements.
21 November
Sharon announces he is quitting Likud to lead new centrist party Kadima in order to give him a freer hand
2006
January
Sharon's powers transfer to Ehud Olmert. Islamic militant group Hamas wins the Palestinian parliamentary election.
June
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, alleged leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is killed by US forces. Cpl Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, is kidnapped by militants. Israel launches an offensive against targets in Gaza.
12 July
Hizbollah guerrillas capture and kill soldiers around Lebanese border. Olmert calls it an 'act of war' by Lebanon. Two days later opposition from the US and Britain means no resolution on a ceasefire is agreed at a UN meeting on Lebanon. G8 summit
20 July
Deaths in Iraq have reached 100 a day
28 July
Blair flies to Washington for talks with Bush about the crisis. They call for a UN-backed peacekeeping force to be sent in and warn Tehran and Damascus over their alleged role in the conflict.A leaked memo from Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad warns Blair of the likelihood of civil war in Iraq.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
RADIO MICROCHIP IMPLANTS EXCITE SOME
1-Small earthquake rattles Athens. 2-Two Earthquakes Shook Albania. 3-More than 800 killed or missing from N.Korea floods. 4-Rain subsides after storm swamps El Paso. 5-Floods kill 150 people in Ethiopia. 6-Philippine volcano sends ash skyward. 7-Thousands flee imminent Philippines volcano eruption. 7-Doubts over UN plan to halt fighting. 8-Radio microchip implants excite some, alarm others
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.
Small earthquake rattles Athens Sun Aug 6, 12:18 PM ET
ATHENS, Greece - A small earthquake rattled Athens early Sunday, causing no damage or injuries, authorities said. The magnitude 4.0 quake occurred about eight miles northeast of the capital, according to the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.Earthquakes occur frequently in Greece but rarely close to Athens.In 1999, a magnitude 5.9 quake that struck the capital killed 143 people and damaged thousands of buildings.Also Sunday, the Geodynamic Institute said a magnitude 5.3 quake occurred off the coast of southern Albania and jolted the northwest Greek city of Ioannina and nearby island of Corfu. No damages or injuries were reported.
Makfax: Two Earthquakes Shook Albania
6 August 2006 | 17:56 | FOCUS News Agency
Tirana. Two earthquakes shook the southern part of Albania and fortunately there were no victims, the Macedonian Makfax agency reports. The first quake was felt at 7:00 a.m. and was with magnitude of 4.6 on Richter scale.
The epicenter according to the seismological center in Tirana was on 4 km from the town of Saranda. The second tremor with a magnitude of 4.7 on Richter scale was registered at 9:49 a.m. at 6km from Himara in Ionic Sea. There is no info for human loss of lives and for the material damages so far.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
More than 800 killed or missing from N.Korea floods Mon Aug 7, 12:51 AM ET
SEOUL (Reuters) - More than 800 North Koreans are dead or missing after major rain storms and flooding that damaged homes and farmland, a pro-North newspaper published in Japan reported from Pyongyang on Monday.
Three major storms drenchedNorth Korea in July, washing away crops and raising the possibility of famine in a reclusive country that already battles chronic food shortages.
The Choson Sinbo said that as of July 17 that 549 people were killed, 295 went missing and 3,043 were injured in the storms.The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said last Friday that flooding in the second week of July had killed 151 people and left 29 missing.Heavy rains fell in parts of (North Korea) between July 14 and 16 and caused major damage, Choson Sinbo said in a report posted on its Web site (www.korea-np.co.jp).
The floods affected 28,747 families, 7,500 of which saw their homes destroyed, it said.Nearly 24,000 hectares of farmland were damaged either by flooding or being washed away, the report said. The area is equivalent to about 1.3 percent of the North's arable land, according to data published by the South Korean government.North Korea has said in its official media that the storms left
hundreds dead or missing.
North Korea has turned down aid offers from South Korea's Red Cross to help it cope with flooding, but a North Korean official was quoted as saying last week the country would not refuse help if it came with no strings attached.The U.N.
World Food Program has said the North had declined its offer of help, saying it would deal with the problem on its own.South Korea told the North in talks just preceding the storms that it would withhold food aid until Pyongyang returned to stalled talks on ending its nuclear weapons program.Private groups in the South have been urging the government to restart humanitarian assistance and said they were preparing an aid package for the North.
Rain subsides after storm swamps El Paso By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer Sun Aug 6, 5:30 PM ET
EL PASO, Texas - With only a slight chance of showers in the forecast, recovery and cleanup efforts were under way Sunday as
this desert city slowly dried out from more than a week of flooding storms. More than 15 inches of rain — nearly twice the annual average — has fallen in El Paso since July 27, City Manager Joyce Wilson said.The deluge sent mud and rocks cascading into some parts of the city, destroying as many as 300 homes and causing an estimated $100 million in damage, Wilson said.So far, about half of the damage has been reported on the west side of the city and county, where quickly rising water and rock slides flooded homes and all but washed out some roads last week, Mayor John Cook said.
One flood-related death was reported, when a contractor clearing a flooded road was hit by a tractor-trailer, authorities said.Cook said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assured him an earthen dam that had threatened to burst in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and flood downtown El Paso last week would hold.Engineers have determined that none of the city's drainage systems, dams or reservoirs failed, Wilson said.Three emergency shelters remained open Sunday but officials anticipated closing two by Monday.
State officials have asked President Bush to declare El Paso a disaster area, a necessary step for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin providing aid.
I Despite partly sunny skies over El Paso on Sunday, Cook cautioned the flood risk
would continue until at least Thursday, when forecasters expect the chance of rain to finally end.Meanwhile, U.S. Border Patrol swift water rescue teams and four boats remained in the area and sand bags will continue to be available as a precaution.
Floods kill 150 people in Ethiopia By Tsegaye Tadesse
Sun Aug 6, 1:04 PM ET
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Floods killed about 150 people in eastern Ethiopia when heavy rains caused a river to burst its banks, sending a wall of water into a town that killed most of the victims as they slept, police said on Sunday. Floods from the overflowing Dechatu river hit Dire Dawa town in the middle of Saturday night while residents were sleeping,police inspector Benyam Fikru told Reuters.The death toll has now reached 150.Rescuers from the police and army launched an operation early on Sunday, Benyam said, using bulldozers to dig through the sandy river banks in search of more corpses.We may call off the search as evening approaches and then resume the operation in the morning,he added.Some 220 homes had been destroyed by the floods, Benyam said, and 90 people have been released from hospital after treatment, although four remained there with serious injuries.
Benyam said a store of coffee destined for export was also swept away when the floods hit the town, located in Ethiopia's lowlands, 525 km (326 miles) east of the capital Addis Ababa.The destruction caused to property could run into millions of dollars,the police inspector said. The estimate is being worked out and will be released as soon as possible.Heavy rains in Ethiopia's highlands during the June-August season usually cause rivers in lowland areas to overflow.Last week, government officials said some 15,000 farmers had been rescued from flooded villages and taken to safe areas.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with 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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Philippine volcano sends ash skyward By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago
MANILA, Philippines - A volcano in the Philippines sent six explosions of ash about a half mile into the air Monday, prompting authorities to warn that an eruption appeared imminent and to evacuate tens of thousands of people. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert for the 8,118-foot Mayon volcano to Level 4, the second-highest level. Officials also extended the government's permanent "danger zone" from 4.3 miles to 5 miles on the volcano's southern side.
About 35,000 villagers were being evacuated Monday, and an additional 20,000 people will be moved out if there is a major eruption, said Gov. Fernando Gonzalez of Albay province, about 210 miles southeast of Manila on Luzon island.Classes were immediately suspended in parts of Legaspi city, the provincial capital. Army trucks and government vehicles have been deployed to ferry residents to 34 evacuation centers, officials said.Those evacuated included people who have ventured back to the danger zone to tend crops in the fertile volcanic soil.I survive by tending that farm and I have lived here all my life, said Gerry Losentales, an 87-year-old farmer, as soldiers helped him board an army truck in his village of Mabiniet. I hope the government can help me now.
Lava began flowing from the volcano on July 14 and has been slowly extending down Mayon's slopes. Before the explosions Monday, volcanologists said they had detected 21 low-frequency volcanic earthquakes over the previous 24 hours.
Last week, the government deployed troops to keep sightseers away from the edge of advancing lava. Renato Solidum Jr., head of the volcanology institute, has said the danger could come from a collapse of the lava dome or sudden explosive eruption that could send pyroclastic flows — clouds of superheated gas and ash — racing down the volcano's slopes.Mayon is one of the Philippines' 22 active volcanos. Its most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.The Philippines is in the Pacific Ring of Fire,where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
Thousands flee imminent Philippines volcano eruption 48 minutes ago
LEGASPI, Philippines (AFP) - Thousands of people were being moved out of their homes in the central Philippines on Monday in the face of the imminent eruption of the rumbling Mayon volcano, officials said. Volcanologists previously said an explosive eruption by Mayon, one of the country's most active volcanoes, could threaten the lives of about 60,000 people.We have to finish this by 12:00 noon (0400 GMT) to avoid incidents. These are orders from the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Center,Legaspi city mayor Noel Rosal said as he supervised the evacuation of 10,500 residents from four villages on Mayon's lower slopes.
The region was rocked early Monday by five successive volcanic blasts within 40 minutes, followed by a fountain of lava from
Mayon's crater, he said on local radio.By mid-morning the peak was covered in a dark cloud of volcanic material rising several kilometers (miles) above the crater.The government's seismology institute on Monday raised a five-step volcano alert over Mayon at the next-highest level of 4, meaning an eruption could occur within days.It began abnormal activity in February, and started emitting small lava flows on July 15.Materials thrown from the crater of the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) mountain could threaten anyone within an eight-kilometer (five-mile) radius, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in an advisory.
It advised local officials in the central province of Albay to order the evacuation of 28 areas around the mountain, including parts of Legaspi city and the towns of Camalig, Daraga, Ligao, Malilipot, Santo Domingo and Tabaco.Areas just outside of these (villages) should prepare for evacuation in the event explosive eruptions intensify,it said.Mayor Rosal said government vehicles are rounding up residents of the farming hamlets of Mabinit, Bonga, Matanag and Buyuan.We are just waiting for them to gather some of their things before we take them to the major evacuation centers,he said.Evacuations were also underway in the other threatened villages.
The mayor said the mild lava eruption last month gave us ample lead time to prepare the evacuation centers, mostly schools and other government buildings beyond the volcano danger zone.They were stocked with food and sleeping facilities while tap water and electricity connections were provided.Asked if any residents were refusing to leave, Rosal said: Some are reluctant to leave.
Mayon has had 47 eruptions in recorded history, the latest being a mild outpouring of lava in June 2001.The volcano with a near-perfect cone buried the town of Cagsawa in the 19th century, killing an estimated 1,000 people.
Doubts over UN plan to halt fighting
Attempts to bring about an end to the fighting between Israel and Hizbollah fighters based in Lebanon appeared to stall yesterday.
A draft United Nations resolution was rejected by the Lebanese government, which said it was one-sided and failed to consider its own proposals for ending the conflict.Under the Franco-American plan there would be no call for an immediate ceasefire, Israel would be allowed to continue defensive military operations and its soldiers would be allowed to remain in southern Lebanon until an international force is deployed.Government officials in Beirut, said to have the backing of other capitals in the Middle East, argued it would have the effect of legitimising Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.
The Israeli government is reported to be broadly satisfied with the draft resolution. Meanwhile, a Hizbollah rocket attack on north east Israel yesterday killed 12 people and injured 12 others.According to the Independent, foreign secretary Margaret Beckett is preparing to fly to the UN to press for humanitarian corridors to be established to get aid to the Lebanese.The Guardian reports that
the Iranian government has described Tony Blair and George W Bush as co-defendants in war crimes committed by Israel.
Conservative leader David Cameron has also intervened in the debate to say that elements of Israel's actions have been disproportionate.The Mirror reports on a poll of 221 MPs by the Ceasefire Group. It found 204 of those MPs, including 119 Labour
members, were in favour of an immediate and effective ceasefire.
BELIEVE THE BIBLE WHEN IT SAYS ALL THE WORLDS POPULATION WILL BE CONTROLED BY MICRO CHIP IMPLANTS. DON'T LET THESE WRITERS DECIEVE YOU IN TO BELIEVING AYTHING ELSE, ONLY GOD DOES NOT LIE TO US , MEN DO.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Radio microchip implants excite some, alarm others
By Francine Brevetti - Business Writer
IMPLANTABLE microchips such as the VeriChip (left) store data electronically. The technology is available from Applied Digital Solutions Inc. (VERICHIP CORP.) IN ONE of our stark nightmares of a Big Brother future, everybody on the planet is implanted with a microchip that carries the facts about your identity, medical history, DNA and tracks your movements under the watchful eye of a supreme authority.
Relax. It's not possible. Not the tracking part anyway. A radio frequency identification (RFID) chip merely carries a number. That number can be read by a scanner that leads to a database of information, possibly about you, or in the case of merchandise, information about pricing or other relevant data. The scanner needs to be 3 to 6 inches away from the chip. It cannot track your movements.
This is a huge misconception. It's not GPS (global positioning system). It merely tags you if there's a reader in range,said Will Smith, editor of RFID Update, the industry's daily online bible. RFID chips are becoming more mainstream. They are used to identify animals. They are used by retailers such as Wal-Mart to improve inventory management. But some say the mere existence of technology to implant microchips in humans, even if for voluntary use, bodes ill for the future.
And there already are voluntary uses for implanted chips.
Today, VIP members of the Baja Beach Clubs in Barcelona, Spain, and Rotterdam, Netherlands, can pay for drinks by having management scan a VeriChip Corp. microchip they have voluntarily had implanted in their hands as a distinguishing mark of their
premier level of membership.
In Cincinnati, CityWatcher.com, a video surveillance company, requires its employees to maintain strict security standards. One of the means it offers them as an option is a microchip implanted in their upper right arm, which is read by a scanner when they enter a sensitive area.
Two employees accepted.Scott R. Silverman, chief executive officer of Applied Digital Solutions Inc., whose VeriChip subsidiary sells implantable chips, said in a June interview with Fox News Channel that his company's chip could be used to register foreign workers and their identities at the U.S. border. He had discussed RFID technology with Washington leaders for use in a guest worker program, he also disclosed.
Since the technology cannot track individuals, he was merely suggesting that foreign workers be chipped with their biometric information.
Is this an acceptable use of implantable chips?
The (RFID) industry was horrified,said Smith of RFID Update. We are constantly having to clean up after VeriChip and its sensational application.Three years ago, Silverman also proposed the use of implanted chips as a cashless payment system in
retail outlets.
Imagine going to a checkout counter and waving your hand instead of your credit card. It's an interesting idea no one can steal your identity and you cannot lose it like a card or a wallet. But the idea hasn't gained any traction in the world of commerce in the three years since he floated it.
VeriChip's firstquarter revenue did increase to $6.6 million, from $15,000 in the first quarter of 2005, propelled by two acquisitions, though its loss was $1 million. VeriChip filed a registration statement in December for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock, but has yet to set an IPO date.
Shares of parent company Applied Digital reached a 52week low of $1.40 on July 28.
The United Kingdom's IDTechEx forecast that the global RFID market value will be $2.7 billion in 2006 and will grow to $26.2 billion in the next decade. RFID tags in use currently are estimated at 1.3 billion this year and are expected to grow to 585 billion by 2016, the research company said. However, those implanted in humans are a minuscule amount in comparison.Meanwhile, the government of South Africa is currently researching the implanting of chips in prisoners. Farhad Aghdasi, who oversees the research program, said ethical issues can be overcome as the implants will be done only on those with a criminal record, according to SABC News.The state of Wisconsin recently outlawed the implantation of microchips against a person's will, although there was no obvious move to do so in that state. And Ohio is considering a similar law. Unfortunately, the language of the Ohio proposal assumes chips can track citizens' movements.
Implanted chips have long been used for identifying livestock and pets.
When a dog with an implant gets lost and some nice person finds it and takes it to the vet, the microchip in its neck connects to a centralized database, which ultimately can connect the dog to its owner. A major veterinarian in Thailand has recently complained about that country's unruly pachyderms and has proposed microchipping elephants in Bangkok, according to the IOL online news site.The cow and the dog do not complain.Their owners are grateful. But for people, it's a whole different story.
Fears, beliefs and biases are brought into play.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Privacy Information Center and researchers Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre as well as some Christian fundamentalist groups have been outspoken on the subject.EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg has been quoted saying workplace safety has become increasingly eroded. He complained that there were no laws and regulations surrounding the deployment of chips in humans or in inanimate objects.In the 1980s, you'd take a poly graph test to get a job. In the 1990s, it was drug testing. A little later on, it was reading your email. . . . Is the law going to create any zones of safety?he said on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight.In fact, the VeriChip microchip is encrypted. But as hackers get smarter, it's unclear how long your data will remain inviolate to all but the most crude attempts at intrusion.
The fundamentalist Christian cosmology holds that an Antichrist will rise up to enslave all people who have a mark on the right hand or on the forehead, deriving this belief from the verse Revelations 13:1618.RFID Update editor Smith doesn't see demand for implanted microchips being very great because people are not comfortable with the technology.They (VeriChip) keep coming up with new ideas for products, because they can't find markets that gain any traction because it creeps people out.
The benefits don't outweigh the creepiness factor,Smith said.
Even though RFID technology cannot track us and our movements, Thomas Frey, a futurist with the DaVinci Institute, said that in the future satellites will be hovering to track every individual; and each will have a unique signature that will be scanned by some technology of the future.This technology will be capable of picking out single individuals in crowds and recognizing them by their unique signature,providing there are no privacy barriers.That's a huge if.
Business Writer Francine Brevetti can be reached at fbrevetti@angnewspapers.com or (510) 2086416.
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.
Small earthquake rattles Athens Sun Aug 6, 12:18 PM ET
ATHENS, Greece - A small earthquake rattled Athens early Sunday, causing no damage or injuries, authorities said. The magnitude 4.0 quake occurred about eight miles northeast of the capital, according to the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.Earthquakes occur frequently in Greece but rarely close to Athens.In 1999, a magnitude 5.9 quake that struck the capital killed 143 people and damaged thousands of buildings.Also Sunday, the Geodynamic Institute said a magnitude 5.3 quake occurred off the coast of southern Albania and jolted the northwest Greek city of Ioannina and nearby island of Corfu. No damages or injuries were reported.
Makfax: Two Earthquakes Shook Albania
6 August 2006 | 17:56 | FOCUS News Agency
Tirana. Two earthquakes shook the southern part of Albania and fortunately there were no victims, the Macedonian Makfax agency reports. The first quake was felt at 7:00 a.m. and was with magnitude of 4.6 on Richter scale.
The epicenter according to the seismological center in Tirana was on 4 km from the town of Saranda. The second tremor with a magnitude of 4.7 on Richter scale was registered at 9:49 a.m. at 6km from Himara in Ionic Sea. There is no info for human loss of lives and for the material damages so far.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
More than 800 killed or missing from N.Korea floods Mon Aug 7, 12:51 AM ET
SEOUL (Reuters) - More than 800 North Koreans are dead or missing after major rain storms and flooding that damaged homes and farmland, a pro-North newspaper published in Japan reported from Pyongyang on Monday.
Three major storms drenchedNorth Korea in July, washing away crops and raising the possibility of famine in a reclusive country that already battles chronic food shortages.
The Choson Sinbo said that as of July 17 that 549 people were killed, 295 went missing and 3,043 were injured in the storms.The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said last Friday that flooding in the second week of July had killed 151 people and left 29 missing.Heavy rains fell in parts of (North Korea) between July 14 and 16 and caused major damage, Choson Sinbo said in a report posted on its Web site (www.korea-np.co.jp).
The floods affected 28,747 families, 7,500 of which saw their homes destroyed, it said.Nearly 24,000 hectares of farmland were damaged either by flooding or being washed away, the report said. The area is equivalent to about 1.3 percent of the North's arable land, according to data published by the South Korean government.North Korea has said in its official media that the storms left
hundreds dead or missing.
North Korea has turned down aid offers from South Korea's Red Cross to help it cope with flooding, but a North Korean official was quoted as saying last week the country would not refuse help if it came with no strings attached.The U.N.
World Food Program has said the North had declined its offer of help, saying it would deal with the problem on its own.South Korea told the North in talks just preceding the storms that it would withhold food aid until Pyongyang returned to stalled talks on ending its nuclear weapons program.Private groups in the South have been urging the government to restart humanitarian assistance and said they were preparing an aid package for the North.
Rain subsides after storm swamps El Paso By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer Sun Aug 6, 5:30 PM ET
EL PASO, Texas - With only a slight chance of showers in the forecast, recovery and cleanup efforts were under way Sunday as
this desert city slowly dried out from more than a week of flooding storms. More than 15 inches of rain — nearly twice the annual average — has fallen in El Paso since July 27, City Manager Joyce Wilson said.The deluge sent mud and rocks cascading into some parts of the city, destroying as many as 300 homes and causing an estimated $100 million in damage, Wilson said.So far, about half of the damage has been reported on the west side of the city and county, where quickly rising water and rock slides flooded homes and all but washed out some roads last week, Mayor John Cook said.
One flood-related death was reported, when a contractor clearing a flooded road was hit by a tractor-trailer, authorities said.Cook said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assured him an earthen dam that had threatened to burst in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and flood downtown El Paso last week would hold.Engineers have determined that none of the city's drainage systems, dams or reservoirs failed, Wilson said.Three emergency shelters remained open Sunday but officials anticipated closing two by Monday.
State officials have asked President Bush to declare El Paso a disaster area, a necessary step for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin providing aid.
I Despite partly sunny skies over El Paso on Sunday, Cook cautioned the flood risk
would continue until at least Thursday, when forecasters expect the chance of rain to finally end.Meanwhile, U.S. Border Patrol swift water rescue teams and four boats remained in the area and sand bags will continue to be available as a precaution.
Floods kill 150 people in Ethiopia By Tsegaye Tadesse
Sun Aug 6, 1:04 PM ET
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Floods killed about 150 people in eastern Ethiopia when heavy rains caused a river to burst its banks, sending a wall of water into a town that killed most of the victims as they slept, police said on Sunday. Floods from the overflowing Dechatu river hit Dire Dawa town in the middle of Saturday night while residents were sleeping,police inspector Benyam Fikru told Reuters.The death toll has now reached 150.Rescuers from the police and army launched an operation early on Sunday, Benyam said, using bulldozers to dig through the sandy river banks in search of more corpses.We may call off the search as evening approaches and then resume the operation in the morning,he added.Some 220 homes had been destroyed by the floods, Benyam said, and 90 people have been released from hospital after treatment, although four remained there with serious injuries.
Benyam said a store of coffee destined for export was also swept away when the floods hit the town, located in Ethiopia's lowlands, 525 km (326 miles) east of the capital Addis Ababa.The destruction caused to property could run into millions of dollars,the police inspector said. The estimate is being worked out and will be released as soon as possible.Heavy rains in Ethiopia's highlands during the June-August season usually cause rivers in lowland areas to overflow.Last week, government officials said some 15,000 farmers had been rescued from flooded villages and taken to safe areas.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with 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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Philippine volcano sends ash skyward By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago
MANILA, Philippines - A volcano in the Philippines sent six explosions of ash about a half mile into the air Monday, prompting authorities to warn that an eruption appeared imminent and to evacuate tens of thousands of people. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert for the 8,118-foot Mayon volcano to Level 4, the second-highest level. Officials also extended the government's permanent "danger zone" from 4.3 miles to 5 miles on the volcano's southern side.
About 35,000 villagers were being evacuated Monday, and an additional 20,000 people will be moved out if there is a major eruption, said Gov. Fernando Gonzalez of Albay province, about 210 miles southeast of Manila on Luzon island.Classes were immediately suspended in parts of Legaspi city, the provincial capital. Army trucks and government vehicles have been deployed to ferry residents to 34 evacuation centers, officials said.Those evacuated included people who have ventured back to the danger zone to tend crops in the fertile volcanic soil.I survive by tending that farm and I have lived here all my life, said Gerry Losentales, an 87-year-old farmer, as soldiers helped him board an army truck in his village of Mabiniet. I hope the government can help me now.
Lava began flowing from the volcano on July 14 and has been slowly extending down Mayon's slopes. Before the explosions Monday, volcanologists said they had detected 21 low-frequency volcanic earthquakes over the previous 24 hours.
Last week, the government deployed troops to keep sightseers away from the edge of advancing lava. Renato Solidum Jr., head of the volcanology institute, has said the danger could come from a collapse of the lava dome or sudden explosive eruption that could send pyroclastic flows — clouds of superheated gas and ash — racing down the volcano's slopes.Mayon is one of the Philippines' 22 active volcanos. Its most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.The Philippines is in the Pacific Ring of Fire,where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
Thousands flee imminent Philippines volcano eruption 48 minutes ago
LEGASPI, Philippines (AFP) - Thousands of people were being moved out of their homes in the central Philippines on Monday in the face of the imminent eruption of the rumbling Mayon volcano, officials said. Volcanologists previously said an explosive eruption by Mayon, one of the country's most active volcanoes, could threaten the lives of about 60,000 people.We have to finish this by 12:00 noon (0400 GMT) to avoid incidents. These are orders from the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Center,Legaspi city mayor Noel Rosal said as he supervised the evacuation of 10,500 residents from four villages on Mayon's lower slopes.
The region was rocked early Monday by five successive volcanic blasts within 40 minutes, followed by a fountain of lava from
Mayon's crater, he said on local radio.By mid-morning the peak was covered in a dark cloud of volcanic material rising several kilometers (miles) above the crater.The government's seismology institute on Monday raised a five-step volcano alert over Mayon at the next-highest level of 4, meaning an eruption could occur within days.It began abnormal activity in February, and started emitting small lava flows on July 15.Materials thrown from the crater of the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) mountain could threaten anyone within an eight-kilometer (five-mile) radius, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in an advisory.
It advised local officials in the central province of Albay to order the evacuation of 28 areas around the mountain, including parts of Legaspi city and the towns of Camalig, Daraga, Ligao, Malilipot, Santo Domingo and Tabaco.Areas just outside of these (villages) should prepare for evacuation in the event explosive eruptions intensify,it said.Mayor Rosal said government vehicles are rounding up residents of the farming hamlets of Mabinit, Bonga, Matanag and Buyuan.We are just waiting for them to gather some of their things before we take them to the major evacuation centers,he said.Evacuations were also underway in the other threatened villages.
The mayor said the mild lava eruption last month gave us ample lead time to prepare the evacuation centers, mostly schools and other government buildings beyond the volcano danger zone.They were stocked with food and sleeping facilities while tap water and electricity connections were provided.Asked if any residents were refusing to leave, Rosal said: Some are reluctant to leave.
Mayon has had 47 eruptions in recorded history, the latest being a mild outpouring of lava in June 2001.The volcano with a near-perfect cone buried the town of Cagsawa in the 19th century, killing an estimated 1,000 people.
Doubts over UN plan to halt fighting
Attempts to bring about an end to the fighting between Israel and Hizbollah fighters based in Lebanon appeared to stall yesterday.
A draft United Nations resolution was rejected by the Lebanese government, which said it was one-sided and failed to consider its own proposals for ending the conflict.Under the Franco-American plan there would be no call for an immediate ceasefire, Israel would be allowed to continue defensive military operations and its soldiers would be allowed to remain in southern Lebanon until an international force is deployed.Government officials in Beirut, said to have the backing of other capitals in the Middle East, argued it would have the effect of legitimising Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.
The Israeli government is reported to be broadly satisfied with the draft resolution. Meanwhile, a Hizbollah rocket attack on north east Israel yesterday killed 12 people and injured 12 others.According to the Independent, foreign secretary Margaret Beckett is preparing to fly to the UN to press for humanitarian corridors to be established to get aid to the Lebanese.The Guardian reports that
the Iranian government has described Tony Blair and George W Bush as co-defendants in war crimes committed by Israel.
Conservative leader David Cameron has also intervened in the debate to say that elements of Israel's actions have been disproportionate.The Mirror reports on a poll of 221 MPs by the Ceasefire Group. It found 204 of those MPs, including 119 Labour
members, were in favour of an immediate and effective ceasefire.
BELIEVE THE BIBLE WHEN IT SAYS ALL THE WORLDS POPULATION WILL BE CONTROLED BY MICRO CHIP IMPLANTS. DON'T LET THESE WRITERS DECIEVE YOU IN TO BELIEVING AYTHING ELSE, ONLY GOD DOES NOT LIE TO US , MEN DO.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Radio microchip implants excite some, alarm others
By Francine Brevetti - Business Writer
IMPLANTABLE microchips such as the VeriChip (left) store data electronically. The technology is available from Applied Digital Solutions Inc. (VERICHIP CORP.) IN ONE of our stark nightmares of a Big Brother future, everybody on the planet is implanted with a microchip that carries the facts about your identity, medical history, DNA and tracks your movements under the watchful eye of a supreme authority.
Relax. It's not possible. Not the tracking part anyway. A radio frequency identification (RFID) chip merely carries a number. That number can be read by a scanner that leads to a database of information, possibly about you, or in the case of merchandise, information about pricing or other relevant data. The scanner needs to be 3 to 6 inches away from the chip. It cannot track your movements.
This is a huge misconception. It's not GPS (global positioning system). It merely tags you if there's a reader in range,said Will Smith, editor of RFID Update, the industry's daily online bible. RFID chips are becoming more mainstream. They are used to identify animals. They are used by retailers such as Wal-Mart to improve inventory management. But some say the mere existence of technology to implant microchips in humans, even if for voluntary use, bodes ill for the future.
And there already are voluntary uses for implanted chips.
Today, VIP members of the Baja Beach Clubs in Barcelona, Spain, and Rotterdam, Netherlands, can pay for drinks by having management scan a VeriChip Corp. microchip they have voluntarily had implanted in their hands as a distinguishing mark of their
premier level of membership.
In Cincinnati, CityWatcher.com, a video surveillance company, requires its employees to maintain strict security standards. One of the means it offers them as an option is a microchip implanted in their upper right arm, which is read by a scanner when they enter a sensitive area.
Two employees accepted.Scott R. Silverman, chief executive officer of Applied Digital Solutions Inc., whose VeriChip subsidiary sells implantable chips, said in a June interview with Fox News Channel that his company's chip could be used to register foreign workers and their identities at the U.S. border. He had discussed RFID technology with Washington leaders for use in a guest worker program, he also disclosed.
Since the technology cannot track individuals, he was merely suggesting that foreign workers be chipped with their biometric information.
Is this an acceptable use of implantable chips?
The (RFID) industry was horrified,said Smith of RFID Update. We are constantly having to clean up after VeriChip and its sensational application.Three years ago, Silverman also proposed the use of implanted chips as a cashless payment system in
retail outlets.
Imagine going to a checkout counter and waving your hand instead of your credit card. It's an interesting idea no one can steal your identity and you cannot lose it like a card or a wallet. But the idea hasn't gained any traction in the world of commerce in the three years since he floated it.
VeriChip's firstquarter revenue did increase to $6.6 million, from $15,000 in the first quarter of 2005, propelled by two acquisitions, though its loss was $1 million. VeriChip filed a registration statement in December for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock, but has yet to set an IPO date.
Shares of parent company Applied Digital reached a 52week low of $1.40 on July 28.
The United Kingdom's IDTechEx forecast that the global RFID market value will be $2.7 billion in 2006 and will grow to $26.2 billion in the next decade. RFID tags in use currently are estimated at 1.3 billion this year and are expected to grow to 585 billion by 2016, the research company said. However, those implanted in humans are a minuscule amount in comparison.Meanwhile, the government of South Africa is currently researching the implanting of chips in prisoners. Farhad Aghdasi, who oversees the research program, said ethical issues can be overcome as the implants will be done only on those with a criminal record, according to SABC News.The state of Wisconsin recently outlawed the implantation of microchips against a person's will, although there was no obvious move to do so in that state. And Ohio is considering a similar law. Unfortunately, the language of the Ohio proposal assumes chips can track citizens' movements.
Implanted chips have long been used for identifying livestock and pets.
When a dog with an implant gets lost and some nice person finds it and takes it to the vet, the microchip in its neck connects to a centralized database, which ultimately can connect the dog to its owner. A major veterinarian in Thailand has recently complained about that country's unruly pachyderms and has proposed microchipping elephants in Bangkok, according to the IOL online news site.The cow and the dog do not complain.Their owners are grateful. But for people, it's a whole different story.
Fears, beliefs and biases are brought into play.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Privacy Information Center and researchers Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre as well as some Christian fundamentalist groups have been outspoken on the subject.EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg has been quoted saying workplace safety has become increasingly eroded. He complained that there were no laws and regulations surrounding the deployment of chips in humans or in inanimate objects.In the 1980s, you'd take a poly graph test to get a job. In the 1990s, it was drug testing. A little later on, it was reading your email. . . . Is the law going to create any zones of safety?he said on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight.In fact, the VeriChip microchip is encrypted. But as hackers get smarter, it's unclear how long your data will remain inviolate to all but the most crude attempts at intrusion.
The fundamentalist Christian cosmology holds that an Antichrist will rise up to enslave all people who have a mark on the right hand or on the forehead, deriving this belief from the verse Revelations 13:1618.RFID Update editor Smith doesn't see demand for implanted microchips being very great because people are not comfortable with the technology.They (VeriChip) keep coming up with new ideas for products, because they can't find markets that gain any traction because it creeps people out.
The benefits don't outweigh the creepiness factor,Smith said.
Even though RFID technology cannot track us and our movements, Thomas Frey, a futurist with the DaVinci Institute, said that in the future satellites will be hovering to track every individual; and each will have a unique signature that will be scanned by some technology of the future.This technology will be capable of picking out single individuals in crowds and recognizing them by their unique signature,providing there are no privacy barriers.That's a huge if.
Business Writer Francine Brevetti can be reached at fbrevetti@angnewspapers.com or (510) 2086416.
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