I JUST LOVE THE WAY GOD IS GETTING PEOPLES ATTENTION WHO DENY THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. PRAISE KING JESUS.
PICTURES FROM WND
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=71386
MUCH ABOUT HISTORY Old Testament proof: Royal seal discovered. Archaeologists unearth ancient relic from prince mentioned in Jeremiah August 03, 2008 7:35 pm Eastern By Joe Kovacs
2008 WorldNetDaily
A team of archaeologists in Israel has unearthed what's believed to be the royal seal of an Old Testament prince who is said to have tossed the prophet Jeremiah down a well.Royal seal bears name of Gedaliah, a prince to Judah's King Zedekiah, mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah. (courtesy Dr. Eilat Mazar)The stamped engraving, known as a bulla, was discovered earlier this year about 600 feet south of the Temple Mount, but is just now making headlines.
Team leader Dr. Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University says the imprint was found in clay, astonishingly well-preserved, bearing the name of Gedaliah, the son of Pashur.How absolutely fantastic and special this find is can only be realized when you hold in your hand this magnificent one-centimeter piece of clay and know that it survived 2,600 years in the debris of the destruction, and came to us complete and in perfect condition, Mazar said.
Gedaliah is mentioned by name in Jeremiah 38:1 as he served Judah's King Zedekiah in the final days before Jerusalem was conquered by Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.The excavation area in the section of Jerusalem known as the City of David, looking east. (courtesy Dr. Eilat Mazar) The prophet's writings tell of the actions that Gedaliah and his fellow princes took against him:
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. (Jeremiah 38:6)
The prophet was rescued after an Ethiopian eunuch pleaded with the king on Jeremiah's behalf, saying, he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city. (38:9)The king then ordered 30 men to hoist up the prophet before the city fell to the Babylonians.A 19th century Bible depicts the prophet Jeremiah being lifted out of a well.The letters on the seal are in ancient Hebrew, and Mazar told WND the relic was recovered through a wet-sifting process. She says the method was learned after the illegal excavations by the Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the Temple Mount, who have been dumping debris in huge mounds.
Dr. Eilat Mazar
The wet sifting that we did for the destruction debris from our excavations indeed allowed us to uncover hundreds of different kinds of small finds such as tiny fish bones, Phoenician glass beads, Hebrew, Babylonian and Egyptian bullae and seals, pits and seeds, hematite and limestone weights, arrowheads, figurines, jewelry and more, she said.This is actually the second recent discovery of an ancient bulla from the time of Jeremiah.In 2005, Mazar found another seal with the name of Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, who is mentioned twice in the prophet's book. That artifact was found in a stone structure Mazar believes was part of King David's ancient palace.She added, It is not very often that such a discovery happens to archaeologists in which real figures of the past shake off the dust of history and so vividly revive the stories of the Bible.
INTERESTING THINGS COMMIN OUT NOW, WHAT IS THE TRUTH. ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
ELECTION 2008 Book links Obama to massacre of Christians
Senator's continuing ally launches genocidal tribal violence
August 03, 2008 9:35 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily
CHURCH VIOLENCE VIDEO
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=71383
Barack Obama and Raila Odinga
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has continued to support Kenya's Raila Odinga, even after Odinga has been blamed for inciting tribal violence and slaughtering Christians, according to an explosive new book written by WND senior staff reporter Jerome R. Corsi.In The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, Corsi argues that Odinga's protests following his loss to U.S.-backed Mwai Kibaki in Kenya's 2007 presidential election led to a wave of tribal and religious violence aimed against Kibaki's majority Kikuyu tribe.The violence Obama's ally was blamed for included the slaughter of some 50 Pentecostal Christians.As WND reported earlier, during his first visit to Kenya as a U.S. Senator in 2006, Obama openly campaigned for Odinga, to the point where Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua accused Obama of meddling inappropriately in Kenyan presidential politics. Mutua charged during a television news video that Obama had become a stooge to Odinga during the Kenyan presidential election campaign. Obama's father belonged to the same Luo tribe as Odinga.In the disputed Dec. 27, 2007, presidential vote, Odinga charged he was denied winning the presidency by voter fraud.After the election, Odinga pressed for a power-sharing arrangement in which he would be the prime minister in a government where Kibaki was president, with the two factions sharing a 50-50 power split in the cabinet.Odinga's claim led to widespread fighting that killed more than 1,000 people in the weeks after the election, leaving more than 350,000 Kenyans displaced.While proving involvement is difficult, many in Kenya assumed the post-election violence was supported, if not organized, behind the scenes by Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement party.
In a horrifying incident following the election, at least 50 people, including women and children, were killed when an angry mob forced Kikuyu Christians into an Assemblies of God Pentecostal church and set fire to the church, hacking with machetes any of the Christians who tried to escape the flames.The violence occurred in the village of Eldoret, about 185 miles northwest of Nairobi. The massacre in the church was part of youth gang violence aimed at harassing the Kikuyu Christian minority, which before the election numbered around 20 percent of Eldoret's 500,000 people.After the church burning, the vast majority of Eldoret’s Kikuyu Christian minority fled the city, in fear of their lives.Christian missionaries report over 300 Christian churches were severely damaged or destroyed in the violence that swept the country, but mosques were left undisturbed.Another horrific report came from the Telegram in London, reporting the wave of post-election violence involved members of President Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe being attacked in Nairobi slums by ethnic groups including gangs of Luo tribe youth and men who were engaging in gang rapes of women and sodomizing boys as young as five years of age.The Telegraph reported the vast majority of the victims were assaulted in their homes and all had been targeted because of their Kikuyu tribe membership.Mobs slashed their way into homes, attacking everyone they found with machetes and clubs. Youths raped women in front of their husbands and many wives were then dragged from their homes and killed.In the final days of the New Hampshire Democratic Party primary, after the post-election violence in Kenya, Obama told reporters he had telephoned Raila Odinga by telephone.Obama sided with Odinga, indicating Odinga was willing to meet with Kibaki.
Obviously he [Odinga] believes that the votes were not tallied properly, Obama told reporters, almost as if he were running for election in Kenya. But what I urged was that all the leaders there, regardless of their position on the election, tell their supporters to stand down, to desist with the violence and resolve it in a peaceful way with Kenyan laws.Reporters asked if Obama had telephoned Kenyan President Kibaki.I have not spoken to President Kibaki as yet, the senator answered, but I hope to get in touch with him some time soon. I want to see if I can be helpful.It is unclear whether Obama ever spoke with Kibaki, after a rough initial meeting during Obama’s 2006 Kenyan trip.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME
PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.
JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).
WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
WELL THE BIBLE CLEARLY SAYS BEHEADINGS WILL BE COMMON PLACE, WE SEE ITS GOIN WORLDWIDE NOW NOT JUST IN THE MIDEAST AND MUSLIM COUNTRIES.
Police tape: Canada bus killer ate victim's flesh
Internal communication leaked on Internet; suspect charged in beheading
James Turner / AP Vince Weiguang Li, 40, is led into the Manitoba Provincial Court in Portage La Prairie on Friday. updated 8:55 p.m. ET, Sat., Aug. 2, 2008 TORONTO - A police officer at the scene of a grisly beheading on a Canadian bus reported seeing the attacker hacking off pieces of the victim's body and eating them, according to a police tape leaked on the Internet Saturday. In the tape of radio transmissions, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer refers to the attacker as Badger and says he is armed with a knife and scissors and is defiling the body at the front of the bus as we speak.On the tape, which lasts about 80 seconds, officers continue to detail the attacker's movements until one reports, Badger's at the back of the bus, hacking off pieces and eating it. The RCMP described the tapes as operational police communications and, as such, are not meant for public consumption. Police said permission had not been given to use the radio transmission, which was posted on LiveLeak.com and picked up by other Web sites. Officers were responding to a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 12 miles from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, after the bloody attack late Wednesday on the bus traveling from Edmonton, Alberta to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Vince Weiguang Li, 40, faces second-degree murder charges for the murder of a 22-year-old man, who friends and family identified as Tim McLean. Police have not confirmed the victim's identity.
Suspect called model employee
Passengers said they had just reboarded the bus following a break when the suspect — for no apparent reason — stabbed the man sitting next to him dozens of times as passengers fled in horror. He then severed the man's head, displayed it and began hacking at the body.
Li's employer said in an interview Saturday that he was shocked to learn that his model employee had been accused of the grisly attack. Vincent Augert, an independent contractor who distributes newspapers in Edmonton, said that Li was one of his most reliable carriers. He was very punctual and always cleanly dressed, he told The Associated Press. He was a very nice, polite guy. We would've had no reason to let him go before all this happened.Augert said Li had worked for him since last July and caused no problems. I had no odd suspicions about him at all, said Augert. Augert said that Li called him two weeks ago to say he needed a day or two off to go to Winnipeg for a job interview at the end of July. He said Li called him back and left a message with the dates, but never followed up after that. That was unusual for him not to call back and then when he didn't show up for work on Tuesday we got worried, said Augert, who said it was sometimes difficult to understand Li because he spoke quickly and had a strong Chinese accent.Ken Gigliotti / AP
Canadian police inspect the Greyhound bus.Augert said he called Li's cell phone on Thursday and his wife answered. She told him that she hadn't heard from Li, who had told her he had to leave for a few days because of a family emergency. Li, who shuffled into a courtroom Friday in Portage la Prairie with his head bowed and feet shackled, appeared before the court without a lawyer. He did not reply when the judge asked him whether he was going to get a lawyer, and only nodded slightly when asked whether he was exercising his right not to speak. He was not required to enter a plea. The prosecutor asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said he wanted to give Li a chance to meet with his lawyer. Li's next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday. The RCMP said Li has no known criminal record.
Victim's family speaks out
McLean's family spoke publicly Saturday for the first time since the brutal attack. He was a little guy with a heart bigger than you could know, McLean's uncle, Alex McLean, told reporters in a prepared statement from the family. Tim spent his life traveling and meeting new people and always saw the good in everyone. He had the most infectious giggle. You could hear him laughing a mile away, said Alex McLean. It didn't matter what kind of a day you were having, because when you heard him laugh, you couldn't help but join in.William Caron, 23, said McLean was quiet, though he liked to socialize with friends. He was small — about 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds — and tended to stay away from a fight, Caron said. All the time I've known Tim, he's never been the type of guy to get into a fight with. He always kept to himself when there's strangers around, Caron said. The killing has spawned a vast online community, with tens of thousands showing support for McLean's family and expressing disgust for the attack. One of the many groups on the social networking site Facebook has accumulated over 40,000 members with more than 2,000 wall posts. It's something right out of a horror movie, said Sheena in Edmonton.
Santorini butcher gravely ill By Malcolm Brabant BBC News, Athens
A man who decapitated his girlfriend and paraded the head around a village on the Greek island of Santorini is now fighting for his life in hospital. Athanassios Arvanitis, a 31-year-old chef, was shot five times by police before his arrest. He has wounds to his lungs and is in intensive care. The authorities believe the deadly rampage was triggered by his dismissal as a chef in a hotel. Three women injured during the police chase are said to be out of danger.
The trail of violence began when the man used a butcher's knife to decapitate his girlfriend's dog on the balcony of their home in the village of Vourvoulos, near Santorini's main town Thira. Next, Mr Arvanitis allegedly killed his girlfriend, a 25-year-old teacher called Adamantia Karkali, by stabbing her in the armpit. He then cut her head off and began parading it around the streets. During a dramatic chase, Mr Arvanitis tried and failed to behead a policeman. He was then shot five times and arrested. Doctors at Santorini's medical centre say that despite his injuries they found it almost impossible to restrain him. Two women doctors knocked from their motorbike by Mr Arvanitis as he tried to get away in a police jeep are said to be out of danger, as is a Greek woman tourist who was hit by a ricocheting bullet as she watched the sunset. People living in Santorini say they have not witnessed such savagery on this iconically beautiful island since the Germans carried out executions during the World War II occupation.
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.
Iran defiant on nuclear deadline AUG 3,08
Mr Ahmadinejad remains adamant Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country will not retreat one iota on its nuclear programme. He was speaking after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is on a two-day visit to Tehran. The meeting coincided with an informal deadline set by Western officials in a dispute over Tehran's uranium enrichment plans. Mr Assad had promised France he would use his ties with Iran to help resolve its nuclear stand-off with the West. In a statement published on the Iranian president's website, Mr Ahmadinejad said: In whichever negotiation we take part... it is unequivocally with the view to the realisation of Iran's nuclear right, and the Iranian nation would not retreat one iota from its rights.He said that international agreements meant Iran, like every other country, had the right to engage in uranium enrichment and possess nuclear power stations. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had earlier urged Iran to give a clear answer on a deal offered by the international community, telling it to stop dallying. But Iran had said it had no intention of observing the 14-day deadline attached to the offer, a deadline that ran out on Saturday. The offer pledged not to impose new sanctions in return for halting uranium enrichment.
Assad pledge
Tehran has claimed consistently that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, but the US and its allies believe it could be used to develop a nuclear weapon. During a visit to Paris in July, Mr Assad had promised French President Nicolas Sarkozy he would try to persuade Iran to offer proof it is not developing nuclear weapons.
Iran appears to be pressing ahead with its nuclear programme
But, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran, it would be hard to see him persuading Mr Ahmadinejad to meet Western demands on the nuclear issue. With Israel and Syria holding indirect peace talks, our correspondent adds, it is more likely that Mr Assad's visit is aimed at reassuring Tehran about the alliance between Iran and Syria. Iran was set the informal deadline on 19 July after its chief nuclear negotiator met officials from the UN, EU and the US in Geneva. It was the first time senior officials from the US and Iran had held face-to-face talks on the issue. In an interview with the weekly Der Spiegel, Mr Steinmeier appealed to the Iranians to provide an answer to the offer. I appeal again to the Iranian side no longer to play for time, but to give us a usable answer to our offers - stop dallying, he said. But Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said no deadline had been agreed. We have not had any discussion [or] agreement of the so-called timeline of two weeks, he said.
Sanctions
Meanwhile, Israel's deputy prime minister warned that Iran was near a breakthrough in its nuclear programme. Shaul Mofaz, a frontrunner to succeed Ehud Olmert as prime minister later in the year, said Iran could be capable of producing uranium for military use by 2010. The UN Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran. The US has hinted that a fourth could follow if the current offer is rejected by Tehran. On the face of it, our correspondent says, Iran is pressing ahead with its nuclear programme with no immediate prospect of new sanctions, but the Iranian government must be worried that it faces the danger of steadily growing international isolation.
US: Major powers to seek new sanctions on Iran By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer AUG 4,08
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration says the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany have agreed to pursue further sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear program after it failed to meet a weekend deadline to respond to an incentives package designed to defuse the dispute. The State Department said the group decided in a high-level phone call on Monday that it had no choice but to seek additional punitive measures on Iran. Iran has told the lead European negotiator that it will provide a written response to the offer on Tuesday but a State Department spokesman said sanctions would come in the absence of a proper reply.
EU, Iran in new nuclear talks as answer awaited by Farhad Pouladi AUG 4,08
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's nuclear negotiator and the EU foreign policy chief Monday held their latest talks on the atomic standoff amid growing pressure on Tehran to give a clear answer to an offer to end the crisis. Iran's Saeed Jalili and the EU's Javier Solana agreed in a telephone conversation to continue talks, Iranian state television reported.The talks, the first contact between the two men since they met in Geneva last month, came a day after an apparent deadline passed for Iran to give its answer to the package presented by world powers.Six weeks after the offer was first proposed, Iran has yet to give a final response to the package which offers Tehran technological incentives if it suspends the sensitive process of uranium enrichment.The conversation took place and Solana will report on it to the representatives of the group of six world powers, a Solana spokesman told AFP, referring to Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
The spokesman for Solana -- who is negotiating on behalf of the six powers -- gave no details of the conversation or how long the two men talked.Iranian television merely added that the pair also emphasised that preserving this path (of talks) needs a positive and constructive atmosphere.The United States had insisted that Iran meet a weekend deadline to respond to the package but Tehran has so far refused to give any ground on the key demand that it suspend uranium enrichment.Iran has also not given any answer to an additional offer to start pre-negotiations under which it would not expand its enrichment capacities any further while further UN sanctions proposals would be frozen.World powers fear that Iran could use enrichment to make a nuclear weapon but Tehran insists it only wants nuclear energy for a growing population whose fossil fuels will eventually run out.Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi dismissed the idea of a deadline, saying that negotiations are an ongoing process and the question of a deadline is media speculation.At the last Jalili-Solana meeting in Geneva on July 19, Solana asked for a response in two weeks to the package which aims to draw the line under a crisis that has sent oil prices spiralling and raised fears of regional conflict.But an EU diplomat said: If it's in 16 days instead of 14, it's not a problem. We are not obsessed with a date.Solana had presented the offer of economic and trade incentives in mid-June, while Iran has put forward its own proposal, an all-embracing package of suggestions to resolve the problems of the world, including the nuclear issue.Iran has so far been slapped with three sets of UN Security Council sanctions for its refusal halt uranium enrichment but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defiantly insisted that Tehran will not budge an inch.
The United States has warned that more sanctions loom if Iran does not give a positive response to the package.Along with its regional ally Israel, Washington has warned that the option of military action against Iran remains open if Tehran sticks to its defiant line.Amid the continued tensions, Iran announced on Monday that it had successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile with a range of 300kilometres (180 miles) that it had developed with homegrown technology. No enemy vessels would be able to escape it within a 300-kilometre radius from the borders of Iran, the commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said on state television. Iran has in recent months frequently boasted of developing new weapons and military hardware but the claims have often met with scepticism from Western defence analysts. World oil prices -- which have been driven to record levels by worries over a possible military strike on OPEC's number two producer -- were mixed on Monday. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, fell 16 cents to 124.94 dollars a barrel in electronic trading, reversing earlier gains.
Iran: New weapon for use at sea tested 5h 4m ago AUG 4,08
Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has tested a new weapon for use at sea, the chief of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted Monday as saying by the official IRNA news agency.The commander, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, claimed the new marine weapon is unique in the world and has a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).The report provided no further details and didn't say when or where the weapon was tested, but it quoted Jafari as saying that there is no similar weapon in the service of armies in the world.The alleged new weapon's range indicated it may be some type of torpedo.Iran and the West are locked in a standoff on the country's disputed uranium enrichment program, which the U.S. and its allies fear is aimed at making nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge and says the program is only for producing electricity.Both the U.S. and Israel have said they would prefer a diplomatic solution to the standoff, but have not ruled out other options, including a military one.To show their readiness to defend, the Guards test fired missiles and torpedoes in the Persian Gulf last month, and Tehran claimed it tested a new Shahab missile with a range of 2,012 kilometers (1,250 miles).In case of a possible strike on Iran, Jafari said the country will respond in every way it can. The enemy, he said, would prefer to make the duration of the war as short as possible.
But, we will prolong it, Jafari said.The Associated Press
Oil jumps above $126 in Asia on Iran AUG 4,08
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices jumped above US$126 a barrel Monday in Asia on concern that a showdown over Iran's nuclear program could threaten crude supplies out of the Middle East.
A fuel price board at a petrol station in Manila.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday that the United States would have no choice but to begin again to prepare sanctions resolutions for the (U.N.) Security Council if Iran did not halt the development of its uranium enrichment program.Rice said that given the U.N.'s current scheduling, sanctions probably could not be expected in the next few weeks, but the U.S. will begin working with allies toward that goal.There's concern about a potential confrontation down the line, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz consultancy in Singapore.Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose US$1.20 to US$126.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract gained US$1.02 on Friday to settle at US$125.10 a barrel.In London, September Brent crude was up 96 cents at US$125.14 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Don't Miss
Iran says diplomacy key to nuke dispute
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that diplomacy is the only way out of his country's standoff with the West as an informal deadline expired on an offer of economic and other incentives by six world powers if Iran agreed to curb enrichment.
Iran's leader made the comments a day after asserting that his country would not give up its nuclear rights, signaling that it would refuse demands to stop enriching uranium or at least not to expand its enrichment work.The United States and its European allies fear Iran intends to use the technology to develop material for nuclear weapons under the cloak of a civilian nuclear power program. Iran denies the accusation.On Friday, oil shot up as much as US$4 after news reports quoted Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying that Iran's nuclear program was nearing a major breakthrough and that his country must be prepared for every option.Mofaz, a hawkish former defense minister and military chief, is a top contender to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who announced last week he will resign in September amid a corruption probe.Oil prices also rose Monday in Asia on concern Tropical Storm Edouard may disrupt oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico.The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch Sunday for the coast of western Louisiana and eastern Texas, which means that hurricane conditions are possible from Edouard within the next 24 hours in the area.The fifth named storm of the 2008 hurricane season has sustained maximum winds of about 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour. By Sunday night, Edouard was located about 80 miles (129 kilometers) east-southeast off the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 390 miles (630 kilometers) east of Galveston, Texas.It's expected to strengthen before making landfall Tuesday morning in Texas.In Nigeria, two French oil workers were kidnapped in country's volatile southern oil region Sunday. A statement released by France's Foreign Ministry confirmed the kidnappings of the French nationals, but did not provide additional details about the two or say for which company they worked.You've got three supply-side worries pushing oil higher today: Iran, the storm and Nigeria, Shum said.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 2.82 cents to US$3.465 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices gained 4.57 cents to US$3.13 a gallon. Natural gas futures increased 8.9 cents to US$9.478 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Sunday, August 03, 2008
OLYMPIC STORMS PREDICTED
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.
At least 9 killed in torrential Togo floods Sat Aug 2, 12:50PM ET
LOME, Togo - At least nine people have been killed as torrential floods have submerged entire villages in Togo, the country's Minister for Transport and Highways said Saturday in a televised address. Nine major bridges have been wiped out, stranding villagers in flooded hamlets, Ekpao Talaki said. As many as 5,000 people have been rendered homeless, according to the government's web site, but aid workers say the number could be much higher.
Ghana, Togo's neighbor, sent in helicopters to rescue villagers trapped in their flooded homes. France sent a disaster crew Friday from its peacekeeping mission in nearby Ivory Coast.But Togo's main opposition party criticized the government for not doing enough and called for an emergency session of Parliament to address the disaster.President Faure Gnassingbe is holding an emergency Cabinet meeting Saturday — the third this week — to come up with ways to combat the floods. The flooding, which shows no sign of abating, was brought on by heavy monsoon rains.
Rain, thunder, typhoons forecast for Beijing Games Sun Aug 3, 1:48 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - Weather forecasters on Sunday predicted thunder and rain in Beijing on the day of the Olympic opening ceremony and warned that typhoons could disrupt events in other host cities.
Organisers have repeatedly said rain is their biggest worry ahead of Friday's opening ceremony, which will feature more than 10,000 performers and a massive fireworks display.But top officials from the Beijing Meteorological Bureau confirmed that bad weather was certain for the August 8, although they held out hope that the skies may clear for the evening ceremony.Before and immediately after August 8, we will not see persistent heavy rainfall, said Wang Jianjie, deputy director of the bureau.Specifically on the 8th, the weather in Beijing will be cloudy and overcast and we will see some rain showers and thunder showers.She said that forecasting technology was not accurate enough to predict exactly when rain would actually fall on any particular day or whether it would disrupt the evening opening ceremony.It is impossible to tell at what time the rain will fall on August 8, but we cannot exclude that there will be periodic rain then, she told a press conference.
As for typhoons, she said that two or three were expected to blow in from the Pacific Ocean during the August 8-24 Games and that they would be tracked and monitored throughout the period.The storms could hit Hong Kong, affecting the staging of the Olympic equestrian events there, and could also disrupt parts of the Olympic football tournament that is being staged in coastal Shanghai.Wang also said that the port city of Qingdao in northeastern China, where the Olympic sailing competition is being held, could also be affected.However, she said any disruption that the typhoons could bring to the Olympic events would be contained.
Normally a typhoon can affect an area for one or two days, she said. It would not have a long-term effect but would only have an effect for a limited period.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
The heat goes on John Desjardins AUG 3,08
South
It will be another day of triple-digit temps across the south-central U.S. today. The mercury will eclipse the century mark across much of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and most of Louisiana. More record highs temperatures will likely be broken, possibly including Dallas (forecast of 108) and Shreveport (forecast of 105). Combined with high humidity, heat indices will be pushing 110 in many areas. Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings are posted across much of the area, from Texas to Mississippi. Residents of this area should exercise extreme caution in dealing with this dangerous heat. Farther east, high temperatures will generally be in the low to mid 90s. Afternoon showers will flare up in parts of the Deep South and Florida. While a few storms may turn severe, it is not expected to be nearly as widespread as Saturday's activity.
Midwest
The northern tier of the country continues to be active, particularly from the northern Plains to the Upper Midwest. This morning's showers and thunderstorms across the Dakotas will continue to move east with a strong upper-level disturbance. Showers and thunderstorms -- some severe -- will push into Minnesota this afternoon. These storms could produce strong winds and large hail. Highs from the Dakotas into the Ohio Valley will mostly be in the low-to-mid 80s, with a few areas around the Great Lakes clinging to the 70s. The central Plains will continue to roast with highs above 100 in much of Nebraska and Kansas. Dangerously high heat indices will also extend into Missouri. Some relief is expected in these areas by midweek.
Northeast
A pesky storm system will continue to swirl across the Northeast and keep the threat of showers in New England. Although showers are spotty this morning, the activity is expected to increase into the afternoon. Many of these areas are soaked from recent rain, so additional rainfall will not be beneficial. Flood watches are posted from northern Vermont through northern Maine. Farther south, rain will not be much of an issue. A few showers or thunderstorms may pop up this afternoon from central New York State into Massachusetts. Otherwise, most of the region will be dry. High temperatures will be in the 70s from central Pennsylvania into Northern New England. Parts of Maine will not get out of the 60s. From the New York City metro area through Virginia, look for highs in the mid to upper 80s.
West
Much of the West will see sunny skies this Sunday. This includes the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin and, as usual, most of California. A few afternoon showers and thunderstorms will fire up over the Rockies from Montana into New Mexico. A few of these storms could contain locally heavy rain, which could result in flash flooding. Highs across the region will be generally seasonable. Expect 70s in western Washington down the coast. Portions of the Intermountain West will be in the 80s with a few pockets of 90s. The Desert Southwest will peak in the 100s. The Front Range of the Rockies will continue to be hot, flirting with triple digits.
SECULARISM IN TURKEY : SENSITIVE
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=6222227&ch=4226714&src=news
ISRAEL SENDS FATAHS BACK TO GAZA
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9104884&ch=4226714&src=news
TENNESSEE CHURCH RALIES AFTER SHOOTING
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9103923&ch=4226713&src=news
Jordan tells Abbas infighting threatens Palestinian state AUG 3,08
AMMAN (AFP) - Jordan's King Abdullah II warned visiting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday that Palestinian infighting threatens their efforts to form an independent state, the palace said. Continued factional infighting harms the Palestinian cause and threatens efforts to help establish an independent Palestinian state, the king said according to a palace statement.The king also expressed concerns about developments in the territories, saying that the Palestinians should resort to dialogue to resolve their differences.Palestinian unity is key to tackling the current challenges, he added.Israel on Sunday began returning Fatah members who had fled deadly clashes in the Gaza Strip to the Hamas-ruled territory following a request by Abbas.On Saturday Abbas had asked that about 180 people be allowed out of Gaza after nine people were killed during the day in the deadliest internal fighting with Hamas since the Islamists seized power in June 2007.It followed a July 21 bombing that killed five Hamas militants and a little girl, which the Islamists blamed on Fatah's Helis clan.Abbas said meanwhile that Egypt plans to invite Palestinians for talks in Cairo.
Dialogue is important. We have called for it. Egypt has agreed to invite Palestinian factions to meet in Cairo, he was quoted in the statement as saying.We can't lose hope. We disagree and fight, but we have to work together to bridge the big gap created unfortunately by Hamas.Abbas urged the Islamists to resort to reason and logic and accept the law.
Anglican leader urges ban on gay bishops By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer AUG 3,08
NEW YORK - The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans urged church leaders Sunday not to consecrate any other gay bishops for now, as he ended a once-a-decade Anglican assembly that was dedicated to preventing schism in the troubled fellowship. In his final speech at the Lambeth Conference, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the Anglican Communion needs space for study and free discussion without pressure about whether to accept changes in the traditional biblical understanding of same-sex relationships.A fellow Christian may believe they have a profound fresh insight. They seek to persuade others about it. A healthy church gives space for such exchanges, he told the 650 bishops at the meeting in Canterbury, England. But the Christian with the new insight can't claim straight away that this is now what the Church of God believes or intends.The 77-million-member Anglican Communion has been splintering since 2003, when the U.S. Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.Williams barred Robinson and a few other bishops from the assembly, and designed the event without legislation or votes, instead focusing on rebuilding frayed relationships.
Still, more than 200 theologically conservative bishops boycotted Lambeth, which ran for 20 days. In June, just before Lambeth began, these same bishops formed a new global network within the communion that challenges Williams' authority but Williams does not have the authority to force any agreement among the conflicted groups. stops just short of a permanent split. The 38 Anglican national churches, including the U.S. Episcopal Church, are self-governed and loosely connected by shared roots in the missionary work of the Church of England.But the bishops at Lambeth said Sunday in a statement that they called their reflections on the meeting that there is widespread support across the communion for an extended moratorium on gay bishops and on blessing ceremonies for same-gender couples.
Williams and the bishops also indicated support for an extended moratorium on church leaders taking oversight of breakaway parishes in an Anglican territory that is not their own.Since Robinson was consecrated, conservative Anglican leaders from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and elsewhere have taken authority for seceding Episcopal parishes in the U.S.Although the exact figure is in dispute, Episcopal officials say that fewer than 100 of the more than 7,000 U.S. Episcopal parishes have voted to split off.Still, the entire Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif., voted to withdraw from the denomination and align with another Anglican province, sparking a lawsuit. The Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, Texas, are poised to vote on whether to break away this fall.
Robinson traveled to Canterbury even though he wasn't invited, trying to meet with overseas bishops and be what he called a constant and friendly reminder of gays in the church.On Sunday, the advocacy group Integrity, which represents gay and lesbian Episcopalians, said in a statement that there is no theological defense for sacrificing a minority of the baptized for the sake of unity.No one expected the Lambeth Conference to definitively heal the divisions among Anglicans.The bishops did discuss a proposed global covenant that would set some requirements for membership in the communion. Williams said Sunday he plans to convene a meeting of the 38 Anglican national leaders, or primates, early next year. But it could be years before any agreement on a covenant is reached.
We may not have put an end to all our problems, Williams said, but the pieces are on the board.On the Net:
Lambeth Conference: http://www.lambethconference.org/index.cfm
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.
At least 9 killed in torrential Togo floods Sat Aug 2, 12:50PM ET
LOME, Togo - At least nine people have been killed as torrential floods have submerged entire villages in Togo, the country's Minister for Transport and Highways said Saturday in a televised address. Nine major bridges have been wiped out, stranding villagers in flooded hamlets, Ekpao Talaki said. As many as 5,000 people have been rendered homeless, according to the government's web site, but aid workers say the number could be much higher.
Ghana, Togo's neighbor, sent in helicopters to rescue villagers trapped in their flooded homes. France sent a disaster crew Friday from its peacekeeping mission in nearby Ivory Coast.But Togo's main opposition party criticized the government for not doing enough and called for an emergency session of Parliament to address the disaster.President Faure Gnassingbe is holding an emergency Cabinet meeting Saturday — the third this week — to come up with ways to combat the floods. The flooding, which shows no sign of abating, was brought on by heavy monsoon rains.
Rain, thunder, typhoons forecast for Beijing Games Sun Aug 3, 1:48 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - Weather forecasters on Sunday predicted thunder and rain in Beijing on the day of the Olympic opening ceremony and warned that typhoons could disrupt events in other host cities.
Organisers have repeatedly said rain is their biggest worry ahead of Friday's opening ceremony, which will feature more than 10,000 performers and a massive fireworks display.But top officials from the Beijing Meteorological Bureau confirmed that bad weather was certain for the August 8, although they held out hope that the skies may clear for the evening ceremony.Before and immediately after August 8, we will not see persistent heavy rainfall, said Wang Jianjie, deputy director of the bureau.Specifically on the 8th, the weather in Beijing will be cloudy and overcast and we will see some rain showers and thunder showers.She said that forecasting technology was not accurate enough to predict exactly when rain would actually fall on any particular day or whether it would disrupt the evening opening ceremony.It is impossible to tell at what time the rain will fall on August 8, but we cannot exclude that there will be periodic rain then, she told a press conference.
As for typhoons, she said that two or three were expected to blow in from the Pacific Ocean during the August 8-24 Games and that they would be tracked and monitored throughout the period.The storms could hit Hong Kong, affecting the staging of the Olympic equestrian events there, and could also disrupt parts of the Olympic football tournament that is being staged in coastal Shanghai.Wang also said that the port city of Qingdao in northeastern China, where the Olympic sailing competition is being held, could also be affected.However, she said any disruption that the typhoons could bring to the Olympic events would be contained.
Normally a typhoon can affect an area for one or two days, she said. It would not have a long-term effect but would only have an effect for a limited period.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
The heat goes on John Desjardins AUG 3,08
South
It will be another day of triple-digit temps across the south-central U.S. today. The mercury will eclipse the century mark across much of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and most of Louisiana. More record highs temperatures will likely be broken, possibly including Dallas (forecast of 108) and Shreveport (forecast of 105). Combined with high humidity, heat indices will be pushing 110 in many areas. Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings are posted across much of the area, from Texas to Mississippi. Residents of this area should exercise extreme caution in dealing with this dangerous heat. Farther east, high temperatures will generally be in the low to mid 90s. Afternoon showers will flare up in parts of the Deep South and Florida. While a few storms may turn severe, it is not expected to be nearly as widespread as Saturday's activity.
Midwest
The northern tier of the country continues to be active, particularly from the northern Plains to the Upper Midwest. This morning's showers and thunderstorms across the Dakotas will continue to move east with a strong upper-level disturbance. Showers and thunderstorms -- some severe -- will push into Minnesota this afternoon. These storms could produce strong winds and large hail. Highs from the Dakotas into the Ohio Valley will mostly be in the low-to-mid 80s, with a few areas around the Great Lakes clinging to the 70s. The central Plains will continue to roast with highs above 100 in much of Nebraska and Kansas. Dangerously high heat indices will also extend into Missouri. Some relief is expected in these areas by midweek.
Northeast
A pesky storm system will continue to swirl across the Northeast and keep the threat of showers in New England. Although showers are spotty this morning, the activity is expected to increase into the afternoon. Many of these areas are soaked from recent rain, so additional rainfall will not be beneficial. Flood watches are posted from northern Vermont through northern Maine. Farther south, rain will not be much of an issue. A few showers or thunderstorms may pop up this afternoon from central New York State into Massachusetts. Otherwise, most of the region will be dry. High temperatures will be in the 70s from central Pennsylvania into Northern New England. Parts of Maine will not get out of the 60s. From the New York City metro area through Virginia, look for highs in the mid to upper 80s.
West
Much of the West will see sunny skies this Sunday. This includes the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin and, as usual, most of California. A few afternoon showers and thunderstorms will fire up over the Rockies from Montana into New Mexico. A few of these storms could contain locally heavy rain, which could result in flash flooding. Highs across the region will be generally seasonable. Expect 70s in western Washington down the coast. Portions of the Intermountain West will be in the 80s with a few pockets of 90s. The Desert Southwest will peak in the 100s. The Front Range of the Rockies will continue to be hot, flirting with triple digits.
SECULARISM IN TURKEY : SENSITIVE
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=6222227&ch=4226714&src=news
ISRAEL SENDS FATAHS BACK TO GAZA
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9104884&ch=4226714&src=news
TENNESSEE CHURCH RALIES AFTER SHOOTING
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9103923&ch=4226713&src=news
Jordan tells Abbas infighting threatens Palestinian state AUG 3,08
AMMAN (AFP) - Jordan's King Abdullah II warned visiting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday that Palestinian infighting threatens their efforts to form an independent state, the palace said. Continued factional infighting harms the Palestinian cause and threatens efforts to help establish an independent Palestinian state, the king said according to a palace statement.The king also expressed concerns about developments in the territories, saying that the Palestinians should resort to dialogue to resolve their differences.Palestinian unity is key to tackling the current challenges, he added.Israel on Sunday began returning Fatah members who had fled deadly clashes in the Gaza Strip to the Hamas-ruled territory following a request by Abbas.On Saturday Abbas had asked that about 180 people be allowed out of Gaza after nine people were killed during the day in the deadliest internal fighting with Hamas since the Islamists seized power in June 2007.It followed a July 21 bombing that killed five Hamas militants and a little girl, which the Islamists blamed on Fatah's Helis clan.Abbas said meanwhile that Egypt plans to invite Palestinians for talks in Cairo.
Dialogue is important. We have called for it. Egypt has agreed to invite Palestinian factions to meet in Cairo, he was quoted in the statement as saying.We can't lose hope. We disagree and fight, but we have to work together to bridge the big gap created unfortunately by Hamas.Abbas urged the Islamists to resort to reason and logic and accept the law.
Anglican leader urges ban on gay bishops By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer AUG 3,08
NEW YORK - The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans urged church leaders Sunday not to consecrate any other gay bishops for now, as he ended a once-a-decade Anglican assembly that was dedicated to preventing schism in the troubled fellowship. In his final speech at the Lambeth Conference, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the Anglican Communion needs space for study and free discussion without pressure about whether to accept changes in the traditional biblical understanding of same-sex relationships.A fellow Christian may believe they have a profound fresh insight. They seek to persuade others about it. A healthy church gives space for such exchanges, he told the 650 bishops at the meeting in Canterbury, England. But the Christian with the new insight can't claim straight away that this is now what the Church of God believes or intends.The 77-million-member Anglican Communion has been splintering since 2003, when the U.S. Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.Williams barred Robinson and a few other bishops from the assembly, and designed the event without legislation or votes, instead focusing on rebuilding frayed relationships.
Still, more than 200 theologically conservative bishops boycotted Lambeth, which ran for 20 days. In June, just before Lambeth began, these same bishops formed a new global network within the communion that challenges Williams' authority but Williams does not have the authority to force any agreement among the conflicted groups. stops just short of a permanent split. The 38 Anglican national churches, including the U.S. Episcopal Church, are self-governed and loosely connected by shared roots in the missionary work of the Church of England.But the bishops at Lambeth said Sunday in a statement that they called their reflections on the meeting that there is widespread support across the communion for an extended moratorium on gay bishops and on blessing ceremonies for same-gender couples.
Williams and the bishops also indicated support for an extended moratorium on church leaders taking oversight of breakaway parishes in an Anglican territory that is not their own.Since Robinson was consecrated, conservative Anglican leaders from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and elsewhere have taken authority for seceding Episcopal parishes in the U.S.Although the exact figure is in dispute, Episcopal officials say that fewer than 100 of the more than 7,000 U.S. Episcopal parishes have voted to split off.Still, the entire Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif., voted to withdraw from the denomination and align with another Anglican province, sparking a lawsuit. The Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, Texas, are poised to vote on whether to break away this fall.
Robinson traveled to Canterbury even though he wasn't invited, trying to meet with overseas bishops and be what he called a constant and friendly reminder of gays in the church.On Sunday, the advocacy group Integrity, which represents gay and lesbian Episcopalians, said in a statement that there is no theological defense for sacrificing a minority of the baptized for the sake of unity.No one expected the Lambeth Conference to definitively heal the divisions among Anglicans.The bishops did discuss a proposed global covenant that would set some requirements for membership in the communion. Williams said Sunday he plans to convene a meeting of the 38 Anglican national leaders, or primates, early next year. But it could be years before any agreement on a covenant is reached.
We may not have put an end to all our problems, Williams said, but the pieces are on the board.On the Net:
Lambeth Conference: http://www.lambethconference.org/index.cfm
Saturday, August 02, 2008
EU TO TRAIN PA FORCES
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Moderate quake hits southwest China, 231 hurt AUG 1,08
BEIJING (AFP) - A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit southwest China on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, close to the area devastated by a massive tremor in May that left nearly 70,000 dead.Chinese state media quoted local officials as saying that 231 people were hurt in the quake, which struck 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of Mianyang, which was severely hit by the 8.0-magnitude quake on May 12.The tremor, which hit at 4:32 pm (0832 GMT), struck not far from an area hit by three quakes one week ago that killed one person and injured at least 17.Friday's quake caused severe landslides and sent tonnes of rock tumbling down mountainsides in the north of Sichuan province on a route that leads to Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou, two popular tourist spots, Xinhua news agency said.Along that route in Pingwu County, 540 homes were destroyed and 2,450 others damaged, local press officer Meng Xiancai told Xinhua.Residents in the area ran out into the road in panic after the quake, the report said.I thought another May 12 earthquake occurred, a person identified only by the surname Zhang told Xinhua.Many residents said they were too scared to return home and would spend the night outdoors, the report said.
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.
MEMORABLE 2008 SEVERE WEATHER SEASON
http://news.yahoo.com/s/wcom/20080801/we_wcom/memorable2008_severe_weather_season
Summertime: heat and storms Kevin Roth
Thu Jul 31, 6:06 PM ET
Midwest
A strong disturbance rolls out of the Upper Midwest through the lower Great Lakes and Ohio Valley producing strong and severe thunderstorms Friday. Damaging wind and hail are the primary threats from the thunderstorms, but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. The activity should move along a stalled boundary between a building heat wave over the eastern Plains and more pleasant temperatures over the Great Lakes. Over the weekend that boundary should slowly lift northeastward causing the heat wave to expand into the middle Mississippi Valley. High temperatures should climb into the upper 90s to lower 100s with heat indices topping 110 degrees from the western Ohio Valley southwest to eastern Kansas, including St. Louis and Kansas City, through early next week. Another dangerous element to this heat wave will be the overnight temperatures. In the bigger urban areas like St. Louis and Kansas City temperatures may not dip below the 80 degree mark Saturday night, Sunday night and possibly Monday night.
Northeast
Most of the Northeast will be between systems allowing for a mostly sunny and very warm Friday. Afternoon showers and thunderstorms are likely across northern New England, far northeastern New York state, southwestern New York state and western Pennsylvania. The storms to the north could contain some small hail and briefly gusty winds. Thunderstorms over southwest New York and western Pennsylvania could be stronger containing damaging winds and larger hail. Scattered thunderstorms occur over the entire region Saturday as an upper level disturbance moves through the region. Those storms should keep the region slightly cooler-than-average with highs mainly in the 70s north and the 80s south. Lingering showers and storms are possible across New England Sunday while the remainder of the region has clearing conditions. Temperatures should remain a bit below average Sunday before hotter air builds in next week.
South
The heat wave across the southern Plains and Texas builds eastward through the remainder of the South through the weekend. High temperatures should reach the 90s to lower 100s with heat indices of 100 to 115 degrees for all areas except Florida by Saturday. The heat briefly abates across the Southeast Sunday with highs mostly in the upper 80s to middle 90s, but it returns in full force Monday and Tuesday. About the only relief from the heat would be the threat of afternoon thunderstorms. Unfortunately they are most likely to occur across Florida and along the Gulf Coast.
West
Heat remains the big story for much of the western half of the country into the weekend. High temperatures Friday and Saturday range from the lower 80s over the higher elevations to the middle 90s to lower 100s in the interior valleys and along the front range of the Rocky Mountains to the 105 to 115 degree range in the deserts. The typical holdouts to the extreme heat will be the Northwest and coastal California where temperatures should hold in the 60s along the coast to the middle 80s inland.
Tranquil tropics continue Wayne Verno
Fri Aug 1, 12:05 PM ET
In the Atlantic basin, a tropical wave moving through the northeastern Caribbean will enhance showers and thunderstorms over the Dominican Republic and Haiti through today. However, strong westerly winds aloft will prevent any type of tropical cyclone development in this area. Weak low pressure northeast of Cape Verde Islands in the far eastern Atlantic is encountering colder waters; further weakening is expected. In the eastern Pacific basin, scattered areas of thunderstorms remain poorly organized and no tropical cyclone development is anticipated here as well.
TROUBLE IN THE HOLY LAND Christians, Jews praying on Temple Mount seek religious war Muslim authorities say even right to talk to God on holy site exclusively theirs August 01, 2008 12:40 am Eastern By Ryan Jones 2008 Israel Today
Temple Mount
If Jerusalem's Temple Mount stands at the heart of the Middle East conflict, and if Muslim intransigence regarding the religious rights of others at the site is any indication, then it would appear all talk of regional peace is somewhat premature.In an interview with Israel Today, Azzam Khatib, director of the Islamic Trust (or Waqf) that safeguards the mosques that sit atop the Temple Mount, said that Jews and Christians who try to pray at the ancient holy site are effectively declaring war.Any non-Muslim who seeks such an approach is really seeking a religious war, said Khatib, who insisted that the Temple Mount is an exclusively Muslim site and that Jews and Christians should not even want to pray there.Khatib even took issue with the use of the term Temple Mount, angrily demanding the site be called al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary.Khatib refused to consider the possibility that the site was once home to the First and Second Jewish Temples, calling such claims unsubstantiated myths. When presented with a citation from a 1929 tourist guide published by the Supreme Muslim Council that acknowledged the Temple Mount as the site of Solomon's Temple, Khatib rejected the idea that such a book was ever published by a Muslim authority.According to Khatib, when the Muslims first arrived in Jerusalem 1,400 years ago, the Temple Mount area was barren, and no hard evidence of previous structures remained, making any non-Muslim claims to the hilltop mere speculation.When the Muslims came here they never found any standing building or any culture still alive, so they never threatened any standing building, said the Waqf director. We are not going to entertain theories about buildings that may or may not have been here before.
Always a fount of contradiction, the Muslim officials later negated their own claims that the Temple Mount was empty in A.D. 600 with their stories of Muhammad's midnight visit to the Al Aksa Mosque that today towers over the southern end of the raised compound.
Pointing to a massive retaining wall, which if the Muslim officials are to be believed should also not have existed 1,400 years ago, a Waqf guide identified the spot where Muhammad tied his horse, Buraq, after legend has it he traveled thousands of miles in the span of just a few hours.Various Waqf officials also failed to provide a single, cohesive answer as to why the gate on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, known in the Bible as the Golden Gate, is sealed shut. Historical Muslim sources state that the gate was sealed and a cemetery planted in front of it to prevent Jesus' prophesied return.But Khatib said the gate was closed simply because it was built in front of a cemetery and it's difficult to approach a gate while passing through cemeteries, through graves.
When pressed as to why a gate would be built where a cemetery already existed, Khatib's aide and translator chimed in and altered the story, saying that the gate had been there first and after the blocking of the gate, and people stop using the gate, people made use of the area (by burying their dead).A third explanation was provided by a Waqf official identified as Abu Qatis, who mumbled something about a Crusader massacre of Muslims at the gate.
Returning to the issue of protection of access to and religious freedom at the Temple Mount, Khatib and his aide vigorously denied suggestions that Jewish and Christian visitors are ever denied entry. Moments later, however, Khatib defended the practice of turning away visiting Jews and Christians as legitimate payback for Israeli security measures that deny access to the Temple Mount to Palestinian Arab Muslims from outside Jerusalem's municipal boundaries.You cannot expect us to allow in everyone when Palestinians from just outside Jerusalem cannot come here and pray, said Khatib.An Israeli police officer standing guard at one of the Temple Mount's entrances told us that the restrictions on Muslim access are only enforced occasionally, and were only made necessary because of past Muslim riots at the site that ended with stones being hurled onto Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall.This is just an excuse, insisted Khatib. Tell me, during the last five years in Jerusalem, what riots do we have in this area? Clearly unfamiliar with having their positions challenged, Khatib and his aide abruptly ended the interview when it was suggested that perhaps the lack of violence over the past five years was due to the Israeli measures.With reporting by Michael Schneider and Nicole Jansezian.
WELL HAL AGREES WITH ME I SEE, HE THINKS OBAMA IS A FORERUNNER OF THE ANTICHRIST (EU WORLD DICTATOR) ALSO.
How Obama prepped world for the Antichrist August 01, 2008
1:00 am Eastern 2008 By Hal Lindsay
Obama's World Tour was planned as the high point of his campaign, with the candidate retracing the footsteps of great presidents of the past, hobnobbing with world leaders and as one pundit put it, making the Europeans love us again.Obama drew huge crowds in Berlin where he addressed them, oddly enough, as fellow citizens of the world. It was a typically flowery Obama speech, but it hit an unexpectedly sour note when he dramatically intoned:People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time. ... With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.Pundits on both sides are trying to sort it out. It's a great speech, like I said, if somebody is running for president of the world, but it was too much, even for a compliant and Obama-friendly press corps.The politically progressive newspaper of record, the Washington Post nicknamed Obama the presumptuous nominee after his European performance.The Boston Globe's Boston.com ran a piece in its Political Intelligence section called the Obama Arrogance Watch. David Letterman did one of his signature Top 10 skits entitled, Top Ten Signs Obama is Overconfident, leading off with a proposed bill to change Oklahoma to Oklabama.The London Sunday Times Online ran a brilliant satire piece called He ventured forth to bring light into the world.
A sample paragraph: When he was 12 years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organization with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope? Before wrapping up his tour, Obama stopped by to address a gathering of minority journalists in Hawaii, where he once again apologized for what a rotten place America either used to be, or still is. It is hard to tell from his comment, I personally would want to see our tragic history, or the tragic elements of our history, acknowledged.(Wouldn't anybody besides me personally like to see somebody in the White House who doesn't think America needs apologizing for?)Barack has apologized to the French and Germans for Americans who are too ignorant to learn their language before embarking on their once-in-a-lifetime two-week visit abroad.He's apologized for the simple Midwestern rednecks who, forced to cling to religion and guns to justify their antipathy, just can't help themselves.There was a time when it was considered unpatriotic to be ashamed of America, but that time is long past. Being proud of America means you are probably a Bush-loving neoconservative, so the only sure way to prevent such misidentification is to apologize for it at every opportunity.
America has never faced so many different crises at the same time in living memory. The war with al-Qaida and Islamic terror, the Iran crisis, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, the rising price of oil, the falling dollar, enemy acronyms like OPEC, NAM, OIC, U.N. ... Obama is correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him – a messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib and seemingly holding all the answers to all the world's questions.
And the Bible says that such a leader will soon make his appearance on the scene. It won't be Barack Obama, but Obama's world tour provided a foretaste of the reception he can expect to receive.He will probably also stand in some European capital, addressing the people of the world and telling them that he is the one that they have been waiting for. And he can expect as wildly enthusiastic a greeting as Obama got in Berlin.The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance.
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).
JOHN BOLTON ON OLMERTS RESIGNATION
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9055912&ch=4226720&src=news
OLMERT TO SEPT DOWN IN SEPTEMBER
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9051324&ch=4226714&src=news
Israel's foreign minister has edge in party race By Adam Entous AUG 1,08
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has a clear edge in the Kadima party race to replace scandal-hit Ehud Olmert, polls showed on Friday, but officials questioned her ability to form a coalition and become prime minister. Two of the three polls published in major Israeli newspapers also showed Livni running nearly neck-and-neck with rightist Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu should snap parliamentary elections be called.
Olmert threw Israel into political turmoil that could hamstring Middle East peacemaking by announcing on Wednesday that he would stand down as premier after a September 17 Kadima leadership contest.Israeli police questioned Olmert for three hours on Friday over allegations he took bribes from an American businessman and made duplicate claims for travel expenses when he was trade minister and mayor of Jerusalem. Police plan to question Olmert again in the near future, officials said.Olmert, who has denied any wrongdoing, would remain caretaker prime minister until his successor builds a new coalition government, a process that could take months.That will give him some time to continue peace talks with the Palestinians and indirect negotiations with Syria, but politicians and analysts said he would lack the mandate to make commitments that would be honored by his successor.Polls in all three major newspapers showed Livni, a former intelligence agent, with a wide lead of 8-18 percentage points over her closest Kadima rival, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz.
EARLY ELECTIONS
Kadima officials questioned the ability of Livni, Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, to build a coalition between the country's fractious parties, increasing the chances of early parliamentary elections.Mofaz, a former defence chief known for his tough tactics in crushing a Palestinian uprising, may have an easier time winning over the ultra-Orthodox Shas party to secure the 61 seats needed in parliament to form a stable government, they said.One top Kadima official said he feared the battle to succeed Olmert will tear Kadima to apart.Speaking in Washington, Mofaz said peace talks with Syria should continue, without preconditions, after Olmert steps down.Former prime minister Netanyahu, a vocal critic of Olmert's peace moves, could try to thwart Kadima's plans to form the next government by mustering a majority in parliament, either to form his own coalition or to move up elections scheduled for 2010.But two surveys published on Friday suggested Netanyahu would face a tighter-than-expected race if Kadima picks Livni as its new leader.A poll in the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper showed Netanyahu would win 30 seats over Livni's 29. Left-leaning Haaretz had Livni on 26 seats to Netanyahu's 25.Maariv showed Netanyahu clearly ahead, with Likud winning 33 seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament, and Kadima taking 20.Defence Minister Ehud Barak, the Labor Party leader, is widely seen as backing Livni, the most powerful woman in Israeli politics since Prime Minister Golda Meir in the 1970s.In a statement on Friday, he said Labor would consider joining a new coalition but added: If we need to go to elections, then we will be ready.(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Dan Williams in Washington; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Israel: Agriculture trade deal with EU a step closer
Brussels, 1 August (AKI) - The European Union and Israel on Friday agreed in principle to further open up their food markets to one another's products, officials in Brussels announced. The European Commission said it has reached a preliminary agreement with Israel to further liberalise trade in agricultural products, fish and fishery products.It described the deal as balanced and beneficial to both sides.Around 95 percent of EU-Israeli trade in processed agricultural products is already fully liberalised, the commission said.For agricultural, fish and fishery products, substantial progress was made towards full liberalisation of trade, it said in a statement.Regarding more sensitive agricultural products such as fruit and vegetables and sugar, improved market access was achieved for both sides, the statement added. The new agreement raises quotas and lowers tariffs on a range of products including citrus fruits, grapes and goose liver, yoghurt and soya oil.The agreement still has to be formally approved by both sides. Once adopted, the agreement will create new trade opportunities for EU exporters in a large range of products that could not previously reach the Israeli markets, the statement said. Israel's major export sectors will benefit from further liberalisation and better market access.
EU IN NO RUSH FOR IRAN'S REPLY TO NUCLEAR OFFER: DIPLOMAT
Received Friday, 1 August 2008 15:34:00 GMT
BRUSSELS, Aug 1, 2008 (AFP) - The European Union is in no rush for Iran's response in the next 24 hours to an international offer of incentives for a freeze on its nuclear activities, an EU diplomat said Friday.There's no real limit, said the diplomat on condition of anonymity shortly after Washington set the weekend as a deadline to reply to the offer. We're in no rush to have an a response in the next 24 hours.We hope to have a clear answer either today or tomorrow. But if it comes Monday what difference does it make, the diplomat added.After a meeting with Iran's negotiator in Geneva, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana asked for a response in two weeks, but if it's in 16 days instead of 14 it's not a problem. We are not obsessed with a date.The package of incentives, drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, offers Tehran technology and negotiations if it suspends uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons.
EU Trains PA Police Middle East Newsline August 01, 2008
RAMALLAH [MENL] -- The European Union has begun another training course ofPalestinian Authority police officers. The EU Police Mission to Palestine, or EUPOL, began its 11th trainingmission in Jericho on July 29. Officials said the EU was instructing 53officers in charge of law enforcement units across the West Bank at theJericho Training Center.This represents a clear commitment by the EU to long term enhancementof the entire Palestinian criminal justice system, key to establishing lawand order for Palestinians, EUPOL director Colin Smith said.
Iran heading to nuclear breakthrough: Mofaz By Dan Williams and Susan Cornwell AUG 1,08
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran is heading toward a major breakthrough in its nuclear program, an Israeli official said on Friday, as the White House warned Iran could face new sanctions if it ignores an international freeze offer. As soon as 2010 (Iran) will have the option to reach (uranium production) at military levels, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told an audience in Washington, adding that this would be an unacceptable development.Oil prices rose $4 in early Friday trade after the warning by Mofaz stirred concerns of a possible attack on the OPEC nation that would disrupt supplies.There has been speculation that either the United States or Israel could attack Iran's nuclear facilities, though both have said force should be a last recourse.The West accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian energy program; Iran denies it, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this week that Iran would press ahead on its nuclear path.Western powers gave Iran two weeks from July 19 to respond to their offer to hold off on imposing more U.N. sanctions on Iran if Tehran would freeze any expansion of its nuclear work.The White House said on Friday that negative consequences await if the Iranians don't respond positively. The informal deadline is this Saturday.That would possibly come in the form of sanctions, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.The United Nations has already imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran.Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister and contender to replace outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, emphasized that any new sanctions should be imposed this year, instead of allowing the Iranians to stall for time past U.S. presidential elections in November.We must insist on Iran meeting the timetable set, he said in a speech to the Washington Institute. The red line should be that there is no uranium enrichment on Iranian soil.It is a race against time and time is winning, the Iranian-born Mofaz warned. But he also said he supported diplomacy and spoke of other options as last resort.
Mofaz told reporters that he had handed over to the U.S. government a list of Israeli proposals for new sanctions. These would affect Iranian leaders and others individuals of influence, as well as the general populace.Asked whether there had been any discussion with the Americans of possible U.S. green lights for Israeli military action against Iran, Mofaz said: I cannot answer the question, because it was not raised in our dialogue.U.S. officials say they are not sure what to expect from the Iranians this weekend, and that they would want to consult with the other major powers behind the offer about Iran's response, or lack of it. Those countries are Russia, China, Germany, France, and Britain.The Iranians sent mixed messages this week and it's really hard to tell what the bottom line is. And so we'll just need to wait and see if they do respond formally, Perino said.Reuters asked Mofaz whether he worried about losing U.S. support when climbing gasoline prices were often blamed on Mideast turmoil.The existence of the state of Israel is more important than the price of gas or oil, he replied. (Additional reporting by David Alexander in Kennebunkport, Maine, Editing by Anthony Boadle)
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Official: Olmert to give Palestinians state before quitting Prime minister plans to accelerate negotiations to reach deal on paper by next month August 01, 2008 1:00 am Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Palestinian Authority he intends to accelerate negotiations the next few weeks to reach a deal on paper outlining a Palestinian state before he steps down from office next month, a top PA negotiator told WND.
Papers are very important. It puts limits on the new prime minister. For example, the weak point of Israeli-Syrian negotiations are papers signed by former prime ministers that now must be abided during current negotiations, said the PA negotiator, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity.Olmert told us his goal is to reach an agreement on paper, the negotiator said.He said the agreement will likely encompass understandings regarding the transfer of much of the West Bank to the Palestinians. He said he hopes the issue of Jerusalem is broached but that it might not be mentioned on paper beyond a declaration of agreement to negotiate further.Sending political shockwaves through the country, Olmert yesterday announced he will resign from office after his Kadima party holds internal elections next month to choose a new leader. He said he is stepping down due to a criminal investigation, described by police officials as serious, in which he is accused of corruption and financial improprieties.But Olmert officials have been telling reporters here the prime minister intends to continue negotiating with the PA as long as he remains in office.One Olmert official told the Haaretz daily newspaper the prime minister intends to reach an agreement with the Palestinians during the time he has left.Any agreement he reaches with the Palestinians won't be a personal agreement, and he will make sure that the (new) Kadima leadership is briefed and on board, the official added.
For his part, PA President Mahmoud Abbas' announced he would negotiate with any Israeli leader and that Olmert's departure shouldn't affect negotiations started at last November's U.S.-backed Annapolis conference, which seek to create a Palestinian state by January.Not everyone in Olmert's party was happy with the continued talks.Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, considered a frontrunner for the Kadima leadership primary, said it would be wrong to reach agreements with the Palestinians on the core issues of the conflict while Olmert's government is teetering.At this time of change in the government, we must not reach agreements on the core issues in negotiations with the Palestinians, Mofaz said. Anything that is decided now is very problematic, because it is happening before the change in the government and against the background of instability on the Palestinian side.
Turmoil ahead as Israeli PM prepares to go by Patrick Moser
Fri Aug 1, 12:27 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel was bracing on Thursday for weeks of political turmoil after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's shock announcement that he would step down in September, casting a shadow over Middle East peacemaking. Wednesday's announcement opened the way for political jockeying inside Olmert's centrist Kadima party, which is scheduled to hold a leadership vote on September 17, and renewed calls for snap general elections.Everyone in this government is responsible for a string of failures. We must let the people decide through new elections, right-wing opposition leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told public radio.
Opinion polls indicate that the Likud leader is a favourite to replace the embattled Olmert, whose time in office since early 2006 has been dogged by a string of corruption allegations and dismal popularity ratings.The End of Olmert's Era, said the front page of the Maariv newspaper, while the left-leaning Haaretz bluntly declared: Olmert failed in war and failed in peace.Olmert's decision raised questions over the next steps in the hobbled peace process with the Palestinians, revived at a US conference in November, and with recently launched indirect talks with longtime foe Syria.But US President George W. Bush's administration, which has played a key role in the negotiations with the Palestinians, said it would continue to push for a solution to the decades-old conflict by the end of the year.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in Tunisia he would work with any prime minister elected in Israel, but privately Palestinian negotiators said Olmert had distinguished himself during the recent talks.The negotiations with Olmert have been the most important since 1991, one negotiator who asked not to be named told AFP. The Israelis listened to us and discussed the issues.
Another member of the Palestinian negotiating team, Mohammed Ashtiyah, said the prime minister was serious and involved.Olmert and Abbas have met 15 times in the past 12 months.Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said the Palestinian Authority does not think that peace talks will be hit by Olmert's decision.We are not worried by the change in Israeli prime minister because we know that Israel is seriously engaged to remain involved in the negotiation process with the Palestinians, he told a news conference in Madrid.Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, said Olmert's departure signalled the demise of the peace talks which the Islamist movement, pledged to Israel's destruction, had always rejected.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called Olmert's resignation a huge blow to the Palestinian Authority, which he said had hitched its fate to the possibility of achieving an agreement by the end of the year.Olmert's surprise announcement was the crescendo of a political storm unleashed when police launched a probe in May over suspicions he had accepted large sums of money from US financier Morris Talansky to fund political campaigns and a lavish lifestyle in the 13 years before he became premier.He was to be questioned by police in Jerusalem on Friday for the fourth time since May. The interview is expected to focus on the Olmert tours affair in which he is alleged to have billed the same foreign trips several times over.I have made mistakes and I regret it, Olmert said in a televised address from his official residence in Jerusalem as he announced he would step down after the Kadima leadership election. I will quit my duties in an honourable, just and responsible manner, as I have acted throughout my mandate. I will then prove my innocence.During his time in office, Olmert also came under pressure over the devastating Lebanon war in 2006 which was widely perceived as a failure in Israel. The Olmert who spoke yesterday from the garden of his compound in Jerusalem was a crushed and battered man, tainted by allegations, lacking public trust or a sympathetic ear, Haaretz said. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hawkish Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz are seen as the top contenders to take the helm of Kadima, and both have said they favour forming a national unity government. But Netanyahu said he had no intention of reaching any deal with Kadima regardless of its new leader. This government has finished its mission, irrespective of who will head Kadima, said Netanyahu, who served as prime minister between 1996 and 1999.
WORLD TERRORISM
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Fatah frees Hamas detainees in West Bank: official AUG 23,08
NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) - Fatah security forces of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday released several Hamas militants arrested in the West Bank in recent days, a Palestinian official said. Four Hamas militants, including Mohammed Ghazal, a member of the Hamas leadership in the West Bank, have been released on Abbas's orders, the official said, adding that more would be freed later.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zohri said the move was not enough.
It is insufficient because around 200 Hamas members have been arrested in the past few days and we expect these political prisoners to be released, Abu Zohri told AFP in Gaza City.The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday that Abbas had ordered the release of all the Hamas militants detained by Fatah security forces recently.The arrests were part of a tit-for-tat campaign after five members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, and a little girl were killed a week ago by a bomb in the Gaza Strip.Hamas blamed Abbas's supporters and began a massive crackdown across Gaza, arresting more than 300 people, mostly Fatah members.Fatah denied involvement in the blast but later Abbas' security forces retaliated by arresting dozens of Hamas members in the West Bank.The two main Palestinian factions have been deeply divided since Hamas expelled Abbas's security forces from Gaza in a week of bloody street battles in June 2007, cleaving the territories into rival entities.Both sides have meanwhile insisted that the latest arrests were not politically motivated.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WATER FOUND ON MARS
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9080236&ch=4226722&src=news
NASA Now Looking for Life's Building Blocks on Mars Andrea Thompson Senior Writer SPACE.com Fri Aug 1, 12:32 PM ET
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander may have found water ice on the red planet, but it still has a lot of work left to do to answer the question that has been on scientists' minds for decades: Has Mars ever been capable of harboring life? Phoenix scientists announced yesterday that the mission finally confirmed the presence of subsurface water ice in the north polar regions of Mars — first detected by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2002 — about two months after touching down on the Martian surface on May 25.The lander is now analyzing the ice to see if it was ever a liquid and if it contains organic materials, the building blocks of life.The ice, collected from below the surface at the lander's site in the Martian arctic, could have acted like a freezer, protecting any organics that may have formed there.We have an environment where organics could be preserved, said mission scientist William Boynton of the University of Arizona.The detection of organics on Mars would not necessarily mean there is life. It would just mean that carbon and other molecules that make up life as we know it were present. Organics would be the home run or the grand slam of the mission, said Bruce Jakosky, a geologist at the University of Colorado who is not affiliated with the mission. However, if they don't find organics, that doesn't mean that there wasn't life on Mars, Jakosky said. Other missions, planned and unplanned, will keep the search alive.
Liquid water
The confirmation of the Odyssey ice observations was a key goal of the $420 million Phoenix mission, but only the first of several steps in characterizing the dirt and ice layer of Mars' Vastitas Borealis region to determine whether it may once have been habitable at some point in the planet's past.I see this as a step along the way of Phoenix getting to its major science results, Jakosky said. By itself, that's not a major result.One of those steps is determining whether the water ice ever existed in a liquid form, said Phoenix robotic arm co-investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis — liquid water being a key resource for life as we know it.Phoenix will look for signs of ancient liquid water by heating up samples of the icy dirt mixture in the tiny ovens of its Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which can analyze the vapors given off by the heated samples to analyze their composition.TEGA has already begun heating up the sample that confirmed that the rock-hard layer beneath the surface dirt was indeed water ice — when ice begins to melt, it takes more heat to raise the temperature of the sample. Over the course of the next week, TEGA will gradually heat the sample all the way up to 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).As the sample is heated, any hydrated minerals, or those that likely formed in the presence of liquid water, show themselves as they break apart and the signature of their water is detected by the instrument, explained Boynton, a TEGA co-investigator.Finding hydrated minerals, such as carbonates, sulfates or clays, would indicate that liquid water once permeated the Martian regolith where Phoenix now sits, Arvidson said in a telephone interview last night.This water would not have flowed as rivers or streams, as it once likely did closer to Mars' equator, where hydrated salts have already been found by NASA orbiters and rovers, but would have percolated through the dirt layer as Mars' orbital motions tipped the northern parts of the planet toward the sun, warming them up, Arvidson added.
The stuff of life
The other big signature Phoenix will look for as the mission continues and the probe's ovens heat up dirt samples will be organic molecules, the building blocks of life.Finding organics would really change our way of thinking, Boynton said.But so far, organic molecules haven't shown up on Mars. When the Viking landers heated up dirt samples in the 1970s, there were really no organic molecules at all, Boynton said.But dirt near the Martian equator faces strong oxidizing pressures, which can destroy organics, Boynton added, which is why Phoenix is looking for them farther north.Organics have proven elusive to Phoenix so far; the first dirt sample analyzed by TEGA, taken from the surface, found no sign of them. But this wasn't much of a surprise to mission scientists.
We didn't really expect to find them in the surface soils, because the surface is subjected to the same oxidizing pressure as the equatorial regions, Boynton told SPACE.com.TEGA will keep looking for signs of organics in subsequent samples taken closer to the ice layer, he added.If Phoenix doesn't find organics, the mission won't be a flop, Jakosky said, because it still gives scientists valuable information about the northern region. Whatever they find is exciting, he said.If it does detect organics though, mission scientists will be cautious about interpreting the findings, Boynton said. They would assume first that any organics could be contamination brought with the spacecraft from Earth. Mission scientists will check with a blank brought from Earth to determine whether or not any organics discovered are terrestrial stowaways.
Even if the blank shows that the organics came from the Martian soil, they still may not be native, Boynton said, since the same organic-bearing meteorites that strike Earth strike Mars as well. Determining the ultimate origin of any organics would likely take bringing back a sample to Earth, a project that both NASA and the European Space Agency are working toward.And organics don't on their own equal life. Just because there are organic compounds, doesn't mean that that's life, said Kim Seelos, a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University.
Future missions
Whether or not Phoenix finds signs of organics, it won't be the last time that NASA looks for them on Mars. NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), set to launch in 2009, will pick up where the 1970s Viking missions left off, exploring the regions closer to the equator for signs of them.MSL will be better equipped than Viking, and even Phoenix, to detect organics in dirt samples, with more powerful and sensitive equipment, as well as the ability to roam around.While life is teeming on Earth, Arvidson said, it may not have been so dense on Mars — if it ever existed — perhaps only forming in small pockets. Since Phoenix, as a lander, stays put by definition, it can only explore the patch of ground in its immediate vicinity.However, any organics detected by MSL would have formed in a much more ancient period of Mars' history because the landscape near Mars' equator formed billions of years ago. The surface that Phoenix is exploring is much younger, only tens of millions of years old.For now, Phoenix is the only chance of finding organics on this region of Mars, since no future missions in the works now are planned to return to the frozen northern reaches. To get another mission back there to look the region in greater detail, it would probably take finding organics, Boynton said.But Phoenix isn't the last gasp, or MSL isn't the last gasp to answering the question of whether life ever existed on Mars, Jakosky said.The evidence available to scientists now suggests that Mars could have harbored life, it's just a matter of finding a spot that preserves the signs of it, he added. And Phoenix's landing site, or even MSL's, may not be the ideal spot to go and look for those signs, whether by sending another rover or staging a mission to return a sample to Earth.There are plenty of other environments on Mars where Jakosky would like to look for signs of life. While he can't point to a particular spot, there is evidence that Mars once had features that could have supported life, including ancient lake beds, ancient highlands where evidence suggests that water existed for long periods of time, and hot springs — places like Yellowstone, as Jakosky describes them.Some scientists, such as Seelos, doubt that clear evidence of Martian life itself will ever be found because any life would have likely been microbial, which is not easily preserved as fossils. But Jakosky sees this as an unnecessarily pessimistic view, because ancient microbes have been preserved in some places on Earth.But it could be awhile before scientists ever answer the question of life on Earth because they currently understand so little about the history and geology of Mars, Jakosky said.We don't know the answer and I don't even know how to put odds on when and whether they will find the answer, Jakosky said.His advice is to keep using missions like Phoenix, MSL, and eventually a sample return mission to build our knowledge of Mars, as we have built the knowledge of our own planet's past.
New Images: Phoenix on Mars!
Original Story: NASA Now Looking for Life's Building Blocks on Mars
Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures, Space Videos, Space Image of the Day, Hot Topics, Top 10s, Multimedia, Trivia, Voting and Amazing Images. Follow the latest developments in the search for life in our universe in our SETI: Search for Life section. Join the community, sign up for our free daily email newsletter, listen to our Podcasts, check out our RSS feeds and other Reader Favorites today!
Man accused of beheading victim on Greyhound bus appears in Manitoba court By The Canadian Press AUG 1,08
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. - The man accused in the beheading of a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba uttered not a word when he made his first court appearance Friday. Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton, his feet shackled, shuffled into a courtroom in Portage la Prairie, Man., with his head bowed. He did not make eye contact with anyone the entire time he was before the judge. He would not even reply when the judge asked him if he was going to get a lawyer, and only nodded slightly when asked whether he was exercising his right not to speak. The Crown asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said he wanted to give Li a chance to talk to a lawyer about that. It's early and I think the judge just wants to respect his rights to ... speak to counsel and he's giving him that opportunity, Crown prosecutor Larry Hodgson said outside court. I don't think it will be very long that they'll allow him to do that.Hodgson said if Li doesn't get his own lawyer, the court could appoint one or the case could proceed anyway. Li's next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday in Portage la Prairie. Li is charged with second-degree murder in the gruesome slaying of Tim McLean, 22, on a Greyhound bus that was travelling from Edmonton to Winnipeg. Police have not identified the victim, but friends say it was McLean. Passengers say the young man was stabbed repeatedly before he was beheaded and his body carved up. Police have only confirmed that a man was stabbed. Some passengers also described McLean's attacker as a big man who weighed at least 200 pounds. The man who appeared in court Friday wearing a grey T-shirt and prisoner's vest appeared to be about five-foot-eight or nine with a stocky build. Hodgson couldn't offer many details about Li.
I know he was from Edmonton. I don't know why he was on the bus. That's still under investigation.The RCMP said Li has no known criminal record. Meanwhile, tributes to the victim were pouring into social networking and media websites. A Facebook website called R.I.P. Tim quickly sprang up after news of the attack. I can't believe this is happening, wrote Leah Dryburgh of Winnipeg. Tim, you were the best guy ever. You didn't deserve this at all.
Friends described McLean as a quiet, easy-going carnival worker who was heading home to Winnipeg after a job in Edmonton.
FAMINE
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
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
BIG PAYDAY FOR BIG OIL
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9063986&ch=4226720&src=news
OIL PROFITS ONLY HALF THE STORY
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9068055&ch=4226720&src=news
Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all By JOHN PORRETTO, AP Business Writer AUG 1,08
HOUSTON - Oil giants Chevron Corp. and Total SA wrapped up a string of gargantuan, record-breaking earnings reports Friday, a stretch in which six of the major international oil companies topped $50 billion in combined profit for the first time. While the profits of unparalleled size have brought withering criticism from Washington and disgust from consumers across the country, very few were surprised. Crude prices during the second quarter were nearly double what they were a year ago.Chevron said Friday its second-quarter profit rose 11 percent to a record $5.98 billion, despite losing money on the refining side of the business.The San Ramon, Calif.-based company said net income for the three months ended June 30 amounted to $2.90 per share, versus income of $5.38 billion, or $2.52 per share, a year earlier.Revenue rose significantly to $82.9 billion from $56.1 billion a year ago.But results for the second-largest U.S. oil company missed Wall Street forecasts and shares fell slightly in early afternoon trading. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of $3.03 per share on revenue of $92.41 billion.Like its competitors, Chevron made the bulk of its money at its exploration and production arm, also known as the upstream, where income nearly doubled from a year ago to $7.25 billion.Chevron said the average sales price for crude and natural gas liquids was $109 a barrel in the quarter, up from $57 a barrel in the year-earlier period.In addition to Chevron, soaring commodity prices led to record quarters for Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Exxon Mobil stood apart even from this crowd, logging the largest ever quarterly operating profit for a U.S. company. Barring companies that made huge profits on one-time gains like bankruptcy settlements and spin-offs, Exxon Mobil holds the top 10 records for biggest U.S. quarterly earnings.
French energy company Total SA said Friday its profit climbed 38.7 percent in the second quarter to $7.38 billion. Quarterly sales rose 23 percent to $75.25 billion.Altogether, the profits of the six companies jumped more than 40 percent in the second quarter to $51.5 billion, the first time big Western oil companies have ever reached that level.Total's earnings were at the top end of analysts' expectations.Unlike some other oil majors, Total reported production growth of 1.3 percent in the second quarter.Also Friday, Norway's state-controlled StatoilHydro ASA reported a 37 percent rise in second-quarter net profits to $3.7 billion.At Chevron, the company division that refines and sells gasoline actually swung to a loss of $734 million in the quarter after earning $1.3 billion a year ago. The culprit: those same crude prices that lifted upstream earnings.Like its peers, Chevron doesn't produce enough oil on its own to feed its refineries, forcing it to buy some on the open market. And it wasn't able to raise the price of gasoline and other products fast enough to recover its own rising costs for oil.
Chevron also said that planned downtime at some refineries contributed to the loss.The higher cost of crude oil used in the refining process was not fully recovered in the price of gasoline and other refined products, said Chairman and CEO Dave O'Reilly. As a result, our downstream operations incurred a loss in the second quarter, with most of the loss taking place in the United States.
Chevron said overall production in the quarter fell about 3 percent from a year ago, hurt in part by production-sharing contracts. However, on a conference call with analysts Friday, company officials said project startups will increase production in the second half of 2008 and the company should meet or exceed its full-year volume target. Chevron shares slipped 71 cents in afternoon trading to $83.85. They've traded in a range of $76.40 to $104.63 in the past year. Total shares fell 1.2 percent to 48.79 euros ($75.95) in Paris. Associated Press Writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
GM posts $15.5 billion loss as sales sputter Fri Aug 1, 9:39AM By Kevin Krolicki and David Bailey
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp posted a $15.5 billion quarterly loss on Friday, as North American sales dropped by 20 percent and plunging prices for SUVs prompted deep charges for its auto finance business.GM shares tumbled 6 percent in reaction to the automaker's announcement of the deeper-than-expected loss, the third-largest quarterly loss in its history.The No. 1 U.S. automaker also burned through $3.6 billion in cash in the quarter as it reduced inventory of slower-selling vehicles in its slumping home market.GM ended the second quarter with $21 billion in cash and $5 billion in credit facilities. It said it had provided notice in July that it would draw down $1 billion under a secured revolving loan facility.The struggling automaker's cash position has become an increasing concern for investors and analysts, who have begun to question whether and when GM's liquidity could fall below the levels needed to run its cash-hungry global operations.
Chief Financial Officer Ray Young said GM's second-quarter cash position was slightly better than the automaker had forecast and said GM was on track with a plan to free up $15 billion in liquidity through 2009 with a combination of cost-cutting, asset sales and new borrowing.Charges for a planned reduction of about 15 percent of GM's salaried work force in the United States and Canada will hit third-quarter results, Young said.From my perspective, we are going to get the second quarter behind us and just move ahead with our restructuring and liquidity plans that we announced over the last 60 days, Young told reporters.Erich Merkle, an automotive consultant with accounting and consulting firm Crowe Chizek, said GM's loss underscored the need for it to shed more brands outside Chevrolet and Cadillac, a step the automaker has so far resisted.
Do they have the resources to make all those different divisions competitive at the same time? I don't think so, Merkle said. You have got to take a hard look at GMC, Saturn, Buick, Pontiac -- anything really outside of Chevrolet and Cadillac.
LOSS DEEPER THAN ESTIMATES
GM's net loss was equal to $27.33 per share, compared with a profit of $891 million, or $1.56 per share a year earlier, reflecting a sharp drop in demand for the light trucks that represent about 60 percent of its sales.GM took $9.1 billion in charges against second-quarter results, including $3.3 billion for buyouts of U.S. factory workers, $2.8 billion for its exposure to bankrupt former parts unit Delphi Corp.Revenue fell to $38.2 billion from $46.7 billion.
Excluding charges, GM posted a loss of $6.3 billion, or $11.21 per share. The loss on that basis was more than four times Wall Street expectations for a loss of $2.67 per share, as tracked by Reuters Estimates.After losses totaling $51 billion over the previous three years, and a $3.25 billion loss in the first quarter, GM faced a battery of problems in the second quarter, including a slide in U.S. sales that sent its shares to a 54-year low.GM's global auto sales dropped 5 percent and it lost $4 billion on its auto operations before charges in the second quarter as record gas prices sank demand for trucks and SUVs.The automaker was also hit by some $2 billion in pretax losses from a strike by the United Auto Workers union at a key supplier and some of its own plants during the quarter.Then the market for financing leases on big SUVs collapsed, saddling both GM and its smaller rival Ford Motor Co with large losses.On Thursday, GMAC LLC, GM's former financing arm, was forced to write down the value of the GM's lease contracts because of the slumping value of the carmaker's big SUVs.Under lease contracts, automakers and their finance companies rent vehicles to consumers and sell the used vehicles when the leases expire at wholesale auctions.But the collapse in demand for SUVs this year has been accompanied by a steep drop in their resale value as consumers flock to more fuel-efficient passenger cars.
The resulting drop in resale values on SUVs prompted a $717 million charge by GMAC and bigger subsidies by GM, which retains 49 percent of the finance company after spinning off the remainder to Cerberus Capital Management.GM said declining lease values at GMAC had depressed its second-quarter results by $2 billion.Shares in GM touched a 54-year low in July and remain down over 55 percent since the start of the year. GM bonds also hit a record low on Thursday after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded GM to B-minus and warned the automaker was on track to burn through roughly $16 billion this year.GM has not given a timetable for returning to profitability. Many analysts now expect that a substantial recovery for U.S. auto sales will not come until 2010.(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Derek Caney, Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman)
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
SALMONELLA BREAKTHROUGH
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9062635&ch=4226723&src=news
CONGRESS TAKES CLOSER LOOK AT FOOD SAFETY
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=9067646&src=news
Mexico criticizes US salmonella findings By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 31, 7:14 PM ET
MEXICO CITY - Mexican agriculture officials said Thursday that U.S. colleagues hunting for the source of a salmonella outbreak are rushing to a conclusion about finding the strain at a Mexican pepper farm. The salmonella sample that one U.S. official called a smoking gun was taken from a water tank that had not been used for more than two months to irrigate crops, said the director of Mexico's Farm Food Quality Service, Enrique Sanchez.Sanchez told a news conference on Thursday that the tank held rain water and suggested that roaming cattle or other factors could have recently contaminated the tank with the same strain of salmonella that has sickened 1,300 people in the United States since June.On Wednesday, Dr. David Acheson, the food safety chief for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, described the finding of the salmonella strain at a farm in the northern state of Nuevo Leon as a key breakthrough in the case.We have a smoking gun, it appears, said Dr. Lonnie King, who directs the center for food-borne illnesses at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sanchez said the U.S. officials totally lacked scientific evidence to make such statements and said they had broken a confidentiality agreement by announcing findings before their investigation is complete.We're eating this same produce in Mexico and we haven't had any problems, Sanchez said.
He suggested the FDA officials confused the source of the samples because the tainted water was found on a farm in the Tamaulipas state municipality of Hidalgo — not in Nuevo Leon as the FDA reported.The FDA issued a statement later Thursday saying it was surprised and disappointed the Mexican response.We are confident of our findings, the statement said. FDA's analytical methods are publicly available.Miguel Angel Toscano of Mexico's Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks said Mexican investigators also took samples from the soil, water and vegetables the FDA had tested and found salmonella in some of the samples taken in Tamaulipas. But he said more tests need to be done to determine the strain.Previously, the FDA had traced a contaminated jalapeno pepper to another farm in Tamaulipas. Both farms shipped through a packing facility in Nuevo Leon, raising the possibility that contamination could have occurred there.The FDA has advised consumers to avoid raw serrano and jalapeno peppers from Mexico and any foods that contain them.Sanchez said Mexico produces 2.4 million tons of peppers per year but exports only 12,000 tons are exported fresh to the United States. Another 267,000 tons of canned or bottled peppers are sent to the U.S. each year, he said.He said pepper exports have not stopped, but U.S. authorities have been taking samples from shipments at the border and holding them up for up to a week until waiting for results.Sanchez said officials have not yet determined the scale of the warning's impact on Mexico's pepper industry.Associated Press writer Olga R. Rodriguez contributed to this report.
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU WorldNetDaily Son of top Hamas leader converts to Christianity I hope my father and family open their eyes to Jesus and the Kingdom of God July 31, 2008 1:35 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily
Sheik Hassan Yousef (Passia.org)
JERUSALEM – The son of one of the most popular leaders in the Hamas terrorist organization has moved to the U.S. and converted to Christianity, it has emerged.In an exclusive interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Masab Yousuf, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheik Hassan Yousef, slammed Hamas, praised Israel and said he hoped his terrorist father will open his eyes to Jesus and to Christianity.I know that I'm endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he'll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I'll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God, Masab said.Masab said he previously aided his father with Hamas activities, but he now has affection for Israel and laments Hamas.Send regards to Israel, I miss it. I respect Israel and admire it as a country, he says.You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Muhammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death.Masab slammed Palestinian society as an entire society [that] sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheiks tell their students about the heroism of the shaheeds.Masab's father is considered the most popular Hamas figure in the West Bank. He is serving a sentence in Israel for planning or involvement in multiple terror attacks, including an infamous 2002 suicide bombing in the school cafeteria of Jerusalem's Hebrew University in which nine students and staff members were killed.In a statement to the Palestinian Maan news agency, Masab's brother, Suhaib, strongly denied that Masab converted to Christianity.But Haaretz stood by its story. The newspaper said it sent a correspondent to the U.S., who met with Masab for a detailed, in-person interview.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Moderate quake hits southwest China, 231 hurt AUG 1,08
BEIJING (AFP) - A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit southwest China on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, close to the area devastated by a massive tremor in May that left nearly 70,000 dead.Chinese state media quoted local officials as saying that 231 people were hurt in the quake, which struck 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of Mianyang, which was severely hit by the 8.0-magnitude quake on May 12.The tremor, which hit at 4:32 pm (0832 GMT), struck not far from an area hit by three quakes one week ago that killed one person and injured at least 17.Friday's quake caused severe landslides and sent tonnes of rock tumbling down mountainsides in the north of Sichuan province on a route that leads to Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou, two popular tourist spots, Xinhua news agency said.Along that route in Pingwu County, 540 homes were destroyed and 2,450 others damaged, local press officer Meng Xiancai told Xinhua.Residents in the area ran out into the road in panic after the quake, the report said.I thought another May 12 earthquake occurred, a person identified only by the surname Zhang told Xinhua.Many residents said they were too scared to return home and would spend the night outdoors, the report said.
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.
MEMORABLE 2008 SEVERE WEATHER SEASON
http://news.yahoo.com/s/wcom/20080801/we_wcom/memorable2008_severe_weather_season
Summertime: heat and storms Kevin Roth
Thu Jul 31, 6:06 PM ET
Midwest
A strong disturbance rolls out of the Upper Midwest through the lower Great Lakes and Ohio Valley producing strong and severe thunderstorms Friday. Damaging wind and hail are the primary threats from the thunderstorms, but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. The activity should move along a stalled boundary between a building heat wave over the eastern Plains and more pleasant temperatures over the Great Lakes. Over the weekend that boundary should slowly lift northeastward causing the heat wave to expand into the middle Mississippi Valley. High temperatures should climb into the upper 90s to lower 100s with heat indices topping 110 degrees from the western Ohio Valley southwest to eastern Kansas, including St. Louis and Kansas City, through early next week. Another dangerous element to this heat wave will be the overnight temperatures. In the bigger urban areas like St. Louis and Kansas City temperatures may not dip below the 80 degree mark Saturday night, Sunday night and possibly Monday night.
Northeast
Most of the Northeast will be between systems allowing for a mostly sunny and very warm Friday. Afternoon showers and thunderstorms are likely across northern New England, far northeastern New York state, southwestern New York state and western Pennsylvania. The storms to the north could contain some small hail and briefly gusty winds. Thunderstorms over southwest New York and western Pennsylvania could be stronger containing damaging winds and larger hail. Scattered thunderstorms occur over the entire region Saturday as an upper level disturbance moves through the region. Those storms should keep the region slightly cooler-than-average with highs mainly in the 70s north and the 80s south. Lingering showers and storms are possible across New England Sunday while the remainder of the region has clearing conditions. Temperatures should remain a bit below average Sunday before hotter air builds in next week.
South
The heat wave across the southern Plains and Texas builds eastward through the remainder of the South through the weekend. High temperatures should reach the 90s to lower 100s with heat indices of 100 to 115 degrees for all areas except Florida by Saturday. The heat briefly abates across the Southeast Sunday with highs mostly in the upper 80s to middle 90s, but it returns in full force Monday and Tuesday. About the only relief from the heat would be the threat of afternoon thunderstorms. Unfortunately they are most likely to occur across Florida and along the Gulf Coast.
West
Heat remains the big story for much of the western half of the country into the weekend. High temperatures Friday and Saturday range from the lower 80s over the higher elevations to the middle 90s to lower 100s in the interior valleys and along the front range of the Rocky Mountains to the 105 to 115 degree range in the deserts. The typical holdouts to the extreme heat will be the Northwest and coastal California where temperatures should hold in the 60s along the coast to the middle 80s inland.
Tranquil tropics continue Wayne Verno
Fri Aug 1, 12:05 PM ET
In the Atlantic basin, a tropical wave moving through the northeastern Caribbean will enhance showers and thunderstorms over the Dominican Republic and Haiti through today. However, strong westerly winds aloft will prevent any type of tropical cyclone development in this area. Weak low pressure northeast of Cape Verde Islands in the far eastern Atlantic is encountering colder waters; further weakening is expected. In the eastern Pacific basin, scattered areas of thunderstorms remain poorly organized and no tropical cyclone development is anticipated here as well.
TROUBLE IN THE HOLY LAND Christians, Jews praying on Temple Mount seek religious war Muslim authorities say even right to talk to God on holy site exclusively theirs August 01, 2008 12:40 am Eastern By Ryan Jones 2008 Israel Today
Temple Mount
If Jerusalem's Temple Mount stands at the heart of the Middle East conflict, and if Muslim intransigence regarding the religious rights of others at the site is any indication, then it would appear all talk of regional peace is somewhat premature.In an interview with Israel Today, Azzam Khatib, director of the Islamic Trust (or Waqf) that safeguards the mosques that sit atop the Temple Mount, said that Jews and Christians who try to pray at the ancient holy site are effectively declaring war.Any non-Muslim who seeks such an approach is really seeking a religious war, said Khatib, who insisted that the Temple Mount is an exclusively Muslim site and that Jews and Christians should not even want to pray there.Khatib even took issue with the use of the term Temple Mount, angrily demanding the site be called al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary.Khatib refused to consider the possibility that the site was once home to the First and Second Jewish Temples, calling such claims unsubstantiated myths. When presented with a citation from a 1929 tourist guide published by the Supreme Muslim Council that acknowledged the Temple Mount as the site of Solomon's Temple, Khatib rejected the idea that such a book was ever published by a Muslim authority.According to Khatib, when the Muslims first arrived in Jerusalem 1,400 years ago, the Temple Mount area was barren, and no hard evidence of previous structures remained, making any non-Muslim claims to the hilltop mere speculation.When the Muslims came here they never found any standing building or any culture still alive, so they never threatened any standing building, said the Waqf director. We are not going to entertain theories about buildings that may or may not have been here before.
Always a fount of contradiction, the Muslim officials later negated their own claims that the Temple Mount was empty in A.D. 600 with their stories of Muhammad's midnight visit to the Al Aksa Mosque that today towers over the southern end of the raised compound.
Pointing to a massive retaining wall, which if the Muslim officials are to be believed should also not have existed 1,400 years ago, a Waqf guide identified the spot where Muhammad tied his horse, Buraq, after legend has it he traveled thousands of miles in the span of just a few hours.Various Waqf officials also failed to provide a single, cohesive answer as to why the gate on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, known in the Bible as the Golden Gate, is sealed shut. Historical Muslim sources state that the gate was sealed and a cemetery planted in front of it to prevent Jesus' prophesied return.But Khatib said the gate was closed simply because it was built in front of a cemetery and it's difficult to approach a gate while passing through cemeteries, through graves.
When pressed as to why a gate would be built where a cemetery already existed, Khatib's aide and translator chimed in and altered the story, saying that the gate had been there first and after the blocking of the gate, and people stop using the gate, people made use of the area (by burying their dead).A third explanation was provided by a Waqf official identified as Abu Qatis, who mumbled something about a Crusader massacre of Muslims at the gate.
Returning to the issue of protection of access to and religious freedom at the Temple Mount, Khatib and his aide vigorously denied suggestions that Jewish and Christian visitors are ever denied entry. Moments later, however, Khatib defended the practice of turning away visiting Jews and Christians as legitimate payback for Israeli security measures that deny access to the Temple Mount to Palestinian Arab Muslims from outside Jerusalem's municipal boundaries.You cannot expect us to allow in everyone when Palestinians from just outside Jerusalem cannot come here and pray, said Khatib.An Israeli police officer standing guard at one of the Temple Mount's entrances told us that the restrictions on Muslim access are only enforced occasionally, and were only made necessary because of past Muslim riots at the site that ended with stones being hurled onto Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall.This is just an excuse, insisted Khatib. Tell me, during the last five years in Jerusalem, what riots do we have in this area? Clearly unfamiliar with having their positions challenged, Khatib and his aide abruptly ended the interview when it was suggested that perhaps the lack of violence over the past five years was due to the Israeli measures.With reporting by Michael Schneider and Nicole Jansezian.
WELL HAL AGREES WITH ME I SEE, HE THINKS OBAMA IS A FORERUNNER OF THE ANTICHRIST (EU WORLD DICTATOR) ALSO.
How Obama prepped world for the Antichrist August 01, 2008
1:00 am Eastern 2008 By Hal Lindsay
Obama's World Tour was planned as the high point of his campaign, with the candidate retracing the footsteps of great presidents of the past, hobnobbing with world leaders and as one pundit put it, making the Europeans love us again.Obama drew huge crowds in Berlin where he addressed them, oddly enough, as fellow citizens of the world. It was a typically flowery Obama speech, but it hit an unexpectedly sour note when he dramatically intoned:People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time. ... With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.Pundits on both sides are trying to sort it out. It's a great speech, like I said, if somebody is running for president of the world, but it was too much, even for a compliant and Obama-friendly press corps.The politically progressive newspaper of record, the Washington Post nicknamed Obama the presumptuous nominee after his European performance.The Boston Globe's Boston.com ran a piece in its Political Intelligence section called the Obama Arrogance Watch. David Letterman did one of his signature Top 10 skits entitled, Top Ten Signs Obama is Overconfident, leading off with a proposed bill to change Oklahoma to Oklabama.The London Sunday Times Online ran a brilliant satire piece called He ventured forth to bring light into the world.
A sample paragraph: When he was 12 years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organization with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope? Before wrapping up his tour, Obama stopped by to address a gathering of minority journalists in Hawaii, where he once again apologized for what a rotten place America either used to be, or still is. It is hard to tell from his comment, I personally would want to see our tragic history, or the tragic elements of our history, acknowledged.(Wouldn't anybody besides me personally like to see somebody in the White House who doesn't think America needs apologizing for?)Barack has apologized to the French and Germans for Americans who are too ignorant to learn their language before embarking on their once-in-a-lifetime two-week visit abroad.He's apologized for the simple Midwestern rednecks who, forced to cling to religion and guns to justify their antipathy, just can't help themselves.There was a time when it was considered unpatriotic to be ashamed of America, but that time is long past. Being proud of America means you are probably a Bush-loving neoconservative, so the only sure way to prevent such misidentification is to apologize for it at every opportunity.
America has never faced so many different crises at the same time in living memory. The war with al-Qaida and Islamic terror, the Iran crisis, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, the rising price of oil, the falling dollar, enemy acronyms like OPEC, NAM, OIC, U.N. ... Obama is correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him – a messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib and seemingly holding all the answers to all the world's questions.
And the Bible says that such a leader will soon make his appearance on the scene. It won't be Barack Obama, but Obama's world tour provided a foretaste of the reception he can expect to receive.He will probably also stand in some European capital, addressing the people of the world and telling them that he is the one that they have been waiting for. And he can expect as wildly enthusiastic a greeting as Obama got in Berlin.The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance.
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).
JOHN BOLTON ON OLMERTS RESIGNATION
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9055912&ch=4226720&src=news
OLMERT TO SEPT DOWN IN SEPTEMBER
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9051324&ch=4226714&src=news
Israel's foreign minister has edge in party race By Adam Entous AUG 1,08
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has a clear edge in the Kadima party race to replace scandal-hit Ehud Olmert, polls showed on Friday, but officials questioned her ability to form a coalition and become prime minister. Two of the three polls published in major Israeli newspapers also showed Livni running nearly neck-and-neck with rightist Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu should snap parliamentary elections be called.
Olmert threw Israel into political turmoil that could hamstring Middle East peacemaking by announcing on Wednesday that he would stand down as premier after a September 17 Kadima leadership contest.Israeli police questioned Olmert for three hours on Friday over allegations he took bribes from an American businessman and made duplicate claims for travel expenses when he was trade minister and mayor of Jerusalem. Police plan to question Olmert again in the near future, officials said.Olmert, who has denied any wrongdoing, would remain caretaker prime minister until his successor builds a new coalition government, a process that could take months.That will give him some time to continue peace talks with the Palestinians and indirect negotiations with Syria, but politicians and analysts said he would lack the mandate to make commitments that would be honored by his successor.Polls in all three major newspapers showed Livni, a former intelligence agent, with a wide lead of 8-18 percentage points over her closest Kadima rival, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz.
EARLY ELECTIONS
Kadima officials questioned the ability of Livni, Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, to build a coalition between the country's fractious parties, increasing the chances of early parliamentary elections.Mofaz, a former defence chief known for his tough tactics in crushing a Palestinian uprising, may have an easier time winning over the ultra-Orthodox Shas party to secure the 61 seats needed in parliament to form a stable government, they said.One top Kadima official said he feared the battle to succeed Olmert will tear Kadima to apart.Speaking in Washington, Mofaz said peace talks with Syria should continue, without preconditions, after Olmert steps down.Former prime minister Netanyahu, a vocal critic of Olmert's peace moves, could try to thwart Kadima's plans to form the next government by mustering a majority in parliament, either to form his own coalition or to move up elections scheduled for 2010.But two surveys published on Friday suggested Netanyahu would face a tighter-than-expected race if Kadima picks Livni as its new leader.A poll in the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper showed Netanyahu would win 30 seats over Livni's 29. Left-leaning Haaretz had Livni on 26 seats to Netanyahu's 25.Maariv showed Netanyahu clearly ahead, with Likud winning 33 seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament, and Kadima taking 20.Defence Minister Ehud Barak, the Labor Party leader, is widely seen as backing Livni, the most powerful woman in Israeli politics since Prime Minister Golda Meir in the 1970s.In a statement on Friday, he said Labor would consider joining a new coalition but added: If we need to go to elections, then we will be ready.(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Dan Williams in Washington; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Israel: Agriculture trade deal with EU a step closer
Brussels, 1 August (AKI) - The European Union and Israel on Friday agreed in principle to further open up their food markets to one another's products, officials in Brussels announced. The European Commission said it has reached a preliminary agreement with Israel to further liberalise trade in agricultural products, fish and fishery products.It described the deal as balanced and beneficial to both sides.Around 95 percent of EU-Israeli trade in processed agricultural products is already fully liberalised, the commission said.For agricultural, fish and fishery products, substantial progress was made towards full liberalisation of trade, it said in a statement.Regarding more sensitive agricultural products such as fruit and vegetables and sugar, improved market access was achieved for both sides, the statement added. The new agreement raises quotas and lowers tariffs on a range of products including citrus fruits, grapes and goose liver, yoghurt and soya oil.The agreement still has to be formally approved by both sides. Once adopted, the agreement will create new trade opportunities for EU exporters in a large range of products that could not previously reach the Israeli markets, the statement said. Israel's major export sectors will benefit from further liberalisation and better market access.
EU IN NO RUSH FOR IRAN'S REPLY TO NUCLEAR OFFER: DIPLOMAT
Received Friday, 1 August 2008 15:34:00 GMT
BRUSSELS, Aug 1, 2008 (AFP) - The European Union is in no rush for Iran's response in the next 24 hours to an international offer of incentives for a freeze on its nuclear activities, an EU diplomat said Friday.There's no real limit, said the diplomat on condition of anonymity shortly after Washington set the weekend as a deadline to reply to the offer. We're in no rush to have an a response in the next 24 hours.We hope to have a clear answer either today or tomorrow. But if it comes Monday what difference does it make, the diplomat added.After a meeting with Iran's negotiator in Geneva, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana asked for a response in two weeks, but if it's in 16 days instead of 14 it's not a problem. We are not obsessed with a date.The package of incentives, drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, offers Tehran technology and negotiations if it suspends uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons.
EU Trains PA Police Middle East Newsline August 01, 2008
RAMALLAH [MENL] -- The European Union has begun another training course ofPalestinian Authority police officers. The EU Police Mission to Palestine, or EUPOL, began its 11th trainingmission in Jericho on July 29. Officials said the EU was instructing 53officers in charge of law enforcement units across the West Bank at theJericho Training Center.This represents a clear commitment by the EU to long term enhancementof the entire Palestinian criminal justice system, key to establishing lawand order for Palestinians, EUPOL director Colin Smith said.
Iran heading to nuclear breakthrough: Mofaz By Dan Williams and Susan Cornwell AUG 1,08
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran is heading toward a major breakthrough in its nuclear program, an Israeli official said on Friday, as the White House warned Iran could face new sanctions if it ignores an international freeze offer. As soon as 2010 (Iran) will have the option to reach (uranium production) at military levels, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told an audience in Washington, adding that this would be an unacceptable development.Oil prices rose $4 in early Friday trade after the warning by Mofaz stirred concerns of a possible attack on the OPEC nation that would disrupt supplies.There has been speculation that either the United States or Israel could attack Iran's nuclear facilities, though both have said force should be a last recourse.The West accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian energy program; Iran denies it, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this week that Iran would press ahead on its nuclear path.Western powers gave Iran two weeks from July 19 to respond to their offer to hold off on imposing more U.N. sanctions on Iran if Tehran would freeze any expansion of its nuclear work.The White House said on Friday that negative consequences await if the Iranians don't respond positively. The informal deadline is this Saturday.That would possibly come in the form of sanctions, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.The United Nations has already imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran.Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister and contender to replace outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, emphasized that any new sanctions should be imposed this year, instead of allowing the Iranians to stall for time past U.S. presidential elections in November.We must insist on Iran meeting the timetable set, he said in a speech to the Washington Institute. The red line should be that there is no uranium enrichment on Iranian soil.It is a race against time and time is winning, the Iranian-born Mofaz warned. But he also said he supported diplomacy and spoke of other options as last resort.
Mofaz told reporters that he had handed over to the U.S. government a list of Israeli proposals for new sanctions. These would affect Iranian leaders and others individuals of influence, as well as the general populace.Asked whether there had been any discussion with the Americans of possible U.S. green lights for Israeli military action against Iran, Mofaz said: I cannot answer the question, because it was not raised in our dialogue.U.S. officials say they are not sure what to expect from the Iranians this weekend, and that they would want to consult with the other major powers behind the offer about Iran's response, or lack of it. Those countries are Russia, China, Germany, France, and Britain.The Iranians sent mixed messages this week and it's really hard to tell what the bottom line is. And so we'll just need to wait and see if they do respond formally, Perino said.Reuters asked Mofaz whether he worried about losing U.S. support when climbing gasoline prices were often blamed on Mideast turmoil.The existence of the state of Israel is more important than the price of gas or oil, he replied. (Additional reporting by David Alexander in Kennebunkport, Maine, Editing by Anthony Boadle)
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Official: Olmert to give Palestinians state before quitting Prime minister plans to accelerate negotiations to reach deal on paper by next month August 01, 2008 1:00 am Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Palestinian Authority he intends to accelerate negotiations the next few weeks to reach a deal on paper outlining a Palestinian state before he steps down from office next month, a top PA negotiator told WND.
Papers are very important. It puts limits on the new prime minister. For example, the weak point of Israeli-Syrian negotiations are papers signed by former prime ministers that now must be abided during current negotiations, said the PA negotiator, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity.Olmert told us his goal is to reach an agreement on paper, the negotiator said.He said the agreement will likely encompass understandings regarding the transfer of much of the West Bank to the Palestinians. He said he hopes the issue of Jerusalem is broached but that it might not be mentioned on paper beyond a declaration of agreement to negotiate further.Sending political shockwaves through the country, Olmert yesterday announced he will resign from office after his Kadima party holds internal elections next month to choose a new leader. He said he is stepping down due to a criminal investigation, described by police officials as serious, in which he is accused of corruption and financial improprieties.But Olmert officials have been telling reporters here the prime minister intends to continue negotiating with the PA as long as he remains in office.One Olmert official told the Haaretz daily newspaper the prime minister intends to reach an agreement with the Palestinians during the time he has left.Any agreement he reaches with the Palestinians won't be a personal agreement, and he will make sure that the (new) Kadima leadership is briefed and on board, the official added.
For his part, PA President Mahmoud Abbas' announced he would negotiate with any Israeli leader and that Olmert's departure shouldn't affect negotiations started at last November's U.S.-backed Annapolis conference, which seek to create a Palestinian state by January.Not everyone in Olmert's party was happy with the continued talks.Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, considered a frontrunner for the Kadima leadership primary, said it would be wrong to reach agreements with the Palestinians on the core issues of the conflict while Olmert's government is teetering.At this time of change in the government, we must not reach agreements on the core issues in negotiations with the Palestinians, Mofaz said. Anything that is decided now is very problematic, because it is happening before the change in the government and against the background of instability on the Palestinian side.
Turmoil ahead as Israeli PM prepares to go by Patrick Moser
Fri Aug 1, 12:27 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel was bracing on Thursday for weeks of political turmoil after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's shock announcement that he would step down in September, casting a shadow over Middle East peacemaking. Wednesday's announcement opened the way for political jockeying inside Olmert's centrist Kadima party, which is scheduled to hold a leadership vote on September 17, and renewed calls for snap general elections.Everyone in this government is responsible for a string of failures. We must let the people decide through new elections, right-wing opposition leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told public radio.
Opinion polls indicate that the Likud leader is a favourite to replace the embattled Olmert, whose time in office since early 2006 has been dogged by a string of corruption allegations and dismal popularity ratings.The End of Olmert's Era, said the front page of the Maariv newspaper, while the left-leaning Haaretz bluntly declared: Olmert failed in war and failed in peace.Olmert's decision raised questions over the next steps in the hobbled peace process with the Palestinians, revived at a US conference in November, and with recently launched indirect talks with longtime foe Syria.But US President George W. Bush's administration, which has played a key role in the negotiations with the Palestinians, said it would continue to push for a solution to the decades-old conflict by the end of the year.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in Tunisia he would work with any prime minister elected in Israel, but privately Palestinian negotiators said Olmert had distinguished himself during the recent talks.The negotiations with Olmert have been the most important since 1991, one negotiator who asked not to be named told AFP. The Israelis listened to us and discussed the issues.
Another member of the Palestinian negotiating team, Mohammed Ashtiyah, said the prime minister was serious and involved.Olmert and Abbas have met 15 times in the past 12 months.Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said the Palestinian Authority does not think that peace talks will be hit by Olmert's decision.We are not worried by the change in Israeli prime minister because we know that Israel is seriously engaged to remain involved in the negotiation process with the Palestinians, he told a news conference in Madrid.Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, said Olmert's departure signalled the demise of the peace talks which the Islamist movement, pledged to Israel's destruction, had always rejected.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called Olmert's resignation a huge blow to the Palestinian Authority, which he said had hitched its fate to the possibility of achieving an agreement by the end of the year.Olmert's surprise announcement was the crescendo of a political storm unleashed when police launched a probe in May over suspicions he had accepted large sums of money from US financier Morris Talansky to fund political campaigns and a lavish lifestyle in the 13 years before he became premier.He was to be questioned by police in Jerusalem on Friday for the fourth time since May. The interview is expected to focus on the Olmert tours affair in which he is alleged to have billed the same foreign trips several times over.I have made mistakes and I regret it, Olmert said in a televised address from his official residence in Jerusalem as he announced he would step down after the Kadima leadership election. I will quit my duties in an honourable, just and responsible manner, as I have acted throughout my mandate. I will then prove my innocence.During his time in office, Olmert also came under pressure over the devastating Lebanon war in 2006 which was widely perceived as a failure in Israel. The Olmert who spoke yesterday from the garden of his compound in Jerusalem was a crushed and battered man, tainted by allegations, lacking public trust or a sympathetic ear, Haaretz said. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hawkish Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz are seen as the top contenders to take the helm of Kadima, and both have said they favour forming a national unity government. But Netanyahu said he had no intention of reaching any deal with Kadima regardless of its new leader. This government has finished its mission, irrespective of who will head Kadima, said Netanyahu, who served as prime minister between 1996 and 1999.
WORLD TERRORISM
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Fatah frees Hamas detainees in West Bank: official AUG 23,08
NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) - Fatah security forces of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday released several Hamas militants arrested in the West Bank in recent days, a Palestinian official said. Four Hamas militants, including Mohammed Ghazal, a member of the Hamas leadership in the West Bank, have been released on Abbas's orders, the official said, adding that more would be freed later.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zohri said the move was not enough.
It is insufficient because around 200 Hamas members have been arrested in the past few days and we expect these political prisoners to be released, Abu Zohri told AFP in Gaza City.The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday that Abbas had ordered the release of all the Hamas militants detained by Fatah security forces recently.The arrests were part of a tit-for-tat campaign after five members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, and a little girl were killed a week ago by a bomb in the Gaza Strip.Hamas blamed Abbas's supporters and began a massive crackdown across Gaza, arresting more than 300 people, mostly Fatah members.Fatah denied involvement in the blast but later Abbas' security forces retaliated by arresting dozens of Hamas members in the West Bank.The two main Palestinian factions have been deeply divided since Hamas expelled Abbas's security forces from Gaza in a week of bloody street battles in June 2007, cleaving the territories into rival entities.Both sides have meanwhile insisted that the latest arrests were not politically motivated.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WATER FOUND ON MARS
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9080236&ch=4226722&src=news
NASA Now Looking for Life's Building Blocks on Mars Andrea Thompson Senior Writer SPACE.com Fri Aug 1, 12:32 PM ET
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander may have found water ice on the red planet, but it still has a lot of work left to do to answer the question that has been on scientists' minds for decades: Has Mars ever been capable of harboring life? Phoenix scientists announced yesterday that the mission finally confirmed the presence of subsurface water ice in the north polar regions of Mars — first detected by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2002 — about two months after touching down on the Martian surface on May 25.The lander is now analyzing the ice to see if it was ever a liquid and if it contains organic materials, the building blocks of life.The ice, collected from below the surface at the lander's site in the Martian arctic, could have acted like a freezer, protecting any organics that may have formed there.We have an environment where organics could be preserved, said mission scientist William Boynton of the University of Arizona.The detection of organics on Mars would not necessarily mean there is life. It would just mean that carbon and other molecules that make up life as we know it were present. Organics would be the home run or the grand slam of the mission, said Bruce Jakosky, a geologist at the University of Colorado who is not affiliated with the mission. However, if they don't find organics, that doesn't mean that there wasn't life on Mars, Jakosky said. Other missions, planned and unplanned, will keep the search alive.
Liquid water
The confirmation of the Odyssey ice observations was a key goal of the $420 million Phoenix mission, but only the first of several steps in characterizing the dirt and ice layer of Mars' Vastitas Borealis region to determine whether it may once have been habitable at some point in the planet's past.I see this as a step along the way of Phoenix getting to its major science results, Jakosky said. By itself, that's not a major result.One of those steps is determining whether the water ice ever existed in a liquid form, said Phoenix robotic arm co-investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis — liquid water being a key resource for life as we know it.Phoenix will look for signs of ancient liquid water by heating up samples of the icy dirt mixture in the tiny ovens of its Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which can analyze the vapors given off by the heated samples to analyze their composition.TEGA has already begun heating up the sample that confirmed that the rock-hard layer beneath the surface dirt was indeed water ice — when ice begins to melt, it takes more heat to raise the temperature of the sample. Over the course of the next week, TEGA will gradually heat the sample all the way up to 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).As the sample is heated, any hydrated minerals, or those that likely formed in the presence of liquid water, show themselves as they break apart and the signature of their water is detected by the instrument, explained Boynton, a TEGA co-investigator.Finding hydrated minerals, such as carbonates, sulfates or clays, would indicate that liquid water once permeated the Martian regolith where Phoenix now sits, Arvidson said in a telephone interview last night.This water would not have flowed as rivers or streams, as it once likely did closer to Mars' equator, where hydrated salts have already been found by NASA orbiters and rovers, but would have percolated through the dirt layer as Mars' orbital motions tipped the northern parts of the planet toward the sun, warming them up, Arvidson added.
The stuff of life
The other big signature Phoenix will look for as the mission continues and the probe's ovens heat up dirt samples will be organic molecules, the building blocks of life.Finding organics would really change our way of thinking, Boynton said.But so far, organic molecules haven't shown up on Mars. When the Viking landers heated up dirt samples in the 1970s, there were really no organic molecules at all, Boynton said.But dirt near the Martian equator faces strong oxidizing pressures, which can destroy organics, Boynton added, which is why Phoenix is looking for them farther north.Organics have proven elusive to Phoenix so far; the first dirt sample analyzed by TEGA, taken from the surface, found no sign of them. But this wasn't much of a surprise to mission scientists.
We didn't really expect to find them in the surface soils, because the surface is subjected to the same oxidizing pressure as the equatorial regions, Boynton told SPACE.com.TEGA will keep looking for signs of organics in subsequent samples taken closer to the ice layer, he added.If Phoenix doesn't find organics, the mission won't be a flop, Jakosky said, because it still gives scientists valuable information about the northern region. Whatever they find is exciting, he said.If it does detect organics though, mission scientists will be cautious about interpreting the findings, Boynton said. They would assume first that any organics could be contamination brought with the spacecraft from Earth. Mission scientists will check with a blank brought from Earth to determine whether or not any organics discovered are terrestrial stowaways.
Even if the blank shows that the organics came from the Martian soil, they still may not be native, Boynton said, since the same organic-bearing meteorites that strike Earth strike Mars as well. Determining the ultimate origin of any organics would likely take bringing back a sample to Earth, a project that both NASA and the European Space Agency are working toward.And organics don't on their own equal life. Just because there are organic compounds, doesn't mean that that's life, said Kim Seelos, a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University.
Future missions
Whether or not Phoenix finds signs of organics, it won't be the last time that NASA looks for them on Mars. NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), set to launch in 2009, will pick up where the 1970s Viking missions left off, exploring the regions closer to the equator for signs of them.MSL will be better equipped than Viking, and even Phoenix, to detect organics in dirt samples, with more powerful and sensitive equipment, as well as the ability to roam around.While life is teeming on Earth, Arvidson said, it may not have been so dense on Mars — if it ever existed — perhaps only forming in small pockets. Since Phoenix, as a lander, stays put by definition, it can only explore the patch of ground in its immediate vicinity.However, any organics detected by MSL would have formed in a much more ancient period of Mars' history because the landscape near Mars' equator formed billions of years ago. The surface that Phoenix is exploring is much younger, only tens of millions of years old.For now, Phoenix is the only chance of finding organics on this region of Mars, since no future missions in the works now are planned to return to the frozen northern reaches. To get another mission back there to look the region in greater detail, it would probably take finding organics, Boynton said.But Phoenix isn't the last gasp, or MSL isn't the last gasp to answering the question of whether life ever existed on Mars, Jakosky said.The evidence available to scientists now suggests that Mars could have harbored life, it's just a matter of finding a spot that preserves the signs of it, he added. And Phoenix's landing site, or even MSL's, may not be the ideal spot to go and look for those signs, whether by sending another rover or staging a mission to return a sample to Earth.There are plenty of other environments on Mars where Jakosky would like to look for signs of life. While he can't point to a particular spot, there is evidence that Mars once had features that could have supported life, including ancient lake beds, ancient highlands where evidence suggests that water existed for long periods of time, and hot springs — places like Yellowstone, as Jakosky describes them.Some scientists, such as Seelos, doubt that clear evidence of Martian life itself will ever be found because any life would have likely been microbial, which is not easily preserved as fossils. But Jakosky sees this as an unnecessarily pessimistic view, because ancient microbes have been preserved in some places on Earth.But it could be awhile before scientists ever answer the question of life on Earth because they currently understand so little about the history and geology of Mars, Jakosky said.We don't know the answer and I don't even know how to put odds on when and whether they will find the answer, Jakosky said.His advice is to keep using missions like Phoenix, MSL, and eventually a sample return mission to build our knowledge of Mars, as we have built the knowledge of our own planet's past.
New Images: Phoenix on Mars!
Original Story: NASA Now Looking for Life's Building Blocks on Mars
Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures, Space Videos, Space Image of the Day, Hot Topics, Top 10s, Multimedia, Trivia, Voting and Amazing Images. Follow the latest developments in the search for life in our universe in our SETI: Search for Life section. Join the community, sign up for our free daily email newsletter, listen to our Podcasts, check out our RSS feeds and other Reader Favorites today!
Man accused of beheading victim on Greyhound bus appears in Manitoba court By The Canadian Press AUG 1,08
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. - The man accused in the beheading of a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba uttered not a word when he made his first court appearance Friday. Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton, his feet shackled, shuffled into a courtroom in Portage la Prairie, Man., with his head bowed. He did not make eye contact with anyone the entire time he was before the judge. He would not even reply when the judge asked him if he was going to get a lawyer, and only nodded slightly when asked whether he was exercising his right not to speak. The Crown asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said he wanted to give Li a chance to talk to a lawyer about that. It's early and I think the judge just wants to respect his rights to ... speak to counsel and he's giving him that opportunity, Crown prosecutor Larry Hodgson said outside court. I don't think it will be very long that they'll allow him to do that.Hodgson said if Li doesn't get his own lawyer, the court could appoint one or the case could proceed anyway. Li's next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday in Portage la Prairie. Li is charged with second-degree murder in the gruesome slaying of Tim McLean, 22, on a Greyhound bus that was travelling from Edmonton to Winnipeg. Police have not identified the victim, but friends say it was McLean. Passengers say the young man was stabbed repeatedly before he was beheaded and his body carved up. Police have only confirmed that a man was stabbed. Some passengers also described McLean's attacker as a big man who weighed at least 200 pounds. The man who appeared in court Friday wearing a grey T-shirt and prisoner's vest appeared to be about five-foot-eight or nine with a stocky build. Hodgson couldn't offer many details about Li.
I know he was from Edmonton. I don't know why he was on the bus. That's still under investigation.The RCMP said Li has no known criminal record. Meanwhile, tributes to the victim were pouring into social networking and media websites. A Facebook website called R.I.P. Tim quickly sprang up after news of the attack. I can't believe this is happening, wrote Leah Dryburgh of Winnipeg. Tim, you were the best guy ever. You didn't deserve this at all.
Friends described McLean as a quiet, easy-going carnival worker who was heading home to Winnipeg after a job in Edmonton.
FAMINE
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
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
BIG PAYDAY FOR BIG OIL
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9063986&ch=4226720&src=news
OIL PROFITS ONLY HALF THE STORY
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9068055&ch=4226720&src=news
Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all By JOHN PORRETTO, AP Business Writer AUG 1,08
HOUSTON - Oil giants Chevron Corp. and Total SA wrapped up a string of gargantuan, record-breaking earnings reports Friday, a stretch in which six of the major international oil companies topped $50 billion in combined profit for the first time. While the profits of unparalleled size have brought withering criticism from Washington and disgust from consumers across the country, very few were surprised. Crude prices during the second quarter were nearly double what they were a year ago.Chevron said Friday its second-quarter profit rose 11 percent to a record $5.98 billion, despite losing money on the refining side of the business.The San Ramon, Calif.-based company said net income for the three months ended June 30 amounted to $2.90 per share, versus income of $5.38 billion, or $2.52 per share, a year earlier.Revenue rose significantly to $82.9 billion from $56.1 billion a year ago.But results for the second-largest U.S. oil company missed Wall Street forecasts and shares fell slightly in early afternoon trading. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of $3.03 per share on revenue of $92.41 billion.Like its competitors, Chevron made the bulk of its money at its exploration and production arm, also known as the upstream, where income nearly doubled from a year ago to $7.25 billion.Chevron said the average sales price for crude and natural gas liquids was $109 a barrel in the quarter, up from $57 a barrel in the year-earlier period.In addition to Chevron, soaring commodity prices led to record quarters for Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Exxon Mobil stood apart even from this crowd, logging the largest ever quarterly operating profit for a U.S. company. Barring companies that made huge profits on one-time gains like bankruptcy settlements and spin-offs, Exxon Mobil holds the top 10 records for biggest U.S. quarterly earnings.
French energy company Total SA said Friday its profit climbed 38.7 percent in the second quarter to $7.38 billion. Quarterly sales rose 23 percent to $75.25 billion.Altogether, the profits of the six companies jumped more than 40 percent in the second quarter to $51.5 billion, the first time big Western oil companies have ever reached that level.Total's earnings were at the top end of analysts' expectations.Unlike some other oil majors, Total reported production growth of 1.3 percent in the second quarter.Also Friday, Norway's state-controlled StatoilHydro ASA reported a 37 percent rise in second-quarter net profits to $3.7 billion.At Chevron, the company division that refines and sells gasoline actually swung to a loss of $734 million in the quarter after earning $1.3 billion a year ago. The culprit: those same crude prices that lifted upstream earnings.Like its peers, Chevron doesn't produce enough oil on its own to feed its refineries, forcing it to buy some on the open market. And it wasn't able to raise the price of gasoline and other products fast enough to recover its own rising costs for oil.
Chevron also said that planned downtime at some refineries contributed to the loss.The higher cost of crude oil used in the refining process was not fully recovered in the price of gasoline and other refined products, said Chairman and CEO Dave O'Reilly. As a result, our downstream operations incurred a loss in the second quarter, with most of the loss taking place in the United States.
Chevron said overall production in the quarter fell about 3 percent from a year ago, hurt in part by production-sharing contracts. However, on a conference call with analysts Friday, company officials said project startups will increase production in the second half of 2008 and the company should meet or exceed its full-year volume target. Chevron shares slipped 71 cents in afternoon trading to $83.85. They've traded in a range of $76.40 to $104.63 in the past year. Total shares fell 1.2 percent to 48.79 euros ($75.95) in Paris. Associated Press Writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
GM posts $15.5 billion loss as sales sputter Fri Aug 1, 9:39AM By Kevin Krolicki and David Bailey
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp posted a $15.5 billion quarterly loss on Friday, as North American sales dropped by 20 percent and plunging prices for SUVs prompted deep charges for its auto finance business.GM shares tumbled 6 percent in reaction to the automaker's announcement of the deeper-than-expected loss, the third-largest quarterly loss in its history.The No. 1 U.S. automaker also burned through $3.6 billion in cash in the quarter as it reduced inventory of slower-selling vehicles in its slumping home market.GM ended the second quarter with $21 billion in cash and $5 billion in credit facilities. It said it had provided notice in July that it would draw down $1 billion under a secured revolving loan facility.The struggling automaker's cash position has become an increasing concern for investors and analysts, who have begun to question whether and when GM's liquidity could fall below the levels needed to run its cash-hungry global operations.
Chief Financial Officer Ray Young said GM's second-quarter cash position was slightly better than the automaker had forecast and said GM was on track with a plan to free up $15 billion in liquidity through 2009 with a combination of cost-cutting, asset sales and new borrowing.Charges for a planned reduction of about 15 percent of GM's salaried work force in the United States and Canada will hit third-quarter results, Young said.From my perspective, we are going to get the second quarter behind us and just move ahead with our restructuring and liquidity plans that we announced over the last 60 days, Young told reporters.Erich Merkle, an automotive consultant with accounting and consulting firm Crowe Chizek, said GM's loss underscored the need for it to shed more brands outside Chevrolet and Cadillac, a step the automaker has so far resisted.
Do they have the resources to make all those different divisions competitive at the same time? I don't think so, Merkle said. You have got to take a hard look at GMC, Saturn, Buick, Pontiac -- anything really outside of Chevrolet and Cadillac.
LOSS DEEPER THAN ESTIMATES
GM's net loss was equal to $27.33 per share, compared with a profit of $891 million, or $1.56 per share a year earlier, reflecting a sharp drop in demand for the light trucks that represent about 60 percent of its sales.GM took $9.1 billion in charges against second-quarter results, including $3.3 billion for buyouts of U.S. factory workers, $2.8 billion for its exposure to bankrupt former parts unit Delphi Corp.Revenue fell to $38.2 billion from $46.7 billion.
Excluding charges, GM posted a loss of $6.3 billion, or $11.21 per share. The loss on that basis was more than four times Wall Street expectations for a loss of $2.67 per share, as tracked by Reuters Estimates.After losses totaling $51 billion over the previous three years, and a $3.25 billion loss in the first quarter, GM faced a battery of problems in the second quarter, including a slide in U.S. sales that sent its shares to a 54-year low.GM's global auto sales dropped 5 percent and it lost $4 billion on its auto operations before charges in the second quarter as record gas prices sank demand for trucks and SUVs.The automaker was also hit by some $2 billion in pretax losses from a strike by the United Auto Workers union at a key supplier and some of its own plants during the quarter.Then the market for financing leases on big SUVs collapsed, saddling both GM and its smaller rival Ford Motor Co with large losses.On Thursday, GMAC LLC, GM's former financing arm, was forced to write down the value of the GM's lease contracts because of the slumping value of the carmaker's big SUVs.Under lease contracts, automakers and their finance companies rent vehicles to consumers and sell the used vehicles when the leases expire at wholesale auctions.But the collapse in demand for SUVs this year has been accompanied by a steep drop in their resale value as consumers flock to more fuel-efficient passenger cars.
The resulting drop in resale values on SUVs prompted a $717 million charge by GMAC and bigger subsidies by GM, which retains 49 percent of the finance company after spinning off the remainder to Cerberus Capital Management.GM said declining lease values at GMAC had depressed its second-quarter results by $2 billion.Shares in GM touched a 54-year low in July and remain down over 55 percent since the start of the year. GM bonds also hit a record low on Thursday after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded GM to B-minus and warned the automaker was on track to burn through roughly $16 billion this year.GM has not given a timetable for returning to profitability. Many analysts now expect that a substantial recovery for U.S. auto sales will not come until 2010.(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Derek Caney, Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman)
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
SALMONELLA BREAKTHROUGH
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9062635&ch=4226723&src=news
CONGRESS TAKES CLOSER LOOK AT FOOD SAFETY
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=9067646&src=news
Mexico criticizes US salmonella findings By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 31, 7:14 PM ET
MEXICO CITY - Mexican agriculture officials said Thursday that U.S. colleagues hunting for the source of a salmonella outbreak are rushing to a conclusion about finding the strain at a Mexican pepper farm. The salmonella sample that one U.S. official called a smoking gun was taken from a water tank that had not been used for more than two months to irrigate crops, said the director of Mexico's Farm Food Quality Service, Enrique Sanchez.Sanchez told a news conference on Thursday that the tank held rain water and suggested that roaming cattle or other factors could have recently contaminated the tank with the same strain of salmonella that has sickened 1,300 people in the United States since June.On Wednesday, Dr. David Acheson, the food safety chief for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, described the finding of the salmonella strain at a farm in the northern state of Nuevo Leon as a key breakthrough in the case.We have a smoking gun, it appears, said Dr. Lonnie King, who directs the center for food-borne illnesses at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sanchez said the U.S. officials totally lacked scientific evidence to make such statements and said they had broken a confidentiality agreement by announcing findings before their investigation is complete.We're eating this same produce in Mexico and we haven't had any problems, Sanchez said.
He suggested the FDA officials confused the source of the samples because the tainted water was found on a farm in the Tamaulipas state municipality of Hidalgo — not in Nuevo Leon as the FDA reported.The FDA issued a statement later Thursday saying it was surprised and disappointed the Mexican response.We are confident of our findings, the statement said. FDA's analytical methods are publicly available.Miguel Angel Toscano of Mexico's Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks said Mexican investigators also took samples from the soil, water and vegetables the FDA had tested and found salmonella in some of the samples taken in Tamaulipas. But he said more tests need to be done to determine the strain.Previously, the FDA had traced a contaminated jalapeno pepper to another farm in Tamaulipas. Both farms shipped through a packing facility in Nuevo Leon, raising the possibility that contamination could have occurred there.The FDA has advised consumers to avoid raw serrano and jalapeno peppers from Mexico and any foods that contain them.Sanchez said Mexico produces 2.4 million tons of peppers per year but exports only 12,000 tons are exported fresh to the United States. Another 267,000 tons of canned or bottled peppers are sent to the U.S. each year, he said.He said pepper exports have not stopped, but U.S. authorities have been taking samples from shipments at the border and holding them up for up to a week until waiting for results.Sanchez said officials have not yet determined the scale of the warning's impact on Mexico's pepper industry.Associated Press writer Olga R. Rodriguez contributed to this report.
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU WorldNetDaily Son of top Hamas leader converts to Christianity I hope my father and family open their eyes to Jesus and the Kingdom of God July 31, 2008 1:35 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily
Sheik Hassan Yousef (Passia.org)
JERUSALEM – The son of one of the most popular leaders in the Hamas terrorist organization has moved to the U.S. and converted to Christianity, it has emerged.In an exclusive interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Masab Yousuf, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheik Hassan Yousef, slammed Hamas, praised Israel and said he hoped his terrorist father will open his eyes to Jesus and to Christianity.I know that I'm endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he'll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I'll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God, Masab said.Masab said he previously aided his father with Hamas activities, but he now has affection for Israel and laments Hamas.Send regards to Israel, I miss it. I respect Israel and admire it as a country, he says.You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Muhammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death.Masab slammed Palestinian society as an entire society [that] sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheiks tell their students about the heroism of the shaheeds.Masab's father is considered the most popular Hamas figure in the West Bank. He is serving a sentence in Israel for planning or involvement in multiple terror attacks, including an infamous 2002 suicide bombing in the school cafeteria of Jerusalem's Hebrew University in which nine students and staff members were killed.In a statement to the Palestinian Maan news agency, Masab's brother, Suhaib, strongly denied that Masab converted to Christianity.But Haaretz stood by its story. The newspaper said it sent a correspondent to the U.S., who met with Masab for a detailed, in-person interview.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)