INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
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.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Russia to continue missile deployment
Reuters September 01, 2007, 23:35
Moscow: Russia will carry out a second deployment of new intercontinental ballistic missiles in December as part of President Vladimir Putin's programme to modernise nuclear defences, local media reported yesterday.The deployments come at a time of strained relations between Russia and Nato over US plans for a missile defence shield in eastern Europe.Moscow argues this would threaten its security while Washington insists it is designed only to defend against attack by what it sees as rogue nations, such as Iran. The Topol-M mobile missile, part of a new generation of weapon the Kremlin says will assure Russia's security for the next 20-30 years, will be deployed in the city of Teikovo about 240km northeast of Moscow. The first echelon was deployed in December 2006, when Putin climbed aboard a missile launcher on Russian television to show off the country's new programme. No details have been given for the number of missiles.We are absolutely confident this division will be put on combat duty in December, Russian news agency Interfax quoted the commander of Russia's rocket forces Nikolai Solovtsov as saying.
Single warhead
The 22-metre Topol-M is an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a single warhead. It was first developed during the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was later upgraded. It can be launched either from silos or from mobile launchers which can be camouflaged and hidden in forests.Along with the multiple-warhead RS-24, to be deployed in the next few years, it will form the backbone of Russia's nuclear armoury and help bolster armed forces eroded over years of post-Soviet decline. The rebuilding of Moscow's military also reflects a more assertive diplomatic approach, both towards the West and the states of its former, Cold War sphere of influence.Russian officials have said a US decision to withdraw from the Soviet-era Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and create its European-based shield has sped the development and introduction of the RS-24.The United States insists the shield is necessary to guard against missiles which could fire nuclear, chemical or biological warheads in its direction. Russia's military chief recently told the Czech Republic they were making a big mistake by hosting the shield.But on Wednesday Washington said a deal with Poland, which would place up to 10 ground-based interceptor missiles in the north of the country, could be reached within weeks.
Sarkozy reaffirms pro-Israel stance AUG 31,07
(JTA) - Nicolas Sarkozy reaffirmed his affection for Israel and hostility toward Hamas. I have the reputation of being a friend of Israel, and it's true. I will never compromise on Israel's security, the French president said Monday in his first foreign-policy speech since taking office in May. While he said France would continue to cultivate rich ties with the moderate Arab world, Sarkozy drew a line at engaging Hamas or allowing Iran to procure nuclear weaponry.
Iran has over 3,000 centrifuges: Ahmadinejad Sun Sep 2, 8:43 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday Iran had put into operation over 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges at a nuclear plant, reaching a key goal of its atomic drive, state broadcasting reported. They (world powers) thought that by issuing any resolution Iran would back down, Ahmadinejad told Islamist students, referring to the two sanctions resolutions imposed against Tehran by the UN Security Council.But after each resolution the Iranian nation took another step along the path of nuclear development, he said.Now it has put into operation more than 3,000 centrifuges and every week we install a new series.The installation of 3,000 centrifuges has always been earmarked by Iran as the key medium-term goal of its nuclear programme which it had originally hoped to reach by March.A UN atomic energy agency report obtained by AFP last week however said that Iran was still short of 3,000 centrifuges.It said that as of 19 August, 2007 Iran had total of 1,968 centrifuges operating at its uranium enrichment plant in the central town of Natanz. A total of 656 more centrifuges were in development, it said.
NUCLEAR WAR-FEAR
Pentagon plan: Annihilate Tehran's military in 3 days
No pinprick strikes – 1,200 targets ID'd for massive attack on nuke sites
September 2, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The Pentagon has formulated a three-day blitz plan to annihilate Iran's military that targets 1,200 sites, including Tehran's nuclear facilities, in order to render its military incapable of conducting offensive, defensive or retaliatory missions.
According to the London Sunday Times, citing Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, the Pentagon has rejected a strategy of pinprick strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. They're about taking out the entire Iranian military, Debat said. Despite a report last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency of significant cooperation by Iran over its nuclear program, Washington sees only continued stalling by the Islamic regime, reports the Times.
President Bush increased his rhetoric against Iran's nuclear program last week, saying Tehran had put the Mideast under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust and indicated action would be taken against the program before it is too late.According to a Times source close to the Bush administration, the president's recent statements were meant as a message to a number of audiences – Iran and the U.N. Security Council. A number of nuclear sites have not even been visited by the IAEA, said Alireza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran. They're giving a clean bill of health to a regime that is known to have practiced deception.Revelation of a plan for a three-day blitz to destroy Iran's fighting ability indicates the administration leans toward the use of rapid, overwhelming force if the military option is used. Whether you go for pinprick strikes or all-out military action, the reaction from the Iranians will be the same, Debat said. Massive use of force was, he said, a very legitimate strategic calculus.
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE
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.
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Muslims caught red-handed destroying Temple artifacts
Archaeologists kept out as WND obtains photo of pulverized antiquities at Judaism's holiest site - September 2, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Islamic authorities using heavy machinery to dig on the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – have been caught red-handed destroying Temple-era antiquities and what's believed to be a section of an outer wall of the Second Jewish Temple. WND today obtained a photograph of a massive trench the Waqf, the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount, have been blasting around the periphery of the holy site purportedly to replace 40-year-old electrical cables for mosques on the Mount. The Waqf has steadfastly denied they found or destroyed any Jewish antiquities during their dig. Possible carved stone from Jewish Temple-era antiquity exposed by digging at Temple Mount in Jerusalem In view in the picture, which was obtained in conjunction with Israel's Temple Institute, are concrete slabs broken by Waqf bulldozers and what appears to be a chopped up carved stone from Jewish Temple-era antiquity. Eilat Mazar, considered one of the most prominent Temple Mount archaeologists, analyzed the photo and told WND the damaged stone displays elements of the second Temple era and might be part of a Jewish Temple wall Israeli archeologists charge the Waqf found and has been attempting to destroy. If authenticated, the wall would be one of the most important Temple Mount archaeological discoveries in recent history. It certainly looks like Second Temple antiquity and could very well be part of a Second Temple courtyard wall, Mazer said.
She said in order to certify the stone in the photo, she would need to personally inspect it. But Israel is blocking leading archaeologists from surveying massive damage Islamic authorities are accused of causing to what may be the outer wall of the Second Jewish Temple. Last month, the Waqf, the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount, were given permission by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to use bulldozers and other heavy equipment to dig a large trench they say is necessary to replace electrical cables. The dig is being protected by the Israeli police and is supposed to be supervised by the Israeli government's Antiquities Authority. Archeologists say Islamic custodians of Temple Mount are destroying what could be part of a wall from the Second Jewish Temple (Courtesty TempleInstitute.org) Earlier this month, after bulldozers pulverized a trench 1,300 feet long and five feet deep, the Muslim diggers came across a wall Israeli archaeologists believe may be remains of an area of the Second Jewish Temple known as the woman's courtyard. The Antiquities Authority has not halted the dig and has not inspected the site. The Waqf has continued using bulldozers to blast away at the trench containing the wall.
The Antiquities Authority did not return repeated requests for comment.
Leading Temple Mount archaeologists, including Mazar and Gavriel Barkai, petitioned the Israeli government to immediately halt the dig and allow experts to inspect the emerging wall. But Mazar and other archaeologists say they are being blocked by the Israeli government. The Antiquities Authority tells us to coordinate with the police. The police send us back to the Antiquities Authority, said Mazar, who is a professor of Hebrew University and member of the Public Committee for Prevention of the Destruction of Antiquities on Temple Mount. Mazar also is the discoverer and lead archaeologist of Israel's City of David, believed to be the palace of the biblical King David, the second leader of a united Kingdom of Israel, who ruled from around 1005 to 965 B.C. It's crucial this wall is inspected. The Temple Mount ground level is only slightly above the original Temple Mount platform, meaning anything found is likely from the Temple itself, the archaeologist said. Fed up, Mazar and other top archaeologists last week ascended the Mount to hold a news conference and inspect the site without government permission, but they were blocked from the trench by the Israeli police. It is unconscionable that the Israeli government is permitting the Waqf to use heavy equipment to chop away at the most important archeological site in the country without supervision, Mazar told WND. The Israeli government is actively blocking us from inspecting the site and what may be a monumental find and is doing nothing while the Waqf destroys artifacts at Judaism's holiest site, she said.
Rabbi Chaim Rechman, director of the international department at Israel's Temple Institute, was among those on the Mount last week with Mazar. He told WND he attempted to take pictures of the damage the bulldozers are allegedly wrecking on the wall, but his digital camera was confiscated by Israeli police at the direction of Waqf officials. If Israel was building a shopping mall and they found what may be an ancient Buddhist structure, the government would stop the construction and have archaeologists go over the area with a fine tooth comb. Here, the holiest site in Judaism is being damaged, a Temple wall was found, and Israel is actively blocking experts from inspecting the site while allowing the destruction to continue, Rechman said. Rechman charged the Waqf was trying to erase Jewish vestiges from the Temple Mount.The last time the Waqf conducted a large dig on the Temple Mount – during construction 10 years ago of a massive mosque at an area referred to as Solomon's Stables – the Wafq reportedly disposed truckloads of dirt containing Jewish artifacts from the First and Second Temple periods. After the media reported on the disposals, Israeli authorities froze the construction permit given to the Wafq, and the dirt was transferred to Israeli archeologists for analysis. The Israeli authorities found scores of Jewish Temple relics in the nearly disposed dirt, including coins with Hebrew writing referencing the Temple, part of a Hasmonean lamp, several other Second Temple lamps, Temple period pottery with Jewish markings, a marble pillar shaft and other Temple period artifacts. The Waqf was widely accused of attempting to hide evidence of the existence of the Jewish Temples.
Temples never existed
Most Palestinian leaders routinely deny well-documented Jewish ties to the Temple Mount. Speaking to WND in a recent interview, Waqf official and chief Palestinian Justice Taysir Tamimi claimed the Jewish Temples never existed.About these so-called two Temples, they never existed, certainly not at the Haram Al- Sharif (Temple Mount), said Tamimi, who is considered the second most important Palestinian cleric after Muhammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Israel started since 1967 making archeological digs to show Jewish signs to prove the relationship between Judaism and the city, and they found nothing. There is no Jewish connection to Israel before the Jews invaded in the 1880s, said Tamimi. The Palestinian cleric denied the validity of dozens of digs verified by experts worldwide revealing Jewish artifacts from the First and Second Temples, tunnels that snake under the Temple Mount and over 100 ritual immersion pools believed to have been used by Jewish priests to cleanse themselves before services. The cleansing process is detailed in the Torah. Asked about the Western Wall, Tamimi said the structure was a tying post for Muhammad's horse and that it is part of the Al Aqsa Mosque, even though the Wall predates the mosque by more than 1,000 years. The Western wall is the western wall of the Al Aqsa Mosque. It's where Prophet Muhammad tied his animal which took him from Mecca to Jerusalem to receive the revelations of Allah. The Palestinian media also regularly state the Jewish Temples never existed.
Judaism's holiest site
While the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, Muslims say it is their third holiest site. The First Jewish Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries. The Jewish Temple was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's presence dwelt. The Dome of the Rock now sits on the site and the Al Aqsa Mosque is adjacent. The temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and was the main gathering place in Israel during Jewish holidays. The Temple Mount compound has remained a focal point for Jewish services over the millennia. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition. Jews worldwide pray facing toward the Western Wall, a portion of an outer courtyard of the Temple left intact. The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed around A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark where Muslims came to believe Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven. Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night from a sacred mosque – believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to the farthest mosque and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque later became associated with Jerusalem.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
EU's Solana visits Middle East before key summits
The Associated PressPublished: September 1, 2007
BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana went to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in the region before key conferences on the Mideast peace process.Solana was to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during his three-day visit, his office said. Other high-ranking politicians to meet Solana include Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Prime Minister Salem Fayyad.EU foreign ministers will meet in Portugal next week; the international Quartet of peacemakers — the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia — meets in New York later this month, and a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference is to be held in November.
Pressure is mounting on Israeli and the Palestinians to make substantial progress before the peace conference, proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush after bloody infighting split the Palestinian leadership into two rival governments.Past talks have broken down over questions of final borders; how Jerusalem will be shared, and whether Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation would be allowed to return to their former homes in Israel, along with millions of descendants.
David's Comment: Are They Even Capable of Telling the Truth ?
SEPT 3,07
Eph 2:2 ......... the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, (NKJ)
In Nazi Germany, Hitler used the media to fan the flames of Anti-Semitism, resulting in the great majority of the German population participating in, or turning a blind eye to the attempted genocide of European Jewry. Satan must have been rubbing his hands in glee as his age old plan of Israel's destruction seemed to be being fulfilled.The opening Bible verse tells us that Satan is the prince of the power of the air, thus we can see that he controls the media which operates on the airwaves. The way the secular media handles the Middle East conflict is strong evidence that Satan indeed controls the radio, TV, internet and print media.From the day that Israel became a nation in 1948, until the miraculous victory of the Six Day War in 1967, the pioneering Israelis were seen as the heros, defending themselves against the much larger and militarily stronger Arab nations. However a short time after Israel regained East Jerusalem and most of Judea and Samaria, the PLO and other Arab terror groups rose up and began to use the media to proclaim that the Israelis were illegally occupying Palestinian territory
Last week CNN ran a 3 part series called Gods Warrriors. The first 2 episodes take an indepth look at the situation in the Middle East from the Jewish and Muslim perspective. The programs were hosted by CNN’s chief apologist for Islam, Iranian immigrant Christiane Amanpour, so it is not really surprising that they were very biased against Israel and contained many inaccuracies and outright lies. The reports also overlooked the fact the Islam is responsible for most of the worlds terror attacks.The foundational error in all anti Israel / pro Palestinian media reporting is that the Palestinians are a actual historical people group who have a legitimate claim to the land and that Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land. Of course both claims are untrue, historically and Biblically. In March 1971 the Dutch newspaper Trouw ran an interview with PLO executive committee member Zahir Hussein who stated The Palestinian people do not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel and for our Arab unity. In reality, today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people.
Therefore the news media has been lying to the world since 1967. The following quote is from CAMERA - a media watchdog group, which points out some of the errors in the CNN report ............
On August 22, CNN aired Part Two, God's Muslim Warriors, of its 3 part series, God's Warriors, hosted by Christiane Amanpour. While much of the program was informative and fair (in contrast to the propagandistic nature of Part One,God's Jewish Warriors), there were serious flaws and glaring omissions, which are described later in this alert. Among the most important shortcomings, extremist Muslim beliefs and practices were often minimized and many of the key causes for the spread of Muslim supremacist beliefs went unexplored.Since so much of Part One was devoted to the influence of pro-Israel activists in America, it was very striking that Amanpour utterly neglected to report on the powerful Oil Lobby, primarily Saudi-backed, and numerous other Muslim organizations seeking to influence American public opinion and foreign policy decisions. There was a noticeably gentler and more cordial tone toward Muslim extremists in contrast to the often snide and hectoring tone displayed toward pro-Israel Americans and Israeli settlers in God's Jewish Warriors. In God's Muslim Warriors,
Amanpour included two apolitical segments with appealing devout Muslim women who talked about why they wear a head covering and how Islam enriches their lives. No such apolitical segment about devout Jews appeared in God's Jewish Warriors.Someone has to take CNN to task for their subtle brainwashing of the public against Israel and in favour of the so called Palestinians. Don't sit back and let someone else be the one to take a stand. Be an Esther and stand up on behalf of Israel and the truth, and ultimately, the Kingdom of God.
HOW TO TAKE ACTION :
1/ CALL CNN and leave a comment: on + 001 404-827-1500
2/ Submit a comment on CNN's report an error form: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form6a.html?2
The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie
SEND PRAYERS TO THE WESTERN WALL - IFCJ SEPT 3,07
http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageServer?pagename=appeal_august_prayer_form&s_subsrc=E7HFET
Dear Friend of Israel,
Each year at this time we at The Fellowship look forward to receiving your prayer requests and taking those requests before God at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This is one of our most important traditions so I hope you will allow us to pray for you by filling out and submitting our online prayer request form.It is difficult to describe the feelings of awe and reverence that surround a person praying at the Western Wall. For Jews, this is the holiest place in the world the site where God’s Temple once stood. This is why Jews direct their prayers toward the Temple no matter where they are. Christians, too, tell me how overwhelmed they are to realize that this wall existed at the time of Jesus, and that Jesus referred to the Temple as My Father’s house and came there to teach many times.
I am continually moved when I think of your generosity and how this generosity has been an answer to the prayer of so many suffering people. Many of you sacrifice greatly to support Israel and needy Jewish people around the world, even though you are experiencing illness, the loss of loved ones, financial hardship or other serious needs. Praying for you at the Wall, asking God to bless you and meet your needs, is one way of returning the blessing of your prayers and support.
Let us take your prayer before God at the Western Wall
Please let us pray for you at the Western Wall by submitting your prayer requests by October 15. It will be our privilege to bring your requests before God at this holiest of places in the holy city, Jerusalem. And, after you have submitted your request, please make a gift to The Fellowship, so that we may continue to provide more lifesaving assistance to Israel and Jewish people worldwide. Even as I am confident that the prayers we offer on your behalf will be heard by God, your support will truly be an answer to the prayers of those who depend upon The Fellowship’s help to survive.
The Bible says, Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work (Ecclesiastes 4:9). Through your partnership, you have shown the truth of this statement. Thank you for your continued support of The Fellowship and your generous heart for God’s children.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein - INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS.
Israel's other demographic challenge
By Tim Franks SEPT 3,07
BBC News, Jerusalem
Jerusalem's busy Mea Shearim neighbourhood is witness to a looming demographic dilemma for Israel. Haredi life is devoted to studying Jewish law and thought. It is an almost exclusively ultra-orthodox Jewish enclave, its narrow streets and crowded apartments teeming with thousands of black-hatted, white-shirted Haredi men and their families. The Haredim live in a world apart from modern, westernised West Jerusalem, devoting their lives to the study of Jewish law and thought, practising what they see as the purest form of Judaism. It is widely accepted that Palestinian population growth in Israel and the occupied territories is a major strategic issue for Israel. But the proportion of ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews is also growing, approximately three times as fast as the rest of the population. In a country where every 18-year-old Jew is supposed to join the army - and which has faced six major conflicts with its neighbours and battled two Palestinian uprisings - that Haredi population growth poses some urgent questions.
Spiritual needs
The ultra-orthodox do not face compulsory conscription; they are exempted from national service in order to continue their religious studies. Secular Israelis see the army as the state's most important institution Once it was a tiny minority which took that route; now they account for more than 10% of draft-age Israeli Jews. By 2019, the government forecasts they will constitute almost one-in-four. Former Deputy Prime Minister Yosef Lapid, who leads the secularist party Shinui, represents a constituency in Israel that asks whether Haredi behaviour is not in fact undermining the Jewish state. I have nothing against them because they are religious, says Mr Lapid. I very much oppose the fact that they don't serve in the army. They represent God in God's country, but don't defend God's country. From the yeshivas, or theological colleges, around Jerusalem, where the young men sway back and forth as they read and debate centuries of law and commentary, there is a different view.
They believe that the country has spiritual as well as physical needs, and there is no greater service than that of religious study. The difficulty a secular Israeli is going to have is just not understanding the whole world-view that the religious world is coming from, says Haredi rabbi Moshe Feldman. If you look at the whole history of the Jewish people, it can't be explained in physical terms. What made us survive this long? We really believe God has a hand in history, he says.
Welfare
Rabbi Feldman says he is not living in a dreamland, where only God takes care of the Jews and Israel does not need an army. The Haredi issue will become more central as the population grows You also need a balance. And the balance has to be that as much as you're worried about your physical survival, you're also focussed on your spiritual survival, he says. But there is a further source of tension - the economy.
At a food distribution scheme in Mea Shearim, dozens of families come to collect cardboard boxes full of all types of kosher food. This is not an unusual sight, because most Haredim are poor and many rely heavily on welfare. Government figures suggest that two out of three Haredi men do not have a paid job.
More and more, Israelis are asking if this too can carry on.
Demographer Mencahem Friedman says that either the Haredim will have to change their ways or the government will force them to contribute more to the economy and defence. To keep the status quo as it is now probably will not be possible, he says.
Everyone has to make a very crucial decision to change the situation. How they will make it, I don't know.It is one of the most difficult questions of all for Israel - what a Jewish state should demand of its own Jewish citizens.
EU is too big and diverse, says parliament's ex-chief
03.09.2007 - 09:15 CET | By Helena Spongenberg
The European Union is too big and too diverse to be able to rally around common political projects needed to survive, the former president of the European Parliament has said.Speaking at the Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander, Spain last week, Spanish socialist MEP Josep Borrell said, we are suffering from a crisis of heterogeneity and growth.We are many and with many different visions of the world, so our will is not unanimous and the political project is yet to be defined, he said according to Spanish press reports, adding that you cannot grow from six to 27 with impunity.He argued that the EU lacked a common political project, leaving one asking what are we united for? Alone, the European countries are impotent. If we want to survive we need to unite, he warned.
Mr Borrell held the presidency of the European Parliament from July 2004 to January 2007.
Jordan king urges greater EU role for Mideast peace
SEPT 2,07
AMMAN (AFP) — Jordan's King Abdullah II called for the European Union to bridge differences between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference in talks on Sunday with visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
King Abdullah II and Prodi stressed the importance of increased efforts by the European Union to support peace in the Middle East and bring back the Palestinians and the Israelis to the negotiations table, a palace statement said.It is necessary to bring closer the points of view between the Palestinians and Israelis in light of US President George W. Bush's call for an international peace conference for the Middle East, the king was quoted as saying.On Friday, the king, who is a close US ally, called on the Palestinians to close ranks and let reason prevail in order to benefit from the international conference, expected to take place in November.
Prodi said at the start of his visit to the kingdom on Saturday that his government would do everything to make the conference a success.We are very positively engaged in the conference that will be held next November, he told reporters after meeting his Jordanian counterpart Maaruf Bakhit.But the Italian prime minister warned that Palestinian divisions would undermine future moves for peace with Israel.I feel that the divisions between the Palestinians will not help the peace process. I am sure that the Palestinian divisions will bring negative consequences to any future development in the area, Prodi said.The Islamist Hamas movement captured the Gaza Strip on June 15 from the secular Fatah forces of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, effectively splitting Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.After his talks with the Prodi, the king left for Paris, where he is due to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on similar talks on Monday.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Sunday, September 02, 2007
PSALMS 108 PROPHECY
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.
Earthquake shakes Mexico's Gulf of California Sat Sep 1, 5:48 PM ET
CULIACAN, Mexico (Reuters) - A strong earthquake hit Mexico's Gulf of California on Saturday, but there were no reports of damage and no danger of a tsunami. The epicenter of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake was 61 miles from the town of Los Mochis in the tomato-growing state of Sinaloa, at a depth of 35 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.Civil protection authorities in Los Mochis said they had not received any reports of damage or injuries.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there was no danger of dangerous waves from the earthquake.
Fortunately, most of the earthquakes in the Gulf of California are the kind that don't lift the ocean bottom and so they don't generate waves, Tsunami Center geophysicist Gerard Fryer said.The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, separates the sparsely populated Baja California peninsula from mainland Mexico.Last April, a strong magnitude 6 earthquake shook Mexico, sending thousands of tourists in the resort of Acapulco fleeing into the streets in panic and knocking out electricity 250 miles away in Mexico City.(Additional reporting by Noel Randewich)
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.
Felix strengthens into Caribbean hurricane SEPT 2,07
MIAMI (AFP) - Felix strengthened into a full-fledged hurricane Saturday as it churned toward the Caribbean island of Aruba, the US National Weather Service said. The hurricane was classified as a category one on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the weakest out of a scale of five, but was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours.At 0300 GMT Sunday the storm's center was located about 340 kilometers (210 miles) east of Aruba, the service's National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.Felix had maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles an hour), and was moving west at around 30 kilometers (18 miles) an hour.The hurricane was expected to pass just north of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao early Sunday, the advisory said.
The islands are popular tourist destinations in the Netherlands Antilles. Local authorities issued a hurricane watch for the three islands.A tropical storm watch was also issued for Jamaica, signaling that tropical storm conditions were possible within about 36 hours, the center said.The storm could dump two to four inches (five to 10 centimeters) of rain over islands off the Venezuela coast and the Netherlands Antilles, forecasters said.After Aruba, the hurricane was expected to blow toward Nicaragua's and Honduras' eastern coastlines and Belize, where it could make landfall Wednesday unless the course changes.Felix is the second hurricane of the three-month-old Atlantic season.Last week Hurricane Dean swept through the southern Caribbean with severe winds and rains, leaving a wide swathe of damage and a death toll of 30 from Martinique to Mexico.
Landslide kills six as storm passes Mexico Sat Sep 1, 6:31 PM ET
MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Six people died when rocks crushed their houses in a landslide in the southern Mexican resort of Acapulco after tropical storm Henriette strafed the country's Pacific coast, local authorities said. Six people died when rocks fell on their houses in two separate parts of Acapulco. The ground is unstable because of the rains over the last three days due to Henriette, civil protection spokeswoman Nadia Vela told AFP.Five of the dead were children, according to a report released by the city's civil protection authority.The town has many flimsy houses built on an outlying hillside, which makes them particularly vulnerable to bad weather.
Last week 13 people died in Mexico when Hurricane Dean slammed in off the Caribbean and passed over the tourist beaches of the Yucatan peninsula in the east.The US National Hurricane Center warned that Henriette could become a full hurricane Saturday night or on Sunday.In its latest advisory Saturday afternoon, the center said Henriette was passing Mexico some 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of the west coast town of Manzanillo.Further north, a strong earthquake struck offshore from Mexico in the Gulf of California. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Meanwhile tropical storm Felix was strengthening in the eastern Caribbean. The hurricane center said it could grow into a full-fledged hurricane Sunday.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Threatening Idaho fire nearly surrounded By KEITH RIDLER, Associated Press Writer SEPT 2,07
BOISE, Idaho - A wildfire that has forced the evacuation of hundreds of expensive homes and once threatened the Sun Valley ski area was expected to be fully contained Monday, a fire manager said. The mandatory evacuation order was lifted for the final 100 homes, but they remained under a voluntary evacuation, fire information officer Tina Boehle said Saturday. At one point, 2,500 homes had been under the orders.We're looking forward to containing this fire, she said. Things are looking very good.The fire was sparked by lightning Aug. 16 and was 78 percent contained Saturday after burning 74 square miles, she said. No structures had been lost, and no serious injuries were reported, Boehle said.Ten large wildfires were being fought Saturday on 1,300 square miles of Idaho. The largest remained a complex burning in the Boise National Forest about 80 miles northeast of Boise. Those fires had consumed 390 square miles and were 26 percent contained.
In central California, crews battling a two-month-old wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest worried about hot and dry weather that could undo some of their work.
Highs were expected to reach 102 to 107 and coupled with low humidity, meaning you've got the mixture for extreme fire danger, fire spokesman Larry Comerford said. We're on alert.The fire was 97 percent contained and was expected to be fully surrounded Sunday after scorching 240,207 acres of wilderness, or about 375 square miles.In Washington state, the 60 or so residents of the town of Marlin were allowed to return home Saturday after a fast-moving wildfire prompted an evacuation order the night before. No injuries were reported, and the 5.5-square-mile fire was 70 percent contained, officials said.Associated Press writer Robert Jablon contributed to this report.
Has a mythical beast turned up in Texas? By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 1, 5:25 PM ET
CUERO, Texas - Phylis Canion lived in Africa for four years. She's been a hunter all her life and has the mounted heads of a zebra and other exotic animals in her house to prove it. But the roadkill she found last month outside her ranch was a new one even for her, worth putting in a freezer hidden from curious onlookers: Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra. It is one ugly creature, Canion said, holding the head of the mammal, which has big ears, large fanged teeth and grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin.Canion and some of her neighbors discovered the 40-pound bodies of three of the animals over four days in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 80 miles southeast of San Antonio. Canion said she saved the head of the one she found so she can get to get to the bottom of its ancestry through DNA testing and then mount it for posterity.
She suspects, as have many rural denizens over the years, that a chupacabra may have killed as many as 26 of her chickens in the past couple of years.I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this, she said.What tipped Canion to the possibility that this was no ugly coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off — all the blood was drained from them, she said.Chupacabra means goat sucker in Spanish, and it is said to have originated in Latin America, specifically Puerto Rico and Mexico.Canion thinks recent heavy rains ran them right out of their dens.
I think it could have wolf in it, Canion said. It has to be a cross between two or three different things.She said the finding has captured the imagination of locals, just like purported sightings of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster have elsewhere.
But what folks are calling a chupacabra is probably just a strange breed of dog, said veterinarian Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria.I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog, said Schaar, who has seen Canion's find.The chupacabras could have all been part of a mutated litter of dogs, or they may be a new kind of mutt, he said.As for the bloodsucking, Schaar said that this particular canine may simply have a preference for blood, letting its prey bleed out and licking it up.Chupacabra or not, the discovery has spawned a local and international craze. Canion has started selling T-shirts that read: 2007, The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero, Texas, accompanied by a caricature of the creature. The $5 shirts have gone all over the world, including Japan, Australia and Brunei. Schaar also said he has one.If everyone has a fun time with it, we'll keep doing it, she said. It's good for Cuero.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
The Amazing Hidden Prophecy In Psalm 108, and the War on Terror - Are They Connected? Helena Lehman SEPT 1,07
Bible scholar, author, and artist Helena Lehman is an expert on the connection between the Bible, the Gospel in the Stars, the Desert Tabernacle, and the Great Pyramid. Her books explore the ancient roots of the Star Gospel, and its place as the cornerstone of the Language of God - a divine allegorical language of parables and symbols that permeates the entire Bible, and all Creation. Helena enjoys tying her knowledge of Bible prophecy and history to current affairs, and is available to speak at special events. For further information about her heavily researched books, and other writing and artistic endeavors, visit her web site at http://pillar-of-enoch.com.Helena Lehman
Many people are filled with anxiety today, wondering what is going to happen in regard to the war on terror, and America’s place in it, as well as the part the Middle East nations will play in upcoming world events. In that regard, the God of Israel has hidden much in Scripture about this very time in history. However, few scholars seem to be aware of the hidden prophecies in the Book of Psalms attributed to King David. For thousands of years, the Psalms have primarily been seen as praise and worship songs, with only a few directly prophetic psalms like Psalm 22, which clearly pertains to Christ’s First Advent. For this reason, few books on End Time events discuss these prophecies.In my book, The Language of God in Prophecy, I show how many Psalms - especially the Hallel Psalms 110 through 118 - may be directly related to global prophetic events occurring in the years 2010 through 2018. These nine psalms appear to describe unfolding events that will usher in the most terrible time in world history prior to the Great Flood: the seven-year Great Tribulation! My book on prophecy gives a thrilling glimpse into future world events, even though I neglected to look at Psalm 108, which is directly connected to the years 2008 through 2009.
If I had looked at Psalm 108 closely while writing my book, it would have added greatly to my prophetic interpretation of what the Hallel Psalms may mean in regard to the West’s ongoing war on Terror. In this article, I would therefore like to explain what this Psalm might foretell for the United, States, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and the rest of the world in the next two years leading up to 2010 -a year signaled out in several prophetic channels.Throughout Psalm 108, there are many terms that apply to nations and people groups in the past, as well as the present and future. What is doubly thrilling about this is that all the nations mentioned are directly involved with the current, globally felt war against Terrorism. To show how Psalm 108 reveals this, abridged portions of its thirteen stanzas will be quoted, followed by interpretations of what people groups and events these verses pertain to.
Let’s begin with the first seven stanzas:
O God (Elohim), my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise… Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O LORD (Yahweh)… among the nations… Be exalted, O God (Elohim), above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth; That Your beloved (i.e. Jerusalem) may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me. God (Elohim) has spoken in His holiness: I will rejoice; I will divide (or separate) Shechem (a city of refuge in Ephraimite territory which now refers to the Palestinian allotment of land in the West Bank) and measure out (i.e. set apart) the Valley of Succoth (part of Gad’s ancient territory - refers to the Palestinian occupied Gaza Strip). -Psalm 108:1-7 (NKJ) Fascinatingly, one of the two portions of land that have been portioned out to the Palestinians is the West Bank, which surrounds Jerusalem on three sides. This portion of land is called Shechem in Psalm 108, and it was rich pastureland when Jacob’s sons tended their father’s flocks there. It was near Shechem that Joseph made his fateful trip out into the fields to check on the welfare of his brothers, only to be beaten, imprisoned, and sold into slavery by them (Genesis 37:13-28). It was also in Shechem where Joseph was later buried.
Interestingly, the story of Joseph’s slavery, and later rise to power in Egypt echoes the current conflict between the West, and the Muslim nations. Perhaps this is why Joseph’s tomb is located in Shechem, or the West Bank, and why the Palestinians barbarically destroyed his tomb in 2003. As shown in my book The Language of God in Humanity, Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh would come to represent two powerful Gentile nations in the Last Days: The United States (Ephraim), and the United Kingdom (Manasseh).The Scripture I will divide (or separate) Shechem” directly states that it is God’s Will that there should be a separation of the West Bank from the rest of Israel through the auspices of the United States, United Kingdom, and United Nations! In double fulfillment of this, the West Bank is now separated, or divided by political strife as well since it was set up as a secular democratic state, but was quickly overrun by fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups. Even more fascinating is the fact that the Valley of Sukkoth” in the preceding Scripture may be referring to the Gaza Strip, which is indeed measured out, or set apart from Israel and the West Bank! These two sections of land were recently given to the Palestinians in order to secure peace with them, and the rest of the Middle East. However, this grand gesture of generosity by Israel has failed miserably in winning support and friendship from the Palestinians, or other Muslim nations.
The reason this modern bid at peace is failing is bound up in the past, and directly relates to the seemingly perpetual blood feuds between Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau. It is also tied to the failure of the Israelites to make any lasting peace with the hated Philistines, and Amalekites after the Exodus, and the conquest of Canaan. Intriguingly, the next two stanzas of Psalm 108 tell us what nations are intimately involved with, or opposed to this dividing up of Israel in an effort to bring peace to the region. It also states which nations are under God’s current control, or acting on His behalf, and also which ones are the targets of His wrath:
Gilead (i.e. the grandson of Manasseh, likely referring to Canada today) is Mine; Manasseh (the United Kingdom) is Mine; Ephraim (the United States) also is the “helmet for My head” (or chief stronghold); Judah (the nation of ISRAEL) is My lawgiver. Moab (Syria, Iraq, and Iran) is My washpot; over Edom (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and possibly Yemen and Oman) I will cast My shoe; over Philistia (Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian territories) I will triumph.-Psalm 108:8-9 (NKJ)
This portion of Scripture indicates that the Western nations with the most troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today, and those most closely allied with Israel today in friendship - the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada - are doing God’s will in the Middle East. So, no matter what people in these countries may think of their current political leaders, or government decisions concerning the War on Terror, these governments are (most likely unwittingly) acting on God’s behalf right now, though I must strongly emphasize here that this situation will change dramatically when the Antichrist becomes leader of the West in Europe sometime during, or after the predicted war described in Psalm 108. The remaining portion of Psalm 108 tells us that the Western nations allied to Israel are going to have a major military show down with the Islamic terrorists allied against them, which include those living in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Now based on my interpretation of Psalms 110 through 118 in The Language of God in Prophecy, this war will likely be waged for two to three years, or until just before the Rapture of the True Church - which could occur in 2010 through 2012 AD. Furthermore, based on the final stanza of Psalm 108, the armies of the West will not be able to defeat their Terrorist enemies unless the people of the West (particularly the USA) openly call upon the God of Israel to help them:
Who will bring me into the strong (or fortified) city (i.e. Babylon; a.k.a. Iraq - with its many US-built military bases surrounding it)? Who will lead me (in)to Edom (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and possibly Yemen, and Oman)? Is it not You, O God (Elohim), who cast us off? And You, O God (Elohim), who did not go out with our armies? (OR: Elohim, will You cast us off? Elohim, will You abandon our armies?) Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God (Elohim) we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies. -Psalm 108:10-13 (NKJ)
In this final section of Psalm 108, the passage which reads: it is He who shall tread down our enemies suggests that God will miraculously intervene, and bless the West with a temporary victory in the Middle East. Furthermore, the lamentations and pleas to God in Psalm 109 - the psalm tied to events in late 2009 through 2010 - indicates that this war will lead to both suffering, and great spiritual revival (as witnessed in this psalm of prayer and lamentation) in the land of Israel, and the countries allied to it:
But you, O Sovereign LORD (Yahweh), deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt. - Psalm 109:21-24 (NIV)Psalm 109 also suggests that the resolution of this war may lead to a much greater openness among Jews and Arabs to hear the Gospel, and be saved. Perhaps the miraculous events leading to this short-lived victory of Israel and the West against the Arabs will spur this revival, and the sharing of the Good News of the Kingdom of God with all of Abraham’s descendents through Ishmael and Isaac in preparation for the Rapture, and Great Tribulation:Help me, O LORD my God (oh Yahweh my Elohim); save me in accordance with your love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD (Yahweh), have done it.With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD (Yahweh); in the great throng I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.” - Psalm 109:26-27, 30-31 (NIV)
Could this worldwide time of peace and revival be the result of a peace treaty between Israel and the Arab world that will be signed with the diplomatic help of a politician who either represents, or will become the Antichrist? Based on other clues in Scripture, this peace treaty will likely allow the Jews to build a new Temple adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. But that, my friend, is another story. For those who want to study the clues in the Psalms, and the other prophetic books of the Bible, and learn more about the spiritual and political implications of this current time in history, go to my Pillar of Enoch Ministry web site at http://pillar-of-enoch.com, and check out the heavily-researched, fascinating “Language of God” four-book series - particularly the book in prophecy.NOTE: All Scriptures quoted in this article were taken from the PC Study Bible using either the Holy Bible: New International Version ®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society; or the New King James Version of the Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. © 1982.
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.
Earthquake shakes Mexico's Gulf of California Sat Sep 1, 5:48 PM ET
CULIACAN, Mexico (Reuters) - A strong earthquake hit Mexico's Gulf of California on Saturday, but there were no reports of damage and no danger of a tsunami. The epicenter of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake was 61 miles from the town of Los Mochis in the tomato-growing state of Sinaloa, at a depth of 35 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.Civil protection authorities in Los Mochis said they had not received any reports of damage or injuries.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there was no danger of dangerous waves from the earthquake.
Fortunately, most of the earthquakes in the Gulf of California are the kind that don't lift the ocean bottom and so they don't generate waves, Tsunami Center geophysicist Gerard Fryer said.The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, separates the sparsely populated Baja California peninsula from mainland Mexico.Last April, a strong magnitude 6 earthquake shook Mexico, sending thousands of tourists in the resort of Acapulco fleeing into the streets in panic and knocking out electricity 250 miles away in Mexico City.(Additional reporting by Noel Randewich)
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.
Felix strengthens into Caribbean hurricane SEPT 2,07
MIAMI (AFP) - Felix strengthened into a full-fledged hurricane Saturday as it churned toward the Caribbean island of Aruba, the US National Weather Service said. The hurricane was classified as a category one on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the weakest out of a scale of five, but was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours.At 0300 GMT Sunday the storm's center was located about 340 kilometers (210 miles) east of Aruba, the service's National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.Felix had maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles an hour), and was moving west at around 30 kilometers (18 miles) an hour.The hurricane was expected to pass just north of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao early Sunday, the advisory said.
The islands are popular tourist destinations in the Netherlands Antilles. Local authorities issued a hurricane watch for the three islands.A tropical storm watch was also issued for Jamaica, signaling that tropical storm conditions were possible within about 36 hours, the center said.The storm could dump two to four inches (five to 10 centimeters) of rain over islands off the Venezuela coast and the Netherlands Antilles, forecasters said.After Aruba, the hurricane was expected to blow toward Nicaragua's and Honduras' eastern coastlines and Belize, where it could make landfall Wednesday unless the course changes.Felix is the second hurricane of the three-month-old Atlantic season.Last week Hurricane Dean swept through the southern Caribbean with severe winds and rains, leaving a wide swathe of damage and a death toll of 30 from Martinique to Mexico.
Landslide kills six as storm passes Mexico Sat Sep 1, 6:31 PM ET
MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Six people died when rocks crushed their houses in a landslide in the southern Mexican resort of Acapulco after tropical storm Henriette strafed the country's Pacific coast, local authorities said. Six people died when rocks fell on their houses in two separate parts of Acapulco. The ground is unstable because of the rains over the last three days due to Henriette, civil protection spokeswoman Nadia Vela told AFP.Five of the dead were children, according to a report released by the city's civil protection authority.The town has many flimsy houses built on an outlying hillside, which makes them particularly vulnerable to bad weather.
Last week 13 people died in Mexico when Hurricane Dean slammed in off the Caribbean and passed over the tourist beaches of the Yucatan peninsula in the east.The US National Hurricane Center warned that Henriette could become a full hurricane Saturday night or on Sunday.In its latest advisory Saturday afternoon, the center said Henriette was passing Mexico some 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of the west coast town of Manzanillo.Further north, a strong earthquake struck offshore from Mexico in the Gulf of California. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Meanwhile tropical storm Felix was strengthening in the eastern Caribbean. The hurricane center said it could grow into a full-fledged hurricane Sunday.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Threatening Idaho fire nearly surrounded By KEITH RIDLER, Associated Press Writer SEPT 2,07
BOISE, Idaho - A wildfire that has forced the evacuation of hundreds of expensive homes and once threatened the Sun Valley ski area was expected to be fully contained Monday, a fire manager said. The mandatory evacuation order was lifted for the final 100 homes, but they remained under a voluntary evacuation, fire information officer Tina Boehle said Saturday. At one point, 2,500 homes had been under the orders.We're looking forward to containing this fire, she said. Things are looking very good.The fire was sparked by lightning Aug. 16 and was 78 percent contained Saturday after burning 74 square miles, she said. No structures had been lost, and no serious injuries were reported, Boehle said.Ten large wildfires were being fought Saturday on 1,300 square miles of Idaho. The largest remained a complex burning in the Boise National Forest about 80 miles northeast of Boise. Those fires had consumed 390 square miles and were 26 percent contained.
In central California, crews battling a two-month-old wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest worried about hot and dry weather that could undo some of their work.
Highs were expected to reach 102 to 107 and coupled with low humidity, meaning you've got the mixture for extreme fire danger, fire spokesman Larry Comerford said. We're on alert.The fire was 97 percent contained and was expected to be fully surrounded Sunday after scorching 240,207 acres of wilderness, or about 375 square miles.In Washington state, the 60 or so residents of the town of Marlin were allowed to return home Saturday after a fast-moving wildfire prompted an evacuation order the night before. No injuries were reported, and the 5.5-square-mile fire was 70 percent contained, officials said.Associated Press writer Robert Jablon contributed to this report.
Has a mythical beast turned up in Texas? By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 1, 5:25 PM ET
CUERO, Texas - Phylis Canion lived in Africa for four years. She's been a hunter all her life and has the mounted heads of a zebra and other exotic animals in her house to prove it. But the roadkill she found last month outside her ranch was a new one even for her, worth putting in a freezer hidden from curious onlookers: Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra. It is one ugly creature, Canion said, holding the head of the mammal, which has big ears, large fanged teeth and grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin.Canion and some of her neighbors discovered the 40-pound bodies of three of the animals over four days in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 80 miles southeast of San Antonio. Canion said she saved the head of the one she found so she can get to get to the bottom of its ancestry through DNA testing and then mount it for posterity.
She suspects, as have many rural denizens over the years, that a chupacabra may have killed as many as 26 of her chickens in the past couple of years.I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this, she said.What tipped Canion to the possibility that this was no ugly coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off — all the blood was drained from them, she said.Chupacabra means goat sucker in Spanish, and it is said to have originated in Latin America, specifically Puerto Rico and Mexico.Canion thinks recent heavy rains ran them right out of their dens.
I think it could have wolf in it, Canion said. It has to be a cross between two or three different things.She said the finding has captured the imagination of locals, just like purported sightings of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster have elsewhere.
But what folks are calling a chupacabra is probably just a strange breed of dog, said veterinarian Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria.I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog, said Schaar, who has seen Canion's find.The chupacabras could have all been part of a mutated litter of dogs, or they may be a new kind of mutt, he said.As for the bloodsucking, Schaar said that this particular canine may simply have a preference for blood, letting its prey bleed out and licking it up.Chupacabra or not, the discovery has spawned a local and international craze. Canion has started selling T-shirts that read: 2007, The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero, Texas, accompanied by a caricature of the creature. The $5 shirts have gone all over the world, including Japan, Australia and Brunei. Schaar also said he has one.If everyone has a fun time with it, we'll keep doing it, she said. It's good for Cuero.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
The Amazing Hidden Prophecy In Psalm 108, and the War on Terror - Are They Connected? Helena Lehman SEPT 1,07
Bible scholar, author, and artist Helena Lehman is an expert on the connection between the Bible, the Gospel in the Stars, the Desert Tabernacle, and the Great Pyramid. Her books explore the ancient roots of the Star Gospel, and its place as the cornerstone of the Language of God - a divine allegorical language of parables and symbols that permeates the entire Bible, and all Creation. Helena enjoys tying her knowledge of Bible prophecy and history to current affairs, and is available to speak at special events. For further information about her heavily researched books, and other writing and artistic endeavors, visit her web site at http://pillar-of-enoch.com.Helena Lehman
Many people are filled with anxiety today, wondering what is going to happen in regard to the war on terror, and America’s place in it, as well as the part the Middle East nations will play in upcoming world events. In that regard, the God of Israel has hidden much in Scripture about this very time in history. However, few scholars seem to be aware of the hidden prophecies in the Book of Psalms attributed to King David. For thousands of years, the Psalms have primarily been seen as praise and worship songs, with only a few directly prophetic psalms like Psalm 22, which clearly pertains to Christ’s First Advent. For this reason, few books on End Time events discuss these prophecies.In my book, The Language of God in Prophecy, I show how many Psalms - especially the Hallel Psalms 110 through 118 - may be directly related to global prophetic events occurring in the years 2010 through 2018. These nine psalms appear to describe unfolding events that will usher in the most terrible time in world history prior to the Great Flood: the seven-year Great Tribulation! My book on prophecy gives a thrilling glimpse into future world events, even though I neglected to look at Psalm 108, which is directly connected to the years 2008 through 2009.
If I had looked at Psalm 108 closely while writing my book, it would have added greatly to my prophetic interpretation of what the Hallel Psalms may mean in regard to the West’s ongoing war on Terror. In this article, I would therefore like to explain what this Psalm might foretell for the United, States, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and the rest of the world in the next two years leading up to 2010 -a year signaled out in several prophetic channels.Throughout Psalm 108, there are many terms that apply to nations and people groups in the past, as well as the present and future. What is doubly thrilling about this is that all the nations mentioned are directly involved with the current, globally felt war against Terrorism. To show how Psalm 108 reveals this, abridged portions of its thirteen stanzas will be quoted, followed by interpretations of what people groups and events these verses pertain to.
Let’s begin with the first seven stanzas:
O God (Elohim), my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise… Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O LORD (Yahweh)… among the nations… Be exalted, O God (Elohim), above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth; That Your beloved (i.e. Jerusalem) may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me. God (Elohim) has spoken in His holiness: I will rejoice; I will divide (or separate) Shechem (a city of refuge in Ephraimite territory which now refers to the Palestinian allotment of land in the West Bank) and measure out (i.e. set apart) the Valley of Succoth (part of Gad’s ancient territory - refers to the Palestinian occupied Gaza Strip). -Psalm 108:1-7 (NKJ) Fascinatingly, one of the two portions of land that have been portioned out to the Palestinians is the West Bank, which surrounds Jerusalem on three sides. This portion of land is called Shechem in Psalm 108, and it was rich pastureland when Jacob’s sons tended their father’s flocks there. It was near Shechem that Joseph made his fateful trip out into the fields to check on the welfare of his brothers, only to be beaten, imprisoned, and sold into slavery by them (Genesis 37:13-28). It was also in Shechem where Joseph was later buried.
Interestingly, the story of Joseph’s slavery, and later rise to power in Egypt echoes the current conflict between the West, and the Muslim nations. Perhaps this is why Joseph’s tomb is located in Shechem, or the West Bank, and why the Palestinians barbarically destroyed his tomb in 2003. As shown in my book The Language of God in Humanity, Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh would come to represent two powerful Gentile nations in the Last Days: The United States (Ephraim), and the United Kingdom (Manasseh).The Scripture I will divide (or separate) Shechem” directly states that it is God’s Will that there should be a separation of the West Bank from the rest of Israel through the auspices of the United States, United Kingdom, and United Nations! In double fulfillment of this, the West Bank is now separated, or divided by political strife as well since it was set up as a secular democratic state, but was quickly overrun by fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups. Even more fascinating is the fact that the Valley of Sukkoth” in the preceding Scripture may be referring to the Gaza Strip, which is indeed measured out, or set apart from Israel and the West Bank! These two sections of land were recently given to the Palestinians in order to secure peace with them, and the rest of the Middle East. However, this grand gesture of generosity by Israel has failed miserably in winning support and friendship from the Palestinians, or other Muslim nations.
The reason this modern bid at peace is failing is bound up in the past, and directly relates to the seemingly perpetual blood feuds between Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau. It is also tied to the failure of the Israelites to make any lasting peace with the hated Philistines, and Amalekites after the Exodus, and the conquest of Canaan. Intriguingly, the next two stanzas of Psalm 108 tell us what nations are intimately involved with, or opposed to this dividing up of Israel in an effort to bring peace to the region. It also states which nations are under God’s current control, or acting on His behalf, and also which ones are the targets of His wrath:
Gilead (i.e. the grandson of Manasseh, likely referring to Canada today) is Mine; Manasseh (the United Kingdom) is Mine; Ephraim (the United States) also is the “helmet for My head” (or chief stronghold); Judah (the nation of ISRAEL) is My lawgiver. Moab (Syria, Iraq, and Iran) is My washpot; over Edom (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and possibly Yemen and Oman) I will cast My shoe; over Philistia (Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian territories) I will triumph.-Psalm 108:8-9 (NKJ)
This portion of Scripture indicates that the Western nations with the most troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today, and those most closely allied with Israel today in friendship - the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada - are doing God’s will in the Middle East. So, no matter what people in these countries may think of their current political leaders, or government decisions concerning the War on Terror, these governments are (most likely unwittingly) acting on God’s behalf right now, though I must strongly emphasize here that this situation will change dramatically when the Antichrist becomes leader of the West in Europe sometime during, or after the predicted war described in Psalm 108. The remaining portion of Psalm 108 tells us that the Western nations allied to Israel are going to have a major military show down with the Islamic terrorists allied against them, which include those living in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Now based on my interpretation of Psalms 110 through 118 in The Language of God in Prophecy, this war will likely be waged for two to three years, or until just before the Rapture of the True Church - which could occur in 2010 through 2012 AD. Furthermore, based on the final stanza of Psalm 108, the armies of the West will not be able to defeat their Terrorist enemies unless the people of the West (particularly the USA) openly call upon the God of Israel to help them:
Who will bring me into the strong (or fortified) city (i.e. Babylon; a.k.a. Iraq - with its many US-built military bases surrounding it)? Who will lead me (in)to Edom (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and possibly Yemen, and Oman)? Is it not You, O God (Elohim), who cast us off? And You, O God (Elohim), who did not go out with our armies? (OR: Elohim, will You cast us off? Elohim, will You abandon our armies?) Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God (Elohim) we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies. -Psalm 108:10-13 (NKJ)
In this final section of Psalm 108, the passage which reads: it is He who shall tread down our enemies suggests that God will miraculously intervene, and bless the West with a temporary victory in the Middle East. Furthermore, the lamentations and pleas to God in Psalm 109 - the psalm tied to events in late 2009 through 2010 - indicates that this war will lead to both suffering, and great spiritual revival (as witnessed in this psalm of prayer and lamentation) in the land of Israel, and the countries allied to it:
But you, O Sovereign LORD (Yahweh), deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt. - Psalm 109:21-24 (NIV)Psalm 109 also suggests that the resolution of this war may lead to a much greater openness among Jews and Arabs to hear the Gospel, and be saved. Perhaps the miraculous events leading to this short-lived victory of Israel and the West against the Arabs will spur this revival, and the sharing of the Good News of the Kingdom of God with all of Abraham’s descendents through Ishmael and Isaac in preparation for the Rapture, and Great Tribulation:Help me, O LORD my God (oh Yahweh my Elohim); save me in accordance with your love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD (Yahweh), have done it.With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD (Yahweh); in the great throng I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.” - Psalm 109:26-27, 30-31 (NIV)
Could this worldwide time of peace and revival be the result of a peace treaty between Israel and the Arab world that will be signed with the diplomatic help of a politician who either represents, or will become the Antichrist? Based on other clues in Scripture, this peace treaty will likely allow the Jews to build a new Temple adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. But that, my friend, is another story. For those who want to study the clues in the Psalms, and the other prophetic books of the Bible, and learn more about the spiritual and political implications of this current time in history, go to my Pillar of Enoch Ministry web site at http://pillar-of-enoch.com, and check out the heavily-researched, fascinating “Language of God” four-book series - particularly the book in prophecy.NOTE: All Scriptures quoted in this article were taken from the PC Study Bible using either the Holy Bible: New International Version ®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society; or the New King James Version of the Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. © 1982.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
3 BOMBS IN TORONTO CAR
Breaking News - Toronto Ontario Canada Aug 31,07 11 40 AM
By Stan L Bowman Jr
A Toronto Muslim was arrested last night at 9:30 PM for suspicion of being a letter Bomber, 2 in Toronto and 1 in Guelph in the last week. After investigating they discovered 3 bombs in the Arrested mans car at Overlea BLVD and Thorncliffe Park outside a gas station. The Police say the Muslim is not a terrorist it is a grudge aginst the 3 people. The bombs will be transported up Southbound Don valley parkway to the Commisioners and detinated at the Leslie Street split.
Police detonate 3 bombs found in Toronto car trunk
Man, 37, arrested and charged in connection with recent letter bomb incidents
Last Updated: Friday, August 31, 2007 | 4:05 PM ET - CBC News
Toronto police performed a controlled detonation of three bombs in an isolated waterfront area on Friday after transporting the devices from the city's east end amid heavy security.Police used a specialized explosives trailer on Friday to transport the explosive devices down Toronto's Don Valley Parkway to a secure location.(CBC)Investigators alleged the devices — described as 35- to 45-centimetre packages with an as yet unidentified explosive — were discovered after a man driving the vehicle was arrested late Thursday night in connection with three letter-bomb incidents earlier this month.Police took the extraordinary step of closing off a major roadway to transport the bombs and perform the controlled detonation at about 3 p.m. ET. A large plume of smoke rose from the site.
Just after noon ET, a special explosives trailer carrying the devices slowly began travelling southbound on the Don Valley Parkway — just metres from long-weekend traffic filling the northbound lanes — to the Leslie Street Spit more than seven kilometres away at the edge of Lake Ontario.Deputy Chief Tony Warr said the extraordinary safety precautions were necessary after bomb technicians determined the bombs could not be defused.It's the safest place to do it, he told reporters from the edge of the cordoned area. We're not able to disassemble them to the point where we can completely take them apart.Early Friday, the emergency task force sealed off a large perimeter around Overlea Boulevard, Millwood Drive and Don Mills Road, as well as the entire Thorncliffe Park Drive loop, as the bomb disposal units used a pair of remote-controlled robots to move the devices into the trailer. Investigators also searched a residence on Ashdale Avenue, which was cleared, police said.
Incidents believed linked
Warr said investigators believe the three earlier incidents are linked to the devices found Friday — they're similar — and that the motive appears personal.
Two of the letters were sent to homes in Toronto, while another was sent to a residence in Guelph.On the evening of Aug. 11, a man in the Victoria Park Avenue-Lawrence Avenue East area sustained injuries after an envelope he received at his home exploded in his hands.Eight days later, a real estate lawyer found an envelope at his home in the Yonge Street-Sheppard Avenue West area. The package smelled like petroleum, so he notified police and it was safely detonated. Police said it was rigged to explode if opened.On Aug. 22, a self-employed home renovator found a Canada Post Xpresspost envelope at the rear of his Guelph home, but didn't open it and called police. Media reports said the letter was detonated at the scene and contained enough explosive to take the man's head off had it exploded.
Similar packages mailed to addresses in Toronto and Guelph did not explode, authorities have said.Adel Arnaout, 37, of Toronto, has been charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of intending to cause an explosion, and possession of explosives for an unlawful purpose, police said. He was scheduled to appear Friday in a Toronto court.
Global Warming Might Spur Earthquakes and Volcanoes Andrea Thompson
LiveScience Staff Writer - LiveScience.com - Thu Aug 30, 5:40 PM ET
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and landslides are some of the additional catastrophes that climate change and its rising sea levels and melting glaciers could bring, a geologist says. The impact of human-induced global warming on Earth's ice and oceans is already noticeable: Greenland's glaciers are melting at an increasing rate, and sea level rose by a little more than half a foot (0.17 meters) globally in the 20th century, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. With these trends in ice cover and sea level only expected to continue and likely worsen if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, they could alter the stresses and forces fighting for balance in the ground under our feet—changes that are well-documented in studies of past climate change, but which are just beginning to be studied as possible consequences of the current state of global warming.
Although they've described it in the past, nobody's thought about it in terms of future effects of climate change, said Bill McGuire of the University College London's Hazard Research Center. McGuire's speculations of increased geological activity have not yet been published in a journal, but he has written an article about them published in the Guardian Unlimited.
Rebounding crust
One particular feature that can change the balance of forces in Earth's crust is ice, in the form of glaciers and ice sheets that cover much of the area around Earth's poles plus mountains at all latitudes. The weight of ice depresses the crust on which it sits. As the ice melts, the crust below no longer has anything sitting on top of it, and so can rebound fairly rapidly (by geological standards). (This rebounding is actually occurring now as a result of the end of the last Ice Age: The retreat of massive ice sheets from the northern United States and Canada has allowed the crust in these areas to bounce back.) Areas of rebounding crust could change the stresses acting on earthquake faults and volcanoes in the crust. In places like Iceland, for example, where you have the Eyjafjallajökull ice sheet, which wouldn't survive [global warming], and you've got lots of volcanoes under that, the unloading effect can trigger eruptions, McGuire said. With the changing dynamics in the crust, faults could also be destabilized, which could bring a whole host of other problems.
It's not just the volcanoes. Obviously if you load and unload active faults, then you're liable to trigger earthquakes, McGuire told LiveScience, noting that there is ample evidence for this association in past climate change events. At the end of the last Ice Age, there was a great increase in seismicity along the margins of the ice sheets in Scandinavia and places like this, and that triggered these huge submarine landsides which generated tsunamis, McGuire said. So you've got the whole range of geological hazards there that can result from if we see this big catastrophic melting.Roland Burgmann, a geologist at the University of California, Berkeley, agrees that changes in ice cover can have significant effects on the underlying crust, but says that more research needs to be done to determine the actual scale of the threat and where the effects are most likely to occur.
Water pressure
Ice melt can have an added consequence because all that melted ice has to go somewhere—namely, the ocean. And ice melt won't be the only factor changing sea levels: as ocean temperatures rise, the water itself expands (a process called thermal expansion). As all that extra water piles up, it could apply pressure to faults near coastlines. The added load of the water bends the crust, and that means that you tend to get tensional conditions in the upper part of the crust and compressional a bit lower down, just as if you bend a plank of wood or something, McGuire explained. These compressional forces could push out any magma lying around underneath a volcano, triggering an eruption. (This mechanism is actually believed to be the cause of the seasonal eruptions of Alaska's Pavlof volcano, which erupts every winter when sea levels are higher.) McGuire conducted a study that was published in the journal Nature in 1997 that looked at the connection between the change in the rate of sea level rise and volcanic activity in the Mediterranean for the past 80,000 years and found that when sea level rose quickly, more volcanic eruptions occurred, increasing by a whopping 300 percent.
If today's worst-case global warming scenarios of catastrophic melting of glaciers and ice sheets come to pass, sea levels could rise rapidly, wreaking all sorts of geological havoc comparable with the most rapid increases in sea level that we've seen in the last 15,000 years, McGuire said. Burgmann isn't too worried about sea level rise causing more earthquakes or volcanic eruptions though, noting that catastrophic rates of sea level rise in the future are uncertain and that the current rate of rise—about 0.12 inches per year (3 millimeters per year)—isn't enough to destabilize the crust. It would take a long time to add up to a significant amount, Burgmann said—so while it's an area of research to keep an eye on, it's unlikely to have any disastrous consequences, at least for now.
Phoenix sets heat record By Bernie Woodall
Thu Aug 30, 9:12 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Phoenix has had a record 30 days this year in which the mercury hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the U.S. National Weather Service said on Thursday. Phoenix on Thursday had a high temperature of 111 degrees Fahrenheit, extending the record broken on Wednesday of 29 days with at least 110 degrees F in a calendar year, said meteorologist Keith Kincaid of the National Weather Service.
The previous record of 28 days was set in 1970 and matched in 2002. Phoenix has not neared its all-time record high of 122 F set in 1990.Kincaid said the Phoenix high will be 110 F on Friday. By the weekend, Arizona's biggest city will cool slightly so 2007 is likely to end with a record 31 days that were hotter than 110 degrees F.
There's a tropical system south of Mexico that will move up and affect us, so I don't foresee us being 110 degrees in the next two weeks after Friday, said Kincaid, who is based in Phoenix.That's good news for the two biggest utilities in the state, both of which serve parts of the Phoenix area -- the investor-owned Arizona Public Service and the municipal Salt River Project.Jeff Lane of the Salt River Project said the utility reached a peak demand of about 6,260 megawatts, shy of its record peak for the year and about 250 megawatts short of Wednesday's demand.In Arizona, where summer air-conditioning use is high, a megawatt powers about 250 homes.
The state's largest utility, APS, had peak demand Thursday of about 7,500 megawatts, down from Wednesday's peak of about 7,595 megawatts, said Betty Dayyo of APS, a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp.As was the case in California on Thursday and Wednesday, Arizona's power grid held despite the intense heat.Another weather record for Phoenix has been challenged recently, Kincaid said.It is the second-hottest summer when measuring average temperatures (daily low and high) from June 1 through August 28. This year that average is 94.7 degrees F, second only to 94.8 F set in 2002, Kincaid said.In Phoenix, overnight lows have been creeping higher in recent years because of the concrete, asphalt and steel in the city that retain heat, Kincaid said.It's the urban heat island effect, he said. "You go 40 miles southeast of Phoenix to Coolidge, Arizona and the overnight lows are 10 to 15 degrees (F) lower than in Phoenix and the daily highs of the two places is pretty much on par.
Fatah protest of Hamas ends in clashes AUG 31,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza City - A protest of Hamas rule by Fatah supporters turned violent Friday when Hamas men began forcefully dispersing the crowd, firing in the air and beating demonstrators and reporters. Three people were wounded, according to Dr. Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. It was not immediately clear if they were protesters or police, and Hassanin did not specify the nature of their injuries.Associated Press reporters saw the beating of one journalist by Hamas men. He was not seriously hurt.The violence began at the end of a Fatah prayer meeting held to protest Hamas, which seized control of the coastal territory in June. A similar protest a week ago also ended in clashes and harassment of journalists.
After the Fatah supporters finished prayers, Hamas men began firing into the air to disperse the crowd. The Hamas security forces then began arresting protesters and taking them away in jeeps, and also beat several demonstrators. AP Television News video showed several uniformed Hamas men beating an unarmed protester with long sticks.Hamas supporters in civilian clothes also joined the uniformed forces in dispersing the protest.
By Stan L Bowman Jr
A Toronto Muslim was arrested last night at 9:30 PM for suspicion of being a letter Bomber, 2 in Toronto and 1 in Guelph in the last week. After investigating they discovered 3 bombs in the Arrested mans car at Overlea BLVD and Thorncliffe Park outside a gas station. The Police say the Muslim is not a terrorist it is a grudge aginst the 3 people. The bombs will be transported up Southbound Don valley parkway to the Commisioners and detinated at the Leslie Street split.
Police detonate 3 bombs found in Toronto car trunk
Man, 37, arrested and charged in connection with recent letter bomb incidents
Last Updated: Friday, August 31, 2007 | 4:05 PM ET - CBC News
Toronto police performed a controlled detonation of three bombs in an isolated waterfront area on Friday after transporting the devices from the city's east end amid heavy security.Police used a specialized explosives trailer on Friday to transport the explosive devices down Toronto's Don Valley Parkway to a secure location.(CBC)Investigators alleged the devices — described as 35- to 45-centimetre packages with an as yet unidentified explosive — were discovered after a man driving the vehicle was arrested late Thursday night in connection with three letter-bomb incidents earlier this month.Police took the extraordinary step of closing off a major roadway to transport the bombs and perform the controlled detonation at about 3 p.m. ET. A large plume of smoke rose from the site.
Just after noon ET, a special explosives trailer carrying the devices slowly began travelling southbound on the Don Valley Parkway — just metres from long-weekend traffic filling the northbound lanes — to the Leslie Street Spit more than seven kilometres away at the edge of Lake Ontario.Deputy Chief Tony Warr said the extraordinary safety precautions were necessary after bomb technicians determined the bombs could not be defused.It's the safest place to do it, he told reporters from the edge of the cordoned area. We're not able to disassemble them to the point where we can completely take them apart.Early Friday, the emergency task force sealed off a large perimeter around Overlea Boulevard, Millwood Drive and Don Mills Road, as well as the entire Thorncliffe Park Drive loop, as the bomb disposal units used a pair of remote-controlled robots to move the devices into the trailer. Investigators also searched a residence on Ashdale Avenue, which was cleared, police said.
Incidents believed linked
Warr said investigators believe the three earlier incidents are linked to the devices found Friday — they're similar — and that the motive appears personal.
Two of the letters were sent to homes in Toronto, while another was sent to a residence in Guelph.On the evening of Aug. 11, a man in the Victoria Park Avenue-Lawrence Avenue East area sustained injuries after an envelope he received at his home exploded in his hands.Eight days later, a real estate lawyer found an envelope at his home in the Yonge Street-Sheppard Avenue West area. The package smelled like petroleum, so he notified police and it was safely detonated. Police said it was rigged to explode if opened.On Aug. 22, a self-employed home renovator found a Canada Post Xpresspost envelope at the rear of his Guelph home, but didn't open it and called police. Media reports said the letter was detonated at the scene and contained enough explosive to take the man's head off had it exploded.
Similar packages mailed to addresses in Toronto and Guelph did not explode, authorities have said.Adel Arnaout, 37, of Toronto, has been charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of intending to cause an explosion, and possession of explosives for an unlawful purpose, police said. He was scheduled to appear Friday in a Toronto court.
Global Warming Might Spur Earthquakes and Volcanoes Andrea Thompson
LiveScience Staff Writer - LiveScience.com - Thu Aug 30, 5:40 PM ET
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and landslides are some of the additional catastrophes that climate change and its rising sea levels and melting glaciers could bring, a geologist says. The impact of human-induced global warming on Earth's ice and oceans is already noticeable: Greenland's glaciers are melting at an increasing rate, and sea level rose by a little more than half a foot (0.17 meters) globally in the 20th century, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. With these trends in ice cover and sea level only expected to continue and likely worsen if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, they could alter the stresses and forces fighting for balance in the ground under our feet—changes that are well-documented in studies of past climate change, but which are just beginning to be studied as possible consequences of the current state of global warming.
Although they've described it in the past, nobody's thought about it in terms of future effects of climate change, said Bill McGuire of the University College London's Hazard Research Center. McGuire's speculations of increased geological activity have not yet been published in a journal, but he has written an article about them published in the Guardian Unlimited.
Rebounding crust
One particular feature that can change the balance of forces in Earth's crust is ice, in the form of glaciers and ice sheets that cover much of the area around Earth's poles plus mountains at all latitudes. The weight of ice depresses the crust on which it sits. As the ice melts, the crust below no longer has anything sitting on top of it, and so can rebound fairly rapidly (by geological standards). (This rebounding is actually occurring now as a result of the end of the last Ice Age: The retreat of massive ice sheets from the northern United States and Canada has allowed the crust in these areas to bounce back.) Areas of rebounding crust could change the stresses acting on earthquake faults and volcanoes in the crust. In places like Iceland, for example, where you have the Eyjafjallajökull ice sheet, which wouldn't survive [global warming], and you've got lots of volcanoes under that, the unloading effect can trigger eruptions, McGuire said. With the changing dynamics in the crust, faults could also be destabilized, which could bring a whole host of other problems.
It's not just the volcanoes. Obviously if you load and unload active faults, then you're liable to trigger earthquakes, McGuire told LiveScience, noting that there is ample evidence for this association in past climate change events. At the end of the last Ice Age, there was a great increase in seismicity along the margins of the ice sheets in Scandinavia and places like this, and that triggered these huge submarine landsides which generated tsunamis, McGuire said. So you've got the whole range of geological hazards there that can result from if we see this big catastrophic melting.Roland Burgmann, a geologist at the University of California, Berkeley, agrees that changes in ice cover can have significant effects on the underlying crust, but says that more research needs to be done to determine the actual scale of the threat and where the effects are most likely to occur.
Water pressure
Ice melt can have an added consequence because all that melted ice has to go somewhere—namely, the ocean. And ice melt won't be the only factor changing sea levels: as ocean temperatures rise, the water itself expands (a process called thermal expansion). As all that extra water piles up, it could apply pressure to faults near coastlines. The added load of the water bends the crust, and that means that you tend to get tensional conditions in the upper part of the crust and compressional a bit lower down, just as if you bend a plank of wood or something, McGuire explained. These compressional forces could push out any magma lying around underneath a volcano, triggering an eruption. (This mechanism is actually believed to be the cause of the seasonal eruptions of Alaska's Pavlof volcano, which erupts every winter when sea levels are higher.) McGuire conducted a study that was published in the journal Nature in 1997 that looked at the connection between the change in the rate of sea level rise and volcanic activity in the Mediterranean for the past 80,000 years and found that when sea level rose quickly, more volcanic eruptions occurred, increasing by a whopping 300 percent.
If today's worst-case global warming scenarios of catastrophic melting of glaciers and ice sheets come to pass, sea levels could rise rapidly, wreaking all sorts of geological havoc comparable with the most rapid increases in sea level that we've seen in the last 15,000 years, McGuire said. Burgmann isn't too worried about sea level rise causing more earthquakes or volcanic eruptions though, noting that catastrophic rates of sea level rise in the future are uncertain and that the current rate of rise—about 0.12 inches per year (3 millimeters per year)—isn't enough to destabilize the crust. It would take a long time to add up to a significant amount, Burgmann said—so while it's an area of research to keep an eye on, it's unlikely to have any disastrous consequences, at least for now.
Phoenix sets heat record By Bernie Woodall
Thu Aug 30, 9:12 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Phoenix has had a record 30 days this year in which the mercury hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the U.S. National Weather Service said on Thursday. Phoenix on Thursday had a high temperature of 111 degrees Fahrenheit, extending the record broken on Wednesday of 29 days with at least 110 degrees F in a calendar year, said meteorologist Keith Kincaid of the National Weather Service.
The previous record of 28 days was set in 1970 and matched in 2002. Phoenix has not neared its all-time record high of 122 F set in 1990.Kincaid said the Phoenix high will be 110 F on Friday. By the weekend, Arizona's biggest city will cool slightly so 2007 is likely to end with a record 31 days that were hotter than 110 degrees F.
There's a tropical system south of Mexico that will move up and affect us, so I don't foresee us being 110 degrees in the next two weeks after Friday, said Kincaid, who is based in Phoenix.That's good news for the two biggest utilities in the state, both of which serve parts of the Phoenix area -- the investor-owned Arizona Public Service and the municipal Salt River Project.Jeff Lane of the Salt River Project said the utility reached a peak demand of about 6,260 megawatts, shy of its record peak for the year and about 250 megawatts short of Wednesday's demand.In Arizona, where summer air-conditioning use is high, a megawatt powers about 250 homes.
The state's largest utility, APS, had peak demand Thursday of about 7,500 megawatts, down from Wednesday's peak of about 7,595 megawatts, said Betty Dayyo of APS, a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp.As was the case in California on Thursday and Wednesday, Arizona's power grid held despite the intense heat.Another weather record for Phoenix has been challenged recently, Kincaid said.It is the second-hottest summer when measuring average temperatures (daily low and high) from June 1 through August 28. This year that average is 94.7 degrees F, second only to 94.8 F set in 2002, Kincaid said.In Phoenix, overnight lows have been creeping higher in recent years because of the concrete, asphalt and steel in the city that retain heat, Kincaid said.It's the urban heat island effect, he said. "You go 40 miles southeast of Phoenix to Coolidge, Arizona and the overnight lows are 10 to 15 degrees (F) lower than in Phoenix and the daily highs of the two places is pretty much on par.
Fatah protest of Hamas ends in clashes AUG 31,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza City - A protest of Hamas rule by Fatah supporters turned violent Friday when Hamas men began forcefully dispersing the crowd, firing in the air and beating demonstrators and reporters. Three people were wounded, according to Dr. Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. It was not immediately clear if they were protesters or police, and Hassanin did not specify the nature of their injuries.Associated Press reporters saw the beating of one journalist by Hamas men. He was not seriously hurt.The violence began at the end of a Fatah prayer meeting held to protest Hamas, which seized control of the coastal territory in June. A similar protest a week ago also ended in clashes and harassment of journalists.
After the Fatah supporters finished prayers, Hamas men began firing into the air to disperse the crowd. The Hamas security forces then began arresting protesters and taking them away in jeeps, and also beat several demonstrators. AP Television News video showed several uniformed Hamas men beating an unarmed protester with long sticks.Hamas supporters in civilian clothes also joined the uniformed forces in dispersing the protest.
Friday, August 31, 2007
RUSSIA FUELED ISRAEL-SYRIA TENTIONS
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Lost tribe of Israel arrives in Jewish state
Group in India descended from Joseph struggled to return home
Posted: August 30, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
TEL AVIV – One-hundred-seventy-four people from a group of thousands in India that believes it is one of the 10 "lost tribes" of Israel landed here this week, fulfilling for many a life-long dream of returning to what they consider their homeland. Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization led by American Michael Freund, hopes to bring to the Jewish state the remaining 7,000 Indian citizens who believe they are the Bnei Menashe, the descendants of Manasseh, one of biblical patriarch Joseph's two sons and a grandson of Jacob. The tribe lives in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, to which they claim to have been exiled from Israel more than 2,700 years ago by the Assyrian empire. I truly believe this is a miracle of immense historical and even biblical significance, Freund told WND as the group of 174 arrived here earlier this week. Just as the prophets foretold so long ago, the lost tribes of Israel are being brought back from the exile, said Freund, who previously served as deputy communications director under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Another planeload of 57 Bnei Menashe is slated to touch down in Israel tomorrow. The group, which has preserved ancient Jewish customs and rituals, has been trying the past 50 years to return to Israel.
Over the last decade, Freund's Shavei Israel, at times working with other organizations, brought about 1,200 Bnei Menashe members to the Jewish state. Many settled in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. About 80 lived in Gaza's slate of Jewish communities, which were evacuated by the Israeli government in 2005. The original batches of Bnei Menashe to arrive here were brought to Israel as tourists in an agreement with Israel's Interior Ministry. Once here, the Bnei Menashe converted officially to Judaism and became citizens. But diplomatic wrangling halted the immigration process in 2003, with officials from some Israeli ministries refusing to grant the rest of the group still in India permission to travel here.
Bnei Menashe member arriving in Israel (Courtesy Shavei Israel)
To smooth the process, Freund enlisted the help of Israel's chief rabbinate, which flew to India in 2005 to meet with and consider converting members of the Bnei Menashe. Once legally Jewish, the tribe can apply for Israeli citizenship under the country's Law of Return, which guarantees sanctuary to Jews from around the world.
Six rabbis were sent by Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, to begin converting the Bnei Menashe. The rabbis met with hundreds of tribal members, testing their knowledge of Judaism and assessing their conviction, converting 216 individuals – over 90 percent of the members interviewed. The rabbis were incredibly impressed with the Bnei Menashe, said Freund. They saw for themselves that the group is very serious and should be integrated into the Jewish nation. That they are a blessing to the state of Israel. Last year, 218 converted members arrived in Israel. Freund hoped to repeat the process for 231 more Bnei Menashe who had been approved for conversion, but the Indian government, which heavily restricts conversions, put a halt on the plan.
Bnei Menashe member (Courtesy Shavei Israel)
Instead, the batch of Bnei Menashe that arrived this week were brought to Israel as tourists in coordination with the Israeli government. Once here, the tribe will be officially converted by the country's chief rabbinate and qualify for Israeli citizenship. The new immigrants will spend the next few months studying Hebrew and Judaism at a Shavei Israel absorption center in northern Israel. The Bnei Menashe that arrived here over the years have fully transited into Israeli society. Many attended college and rabbinic school, moved to major Israeli communities and even joined the Israel Defense Forces. Twelve Bnei Menashe served in the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon in 2006. One of them, Avi Hanshing, a 22-year old paratrooper, was injured during a clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hanshing's father was among those who arrived here earlier this week in an emotional reunion at Israel's international airport. As much as we might think that Israel is helping the Bnei Menashe, it is the reverse that is true. It is they who strengthen us – with their faith, with their commitment and with their undying love for Zion," said Freund.
Bnei Menashe member (Courtesy Shavei Israel)
According to Bnei Menashe oral tradition, the tribe was exiled from Israel and pushed to the east, eventually settling in the border regions of China and India, where most remain today. Most kept customs similar to Jewish tradition, including observing Shabbat, keeping the laws of Kosher, practicing circumcision on the eighth day of a baby boy's life and observing laws of family purity. In the 1950s, several thousand Bnei Menashe say they set out on foot to Israel but were quickly halted by Indian authorities. Undeterred, many began practicing Orthodox Judaism and pledged to make it to Israel. They now attend community centers established by Shavei Israel to teach the Bnei Menashe Jewish tradition and modern Hebrew. Freund said he hopes the arrival this week of more Bnei Menashe would jump-start the process of bringing back the rest of the 7,000 Bnei Menashe who are in India yearning to return home.
Moving the Middle East Peace Process Forward
Vatican Radio
(30 Aug 07 - RV) A two day conference on the Middle East peace process began today in the European parliament building in Brussels. Sponsored by the United Nations, the meeting brings together different organizations and experts from different parts of civil society to discuss how to move the peace process forward. Franciscan father David Maria Jaeger, expert on religion and politics in the holy land, says Europe can play an important role in bringing a just peace to the Holy Land.
Suspect Material Found in U.N. Office - By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer - Toxic Chemical Found in U.N. Office
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- U.N. weapons inspectors discovered a potentially hazardous chemical warfare agent that was taken from an Iraqi chemical weapons facility 11 years ago and mistakenly stored in their offices in the heart of midtown Manhattan all that time, officials said Thursday.The material - identified in inventory files as phosgene, a chemical substance used in World War I weapons - was discovered Aug. 24. It was only identified on Wednesday because it was marked simply with an inventory number, and officials had to check the many records in their vast archives, said Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the U.N. inspection agency.U.N. and U.S. officials said the material posed no threat to anyone's health or safety.
A team of hazardous materials experts from the FBI and New York City police removed the substance from the office on Manhattan's east side, about a block north of U.N. headquarters, in three steel containers. The containers were flown to a military facility in Aberdeen, Md., for disposal, U.N. officials said.While the disposal team was in UNMOVIC's sixth-floor office, its small staff was evacuated along with other tenants from that floor, Buchanan said.When the material was discovered in a shipping container last week, Buchanan said U.N. experts followed their established procedure in dealing with unknown material - putting the material in double zip-locked plastic bags, and securing it in a safe in a room that is double-locked.
U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the staff continued to work in the offices of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, or UNMOVIC, which are in the process of being shut down.Tests conducted by U.N. personnel found no toxic vapors in the area where the material had been stored, police said. The materials had been in UNMOVIC and its predecessor inspection agency, UNSCOM, apparently since 1996 when they were inadvertently shipped to U.N. administrative offices instead of a chemical laboratory, police said.White House spokesman Tony Snow said the suspected chemical agent should have been transported to an appropriately equipped lab for analysis.I'm sure that there are going to be a lot of red-faced people over at the U.N. trying to figure out how they got there, Snow said.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the U.N. needs to be more careful because it's a target.The fact that a container of deadly poison from Iraq was found at the U.N. is a wake-up call that they better start living up to the higher safety standards of a post 9-11 New York, he said in a statement.Phosgene can be used as a chemical weapon, and was used extensively in World War I as a choking agent. Both phosgene gas and liquid can damage skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs.Buchanan said the phosgene was in liquid form, suspended in oil, in a soda-can-sized container that was sealed in a plastic bag.Okabe said the chemical state of the phosgene was unknown but could be potentially hazardous.A U.N. chemical weapons expert, Svetlana Utkina, said phosgene is toxic and would cause a person's lungs to collapse if it was inhaled. She said a container the size of a soda can would likely not contain more than gram quantities of the substance.Still, if it was opened and did contain phosgene, she said probably about five people will get severe problems, (and a) couple of people will be dead.The inventory records indicated the material was from a 1996 excavation of the bombed-out research and development building at Iraq's main chemical weapons facility at Muthana, near Samarra. The entire facility was extensively bombed during the 1991 Gulf War, Buchanan said.
UNMOVIC has 1,400 linear feet of paper files - 125 five-drawer cabinets - and it took until Wednesday to find the inventory matching the number on the package with the suspected phosgene, Buchanan said.The agency and its archives - including the suspect material - had been in an office at U.N. headquarters until moving to its current site about three years ago, he said.Also found at the UNMOVIC office was a second sealed package containing tiny samples of chemical agents in sealed glass tubes shaped like pens, Buchanan said. Each of these tubes contained less than a gram of the material, he added.Okabe said the U.N. has launched an investigation to determine how and why the material was in UNMOVIC files. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon notified the Security Council, she added.The State Department said it had learned of the discovery late Wednesday and had immediately contacted the FBI to deal with the disposal.Deputy spokesman Tom Casey also said a joint U.S.-U.N. investigation would be conducted into why the samples had been stored in the office but stressed that the chemicals had been there for at least a decade and did not pose any health risk.
One of the things we want to do is make sure that the U.N., working with the FBI, does conduct a full investigation of this, so we're absolutely certain how they in fact got there, how long they were there, and the kind of exact nature of how this came about, he told reporters.There is no threat that these items currently or in the past have posed to public health and safety in the area, Casey said.U.N. inspectors pulled out of Iraq just before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion and were barred by the U.S. from returning. The U.S. and Britain said they were taking over responsibility for Iraq's disarmament. In June 2003, the Security Council voted to shut down UNMOVIC and the U.N. nuclear inspection operation in Iraq.Brian Mullady, a senior UNMOVIC official, told reporters that the staff did an immediate sweep of the rest of its archives to see if there were any more surprises, but there was none.
Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this story from New York.
EU resumes treaty wrangling as political issues remain
29.08.2007 - 17:36 CET | By Honor Mahony and Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - As the deadline for political agreement on the new European treaty draws closer, EU officials believe that while the treaty outline is relatively tight, up to seven remaining issues are political rather than purely technical.The initial sweep of the treaty by legal experts is due to be completed by next Thursday (6 September) the day before foreign ministers meet for the first political discussion since EU leaders agreed the treaty outline in June.The main task for the experts is to translate the EU leaders' mandate – including a messy array of opt-outs, out-ins, declarations and protocols – into an unambiguous a whole as possible.The European Parliament and the Commission are also involved, with commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso meeting the three parliament representatives on the treaty on Tuesday evening (28 August).
They are keeping a wary eye on the secretariat of the EU council - the member states' decision-making body - which drew up the reform treaty. Both the parliament and the commission want to make sure it has not slipped in any legalese that might undermine their positions in the EU hierarchy.Portugal, as EU presidency, has set a strict timetable. It wants political agreement by mid October and the treaty signed-off by the end of the year. It has made it clear it wants the talks to be a technical as possible – something it reiterated in its letter inviting the European Parliament's three representatives to the foreign ministers' talks next Friday.
But not every question will be at a purely technical level. Centre-right German MEP and parliament representative Elmar Brok believes there are between five and seven issues that could become political.
Political issues
These include Britain's opt outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as from legislation in the criminal justice area.On the charter, some fear that London's exemption may affect the EU legal system as a whole through decisions by the European Court of Justice.It could legally contaminate the whole system, says UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff and co-representative at the talks.Mr Duff also points to concerns about London's criminal law and justice opt-out, under which it can still decide to participate in individual justice-related laws. The problem is that the UK can opt in at the start of negotiations [on a proposal], seek to reduce the force and value [of the proposal] and then still opt out at the end.Meanwhile the new provisions on the bloc's common foreign and security policy is causing the commission concern that its powers in trade and development may be encroached upon.
There is also the contentious issue of the new voting system. Poland wants to see included in the treaty text a mechanism whereby it can block an EU decision if its vital interests are at stake. But most member states only want to have the mechanism mentioned in a separate declaration which has less legal status. Citizenship is another topic that MEPs believe need to be discussed. It was mentioned high up in the original constitution but has since been regulated to a lesser place in the new text.This has no legal importance, admits Mr Brok but stresses that it is of symbolic importance.According to Mr Duff, it's kind of odd that we are trying to appeal to citizens and we are not speaking about citizenship [when the text starts].
Post-treaty trouble
Critical though MEPs are of the way the treaty now looks – they say it remains as unreadable as previous EU treaties, they welcome some of the June additions on language, energy supply, solidarity and combating climate change.But even if the timetable goes to plan, this is not likely to be an end to problems.According to Mr Brok, one of big political discussions after the text is agree will be to do with the EU's planned diplomatic service.A balance of power question, it raises all sorts of political hot potatoes but who should control it, where it should be situated, who is part of it and what its scope should be.
Barroso Says EU Commission Will Learn From Subprime Crisis AUG 30,07
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- The European Union Commission will take a close look at the subprime lending crisis and related market turmoil, the head of the commission said Thursday. The E.U. will draw the lessons from the recent events very carefully, commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a business conference in Paris.We can do this on the basis of an economy that is sound, with solid fundamentals, he added, without saying what fresh steps could be taken to handle the crisis or to avoid recurrences in the future.Barroso's comments follow assurances from the commission Wednesday that economic fundamentals in Europe are sound, and there is no immediate concern that growth and economic development might be affected by the subprime crisis.The commission's assessment is that, despite the problems that have existed, the situation has shown the systems of control and intervention work, commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said Wednesday.Thursday, Barroso seemed content with the European Central Bank's and the U.S. Federal Reserve's handling of the crisis. The ECB respected its role by intervening in the markets, as did the Fed.
-By Gabriele Parussini, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 4017 1740; gabriele.parussini@dowjones.com (Carolyn Henson in Brussels contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires.
Barroso against EU borders debate
30.08.2007 - 09:22 CET | By Honor Mahony
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said he is against having a debate on the geographic borders of the EU.His comments, made in an interview with French daily Le Figaro, come in response to Monday's proposal by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to have a fundamental reflection on the future of the EU, including its borders, its future and its message.The idea of Mr Sarkozy is not to have a debate on the geographical borders of the Europe. This is something that we do not want - such a discussion would lead to the limits of the EU being fixed, said Mr Barroso.He reiterated Brussels' position that a decision on Turkey becoming a full member of the EU should not be taken now, with Mr Sarkozy making a debate on the future of Europe a condition for Paris not blocking Brussels' EU negotiations with Ankara.
But he went on to add that having a debate on the political objective of Europe is a good idea.He noted that a discussion on the future of Europe in the globalised world had already begun in October 2005 at an informal meeting of leaders in the UK.If member states want a more structured form for these exchanges, that is all well and good.Mr Barroso said an external contribution, possibly from universities, to the debate would be positive but pointed out that democratic decisions will always have to be taken by the institutions.The commission president, who will meet Mr Sarkozy in Paris today, praised the commission president for his European commitment.He noted that they are not necessarily in agreement on everything but added I prefer a political leader who proves their energy rather than a leader just satisfied by a bureaucratic and routine Europe.
Since France's energetic new leader came to power in June, the EU has seen a revival in its political dynamic, starting off with an agreement on a new treaty after two years of stagnation.But Mr Sarkozy's presence on the European stage has also ruffled a few feathers. He is strongly opposed to Turkey's membership of the EU – the debate of the future of Europe that he is pushing for is part of an overall idea to get people talking about membership alternatives for Ankara.He has also caused tension with other member states such as Germany by appearing to want curb to the independence of the European Central Bank.
Philanthropic foundations push for EU statute
29.08.2007 - 17:34 CET | By Helena Spongenberg
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Foundations are cropping up across Europe in numbers like never before. In Spain alone, at least one new foundation is created every day.
But differences in national regulation make it hard for the foundations to work across EU member states.According to the head of the European Foundation Centre (EFC), Gerry Salole, increasing wealth in Europe is part of the rise in philanthropic foundations, which have been around on the continent since the 13th century.People are also seeing that using private wealth for public resources has an impact, Mr Salole told the EUobserver in an interview. But he would like to see foundations able to be pan-European.The Brussels-based centre is pushing for a European statute for foundations, which would be a legal instrument easing legal, financial and administrative burdens foundations currently face when transferring tax-exempted charitable donations across intra-EU borders.
If we are serious about Europe, then we need a European foundation statute that will allow foundations to work across the border, Mr Salole said, adding that there is no internal market for foundations.Currently tax-exemption for cross-border charity donations in Europe is only possible to a limited extent, through the Trans-Europe Giving (TEG) Network.There are an estimated 80,000 foundations across the EU – a number that grows by 15 percent each year - and the EFC suggests that 25,000 of these foundations have combined assets of €174 billion at their disposal. Money that Mr Salole argues has an impact on the European economy.Most foundations invest their assets, for example in the stock market or in the real estate market, and spend a certain amount of their assets on philanthropic projects or charitable causes each year. Others include family trusts.The European Commission has a study on the likelihood of a European foundation statute in the pipeline and is also exploring possible initiatives to develop the role of philanthropic organisations as means to raise additional funds for research and innovation – part of the EU's so-called Lisbon Strategy to improve Europe's economy.
Europeans support greater cooperation with neighbouring countires
by Valerie Fenech, di-ve news
BRUSSLES / Malta (di-ve news) -- August 30, 2007 -- 1900CEST -- A survey conducted by Eurobarometer for the European Commission has concluded that a significant majority of people in EU Member States support efforts to intensify cooperation with the Union's neighbouring countries. The overwhelming majority of those polled believe that working with neighbours on fighting organised crime and terrorism, environment and energy, economic development, immigration, democracy, education and training is important. Most Europeans believe that EU assistance to its neighbours can serve to extend peace and democracy beyond the borders of the Union, and around half believe that neighbouring countries are indeed willing to cooperate with the EU to introduce internal reforms.
Commissioner for External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that the survey confirms that awareness of the ENP is rising inside the EU, and that Europeans will understand the benefits of forging closer relations with the countries with whom we share land and sea borders. The ENP is a win-win policy: helping our closest neighbours to achieve prosperity and stability makes Europe a better place to live in.The ENP was developed with the objective of increasing the mutual prosperity, stability, and security in the EU and its neighbouring countries. It offers privileged political and economic relations to 16 countries neighbouring the EU, and builds upon existing relationships.
Report: Russia fueled Israel-Syria tension
Published: Aug. 30, 2007 at 12:51 PM
JERUSALEM, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Russia was partly to blame for the heightened tension between Israel and Syria earlier this summer, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
During an interview with Army Radio, head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau at the Defense Ministry, Israeli Gen. Amos Gilad, said Israel sent messages to Moscow pressuring the Russians to stop fueling hostility between the two countries. At a certain time, the Russians caused the Syrians to believe that Israel was preparing for war, Gilad said. I think that they have stopped this. Syria is not planning on attacking Israel and Israel is definitely not planning on attacking Syria.A report published in the Israeli daily, Ma'ariv, said diplomatic and security officials in the Kremlin purposely deceived Syria in hopes of maximizing their profits from the sale of military equipment. We explained to the Russians that they had to avoid incitement. We explained the truth, that we aren’t interested in attacking the Syrians. We also took the opportunity to express our concern over their involvement in the region, including the sale of weapons to Damascus, some of which reach other sources, like Hezbollah, Gilad told Ynet.United Press International.
Lost tribe of Israel arrives in Jewish state
Group in India descended from Joseph struggled to return home
Posted: August 30, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
TEL AVIV – One-hundred-seventy-four people from a group of thousands in India that believes it is one of the 10 "lost tribes" of Israel landed here this week, fulfilling for many a life-long dream of returning to what they consider their homeland. Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization led by American Michael Freund, hopes to bring to the Jewish state the remaining 7,000 Indian citizens who believe they are the Bnei Menashe, the descendants of Manasseh, one of biblical patriarch Joseph's two sons and a grandson of Jacob. The tribe lives in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, to which they claim to have been exiled from Israel more than 2,700 years ago by the Assyrian empire. I truly believe this is a miracle of immense historical and even biblical significance, Freund told WND as the group of 174 arrived here earlier this week. Just as the prophets foretold so long ago, the lost tribes of Israel are being brought back from the exile, said Freund, who previously served as deputy communications director under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Another planeload of 57 Bnei Menashe is slated to touch down in Israel tomorrow. The group, which has preserved ancient Jewish customs and rituals, has been trying the past 50 years to return to Israel.
Over the last decade, Freund's Shavei Israel, at times working with other organizations, brought about 1,200 Bnei Menashe members to the Jewish state. Many settled in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. About 80 lived in Gaza's slate of Jewish communities, which were evacuated by the Israeli government in 2005. The original batches of Bnei Menashe to arrive here were brought to Israel as tourists in an agreement with Israel's Interior Ministry. Once here, the Bnei Menashe converted officially to Judaism and became citizens. But diplomatic wrangling halted the immigration process in 2003, with officials from some Israeli ministries refusing to grant the rest of the group still in India permission to travel here.
Bnei Menashe member arriving in Israel (Courtesy Shavei Israel)
To smooth the process, Freund enlisted the help of Israel's chief rabbinate, which flew to India in 2005 to meet with and consider converting members of the Bnei Menashe. Once legally Jewish, the tribe can apply for Israeli citizenship under the country's Law of Return, which guarantees sanctuary to Jews from around the world.
Six rabbis were sent by Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, to begin converting the Bnei Menashe. The rabbis met with hundreds of tribal members, testing their knowledge of Judaism and assessing their conviction, converting 216 individuals – over 90 percent of the members interviewed. The rabbis were incredibly impressed with the Bnei Menashe, said Freund. They saw for themselves that the group is very serious and should be integrated into the Jewish nation. That they are a blessing to the state of Israel. Last year, 218 converted members arrived in Israel. Freund hoped to repeat the process for 231 more Bnei Menashe who had been approved for conversion, but the Indian government, which heavily restricts conversions, put a halt on the plan.
Bnei Menashe member (Courtesy Shavei Israel)
Instead, the batch of Bnei Menashe that arrived this week were brought to Israel as tourists in coordination with the Israeli government. Once here, the tribe will be officially converted by the country's chief rabbinate and qualify for Israeli citizenship. The new immigrants will spend the next few months studying Hebrew and Judaism at a Shavei Israel absorption center in northern Israel. The Bnei Menashe that arrived here over the years have fully transited into Israeli society. Many attended college and rabbinic school, moved to major Israeli communities and even joined the Israel Defense Forces. Twelve Bnei Menashe served in the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon in 2006. One of them, Avi Hanshing, a 22-year old paratrooper, was injured during a clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hanshing's father was among those who arrived here earlier this week in an emotional reunion at Israel's international airport. As much as we might think that Israel is helping the Bnei Menashe, it is the reverse that is true. It is they who strengthen us – with their faith, with their commitment and with their undying love for Zion," said Freund.
Bnei Menashe member (Courtesy Shavei Israel)
According to Bnei Menashe oral tradition, the tribe was exiled from Israel and pushed to the east, eventually settling in the border regions of China and India, where most remain today. Most kept customs similar to Jewish tradition, including observing Shabbat, keeping the laws of Kosher, practicing circumcision on the eighth day of a baby boy's life and observing laws of family purity. In the 1950s, several thousand Bnei Menashe say they set out on foot to Israel but were quickly halted by Indian authorities. Undeterred, many began practicing Orthodox Judaism and pledged to make it to Israel. They now attend community centers established by Shavei Israel to teach the Bnei Menashe Jewish tradition and modern Hebrew. Freund said he hopes the arrival this week of more Bnei Menashe would jump-start the process of bringing back the rest of the 7,000 Bnei Menashe who are in India yearning to return home.
Moving the Middle East Peace Process Forward
Vatican Radio
(30 Aug 07 - RV) A two day conference on the Middle East peace process began today in the European parliament building in Brussels. Sponsored by the United Nations, the meeting brings together different organizations and experts from different parts of civil society to discuss how to move the peace process forward. Franciscan father David Maria Jaeger, expert on religion and politics in the holy land, says Europe can play an important role in bringing a just peace to the Holy Land.
Suspect Material Found in U.N. Office - By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer - Toxic Chemical Found in U.N. Office
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- U.N. weapons inspectors discovered a potentially hazardous chemical warfare agent that was taken from an Iraqi chemical weapons facility 11 years ago and mistakenly stored in their offices in the heart of midtown Manhattan all that time, officials said Thursday.The material - identified in inventory files as phosgene, a chemical substance used in World War I weapons - was discovered Aug. 24. It was only identified on Wednesday because it was marked simply with an inventory number, and officials had to check the many records in their vast archives, said Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the U.N. inspection agency.U.N. and U.S. officials said the material posed no threat to anyone's health or safety.
A team of hazardous materials experts from the FBI and New York City police removed the substance from the office on Manhattan's east side, about a block north of U.N. headquarters, in three steel containers. The containers were flown to a military facility in Aberdeen, Md., for disposal, U.N. officials said.While the disposal team was in UNMOVIC's sixth-floor office, its small staff was evacuated along with other tenants from that floor, Buchanan said.When the material was discovered in a shipping container last week, Buchanan said U.N. experts followed their established procedure in dealing with unknown material - putting the material in double zip-locked plastic bags, and securing it in a safe in a room that is double-locked.
U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the staff continued to work in the offices of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, or UNMOVIC, which are in the process of being shut down.Tests conducted by U.N. personnel found no toxic vapors in the area where the material had been stored, police said. The materials had been in UNMOVIC and its predecessor inspection agency, UNSCOM, apparently since 1996 when they were inadvertently shipped to U.N. administrative offices instead of a chemical laboratory, police said.White House spokesman Tony Snow said the suspected chemical agent should have been transported to an appropriately equipped lab for analysis.I'm sure that there are going to be a lot of red-faced people over at the U.N. trying to figure out how they got there, Snow said.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the U.N. needs to be more careful because it's a target.The fact that a container of deadly poison from Iraq was found at the U.N. is a wake-up call that they better start living up to the higher safety standards of a post 9-11 New York, he said in a statement.Phosgene can be used as a chemical weapon, and was used extensively in World War I as a choking agent. Both phosgene gas and liquid can damage skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs.Buchanan said the phosgene was in liquid form, suspended in oil, in a soda-can-sized container that was sealed in a plastic bag.Okabe said the chemical state of the phosgene was unknown but could be potentially hazardous.A U.N. chemical weapons expert, Svetlana Utkina, said phosgene is toxic and would cause a person's lungs to collapse if it was inhaled. She said a container the size of a soda can would likely not contain more than gram quantities of the substance.Still, if it was opened and did contain phosgene, she said probably about five people will get severe problems, (and a) couple of people will be dead.The inventory records indicated the material was from a 1996 excavation of the bombed-out research and development building at Iraq's main chemical weapons facility at Muthana, near Samarra. The entire facility was extensively bombed during the 1991 Gulf War, Buchanan said.
UNMOVIC has 1,400 linear feet of paper files - 125 five-drawer cabinets - and it took until Wednesday to find the inventory matching the number on the package with the suspected phosgene, Buchanan said.The agency and its archives - including the suspect material - had been in an office at U.N. headquarters until moving to its current site about three years ago, he said.Also found at the UNMOVIC office was a second sealed package containing tiny samples of chemical agents in sealed glass tubes shaped like pens, Buchanan said. Each of these tubes contained less than a gram of the material, he added.Okabe said the U.N. has launched an investigation to determine how and why the material was in UNMOVIC files. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon notified the Security Council, she added.The State Department said it had learned of the discovery late Wednesday and had immediately contacted the FBI to deal with the disposal.Deputy spokesman Tom Casey also said a joint U.S.-U.N. investigation would be conducted into why the samples had been stored in the office but stressed that the chemicals had been there for at least a decade and did not pose any health risk.
One of the things we want to do is make sure that the U.N., working with the FBI, does conduct a full investigation of this, so we're absolutely certain how they in fact got there, how long they were there, and the kind of exact nature of how this came about, he told reporters.There is no threat that these items currently or in the past have posed to public health and safety in the area, Casey said.U.N. inspectors pulled out of Iraq just before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion and were barred by the U.S. from returning. The U.S. and Britain said they were taking over responsibility for Iraq's disarmament. In June 2003, the Security Council voted to shut down UNMOVIC and the U.N. nuclear inspection operation in Iraq.Brian Mullady, a senior UNMOVIC official, told reporters that the staff did an immediate sweep of the rest of its archives to see if there were any more surprises, but there was none.
Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this story from New York.
EU resumes treaty wrangling as political issues remain
29.08.2007 - 17:36 CET | By Honor Mahony and Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - As the deadline for political agreement on the new European treaty draws closer, EU officials believe that while the treaty outline is relatively tight, up to seven remaining issues are political rather than purely technical.The initial sweep of the treaty by legal experts is due to be completed by next Thursday (6 September) the day before foreign ministers meet for the first political discussion since EU leaders agreed the treaty outline in June.The main task for the experts is to translate the EU leaders' mandate – including a messy array of opt-outs, out-ins, declarations and protocols – into an unambiguous a whole as possible.The European Parliament and the Commission are also involved, with commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso meeting the three parliament representatives on the treaty on Tuesday evening (28 August).
They are keeping a wary eye on the secretariat of the EU council - the member states' decision-making body - which drew up the reform treaty. Both the parliament and the commission want to make sure it has not slipped in any legalese that might undermine their positions in the EU hierarchy.Portugal, as EU presidency, has set a strict timetable. It wants political agreement by mid October and the treaty signed-off by the end of the year. It has made it clear it wants the talks to be a technical as possible – something it reiterated in its letter inviting the European Parliament's three representatives to the foreign ministers' talks next Friday.
But not every question will be at a purely technical level. Centre-right German MEP and parliament representative Elmar Brok believes there are between five and seven issues that could become political.
Political issues
These include Britain's opt outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as from legislation in the criminal justice area.On the charter, some fear that London's exemption may affect the EU legal system as a whole through decisions by the European Court of Justice.It could legally contaminate the whole system, says UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff and co-representative at the talks.Mr Duff also points to concerns about London's criminal law and justice opt-out, under which it can still decide to participate in individual justice-related laws. The problem is that the UK can opt in at the start of negotiations [on a proposal], seek to reduce the force and value [of the proposal] and then still opt out at the end.Meanwhile the new provisions on the bloc's common foreign and security policy is causing the commission concern that its powers in trade and development may be encroached upon.
There is also the contentious issue of the new voting system. Poland wants to see included in the treaty text a mechanism whereby it can block an EU decision if its vital interests are at stake. But most member states only want to have the mechanism mentioned in a separate declaration which has less legal status. Citizenship is another topic that MEPs believe need to be discussed. It was mentioned high up in the original constitution but has since been regulated to a lesser place in the new text.This has no legal importance, admits Mr Brok but stresses that it is of symbolic importance.According to Mr Duff, it's kind of odd that we are trying to appeal to citizens and we are not speaking about citizenship [when the text starts].
Post-treaty trouble
Critical though MEPs are of the way the treaty now looks – they say it remains as unreadable as previous EU treaties, they welcome some of the June additions on language, energy supply, solidarity and combating climate change.But even if the timetable goes to plan, this is not likely to be an end to problems.According to Mr Brok, one of big political discussions after the text is agree will be to do with the EU's planned diplomatic service.A balance of power question, it raises all sorts of political hot potatoes but who should control it, where it should be situated, who is part of it and what its scope should be.
Barroso Says EU Commission Will Learn From Subprime Crisis AUG 30,07
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- The European Union Commission will take a close look at the subprime lending crisis and related market turmoil, the head of the commission said Thursday. The E.U. will draw the lessons from the recent events very carefully, commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a business conference in Paris.We can do this on the basis of an economy that is sound, with solid fundamentals, he added, without saying what fresh steps could be taken to handle the crisis or to avoid recurrences in the future.Barroso's comments follow assurances from the commission Wednesday that economic fundamentals in Europe are sound, and there is no immediate concern that growth and economic development might be affected by the subprime crisis.The commission's assessment is that, despite the problems that have existed, the situation has shown the systems of control and intervention work, commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said Wednesday.Thursday, Barroso seemed content with the European Central Bank's and the U.S. Federal Reserve's handling of the crisis. The ECB respected its role by intervening in the markets, as did the Fed.
-By Gabriele Parussini, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 4017 1740; gabriele.parussini@dowjones.com (Carolyn Henson in Brussels contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires.
Barroso against EU borders debate
30.08.2007 - 09:22 CET | By Honor Mahony
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said he is against having a debate on the geographic borders of the EU.His comments, made in an interview with French daily Le Figaro, come in response to Monday's proposal by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to have a fundamental reflection on the future of the EU, including its borders, its future and its message.The idea of Mr Sarkozy is not to have a debate on the geographical borders of the Europe. This is something that we do not want - such a discussion would lead to the limits of the EU being fixed, said Mr Barroso.He reiterated Brussels' position that a decision on Turkey becoming a full member of the EU should not be taken now, with Mr Sarkozy making a debate on the future of Europe a condition for Paris not blocking Brussels' EU negotiations with Ankara.
But he went on to add that having a debate on the political objective of Europe is a good idea.He noted that a discussion on the future of Europe in the globalised world had already begun in October 2005 at an informal meeting of leaders in the UK.If member states want a more structured form for these exchanges, that is all well and good.Mr Barroso said an external contribution, possibly from universities, to the debate would be positive but pointed out that democratic decisions will always have to be taken by the institutions.The commission president, who will meet Mr Sarkozy in Paris today, praised the commission president for his European commitment.He noted that they are not necessarily in agreement on everything but added I prefer a political leader who proves their energy rather than a leader just satisfied by a bureaucratic and routine Europe.
Since France's energetic new leader came to power in June, the EU has seen a revival in its political dynamic, starting off with an agreement on a new treaty after two years of stagnation.But Mr Sarkozy's presence on the European stage has also ruffled a few feathers. He is strongly opposed to Turkey's membership of the EU – the debate of the future of Europe that he is pushing for is part of an overall idea to get people talking about membership alternatives for Ankara.He has also caused tension with other member states such as Germany by appearing to want curb to the independence of the European Central Bank.
Philanthropic foundations push for EU statute
29.08.2007 - 17:34 CET | By Helena Spongenberg
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Foundations are cropping up across Europe in numbers like never before. In Spain alone, at least one new foundation is created every day.
But differences in national regulation make it hard for the foundations to work across EU member states.According to the head of the European Foundation Centre (EFC), Gerry Salole, increasing wealth in Europe is part of the rise in philanthropic foundations, which have been around on the continent since the 13th century.People are also seeing that using private wealth for public resources has an impact, Mr Salole told the EUobserver in an interview. But he would like to see foundations able to be pan-European.The Brussels-based centre is pushing for a European statute for foundations, which would be a legal instrument easing legal, financial and administrative burdens foundations currently face when transferring tax-exempted charitable donations across intra-EU borders.
If we are serious about Europe, then we need a European foundation statute that will allow foundations to work across the border, Mr Salole said, adding that there is no internal market for foundations.Currently tax-exemption for cross-border charity donations in Europe is only possible to a limited extent, through the Trans-Europe Giving (TEG) Network.There are an estimated 80,000 foundations across the EU – a number that grows by 15 percent each year - and the EFC suggests that 25,000 of these foundations have combined assets of €174 billion at their disposal. Money that Mr Salole argues has an impact on the European economy.Most foundations invest their assets, for example in the stock market or in the real estate market, and spend a certain amount of their assets on philanthropic projects or charitable causes each year. Others include family trusts.The European Commission has a study on the likelihood of a European foundation statute in the pipeline and is also exploring possible initiatives to develop the role of philanthropic organisations as means to raise additional funds for research and innovation – part of the EU's so-called Lisbon Strategy to improve Europe's economy.
Europeans support greater cooperation with neighbouring countires
by Valerie Fenech, di-ve news
BRUSSLES / Malta (di-ve news) -- August 30, 2007 -- 1900CEST -- A survey conducted by Eurobarometer for the European Commission has concluded that a significant majority of people in EU Member States support efforts to intensify cooperation with the Union's neighbouring countries. The overwhelming majority of those polled believe that working with neighbours on fighting organised crime and terrorism, environment and energy, economic development, immigration, democracy, education and training is important. Most Europeans believe that EU assistance to its neighbours can serve to extend peace and democracy beyond the borders of the Union, and around half believe that neighbouring countries are indeed willing to cooperate with the EU to introduce internal reforms.
Commissioner for External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that the survey confirms that awareness of the ENP is rising inside the EU, and that Europeans will understand the benefits of forging closer relations with the countries with whom we share land and sea borders. The ENP is a win-win policy: helping our closest neighbours to achieve prosperity and stability makes Europe a better place to live in.The ENP was developed with the objective of increasing the mutual prosperity, stability, and security in the EU and its neighbouring countries. It offers privileged political and economic relations to 16 countries neighbouring the EU, and builds upon existing relationships.
Report: Russia fueled Israel-Syria tension
Published: Aug. 30, 2007 at 12:51 PM
JERUSALEM, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Russia was partly to blame for the heightened tension between Israel and Syria earlier this summer, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
During an interview with Army Radio, head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau at the Defense Ministry, Israeli Gen. Amos Gilad, said Israel sent messages to Moscow pressuring the Russians to stop fueling hostility between the two countries. At a certain time, the Russians caused the Syrians to believe that Israel was preparing for war, Gilad said. I think that they have stopped this. Syria is not planning on attacking Israel and Israel is definitely not planning on attacking Syria.A report published in the Israeli daily, Ma'ariv, said diplomatic and security officials in the Kremlin purposely deceived Syria in hopes of maximizing their profits from the sale of military equipment. We explained to the Russians that they had to avoid incitement. We explained the truth, that we aren’t interested in attacking the Syrians. We also took the opportunity to express our concern over their involvement in the region, including the sale of weapons to Damascus, some of which reach other sources, like Hezbollah, Gilad told Ynet.United Press International.
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