RUSSIA - USA - EMP ATTACK

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.

Tropical Storm Fay floods hundreds of Fla. homes
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer AUG 21,08

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Emergency crews launched airboats into submerged streets Wednesday to rescue central Florida residents trapped by rising floodwaters from a stalled Tropical Storm Fay, which soaked the state for a third consecutive day.

Calling the flooding catastrophic, Gov. Charlie Crist requested an emergency disaster declaration from the federal government to defray rising debris and response costs. The White House said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was reviewing the request.Flooding was reported in hundreds of homes in Brevard and St. Lucie counties, some by up to 5 feet of standing water. In three towns, rising waters backed up sewage systems. It wasn't immediately clear how many residents had been displaced or were stranded, but county officials reported making dozens of rescues.We can't even get out of our house, said Billie Dayton of Port St. Lucie, as waters lapped at her porch. We're just hoping that it doesn't rain anymore.The storm could dump 30 inches of rain in some areas of Florida and the National Hurricane Center said up to 22 inches had already fallen near Melbourne, just south of Cape Canaveral on the state's central Atlantic coast.By Wednesday evening, the storm's center had moved over the Atlantic Ocean, and its winds had picked up speed.

Forecasters expected the storm to strengthen slightly before turning back toward the mainland Thursday and hitting Florida for the third time this week. But National Hurricane Center meteorologist Corey Walton said it was unlikely the storm would gain enough energy over the water to become a hurricane.The erratic storm first struck Monday in the Florida Keys, then veered out to sea before traversing east across the state, briefly strengthening, then stalling. For much of Wednesday, the storm barely moved, dumping inches and inches of rain over coastal central Florida.

If Fay strikes Florida again as expected, it would be just the fourth storm in recorded history to hit the peninsula with tropical storm intensity three separate times. The most recent was Hurricane Donna in 1960, said Daniel Brown, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.At 11 p.m. Wednesday, the storm was just off Florida's east coast, about 35 miles southeast of Daytona Beach. Its maximum sustained winds were 60 mph, and it was expected to move slowly toward the northwest overnight.In St. Lucie County an estimated 150 residents have been assisted in evacuating by boat or high-clearance vehicle, and water was 3 to 5 feet in some people's homes, Erick Gill, a county spokesman, said.The Florida National Guard mobilized about a dozen guardsmen and some high-water vehicles to assist with damage assessment and help with evacuations.Billy Johnson, 45, and his girlfriend walked four blocks through waist-high water to reach rescue vehicles after his Melbourne apartment was flooded with knee-high water.Everything I had is all underwater, he said.You can't grab your food. You can't grab your TV... Grab what you can and go.

For many, however, it was just a major inconvenience.

Steve Grenon, 40, was sitting in the bed of his truck in front of his house. He said he'd been holed up there for two days, unable to leave with water was up to six feet deep in the street in front of him. A dodge sedan was partly submerged in front of him.I had no idea what it looked like out there until today, Grenon said.Gill said hundreds of homes had been flooded, though a count was incomplete. Homes also were flooded in Brevard County, and county officials said 118 people were in shelters Wednesday night. Floodwaters also had caused sewage to back up, affecting another 40,000 to 50,000 people in three towns. Fay formed over the weekend in the Atlantic and was blamed for 20 deaths in the Caribbean before hitting Florida's southwest coast, where it first fell short of predictions it could be a Category 1 hurricane when it came ashore. Though no one in Florida had been killed, some were close. Joe McMannis, 27, said he jumped into floodwaters to help three people in a submerged truck in Jensen Beach. McMannis said the driver accidentally drove into a retention pond, confusing it for a driveway. It pretty much came up to my ears and chin, he said. "I saw this little kid coming toward me so I grabbed him and swam him back to the shore line and went back for the other two guys.The rain was welcome in dry Florida and Georgia cropland, but could also hurt farmers' production. Forecasters predicted parts of northern Florida could get 10 to 15 inches of rain, while southern Georgia could receive 3 to 6 inches. They're probably areas of the state that found the rains very beneficial, said Terence McElroy, spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. But McElroy said the rain could pool around and damage citrus trees and flood pastures and hay fields. He couldn't yet quantify damage. Before moving east, the storm flooded streets in Naples, downed trees and cut power to some 95,000 homes and businesses. Tornadoes spawned by the storm damaged 51 homes in Brevard County, southeast of Orlando, including nine homes that were totaled. In the Keys, officials estimated 25,000 tourists evacuated. In Florida communities north of the flooding and in southeast Georgia, storm preparations included canceling school, clearing storm drains and ditches and encouraging mobile home residents to find sturdier shelter. Associated Press Writer Russ Bynum reported from Savannah, Ga.; Kelli Kennedy, Matt Sedensky, Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Curt Anderson and Travis Reed reported from Miami; Christine Armario reported in Tampa, Bill Kaczor and Brent Kallestad reported from Tallahassee; and Ron Word in Jacksonville.

At least 74 killed in flooding in India By BISWAJEET BANERJEE, Associated Press AUG 21,08

Featured Topics: Iraq Russia LUCKNOW, India – Monsoon rains pummeled northern India, bringing dozens of buildings crashing down and killing 74 people, police said Thursday.The deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh state, one of India's poorest, bringing this monsoon season's death toll to more than 300 people across India.

Monsoon season, which lasts from June to September in India, brings rain vital for the country's farmers but also massive destruction. Floods, mudslides, house collapses and lightning strikes kill hundreds every year.One of the worst hit places was the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where 11.5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.The dead included women and children, as most of the fatalities occurred due to the incidents of houses collapsing, said Surendra Srivastava, the state police spokesman.

Nine members of a single family died in Varanasi when the deluge caused the walls of a house to collapse, Srivastava said. Four others were also killed in the city, 165 miles southeast of Lucknow, the state capital.In the town of Sitapur, 50 miles southwest of Lucknow, 24 people were killed when 12 buildings collapsed, said Mritunjay Rai, a government official. Those killed included two girls who were buried alive when their mud house collapsed on them, Rai said.Schools in Varanasi and the nearby town of Barabanki were closed due the rains and the Ganges River was overflowing in some points, said Atul Kumar Gupta, a senior state official.Gupta said families would get $2,350 in compensation for victims of the flooding.

Meteorologists warned of more flooding in the days to come.

On Wednesday, floods left nearly 80,000 people stranded and dependent on emergency aid for food and water in India's remote northeast.Authorities used motorboats to rush aid to flood victims in more than 70 inundated villages on Majuli, one of Asia's largest freshwater islands located in the Brahmaputra River, said A. Baruah, a local government official in the state of Assam.There have been no deaths reported so far on the island, Baruah said.

Typhoon moves away from Philippines after 7 dead By OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press AUG 21,08

Featured Topics: Iraq Russia MANILA, Philippines – Rains from Typhoon Nuri triggered a series of landslides and floods in the northern Philippines, killing seven people before the storm moved on Thursday toward Hong Kong.Nuri, packing winds of 87 mph and gusts of up to 106 mph, was forecast to make landfall over Guangdong province, just east of Hong Kong on Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center.Rains, winds and flooding on Wednesday caused landslides in the mountainous northern Philippine provinces but the weather cleared Thursday.The Office of Civil Defense said three brothers aged 1, 3 and 10 years were killed when their house in Itogon township in Benguet province was swept away.Another landslide in Itogon killed a 72-year-old woman in her kitchen. Itogon is about 125 miles north of Manila.Two other people died in landslides and one was killed by a fallen tree, the civil defense said. One person was reported missing.(Corrects death toll in last paragraph.)

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WARS AND RUMURS OF WARS.

MATTHEW 24:6
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

MARK 13:7
7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

Surprise! Russia not about to invade Mideast, says new prophecy theory
But an unexpected war is imminent, according to best-selling new biblical analysis
August 19, 2008 9:59 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – Even though Russia has advanced south into Georgia, a best-selling new Bible prophecy book says suggestions this signals an imminent march into the Middle East are mistaken.Instead, says Bill Salus, author of Isralestine, the world is about to be surprised by a different kind of devastating regional war involving Israel and its Arab neighbors.Isralestine: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East, currently rising to the top of the prophecy charts, says scholars have missed a significant piece of what the Bible reveals about the future of the region. And it has many of them reconsidering their prophetic model for the near future.

You can set Russia's recent invasion of Georgia and Israel's concern over Iran's nuclear aspirations on the back burner, not that these topics lack importance, says Salus. The stage is not adequately set for the highly publicized Ezekiel 38 and 39 Russian-Iranian nuclear-equipped consortia of nations to invade Israel. Psalm 83 comes first, and then Ezekiel 38 follows on its heels like a Goliath shadow. There are two distinct invasions of Israel, one building upon the other, with both occurring sequentially in the Middle East.According to Salus, the next war in the Middle East will involve Israel's closest Arab neighbors – not faraway Iran or Russia, the re-emerging military power to the north. He says a sometimes overlooked or misinterpreted passage in Psalm 83 is the key to understand the next major prophetic development. He says it suggests Palestinians, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, Syrians, Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians will confederate and launch an all-out war against Israel before what has been called the battle of Armageddon involving another alliance of Iran, Russia and Turkey.Indeed something is very near, but it is not Armageddon, says Salus.The theory has many long-time students of Bible prophecy sitting up and taking notice.The result of this regional war will be devastation for the Arabs who launch it and startling territorial and resource gains by Israel, claims the theory. It is this unexpected development that will precipitate the final showdown involving what has been termed the Ezekiel invasion.

US, Poland OK missile defense base, riling Moscow By VANESSA GERA and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writers – Wed Aug 20, 6:09 pm ET

WARSAW, Poland – The United States and Poland signed a deal Wednesday to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia — a move followed swiftly by a new warning from Moscow of a possible military response.For many Poles — whose country has been a staunch U.S. ally — the accord represented what they believed would be a guarantee of safety for themselves in the face of a newly assertive Russia.Negotiators sealed the deal last week against a backdrop of Russian military action in Georgia, a former Soviet republic turned U.S. ally, that has worried former Soviet satellites across eastern Europe. It prompted Moscow's sharpest rhetoric yet over the system, which it contends is aimed at Russia despite Washington's insistence the site is purely defensive.After Wednesday's signing, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed any suggestion the 10 missile defense interceptors — which Washington says are intended to defend Europe and the U.S. from the possible threat of long-distance missiles from Iran — represent a threat to Russia.Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one, Rice said. It is in our defense that we do this.She denounced an earlier threat from a Russian general to target NATO member Poland, possibly even with nuclear weapons, for accepting the facility.Such comments border on the bizarre, frankly, Rice told reporters in Warsaw. The Russians are losing their credibility, she said, adding that Moscow would pay a price for its actions in Georgia, though she did not specify how.It's also the case that when you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988, Rice said. It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around.Poland has been a staunch U.S. ally in both Iraq and Afghanistan. It sent combat troops into Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition and had 2,300 troops deployed there at its peak. That has been reduced to about 900, who will be pulled out in October. At the same time, Poland has been building up its military presence in Afghanistan, where it currently has some 1,600 troops.Hours after the signing, Russia's Foreign Ministry warned that Moscow's response would go beyond diplomacy. The system to be based in Poland lacks any target other than Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, it said in a statement, contending the U.S. system will be broadened and modernized.In this case Russia will be forced to react, and not only through diplomatic channels, it said without elaborating.

Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher, who leads a key appropriations panel for missile defense, praised the deal. But she said that Democratic lawmakers intend to withhold funding for the interceptors planned for Poland until they are properly tested, a move that could delay the deployment for years.The deal follows an earlier agreement to place the second component of the missile defense shield — a radar tracking system — in the neighboring Czech Republic, another formerly communist country now in NATO.We have achieved our main goals, which means that our country and the United States will be more secure, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Rice after the signing.Many Poles agreed. After what happened in Georgia, I believe that this is good protection for us, said Kazimierz Dziuba, 49, a hospital worker in Warsaw.The Georgian conflict made the Americans agree to this deal sooner because the Russians are getting too bossy, Dziuba said.

Not all Poles were happy, however.

Alina Kesek, an 82-year-old retired office clerk who lived through World War II, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland between them, and then experienced four decades of Moscow-dominated communist rule, said the Patriot missiles were a kind of provocation toward Russia. This means a threat from the Russian side, said Kesek. I am not very pleased with this deal.Some residents in the northern Polish town of Redzikowo, where the missile defense facility will be located, fear it may expose them to retaliatory attacks or other dangers. Along with the main deal, the two nations signed a so-called declaration on strategic cooperation, which is to deepen their military and political partnership. It includes a mutual commitment to come to each other's assistance immediately if one is under attack — enhancing existing obligations both have as NATO members. The declaration also was accompanied by a promise from the U.S. to help modernize Poland's armed forces and to place a battery of Patriot missiles there by 2012. Rice said the deal will help both the alliance and Poland and the United States respond to the coming threats.Poland and the United States spent a year and a half in formal talks, which snagged in the final phase on Poland's demands for the Patriot missiles and other points. However, the deepening U.S.-Polish friendship dominated Wednesday's proceedings. In troubled times the most important thing is to have friends, Rice said. But it is more important to have friends who share your values and your aspirations and your dreams. And Poland and the United States are those kind of friends.Approval for the missile defense sites is still needed from the Czech and Polish parliaments. No date has been set for lawmakers in Warsaw to vote, but the deal enjoys the support of the largest opposition party as well as of the government. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, traveling with Rice, and Desmond Butler in Washington contributed to this report.

ELECTION 2008 Obama adviser travels to Syria Urges Damascus to speed up talks aimed at Israeli retreat from Golan August 20, 2008 3:12 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

Daniel Kurtzer
JERUSALEM – A key foreign policy adviser to Sen. Barack Obama has traveled to Damascus where he reportedly urged Syrian officials to fast-track negotiations with Israel, it has emerged.Both Israel and Syria announced in May they were holding indirect talks aimed in part at an Israeli evacuation of most of the Golan Heights, which looks down on Israeli population centers and twice was used by Damascus to mount ground invasions of the Jewish state.The talks have been progressing at a very slow pace, with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Russia today discussing military cooperation between Damascus and Moscow.But Daniel Kurtzer, a top adviser to Obama on Israeli-Palestinian affairs who visited Syria last month, reportedly has offered Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem some advice.I urged him to move ahead in the Israel-Syria negotiations as much as possible so that whoever is the next president would not start from too far down the track, Kurtzer disclosed yesterday in an interview with the New York Sun.I did not say anything about Obama or McCain. I said whoever is the next president is not going to want to inherit a process that isn't going anywhere, Kurtzer said.He stressed he was not in Damascus as part of Obama's campaign but instead visiting as a private expert attending an international lawyers conference. The event is co-sponsored by British organizations and arranged by the British Syrian Society, chaired by Dr. Fawaz Akhras, the father of the wife of Syrian President Assad. The conference was aimed at helping Syria develop legal programs and expand international contacts for the country's lawyers.Kurtzer last month joined Obama in his visit to Israel. Kurtzer is a high-profile Obama adviser on Mideast affairs identified by Israeli diplomatic sources as likely to become the Illinois senator's envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian issue if he wins the presidency. It is unlikely Syrian officials did not associate Kurtzer with Obama's campaign in their talks with him.Kurtzer said he informed the Obama campaign of his trip to Damascus.The State Department considers Syria a state sponsor of terror. Damascus openly hosts the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups and is accused of providing weapons and financing to the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah terror group.The McCain campaign immediately seized on Kurzter's trip to Syria.McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb, stated, If one of Senator Obama's advisers has been to Damascus, we just wonder how many have been to Tehran.McCain's headquarters even scheduled a public phone conference for tomorrow to discuss Kurtzer's Syria trip.

Kurtzer one of Israel's greatest foes

Kurtzer long has been identified by Israeli leaders speaking on the record as one of Israel's greatest foes in Washington, and his appointment as a primary Mideast adviser to Obama raised some eyebrows in the pro-Israel Jewish community. We oppose the appointment of Kurtzer because of his long, documented record of hostility to and severe pressure upon Israel, said Zionist Organization of America National Chairman Morton Klein.Kurtzer has been blasted by mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.He has angered Israeli leaders many times for pushing Israel into what they described as extreme concessions to the Palestinians.With Jews like Kurtzer, it is impossible to build a healthy relationship between Israel and the United States, Benjamin Nentanyahu was quoted saying in 2001 by Israel's Haaretz newspaper.Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said Kurtzer frequently pressured Israel to make one-sided concessions to the Arabs; he constantly blamed Israel for the absence of Mideast peace, and paid little or no attention to the fact that the Palestinians were carrying out terrorist attacks and openly calling for the destruction of Israel.

Morris Amitay, former executive director of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2001: Kurtzer ... will use his Jewishness as a protective cover for his anti-Israel views.The ZOA points out Israel's leading daily, Yediot Ahronot, editorialized on Kurtzer's negative influence against Israel:Possibly more than any other U.S. State Department official, Kurtzer has been instrumental in promoting the goals of the Palestinians and in raising their afflictions to the center of the U.S. policymakers' agenda, the paper stated.Kurtzer first rose to prominence in 1988 when, as a State Department adviser, he counseled the Reagan administration to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat. The PLO had carried out scores of anti-Western attacks, but in the late '80s Arafat claimed to have renounced violence.

In 1988, Kurtzer was noted as the principal author of a major policy speech by then-Secretary of State George Shultz in which the U.S. government first recognized the legitimate rights of the Palestinians.Haaretz reported in 2001 that Kurtzer had a vocal conflict with an Israeli government official in Philadelphia in the summer of 1990 after Kurtzer attacked the Israeli government for refusing to include the PLO in the peace process [and] said that this constituted the main obstacle to peace.

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

Russia-NATO relations in tatters
HONOR MAHONY 20.08.2008 @ 09:25 CET

Moscow's relations with NATO were left in tatters on Tuesday (19 August) after the Kremlin dismissed the results of an emergency meeting of the military alliance on Russia's actions in Georgia as empty words.NATO foreign ministers gathered in the Brussels headquarters yesterday to discuss what actions it could take following the five-day war between Russia and its small Caucasian neighbour, Georgia, amid a hesitant withdrawal of Russian troops.NATO - the Tuesday statement contained little of substance (Photo: nato.int)But NATO itself is internally divided on how to approach energy-rich Russia. The EU relies on it for around a quarter of its energy needs, a factor said to influence the more cautious approach of Germany, France and Italy towards condemning Moscow, meaning the alliance cobbled together a political statement but little more.It said it would freeze regular contacts with Russia and said there would be no business as usual under present circumstances while urging Moscow to take immediate action to withdraw its troops from the area.There were no promises of troops in Georgia to give weight to the statement, however. Instead, the alliance said it would help with certain non-military support measures.NATO plans to send a team of 15 civil emergency planning experts to help Georgia assess damage to its civil infrastructure and support the re-establishment of the air traffic system and assist the Georgian government in understanding the nature of cyber attacks.

There was no real push for giving Georgia and Ukraine NATO membership. French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner also said the EU would not rethink its support for Russia's attempt to join the World Trade Organisation.The lack of substance was immediately picked up on by Russia.

Empty words

On the whole, all of these threats that have been raining down on Russia turned out to be empty words, said Dimitri Rogozin, the Russian ambassador to NATO.Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, described the statement as unobjective and biased.

Russia continues to only pull back its troops slowly from Georgia even though it agreed to a France-brokered ceasefire over the weekend and announced the withdrawal on Monday.The most recent pledge by Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, is that all bar 500 Russia troops would be pulled out of Georgia by Thursday and Friday.But the promise was condemned by British foreign minister, David Miliband, who noted that it was already the third commitment on the withdrawal made by Russia.I think we should still engage with the Russians but in a hard-headed way, and we mustn't allow the Russians to feel they are the victims of this affair when they are the transgressors, he said in a statement in UK daily The Times.The newspaper notes that a British diplomat had been stopped at a Russian checkpoint in Georgia and was told that he could not proceed without a Russian visa. According to Georgian officials, Russian troops remain in charge of about a third of Georgia, including Poti, the Black Sea port, and Gori, a key city near the South Ossetia border, the breakaway region at the heart of the conflict.Bloomberg news agency reports that Russia on Tuesday set out fresh conditions for its withdrawal.

Fresh conditions

For the withdrawal of Russian troops to happen, two things are necessary: the pullback of Georgian forces to their barracks and, secondly, we need to be assured that our peacekeepers are not going to be attacked again, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said.The conflict also dominated a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where veto-holding Russia on Tuesday refused to support a draft resolution calling for immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia.The political bartering comes just 10 days after the war started. On 7 August, Georgia attempted to retake South Ossetia, prompting a massive retaliation from Russia. The UN estimates the fighting has created 150,000 new refugees.

Slovak mint starts production of euro coins
LUCIA KUBOSOVA 20.08.2008 @ 09:29 CET

Slovakia's mint has started manufacturing euro coins as the country prepares to join the 15-strong monetary union on 1 January 2009.Some 500 million coins weighing 2,406 tonnes began to be produced at a speed of 750 coins per minute at the Mint in Kremnica on Tuesday (19 August) in a run to last till the end of the year, the state company's spokesman, Jaroslav Setnicky, told reporters.The quota is the prescribed amount that needs to be delivered to banks and be available for general distribution. Altogether, Slovakia will need to hold 188 million euro notes worth €7 billion, and 500 million euro coins - among them, the highest amount of 230 million will be of one cent coins.It is currently a popular joke among Slovaks to say they will need sacks for coins when their country switches to the euro, as the poorest eurozone member state with lower prices and salaries than in the rest of the single currency area.The euro will be the sixth currency in Slovakia's history and will replace the Slovak koruna which was introduced in 1993 as the then Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.As he was watching the formal launch of Slovak euro coin production in Kremnica on Tuesday (19 August), the Slovak finance minister, Jan Pociatek, suggested that the euro would serve Slovaks longer and better than the previous currency, the Slovak daily SME reported.The Slovak one and two-euro coins will feature a cross planted on top of a mountain with three hills, which is a national symbol also featuring on the country's flag. It is the first time that the Christian crucifix will be included on the side of a euro coin whose design the individual member countries can decide over, although Spain and Portugal have images of famous cathedrals on some of their coins.The 10, 20, 50-cent coins will feature Bratislava Castle, while the one, two and five-cent coins will show Mount Krivan, a symbol of the nation's sovereignty.

The 5.3 million-people strong Slovakia will join the eurozone as the second country of the former eastern bloc, after Slovenia.The move comes just as the euro celebrates the 10th anniversary of its original introduction in 11 states in 1999 and the single currency area faces the threat of its first ever recession.During the evaluation process, the long-term prospect of the country's price stability caused the biggest doubts over its readiness to join the club. But despite recording the highest economic growth rates across the EU, Slovakia managed to keep inflation below the required threshold.

Oil rises in Asia on falling US gasoline supplies By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press AUG 21,08

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose Thursday in Asia above $116 a barrel as investors mulled a fall in U.S. gasoline inventories and a possible output tightening by OPEC at its next meeting in September.Light, sweet crude for October delivery was up 83 cents at $116.39 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract rose $1.01 overnight to settle at $115.56 a barrel.The September contract expired Wednesday after rising 45 cents to $114.98 a barrel.The price gains came despite a huge rise in U.S. crude inventories. But not all U.S. fuel supplies were abundant.Gasoline inventories shrank by a larger-than-expected 6.2 million barrels to below-average levels in the week ended Aug. 15, the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Meanwhile, distillate inventories — which include heating oil and diesel fuel — rose by less than expected, the EIA said.That was enough to offset a hefty 9.4 million barrel rise in U.S. crude stocks last week when the average analyst forecast had been for a 1.7 million barrel increase, according to energy information provider Platts.

That report had something for everyone, said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. On the one hand, the crude inventory buildup was quite strong, but the gasoline draw was also very prominent.Investors are also trying to anticipate the outcome of the next Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in early September, as supply concerns could rise further if members of the cartel decide to lower their output in response to slower demand. Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said he might propose an output cut at the next OPEC meeting.The market is looking to the OPEC meeting, Moore said. Before that meeting, we're going to get quite a few statements from OPEC officials expressing opinions. In the end, I don't expect a production cut, but they may push for greater adherence to output quotas.Oil prices have rebounded after falling about $35, or nearly a quarter, from their all-time trading record $147.27 on July 11. Many investors expect that high gasoline prices and slowing economic growth in the U.S., Europe and Japan will undermine global energy demand.Prices were supported Thursday by a slightly weaker dollar compared to the euro. The 15-nation euro traded was up to $1.4775, while the dollar fell to 109.62 yen. A falling greenback encourages investors to seek commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 3.01 cents to $3.1936 a gallon, while gasoline prices gained 1.84 cents to $2.9287 a gallon. Natural gas futures increased 1.8 cents to $8.095 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, October Brent crude rose 72 cents to $115.08 a barrel.

Fiery plane crash at Madrid airport kills 153 By HAROLD HECKLE, Associated Press Writer AUG 21,08

MADRID, Spain – A jetliner heading to the popular Canary Islands vacation resort crashed during takeoff Wednesday, turning a wooded area off the end of a runway into a hellish scene of charred bodies and smoldering wreckage. Some 153 were believed dead — Spain's worst air disaster in nearly 25 years.Only 19 people survived the midafternoon crash of the Spanair MD-82 at Madrid's Barajas International Airport, and some were in critical condition, said Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez, whose department oversees civil aviation in Spain.The airline didn't release a death toll, but said the plane carried 172 crew members and passengers, including two babies and 20 youngsters. There was no word on how many children died.As smoke billowed from the wreckage, dozens of fire trucks and ambulances rushed to help, lining a nearby road and filling a field next to a swath of charred vegetation. Helicopters flew over dumping water on fires.The scene is devastating, said Pablo Albella, an emergency rescue worker. The fuselage is destroyed. The plane burned. I have seen a kilometer of charred land and few whole pieces of the fuselage. It is all destruction.Rescuers rushed the few survivors to hospitals, while emergency workers shrouded the dead in white sheets. One body lay on burned grass, an arm and a leg poking out.Later, a long convoy of black hearses rolled onto the airport grounds to carry bodies to a makeshift morgue set up at Madrid's main convention center — the facility used for relatives to identify bodies after the 2004 Islamic terror bombings that killed 191 people on Madrid commuter trains.A stready stream of hearses arrived at the morgue under police escort Wednesday night. Mourners went to a special waiting area, avoiding photographers and reporters.It was not immediately clear what went wrong. Alvarez said the jetliner had barely gotten airborne when it veered right, crashed and broke into pieces.Spanair, a Spanish company wholly owned by Scandinavian Airlines, said it did not know what caused the accident. Alvarez said investigators ruled out foul play and considered the crash an accident. She said the plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered.

While preparing for a first takeoff attempt, the plane's pilot reported a breakdown in a gauge that measures temperature outside the plane. The gauge was fixed, delaying the departure, said Spanair spokeswoman Susana Vergara.It was on the second takeoff attempt that the plane crashed.Spanair Flight JK5022 originated in Barcelona and was headed for the city of Las Palmas. It was a code-share with Flight LH255 of the German carrier Lufthansa.In Germany, Lufthansa said it issued tickets to seven people who checked in for the flight and four of those were from Germany. It was unclear whether they were German citizens.Sweden's Foreign Ministry said two Swedes were on the plane. It said one was at a hospital but the other was unaccounted for.

The accident was Spain's worst air disaster since 1983, when a Boeing 747 operated by the Colombian airline Avianca crashed near Madrid on landing approach, killing 181people. In 1985, an Iberia Boeing 727 crashed near Bilbao in the Basque region, killing 148 people.The deadliest disaster in aviation history occurred in Spain in 1977. Two fully loaded Boeing 747s collided on a runway in the Canary Islands and a total of 583 people died.After being informed of Wednesday's crash, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero broke off his vacation in southern Spain and rushed back to Madrid, heading straight for the airport. He expressed condolences to people who lost loved ones in this tragedy that struck us today. Later he went to the morgue to comfort mourners. In an expression of mourning, a soccer match in Copenhagen between the national teams of Denmark and Spain started with a minute of silence and players on both teams wore black armbands. Sergio Allard, a Spanair spokesman, said the crashed plane passed an inspection in January and no problems had been reported since then. The plane was 15 years old and has been owned by Spanair the past nine, he said. The DC-9/MD-80 family of twin-engine, medium-range jets enjoyed wide popularity among the world's airlines in the 1970s, '80s and '90s.

But it has had a number of fatal accidents, the deadliest of which was a crash of Slovenia's Adria Airways flight in Corsica in 1981, when all 180 people on board perished. In Copenhagen, Mats Jansson, the chief executive of Spanair's owner, Scandinavian Airlines, said he had no information about the accident itself. Jansson and his deputy, John Dueholm, were on their way home from the Beijing Olympics when they learned about the accident and immediately decided to fly to Madrid with a team of crisis counselors. We want to be on location ... there are many questions, Jansson said before heading to Spain. Spanair has a fleet of more than 60 aircraft and runs around 600 flights daily. Crashes during takeoff or landing are some of the most common aviation accidents. In July 2007, 199 people were killed in Brazil's worst air disaster when an Airbus A320 belonging to TAM airlines skidded off the runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport and smashed across a road into a gas station and an air cargo building. Five people died and 65 were injured May 30 when an A320 belonging to Grupo Taca skidded off the end of the runway at Toncontin International Airport near the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. On the Net: Spanair: http://www.spanair.com

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.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Cold War fears in Mideast.Israel worries region could be theater of conflict as Russia boosts military ties with Syria August 20, 2008 6:54 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – Israeli security officials have confirmed fears in Jerusalem that Russia may spark a Cold War-like military buildup in the Middle East by sending warships and advanced weaponry to foe Syria.Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived today on a two-day visit to Moscow, where he reportedly will discuss with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ways to expand military ties with Moscow, whose arms sales to Mideast countries, including Syria and Iran, have angered Israel and the United States.In a widely circulated article, the London Times reported today Russia is expected to propose a revival of its Cold War-era naval bases at the Syrian ports of Tartus and Latakia on the Mediterranean. Moscow maintained bases in Damascus during the Cold War but Russia's influence in the region weakened after the collapse of the Soviet Union.The London Times information is not new, though. Indeed, the deal was already sealed five months ago.WND reported on March 9 Syria quietly struck a deal with Russia that allows Moscow to station submarines and war boats off Tartus and Latakia. In exchange, Russia is supplying Syria with weaponry at lower costs, with some of the missiles and rockets being financed by Iran.Russia's involvement and strategic positioning is almost like a return to its Cold War stance, a Jordanian security official said at the time.According to informed security sources there are already Russian naval troops and missile crews operating in Syria. The officials told WND that Russia began installing in Syria its S-300 surface-to-air missile defense shield, which is similar to the U.S.-funded, Israeli-engineered Arrow anti-missile system currently deployed in Israel. The S-300 system is being run not by Syria but by Russian naval technicians who work from Syria's ports, security officials said.Israeli security officials believe Assad's trip to Moscow was not to ink any deals but to make public already existing arrangements for military cooperation between the two countries in an effort by Russia to publicly enhance its militant posture.

Still, the security officials said that in Moscow Assad likely will grant Russia permission to deepen its military buildup on its territory with additional naval fleets and more troops at Russian naval bases already in existence in exchange for the sale to Syria of aircraft, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. The officials said they did not expect more Russian submarines off the coast of Syria.Syria is particularly interested in Russia's BUK-M1 surface-to-air medium-range missile system, military aircraft and other advanced weaponry.Already Russia provided Syria with new ballistic missiles and rockets including Alexander rockets and a massive quantity of various Scud surface-to-surface missiles, including Scud B and Scud D missiles.Israeli security officials noted Syria test-fired two Scud D surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles, covering most Israeli territory. The officials said the Syrian missile test was coordinated with Iran and Russia and is believed to have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles had.Israeli security officials are concerned that as in the Cold War days, the Middle East could serve as a theater of conflict, or at least military buildup, between Russia and the U.S.Assad today told Russia's Kommersant newspaper that Russia's conflict with Georgia, in which Moscow says Georgia was trained by Israelis and utilized Israeli weapons and technology, underscored the importance for Russia and Syria to tighten their defense cooperation.I think that in Russia and in the world everyone is now aware of Israel’s role and its military consultants in the Georgian crisis. And if before in Russia there were people who thought these forces can be friendly then now I think no one thinks that way, he said.Of course military and technical cooperation is the main issue. Weapons purchases are very important, said Assad. I think we should speed it up. Moreover, the West and Israel continue to put pressure on Russia.A spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said Israel does not supply arms to other countries but that private Israeli firms conduct equipment sales and training with the Israeli Defense Ministry's approval.

Assad went on to compare his isolated country to Russia, stating, Georgia began the crisis and the West accuses Russia. Syria suffered the same thing; attempts to destabilize the country, distortion of the facts and double standards.Israel and Syria last May announced they were holding indirect talks aimed in part at an Israeli evacuation of most of the Golan Heights, which looks down on Israeli population centers and was twice used by Damascus to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state. But those talks have been progressing at a very slow pace.Israel repeatedly has warned Russia against supplying Syria and Iran with military equipment. Israeli officials accuse Damascus of passing on missiles and rockets to the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization.The seemingly closer ties between Syria and Russia comes as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart today inked a deal to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, prompting Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet ally.

Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on its website that Moscow would react to the U.S.-Polish anti-missile deal not only through diplomatic protests.A Russian general even warned in an interview Moscow could target Poland.Rice said the Russian response to the deal with Poland borders on the bizarre but she denied Washington wanted a confrontation with Moscow.I hope that there are not people in Russia who are hankering for the days of U.S.-Soviet confrontation because they are over, Rice told journalists in Warsaw.Still, in an interview with CNN she did issue an unusually harsh warning against Soviet designs for Poland:They (Russia) must know that the United States would never permit an attack on the territory of an ally under Article 5. When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988. It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around.

Israel, Russia hold talks on Georgia, Middle East
Wed Aug 20, 4:59 pm ET

CNN JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed Middle East peace moves with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday, in advance of an expected visit by Syria's leader to Moscow, an Israeli official said.The conversation initiated by a telephone call from Medvedev, also dwelt on Israeli-Russian ties in light of Russia's conflict with Georgia, the official said. Russia has accused Israel of supplying Georgia with military equipment.Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, said the two leaders spoke about what went on in the Caucasus and the Middle East peace process, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's planned visit this week to the Russian capital.Israel and Syria have conducted indirect peace talks since May under Turkish mediation, after direct negotiations failed in 2000 in a dispute over the terms for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in a 1967 war.Assad said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant newspaper on Wednesday that Syria wanted to tighten its defense cooperation with Moscow. Russia's arms sales to Syria have angered Israel and the United States in the past.Tensions over military aid flared anew between Russia and Israel this month, but over charges by Russia's military that the Jewish state had supplied Georgia with military vehicles and explosives and had helped to train its army.Israel has said it does not supply arms to other countries as a government but that private firms conduct equipment sales and training with the defense ministry's approval.(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Russia warns of response to US missile shield Aug 20 01:42 PM US/Eastern
Poland Signs U.S. Missile Shield Deal

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia says its response to the further development of a U.S. missile shield in Poland will go beyond diplomacy. Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the U.S. missile shield plans are clearly aimed at weakening Russia. The U.S. says the missile defense system is aimed at protecting the U.S. and Europe from future attacks from states like Iran. The United States and Poland signed a deal Wednesday to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia's westernmost fringe. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WARSAW, Poland (AP)—Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite. Rice dismissed blustery comments from Russian leaders who say Warsaw's hosting of 10 U.S. interceptor missiles just 115 miles from Russia's westernmost frontier opens the country up to attack. Such comments border on the bizarre frankly, Rice said, speaking to reporters traveling with her in Warsaw.

When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988, Rice said. It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around.The deal, which Washington sought as a way of defending the U.S. and Europe from a hypothetical threat of long-distance missiles from Iran, has strained relations between Moscow and the West. Those ties were already troubled by Russia's invasion of its former Soviet neighbor, U.S. ally Georgia, earlier this month. Speaking to reporters traveling with her, Rice said, the Russians are losing their credibility.Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski signed the deal Wednesday morning. It is an agreement which will help us to respond to the threats of the 21st century, she said afterward. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the agreement came after tough but friendly negotiations.

We have achieved our main goals, which means that our country and the United States will be more secure, he said. After Warsaw and Washington announced the agreement on the deal last week, top Russian Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn warned that Poland is risking attack, and possibly a nuclear one, by deploying the American missile defense system, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. Poles have been shaken by the threats, but NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop dismissed them Tuesday as pathetic rhetoric.It is unhelpful and it leads nowhere, he told reporters at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium. Many Poles consider the agreement a form of protection at a time when Russia's invasion of Georgia has generated alarm throughout Eastern Europe. Poland is a member of the European Union and NATO, and the deal is expected to deepen its military partnership with Washington. Polish President Lech Kaczynski also expressed great satisfaction at the outcome of the long months of negotiations.

Poland and the United States spent a year and a half negotiating, and talks recently had snagged on Poland's demands that the U.S. bolster Polish security with Patriot missiles in exchange for hosting the missile defense base. Washington agreed to do so last week, as Poland invoked the Georgia conflict to strengthen its case. The Patriots are meant to protect Poland from short-range missiles from neighbors—such as Russia. The U.S. already has reached an agreement with the government in Prague to place the second component of the missile defense shield—a radar tracking system—in the Czech Republic, Poland's southwestern neighbor and another formerly communist country. Approval is still needed the Czech and Polish parliaments. No date has been set for the Polish parliament to consider the agreement, but it should face no difficulties in Warsaw, where it enjoys the support of the largest opposition party as well as the government. 2008 The Associated Press

Norway: Russia to cut all military ties with NATO By BJOERN H. AMLAND, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 20, 6:10 pm ET

OSLO, Norway – Russia has informed Norway that it plans to suspend all military ties with NATO, Norway's Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a day after the military alliance urged Moscow to withdraw its forces from Georgia.NATO foreign ministers said Tuesday they would make further ties with Russia dependent on Moscow making good on a pledge to pull its troops back to pre-conflict positions in Georgia. However, they stopped short of calling an immediate halt to all cooperation.The Nordic country's embassy in Moscow received a telephone call from a well-placed official in the Russian Ministry of Defense, who said Moscow plans to freeze all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries, Espen Barth Eide, state secretary with the Norwegian ministry said.Eide told The Associated Press that the Russian official notified Norway it will receive a written note about this soon. He said Norwegian diplomats in Moscow would meet Russian officials on Thursday morning to clarify the implications of the freeze.It is our understanding that other NATO countries will receive similar notes, Eide said. The ministry said the Russian official is known to the embassy, but Norway declined to provide a name or any further identifying information.A Kremlin official declined to comment on the report, and the Russian ambassador to NATO did not reply to messages left on his cell phone. But the Interfax news agency, citing what it called a military-diplomatic source in Moscow whom it did not identify, reported that Russia is reviewing its 2008 military cooperation plans with NATO.Officials at NATO headquarters in Brussels said Moscow had not informed the alliance it was taking such a step.

Washington described the reported move as unfortunate.

If this indeed is the case, it would be unfortunate. We need to work with Russia on a range of security issues, but we are obviously very concerned about Russian behavior in Georgia, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.Under a 2002 agreement that set up the NATO-Russia Council, the former Cold War foes began several cooperation projects. They include occasional participation of Russian warships in NATO counterterrorism patrols in the Mediterranean Sea, sharing expertise to combat heroin trafficking out of Afghanistan and developing battlefield anti-missile technology.Last week, Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin warned the Western alliance against cutting off cooperation, saying it would hurt both sides.The Interfax news agency, citing a military-diplomatic source in Moscow, reported Wednesday that Russia is reviewing its 2008 military cooperation plans as a result of NATO's decision to suspend meetings of the NATO-Russia Council.Eide said he hoped NATO and Moscow would get back on track with dialogue and cooperation but said that Russia would first have to comply with a cease-fire in Georgia.

I regret the situation has come to this, he said.

The hostilities between Russia and Georgia began earlier this month when Georgia cracked down on South Ossetia. The region is internationally recognized as being within Georgian borders but leans toward Moscow and regards itself as independent. Russia answered by sending its troops and tanks across the Georgian border.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)

REVELATION 18:10
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

THIS EMP IS HOW I FIGURE IN THE FUTURE RUSSIA WILL CRIPPLE THE USA AND THEN DO THE SNEAK NUKE ATTACK.

HOMELAND INSECURITY U.S. still naked to EMP threat. New emergency plan doesn't address alarming scenario in disaster response August 19, 2008
10:14 am Eastern By Chelsea Schilling 2008 WorldNetDaily

Electricity grids down, uncontrolled fires from exploding gas transport systems, no communication to call for help, no water to battle fires: It's all part of a catastrophic scenario some scientists predict could happen under an electromagnetic pulse attack – and the Department of Homeland Security's 83-page emergency plan includes no mention of EMP or how it might respond to such an attack.When WND contacted the Department of Homeland Security, a representative explained why a course of action was not included in the National Emergency Communications Plan – a strategy that relies heavily on the ability of authorities at all levels of government to communicate using radios, computers and other electronic devices that could be disabled by an EMP attack.When we look at the strategic threat picture, when we look at patterns of criminal activity that all levels of government show, when we look at what is ultimately going to involve limited resources, we have to get to a point where we prioritize, DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. We prioritize based upon threat vulnerability and consequence. As we speak today, there's nothing in the threat picture that would suggest an imminent EMP attack.However, Congress has expressed concern regarding the threat of EMP. A top scientist warned the House Armed Services Committee in July that America remains vulnerable to a "catastrophe" from a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack that could be launched with plausible deniability by hostile rogue nations or terrorists.William R. Graham, chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack and the former national science adviser to President Reagan, testified before the committee and issued an alarming report on one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences.

He identified vulnerabilities in the nation's critical infrastructures, which are essential to both our civilian and military capabilities.Not taking the steps necessary to reduce the threat in the next three to five years can both invite and reward attack, Graham told the committee.Knocke said EMPs are considered in a broad federal playbook released in January for how the federal government will manage incidents of all types called the National Response Framework, or NRF.

The 90-page document includes the following:

It provides an overview of the roles, responsibilities and jurisdictions of key partners at the local, state and federal levels who implement the framework.It emphasizes planning structures for effective response. It offers tips for individuals and households, such as reducing hazards in and around their homes, preparing emergency supply kits, creating household emergency plans and reducing demands on land-line and cellular communications. The NRF provides general guidelines for dealing with emergency events. However, the plan includes no mention of how the nation would respond to an EMP attack or widespread electrical and electronics failures that could effectively cut communication lines between each level of emergency responders by disabling computers, satellites, radios, radar receivers and even traffic lights and electronic ignition systems in cars.

EMP is a pulse of energy that can be produced from non-nuclear sources, such as electromagnetic bombs, or E-bombs. Some experts claim an electromagnetic pulse shock wave can be produced by a device small enough to fit in a briefcase. But the most threatening and terrifying type of EMP attack could come following a blast from a nuclear weapon 25 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface. Like a swift stroke of lightening, EMP could immediately disrupt and damage all electronic systems and America's electrical infrastructure. A detonation over the middle of the continental U.S. has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power, said Graham.Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability, said Graham. A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication. For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high altitude. Terrorists sponsored by a rogue state could attempt to execute such an attack without revealing the identity of the perpetrators. Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism, has practiced launching a mobile ballistic missile from a vessel in the Caspian Sea. Iran has also tested high-altitude explosions of the Shahab-III, a test mode consistent with EMP attack, and described the tests as successful. Iranian military writings explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States. While the commission does not know the intention of Iran in conducting these activities, we are disturbed by the capability that emerges when we connect the dots.

An EMP assault could prove devastating because of the unprecedented cascading failures of major infrastructures that could result. Because of America's heavy reliance on electricity and electronics, the impact would be far worse than on a country less advanced technologically. Graham and the commission see the potential for failure in the financial system, the system of distribution for food and water, medical care and trade and production.The recovery of any one of the key national infrastructures is dependent upon the recovery of others, he said. The longer the outage, the more problematic and uncertain the recovery will be. It is possible for the functional outages to become mutually reinforcing until at some point the degradation of infrastructure could have irreversible effects on the country's ability to support its population.In an earlier report, the commission even went so far as to suggest, in its opening sentence, that an EMP attack might result in the defeat of our military forces.Knocke said DHS is highly concerned about the threat of nuclear attack and other disasters.At present, our highest priorities are things like preventing nuke attacks, as well as working with state and locals to build up their capability to prevent and respond to things like IED events or catastrophic natural disasters, he said. As it relates to what our greatest preoccupation is, we're doing everything we can to try to prevent a nuclear or radiological attack on our soil that would have the most severe impact in terms of loss of life or economic consequence.When WND asked Knocke if DHS has a specific strategy to deal with an EMP attack, he said, Not as we speak today. No.Asked if the department has considered creating a plan to address EMP threat following Congress' concern about such an attack, he replied:The risk picture is ever changing. There's nothing in the strategic threat picture today that tells us there's an imminent EMP threat. That could change down the road as whatever circumstances in the world evolve. So, I am not telling you that it might never be among the highest priorities. We've actually looked at this issue, and we've looked at the entire spectrum of issues that we have to contend with when it comes to homeland security. But we have to prioritize. We're not in the business of being all things to all people at all times.

RUSSIA HATES ISRAEL

CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

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.

Typhoon Nuri to make landfall within the next 24 hours.Nuri packing winds of 120 km/h and gusts of up to 150 km/h.Eye of typhoon expected to move across northern areas on Wednesday AUG 19,08

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- The Philippine weather bureau is reporting Typhoon Nuri is on track to make landfall over the northern provinces within the next 24 hours.

Nuri is packing winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) and gusts of up to 93 miles (150 kilometers) per hour. It is moving quickly toward the north of main Luzon island.The head of the weather bureau, Nathaniel Cruz, said on Tuesday that Nuri is on the path to slam ashore near northeastern Cagayan province, where a storm alert has been raised to warn fishermen to stay out of the sea.The eye of the typhoon is expected to move across the Calayan group of islands and Ilocos Norte province on Wednesday, before heading across the South China Sea toward Guangdong, China.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

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

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

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

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

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

Zimbabwe inflation hits 11,200,000 percent.Zimbabwe's inflation rate soars to 11.2 million percent.A loaf of bread costs 1.6 trillion Zimbabwe dollars.Official rate is world's highest but some analysts fear it may be more AUG 19,08

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe's inflation rate has soared in the past three months and is now at 11.2 million percent, the highest in the world, according to the country's Central Statistical Office.Zimbabwe's inflation rate has soared to a world high.Official figures dated Monday show inflation has surged from the rate of 2.2 million percent recorded in May, despite the government's price controls.The country's finance minister confirmed the new figure in an interview but said the rising inflation rate was not confined to Zimbabwe alone.While our case has been aggravated by the illegal sanctions imposed by the Western powers, rising food prices are a world phenomenon because of the use of bio-fuel, said Samuel Mumbengegwi. But we will continue to fight inflation by making sure that prices charged are realistic.In February, the price of a loaf of bread in the country was less than 200,000 Zimbabwe dollars. On Monday, that same loaf of bread cost 1.6 trillion Zimbabwe dollars.Analysts have said the Zimbabwean government's official inflation rate figures are conservative. Last week, one of Zimbabwe's leading banks, Kingdom Bank, said the country's inflation rate was now more than 20 million percent.

The locally-owned bank predicted tougher times ahead for Zimbabwe in the absence of donor support and foreign investment in an economy that has been in freefall for almost a decade.Don't Miss

Zimbabwe summit fails to reach agreement
Once considered the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe has been in the throes of an economic meltdown ever since the country embarked on a chaotic land reform program that has decimated commercial agriculture.Analysts say the crisis has worsened following President Robert Mugabe's disputed reelection in the June 27 presidential run-off. His challenger Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted the race over widespread allegations of violence and voter intimidation.The economic crisis has destroyed Zimbabwe's currency and made it difficult for Zimbabweans to buy basic commodities, electricity, fuel, and medicines. Many Zimbabweans have left the country amid rising unemployment and deepening poverty.Last week a summit in South Africa of regional African leaders failed to persuade Zimbabwe's political parties to agree to form a government of national unity, which observers view as the best way to end.

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.

AMERICAS PLAY MONOPOLY RUSSIAN CHESS
http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/JH19Ag04.html

LIKE I SAID THE OTHER DAY FROM EZEKIEL 38 RUSSIA WILL HATE ISRAEL.

Russia Expected To Retaliate Against Israel
Middle East Newsline August 18, 2008

MOSCOW [MENL] -- Russia was expected to retaliate against Israel for its weapons exports to Georgia. Russian diplomatic sources said the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was furious over Israel's refusal to impose a military embargo on Georgia. The sources said Putin's aides had urged Israel several times to halt weapons exports.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

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

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

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; 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.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

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

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Israel concerned over Syria missile tests August 19, 2008, 10:00 By Peroshni Govender

Israeli military officials believe Damascus has test-fired several different types of rockets, including some that could strike Israeli cities. Israeli intelligence sources suspect that Syria has some 1 000 models of scud missiles with a range of 300to 700km. The Syrian missiles are capable of striking targets anywhere in Israel and can be fitted with chemical warheads.However defence officials are reportedly more concerned with Syria's arsenal of smaller medium range rockets, which although have a short range, have greater accuracy. In response to Syria's drill, the Israeli Defence Forces and the Israel Air Force anti-aircraft unit conducted an exercise simulating a possible Syria missile attack.Last week, Israel launched large-scale military exercises on the captured Golan Heights along the Syrian border in the presence of senior political and military officials. "There is reinforcement on the other side, and it's not by chance that we are training intensively on the Golan Heights and on a major scale, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who observed the drills, said.He was referring to the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah, which Israel says has been rearming with help from Syria and Iran since the 2006 Lebanon war, widely regarded in Israel as a failure.Barak said the UN resolution, which ended the 34-day war, failed to fulfill its goals. There has been a very significant reinforcement of Hezbollah in recent years, and we are examining the possibility that the balance of power has shifted with the introduction of sophisticated weapons from Syria, Barak said.

National satellite
Meanwhile Israel is also growing increasingly concerned with Iran's latest announcement that it plans to launch a satellite into orbit. The Iranian Defence Minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar reportedly said his country was ready to launch a national satellite into orbit in the near future.The announcement comes just a day of Iran launched a dummy satellite into orbit. Tehran also plans to become a regional technological superpower. Iran is ready to launch the satellites of friendly Islamic countries into space, the head of the Islamic Republic's space agency, Reza Taghipoor told the Iranian Fars news agency.But senior Israeli security official believe the latest test shows that if Iran was capable of launching a satellite into space, this proved it was also able of launching other payloads over distances of thousands of kilometres.A senior researcher at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, Tal Inbar, said the test was a turning point, which had far-reaching consequences for Israel's security.Inbar told the daily Yedioth Ahronoth that the test was a most impressive technological achievement, and said the development of civilian satellite launchers was a cover for purchasing parts and expertise on the international market for Iran's military programs.At the same time a senior nuclear official is visiting Iran, today for his second round of talks this month. Olli Heinonen of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Tehran shortly after the launch of the satellite carrying rocket into orbit.The IAEA is preparing a report on Iran's facilities, which critics say can be used to make nuclear weapons. The US expressed concern over Sunday's satellite launch, saying the technology could also be used for carrying missiles.

Missiles overshadow Russian pullout August 19, 2008

EVEN as Russia pledged to begin withdrawing its forces from Georgia yesterday, US officials said launchers for short-range ballistic missiles had been moved into South Ossetia, apparently to tighten Russia's hold on the breakaway territory.The Russian military deployed SS-21 missile launchers and supply vehicles to South Ossetia on Friday, according to US officials familiar with intelligence reports.

Russian tanks still in Gori
Russian tanks and troops roamed freely around Gori on Monday despite Russia's announcement that a withdrawal had begun.From the new launching positions north of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, the missiles can reach much of Georgia, including Tbilisi, the capital.The Kremlin announced on Sunday that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had promised to begin the troop withdrawal in a conversation with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who negotiated a six-point ceasefire agreement. Mr Medvedev did not specify the pace or scope of the withdrawal, saying troops would withdraw to South Ossetia and a security zone on its periphery.US officials have demanded that Russian troops pull back from their positions inside Georgia and that the Russian military presence in the enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia be limited to a peacekeeping force.But instead of thinning out their forces in South Ossetia, the Russians appear to have been consolidating their presence by deploying SS-21 missile launchers and, US officials say, installing surface-to-air missiles near their military headquarters in Tskhinvali.German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi yesterday that NATO remained ready to give membership to the former Soviet republic, as promised at a NATO summit in April.Mr Saakashvili attacked Russian plans to deploy a peacekeeping force of unspecified size that Georgian officials worry could turn into an open-ended occupation.There is no such notion any more in Georgia as Russian peacekeepers. There can be no Russian peacekeepers - these are just Russian forces, Mr Saakashvili said at a press conference with Dr Merkel.Mr Sarkozy phoned Moscow yesterday and, in an article for French newspaper Le Figaro yesterday, called for Russian withdrawal without delay, adding: This point is not negotiable.In South Ossetia itself, de facto president Eduard Kokoity dismissed his Government and proclaimed a state of emergency in the rebel region, Russia's Vesti-24 television reported.I have signed three decrees including one on the resignation of the Government, another on proclamation of a state of emergency in South Ossetia and the third on setting up an emergency committee to settle the consequences of the Georgian aggression, Mr Kokoity said.

In Gori, a Russian-occupied town beyond South Ossetia, the commanding general said a switch from regular troops had already begun.Russian forces continued to man positions along the road from Tbilisi to Gori, including at a checkpoint in Igoeti, only 30 kilometres from the capital.Russia also lifted a blockade of the town enforced since the fighting last week.But a UN official in Georgia said large-scale aid deliveries were being held up.The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, meanwhile, said the number of displaced people had reached 158,600.New York-based Human Rights Watch said Ossetian irregulars were attacking ethnic Georgians in Russian-controlled areas.It called for Russian authorities to end the violence.

European leaders unite with call to freeze ties with Russia By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor Tuesday, 19 August 2008 Independent.co.uk

European leaders will attempt to bury their differences and send a tough message to Moscow at an emergency Nato meeting today, where there will be calls to freeze ties between the Western alliance and Russia in the aftermath of the war in Georgia.The US and Britain want Nato foreign ministers in Brussels to insist that Georgia's territorial integrity is inviolable, British diplomats said. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned last week that the world could forget about Georgia ever recovering its breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.The diplomats said the meeting is expected to reaffirm Nato's invitation to both Georgia and Ukraine for eventual membership of the 26-member alliance. The Georgian government believes it was Nato's refusal to give both countries a firm timetable for Nato membership, while holding out the promise that the former Soviet republics would eventually become members, that emboldened Russia to strike back so powerfully in the six-day war.Diplomats acknowledged there would be some hard bargaining at today's meeting, with some countries, including Britain, the US, Poland and the Baltic states, arguing that Moscow must face consequences for its disproportionate force against Georgia. Others, including France, Germany and Italy, argue that further criticism of the Kremlin could be counterproductive at a time when the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia is still awaited.The ministers will look at a range of military, ministerial and other activities planned with Russia on a case by case basis. Britain and the US have already cancelled planned military manoeuvres with the Russians in Vladivostok in protest at Moscow's actions in Georgia.Future meetings of the Russia-Nato council, a consultative body established in 2002 to improve relations among former Cold War foes, will also be on the agenda. We don't want to destroy the Nato-Russia Council but Russia's actions have called into question the premise of the Nato-Russia relationship, said the US ambassador Kurt Volker.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

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

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

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

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

A new Israeli peace plan AUG 18,08

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered a peace plan giving the Palestinians 93 percent of the occupied West Bank, an Israeli newspaper said last Tuesday. But the Palestinians denied the report. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said the proposed border is at the heart of a broader plan that would compensate the Palestinians with the equivalent of 5.5 percent of the West Bank adjacent to the Gaza Strip and a route connecting Gaza to the West Bank itself.But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would only receive the land and the overland connection once his forces retake the Gaza Strip from the Islamist Hamas movement, which seized power in the coastal territory in June 2007, the newspaper said. But Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the report was baseless.These are half-truths used by Israelis as a test balloon so they can blame the Palestinian Authority should the negotiations fail, he told journalists.Haaretz said the proposal had been offered in the context of US-backed peace talks relaunched in November with the goal of resolving the decades-old conflict by the end of the year.The proposed agreement however would be a shelf agreement” to be implemented in the coming months and years, and would not immediately include the thorny issue of the future status of Jerusalem, Haaretz said.
The Palestinians have demanded mainly-Arab East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and formally annexed in 1981, as their capital, while Israel considers the entire city its eternal, undivided capital -- a claim not recognized by the international community.The agreement would however include a complex solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, allowing some refugees from the 1948 war to return to Israel while settling most of the 4.5 million refugees and their descendants in the Palestinian state.The seven percent of the West Bank annexed by Israel would include the major settlement blocs around Jerusalem -- home to most of the 250,000 Israeli settlers in the territory -- and some settlements in the northern West Bank.

The final Palestinian state would be demilitarized.Erakat dismissed the idea of a partial agreement. We are not a bazaar, he said. We want a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territories it occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, and agreement on all the final status questions, he added.Olmert’s spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment on the report but told reporters that the negotiations with the Palestinians are making progress on a number of subjects, particularly borders.
These negotiations are serious and are aimed at a common objective, he said.
The negotiations, which have shown little visible progress since they were formally relaunched after a seven-year hiatus, were dealt a further blow last month when Olmert announced he would resign later this year.The premier has been dogged by six corruption probes and in recent months, he had faced widespread calls to resign, including from members of his own fragile governing coalition.Olmert announced on July 30 he would step down after his centrist Kadima Party chooses a new leader in a vote set for September 17.

FAY-LORIDA STORMS IN

Tropical Storm Fay soaks southwest Florida By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer AUG 19,08

NAPLES, Fla. - Tropical Storm Fay moved inland Tuesday after making landfall in southwest Florida, bringing soaking rains and gusty winds but failing to reach the minimal hurricane status that had been predicted. Streets were largely deserted in the early morning hours in Naples. Rain swept across desolate streets that were littered with palm fronds and other minor debris, and there was street flooding in spots but no immediate reports of storm surge damage.Diana Eslick, an assistant manager at a 7-Eleven near the beach in Naples, said the storm hadn't disrupted her morning at work.So far it's going good. We have power and everything, she said. It's just been windy and rainy.The main thing she was preparing for was hungry surfers looking for food before they start taking advantage of Fay's waves.Farther up the coast, Lori Martini, 42, of South Tampa, went out on her 6-mile jog a little before 5a.m., as usual. She said she'd checked the forecast before heading out.I figure if the storm comes, I may not be able to (run) tomorrow, Martini said.At 8 a.m. EDT, the storm's center was located about 30 miles southeast of Fort Myers and was moving toward the northeast, with maximum winds of 60 mph expected to gradually weaken through the day.

Flooding remained a major concern as Fay heads up the Florida peninsula, with rainfall amounts forecast between 4 and 10 inches. The storm could also push tides 3 to 5 feet above normal and spawn tornadoes.Fay never achieved hurricane status, and most businesses opted to go without any shutters or other window protection. Of those that did, some plywood carried messages aimed at major storms from the past — Pop Off Charley and Oh Wilma! among them.With no major Florida hurricanes in the past two years, officials were worried complacency could cost lives as they repeatedly urged people across the state to take Fay seriously. But no storm-related deaths or injuries have been reported.Florida Power & Light reported nearly 33,000 homes without power in South Florida early Tuesday, the largest number in Collier County, where 12,500 were in the dark.After crossing the Florida Keys without causing major damage Monday, Fay lumbered ashore about 5 a.m. Tuesday at Cape Romano, just south of Naples, with sustained winds of about 60 mph. That's well below the hurricane threshold of 74 mph. Cape Romano is the same spot where Hurricane Wilma, a Category 3 storm, made landfall in October 2005.In the Tampa Bay area, Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties lifted evacuation orders affecting mobile home residents and others in vulnerable areas when the storm failed to reach hurricane status. But schools and government offices remained closed.I think we're going to all enjoy a nice summer day, said Sally Bishop, Pinellas County's emergency management director.Before landfall, Fay stirred unpleasant memories for many in and around Punta Gorda who rode out deadly Hurricane Charley in 2004.I am scared, said Monica Palanza, a Punta Gorda real estate agent who watched trees topple on her neighbors' homes when Charley reached Category 4 strength — the second-strongest level — just north of Punta Gorda. You can never be prepared enough.But others said they were relieved Fay, the sixth named storm of the Atlantic tropical storm season, was no Charley and took a wait-and-see attitude. After going through Charley, this doesn't seem nothing more than a gust of wind, said Jesse Gilmore, 34, who put up storm shutters Monday at a local business as a precaution. On Monday, as Fay headed toward the peninsula, schools and many businesses closed, even miles to the east in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas. Southwest Florida International Airport near Fort Myers operated normally Monday, but airlines postponed about 140 flights Tuesday until evening hours, spokeswoman Victoria Moreland said. Warnings to people to take precautions were issued as Fay spread rain and sent wind gusts of up to 51 mph over the Keys on Monday. Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro estimated 25,000 fled the Keys before Fay hit there Monday afternoon. The state took every step to make sure it was prepared. National Guard troops were at the ready and more were waiting in reserve, and 20 truckloads of tarps, 200 truckloads of water and 52 truckloads of food were available for distribution. As it moved though the Caribbean, Fay was blamed for at least 14 deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, including two babies who were found in a river after a bus crash.

Associated Press Writers Brian Skoloff, Kelli Kennedy and Travis Reed in the Keys, Christine Armario in Tampa, Tamara Lush in Punta Gorda, Lisa Orkin Emmanuel in Miami, Bill Kaczor and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee and Sarah Larimer in Orlando contributed to this story.

Tropical Storm Fay hits Florida AUG 19,08

MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical Storm Fay hit Florida with severe winds and drenching rains early Tuesday, but it did not strengthen into the potentially devastating hurricane residents had been dreading. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Fay, which claimed dozens of lives around the Caribbean over the weekend, should begin to weaken now that it was over land.But it could roar back to life once it heads out over open water, as some computer models predict it could.The biggest concern now, officials said, was that the weather system could spawn tornadoes and severe flooding across the Sunshine State.At 5:00 am (0900 GMT) Fay was located about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Fort Myers according to the NHC, with top winds of 60 miles (95 kilometers) per hour.The storm, moving at a pace of about nine miles (15 kilometers) per hour was expected to decrease in speed and turn to the north sometime on Wednesday, the NHC said.In the Caribbean over the weekend, Fay left a trail of death and destruction, particularly in Haiti, where a truck carrying around 60 passengers plunged into a swollen river.In Florida meanwhile, authorities ordered the evacuation of tourists and closed schools in the Keys and counties to the north. In Key West, four shelters were set up in case residents were also forced to abandon their homes and flights were canceled.And some 500 national guard members have been deployed across the state, with another 8,500 available if needed, officials said.

But not everybody was hunkering down for the storm.

Hundreds of surfers thronged Miami beaches to ride the huge swells the storm was serving up.We have amazing waves today, something not seen very often on this beaches. It's a perfect day, Australian Miami resident Martin Bain told AFP before charging off into the water with a bunch of friends.Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson told Fox News television late Monday that while Fay was far from the strongest possible storm, it could still cause serious injury or loss of life. He urged residents to take the threat seriously.Have you ever been hit by a coconut? Well, those things are worse than bullets. They do not travel at high velocities very often, but, when they do, they make a big hole, McPherson said.Not only that. We have branches that can take (off) somebody's arm.McPherson said he was dismayed to see many residents out in the inclement weather.We have our police officers out there, McPherson said.My greatest concern is that our public safety officers will end up getting injured because somebody is not using their brains.Although far from Fay's eye, Miami was expected to get hit by tornados and flooding as the storm brushes by the state. There were already reports of power outages in homes affecting about 2,000 people. Crude oil prices fell Monday as Fay's path appeared likely to bypass oil and gas production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Royal Dutch Shell said it had evacuated 425 staff from the Gulf of Mexico but added that no more workers would leave as Fay appeared likely to miss its energy installations. Fay is the sixth named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.

THATS OUR KING JESUS, BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED. AND BY PRAYER AND FASTING. GOD CREATED EVERY ONE OF US, HE KNOWS WHATS WRONG WITH US AND IF HE WANTS TO HEAL US INSTANTLY HE WILL FOR HIS CREDIT AND IF HE WANTS US TO GO THROUGH IT, WE WILL GO THROUGHT IT. BUT JESUS (GOD) IS IN CONTROL JUST REMEMBER THAT.

Many think God's intervention can revive the dying By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Tue Aug 19, 1:36 AM ET

CHICAGO - When it comes to saving lives, God trumps doctors for many Americans.

An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle.More than half of randomly surveyed adults — 57 percent — said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment.When asked to imagine their own relatives being gravely ill or injured, nearly 20 percent of doctors and other medical workers said God could reverse a hopeless outcome.Sensitivity to this belief will promote development of a trusting relationship with patients and their families, according to researchers. That trust, they said, is needed to help doctors explain objective, overwhelming scientific evidence showing that continued treatment would be worthless.

Pat Loder, a Milford, Mich., woman whose two young children were killed in a 1991 car crash, said she clung to a belief that God would intervene when things looked hopeless.When you're a parent and you're standing over the body of your child who you think is dying ... you have to have that belief, Loder said.While doctors should be prepared to deal with those beliefs, they also shouldn't sugarcoat the truth about a patient's condition, Loder said.Being honest in a sensitive way helps family members make excruciating decisions about whether to let dying patients linger, or allow doctors to turn off life-prolonging equipment so that organs can be donated, Loder said.Loder was driving when a speeding motorcycle slammed into the family's car. Both children were rushed unconscious to hospitals, and Loder says she believes doctors did everything they could. They were not able to revive her 5-year-old son; soon after her 8-year-old daughter was declared brain dead.She said her beliefs about divine intervention have changed.I have become more of a realist, she said. I know that none of us are immune from anything.Loder was not involved in the survey, which appears in Monday's Archives of Surgery.It involved 1,000 U.S. adults randomly selected to answer questions by telephone about their views on end-of-life medical care. They were surveyed in 2005, along with 774 doctors, nurses and other medical workers who responded to mailed questions.Survey questions mostly dealt with untimely deaths from trauma such as accidents and violence. These deaths are often particularly tough on relatives because they are more unexpected than deaths from lingering illnesses such as cancer, and the patients tend to be younger.Dr. Lenworth Jacobs, a University of Connecticut surgery professor and trauma chief at Hartford Hospital, was the lead author.

He said trauma treatment advances have allowed patients who previously would have died at the scene to survive longer. That shift means hospital trauma specialists are much more heavily engaged in the death process, he said.Jacobs said he frequently meets people who think God will save their dying loved one and who want medical procedures to continue. You can't say, That's nonsense. You have to respect that and try to show them X-rays, CAT scans and other medical evidence indicating death is imminent, he said. Relatives need to know that it's not that you don't want a miracle to happen, it's just that is not going to happen today with this patient, he said. Families occasionally persist and hospitals have gone to court seeking to stop medical treatment doctors believe is futile, but such cases are quite rare.

Dr. Michael Sise, trauma medical director at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, called the study a great contribution to one of the most intense issues doctors face. Sise, a Catholic doctor working in a Catholic hospital, said miracles don't happen when medical evidence shows death is near. That's just not a realistic situation, he said. Sise recalled a teenager severely injured in a gang beating who died soon afterward at his hospital. The mother absolutely did not want to withdraw medical equipment despite the severity of her child's brain injuries, which ensured the child would never wake up, Sise said. The mom was playing religious tapes in the room, and obviously was very focused on looking for a miracle.Claudia McCormick, a nurse and trauma program director at Duke University Hospital, said she also has never seen that kind of miracle. But her niece's recovery after being hit by a boat while inner-tubing earlier this year came close. The boat backed into her and its propeller caught her in the side of the head. She had no pulse when they pulled her out of the water, McCormick said. Doctors at the hospital where she was airlifted said it really doesn't look good. And while it never reached the point where withdrawing lifesaving equipment was discussed, McCormick recalled one of her doctors saying later: God has plans for this child. I never thought she'd be here.

Like many hospitals, Duke uses a team approach to help relatives deal with dying trauma victims, enlisting social workers, grief counselors and chaplains to work with doctors and nurses. If the family still says, We just can't shut that machine off, then, you know what, we can't shut that machine off, McCormick said. Sometimes, she said, you might have a family that's having a hard time and it might take another day, and that's OK.On the Net: Archives of Surgery: http://www.archsurg.com

Small Russian convoy leaves key Georgian city AUG 19,08

RUISI, Georgia - A small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles has left the strategically key Georgian city of Gori and an officer says they are headed back to Russia. The column, which also included what appeared to be a mobile rocket-launcher, passed the village of Ruisi, outside Gori on the road to South Ossetia on Tuesday afternoon.Col. Igor Konoshenkov, a Russian military officer on the scene, told The Associated Press that the unit was headed for South Ossetia and ultimately back to Russia.Konoshenkov said the movement was part of the Russian pullback mandated by the cease-fire.It requires both sides to return troops to the positions they held before the Aug. 7 outbreak of heavy fighting in South Ossetia, a Russian-backed separatist region of Georgia.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

IGOETI, Georgia (AP) — Russia and Georgia on Tuesday exchanged prisoners captured during their brief war, a move that may reduce tensions and, Georgia hopes, hasten the promised withdrawal of Russian troops.Georgian Security Council head Alexander Lomaia said the swap removes any pretext for Russians to hold positions in Igoeti. The village is the closest that Russian forces have advanced to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, about 30 miles away.Yet as NATO foreign ministers prepared to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels over a unified response to Russia's invasion of its tiny neighbor, there still was no sign of the Russian troop pullout from Georgia that was supposed to have begun Monday.A Russian defense official indicated Tuesday that a complete withdrawal from Georgia proper was not imminent.Rear units, as well as second- and third-echelon units are being pulled back first. The vanguard units will be pulled back at the final stage, Col. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia's land forces, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.Tuesday's prisoner exchange, witnessed by Lomaia and Russian Maj. Gen. Vyacheslav Borisov, included 15 Georgians and five Russians, Lomaia said.It went smoothly, he said.

The swap began when two Russian military helicopters landed in Igoeti. Two people in stretchers were unloaded and handed over to Georgian officials.Georgian ambulances later brought two people to the scene and took them to the Russian helicopters. One was on a gurney.Russian troops last week drove Georgian forces out of the Russian-backed separatist region of South Ossetia, where Georgia on Aug. 7 launched a heavy artillery barrage.At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pushed NATO allies to step up political and military ties with Georgia and to consider scaling back high-level meetings and military cooperation with Russia if its military does not abandon positions across Georgia.Rice said the U.S. supports a permanent NATO-Georgia Commission that would solidify ties between the western alliance and the Black Sea nation, and supports increasing training for the Georgian military. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on arrival that the allies must ensure Russia does not learn the wrong lessons from the events of the last two weeks. Force cannot be the basis for the demarcation of new lines around Russia.NATO was also expected to discuss support to efforts to send in an international monitoring mission being set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a security grouping that includes Russia, Georgia and western nations. Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, whose country holds the OSCE presidency, said Russia had agreed on a plan that would send 20 unarmed military observers there, besides nine already in place. The total could later go up to 100, the OSCE says. The United Nations has estimated the fighting displaced more than 158,000 people. U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres arrived in Tbilisi on Tuesday to meet with government representatives to discuss the plight of tens of thousands of South Ossetians uprooted by Georgia's conflict with Russia. Guterres will then travel to Moscow to meet with Russian officials, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Andrej Mahecic said. Mahecic told journalists in Geneva that UNHCR, like other aid agencies, has not been able to reach the civilian population in much of South Ossetia because of security issues there. The area is now controlled by Russia. We have seen media reports indicating that people are being shot at while trying to leave the area, he said. With Western leaders anxiously watching for a withdrawal and puzzling over how to punish Moscow for what they called a disproportionate reaction to the Georgian offensive, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev defended Russia's actions and warned against any aggression. Anyone who tries anything like that will face a crushing response, he said Monday. On the ground, the lack of troop movement raised questions about whether Russia was fulfilling its part of the cease-fire meant to end the short but intense war that has stoked tension between a resurgent Russia and the West. Russian troops restricted access to Gori, where most shops were shut and people milled around on the central square with its statue of the Soviet dictator and native son Josef Stalin. The city is a cold place now. People are fearful, said Nona Khizanishvili, 44, who fled Gori a week ago for an outlying village and returned Monday, trying to reach her son in Tbilisi. Four Russian armored personnel carriers, each carrying about 15 men, rolled Monday afternoon from Gori to Igoeti, a crossroads town even closer to Tbilisi. Georgia's Rustavi-2 television showed footage of a Russian armored vehicle smashing through a group of Georgian police cars barricading the road to Gori on Monday. One of the cars was dragged along the street by the Russian armor. Georgian police stood by without raising their guns. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said Russian forces had blown up the runway at a base in the western city of Senaki on Monday. There was no confirmation from Russian military officials. Russian troops and tanks have controlled a wide swath of Georgia for days, including the country's main east-west highway where Gori sits. The Russian presence essentially cuts the small Caucasus Mountains nation in half.

It also threatens pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili's efforts to keep his country from falling apart after the war bolstered the chances of South Ossetia and another Russian-backed separatist region, Abkhazia, of remaining free of Georgian rule. According to the European Union-brokered peace plan signed by both Medvedev and Saakashvili, both sides are to pull forces back to the positions they held before the fighting broke out. But the deputy chief of the Russian general staff, Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said the Russian troops were pulling back to South Ossetia and a security zone defined by a 1999 agreement of the joint control commission. The commission had been nominally in charge of South Ossetia's status since it split from Georgia in the early 1990s. Georgian and Russian officials could not immediately clarify the dimensions of the security zone, but Georgian government documents suggest it extends more than four miles into Georgia beyond the administrative border of South Ossetia. French President Nicolas Sarkozy — who brokered the cease-fire deal — has said the operations it permits by Russian peacekeepers until an international mechanism is in place cannot be conducted beyond the immediate proximity of South Ossetia.Associated Press writers David Nowak, Jim Heintz and Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Bela Szandelszky in Senaki, Georgia, contributed to this report.

NATO mulls closer ties with Georgia By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer
AUG 19,08

BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO was set to send a strong signal of support for Georgia, as the United States urged allies Tuesday to boost military ties with the former Soviet republic on Russia's southern border. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was backing the setting up of a permanent NATO-Georgia Commission to solidify ties between the Western alliance and Georgia. Diplomats said Washington also supports increasing training for the Georgian military.At the same time, NATO foreign ministers were discussing possibly scaling back high-level meetings and military cooperation with Russia if it does not abandon crucial positions across Georgia.

NATO is awaiting Russia's promised military pullout after a brief war with the ex-Soviet republic — a conflict that has exacerbated tensions between Moscow and the West.But as the NATO meeting began on Tuesday, Russia's military held onto crucial positions across Georgia.NATO was expected to restate its commitment to eventually offer alliance membership to Georgia — despite Russia's fierce opposition.We said (Georgia) would eventually become a member of NATO alongside Ukraine, and that's certainly the position that we will be advocating today, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.Meanwhile, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Russia had agreed to allow 20 more international military monitors in and around Georgia's disputed region of South Ossetia.Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who currently holds the OSCE chairmanship, said the plan calls for the observers to be sent immediately to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Georgia still must approve the plan.The organization already has nine observers based in South Ossetia, as part of its 200-member mission in Georgia. But it wants eventually to have 100 military monitors to help oversee a cease-fire in the Georgian conflict zone, Stubb said.We need to open the door to get the military monitors in now, he said. Stubb was also attending the NATO meeting, though Finland is not a member of the alliance.The 56-nation OSCE has been engaged in promoting a peaceful settlement to tensions in Georgia's breakaway region since the end of a separatist war in the early 1990s left the region with de facto independence and strong ties with Russia. The OSCE has a 200-member observer mission in Georgia, but wants to bolster its presence to help monitor a cease-fire in the Georgian conflict zone.Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee, Slobodan Lekic and Robert Wielaard contributed to this report.

Oil falls as storm threat eases By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer AUG 19,08

Oil prices briefly dropped below $112 a barrel Tuesday, extending the previous session's decline as Tropical Storm Fay avoided oil-producing infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude for September delivery was down 54 cents at $112.33 after falling as low as $111.78 barrel earlier in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.The contract fell 90 cents Monday to settle at $112.87 a barrel after the threat of Tropical Storm Fay eased. That was the first time crude ended below $113 since May 1.In London, October Brent crude fell 91 cents to $111.03 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Analysts said oil prices are likely to remain under pressure amid concerns that a global economic slowdown may further dampen world oil demand. But intermittent supply concerns due to the hurricane season and ongoing conflicts such as that between Russia and Georgia are likely to halt any sharp slide in pricing.Continuing worries about a U.S. economy slowdown, which may spread to the euro zone and perhaps also Asia are weighing down on oil pricing, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.In the near term, there will be a lot of downward pressure but I don't foresee a fast collapse of pricing to $100 dollars a barrel or below. There is still strong support at US$110 a barrel level because of supply side issues, he said.Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland, however, said it was too early to assert that oil prices had reached a bottom, especially since there is a clear lack of buying momentum.Regarding oil fundamentals, Jakob said it was worth keeping an eye on how China's import of oil products will develop after the buildup of stocks for the Beijing Olympics. Reports of lower demand there could put further downward pressure on prices.Fay, the sixth named storm of the 2008 Atlantic season, swept over the Florida Keys on Monday after being blamed for at least 14 deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as it moved though the Caribbean. Fay was expected to become a hurricane before curling up Florida's western coast and hitting the state's mainland sometime Tuesday.Royal Dutch Shell PLC has evacuated 425 oil workers from the Gulf of Mexico as a precaution but said it will redeploy them if the storm remains on its current track. So far during this year's hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean, no storm has significantly damaged oil installations in the Gulf.A bearish forecast on Friday from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries of lower global oil demand growth also helped to push down oil prices.In its monthly report, OPEC forecast that the world's daily appetite for oil this year would grow by 1 million barrels, a reduction of 30,000 barrels a day from its previous estimate. It predicted growth for 2009 will be 900,000 barrels a day, the lowest growth in world demand since 2002.Analysts said uncertainty over the conflict between Russia and Georgia will support oil pricing. Russia has begun withdrawing troops, but U.S. officials said Moscow has positioned missile launchers in the separatist South Ossetia province.Oil market traders were also keeping an eye on possible tensions in Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation Monday.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 1.38 cents to $3.0710 a gallon, while gasoline prices lost 1.85 cents to $2.7967 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 5.8 cents to $7.830 per 1,000 cubic feet.Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.