REVIVED ROME AT 50

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Quake rocks Japan, kills 1, injures 170. 3-Quakes shake Vanuatu in South Pacific. 4-Record heat South, strong Midwest storms 5-Commerce chief pushes for North American integration. 6-Shiite militants bomb Sunni mosque. 7-Olmert blasts Abbas for broken promise. 8-Menu Foods cannot explain toxin in its pet food. 9-EU seeks end to constitutional crisis. 10-EU special coin to mark 50 years since Rome Treaty. 11-Congratulations Europe! MAR 25,07.

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 = Mon Mar 26 12:00 AM EDT

MAR 25,07
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 VANUATU
MAP 5.5 NEAR THE WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 NORTHERN COLOMBIA
MAP 2.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 CHANNEL ISLANDS REGION, CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.0 VANUATU
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 6.7 NEAR THE WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 7.2 VANUATU
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

MAR 24,07
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.9 OFFSHORE TARAPACA, CHILE
MAP 4.0 CHUKCHI SEA
MAP 5.4 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
MAP 4.4 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY REG., QUEBEC, CANADA
MAP 4.6 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 5.4 PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.7 NORTH OF SVALBARD
MAP 4.8 APURE, VENEZUELA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.1 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.2 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION
MAP 4.9 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.4 NEAR THE COAST OF AISEN, CHILE

Quake rocks Japan, kills 1, injures 170 By SHIZUO KANBAYASHI, Associated Press Writer MAR 25,07

KANAZAWA, Japan - A powerful earthquake struck central Japan on Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring 170 others as it toppled buildings, triggered landslides and generated a small tsunami along the coast. The quake was followed throughout the day by aftershocks. The magnitude-6.9 quake struck at 9:42 a.m. off the north coast of Ishikawa, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. The agency issued a tsunami warning urging people near the sea to move to higher land.

A small tsunami measuring 6 inches hit the shore 36 minutes later, the agency said.The morning quake toppled buildings, triggered landslides, cut power, interfered with phone service, broke water mains and snarled public transportation. At least one person was killed and 170 others were hurt along the country's Sea of Japan coast, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Television footage of the quake showed buildings shaking violently for about 30 seconds. Other shots showed collapsed buildings and shops with shattered windows, streets cluttered with roof tiles and roads with cracked pavement.

We felt violent shaking. My colleagues say the insides of their houses are a mess, with everything smashed on the floor, Wataru Matsumoto, deputy mayor of the town of Anamizu, near the epicenter, told NHK.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki confirmed the death of a 52-year-old woman. NHK said she was crushed by a falling stone lantern.We are doing our best to rescue the victims, he said. We are also doing our best to assess the extent of the damage.The quake knocked down at least 39 homes in Ishikawa and damaged another 143, the FDMA said. Most of the injuries and damage were concentrated in the city of Wajima, it added, about 193 miles northwest of Tokyo.Takeshi Hachimine, seismology and tsunami section chief at the Meteorological Agency, said the affected area was not considered earthquake-prone. The last major quake to cause casualties there was in 1933, when three people died.After the powerful earthquake, aftershocks will continue, Hachimine said.

Japan sits atop four tectonic plates and is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. The last major quake to hit the capital, Tokyo, killed some 142,000 people in 1923, and experts say the capital has a 90 percent chance of suffering a major quake in the next 50 years.In October 2004, a magnitude-6.8 earthquake hit northern Japan, killing 40 people and damaging more than 6,000 homes.

It was the deadliest to hit Japan since 1995, when a magnitude-7.2 quake killed 6,433 people in the western city of Kobe.Powerful quakes in 1703, 1782, 1812 and 1855 also caused vast damage in the capital.According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter of Sunday's quake was 225 miles northwest of Tokyo. The USGS measured its magnitude at 6.7.Associated Press writers Hans Greimel, Carl Freire and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this story.

Quakes shake Vanuatu in South Pacific MAR 25,07

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Two strong earthquakes struck the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Sunday and a tsunami warning was issued for some of its southern islands, police said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the capital, Port Vila.Australia's Emergency Management Office warned the powerful quakes could generate a tsunami, said police spokesman Capt. Arnold Giro.We are moving (coastal) communities to higher ground on the southern islands, he said. We have advised the islands to be alert for a possible tsunami.He said they were still checking on injuries and damage.

A magnitude 7.2 quake hit at 11:40 a.m. local time was located 210 miles southeast of Port Vila and 75 miles south of the small volcanic island of Tanna, police said. It occurred 4.7 miles beneath the earth's surface.The temblor was followed 28 minutes later by a magnitude 6.0 quake 220 miles southeast of Port Vila and some 85 miles south of Tanna, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Police spokesman Capt. Arnold Giro said emergency services were still checking the effects of the quakes in remote islands close to where they were centered.We experienced a little bit of movement (in Port Vila) but not as destructive as might be expected, he told The Associated Press.

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.

Record heat South, strong Midwest storms Mark Avery, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Sun Mar 25, 5:18 AM ET

Midwest

Portions of the Upper Midwest will see the threat of severe thunderstorms today. The primary threats will be damaging winds, large hail, and a few tornadoes over portions of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin today and tonight. Showers and thunderstorms will move into Michigan and Ohio on Monday, with more rain and thunder returning to the Midwest on Tuesday through Thursday, with rain in the Mississippi Valley on Friday. Temperatures will be well above average throughout the week ahead, with several record highs being threatened over the next several days.

South

West Texas will also see a chance of thunderstorms today, with a few of those storms producing large hail and damaging winds, as well as heavy rain. Thunderstorms will spread across much of Texas on Monday, moving eastward to western Arkansas and Louisiana on Tuesday. More storms will be possible over the Southern Plains Wednesday and Thursday, moving into the Mississippi Delta on Friday. Otherwise, the big story this week across the South will be the continued unseasonably warm temperatures.

West

Areas of heavy rain will move into the Pacific Northwest today, mainly from Oregon to the Chimney of Idaho. Snow will be possible in the higher elevations of the Cascades. Moisture will spread inland into the Northern Rockies and Northern High Plains, and southward into Central California by Monday. An upper level trough moves in along the Pacific Coast Monday night into Tuesday, bringing rain (with mountain snow) across much of the West, including Southern California. Valley rain, mountain snow, and wind will be possible over the Northern and Central Rockies on Wednesday. Rain will in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday and Friday. While high temperatures are expected to be above average today and Monday across much of the West, cooler than average temperatures will move in Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures will rebound Thursday and Friday.

Northeast

A fairly quiet weather day is on tap for the Northeast today after some rain and snow affected the region on Saturday. Highs today will be close to seasonal averages. Rain, with a few thunderstorms, moves back into the region on Monday. Because of warmer temperatures, the subsequent snowmelt, and forecast rainfall, flood watches are posted for portions of New York State into southern Vermont. A few showers are possible in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, with scattered thunderstorms returning to the Mid-Atlantic on Wednesday and Thursday. Highs will be near or above average through the week ahead.

DANIEL 7:23-24 (EU CONTROLS THE WHOLE EARTH)
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.(EU LEADER DICTATOR)
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.(EU DICTATOR)

Commerce chief pushes for North American integration
Communiqué shows SPP far more than just 'dialogue' with Canada, Mexico
March 24, 2007, 1:00 a.m. Eastern - By Jerome R. Corsi - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez

While the Bush administration insists the controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership is just a dialogue with Canada and Mexico, a State Department cable released to WND shows Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez pressing to implement major trilateral initiatives to help capture the vision of North American integration.The cable was among some 150 pages of State Department SPP documents recently released to WND under a Freedom of Information Act request. Howard Phillips, who has formed a coalition to block development of a North American Union and formation of NAFTA superhighways, told WND the document makes clear that the agenda of SPP is to pursue major economic integration that redefines U.S. businesses into a North American definition.By leading with economics, SPP is crafting a North American regulatory structure that transforms U.S. regulations by harmonizing them with Mexican and Canadian regulations, all without specific congressional approval, said Phillips, chairman of the Conservative Caucus.

The State Department communiqué, dated May 20, 2005, documents a March 13, 2005, meeting between Gutierrez, Mexican Secretary of Economy Fernando Canales and Canadian Privy Council Assistant Secretary Phil Ventura. The meeting was held just prior to the announcement of SPP at the trilateral summit with the country's three leaders in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005. The cable notes Gutierrez opened the discussion by stressing that the July 23, 2005, Report to Leaders needed to show results that would be enduring and create an on-going process.Gutierrez suggested each working group should propose one big ticket issue, rather than the 50-60 smaller initiatives that were then in the SPP matrix, allowing the SPP ministers to capture the attention of the SPP leaders with major North American integration goals that were both tangible and important. This memo gives us an important behind the scenes look at the trilateral bureaucratic process that gave rise to the Report to
Leaders.

The 2005 Report to Leaders on the SPP website, Phillips noted, resulted from a detailed process of trilateral bureaucratic meetings that led to cabinet-level discussions within the three governments. The end result, he said, was for the report to focus on the major SPP working group initiatives that could advance the goal of North American integration.Phillips contended a close reading of the document makes a lie of the SPP myth vs. facts contention that SPP is just a dialogue.The document quotes Canada's Ventura as stating that the three countries should prepare a joint document declaring their trilateral intention to integrate a list of industries, including automobiles, pharmaceuticals, textiles, furniture, and steel, he argued. Ventura said the more trilateral integrated industries that could be listed, the better.

At the meeting, Gutierrez proposed that the SPP ministers think in terms of a trilateral integrated auto industry creating a Made in North America Vehicle by 2009. He also suggested announcing an IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) Violation Free Zone by 2010 and that SPP ministers should hold weekly conference calls to advance the agenda. The economic route being pursued behind closed doors by SPP working groups is a replay of the exact stealth route taken in Europe, Phillips noted. Right now the EU is celebrating with a series of television commercials the evolution over a 50-year period from an initial coal and steel agreement to a full-fledged European Union regional government with the euro as a regional currency, he said.

The recently uncovered State Department memo, Phillips added, makes clear the same bureaucratic process of regional integration is being implemented in North America within working group and minister meetings that are closed to the public and the press. The State Department memo also makes clear that Gutierrez is a major moving force driving the North American integration agenda for the Bush White House, Phillips said.

Supporting Phillips contention, the State Department cable noted in the last paragraph the meeting got off to a slow start, but under Gutierrez's leadership it resulted in concrete ideas and direction for the working groups.

THE BIBLE SAYS BROTHER WILL BE AGAINST BROTHER, AND ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP IN THESE LAST DAYS.

MATTHEW 24:6-8,10
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

Shiite militants bomb Sunni mosque By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer MAR 25,07

BAGHDAD - Suspected Shiite militants bombed a Sunni mosque in southern Iraq on Sunday in apparent retaliation for a suicide attack the day before against a Shiite shrine in the same city that killed 11 people, police said. The explosives blew a hole in the minaret of the Sunni mosque in Haswa, a predominantly Shiite city 30 miles south of Baghdad, but the mosque was empty and no casualties were reported.The attack came a day after a man driving a truck laden with explosives and boxes of new shoes struck a Shiite mosque in Haswa, destroying nearby stores as well as part of the shrine and its minaret, which rose above piles of concrete, broken chairs and other rubble.

Police said 45 people also were wounded in that attack — one of a series of suicide bombings that killed a total of 47 people as insurgents appeared to be stepping up their campaign against an American-led security crackdown trying to stop retaliatory sectarian attacks.On March 14, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William C. Caldwell expressed optimism about the operation, but urged patience and cautioned that high-profile car bombings, which rose to a high of 77 in February, could start the whole cycle of violence again.

The number of execution-style killings in the capital has declined since the operation started on Feb. 14 — a development officials say is due to an agreement keeping Shiite militias off the street, and Sunday's attack in Haswa highlighted concerns that militia factions are angry about being sidelined while the bombings continue.Meanwhile, the Islamic State in Iraq, an insurgent umbrella group that
includes al-Qaida in Iraq, purportedly claimed responsibility for three suicide bombings Saturday near the Anbar province city of Qaim, near the Syrian border, saying in an Internet statement that 45 policemen were killed and 48 were wounded.The statement could not be independently verified, and police said only six people had been killed, including five policemen, and 19 other people wounded.
One of the attackers hit a checkpoint, while another targeted a police station but was forced to detonate his explosives about yards away after guards opened fire on him, Col. Tariq Yousif al-Dulaimi said, adding that all the casualties were from those two explosions.

A third bombing also occurred about 100 yards away from an Iraqi-staffed checkpoint, but only the attacker was killed after the guards opened fire, he said.

The deadliest attack on Saturday destroyed a police station in Baghdad, killing 20 people — half policemen and several others inmates at a jail in the two-story building. The bomber bypassed tight security to get within 25 yards of the station by blending in with other trucks coming and going as part of a construction project, detonating his explosives after reaching the main gate, police said.In all, at least 74 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on Saturday, making it the seventh deadliest day since U.S. and Iraqi forces launched the security operation on Feb. 14, according to an Associated Press tally.The bombings were not as numerous and the casualties not as high as the death tolls that were often in the dozens before the U.S. and Iraqi governments sent thousands more troops to the Baghdad area to try to stop a surge of retaliatory attacks between Sunnis and Shiites.But they came on the heels of other high-profile attacks last week, including a suicide bombing that wounded Iraq's Sunni deputy prime minister and killed nine other people and a rocket strike that landed near a news conference being held by the U.N. secretary-general in Baghdad.

An aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the deputy prime minister, Salam al-Zubaie, had been wounded by shrapnel in his face, stomach and chest but his condition was improving.The doctors say that his situation will improve within the two coming days to the degree that he will be able to speak, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the situation.The aide also said al-Zubaie was being kept under tight security in the U.S.-run hospital in the heavily fortified Green Zone.Even his relatives are not allowed to enter the hospital, the aide said. Several Sunni lawmakers have said they have visited al-Zubaie and found him in good condition. The bombing occurred Friday in a private mosque on al-Zubaie's secured compound, raising concerns about how the attacker had penetrated the Sunni leader's inner circle. Some reports said it was a bodyguard; others a cook. The Islamic State in Iraq also claimed responsibility for that attack. U.S. and Iraqi forces, meanwhile, persisted with their neighborhood-to-neighborhood sweep of the capital, and the military announced Sunday that troops had found 470 anti-tank mines Saturday in the Shiite militia Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City after getting a tip from an Iraqi citizen.

Another large weapons cache with roadside bomb-making material was found and 31 suspected insurgents were detained Friday in Diyarah 30 miles south of Baghdad, the military said in a separate statement. The military also said Iraqi police had detained a man Friday as he was trying to detonate an explosives-laden truck containing five, 1,000-gallon barrels of chlorine near a police station and a water treatment plant in the Sunni city of Ramadi. The use of the toxic gas in recent attacks has prompted the U.S. military to warn that insurgents are adopting new tactics in a campaign to spread panic. Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad contributed to this report.

THE BIBLE SAYS THIS CONTRACT OF PEACE WILL BE BUILT ON LIES.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Olmert blasts Abbas for broken promise By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Sun Mar 25, 7:18 AM ET

JERUSALEM - In unusually blunt criticism, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blatantly violated a promise to free a captive Israeli soldier before forming a new national unity government. Olmert spoke before the weekly Cabinet meeting and ahead of high-profile talks Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, both visiting the region.We can't ignore the fact that the chairman of the Palestinian Authority blatantly violated a series of commitments to Israel, especially the commitment that no national unity government would be formed before Gilad Shalit's release, Olmert said.Shalit was captured by Hamas-linked militants in June 2006 and is believed to be held in the Gaza Strip. His condition is unknown.Olmert said Abbas had made the commitment again and again in meetings between the two leaders, during three-way summits that included Rice, and to foreign heads of state.Palestinians have said Abbas made no such promises, committing only to do his best to work for Shalit's release. The coalition of the Islamist Hamas and Abbas' more moderate Fatah was inaugurated a week ago.

Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said Abbas never promised to release Shalit before forming the government.I think Mr. Olmert is misleading the world community and his own people, Barghouti said.Israel, he maintained, was responsible for the delay in Shalit's release because it was not dealing seriously with Palestinian offers of a prisoner exchange.Responding to Olmert's comments Sunday, Abbas said, We are completely convinced that it is necessary to release the Israeli soldier. We worked, are working and will work to release him. Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah with Ban, Abbas also said Israel had to release Palestinian prisoners.In a weekend interview with the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, Abbas said Hamas rejected his demand to condition the government's formation on Shalit's release.The international community imposed a boycott on the Palestinian government after Hamas took power last year to try to force the Islamic group to renounce violence, recognize Israel and commit to existing peace agreements. The new government's platform does not explicitly meet any of those demands.

The new platform and the fact that Shalit is still being held by his captors won't make our contacts with the Palestinian Authority in the near future any easier, Olmert told his Cabinet.Israel is continuing to boycott the new government. The U.S. and other countries are boycotting its Hamas members and holding some contacts with independents and Fatah representatives.Olmert also hailed the U.N. Security Council's decision yesterday to impose more sanctions on Iran in an effort to dissuade it from pursuing its nuclear program.Olmert called the resolution an important and encouraging step. Israel, he said, prefers a political, diplomatic, economic solution to the Iranian problem.

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).

IF YOUR A CHRISTIAN YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY IF YOU LOSE YOUR PET IT GOES TO HEAVEN ALSO, YOU WILL BE REUNITED AFTER YOU DIE OR GO UP IN THE RAPTURE, WHICH EVER COMES FIRST IN YOUR LIFE.

WE RETURN WITH JESUS TO EARTH RIDING ON WHITE HORSES IN THE FUTURE. SPEAKING OF ANIMALS FOR A SECOND I LIKE THAT CUTE LITTLE POLAR BEAR KNUT, A CUTE KID.

REVELATION 19:11,14-16
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Menu Foods cannot explain toxin in its pet food By Scott Valentine
Fri Mar 23, 6:55 PM ET

TORONTO (Reuters) - Menu Foods Income Fund, whose pet food has been blamed for at least 14 deaths of cats and dogs, does not know how a toxic substance got into its products but will continue to operate the plants where the food was produced, company officials said on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, New York State officials said aminopterin, an ingredient used in rat poison, had been found in samples of the Ontario company's wet cat food. Executives of Menu told reporters in Toronto that they will begin testing all suspect raw materials, and that they consider the possibility of tampering to be remote.Some raw material entered our supply chain that did not meet the quality that had been represented, Menu Foods President Paul Henderson told a news conference. We've identified a correlation with a single ingredient and we've stopped using that ingredient.Menu would not confirm or deny earlier reports that identified wheat gluten from China as the suspect ingredient.

We'll systematically go through every ingredient and eliminate them as a possibility, said Dr. Richard Shields, Menu's executive vice president. We don't believe our quality control was lax.The two U.S. manufacturing plants where the tainted cuts and gravy style food came from are in Emporia, Kansas, and Pennsauken, New Jersey. Though Menu has yet to pinpoint the exact source of the contamination in the wet food's production, both locations continue to operate.We've performed tests at those facilities without issue, said Henderson. It's business as usual.Menu Foods recalled millions of pounds of wet pet food under various brand names a week ago. It is sticking with its initial cost estimate for the recall of C$30 million to C$40 million ($26 million to $35 million).Asked about compensation for medical bills of sick pets, Henderson said to the extent that we identify that the cause of any expenses incurred are related to the food, Menu will take responsibility for that.Asked if Menu would admit to any negligence in the matter, Henderson replied with a flat No.He did, however, acknowledge that the death count of animals poisoned by Menu's products is probably higher than the reported 13 cats and one dog.Menu is already the target of at least three lawsuits over the recall.

Units of Menu Foods rebounded 30.8 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday, after taking a beating earlier this week. The price jumped C$1.20 to C$5.10 on volume of more than 1.5 million units.($1=$1.16 Canadian)

DANIEL 7:23-24 (EU CONTROLS THE WHOLE EARTH)
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.(EU LEADER DICTATOR)
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.(EU DICTATOR)

THE EU DICTATOR

REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) 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 A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) 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 (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, 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.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

EU seeks end to constitutional crisis By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer MAR 25,07

BERLIN - European Union leaders celebrated half a century of unity Sunday by hailing the bloc's achievements in bolstering peace, democracy and prosperity, then pledged to end two years of deadlock over plans to radically overhaul the way the EU does business. Stagnation means regression, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her fellow leaders, urging them to get going on discussing a new EU treaty. We must always renew the political shape of Europe in keeping with the times.Merkel appealed for support for a German plan that calls on the EU to adopt a new treaty by 2009. That agreement would replace the draft constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in referendums in 2005, plunging the EU into profound crisis.However EU leaders are divided over how much of the old constitution should be retained.

Germany and Italy want to preserve much of the substance of the original text — Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told the summit it was a very solid basis on which to build.

However, the Dutch government this week insisted a new treaty must, in content, scope and name, convincingly differ from the constitution. The Poles, Czechs and British are even more wary about any changes that shift power from national capitals to EU headquarters.A solution will not be easy. Prodi said the birthday celebrations marked the end of a period of mourning over the failed constitution, but acknowledged the EU needed to rediscover something of its creative madness to find a way forward.

Substantive talks on the constitution are unlikely to get under way until after the French presidential election in April, which will see the departure of Jacques Chirac, who was attending his last EU summit in Berlin after almost 12 years in office.Reflecting the divisions, the Berlin Declaration — marking 50 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome that led to the creation of the EU — did not include the word constitution.

Instead, the 27 presidents and prime ministers gave a commitment only to place the EU on a renewed common basis by the time bloc's 490 million citizens elect a new European Parliament mid-2009.Despite the criticism, EU leaders are aware of the need to overhaul the EU, which has grown from six original members in 1957 to 27 today, expanding its original role promoting economic cooperation into an integrated bloc with a shared currency, common borders and cooperation on areas ranging from the environment and immigration to defense and foreign policy.Most feel that the EU's internal workings have failed to keep pace with the changes, leading to policy gridlock and handicapping Europe's efforts to develop a more assertive global role. The stalled constitution would have created a bill of rights, a full-time EU president and foreign minister and faster decision-making.

Merkel hoped the weekend celebrations in Berlin would rekindle some euro-enthusiasm. The Germans organized a mix of European cultural festivities ranging from Beethoven at the Berlin Philharmonic to Scottish folk songs, flamenco dancing and Danish hip-hop beneath the Brandenburg gate.Merkel — who grew up in Communist East Germany — underscored the significance of the location of the ceremonies.

We are celebrating in Berlin, a city that until 18 years ago was divided by a Wall, by barbed wire, by soldiers with orders to shoot, in which people paid with their lives for seeking to escape to freedom, she told the summit.From the other end of Europe, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso grew up under Portugal's rightist dictatorship. He recalled that over half the countries were under dictatorship or foreign rule 50 years ago.

Merkel and Barroso both turned on Belarus, a neighbor which EU leaders have denounced as Europe's last dictatorship. As police and pro-democracy protesters faced off in the streets of Minsk on what the opposition calls freedom day, Barroso assured the people of Belarus they had a place in the European family and promised EU aid if the government adopted reforms to end its self-imposed isolation.The EU also raised the possibility of stronger sanctions against Sudan if it fails to uphold U.N. resolutions aimed at stemming fighting in Darfur.The suffering there is unbearable, Merkel said.

EU special coin to mark 50 years since Rome Treaty
23 March 2007, 00:47 CET

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union will issue a special euro coin this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its founding Treaty of Rome, EU officials announced Thursday.

Thirteen countries use the common EU currency, but the special two-euro coin will be the first with a common design on both sides.The European Union has brought us closer together to live in peace, democracy and to share one of the world's highest living standards. The euro is a potent symbol of the EU's ever growing strength and progressive integration, said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in a joint statement.In total, the 13 euro-area countries will issue close to 90 million coins depicting an open book on the geometrical paving of the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, designed by Michelangelo, where the Treaty of Rome was signed on 25 March 1957.

EU members Cyprus, Hungary and Romania will also issue a coin, in their own currencies, to mark the occasion.

Previously commemorative coins have been issued by individual EU countries, such as the two-euro coin produced by Spain in 2005 to commemorate the 400-year anniversary of the first edition of Don Quixote de La Mancha.Such commemorative coins always have a value of two euros, the largest value for an EU coin, and are often the subject of keen interest from coin collectors.Even the Treaty of Rome commemorative coin will include national differences, particularly the translation of the words Treaty of Rome: 50 years at the top. AFP,Eubusiness LTD

Congratulations Europe! MAR 25,07

The celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome have begun.With the signing of the Treaties of Rome on 25 March 1957, the foundation stone for the European Union was laid. The Heads of State and Government of all 27 Member States have gathered here today in Berlin to celebrate the occasion. This morning they adopted the Berlin Declaration. This weekend the German capital is Europe's focal point and the central venue for the celebrations.

Opening of the Festival of Europe in Berlin

Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday opened the Festival of Europe at the Kulturforum with the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Prof. Klaus Dieter Lehmann, at his side. The Minister emphasized that cooperation among the countries of Europe had brought both peace and stability. Freedom of travel and a common currency, too, had made clear that Europe was a remarkable success story. Since many of its achievements were taken for granted
especially by the younger generation, however, this anniversary should be a time for older people and younger people to engage in a real dialogue with each other. The younger generation, he noted, had scarcely any recollection that today's Europe had been built from the ruins of the Second World War.

Celebration of Europe's beauty

President Lehmann of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation took the opportunity to invite visitors from all over Europe to visit the Berlin State Museums for a Celebration of Europe's Beauty. What we have planned for you tonight, he explained, is a journey to discover the many different faces of Europe's beauty. From 18.00 h to 2.00 h a series of exhibitions and special events in Berlin presented selected highlights of European art down the ages. At 23 h the European Club Night also kicked off. In over 30 clubs around Berlin people danced the night away in the company of DJs, bands and live projects from all 27 EU Member States.

Voices of Europe and fireworks

Today's celebrations for the new Europe's 50th birthday will continue until late evening. Under the motto Voices of Europe artists and entertainers from a host of European countries will be performing around the Brandenburg Gate. At the many stalls visitors can find information on Europe and other topics and also, thanks to the EUrope is what it eats initiative, sample cakes and other culinary delights from all 27 Member States. At 20.00 h Europe's birthday celebrations will climax with a grand fireworks display to music performed by the RIAS Youth Orchestra.More information is available at the website www.eu2007.de.

CLAMP DOWN ON VEILS VOTING

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Rain triggers mudslide, flooding. 3-N.M. tornadoes destroy homes, injure 16. 4-Europe-wide weather alarm system launched. 5-More thunderstorms today. 6-Cyclone kills 69 in Madagascar. 7-Israel shows off plants on water day. 8-Plowshares into Swords: Former Jewish Towns are Terrorist Camps. 9-Olmert Accepts Saudi Plan Basis; Shteinitz: Olmert is a Danger. 10-Bolton: Iranian regime must be toppled. 11-Sec. Council set to OK sanctions on Iran. 12-The EU: a model impossible to export? 13-Terror trial catalyst in British ban on full-face veils. 14-Muslim women will have to lift veils to vote in Quebec election. 15-Egypt says Israel must accept land-for-peace principle.

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 = Sun Mar 25 12:00 AM EDT

MAR 24,07
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 5.4 PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.7 NORTH OF SVALBARD
MAP 4.8 APURE, VENEZUELA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.2 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

MAR 23,07
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.1 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.6 GUAM REGION
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.4 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 4.9 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.2 SEA OF OKHOTSK
MAP 5.2 VANUATU
MAP 3.2 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA
MAP 3.1 KANSAS
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.4 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.3 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA 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.

Rain triggers mudslide, flooding
Last Updated: Friday, March 23, 2007 | 7:06 PM PT CBC News

The heavy rain that hit B.C.'s South Coast Friday caused damage across the Lower Mainland, including a mudslide and flooding.The slide on Friday morning closed the Barnett Highway to Port Moody and knocked out power to about 2,200 homes in North Burnaby.The road was reopened to traffic and the lights were back on by early afternoon. In South Surrey, the Nicomekl River overflowed near the Highway 99 overpass.The nearby Serpentine River is expected to flood as well.

There are also concerns about more widespread flooding over the weekend as an intense rainstorm pounds southwestern B.C. Environment Canada is forecasting up to 110 mm of rain by Saturday, with even more rain expected on the North Shore mountains.

A high streamflow advisory has been issued for Greater Vancouver, the Lower Fraser Valley and Howe Sound by B.C.'s River Forecast Centre.Spokesman Allan Chapman warns that there will be more flooding by Saturday morning.Because the tide is low today at 4 p.m. and then rising to a very high tide Saturday just before noon, [it] means that those rivers will start to rise tonight after dark, they will rise all throughout the night and will more than likely be experiencing flooding sometime before breakfast Saturday.

Heavy rainfall warnings have also been issued for the West Coast of Vancouver Island. But Chapman said rivers on the east side of the Island are not expected to flood.

N.M. tornadoes destroy homes, injure 16 By FELICIA FONSECA, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 24, 6:05 AM ET

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Storms that produced at least 13 tornadoes swept along New Mexico's border with Texas on Friday, destroying homes and other buildings and injuring at least 16 people, several critically, authorities said. The worst damage was reported in the towns of Logan and Clovis, which are about 80 miles apart, police said.The tornadoes damaged several buildings, toppled power lines and sparked fires that were later extinguished in Clovis, police Lt. James Schoeffel said.Thirteen people from the area were hospitalized at the Plains Regional Medical Center. Five were in critical condition with head trauma, said Liz Crouch, the center's chief operating officer.In Logan, three people were taken to a hospital, while others were treated at a local clinic, State Police Sgt. Andrew Tingwall said.

A tornado destroyed about two dozen mobile homes and campers in Logan, state police said.They have been coming one after another, after another, after another," said Tim Shy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.Tornadoes are common in eastern New Mexico along the Texas border, but Shy said they might have hit a little early this year.We normally would get the first one no later than the middle of April — tax day, he said.The storms were expected to continue into Saturday, moving northward up the Texas-New Mexico border before moving eastward into the Texas panhandle, Shy said.Downed power lines and debris forced authorities to shut down part of a highway near Clovis, said Roosevelt County Emergency Management official Lonnie Berry.There's a lot of flooding; we have a lot of water, he said. There's a lot of debris that scattered from the winds.

In Logan, the most severe damage was reported on the south side, west of the main entrance to Ute Lake State Park, Tingwall said. Several homes and businesses also sustained cosmetic damage, he said.

Authorities initially cut off utility service to aid rescue crews and help with cleanup efforts, and power was restored shortly thereafter, Tingwall said.Carrie Moritomo, a spokeswoman for the state's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said a crew will be sent to Logan on Saturday to assess the damage.

Europe-wide weather alarm system launched Fri Mar 23, 11:45 AM ET

EL ESCORIAL, Spain (Reuters) - With climate change set to bring ever more frequent storms, floods and natural disasters, 21 European countries have created a unified weather alert system, its creators said on Friday.

Meteoalarm, launched on Friday at the end of a week-long meteorological conference in Madrid, provides simple icon-based information on severe weather in 17 languages from a single web page, www.meteoalarm.eu.Our job is to save lives and goods, and this project was needed in Europe, Tomas Molina, chairman of the International Association of Broadcast Meteorology, told a news conference.The new system should be simple and credible, so that on the rare occasions there is a red alert people will take it seriously, its backers said.Part of the reason the death toll from hurricane Katrina was so high in New Orleans was because people refused to leave their homes, the technical manager of Meteoalarm, Michael Staudinger said.Warnings are only useful if they are believed, understood and acted on, said Dieter Schiessl of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Forecasting is becoming ever more accurate, but often countries lack a reliable means of warning the population.The problem lies in alert systems, not in forecasting systems. That was the big lesson of the tsunami, Francisco Cadarso, director general of the Spanish National Meteorological Institute, said during the WMO conference this week.Technical advances and improvements in satellite images will steadily extend the range of reliable forecasting, said Miguel Angel Rabiolo, director of Argentina's meteorological service. Today our forecasting is not more than five or seven days, but an experiment organized by the WMO will extend that to 15 days, he said.

More thunderstorms today Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel MAR 24,07

Midwest

A stationary front will remain from the Midwest, into the central Plains, and will continue to be the focus for showers and thunderstorms today. Low pressure on the western end of this front will trigger severe thunderstorms across the central Plains, from North Platte to Wichita, Omaha, and Kansas City. Numerous showers and thunderstorms will also impact areas from Des Moines, through Chicago, to near Louisville and Cleveland. Heavy downpours may result in flooding, especially in areas that have received heavy rainfall in recent days. On Sunday, the threat for severe thunderstorms will shift into the Upper Midwest, from Fargo through Minneapolis and Green Bay. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will return to places like Kansas City, St. Louis, and Louisville by Monday.

Northeast

A stationary front will remain across the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic today, resulting in areas of showers and thunderstorms from Pittsburgh and Buffalo, east through the Philadelphia and Washington, DC areas.

Overnight, a wave of low pressure will wide east along the front, bringing some wet snow to central and northern New England. Areas from Albany north through Boston and Burlington could see 1 to 3 inches of snow, with locally higher amounts in the mountains. A few snow showers will linger over northern New England Sunday, but most of the remaining parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast will see a dry, but cooler day. More rain showers and thunderstorms will push into the Northeast Monday into Tuesday, as a weather system approaches the area. Milder temperatures will also return.

South

High pressure will continue to dominate much of the Deep South, with the potential for record warmth today and again on Saturday.

Most locations will see afternoon high temperatures in the 80s both days. Over West Texas however, an area of low pressure will keep the chance of showers and thunderstorms in the forecast there, some of which could be strong to severe. Sunday into Monday, showers and thunderstorms will spread across central Texas, into the Middle Mississippi River Valley, while the rest of the South continues to se warm and dry conditions. It is possible a few isolated showers could develop over parts of the Southeast on Monday; however, most locations should remain dry.

West

A continuous flow of Pacific moisture will remain over the Northwest today, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to the Seattle and Portland areas. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will also remain over parts of Arizona and New Mexico, where a persistent upper level disturbance will remain in the area. The Rockies will also see active weather, where a few showers and thunderstorms will occur across the Denver area, and heavy snow will fall in the higher mountains, west of Denver. Meanwhile, the rest of the West Coast will remain dry, from San Francisco, to San Diego. On Sunday, the showers and thunderstorms will end over the Southwest, but the wet weather over the Northwest, will expand south into California. Into early next week, heavy rain may fall across parts of central and northern California, with higher elevation snow occurring inland. Temperatures will be cooler into early next week, as the unsettled weather becomes more widespread in the West.

Cyclone kills 69 in Madagascar(CNN)
POSTED: 0159 GMT (0959 HKT), March 23, 2007

ANTANANARIVO,Madagascar (Reuters) A cyclone that swept across Madagascar last week
killed at least 69 people and made tens of thousands homeless in the north of the Indian Ocean island, officials said on Friday.Mudslides have buried whole villages, rivers have burst their banks and roads have been cut off since Cyclone Indlala struck on March 15.I have never seen so much damage, Jacky Randimbiarison, executive secretary of the government's disaster management agency, told Reuters.The agency said it had confirmed 69 deaths, two people missing, and nearly 78,000 people uprooted on the world's fourth largest island that is home to 18.6 million people.

The storm wiped out more than 3,600 houses plus dozens of government buildings, schools and bridges, officials said. Some 8,280 hectares of paddy-fields were ruined.

In northern Ambanja district a whole mountain has collapsed, burying two villages under thousands of tonnes of rock and killing 20 people including six children in a school, Randimbiarison said.The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed on Friday for $637,000 to help Madagascar.The situation has been made worse because Indlala is the fifth cyclone to hit Madagascar in the past three months and the region has already experienced heavy rains since December, said Amna Al-Ahmar, the federation's regional officer, in Geneva.According to government figures, about 80 per cent of the country's vanilla production madagascar's top foreign exchange earner has been lost, it said in a statement. Emergency assistance was focusing on temporary shelter and preventive health measures through the provision of tarpaulins, blankets, jerry cans, water purification tables and other basic relief items, the federation said.Some emergency aid was being delivered by air and sea, officials in Madagascar said.

Aid agency CARE International said it was likely the total number of people affected is around 225,000.At least 75,000 people are in urgent need of immediate relief, said Didier Young, CARE's emergency coordinator in Madagascar. These people have lost everything ... their houses, food stocks and their crops.CARE said that with the destruction of the main rice harvest, which had been due in May, a substantial part of Madagascar was now facing a potential food crisis.

ISAIAH 35:1-2
1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

Israel shows off plants on water day By MARSHALL THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 23, 12:42 AM ET

ASHKELON, Israel - Israel displayed its best desalination plant to visiting diplomats Thursday, marking International Water Day by demonstrating how the desert nation keeps from shriveling in the sun. The plant, at the southern port of Ashkelon, turns 330,000 cubic meters of Mediterranean seawater into fresh water every day for about 53 cents each — compared to 80 cents at other plants, according to an official from the company that built the Israeli facility.Ezra Barkai, desk manager for IDE technologies, said the plant uses the common reverse osmosis technology that pushes water through a series of filters to remove salt, but also streamlines and reuses energy sources to make the finished product relatively inexpensive.

Its very impressive, said Zhou Hui, economic and commercial counselor from the Chinese embassy. Chinas economy is growing very quickly, and we need water just as much as fuel or steel. We hope Israel can show us how to expand our industry without destroying our environment and natural resources.Hui said that China was considering spending around $100 million for a pilot desalination facility that would produce about a third as much as the one in Ashkelon.

JOEL 3:9-10 BEFORE WW3, UNTIL CHRIST RETURNS TO EARTH BODILY.
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

AFTER JESUS RULES FROM JERUSALEM. WHEN HE RETURNS BODILY.
ISAIAH 2:1-4
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah (ISRAEL) and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

MICAH 4:3-5
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

Plowshares into Swords: Former Jewish Towns are Terrorist Camps
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) MAR 23,07

The prediction by the Biblical prophet Isaiah that enemies will beat their swords into plowshares may have been carried out by the Jews of Gush Katif but Palestinian Authority Arabs in Gaza got it backwards and are now using the former Jewish agricultural communities as terrorist training camps.

The towns of Elei Sinai and Dagit, former Jewish communities in the Gaza region, are now being used to teach new terrorists and upgrade the skills of those who are already experienced in attacking Israeli civilians and soldiers. Earlier this week, Israelis living in the western Negev reported hearing explosions that upon investigation turned out to be part of explosives training exercises carried out by
the ruling faction in the new PA unity government.

The Gaza trainees are using the formerly Jewish towns to practice producing and using explosives, ambushing soldiers, shooting rockets and more, according to a senior member of Hamas. He added that the terrorists are preparing for an Israeli operation in the area, which they believe will take place in the near future. IDF Upgrading Reservist, Commander and Combat Training Programs Israel Defense Forces commanders are also focusing their efforts on upgrading battle skills, focusing on measures to meet the increasingly sophisticated weaponry and terrorist skills. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said, in his first appearance before the army leadership, that he plans to emphasize intensified training for the reserves as well as the commanders and combat troops.

Ashkenazi reviewed the lessons learned from last summers Second Lebanon War and told Security Cabinet ministers a day later that his first priority would be specialized training for troops assigned to especially dangerous missions. He did not elaborate on what those missions might be. The IDF Chief also warned the Cabinet that the army would not be able to handle a war and said the process of bringing the troops up to battle-ready status would take several years. The Prime Ministers Office hastened to issue a statement less than two hours later, however, that such remarks were never made and, in any case, cannot be interpreted as if the IDF is in a situation that requires rehabilitation.

Former Front-Line Community Residents Ready to Return

And as the IDF prepares to reinforce its ability to protect Israeli citizens on the home front, civilians who once lived in Disengagement-destroyed Homesh in the Shomron are planning to return to the site and rebuild.

At the same time, a group of Jewish women is planning to use spiritual weapons - by fulfilling the commandment of taking challah in support of the return to Homesh next Monday. They will fulfill the Biblical command to separate a small potion of dough from the bread they are baking for Shabbat, and pray for the endeavors success. The challah initiative is the brainchild of a former resident of Homesh, who was expelled from her home along with all of the towns Jewish residents in 2005. The woman, who now lives in Ramle, explained that her idea would provide an alternative way to help the returnees, for those who are unable to be physically present. She said that the act of taking challah from bread has great spiritual significance, and demonstrates the power of prayer.

Olmert Accepts Saudi Plan Basis; Shteinitz: Olmert is a Danger
by Hana Levi Julian and Baruch Gordon (INN) MAR 23,07

Prime Minister Ehud Olmerts declaration Thursday that he is willing to do anything possible to attain peace may lead Arab nations to believe Israel is willing to compromise on defensible borders, according to Knesset Member Yuval Shteinitz, former Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Olmert said during a speech to national service volunteers in Tel Aviv Thursday that the 2002 Saudi proposal for Israeli concessions - which was rejected outright at the time by the Israeli government - was interesting, and that the plan could be used as a springboard for new talks.

He added that Israel is willing to make sweeping, painful and difficult concessions in exchange for peace with its Arab neighbors.

This government will not miss an opportunity to dialogue with its enemies and will do anything possible to push this process forward, asserted Olmert. Shteinitz, a leading defense expert, cited Olmert's remarks as another example of the weakness and limpness of the current government. He also noted that Olmert's acceptance of the Saudi plan as a basis of negotiations could be interpreted as an Israeli agreement to retreat to the '67 borders as a starting point in a negotiating process. When you mention the other side's plan and add 'all is open for negotiation,it means that you are not going to stand firm on defensible borders in the Golan Heights or in Judea and Samaria, he pointed out.

Shteinitz said that he doesn't recall another case in modern history in which one side accepted the territorial demands of the other side before dialogue even started. Olmert's policy is reminiscent of the mad dash of Ehud Barak in the last months of his administration, he said: Barak attempted to save his own skin by offering far-reaching concessions, including the surrender of all of Judea and Samaria and the division of Jerusalem which would thereby cause its destruction, and even lands from the Negev desert.Shteinitz charged that Olmert's weakness is driving him to offer similar concessions in order to gain political support from the Israeli left. Olmert is liable to lead Israel to the brink of disaster and to situations that will endanger its very existence, the defense expert added. He also called for increased efforts to replace the Prime Minister before he causes irreversible damage to Israel from a diplomatic and security standpoint.

Bolton: Iranian regime must be toppled MAR 24,07 Ynetnews.com
Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON - John Bolton, the outgoing American ambassador to the UN, said that his country should have launched efforts to topple the Mullahs' regime in Iran four years ago. In a special interview, Bolton told Ynet that he was disappointed by Russia's support of Iran in the UN Security Council, and the failure of diplomatic efforts to address the Iranian nuclear threat.

Bolton served as undersecretary of state for arms control during George W. Bush's firs term in office, and has been the US ambassador to the UN in the past 17 months. I'd dealt with the Russians extensively…on a range of proliferation matters. In the discussions on the Security Council over Iran, Russia emerged as Iran's biggest protector, for a variety of reasons, some commercial, some strategic, some just political, as opposition to the United States. China I think was content to follow Russia's lead in the Security Council, just the reverse of what they did with North Korea where China was the main actor and Russia followed China, he stated.

Bolton explained that the Russians played a major role in helping Iran deal with the diplomatic steps taken against it.Russia helped Iran by trying to explain to them that they should not position themselves in a way that maximized the strength of the sanctions against them and to work out where Russia had commercial interests like the Busher nuclear power facility, and to protect and shield as much of that as they could, he said. Why, in your opinion, did Russia pull out its experts from the Busher nuclear reactor site? That was an interesting piece of information, I'd like to see if that really is borne out, but the Russians have been in a dispute over the fuel rods for four years, and we've been urging them for four years not to ship the fuel rods. There are obviously different points of view inside Russia, but I think that the nuclear scientists… know Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Maybe the Foreign Ministry hasn't yet figured it out.

According to Bolton, the US should certainly be increasing the pressure, It's certainly got to be more than we got from the sanctions the Security Council has imposed or will impose in this next resolution. I think we've had some success in the financial institutions area, I think we should do more through the proliferation security initiative to deny Iran access to materials and technology that they need. But I think ultimately the only answer to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is to overthrow the current regime in Tehran. They've been pursuing nuclear weapons for almost 20 years. We do have historical evidence that when a regime that's been pursuing nuclear weapons changes that there's an opportunity to give up this pursuit. South Africa is one example, the collapse of the Soviet Union saw Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus give back to Russia Soviet-era weapons. Libya gave up its weapons after it saw what we had done to Saddam Hussein.Are there any forces inside Iran that are working to overthrow the regime?

I think there are a lot of Iranians that are unsatisfied with the regime, I think that there is more unrest there than what people believe, I think that the government is constrained because of the fall of oil prices and there is mismanagement of the oil sector of Iran's economy, they've got fewer resources to
spread around to keep the populous happy. There's a large Iranian diaspora that know what the situation is. So, I think that there are a lot of possibilities. It won't necessarily be easy or quick, but that's not to say we shouldn't be pursuing it. In think it's very close to the point where Iran will have completely indigenous mastery over the fuel sites, that is to say the point in which stopping the things
from the outside will not be sufficient, so I don't think we have much time. That's why all these negotiations with the Europeans have played to Iran's advantage, because time is on their side, time is not on our side.How can the Iranian regime be toppled? Well, I wish we had started four years ago, but I think through internal dissent and outside pressure, those in general terms are what we have to do.Not through military action? I don't think military force is the preferable way to go. I don't rule military force out because as unpalatable as military force might be, Iran with nuclear weapons is even worse. I think you have to show you have tried the alternatives, I think we've spent too much time on this EU-three diplomacy, I think now is the time to ramp up the pressure very dramatically.

What should Israel do? Wait for the world to resolve this? I think Israel has to make its own decisions…I think any country threatened with its own survival at stake has to be prepared to do what it has to do. I wouldn't second guess that.What would be the world's reaction if Israel attacks Iran?

I'm sure a lot of people would be outraged, they'd be outraged if the United States decided to attack. That's why, if you want to avoid that possibility, then increased pressure on Iran now is important, and the inability of the Security Council to pass strong sanctions resolutions doesn’t augur well for a peaceful outcome.Is there a way to on monitor the use of nuclear weapons by terror organizations?

It's very hard, and I think we're all acutely aware of the limitations on what we know, which is why it is so important and such a priority under the Bush doctrine to deny rogue states and terrorist groups nuclear weapons in the first place.Bolton, who as ambassador to the UN pushed for the approval of Resolution 1701 in the Security Council, believes that the UN failed in implementing it. I was quite
concerned during that entire process that we're going to end up with UNIFIL 2, which has been ineffective since it was put on the ground in 1979, and I'm afraid this is what we've come to, even though we call it enhanced UNIFIL, even though it's troops from Italy and France, in other words troops from real armies. It's not sealing the border with Syria, Hizbullah is being rearmed, we made a conscious decision in 1701 to put off the question of disarming Hizbullah until another resolution and we're nowhere close to coming back to that. So, I don't think 1701 has achieved what the United States at lease said at the outset was our objective, which was to use the conflict to change the strategic circumstances in the region and to avoid yet another Middle East ceasefire that represents simply a return to the status quo antebellum.

Sec. Council set to OK sanctions on Iran By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press Writer MAR 24,07

UNITED NATIONS - Major powers expect unanimous approval Saturday of new U.N. Security Council sanctions to pressure Iran into suspending uranium enrichment. The new measure comes after arduous negotiations that sought unity in meting out punishment against the Islamic country for its nuclear defiance.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who earlier said he wanted to address the council when it voted on the measure, canceled a trip to New York and was sending his foreign minister instead.The six world powers that drafted the resolution spent Friday trying to overcome objections from several council members, reflecting concerns that anything short of consensus would undermine its efforts to send a strong message to Iran.The Security Council is voting on its second set of sanctions against Iran; the country responded to the first by expanding enrichment.We will be united again on this important resolution, French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere told reporters after a closed-door Security Council meeting. We hope that Iran will reflect on this resolution and make the right choice.

The sanctions would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

About a third of those are linked to the Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.Alejandro Wolff, the acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., called the sanctions serious measures that underscore the severity with which the council views
rejection of its resolutions. He warned that if Iran continues to defy Security Council demands we will continue to add measures and continue to up the pressure. Ahmadinejad said earlier this month that he wanted to take his case for pursuing nuclear power to the Security Council himself.But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini told Iranian state television Friday that the trip had been scrapped because of America's obstruction in issuing visas to the Iranian delegation that was to travel to New York.

Hosseini said that instead of Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will attend the Security Council meeting and explain Iran's position regarding its nuclear activities.Mohammad Mir Ali Mohammadi, press secretary for Iran's mission to the U.N., told The Associated Press that the United States did not deliver a visa to the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, in time for Ahmadinejad to pick it up before flying to New York for the Saturday session.

In Washington, however, the State Department insisted it had approved and issued 75 visas for Amadinejad and his delegation, including air crew and support staff.Deputy spokesman Tom Casey also denied the U.S. or its visa processing system were responsible for the cancellation of the president's trip to the United Nations.Any suggestion that visa issues are the cause of President Ahmadinejad's decision not to travel to New York is false, he said. Rather, it would appear that he is unwilling to stand before the Council and take the heat for his continued defiance of the international community.The draft resolution was agreed upon last week by the five veto-wielding council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — and Germany. But it met with resistance from several elected members of the Security Council, particularly South Africa, which criticized the five powers for not giving enough consideration to the views of the other countries.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called South African President Thabo Mbeki on Friday to push for a yes vote, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisalo Kumalo said he was satisfied with some of the changes in the revised resolution, even though it rejected key proposals from his country, including a 90-day suspension of all sanctions against Iran.

Indonesia and Qatar wanted the resolution to call for the Middle East to be free of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. But including such an appeal could have implications for Israel, a U.S. ally widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it has never officially acknowledged it. In a compromise, the revised draft refers to a past resolution from the International Atomic Energy Agency calling for the need for the region to be free of such weapons. In December, the Security Council voted unanimously to impose limited sanctions on Iran, ordering all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs and to freeze assets of 10 key Iranian companies and 12 individuals related to those programs. The U.S. and its allies claim Iran's nuclear efforts are cover for a weapons program, but Tehran insists it only wants electricity. Associated Press writers Ali Akbar Dareini in
Tehran, Iran, Sheherezade Faramarzi in Beirut, Lebanon, Paul Burkhardt at the United Nations and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

The EU: a model impossible to export?
22.03.2007 - 17:42 CET | By Renata Goldirova

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – During its 50-year-long journey, the European Union – itself striving to become a key global player speaking with one voice – has been promoting the idea of regional integration to other parts of the world. But is it at all possible to export the EU model beyond its borders?

Since the 1990s, EU external relations policy includes the promotion of regional integration and cooperation in other parts of the world. The main reason behind this is to share a recipe that has already proved successful by paving the way to peace and wealth in Europe.

By now, the EU has - more or less - served as a model to regional groupings in Africa, Asia and Latin America, although none of these has come anywhere close to creating anything like the European set-up.Over half a century, the EU has evolved from a purely economic community to a recognized political player, with powers divided between the European Commission (the executive body), the Parliament (the only directly-elected body), and the Council (representing EU governments). Currently the 27-nation bloc has its own free-trade internal market, a single currency (in 13 EU states) and a series of treaties, which with time have extended and deepened mutual cooperation. To become a part of the bloc, strict political and economic criteria must be fulfilled.

Africa's specifics

The African Union was modelled on the European Union five years ago, in 2002, with some of its structures appearing to mirror EU-style integration. Currently a 53-nation bloc, it is organized around three institutions the African Commission with its president and college of ten commissioners, the Pan-African Parliament, which is aimed at becoming become the highest legislative body and finally, the Assembly composed of heads of state and government.

Eventually, the AU also aspires to adopt a single currency, to set up an integrated defence force and a human rights court. The European Union has served as source of inspiration, AU official Mohamed Mustoofe told EUobserver, but rejected the assumption that it was an exact copy of the EU model. You cannot make one-to-one transposition, given Africa's specifics such as tribal conflicts, underdevelopment, HIV or malaria, Mr Mustoofe said, adding the continent's initial priority is to achieve a strong economic playing field, while further political integration is far off.

ASEAN and Mercosur

At the same time, business appears to be the main glue holding together other regional clubs, such as ASEAN in Asia, and Mercosur in Latin America, both trying to emulate EU-style economic ties in order to gain more leverage in dealing with major powers like the US and China. ASEAN – a club of ten south-east nations formed in the 1960s as a bulwark against communism – is set to have a free-trade zone by 2015 and also wants to draft a common legally binding rule-book. Similar free-trade ambitions have been mooted by South America's 16-year old Mercosur. The project has been questioned by analysts however, as Mercosur's own member countries have been locked in trade or diplomatic disputes. According to Antonio Missiroli from the European Policy Centre, promoting regional integration elsewhere is also part of the [EU's] so-called soft or public diplomacy as by selling its own model the EU potentially spreads stability and increases its own credibility.However, the ability of Africa, Asia or Latin America to act as a bloc has been very limited due to internal disputes and the EU remains a one-of-a-kind project for the time being, Mr Missiroli stressed. Earlier this month, the chief of the Asian Development Bank also poured cold water on the idea of ASEAN becoming like the EU. Reaching a broad political and social consensus needed to develop a far-reaching pan-Asian grand plan of regional integration does not appear feasible at this stage, Haruhiko Kuroda said, according to AFP.

One-of-a-kind project

According to Mr Kuroda, South-east Asia should rely on a step-by-step, bottom-up and multi-speed approach, where a few countries can start working together on selected common issues, leaving the option for other countries to join later.

But Michael Emerson from the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies is even more sceptical, saying the EU model cannot be exported, replicated or imposed in other parts of the world. The EU grew out from the ruins of two world wars and the European continent shares common political and democratic values, which together make it a one-of-a-kind project, Mr Emerson said.

Terror trial catalyst in British ban on full-face veils
Chad Groening OneNewsNow.com March 23, 2007

A Messianic Jewish believer who heads a pro-Israel ministry says she is pleased that schools in England can now ban Islamic students from wearing full-face veils or burqas.The Department for Education and Skills in Britain says it is leaving it up to the individual head teacher to decide what pupils should and should not be allowed to wear in class. [Teachers] should have regard to a range of religions and try to accommodate them where possible, a Department spokesman told Reuters. But
what we are saying in the guidance is that safety, security, and the ability to learn is paramount.

Jan Markell, founder of Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries, believes the English realized the national security risks associated with the veils during the February trial of six terrorist suspects in London.One of the suspects had escaped disguised as a woman in a burqa after the failed attacks, she explains, and then two months earlier police said a man wanted for questioning over the murder of a female police officer could have fled the country disguised as a woman wearing a full veil. According to the ministry leader, they have some problems over there trying to cave to all things Muslim.Markell says while England is starting to move away from its politically correct treatment of Islam, it and much of Europe is paying the price for years of accommodating Muslims who do not want to assimilate into the cultures of the continent. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called the full-face coverings a mark of separation.American Family News Network.

Muslim women will have to lift veils to vote in Quebec election
Last Updated: Friday, March 23, 2007 | 6:12 PM ET CBC News

Muslim women will have to remove their face coverings if they want to vote in Monday's Quebec election, said the province's chief returning officer.Marcel Blanchet announced Friday he was reversing an earlier decision that would have allowed Muslim women wearing niqabs to vote on March 26 without showing their faces.
The initial decision, reported in Montreal newspapers, sparked fierce debate in Quebec.The chief electoral officer's headquarters were flooded with angry e-mails and phone calls, forcing Blanchet to hire two personal bodyguards and assign security officials to survey the building.

Some Quebecers threatened to show up at polling stations wearing masks, which spurred Elections Quebec to reverse its decision so voting day could proceed without trouble.It's not a good idea to make people nervous, said Denis Dion, a spokesman with Elections Quebec. In the house of democracy, we're not used to dealing with security. What we're doing currently in Quebec is a crucial part of our social and political life.

3 leaders want decision overturned

Quebec's three main party leaders have requested that Blanchet overturn the decision to allow Muslim women wearing niqabs to vote without removing the full veils, which leave only the eyes exposed.

Action Démocratique du Québec Leader Mario Dumont applauded Blanchet's announcement, and denied waffling about the earlier announcement that would have allowed women to go to the polls without showing their faces.On Thursday, Dumont said people should be forced to provide identification at their polling stations but stopped short of demanding they show their faces.Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair was vociferous in his opposition to allowing women to vote with their faces concealed. He said if people have to show their faces to obtain a driver's licence or health card, then they should have to show their faces when they vote.He harped Thursday on Blanchet's reversal and claimed the PQ was instrumental in helping convince the chief electoral officer to change his mind. I think on this specific issue, there's no room for nuance.Liberal Leader Jean Charest demanded that Blanchet reverse his decision, to ensure that every voter is properly identified.Current election laws in Quebec allow women wearing niqabs to vote as long as they bring someone with them who can vouch for their identity. The rule applies to other voters who may not be able to expose their faces, such as burn victims.

The majority of Muslim women in Quebec don't wear niqabs, and none are on record as asking Elections Quebec for the right to vote without showing their faces.Concordia graduate student Afifa Naz, 25, doesn't understand why this has become an election issue. Naz, who wears the traditional full face veil, said she and most other women would have no problem showing their faces to a poll clerk.
With files from Canadian Press.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69
WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
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.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

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 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) 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 A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) 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 (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, 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.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

7YR TREATY BY PROOF

GENESIS 2:2-3 GOD RESTED THE 7TH DAY
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

LEVITICUS 25:1-9 THE 7 YEAR SABBATICAL
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

God has always dealt with Israel in 7's, it just makes sense the last dealing with Israel and the World will be a 7 yr treaty. God rested from creation on the 7TH DAY. Every 7TH YEAR Israel is suppose to rest the land. And the 7X7=49 YRS and the jubilee is the 50TH YEAR.

Now the scriptures that a week in Israel history is 7YEARS.

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

Isn"t this interesting it comes from the same Person whos name was changed to Israel,(JACOB) and Israel and Jerusalem is the places dealt with in Daniel 9:24-27.

GENESIS 32:27-28
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

1 CHRONICLES 17:6-14
6 Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?
7 Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:
8 And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.
9 Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,
10 And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.
11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:
14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

MATTHEW 24:32-35
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(MAY 14,1948 ISRAEL BECOMES A NATION IN 1 DAY).
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.(JERUSALEM IN JEWSH HANDS JUNE 6-10, 1967).

DANIEL 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people (ISRAEL) and upon thy holy city,(JERUSALEM) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,(7X7=49 YRS) and threescore and two weeks:(62X7=434 YRS) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (69x7=483 YRS TO THIS POINT, THE FINAL 7 YR TREATY IS IN THE NEXT VERSE TO FULFILL THE 490 YEARS OF DANIELS PROPHECY.
9:27 And he (THE FUTURE ROMAN PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3RD TEMPLE DESECRATED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(WW3)

AFTER ALL THESE VERSES, YES THE BIBLE SAYS IT WILL BE A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YR TREATY IN THE FUTURE.

Egypt says Israel must accept land-for-peace principle
Sat, 24 Mar 2007 02:58:49

Egypt says that Israel should approve in principle a land-for-peace initiative before negotiations with the Palestinians can begin. Israel must announce first that it is accepting the initiative, then we start searching for a mechanism of negotiations, for a peaceful settlement for the conflict, AP reported Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Hani Khalaf as saying. The Egyptian official hinted that if Israel accepted the plan in principle, negotiations could begin on its specific points. Israel should not make any requests to reformulate the initiative before negotiations, as the process of negotiations in itself will bring modifications, Khalaf said.

The plan offers peace in return for full withdrawal from the land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, plus the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Al-Quds as its capital. It also calls for allowing Palestinian refugees the right to return to homes in Israel. The plan, first proposed at the Beirut Arab summit in 2002, is expected to be revived at the upcoming Arab summit later this
month in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Israel initially rejected the plan, and is particularly opposed to its granting the right of return to Palestinian refugees and their descendants. HA/HAR

KORAN ALLOWS WIFE ABUSE

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.