YOM KIPPUR DAY OF ATONEMENT

YOM KIPPUR DAY OF ATONEMENT SCRIPTURES

MORNING

MORNING TORAH SCRIPTURES

LEVITCUS 16:1-34 King James Bible
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;
2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.
25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

NUMBERS 29:7-11 King James Bible
7 And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein:
8 But ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD for a sweet savor; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year; they shall be unto you without blemish:
9 And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals to a bullock, and two tenth deals to one ram,
10 A several tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs:
11 One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.

MORNING PROPHET SCRIPTURES

ISAIAH 57:14-58:14 King James Bible
14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

ISAIAH 52:13-53:12 King James Bible
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

MORNING NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES

ROMANS 3:21-26 King James Bible
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

HEBREWS 7:1-28 AND 8:1-13 King James Bible
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.
8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
23 And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
24 But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.
King James Bible
1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

YOM KIPPUR AFTERNOON SCRIPTURES

AFTERNOON TORAH SCRIPTURES

LEVITICUS 17:1-16 AND 18:1-30 King James Bible
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,
3 What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,
4 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:
5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD.
6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the LORD.
7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
8 And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,
9 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.
14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
15 And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.
9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.
13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.
14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.
17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her.
21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

AFTERNOON PROPHET SCRIPTURES

JONAH CHAPTERS 1:1-17,2:1-10,3:1-10, 4:1-11 King James Bible
1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him. Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more then sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

MICAH 7:18-20 King James Bible
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

AFTERNOON NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES

HEBREWS 9:1-28 AND 10:1-39 King James Bible
1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

CANADIAN DOLLAR PAR WITH USA YESTERDAY

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.

Gulf coast dwellers eye developing storm SEPT 21,07

NEW ORLEANS - Gulf Coast residents kept a watchful eye and the oil industry began making preparations Thursday as forecasters warned that a weather system swirling over waters west of Florida could make landfall as a tropical storm over the weekend. In storm-skittish Louisiana, the governor declared a state of emergency late in the day, putting the National Guard on alert and school buses, ambulances and evacuation shelter workers on standby.Conditions favor the low-pressure system becoming a subtropical or tropical cyclone within the next day, the National Hurricane Center said. A coastal flood watch is in effect through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.The storm's path remains uncertain, but the general consensus is that it will hit between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Alabama's Mobile Bay, said Sam Shamburger, a Weather Service meteorologist. That's about the same route Hurricane Katrina took in 2005.The system could make landfall early Saturday, said Mark Smith, a spokesman for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

With Louisiana still suffering from the ravages of Katrina and having so many residents living in travel trailers and mobile homes, we feel it's prudent — at this time — less than 36 hours out from the onset of landfall, to recommend the governor make the declaration, Smith said.A tropical storm carries sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph. In comparison, Katrina, which killed hundreds of people and flooded most of New Orleans, made landfall as a Category 3 storm, with sustained winds of at least 111 mph.Oil industry workers have left five production platforms in the Gulf, and three drilling rigs have been evacuated, according to the federal Minerals Management Service.In Louisiana, officials were taking no chances. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, in Spain on an economic development trip, ordered the state's Emergency Operations Center to open, and personnel will closely monitor the weather.From a planning and practical standpoint, we have to plan for a level higher than it is to ensure that we have the assets and resources in place should it become more severe, Smith said.In New Orleans, which took the brunt of Katrina's fury and is still vulnerable to flooding, officials urged residents who might need help in the event of an evacuation to register with the city's 311 service.

Now is the time to do so, said Col. Jerry Sneed, emergency office director.

Authorities encouraged residents to clear leaves from storm drains and catch basins on or near their properties to limit flooding in the event of heavy rains.In Mississippi's coastal Hancock County, officials handed out sandbags Thursday, said Brian Adam, director of the county emergency management agency.A telephone message recorded by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour warned residents not to panic but to be prepared. It started going Wednesday night, primarily in parts of Mississippi slammed by Katrina.

NKorea reports 'heavy losses' after intense rains SEPT 21,07

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea has been pummelled by heavy rains that have caused heavy losses and flooded swathes of cropland for the second time in a month, state media reported. Rice and other crops were lost as rains spawned by Typhoon Wipha inundated western provinces and the capital Pyongyang in the past three days, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The impoverished communist country is still struggling to recover from last month's devastating floods which left at least 600 people dead or missing and which relief agencies said were the worst in a decade.

North Korea was already reliant on international aid to help make up a food shortfall of one million tonnes, or 20 percent of its needs, even before the August rains.Heavy rains pounded the western part of North Korea between Tuesday and Thursday, an official from the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul told AFP.
Up to 36.8 centimetres (14.7 inches) fell in the western provinces of South Hwanghae, South Phyongan and North Hwanghae, including up to 20 centimetres in Sariwon City in one day.Pyongyang, which is due to host only the second-ever inter-Korean summit in early October, has nearly 27 centimetres of rain in the past two days.The official, citing figures from North Korea's meteorological authorities, said the rains had almost ceased as of Friday morning.KCNA admitted the downpours had brought heavy losses in many sectors of the economy.Some provincial areas damaged by last month's floods were hit hard again, KCNA said.Pyongyang's Chunggang TV said hundreds of hectares of crops were flooded by swollen rivers.

Rice and other crops waiting to be harvested were lost, as vast areas of farm land were inundated again by downpours which fell even as the country has yet to recover from damaged inflicted by the monsoon rains last month, the station reported.The clearing and terracing of hillsides to create more cropland is a major reason for the periodic severe flooding.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
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.

Arabs push through U.N. watchdog vote against Israel
Thu Sep 20, 3:45 PM By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - Arab and other Islamic nations, targeting Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal, pushed through a U.N. atomic watchdog resolution on Thursday calling on all Middle East nations to renounce atomic weapons.The unusual vote was 53-2 but with 47 abstentions by Western and developing states, highlighting reservations that the move politicized the International Atomic Energy Agency's work.
The decision was non-binding but symbolized tensions over Israel's presumed nuclear might and shunning of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and it frayed the traditional consensus culture of the Vienna-based IAEA.Israel is widely assumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, though it has never confirmed or denied it.A similar resolution urging all Middle East nations to adopt IAEA safeguards on nuclear work passed overwhelmingly at last year's IAEA general assembly, with only Israel and top ally the United States opposed, as they were again on Thursday.Egypt reintroduced the resolution this year seeking full consensus but attached two new clauses that prompted Israel to demand a vote and European, other Western and non-aligned developing nations to abstain.One clause urged all nations in the Middle East, pending creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ) there, not to make or test nuclear arms or let them be deployed on their soil. The other urged big nuclear arms powers not to foil such a step.The new language threatened to bring new political issues into the IAEA that would ultimately detract from the technical role the IAEA plays in safeguarding nuclear material, said a Western diplomat whose delegation abstained.

AVOID DOUBLE STANDARDS, EGYPT SAYS

Egyptian ambassador Ehab Fawzy said the U.N. General Assembly passed the same measure by consensus and IAEA members should follow suit to seek universal compliance with the NPT and avoid double standards in the Middle East.Israel bemoaned the vote, saying that while a NWFZ was a commendable ideal, we can have no illusions as long as some Arab neighbors continue not to recognize the Jewish state, with Islamist Iran openly calling for its elimination.Without peaceful relations in the region, any steps diminishing security margins should be mutual. You aim high but start modestly with confidence-building, inevitably a long and enduring process, said Israeli envoy Israel Michaeli.Iran, under U.N. sanctions for refusing to halt a nuclear energy program seen as a possible covert bid for atom bombs, told the assembly that whoever opposed the resolution betrayed a discriminatory approach to Middle East security.Arab diplomats point to a chronic imbalance of power in the Middle East caused by Israeli might and say it breeds instability and spurs others to seek mass-destruction weaponry.European diplomats said their missions abstained because, while they backed universal IAEA non-proliferation controls in the Middle East, the amended resolution flouted the agency's non-political ethos and sought to isolate a member state.

The IAEA is not the place to solve complex Middle East political problems. This measure was not about finding rational solutions, or any consensus, but to score points and antagonize, said a senior European Union diplomat.The issue was expected to split the assembly again on its last day on Friday when Arabs intended to revive a resolution declaring Israel a threat and demanding it use atomic energy only for peaceful ends and join the NPT.A year ago, Western nations sponsored a no-action ballot that prevented a vote on the threat resolution.The sole EU nation to vote for Thursday's resolution was staunchly anti-nuclear Ireland. China, India, Russia, Japan, Latin American and some African nations also voted yes.(additional reporting by Karin Strohecker)

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

First cholera case confirmed in Baghdad By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 20, 5:19 PM ET

BAGHDAD - The World Health Organization confirmed on Thursday the first cholera case in Baghdad since 2003, raising fears the disease is spreading from the north of the country where it has struck more than 1,000 people. A 25-year-old woman from eastern Baghdad was found to have cholera after she turned up at a hospital with severe diarrhea, said Dr. Naeema al-Gasseer, the WHO's representative in Iraq.Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is typically spread by drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea that, in extreme cases, can lead to fatal dehydration.

The disease broke out in Iraq in mid-August, but had been confined to northern Iraq, affecting the provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Irbil and Tamim, which is home to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. At least 10 people have died, according to WHO.Several suspected cholera cases also have been reported in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, but al-Gasseer said none had been confirmed.Cholera is endemic to Iraq, with about 30 cases registered each year. But the last time there was an epidemic in the country was in 1999 when 20 cases were discovered in one day, said Adel Muhsin, the Health Ministry's inspector-general.Al-Gasseer said health authorities were concerned the disease could spread because of the movement of people within Iraq's borders. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have been forced to flee their homes because of violence.

A disease that would otherwise be easily treatable has been made all the more dangerous because of Iraq's precarious security situation following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.We need to look at safe water, safe import of food, hygiene, the network of water and the network of sewage disposal, al-Gasseer said in a telephone interview.The latest WHO report dated Sept. 14 reported a total of 24,532 cases of people with symptoms of cholera such as diarrhea and vomiting in the northern provinces. Out of those, laboratory tests have confirmed 1,055 cases of cholera.

It said 10 people have died — nine in Sulaimaniyah and one in Tamim.

Al-Gasseer also said some 100,000 tons of chlorine were being held up at Iraq's border with Jordan, apparently because of fears the chemical could be used in explosives. She urged authorities to release it for use in decontaminating water supplies.Insurgents in the country staged several chlorine truck bombings this year, killing scores of Iraqis.Muhsin confirmed such concerns were holding up the border shipment but said he was told the problem was solved and that the chlorine would arrive soon. Chlorine will be added in higher doses to Baghdad's water supply as a precaution against cholera, Muhsin said.His teams recently tested drinking water across the capital and discovered chlorine levels on 20 locations were inadequate to prevent cholera. Also, several ice factories were closed in Iraq because of cholera concerns, he said.The Health Ministry would continue checking drinking water in all Iraqi cities, Muhsin told The Associated Press, and teams would inspect ice factories and ice cream makers.Each hospital in Iraq set up a special ward for diarrhea-stricken patients and the Health Ministry also launched an ad campaign, with 250,000 posters and 5 million leaflets printed to educate and warn the people about cholera, Muhsin said.Associated Press writer Katarina Kratovac in Baghdad contributed to this report.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

WE HAD BETTER ENJOY THIS DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR NOW, AS YOU CAN TELL IN THE FUTURE IT WILL BE A STOCK MARKET CRASH THAT PUTS THE WORLD IN TO CHAOS......CANADA LETS ENJOY THIS DOLLAR WHILE WE CAN.

C$1=US$1 for first time in 31 years
Thu Sep 20, 6:33 PM By Louise Egan and Cameron French

OTTAWA/TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar hit parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in 31 years on Thursday and is expected to remain strong, delighting Canadians used to being mocked for their northern peso.The loonie, so called because of the bird engraved on the one-dollar coin, capped a 62 percent rise from 2002 on the back of booming commodity prices and a deepening disenchantment with the greenback.Canada, a major oil producer, is benefiting from record high oil prices and a China-led building boom that has boosted base metal prices.The huge increase in commodity prices in general have fed the acceleration of the Canadian dollar, said Carlos Leitao, chief economist at Laurentian Bank of Canada.The fact that economic growth in Asia and in general has accelerated has fed this large appetite for natural resources, particularly energy, which we have a lot of.But the strong currency is seen as a huge threat to Canadian exporters and the parity benchmark adds to pressure on the Conservative government to help out manufacturers. Over 80 percent of Canada's exports are sold to the United States.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty declined to talk the currency down, saying the real story was the dramatic decline in the U.S. dollar, but he said the rapid rise by the Canadian dollar also reflected the strongest economic fundamentals in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations.Clearly they (the markets) are looking at the strength of the Canadian economy, he told a crush of reporters.The high currency helps manufacturers buy equipment but the suddenness of its rise has put pressure on them, he said. He also acknowledged people had lost jobs but said they were finding other good employment because of economic strength.The resource boom has coincided with the U.S. dollar's own broad-based decline, following the collapse of the tech bubble in 2001 and the growing U.S. budget and trade deficits, which contrast with Canada's surpluses.The final push to the key level for Canada on Thursday came as the greenback hit a record low against the euro.The momentum for Canada also comes from the narrowing of the spread between U.S. and Canadian interest rates after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate by 50 basis points this week to 4.75 percent, bringing it closer to the Bank of Canada's 4.50 percent key rate.The currency crept just above the US$1 level Thursday morning, and went as high as C$0.9992 to the U.S. dollar, or US$1.0008, according to the Bank of Canada. The currency finished the session at C$1.0013 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.87 U.S. cents.
The last time the two currencies were at par was in November 1976, the year Montreal hosted the Summer Olympics and Pierre Trudeau was prime minister.

NO STOPPING THE LOONIE

Dealers expect the loonie to continue to stay near par or above that, but were divided over just how high it will go and how long the rally will last.Once parity is achieved, there is nothing stopping the loonie, said Martin Lefebvre, senior economist at Desjardins Securities.Steve Butler, currency strategist at Scotia Capital, said, I don't want to say, well we're going to C$0.95 (to the U.S. dollar) or we're going to C$0.90, because it's much too soon to call a top, but I do think we have some further room for Canada to appreciate.But most dealers who spoke to Reuters said the soaring loonie would not be sustained through 2008.In the longer term, the U.S. dollar will have to rebound at some point, said Dustin Reid, senior foreign exchange strategist at ABN AMRO in Chicago. It can't continue into oblivion forever.The Canadian currency's climb from a low of 61.75 U.S. cents in 2002 has been embraced by a country that often feels itself in the economic and cultural shadow of its more powerful southern neighbor.A straw poll of Canadians in central Ottawa showed their mood was as bright as the sunny weather.There's definitely a bit of pride. I have some American friends and they're always saying 'I got a Canadian quarter the other day. You owe me 10 cents'. So now it's like Yeah, yeah, we're even now, said technical analyst Matthew Mellor.(Additional reporting by Randall Palmer, David Ljunggren)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rice calls for serious talks between Israel, Palestinians at peace conference Thu Sep 20, 10:00 AM By By Karin Laub, The Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Israel and the Palestinians must draft a document that lays the foundations for serious negotiations at a coming U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference. The Palestinians want the conference, tentatively set for November, to yield an outline for a peace deal complete with a timetable, while Israel wants just a declaration of intent. Key Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia, have said they would only attend if concrete results are achieved. Rice has not said whether the conference would address the hardest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the borders of a Palestinian state, a solution for Palestinian refugees and the status of disputed Jerusalem. In preparatory talks with Israel, the Palestinians have been pushing for a detailed document addressing these core issues ahead of the conference. Israel has said it prefers a vaguer declaration, saying it is premature to discuss the thorniest issues at the core of the Mideast conflict. Palestinian leaders pressed Rice about the goal of the meeting. Rice said that whatever the final nature of the document, it must lay foundations for serious negotiations.

The conference has to be substantive and advance the cause of a Palestinian state, Rice told a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Participants must not simply meet for the sake of meeting, she said. Before the meeting, Abbas aides said he would urge Rice to invite all relevant Arab states to the conference, including Syria and Lebanon, and not to set a date for the gathering unless a successful outcome is assured. The United States has not set a date or agenda for the conference, and it has not announced the invitees. Abbas told the news conference that he believes some Arab countries are hesitant to confirm their attendance because the objectives are not clear. I think many issues need to be clarified and I think it's the duty of the hosts of the conference, he said, referring to the United States. When things are clarified, I think the Arab countries, and I'm not ... speaking on their behalf, will attend that conference. Abbas said he expects the conference to launch serious negotiations with Israel.

We believe the time is right for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with east Jerusalem as its capital, and for living side by side in peace and security with the state of Israel, Abbas said. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have held periodic talks in recent months and agreed to set up negotiating teams that would try to reach the general outline of a peace deal ahead of the conference. Abbas said he informed Rice of the composition of the Palestinian negotiating team. He didn't announce the names publicly, but his aides said it will be headed by former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, who led interim peace talks with Israel in the 1990s. Abbas, meanwhile, said he is to meet next week with U.S. President George W. Bush during the UN General Assembly in New York. The two leaders last met a year ago, also during the General Assembly. Thursday's meetings were overshadowed by Israel's decision a day earlier to designate Hamas-ruled Gaza as hostile territory, accompanied by a threat to cut back vital supplies of fuel and electricity. Abbas has denounced the decision as oppressive and said it would increase the suffering of Gaza's residents. However, Abbas didn't call off peace efforts with Israel in response to the move. And Olmert's office said the decision still required a legal review, suggesting it could be a means to pressure Gaza militants to halt rocket fire. But Israel's threat is likely to reinforce perceptions among Palestinians and their Arab backers that Israel will do as it sees fit regardless of the cost to civilians, and that the U.S. will not block Israel's hand. Asked to comment on the decision Wednesday, Rice said, We will not abandon the innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and indeed will make every effort to deal with their humanitarian needs.But she did not criticize the Israeli move, saying, Hamas is a hostile entity to the United States as well.Abbas, too, is in a bitter struggle with Gaza's Hamas rulers, who seized control of the coastal strip in June and forced him to set up a separate government in the West Bank.

Israel PM confronts critics By Alastair Macdonald and Jeffrey Heller
Thu Sep 20, 10:32 PM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confronted critics within his own party who fear he may concede too much to Palestinians and urged them on Thursday to seize an opportunity to make peace after 60 years of conflict. Addressing his centrist Kadima party hours after the latest round of meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Olmert said he would free more Palestinian prisoners as part of measured gestures toward President Mahmoud Abbas as they try to agree terms for a U.S.-sponsored peace conference.Rice said Olmert and Abbas had come a very, very long way since she hosted a frosty meeting between them last February in Jerusalem and she was optimistic Palestinians and Israelis would agree to a joint document on the tough issues that divide them before the conference.

There is clearly a kind of focus and commitment on the part of both of the leaders as well as the people who are working most closely with them to try and get this document done," Rice told reporters before a refueling stop in Shannon.During a 36-hour diplomatic push, she assured Abbas the gathering penciled in for November near Washington should put the Palestinians firmly on the path to statehood.Olmert has been accused in Israel, even by some allies, of preparing to achieve that by handing over parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, known to Israelis as Judea and Samaria.In remarks going to the heart of problems all Israeli leaders have faced in winning support for peace moves, Olmert told a noisy party conference: I know the reigning opinion in some circles is that we need to wait ... that we mustn't rush or nurture an atmosphere that will lead to serious negotiations.Those who think that always find excuses ... to avoid seizing opportunities and not look for real chances to break the ice between us and the Palestinians. I do not share this view.He noted the continuing hostility of Hamas and contrasted that to Abbas's new government in the West Bank, which has reopened discussions with Israel following the Islamist group's violent seizure of the Gaza Strip in June.In Washington, the White House said that President George W. Bush plans to meet Abbas in New York on Monday to continue discussions on helping the Palestinian Authority and on issues related to an eventual two-state solution of Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security.

HORIZON OF HOPE

On the eve of the Jewish state's most solemn public holiday Yom Kippur, Olmert noted the rifts in public opinion but vowed to stick to Kadima's electoral commitment to peace talks.I don't aim to foster a split among us or in the Israeli public. I know the future of Judea and Samaria reaches deep into our soul and that differences among us can tear apart the most delicate and vital fabric of our life, he said.
But I pledge to do my utmost to expand the horizon of hope for a better life and a future of peace and security for the people of Israel.A government official said more than 100 Palestinians, mostly members of Abbas's secular Fatah faction, would be freed, adding to 250 released in July. Some 10,000 remain in jail.Olmert laid out a cautious program for further meetings to build support for the international conference.Some analysts question his ability to win Israeli support for major concessions. Some also question the prime minister's will to conclude any deal, arguing he may see benefit in prolonging the process to fend off domestic opposition and pressure from Washington for Israel to aid the Palestinians.

Palestinians complain that Olmert's offer to work out a joint declaration of principles on steps to statehood does not go beyond previous peace efforts and Abbas repeated on Thursday he wants the meeting to set a timeline for settling core issues. A timeline isn't wise at this point, but we will see if one is helpful later, Rice said. It is clear that they are going to address the core issues that relate to the establishment of a Palestinian state.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi and Sue Pleming in Ramallah/Shannon, Adam Entous and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington)

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 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

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.

Israel, U.S. shared data on suspected nuclear site: SEPT 21,07

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Before it decided to strike Syria, Israel shared intelligence with President George W. Bush this summer indicating that its neighbor was getting help from North Korea on a nuclear facility, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

The White House was deeply troubled by Israel's assertion that North Korea was assisting Syria's nuclear ambition, but opted against an immediate response because of concern over negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear program, the Post reported, citing U.S. government sources.Ultimately, however, the United States is believed to have given Israel some corroboration of the original intelligence before the air raid on September 6, the Post said, citing the sources.The Post quoted its sources as saying that Israel hit the Syrian facility in the dead of night to minimize possible casualties.The U.S. sources would discuss the Israeli intelligence, which included satellite imagery, only on condition of anonymity, and many details about the North Korean-Syrian connection remain unknown, the Post reported.Bush on Thursday refused to answer repeated questions about reports that Israel conducted air strikes in Syria.I'm not going to comment on the matter, Bush said, brushing aside several questions during a White House news conference.

Israel has also refused to talk about the reported raid.

Syrian officials have said that their air defenses forced Israeli jets to flee, dropping bombs harmlessly in the desert and has said it could retaliate for the September 6 violation of its territory.Damascus has denied reports it may have received North Korean nuclear aid. North Korea has also denied any such cooperation.

SHABBAT OF REPENTANCE BEFORE YOM

SHABBAT SHAVAH (SHABBAT (SABBATH) OF REPENTANCE, JUST BEFORE YOM KIPPUR SCRIPTURES. FRIDAY NIGHT 6 PM TILL SATURDAY NIGHT 6 PM

SHABBAT (SABBATH) PROPHET SCRIPTURES

HOSEA 14:2-9 King James Bible
2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

JOEL 2:15-17 King James Bible
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

MICAH 7:18-20 King James Bible
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

SHABBAT (SABBATH) NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES

ROMANS CHAPTERS 5:1-21 AND 6:1-23 King James Bible
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

GAZA ENEMY ENTITY - ISRAEL

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.

Hurricane Ivo forms off Mexico SEPT 20,07

MEXICO CITY - A Pacific storm strengthened into a hurricane late Wednesday but it was expected to weaken, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Ivo, centered about 570 miles south of the Baja California Peninsula, was forecast to head northwest, then take a clockwise turn toward the Baja while weakening, the National Hurricane Center said.Ivo had sustained winds of about 86 mph late Wednesday.
While the current forecast shows it turning toward land, the Hurricane Center said the forecast past three days was highly uncertain.

Typhon Wipha weakens in China; 7 killed SEPT 20,07

SHANGHAI, China - Typhoon Wipha weakened as it slammed China with strong winds and torrential rains, officials said Thursday. At least seven people were reported killed as the storm destroyed thousands of homes and triggered landslides. Wipha was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm Wednesday after it hit land in southern Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the Ministry of Civil Affairs.Five people died in landslides, reports in state media said Thursday. News reports said two other deaths were blamed on the storm: a Shanghai man was electrocuted and a Taiwan construction worker died when scaffolding collapsed. Another three people were reported missing.Weather photos showed Wipha spread over a large area centered on eastern China's Shandong province Thursday. The storm was forecast to pass over the Yellow Sea toward the Korean peninsula.A total of 2.7 million people were evacuated from coastal or flooded areas and unsafe housing in Shanghai and other areas affected by the storm, Xinhua said.The storm destroyed thousands of houses, wrecked fish ponds and disrupted power to more than 100 communities, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and provincial officials reported.

Preliminary estimates put the damage at $638 million.

Shanghai, a city of 20 million, closed schools, ferries and other transport links following forecasts of torrential rains and strong winds. But the city suffered little damage and by Thursday children returned to school under clear skies.

Wipha is a woman's name in Thai.The storm played havoc with sports events, as well as regional transport.Organizers of the women's World Cup rescheduled Wednesday's Shanghai match between Norway and Ghana to Thursday and moved it to the neighboring city of Hangzhou. Three Wednesday games were rescheduled for Thursday, to allow them to be played simultaneously with other final group matches.

Four dead, four missing after floods in Slovenia Wed Sep 19, 1:47 PM ET

LJUBLJANA (AFP) - Four people died and four were still missing Wednesday, the day after the heaviest rains in 30 years hit Slovenia's northwest, causing flooding and mudslides, state radio said. Two people were killed late Tuesday when a mudslide swept into a house in the Celje region, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Ljubljana, and two more died earlier in the day in the Cerklje region, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the capital, the station said.Another four people, including a mother and her nine-year-old child, are still missing, the radio quoted local authorities in the region as saying.The rains, which dumped up to 300 litres of water per square metre in only a few hours in some places, were the heaviest registered in the last three decades, the Slovenian Defense and Rescue agency said.The agency said that more than 350 houses had been flooded or damaged in the Gorenjska region and especially in the town of Zelezniki, some 60 kilometres northwest of Ljubljana, where the Sora river inundated the centre, carrying away more than 150 cars.

The Slovenian government promised urgent measures to help local people.

Traffic on many roads in the Gorensjka region was still disrupted Wednesday while many villages were without electricity or drinking water, or were cut off because of damaged roads.The Sora river also swept away 11 out of 13 wooden buildings that were part of the Franja Hospital museum, built by anti-Nazi fighters during World War II in a nearby mountaneous region.Slovenia wants the museum to be included in UNESCO's world heritage list.

Iran leader denied on WTC wreath request By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07

NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked permission to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he comes to New York City next week, but the request was denied, a police official said Wednesday. The U.S. also has denied a visa to Iran's United Nations ambassador in Geneva to attend next week's General Assembly meeting because he was involved in the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis, a U.N. official said.Ahmadinejad, who is arriving Sunday to address the United Nations' General Assembly, had asked this month for permission to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police spokesman Paul Browne said.The request to enter the fenced-in site was rejected because of ongoing construction there, Browne said.

Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds, Browne said.The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters Wednesday that the United States would not support Iran's attempt to use the site for a photo op.Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions, such as dropping support for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending their uranium enrichment program, Khalilzad said.Browne said Ahmadinejad had asked permission from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, U.S. Secret Service and police department. The police and the Secret Service provide security to visiting heads of state.The Port Authority, which owns the trade center site and is the only agency that could grant permission to go inside, said it attended a meeting with police regarding dignitary visits, not specifically about Ahmadinejad. At that meeting, it was determined that no dignitaries would be allowed inside the site due to ongoing construction, said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman.It wasn't clear whether Ahmadinejad wanted to descend to the base of the trade center site, where the twin towers once stood, or lay a wreath on a public sidewalk outside the site.

Mohammad Mir Ali Mohammadi, spokesman for the Iranian mission to the U.N., said he was not notified offically that Ahmadinejad would not be allowed at the site, but said it was unfortunate.President Ahmadinejad intended to lay a wreath at the site of ground zero in order to pay tribute to the victims of the terrorists attack of Sept. 11, 2001. We are hopeful that we can still work something out with the police department, he said.White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said a visit to ground zero is a matter for the city of New York, but it seems more than odd that the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror would visit ground zero.
It was not clear what role Ali Reza Moaiyeri, Iran's U.N. ambassador in Geneva, played in the 1979 hostage crisis. The U.N. official who said his visa was denied spoke on condition of anonymity because there has been no public announcement.
Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said, although we don't comment about specific visa cases we certainly would not allow a person into the United States who has taken Americans as hostages.Iran and the U.S. have not had diplomatic relations since Washington cut its ties with Tehran during the hostage crisis in which U.S. diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. The Bush administration has accused Iran of arming Shiite Muslim militants in Iraq and seeking to develop nuclear weapons.In a television appearance earlier this week, Ahmadinejad said his country wanted peace and friendship with the United States, as tensions continued to mount between the two countries.The deputy commander of Iran's air force said Wednesday that plans have been drawn up to bomb Israel if the Jewish state attacks Iran, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. The United States and its key European allies are calling for a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program, but Russia has warned against the use of force in Iran and opposes new sanctions to punish Tehran.

Rice to meet Abbas in search of accord SEPT 20,07

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Condoleezza Rice takes her shuttle diplomacy to the Palestinian leadership on Thursday as she works to narrow their differences with Israel before Washington hosts a major Middle East peace conference. The U.S. secretary of state has found growing interest in intensifying the dialogue, a senior aide said after she met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
But all sides have given little away on the specifics of their talks and details of the planned gathering remain unclear.It could range from zero to a full-blown agreement. They are not in a position yet to put a label on it, the senior State Department official told reporters when asked how Rice could reconcile seemingly contradictory Israeli and Palestinian views of what the conference near Washington might achieve.Labels are really not a very good way to capture what is going on, he said, adding: This appears to be a serious discussion about fundamental issues.
Olmert, who will meet Rice again on Thursday after she has spoken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, has cautioned against expecting more than a declaration of principles for establishing a Palestinian state.
Abbas has made clear he wants a deal that goes beyond previous agreements on the broad outlines of how the 60-year-old conflict can be resolved and sets a framework for resolving core disputes on borders, security and the status of Jerusalem and of Palestinian refugees from territory that is now Israel.

ENEMY GAZA

Rice may hear concerns from Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, over Israel's decision on Wednesday to declare the Gaza Strip an enemy entity, as well as about the pace of Israeli moves to ease movement for people in the West Bank. Fayyad's government has already said it wants Washington to press Israel not to cut energy and other supplies to the 1.5 million people of Gaza, despite hostility between the leaders in the West Bank and the Hamas Islamists who seized power in the coastal enclave in June after routing forces loyal to Abbas.Rice, who U.S. officials said was unaware of Israel's plan when she flew in, said Washington shared Israeli opposition to Hamas but expected humanitarian supplies to continue. She also said the internal Palestinian conflict should not jeopardize plans to found a single state in both the West Bank and Gaza.The conference, penciled in for November 15 or shortly thereafter, forms a major part of U.S. President George W. Bush's strategy to promote stability in the Middle East before he leaves office in a little over a year, ending a presidency marked by the violence in Iraq since the U.S. invasion.

He has encouraged Arab states to attend but several have said they will only do so if they see it producing agreement on fundamental issues for Palestinians. Also unclear is whether states regarded as hostile, notably Syria, should be invited.
Highlighting uncertainty surrounding the nature of the gathering, when asked whether Syria would be welcome Rice told a news conference simply: We haven't invited anyone yet.(Reporting by Sue Pleming and Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem)

Iran: Retaliation for any Israeli attack By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has drawn up plans to bomb Israel if the Jewish state should attack, the deputy air force commander said Wednesday, adding to tensions already heated up by an Israeli airstrike on Syria and Western calls for more U.N. sanctions against Tehran. Other Iranian officials also underlined their country's readiness to fight if the U.S. or Israel attacks, a reflection of concerns in Tehran that demands by the U.S. and its allies for Iran to curtail its nuclear program could escalate into military action.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday that the international community should prepare for the possibility of war in the event Iran obtains atomic weapons, although he later stressed the focus is still on diplomatic pressures.The comments come as the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, Adm. William Fallon, is touring Persian Gulf countries seeking to form a united front of Arab allies against Iran's growing influence in the region.Iran has periodically raised alarms over the possibility of war, particularly when the West brings up talk of sanctions over Tehran's rejection of a U.N. Security Council demand that it halt uranium enrichment.We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime (Israel) makes a silly mistake, Iran's deputy air force commander, Gen. Mohammad Alavi, said in an interview with the semiofficial Fars news agency.Alavi warned that Israel is within range of Iran's medium-range missiles and fighter-bombers.

The Iranian air force had no immediate comment on the Fars report. But Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar told the official IRNA news agency that we keep various options open to respond to threats. ... We will make use of them if required.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards also weighed in, saying Iran has prepared its people for a possible confrontation against any aggression.White House press secretary Dana Perino said Alavi's comment is not constructive and it almost seems provocative.Israel doesn't seek a war with its neighbors. And we all are seeking, under the U.N. Security Council resolutions, for Iran to comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, she said.During a stop in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington is committed to diplomacy, but added that the U.S. hasn't taken any military options off the table. She said that it can't be business as usual with Iran, a country whose president has spoken of wiping Israel off the map.For diplomacy to work, she said, it has to have both a way for Iran to pursue a peaceful resolution of this issue and it has to have teeth, and the U.N. Security Council and other measures are providing teeth.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said his government took Iran's threat very seriously and so does the international community.Unfortunately we are all too accustomed to this kind of bellicose, extremist and hateful language coming from Iran, he said.

Israeli warplanes in 1981 destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor being built by Saddam Hussein's regime, and many in the region fear Israel or the U.S. could mount airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn't bow to Western demands to cease uranium enrichment.Iran, which says it isn't trying to produce material for atomic bombs but rather fuel for reactors that would generate electricity, has said in the past that Israel would be the first retaliatory target for any attack. But Alavi's comments were the first to mention specific contingency plans.David Ochmanek, an international policy analyst with the U.S.-based RAND Corporation, said Iran has the capability to attack Israel with a limited number of ballistic missiles, but Israel could potentially inflict greater damage on Iran. If Israelis attacked Iran it would be with high precision weapons that could destroy military targets, he said. They could destroy Iran's nuclear reactor and do damage to the enrichment.The Iranian response would be quite different, Ochmanek said. It would be small numbers of highly innaccurate missiles and the intention would be to do this for psychological purposes rather than to destroy discrete targets. It's an asymmetrical relationship.A top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander warned earlier this week that U.S. bases around Iran would also be legitimate targets.

Today, the United States is within Iran's sight and all around our country, but it doesn't mean we have been encircled. They are encircled themselves and are within our range, Gen. Mohammed Hasan Kousehchi told IRNA. U.S. forces are in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the Persian Gulf, Kuwait hosts a major U.S. base, the U.S. 5th Fleet patrols from its base in Bahrain, and the U.S. Central Command is housed in Qatar.
Tensions have been raised by a mysterious Israeli air incursion over Syria on Sept. 6. Israel has placed a tight news blackout on the reported incident, while Syria has said little. U.S. officials said it involved an airstrike on a target. One U.S. official said the attack hit weapons heading for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of Syria and Iran, but there also has been speculation the Israelis hit a nascent nuclear facility or were studying routes for a possible future strike on Iran. Former Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he was involved from the beginning in the alleged airstrike, the first public mention by an Israeli leader about the incident. Netanyahu, the leader of the parliamentary opposition, did not give further details. Edward Djerejian, founding director of Rice University's Baker Institute, said the accusation that Israel had violated Syrian airspace, and possibly launched an attack on Syrian territory, was putting new concerns on an already tense situation. The region is very nervous, said Djerejian, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Syria.

With Iran adding to the talk of military options, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns called Wednesday for U.N. Security Council members and U.S. allies to help push for a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. But Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow opposes new sanctions, adding they could hurt a recent agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at resolving questions about the Iranian program. Two U.N. resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have failed to persuade the country to suspend uranium enrichment. Burns said he would host a Friday meeting of the Security Council's permanent members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France. Talks on a new resolution are also expected next week in New York, when world leaders attend the annual ministerial session of the U.N. General Assembly. Associated Press Writers Sarah DiLorenzo and Carley Petesch in New York and Mark Lavie in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Bush calls for expansion of spy law By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07

FORT MEADE, Md. - President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists. Without such action, Bush said, our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.It will be harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to train, recruit and infiltrate operatives into America, the president said during a visit to the super-secret National Security Agency's headquarters. Without these tools, our country will be much more vulnerable to attack.The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act governs when the government must obtain warrants for eavesdropping from a secret intelligence court. This year's update — approved just before Congress' August break — allows more efficient interceptions of foreign communications.Under the new law, the government can eavesdrop without a court order on communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the U.S., even if an American is on one end of the conversation — so long as that American is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance.In requesting the change, the Bush administration said technological advances in communications had created a dire gap in the ability to collect intelligence on terrorists.Such surveillance generally was prohibited under the original law if the wiretap was conducted inside the U.S., unless a court approved it. Because of changes in technology, many more foreign communications now flow through the U.S. The new law, known as the Protect America Act, allows those to be tapped without a court order.

Civil liberties groups and many Democrats say the new changes go too far. Democratic leaders in Congress set the law to expire in six months so that it could be fine-tuned; that process now is beginning on Capitol Hill.Democrats hope for changes that would provide additional oversight when the government eavesdrops on U.S. residents communicating with overseas parties.Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers understand the need to update the law, but also the need to protect the rights and liberties of Americans.For over five years, the president carried out a warrantless surveillance program that ignored the law and the role of court oversight, Rockefeller said. Today, the president continues to seek unchecked surveillance powers that many of us in Congress cannot support. The fact is, the Protect America Act did provide authority for collection, but it did not include sufficient protections for Americans. There's no reason we can't do both, Rockefeller said.The president needs to step up to the plate and show that he is willing to work with Congress to get this important legislation passed.Bush timed his visit to Fort Meade to press his case.The threat from al-Qaida is not going to expire in 135 days, he said, so I call on Congress to make the Protect America Act permanent.He also urged lawmakers to expand the law, not restrict it. One provision particularly important to the administration, but opposed by many Democrats, would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies which may have helped the government conduct surveillance before January 2007 without a court order.

Bush was joined at the podium in an NSA hallway by Vice President Dick Cheney, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and others.The president received private briefings from intelligence officials and mingled with employees in the National Threat Operations Center. While cameras and reporters were in the room, the large video screens that lined the walls displayed unclassified information on computer crime and signal intelligence.Along one wall at NSA is a sign that says, We won't back down. We never have. We never will.National Security Agency: http://www.nsa.gov/

Israel declares Gaza enemy entity By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
SEPT 20,07

JERUSALEM - Israel declared the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip an enemy entity on Wednesday and said it would cut utilities to the territory. The move complicates a U.S. plan to relaunch peace talks aimed at establishing a separate Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel made the provocative decision hours before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived for talks setting up what President Bush hopes will be a pivotal peace conference this fall. Rice neither endorsed nor criticized Israel's move.Israel did not announce a date for cutting off services. The decision is likely to reinforce perceptions among Palestinians and their Arab backers that Israel will do as it sees fit regardless of the cost to civilians and that the U.S. will not block Israel.Rice said the U.S. is trying to help both sides reach common understanding. But she did not say if the U.S.-sponsored peace meeting will address the hardest issues in the six-decade conflict, including the final borders of a Palestinian state.The U.S. has not said exactly what it wants to achieve from the summit, nor who will attend.Rice wants to recruit Arab states to reinforce the Palestinians in any deal with Israel, but the conference will carry little weight if regional players such as Saudi Arabia choose to sit it out. The meeting also has little chance of success if Israel is seen as unwilling to make hard concessions to the Palestinians and the U.S. is seen an unable to force Israel's hand.The U.S.-sponsored conference is meant to invigorate peace efforts that largely lay fallow during George W. Bush's presidency and set clear guidelines for forming a Palestinian state.

The Gaza designation overshadowed any public talk of peace prospects as Rice began two days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.Israel did not inform the U.S. in advance of Wednesday's action, a U.S. diplomat said. Israel has been considering something similar for several weeks, however, to try to halt Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns from launching sites in Gaza. The decision lets Israel cut electricity, water and other services that the impoverished, crowded coastal territory depends on Israel to provide.New York-based Human Rights Watch said cutting off fuel and power would violate Israels duty as an occupying power to safeguard the health and welfare of the occupied population and it would also intensify the existing humanitarian crisis.Israel has been carrying out airstrikes and limited ground strikes. It also has sealed Gaza's borders, halting trade, while permitting little more than humanitarian aid into the area.Hamas militants who hold de facto control in Gaza have not been directly involved in the rocket attacks, but the movement has done little to halt the fire. Israel says it holds the group responsible.Rice tried to tread carefully at a press conference with Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. Grim-faced, Rice said the U.S. will not turn its back on civilians in Gaza and that Hamas is a hostile entity to the United States as well.
The Israeli designation covers all of Gaza, not just Hamas militants who took control in June. The U.S. and Israel regard Hamas as a terrorist organization and refuse to deal with it.

Livni said Israel was not obliged to deliver anything to Gaza beyond humanitarian aid.When it comes to the humanitarian needs, we have our own responsibilities, Livni said. All the needs which are more than humanitarian needs will not be supplied by Israel to Gaza Strip.Livni said the decision is legal. International aid groups said it was unacceptable to blame civilians for the actions of rogue militants.Gisha, a human rights group that works for greater freedom of movement in Gaza, said the action was immoral and illegal, constituting prohibited collective punishment of civilians.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate leader on whom Rice and Israel have pinned reinvigorated hopes for peace, quickly condemned the Israeli move. This oppressive decision will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increase their suffering and deepen their tragedy, Abbas' office said in a statement. Abbas is in a bitter rivalry with Hamas, which overran forces from his Fatah movement and seized control of Gaza. The takeover ended more than a year of paralysis in Palestinian politics as Fatah and Hamas vied for primacy in a divided government and international aid dried up.
Abbas has installed a new government in the larger and more populous West Bank, but still claims authority over Gaza. An independent Palestinian state would include both territories, which lie on either side of Israel. Among the Israeli officials Rice saw Wednesday was the defense chief, Ehud Barak. He has hinted that Israel may have to relaunch military operations in Gaza more than two years after a unilateral pullout of Israeli forces and settlers. Rice planned to meet with Abbas and other West Bank Palestinians on Thursday. Associated Press writers Laurie Copans and Aron Heller contributed to this report.