1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Moderate quake west of Vancouver Island, but only marine life feel the shake. 3-Plan for big one in quake-prone areas: US geophysicist. 4-More heavy rain 5-Jews Revive the Sanhedrin with Plans for a Passover Sacrifice. 6-Britain says 15 sailors detained by Iran. 7-Poll: Likud hardliners leading the pack. 8-Expert likens occupation to apartheid.
9-U.S. boosts missile defense system plans. 10-Koran Allows Wife Abuse.
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 QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Sat Mar 24 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 23,07
MAP 3.2 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.4 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.5 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAR 22,07
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.4 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 5.3 ATACAMA, CHILE
MAP 4.7 KOMANDORSKIYE OSTROVA, RUSSIA REGION
MAP 4.5 OFFSHORE GUATEMALA
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.9 PUGET SOUND REGION, WASHINGTON
MAP 4.4 OFFSHORE FALCON, VENEZUELA
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.2 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 3.2 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 5.9 SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN
MAP 5.1 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.3 OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.2 NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
Moderate quake west of Vancouver Island, but only marine life feel the shake MAR 23,07
VICTORIA (CP)-A moderate earthquake has been recorded in the Pacific Ocean west of
Vancouver Island. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 4.5-magnitude quake at 8:49 p.m. PT Thursday was centred just under 200 kilometres southwest of Port Hardy.But seismologists say the tremor, at a depth of 10 kilometres, wasn't strong enough to cause a tsunami.It was also too far offshore to be felt in communities on Vancouver Island.The quake struck in an area of the Juan de Fuca Plate noted for numerous tremors.
Plan for big one in quake-prone areas: US geophysicist MAR 23,07
CHICAGO (AFP) The world's most high-risk earthquake zones should be considered lethal and policy makers need warning systems in place in case of a disaster like the 2004 Asian tsunami, a top geophysicist says.
These systems need to be strong and they need to be maintained over the long term because we have no way of knowing when the next great earthquake will hit, wrote Robert McCaffrey, professor of geophysics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, in an editorial in the journal Science.He warned that seismologists simply do not have enough data to predict with accuracy which of many faults in the Earth's crust could yield the next magnitude 9.0 quake.The December 2004 quake off Sumatra, Indonesia, unleashed a tsunami that devastated nations around the Indian Ocean. It occurred in a known hotspot, a subduction zone where one tectonic plate slips beneath another. Some 168,000 people died in Aceh province.
Even so, seismologists thought the fault was an unlikely spot for a quake. A hundred years of records indicated the age and speed of the subducting plate were the most important factors in determining the occurrence of a magnitude 9.0 quake.Given the extent of the damage, McCaffrey wrote, the facts suggest that the limited historical record is insufficient for mapping a trend in geographical events that could span centuries or millennia.A magnitude 9.0 quake can be created by 20 meters of slip between two converging plates. However, slips of this length only occur every 200 to 1,000 years or more at a particular boundary, leaving no historic records to track their frequency. Magnitude 9.0 quakes typically occur in subduction zones.It's not that the science is bad, but we don't have enough data.
We've only been watching these processes for 100 years, McCaffrey said.In the absence of reliable forecasting data, policy makers should consider all subduction zones, from Chile to Java, as lethal, McCaffrey said.The highest magnitude earthquake ever recorded was 9.5 in Chile in 1960. Geologists now use moment magnitude scale, which measures the maximum magnitude, the size of the quake's rupture, amount of slip and the force released.
Several are near densely populated land areas, and the potential impacts of shaking and tsunamis cannot be overstated, he wrote.Given the experience of 2004 and the fact that so much damage was done so far from the quake zone, authorities should create warning systems with input and support from many countries, he said.We can never forget what happened, he wrote. Now is the time to use the knowledge that we have gained and work to save lives should another magnitude 9.0 hit tomorrow or hundreds of years from now.Many didn't know about tsunamis before the quake; we must make sure that now they never fail to remember their destructive force.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
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.
More heavy rain Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Mar 23,07
Midwest
The cold front that moved through the Midwest yesterday has become stationary along the Ohio River Valley this morning. This will continue to focus numerous showers and thunderstorms from the Kansas City through the St. Louis, and Louisville areas; Heavy downpours may result in flooding. Temperatures along and south of the boundary will be warm, with readings in the 60s and 70s across Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Omaha. North of the boundary, from Cleveland, through Chicago, Minneapolis, and Fargo, highs will be in the 50s. Showers and thunderstorms will continue across parts of the Midwest Saturday and Sunday, as well as spread into the Upper Midwest as a cold front approaches. The continued periods of showers and thunderstorms across parts of the Midwest and Central Plains, will increase the potential for localized flooding into the weekend.
Northeast
A cold front has moved through the Northeast States, and become stationary across the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic this morning. This will focus numerous showers and thunderstorms from Pittsburgh, east through New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Some will produce heavy downpours, which may lead to localized flooding. Afternoon highs will be cooler north of the boundary, with readings generally in the 40s and 50s across Burlington, Boston, New York, and Pittsburgh. South of the boundary, highs will be in the 60s from Philadelphia through Washington, DC. Saturday, more of the same is expected, as the front will remain stationary across the area. Saturday night, into Sunday, a disturbance may slide southeast across southern New England, producing a little wet snow. This will also help to push the boundary south of the area, bringing a break to the rainfall over the Mid-Atlantic for Sunday. A slight warming trend will begin by early next week.
West
A weather disturbance over the Southwest will continue to produce numerous showers and thunderstorms across Arizona and New Mexico, north into the Denver area. A few showers will also impact parts the Seattle area as well.
Dry conditions should prevail from the Los Angeles area, north through the San Francisco and Salt Lake City area. The disturbance over the Southwest will begin to move out in the central Plains, therefore showers and thunderstorms will be less widespread across Arizona and New Mexico Sunday, but more widespread across the central Rockies. Meanwhile, a new storm system will begin to spread rain and rain showers across a larger part of the Pacific Northwest Saturday into Sunday, with some heavy rainfall possible along coastal areas. The rest of the West will be dry, but rain should spread into parts of central and northern California early next week.
South
High pressure will continue to dominate much of the Deep South providing partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures. The exceptions will continue to be the east coast of Florida where an onshore show will generate some afternoon showers and thunderstorms, and across West Texas into the southern Plains where strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible. Afternoon highs will remain warm with readings well into the 70s and 80s. This same general weather pattern will hold for Saturday as well, with even warmer temperatures expected by Sunday. A few record highs will be neared or broken over parts of the Deep South. Showers and thunderstorms, some strong, will continue to spread across Texas and the southern Plains through the weekend. Also, a few showers may sneak down into the Carolinas as well. The chance of showers and thunderstorms will increase across much of the South into early next week.
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE WITH SACRIFICES
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one
week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Jews Revive the Sanhedrin with Plans for a Passover Sacrifice
By Deborah Pardo-Kaplan Religion News Service MAR 23,07
In a donated apartment concealed among the narrow streets of the Jerusalem suburb of Nahlaot, 13 Orthodox Jewish men meet every Tuesday to debate matters of Jewish law. They are the management team of a larger developing Sanhedrin, or religious court, in Israel.And they plan to sacrifice sheep on the Temple Mount on the day before or one month after Passover, which starts at sundown April 2. Either date is permissible under Jewish law. If the government will not resist, said Rabbi Dov Stein, 68, a member of the group, we will do it.As Easter eclipses the last days of Passover this year, Christians will focus again on the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. The Sanhedrin, meanwhile, will literally attempt to resurrect the Passover sacrifice of old.
For these Jews, the sacrificial Passover offering is not their redemption per se, yet it is vital to the process.The Passover sacrifice is the latest of more than 40 legal decisions issued by the modern Sanhedrin. Seventy-one Orthodox men revived the court more than two years ago in the city of Tiberius, the same geographical spot they believe marked the final days of the Sanhedrin a few hundred years after the time of Jesus.In antiquity, the Sanhedrin determined Jewish practice. It now rules on political and religious issues and ultimately sees itself as an alternative to the secular Supreme Court of Israel. It hopes to impose Jewish law on the Jewish people and the seven Noahide laws -- prohibitions on theft, murder, blasphemy and others, based on Jewish teaching -- on Gentile nations.
We want all the world, Stein said, to walk with God.
Descriptions of the Sanhedrin can be found in Jewish legal writings and the New Testament. The Gospels say Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin so its members could assess his messianic claims. This current Sanhedrin also sees as one of its goals to evaluate any potential messianic contender. There is no redemption without the Sanhedrin, said Stein. We are building the opportunity for a king (messiah).Some Orthodox Jews see the Passover sacrifice on Jerusalem's Temple Mount -- one of the most disputed pieces of real estate on the planet -- as key to quickening redemption.The Sanhedrin bought a herd of 12 sheep -- 110-150 pounds each -- from a farm in southern Israel.
Anyone wanting to eat of the sacrifice can pay seven shekels ($1.67) for an 8-10 gram slice, the minimum required by Jewish law, Stein said. The group is hoping to collect 30,000 signatures through its Web site to prove its influence to the Israeli authorities, and gain access to the Temple Mount area.
Some members of the Sanhedrin are a bit more cautious.
The Passover plans are just preparation, said Hillel Weiss, a professor of Hebrew literature at Bar Ilan University. Not everyone is in favor of it.The Passover sacrifice will draw the attention of some religious Jews as well as evangelical Christians who see both the restoration of the Sanhedrin and sacrifice as part of end-times prophecy. Other Orthodox Jews want to distance themselves from this group, which they consider extremist.Religious Zionists, such as Israeli settlers, serve as the main audience for the new Sanhedrin, said Mordechai Inbari, 37, an Israeli who teaches at the University of Florida. Inbari sat in on some of the Sanhedrin meetings last year for his doctoral research.Zionists perceive Israel as in the process of redemption, Inbari said, but most see the Temple's reconstruction with its sacrificial system as the last stage, occurring only after a widespread repentance in which all Jews turn religious. But the extremists see it as going hand in hand, he said.
Hila Lipnick, a 28-year-old Orthodox woman who lives in Cambridge, Mass., used to live in Jerusalem and traveled daily to Gush Etzion, a settlement in the West Bank, for school. While she believes in the eventual rebuilding of the Temple, she is unsure about sacrifice. I can't see rivers of blood going all over Jerusalem, she said, and society just accepting it.In order for the Sanhedrin to proceed with the sacrifice, they would need to build an altar on the Temple Mount, at least the size of 1 amah (21 inches) by 1 amah, Stein said. They would slaughter the sheep and sprinkle the blood towards the altar, said Hillel Weiss. The meat would then be taken from the Temple area and cooked on a special oven and given to families to eat.
Some leaders in the Jewish community question not only the renewal of sacrifice without a Temple, but the validity of the Sanhedrin itself.They are a self-selected group, said Michael J. Broyde, an Orthodox rabbi who sits on the Rabbinical Court of America. And they have no more and no less authority than any other self-selected group of rabbis.While many Jews are either ambivalent or hostile toward the Sanhedrin and other Temple-related groups, some evangelicals support these projects.
They get excited when they perceive the Jewish people fulfilling what they view as part of future prophecy, said Randall Price, an evangelical professor and author of four books about the Temple. Then they think we're getting closer to that being a reality, he said.The Sanhedrin considers the Passover sacrifice equal in importance to circumcision, since it is the first collective commandment given to the Jewish people.Since the Passover sacrifice is an eternal commandment, we should do it, said Rabbi Yeshayahu Hollander, an English spokesperson for the group. Those who do not observe the sacrifice, he said, will be cut off from the Jewish people.If we have psychological inhibitions, it is our duty to educate ourselves, to overcome the inhibitions, Hollander said. This is part of our redemption. An essential part.
COULD THIS BE THE THING THAT FINALLY MAKES THE WEST GO AFTER IRAN, WE WILL WAIT AND SEE IF ANYTHING COMES FROM THIS DETAINING BY IRAN.
Britain says 15 sailors detained by Iran By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer MAR 23,07
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iranian naval vessels on Friday seized 15 British sailors who had boarded a merchant ship in Iraqi waters of the Persian Gulf as part of efforts to protect the Iraqi coastline and its oil terminals, U.S. and British officials said. The British government summoned the Iranian ambassador in London and demanded the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment. The U.S. Navy, which operates off the Iraqi coast along with British forces, said Iran's Revolutionary Guard naval forces were responsible.The British Navy personnel were engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters, and had completed a ship inspection when they were accosted by Iranian vessels, Britain's Defense Ministry said.We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level, the ministry said.
No one could be immediately reached for comment at either government offices in Iran or at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad or at the U.N. mission. Iran is in the middle of its New Year holiday when almost all government offices close.A U.S. official said the incident occurred just outside a long-disputed waterway called the Shatt al-Arab dividing Iraq and Iran. It came as tensions were running high in the Persian Gulf following Iran's defiance of U.N. Security Council orders to rollback on its nuclear program and U.S. allegations that Iran is arming Shiite militias in Iraq.U.S. officials had expressed concern that with much military hardware concentrated in the Persian Gulf, just such a small incident could spiral out of control and trigger a major armed confrontation.The United States, Britain's chief ally, has built up its naval forces in the Gulf in a show of strength directed at Iran. Two American carriers, including the USS John C. Stennis — backed by a strike group with more than 6,500 sailors and Marines and with additional minesweeping ships — arrived in the region in recent months, ratcheting up tensions with Iran.
Earlier this week, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said if Western countries want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack.In February, President Bush said: The Iranian people are good, honest, decent people and they've got a government that is belligerent, loud, noisy, threatening — a government which is in defiance of the rest of the world and says, We want a nuclear weapon.
The Britons were in two boats from the frigate H.M.S. Cornwall during a routine smuggling investigation, said the British Defense Ministry.According to a statement from the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain and operates jointly with the British forces off the coast of Iraq, the British sailors had just finished inspecting the merchant ship when they and their two boats were surrounded and escorted by Iranian vessels into Iranian territorial waters.Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl of the Fifth Fleet said the British crew members were intercepted by several larger patrol boats operated by Iranian sailors belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, a radical force that operates separately from the country's regular navy.
The Iranian boats normally carry bow-mounted machine guns, while the British boarding party carried only sidearms, Aandahl said. No shots were fired and there appeared to be no physical harm done to any personnel involved or their vessels, Aandahl said.
The seizure of the British vessels, a pair of rigid inflatable boats known as RIBs, took place in long-disputed waters just outside of the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway that divides Iraq from Iran, Aandahl said. A 1975 treaty gave the waters to Iraq and U.S. and British ships commonly operate there, but Aandahl said Iran disputes Iraq's jurisdiction over the waters.It's been in dispute for some time, Aandahl said. We've been operating there for a couple of years and we know the lines very well. This was a compliant boarding, this happens routinely. What's out of the ordinary is the Iranian response.Aandahl said the U.S.-led task force has touchier relations with the Revolutionary Guard, who often ignores normal maritime operating traditions, than with the regular Iranian navy.A fisherman who said he was with a group of Iraqis from the southern city of Basra fishing in Iraqi waters in the northern area of the Gulf said he saw the Iranian seizure. The fisherman declined to be identified because of security concerns.
Two boats, each with a crew of six to eight multinational forces, were searching Iraqi and Iranian boats Friday morning in Ras al-Beesha area in the northern entrance of the Arab Gulf, but big Iranian boats came and took the two boats with their crews to the Iranian waters.
The Cornwall's commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, said the frigate lost communication with the boarding party, but a helicopter crew saw the Iranian vessels approach. I've got 15 sailors and marines who have been arrested by the Iranians and my immediate concern is their safety, Lambert told British Broadcasting Corp. television. Lambert said it was a routine boarding, the skipper of the vessel answered all the questions, and the leader of the boarding party cleared him to continue with his business.In June 2004, six British marines and two sailors were seized by Iran in the Shatt al-Arab. They were presented blindfolded on Iranian television and admitted entering Iranian waters illegally, then released unharmed after three days. Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek in Washington and Kim Gamel in Baghdad contributed to this report.
GO BENJAMIN (BIBI) NETANYAHU GO.
Poll: Likud hardliners leading the pack By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer
Fri Mar 23, 4:05 AM ET
JERUSALEM - If elections were held today the hardline Likud party would be the overwhelming victor, a new poll showed Friday, a sign of Israelis' deep dissatisfaction with their leaders.
The poll in the Maariv newspaper showed the Likud winning 35 seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament, easily defeating Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's ruling Kadima party.The centrist Kadima would see its power drop more than 50 percent to a meager 13 seats in the theoretical election, and the dovish Labor Party would also get 13 seats, the poll showed. The next national elections are slated to be held only in 2010.The survey was carried out by the TNS Teleseker polling company. Pollsters surveyed 460 people, and the margin of error was 4.5 percentage points.
Kadima and Labor, led by Defense Minister Amir Peretz, currently rule together in a coalition government. Olmert and Peretz have been dismally unpopular since Israel's war in Lebanon last summer, which they are widely perceived to have mishandled.The opposition Likud, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was not tarnished by the war.Olmert's popularity has been further undermined by a series of corruption scandals involving him and members of his government. In the most recent case, police are looking into charges that one of Olmert's political allies, Finance Minister Avraham Hirchson, embezzled money from a nonprofit organization he ran.The poll indicated that the Likud owed its success less to a rise in hardline sentiment than to the personal unpopularity of Olmert and Peretz.
The poll showed that if Kadima and Labor changed their leaders, their fortunes would change as well. If Kadima replaced Olmert with the popular foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, Kadima would beat the Likud and win the election, though just barely, the poll indicated.If Labor replaced Peretz with either Ami Ayalon, a former Shin Bet chief, or former prime minister Ehud Barak, it would win several more seats than the 19 it has today, the poll showed. Barak and Ayalon are the two favorites to oust Peretz and take control of the party in a May primary.
WE DON'T GO BY MERE MEN ON THIS SITUATION. GOD CREATED MAN, GOD HAS THE FINAL SAY ON THE LAND IN ISRAEL, HE GAVE IT TO ISRAELIS AND NO ONE ELSE. SO FOR THIS PERSON TO SAY THE SO CALLED OCCUPIED LAND, ITS OCCUPIED BY ISRAEL BECAUSE GOD SAYS ITS ISRAELS LAND. TEN-FOUR OVER AND OUT, ITS SETTLED.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.
ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
Expert likens occupation to apartheid Fri Mar 23, 5:16 AM ET
GENEVA - An independent expert told the U.N. human rights council on Thursday that Israel's treatment of Palestinians is comparable to apartheid. John Dugard, a South African investigator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said that anyone who experienced apartheid has a sense of deja vu when visiting the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories).Dugard, a lawyer who campaigned against apartheid in the 1980s, presented his findings on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian
territories to the 47-nation council, which commissioned the report last year.His comments drew an immediate rebuke from Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, who said Dugard had resorted to inflammatory and inciteful language which did not contribute to a constructive dialogue on the Middle East question.The report was utterly one-sided, highly selective, and unreservedly biased, Itzhak Levanon added.
The one-year-old council has so far only passed resolutions critical of one country —Israel. Muslim countries have proposed three further resolutions for the current session of the council that condemn the actions of the Jewish state.The 24-page document, which was posted on the council's Web site last month, catalogues a number of accusations against the Jewish state ranging from destruction of Palestinian houses to preferential treatment for Jewish settlers in the West Bank.Dugard's account of Israel's treatment of Palestinians echoes that of former President Carter's most recent book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid. The work drew widespread condemnation in Israel and the United States and prompted 14 advisory board members of Carter's foundation to resign.Dugard said that he had previously refrained from using the term apartheid on account of the sensitivity of the issue.But the uproar over Carter's book and the serious attempts to impugn his integrity, particularly in the United States, has led me to reconsider this decision, Dugard said.
Citing the existence of separate residential areas for Jews and Palestinians in Hebron, as well as separate roads for Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank and Jordan Valley, he said Israel's actions clearly violated international conventions.Can it seriously be denied that such acts are committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over another racial group, Dugard said.Dugard was appointed in 2001 as an unpaid, independent expert by the now-defunct U.N. Human Rights Commission to investigate only violations by the Israeli side, prompting Israel and the United States to dismiss his reports as one-sided. Israel refused to allow him to conduct a fact-finding mission on its Gaza offensive last summer.
U.S. boosts missile defense system plans By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer MAR 23,07
VIENNA, Austria - U.S. officials are intensifying their campaign to build support in European capitals for plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic — a proposal that Russia contends could touch off a new arms race. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mark Pekala was in Vienna on Friday for two days of meetings with ambassadors to the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, hoping to win greater regional backing for the plan.Pekala's visit follows a stop in Warsaw earlier this week by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, intended to reassure Polish officials that the bases are designed to enhance European security and in no way threaten Russia. Moscow says that placing the systems so close to its border could diminish Russia's nuclear deterrent.
Recent polls suggest most Poles oppose the idea of hosting 10 interceptor missiles that Washington contends would serve as a shield to counteract Iran's potential future missile capabilities. Czechs, meanwhile, have staged several small but boisterous protests against U.S. plans to station an accompanying radar system in their country.Lawmakers in Ukraine were the latest to balk, adopting a resolution Thursday in parliament that declared the system a threat to Ukraine's national security.
U.S. officials had gone to the former Soviet republic last week to explain what they insist are the strategic advantages of the system.German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency and chairs the Group of Eight industrialized nations, urged the U.S. this week to count the political and diplomatic costs before pushing ahead with the plan.Steinmeier warned of the potential for a new Cold War between the USA and Russia, even if only conducted in words, and suggested that Washington consider teaming up with Moscow on a possible joint missile defense.
German judge rules Koran allows wife abuse Thu Mar 22, 9:26 AM ET
BERLIN (AFP) - A German woman judge has refused a Moroccan-born woman permission to file for divorce by interpreting the Koran as allowing husbands to beat their wives. Where are we living?
Woman judge allows beating in marriage... and invokes the Koran, said a front-page headline in Germany's top-selling Bild newspaper, reflecting the widespread angry reaction on Thursday.This Moroccan woman has the same right to protection from a violent husband as any German woman. Anything else would be misconceived sensitivity to the benefit of the husband and would amount to racist discrimination against the wife, said the Tageszeitung daily.The Central Council of Muslims in Germany also condemned the decision.
The judge should have made a decision based on the German constitution instead of the Koran, said spokeswoman Nurhan Soykan, who said that violence and mistreatment, regardless of the gender of the victim, were also grounds for divorce in the Islamic world.A court in the western city of Frankfurt on Wednesday upheld a complaint of bias against the judge lodged by the lawyer of the 26-year-old woman, who has two children.The woman had filed for immediate divorce on the grounds that the husband, also of Moroccan origin, regularly beat her and threatened to kill her. The claims were backed up by a police report.But the female judge, who has not been named, made clear in a letter that the wife's bid had little chance of approval because, according to her, Islamic law allowed a man to strike his wife.German politicians from all parties were united in disgust at the judgement.
When the Koran takes precedence over the German Basic Law, then I can only say: Good night Germany, Ronald Pofalla, the secretary general of the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Bild.Hans-Christian Stroebele, of the opposition Greens, said the kind of abuse suffered by the woman should be punished by German criminal law.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
OBAMAS TIES TO ISLAM HIS PASTER ADMITS
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Forecaster sees active Atlantic hurricane season. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Today's Civil Defense Exercise Largest Since 1948. 5-The next European generation The Monitor's View. 6-EU-style union coming to a continent near you. 7-6 world powers seek new Iran sanctions. 8-Israel sees Arab peace initiative as starting point. 9-Quartet urges new Palestinian govt to recognize Israel, refrain from violence. 10-Elton John urges fight against homophobia. 11-Four-year-old girl vows to be suicide terrorist in Hamas TV dramatization. 12-Obama's pastor admits concerns over candidate's ties to Islam.
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 QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Fri Mar 23 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 22,07
MAP 2.9 PUGET SOUND REGION, WASHINGTON
MAP 4.5 ARUBA REGION
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.9 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 3.2 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 5.8 SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN
MAP 5.1 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.4 OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.2 NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAR 21,07
MAP 5.2 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 NEW HAMPSHIRE
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.5 BURYATIYA, RUSSIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
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.
Forecaster sees active Atlantic hurricane season Wed Mar 21, 3:39 PM ET
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Atlantic hurricane season will be exceptionally active this year, according to a British forecasting group, raising the possibility that killer storms like Hurricane Katrina could again threaten the United States.
London-based forecaster Tropical Storm Risk on Tuesday said the six-month season, which begins on June 1, was expected to bring 17 tropical storms, of which nine will strengthen into hurricanes with winds of at least 74 miles per hour.Four of those are expected to become more destructive intense hurricanes, TSR said.The long-term average for the Atlantic is for 10 storms to form during the hurricane season and for six of those to reach hurricane strength.The United States emerged unscathed from the 2006 season after it spawned a below-average nine storms, of which five became hurricanes. Experts had universally -- and erroneously -- predicted 2006 would be a busy year for Atlantic storms.
None of the hurricanes hit the United States, bringing welcome relief to beleaguered residents of the U.S. Gulf Coast, where Katrina killed 1,500 people, swamped New Orleans and caused about $80 billion in damage the year before.But TSR said current and projected climate signals indicate that Atlantic basin and U.S. landfalling hurricane activity will be 75 percent above the 1950-2006 average in 2007.TSR had predicted in December that Atlantic basin and U.S. landfalling hurricane activity would be just 60 percent above average this year. It raised the projected activity level because of the sudden dissipation in February of last year's El Nino weather phenomenon.An unusual warming of the eastern Pacific waters, El Nino events tend to suppress Atlantic storm activity.Other experts, including hurricane forecast pioneer Dr. William Gray and his team at Colorado State University, have also warned that the 2007 hurricane season is likely to be busier-than-average.The relative calm of last year's hurricane season, which forecasters had mistakenly predicted would be busy, came on the heels of a record 28 storms and 15 hurricanes in 2005 and only a slightly less furious season in 2004.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Thu Mar 22, 6:32 AM ET
A strong storm will bring rain to the Great Lakes region on Thursday, bringing wet weather also to the Mississippi Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley and Central Plains. Temperatures are expected to range from the 40s to 60s in the Northeast, 40s to 50s in the upper Midwest, and 70s to 80s in the Southeast and Southern Plains.Parts of the Southwest could see scattered showers, with snow possible at higher elevations in the southern Rockies. Temperatures in the region should range from the 50s to the 70s.
Wet conditions are expected to persist in the Northwest, with temperatures expected in the 40s and 50s.Temperatures in the lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a low of minus 16 degrees at Saranac Lake, N.Y., to a high of 91 degrees at Gage, Okla.
Today's Civil Defense Exercise Largest Since 1948
by Gil Ronen and Hillel Fendel (INN) MAR 21,07
The IDF Home Front Command is holding the largest civil defense drill in Israel's history today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday). Simulating a combined attack on Israel on all fronts, the drill was suspended for over an hour because of intelligence warnings of a genuine attack.The exercise was preceded by this Home Front Command announcement, repeated on radio broadcasts throughout the morning: Sirens will be heard at 2 PM Tuesday in many parts of central and southern Israel and heightened activity of IDF, police and rescue forces will be noticeable during the exercise.
Traffic disruptions may be felt and blast sounds may be heard across the country.The wail of sirens were heard in most of Israel, from Hadera to the Negev desert, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheva, Raanana, Ashkelon, and Dimona. In case of a real emergency, the public was told it would be notified through the mass media.
Preparations for the drill were suspended for over an hour in the forenoon hours in light of warnings of a genuine terrorist alert. The Coastal Highway was closed to traffic until a taxi carrying two suspects - as well as several innocent passengers -was located and stopped. A month ago, a large suicide attack was thwarted when security services learned that a terrorist had infiltrated pre-'67 Israel and was on his way to blow himself up in a crowded area.
Large areas of central Israel were practically closed down as the security forces pursued the would-be murderer, finally locating him in a hideout-apartment in Bat Yam.Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency rescue service, says today's was the largest nationwide drill ever held since Israel's declaration of independence in 1948. Nine MDA districts participated simultaneously, practicing to deal with an unprecedented number of simultaneous events and a very large number of simulated victims. MDA crews in the southern parts of Israel (Lachish and Negev regions) simulated a joint Kassam and Katyusha rocket attack from Gaza, together with a terror attack using unconventional weapons in the Be'er Sheva train station, with a large number of simulated casualties. In central Israel, MDA drilled for a chemical terror attack on a school in Ramat Gan and a missile attack with conventional warheads.
Some emergency forces said an unclear division of labor could become dangerous in the event of a real emergency. If a rocket falls in Netanya and causes damage, Fire Commissioner Shimon Romach told NRG-Maariv while drilling with his forces in Ramat Gan, the Home Front Command is responsible. But if a terrorist attack happens in the same building, the police are responsible. This is confusing.Tomorrow, on the second day of exercises, MDA will simulate a mega-terror attack with 400 casualties in two locations the community of Neurim and in the coastal city of Netanya. The Police and the Home Front Command will simulate a Syrian rocket attack on Tel Aviv, supposedly
knocking the Reading power station out of service, as well as a chase after a suicide terrorist in central Israel and a mass terror attack on a school. Thousands of people will participate in the drill. The Prisons Service will rehearse mass rioting by Arab terror prisoners, hostage taking and attempted escapes.
The aim of the exercise is to prepare the different services and bodies operating in the civilian environment for various emergency scenarios, while implementing the lessons learned during the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, a Home Front Command statement reads.
The next European generation The Monitor's View
Wed Mar 21, 4:00 AM ET
The European Union turns 50 Sunday, celebrating the treaty that first joined six former enemy states in a common market that has since blossomed to 27 members. Historians describe the EU as an amazing security success, keeping peace through open trade. But can this formula inspire a new generation?
World War II is by now a long way in the past for the under-25 crowd. And the EU, counting nearly a half billion people, is a strange bird, difficult for even Europeans to understand. It's not a sovereign United States of Europe, but with its own parliament and court, for instance, it's much more than just a loose collection of democracies tied together by economics.The EU's drive toward greater unity has
been stalled. Voters in France and the Netherlands blocked a constitution in 2005. Related to that, many countries are saying enough, already to adding new members, such as Turkey.Given these turnoffs, keeping young Europeans as EU enthusiasts is crucial for the Union's future – a future that could lead to more economic growth, a unified voice in world affairs, a green agenda, and continued influence for democratic reform with its Eastern neighbors.
In important ways, those in the younger generation are actually more optimistic about the EU than the member-state population generally, according to a 2005 Eurobarometer poll. They're more open to closer political unity and less concerned about EU rules governing their daily lives.In a sense, they're more European than their parents, having come of age at a time when citizens of member states can now freely travel, work, and study in each other's countries. Young Poles wait tables in Dublin, Germans can go to university in Paris, and youths fly to the sunny Mediterranean on low-cost airlines.
A hefty 62 percent of EU citizens ages 15 to 24 rank these lifestyle benefits as the foremost advantage of membership – a full 10 percentage points more than all EU citizens do.But today's young people appear much more concerned with the prosperity part of the EU's peace-through-prosperity formula, than they are with the peace part. In the 2005 poll, young people ranked maintaining peace and security in Europe as the third priority, while fighting unemployment is the EU's most important task.
Economic growth in core EU countries such as Germany, France, and Italy rebounded in 2006, but even so, unemployment among EU youth runs at an average 17.3 percent, compared with 7.9 percent for all EU workers.
The EU can push its members toward goals for job creation, R&D spending, and a much more friendly environment for business start-ups. But it's really up to individual nations to deliver. For the most part, the core EU countries have yet to reform their highly regulated labor markets, and this works against job growth.The EU's security work is not over. The Balkans still lurk as a hot spot that could be cooled by the prospect of membership. And Turkey's eventual membership could help the EU bridge a cultural chasm with its own 15 million Muslims.But the next generation has a different emphasis. They take peace for granted, instead seeking work. But with more jobs, they may then reach out to enlarge the EU.
THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
EU-style union coming to a continent near you Working groups led by DHS should now [be] driven by a single agenda: the SPP March 21, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A memo signed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff implements a controversial program condemned by critics as a precursor to a European Union-style partnership with Mexico and Canada.
The document shows the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, is being directed at the highest level of the Bush administration, says the public interest group Judicial Watch, which obtained it and other documents through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Sept. 22, 2005, memo describes the agencies within the Department of Homeland Securityresponsible for executing the security agenda of the SPP. Titled Implementation Memorandum for the (SPP), the document says the SPP has, in addition to identifying a number of new action items, comprehensively rolled up most of our existing homeland security-related policy initiatives with Canada and Mexico, and ongoing action and reporting in the various U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico working groups led by DHS should now be driven by a single agenda: the SPP.
These new records prove the Security and Prosperity Partnership is being directed by officials at the very highest levels of the United States government, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Fitton said Americans should know that the SPP is a core policy initiative for many agencies in our government, including the Department of Homeland Security.The records obtained by Judicial Watch also contain an information paper describing 10 Prosperity Pillar Working Groups and the organization of the U.S.-Mexico Critical Infrastructure Protection Work Group.Judicial Watch said that unlike previous records produced by other federal agencies, the DHS records are heavily redacted, blocking out names of the U.S., Mexican and Canadian government officials carrying out the partnership's agenda across all three countries.
The DHS also released a 10-page chart listing 36 SPP Security High-Level Working Groups that include the Mexico-U.S. Repatriation Technical WG, the Mexico-U.S. Intelligence and Information Sharing WG, and the Canada-U.S. Cross Border Crime Forum.In October, as WND reported, about 1,000 documents obtained in a FOIA request to the SPP showed bureaucrats from agencies throughout the Bush administration meeting regularly with their counterparts in the Canadian and Mexican governments to engage in a broad rewriting of U.S. administrative law and regulations.
WND first reported the SPP activity last summer, showing the Bush administration had launched extensive working-group activity to implement a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada.
The groups, working under the North American Free Trade Agreement office in the Department of Commerce, are to implement an agreement signed by President Bush, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005. The trilateral agreement, signed as a joint declaration not submitted to Congress for review, led to the creation of the SPP. An SPP report to the heads of state of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, -- released June 27, 2005 -- lists some 20 different working groups spanning a wide variety of issues ranging from e-commerce, to aviation policy, to borders and immigration, involving the activity of multiple U.S. government agencies. The working groups have produced a number of memorandums of understanding and trilateral declarations of agreement.
6 world powers seek new Iran sanctions By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 22, 7:54 AM ET
UNITED NATIONS - Six powers seeking new sanctions against Iran hoped to persuade all 15 nations on the U.N. Security Council to back the proposed punitive measures. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said that a large majority of the nations support the resolution drawn up by the United States and its European allies — Britain, France and Germany — along with Russia and China.I think we will be in a position to make some concrete proposals and changes in order to reach a unanimous Security Council, he said after talks late Wednesday in New York. The full council was scheduled to meet again late Thursday.Full agreement is important because it would give the vote more weight.The six nations fear Tehran wants enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons and have demanded it cease production. Iran has ignored them, despite the Security Council's first set of sanctions in December. Iran's top leader said Wednesday that his country will respond with illegal actions if the council imposes still more sanctions.
Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so.He did not elaborate on what those actions might be, but Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty under which U.N. nuclear officials inspect its facilities. Some lawmakers and clerics have urged the government to respond to sanctions by withdrawing from the treaty.Iran says it will never give up its right under the treaty to enrich uranium, insisting it needs alternative energy sources for when its oil reserves run out. The process can produce fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a nuclear warhead.If they want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack, Khamenei said in a speech marking the start of the Persian New Year.
The latest sanctions would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs.The package also calls for travel restrictions on people subject to sanctions, on arms sales to Iran, and on new financial assistance or loans to the Iranian government.The existing sanctions ban countries from providing Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs, and freeze assets of 10 key Iranian companies and 12 individuals related to those programs.The U.S., Britain and France are hoping for a vote by the end of the week, but that could be difficult. South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency, wants extensive changes — including eliminating the arms embargo — and a 90-day hiatus on all sanctions.The U.S. and its allies made clear Wednesday they would not agree to South Africa's proposed time-out, a suggestion Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry called totally perverse.Acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff indicated Washington also would reject a request by Indonesia and Qatar for the resolution to call for a nuclear-free Middle East, as that implicates Israel.But Russia's U.N. envoy, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow regarded the Indonesian and Qatar proposals positively.I think there is general understanding in the Security Council that unanimity is going to be very important, Churkin said. In a related development, European and U.S. officials who declined to be named said Tuesday that Moscow has told Tehran it would not ship fuel for the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran until Tehran freezes uranium enrichment. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that Wednesday.
It's not the first time that we are seeing such an unscrupulous approach aimed at driving a wedge between us and Iran, he told lawmakers in the lower house of parliament. Russia has said plans to supply fuel for Bushehr this month were called off because of the failure of Iran to make its payments.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked to speak to the Security Council just before it votes. In his own New Year's address, he accused world's powers of waging psychological warfare ... to block our nation's progress.Iran has offered to provide guarantees that its nuclear program won't be diverted toward weapons. Associated Press Writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
Quartet urges new Palestinian govt to recognize Israel, refrain from violence MAR 22,07
MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - The quartet of international mediators in the Middle East settlement [Russia, U.S., the EU and UN] has urged the new government of the Palestinian Authority to adhere to the principles of non-violence and recognize Israel, adding that it would assess the new government by its moves.
The Quartet has reaffirmed its previous statement to the effect that the Palestinian government must remain adherent to the principles of non-violence and recognition of Israel, and to the previous agreements and commitments, including the roadmap, and advocates further advancement in this direction, the Quartet said in a statement circulated by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday. The Quartet has agreed that it will assess the government's adherence to these principles not only by its composition and platform, but also by its moves, says a statement, adopted following telephone talks between top foreign policy officials of Russia, the United States and Germany Sergei Lavrov, Condoleezza Rice and Frank-Walter Steinmeier' UN Secretary General Pan Ki-moon, and the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Israel sees Arab peace initiative as starting point MAR 22,07
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday said Israel is ready to make big and painful concessions to advance the peace process and that a Saudi-inspired Arab plan could be a starting point. Israel is ready to make big and painful concessions in order to encourage peace negotiations, Olmert said in a speech to members of the kibbutz movement, a week before an Arab summit in Riyadh.He said the so-called Saudi initiative for comprehensive Middle East peace could form a convenient basis for future peace talks.The Saudi initiative is interesting and contains many parts I would be ready to accept ... not all of them, Olmert said.It could certainly form a convenient basis for future talks between us and moderate Arab elements, he said. I've said it several times recently and I still believe it.Olmert was referring to a Saudi peace initiative adopted at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002 that offers the Arab world's normalisation of ties with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from all occupied Arab land.
Israel has previously said the Saudi initiative should be modified, notably on the issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.Arab League chief Amr Mussa said on Tuesday during a visit to Amman that the Riyadh summit expects Israel to make a serious peace offer.We expect an offer, a position from Israel in so far as peace is concerned, the secretary general said.
We fail to see any offer, any talk about serious peace.Last week Olmert said the Jewish state was ready to take seriously the Arab peace plan and that the Riyadh summit would bolster its positive elements.But Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the plan contained two additional clauses very problematic for Israel concerning the right of return of Palestinian refugees.One calls for the return of Palestinians who fled or were forced out in 1948, the other rules out their permanent settlement in the Arab states where they or their descendants currently live.The Palestinians and Egypt have rejected any modifications of the Saudi plan.
WELL THE GODLESS LUKEWARM LEFT ELTON JOHN IS AT IT AGAIN.
Elton John urges fight against homophobia
March 22, 2007 CNN
LONDON, England (Reuters) Elton John has paid tribute to gay rights campaigners and urged others around the world to stand up and speak out against homophobia.The British singer, who tied the knot with long-term partner David Furnish in a civil ceremony, said people must stand up for the human rights of homosexuals.
In December 2005, I was legally bound to the man I love, he wrote in the New Statesman magazine. It's my legal right and my human right. And I wanted everyone to know, I wanted to shout about it.In some countries, my voice would have been drowned out. Maybe even stamped out.Men and women are persecuted and attacked every day all over the world, just because of who they love and who they make love to.The singer, who celebrates his 60th birthday on Sunday, paid tribute to William Hernandez, a gay rights campaigner in El Salvador.Amnesty International says Hernandez and others in his organization Entre Amigos (Between Friends) have received death threats for their work.People like William are a lot braver than me. When the bigots shout abuse, they shout back, the singer wrote.My voice has served me pretty well over the years. I hope maybe it can do him some good too. But we need more voices.Whether the bigot is in our local pub or a thousand miles away, we should all stand up and speak out for these basic human rights.The article was for a column in the magazine in which well-known public figures highlight Amnesty cases.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
ISRAELIS AND ARABS ARE BROTHERS, THIS SURE IS BROTHERLY LOVE BY THE ARABS. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I WONDER WHY ISRAEL EVEN HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THESE ENEMIES OF GOD AND ISRAEL.
Four-year-old girl vows to be suicide terrorist in Hamas TV dramatization
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Palestinian Media Watch Credit) MAR 22,07
Hamas TV broadcast today a video dramatization of the four-year-old daughter of female suicide bomber Reem Riyashi singing to her dead mother and vowing to follow in her footsteps.
The video clip ends as the little girl picks up sticks of explosives from her mother's drawer.The Al Aqsa TV children's program shows a child actress playing the daughter, watching Riyashi preparing the bomb and asking her mother, Mommy, what are you carrying in your arms instead of me? A toy or a present for me? She later sees a TV news story about her mother's suicide mission and death, and realizes her mother had been carrying a bomb.Only now, I know what was more precious than us . . . she sings of the bomb.Although she misses her mother, she vows to follow in her footsteps. The video ends as she opens her mother's drawer and picks up the sticks of explosives her mother had left there.
Background:
Reem Riyashi killed four Israelis and wounded seven at the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel in 2004. She gained the sympathy of the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint by telling them that she had a metal plate in her leg that would trigger the metal detector. After she was taken to a room to be searched privately, she detonated the bomb hidden under her clothes.
The following is the text of the song that Duha, Reem's daughter, sings to her mother:
[Daughter sees mother preparing explosives sticks] Mommy, what are you carrying in your arms instead of me?
[Mother turns to hide bomb] A toy or a present for me?...Mommy Reem!
Why did you put on your veil? Are you going out, Mommy?...Come back quickly, Mommy
I can't sleep without you,unless you tell me and Ubaydah [her brother] a bedtime story.
[Daughter sees mother's picture and news story about bombing on PA TV]
My mother, my mother, Me and Ubaydah are awake and waiting for you to come to put us to sleep.Me and Ubaydah, oh Mommy, still need you to wipe our tears...Instead of me you carried a bomb in your hands. Only now, I know what was more precious than us...May your steps be blessed,and may you be flawless for Jerusalem. Me and Ubaydah wish we were there with you.
[Images of her mother's grave and the graves of other terrorists,
including Aayat Al-Akhras, 17-year-old female suicide terrorist]
Send greetings to our Messenger [Muhammad] and tell him: Duha loves you. My love will not be [merely] words.I am following Mommy in her steps.[Finds explosives that mother left in her drawer, picks up stick of explosives] Oh Mommy, oh Mommy.(crediting Palestinian Media Watch)
Obama's pastor admits concerns over candidate's ties to Islam
Chad Groening OneNewsNow.com March 22, 2007
The head of a pro-Israel ministry is praising the pastor of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's church for admitting his concerns about the Illinois senator's association with thePalestinians and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.Jeremiah Wright, Jr., is pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, where as a 26-year-old, Barack Obama walked down the aisle and publicly
committed himself to God. But in two separate interviews, Pastor Wright has revealed his concerns about Obama's pro-Islamic leanings. Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, is saluting Wright for expressing his concerns.
He warned the senator that association [with the Palestinians] could pose political problems partly because of his history of supporting Palestinian causes, notes Markell. Barack Obama has made the statement that the Palestinians are the most oppressed people on earth.
And Markell commends the pastor for his concerns about a 1984 trip Obama made to Libya, where he met with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Wright states a lot of [Obama's] Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in Hades [because of that meeting], she suggests. She believes that Pastor Wright, in issuing the warning, was speaking out of genuine concern for Obama and perhaps even America. So I salute him.Markell fears that if Obama becomes president, the United States will blatantly turn its back on Israel -- and suffer the consequences later. American Family News Network
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 QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Fri Mar 23 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 22,07
MAP 2.9 PUGET SOUND REGION, WASHINGTON
MAP 4.5 ARUBA REGION
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.9 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 3.2 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 5.8 SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN
MAP 5.1 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.4 OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.2 NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAR 21,07
MAP 5.2 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 NEW HAMPSHIRE
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.5 BURYATIYA, RUSSIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
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.
Forecaster sees active Atlantic hurricane season Wed Mar 21, 3:39 PM ET
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Atlantic hurricane season will be exceptionally active this year, according to a British forecasting group, raising the possibility that killer storms like Hurricane Katrina could again threaten the United States.
London-based forecaster Tropical Storm Risk on Tuesday said the six-month season, which begins on June 1, was expected to bring 17 tropical storms, of which nine will strengthen into hurricanes with winds of at least 74 miles per hour.Four of those are expected to become more destructive intense hurricanes, TSR said.The long-term average for the Atlantic is for 10 storms to form during the hurricane season and for six of those to reach hurricane strength.The United States emerged unscathed from the 2006 season after it spawned a below-average nine storms, of which five became hurricanes. Experts had universally -- and erroneously -- predicted 2006 would be a busy year for Atlantic storms.
None of the hurricanes hit the United States, bringing welcome relief to beleaguered residents of the U.S. Gulf Coast, where Katrina killed 1,500 people, swamped New Orleans and caused about $80 billion in damage the year before.But TSR said current and projected climate signals indicate that Atlantic basin and U.S. landfalling hurricane activity will be 75 percent above the 1950-2006 average in 2007.TSR had predicted in December that Atlantic basin and U.S. landfalling hurricane activity would be just 60 percent above average this year. It raised the projected activity level because of the sudden dissipation in February of last year's El Nino weather phenomenon.An unusual warming of the eastern Pacific waters, El Nino events tend to suppress Atlantic storm activity.Other experts, including hurricane forecast pioneer Dr. William Gray and his team at Colorado State University, have also warned that the 2007 hurricane season is likely to be busier-than-average.The relative calm of last year's hurricane season, which forecasters had mistakenly predicted would be busy, came on the heels of a record 28 storms and 15 hurricanes in 2005 and only a slightly less furious season in 2004.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Thu Mar 22, 6:32 AM ET
A strong storm will bring rain to the Great Lakes region on Thursday, bringing wet weather also to the Mississippi Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley and Central Plains. Temperatures are expected to range from the 40s to 60s in the Northeast, 40s to 50s in the upper Midwest, and 70s to 80s in the Southeast and Southern Plains.Parts of the Southwest could see scattered showers, with snow possible at higher elevations in the southern Rockies. Temperatures in the region should range from the 50s to the 70s.
Wet conditions are expected to persist in the Northwest, with temperatures expected in the 40s and 50s.Temperatures in the lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a low of minus 16 degrees at Saranac Lake, N.Y., to a high of 91 degrees at Gage, Okla.
Today's Civil Defense Exercise Largest Since 1948
by Gil Ronen and Hillel Fendel (INN) MAR 21,07
The IDF Home Front Command is holding the largest civil defense drill in Israel's history today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday). Simulating a combined attack on Israel on all fronts, the drill was suspended for over an hour because of intelligence warnings of a genuine attack.The exercise was preceded by this Home Front Command announcement, repeated on radio broadcasts throughout the morning: Sirens will be heard at 2 PM Tuesday in many parts of central and southern Israel and heightened activity of IDF, police and rescue forces will be noticeable during the exercise.
Traffic disruptions may be felt and blast sounds may be heard across the country.The wail of sirens were heard in most of Israel, from Hadera to the Negev desert, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheva, Raanana, Ashkelon, and Dimona. In case of a real emergency, the public was told it would be notified through the mass media.
Preparations for the drill were suspended for over an hour in the forenoon hours in light of warnings of a genuine terrorist alert. The Coastal Highway was closed to traffic until a taxi carrying two suspects - as well as several innocent passengers -was located and stopped. A month ago, a large suicide attack was thwarted when security services learned that a terrorist had infiltrated pre-'67 Israel and was on his way to blow himself up in a crowded area.
Large areas of central Israel were practically closed down as the security forces pursued the would-be murderer, finally locating him in a hideout-apartment in Bat Yam.Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency rescue service, says today's was the largest nationwide drill ever held since Israel's declaration of independence in 1948. Nine MDA districts participated simultaneously, practicing to deal with an unprecedented number of simultaneous events and a very large number of simulated victims. MDA crews in the southern parts of Israel (Lachish and Negev regions) simulated a joint Kassam and Katyusha rocket attack from Gaza, together with a terror attack using unconventional weapons in the Be'er Sheva train station, with a large number of simulated casualties. In central Israel, MDA drilled for a chemical terror attack on a school in Ramat Gan and a missile attack with conventional warheads.
Some emergency forces said an unclear division of labor could become dangerous in the event of a real emergency. If a rocket falls in Netanya and causes damage, Fire Commissioner Shimon Romach told NRG-Maariv while drilling with his forces in Ramat Gan, the Home Front Command is responsible. But if a terrorist attack happens in the same building, the police are responsible. This is confusing.Tomorrow, on the second day of exercises, MDA will simulate a mega-terror attack with 400 casualties in two locations the community of Neurim and in the coastal city of Netanya. The Police and the Home Front Command will simulate a Syrian rocket attack on Tel Aviv, supposedly
knocking the Reading power station out of service, as well as a chase after a suicide terrorist in central Israel and a mass terror attack on a school. Thousands of people will participate in the drill. The Prisons Service will rehearse mass rioting by Arab terror prisoners, hostage taking and attempted escapes.
The aim of the exercise is to prepare the different services and bodies operating in the civilian environment for various emergency scenarios, while implementing the lessons learned during the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, a Home Front Command statement reads.
The next European generation The Monitor's View
Wed Mar 21, 4:00 AM ET
The European Union turns 50 Sunday, celebrating the treaty that first joined six former enemy states in a common market that has since blossomed to 27 members. Historians describe the EU as an amazing security success, keeping peace through open trade. But can this formula inspire a new generation?
World War II is by now a long way in the past for the under-25 crowd. And the EU, counting nearly a half billion people, is a strange bird, difficult for even Europeans to understand. It's not a sovereign United States of Europe, but with its own parliament and court, for instance, it's much more than just a loose collection of democracies tied together by economics.The EU's drive toward greater unity has
been stalled. Voters in France and the Netherlands blocked a constitution in 2005. Related to that, many countries are saying enough, already to adding new members, such as Turkey.Given these turnoffs, keeping young Europeans as EU enthusiasts is crucial for the Union's future – a future that could lead to more economic growth, a unified voice in world affairs, a green agenda, and continued influence for democratic reform with its Eastern neighbors.
In important ways, those in the younger generation are actually more optimistic about the EU than the member-state population generally, according to a 2005 Eurobarometer poll. They're more open to closer political unity and less concerned about EU rules governing their daily lives.In a sense, they're more European than their parents, having come of age at a time when citizens of member states can now freely travel, work, and study in each other's countries. Young Poles wait tables in Dublin, Germans can go to university in Paris, and youths fly to the sunny Mediterranean on low-cost airlines.
A hefty 62 percent of EU citizens ages 15 to 24 rank these lifestyle benefits as the foremost advantage of membership – a full 10 percentage points more than all EU citizens do.But today's young people appear much more concerned with the prosperity part of the EU's peace-through-prosperity formula, than they are with the peace part. In the 2005 poll, young people ranked maintaining peace and security in Europe as the third priority, while fighting unemployment is the EU's most important task.
Economic growth in core EU countries such as Germany, France, and Italy rebounded in 2006, but even so, unemployment among EU youth runs at an average 17.3 percent, compared with 7.9 percent for all EU workers.
The EU can push its members toward goals for job creation, R&D spending, and a much more friendly environment for business start-ups. But it's really up to individual nations to deliver. For the most part, the core EU countries have yet to reform their highly regulated labor markets, and this works against job growth.The EU's security work is not over. The Balkans still lurk as a hot spot that could be cooled by the prospect of membership. And Turkey's eventual membership could help the EU bridge a cultural chasm with its own 15 million Muslims.But the next generation has a different emphasis. They take peace for granted, instead seeking work. But with more jobs, they may then reach out to enlarge the EU.
THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
EU-style union coming to a continent near you Working groups led by DHS should now [be] driven by a single agenda: the SPP March 21, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A memo signed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff implements a controversial program condemned by critics as a precursor to a European Union-style partnership with Mexico and Canada.
The document shows the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, is being directed at the highest level of the Bush administration, says the public interest group Judicial Watch, which obtained it and other documents through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Sept. 22, 2005, memo describes the agencies within the Department of Homeland Securityresponsible for executing the security agenda of the SPP. Titled Implementation Memorandum for the (SPP), the document says the SPP has, in addition to identifying a number of new action items, comprehensively rolled up most of our existing homeland security-related policy initiatives with Canada and Mexico, and ongoing action and reporting in the various U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico working groups led by DHS should now be driven by a single agenda: the SPP.
These new records prove the Security and Prosperity Partnership is being directed by officials at the very highest levels of the United States government, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Fitton said Americans should know that the SPP is a core policy initiative for many agencies in our government, including the Department of Homeland Security.The records obtained by Judicial Watch also contain an information paper describing 10 Prosperity Pillar Working Groups and the organization of the U.S.-Mexico Critical Infrastructure Protection Work Group.Judicial Watch said that unlike previous records produced by other federal agencies, the DHS records are heavily redacted, blocking out names of the U.S., Mexican and Canadian government officials carrying out the partnership's agenda across all three countries.
The DHS also released a 10-page chart listing 36 SPP Security High-Level Working Groups that include the Mexico-U.S. Repatriation Technical WG, the Mexico-U.S. Intelligence and Information Sharing WG, and the Canada-U.S. Cross Border Crime Forum.In October, as WND reported, about 1,000 documents obtained in a FOIA request to the SPP showed bureaucrats from agencies throughout the Bush administration meeting regularly with their counterparts in the Canadian and Mexican governments to engage in a broad rewriting of U.S. administrative law and regulations.
WND first reported the SPP activity last summer, showing the Bush administration had launched extensive working-group activity to implement a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada.
The groups, working under the North American Free Trade Agreement office in the Department of Commerce, are to implement an agreement signed by President Bush, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005. The trilateral agreement, signed as a joint declaration not submitted to Congress for review, led to the creation of the SPP. An SPP report to the heads of state of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, -- released June 27, 2005 -- lists some 20 different working groups spanning a wide variety of issues ranging from e-commerce, to aviation policy, to borders and immigration, involving the activity of multiple U.S. government agencies. The working groups have produced a number of memorandums of understanding and trilateral declarations of agreement.
6 world powers seek new Iran sanctions By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 22, 7:54 AM ET
UNITED NATIONS - Six powers seeking new sanctions against Iran hoped to persuade all 15 nations on the U.N. Security Council to back the proposed punitive measures. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said that a large majority of the nations support the resolution drawn up by the United States and its European allies — Britain, France and Germany — along with Russia and China.I think we will be in a position to make some concrete proposals and changes in order to reach a unanimous Security Council, he said after talks late Wednesday in New York. The full council was scheduled to meet again late Thursday.Full agreement is important because it would give the vote more weight.The six nations fear Tehran wants enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons and have demanded it cease production. Iran has ignored them, despite the Security Council's first set of sanctions in December. Iran's top leader said Wednesday that his country will respond with illegal actions if the council imposes still more sanctions.
Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so.He did not elaborate on what those actions might be, but Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty under which U.N. nuclear officials inspect its facilities. Some lawmakers and clerics have urged the government to respond to sanctions by withdrawing from the treaty.Iran says it will never give up its right under the treaty to enrich uranium, insisting it needs alternative energy sources for when its oil reserves run out. The process can produce fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a nuclear warhead.If they want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack, Khamenei said in a speech marking the start of the Persian New Year.
The latest sanctions would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs.The package also calls for travel restrictions on people subject to sanctions, on arms sales to Iran, and on new financial assistance or loans to the Iranian government.The existing sanctions ban countries from providing Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs, and freeze assets of 10 key Iranian companies and 12 individuals related to those programs.The U.S., Britain and France are hoping for a vote by the end of the week, but that could be difficult. South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency, wants extensive changes — including eliminating the arms embargo — and a 90-day hiatus on all sanctions.The U.S. and its allies made clear Wednesday they would not agree to South Africa's proposed time-out, a suggestion Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry called totally perverse.Acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff indicated Washington also would reject a request by Indonesia and Qatar for the resolution to call for a nuclear-free Middle East, as that implicates Israel.But Russia's U.N. envoy, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow regarded the Indonesian and Qatar proposals positively.I think there is general understanding in the Security Council that unanimity is going to be very important, Churkin said. In a related development, European and U.S. officials who declined to be named said Tuesday that Moscow has told Tehran it would not ship fuel for the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran until Tehran freezes uranium enrichment. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that Wednesday.
It's not the first time that we are seeing such an unscrupulous approach aimed at driving a wedge between us and Iran, he told lawmakers in the lower house of parliament. Russia has said plans to supply fuel for Bushehr this month were called off because of the failure of Iran to make its payments.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked to speak to the Security Council just before it votes. In his own New Year's address, he accused world's powers of waging psychological warfare ... to block our nation's progress.Iran has offered to provide guarantees that its nuclear program won't be diverted toward weapons. Associated Press Writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
Quartet urges new Palestinian govt to recognize Israel, refrain from violence MAR 22,07
MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - The quartet of international mediators in the Middle East settlement [Russia, U.S., the EU and UN] has urged the new government of the Palestinian Authority to adhere to the principles of non-violence and recognize Israel, adding that it would assess the new government by its moves.
The Quartet has reaffirmed its previous statement to the effect that the Palestinian government must remain adherent to the principles of non-violence and recognition of Israel, and to the previous agreements and commitments, including the roadmap, and advocates further advancement in this direction, the Quartet said in a statement circulated by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday. The Quartet has agreed that it will assess the government's adherence to these principles not only by its composition and platform, but also by its moves, says a statement, adopted following telephone talks between top foreign policy officials of Russia, the United States and Germany Sergei Lavrov, Condoleezza Rice and Frank-Walter Steinmeier' UN Secretary General Pan Ki-moon, and the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Israel sees Arab peace initiative as starting point MAR 22,07
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday said Israel is ready to make big and painful concessions to advance the peace process and that a Saudi-inspired Arab plan could be a starting point. Israel is ready to make big and painful concessions in order to encourage peace negotiations, Olmert said in a speech to members of the kibbutz movement, a week before an Arab summit in Riyadh.He said the so-called Saudi initiative for comprehensive Middle East peace could form a convenient basis for future peace talks.The Saudi initiative is interesting and contains many parts I would be ready to accept ... not all of them, Olmert said.It could certainly form a convenient basis for future talks between us and moderate Arab elements, he said. I've said it several times recently and I still believe it.Olmert was referring to a Saudi peace initiative adopted at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002 that offers the Arab world's normalisation of ties with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from all occupied Arab land.
Israel has previously said the Saudi initiative should be modified, notably on the issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.Arab League chief Amr Mussa said on Tuesday during a visit to Amman that the Riyadh summit expects Israel to make a serious peace offer.We expect an offer, a position from Israel in so far as peace is concerned, the secretary general said.
We fail to see any offer, any talk about serious peace.Last week Olmert said the Jewish state was ready to take seriously the Arab peace plan and that the Riyadh summit would bolster its positive elements.But Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the plan contained two additional clauses very problematic for Israel concerning the right of return of Palestinian refugees.One calls for the return of Palestinians who fled or were forced out in 1948, the other rules out their permanent settlement in the Arab states where they or their descendants currently live.The Palestinians and Egypt have rejected any modifications of the Saudi plan.
WELL THE GODLESS LUKEWARM LEFT ELTON JOHN IS AT IT AGAIN.
Elton John urges fight against homophobia
March 22, 2007 CNN
LONDON, England (Reuters) Elton John has paid tribute to gay rights campaigners and urged others around the world to stand up and speak out against homophobia.The British singer, who tied the knot with long-term partner David Furnish in a civil ceremony, said people must stand up for the human rights of homosexuals.
In December 2005, I was legally bound to the man I love, he wrote in the New Statesman magazine. It's my legal right and my human right. And I wanted everyone to know, I wanted to shout about it.In some countries, my voice would have been drowned out. Maybe even stamped out.Men and women are persecuted and attacked every day all over the world, just because of who they love and who they make love to.The singer, who celebrates his 60th birthday on Sunday, paid tribute to William Hernandez, a gay rights campaigner in El Salvador.Amnesty International says Hernandez and others in his organization Entre Amigos (Between Friends) have received death threats for their work.People like William are a lot braver than me. When the bigots shout abuse, they shout back, the singer wrote.My voice has served me pretty well over the years. I hope maybe it can do him some good too. But we need more voices.Whether the bigot is in our local pub or a thousand miles away, we should all stand up and speak out for these basic human rights.The article was for a column in the magazine in which well-known public figures highlight Amnesty cases.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
ISRAELIS AND ARABS ARE BROTHERS, THIS SURE IS BROTHERLY LOVE BY THE ARABS. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I WONDER WHY ISRAEL EVEN HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THESE ENEMIES OF GOD AND ISRAEL.
Four-year-old girl vows to be suicide terrorist in Hamas TV dramatization
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Palestinian Media Watch Credit) MAR 22,07
Hamas TV broadcast today a video dramatization of the four-year-old daughter of female suicide bomber Reem Riyashi singing to her dead mother and vowing to follow in her footsteps.
The video clip ends as the little girl picks up sticks of explosives from her mother's drawer.The Al Aqsa TV children's program shows a child actress playing the daughter, watching Riyashi preparing the bomb and asking her mother, Mommy, what are you carrying in your arms instead of me? A toy or a present for me? She later sees a TV news story about her mother's suicide mission and death, and realizes her mother had been carrying a bomb.Only now, I know what was more precious than us . . . she sings of the bomb.Although she misses her mother, she vows to follow in her footsteps. The video ends as she opens her mother's drawer and picks up the sticks of explosives her mother had left there.
Background:
Reem Riyashi killed four Israelis and wounded seven at the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel in 2004. She gained the sympathy of the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint by telling them that she had a metal plate in her leg that would trigger the metal detector. After she was taken to a room to be searched privately, she detonated the bomb hidden under her clothes.
The following is the text of the song that Duha, Reem's daughter, sings to her mother:
[Daughter sees mother preparing explosives sticks] Mommy, what are you carrying in your arms instead of me?
[Mother turns to hide bomb] A toy or a present for me?...Mommy Reem!
Why did you put on your veil? Are you going out, Mommy?...Come back quickly, Mommy
I can't sleep without you,unless you tell me and Ubaydah [her brother] a bedtime story.
[Daughter sees mother's picture and news story about bombing on PA TV]
My mother, my mother, Me and Ubaydah are awake and waiting for you to come to put us to sleep.Me and Ubaydah, oh Mommy, still need you to wipe our tears...Instead of me you carried a bomb in your hands. Only now, I know what was more precious than us...May your steps be blessed,and may you be flawless for Jerusalem. Me and Ubaydah wish we were there with you.
[Images of her mother's grave and the graves of other terrorists,
including Aayat Al-Akhras, 17-year-old female suicide terrorist]
Send greetings to our Messenger [Muhammad] and tell him: Duha loves you. My love will not be [merely] words.I am following Mommy in her steps.[Finds explosives that mother left in her drawer, picks up stick of explosives] Oh Mommy, oh Mommy.(crediting Palestinian Media Watch)
Obama's pastor admits concerns over candidate's ties to Islam
Chad Groening OneNewsNow.com March 22, 2007
The head of a pro-Israel ministry is praising the pastor of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's church for admitting his concerns about the Illinois senator's association with thePalestinians and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.Jeremiah Wright, Jr., is pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, where as a 26-year-old, Barack Obama walked down the aisle and publicly
committed himself to God. But in two separate interviews, Pastor Wright has revealed his concerns about Obama's pro-Islamic leanings. Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, is saluting Wright for expressing his concerns.
He warned the senator that association [with the Palestinians] could pose political problems partly because of his history of supporting Palestinian causes, notes Markell. Barack Obama has made the statement that the Palestinians are the most oppressed people on earth.
And Markell commends the pastor for his concerns about a 1984 trip Obama made to Libya, where he met with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Wright states a lot of [Obama's] Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in Hades [because of that meeting], she suggests. She believes that Pastor Wright, in issuing the warning, was speaking out of genuine concern for Obama and perhaps even America. So I salute him.Markell fears that if Obama becomes president, the United States will blatantly turn its back on Israel -- and suffer the consequences later. American Family News Network
Thursday, March 22, 2007
EU RAPID REACTION FORCE
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Landslides and rain kill 67 in Pakistan. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Canada records its second-warmest winter. 5-Alberta hospital closed after superbug, sterilization problems. 6-Food recall worries pet owners. 7-Russia nixes excessive Iran sanctions. 8-Rice Presses Hamas to Renounce Violence. 9-Witnessing in Synagogues with the Messianic Prophecies!10-A MESSAGE FROM RABBI ECKSTEIN. 11-Landmark dates for the European Union 12-EU To Include Air, Naval Forces in Battlegroup Concept.
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 QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = THU Mar 22 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 21,07
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAR 20,07
MAP 3.6 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.2 SEA OF OKHOTSK
MAP 4.4 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 5.0 LA RIOJA, ARGENTINA
MAP 4.4 GREECE
MAP 5.3 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
MAP 4.2 CHIAPAS, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 4.4 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.5 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.2 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
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.
Landslides and rain kill 67 in Pakistan by Abu Ahsan MAR 21,07
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AFP) - Relentless rain triggered landslides and roof collapses across northern Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir, leaving at least 67 people dead, officials and reports said Wednesday.
At least 37 survivors of the devastating 2005 earthquake in Pakistani Kashmir were killed when two mudslides swept away their mountainside homes, police spokesman Javed Ahmed told AFP in the regional capital Muzaffarabad.Twenty-seven people, mostly women, died and 16 were injured when a huge landslide hit Doba Syedan village in Kashmir's Jhelum Valley area late Tuesday, police spokesman Javed Ahmed told AFP.Another 10 were killed in a separate landslip at Jabar Daray village in the mountainous Bagh district on Tuesday, Ahmed said.It has been raining here for two days and the landslides happened almost simultaneously. These people were in houses built on terraces on the hillsides and huge landslides buried them, Ahmed said.Police and army teams are in the area trying to remove the debris and recover the bodies. So far two bodies have been recovered in the Jhelum Valley. Efforts being made to recover the others.
Ahmed added: It's very unfortunate. These are the people who were worst hit in the earthquake.
The 7.6-magnitude quake in October 2005 claimed more than 73,000 lives and left 3.3 million homeless in Pakistani Kashmir and northwestern Pakistan. More than 1,000 also died in Indian Kashmir.Authorities later shifted around 55 families to safer places and gave them tents and rations after landslides damaged dozens of homes in the Tariqabad area adjoining Muzaffarabad, district chief Syed Zahoor Gilani said.Landslides and avalanches were also reported in North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, and press reports said the nationwide toll excluding Kashmir stood at more than 30.Five members of a family were buried alive when an avalanche hit their home in mountainous Swat district on Tuesday, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said. Five more died when their roof caved in in the same district.Four family members were reported killed in a landslide in the nearby town of Mingora and another seven died when their house collapsed in Malakand district. A house collapse also left three children and women dead in Mardan. Torrential rains and heavy snow also paralysed life in northern Pakistan and traffic was blocked on the main Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan with China.The meteorological department has forecast more rains in Kashmir and northwest Pakistan over the next 36 hours.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Wed Mar 21, 6:08 AM ET
Rain was expected in much of the nation Wednesday, while clear skies and rising temperatures were forecast for the West. Early morning rain and high-elevation snow was likely to move out of California and the Great Basin and into the Southwest and Southern Rockies.
A warm front moving through the Upper Mississippi Valley and into the Great Lakes was expected to bring rain and thunderstorms from Illinois to Michigan. Showers were possible in New England later in the day.A cold front moving through the Plains was expected to bring rain from Kansas to Wisconsin.Temperatures were forecast to rise into the 60s and 70s in the Plains and the Southeast. The Northeast was expected to rise into the 30s and 40s, while the Upper Midwest was to see temperatures in the 40s, 50s and 60s. The Northwest was expected to reach the 40s and 50s, while California could see temperatures ranging from the 30s to the 70s.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday ranged from a low of 21 degrees at Embarrass, Minn., to a high of 91 degrees at Gila Bend, Ariz.
Canada records its second-warmest winter Tue Mar 20, 6:17 PM ET
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canada basked in the second-warmest winter since it began taking national records in 1948, topped only by last winter, the national weather service said on Tuesday. The winter of 2006-07 was 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, matching a level set in the winter of 1986-87, with nearly all regions of the country experiencing above normal temperatures, Environment Canada said.Precipitation during the winter was slightly less than normal.Temperatures were 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal this winter in northern British Columbia, eastern Yukon and eastern Northwest Territories, according to data posted on Environment Canada's Web site.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
Alberta hospital closed after superbug, sterilization problems
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 CBC News
Health officials are reviewing four years of patient records at a rural Alberta hospital after an investigation into a superbug outbreak revealed that hospital equipment wasn't properly sterilized.
Dr. Gerhard Benadé, the region's medical health officer, issued a public health order Friday requiring St. Joseph's General Hospital in Vegreville to halt all admissions and close its sterilization room. The order was not made public until Tuesday.Benadé discovered the sterilization problem while investigating an outbreak among patients of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
Seven patients in the 25-bed hospital east of Edmonton contracted the antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection over a one-month period beginning in mid-January.These are minor infections, usually skin infections, if any symptoms at all, said Dr. Karen Grimsrud, deputy provincial health officer.Grimsrud said the bug is generally spread by health-care workers not washing their hands between patients.
Entirely about patient safety
While investigating the outbreak, Benadé uncovered the unrelated problem of improper sterilization of medical equipment at the hospital.Benadé said it was the first time he had been in the sterilization room since he started his job six years ago, and he made the decision to shut the room down as soon as he saw the problem.He said the risk to patients is low.We want to be transparent with this process.
It is entirely about patient safety. We will err on the side of caution. We will identify every single individual that might potentially be at risk.Health officials are now checking records of patients back to April 2003, including those who had surgeries or emergency room procedures. They are sending letters to those exposed to equipment that was inadequately sterilized and advising them to get tested for HIV, as well as hepatitis B and C.Alberta Health Minister Dave Hancock said although the risk to patients is low, it is prudent to review four years of medical records just in case.What we do know is that patients who have had surgical procedures or treatment in the emergency room at St. Joseph's may be at very low risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens, he said.
Contaminated with tissue, blood
The emergency room alone sees 14,000 people every year.Grimsrud confirmed that for one biopsy procedure alone — cystoscopy — 80 patients were being contacted.
Scopes used during surgery need to be thoroughly sterilized, but that wasn't happening at St. Joseph's, she said.There's tissue and blood left from the previous patient in that scope if it was not cleaned thoroughly with a brush and scrubbed and then is put into a sterilizer, so the concern was then the scope used on the next patient may still have material in it that can then transmit either HIV, hep B or hep C.Benadé said if blood tests show anyone contracted HIV or any other disease at the hospital, officials will search for patients from even earlier dates.Emergency and acute-care patients at the hospital in east-central Alberta are being sent to other nearby hospitals, and medical equipment requiring sterilization is also being sent to other hospitals.With files from the Canadian Press
Food recall worries pet owners
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 CBC News
Veterinarians and pet food retailers in Cape Breton say they have been swamped with phone calls following a massive recall of dog and cat food.Ten animals have died in the United States and many others have suffered renal failure, prompting one of North America's largest pet-food suppliers to recall dozens of brands of food.
Veterinarians say lethargy and vomiting are signs that animals are sick.(CBC) Jack Warner of Co-op Country Store said his store has been getting calls all day long from worried pet owners, but he has been able to give some of them reassuring news. It doesn't affect the dry food so they shouldn't be concerned, Warner said. Unless they're feeding cans or something, then they have to check the dates, the codes. Ontario-based Menu Foods announced Friday the recall of food sold in cans and pouches, calling it a precautionary move. The products are sold under various brand names, including Iams and Eukanuba, as well as house brands for Sobeys and other
supermarket chains.The investigation is focusing on wheat gluten used at two U.S. plants as the likely source of contamination.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began to investigate after receiving complaints on Feb. 20. When it fed the cuts and gravy product to 40 to 50 cats, seven of the animals died, FDA officials said.Veterinarian Melanie Gunsen said pet owners who fed their cats and dogs any product on the recall list should look for signs of lethargy, vomiting and a lack of appetite in their pets.It depends on the severity of the case, but renal failure itself, if it's extremely severe, is life threatening, Gunsen said.
Local stores have taken the foods off their shelves and are offering refunds.
Russia nixes excessive Iran sanctions By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer MAR 21,07
MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday it will not support excessive sanctions against its economic partner Iran, as the U.N. Security Council drew closer to a vote on a new, harsher set of measures intended to push Tehran to freeze its nuclear program. Ambassadors from the 15 Security Council nations held informal discussions at Britain's U.N. Mission in New York ahead of a meeting later Wednesday to discuss possible changes to the draft resolution.Germany and the five veto-wielding permanent council nations — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — agreed on the modest package of new sanctions Thursday to step up pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used to produce nuclear energy or nuclear weapons.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow will not support excessive sanctions against Iran, and added that the draft resolution has been softened at Moscow's behest.
Lavrov also denied claims that Moscow had told Iran it would not deliver nuclear fuel for the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran unless Tehran complies with U.N. demands.
There is no link whatsoever between the U.N. resolution ... and the implementation of the Bushehr project, he told lawmakers in the lower parliament house.The proposed new sanctions in the draft resolution would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs — about a third linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.The package also calls for voluntary restrictions on travel by the individuals subject to sanctions, on arms sales to Iran, and on new financial assistance or loans to the Iranian government.Lavrov said an earlier, tougher version of the draft resolution that included broader restrictions on officials' travel and a ban on credits to Iran had been softened on Russia's advice. We ... have agreed to influence Iran by gradually applying proportionate pressure, Lavrov said.
At Russia's insistence, neither the existing Security Council resolution nor the draft being discussed makes any mention of Bushehr. Lavrov said the Bushehr contract is in line with all international agreements aimed at preventing nuclear weapons proliferation.European and U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks said Tuesday that Moscow had bluntly told Tehran it would not ship fuel for Bushehr until Tehran freezes its uranium enrichment program, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council.Lavrov dismissed the claims as an unscrupulous trick.It's not the first time that we are seeing such an unscrupulous approach aimed at driving a wedge between us and Iran, he said.Russia has said fuel for Bushehr would not be supplied this month, as had been planned earlier, because of alleged Iranian payment delays that prompted Moscow to indefinitely postpone the Bushehr reactor's launch, which had been set for September. Russian officials also said that the number of workers at Bushehr had dwindled due to the funding shortage.
Iran angrily denied falling behind in payments and accused Russia of caving in to U.S. pressure to take a tougher line on Tehran. Iranian state television on Tuesday described Russia as an unreliable partner, adding: It is clear that Russia has stopped construction of this plant under pressure and for political reasons.On Wednesday, Lavrov repeated Russia's assertions that Iran had dragged its feet on payments for Bushehr.Regrettably, our Iranian colleagues aren't telling the truth when they blame Russia for the financial problems which have emerged. Financial problems do exist, but they are linked to the Iranian side breaching an earlier-agreed schedule of payments, he said.
Rice Presses Hamas to Renounce Violence
By David Gollust Washington 19 March 2007
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the new Palestinian unity government should unequivocally renounce violence to gain international recognition and enter peace talks with Israel.
Rice conferred with top European Union officials on the new Palestinian cabinet, whose leader has called for continued resistance against Israel. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.The Bush administration is taking a somewhat more conciliatory approach to the new Palestinian government, saying it will have contacts with non-Hamas members of the cabinet.But it is standing by its insistence that a Palestinian government must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements if it is to expect international aid and be part of a regional peace process.Condoleezza Rice (l) and Javier Solana at the State Department in Washington, DC The formation of the new Palestinian government was a key issue in a day-long dialogue here by Secretary Rice and key officials of the European Union, including chief diplomat Javier Solana.
Solana expressed seeming eagerness by the Europeans to work with the new government, saying he hoped it would at least incrementally accept peacemaking terms of the international Middle East Quartet, which includes the EU, Russia and the United Nations as well as the United States.In the meantime, Solana suggested the actions of the unity government are more important that its rhetoric: We would like to continue working with the Palestinian people, said Javier Solana.
We are not going to let the Palestinian people down, and we hope very much to follow in great detail the facts, the deeds that this government behaves. It's much more important what they do that what they say at this point in time.Secretary Rice however, seized on the declaration by the new government's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh - a holdover from the previous Hamas-led government - reaffirming the Palestinian's right to resistance against Israeli occupation:I'm not going to try and interpret what the right of resistance means, said Condoleezza Rice. But I'll tell you, it doesn't sound very good to me when one talks about all forms of resistance. So I would put the question to the Palestinian government and to its prime minister. Do you mean the right of resistance by violence? And let's get an answer.
The comments here came as the military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack Monday that wounded an Israeli civilian near the border with the Gaza strip, the first such act since the unity government took office Saturday. Israel denounced the attack, saying it showed the new coalition was flouting the will of the international community, while the State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack called the incident clearly disturbing and unacceptable. Earlier McCormack confirmed that unlike the U.S. political boycott of the previous Hamas-led Palestinian government, the United States is prepared to talk to non-Hamas members of the new cabinet.He mentioned in particular the new finance minister, Salam Fayyad of the mainstream Fatah party, a U.S. educated economist with whom the United States had close ties before the Hamas election victory early last year.Rice also discussed the new Palestinian government in a telephone conference call Monday with other principals of the Quartet. A formal Quartet statement is expected Tuesday, which McCormack said would reaffirm a collective ban on direct aid to the Palestinian government unless it met all its terms for dialogue. Rice is due to begin another mission to the Middle East at the end of this week that will include separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and talks in Cairo with foreign ministers of moderate Arab states.
Witnessing in Synagogues with the Messianic Prophecies! MAR 21,07
Now, please take a journey with me into a synagogue near Jerusalem. It was mid-afternoon, and I crossed the street and walked up the stairs of the Sephardic synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
I heard men praying from inside the synagogue, and as I opened the door, I was greeted with the smiles of three young men in their mid-twenties who all said to me at the same time Shalom. They were full-time students of the Talmud/Torah (Bible and commentaries).
They ushered me in, and one of the young men handed me a prayer shawl, so that I could lay Tefillin (put on Phylacteries and say some traditional prayers). I agreed as it would allow me to spend time with them, and meet the other men in the synagogue. The small synagogue was lively, with about 30 men studying and debating the Scriptures. There was one class of about eight men being taught by a rabbi, but the rest of the men were studying one on one with another study partner. Some of the men were in their late teens and twenties, some were middle-aged, and some were in their 70s and 80s. These are Jewish men who are zealous for the Lord as they study and debate the Talmud (Mishna and Gemara which are commentaries on the Bible) everyday for about eight hours.
There are tens of thousands of men in Israel who study the Scriptures full-time. God has preserved His Chosen People over the centuries and He has His hand on Israel. His people are still the People of the Book as they have preserved His Word and continue to cry out to Him, and study His Scriptures. The problem is that they have missed their Messiah! They search the Scriptures because they have a love for the Word but they have been told the lie that Jesus is not the Messiah. The prophecies in the Bible are ignored and discounted and the Talmud states that Jesus is not the Messiah. So with all the zeal and love for the Lord, these Orthodox Jewish men and the Jewish people in Israel will perish for eternity, because they do not know His Son. And that's why it is urgent that we provide them with a Messianic Prophecy Bible. As the prophet Hosea wrote: My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6
I love being in the synagogues with my people. I know that many of them hunger for truth but no one is taking the Gospel to them. I put on the Tefellin and then the three men started asking me questions as they introduced themselves to me. Shalom, I'm Ilan, and I'm Menachem, they each said.
Please come and study the Scriptures with us.We looked over some of the passages in the Talmud together and then they introduced me to Avraham, who is studying to be a rabbi. Avraham showed me the passages he was reading in the Talmud, but I wanted to engage him in Messianic Prophecies. I asked him to read the Messianic Prophecy in Daniel 9:26, which explains the timeframe of 70 x 7 weeks before the Messiah takes away the sins of Israel and is cut off. Avraham needed to get the book of Daniel from the bookshelf, so we walked over to the other side of the synagogue where the head rabbi was teaching his eight students.In Judaism we have the Bible as one complete book, but we also have each book of the Prophets as separate books. So, Avraham pulled out the book of Daniel from the bookcase shelf and opened it up to chapter 9, verse 26 reading the Messianic Prophecy!
I asked Avraham, Who do you think this Scripture is speaking about? I'm not sure, this is a complicated subject, Avraham replied. Avraham agreed that it was speaking about the Messiah, but he was never told about any prophecies, and that all of this was new for him. I told him about the Messianic Prophecy Bible that we are producing and he said that he would be willing to look at it, and that he was interested in studying these Scriptures.
All three of them, Avraham, Ilan, and Menachem said that they have been taught that the Messiah will come from the line of King David, and that Jesus was NOT the promised Messiah. However they did not know anything about the other 30 main prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. Sometimes I think to myself, Lord, these people study all day long. I know they believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but why don't they know you? And I continually hear the Lord say to me, Because no one is taking the Gospel to them.The Apostle Paul (Rabbi Shaul) writes in Romans 10:14, How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
Can you or I imagine what life would be like if we were never given a Bible, or if we did not know the Lord? Let's us not be complacent, we must take our responsibility of reaching God's Chosen People in a very serious way. Every 4 minutes a Jewish person dies (passes from this life into eternity - 99% of them without God)!
In the time that it took you to read this letter, about 7 Jewish people have passed away. Esther saved the Jewish people in Iran (Persia), but with your financial support you can save lives for eternity. During the holiday of Purim, it is a biblical Jewish custom to give gifts to those who are in need, so please make the biggest gift you can today for the Messianic Prophecy Bible Project. I know the Lord will bless and reward you. It is so important for you to make the best gift you can today, so that we can get Lubavitchers and all Jews, a copy of the Messianic Prophecy Bible when it is completed. They will see that Yeshua is the Real Messiah spoken of in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and have eternal life!
DONATE HERE http://messianicbible.com/donate.asp
With all my brotherly love in Messiah Yeshua,
Zev Isaacs
Founder
P.S. Because of your financial support, you are being a part of Prophecy that will be fulfilled. Jewish people like Avraham, Ilan and Menachem will have the opportunity to say Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai - Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.
A MESSAGE FROM RABBI ECKSTEIN
Dear Stan,
I cannot imagine a time when your prayers and support for Israel have been more needed than they are today. The Jewish State—and, indeed, Jewish people around the world—are going through a period of great suffering and uncertainty that does not promise to end any time soon.
Around the world—from the former Soviet Union, to Europe, to South America—a rising tide of anti-Semitism has put Jews on alert. In Israel, the threat of attack from Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups remains a daily reality, and the possibility of a nuclear Iran looms ever larger. Meanwhile, poverty in Israel continues to rise. A recent report showed that the number of poor in Israel rose by 100,000 last year to a staggering 1.6 million people—including one in three Israel children. The harsh reality of these problems is indeed sobering. But I want to focus on something hopeful—the staunch support of Israel by Fellowship partners like you, who give so generously to our lifesaving programs. Every day, I am heartened to think of your commitment to supporting Israel through our On Wings of Eagles, Guardians of Israel, and Isaiah 58 programs—programs that touch literally thousands of Israelis and Jews worldwide every day.
On Wings of Eagles—Supporting Prophetic Return of Jews to the Holy Land
On Wings of Eagles continues to assist needy Jews in making aliyah (immigrating to Israel). They come from all over the world—Russia, Argentina, Europe, India, and elsewhere—to escape rising anti-Semitism and extreme poverty, and to realize their lifelong dream of living in their biblical homeland. And when they arrive in the Holy Land, On Wings of Eagles provides them with klitah (resettlement) assistance to help them become full, productive citizens of their new home. Through your gifts, The Fellowship helps fulfill the prophecies that promise to gather the Jewish exiles from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12).
Isaiah 58—Extending a Lifesaving Hand to Needy Jews in the former Soviet Union
In the former Soviet Union (FSU), hundreds of thousands of Jews live in desperate poverty. Many elderly who have survived both the Holocaust and years of oppressive communist rule now live on meager government pensions, and often must make the heartbreaking choice between buying food or medicine. But with your help, Isaiah 58 is able to provide suffering Jews in the FSU with nutritious food, medicine, and other critical needs such as blankets and heating.
Guardians of Israel—Turning despair into hope for suffering Israelis
Israel continues to struggle with poverty and the continued threat of war and terrorist attack.
The Fellowship's Guardians of Israel program responds to this desperate situation through initiatives that ease the suffering of needy Israelis, providing them with food, housing, medical care, clothing, and other essentials. At the same time, it comforts and provides for the future of those whose lives have been devastated by terror, funds war relief and rebuilding efforts, and addresses a host of other emergency needs for people who have nowhere else to turn. Every day I thank God for our Guardians of Israel partners. I cannot imagine how Israel could come through her current trials without them—through their generous gifts, they are truly acting as the 'watchmen on the walls' of Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:6).
Please make an online donation to Guardians of Israel and help turn despair into hope!https://secure2.convio.net/ifcj/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID=9082&s_subsrc
=E7CMAD13&S_SILAS1=text1&JServSessionIdr004=jdr6gypgl3.
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We are only able to respond to these and countless other needs in Israel because of support from generous friends like you who have taken to heart the biblical words, whoever is kind to the needy honors God (Proverbs 14:31). Today, I ask you to give generously to The Fellowship program that most speaks to your heart. On behalf of Israelis and Jewish people everywhere, struggling to survive against what, at times, seems like insurmountable odds, I thank you for your kind heart and willingness to bless the Jewish people with your prayers and support.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Landmark dates for the European Union
21.03.2007 - 09:23 CET | By Honor Mahony
After World War II – French economist Jean Monnet develops his plans to ease tensions between France and Germany as they square up over control of the steel-and coal-rich Ruhr region.
1950 – French foreign minister Robert Schuman makes his seminal declaration on France and Germany setting up a common coal and steel community, harnessing them together economically so that another war would become not merely unthinkable but materially impossible.
1951 – The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) is established by the Treaty of Paris. Six countries – Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – are members.
1955 – The Messina declaration by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg in 1955 was a statement of intention to create the European economic community. It paved the way for the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
1957 – The six members of the ECSC sign the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
1958 – The principles of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are set by the Stresa conference and come into force in 1962.
1963 – Non! French President Charles De Gaulle vetoes British membership, saying he believes the country is not committed enough to European integration.
1967 – ECSC, EEC and Euratom merge to form the European Community (EC).
1973 – The UK, Ireland and Denmark join the European Community. Norway votes against joining.
1979 – Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) is formed, linking the German mark, French and Belgian francs, Dutch guilder, Danish crown, Irish punt and Italian lira within narrow bands.
1981 – Greece joins the European Community (10th member).
1985 – Jacques Delors becomes president of the European Commission. His close ties with the leaders of France and Germany made it one of the most dynamic times for the bloc.
1986 – Spain and Portugal join the European Community. The European Flag – blue background with 12 golden stars – is unveiled.
1987 – Single European Act comes into force. It set 1992 as the goal for achieving a common market.
1990 – After the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of communist rule, the new democracies of central and eastern Europe express a wish to join the European Community.
1991 – The Maastricht treaty on Economic and Monetary Union is signed. The European Community becomes the European Union. It paves the way to monetary union, introduces the idea of European citizenship, allowing voting in municipal elections in any member state. It also introduces the so-called three pillars of the European Union (the European Communities pillar, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Justice and Home Affairs pillar).
1993 – The Maastricht Treaty comes into force – having been only narrowly approved in France and only after a second referendum in Denmark which secured a monetary union opt-out.
1995 – Austria, Sweden and Finland join the EU. Norway again votes no to joining the bloc (1994). France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Benelux countries are the first to drop internal border controls as part of the Schengen Agreement. Ireland and the UK remain outside the open borders agreement.
1997 – EU leaders agree to open entry talks with six candidates: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus. Five other ex-communist states - Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania - are told they must make more progress before opening negotiations.
1997 – Amsterdam Treaty creates the post of EU High Representative for foreign and security policy, opens the way to more co-operation in justice and home affairs as well as the possibility, under strict conditions, for member states to go ahead and cooperate further if they want.
1999 – The EU agrees to start accession talks with Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta. It also agrees to recognise Turkey as an applicant country.
2000 – An acrimonious summit in France agrees the Nice Treaty on institutional reforms to prepare the bloc for enlargement – but even before the ink was dry, it was generally agreed that it would only be a stopgap treaty with further EU reform needed. It goes into force in 2003 after having first been rejected, then accepted, by Ireland.
2002 – The euro becomes the currency in 12 countries – Denmark, Sweden and the UK keep their national currencies.
2004 – Ten new member states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Malta and Cyprus – join the EU. The EU constitution is signed, it introduces an EU foreign minister, gives the European Parliament more power and changes the EU decision-making system.
2005 – The EU constitution is rejected by French and Dutch voters in referendums – putting the document into political limbo.
2005 – The EU opens membership talks with both Croatia – expected to join in 2009/10 - and Turkey - not expected to join for a decade.
2007 – Bulgaria and Romania join the EU. Slovenia becomes the 13th member state to take on the single currency.
2007 and beyond – negotiations on a new-look EU treaty are still under way. The name constitution is likely to be dropped however, proving too much to swallow for several countries.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
EU To Include Air, Naval Forces in Battlegroup Concept
By BROOKS TIGNER, ZEEBRUGGE, Belgium MAR 19,07
The European Union will extend its rapid-reaction battlegroup concept — currently applied only to land forces — to Europe’s air and naval forces by the end of this year, according to EU officials and military planners.Unlike the union’s growing number of stand-by, multination army battlegroups, however, there will be no permanent air or naval battlegroups awaiting deployment, they said. Instead, dispersed air and naval forces would be ready to assemble at a moment’s notice, though the coordination tools to enable that have yet to be developed.
How the 27 EU nations might quickly pull together naval assets at sea to form a so-called maritime task group (MTG) to support a joint operation was demonstrated during a one-day naval exercise March 12 off the coast of this Belgian port. It was the first test-case for applying the battlegroup concept to a mixture of air and naval elements.The exercise involved five ships — a frigate and combat support vessel from Germany, and three combat frigates from Belgium, France and the Netherlands — as well as French and German fighter aircraft and helicopters. It revolved around the kind of multidimension scenario for which the European Union is tailoring its rapid-reaction forces: crisis management, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid. In this case, the scenario involved maritime interdiction and evacuation of EU nationals from shore to ship.
The exercise was observed by diplomats and high-ranking military officials from all 27 EU nations from the deck of a German combat support frigate, the FGS Frankfurt am Main, at the invitation of the union’s German presidency. Berlin holds the post until July, when Portugal takes over.
There is a strong political will across the EU to further develop the battlegroup concept by including air and naval components, said Clemens von Goetze, Germany’s ambassador to the European Union.
This has been a very useful day for observing how these elements can strengthen the EU’s security and defense policies.How To Call Upon the Assets?
Not surprisingly, the carefully planned exercise was deemed a success. But the task now facing EU and national military planners is to define how to draw on air and naval rapid-response assets when actually needed.Though European capitals have designated hundreds of ships for potential use during EU-led missions, their navies are so stretched that I’m sure most would not want a standing or permanent maritime battlegroup force, a German naval officer said. This is what we need clarified:
Will an EU maritime battlegroup be something permanent or more temporary and flexibly put together?
We do face a challenge here, Henri Bentegéat, French chairman of the union’s Military Committee of national chiefs of defense, told reporters after the exercise. There is difficulty in putting air and naval forces on [permanent] stand-by status. We have concluded we cannot do this, so we are trying to find different formulas for creating MTGs based on available assets [at any given moment], he said.
We’ll be looking at measures to develop forces at any time without mandatory stand-by elements.The key to any such rapid assembly of naval or air elements will be awareness of their whereabouts at a given moment. Bentegéat said this requires creation of a new database that would be constantly updated with information from national naval authorities. This will take time, however, as it won’t be ready before 2010.
No Conflict With NATO
Bentegéat said the union’s battlegroup concept goals have been agreed with NATO counterparts to avoid duplication and to boost efficiency. Referring to NATO’s standby rapid-reaction force that combines land, air, sea and special force units into one package, he said, We are not going to duplicate the NATO Response Force, adding that all our navies use the same operating standards as NATO, so there won’t be any interoperability problems either.Asked about who would pay the operating costs of air-naval units, which can be expensive to deploy, the French official said, We will rely on the same costing principle as at NATO: Costs fall where they may. As for implications for the European Union’s so-called Athena fund, which reimburses national capitals for common overhead costs of EU military and security missions, he said, I don’t foresee any need to increase this fund.
Meanwhile, EU and national military planners aim to have a rapid-reaction concept for air assets defined by the summer, followed by one for maritime assets before the end of 2007.
Bentegéat said the EU battlegroup concept has done more good for the nations than all the previous capability planning by national capitals of the last six years. It has boosted interoperability, deployability and sustainability across the EU and brought positive benefits to all member states, and especially the small ones.The various capability groups handed over their work last year to the European Defense Agency, which works closely with the EU Military Committee. E-mail:
btigner@defensenews.com.
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 QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = THU Mar 22 12:00 AM EDT
MAR 21,07
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAR 20,07
MAP 3.6 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.2 SEA OF OKHOTSK
MAP 4.4 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 5.0 LA RIOJA, ARGENTINA
MAP 4.4 GREECE
MAP 5.3 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
MAP 4.2 CHIAPAS, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 4.4 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.5 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.2 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
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.
Landslides and rain kill 67 in Pakistan by Abu Ahsan MAR 21,07
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AFP) - Relentless rain triggered landslides and roof collapses across northern Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir, leaving at least 67 people dead, officials and reports said Wednesday.
At least 37 survivors of the devastating 2005 earthquake in Pakistani Kashmir were killed when two mudslides swept away their mountainside homes, police spokesman Javed Ahmed told AFP in the regional capital Muzaffarabad.Twenty-seven people, mostly women, died and 16 were injured when a huge landslide hit Doba Syedan village in Kashmir's Jhelum Valley area late Tuesday, police spokesman Javed Ahmed told AFP.Another 10 were killed in a separate landslip at Jabar Daray village in the mountainous Bagh district on Tuesday, Ahmed said.It has been raining here for two days and the landslides happened almost simultaneously. These people were in houses built on terraces on the hillsides and huge landslides buried them, Ahmed said.Police and army teams are in the area trying to remove the debris and recover the bodies. So far two bodies have been recovered in the Jhelum Valley. Efforts being made to recover the others.
Ahmed added: It's very unfortunate. These are the people who were worst hit in the earthquake.
The 7.6-magnitude quake in October 2005 claimed more than 73,000 lives and left 3.3 million homeless in Pakistani Kashmir and northwestern Pakistan. More than 1,000 also died in Indian Kashmir.Authorities later shifted around 55 families to safer places and gave them tents and rations after landslides damaged dozens of homes in the Tariqabad area adjoining Muzaffarabad, district chief Syed Zahoor Gilani said.Landslides and avalanches were also reported in North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, and press reports said the nationwide toll excluding Kashmir stood at more than 30.Five members of a family were buried alive when an avalanche hit their home in mountainous Swat district on Tuesday, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said. Five more died when their roof caved in in the same district.Four family members were reported killed in a landslide in the nearby town of Mingora and another seven died when their house collapsed in Malakand district. A house collapse also left three children and women dead in Mardan. Torrential rains and heavy snow also paralysed life in northern Pakistan and traffic was blocked on the main Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan with China.The meteorological department has forecast more rains in Kashmir and northwest Pakistan over the next 36 hours.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Wed Mar 21, 6:08 AM ET
Rain was expected in much of the nation Wednesday, while clear skies and rising temperatures were forecast for the West. Early morning rain and high-elevation snow was likely to move out of California and the Great Basin and into the Southwest and Southern Rockies.
A warm front moving through the Upper Mississippi Valley and into the Great Lakes was expected to bring rain and thunderstorms from Illinois to Michigan. Showers were possible in New England later in the day.A cold front moving through the Plains was expected to bring rain from Kansas to Wisconsin.Temperatures were forecast to rise into the 60s and 70s in the Plains and the Southeast. The Northeast was expected to rise into the 30s and 40s, while the Upper Midwest was to see temperatures in the 40s, 50s and 60s. The Northwest was expected to reach the 40s and 50s, while California could see temperatures ranging from the 30s to the 70s.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday ranged from a low of 21 degrees at Embarrass, Minn., to a high of 91 degrees at Gila Bend, Ariz.
Canada records its second-warmest winter Tue Mar 20, 6:17 PM ET
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canada basked in the second-warmest winter since it began taking national records in 1948, topped only by last winter, the national weather service said on Tuesday. The winter of 2006-07 was 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, matching a level set in the winter of 1986-87, with nearly all regions of the country experiencing above normal temperatures, Environment Canada said.Precipitation during the winter was slightly less than normal.Temperatures were 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal this winter in northern British Columbia, eastern Yukon and eastern Northwest Territories, according to data posted on Environment Canada's Web site.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
Alberta hospital closed after superbug, sterilization problems
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 CBC News
Health officials are reviewing four years of patient records at a rural Alberta hospital after an investigation into a superbug outbreak revealed that hospital equipment wasn't properly sterilized.
Dr. Gerhard Benadé, the region's medical health officer, issued a public health order Friday requiring St. Joseph's General Hospital in Vegreville to halt all admissions and close its sterilization room. The order was not made public until Tuesday.Benadé discovered the sterilization problem while investigating an outbreak among patients of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
Seven patients in the 25-bed hospital east of Edmonton contracted the antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection over a one-month period beginning in mid-January.These are minor infections, usually skin infections, if any symptoms at all, said Dr. Karen Grimsrud, deputy provincial health officer.Grimsrud said the bug is generally spread by health-care workers not washing their hands between patients.
Entirely about patient safety
While investigating the outbreak, Benadé uncovered the unrelated problem of improper sterilization of medical equipment at the hospital.Benadé said it was the first time he had been in the sterilization room since he started his job six years ago, and he made the decision to shut the room down as soon as he saw the problem.He said the risk to patients is low.We want to be transparent with this process.
It is entirely about patient safety. We will err on the side of caution. We will identify every single individual that might potentially be at risk.Health officials are now checking records of patients back to April 2003, including those who had surgeries or emergency room procedures. They are sending letters to those exposed to equipment that was inadequately sterilized and advising them to get tested for HIV, as well as hepatitis B and C.Alberta Health Minister Dave Hancock said although the risk to patients is low, it is prudent to review four years of medical records just in case.What we do know is that patients who have had surgical procedures or treatment in the emergency room at St. Joseph's may be at very low risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens, he said.
Contaminated with tissue, blood
The emergency room alone sees 14,000 people every year.Grimsrud confirmed that for one biopsy procedure alone — cystoscopy — 80 patients were being contacted.
Scopes used during surgery need to be thoroughly sterilized, but that wasn't happening at St. Joseph's, she said.There's tissue and blood left from the previous patient in that scope if it was not cleaned thoroughly with a brush and scrubbed and then is put into a sterilizer, so the concern was then the scope used on the next patient may still have material in it that can then transmit either HIV, hep B or hep C.Benadé said if blood tests show anyone contracted HIV or any other disease at the hospital, officials will search for patients from even earlier dates.Emergency and acute-care patients at the hospital in east-central Alberta are being sent to other nearby hospitals, and medical equipment requiring sterilization is also being sent to other hospitals.With files from the Canadian Press
Food recall worries pet owners
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 CBC News
Veterinarians and pet food retailers in Cape Breton say they have been swamped with phone calls following a massive recall of dog and cat food.Ten animals have died in the United States and many others have suffered renal failure, prompting one of North America's largest pet-food suppliers to recall dozens of brands of food.
Veterinarians say lethargy and vomiting are signs that animals are sick.(CBC) Jack Warner of Co-op Country Store said his store has been getting calls all day long from worried pet owners, but he has been able to give some of them reassuring news. It doesn't affect the dry food so they shouldn't be concerned, Warner said. Unless they're feeding cans or something, then they have to check the dates, the codes. Ontario-based Menu Foods announced Friday the recall of food sold in cans and pouches, calling it a precautionary move. The products are sold under various brand names, including Iams and Eukanuba, as well as house brands for Sobeys and other
supermarket chains.The investigation is focusing on wheat gluten used at two U.S. plants as the likely source of contamination.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began to investigate after receiving complaints on Feb. 20. When it fed the cuts and gravy product to 40 to 50 cats, seven of the animals died, FDA officials said.Veterinarian Melanie Gunsen said pet owners who fed their cats and dogs any product on the recall list should look for signs of lethargy, vomiting and a lack of appetite in their pets.It depends on the severity of the case, but renal failure itself, if it's extremely severe, is life threatening, Gunsen said.
Local stores have taken the foods off their shelves and are offering refunds.
Russia nixes excessive Iran sanctions By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer MAR 21,07
MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday it will not support excessive sanctions against its economic partner Iran, as the U.N. Security Council drew closer to a vote on a new, harsher set of measures intended to push Tehran to freeze its nuclear program. Ambassadors from the 15 Security Council nations held informal discussions at Britain's U.N. Mission in New York ahead of a meeting later Wednesday to discuss possible changes to the draft resolution.Germany and the five veto-wielding permanent council nations — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — agreed on the modest package of new sanctions Thursday to step up pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used to produce nuclear energy or nuclear weapons.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow will not support excessive sanctions against Iran, and added that the draft resolution has been softened at Moscow's behest.
Lavrov also denied claims that Moscow had told Iran it would not deliver nuclear fuel for the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran unless Tehran complies with U.N. demands.
There is no link whatsoever between the U.N. resolution ... and the implementation of the Bushehr project, he told lawmakers in the lower parliament house.The proposed new sanctions in the draft resolution would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs — about a third linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.The package also calls for voluntary restrictions on travel by the individuals subject to sanctions, on arms sales to Iran, and on new financial assistance or loans to the Iranian government.Lavrov said an earlier, tougher version of the draft resolution that included broader restrictions on officials' travel and a ban on credits to Iran had been softened on Russia's advice. We ... have agreed to influence Iran by gradually applying proportionate pressure, Lavrov said.
At Russia's insistence, neither the existing Security Council resolution nor the draft being discussed makes any mention of Bushehr. Lavrov said the Bushehr contract is in line with all international agreements aimed at preventing nuclear weapons proliferation.European and U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks said Tuesday that Moscow had bluntly told Tehran it would not ship fuel for Bushehr until Tehran freezes its uranium enrichment program, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council.Lavrov dismissed the claims as an unscrupulous trick.It's not the first time that we are seeing such an unscrupulous approach aimed at driving a wedge between us and Iran, he said.Russia has said fuel for Bushehr would not be supplied this month, as had been planned earlier, because of alleged Iranian payment delays that prompted Moscow to indefinitely postpone the Bushehr reactor's launch, which had been set for September. Russian officials also said that the number of workers at Bushehr had dwindled due to the funding shortage.
Iran angrily denied falling behind in payments and accused Russia of caving in to U.S. pressure to take a tougher line on Tehran. Iranian state television on Tuesday described Russia as an unreliable partner, adding: It is clear that Russia has stopped construction of this plant under pressure and for political reasons.On Wednesday, Lavrov repeated Russia's assertions that Iran had dragged its feet on payments for Bushehr.Regrettably, our Iranian colleagues aren't telling the truth when they blame Russia for the financial problems which have emerged. Financial problems do exist, but they are linked to the Iranian side breaching an earlier-agreed schedule of payments, he said.
Rice Presses Hamas to Renounce Violence
By David Gollust Washington 19 March 2007
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the new Palestinian unity government should unequivocally renounce violence to gain international recognition and enter peace talks with Israel.
Rice conferred with top European Union officials on the new Palestinian cabinet, whose leader has called for continued resistance against Israel. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.The Bush administration is taking a somewhat more conciliatory approach to the new Palestinian government, saying it will have contacts with non-Hamas members of the cabinet.But it is standing by its insistence that a Palestinian government must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements if it is to expect international aid and be part of a regional peace process.Condoleezza Rice (l) and Javier Solana at the State Department in Washington, DC The formation of the new Palestinian government was a key issue in a day-long dialogue here by Secretary Rice and key officials of the European Union, including chief diplomat Javier Solana.
Solana expressed seeming eagerness by the Europeans to work with the new government, saying he hoped it would at least incrementally accept peacemaking terms of the international Middle East Quartet, which includes the EU, Russia and the United Nations as well as the United States.In the meantime, Solana suggested the actions of the unity government are more important that its rhetoric: We would like to continue working with the Palestinian people, said Javier Solana.
We are not going to let the Palestinian people down, and we hope very much to follow in great detail the facts, the deeds that this government behaves. It's much more important what they do that what they say at this point in time.Secretary Rice however, seized on the declaration by the new government's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh - a holdover from the previous Hamas-led government - reaffirming the Palestinian's right to resistance against Israeli occupation:I'm not going to try and interpret what the right of resistance means, said Condoleezza Rice. But I'll tell you, it doesn't sound very good to me when one talks about all forms of resistance. So I would put the question to the Palestinian government and to its prime minister. Do you mean the right of resistance by violence? And let's get an answer.
The comments here came as the military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack Monday that wounded an Israeli civilian near the border with the Gaza strip, the first such act since the unity government took office Saturday. Israel denounced the attack, saying it showed the new coalition was flouting the will of the international community, while the State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack called the incident clearly disturbing and unacceptable. Earlier McCormack confirmed that unlike the U.S. political boycott of the previous Hamas-led Palestinian government, the United States is prepared to talk to non-Hamas members of the new cabinet.He mentioned in particular the new finance minister, Salam Fayyad of the mainstream Fatah party, a U.S. educated economist with whom the United States had close ties before the Hamas election victory early last year.Rice also discussed the new Palestinian government in a telephone conference call Monday with other principals of the Quartet. A formal Quartet statement is expected Tuesday, which McCormack said would reaffirm a collective ban on direct aid to the Palestinian government unless it met all its terms for dialogue. Rice is due to begin another mission to the Middle East at the end of this week that will include separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and talks in Cairo with foreign ministers of moderate Arab states.
Witnessing in Synagogues with the Messianic Prophecies! MAR 21,07
Now, please take a journey with me into a synagogue near Jerusalem. It was mid-afternoon, and I crossed the street and walked up the stairs of the Sephardic synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
I heard men praying from inside the synagogue, and as I opened the door, I was greeted with the smiles of three young men in their mid-twenties who all said to me at the same time Shalom. They were full-time students of the Talmud/Torah (Bible and commentaries).
They ushered me in, and one of the young men handed me a prayer shawl, so that I could lay Tefillin (put on Phylacteries and say some traditional prayers). I agreed as it would allow me to spend time with them, and meet the other men in the synagogue. The small synagogue was lively, with about 30 men studying and debating the Scriptures. There was one class of about eight men being taught by a rabbi, but the rest of the men were studying one on one with another study partner. Some of the men were in their late teens and twenties, some were middle-aged, and some were in their 70s and 80s. These are Jewish men who are zealous for the Lord as they study and debate the Talmud (Mishna and Gemara which are commentaries on the Bible) everyday for about eight hours.
There are tens of thousands of men in Israel who study the Scriptures full-time. God has preserved His Chosen People over the centuries and He has His hand on Israel. His people are still the People of the Book as they have preserved His Word and continue to cry out to Him, and study His Scriptures. The problem is that they have missed their Messiah! They search the Scriptures because they have a love for the Word but they have been told the lie that Jesus is not the Messiah. The prophecies in the Bible are ignored and discounted and the Talmud states that Jesus is not the Messiah. So with all the zeal and love for the Lord, these Orthodox Jewish men and the Jewish people in Israel will perish for eternity, because they do not know His Son. And that's why it is urgent that we provide them with a Messianic Prophecy Bible. As the prophet Hosea wrote: My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6
I love being in the synagogues with my people. I know that many of them hunger for truth but no one is taking the Gospel to them. I put on the Tefellin and then the three men started asking me questions as they introduced themselves to me. Shalom, I'm Ilan, and I'm Menachem, they each said.
Please come and study the Scriptures with us.We looked over some of the passages in the Talmud together and then they introduced me to Avraham, who is studying to be a rabbi. Avraham showed me the passages he was reading in the Talmud, but I wanted to engage him in Messianic Prophecies. I asked him to read the Messianic Prophecy in Daniel 9:26, which explains the timeframe of 70 x 7 weeks before the Messiah takes away the sins of Israel and is cut off. Avraham needed to get the book of Daniel from the bookshelf, so we walked over to the other side of the synagogue where the head rabbi was teaching his eight students.In Judaism we have the Bible as one complete book, but we also have each book of the Prophets as separate books. So, Avraham pulled out the book of Daniel from the bookcase shelf and opened it up to chapter 9, verse 26 reading the Messianic Prophecy!
I asked Avraham, Who do you think this Scripture is speaking about? I'm not sure, this is a complicated subject, Avraham replied. Avraham agreed that it was speaking about the Messiah, but he was never told about any prophecies, and that all of this was new for him. I told him about the Messianic Prophecy Bible that we are producing and he said that he would be willing to look at it, and that he was interested in studying these Scriptures.
All three of them, Avraham, Ilan, and Menachem said that they have been taught that the Messiah will come from the line of King David, and that Jesus was NOT the promised Messiah. However they did not know anything about the other 30 main prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. Sometimes I think to myself, Lord, these people study all day long. I know they believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but why don't they know you? And I continually hear the Lord say to me, Because no one is taking the Gospel to them.The Apostle Paul (Rabbi Shaul) writes in Romans 10:14, How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
Can you or I imagine what life would be like if we were never given a Bible, or if we did not know the Lord? Let's us not be complacent, we must take our responsibility of reaching God's Chosen People in a very serious way. Every 4 minutes a Jewish person dies (passes from this life into eternity - 99% of them without God)!
In the time that it took you to read this letter, about 7 Jewish people have passed away. Esther saved the Jewish people in Iran (Persia), but with your financial support you can save lives for eternity. During the holiday of Purim, it is a biblical Jewish custom to give gifts to those who are in need, so please make the biggest gift you can today for the Messianic Prophecy Bible Project. I know the Lord will bless and reward you. It is so important for you to make the best gift you can today, so that we can get Lubavitchers and all Jews, a copy of the Messianic Prophecy Bible when it is completed. They will see that Yeshua is the Real Messiah spoken of in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and have eternal life!
DONATE HERE http://messianicbible.com/donate.asp
With all my brotherly love in Messiah Yeshua,
Zev Isaacs
Founder
P.S. Because of your financial support, you are being a part of Prophecy that will be fulfilled. Jewish people like Avraham, Ilan and Menachem will have the opportunity to say Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai - Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.
A MESSAGE FROM RABBI ECKSTEIN
Dear Stan,
I cannot imagine a time when your prayers and support for Israel have been more needed than they are today. The Jewish State—and, indeed, Jewish people around the world—are going through a period of great suffering and uncertainty that does not promise to end any time soon.
Around the world—from the former Soviet Union, to Europe, to South America—a rising tide of anti-Semitism has put Jews on alert. In Israel, the threat of attack from Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups remains a daily reality, and the possibility of a nuclear Iran looms ever larger. Meanwhile, poverty in Israel continues to rise. A recent report showed that the number of poor in Israel rose by 100,000 last year to a staggering 1.6 million people—including one in three Israel children. The harsh reality of these problems is indeed sobering. But I want to focus on something hopeful—the staunch support of Israel by Fellowship partners like you, who give so generously to our lifesaving programs. Every day, I am heartened to think of your commitment to supporting Israel through our On Wings of Eagles, Guardians of Israel, and Isaiah 58 programs—programs that touch literally thousands of Israelis and Jews worldwide every day.
On Wings of Eagles—Supporting Prophetic Return of Jews to the Holy Land
On Wings of Eagles continues to assist needy Jews in making aliyah (immigrating to Israel). They come from all over the world—Russia, Argentina, Europe, India, and elsewhere—to escape rising anti-Semitism and extreme poverty, and to realize their lifelong dream of living in their biblical homeland. And when they arrive in the Holy Land, On Wings of Eagles provides them with klitah (resettlement) assistance to help them become full, productive citizens of their new home. Through your gifts, The Fellowship helps fulfill the prophecies that promise to gather the Jewish exiles from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12).
Isaiah 58—Extending a Lifesaving Hand to Needy Jews in the former Soviet Union
In the former Soviet Union (FSU), hundreds of thousands of Jews live in desperate poverty. Many elderly who have survived both the Holocaust and years of oppressive communist rule now live on meager government pensions, and often must make the heartbreaking choice between buying food or medicine. But with your help, Isaiah 58 is able to provide suffering Jews in the FSU with nutritious food, medicine, and other critical needs such as blankets and heating.
Guardians of Israel—Turning despair into hope for suffering Israelis
Israel continues to struggle with poverty and the continued threat of war and terrorist attack.
The Fellowship's Guardians of Israel program responds to this desperate situation through initiatives that ease the suffering of needy Israelis, providing them with food, housing, medical care, clothing, and other essentials. At the same time, it comforts and provides for the future of those whose lives have been devastated by terror, funds war relief and rebuilding efforts, and addresses a host of other emergency needs for people who have nowhere else to turn. Every day I thank God for our Guardians of Israel partners. I cannot imagine how Israel could come through her current trials without them—through their generous gifts, they are truly acting as the 'watchmen on the walls' of Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:6).
Please make an online donation to Guardians of Israel and help turn despair into hope!https://secure2.convio.net/ifcj/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID=9082&s_subsrc
=E7CMAD13&S_SILAS1=text1&JServSessionIdr004=jdr6gypgl3.
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We are only able to respond to these and countless other needs in Israel because of support from generous friends like you who have taken to heart the biblical words, whoever is kind to the needy honors God (Proverbs 14:31). Today, I ask you to give generously to The Fellowship program that most speaks to your heart. On behalf of Israelis and Jewish people everywhere, struggling to survive against what, at times, seems like insurmountable odds, I thank you for your kind heart and willingness to bless the Jewish people with your prayers and support.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Landmark dates for the European Union
21.03.2007 - 09:23 CET | By Honor Mahony
After World War II – French economist Jean Monnet develops his plans to ease tensions between France and Germany as they square up over control of the steel-and coal-rich Ruhr region.
1950 – French foreign minister Robert Schuman makes his seminal declaration on France and Germany setting up a common coal and steel community, harnessing them together economically so that another war would become not merely unthinkable but materially impossible.
1951 – The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) is established by the Treaty of Paris. Six countries – Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – are members.
1955 – The Messina declaration by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg in 1955 was a statement of intention to create the European economic community. It paved the way for the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
1957 – The six members of the ECSC sign the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
1958 – The principles of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are set by the Stresa conference and come into force in 1962.
1963 – Non! French President Charles De Gaulle vetoes British membership, saying he believes the country is not committed enough to European integration.
1967 – ECSC, EEC and Euratom merge to form the European Community (EC).
1973 – The UK, Ireland and Denmark join the European Community. Norway votes against joining.
1979 – Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) is formed, linking the German mark, French and Belgian francs, Dutch guilder, Danish crown, Irish punt and Italian lira within narrow bands.
1981 – Greece joins the European Community (10th member).
1985 – Jacques Delors becomes president of the European Commission. His close ties with the leaders of France and Germany made it one of the most dynamic times for the bloc.
1986 – Spain and Portugal join the European Community. The European Flag – blue background with 12 golden stars – is unveiled.
1987 – Single European Act comes into force. It set 1992 as the goal for achieving a common market.
1990 – After the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of communist rule, the new democracies of central and eastern Europe express a wish to join the European Community.
1991 – The Maastricht treaty on Economic and Monetary Union is signed. The European Community becomes the European Union. It paves the way to monetary union, introduces the idea of European citizenship, allowing voting in municipal elections in any member state. It also introduces the so-called three pillars of the European Union (the European Communities pillar, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Justice and Home Affairs pillar).
1993 – The Maastricht Treaty comes into force – having been only narrowly approved in France and only after a second referendum in Denmark which secured a monetary union opt-out.
1995 – Austria, Sweden and Finland join the EU. Norway again votes no to joining the bloc (1994). France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Benelux countries are the first to drop internal border controls as part of the Schengen Agreement. Ireland and the UK remain outside the open borders agreement.
1997 – EU leaders agree to open entry talks with six candidates: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus. Five other ex-communist states - Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania - are told they must make more progress before opening negotiations.
1997 – Amsterdam Treaty creates the post of EU High Representative for foreign and security policy, opens the way to more co-operation in justice and home affairs as well as the possibility, under strict conditions, for member states to go ahead and cooperate further if they want.
1999 – The EU agrees to start accession talks with Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta. It also agrees to recognise Turkey as an applicant country.
2000 – An acrimonious summit in France agrees the Nice Treaty on institutional reforms to prepare the bloc for enlargement – but even before the ink was dry, it was generally agreed that it would only be a stopgap treaty with further EU reform needed. It goes into force in 2003 after having first been rejected, then accepted, by Ireland.
2002 – The euro becomes the currency in 12 countries – Denmark, Sweden and the UK keep their national currencies.
2004 – Ten new member states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Malta and Cyprus – join the EU. The EU constitution is signed, it introduces an EU foreign minister, gives the European Parliament more power and changes the EU decision-making system.
2005 – The EU constitution is rejected by French and Dutch voters in referendums – putting the document into political limbo.
2005 – The EU opens membership talks with both Croatia – expected to join in 2009/10 - and Turkey - not expected to join for a decade.
2007 – Bulgaria and Romania join the EU. Slovenia becomes the 13th member state to take on the single currency.
2007 and beyond – negotiations on a new-look EU treaty are still under way. The name constitution is likely to be dropped however, proving too much to swallow for several countries.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
EU To Include Air, Naval Forces in Battlegroup Concept
By BROOKS TIGNER, ZEEBRUGGE, Belgium MAR 19,07
The European Union will extend its rapid-reaction battlegroup concept — currently applied only to land forces — to Europe’s air and naval forces by the end of this year, according to EU officials and military planners.Unlike the union’s growing number of stand-by, multination army battlegroups, however, there will be no permanent air or naval battlegroups awaiting deployment, they said. Instead, dispersed air and naval forces would be ready to assemble at a moment’s notice, though the coordination tools to enable that have yet to be developed.
How the 27 EU nations might quickly pull together naval assets at sea to form a so-called maritime task group (MTG) to support a joint operation was demonstrated during a one-day naval exercise March 12 off the coast of this Belgian port. It was the first test-case for applying the battlegroup concept to a mixture of air and naval elements.The exercise involved five ships — a frigate and combat support vessel from Germany, and three combat frigates from Belgium, France and the Netherlands — as well as French and German fighter aircraft and helicopters. It revolved around the kind of multidimension scenario for which the European Union is tailoring its rapid-reaction forces: crisis management, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid. In this case, the scenario involved maritime interdiction and evacuation of EU nationals from shore to ship.
The exercise was observed by diplomats and high-ranking military officials from all 27 EU nations from the deck of a German combat support frigate, the FGS Frankfurt am Main, at the invitation of the union’s German presidency. Berlin holds the post until July, when Portugal takes over.
There is a strong political will across the EU to further develop the battlegroup concept by including air and naval components, said Clemens von Goetze, Germany’s ambassador to the European Union.
This has been a very useful day for observing how these elements can strengthen the EU’s security and defense policies.How To Call Upon the Assets?
Not surprisingly, the carefully planned exercise was deemed a success. But the task now facing EU and national military planners is to define how to draw on air and naval rapid-response assets when actually needed.Though European capitals have designated hundreds of ships for potential use during EU-led missions, their navies are so stretched that I’m sure most would not want a standing or permanent maritime battlegroup force, a German naval officer said. This is what we need clarified:
Will an EU maritime battlegroup be something permanent or more temporary and flexibly put together?
We do face a challenge here, Henri Bentegéat, French chairman of the union’s Military Committee of national chiefs of defense, told reporters after the exercise. There is difficulty in putting air and naval forces on [permanent] stand-by status. We have concluded we cannot do this, so we are trying to find different formulas for creating MTGs based on available assets [at any given moment], he said.
We’ll be looking at measures to develop forces at any time without mandatory stand-by elements.The key to any such rapid assembly of naval or air elements will be awareness of their whereabouts at a given moment. Bentegéat said this requires creation of a new database that would be constantly updated with information from national naval authorities. This will take time, however, as it won’t be ready before 2010.
No Conflict With NATO
Bentegéat said the union’s battlegroup concept goals have been agreed with NATO counterparts to avoid duplication and to boost efficiency. Referring to NATO’s standby rapid-reaction force that combines land, air, sea and special force units into one package, he said, We are not going to duplicate the NATO Response Force, adding that all our navies use the same operating standards as NATO, so there won’t be any interoperability problems either.Asked about who would pay the operating costs of air-naval units, which can be expensive to deploy, the French official said, We will rely on the same costing principle as at NATO: Costs fall where they may. As for implications for the European Union’s so-called Athena fund, which reimburses national capitals for common overhead costs of EU military and security missions, he said, I don’t foresee any need to increase this fund.
Meanwhile, EU and national military planners aim to have a rapid-reaction concept for air assets defined by the summer, followed by one for maritime assets before the end of 2007.
Bentegéat said the EU battlegroup concept has done more good for the nations than all the previous capability planning by national capitals of the last six years. It has boosted interoperability, deployability and sustainability across the EU and brought positive benefits to all member states, and especially the small ones.The various capability groups handed over their work last year to the European Defense Agency, which works closely with the EU Military Committee. E-mail:
btigner@defensenews.com.
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