IS TEMPLE MOUNT GODS TIME BOMB?

REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE (THE EU DICTATORS TEMPLE)

REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

REBUILT 4TH TEMPLE (THE TRUE MESSIAHS TEMPLE)

ZECHARIAH 6:12-13
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

ISAIAH 60:9-10
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

ISAIAH 2:1-5
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

MARK 11:9-10,15-17
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

EZEKIEL 40 TO 48 IS THIS 4TH TEMPLE TO BIG FOR THE MOUNT I BELIEVE TO BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM JERUSALEM.

Is Temple Mount God's time bomb? New book sees Jerusalem real estate as roadmap to future events August 14, 2008 7:00 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

Was the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem more than a place of worship?

Was it, indeed, a roadmap to future events – a kind of prophetic landmark whose significance is only now revealed through the development of satellite imagery?

That is the contention of an explosive new book, Temple at the Center of Time: Newton's Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012, by David Flynn.The book asserts it has deciphered Isaac Newton’s greatest paradox: None other than the unified field theory of Bible prophecy.Sir Isaac Newton was not only a great thinker in physics, the book explains, but had extensive knowledge of the Scriptures with a special interest in prophecy. Newton believed there was a hidden code, a type of time-encrypted language. He believed the key to deciphering this code was the Temple of Solomon. He wrote extensively on the length measurements of the Temple and suggested it intersected time and dimension, serving as a prophetic and supernatural structure.

According to Flynn, although Newton never cracked this code, he was on the right track and was limited only by the lack of sophisticated satellite technology.The description of Jerusalem as a terrestrial center point, situated in the center of the world, is found in Philo's Legatio and Gaium, Flynn notes. The world is like a human eyeball. The white of the eye is the ocean surrounding the world, the iris is this continent, the pupil is Jerusalem, and the image in the pupil is the Holy Temple.To make his case, David starts by illustrating what the reader soon learns is the first of numerous extraordinary time-distance anomalies.The prisca sapentia framework of Newton suggests that the distance between the temple of Jerusalem and the capital city of any nation historically effecting the chronicles of Jerusalem would be supernaturally connected. This relationship would be significant with respect to units of time, expressing meaning in line with God's divine plan as recorded in the word of his prophets.

See for yourself the theories of Flynn's book:

Newton and Flynn point out how Ezekiel recorded the dimensions of the future temple in chapter 40 of his book, starting with the lengths of the temple gates, chambers, courts, walls and its exterior. After this, calibrations of weights and measure for the temple functions were given in detail. Finally, the distance of land outward from the temple was measured.And he brought me thither, and, behold, [there was] a man, whose appearance [was] like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. (Ezekiel 40:3)The measure of distance away from Jerusalem in this text implies a spiritual significance, says Flynn. A relationship between Jerusalem and the nations existed from the foundation of the temple, but was not completely perceived – and could not be fully known until the conventions of modern science.For instance, if a measurement is made from the point of the temple of Jerusalem's foundation stone to the palace of Balthazar – the political center of Babylon and the exact location where the writing on the wall occurred – the distance should relate to the period in which Babylon most influenced Jerusalem.Such a relationship exists and is the important distance of 539.86 statute miles.What makes this measurement unusual is that Babylon, which played such a significant role in Hebrew antiquity, was measured and numbered in its relationship to Jewish history in Daniel chapter five during the famous handwriting on the wall. When the prophet interpreted the manifestation, he proclaimed in verses 25-28:

And this is the writing that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.That very night King Belshazzar was slain, and Darius the Mede became king.Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians on the 16th day of Tishri of the Jewish calendar, which correlates to Oct. 12, 539 B.C. Curiously, the number 539 is also the distance in statute miles between the temple of Jerusalem's foundation stone to the palace of Balthazar, as confirmed by modern satellite measurement.Does this give insight to the handwriting on the wall or the dating and measuring of Babylon's affairs in the history of Israel? Does this imply that Babylon's influence over Israel was supernaturally predated and measured, or foreknown? Or was this just a fascinating coincidence? As the first of such discoveries made by Flynn, he wondered the same thing.So Flynn studied epic moments having to do with the sovereignty of Israel and the nations that played key roles in Hebrew and Jewish history. Over and over he found fascinating date-measurement anomalies connecting pivotal moments in time to the temple in Jerusalem. He went through annals, considering when acts by world leaders had influenced the development of the Jewish state. He continued to find more.A case in point was the relationship between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Jews.Napoleon had previously encountered the prophecies of the Old Testament in the Jewish community of Malta, which he liberated under French law in 1798. For hundreds of years, the Knights Hospitalier of Saint John of Jerusalem had oppressed the Jews by enslaving them and preventing open worship. One of Napoleon's first acts after banishing the Knights was to allow the Jews to build a synagogue, and the community of Jews on Malta welcomed Napoleon as a conqueror equal to Cyrus the Great. They believed their liberation by him was the fulfillment of the king of the North prophecy in Daniel 11.

This was followed on the first day of Passover, April 20, 1799, when Napoleon issued his proclamation of a Jewish state of Palestine. On May 22, 1799, the Paris newspaper, Moniteur Universel, announced: Bonaparte has published a proclamation in which he invites all the Jews of Asia and Africa to gather under his flag in order to re-establish the ancient Jerusalem. He has already given arms to a great number, and their battalions threaten Aleppo.Although the proclamation did not come to fruition, it increased a drive for Jews worldwide to pursue a sovereign state in Israel. Napoleon's ideas were also embraced by many who viewed them as a fulfillment of ancient prophecy, even some belonging to the Church of England.This is important because Paris was named after the Paris, a Celtic people who settled on this central island in the 3rd century B.C. The city later spread outward from this point along the banks of the Seine River. This island is considered the birthplace of Paris and was the site of the city's earliest settlements. It was home to the French Kings from A.D. 400 to A.D. 1300. The royal palace and parliament were located on the western side of the island. Extending a measuring line from this historical center of Paris to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem shows the distance in nautical miles, 1,799.The intriguing connection to Flynn's book is clear: Napoleon made a proclamation of historical importance to the Jewish nation in the year 1799, and perhaps not coincidently the distance from Paris to the Temple Mount in nautical miles corresponds perfectly at 1,799.As findings like these stack up and the mathematical improbability of Flynn's disclosure increases, one of the most extraordinary parts of the book is unveiled when we learn how the year 1948 is marked by time-distance relations to the Temple location and several other mind-boggling dates and places, both past and future, which we will not divulge here. However, a peek into this section of the book finds discussion of how Britain was the nation that was "friendly to the Jews" and enabled them to return to Israel over 200 after Newton's death. The British defeated the Ottoman Turks and became administrators of the land of ancient Israel in 1917. Through mandate after World War I and World War II until 1948, London was the heart of the governing intellect over the region.

London's original location at its founding is an important point in establishing the exact value of time and distance between it and Jerusalem's Temple.The Romans established Londinium in about A.D. 47. It was a civilian settlement built where the Thames became narrow enough for a bridge to be built across it but was still deep enough to admit large ocean vessels. In the 16th century, William Camden believed that the London Stone was a Roman milestone from which all distances were measured in the province. In the 17th century, Christopher Wren was able to observe the foundations of the London Stone underneath Cannon Street during the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. With this information, it is possible to extend a measuring line from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the exact center of ancient London, and by fixing a point on the site of the temple mount, a measuring line extended over Jerusalem to the center of London produces 1,948.40 nautical miles.

Therefore, incredibly, recorded in the earth between the Temple Mount of Jerusalem and the historic center of London is what Flynn sees as the fulfillment of Newton's own prediction: Israel became a nation again May 14th, 1948, corresponding perfectly to a distance between the temple and London of 1948 nautical miles.As the reader moves through Temple at the Center of Time, these time-length correlations accumulate quickly, including numerous ancient dates such as 1441 B.C. when the Exodus from Egypt occurred. It turns out is 1,441,000 feet from the Jerusalem Temple to the Great Pyramid in Giza. Flynn finds dozens of other key dates in the past through similar satellite mapping measurements including some related to the United States, Russia and Rome.Before it is even officially released, Flynn's book is causing a sensation in some circles where it is being compared to The Bible Code.

ELECTION 2008 Obama goes ballistic over Corsi best-seller.Issues blistering 40-page report challenging WND reporter's high-flying, No. 1 exposé August 15, 2008
1:00 am Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

The title page to Barack Obama's response to Jerome Corsi's The Obama Nation
With the wreck of John Kerry's swiftboated 2004 campaign in his rearview mirror, Barack Obama and his surrogates are wasting no time mounting a counterattack against WND staff writer and columnist Jerome Corsi, the co-author of the Swift Boat Veteran's for Truth's Unfit for Command and the author of current No. 1 New York Times best-seller, The Obama Nation.Obama advisers have been tracking Corsi's media appearances, quickly telephoning producers to react to the book's charges, and last night, the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign issued a 40-page response to the book.Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor accompanied the release with a shot at Corsi, calling him a discredited liar who is peddling another piece of garbage to continue the Bush-Cheney politics he helped perpetuate four years ago.His is just one of what will likely be many more lie-filled books rushed to print this election cycle, which are cobbled together from debunked Internet sources to make money and advance a partisan agenda, the spokesman said. We will respond to these smears forcefully with all means at our disposal.The Obama Nation will debut at No. 1 on the New York Times non-fiction best-seller list next week and already has secured the top spot for the following week, as the Democratic National Convention gets under way.

The Democratic National Committee has its own rapid response team to take aim at Corsi's book, with an e-mail sent out yesterday saying, One of the most vile smear peddlers of the 2004 election has found a new target. … We cannot afford to let Corsi get away with the same dirty tricks that fooled so many people in 2004. We can't rely on the media to hold him accountable – in fact, the sheer brazenness of the lies is attracting even more coverage. The media have shown that they aren't going to stop him. It's up to you to spread the truth. …At the time of this story, Corsi had not had a chance to see Obama's 40-page rebuttal, but he responded to the strong counter-surge against The Obama Nation, a book with some 600 footnotes that portrays the Illinois senator as a radical leftist whose handlers are presenting him to the nation through a carefully crafted cult of personality.Corsi told WND the campaign has largely chosen to respond to his book with a series of personal attacks.

Derision and ridicule are the lowest form of argument, suggesting the Obama camp already has lost the debate, he said. The Obama camp and its supporters appear to be in disarray over the book, responding almost irrationally with an endless string of epithets and insults.Corsi charged Obama has intentionally manufactured a cult of personality in order to discourage any attempt to examine or comment critically upon any aspect of his background.Critics such as myself are immediately branded as racists to discourage readers from reading and evaluating the book for themselves," he said.

Vicious innuendo

Obama aides are feeding producers of Corsi's media interviews with a number of his past controversial quotes and insisting campaign surrogates, equipped with talking points, be allowed on the shows to counter the book, according to the blog Talking Points Memo.The online watchdog Media Matters, which says its purpose is to counter the lies of the right, sent senior fellow Paul Waldman up against Corsi on CNN's Larry King show Wednesday night.Waldman charged that four years after Unfit for Command, Corsi has come out with another book that is also riddled with distortions and falsehoods. So the question is, why on earth would anyone listen to what he has to say about Barack Obama? In a heated exchange, Waldman accused Corsi of spreading this incredibly vicious innuendo.Corsi shot back: This is typical Media Matters. They bring you on the show and they bait you up, don't give you a chance even to respond.Corsi told WND that Media Matters has intentionally misrepresented my arguments so they can prove as false claims I never made, while proclaiming mistakes over trivial points in the book they chose to nit-pick in support of their obvious leftist political agenda.Prior to publication of Corsi's book, Obama created a website FightTheSmears.com to respond to a host of charges largely circulating on the Internet. A FightTheSmears Action Wire uses the campaign's extensive e-mail list to respond to charges.An e-mail issued yesterday said, Right now, vile smear-peddler Jerome Corsi is back with a new book of lies – this time about Barack Obama. ... We'll need the combined efforts of every member of the Action Wire to push back against this year's vicious Republican attack book.Kerry's deputy campaign manager Steve Elmendorf told the Politico he believes that in hindsight, the Massachusetts Democrat's 2004 campaign made a mistake in not responding more forcefully.

Elmendorf offered advice to Obama's handlers.

It's on the front page of the New York Times, he said, referring to a Tuesday story on Corsi's book. It's number one on the New York Times best-seller list. Right now, I would be very aggressive with reporters and factually going through the book and responding and making it clear that this is a bunch of bullsh-t.On Wednesday, Kerry himself launched a website called Truth Fights Back challenging the book. It was accompanied by an e-mail to former supporters headlined, Book on Obama Hopes to Repeat Anti-Kerry Feat.

An agenda here

As even a popular late-night comedy show has acknowledged, Obama has many defenders in the mainstream media, and some apparently have joined the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's battle against Corsi's book.The media watchdog Newsbusters, which responds to left-leaning media bias, pointed to CNN's treament of the book Wednesday in which anchor Suzanne Malveaux worried aloud to former Clinton aide Paul Begala that Obama might not be responding fast enough to attacks against him, thereby falling into the same trap as John Kerry.Introducing the first segment, the Situation Room host didn't hesitate to make unequivocal claims as to the Corsi book's inaccuracy, Newsbusters said.

Malveaux said:

There's a new book out about Barack Obama, and it is not flattering. The facts are mixed with accusations about Obama that are misleading or just flat-out wrong. Yet despite all of this, there is concern that author's claims might catch on with some voters. Our CNN's Jessica Yellin joining me now, and Jessica, the author even admits that there is an agenda here behind this book.Newsbusters contributor Mark Finkelstein pointed to the irony of expressing concern that authors might have an agenda, noting the invitations and respectful treatment offered anti-Bush administration authors such as Seymour Hersh and Ron Suskind.CNN played only a brief clip from a Fox News appearance by Corsi.The network's Yellin said Corsi's book alleges Obama is on the extreme left of American politics and has extensive connections to Islam and with radical racial politics. This despite the fact that for months Obama's been explaining he's not Muslim.But Newsbusters's Finkelstein pointed out Corsi doesn't claim Obama is a Muslim and, with regard to the radical racial politics charge, notes the National Journal's rating of his voting record as most liberal in the Senate and the Democrat's close ties to black liberation theology adherents Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Rev. Michael Pfleger.

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.

20 Muslim nations ban U.S. religious workers Yet State Department allows entry to 100s of Muslim clerics each year August 15, 2008 2:25 am Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

A new congressional study has found that more than 20 Muslim nations deny entry to American and other foreign religious workers, WND has learned, even as the U.S. State Department grants entry to hundreds of clerics from their countries each year.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and most other Middle Eastern countries still refuse to offer religious visas, and deny entry to U.S. clergy as official policy, according to a report by the Law Library of Congress, the foreign legal research arm of the U.S. Congress. In a shocker, U.S. allies Afghanistan and Iraq also made the list of religious refuseniks.Of this group, the vast majority constitute Arab or Muslim states, said Wendy Zeldin, senior legal research analyst for the Library of Congress.Since Islam prohibits proselytism by other religions, foreign religious workers will in effect be denied entry to conduct religious work, Zeldin wrote in the three-page report, a copy of which was obtained by WND.At the same time, Washington routinely issues R-1 religious visas to clerics from the Middle East, including jihadi hotbeds Saudi Arabia and Egypt, even though an alarming number of foreign imams have been suspects in terrorism investigations since 9/11.The Department of Homeland Security, in fact, considers visiting imams as nonthreatening as Buddhist monks. Screening procedures call for both visitors to be treated as the same level of security risk at the border.Also, R-2 visas are routinely granted to relatives of foreign imams.By comparison, Saudi religious police recently accused more than a dozen foreign Christians living in the kingdom of worshipping in their homes and ordered them deported.The deportation conflicts with the message stated just weeks earlier by Saudi King Abdullah, who called for interfaith dialogue and held a summit in Spain with a representatives from several major religions.

Deporting Christians for worshipping in their private homes shows that King Abdullah's speech is mere rhetoric and his country is deceiving the international community about their desire for change and reconciliation, International Christian Concern President Jeff King said.King Abdullah's meetings – which drew about 200 representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism and other religions – had to be held outside of Saudi Arabia, because, as one journalist observed, the mere fact that rabbis would be openly invited to the kingdom, a country where in principle Jews are not permitted to visit, would have constituted a turning point.Some U.S. lawmakers say the long list of Muslim nations denying non-Muslim religious workers is eye-opening.This gives us a better picture of what countries discriminate against us based on religion, said Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., who instructed the Congressional Research Service to compile the list (see below).

Myrick, who co-chairs of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus, said she is troubled by the one-sided exchange of religious visitors, and plans to introduce a bill to restrict R-1/R-2 religious visas for imams who come from countries that do not allow reciprocal visits by non-Muslim clergy.Nations not offering religious visas & denying or restricting entry to religious workers:

I. No religious visas, entry denied to foreign religious workers:

Afghanistan
Algeria
Bahrain
Bhutan
Brunei
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Libya
Maldives
Morocco
North Korea
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Yemen

II. No religious visas, entry allowed, but with restrictions:

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Burma
Cambodia
China
Georgia
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Russia
Serbia
Solomon Islands
Tajikistan
Tuvalu
Vietnam

Source: Library of Congress

HAMAS CHARTER
http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/carryover/documents/charter.html

AP Exclusive: Hit squads training in Iran By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer AUG 15,08

WASHINGTON - Iraqi Shiite assassination teams are being trained in at least four locations in Iran by Tehran's elite Quds force and Lebanese Hezbollah and are planning to return to Iraq in the next few months to kill specific Iraqi officials as well as U.S. and Iraqi troops, according to intelligence gleaned from captured militia fighters and other sources in Iraq. A senior U.S. military intelligence officer in Baghdad described the information Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.The officer on Wednesday provided Iraq's national security adviser with several lists of the assassination teams' expected targets. He said the targets include many judges but would not otherwise identify them. Iraq's intelligence service is preparing operations to determine where and when the special group fighters will enter the country and is to provide an assessment to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.The U.S. official acknowledged disclosing the information in an attempt to pressure Iran to suspend the training and prevent the militia fighters from returning to Iraq. The U.S. military also wants the Iraqi government to take steps to protect the targets. Wanted posters picturing men believed to be heading the special groups are being posted around Baghdad, the military officer said.The U.S. also is encouraging the Iraqi government to confront Iran with the information in diplomatic channels, and it wants Iraq to continue pumping money into its own reconstruction. By building stability and Iraqis' confidence in their government, internal support for militia groups should decline, making it more difficult for them to operate.The fighters are expected to return to Iraq between now and October, but the officer said there's no intelligence suggesting they are actually in Iraq yet. The information came from militia fighters captured in Iraq and other sources in the country that the officer would not describe.Many of the fighters fled to Iran this spring after Iraqi government forces cracked down first on militia sanctuaries in Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City district, then in Amarah and now in Diyala province, the military officer said.

One of the reasons the U.S. believes the special groups moved out during that period is the sharp decline in the number of deadly roadside bombs bearing Iran's signature explosive design. In March, there were 55 such attacks. By July, that number had dropped to around 18, the officer said. U.S. intelligence believes those sophisticated bombs can be traced back to Iran.Iran, Hezbollah's benefactor, denies giving any support to Shiite extremists in Iraq.The officer said training is going on in at least four locations in Iran: Qom, Tehran, Ahvaz and Mashhad. The number of special group criminals — the U.S. name for Iraqi fighters sponsored by Iran — is unknown but is estimated in the hundreds and possibly more than 1,000.According to the officer, the training camps are operating under the direction of Quds force commander Brig. Gen. Ghassem Soleimani, with the knowledge and approval of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The elite Quds Force is a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.The training includes how to conduct reconnaissance to pinpoint targets, small arms and weapons training, small unit tactics and terrorist cell operations and communications. They are also learning how to use bombs packed with explosive penetrators that can rip through U.S. armored vehicles, along with other improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades, including the RPG-29 used by Lebanese Hezbollah and the Quds force. They are also receiving training on assassination techniques, employing RPGs, small arms or explosives, the officer said.

Lebanese Hezbollah conducts much of the training in the camps because they speak Arabic. Iranians are Persian and speak Farsi. Lebanese Hezbollah also has credibility with the Iraqis, given the successful 2006 uprising in Lebanon, the officer said. The U.S. officer said there are no confirmed reports of Lebanese Hezbollah members crossing into Iraq.That conflicts with what Iraqi Shiite lawmakers and a top Iraqi army officer told the AP last month: Hezbollah trainers were running training camps in southern Iraq until April, when they were pushed into Iran by the Iraqi crackdown.The trainees in the Iranian camps include three Iraqis already wanted by the Iraqi government for terrorist attacks: Haji Mahdi, Haji Thamir and Baqir al Sa'idi, the officer said. He identified two Iraqi Shiite militia groups in Iran by name: The League of the Righteous, or Asaib al Haq, and the Kataib al Hezbollah.Foot soldiers and cell leaders are physically separated for most of the training, the officer said. Leaders are trained in Tehran and cell members are in separate camps where Quds trainers attempt to indoctrinate them without competition from their Iraqi leaders.The special group criminals are offshoots of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Jaysh al-Mahdi militia. They spun off their own groups after al-Sadr declared a cease-fire with the Iraqi government in August 2007 and are not thought to be under his control now.

Jordan: Israeli tourists asked to hand over Jewish paraphernalia. Jordanians confiscate travelers tefillin, bibles to protect tourists from terrorist elements Itamar Eichner Published: 08.13.08, 13:09 / Israel Travel YNET NEWS

Dozens of Israelis who have passed through the Arava border crossing during the last few days were given a choice, either turn over all items that carry Jewish symbols or be denied entry into Jordan. The reason? According to the Jordanians it is nothing more than a security precaution. The Jewish symbols will make it easier on terrorist elements to identify Israelis a Jordanian official explained. For the past year the Jordanians have been meticulous when checking Israelis, especially orthodox Jews, who wish to enter Jordan. Last week authorities reiterated their advisory that Jewish paraphernalia that could risk the lives of the tourists, must be left at the border checkpoint.

No anti-Semitic sentiment
On Tuesday, for example, a group of 30 religious Israelis had to cancel their planned trip to Petra, after Jordanian authorities' confiscated their Jewish paraphernalia. The Jordanians confiscated everyone's prayer books and even seized one members' copy of a book by (Shmuel Yosef) Agnon, mentioned Trix Richter, a member of the group. According to Richter, the Jordanians claimed that this was being done for security reasons. It sounded a little far-fetched, said Richter, I hate to think what would happen if the State of Israel would confiscate copies of the Koran from Muslim tourists or copies of the New Testament from Christian tourists; the rest of the world would be upset.The foreign Ministry has confirmed that the Jordanians had in fact increased security regarding Jewish paraphernalia. They claim that it has to do with security measures, a source inside the ministry said. They believe tourists we can be recognized as Jews would be easier target for terrorists, he said. We told them that it seemed a bit much, and that generally, Jews pray and put on tefillin in private, such as in a hotel room, but their concerns are about Jews praying in public and drawing attention to themselves.

Following the increase in complaints both the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli embassy in Amman plan to appeal to the Jordanian authorities in order to ease the restrictions .It must be understood that this decision stems from a genuine desire to keep the Israeli tourists safe, said a source in the ministry. There is no anti-Semitic sentiment (behind the decision), just the desire to protect tourists the best that they can.

Despite Gaza truce, Palestinian militants still building .Popular Resistance Committees showed journalists its rocket factory last week AUG 15,08

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Nearly two months after Israel entered into a truce with Hamas in Gaza, one militant group wants to show it is building longer-range rockets that Israel said would violate the cease-fire.Members of the Popular Resistance Committees perform at a graduation in Gaza City on Thursday.In a rare public relations display, spread over two days and intended to be viewed by Israel and the rest of the world, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees last week showed off its training techniques and a rocket factory to journalists.The PRC said the rockets it displayed recently are but a drop in an ocean of surprises in store for Israel should it attempt to reoccupy Gaza, from which it withdrew in 2005. The militants showed off what they said was a new rocket, called the Nasser-4, which can travel 16 miles (25 kilometers), or double the range of the existing Nasser-3. If true, larger Israeli cities such as Ashkelon -- with a population of about 120,000 -- and Ashdod -- home to about 200,000 -- would be under greater threat of attack.

There appeared to be little doubt that the PRC wants Israel to see the pictures. Rocket makers were positioned to give the camera the best angle during a highly choreographed visit by CNN journalists and other reporters, who were blindfolded before being brought there. In a previous day's visit, the group showed off a training ground where gunmen said they were preparing for what they see as an imminent Israeli incursion into Gaza.We have been under siege for the last two years, said Ibrahim Dahman, the only militant who allowed his face to be videotaped, since he already is wanted by Israel. The only thing left is for them to invade and kill us.The rockets would represent a clear violation of the six-month Egyptian-brokered truce reached in June, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.The cease-fire that was negotiated through Egypt was very specific that the Hamas movement and the other terrorist groups can't use it as a period to import more weapons, more explosives, more rockets into the Gaza Strip, Regev said.

Regev said Israel reserves the right to act, if need be, to protect ourselves. We don't want this current quiet just to be the quiet before the storm.In more than a year after the Islamic militant group Hamas wrested control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian fighters fired more than 5,000 crudely made rockets into Israeli towns and cities. Four civilians have been killed and many more wounded.The PRC is revered as a group of freedom fighters by many here, but reviled as terrorists by Israel and many in the West. The group is one of many Gaza-based factions, and claims it has been involved in rocket attacks on Israel and the kidnapping two years ago of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.Its training ground proved to be a dead-end road used for marching drills. Near the road, tires intended for target practice were stacked in front of the wall of a building. More tires were set ablaze around the area, emitting putrid, thick, black smoke intended to conceal the training from Israeli aircraft.Masked gunmen practiced shooting at targets and taking hostages during the session. One fighter said he would never let his son fire a gun, but that he is fighting to make a better future for his family. Wearing a ski mask and carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher over his shoulder, he vowed to destroy any Israeli who enters Gaza.The following day, the militants offered 20 minutes' notice for a trip to the rocket factory. A CNN correspondent and photographer were blindfolded and transferred into the back of an unmarked van outside Gaza City. Their mobile phones were confiscated, and the blindfolds were removed only when the van arrived at the plant.Inside the factory -- a tiny room with a dozen rockets lining the walls -- two masked men tried to light a fire from a gas canister to heat the explosives to liquefy them so that they could be poured into shells. Despite the apparent painstaking planning that went into the display, the rocket makers sometimes fell short.First, the lighter didn't work. Then, a leak in a canister filled the room with suffocating gas. Explosions, euphemistically called "workplace accidents," occur in Gaza from time to time, but the men building the rockets handled deadly ingredients and warheads in a visibly relaxed manner.

Hamas, which controls Gaza and the militant factions it contains, said that it is the responsibility of the 16 factions that agreed to the truce with Israel to respect it. The PRC said it supports Hamas, but a spokesman said last week that it would return to violence if improvements, such as the opening of border crossings, don't occur.But Regev called the PRC an arm of Hamas, which he said would be held accountable if anything were to happen to break the truce.The current cease-fire is something we, Israel, wants to continue, he said. It's good for the people in Israel's south who suffered under the barrage of the rockets. It's good for the Palestinians in Gaza. Everyone would want this cease-fire to continue except for these extremist elements who run the Gaza Strip, who want to continue their violent jihad. It's a problem for Israel and for the Palestinians.

US-Russia relations turn confrontational By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 14, 6:26 PM ET

WASHINGTON - President Bush is guiding U.S. relations with Russia in a decidedly confrontational direction, evoking memories of Cold War bitterness. It's a marked turnabout from the sense-of-his-soul epiphany the president had seven years ago when he declared that Vladimir Putin was a trustworthy partner on the global stage. With only five months left in the Bush presidency, there is little time to repair damage in relations, much less capitalize on a new approach to make progress together on hotspots like Iran or North Korea.Russia's brutal invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia was the turning point.The administration is a bit behind the curve on this. They didn't understand what was coming, said Janusz Bugajski, director of a new European democracies project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.From the beginning of his administration, Bush emphasized personal diplomacy with Putin, Russia's leader then and, apparently, still, even though now he is prime minister rather than president. The idea was that talking of warm ties at the top could will them into being, and then translate into cooperation on a range of issues.But tensions emerged immediately, and only multiplied over the years.The U.S. was alarmed by Putin-led democratic backsliding, a campaign against the Yukos oil company's leaders and other consolidation of wealth and power in the Kremlin, Moscow's war in Chechnya and evidence of manipulation of Russia's vast energy resources to serve geopolitical aims.Russia was infuriated at Bush moves to support reformers in elections in Ukraine and Georgia and back those former Soviet republics' bids to join NATO, plus expanding Western missile defenses into Poland and the Czech Republic, and endorsing independence for Kosovo from Russian ally Serbia. Almost all Moscow's anger grew from suspicions of U.S. meddling in its backyard, though acrimony over the U.S.-led Iraq invasion sent relations plummeting too.

There were some areas of cooperation, such as Putin's hand of friendship after the 2001 terrorist attacks, a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty and Russia's participation with the U.S. in a group of nations still trying to persuade North Korean to abandon its nuclear weapons programs.But on an effort to thwart Iran's similar ambitions, Russia has been an on-again, off-again partner. As a fellow permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, Russia repeatedly has stood in the way of U.S. desires for tough action — not just against Iran, with whom it has deep economic ties, but against other bad actors such as the regimes in Zimbabwe and Sudan.

The net adds up to a negative.

Still, while Bush spoke candidly to Putin about differences, he also persisted with gestures aimed at courting him.Putin is the only world leader who landed the Bush-reward trifecta: visits to the president's Texas ranch, the Camp David retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains and his parents' summer home in Maine. Bush even risked losing some of his democratic-reformer credentials by agreeing to attend Putin's lavish Red Square anniversary celebration in 2005 of Soviet victory in World War II.But there was a big problem underlying the basic strategy: Bush's assumption that a weak, debt-ridden, post-Soviet Russia would seek to become more Western, and thus would share U.S. strategic interests, Bugajski said. The president also was distracted by Iraq and Afghanistan.Russia, meanwhile, was operating on a very different view. Becoming ever richer off energy revenues, it worked to take advantage of what it sees as a declining America, to split the U.S. from traditional allies such as France and Germany, and to reassert its global role.The Russians are masters at playing the chess board, Bugajski said. There's a whole number of issues they deliberately engineer to show they are an important power.Fast forward to the years-old tensions in the tiny former Soviet republic of Georgia that burst last week into full-blown war. After Georgia tried to exert military control over its province of South Ossetia, a separatist region loyal to Moscow, Russia launched a fierce invasion that routed Georgia's forces and reached into Georgia proper.

Bush condemned Russia's aggression, but left room for Moscow to turn itself around.

By midweek — when Russia was continuing incursions even after a truce — that approach was gone. Bush strode to the Rose Garden with stern words that left little doubt that he wanted to directly confront Russia, though without any specific threat. He launched a humanitarian mission inside Georgia, pointedly saying the U.S. would use its military aircraft, as well as naval forces to do it and warning Russia against interfering. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he saw no prospect for the use of U.S. military force, but that was almost beside the point. Bush also laid the solidarity-with-Georgia language on thick, which in itself would be seen in Russia as provocative. The new but impoverished democracy has aligned itself with the West, with enthusiastic encouragement from the U.S., though it was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested that Moscow was actually motivated by the kind of mentality that led to its quick and bloody put-downs of the Czech uprising in 1968or the Hungarian revolution in 1956. Gates, with long familiarity with Moscow as a CIA man for nearly 30 years and eventually its director, cautioned against dealing with Russia based on trust. He surmised that Russia, and particularly Putin, is not only interested in regaining its superpower status but in reasserting Russia's traditional spheres of influence.This view seemed reinforced by fiery talk from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who on Thursday said the world can forget about Georgia keeping the two separatist provinces. Bugajski said a harder-edged view is a smarter way to deal with the Russians. They would respect the challenge, he said. They interpret weakness as a sign that they can go further.White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the Bush administration has always been clear-eyed about Russia, and was practically forced into a re-evaluation of relations by the boldness of the latest developments. When you have a loss of life, it really elevates things, Johndroe said. EDITOR'S NOTE — Jennifer Loven covers the White House for The Associated Press.

A CZAR IS BORN: BAD VLAD WINS WAR, DUPES WEST & PROVES HE'S GENIUS STALIN STYLE: Defying the truce, a Russian convoy (above) rolls deeper into...Posted: 3:43 am August 14, 2008 NY POST

THE Russians are alcohol-sodden bar barians, but now and then they vomit up a genius. Prime Minister - and now generalissimo - Vladimir Putin is Mother Russia's latest world-class wonder. Let's be honest: Putin's the most effective leader in the world today. That doesn't mean he's good news for anybody - not even for the Russians, in the long run. His ruthless ambition and gambler's audacity may end terribly. But, for now, give the devil his due: After a long string of successes, from his personal mastery of Russia's government and media to his coldblooded energy brinkmanship, Putin has capped his performance with a stunning success in Georgia.

Not a single free-world leader currently in office can measure up to Czar Vladimir the Great. Following his turnaround of Russia from bankrupt kleptocracy to flush-with-cash autocracy, he's now openly determined to restore Moscow's old empire. And he's getting away with it. As a former intelligence officer, I'm awestruck by the genius with which Putin assessed the strategic environment on the eve of his carefully scripted invasion of Georgia. With his old KGB skills showing (he must've been a formidable operative), Putin not only sized up President Bush humiliatingly well, but precisely anticipated Europe's nonreaction - while taking a perfect-fit measure of Georgia's mercurial president. Putin not only knew what he was doing - he knew exactly what others would do. This is intelligence work at the hall-of-fame level. (For our part, we had all the intelligence pieces in our hands and failed to assemble the puzzle.) On the military side, the months of meticulous planning and extensive preparations for this invasion were covered by military exercises, disingenuous explanations - and maskirovka, the art of deception the Red Army had mastered. The Russians convinced us to see what we wanted to see.

Equally as remarkable was the Kremlin's ability to lead the global media by the nose. (Oblivious to the irony, a BBC broadcast yesterday portrayed tiny, poorhouse Georgia as a propaganda powerhouse and Russia as an information victim - an illustration of the Russian propaganda machine's effectiveness.) From the start, every Russian ministry was reading from the same script (try to orchestrate that in Washington). Breaking off his phony play date with Bush in Beijing, Putin rushed back to the theater of war. Upon arrival, he publicly consoled refugees who had been bused out of South Ossetia days in advance. Launching the war's Big Lie, Putin deployed dupe-the-rubes code words, such as genocide and response.Wearing his secret-policeman's stone-face, Putin blamed Georgia for exactly what his storm troopers were doing to the Georgians. And lazy journalists around the world served as the Kremlin's ad agency. Strategy and conflict hinge on character. Putin's character is ugly, but he's certainly got one: On the world stage, he comes across as a man among munchkins. When French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew in to Moscow to demand a cease-fire, Putin - busy with his war - couldn't be bothered. He fobbed Sarko off on Russia's play-pretend president. Sarko thought he was grandstanding as a statesman, but Putin saw him as a useful idiot (in Leninist parlance). Carla Bruni's husband got the cease-fire the twittering European Union demanded, all right. He returned to Paris holding in his hands a piece of paper that guarantees peace in our time.

Putin's thugs kept on killing. And they're still killing as I write. Putin makes promises blithely to make flies go away. But the promises are worthless. Russia's troops will find excuses to stay right where they are - or they'll fake a withdrawal, leaving behind South Ossetian volunteers from Russian airborne units.

Want a straightforward indication of what the Russians intend? Putin's code-name for this operation is Chistoye Polye. Literally translated, that means clean field. In military parlance, it means scorched earth.The empire of the czars hasn't produced such a frightening genius since Stalin. Ralph Peters' latest book is Looking for Trouble: Adventures in a Broken World.

Russia says NATO relations will change Aug. 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM

MOSCOW, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- NATO's stand on the Russia-Georgia clash likely will affect relations with the international treaty alliance, the Russian NATO ambassador said Thursday.Dmitry Rogozin also accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of war crimes and some members of the Western media of complicity.Rogozin said Russian relations with NATO cannot but be affected after NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer failed to say a word about the victims of the attack. Not a single word has been uttered in condemnation of the aggression but Russia was criticized.In a mission to expel Georgian troops from the South Ossetia region and to reinforce Russian peacekeepers, Moscow sent some 10,000 troops and several hundred armored vehicles into the area, RIA Novosti reported.Scheffer told a news conference the allies condemned and deplored (Russia's) excessive, disproportionate use of force. Georgia is a respected partner and friend and one day Georgia will join NATO.Western reports said that irregular paramilitary groups following Russian regulars had engaged in looting, burning, murdering and rape in Georgia while Russian media reported atrocities by Georgian troops, including women and children being burned alive.2008 United Press International.

Lebanon and Syria to normalise ties by Rouba Kabbara
Thu Aug 14, 12:13 PM ET

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to take formal steps to demarcate their borders as part of a string of decisions to normalise their relations for the first time after decades of tension. The announcement came as President Michel Sleiman wrapped up a landmark two-day visit to Damascus -- the first by a Lebanese president since Syria ended almost 30 years of military domination over Lebanon in April 2005.The two countries also pledged to examine the fate of hundreds of people missing since the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war -- amid claims by rights groups that around 650 people who vanished during the war are being held in Syria.Sleiman and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also agreed to control their borders and curb trafficking, it was announced at a news conference by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salukh.But a joint statement made no mention of weapons which Lebanon's anti-Syrian ruling majority says flow across the border and are intended for the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah militant Shiite group.Relations between Lebanon and Syria have been tense since Lebanon's former premier Rafiq Hariri was killed in a massive Beirut bomb attack in February 2005.Damascus denied responsibility despite claims by Lebanese anti-Syrian groups that it was involved.Assad and Sleiman agreed on setting up diplomatic relations between the two countries at the level of ambassadors, the statement said, reiterating an announcement made at the start of Sleiman's visit on Wednesday.Salukh said both countries will take steps next week to implement the decisions.Syria and Lebanon have not had diplomatic ties since independence from colonial power France -- Lebanon in 1943 and Syria in 1946 -- but Assad and Sleiman agreed to establish relations during talks last month in Paris.The United States has cautiously welcomed the establishment of diplomatic ties between Syria and Lebanon.

One of the steps that has long been required is the establishment of a proper embassy for Syria in Lebanon and vice versa, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday.Now, if the Syrians will go ahead and demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria, and respect (Lebanon's) sovereignty in other ways, then this will have proved to be a very good step, she added.Both Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates also hailed the Lebanon-Syria agreement, with Kuwait saying it serves the interests of both and the UAE welcoming that the two brotherly countries will establish diplomatic ties.Lebanon and Syria said they agreed to reactivate the work of the joint committee to demarcate the Lebanese-Syrian borders within a mechanism and a set of priorities and would take administrative and technical steps.The borders are poorly delimited in certain places, particularly the Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of water-rich land at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and northern Israel.The 25-square-kilometre (10-square-mile) tract of farmland was seized by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and is now claimed by Beirut with the backing of Damascus.

Israel says the area is part of Syria.

Muallem insisted that Israel must end its occupation of the Shebaa Farms before the border can be marked. It is not possible to mark the borders in Shebaa Farms as long as there is still Israeli occupation. The occupation must end, he said. Syria and Lebanon also agreed to activate and step up the work of the joint committee on people missing from both countries since the Lebanese civil war, pledging to take steps capable of reaching results as soon as possible.

August 14, 2008 Vatican distances itself from Catholic magazine's warning of fascist revivalRichard Owen, Rome TIMES ONLINE

The Vatican today distanced itself from a series of blistering attacks on the centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi by the mass-circulation Roman Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana, which in its latest issue gives warning that Italy is in danger of returning to Fascism. The magazine, owned by the Paulist Fathers, has repeatedly attacked the Berlusconi Government since it came to power in May on a law-and-order platform, arguing that the Right's targeting of immigrants and Gypsies as part of a crackdown on crime is racist and xenophobic. In June it compared the Government's security decree to the racial laws imposed by Benito Mussolini, Italy's Fascist dictator, in the 1930s. In its latest editorial it says: We hope that the suspicion that Fascism is being reborn in a different form proves to be untrue. Drawing on an analysis in the French Catholic publication Esprit, it compared the fingerprinting of Roma children in Italian Gypsy camps to the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis before and during the Second World War. Government ministers rounded in fury on Famiglia Cristiana, with one saying that the magazine was itself displaying a Fascist mentality by making intemperate attacks on a democratically elected government.

The row today reached the point where the Vatican felt obliged to step in, with Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, declaring that although Famiglia Cristiana was an important Catholic publication, its views did not reflect those of either the Holy See or the Italian Bishops Conference. The positions it takes are exclusively the responsibility of its editors, Father Lombardi said. The Berlusconi administration — the third formed by Mr Berlusconi since he entered politics in 1994 — prides itself on its close links to the Vatican and the Catholic Church. The coalition does not however include the main Catholic political party, the Union of Christian Democrats headed by Pierferdinando Casini, who has fallen out with Mr Berlusconi. Sandro Bondi, the Culture Minister, alleged that Famiglia Cristiana was a Catholic-Communist publication driven by a visceral hatred for Mr Berlusconi. Last week the magazine criticised the deployment of troops in Italian cities alongside police, accused the Government of uselessly playing soldiers to combat false security problems. It added: Not even in Angola do they do this.Antonio Sciortino, the editor of Famiglia Cristiana, said that he was amazed at the reaction. We have no prejudice against the Berlusconi Government — we took the same line during the previous centre-left government of Romano Prodi, he said. It is the right of citizens to judge the government, any government, in a free debate. Carlo Mosca, the Rome chief of police, today came under fire from Roma groups and human rights organisations for suggesting in an interview with the Milan financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore that Gypsy children should make a living shining shoes outside supermarkets instead of begging or stealing. Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome, has been similarly criticised for proposing that people caught scavenging through rubbish bins should be punished. The Berlusconi Government has however completed its first 100 days with high approval ratings in opinion polls, with Mr Berlusconi widely credited with maintaining his election vows to clear rubbish from the centre of Naples (though not the suburbs) and impose law and order in Italy as a whole.

Supporters of Mr Berlusconi this week hailed an article in the US magazine Newsweek headed Miracle in 100 days as proof that he was on the right track. The article, written by Jacopo Barigazzi, described how Berlusconi brought order to chaotic Italy. Osvaldo Napoli, a spokesman for the centre Right deputies in Parliament, said that it was a pity you won't see any similar editorials in any Italian newspaper.

British security laws are eroding human rights, says UN
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 15/08/2008

A report from the UN's committee on human rights hit out at Britain's terror and libel laws and use of the Offical Secrets Act.The UN said provisions under the Terrorism Act 2006 covering encouragement of terrorism are too broad and vague which could infringe on freedom of expression.Under the new law people convicted of encouragement of terrorism face up to seven years in jail even if they did not intend to incite violence.In particular, a person can commit the offence even when he or she did not intend members of the public to be directly or indirectly encouraged by his or her statement to commit acts of terrorism, but where his or her statement was understood by some members of the public as encouragement to commit such acts, concluded the committee.The body also said tough libel laws should be reformed to end libel tourism - where people come to the UK to sue over articles they would not be able to pursue in their own countries. And it said the use of the Official Secrets Act was gagging civil servants from bringing issues of genuine public interest to wider attention even when national security was not at risk. The criticisms came as part of the committee's analysis into human rights in the UK. But the body welcomed the government's abolition of common-law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel in England and Wales and the adoption of the civil partnership act recognising unions between gay and lesbian couples.

August 15, 2008 ARLENE KUSHNER Most Disconcerting

That title might apply to most of what's happening these days, I realize, but I have one particular situation in mind:On Wednesday, Haaretz revealed that the US has rejected a request by Israel for military equipment that would enhance our ability to attack Iran. They reportedly -- and we've had suggestions of this before -- see our readiness to do so as undermining US interests in the area.It was in the context of this rejection that the Americans then offered to boost our defensive capabilities against incoming missiles -- which I wrote about recently.

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The lesson for us, as spelled out by Aaron Lerner of IMRA: A stunning reminder to Israel why it is so important to continue developing and maintaining the Israeli arms industry.Bottom line: Friends, shmends, each nation ultimately acts in what it perceives to be its own best interest. Unfortunately, the US has a history of abandoning allies in the clinch -- which works against genuine long term American interests, even if those who are making the decisions are too blind to see it.We here in Israel will do as we deem appropriate for our own security. Military action would be handicapped, however, by US refusal to allow us to fly over Iraq to get to Iran. While it seems we cannot count on it, it would be nice to think that, when push comes to shove, the US would at least back us up after the fact. The Americans may have no choice, precisely because their interests will be involved.

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Just to keep everything in broader context: At no point has the US said the military option was off the table. They maintain they are holding it as a last resort, if all else in the way of sanctions and diplomacy has failed. They interpret our request for these arms as a sign that we will act in a manner that they believe is precipitous -- before other efforts have run their course. While we are watching the narrowing of the window for stopping the Iranians before they develop capacity to build a nuclear weapon, and are mindful of the danger of waiting just a bit too long.Could sanctions work? Absolutely, if the entire international community was serious about this and put Iran in an economic stranglehold. But since each nation acts in what it perceives to be its own (often very short term) interest....

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Appropriate here is a brief consideration, at least, of the entire (also exceedingly disconcerting) Russian action in Georgia. The broad parameters are clear -- with Russia acting with naked power, a la the old Soviet Union. Implications are vast and still being debated. Everything connects to everything else.There is in several quarters fear of confronting Russia too sternly precisely because Russia is needed as an ally in standing strong against Iran. But, the failure of the world to act against Russian aggression will not be lost on the leaders of Iran. We are speaking here about the power of deterrence.And, there is also the fact that Georgia is a western-tilting democracy that might have expected international assistance at a significant level. (Speaking of responses to allies.)There are some very sharp minds currently analyzing what Georgia might have expected from the international community and how appropriately George Bush is responding. (Keep in mind that Georgia supported US efforts with troops in Iraq.)Please see Jeff Jacoby on this, in his piece, Back in the USSR. He covers a great deal of territory very incisively:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/08/13/back_in_the_ussr/

JINSA points out, in Hammers and Nails, that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is touted as an expert on Russia, has been so busy focusing on solving the Palestinian problem that she dropped the ball totally with regard to Russia:

http://www.jinsa.org/node/658

JINSA also discusses some possibilities for how Russia should be responded to, which does not necessarily or realistically include military action:

http://www.jinsa.org/node/657

Oil is an additional factor, as Russia is an oil exporter. See Lenny Ben David for an effective analysis of this:

http://lennybendavid.com/2008/08/putin-i-love-smell-of-cordite-and-crude.html

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On a slightly different note, with significance for US politics, is the matter of how the two contenders for the presidency responded to the issue of the Russian aggression. Obama began by calling for restraint on both sides, which call would do precious little to stop Russia's naked aggression, and which implies the sort of outrageous moral equivalency that we here in Israel are so familiar with.McCain, on the other hand, put out a statement that included reminders of the moral parameters the situation and calling for specific actions against Russia.And this, my friends, in a nutshell, epitomizes a major difference between the two candidates. It certainly shows us what response we'd get from each, as president, with regard to our need to contend with Arab aggression.

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Regarding politics, here in Israel polls are showing that Livni is likely to beat Mofaz in the September Kadima primary. The key issue, as I see it, is not who will win the primary, but whether this new head of Kadima would be able to put together a coalition for a new government. Mofaz is saying that he, with military experience and a tough attitude on Iran, is the only one who could do that.

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The Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza have announced that they have a new Nasser 4 rocket with a 25 kilometer range that can reach Ashdod. They say they will use it if Israel enters Gaza.On CNN, Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev then declared this to be a clear violation of the ceasefire:The ceasefire that was negotiated through Egypt was very specific that the Hamas movement and the other terrorist groups can't use it as a period to import more weapons, more explosives, more rockets into the Gaza Strip. [Israel reserves] the right to act, if need be, to protect ourselves. We don't want this current quiet just to be the quiet before the storm.

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One might be reduced to tears of frustration and shame in the face of this statement, which is patently ridiculous in several respects.First of all, well before this statement by the Committees, Israel intelligence was already fully aware that Hamas has been smuggling in huge amounts of weapons since the ceasefire began in late June. I ran a list of what has been brought in, not long ago. So this statement by Regev is merely a PR response to one particular public statement by one group of terrorists, not an actual response to the fact of violations of the ceasefire, per se. Talk about loss of deterrence power. The terrorists know they can get away with anything short of killing a large number of Israelis at one time.

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Second, saying we reserve the right to act really makes fools of us. Sort of like, You keep doing this, you'll see, one of these days, maybe, if we feel like it, we'll do something stop you.They are violating the ceasefire? Make an official public announcement of this fact and say it is now off, and that we are going to start military operations in Gaza again. It doesn't even have to be (although it should be!) that major operation that we've been told was coming some time soon. Just targeted operations against weapons storage sites and targeted killings of terrorist leaders.What we're telling the terrorists right now is that the relative quiet suits our government, which was being pressured to do something for the poor suffering people of Sderot and environs. Even though there are severe violations with regard to smuggling and stockpiling of weapons, and a rocket is shot now and then, the constant barrage of rockets has stopped, which makes it easier for Olmert and Barak to function in the short term.If we say the ceasefire is off, that barrage will begin again. Neither Olmert nor Barak wants this.

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But what of the future and the ultimate consequences -- regarding loss of Israeli life and damage to Israeli property?? Painful to contemplate. Painful, painful.

Regev says We don't want this current quiet just to be the quiet before the storm. But of course that's all this is, and all it was ever expected to be. What nonsense to pretend it is anything more. Neighbors who wish to live in peace with us don't stockpile ever increasingly sophisticated weapons. We know this clearly. But the way we're going, we're allowing them to decide when they want to hit us, instead of pre-empting them now. Has everyone forgotten the Hezbollah lesson? For years our intelligence clearly knew they were stockpiling in Lebanon, but it was thought best to leave the situation alone. Until we got hit by their rockets, which we had done nothing to stop, in 2006.

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Is anyone surprised? The lawyers for Morris Talansky have announced that he will not be returning to Israel for additional cross-examination by Olmert's lawyers. This is because Talansky is now the subject of a US grand jury investigation in matters that parallel issues here. FBI agents -- alerted by Talansky's testimony in Israel -- actually accompanied Israeli agents who were securing information in the US.This situation will not necessarily affect a decision regarding the indictment of Olmert, although undoubtedly Olmert's lawyers will claim something about his rights having been infringed upon. Israeli law officials are now pointing with a sense of vindication to their insistence on taking testimony from Talansky before he left the country, and before an actual trial began, precisely for this reason. In spite of his insistence that he would continue to cooperate fully, they knew the possibility of his not returning loomed before them.

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see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

The CARMEL ALERT Aug 15th 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.SPECIAL NOTICE # 1: Stefan & Keren will be married this Wednesday in the hills of Jerusalem. You can send them a congratulatory email at kiwistef@netvision.net.il Guest Comment: FALSE HOPE, FALSE BELIEFS Dena Gewanter, M.D. Kiriat Yam, Israel

Shakespeare used the vehicle of identity deception in many of his comedic plays, where one character either dresses up as another, as in As You Like It, where two women dress as men in order to discern what is in the hearts of their lovers, or in A Midsummer's Night Dream, where Oberon causes Titania the fairy queen to fall in love with a man named Bottom who is transformed into a donkey. In both cases, those who are deceived and those who are deceiving learn a lesson after the truth comes out in the end. With Shakespeare's comedies, there is always the certainty of right winning out over wrong, and everyone ultimately getting their just rewards and punishment. In A Midsummer' s Night Dream, and other Shakespearian plays, the protagonist is the one who sees the truth of the situation, and resorts to playful deception to reveal reality to the one who is resisting doing the right thing; the outcome is always good, because the deception is done by a benevolent and wiser person, who carefully ensures that no lasting harm results throughout the farce.

There are similarities in today's identity confusion between Western ideology and militant Islam that would make an interesting modern Shakespearian plot, if the stakes weren't life and death. Unfortunately, there is a misperception of the truth between those of the West who want to reason and negotiate with members of radical Islam today, as well as the other way around. One would hope and pray that truth will prevail, and that the outcome of these current misperceptions would be reconciliation and peace, but it does not bode well if things continue as they are currently.

There is a vast chasm of disagreement with those in Israel who continue to believe that giving the Palestinians land and statehood will stop the violence, and appease the bitter hatred that causes them to bomb and kill Israeli towns and people and those who want to keep the land intact. Most Westerners believe the Palestinians are just like they are, in that they simply want peace and a nice place to raise their children; good jobs, good schools and a comfortable retirement. After all, isn't that the goal of all people from modern societies? This firm belief is what spurs left wing groups like Peace Now to join forces with Muslims in destroying Jewish owned farms and Holy sites in Judea and Samaria (the 'West Bank') in the hopes that these farmers will leave and go elsewhere. Somehow, the continued violence and bloodshed after the Palestinians received Gaza has not convinced  those in the left-leaning camp that more land is not the primary desire that spurs these people on to continue their jihadist behaviors.

What is not understood, despite the fact that Islamic websites, speeches and newspapers loudly proclaim it, is that there will never be peace or contentment with these radicalized fanatics until there is complete overpowering of Western ideology and lifestyle by Islam. Non-violent overthrow, by overpopulation of a country, as is happening in England and parts of Europe, or violent overthrow as is being attempted in Israel by the militant factions of Fatah and Hamas, (with the assistance of Hizbullah and Iran), is the goal. In the news today, Nasrallah of the Lebanese Hizbullah party proclaimed that Shiite Islam has spread not only throughout the Middle East, but is also growing in places as far as Argentina and Venezuela. They are openly declaring that they are planning to attack targets in the US and Canada, and that they will halt the supply of oil from South America to the West, thereby crippling and destroying the economy. Russia's attack against Georgia was obviously a thinly veiled assault against the state that houses the pipelines of oil to Israel and the west via Azerbaijan and Turkey. Yet, many people still have no foresight to realize that once these targets are under the control of militant Islamic fanatics, it will be far too late to fight back, since we will not have the oil or resources for our weaponry.

In militant Islam, complete takeover of the West is what they think of day in and day out, what they eat and drink, and what they teach their children. They believe it, and live their lives in that reality; mothers rejoice and have parties after their children blow themselves up as an act of holy sacrifice to these ideals. It is such a deep part of their psyche, that they also believe that people in the West want the same thing that they do, which is violent overthrow of Muslim land and religious faith. This is why Palestinians believe reports in the Islamic media alleging that Israel created a breed of super-rat in order to loose them in Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem and drive the residents out. They believed that balloons which accidently blew into Lebanon last year, (part of an advertising campaign in Israel), were filled with poison gas, so that hundreds of people went to emergency rooms with symptoms of nausea and dizziness.

The thing that Muslims don't understand is that we in the West do not want to overthrow the Islamic religion or change them, we really do want peaceful coexistence, nice schools and a comfortable retirement. Because we want that, we believe that this is what the radicalized Muslims want, and so we keep naively trying to give them enough to make them happy.

The radicalized Muslims really do want to overthrow the West, and to have Islam and Sharia Law as the dominant force in the world, in order for the Muslim messiah to return. Because this is what they fervently want, they believe that those in the West want the same t hing they do, i.e. violent overthrow. Both sides think that the other side is like they are, and here we have a great plot for a modern day Shakespeare. Unfortunately, the end of the play will not be peace and harmony. Our current leaders need to remember that Neville Chamberlain said after the start of World War ll, that he honestly thought Hitler was telling him the truth, and was not trying to overthrow all of Europe.

If we decide to disbelieve what is plainly being said by those who live every waking hour praying for and working towards a holy Jihad with their very hearts and souls, we will be watching our grandchildren going to school in burkas, and all that we believe in will be altered, since we did nothing to hold on to what we so carelessly took for granted: the freedom to believe and to live in the manner we choose.

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

Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie

A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE AUG 15,08

In the last newsletter we saw that every saved person has the Holy Spirit, for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Romans 8:9). Not only does every child of God have the Holy Spirit but each believer has experienced the baptism. This baptism, or placing into the Body of Christ, by the Holy Spirit, accompanies salvation. I Corinthians 12:13 states: For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body . . . . The baptism, administered to ALL the saved immediately, endows each believer with at least one of the gifts found in Ephesians 4, Romans 12, and I Corinthians 12. The gifts are not for a select few who strive or work in order to appease God for spiritual favors. Never! Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3). Instead, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (I Corinthians 12:7), and . . . all these [gifts] worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will (I Corinthians 12:11). Believers are not commanded to seek any gift but instead the Giver - the blessed Holy Spirit.

Then, because He divides to every man as He wills, one gladly accepts His choice of gifts for his life. If one feels his gift is unimportant, remember that we are all members or parts of Christ's body and . . . those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary (I Corinthians 12:22). Fingernails and toenails may seem to be inferior parts of one's body, but what problems one encounters without them. So every member has his place of importance in Christ's body.Rejoice in the gift God has given you and do not seek another's gift. You might be out of place if the Holy Spirit wants you to be a finger instead of an eye. Likewise, you may be out of order when you seek the gift of faith and the Holy Spirit wants helps for your lifelong gift. Whatever the gift, every believer has at least one.You see, there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh ALL IN ALL (I Corinthians 12:4-6). Praise God, it is He who works ALL THE GIFTS and IN ALL. All that God requires is that every believer use his gift to the best of his ability. To do so will bring great reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Disobedience in administering the gift will bring loss of rewards (II John 8).Let's move now to the teaching concerning the filling of the Spirit. The baptism and the filling are two distinct things. The baptism is a once-for-all experience which places the believer into the Body of Christ. Since the Holy Spirit is God and all-knowing, He makes no mistakes as He places the saved into Christ's body. If He did make mistakes, and members of the Body of Christ were eventually removed, there would be a mutilated, amputated, disfigured atrocity in eternity. Instead, every true believer is baptized and sealed into that Body by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).Though there is only one baptism, there are many fillings. Ephesians 5:18 states: . . . be filled with the Spirit. The literal Greek declares: Be being filled which implies a continuous process. Every believer needs it, as much as his fuel-guzzling automobile needs gas, in order to run efficiently for Christ. The baptism produces the gifts but the filling enables one to minister the gifts spiritually. Though all have gifts, not all are spiritual. Thousands today who claim the gift are carnal because they are not being filled daily by the Spirit.

Let me prove this from I Corinthians 13:1-3: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, l am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.Five gifts are mentioned in these three verses: tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith, and helps. They can all be ministered in a state of carnality. One is not spiritual because of tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith, or helps. Why? Because it takes the fruit of the Spirit to minister the gifts spiritually.Read carefully: Love is Number One on God's listing in Galatians 5:22 as the fruit of the Spirit. This is the same love of I Corinthians 13 that suffereth long, and is kind; that envies not; that vaunts not itself and is not puffed up; that does not behave itself unseemly, that seeks not her own, that is not easily provoked, that thinks no evil, that rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (verses 47).Do you have this fruit? You may speak in tongues and be mean, or you may have the gift of faith and be cantankerous. You may be a helper in the vineyard and do nothing but cultivate poison grapes for other Spirit-filled believers.God says even though one prophesies, preaches with power, or has the gift of knowledge and faith and has not love, the gifted one is nothing in God's eyes. And even though one helps by giving his all for the poor or being burned to death and has not love, he will end up with nothing at that day when God's rewards are distributed for service. You see, it is the fruit of the Spirit that counts. The gifts can be ministered without the fruit.In fact, the gifts can be duplicated by Satan. The present situation is sometimes similar to Moses' day when the devil's magicians counterfeited the miracles of God's servant. Do not take my word for it but look at the statement of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? They manifested the gifts of prophecy, discernment of spirits, miracles, plus helps or works. But Christ never knew them (verse 23). Since never means never, they manifested the gifts without being saved. They did not possess the fruit of the Spirit but were workers of iniquity. Let's seek the fruit of the Spirit to minister the gifts. This will produce godliness and holiness.

The Fruit of the Spirit

Every believer needs a daily infilling of the Spirit in order to live a spiritual life. No believer has ever reached the place where he does not need to walk by means of the Spirit, for when we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). The nine words describing this fruit are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22). These represent superhuman qualities which the flesh could never produce. Only God, the Holy Spirit, is able to make mortal beings act this way. No human can duplicate, nor devil counterfeit, the fruit of the Spirit. It is the only way to be like Jesus, for someone has well said: Galatians 5:22 is the shortest biography of Christ ever written. Only the fulness of the Spirit can make one like Jesus. The term fruit is singular, meaning that all nine graces form the fruit. The Holy Spirit does not produce a few of these but usually all nine when one is Spirit-filled. They are:

A. LOVE. This is not the romanticized or sexual love of the street or of society's rebels. It is the divine love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). It makes one love the lowly, the unlovely, and the unclean. It makes one love members of another race or denomination. It does not look down upon those whose gifts differ.In Corinth this love was missing and the gifts became a source of competition among the spiritually elite. That is why Paul said in I Corinthians 13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.The presence of gifts is not the evidence of the Spirit's filling. You may have gifts, but prophet, miracle worker, helper - do you have the fruit? This is where Satan can fool and deceive us. He can imitate the gifts mentioned in I Corinthians 12, 13 and 14, but he cannot imitate or produce the fruit of the Spirit. Do not misunderstand - I am not against gifts, but gifts prove nothing. The real evidence is found in the fruit one bears as he ministers the gifts.Oh, that we might be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:19). This Holy Spirit produced love makes us love others. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God . . . (I John 4:7). Do you have the real evidence of the Spirit's filling? It is described in I Corinthians 13:4-7: Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not [or is not jealous]; love vaunts not itself [boasting about its gifts]; love seeks not its own; is not easily provoked; thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity but rejoices in the truth; love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things and endures all things. The world is waiting to see this evidence. Get filled and show it to them. Don't split churches arguing about superior gifts, but manifest the love that proves one has the Spirit's fruit.

B. Next in line is JOY. Joy is not the superficial happiness that springs from sports or television, for happiness depends upon happenings. Instead, it is the joy of the Lord which is one's strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It is a contentment in times of suffering, sorrow, and even death. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory (I Peter 1:8).

C. PEACE also fills the minds and hearts of those who are Spirit dominated. This is not peace with God that accompanies salvation (Romans 5:1) but the peace of God, which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7). This peace produces a sublime calm of heart and mind in spite of every disturbance, heartbreaking circumstance, or adverse condition and glorifies God before an unsaved world.

D. LONGSUFFERING within a believer is a quality that only the Holy Spirit can produce. It is the opposite of impatience. It cannot be produced by members of Adam's race but must be wrought within a Christian by God. The Lord God, [is] merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6). This is why the ungodly receive countless opportunities to be saved, for: The Lord . . . is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). This same attitude may be the believer's portion, for God strengthens us with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness (Colossians 1:11). We are to walk with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:2, 3). Yes.... be patient toward all men (I Thessalonians 5:14). How are you doing? Do you have the real evidence of the Spirit's fullness?

E. GENTLENESS. Again, this is a fruit from God, for . . . the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated . . . (James 3:17). Paul could also say: . . . we were gentle among you . . . (I Thessalonians 2:7). Bickering, fighting, fussing church members forget that the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men (II Timothy 2:24). Do you have the fruit? Remember, it cannot be attained by human effort or by imitation, but only as a direct filling by the Spirit.

F. GOODNESS is produced at salvation and made to bloom in one's life as the Spirit fills a believer. Jesus said: . . . none is good . . . (Luke18:19). Paul said: . . . there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:12). Men talk about doing good, and it is only egotism seeking praise. However, the Spirit within produces real goodness toward others.

G. FAITH, in this listing, is actually faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23, speaking about God, states: . . . great is thy faithfulness. This same faithfulness in a Christian may become a daily reality. One does not have to be up and down spiritually. God's faithfulness, wrought in a Christian by the Spirit, can make him faithful daily.

H. MEEKNESS is the hardest fruit to possess, for as soon as we think we have it, we've lost it. However, let it be remembered that meekness does not consist in pretending to be less than one really is, but rather when one does not pretend to be more than he really is. Again, the flesh cannot generate meekness because it is only puffed-up flesh. It takes the filling of the Spirit to put on meekness (Colossians 3:12).

I. Finally, TEMPERANCE is self-control. The term speaks for itself and, praise God, the Holy Spirit produces it in those who have the fullness of the Spirit.

We have seen that God demands a high and holy standard of life, but He has also provided the means to produce it .. . . Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Let's begin seeking the fruit instead of gifts. Gifts are for all, but the fruit - though for all - may only be realized by those who grieve not the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), quench not the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19), and then walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). In simple terms, one must turn from all known sin to a daily reliance on the Holy Spirit if he is to evidence the fullness and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Why not begin today?

FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE AUG 15,08

WHY AM I SURPRISED?

It’s very hard for me to describe my feelings-perhaps a sense of awe, humility, and gratitude?-when I think about the wonderful opportunity God has given to my husband and me to reach around the world via television each week with the gospel. I definitely believe the Holy Spirit impressed Jack to find a format that so many people watch.When we first knew we were going to have a program that would be beamed around the world, we had prayerfully planned an unusual approach that seemed really exciting. Then, about a week before we were to start production, Jack came to me and said, Rexella, I believe we are to do a different format. I sense that we are to gather news from around the world-global headlines-and connect them to the Word of God.With all my heart, I believe the Lord directed my husband in that decision. Today we get hundreds of pounds of mail every week from viewers who ordinarily would not watch a church-related or religious program. One day we walked into a restaurant and were recognized by a group of some twenty Jewish people. Oh, Dr. and Rexella, they said, we love your program and try to tune in every week! In the same restaurant, we met a smaller group of Arab people who smiled and said, Thank you for your TV program-we appreciate it so much! I was also stopped by the wife of a state senator who said, I don’t know if you know this, Rexella, but the first thing on the agenda of many of the senators on Monday morning is to get together over coffee and discuss your program! On the street in Toronto not too long ago, we were stopped by a Muslim man who said, Many people in our community here watch your telecast often-we enjoy it so much. I couldn’t help asking, Why are you attracted to a Christian program that presents the gospel and quotes the words of Jesus? Why would you want to watch that?

His answer was so humbling-We trust you!

So many calls and letters we receive are from people like this who might never go to church or watch another religious program. Our media consultants (who also work with numerous other ministries) say that we are seeing more response to the invitation for salvation than perhaps any other program on the air today.Many people write to say, We couldn’t make it through our week without hearing your analysis and encouragement.And not long ago I got a letter that brought tears to my eyes. A young girl who had decided to commit suicide was flipping through the TV channels and stopped on our program. She wrote, Rexella, you looked straight into the camera at me and said, God cares about you...and so do I! That changed my whole thinking...and saved my life.

Preparing for the promised days

Jack and I pray earnestly as we prepare for each program. We are keenly aware of the responsibility that is ours because we truly believe that we are living in the days just prior to the coming of the Lord. We don’t like to use the phrase last days because it’s not a countdown to the world ending. Actually, it’s the promised days-just before Christ will come back to earth, set up His kingdom, and stop all the mayhem and madness. It will be the beginning of a thousand years of peace on the earth.I believe we are now living in the time the Bible refers to as the hour of temptation that will come upon all the world and try those who live on planet earth (see Revelation 3:10). But Jesus surely is coming very soon! When is He coming? Each week on television, we talk about the events the Bible says are signs of His coming. We share news reports about wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and countless other distresses and fateful events.Often people will say, The world has always had war and famine and trouble-all these things. Are today’s events any different? Why do they have special significance now? The answer is found in two key verses. Jesus said, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end (end of the age) come (Matthew 24:14). Only recently, in our generation, could it be said that the gospel has been preached in all the world, witnessing to all nations.

Secondly, the Bible doesn’t say, when you see wars, look up or when you see famine and pestilence, the time is near. Look carefully at what Jesus said in Matthew 24:33-when ye shall see ALL these things, know that it is near, even at the doors (emphasis mine). All these things, all at once-simultaneously! That’s the key Jesus said to watch for, and I’m telling you, that day has come! There are many places in the Word that talk about things that will come to pass-there’s a whole list of them, but I’ve chosen to write about just four-perhaps the top four-that have to come together before the coming of the Lord.So today we must do all that we can to point the lost to the Answer-not a theory, a contract, a plan-but to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. That’s what Jack and I do every week on our worldwide telecast.

Hunger and pestilence (Revelation 6:8)

The second thing that shocks me is how there can be famine, privation, and deathly need and starvation in a world where there is such abundance. Why am I surprised? Often there can be unimaginable opulence and wealth at one end of the street, and hunger, want, and terrible suffering at the other end of the same street.The hunger, disease, and pestilence around the world hurt my heart so much. Today we have many, many billionaires all over the world-people with so much wealth that they literally cannot even count it all. There are billionaires not only in prosperous, wealthy countries, but also in poor, underdeveloped nations. Outside the gates of these billionaire’s estates-in the very shadow of their elegant palaces of privilege-starving people die in the darkness.In nations ravaged by famine, with millions of starving children, cruel dictators hoard the country’s meager resources and even confiscate the humanitarian aid sent by other nations for their own personal gain. No wonder the Word reminds us that the heart (of man) is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).Most of us are not billionaires. Perhaps we do not even have much to spare beyond our basic needs. But in the words of American writer Edward Everett Hale-

I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do something I can do.

There is always something we can do to help share the gospel with those who do not know the Lord. Even when the physical needs of nations and people are beyond our means to change, we can point them to Jesus and His words of eternal life. In many impoverished regions where television is not available to very many, we are broadcasting the message of Christ’s soon return on radio, hoping that somehow we can get through to some of the people.

Without natural affection (2 Timothy 3:3)

Recently on our telecast, I read a horrifying headline and story about a mother who cut off the hands of her children because they were disobedient! Can you believe it? That’s not the affection of a mother’s heart. How could a parent’s mind get so twisted as to mistake brutal, bloody amputation and dismemberment as loving discipline? Truly we are living in perilous times.Do you believe we are living in a day when people are without natural affection? We see and hear about it all the time. There are many husbands who beat and abuse their wives, even wives who also are abusive. There have also been numerous cases of children who have murdered their parents, or beat or injured a younger brother or sister.Why am I surprised? We live in an age when sexual predators stalk children on the playgrounds of schools. Even teachers and religious leaders have been involved in horrible sexual abuse of young boys and girls. I just reported a story on our telecast recently about a man who had the names of 36,000 young boys on his computer. Investigators suspected that he had probably actually had sex with hundreds of them.That’s not a natural heart! That is a person without natural affection. You do not prey on children-I don’t care who you are or what logic you use to rationalize it. God intended for us to love our neighbor as ourselves-to have a love for everyone, no matter who they are. Betraying the trust and dependence of children and family is unnatural!The Bible warns us about a whole laundry list of terrible behavioral practices that become common in the world before the end of the age comes. The Apostle Paul wrote, For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (2 Timothy 3:2-5).Do you recognize any of these things in our society today? Are they happening around where you live? Then pay attention. This is a biblical, prophetic sign of the promised days just prior to Christ’s coming!

Worldwide terrorism (Matthew 24:37; Genesis 6:11, Luke 21:9)

Worldwide terrorism! Why am I surprised? Jesus said, But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:37).

What was it like in Noah’s day? The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11). Does that description fit the world you know? I think so.

Finally, Jesus said, But when ye shall hear of wars and (violent) commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass...nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom... (Luke 21:9,10).

Terrorism is certainly on the upswing right now. But we must not be surprised when it strikes. Jesus said these things must come to pass-terrorism will continue at some level right up until the coming of the Lord!

This is why I am so excited, positive, and thankful about the incredible tool the Lord has given to us with our weekly telecast, Jack Van Impe Presents. We don’t come on each week with global news and gloom and doom. We say, Yes, we do see terrorism, just as Jesus foretold. But let not your heart be troubled-these things must come to pass. They precede the coming of the Lord. We’re trying to prepare people with a positive outlook, knowing that trials teach us trust in our Heavenly Father!

Yes, there have been some dark days. There may well be dark times again. But don’t be afraid of the power of darkness. I believe darkness doesn’t really have any power of its own-it’s only the absence of light! If you carry light with you, it always dispels darkness! Darkness has no power if you hold up the light of the world-Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and our Lord. He said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

Today let us allow God to comfort our souls and give us hope for tomorrow. Be ready and watching for His return. With all my heart, I believe He is coming very soon!

Don’t be surprised!

HAS REGION CHANGED FOREVER

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.

Sharp 6.2 quake shakes sea floor near Vanuatu AUG 12,08

AFP WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A strong earthquake has struck near the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 6.2 quake was centered 290 miles northwest of the key city of Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo.Vanuatu is part of the Pacific ring of fire — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile in South America through Alaska and down through Vanuatu to Tonga in the South Pacific.Vanuatu is made up of 83 islands and lies just over 1,400 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.

Small earthquake shakes northern Israel AUG 13,08

Wed Aug 13, 6:12 am ET AFP/File – A seismograph reading. A small earthquake has struck northern Israel without causing casualties or damage, … AFP JERUSALEM (AFP) – A small earthquake struck northern Israel on Wednesday without causing casualties or damage, the national seismological institute said.The quake, the epicentre of which was 50 kilometres (30 miles) off the northern coast near the seaside town of Acre, registered 3.2 on the Richter scale, the institute said.In June, scientists warned of the dangers of a large earthquake in southern Lebanon that could radiate across the region, urging local medical services to prepare disaster relief plans.Since February, abnormal seismic activity has been noted in southern Lebanon, which suffered some 500 minor quakes in a three-month period, the Israeli health ministry said.Similar concern has been voiced by Lebanese seismologists.

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.

Atlantic Disturbances, Tropical Storm Iselle Chris Dolce – Wed Aug 13, 6:05 pm ET

Reuters – Volunteer Bob Whitman (R), helps Ronald Wattigny to rebuild his home in More hurricanes predicted for Atlantic 11 News Houston Two disturbances in the Atlantic Ocean continue to be watched, but neither is likely to become a tropical storm soon. The disturbance closest to the United States is located about 200 miles east of the Leeward Islands and moving toward the west-northwest at 10 to 15 mph. Showers and thunderstorms have flared during the day with this area of low pressure after a lull overnight. This system will be monitored over the next several days and may eventually get into a better environment for development. However, it does not appear likely to strengthen rapidly in the near future. In the Leeward Islands, expect increasing showers the next 36 hours. Farther east, about 700 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, squally weather co-located with low pressure has seen little change in organization today. Some slow development of this system is possible over the next couple of days as it plows westward at 10 to 15 mph well away from any land areas. Another disturbance is just now pushing off the west coast of Africa several hundred miles southeast of the Cape Verdes. In the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Depression 10-E has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Iselle. Iselle is located about 230 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. The depression is moving toward the west-northwest at 10 mph away from land. Only minor strengthening is expected the next several days as the storm moves out to sea.

Fresh floods in Vietnam kill teenager, toll 120 Wed Aug 13, 1:47 am ET Reuters

News Houston HANOI (Reuters) – Fresh floods triggered by rains swept away a teenager in northern Vietnam and several boats were destroyed, the government said on Wednesday, as it struggled to deliver aid to thousands of people hit by the worst floods in four decades.At least 120 people have been killed after days of heavy rains triggered by the remnants of a tropical storm. Another 44 are missing.On Tuesday, rescue workers found the body of a 13-year-old boy in Quang Ninh province after it was hit by torrential rains from a tropical low-pressure system, the government said in a report.Another four people were missing.The low-pressure system weakened as it made landfall in Quang Ninh, moved further inland and dispersed, the national weather bureau said.The region is about 1,500 km (930 miles) north of Vietnam's main rice and coffee production zones. Preliminary estimates of property losses in three of the 11 provinces affected by the disaster stood at 1.74 trillion dong ($105 million).The government estimated nearly 800 houses collapsed or were swept away, nearly 17,900 homes and more than 15,000 hectares of rice and other crops were destroyed. River waters peaked on Sunday at close to the record level in 1968, the government said.Provincial authorities should stay together with the people to instruct forces to urgently overcome the consequences, helping people stabilize life and keep updating damages, the government report said.Rescuers recovered five bodies in Lao Cai province on the border with China, bringing the death toll in the province to 53 while another 37 were still missing after floods swept through villages at the weekend.All the victims were residents of Lao Cai, popular among foreign tourists for its mountain resort town of Sapa.More than 200 people, among some 700 foreign tourists stranded in Lao Cai, have been airlifted by helicopter back to Hanoi while more were expected to leave by trains or cars as workers repaired the damaged sections of roads and the railways.The Lao Cai People's Committee has asked the central government for urgent aid of 70 tonnes of rice, blankets, mosquito nets and clothes to help flood victims, the government said.
(Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

CLAIM DEAD BIGFOOT ON ICE
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72299

ISRAELI FORCES BAR JEWS FROM RECLAIMING JERUSALEM PROPERTY
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72298

ISRAEL ADOPTS U.S PLAN TO SPLIT NATION IN 2
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72178

GEORGIA GETS RELIEF AIDE FROM U.S
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72178

NEWS VIDEOS TODAY AUG 13,08
http://news.yahoo.com/video

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.

Anne Penketh: Moscow flexed military muscle, and left West humiliated Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Russia is back. That is the indisputable result of the six-day war in the heart of Europe which may have changed the borders of a state for ever.The conflict, conducted with brio by Vladimir Putin, who clearly remains the man in charge of the Kremlin, has ended on Russia's terms, and there is nothing the West can do about it. Moscow has demonstrated that it is prepared to use military might to further its strategic goals, while the democracies of the West are not. In the world of international power games, Mr Putin's newly assertive Russia has chalked up a victory whose ripples will be felt for years to come. The US and Europe, dependent on Russian goodwill and gas, have been humbled. But the most chilling defeat is for Georgia, the former Soviet republic which dared to switch strategic allegiances and stand up to the Kremlin. Russia's goals in embarking on the war in Georgia were twofold. It wanted to get rid of a troublesome leader who was too independent for Russia's liking, and had attracted the personal enmity of Mr Putin, who now wants the Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, hauled before a war crimes tribunal like Saddam Hussein. But the Kremlin had also drawn a line in the sand over Nato membership for Georgia. Mr Saakashvili's botched attempt to bring a breakaway region under central government control last Thursday gave Mr Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, the opportunity he had craved on the pretext of humanitarian intervention to halt a genocide. The revenge for Russia – and Mr Putin personally – is sweet. At a stroke, it is payback time for the Russians, who were ignored by the US and its allies before the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo independence earlier this year. We can now see that they took Russia for granted at their peril. Moscow has not been such a dominant player on the global stage since the days of the Soviet Union.

No one in Georgia or a Western capital doubts that Moscow's lightning retaliation when Georgian forces launched their surprise attack on the South Ossetian capital was long planned. Mr Saakashvili ignored Western warnings – including those from the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during a visit to Georgia – not to respond to Russian provocation. But in the end he fell into the Russian trap by ordering an ill-planned strike while the eyes of the world were on the Olympic Games in Beijing. He cannot have anticipated the overwhelming response from the nuclear power across the border, involving massive firepower from tanks, warplanes and battle-hardened Russian soldiers.The Russian fightback was branded disproportionate by US and European leaders who urged a ceasefire, convened the UN Security Council and sent envoys scurrying to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and Moscow. The latest leader to sue for peace was the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, bearing a plan which has yet to be fully endorsed by all sides. Russia now holds the best cards because Mr Putin realised early on – presumably from his conversations with President George Bush in Beijing – that the West has no stomach for a war with Russia to save Georgian democracy.Mr Bush spoke out strongly in the White House Rose Garden on his return to Washington from Beijing on Monday. It now appears that an effort may be under way to depose Georgia's duly elected government. Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century, he said. But what are the penalties for violating the territorial integrity of a sovereign state? Russia recognises that Georgia's breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgian territory. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, it resulted in UN sanctions and a war against Saddam Hussein. In this case, the UN Security Council – where Russia holds veto power – has been paralysed. President Bush has warned that Russia risked harming its relations with the US and the EU.The Kremlin masters will hardly be trembling in their boots, although they have now pulled back Russian troops from Georgia proper. The war ended as quickly as it began. But Dmitry Medvedev, who has replaced Mr Putin as President, made it clear that the Russian peacekeepers who had been stationed in both breakaway regions would remain. The EU-backed plan provides for discussion of the future status of Georgia's breakaway regions – so the borders of Europe are no longer sacrosanct.The most surprising thing about the West's reaction to the Russian invasion of Georgia is the shock that the military action generated. The Cold War warriors of Europe, the former Soviet bloc states which are now Nato and EU members, were certainly not surprised as they watched the rise of an authoritarian brand of government in Russia under Mr Putin. Russian leaders, and successive defence ministers, have warned for years that the Kremlin remained fundamentally opposed to Nato's encroachment as it gobbled up former Soviet states and countries of the former Soviet bloc. To the north, the three Baltic states are now Nato members. To the west, there is Poland. Ukraine and Georgia are campaigning for membership, threatening Russia with strategic suffocation. Although last April's Nato summit failed to set a timetable, the two former Soviet republics were given assurances of eventual membership of the Western alliance.

Since then, Russia has set about strengthening ties with Georgia's rebellious regions to punish Mr Saakashvili, culminating in the short, sharp war. Nato is now in a bind. The Western alliance is loath to be seen allowing a third country – Russia – a veto in its affairs. So yesterday, the Nato secretary general reaffirmed that the offer of Georgia's membership still stood. But Mr Saakashvili's headstrong and impulsive behaviour in the crisis, following his disastrous crackdown on demonstrators last November, has eroded Western support. For Ukraine, the future looks even bleaker. If Russia was prepared to act militarily over Nato membership of Georgia, a country of four million people – what calamity awaits Ukraine, a powerhouse of 46 million with a sizeable Russian minority?

Russia defies truce with Georgia; US sending aid By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press AUG 13,08

OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia – A Russian military convoy defied a cease-fire agreement Wednesday and rolled through a strategically important city in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which claimed fresh looting and bombing by the Russians and their allies.President Bush said a massive U.S. aid package was on the way for tens of thousands uprooted in the conflict and demanded Russia keep its word and act to end this crisis.The United States stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected, Bush said sternly in Washington.One day after the Kremlin and its smaller neighbor agreed to a French-brokered cease-fire to end the dispute over two pro-Russian breakaway territories, the pact appeared fragile at best.An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of Russian trucks and armored vehicles leaving the city of Gori, some 20 miles south of the separatist region of South Ossetia and home of a key highway that divides Georgia in two, and moving deeper into Georgia.Soldiers waved at journalists and one jokingly shouted, Come with us, beauty, we're going to Tbilisi. The convoy roared southeast, toward the Georgian capital, but then turned north and set up camp about an hour's drive away from it.Georgian officials said the Russians had looted and bombed Gori before they left. Moscow denied the accusation, but it appeared to be on a technicality: A BBC reporter in Gori said Russian tanks were in the streets while their South Ossetian allies seized cars, looted homes and set houses on fire.As confusion reigned on the first day of the cease-fire agreement, Bush called a Rose Garden speech to express concern about reports the Russians were already breaking it.He said he was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice first to France and then to Tbilisi to reinforce U.S. efforts to rally the world in defense of a free Georgia.

For her part, Rice said: This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed.The president said a huge U.S. aid effort was under way, including American naval forces and C-17 military cargo planes, to get clothes, blankets, medicine and other supplies to refugees. The European Union agreed to consider deploying European peacekeeping monitors to the area.Besides the hundreds killed since hostilities broke out last week, a United Nations agency estimates 100,000 Georgians may have been uprooted. A spokesman said the U.N. refugee agency was helping evacuate about 1,500 people fleeing the Kodori Gorge in the breakaway province of Abkhazia alone on Wednesday.Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili conducted a blitz of interviews with news outlets at home and abroad and made a series of claims, some of which were disputed as inaccurate or exaggerated.

He said on national television that the U.S. arrival of a military cargo plane with humanitarian aid means that Georgia's ports and airports will be taken under the control of the U.S. Defense Department.Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell stressed the United States had no plans to take over Georgian airports or seaports to deliver the aid.It is simply not required for us to fulfill our humanitarian mission, he said. We have no designs on taking control of any Georgian facility.In a sharp response to Bush's speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Georgia's leadership a special project of the United States. And we understand that the United States is worried about its project.Russian news agencies quoted him saying the United States would have to choose support for a virtual project and or real partnership on issues such as U.S.-Russian cooperation on Iran and other world tension spots. Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili criticized Western nations for failing to help Georgia, a U.S. ally that has been seeking NATO membership. In a way, he said, Russians are fighting a proxy war with the West through us.The conflict centers on South Ossetia and another region claimed by Georgia that leans Russian, Abkhazia. When Georgia cracked down on South Ossetia on Aug. 7, Russia sent its tanks and troops into the two regions and deeper into Georgia proper. Georgia, bordering the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Abkhazia lies close to the heart of many Russians. Its coast was a favorite vacation spot in Soviet times and the province is just down the coast from Sochi, the Russian resort that will host the 2014 Olympics. Russia has distributed passports to most in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and stationed peacekeepers there since the early 1990s. Georgia wants the peacekeepers out, but Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has insisted they stay.

Jeffrey Mankoff, an adjunct fellow for Russian studies at The Council on Foreign Relations, said it was too soon to tell the real intentions behind Russia's push into Georgia. On the one hand this could be a way to set up a buffer zone between the separatist regions, and on the other it also seems there is an aspect of disbanding the Georgian military aspects, Mankoff said. In defiance, a few dozen Abkhazian fighters, some with assault rifles and one with a dagger, planted their red, white and green flag in Georgian territory across the Inguri River. This is Abkhazian land, one of them said. Another laughed that Georgians retreating from Abkhazia had received American training in running away.The peace plan apparently would allow Georgian forces to return to the positions they held in South Ossetia and Abkhazia before Aug. 7 and clearly requires Russia to leave all parts of Georgia except South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Nevertheless, Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia said 50 Russian tanks entered Gori on Wednesday morning. Some of the Russian units that later left to camp outside the city were camouflaged with foliage. The convoy was mainly support vehicles, including ambulances, although there were a few heavy cannons. There were about 100 combat troops and another 100 medics, drivers and other support personnel. About six miles away from the camp, about 80 well-equipped Georgian soldiers were forming what appeared to be a new front line, armed with pistols, shoulder-launched anti-tank rockets and Kalashnikovs. Sporadic clashes continued in South Ossetia where Russians responded to Georgian snipers. In the Black Sea port of Poti, and Georgian television showed boats ablaze in the harbor. Georgia's security chief also said Russian forces targeted three Georgian boats, while Lavrov said Russian troops were nowhere near the city. For several days, Russian troops held the western town of Zugdidi near Abkhazia, controlling the region's main highway. An AP reporter saw a convoy of 13 Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers in Zugdidi's outskirts Wednesday. Later in the day, Georgian officials said the Russians pulled out of Zugdidi. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko issued a decree Wednesday saying that Russian navy ships deployed to the Georgian coast will need authorization to return to the navy base Russia leases from Ukraine. The rights group Human Rights Watch said it has witnessed South Ossetian fighters looting ethnic Georgians' houses and has recorded multiple accounts of Georgian militias intimidating ethnic Ossetians. The report was important independent confirmation of the claims by each side in the Russia-Georgia conflict. Meanwhile, at the Olympics in Beijing, Georgia and Russia clashed in competition for the first time. Georgia rallied to beat Russia in beach volleyball, two sets to one. Russia and Georgia are actually friends. People are friends, said the Georgian beach volleyball team leader, Levan Akhtulediani. I say once again, its better to compete on the field rather than outside the field. Associated Press writers Christopher Torchia reported from Zugdidi, Georgia, and near the Kodori Gorge; Matti Friedman and Sergei Grits from outside Gori, Georgia; Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili and David Nowak from Tbilisi, Georgia; Vladimir Isachenkov, Jim Heintz, Lynn Berry and Angela Charlton in Moscow; Matthew Lee, Pauline Jelinek and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington; John Heilprin at the United Nations; and Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report.

Georgian president's Russia claims raise eyebrows By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI. AUG 13,08 Reuters

TBILISI, Georgia – It was a claim that could have provoked a dangerous Kremlin response: The United States is readying to take over airports and ports in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.The claim, by U.S.-backed Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili on Wednesday was swiftly shot down by officials in Washington, who denied any such designs on Georgian soil.Yet, it was the latest in a string of overstated pronouncements by the American-educated Georgian leader that are further fueling tensions with Moscow.His comments — along with a stream of biased, conflicting and often false information coming from both Russian and Georgian officials — have made it hard to figure out what is really happening in the world's latest hotspot.Fighting between the Russian and Georgian armies raged for days, leaving hundreds dead and some 100,000 forced from their homes. The U.S. government and world diplomats are scrambling for a way to cool the tensions.Warfare erupted when Georgia sought to retake control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia last Thursday and Russia responded with overwhelming military force.Saakashvili has been conducting daily interviews in his fluent English on international television networks and making frequent televised speeches at home.On Wednesday, he said in an interview on CNN that Russian troops were closing on the capital, circling, and planning to install their own government in Tbilisi.Associated Press reporters in the area saw no sign of an impending coup. An AP reporter saw dozens of Russian trucks and armored vehicles heading south from the central city of Gori in the direction of Tbilisi, but they later turned away.Saakashvili said Russian troops moving deeper into Georgia even steal toilet seats.He later said on Georgian national television that the U.S. arrival of a military cargo plane with humanitarian aid means that Georgia's ports and airports will be taken under the control of the U.S. Defense Department.Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell responded, We have no need, nor do we intend to take over any Georgian air or seaport to deliver humanitarian aid. ... We have no designs on taking control of any Georgian facility.Saakashvili has repeatedly compared the Russian incursions to Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939, to the Soviet crackdown in Prague in 1968 and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.In his Wednesday TV address, he said, Russia has lost more airplanes than in any conflict of this scale since 1939. While such figures are not publicly available, the calculation seemed unlikely given how brief the fighting has been and how uneven the two countries' forces are.

He also cited rumors that Russia was planning to bomb a rally in Tbilisi on Tuesday. The rally ended peacefully.Saakashvili insists he's not overstating anything, and lamented Wednesday that the West ignored his warnings that Russia was planning a military operation in Georgia as exaggerations.Now look what they're doing. This has already exceeded my worst expectations.Saakashvili, who graduated from Columbia University Law School, has always been blunt, and his bold language and flamboyant manner helped drive the Rose Revolution that brought him to power after disputed elections in 2003. He has long been derided in Russia, where he is seen as a vassal of the United States as it seeks to expand its influence in Moscow's backyard. The conflict has made that worse. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev indirectly referred to his Georgian counterpart as a lunatic on Tuesday. Russia's leadership has been fierce — and often wrong — in its claims about the conflict, too. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said in a BBC interview Wednesday, There were many reports that Russian tanks are inside Georgia which later proved out to be totally untrue.AP reporters saw a Russian convoy in the area of Gori on Wednesday, including support vehicles, ambulances, heavy cannons and about 100 combat troops. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Moscow contributed to this report.

Syria, Lebanon agree to establish diplomatic ties Associated Press Writer Albert Aji, Associated Press Writer – Wed Aug 13, 5:16 pm ET

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to establish full diplomatic relations for the first time, taking a step toward healing tensions that have fueled decades of turmoil in Lebanon.Many Lebanese had long seen Damascus' refusal of ties as proof it had not given up claims that its smaller neighbor is part of Syrian territory and still aimed to dominate Lebanon. The deal is a significant symbolic victory for them, acknowledging Lebanon as an independent state.Syria, however, only agreed to relations after its influence in Lebanon was guaranteed by the creation on Tuesday of a unity government in Beirut that gives Damascus-allied Hezbollah a strong say in Lebanese decision-making.Still, the agreement — along with the unity government — could go a long way to easing three years of continuous crisis in Lebanon, where the power struggle between pro-Western and pro-Syrian factions brought the country to the brink of a new civil war. But the rivalry remains uneasy, and any attempt by either to dominate could spark new unrest.Syria controlled Lebanon for nearly 30 years, after sending its army in as peacekeepers during the 1975-90 civil war. Its direct hold was broken in 2005, when anger over the slaying of ex-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri — blamed by many on Damascus — forced the troops to leave.Even after the withdrawal, anti-Syria Lebanese accused Damascus of trying to maintain its influence, saying it was egging Hezbollah to topple the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. They also accused Syria of being behind a string of assassinations of anti-Syria figures since 2005 to intimidate Beirut and destabilize the country.

Syria denies any role in the Hariri killing or the other attacks.

The decision to open embassies in each another's capitals came during a landmark visit to Syria by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, the first such visit by a Lebanese head of state since the Syrian troop withdrawal.Suleiman and his Syrian counterpart, President Bashar Assad, decided Wednesday to establish diplomatic relations ... on the level of embassies in accordance with the United Nations charter and international laws, said Assad's adviser, Buthaina Shaaban.No date was given for opening the embassies.The United States, which backs Saniora, welcomed the decision but pushed for Syria to stay out of Lebanese affairs.We have long stood for the normalization of relations between Syria and Lebanon on the basis of equality and respect for Lebanese sovereignty. One of the steps that has long been required is the establishment of a proper embassy for Syria in Lebanon and vice versa, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.Now, if the Syrians will go ahead and demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria, and respect Lebanon's sovereignty in other ways, then this will have proved to be a very good step, she added.Many Lebanese lawmakers also have called for the border to be formally demarcated, and Syria's official news agency, SANA, said Suleiman and Assad discussed that issue.

The new progress comes after Lebanon appeared about to break into civil war in May, when Hezbollah fighters battled with Saniora supporters and seized parts of Beirut.

After the display of Hezbollah's power, the factions worked out a peace deal. They agreed to elect then-army chief Suleiman as president — a post left empty for months — and to form a unity government that gives Hezbollah and its allies enough Cabinet seats to veto major decisions.

Lebanon's parliament approved the new government Tuesday.

Assad had first raised the idea of establishing ties to Suleiman when they met in Paris last month on the sidelines of a Euro-Mediterranean summit. Assad told Suleiman the step was possible once a unity government was confirmed. State-run Syrian newspapers welcomed Suleiman's visit, saying it would put Syrian-Lebanese relations back on track. The newspaper Tishrin said in an editorial that the visit would lay the foundations for a new phase of brotherly relations.Welcome President Michel Suleiman. Welcome Lebanon, said a headline in another newspaper, al-Thawra.
Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

US dispatches envoy in bid to break NKorea nuclear deadlock
by P. Parameswaran P. Parameswaran – AUG 13,08

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday sent an envoy to Beijing for talks to help break a deadlock over a mechanism to verify North Korea's nuclear weapons program.Sung Kim, the State Department's top Korea expert, is going to consult with the Chinese regarding efforts to secure a strong verification regime and additional progress in the six party talks, a department official told AFP.He is expected to conclude his meeting in Beijing over the weekend, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.This is the second trip by Sung Kim to Beijing in two weeks and is aimed at breaking an impasse with North Korea over a verification protocol that Washington wants the hardline communist state to adopt before it is removed from a US terrorism blacklist.North Korea has reportedly rejected parts of US-proposed protocol aimed at examining nuclear programs declared by Pyongyang, as part of a six-nation accord aimed at ending its nuclear weapons drive in return for diplomatic and security guarantees and energy aid.It was not clear whether Sung Kim would also meet with North Korean officials as he did during the last trip to the Chinese capital.China is chair of the six-nation talks involving also the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia.As part of a six-nation accord, Pyongyang has already shut down its main nuclear reactor and is disabling it, ahead of dismantlement and surrendering of its nuclear weapons.But the denuclearization process is stuck over disagreement on the verification measures, which Washington says should be adopted before it removes North Korea from its State Sponsors of Terrorism blacklist.The Bush administration reportedly provided North Korea with a four-page draft verification protocol at the latest round of six-way talks in Beijing last month.Among other requirements, it called for full access by inspectors to all North Korean nuclear sites, Asian diplomats said.While Pyongyang agreed to general principles for verifying the nuclear declaration, including visits to facilities, review of documents, and interviews with technical personnel, there is no agreement yet on the extent to which access can be provided to international inspectors, the diplomats said.The Bush administration also wants the protocol to be rigorous, covering Pyongyang's plutonium program -- from which it manufactured bombs, one of which was test fired in 2006 -- as well as its sensitive uranium enrichment program and its proliferation activities.In a related development, Washington hailed Wednesday an agreement reached between North Korea and Japan over terms for a probe into Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese nationals that could pave the way for Tokyo to lift some sanctions on its neighbour.We welcome the reports that an agreement was reached, the State Department official said.We understand that ... Japan and North Korea agreed to the basic outline of a resolution to the abduction issue and to steps for eventual removal of some Japanese sanctions on the DPRK (North Korea), the official said.Japan, a key US ally, had wanted a resolution of the abduction issue before North Korea could be removed from the US terror blacklist.

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.

Canada's Harper aims to bolster Arctic sovereignty By Randall Palmer Randall Palmer

Tue Aug 12, 4:22 pm ET Reuters – Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper (top L) gestures after he unveiled a recently rediscovered … OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to Canada's far north in late August in a bid to bolster claims to Arctic sovereignty and to paint the opposition as weak on foreign policy and defense issues ahead of a possible election this fall.Harper will fly to the small coastal town of Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean and will even chair a meeting of top cabinet ministers in Inuvik in the Mackenzie River Delta region of the Northwest Territories.With increased international focus on the Arctic and the Northwest Passage through Canada opening up as ice melts, Ottawa has made it a priority to assert the country's claims over its northern waterways.It now has a geopolitical importance that a few years ago wasn't obvious, a senior Conservative official said, noting the region's potential as a new source of oil and gas, and also its strategic and environmental risks.Harper's minority Conservative government, keeping an eye on a possible election campaign, has pledged to buy new Arctic patrol ships, expand aerial surveillance and bolster the numbers and capabilities of the Canadian Rangers northern military unit.The Conservative source said Stephane Dion, leader of the main opposition Liberal Party, had said parks were needed more than ships but this naively ignored strategic realities.It's real focus, boots on the ground, (that is needed) ... to actively assert Canadian sovereignty, he said.

Dion spokesman Mark Dunn, reacting to the comments, turned the argument towards global warming.Maybe if Harper had an environmental policy the Arctic would still be frozen, Dunn said. Mr. Dion has always supported Arctic sovereignty.Dion and Harper could be going head to head in an election within the next few months, perhaps just after the U.S. election in November, with two prominent issues likely to be the environment and their leadership qualities.Dion has advocated what he calls the Green Shift, imposing new carbon taxes on fossil fuels as a way to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. The plan calls for the new carbon taxes to be offset by income tax cuts and subsidies for the poor.How well the Green Shift program is accepted by the public might determine whether Dion decides to pull the plug on the minority Conservative government, which was elected in January 2006. By-elections on September 8 to fill three vacant parliamentary seats may give an early indication.

If the Conservatives are not defeated in Parliament, triggering a new general election, a vote will automatically be held next October.Polls suggest neither the Conservatives nor the Liberals have enough popular support to win a majority if an election were held now.

Oil rebounds after US gasoline supplies drop By STEVENSON JACOBS, AP Business Writer Wed Aug 13, 4:48 pm

Reuters – An oil tanker nears the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Marine Terminal in Valdez, Alaska, August, 9 2008. (Lucas … NEW YORK – Oil prices rebounded Wednesday, jumping back to $116 a barrel after the government reported a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. gasoline supplies. But more signs of dwindling U.S. demand cast doubt on the rally's longevity.At the pump, a gallon of regular gasoline shed on average another penny overnight to $3.787, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's nearly 8 percent lower than record prices above $4a gallon reached last month, but still 37 percent higher than a year ago; retail gasoline prices tend to lag behind crude oil's moves by several weeks.In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said gasoline supplies fell by 6.4 million barrels to 202.8 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 8, nearly three times more than the 2.2 million barrel drop analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts had expected.The big drop in gasoline stocks prompted traders to buy oil and gasoline contracts on signs of supply tightness. However, analysts said the surprisingly large drawdown suggests that U.S. refineries are scaling back on production in response to falling demand — not that Americans are suddenly driving more because of easing pump prices.There's no doubt that refiners are making less gasoline, said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. The demand is bad so why store a product that you're going to have trouble selling? Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose $2.99 to settle at $116 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier falling as low as $112.87 and after dropping about $7 in the last three sessions. Oil's advance has for the time being stopped a monthlong slide that took crude $35 below its July 11 high of $147.27.

Gasoline futures also jumped, with the September contract adding 8.91 cents to settle at $2.9323 a gallon on the Nymex.Despite the rebound, analyst doubted crude would regain the upward momentum seen last month, noting that traders have been quick to cash in on oil rallies in recent weeks and send prices lower.We've got a good-sized rally ... but it still doesn't feel like it's sustainable. We're not seeing the frenzy of buying that we would have seen a couple months ago, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill.I think the true underlying demand weakness is still out there, he added, saying he believed that Americans were not yet reacting to easing pump prices by driving more. I don't think people are going to change their commuting habits that fast.The EIA said demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Aug. 8 was almost 2 percent lower than a year earlier, averaging 9.4 million barrels a day.Also Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said gasoline purchases fell in the first six months of 2008, sending overall U.S. demand for oil products to its lowest level in five years.

Gasoline deliveries fell 1.7 percent through the end of June compared to the first six months of 2007, the first significant decline in 17 years, the trade group said. Oil product deliveries were down 3 percent compared to the year-ago period.Higher pump prices and a slowing economy were undoubtedly factors, API statistics manager Ron Planting said.The EIA also said crude stockpiles fell by 400,000 barrels to 296.5 million barrels last week; analysts had expected crude supplies to increase by 500,000 barrels.Inventories of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, decreased by 1.7 million barrels to 131.6 million barrels for the week ended August 8. Analysts expected distillate stocks to rise by 1.9 million barrels.

Meanwhile, a cease-fire declared by Russia and Georgia in their conflict over South Ossetia appeared to lower concerns that hostilities there could curtail oil shipments through Georgia.The International Energy Agency dropped its forecast on Tuesday for oil product demand from 30 developed countries, located mostly in Europe and North America, to 48.6 million barrels a day, down 1.3 percent from last year.

The Paris-based energy watchdog's report arrived a day after China said its crude imports in July, while historically strong, were down 7 percent from the same month last year. The IEA cautioned it is too early to determine whether the recent fall in oil prices is a longer-term trend. It said demand in developing countries could offset declines in developed nations, and that it sees Chinese oil demand continuing to grow at a robust pace. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 5.89 cents to settle at $3.1317 a gallon, while natural gas futures rose 12.6 cents to settle at $8.456 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, September Brent crude rose $2.32 to settle at $113.47 a barrel. Associated Press writers Ernest Scheyder in New York and George Jahn in Vienna, Austria contributed to this report.

RUSSIA BRAKES CEASE-FIRE ALREADY

IN THE RUSSIA - GEORGIA UPDATE: RUSSIA HAS ALREADY BROKE THE SO CALLED CEASE-FIRE THE EU SET UP BY GOING INTO GORI. WHAT ARE THE RUSSIANS AFTER? THAT OIL PIPELINE SO THEY WILL BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE 1 MILLION BARRELLS OF OIL THAT GO THROUGHT THERE EVERY DAY. LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS THE HOOKS IN THE JAWS OF THE RUSSIANS WILL BE OIL IN EZEKIEL 38. RUSSIA AND PUTIN WANT THAT ALMIGHTY OIL IN RUSSIAS HANDS SO THEY CAN CUT THE LINE FLOWING TO EUROPE AND THE U.S.A. IN THE FUTURE GOD FORCES THE RUSSIANS TO MARCH TO ISRAEL BY PUTTING HOOKS IN THEIR JAWS BECAUSE OF OIL THERE I BELEVE. I BELIEVE OIL WILL BE DISCOVERED IN ISRAEL AND RUSSIA - MUSLIMS WILL MARCH TO ISRAEL TO TRY TO CONTROL THAT PIPELINE JUST LIKE THEY ARE DOING IN GEORGIA. LIKE THE SAYING GOES WHOEVER CONTROLS THE MIDEAST CONTROLS THE WORLD.

Russian troops roll into key city despite truce By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer AUG 13,08

OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia - Russian troops and paramilitaries rolled into the strategic Georgian city of Gori on Wednesday, apparently violating a truce designed to end the six-day conflict that has uprooted tens of thousands and scarred the Georgian landscape. Georgian officials said Gori, a central hub on Georgia's main east-west highway, was being looted and bombed by the Russians.Moscow denied the claim, but it appeared to be on a technicality: a BBC reporter in Gori reported that Russians tanks were in the streets as their South Ossetian separatist allies seized Georgian cars, looted Georgian homes and then set some homes ablaze.Russia has treacherously broken its word, Georgia's Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia said Wednesday in Tbilisi, the capital.To the west, Russian-backed Abkhazian separatists pushed Georgian troops out of Abkhazia and even moved into Georgian territory itself, defiantly planting a flag over the Inguri River and laughing that retreating Georgians had received American training in running away.The twin developments came less than 12 hours after Georgia's president said he accepted a cease-fire plan brokered by France. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that Russia was halting military action because Georgia had paid enough for its attack last Thursday on South Ossetia.In Washington, President Bush announced that a massive U.S. humanitarian effort was already in progress, and would involve U.S. aircraft as well as naval forces. A U.S. C-17 military cargo plane loaded with supplies is already on the way, and Bush said that Russia must ensure that all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, roads and airports, remain open to let deliveries and civilians through.To begin to repair the damage to its relations with the United States, Europe and other nations and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must keep its word and act to end this crisis, Bush said.The EU peace plan calls for both sides to retreat to the positions they held prior to the outbreak of fighting late Thursday. That phrasing apparently would allow Georgian forces to return to the positions they held in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and clearly obliges Russia to leave all parts of Georgia except South Ossetia and Abkhazia.Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili criticized Western nations for failing to help Georgia, a U.S. ally that has been seeking NATO membership.I feel that they are partly to blame, he said Wednesday. Not only those who commit atrocities are responsible ... but so are those who fail to react. In a way, Russians are fighting a proxy war with the West through us.Russian at first denied that tanks were even in Gori but video footage proved otherwise.

About 50 Russian tanks entered Gori in the morning, according to a top Georgian official, Alexander Lomaia. The city of 50,000 lies 15 miles south of South Ossetia, where much of the fighting has taken place.Russian deputy chief of General Staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn admitted that Russians went into Gori, but not in tanks. He said Russians were looking for Georgian officials to talk to about implementing the EU truce but could not find any.A Russian government official who wasn't authorized to give his name said Russian troops checked a Georgian military base near Gori and found lots of abandoned weapons and ammunition, then moved the ordnance to a safe place as part of efforts to demilitarize the area.An AP reporter saw dozens of trucks and armored vehicles leaving Gori, roaring southeast. Soldiers waved at journalists and one soldier jokingly shouted to a photographer: Come with us, beauty, we're going to Tbilisi! But the convoy turned north and left the highway about an hour's drive from Tbilisi, and set up camp a mile off the road.Some Russian units were camouflaged with foliage. The convoy was mainly support vehicles, including ambulances, although there were a few heavy cannons. There were about 100 combat troops and another 100 medics, drivers and other support personnel. About six miles away from the camp, about 80 well-equipped Georgian soldiers were forming what appeared to be a new frontline, armed with pistols, shoulder-launched anti-tank rockets and Kalashnikovs. Sporadic clashes continued in South Ossetia where Russians responded to Georgian snipers. We must respond to provocations, Nogovitsyn said.

Georgia borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Russia has handed out passports to most in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and stationed peacekeepers in both regions since the early 1990s. Georgia wants the Russian peacekeepers out, but Medvedev has insisted they stay. In the west, Georgian troops acknowledged Wednesday they had completely pulled out of a small section of Abkhazia they had controlled. This is Abkhazian land, one separatist told an AP reporter over the Inguri River, saying they were laying claim to historical Abkhazian territory.

The fighters had moved across a thin slice of land dotted with Georgian villages.

The border has been along this river for 1,000 years, separatist official Ruslan Kishmaria told the AP on Wednesday. He said Georgia would have to accept the new border. Georgia insisted its troops had been driven out of Abkhazia by Russian forces. At first, Russia said that separatists had done the job, not Russian forces. Then Nogovitsyn admitted Wednesday that Russian peacekeepers had disarmed Georgian troops in Kodori — the same peacekeepers that Georgia wants withdrawn. The effect was clear. Abkhazia was out of Georgian hands and it would take more than an EU peace plan to get it back in. Abkhazia lies close to the heart of many Russians. Its Black Sea coast was a favorite vacation spot in Soviet times and the province is just down the coast from Sochi, the Russian resort that will host the 2014 Olympics.

For several days, Russian troops held the western town of Zugdidi near Abkhazia, controlling the region's main highway. An AP reporter saw a convoy of 13 Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers in Zugdidi's outskirts Wednesday. Later in the day, Georgian officials said the Russians pulled out of Zugdidi. At a huge rally Tuesday night, Saakashvili said Russia's aim all along was not to gain control of the two disputed provinces but to destroy the smaller nation. They just don't want freedom, and that's why they want to stamp on Georgia and destroy it, he declared to thousands at a jam-packed square in Tbilisi. Leaders of five former Soviet bloc states — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine — also appeared at the rally and spoke out against Russian domination. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko issued a decree Wednesday saying that Russian navy ships deployed to the Georgian coast will need authorization to return to the navy base Russia leases from Ukraine.

In Brussels, Belgium, France sought support from its EU partners to deploy European peacekeeping monitors to the area. EU foreign ministers agreed Wednesday to expand the role of the EU in Georgia, but made no decision on dispatching monitors. The World Food Program sent 34 tons of high-energy biscuits Wednesday help the tens of thousands uprooted by the fighting. Georgian refugees have streamed into Tbilisi and the western Black Sea coast while South Ossetian refugees headed north to Russia. Those left behind in devastated regions of Georgia cowered in rat-infested cellars or wandered nearly deserted cities. Russia has accused Georgia of killing more than 2,000 people, mostly civilians, in South Ossetia. The claim couldn't be independently confirmed, but witnesses who fled the area over the weekend said hundreds had died. Georgia says at least 175 Georgians have died in Russian air and ground attacks. The Russia-Georgia dispute also reached the international courts, with the Georgian security council saying it had sued Russia for alleged ethnic cleansing. The rights group Human Rights Watch said Wednesday it has witnessed South Ossetian fighters looting ethnic Georgians' houses and has recorded multiple accounts of Georgian militias intimidating ethnic Ossetians. The report was important independent confirmation of the claims by each side in the Russia-Georgia conflict. At the Beijing Olympics, Georgian women rallied Wednesday to beat their Russian counterparts in beach volleyball, the first head-to-head clash of the two nations. Russia and Georgia are actually friends. People are friends, said the Georgian beach volleyball team leader, Levan Akhtulediani. But you know, it's not, in the 21st century, to bomb a neighbor country, it's not a good idea.I say once again, its better to compete on the field rather than outside the field, he added.

Associated Press writers Christopher Torchia reported from Zugdidi, Georgia, and near the Kodori Gorge; Matti Friedman and Sergei Grits from outside Gori, Georgia; Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili and David Nowak from Tbilisi, Georgia; Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov, Lynn Berry and Angela Charlton in Moscow; Pauline Jelinek and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and John Heilprin at the United Nations contributed to this report.

EU diplomats keen to avoid Russia controversy
PHILIPPA RUNNER AUG 13,08 Today @ 09:27 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The French EU presidency is expected to endorse the Russia-Georgia ceasefire, offer humanitarian aid and urge EU unity in a statement after an EU foreign ministers meeting on Wednesday (13 August), with Paris keen to avoid controversy on who to blame for the crisis.Preparatory discussions by EU diplomats on Tuesday saw a group of former communist states speak in sharp language about Russia, but the tone was less radical than they used for their domestic press, one diplomat who attended the debates told EUobserver. The presidency thinks, right now, it's better to focus on problem-solving, rather than trying to go into characterisation of the war, who started what, who reacted, and the EU is united behind the idea, he added. The presidency wants to preserve as much room for manoeuvre for future mediation as possible.Wednesday's EU statement will probably be a French declaration rather than a formal joint position by all 27 countries, an EU official said. The situation is still evolving. It's not black and white. Of course, Georgia made some mistakes, Russia made some mistakes. But the idea now is to help mediation, to see what we can do from a humanitarian point of view.The declaration is likely to fall short of Georgian hopes, with Georgia's EU ambassador, Salome Samadashvili, saying she would like the EU to label Russia's behaviour as an act of aggression, condemn the bombing of the Georgian town of Gori, cast doubt on EU-Russia negotiations on a new strategic pact and reaffirm Georgia's territorial integrity.The foreign ministers meeting will begin with a briefing by France's Bernard Kouchner, who came to Brussels from Tbilisi on Tuesday night after taking part in talks between French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili.Russia and Georgia on Tuesday signed a Russian-drafted, six-point ceasefire plan which calls for troops to pull back and for international talks about the modalities of security and stability in Georgian separatist regions.

Shockwaves

The five day war erupted when Georgia fired on Russia-backed rebels in the Georgian province of South Ossetia last Friday (8 August) and Russia launched a massive retaliation, moving tanks deep into Georgian territory, mobilising its navy and ordering bombing raids.The fighting killed hundreds of civilians and shocked former communist EU states, as well as Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan, some of which fear that a newly-assertive Russia will try to undermine other pro-western neighbours in future.The EU should say no [to Russia's subjugation of Georgia] and push Russia out. This means tough language, sanctions [against Russia] and quick EU humanitarian intervention, a diplomat from one of the former communist EU states said, looking at the EU's policy options down the line. The Russian incursion into Georgia was clearly military aggression and should bear costs in terms of EU-Russia relations, but a suspension of the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement or a symbolic arms export embargo would be ineffective, European Council on Foreign Relations analyst, Nicu Popescu, said.The EU's main focus should instead be the swift deployment of an impartial, international peacekeeping force made up of UN or EU soldiers and civilian monitors followed by a donors' conference to help rebuild the war zone, he advised.The first lesson of this crisis is that the old policy of EU non-engagement has encouraged both parties to escalate their actions. From an EU perspective, the first casualty is the theory that by getting more involved in Georgia, the EU will irritate Russia and provoke instability.Mr Sarkozy in Moscow on Tuesday spoke of the possibility of an EU peacekeeping mission, with Estonia quickly offering to send troops.

Peacekeeping conundrum

But creating a force that will be acceptable to all sides could prove hard, with Russia's NATO ambassador, Dmitry Rogozin, on Tuesday ruling out any Georgian component, while Ms Samadashvili said no Russian troops can take part. Last year, Russia and Estonia were involved in an ugly row over Tallinn's decision to move a Soviet-era statue from its city centre. And the current Russia-Georgia conflict has injected bitterness into international relations beyond Europe.Russia's Mr Rogozin at a briefing in Brussels on Tuesday complained that NATO had listened to Georgian delegates but failed to convene a NATO Russia Council as planned, implying that Georgia ally, the US, secretly knew about Georgia's plans to attack the South Ossetia rebels last week.I suspect the American allies will be ashamed to discuss this with their European colleagues, he said.

Bush demands Russia quit Georgia By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
AUG 13,08

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday he is skeptical that Moscow is honoring a cease-fire in neighboring Georgia, demanding that Russia end all military activities in the former Soviet republic and withdraw all its forces. The United States stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected, Bush said sternly during brief remarks in the White House Rose Garden.To demonstrate our solidarity with the Georgian people, the president announced that he was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Paris to assist the West's diplomatic efforts on the crisis, and then to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.He also announced that a massive U.S. humanitarian effort was already in progress, and would involve U.S. aircraft as well as naval forces. A U.S. C-17 military cargo plane loaded with supplies is already on the way, and Bush said that Russia must ensure that all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, roads and airports, remain open to let deliveries and civilians through.To begin to repair the damage to its relations with the United States, Europe and other nations and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must keep its word and act to end this crisis, Bush said.The president spoke amid a fast-moving chain of events, with Rice canceling a planned morning news conference and the White House scrubbing its regular morning briefing with reporters. Despite extensive intelligence resources and deep ties to the Georgian military that the U.S. has trained, the administration has struggled to determine what's happening on the ground, for instance whether Russia is pushing deeper into Georgia or threatening Tbilisi.Neither the president nor his Cabinet has answered questions on the record about the 6-day-old crisis except for remarks that Bush made in a television interview on the sidelines of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Bush spent the morning meeting with his national security team in the White House Situation Room, the nerve center for monitoring international developments. He talked by telephone with Georgia's embattled president, Mikhail Saakashvili and with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who traveled to both Tbilisi and Moscow and is leading a European Union initiative to bring about peace there.The administration and its allies are debating ways to punish Russia for its invasion of Georgia, including expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of wealthy nations — the G-7 — and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise.But it has become increasingly clear that the West may have little leverage to influence Moscow's decisions. Bush held out no specific punishment.Russia has sought to integrate into the diplomatic, political, economic, and security structures of the 21st century. The United States has supported those efforts, he said. Now Russia is putting its aspirations at risk by taking actions in Georgia that are inconsistent with the principles of those institutions.Saakashvili called the Western response inadequate. I feel that they are partly to blame, he said. Not only those who commit atrocities are responsible ... but so are those who fail to react.The tiny, poverty stricken nation of Georgia has staked its future on leaning West and joining NATO is one of its key goals. Bush has supported this move, but alliance leaders put the requests from Georgia, as well as another ex-Soviet republic, Ukraine, on hold in April for fear of upsetting relations with Moscow.Bush, during a 2005 visit to Tbilisi, personally assured the people of Georgia that the United States would be its unflinching ally.The path of freedom you have chosen is not easy, but you will not travel it alone, Bush said in an address to a crowd of thousands in Freedom Square. Americans respect your courageous choice for liberty. And as you build a free and democratic Georgia, the American people will stand with you.The Russian operation began after Georgia last week tried to secure control over South Ossetia, a breakaway region loyal to Moscow. Russia's fierce military response expanded to Abkhazia, another separatist province, and ended up on purely Georgian soil.

On Wednesday, after Saajashvili said he accepted a cease-fire plan brokered by France that called for both sides to retreat to their original positions, and after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia was halting military action, Russian tanks rumbled into the Georgian city of Gori. Georgian officials said Gori was looted and bombed by the Russians. An AP reporter later saw dozens of tanks and military vehicles leaving the city, roaring south and deeper into Georgia.Bush said the U.S. is concerned that Russian units have taken up positions on the east side of Gori, which allows Russia to block an east-to-west highway, divide the country and threaten the capital of Tblisi. The president said he's also concerned that Russian forces have entered and taken positions in the port city of Poti, that Russian armored vehicles are blocking access to that port, and that Russia is blowing up Georgian vessels. Bush said this appears to contradict Russia's promise of a halt to military operations. Unfortunately we've been receiving reports of Russia actions that are inconsistent with these statements, he said. In addition, he said, We're concerned about reports that Georgian citizens of all ethnic origins are not being protected.

Leading MP backs Livni for Israel premiership Wed Aug 13, 5:54 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - The chairman of Israel's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee pledged his support Wednesday for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in a party primary to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. I have decided to choose from the many candidates on the list, all of whom are friends, Kadima MP Tzachi Hanegbi told public radio, saying he felt Livni embodied the necessity of a consensus on the centrist line of Kadima.The party will hold its first ever primary on September 17 to choose a new leader to replace Olmert, who in a shock announcement on July 30 said he would step down following the vote to battle corruption allegations.In addition to chairing the powerful committee which oversees Israel's most critical security decisions, Hanegbi is regarded as a senior official in the centrist party formed by former prime minister Ariel Sharon.A recent poll showed Livni leading with the support of 35 percent of Kadima members, followed by Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a hawkish former general, with 25 percent.