EVENTS IN TIME (BIBLE PROPHECY LITERALLY FULFILLED)(BY GOD)

I WRITE NEWS ABOUT AND PUT NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM PERTAINING TO BIBLE PROPHESY HAPPENINGS.JOEL 3:20 But Judah (ISRAEL) shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.(THATS ISRAEL-JERUSALEM WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED AGAIN)-WE CHRISTIANS ARE ALL WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TO OCCUR.SO WE CAN GO TO JESUS AND GET OUR NEVER DYING BODIES.SO WE CAN RULE OVER CITIES OURSELVES.WHILE JESUS RULES FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER IN JERUSALEM.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

ONE RELIGION IN ROME (VATICAN)

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.

Cyclone lashes Myanmar after missing Bangladesh MAY 2,08

YANGON (AFP) - A severe cyclone was expected to hit Myanmar's main city Yangon later Friday after the storm missed neighbouring Bangladesh, meteorologists said.Severe cyclone Nargis had already hit outlying coastal regions and was packing winds of 120 to 150 miles (192 to 240 kilometres) per hour, Tun Lwin, director general of the meteorological department in Yangon, told AFP.The storm was centred about 210 kilometres west of Haing Gyi island at the mouth of the Ayeyawaddy (Irrawaddy) river, or about 430 kilometres southwest of Yangon.It started to hit Ayeyawaddy Division since this morning. It will hit Ayeyawaddy, Yangon and Bago Divisions later today. The tide could be increased by 10 to 12 feet (three to 3.5 metres), he said.Myanmar's state-run newspapers have run warnings about the impending storm.Haing Gyi island could not be contacted for further information after it was hit.The meteorological department said it was not yet known whether the storm had caused any damage or casualties.In Bangladesh, fishing crews have been been told to stay close to the shore and not to venture into the Bay of Bengal, after fears it would slam into the southeast coast.But government forecaster Ayesha Khatun said the disaster-prone country was likely to escape the impact of Nargis.It is not going to hit Bangladesh. It will hit Myanmar later today, although the southern tip of Bangladesh could be affected, she said.

Bangladesh is still picking up the pieces after last November's devastating cyclone Sidr which smashed into the southern coast, killing more than 3,000 people.Half a million people perished in Bangladesh in a cyclone in 1970. Some 138,000 died in 1991 in a tidal wave caused by a cyclone.

High winds, hail, heavy rain damages hundreds of homes in Missouri By The Associated Press MAY 2,08

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Hurricane-force winds, hail and heavy rain have injured several people and damaged hundreds of homes and businesses in Missouri. Authorities in the Kansas City area say the worst damage is in the city's northern and eastern suburbs. The U.S. weather service says winds reached almost 130 kilometres an hour as storms moved through the areas overnight Thursday. Other states also have been hit. The U.S. National Weather Service says a tornado likely touched down Friday morning in central Arkansas. Injuries and damage are reported, but no details are available. At least two tornadoes and large hail was reported in Oklahoma late Thursday, though no injuries or significant damage was reported there.

River levels dropping in N.B. capital but high water still causing headaches By The Canadian Press MAY 2,08

FREDERICTON - Flood waters have stabilized in Fredericton and are expected to significantly decline over the weekend as dry, sunny weather helps tame the swollen St. John River. Emergency officials said Friday water levels in Fredericton were about eight metres above sea level, and they were expected to drop to 7.7 metres by Saturday. Andy Morton of the Emergency Measures Organization said the main factor is a good forecast over the next few days, calling for cool, dry weather. It's a godsend, he said. Nevertheless, many streets in Fredericton remain flooded and closed, while many downtown businesses and government offices have shut their doors.

Close to 800 homes have had power disconnected because of the high water. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was to arrive in the province on Friday to get a first-hand look at flood damage in the area. He was also expected to fly with Premier Shawn Graham to tour flooded areas. The high water is now moving downstream, heading for the mouth of the river at the Bay of Fundy. Downstream of Fredericton, that's the area we're most concerned about now, Morton said in an interview. Water levels will continue to increase for Maugerville, Sheffield and Jemseg all the way down through the Kennebecasis Valley right to the City of Saint John. That trend will continue for the next few days.Morton said emergency officials are continuing to get requests for emergency evacuations. To date, more than 600 people in the Fredericton area have left their homes because of the flood.

We're seeing more people wanting to get out of areas already flooded, he said. We're getting requests from people looking for emergency evacuations because they are seeing more water than they were prepared for.NB Power says it has disconnected more than 750 customers. The flood is causing major problems for farmers with livestock. One farmer in Maugerville was struggling to save his dairy herd on Friday. The farmer has no power, but the roughly 140 have to be milked twice a day. Officials were looking for ways to move the herd off the farmer's flooded property and relocate the cows to higher ground.

Maine river crests after surging to record high By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press Writer Fri May 2, 7:43 AM ET

FORT KENT, Maine - The rain-swollen St. John River crested early Thursday after hitting a record high, forcing residents to flee to higher ground as more than 100 homes flooded. Rain and melting snow raised the St. John to more than 30 feet — about 5 feet above flood stage — causing widespread flooding. The previous record crest of 27.3 feet was set in 1979.Floodwaters flowed down streets and swamped homes, businesses, yards and the landmark St. Louis Catholic Church in the center of town.At Quigley's Building Supply, the waters filled the lumber yard in less than half an hour, sending lumber downriver and putting the yard under 12 feet of water.Manager Justin Dubois was philosophical about the losses.

It's frustrating but at least everyone's OK. Everything is replaceable, he said.Nearby, Christine Chasse used a snow shovel to push water and debris out of her two-car garage. A hastily made berm protected her home from the Fish River on one side while the town levee protected her home from the St. John River on other side.
Still, the waters managed to flood her basement and turn her yard into a lake. Her family moved the furniture to the second floor when they were told to evacuate.I'm very sad to see the church under water, and I realize there are some people worse off than us, she said.About 1,000 residents were told to leave and as many as 140 homes were flooded. Authorities said it could be this weekend before people are allowed to return to their flooded homes, and driving around Aroostook County was a challenge because so many bridges and roads were closed.But officials sighed with relief that water did not spill over a levee. Also, the International Bridge that connects Maine and Canada held up, despite fears that the raging waters could drag it down, choking the fast-moving river and sending more water into the town.

If the bridge had let go, that would've been the end for Fort Kent. The whole town would've washed out, Police Chief Kenneth Michaud said Thursday. No one was hurt, he said.The spring flooding realized the worst fears of emergency management officials after a winter in which some parts of northern Maine saw more than 200 inches of snow. Despite the melting snow, it seemed that the region had dodged heavy floods until 3 to 4 inches of rain fell on Tuesday.

That deluge, combined with melting snow, sent rivers and streams rising across northern Maine.Elsewhere, flood warnings were issued for portions of the Penobscot, Kennebec, Aroostook, St. Francis and Mattawamkeag rivers. Small numbers of evacuations were reported in Van Buren, Wallagrass, Milford and Masardis.More than 100 state roads and dozens of local roads were shut down or had lanes closed, said Lynette Miller, a spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency. Four bridges were also closed.Forecasters predicted the St. John River would fall below flood stage on Friday morning. But residents won't be allowed to return to their homes near Main Street until the water recedes enough for engineers to inspect the levee and bridge, Michaud said.Associated Press writer Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report. On the Net:
Maine Emergency Management Agency: http://www.state.me.us/mema

Significant severe weather outbreak expected Wayne Verno
Fri May 2, 6:13 AM ET

Explosive thunderstorm development occurred last night over parts of the central Plains. This brought 15 reports of possible tornadoes, along with numerous reports of large hail, in some cases to the size of soft balls. As much as 24 inches of snow fell in parts of western South Dakota, with wind gusts as high as 64 mph in the Rapid City area. This brought blizzard conditions to parts of western South Dakota and Wyoming. A strong storm system over the northern Plains was responsible for all of this active weather late yesterday and overnight, and will continue the threat for severe thunderstorms and blizzard conditions today. Severe thunderstorms will be ongoing this morning over parts of the eastern Plains, into the Midwest and Mississippi Valley, with additional thunderstorm development likely over the Mississippi Valley and Midwest later this afternoon and evening. Areas including Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Memphis, Little Rock, Shreveport, Jackson, and Baton Rouge will be at risk for severe thunderstorms. Tornadoes, very large hail, and damaging winds will all be possible, along with localized flash flooding. The risk for severe thunderstorms will shift into the Southeastern States on Saturday, potentially impacting areas like Knoxville, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Mobile. Meanwhile, strong gusty winds and heavy snow will continue over the eastern Dakotas, into parts of Wyoming. Wind gusts of 45 to 65 mph will be possible, bringing blizzard conditions to parts of the area. Additional accumulations today will range from 4 to 8 inches, especially in the higher elevations. Strong gusty winds will also impact parts if the Front Range of the Rockies, into the western Plains today, behind the storm system. Wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph will be possible from eastern Colorado, through western Kansas.

Christians who study Bible Prophecy - nuts? MAY 1,08

If you are a Christian, and you believe that Bible prophecy is being fulfilled in this generation, then you are probably the oddball in your church.In fact, scratch probably. It is pretty much a dead-bang certainty that you are. It is fascinating to me that a person can be pro-choice, anti-Israel, pro-gay marriage, and be labeled a Christian progressive. But if you believe that God not only knows the future, but recorded it for us in advance, well, then you're a nut.

Most Christians are ok with the idea that God created the universe. Whether or not they accept it as a literal creation or some kind of modified evolutionary scheme notwithstanding, few Christians would argue that creation is beyond God's power. For reasons nobody has ever been able to logically articulate to me, Christians have no problem agreeing that the First Advent of Jesus Christ was prophesied. But prophecies pointing to His Second Advent are merely symbolic and not to be taken literally. If YOU do, then you are a nut. There are some churches, on the other hand, that are wholly given over to the study of Bible prophecy for the last days. If you are a member of a church like that, not only are YOU a nut, but you probably belong to a cult. If you wanted to draw a cartoon in which you wanted one of the characters to be instantly recognized as being a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic, the most recognizable way would be to draw a guy with a long beard wearing a burnoose and brandishing a sign saying, Repent! The end is near!

And that's just the way the subject is treated by other Christians. To the world, if you study Bible prophecy, you are probably not just crazy, but dangerous. If you believe Nostradamus knew the future, you're a harmless eccentric, if you believe the Mayans calculated The End of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) you are an historian. If you believe St Malachy, you are a Catholic theologian. But if you believe that the God of the Universe has a Divine Plan that culminates with the judgment of mankind during the Tribulation Period, based entirely on a literal reading of His Word, then there's something wrong with you. The Mayan Indians, whose culture died out 1400 years ago, developed a complex calendar system that continues to fascinate scientists to this day. The Mayan Calendar divides the history of man into five distinct ages and this present age is scheduled to end exactly at 11:11 am (Greenwich Mean Time), on 24 December, 2012. The Mayans believed that on that date and time, the world as we know it will end with the final destruction of mankind on the earth. Nostradamus is credited with having predicted the 9/11 attacks as kicking off the end of days. According to one celebrated quatrain a King of Terror wearing a blue turban will attack the Great City, etc., etc. Although his most famous quatrain makes reference to the King of Terror in the seventh month of 1999 and the 9/11 attacks took place in the 9th month of 2000, for Nostradamus fans, that was close enough. An 12th-century Irish priest recorded a prophecy in which he allegedly named the rest of the Popes in human history, from Celestine II (1143-1144) to the last pope at the end of the world.

According to St. Malachy, there would be exactly 112 Popes. Malachy predicted the second last Pope would be called a Benedictine. I wrote about St Malachy's Benedictine prophecy in April, 2005, as the new Pope was being selected. Cardinal Ratzinger chose, as his papal name, Pope Benedict the XVI. According to St Malachy, the Benedictine's reign will be short, (Ratzinger is in his 80's) and he will be succeeded by the last Pope, Peter the Great.The various adherents of the Mayans, Nostradamus, St Malachy (and there are others) all share the same basic worldview that could be paraphrased thusly: let every man be true and God a liar. All the various secular prophets prove is that Satan knows his time is short. There is a singular difference between secular prophecies and Bible prophecy that reveals the source of the information.

Secular prophecies can only predict events, not outcomes. Bible prophecy tells how they turn out. I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done. (Isaiah 46:9b-10a)

Satan is the universe's master deceiver. His ultimate goal is to be received as God. Only God is capable of prophecy. But Satan has a counterfeit plan of his own, and he has had six thousand years to develop it. Since he knows what he has planned, it is no trick to reveal the plan to some secular prophet. Satan doesn't know how his plan will turn out, any more than any other created being, but he does know what he has in mind. From our dimension of time, it seems like prophecy. Remove the element of time, and what seem now to be prophecy would no more than the outline of a plan. Extra-Biblical prophecies, are part of that overall plan to counterfeit the miracles of God, so that, one day, he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2nd Thessalonians 2:4)

If one examines the extra-Biblical prophecies for the truth they contain, rather than looking for the sensational, what what learns is that it isn't just prophecy nuts who believe in Bible prophecy. Satan believes it, too, or he wouldn't be trying to counterfeit it.

What it does establish is that even Satan has an idea of the time of the end -- and Satan thinks it will be sometime around 2012. We know that, of the day and hour, no man knoweth, but we are told we will know that it is near, even at the doors. And from that time, Jesus tells us, Verily I say unto thee, this generation shall not pass, until all these things be fulfilled. (Matthew 24:34)

TEOTWAWKI on December 24, 2012? I don't think so. But soon? No doubt about it.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

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.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

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

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

Mideast Quartet presses Arab states, Israel by Guy Jackson MAY 2,08

LONDON (AFP) - Key world powers called Friday on Arab states to fulfil their promises of aid for the Palestinians and voiced deep concern over the humanitarian impact of a nine-month-old Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. In a joint statement issued after the Middle East Quartet held talks in London, the powers also called on Israel to stop building or extending settlements in the West Bank.

The Mideast Quartet -- the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union -- urged Arab donor states to follow through on commitments to the Palestinians made at a Paris conference in December.The Quartet encouraged the Arab states to fulfil both their political and financial roles in support of the Annapolis process, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, citing an agreed statement.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who attended Friday's talks, said: I think there have been pledges that have been fulfilled but clearly when you make a pledge you ought to fulfil it.That is the point that I will be making to all states.

At the Paris meeting, the international community pledged more than seven billion dollars (4.5 billion euros) in aid, including 1.5 billion dollars in budgetary support, mostly to be spent on civil servants' salaries.According to the State Department, of the 717 million dollars contributed so far, 500 million dollars have come from the EU, Britain, Norway, France and the United States.Some 215 million dollars have been paid by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Algeria, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Friday that Kuwait had agreed to make an immediate payment of 80 million dollars.Fayyad, speaking after a separate meeting in London on aid for the Palestinians, said while he welcomed the Kuwaiti move, the main obstacle to economic reconstruction in Gaza was the Israeli blockade.

Life there is extremely miserable, he told journalists. There is no substitute to re-opening the crossings.The Quartet also urged Israel to ease the blockade to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza.The Quartet called for continued emergency and humanitarian assistance and the provision of essential services to Gaza without obstruction, Ban added.Former British prime minister Tony Blair, now the Quartet's envoy, said the situation in Gaza was terrible.

But he said before the blockade could be lifted, it was essential that rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled territory into Israel ceased.Before the London talks, aid agencies had warned of an impending humanitarian crisis in Gaza and urged the Quartet to press Israel to end the blockade, which it imposed after Islamist group Hamas seized power in June.The Quartet also called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity including natural growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.Rice was due to go on from London to Jerusalem and the West Bank, to try to kickstart stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, ahead of a visit to the region by President George W. Bush later this month. Blair also voiced optimism that an agreement on a Middle East peace deal was possible faster than people think.Hamas has insisted that, as part of any truce to end violence, Israel must lift the blockade, but Israel on Thursday rejected an Egyptian proposal to ease restrictions. Separately, on Iran, a six-power grouping comprising the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany agreed to make a new offer to Tehran to resolve the nuclear standoff between the West and the Islamic republic. I am glad to say that we have got agreement on an offer that will be made to the government of Iran, said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband after talks with his counterparts. Miliband said the contents of the offer would only be disclosed to Iran. The West fears Iran wants to use its nuclear programme to make atomic weapons but Iran insists the drive is peaceful and solely aimed at providing energy for a growing population.

Israel's military shows off unmanned, armed patrol vehicle MAY 1,08

Israel's newest soldier can see at night, never nods off on sentry duty and can carry 660 pounds without complaining.The Guardium, a remote-controlled, unmanned vehicle commissioned by the Israeli military and shown to The Associated Press on Monday, is among the first such machines to be ready for the battlefield. The army said it had not yet entered service, however, and declined further comment.The four-wheeled vehicle is designed to replace human soldiers in dangerous roles, and sometimes tedious missions, cutting casualties.Like the pilotless drones that have become a mainstay of air forces in Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere, the Guardium is operated from a command room far from the front line. It can carry cameras, night-vision equipment and sensors, as well as weapons like machine guns.The Guardium even has a limited capability to operate on its own. Following preprogrammed routes, it can navigate alone on patrol along a barrier fence or make its way through a city _ the vehicle knows how to deal with intersections, traffic and road markings.Relying on cameras that scan 360 degrees at all times, the vehicle's sensors send alerts of anything suspicious to the remote operator, who can take control at any time.The Guardium never mentally wanders or falls asleep during mind-numbing guard or patrol missions in dangerous war zones.

Representatives of armies with troops who are taking high casualties in asymmetric warfare, from threats like roadside bombs, get excited about this product, said Erez Peled, general manager of G-Nius Unmanned Ground Systems, the company that developed the Guardium.The operator works with two large video screens and a joystick as well as a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals that lend the control console the look of a video arcade game.Any kid who grew up with a PlayStation will be able to come in here and learn this in seconds, Peled said.A single Guardium costs approximately $600,000. With the control system, the price runs to several million dollars, depending on what equipment is installed on the vehicle.John Pike, director of the Virginia-based military think tank Globalsecurity.org, said there is only one other similar vehicle operational _ a South Korean robot used to patrol the demilitarized zone with North Korea. With the details of the Korean vehicle classified, Pike could not say which was more advanced.

Robots like this are potentially the future of ground warfare, Pike said.A robot does what it's told, and you'll be able to get them to advance in ways it's hard to get human soldiers to do. They don't have fear, and they kill without compunction.More importantly, he said, A robot means you don't have to write a condolence letter.

REVELATION 17:1-2
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(VATICAN IN POLITICS)

One World Religion - Proposal to create a Religious UN in Rome http://www.agi.it MAY 1,08

The leader of the Italian Democratic Party, Walter Veltroni, today proposed the creation of an Organization of Religions Nations Rome-based, and said that the idea liked by both the secretary of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, and Pope Benedict XVI.Veltroni explained that his idea is the creation of a palace of religions in Rome, like the United Nations in New York, where representatives of all faiths of the world can meet and talk among themselves.The political leader said that it has already proposed his initiative, which he called United Religions (Religions Nations), both Pope Benedict XVI and the secretary of the UN, who liked the idea.Veltroni announced today that proposal during an appearance before reporters in Rome as a farewell, after it yesterday submit his resignation as mayor of the city to begin his campaign as a candidate for president of the Government in the upcoming April elections.Rome is the headquarters for three of the United Nations agencies that deal with food: the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO) and the Global Agenda Food (WFP).

Shi'ite leaders join Vatican in defending faith, reason

Vatican, Apr. 30, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Vatican and Iranian leaders agreed that faith and reason are intrinsically non-violent during an April 30 meeting at the Vatican. Following his regular Wednesday audience, the Holy Father spoke with participants in the conference jointly sponsored by the Vatican and Iran. The Vatican delegation was headed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue. The Shi'ite religious leaders from Iran were led by Mahdi Mostafavi, the president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization in Tehran. The meeting was part of a series of exchanges between the Vatican and Iran, which began when Iranian foreign minister Manoucher Mottaki suggested talks between religious leaders as a means of easing tensions between Catholics and Muslims in the wake of the Pope's Regensburg address. A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry said that discussions between the Holy See and the Islamic Republic of Iran were natural, since both are religious states.

In a joint statement released after their meeting, the Vatican and Iranian officials agreed with a major thrust of the Pope's Regensburg address, saying: Faith and reason do not contradict each other. The scope of faith might at times go beyond the power of reason, they said, but they would never be in contradiction. Both faith and reason have been sometimes misused to perpetrate violence, the joint statement observed. But this misuse should not undermine confidence in either faith or reason. The two groups agreed to continue their talks, in the hope that collaboration will promote genuine religiosity.In a bow to Muslim concerns, the statement included a commitment to encourage respect for symbols considered to be sacred and to promote moral values. In an apparent reference to incidents such as the publication of the Danish cartoons lampooning Muhammed, the statement condemned derision of religious beliefs.The Vatican and Iranian delegations agreed that Christians and Muslims should go beyond tolerance in encouraging respect for one another. They cautioned against judging either faith on the basis of single verses taken from the Bible or the Qu'ran, instead asking for a deeper understanding of the two faiths.

RPT-Mideast conflict must not hinder Med Union-Sarkozy
Wed 30 Apr 2008, 15:29 GMT

TUNIS, April 30 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must not be allowed to obstruct his planned Union for the Mediterranean, which he said would change the world.Sarkozy aims to launch the new grouping of 27European Union countries and their southern neighbours in Paris on July 13.He was forced to scale back plans for a full EU-style Mediterranean Union after fierce resistance from Germany, which feared it would split the EU and siphon off common funds.Last month, EU leaders agreed to a limited form of union involving a regular summit between EU and Mediterranean leaders, with a joint presidency and a small secretariat.Syria, Libya and some other Arab countries also appear lukewarm over the project as it might suggest an indirect normalisation of their relations with Israel without any settlement of the Palestinian conflict.I know that, inside the project of the Union for the Mediterranean, there is the issue of Israel and the issue of Palestine, Sarkozy said. I'm fully aware that all this is in the background ... but this should not stop us acting. It should encourage us to act.He was addressing university students at the end of a three-day visit to Tunisia to boost cooperation on trade, nuclear energy and migration between the two countries.

Failure ... would mean taking a terrible responsibility towards our children and all future generations, said Sarkozy, adding that the new Union will change the world.He dismissed fears that the plan would tie EU states into an unwanted political corset, saying the new grouping would allow some states to work closely together and others to stay on the sidelines.Everyone should stay calm. No one is imposing anything, he said. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; writing by Lamine Ghanmi; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Reuters 2008.

Spain marks bicentenary of French war(AFP)1 May 2008

MADRID - Spain celebrates the bicentenary Friday of the 1808-1814 Peninsular War, which ousted Napoleon's troops from the country but also sparked the loss of Madrid's empire in the Americas.

Exhibitions, reenactments, concerts and a film are planned to mark the anniversary throughout the country, but particularly in Madrid, where on May 2, 1808 thousands of citizens rose up against the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte.Napoleon, who by then controled much of continental Europe, sent his troops into Spain in late 1807 on the pretext of supporting an invasion of Portugal.But he quickly alienated the nation by usurping the Spanish throne for his brother Joseph in April 1808.The spontaneous and chaotic Madrid uprising was swiftly crushed by French troops, and hundreds of citizens were shot in retaliation. But the revolution spread throughout the country.In August of that year, Britain sent a force into the Iberian Peninsula to support its new ally Spain.On April 10, 1814 Britain's Duke of Wellington defeated the French at Toulouse in the last battle of a conflict known in Britain as the Peninsular War, in Spain as the War of Independence and in France as the Spanish War.The partisan struggle conducted by the Spanish allowed the British to pursue a more conventional war against the stretched forces of Napoleon. It also introduced the word guerrilla into the English language.

Without Wellington, Spain would have never won against Napoleon, said historian Ronald Fraser, author of the book Napoleon's Cursed War.The guerrilla war was insufficient. Wellington commanded real armies, which were required to defeat Napoleon.The war contributed to Napoleon's abdication in 1814.It also launched the notion of a romantic Spain, with partisans fighting for their freedom, a far cry from the image of the Conquistadors who ravaged South America, noted Professor Jose Alvarez Junco of Madrid's Complutense University.But it also had unfortunate consequences for Spain, as its colonies in the Americas saw it as an opportunity to demand their independence.Led by Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin, they rose up, and Spanish domination of South America was finally ended at the Battle of Ayachucho in Peru in 1824.The war against the French also left Spain divided between the afrancesados, who embraced the liberal ideas brought in from France, and the monarchists backed by a fundamentalist clergy.And it led to the restoration of royal absolutism under King Ferdinand VII.

After the war came the return of the most infamous king in Spanish history, Fernando VII, the abolition of constitutional rights, and the crushing proof that Spaniards got their enemies confused in 1808, Spanish writer Arturo Perez Reverte said in an article in the newspaper El Pais.Reverte is the curator of a special exhibition on the Madrid uprising based on his book A Day of Anger. Two of Francisco de Goya's most emblematic paintings depicting the revolt--The Second of May, 1808: The Charge of the Mamelukes and The Third of May, 1808: The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid -- have also been restored for a special exhibition at Madrid's Prado Museum.

The Third of May painting will also be re-created in a Madrid street spectacular that incorporates music, dance and theatre to reenact the uprising.King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, other members of the royal family and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will also attend a ceremony on Friday in the Madrid suburb of Mostoles, where the revolt began.

WORLD GOVERNMENT

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

DANIEL 12:4,1
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

REVELATION 13:1-3,7,8,12,16-18
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

REVELATION 17:3,7,9-10,12,18
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

President of Iran - Global government based on Islam, mankind's gravest need. MAY 1,08

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Monday evening at the inauguration ceremony of new head of National Center for Globalization Studies, mankind's gravest need today is a global government.Appreciating the services rendered by the former head of that center (formerly called the International Center for Dialogue among Civilizations), Dr. Mohammad Nahavandian, the President said that choosing Esfandiar Rahim-Masha'ie was based on precise calculations, and in accordance with a plan for the center.The president added, The Center for Globalization Studies must be a very dynamic center, able to take long studies forward, thanks to the presence of thinkers and intellectuals from various academic fields, able to pursue globalization discussions throughout the world.

Pointing out that God has definitely been pursuing objectives in creation of man, he stressed, Almighty Allah has drawn the horizons of man's blessed life in this world and how to achieve that objective, based on man's innate desires and in the framework of his social relations with the others.The President emphasized, Man is created to be a global creature, as all divine religions are global, and if he would be deprived of this aspect of his personality, neither anything would remain of his humanity, nor any of his potentials and talents would find a proper ground for manifestation.Proposing that the rule of single law in the entire world is a bare necessity for the mankind, he said, The existence of a thousand laws in the world, and then expecting that the global society would reach a status of equilibrium, justice, and tranquility is wishing for the impossible.He added, It is not possible to observe global justice under such conditions that each country is ruled based on a different set of laws.Ahmadinejad said, The entire monotheist Arch-Prophets (PBUT) were leaders for the whole mankind, and accordingly, so long as a single law would not be put to effect globally, and a single perfect, and noble human being would not take the charge of a global government, the God given talents of the people would not be materialized, and there would be no sign of divine justice in the world.

He considered mankind's progress throughout history a constant move towards perfection, reiterating, Today, globalization has become an issue for daily talk of even ordinary folks, under such conditions that signs for accelerating move of the mankind towards the peaks of perfection are countless, and ever increasing.The IRI President stressed that pure Mohamedan Islam has answers to modern man's entire questions, adding, World nations would accept Islam in large groups if pure Islam would one day be presented to them free from all non-Islamic attachments.Ahmadinejad said, The entire developments in the world are pieces of a puzzle, being fit in their place in order to complete God's general scheme for a perfect world for the mankind, but in the process of this completion some people achieve perfection, while others fall in the abbeys of annihilation, and nowhere is ever devoid of God's will and Divine Rule, nor of his Caliph on earth. He said that the era for drawing border lines between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism is now over, reiterating, Unadulterated Christianity and Judaism are the same as they are entirely manifestations of the same Divine Truth.The President stressed, The single and solid plan and order that we should present for the lives of the world people should be in a way to be acceptable by the pure innate nature of the entire mankind, and such laws need to be based on divine teachings.

The leader of Europe? Answers an ocean apart MAY 1,08

Henry Kissinger, U.S. secretary of state in the 1970s, once asked, Who do I call if I want to reach Europe? A new poll shows a trans-Atlantic gap in the answer today.Most Americans think the call should be placed to Gordon Brown in London. But Europeans - especially the French - tend to think Angela Merkel should pick up the receiver in Berlin, according to the poll by Harris Interactive for the International Herald Tribune and France 24 television.When asked what country is the leader of Europe today, a majority of Germans, perhaps unsurprisingly, picked Germany: 57 percent, the same figure as among Spaniards. Among the French, that figure rose to an astonishing 68 percent. The Italians and British were divided on the question between Germany and Britain.On the other side of the Atlantic, 63 percent of Americans saw Britain as Europe's leading nation.Looking to the future, the breakdown was roughly the same across the board when people from the six nations were asked about which country will have the most influence in Europe over the next decade.

When asked about political personalities, Europeans chose Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, as No. 1, with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France as a distant second choice. Americans, by contrast, named Brown, the prime minister of Britain, as most influential.These questions loom large in Europe with the prospect of an election in January for a newly empowered presidency of the European Council, a post that currently rotates every six months among the 27 members of the European Union. Under the Lisbon treaty, which EU leaders agreed to in December after the defeat of a proposed constitution, the leaders would choose a president of the European Council for a 30-month term, renewable once.The Lisbon treaty, which is moving toward ratification by Jan. 1, also envisions retaining the presidency of the European Commission, a five-year post currently held by José Manuel Barroso, thus giving two possible answers to Kissinger's question.Two political bloggers in Europe, Jan Seifert and Jon Worth, want to see that number reduced to one. Their Web site, whodoicall.eu, has a petition calling for a merger of the two presidencies.Worth said in an interview that the commission presidency is democratically legitimate, because members of the European Parliament vote on it. The council president, by contrast, will be appointed by vote of the 27 heads of state. Worth argues that the commission president has more legitimacy because the heads of state are rarely chosen in elections where European politics are at issue, in contrast to members of the European Parliament.What concerns us would be the possibility of a strong council president and a weak commission president, Worth said. In the end, you have to look at leadership and legitimacy.But a substantial minority of Europeans disagree with Seifert and Worth. The poll showed widespread opposition to the very concept of a European president, much less combining the roles of the two future presidencies. While opposition did not reach a majority in any country, Britons were most opposed, at 46 percent, while Italians were the least, at 14 percent.

The idea does sound a bit scary, Worth conceded. You have to ask, though, what the alternative is.When offered a laundry list of possibilities for a possible president of Europe, along with the choice that there be no president, only a few individuals reached a threshold of 10 percent in any country. Merkel was named in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain was named in Britain, Italy and the United States. People in two countries named favorite sons: Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, in France, and former Prime Minister Felipe González in Spain.

Website: www.out-of-zion.com The CARMEL ALERT May 2nd 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for theinformation of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.

Guest Comment: Why Does Most of the World Hate the Jews?
- author unknown
Why does the world hate the Jews? What have the Jews ever done to the world? They survived -- not as Israelis, but as Jews. The world would have no problem with a secular Israel. Or with a Muslim Israel. What it cannot live with is a JEWISH Israel. It cannot even explain why. One of the most enduring mysteries of the ages is, to my mind, the phenomenon of anti-Semitism. It doesn't follow any logical pattern that could explain it -- indeed, taken as a purely social phenomenon, it makes no sense whatever. Anti-Semitism appears to be universal; it has existed in every generation, among every people, on every continent upon which the Jew has put his foot.

European anti-Semitism dates back to the days of the Roman Empire, but Jews have been the targets of discrimination and pogroms on every continent and virtually every nation on the earth. There is no nation that can claim to be free of anti-Semitism, and at the same time, there is no nation that can credibly claim it was harmed by its indigenous Jewish population.

Although an infinitesimal fraction of the global population, Jews have been awarded a quarter of all the Nobel Prizes given in the 20th century for chemistry, economics, literature, peace, physics and medicine. Even the nations of the Arab world could have peace with Israel for the asking. Yet there is no nation on earth more universally despised. Some anti-Semites (those who admit to themselves that they are) will argue that the Jews are Christ-killers invariably citing Matthew 27:25 as their proof text. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.America has no more faithful or trusted an ally among all the nations of the world than it has in Israel. It is hard to imagine criticism emanating from Israel on a par with the kind of criticism routinely heaped on the US by its other close allies like Britain, France or even Canada. And America has few enemies more virulent than the Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas. But the US is basing its entire peace process on creating a terrorist state on Israel's borders. Never in international history has a nation been created while its people were engaged openly in a war of annihilation with the nation sponsoring its creation. No other nation on the face the earth would even countenance being put in such a situation, let alone being forced into such a suicidal situation by its closest ally.

In 1993, Israel was prepared to turn the Palestinian Authority into the jewel of the Middle East. It would have stood as a testament to Israeli tolerance. But the Palestinians couldn't get beyond their blind hatred of the Jews, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, they attacked. Why? The rest of the world, particularly in the West, is neither blind nor stupid. The Western diplomats who scold Israel for retaliating against unprovoked rocket attacks against civilian targets KNOW that they would react with far less restraint were they the ones on the receiving end of the rocket fire. They KNOW that the war would end the second the Palestinians stopped attacking. Yet they support the Palestinian right to launch unprovoked random attacks against Israeli targets and condemn Israel for responding with military action. Compare Israel's human rights violations -- even the most transparently fictitious ones -- to actual human rights violations ongoing in Islamic nations like the Sudan, or Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or Syria's Assad regime. There are no mass graves in Israel. Yet more UN resolutions have been passed condemning Israel over the past sixty years than those passed against all the rest of nations of the world combined. It defies logical explanation.

So global anti-Semitism doesn't make logical sense politically, economically, socially or religiously. Yet it continues to thrive, despite its self-destructive nature. So why does almost everyone hate the Jewish people ? There is but one logical explanation for anti-Semitism, and that explanation is spiritual. The Bible says that Satan is the god of this world, and that it is his goal to be worshipped as such. The existence of Israel is a constant reminder to the god of this world that his days are numbered. His goal is to eradicate all traces of God from the face of the earth. And standing in his way is the Jewish state of Israel. The Bible also says that the Jews are the Chosen People of God and that they will not only endure as a people to serve as God's 'ensign to the nations' that He exists, but that their existence is evidence of His ability to keep His word. The politicians, media and Church leaders who oppose Israel and the Jewish people, actually oppose YHVH Himself ! To oppose Israel is to oppose the God of Israel, for it is He who has resurrected this tiny land that is the cause of much of the world's troubles. ( Psalm 102:13-16) It is He who is bringing the Jewish people back to the land of their forefathers, to POSSESS it ( Jeremiah 30:3 ) And it is He who is very soon going to enter into judgement with the whole world because of how they have treated the Jewish people ( Joel 3:1-3)

The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.

Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie

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.

Tanks, Rockets Roll Across Red Square in Soviet Parade Revival MAY 1,08

More than 100 tanks, rocket launchers and armored vehicles, flanked by 8,000 soldiers, rattled across the tarmac, while sorties of jet fighters ripped through the sky as army generals saluted below.The display wasn't in communist North Korea or China. It was a practice for a May 9 parade of Russian military hardware on Moscow's Red Square, the first since the Soviet era. The rehearsal took place at Alabino, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Moscow, on an overcast morning and accompanied by a recording of Kremlin chimes.When you are dealing with other countries, you should not look weak, says Konstantin Fedotov, 82, a retired colonel who took part in the first parade in June 1945 and is one of about 20 veterans watching the rehearsal. We have to show that we are not toothless and can react to events against us now.

President Vladimir Putin has called the end of the Soviet Union a catastrophe, and when the army crunches the cobblestones in front of the Kremlin next month Muscovites will get another reminder of his efforts to restore Russian power and its symbols. Putin has endorsed a history book lauding Stalin and won popularity by facing up to the West with Cold War-style rhetoric.The event will mark Victory Day, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. This year, it arrives two days after Putin hands over the presidency to chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev after eight years.

Military Might

The display helps the government to justify defense spending as 20 percent of Russians struggle below the poverty line, according to Yevgeny Volk, a Moscow-based analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. research group.It also demonstrates Russia's strength while former Soviet republics such as Georgia forge ties with the West. Russia's $1.4 trillion economy has been growing at an annual average rate of more than 7 percent under Putin, driven by energy resources.This is a signal to the West that Russia is restoring its military might, says Volk. There is also a psychological factor, nostalgia among the current elite for Soviet times. It resembles a return to the old days.The last exhibition of military hardware on Red Square was on Nov. 7, 1990, the day the Soviets remembered the Bolshevik Revolution. Less than a year later, the Soviet Union collapsed as states like Estonia and Ukraine declared independence.

Next month, Muscovites will watch T-90 battle tanks, S-300 surface-to-air missile launchers and personnel carriers trundle past Lenin's mausoleum up to the multicolored onion domes of St. Basil's Cathedral. The generals and politicians will ride in ZIL limousines, the armored car of choice for Soviet leaders.

No Cold War

Putin says the parade is about pride and tradition, not saber-rattling. Russia increased defense spending 22 percent last year alone, to 835.6 billion rubles ($35.8 billion).The site for the rehearsal was specially built to prepare for the parade, with makeshift podiums and a grandstand where veterans watched and saluted.From there, troops and their equipment move next week to nighttime drills on the 23,100 square meters of Red Square, sandwiched between the Kremlin and the GUM shopping mall.This is beautiful. We have to know where taxpayers' money is going on buying weapons for the army, says Vladimir Bakin, the general in charge of the parade. If our army is strong, then our state is stable.Fedotov, the retired colonel, liked what he saw from his perch in Alabino. He worked in military reconnaissance during the Great Patriotic War, as Russians call World War II, and is keen to make sure the country doesn't get attacked again.Parades are a demonstration of power, a demonstration of the army's readiness, says Fedotov, in his red-and-gold-trimmed peaked army cap and white scarf to keep out the morning chill. The armed forces have to exist.

Europe or Eurabia?

The future of Europe is in play. Will it turn into Eurabia, a part of the Muslim world? Will it remain the distinct cultural unit it has been over the last millennium? Or might there be some creative synthesis of the two civilizations? The answer has vast importance. Europe may constitute a mere 7 percent of the world's landmass but for five hundred years, 1450-1950, for good and ill, it was the global engine of change. How it develops in the future will affect all humanity, and especially daughter countries such as Australia which still retain close and important ties to the old continent.

I foresee potentially one of three paths for Europe: Muslims dominating, Muslims rejected, or harmonious integration.

(1) Muslim domination strikes some analysts as inevitable. Oriana Fallaci found that Europe becomes more and more a province of Islam, a colony of Islam. Mark Steyn argues that much of the Western world will not survive the twenty-first century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most European countries. Such authors point to three factors leading to Europe's Islamization: faith, demography, and a sense of heritage.The secularism that predominates in Europe, especially among its elites, leads to alienation about the Judeo-Christian tradition, empty church pews, and a fascination with Islam. In complete contrast, Muslims display a religious fervor that translates into jihadi sensibility, a supremacism toward non-Muslims, and an expectation that Europe is waiting for conversion to Islam.

The contrast in faith also has demographic implications, with Christians having on average 1.4 children per woman, or about one third less than the number needed to maintain their population, and Muslims enjoying a dramatically higher, if falling, fertility rate. Amsterdam and Rotterdam are expected to be in about 2015 the first large majority-Muslim cities. Russia could become a Muslim-majority country in 2050. To employ enough workers to fund existing pension plans, Europe needs millions of immigrants and these tend to be disproportionately Muslim due to reasons of proximity, colonial ties, and the turmoil in majority-Muslim countries.In addition, many Europeans no longer cherish their history, mores, and customs. Guilt about fascism, racism, and imperialism leave many with a sense that their own culture has less value than that of immigrants. Such self-disdain has direct implications for Muslim immigrants, for if Europeans shun their own ways, why should immigrants adopt them? When added to the already-existing Muslim hesitations over much that is Western, and especially what concerns sexuality, the result are Muslim populations that strongly resist assimilation.The logic of this first path leads to Europe ultimately becoming an extension of North Africa.

(2) But the first path is not inevitable. Indigenous Europeans could resist it and as they make up 95 percent of the continent's population, they can at any time reassert control, should they see Muslims posing a threat to a valued way of life.This impulse can already be seen at work in the French anti-hijab legislation or in Geert Wilders' film, Fitna. Anti-immigrant parties gain in strength; a potential nativist movement is taking shape across Europe, as political parties opposed to immigration focus increasingly on Islam and Muslims. These parties include the British National Party, Belgium's Vlaamse Belang, France's Front National, the Austrian Freedom Party, the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, the Danish People's Party, and the Swedish Democrats.

They will likely continue to grow as immigration surges ever higher, with mainstream parties paying and expropriating their anti-Islamic message. Should nationalist parties gain power, they will likely seek to reject multiculturalism, cut back on immigration, encourage repatriation of immigrants, support Christian institutions, increase indigenous European birthrates, and broadly attempt to re-establish traditional ways.Muslim alarm will likely follow. American author Ralph Peters sketches a scenario in which U.S. Navy ships are at anchor and U.S. Marines have gone ashore at Brest, Bremerhaven or Bari to guarantee the safe evacuation of Europe's Muslims. Peters concludes that because of European's ineradicable viciousness, its Muslims are living on borrowed time As Europeans have perfected genocide and ethnic cleansing, Muslims, he predicts, will be lucky just to be deported, rather than killed. Indeed, Muslims worry about just such a fate; since the 1980s, they have spoken overtly about Muslims being sent to gas chambers.

Violence by indigenous Europeans cannot be precluded but nationalist efforts will more likely take place less violently; if any one is likely to initiate violence, it is the Muslims. They have already engaged in many acts of violence and seem to be spoiling for more. Surveys indicate, for instance, that about 5 percent of British Muslims endorse the 7/7 transport bombings. In brief, a European reassertion will likely lead to on-going civil strife, perhaps a more lethal version of the fall 2005 riots in France.

(3) The ideal outcome has indigenous Europeans and immigrant Muslims finding a way to live together harmoniously and create a new synthesis. A 1991 study, La France, une chance pour l'Islam (France, an Opportunity for Islam) by Jeanne-Hélène Kaltenbach and Pierre Patrick Kaltenbach promoted this idealistic approach. Despite all, this optimism remains the conventional wisdom, as suggested by an Economist leader of 2006 that concluded that dismissed for the moment at least, the prospect of Eurabia as scaremongering.This is the view of most politicians, journalists, and academics but it has little basis in reality. Yes indigenous Europeans could yet rediscover their Christian faith, make more babies, and again cherish their heritage. Yes, they could encourage non-Muslim immigration and acculturate Muslims already living in Europe. Yes, Muslim could accept historic Europe. But not only are such developments not now underway, their prospects are dim. In particular, young Muslims are cultivating grievances and nursing ambitions at odds with their neighbors.One can virtually dismiss from consideration the prospect of Muslims accepting historic Europe and integrating within it. U.S. columnist Dennis Prager agrees: It is difficult to imagine any other future scenario for Western Europe than its becoming Islamicized or having a civil war.

But which of those two remaining paths will the continent take? Forecasting is difficult because crisis has not yet struck. But it may not be far off. Within a decade perhaps, the continent's evolution will become clear as the Europe-Muslim relationship takes shape.The unprecedented nature of Europe's situation also renders a forecast exceedingly difficult. Never in history has a major civilization peaceably dissolved, nor has a people ever risen to reclaim its patrimony. Europe's unique circumstances make them difficult to comprehend, tempting to overlook, and virtually impossible to predict.

Agreement reached on incentives for Iran on nuclear program MAY 2,08

LONDON - World powers negotiating with Iran have agreed on a repackaged offer of incentives to try to coax the Islamic regime into rolling back its disputed nuclear program, Britain's foreign secretary said Friday. However, the details of the amended offer being made by the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany were not revealed.We've got an agreement on an offer that will be made to the government of Iran, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said following a meeting of the group at Britain's Foreign Office.Miliband said he hoped for a response in a timely manner, but set no deadline and did not say what the group would do if Iran rejected the package or failed to respond.Iran has denied pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its program is geared toward generating electricity.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

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.

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).

DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)

REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
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.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)

ASIA: Talking Peace, Preparing for War

Northeast Asia heaved a sigh of relief at the latest news of a breakthrough in the nuclear negotiations with North Korea. The prospects of integrating North Korea into the international community and constructing a peace and security structure for the region have never been rosier.But the headlines of the United States and North Korea narrowing their differences over the declaration of the latter's nuclear programme are deceptive. Despite all the talk of peace in the current Six-Party Talks, the military trends in the region tell a very different story.Even though it looks relatively peaceful on the outside, Northeast Asia is in fact the heart of the global military-industrial complex. The armies that confront each other in this region -- the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and the two Koreas -- are the largest in the world. They are responsible for at least 65 percent of the world's military spending.

Not only is Northeast Asia one of the most heavily militarised regions of the world, it is currently in the middle of a major arms race. Five of the six countries in the negotiations to shut down North Korea's nuclear programme have increased their military spending by 50 percent or more in the last five years.Recent events are only making matters worse. The cold war is heating up again on the Korean peninsula in the wake of conservative Lee Myung Bak's inauguration as South Korea's new president. China is desperately trying to put out fires on its periphery, from Tibet to Xinjiang. And nationalist politicians in Japan are pushing for an end to the country's peace constitution.Northeast Asia's arms race, which has been largely hidden from view, is threatening to break into the open.The most paradoxical part of this arms race is in Korea itself. Although the two halves of the peninsula have established joint ventures, tourism projects, and numerous cultural exchanges over the last decade, both sides continue to spend copious amounts on the military.

South Korean presidents Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun touted their engagement policies with the North. But between 1999 and 2006, South Korean military spending jumped more than 70 percent. In 2007, South Korea launched its first Aegis-equipped destroyer and announced a plan to build three more at a cost of 1.0 billion dollars each by 2020. The new South Korean president Lee Myung Bak has supported this vision of a new blue water navy, and South Korean military spending will go up by an estimated 10 percent a year through 2020. Although it spends anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of its entire GDP on the military, North Korea can't keep up with the South, which spends as much, or more, on its military than the North's entire gross domestic product. The decline of North Korea's economy has undermined its conventional military posture, which is one reason Pyongyang opted for a nuclear programme in the first place. In other words, the current nuclear crisis in Northeast Asia today is at least partly a result of the region's accelerating conventional arms race and North Korea's inability to keep pace.This approach of peace through strength on the Korean peninsula owes a great deal to the policies of the most powerful military force in the region.

The United States, responsible for nearly 50 percent of all global military expenditures, is the prime mover of the arms race regionally and internationally. The George W. Bush administration has increased military spending 74 percent since 2001. A sizable portion of the 607-billion-dollar Pentagon budget request for 2009, which doesn't even include the supplemental funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will go to maintaining and expanding the U.S. military presence in the Pacific. And none of the leading presidential candidates has recommended freezing, much less reducing, U.S. military outlays.The big-ticket items in next year's budget -- the CVN-78 Advanced Aircraft Carrier, the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-Class Destroyer -- are of little use in fighting terrorism. The Pentagon's long-range plan to build a 313-ship navy is meant to counter the only potential great power that the United States sees on the horizon: China.China is spending around 50 billion dollars a year on its military. But if U.S. estimates are correct, China's actual defence budget is closer to 120 billion dollars, which makes it the number two military spender in the world. With this money, China is pushing forward with an ambitious naval programme that will include the addition of five new nuclear-powered attack subs and a mid-sized aircraft carrier.

China is also modernising its air force with an upgrade of fighters, tanker aircraft, and transport planes. Even with this modernisation programme, however, China's military pales in comparison to U.S. forces in the Pacific region and makes no attempt to rival U.S. global reach.Part of the U.S. strategy to offset China's rising power in the region has been to push Japan to create a normal military. Japan's peace constitution has constrained the offensive capabilities of the Japanese military, still referred to as the Self-Defence Forces, since the end of World War II.More recently, an influential group of policymakers in the ruling party want to break free of these constraints. The Japanese military is not satisfied with what is already a top-notch military. This year, the air force will be upgraded with an in-air refueling capability to permit long-range bombing missions.Also on the wish list of the Japanese Defence Agency -- which was upgraded to ministry level last year -- are an aircraft carrier, F-22 Raptor stealth planes, nuclear-powered submarines, and long-range missiles. Defence spending remains low in Japan, and it is the only country in the region that hasn't dramatically increased its military budget. But that will change as part of normalising the country's military and foreign policy.A closer U.S.-Japan military alliance is only the beginning. At the upcoming summit between President Bush and Lee Myung-Bak, one proposal on the table is a new security alliance for Asia that would link the United States, South Korea, Japan, and possibly other countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania.Such talk of explicit alliances, as well as Washington's moves to establish a global missile defence system and encroach on Russian interests in Central Asia, has encouraged Moscow to boost its own military spending and ramp up cooperation with China. With the renewed growth of the Russian economy on the strength of energy sales, Russian arms expenditures began to take off again in the new millennium, increasing nearly four-fold between 2000 and 2006.

The old geopolitical competition between the continental powers of the Eurasian heartland and the maritime powers of the rimland is re-emerging. China, Russia, and the Central Asian states have built the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. And the United States is building its own necklace of allies from India to Australia to Japan to contain this Eurasian challenge.This spiraling arms race jeopardises all short-term victories, such as the recent compromise between the United States and North Korea. And it raises the stakes for what might otherwise be rather minor disagreements, such as the Japanese and Korean dispute over Tokdo/Takeshima island.But the arms race in Northeast Asia and globally is not simply a potential threat. The international community needs a huge amount of capital to address a range of current threats -- nuclear proliferation, climate change, the destabilising gap between rich and poor. By drawing funds away from human needs, many analysts believe this new arms race is itself a threat to humanity.

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.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Payment Services Directive: The end of the cash era?
Published: Wednesday 30 April 2008

From November 2009 new EU rules will allow alternative providers such as mobile phone operators to deliver new payment services alongside banks and credit card firms, paving the way for a more efficient non-cash economy. However, details of the actual implementation of the rules in member states remain unclear.

After months of fierce debate, the Payment Services Directive was adopted by the EU Council of Ministers in March 2007. The dispute pitted the UK and Sweden against the Mediterranean bloc of France, Italy and Spain. The former trumpeted a more liberal approach to regulatory requirements for non-bank service providers, while the latter fought for a stricter set of rules, in particular concerning the granting of credit.The final deal obliges non-bank providers to limit the duration of cross-border credit conceded to 12 months, but does not introduce any time restriction for national operations (see EurActiv 27/03/07).The EU Parliament's green light came a month later, and it was published in the EU's Official Journal on 13 November 2007 (see EurActiv 25/04/07). The definitive entry into force of the new set of rules is foreseen for November 2009, by which date member states are supposed to have finished transposing the directive into national law.

Issues:
The Payment Services Directive (PSD) aims to create a true European market for payments while improving national businesses at the same time, offering consumers more and cheaper services.In addition, the directive is a precondition of the establishment of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), an initiative by the European banking sector which seeks to establish the same procedures and obligations across the EU for credit transfers, direct debits and payment cards. The deadline for the implementation of the three targets is the end of 2010 (see EurActiv 29/01/08).

A European market for payments

The first objective of the directive is to tear down the legal and technical barriers that have thus far prevented the creation of a European market for payment services. With the new rules in place, European businesses and consumers will be able to use a single bank account regardless of their country of operation.Today, an Irish company that invests and operates in Italy needs to rely on Italian banks to carry out a range of basic financial operations. Tomorrow, the same company will be able to keep on using the same Irish account for all its operations in Italy and elsewhere in the eurozone.Moreover, the execution time for payments will be capped at one working day. A shopper will have the right to demand to use an amount deposited into his or her bank account by the end of the business day after the date of the payment's execution - the so-called D+1 rule. This will apply both throughout the eurozone and for cross-border payments. Currently, banks can legally take up to five days to make a payment.The PSD is expected to be very useful for consumers too because it establishes the legal basis for cross-border direct debits, an instrument increasingly used to pay bills or to carry out regular payments.

Thanks to the direct debit system, householders can forget about queuing at post offices or filling calendars with dates to pay different bills: an automatic payment order easily solves the problem. However, at the moment this is not possible in a simple cross-border manner between all EU countries. The rent of a Erasmus student studying abroad must still be paid in the old time-consuming and delay-prone way. The PSD should make this a distant memory.Another significant improvement expected of the PSD is the ability to use debit cards across the EU. Debit cards are increasingly used by consumers as they are widely accepted and allow expenses to be managed much more easily and quickly. They are particularly suitable for small purchases, for which retailers often do not accept the use of credit cards.This useful financial instrument, currently often not permitted in another EU country, will now be made available by the PSD.

New payment providers

In Japan, all you need for shopping on a Saturday is your mobile phone. After the purchase, the telephone is passed over a reading machine which, interacting with chips or smart cards embedded in the handset, executes the payment and deducts it from the remaining credit.In London, paying for the Tube in cash is already old-fashioned as the large majority of commuters use pre-paid contactless smart cards (the Oyster card) to access the Underground. A growing number of supermarkets across the world provide customers with their own payment cards to shop in their stores. These are often actual credit instruments, which are increasingly used by the average consumer.Money remitters, which help immigrants transfer credit back home to their relatives, are providing their customers with mobile phone payments more often. Thus transferring money to the other side of the world takes as much time and effort as sending a text message.All these new systems have been hovering over continental Europe for years but are still far from being applied on a large scale. One of the purposes of the PSD is to remove barriers to market entry for new payment services providers such as telecoms operators, supermarkets or money remitters. The aim is to increase competition within national markets as well as cross-border activities, which are the most affected by the lack of a clear legal framework.

However, banks and traditional payment card companies, such as Visa or MasterCard, risk facing strong competition from a range of new actors. Consumers may prefer to use their mobile handsets for the payment functions carried out by payment cards, therefore harming card companies and the banks issuing the cards. Or they could make payments with smart cards directly linked to their bank accounts at the expense of companies like Visa.Nevertheless, opportunities for these companies are also at hand, the Commission argues, as credit card firms stand only to benefit from an increased shift to electronic payments. And in fact Visa announced in April an ambitious target to provide one in five euros by electronic means in Europe by 2015, up from the current one in nine. As for banks, the introduction of online accounts was supposed to harm them and force the closure of high-street branches. But this has not happened yet.

Old money and eMoney

In general, the Commission predicts that higher competition in payment services will increasingly lead consumers to choose electronic instruments (plastic cards, smart cards, mobile phones) for their purchases, contributing to the progressive elimination of cash.The old coin-and-note system is indeed inefficient compared to new electronic means. Studies embraced by the Commission estimate that payment-related costs amount to around 3% of GDP and are driven mainly by cash-related expenses. Getting rid of coins and notes would generate enormous savings for the EU economy, they argue.Cash is expensive because it has higher production costs and is not as safe. Stealing physical money is easier than stealing electronic credit, for instance. Therefore, the cost of a transaction in cash is calculated to be between 30 and 55 euro cents, already charged by retailers within the price of the product. The Commission estimates that electronic payments only cost a few euro cents.The Payment Services Directive does not cover Internet payments. Online purchases are regulated by the eMoney Directive adopted in 2000. The Commission is currently waiting for the PSD to enter into force before coming out with new proposals to amend the eMoney Directive and integrate it into the PSD.

Transposition hurdles

The adoption of the PSD does not mean that the new rules will be applicable immediately. The text is now under revision by national authorities, which have to transpose it into national law. But the complexity of the PSD, considered more complicated than the average EU directive, means uncertainties remain as to the final outcome of the legislative procedure in the specific countries.The margins of discretion left to national lawmakers by the text are big enough to justify the establishment of a special Transposition Group chaired by the Commission and made up of representatives of national regulators.The Group has already met twice and plans to hold a further three meetings in 2008 and still more in 2009, according to the pace of transposition of the directive. The first problems emerging from the initial phase of the transposition regard the most and the least developed EU countries in terms of electronic payments.Where supermarkets are not equipped to provide smart cards or in countries where mobile operators limit their activities to communication services, it is clearly more difficult to implement an advanced set of rules, suitable per se to very advanced systems.

On the other hand, the most developed member states can experience problems of transition from their current electronic payment systems to the new ones laid down by the PSD and applied by SEPA. The Netherlands, Estonia and Belgium, which are currently among the EU leaders in ePayments, will see their technologies outpaced by the innovations stemming from the new legal framework.

Positions:
Speaking after the EU Council's adoption of the PSD, Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: This is a directive that will not only improve the system for payments in the EU, but also opens the way to provide consumers with tangible benefits from financial markets integration.Belgian authorities welcomed in general terms the new directive, but pointed to the potentially negative effects for its national Proton system, which already allows consumers in Belgium to carry out quick and small payments with a pre-paid card. We are mindful of the fact that the improvement of cross-border payment systems should not have negative consequences for domestic payment systems. We are thinking in particular of the increase in the price of domestic payments, the disappearance of certain methods of payment and the reduction, through possible maximum harmonisation, of the level of protection currently enjoyed by consumers within their own countries, they commented.

Italian authorities warned that non-cash payments, in particular credit card payments, are on the increase and are increasingly likely to concern transactions connected with state gaming. However, the introduction of rules aimed at promoting the development of payment services in the internal market may have undesired effects on the public gaming sector and in particular on betting, they added.British authorities focused instead on a pro-market approach: Reinforcing competition should be a core objective of the New Legal Framework. Creating the conditions in which payment service providers can operate and grow without being hindered by unnecessary regulation and increased compliance costs is vital.BEUC, the European consumers' organisation, commented : Many consumers cannot benefit concretely from the Single Euro Payments Area. It is high time to deliver on efficient but also secure and convenient payments. Enforcement of existing legislation will not be enough: binding instruments backed with appropriate sanctions are needed.EuroCommerce, which represents the retail, wholesale and international trade sectors in Europe, welcomed the PSD initiative: Great benefits are expected from a well functioning Internal Market for Payments, they said. After the adoption of the directive, Secretary-General Xavier Durieu said: It will open the very much closed market of payment systems to competition and force banks to be more transparent: every European citizen and business will benefit from it.The Euro Banking Association (EBA), which brings together the biggest European banks, commented : In order to achieve a Single Euro Payment Area, the new legal framework for payments in the internal market should focus on the definition of the characteristics and effects of commonly used payment instruments throughout the single currency zone. The most stringent need today is for a common definition and uniform scheme for direct debits.

After the adoption of the directive, Guido Ravoet, the secretary-general of the European Banking Federation (EBF) declared: "Banks are finally given the legal basis on which they can fully develop and implement the Single Euro Payments Area.Visa Europe said it supports the general aim of the new legal framework and welcomes the overhaul of the existing legislation in order to ensure consistency and avoid overlap. Nevertheless, at the same time, Visa EU believes that further regulation should only be used as an instrument when deemed necessary, and consequently when a specific need is identified, and no lesser means of achieving the same objective such as self-regulation are available. Visa Europe's President and CEO Peter Ayliffe did not hide his partial disappointment after the final adoption of the directive: As a strong believer in the benefits that a truly internal market in payments would bring, I would have hoped for a greater level of harmonisation.MasterCard's position is less conciliatory. We seriously question the appropriateness of covering all retail payment instruments (credit transfers, direct debits, debit and credit card payments, electronic purse, micro payments, etc.) under the same legal framework. As each of these payment instruments has specific features, it does not seem to us appropriate to include all of them under a one size fits all type of legal framework, the firm commented.Western Union, a leading provider of money remittance services around the world, commented: If new competitive forces are to be encouraged and not stifled in Europe, different regulation that supports the safe and efficient operations of payment service providers will be necessary. Therefore, the imposition of bank-style regulation would be inappropriate and costly.

Orange, the mobile brand of France Telecom, asked for a different approach to micro-payments, which are the most frequently made via mobile handsets and where the risk for consumers is considered lower. Moreover, Orange added: Mobile operators offer a range of premium rate mobile services to both their pre-pay and post-pay customers. We do not accept that these services can be defined as payment services given the intrinsic relationship mobile operators have with their customers in supplying these services.Vodafone echoed Orange’s position: The critical test is the proportionality of regulation. Proportionality means that regulation should not be tied to a service per se, but to risks associated with that service. Mobile payment services give rise to modest risks.PayPal Europe, the most widely known eMoney service, showed a moderate interest in the PSD: We would be supportive of any initiative to harmonise the licensing of money transmission and remittance services within the EU. As these types of service involve a lesser degree of regulatory risk than both eMoney issuance and banking, it should be made clear that any authorised electronic money institution should be entitled to undertake money transmission within the scope of its e-money authorisation without any requirement for additional authorisation within the EU.

Friday, May 02, 2008

JOEL ROSENBERG ON GLEN BECK

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.

Cyclone to hit Bangladesh and Myanmar coast: official MAY 1,08

DHAKA (AFP) - A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal is expected to slam into the coast of southeast Bangladesh and Myanmar within a day, a government meteorologist warned Thursday, as officials met for urgent talks.The warning came less than six months after cyclone Sidr caused massive devastation in southern Bangladesh, leaving more than 3,000 people dead.Cyclone Nargis is intensifying and is heading towards the coast, said Shah Alam, assistant director of the Meteorological Department, adding it was likely to hit the coast of Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district and neighbouring Myanmar from Friday afternoon.Disaster management ministry officials had been summoned to an urgent meeting to assess the potential danger, an official told AFP.Alam said the cyclone was moving at a maximum speed of 115 kilometres (71 miles) per hour, about half the speed of Sidr.We think it will hit about 150 kilometres (93 miles) of the Bangladesh coastline and 150 kilometres of the Myanmar coast, he added.The department had issued warning signal four for Cox's Bazar and Chittagong coastal districts, indicating that a storm was expected but that extreme precautionary measures were not yet required.Fishing crews have already been told to stay close to the shore and not to venture into the Bay of Bengal.Half a million people perished in a cyclone in 1970. Some 138,000 died in 1991 in a tidal wave caused by a cyclone.

No need to declare state of emergency, N.B. officials say MAY 1,08

NEW.BRUNSWICK (CBC) - As water levels in the St. John River approach record highs, New Brunswick safety officials say declaring a state of emergency would not change the assistance already being provided to residents in the soggy province.Dick Isabelle, the executive director of police, fire and emergency services for the Department of Public Safety, explained during a public briefing Wednesday that the purpose of declaring a state of emergency is to force a reaction if governments or organizations are not working together to address a situation.In this case, he said, public safety, the government and emergency organizations are all working together to help those in need without a declaration.As long as people are reacting appropriately ... there is really no need to enact [a state of emergency], he said.Andy Morton, deputy director of the province's Emergency Measures Organization, said a state of emergency is meant to be used in response to a sudden catastrophic event. Officials all said the floods, while an emergency, were not unexpected. Morton noted there is no need to have a state of emergency declared for EMO to enact measures to ensure the safety of New Brunswickers.

He also said that declaring a state of emergency would do little to change the level of emergency response already being provided.We are consistently monitoring the response to the event, he said.
Earlier Wednesday, as water lapped near the legislature, the opposition called for the government to declare a state of emergency.Before the legislature was closed for the weekend due to the water, Public Safety Minister John Foran said, We're certainly not at a state of emergency level, but noted the province is in an emergency situation.Declaring a state of emergency would allow the province to move people out of their homes against their will if necessary. Tory MLA Wayne Steeves, who called for the declaration, later said he would not want to force anyone to move.Heavy rainfall earlier this week in parts of northern New Brunswick, Maine and southern Quebec has put more than 1,300 Fredericton area homes at risk from the surging St. John River. More than 460 people had registered with the Red Cross by Thursday morning after voluntarily leaving their homes.New Brunswick's Emergency Measures Organization has issued a major flood warning for all people living along the basin.Maine declared a state of emergency on Tuesday night and more than 100 homes were evacuated in the Fort Kent area.

Hundreds evacuated in Maine amid record flood Thu May 1, 10:17 AM

BOSTON (Reuters) - A river swollen by heavy rain and melting snow overflowed its banks along the U.S.-Canadian border, forcing hundreds of people to flee homes and businesses in Fort Kent, Maine, and closing two border crossings.The St. John River rose 30 feet and spilled into the town leaving stores and homes on Main Street under seven to eight feet of water, said John Bannen, Fort Kent's director of Community Development. Police and Border Patrol blocked off downtown Fort Kent on Thursday morning.Less than 24 hours earlier about 600 people were forced to leave the town in a hurry when the river threatened to rise above a 30-foot dike built to protect the area. The town is 430 miles north of Boston.Town and state officials called it the worst flood in 80 years of record keeping.We have never seen anything of this magnitude, Bannen said, adding that the town is virtually cut off with only one road open.

The Fort Kent and Van Buren border crossings between the United States and Canada were also closed after the 78-year-old steel truss Clair-Fort Kent bridge spanning the St. John River, was submerged, Lynette Miller, a spokeswoman for the Main Emergency Management Agency said.(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, editing by Jackie Frank)

Flooding, landslide fears ease in parts of Quebec Thu May 1, 8:07 AM

MONTREAL (CBC) - Dozens of people forced from their homes by landslides in the town of La Malbaie northeast of Quebec City are waiting for soil test results to find out whether they can return home.Three apartment buildings and a hotel were evacuated after a series of mudslides caused by nearly 60 millimetres of rain in the area this week.Authorities are testing soil on the hill to verify its stability, explained civil security spokeswoman H?l?ne Chagnon.

I think [the soil] could move a little bit again because the rain was very strong, and the type of soil is very specific in this area, she said Thursday.Meanwhile residents in the small Eastern Townships community of Weedon are still waiting for word from officials about flooding.More than 250 permanent and summer homes were ordered evacuated this week after water levels in nearby Lake Louise rose following Tuesday's rainfall.Concerns about possible flooding in the Quebec City and Mont?r?gie regions subsided after officials confirmed water levels remained fairly stable, despite the rain.Officials in Quebec City issued more than 80 voluntary evacuation notices after some basements flooded. Authorities in western Quebec are still monitoring the Petite-Nation River in Saint-Andr?-Avellin, where 14 homes were evacuated Monday night as a precaution.A wall of sandbags was erected to protect the community's main road.The rain moved east Wednesday, dumping 110 millimetres on Baie-Comeau before pushing toward the Maritimes, where a major flood warning is in effect in New Brunswick after the St. John River spilled its banks, submerging several roads.Heavy rainfall and high waters forced authorities in Maine to declare a state of emergency earlier his week.

JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH BODILY TO RULE AND REIGN FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER AND WE COME BACK WITH HIM ON WHITE HORSES.

ACTS 1:10-11
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

ZECHARIAH 14:4
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

REVELATION 19:11-16
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

JUDE 14-16
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

NOW THIS IS ABSOLUTLY AMAZING BECAUSE I BELIEVE THE 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY SIGNING OF DANIEL 9:27 WILL OCCUR ON ROSH-HASHANA IN THE FUTURE AND THEN 3 1/2 YEARS LATER ON PASSOVER I BELIEVE THE EU DICTATOR WILL HAVE THE FALSE RESURRECTION. AND THESE LUNAR AND SOLAR ECLIPSES OCCUR ON PASSOVER AND ROSH-HASHANA APSOLUTLY AMAZING.

TESTING THE FAITH Blood moon eclipses: 2nd Coming in 2015?
Minister uses NASA forecasting to study signals of Jesus' return
April 30, 2008 11:49 pm Eastern By Joe Kovacs 2008 WorldNetDaily

Total lunar eclipses often make the moon appear red
Will Jesus Christ return to Earth in the year 2015?

And can studying NASA's website provide evidence for such a scenario?

A minister who promotes the Old Testament roots of Christianity suggests a rare string of lunar and solar eclipses said to fall on God's annual holy days seven years from now could herald what's come to be known as the Second Coming of Jesus.God wants us to look at the biblical calendar, says Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Wash. The reason we need to be watching is [because] He will signal His appearance. But we have to know what to be watching as well. So we need to be watching the biblical holidays.In a video interview on the Prophecy in the News website, Biltz said he's been studying prophecies that focus on the sun and moon, even going back to the book of Genesis where it states the lights in the sky would be be for signs, and for seasons.It means a signal, kind of like one if by land, two if by sea. It's like God wants to signal us, he said. The Hebrew word implies ... not only is it a signal, but it's a signal for coming or His appearing.

Biltz adds the word seasons implies appointed times for God's feasts and festivals.When we hear the word feast, we think food. But the Hebrew word has nothing to do with food. It has to do with a divine appointment, as if God has a day timer, and He says, 'OK, I'm gonna mark the day and the time when I'm going to signal My appearance.In the Old Testament, the prophet Joel states, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.(Joel 2:31)

In the New Testament, Jesus is quoted as saying, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light ... And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.(Matthew 24:29-30).Gary Stearman of Prophecy in the News noted, When we think of the sun being darkened and the moon not giving her light, we usually think of some astronomical catastrophe – perhaps the sun sputtering and the moon being affected by all this. But maybe it's time to rethink this a little bit and think of it as a natural cycle, the cycle of the eclipses.Phases of lunar and solar eclipses on NASA's eclipse website .Thus, Biltz began focusing on the precise times of both solar and lunar eclipses, sometimes called blood moons since the moon often takes on a bloody color. He logged onto NASA's eclipse website which provides precision tracking of the celestial events.

He noted a rare phenomenon of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, known as a tetrad.He says during this century, tetrads occur at least six times, but what's interesting is that the only string of four consecutive blood moons that coincide with God's holy days of Passover in the spring and the autumn's Feast of Tabernacles (also called Succoth) occurs between 2014 and 2015 on today's Gregorian calendar.The fact that it doesn't happen again in this century I think is very significant, Biltz explains. So then I looked at last century, and, believe it or not, the last time that four blood red moons occurred together was in 1967 and 1968 tied to Jerusalem recaptured by Israel.He then started to notice a pattern of the tetrads.What's significant to me is that even before 1967, the next time that you had four blood red moons again was right after Israel became a nation in 48, it happened again in 1949 and 1950 ... on Passover and Succoth. You didn't have any astronomical tetrads in the 1800s, the 1700s, the 1600s. In the 1500s, there were six, but none of those fell on Passover and Succoth.When checking the schedule for solar eclipses, Biltz found two – one on the first day of the Hebrew year and the next on the high holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh Hebrew month. Both of these take place in the 2014-2015 year.

The sun's corona becomes visible during a solar eclipse

Biltz says, You have the religious year beginning with the total solar eclipse, two weeks later a total lunar eclipse on Passover, and then the civil year beginning with the solar eclipse followed two weeks later by another total blood red moon on the Feast of Succoth all in 2015.If you think that this is a coincidence, I want you to know that it's time! exclaimed Prophecy in the News host J.R. Church. There are no more of these for the rest of the century.
The prospect of eclipses pinpointing the time of Jesus' return is getting mixed reaction in Christian circles.After seeing Biltz's interview, Jim Bramlett, an author and former vice president for the Christian Broadcasting Network, expressed excitement. I have just watched the program two times and do not think I have ever been more encouraged or excited about the soon return of the Lord! Bramlett said.But Hal Lindsey, a well-known biblical analyst and author of The Late Great Planet Earth, says while he hasn't heard of Biltz's theory, he called it pure speculation.In my 50-something years of studying prophecy, to me the greatest indication of the time of Christ's return is based around the general things of prophecies coming together in the same time frame.He mentioned not only Israel's birth as a political state in 1948, but the increase in tensions with Muslims, the rise of Russia, China and the European Union, which he says is even calling itself the revived Roman Empire.I see the whole sweep and panorama spinning together in a precise scenario, he said.During a second video interview, Biltz was presented with Bible quotes that many think suggest Jesus' return will be a complete surprise, or at least not specifically known.The 25th chapter of Matthew features a parable where Jesus likens His kingdom to ten virgins all waiting for the arrival of their bridegroom.Jesus said in the story, ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. (Matthew 25:13) Biltz says people need to examine the quote in its proper context.

When He says you don't know the day or the hour, He's speaking to the foolish virgins, not the wise virgins, he explained.Biltz was also asked about the famous statement in Matthew 24:36 when Jesus was discussing the signs of His coming, and of the end of the world: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.(Matthew 24:36)He responded by referring to the annual Feast of Trumpets holiday, saying Israelites never knew the precise moment it began, because it was based on the sighting of the new moon.When He (Jesus) says you won't know the day or the hour, He's telling you it's the Feast of Trumpets because that was known as the feast where no one knew the day or the hour that it would begin, said Biltz. So it's kind of like if I told you, I'm not going to tell you when I'm coming, but Gobble, gobble, gobble,[pointing to] Turkey Day.Church stressed despite the information suggesting 2015 could be a pivotal time, We don't know that that will be the concluding year of the tribulation period ... so we're not setting a date and saying this is a warning. We're introducing the possibility of a watch.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Fire near rim of Grand Canyon keeping state firefighters busy 2,000-acre fire 60% contained; no evacuations likely
Lindsey Collom The Arizona Republic May. 1, 2008 12:00 AM

Fire crews hope a forecast of lighter winds proves true today as they continue to battle a roughly 2,000-acre wildfire burning outside Grand Canyon National Park.Despite wind gusts of up to 50 mph Wednesday, firefighters kept the X Fire from consuming little more than an additional 30 acres of Kaibab National Forest.Smoke from the fire, one of the largest that has broken out in Arizona so far this year, produced a haze noticeable to Grand Canyon visitors.

The blaze was 60 percent contained by Wednesday afternoon. It remained 3 miles east of the Tusayan community and more than a mile away from the southern end of Grand Canyon National Park.Officials did not expect any evacuations because winds were driving the fire northeast away from structures.Sean Murphy, a fire-information officer for the U.S. Forest Service, said the fire has been useful for land management. The flames helped clean out material that fuel fires, such as grass and brush, while sparing most trees. There wasn't a whole lot at stake, fortunately, Murphy said. The X Fire was spotted about noon Tuesday and is believed to have originated from a campfire that wasn't extinguished. There were reports that several people had been arrested in connection with the blaze, but neither forest officials nor the U.S. Attorney's Office would confirm it.

The fire was named after the Ten-X Campground, which remains closed because of fire activity. It was scheduled to open today. Nearly 140 firefighters are battling the blaze, with support from 10 fire engines, three bulldozers, five hotshot crews and two air tankers. The young wildfire season has already been a busy one for crews in Arizona, with a handful of human-caused fires dominating the landscape.Just days after Gov. Janet Napolitano called on Congress to create a fund for fighting wildland fires, crews worked to put out the Kansas Settlement Fire, a blaze that broke out south of Willcox in mid-April and quickly spread through the area's dry grass, consuming more than 750 acres.A few days later, hundreds of firefighters amassed in a remote area near the U.S.-Mexican border to battle the Alamo Fire, a human-caused blaze that grew larger than 4,000 acres before crews got it under control late last week. By then, crews were tending to another human-caused fire in southern Arizona that charred about 325 acres west of Nogales. Fire administrators expect to have the blaze fully contained this week.

Also this week, fire officials warned of potential disaster in southeastern Arizona because of dry conditions. Analysts with the Eastern Arizona Incident Management Team said the potential for extreme fire conditions in that portion of the state is the worst it has been in 23 years.The X Fire has been somewhat of an anomaly. Murphy said. The Tusayan area rarely sees fires of this magnitude; most are quickly contained. Also, fire activity typically doesn't pick up until late May or early June.Little more than a month ago, snow was still covering parts of the Kaibab, including newly charred areas. Murphy said high winds and lack of precipitation that followed in April quickly dried out any vegetation.Tinder-dry conditions and high winds made for quite a show Tuesday, Murphy said. By Wednesday, much of the flame activity had died down. Firefighters paced the blackened landscape to seek out hotspots and ensure that fire hadn't crossed a boundary forged by bulldozers.

The smoke stayed close to the ground Wednesday, and much of it had funneled into the Grand Canyon. Some tourists seemed not to notice. A couple from the Netherlands were happy with the view.Maria and Louis Silverio said they noticed bright-orange signs warning of smoke on the drive into Grandview Point, a popular South Rim overlook, but no actual smoke.Karen Williams of Beaumont, Texas, was disappointed by the haze.I'm a photographer, and I'd like to get better shots, Williams said. It took me 60 years to get here, and I don't know how long it will take to get back.Staff reporter JJ Hensley contributed to this article.

N.M. fire jumps containment line in Manzano Mountains
Updated 56m ago By Cathleen Allison, Nevada Appeal, via AP Fire crews discuss how to protect the homes along Highway 395 on Washoe Hill, between Carson City and Reno on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, as the Skinner Fire raced through the area. The Associated Press

A second consecutive day of fierce wind is hampering firefighters battling a blaze that more than doubled in size within hours in central New Mexico's Manzano Mountains.The Trigo Fire had been 95% contained at 4,500 acres before a spot fire flared on the north side Wednesday afternoon and wind gusting to more than 50 mph drove the flames about 3 miles to the northeast.By early Thursday morning, fire officials estimated the acreage at 11,368, or almost 18 square miles.We're pretty much going to have a carbon copy of yesterday again today, Peter D'Aquanni, a U.S. Forest Service public information officer, said Thursday.Residents of the small communities of Torreon and Tajique and surrounding areas were asked to evacuate, he said. The request affects roughly 400 to 500 people, D'Aquanni said.A shelter was set up for residents at the community center in Estancia.Firefighters' top priority will be protection of structures, he said.A couple of air tankers were dropping fire retardant on the blaze Thursday morning, when wind was already blowing at a sustained 30 mph, D'Aquanni said.The wind, which was shifting from the south-southwest to the north-northwest, grounded a pair of helicopters which had been used to drop buckets of water on the blaze, he said.

Dropping water at this point would be fairly ineffective. By the time it hits the ground it would evaporate or wind up in another county, D'Aquanni said.The fire threatened a University of New Mexico observatory and a fire lookout on Capilla Peak.There was no word on any damage, but D'Aquanni said a Forest Service employee who had been at the lookout was able to wait out the flames and was fine Wednesday night.The human-caused fire began April 15 in the Cibola National Forest. Strong wind fanned the fire April 20, sending it racing toward Manzano and Torreon before firefighters were able to catch it.The blaze burned nine weekend or summer homes and several outbuildings last week.Before Wednesday's flareup, crews had been working on rehabilitating some of the burned areas on the east and west ends of the fire.On Thursday, we'll be trying to just put in some line anywhere we can along the eastern side of the fire before the wind shift happens because when it happens, we can't have our people in front of the fire, D'Aquanni said.There were 182 people assigned to the blaze, but more firefighters have been ordered in, he said.The strong wind was caused by a dry cold front sweeping across New Mexico.Nothing would have happened had we not had those kinds of winds, D'Aquanni said. But that's Mother Nature.Wind gusting to 45 mph also pushed a fire that scorched some 45 square miles of grassland Wednesday in southeastern New Mexico, 15 miles northwest of Tatum.Flames sped toward the New Mexico-Texas line before firefighters stopped it at N.M. 125, said Dan Ware, state Forestry Division spokesman.The fire burned one structure, which was not a house, Ware said.Crews were mopping up hot spots Thursday, he said.

Investigators are trying to determine a cause of the fire, Ware said.Elsewhere in the Southwest, fire crews in Arizona that initially feared hot, windy weather would inflame a wildfire that burned lazily on the edge of Grand Canyon National Park expressed confidence that the blaze, one of several dotting the West, would not grow.Firefighters were able to hold their 3.2-square-mile blaze behind containment lines despite wind gusts as high as 30 mph on Wednesday; it was 60% contained.It's looking good, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Susan Brown said. The winds weren't as bad as what they were predicting.Gusts as high as 45 mph had been predicted, and a wind advisory had been issued. The 2,030-acre fire has been burning ponderosa pine and has come within a mile of the park's southern boundary.Crews felt confident the fire would not grow any further, Brown said.The blaze was about 10 miles southeast of the Grand Canyon Village but was moving away from the popular tourist site. No homes were threatened, and businesses and freeways remained open.The fire was spotted Tuesday afternoon and grew rapidly. Authorities believe it was caused by humans and were investigating.Firefighters reported progress against wildfires near Reno, and in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles.Diminished wind and temperatures near freezing during the night helped firefighters working on a brush and grass blaze south of Reno. On Tuesday, the fire had closed a highway and led to evacuation of an elementary school.With lower temperatures the fire cooled down really well, Steve Frady, spokesman for the Reno Fire Department, said early Wednesday.The fire was estimated at 962 acres, about 1.5 square miles, and was 75% contained, Frady said. It was moving away from homes after burning right around four hillside houses Tuesday when the flames were fanned by wind gusting to 70 mph.Busy U.S. 395, the main thoroughfare between Reno and Carson City, was briefly closed during Tuesday's evening rush hour, but by daybreak Wednesday no flames or smoke were visible from the highway.In Southern California, which also had higher humidity and lower temperatures, the wildfire that threatened hundreds of homes in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains was reduced to mostly embers and was nearly contained, fire officials said Wednesday.

It is looking real good, said Cliff Johnson, a fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service. He estimated containment at 88%, with the blaze expected to be fully surrounded by Friday.The last evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday for the 1,000 people forced from homes in Sierra Madre, a small city about 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles.Another 700-acre blaze burned uncontained in the San Jacinto Wilderness of the San Bernardino National Forest. The fire was on the remote Apache Peak near Pacific Crest Trail, about 6 miles east of the Riverside County community of Mountain Center, according to the U.S. Forest Service.Only hand crews were fighting the fire, which erupted Tuesday 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Firefighters gain upper hand on wildfire
www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-30 01:31:12

LOS ANGELES, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters have gained an upper hand on a wildfire burning since the weekend in northeastern Los Angeles, authorities said on Tuesday. The fire was 57 percent contained as of Tuesday, and about 700 of the 1,000 evacuated residents have been allowed back into their homes, officials said.

Authorities expect to have full containment of the 218-hectare blaze by Friday, said Barbara Croonquist of the Angeles National Forest. Firefighters planned to take advantage of cooler temperatures and increased humidity to tame the wildfire. It will be a much better day for the firefighters, National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Rorke said. Things will shift from an offshore flow to a more typical onshore flow, lowering temperatures by about 15 degrees.An increase of humidity to about 20 percent will also improve conditions for containing the blaze, he added. Rorke noted that marine area clouds were expected to roll in Wednesday along with increased humidity, cooling temperatures considerably for the remainder of the week. Early Monday, fiery debris threatened some homes along the western perimeter of the fire, that were nearly scorched, said Robert Brady, fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.

Croonquist said Tuesday morning that the fire, which started along a popular trail and creek in Santa Anita Canyon Saturday, was 57 percent contained, and the number of scorched acres had not increased. About 1,000 people in 400 homes in the canyon were evacuated over the weekend as the fire scorched vegetation that had not burned in 30 years. Late Monday, mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for residents living in the area. By Tuesday morning, about 300 people were still evacuated from their homes, Croonquist said. More than 1,000 personnel from city, county, state and federal fire agencies were battling the blaze, Croonquist said. Four firefighters have suffered heat fatigue and other injuries considered minor. One outbuilding was damaged. It was unclear how the fire started, but stricken area is popular with picnickers and weekend hikers.

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.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Official says Iran quits using US dollar for oil deals
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI The Associated Press MAY 1,08

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, has stopped conducting oil transactions in U.S. dollars, a top Oil Ministry official said Wednesday, a concerted attempt to reduce reliance on Washington at a time of tension over Tehran's nuclear program and suspected involvement in Iraq.Iran has dramatically reduced dependence on the dollar over the past year in the face of increasing U.S. pressure on its financial system and the fall in the value of the American currency.Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market, and the currency's depreciation has concerned producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and eroded the value of their dollar reserves.The dollar has totally been removed from Iran's oil transactions, Oil Ministry official Hojjatollah Ghanimifard told state-run television Wednesday. We have agreed with all of our crude oil customers to do our transactions in non-dollar currencies.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the depreciating dollar a worthless piece of paper at a rare summit last year in Saudi Arabia attended by state leaders from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Iran put pressure on other OPEC countries at the meeting to price oil in a basket of currencies, but it has not been able to generate support from fellow members — many of whom, including Saudi Arabia, are staunch U.S. allies.Iran has a tense relationship with the U.S., which has accused Tehran of using its nuclear program as a cover for weapons development and providing support to Shiite militants in Iraq that are killing American troops. Iran has denied the allegations.The U.S. is sending a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, a deployment that Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday could serve as a reminder to Iran. But he said it's not an escalation of force.Speaking to reporters after meeting with Mexican leaders, Gates said the number of ships there rises and falls continuously. He said he doesn't expect there to be two carriers there for a long time.Asked if the carrier move went hand in hand with the rising U.S. rhetoric against Iran, Gates said, I don't see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder.Iranian oil officials have said previously that they were shifting oil sales out of the dollar into other currencies, but Ghanimifard indicated Wednesday that all of Iran's oil transactions were now conducted in either euros or yen.In Europe, Iran's oil is sold in euros, but both euros and yen are paid for Iranian crude in Asia, said Ghanimifard.Iran's central bank has also been reducing its foreign reserves denominated in U.S. dollars, motivated by the falling value of the greenback and U.S. attempts to make it difficult for Iran to conduct dollar transactions.

U.S. banks are prohibited from conducting business directly with Iran, and many European banks have curbed their dealings with the country over the past year under pressure from Washington.However, the U.S. has been wary of targeting Iran's oil industry directly, apparently worried that such a move could drive up crude prices that are already near record levels.Iranian analysts say Tehran can withstand U.S. pressure as long as it can continue its oil and gas sales, which constitute most of the country's $80 billion in exports.2008 The Seattle Times Company.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

Soaring prices for food, gas push consumer spending higher By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer MAY 1,08

WASHINGTON - Soaring prices for food, gas and other everyday needs pushed consumer spending to a faster pace than expected in March. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending was up 0.4 percent, double the increase that economists had forecast.However, once inflation was removed, spending edged up a much slower 0.1 percent. The March figures represent the fourth straight lackluster performance as consumers have been battered by record gasoline prices, a deep slump in housing and rising job layoffs.In other economic news, construction spending dropped by 1.1 percent in March. That was the fifth decline in the past six months and was led by a record 4.6 percent plunge in spending on housing.Housing construction had fallen for 23 straight months before a small 0.2 percent increase in February. But it remains in a steep slump as builders are still struggling to reduce record inventories in the face of the worst housing downturn in more than two decades.Meanwhile, a closely watched gauge of manufacturing activity posted a reading of 48.6 for April, unchanged from March. That was a slightly better showing than economists had been expecting for the Institute for Supply Management index.

The Labor Department reported that claims for unemployment benefits rose by 35,000 to 380,000 last week. That was a much bigger increase than the 18,000 that private economists had expected, and it highlights the strains that the weak economy is putting on the labor market.The report on jobless claims came a day ahead of a report on unemployment for April. Economists expect that report will show that the unemployment rate edged up to 5.2 percent, from 5.1 percent in March. The economy is expected to lose 70,000 jobs, for the fourth straight month of job losses.The White House said the weekly jobless claims are a volatile marker of the economy's health.The bottom line is that they're higher than we'd like to see them, White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said. He added that a slight rise in the Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter was modestly encouraging news, and was in the range of what the administration had expected.Consumer spending is being carefully watched out of concerns that too big of a slowdown will push the country into a recession, since two-thirds of economic activity comes from consumers.The government reported Wednesday that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, eked out a tiny 0.6 percent growth rate in the first three months of this year as consumer spending slowed to the weakest pace since the second quarter of 2001, when the country was slogging through the last recession.Despite the slightly positive GDP performance, many economists believe that the economy has fallen into a recession and it will be reflected by a negative GDP figure in the current April-June quarter.The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut a key interest rate for the seventh time in the past eight months, although it signaled the quarter-point move may be the last for awhile.The Fed, worried about rising inflation pressures, is hoping that its previous moves, combined with 130 million rebate payments that started going out this week, will be enough to keep the country from tumbling into a deep recession.On the inflation front, a price gauge tied to consumer spending rose by 0.3 percent in March, triple the 0.1 percent rise in February. Much of that jump reflected higher food and energy costs. Core inflation, which excludes those categories, rose by 0.2 percent in March and is up 2.1 percent over the past 12 months, higher than the Fed's 1 percent to 2 percent comfort zone.Personal incomes rose by 0.3 percent in March, slightly slower than the 0.5 percent rise in February.The personal savings rate, savings as a percent of after-tax income, slipped to 0.2 percent in March from 0.4 percent in February.

Israel minister rejects Gaza truce as Hamas chief killed by Beth O'Connell MAY 1,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) - A senior Israeli minister rejected on Thursday a proposed truce in the Gaza Strip, as the air force killed a Hamas commander suspected of involvement in the 2006 capture of an Israeli soldier. Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit insisted that Israel could not accept an Egyptian-brokered proposal on Gaza, claiming it would only give the Islamist movement Hamas the opportunity to boost its military capabilities.No deal whatsoever should be reached with Hamas because this terrorist movement would exploit any truce to gain strength, perfect its weapons and prepare for the next confrontation, the security cabinet member told public radio.Sheetrit's comments came as the air force targeted and identified hitting Nafiz Mansur, a Hamas terror operative who was involved in terror attacks against Israel, the military said.The military said Mansur had been involved in the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, seized by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid from Gaza claimed by Hamas and two other militant groups.

It said Mansur was also responsible for the killing of two Israeli soldiers in a July 2006 attack, and took part in setting up a suicide assault on a border post on April 19.Hamas confirmed Mansur's death and said it would respond to this crime at the appropriate time and place.Mansur, 40, was killed near his home in Rafah, according to Muawiyah Hassanein, who heads the Gaza emergency services. Three more people, including a child, were wounded in the air strike, he said.Following the strike, Gaza militants retaliated, firing at least eight rockets and three mortar rounds at southern Israel. The attacks caused some damage to property but no casualties, a military spokeswoman said.Sheetrit, who is also a deputy prime minister, said Israel's goal should be to break up Hamas, which European Union and the United States join with Israel in blacklisting as a terror group.We must break Hamas, not hold negotiations with them, because their demands are unacceptable, he said. The armed forces must attack those terrorists night and day to break their arms and their legs.Public radio said several other ministers had also opposed a Gaza truce at Wednesday's security cabinet meeting.In the face of the near-daily violence on its doorstep, Egypt has again stepped in as a mediator in the impoverished Palestinian territory.

It brought together Hamas, the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and nearly a dozen other factions, hammering out with them a proposal for a comprehensive, simultaneous and reciprocal period of calm to be applied progressively, first in Gaza and then in the West Bank.The pointman in the talks, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, is expected to deliver the offer to Israel in the coming days.Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev has already said that to be sustainable and real, the calm must contain three vital elements -- total absence of fire from Gaza against Israel, complete cessation of terrorist attacks and the end of arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip.Hamas has insisted that, as part of any truce, Israel must lift the blockade it imposed after the Islamists seized power in Gaza in June.Israel allows only very limited humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza. It says the blockade is intended to put pressure on the Hamas authorities to stop militants firing rockets on its territory. In another Israeli military operation in Gaza on Thursday, a Palestinian civilian in his sixties, Mohammed Abu Daqqa, was killed and three other people wounded, Palestinian medics said. The deaths brought to 447 the number of people killed since Israel and the Palestinians relaunched peace negotiations at a US-hosted conference in November, according to an AFP tally.

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

Med states can compete with Asia together -Sarkozy
Tue 29 Apr 2008, 16:15 GMT

TUNIS, April 29 (Reuters) - Europe should work with its southern Mediterranean neighbours to challenge Asia economically, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on a visit to Tunisia on Tuesday.
Sarkozy told a gathering of 500 French and Tunisian business people that European and southern Mediterranean countries should harness their complementary strengths as Asian states had done, rather than opposing and excluding each other.Combining European know-how and North African manpower would be mutually beneficial, he said, adding there could be no decent future for Europe if North Africa does not develop.Together -- with your workforce, with our schools and universities, with what we exchange -- we can create a model that will triumph throughout the entire world, he said.

More than 1,000 French firms have operations in Tunisia, a former French colony and one of France's closest Arab world allies. Textiles and industrial components businesses have provided new jobs in North Africa but many have struggled in recent years as lean Asian competitors muscle into their traditional European markets.Sarkozy was forced last month to water down a plan for a full Mediterranean Union linking neighbours from the north and south after fierce resistance from Germany, which feared the new body would split the European Union and siphon off common funds.

Last month, EU leaders agreed to a limited form of union involving a regular summit between EU and Mediterranean leaders with a joint presidency and a small secretariat. The new union is due to be launched at a summit in Paris on July 13.Sarkozy and his Tunisian counterpart Zine al Abidine Ben Ali oversaw on Monday the signing of accords on nulcear cooperation, migration and aid.State airline Tunisair reached a $1.57 billion deal to buy 19 planes from Airbus, a unit of French-German aerospace and defence group EADS . French engineering firm Alstom also won a 360 million euro deal to equip a Tunisian power plant. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Lamine Ghanmi and Catherine Evans) Reuters 2008.

Professor: EU works well even without Lisbon Treaty
Published: Monday 28 April 2008

The EU continues to function just as well as before enlargement, according to Professor Anand Menon from the European Research Institute at the University of Birmingham. Speaking to EurActiv.sk in an interview, he said an important innovation of the Lisbon Treaty is the yellow card procedure, which would give national parliaments a say on draft Commission proposals. Professor Anand Menon has worked on various aspects of European politics for some 15 years. He is the author of a recently published book entitled Europe: The State of the Union.

What is the most important innovation of the Lisbon Treaty compared to the current institutional setting?

There are some important innovations, but we cannot be sure how they'll work. Nobody knows how the permanent Presidency of the European Council will work. The external service could be an important innovation, if it is professional, recruited on the principle of the merit, without regard to nationality. For me the most interesting innovation is the so-called yellow card procedure, whereby national parliaments get a say, however limited, on draft Commission proposals. I do not know how the system will work, but I think it is a welcome step in connecting national politicians with what is going on in the EU. This is an idea that could be developed over the years and could provide a much-needed link between the national and the European level. You also mean Europeanising the national political debates?

Yes, partly to Europeanise national political debates but also partly to make it clear to the national politicians and their publics that the European Union is something that they are very much involved in shaping, that national politicians are very much involved in the EU decision-making. In other words, there is no centre that imposes things on member states but, rather, the Union is organically linked to national political systems. In an age when people are very skeptical about Europe, this kind of link is very important. If you look at the political debate in the EU, often you see that the European institutions are likened to the national ones – sometimes with fears, sometimes with expectations. Don't you think that this just does not fit? I think that a lot of people fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the European Union and fundamentally misunderstand the limits of this sort of co-operation between the nation states. And that I think is dangerous. Ultimately, one of the problems we have is a lack of faith in the supranational institutions. If you listen to political rhetoric in the member states, you find lots of things said about the undemocratic nature of the European Central Bank or the European Commission. But the principal thing is that the central institutions of the European Union have to be trusted by all members and seen as impartial by all members. Otherwise the things that the EU had already achieved - notably the market - will be put under threat. It is a unique system – it is not like a nation state and it is not like a traditional international organisation – which blends national interests and the European interest.

Sometimes we hear that without a Lisbon Treaty, the only alternative is some kind of disintegration to the core and periphery, the creation of a multi-speed Europe or some kind of catastrophe. How would you comment? I was one of the people writing and arguing against the enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe because I thought it would lead to gridlock. I was totally wrong. Even under the procedures of the Nice Treaty, the enlarged European Union is functioning fine. Insofar as there have been disputes about specific pieces of legislation, these have been between old member states. There would have been rows about Iraq even without enlargement. The same goes for the Services Directive. These were debates dividing the old member states, not dividing old and new. For me, what the figures about voting in the Council indicate is that the EU has not slowed down at all. It is producing the legislation with the same speed as before. There isn't an institutional crisis to be addressed. Or at least there isn't an institutional crisis that is more serious than what existed prior of enlargement. Still there are some areas where there is a clear conflict between those who want to integrate more, and those who want to keep power on the national level. Take defence policy, as an example? I don't think that there are many member states that want defence policy to be more supranational. There are several that want ESDP to be more effective and efficient. There is a provision in the Lisbon Treaty that would allow some states to move ahead in the defence policy. As of now we have a situation whereby the EU assembles missions comprising of those nation states that want to participate. So we have that to some degree already.

I think what has been striking on the ESDP is the extent to which all member states want to contribute something. I think all member states have pledged to contribute something to one of the new battle groups. While there is a potential for a smaller group of member states to take a lead, no member state is particularly keen on being left on the sidelines. Certainly, there is a tension in the ESDP between the bigger member states - particularly France and the UK who want to take a lead - and the smaller member states who oppose that kind of leadership. That is a debate that we will have to have. But as the situation stands now, everybody has committed, everybody has a say on whether to take on a mission, and ultimately everybody can decide to participate in a mission. But let's take another example. The other big issue from the British perspective has always been the Eurogroup - to what extent it will develop to some kind of a leadership group in the Union. That has been one fear quite often expressed. The UK is, I would argue, doing quite well in the European Union now in terms of shaping its nature, but that might cease to be the case if non-membership of the Eurozone leads to a loss of influence over key debates. As of yet I see no signs of this happening. And one of the reasons why it is not happening is because the Eurogroup itself is internally divided. As long as that is the case, Britain can rest easy.

Let's go back to enlargement. How has it affected the EU?

Diversity is good, especially if you view the EU in instrumental terms. If you see the EU as some kind of a homogenising project that tries to become some kind of a nation state, then diversity may be bad. And what is the impact of enlargement? Well, take the simple fact that since enlargement EU GDP has become larger than US GDP. That matters in the sense that it increases EU influence in, for example, international trade negotiations. In terms of decision-making, there is no evidence that it has slowed down.

Interestingly, evidence from systems such as the United States suggests that when a system enlarges, more power tends to migrate to the centre. The central institutions play a greater role – albeit just an informational or coordination role. Let me give you one example. British Presidencies have traditionally not relied much on the Brussels institutions for support. During the 2005 Presidency, there was far more contact between London and the Council Secretariat General. The reason? Because in an EU of 25, even large member states struggle with the complexity of the work. It just became too complicated to co-ordinate so many member states, or to anticipate their positions on all dossiers. And the Secretariat General is an important source of such information.

In this sense, even without Treaty changes you might see that the member states will start to lean more towards the central institutions. Consequently, the system will continue to function. That might be a hopelessly optimistic point of view, but it seems to me that this is the way the system reacts. It might also mean that the long-fought battle over the Lisbon Treaty was not as necessary as we thought.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Obama adviser: Israel must give up its nukes.Calls nonsense U.S. claims Jewish state struck Syrian nuclear reactor May 01, 2008 12:15 am Eastern By Aaron Klein
2008 WorldNetDaily

Joseph Cirincione

JERUSALEM – Israel should give up its nuclear weapons to ensure Iran halts its illicit nuclear program, argues an adviser on nuclear issues to Sen. Barack Obama.Joseph Cirincione, director of nuclear policy at the Center for American Progress, also previously dismissed reports Israel's Sept. 6 airstrike targeted a Syrian nuclear reactor as nonsense and called Damascus' nuclear program miniscule.Immediately following Israel's air raid, Cirincione listed Israelis [who] want to thwart any dialogue between the U.S. and Syria as among those spreading rumors Syria was constructing a nuclear facility.Cirincione was commenting on a Sept. 13 Washington Post story about possible links between Syria and North Korea.

His statements have been circulating around the blogosphere the past few days after the U.S. government last week released what it said was photographic evidence Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor with the help of North Korea.Once again, this appears to be the work of a small group of officials leaking cherry-picked, unvetted intelligence to key reporters in order to promote a pre-existing political agenda, Cirincione wrote in September on the blog of Foreign Policy magazine.If this sounds like the run-up to the war in Iraq, it should. This time it appears aimed at derailing the U.S.-North Korean agreement that administration hardliners think is appeasement, Cirincione wrote.In a September interview with National Public Radio, Cirincione stated certain hard-line Israelis who are aimed at preventing a U.S.-Syrian or an Israeli-Syrian dialogue were using the Syrian nuclear story to affect talks with Damascus.He called reports Israel struck a Syrian nuclear site the most overblown story I've seen since before the buildup to the war in Iraq.There's precious little information available, but it hasn't stop people with political agendas from spinning it at such an absurd level as if these claims are facts, Cirincione said.

The Obama adviser characterized Syria's nuclear program as not amount[ing] to much. Begun almost 40 years ago, the Syrian program is a rudimentary research program built around a tiny 30-kilowatt research reactor that produces isotopes and neutrons.Syria does not have the financial, technical or industrial base to develop a serious nuclear program anytime in the foreseeable future. Cirincione's assessment and his claims about false leaks to the media directly contradict a U.S. government briefing to select congressional committees last week on some details of the Sept. 6 Israeli airstrike.The U.S. released video of the targeted Syrian building showing what the CIA said was a soon-to-be completed nuclear reactor similar to one in Yongbyon, 55 miles north of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.Also, the U.S. released photographs that show what appears to be the inside of the nuclear reactor and a picture of a Syrian official standing with a well-known nuclear engineer for the North Korean government.White House press secretary Dana Perino issued a statement last week explaining the Syrian regime was building a covert nuclear reactor in its eastern desert capable of producing plutonium.We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities. We have good reason to believe that reactor, which was damaged beyond repair on Sept. 6 of last year, was not intended for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. statement accused Syria of hiding the reactor from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and said after the Israeli airstrike, Damascus moved quickly to bury evidence of the reactor's existence.Even after the U.S. briefings last week, Cirincione held strong to his conspiracy theories.We should learn first from the past and be very cautious about any intelligence from the U.S. about other country's weapons, he told the Guardian newspaper last Friday.Cirincione has been described in media reports as a top nuclear advisor to Obama. But he characterizes his role as writing occasional memos to Obama's campaign.Cirincione did not return phone call requests for an interview with WND.Ed Lasky of American Thinker notes Cirincione outlines in his book, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons, that he favors Israel giving up its nuclear weapons to ensure Iran doesn't obtain nukes.Cirincione is optimistic that Israel with its vast and superior conventional forces could be encouraged to incrementally reduce or even eliminate its nuclear capability, perhaps starting by shutting down its production reactor at Dimona, one reviewer of Cirincione's book notes.Circincione has argued in papers the U.S. should have an evenhanded approach toward a nuclear-free Middle East and that Israel should make public its nuclear weapons program as part of nuclear negotiations.The Obama adviser was also quoted in 2006 calling Israel's 1981 raid on Iraq's nuclear reactor a failure.The raid was widely credited with completely halting deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's nuclear programs.Of Cirincione's views toward Syria, Gabriel Schoenfeld writes on the Commentary Magazine blog, Cirincione sounds remarkably similar to Syria's ambassador to the United Nations. There was no Syria-North Korea cooperation whatsoever in Syria. We deny these rumors,' Bashar Ja'afari said.

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * *
MY CONVERSATION WITH CNN'S GLENN BECK

Is there an intersection between geopolitical events and Bible prophecy? By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., April 29, 2008) -- Well, it was a fascinating week. Hard to summarize, but fascinating, to say the least. Glenn Beck of CNN Headline News had me on his program every night last week to discuss geopolitical events in light of Bible prophecy. Then on Friday, he had me on for a one-hour, prime time special entitled, Honest Questions About The End of Days. He asked great questions -- tough, but fair. He admitted he would probably be a lot more popular if he had me on his show to mock me. But he was honestly curious. I think he, like many in the U.S. and around the world, increasingly sees events accelerating in the Middle East that simply do not make sense if they are viewed only through political or economic lenses. He wants answers. And there aren't many around offering the Bible as a credible sources of answers. There are certainly others more knowledgeable and academically trained to discuss Mideast events in light of Bible prophecy than me. But it was an honor to answer Glenn's questions as best I could. For those who watched, I hoped it was as intriguing and fun for you as it was for Glenn and me. For those who weren't able to see the broadcast, here are excerpts. The full transcript is available on my weblog.

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE GLENN BECK SHOW
CNN Headline News Honest Questions about the End of Days
April 25, 2008

GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Hillary Clinton says she will retaliate with force against Iran if they attack Israel. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin embraces one religion. Jimmy Carter meets with Hamas to forge Middle East peace.

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there is success between Abu Mazen and the prime minister of Israel...

BECK: Could these current world events be signs that we`re closer to the end of days? Author Joel Rosenberg, hailed as a modern Nostradamus, has a new book out. It`s called Dead Heat. It takes you inside a presidential race and asks what role, if any, does the U.S. play in the last days? It may be fiction, but tonight it will seem a little more real. Tonight, honest questions about the end of days, with Joel Rosenberg for the full hour. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America. I -- it`s one of these shows that -- I mean, this puts me into Crazytown. It really does. I want to spend a full hour with you talking about stuff that people just don`t talk about. You know? Because the people who talk about it and think, jeez, some of these things look familiar in the news today. Could we be at the end of the day? You know, or end of days? The chaos in the world looks eerily familiar. And somebody who has written about current events in his novels and knows how it relates to Bible prophecy is Joel Rosenberg. He is the founder of The Joshua Fund and author of Dead Heat, a work of fiction that veers scarily close to fact, I think. In fact, let me just give some of the -- some of the things that you have not really -- you wouldn`t call these predictions. I mean, you`re not Nostradamus.

JOEL ROSENBERG, AUTHOR, DEAD HEAT: No.

BECK: Yes, you`re just -- you`re writing about them because they make sense, right?

ROSENBERG: Right.

BECK: You have written -- about nine months before 9/11, you said -- you wrote a story that had a kamikaze plane attack on a U.S. city. Five months before there was actual war with Iraq, you had a story line that included war with Saddam. Arabian leader vowing to annihilate Israel and Russia and Iran forming an unprecedented military alliance, this one happened the date of publishing the book. Right?

ROSENBERG: Right.

BECK: And I know what books are like. I mean, I`ve got a book coming out this Christmas. It`s due next week.

ROSENBERG: Absolutely.

BECK: The death of Yasser Arafat, radical Islamic terrorist, trying to seize the West Bank and Gaza. Thirteen months later, Arafat was dead and that`s exactly what they did. Does it ever spook you that...?

ROSENBERG: It does. I don`t know what you`re going to say. But yes.

BECK: You know, it must spook you that you -- you feel like, this is the logical thing. If I know prophecy and, this should happen. And you write about it. And then it does.

ROSENBERG: Yes. Because when people say, You`re basing your political thrillers on Bible prophecy. But, Yasser Arafat isn`t mentioned in Bible prophecy.

BECK: Right.

ROSENBERG: Saddam Hussein isn`t; kamikazes aren`t. No, that`s true. So I start with end-times Bible prophecies and I say, OK, these are things we know. Now let`s back them up and say what`s a plausible geopolitical scenario that gets us from where we are today...

BECK: Sure.

ROSENBERG: ... to where these prophecies are? And then I just do some guess work. I mean, I`m not trying to predict it. This is the way it`s going to happen. I`m just saying this is a way it could happen. Because I think a good political thriller starts with what if? What if these events the Bible says will happen, happens in our lifetime?

BECK: I don`t know if you`ve ever heard of a guy named Vilakovsky, but he was a discredited scientist, you know, some of it wrongly so, back in the 30s and 40s. And what he did was he said, Let`s stop dismissing the Bible. Why don`t we look at the scriptures, sacred scriptures from all over the world. Instead of saying, he couldn`t have parted the Red Sea, why don`t we look for natural causes that may have caused those things? Was there anything else that was happening on the planet at the same time in somebody else`s religious scripture that might tie into these things? And I think that`s the problem with scriptures. So many people just dismiss it. Oh, well that`s nothing but, you know, spooky stuff or whatever. They dismiss it. Instead of saying, OK, I read Revelations, I read Ezekiel, they were describing it in the terms that they understood at the time.

ROSENBERG: Right.

BECK: So what could cause those things today? And unfortunately, today there`s a lot of those things.

ROSENBERG: There certainly are.

BECK: That are coming our way. And it`s the -- is it the first time really -- people have been talking about this for 2,000 years. The first time, really, that we can say -- a lot of the big ones are now in play?

ROSENBERG: Absolutely. You know, we say on Passover, why is this night different from all other nights? And people ask me, Joel, why is this period of history different from all other periods of history? I mean, Jesus said, In the last days there will be wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine. We`ve had that for all of the last 2,000 years. So why is this period different? And the answer is Israel. The only document on the face of the planet that said Israel would be reborn as a country in the last days and Jews would re-gather into the holy land after centuries of exile, was the Bible. And this Bible prophecy, most people in the world didn`t believe it. Actually, many Christians didn`t even believe it. It`s a whole replacement theology that got developed. God was done with the Jews. But May 14, 1948, almost exactly 60 years ago, Israel was reborn. And now we`ve got a situation that makes this period of history different, because Israel is what Bible scholars call the super sign. The fact that it has been reborn sets into motion all of the other prophecies.

BECK: Right. You know the reason why I like you, Joel, is you`re normal. You`re a political guy. Your background was much more political. You`re not a Bible-thumping preacher or anything like that, right? What made you turn? What...

ROSENBERG: It wasn`t easy. I mean, first of all, failure. I had helped a lot of political candidates lose their elections. Helped Steve Forbes lose twice. You know, I was on former Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu`s, comeback campaign team in 2000.

BECK: You were good.

ROSENBERG: Oh, yes. I worked for Natan Sharansky, the former deputy prime minister of Israel. He got so frustrated with politics he just retired completely. So after that, I said to myself, All right. I need to do something else with my life. I had two tracks in my life, and I kept them separate. I had my political track. And I had my interest as an evangelical Christian studying Bible prophecy. My father`s family was orthodox Jewish and escaped out of Russia. My mother`s side is Gentile, English. But because of that Jewish background, because of my interest in the scriptures, and because Saddam Hussein in 1990 was invading Kuwait, and Babylon, that country was suddenly in the news again after thousand of years of not being in the news, all of these things were happening in two separate tracts. Once I kind of got -- went through political detox -- I`m out, I`m clean. I`m going to do something else with my life.

BECK: Right.

ROSENBERG: I said, what do I really love? What I really love or I`m fascinated with is Bible prophecy and how it could come true in my lifetime. Since we`ve seen Israel come true -- come to pass, and since Jews are returning to the holy land. And I thought, you know what? People say write the novel that you know. That`s not really true. I think you should write the novel where you live in your mind. Where I lived in my mind was what if? What if in my lifetime or the lifetime of my children this could happen? What would it look like? What would it feel like? Would I and my wife and kids have the courage to go through it?

BECK: When you first started writing it, then, was it more of a what if -- was it fiction? And now it`s more of -- don`t want to put words in your mouth -- more of a watchman on the wall kind of a Ezekiel 34 kind of thing?

ROSENBERG: It has accelerated into the second point, for sure. What happened was this prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39, where Russia will form an alliance with Iran and Libya and these other countries in the last days. I`d always been fascinated with that. But I was on a plane from Washington, D.C., to New York City in the fall of 2000 with Natan Sharansky, the former deputy prime minister of Israel. And while we were chatting, I said to him -- we got chatting, and he said -- he started telling me the story of how, when Benjamin Netanyahu was the prime minister and Sharansky was a cabinet minister, Netanyahu sent him to Russia to meet with then KGB chief Vladimir Putin to talk about the threat of Russia selling nuclear technology and weapons to countries like Iran and Iraq. And that Netanyahu as prime minister was worried about a Russian-Iranian alliance, in particular. Well, here is my political track. I`m just helping Sharansky get his message out. But now suddenly my prophetic side kind of clicked in. And I don`t mean I`m a prophet. I mean that -- my interest in prophecy. And I thought, Wait a minute. Did he just say that the prime minister of Israel is getting worried about a Russian-Iranian military alliance? Because that has never happened in 2,500 years. And when that...

BECK: That`s Gog and Magog.

ROSENBERG: That`s Gog and Magog. That`s Ezekiel 38 and 39, which I thought for many years, I believe it`s going to be true. But that must be 1,000 years off. I mean, it`s not close to happening back in the 1990s when the Soviet Union was collapsing. And that moment on that plane on the way to New York City, I began to think, Wait a minute.

BECK: OK.

ROSENBERG: I might be living in a time where this could accelerate. I want to write a novel that looks at how this could play out.

BECK: OK. When we come back, we`re going to do a couple of things. We`re going to take you through the news of the day. We`re going to talk to you all about, you know, food and crisis, and political leaders, and what things might actually be coming our way. And what plays into the end of days. All this week, by the way, Joel has been writing exclusive articles for the end of days, only available in my free daily e-mail newsletter. You can go over to GlennBeck.com and sign up. Get your free copy today at GlennBeck.com. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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MORE HEADLINES TO TRACK:
* CIA director: Syrian site could have produced fuel for 1 or 2 nuclear weapons in a year
* Bush to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt in May
* Israeli Cabinet Minister: 'Land-for-peace will put Iran in Golan'
* Musharraf, Ahmadinejad hold talks: Islamabad, Apr 28: Pakistan and Iran today agreed to sign an agreement to kick-start the multi-billion gas pipeline project, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf.
* Ahmadinejad's visit to take Indo-Iranian ties to a new heights
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the question was, if Iran were to launch a nuclear attack on Israel, what would our response be? And I want the Iranians to know that, if I`m the president, we will attack Iran. We would be able to totally obliterate them. That`s a terrible thing to say, but those people who run Iran need to understand that. Because that perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Continuing our conversation on end of -- on the end of days. And, you know, I know a lot of people are like, Oh, jeez. This is really something you should listen to. Author Joel Rosenberg grounds his stuff in reality that is important and accurate. And that statement, Joel, we talked earlier this week -- that statement by Hillary Clinton is -- it shows, it demonstrates what so many people don`t understand. Ahmadinejad -- correct me if I`m wrong -- and the leadership, not the people but the leadership of Iran would almost welcome us to vaporize all of Iran, because it would fulfill their end-times prophecy that the Great Satan, known as us, just slaughters Muslims wholesale, right?

ROSENBERG: And vice versa. The -- Ahmadinejad is not a Soviet or Chinese leader who is a megalomaniac, maniacal dictator, but who wants to preserve his own skin because he doesn`t believe in an afterlife.

BECK: Right.

ROSENBERG: No. Ahmadinejad is a Shiite, Islamic fascist. He`s a Shiite Islamic fanatic. And what he believes is that....

[This is just a portion of the one-hour special. To read the full transcript -- or watch the video clips on YouTube -- please visit my weblog at www.joelrosenberg.com]

Thursday, May 01, 2008

WORLD PRAYER DAY TODAY

On this World prayer day we should:
PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

PRAY FOR THE REBUILDING OF THE 3RD TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM.

PRAY FOR ALL THE WORLDS LEADERS TO GO BY GODS LAWS SO WE CAN HAVE A PEACEFUL WORLD.

PRAY THAT GODS WILL, WILL BE DONE AND THAT YOU CAN BE COUNTED WORTHY TO GO UP AT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.

PRAY THAT PRAYER WILL BE PUT BACK IN SCHOOLS.

PRAY THAT ABORTIONS WILL BE STOPPED (MURDERING OF GODS CREATED BABBIES).

PRAY FOR THE IMMORAL LIFESTYLES TO CHANGE TO GODS WAYS.

PRAY COME QUICKLY LORD JESUS THE GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE WORLD.

My Personal prayer requests:
PRAY FOR ALL THE STRIPPERS TO BE SAVED AND DELIVERED FROM DRUGS, ALCOHOL, AND SEXUAL SINS.

Especially PRAY for Nathalie from Quebec to be delivered from Stripping. And Stephanie a JEWISH dancer to be saved as well.

PRAY THAT ISRAEL WILL FINALLY ACCEPT THEIR MESSIAH JESUS AS TRUE KING TO RULE OVER THEM IN JERUSALEM.

PRAY for a WOMAN NAMED SARAH FROM THE USA, TO BE DELIVERED FROM DRUGS AND ALCOHOL AND TO BE SAVED SO SHE CAN BE A CHILD OF THE KING (WITH KING JESUS FOREVER ON EARTH).

AND FINALLY PRAY GOD WILL GIVE US STRENGTH TO MAKE IT THROUGH ALL THE HARDSHIPS THAT WILL BE COMING ON THE EARTH. AND THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL LEAD US TO BE USED SO PEOPLE WILL BE SAVED TO GO UP AT THE RAPTURE WITH US.