1-FORD SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE. 2-Minor earthquake awakens S.C. residents. 3-Atlantic tropical depression could form Tuesday. 4-New MAS Freedom Foundation Human and Civil Rights Director Addresses High-Level United Nations Conference. 5-Russia, Iran agree power station launch date. 6-Palestinian media calls pope stupid, criminal. 7-EU to admit Bulgaria, Romania. 8-Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years. 9-Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas. 10-Israel withdrawn from 90 per cent of land occupied in Lebanon: army. 11-Royal pregnancy poses political dilemma for Spain.
FORD SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
September 25, 2006
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.Ford supports homosexual marriage groups as a matter of principle, not economics.Ask new CEO to stop promoting homosexual marriage
Dear Stan,
Ford Motor Company has hired a new CEO. Alan Mulally replaces Bill Ford as CEO, while Ford will remain as chairman. Whether Ford will continue funding groups promoting homosexual marriage is not known. What is clear at this point is that Ford has made financial support for groups promoting homosexual marriage a matter of principle, not economics. Ford supported The Advocate, which bills itself as The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine, with two full-page ads in the September 12 issue. One ad, featuring all the different brands of Ford made autos, states: Standing strong with America's families and communities.What an insult to traditional marriage and families!
Ford has stated that their support for homosexual groups is an effort to secure sales from the 2% who are homosexual. But in securing one sale from the homosexuals, the company is losing hundreds of sales from those who oppose homosexual marriage.
That makes no economic sense at all. It does say that Ford shares the goal of the homosexual groups—which is homosexual marriage—and believes that goal worthy of financial support, even at great financial loss.
Incidentally, in a poll by the homosexual magazine, 52% of respondents said that boycotts (such as AFA's boycott of Ford) can change the pro-gay policies of large corporations. Even the homosexuals are saying our boycott can make a difference. Despite the tremendous amount of money given to the homosexual groups by Ford, not a single homosexual group has publicly supported Ford.
How is that for appreciation?
Take Action
1. Email new CEO Alan Mulally asking him to stop supporting homosexual marriage.
https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/takeaction.asp?id=213
2. Forward this email to your local Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda or Ford dealer. Find their email address here
Ask him to forward it on to CEO Alan Mulally.
3. Sign the Boycott Ford Pledge if you have not already done so.
http://www.boycottford.com/
4. Print out and distribute the Boycott Ford Petition.
http://www.boycottford.com/ford/paperpetition.pdf
We have been asked if buying a used vehicle from a Ford dealer is ok. Yes, it is. Ford Motor Company does not receive any money on used car sales by the dealer.If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift to help us continue? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
http://www.afa.net/
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Minor earthquake awakens S.C. residents Mon Sep 25, 4:13 PM ET
BLENHEIM, S.C. - A minor earthquake awakened residents early Monday in northeastern South Carolina, the second quake to hit the area in several days. The magnitude 3.7 quake hit at 1:44 a.m. and was centered near Society Hill, about 90 miles southeast of Charlotte, N.C., according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Denver.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Roy Allison, director of emergency management for Marlboro County, said he and other residents were woken up by their shaking houses.At a furniture and appliance store in Wallace, about 10 miles north of the epicenter, the windows sounded like they were about to bust out,said Valerie Perhealth, daughter of the store's owner. It scared me so bad.
A magnitude 3.5 quake shook the area Friday. The centers of the two quakes were about 10 miles apart.
Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the earthquake center, said the area gets small earthquakes now and then because of faults connected to the Appalachians.There's no fear of a bigger earthquake. These (small tremors) just happen,Sigala said.There were no reports of damage from Friday's quake but there were reports of windows cracking and dishes rattling.South Carolina each year has, on average, 10 to 15 earthquakes that register below magnitude 3. An earthquake between 3 and 4 normally is recorded about once every 18 months.The area's most devastating quake on record was a magnitude 7.3 that rumbled near Charleston on Aug. 31, 1886, killing more than 100 people.
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;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
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.
Atlantic tropical depression could form Tuesday: NHC Tue Sep 26, 7:39 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tropical depression could form in the Atlantic later Tuesday or Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said in an outlook issued Tuesday. Even if it forms, however, the major weather models forecast the disturbance, which is heading east-northeast, would turn away from the United States near Bermuda and remain over open ocean waters, following the paths of Hurricanes Florence, Gordon and Helene.The NHC said the disturbance is located about 925 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and that atmospheric conditions are expected to become a little more favorable for development.The Leeward Islands include the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Martin, Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Barthelemy, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica.
MUSLIM NATIONS
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(MOSCOW) 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 (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
New MAS Freedom Foundation Human and Civil Rights Director Addresses High-Level United Nations Conference Date Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006
Ibrahim Ramey, MAS Freedom Foundation Civil and Human Rights Director. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful/WASHINGTON, DC - Sept. 22, 2006 (MASNET) On the commemoration of World Peace Day, September 21, 2006, more than 200 representatives of United Nations (U.N.) member states, global civil society, and the specialized U.N. agencies, met in New York City for a high level conference organized by the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace.Ibrahim Ramey, Director of the Human and Civil Rights Division of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation addressed the international gathering as one of ten representatives of international civil society.The Tripartite Forum, initiated in 2005, also includes U.N. member states and specialized U.N. agencies.
H.E. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, delivered the keynote address for the conference. Foreign Ministers and state representatives from Greece, El Salvador, Montenegro, the Philippines, the Holy See (Vatican), and other nations then addressed the delegates, as did representatives of the United Nations Secretariat, UNESCO, and other major U.N. organizations.After offering traditional Islamic greetings of peace to the audience, and saluting the courageous and excellent work of outgoing U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Ramey commented that the promotion of universal human rights and the global commitment to environmental restoration and protection are two pillars that could bring the Tripartite Forum partners together in closer collaboration.However, the biggest applause from the conference came when Ramey informed the delegates about the new cooperation between MAS Freedom Foundation, Pax Christi USA and PAX Christi International as a demonstration of true interfaith dialogue and common work in action.The announcement members of the Catholic faith will join the Muslim community for their annual Ramadan fast has been warmly embraced. Additionally, MAS Freedom will encourage mosques to open their doors in hospitality to Christians, and other faith communities, throughout the sacred month of Ramadan,Ramey stated.Concluding Ramey offered, This is an example of faith over fear, and what real interfaith dialogue and action should look like.Ramey also serves as a member of the Steering Committee of Religious NGO's at the United Nation, a coordinating body for more than 100 faith-based national and international Non-Governmental Organizations.Also: Pax Christi Announces Solidarity with Muslim Community Through Voluntary Fasting for Ramadan
Russia, Iran agree power station launch date by Conor Humphries
Tue Sep 26, 8:44 AM ET
MOSCOW (AFP) Russia and Iran have signed an agreement setting next September as the deadline for the launch of the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power station. The deal reaffirmed a commitment to press ahead with the decades-long construction effort at Bushehr, in southern Iran, in the face of US objections.At a second day of talks between Russian and Iranian officials, an additional agreement to the contract to build the Bushehr station was signed, which fixes September 2007 as the launch date, Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russia's atomic energy agency, told AFP.The plant will actually produce electricity from November next year, he said, while the nuclear fuel for the plant will be delivered no later than next March.
The agreement was signed at talks between the head of Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, and Iranian vice-president Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who heads the country's nuclear energy agency.In all 80 tonnes of fuel will be delivered to the station in March, said Sergei Shmatko, the head of state-run company Atomstroiexport, which is building Bushehr, RIA Novosti reported.The agreement indicates that Russia has decided that the contract, worth an estimated one billion dollars, is worth risking the ire of the United States, which has applied heavy pressure on Moscow to suspend the program.Washington accuses the Islamic republic of trying to use its atomic energy program to help it develop a nuclear weapons capability.Iran has consistently denied the US charges, saying that its nuclear programme is solely for civilian energy purposes, a right it says is enshrined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The United States has led calls at the United Nations for the Security Council to take enforcement action against Iran after it failed to heed an end of August deadline to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in extended form, the core of an atom bomb.Russia and China, both of which have major economic interests in Iran, have rebuffed the US pressure, and France too has demanded that more talks be held to provide the assurances being sought by the international community that the Islamic republic's nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.In an effort to assuage Western concerns, Russia early last year secured Iran's agreement to an amendment of the Bushehr deal, requiring that all spent nuclear fuel from the reactor be returned to Russia for reprocessing.Igor Ivanov, the head of Russia's security council, said that the latest deal struck a good balance between Iran's rights and the concerns of others that Iran's nuclear energy program is merely a cover for a covert nuclear weapons program.
We think agreements must be made that fully respect Iran's right to peaceful atomic energy, and at the same time take away the anxieties of the world community about non-proliferation,Ivanov said after talks with Aghazadeh at the Kremlin, Interfax reported.
Repeated delays had prompted the Iranians to threaten to freeze Russia out of the project if a fixed timetable for fuel imports was not set.On Monday Aghazadeh told Iran's semi-offical Mehr news agency that Iran could complete the station on its own within six months without Russia's help.
I see theres no respect for other religions in extremist Islam.
Palestinian media calls pope stupid,criminal
Warns pontiff will be judged by Allah 'when eyes stare in terror'
Posted: September 25, 2006,5:00 p.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein,© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Pope Benedict XVI is arrogant, stupid, and criminal,and will be judged by Allah on the day when eyes will stare in terror, declared a sermon delivered this past weekend on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' state-run television.
The sermon coincided with a cartoon also published this weekend in an official Hamas-run daily newspaper in which the pontiff is depicted holding a swastika while wearing a scarf of American and Danish flags. The pope has been drawing fire from Muslims worldwide for remarks he made earlier this month concerning Islam. To this arrogant Pope criminal and arrogant this message is from Allah the Elevated and the Exalted, as it was said: Think not that Allah is unaware of what the wicked do. He but gives them a respite until a day when eyes will stare (in terror),'stated Gaza preacher Osama Al-Mazini in a sermon broadcast by the official television station of Abbas' Fatah party.
For this ignorant and stupid pope, who has no one to attack besides Islam and the prophet [Muhammad] ... [the pope] characterized Islam as a cruel religion and characterized Muhammad, may the Creator have mercy on him and protect him, as a cruel man, spilling blood, who strove to kill, Al-Mazini said in the sermon, which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch. The Palestinian media was responding to a speech in which the 79-year-old pope quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, who wrote, Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached. The pontiff last week said he was deeply sorry for the reaction to his comments and later explained the emperor's words did not reflect how he himself felt. He said the intent of his remarks was to call for a dialogue on the role of religions in modern life.
Benedict XVI met today with a group of Muslim leaders in a bid to calm anger that has spilled over into international Muslim protests. The envoys invited to the Vatican included leaders from major Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, and from the Arab League. During today's meeting, the pope expressed his esteem and profound respect for members of the Islamic faith. He spoke of the need for authentic dialogue between faiths and condemned violence. [We must] guard against all forms of intolerance and oppose all manifestations of violence,said the pope. Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, expressed his hope the pope's speech today will suffice to end the anger ignited by his original remarks. Mario Scialoja, an adviser to the Italian section of the World Muslim League who attended the audience with Benedict, told reporters afterwards he thought it was a very good and warm speech. Still, Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981, warned Benedict not to travel to Turkey, stating his life would be at risk.In an interview with WND last week, a prominent Gaza preacher called for holy war against the pope.
He declared the green flag of Muhammad would soon be raised over the Vatican. We did not need the words of the pope in order to understand that this is a Crusader war against Islam and it is our holy duty to fight all those who support the pope, who follow him and who did not condemn what this small racist had to say,said Abu Saqer, speaking to WND from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The day will soon come when the green flag of La Illah Illah Allah (There is no god but Allah) and Muhammad Rasul Allah (Muhammad is the prophet of Allah) will be raised upon the Vatican and all around the world and on the fortresses of those who want to destroy Islam, because they know that this religion obliges them to face the truth that Islam is Allah's favorite religion.
And until they join Islam, hell is their last station, Abu Saqer said. Immediately following the pope's original remarks on Sept. 12, Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches in the north Samaria city of Nablus and a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. A group calling itself the Lions of Monotheism claimed responsibility for the church attacks, saying the violence was carried out to protest the pope's remarks. Abu Saqer said he rejected the pope's stated apologies. He did not
apologize. He said everything but an apology, which proves these are diplomatic acts and not a feeling of being sorry. Abu Saqer claimed he did not condone violence. He blamed the pope for recent anti-Christian attacks in the Palestinian territories. We are deeply sorry for these acts that we condemn,he said. But I am sorry that this little racist did not think of the consequences upon the Christians in the Arab world when he insulted our prophet. It is an open war – the Muslims against all the others.
Asked to respond directly to Paleologus' observations about Muhammad and Islam, Abu Saqer replied, About your stupid question about our contribution to civilization, did not you read about who were the pioneers in medicine, in mathematics, in astronomy? Did not you hear about Averroes and others? I am not reading poetry, I am saying the truth. Islam, it is not the source of violence. Who is occupying by force and violence Iraq and Afghanistan? Who is occupying Palestine? Who occupied for years the black people and turned them into slaves while one of the first leaders of Islam was the black Bilal Ibn Rabah? Continued Abu Saqer: Violence is a result of lack of faith. See the Western society and culture. See what free sex brings to your Western world and then see the family cell in Islam. Even our problems in Islam come when some parts of the Islamic population want to imitate your way of life.
The Gaza preacher said the pope and the Christian world are panicking because they realize who is winning. See how Islam is progressing and gaining more and more members and see the moral crisis in the West,he said. See today the support of Islam in the Arab and Muslim world and how Islam is gaining more and more adherents in Europe and even in the United States and you understand that Islam is the future and that this dwarf pope was wrong. But I can sympathize with him. He is frustrated because he understands where things are heading.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
EU to admit Bulgaria, Romania
POSTED: 1028 GMT (1828 HKT), September 26, 2006
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Bulgaria and Romania will get the green light on Tuesday to join the European Union in January, rather than a year later. The executive European Commission, however, will set unprecedented entry conditions. The Commission's recommendation, due to be approved by EU leaders in October, will list reforms the Balkan neighbors must complete to avoid being deprived initially of full membership benefits, including EU aid. Bulgaria and Romania have made further progress to complete their preparations for membership, demonstrating their capacity to apply EU principles and legislation from Jan. 1, 2007,said the Commission's draft report.
Toughest ever conditions
It will be the EU's second wave of enlargement into ex-communist eastern Europe, locking the Black Sea duo into the zone of stability and prosperity and promising a boost to their fast-growing economies.
But the toughest conditions ever imposed on entrants reflect concern about the countries' shortcomings, including corruption, organized crime and food safety standards, and doubts over their ability to administer billions of euros in EU aid properly. (Analysis).The conditions are meant partly to reassure critics of enlargement who say the two countries are too poor and too weak administratively to cope with EU membership. Bulgaria and Romania's economic output per capita is around one-third of the EU average and existing member states even those with open labor markets like Britain are hesitant about opening their doors to job seekers from both countries.
Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday that once Romania and Bulgaria have joined the EU, the bloc should not enlarge further until it has reformed its creaking institutions. The EU could have delayed Romanian and Bulgarian membership until 2008, but some Commission officials say privately that this would have humiliated the two nations, prompted an anti-EU backlash and reduced Brussels' leverage with Bucharest and Sofia.
Sanctions
The countries will be obliged to report regularly on progress in reforms and may face sanctions after entry unless the Commission deems their performance satisfactory. Both states will have to complete mechanisms to allocate billions of euros in farm subsidies and regional aid. If they do not, Brussels may freeze part of the funds. Bulgaria will be required to amend its constitution to remove ambiguity about the independence and accountability of the judicial system. It must also adopt new laws to improve the transparency and efficiency of the judicial process. Romania must strengthen its Superior Council of Magistracy and establish, as promised, an integrity agency that will verify the assets of senior state officials, the draft said. Failure to meet these obligations could mean that other EU members may refuse to recognize judgments of the newcomers' courts. In the farm sector, the EU may keep its ban on pork produced in both countries unless they improve measures to fight swine fever. Some restrictions may also apply to their milk sectors. Bulgaria and Romania will add about 30 million citizens to the bloc's present population of more than 450 million. 2006 Reuters.(CNN)
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years
POSTED: 2101 GMT (0501 HKT), September 25, 2006
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Earth may be close to the warmest it has been in the last million years, especially in the part of the Pacific Ocean where potentially violent El Nino weather patterns are born, climate scientists reported on Monday.This doesn't necessarily mean there will be more frequent El Ninos which can disrupt normal weather around the world but could well mean that these wild patterns will be stronger when they occur, said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.The El Nino phenomenon is an important factor in monitoring global warming, according to a paper by Hansen and colleagues published in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
El Ninos can push temperatures higher than they might ordinarily be. This happened in 1998 when a so-called super El Nino helped heat the Earth to a record high.What is significant, the scientists wrote, is that 2005 was in the same temperature range as 1998, and probably was the warmest year ever, with no sign of the warm surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific typical of an El Nino.
The waters of the western equatorial Pacific are warmer than in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and the difference in temperature between these two areas could produce greater temperature swings between the normal weather pattern and El Nino, they wrote.They blamed this phenomenon on global warming that is affecting the surface of the western Pacific before it affects the deeper water.
EL Nino and global warming
Overall, Earth is within 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of its highest temperature levels in the past million years, Hansen and the others wrote. They noted a recent steep rise in average temperatures, with global surface temperatures increasing about 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) for each of the last three decades.Scientists attribute this rise to human activities, notably the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases notably carbon dioxide which let in sunlight and trap its heat like the glass walls of a greenhouse.
Human-caused global warming influences El Ninos much as it sways tropical storms, the scientists wrote.The effect on frequency of either phenomenon is unclear, depending on many factors, but the intensity of the most powerful events is likely to increase as greenhouse gases increase, they wrote.Slowing the growth rate of greenhouse gases should diminish the probability of both super El Ninos and the most intense tropical storms.
Weak El Nino conditions were present this month in the tropical Pacific, and could strengthen to a moderate event by winter, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors the phenomenon.In the United States, private forecaster WSI Corp. predicted warmer-than-normal weather over the Northeast and Midwest for the rest of this year, spelling sluggish energy demand for the start of the heating season.The warm outlook, after the mildest winter on record last year, is due to uncertainty over the El Nino a warming of Pacific waters around the equator that can drive weather patterns around the globe, WSI Corp. said.2006 Reuters.(CNN)
Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas Mon Sep 25, 11:24 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Dozens of Israeli university lecturers, writers and reserve officers have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to open contacts with Syria and the Palestinians, including Hamas. Among the 71 signatories were well-known writers Amoz Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, as well as Aaron Ciechanover, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2004, and retired general Shlomo Gazit, a former head of military intelligence.The war in Lebanon is behind us, but its results have significantly increased the risk of another war: a new war in south Lebanon, a war with Syria or even a conflict involving the Iranian army,said the petition seen by AFP.Everything should be done to avoid that,it continued.
The petition urged the prime minister to examine any appeal for dialogue emanating from an Arab country and to sound out the possibility of secret negotiations.According to the signatories,Israel should act on the three axes of Syria, the Palestinians and Lebanon to consolidate the ceasefire and UN resolution 1701 that ended Israel's recent 34-day war with Shiite militia Hezbollah.
On the Palestinian front, the intellectuals said the idea of talking to officials from the ruling Islamist movement Hamas should not be ruled out.The petition was delivered to Olmert and five of his cabinet ministers, said Naphtali Raz, a teacher behind the initiative.
Middle East News
Israel withdrawn from 90 per cent of land occupied in Lebanon: army
Sep 26, 2006, 10:43 GMT
Tel Aviv Israel has withdrawn from more than 90 per cent of the area it occupied in southern Lebanon during its 33-day war with the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. The last Israeli troops, however, will not leave before the end of the week, the radio said, quoting a senior military official. Lebanese army sources said Monday that Israeli troops are still manning positions in ten different locations in southern Lebanon, stretching from Yarin in the east to Kfar Kila in the central sector. The Israeli troops are still in positions like Kfar Kila, Markaba, Blida, Maroun al-Ras, Rmeish, Ramiyeh, Marwaheen and Yarin,the sources said.
The Israeli military official said Israel was pleased with the performance of the United Nations forces and Lebanese Army troops who have deployed in southern Lebanon. The forces are displaying 'seriousness,' setting up roadblocks and conducting searches, said the official. Some 5,000 UN troops - a third of the total which is to deploy eventually - are now in southern Lebanon, along with Lebanese soldiers who have taken up positions in the southern border area for the first time since 1968.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Royal pregnancy poses political dilemma for Spain
By Sinikka Tarvainen Sep 26, 2006, 15:11 GMT
Madrid - Spanish media are agog over the news that Crown Princess Letizia, 34, is expecting her second child, but the glossy photographs, smiles and congratulations hide a serious constitutional problem. If the child due in May is a boy, Spain will find it increasingly difficult to dodge a long and complicated constitutional reform establishing the equality of the sexes in the succession to the throne. Nobody is calling into question that King Juan Carlos will be succeeded by Crown Prince Felipe, 38, even if he has an older sister. But with all the political parties agreeing that the constitutional principle of sexual equality must apply to the throne, what will happen with Felipe's children?
Felipe married television journalist Letizia Ortiz in May 2004, and the couple's first child Leonor was born in October 2005.
She is second in line to the throne after her father and could become the first female head of state in Spain since 19th century Queen Isabella II. If, however, the couple's new baby is a boy, the 1978 constitution would give him precedence over Leonor.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government has made the equality of the sexes one of its flagship causes.
None of the other parties oppose Spain following the example of liberal northern European countries such as Sweden or Belgium, where it is birth order and not sex that determines the right to the throne. The primacy of male succession should never have been written into the constitution,constitutional expert Javier Perez Royo says. It contravenes the basic principle of sexual equality.
The only problem is that the process of amending the constitution is very complicated. Changing the rules governing the right of succession would require nothing less than two-thirds approval by the lower house of parliament and senate, dissolution of parliament, new elections, two- thirds approval by the new parliament and senate, and, finally, a referendum.
The government fears that the referendum could become a popularity test for the monarchy, which does not traditionally enjoy strong backing in Spain and whose current popularity is largely based on the personalities of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
The government is hoping to dodge the problem by submitting several constitutional amendments to the referendum simultaneously, but that could lead to problems with the opposition conservatives, who are against some of the proposed amendments, such as a reform of the senate. Posing in the arms of her radiant mother, baby Leonor is still unaware of the political debates that will determine her future. The best solution, many experts are suggesting, could be to put the issue on ice until Felipe becomes king and the question of his succession will become more current. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
SHOFAR BLOWER GETS ARRESTED
1-Two moderate earthquakes jolt eastern Indonesia. 2-Weekend storms, flooding leave 12 dead. 3-Forest fires have burned 600 square miles in Washington. 4-Israel admitted to Interpol Europe. 5-EU Presidencies of the Council of the European Union: 2006-2018. 6-Pope Meets Muslim Envoys, Says Interfaith Dialogue is Vital for Future. 7-Report: Israel's Olmert met secretly with senior official in Saudi Arabia. 8-Israelis Want Outsider as New President. 9-Man Arrested for Blowing Shofar at Western Wall.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Two moderate earthquakes jolt eastern Indonesia, no damage reported
Sep 25, 2006, 13:11 GMT
Jakarta - Two moderate earthquakes jolted parts of eastern Indonesian on Monday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage, a meteorological official said. The first quake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, struck North Sulawesi province at about 10:43 a.m. (0243 GMT), said Arie, an official at Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG). The quake's epicentre was about 190 kilometres beneath the Indian Ocean seabed, about 100 kilometres southeast of Manado, the provincial capital, Arie said.
Less than an hour later, an 4.6-magnitude earthquake jolted Ambon, the provincial capital of the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, at about 11:33 a.m. (0333 GMT), he said. The epicentre of the second tremblor was also in the Indian Ocean, about 200 kilometres northeast of Ambon. There were no reports of injuries or structural damage from either quake, said Arie, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, is prone to earthquakes because of its location along the so-called 'Ring of Fire' - an arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches encircling the Pacific Ocean Basin. Occasionally, earthquakes bring severe destruction to Indonesia, including a tremblor on May 27 in Central Java that killed nearly 6,000 people and a quake-triggered tsunami in December 2004 that killed 177,000 people in Aceh province. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
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.
Sept. 25, 2006, 8:24AM
Weekend storms, flooding leave 12 dead
By DYLAN T. LOVAN Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With a dozen people dead from weekend flooding in the Midwest and South, residents were busy shoveling mud from homes and businesses that were inundated with water.At least 8 deaths were reported in Kentucky after flooding triggered by 5 to 10 inches of rain sent rivers and creeks over their banks. Fifteen counties and four cities declared states of emergency, said Buddy Rogers of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.Every business in the small far western Kentucky city of Fulton was flooded by four feet of water from Harris Fork Creek, authorities said.It looks like everything's kind of quieting down, Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in Frankfort, said Sunday as floodwaters began to recede.
High water remained across Kentucky on Monday, and while some flood warnings were still in effect, creeks and rivers had nearly all crested, according to the National Weather Service.The storms that hit parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee on Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.
The death toll in Kentucky reached 8, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. Two deaths were reported in Arkansas, and in Illinois, authorities say lightning was the apparent cause of a house fire that killed elderly two women.In northern Arkansas, the search for a man who was swept away when the Spring River overflowed its banks was to resume Monday. Jackie Richardson, a retired firefighter, went missing Saturday at the River Bend Park campgrounds in Hardy where he spends his summers doing carpentry. Rescuers searched by foot and boat and with dogs but could not find him over the weekend.
With the floods, campers were stranded at the private campgrounds.People were hanging from trees,Hardy Fire Chief Lonnie Phelps said. The river came up quick.Arkansas rivers swelled up to 8 feet above flood levels, officials said. Campers at River Bend Park were asked to evacuate.I didn't think we were going to make it out of there,said Charles Lenderman, who awoke Saturday morning to find knee-high water in his camper's kitchen. Lenderman and family members wearing life jackets swam from the camper to higher ground about 100 yards away.Flood warnings remained in effect Monday for six counties in northeastern Arkansas for high water along the Black, Cache and White rivers.
The National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Over 24 hours, parts of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain, the weather service reported.In central and eastern Missouri, nearly 400 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people were injured by about 10 tornadoes, officials said.Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner and Will Graves in Louisville; Jeff McMurray in Lexington; Jill Zeman in Little Rock, Ark.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Forest fires have burned 600 square miles in Washington
UNDATED Some forest fires are still smoldering, but wildfire officials says this has been the biggest year for fires in Washington since 1994.Nearly 600 square miles (more than 382-thousand acres) have burned, compared to 90 square miles (58-thousand acres) last year.It was a hotter, drier summer with a lot of lightning strikes. And some forests were weakened by infestations of pine beetles.(Seattle Times) 2006 Associated Press.
Updated Sep. 25, 2006 18:42
Israel admitted to Interpol Europe
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
The international police agency Interpol has accepted Israel into its European branch, five years after Israel made its request, a police official said Monday. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld called the decision a breakthrough, noting that 70 percent of Israel's international police operations take place in Europe. The agreement came during Interpol's general assembly over the weekend in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Up to now, Israel has been part of the Asia region. The five-year wait reflected traditional European concern of angering Arab nations. Israeli efforts to join European sections in other international groups have met similar delays. Also, Israel was recently admitted to the International Committee of the Red Cross after a decades-long struggle.
Beyond the operational police aspects, the Interpol decision reflects a changing world reality, starting with the terror attacks by Islamic extremists in the United States on September 11, 2001, said Meir Rosenne, a former legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and ambassador to Washington. After September 11 and the bombings in Madrid and London, Europeans became increasingly aware that there's no fight against international terrorism without international cooperation,he said.Israel has a large experience in the war against terrorism. Israel's official cooperation with European polices will allow them to fight terrorism more efficiently.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Now lets look at the EU CONSTITUTION if it comes into force,like I believe it will. What it says about the Presidency.
The Presidency system
22. The Constitution provides for the replacement of the existing six-monthly rotating Presidency by a 'Team Presidency' system. Under it, all Councils apart from the Foreign Affairs Council (which will be chaired by the European Union Foreign Minister) will be chaired by a team of three Member States holding the Presidency for 18 months. In principle, one Member State will preside over all the Councils for 6 months, supported by others in the Team, though the Member States concerned may agree alternative arrangements amongst themselves. The details of rotation will be set out in a separate Council Decision.
23. The Government believes that the Team Presidency system will provide a longer-term, more stable decision-making structure and therefore ensure greater coherence and consistency in the work of various sectoral Councils. The Team Presidency system is set out in the Declaration re Article I-22, paragraph 6, concerning the European Council decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Does no one else find this interesting that the book of Daniel is playing out right before our eyes (Literally).
Daniel Says the future Dictator comes from 1 of 3 countries that rule together when Spain is in control of the Presidency,and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS). So this is why I believe the Constitution will come into force, or if not at least the 3 Country, 18 Month term will be inforced in the European Union.
EU Presidencies of the Council of the European Union: 2006-2018
Austria: January – June 2006
Finland: July – December 2006
Germany: January – June 2007
Portugal: July – December 2007
Slovenia: January – June 2008
France: July – December 2008
Czech Republic: January – June 2009
Sweden: July – December 2009
Spain: January – June 2010
Belgium: July – December 2010
Hungary: January – June 2011
Poland: July – December 2011
Denmark: January – June 2012
Cyprus: July – December 2012
Ireland: January – June 2013
Lithuania: July – December 2013
Greece: January – June 2014
Italy: July – December 2014
Latvia: January – June 2015
Luxembourg: July – December 2015
Netherlands: January – June 2016
Slovakia: July – December 2016
Malta: January – June 2017
United Kingdom: July – December 2017
Estonia: January – June 2018
Statewatch News 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(MOSCOW) 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 (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Pope Meets Muslim Envoys, Says Interfaith Dialogue is Vital for Future
VOA
Pope Benedict said he would like to see relations between Muslims and Christians develop further in a spirit of sincere and respectful dialogue, Muslim ambassadors reacted positively.Vatican Swiss guards salute a car with an Albanian flag at Pope
Benedict XVI's summer residence, September 25, 2006Pope Benedict has met with diplomats from predominantly Muslim
countries and said both Christians and Muslims must work together against intolerance and violence. The meeting at the pope's summer residence outside Rome was aimed at defusing Muslim anger over a papal address about Islam.
Speaking in French, Pope Benedict assured 21 Muslim diplomats that he has esteem and profound respect for Muslim believers. He was addressing them at the papal summer residence in Castelgandolfo. Also present were Italian Islamic religious leaders.
The pope told them that religious dialogue and inter-cultural dialogue are necessary to build a world of peace. He said Christians and Muslims must learn to work together against intolerance and violence.Pope Benedict said that following the work of his predecessor, John Paul II, he would like to see relations between Muslims and Christians develop further in a spirit of sincere and respectful dialogue.After his speech the pope personally greeted each one of the envoys.
The meeting was organized by the Vatican to ease tension between Roman Catholics and the Muslim world. Those tensions exploded after the pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who had criticized Mohammed, the founder of Islam.Many Muslims took violent exception to this. The pope did not refer to his quotation, saying the circumstances, which led to the meeting are well-known.
Reacting to the pope's talk with the Muslim leaders, the Italian representative of the World Muslim League, Mario Scialoja, said he thought it was a very good and warm speech. He added that the pope recalled the differences, but expressed his willingness to continue in a cordial and fruitful dialogue.The Iraqi Ambassador to the Vatican said the pope's words should now end the anger that followed his comments on Islam. The Iraqi envoy said the pope spoke of his deep respect for Islam and this is what the Muslim world was expecting to hear.
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
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.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Report: Israel's Olmert met secretly with senior official in Saudi Arabia Updated 9/25/2006 10:07 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli newspaper reported Monday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert secretly met with a senior Saudi Arabian official to discuss Iran's nuclear program and peace between Israel and the Palestinians.The daily Yediot Ahronot quoted an unspecified number of anonymous Israeli officials as saying that Olmert met with King Abdullah 10 days ago. It described other officials as hinting that the talks were with a senior official close to the king. None of the officials disclosed the location of the purported meeting, or what was supposed to have been said, according to the paper.Saudi Arabia, which has no official diplomatic ties with Israel, has been trying to revive a regional peace initiative it presented in 2002. Israel rejected the plan at the time, but Olmert has indicated he might be more open than his predecessor, Ariel Sharon.When asked by Yediot last week if Israel had secret contacts with Saudi Arabia, Olmert said: I do not have to answer every question.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Gideon Ezra refused to confirm or deny Monday's report.I know what I read in the newspaper,Ezra told Israel Radio. I think this is the correct way to respond ... every extra word about these issues is unnecessary.Yediot first reported last week that Israel and Saudi Arabia had been holding secret talks since fighting erupted in July between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.Israel and the United States say Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Saudi Arabia 's peace initiative called for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war in exchange for normalization and relations with all Arab countries. It was rejected by Sharon outright but Olmert struck a different tone in the interview with Yediot last week.
I am very impressed with different processes and statements that are connected to Saudi Arabia, some that have been stated publicly and others as well. I am very impressed with King Abdullah's wisdom and sense of responsibility,Olmert was quoted as saying.Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
Wow what a question to ask Israel, incredible when in the Future they accept a European Jew to lead them for a 7 year term.
Israelis Want Outsider as New President
September 24, 2006
Many adults in Israel think their next head of state should not be a current legislator, according to a poll by Geocartographia released by Israel Radio. 56.8 per cent of respondents think the next president should come from outside the Knesset.When asked to choose between two possible contenders, 42.8 per cent of respondents pick former education minister and current Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center dean Amnon Rubinstein, while 31.2 per cent select former Knesset speaker and current parliamentarian Reuven Rivlin.The Israeli Parliament currently elects the president to a seven-year term. In August 2000, Moshe Katzav took over from interim head of state Avraham Burg. In Israel, the president is considered as a largely ceremonial dignitary.
Before becoming president, Katzav served as deputy prime minister in a government headed by Likud party member Benjamin Netanyahu. In the 2000 vote, Katzav defeated former prime minister Shimon Peres in the Knesset by six votes.Last month, Katzav was accused by two female former employees of sexual harassment and corruption. The two allege that Katzav has both acted improperly towards women, and received money to grant pardons. The president has denied any wrongdoing.
Polling Data
Should the next president of Israel come from the Knesset or is it preferable to elect someone who is not serving now?
From outside of Knesset
56.8%
From Knesset
23.6%
Other replies
19.6%
Between the two, which would you prefer to be elected as the next president of Israel?
Amnon Rubinstein
42.8%
Reuven Rivlin
31.2%
Prefer other
13.2%
No reply
12.8%
Source: Geocartographia / Israel Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 501 Israeli adults, conducted on Sept. 19, 2006. Margin of error is 4.3 per cent.
Man Arrested for Blowing Shofar at Western Wall
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Shades of the 1920's: A Jewish man was hauled off to the Old City police station in the middle of prayer for sounding the shofar during Rosh HaShanah services at the area known as the Kotel HaKatan. The incident occurred around 7:30 in the morning, at the northern-most section of the accessible Western Wall - a little-known area called the Kotel HaKatan, the Small Wall. It is considered to have extra sanctity, as it stands opposite the presumed spot of the Holy of Holies of the Beit HaMikdash.
Yesterday morning (Sunday), a group of some 10 men and two women gathered at the site, as they have done for several years on Rosh HaShanah, for early-morning prayers. The holiday prayers feature the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) at several different times. Towards the end of the first shofar sounding, a Border Guard policeman came in, made an unclear motion with his hand as if to ask what was going on, and then left. He said nothing.Shortly afterwards, Eliyahu K., the 20-year-old prayer leader, blew the shofar a second time, in the midst of his silent prayer (in accordance with Sephardic custom). Policemen came in once again and began trying to pull him away. However, Eliyahu was in the midst of reciting the Amidah - a long passage during which one must stand in one place without moving - and he therefore did not move.
The policemen informed their supervisors by radio that he was praying and refused to move, and reinforcements were soon sent - no fewer than 20 policemen, according to several witnesses.They then started dragging him out, and when they stopped for a moment, he got up and resumed his prayers. They then began to drag him away again, and shortly afterwards again stopped for a moment - and again he resumed his prayers. At this point, the policemen allowed him to complete his prayers. In the meanwhile, the other members of the prayer group came out and tried to prevent the policemen from taking Eliyahu away. At this point, the policemen started swinging their clubs violently; no one was hospitalized, but it was a big brawl, in the words of one witness, with many people being dragged around and beaten while wearing their prayer-shawls and Sabbath suits. Meanwhile, Eliyahu was taken to the small police station at the Western Wall plaza, and several of his friends followed him there. They wanted to go up the steps into the police station, and demanded that at least the shofar be returned, but the police again came down with their clubs.
They finally took Eliyahu by foot, accompanied by his fianc?e, all the way around the Old City, past Mt. Zion and through Jaffa Gate, to the Kishle police station inside Jaffa Gate. At this point, there was no longer any violence, and Eliyahu was released around 11:30 - after being charged with attacking a policeman, disturbing a policeman in the line of duty, and disturbing the public order.
One witness related, "It's not only that they stopped him from blowing the shofar, but rather the fact that the police beat us up very harshly. I was on my way to the Wall for prayers when I saw 5-7 policemen going with Eliyahu and protecting him very closely. I walked after them, and then a few of his friends came, and then the violence started. We asked the policemen to return the shofar, and they started kicking us and punching us.
The worshipers said that the police had apparently been called by an Arab woman who said the sound of the ram's horn disturbed her children. A Jewish resident of the Old City told Arutz-7, How ironic. The loud Arab weddings and nightly prayers by the muazzin [over a powerful loudspeaker] at 4:30 AM disturb our sleep every night.Similar complaints are heard from Jews living near Arab villages in Judea and Samaria.A member of the Jerusalem Police spokesman's office, contacted by Arutz-7 for a statement on the matter and asked whether this signified a new policy towards shofar-blowing at the Wall, said, When we have an answer for you, I will get back to you.The head of the local council of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, Shmuel Yitzchaki, could not be reached for comment by the time of this report.
The rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, told Arutz-7, This is a very grave incident, and I have asked the local police commander, Yossi Priente, to check into it - both the violence and the prevention of the shofar blowing. It reminds us of the days of the British Mandate when Jews [had to make] super-human efforts to blow the shofar at the Western Wall.He was referring to the 1ate 1920's, when the British, in an attempt to appease the Arabs, and following violence at the Wall, forbade shofar-blowing at the Wall. In one famous incident in 1929, a man named Moshe Segal blew the shofar at the conclusion of Yom Kippur - and was immediately arrested by the British. Though he had fasted for the previous 25 hours, the British detained him without food until midnight, when he was released. It was later reported that the release came about when then-Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook informed the commander that he himself would not eat until Segal was released. Nearly 40 years later, following the first Yom Kippur service at the Wall under Israeli sovereignty, shortly after the Six Day War, the shofar was again sounded - by Moshe Segal.
The Jerusalem police department can be faxed at (972-2) 539-1190.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Two moderate earthquakes jolt eastern Indonesia, no damage reported
Sep 25, 2006, 13:11 GMT
Jakarta - Two moderate earthquakes jolted parts of eastern Indonesian on Monday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage, a meteorological official said. The first quake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, struck North Sulawesi province at about 10:43 a.m. (0243 GMT), said Arie, an official at Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG). The quake's epicentre was about 190 kilometres beneath the Indian Ocean seabed, about 100 kilometres southeast of Manado, the provincial capital, Arie said.
Less than an hour later, an 4.6-magnitude earthquake jolted Ambon, the provincial capital of the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, at about 11:33 a.m. (0333 GMT), he said. The epicentre of the second tremblor was also in the Indian Ocean, about 200 kilometres northeast of Ambon. There were no reports of injuries or structural damage from either quake, said Arie, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, is prone to earthquakes because of its location along the so-called 'Ring of Fire' - an arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches encircling the Pacific Ocean Basin. Occasionally, earthquakes bring severe destruction to Indonesia, including a tremblor on May 27 in Central Java that killed nearly 6,000 people and a quake-triggered tsunami in December 2004 that killed 177,000 people in Aceh province. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
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.
Sept. 25, 2006, 8:24AM
Weekend storms, flooding leave 12 dead
By DYLAN T. LOVAN Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With a dozen people dead from weekend flooding in the Midwest and South, residents were busy shoveling mud from homes and businesses that were inundated with water.At least 8 deaths were reported in Kentucky after flooding triggered by 5 to 10 inches of rain sent rivers and creeks over their banks. Fifteen counties and four cities declared states of emergency, said Buddy Rogers of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.Every business in the small far western Kentucky city of Fulton was flooded by four feet of water from Harris Fork Creek, authorities said.It looks like everything's kind of quieting down, Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in Frankfort, said Sunday as floodwaters began to recede.
High water remained across Kentucky on Monday, and while some flood warnings were still in effect, creeks and rivers had nearly all crested, according to the National Weather Service.The storms that hit parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee on Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.
The death toll in Kentucky reached 8, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. Two deaths were reported in Arkansas, and in Illinois, authorities say lightning was the apparent cause of a house fire that killed elderly two women.In northern Arkansas, the search for a man who was swept away when the Spring River overflowed its banks was to resume Monday. Jackie Richardson, a retired firefighter, went missing Saturday at the River Bend Park campgrounds in Hardy where he spends his summers doing carpentry. Rescuers searched by foot and boat and with dogs but could not find him over the weekend.
With the floods, campers were stranded at the private campgrounds.People were hanging from trees,Hardy Fire Chief Lonnie Phelps said. The river came up quick.Arkansas rivers swelled up to 8 feet above flood levels, officials said. Campers at River Bend Park were asked to evacuate.I didn't think we were going to make it out of there,said Charles Lenderman, who awoke Saturday morning to find knee-high water in his camper's kitchen. Lenderman and family members wearing life jackets swam from the camper to higher ground about 100 yards away.Flood warnings remained in effect Monday for six counties in northeastern Arkansas for high water along the Black, Cache and White rivers.
The National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Over 24 hours, parts of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain, the weather service reported.In central and eastern Missouri, nearly 400 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people were injured by about 10 tornadoes, officials said.Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner and Will Graves in Louisville; Jeff McMurray in Lexington; Jill Zeman in Little Rock, Ark.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Forest fires have burned 600 square miles in Washington
UNDATED Some forest fires are still smoldering, but wildfire officials says this has been the biggest year for fires in Washington since 1994.Nearly 600 square miles (more than 382-thousand acres) have burned, compared to 90 square miles (58-thousand acres) last year.It was a hotter, drier summer with a lot of lightning strikes. And some forests were weakened by infestations of pine beetles.(Seattle Times) 2006 Associated Press.
Updated Sep. 25, 2006 18:42
Israel admitted to Interpol Europe
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
The international police agency Interpol has accepted Israel into its European branch, five years after Israel made its request, a police official said Monday. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld called the decision a breakthrough, noting that 70 percent of Israel's international police operations take place in Europe. The agreement came during Interpol's general assembly over the weekend in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Up to now, Israel has been part of the Asia region. The five-year wait reflected traditional European concern of angering Arab nations. Israeli efforts to join European sections in other international groups have met similar delays. Also, Israel was recently admitted to the International Committee of the Red Cross after a decades-long struggle.
Beyond the operational police aspects, the Interpol decision reflects a changing world reality, starting with the terror attacks by Islamic extremists in the United States on September 11, 2001, said Meir Rosenne, a former legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and ambassador to Washington. After September 11 and the bombings in Madrid and London, Europeans became increasingly aware that there's no fight against international terrorism without international cooperation,he said.Israel has a large experience in the war against terrorism. Israel's official cooperation with European polices will allow them to fight terrorism more efficiently.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Now lets look at the EU CONSTITUTION if it comes into force,like I believe it will. What it says about the Presidency.
The Presidency system
22. The Constitution provides for the replacement of the existing six-monthly rotating Presidency by a 'Team Presidency' system. Under it, all Councils apart from the Foreign Affairs Council (which will be chaired by the European Union Foreign Minister) will be chaired by a team of three Member States holding the Presidency for 18 months. In principle, one Member State will preside over all the Councils for 6 months, supported by others in the Team, though the Member States concerned may agree alternative arrangements amongst themselves. The details of rotation will be set out in a separate Council Decision.
23. The Government believes that the Team Presidency system will provide a longer-term, more stable decision-making structure and therefore ensure greater coherence and consistency in the work of various sectoral Councils. The Team Presidency system is set out in the Declaration re Article I-22, paragraph 6, concerning the European Council decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Does no one else find this interesting that the book of Daniel is playing out right before our eyes (Literally).
Daniel Says the future Dictator comes from 1 of 3 countries that rule together when Spain is in control of the Presidency,and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS). So this is why I believe the Constitution will come into force, or if not at least the 3 Country, 18 Month term will be inforced in the European Union.
EU Presidencies of the Council of the European Union: 2006-2018
Austria: January – June 2006
Finland: July – December 2006
Germany: January – June 2007
Portugal: July – December 2007
Slovenia: January – June 2008
France: July – December 2008
Czech Republic: January – June 2009
Sweden: July – December 2009
Spain: January – June 2010
Belgium: July – December 2010
Hungary: January – June 2011
Poland: July – December 2011
Denmark: January – June 2012
Cyprus: July – December 2012
Ireland: January – June 2013
Lithuania: July – December 2013
Greece: January – June 2014
Italy: July – December 2014
Latvia: January – June 2015
Luxembourg: July – December 2015
Netherlands: January – June 2016
Slovakia: July – December 2016
Malta: January – June 2017
United Kingdom: July – December 2017
Estonia: January – June 2018
Statewatch News 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(MOSCOW) 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 (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Pope Meets Muslim Envoys, Says Interfaith Dialogue is Vital for Future
VOA
Pope Benedict said he would like to see relations between Muslims and Christians develop further in a spirit of sincere and respectful dialogue, Muslim ambassadors reacted positively.Vatican Swiss guards salute a car with an Albanian flag at Pope
Benedict XVI's summer residence, September 25, 2006Pope Benedict has met with diplomats from predominantly Muslim
countries and said both Christians and Muslims must work together against intolerance and violence. The meeting at the pope's summer residence outside Rome was aimed at defusing Muslim anger over a papal address about Islam.
Speaking in French, Pope Benedict assured 21 Muslim diplomats that he has esteem and profound respect for Muslim believers. He was addressing them at the papal summer residence in Castelgandolfo. Also present were Italian Islamic religious leaders.
The pope told them that religious dialogue and inter-cultural dialogue are necessary to build a world of peace. He said Christians and Muslims must learn to work together against intolerance and violence.Pope Benedict said that following the work of his predecessor, John Paul II, he would like to see relations between Muslims and Christians develop further in a spirit of sincere and respectful dialogue.After his speech the pope personally greeted each one of the envoys.
The meeting was organized by the Vatican to ease tension between Roman Catholics and the Muslim world. Those tensions exploded after the pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who had criticized Mohammed, the founder of Islam.Many Muslims took violent exception to this. The pope did not refer to his quotation, saying the circumstances, which led to the meeting are well-known.
Reacting to the pope's talk with the Muslim leaders, the Italian representative of the World Muslim League, Mario Scialoja, said he thought it was a very good and warm speech. He added that the pope recalled the differences, but expressed his willingness to continue in a cordial and fruitful dialogue.The Iraqi Ambassador to the Vatican said the pope's words should now end the anger that followed his comments on Islam. The Iraqi envoy said the pope spoke of his deep respect for Islam and this is what the Muslim world was expecting to hear.
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
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.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Report: Israel's Olmert met secretly with senior official in Saudi Arabia Updated 9/25/2006 10:07 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli newspaper reported Monday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert secretly met with a senior Saudi Arabian official to discuss Iran's nuclear program and peace between Israel and the Palestinians.The daily Yediot Ahronot quoted an unspecified number of anonymous Israeli officials as saying that Olmert met with King Abdullah 10 days ago. It described other officials as hinting that the talks were with a senior official close to the king. None of the officials disclosed the location of the purported meeting, or what was supposed to have been said, according to the paper.Saudi Arabia, which has no official diplomatic ties with Israel, has been trying to revive a regional peace initiative it presented in 2002. Israel rejected the plan at the time, but Olmert has indicated he might be more open than his predecessor, Ariel Sharon.When asked by Yediot last week if Israel had secret contacts with Saudi Arabia, Olmert said: I do not have to answer every question.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Gideon Ezra refused to confirm or deny Monday's report.I know what I read in the newspaper,Ezra told Israel Radio. I think this is the correct way to respond ... every extra word about these issues is unnecessary.Yediot first reported last week that Israel and Saudi Arabia had been holding secret talks since fighting erupted in July between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.Israel and the United States say Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Saudi Arabia 's peace initiative called for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war in exchange for normalization and relations with all Arab countries. It was rejected by Sharon outright but Olmert struck a different tone in the interview with Yediot last week.
I am very impressed with different processes and statements that are connected to Saudi Arabia, some that have been stated publicly and others as well. I am very impressed with King Abdullah's wisdom and sense of responsibility,Olmert was quoted as saying.Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
Wow what a question to ask Israel, incredible when in the Future they accept a European Jew to lead them for a 7 year term.
Israelis Want Outsider as New President
September 24, 2006
Many adults in Israel think their next head of state should not be a current legislator, according to a poll by Geocartographia released by Israel Radio. 56.8 per cent of respondents think the next president should come from outside the Knesset.When asked to choose between two possible contenders, 42.8 per cent of respondents pick former education minister and current Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center dean Amnon Rubinstein, while 31.2 per cent select former Knesset speaker and current parliamentarian Reuven Rivlin.The Israeli Parliament currently elects the president to a seven-year term. In August 2000, Moshe Katzav took over from interim head of state Avraham Burg. In Israel, the president is considered as a largely ceremonial dignitary.
Before becoming president, Katzav served as deputy prime minister in a government headed by Likud party member Benjamin Netanyahu. In the 2000 vote, Katzav defeated former prime minister Shimon Peres in the Knesset by six votes.Last month, Katzav was accused by two female former employees of sexual harassment and corruption. The two allege that Katzav has both acted improperly towards women, and received money to grant pardons. The president has denied any wrongdoing.
Polling Data
Should the next president of Israel come from the Knesset or is it preferable to elect someone who is not serving now?
From outside of Knesset
56.8%
From Knesset
23.6%
Other replies
19.6%
Between the two, which would you prefer to be elected as the next president of Israel?
Amnon Rubinstein
42.8%
Reuven Rivlin
31.2%
Prefer other
13.2%
No reply
12.8%
Source: Geocartographia / Israel Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 501 Israeli adults, conducted on Sept. 19, 2006. Margin of error is 4.3 per cent.
Man Arrested for Blowing Shofar at Western Wall
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Shades of the 1920's: A Jewish man was hauled off to the Old City police station in the middle of prayer for sounding the shofar during Rosh HaShanah services at the area known as the Kotel HaKatan. The incident occurred around 7:30 in the morning, at the northern-most section of the accessible Western Wall - a little-known area called the Kotel HaKatan, the Small Wall. It is considered to have extra sanctity, as it stands opposite the presumed spot of the Holy of Holies of the Beit HaMikdash.
Yesterday morning (Sunday), a group of some 10 men and two women gathered at the site, as they have done for several years on Rosh HaShanah, for early-morning prayers. The holiday prayers feature the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) at several different times. Towards the end of the first shofar sounding, a Border Guard policeman came in, made an unclear motion with his hand as if to ask what was going on, and then left. He said nothing.Shortly afterwards, Eliyahu K., the 20-year-old prayer leader, blew the shofar a second time, in the midst of his silent prayer (in accordance with Sephardic custom). Policemen came in once again and began trying to pull him away. However, Eliyahu was in the midst of reciting the Amidah - a long passage during which one must stand in one place without moving - and he therefore did not move.
The policemen informed their supervisors by radio that he was praying and refused to move, and reinforcements were soon sent - no fewer than 20 policemen, according to several witnesses.They then started dragging him out, and when they stopped for a moment, he got up and resumed his prayers. They then began to drag him away again, and shortly afterwards again stopped for a moment - and again he resumed his prayers. At this point, the policemen allowed him to complete his prayers. In the meanwhile, the other members of the prayer group came out and tried to prevent the policemen from taking Eliyahu away. At this point, the policemen started swinging their clubs violently; no one was hospitalized, but it was a big brawl, in the words of one witness, with many people being dragged around and beaten while wearing their prayer-shawls and Sabbath suits. Meanwhile, Eliyahu was taken to the small police station at the Western Wall plaza, and several of his friends followed him there. They wanted to go up the steps into the police station, and demanded that at least the shofar be returned, but the police again came down with their clubs.
They finally took Eliyahu by foot, accompanied by his fianc?e, all the way around the Old City, past Mt. Zion and through Jaffa Gate, to the Kishle police station inside Jaffa Gate. At this point, there was no longer any violence, and Eliyahu was released around 11:30 - after being charged with attacking a policeman, disturbing a policeman in the line of duty, and disturbing the public order.
One witness related, "It's not only that they stopped him from blowing the shofar, but rather the fact that the police beat us up very harshly. I was on my way to the Wall for prayers when I saw 5-7 policemen going with Eliyahu and protecting him very closely. I walked after them, and then a few of his friends came, and then the violence started. We asked the policemen to return the shofar, and they started kicking us and punching us.
The worshipers said that the police had apparently been called by an Arab woman who said the sound of the ram's horn disturbed her children. A Jewish resident of the Old City told Arutz-7, How ironic. The loud Arab weddings and nightly prayers by the muazzin [over a powerful loudspeaker] at 4:30 AM disturb our sleep every night.Similar complaints are heard from Jews living near Arab villages in Judea and Samaria.A member of the Jerusalem Police spokesman's office, contacted by Arutz-7 for a statement on the matter and asked whether this signified a new policy towards shofar-blowing at the Wall, said, When we have an answer for you, I will get back to you.The head of the local council of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, Shmuel Yitzchaki, could not be reached for comment by the time of this report.
The rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, told Arutz-7, This is a very grave incident, and I have asked the local police commander, Yossi Priente, to check into it - both the violence and the prevention of the shofar blowing. It reminds us of the days of the British Mandate when Jews [had to make] super-human efforts to blow the shofar at the Western Wall.He was referring to the 1ate 1920's, when the British, in an attempt to appease the Arabs, and following violence at the Wall, forbade shofar-blowing at the Wall. In one famous incident in 1929, a man named Moshe Segal blew the shofar at the conclusion of Yom Kippur - and was immediately arrested by the British. Though he had fasted for the previous 25 hours, the British detained him without food until midnight, when he was released. It was later reported that the release came about when then-Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook informed the commander that he himself would not eat until Segal was released. Nearly 40 years later, following the first Yom Kippur service at the Wall under Israeli sovereignty, shortly after the Six Day War, the shofar was again sounded - by Moshe Segal.
The Jerusalem police department can be faxed at (972-2) 539-1190.
Monday, September 25, 2006
ISRAEL LIFTS NUCLEAR VEIL
1-Earthquakes Sun-Mon Sep 24-25,2006. 2-Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores brace for another severe storm. 3-Some hit by deadly storms face flooding. 4-Early wildfires threaten Sydney. 5-Navy ship salvaged: 6 more bodies found. 6-FM Spokesman regrets disapproval of IAEA resolution on Zionist regime's nuclear threats Tehran. 7-Palestinian official condemns Israel's settlements expansion in W. Bank. 8-Israel seen lifting nuclear veil in Iran stand-off.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD Earthquakes Sun-Mon Sep 24-25,2006
MAP 2.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.0 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 5.7 MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.1 MENDOZA, ARGENTINA
MAP 5.7 SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA
MAP 2.6 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.8 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 3.0 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.0 NEVADA
MAP 2.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.7 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
MAP 2.8 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.6 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 CENTRAL PERU
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 PENINSULA, ALASKA
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;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
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.
Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores brace for another severe storm Sun Sep 24, 2:55 PM ET
LISBON (AFP) - Hurricane Helene was expected to pass north of Portugal's Azores archipelago overnight having weakened to an extra-tropical storm but bringing strong winds and tidal surges, forecasters said. Flores and Corvo, the two westernmost islands in the nine-island mid-Atlantic chain, are expected to bear the brunt of the storm with wind gusts of up to 110 kilometres (68 miles) an hour and waves of up to eight metres (26 feet) forecast, the national weather office said.Residents were asked to lock windows and doors but the archipelago's civil protection service said it planned no special precautions due to the storm.These are situations that are frequent in those islands, the service's vice-chairman Ricardo Barros told state-run television RTP.
On Wednesday Hurricane Gordon was also downgraded to an extra-tropical storm before it passed over the Azores, located about 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) west of mainland Portugal, but still had enough force to topple trees and down power lines.
Some hit by deadly storms face flooding By DYLAN T. LOVAN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 26 minutes ago
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Stormy weather blamed for 12 deaths in the Midwest and South subsided on Sunday, though residents in some states remained shut out of their homes due to high waters. Flood warnings remained in effect for parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri. Many Kentucky roads were still submerged on Sunday, but waters in many areas began to recede.It looks like everything's kind of quieting down, and things are being handled on the local level right now,said Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in Frankfort.
The storms that hit parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.The death toll in Kentucky reached eight, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. Two deaths were reported in Arkansas, and in Illinois, authorities
say lightning was the apparent cause of a house fire that killed elderly two women.The National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Over 24 hours, parts of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain, the weather service reported.
In Kentucky, about 200 people at Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival were evacuated by boats and school buses to transport after rising waters forced an evacuation, said Ruthann Phillips of the Red Cross.It was almost Katrina-like pretty much,said Chester Craig, a lieutenant with the Mercer Central Volunteer Fire Department. There were vehicles underwater and people were walking around in a daze.Arkansas rivers swelled up to 8 feet above flood levels, officials said. Campers at River Bend Park in Hardy, Ark., were asked to evacuate when the Spring River began rising.I didn't think we were going to make it out of there,said Charles Lenderman, who awoke Saturday morning to find knee-high water in his camper's kitchen. Lenderman and family members wearing life jackets swam from the camper to higher ground about 100 yards away.
In central and eastern Missouri, nearly 400 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people were injured by about 10 tornadoes, officials said.Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner and Will Graves in Louisville; Jeff McMurray in Lexington; Jill Zeman in Little Rock, Ark.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Early wildfires threaten Sydney
POSTED: 7:30 p.m. EDT, September 24, 2006
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Six houses were destroyed, one man was killed and several hundred firefighters battled blazes into the night as swirling winds and scorching temperatures on Sunday gave Australia an early start to its wildfire season.
Anxious authorities greeted a cool change that swept southeastern New South Wales state late Sunday, calming gale force winds and cooling unusually hot autumn conditions that drove dozens of fires in parks and farmland around Australia's largest city.One man was killed when a wind gust toppled a tree branch that struck him as he rode his motorcycle in Kangaroo Valley, south of Sydney, police said.
State Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg said about 50 fires erupted in various locations on Sunday. Four houses were razed near Thirlmere southwest of Sydney, and two more near Cattai, to the northwest of the city.Television networks showed footage of the skeletons of two houses still afire, as well as panicking kangaroos, horses and other animals fleeing the flames and smoke.Water-bombing planes and hundreds of firefighters dumped thousands of liters (gallons) trying to douse the flames, which chewed through tinder-dry forests and were whipped up by winds gusting to about 100 kph (60 mph) as temperatures hit 35 C (95 F).We've not had a day like this in September in history,Koperberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation It was a very, very difficult day for firefighters.
The strong winds caused other kinds of havoc, knocking down power lines and causing blackouts to thousands of homes in Sydney's northern and western suburbs, said a spokesman for power company Integral.
At the height of the blazes, authorities declared a fire emergency allowing them to call on thousands of volunteer firefighters, if needed. Every fire station in Sydney and its surrounds was put on alert, authorities said.The causes of the fires were not immediately known. Discarded cigarettes butts and lightning strikes are more often the cause of such fires in Australia rather than arson.
Bad season predicted
Authorities imposed a total fire ban in New South Wales on Sunday forbidding the state's 6 million people from doing farm and backyard burn-offs, lighting wood-fired barbecues or any other fires after forecasters predicted conditions that would be ideal for dangerous blazes.The cool change swept gradually across the state Sunday evening, easing the sweltering conditions. But forecasters said there was also a chance of thunderstorms, raising the chances of lightning strikes that could start new fires.
Conditions throughout the night will be far more favorable and then tomorrow things will be better again,Koperberg said. But there's a lot of containment to be done.
Wild fires are a regular feature of Australian summer months, burning thousands of hectares (acres) of forests and sometimes blasting into towns and cities with often deadly results.In 2003, hundreds of houses were destroyed and four people killed when a huge blaze tore into the national capital, Canberra. Last January, nine people died in fires on South Australia state's Eyre Peninsula.Meteorologists and other experts have predicted conditions that could make this year's fire season in Australia's highly populated and heavily wooded southeast among the worst.
Authorities have been working for months clearing underbrush and creating fire breaks in national parks and in forest land that abuts some Sydney suburbs in expectation of a bad season, which usually starts in November and runs until about February.2006 The Associated Press.
REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
Navy ship salvaged: 6 more bodies found
By UNB, Dhaka,Sun, 24 Sep 2006,
Six more bodies of the fishermen missing since hundreds of fishing boats
capsized in the Bay in storms on September 19 were recovered on Sunday, raising
the death toll to 97.
UNB Bagerhat correspondent said the six bodies were recovered from various
canals and rivers along the Bay and the Sunderbans.Navy ship ‘BNS Shaheed Farid’ which ran aground near Trikon island at Akram Point, 74 kms away from Mongla port, with 45 navy personnel on board, was salvaged at 11 am on Sunday.Two planes, one
helicopter and 11 naval ships took part in the salvage operation.The salvaged ship was intact and the naval personnel were found in good condition.But search for the ship’s Commanding Officer Lt. Commander Firoz Kabir, missing since the ship ran aground during storm, proved futile till on Sunday morning.
A tug boat of the navy is towing the salvaged ship to Mongla.Some of the bodies, disfigured beyond recognition, were buried in the char areas while others were handed over to local police. Survivors apprehended that some 1,500 ill-fated fishermen might have had watery burial following the sudden sea storms as they said they saw hundreds of bodies floating in the Bay. Coast Guard west-zone commander Badruddoza Chowdhury said rescue operation has been strengthened with the sea becoming slightly calm. Officials and local sources said at least 25 boats, some 630 trawlers and the navy ship tossed violently in the Bay during the storms, throwing about 3,500 fishermen and the naval commander into the seawaters.Navy, Coast Guards and forest department officials have been searching hard for those missing since Wednesday. But the rescue operation in deep sea was being hampered for lack of sufficient vessels.
Sources said confusion has been created over the death toll due to absence of coordination between rescuers and the local administration. Trawler owners apprehend that over 800 trawlers had capsized during the storms. The low-lying areas of Bagerhat coast have been flooded and over 500 fish enclosures washed away due to incessant rain over the last few days.by The New Nation
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
EZEKIEL 38:3-6
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) 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.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
FM Spokesman regrets disapproval of IAEA resolution on Zionist regime's nuclear threats Tehran, Sept 24, IRNA
Iran-Hosseini-Zionist
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini here Sunday regretted the disapproval of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution on the Zionist regime's nuclear threats. According to a report released by Hosseini's office, he expressed deep concern over the Western states' opposition to the resolution proposed by Arab states, Iran and Indonesia, in a clear contravention of NPT and the need for membership of Zionist regime in the treaty. Thus the move encouraged disregard for the principles and regulations of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,he added.
Concerning the consequence of the Western states' double standards on the content of NPT, he said that their unjust views and making an exception in case of the Zionist regime by exempting it from accepting the items of the treaty has undermined the regional peace as well as security and increased the anxiety of all Middle East countries. In principle, such a view is against establishment of justice and preparing the ground for the Middle East development. Possession of nuclear weapons by the Zionist regime without international supervision has been threatening security and peace in the region. Besides, it paves the way for this regime to pursue its strategies of threat and expansionism at its own will,added the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Hosseini welcomed the call by some members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and Arab League on other countries to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iran hails peaceful nuclear programs paving the way for scientific and technological development of regional states and considers it as a contribution to further advancement and progress of the Middle East people, he added. The US, Britain, France, Germany and Finland (representing the European Union), rejected the resolution calling for membership of the Zionist regime in NPT and prevented its approval. Sunday September 24, 2006
UPDATED: 08:51, Sep 25, 2006 Palestinian official condemns Israel's settlements expansion in W. Bank
A senior Palestinian official condemned on Sunday the current Israeli policy of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Tayssir Khaled, member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, considered Israel's decision to build more houses into the Israeli settlements in the West Bank settlements as a new escalation and aggression against the Palestinians and their land. Khaled clarified that Israeli Ministry of Housing launched bid to build 164 houses in Israeli settlements near the West Bank city of Nablus and Qalqeelya, noting that this is the second bid in three weeks after an earlier invitation for bid to build 690 houses in settlements in Jerusalem.
He explained that the expansion was an attempt by the Israeli government to conciliate the radical right wing and settlers after the big failure in the war on Lebanon. He also called on the international community, especially the U. S. and the European Union (EU), to exert pressure on Israel, as the settlements expansion policy contradicts with the U.S.supported roadmap plan. The roadmap plan calls on Israel to dismantle all settlements that were built after the 2001.Source: Xinhua
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same
time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Israel seen lifting nuclear veil in Iran stand-off
By Dan Williams
TEL AVIV, Sept 25 (Reuters) - In October 1973, with its forces battling to repel invasions by Egypt and Syria, Israel did what had previously been unthinkable: It briefly wheeled its nuclear-capable Jericho-1 missiles out of their secret silos.That, historians believe, was picked up by U.S. spy satellites and stirred up fears in Washington of a catastrophic flare-up between the Jewish state and the
Soviet-backed Arabs. Message received, an urgent American shipment of conventional arms to Israel was quick to follow, and helped turn the war.With Israel's current arch-foe Iran seen gaining the ability to produce nuclear weapons within a few years, and preventive military options limited, some experts now anticipate another lifting of the veil on the assumed Israeli atomic arsenal.
Were that to happen, experts say, the objective would be to establish a more open military deterrence vis-a-vis Iran and perhaps win Israel's nuclear option formal legitimacy abroad.No one should simply assume that Israel would stay where it is now with its ambiguous capability if Iran becomes a nuclear power,said Professor Gerald Steinberg, head of the Conflict Management Programme at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.Israeli policy is likely to change, in order to demonstrate that the country has continued strategic superiority,he said.Israel neither confirms nor denies it has the Middle East's only nuclear weapons, under an ambiguity policy billed as warding off enemy states while avoiding a regional arms race.
Steinberg said this might be abandoned only as a last resort to persuade a nuclear-armed Iran that it stood to suffer far greater devastation in any full-blown future conflict.It's not desirable, but this is about survival,he said.Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says its nuclear programme is for energy needs alone. But calls by its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be wiped off the map have fuelled Western calls for the programme to be curbed.
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION?
Talk of a nuclear stand-off between Israel and Iran has sparked comparisons with the mutually assured destruction formula that reigned during the Cold War and, more recently, between India and Pakistan.But those precedents assume a parity that may not exist with Israel and Iran. Militarily advanced Israel is geographically small and vulnerable. Iran's atomic ambitions are at fledgling stage but its large size could help it survive a major strike.The use of a nuclear bomb against Israel would completely destroy Israel, while (the same) against the Islamic world would only cause damage. Such a scenario is not inconceivable,former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a 2001 speech.
There is also speculation that Ahmadinejad might welcome an apocalyptic confrontation, meaning the idea of a deterrent would not work. Yet he answers to Iranian clerics who work by committee and thus provide a rational set of safeguards.
Reuven Pedatzur, defence analyst for the respected Israeli daily Haaretz, proposed that the country, under U.S. guidance, go public with its nuclear capability in the hope of building back-channel ties with Iran and establishing mutual deterrence.
Israel cannot continue to rely on it (ambiguity policy) if Iran has nuclear weapons. This is because ambiguity leaves too many grey areas. The enemy cannot know with certainty what the red lines are and when he is risking an Israeli nuclear response,he wrote.
There must be a deterrent policy that will leave no room for misunderstandings, he added.Thus, for example, we would make it clear that the identification of any missile launched from Iran in a westerly direction means, as far as we are concerned, the launch of an Iranian nuclear missile at us.Declaring capabilities is one way for a nation to becomes an official nuclear power. The other is a controlled atomic blast.If the Israelis really have any doubt about the credibility of their deterrence, they could conduct a nuclear test, say, in the Negev desert,said Gary Samore, a former adviser on nuclear non-proliferation in the U.S. National Security Council under President Bill Clinton.But he said the diplomatic fall-out of such a move would draw scrutiny away from Tehran and further alienate those Arab nations willing to endorse Western pressure on the Iranians.It would be a godsend for Iran,Samore said.
NPT IN QUESTION
Israel did not sign the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It thus kept its main nuclear facility, outside the desert town of Dimona, exempt from inspection. It has received billions of dollars in aid from Washington, whose laws ban funding states with unregulated non-conventional arsenals.A nuclear weapons test by Israel would effectively blow away that U.S. blind eye. Iran, in turn, could withdraw from the NPT and argue that it should not be subjected to sanctions. After that, other Middle East states would likely seek atomic arms.Avner Cohen, author of the seminal study Israel and the Bomb, has suggested that Israel seek to form a new nuclear pact along with India and Pakistan, which refuse to join the NPT.
Such a protocol might permit them to retain their atomic programmes, but inhibit further development. It could also require cooperation with international nuclear export controls, prohibit explosive testing of nuclear devices, and call for the phased elimination of fissile material production,Cohen said.Iran would not be able to join such a pact, he added, as it has violated the NPT by pursuing unauthorised nuclear projects.Cohen poured cold water on the idea of Israel seeking mutual deterrence with a nuclear-armed Iran, noting that during the Cold War parity was achieved only after Washington and Moscow scraped through two crises over the 1948 Western airlift to Berlin and the 1962 deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba.The sense of stability associated with mutually assured destruction grew out of a learning curve,he said.
Israel had its learning through crisis, especially the 1973 war. Do we have time for the Iranians to learn? Will they learn? © 2006 Reuters
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD Earthquakes Sun-Mon Sep 24-25,2006
MAP 2.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.0 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 5.7 MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.1 MENDOZA, ARGENTINA
MAP 5.7 SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA
MAP 2.6 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.8 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 3.0 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.0 NEVADA
MAP 2.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.7 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
MAP 2.8 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.6 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 CENTRAL PERU
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 PENINSULA, ALASKA
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;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
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.
Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores brace for another severe storm Sun Sep 24, 2:55 PM ET
LISBON (AFP) - Hurricane Helene was expected to pass north of Portugal's Azores archipelago overnight having weakened to an extra-tropical storm but bringing strong winds and tidal surges, forecasters said. Flores and Corvo, the two westernmost islands in the nine-island mid-Atlantic chain, are expected to bear the brunt of the storm with wind gusts of up to 110 kilometres (68 miles) an hour and waves of up to eight metres (26 feet) forecast, the national weather office said.Residents were asked to lock windows and doors but the archipelago's civil protection service said it planned no special precautions due to the storm.These are situations that are frequent in those islands, the service's vice-chairman Ricardo Barros told state-run television RTP.
On Wednesday Hurricane Gordon was also downgraded to an extra-tropical storm before it passed over the Azores, located about 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) west of mainland Portugal, but still had enough force to topple trees and down power lines.
Some hit by deadly storms face flooding By DYLAN T. LOVAN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 26 minutes ago
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Stormy weather blamed for 12 deaths in the Midwest and South subsided on Sunday, though residents in some states remained shut out of their homes due to high waters. Flood warnings remained in effect for parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri. Many Kentucky roads were still submerged on Sunday, but waters in many areas began to recede.It looks like everything's kind of quieting down, and things are being handled on the local level right now,said Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in Frankfort.
The storms that hit parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.The death toll in Kentucky reached eight, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. Two deaths were reported in Arkansas, and in Illinois, authorities
say lightning was the apparent cause of a house fire that killed elderly two women.The National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Over 24 hours, parts of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain, the weather service reported.
In Kentucky, about 200 people at Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival were evacuated by boats and school buses to transport after rising waters forced an evacuation, said Ruthann Phillips of the Red Cross.It was almost Katrina-like pretty much,said Chester Craig, a lieutenant with the Mercer Central Volunteer Fire Department. There were vehicles underwater and people were walking around in a daze.Arkansas rivers swelled up to 8 feet above flood levels, officials said. Campers at River Bend Park in Hardy, Ark., were asked to evacuate when the Spring River began rising.I didn't think we were going to make it out of there,said Charles Lenderman, who awoke Saturday morning to find knee-high water in his camper's kitchen. Lenderman and family members wearing life jackets swam from the camper to higher ground about 100 yards away.
In central and eastern Missouri, nearly 400 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people were injured by about 10 tornadoes, officials said.Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner and Will Graves in Louisville; Jeff McMurray in Lexington; Jill Zeman in Little Rock, Ark.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Early wildfires threaten Sydney
POSTED: 7:30 p.m. EDT, September 24, 2006
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Six houses were destroyed, one man was killed and several hundred firefighters battled blazes into the night as swirling winds and scorching temperatures on Sunday gave Australia an early start to its wildfire season.
Anxious authorities greeted a cool change that swept southeastern New South Wales state late Sunday, calming gale force winds and cooling unusually hot autumn conditions that drove dozens of fires in parks and farmland around Australia's largest city.One man was killed when a wind gust toppled a tree branch that struck him as he rode his motorcycle in Kangaroo Valley, south of Sydney, police said.
State Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg said about 50 fires erupted in various locations on Sunday. Four houses were razed near Thirlmere southwest of Sydney, and two more near Cattai, to the northwest of the city.Television networks showed footage of the skeletons of two houses still afire, as well as panicking kangaroos, horses and other animals fleeing the flames and smoke.Water-bombing planes and hundreds of firefighters dumped thousands of liters (gallons) trying to douse the flames, which chewed through tinder-dry forests and were whipped up by winds gusting to about 100 kph (60 mph) as temperatures hit 35 C (95 F).We've not had a day like this in September in history,Koperberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation It was a very, very difficult day for firefighters.
The strong winds caused other kinds of havoc, knocking down power lines and causing blackouts to thousands of homes in Sydney's northern and western suburbs, said a spokesman for power company Integral.
At the height of the blazes, authorities declared a fire emergency allowing them to call on thousands of volunteer firefighters, if needed. Every fire station in Sydney and its surrounds was put on alert, authorities said.The causes of the fires were not immediately known. Discarded cigarettes butts and lightning strikes are more often the cause of such fires in Australia rather than arson.
Bad season predicted
Authorities imposed a total fire ban in New South Wales on Sunday forbidding the state's 6 million people from doing farm and backyard burn-offs, lighting wood-fired barbecues or any other fires after forecasters predicted conditions that would be ideal for dangerous blazes.The cool change swept gradually across the state Sunday evening, easing the sweltering conditions. But forecasters said there was also a chance of thunderstorms, raising the chances of lightning strikes that could start new fires.
Conditions throughout the night will be far more favorable and then tomorrow things will be better again,Koperberg said. But there's a lot of containment to be done.
Wild fires are a regular feature of Australian summer months, burning thousands of hectares (acres) of forests and sometimes blasting into towns and cities with often deadly results.In 2003, hundreds of houses were destroyed and four people killed when a huge blaze tore into the national capital, Canberra. Last January, nine people died in fires on South Australia state's Eyre Peninsula.Meteorologists and other experts have predicted conditions that could make this year's fire season in Australia's highly populated and heavily wooded southeast among the worst.
Authorities have been working for months clearing underbrush and creating fire breaks in national parks and in forest land that abuts some Sydney suburbs in expectation of a bad season, which usually starts in November and runs until about February.2006 The Associated Press.
REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
Navy ship salvaged: 6 more bodies found
By UNB, Dhaka,Sun, 24 Sep 2006,
Six more bodies of the fishermen missing since hundreds of fishing boats
capsized in the Bay in storms on September 19 were recovered on Sunday, raising
the death toll to 97.
UNB Bagerhat correspondent said the six bodies were recovered from various
canals and rivers along the Bay and the Sunderbans.Navy ship ‘BNS Shaheed Farid’ which ran aground near Trikon island at Akram Point, 74 kms away from Mongla port, with 45 navy personnel on board, was salvaged at 11 am on Sunday.Two planes, one
helicopter and 11 naval ships took part in the salvage operation.The salvaged ship was intact and the naval personnel were found in good condition.But search for the ship’s Commanding Officer Lt. Commander Firoz Kabir, missing since the ship ran aground during storm, proved futile till on Sunday morning.
A tug boat of the navy is towing the salvaged ship to Mongla.Some of the bodies, disfigured beyond recognition, were buried in the char areas while others were handed over to local police. Survivors apprehended that some 1,500 ill-fated fishermen might have had watery burial following the sudden sea storms as they said they saw hundreds of bodies floating in the Bay. Coast Guard west-zone commander Badruddoza Chowdhury said rescue operation has been strengthened with the sea becoming slightly calm. Officials and local sources said at least 25 boats, some 630 trawlers and the navy ship tossed violently in the Bay during the storms, throwing about 3,500 fishermen and the naval commander into the seawaters.Navy, Coast Guards and forest department officials have been searching hard for those missing since Wednesday. But the rescue operation in deep sea was being hampered for lack of sufficient vessels.
Sources said confusion has been created over the death toll due to absence of coordination between rescuers and the local administration. Trawler owners apprehend that over 800 trawlers had capsized during the storms. The low-lying areas of Bagerhat coast have been flooded and over 500 fish enclosures washed away due to incessant rain over the last few days.by The New Nation
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
EZEKIEL 38:3-6
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) 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.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
FM Spokesman regrets disapproval of IAEA resolution on Zionist regime's nuclear threats Tehran, Sept 24, IRNA
Iran-Hosseini-Zionist
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini here Sunday regretted the disapproval of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution on the Zionist regime's nuclear threats. According to a report released by Hosseini's office, he expressed deep concern over the Western states' opposition to the resolution proposed by Arab states, Iran and Indonesia, in a clear contravention of NPT and the need for membership of Zionist regime in the treaty. Thus the move encouraged disregard for the principles and regulations of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,he added.
Concerning the consequence of the Western states' double standards on the content of NPT, he said that their unjust views and making an exception in case of the Zionist regime by exempting it from accepting the items of the treaty has undermined the regional peace as well as security and increased the anxiety of all Middle East countries. In principle, such a view is against establishment of justice and preparing the ground for the Middle East development. Possession of nuclear weapons by the Zionist regime without international supervision has been threatening security and peace in the region. Besides, it paves the way for this regime to pursue its strategies of threat and expansionism at its own will,added the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Hosseini welcomed the call by some members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and Arab League on other countries to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iran hails peaceful nuclear programs paving the way for scientific and technological development of regional states and considers it as a contribution to further advancement and progress of the Middle East people, he added. The US, Britain, France, Germany and Finland (representing the European Union), rejected the resolution calling for membership of the Zionist regime in NPT and prevented its approval. Sunday September 24, 2006
UPDATED: 08:51, Sep 25, 2006 Palestinian official condemns Israel's settlements expansion in W. Bank
A senior Palestinian official condemned on Sunday the current Israeli policy of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Tayssir Khaled, member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, considered Israel's decision to build more houses into the Israeli settlements in the West Bank settlements as a new escalation and aggression against the Palestinians and their land. Khaled clarified that Israeli Ministry of Housing launched bid to build 164 houses in Israeli settlements near the West Bank city of Nablus and Qalqeelya, noting that this is the second bid in three weeks after an earlier invitation for bid to build 690 houses in settlements in Jerusalem.
He explained that the expansion was an attempt by the Israeli government to conciliate the radical right wing and settlers after the big failure in the war on Lebanon. He also called on the international community, especially the U. S. and the European Union (EU), to exert pressure on Israel, as the settlements expansion policy contradicts with the U.S.supported roadmap plan. The roadmap plan calls on Israel to dismantle all settlements that were built after the 2001.Source: Xinhua
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same
time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Israel seen lifting nuclear veil in Iran stand-off
By Dan Williams
TEL AVIV, Sept 25 (Reuters) - In October 1973, with its forces battling to repel invasions by Egypt and Syria, Israel did what had previously been unthinkable: It briefly wheeled its nuclear-capable Jericho-1 missiles out of their secret silos.That, historians believe, was picked up by U.S. spy satellites and stirred up fears in Washington of a catastrophic flare-up between the Jewish state and the
Soviet-backed Arabs. Message received, an urgent American shipment of conventional arms to Israel was quick to follow, and helped turn the war.With Israel's current arch-foe Iran seen gaining the ability to produce nuclear weapons within a few years, and preventive military options limited, some experts now anticipate another lifting of the veil on the assumed Israeli atomic arsenal.
Were that to happen, experts say, the objective would be to establish a more open military deterrence vis-a-vis Iran and perhaps win Israel's nuclear option formal legitimacy abroad.No one should simply assume that Israel would stay where it is now with its ambiguous capability if Iran becomes a nuclear power,said Professor Gerald Steinberg, head of the Conflict Management Programme at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.Israeli policy is likely to change, in order to demonstrate that the country has continued strategic superiority,he said.Israel neither confirms nor denies it has the Middle East's only nuclear weapons, under an ambiguity policy billed as warding off enemy states while avoiding a regional arms race.
Steinberg said this might be abandoned only as a last resort to persuade a nuclear-armed Iran that it stood to suffer far greater devastation in any full-blown future conflict.It's not desirable, but this is about survival,he said.Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says its nuclear programme is for energy needs alone. But calls by its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be wiped off the map have fuelled Western calls for the programme to be curbed.
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION?
Talk of a nuclear stand-off between Israel and Iran has sparked comparisons with the mutually assured destruction formula that reigned during the Cold War and, more recently, between India and Pakistan.But those precedents assume a parity that may not exist with Israel and Iran. Militarily advanced Israel is geographically small and vulnerable. Iran's atomic ambitions are at fledgling stage but its large size could help it survive a major strike.The use of a nuclear bomb against Israel would completely destroy Israel, while (the same) against the Islamic world would only cause damage. Such a scenario is not inconceivable,former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a 2001 speech.
There is also speculation that Ahmadinejad might welcome an apocalyptic confrontation, meaning the idea of a deterrent would not work. Yet he answers to Iranian clerics who work by committee and thus provide a rational set of safeguards.
Reuven Pedatzur, defence analyst for the respected Israeli daily Haaretz, proposed that the country, under U.S. guidance, go public with its nuclear capability in the hope of building back-channel ties with Iran and establishing mutual deterrence.
Israel cannot continue to rely on it (ambiguity policy) if Iran has nuclear weapons. This is because ambiguity leaves too many grey areas. The enemy cannot know with certainty what the red lines are and when he is risking an Israeli nuclear response,he wrote.
There must be a deterrent policy that will leave no room for misunderstandings, he added.Thus, for example, we would make it clear that the identification of any missile launched from Iran in a westerly direction means, as far as we are concerned, the launch of an Iranian nuclear missile at us.Declaring capabilities is one way for a nation to becomes an official nuclear power. The other is a controlled atomic blast.If the Israelis really have any doubt about the credibility of their deterrence, they could conduct a nuclear test, say, in the Negev desert,said Gary Samore, a former adviser on nuclear non-proliferation in the U.S. National Security Council under President Bill Clinton.But he said the diplomatic fall-out of such a move would draw scrutiny away from Tehran and further alienate those Arab nations willing to endorse Western pressure on the Iranians.It would be a godsend for Iran,Samore said.
NPT IN QUESTION
Israel did not sign the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It thus kept its main nuclear facility, outside the desert town of Dimona, exempt from inspection. It has received billions of dollars in aid from Washington, whose laws ban funding states with unregulated non-conventional arsenals.A nuclear weapons test by Israel would effectively blow away that U.S. blind eye. Iran, in turn, could withdraw from the NPT and argue that it should not be subjected to sanctions. After that, other Middle East states would likely seek atomic arms.Avner Cohen, author of the seminal study Israel and the Bomb, has suggested that Israel seek to form a new nuclear pact along with India and Pakistan, which refuse to join the NPT.
Such a protocol might permit them to retain their atomic programmes, but inhibit further development. It could also require cooperation with international nuclear export controls, prohibit explosive testing of nuclear devices, and call for the phased elimination of fissile material production,Cohen said.Iran would not be able to join such a pact, he added, as it has violated the NPT by pursuing unauthorised nuclear projects.Cohen poured cold water on the idea of Israel seeking mutual deterrence with a nuclear-armed Iran, noting that during the Cold War parity was achieved only after Washington and Moscow scraped through two crises over the 1948 Western airlift to Berlin and the 1962 deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba.The sense of stability associated with mutually assured destruction grew out of a learning curve,he said.
Israel had its learning through crisis, especially the 1973 war. Do we have time for the Iranians to learn? Will they learn? © 2006 Reuters
Sunday, September 24, 2006
EGYPT GOES NUCLEAR
1-Mount Desert Island residents awake to quake. 2-Storms Dump Rain On Much Of State; Northern Ark. Faces Flooding. 3-Hot winds hit site of huge wildfire in Los Padres National Forest. 4-Calmer after Indonesia executions. 5-Aznar: Muslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years. 6-Europe blasted for not defending Pope. 7-Mediator: Israel-Hizbullah prisoner swap within day. 8-Egypt Prepared To Go Nuclear.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Mount Desert Island residents awake to quake
BAR HARBOR, Maine --Mount Desert Island residents awoke to the earth moving Friday, and the shaking didn't stop until several hours later.Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Monitors recorded five hours of earthquake activity with the biggest being a Magnitude 3.5 quake at 6:39 a.m. about one mile southwest of the middle of Bar Harbor, said John Ebel, director of Massachusetts' Weston Observatory.There were roughly nine additional temblors starting at 5:21 a.m. before the main quake and continuing through 10:20 a.m., Ebel said.The biggest quake was of a magnitude that could be felt miles away, he said. There were no reports of injuries or property damage.New England averages about one or two earthquakes that are above 3.5 Magnitude each year, Ebel said. Maine already recorded a 3.8-Magnitude earthquake in the northern part of the state on July 14, he said.
©Associated Press.
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;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
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.
Storms Dump Rain On Much Of State; Northern Ark. Faces Flooding
Posted: 9/23/2006 5:02:08 PM
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - A stretch of northern Arkansas faces severe flooding Saturday after a series of strong storms dumped up to ten inches of rain in some areas. In Sharp County, officials worked to evacuate and rescue residents in low-lying areas, including several who were stranded in trees after camping out at River Bend Park, the sheriff's office said. By Saturday afternoon, the campground had been evacuated and people were moved to a command post in Hardy. A dispatcher says the county had no confirmed deaths, nor did they know if there were any missing people, a dispatcher said. As northern Arkansas dealt with flooding, much of western Arkansas saw severe thunderstorms, lightning and tornado warnings.
Steve Bays, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service says the counties facing the worst flooding are Clay, Fulton, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp. There are no confirmed deaths yet because of the flooding, though a woman in northwest Arkansas was struck by lightning and killed Friday night. No tornadoes have been confirmed yet from Friday or Saturday's storms.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Hot winds hit site of huge wildfire in Los Padres National Forest
Saturday, September 23, 2006
(AP) -- Winds changed Saturday from ocean breezes to hot Santa Anas as crews battling a three-week wildfire in Los Padres National Forest rushed to carve fire breaks.It is blowing ferociously. We expect a lot more acreage to go, Ventura County fire Capt.
Barry Parker said.Winds were gusting to 52 mph in the area about 75 miles north of Los Angeles, officials said.No imminent threat was reported to structures. But 10 homes in the Rose Valley area were evacuated as a precaution, and hundreds of people in Ojai, Fillmore and other towns about 10 miles from the edge of the Day Fire were urged to be ready to evacuate if the hot winds from the northeast sent the flames racing their way.A light, moist wind from the south had calmed the huge fire for much of the week.
Crews hurried to burn chaparral, wrap isolated homes in protective material and bulldoze backup safety lines. Fire trucks were parked in some driveways to protect dwellings.Parker said more than 20 aircraft were painting the hills with fire retardant but would have to be grounded if the winds became too powerful.The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for extreme fire conditions through Sunday. Forecasters said gusts as high as 70 mph were possible during the weekend.
Such conditions could drive the blaze in mile-long leaps along ridges and steep canyons, with flames spreading as fast as 11 mph, said Larry Comerford of the U.S. Forest Service.The fire along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties doubled in size to about 80,000 acres when Santa Ana winds kicked up a week ago.
The fire that began on Labor Day had burned 116,971 acres, or nearly 183 square miles. It was 39 percent contained.Hundreds of additional firefighters were dispatched to the line late this week, bringing the total to more than 3,000.The blaze had cost $31.7 million to fight, with the amount increasing about $1 million a day.Elsewhere, crews mopped up two smaller fires in forests to the south.The 2,730-acre Pinnacles Fire in San Bernardino National Forest was fully contained Saturday. It began Tuesday near Lake Arrowhead, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.The Pines Fire in Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles was fully contained Friday after burning 113 acres.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Calmer after Indonesia executions
Palu, Indonesia (dpa) - Conditions were calmer and under control after Indonesian government deployed thousands of security forces to guard public areas Saturday in Central Sulawesi province.Angry mobs had rioted Friday in Christian areas of Indonesia after the government carried out early-morning executions of three Christian men convicted of massacring Muslims during sectarian violence six years ago.In East Nusa Tenggara province, the condemned men's birthplace, mobs attacked offices and houses, torched a car and destroyed the main gate to a local prison in the town Atambua, allowing hundreds of inmates to escape.Situation are now calmer, no more riots or mobs on the streets,provincial police spokesman Major Marten Raja told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa by telephone from Kupang, the provincial capital.
Only one person was injured in Friday's rights, he said.There were 205 inmates who escaped, but until today, 22 have recaptured, Raja said.A police firing squad in Palu, capital of Central Sulawesi province, executed the three men, who were convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 despite international appeals for clemency.The condemned Christians - Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marianus Riwu, 48, and Domingus da Silva, 42 were executed around 1:50 am at an undisclosed location, the earliest moment that their sentences of capital punishment could be carried out.The bodies of Tibo and Riwu were placed on police helicopters and flown back for burial to their village of Beteleme in Central Sulawesi's Morowalai district.
Da Silva was buried overnight in Palu, though family members accompanied by Catholic priest dug up his grave Friday night to let the deceased have a proper Roman Catholic burial.The men had been found guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks on Muslims in May 2000 in Poso district, including a gun-and-machete assault in which at least 70 people taking refugee in an Islamic school were killed.The massacre was one of the bloodiest incidents of sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims that swept through previously harmonious Central Sulawesi from 1998 to 2002, leaving more than 1,000 people from both communities dead and tens of thousands homeless.
The convicted men maintained their innocence. They said that prosecutors refused to investigate 16 people including military, intelligence and government officials, implicated by one of the defendants as the masterminds of the conflict.Defence lawyers said that the death sentences were unfair because numerous Muslims convicted of religious violence, including scores of murders, only received prison sentences.The Jakarta government had postponed the Poso executions once, after Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Yudhoyono though authorities insisted the delay was for technical reasons.The European Union released a statement expressing disappointment and called on the Jakarta government to halt future planned executions.More than 80 per cent of Indonesia's 220 million people are Muslim, but the Christian and Muslim populations in Central Sulawesi are roughly equal.Sporadic bombings and killings in the region, about 1,650 kilometres northeast of Jakarta, have continued since Muslim and Christian leaders signed a peace accord in late 2001.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
FORMER SPANISH PRESIDENT
Aznar: Muslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years
09/23/2006
Bush and his war on terror, said the West is under attack from radical Islam and must defend itself. It is them or it is us, Aznar said.There is no middle ground. Jose Maria AznarMuslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years and a U.N.-backed program to encourage dialogue between them and West is stupid, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar has said. Aznar made his comments Friday night in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a thinktank in Washington, D.C., as he discussed Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks on Islam and violence. Aznar, a firm ally of U.S. President George W.Bush and his war on terror, said the West is under attack from radical Islam and must defend itself.
It is them or it is us, Aznar said. There is no middle ground. He did not elaborate. Aznar said he found it surprising that Muslims have demanded an apology from the pope over his Sept. 12 remarks.Aznar noted the nearly 800-year Moorish occupation of Spain that began in the year 711 with an invasion from North Africa. He said Muslims had never apologized for this but still demand apologies whenever they feel offended by remarks by non-Muslims. It's absurd,Aznar said. He also criticized an initiative launched last year by his Socialist successor, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, to encourage dialogue between the West and Muslim countries.
Europe blasted for not defending Pope
September 24, 2006 - 7:50PM
The president of the European Commission has expressed disappointment that European leaders failed to defend Pope Benedict XVI over his recent remarks about Islam.Jose Manuel Barroso said that while Europe must take the threat of Islamic extremists very seriously, it must not confuse tolerance with a form of political correctness that puts others' values above its own.I was disappointed that there weren't more European leaders who said, Of course the Pope has the right to express his point of view', Barroso was quoted as saying in Germany's Welt am Sonntag weekly on Sunday.We must defend our values.Barroso also urged Europeans to encourage moderate Islamic leaders to take a stronger stance against the extremists.The problem is not the comments of the Pope, but the reaction of the extremists,Barroso said.In a September 12 address at the University of Regensburg in Germany, Benedict cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as evil and inhuman, particularly his command to spread by the sword the faith.
His comments triggered fury in the Muslim world, where extremists took to the streets in protest.The Pope has said several times he was sorry about the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions.The Pope is to meet later this week with representatives of Muslim countries as part of efforts to defuse the anger.© 2006 AP DIGITAL
Mediator: Israel-Hizbullah prisoner swap within days(YNETNEWS)
Roee Nahmias Published: 09.23.06, 18:27
Lebanese Christian clergyman tells Al-Biyan newspaper that Israel has agreed to transfer Lebanese prisoners, bodies of Hizbullah fighters in return for freeing Israeli hostages. According to Abboud, all that is necessary to complete process is appointment of UN representative Negotiations regarding the exchange of prisoners betweenIsrael and Hizbullah are taking place through indirect channels and a deal may be finalized within days, Lebanese Christian clergyman Jean Abboud told the Arab newspaper Al-Biyan.
In an interview published Saturday in the United Arab Emirates newspaper, Abboud said that the mediators had achieved important results and that Israel had agreed to transfer the dead bodies of Hizbullah operatives as well as the Lebanese prisoners. Abboud has been recognized lately as involved in the mediated negotiations. The process has ripened, he told interviewers. What is necessary to complete it is the appointment of a UN representative in the matter, and I don’t know why one hasn’t been appointed yet.
Across three capitals
Regarding the negotiations between Israel and Hizbullah, Abboud said, The talks are being held between three capitals – Beirut, Brussels and Tel Aviv.In Beirut, with Jubran Basil representing Lebanese parliament member General Michel Aoun and Hizbullah representative Wafik Safa; in Brussels with a European Union representative and the Belgian prime minister who are in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abboud detailed. Abboud currently resides in Europe.
On his own involvement in the affair, he said, I know how Israel thinks, as I lived in Beit Jala for a number of years. I speak Hebrew, which helped me succeed in the indirect negotiations in a way that will contribute to Lebanese and Israeli interests.
Abboud: Hostage' means alive
As for the fate of the two IDF soldiers being held hostage by Hizbullah, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, Abboud said: When Nasrallah announced the hostage operation on July 12, he said the resistance killed eight Israeli soldiers and took two hostages.
Hostage means alive in the Arabic language, which Nasrallah commands indisputably, and in every other language as well and in the language of international law too.The upcoming days will bear news to the prisoners’ families on both sides,he promised. This is not the first time that Abboud’s name has been tied up in news of the negotiations between Israel and Hizbullah. Just two weeks ago, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai al-Aam reported that Lebanese member of parliament retired General Michel Aoun flew to Belgium for a hasty visit in attempt to orchestrate negotiations on the prisoner exchange deal.However, in the present interview, Abboud said the reports on General Aoun’s talks with the Israelis were completely false. He rebuffed the report in the Kuwaiti newspaper as well as other parallel reports. His very denials, however, make apparent the stickiness of any reports on the top-secret prisoner-swap
negotiations.
MUSLIM NATIONS
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 (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Egypt Prepared To Go Nuclear
By: DAVID BEDEIN, The Evening Bulletin
09/21/2006
Egypt, which has played a key role in helping to smuggle advanced weaponry to Palestinian terrorist groups from Gaza that continue to conduct missile attacks into Israel, now plans to revive its nuclear energy project. While there is concern in Israel over the prospect of an Egypt with nuclear capability, no one in Israeli officialdom is ready to express that concern on the record.
However, the authoritative Middle East News Line has confirmed that the regime of President Hosni Mubarak is now ready to acquire nuclear reactors. Indeed, the Egyptian Energy Ministry intends to discuss nuclear energy facilities and technology from a range of countries, including China and Russia.
The whole world I don't want to say all, but many developing countries have proposed and started to execute the issue of alternative energy,Gamal Mubarak, the president's son, said. It is time for Egypt to put forth, and the party will put forth, this proposal for discussion about its future energy policies, the issue of alternative energy, including nuclear energy, as one of the alternatives.In an address to the ruling National Democratic Party on Tuesday, the 42-year-old Gamal urged his father to examine a proposal to develop nuclear energy. In 2004, Egypt was said to have abandoned its nuclear energy project and shelved plans to construct up to eight reactors. Under the plan, each reactor would have a capacity of 1,800 megawatts.We will continue using our natural energy resources, but we should conserve these resources for our future generations,Gamal said.
In Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency has been examining a proposal to restrict the supply of nuclear reactor fuel. Under the proposal offered by Germany, Russia and the United States, the IAEA would establish nuclear fuel centers that would be the sole suppliers for civilian reactors, such as those planned by Iran.In March, however, the International Atomic Energy Agency determined that Egypt conducted secret nuclear activities at a facility about 40 kilometers north of Cairo. An IAEA report said Egypt carried out nuclear research from 1960 to 2000, but probably did not conduct uranium enrichment.We will not accept initiatives made abroad,Gamal said. Egypt is a big country and plays a leading role and will continue to do that.
Officials said the NDP has been discussing the renewal of Egypt's nuclear program since May 2006. They said Gamal, the party's deputy secretary-general, and his colleagues have been discussing the option of producing nuclear fuel to avoid dependency on foreign suppliers. Virtually all Cabinet ministers are NDP members.On Sept. 11, an Egyptian strategist urged Arab League members to invest in a regional civilian nuclear program. During a two-day nuclear conference in the Bahraini capital of Manama, the strategist pointed to Iran's uranium enrichment program, which he said could not be ignored by Arab neighbors. The conference adopted the Egyptian recommendation.We can't just sit and look from the outside as these developments take place,Mohammed Al Said Idris, a consultant at the Egyptian state-owned Al Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, said.
Officials said China could be a leading supplier of nuclear technology to Egypt. Over the last two years, they said, Beijing has expanded trade links and plans to invest in Egypt's energy sector. Between 2002 and 2005, trade between the two countries doubled to $2.2 billion.We are planning to bring our relationship with China to a new level, Egyptian Trade Minister Rashid Mohammed Rashid, who led a delegation to China in early September, said. If you look at the big picture, everybody in the world is aware there is a paradigm shift in the world economy at the moment.Despite repeated denials, Gamal has been regarded as the heir-apparent to the president. Over the last four years, he has risen to a leadership position in the NDP and in April was sent on a secret mission to the United States, where he met President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.There's an impressive group of younger Egyptians, the trade minister and some of the economic people that understand the promise and the difficulties of democracy,Bush, referring to Gamal, told The Wall Street Journal.Egypt has been receiving about $2 billion a year in U.S. military and economic aid. The Bush administration, under congressional pressure, has withheld Egypt's request for new F-16s, the Joint Direct Attack Munition and other advanced U.S. systems.
In 2005, Mubarak was elected to another six-year term. But opposition leaders assess that the 78-year-old president would step down in 2007 and ensure that his son takes over.Opposition sources said the current three-day NDP conference would decide to
amend Egypt's constitution.
They said the proposed revisions were designed to facilitate the election of Gamal in a referendum in mid-2007.The main objective of the NDP is to put Gamal Mubarak on the seat of power, and this conference will ensure that happens,opposition parliamentarian Talaat Sadat, nephew of the late President Anwar Sadat.©The Evening Bulletin 2006
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Mount Desert Island residents awake to quake
BAR HARBOR, Maine --Mount Desert Island residents awoke to the earth moving Friday, and the shaking didn't stop until several hours later.Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Monitors recorded five hours of earthquake activity with the biggest being a Magnitude 3.5 quake at 6:39 a.m. about one mile southwest of the middle of Bar Harbor, said John Ebel, director of Massachusetts' Weston Observatory.There were roughly nine additional temblors starting at 5:21 a.m. before the main quake and continuing through 10:20 a.m., Ebel said.The biggest quake was of a magnitude that could be felt miles away, he said. There were no reports of injuries or property damage.New England averages about one or two earthquakes that are above 3.5 Magnitude each year, Ebel said. Maine already recorded a 3.8-Magnitude earthquake in the northern part of the state on July 14, he said.
©Associated Press.
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;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
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.
Storms Dump Rain On Much Of State; Northern Ark. Faces Flooding
Posted: 9/23/2006 5:02:08 PM
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - A stretch of northern Arkansas faces severe flooding Saturday after a series of strong storms dumped up to ten inches of rain in some areas. In Sharp County, officials worked to evacuate and rescue residents in low-lying areas, including several who were stranded in trees after camping out at River Bend Park, the sheriff's office said. By Saturday afternoon, the campground had been evacuated and people were moved to a command post in Hardy. A dispatcher says the county had no confirmed deaths, nor did they know if there were any missing people, a dispatcher said. As northern Arkansas dealt with flooding, much of western Arkansas saw severe thunderstorms, lightning and tornado warnings.
Steve Bays, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service says the counties facing the worst flooding are Clay, Fulton, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp. There are no confirmed deaths yet because of the flooding, though a woman in northwest Arkansas was struck by lightning and killed Friday night. No tornadoes have been confirmed yet from Friday or Saturday's storms.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Hot winds hit site of huge wildfire in Los Padres National Forest
Saturday, September 23, 2006
(AP) -- Winds changed Saturday from ocean breezes to hot Santa Anas as crews battling a three-week wildfire in Los Padres National Forest rushed to carve fire breaks.It is blowing ferociously. We expect a lot more acreage to go, Ventura County fire Capt.
Barry Parker said.Winds were gusting to 52 mph in the area about 75 miles north of Los Angeles, officials said.No imminent threat was reported to structures. But 10 homes in the Rose Valley area were evacuated as a precaution, and hundreds of people in Ojai, Fillmore and other towns about 10 miles from the edge of the Day Fire were urged to be ready to evacuate if the hot winds from the northeast sent the flames racing their way.A light, moist wind from the south had calmed the huge fire for much of the week.
Crews hurried to burn chaparral, wrap isolated homes in protective material and bulldoze backup safety lines. Fire trucks were parked in some driveways to protect dwellings.Parker said more than 20 aircraft were painting the hills with fire retardant but would have to be grounded if the winds became too powerful.The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for extreme fire conditions through Sunday. Forecasters said gusts as high as 70 mph were possible during the weekend.
Such conditions could drive the blaze in mile-long leaps along ridges and steep canyons, with flames spreading as fast as 11 mph, said Larry Comerford of the U.S. Forest Service.The fire along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties doubled in size to about 80,000 acres when Santa Ana winds kicked up a week ago.
The fire that began on Labor Day had burned 116,971 acres, or nearly 183 square miles. It was 39 percent contained.Hundreds of additional firefighters were dispatched to the line late this week, bringing the total to more than 3,000.The blaze had cost $31.7 million to fight, with the amount increasing about $1 million a day.Elsewhere, crews mopped up two smaller fires in forests to the south.The 2,730-acre Pinnacles Fire in San Bernardino National Forest was fully contained Saturday. It began Tuesday near Lake Arrowhead, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.The Pines Fire in Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles was fully contained Friday after burning 113 acres.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Calmer after Indonesia executions
Palu, Indonesia (dpa) - Conditions were calmer and under control after Indonesian government deployed thousands of security forces to guard public areas Saturday in Central Sulawesi province.Angry mobs had rioted Friday in Christian areas of Indonesia after the government carried out early-morning executions of three Christian men convicted of massacring Muslims during sectarian violence six years ago.In East Nusa Tenggara province, the condemned men's birthplace, mobs attacked offices and houses, torched a car and destroyed the main gate to a local prison in the town Atambua, allowing hundreds of inmates to escape.Situation are now calmer, no more riots or mobs on the streets,provincial police spokesman Major Marten Raja told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa by telephone from Kupang, the provincial capital.
Only one person was injured in Friday's rights, he said.There were 205 inmates who escaped, but until today, 22 have recaptured, Raja said.A police firing squad in Palu, capital of Central Sulawesi province, executed the three men, who were convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 despite international appeals for clemency.The condemned Christians - Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marianus Riwu, 48, and Domingus da Silva, 42 were executed around 1:50 am at an undisclosed location, the earliest moment that their sentences of capital punishment could be carried out.The bodies of Tibo and Riwu were placed on police helicopters and flown back for burial to their village of Beteleme in Central Sulawesi's Morowalai district.
Da Silva was buried overnight in Palu, though family members accompanied by Catholic priest dug up his grave Friday night to let the deceased have a proper Roman Catholic burial.The men had been found guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks on Muslims in May 2000 in Poso district, including a gun-and-machete assault in which at least 70 people taking refugee in an Islamic school were killed.The massacre was one of the bloodiest incidents of sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims that swept through previously harmonious Central Sulawesi from 1998 to 2002, leaving more than 1,000 people from both communities dead and tens of thousands homeless.
The convicted men maintained their innocence. They said that prosecutors refused to investigate 16 people including military, intelligence and government officials, implicated by one of the defendants as the masterminds of the conflict.Defence lawyers said that the death sentences were unfair because numerous Muslims convicted of religious violence, including scores of murders, only received prison sentences.The Jakarta government had postponed the Poso executions once, after Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Yudhoyono though authorities insisted the delay was for technical reasons.The European Union released a statement expressing disappointment and called on the Jakarta government to halt future planned executions.More than 80 per cent of Indonesia's 220 million people are Muslim, but the Christian and Muslim populations in Central Sulawesi are roughly equal.Sporadic bombings and killings in the region, about 1,650 kilometres northeast of Jakarta, have continued since Muslim and Christian leaders signed a peace accord in late 2001.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
FORMER SPANISH PRESIDENT
Aznar: Muslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years
09/23/2006
Bush and his war on terror, said the West is under attack from radical Islam and must defend itself. It is them or it is us, Aznar said.There is no middle ground. Jose Maria AznarMuslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years and a U.N.-backed program to encourage dialogue between them and West is stupid, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar has said. Aznar made his comments Friday night in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a thinktank in Washington, D.C., as he discussed Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks on Islam and violence. Aznar, a firm ally of U.S. President George W.Bush and his war on terror, said the West is under attack from radical Islam and must defend itself.
It is them or it is us, Aznar said. There is no middle ground. He did not elaborate. Aznar said he found it surprising that Muslims have demanded an apology from the pope over his Sept. 12 remarks.Aznar noted the nearly 800-year Moorish occupation of Spain that began in the year 711 with an invasion from North Africa. He said Muslims had never apologized for this but still demand apologies whenever they feel offended by remarks by non-Muslims. It's absurd,Aznar said. He also criticized an initiative launched last year by his Socialist successor, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, to encourage dialogue between the West and Muslim countries.
Europe blasted for not defending Pope
September 24, 2006 - 7:50PM
The president of the European Commission has expressed disappointment that European leaders failed to defend Pope Benedict XVI over his recent remarks about Islam.Jose Manuel Barroso said that while Europe must take the threat of Islamic extremists very seriously, it must not confuse tolerance with a form of political correctness that puts others' values above its own.I was disappointed that there weren't more European leaders who said, Of course the Pope has the right to express his point of view', Barroso was quoted as saying in Germany's Welt am Sonntag weekly on Sunday.We must defend our values.Barroso also urged Europeans to encourage moderate Islamic leaders to take a stronger stance against the extremists.The problem is not the comments of the Pope, but the reaction of the extremists,Barroso said.In a September 12 address at the University of Regensburg in Germany, Benedict cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as evil and inhuman, particularly his command to spread by the sword the faith.
His comments triggered fury in the Muslim world, where extremists took to the streets in protest.The Pope has said several times he was sorry about the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions.The Pope is to meet later this week with representatives of Muslim countries as part of efforts to defuse the anger.© 2006 AP DIGITAL
Mediator: Israel-Hizbullah prisoner swap within days(YNETNEWS)
Roee Nahmias Published: 09.23.06, 18:27
Lebanese Christian clergyman tells Al-Biyan newspaper that Israel has agreed to transfer Lebanese prisoners, bodies of Hizbullah fighters in return for freeing Israeli hostages. According to Abboud, all that is necessary to complete process is appointment of UN representative Negotiations regarding the exchange of prisoners betweenIsrael and Hizbullah are taking place through indirect channels and a deal may be finalized within days, Lebanese Christian clergyman Jean Abboud told the Arab newspaper Al-Biyan.
In an interview published Saturday in the United Arab Emirates newspaper, Abboud said that the mediators had achieved important results and that Israel had agreed to transfer the dead bodies of Hizbullah operatives as well as the Lebanese prisoners. Abboud has been recognized lately as involved in the mediated negotiations. The process has ripened, he told interviewers. What is necessary to complete it is the appointment of a UN representative in the matter, and I don’t know why one hasn’t been appointed yet.
Across three capitals
Regarding the negotiations between Israel and Hizbullah, Abboud said, The talks are being held between three capitals – Beirut, Brussels and Tel Aviv.In Beirut, with Jubran Basil representing Lebanese parliament member General Michel Aoun and Hizbullah representative Wafik Safa; in Brussels with a European Union representative and the Belgian prime minister who are in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abboud detailed. Abboud currently resides in Europe.
On his own involvement in the affair, he said, I know how Israel thinks, as I lived in Beit Jala for a number of years. I speak Hebrew, which helped me succeed in the indirect negotiations in a way that will contribute to Lebanese and Israeli interests.
Abboud: Hostage' means alive
As for the fate of the two IDF soldiers being held hostage by Hizbullah, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, Abboud said: When Nasrallah announced the hostage operation on July 12, he said the resistance killed eight Israeli soldiers and took two hostages.
Hostage means alive in the Arabic language, which Nasrallah commands indisputably, and in every other language as well and in the language of international law too.The upcoming days will bear news to the prisoners’ families on both sides,he promised. This is not the first time that Abboud’s name has been tied up in news of the negotiations between Israel and Hizbullah. Just two weeks ago, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai al-Aam reported that Lebanese member of parliament retired General Michel Aoun flew to Belgium for a hasty visit in attempt to orchestrate negotiations on the prisoner exchange deal.However, in the present interview, Abboud said the reports on General Aoun’s talks with the Israelis were completely false. He rebuffed the report in the Kuwaiti newspaper as well as other parallel reports. His very denials, however, make apparent the stickiness of any reports on the top-secret prisoner-swap
negotiations.
MUSLIM NATIONS
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 (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Egypt Prepared To Go Nuclear
By: DAVID BEDEIN, The Evening Bulletin
09/21/2006
Egypt, which has played a key role in helping to smuggle advanced weaponry to Palestinian terrorist groups from Gaza that continue to conduct missile attacks into Israel, now plans to revive its nuclear energy project. While there is concern in Israel over the prospect of an Egypt with nuclear capability, no one in Israeli officialdom is ready to express that concern on the record.
However, the authoritative Middle East News Line has confirmed that the regime of President Hosni Mubarak is now ready to acquire nuclear reactors. Indeed, the Egyptian Energy Ministry intends to discuss nuclear energy facilities and technology from a range of countries, including China and Russia.
The whole world I don't want to say all, but many developing countries have proposed and started to execute the issue of alternative energy,Gamal Mubarak, the president's son, said. It is time for Egypt to put forth, and the party will put forth, this proposal for discussion about its future energy policies, the issue of alternative energy, including nuclear energy, as one of the alternatives.In an address to the ruling National Democratic Party on Tuesday, the 42-year-old Gamal urged his father to examine a proposal to develop nuclear energy. In 2004, Egypt was said to have abandoned its nuclear energy project and shelved plans to construct up to eight reactors. Under the plan, each reactor would have a capacity of 1,800 megawatts.We will continue using our natural energy resources, but we should conserve these resources for our future generations,Gamal said.
In Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency has been examining a proposal to restrict the supply of nuclear reactor fuel. Under the proposal offered by Germany, Russia and the United States, the IAEA would establish nuclear fuel centers that would be the sole suppliers for civilian reactors, such as those planned by Iran.In March, however, the International Atomic Energy Agency determined that Egypt conducted secret nuclear activities at a facility about 40 kilometers north of Cairo. An IAEA report said Egypt carried out nuclear research from 1960 to 2000, but probably did not conduct uranium enrichment.We will not accept initiatives made abroad,Gamal said. Egypt is a big country and plays a leading role and will continue to do that.
Officials said the NDP has been discussing the renewal of Egypt's nuclear program since May 2006. They said Gamal, the party's deputy secretary-general, and his colleagues have been discussing the option of producing nuclear fuel to avoid dependency on foreign suppliers. Virtually all Cabinet ministers are NDP members.On Sept. 11, an Egyptian strategist urged Arab League members to invest in a regional civilian nuclear program. During a two-day nuclear conference in the Bahraini capital of Manama, the strategist pointed to Iran's uranium enrichment program, which he said could not be ignored by Arab neighbors. The conference adopted the Egyptian recommendation.We can't just sit and look from the outside as these developments take place,Mohammed Al Said Idris, a consultant at the Egyptian state-owned Al Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, said.
Officials said China could be a leading supplier of nuclear technology to Egypt. Over the last two years, they said, Beijing has expanded trade links and plans to invest in Egypt's energy sector. Between 2002 and 2005, trade between the two countries doubled to $2.2 billion.We are planning to bring our relationship with China to a new level, Egyptian Trade Minister Rashid Mohammed Rashid, who led a delegation to China in early September, said. If you look at the big picture, everybody in the world is aware there is a paradigm shift in the world economy at the moment.Despite repeated denials, Gamal has been regarded as the heir-apparent to the president. Over the last four years, he has risen to a leadership position in the NDP and in April was sent on a secret mission to the United States, where he met President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.There's an impressive group of younger Egyptians, the trade minister and some of the economic people that understand the promise and the difficulties of democracy,Bush, referring to Gamal, told The Wall Street Journal.Egypt has been receiving about $2 billion a year in U.S. military and economic aid. The Bush administration, under congressional pressure, has withheld Egypt's request for new F-16s, the Joint Direct Attack Munition and other advanced U.S. systems.
In 2005, Mubarak was elected to another six-year term. But opposition leaders assess that the 78-year-old president would step down in 2007 and ensure that his son takes over.Opposition sources said the current three-day NDP conference would decide to
amend Egypt's constitution.
They said the proposed revisions were designed to facilitate the election of Gamal in a referendum in mid-2007.The main objective of the NDP is to put Gamal Mubarak on the seat of power, and this conference will ensure that happens,opposition parliamentarian Talaat Sadat, nephew of the late President Anwar Sadat.©The Evening Bulletin 2006
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